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Welcome one and all to the latest episode of
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Signals from Mars. Episode 440 features Bones
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and Rhea from the band Tailgunner. They've just
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released the album Midnight Blitz. It was produced
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by the legendary K .K. Downing of Judas Priest
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fame. We're going to talk about the album. We're
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going to talk about all things Tailgunner up
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next. Quick reminder that in addition to hosting
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Signals from Mars, I've also worked behind the
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scenes helping other podcasters. With over 16
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head on over to the sponsorship page on SignalsFromMars
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always vote on the various shows that we do talk
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about where we talk about different subjects.
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Coming up later this month, we're going to be
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talking about our favorite albums from 1980 and
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we'll complete the decade of the 80s. With that,
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it should be a fun discussion. So if you do want
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to vote on your favorite album that came out
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in 1980. Drop me a line, signalsfrommars at signalsfrommars
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.com or any of the social media platforms where
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you keep up with the show. Just send me a direct
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message and I will gladly accept your list. For
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this episode, once again, Bones, who's the main
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person behind Tail Gunner, and Rhea, who, if
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I'm not mistaken, is the latest member to join
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the band. We talk about the album Midnight Blitz.
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We talk about a lot of different things along
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the way. I do hope that you enjoy the episode.
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If this is the
Load full transcript
first time that you've heard about
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the band, support them. Check their music out.
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Listen, at the end of every interview, I always
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ask bands where people can go to put the most
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amount of money in their pockets. If you enjoy
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the interview, if you check them out in streaming,
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and think that it's something that you're really
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going to listen to, pick the album up. Support
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them. Let them know that you've listened to this
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episode. All right? It makes a big difference.
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Believe me, there are a lot of bands that I've
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been interviewing lately, and hearing that from
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the fans has made me receive a lot of pretty
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cool feedback. So, yeah. In any event, support
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the show. Like, subscribe, wherever you... Check
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out your podcasts or if you follow us on YouTube,
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help us get to a thousand subscribers. Welcome
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everyone to the latest episode of Signals from
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Mars. I'm joined today by Bones and Ria from
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the band Tailgunner. How are you guys today?
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Good, how are you? Doing good. So to kick things
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off here, you guys worked with KK Downing on
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Midnight Blitz. Whenever someone... famous works
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with a band that's outside of the band like instantly
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you'll have reviewers and people say oh well
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this sounds just like in this case judas priest
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how many people have mentioned to you so far
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that have heard the album and said wow i can
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definitely notice the priest influence in this
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i think for us people would say that regardless
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of if we work with kk or not um but we'll never
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shy away from a judas priest comparison they're
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one of the greatest bands of all time so if people
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want to say that we Judas Priest, then. So be
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it. How did KK work with you guys? How engulfed
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was he in the work? Did he point you guys in
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the directions of improving riffs, improving
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lyrics? How did he work behind the scenes? He
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was... He had quite a hands -on approach and
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we're really grateful for his input when we were
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in the studio with him. He was suggesting...
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a lot of different ideas that we wouldn't have
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thought of ourselves like he's the one that told
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us you should write a ballad and i think the
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biggest thing we learned with him was that no
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detail is too small and that's definitely the
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biggest thing i learned because he was always
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just suggesting like let's put a dive bomb in
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this verse section let's add something else to
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this and so it really helped bring the tracks
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to life okay um How did the pairing come about
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initially? Was that, I mean, I know you guys
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toured with him at one point with KK's Priest.
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Did you approach him? Did the label suggest it?
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He had our debut EP Crash Dive that came out
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in December 2022. Someone got that EP to him
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and he heard it and loved it. And he invited
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us to open the first KK's Priest show alongside
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Paul D 'Anno. Perfect lineup for us. Wow. You
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know, we stayed in touch and did the UK tour
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with him in the summer of 2024. And when it came
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time to make this new record, we knew we wanted
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a producer. We wanted someone with that experience.
