Unsigned518 - Episode 219 - Annie in the Water

[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 J Rock now on the beat guitar with a short wind radio bat his motherfucking Andy SC Motherfucker. Cuz here he comes Andy Sculling wearing [00:00:25] Speaker B: his orange hat welcome to unsigned 518. I'm here with Michael and Chris of Annie in the Water. What's up, guys? [00:00:33] Speaker C: What's going on, man? [00:00:35] Speaker B: You know, just living. Living the dream, like. And you know, Michael, you've been on the show where this is what this is. Third or fourth time is this. It's at least the third. [00:00:44] Speaker D: It's at least a third. I think it might be three. It might be like before. [00:00:49] Speaker B: I know. I think it is four. I don't know either way. But, like, you know, Michael lives very close to the dazzle 10. [00:00:57] Speaker D: I live a block over which is only a mile and a half. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Well, yeah, a country block. Call it a block here. [00:01:04] Speaker D: It's a raven's fly block. [00:01:07] Speaker B: As the crow flies. It is a block. No. So we want to talk about, you know, and we're releasing this episode the day the EP comes out. So, like, as we're talking about this, you can go and check out the music we're talking about from Andy in the Water. But we really want to talk about, I guess, the process of the ep, how it all came together. Let's just start shooting the shit about the new ep. First of all, I guess tell everybody what it's called. [00:01:37] Speaker D: Well, first of all, thank you so much, Andy. Always want to be on here and stoked to have Chris, my bandmate, here in the metropolis of Schuylerville. [00:01:46] Speaker C: Stoked to be here. [00:01:47] Speaker D: Very excited we're here in the dazzle then. I wish all of you could be visually and physically here with us right now. It's just so incredible. So that being said, talking about the spaces, you know, just a. Just a quick breakdown and Chris can kind of expand on a little bit more. But we've been doing multiple albums at this point and we had been trying all sorts of different processes on how to record and capture and perform and get what we've been doing, you know, songwriting wise and working together as a group and finding the right, you know, way to go. And what ended up happening with that was we started to realize that, like, all of us as five members, we all write individually as well, and everyone's a strong writer. And when you kind of bring something to the table, it's like you have people who all have the ability to sculpt that song, but we're all performing it, and then we're gonna perform it live. Then we're gonna hang out together, and we're gonna drive in the car together and go to the show, you know, so you don't get this bird's eye view. And that was when we realized we kind of needed to make that change. And that started, actually, by us meeting a guy named Jason Randall, AKA Joc. And I wasn't particularly there for when it first happened, but I think, Chris, you were there when you first met him, if you want to kind of expand on that. [00:03:05] Speaker C: Yeah, I met Jocko at Shakur Hills Grassroots just in passing, and he actually came up to me and was like, hey, you're the bass player in Annie in the Water. I hear we're going to be doing some work together. Because at that point, we had been trying to nail down some time with him in the studio and some emails, like, expressing interest, and he knows a lot of mutual friends, and I think we had gotten, you know, a good recommendation as people to work with. [00:03:35] Speaker B: Right. [00:03:36] Speaker C: And. But, yeah, he came right up to me and was just like, hey, how are you? I'm. I'm Jocko. I'm Jason. They call me Jocko. And, you know, we just kind of started talking about really all other things, not music, you know, just getting to know one another. And so even just that alone showed me, like, oh, this is somebody I can work with. This is somebody I could communicate with. Because this is, like, you know, a big part of our process with him is sitting with a song and, like, talking about it. And, you know, he'll. He'll be quiet at the desk working on something, and he'll spin around in his chair, and he'll go, guys, I gotta be honest. I'm not. I'm not feeling this section or this needs. He doesn't say that. He usually says, this needs something. [00:04:20] Speaker D: Yeah, or like, chair spinner. [00:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:22] Speaker C: You know, and it's great. And it's great because, like, we need that. You know, we spend a lot of time with our songs, you know, working together in, you know, rehearsal settings or even just on our own. As Mike said, we're all songwriters, so, like, you know, I'll toil for months to even a year on different ideas, you know, that get fleshed out over time. And so, you know, you know, we really need those objective ears when we're in that setting. And he's, you know, given us that in spades, so. [00:04:54] Speaker B: Right. [00:04:54] Speaker D: Yeah, it's. So. It's like the. And we're in studio with him, and he's just got such a customized setup, and he's just been doing it for so long. And so we're in his studio. There's the lodging in the studio that's upstairs. There's just this flow that happens there, you know, and it's his world. It's his world. And it's just like, we're so focused on it, and there's just such an incredible workflow. And it's just. We've kind of. I guess you could say, like, we've just matured up to that point that we're at that cruising altitude with him now, and where that takes us, we don't know. But he's coming from not only a producer standpoint, but he's coming from the standpoint of being like, what's the service of the song? You know, how can we serve the music of the song as best as possible? And looking at it from an objective point of view, and I think professionally and also musically for all of us, it's something that we needed as a [00:05:41] Speaker B: band, you know, and is that something, like, when you bring a composition into the studio, you know, you've worked on it, is he altering it and, you know, being like, what if you did this? What if we change that? Like, does