Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: It's not just us we'd have to conquer.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: We've got folk singers, rappers and punkers, everyone taking care of one another.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Welcome to the Unsigned Unwind. I'm andy Scullen of unsigned 518 and what this show is, it's my attempt to reach out to bands in local pockets across the US and Canada and find out a little bit more about all the great local music that is throughout this land and not just what is right here in my backyard. So the way this show works is that Angela Taranjo, who is the showrunner, she does all the outreach, all the incoming correspondence with most of the bands and we'll just, we set up a day that I'm going to record and she will set up Google calendars and I will, on that day I'll be like, all right, at noon I'm talking to this person. At, you know, 12:30, I'm talking to this person. And basically all I usually know is the name of the person I'm calling, a phone number obviously, and a band name if applicable. A lot of the times, most of the times I have no idea even what part of the US or Canada they're even calling from. So that's kind of the joy of it. I find out at the same time you're finding out and then we'll listen to a song. So we're going to get right directly into it. And I'm going to be talking with Pete of an outfit called Missiles to Malta. So let's go to the phone and say hi to Pete. What's up, Pete?
[00:01:44] Speaker C: Hey, Andy, how are you?
[00:01:45] Speaker A: I'm fantastic. So we talked a little bit before we got rolling and basically I know just the name of your band, I know your first name and I knew your phone number. And now I'm just basically going to find out a little bit about on what you got going on. So the name of your band is Missiles to Malta?
[00:02:03] Speaker C: Yep. Yeah, we're Missiles to Malta. We're a three piece, like, I guess power pop band from Danbury, Connecticut.
So it's me, Pete. I play bass. My drummer's name is John and the singer and vocalist, or the singer, guitarist is Devin.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: Okay. And how long have you guys been a band?
[00:02:27] Speaker C: I think since 2021. So it's like three or four years somewhere in there.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: Nice. And I mean, I guess, you know, not like how would you describe, but like in an elevator pitch, say like, you know, just like a little bit about what the style of music or what you, what you play.
[00:02:47] Speaker C: Gotcha. Yeah, I think stylistically we're pretty varied. I think we fall under the umbrella of like indie rock, whatever the that means anymore, but like influence from all over the place. Our guitarist is like super into like the Birds and a bunch of like 60s style, like rock and pop. And John and I draw more from like punk and post punk.
So we were.
One of the things I like best about our band is, is the like sort of breadth of what we do.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean that actually like I'm in a band and it's kind of similar, like I bring like a punk vibe to it. And our other guitarist and singer, he's more of a classic rock thing, but it does make an interesting blend, you know?
[00:03:37] Speaker C: Yeah, it's cool.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: And so you said Danbury, Connecticut, right?
[00:03:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: And is that like primarily where you, where you do shows? Like, do you, do you travel outside of the area? Do you stick kind of local?
[00:03:51] Speaker C: We've been, we've been sticking kind of local lately and there's actually like a bunch of really cool bands in, in the Danbury area in western Connecticut in general. Like here in Danbury, there's some really sick young acts coming up. Like Impound and Arclide are both really cool. India, the Terry's is a cool hardcore act. There's a whole bunch of hardcore acts around here actually that are all really, really sick if you're into that stuff.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: And do you find that's a fun scene? Do you find that like the Danbury scene is like supportive of like local original music? Like, are there a lot of like different venues to play? Like people, everybody knows each other. Is it a scene like that?
[00:04:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I think the scene is pretty tight knit and, and close. It's a little bit weird for us because we're a little bit older, but.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Yeah, there's like how old are you?
[00:04:49] Speaker C: We're like, we're like middle aged dudes, like late 30s.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: Oh, late 30s. Oh, wow. I'm 51 and I'm in.
[00:04:57] Speaker C: I'm in. Our drummer is 52, so.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: And I'm not the only 50 and over person in my band, so. Yeah, I love that. I love that.
[00:05:08] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's, it's fun but like you, you know, it's, it, it feels sometimes a little bit weird playing with like young kids. Playing two young kids.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:18] Speaker C: Being like an old guy, but like what the fuck are you gonna do? That's what it is.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: And playing it like sometimes like playing at bars doesn't feel as much like that because you know, it's an older Crowd, even if it's a younger band. But there's like a kind of a diy, Like, I'm out in, like, the Albany, New York area, and there's, like a diy, like, house shows, like, scene. And that's something that I'm like, nah, we don't even want to begin to fuck with that.
I'm not going to a house party where I'm definitely old enough to be someone's grandfather. You know.
[00:05:51] Speaker C: We'Ve made the same kind of decision.
