Unsigned518 - Episode 210 - Take Steps

[00:00:01] Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73 he loves punk rock music fighting the 13 cabin the dazzle jazz Rocking out on the beat Guitar with a short with radio bass his motherfucking envy scoring look at motherfucker cuz here he comes Andy Sculling wearing his orange hat [00:00:27] Speaker B: welcome to unsigned 518. I am here with John, the lead guitarist of Take Steps. How's it going man? [00:00:34] Speaker C: I'm doing all right. Just woke up, got myself some coffee. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it, I mean it's you know, it's noon but you know you're in a, you're in a rock band, that's, that's, that's totally acceptable but you know we, we just met literally five minutes ago. But I did, you know, I always tell people I don't do any research and whatever but I, I like to listen to the music, you know what I mean? So I looked up your band and, and listened to your tunes including the most recent single and I fucking dig it. So let's, let's talk about the band because I know you're like the lead guitarist but you're also a founding member and one of the main songwriters. But I guess let's go back to the beginning of the band and kind of tell us how shit got rolling. [00:01:23] Speaker C: All right, so I've been playing music for. You know I'm 27 so pretty much since I graduated high school. I've been involved in some way or form in 518 since then. So I was in a couple bands and you know where I was going to shows in. Let me think it's 2026 now so. [00:01:50] Speaker B: Which is crazy. [00:01:51] Speaker C: In the spring of 2024 I got together with Kyle, who's my singer and I had written a couple of just demos of songs that would end up being on the first ep, the self titled and that came about from. I had just finished playing in another band, kind of wrapped up doing that and then I was, I was just kind of not sure what was next. One day I was on the treadmill at Planet Fitness of all places and I'm really into hardcore punk and that was around the time I was starting to really, really dig into it and I heard have Heart for the first time and the Things We Carry was the record, which is their second record and the lyrics was. It just, I was like, got me kind of emotional. Like honestly it was just like this is, I've never heard anything like this. Like the, the way, the visceral emotion of it all, you know, I'm not Straight Edge. But that whole. The whole message behind it, the whole attitude was just really resonated with me at the time. I was going through a lot, and the music was really inspiring, too. And around the same time, I was also really getting into a Comeback Kid as well. So with those influences in mind, I just kind of sat in my home studio and was just kind of shredding some stuff out, and I was like, this is pretty cool. And I got in contact with my friend Kyle because Kyle has also been in groups. He's in a hip hop group called Social Propaganda. He's in his own group called the Last Miller. [00:03:43] Speaker B: And the Last Miller on the show. [00:03:45] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Kyle and Craig. You met them before? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I saw a Social Propaganda show around that same time, maybe a couple months before, and Kyle just was letting off some, like, harsher vocals. Just kind of as an aside, like it was nothing intentional. But in one of the songs, and I was like, the wheel started to turn in my head. I'm like, man, man, he's really good at that and the energy he would bring on stage. And I was just like, all right, man. We've no. We'd known each other since middle school. Me and Craig and Kyle all went to Burnt Hills. My other guitarist, Charlie, also did, but he's a little bit younger than us. And so Kyle came over. I'm like, you want to just, like, throw something down on this? You know, it's whatever. We weren't thinking it was going to be a band or anything, so we worked on the songs that would end up being Wide Awake and back and forth from the ep, and that was kind of the beginning of that. And then I brought Charlie in, who's the other guitar player. And Charlie has been doing music for a little bit now. They had a band called Bad Impressions, kind of like metallic hardcore, metalcore, that. And now they have a band called Federal Charge, which is their other band. And they're super into hardcore, immensely talented songwriter. And I was like, hey, do you want to originally play drums? And then the way that the lineup kind of shook out ended up they were on guitar, which that's like their main thing. And then Craig, who is also in Social Propaganda in the Last Miller with Kyle, plays bass. And then our drummer now is. His name is Dylan. He plays in a band called Torpedo Lane and Hidden Drive, like, kind of like a math rock, post hardcore and screamo band, respectively. Also immensely talented. So I just happen to fall in with some people I've known for a long time. It's funny how it ended up like this. Like, here we are all these years later doing music together and also just some immensely talented people like Dylan, who are like, new in my life, relatively speaking. And that's kind of where have things have fallen together. You know, we've been a band for about, I guess, officially, like a little bit over a