Sept. 21, 2026

The Toadies Talk Unity, Anti-Hate, and Recording With Steve Albini at Louder Than Life

Show Notes
Transcript

In this candid and engaging episode of Podcast, Pipeman sits down with Donovan Blair of The Toadies (with contributions from Mark Resnacek) at the Louder Than Life festival. The conversation dives deep into the band's anti-hate messaging, the unifying power of music, their journey with major festivals, and an intimate look at recording their latest self-financed album with legendary producer Steve Albini.Main Topics Covered

The Toadies' bold anti-Nazi stance at the festival
The role of music as a force for unity against societal division
Experiences at major festivals like Louder Than Life and Aftershock
Creating and releasing their newest album independently
Working with Steve Albini in the studio before his passing
Memorable stories from the band’s journey and career milestones

Key Discussions & StoriesAnti-Hate Messaging & Festival Environment

Pipeman expresses immediate admiration for the band's display of anti-Nazi messaging, emphasizing its personal impact and relevance, especially given current issues of antisemitism 00:44.
Discussion centers on the importance of not blaming people for the actions of leaders and the manipulative power structures at play in society 01:51, 02:15.
The concept of music festivals as unifying forces is highlighted, with a call to "get in a mosh pit and hug it out" 02:30.

The Unifying Power of Music

All agree that music transcends division; festival-goers are described as being present not for political reasons but for the shared love of music 03:13.
Reference to Kevin Seconds and the phrase: "If the kids are united, we'll never be divided," reinforcing the theme of unity through music 02:36.

Personal Inspirations and Band History

Donovan Blair reminisces about discovering Metallica and Cliff Burton’s nonconformist style, which heavily influenced his musical journey 04:33.
Discussion around the pressures of conforming to industry standards in the '80s and how the scene has evolved to embrace authenticity over image 05:03.

Touring, Festivals, & Album Promotion

The Toadies' journey to getting booked at Louder Than Life and Aftershock, and building a tour around these festivals to promote their new album 06:16.
Donovan Blair shares excitement about being welcomed to these major festivals and the stars aligning for these opportunities.

Recording the New Record with Steve Albini

The band decided to self-fund their new album after parting ways with their label, saving from their next two tours to make it happen 06:53.
Steve Albini, longtime hero and legendary producer, was chosen to record the album; the sessions took place several months before his passing 07:38.
The album was recorded live in the studio, capturing the energy and chemistry of the band playing together—something they hadn’t done since their first album, Rubberneck 09:53.
Steve Albini's approach, honesty, and wit are praised, and the positive impact he had on the album is noted 10:12, 11:03.

Memorable Career Stories

Donovan Blair highlights landing the gig with The Toadies as a defining moment, recalling the nerves and excitement of learning he'd made the band while sitting at his day job 11:49.
Mark Resnacek (as attributed) shares a story of their first national tour after recording Rubberneck, the thrill of playing a huge arena show opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the surreal experience of seeing his face on the Jumbotron 13:04, 14:12.

Notable Quotes

"If the kids are united, we'll never be divided." – Kevin Seconds, referenced by Donovan Blair 02:36.
"Make more music, make less war." 05:56
"We don't like to have our asses kissed at all. It gets us nowhere." – Donovan Blair 10:41
"All those people, left, right, red, blue, doesn't matter. We're all human beings—one race, the human race, and we need to start figuring that out so we can get rid of those assholes." – Pipeman 03:13

Resources & Links Mentioned

Louder Than Life Festival: https://louderthanlifefestival.com/
Aftershock Festival: https://aftershockfestival.com/
The Toadies official site: [No direct mention, but for reference: https://thetoadies.com/]
Producer Steve Albini (RIP): https://electricalaudio.com/

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

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This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe

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Man W4CY Radio, and I'm here with.

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Donovan Blair of the Toadies and Mark Reznicek, also of

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the Toadies.

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I love it.

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I am most excited about this interview all day because

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even though I couldn't leave my hole here to go

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to your set like I wanted to, I was watching

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it on the screen.

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Awesome.

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And when I walked out of an interview and walked up,

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the first thing I saw was the anti-Nazi shit.

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Yep. I was sold right there.

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Yeah.