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And obviously KK co -produced all those classic
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Priest records alongside Halford, Tipton and
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Tom Allen. And, you know, we found ourselves
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in this very cool, surreal scenario where it's
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like, well, we're friends with KK Downing. Why
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don't we just... call him and ask. And, you know,
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I did and spent a couple of days back and forth
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on the phone with him and he was into the project.
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And, you know, we're very grateful for that.
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I think it turned out really cool. Cool. Was
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there any hesitation initially? Were you guys,
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you know, scared that he might not? want to work
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with you guys or was it always just positive
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from the start you know we're going to get this
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guy he's going to work with us pretty much i
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mean the first time we met kk he said he'd been
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waiting for a band like us to come along since
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early death leopard and you know that's exactly
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the vindication that we need is exactly what
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we're trying to achieve and i think he really
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sees what we're trying to do and wants to be
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a part of it and You know, in my eyes, he's the
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true defender of the faith because he cares about
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heavy metal and he cares about the longevity
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and the legacy and having new bands come along.
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So I think he was just same as us, just waiting
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for a band like us to come along to be a part
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of something like that. It's interesting that
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you bring that up because I've interviewed a
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bunch of bands over the years from the UK that
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have said, you know. There's no other band that's
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doing this right now. So we need to do this.
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And all those bands have one way or another come
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apart, disappeared. Members have gone on to other
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projects. What do you think sets Tailgunner apart
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from some of those bands that will give you guys
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the longevity to carry on? Pure, unfiltered stubbornness.
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you need that you do it's like lemmy said the
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best way to keep going is to not stop and it's
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absolutely right right now that's perfect i mean
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that's i mean i think with anything like what
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you guys are doing you need that you need to
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want to continue to go because it's not easy
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i mean obviously we hear all the stories nowadays
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oh well you know we're a young band we can't
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forward we don't we can't make this much money
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like they did back then but there are bands that
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are still making it you know not to the same
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extent but you know there are still bands that
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are able to carry on and and create a career
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out of this so i mean i agree with what you're
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saying i think for me and i'm sure rare will
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be able to relate to this is when i was growing
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up you know i was from day one into Maiden, ACDC,
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Dio, Priest, Motorhead, Saxon, you name it. And
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I remember being 12 years old and wearing, you
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know, leather jacket and studs and playing a
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BC Rich Warlock bass and whatever. And you're
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deluded at that time anyway, because you're a
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kid and, you know, yeah, I'm going to be a rock
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star. And then you turn up and you play a local
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show. you know, there's, there's people there.
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And in those days at that stage, you'll be a
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rock band and you'll play alongside a band that
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sounds like Oasis and a band that sounds like
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whoever, you know, I remember people going, Oh,
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they've got long hair. Oh, they play pointy guitars.
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Oh, you know, it's a bit of a joke and whatever.
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And I think spite is a hell of a motivator. And
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I look back at those people now and I just think,
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yeah, whatever. Yeah, that's pretty true. That's
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the nonsense of the various scenes. I think if
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you're a good band, you're going to carry on
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either way, regardless of image, regardless of
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whatever. If you don't have the music to go with
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it, in the end, you're not going to move forward.
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You guys released the EP and you guys released
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Guns for Hire. starting to record the material
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or starting to write the material for midnight
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blitz was there anything that you guys said you
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know what i want to do this on midnight blitz
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i want to take it to this level by doing this
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specific thing um well for the second album especially
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with the title track of the album we we needed
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something that was just a massive step up from
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the stuff that we wrote on the debut album And
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that's what we wanted to sell across in Midnight
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Blitz. And you can hear it in all parts of the
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track, really, for me, the guitars, the solos
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anyway. I mean, I know I didn't write the first
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album, the guitars in the first album, but even
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so, the solos I was putting forward for Midnight
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Blitz, Tom
was constantly like, no, it needs
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to be better, it needs to be faster. And so I
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was pushed, I was pushing myself to write something
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like that. And then everybody else was doing
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the same thing. And that's the theme for the
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entire album, not just the first single. It's
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just a massive step up. So for you, Ria, how
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important was it to be the first time that you're
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writing with the band, to be recording with the
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band, to put your stamp on the music itself?
