00:00:00
Speaker 1: Here we are. So excited.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: Our final interview, not just of the day, actually, of all weekend. Thomas from Oleander. And would you like to introduce?
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Speaker 3: Arturo Padilla, my wingman.
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Speaker 1: Arturo, the wingman. Yes. Now, this would be Art's son.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:00:17
Speaker 1: Our ear guitarist.
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Speaker 4: Yes.
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Speaker 1: Who we got to share pizza with earlier.
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Speaker 3: That pizza was really good. It was so good. Am I allowed to cuss?
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Speaker 5: Yes.
00:00:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. We're not live. We can edit.
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Speaker 3: It's fine. Okay, it was fucking good.
00:00:30
Speaker 5: There you go.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: We need to find out what the pizza place was so that they can take that.
00:00:34
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've probably heard that before.
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Speaker 3: Well, he heard it from me the other day. I kept having to apologize.
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Speaker 1: He heard it from a drum teacher.
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Speaker 3: Oh, well, okay.
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Speaker 1: Drum teacher, drummers, I tell you. That's so cute. You've got to watch out for Uncle Thomas over here. Bad influence, bad influence. No, we were so excited.
00:00:48
Speaker 2: When we started seeing that Oleander was back, I was like, Oh my God, I ran, this is a funny story. I ran to my Jeep where I have all my CDs and all my gigantic cases, right?
00:00:59
Speaker 1: And I had that first album.
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Speaker 3: Wow, you have February Sun.
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Speaker 1: Yes.
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Speaker 3: Wow, that's incredible.
00:01:04
Speaker 1: 99.
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Speaker 3: Officially.
00:01:07
Speaker 1: It was officially.
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Speaker 2: Because I was a senior when that came out, a senior in high school in Southern Oklahoma, which is even like, you know, it took a while for stuff to get to us.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: From either coast.
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Speaker 3: Well, it took a while for us to get to Oklahoma.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: I mean, it did.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: So anyway, I pulled it out and I was like, oh my God, this is so awesome. I'm so glad you guys are back in action.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: You're doing it.
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Speaker 5: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Kicking ass. I know there's been ups and downs and on and offs and all of the things.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: But we're sticking through.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: So look, it's funny thing is everybody thinks that because we went away that like we, that we like retired or broke up or whatever. Look for the first, I don't know, five years, all we did was tour. Like it was write, record, tour. So we put out an album and be gone for two years.
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Speaker 5: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: You know what I mean? And then at a certain point things happened and we had a break. We got a break and we're like, you know what? Maybe we need to start, focusing on us and what's good for us instead of what's theoretically good for us but more importantly good for other people. You know what I mean?
00:02:09
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
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Speaker 2: I'm glad you took a break because then longevity can kick in and you can do this for a longer period of time if you don't burn yourself completely out.
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Speaker 3: We were burning out and admittedly we're kind of at a point right now where we're playing catch up a little bit. But it's totally cool because the difference is back then we had to do everything. And now.
00:02:30
Speaker 3: We get to do this and that's what it feels like.
00:02:32
Speaker 1: Oh, that's such, what a blessing.
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Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: That's very cool.
00:02:35
Speaker 4: So what's it like now being at a band, being a band now that's, I don't know, that's different, but also very rewarding, especially in today's world, 2026, a crazy world, how we, uh, people, bands do their thing now as a musician.
00:02:51
Speaker 3: Well, I mean like the, the, the metric for us is, or the, you know, whatever is that we get in a room and if we're having fun, then we're having fun and that's it. Look, we knew we had you after shock. We were excited about that. That got us into the band room for rehearsals.
00:03:05
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:03:05
Speaker 3: And then, of course, somebody's got a song or an idea and we started pursuing it. And it was just like old times.
00:03:13
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:03:14
Speaker 1: Right?
00:03:15
Speaker 3: So the funny thing about when you get into the industry, right now, all of a sudden you're a businessman on top of being an artist, right? So there's Amex and art card and you know, you're, you get into this competitive business mind frame that takes you away from everything that you loved about it in the first place. Well, at this point right now, we're, we're kind of reconnecting with why we wanted to do in the first place. And I'll tell you, we just did 1600 miles in four days in an RV that, couldn't go faster than 60 miles an hour and I loved every minute of it you know what I mean we were six dudes in an RV that shouldn't have six dudes and you know it's just like I got home and you know I of course I call my manager and I'm like look dude you need to figure out how to do this get us able to do this all the time because this is what I'm supposed to be doing it's It's where the universe makes sense for me. You know what I mean?
00:04:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
00:04:12
Speaker 4: So, I mean, are you able to completely take time off, you know, whatever is going on and do this full time and tour.
00:04:18
Speaker 3: Around the world? No, not yet. So let's put it this way. Within 30 minutes of being back in the office of my day job, you know, I was like, yeah, I got to get back to that. But at the same time, I'm at a point where I'm obviously grateful to have a job.
00:04:34
Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:34
Speaker 3: But I'm even more grateful to have an opportunity for us to work towards maybe me being able to do this full time.
00:04:41
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:04:41
Speaker 3: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: Okay.
00:04:42
Speaker 3: Because this is far more... Look, man, this is mutually beneficial, right? As far as I feel. It's great for me, but I'd like to think that it's also great for the people that we're playing for.
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Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
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Speaker 3: Based on what I see and who I talk to afterwards, they seem to be happy about it. And that makes me feel a lot better than what I do for a day job.
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Speaker 5: And don't ask me what I do. I know.
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Speaker 3: I hear you.
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Speaker 5: I can imagine.
