00:00Hi Mike. Hey, how are you? I'm good. I can't believe I'm doing this like I'm sitting on
00:10zooms talking to DJs like what am I? I know I know it's time it's time you got to do the
00:18rounds and all that. I love it. I feel so it's weird because I feel more blessed like
00:25it's like the longer that I get to do it the more I know that I'm like you know it's like
00:30life right like we know that we're gonna run we know what's gonna happen right yeah it's
00:36gonna happen so to be able to have new music at this point feels um it feel it's hard to explain
00:43it because I've had so many chances but this one is just it feels even I feel even more grateful
00:49than ever which I didn't know was possible but yeah here we are yeah you know I I grew up with
00:55you and you're really a pioneer in the punk ska space and uh you really helped bring that to the
01:04forefront in pop music and mainstream do you feel like you get the recognition you deserve when it
01:10comes to that you know what I don't really go forward in my life trying to get recognition
01:17I think that's the wrong kind of kind of way to think about things and I think that we would
01:22have never had our success if we were looking for that like I feel like we were doing it from a
01:29really pure place in our hearts where we were trying to find our identity and it's like when
01:34we found you know my older brother found ska and he was my like he was like my big brother like he
01:42was so cool and he was so eccentric and artistic and creative and it was like I want to hang out
01:49with him and he he would be the one like I didn't I was very passive like so I wasn't trying to do
01:54anything except for just hang out with my brother and and my friends and just and and I didn't know
01:59that when I sang it felt really good and when I heard that music it felt like nobody else knew
02:06about it and it felt really cool to to kind of have this secret like club and and then as we
02:12kept going in it you found all these other people that knew the secret too and then we were all cool
02:17together and so I don't know like I don't really care like I just know that I was so blessed to be
02:23able to find my identity and I a lot of people are get this I see my children right now finding
02:29that through music and um it music is so powerful you know and it's interesting because this album
02:36is obviously nothing like the ska days and you know I don't know like everyone wants to tell
02:42say I was so punk and I guess there was a punkness in the attitude of like the energy of what we did
02:48on stage and um I mean I know that my band back then wished that I was more punk I wish they were
02:55in a real punk band I know Adrian did because he wanted to do but um I feel like this this album is
03:03like coming more from the punk inspiration of truth right and being cool being like purely who
03:10you are in the moment and I think there is there there is like an edge to what I'm doing because I
03:15felt like when I started writing this record which was a long time ago I started in like 2020 trying
03:22to actually trying to start off doing like more like reggae and ska yeah like it kept not landing
03:28because I think I was trying to repeat myself or like compete with myself and that that just wasn't
03:34where my that wasn't the purpose of where I'm what I was supposed to be doing now I found that out
03:39later but like this was more inspired by being in the back of the car right before I found ska music
03:46and on my way to church in the station wagon listening to all the songs that were on the radio
03:51in the 70s which was like kind of what I grew up in like when I was a kid you know like yeah I guess
03:57rock yacht rock or classic rock or you know um soft rock is you know what I love so much so this
04:05kind of had that inspiration as far as like sonically how this record sounds so when you look
04:10back on this album you know 15 20 years from now what do you think is going to be the the brightest
04:16spot when it comes to putting it all together the recording process what's going to really stick out
04:21to you as a fond memory for me it was the fight I think which is always what we're doing on this
04:29planet right like whenever you have to work or fight for something that reward is gonna be the
04:35most fulfilling it's just like exercise right like even though we hate it it's like once you're done
04:42you're like dang like I did it you know and that's kind of how this record feels because at this point
04:48in my life like as a person as a mom lady woman whatever I've become like you feel like it's hard
04:58to describe it but you you you have a lot of feelings of like identity like like you do when
05:05you're a teenager it's like what am I who am I what am I supposed to be doing like it's it's it's
05:11like that again you know and I think that like creatively you you know it was a fight because
05:16I was like who am I like I want I don't care about what I was this is this record is kind of a bouquet
05:24because it is like a combination of the past the present and like the seed of hope for the future
05:32and each song was sort of individually like finally chosen for this bouquet of work of art
05:38you know and it does feel like a work of art for me like because it doesn't feel like I'm trying to
05:45um like it doesn't matter like I did what I needed to do which was write it and so now sharing it
