- 5 minutes ago
The '90s rock revival is in full swing, and Sponge is riding the wave. The Detroit band behind hits like "Plowed," "Molly (16 Candles)," and "Wax Ecstatic" is enjoying renewed attention more than three decades after its platinum-selling debut, Rotting Piñata. Frontman Vinnie Dombroski and guitarist Andy Patalan stopped by Joann Butler In Studio With… to talk about their new album, Recuerda Tu Muerte (Remember Your Death), their thirteenth and final studio record, and why '90s rock is connecting with a new generation. Fresh off a show at New York City's Bowery Ballroom, the guys reflect on touring with Candlebox, the same band they hit the road with to support their debut album more than 30 years ago. The nearly sold-out tour wrapped in October, but not without a hiccup, several of Sponge's guitars were stolen in Maryland. Candlebox stepped in with loaner instruments, while fans and fellow musicians offered support. Dombroski says their new record gets personal; "Self Inflicted Loss," for example, revisits his wilder rock star days, the "dumb things" he did back then, and the damage it caused at the height of their career. "We were on tour with Soundgarden in Europe. I just got on a plane and left." As for why Recuerda Tu Muerte will be their last studio album, Dombroski says fewer fans listen to full records anymore. But Sponge isn't calling it quits. Singles, EPs, and live releases are still on the table, as well as lots of gigs come 2027. This is a LifeMinute with Sponge.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:01The 90s are back.
00:02Yeah, man.
00:04The 90s had the best and most dynamic guitar sounds.
00:08Thirty years later, it's almost like we're seeing the light of day again.
00:11We were on tour with Soundgarden.
00:13In Europe, I just got on a plane and left.
00:17I've been having more fun lately, enjoying life more,
00:20by accepting the fact that I got some loose grooves.
00:23The boys got some guitars stolen here.
00:25The Candlebox guys are already like, what can we do?
00:28Use anything we got.
00:29People coming to the shows.
00:30You can play this or whatever.
00:31It's been great.
00:32And final studio album.
00:34Really final.
00:36You're watching Joanne Butler in studio with...
00:39Vinny Dombrowski.
00:41And Andy Padalin from Sponge.
00:43Sponge, Sponge.
00:45Vinny and Andy, Sponge in the house.
00:47Welcome to Life Minute.
00:48Thank you for having us, Joanne.
00:49Thanks for coming.
00:50So, how are you guys doing?
00:52Slightly overwhelmed from the drive into town, you know,
00:55and the electricity of Times Square.
00:57I had no idea that we were coming here.
01:01I mean, we saw the address, but I forgot exactly where it was.
01:03So, it was just like, boom, overload.
01:05Where'd you come from?
01:06Downtown?
01:07Well, you know what?
01:08We were staying outside in Connecticut, outside of town.
01:10So, we came south down 95 and boom.
01:13Played the Bowery Ballroom last night.
01:15Oh, yeah.
01:15Yes.
01:15How was that?
01:16On tour with Candlebox?
01:18It's fantastic, yeah.
01:19It's been a great tour.
01:20Like, the dates have been pretty much sold out, and I think there's just this big new interest,
01:26the resurgence of the 90s music.
01:27Yes.
01:28Yeah.
01:28How about that, huh?
01:30It's amazing.
01:30Real shot in the arm.
01:31We've seen it more over the last couple of years.
01:33You know, we've been on tour with Everclear and Local Age.
01:36I think that was the last big tour we did, and it was just the same kind of thing.
01:39There's the old fans, but there's the new fans, and they're not necessarily the children
01:44of the old fans, you know?
01:45Yes, yes.
01:46I love that, because that's like the last period.
01:49I think that's when I stopped with any, like, music.
01:52The 90s is my thing.
01:54So, I feel like, ah, like I'm reborn again.
01:56It's amazing.
01:57And Candlebox.
01:58Have the fans been receptive to your new stuff?
02:01Yes, very much so.
02:02With the new single that we recorded on the new album, Self-Inflicted Loss, it's pretty,
02:09I've noticed even more so, that song is getting reaction.
02:12You know, people love the classic songs that we play.
02:14But they're bringing up that one after the show.
02:16They're like, I really like that song.
02:18That's nice to hear.
02:20It's great.
02:21The new album's great.
02:22Well, it's not for everybody.
02:25I mean, some Sponge fans might go, this is weird.
02:28But, yeah, I think it's truly not for everybody.
02:32Why do you think that, that they say this is weird?
02:34How do you think it sounds different?
02:36How would you describe it?
02:37I think the feel, some of the vocal delivery.
