Click Here to Watch/Listen to The Adventures of Pipeman Live Every Wednesday 1PM ET at W4CY Radio
Sept. 7, 2026

Groove, Grit, and Growth: Nikolai Reflects on Band Life and Rocklahoma Revelations

Groove, Grit, and Growth: Nikolai Reflects on Band Life and Rocklahoma Revelations
iHeartRadio Amazon Music Audible Spotify Pandora Apple Podcasts Spreaker Overcast Castro PocketCasts Podchaser Deezer Podcast Addict RSS Feed
iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio Amazon Music podcast player icon Amazon Music Amazon Music Audible podcast player icon Audible Audible Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify Pandora podcast player icon Pandora Pandora Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Spreaker podcast player icon Spreaker Spreaker Overcast podcast player icon Overcast Overcast Castro podcast player icon Castro Castro PocketCasts podcast player icon PocketCasts PocketCasts Podchaser podcast player icon Podchaser Podchaser Deezer podcast player icon Deezer Deezer Podcast Addict podcast player icon Podcast Addict Podcast Addict RSS Feed podcast player icon RSS Feed RSS Feed

In this lively episode of the Adventures of Pipeman on W4CY Radio, Pipeman sits down at Rocklahoma with members of Nikoli—Corey, Billy, and Corey K. The band discusses their journey, the meaning behind their unique name, Rocklahoma experiences, musical inspiration, the importance of community in music, and how music can bring people together. The conversation is packed with stories, humor, and insights into band dynamics and the evolving music industry.

Main Topics Covered

  • Rocklahoma Experience & Festival Culture
    • First time at Rocklahoma, bucket list fulfilled (Corey at 01:03)
    • Community and camping stories from the festival grounds (Billy, Corey at 05:07)
  • Band Origin & Name Meaning
    • Formation story involving tours, residencies, and a Breaking Bad-inspired name (Corey K at 02:19)
    • Symbolism behind "Nikoli" combining nickel, potassium, oxygen, and lithium for creativity, balance, life, and power (Corey at 03:39)
  • Merchandising & Branding
    • The “committee” approach to Nikoli’s merch designs (Corey at 00:50)
    • Website and album details (Corey K at 33:48)
  • Band as Community: Helping Others & Non-Competition
    • Discussing the supportive nature of musicians and anti-gatekeeping attitude (Corey, Billy, Pipeman at 10:56)
  • Personal Music Journeys
    • Each member shares their "lightbulb moment" for getting into music (Corey K at 14:23, Billy at 17:41, Corey at 18:37)
  • Album as Experience: Music Industry Changes
    • Releasing singles vs. albums and how the band creates immersive experiences (Corey, Corey K at 23:39)
    • Discussing the loss of album sequencing and vinyl's comeback
  • Notable Stories
    • Crazy campground stories, prosthetic leg beer shotguns (Corey at 08:01)
    • An encounter and drinking session with Dave Grohl at the Rainbow (Corey at 21:10)
    • Family reunion mishaps—Billy’s West Virginia story (Billy at 32:38)
  • Global Perspective & Music’s Power to Unite
    • Travel stories dispelling myths about people and places (Pipe Man and Corey at 29:03)
    • Vision of a world music festival for peace (Pipe Man at 27:51)
Key Discussions & Stories
  • The process of developing Nikoli's merch and the importance of having every band member approve designs (Corey at 00:50)
  • Billy on being asked to drum for another band at a moment’s notice during the festival (01:35)
  • The band’s unique approach to naming and identity, combining elements from the periodic table to inspire both their sound and message (Corey K, Corey at 03:09)
  • Crazy adventures at Rocklahoma’s campgrounds, including eccentric neighbors and colorful campsites (Corey, Pipe Man at 06:05)
  • The importance of removing competition from music and embracing a supportive community (Corey, Billy, Pipeman at 10:05)
  • Reflections on the shift from albums to singles in the industry, and the enduring value of the full album experience (Corey, Pipeman, Corey K at 23:39)
  • The value of open-mindedness and travel, challenging preconceptions about different regions and cultures (Pipeman at 29:05)
  • Sharing personal motivations for starting music—school influences, family challenges, COVID pushing musicianship to new levels (Corey K, Billy, Corey at 14:23 and 18:37)
  • A trivia challenge about famous bassists switching from guitar; the answer: Paul McCartney (Pipeman, Billy at 16:19)
Notable Quotes
  • "Persist until you succeed." — Pipeman 01:25
  • “Nickel is an alloy, so it's used to create. We create music. Potassium brings balance. Oxygen sustains life. Lithium is a power source. So we create music that brings balance to sustain life—and it’s gotta be powerful.” — Corey 03:39
  • “It's way cooler if everyone in the elevator gets a beer.” — Billy 10:30
  • “Music is never competition because there is always room at the top.” — Corey 09:56
  • “When you start seeing the positives instead of the negatives, things really turn around.” — Corey 13:40
  • “The website is like writing a new song. It's never truly complete; it's just when you decide to pull the plug and release it.” — Corey 35:00
  • "If every city did Rocklahoma, you’d meet the nicest people...wrap your head around it, because some of the nicest people I’ve ever met have been at this campground." — Corey K 28:19
Resources & Links Mentioned
  • Nikoli Official Website:
    www.nikoliband.com (Corey K at 33:48)
  • New Album "The Outcome" – Out now and available via the official website
  • Merchandise – Designed and presented by Corey; available on the website
Connect & Follow
  • Listen/back episodes on W4CY Radio
  • Follow Nikoli for updates, singles released monthly, and live show info
Highlights From the Episode
  • Hear the full story behind Nikoli's band name and their creative philosophy (03:09)
  • Festival camping antics and surprising neighbor stories (06:05)
  • Band members’ unique paths to music and inspirations
  • Reflections on the changing landscape of music distribution, and why Nikoli is committed to the full album experience
  • A candid, funny, and insightful conversation about how music—and music festivals—bring people from all walks of life together
Tune in for more adventures and real-talk with bands on the Adventures of Pipeman!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-adventures-of-pipeman--941822/support.

Click Here to Subscribe for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!

Follow @pipemanradio on all socials & Pipeman Radio Requests & Info at www.linktr.ee/pipemanradio

Stream The Adventures of Pipeman daily & live Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio & Talk 4 TV.

Download, Rate & Review the Podcast at The Adventures of Pipeman, Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, YouTube & All Podcast Apps.
WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:13.589
Hey, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio.

2
00:00:19.149 --> 00:00:21.390
This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe

3
00:00:21.410 --> 00:00:23.710
Man W4CY Radio, and I'm here with.

4
00:00:24.370 --> 00:00:25.910
This is Billy from Nikolai.

5
00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:27.949
I'm Cory from Nikolai.

6
00:00:28.649 --> 00:00:30.030
I'm Cory K from Nikolai.

7
00:00:30.850 --> 00:00:33.750
Nice. And you're the odd man out because they're both

8
00:00:33.810 --> 00:00:36.350
wearing Nikolai merch and you're not.

9
00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:39.070
I didn't get the memo today. Yeah, you're right.

10
00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:42.340
That's terrible because people have to buy your merch or

11
00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:45.939
they can't listen to my show. And I'll tell you,

12
00:00:45.979 --> 00:00:49.659
your merch is pretty badass. Thank you very much.

13
00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:54.399
We work hard at it and we present designs and

14
00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:56.320
everybody shoots it down, so it's got to kind of

15
00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:58.159
pass the committee where everybody's got to like it.

16
00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:03.250
There you go. So... What brings you to Rock, Lahoma?

17
00:01:04.750 --> 00:01:06.870
Well, we got invited, and it's our first time to

18
00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:08.549
be here, and it was kind of a bucket list

19
00:01:08.590 --> 00:01:11.299
thing for us to get to come and start and

20
00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:14.920
play one of the campground stages, and so now we've

21
00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:16.439
got a new bucket list, and that's to get on

22
00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:17.280
one of the big stages.