year. The first show we played was In January of 2025, opening for Halo, Byte Billy and Death to Fire at no Fun. So it just kind of been cruising since then, you know, playing shows, we got to. We've gotten to open for some pretty cool bands and we've made a lot of new friends and it's. It's been great. [00:06:41] Speaker B: And what's it like? You know, you said that everybody kind of writes songs, but like you, it was based on. The band was kind of started from song ideas that you had. So like, I guess what's the process of taking like your ideas and then once you, you know, once you bring other musicians in, it's obviously gonna change. And then you said that they write songs as well. Like, how does that dynamic work? Does, like one person come up with an idea and everybody sees it to the end, or do you just take a piece from him. Piece from him and make a song? [00:07:14] Speaker C: So at this, at the beginning, it was pretty much I was writing the music and Kyle was writing the lyrics. Since then, as, you know, songs that are currently in development or that will. Will be coming out, it's kind of a mix of things. There are some songs where I write everything. There's some songs where I write the music and Kyle writes the lyrics. There's some songs where Charlie writes the music and Kyle writes the lyrics. There's some songs where we all get into a room together. We really do like all the processes. That's cool. It just kind of depends on how things shake out. And it's interesting because if you look at everything objectively, you can kind of parse the stylistic differences that result in those different environments and how you cultivate songs like that. The energy, the vibe, the length of the songs, the parts too. It's like it. When we have all written collectively together, it's resulted in some pretty high energy stuff, you know. [00:08:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:18] Speaker C: When it's. When it's. When it's me and the fellas and we're, you know, we're jamming out, it's like, oh, there tends to be some mosh parts involved. You know what I mean? [00:08:26] Speaker B: Well, it's almost like because everybody's playing off each Other and, like, you almost [00:08:30] Speaker C: want to, like, feel it. [00:08:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Take it up a notch. Then the person next to you takes it up a notch, and then you take it up a notch, and then. [00:08:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:36] Speaker B: Whereas, like, when you're writing solo, you know, it's just your exactly. Thing. [00:08:41] Speaker C: And [00:08:43] Speaker A: results. [00:08:44] Speaker C: It just comes with different results. And there. I really think there's a lot of value in not pigeonholing the band to one way of songwriting. I have a lot of faith in my bandmates, and they're all immensely talented, and they can all and do carry entire musical projects and ideas on their own shoulders. Everyone in the band has at least one or two other bands, right? So everyone is, like, super capable of taking a vision and then just nurturing it and taking it to its natural endpoint in a way that I think is, like, very artistically. [00:09:20] Speaker B: Apartment Right. So even if it's, you know, this person's part or that person's idea or song, like, people, like, it's almost like that saying, you know, whatever serves the song exactly. You know, it's like all egos are aside. All like, you know, I know you could probably do a great flourish and fill here. It wouldn't serve the song type of thing. And it sounds like, yeah, you know, because that's what. When I think of fucking professional musicians anyway, I think of people that no [00:09:48] Speaker C: one to say no times. It's funny. Like, I have this running joke where I will make a song and then there'll be a guitar solo in it, and then I always end up taking it out because I'm like. I'll be like, ah, this is so cool. Bed. I'm gonna come back. I'm like, this does not need to be here. Like, I'm having fun with this for sure, but this does not need to be here. [00:10:10] Speaker B: And again, that's like a professional attitude that's saying that doesn't. That doesn't serve the song. It's great. It's talented, but, you know, it doesn't serve the song. And, like, exactly. [00:10:19] Speaker C: Once in a while. Once in a while, you know, it's fine, but most of the time, it just doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose, at least in the context of the kind of music we make. [00:10:29] Speaker B: It'd be cool to take, like, all the stuff like that that you've put together that you don't use and just make one separate project out of it, you know, like just a completely different, different thing that's all guitar solos. [00:10:42] Speaker C: I mean, a lot of that energy is just kind of leftover adolescent. Like, you know, we make, you know, punk hardcore and like pop punkish, which is like, you know, that's all about songs. It's all about lyrics. I'm always trying to put Kyle forward as like, this is like what this means, right? Like it's vocals, lyrics. Like, let's not lose the plot here because at the end of the day, like, that's where the message comes from. But that being said, it's like my first real concert was like seeing Megadeth, right? Like I. I sometimes can get carried away with