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I mean, I love your music, but I wouldn't have

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cared if you sucked. Okay?

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I was sold right then and there as a Jew

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who's very upset with the anti-Semitism going on in this world.

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Yeah.

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And then I get to look up at that because

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I do a lot of festivals and I'm a little

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nervous at festivals sometimes because I sit in the crowd

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watching thing and I hear shit like death to the

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IDF and I'm like, but I'm not like that because

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I open my big mouth I was with a girl

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one time I forget which festival and we were out

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there after I was done with my interviews and this

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band was like saying all this anti-Jew shit and I

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looked at her and she was chanting with them and

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I looked at her and I'm like you do realize

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I'm a Jew right and her answer was well then

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fuck you too like what the fuck is wrong with

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this world Blame the leaders, don't blame the people.

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Yeah, there's a shitload of wrong, you know.

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Right?

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Yeah, don't blame the people, blame the leaders.

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Exactly.

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You're not making those decisions.

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You know.

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Exactly. Yeah.

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I don't get why people don't separate that nowadays, like.

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There was a point in time where we could all

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get along even though the idiots were trying to get

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us to not like each other.

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Now it works.

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Well, it works because certain dipshits are playing upon that.

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Yeah.

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That fear and that... They like that schism.

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It helps.

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Even though it's... They know it just divides people.

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Exactly. Divide and conquer. It's the oldest trick in the book. Yep.

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We need to all unite at a music festival, get

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in a mosh pit, and hug it out.

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All right.

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Kevin Second said it better. If the kids are united,

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we'll never be divided.

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That's right. And what were you going to say?

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Yeah, instead of fighting left versus right, it's like the

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rich motherfuckers up here trying to get us fighting down here.

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Exactly.

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The peons on the bottom of the totem pole. Like,

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why are they calling the shots?

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Of course.

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And I've always said... They're two sides of the same coin.

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They're all on the same team, and it ain't mine.

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And I'm talking about.

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All those people. Like, left, white, right, red, blue, doesn't matter.

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We're all human beings.

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We're one race, the human race, and we need to

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start figuring it out so we can get rid of

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those assholes.

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Right? Agreed. So, now I guess we'll talk about music. Sweet.

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But music is the unifier. That's why it's important.

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It is.

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You know?

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Yeah.

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Like.

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I don't think anybody out there right now is left

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or right, red or blue.

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No.

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They're all here for people like you.

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Exactly.

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I didn't even know I was going to do that

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right there, that rhyme. That worked out well. Just came out.

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Nice one.

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Right? Yeah.

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And I have to say, you had initially complimented me

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on my Venom shirt. But I'm more in awe of

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your Cliff Burton shirt. Thank you. As somebody that was

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at Metallica's first show ever and was there up in

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the Bay Area when Cliff made them go up there

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and join him, You know, I lived in L.A.

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Yeah.

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Them and Slayer left L.A.

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So me and my bro started hitchhiking up to the

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Bay Area to get away from the L.A.

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Scene to join the real scene in the Bay Area.

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Yeah, it's where it all started.

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Right?

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But as a kid growing up in a small shithole town,

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discovering Metallica, and at that point it was just hair metal,

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glam metal.

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Yeah.

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And my brother and I wanted to play music, but

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we didn't want to do that shit.

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You know, like, well, I guess we're going to have

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to wear spandex.

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And then Master of Puppets came out, and I saw

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Cliff Burton, and he was wearing, you know, the Canadian tuxedo,

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and his ability, and.

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The band was like, oh my god, I dress like

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this anyway.

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Great.

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You know, I don't have to change anything. That guy...

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Just a huge inspiration, you know.

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A monster he was.

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Oh, my God.

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Like, unbelievable.

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Incredible musician and bass player.

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And thank God you didn't do what I did, because

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you're still here at Lighter Than Life. But I was

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very involved in the music scene, and I wanted to

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make that my life. But I sat backstage as a

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teenager and watched all these bands get signed by record

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labels and get told, okay, now you're going to dress

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like this. This is how you're going to play your music.

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And I was like, fuck this shit. I won't pose

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out on a passion.

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Yeah.

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So I went a different direction. I came back, you know,

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but now we're a different world.

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Yeah.

