Nest Sessions: The Format on Fan Clubs & Being Birthed
53m 46s
The episode chronicles the enduring friendship between Nate and Sam, two musicians who first met at a Weezer show in 1996 and have remained close through decades of life, music, and personal evolution. Their early connection was forged through shared passions for punk rock, internet culture, and DIY music projects, including fan websites and show organizing. After years of stepping away from music, Sam’s rediscovery of guitar playing reignited their creative bond. The reunion was both personal and timely, motivated by a desire to make music accessible and meaningful, especially in a time when artists face criticism for exploitative pricing. They chose to release a new song, “Bar Set Hello,” after the tragic shooting of Alex Pardy, using its themes of immigration and resilience to connect with listeners. The episode emphasizes how music can serve as a tool for empathy and social awareness. Both reflect on personal growth—particularly through parenting and maturity—and the importance of community, direct action, and supporting causes beyond profit. The story is interwoven with vivid, shared memories, such as their birth experiences and first concert days, highlighting the deep emotional roots of their friendship. Ultimately, it celebrates the power of long-standing bonds and the enduring relevance of music as a source of connection, healing, and hope.
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I'm Nate and I sing.
I'm Sam and I play guitar.
I feel like you've known each other for a while now.
30 years later this year.
Wait, you're keeping track of the official amount of years?
I mean, it's December.
If it was like. I mean, you got the month too?
Well, I mean, we know this because there was a show.
It was a very, you know, prominent show in our life, or at least in mine.
I mean, I met you there.
Definitely prominent show.
It was also just a great show.
Yeah, but I still don't remember when that was.
I know the day.
Wait, so what show?
It was a Weezer show on the Pinkerton tour, December of 1996.
Wow.
And you sort of, do you remember, what were your first impressions of each other?
You obviously, it's a very memorable day for you.
I mean, it was brief because we just were both there.
And I went with, we have mutual friends.
We have a mutual friend.
So he was there with one friend.
I was there with a couple of friends.
And then at some point in time, there was just like a, oh, hey, what's up?
You know, what's going on?
I have a situation.
But well, Sam ran the official Weezer fan club website.
Oh, okay.
And so he got to go backstage.
I was coding in 96, you know.
So I was just like walking by just being like, what the fuck?
How did he get to do like. Wait, I love this.
So wait, how did. that work you're a kid you're obviously good on the internet yeah my dad had a computer so i just
um you were homeschooled i was homeschooled which helped but how old are you in 96 16 16 okay did
they did you reach out to them or do they find you i reached out to them so i like i when the
first weezer album came out in 94 i just was like obsessed with it as i think a lot of us were in
that time um and i really started getting into computers and i started just trying to discover
more music so i started finding all these music sites and then i realized you could just look at
the source of it and you could literally just take like a block of the code and put it in a
text editor and then just like change stuff from there you know it was like pretty
basic at that point so i just started making websites so i made a weezer website and i was
like hey you guys don't have a website for your i was in the fan club it was 10 bucks
which was awesome they'd send you a zine every quarter and like a little merch item and i
love merch so i was psyched and i was like hey do you guys need like a like a fan site like an
official fan site and um these two girls michael and carly ran it and they're like yes that would
be awesome we don't know how to do this we'll we'll just send you stuff we'll send you my mom
or my yeah my mom had a fax machine for some reason they was like that's me tour dates from
the management and like they just sent i was just like running a little website like a little website
guy as a as a fan oh i mean wheeze is amazing but as a fan at that age what was that like were you
was it just very normal and final were you sort of going oh my god this is crazy no i just i was just
i was more interested in being able to do it than i was in the fandom part like i learned a lot i
think at that time just sort of how that was my my entry to sort of how um accessible the music
industry could be because you realized like oh i'm just like communicating with the manager and so
then i started a friend of mine we started making these like fake press passes because i saw what
they looked like and i was like we could just make these and like go to show they started going to
shows and like just walking in and being like oh we're with you know whatever and they'd be like
okay cool we had a very similar uh teenage yeah i was making websites and t-shirt design and doing
like myspace coding yeah there you go yeah i was i was always that was like a livler wasn't it between
like the people and these like inaccessible bands you think that bands are some you you know put them
on like a huge pedestal but then you realize they're just i mean some people i guess are
probably living like crazy bougie lives but most people are just like we go to punk shows and we'd
see these bands that we loved and i and in my mind i would even at that time would think like oh
they're probably like rich and whatever and then they'd roll up in like the shittiest van
imaginable and you could just tell like oh these guys are just
scarfing down the fazoles because they haven't eaten all day because they're broke
so the internet was so pure back then my god if only we could go back to that time
i loved that version of the internet it's kind of where it died for me no i love message boards
like late 90s early 2000s message boards internet for me that was our jam for sure we had we had a
local uh the local punk rock club had the message board and that that's where we like we lived on
that message board yeah you met your wife i met my wife on that message board through him like
she's amazing yeah i was the moderator of course because i got a job you were absolutely mod i
didn't even remember that i got a job because i knew how to make websites i was modding hard for
