WEBVTT
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Hey everybody, welcome to the dark stuff.
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Thank you so much for tuning in today and giving me uh or watching from my latest video.
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As always, it's much appreciated.
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So today my guest is Alex Edkins of Weird Nightmare.
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You may also know him as Alex Edkins of the band Mets, as the two are one in the same.
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But the bands Weird Nightmare and Mets most definitely are not.
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From 2007 to 2024, Mets released five albums of blistering, intense, noisy punk rock.
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But somewhere around 2022, Alex released an album of music under the name Weird Nightmare.
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The album blew me away, and it sounded absolutely nothing like Mets.
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It had a lot more to do with psychedelic pop and 90s alternative guitar rock than molten metal.
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Longtime viewers or listeners may remember that Weird Nightmare's debut album was my number seven in the best albums of 2022.
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Now, in between albums, Weird Nightmare released covers from the Trogs and the Ramones just to show how varied their influences are.
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Recently, Weird Nightmare released its second full-length album, Hoopla, and has just embarked on a tour that will find the band all over North America and Europe.
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Welcome, Alex, to both the dark stuff and New Day Rising.
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Thanks so much.
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Glad to be here.
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Yeah.
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So um you just started off with the new um the new album just came out last week, correct?
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Just last Friday.
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On Friday, yeah.
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Okay.
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Let me ask you a couple of things.
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So before I get started with all the weird nightmare stuff, let me ask you just one question.
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Like, what is the current status of Mets?
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Is Up on Gravity Hill gonna be your final album with as with that band?
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Uh certainly for now it is.
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Um, we're we're calling it a uh indefinite hiatus, but really it's just all three of us deciding to like step away for a moment, catch our breath, and um, you know try different things in in life.
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Um, we had been going full tilt for I think almost 17 years, and uh so it felt like a good thing for the three of us.
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It was a a decision that wasn't easy because that was our passion and our life and our and our career.
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Um, but it also feels like a smart decision for the three of us for for many reasons.
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But um yeah, so you know, I think we've all hit the ground running in in different directions, and it feels good.
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Okay.
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So it wasn't like a you know animosity.
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There was just like, hey, maybe we're just gonna this might just be the end.
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Uh, you know, yeah, it was just this feels like we need to take a break.
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And uh like I said, lots of reasons.
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I don't want to get too too into it, but I will say that you know, being in a band, for those who haven't tried it, it's a it's a pretty wild scenario.
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Um, you're living in close proximity with people.
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Um, and yeah, it can it can be difficult to you know for everyone to get what they need from that scenario and for everyone to to remain happy.
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It's a tough, a tough thing, a tough balancing act.
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So um there's always that in every band, there's always tension, but um, I think I don't think that was at the heart of our decision making.
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Okay.
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Well, let's go back to the beginning of Weird Nightmare.
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So 2022 is when the first album came out.
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Now, from what I understand, this was sort of like a COVID project, like you were doing this during lockdown or whatever.
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Now, was this just for fun initially, or did you always intend to release this as a some type of project?
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Well, I always try to stay busy making things, it it but it like you said, it was a reaction to the lockdown.
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Uh, we weren't able to get together.
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We had Atlas vending ready for release, and we kept pushing it back, and our tour dates got canceled.
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And so, in in a kind of way to just stay sane and to stay busy, I started going to the studio at night and uh you know cobbling together these songs.
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I had no clear idea what it was going to become um or what it was even for, but that was why it felt so fun and exciting.
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Um, I think it's great to make things with no parameters, with no um goal in mind, and that was certainly how Weird Nightmare began.
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Um then when I kind of took a step back, I saw that there was a record there.
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A very, a very sort of varied sound as far as a record goes.
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I think it has lots of dips and dives and stylistic changes, but I still thought, okay, this is cool.
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This is a record.
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I think this, and and I showed it to the folks at Sub Pop, and they're like, Yeah, we love this, let's put it out.
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And so that although that wasn't my intention, I was thrilled that that was sort of what the result, and um, you know, felt good for something to be made in a very altruistic manner to get that sort of attention and get that kind of uh release by a great label.
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Sure, yeah.
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No, subpop is great now.
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Um, you played all the instruments on the first album, is that right?
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Or except for drums, maybe?
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That's right.
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Okay, and um, is that sort of how you used to do it with Mets?
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Like, did you used to demo stuff by yourself where you played the instruments, or is that a different way that you worked with them versus doing your own project?
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Uh yeah, I would demo it changed over the years, actually.
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I think at first we were hanging out a lot, and you know, uh everything was exciting, and we would spend a lot of time in the jam space together.
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And so we'd flesh things out that way.
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As things progressed, I would end up writing like pretty solid demos with a drum machine and with bass and guitar and vocal ideas.
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Once I had that, we would all meet up and uh work it out that way.
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So that's not to say that the songs wouldn't change once we got together, because they would.
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Uh arrangements would change, and certainly like Chris and Hayden have distinct ways of playing their instruments um that would guide guide the song and the sound and everything.
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So it would always change, but yeah, it was it was similar to the weird nightmare thing in that yes, I would bring the the bulk of the song idea in, and then we would um kind of hash it out together.
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Yeah, okay.
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Now, um, this is sort of a weird question, but do you consider Weird Nightmare a solo project or a side project?
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I don't know the difference.
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Uh yeah, it's my main focus, I'll say that.
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It's right now it's um it's exactly what I want to be doing, and it feels like it's gaining some serious momentum, which is super cool.
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When it's time broken, yeah, it's sort of the the most honest expression of my musical self right now, you know.
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Uh I think what I listen to daily in my record collection and things like that, I think it's coming out through the songs, and it's also just a a great outlet for like the kind of music I want to hear and the kind of music I want to make.
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Um, so I think to answer your question, it's it's just it's yeah, it's it's my main focus for sure.
