Improvement Movement

0:00Lance Hey, man, welcome to the podcast What do we got a new season five? I would we still don't really have a good cadence for these intros down, but That's okay, you know people people aren't here for the intros are here for the the guests that we bring the intro is the thing They got to get through they got a fast forward. Yeah It's also such the tone for what's about to have the 15 seconds skip exactly Exactly, but we have we have a good we'll get to it here. We got we got a good guest tonight to yes actually from the band Improvement movement they just released a fantastic new album called your perfect real life on August 21st we got Clark Hamilton and Zach Piles joining us tonight to talk about the new album the DIY music scene Atlanta their songwriting process all that good will go love in there of course Always some will go love some real some whole love if you will oh, I see what you did yeah, yeah

1:04Should we get to it Lance or should we get into it this banter intro complete check the box and check it on work here we go Zach and Clark do you guys just want to introduce yourselves tell us a little bit about what you each do in the band? Absolutely I'm Zach and I play keys and sing in the band my name is Clark and I play guitar and also sing in the band and we're missing Marshall who plays bass who also sings in the band and Tony who plays drums and guest flatt He also sings in the band. Oh look at that all four sensing a theme. Yeah before we get to Into the weeds on the new record

2:05Just for our listeners who are new to improvement movement and your sound your band Can you give us the origin story? How did you guys meet? How did you Join forces to come up with this band. I met Zach through a friend and he met me After seeing me play on a float I met Marshall because the he was playing in Improvement movement and I asked him to join my band and Then I met Tony through Zach. So all that is to say I wanted to give you a very confusing way of Was really to say that we met by participating in the Atlanta music scene and cross pollinating different projects and collaborating and being involved and making other people's records and our records and stuff pretty naturally and I think the ordinance of the band and Before even I joined is Zach. I mean you you've known Tony for a really long time. Yeah, I mean Tony

3:07met when we were like 18 or 19 and and just started playing music together and and then Kind of grew from there and started recording other people and we had studios around town and So improvement movement started as the scraps from all those sessions Like from all of our friends playing on stuff and kind of like finishing a session and having a cool-based sound pulled up and being like Let's make song right now. It just made sense like as people came through the orbit and that being Marshall and then Clark They they're they're the ones that stuck, you know And we were we were fans of Marshall and Clark first and so then we were lucky to you know Snack them and yeah, now it's the four of us Amazing amazing. What was the official year that you would say improvement movement kicked off? That's a tough question and hotly contested I wouldn't consider it really a thing until like the four of us came together, you know So I would say the last four years is really that what is the actual band when people ask

4:10At shows or whatever I always say this lineup is four and a half years old Which is true and I think that is a great way of putting the way that people wouldn't know us when it was kicked off Though I've known about this band for longer. I was a fan before I joined and but how people would know it's probably like four and a half years What's kind of like Wilco right? There's different iterations of the band different line-ups. Totally. Yeah, nice Wilco connection Yeah, I got you know, I got a weave in the Wilco or called Wilco the podcast. I'm expecting more of that Yeah, yeah, you're like how is exactly are we on a Wilco podcast right now? Yeah, well I guess we should say when we were talking to your PR team Shout out to Grace. Yes. She was at Solid sound this year Wilco's about to go on and they play all their house the house music and improvement movement is Part of that playlist that was kind of like our intro To you guys and then here we are Cool, we're very surprised to find that out. Yeah, we're very blessed

5:12The plan our stuff or somebody somebody is player. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's very Very nice. I like it you guys. Yeah, I think like when I go to we've been to Solid sound a few times They're really good at curating like new bands new sounds and new up and comers You know, I think a lot of people look to like Wilco Jeff Tweety as They have their finger on the pulse of some good new music and so I mean that's got to be a huge honor for you guys to To be on that radar and for folks to have that exposure It's always nice when you are being put on by people that you feel you have a kind of connection with at least musically like I There are other bands that people have told us similar things about like oh, I heard your house music at a show and We were like that's cool, but we weren't like super stoked because we weren't like huge bands of the band names, but Wilco was one where I was like oh, that's kind of like I saw Wilco when I was like 14 or 15 I took a train all the way out to Jersey I grew up in Eastern Long Island so I did this whole