00:05:04
Speaker 4: No, but respect that because, you know, in the Bay Area, we have a lot of friends in bands. And, you know, they have nine to five jobs, but they do their best to make time for the bands. that they truly have a passion for. And, you know, I respect the hustle. You're trying to do what you can to, uh, uh, make it work. And so respect for you, but it sounds like you're really motivated now to make this back your full-time thing.
00:05:27
Speaker 5: So fingers crossed.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:05:29
Speaker 3: You know, I mean, it's funny, right? Like, uh, what I want isn't necessarily what's going to happen. And I'm at a point in my life where I'm cool with it. I'm just going to, I'm going to obviously do everything that I possibly can to to see if that is going to work out and so far so good i mean the fact that we played the very first aftershock yeah in 2012 and then we get to do it again now when it's one of the biggest festivals in the world it's pretty cool and that it's in sacramento.
00:05:58
Speaker 2: Yeah you know what i mean hometown show yeah yeah i kind of feel really like how does that feel it's got to be.
00:06:04
Speaker 3: Well i mean it's amazing right somebody else asked like like You know, how do you compare Oleander to Sacramento when it's like, well, we're both underdogs, right? You know what I mean? I mean, we were the last band in Sacramento in 99 or in the 90s that anybody wanted or expected to do anything, right? And the crazy thing is, once we got on the road and we were outside of Sacramento and California, it's like we realized that Sacramento is not even on the map. You know what I mean? If it wasn't for Deftones, Papa Rojas, Tesla, you know, it's like those were the talking points. It certainly wasn't the Sacramento Kings, unfortunately. You know what I mean? And so this is always like you. This is just home. And I love I love I love the fact that we are who we are right now. Not just only in Sacramento. I know you guys from the Bay Area, but this is.
00:06:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, but we have a real bad habit of adopting bands from Sacramento to be our own in San Francisco.
00:07:02
Speaker 3: Well, let's have it. I'm in. I'm all for that.
00:07:06
Speaker 1: We love it.
00:07:07
Speaker 2: I mean, we actually call it, it's the Rock of the Bay, 107.7 The Bone, the Rock of the Bay, but we call ourselves the Rock of NorCal.
00:07:11
Speaker 3: Cool.
00:07:12
Speaker 1: You know, I mean, here's the truth of the matter.
00:07:14
Speaker 2: Like everything, the music industry waxes.
00:07:16
Speaker 1: And wanes, so does radio. So does radio.
00:07:20
Speaker 2: And so, you know, there's just less rock stations to represent. So we want to make sure that we're representing NorCal and whether that's the Bay or Sacramento or anywhere else, you know, that we can reach because we've got the bone app and people listen everywhere now.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: And so we're super stoked.
00:07:34
Speaker 5: Well, no, I was just going to say, there's a lot of people.
00:07:36
Speaker 3: You good?
00:07:37
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:07:37
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:07:37
Speaker 1: If you ever want to chime in.
00:07:39
Speaker 5: I love your perspective living in Sacramento.
00:07:41
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:07:42
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:07:42
Speaker 4: But no, but with that being said, it's, we noticed just a lot of people have moved out of the Bay area because you know, cost of living, whatever the case may be, move to Sacramento or nearby in between and do that super commute stuff. So it really is now, I feel like a lot smaller than it was, you.
00:07:59
Speaker 3: Know, well, the funny, the funny thing is, is as soon as I got a driver's license, I was in San Francisco from Thursday to Sunday. Oh, I bet.
00:08:05
Speaker 5: How was that? What was the music?
00:08:07
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know what the music scene was like, but the party scene was phenomenal.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: Do you remember any of it?
00:08:13
Speaker 3: I remember a lot of it, but not a lot of it. I remember that I was there from Thursday to Sunday. Wow.
00:08:19
Speaker 1: Sleeping where?
00:08:21
Speaker 3: Who said sleeping?
00:08:22
Speaker 1: What is this you talk about?
00:08:25
Speaker 3: Well, club to club to club to club, end up.
00:08:27
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:08:27
Speaker 3: We'd start usually at 10, 15, full sun, and we'd end up at the end up.
00:08:33
Speaker 5: Wow, okay.
00:08:34
Speaker 3: Oh, dude, back in the late 80s, that was, and all I'm saying is that the funny thing about the Bay Area, especially San Francisco, incredibly difficult market for a band to get into.
00:08:44
Speaker 5: Sure, sure, sure.
00:08:44
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? So we struggle to get, and it's a really tough environment to build an audience, right? So, you know, you go where the love is. Ironically for us, Our biggest markets, ironically, were Texas, Florida, and like, you know, the Midwest. And we never would have guessed it.
00:09:01
Speaker 1: Just over that border.
00:09:02
Speaker 3: And I'm grateful for that.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean, you guys were huge where I live. It's so funny how things are regional.
00:09:07
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:09:08
Speaker 2: You know, like you've got bands that pop off in the Midwest that like on the coast aren't as.
00:09:12
Speaker 1: Big and vice versa.
00:09:13
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:09:14
Speaker 1: But like, yeah, you guys were huge in where I grew up.
00:09:16
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, yeah. And the cool thing is, like, you never know where you're going to find your love or your market. And we found it and it was cool. And they, you know, I'm actually looking forward to getting back. Yeah.
00:09:26
Speaker 5: You know.
00:09:26
Speaker 1: So what's the plan with that?
00:09:28
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, in this day and age, we're becoming acutely aware. In the old days, you'd record an album, you'd be gone forever. This day, now it's write, record, release every six to eight weeks and promote. And then get out on the road a little bit.