23
00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:22.400
Nice. That'll be next year, right? Absolutely. I've been emailing

24
00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:25.420
them every year for about the last five years. Really? Yeah.

25
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:31.189
Persist until you succeed. Absolutely. And you're doing double duty,

26
00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:34.849
because I saw you last night drumming for Bad Allison.

27
00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:35.689
Yeah, yeah.

28
00:01:35.730 --> 00:01:37.090
They asked me to sit in.

29
00:01:37.090 --> 00:01:39.840
I guess their drummer couldn't make it, so I tried

30
00:01:39.859 --> 00:01:42.799
to hammer down listening to those songs as much as

31
00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:45.620
I could. Their other drummer's great, so I just tried

32
00:01:46.299 --> 00:01:49.430
to do what he does and, you know, just to

33
00:01:50.370 --> 00:01:51.510
Just try to fill the role.

34
00:01:51.590 --> 00:01:52.769
So I hope it was all right.

35
00:01:52.890 --> 00:01:55.430
You did a bad ass job actually. And like one

36
00:01:55.469 --> 00:02:01.250
day's notice, right? One afternoon. Exactly. Like that's pretty bad ass.

37
00:02:01.290 --> 00:02:03.299
I got to say. Thank you. You got to be

38
00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.439
good to do that. We got him drunk. He passed out.

39
00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:08.560
We put headphones in his ears and put it on loop.

40
00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.379
There it is. That's what works. That's subliminal suggestion there.

41
00:02:15.219 --> 00:02:18.530
So how'd this all come about? How did you guys

42
00:02:18.590 --> 00:02:19.969
get together and start this thing?

43
00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.900
I was in another band with Corey Brown, the guitar player.

44
00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:31.250
We were doing a tour, and that's... We played about

45
00:02:31.250 --> 00:02:35.330
84 shows on that tour? Yeah, about 84 shows. Yeah,

46
00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:37.150
it was quite a bit. We had a residency at

47
00:02:37.229 --> 00:02:38.909
Six Flags in Arlington, Texas.

48
00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:40.090
Nice.

49
00:02:40.270 --> 00:02:41.169
It was pretty big for us.

50
00:02:41.979 --> 00:02:43.080
That's a fun residency, by the way.

51
00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:47.800
This was another band, and we got... that band fell

52
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.599
apart and we were driving back from Texas and we

53
00:02:51.620 --> 00:02:54.659
were in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And we go to a

54
00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.189
restaurant cause we were like, let's just start our own band.

55
00:02:57.210 --> 00:03:02.370
Let's start our own thing. And he was like, he's like, yeah,

56
00:03:02.389 --> 00:03:04.050
he goes, you know, I'll take over the singing duties.

57
00:03:04.069 --> 00:03:05.729
You know, I'll play bass. We had a drummer at

58
00:03:05.750 --> 00:03:07.469
the time. So we just do like a three piece

59
00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:11.500
type thing. And yeah, so I had this idea about,

60
00:03:11.810 --> 00:03:14.689
because one of my favorite shows is Breaking Bad. So

61
00:03:14.710 --> 00:03:16.930
I had this idea about the elements. You know how

62
00:03:16.949 --> 00:03:19.129
they used to do the credits with the little elements?

63
00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:19.860
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

64
00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.240
We should do something like that or something close to

65
00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:26.560
that or something. So that's what Nikolai is. So we

66
00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:28.099
took all the elements together. Now that's cool.

67
00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:29.460
Yeah, it's the big stages for life, right?

68
00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:29.659
Yeah.

69
00:03:30.139 --> 00:03:42.099
Yeah. So the theory behind it is that nickel is

70
00:03:42.139 --> 00:03:44.550
an alloy, so it's used to create. So we create music.

71
00:03:45.219 --> 00:03:51.599
Potassium brings balance. That brings balance. Oxygen sustains life. So

72
00:03:52.099 --> 00:03:55.680
we create music that brings balance to sustain life. And

73
00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:57.490
lithium is a power source. And so we got to

74
00:03:57.530 --> 00:03:59.909
write powerful music. So that was kind of how we

75
00:03:59.949 --> 00:04:03.110
came up with the name Nikolai. And everybody thinks it's...

76
00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:05.990
We watched The Last Kingdom on tour that time.

77
00:04:06.030 --> 00:04:07.389
The whole... Every season.

78
00:04:07.770 --> 00:04:10.310
So everybody thinks it's kind of like this medieval name.

79
00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:13.020
Nikolai, you know, but... I was thinking Russian.

80
00:04:14.139 --> 00:04:17.569
A lot of people think that, but it's a bunch

81
00:04:17.589 --> 00:04:17.889
of symbols.

82
00:04:18.290 --> 00:04:21.709
It's brilliant, though. It's brilliant, though. It's the elements.

83
00:04:21.850 --> 00:04:23.750
Rock and roll is a lot of elements that have

84
00:04:23.769 --> 00:04:24.949
to come together to make it work.

85
00:04:26.110 --> 00:04:32.029
Absolutely. You could do a cool contest where people could

86
00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:34.769
figure out where your band name comes from. I'm sure

87
00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:38.149
you'd get a lot of funny shit. Yeah, that would

88
00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:41.279
be awesome. I don't think anybody would guess it, really.

89
00:04:41.750 --> 00:04:44.689
That's what's brilliant. Like, I normally don't ask about band names,

90
00:04:45.250 --> 00:04:47.310
but the fact that you told me what it was,

91
00:04:47.370 --> 00:04:50.050
I'm like, I would have never figured that out in

92
00:04:50.069 --> 00:04:50.670
a million years.

93
00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:52.170
I'm just finding this out now.

94
00:04:54.649 --> 00:04:56.410
They didn't fill you in. You're not going to quit,

95
00:04:56.470 --> 00:04:56.689
are you?

96
00:04:57.529 --> 00:04:58.269
No, not today.

97
00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:03.420
So, why was Rock, La Jolla a bucket list for you?

98
00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:05.879
Why was it what?

99
00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:07.579
A bucket list for you guys.

100
00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.019
Oh, this is awesome. I mean, this is like.

101
00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:14.220
I've done the festival thing with the campground stage.

102
00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:16.180
Had a blast.

103
00:05:16.220 --> 00:05:20.120
But this is just another level of community. Everyone's walking

104
00:05:20.170 --> 00:05:23.970
around with a backpack, just giving out trinkets. You just

105
00:05:23.990 --> 00:05:25.829
kind of walk up to anybody and say hi.

106
00:05:25.990 --> 00:05:27.089
This is just like.

107
00:05:27.939 --> 00:05:30.360
I think it's the closest to Woodstock that I've ever came.

108
00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:33.000
It is a killer festival. It's awesome.

109
00:05:33.019 --> 00:05:33.720
Yeah, this is cool.

110
00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.839
I've met so many cool people at this festival over

111
00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:39.800
the years, and I camp here, and I normally don't

112
00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.860
camp at the festivals in the U.S., but it's the

113
00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:47.310
most killer fucking campground ever out there. I agree. It's

114
00:05:47.329 --> 00:05:48.089
so much fun.

115
00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:48.730
I agree.

116
00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:52.069
It's unbelievable. It blows my mind what goes on out

117
00:05:52.110 --> 00:06:03.879
there in that campground. You hear that, Earl? You hear that? Deliverance,

118
00:06:03.939 --> 00:06:04.959
that's a different state.

119
00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:08.639
Our neighbor, we got up to pee this morning at

120
00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.579
about 6.30, and he's already in the pool in his

121
00:06:11.660 --> 00:06:12.939
underwear with a beer saying.

122
00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:16.579
Hey, neighbor, I didn't wake you up, did I? What

123
00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:18.050
part of yelling.

124
00:06:17.689 --> 00:06:20.209
To your wife and the dogs barking thought it was

125
00:06:20.230 --> 00:06:21.629
going to wake me up in a tent?

126
00:06:23.610 --> 00:06:24.649
That's funny as shit.

127
00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:26.120
By the way, can I borrow a cup of sugar?

128
00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:32.579
Yeah. Have you been to the Buses, Boobs, and Buttholes campsite?

