[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Unsigned 500 and eighteen's weekend spotlight for the weekend of May 17, 2024. Got a lot of great stuff coming up for you. Got music from Alec Lewis group, Black Tongue, Reverend Stoker and the latest from her heads on fire. Also a conversation with Joseph Grillo, aka Sid Jagger, of her head's on fire and so much more. So without further ado, let's get started.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: On the bench guitar with the short wing radio back.
It's motherfucking Andy Scarlet wearing his orange hat.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: All right, so I am gonna do things, I guess, a little bit different this weekend because this is. It's not only my birthday weekend, which it is, but there's Andy Palooza two. It's my kind of birthday celebration with three other bands. Shortwave radio band, we're playing. Alec Lewis group is playing black tongue. Reverend and eerie are headlining it. It's at single cut north. It's the second time we've done it. We did it last year was the first time and it started, I mean, I don't want to say like, as a joke, but it certainly didn't start like super intentionally.
The Baton killers were putting together a show and they had the sugar hold on board and Tiger had reached out to me about getting short wave on and it was at single cut on May 20 last year, 2023. And I was like, you know, yeah, you know, we'd love to, but that's. It's funny. That's also happens to be the day of my 50th birthday. So they decided to call it Andy Palooza and kind of lean into the whole theme of it being my birthday. And it was a pretty big success. There was a lot of people there. Everybody had a really great time. The performances were awesome. It was like super memorable. People showed up in droves. It was great. And then at some point during the winter, the idea came up of kind of doing it again. And in talking with Teresa at single cuts, we made it happen. You know, a few people came together. We got Alec Lewis group on board, black tongue, Reverend and eerie. And it's going to be just such a great show. And because there's other things going on, what I'm going to do is, you know, obviously I want to, want to focus on this because it's an important thing to me because not only is it my birthday, but it's the two year anniversary of this show. It's the 40th show that shortwave radio band has played as a five piece. That'll be this weekend. It's the last show before we go to record our first ep or album with TJ Foster of Erie, which is the first time any of us have done that. So that's exciting. This will be the last show. And then we disappear for like three months. So what I realized is that, you know, because Andy Palooza is kind of in the middle of the day, you know, it starts at 04:00. It's over by 08:00.
There's stuff going on before then, certainly, and there's definitely stuff going on after. So what I'm going to do is I'm basically going to give you a map of a day. We're going to start in Glens Falls. We're going to go down the north way to Clifton park, and then we're going to continue on to Troy. And I'm going to give you three events, one of which is my birthday party, but I'm going to give you some events. You can take some other things in and really make a fucking day out of it. Because not only, like I said, you know, birthday, anniversary, 40th show, but it's also on 518, which is 518 day. And if, you know, May 4 gets the May 4 day, the 518 gets 518 day. So it's a perfect way to celebrate it by going to three of the big places in the 518. You know, Glens Falls, down through Clifton park, down Detroit, and hitting up some music centric stuff at all three. And then I'm also going to throw in a bonus day because Monday is my actual birthday and there's a show that I will absolutely be attending on Monday. I took Tuesday off specifically so that I can go to a show on my birthday, so I'll be talking about that, too. So a little different than normal, I suppose. Anyway, let's get rolling. So first we're going to start off in Glens Falls at the shirt factory for the Adirondack vinyl slam. The Adirondack vinyl slam is more than 20 curated tables of lp's at the shirt factory from 10:00 a.m. To 05:00 p.m. And it's free admission brought to you by sweet side records and record riots. It's great music and vinyl community, so you don't want to miss this extra special vinyl dig. And again, that is 10:00 a.m. To 05:00 p.m. At the shirt factory in Glens Falls. All right, so then after the Adirondack final slam, you're going to take the north way down to Clifton park and go to single cut north for Andy Palooza starts at 04:00 again, four bands, great beer at single cut, great people. And there's also Smith's smoke shack, which is the food truck there that is permanently there. And they're going to be there. And I've been in contact with them and let them know how excited I am about it. And they promised me that they're going to crush it for the birthday party. And I'm looking at their menu now, and it's like, you know, smoked pork, pulled chicken sandwiches, smoked brisket. And I'm just a huge fan of smoked meats. I worked at a butcher shop for years. I, I guess you could say I smoked meat professionally for a while and certainly do it personally because I enjoy it, but I'm very excited. So, you know, Smith's smoke shack is going to be there. So you can get your food there, you can get some beer there. You can catch four bands. It's all free. So shortwave radio band is going to start off. We start at 04:00. And then after us is Alec Lewis group. And if you're not familiar with Alec Lewis, he goes all the way back. His first appearance on Unsigned 518 was episode ten. And his most recent appearance, he had an episode back in March. It was episode 114, where he was actually talking about putting the Alec Lewis group together. He's been around for a while. You might remember honey slider, honey home studio. He actually shortwave radio bands, a single plastic. He engineered that for us. He recorded it for us, and Dave Tayo mixed and mastered it. But Alec Lewis has his group down. They'll be playing after shortwave. So what I wanted to do is play you an Alec Lewis group song so you can kind of get, get an idea of what you're in for. So this one is off their high vibes, volume one. This is Alec Lewis group with pocket man, and it's here on unsigned 500 eighteen's weekend. Spotlight it.