Aug. 10, 2026

Chug at Bloodstock: Grooves, Community, and Merch Adventures on The Adventures of Pipeman

Show Notes
Transcript

In this lively episode recorded at Bloodstock Festival, Pipeman sits down with musical duo Chug for a candid conversation about community, creativity, and the journey from Cheltenham to the big stage. The discussion covers the band’s grassroots rise through Metal to the Masses, their unique approach to music, and the power of positivity and collaboration in the modern metal scene. Listeners will enjoy stories from the festival, the origins and goals of Chug, and practical details about supporting the band.Main Topics Covered

The vibrant and supportive community at Bloodstock Festival
Chug’s journey from Cheltenham’s Metal to the Masses competition to performing at Bloodstock
The importance of merch sales for independent bands
Chug’s musical identity and their focus on groove, fun, and audience engagement
The partnership and creative process as a two-piece band
Mutual support and camaraderie among competing bands
Plans for the future, including upcoming shows and an EP
How to connect with and support Chug

Key Discussions & StoriesBloodstock Festival Vibes

Pipeman and Chug highlight the “family” atmosphere at Bloodstock, emphasizing the welcoming and kind spirit among festival-goers and musicians 01:07.
The story of enthusiastic fans at Bloodstock, including an attendee who insisted on being stamped on the forehead, demonstrating the fun and organic engagement at the festival 02:09.

The Road to Bloodstock

Chug shares their experience participating in Cheltenham’s Metal to the Masses at Frog and Fiddle, overcoming fierce competition to win and secure their Bloodstock slot 02:50.
Discussion of the financial commitments and sacrifices made, such as spending on promo materials and gear, and the need for merch sales to fund travel 03:16.

Chug’s Musical Approach

Chug describes their music as being all about groove, fun, and eliciting unique facial reactions from the audience, rather than fitting into a strict genre 04:06.
Reflection on evolving from a cover band to a creative two-piece making original music, and how constraints have fueled their innovation 04:38.

Community and Collaboration

Praise for the Metal to the Masses competition for fostering friendships, networks, and supportive relationships among bands, even amidst competition 05:30.
Anecdotes about celebrating each other's successes and enjoying the music scene as a collective endeavor 06:13.

Looking Forward

Chug reveals plans for a headline show at Frog in Cheltenham and an upcoming EP 07:00.
Ongoing commitment to connecting with more fans and creating larger, more energetic live experiences 06:39.

Notable Quotes

“We want people’s faces to make weird expressions that they’ve probably never made before, like almost like it’s sour or something like that. I think that’s what we aim for with the music.” — Chug 04:06
“All the bands that we played with were absolutely killer. So shout out to the Cheltenham scene.” — [unidentified speaker] 03:14
“If you’re not having fun, we’re not having fun. If we’re not having fun, you’re not having fun. And we have this synergy together, and that’s what makes you great.” — Pipeman 07:27
“It’s just all about the connection. That’s what we want. Like, yeah, no egos, just fun.” — Chug 07:50
“Once it starts off, everything’s just feeding everything else, and it’s just this huge, like, emotional, like, high… everyone’s just having a great time together.” — [unidentified speaker] 08:00

Resources & Links Mentioned

Instagram: @chugband
Facebook: Chug the Band
Merch: Available mostly at shows; contact via Instagram for inquiries 08:59

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WEBVTT

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Hi, you love done too, crue w wow for you

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your That's it's the pipe Man here on the Adventures

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pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm here

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with Chug Choke. You know, I was hoping for you

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go like Chuck chuk chuk Chuck Chuck Chu Chu Chud

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Chud trick, because that's exactly when it went in my head. Man.

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Uh so here you are a freaking Bloodstock man. How

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did that fucking happen?

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You're asking these difficult questions that we might know how

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the answers to, but honestly, lots of lovely people supporting us.

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I think that's probably the biggest way to summarize it. Yeah,

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just nice community spirit, which is thankfully even though there's

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been like not many people from Schoutenham here, the love

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from like all these new people at Bloodstock has been unbelievable.

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So it's an amazing family here. Like that's why I

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that's I love this festival because we're just one big

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family and there's no assholes for sure.

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Yeah, it's been so cool.

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Like we've you know, we've been walking around with a

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with a sign on and people are just coming up

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to us and be like, hey, we're interested in what

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you're doing, and we'd like to be friends. And it's

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just it's just organic and nice and everyone's been so kind.

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It's really cool here.

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That is amazing. And I'm about my little assaulted that

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I didn't get a stamp.

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Oh no, I'm sorry, man, Oh I didn't. I didn't

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bring the promo bag.

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I would have. I would have given you like a million.

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There was a guy walking around who was like, stamp

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me on the forehead right now, and it's probably still there,

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to be honest.

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Let me say, hold on, lift up your hat. Yeah,

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I don't know, it's too hot. It probably when it's

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probably on your hat.

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Oh no, No, So random guy he came up to

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us was like, stamp me on the head right now.

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Oh you stamped him?

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Yeah?

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Oh I thought he stamped you.

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Oh no.

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And also we were being quite gentle with the stamp,

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and then he suddenly just thrust his head like really

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hard into the stamp. So I genuinely think that's not

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going to come off for some time.

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He was very excited, so he like head budded to

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stamp pretty too much. That's a pretty high honor and compliment, right.

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Very honorable, and like I don't know. It's just been

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nice to have lots of people come up and be like,

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oh yeah, stamp me, or I want to stick a

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or we've given out patches for battle jackets as well.

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Nice. I love that. So tell me about the journey

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to get the bloodstock.

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Yeah.

