July 13, 2025 • 53 mins
The first Music Division Special in over 3 years!
The boys of Keep Flying joined us from the road and a great conversation was had.
The NY/NJ group is currently on the 2nd leg of their tour promoting their new album, Time and Tide!
We discussed the Vans Warped Tour, being on the compilation CD, band name origins, terrible tour habits, and the biggest question of all; are they.. SKA?!
All that and more on The F.A.N. Show!
The boys of Keep Flying joined us from the road and a great conversation was had.
The NY/NJ group is currently on the 2nd leg of their tour promoting their new album, Time and Tide!
We discussed the Vans Warped Tour, being on the compilation CD, band name origins, terrible tour habits, and the biggest question of all; are they.. SKA?!
All that and more on The F.A.N. Show!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the one, the
only the Fans show. This is a music Division special.
We have not done one of these for a minute,
but man, we got a great guest for you today.
I of course, am always the tea man, Richard Temon
and today Flying High we've got the band keep flying
from Jersey, New York area. Gentlemen, Welcome. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I thought for a moment you had me going. I
was like wow, and then you brought it in at
the end. You stuck to the landing. This a contact.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
A lot of people think our band name is Flying High,
and I thought that that's what you were about to say,
and I.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Was about be like wow, no, no, So I have
been in that boat before. The last band I was
in was called Not for Now, and everybody thought it
was not for Nothing. And the irony is that that
turned out to be a band. There's a band now
in my hometown called not for Nothing, and a buddy
of mine who was in my very first band is
part of that band. Like that's how crazy and small
(01:38):
the world is. So I get it when people think
that the band name is something that it isn't. But
I wanted to make sure I got it right. So
keep flying is the boys here in the box. We
got Henry, we got John. Big Pete will be making
an appearance. If you follow their social on ig, you're
gonna love Big Pete. But man, guys, this is a
real treat for me because I love talking with bands.
(01:59):
You guys, never have any shortage of stories. But the
first question I gotta ask and I gotta know, okay,
this is this is like a serious one. Avril Levine
or Hailey Williams. You can only pick one.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
That's A that's A.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
I don't know why I thought so long. You know,
I should have just went you very quick answer. My
answer is Avril, okay, I know the songs, and that
hit me. I'm thirty nine.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
If I didn't know, I wouldn't say I missed Paramore.
But it wasn't like a thing that was pressing on
me the way that Avril was. Okay, you know, just
right out the gate, like you say the two and
I would immediately my brain went to the left.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So well, and there's no specific on that question. It's
very open, meaning that in your mind it's whatever you
think of first. It could be looks, it could be there,
you know, it could be their albums, it could be
their impact on the scene, it could be whatever it is.
But it's just you got to pick one for whatever
your reasons are.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I think Avril. You can base it off our age,
I guess, but I think was. I think Avril was
more impactful for for us at the time.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And I think that because we were, you know, the
age in which you could be impacted by that kind
of thing.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And uh, Haley Haley seems I think to us to
sound this is gonna sound kind of like ghost.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
But I feel like Haley feels more like a contemporary
to us versus Avril, who is kind of as a
super stardom I think to people our.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Age than than Haley Williams. Is not that she doesn't
Hailey Williams is a huge artist, but it just feels
like a different echelon of artists to me.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
At least I guess on a on a personal note
and an old band of mine. I played a house
show in Nashville that she was just at, which made it.
That's more what I'm saying, More like like you're we're
the same versus the Avril, right level.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I feel like us one of right, it feels closer
to us, even though she's not by any ste the rivation.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
She just somehow feels more closer in our circle. I
guess by association than Alvin does.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
All right, you know that's fair. That's fair. Like I said,
it's meant to be whatever your interpretation is of the question.
So now moving on. I love to do a quick
Google search, and you know, check the Wikipedia for the
bands I'm interviewing, even if I've known them for many,
many years. But we have one.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I was hoping that you'd make us one, because no
one's made us a Wikipedia yet.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
You don't officially. But here's what the internets have to
say about Keep flying you guys were established in twenty
fifteen from New York, New Jersey from the band or
I guess members are from the band. Survey says, so
is all that accurate? Okay?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Sixteen?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
But yes, it was the from the ashes of my
old band, Survey says, became this band.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Okay, not a bad band name either. Survey says it
sounds like something if you were a big.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
It was, Well, we spelt it wrong because it was
just when we made the MySpace page in two thousand
and eight, there were three. There were three that already
had the E, and we're just like, let's just do
this because it was just me and my high school
friends making terrible songs in my basement, so like it
really didn't matter.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
And then it accidentally became my life.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It wasn't anything that was meant to be serious, and
then it became my calling.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
And a few things happened in between then and now,
and here we are.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
We're keep flying, which is a perfect segue into my
favorite question, which is the band name origin story. Now,
some are good, some are not so great. My Carrera
MxPx confirmed what it said on the internet that you
know they were magnum plaid and that the dots looked
like x's, so they became MxPx. Jarrett of Bowling for
Soup has said many times where the Bowling for Soup
(05:55):
name came from. It was a Steve Martin Bitt that
was bowling for shit, and then you know they put
the soup on there for their first show, Blink one
eighty two. Uh, everybody had their theory about where the
one eighty two came from. But I just read Mark
Hoppus's book, and apparently he just threw the number out there.
And it's very, very disappointing to hear because I had
some really good theories on where the one eighty two
(06:16):
came from. So where does keep Flying originate?
Speaker 4 (06:21):
I'll let Henry take this one, but I'll say ours
is great. I know you you you started this segment
with some are good, some are bad.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Ours is great, awesome, I'm excited. Now, all right, let's
do it.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Probably so, so there's a there was a short lived
television show called Firefly, Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Which spawned a movie.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Of the same universe called Serenity, which somehow most people
are aware of Serenity.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
But not Firefly.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
And it's a just for a brief context, it's a
it's a featuristic.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Sci fi show.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It's a it's like a sci fi western about a
rogue group of people kind of living on the fringes
of society and you know, not kind of going against
convention within the show or like within the world that
they're in, and they're kind of kind of just take
(07:17):
jobs and living off.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Like us, like I said, the fringes of everything.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
And there's a specific line in one of the one
of the like intros of the show.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Where it goes find a crew, find a job, keep playing.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
And I remember when we were kind of spawning the
ideas of changing what we were doing with the band
at the time, and originally it was supposed to be
more of a name change, but it really became more
of a mission change and more of a.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
New band and a new focus and a new objective.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
And I remember just watching the show for the thousandth
time and hearing that and thinking, Wow, that was just
something clicked that I was like, that sounds like not
only a great name for an artist, but it kind
of puts the mission statement of our band within the name.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
You know, we read a lot of songs.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
About perseverance and and and and survival, and I think
that that our our name kind of encapsulates what the
music is about and also as a decent.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Message in of itself. So I got it. I got
it from a TV show that I like, that's more
or less the story.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
I could go way deeper into what it means to me,
but you can also find it on a plaque or
or a quilt at Marshall's.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
You know, just the phrase is just a really uplifting,
simple message a reminder. And you know, most of our
people in our community, they don't know about the fire
orfight thing. And it's just for them, is that. And
they often say, and that's perfect.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
You don't have to you don't have to. It's perfect
just where I got it. Don have to be. It's not.
It's not as though we're singing.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I do borrow from the show in terms of theme,
but like I'm not saying about the show, We're not
a wizard rock band.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
But yeah, if we ever make it.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
We made fund the the second season, the reboot that
that never happened.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
They try every year, they try something all the time.
It's just not gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Well, I love the story, I love the name, and
it's funny because yeah, Firefly. Everybody that was in that
show went on to be prominent members cast members of
like legit shows that somehow those ones worked, but that
one with all of them did not. And of course
I'm a huge Alentutic fan right now, Resident Alien is
my jam. I'm addicted to that show. But somebody said
(09:43):
that for people that don't know what Firefly was, it
was Guardians of the Galaxy without the Marvel budget. It's
like Okay, that's kind of you know right around.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Uh, I understand that, Yeah, you could. You could that
that's a fair assessment.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I would say, yeah, yeah, So hopefully it does come back.
There's a huge fandom for it even after just one
season in one movie. So I love that there's a
tie in with that. I always love when there's band
names with tie ins to pop culture. All right, so
keep flying? Are you guys? Scott? Are you technically ska?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I like, I like this interview style. This is good.
Just hit them hard. No, that was good. I like
that you Scott, nothing like never the no, I would say.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
No, okay, that's fair.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
But from it from.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Its origin, you know, speaking from the people who are
you know, making the music. We don't factor it in
at all, Like it's not an ingredient in the recipe.
But if people, if people taste it, I guess that
that's open.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Once a song is out there, it no longer is
yours right to a degree.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So if that's the way people take it, I can't
stop them from thinking that. And I think in the
early years of the band, I tried, and you can
never really it's.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Just this thing as this spelling public narrative. You just can't.
He can't convince people anything. So I would say no.
But if people think so, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
It's not like it's not like a pejorative, except if
they're using it as a pejorative.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
That's that's the whole thing it can be. You can
think it's from that.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Not for nothing, you know, to piggyback on Henry or
rather off Henry. Other people say what we are and
aren't you know, like I'll i'll Ricky uses them Facebook
groups and stuff, and like he'll pop in some of
(11:55):
those SKA ones and there'll be people in there that
are like, oh what about keep flying? And then there's
other people who love that music who are like, they're
not SKA exclamation point, and then.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
You know so then.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And then at the other side you got the people
that are, you know, more casual listeners that are like
yeah because they see the horns you guys to SCA.
So we definitely just let people have it however they want,
you know what I mean. I think A great A
great thing for us is a great example of where
we fit is we are playing four chord music fests
(12:30):
this September and the day before we are doing the
super Nova Ska Festival.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Pre show, not the festival, but the pre show.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Because it got a SKA band, it's got a punk
band from the Zoo and it's our friends Hurricane band.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
That is just they do covers and it's fun. It's
a great live experience.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And that's why this becomes an even bigger question for us.
If this was if we had some other element of
another genre, Like if if for some reason I started
rapping on our tracks, the debate.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Wouldn't be oh well, is keep flying hip? It wouldn't
happen that way.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
But because SKA fans are so interested in discussing where
bands fall within that, within that world, that's just how
we get put in.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
That's how this conversation becomes a conversation even more so
than it would with any other world. As they do
this with Streetline Manifesto all the time. We do it
with our expands all the time.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
They do it with the world in front of friendship
society pretty much anything that has horn's but like is
playing other forms of rock music?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I don't know you, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
It's like, well, okay, so happy to play with who
wants to play with us? And happy to have folks
out to the shows who want to enjoy a good
live show.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
We are genre fluid well.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I do like the mix. Everything compliments itself. And of
course with SKA bands, I'm used to a dedicated horn section, trombones, trumpets,
but with you guys, the saxophone is in there almost
as the dominant horn or I guess wouldwind in this case,
and it really compliments these songs that it's in where
(14:21):
you get that full taste, you know, that flavor of saxophone.
