Adam and the Metal Hawks (Adam Ezegelian, Johnny Barry, Ryan Daversa, Griffin McCarthy) joined me before their in-store appearance at Loud Pizza Records (716 Central Ave, Highland Park, IL 60035) to talk about their viral video history, Jack Black, rock music and the new(ish) original album, “Hurry Up And Wait”

Car Con Carne (a Q101 podcast) is presented by Alex Ross Art. Visit Alex Ross on YouTube (@TheAlexRossArt) to keep up to date with one of the comics industry’s most important and celebrated creators.

##

I want you to join my team! I’m training for the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb at Soldier Field on May 19. Go to fightforairclimb.org/chicago and click “register as a team member.” From there, search “Car Con Carne” and get yourself signed up!
Join me at Soldier Field. Let’s have some fun, do good and feel good.

##

Safety and security are things you and I want, need and expect. What if you could always come home to a well-lighted house knowing that you and everyone inside were safe?

Or know that the package you were waiting on was delivered and secured.

Embrace the future of smart living. Empower your home with intuitive control. Call Dan at Easy Automation for a free, no-hassle quote. 630-730-3728. Or visit easy-automation.net.

TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00.720 –> 00:00:07.340
This is Car Con Carne, a Q101 Podcast, presented by Alex Ross Art.

00:00:07.760 –> 00:00:14.540
For those who are unfamiliar with Alex Ross, he is one of the best comic and graphic novel artists ever.

00:00:15.060 –> 00:00:16.880
Not hyperbole, legit.

00:00:16.900 –> 00:00:19.100
He has transformed the industry.

00:00:19.120 –> 00:00:23.900
Every time he creates something, he transforms the industry all over again.

00:00:24.300 –> 00:00:27.280
Visit his website, alexrossart.com.

00:00:27.540 –> 00:00:36.560
Check out all of his stuff, get some original artwork while you’re there, and keep up to date with Alex Ross by visiting his YouTube page at the Alex Ross Art.

00:00:37.160 –> 00:00:43.220
If you are watching this on video, here’s a little teaser and a moose-boosh of what Alex Ross is all about.

00:00:45.280 –> 00:00:47.080
It’s Car Con Carne.

00:01:09.628 –> 00:01:11.928
I’m recording this at the very end of April.

00:01:12.008 –> 00:01:15.308
As I’m recording this, I’m in Highland Park outside Loud Pizza Records.

00:01:16.308 –> 00:01:18.688
It is 75 degrees outside.

00:01:18.708 –> 00:01:20.548
I’m wearing a hoodie, that’s a mistake.

00:01:20.608 –> 00:01:22.148
It’s really warm out.

00:01:22.168 –> 00:01:23.308
The weather has changed.

00:01:23.328 –> 00:01:24.648
For the better, let’s get out.

00:01:25.048 –> 00:01:25.888
Let’s do something.

00:01:25.908 –> 00:01:31.028
The Fight For Air Climb is happening on Sunday, May 19th, it’s happening at Soldier Field.

00:01:31.048 –> 00:01:40.548
We’re gonna be out there in Soldier Field, taking on the stairs at Soldier Field to help raise money, to help raise awareness, to fight lung disease.

00:01:40.568 –> 00:01:45.308
I’m teaming up with the American Lung Association to get this done, and I’m assembling a team.

00:01:45.328 –> 00:01:46.228
I want you to be part of it.

00:01:46.628 –> 00:01:57.788
Go to fightforairclimb.org/chicago, and once you are on the site, search, register as a team, and then look for Car Con Carne and get yourself signed up.

00:01:58.208 –> 00:02:00.568
If you don’t wanna join my team, just participate.

00:02:00.968 –> 00:02:04.548
Go to fightforairclimb.org/chicago and get yourself signed up.

00:02:04.828 –> 00:02:06.488
I will see you May 19th.

00:02:06.968 –> 00:02:08.648
Soldier Field, we’re gonna get out there.

00:02:08.648 –> 00:02:09.948
I will see you on the stairs.

00:02:11.088 –> 00:02:12.048
Let’s talk about safety.

00:02:12.068 –> 00:02:13.168
Let’s talk about security.

00:02:13.188 –> 00:02:16.988
These are things that you and I want, need, and expect.