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It was really important. I wanted to do the best
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that I could do. I mean, I definitely pushed
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myself and I'm really happy with the results
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:39.389
from it. Yeah. Okay. There's definitely a British
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heavy metal influence on the album, but there
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are other things instantly from listening to
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it. I instantly get a vibe of like old Halloween,
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for example. Yeah, you're smiling. But yeah,
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that obviously is an influence. If you're smiling
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back, I'm picking up, you know. Where you're
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coming from. Halloween are the reason why I started
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Tailgunner. Obviously, everyone thinks with the
00:15:10.990 --> 00:15:13.889
name that it's Maiden. And of course, Maiden
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are huge for us as our priest, as are so many
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bands. But Halloween really changed everything
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for me. When I heard those first three albums,
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The Walls of Jericho and The Two Keepers, totally
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blew my mind. I went to see them live on the
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Pumpkins United tour. And, you know, I already...
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wanted to be a musician and everything but that
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was the moment where i said god i need to put
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together a band in this kind of style and you
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know we're definitely a british heavy metal band
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i think you know no one can be mistaken about
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that but halloween a huge influence for us and
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it's always nice when people recognize that through
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the music oh yeah those those first two keepers
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albums uh being someone that grew up in the states
00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:05.039
and would spend their summers in europe i mean
00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.600
there was no coverage in the states at that point
00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.519
for halloween and then coming over to europe
00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:13.340
and then having a friend say you need to listen
00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:18.120
to this and just changing so many things and
00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:21.860
a lot of times for me nowadays i listen to bands
00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:27.649
that try to do the same style And it just forces
00:16:27.649 --> 00:16:29.809
me to go back to listen to those Keepers albums
00:16:29.809 --> 00:16:33.629
to say, yeah, that's cool. But and and I think
00:16:33.629 --> 00:16:36.509
then the neat part about what you guys have done
00:16:36.509 --> 00:16:39.049
with Midnight Blitz is that, yes, you notice
00:16:39.049 --> 00:16:43.789
the influence, but it's not a direct copy. That
00:16:43.789 --> 00:16:46.850
was really important to us, actually, just from
00:16:46.850 --> 00:16:51.429
day one. And, you know, I think the thing with
00:16:51.429 --> 00:16:54.700
Halloween and the Keeper records. And why they're
00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:59.080
so incredible and why I love Halloween so much
00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:01.419
is that they're not just doing one thing. Those
00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:05.240
records really prove to me that you can play
00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:10.079
epic power metal tracks of, you know, however
00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.759
many minutes long. You can write commercial radio
00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:18.640
kind of hits in metal. You can write the thrash
00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.160
songs. You can write the ballads. You can be...
00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:25.609
so creative and it coexists and be one concise
00:17:25.609 --> 00:17:28.410
thing on one record like it is on the keepers
00:17:28.410 --> 00:17:31.509
albums and that was really a big like i say a
00:17:31.509 --> 00:17:34.470
huge moment for me and what we're about as well
00:17:34.470 --> 00:17:36.569
as a band is we can do whatever we want to do
00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:39.190
we can be whoever we want to be but at the heart
00:17:39.190 --> 00:17:41.329
of it it's always tail gunner and you know i
00:17:41.329 --> 00:17:45.569
have halloween to thank for that okay and You've
00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:47.869
been the catalyst to get all this together. You
00:17:47.869 --> 00:17:50.710
just mentioned it. How challenging was it for
00:17:50.710 --> 00:17:54.369
you to get four members that were going to see
00:17:54.369 --> 00:17:57.269
your vision that you were going to be able to
00:17:57.269 --> 00:18:00.230
get along with and to be able to put this music
00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:06.750
together? It was extremely challenging. Extremely
00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:09.690
challenging. It took two years to get the first
00:18:09.690 --> 00:18:15.849
lineup together. And, you know, I posted all