00:09:43
Speaker 1: For a shorter stint, at least, on the road.
00:09:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, but here's the thing, right? We're never, ever, ever, ever, unless the money's there, go out for extended periods of time. We're only going to do stuff that makes sense for us and that makes sense for movement. this business, which it's a business now, forward. You know what I mean?
00:10:04
Speaker 4: Have you ever thought about, I have some friends in bands who've done Kickstarter campaigns to raise money in advance. for to record an album with.
00:10:12
Speaker 3: Well, put me in touch.
00:10:14
Speaker 5: Here's the thing.
00:10:14
Speaker 3: Again, again, we're, we, you know, like it's so funny cause we came, we came back to this, you know, Hey, let's do this again. And we're thinking, well, we've got to record an album and we got, you know, like, and the, everything has changed manager. When I had that conversation with him, not too long goes, well, you know, you're not a musician anymore. I go, what are you talking about? He could know. I don't manage musicians. I manage content creators who promote music. And I go, but here's the deal. That is true. It doesn't mean that we're not still writing and recording and all that good stuff. But we're learning on the fly how to do all this. It's almost like... So are we.
00:10:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, so are we.
00:10:51
Speaker 3: It's almost like waking up from a coma and the world's different. You know what I mean?
00:10:55
Speaker 5: Like Captain America.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what I'm at.
00:10:57
Speaker 1: Every single piece of it is. But it's cool. As an artist, as a musician, you have to do it all.
00:11:02
Speaker 2: I mean, the content creation part of it is just as important these days as the art itself.
00:11:06
Speaker 3: Well, I will tell you that as an individual with a face for radio, it's very difficult. For me, I'm like... Dude, your eyes are... Well, then we need to do just the eyes.
00:11:16
Speaker 1: You need to do eye contact or something.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:11:20
Speaker 5: Only fans with just eyeballs.
00:11:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, seriously. It's eyeball Thomas and his eyeballs.
00:11:23
Speaker 3: Whatever it takes, man. I'm learning how to do that. And more importantly, I'm learning how to be. It's so funny to think that a singer in a band would be shy in front of a camera.
00:11:33
Speaker 5: Are you?
00:11:33
Speaker 3: Well, a little bit, yeah. I mean, especially at, you know, I mean, I'm not the 30, you know, the 29-year-old guy anymore. Yeah, but you still are. Well, thank you.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: As long as you look great. I mean, I don't think people care as much. As long as you're still like out there living it, keeping up with.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: What's going on.
00:11:48
Speaker 3: You know, that's really funny because one of the things that I've been asking my kids who are like 19 and 23, I'm like, does it matter to you guys if someone is older or do they have to be your age and, you know, model material? They're like, no. Yeah. We just love music.
00:12:03
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:12:03
Speaker 3: And if you're, most importantly, they want you to be authentic.
00:12:07
Speaker 5: Exactly.
00:12:07
Speaker 2: That is a word we've heard so much.
00:12:09
Speaker 5: Number one.
00:12:10
Speaker 2: It seems to be the number one rule. If you are who you are and you lean all the way into that and people feel that from you, especially live, you win every single time.
00:12:20
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, at this point, that's kind of where we're at, you know? It's like, I just have to, I have I got to stretch before shows. Otherwise, I'm susceptible to pulling a hammy.
00:12:30
Speaker 1: I would imagine. I was literally on stage.
00:12:32
Speaker 5: This is funny.
00:12:33
Speaker 1: With Corrosion of Conformity and Down last night.
00:12:36
Speaker 2: And I was like doing yoga stretches because we'd been on our feet for 14 hours at that point. And I was like, if somebody could see me from side stage, I'm all bending over.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: I mean, you just have to.
00:12:46
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I don't know if you've ever been on stage performing, but there is something about... There's something about when you hit the stage, at least for me, I feel like that same 16-year-old kid that was like, oh, yeah, we're going to do this. And mom's going, no, I really don't know if you should do that. And I'm like, no, no, we're good.
00:13:08
Speaker 1: I love that that spark is still there.
00:13:10
Speaker 3: Oh, my God. I want to do it every day still. I want to do it until I can't do it anymore.
00:13:17
Speaker 2: Well, we're going to help any way we can with that. You've got to make it to San Francisco and come play a gig with us.
00:13:22
Speaker 3: I would love that.
00:13:23
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:13:23
Speaker 3: What rooms do you want to play? Well, the funny thing is, right, like, I remember growing up, man, like, Bottom of the Hill was, like, the ticket. And we finally got to play the Bottom of the Hill, but it was on, like, a Thursday, right?
00:13:36
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:13:37
Speaker 3: And I'm like, oh, dude, there's nothing better than that room only because of the history and the vibe. All of that.
00:13:43
Speaker 1: Which is why it can't go away. We're so hopeful that it won't.
00:13:46
Speaker 3: Is it a possibility that it might?
00:13:48
Speaker 2: It is a possibility that it may remain. There's been like 75 people trying to buy that place.
00:13:53
Speaker 3: Wow.
00:13:54
Speaker 1: All with varying ideas of what it might be.
00:13:58
Speaker 2: Some people with ideas that it might not change at all, which would be ideal.
00:14:02
Speaker 3: That's great.
00:14:03
Speaker 5: So we'll see. Keep it as is.
00:14:04
Speaker 1: So we're keeping hope alive.
00:14:05
Speaker 3: Well, so finally getting to play that place was kind of a bucket list thing for me. Obviously, you know, getting to play the Warfield was always like a big deal.
00:14:14
Speaker 5: We got to.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: Oh, my God. We got to play the Fillmore in 99 with Candlebox.