00:02:17.568 –> 00:02:24.988
What if you could always come home to a house that was well-lighted and know that everyone inside, including you, were safe and secure?

00:02:25.268 –> 00:02:33.828
Or what if you knew that that really important package that you ordered online, maybe it was a box of records from Loud Pizza Records in Highland Park, what a wonderful record store.

00:02:34.028 –> 00:02:35.908
What if it was that or a box of electronics?

00:02:36.288 –> 00:02:39.948
What if you knew that it could be delivered safely and securely?

00:02:39.968 –> 00:02:41.608
This is the future of smart living.

00:02:41.628 –> 00:02:42.648
This is what it’s all about.

00:02:42.908 –> 00:02:50.128
Turn your home into a smart home and do it with the help of my friends at Easy Automation, easyautomation.net.

00:02:50.148 –> 00:02:57.148
It’s really easy to just transform the way you live, the way your home behaves, the way you behave in your home.

00:02:57.528 –> 00:02:59.628
Talk to my guy Dan, give him a call direct.

00:02:59.648 –> 00:03:07.448
This is his direct line, 630-730-3728, 630-730-3728.

00:03:07.828 –> 00:03:15.148
He’ll give you a hassle-free quote, no pressure, no strings, or you can get the same thing done by visiting easyautomation.net.

00:03:15.328 –> 00:03:16.548
So this is Car Con Carne.

00:03:16.568 –> 00:03:17.368
I’m James Van Auzel.

00:03:17.388 –> 00:03:22.028
Car Con Carne named best music podcast in Chicago by the Chicago Reader for the second year in a row.

00:03:22.048 –> 00:03:23.648
And I say that not as a humble brag.

00:03:23.968 –> 00:03:31.828
I say that because my guests in the car, Adam and the Metal Hawks, they’re not from Chicago, and I don’t want them to think that this is some kind of weird, sketchy thing they agreed to.

00:03:32.868 –> 00:03:36.228
I want them to know that there’s some legitimacy to the proceedings here.

00:03:36.408 –> 00:03:38.728
This guy just came up to us and said, get in my car.

00:03:39.288 –> 00:03:40.048
I have candy?

00:03:40.148 –> 00:03:41.528
Yeah, I don’t know what happened.

00:03:43.948 –> 00:03:45.828
Once he mentioned candy, we couldn’t pass it off.

00:03:46.808 –> 00:03:47.928
Well, you’re a touring band.

00:03:47.948 –> 00:03:51.488
I mean, really, the lure of free food is awfully strong.

00:03:51.488 –> 00:03:52.048
We’ll take it.

00:03:52.888 –> 00:04:03.468
So by the time people see and hear this, they’ll have missed you at Cobra Lodge, but you’re in town, you’re touring, we’re outside Loud Pizza Records in Highland Park, where you’re about to do an in-store.

00:04:04.228 –> 00:04:09.388
One thing that I absolutely adore about all of you, there’s a joyfulness in what you do.

00:04:09.508 –> 00:04:11.148
Now, I’m Generation X.

00:04:11.168 –> 00:04:16.008
I came up in a world where it wasn’t cool to smile while you’re performing.

00:04:17.548 –> 00:04:21.688
But there’s a certain joy in watching you online.

00:04:21.868 –> 00:04:23.008
Music is fun for you.

00:04:23.208 –> 00:04:41.948
Yeah, I mean, we’re just a bunch of guys that are having fun with music and trying to bring back that classic rock feeling that we all fell in love with when we were younger and our parents showed us the ways of classic rock and some of us from the cradle.

00:04:42.168 –> 00:04:47.108
So it just comes down to the energy that the music has.

00:04:47.188 –> 00:04:50.368
Really, we’re not suppressing any of that feeling.

00:04:50.388 –> 00:05:01.248
We’re always trying to encourage it and bring it out in the audience, really just break down the fourth wall and let everybody kind of in on the performance and on the party.

00:05:01.888 –> 00:05:06.908
Well, and that was what I was gonna ask you is how, I mean, I grew up weaned on classic rock.

00:05:06.928 –> 00:05:09.048
I mean, classic rock radio is huge in Chicago.

00:05:09.068 –> 00:05:12.708
We all grew up on Zeppelin, The Stones, The Doors, et cetera.