02:40There's a song about beef on the record.
02:42And, you know, we never have done any songs about meat in the past.
02:47So, people would be like, what's up with this song about meat?
02:50You know?
02:51It sounds really good.
02:53That's really, really good.
02:54Yeah.
02:55A few warts, too, is like my instinct when we're working in the studio.
02:59It's like, hey, should we tweak this a little bit?
03:01Vin's like, nah, let's just roll with it.
03:04You know, roll with that first take as solo.
03:06A lot of times, you know, those are the ones where you get the juice from.
03:09And he's like, nope, we'll leave it right there.
03:12That's cool.
03:12Yeah.
03:13So, it's real raw.
03:14It sounds awesome.
03:16Really good.
03:17Let's see if I don't butcher this.
03:19Recuerito tu muerte.
03:21Remember our death.
03:23Yeah.
03:25And final studio album.
03:27Really final?
03:28Yeah.
03:29How come?
03:30Yeah.
03:30It's not really an album world anymore.
03:33We were talking to Leo, our publicist, and he's the publicist for Motley Crue.
03:38And he mentioned that Nicky was saying the same thing.
03:42Nicky Six from Motley Crue.
03:43Nicky was saying it.
03:44He told me that, actually.
03:45I don't believe in making full-length records anymore.
03:50Yeah.
03:50I mean, it's just like, you know, you've got 30 songs.
03:53You whittle them down to the 10 you want to record.
03:55And what do people listen to?
03:57Two songs, right?
03:58So, it's just like, you go, what's the point, man?
04:01You know?
04:01So, we'll make singles or maybe an EP or something like that.
04:04We've got a live record that's coming out as well.
04:07But to make a studio record anymore, who listens to a whole album?
04:11You just have to put it on the turntable, put the needle down.
04:15You listen to a whole one side, you know, or an 8-track or a cassette.
04:18And these days, it's just like, you pull it up on, you know, the internet and you just
04:23play a song.
04:25That's changed since the 90s, hasn't it?
04:27Yeah.
04:27Even last night, we never listened to music after shows.
04:31You know, our ears are ringing and it was just something in the air last night.
04:34We put on, you know, our phone through the van stereo and start blasting song after different
04:40song after different song.
04:41You know, playing DJ.
04:41Because it was hard to DJ, you know, back in the 90s.
04:44It's like, you would have to change the cassette or rewind it or the vinyl or whatever.
04:50Now it's just like, boom, everyone's a DJ, you know?
04:52Yeah.
04:53What's on your playlist?
04:55Wow.
04:56Well, the album of focus was Screaming for Vengeance by Judas Priest.
05:01One of the finest albums probably ever made.
05:05I agree.
05:05We had a discussion last night about, on the way home from the gig, about how the
05:0990s had the best and most dynamic guitar sounds.
05:12So we were going through the history of rock, you know, in the 90s and a little bit in the
05:1680s and just talking about, you know, oh yeah, check this sound out.
05:19Check this one out.
05:20Why is there no bass in this one?
05:21That's because the guitars were rocking so much, you know?
05:24Yeah, absolutely.
05:24No bass in Metallica, right?
05:26But it's just like going all the way back to, you know, early, you know, the beginnings
05:30of grunge with the Melvins or putting on some Ted Nugent or what else were we referencing?
05:38Just guitar tone wise, you know what I mean?
05:41Yeah.
05:41So it was just comparing Ted to Judas Priest.
05:44Judas Priest and the Rage Against the Machine.
05:46Yeah.
05:46It was just, like I said, we rarely listen to music because our ears are, give it a break,
05:51you know, we don't want to hear too much, but last night we were having fun.
05:54That's so great.
05:55And the guitar is really good on this album.
05:57It's really good.
05:58It's like, it's simple and really good.
06:01You know, it's something so, you know, in a good way.
06:05I mean that.
06:05Some of it, you know, I don't often talk about what I play on the record, but Self Inflicted
06:10Loss as we play it live, the opening riff is played by Kyle, our other guitar player,
06:14and he plays it really well.
06:17And it's really meant to be played childlike in a way, the way I play guitar, which I'm
06:22not accomplished, but I told Kyle to dumb it down.
06:25Really?
06:26Don't play so good.
06:27Yeah.
06:28Yeah, it worked.
06:29It's really good, really good.
06:31You're a drummer originally, huh?
06:33Well, yeah, I do play drums, yeah.
06:35How did you become a front man?
06:37I didn't realize you could sing.
06:39I wanted to show off my shoes and socks.
06:41Can't see them behind the drums.
06:43Yeah, I certainly started out on the drums, but I was writing as well.
