[00:00:01] Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73 he loves punk rock music fighting the 13 cabin in the dazzle jazz rock now on the beat guitar with a short with radio back his motherfucking Andy scrolling Look at motherfucker cuz here he comes Andy Sculling wearing his orange.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Hats welcome to unsigned 518. I am here with Sean Lippin. How's it going, man?
[00:00:31] Speaker C: Oh, it's going fantastic, Andy. Thank you so so much for having me. We're going to have some fun.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Yeah, we are going to have some fun. And you know, first thing right out of the gate, you noticed my. I think you should leave Dan Flash's shirt. So we're going to almost certainly later on talk about some fucking offbeat comedy. But, but I guess, you know, patterns are so complicated.
Well, I guess the first thing we want to do is kind of, you know, I would say we will go back and start the conversation with like your to music and then we'll mold into comedy.
[00:01:05] Speaker C: Just, just talking about. I think you should leave Tim Robinson.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: So you know, where, where did you, I guess, begin the journey with, with music? How did, how did you find that that was your thing?
[00:01:18] Speaker C: Where did I begin? Well, it all started back in the way, way, way before time.
So first off, I took piano lessons when I was in like third, fourth grade.
Of course, like any elementary school student, mom and dad are like, you're gonna learn piano because it makes you smarter and make you better at math. So I started out with, with piano lessons. And I loved them. I loved them. At first it wasn't private. It was like in a, in a like extracurricular school called like the Bell School of Music. B E L L E. And my mom would drive me every Friday, Friday night two.
That was a night that usually referenced, for those listening at home would drive me to these lessons every week and reward me with McDonald's afterwards. So I got, you know, a lifetime supply of McDonald's then. And then I took that for like until fifth grade. And it wasn't until like the left hand started becoming too complicated for me that I was like, maybe, maybe this is not for me. So I kind of took a break from music. But then it was until I got into eighth grade when I was like around 14 years old, I saw this movie called Camp.
And in it it's about like, it's about like a theater, theater camp. And one of the, and one of the characters like was playing acoustic guitar. And for some reason that just like really captivated me and really inspired me so I asked my parents for, for guitar lessons and my mom signed me up with this like this blues guy. And he would come to my house every other weekend.
And for some reason that was just not inspiring me. He made me like, do all these exercises out of like, you know, the Berkeley method book. And here I am, a 14 year old kid and I'm just like doing.
[00:03:13] Speaker B: So it was almost like the piano all over again.
[00:03:15] Speaker C: It was almost. Yeah.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Too fucking complicated. Right out of the gate.
[00:03:19] Speaker C: Yeah. And this guitar teacher would kind of like ridicule, like the songs I want to learn. He'd. He'd be like, what do you want to learn? And I was really obsessed with like, I'll be by Edwin McCain at the time that song. And he was like, what the hell is this?
Yeah, just kind of like making fun of my music. Taste like, dude, what a weird fucking.
[00:03:41] Speaker B: Quality in someone teaching children how to play guitar to like shit on their music. You know, it's like, sorry, Muddy Waters, I don't know, like the deep Delta blues, like eas up, pal. I'm 14.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: So I. Exactly. So I started resenting guitar. But then the following school year, my parents enrolled me in this extracurricular school called the Lagond Music School. And this is all taking place in Westchester, New York, right above New York City.
And in September of 2006, I connected with this guitar teacher, good buddy of mine to this day, Daniel Jakubovic. And from the very first lesson, he just like out the gate, he was like shredding in the lessons. And everything that he was, was playing was just like so cool and so good. And I was like, holy, like, that is awesome. And that just like, that really, really motivated me to like, want to get better. And right from the first lesson, you like, wow, you're strumming. Your strumming arm just is not good. Like, we gotta fix that. So he gave me, you know, he gave me some pointers, like, you always want to keep your guitar strumming arm moving up and down. So he taught me some like, Green Day songs, like Good Riddance, Time of your life, Something unpredictable. That was like one of the first songs I learned on guitar. And then he taught me how to play Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional because, you know, I loved pop punk and I loved like all those kind of emo songs. And when I played Vindicated by Dashboard Confessional, like from start to finish, like, I felt this like, power, you know what I mean? I was like, oh my God, I can't believe I was able to do that, like, this is. This is the answer. Like, you know, this is like the. The most powerful thing ever. Like, you know, music is power.