he. [00:05:54] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:05:55] Speaker B: Change the flow, like, in that way, you know, as long as you're in agreeance of it. [00:05:59] Speaker C: And is that sometimes it's a less is more. You know, subtractive. Like, let's. Let's shorten this. Let's take some notes away. And other times it's a more is more. Let's, like, you haven't taken this idea far enough. And we get the best of both worlds from him. And the one thing that I think helps it work is all of us in the band. Like I said, it's his world. When we step into his studio, he's very comfortable. He's in his natural setting. So, like, the ideas that he's giving us are really coming from a very grounded place. And all of us, you know, have been pitted with a moment where we've, like, you know, these are our babies, these are our songs, and we have to go, oh, yeah, that's a good idea. Or, like, no, let's. Let's. Even if we're not sold on it, let's try that. Because it's his space, it's his, you know, comfort zone. [00:06:47] Speaker B: And plus, you know, especially working with the medium of music, you're never going to actually Know until you hear it. Like if he's like, I got this idea and you say hell no. You know, then you, you'd never know. Like you have to hear it. Then you can say, hell no. [00:07:00] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:07:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:01] Speaker D: And he's, he's actually like, really, he's really flexible in that way. And like the. So the last album that we did with him was our Migration album. And we did that last summer, the summer of 2025. [00:07:15] Speaker B: How many albums do you guys have? We've. [00:07:18] Speaker D: We've been cranking them out. So November of 24. November of 2024, we had released an album. The year before that we released a full ranked album. And then six months later or after the album release of our last Things To Do Things to Do album, we. We released it in November 2024. January or. Yeah, January of 2025. We were in studio for the next [00:07:47] Speaker C: album and that was out in July. [00:07:49] Speaker D: That was out in July. We turned it over in about. [00:07:51] Speaker C: And that would have been last July. [00:07:53] Speaker D: That was last July. So that one and that one was at. Supposed to be like this kind of project with Jocko to go in there, see what his workflow was like. And we were looking to get actually live video, like a, like a music video of each one of these songs. But we went in on the first day and we tracked everything live. And he was like, honestly, he's like the performance and the sound and where the song is, he's like, this could be a studio album. And each song on that album was written by a different band member. So we, it, it was kind of like a creative project. Migration, our last album. But he was like, well, he. You have the base layer of a live studio album. You could do that if you want. Five song studio album, it's done. I'll package it. We'll go. He's like, but if you give me three more days, I'll turn this thing into a full length album. And we're not a full length amp, but a five song which is just [00:08:43] Speaker C: basically giving it the proper production. [00:08:45] Speaker D: Proper production. So it's like a lp, if you will, you know. And that album has done the best out of any album that we've ever done. And it was done very quickly. We turned it over, we promoted it and it's gotten, I mean, the traction on Spotify and everything. It's the most successful album we've ever done. And it was just something we did just kind of in like, you didn't [00:09:06] Speaker B: have expectations kind of thing, you know, let's give this a shot and see what happened. [00:09:11] Speaker D: We didn't even know it was going to be an album. [00:09:12] Speaker C: I think the only thing we knew that we didn't want was we like, we, we only went in with so many songs so we knew it was going to be a shorter EP or just like a shorter length album. And I think that's really the ticket these days. Everybody's attention span is, you know, so far much, you know, much lower than it used to. And all of our songs, I think are worth hearing. And you know, one song has to be last on every album, right? And when you have 11 songs or 10 songs before that last song, you're just probably not gonna hear it. And we like, for example, we have songs on like our full length albums that people love to hear live. They might only have a few thousand plays on Spotify because they're lower down on the list on the album just simply by that fact. [00:10:06] Speaker B: That's funny that people still have that like album mentality, like. [00:10:09] Speaker C: Yeah. And so just shortening it because it's like at the end of the day, like even though we're trying to capitalize on the market and make some money off of all everything we put out, like we are still putting out art, right? And you want the whole picture to be seen, you know, you want the whole art to be viewed for what it is. And it's easier to me when you just have four, five songs and you just get a taste, you know, 20 minute taste about. About what, what it's about because you know, you're still probably. The average listener is probably still only gonna get two songs, but that's two out of five is a higher percentage than two out of ten. You know, it's like. And it just seems to work better for us too. We're not stressing over what song, like the, the order of the songs reveals itself versus us trying to be like, well, if this one's first, then the other one, like to balance it out, needs to go later. These ones sound similar, so we can't really put them together. And it's like we get away from a lot of that just by not only going song by song, but having a finite amount of them, less ingredients makes it easier, makes a better stew somehow, you know. [00:11:15] Speaker D: Yeah, totally. Yeah. And this. So this. So after we had released Migration, we were already ready to go back in the studio again. You know, we were thinking of full length album again right after that. But then we kind of thought about it and we wanted to. We have such a palette of songs. So we're like, well, what if we did an ep and each one of those songs fits