06:48And when I was in a group called Loud House out of Detroit back in like 1990, the singer
06:54left the band.
06:55So we were looking for singers, and in the meantime we kept recording music, but I was
06:59singing on the demos.
07:00So from there, we really couldn't find someone we believed in vocally.
07:06So I just continued to sing, and we started to do gigs, and that was it.
07:10We just found another drummer, and that was it.
07:12Like Chris Cornell's story.
07:15Yeah, Steven Tyler, and Dave Grohl, and on and on.
07:19That's a logical path from drums to guitarist.
07:23Yeah, that's so funny.
07:24And what about you on a farm in Michigan?
07:27Yeah.
07:28How did you end up in a Detroit rock band?
07:31So that's funny.
07:33Speaking of drummers, I just started college, but I wanted to pursue music in any capacity,
07:40playing, doing sound, anything.
07:42And Vinnie was in a band playing drums at the time.
07:45He was from Detroit.
07:47The band was based out of Milwaukee, and I knew the management.
07:50And they plucked me out of college, and I'm like, okay.
07:53And off I went, and it's been ever since then.
07:56I was on the road for two years with him, you know, right out of, you know,
08:00dumped college, and yeah, it's been a blast.
08:02That's cool.
08:03Might have been like a pirate ship pulling up to your house, you know,
08:06this crappy van.
08:07And his mother always fed him so well, and none of us ate.
08:10We couldn't afford to eat.
08:12And he got in a van with all his food, and we immediately stole his food.
08:17Yeah.
08:18Forget the guitar, they just wanted food.
08:20Oh, it's funny.
08:21It's awesome.
08:21Let's talk about this record a little more.
08:24What did you want this record to sound like?
08:26You know, the tone of that record was kind of set with the lyric content,
08:31I think, out of the gate.
08:33So, with what was going on lyrically, it had to match musically,
08:39tone-wise, color-wise of everything.
08:42And I think it was set, it's a darker lyric content to some degree,
08:47darker guitars to some degree, darker feel.
08:51But consider the title and the number 13.
08:55That's it.
08:56Yeah.
08:57It's a very first instinct, I think, with the layers of the instruments.
09:02Not too many instruments that are on there.
09:03It's like I mentioned before, first solo.
09:06Like that's what you felt.
09:07A lot of times guitar players, and I do a lot of producing,
09:10you overthink things.
09:11You'll do multiple takes, multiple versions and different sounds.
09:14And Vinny's like, nope.
09:16That's the first thing you heard.
09:18That's what you got.
09:18And then we just kind of run with it.
09:20You have the instinct.
09:21Yeah.
09:22And what's the message in Remember Your Death?
09:24It's a lovely thing, I think, you know.
09:26It really, maybe people don't need to be reminded of it.
09:30But I think you embrace what is clearly in front of you at all times, you know.
09:38And I see it in the faces of the crowd even more these days.
09:41There's less people standing out there with their phones, you know.
09:44And it's about really enjoying the moment and being in the moment.
09:49And those moments are taken from us so often and so easily.
09:54So, certainly, Remember Your Death is a way to think about that.
09:59Yeah.
09:59It's not so dark.
10:00It's actually uplifting, you know.
10:02It can be.
10:02Remember life is short.
10:03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:03For sure.
10:04It's great.
10:04It's a great message.
10:05I love it.
10:06And Self Inflicted Loss.
10:08Tell us about that.
10:09And the video as well.
10:10Mmm.
10:11Wow.
10:12A lot of what we started with initially was some friends of ours from Stupid Buddies Studios
10:19out in Burbank, California.
10:21Sierra Wagner and Harv, and they come from, you know, the robot chicken people.
10:26You know, all that wonderful stop action, the stuff with clay.
10:29And they really were on board right from the beginning.
10:32They wanted to collaborate on something.
10:34So, the song and the video, they actually picked that song, you know, to write a treatment for them.
10:40So, it was something that began immediately before we even tracked the song.
10:45You know, it was a demo at the time when they got involved.
10:48A candy corn.
10:50What's the infatuation with candy corn?
10:52I think it was, like we talked about, if I'm not mistaken, the inspiration when people
10:57hear the music.
10:58And there was an artist that I believe just put these images together, you know, based
11:03on hearing the music way back in the day.
11:06It's the same thing with the new video for Self Inflicted Loss.
11:09It's like they just had a vision to incorporate some of that and some of what they do.
11:13I think a lot of the album covers come in from that way.
11:17So, you didn't, like, love candy corn.
11:19You had no, like, you know, passion for candy.