And from there.
And from there, I just kind of versioned. You know what I mean? Just. I was just hooked to the guitar.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: And it feels like, you know, like the instructor, like the. The good one, you know, the one that you said you're still friends with to this day. Like, it seems like he kind of went into what do you want to learn?
Kind of way, which I doubt that other blues teacher's listening, but I'm still angry at you. But that's how you do it. You know what I mean? That's how you get people to learn. You're like, what do you want to learn? Because you're not going to pay attention if someone's teaching you shit that you don't want to learn. And that's why when you said Green Day, good riddance, I was like, perfect. That's like the perfect first song to learn because it has, you know, chord changes, but the strumming hand is doing a lot of work. You know, it's not just.
It'll sound. Even if you hit the right chords, if you're not doing the right strum, it's going to sound different.
I don't know anyway.
[00:06:24] Speaker C: Exactly. No, yeah. I mean, it's a great. It's a great first song to learn. You know, it's got, like, all those open chord shapes, like the G and the C and the D and then, like the E minor. All, you know, chords that any guitar player. Any and every guitar player should be learning, you know, right.
Right off the bat.
And. Yeah, so every day, you know, I would come home from. From freshman year of high school, and I would just be attached to my guitar. I was inseparable from my guitar. I would just be doing whatever, like learning a song or playing, like a D minor scale.
And I remember. I remember being visiting my sister in college in Boston, and my guitar and this guitar teacher, Daniel Djokovic, like, taught me this, like, this B minor scale exercise. And I remember sitting in the hotel room just like, trying to figure out, you know, to the lesson. Lesson recording and just playing along to it and just trying to figure it all out by ear. So they're, you know, I was super motivated and just kept going with ensembles. And this. This music school that I went to outside, I didn't do. I didn't participate in band or orchestra or chorus in the high school that I intended it. You know, this was my niche. Like, this is what I gravitated toward. I was like, rock all the way. You know, like, jazz is boring. Jazz is stupid, which I totally don't feel that way now with a more tricky.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: I think everybody felt that way when.
[00:07:54] Speaker C: They were young, but I was just like, okay, progressive metal, like, dream theater is the way, like, you know, story of the year is so, like, all these. All these different types of, you know, bands. I was just, like, a rock purist. And I just thought that, like, school ensembles were, like. Were, like, stupid in a way. Like, that's not what, you know, captured me.
So continuing on with my journey, one of my buddies went to SUNY Oneonta.
You know, he was. He was a freshman, and I was a senior in high school, figuring out where I wanted to go to college. And he was telling me about this music industry program at SUNY Oneonta where you could. You. Or you could study music and business. And my parents are telling me, like, you should study business so that you. When you get out of school, you can have a job. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, like, they didn't want me to go to conservatory. They wanted me to be able to eat, which, you know, spoiler didn't necessarily happen. But so I always felt that, you know, so SUNY Oneonta was, like, the best of. You know, it was the best of all worlds. I was able to study rock. I wasn't, like, you know, just glued to one thing there.
I was able to study multiple things and so got out of, you know, so went to SUNY Oneonta and got a school and discovered how hard the music industry really is and what it really takes to, you know, what it really takes to. To pursue it for a living. And, you know, all that goes into it, like, the luck that you need, the skill, it's a lot of.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: And whether or not you actually want to do it. Because I think a lot of people are fooled by what the music industry is, and then when they realize what it actually is, they're just like, fuck, I'm out. You know, like. And not, you know, not that that's how it should be, because obviously, we need talent going into the music industry a lot more than we need it.
[00:09:47] Speaker C: Coming out, you know, and that's. This whole subject of talent is a whole another thing that we could touch on later, but exactly. You know, people.
People see Sabrina Carpenter and see her, like, jumping around on stage, they think, like, that's the music industry. Or, like, Taylor Swift, right?
[00:10:04] Speaker B: And then she just sits by a pool for the rest of her life.
[00:10:06] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: So much.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: When you're also. And you're, and you know, you understand being an artist yourself, you're not just a musician, but you're also an artist.
Is that, you know, artistry?
Developing yourself as an artist is so much different than just being a musician. Like, when I think a musician, I'm thinking of somebody who's like, you know, just kind of hired gun or plug and play into, you know, like a wedding band or, you know, or into somebody else.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: I mean, realistically, basically, it's anybody who, I mean, you could boil it down. Musician could just be anyone who plays music.