00:05:13.428 –> 00:05:15.948
But you really had it instilled by family.

00:05:17.108 –> 00:05:25.188
Yeah, I mean, it’s a slightly different story for each of us but I would say that all of our parents kind of influenced our music love.

00:05:26.388 –> 00:05:31.888
And I know me and Johnny loved like Guitar Hero and rock band growing up.

00:05:31.908 –> 00:05:34.508
So I’m sure that helped as well.

00:05:34.648 –> 00:05:41.288
But Mike Carruthers shares little pieces of intel and interviews you can use to improve your life on the Something You Should Know podcast.

00:05:41.488 –> 00:05:49.088
The next time you’re looking for a job and have to write a cover letter, here’s some advice from Skip Freeman, author of a book called Headhunter’s Hiring Secrets.

00:05:49.328 –> 00:05:51.968
Add a PS to the bottom of that cover letter.

00:05:52.108 –> 00:05:57.748
That can actually increase the chances of that letter being read by up to 75%.

00:05:57.908 –> 00:06:01.168
Some people actually glance down and read the PS first.

00:06:01.248 –> 00:06:02.248
Something You Should Know.

00:06:02.248 –> 00:06:04.308
Search on YouTube or wherever you listen.

00:06:05.188 –> 00:06:07.728
Yeah, just fell in love with the genre as a whole.

00:06:08.408 –> 00:06:09.408
Was it the same for you guys?

00:06:09.428 –> 00:06:10.348
Is that how you came to it?

00:06:10.868 –> 00:06:28.108
Yeah, I think Guitar Hero was a big influence on my musical vocabulary as well, but both my parents are piano players, so from the get-go, I was already kind of weaned into a life of music, and I developed a very good ear from them playing pretty much every day, and the rest is history with that.

00:06:28.228 –> 00:06:33.708
I picked up piano, I used it for songwriting, but I’m mainly a drummer, and that’s just what I fell in love with.

00:06:34.088 –> 00:06:37.228
And as for my parents, they literally met in a recording studio.

00:06:37.248 –> 00:06:42.028
My dad was a singer trying to make it into business back then, and my mom worked in the studio, and that’s how they met.

00:06:42.128 –> 00:06:50.828
And when my mom was pregnant with me, she would literally play zeppelin up to her belly, just to kind of, so I’ve been indoctrinated from the beginning pretty much, but I love it, so I can’t complain.

00:06:51.168 –> 00:06:51.688
Love you, mom.

00:06:52.868 –> 00:06:54.648
You were born to play Achilles’ Last Stand.

00:06:55.028 –> 00:06:56.128
Yes, exactly.

00:06:57.668 –> 00:06:59.888
Or whatever, insert deep cut here.

00:07:01.028 –> 00:07:02.228
Something off coda, perhaps.

00:07:02.388 –> 00:07:08.388
So I mentioned seeing you on video, the cheerfulness, the joyfulness that you imbue in what you do.

00:07:09.648 –> 00:07:13.948
A lot of people will tell you as a musician, as an artist, oh, you gotta be on social, you gotta do this.

00:07:14.168 –> 00:07:15.948
There are some artists who just don’t take to it.

00:07:17.148 –> 00:07:21.508
Like a fish to water, this is how people discover your band.

00:07:21.828 –> 00:07:27.088
I mean, TikTok, you have mastered short form video work.

00:07:27.588 –> 00:07:29.408
You have to like it to be successful at it.

00:07:29.428 –> 00:07:30.148
Is that fair to say?

00:07:30.208 –> 00:07:31.108
Yeah, yeah.

00:07:31.788 –> 00:07:38.388
I mean, you know, we also kind of experienced that wave of, especially TikTok when it first came out.

00:07:39.248 –> 00:07:42.448
There was a bit of reluctance and like, you know, oh, it’s the new thing.

00:07:42.648 –> 00:07:43.928
Who knows if it’s gonna last.

00:07:44.988 –> 00:07:51.108
And very quickly, it kind of showed itself as one of the forerunners of music promotion.

00:07:51.128 –> 00:08:02.248
So we jumped right in and we knew from the get go that you can’t just jump on there and say, hey guys, we just put out a song, so go stream it, please.