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Okay.
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Now, were the songs when you started doing the first record, maybe, um, were these songs that you had stashed away over the years and just thought, well, this might not be right for Mets, or maybe I'll do this on something else, and then you just kind of had them there, or was this just some spontaneous kind of outpouring of of ideas?
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A few of them were were like stashed away, and then for the most part, they were pretty spontaneous, like this really fun um exorcism of pent-up ideas.
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Uh and same thing with this new album, Hoopla.
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It was just you know, uh, didn't take long to compile the the the songs and the demos and stuff before recording them.
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So yeah, I love that about uh Weird Nightmares that it's it's really second nature to write these sort of melodic uh like concise pop songs.
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Uh you know, and uh that feels good when your work uh when your uh process is is kind of streamlined and easy, it's really fun.
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And uh uh I I certainly don't see that changing.
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It's sort of like I can I can uh pump out these songs, but it's not to take away from it I think I don't think it takes away from the quality of the fact that it's like a fast thing.
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I think sometimes your first idea is your best idea.
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No, not at all.
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I mean, I think it's great, and in fact, I was saying on the air last week on my show that like this Weird Nightmare sounds like my record collection.
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Okay, so if I were to sum up all the stuff that I have back here, take out heavy metal or whatever, because I have a pretty good metal collection, but like you take out the metal, and this is what my record collection sounds like is Weird Nightmare.
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And I think that's why I was so taken by the album the first time I heard it, the original one.
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And my take on it at first was I thought the first album kind of reminded me of late 80s, early 90s, Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev.
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Okay, so that time where they kind of crossed over a little bit when Jonathan Donahue was sort of in both bands, you know, hit to death in a future head in a priest-driven ambulance.
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But you know, I listened to it last night and I don't hear that quite as much as I as I remembered hearing it, but I really did like it.
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And I do think the new album continues on with the power pop influence.
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You got your jangly guitars guided by voices, the birds sound like a big influence on the new record.
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Uh, the kinks, a little bit of the replacements, Elvis Costello.
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Is that the kind of stuff that you were going for?
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You were thinking of when you when you were making the record.
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I I wasn't really going for anything that I can pinpoint.
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Um, but I I figure that we're all as musicians, sort of we are the sum of our influences.
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So a lot of the things you mentioned there, I do listen to and love and find inspiring.
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So yeah, you know, I think that comes out in the mix, in the in the I like to always think of it as uh my record collection and things like that, and of course where you're at in life at that time, is just kind of blended up, and then you write, and uh hopefully you know nothing is I I never enjoy songs that are like blatant homage, uh like a blatant nod to something.
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I just want it to feel like the artist, and I I want it to feel like me when I'm writing.
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So, but I think I come by those sort of sounds and um influences really naturally, and I love certainly am a big just music fan and record collector.
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So I think uh it it's impossible, I think, to not share my love of some of those things with with people when I'm writing.
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Let me uh let me take you back a little bit even before.
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So, how many instruments do you play right now, and how old were you when you started playing music?
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Um I think around 11 or 12, probably is when I started to really enjoy guitar.
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Um, my mom had an acoustic lying around that I don't think I played very much.
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I think it was always electric guitar that I was drawn to.
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So I when I got one of those around 11, I think, I started to go to my friend's house and he had a drum set, that kind of thing.
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Like when when it was when you find some people to you know jam with or to make racket with, right?
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That's when it really gets exciting.
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And certainly it was for me.
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It was just like, oh, okay, this is exhilarating, this is incredible.
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Um so but it wasn't super early in my life.
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I wouldn't say that I come from a musical family in any in any way.
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Um but yeah, and I'm not, and you know, as a as far as instruments go, I think I can sort of fake my way through a lot of stuff and dabble just because of uh, but uh, you know, guitar is the main instrument for sure.
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Okay, guitar's your main instrument.
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So well, did you have bands as a teenager and high school bands, or was Mets your first band?
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Mets wasn't the first band that I played with, but it was sort of I'd say the first band that I would call my own.
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Um the other ones I was sort of you know following someone else's lead uh and loving that, but uh Mets was the first time it was like I was super focused on something.
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I had an idea in mind and kind of went at it ferociously, and uh yeah, and that would have been around 2007.
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So I mean I was not a young guy when that started.
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It was uh Hayden and I started it out of his basement, and you know, he had been in some really cool bands, but I hadn't done too much that I would mention, you know.
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Uh yeah, so we got into it late, and it was I think it really helped us because we had sort of learned some of the things to avoid when being in a band, and and uh I think we knew enough that you know if we're gonna play a show, you wanna be ready for it, you wanna be super tight, and we kind of became quite regimented uh all throughout the meds years.
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It was like we were very serious about our practicing, our rehearsing, and our sound on stage, our our show, all of those things were um just built in from day one.
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So I think it's the way it's the reason we kind of grabbed people's attention, is because when we came onto the scene, it was like a pretty fully formed idea and it hit people hard.
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And I think that was sort of because of some of the years we had already put in in other projects.
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Someone only knew you, say, from Mets.
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You know, the difference in sound between Weird Nightmare and Mets is is pretty extreme.
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Now you kind of addressed this a little bit, but what was the general reaction to this new music from the people who knew you best?
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Most people that I know, um, they know me and they know and they know what I love.
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And so it's not a surprise at all.
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Um, you know, I think melody and things were creeping into the Mets songs more and more and more.
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Um, and it just wasn't gonna stop.
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So it was like, I don't think it surprised anyone I know.
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For people that don't know me and they just know the music of Mets, it's probably quite shocking.
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Um that being said, it's still to me, it's a punk rock record.
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It's a you know, it's melodic, but it's a distorted rock record.
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And uh so in that way, it's living in the same world sonically and aesthetically.