together, but each one of them is a very different flavor, you know. And so this last ep, I mean, the songs are really all over, or they're not all over. They're, they're, you know, they've got a really robust feeling to each one of them. The way that they're delivered is a different dynamic. And so that's where we're really excited to see what happens with it. Because it's like, whoa, we'll release a single and release a four song ep, and then after that, I can't tell you what happens after that, but we shall see what happens after that. But in terms of releases. But yeah, so this was a project, we're like, well, we haven't done this yet to really focus on it. So what if we do this to kind of showcase what we have and give it a nice package that everybody can give it a good listen, give it a fair shot, you know? [00:12:24] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. I mean, it's so true that the attention spans are short. And I actually, that album that I did with TJ and James, I just made, and I want to release it on Spotify, but I just made a mega mix of it where I just merged all seven songs together so that as one ends, there's just enough overlap so that there's no, no track separation. And I was like, because it's not on Spotify at all. I was like, it'd be cool to release it on Spotify as one song. Ooh, so it's seven songs. [00:12:59] Speaker D: That's a good idea. [00:13:00] Speaker B: You know, but it's like, you know, I think 22 minutes or whatever. Seven songs, 22 minutes. But I'm like, it'd be pretty cool to just release it as one fucking song. [00:13:08] Speaker D: That's a great idea. You get one song and that's what, what that'll do is also it will rewire the algorithm and there's so much happening with that. Like, for example, actually, Chris was with me. I had, I was on Spotify. And when Hayley Williams album dropped, but it wasn't an album, it was 18 singles that she dropped simultaneously. Oh, wow. So it triggered the, the algorithm, ironically. So that's kind of what that reminded me of is like, we've also, we've done these full length albums and we're like, the last song was a five song ep. You know, this last, this next one's gonna be four song ep. After that, you know, we have other plans to release too. So we're also looking to kind of bring some nuance to how we're engaging with the algorithm and shocking things up so that it's not kind of, oh, here's the gap time. Like, we're putting a lot of work out right now, and we're going to. Even more so in the future. But it's, like, coming from a different angle. Like, I was sitting when I listened that album. I was, ironically up in the Adirondacks with Chris, and I was just like, oh, what's going on here? And I just pressed. Played her. Her albums, all the song, a single straight through. You couldn't even. It didn't even flow like a normal album. You had to go and conscientiously do that. And him and I were just sitting. I'm listening to it. I'm like. It's just all over. All the songs were different, you know, and so I love that idea that you have is to, like, what if you condense them into this overall art, like, project? [00:14:29] Speaker B: And all I did was basically make Segways. You know what I mean? Because as one song is ending, like, instead of leaving that gap, I just dropped it down to another track, slid it over just a little bit so that there's no silence. [00:14:42] Speaker D: Oh, dude. [00:14:43] Speaker B: And then exported it as one Wav. File. [00:14:46] Speaker D: Yeah. Because then it's like, people listening. Almost like a vinyl record. Yeah. And I love that idea. Yeah, that's awesome. [00:14:51] Speaker B: Put it on and let it fucking roll. And I got that idea basically, because I. It's gonna sound so cheap, but I don't want to buy my own album on Bandcamp. [00:15:01] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:15:02] Speaker B: I'm just listening to the masters off my computer, and I was tired of doing, like, what you said. Hitting that song. Hitting that song. So I'm like, I'm just gonna pull them all in and create one long track. And then I was like, wait, that's really. That's really a good idea. [00:15:14] Speaker D: I love that idea. That's a great idea, man. [00:15:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:17] Speaker D: You know, we might have to consider that in the future. [00:15:20] Speaker B: You should just. [00:15:21] Speaker C: Just. [00:15:22] Speaker B: Just to fucking switch it up. Just to switch it up, you know? So the album, or the ep, rather, that came out today, and there was the. The single that is already out, and I want to talk maybe a little bit about that single. Maybe even play the single. [00:15:38] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. Love to talk about that one. Yeah. Chris, you kind of want to expand on that. [00:15:43] Speaker C: Yeah. So the single here right now came about. It's actually probably in terms of our songwriting approach, the most organic song on the album, we just kind of came together for a rehearsal with, you know, the idea we had to, like, we had a show coming up, we needed to brush up on a few things. But we also hadn't had a creative session together in a while. And Matt had brought a riff on the synth that's featured prominently through the song to the table. And like any song, it started from a, you know, pretty, like, musically intense place. Like the, you know, the parts weren't really, like, you know, fleshed out and refined yet. And so once we started getting through the rehearsal and getting through that process, something like really poppy emerged and a really, you know, steady thing emerged from it. And we are sort of trying to push that angle, you know, a little bit. You know, palatable music is a good thing, you know, and more. [00:16:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's not called pop for. For nothing. [00:16:51] Speaker C: It's like, you know, just easy to listen to and. But it. Moreover, it's easy to decide whether it's for you or not. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:57] Speaker C: You know, quickly. And I think that this song, we all brought an element that was individual. You know, I, you know, I brought the. My bass part comes from like, the indie rock that I loved growing up, you know, in the late 90s, early 2000s, and, you know, learning just what it means to, you know, enjoy your own music. That wasn't my, you know, my father's or my mother's. Right. These are like he bands like the Strokes and things like that that I was getting into at a young age. And so there's elements of that in there from my, you know, from my parts. But, yeah, we all brought something to the table with this one. And that's what makes it unique in terms of the rest of the songs on the ep. [00:17:42] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, I. I think kind of piggybacking off of that. Like, the other cool thing is we all, you know, it's a straightforward kind of like pop song, like he was saying. But it. For. For me personally, I like to see it as like, kind of the evolution of our sound because I had actually spent the past six months to about a year, mostly past six months just really trying and really getting in the tech side of my sound. And so we ended up using this guitar tone that had this really mixture of ambient pedals and stuff that is from a amp modeler that I have. [00:18:20] Speaker C: Super thoughtful tone. Yeah, really lots of thought went into the. That. [00:18:23] Speaker D: Yeah. And so like, I. I kind of sculpted this sound with what they were looking for. And we all did. We all did together, you know. And that was really cool. That guitar sound kind of was where we went into studio. We ended up recording it all analog, but we find the emulation of the sound of the guitar. And then our producer kind of was like, I like the meteor part of it. If you played it in the position, the lower position. And I was. And I. And that was actually one of those moments where I was like, hey, like, we kind of wrote it with me in, like, the third to fourth position. Like, that's kind of where I'm. My head's at. And I went back and forth. And we built this really good way of us negotiating with each other. And then me listening to the part that he featured forward, it gave this song this power, you know, so it was a really awesome, like, way for, like, all of us as a band and also me personally, to, like, see a maturing process of the gear, but also, like, elevating my relationship with our producer, me personally and everybody else. So it's just such a good song for the single because, like, for me, it's just such a. It's like. It's a kind of like a. Like a bookmarking for me personally and everybody else in the band. [00:19:28] Speaker C: So he made a believer out of Jocko with the. The tone master, too. He was. You know, like, any producer, they see a piece of digital gear in their, you know, room filled with analog gear, and they're like, oh, God, yeah. And I don't blame him. I don't blame him. But Mike really believed in his tone, and I think we got a great product. I really do. We did. But it was funny that you had to, like, you know, you really had to. To vouch for it, and rightfully so, because Jocko could have probably cooked something up just as. You know, just as good, but it [00:20:01] Speaker D: would have been a different sound. There would have been this glimmer that we wouldn't have. [00:20:05] Speaker C: It was worth the purchase. Just alone. Just that one song. [00:20:08] Speaker D: Just that one song. [00:20:09] Speaker B: Well, should we hear that one song? [00:20:12] Speaker D: I agree that we shall. We should hear it. [00:20:14] Speaker B: You want. You want to introduce it, Michael? [00:20:16] Speaker D: Yes. This next song that you'll be hearing is the new single from the Annie, the Water EP Garden. And the song is called Here Right Now. [00:20:41] Speaker A: Ticking and waiting I'm ready to go Anticipating I'm not alone Listen in patience the moments go valence Lift the destination and ride it in stone can you feel this magic we get to create? Run for the trees Jump out of the plane Just find a rhyme no need to explain Dancing is for you this is your adventure, this is your life. Don't waste another moment don't waste another night. That is magic when you start to feel right. You climb up the mountain to take in the sun. Ticking and waiting I'm ready to go. Anticipating and I'm not alone. Glistening moonlight, the water's reflection. Just feel each direction you'll know where to go. What does it mean and what will you do? Running too fast? Jump down of your shoes better take some time. Dancing is for you. This is your adventure, this is your life. Don't waste another moment don't waste another night. There is magic when you start to feel right. Climb up the magic to take it. You gotta get up, get out. Step outside your room Find the strength in your soul now you gain control it's time for your adventure. Down the rabbit hole take the wheel as your life starts to resume Taking and waiting. I'm ready to go. Anticipated and I'm not alone. Listen and patience moments go. Ready to live the destination right INS ram. [00:24:05] Speaker B: All right, that was here, right now, Annie in the water. So now that the EP is out, we want to talk about a show that you have coming up. That's a pretty big deal. So tell us. Tell us a little about what's going on there. [00:24:20] Speaker D: Yes, we are very excited to be linking up with our friends Dogs in a Pile again for a great show that will be at Empire live on Saturday, April 18. Saturday, April 18. [00:24:34] Speaker B: You sure about that, Michael? [00:24:35] Speaker D: That's positive. [00:24:36] Speaker B: Saturday. [00:24:36] Speaker D: Yeah, we're. We're super excited for it. This is. We started working with Dogs in a Pile for New Year's Eve a year ago. About a year ago, I think Two years ago now. Was it two? [00:24:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Because this past year, we were in the ski resort for New Year's. [00:24:52] Speaker D: We were. But it was the only. These New Years before that, we were with them. [00:24:55] Speaker B: Yep. [00:24:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:56] Speaker D: Yeah. And then we. But, yeah, so we did the New Year's with them. Then we played last year their. Their festival in Syracuse. Now we're working with them again. And it's just. It's really cool because they've progressed so well, obviously nationally, but especially here in the Capital