129
00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:33.910
I don't think we've been to that one.

130
00:06:33.980 --> 00:06:35.980
Where exactly do I find that place?

131
00:06:36.220 --> 00:06:39.860
Okay. So there's a school bus out there. Oh, that's... Okay, yeah,

132
00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:41.740
we heard about that. That they built a deck on

133
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:42.540
top of it.

134
00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:43.459
Stripper poles, right?

135
00:06:43.980 --> 00:06:46.500
No, that's a different one. That's a big old red bus.

136
00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:47.079
Okay, okay.

137
00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:47.439
So.

138
00:06:48.930 --> 00:06:51.529
Yeah, so if you walk out the venue, the one

139
00:06:51.550 --> 00:06:53.290
you're talking about is right there.

140
00:06:53.350 --> 00:06:53.649
Okay.

141
00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:56.600
Okay, and they have strip shows going on, but people

142
00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:00.199
from the audience, it's mostly the dudes that get up

143
00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:03.000
and get on the stripper poles, which is what's funny.

144
00:07:03.939 --> 00:07:08.500
But if you go walk a little further down in

145
00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:12.370
kind of the middle, you'll see there's a flag going up,

146
00:07:12.430 --> 00:07:16.089
but there's this yellow school bus, and they built a

147
00:07:16.269 --> 00:07:20.120
deck on top of it. And people go up and

148
00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.839
down that thing all night. That might be our neighbor.

149
00:07:24.980 --> 00:07:27.120
And I tell you what, nothing ruins a party like

150
00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:28.420
a dude on a strip bar.

151
00:07:28.980 --> 00:07:36.420
I know, right? But the buses, boobs, and buttholes, they'll

152
00:07:36.459 --> 00:07:41.139
give you jello shots. They'll give you pretty much anything.

153
00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:42.439
Even chlamydia.

154
00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:44.639
He's loving the jello shots.

155
00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:47.699
Yeah, they have a bunch of jello shots.

156
00:07:48.930 --> 00:07:50.019
I found that out the other night.

157
00:07:51.850 --> 00:07:54.250
There may or may not have been some other substances

158
00:07:54.310 --> 00:07:57.310
in the Jell-O shots that we were given, but we

159
00:07:57.350 --> 00:07:59.689
had the end.

160
00:08:00.029 --> 00:08:03.910
Billy and I also did a shot out of a

161
00:08:03.949 --> 00:08:06.970
prosthetic leg or a shotgun to beer out of a

162
00:08:07.009 --> 00:08:08.290
prosthetic leg night one.

163
00:08:09.170 --> 00:08:10.829
Okay. They said it was a $ 20, 000 beer shotgun machine.

164
00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:10.920
Wow.

165
00:08:15.170 --> 00:08:15.579
Good stuff.

166
00:08:15.730 --> 00:08:18.870
I didn't see the prosthetic leg beer shots, so that's

167
00:08:18.910 --> 00:08:19.370
pretty good.

168
00:08:19.949 --> 00:08:20.449
We had fun.

169
00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:22.370
There's a lot of cool shit out there.

170
00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:25.310
Yeah, we're having a blast, man. I mean, it's fun.

171
00:08:25.949 --> 00:08:26.310
It's cool.

172
00:08:26.569 --> 00:08:26.930
It is.

173
00:08:27.029 --> 00:08:31.949
Like, this festival is like a community. And to the

174
00:08:32.009 --> 00:08:37.240
point of that, like, there's corporate companies that do other

175
00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.840
festivals I do that try to take Rock La Home over. What?

176
00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:46.299
Oklahoma people didn't have nothing for that, man. It happened

177
00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:49.779
one year, and then all these local people, they're like,

178
00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:55.830
bring it back to us. So that's what's cool about Rock, Oklahoma.

179
00:08:56.149 --> 00:08:57.750
I think the one thing, too, is just.

180
00:08:58.929 --> 00:09:01.639
You're playing in front of a bunch of people and

181
00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:03.980
just getting to walk around the campsites. I can't tell

182
00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.519
you how many people have walked to us just to

183
00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:10.000
give encouragement and were happy.

184
00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:10.759
To have caught the show.

185
00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:15.190
We brought like 50 CDs and we got done with

186
00:09:15.210 --> 00:09:18.190
the show. We had so many people running up to

187
00:09:18.230 --> 00:09:21.320
us wanting CDs. And even the next night... And so

188
00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:24.340
I think that's really cool because it shows that people

189
00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:28.639
really listen and they care about trying to take on

190
00:09:28.659 --> 00:09:31.639
your music and listen to it and want to become

191
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.600
a fan. And that's, I mean, at the end of

192
00:09:33.620 --> 00:09:35.019
the day, we're here to have fun, but we're here

193
00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:37.320
to also share our art.

194
00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.529
That's really important. I'm going to interrupt your podcast. I

195
00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:43.450
don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Fuck Sean Nation.

196
00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:45.230
I get it. Oh my God, we're on track.

197
00:09:45.570 --> 00:09:47.250
Fuck this guy. What are you doing over here, Sean?

198
00:09:47.389 --> 00:09:53.899
Fuck Sean Nation. And look, he's wearing a competitor's shirt.

199
00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:56.370
You've got to come interrupt the interview.

200
00:09:56.389 --> 00:09:58.090
I've got to say this, though. This is one thing,

201
00:09:58.850 --> 00:10:02.620
in my opinion. music is never competition. Because there is

202
00:10:02.899 --> 00:10:06.919
always room at the top. And I hate when bands

203
00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:08.759
are competitors to other bands.

204
00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.870
It makes no sense to me. So, we were talking

205
00:10:12.909 --> 00:10:17.570
before about you with that. And how you are so

206
00:10:17.870 --> 00:10:23.779
into helping other bands and Like, nothing's a secret. If

207
00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.879
you've done something and it's working, you'll tell it. That's

208
00:10:26.899 --> 00:10:30.279
the way this community should be.

209
00:10:30.419 --> 00:10:33.039
It's way cooler if everyone in the elevator gets a beer.

210
00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:33.720
Yeah.

211
00:10:33.820 --> 00:10:36.019
You know, not one guy gets six beers.

212
00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:39.700
Exactly. You are that one guy. No, I'm just kidding.

213
00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:41.659
You're having a good time.

214
00:10:42.470 --> 00:10:45.460
It reminds me of, I was in Denmark having a

215
00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:50.559
conversation with some chick, and she's like, You know, Americans

216
00:10:50.659 --> 00:10:54.710
think that our system doesn't work because we pay such

217
00:10:54.750 --> 00:10:58.509
high taxes. My viewpoint is I don't give a shit

218
00:10:58.549 --> 00:11:01.769
if I pay the high taxes because I want to

219
00:11:01.850 --> 00:11:04.850
share with my countrymen. And why should my neighbor have

220
00:11:04.909 --> 00:11:07.789
two cars or I have two cars and my neighbor

221
00:11:07.830 --> 00:11:12.210
have none? I'm like, what a refreshing attitude, you know?

222
00:11:12.230 --> 00:11:16.009
I still think, though, that doesn't mean that we need

223
00:11:16.029 --> 00:11:18.340
to hold them accountable to spend it wisely.

224
00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:19.879
That's true.

225
00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:23.159
And we should love everybody and not hate everybody for

226
00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:27.230
their differences. Because deep down, I generally think that 90% Now,

227
00:11:27.629 --> 00:11:30.269
I'm not saying there's not the sum. I generally think

228
00:11:30.309 --> 00:11:32.529
that 90% want the same outcome.

229
00:11:32.830 --> 00:11:35.370
Yeah. We get tied up in how to get there.