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It's coming from the same places, but it's more like you know, instead of dissonance, I'm leaning towards melody, which is what makes me really happy when I listen to records when you write songs now.
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I mean, and maybe this is more in between Weird Nightmare, the first album, and Hoopla, the second album.
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Do you have a different sort of process or an idea, like, okay, I'm gonna do this one for Mets, or this is for Weird Nightmare, or this is for something else?
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I mean, do you approach it differently, or you just do your thing and it comes out the way it comes out?
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I think I kind of just do my thing.
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The process might be different.
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Like for Weird Nightmare, it probably starts with an acoustic guitar, like sitting on the couch, you know.
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Whereas Mets, it was like, okay, I'm sitting down, I'm gonna write a song, I'm gonna start with a drum beat on a drum machine, maybe do bass first.
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You know, it's like right so that was like a process of thinking about the three people in the band.
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And while this is like I think more of a traditional kind of songwriting approach where it's like you can strum an acoustic guitar in most of these songs, and that was a fun experiment that I I just kept going with.
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I just love it.
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It's uh and I think it's no surprise that when you do that, it's uh your songs go in a different direction.
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So, was there anything different in the way you approached this new record, hoopla, uh, than you did the first?
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I mean, obviously, you have an outside producer, and I believe you have other people playing with you on the new record, uh, not just you.
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So, but was was anything?
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I mean, what I guess what was the idea behind that?
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Is it this is my new thing now?
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I'm I'm doing weird nightmare full time.
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I should do it in a more proper studio or other kind of way for musicians or anything like that, or no, not really, no, because this was done.
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This was so we still hadn't finished our Mets final tour when this was being done.
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So, like I said, sort of at the beginning of the interview, as I always I've got a a lot of projects on the go at all times, like a bunch of bands, and uh I do music for film and TV as well on the side.
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So it's there's always something, and this was this record had been finished um long before Mets sort of stopped being a band.
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So um there was no grand scheme like you like like you're saying.
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Um I think it was Seth's idea to sort of uh Seth engineered and mixed this record, and he had done a bunch of the Mets records too, actually.
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But he's like, let's make this, you know, not blown out as much.
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Let's make this really big sounding and wide sounding and really make a good sounding record, because the first one was almost purposefully lo-fi, um, purposefully, but also I didn't really have much of another option because of the situation.
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Um, so that just seemed like a good idea, you know, like why repeat yourself?
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Um, and uh that's how we went about it.
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And then when we brought in Jim from Spoon, it was like he's in the business of making meticulous, like beautifully recorded albums, and so we just kept on going with that idea, you know.
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We weren't trying to hide anything, we wanted the songs to shine, and uh we just had a blast with it.
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So it was not an in like some kind of plan, it was sort of just that's that's how it all um unfolded, and I I like to let things happen like that, you know.
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Um, working with Jim was a bit of a fluke, he had just moved to town where Seth's studio was, so that was like serendipity, and then same with working with Lowell and Roddy, who played bass and drums.
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It's like those were the guys who I'd been chatting with, and uh Lowell had always been the drummer on these tracks.
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So anyway, trying to say like it was it just kind of worked out that way.
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Do you could you see a time maybe where Weird Nightmare evolved into more of a band, like in your in the old sense of like Mets where you have collaborators, or do you like it this way?
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It's your baby, and you kind of bring in people when you need to, but well, I'm getting yeah, I'm getting the best of both worlds, frankly, because when creating, there's a lot of freedom there.
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But on the road, like I've got this great bit group of guys who are lovely to be around and also amazing musicians, so it does feel like a band, you know.
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Um, we are a band, right?
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Uh and uh so yeah, I don't see any reason to switch that right now.
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I think it works well.
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Um, and I'm I certainly love their input as far as you know, our live show does sound different than the record because those guys are adding to the songs and improving them, and they're they're helping like with segues during the set and choosing the set lists and stuff.
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So it does feel like a collaborative effort out when we're out there playing live.
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Now, these guys in your live band, they're not the guys who you just referenced that played on the record, right?
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They're different.
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His bass.
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Okay.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.559
He he was on the record too.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.319
And what can people expect at the show?
00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.960
Is it just gonna be a a mix of the two records?
00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:19.279
Do you have anything else uh special to we and we got a couple singles that we had put out in between that will that we sometimes pull out live, but uh yeah, it's just a fun rock show.
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:28.079
Uh it's you know a heavy heavy show that uh I think people will enjoy, you know.
00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:37.039
It's it's uh still pretty loud and banging, but uh these songs have got a lot of nice harmony singing and stuff, so it's a nice mix.
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.400
Well, you mentioned your uh other singles, and it's so funny because you did that.
00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:47.119
Um Our Love Will Still Be There, which I knew as uh the The Fluid covered it back in the late 80s.
00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:52.960
I didn't know that when I did it, and I thought it was a fluid song, so I was like, Oh man, cool, weird nightmare covering the fluid.
00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:55.119
It's a oh no way, and then I found out it was the Trogs.
00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:58.400
I was like an idiot because somebody was like, You know, that's like a song from the 60s, right?
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.960
I was like, Oh, okay, I had no idea.
00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:03.519
The band is out on tour right now, correct?
00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.599
Uh yes, we uh what what do we have coming?
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:12.319
We're doing some shows uh in Ontario and out east in Canada pretty soon.
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:22.079
We've been busy, we just finished a West Coast uh US run, and uh yeah, lots more to come in the spring and summer.
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:24.079
So I don't have a ton more questions.
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:36.000
I kind of want to just more or less introduce you and the music to the audience here, but I always end my interviews by asking people do you ever wish that the internet just didn't exist?
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:38.400
And we went back to a time before it.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.880
Sometimes let's say that.
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:44.799
That's my answer sometimes.
00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.440
Um I remember a time.