And so I think that whatever you guys have done,
you've done it very well. So props. So ten years
in the industry, I was in bands from about two
thousand and two to twenty fourteen, So you guys came
on just as I was wrapping it up, and we
(14:44):
were definitely behind the social media curve. We were starting
to get into Facebook more, we were getting into Twitter more,
Instagram we weren't really existent on and we still had
I think the password to our MySpace. So social media
has become a huge for any industry, especially the music one.
But what have you guys learned in ten years? Like
(15:04):
what has the music world taught you? I mean, how
has it helped the band, and how has it made
challenges for the band?
Speaker 4 (15:12):
I you know, I've thought about this for a while now,
because I'm sure you know this conversation happens constantly. The
short answer, because like Henry said, we could just go
on for me, is simply, it's a tool that has
to be used. Whether you choose to use it or
not is your choice.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
But what we've learned in the industry is.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
That you need to adapt, and you need to pivot,
and you need to lean into the strengths and maybe
let go of some of the things that aren't working
in every band, which is basically a business is going
to have success on one platform or two, or none
or all, and you just have to You won't know
(15:58):
until you're trying it. And on top of that, you know,
in regards to the kind of the second half of
what you were saying, how it affects like daily routine.
Basically it's just a new routine. It is something that
we often get said, or I often hear like, oh,
you know, have to pull out the phone and fill
(16:19):
in this thing, or we're filling filling gas up. Let's
just do this video clip right now. Sure, yes, but
also there's other things that we're no longer having to
do anymore, like it thinks it's changed. So this is
just what it is now. And I don't have to
open up a binder and read the directions that I
(16:40):
printed out off of map quests on how to get
to the venue. Instead, I don't have to think at
all about about it. It's just in the phone and
you're there, so I you know, it's kind of just uh.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, I got adaptations. I got really fired up.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Yes, we've been we're recording this as we've been kind
of off for a couple.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Of weeks from tour.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
We were out for about two months and then we're
about to be out for three more weeks and then
breaking stuff up.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
So I was away from the road for a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
And I literally yesterday, just like you said, people talking
about doing the videos and making video content. I have
a big rant that I'm going to talk to my
band about later about that, but to condense how I'm
feeling about it in this present moment, one of the
things that I discovered is that as a.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Band, your job is to create.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I think the root of it is to is to
make the music right, Like I haven't lost sight of
that as the as the vision.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I know that's not as important.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
For every single band, but for me, that is the
that's the origin point for everything you're doing. And there's
such for at least let's let's call it bands of
our age bracket, maybe people that existed in the time
that you were discussing twenty fifteen twenty fourteen, when they
were were leaving my space, we're going to Facebook and
Instagram and the whole landscape of social media is changing,
(18:09):
and now it's changing again, and I don't know if
all of us in that bracket of time want to
be bothered by another paradigm shift.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
And to that, I say, too bad. Yeah, it's too bad.
And it's not the fault of.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Bands or labels or movers and shakers and music industryho
are making these demands on you. It's the demands of
the crowd. It's the demands of people's attention. That's what
This is the content that people want. This is where
people are finding things, this is where they're finding everything.
It's up to the audience.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
If the audience wants that, you have to give that
to them. Ultimately, if you're able to find an audience
that doesn't care about that. That's great, like we have.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
What's so strange about our particular band is that our
fan base is unified in liking us, but they're a
little bit fractured when.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
It comes to social media.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
We have people that only find out about what we're
doing or engage with us on Facebook and that's it,
which to a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Would people call them dinosaurs for that.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
We have some people that are only on TikTok and
they get their updates from our TikTok, which is like newer.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
For us to do, but they're there and not over here.
They're not on Instagram, they're not on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Like it's so odd to have to kind of mitigate
how to reach these people. But that's what you need
to do, or we're not reaching them, or we're not succeeding.
And I know that this is hard for bands to hear,
but it's another arm of your creative your creative identity,
so you know, user lose it. I don't know what
(19:45):
to tell you. I've seen I get bombarded by people
being upset that we have to keep adjusting, and it's.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Like, well, sorry, what do you want to do? Do
you want to do you want to do this or not?
You have to, some don't, and good on you.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
You know, like anything, there always will be outliers, right,
There'll always be businesses and bands that are able to
do next to nothing extra curricular work, and everyone's at
the shows and everybody knows that the shows are happening
and people are buying the merch and that to those people,
(20:20):
I say, that's amazing, not because I don't want to
do the work, but because I'm really glad that it
organically is happening for you without having to.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Spend so much extra time. But you know what am
I going to do? Sit around and wait and hope that,
like just pray that that happens for me.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I want to I wanna wrap. I'm gonna wrap it
up with this and my indignation and then we can
get to your next question. I had a choice to make.
It's either do I keep doing this and be upset
at my station, or do I adapt and try to
keep making it work so I can keep being a
(20:56):
person in a band who wants to put their own
music out there. The choice ultimately was adapt or die.
So we don't want to stop doing what we're doing.
And if we have to keep making adjustments to do it,
then that's what we need to do.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Understory, and I appreciate that stance. I respect that stance,
and I relate to that stance a lot. When we were,
you know, in I guess my version of our peak
as a band, when we had shows where there were
label reps coming to check us out from time to time.
I wish that we would have had more of a
grasp on social media because it kind of handles your promotion.
(21:33):
I did promotion for a club in Spokane where you
were putting flyers on windshields, you know, for like four
hours a night. And now social media has kind of
handled what the flyer is because you can post an
update to your Instagram, to your ex, to your Facebook.
I mean, what the rejects are doing out there with
these pop up backyard and bowling alley shows. You can't
(21:53):
do that with just the website. That's the power of
social media because people get your updates, they know where
you are, when you are, and they can show up.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
They're brilliant for that.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Oh it's awesome. I love it so much.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Such a good use of their their I would say power,
but like their reach and their ability and their notoriety
to do something so grassroots and in a really intelligent way.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Sorry, no, no, that's yeah, that's a good add on,
and so that I think is one of the tools
and one of the benefits of social media. I don't
think a label should ever come in and look at
how many followers you have on certain socials, but it
is a business at the end of the day. That's
one of the things that I wouldn't be particularly a
fan of, is you know, well, how many you know,
what what's your reach on Instagram or what's your you know,
(22:39):
how many likes on Facebook? That part I wouldn't be
a fan of. But I also wonder if it takes
away some of the mystique of bands, because you know,
growing up, you had these bands and they would be
a certain way on stage, and you're like, I wonder
if they're like that all the time, and there would
be videos that would maybe be recorded on a T
mobile sidekick, you know, and it would get posted somewhere
(22:59):
online and it's them doing pranks to each other backstage.
But now it's like, we constantly have a camera available
to us. We're I feel like I'm being watched all
the time, even though I know I'm not. But it's
like if I screw up somewhere and somebody catches it
on video, now, all of a sudden, I'm going to
be somewhere I don't want to be, And so I
feel like it's almost too much backstage access. But that's
(23:22):
just a personal opinion, because I always liked the mystique
of like, what is a band really like in real life?
You know, and you didn't see them constantly all over
the social media's this interaction are doing this? But you know, that's,
like I said, a personal opinion of mine.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I think there's no question with that.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
The reality TV era is certainly what has caused everyone
to kind of feel like I'd like to know more,
and I have access to so many other people of
any sort of you know, notoriety.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Why can I have that access to you?
Speaker 4 (23:57):
I think, of course entitled to the access, not in
a bad way necessarily, but just more so. It's expected
because it is so common by most. But of course
there is pushback to that and plenty of creatives who
are not like that. And I would say that it
(24:18):
only increases what you said, the allure to knowing you know,
you never see so and so out there. I wonder
what you know it's like, and so there's still curiosity.
So I think you could try to find a good
a good mix of giving some and not giving all, you.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Know, so you can keep your humanity.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
That's what I that's what I believe, you know, I
aim to do and I would like.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Us to do.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
I think that there's a lot even though it feels
like you'll see a band that posts every day, you know,
and maybe gives people more access to something than you
would think. It's like getting the but it's like getting
the special features of the live DVD all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I I still.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Know that there are things that you know, people don't
put out there, not in a nefarious way. It's just
that you there's there's private lives. It's not you know,
we don't do don't We don't need bands to be
Love Island and just have you know the cameras.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Right, that'd be an interesting so much in the light. Yes,
John and Henry, Okay, there you guys are.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
As it turns out not to mention like like more
recently for us.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
You know, it's public knowledge now, But when Ricky was
you know, we found out that Ricky was going to
need a next surgery for rocking too hard.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
By the way it happens, it happened.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
We didn't We didn't say anything until the tour almost
had wrapped up, you know, we did. We did the
second half like almost four weeks without making it known
why he wasn't there. We had a couple of people
realizing it from the clips, but we just he didn't
feel comfortable and wasn't ready to share and wanted to
wait until he had all the information on his recovery
(26:12):
and what the surgery was going to be.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
And then we did it.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
And so you know, there's an exact example of like,
we're not going to say something right now.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It's it's personal until it needed to be, and he
wanted it to be made knowledge, at least the parts
that he wants to people to know. You know.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, And that's fair, and that's decisions that beans I
think everybody has to make when it comes to social media. So,
like I said, solid answer from you guys. I love
your approach to it. It's a tool you know you
use it and I agree completely. So once again, they
are keep flying. They're on the second wave. Of their
tour right now for Time and Tide, and we've got
one more serious question before the speed round of fun questions.
(26:53):
So this one I wanted.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
To say, bring bringing in Pete, bringing in Pete.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
For Okay, Okay, I'm going to bring in Pete for this.
I like it. So the last one, you guys, obviously
you're with Smart Punk. They have released or brought back
from the dead, the Warped Compilation CD, which I cannot
tell you how near and dear to my heart. That
album is the bands that I discovered from just buying
(27:17):
that blindly and listening to it start to finish, not
skipping any tracks. I mean, Pierce the Veil, Made a Parade,
Bedouin Soundclash, Ann Arbor of Mice, and men A Skylit Drive.