6:13Hopskipping to jump just to get over there and I saw it and I remember watching Mel's client I was really close and was enamored by him then and then we saw him the other week and I was like he's still just as good He's still got it. He doesn't have a giant tall you may back when I saw me had like a rack He had an air rack that you would like Zach that was like it's taller than him. I don't know how he reached this stuff But now he's got he's you know, he's gotten to the modern hour, but he's still doing crazy shit So yeah, yeah, it's great, but I think Wilco is there a good band to put us on and there there's an audience crossover I think with this special songwriting forward music that we our band has lots of different sounds and Different sounds on our records, but I think the primary core is songwriting and that's similar to Wilco Yeah, we're honored. Yeah, it's sick. We're very blessed to find that out Yeah, you're you're cut me up Clark because We've we've seen you Describe your band as I'm gonna just Quote you guys from the press release put the social betterment campaign

7:15Slash prog rock quartet slash non-denominational cult from Atlanta and then You kind of whittled that down on your Instagram bio to being described as an acoustic grunge band and Very cool one of that one of the fascinating things to us about your your brand new album your perfect real life is That songs almost something they're performed by a different band depending on which song you're listening to Like like in the morning is sounds so different than 21st century we're curious how you guys have gone about developing your style or finding your lane What does that look like well? That's just because that was just the different band we hired that day To play the song. Yeah, we couldn't get this we couldn't book the same band for long enough. There's a lot of scheduling No, I mean we I would say If I'm being honest, I feel like sometimes maybe we're a little too

8:22It's hard to keep us in one place, you know like we're we're we're chasing things and we're We're coming into the studio that day with like an idea in a sound and and and a concept that we want to try or We're kicking around the idea and we go down that that road until it's completed and like Clark said I think it's the songwriting is the number one I know that sounds dumb to say everybody's always trying to write a good song But more so than like being wedded to a style or a vision of like we're this kind of band and we have these You know like some bands that we really look up to there. It's like this is the concept This is the thesis. It's one sentence and wow they stick to it and that's that's the magic You know, we're if the song is compelling enough and feels like it deserves to go in this direction Then we all are kind of like who are we kidding? Let's let's let's go there for it which results in A lot of different styles maybe too many. I don't know. Oh, it's great. It's diverse. It's engaging. It's extremely fun to listen to

9:29Yeah, yeah We're always curious When we talk to bands and musicians like what what sort of art were you exposing yourselves to as you were writing your new album Books movies other Musicians what were some outside influences as you were writing your perfect real life? Well, and that comes to mind Was King Crimson like not and in the sense where because As you just were talking about there's a lot of variety and that how the songs turned out Sonically or stylistically so to speak Not every song I would say has a dose of that, but I think we were Inspired King Crimson as a band They're very succinct in their style and very unique and had a lot of like minimalism. That was effective And that was something that we were and they're they rely on their production To like the sounds that they would use for their instruments Kind of enhance the compositions themselves. It's they're they're married to each other in a way that's can't be separated

10:34I think that was really inspiring for us going into this record where we wanted to approach The production and the songwriting we wanted them to hold more of a hand and how this how the final recordings turned out and Sometimes even the composition itself So that band felt like they did that so we were inspired by that That's one I can remember Zach. Do you have any other suggestions? They're offering I wish that I had a really good book That would make me sound really smart and that I could pull into the concept of the record but instead all Say a TV show because The show how to with Joan Wilson Okay, if you guys are seeing it obviously it's incredible. I think it's like I mean for me It goes well beyond a TV show and is just an incredible work of art I think that his lens on the world in a very kind of One step removed. Let's re-examine. Let's start from a place of neutrality

11:35Let's see the beauty and these ugly things and vice versa. I mean the record is called your perfect real life You know it kind of trending in that direction of kind of being like There's some irony in that statement, but there's also a little bit of truth of being like well This is what we got yeah, and that show I think along with a lot of other media and a lot of other stuff that amazing people are making right now I think it has that theme to it a lot. So I feel like that was a slight influence as well. Cool. I'm excited. He has a Movie coming out about concrete. I'm very excited about that. Yeah, you gotta get him on the show. Yeah, yeah, let's do it Yeah, and to kind of dig in more to your songwriting process a little bit in your website bio You describe your band as a democracy What is what does a democracy look like within your group? How does that contribute to the songwriting process? I think something that we've been the mantra that we picked up definitely over this last record maybe a little bit too late was Fastest driver drives a car, which is a good