region. And this for us will be our first show at Empire Live. So this is the largest. [00:25:15] Speaker B: You're playing the Big Room. [00:25:16] Speaker D: We're playing the Big Room. Big Room. [00:25:18] Speaker B: All right. [00:25:18] Speaker D: Yeah. So this is the biggest room that we have played in in the Capital Region, which is. We were all pretty much based out of, you know, Annie in the Water came when it was Brad and I. The Dual looping thing, you know, that was 2000 and about 2012, 2013, that we all that we had moved to Albany to get things going. Chris from Chatham in Albany. Matt, our keyboard player, was born and raised in Del Mar, New York. So, you know, this is a big show for us in this area that has been so good to us. So we're very excited. Yeah, it's. [00:25:55] Speaker B: I mean, it is a big room. [00:25:56] Speaker D: Yeah, it's a big room. [00:25:57] Speaker B: A lot of great bands. [00:25:59] Speaker C: You know, we probably could have been in there sooner, but like, I think what's great for us is this opportunity to not only link up with dogs, like you said, we've been with them for a while, but like it. It's gonna bring people out, you know, it's hard to get people out in general. And people are very excited about this show, so we're just like really happy to be included, you know. [00:26:19] Speaker B: And it's also, you know, just coming out of winter. Like there's just something about April shows every year. Like, it's just like I feel like I'm busting out of a cocoon and being like, where can I go? I need to see music. [00:26:36] Speaker D: Oh, it's so true. Yeah. The date couldn't be more perfect because even in Albany, you know, we've. We've always. It's really finding the right day is half the bat, more than half the battle, really. [00:26:46] Speaker B: And you never fucking know. Like, if you get like a February date or something, you know, you're like, oh, cool. You know, foot and a half up, snow the day of the show. That's awesome. [00:26:55] Speaker D: Well, we had that. So, Chris, actually, little side note about Albany shows in the Alban area is just last weekend or the weekend before that. About two weeks ago and about a week and change ago. Actually a few weeks ago as, as [00:27:10] Speaker B: this episode, you know, nobody actually thinks we're doing it live a few weeks [00:27:15] Speaker D: ago, by the way. So a few weeks ago, Chris has his own original band, which is called Space Carnival. And my side project band is called Quantum Cosmic. And we played the night before the St Patrick's parade in Albany. And it was like, it was. I woke up and I had kind of like, kind of helped put the ball rolling with this show, you know. And I wake up that day and it's friggin like 30 degrees, raining cold, bitter cold. And I was like, oh shit, what have I done? You know, I'm like, it was not my fault. Mother can't control it. But I'm like, oh, it's just. It was the only date that would [00:27:56] Speaker B: have, you know, when you're like, hey, all this work, all this preparation and yeah. Weather that's like, oh. [00:28:02] Speaker D: I was like, this could be a really bad show, you know. [00:28:05] Speaker B: And I mean, you never know because like last year we played on St. Patty's Day and it was like 80 degrees. Oh, totally. [00:28:14] Speaker D: And we lucked out though, man. Like the scene came out. Yeah. Super successful show, you know. And so from that, you know, and, and that's kind of the cool thing is, is it was a great way for, you know, just to see the, the Albany scene and starting to really even come around more. I. It just, it just really was a. A good experience and like just knowing that the Empire show with Dogs is, is going to. Already there's a good buzz about it, you know, and it's only continuing to do so. So that's going to be our second week of tour. You know, the week before that we're going to have been in Sugarloaf, Maine for Reggae fest on the 10th and 11th weekend. We're gonna be at the Gather Outdoors. We're doing a little show or a little show there and then. Yeah, the Dogs and Piles show. And then we're off on the in the Races for Spring Summer tour. [00:29:06] Speaker B: So how far are you going? You heading like out west and like all over the place? [00:29:11] Speaker D: Well, we are, but that has not been announced yet. But we. [00:29:16] Speaker B: Well, you just announced. [00:29:18] Speaker C: Yeah, in the fall we're going. Yeah, sorry, late summer. [00:29:23] Speaker D: Late summer. Yeah, we. I mean, we'll just say we're going west. Yes. We're going to a very. [00:29:29] Speaker B: Rochester. [00:29:31] Speaker C: We're going disconnected. [00:29:33] Speaker D: Yeah, we're going a few states over westward. We're. We're going to the Rocky Mountains. I guess that we can say that, but we're doing that. But New York City, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, [00:29:53] Speaker C: regional. [00:29:53] Speaker B: You know, that's awesome. [00:29:55] Speaker C: I mean it, it's awesome for us as well. You know, I think every band wants to be out there doing it, but it has to make sense and it doesn't make sense these days to really, [00:30:11] Speaker B: you know, I was gonna send it, [00:30:14] Speaker C: you know, a 30 show tour. Good luck like finding, you know, 30 shows to. To book across the country right now. I think everybody's hurting, but beyond that, it's just like, you know, if half of those shows are. Are a question mark or like, we'll see what happens then. Like, you know, the. We. The economy can't really like support that. [00:30:33] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:30:34] Speaker C: You know, and it's better to be real about that than to, you know, fake. Oh, we're fine. We can do whatever we want. Like, you know, like we're. We are fine. Like, you know. [00:30:44] Speaker B: Yeah, but you're fine because you'. Realist. [00:30:47] Speaker D: Yeah, we're very. [00:30:49] Speaker C: We're just happy to be doing it at all. So, you know, hitting these regional markets is. Is really a no brainer for us because there's a crowd full of people smiling back at us. [00:30:57] Speaker B: Right? Yeah. [00:30:58] Speaker D: And it works around also, like our circuits. Like we're on main stage Northlands this