00:08:02.968 –> 00:08:10.768
You know, you have to kind of get in and speak the language of social media itself, which tends to be on the humorous side.

00:08:10.788 –> 00:08:14.288
It tends to be, you know, like you said, very short form videos.

00:08:15.068 –> 00:08:17.628
And the humor comes to us pretty naturally.

00:08:17.648 –> 00:08:23.388
I think everybody in the band has a pretty big personality, which lends itself well to social media.

00:08:23.408 –> 00:08:32.948
So it kind of just, you know, all kind of worked in our favor and we just stuck to it and found a little success here, a viral video there.

00:08:32.948 –> 00:08:41.208
And of course the one that everybody may have seen already is the Jack Black duet that we’re very proud of.

00:08:41.228 –> 00:08:49.388
You know, Jack Black’s always been a big idol of mine and as soon as we jumped on social media, every comment was, this guy reminds me of Jack Black.

00:08:49.408 –> 00:08:51.048
Oh my God, sounds like Jack Black.

00:08:51.068 –> 00:08:52.088
He looks like Jack Black.

00:08:53.228 –> 00:08:54.468
And so, and I’ll take it.

00:08:54.488 –> 00:08:55.188
And you’re cool with it?

00:08:55.248 –> 00:08:56.248
Yeah, I’ll take it.

00:08:56.368 –> 00:08:57.368
That’s a compliment to me.

00:08:57.688 –> 00:09:12.548
I love, you know, his energy and his kind of freedom on stage or wherever he’s performing, even in some of these voiceovers that he’s doing for movies, you just know right away that that’s Jack Black and he really brings his energy to every project he’s working on.

00:09:12.568 –> 00:09:16.068
So to be compared to him is an honor.

00:09:16.068 –> 00:09:19.228
I, you know, I strive to be that.

00:09:19.748 –> 00:09:21.548
And the duet in question is Kickapoo.

00:09:22.288 –> 00:09:27.248
A long-ass fucking time ago in a town called Kickapoo, there lived a humble family, religious through and through.

00:09:27.648 –> 00:09:29.848
But yay, there was a black sheep and he knew just what to do.

00:09:29.968 –> 00:09:33.588
I mean, if you’re gonna collaborate on anything, that’s the one.

00:09:34.828 –> 00:09:37.688
The Pick Of Destiny, by the way, were outside Loud Pizza Records.

00:09:37.908 –> 00:09:39.128
Available, it’s on the shelves there.

00:09:39.868 –> 00:09:44.048
Do you guys, since you guys are weaned on this sort of music, are you record collectors?

00:09:45.488 –> 00:09:45.968
Somewhat.

00:09:46.508 –> 00:09:48.108
Johnny’s getting into it more and more.

00:09:48.128 –> 00:09:51.728
I like the records, oops, sorry, Griffin, let me just move over here.

00:09:52.028 –> 00:09:53.108
I’m just gonna move everything.

00:09:53.528 –> 00:09:56.548
I just like the records that are more personal, like the ones that I’ve signed.

00:09:57.188 –> 00:10:05.828
So I don’t really go around collecting them, but eventually I’ll just have one, I’m like, oh, there’s a band that I like, let me try to get it signed, buy it purchased when it’s signed, and then I collect them that way.

00:10:06.068 –> 00:10:09.168
So not much of a record collector, but if it’s signed, then I’ll take it.

00:10:09.828 –> 00:10:10.228
Fair.

00:10:11.508 –> 00:10:15.388
So you’ve covered, I think, every song written between 1972 and 1999.

00:10:15.488 –> 00:10:19.848
At least the top 10 of each year has been covered.

00:10:19.988 –> 00:10:21.848
There is no ground left for you to cover.

00:10:21.928 –> 00:10:26.488
I mean, I guess time to bust into Taylor Swift’s new album.

00:10:26.508 –> 00:10:27.708
There’s nothing left for you to do.

00:10:27.868 –> 00:10:30.308
I don’t know, this new album, sorry, Taylor, it’s not.

00:10:30.368 –> 00:10:32.988
It’s not hitting for me, I don’t know.

00:10:33.028 –> 00:10:33.468
It’s not.

00:10:33.488 –> 00:10:33.908
It’s not.

00:10:33.928 –> 00:10:34.568
Too many songs?