sure so you guys ended up meeting at the weezer show how soon was it till you were sort of making
music together how did that work probably like a year i feel like it was about a year yeah i think
the next time we like i went to your house and played basketball in your driveway with it and
then i was about right discovered that you had you were just starting attempting to start a band
yeah yeah at that point guitar yeah yeah this was the format at that no this was we had a couple of
we had like a pop punk band then we had kind of like a emo type of band and then we had the
format uh yeah just different iterations really just like the same people too yeah really really
just like recycled and still even 20 years later yeah marco and our band was in all three of those
bands as well so ah and did you have any other bands that you were a fan of when you were a fan of
so ah and did you have any idea at that moment you'd still be friends and still making music
together 30 years on i mean obviously there's been all sorts of morphing and changing but here you
both are that's i mean most people don't have friendships that last that long whatever we had
uh in phoenix including like marco this just that old group of that old group of friends have found
a way to kind of stay together in one way or another i mean even one of our other friends had
just sent us uh photos from our guitarist marco's wedding like 10 years ago so yeah i mean and then
there was no talk of the format reuniting or anything like that at that time so um yeah we've
all just found a way to stay in each other's lives for better or for worse what was that arizona
music scene so i grew up in chicago around like the rise of fallout boy and all those
bands right of that era the metro was the place to be metro knights of columbus and arlington heights
um what was because you guys had pedro the lion around not we had jimmy eat world jimmy world
okay we had jimmy world and before that we had the gin blossoms um but we were i think jimmy world
came for us just a little bit later we we right after weezer we really got into like punk and um
and like pop punk and we had a friend who started uh he dropped out of high school to start booking
all the punk shows at like 16 like all the major shows like you know thousand two thousand
seaters and stuff like that and sam being the homeschooled kid was a like just end up getting
a job and doing all the graphics and running the door and stuff yeah i was working like 80
hours a week i'd get there at 10 i'd make every flyer every poster modding the web like doing the
website and then i would work the door and and then sometimes work like goth night afterwards
i like begged for a job and i got hired to pass out flyers but i just kept them in the trunk of my
car
would show up like newman and seinfeld just never delivering yeah exactly like that's exactly what
i did wait so i just i don't want to skip over this the homeschooling thing because i was
homeschooled till i was about 12. oh really it's a trip you know i think there's really amazing
aspects to it and sort of quite weird aspects when you look back yeah but how was it for you and were
you where did you go to school i was public school your public school okay so quite a separate kind of
uh yeah i my mom pulled me out of school in third grade what was the reason
for i actually don't remember i think it was she just had some issue with the school like some
personal issue and that i don't know like something with the principal some yeah some sort of beef
that i never even bothered because i don't even care i didn't even bother to ask but um it was
super weird at first when i was really young i did not like it at all if you'd have to do the basic
testing and they would we'd all go to this school and i was just like these are not there's a lot
of like very super religious like post hippie kids and stuff and it just didn't work out for me it just
it just didn't was not my scene i did not like engage i couldn't i couldn't figure out how to
connect with anybody in that world but then i had a the kind of the thing that made it great for me
was a friend of ours another nate in our life um moved in across the street for me and became my
best friend and he what what do you like play tennis with you or something how did he know how
did he we went to we just went to school we went to school together but didn't you do something like
what was the what was your connection he was into music um we i think we i think we like played tennis
and stuff like that as like an aside okay like that was later on but so i just i mean he was my
best friend so then all of his friends that he was meeting at school i just started hanging out
with he was like the conduit in he was definitely like yeah i had sam darling he was my one friend
lived up the road and he was like my conduit into the rest of the world right yeah because otherwise
yeah you're like what if you guys said you wouldn't mind
mom mommy yeah yeah do you call your mom mommy like he does no i don't but yeah and also i was
a little bit older so i got the car first and just started driving everybody to all the shows
i was just like i'm dry we're like we're going to shows we weren't yeah we went fucking we went
everywhere we really went to jack-in-the-box a lot yeah and taco bell and and record stores
somehow my parents and your parents let us go to la to go see shows yeah we started coming out here
really early amazing stuff it was yeah yeah we were still in high school i like going driving
up to la from phoenix yeah i have a 16 year old daughter right now and the thought of just letting
her get in a car and drive out to anaheim is is not what i like to think about yeah i guess
different time but also it is kind of outrageous anyway yeah yeah my parents yeah i was 16 driving
into the city to the metro and like fireside bowl and yeah i'm jealous of that time i bet that was
awesome a lot of cool shows there i'm sure i wasn't allowed i was like i had
i couldn't go anywhere i had a pet goat called frisky um i'd go hunting on the weekends with
my dad very different existence you brought the goat hunting the goat was actually my dad shot
its mother which was so sad and awful didn't realize there was a kid there and we brought
the goat home and then i had a pet goat wow so it's like quite a sad origin story yeah
and then we ate frisky no we didn't eat frisky um i i had a goat growing up
get out they're the best they're so loyal and
so fun hard disagree um i my before we moved to arizona my family's from iowa yeah and we had a