[00:10:40] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: Or you could take it to the next base level, which would be anybody who makes any money doing it.
[00:10:45] Speaker C: Bingo. Like a professional. Right, exactly.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: And again, a professional musician, like you said, could be someone who plays in a bar every weekend, sitting in a corner with nobody paying attention, which I've raising my hand, I've definitely fucking done more times than I wish.
[00:10:59] Speaker C: So, so. But we're discussing specifically developing yourself as an artist, which is so hard to do because there's just so much that goes into it. You have to be a good songwriter, you have to have good chops, you know, you have to have a message that you're trying to carry out. And you need people to buy into that and how you sell that and like what your angle is is what people are going to gravitate towards. Okay, and that's cool. But then like, how do you market that? How do you present it to people? And they're, you know, in this day and age and with AI and everything, there's just so, so many different things and there's, it's so oversaturated. And that is like the real challenge of the music industry for, you know, people who are not like high tier touring artists, you know what I'm saying?
So that, you know, developing yourself as an artist is just so difficult these days, but at the same time, there's so many opportunities. But how do you stand out? You know, and that is the question that as an artist you need to, you need to be able to answer and also have a big budget and.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: You also to have adaptability because, you know, you can't just be like, oh, I'm doing this and if it doesn't work, then fuck it. Like, you have to be like, I'm doing this and if it doesn't work, I got to do this, or then I got to do this. I got to do this until something works. You know what I mean?
[00:12:16] Speaker C: Being able to pivot. Exactly.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: And luck, you know, I heard you somewhere in there you said luck. Like luck is just way. A way bigger part of it than people. I mean, there is talent.
Like, you know, right now we're sitting in my fucking garage in Schuylerville, you know, out in the middle of fucking.
[00:12:33] Speaker C: Nowhere, which is super vibey, for the record.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Thank you. But I've had people in here that without question, talent wise, are on a national level. Without question. I've seen it time and time and time again. People that are sitting on the couch that you're sitting on now that I'm just like, they're national level. But that luck thing has to be there or something else has to be there because it's just one piece of the 5,000 piece puzzle.
[00:13:05] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: That gets you to a national level. Like, it's. It's not. It's not just talent, I can tell you that.
[00:13:11] Speaker C: Right? There's whole. This whole concept of, oh, I want to be discovered. You know what I mean? But it's the scene wherever you go is not, you know, there's not an anr guy just going to a bar.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Minor league baseball, you know what I mean? Like, some days scouts aren't going around exactly.
[00:13:29] Speaker C: Just like popping over to Putnam Place, you know, Wednesday night, being like, oh, man, I really like that band. Let's sign up. Like, that's not just. That's just not how things work.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: You got a better fucking chance of.
[00:13:41] Speaker C: Winning the lottery, you know, to get to, like, superstardom. That is, you know, like having, you know, to getting to the two commas in your bank account kind of status, you know, that's not to say that you can't build your own following and, you know, and make a modest living.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Being an artist, which you certainly can. You. It's not impossible to quit your day job and make money doing music.
That's an unattainable goal, I think, for a lot of people.
[00:14:09] Speaker C: Sure.
Absolutely.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: But, like, the superstardom thing just, you know, it's not a realistic.
[00:14:16] Speaker C: And also, even, like. And even once you get there, if and when you do, that's also not an easy road because now you're, like, in the public eye and, like, you have no more privacy. Everybody wants to know what your shit smells like.
And, you know, and people can be scummy and they will send you hate messages and stuff like that. You know, I've. I've heard all these. There's also like a darkness to the music industry, which, you know, people like, we started this conversation off with see like the, you know, get all like sunshine and butterflies and bright eyed bushy tailed, like, oh, I want to ride a tour bus and I want to play arenas. I want to play Madison Square Garden and you know, and like all this stuff. But like the darkness in the music industry, you know, is just something that.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: People, I mean, and look at like, look at like fucking Britney Spears.
[00:15:08] Speaker C: Oh yeah.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: You know, like she was at the, like had all that. But like she had no control over her life. Like her actual life. She had zero control. And it fucking destroyed her, you know, and it destroyed her because everybody out, like to all these other people, they're just making money and she's just a tool to get them money. Like they, you know, they dehumanize her and she just becomes a talent. And like shit like that happens all the time. Like on levels that you'll never hear about, you know. Like.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: That shit happens to people that like only make it as far as like, you know, I don't know, a regional band, like, they can still get chewed up and spit out and no one's ever heard of them. You know, like the music industry is.