11:20No, there was definitely some candy corn in the studio when we were finishing up the record,
11:23too.
11:24Right, yeah.
11:25Yeah, the Fisher Price figures.
11:26That was cool, too.
11:28What about the words on that?
11:29What's it about?
11:30Where did it come from?
11:30Self Inflicted Loss, you know, just major dumb things.
11:35You know, like when I think back at, you know, when you're an aspiring musician and you start
11:40to do things in bands and there's a part of you that wants to, you've seen everybody else
11:46be a rock star.
11:47You go, I'm going to do that, too.
11:49I'm going to be that person, you know.
11:51And there were some really dumb things that I did back then that I think I'm paying for
11:57to this day.
11:59You know what I mean?
12:00I was on tour with Soundgarden.
12:01We were on tour with Soundgarden.
12:02In Europe, I just got on a plane and left.
12:07Why?
12:08Oh, how much can we talk about on this, you know?
12:12No time.
12:13I mean, you know, I was being that guy, you know?
12:15I was really being that guy.
12:17We were out in Europe and, you know, I'm with a lovely woman and I'm driving down the
12:23Autobahn, you know, 140 miles an hour and, you know, up for three days doing drugs and
12:30performing and, you know, there's no shortage of all of that stuff.
12:33So, it's like, I'm having a great time and then, you know, we did a set, you know, over
12:40there.
12:41We played a cover song.
12:42Probably why I don't like Pink Floyd to this day.
12:44Wish You Were Here.
12:45We played that and our manager over there was like, she was so angry at me for doing
12:49that.
12:49She told me, she goes, Minnie, you might as well just go home.
12:52Is that Susan?
12:53I thought to myself, I go, we've been making records and touring for a couple of years
12:57now.
12:58I've burnt out.
12:59Good idea.
13:01So, I got out my credit card.
13:03I hopped on a plane from Germany, came to New York, and went right to rehab.
13:12And guess what, Joanne?
13:14I'm certain that it's taken me all these years to kind of, the band has been so, like,
13:19busy.
13:19We continue to tour, but all of a sudden, lately, things have been coming together.
13:24So, thirty years later, it's almost like we're seeing the light of day again.
13:29You know?
13:29I love that.
13:29And self-inflicted loss, that is it, man.
13:32I love that.
13:33Oh, that's good.
13:34Good for you that you did that.
13:36That's a good thing.
13:37I don't know.
13:38Not a lot of people could do that.
13:39Well, the comeback thing, you know, it's like that movie with Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler.
13:46It reminds me of that.
13:47Oh, I love that.
13:49It's inspiring that you've fixed yourself.
13:51Do you have anything to say to people who are struggling?
13:55Well, we have another song on the record, Loose Screw.
14:00And Loose Screw is about living with your loose screws.
14:04I'm not interested in tightening them up anymore.
14:06I'm done.
14:07I'm done recording.
14:08You know, I'm done making albums.
14:09I'm done trying to fix myself.
14:11I'm just done.
14:12And, I don't know, I've been having more fun lately and enjoying life more by accepting
14:17the fact that I got some loose screws.
14:20And, that song, Loose Screw, it says it all to me, you know.
14:24I put it in a song and I forget about it, you know.
14:27I go, okay, I'm cool.
14:28I don't know.
14:29I wish I had something more to say that might sound helpful, but I don't.
14:34That sounds good.
14:36I don't.
14:37I really don't.
14:38You say sounds good.
14:39I walk around like this every day and I feel okay, you know.
14:42It's been a weird ride, but I'm pretty cool with it all now, you know.
14:46Awesome.
14:48And, yeah, Susan Silver, she's on the list here.
14:51She is?
14:52Yeah.
14:52She's great.
14:54Well, Susan should remember all of that crap.
14:56I'm sorry I put her through that.
14:59I'm really sorry.
15:01Susan Silver, I've learned things from her, but the one thing she was just, among other
15:06things, brilliant at, she was somebody who would always think before she said or reacted
15:14to anything.
15:16And it was, our first manager was a very worked up New York guy, you know.
15:25And everything happened fast.
15:27And we started working with Susan and I'm going, what's going on with her?
15:31She's just so calm.
15:32What is this?
15:33But, you know, the greatest manager for the biggest rock bands in the world.
15:39And that particular attribute was very, I think, that major key, you know.
15:45Calmly, listen, don't react, think, then say something.
15:51Yeah.
15:51What a talent.
15:52What about Chris Cornell?
15:53What was he like?
15:54Just really quiet.
15:56You know, so being on the road with him.
16:00And their band, very quiet.
16:02I never got to spend time with him out on the road.