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: All right, that was pocket man, the Alec Lewis group. So then after Alec Lewis group on Saturday for Andy Palooza is black tongue Reverend. And I first met black tongue Reverend back on episode 26, which was August of 2022. And it actually reminds me that as you're listening to this on Thursday, tomorrow is another episode. So there's actually three episodes this week. There was the regular episode with the Jagaloons that came out on Tuesday. This will come out on Thursday. And then tomorrow I have a two year anniversary special that I put out. That's a 90 minutes special, a ton of music a couple of full length interviews with my first ever guest and my second ever guest and also some testimonials. I kind of opened up the floor and said, hey, if you want to say something nice about unsigned 518, just send me a voice memo. And several people did. So I included those in there. And it's a great episode. But the episode starts off Eric of black Tongue. Reverend, you know, all the guys in the band I've become friends with since, since this aired. But the special episode tomorrow, the anniversary one, starts off with an acoustic song that Eric apparently wrote on the fly about me and unsigned 518. And he was the only one that did a song. You know, some people did things that were pretty funny, but Eric did a, a little song. So check that out. That'll drop at midnight tonight, I guess. You know, if it's Thursday as you're listening to it, at midnight will be the, will be the two year anniversary special. So check that out. What we're going to do right now is we're going to listen to some black tongue. Reverend. This is, all of them have fangs and it's on unsigned 500 eighteen's weekend spotlight.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Civil conversations turn into demand reaching out for idols crumble in my hands I must be the only one who hasn't come insane crowds of silent faces and all of them have screaming over talking over whispering truth abandoning all reason for sailor loves you apologize for nothing, you are never wrong becomes history if I say it for too long I must be the only one who hasn't come and say crowds of silent faces all of them have gather your opinions judgment before the mob senses will determine you are right or wrong.
The others, he sent it to tribes.
Overall thinking of the high I must be the only one as you come and sing crowds of silent faces and all of them have made I must.
[00:18:05] Speaker D: Be the only one.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Crowds of silent faces and all of them have rain.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: All right, so that was all of them have fangs, black tongue Reverend and of course, they will be at Andy Palooza two this Saturday at single cut north along with eerie and Alec Lewis group shortwave radio band. And I can't stress it enough how excited I am about the food. Smith's smoke shack will be there, so get there early because apparently they could sell out. You know, we could eat them out of their smoked meats. That's usually what happens in those situations. But if you want more information on them, you can check them
[email protected]. Alright, so up next, you're gonna leave Andy Palooza with a super full belly from eating barbecue. And you're gonna be satiated with music, but you're gonna want more. So you'll get on the north way, you'll head down into Troy, and you'll go to no fun for Ampavine's ten year anniversary show with Stoker, CPS and cheesy snacks. And Ampavine were on, I believe Gabe was on episode 67.
Yes, it was episode 67 that Gabe of Ampavine was on this show. So if you want to find out more, you can go check out that episode. And the showtime there starts at 07:00 goes till 11:00. Again, it is ampavine celebrating their ten year anniversary with a special show and no fun with Stoker, cps and cheesy snacks. And what I'm going to do right now is I'm going to play a song from Stoker because this actually isn't the last that you'll hear of Stoker this weekend. So I'm going to play a song called tissue and then I will be right back on unsigned 500 eighteen's weekend spotlight.
That was tissue from Stoker. And again, they're playing with Ampavine, CPS and cheesy snacks at no fun on Saturday. But after you take your day of rest on Sunday, as I am almost certainly going to do on Monday, there is a show you need to get out to. It's a super dark Monday at desperate Annie is going to start at 09:00 and it's. That's my actual birthday. And I took Tuesday off just so that I can go to this show. So I know a couple of the guys in Stoker and Eric of Stoker introduced me to Sid Jagger of her head's on Fire and her heads on fire features members of saves a day and garrison. And he was telling me about this show and it just so happened to fall on my birthday. And I'm like super excited that I get to go to this one. So it's Joe, Tyrone Stoker, and her head's on fire. And it's a super dark Monday show. And so what I'm going to do now is I'm going to let Sid Jagger of her head's on fire tell you a little bit about the band and a little bit about the show that you can expect, and then we'll be back to wrap it up. So let's go to the phone. Hey, what's up, Sid?
