- 4 days ago
Marc Labelle of Dirty Honey joins Abe Kanan to talk about their two new songs, and to preview the upcoming album, 'Catch My Butterfly,' out everywhere on January 15.
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00:00I don't want to torch America too hard here, but, like, Americans tend to be a little more fickle with
00:05their music choices, like, whereas the Europeans are, they just want rock and roll, however they're going to get it,
00:11especially American rock and roll.
00:12So, you know, every time we've gone over there, it's been awesome. Every time we've toured the States, it's been
00:17awesome too, but, you know, I think letting the music sort of marinate here and get received takes a little
00:27longer than just, you know, the excitement of Dirty Honey, the American rock and roll band, is coming back for
00:32a full tour. Like, that's just, that's going to do well, no matter what, over there. So, maybe that has
00:38something to do with it, I'm not sure.
00:41It's an Aussie check, and it's Abe Cannon. This is very exciting. Mark LaBelle from Dirty Honey. We have new
00:46Dirty Honey music. You have a European tour. Two new songs, Lights Up and Butterfly. The new album's called Catch
00:53My Butterfly, January 15th. Mark, these new songs are awesome.
00:58Thank you. Yeah, we're super proud of them and excited to finally get to share them with the world because
01:04it's been far too long that we've been away, so.
01:07I love these new songs. So, the first single is Lights Out. The music video, you're on the roof in
01:13Los Angeles. You're doing like a rooftop show. Have you guys considered, no one's ever done this in the history
01:20of music, have you considered doing a rooftop tour?
01:25Oh, that'd be sick, actually. You know, I've heard there's, like, some underground, like, metal, like, bands in LA that
01:33are doing these, like, shows.
01:35They'll just pop out, like, underneath an underpass, and, like, they'll last 30 minutes. They're like, it's like Hispanic metal,
01:44like, East LA.
01:44Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. And, you know, they'll just throw it out on social media, and then, like, literally, like,
01:50hundreds of kids will show up and just, you know, rock out until the cops come, and then they're gone.
01:55Yeah. But it happens.
01:56But this would be set up, and then we announce it the day of, and we're like, oh, Dirty Honey
02:01is on this roof. Like, only rooftops.
02:04You know what's funny about the rooftop that we were on? I don't think anybody on the ground below us
02:08would be able to see us.
02:09You could throw an event up there, for sure. That would be, that would be sick, like, a full-on
02:15Beatles show, you know?
02:18Yeah, and it could be a mix of, like, like you said, rooftops where you actually bring people on the
02:22roof, and then a mix of just where you're on the roof looking down at the people.
02:25Dude, the logistics of pulling that off, though, would be hell on our crew, because we did it.
02:32It, we just happened to film that on the second hottest day of the whole year in California during, like,
02:38the El Nino humidity heat.
02:41It was, like, 103 on the roof, and I'm up there, like, moving amps with our tour manager and our
02:46techs and stuff.
02:46I'm like, this is, like, literally hell on earth right now.
02:49But once the sun started to set a little bit, it got a little more tolerable.
02:54But, yeah, I can't see, I can't see a crew being too amped about doing a roof tour, going upstairs
03:00with all the gear, like, the disaster.
03:03Also, by the way, we're not going to make any money either, because there could be out of 40 people
03:09up there.
03:10Exactly.
03:11You didn't get injured, right?
03:13Because I remember you got hit in the face with a base.
03:15I did not get injured on this one.
03:17Thank God.
03:18Yeah.
03:18I had the whole rooftop to roam to myself to stay away from Justin this time around.
03:22For those who don't know, you guys were shooting a video, and he hit you in the face with his
03:26bass guitar, and you were just, your forehead was just gushing blood.
03:29I was gushing.
03:30Yeah, I was gushing.
03:31Yeah, he whacked me pretty good.
03:32I had an egg, like, it was right up here.
03:35I had an egg on my head for, like, 10 days, probably.
03:39It's healed, thankfully.
03:40But it looked awesome.
03:41Like, you probably should have made an album cover with you with the blood just coming down your face.
03:45I think that's a pretty badass album cover.
03:47You know what?
03:47We should have, you know, I had a photographer there that day.
03:49I wonder if she got any.
03:50But it's very, I'm a big ice hockey fan.
03:54I've played hockey my whole life.
03:55It's a very ice hockey, like, situation to just be gushing, you know, during the shoot.
04:00It was, you know, it was a 30-minute break, but we got through it.