00:14:20
Speaker 1: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. In 99.
00:14:24
Speaker 2: 99 Shasta would have killed to be at that show.
00:14:27
Speaker 3: So 99 Candlebox was kind of the hired gun Candlebox.
00:14:31
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah.
00:14:31
Speaker 3: With Shannon Larkin on drums and... Dude, I'm telling you, that was our first tour. We did 24,000 miles in two months in a van chasing those guys. And I learned the most about that, about how to do a show from those guys. And getting to play the Fillmore was just like, it was like one of the last shows that we did. And I'm like, fuck.
00:14:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, you made it to that moment and then, yeah.
00:15:00
Speaker 3: Oh, dude, the Fillmore.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, freaking legendary.
00:15:03
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I definitely understand that.
00:15:05
Speaker 3: So anyway, let's work together.
00:15:07
Speaker 1: Yes, we absolutely will. We're just down the road.
00:15:10
Speaker 5: There's a lot of spots in San Francisco, but don't forget Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: I'm down.
00:15:14
Speaker 3: I just want to play.
00:15:16
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:15:16
Speaker 3: Perfect. You know what I mean?
00:15:18
Speaker 5: I love it. I love it so much.
00:15:19
Speaker 1: I know.
00:15:20
Speaker 5: Who do we know?
00:15:20
Speaker 1: I know, put a show together.
00:15:22
Speaker 5: Actually, we know someone that was here yesterday. Yes, we do. That could book that. Yep.
00:15:26
Speaker 1: We're like, reading each other's mind.
00:15:28
Speaker 5: Awesome. We're in a meeting now.
00:15:30
Speaker 1: So he and I run the station together.
00:15:32
Speaker 5: Cool.
00:15:33
Speaker 2: So it's our baby and at this point we're pretty much all that's left live and local wise.
00:15:37
Speaker 1: So we're doing all the things.
00:15:38
Speaker 5: Real talk.
00:15:39
Speaker 1: Real talk. We're doing all the things.
00:15:40
Speaker 4: Cool.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: Well we are so excited to be able to connect with you.
00:15:43
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for making the time today.
00:15:45
Speaker 2: We're stoked. We're excited about what's next. We do have one more question though. It's our favorite question.
00:15:50
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:15:50
Speaker 1: And if you want to answer this one too.
00:15:52
Speaker 3: It's up to you buddy.
00:15:53
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:15:54
Speaker 1: Up to you.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: It is from a movie from The time period we're talking about, Almost Famous, if you.
00:15:59
Speaker 3: Remember that movie. Yeah, I love Almost Famous.
00:16:00
Speaker 1: Legendary, favorite movie.
00:16:02
Speaker 2: They ask in the last frame of that movie, what do you love about music?
00:16:05
Speaker 3: What do I love about what? Music. What do I love about music? Oh my God, that's a pretty broad.
00:16:11
Speaker 1: It is. That's what makes it hard, actually.
00:16:12
Speaker 3: I mean, for me personally, it depends. From the creative side of the fence... uh... it's catharsis for me right if you've listened to any of my songs over the last twenty five years i'm basically working my way therapeutically through my life right especially the first couple of albums but from the other side of the fence i have grown to appreciate music so much more now that i've got kids that are turning me on to work let's put it this way because i did it for so long the way that we do it, I never went to shows. Obviously, I wouldn't go to clubs. You know, it was work. That was work, right? Having kids and then them begging me to take them to festivals and stuff. I'm in the pit, in the middle with kids. I love that. And I'm like, oh, shit, this is really, really... I'm like, oh, I'm going.
00:17:15
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:17:15
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? I'm going with them every time.
00:17:18
Speaker 2: So.
00:17:20
Speaker 1: I love that.
00:17:20
Speaker 3: All I can say is that I'm so grateful to be a part of it on both sides of the fence.
00:17:28
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:17:29
Speaker 3: I just love it, dude.
00:17:30
Speaker 1: And get to share that with your kids.
00:17:31
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:17:32
Speaker 3: You know, what's funny is, you know, they go to the shows and they see me on stage. They're just like, yeah, there's dad. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, and I love it. And I look back and there's one of my kids right there and my wife. And it doesn't get any better than that. And this guy.
00:17:51
Speaker 1: And this guy. Do you love music?
00:17:53
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:17:53
Speaker 1: Yes. What do you love about music? I love it all. I love it all. Well, the answer in the movie is everything, so you nailed it.
00:18:02
Speaker 5: Good job.
00:18:05
Speaker 4: Awesome.
00:18:05
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. You having fun out here?
00:18:09
Speaker 5: Yes. Do you have school tomorrow?
00:18:11
Speaker 4: What?
00:18:11
Speaker 5: Do you have school tomorrow?
00:18:12
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:18:12
Speaker 5: What grade are you in?
00:18:14
Speaker 1: Second.
00:18:14
Speaker 5: Oh, man. You're going to be the coolest kid tomorrow with great stories to tell.
00:18:19
Speaker 3: Man, he's the coolest kid right now.
00:18:21
Speaker 1: I know, exactly. Clearly, clearly.
00:18:23
Speaker 3: He's one of my favorite kids.
00:18:25
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Thomas. Appreciate it. You ready?
Speaker 1: Here we are. So excited.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: Our final interview, not just of the day, actually, of all weekend. Thomas from Oleander. And would you like to introduce?
00:00:09
Speaker 3: Arturo Padilla, my wingman.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Arturo, the wingman. Yes. Now, this would be Art's son.
00:00:17
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:00:17
Speaker 1: Our ear guitarist.