05:49feels like I like I here's Christmas guys look what I got you like because I know that for me
05:56it did what it needed to do for myself and so I know that it will do that for somebody else like
06:01if there there's no way that there's not at least one person that's going to get what I got out of
06:06it and because there's some there's something so real about it you know there's nothing I wasn't
06:10trying to do something I can honestly say that now I can say that I tried to do what I tried by going
06:17down the other path that I went down on all the cul-de-sacs that I ended up on to try to get to
06:22this record but it's exciting new music is just and it's so like um emotional because when you
06:29share it it's like a confession you know what I mean and then you get like lifted like you get
06:34sort of released and it feels so good is there a song on the album that makes you sob the most
06:41um I've had so far like because they've sent the record out to like like I went to a bunch of
06:49stations here in LA like to just talk about the record and stuff and there was a like maybe like
06:54three girls that told me that pretty the song pretty that they cried already and when I wrote
07:01that song which you know it it was the same feeling like the song is you know it's about like
07:08not not feeling pretty right until you actually loved and like how beauty is in the eye of the
07:16beholder you know what I'm saying like it's so true when you find true love because sometimes
07:22you look at people and maybe like like even like they're older or they're like you know they're not
07:29as beautiful as they used to be or whatever but you see that love between them and you're like
07:33unseen it's felt you know so I think that that song really like hits people when they hear it
07:39like in that that truth of that and um sure yeah before we wrap up um you know I know you've kind
07:46of gravitated towards Olivia Rodrigo and you've seen the the punk inspiration in her and so if
07:53people like Billie Joe Armstrong and like you know like you know like you know like you know
07:58the punk inspiration in her and so if people like Billie Joe Armstrong I just wanted to know
08:05what you thought um what reminds you of yourself in her or just the genre in general
08:15um I think that when I first heard her music I I just heard that song driver's license I don't I
08:22think I was like everybody else that heard it was like wow this is like I can relate to this song
08:29lyrically it's so human it's so um told and said the story was told in such a uh unique like but
08:36yet universal way and when I heard that somebody out there I didn't know what she looked like I
08:42didn't know who she was nothing I was like oh my god this is a cool song who wrote this um just
08:48like everybody else I'm no different and it did give me that little like dang this person's good
08:56so then I look I got the record or whatever and I remember I was in the backyard in Oklahoma we
09:01were doing some gardening me and Blake and you know he's country so he's like what are you
09:06listening to and I'm like because it's also young you know what I mean it's like the record is young
09:13but it's weird because even when you're grown you still relate to yourself from when you're young
09:18you know what I mean so I just was like I listened to it I just thought it was such a good written
09:22record and then I got to meet her um I got to meet her on the red carpet when we were doing the met
09:27ball and I hadn't been to the met ball in ever forever and I was there on my own so it's like
09:32standing like we are the met ball's weird she'd like stand in line and wait with everyone to go
09:36okay you're next it's really odd and she was standing next to me so we got to meet each
09:41other and hang out and she was just so cool and she was telling me about how she was in like kind
09:46of a dead space with writing and how hard it is for her um to and how long it takes her to write
09:52records and and then vampire came out and I was like so happy for her but she's a cool girl and
09:57then when Coachella came around um it was just you know everybody always invites somebody up
10:04and it's just a fun thing to do and so having her up there I didn't you know what my favorite part
10:09about that was the photos they're so cute I don't even know how they got those yes they're so funny
10:16and she's like my little baby but it's like interesting because like so many like the
10:22younger younger generation like my my niece who's 15 she's like that's her idol like you know and
10:27it's like I can be like hey I got her text it's really fun but yeah there's a lot of good there's
10:34so many good songwriter girls out there right now Sabrina Carpenter I love her totally her style
10:40Chapel Rowan like I mean there's just some really great songwriters and that's always so inspiring
10:46you know even like I loved um during 2020 I loved Taylor's um folklore sorry yes yes I love that
10:54record like I love lyrics so you know and I'm I love I'm a girl so I like girl talk yeah oh man
11:02we're so excited for you thank you for taking out the time we can't wait for uh you hopefully
11:07next time we could see you in person and you know all that stuff absolutely we used to do like radio
11:13tours and like show up in on all the stations and like bring a guitar and like sing let's do it
11:20next time yeah yeah yeah thank you so much Gwen thank you
Comments