PipemanRadio Interviews The Union Underground at Welcome To Rockville 2025

0:04 Hi, you love them too? Yes, that's shirt wow for you young. Welcome to Rockville, North America's largest rock festival is finally here. This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm here with Taz with the Union Underground guitar player. And I'm bones I played drums for the Union Underground. Nice. You guys have the honor of being the only band that I will ever wear in this whole festival that I've worn a shirt of a band that's playing at the festival because I have this rule like I don't want to do interviews and play somebody and wear somebody else's shirt that's playing at the festival. But because he gave me the shirt at blue Ridge rock Stock, it's Woodstock with a blue Ridge Rock Fest. Yeah I know that, but I think of Woodstock ninety nine. I hear you, Oh my god. But yeah, So we did an interview there and he gave me this shirt. So I'm like, that's awesome. I gotta wear it.

1:10 And besides, you guys are bad ass. Thanks for that. How did feel being here at Welcome to Rockville? In the Daytona Speedway. It's like a bucket list thing for me? Right? Yeah? Did you drive on the speedway? We did? What was that mean for you in the bus trove? Yeah? No, I'm still waiting for my golf cart ride. I'm sorry. Yeah, I got the call the golf cart ride off. You got it? Go take out seven dus. So that was right. Yeah, yesterday when I was on wing the golf cart rides, we got detoured and we went up through the pit stop. So we did a little bit up a wall. Not that. Did you see that vertical wall? Yeah? Oh my god, not walk up that? Yeah, so funny, I know, funny sort. I had my skateboard and my jeep out there, and I'm always every year thinking like, when the festival's over, I'm gonna go ride that wall.

2:01 But then I think I am not sixteen, and I will break every bone in my body on that wall. Good Champ, I mean you can't even stand on it. Oh you know you have to go eighty miles per hour to hit that wall. You got a vehicle that can do it, you know the right tires. You guys could drive my jeep. I'll toe on the skateboard and you get me up to eight miles per hour and I'm all right, that'd be right, yeah, and we film it. Okay, it could be in your next video. Yeah, I think. I'll surf with the sharks on Daytona Beach. Oh, it's funny, you should It's funny you should say that because I am a surfer. Number one awesome. Number two.

2:42 I live in south Bard and literally a couple of days before coming in as festival, I was paddle boarding and I went like way out in the ocean and I was just sitting there chilling, like I got away from the world, and like just chill and I look down and five bull sharks swim. Round eat under me. I'm like, no, okay, it's time to go back and paddle back to shore. If anything happens to you, let's say you die, would just be like, turn me on, mister did man. There you go. I love it. That'll be the Thieves song while you skateboard wearing the Underground shirt. Be like, we got the whole video, guy, right, we gotta do it, we gotta do it for sure.

3:24 There you go. So you got a lot of shit. Coming up the rest of the year, including more Danny Wimmer. Yeah, her nation louder than life. Yeah, and then we got a tour that we're headlining and spine Shank. Yeah, they've gone back together, so joined cohline tour with them a front. We've got a DMA and in a band called six Cents Wow. And we start that in July in Texas. Of all things, we start in Texas and then go through Illinois and. Colorado, Colorado. Yeah. Yeah, we've got three weeks, four weeks of touring nice and take a little break and then we'll be back again in September. And now it's going to be a longer run, which is the second but and that'll be with Spineshake again.

4:08 We don't know who else is going to be on that, but that'll be. Like what East coast, it's an East coast run. Like Midwest East Coast. Well, it'll be extended. Are going to be a Florida dates besides rock Fille. Oh no, yeah, we're hoping. But we've got incarceration Louder than Life and that's what the fault. Towards going to lead towards louder than life. Have you done ink before incarceration? Have you done it first time? For me? I don't know about you be the first time for all of us. Okay, oh it's bad ass. Okay, I've been doing it for years, and so my daughter'll call me every week and she'll be like, tell you excited about this festival? Is? I love doing it? But I don't know if you go every week if you're really excited. But then when I did Ink standing in the prison yard of Shawshank and I call her up and I'm like, now I'm excited.

4:58 Yeah. Well Elgia soccer night version of that with like sit not and dude, it's gonna be holy shit. Yeah. And then the. Cool thing like when we play a lot of them live, it's Spike Chank it's not and like Stabbing Westward like dude, it's all the new industrial metal like that. It's so cool. And I love Louder than Life. I love the media artist lounge there. It's like really cool and intimate and fun. By chance, is it a luck? Well it is Louisville. I'm from the northeast, so I can't say the fucking town where. I can't say the Loullville. But you don't know, it's bipolar there, like it can either be super hot or super cold.

5:43 That's like Phoenix. Like I live in Arizona and we have bipolar weather. It's either gonna be cold or it's gonna be hot, or there's like a freaking haboo coming, which is like the Terminator at the end of the movie. It's just like this student. Seriously, man if it's like this cloud of just dirt and sand and when it hits you's. Just like kaboom. Yeah, and you can't see anything. Seriously. That's the worst festival dust ever right there. We need to do a dust bo in Arizona. I know, right, Daddy Wemmer needs to do the dust bow there it is, That's what we could call it. That would be so cool. Listen, we already have playing Burning Man. Yeah, funny enough. I've never been to Burning Man.