00:18:15.849 --> 00:18:19.390
over social media. I posted flyers in metal bars
00:18:19.390 --> 00:18:21.769
and guitar shops and spoke to people from
the
00:18:21.769 --> 00:18:25.829
UK and all over Europe. And it took a long time
00:18:25.829 --> 00:18:28.990
to put it together. It's very difficult. And,
00:18:29.089 --> 00:18:31.390
you know, I knew what I wanted and I knew what
00:18:31.390 --> 00:18:34.049
this band had to be in terms of the ability of
00:18:34.049 --> 00:18:37.720
people, in terms of, you know. characteristics
00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.319
and you know how we get along and how we operate
00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.660
and and also you know people don't like to say
00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:45.460
it but the look of a band is important you know
00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:48.180
i wanted people that embodied what we're trying
00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:51.519
to do as a heavy metal band so took some time
00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.400
okay ria how did you get involved with the band
00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:00.759
i supported tail gunner um on their uk tour with
00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:02.920
my old band that i was in at the time in liverpool
00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:06.359
in the uk and then i saw that they fired their
00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:08.299
old guitarists and they had a festival to play
00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:11.339
in like a matter of like three days so i messaged
00:19:11.339 --> 00:19:13.819
tom i reached out and i said that i'll be happy
00:19:13.819 --> 00:19:16.019
to learn the set and fill in for the festival
00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:19.559
um and so i did that and then i filled in for
00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:21.960
a few more dates over the summer including this
00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.940
steel mill gig with paul diano and kk and then
00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:29.440
they kept me long term Was there ever a doubt
00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:32.640
at the beginning to keep her in the band or were
00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.400
you still contemplating maybe other moves or
00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:38.059
did you know from the start that musically she
00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:40.319
could do it, but you wanted to make sure that
00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:42.000
she was kind of going to fit the rest of the
00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:47.819
band's vibe? I think we were in such a rush at
00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:51.819
the start. You know, when, like Ria said, we
00:19:51.819 --> 00:19:54.980
had to fire the first guitarist on a Monday and
00:19:54.980 --> 00:19:56.700
we played the festival with her on a Sunday.
00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:00.500
And then I said to Rhea, you know, we were going
00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:03.140
to hold auditions just because, you know, you
00:20:03.140 --> 00:20:06.480
don't marry the first person that you sleep with.
00:20:06.619 --> 00:20:08.759
And it's the same in a band, you know, so we
00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.640
had to see how does it sound with other people?
00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:13.720
And then we realized very quickly that Rhea was
00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:16.119
quite far beyond anyone else that we auditioned.
00:20:16.140 --> 00:20:18.559
So once we played with a couple of other people,
00:20:18.619 --> 00:20:21.240
we knew very quick that she was definitely the
00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:23.640
right choice. Okay. Rhea, how many years had
00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:30.039
you been playing out with? semi um serious bands
00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:37.599
before joining tail gunner um i started i'm playing
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:45.880
in bands since i was around like 13 um and so
00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.420
that's eight years eight years i've been in and
00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:52.339
out of bands i've been before tail gunner i've
00:20:52.339 --> 00:20:54.480
been in and out of a lot of a lot of different
00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.920
bands have you found it challenging to be in
00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.880
the metal scene being a female has that never
00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:08.339
really mattered uh with bands no it doesn't it's
00:21:08.339 --> 00:21:11.519
not challenging um in the way that like i never
00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:15.119
feel like i have to prove anything but it's challenging
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:20.000
sometimes people other people are challenging
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.720
um and how they can treat you um but in general
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.900
um i haven't have quite lucky i've not really
00:21:27.900 --> 00:21:31.880
had much of that um and to be fair ever since
00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:33.859
i was growing up playing guitar i've always been
00:21:33.859 --> 00:21:36.359
in bands with men because you know it's a male
00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:39.400
it's a very male dominated area so it doesn't
00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:41.079
feel weird for me and it's never felt weird to
00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:43.900
be in a band full of five men um it's just how
00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:47.420