It really is.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: So. But like, you know, even going back to the way beginning, it's like, why are you doing this? Like, Sean, why are you doing this? Andy? It's because we have to. You know, like we. We've sat down with ourselves, looked ourselves in the mirror. Is like, is there anything else I can do? And then we just keep circling back to this.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: And like this. I do this because it makes me happy.
[00:16:20] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: It doesn't make me money.
You know what I mean? It's my hobby. And I think that's what keeps me grounded in a nice place because I'm like, this is my hobby and it brings me joy. If I integrated into that fucking machine, it would not bring me joy anymore. It would be like, you know, it'd be too much.
[00:16:45] Speaker C: Yeah. Become. It becomes something else. You know, I mean, it's like the. As a hobby, it's still. It's still working a certain.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: Sure, sure, yeah.
[00:16:52] Speaker C: A certain.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Oh, I mean, I work very hard on it.
[00:16:55] Speaker C: Oh yeah, exactly. But right, like when it's like the thing that is your income. Yeah, it's.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
And you know, it's good. I guess in this day and age fly buzz around here, you know, there is, you know, obviously like the AI and all that, like it's. It's a lot harder to get noticed. But it's looking like, optimistically, I think it is a lot Easier to carve your own.
[00:17:22] Speaker C: The barrier to entry is way easier nowadays.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Yeah. And like, you know, if you're someone like, you know, like myself, that just wants to, you know, play 10, 12 times a year locally and, you know, that's what our band does. We play 10, 12 times a year locally, and that's where we're happy. And if we were, you know, signed or part of something else, where we had to go where people tell us to right it, we would all hate it.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: So. But like, I really, I really love where this conversation is going. And like, another thing that people need to think about who do want to get to the music being their only source of income, you know, there should be no shame of, you know, the other thing that could also just be like your main income. You know, there is, you know, there, if anyone has ever read like the Ari hersted book, like, I forgot what the title of it is, but there's a chapter in that book that says, like, embrace the hyphen. Like, I'm an artist slash barista. I'm an artist slash waiter. I'm an artist slash substitute teacher. I'm an artist slash, you know, you have to do what you need to do.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: My day job has absolutely fucking nothing to do with the entertainment world. Absolutely nothing to do with it. And that's my 40 plus hour a week day job, right? And a lot of people don't even know. Like, some people think that I don't even have a day job.
Like, I just do this.
It's like, no, I do a day job. And you know, that's, I do embrace.
[00:18:58] Speaker C: It because that's how I want to. It's brought to you by Calico Cut Pants.
[00:19:04] Speaker B: Yeah, that's, that's, that's where it's headed. But yeah, no, like, definitely embracing the hyphen is a good thing, you know, because you have to, you have to understand it also keeps this a hobby, you know, because there's, this is no stakes. There's no stakes in the line with this. And that's why I do it on the weekends, because I'm free on the weekends and I can fill my space with stuff that I want to do because during the week I'm, I'm not free to do whatever I want, you know, but anyway, embracing the hyphen, like, you, we were going somewhere with that before I got distracted by this. But there's like a fucking fly that is in the dazzle, Dennis, like the size of a hummingbird that's, like buzzing around, distracting as shit. But anyway, you know, I think we might want to do is play a song, because we. We've been going for it now.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: I'd love to.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: And we were going to talk about your latest single, Frenemies, and we'll play that. So I guess tell us a little about the song before we give it a spin.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: Yeah, I'd love to.
So whenever I play this song live, I always ask the audience, does anybody ever have somebody who they thought was their friend end up not being their friend? And people like may who are holler, or I may get crickets. And if I get crickets, I'll say, well, I guess you all have perfect friends. Sweet. Awesome. Well, this song I'm about to play is about somebody who I thought was my friend ended up being not my friend. So let's go into the backstory. A little bit behind the song, Andy, is that when I was in college, you know, I.
I had a friend, you know, one of my best friends from. From high school, who I, like, ended up going to college with.