230
00:11:35.789 --> 00:11:39.110
We get also tied up in people trying to divide

231
00:11:39.289 --> 00:11:45.330
us and put labels on us. And really, we should

232
00:11:45.389 --> 00:11:49.169
just be supporting each other. and helping each other and

233
00:11:49.210 --> 00:11:54.159
putting the hand up, you know, to everybody. And the

234
00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:56.440
difference is, I love what you said about that because

235
00:11:56.500 --> 00:12:00.179
I think we learn more from people different from us

236
00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:02.700
and people the same. Like you're talking to people that

237
00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:04.919
are the same, you already probably know most of what

238
00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:08.409
they're saying. But learn from somebody different and maybe you'll

239
00:12:08.450 --> 00:12:13.730
kind of have a more, I say balanced viewpoint, you know?

240
00:12:13.929 --> 00:12:16.289
And I think that's the way it should be. Listen,

241
00:12:16.490 --> 00:12:20.750
you know, it's funny. I travel the world and humans

242
00:12:20.809 --> 00:12:23.789
are just humans no matter where you go. It doesn't matter.

243
00:12:24.970 --> 00:12:28.649
And a lot of things I've seen in other countries,

244
00:12:29.750 --> 00:12:32.750
I was like, what the hell were they telling me

245
00:12:32.809 --> 00:12:35.009
all my life? Because a lot of times, like the

246
00:12:35.070 --> 00:12:38.450
powers that be, they'll tell you stuff. Oh, it's scary

247
00:12:38.529 --> 00:12:41.350
out there. And blah, blah, blah. I just find it's

248
00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:44.649
the same most places and people are just, there's one race,

249
00:12:44.690 --> 00:12:48.169
the human race. And just all love each other. And again,

250
00:12:48.230 --> 00:12:52.909
with the music, the gatekeeping that's always been in music

251
00:12:53.049 --> 00:12:57.250
is ridiculous. I remember being a teenager, long hair, and

252
00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:00.460
I couldn't go to punk shows because I had long hair. Like,

253
00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.559
that's stupid. So I'm glad that we have bands like

254
00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:04.960
you that think the same way.

255
00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:07.440
We actually have a brand new single that just came

256
00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:10.659
out for Rock, Oklahoma called The Gatekeeper. Yep. And it's

257
00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:14.179
really about balancing the things that you allow in your

258
00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:19.289
life to hurt you, to wound you. And that's kind

259
00:13:19.309 --> 00:13:21.879
of the whole concept of our album that calls the

260
00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:25.679
outcome is the album title. And the whole album is

261
00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:29.519
written based from a perspective of that we own our destinies.

262
00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:31.500
And then a lot of times that we have to

263
00:13:31.539 --> 00:13:35.240
make sometimes tough decisions with things that have hurt us,

264
00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:38.149
things that are bringing us down. But we all have

265
00:13:38.169 --> 00:13:41.610
the power to change that outcome and to see the

266
00:13:41.649 --> 00:13:42.549
positive in things.

267
00:13:43.049 --> 00:13:45.370
And when you start seeing the positives instead of the negatives,

268
00:13:45.409 --> 00:13:48.110
things really turn around. I agree because I'm also a

269
00:13:48.149 --> 00:13:52.250
motivational speaker, so I'm big into the positive side. People

270
00:13:52.289 --> 00:13:55.549
spend too much time worrying about shit that may or

271
00:13:55.570 --> 00:13:58.009
may not ever happen or doesn't affect their life in

272
00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:02.070
any way, shape, or form. I don't care what anybody

273
00:14:02.129 --> 00:14:05.370
else does. If they're not trying to hurt people and

274
00:14:05.409 --> 00:14:07.990
they're being a better person, it doesn't affect my life.

275
00:14:08.049 --> 00:14:11.529
Why do I care what they do with theirs? Very true.

276
00:14:12.470 --> 00:14:15.870
So what got you guys started in music to begin with?

277
00:14:15.990 --> 00:14:18.990
Like you all have different stories. What was that one

278
00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:21.240
moment that you were like, you knew this is where

279
00:14:21.269 --> 00:14:21.960
you had to be?

280
00:14:23.259 --> 00:14:24.559
So I got a good story. So when I was

281
00:14:24.580 --> 00:14:28.779
in high school, I'd say about my junior year, we

282
00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:31.779
had this guy that used to set up his little

283
00:14:31.820 --> 00:14:35.559
lamp in the gymnasium. When everybody told him and the

284
00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:37.120
teachers all told him not to do it, he used

285
00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:40.009
to just play in the gymnasium and just was a

286
00:14:40.070 --> 00:14:43.710
killer guitar player. So everybody used to go watch him,

287
00:14:43.730 --> 00:14:45.389
and I used to be like, I'm like, I got

288
00:14:45.409 --> 00:14:47.110
to learn how to do that. This is like the

289
00:14:47.149 --> 00:14:49.629
coolest stuff ever. I got to learn how to do that. So,

290
00:14:50.269 --> 00:14:52.710
I mean, I started playing guitar, but I switched over

291
00:14:52.730 --> 00:14:56.019
to bass. But that's what got me started. That was

292
00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:57.360
like a moment for me. It was like a light

293
00:14:57.379 --> 00:14:58.980
bulb moment, being like, oh, my God, I got to

294
00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:00.220
do this. It's like so cool.

295
00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:01.200
Nice.

296
00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:03.740
Now, before we go on to the next one, I

297
00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.159
have a trivia question for you now based on what

298
00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:06.620
you said.

299
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:06.799
Okay.

300
00:15:06.830 --> 00:15:06.970
Okay.

301
00:15:08.850 --> 00:15:11.830
And Bad Allison didn't get this answer, so don't feel

302
00:15:11.870 --> 00:15:16.830
bad if you don't. Who is the most famous bassist

303
00:15:16.929 --> 00:15:19.990
out there that was originally a guitarist, but the band

304
00:15:20.070 --> 00:15:24.000
already had two guitars, so they drew the short straw

305
00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:25.000
to become the bassist?

306
00:15:26.820 --> 00:15:28.200
There's a lot of bands like that in there.

307
00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:33.220
Who's like one of the most famous bassists like that?

308
00:15:34.110 --> 00:15:39.129
Famous bass players? Wow, I've got to think, that's... That's

309
00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:40.700
a question you really got to think about.

310
00:15:41.029 --> 00:15:41.899
Right. Right.

311
00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:42.940
So they're a famous band.

312
00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:43.980
Yep.

313
00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:47.639
And he got switched to the bass.

314
00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:50.720
Do they know? Do they have any clue?

315
00:15:50.820 --> 00:15:52.259
No, no, it wouldn't be Geddy Lee.

316
00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:53.000
Nope.

317
00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.360
No, no, no. I'm going to go Lemmy Hill.

318
00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:57.480
Nope.

319
00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:00.679
My only other one that I would say, because based

320
00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:04.539
on his playing, would be Sheehan. I would say Sheehan,

321
00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:09.480
Billy Sheehan. Okay, so think further back. Virgil Mack?

322
00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:14.110
Further back.

323
00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:16.190
The guy from Thin Lizzy, right?

324
00:16:16.250 --> 00:16:16.470
No?

325
00:16:16.610 --> 00:16:17.529
Further back.

326
00:16:17.549 --> 00:16:17.889
Oh, wow.

327
00:16:17.970 --> 00:16:18.519
I thought I had it.

328
00:16:19.590 --> 00:16:20.210
Paul McCartney.

329
00:16:20.830 --> 00:16:24.990
Bingo. So now if you listen. Nelly Kessler for the

330
00:16:25.029 --> 00:16:25.789
bingo card.

331
00:16:25.809 --> 00:16:26.570
What did I win?

332
00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:27.250
A new Ferrari?

333
00:16:28.350 --> 00:16:30.370
You won to have more interviews.

334
00:16:31.269 --> 00:16:31.690
Nice.

335
00:16:32.409 --> 00:16:35.620
No, but you know what? Now, if you listen, because

336
00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:37.620
I was a big Beatles fan. I never knew that.

337
00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:39.659
And now that I listen to him, I'm like, oh,

338
00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:42.519
my God, he is playing it like a guitar. He's busy, yeah.

339
00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:44.899
Here's probably something that you didn't know. Gene Simmons, the

340
00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:46.860
same thing. He started on guitar, switched to bass.