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Now you go out to a place like Louder Than Life, 240,000

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people expected here this weekend, and we're all here as

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one people for one purpose, music. And it doesn't matter

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what the music is.

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It's just music.

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Yes.

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It's all it's always been.

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Make more music, make less war.

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That's it.

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That's the famous words right there. So how did it

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happen that you ended up at Latter-day Life? Because I've

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been doing the DWP festivals for years, and I was

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super excited when I saw you on the lineup here.

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We've been talking about wanting to get on these forever

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and I think just the stars aligned and our agent

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Andy and these guys have known each other forever and

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I think that they had some good slots that opened

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up and they welcomed us. They asked us if we

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wanted to do this one and Aftershock.

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I'll get to see you at Aftershock, too.

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Yeah, we said, of course, we would love to.

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And so we built a tour around these to promote

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the new record.

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It all just kind of worked out perfectly.

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And tell me about the new record.

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I'm sorry?

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And tell me about the new record.

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Yeah, we found ourselves without a label. And so we

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talked about it, and we decided to.

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Uh, skim from the top of our next two tours, um,

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save our pennies and go record an album that we

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financed ourselves. You know, we don't, we're not beholden to

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any label now. We were kind of free for the

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first time.

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Congratulations.

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So, and who do we want to record with? We

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all said Steve Albini, like we've been wanting to work

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with him for like 30 years. And, uh, So we

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called him up and, you know, it was as easy

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as that. Yeah, when are you available? So, yeah, we

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got to record with Albini, our hero, like several months

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before he died.

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Wow.

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The last thing he saw was Donnie's ass.

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Ha, ha, ha.

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That's probably what killed him.

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That's what I was about to say, okay?

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The eye of Sauron.

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Wow. What were you saying?

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Oh, no.

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We don't want that.

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No, we're good on that.

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So, how, what was it like recording the newest album? Like,

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How is it, I'm always in awe of artists like

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you that have been around for so long that can

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still write music, you know, and come up with something new.

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We went with, like, our, we're really a prolific band.

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I mean, we'll maybe go a long time without writing,

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and then all of a sudden, it's just, it starts happening.

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And usually, Vaden will start bringing riffs, you know. Some

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of the songs, one of our songs on the record

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was Rez Prada. came up with a drum beat, sent

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it to Clark. Clark wrote some riffs over it, and

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then Baden finished it up.

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And just... We worked really hard on.

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Writing it and making sure we had it before we

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went in with Steve. Because we knew it's... Once it's on,

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you know, tape, it's never coming off.

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So we wanted to.

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Also, we knew that Albini liked to record, like, the

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band live in the studio, basically.

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So we.

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really rehearse the songs, you know, to where we really

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knew them before we even went into the studio.

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Nice.

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And there's a lot of times on other albums where

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we'll have some ideas for songs and kind of work

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them out in the studio and sort of, you know,

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record a section at a time or an instrument at

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a time. But on this one, it's basically all of

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us playing together, you know, looking each other in the

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eye and playing and Steve Albini just pressing record. So

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he really captured, you know, us playing together as a band, which,

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you know, probably we haven't done since our very first

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album Rubberneck.

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I was going to say that's so old school and

220
00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:06.679
I love.

221
00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.820
It yeah he was incredibly old school and very easy

222
00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:13.049
to work with it was all on tape yeah he

223
00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:17.009
had a, Steve had a different, like a kind of

224
00:10:17.049 --> 00:10:21.649
an acerbic wit. He had a reputation that was garnered,

225
00:10:22.090 --> 00:10:26.070
you know, he was very honest guy, but we liked that.

226
00:10:26.129 --> 00:10:27.470
We like people being very.

227
00:10:27.289 --> 00:10:29.649
Honest and telling us if something's good or not and

228
00:10:29.710 --> 00:10:31.850
being basically like Steve.

229
00:10:31.889 --> 00:10:32.429
We loved him.

230
00:10:32.690 --> 00:10:35.769
I agree with that. That's somebody that's originally from the Northeast.

231
00:10:35.889 --> 00:10:39.620
It's like, If I suck, tell me I suck. Don't

232
00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.259
tell me, oh, good job.