04:04So this is exciting.
04:05So the new album is called Catch My Butterfly, January 15th.
04:09Lights out.
04:10Amazing song.
04:11I love the song Butterfly, too.
04:13You put out the two perfect songs.
04:15You have one that's hard, one that's more of a bell.
04:17I like the balance of doing that.
04:19But you announced a European tour that starts January 31st, and it goes through, like, mid-March.
04:25So will the U.S. tour be happening after that?
04:28You know what?
04:29I don't actually know yet.
04:32We're kind of waiting.
04:33I know there's probably going to be some festivals and stuff in April and May, but I think we're just
04:38waiting.
04:39I don't know what we're doing after, like, April, May.
04:41That's all I have on my calendar right now.
04:45I literally just found out we're playing a festival in Ocean City, Maryland.
04:48Oh, it does.
04:49I had no idea about it until my cousin was like, this is sick.
04:53And he just showed me the lineup.
04:54I was like, where the hell did you see that?
04:56I didn't even know about that one.
04:58That is funny, right?
04:59When just, like, random people know more than you and you're in the band.
05:03Yeah.
05:03I mean, it's a lot to keep track of, but, no, those are fun little surprises because the lineup is
05:11awesome.
05:11So I was like, yeah, definitely going to be there.
05:14So, I mean, apparently.
05:15What goes into, like, deciding to do a European tour before doing the States?
05:20Like, whose decision is that?
05:22You know, that's a good question.
05:23I think, I don't know.
05:25I don't know whose decision that is.
05:28I think, you know, rock bands from America are generally super well followed in Europe.
05:33And, you know, it's just a, it's definitely a great way to kick things off.
05:39I think, you know, those people are going to, I don't want to torch America too hard here,
05:47but, like, Americans tend to be a little more fickle with their music choices.
05:51Like, whereas the Europeans are, they just want rock and roll, however they're going to get it.
05:56Especially American rock and roll.
05:58So, you know, every time we've gone over there, it's been awesome.
06:01Every time we've toured the States, it's been awesome too.
06:03But, you know, I think letting the music sort of marinate here and get received takes a little longer than
06:13just, you know,
06:13the excitement of Dirty Honey, the American rock and roll band, is coming back for a full tour.
06:18Like, that's just, that's going to do well, no matter what, over there.
06:22So, maybe that has something to do with it.
06:24I'm not sure.
06:25So, you guys just played Brazil a few months back.
06:28You played with Skinner and you played with Guns N' Roses.
06:31Tell me about those Brazilian crowds, because they're the, from what I've seen, those are some of the craziest crowds
06:36in the world.
06:37Yeah, Brazil.
06:38You know, unfortunately, we didn't get to go to Argentina because I had a bunch of Argentinians hitting me up,
06:43being like, you got to come down here.
06:44We're better than Brazil.
06:45And I was like, oh, wow.
06:46Like, this is real.
06:47Like, this competition of the audience is real.
06:49Yeah.
06:50We'll get down there at some point, I'm sure.
06:53But Brazil was amazing.
06:54Like, played in a soccer stadium in Sao Paulo.
06:58And we played in this little, like, arena in Rio.
07:02And we also did, like, a club show, too.
07:04So, we saw, like, every level of, you know, what, like, an audience size is out there.
07:10And it was, every one of them was super electric.
07:14And then it was nice, too, to, like, get to see Skinner perform and see Guns N' Roses perform and
07:20see, you know, like, hey,
07:21this is what it could be down here for you if you keep going, you know, and have success.
07:25So, dude, seeing, like, 80,000 Brazilians, like, belting out Freebird was so cool.
07:33It was awesome.
07:34Yes.
07:34You know, Dirty Honey, you guys have been around for a while.
07:36But every time you play a show with, like, Guns N' Roses or Skinner, you're bringing in thousands of new
07:41fans every time.
07:42And it's funny.
07:43You guys have been around a while, but it's like, yeah, man, my favorite new bands are at Dirty Honey.
07:48It's like, they're not even new.
07:49I know.
07:50I know.
07:50Guys, like, you open for Guns N' Roses, and you're exposing the band to so many people that love your
07:57kind of real straight-ahead rock and roll.
07:59So, I think it's great that you still do those shows.
08:02That's a super good, like, the comparison that we, I mean, we obviously get compared to Guns N' Roses a
08:09lot among, you know, with a bunch of other bands.
08:12But that, like, it's pretty much a guarantee.