341
00:16:47.179 --> 00:16:48.179
See, I didn't know that.

342
00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:52.559
Like Paul Stanley, they switched. Really? Gene Simmons, phenomenal bass player.

343
00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:54.419
I think Nikki Sixx, too.

344
00:16:54.610 --> 00:16:56.139
Yeah, Nikki Sixx, I think, was a guitar player.

345
00:16:57.049 --> 00:16:57.590
Look at that.

346
00:16:58.230 --> 00:17:00.029
My other guess, you said somebody really famous. I was

347
00:17:00.049 --> 00:17:03.470
going to guess like Timothy B. Schmidt from the Eagles.

348
00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:04.210
Okay.

349
00:17:04.500 --> 00:17:06.519
I'm not sure. I could be wrong on that, but

350
00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:09.619
I know they were going through a big guitar player thing.

351
00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:13.279
In fairness, though, he said one of the best guitar players,

352
00:17:13.319 --> 00:17:16.359
so Nicky and Gene may like me out on that one.

353
00:17:18.910 --> 00:17:19.809
We're talking people that switch.

354
00:17:19.970 --> 00:17:20.509
Sorry, Nicky.

355
00:17:21.410 --> 00:17:23.390
So I got my start in playing music.

356
00:17:31.910 --> 00:17:37.920
He started a recorder and switched to the flute. Now

357
00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:39.380
he plays clarinet on the side.

358
00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:45.039
No, I played sports growing up, and I don't know,

359
00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:49.140
it's something just watching a drummer drum. you know, just

360
00:17:49.180 --> 00:17:52.200
kind of something afterwards, I could see it in my head,

361
00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:56.380
I could visualize it, and I think there's, you can

362
00:17:56.420 --> 00:17:59.619
approach drums the same way you approach sports, and that's

363
00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:01.470
what got me started, that's what drew me in, I

364
00:18:01.509 --> 00:18:01.809
loved it.

365
00:18:02.390 --> 00:18:04.509
You know, what's funny about that is I played drums

366
00:18:04.549 --> 00:18:07.869
for nine years as a kid, and I played sports,

367
00:18:09.089 --> 00:18:11.049
but I have to, I ain't a drummer, I have

368
00:18:11.069 --> 00:18:14.180
to get hats off to them, like, That shit's like

369
00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:17.660
rubbing your belly and rubbing your head at the same time.

370
00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:21.819
And you do have to be a serious athlete to

371
00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:25.140
play drums, especially in this weather. Look, see, there he goes.

372
00:18:25.609 --> 00:18:27.970
He's pretty good at that. I probably wouldn't be doing that.

373
00:18:28.109 --> 00:18:31.569
I'm dumb as hell, but I'm pretty good at carrying

374
00:18:31.609 --> 00:18:33.910
heavy shit. It's a big part of playing drums.

375
00:18:35.910 --> 00:18:36.789
How about your story?

376
00:18:37.619 --> 00:18:40.119
Well, I actually started in the drums and I played

377
00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:44.119
all through high school. I got to college and played

378
00:18:44.140 --> 00:18:47.099
drums in bands through college. And at the end of college,

379
00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.480
I just got married and I got asked to go

380
00:18:49.509 --> 00:18:53.230
on a world tour starting in Japan. And I remember

381
00:18:53.329 --> 00:18:56.670
I was so excited because, you know, the bands weren't huge,

382
00:18:56.930 --> 00:18:59.400
but they were going to Japan to play. you know,

383
00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:01.359
do like 20 shows and then we're going to stop

384
00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:02.609
in Europe for like 10 shows.

385
00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:03.670
And so it was going to be.

386
00:19:03.630 --> 00:19:06.750
Called a world tour. I was so excited. I remember

387
00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:09.630
walking through the door. I'll never forget this. And I go,

388
00:19:09.650 --> 00:19:11.509
oh my gosh, I got asked to play drums on

389
00:19:11.569 --> 00:19:12.329
a world tour.

390
00:19:13.089 --> 00:19:14.269
And I remember my.

391
00:19:14.190 --> 00:19:15.950
Wife at the time looked at me and she goes,

392
00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:20.240
I married a businessman, not a musician. And it was

393
00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:22.920
kind of, you know tongue-in-cheek but it was also really

394
00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:27.579
serious like this will never be tolerated and that i

395
00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:29.839
i sold all my drums i never played drums again

396
00:19:30.140 --> 00:19:32.900
and i noodled on guitar but i got divorced in.

397
00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:35.400
2008 i was gonna ask you when you got divorced

398
00:19:35.549 --> 00:19:38.049
yeah i wasn't even gonna ask if.

399
00:19:37.710 --> 00:19:39.789
16 years later i got divorced and i said you

400
00:19:39.809 --> 00:19:42.789
know what i bought a full stack i went into

401
00:19:42.809 --> 00:19:45.289
guitar center to buy a full marshall stack and somehow

402
00:19:45.309 --> 00:19:48.109
i walked out of there with a vox stack but

403
00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:51.829
i could play like three chord on a guitar and

404
00:19:51.869 --> 00:19:54.630
in 2011 I just decided hey I'm gonna get serious

405
00:19:54.650 --> 00:19:57.880
with this and 2013 I released my first single then

406
00:19:57.890 --> 00:20:00.599
I released a couple albums and then when I moved

407
00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:02.299
to Vegas I met these guys and.

408
00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:05.059
It's kind of Now he can play six chords. I

409
00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:08.819
can play six chords and one note. And one note.

410
00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:11.700
And, you know, I know where the D is on

411
00:20:11.740 --> 00:20:15.630
the guitar. Wow, that could have gone really wrong on

412
00:20:15.650 --> 00:20:19.130
that answer. But anyways, and I've never looked back. And

413
00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:21.450
I think, to be honest, I think COVID was the

414
00:20:21.490 --> 00:20:25.490
big break for me because I had improved over the years. But,

415
00:20:25.529 --> 00:20:28.430
you know, when you play for five years, inevitably there's

416
00:20:28.450 --> 00:20:30.680
going to be two or three years where where you're

417
00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:33.039
not progressing unless you're really putting.

418
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:34.839
In the work. And COVID made me put in the

419
00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:37.099
work to take the next level.

420
00:20:37.180 --> 00:20:39.259
And, you know, I started late in my 40s, so

421
00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:41.440
I feel like I've got a lifetime to go.

422
00:20:41.460 --> 00:20:45.500
That's very cool. So you like guitar much better than

423
00:20:45.539 --> 00:20:48.569
drums now? I don't know that I, like.

424
00:20:48.460 --> 00:20:50.650
Billy said, I don't like, that's why I said I'm

425
00:20:50.670 --> 00:20:52.490
going to play guitar, because I didn't want to carry

426
00:20:52.509 --> 00:20:55.670
all the equipment to every gig. And now I still

427
00:20:55.690 --> 00:20:57.630
do it because I got the trailer and I do the,

428
00:20:58.349 --> 00:21:00.410
All the heavy gear, the PA and all the amps

429
00:21:00.490 --> 00:21:02.109
and stuff. But so at the end of the day,

430
00:21:02.150 --> 00:21:04.029
when you're in a band, you're going to have to

431
00:21:04.089 --> 00:21:07.099
do your part and contribute to hauling everything. And you're

432
00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:10.079
almost Dave Grohl. Because, you know, you went from drums

433
00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:12.319
to guitar. I'll tell a cool story about Dave Grohl.

434
00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:15.559
We were playing the whiskey once. And the night before,

435
00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:19.339
we went to the Rainbow. And Dave Grohl's sitting right

436
00:21:19.380 --> 00:21:22.829
across from us. And our drummer at the time was like, oh,

437
00:21:22.849 --> 00:21:24.650
my God, that's my Elvis Presley.

438
00:21:24.670 --> 00:21:26.750
And I was like, that's Dave Grohl.

439
00:21:27.609 --> 00:21:29.769
So we sent him around to drinks and he looks

440
00:21:29.849 --> 00:21:33.130
back at us at the table and he says, shook

441
00:21:33.150 --> 00:21:35.599
his finger at us, said, I buy the drinks here.