00:10:34.648 –> 00:10:35.608
That’s the common complaint.

00:10:35.628 –> 00:10:37.448
Well, too many songs is one thing.

00:10:37.468 –> 00:10:41.308
I mean, if they were all really good, no one would complain that there’s too many songs.

00:10:41.868 –> 00:10:47.888
I think it just seems kind of like a backlog that she’s had for a while and just kind of shoved it all into the album.

00:10:48.528 –> 00:10:53.108
But I don’t know, even Post Malone’s song on there, like, Posty, what are you doing, man?

00:10:53.168 –> 00:10:53.588
Posty.

00:10:53.788 –> 00:10:54.788
It’s not looking great.

00:10:54.808 –> 00:11:00.088
I like the no tattoos look for the video, it was kind of cool, but the song itself ain’t hitting.

00:11:01.008 –> 00:11:08.028
So your voice, Adam, on American Idol, I forgot which judge said it, the most dangerous part about you is your voice.

00:11:09.128 –> 00:11:10.068
It’s a lethal weapon.

00:11:11.328 –> 00:11:12.328
When did you find your voice?

00:11:13.528 –> 00:11:14.688
I mean, it’s hard to say.

00:11:15.148 –> 00:11:18.228
I remember one of my earliest memories of singing.

00:11:18.248 –> 00:11:24.108
I came running to my mom and I told her that I had invented a new thing.

00:11:24.128 –> 00:11:27.548
I could talk and make music at the same time.

00:11:28.388 –> 00:11:29.968
And she was like, that’s called singing.

00:11:30.908 –> 00:11:33.768
I’m like, oh, okay, I’m gonna do that.

00:11:34.548 –> 00:11:37.148
You know, I just always loved singing along.

00:11:37.168 –> 00:11:39.828
And I was a theater kid, if you can imagine.

00:11:39.828 –> 00:11:41.568
It seems a little far fetched.

00:11:41.588 –> 00:11:42.528
Plot twist, shocker.

00:11:42.548 –> 00:11:49.188
Yeah, but definitely, you know, I always loved performing and just making people laugh and smile.

00:11:49.208 –> 00:11:52.748
So I think it just kind of fell naturally for me.

00:11:53.068 –> 00:11:59.368
The Rolling Stone Music Now podcast gets inside the biggest stories with Rolling Stone senior writer, Brian Hyatt.

00:11:59.408 –> 00:12:01.948
Now here is my conversation with Jacob Noll.

00:12:01.968 –> 00:12:03.508
Your story is an amazing one.

00:12:03.548 –> 00:12:06.228
And obviously you lost your dad when you’re only one year old.

00:12:06.528 –> 00:12:08.308
It was definitely a screwy way to grow up.

00:12:08.328 –> 00:12:10.108
I think that a lot of people never heard of who I am.

00:12:10.128 –> 00:12:14.668
And then they see me join this band and they must think this kid must have just demanded everything or nepotism kid.

00:12:14.688 –> 00:12:19.188
It’s a gift that I have an opportunity to sing in such a big band like my father and my uncle’s band Sublime.

00:12:19.308 –> 00:12:22.208
Rolling Stone Music Now, wherever you listen.

00:12:24.208 –> 00:12:26.588
Hurry Up And Wait came out last year.

00:12:26.868 –> 00:12:36.488
I think the biggest challenge with your band is getting people to flip over from understanding you as doing these fun covers to being an original artist.

00:12:36.868 –> 00:12:38.808
And I’m sure you’ve encountered that already.

00:12:39.068 –> 00:12:41.948
Yeah, it’s definitely hard.

00:12:42.128 –> 00:12:47.688
It’s kind of a blessing in disguise, like the viral videos that we have had.

00:12:48.248 –> 00:12:51.868
But a lot of people only know us for that social media side.

00:12:52.028 –> 00:12:55.488
And we’re trying every day to just kind of bridge that gap.

00:12:56.488 –> 00:13:03.928
But I mean, at the end of the day, we’re also just very grateful for all of our followers and subscribers and just fans in general.

00:13:04.728 –> 00:13:14.208
But it’s really nice to see, we just came off of our UK tour with Punk Rock Factory and now they’re coming over to us in the US.