farm and um my earliest memories was the goat would just not get off the fucking car so we
could leave yeah they love climbing yeah they want to be on things they're awful they make crazy
noises um yeah they eat everything they tear shit up my least favorite animal if it weren't for
their if it weren't for their milk or their cheese so funny yeah no i love my it was just my best
friend homeschool
so like frisbee was my friend you know it was friendship applesauce was not
was not applesauce yeah applesauce was evil and i'm talking like this is probably like
i weirdly i remember being born sorry say again we're going back we're going back like the coming
out yeah yeah i remember being born i remember the lights turning on are you serious yeah and
time to go this is blowing my mind because i my memory is so bad my memory is awful too
the lights are on and then do you remember like
people looking down at you and like whacking your ass like basically and i remember just like
screaming and then it kind of went dark again and then the lights came back on when the fucking goat
wouldn't get off those those are your two yes that's amazing yes like if you were to see it
from as a scene you'd like it'd be blurry and you'd see like a doctor i just remember it
unconsolably it was just like bawling that's all i remember that's extraordinary because we obviously
all have that
in us but we don't remember it i assume because it's too traumatic because it's too right you're
in this beautiful womb and then you're fuck you're out awful i looked it up on the internet and there
are yeah there are a few people who have very similar like stories do you want you want me to
on a message board and talk about this that's how i met my wife too um she also remembers being
birthed um uh yeah but then the goat applesauce was my next big memory that i don't know what to
do with it
were you joking before your wife also remembers her birth or are you serious she's okay just
checking rob's always doing a deadpan and i can't understand no no i'm not i'm not that good so wait
so what was the memory after the goat that just continued then the memory was on from goat onwards
or did you blink out again no i think i feel like it blinked out again and then it started then
that's when it was like the weezer show where you meet yeah no then it was like probably it was
probably like a year later and then and then it was like a month later and then it was you know
and then it just became yeah whatever we have now i don't know where to go from there phoenix
maybe back to phoenix because i'm going to phoenix for the first time to see a nine inch
now a show this friday it's my first time in phoenix what is phoenix time to go oh and what
do i mean to do my dad threw away our nine inch nails tickets my senior year of high school i was
like it was nine inch nails perfect circle me and mike lance shout out mike lance we're gonna go
also still a friend um we're gonna go and i was like i had the tickets i put them in my dad's
drawer thinking that that would be the safest place yeah and my dad threw them out that's
no okay i don't know how any of this happened the story blows my mind and he will and mike will not
forgive me like to this day yeah yeah yeah and then did you find out like the day of the day of
and and and i have a friend one time we were talking like the best show i ever saw was nine
inch nails in perfect circle i was like way to go lj yeah way to go lj um that's rough so yeah so
congratulations on being the first to go to my dad's drawer so i'm just gonna check all those
tickets wait you better be careful with those tickets in phoenix no i think growing up in like
a desert town is maybe a little bit interesting for you too because yeah deserts in new zealand
right we don't really do deserts no i didn't appreciate it until now i didn't appreciate the
desert either actually yeah i always thought it was like when people talked about i was like
what's so cool about having dirt and like having a yard that's just dirt like even growing up in it
this is so like disgusting yeah i didn't appreciate a lot about it until uh one time these kids i was
working with these kids from philadelphia and they're just like it's so awesome out here and
everything is just like what do you call they're like touching my house and they're like what do
you call this i'm like stucco oh they're like oh all of our houses are like bricks and old and like
everything here is just like new and i was just like okay i do my best friend in first grade moved
to scottsdale from chicago and i remember coming out to visit him and we're like scottsdale is a
very different place what is that's like that's like another world from where we grew up for sure
we also have a lot of chicago trans but it's a bit like i'm from it's a weird midwestern hub
well you got portillos and luminatis there right we do i think i'm pretty sure it's just close the
the like bump in one just the luminatis just closed but there's a is there portillos there
i think so there is yeah we went during covid and got a bunch of portillos i can't believe i'm
moved i don't know how you're gonna take this i don't like a deep dish pizza i don't not it's not
for me you're having the wrong kind like a bread bowl it's a bread bowl it's not good it's a lot
it's a bread bowl yeah yeah it's a soup it's basically soup i used to i used to think that
it was my favorite until i tried it the idea of it was conceptually is phenomenal well where what
deep dish have you had in chicago i want to say probably luminatis and um we went to what's the
grimaldi's or something yeah like you know i think okay representation
you got to do like p quads i'm not doing any of them yeah sorry so those were the two strikes
i like the thinnest of thin crust pizzas you can get that's my my jam yeah well chicago food is
and i do love chicago food um rick bayless is my like favorite person of all time so i'm literally
looking forward to going to chicago and going to a bunch of rick bayless restaurants which is funny
because being from phoenix for the mexican food is amazing but uh but i've just gone on an internet
like trip of like looking at food and i'm like oh my god i'm gonna go to chicago and i'm gonna go to
rick bayless stuff wait so what did phoenix give us like what are phoenix's things because i my
brain is completely empty yeah the desert is a format yeah but the fact that it's taking it's
taking it wasn't that would sound like an aggressive question like what did it give us
but like what is phoenix is a weird we got the big charlie kirk funeral yeah oh god we got the