You know, when. When you go. When you go to college, you, like, you're not the same person who your senior year of high school self was. Slash is to your, like, freshman year. You know, like, you start. You start figuring out who you are, and you figure out your individuality and who you want to be and where you want to go. So, you know, paths. Paths start to divest in a way, you know, start to veer off.
So that started happening between me and this, like, one high school buddy. And there was one point throughout the year where, like, he had, like, all these, like, bro friends and whatnot.
And, like, we were supposed to meet up at this party, you know, he and I, like, he was telling me about this, and then I show up to the party, and he's just like, are. Are you here by yourself or are you, like. Like, what. What are you? Like, why are you doing here? You know, something kind of. Somehow our wires got crossed, and it's another. I think you should leave reference. And there was kind of, like, a miscommunication. It was like, you know, I'm there to, like, see you and, like, hang.
And, you know, it was at this point where I realized that me and this kid are. We're just going in different directions. I was like, you know what? Like, fuck you, dude. Like, I'm so done with you. And like, I said, you know, it was me figuring out who. Who I was. So I used this song as a vehicle to kind of express that.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: All right, well, cool. Well, let's check it out. It's frenemies Shawn Lippin. And then we'll be right back.
[00:22:24] Speaker C: I go to your party.
[00:22:30] Speaker A: With no.
[00:22:31] Speaker C: Invite I see old friends we used to be but these days you're too.
[00:22:43] Speaker A: Cool for me that's all I need to call you my frenemy?
Think you're better than me?
I'm more than you'll ever be?
[00:23:20] Speaker C: You ask where my friends have gone pretend I don't belong.
[00:23:32] Speaker A: And act like.
[00:23:33] Speaker C: Nothing'S wrong and I just play along.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: That'S all I need to call you my frenemy?
You think you're better than me?
I'm more than you ever yourself, you.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: Piece of.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Mean and every bit.
No, you're not better than me.
I'm more than you ever be.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: That was frenemies Sean Lifin. And, you know, Sean, you were saying, obviously that was a song about a very specific situation.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: You know, that. That you wrote about. And was that kind of the way you approach your songwriting? Or do you, you know, do you always take real. Real life things in tournament songs or. I guess. How do you approach the songwriter?
[00:25:42] Speaker C: How do I approach songwriting? It's, you know, it's a little bit. I think it's impossible to write songs without putting in your own life experiences in some capacity with any kind of creative avenue, whether you're an actor or a writer. Like, you're always bringing yourself into your art, no matter what, even. Even if it is. Even if it is fiction.
So my typical process for songwriting is I'll come up with. I'll come up with a chord progression. I'll be messing around.
Like, as discussed earlier, I'm pretty like pop punk. Blink 182, Green Day. Like, all those bands, you know, kind of got me into songwriting and kind of, you know, taught me what song structure and, like, verse, chorus, you know, bridge kind of stuff is. So I'll be messing around with a chord progression, or I'll come up with, like, a cool riff. And once again, we're like a compilation of everything that we. That we listen to, like, all of our influences. Like, that's why you need a diverse taste in music. Like, don't do just rock. You also need some jazz in there. You also need some hip hop.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: And also embrace your influences.
[00:26:50] Speaker C: Exactly.
And even if it doesn't come to the surface right away, you know, over time, it will in some shape or form. So I'll be messing around with the riff or chord progression, and I'll typically write the music first and get the. And get the music part the way that I want it to be. And, you know, I'll, like, toil over it for.
I'll toil over it for, like, days or, you know, hours. Sometimes I can knock out. I can knock out something that I like, and in, like, a day or Sometimes it takes 13 years to refine something legitimately.
And the music will dictate what I want the message to be. Certain people are like, lyrics first and then the music. But I usually kind of just let the music dictate what I want to say. And sometimes a message will not always come to me right away. And I'll write certain. And I'll write lyrics and start picking them apart. And I always bring whatever I'm working on, like, out to an open mic or, like, into a performance situation. I just strongly believe that your song, you know, your song doesn't have life until it's out in front of people. Sure. Like, so many things just get revealed once you start playing those songs in front of people of an audience. Like, you'll start thinking, like, okay, maybe that bridge isn't working, like, for, like, for frenemies. Like, I originally wrote that song about going to the dentist.
And then, you know, and I, like, I had a whole structure to it. Like, I had, you know, a bridge, and I was, like, singing out of my range for that. And then I kind of just sat down with it one day and reworked the chorus, and certain things were happening that kind of just brought back, you know, this. This different experience that I wanted to bring into that.