00:23:47.839 --> 00:24:14.799
I'm old enough to remember when there was no internet, and uh I think I think there's a lot that of good that comes from the internet and being connected and hyper um hyper connected and all this information at your fingertips, but yeah, I think it can lead to a lot of you know sad stuff.
00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:18.640
I think I think it can make people really down and depressed and sad.
00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:23.359
And I think I know that I'm happiest when I'm doing something else that isn't online.
00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:24.000
Right.
00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:29.839
Um and that's probably why I put my head in the sand and make records, you know.
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:32.559
It's that's my way of escaping.
00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:35.279
So I hope that everyone has that escape, you know.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:51.680
I think we all need to um uh log off or detach or whatever as much as we can, because as much as you know, it's a great tool for so much, it's can spread a lot of negativity and hate and things like that, and uh, we don't need that.
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.400
No, and I also think about the way it's altered the music business in a real way.
00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:08.960
I mean, uh, music business has always been shady and corrupt, and you know, there's always been issues with you know people not getting as much money as they deserve, but now it just seems like everything is ones and zeros.
00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:13.759
You have no idea whether anything is real with streaming and and all of that kind of stuff.
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:17.759
It just seems like this this can't keep going at this rate.
00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:20.480
I I don't understand how it works.
00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.519
Um, because and you're you're an artist, you know it.
00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:28.240
It's you can't make money off record, so you do have to to tour more and do other things.
00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:32.000
It just seems like this is just not very not thought through very well.
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:54.640
No, well, I mean, it doesn't serve, it only serves a small percentage of the the people, like the the rec the record labels up top, and the uh one percent of musicians, but you know, um getting on the road and selling actual physical records is a way to make a living.
00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:59.039
Um, yeah, but that's getting tough too, because you know, it's everything costs more.
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:03.759
But certainly with streaming and everything, it is a very confusing thing.
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:05.599
I don't know what to make of it.
00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:16.960
I try not to get trapped in that game, you know, of trying trying to you know get streams because it doesn't do any real good um for the artist.
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:25.359
I think it does it's great for the listener, and to have all the music of the world at your fingertips is a is a beautiful thing.
00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:31.599
Um, but yeah, but it's I think there there should be a way to price ideally to make it work financially.
00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:32.960
You said it, you know, you said it.
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:36.160
Like let's let's figure it out, but yeah.
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:42.319
It's gonna take a lot of people with a lot of more influence uh to step up.
00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:51.279
I think well, and the people at the top, they seem to carve out special arrangements for themselves, and then everybody else is left with just the other arrangement.
00:26:51.440 --> 00:27:00.319
So it is gonna take somebody, maybe like a Jack White or Taylor Swift or whatever, somebody major, to say, look, like we need to make this equal across the board.
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:04.640
But um, yeah, I'm not I'm not a big streaming supporter, so I am gonna hold up the new CD.
00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:06.720
This is called Hoopla from Weird Nightmare.
00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:08.960
You can buy it on CD, on LP.
00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:12.559
You can stream it if you must, but it is available on CD and LP.
00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:13.279
It is brand new.
00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:14.079
It just came out.
00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:19.519
Weird Nightmare is on tour right now throughout North America, and then later on, they'll be going to Europe.
00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:24.720
Um, again, there's also this first album, the safe self-titled album from Weird Nightmare.
00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:28.240
There's of course the catalog for Mets and stuff, but we're talking about Weird Nightmare today.
00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:29.599
Hoopla, the new record.
00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:30.799
It is amazing, folks.
00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:31.599
I love it.
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:42.480
The first one came in my top ten at number seven in 2022, and I'm anticipating equally, or if not higher, placement for 2026 on this new record.
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:49.519
So um, it is with this that I will tell everybody to check out Weird Nightmare on tour if they're coming to a town near you.
00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:55.279
Buy this album hoopla at your local record store or subpop.com or wherever you get stuff.
00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:56.880
It doesn't make any difference to me.
00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:57.920
That's up to you.
00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:01.200
Thank you so much, Alex, for agreeing to do this interview.
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:02.799
And good luck on the tour.
00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.759
And I hope to see you on the 27th in St.
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:06.480
Paul.
00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:07.279
Awesome.
00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:08.160
I look forward to it.
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:08.799
Thanks so much.
00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:10.240
Yeah, all right, thank you so much.
00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:11.119
Appreciate it.
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.000
Hey everybody, welcome to the dark stuff.
00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:18.960
Thank you so much for tuning in today and giving me uh or watching from my latest video.
00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:20.800
As always, it's much appreciated.
00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.000
So today my guest is Alex Edkins of Weird Nightmare.
00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:28.640
You may also know him as Alex Edkins of the band Mets, as the two are one in the same.
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.640
But the bands Weird Nightmare and Mets most definitely are not.
00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:39.679
From 2007 to 2024, Mets released five albums of blistering, intense, noisy punk rock.
00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:45.200
But somewhere around 2022, Alex released an album of music under the name Weird Nightmare.
00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.439
The album blew me away, and it sounded absolutely nothing like Mets.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:54.880
It had a lot more to do with psychedelic pop and 90s alternative guitar rock than molten metal.
00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:03.119
Longtime viewers or listeners may remember that Weird Nightmare's debut album was my number seven in the best albums of 2022.
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:09.840
Now, in between albums, Weird Nightmare released covers from the Trogs and the Ramones just to show how varied their influences are.
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:18.480
Recently, Weird Nightmare released its second full-length album, Hoopla, and has just embarked on a tour that will find the band all over North America and Europe.
00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.879
Welcome, Alex, to both the dark stuff and New Day Rising.
00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:24.239
Thanks so much.
00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:25.680
Glad to be here.
00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:26.319
Yeah.
00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:33.120
So um you just started off with the new um the new album just came out last week, correct?