I mean, these are bands that it's like, whoa, I
have to go and see them based on one song
off of an album. You guys are on this one.
What does that mean to you? To be part of
(27:37):
that legacy? Now with Warped tour and Kevin Lyman and everything,
it's big.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It is. I mean they're playing the CD.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
I'm the PA while people are walking in to DC
Warps and there is a surreal thing.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
I mean we I'm not braggingized.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
We have managed to find our way onto a few
days before the country the countrywide tour ended.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So you know, we've been there to a few things
a few times, and.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
There is this there's a surreal feeling every time because
just like you, it's the same, it's the same idea
we would, we would.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I was a patron. You know that that's the right
of passage, right, So.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, to have our work be part of what they're
doing and to be involved in any sort of way
is really special.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
And we we think you know, worked for allowing it
to happen.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
We think Smart Punk for for putting us on there,
and and yeah, it's a really it's a really really
great thing and we're happy to be there.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Is that a phone call you get from Smart Punk
say hey, you guys cool with this? Or it just
shows up and and somebody messages you, did you guys
know that you're on this album?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Well there there's more. I mean, we yes, you know,
do I break the wall down and just say it?
I guess so?
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Because this will be the first and probably only interview
podcasts where this has been said, So that's kind of
nice No.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Smartpunk curated it.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
They pitched this idea they wanted to have a stage
at warp toward they could not make it work with
the new owners, so they were able to come up
with this idea instead. I believe that the way they
made it work was all of the VIP ticket holders
received this as part of their package, so already many
(29:38):
thousands of units were going to be used for that.
The way the curation worked was there were several people involved,
including Smart Punk. Of course we are a smart Punk band,
so Matt Burns of course made it happen, along with
a few other bands. We did end up playing DC
Warped because Smart Punk was granted a space with loyal
(29:59):
to the craft, like a tent that had you know,
some speaking and some school of rock bands, and it
was really awesome. I'm really glad to have done the
first one back that way.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
But the comp was you.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Know, kind of curated by several people, and we knew
we didn't know where we were going to be.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
On there, and neither did they.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Because I know that Smartpunk did not have the final
say with the track list order, so the the powers
that be over in the Warped Vans Ethos Bubble. Why
we got track six on disc one is amazing. You know,
I felt really honored by that, you know, like that
(30:41):
you could have been tracked seventeen on disc two. You know, again,
I don't know who's that position, but if someone's gonna
put the CD on, they're gonna make it through at
least some of the first songs.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Right, Yeah, I felt you have to man like.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Yeah, that felt good. So thanks to ever ended up
picking the final track order. But yeah, we kind of
were asked about this many months ago by Smart Pump.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Do you think overall it's a good idea?
Speaker 4 (31:11):
You think people will care, you think we could how
many of these do you think we could sell across
all the dates? And you know, kind of just brainstorming
the business part of it, And I do think it
was successful. I mean, I've seen a lot of people
I know that between that CD and ours, I don't
really think anyone else was out there peddling CDs in
(31:31):
the crowd whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Wow, which which was the way it used to be?
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Oh yeah, but most fans don't even have CDs anymore.
Number one, Number two, I think you know, the festivals,
it's it's a bigger festival kind of thing. Now it's
you know, it's I don't know whatever people's urgency was
for doing or not doing it, but we did, and
you know, we sold a lot, and I know that
they sold a lot for five bucks the old way
(32:00):
nostalgia to that. So I guess ultimately we're honored to
have been put on there, and I'm really glad you
have been asked my opinion on the whole project in general.
Like you said, maybe we give that to somebody who
likes our band and then they're on track twenty disc
two and they're like, oh my god, I've never heard
(32:21):
of this band before. Here take it. Hopefully they find
new band because we did the same thing. I also
found a lot of bands. I found many bands from
one song on that comp except many comps. You know,
labels did the comps too, and I found they threw
them in the packages for free.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I found out a lot of bands that way.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
So I agree with your sentiment on that, and I
hope that there's even three people that find us or
find another band on that comp through.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Us, and then that makes it all worthwhile. I'm fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
So yeah, for people that haven't heard of keep Flying.
Some tracks all recommend you. Mistakes obviously a big one,
which I have a question about that track specifically here
in a second, but one nine to eight Broadway is
another great one. Delusional Surviving the Night was fantastic. So
if you guys want to get a real feel for
this band, go and check out those tracks Spotify, Amazon Music. Mistakes.
(33:17):
How was that the chosen one, so to speak, for
the album? Did you have a say in that? And
what was like, Hey, it should be Mistakes?
Speaker 2 (33:26):
To me, I think it's the strongest single off of
the new record. Time and time to.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
See that, I would agree.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
I think that the goal of Mistakes to me was
to make it appeal to as many listeners as possible,
Like you know, at heart, we're a punk band. We're
a punk rock band. I understand that not everybody even
knows what that can mean, and I kind of created
it to be something that I can show anybody in
(33:54):
any venue of listening at any time, and so it's
been the one that I've led with when when showing.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
People the band or the new record.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
I mean, there's other great examples of songs that encapsulate
what we do, and I'm not saying that that song
even does everything.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
That we do. It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
It's actually one of the slower ones and we play
very fast. But I think that that is a really
accessible song, and I just wanted to lead with something
that can get you in, at least that I believe.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
To get people in and then hopefully they check out
everything else.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So who whistles on the start of the track and
how many takes? How many takes?
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Only a few only because it didn't take as long
as I thought.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I was worried that it would be, you know, because
I like it's it's it's not like it's a hard part.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
But whistling into a microphone you have to get the
right direction. You have to not get wind noise.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, you have to.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I really wanted the inflection to be really perfect. I
wanted to make sure that.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
It trailed off the right way, And just because I
wanted to make sure I got it right, I feel
like I only did it like five or six times.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
It was it wasn't too bad.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
So yeah, I mean, it's a solid part of the track.
I honestly had to ask because I wasn't sure. I
was like, I want to know if they did this
like ten times and then they're like, you know, what,
is there a way to AI this thing or what?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, we don't aim recording. I mean what it's probably
chopped up.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I mean, you know, you probably you take you comp
it's called comping vocals, like you take the best version
of this.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Part of the put together. I mean I might have
gotten it one I think it was one taker. I
don't think it at all. Well, great, I don't.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Remember that he got it in one take. We're going
to go with that.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, well, I remember that.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
When we were doing it, we were all like, oh no,
you actually got it, Like that was the was fun.
We were like, oh no, I think this will be fine.
We could definitely record this and and just go for it. Yeah,
because the same thing we thought, ah and then oh.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
No, it'll it'll be good.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
So, so you guys on the Warped comp CD, are
you guys playing Orlando? Yeah, we'll be Thereesome, Okay, I
know somebody else.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
Or officially, unofficially or officially is to be determined. I
don't know, but we will be there regardless. At the moment, we're.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Still waiting to figure out our fall touring plans. But
if certain things don't come.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
Through, we will be spending like a good chunk of
time in Orlando that week doing a series of other
events around Warped, which I am very excited about, kind
of like Fest Gainesville style or.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
PUSA in Montreal.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Like, there's just going to be a bunch of shows
happening in Orlando, in Sanford, in Melbourne, and it's going
to be a really fun week where we're pretty stationary
and we could just pop up and do different sets
and different set lists, and I think that's gonna be
really cool for our community that we have down there
and those who will be traveling in.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
So well, I'm gonna call out our local venue here,
the Newberry in Great Falls, Montana. Newberry, you need to
get keep Flying on the schedule. Bowling for Soup's been here,
Boys like Girls are coming here this month. We the
Kings have been here. Keep Flying can be here and
put on a great show for Great Falls, Montana. So Newberry,
(37:14):
get on it. Let's go. Uh two hours north of Bozeman,
North North. Yeah, you're closer to Canada than you are
the US at that point.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, we'll get there.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Okay, Well, I do love the track mistakes it hooked
me and then I posted on Instagram. And the story
is the official story, guys, of how this interview came
to be is you know, I post this thing, I
take smart punk and then keep flying. You know, they
like it, and then we follow each other and then
they reach out and they're like, oh, your show is
so awesome, like we should be on it. And I
(37:53):
was like, okay, you know, like we'll make time and whatever.
But no, this has been a great conversation with you guys.
Love hanging out. Love the track mistake, especially because I
kid you not not verbatim, but a version of the
chorus was something that I said to a girl back
in the day as a line that I dropped to herself.
But there's there's a story to it. This podcast isn't
(38:16):
about me, it's about you guys, so we can talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Was that was an amazing lead in You're gonna You're
gonna leave us.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
All right, all right, you can make it quick.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
It's okay, okay. So I had just gotten through a
nasty breakup, okay, like like you do. And I was
at the bar that I would go to with my friends.
But it was a random like Monday or Tuesday, and
so none of my friends were. There was me literally
drinking alone, and I think I checked in on four
Square and a friend of mine who I had worked with,
(38:46):
who was part of our mutual friends group, then messaged
me and said, hey, you want some company and I said, yeah, sure,
come on down. And so we're having a drink and
she's like, do you want to play some pool or darts?
And I was like, do you just want to go
back and like make some really good mistakes And whether
or not anything happened, I will leave it out of mystery,
but that is yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
So we'll respect you. Pete finished that story. I respect
I respect you.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
On high levels.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Yeah. It was you know, post breakup. Let's just cut
out the BS kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:20):
I know.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
That's a great, great approach. We've all been there.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
When you're twenty four to twenty five, that's what happens. Man.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
So we've all been there, except for our new guitarist,
young Dave.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
He's not been there.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Oh man, the four Square days that was something. Uh,
So it is time for the speed round, bringing big Pete.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Between Anny and I. Come on, Pete, all right here
he comes. Let's get a drum roll for him.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
All oh yeah, big, All right, So the speed Round
is a series of questions. You guys just throw out
the first thing that comes to your mind. And the
first one is who has the worst habit on tour?
Speaker 2 (39:58):
And what is it?
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Me?
Speaker 5 (40:00):
Texting and driving?
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah, next question, all.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Right, Pete textan and driving? What is the go to
item on the Taco bell menu?
Speaker 4 (40:13):
These guys get the boxes because they're cheaper on the
mobile apps.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
They do the mobile app with the box, right, I
don't do the box, So that's a move.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
So Rick Trombone player does the He's got the app,
and you can get a five lire burrito, a crunch trap,
a cheese potato, and a drink for like six bucks.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
So and one of those items alone is like four
dollars four fifty. So yeah, we we do the box.
