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Sept. 3, 2026

Ira Black Unleashes APOCÆLYPSE: The Journey to His 100th Band and Solo Project

Ira Black Unleashes APOCÆLYPSE: The Journey to His 100th Band and Solo Project
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In this episode, legendary guitarist and frontman Ira Black joins the show to discuss the launch of his new band, APOCÆLYPSE, and the release of their highly anticipated debut album. Ira shares stories from his extensive career, the challenges of starting a band in today’s music industry, the importance of passion and perseverance, and the special experience of performing alongside his son. The conversation dives deep into the evolution of Ira’s musical journey, from early inspirations to building APOCÆLYPSE from the ground up.Main Topics Covered

  • The Launch of APOCÆLYPSE and New Music
  • The challenge of embarking on a solo project after decades as a guitarist for major bands
  • Building everything from scratch: music, brand, and online presence
  • The painstaking process of selecting and perfecting tracks for the debut album
  • Navigating the Modern Music Business
  • The increased workload and skills needed for artists today — including social media, marketing, and tech challenges
  • Algorithm mysteries and the shifting landscape of digital self-promotion
  • Motivation, Mindset, and Going All-In
  • The impact of Tony Robbins’ seminars on Ira's career focus and the philosophy of not having a backup plan
  • Perseverance, goal setting, and manifesting success through dated objectives
  • Family, Upbringing, and Influences
  • The significance of touring and performing with his son
  • Holding onto musical roots across generations
  • Stories of Ira’s own upbringing and early immersion in music
  • The Metal Community as Family
  • The therapeutic power of metal and punk for fans and musicians
  • Shared bonds at festivals around the world and the idea of "one big family"
  • Reflections and Revelations from a Veteran Musician
  • Lessons learned across 100 bands and decades of shows, touring, and recording
  • The vision and unfiltered creativity that comes from leading his own project
  • The ongoing journey: what’s next for APOCÆLYPSE
Key Discussions & Stories
  • Why It Took So Long
    • Ira Black explains how being active in so many bands delayed launching a solo project, describing old riffs and song ideas finally coming to light after decades 01:27.
    • The “overnight success” myth and how building momentum actually takes a lifetime of hustle 01:29.
  • The All-In Philosophy
    • Inspired by Tony Robbins, Ira Black shares the mindset shift that comes from removing backup plans and fully committing to your vision 05:59.
  • Launching in the Digital Age
    • Discussion about how DIY artists now must master social, marketing, and tech, with no blueprint and ever-changing algorithms 04:08.
    • Learning how to adapt and continually reinvent in today’s industry 03:57.
  • Performing with His Son
    • Emotional reflections on bringing his son into the band, their shared journey, and the history of balancing music and parenting on the road 08:21.
  • Metal as Therapy
    • Both speakers reflect on the essential, grounding nature of metal music as a form of therapy and community 13:15.
  • Rising from the Ashes
    • Ira Black describes APOCÆLYPSE as his “100th band,” a literal phoenix moment after a lifetime of ups and downs, band departures, and perseverance 22:09.
Notable Quotes
  • “They say it takes your whole life to have an overnight success, right?” — Ira Black 01:29
  • “If you have a backup plan, then you’re always going to be like, well, I have that to fall back on. No. Don’t create a backup plan. This is your plan. You stick to it and nail it.” — Ira Black, recounting Tony Robbins’ advice 06:12
  • “Everything I do has to come from the heart. It has to have real meaning… this is like a music version of me, my soul being laid out.” — Ira Black 07:13
  • “Apocalypse is my 100th band, literally… So doing this as my 100th band and coming out of all this just, you know, huge legacy of playing all these arenas, it is— it's me rising out of that and going, okay, watch this.” — Ira Black 22:47
  • “You have to have a super thick skin to be in the music industry.” — Ira Black 22:36
Resources, Links, and Band Info
  • Band Members of APOCÆLYPSE:
    • Ira Black – Vocals / Guitar
    • Lonnie Pacias – Drums (“musical soulmate”)
    • Matt Snell – Bass (former Five Finger Death Punch)
    • Ira Black IV – Guitar (Ira Black’s son)
  • Socials & How to Find APOCÆLYPSE
    • Facebook & Instagram: [APOCALYPSE Band (with Æ character)] – Hold A and scroll to Æ for correct spelling on your phone 25:54
    • Unique branding discussed: “VertiBlade” logo and logo creation story 27:03
  • Upcoming Events
    • Listening party on September 23 at Pulse Music Group, Los Angeles 06:37
    • Touring and further releases in process
Connect & Follow
  • Stay tuned for new music, touring announcements, and exclusive content by following APOCÆLYPSE on Instagram and Facebook.
  • Look out for limited edition CDs, box sets, and future videos.
Final Thoughts
This episode highlights the relentless drive, authenticity, and deep-rooted love for music that has allowed Ira Black to rise above industry challenges. APOCÆLYPSE marks the culmination of decades of experience, battles fought, and dreams realized—an inspiration for musicians and fans alike.

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WEBVTT

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Hey, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is

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the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio,

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and I'm very excited about our next guest because, man,

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he is like, one of the best guitarists ever that's

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played with pretty much everyone and now he has even

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more badass music but it's all him and it's his

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vocals too and oh my god it's unbelievable so let's

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welcome to his show ira black of apocalypse how are

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you what's up how.