08:17Like, if you like Guns N' Roses, you're probably going to like Dirty Honey.
08:19So, it's, like, such a great matchup for us and them.
08:22But, yeah, like, when I went out into the crowd to watch Slash and Axl do their thing, like, in
08:28Sao Paulo, it was like, whoa, like, this is, like, you kind of feel like you're actually famous, you know,
08:34because so many people are, like, trying to get pictures and stuff.
08:39So, that got a little hairy for a minute there.
08:41But you always, actually, down there, you always have a security guard with you no matter what.
08:45Yeah.
08:46So, it feels super safe.
08:48What do you think people, what do you want to tell people about the rest of the world?
08:51Because, like, there's a lot of people who never leave where they live.
08:54Like, they never go, you're a rock and roll band, you get to see all these other countries.
08:58What do you want people to know about the rest of the world that they might not know about?
09:02It's not as scary as you might think.
09:05Like, at a basic level, like, everywhere, you know, for the most part, obviously, with the exception of, like, third
09:11world countries, which I haven't really been to yet.
09:12Like, they all have showers.
09:14They all have coffee shops.
09:15They all have, like, great restaurants, you know.
09:17But I think they're all worth seeing.
09:19You know, there's, like, so many similarities.
09:21But then, like, as you dive in and you try to assimilate into whatever culture you're in, that's when things
09:28really start to get, like, a lot of fun.
09:29You know?
09:30Like, hopefully, you know somebody in Italy or Brazil or France or whatever that can, like, show you, like, this
09:37is the real stuff, like, that you want.
09:39And, you know, we're fortunate in being a rock band that, like, people have heard of.
09:43Like, there's always somebody that's willing to show you the underbelly of Paris or Milan or something.
09:50And Milan is a city, like, that I fell in love with even more most recently, just, like, from the
09:57Olympics.
09:58I went to the Olympics to see the ice hockey.
10:00Oh, wow.
10:02And fortunately, the United States won.
10:04But I got to spend, like, five days in Milan with literally nothing to do.
10:07And that's, like, kind of never happened before.
10:09And I just had some friends that are really showing me around.
10:13And I was, like, this city is amazing.
10:14Like, this is one of those cities people skip all the time when they go to Italy.
10:18And, like, so worth checking out.
10:21I had a blast.
10:22So, yeah, it's much safer than everybody thinks.
10:26It's not scary.
10:29And it's just everybody's doing their thing in the world.
10:32Everybody's just trying to survive, you know?
10:33It's funny that you say it's not scary because I know a lot of us Americans, we just assume you're
10:37going to get kidnapped if you go to these other countries.
10:40It's not like that.
10:42Well, in some places it might be, but certainly not in, like, Europe or, you know, Brazil or Mexico or
10:50something.
10:50Yeah, I mean, they told me.
10:51I literally snuck out of the hotel in Brazil because I was just like, I just want to, like, go
10:56walk around and, like, be alone.
10:57You know, I found myself going through this park, like, basically the central park of Sao Paulo and wound up
11:03at, like, some acai bowl shop, like, way off the beaten path.
11:07I walked, like, 15 miles that day.
11:10And I just, I loved it.
11:11I love just being out there alone in the world.
11:14And I love being in those awkward situations where, like, maybe somebody is speaking Portuguese to me and I have
11:19no idea what they're saying.
11:20And I got to, we got to figure it out, you know?
11:23You got to figure, are you feeling this rock revolution?
11:25Because I feel like a band like yours that was so brave of you guys to come out and play
11:29real rock and roll, you know, five, six, seven years ago.
11:32More bands like Dirty Honey seem to be, like, rising up now.
11:35And you go to Aftershock, you go to all these big festivals, the most tickets they've ever sold at these
11:41rock festivals.
11:42Oh, really?
11:43You know, I was feeling it more, like, pre-COVID.
11:47And then I think COVID sort of snapped everything back.
11:49And any momentum that anybody had kind of, you know, just got taken away.
11:54And now I think it's probably ramping back up again, like, you know, the kids that, you know, maybe were
12:03in, like, middle school or early high school are starting bands now and getting out there and playing shows.
12:10But I do see, I'm just seeing on, like, social media a lot, like, there's so many people playing guitar,
12:15it feels like.
12:16Like, and, like, just even Lights Out, like, the amount of people that sent me them playing the riff or,
12:23like, the solo to Lights Out, like, I mean, literally dozens.
12:27Like, that didn't happen, you know.