So that's typically my. My process for songwriting. And once again, sometimes it'll just comes instantly, quote, unquote, or takes years and years and years to really hone in on what I want the message of the song to be. And also, you know, lyrics aren't just about words. You know what I mean? It's about flow. It's about vowel. Like, what do I want?
What. What vowel do I want to ride in this situation? And, you know, there's also just. There's kind of like a buh, buh, buh, buh. There's, you know, some kind of, like, swing elements to it. And, you know, writing melodies, like, over these riffs and chord progressions is kind of something that new territory within the last few years that I'm realizing the first thing that comes to my mind doesn't have to be it.
[00:29:32] Speaker B: Right, right.
And also how much a melody can change the chords, you know, like, you know, so many fucking songs are the same three chords.
But because of A different melody. You wouldn't even. You know, you're not like, oh, these songs sound the same. Because if they have a different melody, they're completely different songs, you know? And, like, there's only so many chords, you know? And until you get into, like, you know, augmented and suspended and whatever, but, like, there's only so many chords, but there's a million.
Or there's infinite melodies, you know, like, there's infinite melodies.
[00:30:09] Speaker C: I had a college professor say, we're running out of melodies.
[00:30:13] Speaker B: No, no, there's still. There's still tons.
Well, maybe not. I don't know.
Maybe not with a fucking AI now that AI could just create.
[00:30:22] Speaker C: They're sucking them all down.
[00:30:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
Make them extra sloppy.
Again, Anybody who has not seen. I think you should leave, should go watch it now so that half of this fucking episode makes sense to you.
[00:30:38] Speaker C: That is. That is your homework assignment. And then you can circle back in, direct message Andy, and be like, I get it now.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: Like that. That show. I mean, that show is just the funniest thing I think I'd ever seen. And it was so, like, irreverent. And it's an art. It's not just comedy. It's an art form in itself.
[00:30:58] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: It's its own.
[00:31:00] Speaker C: I always joke with my significant other, Abby, my fiance, that, like, for these sketches, I always kind of dream of a YouTube series where somebody, like, creates the content that leads up to the sketches. You know what I mean? Like, develops the characters within the sketches. Like, you know, for the ghost tour, like, why is Tim Robinson, you know, the way that he is? Like, why is he, like, swearing so much and.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: Yeah, and why is he going to a ghost tour by himself to meet friends while his mom waits in the car?
[00:31:33] Speaker C: Why does the professor in the restaurant derail to house the entire burger?
[00:31:38] Speaker B: Give me that.
Yeah, that is. Someone should do a whole study on that show.
[00:31:46] Speaker C: Oh, man.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: Does your fiance enjoy the show or is she, like, my wife? She's like, I don't even know what you're watching. I can't make heads.
[00:31:55] Speaker C: Oh, no. We both, like, quota to each other all the time.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: My wife thinks it's the stupidest thing she's ever seen. She's not wrong fully.
[00:32:03] Speaker C: So.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, not wrong, but it's just, like, my kind of stuff.
[00:32:08] Speaker C: When you discover this show, you go in.
[00:32:11] Speaker B: Yes, you do. Oh, yes, you do.
[00:32:13] Speaker C: You go in.
[00:32:14] Speaker B: But, yeah. The Dan Flash's shirt. One of my buddies got it for me for my birthday a couple years ago.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: That is A keeper.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: And I put it there. I hang it there just, like, so that it's my gauge of people. Like, if people are like, whoa, hey, look at that. Look at that. You got a damn plaza shirt. I'm like, all right, this guy gets me.
[00:32:33] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Yeah. But, yeah, it is an official.
It's the same one that he wore in the.
But anyway, we. You know, before. Before we go, like, we have been running long. Like I said we probably would, but you brought your guitar. You're gonna do a song live. So I guess, like, let's. Let's hear a little bit about what. What song you're gonna do, and maybe we can even tie it into how you approach the songwriting.
[00:33:02] Speaker C: Great.
[00:33:02] Speaker B: Of. Of the song.
[00:33:03] Speaker C: Sure. So this song I'm about to play is called Fish Tank.
And one day I was messing around, I was house sitting for family, friends, and I came up with this riff.