442
00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:37.339
And he invited us over and we ended up shooting

443
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:40.079
the shit with him for about an hour. We didn't

444
00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:42.349
have to ask for a single story or anything. He

445
00:21:42.390 --> 00:21:45.390
just kind of volunteered. The whole story, you know.

446
00:21:45.569 --> 00:21:45.849
Nice.

447
00:21:45.910 --> 00:21:47.670
And it was funny because we said, you should come

448
00:21:47.730 --> 00:21:50.000
see us play at the Whiskey tomorrow. It's our first time,

449
00:21:50.059 --> 00:21:52.240
and we were a little nervous. And he goes, man,

450
00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:54.000
let me tell you, last night I had to play

451
00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:57.460
the Hall of Fame induction, and that was really nerve-wracking.

452
00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:01.099
But it was in a very cool way. Yeah, it

453
00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:03.849
wasn't in an egotistical way. It was kind of like, hey. Yeah,

454
00:22:03.930 --> 00:22:06.690
it was really cool. And I didn't know the.

455
00:22:06.670 --> 00:22:08.809
Foo Fighters music that well, but after that I became

456
00:22:08.849 --> 00:22:10.529
a fan because that man is a showman.

457
00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:14.220
Well, I will tell you, he's known in the industry

458
00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:19.849
as one of the nicest guys in rock and roll.

459
00:22:20.170 --> 00:22:24.390
And I've witnessed it firsthand. It's cool. I've done Dimebag,

460
00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:29.150
Dip Bash, and he's sitting there barbecuing for everybody. He's

461
00:22:29.190 --> 00:22:34.569
just so down-to-earth cool like that. And I have mad

462
00:22:34.630 --> 00:22:38.430
respect for him doing what he did after what happened

463
00:22:38.450 --> 00:22:42.180
to Kurt. Because he went in a totally different direction.

464
00:22:42.700 --> 00:22:47.039
He went anonymously to make it. Yeah, exactly. Instead of

465
00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:51.970
trying to feed off of Nirvana and off of Kurt,

466
00:22:52.589 --> 00:22:56.990
he just decided to do it his way, the right way,

467
00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:00.529
and look at where he's at now. We might not

468
00:23:00.569 --> 00:23:03.230
know him today if Kurt was still living. That's true.

469
00:23:03.410 --> 00:23:05.269
But Dave, if you're listening to this, we've got a

470
00:23:05.309 --> 00:23:06.930
brand new album, and I think you should take us

471
00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:07.809
on the road with you, baby.

472
00:23:07.869 --> 00:23:10.730
We will not disappoint. There you go. There you go.

473
00:23:11.430 --> 00:23:14.490
So what else do you have coming up, uh, throughout

474
00:23:14.529 --> 00:23:15.170
the year here?

475
00:23:15.190 --> 00:23:17.329
What do we have coming up?

476
00:23:17.349 --> 00:23:19.730
I think as far as I know, we're in break

477
00:23:19.789 --> 00:23:22.829
mode for a minute, pushing this album, but we're not

478
00:23:23.130 --> 00:23:25.130
road dogging anymore, right? Yeah.

479
00:23:25.170 --> 00:23:27.529
We've got a couple of things in late October and

480
00:23:27.569 --> 00:23:31.079
then we're pretty much off from the middle of November

481
00:23:31.140 --> 00:23:35.309
till new year's. So, and, uh, We're already starting to write.

482
00:23:35.349 --> 00:23:37.049
We've already got like three or four songs for the

483
00:23:37.109 --> 00:23:38.430
next album kind of in the kitty.

484
00:23:38.670 --> 00:23:38.970
Nice.

485
00:23:39.190 --> 00:23:41.619
And that's really what we want to do since we're

486
00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:44.759
releasing singles once a month. And even though the album

487
00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:48.119
is fully available on the website, since we're releasing singles,

488
00:23:48.180 --> 00:23:49.519
we want to basically.

489
00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:49.960
Never have a break.

490
00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:52.400
And the next album, after we've released all the singles

491
00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:53.920
on this one, we want to make sure that we

492
00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:56.980
immediately jump into the next album because... That seems to

493
00:23:57.019 --> 00:24:00.099
be the model these days to stay relevant because we

494
00:24:00.140 --> 00:24:02.579
really notice a big difference in our streaming when we're

495
00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:06.309
announcing something every month versus letting it sit stale for

496
00:24:06.329 --> 00:24:07.190
a few months, you know?

497
00:24:07.650 --> 00:24:09.890
Yeah, nobody wants to wait for a full album anymore.

498
00:24:10.809 --> 00:24:12.910
Yeah, and that's a shame because the effort that goes

499
00:24:12.950 --> 00:24:15.880
into a full album is just a lot of work

500
00:24:15.970 --> 00:24:17.440
and a lot of money, a lot of time, a

501
00:24:17.500 --> 00:24:18.480
lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

502
00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:21.039
You know what else is a shame is from the

503
00:24:21.220 --> 00:24:25.660
listener's standpoint is these These younger generations today that are

504
00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:29.539
into the track, track, track mentality. First of all, some

505
00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:31.799
of my favorite songs I would never listen to if

506
00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:35.299
I had that. Because the first 10 seconds, 20 seconds,

507
00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:38.109
you would have never made it past to the good part.

508
00:24:38.750 --> 00:24:43.769
Second of all, you know, like you would immerse yourself

509
00:24:44.029 --> 00:24:48.890
in the albums. And it was like a whole experience. And,

510
00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:51.509
you know, like my kids will ask me, Dad, how

511
00:24:51.529 --> 00:24:54.970
do you know the words to every song? Well, that's

512
00:24:55.009 --> 00:24:56.789
because every album.

513
00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:00.609
And the order of the song arrangements made sense. And

514
00:25:00.650 --> 00:25:04.200
it was calculated what songs came in which order. And

515
00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:06.400
now we've thrown that and we've lost that art.

516
00:25:07.059 --> 00:25:10.140
Imagine Dark Side of the Moon without having that order

517
00:25:10.259 --> 00:25:14.859
or 2112 without having that order. Wouldn't make sense. I

518
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:17.380
know sometimes if I hear Floyd come on the radio,

519
00:25:18.460 --> 00:25:21.750
it's weird to me because if it's like from Dark Side,

520
00:25:22.150 --> 00:25:24.650
you know, because the song's ending and I'm expected to

521
00:25:24.750 --> 00:25:28.990
merge right into the next one. It's like this sharp cutoff.

522
00:25:29.390 --> 00:25:32.569
I'm like, that's weird, you know? And music takes you

523
00:25:32.670 --> 00:25:34.890
on a journey. That's what albums used to do. It

524
00:25:34.970 --> 00:25:38.130
used to just put your headphones on, escape into this

525
00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:39.400
journey of the music.

526
00:25:40.490 --> 00:25:42.549
Yeah, I was going to say that during COVID, when

527
00:25:42.569 --> 00:25:46.170
we were all shut down, I started up the vinyl

528
00:25:46.210 --> 00:25:49.349
collection again. That's probably one of the best things I've

529
00:25:49.369 --> 00:25:51.150
done in the last, like, five years as far as, like,

530
00:25:51.190 --> 00:25:55.349
a hobby. Like, another hobby other than music. Because I just...

531
00:25:55.509 --> 00:25:58.690
I mean, there's days where even my wife's into it. So, like,

532
00:25:58.809 --> 00:25:59.930
she has a bad day, I have a bad day.

533
00:25:59.950 --> 00:26:02.559
You just go home, you put an album on. And

534
00:26:02.630 --> 00:26:04.180
I won't buy an album unless you listen to it, like,

535
00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.740
side one, side two, you know, or side three, whatever.

536
00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.970
We got two records or whatever. Yeah, it's... It's an experience.

537
00:26:12.049 --> 00:26:15.029
I think the younger generation doesn't get that.

538
00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:16.390
No, they don't.