233
00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:42.940
We want to know. We don't like to have our

234
00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:45.759
asses kissed at all. It gets us nowhere.

235
00:10:46.330 --> 00:10:47.509
It doesn't accomplish anything.

236
00:10:47.549 --> 00:10:49.750
We're not paying him to bullshit us. Right.

237
00:10:49.870 --> 00:10:53.129
It doesn't accomplish anything good, and I'd rather know where

238
00:10:53.190 --> 00:10:53.789
I stand.

239
00:10:54.110 --> 00:10:56.789
I mean, if I suck, then it's not going to

240
00:10:56.809 --> 00:10:57.649
be good for the album.

241
00:10:58.070 --> 00:10:58.669
Exactly.

242
00:10:58.730 --> 00:11:00.269
We've got to know. Oh, well, then I need to

243
00:11:00.309 --> 00:11:01.600
make it better. You know?

244
00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:02.659
A hundred percent.

245
00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:02.899
Yeah.

246
00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.679
So it was a treat to work with Steve.

247
00:11:05.830 --> 00:11:06.299
It really was.

248
00:11:06.330 --> 00:11:08.610
We learned a lot. And I think it made the

249
00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:10.710
album even better.

250
00:11:11.009 --> 00:11:11.370
You know?

251
00:11:11.830 --> 00:11:13.950
So, yeah. It was just a great experience.

252
00:11:15.049 --> 00:11:18.490
One story, good or bad, from both of you, in

253
00:11:18.529 --> 00:11:21.269
this whole musical journey, what sticks.

254
00:11:21.110 --> 00:11:22.289
Out in your mind most?

255
00:11:25.789 --> 00:11:26.750
You go first. Steve?

256
00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:29.000
From Steve?

257
00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.110
No. Your whole musical journey. Oh, God.

258
00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.019
My whole musical career.

259
00:11:34.470 --> 00:11:37.509
Huh. Yeah, see, that one makes you think.

260
00:11:37.529 --> 00:11:39.289
I would say getting the gig.

261
00:11:39.330 --> 00:11:41.669
Yeah. Louder than life?

262
00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:45.730
Yes. This moment right here.

263
00:11:45.750 --> 00:11:47.389
This moment right here.

264
00:11:47.409 --> 00:11:48.240
Right here.

265
00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:49.200
Right now.

266
00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:54.480
Getting in the band. Finding out about it and practicing.

267
00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.539
And then going and just feeling that I botched it. Like, well,

268
00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:02.500
didn't get that gig. And the next day they called

269
00:12:02.539 --> 00:12:05.970
me at my job. I was in my khakis at

270
00:12:06.029 --> 00:12:10.169
my desk, you know, in a cubicle. And they called

271
00:12:10.210 --> 00:12:13.220
me and... They were talking to me and saying, so

272
00:12:13.820 --> 00:12:18.509
we made a decision, like, okay, and we're all.

273
00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:22.820
Going to go have lunch. Like, hey, here's the deal, man.

274
00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:25.759
If I got the gig, tell me, because I got

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00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:26.399
work to do.

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00:12:26.990 --> 00:12:28.870
Or not, because I'm going to get in trouble. I

277
00:12:28.889 --> 00:12:30.029
got to keep my job.

278
00:12:30.350 --> 00:12:31.190
Right. Yeah.

279
00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:33.350
So I should have known what was coming down the

280
00:12:33.389 --> 00:12:34.409
pipe forever.

281
00:12:34.529 --> 00:12:35.309
Right.

282
00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:36.850
I had them fucking with me. But it was a

283
00:12:36.870 --> 00:12:38.850
great moment, you know. I think that's one of the

284
00:12:38.870 --> 00:12:39.509
coolest moments.

285
00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:42.309
That's the chemistry, though, when you fuck with people.

286
00:12:42.389 --> 00:12:42.830
Oh, yeah.

287
00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:44.230
I always say, if.

288
00:12:44.250 --> 00:12:45.909
I don't fuck with you, I don't like you.

289
00:12:46.730 --> 00:12:48.029
Oh, I think we like each other.

290
00:12:48.049 --> 00:12:49.649
Right?

291
00:12:49.889 --> 00:12:50.110
Right.

292
00:12:50.490 --> 00:12:50.809
Exactly.