[00:25:21] Speaker C: Andy, Andy, Andy. I can let you go.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Fuck. You know how many times, like when that song came out when I was in high school, like, I literally just got chills when he did that. I was like, am I in the fucking locker room again? Like, what?
[00:25:35] Speaker C: I can't help it, man. It's a huge. It's a huge compliment.
[00:25:39] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:25:39] Speaker C: I love that song.
[00:25:40] Speaker A: And at this stage in life, I take it, you know, back then, I.
[00:25:43] Speaker C: Was like, I love icky pop and I love the b 52.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: So.
[00:25:46] Speaker C: So it's a high compliment.
[00:25:48] Speaker A: Yeah, well, you know, it's. I'll take it as such. So I wanted to, you know, we were talking a little bit before we got rolling. I just want to kind of, like, introduce you to my audience.
They're certainly familiar, or they're going to be familiar with your. The past projects of people that are in the band, you and other people in the band. But I guess just like, you know, the. The kind of elevator pitch of her heads on fire.
[00:26:16] Speaker C: Uh, it's a rock band. It's guitar based drums. And it sounds like everything you've heard before. Um, you know, it's. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel. We just like good songs. And, you know, I think that when we were younger, myself in particular, I wanted to do things like that nobody had ever done. And now I just. I still like doing that in other projects. But this project is just. It's all about, you know, hopefully good song craft and writing with people that understand that. And so the make of the band is myself, my cv would be Garrison gay for Johnny Depp instruction. God fires man I hate her freedom Judah's knife and then the bass player was in Empire State games and saves the day still is in saves the day.
The guitar player, Jeff Dean was in too many bands to mention, but most notably at the bomb.
And then Jeff Gansterbloom, same guy. Anybody who's a drummer in New York is in a million bands. He was most notably in small brand bike, and he fills in for casket lottery. And I think he's playing with coalesce right now, to be honest with you.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: And so her head's on fire. You have a new album that's releasing. I've actually, and I say it all the time doing this podcast out of my garage. The best thing about it is my privy to music that nobody else gets to hear yet, you know, and, like, I usually hear things, you know, weeks or months ahead of time. And I've heard the album and, you know, when you sent it, you were like, play it loud. And anyone who knows my garage, it gets fucking loud in here. And I played it as loud as it went. And I listened to. I listened to it, like, probably four or five times in a row, and, wow. God damn, man. It's so good. And I'm like, it's one of those that I'm like, I can't show anybody. You know, I gotta keep it to myself. It's a.
[00:28:14] Speaker C: Soon enough.
[00:28:15] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:28:17] Speaker C: I don't care. Like, it's not. It's not like, it's not like it's the new Taylor Swift, dude, just play it.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: That comes out when.
[00:28:27] Speaker C: Well, the first single is out. The second single came out yesterday. The actual. I think there's a third single. And the record comes out June 19, I think.
I think that'll be on all the streaming platforms. And if anybody. If anybody ordered it, ordered the vinyl, they'll have it before then because it's already done.
[00:28:49] Speaker A: That's awesome. I'm excited for everybody to hear it because, like I said, I was blown. And, you know, you say you're not reinventing the wheel, but, like. And we talked before. Like, you know, we're around the same age. Like, I'm the same way. I just want really good songs. You know what I mean? Like, I don't need to hear this new thing that has never come around before. I just want to hear really good songs. And I can, without question, say, for my personal taste, this hits it all, man.
[00:29:20] Speaker C: Like, well, you know what it is. And I think this was just sort of a. A sign of maturity, as personally as a songwriter is realizing that your own voice is good enough and that sets you apart. So music has, like, music's fascinating so many different ways, but lyrically, in particular and melodically, you can say something, you know, that's so trite and has been said a million times. Let's take an example of, like, I miss you, right? Well, that's what a Hallmark card thing to say. But if. If it's the right chords and if it's like Slint Spiderland and he says, I miss you, and then the band kicks in, it's like, even talking about it, I get chills, right? And so it's realizing that everyone's voice and what they bring to the table is going to make. Make it unique already, that it will already have its own voice, and therefore it is worthy. Therefore, I don't need to do a chord voicing no one's heard before or a drum pattern that has never existed. You know, that it's more interesting to me at this point to sort of make things that people can enjoy and also, hopefully, sort of illuminate the human condition.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Right. Well, I think you pulled it off there. And so, you know, you're on tour currently, right? And, you know, I was looking. You've got dates all over the place on one of the dates, you know, and again, this is the weekend spotlight episode. So I always talk about where you can go see shows this weekend. That's what this whole show is about. And even though Monday's not the weekend, it is my actual birthday. So for me, it's. It's Saturday 2.0. And you're playing at desperate Annie's in Saratoga Springs. We are, and I'm actually definitely going to be there. So.