it's just how it is a lot of the time and yeah
00:21:48.029 --> 00:21:50.849
that's it really and bones you were in and out
00:21:50.849 --> 00:21:55.349
of bands uh previous to tail gunner as well um
00:21:55.349 --> 00:22:00.950
how you know you mentioned that halloween show
00:22:00.950 --> 00:22:03.650
is kind of being the point that made you want
00:22:03.650 --> 00:22:07.410
to start this band uh previous to that were you
00:22:07.410 --> 00:22:09.730
still just kind of finding your way figuring
00:22:09.730 --> 00:22:13.170
out exactly what you wanted to do or did you
00:22:13.170 --> 00:22:14.950
already have like an idea in the back of your
00:22:14.950 --> 00:22:21.680
mind that this was a possibility. Tailgunner
00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:24.200
is the band that I've always wanted to be in
00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:29.019
since I was a kid, but it took years to get that
00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:31.960
together and to actually even realize that it
00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:35.240
was possible. I think until it really came together,
00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:37.779
I didn't know if it was possible, but I got to
00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:39.339
the point where I thought, well, I might as well
00:22:39.339 --> 00:22:42.940
try
because I played in different bands and all
00:22:42.940 --> 00:22:47.420
sorts of different styles. And yeah, like I say,
00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:50.579
after the band I was in before this one, well,
00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:52.940
I was going to say split up. They didn't split
00:22:52.940 --> 00:22:56.099
up. I left. I was really at a point where it's
00:22:56.099 --> 00:22:59.059
like, well, I might as well just try and do the
00:22:59.059 --> 00:23:01.819
thing that I've always wanted to do. And, you
00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:04.660
know, that's how this really came to be. So it's
00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:06.900
been in my mind since I was a little kid. But
00:23:06.900 --> 00:23:09.880
yeah, it took a long time to to realize that
00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:13.990
it was possible. OK. And you guys have done a
00:23:13.990 --> 00:23:17.130
bunch of shows with Hammerfall. You've been doing
00:23:17.130 --> 00:23:19.930
a bunch of shows. We mentioned before we started
00:23:19.930 --> 00:23:22.589
recording that you've got another date left.
00:23:23.630 --> 00:23:31.289
How has their audience treated you guys? Amazingly,
00:23:31.289 --> 00:23:34.809
the tour we've just done with them was... Probably
00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:38.089
the greatest tour we've been on in terms of the
00:23:38.089 --> 00:23:40.750
crowd reaction for us as a support band. I think
00:23:40.750 --> 00:23:42.970
being on the road with Hammerfall was a perfect
00:23:42.970 --> 00:23:45.609
fit for us. Their audiences were unbelievable,
00:23:46.089 --> 00:23:49.750
especially in Spain. Just amazing. Felt like
00:23:49.750 --> 00:23:51.690
we were headlining every night, which was really
00:23:51.690 --> 00:23:55.349
cool. Hammerfall as a band themselves and their
00:23:55.349 --> 00:23:59.170
crew, the bus driver, the tour manager, looked
00:23:59.170 --> 00:24:01.930
after us incredibly well, made us feel so welcome
00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:05.269
and helped us to be on the road. so much and
00:24:05.269 --> 00:24:07.349
you know we never felt like a support band it
00:24:07.349 --> 00:24:09.430
felt like there was two bands out there together
00:24:09.430 --> 00:24:11.490
to just go kill every night and to help each
00:24:11.490 --> 00:24:13.990
other in any way that we could so we love those
00:24:13.990 --> 00:24:16.470
guys and you know we hope to do that again very
00:24:16.470 --> 00:24:18.650
very soon yeah that's what i was going to ask
00:24:18.650 --> 00:24:22.369
you does this kind of help uh facilitate a future
00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:25.750
tour with them uh due to how well these shows
00:24:25.750 --> 00:24:30.529
went down definitely we spoke about it already
00:24:30.529 --> 00:24:34.039
so you know i can't say too much but let's wait
00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:36.660
and see yeah hopefully we'll be back out on the
00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:38.819
road with them yeah because for a band like that
00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:41.480
i mean if if you guys are going down like that
00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:46.519
with their crowd going over well and again when
00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:48.339
it comes down to personalities and everything
00:24:48.339 --> 00:24:51.539
else you guys are getting along there's nothing
00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:54.319
behind the scenes i mean those types of bands
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:55.720
are going to want to work with you because they're
00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:59.380
like all right well um we know them there's no
00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:01.720
mysteries And they're going to bring it every
00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:03.779
night. So we know that when we hit the stage,
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:06.819
our crowd is going to be hot for us because of
00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:10.920
them. Exactly. We definitely got those crowds
00:25:10.920 --> 00:25:13.900
nice and warmed up every night. And we added
00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:16.480
something new to our set. Rhea wasn't actually
00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.779
on the road with us, but she'll find out. But
00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:20.740
we've got them nice and boozy every night as
00:25:20.740 --> 00:25:22.440
well in the last song. So it's a lot of fun.