12:29It happened with the last couple of singles, but it just feels like so much more, like, five or ten
12:36X what it was, which is so cool.
12:39Or people might either be playing guitar more or they just might be sharing themselves playing guitar more.
12:43Yeah, you know, that is awesome, too, because, like, I've been playing guitar since I was 13.
12:46And, like, when you were, when I was a kid, you couldn't just go online and learn how to play
12:50any song.
12:50So that does help, I think, kids, because you have to learn how to play songs.
12:54If you're just learning, like, to read music, kids get bored with that.
12:59But if I learn how to play a Dirty Honey song, that's pretty cool.
13:02And that would keep me motivated.
13:04Yeah, 100%.
13:04It's, like, the analogy I would correlate that to is, like, reading, you know.
13:09Like, if you're reading, like, the books your school makes you read, like, you're not really going to be interested.
13:15Like, but if you read The Dirt by Motley Crue, you know, something you're actually interested in, you're probably going
13:21to like reading.
13:21Like, it's pretty awesome.
13:23So it's so exciting.
13:24New Dirty Honey music coming out January 15th.
13:26It's called Catch My Butterfly.
13:28Check out the video for Lights Out.
13:29Listen to Butterfly, two awesome songs.
13:32Mark, before I let you go, I do have one idea for Dirty Honey.
13:35Like, I know, it's harder than the rooftop tour.
13:38Other than the rooftop, a second idea.
13:40So you can do both at the same time, okay?
13:42Have you guys considered selling a hot honey called Dirty Honey?
13:49I've considered selling a whiskey called Dirty Honey.
13:53Like, Dirty Honey, Tennessee Whiskey.
13:55Well, how about both?
13:57Dirty Honey, Tennessee Whiskey, and then a Dirty Honey Honey.
14:00And if I'm at a Dirty Honey show, because, you know, hot honey is really popular now.
14:03So you can, it's a hot honey.
14:05It really is.
14:06Like, it's going on every pizza, like, that I see in New York now.
14:10It's crazy.
14:12And then we'll get it at all the pizza shops, too.
14:15The Dirty Honey.
14:16You know, Shinedown is a hot sauce.
14:17Put the Dirty Honey honey right next to you.
14:19We're going to put them out of business with our hot honey.
14:21Exactly!
14:23I've had the Shinedown hot sauce, actually.
14:26It's pretty good.
14:27I have not considered that.
14:28I probably should, though.
14:30You're just thinking of merchandising opportunities.
14:32Yeah, I'm trying to make you guys some cash.
14:35I appreciate it.
14:36We need it, man.
14:38Well, thank you guys so much.
14:39You will never, I've never heard a bad Dirty Honey song.
14:43You hear, everything you guys have put out has been awesome.
14:46So if you're not familiar with Dirty Honey, go check them out.
14:49The new music, some of your greatest music you've ever made.
14:51Lights Out, Catch, and Butterfly off the new album, Catch My Butterfly.
14:57Like, January 15th, hopefully a U.S. tour for those of us who don't leave the country.
15:01But the European tour is happening.
15:03So, Mark, it's only good.
15:05But if you don't leave the country, just come on over.
15:06Like, come catch a show in Milan or Madrid or London.
15:09Like, they're awesome.
15:11Like, there's so much fun.
15:12Yeah.
15:12Yeah, just put, yeah.
15:13Like, if you're going to go anyway, you might as well go to Dirty Honey.
15:16There's so many of our fans that, like, will pop up to London.
15:19Like, you know, Madrid, where else?
15:23Like, they don't usually find their way to the Eastern European cities.
15:27But they get out to some pretty off-the-beaten-path, like, spots.
15:31And, like, oh, my God.
15:32Like, what are you doing here?
15:33It's so cool to see them out there, you know?
15:34And they're like, I had to come.
15:35I had to come see you guys in London or Dublin or whatever.
15:38So, yeah, there's plenty of opportunity to see us in the next.
15:41And we're a few months away, so by the time you get there,
15:44he might be selling the Dirty Honey Honey, the hot honey.
15:46You know what?
15:47That could probably be managed by the time we get out there.
15:50I got Dirty Honey hockey jerseys ready to go.
15:52Nice.
15:53We got some cool merch coming out, for sure.
15:56Cool, man.
15:56Well, it's awesome talking to you.
15:57Thank you so much.
15:58I'm excited for the new album.
15:59Likewise.
15:59Good to see you, man.
16:00Thank you, man.