like, I'm an old, like [00:11:18] Speaker B: punk rocker from the punk rocker time when punk rockers and metalheads were synonymous. You know, to me we're at the skate park. It would be like Megadeth and Metallica and Descendants and no effects and stuff. [00:11:29] Speaker C: Which brings up something I did want to chat about too, is like, I think you and I have a lot of similar bands that we probably like. Probably because so the influences of the sonics of the band come a lot from melodic hardcore of that irk, obviously a comeback kid Half Hearted. Even some more modern bands like Counterparts. And also the pop punk that was kind of in vogue while, you know, I was, you know, growing up, which would have been like relatively newer bands, I guess you could say generally story so far, the Wonder Years, Knuckle Puck, all that whole class of bands, like, that's very much my era. [00:12:12] Speaker B: So that's my era is like the great, great grandfathers of those bands. [00:12:17] Speaker C: But I want to get to this point is like another like hugely influent band on my songwriting. And the vibe is Pulley. [00:12:24] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:12:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Like all those Epitaph bands, like Orange county stuff. [00:12:29] Speaker B: A Steam Driven Engine is. [00:12:31] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:31] Speaker B: In one of my top 20 albums of all times. And a lot of people don't know who Pulley are. And they're, they're. [00:12:36] Speaker C: They're so good. Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's like I'll. I'll be like. I'll be like, guys love this band. Like. [00:12:42] Speaker B: And did you know about the. The lead singer's double life? [00:12:46] Speaker C: Oh, he's like a baseball star. [00:12:48] Speaker B: He's a minor league baseball player. Or he's a coach now, but he was a minor league bas. Baseball player while he was doing pol. Yeah, that band is fucking great. [00:12:57] Speaker C: Yeah, they're super underrated. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:59] Speaker C: I. That whole like era of. I also. Oh my God, this. I am a massive fan of the Souls. Like Bouncing Souls, like ten Foot Pole. Yeah, yeah. That whole like that melodic, like, Southern California sound is like, really. That's very much influential on the kind of approach I have to writing the brighter, more quote, unquote accessible edge of our sound. Because to me, I like that it has. It still has a lot of attitude and, like, it feels rough around the edges, but the energy is high. And it can be like, you know, it's something that's very, like, uplifting. [00:13:42] Speaker B: And the songs are fucking good. [00:13:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:44] Speaker B: You know, and there's very few bands, not very few, but, like, there's less bands that can pull off the just good fucking songs where, like, it doesn't matter what album you pick. You could, you know, they've been making albums for 30 something years. You could pick any song off of any album and be like, yeah, it's a great song. Yeah. [00:14:03] Speaker C: And it's something where again, the. The pop punk that I tend to be more attracted to is stuff that is generally either has a more direct line to hardcore, like a band like the Story so Far or even Newfound Glory, to cite an older example. Or those. Those Epitaph bands that have, like, a direct line to like, Descendants or. Yeah, Descendants or Ramones, some. Like, there's great pop punk bands that lean more pop. That's cool. I love those bands. But like, as far as what influences me and gets me inspired to, like, put that energy into my own music, that's kind of where I'm at. [00:14:42] Speaker B: That's great. And I love the. The wearing your influences on your sleeve because there's a lot of people that, you know, don't. Don't fully admit their influences or don't want to get compared to anybody else. And I, you know, I'm always someone that's like. I mean, I'm wearing, you know, no effects and Descendants are my two favorite bands and have been 40s. But like, I. I would never, like, if someone's like, oh, yeah, that bass line sounds like Fat Mike. I would never be like, oh, hell no. I'd be like, well, yeah, because I've been emulating that dude for. [00:15:18] Speaker C: I mean, like, when. When. If you listen to some of the music, it's definitely will be more prevalent on. On the record. [00:15:25] Speaker A: Right. [00:15:25] Speaker C: The full length when it comes out. But I'm. I'm putting delongs all over that. You know, the like. Like double. Like no fifth in the power chord with the fifth is. So it's just like. Like it's sliding around. Like, I'm like. I literally will be writing songs and I'll be like, charlie, we got to Put a Delong there. [00:15:44] Speaker B: Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with being like, I take. You know, it's just like you're a fucking cook or chef in a kitchen, you take a little bit of that. You don't need brand fucking new ingredients every time you make a dish. You know, you got your salt and pepper and you're, you know, And Tom delong is like your Italian season, you [00:16:02] Speaker C: know, I mean, it's just. But I mean, that style, that little, you know, way of playing chords like that, it's become so just