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You doing dean right on uh thanks for having me

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on here and uh yeah i'm uh excited about uh

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talking about this my new record coming out and hanging

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out with you here today so.

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Nice So I got to say, I saw you play

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at Milwaukee Metal Fest, which that was like a badass,

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old school, like Ruthie's Inn type of gig that you played.

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But now that I hear the music of Apocalypse, oh

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my God, I'm even more excited. Your new music is

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so badass. And how come it took you so long

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to do this?

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Yeah, exactly.

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I mean, they say it takes your whole life to

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have an overnight success, right? I mean, it's my own thing.

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It feels like that.

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And there are some songs on this record that are,

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you know, 20 plus years old, maybe even a couple

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of riffs here and there that are even older than that.

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But yeah, why did it take so long? Well, yeah,

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it's a good question.

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One thing that's happened a lot, you know, I've had

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the secret desire to do this on and off over

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the years. I've had a few failed starts in the

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late 90s. I, you know, tried to start something where

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it was my own thing and see what ends up

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happening is like even that first time I ended up

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getting the gig with vicious rumors. So I ended up

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getting pulled in with, you know, another well-known band. And

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then that just kind of, you know, it's like, why

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can't you do both? You know how it gets when

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you're playing with the band. And if you're very active,

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you know, your, your time gets pretty, pretty busy, you know? And, uh,

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and I'm also seeing that because I've been launching this

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while I've been playing in violence.

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Yeah.

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I've been on the road a lot and I've been

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working on my band while I'm on the road and,

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And it's been pretty crazy.

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I pulled a lot of all-nighters with no sleep. I mean,

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a lot more than that. Yeah.

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Just to get this over the, you know, over the hill,

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over the top, you know, to where it's at now.

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But there's another thing right there. I mean, you know,

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being able to put the time and energy into it,

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you know, if you're juggling too many other things, one

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thing to play in two or three other bands that

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are just touring and doing this, I'm, you know, I

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can learn a set, go out and play it. Then

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once it's in my mind and okay, book this stuff,

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let's go. But, uh, launching, uh, a new band from

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the ground up. And that's what we did when we

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started this, we were like, okay, new social media, new YouTube,

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new everything like from the ground up.

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And then we, I had an entirely new approach.

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I picked 20 songs I record during the pandemic. Very specifically,

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I picked the best 10 and I said, I'm going

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to shoot for these right here. Cause I know these

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are all bangers, like 10 of the most solid, like

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here we go songs, you know, and getting them to

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the finish line to, you know, meet all the deadlines, man.

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It's been, you know, a lot of pain and anguish.

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I mean, a lot of joy too. Don't get me,

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get me wrong. I, cause I do enjoy this, but

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you know, I always remember this, like, man, I earned

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every second of this, you know, I'm proud of it.

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It's a lot harder nowadays for artists that was back

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in the eighties to launch a band, you know, like

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like you were mentioning all the things that you have

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to do. And that was only a small piece of

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what you have to do. I have mad respect for

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artists nowadays because it's a lot more work and, and

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it's more than just being a musician for sure.

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Yeah. I mean, we have more tools to promote it

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and market it and get it out there, but you all,

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you have to become savvy and you have to understand

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how all these things work. And we know, you know,

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it's like everyone talks about the algorithms and the this

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and that. And, you know, it's kind of a big mystery,

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you know, because technology doesn't really, I mean, yeah, you

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can watch some YouTube videos to help teach you this

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and that, but have you ever tried to get into

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Facebook when you have a problem? There's no one to

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talk to. It's a labyrinth of nothingness of hell, you know,

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and you're like, no one's listening. You can't fix anything.

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So it's like, you know, how do you launch your

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band in a world of, uh, you know, AI bots.

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Right.

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And as, and just when you start getting used to Facebook,

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as an example, they change everything. Like, and you can't

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even find anything anymore, you know? And, and each one

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of them has a different algorithm. So it's not like, Oh,

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I learned the algorithm. I can do it on all

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of them.

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You got to learn it for all of them.

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And it's, it's insane. It's insane. I go through it

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with the radio all the time too. And it's like,

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it's not just getting out there and doing what you

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got to do. It's you got to go above and beyond.

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So for somebody that's a veteran like you and just

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do a startup now, And like, I have mad respect.

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I have mad respect, too, that you decided just a

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couple of days ago that you are ready to just

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focus 100 percent on this. And as somebody that's not

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only a radio person, but a motivational speaker, I'm a

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big believer in order to succeed. You have to have

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nothing to fall back on. And that's exactly what you did.

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Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's funny you bring that up because

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in 1999, right around the time I had started my

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solo project way back then, I had went to a

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three-day seminar with Tony Robbins.

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Nice.

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It changed my life. I'll admit that right now. I'll

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give him props any day of the week. He was incredible.

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He was just like that. He goes, if you have

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a backup plan, then you're always going to be like, well,

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I have that.

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He's like, no.

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Exactly.

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No. He's like, don't create a backup plan. This is

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your plan. You stick to it and nail it. I

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went on to do a lot of great things after

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going to that seminar. I still carry a little bit

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of that with me everywhere I go. A lot of

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things you said were very inspiring. That's definitely part of it.