00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:27.500
Cool. You also have a bunch of festival dates
00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:32.759
this summer. You're playing a lot of pretty big
00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:36.440
festivals from Sweden Rock to Download and a
00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:38.619
bunch of others. And I know that followers of
00:25:38.619 --> 00:25:41.980
my podcast are going to be at some of these shows,
00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:44.220
specifically Sweden Rock. And I know that a few
00:25:44.220 --> 00:25:47.400
of them tend to be at some of the UK festivals.
00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:52.940
How different is it to see you guys on a big
00:25:52.940 --> 00:25:55.859
stage like that at a festival as opposed to seeing
00:25:55.859 --> 00:26:03.900
you at a club show? Well, for a start, with the
00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:05.900
big festivals, we can go a bit more all out with
00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:08.000
the production and we can have fire, which I'm
00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.579
pretty sure we can't do with club shows, legally
00:26:10.579 --> 00:26:14.640
anyway. But with the club shows, for me, how
00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:18.119
it feels for me is it's a lot more intimate,
00:26:18.140 --> 00:26:20.579
especially when there's no barrier. You know,
00:26:20.619 --> 00:26:22.400
you've got people jumping up on stage, you've
00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:24.640
got people stage diving. It's a lot more chaotic.
00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:28.259
I prefer club shows for that reason. um it's
00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:31.680
a lot more intimate with the fans and then festivals
00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:34.740
especially open -air festivals feel a lot more
00:26:34.740 --> 00:26:37.579
like you can kind of sit back and watch the crowd
00:26:37.579 --> 00:26:41.299
and it doesn't feel as intimate it's not a bad
00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:43.900
thing it's cool and it looks really
cool as well
00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:46.519
and it's nice to play outside and not be sweating
00:26:46.519 --> 00:26:50.700
um as the clubs are just like horrendously warm
00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:55.680
but i um i prefer the club shows okay yeah um
00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:59.319
Are there any of these festivals that you guys
00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:03.500
have seen from the other side where before playing
00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:06.619
in Tailgunner, you've been at them to see other
00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:09.599
bands and now you're kind of going to be on the
00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:17.910
other side? i've no i've not actually been to
00:27:17.910 --> 00:27:20.869
many festivals i'm not really i didn't really
00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:24.029
go to much festivals at all really apart from
00:27:24.029 --> 00:27:25.849
i've been to download once when i was younger
00:27:25.849 --> 00:27:27.910
and i know we're playing that in june so that's
00:27:27.910 --> 00:27:29.529
going to be really really cool to play i'm looking
00:27:29.529 --> 00:27:36.250
forward to that one okay um you guys have after
00:27:36.250 --> 00:27:39.109
the festival you have the rest of the year to
00:27:39.109 --> 00:27:42.170
go so that's i mean just up until the summer
00:27:42.990 --> 00:27:45.930
If you guys could put any tour together where
00:27:45.930 --> 00:27:51.690
you guys could open for anyone, who would you
00:27:51.690 --> 00:27:57.130
want to go out with? Well, we have a big tour
00:27:57.130 --> 00:28:02.650
actually to announce for post -summer. So I'm
00:28:02.650 --> 00:28:04.930
looking forward to getting that out into the
00:28:04.930 --> 00:28:07.069
world. And it's definitely one of the bands on
00:28:07.069 --> 00:28:10.759
my bucket list, one of my favorite bands. i'll
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:13.640
say them and you know it remains to be to be
00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:15.720
seen by everyone who who it is that i'm talking
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:19.259
about but it'll be there pretty soon uh makes
00:28:19.259 --> 00:28:26.519
sense and uh so oh okay uh you guys covered metallica's
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:30.700
hit the lights on a recent compilation uh how
00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:36.619
did that come about and why that song That came
00:28:36.619 --> 00:28:40.039
about because we played, there's a legendary
00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:43.359
club in London called The Underworld. And we
00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:45.880
virtually sold it out, touring the debut album.