ubiquitous with the style that it's like, can you even call that copying? [00:16:15] Speaker B: Anyways, but it also, it opens up just like. Like I'm also a huge Deftones fan. And back in the early 90s, like when their first and second album came out is when I discovered drop D tuning. [00:16:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:29] Speaker B: And, you know, it's all started by trying to learn Deftones riffs with. They're actually in drop C, those fuckers. But like. Yeah, it unlocked something. [00:16:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:39] Speaker B: You know what I mean? [00:16:40] Speaker C: It makes you think and like, use a different part of your brain. [00:16:42] Speaker B: Absolutely. And, like, unlocked a million. And I barely even use drop D anymore. But, like, I still remember just that feeling of being like, oh, I just [00:16:52] Speaker C: discovered a lot of, you know, with totally different vibe. [00:16:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:56] Speaker C: I mean, yeah, there are. I mean, if you ask, you know, between me, Craig and Charlie, like, the Blank self titled is like just this omnipresent, like, always stealing from that, like, all the time. [00:17:12] Speaker B: I was just listening to One More Time, the album. [00:17:15] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, that's the newest one, right? [00:17:17] Speaker B: Yeah, and it's fucking great. [00:17:18] Speaker C: Yeah, there's some cool stuff on there, for sure. [00:17:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:20] Speaker B: It's not all like. No, actually, no, I do like every song, but there's some songs that I'm like, this is really great. [00:17:26] Speaker C: Yeah, no, there are definitely some awesome songs on there too. And. Yeah, so, you know, Blink 182 is, you know, a massive influence. And it's, I guess on more of like a macro scale. It's like, yeah, I'm Pull. We're pulling from, you know, hardcore bands, these pop punk bands. But I. I kind of joke that it's like, I'm really just like reaching for the Blink bin and the Metallica bin. [00:17:52] Speaker B: You know, you're still creating your. [00:17:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:56] Speaker B: You know what I mean? [00:17:56] Speaker A: You're. [00:17:57] Speaker B: You're not copying anything. You're creating your thing with, you know, a couple. Couple of spices that people laid before you. [00:18:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:05] Speaker B: So I think we should hear a Tune from Take steps Now what we were going to play with the latest single. Then we're going to dig a little deeper into the catalog. But there is more new music coming very soon. But what are we going to play now? [00:18:22] Speaker A: Well. [00:18:22] Speaker C: Well, the latest single that just came out on February 13th is called Everybody that loves you Now I know [00:18:30] Speaker A: and [00:18:30] Speaker C: it's dedicated to my good friend Abes. And it's just about, you know, getting better. It's about moving on and looking forward. And it's kind of the message of the band is trying to create art that, you know, makes people, you know, uplifted in a way to make things better. And recorded at pacemaker audio by Tyler Crutch, shout outs and. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Yeah, well, cool. Let's check out Everybody loves you Now I know. Take steps and then we'll be right back to talk some more with John. [00:19:25] Speaker A: Who ever think this was right stayed up till 4 just to be with you stuck inside this box we've known so well and I'm hoping this would be the last night I restrain myself into thinking I could make a lesson from this mess I can't go anywhere your smile tattooed in my brain you left to clear the air felt just as hopeless if you stir you said this once forever and you never let me go was it a force of habit from the summer nights alone spent thinking this will make me happy what now? Now I know now I know now I know when this will come into play maybe we've lived all our days will you look back on the time we shared and hate that he stayed for him and every time you spill your pain I would come help just to be useful youl said this was forever and you never let me go wasn't a force of habits on the summer nights alone spent thinking this will make me happy well now now I know now I now I know your [00:21:11] Speaker C: eyes are gray and your smile is [00:21:13] Speaker A: big you love to love and be loved you're all around your love feels [00:21:21] Speaker C: like rain on my skin and I'll dance in your love for as long [00:21:24] Speaker A: as I love the love just give [00:21:27] Speaker C: me my rainy days. [00:21:38] Speaker A: You said you didn't choose this and you never let me go Wasn't a force on habit from the summer night so I was expecting this will make me happy well now now I know now I know now I know. Now I know. Now I know. [00:22:25] Speaker B: All right. That was everybody that loves you now I know Take steps. Did I get that right? Yeah, I kept up the title, but. So we want to talk about. [00:22:35] Speaker A: You know. [00:22:35] Speaker B: You have An EP out. You have that single that we just listened to that just came out like as we're recording this, like less than a week ago, right? [00:22:43] Speaker C: Yeah, around. Yeah, yeah, something like a couple days [00:22:45] Speaker B: ago as we're recording, but so it's out is what I'm saying. But there's also more music coming that you're working on. Right, so tell us a little bit about what's going on there. [00:22:56] Speaker C: So we have a full length record coming out on March 20th called Fighting Chance and we've been working on it for the better part of about half a year now. And it's more of a realized vision of all of us involved rather than just the EP was kind of, you know, some songs that me and Kyle work together on, we really, you know, poured over this, this process and these songs. It's a mix of, you know, different members, influences, different, you know, this person wrote this. [00:23:40] Speaker A: It's. [00:23:41] Speaker C: It's a nice mix of all of our influences and, you know, multiple songwriters. And it is a pretty good snapshot of what we think we are kind of capable of sonically. I, I'd like to say it's a pretty diverse sounding album. It goes to more intense than we've been on the EP and then much softer than we've ever been on any recorded material as well. And I'm super excited for people to [00:24:18] Speaker B: hear it because you were saying it was a collaborative and like this is kind of the first realization of the full songs. Like was it or how much did it play into the song order? [00:24:31] Speaker C: Oh, sequencing. Yeah, that's something we really care a lot about. Especially me and Charlie are like. Like we went over sequencing for the album a lot because we want it to feel, you know, the album format. We want it to really feel and breathe and have peaks and trows in the right places. So a lot of thought went into kind of bringing things in with a lot of energy and allowing things to kind of balance out between different points, kind of keep hopefully keep people on their toes and keep them excited, to keep listening with kind of the order allowing for the, the styles and the influence and intensity to shift. [00:25:22] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:22] Speaker C: As track goes, as we go from track to track. [00:25:25] Speaker B: Yeah. And I've always been an album person and I, you know, I love the, the dynamic. Like it's almost like, you know, in, in like binge watching terms. It's like, you know, each song is an episode, but each album is a season. [00:25:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:38] Speaker B: It has to fit together. It has to take you from point A to point B. And I don't know, like, so I was just kind of wondering, you know, with all the different members adding their parts and creating the different songs, like, were there certain. You know, you said you got slower than. Or, you know, quieter than you have. Was that a certain band member's influence that brought it to that quiet place? And was it a certain member's influence or was it more the group dynamic that brought it to the more aggressive and higher points? [00:26:09] Speaker C: So the. The most aggressive and all out that we got on the record is very much influenced by the group setting. [00:26:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:26:23] Speaker C: Like I was kind of saying earlier, I'd say the. [00:26:26] Speaker A: The. [00:26:26] Speaker C: The. The biggest song that also is probably the most intense or maybe second most intense sonically on the record is a total group, like, project. And on the other end of the spectrum, the softest song on the album was something that, like, Kyle and I wrote together in, like a very small, quiet. It was like a late night thing. So a perfect example of, like, how the environment influences, like, the attitudes of the song. [00:26:59] Speaker A: Right. [00:27:00] Speaker B: And was it like an acoustic guitar type of. You know, acoustic guitar and a notepad type of. [00:27:05] Speaker C: Yeah, it was. It was very much. Yeah, yeah, like, kind of like old school, right? You know, just kind of, you know, writing some lyrics, throwing a guitar part down and just doing it that way and then as opposed to going into the room with the band and, you [00:27:20] Speaker B: know, And I mean, I do that too. I mean, I play bass and like, even, like, bass lines and I usually just write them on an acoustic guitar. And then because it's easier to. I don't know, it's easier to move around, you know, and I could just grab it instead of my couch and. [00:27:35] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, that. [00:27:36] Speaker B: You know, rather than come in here and shake that. Yeah. Good thing we don't have super close neighbors, because it gets loud as in here, for sure. But yeah, so you've got the out. And you said full length, like, how many. How many songs on there? [00:27:50] Speaker C: 10. [00:27:51] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:27:51] Speaker A: Nice. [00:27:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Mixing and mastering, you said, was done by Tyler. [00:27:55] Speaker C: Yeah, so Tyler is mixing it and then Nick Cavan, who runs Resolve Recording in Albany and plays drums in Millington, is our master engineer. [00:28:05] Speaker B: I fucking love Millington. [00:28:06] Speaker C: Oh, nice. [00:28:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:08] Speaker B: Great band. Huge fan of those guys. And