00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:34.000
Just last Friday.
00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:35.280
On Friday, yeah.
00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:35.920
Okay.
00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:38.159
Let me ask you a couple of things.
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:42.799
So before I get started with all the weird nightmare stuff, let me ask you just one question.
00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:44.879
Like, what is the current status of Mets?
00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.599
Is Up on Gravity Hill gonna be your final album with as with that band?
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.239
Uh certainly for now it is.
00:01:52.400 --> 00:02:10.560
Um, we're we're calling it a uh indefinite hiatus, but really it's just all three of us deciding to like step away for a moment, catch our breath, and um, you know try different things in in life.
00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:22.319
Um, we had been going full tilt for I think almost 17 years, and uh so it felt like a good thing for the three of us.
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:29.520
It was a a decision that wasn't easy because that was our passion and our life and our and our career.
00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:35.280
Um, but it also feels like a smart decision for the three of us for for many reasons.
00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:42.319
But um yeah, so you know, I think we've all hit the ground running in in different directions, and it feels good.
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:43.039
Okay.
00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:45.520
So it wasn't like a you know animosity.
00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:48.639
There was just like, hey, maybe we're just gonna this might just be the end.
00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:53.520
Uh, you know, yeah, it was just this feels like we need to take a break.
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.319
And uh like I said, lots of reasons.
00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:06.960
I don't want to get too too into it, but I will say that you know, being in a band, for those who haven't tried it, it's a it's a pretty wild scenario.
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.479
Um, you're living in close proximity with people.
00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:21.599
Um, and yeah, it can it can be difficult to you know for everyone to get what they need from that scenario and for everyone to to remain happy.
00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.800
It's a tough, a tough thing, a tough balancing act.
00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:35.840
So um there's always that in every band, there's always tension, but um, I think I don't think that was at the heart of our decision making.
00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:36.479
Okay.
00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:39.520
Well, let's go back to the beginning of Weird Nightmare.
00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:42.719
So 2022 is when the first album came out.
00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:48.319
Now, from what I understand, this was sort of like a COVID project, like you were doing this during lockdown or whatever.
00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:54.639
Now, was this just for fun initially, or did you always intend to release this as a some type of project?
00:03:54.960 --> 00:04:02.879
Well, I always try to stay busy making things, it it but it like you said, it was a reaction to the lockdown.
00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:04.960
Uh, we weren't able to get together.
00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:13.520
We had Atlas vending ready for release, and we kept pushing it back, and our tour dates got canceled.
00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:27.839
And so, in in a kind of way to just stay sane and to stay busy, I started going to the studio at night and uh you know cobbling together these songs.
00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:44.160
I had no clear idea what it was going to become um or what it was even for, but that was why it felt so fun and exciting.
00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:53.600
Um, I think it's great to make things with no parameters, with no um goal in mind, and that was certainly how Weird Nightmare began.
00:04:53.839 --> 00:05:00.560
Um then when I kind of took a step back, I saw that there was a record there.
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:06.000
A very, a very sort of varied sound as far as a record goes.
00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:11.680
I think it has lots of dips and dives and stylistic changes, but I still thought, okay, this is cool.
00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:12.480
This is a record.
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:18.160
I think this, and and I showed it to the folks at Sub Pop, and they're like, Yeah, we love this, let's put it out.
00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:39.199
And so that although that wasn't my intention, I was thrilled that that was sort of what the result, and um, you know, felt good for something to be made in a very altruistic manner to get that sort of attention and get that kind of uh release by a great label.
00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:39.920
Sure, yeah.
00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.600
No, subpop is great now.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.439
Um, you played all the instruments on the first album, is that right?
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:46.959
Or except for drums, maybe?
00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:47.759
That's right.
00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.319
Okay, and um, is that sort of how you used to do it with Mets?
00:05:52.480 --> 00:06:00.639
Like, did you used to demo stuff by yourself where you played the instruments, or is that a different way that you worked with them versus doing your own project?
00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:05.040
Uh yeah, I would demo it changed over the years, actually.
00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:16.160
I think at first we were hanging out a lot, and you know, uh everything was exciting, and we would spend a lot of time in the jam space together.
00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:18.959
And so we'd flesh things out that way.
00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:29.759
As things progressed, I would end up writing like pretty solid demos with a drum machine and with bass and guitar and vocal ideas.
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:35.920
Once I had that, we would all meet up and uh work it out that way.
00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.639
So that's not to say that the songs wouldn't change once we got together, because they would.
00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:52.399
Uh arrangements would change, and certainly like Chris and Hayden have distinct ways of playing their instruments um that would guide guide the song and the sound and everything.
00:06:52.560 --> 00:07:06.720
So it would always change, but yeah, it was it was similar to the weird nightmare thing in that yes, I would bring the the bulk of the song idea in, and then we would um kind of hash it out together.
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:08.240
Yeah, okay.
00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:15.759
Now, um, this is sort of a weird question, but do you consider Weird Nightmare a solo project or a side project?
00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:18.160
I don't know the difference.
00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.519
Uh yeah, it's my main focus, I'll say that.
00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:32.000
It's right now it's um it's exactly what I want to be doing, and it feels like it's gaining some serious momentum, which is super cool.
00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:49.360
When it's time broken, yeah, it's sort of the the most honest expression of my musical self right now, you know.
00:07:49.439 --> 00:08:05.839
Uh I think what I listen to daily in my record collection and things like that, I think it's coming out through the songs, and it's also just a a great outlet for like the kind of music I want to hear and the kind of music I want to make.
00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:15.279
Um, so I think to answer your question, it's it's just it's yeah, it's it's my main focus for sure.
00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:15.839
Okay.
00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:33.840
Now, were the songs when you started doing the first record, maybe, um, were these songs that you had stashed away over the years and just thought, well, this might not be right for Mets, or maybe I'll do this on something else, and then you just kind of had them there, or was this just some spontaneous kind of outpouring of of ideas?
