Story of the Year at Download XXIII Donington Park - PipemanRadio Interview

0:04 Hi, you love done to censure? Wow, cra you you. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio and I'm here with. Dan from Story of the Year. Nice here download at download. We're on the other side of the of the pond. As they say, yeah, I think I'm stalking you, like we did a Whimmer festival. I'm like, they're so fucking good. I'm good. I gotta go to download just so I can. It's like, wait, he's not He's not English. I know this guy. Yeah, it's good though. We're happy to be here. We've never played download, which is weird. It's a legendary you know show, and we've done a lot of festivals.

0:49 But yeah, we're excited to be here finally. So that is so cool to hear, because because you know, I love when somebody plays a festival for the first time, because like it's exciting, right, you know, it's like my daughter show every before every festival should be like, so dead, are you excited about this festival? I'm like, well, well, I do it every weekend. I don't know if excited. It's the right Yeah, I love doing it. Yeah, but I don't know if it exciting. And then the first time I did Incarceration, which i'll be doing again in July, which is at Shawshang Prison, I called her out. I've not done that. That'd be awesome. You gotta do that, that's cool, And so I called her from the prison yard. I'm like, now I'm excited.

1:31 I'm on the prison yard of Shawshang. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, See that location is is kind of everything. It's like if you get to see something cool while you're there, because other than that, the backstage at all these festivals it's pretty similar. You know. It's like like cool under a tent in somewhere in the middle of nowhere I don't know. Yet, right, and then there actually there's a new prison the next door. So you're like Johnny Cash when you're a band, because there's prisoners out in the yard hearing your show. Oh wow, that's awesome, right, would that be cool? Definitely? Yeah. I mean I've heard a lot about that one. But yeah, hopefully we'll get to do that one soon. There you go, I think you will. And so tell me about the microphone tattoo. Oh yeah, that caught my eye only because you know, I got in nineteen ninety eight.

2:16 Really it was one of my first tattoos. Yeah, yeah, ninety eight, done by a guy at his house who. Was on all kinds of drugs and just like just a guy. You don't want to do tattoos, But in those days it was you know, I was I was just newly eighteen, so I could have went to it. It's my shock, but I didn't have any money. I was like, hey, like forty bucks, will you tattoo me? He was like yeah, man, got you man, come over to my house. It's just like a crack house, just insane. But but yeah, I knew that I loved music, so it's still very fitting. You know, say, look that I picked that one out. It is good, like going way back in the history. Yeah, it's fun. And I love old shitty tattoos. You know. It's like people are like, you regret anything. I'm like, no, It's like I love the bad ones just as much is the good ones. You know.

3:01 I love the tattoo that says no regirts. Yeah, that's amazing. I've seen people get that ironically after that movie ca Yeah, yeah, on purpose. Yeah, that's it's funny. Like I have a bunch of fun stuff on my leg I called the dumb leg, you know, just like tour tattoos and stuff you get with your friends. And I have a beer being poured into a van's shoe from in Australia. They do shoies where you drink beer out of a shoe, and so I got that tattooed on my leg because I'm an idiot. But you know, it's fun. You gotta have fun. It's like you're it's your whole story for more than a year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's uh yeah, it's just memories sin it's the time of your life and it's it's cool. So you know what I want. What I have to say too, is your new music. Oh my fucking god, it's like the best music you've done yet.

3:48 Thank you. Yeah, our new album Arson. We're very happy with it. And you know that's our goal. After twenty something years, it's like we don't want to just keep only dwelling on the hit song that we did twenty three years ago. You know, it's like we are really striving to put out the best music we can still and to still be relevant in the scene in some way. And uh, because it gets real boring. To just look backwards all the time. So you know, we're always moving forward and trying to put out good stuff. And you know, I think we really have done it very fairly well on the last couple releases, and you know, it's showing and it's picking up again with the fans, and that's all you can ask for. Well, Yeah, I think about like as a ours, what a great feeling like you know, you go into twenty twenty six, a couple of your most popular songs are from two thousand and three, yep, and then you come out with this new music and all of a sudden, it's like blowing away that old stuff.