6:25 I've been to like every I got festivals in the UK, Europe, and it's. Been on tour a lot of times where I've actually caught people on fire. So it's it's hilario goo that you have your own Burning Man did bakery. We were allowed to do things. You might have burned on stage today we were close. Oh yeah, well we burned the States down to Yeah, you didn't mean much with this heat. Yeah, okay, like you had to definitely assist it. Son, Yeah, it's we were a four burning man on stage. Yeah, yeah, we brought the burning Man. We did. I'm going to tell you a secret. It's funny because somebody in media here I can't mention who, okay, but was getting the reports of like who has Pyro?

7:06 And it came up that you guys had Pyro and they were like who has Pyro? During the middle of the day and I'm like, Union Underground that's who. Of course we don't mess around, Yeah dude, we brought it. It's all or nothing. But yeah, yeah, we're. Like, this is our first time and we're gonna we're on a main stage it up and we're gonna blow it up. Yeah. I love it. One story good or bad in this whole musical journey, what would you tell your grandkids? Good? Oh, good? Or bad? Today alone was amazing in itself. I would say today is like awesome because the Union, like we got to finally play.

7:48 But playing with my friends, yeah dude, and yeah, playing with your friends on stage and half Pyro? Right, what's better than that? There's nothing better? Then? That's good too. I forgot tonight. I got a cage and I was gonna put like literally those forks with the marshballows like on my cage while the fire was on. And when we were done, I was just gonna throw them in the crowd. Dude. So that was a good but that was a bad part. I didn't get to do that. You should have done it, maybe, Okay, save it back next year, save that for incarceration. Yeah, yeah, we're gonna bring fire right, Oh, yes we are.

8:29 We will din't regardless, we. Spoke about that today. We're gonna have to fave teeth. You know what too. You're gonna be like Johnny Cash because sometimes the inmates at the prison next stoor, Oh yeah, are out in the yard while bands are performing. Oh wow, so totally yeah, I've seen. So how cool would that be? Like you're playing like Johnny Cash to a bunch of inmates making their fucking whole life. You might have to do some Johnny Cash maybe, Oh there you go? Now you that to do Falalsome prison? Yeah, yeah, that'd be so cool. And it even has san and tone, which is what. Oh that's true. I didn't even think of that. That's it.

9:11 You gotta do it, Okay. Fire sant and tone the Union on the ground, T shirt dead turned me on, mister dead man and what else? Glass of water? A glass of yellow water to throw at the crowd. With ice. Mart. Well, you know what, dude, you know what. Somebody had posted on the Rockville that they wanted some girl panties to. Buy, and I was gonna. I actually offered to give them my leopard printed panties, not panties but like boxers. Yeah yeah, but no, taker was not diy. Do you put it up on the socials?

9:53 I tried on the only fans you ship open them, only fans. I put it on there that you happened right there. Yeah, No, they don't want mine, they want Brian's. They they don't. The drummers don't get on. Tommy Lee and you wear the leopard you there, you go? Yeah it works. Yeah, Tommy Lee, his instagram is so funny sometimes some of the ship he does. And I knew him back in the day because I grew up in Jersey and my dad moved me to California in nineteen eighty. Nice. Okay, what perfect timing. So it gets right there right yeah.

10:34 And my first club show ever in life was Motley Crue at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip before they even had an album, so they. Weren't clam They were actually like. Horror punk at the time, and they were trying, like you, they were trying to light the Roxy on fire to bring Satan in and like I was like, after that was like, I'm never going to a real concert ever. Again. That was the coolest shit ever. I'm gonna tell you a cool story. So for me, the reason I became a rock star was just because the Gene Simmons, Yeah, drums, but it was kissed and then dude, and it was motley because Nikki lit his boots on fires.

11:19 Yeah, and that made me want to be. The rock star. And then when Axel gets off the bus and Welcome to the Jungle, I was like, yes, I gotta. Go to Hollywood. There is actually Yeah, I'm gonna throw some I got to play with with Nikki in six Am. And beautiful videos and that video is one that's one of my favorite songs. That song. I love that. That's great. It was like full circles, Okay, you want to go really full. Circle two thousands going dude, like Nikki, I'm gonna video with Nikki? What you know what I mean. When I was a kid, like real like playing drums in my bedroom, going man, I can imagine like playing with me one day or something or whatever. And then we're shooting the video and nikkisay, my right, and I'm going, how did this happen?

12:04 That's the story right there. And then he goes knuckles man, and I was like. What mewho. Here's the funniest thing where we could tie this all together is that I'm also a motivational speaker and my old theme song for my motivational podcast was life is Beautiful. I use that as the intro. So they're tied it all together. It works with some great people, toun man, we could go for days. Let's hear it days, Let's hear it, brother, let's hear it. The eighties guys, for sure. I was on the Sunset Strip doing that stuff too. I played in Cherry Street. I had Eric Turner and Tommy Thorp produced my first record, Nice, so that was cool, and we toured around.