year. You know, we grew. Went from the camp stage to that. So there's. [00:31:05] Speaker B: I remember you talking the first. I remember the talking first year. The first year you even played there, you were just playing the camp stage. [00:31:12] Speaker D: We were doing a. That's when we had a podcast. [00:31:14] Speaker C: It could be such a, such a slog, right, to. Is anybody listening? Is anybody paying attention? [00:31:21] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, that mindset. [00:31:23] Speaker C: Or even just, well, even just from the more shows you play. Yeah, you're just like, you don't have time to decompress and like reflect on all the hard work. It doesn't feel like hard work when you're just like right up in the thick of things and so like scaling back just, even just a tad so we all have a little bit of breathing room to like show up to the main stage on Northlands, like rested, [00:31:46] Speaker B: ready and like, I almost feel like there's something about like being in a state that you'd kind of travel to anyway on a nor. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, there's. If I found myself in Connecticut, I wouldn't be like, holy fuck, how do I get. You know, I'd be like, yeah, I'm in Connecticut. In Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, whatever. But like, you know, Colorado or Montana or something. It just. I feel like even though a tour is a tour and a stop is a stop, you're still away from home. [00:32:13] Speaker D: Totally. [00:32:14] Speaker B: Something about being within arm's reach of home. [00:32:17] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. It does something to your psyche for sure. Like whenever we do our western tours or even when we were down south, like you are 100 committed in that bus, that van or that RV. What we've had in the past, we've had every sort of thing that you could drive in to go all over the country, really. And this year we're flying. You know, it's. Which is a very different thing. And we're trying to. It's like trying to be more efficient and because, you know, it is a business, you know, Annie in the water is. We I love it because there's so much fun and I get to see cool places with people that are creative and intelligent and good people and like love to do what they do and they're dedicated and that the other flip side of it is if that is going to be something that's going to continue to grow and do so we're still grassroots and all of us need to be, you know, making good decisions so that we can keep gas in the car, we can keep money in the bank so that we can invest our ourselves, you know, in an efficient way. So. And I think a lot of venues are doing that, you know, and that's why I think the, the show at Empire Live with Dogs, it makes a lot of sense for both of us. We both know it's gonna be a breakthrough show for each one of us. [00:33:27] Speaker B: Gonna be fucking huge. [00:33:28] Speaker D: There's gonna be. [00:33:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:30] Speaker D: And so that's kind of where our head is at right now is also not only that, but like, how do we make each one of these, like picking the venues in the place where, like, how can we make that be an event that we know is going to be really fun. And I think in the future even too is like there's opportunities to grow the community more. And that's where our head is at right now. And how we're going to do that and how that we've been seeing that growth happen is really interesting. I think that's why we're all so lucky in Albany right now. Because I really think we lucked out at the timing like impeccably because I feel like it's only going to start exploding more because it's such a big, like amazing location. Like I think Albany itself, that's one of the reasons why we're like, we stay in Albany. We're sure we still have our rooted roots in Albany. We have some of us, half the bands up in the Adirondacks, but half of us are. Chris and I are still in this area because this area I think is only going to grow and more influential in a national scale. Like it already has been showing that. [00:34:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:26] Speaker D: And it's only going to be happening [00:34:28] Speaker B: and I think it's good you're going to see more bigger acts making Albany a priority. [00:34:32] Speaker C: Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean it's a, it's a no brainer in terms of like the pass through gig. Right. Like if you're a national act coming totally from Canada or up from New York City, like it's, it's right there for you, bossy. [00:34:44] Speaker B: You got Boston, New York City, Hartford, whatever. You could just boop over to. Over to Albany. [00:34:48] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:34:49] Speaker C: You know, it's. It's mo. It goes beyond music too. You know, like the Albany funny bone comedy. [00:34:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:55] Speaker C: Has been really killing it. You know, I've seen more comedy. Palace Theater as well, too. [00:34:59] Speaker D: Comedy scene has been blowing up. You know, Shout out to kk. [00:35:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Freaking. There's a lot of great comedy in the area. [00:35:06] Speaker D: Oh, absolutely. [00:35:07] Speaker C: And. But, you know, people are still supporting the arts the best they can. And I think the nice thing about the. The people in the capital region is like, we know that we're lucky to have the egg. We know that we're lucky to have the Times Union center or. Excuse me, MVP Arena. [00:35:23] Speaker D: Is that what it's called? Whatever. [00:35:24] Speaker B: It'll always call the Pepsi. [00:35:27] Speaker C: It'll always be the Pepsi arena to me too. [00:35:29] Speaker D: Saw Dave Matthews Band for my first concert ever at the Pepsi Arena. [00:35:33] Speaker C: Yeah. But yeah, we're all. We know that we're lucky to have those things. And, you know, it's. It's not always up to us to like to get like, you know, we can't always say who's coming through town and who we can link up with. But like, the thing that we can do as a band is basically just be rested, ready, and, you know, on point for when these opportunities do come through our area. Because