00:13:15.168 –> 00:13:23.388
And just having that 10 to 15 people say over at the merch booth after the show, I’ve been following you guys for years.

00:13:23.388 –> 00:13:26.468
I followed you during the pandemic and you really helped me a lot.

00:13:26.488 –> 00:13:31.608
And so just being able to meet all of these fans in person is really amazing.

00:13:32.068 –> 00:13:45.568
Definitely makes the shows worthwhile and we’re just going to continue pushing out our new music and hopefully that we get that one song that resonates with everybody and maybe, you know, Tello Swift be opening for us, who knows?

00:13:45.668 –> 00:13:46.268
There it is.

00:13:46.288 –> 00:13:52.088
I think that’s what it comes down to is that one song to like just finally break that barrier.

00:13:52.088 –> 00:14:00.388
And I feel like they had to have like resonated with that style of music enough to want to follow us and remain on that journey with us.

00:14:01.028 –> 00:14:08.828
So there has to be a way, there is a way, we’re just still in that journey to get there, to turn them all.

00:14:09.348 –> 00:14:14.008
One at a time, they flip, but we’re, it’s a slow process, but we’re getting there for sure.

00:14:14.368 –> 00:14:15.968
Well, maybe that song is backwards.

00:14:16.428 –> 00:14:20.588
You mentioned the pandemic, new dream, no quarantine.

00:14:20.608 –> 00:14:23.448
I mean, this is a song born of the past few years.

00:14:23.948 –> 00:14:29.768
The video, the beach party video, that feels like a throwback to an era we can’t get back to in real life.

00:14:30.088 –> 00:14:31.448
Yeah, yeah.

00:14:31.468 –> 00:14:36.808
You know, that was a really fun video and song to work on.

00:14:37.148 –> 00:14:49.668
It was, like you said, kind of a child of the pandemic times of just kind of wanting to break out of this, you know, kind of a bad time for everybody in the entire world.

00:14:50.148 –> 00:15:04.048
So, and it’s also kind of about our rise to fame through social media and showing like, you know, you only see the end result, that you see that viral video, but you don’t see the three months of not viral videos, you know, so.

00:15:04.508 –> 00:15:27.528
And it’s also just kind of an encouraging message to other artists and people that are trying to make it out there, like don’t give up just because this last video didn’t go viral, you know, or this last song didn’t perform the way you wanted it to, you know, because there’s always that journey before you get to that big break, and you don’t know when that’s coming, so you can’t give up, you know.

00:15:27.548 –> 00:15:27.668
Right.

00:15:27.928 –> 00:15:28.348
Agreed.

00:15:29.208 –> 00:15:36.688
And for guys who don’t necessarily collect records, 10 songs, perfect five songs per side, I mean it breaks down to a perfect LP, really.

00:15:36.728 –> 00:15:37.748
Yeah.

00:15:38.148 –> 00:15:46.128
B-side blues with the harmonica and blues guitar, this sounds like something off like a David Lee Roth Van Halen album, like a deep cut-up, one of those first five records.

00:15:46.368 –> 00:15:59.028
That’s kind of reduced some inspiration for that, not gonna lie, we’re pretty big Van Halen fans, and I had that riff originally just as an intro to Final Line, which it kind of is, but it’s, yeah.

00:15:59.808 –> 00:16:00.248
I love it.

00:16:00.608 –> 00:16:04.608
And Party Time, didn’t start the fire, but I’ll feed the flame.

00:16:05.148 –> 00:16:11.528
You somehow get Jameson to rhyme with flame, which that’s some vocal trickery going on there.

00:16:12.088 –> 00:16:15.468
That’s some witchcraft or voodoo that you pull off on that song.

00:16:15.528 –> 00:16:17.108
See, that’s what AI can’t do.

00:16:20.848 –> 00:16:26.708
And now I heard Eminem’s coming out with a new album too, so if he wants to use that rhyme, you just, you let me know, all right?

00:16:26.988 –> 00:16:28.308
Have his people talk to your people.

00:16:28.328 –> 00:16:29.068
Yeah.

00:16:29.068 –> 00:16:32.128
And really, what better way to wrap up an album than I’m done.

00:16:32.728 –> 00:16:33.048
Yep.

00:16:34.768 –> 00:16:37.768
And we tend to wrap up a lot of our shows with that song as well.