00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:48.320
A few of them were were like stashed away, and then for the most part, they were pretty spontaneous, like this really fun um exorcism of pent-up ideas.
00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.279
Uh and same thing with this new album, Hoopla.
00:08:51.440 --> 00:09:00.159
It was just you know, uh, didn't take long to compile the the the songs and the demos and stuff before recording them.
00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:11.600
So yeah, I love that about uh Weird Nightmares that it's it's really second nature to write these sort of melodic uh like concise pop songs.
00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:22.799
Uh you know, and uh that feels good when your work uh when your uh process is is kind of streamlined and easy, it's really fun.
00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:28.000
And uh uh I I certainly don't see that changing.
00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:39.360
It's sort of like I can I can uh pump out these songs, but it's not to take away from it I think I don't think it takes away from the quality of the fact that it's like a fast thing.
00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:42.080
I think sometimes your first idea is your best idea.
00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:43.039
No, not at all.
00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:51.360
I mean, I think it's great, and in fact, I was saying on the air last week on my show that like this Weird Nightmare sounds like my record collection.
00:09:51.600 --> 00:10:03.039
Okay, so if I were to sum up all the stuff that I have back here, take out heavy metal or whatever, because I have a pretty good metal collection, but like you take out the metal, and this is what my record collection sounds like is Weird Nightmare.
00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:08.320
And I think that's why I was so taken by the album the first time I heard it, the original one.
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:17.360
And my take on it at first was I thought the first album kind of reminded me of late 80s, early 90s, Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev.
00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:26.080
Okay, so that time where they kind of crossed over a little bit when Jonathan Donahue was sort of in both bands, you know, hit to death in a future head in a priest-driven ambulance.
00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:32.320
But you know, I listened to it last night and I don't hear that quite as much as I as I remembered hearing it, but I really did like it.
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:37.039
And I do think the new album continues on with the power pop influence.
00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:42.480
You got your jangly guitars guided by voices, the birds sound like a big influence on the new record.
00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:46.159
Uh, the kinks, a little bit of the replacements, Elvis Costello.
00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.200
Is that the kind of stuff that you were going for?
00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.320
You were thinking of when you when you were making the record.
00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:57.200
I I wasn't really going for anything that I can pinpoint.
00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:04.960
Um, but I I figure that we're all as musicians, sort of we are the sum of our influences.
00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:11.200
So a lot of the things you mentioned there, I do listen to and love and find inspiring.
00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:38.799
So yeah, you know, I think that comes out in the mix, in the in the I like to always think of it as uh my record collection and things like that, and of course where you're at in life at that time, is just kind of blended up, and then you write, and uh hopefully you know nothing is I I never enjoy songs that are like blatant homage, uh like a blatant nod to something.
00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:44.639
I just want it to feel like the artist, and I I want it to feel like me when I'm writing.
00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:56.480
So, but I think I come by those sort of sounds and um influences really naturally, and I love certainly am a big just music fan and record collector.
00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:07.919
So I think uh it it's impossible, I think, to not share my love of some of those things with with people when I'm writing.
00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.000
Let me uh let me take you back a little bit even before.
00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:21.519
So, how many instruments do you play right now, and how old were you when you started playing music?
00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:33.679
Um I think around 11 or 12, probably is when I started to really enjoy guitar.
00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:41.360
Um, my mom had an acoustic lying around that I don't think I played very much.
00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:44.159
I think it was always electric guitar that I was drawn to.
00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:52.399
So I when I got one of those around 11, I think, I started to go to my friend's house and he had a drum set, that kind of thing.
00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:58.720
Like when when it was when you find some people to you know jam with or to make racket with, right?
00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:00.639
That's when it really gets exciting.
00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:02.159
And certainly it was for me.
00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:07.600
It was just like, oh, okay, this is exhilarating, this is incredible.
00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.200
Um so but it wasn't super early in my life.
00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.720
I wouldn't say that I come from a musical family in any in any way.
00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:30.559
Um but yeah, and I'm not, and you know, as a as far as instruments go, I think I can sort of fake my way through a lot of stuff and dabble just because of uh, but uh, you know, guitar is the main instrument for sure.
00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:32.240
Okay, guitar's your main instrument.
00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:37.440
So well, did you have bands as a teenager and high school bands, or was Mets your first band?
00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:46.240
Mets wasn't the first band that I played with, but it was sort of I'd say the first band that I would call my own.
00:13:46.480 --> 00:14:02.480
Um the other ones I was sort of you know following someone else's lead uh and loving that, but uh Mets was the first time it was like I was super focused on something.
00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:13.360
I had an idea in mind and kind of went at it ferociously, and uh yeah, and that would have been around 2007.
00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.559
So I mean I was not a young guy when that started.
00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:30.240
It was uh Hayden and I started it out of his basement, and you know, he had been in some really cool bands, but I hadn't done too much that I would mention, you know.
00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:57.360
Uh yeah, so we got into it late, and it was I think it really helped us because we had sort of learned some of the things to avoid when being in a band, and and uh I think we knew enough that you know if we're gonna play a show, you wanna be ready for it, you wanna be super tight, and we kind of became quite regimented uh all throughout the meds years.
00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:09.840
It was like we were very serious about our practicing, our rehearsing, and our sound on stage, our our show, all of those things were um just built in from day one.
00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:19.759
So I think it's the way it's the reason we kind of grabbed people's attention, is because when we came onto the scene, it was like a pretty fully formed idea and it hit people hard.
00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:29.440
And I think that was sort of because of some of the years we had already put in in other projects.
00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:31.679
Someone only knew you, say, from Mets.
00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.759
You know, the difference in sound between Weird Nightmare and Mets is is pretty extreme.