[00:31:16] Speaker C: Awesome.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: It'll be.
[00:31:18] Speaker C: Well, I live in Saratoga Springs and I own a wine shop called by the Bottle, which is on Spring street in Saratoga Springs. And after 20 years in Brooklyn, my family moved up during the pandemic. And it's. I mean, we've been married up here, like, you know, 14 years ago. My mother in law lived up here, so we've had some history here. Um, but I've got eight year old twins, and raising them in a. In a town that has fresh air is pretty cool. It's one of those things where we were playing Boston and we're playing Providence and they were going up to play Montreal, and it was. We were gonna. I was just gonna drive back on that Monday because we have a couple shows in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and I was like, oh, my God, I can play my new hometown. That'll be so cool. And it's at the established Monday night punk bar night. I was like, that couldn't be more perfect. So, you know, for everyone that's like me or, you know, via my wife, via PTA, you can see the horrible, horrible music I make.
[00:32:22] Speaker A: You know, earplugs are earplugs. Or punk rock too, you know, but, yeah, Da's on a Monday.
My band has played Da's on a Monday twice, I think. And the crowd that comes out on a Monday, it's gonna. It might surprise you. It's, you know, I'm looking forward to it happen in place. And Monday super dark shows at DA's are really starting to be cemented as something fucking cool.
[00:32:49] Speaker C: Well, I'm stoked to be a part of it, you know? And plus, we're playing with Stoker.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: With Stoker.
[00:32:54] Speaker C: Eric plays drums for. And that'll be fantastic.
And, yeah, it'll be a good time.
[00:33:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's actually how. I mean, we actually haven't met in person, but. But it was Eric of Stoker, who I've known for shit, like, 15 years now or something, maybe. God. Yeah, something like that. I've known him for a while, but, yeah, I'm stoked to see his band stoker. And it's funny because I use the words. I overuse the word Stoke. And now I'm like, damn it. Now I'm going to see Stoker, and I'm going to be stoked to see Stoker.
[00:33:27] Speaker C: You're excited.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:29] Speaker C: You're excited. You're thrilled.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: Well, I won't. I won't take too much more of your time. I do appreciate you taking time to talk to me. And before we go, I think maybe we should do her heads on fire song.
[00:33:43] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, let's do. That'd be great. We could do the new single, which is aren't I the champion?
And that came out yesterday.
[00:33:51] Speaker A: All right, so let's listen to aren't I the champion? Her head's on fire and Sid Jagger, I want to thank you again so much for taking your time, and I will see you Monday at desperate Annie's.
[00:34:01] Speaker C: Awesome. Thank you.
[00:34:14] Speaker E: She wasn't born to play the victim? You weren't born to play the fool?
But in the end they know between us that's just cool?
You could have been a better partner? You could have been a better player?
But in the end the sadness that could?
[00:34:42] Speaker D: Hatred?
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Is appealing.
[00:34:49] Speaker D: Hatred.
[00:35:03] Speaker B: Watch your feelings.
[00:35:09] Speaker E: You wasn't born to play the victim? You weren't born to play the fool? And in the ending all between us they're such cool?
You could have been a better partner? You could have been a better player?
But in the end the sadness that goes no one cares.
[00:35:37] Speaker D: Is appealing hatred.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: But it's not what you feel?
[00:36:02] Speaker D: Sa.
[00:36:37] Speaker E: R and I the champion rna the champion rna the champion?
[00:37:26] Speaker D: Feeling hatred.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: That was art eye the champion her head's on fire and you can see them with Stoker and Joe Tyrone at desperate Annie's on Monday for Super Dark Monday. And I'll. I'll definitely be there. So that's it for this episode of Unsigned 518 weekend spotlight. If you want to help the show, definitely, like, rate subscribe. Tell a friend to listen to unsigned five and eight. That really helps. And if you want to help support the show, you can go to buymeacoffee.com unsigned 518. But most of all, just keep listening. So I will see you next week. Have a great weekend. I am Andy Scullen. This is unsigned 518 weekend spotlights, and I'll see you on the road.
Unsigned 518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullen. 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 Unsigned five one eight mail.com and to be a guest on the show, reach out to me through Instagram. Unsigned 518 take care of one another and I'll see you next week.