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I'm I'm like all in on apocalypse. Now, you know,

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we got the album out and I'm like, now the

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real work begins. Like we got to go out and tour,

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do all this stuff. We have a listening party coming

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up on September 23rd at pulse music group in Los Angeles.

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And we're putting all the pieces together. We got to

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get the.

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CDs made, the box sets and all this stuff, you know?

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So we're, you know, a lot of work coming out

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and we got to book this and get it out

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on the road too, you know?

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So.

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Yeah, I love it. And cause there's nothing like seeing

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you live too. And I think that, That's also a

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big thing is like how the music comes across live.

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And I think when you're doing your own project like

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you're doing now, it's even more passion and people can

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see it because it's your baby.

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Oh, yeah. No, every one of these songs and everything

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I'm doing, I mean, that's kind of my mission statement

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really is that, you know, everything I do has to

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come from the heart. It has to have real meaning.

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Every second of everything that passes has a reason behind it. And,

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you know, that's literally my mission statement about this. You know,

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this is like, you know, a music version of me,

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you know, my soul kind of being laid out, you know,

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and yeah. And like you said, you know, the playing

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live thing. I mean, everyone knows I play live, but

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for me, that's a secret weapon. I haven't done it yet.

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So we're getting all these accolades and everything's building up

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online and it's looking real good right now. But we

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haven't even played one live show yet. And I'm like,

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everyone's kind of go, hey.

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Can you do this?

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I mean, you haven't really played guitar and sang live,

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you know, like everyone's like, I mean, I hope you

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can do this because it's, you know, it's coming up

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and I'm like, get ready because it's war now.

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I love it.

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It's time to, uh, just show the world what's up,

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you know? So I'm, I'm so excited about that part.

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I'm going to bring it, you know what I mean?

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So I love it.

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And so how cool is it to, to now perform

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alongside your son?

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I mean, That's amazing because, you know, it's something I've

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always wanted. I mean, he's always been a major part

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of my life. I'm a major part of his life.

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I brought this up a few times, you know, I've

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had him had joint custody of him since a very

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young age. I'd have him for a week and his

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mom had him for a week. So, you know, and

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here I was still pursuing music. So as you can imagine,

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I mean, it was a lot of difficult times because,

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you know, how do you raise a kid while you're

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this touring musician who's kind of on the verge of

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couch surfing. And I mean, he could probably write his

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own book about his upbringing, but I always, you know, uh,

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you know, treated him awesome and gave him the best

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of what I could at the time. And, you know,

194
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it's like, I mean, I, you know, go to all

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lengths to make sure he was covered, even if I wasn't,

196
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you know what I mean?

197
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And, uh, you know, so he is my best friend.

198
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He was always my little buddy.

199
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So I brought him on tour with me when I

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was playing a metal church for a we toured with

201
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wasp steven pierce in la guns and i brought him

202
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out on the road with me when he was six

203
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so you know he already knows this lifestyle he's been

204
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in a few bands and stuff and i'm like you

205
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know he's earned his way he's a great guitar player

206
00:09:29.070 --> 00:09:31.389
on his own right like he's earned where he's at

207
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he's rehearsed you know he's uh really trained well on

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guitar and uh you know i'm just excited to bring

209
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him out into this world like this you know on

210
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this huge stage like Boom. Look, everyone's waiting for this,

211
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you know, and, you know, my best friend, my son,

212
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who's awesome, gets to be right there along inside of me.

213
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You don't have to be on tour missing him. He's

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going to be on tour with me.

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I know that's so badass. It's so cool that we

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even have that nowadays, because remember back in the 80s,

217
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like our parents never were gonna go show listen my

218
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parents were my dad would never have gone to a

219
00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:08.590
show with me he used to call me and my

220
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friends the motley crew and not because of the band

221
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just because of the way we looked and you know

222
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like 1980, I'm from Jersey, and he comes up to

223
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me and goes, meet your new mother, and we're moving

224
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to California in three days. And little did I know

225
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that that's what led me to speaking to you right now,

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because I was in that whole 80s L.A. metal scene,

227
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and then Slayer Metallica went up to the Bay Area,

228
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and me and my bro started hitchhiking and taking the

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Greyhound up there to get away from you. Because they

230
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left us alone in L.A. with all the hair metal bands.

231
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Totally. That's awesome.

232
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It's how you learn to live in the world, though, too.

233
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Because that's some real stuff. Can you be dropped off

234
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at a truck stop in whatever town?

235
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Totally. Can you survive?

236
00:10:56.820 --> 00:11:00.250
Well, you can because music brought that for you. Because

237
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you were such a fan of music that you're like,

238
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I'm going to go see this, whatever it takes.

239
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And then we learned how to kind of get around.

240
00:11:05.929 --> 00:11:07.289
But my parents were actually.

241
00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:12.960
My biological father, Waylon Black, he was the blues guitar player.

242
00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:14.899
So my family is musically oriented.

243
00:11:15.139 --> 00:11:18.090
And my mom's second husband was a keyboardist in a band.

244
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And her third husband, who she's with now since the

245
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80s or late 70s, actually, they've been together a long time.

246
00:11:24.870 --> 00:11:26.990
He's a guitar player. He goes by the name of

247
00:11:27.029 --> 00:11:28.929
Papa Joe. He's still playing to this day.

248
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Wow.

249
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He showed me my first chords when I was 10.