charlie kirk freeway yeah we got turning point usa that's our big win oh is turn is tp usa it's in
phoenix phoenix so it is big christian town it's a very yeah it's a very rural suburban sprawl lots
we have we have a lot of like mega churches in the like east valley west valley it's turned but
it's also turned fairly progressive since we've been in the center yeah like we do have we now
have a pretty good sort of uh central like downtown core when we were kids the downtown area was just
like abysmal everything would close at you know five and there's one venue down there that we would
go to we actually saw someone get murdered at across the street you saw it happen yes yes
sorry horrible uh it was like a beating with a brick it was a situation i just watched someone
get hit with a brick but we're not going to describe this are we we didn't know what was
happening it it seemed like it was it was very strange it seemed like they were friends they
were it was a strange we didn't get it until it weirdly marco who we've mentioned a few times
the other day he explained he told the whole story because i
have like blocked it out of my mind right you've got your birth and the goat
yes yeah but uh we had that venue down there but other than that it was like downtown was
terrible but it's recently like we moved down there you like you were the first one to move
down there in like 2006 or something that's when it started kind of becoming a place where you could
escape the the sprawl and all of that stuff like the rural life of whatever it's just like phoenix
it was like a stamp and repeat of like a re like a mall you know a target it's like the same right
again this a neighborhood and then once the next one's built no one wants to live in this one
anymore so people move into that one and then this one just gets kind of abandoned and they just keep
doing that until you get to california you know at this point and really like it's crazy how much
it stretches out even i hadn't driven from we used to make that drive when we were kids all the time
or even early format days living in phoenix driving to california to make a record or whatever it was
um and yeah the houses would just get closer and closer to california like you'd be driving in
from california from california and you'd be like oh my god i'm gonna be like oh my god i'm gonna be
and being like, wait a second,
like I was just here two months ago
and it seems like we're like three miles ahead,
like three extra miles of houses
have just like, has just sprawled out.
Now it's insane.
And California's doing the same thing.
So they will eventually meet.
They'll kiss.
It's like the lady and the tramp.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, it's one giant spaghetti noodle.
There's no sane segue into this,
but these coffees are sitting here
and in every episode,
I encourage guests to bring in something
sort of iconically American
that I perhaps have not partaken in.
Is this iconically?
It's about to be.
It's about to be.
There's some finger on the pulse type of stuff.
I have been staring at these for a while
and I'm curious what these are exactly.
I think it is a Japanese coffee shop,
but in America.
Yeah, I'm trying to make this an American thing.
I thought that sounds fucking American.
Yes, this is an iced latte with like peanut butter,
like actual peanut butter in it
that has been,
kind of like liquefied
and squirted into the coffee.
Okay.
And then stirred.
It's very delicious.
Is this a recent discovery of yours?
This is in the last year I discovered this
and I've been trying to turn everybody I know
onto the peanut butter latte.
My favorite, it's my favorite treat.
Okay, I'm going to have a,
you guys have one.
Yeah, Rob and I get to share this.
I think you tried to turn me onto this
about a few months ago or something.
A few months ago.
Yeah, give it a stir.
Oh yeah, that's peanutty.
Peanut butter on the bottom, I think.
Oh yeah, we need to get that peanut butter up.
Really settled down there.
Yeah, these have been sitting for about an hour now.
Yeah, I get a lot of these.
So this is not new to me.
Oh, delicious.
It's great, right?
Yeah, I love peanut butter.
Big fan.
Been about 15 years.
15 years?
Oh my God.
That's right, you've been off for a long time.
Can you?
It's probably a bad idea.
Are you a recovering coffee junkie?
Are you just going to set you back?
I'm always a tea guy.
Yeah, so it's not the caffeine so much.
The matcha's got a lot of caffeine.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's good.
That has got a lot of peanut butter flavor.
The peanut butter is a great flavor.
I'm into this.
Yeah, I'm into it too.
There's not enough peanut butter for me.
You want more?
It's a bit watered down.
Yeah, the ice has melted
because it has been sitting here for a little bit.
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Yeah.
But it is absolutely delicious.
Do you guys think you'll still be friends
in another 30 years?
Well, the hope is that we're still alive.
Yeah.
That's really just. Yeah, I think as long as we're still alive.
Yeah.
We're still kicking it.
What is that?
What's that going to be?
75 for me?
I think so.
We're not dramatic people.
So something crazy would have to happen.
Like, let's knock on wood.
But it'd have to be like. I don't know.
It's just so low drama that I don't know
how it wouldn't happen.
The 20 years that we were not a band,
it's not like we talked every day
or even every year.
But we were always still close.
But it's been really cool doing this again
because now we both have families
and our families are now more so intertwined
and it's just a pretty cool thing.
What was that conversation
that brought you guys back
to make some more music?
Because you're going to play some songs soon for us.
But what was that conversation or thought?
He learned how to play guitar.
That was probably the biggest conduit back to it.
We'd been talking for years
to reunite just to play some shows.
And those materialized right before COVID started.
We had them booked
and then they just went away, obviously.
There was like March and April of 2020.
Or it was like COVID really fucked that up.
Yeah, COVID really fucked that up,
which ended up, I think, being sort of good
because it did feel a bit more like an obligation
at that point, maybe.
We wanted to do it,
but it just was sort of like,
I don't know, maybe we felt like we needed to do it
just because so much time had passed
and we didn't really have a good reason to not do it.
People wanted to see us play,
so we were like, we'll just go play some shows, I guess.