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So we we're from Cheltenham and Cheltenham has a Metal

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to the Masses Metal to the Masses venue of Frog

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and Fiddle.

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Shout out, yeah, they you know, we submitted.

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They said, yeah, come and do it, and we managed

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to make it through the rounds, which I'm impressed by,

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to be honest, because all the bands that we played

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with were absolutely killer.

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So shout out to the Cheltenham scene.

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But yeah, we we managed to get through Metal to

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the Masses, won the final and then spent a ridiculous

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amount of money on promotional materials and new gear.

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Nice. Well, that's what gets you there. Like, that's why

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I'm going to tell people towards the end of the

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interview they're gonna have to go to your merch store

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and buy your merch or they can't listen to my show.

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Is that's how you get to the next gig.

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Yeah, we've run out a pit petrol and we can't

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fill up again. So we're actually stranded here until enough

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T shirts sou to get us home.

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So hurry up and buy their T shirt so they

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can get home.

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You're reaching out to you.

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They're only ten pounds.

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So how would you describe your music as an art

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to the listener? And I mean you using a label,

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genre or whatever. I want to hear what your music's

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all about?

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All about groove and fun and as much sort of

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like we want people's faces to make weird expressions that

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they've probably never made before, like almost like it's sour

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or something like that. I mean, that's what that's what

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we aim for with the music.

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That it was the best descripture I ever heard. But that

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was fucking brilliant. Oh man, man, So what was that

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one time in life that you knew this is what

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you had to do?

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I think, you know, we used to play in a

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band where we just did like covers and had funds

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where like with some friends and stuff, and the different

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friends went off and did different things, and instead of stopping,

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we were like, well, let's try and figure out how

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to do this as a two piece. And then we

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started messing around and we got inspiration from other two

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piece bands, and then something clicked and we were like, oh,

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we're actually making our own music. We're inspiring ourselves with

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what we're doing, Like we're constraining ourselves to this two

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piece set up and it's creating new stuff that we

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weren't expecting. And then we play that stuff at a

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show people seem to like it, and that reassurance from

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those people means, you know, people like this, so we

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go and blame more.

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I love it, and I love the fact that you

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know the metal to the masses that they do for Bloodstock.

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What a way to really not only bring new music

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to the forefront that people can check it out, but

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to create networking opportunities between all you bands. Because the

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one thing I've noticed which I freaking love is that

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you guys are in a competition without being competing with

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each other. Yeah, you're all friends, You make new connections,

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and that's of all, You're all supporting each other. Like, yeah,

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if you don't win, you might be a little upset yourself,

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but you're super happy that your friends won and that's

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what's important.

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Yeah, Like Ollie from Anier Mantzer, who were one of

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the bands in the final wave with us. He was

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out there like throwing down and yeah, as you say,

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it's just all about supporting each other and just having fun.

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And we've now met loads of people from like Ireland

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to Lancashire.

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Yeah, just it's been great.

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So now how do you top this?

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That's a very good question.

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I mean, you know, we're just going to keep pushing

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to see more and more people throwing down to our

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music because the bigger, the most bit, the more fun

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we have, and that means the more fun you guys have,

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I guess. So we're you know, we're we're hoping to

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booking a heirdline show Frog in Cheltenham the end of

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this year. We've got an EP coming out. We're just

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gonna keep talking to people, keep you know, shooting for

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the shooting for the stars.

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I love it. And you know, the fact that matter

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is is, yeah, you're here at Bloodstock, you kill it.

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But the thing is is that you are real people

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that are great musicians and your attitude is what's going

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to get you somewhere, because you're right, if you're not

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having fun, we're not having fun. If we're not having fun,

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you're not having fun. And we have this synergy together.

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And that's what makes you great is that you want

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that synergy. You want that fun, because if you're not

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having fun being a musician, what the hell would you

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do in this business?

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Yeah.

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Absolutely, it's just all about the connection. That's what we want. Yeah, No,

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where you go, it's just fun.

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Yeah, there it is.

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It's like a you know, like a perpetual motion machine.

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Once it starts off, everything's just feeding everything else. And

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it's just this huge, like emotional like high. I guess

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it's like everyone's just having a great time together. I

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think it's like really lame when people like getting bands

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and they're like seeing themselves as like like higher than

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the audience.

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It's no doubt, No, you're on the same level, and

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people can sense whether you are or not. And that's

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where you get the super fans of people that are

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head butt in your stamps.

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Yes, we're gonna have to find this guy again.

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Now, I know, right, And you can any time you

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ever need a promo, you reach out to me, we'll

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do a remote interview. You send me your MP three's,

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your wave file or wave files. I'll put them in

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a rotation station and now you're gonna tell everybody how

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they can connect to you on social media and go

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buy your merch before they get banned from my show.

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Yeah.

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So we're a Chuck band on Instagram, Chug the band

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on Facebook, and yeah, we've got links to everything there.

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So yeah, that's the main spot.

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Merch is mostly at shows right now. We brought some

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T shirts with us. We're gonna go over in about

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an hour and see see how well those have gone down.

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But yeah, you know, reach out to us on on

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Instagram and if you know you're a band looking to

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you know, come hang out with us in our area,

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or you want us to come hang out in your area,

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then reach out and let us know and we'll definitely

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be sending you all of our music.

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And you're gonna not want to have said that.

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I will love that I said that, and I love

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that you're here at Bloodstock. And thanks for being on

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the Adventures of pipe Man.

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Thank you, Thank you very much, ma'am.

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Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipemin. I'm

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W four CUI Radio.

Chug at Bloodstock: Grooves, Community, and Merch Adventures on The Adventures of Pipeman

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