250
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They got it. That's what I wanted to do because

251
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they were involved in it.

252
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I ended up.

253
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Leaving when I was 14 because it's a troubled childhood.

254
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The teenage years didn't go so good. Stepfather's a Vietnam vet.

255
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We've all moved on and worked through this over the years.

256
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We're all adults now.

257
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We've all straightened this stuff out.

258
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Back then, we're going way back to the teenage years, 1983, 84, 85.

259
00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:02.860
You know, had a lot of turmoil and didn't get

260
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along and stuff.

261
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And, you know, I ended up leaving when I was

262
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14 and they knew that, you know, I had this

263
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dream about playing music because I started playing guitar when

264
00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:11.980
I was 10. And I was like, that's all I

265
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thought about, you know, not nonstop. So even though they

266
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supported it, I kind of left them for a long time.

267
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I really didn't see most of my family for about

268
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10 years. And my mom came to visit after about

269
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six years or something, but I didn't see them.

270
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For a long time. And here I was in the

271
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pursuit of this dream.

272
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And you know, that's, that was the beginning of my journey.

273
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So. I love it.

274
00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:35.620
And, you know, so right there, that's Tony Robbins stuff

275
00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:38.570
right there too. Like that's what got me through the

276
00:12:38.610 --> 00:12:40.929
teenage years, Tony Robbins and metal.

277
00:12:41.769 --> 00:12:42.970
Yeah.

278
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Those are the two. And it is funny because like

279
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people don't realize, I think metal and punk more than

280
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any other music is like the best therapy there is.

281
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People have this, you know, perception of what we are.

282
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And it's totally not even close to what people think

283
00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:05.470
that are not in the scene, but like, yeah, that,

284
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that whole life and that whole music, like it just

285
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took you away from all the crap in your life,

286
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you know, is the way I kind of looked at it.

287
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What I think is interesting too, what I noticed as I,

288
00:13:18.730 --> 00:13:20.629
you know, get older and stuff and playing all these

289
00:13:20.669 --> 00:13:23.919
shows and stuff, you know, and these metal shows and

290
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stuff and meet with fans and different people and, you know,

291
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hearing the different politics and all this different stuff. I

292
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start to realize how funny it is that it ends

293
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up turning out that we're some of the most sane people.

294
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I mean, because when we were younger and thought we

295
00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.820
were crazy and it turns out really most of society's

296
00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:47.340
pretty crazy, you know, cause it's like, you know, when

297
00:13:47.379 --> 00:13:50.919
you talk to metal fans, they're super real. they're usually

298
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mostly chill, you know, the older ones that are our

299
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age is, you know, they're like, you know, they're just like, Hey,

300
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you know, life's cool. You know, you know, they're kind

301
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of well adjusted because they have the music and stuff

302
00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:03.840
and you meet people in the regular world and they're

303
00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.139
out of their mind nowadays, you know? And I'm like, wow,

304
00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:08.990
how did the metal heads become like the same people?

305
00:14:09.429 --> 00:14:10.070
I know. Right.

306
00:14:10.149 --> 00:14:13.830
Cause it's funny too. Like with every, all the craziness

307
00:14:13.850 --> 00:14:16.450
that's going on now. And like, like you, I go

308
00:14:16.710 --> 00:14:20.179
and I do media coverage at festivals all over the world. And,

309
00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:24.080
when I go to these different countries to metal shows,

310
00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:28.360
it's like, it doesn't, it doesn't matter what country I'm in.

311
00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:31.320
We're just one big family, one big community. Like I

312
00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:34.000
have this idea too, not that it's something we could

313
00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:38.230
ever implement, but maybe, but the, my idea to fix

314
00:14:38.289 --> 00:14:42.490
all the world's problems is we just have one big

315
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metal festival that everybody's required to attend, except the political

316
00:14:47.169 --> 00:14:50.080
leaders that are banned from the festival and And just

317
00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:52.799
put everybody in a mosh pit. We'll all work it

318
00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:54.440
out and have a hug afterwards.

319
00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.700
Absolutely. That sounds great to me. What is it? The

320
00:14:57.779 --> 00:14:59.200
well-adjusted metal fest.

321
00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:02.539
Right? That would be kind of cool, right?

322
00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:03.940
Yeah, absolutely.

323
00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:09.220
So what do you think all the stories of the

324
00:15:09.299 --> 00:15:12.690
things that you've existed in this whole musical career did

325
00:15:12.750 --> 00:15:15.590
for you to prepare to launch Apocalypse?

326
00:15:17.649 --> 00:15:18.269
Well, I mean.