they're. They're also super cool with allowing me to play their music on the weekend spotlight, because every time I reach out to them, I'm like, hey, is it cool if we. If I play your new song? They always respond. [00:28:22] Speaker C: Almost instant moment right now. [00:28:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:24] Speaker C: Are you seeing they got, like, sold out Japan tour, Warp Tour. [00:28:27] Speaker B: Like, dudes are crushing. And again, they respond to, like, messages within like a minute or two. And they're like, yeah, absolutely, yes. And if you're not familiar with Millington, fucking check them out, because they're crushing it. But, yeah, so 10 song album coming out March 20th. You've got the single out and the. The single. Single. Then the other EP was what, five songs? [00:28:57] Speaker C: The first EP is. [00:28:58] Speaker B: It's. [00:29:00] Speaker C: It's like. It's technically four songs, but it's really just, you know, three songs and an intro track. [00:29:08] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. [00:29:08] Speaker C: Four songs. [00:29:09] Speaker B: Nice. And those are. Those are available, like, as we speak. So. And let's. Let's hear. You know, we can't. We're not going to hear anything off the new album, but as you're listening to this, it's coming out soon, so be on the lookout for it. It's coming out. You can listen to the first EP in the single and then what are we gonna hear off the first ep? [00:29:29] Speaker C: Now we're gonna. The song is called Wide Awake. It's kind of just like a high energy banger. A favorite to play in our shows for sure. [00:29:39] Speaker B: All right, cool. Well, let's check out Wide Awake, take steps, and then we'll be right back to wrap it up. [00:29:54] Speaker A: These shadows will not leave here subconsciously they stand no time for me to catch up to there no room for me to land oh, what a waste of love Guess you taught lessons had your plan so you chose to take gay soul Same day put flowers in my hands the sheets you laid your back onto the weeks where I felt scammed I see in everything when I once saw Deep within her chance do you even think she loves you? You even think at all? Doesn't move right out just for her Right past another star will it ever see tomorrow? I know this won't go to resolve about how I take the fall for this I never leave you scarred oh, blue I knew you'd call. In a past life maybe it meant more it was a dream you were dying away from But I'm in this clinging onto a locked do Only my thoughts everything that I'm made of do you even think they love you? How'd it feel to get that call? It's a price worth living a lie Living to die the one who took it all Someone out there will show you each time you feel withdrawal from the drama that you harbor Way down deep within your wall. Ah, your eyes burn A life sword full of memories It's a seven muscle that's A bullshit my man cannot do what you did to me couldn't help me but to mention that it's not him, not me A part of you don't gain relief from anything so are you trying to shake the grief from settling or someone who is bound to see the same? [00:32:02] Speaker B: All right, that was Wide Awake. Take steps. And. And John, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come all the way up here and. And do this. And it was a really cool conversation. And I'm still just so thrilled that you. That you mentioned Pulley with that, you know, whatever. I'm like, oh, yeah. One of my. Yeah, everybody's like, who the is Pulley? So check out Pulley. But before we go, like I do with all my guests, I just want to give you a chance. Chance to say your gratitudes. [00:32:30] Speaker C: Oh, man, where do I start? Well, I guess I want to shout out Albany hardcore because they're just like the backbone of everything that we do. Shout out the guys who laid the footwork, you know, Dying Breed, One King Down, Stigmata, a million others. But I also want to shout out some modern bands as well. Who are our peers? Guys, if you're listening, I'm sorry if I forget you, but Gratitude, Flat Wounds, Halo Bites, Spirit Killer, Sunblock, other DIY bands, Senior Living, everybody that loves you, songs named after them, great friends of mine. There's just. I feel so blessed and privileged to be a part of Albany music right now because, like I said, there's so many good bands that I just. I can't remember everybody to say thank you to. And it's. It's just. It's. It's something really special. And there's a lot of great bands that also have projects coming out this year. And I can't. You know, I can't say anything and I don't have anybody's permission, but all I will say is, like, keep your eye on Albany music this year. There's a lot of amazing records that are going to come out of a lot of amazing bands. [00:33:59] Speaker B: All right, well, he is John Lombardi of Take Steps. 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 you stream podcasts. If you'd like to help support the show, please like. Like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a [email protected] unsigned 518, if you would like to advertise on the show, send me an email at unsigned518mail.com and to be a guest on the show, reach out to me through Instagram, signed 518. Take care of one another and I'll see you next week. [00:34:42] Speaker A: Andy Sculling. Andy Sculling.