Heverybody you get, I usually get stuff off.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Like the cravings menu, So just the two dollars three
dollars items like at two or three of those things.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
I usually I usually get a cup of ice and
chew it.
Speaker 6 (40:47):
Why don't you get the box because you'll be spending
probably less money in getting.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Bacause I can't be honest with you I don't want
the things in the box. You are relegated to the
boxes that I don't like me.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
Tool Sometimes I suck on the cardboard.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
That's all right.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
You gotta be vegan. The cardboard is VEGANA gotcha.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
You gotta be frugal on tour, so I get it,
all right? What a burger or in and out?
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Oh, in and out? Really I don't like me, Henry
put me on it.
Speaker 5 (41:21):
You know, a fine Dutchman. It's got no buns, it's
got all them onions on.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
It's the people watch the cars.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
I probably go in and out, although yeah, in and
out it's it's not as heavy as whatever. Also cheaper.
I go in and out because Rick gets a milkshake
there and I watch him drink it.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Here you go, man, those shakes are no joke.
Speaker 6 (41:45):
And also also one time me and Johnny were working
on a tour and we went with a bunch of
people from Sweden and they gave us free milkshakes and.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
I watched them drink those two you know what.
Speaker 4 (41:56):
In and out does the well done French fry and
that is my that's that the thing like actually Kenny
and it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Which really is the only way to eat their friends.
So crispy, so crispy.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
You need you need to make all right one for
all three of you on your respective playlist. What is
the one song you cannot skip?
Speaker 7 (42:15):
Like?
Speaker 2 (42:16):
What would I've never made a play? John doesn't make
play John, it's a weird ever Wow, brag it's sad.
Probably you guys go first. I think about give it first.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Come on.
Speaker 5 (42:35):
I listened to a lot of Spanish music by Serb
Brava from Argentina.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Okay, all right, what.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Are you sorry about? That's what you like? I don't
have an answer right now I have. I have a
very strange AI generated song stuck in my head.
Speaker 4 (42:57):
For me, it would be any playlist that had Weird
al or Mighty Mighty Ballstones on it. If someone skipped
that song, whatever it was, I'd be I'd say something
out loud Other than that, I'll never cared.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
But if I'd be like, why would you skip that?
Then I know that that would happen with those two artists.
Speaker 1 (43:13):
Fair enough, fair enough, mine is the best of me
by the starting line, I don't care how many times
I've heard that song. I cannot skip it.
Speaker 8 (43:20):
Pete does not know that one Wow Wow, just listening
to Saves the Day, and he's recently found out about
Saving Today, which record we dry.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
He's new to that, and we also listened to some
Lifetime on this thirty six hour drive. But I like you,
I like you like Jersey. He even switched to the
self titled for me, which was very kind. I love.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
You.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Didn't know. I didn't. That's a lot airport on Monday morning.
And ship where are you from?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Originally Spokane and I'm in Montana now? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (43:56):
Ye, my boys moving the billions. Okay, he's moving back,
all right, keep them coming.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
All right? Bucket list city or venue?
Speaker 6 (44:09):
Oh the place you said in Montana? I want to
go there now? It was really north No, honestly, you
know what it is now for me?
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Red Rocks.
Speaker 6 (44:20):
Wherever those people from in Toronto that we played with
Vancouver Island, is that I want to play in Vancouver
Island to Canada.
Speaker 5 (44:27):
It's all the way west and you gotta take a
ferry to get the know what.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
I'm gonna piggyback off of my boy, Big Pete.
Speaker 4 (44:34):
We've done the Maritimes multiple times in Canada, but we've
never done Newfoundland Island because it's a much larger task
than you've got to fly there, take a very long ferry.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
I would feel good. No, we already do have done
those places, and most bands have never and never will.
Speaker 4 (44:52):
It would be nice to do one more. That is,
I guaranteed that nobody else really will. I think played
there recently. Okay, but the Canadian so that's gonna be mine.
No venue anywhere that will host the show in Newfoundland Island.
This is the two furthest West.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Every I think. I think for me, I guess Red
Rocks pops in my brain like as I've never been
and not that my new Brooklyn Tavern been there.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
It's great, and I think for me, like enough people
nationwide kind of know that if you're they know of it.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
So if you say that you've done it kind of solidifies.
Speaker 3 (45:33):
Or legitimizes you you as like an artist, which I
feel like I have to justify my experience enough.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
So I feel like if I say that I did that,
it means that i've you know, I really am an artist.
So I got one more kind of global.
Speaker 4 (45:47):
But we had some success last year supporting some legendary
reggae and reggae rock bands, and we got a small
taste of playing some of those port cities in the summer,
and I would love because these bands do it often.
I would love to get support for one of those
bands that does the coastal cities in the summertime, like
(46:10):
all down the East Coast, because that every time I
look at those flyers now, I'm like, I want to
play all these places. They're all beach trump places. Everybody's
having a good time. People are just sipping drinks. Yeah,
you know, it just looks so fun and it looks
so warm and welcoming, and that's what I want from this.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
And last one, what is the must have item in
your green room?
Speaker 4 (46:35):
Water?
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Which you know really does It doesn't always get fulfilled, doesn't.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
I know that doesn't sound like a big ask, but
it can.
Speaker 5 (46:45):
Be creamy peanut butter.
Speaker 4 (46:51):
That has been removed from the rider never touches it
removal because we use what we get one scoop and
that's all they use and then where's the rest of that?
Speaker 2 (47:00):
And then we try to take it with us and
they have four peanut butters with us, which is ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (47:06):
So water, it's water, and lately it's been you know,
the touring team. Our energy drink users of several varieties,
so we often just when they say, oh, anything else,
we like Celsius if you guess any day, like ghosts,
(47:27):
ghosts any.
Speaker 5 (47:30):
I'm back in the energy drink thing.
Speaker 6 (47:32):
Boy, I've become someone who loves sugar free Red Bull
and I'll never forget. The first time we had a
ghost energy drink was in Billings, Montana, because we had
drink tickets and we had a long drive that night
and John and I was that amount of bar and
we've seen some insane looking neon colored can that's like ghosts.
(47:53):
And he was like, yo, if I get one of
those crazy things, will you get one? And it was
the cherry lymemade ghost And since then we also really
love ghost energy.
Speaker 2 (48:03):
Yeah, and our teeth fell out.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
Now, well, hey, they're always going to look sharp, though,
I mean that's a plus.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Well we've had them filed sharp.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
Oh okay, they look like sharp kind of teeth.
Speaker 5 (48:18):
And mine are a little bit yellow and so they're
a little bit warm listening.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
They painted by hand painted.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
Gotta have them tinted so they for the realism. All right,
So the real last one here that I want to
know that just came to mind, is what is a
tour hack or even a tour don't? I know? For
me as an example for you guys, we would play
in Seattle a lot, and that drive from Spokane to
Seattle is about four and a half hours, So for
(48:43):
whatever reason, we always drove back after the show. I
thought it was stupid. It's like, we know enough people,
we should just crash here, but we we wouldn't. We
would drive back and our singer, who drove most of
the way, wouldn't listen to music. He would listen to
stand up comedy because he said, if you fall into
a music playlist you've heard it before, it's going to
(49:04):
rock you to sleep, where if you're actively listening for
like a punchline and laughing like, you're going to stay awake.
So that was his like hack or his trick to
long distance driving. So what's a hack or a definite
don't for tour for you guys that you've learned over
ten years.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
I don't really drive for the band anymore, but when
I was a driver for touring and stuff, one hundred
percent stand up.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
Was great for long night drives, definitely more engaging than songs,
which can be repetitive and lull you I got gyre
you go. Mine is is also going to be global
because it can be applied to many things. Just ask,
(49:45):
just ask me.
Speaker 4 (49:46):
In regards to what you said about places to stay,
we still currently some cities, I ask on stage because
it's just why not, because hey, the hotels are two
hundred and fifty bucks that we don't feel like driving.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Also, really with anything with any question, I'm I and
we we get this with a lot of the younger
bands that are asking us, how.
Speaker 4 (50:11):
Do you guys like I always see that you guys
like you eat Chipotle and you you get it for
free because we call.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
And we ask, as they have very right to say
no and they do. But you know, sometimes we ask
and we get it. That's it.
Speaker 4 (50:27):
Just don't be afraid to ask. I know the climate change,
post pandemic. I know that people are different. If you
if you got the fortitude in you to just ask,
you should you should because the worst thing they're going
to say is no, and that is in regards to
literally anything anything.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Yeah, that's how I get guests on the show. I ask,
there you go.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
That's it, And here's Pete tech. Harry comes from meres
back here, the copoys and your and your show with
this right here, I.
Speaker 6 (50:59):
Was gonna give a serious one. Yeah, I don't have
a lot to say. A lot of the time, I
think that mostly John and Henry speak for me. I
guess that the number one thing. I guess it's not
even a hack. I think that you need to stay
as positive as you can on the road, as much
(51:23):
as you can. And I think that that might sound
a little I don't want to sound hypocritical, because I'm
certainly guilty of not doing that, But like, you play
some shows that are gonna suck, and and you know,
a sucky show for us is different than a sucky
show for a band like Liquid eighty two. But you know,
a sucky show for us, there's there was five people there,
(51:46):
but we sold one shirt or or we're on stage
and nobody's moving and and it's very easy, easy.
Speaker 5 (51:53):
To fall into the whole of I don't want to
be here, and I don't want to do it.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
But I think that.
Speaker 6 (52:00):
If you take that energy and turn it into a
oh the show sucks, I feel like shit. But I'm
gonna just have fun anyways, And I'm gonna have fun
with my friends, and we're gonna look at each other
on stage and laugh and then we're gonna make the
best of it.
Speaker 5 (52:14):
Then it'll make the next time you play a show
like that not nearly as bad.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
That makes sense.
Speaker 1 (52:21):
Yeah, I think that was zen. I think that was perfect.
And yeah, that is the great way to end the
interview with the Boys of Keep Flying. They're on tour now.
The album is Time and Tide. They're on wave two
of the tour, coming to a city near you, and
on a podcast that has had Mike Herrera, Jared Reddick,
Real Big Fish members, and Kevin Lyman twice. We can
(52:44):
now add Keep Flying to not one, but two lists,
the list of great guests on the show, and a
list of bands that I've discovered through the Van's Warp
Tour compilation CD, which is available through Smart Punks. So,
you guys have a great tour thing. Thank you so
much for your time. It's been awesome. Anything else you
want to throw out there that the fans should know
(53:05):
about Keep Flying before we cut this.
Speaker 7 (53:06):
Thing off, Dave, I think we're pretty all right, all right.