But yeah, he learned how to play guitar.
I went out to visit him
and heard some songs that he was working on
and saw his little setup that he'd built in his basement.
I was like, what are you doing with all this stuff?
And at that time, he said nothing.
Yeah, I was very comfortably retired
for about eight years just being like,
I don't need, I have no desire
and fortunately didn't need to have to do anything.
And so my kids started going to school.
And I was like, I need something to do during the day.
I've always liked guitar.
I might as well just like learn to play a couple songs.
And then as I did that,
then suddenly like the floodgates opened again
and I just started writing a whole bunch of music
with no intention.
I was just like, okay, well, this will just be for me.
And then I started to be like,
I actually kind of like this stuff
and I wouldn't mind if people heard it.
How easily did you guys click back into that?
Very easy.
Very easy for me.
I mean, yeah, it was, I feel like,
I understood exactly what he was going for with this.
Kind of had just the, I mean,
there were like a batch of seven songs maybe
that were in pretty good shape.
You know, I could definitely tell what was going on.
And I was just very excited to,
I mean, I hadn't made it in music in a long time either.
So just excited to do that.
And actually in 2020, I was pitching.
I was like, we should just do like a song.
I really wanted to.
Yeah, and I was like, fuck, I'm never doing a song again.
It'd be more fun if we have something new to play,
you know, like we'll close with a new song or something.
But anyway, so it ended up just being,
I think, better in the end.
And 20 years has passed,
but in a lot of ways it feels like no time has passed at all.
Almost like a parallel universe situation.
But that's the best kind of friendship
that you can just like tap back in.
And if you can also do that with the music as well,
it's great.
Tap back in with like,
and it's just like the whole being born thing.
Just to circle back around.
It's like it went dark.
Yeah.
And then it just like opened.
It, the eyes opened back up.
Sam is there.
Yeah, I am the goat.
With his fake bright goat here in this.
But like, but 20 years as better people too,
I think is the, is like the,
the kind of the best part about it is,
yeah, we're just, I think,
better versions of ourselves too.
Not that we were bad versions earlier,
but it's just so much,
so much more enjoyable
when you've figured out a lot of things.
Nobody ever figures anything out truly,
but I think we've just figured out a lot in our lives
and, and being comfortable in our own skin.
And I think being more aware of the world around us.
I think those type of things,
it makes this much more enjoyable.
And you're both like having kids and stuff
probably helps as well, right?
Like your perspective on things.
Oh yeah, for sure.
Everything changed.
Like even just writing from a writing perspective for me,
I've always just been like,
boohoo me, I got broken up with.
Oh no.
And yeah, 20s to 40s is a different,
Yeah, and I did well with that.
Very, very well with that.
And that's who I was.
I could not imagine being anyone else
other than some heartbroken person.
And once I had kids,
it just like suddenly you're like,
wait a second, there's a whole world out there
and it's fucked up.
Stay tuned for more Flightless Bird.
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everyone you're excited about making music again now what put you in that headspace of being like
fuck this i'm done with music for now like was it a specific thing or just a board over it over it
i'm not the type i'm a type of person who's like i'm into something and then i'm off of it and i
hate the idea of being defined by one thing um i don't like like because that's not who i am i'm
not just a guy who makes music i don't know what else i know how to do i just know that that's just
not who i am i don't spend every waking breathing second like thinking about music and i had to um
things were going really well i had no choice but to spend every waking second thinking about it
and seeing it like you know seeing it as from having like the biggest songs in the world and
all that type of stuff those things that you just never really dream about
and get it done and then you're like oh my god i'm not the type of person who's like i'm not
getting there and just being like this is fucking beat like this sucks yeah this sucks and i don't
even love it that's not the be all yeah and i've and i've i've made more money than i could ever
possibly be comfortable like i never thought that it would do this so like why am i sticking
around this is just stupid um and so and so i was just like all right i'm out like i'm done and so
it's cool that coming back to this i feel like we've both been blessed in our lives in the in
our lives in the in our lives in the in our lives in the in our lives in the in our lives in our lives
we sell our tickets as low as possible we sell our merchandise as low as possible amazing great
accessible yeah because like and yeah we want like we're enjoying this we want people to be
able to come in and experience this with us now we don't want to gouge those people we want this
we live to break even like that's all like that's all we can ask for in this situation yeah doing
this um and because you watch you just watch how much people just get ripped off by like musicians
and by like rich musicians
that's the other thing like i understand like if you're a band and you're just trying like this is
your living because it's become harder and harder because the music industry has taken everything
away from everybody so it's hard for a band to make money so i understand you know in some ways
but if you are privileged enough like hard-working people are paying money like these like and you're
taking everything they have so that they can come watch you live like when we went we're kids like
it was an outlet like going to concerts was like an outlet now people have
to like take out a fucking mortgage just to go see a show like that's that would not be enjoyable for
me to to also have this feeling like i just paid 80 bucks for a t-shirt you know like after a hard
day's work it's just awful the way that people treat the like how how the music industry works
specifically from the top um which is like anything in life but but uh i just look at how
much these artists just charge an arm and a leg for everything and it's just so disappointing so
for us to for
us doing this it's like okay we just if we make anything extra that's nice but i can't imagine
because we really just want to be able to pay the people that we work with are you running the