16:06I remember being over to the house for Lily.
16:10It was her first birthday.
16:11So, Susan and Chris' daughter, Lily, for the first birthday.
16:16And he was very quiet then, too.
16:18So, maybe he was just resting his voice.
16:21I don't know.
16:22Interesting.
16:24Well, you know, what I didn't really realize until recently, you sound a lot like
16:29Wayne Stanley and Jerry Cantrell.
16:31Your voice sounds a lot like Alice in Chains.
16:34I just love the group.
16:37I love those guys, you know.
16:39They're really special, cool, great guys.
16:44Like, no bullshit, you know, just funny and fun.
16:47That's cool.
16:48But what was it like growing up?
16:50It was sort of like post, I guess, that era, you guys, right?
16:53But was there competition between that scene for you?
16:56You mean like those guys and us?
16:59Yeah.
17:00No, I don't think so.
17:01So, you know, those guys are the Don Megas, so to speak, man.
17:05And me, I'm just like, you know, I'm some guy from Detroit that likes to play music.
17:10Well, Susan Silver had you.
17:12She saw something special.
17:14She was right.
17:14Oh, she's so fantastic.
17:15And so, you know, I couldn't apologize enough for putting her through all that crap.
17:24You had to take care of yourself, so.
17:26It's all good.
17:27Rotting Pinata, how has it aged for you 30-plus years later?
17:32Like any of the 90s stuff, if I sit down and listen to it, like that record, I'm really just
17:37blown away by not only we were part of that, but all the other bands that are still around.
17:45Some of them aren't, but I just, the music is just so profound.
17:51You know, it's so, it's just so part of a cultural movement that we were a part of.
17:58And it's just, I'm stunned by it, you know.
18:01But having thought about it a little more recently, prior to that I never thought about it at all.
18:07What was it like, like being from Detroit and then, I mean, Detroit is a huge music scene.
18:12But then to break it big, like what was that feeling like?
18:16I mean, we were kind of cocky, you know.
18:19Back then getting signed, we never felt we had to come to L.A. or New York to get signed.
18:24And I never really believed it.
18:26And when we finally had some management that said, labels want to come and see you guys.
18:31And we're just like, cool, tell them to come to the rehearsal space that's behind the bowling alley, next to
18:37the collision shop where we share it with a bunch of other bands.
18:39And if they want to come there, tell them to come on by.
18:42And they did.
18:43Yeah, just you brought up the Detroit scene.
18:46It's everyone in Detroit's always had a little bit of a chip because Detroit's been, you know, downtrodden for so
18:52long.
18:52But we carry that flag of music just historically from Motown to anything, name and era.
19:01And there's just giant stuff that came in with the biggest rappers, biggest pop songs in the 60s, 70s, you
19:07know.
19:07Rock and roll from Bob Seger and Ted Nugent and then the 90s, you know.
19:12It's never stopped.
19:14So, yeah, that attitude of, it's Detroit.
19:18You can come to us or there's, you know.
19:20Interesting.
19:20Yeah.
19:21Mike Cross, we lost him a few years ago.
19:23How do you look back on what you guys built together with him?
19:26I mean, Mike and Joe, the kind of things that they came up with and the attention to detail about
19:35what they put together.
19:36That's what I think that sets Sponge apart slightly, where bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest that preceded us,
19:45they were really like metal bands with two guitar players.
19:48But we were a grunge or post-grunge band with two guitar players, not just two guitar players, like one
19:55guy would lay back while the other guy did all the cool shit.
19:57It was two guys that really worked hard on putting together parts, you know what I mean?
20:01They paid attention to those parts like guys in Iron Maiden or Judas Priest would.
20:06So I think that, if anything, would set us apart, that certainly did.
20:11A fan came to the show two nights ago with an envelope and wanted to share it with us.
20:16And we opened it up and it was a thank you note that Mike Cross wrote and mailed to this
20:22fan, you know, 28, not 30, however many years ago it was.
20:27And it was really neat to see that.
20:28It was pretty touching, you know.
20:30That was like, oh, that was a little insight into his, you know, what he cared about.
20:35That's so nice, that's so cool.
20:37Yep.
20:37Do you guys have a favorite song to play?
20:39Or do you ever get sick of playing any of the old ones?
20:42I really like playing the new song.
20:44You know, it's coming together really nice, you know.
20:46The way the guys play on it is just really cool.
20:49I never shy away from playing the hits, you know.
20:51It's like, those are still, to see people's reaction to those songs, it's very cool.
20:58Yeah.
20:59Molly, I love Molly.