00:16:37.888 –> 00:16:40.388
It’s just a really good kind of bookend right at the end.

00:16:40.788 –> 00:16:52.648
It’s got the energy, it’s got, you know, it’s kind of like a, like a throwback Elvis-y type of vibe to it, which I like and just kind of have fun with it and everybody gets to shine in the song.

00:16:53.208 –> 00:17:01.968
Well, thinking about you on stage and thinking about what you’re saying about the merch table, like converting one person at a time, this is your grassroots effort.

00:17:02.188 –> 00:17:03.468
I do feel thanks to social.

00:17:03.488 –> 00:17:07.668
I mean, there is certainly a connectedness you have with your audience.

00:17:07.688 –> 00:17:11.668
I mean, I guess talk a little bit about that relationship between you and fans.

00:17:12.308 –> 00:17:35.688
Yeah, I mean, you know, especially in the beginning, when we were putting out just our first videos on TikTok and everything, just being able to reply to every comment, every direct message, you know, and just being, you’re almost having this little mini conversation with each fan, you know, if they have a question or something, or they just want to show their support.

00:17:36.608 –> 00:17:42.108
It’s been really great just from people all over the world, like, hey, from Brazil, hey, from England.

00:17:42.808 –> 00:17:51.868
And even though we’re not all in the same room, it just feels like, you know, they’re all part of one audience that, you know, we get to perform for.

00:17:51.888 –> 00:17:53.188
It’s really been really great.

00:17:53.568 –> 00:17:54.488
You’re all music fans.

00:17:54.508 –> 00:17:55.568
You just happen to make music.

00:17:55.808 –> 00:17:56.128
Yeah.

00:17:57.288 –> 00:17:57.648
All right.

00:17:57.668 –> 00:18:00.528
Well, I’m going to let you, we’re outside Loud Pizza Records in Helen Park.

00:18:01.008 –> 00:18:04.588
I’m going to let you get inside because I know you’re going to do an in-store, you’re ready to perform.

00:18:05.408 –> 00:18:10.448
And since this is going to happen after, this episode’s going to debut after your performance, what are you going to play?

00:18:10.628 –> 00:18:12.448
What are we going to play?

00:18:12.488 –> 00:18:13.768
We’re going to play some Queen.

00:18:15.288 –> 00:18:19.348
We’re going to play maybe Wanted, Dead Or Alive, is always a nice acoustic one.

00:18:20.328 –> 00:18:24.088
Which syncs up with the new Bon Jovi biopic or biography.

00:18:25.968 –> 00:18:28.388
And then of course, throw some originals in there.

00:18:28.948 –> 00:18:31.028
You know, we’re going to do Fine Line.

00:18:31.048 –> 00:18:33.148
That usually is really nice acoustic.

00:18:34.068 –> 00:18:35.128
And we’re going to do I’m Done.

00:18:35.148 –> 00:18:35.768
We got it, you know.

00:18:35.988 –> 00:18:39.988
All right, guys, I’m so glad you’re here in Illinois.

00:18:40.728 –> 00:18:42.608
Keep coming back, please.

00:18:43.608 –> 00:18:44.868
Pleasure meeting you and having you on.

00:18:45.148 –> 00:18:46.108
Yeah, thank you for having us.

00:18:47.148 –> 00:18:49.948
Named one of the best personal finance podcasts.

00:18:49.988 –> 00:18:54.628
The Stacking Benjamin Show with Joe and his friends makes financial literacy fun.

00:18:54.648 –> 00:18:56.028
Work hard and save your money.

00:18:56.048 –> 00:19:00.048
That way, when you’re old like me, you can buy the things that only young people can enjoy.

00:19:00.228 –> 00:19:01.048
Squirrel watching.

00:19:02.088 –> 00:19:07.908
Get yourself a squirrel cam, spend $30 a month on nuts, and you’ll be at early retirement before you know it.

00:19:07.928 –> 00:19:10.008
No, Piggy, this is the road to a podcast nobody listens to.

00:19:10.548 –> 00:19:10.848
Just listen.

00:19:11.148 –> 00:19:16.808
Find out more by searching the Stacking Benjamins podcast wherever you listen.

00:19:16.828 –> 00:19:16.868
Thanks listening.