539
00:26:16.430 --> 00:26:18.269
It's not that I buy old albums. I mean, you

540
00:26:18.289 --> 00:26:20.009
could still do it with a lot of new albums.

541
00:26:21.009 --> 00:26:25.130
But I listen to everything from Neil Diamond to Metallica.

542
00:26:26.109 --> 00:26:27.329
It's just the experience, right?

543
00:26:27.769 --> 00:26:27.970
Yeah.

544
00:26:28.049 --> 00:26:31.539
It's just the whole vinyl thing. We're definitely doing vinyl

545
00:26:31.579 --> 00:26:32.059
in this band.

546
00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:35.200
And to your point, my head engineer at the station,

547
00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:37.519
he passed away a few years ago, but he was

548
00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.329
a musician, had an 80s metal band. Then he did

549
00:26:41.369 --> 00:26:44.750
this country rock duo. And he used to also sing

550
00:26:44.789 --> 00:26:48.109
Neil Diamond. And you swore it was Neil Diamond. And

551
00:26:48.150 --> 00:26:51.710
he always used to say, I like metal, I like country,

552
00:26:51.990 --> 00:26:55.470
and I like Neil Diamond. I know, right?

553
00:26:55.569 --> 00:26:58.369
I'm kind of like that with these guys. Neil Diamond is,

554
00:26:58.990 --> 00:27:01.880
oh my God, it's just a catchy song. It's like catchy.

555
00:27:02.190 --> 00:27:04.619
You can't go to a bar anywhere in the world.

556
00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:08.119
I've seen it. Where they have Sweet Caroline come on

557
00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:09.420
and the whole bar's.

558
00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:10.599
Not singing it. I guarantee you right now, if Sweet

559
00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:12.619
Caroline came on this PA with all these people here

560
00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:14.619
at this festival, they would sing it back.

561
00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:15.690
They'd all be sick.

562
00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:18.450
Hey, we sang it during the World Cup this year,

563
00:27:18.529 --> 00:27:20.569
every stadium after every soccer game that the U.S.

564
00:27:20.609 --> 00:27:20.930
Play.

565
00:27:22.329 --> 00:27:25.369
I think, though, what you're talking about, the album, we

566
00:27:25.410 --> 00:27:29.029
really try to bring that and play this album. We

567
00:27:29.069 --> 00:27:31.670
wrote this album and arranged the songs pretty much exactly

568
00:27:31.710 --> 00:27:33.539
the way we play it live, where.

569
00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:34.619
We string the songs together.

570
00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:37.430
And we all kind of had a say in that

571
00:27:37.930 --> 00:27:40.430
to make sure that when we play this album live,

572
00:27:41.289 --> 00:27:43.009
that you get that same feel that you're going to

573
00:27:43.029 --> 00:27:43.650
get on the album.

574
00:27:44.410 --> 00:27:46.599
Nice. I dig that.

575
00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:48.660
We like it to be an experience. We want to

576
00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:51.240
give people a full, immersive experience.

577
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.720
That's what it should be. Listen. Music is the best

578
00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:59.480
therapy there is. Both for you, the artist, me, the listener.

579
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:03.039
And I am fully convinced if we had one big

580
00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:05.980
music festival like Rock, Oklahoma for the whole world to

581
00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:09.369
attend except for the political leaders, we could all work

582
00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:12.589
out our bullshit problems, have a nice little mosh pit,

583
00:28:13.130 --> 00:28:16.849
work it out, hug each other afterwards, and fuck those

584
00:28:16.930 --> 00:28:18.269
leaders trying to divide us.

585
00:28:19.430 --> 00:28:22.049
That's a good point. I like that. I really like

586
00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:25.309
that because you know why... So, yeah, you're right. If

587
00:28:25.410 --> 00:28:29.089
every city is Rock, Oklahoma, right? If you really think

588
00:28:29.150 --> 00:28:30.470
about it, wrap your head around it. Because some of

589
00:28:30.490 --> 00:28:32.529
the nicest people I've ever met in a long time

590
00:28:32.569 --> 00:28:34.170
have been at this campground in the last few days.

591
00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:34.579
Oh, yeah.

592
00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:34.990
100%.

593
00:28:34.990 --> 00:28:38.220
I mean, we walked around, like, trying to get people

594
00:28:38.259 --> 00:28:40.549
to the stage when we played, and everybody showed up.

595
00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:43.940
It was so great. And we meet people all from

596
00:28:43.980 --> 00:28:46.750
different cities and different genres and.

597
00:28:48.309 --> 00:28:50.950
Different families, and it was just awesome.

598
00:28:51.009 --> 00:28:54.809
Even our own perceptions from where we grow up, like

599
00:28:55.650 --> 00:28:57.670
I'm from New York and New Jersey. The idea of

600
00:28:57.750 --> 00:29:00.880
coming to Oklahoma really the first time I came to

601
00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:03.140
this was like, oh, my God, why do I have

602
00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:06.460
to go to Oklahoma? Or I did a festival up

603
00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:09.640
in Wisconsin. I'm like, what the fuck's in Wisconsin besides cheese?

604
00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:11.980
And then you go to these places and you realize

605
00:29:12.019 --> 00:29:16.130
that who put that bullshit in our head? Because, yeah,

606
00:29:16.369 --> 00:29:20.329
it's a different culture. But, man, like you said, first

607
00:29:20.369 --> 00:29:22.690
year I came here, I made tons of friends that

608
00:29:22.910 --> 00:29:26.970
are like lifelong friends now. I would never imagine that

609
00:29:27.029 --> 00:29:27.789
in a million years.

610
00:29:27.809 --> 00:29:30.269
People are cool, man. Around the world, people are cool.

611
00:29:30.309 --> 00:29:31.089
People are interesting.

612
00:29:31.470 --> 00:29:33.509
Exactly. No matter where you go.

613
00:29:34.309 --> 00:29:34.809
People are cool.

614
00:29:35.069 --> 00:29:38.210
I just did Wacken in Germany, and I made so

615
00:29:38.289 --> 00:29:42.950
many friends there. you know, and like, so it just

616
00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:46.500
proves it doesn't matter where you go. Like to your point,

617
00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:48.039
you know, it doesn't matter.

618
00:29:48.059 --> 00:29:48.859
Keep an open mind.

619
00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:51.700
I think some of the third world countries I've gone

620
00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:54.859
to have the nicest people in the world because they're you,

621
00:29:55.339 --> 00:29:57.400
they don't give a shit about all the other shit.

622
00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:01.619
Like I've been in Indonesia and everybody's like, hi, how

623
00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:04.000
you doing? They're so friendly. I go to Costa Rica

624
00:30:04.019 --> 00:30:06.819
all the time because I surf. They're the nicest fucking

625
00:30:06.859 --> 00:30:10.980
people on earth. So to your point, people need to

626
00:30:11.029 --> 00:30:14.009
start just going around and meeting people around the world

627
00:30:14.069 --> 00:30:16.589
and form their opinions from that instead of the bullshit

628
00:30:16.609 --> 00:30:17.130
we're fed.

629
00:30:18.049 --> 00:30:21.049
That will definitely change your opinion on how you view

630
00:30:21.069 --> 00:30:21.470
the world.

631
00:30:21.869 --> 00:30:27.130
It definitely does. Because growing up in America, myself, my generation...

632
00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:30.049
You know, I'm Gen X. We grew up, oh, don't

633
00:30:30.089 --> 00:30:32.950
go anywhere out there. Like the boomers would say to us,

634
00:30:32.990 --> 00:30:36.410
don't go anywhere scary out there. And like, this is

635
00:30:36.450 --> 00:30:39.049
the only free country and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

636
00:30:39.369 --> 00:30:41.150
I remember the first time I went to Europe, I'm like,

637
00:30:41.170 --> 00:30:43.839
what the fuck were they talking about? Like, I feel

638
00:30:44.180 --> 00:30:47.960
actually more free here than I do at home. You know,

639
00:30:48.039 --> 00:30:52.980
so I definitely say explore the world, explore all the people,

640
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:56.049
and explore all the music. Are you saying that in

641
00:30:56.230 --> 00:30:57.069
Europe you never got.