Speaker 1 (53:19):
Guys, So that's going to do it for the Boys
of Keep Flying. I am the teammate Richard Teaman, and
we will see you next time.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the one, the
only the Fans show. This is a music Division special.
We have not done one of these for a minute,
but man, we got a great guest for you today.
I of course, am always the tea man, Richard Temon
and today Flying High we've got the band keep flying
from Jersey, New York area. Gentlemen, Welcome. How you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I thought for a moment you had me going. I
was like wow, and then you brought it in at
the end. You stuck to the landing. This a contact.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
A lot of people think our band name is Flying High,
and I thought that that's what you were about to say,
and I.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Was about be like wow, no, no, So I have
been in that boat before. The last band I was
in was called Not for Now, and everybody thought it
was not for Nothing. And the irony is that that
turned out to be a band. There's a band now
in my hometown called not for Nothing, and a buddy
of mine who was in my very first band is
part of that band. Like that's how crazy and small
(01:38):
the world is. So I get it when people think
that the band name is something that it isn't. But
I wanted to make sure I got it right. So
keep flying is the boys here in the box. We
got Henry, we got John. Big Pete will be making
an appearance. If you follow their social on ig, you're
gonna love Big Pete. But man, guys, this is a
real treat for me because I love talking with bands.
(01:59):
You guys, never have any shortage of stories. But the
first question I gotta ask and I gotta know, okay,
this is this is like a serious one. Avril Levine
or Hailey Williams. You can only pick one.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
That's A that's A.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
I don't know why I thought so long. You know,
I should have just went you very quick answer. My
answer is Avril, okay, I know the songs, and that
hit me. I'm thirty nine.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
If I didn't know, I wouldn't say I missed Paramore.
But it wasn't like a thing that was pressing on
me the way that Avril was. Okay, you know, just
right out the gate, like you say the two and
I would immediately my brain went to the left.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So well, and there's no specific on that question. It's
very open, meaning that in your mind it's whatever you
think of first. It could be looks, it could be there,
you know, it could be their albums, it could be
their impact on the scene, it could be whatever it is.
But it's just you got to pick one for whatever
your reasons are.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I think Avril. You can base it off our age,
I guess, but I think was. I think Avril was
more impactful for for us at the time.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And I think that because we were, you know, the
age in which you could be impacted by that kind
of thing.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And uh, Haley Haley seems I think to us to
sound this is gonna sound kind of like ghost.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
But I feel like Haley feels more like a contemporary
to us versus Avril, who is kind of as a
super stardom I think to people our.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Age than than Haley Williams. Is not that she doesn't
Hailey Williams is a huge artist, but it just feels
like a different echelon of artists to me.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
At least I guess on a on a personal note
and an old band of mine. I played a house
show in Nashville that she was just at, which made it.
That's more what I'm saying, More like like you're we're
the same versus the Avril, right level.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I feel like us one of right, it feels closer
to us, even though she's not by any ste the rivation.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
She just somehow feels more closer in our circle. I
guess by association than Alvin does.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
All right, you know that's fair. That's fair. Like I said,
it's meant to be whatever your interpretation is of the question.
So now moving on. I love to do a quick
Google search, and you know, check the Wikipedia for the
bands I'm interviewing, even if I've known them for many,
many years. But we have one.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I was hoping that you'd make us one, because no
one's made us a Wikipedia yet.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
You don't officially. But here's what the internets have to
say about Keep flying you guys were established in twenty
fifteen from New York, New Jersey from the band or
I guess members are from the band. Survey says, so
is all that accurate? Okay?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Sixteen?
Speaker 3 (04:46):
But yes, it was the from the ashes of my
old band, Survey says, became this band.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Okay, not a bad band name either. Survey says it
sounds like something if you were a big.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
It was, Well, we spelt it wrong because it was
just when we made the MySpace page in two thousand
and eight, there were three. There were three that already
had the E, and we're just like, let's just do
this because it was just me and my high school
friends making terrible songs in my basement, so like it
really didn't matter.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
And then it accidentally became my life.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It wasn't anything that was meant to be serious, and
then it became my calling.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
And a few things happened in between then and now,
and here we are.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
We're keep flying, which is a perfect segue into my
favorite question, which is the band name origin story. Now,
some are good, some are not so great. My Carrera
MxPx confirmed what it said on the internet that you
know they were magnum plaid and that the dots looked
like x's, so they became MxPx. Jarrett of Bowling for
Soup has said many times where the Bowling for Soup
(05:55):
name came from. It was a Steve Martin Bitt that
was bowling for shit, and then you know they put
the soup on there for their first show, Blink one
eighty two. Uh, everybody had their theory about where the
one eighty two came from. But I just read Mark
Hoppus's book, and apparently he just threw the number out there.
And it's very, very disappointing to hear because I had
some really good theories on where the one eighty two
(06:16):
came from. So where does keep Flying originate?
Speaker 4 (06:21):
I'll let Henry take this one, but I'll say ours
is great. I know you you you started this segment
with some are good, some are bad.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Ours is great, awesome, I'm excited. Now, all right, let's
do it.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Probably so, so there's a there was a short lived
television show called Firefly, Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Which spawned a movie.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Of the same universe called Serenity, which somehow most people
are aware of Serenity.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
But not Firefly.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
And it's a just for a brief context, it's a
it's a featuristic.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Sci fi show.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It's a it's like a sci fi western about a
rogue group of people kind of living on the fringes
of society and you know, not kind of going against
convention within the show or like within the world that
they're in, and they're kind of kind of just take
(07:17):
jobs and living off.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Like us, like I said, the fringes of everything.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
And there's a specific line in one of the one
of the like intros of the show.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Where it goes find a crew, find a job, keep playing.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
And I remember when we were kind of spawning the
ideas of changing what we were doing with the band
at the time, and originally it was supposed to be
more of a name change, but it really became more
of a mission change and more of a.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
New band and a new focus and a new objective.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
And I remember just watching the show for the thousandth
time and hearing that and thinking, Wow, that was just
something clicked that I was like, that sounds like not
only a great name for an artist, but it kind
of puts the mission statement of our band within the name.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
You know, we read a lot of songs.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
About perseverance and and and and survival, and I think
that that our our name kind of encapsulates what the
music is about and also as a decent.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Message in of itself. So I got it. I got
it from a TV show that I like, that's more
or less the story.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
I could go way deeper into what it means to me,
but you can also find it on a plaque or
or a quilt at Marshall's.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
You know, just the phrase is just a really uplifting,
simple message a reminder. And you know, most of our
people in our community, they don't know about the fire
orfight thing. And it's just for them, is that. And
they often say, and that's perfect.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
You don't have to you don't have to. It's perfect
just where I got it. Don have to be. It's not.
It's not as though we're singing.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I do borrow from the show in terms of theme,
but like I'm not saying about the show, We're not
a wizard rock band.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
But yeah, if we ever make it.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
We made fund the the second season, the reboot that
that never happened.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
They try every year, they try something all the time.
It's just not gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Well, I love the story, I love the name, and
it's funny because yeah, Firefly. Everybody that was in that
show went on to be prominent members cast members of
like legit shows that somehow those ones worked, but that
one with all of them did not. And of course
I'm a huge Alentutic fan right now, Resident Alien is
my jam. I'm addicted to that show. But somebody said
(09:43):
that for people that don't know what Firefly was, it
was Guardians of the Galaxy without the Marvel budget. It's
like Okay, that's kind of you know right around.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Uh, I understand that, Yeah, you could. You could that
that's a fair assessment.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I would say, yeah, yeah, So hopefully it does come back.
There's a huge fandom for it even after just one
season in one movie. So I love that there's a
tie in with that. I always love when there's band
names with tie ins to pop culture. All right, so
keep flying? Are you guys? Scott? Are you technically ska?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I like, I like this interview style. This is good.
Just hit them hard. No, that was good. I like
that you Scott, nothing like never the no, I would say.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
No, okay, that's fair.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
But from it from.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Its origin, you know, speaking from the people who are
you know, making the music. We don't factor it in
at all, Like it's not an ingredient in the recipe.
But if people, if people taste it, I guess that
that's open.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Once a song is out there, it no longer is
yours right to a degree.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So if that's the way people take it, I can't
stop them from thinking that. And I think in the
early years of the band, I tried, and you can
never really it's.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Just this thing as this spelling public narrative. You just can't.
He can't convince people anything. So I would say no.
But if people think so, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
It's not like it's not like a pejorative, except if
they're using it as a pejorative.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
That's that's the whole thing it can be. You can
think it's from that.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Not for nothing, you know, to piggyback on Henry or
rather off Henry. Other people say what we are and
aren't you know, like I'll i'll Ricky uses them Facebook
groups and stuff, and like he'll pop in some of
(11:55):
those SKA ones and there'll be people in there that
are like, oh what about keep flying? And then there's
other people who love that music who are like, they're
not SKA exclamation point, and then.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
You know so then.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
And then at the other side you got the people
that are, you know, more casual listeners that are like
yeah because they see the horns you guys to SCA.
So we definitely just let people have it however they want,
you know what I mean. I think A great A
great thing for us is a great example of where
we fit is we are playing four chord music fests
(12:30):
this September and the day before we are doing the
super Nova Ska Festival.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Pre show, not the festival, but the pre show.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Because it got a SKA band, it's got a punk
band from the Zoo and it's our friends Hurricane band.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
That is just they do covers and it's fun. It's
a great live experience.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
And that's why this becomes an even bigger question for us.
If this was if we had some other element of
another genre, Like if if for some reason I started
rapping on our tracks, the debate.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Wouldn't be oh well, is keep flying hip? It wouldn't
happen that way.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
But because SKA fans are so interested in discussing where
bands fall within that, within that world, that's just how
we get put in.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
That's how this conversation becomes a conversation even more so
than it would with any other world. As they do
this with Streetline Manifesto all the time. We do it
with our expands all the time.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
They do it with the world in front of friendship
society pretty much anything that has horn's but like is
playing other forms of rock music?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I don't know you, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
It's like, well, okay, so happy to play with who
wants to play with us? And happy to have folks
out to the shows who want to enjoy a good
live show.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
We are genre fluid well.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I do like the mix. Everything compliments itself. And of
course with SKA bands, I'm used to a dedicated horn section, trombones, trumpets,
but with you guys, the saxophone is in there almost
as the dominant horn or I guess wouldwind in this case,
and it really compliments these songs that it's in where
(14:21):
you get that full taste, you know, that flavor of saxophone.