00:00:18
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:00:19
Speaker 1: Who we got to share pizza with earlier.
00:00:21
Speaker 3: That pizza was really good. It was so good. Am I allowed to cuss?
00:00:24
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:00:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. We're not live. We can edit.
00:00:26
Speaker 3: It's fine. Okay, it was fucking good.
00:00:30
Speaker 5: There you go.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: We need to find out what the pizza place was so that they can take that.
00:00:34
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've probably heard that before.
00:00:35
Speaker 3: Well, he heard it from me the other day. I kept having to apologize.
00:00:38
Speaker 1: He heard it from a drum teacher.
00:00:39
Speaker 3: Oh, well, okay.
00:00:40
Speaker 1: Drum teacher, drummers, I tell you. That's so cute. You've got to watch out for Uncle Thomas over here. Bad influence, bad influence. No, we were so excited.
00:00:48
Speaker 2: When we started seeing that Oleander was back, I was like, Oh my God, I ran, this is a funny story. I ran to my Jeep where I have all my CDs and all my gigantic cases, right?
00:00:59
Speaker 1: And I had that first album.
00:01:00
Speaker 3: Wow, you have February Sun.
00:01:02
Speaker 1: Yes.
00:01:02
Speaker 3: Wow, that's incredible.
00:01:04
Speaker 1: 99.
00:01:06
Speaker 3: Officially.
00:01:07
Speaker 1: It was officially.
00:01:08
Speaker 2: Because I was a senior when that came out, a senior in high school in Southern Oklahoma, which is even like, you know, it took a while for stuff to get to us.
00:01:16
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:16
Speaker 1: From either coast.
00:01:17
Speaker 3: Well, it took a while for us to get to Oklahoma.
00:01:19
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: I mean, it did.
00:01:21
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:01:22
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:22
Speaker 2: So anyway, I pulled it out and I was like, oh my God, this is so awesome. I'm so glad you guys are back in action.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: You're doing it.
00:01:27
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:01:28
Speaker 1: Kicking ass. I know there's been ups and downs and on and offs and all of the things.
00:01:31
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:32
Speaker 1: But we're sticking through.
00:01:33
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:01:33
Speaker 3: So look, it's funny thing is everybody thinks that because we went away that like we, that we like retired or broke up or whatever. Look for the first, I don't know, five years, all we did was tour. Like it was write, record, tour. So we put out an album and be gone for two years.
00:01:52
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:01:52
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? And then at a certain point things happened and we had a break. We got a break and we're like, you know what? Maybe we need to start, focusing on us and what's good for us instead of what's theoretically good for us but more importantly good for other people. You know what I mean?
00:02:09
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:02:10
Speaker 2: I'm glad you took a break because then longevity can kick in and you can do this for a longer period of time if you don't burn yourself completely out.
00:02:17
Speaker 3: We were burning out and admittedly we're kind of at a point right now where we're playing catch up a little bit. But it's totally cool because the difference is back then we had to do everything. And now.
00:02:30
Speaker 3: We get to do this and that's what it feels like.
00:02:32
Speaker 1: Oh, that's such, what a blessing.
00:02:34
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:02:34
Speaker 1: That's very cool.
00:02:35
Speaker 4: So what's it like now being at a band, being a band now that's, I don't know, that's different, but also very rewarding, especially in today's world, 2026, a crazy world, how we, uh, people, bands do their thing now as a musician.
00:02:51
Speaker 3: Well, I mean like the, the, the metric for us is, or the, you know, whatever is that we get in a room and if we're having fun, then we're having fun and that's it. Look, we knew we had you after shock. We were excited about that. That got us into the band room for rehearsals.
00:03:05
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:03:05
Speaker 3: And then, of course, somebody's got a song or an idea and we started pursuing it. And it was just like old times.
00:03:13
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:03:14
Speaker 1: Right?
00:03:15
Speaker 3: So the funny thing about when you get into the industry, right now, all of a sudden you're a businessman on top of being an artist, right? So there's Amex and art card and you know, you're, you get into this competitive business mind frame that takes you away from everything that you loved about it in the first place. Well, at this point right now, we're, we're kind of reconnecting with why we wanted to do in the first place. And I'll tell you, we just did 1600 miles in four days in an RV that, couldn't go faster than 60 miles an hour and I loved every minute of it you know what I mean we were six dudes in an RV that shouldn't have six dudes and you know it's just like I got home and you know I of course I call my manager and I'm like look dude you need to figure out how to do this get us able to do this all the time because this is what I'm supposed to be doing it's It's where the universe makes sense for me. You know what I mean?
00:04:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
00:04:12
Speaker 4: So, I mean, are you able to completely take time off, you know, whatever is going on and do this full time and tour.
00:04:18
Speaker 3: Around the world? No, not yet. So let's put it this way. Within 30 minutes of being back in the office of my day job, you know, I was like, yeah, I got to get back to that. But at the same time, I'm at a point where I'm obviously grateful to have a job.
00:04:34
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:04:34
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:04:34
Speaker 3: But I'm even more grateful to have an opportunity for us to work towards maybe me being able to do this full time.
00:04:41
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:04:41
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:04:42
Speaker 4: Okay.
00:04:42
Speaker 3: Because this is far more... Look, man, this is mutually beneficial, right? As far as I feel. It's great for me, but I'd like to think that it's also great for the people that we're playing for.
00:04:52
Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
00:04:53
Speaker 3: Based on what I see and who I talk to afterwards, they seem to be happy about it. And that makes me feel a lot better than what I do for a day job.
00:05:01
Speaker 5: And don't ask me what I do. I know.