4:40 Yeah, it's cool because you know, it's great to have both. You know, it's like I will never complain about having you know, hit songs twenty three years ago or whatever. That's an amazing feeling. And to play until the day I die every show, it's always a great thing. You know. It's like to see the connection with the people. But yeah, Gasoline off of our new record as is the high charting radio song that we've had since two thousand and three or four exactly, which is wild and it's one of the heaviest songs on the new record, and it's like radio has changed so much, and yeah, just to have that connection again, and like even in some fashion, I don't care if Wherever the biggest band on the planet, but I just want to keep doing this forever, you know, until the day I die literally, So yeah.

5:21 So it's just awesome to have that happening. And you know, I do think of that, like as an artist, it's like, it's so hard to put out new music, especially when you're like music from the very beginning is what people hold on to, Yeah, because people are so resistant, you know, yes, And you know it's like it's so hard as an artist to put out new music and people to want to have you play it live. Yeah, and I'll tell you what, Dasoline, that fucking thing will make this whole place rock. Yeah, it's been going over great live and it's such a fun song all around. So you know, I think it just was a good I don't know, we got lucky that it's just happened to be one of the catchier songs. But it's a heavy, fun ass song. But I get it. Like I'm the same way with bands.

6:09 You know, you don't always want to hear newer stuff, because the songs that you grew up with at a certain it's like the tattoo thing. It's like a time in your life. It's it's you grew up at this time listening to these songs, and nothing's gonna beat that memory. You know. It's like I get that. You know, even for us writing Page Avenue was a whole different experience than what we're doing now musically. But so I get the nostalgia of certain things. But when both can work out, it's great. Well that's my point. I got it too. Like you take bands like Slayer, Yeah, I went to their first show ever, so to me, their best album show No Mercy. You know, I remember watching that Metal Show one time and Kirk was rating all the Metallica albums, and of course you know which one he rated last, kill them All, Okay, you know, because it wasn't really his music. Okay, you know he played on it.

6:57 Yeah, but it was a lot of Dave. But but to me, that's my favorite Metallic album. That doesn't mean I don't like the other ones. Yeah, But it's like like you said, it's the nostalgia. It's been memories. It's it's a great time in your life, you know, but you just created another great time in your life. That's the way I look at it. Yeah, yeah, and yeah. And it changes over time as well. You know, ten years from now, people will look back at that one and be like, oh, they were putting out way better stuff ten years ago. Whatever. Problem. But as long as you can keep you know, producing meaningful stuff that is connecting in some way, I think that makes people love the older stuff even more, and you know, and then that becomes the classic eventually. And yeah, it's there's no rule.

7:39 It's gotta be a lot of fun too to play new music, because. It keeps it exciting, keeping it crash. You play, Like if you're playing the same song thirty million times, you may still love doing it, but not the same as one you're playing for the first time. Absolutely. Yeah, it feels like a new band almost now because our last two records were playing. Half of our set is from our last two or you know, the two latest records now and then like three or four from the first record, and it's like that's cool, Like half of ours set is a different, completely different band technically, you know, twenty years apart. So and you know what, but I see the connection, but it all makes the evolving. Yeah, it's it. I always talk about artists want to be a better musician, a better artist. You don't want to stay a garage band because you didn't really you weren't really to yourself as a critic good at your craft yet.

8:27 Yeah, yeah, that's the weirdest thing. Yeah. There, we're twenty times the musicians now that we were twenty five years ago. But there's something about being young and dumb that just you put out some of the best sad Yeah. It's yeah, you got to. Anger and it's just a different you know, you got that something that that youth in you, but you can capture it again and you know. So that's why I want to ask, is what do you think was the spark that created this new album, because it's hard to come up with new material after that many years. Yeah, well, we've been we've. Been experimenting with writing with other people. Nowadays, it's still like always stems from Ryan'll start with a riff and then we get in a room with usually like one or two with our producer and maybe one other guy, and we'll just switch it out and just to bring in a different perspective. It's been really fun.