And so I think that whatever you guys have done,
you've done it very well. So props. So ten years
in the industry, I was in bands from about two
thousand and two to twenty fourteen, So you guys came
on just as I was wrapping it up, and we
(14:44):
were definitely behind the social media curve. We were starting
to get into Facebook more, we were getting into Twitter more,
Instagram we weren't really existent on and we still had
I think the password to our MySpace. So social media
has become a huge for any industry, especially the music one.
But what have you guys learned in ten years? Like
(15:04):
what has the music world taught you? I mean, how
has it helped the band, and how has it made
challenges for the band?
Speaker 4 (15:12):
I you know, I've thought about this for a while now,
because I'm sure you know this conversation happens constantly. The
short answer, because like Henry said, we could just go
on for me, is simply, it's a tool that has
to be used. Whether you choose to use it or
not is your choice.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
But what we've learned in the industry is.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
That you need to adapt, and you need to pivot,
and you need to lean into the strengths and maybe
let go of some of the things that aren't working
in every band, which is basically a business is going
to have success on one platform or two, or none
or all, and you just have to You won't know
(15:58):
until you're trying it. And on top of that, you know,
in regards to the kind of the second half of
what you were saying, how it affects like daily routine.
Basically it's just a new routine. It is something that
we often get said, or I often hear like, oh,
you know, have to pull out the phone and fill
(16:19):
in this thing, or we're filling filling gas up. Let's
just do this video clip right now. Sure, yes, but
also there's other things that we're no longer having to
do anymore, like it thinks it's changed. So this is
just what it is now. And I don't have to
open up a binder and read the directions that I
(16:40):
printed out off of map quests on how to get
to the venue. Instead, I don't have to think at
all about about it. It's just in the phone and
you're there, so I you know, it's kind of just uh.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, I got adaptations. I got really fired up.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Yes, we've been we're recording this as we've been kind
of off for a couple.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Of weeks from tour.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
We were out for about two months and then we're
about to be out for three more weeks and then
breaking stuff up.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
So I was away from the road for a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
And I literally yesterday, just like you said, people talking
about doing the videos and making video content. I have
a big rant that I'm going to talk to my
band about later about that, but to condense how I'm
feeling about it in this present moment, one of the
things that I discovered is that as a.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Band, your job is to create.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I think the root of it is to is to
make the music right, Like I haven't lost sight of
that as the as the vision.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I know that's not as important.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
For every single band, but for me, that is the
that's the origin point for everything you're doing. And there's
such for at least let's let's call it bands of
our age bracket, maybe people that existed in the time
that you were discussing twenty fifteen twenty fourteen, when they
were were leaving my space, we're going to Facebook and
Instagram and the whole landscape of social media is changing,
(18:09):
and now it's changing again, and I don't know if
all of us in that bracket of time want to
be bothered by another paradigm shift.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
And to that, I say, too bad. Yeah, it's too bad.
And it's not the fault of.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Bands or labels or movers and shakers and music industryho
are making these demands on you. It's the demands of
the crowd. It's the demands of people's attention. That's what
This is the content that people want. This is where
people are finding things, this is where they're finding everything.
It's up to the audience.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
If the audience wants that, you have to give that
to them. Ultimately, if you're able to find an audience
that doesn't care about that. That's great, like we have.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
What's so strange about our particular band is that our
fan base is unified in liking us, but they're a
little bit fractured when.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
It comes to social media.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
We have people that only find out about what we're
doing or engage with us on Facebook and that's it,
which to a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Would people call them dinosaurs for that.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
We have some people that are only on TikTok and
they get their updates from our TikTok, which is like newer.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
For us to do, but they're there and not over here.
They're not on Instagram, they're not on Twitter.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Like it's so odd to have to kind of mitigate
how to reach these people. But that's what you need
to do, or we're not reaching them, or we're not succeeding.
And I know that this is hard for bands to hear,
but it's another arm of your creative your creative identity,
so you know, user lose it. I don't know what
(19:45):
to tell you. I've seen I get bombarded by people
being upset that we have to keep adjusting, and it's.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Like, well, sorry, what do you want to do? Do
you want to do you want to do this or not?
You have to, some don't, and good on you.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
You know, like anything, there always will be outliers, right,
There'll always be businesses and bands that are able to
do next to nothing extra curricular work, and everyone's at
the shows and everybody knows that the shows are happening
and people are buying the merch and that to those people,
(20:20):
I say, that's amazing, not because I don't want to
do the work, but because I'm really glad that it
organically is happening for you without having to.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Spend so much extra time. But you know what am
I going to do? Sit around and wait and hope that,
like just pray that that happens for me.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I want to I wanna wrap. I'm gonna wrap it
up with this and my indignation and then we can
get to your next question. I had a choice to make.
It's either do I keep doing this and be upset
at my station, or do I adapt and try to
keep making it work so I can keep being a
(20:56):
person in a band who wants to put their own
music out there. The choice ultimately was adapt or die.
So we don't want to stop doing what we're doing.
And if we have to keep making adjustments to do it,
then that's what we need to do.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Understory, and I appreciate that stance. I respect that stance,
and I relate to that stance a lot. When we were,
you know, in I guess my version of our peak
as a band, when we had shows where there were
label reps coming to check us out from time to time.
I wish that we would have had more of a
grasp on social media because it kind of handles your promotion.
(21:33):
I did promotion for a club in Spokane where you
were putting flyers on windshields, you know, for like four
hours a night. And now social media has kind of
handled what the flyer is because you can post an
update to your Instagram, to your ex, to your Facebook.
I mean, what the rejects are doing out there with
these pop up backyard and bowling alley shows. You can't
(21:53):
do that with just the website. That's the power of
social media because people get your updates, they know where
you are, when you are, and they can show up.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
They're brilliant for that.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Oh it's awesome. I love it so much.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Such a good use of their their I would say power,
but like their reach and their ability and their notoriety
to do something so grassroots and in a really intelligent way.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Sorry, no, no, that's yeah, that's a good add on,
and so that I think is one of the tools
and one of the benefits of social media. I don't
think a label should ever come in and look at
how many followers you have on certain socials, but it
is a business at the end of the day. That's
one of the things that I wouldn't be particularly a
fan of, is you know, well, how many you know,
what what's your reach on Instagram or what's your you know,
(22:39):
how many likes on Facebook? That part I wouldn't be
a fan of. But I also wonder if it takes
away some of the mystique of bands, because you know,
growing up, you had these bands and they would be
a certain way on stage, and you're like, I wonder
if they're like that all the time, and there would
be videos that would maybe be recorded on a T
mobile sidekick, you know, and it would get posted somewhere
(22:59):
online and it's them doing pranks to each other backstage.
But now it's like, we constantly have a camera available
to us. We're I feel like I'm being watched all
the time, even though I know I'm not. But it's
like if I screw up somewhere and somebody catches it
on video, now, all of a sudden, I'm going to
be somewhere I don't want to be, And so I
feel like it's almost too much backstage access. But that's
(23:22):
just a personal opinion, because I always liked the mystique
of like, what is a band really like in real life?
You know, and you didn't see them constantly all over
the social media's this interaction are doing this? But you know, that's,
like I said, a personal opinion of mine.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I think there's no question with that.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
The reality TV era is certainly what has caused everyone
to kind of feel like I'd like to know more,
and I have access to so many other people of
any sort of you know, notoriety.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Why can I have that access to you?
Speaker 4 (23:57):
I think, of course entitled to the access, not in
a bad way necessarily, but just more so. It's expected
because it is so common by most. But of course
there is pushback to that and plenty of creatives who
are not like that. And I would say that it
(24:18):
only increases what you said, the allure to knowing you know,
you never see so and so out there. I wonder
what you know it's like, and so there's still curiosity.
So I think you could try to find a good
a good mix of giving some and not giving all, you.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Know, so you can keep your humanity.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
That's what I that's what I believe, you know, I
aim to do and I would like.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Us to do.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
I think that there's a lot even though it feels
like you'll see a band that posts every day, you know,
and maybe gives people more access to something than you
would think. It's like getting the but it's like getting
the special features of the live DVD all the time.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I I still.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Know that there are things that you know, people don't
put out there, not in a nefarious way. It's just
that you there's there's private lives. It's not you know,
we don't do don't We don't need bands to be
Love Island and just have you know the cameras.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Right, that'd be an interesting so much in the light. Yes,
John and Henry, Okay, there you guys are.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
As it turns out not to mention like like more
recently for us.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
You know, it's public knowledge now, But when Ricky was
you know, we found out that Ricky was going to
need a next surgery for rocking too hard.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
By the way it happens, it happened.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
We didn't We didn't say anything until the tour almost
had wrapped up, you know, we did. We did the
second half like almost four weeks without making it known
why he wasn't there. We had a couple of people
realizing it from the clips, but we just he didn't
feel comfortable and wasn't ready to share and wanted to
wait until he had all the information on his recovery
(26:12):
and what the surgery was going to be.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
And then we did it.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
And so you know, there's an exact example of like,
we're not going to say something right now.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
It's it's personal until it needed to be, and he
wanted it to be made knowledge, at least the parts
that he wants to people to know. You know.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Yeah, And that's fair, and that's decisions that beans I
think everybody has to make when it comes to social media. So,
like I said, solid answer from you guys. I love
your approach to it. It's a tool you know you
use it and I agree completely. So once again, they
are keep flying. They're on the second wave. Of their
tour right now for Time and Tide, and we've got
one more serious question before the speed round of fun questions.
(26:53):
So this one I wanted.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
To say, bring bringing in Pete, bringing in Pete.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
For Okay, Okay, I'm going to bring in Pete for this.
I like it. So the last one, you guys, obviously
you're with Smart Punk. They have released or brought back
from the dead, the Warped Compilation CD, which I cannot
tell you how near and dear to my heart. That
album is the bands that I discovered from just buying
(27:17):
that blindly and listening to it start to finish, not
skipping any tracks. I mean, Pierce the Veil, Made a Parade,
Bedouin Soundclash, Ann Arbor of Mice, and men A Skylit Drive.
I mean, these are bands that it's like, whoa, I
have to go and see them based on one song
off of an album. You guys are on this one.