00:05:02
Speaker 3: I hear you.
00:05:03
Speaker 5: I can imagine.
00:05:04
Speaker 4: No, but respect that because, you know, in the Bay Area, we have a lot of friends in bands. And, you know, they have nine to five jobs, but they do their best to make time for the bands. that they truly have a passion for. And, you know, I respect the hustle. You're trying to do what you can to, uh, uh, make it work. And so respect for you, but it sounds like you're really motivated now to make this back your full-time thing.
00:05:27
Speaker 5: So fingers crossed.
00:05:28
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:05:29
Speaker 3: You know, I mean, it's funny, right? Like, uh, what I want isn't necessarily what's going to happen. And I'm at a point in my life where I'm cool with it. I'm just going to, I'm going to obviously do everything that I possibly can to to see if that is going to work out and so far so good i mean the fact that we played the very first aftershock yeah in 2012 and then we get to do it again now when it's one of the biggest festivals in the world it's pretty cool and that it's in sacramento.
00:05:58
Speaker 2: Yeah you know what i mean hometown show yeah yeah i kind of feel really like how does that feel it's got to be.
00:06:04
Speaker 3: Well i mean it's amazing right somebody else asked like like You know, how do you compare Oleander to Sacramento when it's like, well, we're both underdogs, right? You know what I mean? I mean, we were the last band in Sacramento in 99 or in the 90s that anybody wanted or expected to do anything, right? And the crazy thing is, once we got on the road and we were outside of Sacramento and California, it's like we realized that Sacramento is not even on the map. You know what I mean? If it wasn't for Deftones, Papa Rojas, Tesla, you know, it's like those were the talking points. It certainly wasn't the Sacramento Kings, unfortunately. You know what I mean? And so this is always like you. This is just home. And I love I love I love the fact that we are who we are right now. Not just only in Sacramento. I know you guys from the Bay Area, but this is.
00:06:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, but we have a real bad habit of adopting bands from Sacramento to be our own in San Francisco.
00:07:02
Speaker 3: Well, let's have it. I'm in. I'm all for that.
00:07:06
Speaker 1: We love it.
00:07:07
Speaker 2: I mean, we actually call it, it's the Rock of the Bay, 107.7 The Bone, the Rock of the Bay, but we call ourselves the Rock of NorCal.
00:07:11
Speaker 3: Cool.
00:07:12
Speaker 1: You know, I mean, here's the truth of the matter.
00:07:14
Speaker 2: Like everything, the music industry waxes.
00:07:16
Speaker 1: And wanes, so does radio. So does radio.
00:07:20
Speaker 2: And so, you know, there's just less rock stations to represent. So we want to make sure that we're representing NorCal and whether that's the Bay or Sacramento or anywhere else, you know, that we can reach because we've got the bone app and people listen everywhere now.
00:07:33
Speaker 1: And so we're super stoked.
00:07:34
Speaker 5: Well, no, I was just going to say, there's a lot of people.
00:07:36
Speaker 3: You good?
00:07:37
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:07:37
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:07:37
Speaker 1: If you ever want to chime in.
00:07:39
Speaker 5: I love your perspective living in Sacramento.
00:07:41
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:07:42
Speaker 5: Yes.
00:07:42
Speaker 4: But no, but with that being said, it's, we noticed just a lot of people have moved out of the Bay area because you know, cost of living, whatever the case may be, move to Sacramento or nearby in between and do that super commute stuff. So it really is now, I feel like a lot smaller than it was, you.
00:07:59
Speaker 3: Know, well, the funny, the funny thing is, is as soon as I got a driver's license, I was in San Francisco from Thursday to Sunday. Oh, I bet.
00:08:05
Speaker 5: How was that? What was the music?
00:08:07
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know what the music scene was like, but the party scene was phenomenal.
00:08:12
Speaker 1: Do you remember any of it?
00:08:13
Speaker 3: I remember a lot of it, but not a lot of it. I remember that I was there from Thursday to Sunday. Wow.
00:08:19
Speaker 1: Sleeping where?
00:08:21
Speaker 3: Who said sleeping?
00:08:22
Speaker 1: What is this you talk about?
00:08:25
Speaker 3: Well, club to club to club to club, end up.
00:08:27
Speaker 5: Yeah?
00:08:27
Speaker 3: We'd start usually at 10, 15, full sun, and we'd end up at the end up.
00:08:33
Speaker 5: Wow, okay.
00:08:34
Speaker 3: Oh, dude, back in the late 80s, that was, and all I'm saying is that the funny thing about the Bay Area, especially San Francisco, incredibly difficult market for a band to get into.
00:08:44
Speaker 5: Sure, sure, sure.
00:08:44
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? So we struggle to get, and it's a really tough environment to build an audience, right? So, you know, you go where the love is. Ironically for us, Our biggest markets, ironically, were Texas, Florida, and like, you know, the Midwest. And we never would have guessed it.
00:09:01
Speaker 1: Just over that border.
00:09:02
Speaker 3: And I'm grateful for that.
00:09:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean, you guys were huge where I live. It's so funny how things are regional.
00:09:07
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:09:08
Speaker 2: You know, like you've got bands that pop off in the Midwest that like on the coast aren't as.
00:09:12
Speaker 1: Big and vice versa.
00:09:13
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:09:14
Speaker 1: But like, yeah, you guys were huge in where I grew up.
00:09:16
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, yeah. And the cool thing is, like, you never know where you're going to find your love or your market. And we found it and it was cool. And they, you know, I'm actually looking forward to getting back. Yeah.
00:09:26
Speaker 5: You know.