website uh sort of in many ways i am yes um it's gotten it's gotten much easier no we actually did
get a little help they asked me if i was running the website and then it had to be uh kind of
revamped for the new album and i was like i'll let somebody else do it what are you what are you
using for it we're using uh are you guys sponsored by squares by chance sometimes
well you are now wait we have a website yeah what the hell i mean it's just what is it what
even is a website what is the website yeah it's like it's all it's just like a it's all like
modular stuff it's it's just like a link me page i mean most people's websites are just that now
it's like it's just a place to you have to have so many different yeah it's so my friend's band
just got a website it's very funny they made it like almost you remember that game mist we like
in a room the whole website like you're in a room and you're sort of like dragging the mouse around
to like find tour dates and stuff the least user-friendly website imaginable but very
fucking funny we had a video game we had a video game back in 2010 we had a video game website
oh really yeah incredible yeah yeah 2006 yeah yeah yeah it was uh it was it was a full video
game website that you would just you'd play the video game and then there would just be these
little stops where you could get like tour dates and whatever we all had little characters it was
it like flash became a big thing yeah when i was suddenly like using that as much as they
possibly could yeah mobile became a thing and then you couldn't use flash on mobile i couldn't i was
not flat i could not so i just kind of like peeked at html i was not once flash came into play i was
like i am out i'm out the songs you're about to play us in the studio is there anything you want
to say about them before you play them or just let them speak for themselves well i mean one of
them bar sets hello um we have that up on bandcamp oh duh yeah um and that's that's a really important song
for us it was uh intended to be on boycott heaven actually um we recorded a version of it that just
didn't um the way it kind of the way it was recorded just didn't really didn't really work
but uh yeah we started playing it when our the week our album came out um you know things got
pretty pretty hairy in uh minneapolis and we found out in the morning that uh we were doing
our show and uh like an in-store in phoenix uh alex pretty got shot and so nate was like
hey we should maybe you know break the song out and play it today holy it was the day after
like our album release and we were in phoenix and uh i don't know we phoenix people have just always
been particularly amazing for us and so we had this big huge cd release for like a record store
a local record store stinkweeds that people had to get tickets to and um and yeah and so we were
gonna just play all new songs and that was kind of what we were gonna do we were gonna we were gonna
just play all new songs and that was kind of what we were gonna do we were gonna do we were gonna
awful uh thing happened and the whole song is about just immigration and the way that uh we treat
um uh our immigrant population legal or illegal illegal uh in this country and uh and so it just
seemed very fitting to play it that that day and uh and then i think people really appreciated it
when you write a song like that and we like having listened to a lot of rage against the
same thing and i think people really appreciated it when you write a song like that and i think people
like that and i think people really appreciated it when you write a song like that and i think people
nothing changes i'm listening to rage nowadays just being like well this could have been written this was written 30 years ago it
this was written 30 years ago it
this was written 30 years ago it applies so perfectly today and it probably
applies so perfectly today and it probably
applies so perfectly today and it probably applied
applied
applied so perfectly 30 years prior to when it was
so perfectly 30 years prior to when it was
so perfectly 30 years prior to when it was written um and so it is i feel like this is
written um and so it is i feel like this is
written um and so it is i feel like this is just one of those songs where
just one of those songs where
just one of those songs where we were like okay like one day it's going
we were like okay like one day it's going
we were like okay like one day it's going to have to
to
to be released because it's it's just
be released because it's it's just
be released because it's it's just i know nothing's going to change um here
i know nothing's going to change um here
i know nothing's going to change um here and so uh so we decided to
and so uh so we decided to
and so uh so we decided to re-recorded just an acoustic version that
re-recorded just an acoustic version that
re-recorded just an acoustic version that we put up on
we put up on
we put up on it's on bandcamp um yeah and we're you
it's on bandcamp um yeah and we're you
it's on bandcamp um yeah and we're you money to a basket of organizations that
money to a basket of organizations that
money to a basket of organizations that um um we think are pretty cool and uh
um um we think are pretty cool and uh
um um we think are pretty cool and uh yeah so it's up there right now and
yeah so it's up there right now and
yeah so it's up there right now and and we've been we've been uh we play we
and we've been we've been uh we play we
and we've been we've been uh we play we continue to play it that
continue to play it that
continue to play it that that whole run the whole little string
that whole run the whole little string
that whole run the whole little string of uh shows that we did for the album
of uh shows that we did for the album
of uh shows that we did for the album release so yeah so funny doing an album
release so yeah so funny doing an album
release so yeah so funny doing an album release and then closing it out with the
release and then closing it out with the
release and then closing it out with the song that did not make the album
song that did not make the album
song that did not make the album yeah for a very good reason yeah yeah
yeah for a very good reason yeah yeah
yeah for a very good reason yeah yeah for sure but i'm like you're like i'm
for sure but i'm like you're like i'm
for sure but i'm like you're like i'm here to promote this album
everything's digital now you just throw
everything's digital now you just throw
everything's digital now you just throw it at the end of the night you know i
it at the end of the night you know i
it at the end of the night you know i thought about that too you just put in