00:28:46.039 --> 00:28:49.680
And to do that on a debut is pretty cool. And
00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:52.079
people really paid attention to that, including
00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:54.440
the label that put out that Metallica compilation.
00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:56.980
And it was really as simple as they just asked
00:28:56.980 --> 00:28:59.700
us if we wanted to be a part of it. Wanted to
00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:01.599
take the opening track, hit the lights. And of
00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:03.500
course, you know, to be on an album alongside
00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:07.000
the likes of Saxon and Diamondhead and Raven
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:10.299
and so many cool bands, you know, Motorhead as
00:29:10.299 --> 00:29:12.480
well, of course. And to have the opening song,
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:15.240
I mean, there's no way we could say no. And I
00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:17.500
think it's really cool that Metallica came up
00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:20.079
worshipping the new album and British heavy metal.
00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.220
And now years later, you know, here's a British
00:29:22.220 --> 00:29:24.400
band covering Metallica and really paying it
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:26.539
back. And it's kind of like a full circle moment.
00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:29.650
So it's really cool. Yeah, and it actually doesn't
00:29:29.650 --> 00:29:32.670
stray from what you guys do either. I mean, it's
00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:37.150
not as if you were going to throw that into your
00:29:37.150 --> 00:29:40.910
set list that it wouldn't fit right in because
00:29:40.910 --> 00:29:43.390
it's, as you're saying, the influences are all,
00:29:43.490 --> 00:29:47.450
you're all drinking from the same well. Yeah.
00:29:48.609 --> 00:29:52.990
Yeah. Cool. Where can people go to pick up the
00:29:52.990 --> 00:29:56.799
album and ensure? that the most amount of money
00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:01.940
goes back into the band's pockets oh from from
00:30:01.940 --> 00:30:03.759
anywhere that they usually buy their records
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:06.539
really i mean obviously we're with napalm and
00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:08.599
the distribution is great it was something really
00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:11.299
important to us so wherever people normally get
00:30:11.299 --> 00:30:13.920
records go feel free to pick it up from there
00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:16.579
and yeah i'm sure as long as it gets to them
00:30:16.579 --> 00:30:20.920
we're happy okay and where should people go to
00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:27.279
keep up with the band On social media and, you
00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:29.740
know, Facebook, Instagram, or if you just Google
00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:32.000
search tail gunner, you know, thank God we're
00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.180
the first result. So we're pretty easy to find.
00:30:34.660 --> 00:30:40.160
Awesome. I appreciate your time today. Was a
00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:43.680
lot of fun talking to you and wish you guys luck
00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:48.579
with 2026 and tail gunner. The album does come
00:30:48.579 --> 00:30:54.009
out February 6th. So just. thanks again for joining
00:30:54.009 --> 00:30:57.670
me here on the show. Thank you very much. Cool.
00:30:57.750 --> 00:31:01.049
Thank you. Have a good one. Catch you later.
00:31:01.309 --> 00:31:16.660
Bye. And subscribe to the show on all your favorite
00:31:16.660 --> 00:31:19.799
podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:24.180
Google Podcasts, Amazon, and more. Go to signalsfrommars
00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:26.839
.com for more information. This concludes our
00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:27.059
show.