we've kind of grown as a band to be known as a reliable source, you know, if national bands are coming through the capital region. [00:36:08] Speaker A: Right. [00:36:08] Speaker C: We get a lot of emails, you know, we get a lot of looks, people saying, hey, are you available to open for us? You know, are you available to link up? Because you draw, you know, you bring people out and. And also we're good people really seem to like to work with. With us and because. [00:36:22] Speaker B: Which is huge. [00:36:24] Speaker D: Which I feel like is a fundamental truth of humans, as we should. Or at least we should shoot for that, you know, nice, kind people. [00:36:31] Speaker C: It's all made easier by being real and being like, hey, like, no, we can't. Or somebody's got something important life thing going on that they need to do or, you know, or they've booked a vacation that they deserve. [00:36:44] Speaker B: Family comes first. [00:36:45] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:36:46] Speaker C: And putting other things first has really, like, like helped our music, it's helped our ep, it's helped our single. [00:36:54] Speaker B: Because you don't feel like you're chained to something totally. It still is your hobby, it's something that you love and like, you're like, if you can separate it from responsibility, like that, you know, if something comes up, you're like, I got to take care of this. [00:37:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:37:08] Speaker B: Before I can come back to this with a clear head and put my heart back. [00:37:12] Speaker C: Everyone in the band would be playing music if, if we weren't in a band together, we would all be playing music because we loved it, not because we were short on cash. Right. Like, exactly. It's always nice to get paid for what we do. But like, we, like, I, I'll sit in my room and, and play piano like for hours. [00:37:34] Speaker B: Like, just look at this room. Does this room look like the Dazzle daddy? Sit here and pluck away. There's every fucking instrument. I, I a auto harp. I've got ukulele, I've got trombones in here. [00:37:47] Speaker D: We've got them all. [00:37:48] Speaker B: I just sit in here and around with me. [00:37:50] Speaker D: It's that 15 inch amp. [00:37:52] Speaker B: Yeah, right there. Oh, yeah, yeah. With the little, little 10 inch head on top, dude. [00:37:58] Speaker D: For sure. [00:37:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Like, music is how I clear my head. Like, you know, it's how I remain human when everything's being fired at me with both barrels. [00:38:08] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. And there's so, and I think that's one of the biggest also things of pushing us to. And because, like, what Chris is saying is, like, when we are more intentional and we are conscientious of the shows and how they're booked and where we are as individuals and where we are collectively and where we are in our family. Like, even myself, like, I like the changes I've made in my personal life and then also, like, prioritizing my family. I mean, I can't express how huge that has been in my personal life and also how that's made me see my band differently in a more positive way. And the thing that's also beautiful about that is now we're looking at these shows to go. How can we maximize that experience for our fans? What's an interesting thing that we can do for that show? But if not, how does that show set itself up so that there's something great that happens there? Because the one thing I'm super grateful for this band is we even had a show at Syracuse recently and, and you know, we had a really tight timeline for sound checking and, and it just, the run of show just got congested a little bit. So. And I was, I was, I'd had a whole new pedal board set up, so I, and I don't want to get too far into it, but I was like, flustered. I haven't felt that in a really Long. [00:39:24] Speaker C: What do we have? 25 minutes of soundtrack, I think. [00:39:27] Speaker D: No, 20. Yeah, we had 20 and then we had. Yeah, it was. It was. But it was. And so I had. I didn't test any of these new. I have a whole new pedal board that was my first time premiering it. And I. And I. The way that it sounded in the room and everything, I wasn't 100 comfortable with. It was show number one. And I came back from it and I was like, oh man, dude. I'm just like. I felt so guilty because I felt like I let down my band. I felt like because the back end recording, we're trying to do these multi tracks and release them to get it out and start to, you know, grow our lives. Songs or live albums. Live shows now. And. And I was so negative because I thought that I fucked up. I thought that I had really not set it up right. And. And on the back end of it we did the recording and I processed it with my bandmate Brad and listened to it. We're like, this sounds actually good. And then the feedback that we got from the show, it was overwhelming. And it was just one of those lessons that I learned that really like, it just click. Something that was like. Like my. Even me showing up and playing and doing my best with a situation that I thought I was at my worst was such an incredibly uplifting experience for our fans. And we got such good feedback. I still hear from people to this day about that show. [00:40:43] Speaker B: Well, it's almost like your headspace wouldn't allow you to hear it as anything other than not good because it wasn't what you had set yourself up for. [00:40:51] Speaker D: Yeah. But even after the show, I was jazzed. I was like, I was still lifted up, like. And that's the craziest thing. I like even me being like really like hard on myself and thinking that I messed up like in that negative mind space, like it still at the end of the show was like, I was so elated. Like, I was still just like, wow, we played a great show. I mean it was a pretty much almost sold out room. We were right near selling out Syracuse with Jimkata. Great show. But it was. But after the show, so many people were so vamped. They were like, you guys played so great. And. And then at the end of it, it's like, you know, every show is just this incredible experience. And like as long as we're showing up and trying our best, the crowd and