12:40In a creative project, right? It's not like you cut a board and you're like it's this long. It has to fit here You know, it's you're making art. There's no right or wrong answer. It's just a feeling. It's just an intuition and so democracy for us I Think in many ways relies on the power of the veto You know where when people are convicted in a direction we generally respect each other's Inclinations, but we have enough respect for each other to allow people to entertain their which direction They want to which path they want to go down if they're feeling it. So I think in a lot of ways those two Things are kind of chasing each other, you know And for us it's a huge part of why this band I think is special to me as someone who's you know Not been in very many bands, but been in a few Just seems to work pretty well with this group of people. So I think the democracy is slow Like like how can be but it it seems to be working so far Yeah, I think

13:41One thing maybe to to kind of compare it to and like how it works That we've been realize even just thinking back is like We've all come from very different degrees of experience and like playing around in an improv scene And I think what's true in great musical improv is the same as what's true and The little that I've experienced really great comedy improv is like a Openness and obviously like yes and posture There's just this feeling of like how can we possibly create something constructive out of this much noise and chaos You know and this many people's intellect like on an improv stage and it's amazing the natural Like organic forms that come out when everybody takes the right posture And so there's this like attitude that goes into that and what we've been experimenting with the band is like the really stretched out long form of that Which is not just How the songs come together but even how we're living our lives together, you know, and how we're making decisions

14:44So we're on you know you're whatever of that experiment. We'll see. I don't know democracy Right now in the world Works for us Yeah, does that kind of go speaking of democracy does that kind of go into the way We were talking a minute ago about the song sounding differently like do you guys the four of you bring sketches? To the band is there one primary song writer or you're all four of your singing is it kind of like a mixed bag It's everything it's uh We prefer to write all together from the start if we can and and that just takes a long time obviously So that being said obviously there's you know like uh like on this record The song still cold for example the first song on the record It's most recent one Clark he walked in And was like strumming those chords and talking about yeah, I was like playing the sea of the day

15:45This is the kind of like headspace I was in And we immediately were like okay, jump in you know, so that happens for sure people come in But I think the best is somebody coming in with like just the the seed of an idea and then Everybody getting to jump in and help yeah, I think that the one Thing that I've learned with with the collaboration the best ones are like you need to present something where You have enough Data that everyone's imagination can start to go in a similar direction Maybe not exactly the same direction, but as opposed to 360 degrees out from the center of the idea like if you have a 120 to a 60 degree window and everybody's kind of like oh that's the place we're going That is the best and so those ideas that we bring which are probably the most often what's actually just like Somebody has a little seed or two people make a green Gun it where we split off in pairs and kind of do like a You know something out of a corporate workshops where it's like I'll see you in an hour. Let's see what you got, you know, and Zach and I will go make something into

16:46Antonio Marshall or you know in any permutation of that and Sometimes we'll do it all together at the just jam for a while and come up with something so it really It just depends on what we have time for and who's available and prioritizing the more We definitely choose to prioritize things that We make together because it has unique identity because each of us come from our own solo projects or whatever so But sometimes something can sound like too much of a Zach song or too much of a Tony song too much of a park song too much of a March song whatever it is, you know, yeah, I'm sure we would all happily play any of those songs Do you know what it would it would almost be a missed opportunity not to Do it the way we're doing it now that makes sense I since we brought up Still cold I got to ask about the music video Uh for our listeners who are unfamiliar and you guys can fill in the blanks here The primary visuals are the band members are attached to like a like balloons and you're floating around

17:47More of the behind the scenes on that set did you have like cranes holding you up like what was what you're talking to the tooth The two the two dumbasses Clark came to me and was like you know we The videos were actually a very last minute pill that we had planned this kind of complex Live music video series we were gonna shoot in a glass box track which we ended up doing and then we signed with a label um And they were like hey, let's do some other stuff that's not just you guys playing live like you know visualizer stuff So we were kind of like scrambling where we can do in carcass like a wish that I could just be kind of like fault like running Like in the air like falling from a building constantly like never stopping and it's like shooting that way And I was like that's a little high concept for what we have But then I was like well could we make that motion lateral and could we like hang from a boom lift and just like fly through the air and