What does that mean to you? To be part of
(27:37):
that legacy? Now with Warped tour and Kevin Lyman and everything,
it's big.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
It is. I mean they're playing the CD.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
I'm the PA while people are walking in to DC
Warps and there is a surreal thing.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
I mean we I'm not braggingized.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
We have managed to find our way onto a few
days before the country the countrywide tour ended.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So you know, we've been there to a few things
a few times, and.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
There is this there's a surreal feeling every time because
just like you, it's the same, it's the same idea
we would, we would.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I was a patron. You know that that's the right
of passage, right, So.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, to have our work be part of what they're
doing and to be involved in any sort of way
is really special.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
And we we think you know, worked for allowing it
to happen.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
We think Smart Punk for for putting us on there,
and and yeah, it's a really it's a really really
great thing and we're happy to be there.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Is that a phone call you get from Smart Punk
say hey, you guys cool with this? Or it just
shows up and and somebody messages you, did you guys
know that you're on this album?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Well there there's more. I mean, we yes, you know,
do I break the wall down and just say it?
I guess so?
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Because this will be the first and probably only interview
podcasts where this has been said, So that's kind of
nice No.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Smartpunk curated it.
Speaker 4 (29:15):
They pitched this idea they wanted to have a stage
at warp toward they could not make it work with
the new owners, so they were able to come up
with this idea instead. I believe that the way they
made it work was all of the VIP ticket holders
received this as part of their package, so already many
(29:38):
thousands of units were going to be used for that.
The way the curation worked was there were several people involved,
including Smart Punk. Of course we are a smart Punk band,
so Matt Burns of course made it happen, along with
a few other bands. We did end up playing DC
Warped because Smart Punk was granted a space with loyal
(29:59):
to the craft, like a tent that had you know,
some speaking and some school of rock bands, and it
was really awesome. I'm really glad to have done the
first one back that way.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
But the comp was you.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
Know, kind of curated by several people, and we knew
we didn't know where we were going to be.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
On there, and neither did they.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
Because I know that Smartpunk did not have the final
say with the track list order, so the the powers
that be over in the Warped Vans Ethos Bubble. Why
we got track six on disc one is amazing. You know,
I felt really honored by that, you know, like that
(30:41):
you could have been tracked seventeen on disc two. You know, again,
I don't know who's that position, but if someone's gonna
put the CD on, they're gonna make it through at
least some of the first songs.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Right, Yeah, I felt you have to man like.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Yeah, that felt good. So thanks to ever ended up
picking the final track order. But yeah, we kind of
were asked about this many months ago by Smart Pump.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Do you think overall it's a good idea?
Speaker 4 (31:11):
You think people will care, you think we could how
many of these do you think we could sell across
all the dates? And you know, kind of just brainstorming
the business part of it, And I do think it
was successful. I mean, I've seen a lot of people
I know that between that CD and ours, I don't
really think anyone else was out there peddling CDs in
(31:31):
the crowd whatsoever.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Wow, which which was the way it used to be?
Speaker 4 (31:36):
Oh yeah, but most fans don't even have CDs anymore.
Number one, Number two, I think you know, the festivals,
it's it's a bigger festival kind of thing. Now it's
you know, it's I don't know whatever people's urgency was
for doing or not doing it, but we did, and
you know, we sold a lot, and I know that
they sold a lot for five bucks the old way
(32:00):
nostalgia to that. So I guess ultimately we're honored to
have been put on there, and I'm really glad you
have been asked my opinion on the whole project in general.
Like you said, maybe we give that to somebody who
likes our band and then they're on track twenty disc
two and they're like, oh my god, I've never heard
(32:21):
of this band before. Here take it. Hopefully they find
new band because we did the same thing. I also
found a lot of bands. I found many bands from
one song on that comp except many comps. You know,
labels did the comps too, and I found they threw
them in the packages for free.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I found out a lot of bands that way.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
So I agree with your sentiment on that, and I
hope that there's even three people that find us or
find another band on that comp through.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Us, and then that makes it all worthwhile. I'm fulfilling.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
So yeah, for people that haven't heard of keep Flying.
Some tracks all recommend you. Mistakes obviously a big one,
which I have a question about that track specifically here
in a second, but one nine to eight Broadway is
another great one. Delusional Surviving the Night was fantastic. So
if you guys want to get a real feel for
this band, go and check out those tracks Spotify, Amazon Music. Mistakes.
(33:17):
How was that the chosen one, so to speak, for
the album? Did you have a say in that? And
what was like, Hey, it should be Mistakes?
Speaker 2 (33:26):
To me, I think it's the strongest single off of
the new record. Time and time to.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
See that, I would agree.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
I think that the goal of Mistakes to me was
to make it appeal to as many listeners as possible,
Like you know, at heart, we're a punk band. We're
a punk rock band. I understand that not everybody even
knows what that can mean, and I kind of created
it to be something that I can show anybody in
(33:54):
any venue of listening at any time, and so it's
been the one that I've led with when when showing.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
People the band or the new record.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
I mean, there's other great examples of songs that encapsulate
what we do, and I'm not saying that that song
even does everything.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
That we do. It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
It's actually one of the slower ones and we play
very fast. But I think that that is a really
accessible song, and I just wanted to lead with something
that can get you in, at least that I believe.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
To get people in and then hopefully they check out
everything else.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
So who whistles on the start of the track and
how many takes? How many takes?
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Only a few only because it didn't take as long
as I thought.
Speaker 3 (34:35):
I was worried that it would be, you know, because
I like it's it's it's not like it's a hard part.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
But whistling into a microphone you have to get the
right direction. You have to not get wind noise.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Yeah, you have to.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I really wanted the inflection to be really perfect. I
wanted to make sure that.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
It trailed off the right way, And just because I
wanted to make sure I got it right, I feel
like I only did it like five or six times.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
It was it wasn't too bad.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
So yeah, I mean, it's a solid part of the track.
I honestly had to ask because I wasn't sure. I
was like, I want to know if they did this
like ten times and then they're like, you know, what,
is there a way to AI this thing or what?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, we don't aim recording. I mean what it's probably
chopped up.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I mean, you know, you probably you take you comp
it's called comping vocals, like you take the best version
of this.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Part of the put together. I mean I might have
gotten it one I think it was one taker. I
don't think it at all. Well, great, I don't.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Remember that he got it in one take. We're going
to go with that.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, well, I remember that.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
When we were doing it, we were all like, oh no,
you actually got it, Like that was the was fun.
We were like, oh no, I think this will be fine.
We could definitely record this and and just go for it. Yeah,
because the same thing we thought, ah and then oh.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
No, it'll it'll be good.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
So, so you guys on the Warped comp CD, are
you guys playing Orlando? Yeah, we'll be Thereesome, Okay, I
know somebody else.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
Or officially, unofficially or officially is to be determined. I
don't know, but we will be there regardless. At the moment, we're.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Still waiting to figure out our fall touring plans. But
if certain things don't come.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
Through, we will be spending like a good chunk of
time in Orlando that week doing a series of other
events around Warped, which I am very excited about, kind
of like Fest Gainesville style or.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
PUSA in Montreal.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Like, there's just going to be a bunch of shows
happening in Orlando, in Sanford, in Melbourne, and it's going
to be a really fun week where we're pretty stationary
and we could just pop up and do different sets
and different set lists, and I think that's gonna be
really cool for our community that we have down there
and those who will be traveling in.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
So well, I'm gonna call out our local venue here,
the Newberry in Great Falls, Montana. Newberry, you need to
get keep Flying on the schedule. Bowling for Soup's been here,
Boys like Girls are coming here this month. We the
Kings have been here. Keep Flying can be here and
put on a great show for Great Falls, Montana. So Newberry,
(37:14):
get on it. Let's go. Uh two hours north of Bozeman,
North North. Yeah, you're closer to Canada than you are
the US at that point.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, we'll get there.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Okay, Well, I do love the track mistakes it hooked
me and then I posted on Instagram. And the story
is the official story, guys, of how this interview came
to be is you know, I post this thing, I
take smart punk and then keep flying. You know, they
like it, and then we follow each other and then
they reach out and they're like, oh, your show is
so awesome, like we should be on it. And I
(37:53):
was like, okay, you know, like we'll make time and whatever.
But no, this has been a great conversation with you guys.
Love hanging out. Love the track mistake, especially because I
kid you not not verbatim, but a version of the
chorus was something that I said to a girl back
in the day as a line that I dropped to herself.
But there's there's a story to it. This podcast isn't
(38:16):
about me, it's about you guys, so we can talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Was that was an amazing lead in You're gonna You're
gonna leave us.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
All right, all right, you can make it quick.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
It's okay, okay. So I had just gotten through a
nasty breakup, okay, like like you do. And I was
at the bar that I would go to with my friends.
But it was a random like Monday or Tuesday, and
so none of my friends were. There was me literally
drinking alone, and I think I checked in on four
Square and a friend of mine who I had worked with,
(38:46):
who was part of our mutual friends group, then messaged
me and said, hey, you want some company and I said, yeah, sure,
come on down. And so we're having a drink and
she's like, do you want to play some pool or darts?
And I was like, do you just want to go
back and like make some really good mistakes And whether
or not anything happened, I will leave it out of mystery,
but that is yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
So we'll respect you. Pete finished that story. I respect
I respect you.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
On high levels.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Yeah. It was you know, post breakup. Let's just cut
out the BS kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (39:20):
I know.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
That's a great, great approach. We've all been there.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
When you're twenty four to twenty five, that's what happens. Man.
Speaker 4 (39:26):
So we've all been there, except for our new guitarist,
young Dave.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
He's not been there.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Oh man, the four Square days that was something. Uh,
So it is time for the speed round, bringing big Pete.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
Between Anny and I. Come on, Pete, all right here
he comes. Let's get a drum roll for him.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
All oh yeah, big, All right, So the speed Round
is a series of questions. You guys just throw out
the first thing that comes to your mind. And the
first one is who has the worst habit on tour?
Speaker 2 (39:58):
And what is it?
Speaker 4 (40:00):
Me?
Speaker 5 (40:00):
Texting and driving?
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah, next question, all.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Right, Pete textan and driving? What is the go to
item on the Taco bell menu?
Speaker 4 (40:13):
These guys get the boxes because they're cheaper on the
mobile apps.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
They do the mobile app with the box, right, I
don't do the box, So that's a move.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
So Rick Trombone player does the He's got the app,
and you can get a five lire burrito, a crunch trap,
a cheese potato, and a drink for like six bucks.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
So and one of those items alone is like four
dollars four fifty. So yeah, we we do the box.
Heverybody you get, I usually get stuff off.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Like the cravings menu, So just the two dollars three
dollars items like at two or three of those things.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
I usually I usually get a cup of ice and
chew it.
Speaker 6 (40:47):
Why don't you get the box because you'll be spending
probably less money in getting.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Bacause I can't be honest with you I don't want
the things in the box. You are relegated to the
boxes that I don't like me.