21:00You know, she never gets old to me, you know, playing it a million times.
21:04And Got To Be A Boar is always really fun.
21:06It's got one of the best, not necessarily the talk box.
21:09Well, it features you.
21:11But the guitar riff in it is like, I just, I just, I still get chills when I, you know,
21:15when it was recorded, I remember it.
21:17I just, I love it.
21:17You did something so cool last night.
21:19It was like, it was that pregnant pause.
21:21Like you stop when you're doing that setup with the talk box.
21:23You need to just wait a little longer.
21:26Yeah, yeah.
21:26Because people will cheer even more.
21:27Yeah, that's true.
21:28That's true.
21:29We're talking showbiz right now.
21:30What happened?
21:31What happened?
21:32It's just a talk box intro.
21:35You know what the talk box is?
21:36Yeah.
21:36Yeah.
21:37Yeah.
21:37So the little freestyle thing at the beginning of it, and there's a pregnant pause.
21:42Is that the right way?
21:43Yeah.
21:43It's just like, you know, milk it.
21:46Because they're just like, people are pumped up.
21:57That's so cool.
21:57Milk it.
21:59Milk it.
21:59Milk it.
22:00That's awesome.
22:01Where did the name Sponge come from?
22:02So we released a Lost Tracks record, was it last year?
22:08And it's called The Electric Cattle Gods.
22:10And The Electric Cattle Gods could have been the name of the band.
22:13And so Electric Cattle Gods was first.
22:15The name Sponge was second on the list.
22:17And so we were playing a show near Detroit.
22:19And the owner of the club said, what should I put on the marquee?
22:23And we said, Electric Cattle Gods.
22:25And he said, Joe Scroia was his name.
22:27He said, I don't have enough ladders.
22:30I've got to imitate Joe.
22:32Then I don't have enough ladders.
22:34And not for that.
22:34So I said, put Sponge up there.
22:36And he did.
22:37Sponge went up there and that was it.
22:39That's a good one.
22:40That's a good name.
22:41Yeah.
22:42How has creating music changed for you guys, you know, in all these years?
22:47Or maybe it hasn't.
22:48I think the origins haven't changed of where a song come from.
22:53It's an acoustic guitar and vocals, you know.
22:56It just comes from lyrics or whatever.
22:57But the major thing that has changed is the way it's recorded.
23:02Or, you know, it used to be a recording studio and everyone gets together at the same time and does
23:06it.
23:06And now it's not only that.
23:10It is that.
23:11But it's also piecemealing things.
23:14You know, during the COVID time, it was like emailing stuff, you know, files.
23:18Now it's gotten a little bit back more to normal, you know, in the studio recording.
23:22But it's anything.
23:23Anything goes, you know.
23:25Hey, I got this crazy, you know, instrument or player or somebody wants to play it, you know, jump in
23:29on this.
23:30And it's not like you have to fly them in to do it.
23:32You know, you could have anyone, you know, do their part and send it in if you want to.
23:38There's a bit to say we did a few years ago.
23:41We did an album called The Beer Sessions, which was old school, everyone in the room, one song, get it
23:48done in one day, mix it in one day and be done with it.
23:50Which was a lot of fun, you know.
23:52That was, it's, I think, I think almost every musician would agree.
23:56It's like that's the, that's the way they prefer to do it, you know.
23:59Just concentrate on one song and be in a room together.
24:02That's so cool.
24:03Yeah.
24:04How does the song come together though?
24:06Like do the lyrics come first and the sound or how does it happen for you guys?
24:10Sometimes it could be a guitar riff, you know.
24:13But generally I like to know where I'm starting, you know.
24:19Usually there's a chorus, you know, there's an idea.
24:23And that idea, you know, it's like on the new record, Stealing Shadows, I just go, ooh, that's cool.
24:30And I'll go, but what is it?
24:32And then there's the sitting part.
24:35What is it, you know?
24:37What tuning goes with that idea?
24:40And then you've got to kind of, what's the word, expound on things and start to, maybe you get a
24:45line, you know.
24:46But it's all about sitting and waiting, you know what I mean?
24:48It's like, I don't use any AI or gadgets or programs.
24:53It just sits, sit in a room and go, what is it?
24:56And if you get one line, sitting around an hour and it's a good one, the rest of the song
25:01typically comes around, you know what I mean?
25:03And then the feel should follow that, the vocal idea and the melody, you know, and you fill in the
25:10blanks.
25:11No, I don't know what you mean because it's like amazing to me.
25:15Oh, yeah?
25:15I mean, I can explain it to that degree, but where it comes from is a whole different place.