thought about that too you just put in
thought about that too you just put in the bonus track i've done that before
the bonus track i've done that before
the bonus track i've done that before where you just put bonus track at the
where you just put bonus track at the
where you just put bonus track at the end of it um just put in parentheses
end of it um just put in parentheses
end of it um just put in parentheses but um but no we just thought we wanted
but um but no we just thought we wanted
but um but no we just thought we wanted to just give all the proceeds to to
to just give all the proceeds to to
to just give all the proceeds to to causes that will
causes that will
causes that will uh benefit gotta try right in the
uh benefit gotta try right in the
uh benefit gotta try right in the middle of all of this you have to try
middle of all of this you have to try
middle of all of this you have to try things might never change but you've
things might never change but you've
things might never change but you've got to try
got to try
got to try yeah that's that's the hard thing
yeah that's that's the hard thing
yeah that's that's the hard thing things might change or you got to just
things might change or you got to just
things might change or you got to just keep trying trying to find ways to
keep trying trying to find ways to
keep trying trying to find ways to um energize people
um energize people
um energize people um i you know where i think we're
um i you know where i think we're
um i you know where i think we're hopefully coming to a point where
hopefully coming to a point where
hopefully coming to a point where there's a situation of a horrific
there's a situation of a horrific
there's a situation of a horrific murder that happened but the positive
murder that happened but the positive
murder that happened but the positive thing about that city is everyone is so
thing about that city is everyone is so
thing about that city is everyone is so down to help each other and for direct
down to help each other and for direct
down to help each other and for direct action and mutual aid is all across that
action and mutual aid is all across that
action and mutual aid is all across that city yeah that response was amazing
city yeah that response was amazing
city yeah that response was amazing to see that response was phenomenal to
to see that response was phenomenal to
to see that response was phenomenal to see and and
see and and
see and and i think uh unfortunately what happened
i think uh unfortunately what happened
i think uh unfortunately what happened with to alex preddy
with to alex preddy
with to alex preddy was probably a big byproduct of that
was probably a big byproduct of that
was probably a big byproduct of that those the you know these these losers
those the you know these these losers
those the you know these these losers just have
just have
just have their egos were damaged completely these
their egos were damaged completely these
their egos were damaged completely these are the biggest babies in the entire
are the biggest babies in the entire
are the biggest babies in the entire world they hired the
world they hired the
world they hired the the dumbest people um just to do this
the dumbest people um just to do this
the dumbest people um just to do this and these they're poor fragile egos you
and these they're poor fragile egos you
and these they're poor fragile egos you know and didn't like being pushed back
know and didn't like being pushed back
know and didn't like being pushed back they didn't like they didn't like that
they didn't like they didn't like that
they didn't like they didn't like that 60 000 plus people and you know it's
60 000 plus people and you know it's
60 000 plus people and you know it's something that
something that
something that most of the the country is is in favor
most of the the country is is in favor
most of the the country is is in favor of they didn't like that that nobody
of they didn't like that that nobody
of they didn't like that that nobody like likes them and so
like likes them and so
like likes them and so you know they had to take it out on
you know they had to take it out on
you know they had to take it out on somebody as if what they're doing isn't
somebody as if what they're doing isn't
somebody as if what they're doing isn't enough um so yeah i i did appreciate
enough um so yeah i i did appreciate
enough um so yeah i i did appreciate what happened the day before um and you
what happened the day before um and you
what happened the day before um and you knew you you you just knew something bad
knew you you you just knew something bad
knew you you you just knew something bad was going to happen because they
was going to happen because they
was going to happen because they that's what's that's what happens when
that's what's that's what happens when
that's what's that's what happens when you have just like crazy bootlickers who
you have just like crazy bootlickers who
you have just like crazy bootlickers who just don't
just don't
just don't you know they can't think for themselves
you know they can't think for themselves
you know they can't think for themselves and so um
and so um
and so um it was great to see that direct action
it was great to see that direct action
it was great to see that direct action and and i really just hope that there
and and i really just hope that there
and and i really just hope that there can be more
can be more
can be more direct action that people can see that um
um you know i just feel like the time of charity based type of stuff like not looking and just
saying okay just take my money is not it's just not enough not enough completely have to actually
like step up yeah i it's like you can appreciate it obviously like trying to do trying to do good
but i think we're at a point now where uh yeah it's unavoidable i mean even i think people that
yeah i mean it's it's horrible that seeing things like this happen like things like this have to
happen in order to like wake up people that you know maybe maybe this is what it takes you know
it's just i don't know it's but i i do feel like even some people i won't name names but people
in my family who i would maybe not expect to be kind of outraged by what's happening um are even
starting to kind of wake and be like okay this is actually very fucked up you know it's like smack
them in the face yeah it's like it's just it's getting too apparent it's like you can't you just
cannot ignore this like you absolutely cannot ignore it at all um so yeah it's like i mean
hoping something beautiful can come out of this total nightmare that we're living in um if history