00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:42.399
Now you kind of addressed this a little bit, but what was the general reaction to this new music from the people who knew you best?
00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:50.159
Most people that I know, um, they know me and they know and they know what I love.
00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.159
And so it's not a surprise at all.
00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:58.480
Um, you know, I think melody and things were creeping into the Mets songs more and more and more.
00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:00.879
Um, and it just wasn't gonna stop.
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.399
So it was like, I don't think it surprised anyone I know.
00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:09.519
For people that don't know me and they just know the music of Mets, it's probably quite shocking.
00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:15.200
Um that being said, it's still to me, it's a punk rock record.
00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:21.200
It's a you know, it's melodic, but it's a distorted rock record.
00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:28.240
And uh so in that way, it's living in the same world sonically and aesthetically.
00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:50.159
It's coming from the same places, but it's more like you know, instead of dissonance, I'm leaning towards melody, which is what makes me really happy when I listen to records when you write songs now.
00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:56.559
I mean, and maybe this is more in between Weird Nightmare, the first album, and Hoopla, the second album.
00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:04.480
Do you have a different sort of process or an idea, like, okay, I'm gonna do this one for Mets, or this is for Weird Nightmare, or this is for something else?
00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:08.720
I mean, do you approach it differently, or you just do your thing and it comes out the way it comes out?
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:10.640
I think I kind of just do my thing.
00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.160
The process might be different.
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:18.079
Like for Weird Nightmare, it probably starts with an acoustic guitar, like sitting on the couch, you know.
00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:28.240
Whereas Mets, it was like, okay, I'm sitting down, I'm gonna write a song, I'm gonna start with a drum beat on a drum machine, maybe do bass first.
00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:33.279
You know, it's like right so that was like a process of thinking about the three people in the band.
00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:48.079
And while this is like I think more of a traditional kind of songwriting approach where it's like you can strum an acoustic guitar in most of these songs, and that was a fun experiment that I I just kept going with.
00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:48.960
I just love it.
00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:57.119
It's uh and I think it's no surprise that when you do that, it's uh your songs go in a different direction.
00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:03.119
So, was there anything different in the way you approached this new record, hoopla, uh, than you did the first?
00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:10.160
I mean, obviously, you have an outside producer, and I believe you have other people playing with you on the new record, uh, not just you.
00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:12.079
So, but was was anything?
00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.079
I mean, what I guess what was the idea behind that?
00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:15.519
Is it this is my new thing now?
00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:17.680
I'm I'm doing weird nightmare full time.
00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:26.400
I should do it in a more proper studio or other kind of way for musicians or anything like that, or no, not really, no, because this was done.
00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:33.119
This was so we still hadn't finished our Mets final tour when this was being done.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:46.559
So, like I said, sort of at the beginning of the interview, as I always I've got a a lot of projects on the go at all times, like a bunch of bands, and uh I do music for film and TV as well on the side.
00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:58.400
So it's there's always something, and this was this record had been finished um long before Mets sort of stopped being a band.
00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:04.799
So um there was no grand scheme like you like like you're saying.
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:16.160
Um I think it was Seth's idea to sort of uh Seth engineered and mixed this record, and he had done a bunch of the Mets records too, actually.
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:20.640
But he's like, let's make this, you know, not blown out as much.
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:35.359
Let's make this really big sounding and wide sounding and really make a good sounding record, because the first one was almost purposefully lo-fi, um, purposefully, but also I didn't really have much of another option because of the situation.
00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:40.559
Um, so that just seemed like a good idea, you know, like why repeat yourself?
00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.599
Um, and uh that's how we went about it.
00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:56.079
And then when we brought in Jim from Spoon, it was like he's in the business of making meticulous, like beautifully recorded albums, and so we just kept on going with that idea, you know.
00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:02.880
We weren't trying to hide anything, we wanted the songs to shine, and uh we just had a blast with it.
00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:18.160
So it was not an in like some kind of plan, it was sort of just that's that's how it all um unfolded, and I I like to let things happen like that, you know.
00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:31.119
Um, working with Jim was a bit of a fluke, he had just moved to town where Seth's studio was, so that was like serendipity, and then same with working with Lowell and Roddy, who played bass and drums.
00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:38.880
It's like those were the guys who I'd been chatting with, and uh Lowell had always been the drummer on these tracks.
00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:44.079
So anyway, trying to say like it was it just kind of worked out that way.
00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:59.039
Do you could you see a time maybe where Weird Nightmare evolved into more of a band, like in your in the old sense of like Mets where you have collaborators, or do you like it this way?
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:11.440
It's your baby, and you kind of bring in people when you need to, but well, I'm getting yeah, I'm getting the best of both worlds, frankly, because when creating, there's a lot of freedom there.
00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:22.480
But on the road, like I've got this great bit group of guys who are lovely to be around and also amazing musicians, so it does feel like a band, you know.
00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:24.559
Um, we are a band, right?
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:29.759
Uh and uh so yeah, I don't see any reason to switch that right now.
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:31.200
I think it works well.
00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:48.319
Um, and I'm I certainly love their input as far as you know, our live show does sound different than the record because those guys are adding to the songs and improving them, and they're they're helping like with segues during the set and choosing the set lists and stuff.
00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:53.039
So it does feel like a collaborative effort out when we're out there playing live.
00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:57.920
Now, these guys in your live band, they're not the guys who you just referenced that played on the record, right?
00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:58.720
They're different.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.640
His bass.
00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:01.039
Okay.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.559
He he was on the record too.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.319
And what can people expect at the show?
00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.960
Is it just gonna be a a mix of the two records?
00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:19.279
Do you have anything else uh special to we and we got a couple singles that we had put out in between that will that we sometimes pull out live, but uh yeah, it's just a fun rock show.