25:20And really the best thing, we could sit down and write you a song right now, no problem.
25:25But then those good ones, they come from some other place, I really don't know what that is.
25:29But the more I get out of the way and let it come, then it's a worthwhile idea, I think.
25:35It could be when we strap you down and sledgehammer your legs and then you can't go anywhere for misery.
25:43Does that mean I'm a kid?
25:44Then you have to write something.
25:45Now you can be home for a while?
25:46Yeah.
25:47Cool.
25:49That's so cool.
25:50Do you have five kids?
25:52I do.
25:53Wow.
25:54Oh, my God.
25:55What's that like?
25:56Actually, I'm one of five, so.
25:58Oh, you know.
26:00I'm the kid.
26:01It's just all the kids play music, you know?
26:04Really?
26:05Which is wonderful.
26:06We do this thing by the house every once in a while that's an acoustic thing.
26:09On a perfect day, all the kids come down and they sit in and they sing or they play.
26:15And my buddy's kids come.
26:16I mean, it's a lot of fun, you know?
26:19In the early days, my oldest boy is 45 and I have two grandkids.
26:23But in the early days, I was traveling with bands all the time.
26:28So it's like those guys, they didn't see me for a long time.
26:32My youngest son from my first marriage, he was two when I finally kind of got home and didn't know
26:37who I was.
26:38Because he was afraid to look at me because he didn't know who I was.
26:41Aw.
26:41But you know, that's that guy being out there trying to be that guy.
26:45Now all you need is a big colorful bus.
26:49That sounds like a TV show.
26:51Let's do it.
26:52Wow, amazing.
26:54How do you hone your voice?
26:56It still sounds really good.
26:57I just got to get a t-shirt that says, my back is killing me, my knees hurting, my ears
27:03are ringing and my throat is shot.
27:06It's holding up pretty good.
27:08You know, I always try to warm it up.
27:12And you know, I got a mechanic, I call him a mechanic, my ear, nose and throat guy, you know,
27:17which is not for just drugs anymore.
27:18You know, back in the day, you know, there's a guy I go to for, never mind.
27:23But anyway, yeah, it's holding up pretty good.
27:26It is.
27:27Yeah.
27:27He's got a routine that he sticks to now, which is, I think, different from years back, you know.
27:33Like what?
27:34What does he do?
27:35He'll disappear 45 minutes before the show or an hour before the show and warm up just every single time,
27:41do this warm up.
27:42And everyone's got their different ways of doing it.
27:44Sure.
27:45I think that consistency is important.
27:47Well, it's also, you know, don't eat three hours before the show.
27:51Don't eat three hours before you go to bed.
27:54No dark liquor on show days.
27:56You know, very little alcohol, as a matter of fact, anymore.
28:00You know what I mean?
28:00Try to watch the coffee.
28:01No chocolate.
28:02No hot foods.
28:03Blah, blah, blah.
28:03It's all this crap.
28:05There's a lot of stuff.
28:06You know what I mean?
28:06That's why when I'm out here, I just, after a while, I just go, enough.
28:10I'm tired of this.
28:11I don't like pampering myself like this.
28:15I know.
28:15It's tough.
28:16It's gotta be tough.
28:17You mentioned a little bit influences.
28:19Who were your influences growing up?
28:20And anybody of today you guys like?
28:22Think you're good?
28:23Like good guitarists or good singers that you love?
28:26Mm-mm-mm.
28:27It's the gamut, really.
28:28I love, like, Blue-Eyed Soul, you know, the spinners, the Detroit spinners, and then rock and roll, Ted Nugent,
28:37Bob Seger back in the day.
28:38And then I, as a kid, I loved, started to get into really heavy stuff, you know, like the early
28:43Metallica and Slayer.
28:45And it just, it seemed to, the 90s rock thing where guitars were like, what was all about guitars seemed
28:51to like, it all made sense then.
28:53So, anything with big guitars I enjoyed, yeah.
28:57I'm right there with you.
28:58Yeah.
28:59I loved Wango Tango.
29:00Yeah.
29:01You do?
29:02Yeah.
29:02Sweet.
29:03I like Ted Nugent.
29:04Oh, that's, you know.
29:05I recorded his last three records.
29:07Really?
29:08Yeah, so it was like a childhood dream came true, yeah.
29:11Oh my gosh.
29:12Yeah, he's just a sweetheart, sweetheart guy.
29:14Aw, he esteems it.
29:16Yeah.
29:16Oh, that's so cool.
29:18Criminally insane guitar player, just out of this world still, you know, at his age.
29:24It's just home, man.
29:25Yeah.