327
00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:21.769
you know, I mean, there's the logistics of doing it,

328
00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:26.799
you know, writing a record, you know, making the record,

329
00:15:27.330 --> 00:15:30.490
you know, preparing for a live show, marketing the record,

330
00:15:30.529 --> 00:15:33.549
getting out there, booking a tour, learning about all the

331
00:15:33.690 --> 00:15:37.110
potential problems that happen. I mean, that's really, you know,

332
00:15:37.710 --> 00:15:41.480
all these motivational speakers and all, you know, they really

333
00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:45.059
talk about this thing. It's like problems are part of,

334
00:15:45.950 --> 00:15:47.860
All plans, you know, so if you think, oh, why

335
00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:50.460
am I having so many problems? It's like, no, the

336
00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:52.840
problems are the things that you fix that lead you

337
00:15:52.860 --> 00:15:56.379
to where you're going, you know, because life just, you know,

338
00:15:56.460 --> 00:16:00.730
everything breaks. There's miscommunication. There's, you know, all this stuff

339
00:16:00.769 --> 00:16:03.149
is just part of the real world. So, you know,

340
00:16:03.769 --> 00:16:06.889
all these different things that you go through to, you know,

341
00:16:07.110 --> 00:16:09.230
and having played in so many bands, I've played all

342
00:16:09.269 --> 00:16:11.159
the different roles at different times. Sometimes I'm just a

343
00:16:11.169 --> 00:16:13.220
team player and I let someone else take care of

344
00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:15.690
that because that's what he does. And then I had

345
00:16:15.730 --> 00:16:17.509
to kind of learn how to do all the parts.

346
00:16:17.870 --> 00:16:20.990
So I can do everything from A to Z. I

347
00:16:21.009 --> 00:16:23.110
can write a record. I can record it myself. I

348
00:16:23.149 --> 00:16:25.029
can mix it. I can master it. I know how

349
00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:27.360
to get it out there. And then I know how

350
00:16:27.379 --> 00:16:29.659
to book a tour and how to book all the transportation.

351
00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:31.100
I mean, I've done it all. I can book all

352
00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:34.340
the opening bands. I can book an individual show by itself.

353
00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:40.299
I know 20 different ways to spin anything. So that's

354
00:16:40.330 --> 00:16:42.070
what I've learned from all these years of doing it.

355
00:16:42.070 --> 00:16:45.419
So yeah. when I'm involved in anything, I can kind

356
00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:48.500
of see where, where it needs me and where it doesn't.

357
00:16:48.750 --> 00:16:50.169
And I can be a team player or I can

358
00:16:50.190 --> 00:16:51.649
be a leader when I need to be in and

359
00:16:51.730 --> 00:16:54.110
take charge of this or that, you know? And so

360
00:16:54.129 --> 00:16:55.870
with my own project, you know, it's like, I'm like

361
00:16:56.029 --> 00:16:58.210
overseeing the whole thing. So I'm like, okay, this thing's

362
00:16:58.250 --> 00:17:01.269
got to now run, you know, like this now it's

363
00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:03.470
just like, and it is, I mean, I'm sure you

364
00:17:03.509 --> 00:17:06.309
can see online, you know, it definitely has the appearance

365
00:17:06.349 --> 00:17:08.549
of just this flow that just keeps going.

366
00:17:08.569 --> 00:17:09.369
You know, I have a.

367
00:17:09.529 --> 00:17:13.359
Great team behind me. which is an important part of

368
00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:13.700
it too.

369
00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.990
You know, I've always been a DIY guy, you know,

370
00:17:17.049 --> 00:17:21.809
do it yourself and literally doing it myself. So that's

371
00:17:21.829 --> 00:17:23.529
the one thing that's probably changed a little bit that

372
00:17:23.549 --> 00:17:25.589
I'm learning a little bit more about, you know, is

373
00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:28.869
having a great team of people. I have a marketing team.

374
00:17:28.890 --> 00:17:30.890
I have a PR team. My wife's managed me through

375
00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:37.079
FM management. I have my executive producer, Andy Fatico. I mean,

376
00:17:37.140 --> 00:17:40.099
he's just an angel. I mean, this probably wouldn't happy

377
00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:41.839
in the way it is without him he's really just

378
00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:45.220
brought just like you know he gave me this platform

379
00:17:45.269 --> 00:17:49.069
he's like here go whatever you need i got you

380
00:17:49.089 --> 00:17:52.130
he goes you do what you do and whenever you

381
00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:55.130
need that it's right there for you i love it

382
00:17:55.210 --> 00:17:57.130
and it's like that's where we're at with it so

383
00:17:57.170 --> 00:17:59.089
yeah it's it's it's beautiful.

384
00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:02.829
It must be an amazing feeling now to even though

385
00:18:02.869 --> 00:18:06.289
yeah you're putting in all the work as not only

386
00:18:06.730 --> 00:18:13.150
guitarist but singer songwriter producer person basically doing everything, directing

387
00:18:13.190 --> 00:18:17.769
the video and all that. But it's finally something that

388
00:18:17.849 --> 00:18:20.589
is 100% your vision.

389
00:18:21.769 --> 00:18:23.430
Absolutely. No, absolutely.

390
00:18:23.450 --> 00:18:25.890
I mean, it's, you know, it's a dream come true because,

391
00:18:25.930 --> 00:18:27.990
you know, like I said, it's something I fantasize about

392
00:18:28.009 --> 00:18:30.970
a lot over the years because, you know, sometimes I'm

393
00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:33.269
in a band and a couple of things are falling

394
00:18:33.369 --> 00:18:36.289
short and then I start making suggestions and sometimes they

395
00:18:36.309 --> 00:18:39.569
listen and sometimes they're like, no, dude, And all of

396
00:18:39.609 --> 00:18:42.970
a sudden I'm like, okay, I'm being blocked here. And

397
00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:45.269
I know that if we do this, this and this,

398
00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:47.349
it can lead us to that, at least to the

399
00:18:47.390 --> 00:18:50.289
next step or whatever. And sometimes I get shut down

400
00:18:50.329 --> 00:18:52.289
in it. So being able to really be in a

401
00:18:52.309 --> 00:18:56.259
place where I'm like, it's an open road, 100%. You

402
00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:59.539
know why? Because I'm the one saying what's happening here.