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:28.079
Uh it's you know a heavy heavy show that uh I think people will enjoy, you know.
00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:37.039
It's it's uh still pretty loud and banging, but uh these songs have got a lot of nice harmony singing and stuff, so it's a nice mix.
00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:40.400
Well, you mentioned your uh other singles, and it's so funny because you did that.
00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:47.119
Um Our Love Will Still Be There, which I knew as uh the The Fluid covered it back in the late 80s.
00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:52.960
I didn't know that when I did it, and I thought it was a fluid song, so I was like, Oh man, cool, weird nightmare covering the fluid.
00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:55.119
It's a oh no way, and then I found out it was the Trogs.
00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:58.400
I was like an idiot because somebody was like, You know, that's like a song from the 60s, right?
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.960
I was like, Oh, okay, I had no idea.
00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:03.519
The band is out on tour right now, correct?
00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.599
Uh yes, we uh what what do we have coming?
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:12.319
We're doing some shows uh in Ontario and out east in Canada pretty soon.
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:22.079
We've been busy, we just finished a West Coast uh US run, and uh yeah, lots more to come in the spring and summer.
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:24.079
So I don't have a ton more questions.
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:36.000
I kind of want to just more or less introduce you and the music to the audience here, but I always end my interviews by asking people do you ever wish that the internet just didn't exist?
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:38.400
And we went back to a time before it.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.880
Sometimes let's say that.
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:44.799
That's my answer sometimes.
00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.440
Um I remember a time.
00:23:47.839 --> 00:24:14.799
I'm old enough to remember when there was no internet, and uh I think I think there's a lot that of good that comes from the internet and being connected and hyper um hyper connected and all this information at your fingertips, but yeah, I think it can lead to a lot of you know sad stuff.
00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:18.640
I think I think it can make people really down and depressed and sad.
00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:23.359
And I think I know that I'm happiest when I'm doing something else that isn't online.
00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:24.000
Right.
00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:29.839
Um and that's probably why I put my head in the sand and make records, you know.
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:32.559
It's that's my way of escaping.
00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:35.279
So I hope that everyone has that escape, you know.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:51.680
I think we all need to um uh log off or detach or whatever as much as we can, because as much as you know, it's a great tool for so much, it's can spread a lot of negativity and hate and things like that, and uh, we don't need that.
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.400
No, and I also think about the way it's altered the music business in a real way.
00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:08.960
I mean, uh, music business has always been shady and corrupt, and you know, there's always been issues with you know people not getting as much money as they deserve, but now it just seems like everything is ones and zeros.
00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:13.759
You have no idea whether anything is real with streaming and and all of that kind of stuff.
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:17.759
It just seems like this this can't keep going at this rate.
00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:20.480
I I don't understand how it works.
00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.519
Um, because and you're you're an artist, you know it.
00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:28.240
It's you can't make money off record, so you do have to to tour more and do other things.
00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:32.000
It just seems like this is just not very not thought through very well.
00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:54.640
No, well, I mean, it doesn't serve, it only serves a small percentage of the the people, like the the rec the record labels up top, and the uh one percent of musicians, but you know, um getting on the road and selling actual physical records is a way to make a living.
00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:59.039
Um, yeah, but that's getting tough too, because you know, it's everything costs more.
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:03.759
But certainly with streaming and everything, it is a very confusing thing.
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:05.599
I don't know what to make of it.
00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:16.960
I try not to get trapped in that game, you know, of trying trying to you know get streams because it doesn't do any real good um for the artist.
00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:25.359
I think it does it's great for the listener, and to have all the music of the world at your fingertips is a is a beautiful thing.
00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:31.599
Um, but yeah, but it's I think there there should be a way to price ideally to make it work financially.
00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:32.960
You said it, you know, you said it.
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:36.160
Like let's let's figure it out, but yeah.
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:42.319
It's gonna take a lot of people with a lot of more influence uh to step up.
00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:51.279
I think well, and the people at the top, they seem to carve out special arrangements for themselves, and then everybody else is left with just the other arrangement.
00:26:51.440 --> 00:27:00.319
So it is gonna take somebody, maybe like a Jack White or Taylor Swift or whatever, somebody major, to say, look, like we need to make this equal across the board.
00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:04.640
But um, yeah, I'm not I'm not a big streaming supporter, so I am gonna hold up the new CD.
00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:06.720
This is called Hoopla from Weird Nightmare.
00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:08.960
You can buy it on CD, on LP.
00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:12.559
You can stream it if you must, but it is available on CD and LP.
00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:13.279
It is brand new.
00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:14.079
It just came out.
00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:19.519
Weird Nightmare is on tour right now throughout North America, and then later on, they'll be going to Europe.
00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:24.720
Um, again, there's also this first album, the safe self-titled album from Weird Nightmare.
00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:28.240
There's of course the catalog for Mets and stuff, but we're talking about Weird Nightmare today.
00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:29.599
Hoopla, the new record.
00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:30.799
It is amazing, folks.
00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:31.599
I love it.
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:42.480
The first one came in my top ten at number seven in 2022, and I'm anticipating equally, or if not higher, placement for 2026 on this new record.
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:49.519
So um, it is with this that I will tell everybody to check out Weird Nightmare on tour if they're coming to a town near you.
00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:55.279
Buy this album hoopla at your local record store or subpop.com or wherever you get stuff.
00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:56.880
It doesn't make any difference to me.
00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:57.920
That's up to you.
00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:01.200
Thank you so much, Alex, for agreeing to do this interview.
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:02.799
And good luck on the tour.
00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.759
And I hope to see you on the 27th in St.
00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:06.480
Paul.
00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:07.279
Awesome.
00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:08.160
I look forward to it.
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:08.799
Thanks so much.
00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:10.240
Yeah, all right, thank you so much.
00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:11.119
Appreciate it.