642
00:30:57.799 --> 00:30:59.799
You boys ain't from around here, are you?

643
00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:07.789
No, but in Florida I have that shit. In Florida

644
00:31:07.809 --> 00:31:11.710
I have that shit. Oh my God, like, that reminds

645
00:31:11.750 --> 00:31:14.369
me of a funny story. I'm a New York, New

646
00:31:14.410 --> 00:31:18.369
Jersey Italian Jew who married a redneck hillbilly. I don't

647
00:31:18.390 --> 00:31:22.109
know what the fuck drugs I was on, okay? But

648
00:31:22.390 --> 00:31:28.400
the first time I went to her family's house for dinner... Like,

649
00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.180
my parents, they were very big on table manners and,

650
00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.950
you know, like that whole northeast way of how your

651
00:31:34.990 --> 00:31:39.750
table manners are. And fucking, I turned to her, I go,

652
00:31:40.170 --> 00:31:43.900
where's the napkins? She goes, oh, no, we have a

653
00:31:43.960 --> 00:31:49.289
community towel. I was like, oh my fucking God.

654
00:31:49.829 --> 00:31:53.809
So you're saying with that combination that your kids are Arkansas?

655
00:31:54.109 --> 00:31:56.839
From Arkansas? Or West Virginia or some shit.

656
00:31:58.859 --> 00:32:01.920
Billy's from West Virginia. He's got more good West Virginia

657
00:32:01.960 --> 00:32:04.339
jokes and stories than you can shake a stick at.

658
00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:06.980
I used to be in the investment business and I

659
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:09.720
had this kid that worked for me that was from

660
00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:13.950
West Virginia. Well, he went to school there. And he...

661
00:32:14.730 --> 00:32:18.410
told me he looked at his girlfriend's yearbook and he's

662
00:32:18.450 --> 00:32:20.390
like they all look the same.

663
00:32:22.569 --> 00:32:24.869
No offense they all kiss different though.

664
00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:27.099
Well you wouldn't.

665
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:31.759
Know 23 and me is a family reunion right.

666
00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:34.720
I was gonna make a family reunion joke but he

667
00:32:34.799 --> 00:32:36.400
pulled the rug underneath.

668
00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:39.339
It you lost it well don't you have another.

669
00:32:38.700 --> 00:32:40.660
True story i'm gonna let this one out of the

670
00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:43.789
bag uh Long story short, I made out with this

671
00:32:43.849 --> 00:32:47.099
girl the next summer. I saw her at my family reunion,

672
00:32:47.700 --> 00:32:50.740
and my mom was introduced. Like, oh, this is my cousin, Baba,

673
00:32:50.779 --> 00:32:52.680
and her daughter, Jamie. And me and her just looked

674
00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.140
at each other. We gave each other the look like,

675
00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:57.960
just don't say anything. Nice to meet you. So that

676
00:32:58.019 --> 00:33:02.329
actually happened. That actually happened. West Virginia. Wherever you are, Jamie,

677
00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:03.710
I'm still thinking about you.

678
00:33:06.130 --> 00:33:09.990
The question is, if you get married, are you still

679
00:33:10.049 --> 00:33:10.950
brother and sister?

680
00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:13.299
Whatever mom and dad wants us to do.

681
00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:18.619
Let mom and dad decide. Nice. So is there anything

682
00:33:18.680 --> 00:33:21.049
else you want to tell the listeners about your band

683
00:33:21.170 --> 00:33:22.650
or anything you got going on?

684
00:33:22.670 --> 00:33:26.569
Tell them who we are. Our album just got released.

685
00:33:28.329 --> 00:33:29.809
What are we looking at?

686
00:33:29.869 --> 00:33:34.690
The Bunny Rabbit. There's a bunny rabbit trying to get

687
00:33:34.750 --> 00:33:35.670
in on the interview.

688
00:33:36.269 --> 00:33:37.269
You guys are freaking me out here.

689
00:33:37.750 --> 00:33:38.470
What are we looking at?

690
00:33:39.299 --> 00:33:41.019
So there's a bunny, all you people out there, there's

691
00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:41.920
a bunny rabbit out here.

692
00:33:43.079 --> 00:33:44.740
Who really likes Nikolai.

693
00:33:45.269 --> 00:33:47.869
He came out to check out the new album.

694
00:33:48.049 --> 00:33:48.529
Yeah, exactly.

695
00:33:48.589 --> 00:33:55.049
So you go to our website, www.nikolai-band.com. We have our

696
00:33:55.089 --> 00:33:58.960
full albums out. Just came out this week. We have merchandise.

697
00:33:59.559 --> 00:34:04.039
Corey Brown does all the graphics, the website. He's got

698
00:34:04.059 --> 00:34:08.099
this band dialed in. So please go check it out.

699
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:12.159
We would love the support. We're getting tremendous feedback from

700
00:34:12.679 --> 00:34:16.000
what we're doing so far. Unfortunately, our singer couldn't be here.

701
00:34:16.019 --> 00:34:20.690
He had some work-related stuff going on. But that's pretty

702
00:34:20.710 --> 00:34:22.809
much what's going on. We're just rocking and rolling, enjoying

703
00:34:22.849 --> 00:34:26.349
life and enjoying each other and meeting new people and

704
00:34:27.110 --> 00:34:27.789
having a good time.

705
00:34:27.829 --> 00:34:30.190
The enjoying each other is key. Because if you're not

706
00:34:30.210 --> 00:34:32.289
enjoying each other, you're not going to be a band

707
00:34:32.309 --> 00:34:32.730
for long.

708
00:34:32.909 --> 00:34:33.699
Exactly, yeah.

709
00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:34.030
You know?

710
00:34:35.030 --> 00:34:38.300
And I have to say, as somebody that does web development,

711
00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:42.860
good job on the website there. Because I did. That's

712
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:44.599
the first thing I do when I look at a website.

713
00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:49.099
I'm like, oh, that's shit. What the fuck? Did their

714
00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:52.219
kids do that thing? But I looked at your website.

715
00:34:52.260 --> 00:34:54.500
I was like, that's a pretty good website right there.

716
00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:57.519
Gold star, Corey. It's still young, though. There's a lot

717
00:34:57.559 --> 00:34:59.800
to do left on it. You know, it's like. There's

718
00:34:59.880 --> 00:35:02.639
always something. Website is like writing a new song. It's

719
00:35:02.699 --> 00:35:04.780
never truly complete. It's just when you decide to pull

720
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:08.010
the plug and release it. Or any art, right? My

721
00:35:08.050 --> 00:35:10.769
dad used to paint shit. He would get stoned and

722
00:35:10.829 --> 00:35:14.530
paint for 48 hours straight. And it would start as

723
00:35:14.670 --> 00:35:17.869
one thing, and the end was never anything like what

724
00:35:17.929 --> 00:35:21.360
it started. He would always have to, sometimes I would

725
00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:23.880
say to him, just leave it. He'd always have to

726
00:35:23.920 --> 00:35:28.889
change it. So that's music. That's any art. That's the

727
00:35:28.929 --> 00:35:32.070
way it is. And you guys are badass.

728
00:35:32.570 --> 00:35:33.030
Well, thank you.

729
00:35:33.230 --> 00:35:35.110
I'm glad you were here at Rock, Oklahoma.

730
00:35:35.309 --> 00:35:36.489
Dude, it was nice to meet you.

731
00:35:37.090 --> 00:35:39.250
Hey, nice meeting you, and thanks for being on the

732
00:35:39.269 --> 00:35:40.309
Adventures of Pipe Man.

733
00:35:40.329 --> 00:35:41.510
Thanks, brother.

734
00:35:42.269 --> 00:35:42.869
My pleasure.

735
00:35:42.909 --> 00:35:43.429
Thank you, guys.

736
00:35:45.610 --> 00:35:49.869
Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man

737
00:35:50.550 --> 00:35:51.250
on W4CY Radio.