18:48And then So that's what we did we got a boom lift and um my wife Drows the boom lift Of the from the sky she was up there in the thing and we were hanging but with balloons to make it look like it was Yeah, you have a cropped perfectly, so looks like you're just floating. Yeah, that's great That's a great way to kick off the album drop sea baby I was kind of glad you first told me you were moving on Oh While I You I wanted to also ask you guys about Atlanta that's a huge part of your DNA. I think you got to quote somewhere that said like Atlanta is as

19:54DIYs it gets Curious if you guys could expand on that. How has the Atlanta music scene contributed to the DNA of improvement movement? So, uh, I mean, it's everything we we were I mean me and Tony grew up in Atlanta You know when I was a kid like I would listen to the WRIS the college station of stretch down to my suburb So that's I would listen to the college station and find new music You know, that was like oh, we're gonna get to the city and play the music You know like that was the things like get to Atlanta and there's such a great They were when I moved there there wasn't an incredible just like DIY venues and spaces and art spaces and just amazing bands that we all looked up to you know both in the kind of like Indy rock whatever's going on with like college kids phase, but also like Incredible incredible jazz musicians just so many good players, but no industry None I mean nothing to speak of in that sense And that side of the music world there's an incredible like hip-hop industry

20:57um, you know, there's stuff, but For the titles no labels no publishers no booking agents no like zero Like none, you know, maybe one lawyer two lawyers maybe there's somebody out there listening to this podcast like what guys what I'm sure that we're missing it the missing But from our perspective there was Yeah, I think compared to like LA or New York or It's more Nashville or wherever yeah, and um So I think that's really cool because what it means is that like all the musicians It was just musicians for musicians and there was no like real competition or like You know measuring or anything like that It was just like a really wholesome community of great musicians who In my experience at least like all were so happy to like take us under their wing and show us things and throw us into situations And be like you're gonna play this thing and I'm like I can't play like that. They're like do it anyway, you know So that very much shaped who we are as a band and I mean Clark

21:58Move there slightly later, but I mean pretty early on and yeah I didn't even know I was gonna do music until I You know graduated college and was like this is the only thing I actually am good at but I I feel that I grew up in eastern Long Island and a lot of people that I went to high school with Went into the city into New York the city classic and Even from the outside as I was watching people there even some of them a few of them were musicians, but a lot of them weren't it was so saturated with people as it is and That it created this sort of like opportunity mindset That compared to Atlanta it felt like In Atlanta when you found somebody who was doing something dope Even if it was the same genre as you you felt like you were finding someone in the desert and you were like wow I finally finally found like another person. It's not like there's a limited amount of those people But there wasn't like a sea of other people doing it's not like every other person you met in the street was an artist trying to make it

23:03It was just like people Just doing their thing living like New York. Yeah, just like the like the southern thing that south is really like humble place Shout out to the south from Arkansas. Yeah, it is. I mean, I'm not from here But I would say that it's a really it's down to earth, you know, it's like chill It's not to say that there isn't doesn't mean people are not capable of things. It's just the culture and the The ordinariness of it is it's one of its strengths and um in the music scene it felt like the collaboration aspect was super Strong because of all the things that was saying but just I think part of the culture and just There wasn't that High of city like everybody's already Trying to get to the top or something was just like we're all just here and I can't believe Oh my god, you're doing this too. Let's hang out. Let's go to the cool thing. Let's let's I'll come over to your house and play like it's Yeah, much more maybe more of a lie on the actual art than like yes, totally for the commerce sake maybe yes

24:09I mean because if you were doing it for commerce in Atlanta, you You're Yeah, or if you did like it was one of the last places It's no really not like this that much anymore But when we were growing up and when the early parts of this band It was like you could get a commercial space to really cheap and you could like find a weird building and put this stuff in it That's still happening a little bit, but Atlanta has now been put on the map so to speak and It's a little bit different than when we were first you know the 10 years ago or whatever yeah Clark so you Did you get involved with improvement movement after moving To Atlanta I was in Atlanta for college, you know, okay, which I didn't study music or anything But I was just down there and I wasn't doing music stuff and being in bands and then After college I was still doing that and had a couple bands and then I met Zach Through that just world and I knew of Zach and Tony actually from just through the DIY I've fabled I he was a fade they were