403
00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:01.660
I'm in charge of it. And that's the way my

404
00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:05.799
mind is. I'm a natural forward thinking, forward moving person.

405
00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:08.460
So I wake up every day and work on this.

406
00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:11.059
I wake up thinking about like, okay, what's the next

407
00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:13.940
thing on my list? Because I do make lists and stuff.

408
00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:16.980
Of course, that's from the anti-wrong dates and all that.

409
00:19:17.819 --> 00:19:20.569
Think it, that's physical, but no one knows what you're thinking.

410
00:19:20.619 --> 00:19:21.569
It's a synapse.

411
00:19:21.589 --> 00:19:23.910
So you got to say it. Number two, what's the

412
00:19:23.950 --> 00:19:27.190
third thing? Write it down. And I came to my

413
00:19:27.250 --> 00:19:30.529
own conclusion. I discovered, hey, put a date on what

414
00:19:30.549 --> 00:19:33.150
you write down. Maybe the universe might listen to that actually.

415
00:19:33.410 --> 00:19:35.640
Maybe the universe might go, Oh, you want it then?

416
00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:36.380
Oh, okay.

417
00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:38.569
Well, just tell me, you know? And so, so that's

418
00:19:38.589 --> 00:19:40.829
what I started doing. And this thing just started unfolding

419
00:19:40.990 --> 00:19:43.029
to the date. I mean, almost to a T I

420
00:19:43.089 --> 00:19:48.549
couldn't believe it. It's, unbelievable, honestly. But look, here we are.

421
00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:54.079
My plan was set in motion to dated goals. Each one.

422
00:19:54.619 --> 00:19:56.490
Number one is dated. Number two is dated.

423
00:19:58.740 --> 00:20:02.440
So that's why we're here sitting with albums out, three

424
00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.480
videos out, everything's on track. There's some other things happening

425
00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:08.500
behind the scenes that I can't talk about yet, but

426
00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:11.329
let me just say you can probably tell by the

427
00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:15.190
hint what's one of the greatest things a songwriter and

428
00:20:15.210 --> 00:20:16.890
a musician can have happen to them.

429
00:20:17.029 --> 00:20:18.809
And it's in motion right now.

430
00:20:18.869 --> 00:20:20.849
So I can only say that right now, but it's

431
00:20:20.890 --> 00:20:23.390
soon to the news is going to come out that I'm,

432
00:20:23.509 --> 00:20:27.519
you know, being submitted for the ultimate accolades of, of

433
00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:28.359
what I'm doing right now.

434
00:20:28.430 --> 00:20:29.460
So I'm like, wow.

435
00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:29.880
Yeah.

436
00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:31.460
It's, it's, it's pretty amazing.

437
00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:35.559
It just shows that, that, you know, like people look

438
00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:39.759
at musicians and bands and stuff and, They only see

439
00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:43.099
like the end result sometimes. Like, you know, you take

440
00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:46.349
a band like Metallica and people are like, oh, they

441
00:20:46.369 --> 00:20:49.910
were an overnight success. Yeah, after like 20 years of

442
00:20:49.950 --> 00:20:53.549
eating bologna with no bread and sleeping on floors, if

443
00:20:53.630 --> 00:20:56.410
that's what an overnight success is, like you were talking

444
00:20:56.430 --> 00:21:01.500
about before too. So to me, it's kind of like

445
00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:04.799
rising out of all the ashes of everything that you

446
00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:08.710
did in your musical career. And now you are truly

447
00:21:08.970 --> 00:21:10.730
the Phoenix like the album.

448
00:21:11.470 --> 00:21:13.950
Yeah, no, that, that's a good analogy.

449
00:21:13.970 --> 00:21:17.650
You know, people have been asking about the band title,

450
00:21:18.150 --> 00:21:21.430
band name and album title, you know, cause you know,

451
00:21:21.970 --> 00:21:25.009
they coincide, you know, for, for me, apocalypse is, is

452
00:21:25.049 --> 00:21:29.029
the battle within and the battle without, you know you know,

453
00:21:29.390 --> 00:21:32.220
in the world, you know, we're always battling what's going

454
00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:34.099
on out there because, you know, there's, you know, it's

455
00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.960
not an easy place to, uh, live and grow up

456
00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:38.599
this world is it you know I always told my

457
00:21:38.619 --> 00:21:40.460
kids hey every time they left the house I said

458
00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.079
hey it's not a safe world out there pay attention

459
00:21:43.099 --> 00:21:45.400
don't just walk out the house and go everything's all

460
00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.910
good like you know keep your eyes and ears open

461
00:21:47.930 --> 00:21:50.710
because you know it's crazy out there but also the

462
00:21:50.769 --> 00:21:52.890
battle within for me you know it's just you know

463
00:21:52.930 --> 00:21:56.250
the the rough upbringing and you know being in the

464
00:21:56.289 --> 00:21:59.200
music business for so long at all costs I mean

465
00:21:59.220 --> 00:22:01.660
I you know dove in headfirst a long time ago

466
00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:04.660
and couch surf for many years and like you said

467
00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:08.220
the bologna sandwiches you know And, you know, so for me,

468
00:22:08.259 --> 00:22:09.759
Apocalypse was like the ultimate thing.