everybody just to watch the frequency, like they come in with all their stuff and then you Play. And they all walk out with smiles and stoked and the conversations and, like, the one thing that we talk about as a band is, like, we really love the unifying feeling of what the music does, you know, I love watching people that I know have different ideologies, if you will. Don't know each other yet, meet each other, hang out, have fun, and then leave. It just reinforces the fact that, like, the music is this driving force. It's bigger than myself, it's bigger than Chris, it's bigger than the band. It's. And we get to participate in it, and we get to. We actually help facilitate it on a larger scale, which is just such a gift, you know? [00:42:13] Speaker B: So I think we should hear a song. But before we do, you want to just plug the show one more time? Give the details on the show with dogs in a pile? [00:42:21] Speaker D: You betcha. Thank you, Andy. The show is at Empire live in Albany, New York, on Saturday, April 18th. Saturday, April 18th. [00:42:30] Speaker B: Cool. [00:42:31] Speaker C: And. [00:42:31] Speaker B: And what song are we gonna hear? [00:42:32] Speaker C: So we're gonna hear the first song off of our previous EP called Migration. It's a song I wrote called Tangled Up. [00:42:41] Speaker B: All right, cool. Well, let's hear Tangled up and then we'll be right back to wrap it up. [00:43:01] Speaker A: My head is stuck on what you said. In my bed I still wonder what you meant. My friends think that I should make amends. But my turn or get left unreg. At least can you give me a straight shot so I know what it is that we've got? Cuz we work so hard for this and we've come so far for this if there ever was a thing that I was taught it can't always be the way that you want Winter, spring, summer and fall I want to be there for it all I want to be some tied at a time Tangled up, twisted and alone. Guess I'll be just fine down the line but first I've got to find Finding my way home hey my best couldn't save us from this mess. So I'm stressed I gotta get this up my chest. At least can you give me a straight shot so I know what it is that we've got? Cuz we work so hard for this and we've come so far for this if there ever was a thing that I was taught it can't always be the way that you want when to speak Spring, summer and fall I wanna be there for it all don't wanna be tongue tied at a time Tangled up, twisted and alone. Guess I'll be just fine down the line but first I've gotta find my way home oh, my God. I find my way Going to be turn tied at a time Tangled up, twisted and alone no. Cause I'll be just fine. Down the line but first I've got to find my way home Gotta find, gotta. [00:49:08] Speaker D: All right. [00:49:09] Speaker B: That was tangled up Annie in the water. So, Michael, Chris, I want to thank. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come and do this. And, you know, Michael, we'll talk about going on hikes and stuff with. With. With my dog and whipping ourselves into shape. [00:49:23] Speaker D: This kickstart. Kickstart. [00:49:25] Speaker B: Hitting up some kickstart lattes and going for walks. Yeah, we'll do up Skylerville, right? [00:49:31] Speaker D: I call it the Walk with Princes. [00:49:34] Speaker C: All right. [00:49:35] Speaker D: It's very spiritual path. [00:49:37] Speaker B: Yeah, Yeah. I want to. I want to. I want to be a part of that walk, Michael. [00:49:40] Speaker D: Let's go. [00:49:40] Speaker B: Let's fucking go. Putting. Putting Skylerville on the map, but go. I want to give you guys the chance to say what I refer to as your gratitude. So, Michael, we'll start with you. [00:49:51] Speaker D: Thank you, my friend. Well, first of all, I would like to say thank you to Andy. You are such a great dude. Everything you're doing at Metroland, everything that Metroland is doing, I am immensely grateful for that. I think it's a huge boost to the media and the scene in Albany, I couldn't be more stoked about that. So thank you. And then I'd also like to say that my next. Thank you, I mean, to my band mates and everybody. But I have a lot of gratitude for all the new fans that have been coming around. You know, we've been having people that I. There's more people that I don't recognize, and that's wonderful, and I appreciate all those people very much. And I'm grateful for the scene coming together and I'm. I'm grateful for the community that's built around. I love community. It's awesome to see that grow. And I know I did last time, but I'm going to be grateful for. Also grateful. My mom and dad, my family, love them, but I'm also grateful for still this day. My dog, Tess. I love that dog. She's no longer with us. My last one was a shout out to her while she was still alive. This is my gratitude that I have for her while she is surfing through the ethers now and having a fucking blast, I'm sure. So that's my gratitude. [00:51:09] Speaker C: Nice. That was beautiful, Mike. [00:51:11] Speaker D: Ah, thank you, Carl. [00:51:12] Speaker C: I'm grateful for a lot of the same things. My family, my friends, my bandmates. We've put a lot of hard work into everything we. I thought you were saying hi to somebody. We put a lot of hard work into everything we do, from the band to our own personal lives. And I'm just grateful for that. That every day. Grateful for my partner, Molly. She is a rock when I need her. It's really grateful to have anybody when you're alone on the road. Really nice thing. [00:51:45] Speaker D: I can vouch for Molly. She's really freaking awesome and she's Irish. [00:51:49] Speaker C: But I'm also just grateful for the community. The Capital Region and New York State at large has been very kind to us, especially with this growth moving. Mike's right. There are a lot of new faces and new fans. We're grateful for them and the old fans that have been around since day one as well too. But yeah, just grateful for all the positivity going on around us. It's really a really nice thing. [00:52:13] Speaker B: All right, cool. So Mike and Chris of Andy in the Water. 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 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 at unsigned518. Take care of one another and I'll [00:52:56] Speaker D: see you next week.