25:15Fables yeah I saw Clark Clark was playing with his band Safari Williams, which was an incredible Band I'll say still is an incredible band because they're still gonna return if I have a run a hiatus And uh and uh I saw them they were they were on a parade float And I could not believe how good it's similar to what Clark saying is like you find somebody like a kinder Experiment and you're like whoa, I can't believe they're doing that and I saw them playing and I could not believe how good they were And I was like I have to meet these guys and um and so I was asking around I was like who's those guys on the float like Because they were actually wearing animal masks, so I couldn't see their face And so I was like I really have no idea who these guys are and I had to track them down And and then once I did um Yeah, I was just like an instant fan of Clarkson everything he was making and so I got asked what was the float was it like promoting a Business for Halloween thing oh

26:16Wean grade yeah, I was like random float in the hall. I can't remember exactly But I mean this was actually I was thinking about this when we were doing that glass box truck shoot Jack Yeah, it prepared me for the moving the most fun I ever had was that that gig the float gig I mean, I think if you play in a band I can don't care if it's the most like Like casual I just play you know open mics or something you should play in a moving vehicle You gotta bring it back God, he's in it for the tour here I would love to I would love to just play on a flatbed truck and never change the setup and just drive really slowly through a town and then people just Amazing I can ask the the the glass box is that related to the album cover It is very a start of you to notice that um Yeah, that was curious about the album cover. Yeah. Yeah, tell us about that um Well, so the glass box that was it wasn't the impetus for it but as we were kind of focusing in on ideas we we did like

27:17The idea that we were gonna be in a glass box, which mirrors the image on the album will cover the album cover itself was um It actually started we talked about a lot of different ideas and we were driving through uh the desert and in New Mexico and We pulled up to a foray stop and all of a sudden hail out of the sky like really big hail So big that we were like oh this is gonna break the windshield dude. This is like bad and it was super intense I think it just like covered the ground and we pulled over And then it was gone and we were like whoa that was really weird And so then it was like you know one minute later We were like what if something was like frozen in a block of ice on the cover and then um You know it we were talking a lot about themes, you know The single covers are different objects. We were just talking about kind of uh How I think everybody is having this question how we you know where we at as a country what's going on and um

28:22And and what is modern life and what does it mean to even you know, I'm saying super zoomed out here, but uh It does feel like everybody's kind of like paused right now like post-COVID crazy political climate everybody's like Well, which direction? Yeah, I go where should I put my time and energy like how am I There I need to like prepare for the end of times or should I say it's all good like I don't know And so it just feels like everything's kind of like Frozen and you know like everybody's just waiting and um And and so that was where the you know the idea for the album cover came from I'm glad you showed up the single artwork because I'm just I'm looking at that like oh yeah, it continues the theme of the The frozen in ice with the car and the house that's so cool It would chose objects that I guess Were representative of like things that you would have aspire to towards in a sort of more materialist life For a perfect life or something you know, Zach and His wife barb and our friend Trent and our friend Sophia and John

29:26spent a lot of time making those real Big blocks of ice with the stuff. Oh cool. So there's those are they're totally practical. They're practical. Wow That's 100% real back. It was yeah big high. Yeah, I was I was non there for that, but um they did a great job Looks great shouts out my visual team our visual anti anti AI yes all human made I love it definitely In your bio you also talked about being passionate about just the power of music and and specifically the ways that it can be used to connect normal Everyday people non musicians or at least non-professional musicians And you described yourselves as group singing evangelists And you made a comment about how every home should should have a piano So we're curious outside of the band

30:27And you're in your day-to-day life. How's that how does that mentality show up? Yeah, so I wish Marshall was here because he is he uh He was on that made that comment in that interview. I think he would he would have a good perspective But I think um People ask us a lot about the singing you know people are like what you know uh You guys all singing harmony all the time you guys all sing it's not just one singer Like what's the dealer you guys all just narcissists you can't let each other you know uh and um and the answer is yeah, we're we all have really big egos and we get no We it was just so apparent It was a decision with this project we were like we want to sing all the time as much as we can all together because we found that we really liked that and And there is a thing that happens and we're trying to you know It's rare and we're trying to make it more happen, you know We're trying to get there as much as possible when it's really locked in I mean when it's really When the when the room and the audience and everything is right