293
00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:53.480
Oh, man.

294
00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:58.740
Now you had some time. You should have one by now.

295
00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:08.830
Okay, I kind of remember this moment. After we recorded Rubberneck,

296
00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:12.990
then we went on tour, and we'd never really done

297
00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:18.139
a tour before. We'd played around Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana. But

298
00:13:18.179 --> 00:13:23.129
this was like a full-on national tour. We're in a

299
00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:26.929
van and everything. We're having the time of our lives.

300
00:13:26.970 --> 00:13:30.389
Never been to most of these cities. So then cut

301
00:13:30.450 --> 00:13:34.120
to like two years later, and our record has already

302
00:13:34.149 --> 00:13:37.899
gone gold. It was on the way to going platinum.

303
00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:43.200
And we're opening a tour for the Red Hot Chili Peppers,

304
00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.100
who were red hot at the time.

305
00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:48.779
Pun intended.

306
00:13:49.019 --> 00:13:52.360
The first show of the tour was at.

307
00:13:53.899 --> 00:13:57.490
The hockey arena in Chicago that I can't think of

308
00:13:57.570 --> 00:14:02.830
right now. Playing to this huge expanse of people, larger

309
00:14:02.870 --> 00:14:07.000
than I'd ever played in front of before. And we're playing,

310
00:14:07.059 --> 00:14:10.440
and I looked up, and there's the Jumbotron up there

311
00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:13.820
with my face. Every time the camera was on me,

312
00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:17.590
it was me smiling, looking up at the fucking Jumbotron

313
00:14:17.730 --> 00:14:18.110
up there.

314
00:14:19.330 --> 00:14:19.830
Nice.

315
00:14:21.450 --> 00:14:24.250
The hick from the country in the big time all

316
00:14:24.289 --> 00:14:24.850
of a sudden.

317
00:14:24.870 --> 00:14:29.000
Oh, my God. That was an amazing feeling, though. And

318
00:14:29.049 --> 00:14:34.190
probably also like, oh, shit. You know, you see that.

319
00:14:34.509 --> 00:14:37.899
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's great. I didn't know that one.

320
00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:40.419
Well, there you go.

321
00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:41.220
That's awesome.

322
00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:41.820
It's amazing.

323
00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:45.830
Well, I'm super excited you're here at Lowriden Lake. I

324
00:14:45.850 --> 00:14:46.990
almost said Aftershock.

325
00:14:48.570 --> 00:14:50.179
In a few weeks. It's coming up.

326
00:14:50.429 --> 00:14:53.399
But yeah, now I'll just record and I'll just take

327
00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:56.539
the same interview and I'll edit out this and I'll

328
00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:59.899
put in Aftershock and we can have two interviews for

329
00:14:59.960 --> 00:15:00.460
both festivals.

330
00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:01.419
Aftershock.

331
00:15:02.980 --> 00:15:03.399
Right?

332
00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:09.000
Just splice it in. Aftershock.

333
00:15:10.210 --> 00:15:10.500
So.

334
00:15:11.659 --> 00:15:15.370
Louder than life. You guys rock. I love that you

335
00:15:15.389 --> 00:15:21.090
had the anti-Nazi shit. Especially since tonight's Yom Kippur.

336
00:15:21.389 --> 00:15:21.690
Yeah.

337
00:15:21.809 --> 00:15:24.350
At sundown's Yom Kippur. It would have been even better

338
00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:26.509
if you were playing at sundown and that was there.

339
00:15:26.529 --> 00:15:28.820
Right. Like, that would have been so cool, right?

340
00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:29.620
No shit.

341
00:15:29.659 --> 00:15:29.919
Exactly.

342
00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:33.419
So, thanks a lot for being on Adventures of Pipe Man.

343
00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:35.159
We appreciate you. Thank you so much.

344
00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:35.860
My pleasure.

345
00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.610
Hey, this is Mark from the Toadies, and you're listening

346
00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:40.509
to The Pipe Man on W4CY Radio.

347
00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:49.870
Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pikeman on

348
00:15:49.889 --> 00:15:50.330
W4CY Radio.

The Toadies Talk Unity, Anti-Hate, and Recording With Steve Albini at Louder Than Life

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