469
00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:12.880
It's like that ultimate battle, you know? And, you know,

470
00:22:13.059 --> 00:22:15.019
do you win or you lose? You know, you don't know.

471
00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:19.349
But the Phoenix title, you know, yeah, that's definitely, you know,

472
00:22:20.890 --> 00:22:21.970
rising out of the ashes.

473
00:22:22.049 --> 00:22:24.589
I love that analogy or that metaphor, I should say, because,

474
00:22:25.910 --> 00:22:27.930
you know, I have done a lot with a lot

475
00:22:27.950 --> 00:22:28.650
of different bands.

476
00:22:29.349 --> 00:22:31.150
And the one thing that.

477
00:22:32.630 --> 00:22:35.599
Is really hard and difficult to deal with And you

478
00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:36.900
just have to eat it. You know, you have to

479
00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:39.900
have a super thick skin to be in the music industry. But,

480
00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:42.029
you know, I've had to quit bands and I've been

481
00:22:42.089 --> 00:22:46.809
fired from a few. Apocalypse is my 100th band. Literally,

482
00:22:46.950 --> 00:22:49.609
it's my 100th band. So if you imagine all the

483
00:22:49.630 --> 00:22:52.490
different people I play with and all the different, you know,

484
00:22:52.650 --> 00:22:54.190
I mean, I've had a lot of fun and great,

485
00:22:54.309 --> 00:22:56.150
awesome times. I have a lot of great friends, but

486
00:22:56.190 --> 00:22:58.069
there's also a lot of pain and anguish.

487
00:22:58.289 --> 00:22:58.670
Yeah.

488
00:22:59.109 --> 00:23:02.349
You know, there's burned bridges on both sides of the fence.

489
00:23:02.390 --> 00:23:04.440
You know, I mean, that's just the nature of it.

490
00:23:04.470 --> 00:23:06.410
You know, it's like sometimes people don't get along. And

491
00:23:06.910 --> 00:23:08.970
I've made amends with people. And there's a few people

492
00:23:08.990 --> 00:23:11.349
out there that, you know, I don't like. And I'll

493
00:23:11.369 --> 00:23:13.250
stay away from them. Maybe they don't like me either,

494
00:23:13.289 --> 00:23:18.130
you know. But, you know, so doing this as my

495
00:23:18.150 --> 00:23:20.650
100th band and coming out of all this just, you know,

496
00:23:21.210 --> 00:23:23.210
huge legacy of playing all these rounds.

497
00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:25.859
It is. It's me rising out of that and going, okay,

498
00:23:26.460 --> 00:23:27.440
watch this.

499
00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.740
You know, so, you know, how do you take, you know,

500
00:23:30.980 --> 00:23:34.900
all that breadth of experience and then chisel it right

501
00:23:34.940 --> 00:23:35.359
up to this?

502
00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:37.819
Like, OK, this is my thing.

503
00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:40.480
And, you know, let's see what I can do now

504
00:23:40.569 --> 00:23:43.670
with no blocks or, you know, no personalities in my

505
00:23:43.730 --> 00:23:47.410
way to, you know, thwart me from achieving my goal.

506
00:23:47.470 --> 00:23:48.990
So, yeah, it's perfect.

507
00:23:49.069 --> 00:23:52.529
You know, it tells a story all within that, you know,

508
00:23:53.130 --> 00:23:55.269
album title and the band name for sure.

509
00:23:55.789 --> 00:24:00.750
As music should. And definitely it's about time you did

510
00:24:00.769 --> 00:24:04.329
this because the new music is badass. Everybody's got to

511
00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:07.420
check it out. Tell everybody how they reach out to

512
00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:10.680
you in socials for the band and, you know, how

513
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:14.000
they check out the new album, all the new videos

514
00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:17.299
and everything else that will be up and coming and

515
00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:20.569
anything else that you did weren't and that we didn't

516
00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:22.710
touch on that you think they need to know.

517
00:24:23.349 --> 00:24:23.829
Okay, great.

518
00:24:23.849 --> 00:24:23.970
Yeah.

519
00:24:24.470 --> 00:24:27.230
Let's mention the other band members. I got one of my.

520
00:24:27.170 --> 00:24:30.630
Best friends, Lonnie Pasillas on drums. The guy's an amazing drummer.

521
00:24:30.650 --> 00:24:33.549
I call him my musical soulmate. Like him and I just,

522
00:24:33.970 --> 00:24:36.049
the first time we met about approximately 20 years ago,

523
00:24:36.089 --> 00:24:38.470
we jammed first time we met and we just wrote

524
00:24:38.509 --> 00:24:40.630
a song right there on the spot. And I play

525
00:24:40.650 --> 00:24:43.410
these kind of cool, you know, rhythm things. And he

526
00:24:43.589 --> 00:24:46.230
chimed right in with the double kick without even asking

527
00:24:46.250 --> 00:24:47.549
what I was doing. It was like, I was like,

528
00:24:47.670 --> 00:24:49.730
Oh my God, this guy and I have an instant connection.

529
00:24:49.809 --> 00:24:52.690
So got Lonnie. And then we have Matt Snell on bass.