00:09:26
Speaker 1: So what's the plan with that?
00:09:28
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, in this day and age, we're becoming acutely aware. In the old days, you'd record an album, you'd be gone forever. This day, now it's write, record, release every six to eight weeks and promote. And then get out on the road a little bit.
00:09:43
Speaker 1: For a shorter stint, at least, on the road.
00:09:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, but here's the thing, right? We're never, ever, ever, ever, unless the money's there, go out for extended periods of time. We're only going to do stuff that makes sense for us and that makes sense for movement. this business, which it's a business now, forward. You know what I mean?
00:10:04
Speaker 4: Have you ever thought about, I have some friends in bands who've done Kickstarter campaigns to raise money in advance. for to record an album with.
00:10:12
Speaker 3: Well, put me in touch.
00:10:14
Speaker 5: Here's the thing.
00:10:14
Speaker 3: Again, again, we're, we, you know, like it's so funny cause we came, we came back to this, you know, Hey, let's do this again. And we're thinking, well, we've got to record an album and we got, you know, like, and the, everything has changed manager. When I had that conversation with him, not too long goes, well, you know, you're not a musician anymore. I go, what are you talking about? He could know. I don't manage musicians. I manage content creators who promote music. And I go, but here's the deal. That is true. It doesn't mean that we're not still writing and recording and all that good stuff. But we're learning on the fly how to do all this. It's almost like... So are we.
00:10:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, so are we.
00:10:51
Speaker 3: It's almost like waking up from a coma and the world's different. You know what I mean?
00:10:55
Speaker 5: Like Captain America.
00:10:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what I'm at.
00:10:57
Speaker 1: Every single piece of it is. But it's cool. As an artist, as a musician, you have to do it all.
00:11:02
Speaker 2: I mean, the content creation part of it is just as important these days as the art itself.
00:11:06
Speaker 3: Well, I will tell you that as an individual with a face for radio, it's very difficult. For me, I'm like... Dude, your eyes are... Well, then we need to do just the eyes.
00:11:16
Speaker 1: You need to do eye contact or something.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: I don't know.
00:11:20
Speaker 5: Only fans with just eyeballs.
00:11:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, seriously. It's eyeball Thomas and his eyeballs.
00:11:23
Speaker 3: Whatever it takes, man. I'm learning how to do that. And more importantly, I'm learning how to be. It's so funny to think that a singer in a band would be shy in front of a camera.
00:11:33
Speaker 5: Are you?
00:11:33
Speaker 3: Well, a little bit, yeah. I mean, especially at, you know, I mean, I'm not the 30, you know, the 29-year-old guy anymore. Yeah, but you still are. Well, thank you.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: As long as you look great. I mean, I don't think people care as much. As long as you're still like out there living it, keeping up with.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: What's going on.
00:11:48
Speaker 3: You know, that's really funny because one of the things that I've been asking my kids who are like 19 and 23, I'm like, does it matter to you guys if someone is older or do they have to be your age and, you know, model material? They're like, no. Yeah. We just love music.
00:12:03
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:12:03
Speaker 3: And if you're, most importantly, they want you to be authentic.
00:12:07
Speaker 5: Exactly.
00:12:07
Speaker 2: That is a word we've heard so much.
00:12:09
Speaker 5: Number one.
00:12:10
Speaker 2: It seems to be the number one rule. If you are who you are and you lean all the way into that and people feel that from you, especially live, you win every single time.
00:12:20
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, at this point, that's kind of where we're at, you know? It's like, I just have to, I have I got to stretch before shows. Otherwise, I'm susceptible to pulling a hammy.
00:12:30
Speaker 1: I would imagine. I was literally on stage.
00:12:32
Speaker 5: This is funny.
00:12:33
Speaker 1: With Corrosion of Conformity and Down last night.
00:12:36
Speaker 2: And I was like doing yoga stretches because we'd been on our feet for 14 hours at that point. And I was like, if somebody could see me from side stage, I'm all bending over.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: I mean, you just have to.
00:12:46
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I don't know if you've ever been on stage performing, but there is something about... There's something about when you hit the stage, at least for me, I feel like that same 16-year-old kid that was like, oh, yeah, we're going to do this. And mom's going, no, I really don't know if you should do that. And I'm like, no, no, we're good.
00:13:08
Speaker 1: I love that that spark is still there.
00:13:10
Speaker 3: Oh, my God. I want to do it every day still. I want to do it until I can't do it anymore.
00:13:17
Speaker 2: Well, we're going to help any way we can with that. You've got to make it to San Francisco and come play a gig with us.
00:13:22
Speaker 3: I would love that.
00:13:23
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:13:23
Speaker 3: What rooms do you want to play? Well, the funny thing is, right, like, I remember growing up, man, like, Bottom of the Hill was, like, the ticket. And we finally got to play the Bottom of the Hill, but it was on, like, a Thursday, right?
00:13:36
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:13:37
Speaker 3: And I'm like, oh, dude, there's nothing better than that room only because of the history and the vibe. All of that.
00:13:43
Speaker 1: Which is why it can't go away. We're so hopeful that it won't.
00:13:46
Speaker 3: Is it a possibility that it might?
00:13:48
Speaker 2: It is a possibility that it may remain. There's been like 75 people trying to buy that place.
00:13:53
Speaker 3: Wow.
00:13:54
Speaker 1: All with varying ideas of what it might be.
00:13:58
Speaker 2: Some people with ideas that it might not change at all, which would be ideal.
00:14:02
Speaker 3: That's great.
00:14:03
Speaker 5: So we'll see. Keep it as is.