And the riff was kind of inspired by what's called Deep down in Louisiana, close to New Orleans.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: Oh, Johnny, Johnny, be good.
[00:33:28] Speaker C: Yes. Yes was because. Yeah, I was. I was learning that song at the time, and this whole, like, the. The minor third. Going to, like, the major third in the riff.
Like, that slide kind of inspired the riff.
[00:33:40] Speaker B: Ramones do that a lot.
[00:33:45] Speaker C: So I came up with this riff. And I was driving around.
This was like, in 20. 2018 or 2019, right before. Right before COVID hit. And I was in Denver at the time. I was in Colorado to see Fish. And I took an Uber to, you know, Dick's Sporting Goods Park. And as I was being dropped off, I just. I looked at everyone, like, all the people around the. Around the concert venue, and they all just kind of, like, seemed like they were just in their own world, like, just doing their own thing. And I just kind of kept thinking about how everybody's on their own path and, you know, being inside the car and looking out, I felt like, you know, I was a fish inside a tank. And, you know, it's a fish concert, so.
And the song itself is kind of like a. Like a. Like a knock on. Not a knock, but like a ode to, you know, like, jam band music, great Grateful Dead and fish and stuff like that.
You know, me being inside his car, looking out, like I'm inside, like, a fish tank, like a fishbowl just unseeing all the. I don't know, the people swimming about. And then Covid hit, right? So now we're all, like, trapped in our own places, not going anywhere.
So that theme really kind of stuck with Me. And now we're all really, like, in our own fish bowls and fish tanks, like in our own spaces at. And the lyrics came out of me how, like, we're all just like, looking through life on our screens and just wanting to be out and appreciating life again. And I just like, I felt really stuck in life and like my career at the time. So the song, you know, has a lot of layers to it also just about me wanting to break out of, like, where I was in my life at the time and just do something else and like, grow. I just felt like I was being so limited being stuck in the box, you know?
[00:35:45] Speaker A: Right.
[00:35:46] Speaker B: All right, cool. Well, let's. Let's check out Fish Tank. We're going to do it live here in the Dazzle Den. Sean Lippen. And then we'll be right back to wrap it up.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: In my dreams I'm swimming free.
[00:36:20] Speaker C: Beneath.
[00:36:20] Speaker A: The waves Splashing in the ocean Far away from everybody I wake up and.
[00:36:42] Speaker C: I'm stuck in a tank Caught within.
[00:36:47] Speaker A: Four walls and there's no escape.
[00:36:54] Speaker C: No.
[00:36:54] Speaker A: Way to be free no, I've got to be swimming free where the ocean.
[00:37:10] Speaker C: Meets the sky.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: I will find my way out of this tank can't take.
[00:37:39] Speaker C: No more it's such a bore to.
[00:37:45] Speaker A: Constantly be swimming back and forth so aimlessly no, that's not me.
No, I've got to be swimming free where the ocean meets the sky I will find my way out of this tank no, I've got to be swimming free where the ocean meets the sky I will find my way.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: Way.
[00:39:28] Speaker C: Out.
[00:39:29] Speaker A: Of this tank.
[00:39:42] Speaker B: All right, so that was Fish Tank. Sean Lippen, live here in the Dazzle Den. And Sean, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come out here and do this. And before we go like I do with all my guests, I want to give you a chance to say your gratitude. So the microphone is all yours.
[00:39:58] Speaker C: Well, first of all, I'd like to thank you, Andy, for having me on the. On the podcast today. 518 unsigned. Love it. I'm really grateful to be here, so thank you so very, very much. I'd also like to thank my fiance, Abby. Like to thank my future father in law, John Fusco. I'd like to thank my parents.
I'd like to thank my sister and my brother in law and my niece and nephew who, you know, who constantly inspired me. I'd like to thank my bandmates, you know, former and current, for being there and helping me out with honing my craft.
I'd like to thank all of my teachers, past and present and colleagues at the, you know, colleagues at this time and to any and every audience member that has come to my shows. I thank you all and I'd also like to thank Carl Havoc as well.
[00:41:00] Speaker B: All right, well he is shot and lippin. I am Andy scullin. This is unsigned 518.
I'll see you on the road.
Unsigned 518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullin. New episodes are available every week. Wherever are you you stream podcasts. If you would like to help support the show, please like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a
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Take care of one another and I'll see you next week.
And Sculling.