530
00:24:52.730 --> 00:24:55.049
Who's a good friend of Lonnie's. And now a great

531
00:24:55.069 --> 00:24:56.849
friend of mine, you know, used to play in Five

532
00:24:56.890 --> 00:25:00.809
Finger Death Punch, a phenomenal guy. You know, his character

533
00:25:00.849 --> 00:25:02.109
is just the most upstanding.

534
00:25:02.190 --> 00:25:02.730
I love him.

535
00:25:03.549 --> 00:25:06.529
And his playing is phenomenal.

536
00:25:06.789 --> 00:25:10.069
He brings a lot of wealth of knowledge to the table, too.

537
00:25:10.109 --> 00:25:11.910
He was, you know, with Five Finger Death Punch as

538
00:25:11.950 --> 00:25:14.559
they did their initial climb in the early days. And,

539
00:25:14.900 --> 00:25:17.460
you know, he got to ride with that and see

540
00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:20.200
all that, you know. So he knows exactly what we're

541
00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:22.619
doing right now, you know, and he often mentions that.

542
00:25:23.130 --> 00:25:25.789
that we're on the same trajectory. He goes, I recognize this.

543
00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:29.059
This is the same. I did this before, just like this.

544
00:25:29.099 --> 00:25:32.880
And I'm like, I know. And then of course my son, uh,

545
00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:35.460
Ira Black, the fourth, as we talked about earlier, uh,

546
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.859
love him dearly. He's in the band and that's all

547
00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:41.119
great stuff. And then of course we have, um, our

548
00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:45.769
social media, we have apocalypse band on, uh, on, uh, Instagram.

549
00:25:45.789 --> 00:25:48.809
Then we have apocalypse on Facebook. And I'm going to

550
00:25:48.869 --> 00:25:50.630
show you real quick because it's been kind of a

551
00:25:50.710 --> 00:25:52.089
funny thing.

552
00:25:52.589 --> 00:25:53.660
Uh, Here, watch this.

553
00:25:54.730 --> 00:25:57.150
So I'm going to show people how to do this.

554
00:25:57.230 --> 00:26:05.490
So what you do is you hit the A button

555
00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:08.230
and you hold it down. And then you have to

556
00:26:08.269 --> 00:26:12.109
go up and scroll over to the AE letter.

557
00:26:13.730 --> 00:26:14.450
And then you get that.

558
00:26:15.430 --> 00:26:19.240
Whoa, that's where it came from. I'm a techie and

559
00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:20.319
I didn't even know that.

560
00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:22.319
Yeah. Hold the A down.

561
00:26:22.339 --> 00:26:24.269
If you want to do the capital one, you know,

562
00:26:24.309 --> 00:26:27.269
you get a capital letter, hit the caps lock and

563
00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:30.730
then hold the A down. Keep your finger on the phone,

564
00:26:30.809 --> 00:26:33.769
slide it over to, and then that's where you get it. So,

565
00:26:34.190 --> 00:26:38.059
you know, I spelled Phoenix with a different spelling than

566
00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:40.019
the actual title. And then of course this one I

567
00:26:40.059 --> 00:26:42.079
did because, you know, it's hard to come up with

568
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:45.650
words and names nowadays without doing something different with it.

569
00:26:46.259 --> 00:26:47.880
And I kind of stumbled onto the ass letter.

570
00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:48.960
I'm like, Hey, you know what?

571
00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:51.339
I want to try using that, you know?

572
00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:54.589
So originally I had it on the first A and

573
00:26:54.609 --> 00:26:55.809
then I said, you know what, let me put it

574
00:26:55.849 --> 00:26:58.289
in the middle A because then that gives this really cool.

575
00:26:58.329 --> 00:27:01.230
It's in the middle, you know, some, some little bit

576
00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:03.710
of more symmetry kind of look going on.

577
00:27:03.789 --> 00:27:04.549
And then I.

578
00:27:04.509 --> 00:27:07.630
Decided to start using that as the branded logo. I

579
00:27:07.690 --> 00:27:11.130
call it the vertebrae. So it's like a vertebrae because

580
00:27:11.190 --> 00:27:14.490
on the bottom I have the vertebrae and I call

581
00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:16.099
it the vertebrae.

582
00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:17.859
I love the name.

583
00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:21.460
Yeah. So, then you'll hear more about that as we develop,

584
00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:22.880
you know, the, the band and stuff.

585
00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:23.079
So.

586
00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:26.440
Very cool. Well, I look forward to seeing a lot

587
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:29.299
more of you and seeing you guys out on tour

588
00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:32.799
and at festivals and, uh, big things to come. And

589
00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:37.299
thanks for finally making us this great music. That's from

590
00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:39.309
inside you and only you.

591
00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:40.450
Thank you.

592
00:27:40.789 --> 00:27:42.829
Thank you for being on the adventures of pipe, man.

593
00:27:43.650 --> 00:27:45.930
My pleasure. Pipe man, right on my brother.

594
00:27:45.950 --> 00:27:46.710
Awesome.

595
00:27:46.750 --> 00:27:46.990
Thanks.

596
00:27:47.650 --> 00:27:50.119
This is Ira Black, and you're watching The Adventures of

597
00:27:50.230 --> 00:27:51.940
Pipe Man on W4CY.

598
00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:58.319
Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pipe Man

599
00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:02.299
on W4CY Radio.