[00:05:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Yeah. There's, like, a bunch of venues around, like, three or four, and, like, breweries are always fun to play a couple bars. And everybody seems more and more receptive to having sort of loud music, like, the farther we get from the Pandemic. So it's cool.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Yeah. And, I mean, it's the same out here. You know, some of the breweries that, like, you wouldn't really expect, you know, like, we're setting up, like, amongst, like, you know, conditioning tanks and shit. And, like, those are some of the best shows. Like, people come out and, like, people are, like, into it. And. And I think you're right. That is, like, a response to the Pandemic. Because when we started coming out of it, it was like live music became a need, you know?
[00:06:37] Speaker C: Yeah. There was nowhere to go, especially if you weren't just playing an acoustic guitar.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Right, right, right. And that's, you know, that's still a valid thing to do, but it's. It's more fun to set up a full band in a brewery than.
[00:06:54] Speaker C: Wait. Way more fun.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Way more. Definitely. I like being loud. So, Pete, before we go, I just wanted to ask. It's kind of, you know. And again, before we got rolling, I was like, I'm not sure if I'm gonna ask this or what the show is gonna be, but I kind of wanted, like, the name Unsigned Unwind. Like, you know, obviously, being in a DIY scene, you have to do everything yourself. You have to be a fucking content creator. You have to be in a band. You have to maintain your life. You know, shit gets stressful. Like, basically, if you had just like, some time to yourself and just didn't have to think about music, didn't have to think about booking gigs or, you know, scheduling practices, how would you personally unwind?
[00:07:42] Speaker C: What I've been doing lately, I have two little boys, so finding any time to myself to unwind is rare. But they're at camp now, and I've been going out to live by a lake, and I've Been going out and just putting on my wireless headphones and, like, playing a podcast about Patty Hearst and just floating in the lake.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Last podcast on the left and around. Is that what you should.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: No, it's not. Not the last podcast on the left.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: They just did Patty Hearst, like, a couple weeks ago. Wait, which. Which one is it now? I want to listen to it.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: It's called True Anon.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: True Anon. Right, that shit.
[00:08:19] Speaker C: Very funny.
Yeah.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Nice.
I love the. I love the podcast. I love the true crime stuff too. Yeah. Awesome. So before we go, Pete, I want to hear a missile stamal the song. So what. What do you got for us?
[00:08:37] Speaker C: Why don't you throw on a single that we released early in June called Haywire Hymnal.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: Haywire Hymnal.
[00:08:45] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Badass. All right, so let's listen to Haywire Hymnal Missiles to Malta. And where can. If people wanted to follow. Follow you on Instagram and Spotify, where do they find you?
[00:08:58] Speaker C: Yep, we're on Instagram on Spotify. I know. Like, all the streaming. All the streaming things. Facebook, all the other regular places you can find us.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: Nice. And it's just Missiles to Malta.
[00:09:09] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: And what was the name of the song again?
[00:09:13] Speaker C: It's called Haywire Hymnal.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: All right, so let's check out Haywire Hymnal Missiles to Malta. And Pete, I want to thank you so much for your time. So that is Pete of Missiles to Malta. I am Andy Scullen. This is the unsigned Unwind.
[00:09:26] Speaker C: Thanks, Andy.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Don't look now you'll remember the same old story accrued copping town Cut the breaker directions for me everybody leave them in my car Bending over backwards way too far Take a minute detour along the way oh yeah just for fun again with the angels now it's open burning everybody dreaming so bizarre heaven is an arcade with a bar.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: How many.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Tokens is it to play? Oh yeah just for fun again But I drive around and it got so lit and I knew you were tenants and prime more stories and I turned around and forgot your glory Guys.
Howdy, neighbor.
Do you remember?
Cause you can ignore me the atlas is told me and I finally read But I can't get to capture Cause I might be gonna stay up and go cow hear me now Missile the.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: V Now his missiles Tomalta with Heywire Hymnal. And thank you for listening to unsigned Unwind. I'll be releasing new episodes every other Wednesday. And of course, you can find unsigned 518 and unsigned 518 weekend spotlights all right here in the same feed because I want to make it nice and easy for you to discover all this music. Make sure you follow Missiles to Malta and all the bands that I feature on all three of my shows. And it really helps local bands grow. If everybody just gives them a follow and a listen and a like or a subscribe or, you know, fucking whatever, it helps. It's free and it only takes like half a second, so. I am Andy scullen. This is unsigned 518's unsigned unwind. I'll see you on the road.
If you would like to be a guest on the Unsigned Unwind, send an email to angelunsignedproductions.com take care of one another and I'll see you soon.