00:14:04
Speaker 1: So we're keeping hope alive.
00:14:05
Speaker 3: Well, so finally getting to play that place was kind of a bucket list thing for me. Obviously, you know, getting to play the Warfield was always like a big deal.
00:14:14
Speaker 5: We got to.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: Oh, my God. We got to play the Fillmore in 99 with Candlebox.
00:14:20
Speaker 1: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. In 99.
00:14:24
Speaker 2: 99 Shasta would have killed to be at that show.
00:14:27
Speaker 3: So 99 Candlebox was kind of the hired gun Candlebox.
00:14:31
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah.
00:14:31
Speaker 3: With Shannon Larkin on drums and... Dude, I'm telling you, that was our first tour. We did 24,000 miles in two months in a van chasing those guys. And I learned the most about that, about how to do a show from those guys. And getting to play the Fillmore was just like, it was like one of the last shows that we did. And I'm like, fuck.
00:14:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, you made it to that moment and then, yeah.
00:15:00
Speaker 3: Oh, dude, the Fillmore.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, freaking legendary.
00:15:03
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I definitely understand that.
00:15:05
Speaker 3: So anyway, let's work together.
00:15:07
Speaker 1: Yes, we absolutely will. We're just down the road.
00:15:10
Speaker 5: There's a lot of spots in San Francisco, but don't forget Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: I'm down.
00:15:14
Speaker 3: I just want to play.
00:15:16
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:15:16
Speaker 3: Perfect. You know what I mean?
00:15:18
Speaker 5: I love it. I love it so much.
00:15:19
Speaker 1: I know.
00:15:20
Speaker 5: Who do we know?
00:15:20
Speaker 1: I know, put a show together.
00:15:22
Speaker 5: Actually, we know someone that was here yesterday. Yes, we do. That could book that. Yep.
00:15:26
Speaker 1: We're like, reading each other's mind.
00:15:28
Speaker 5: Awesome. We're in a meeting now.
00:15:30
Speaker 1: So he and I run the station together.
00:15:32
Speaker 5: Cool.
00:15:33
Speaker 2: So it's our baby and at this point we're pretty much all that's left live and local wise.
00:15:37
Speaker 1: So we're doing all the things.
00:15:38
Speaker 5: Real talk.
00:15:39
Speaker 1: Real talk. We're doing all the things.
00:15:40
Speaker 4: Cool.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: Well we are so excited to be able to connect with you.
00:15:43
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for making the time today.
00:15:45
Speaker 2: We're stoked. We're excited about what's next. We do have one more question though. It's our favorite question.
00:15:50
Speaker 5: Okay.
00:15:50
Speaker 1: And if you want to answer this one too.
00:15:52
Speaker 3: It's up to you buddy.
00:15:53
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:15:54
Speaker 1: Up to you.
00:15:55
Speaker 2: It is from a movie from The time period we're talking about, Almost Famous, if you.
00:15:59
Speaker 3: Remember that movie. Yeah, I love Almost Famous.
00:16:00
Speaker 1: Legendary, favorite movie.
00:16:02
Speaker 2: They ask in the last frame of that movie, what do you love about music?
00:16:05
Speaker 3: What do I love about what? Music. What do I love about music? Oh my God, that's a pretty broad.
00:16:11
Speaker 1: It is. That's what makes it hard, actually.
00:16:12
Speaker 3: I mean, for me personally, it depends. From the creative side of the fence... uh... it's catharsis for me right if you've listened to any of my songs over the last twenty five years i'm basically working my way therapeutically through my life right especially the first couple of albums but from the other side of the fence i have grown to appreciate music so much more now that i've got kids that are turning me on to work let's put it this way because i did it for so long the way that we do it, I never went to shows. Obviously, I wouldn't go to clubs. You know, it was work. That was work, right? Having kids and then them begging me to take them to festivals and stuff. I'm in the pit, in the middle with kids. I love that. And I'm like, oh, shit, this is really, really... I'm like, oh, I'm going.
00:17:15
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:17:15
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? I'm going with them every time.
00:17:18
Speaker 2: So.
00:17:20
Speaker 1: I love that.
00:17:20
Speaker 3: All I can say is that I'm so grateful to be a part of it on both sides of the fence.
00:17:28
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:17:29
Speaker 3: I just love it, dude.
00:17:30
Speaker 1: And get to share that with your kids.
00:17:31
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:17:32
Speaker 3: You know, what's funny is, you know, they go to the shows and they see me on stage. They're just like, yeah, there's dad. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, and I love it. And I look back and there's one of my kids right there and my wife. And it doesn't get any better than that. And this guy.
00:17:51
Speaker 1: And this guy. Do you love music?
00:17:53
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:17:53
Speaker 1: Yes. What do you love about music? I love it all. I love it all. Well, the answer in the movie is everything, so you nailed it.
00:18:02
Speaker 5: Good job.
00:18:05
Speaker 4: Awesome.
00:18:05
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us. You having fun out here?
00:18:09
Speaker 5: Yes. Do you have school tomorrow?
00:18:11
Speaker 4: What?
00:18:11
Speaker 5: Do you have school tomorrow?
00:18:12
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:18:12
Speaker 5: What grade are you in?
00:18:14
Speaker 1: Second.
00:18:14
Speaker 5: Oh, man. You're going to be the coolest kid tomorrow with great stories to tell.
00:18:19
Speaker 3: Man, he's the coolest kid right now.
00:18:21
Speaker 1: I know, exactly. Clearly, clearly.
00:18:23
Speaker 3: He's one of my favorite kids.
00:18:25
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Thomas. Appreciate it. You ready?