9:14 Like we don't go in and like have somebody write our songs or anything, but it's really fun to sit down and see what direction other people will see us going in with a certain song, and just like when you try something, just to have their input and be like, yeah, do more of that, Like why don't you scream like that all the time? Like on Gasoline, I would hit that thing on the verse and they were like, yeah, do that the whole time. Just I was like, yeah, well, I don't want to scream too much because then it's like, can't scream all the time And people are like, no, do that, and I. Was like, cool, yes, do it. Yeah. Outside perspective has really helped us out a lot on the last couple of records, just keeping it, keeping the energy going and steering us in the right direction to where we need to be. So my last question is, since we're talking about your tats, do you have a favorite tattoo? I love the skateboard that's confiscated.

9:58 Yeah, that one is that's like it's hard to see nowadays, but yes, it's I have skating destroying my shirt too. I saw that too. I love that. Yeah, that was one of my favorites. It's very hard to show that to people. I love the ship I got over here. My newest, one of my newest is that one he says, until the day I die, If you're gonna get something big on your neck, it better be something meaningful. And I'm like, well, until the day I dies. Pretty much most of my life is that song. So see, I gotta get the other side done now too. But I don't know what's gonna equal that one, but but yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe good idea, but yeah. I don't know. I love them all for different reasons. Like I said, I love the dumb the dumb microphone done in a crackheads bedroom too. Uh, they're all great.

10:38 Me and my wife got matching hand tattoos because we call each other babe. So nice on our twentieth anniversary. So you know, they're all. They all have meaning in some way. I'll tell you what. That says a lot too, to have a twenty year adversary when you're in music. Yeah. Yeah, she was our merch girl back in the day and then we've been together forever, so. Wow, that's that's see, that's a cool love. Yeah, And I know it's in your shirt. Because of course I'm a Metallica fan, but I'm also a skateboarder. I have three skateboards. Nice, I have my trickboard, my longboard. I even have I have this thing it's a stick where for the long board. So it's kind of like you're paddle boarding. Okay, I think I've seen that. It's a full workout, man, it's serious. And then I have a surf skate you know about those kind of because I'm a surfer and most of the time in Florida the water's flat. Yeah, so it allows you to surf on land because the truck's in the front. Like you don't kick carving, Yes, you carve and pump just like you went on board. And it is very different.

11:43 Like I've been skateboarding for I'm fifty nine since I'm like twelve. Yeah that's me. I'm only forty five. But yeah, it's already harder now, but I would I'm trying to get into like longboarding and like cruising more because that's still fun. Yeah, first time I got this surf skate, I ate ship and I never wear a helmet, never wear pads, and my doors like what you want for Hanukkah, like this year. I'm like, you're not gonna believe I'm saying this, but I think I want to skate helmet and some wrist pads and elbow pads because I just ate ship on my new skate. You know. So there it is. Well, man, it. Was cool to come over across the pond to.

12:24 See you, and uh, thanks for being. Here doing inc incarceration. Someday Danny put them on incarceration. You know, you got just like Piller if we just. Like we have a silly goose here. That's who Danny discovered. So yeah, I hear a lot about them. Oh man, do you know how they got here? No? Not really. Oh they crashed a Wimmer festival like old school punks. Really. Yeah, they pulled up their. Trailer and saw something about that in the parking lot. I was there, and Wimmer was out in the park watching them play like arm folder. He put them on stage the next step. That's awesome, right, Like that's the dream.

13:05 That's amazing. Yeah, so incarceration just we'll work on it. Just tell Danny you want to go to prison. Yeah, I've done enough to send me to jail. Send me there. Just for fun. Instead, there it is, and that's where you could get that new tattoo. That's yeah, prison tats. Let's do it, let's do it well. Thanks for being on the Adventures pipe Man once again. No problem, Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man on w for CUI Radio.