31:28And sometimes it depends on the sound and all these things but when you actually Like can get there where you're all singing together And all the pieces of the puzzle are in the right place It is a feeling like Literally nothing else that I've ever experienced it and uh, you know I probably sound hyperbolic or cheesy or like whatever right now, but it is I mean, it's one of the things that lends so much power to obviously people who grew up in religious tradition singing um and people all over the world who Come from cultures where no one you know, you're like oh, I don't sing people be like what are you talking about like singing is for everybody and I think there's I just can't explain to anybody how good it feels to sing with people and have that communication and That moment when you really are able to lock in with people and I hope that everybody gets a chance to experience it. You don't have to I mean I think people have when they're like

32:28At a show with they're singing with a bunch of people in a room singing the words their favorite song That's like the closest probably a lot of members of the general public get to that feeling and it's super powerful And it makes people cry Involuntarily like it could be the dumbest song ever, you know like self-imittingly it could be one of our dumb songs You know and it would just and it's just like that feeling of being connected to that many people at once It's just like an instant tear up Wow, this is something bigger than me. It's it's obviously deeply rooted in who we are as human beings It comes from a time like maybe before language, you know So that's a messy way That's what that means that's why we're an evangelist of it. It's like yeah dude everybody comes sing along I hope that we get a chance to make songs that are worth everybody singing along with us because it's the best feeling in the world Sounds cathartic when you describe it that way. Yeah, and it helps too that all of your voices blend perfectly together Appreciate it. Thank you You know, it's and you mentioned that you're all singing and you mentioned ego. I was gonna comment earlier like

33:35The democracy aspect of your band it it feels like the opposite of ego because it feels Listening to it and hearing you guys talk it sounds like There's not like a blatant here's the Here's necessarily the frontman. It's it sounds like all the all the hands are involved in stirring the pot and Yeah, that's really cool Just like a single bee only follows a very small set of rules the The brain of a hive is is is a lot more complex. So I think in the best sense our music and the property of our collaboration that has an emergent property towards um Creating something integrated in some of its parts. Hopefully and the singing helps us get there It also helps us play each of us play two instruments at once, you know to sing and to play So we have a double quartet in that way, which is awesome Uh, it connects with lots of folks at the same time and I think it also In a now that

34:37As you're describing it, I think It helps us appreciate one another because we enjoy singing and harming so we kind of Not like we even need tempering of our egos, but I think it just shows or reminds us of How nice it is to have other people around us sing with you know Which is if you've ever been in a band or led something it can be hard when just the only person doing it or I was just having this think thought the other night. I can't remember what I was talking to I think I was talking to friend of mine Also plays the band. I was like You know sometimes it's really nice when I just get to like Play guitar and like jack sings the song or something like I get to do backup It's like it's nice and I just get to like listen and like contribute and like yeah I'm still involved, but you know And you can that's a nice feeling too, you know Have a different perspective in the song. Yeah, definitely I just wanted to excuse to play this song on the podcast, but I want to just illustrate all of your You know, we're talking about your harmonies. I think the song home again is a great showcase of your harmonies

35:42To go home again Trying to forget That song is all harmony all the time you know, and I think we I feel like exactly we were writing that we were like We just want this to be that There was like it should just be something that's simple enough a melody wise that we can all Yeah without trying too hard, you know, that was part of the intention for sure It's speaking of other songs on the album A song that stood out to me and Lance as we were listening to it was I do Are you guys familiar with the band the autumn defense? It's Pat Sandsone and John Steerett from Wilco. Yes, I have heard that band The song I do is very reminiscent of the autumn defences aesthetic. Oh cool. I will have to go back it in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, check them out Who's there? Who dares to knock on my door looking for pennies?