29:25Is he really still?
29:27Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:29Everyone can give or take his politics, but if you deny what he does on the guitar, then you're out
29:33of your mind.
29:34Right, right.
29:35Or his influence on the guitar.
29:37That's so awesome.
29:38That's so good.
29:39More, more.
29:40What else?
29:40Yeah, right, man.
29:41What about you?
29:42Oh, influences?
29:43Yeah.
29:44Oh, man.
29:45It's like when I think about that, you know, I just go, I mean, I think Iggy Pop is kind
29:50of the, he is the pinnacle go-to for, or the prototype for any front person, you know, male, female,
30:01doesn't matter.
30:04And, you know, I would just, I would start there certainly.
30:06I've had musical influences when I was a kid growing up, but when you boil it all down, it's, I
30:12think it's not only a performance thing, it's a lifestyle thing, it's a writing thing.
30:15I just look at, you know, Hank Williams Sr. was, is a hero.
30:20Miles Davis, hero.
30:23What Miles played, how he lived, how Hank lived, and I just kind of boiled it down to that anymore,
30:33you know, I certainly love some of the new bands.
30:35Well, I mean, Amo and the Sniffers aren't new anymore, but what she's done in the music world, the rock
30:41world is pretty awesome, you know, or the Idols or Viagra Boys, you know, just cool stuff.
30:46I just, I really enjoy that. There's plenty of new things going on that are great, but, yeah, I boil
30:53it down to some pretty simple stuff.
30:55What about your favorite guitarist?
30:57Guitarists? Well, we talked about Ted.
31:00Eddie Van Halen, you know, was life-changing when, you know, first hearing his stuff.
31:05And then, like I mentioned, the Metallica sound was just, that really made me start putting more distortion on my
31:12amp, you know.
31:13That was, like, how we get more, just more, you know, yeah.
31:16And I guess it's less bass, I guess that's how they did it.
31:20No bass. No bass. Yeah.
31:22And we didn't really talk about Candlebox too much. How's touring with them been?
31:26They're really saving our asses, you know, because we had a situation where the boys got some guitars stolen here.
31:31So we showed up to the gig, you know, just like, you guys, can you loan us some guitars?
31:37So, I mean, on top of everything else they've done for us.
31:41When did that happen?
31:42This was, I think, a week and a half ago.
31:44We were outside of D.C. in college.
31:47Silver Spring.
31:48Silver Spring, yeah, we played.
31:49And at the hotel after the show, we've been heisted before, so we've learned from it, you know.
31:56And we took, take precautions, you know, and they just worked their way around, you know.
32:03Like, they got big enough things that cut through whatever it is you got and took only the guitars.
32:09You know, they didn't, they couldn't, I don't know if they couldn't get everything else out or couldn't carry enough,
32:13but they, you know.
32:14So like Vince said, the Candlebox guys already are like, what can we do?
32:18Take, use what, use anything we got.
32:20And there's been so much great outpouring from people offering, sending us a couple guitars and offering.
32:26People coming to shows, you can play this or whatever.
32:29It's been great, you know, how bad and sad we are for losing, you know, a few of these at
32:35the outpouring.
32:36It's just been a good feeling to see, you know.
32:38That's nice.
32:39Yeah.
32:40And they're a great sounding band.
32:42Like, talk about throat, voice, Cabin is just killing it, man.
32:46I just, I, it almost defies logic, you know.
32:51This guy is just sounding so good.
32:53And the band is killing, you know.
32:56They're just a great group of guys and they're killing it.
32:58So, it couldn't be going better.
33:00You know, we have three more dates on the tour.
33:02So, I'm assuming it's going to all be, you know, steady as she goes.
33:07That's awesome.
33:07What's next for you guys?
33:09Maybe just take a little bit of time off, you know.
33:11That would be nice.
33:12Yeah.
33:13We got, when is it, the Creed Cruise we're playing.
33:16A big cruise with Creed and Seven Dust and Breaking Benjamin and lots of bands.
33:21Oh, wow.
33:21So, that's coming up next year early.
33:22Wow.
33:22And a couple of these big festivals, too, we're on, which is really exciting.
33:26Louder Than Life, I think.
33:28Oh, yay.
33:28Yeah.
33:29That's a good one.
33:30Woo-hoo.
33:30Back, baby.
33:31Yeah.
33:31The 90s are back.
33:33Yeah, man.
33:34Better than ever.
33:35Yeah.
33:35I love it.
33:36So good, you guys.
33:38You guys are awesome.
33:39Aw.
33:40Thank you, Joanne.
33:40You too.
33:40Thanks so much for coming.