12:45 We did the eighties thing and the Nirvana think yeah, shut it now, I know that gig Sunset strip. We had like top ten on Gazaris spans going out about Hollywood. We had a star on that wall. Wow, that star is on my wall at home right now. I love that. Bill Gazari put that up there and we had indoctrinated whatever you want to call it at Gazari's. That star is actually on my wall from the eighties. I fucking love that. Saying something. I'm getting goosebults right now. Yeah, I mean just being a part of that. Scene and all that the bowl with the war guys and all that stuff is super cool for me. Yeah, listen, I feel that anybody didn't experience that eighties scene, man, they missed out. Like, I'm so glad like how things turned out, because I have so many fucking stories, most of them. You know how it is if you were in the Sunset Strip on the eighties and you remember you weren't really there.

13:42 Yeah, but yeah, all that shit thousands and I still vaguely remember. I just remember, like the bowl and walking in and then not walking out, and waking up the next day going oh oh. I used to go to Metallica shows. Rooftop somewhere in the past out. Yeah, I used to go Metallica shows in the very beginning when there was like only twenty five of us showing up, and then you would go to their house afterwards and party all night long. I'd pick my friends up in the bushes. I was at that party when this is a bad one. But when Vince. Left with Razzle, Yeah yeah, that sucked. Wow. Yeah. And now I go over to a rainbow, I'm like, I look like, how the fuck did I ever get in here? At fifteen years old, I'm like, oh, yeah, I was walking over with Motley Crue in there.

14:31 You aren't the only one exactly. I listened as females and males. I'm guessing. Oh yeah, that's the beauty. Here's the beauty as a teenage boy. Yeah, whether you liked Motley Crue or not, you wanted to hang around with them because they had so much overflow that you were getting late. Oh yeah, craze. They couldn't handle all of them. Oh yeah, it's a time. They can never be recreated at the end of the day. Oh, no doubt, he's on the SENSA strip can never be recreated. Oh, it just is what it is. You'll get canceled if you do. Oh my god, I think of so many things that would get canceled from those days. I'm glad we had them absolutely, And this, by way is my battle vest from the eighties.

15:11 I know, I thought this, man, wow, So I had a I had my gene vest and in the back I was in seventh grade. I literally drew Anthrax ANX. I have Anthrax on here too. I just saw it and look, Layer didn't even have a patch yet. So I went and got these viol entering and in La people thought I was a gang banger and that was my gang name. And then so I was just doing ship Rocks Suicidal Tennessee before and. I drew that before. They were crossover, my favorite band. So you can see. I have all the bands too that I couldn't go see because I was a long hair, So like I couldn't go see Suicide, you got your ass beat, I couldn't go see and you couldn't go to punk shows.

15:58 And so it's a trippy time voivod from when Newstead was in vo the first. Time by your cagel. Dude. Yeah, I just interviewed Jeane the other day because they have a new album. I'm so first right next to those guys. Do you have any You have King Diamond on here? No better? He wasn't King Diamond yet Merciful Fate and do you remember bitch? I don't think I have her on here, but she was fucking That was a great show. Hers in my longer room right now. Nice, Nice, Okay, So. I got a great story for you, because have you ever seen that picture of Lars He's fifteen wearing an Armored Saint shirt holding a guitar.

16:45 It's like a Saint. So I've been friends with them since the very beginning. Okay, so my second club show, I went to band magazine and I saw this sing for Halloween and it was Wasp, Armored Sat and this band Headshaker. Who knows whatever happened to them, but I was like, oh, these guys look cool. And so I went to that first show and then I became like good friends with Armored Saint. From that Chris Holmes. I used to hang out with him at the mall and so. That's probably interesting. Oh yeah, total will, that's im. He would hang out. I know it was actually me him and Mick Mahers really well yeah, but Armored saying they didn't have a merch yet, and Joey and I have been friends for all these years and he brought it up an interview.

17:34 The partum about tell you I didn't even know, but it basically we went up to me and Mike bro We were like fifteen, like, hey, you guys don't have a merch do you mind if we make some T shirts and some buttons and sell them at your shows. We'll give you fifty percent. There's like sure. So Joey and I are talking about He goes, yeah, you were our merch, first merch company. He goes, I'm going to tell you something that you probably don't know. You know that, and it's about that picture that's your shirt. I'm like, your fucking game me, I don't even have it anymore. He doesn't either, why but he does. Joey tells me he's got And I've interviewed Lars's kids at one of the DWP festivals and I told him the story and they're like, yeah, he probably does have it because he has this big, like shrine closet of everything throughout the whole all the clothes.

18:24 He's ever had. He's got all the clothes he's ever had from that whole time. It's been a pleasure. You guys rock and you rocked Rockville and thanks a lot for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man on W for CUI Radio.