36:56Truths rare on there and me you cut this bottle is for one but in my Without you I Oh I know you all are going on tour pretty soon in September Anything else that's going on with the band outside of the tour like what's next for you guys? What are you looking forward to what's next for improvement movement? Yeah, I mean tours the next thing on the calendar and that's kind of like you know, that's all Conceuming right now, but Always just making more music as much as possible Trying to get home from tour to make more music. Yeah, but trying to make music on tour whatever you get a chance and

37:57yeah trying to invade every single person's home and space and mind and body and And city and and you know that thing You know the thing that you two did where you just like woke up and you just like had the album on your phone Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're trying to do that No, just like in your mind. Yeah, okay, cool work. You don't have to listen to it I'm gonna be one of those people that said I didn't that wasn't upset that having a free album in my box so I was crazy It's like you guys need to play like the sphere in Vegas like you know, yeah, we're gonna play on top of this We're gonna go out and play on top. Yeah You gotta go big you got to see Timmy she beat us to the punch with

38:57He made a video He stole our idea. Yeah, he's so welcome. I'm good friends with him. He stole our idea Music video with you guys. Yeah, I like it like you guys could lift up onto the top of the sphere with like the loons maybe You know, there's continuity Tony said Tony though the drummer said Zach and I are not allowed to no more stunts No, we have like we have we have a memorialarium on stunts for like yeah, it's the year and a half Tony's like can we just play music in a situation where it's like you know like comfortable and like So if to play music and that's fair sure Sure, I can find it true. What's the fun in that? Yeah, I know I told him we should play in a giant bowl soup. Oh nice Yeah, the next the next one is blimp Yes, it up. Yeah, I'm actually seriously looking for for you know lighter than aircraft vehicle hookup So for all the lighter than aircraft pilots if you're listening to the woke up podcast woke up podcast um just get in touch with us and

40:00We're not even joking. That's a it's a big Venn diagram Wilco fans and you know blimp blimp pilots Maybe there's that one listener out there that's like hey, I do that You never know counting on it. Yeah, we have insurance amazing. We got it all. That's all covered. Yeah, okay Reach out um We we didn't prep you for this we we sorry we tend to prep guess for our we call it our lightning round Uh, and it doesn't have to be lightning fast. So we just you know But we're gonna ask you some Wilco questions some Wilco opinion. So um Feel free to pass if you'd rather not answer these let's let's roll and see what happens. Okay. Let's do it Uh, so uh Clark we'll start with you favorite Wilco song Oh, I like the uh the uh, I like the one where he sings about all the spiders Oh, yeah, yeah, tax returns Oh Spiders, yeah, that's cool man. It's very cool. Yeah, that song's good. No, that's why everyone right now

41:06Amazing ghost is born shout out. Yeah, that's my favorite Wilco album Zach okay, so I'm gonna have to I feel like it's like a basic It's kind of like a basic bit of answer to to pick something off Yankee hotel far from But here but but the thing is is I have to preface it by saying that we I guess this isn't very lightning round But me and Tony actually played the whole album In a cover set. Oh, no group called a teo collective that does classic albums And like get to land a musicians together to do it It's a wink did so we did we played Yankee um I I don't know how good of a justice we did to it, but we we really tried and um and it I had grown up like my sister's a huge Wilco fan. I grew up like that playing in the you know like Part there was probably a phaser. I was like that's my sister's music You know, and like the thing where I was like oh my god. This is in my brain like this is part of me And so playing the record though like gave it's just like so

42:08Like unpacking everything and learning it all is just like I highly recommend anybody like learn a whole record It's amazing to get into the mind of the people that made it somewhat and we I this one's a weird one But it's like before I played the record my camera was not Would not have been on my short list And then just having played it over and over again. That's the one that I just am like Forever I'm just I'm locked in on that song. Amazing answer It's an underrated song from that album I think I agree yeah, yeah, I understand Having underrated it I understand and now having played it a lot of like no, this is really good. Yeah Well, it's as far as I'm concerned. It's not basic to choose from Yankee My I have the most basic answer. It's my favorite band ever but Jesus et cetera, which You could say it's basically it's a yeah, it's a basic is a good set of like I don't care How familiar are you with opening tracks on a wilko album any like opening tracks that stand out to you