Speaker 2 (40:59):
Tool Sometimes I suck on the cardboard.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
That's all right.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
You gotta be vegan. The cardboard is VEGANA gotcha.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
You gotta be frugal on tour, so I get it,
all right? What a burger or in and out?
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Oh, in and out? Really I don't like me, Henry
put me on it.
Speaker 5 (41:21):
You know, a fine Dutchman. It's got no buns, it's
got all them onions on.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
It's the people watch the cars.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
I probably go in and out, although yeah, in and
out it's it's not as heavy as whatever. Also cheaper.
I go in and out because Rick gets a milkshake
there and I watch him drink it.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Here you go, man, those shakes are no joke.
Speaker 6 (41:45):
And also also one time me and Johnny were working
on a tour and we went with a bunch of
people from Sweden and they gave us free milkshakes and.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
I watched them drink those two you know what.
Speaker 4 (41:56):
In and out does the well done French fry and
that is my that's that the thing like actually Kenny
and it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Which really is the only way to eat their friends.
So crispy, so crispy.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
You need you need to make all right one for
all three of you on your respective playlist. What is
the one song you cannot skip?
Speaker 7 (42:15):
Like?
Speaker 2 (42:16):
What would I've never made a play? John doesn't make
play John, it's a weird ever Wow, brag it's sad.
Probably you guys go first. I think about give it first.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Come on.
Speaker 5 (42:35):
I listened to a lot of Spanish music by Serb
Brava from Argentina.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Okay, all right, what.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Are you sorry about? That's what you like? I don't
have an answer right now I have. I have a
very strange AI generated song stuck in my head.
Speaker 4 (42:57):
For me, it would be any playlist that had Weird
al or Mighty Mighty Ballstones on it. If someone skipped
that song, whatever it was, I'd be I'd say something
out loud Other than that, I'll never cared.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
But if I'd be like, why would you skip that?
Then I know that that would happen with those two artists.
Speaker 1 (43:13):
Fair enough, fair enough, mine is the best of me
by the starting line, I don't care how many times
I've heard that song. I cannot skip it.
Speaker 8 (43:20):
Pete does not know that one Wow Wow, just listening
to Saves the Day, and he's recently found out about
Saving Today, which record we dry.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
He's new to that, and we also listened to some
Lifetime on this thirty six hour drive. But I like you,
I like you like Jersey. He even switched to the
self titled for me, which was very kind. I love.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
You.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Didn't know. I didn't. That's a lot airport on Monday morning.
And ship where are you from?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Originally Spokane and I'm in Montana now? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (43:56):
Ye, my boys moving the billions. Okay, he's moving back,
all right, keep them coming.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
All right? Bucket list city or venue?
Speaker 6 (44:09):
Oh the place you said in Montana? I want to
go there now? It was really north No, honestly, you
know what it is now for me?
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Red Rocks.
Speaker 6 (44:20):
Wherever those people from in Toronto that we played with
Vancouver Island, is that I want to play in Vancouver
Island to Canada.
Speaker 5 (44:27):
It's all the way west and you gotta take a
ferry to get the know what.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
I'm gonna piggyback off of my boy, Big Pete.
Speaker 4 (44:34):
We've done the Maritimes multiple times in Canada, but we've
never done Newfoundland Island because it's a much larger task
than you've got to fly there, take a very long ferry.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
I would feel good. No, we already do have done
those places, and most bands have never and never will.
Speaker 4 (44:52):
It would be nice to do one more. That is,
I guaranteed that nobody else really will. I think played
there recently. Okay, but the Canadian so that's gonna be mine.
No venue anywhere that will host the show in Newfoundland Island.
This is the two furthest West.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Every I think. I think for me, I guess Red
Rocks pops in my brain like as I've never been
and not that my new Brooklyn Tavern been there.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
It's great, and I think for me, like enough people
nationwide kind of know that if you're they know of it.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
So if you say that you've done it kind of solidifies.
Speaker 3 (45:33):
Or legitimizes you you as like an artist, which I
feel like I have to justify my experience enough.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
So I feel like if I say that I did that,
it means that i've you know, I really am an artist.
So I got one more kind of global.
Speaker 4 (45:47):
But we had some success last year supporting some legendary
reggae and reggae rock bands, and we got a small
taste of playing some of those port cities in the summer,
and I would love because these bands do it often.
I would love to get support for one of those
bands that does the coastal cities in the summertime, like
(46:10):
all down the East Coast, because that every time I
look at those flyers now, I'm like, I want to
play all these places. They're all beach trump places. Everybody's
having a good time. People are just sipping drinks. Yeah,
you know, it just looks so fun and it looks
so warm and welcoming, and that's what I want from this.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
And last one, what is the must have item in
your green room?
Speaker 4 (46:35):
Water?
Speaker 3 (46:37):
Which you know really does It doesn't always get fulfilled, doesn't.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
I know that doesn't sound like a big ask, but
it can.
Speaker 5 (46:45):
Be creamy peanut butter.
Speaker 4 (46:51):
That has been removed from the rider never touches it
removal because we use what we get one scoop and
that's all they use and then where's the rest of that?
Speaker 2 (47:00):
And then we try to take it with us and
they have four peanut butters with us, which is ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (47:06):
So water, it's water, and lately it's been you know,
the touring team. Our energy drink users of several varieties,
so we often just when they say, oh, anything else,
we like Celsius if you guess any day, like ghosts,
(47:27):
ghosts any.
Speaker 5 (47:30):
I'm back in the energy drink thing.
Speaker 6 (47:32):
Boy, I've become someone who loves sugar free Red Bull
and I'll never forget. The first time we had a
ghost energy drink was in Billings, Montana, because we had
drink tickets and we had a long drive that night
and John and I was that amount of bar and
we've seen some insane looking neon colored can that's like ghosts.
(47:53):
And he was like, yo, if I get one of
those crazy things, will you get one? And it was
the cherry lymemade ghost And since then we also really
love ghost energy.
Speaker 2 (48:03):
Yeah, and our teeth fell out.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
Now, well, hey, they're always going to look sharp, though,
I mean that's a plus.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Well we've had them filed sharp.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
Oh okay, they look like sharp kind of teeth.
Speaker 5 (48:18):
And mine are a little bit yellow and so they're
a little bit warm listening.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
They painted by hand painted.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
Gotta have them tinted so they for the realism. All right,
So the real last one here that I want to
know that just came to mind, is what is a
tour hack or even a tour don't? I know? For
me as an example for you guys, we would play
in Seattle a lot, and that drive from Spokane to
Seattle is about four and a half hours, So for
(48:43):
whatever reason, we always drove back after the show. I
thought it was stupid. It's like, we know enough people,
we should just crash here, but we we wouldn't. We
would drive back and our singer, who drove most of
the way, wouldn't listen to music. He would listen to
stand up comedy because he said, if you fall into
a music playlist you've heard it before, it's going to
(49:04):
rock you to sleep, where if you're actively listening for
like a punchline and laughing like, you're going to stay awake.
So that was his like hack or his trick to
long distance driving. So what's a hack or a definite
don't for tour for you guys that you've learned over
ten years.
Speaker 3 (49:18):
I don't really drive for the band anymore, but when
I was a driver for touring and stuff, one hundred
percent stand up.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
Was great for long night drives, definitely more engaging than songs,
which can be repetitive and lull you I got gyre
you go. Mine is is also going to be global
because it can be applied to many things. Just ask,
(49:45):
just ask me.
Speaker 4 (49:46):
In regards to what you said about places to stay,
we still currently some cities, I ask on stage because
it's just why not, because hey, the hotels are two
hundred and fifty bucks that we don't feel like driving.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
Also, really with anything with any question, I'm I and
we we get this with a lot of the younger
bands that are asking us, how.
Speaker 4 (50:11):
Do you guys like I always see that you guys
like you eat Chipotle and you you get it for
free because we call.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
And we ask, as they have very right to say
no and they do. But you know, sometimes we ask
and we get it. That's it.
Speaker 4 (50:27):
Just don't be afraid to ask. I know the climate change,
post pandemic. I know that people are different. If you
if you got the fortitude in you to just ask,
you should you should because the worst thing they're going
to say is no, and that is in regards to
literally anything anything.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Yeah, that's how I get guests on the show. I ask,
there you go.
Speaker 2 (50:49):
That's it, And here's Pete tech. Harry comes from meres
back here, the copoys and your and your show with
this right here, I.
Speaker 6 (50:59):
Was gonna give a serious one. Yeah, I don't have
a lot to say. A lot of the time, I
think that mostly John and Henry speak for me. I
guess that the number one thing. I guess it's not
even a hack. I think that you need to stay
as positive as you can on the road, as much
(51:23):
as you can. And I think that that might sound
a little I don't want to sound hypocritical, because I'm
certainly guilty of not doing that, But like, you play
some shows that are gonna suck, and and you know,
a sucky show for us is different than a sucky
show for a band like Liquid eighty two. But you know,
a sucky show for us, there's there was five people there,
(51:46):
but we sold one shirt or or we're on stage
and nobody's moving and and it's very easy, easy.
Speaker 5 (51:53):
To fall into the whole of I don't want to
be here, and I don't want to do it.
Speaker 2 (51:58):
But I think that.
Speaker 6 (52:00):
If you take that energy and turn it into a
oh the show sucks, I feel like shit. But I'm
gonna just have fun anyways, And I'm gonna have fun
with my friends, and we're gonna look at each other
on stage and laugh and then we're gonna make the
best of it.
Speaker 5 (52:14):
Then it'll make the next time you play a show
like that not nearly as bad.
Speaker 2 (52:20):
That makes sense.
Speaker 1 (52:21):
Yeah, I think that was zen. I think that was perfect.
And yeah, that is the great way to end the
interview with the Boys of Keep Flying. They're on tour now.
The album is Time and Tide. They're on wave two
of the tour, coming to a city near you, and
on a podcast that has had Mike Herrera, Jared Reddick,
Real Big Fish members, and Kevin Lyman twice. We can
(52:44):
now add Keep Flying to not one, but two lists,
the list of great guests on the show, and a
list of bands that I've discovered through the Van's Warp
Tour compilation CD, which is available through Smart Punks. So,
you guys have a great tour thing. Thank you so
much for your time. It's been awesome. Anything else you
want to throw out there that the fans should know
(53:05):
about Keep Flying before we cut this.
Speaker 7 (53:06):
Thing off, Dave, I think we're pretty all right, all right.
Speaker 1 (53:19):
Guys, So that's going to do it for the Boys
of Keep Flying. I am the teammate Richard Teaman, and
we will see you next time.
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