43:10Built out in Atmos room at my job and woke over at least I think it was like an EP. We kind of recently That was like all at most stuff is it the the hot sign cool shroud EP? Oh, yeah, I think it is that was like two years ago. It was really really all over the place like Short tracks. They were some of them were instrumental. I think it was like recorded in Atmos Which is a which was at the time and was it was pretty hard to do because you have to have a setup that like allows you to do like real time Tracking stuff That has a cool intro thing. Yeah, not really because also I'm in this room. That's like purpose built For listening to that sort of material, but it was interesting hearing the band like wilko who has obviously The resources to to to be like we're gonna make something specifically for this format that like nobody That's a kind of a weird one obviously. That's a great answer. No one's ever answered that. I love it I'm gonna go with the whatever the I'm gonna forget but the opening track

44:12I'm just gonna go with the opening track of whatever's on summer teeth because that would be my follow-up to oh nice I was an album so I know can't stand it Can't stand it. So yeah, that's great. I'll I'm picking that. Yeah, nice. I think that's good song It is a good song. I bet Lance could go through and like Seek what I could with some higher discography. Yeah, I could be a song. You know, okay start now Rest of the podcast Let's let's skip ahead. Let's do um Let's ask questions the night. Yeah, sure. Let's do desert island disc. What's that one album that you can't live without? When I was growing up of my my current roommate and I who my roommates from middle school my friend from middle school We discovered a blog spot that was a guy Who we thought was from Brazil, but he really was just from Illinois who found old Elbys from Brazil and ripped them and put them on mega upload And it's back in the mega upload days and we found lots of cool MPB and like

45:15Brazilian music from all all iris um, and I so the first record is this uh album called burnier and cardier Cardier B-U-R-N-I-E-R and CaR T-I-E-R two guitarists. It's an album from 1974. It's a super cool Very flushed out record recorded in the RCA studios in Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro one of those cities and it's just If you listen to it and then you if you're ever if you're some of my own music or here so that my influence and improvement That shit is all over it. That's number one And then the second um is Allegations or whatever you want to say noted or or scandal noted as Marshall would say scandal noted um is jony Mitchell's court in spark Also to our amazing. I love that album. I Think it's it's I think it's a masterpiece. Wow. Beautiful. Yeah, that's what we love asking these questions this question because like I now I'm gonna go check out that random

46:16Brazilian slash yeah, you gotta check out that shit is fired. Yeah, and obviously jony Mitchell's is a goat. Yeah, for sure Zach, what do you got? I mean vanilla ice obviously it would be Pretty high on that. Uh, okay. I was rolling with it. Yeah, if I hear like you're like Yeah, okay, let's see where you go. So this slim cook um I think two really perfect albums are Zenyata mandada by the police. I like Every song off that record is so sick Partly maybe because it was the only CD yeah and my car for a long time and maybe that's just that kind of like has an undue influence I miss those days. It's perfect. It's just the best. I think it's the best police record and it's police aren't even like my favorite band But as like a that's just a record. It's like wow just no complaints and then maybe I'll say I think midnight marauders tribe called quest is a perfect record No misses on that record

47:17Like flaming lips comes close like Yoshimi is like I think top top top top. Yeah, is that your that's your favorite album? I it just it's definitely up there and it it's also all perfect songs So if I got picked you I think I'll say I'll go to police and and midnight marauders because I'd give you a nice spectrum Cool good answers. No wrong answers. All good answers. That was fine guys This and this was this was a treat to chat with y'all the night we have Just to wind this thing down. We have been loving the new album and the fact that we got to To take some of your time and chat with you about it. This is awesome. So thank you guys for being here Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. We really appreciate y'all's time. Yeah, and It's nice talking to you check out the new album catch these guys on the road When does the tour start for y'all? 17th of september is our first show. Okay, and we'll be touring We're gonna cut up your nose. Yeah through November

48:1817th issue you'll be in Denver in November if I if my memory serves me yeah, so just oh yeah if you hit us up if you guys want to Yeah, I'll be there. You guys and all of your listeners get a list And the blimp guy. Yeah, yeah, of course He's first. That's right. Here's cool. Yeah. Yeah. All right cool guys. Thank you so much I appreciate We're really appreciate y'all. Thank you. You bet. I'm gonna. Good night We'll go the podcast is produced by Lance Hill and Matt Morgan editorial and theme music by Matt Morgan You can find us on Instagram at local the podcast or shoot us an email at local the podcast at gmail.com Thanks for listening