repeats itself i think it will well fuck thanks for coming in and playing these songs i don't know
i don't want to go back to this again but maybe we can cut this in earlier this birth
birth situation i don't want to skip over that i just we just it's good to circle back to it
just okay yeah i just want to know like the memory you know that memory like do you want
the whole scene i want the scene i'm giving you the smell i'm i don't the smells they were not
there the the the it honestly was like the light is on there the thought in my brain was here we go
i swear on like everything like i'm i don't think i've ever literally told people this
story and people i've never heard this and people don't believe it and i that's what i find so
strange i'm like wait that didn't happen to you
you as well like it happened to all of us didn't it and we don't that's the thing we don't remember
you do it's like stock footage of like a like a weight like in a waiting room you know what i'm
saying like i'm just like seeing i don't know what you're saying i'm just crying i'm all i know is
i'm crying i feel like it's all foggy um you're not you're not it's probably the placenta yeah
eyes aren't working for a little while i just remembered it's like it's go time okay and then
it was like like just as you see your dad light up a cigarette yeah i'm sure my dad i'm sure my
dad's in that it was in the delivery room just smoking up a storm do you remember shapes or
noises or was just too too much placenta over your little baby it was just like light like
suddenly there was light and that was it was time it's time let's go action all right thank you for
expanding i'm just i've never it's blowing my mind what's your earliest memory what's your
mind like mine taps and i feel like age i'm late i'm like five or six okay and i'm and that's why
i'm blown away by this like what a remarkable thing and i i know we all experience it so we
all have that in us but for whatever reason we don't remember you do that's incredible it's
really weird and not a religious person or spiritual for that matter these the feeling of
it's go time like i can't deal with that seriously the feeling of it's go time suddenly was just
like all right we're it's on let's roll like here's life again maybe it's my second time maybe
it's my third time you know i don't know but that that was it wasn't words you weren't thinking it's
go time that was the emotion or was it like if you spoke did you say like it's go time
no no it was it was a feeling okay just checking
fuck it's good something very motivational about that like it's such a great impetus to have it's
go time i'm gonna take that with me i love that you're that you have latched on to this so much
remarkable thing i've heard i sound like now you're making me feel like i'm a crazy person
the thing is i believe you i don't think you're crazy i believe you've got that feeling in memory
and i'm just in awe of that no i i and i also i do i appreciate i appreciate that thank you
and then buttercup whatever your fucking goat no it was applesauce applesauce buttercup oh god
yeah buttercup was your horse i did not have a horse named buttercup you guys are amazing we
covered so much americana in there and you were fucking wonderful so what a place yeah what a
weird country it's a really weird country it definitely is
bar said hello
i was taken from my mother's arms and caught it off cards it blocks what would i do for a slave
waves and some heart problems out of pocket out of context blue get away get away get away
because the fear has gotten
and i'm struggling it's a shame it's a shame it's a shame that the bar is set so low i'm caught
they're awake before the rising sun so cardamom cardamom what will that do save a space to make
zeros and ones a bigger briefcase for our boys in blue
get away get away get away cause the fear has gotten home and i'm struggling it's a shame it's
a shame it's a shame that the bar is set so low i'm caught under it i'm long lost i was born in
this cage i watch color swap but still nothing
changes
is only the law it's getting harder to break
hey god once heard a wise friend saying life there is one
for all of our brothers we must lighten
the law
so now i'm on my way to mexico we pardon the criminals put them in
may you do to me what we've done to you get away get away get away cause the fear has gotten home
and i'm struggling it's a shame it's a shame it's a shame that the bar has gotten home and i'm struggling
It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame
That the bar is set so low
I'm caught under it
The song's called Back to Life.
Been gone for way too long
Got lost inside the storm
I never meant to say goodbye
I, I didn't mean to make you cry
I, I, I'm only here to steal your love tonight
So get dressed and try your eye
I'm coming back to life
I, I'm here to reclaim
What is mine
I, I'm here to wrestle
These demons down to die
I, I, I'm only here to feel
Your love tonight
I, I, I'm back to life
I, I, I'm back to life
I'm back to life
I, I, I'm back to life
Ooh, ooh, ooh
We may need another tourniquet
I can't fight all these demons alone
What once was buried in the back of my heart
Started rumbling
And now it's burning down the desert
Lighting up the sky
Swear to God it's always something with this guy
I, I, I'm back to life
I said I, I'm back to life
Well, I, I'm back to life
Ooh, ooh, ooh
I, I, I'm back to life
I said I'm back to life I'm back to life
I said I, I, I, I, I
This song's called Depressed.
Did you wait for blood?
Did you throw away the bottle cap?
Did you clean up the mess by the stairs?
There's a place that I love
But I swallowed all my cigarettes
It's a shame what we lost in the flood
Sometimes I get a little bit depressed
Sometimes I get, whoa
Sometimes I get a little bit depressed
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
I was caught up in a craze
Shedding fabric, holding doors
Opened for demons
Just to make it to the stage
Till I got knocked straight in the head
Singing hallelujah
This was never the bed
I intended to make
Every handshake's worth the play
If I won't, I could just walk away
All I gotta do is pay
Every handshake's worth the play
Every handshake's worth the play
Every handshake's worth the play
Sometimes I get a little bit depressed
Sometimes I get, whoa
Sometimes I get a little bit depressed
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Sometimes I get a little bit depressed
Sometimes I get, whoa
Sometimes I get a little bit depressed
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh, oh
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
The podcast features a heartfelt reunion of long-time friends Nate and Sam, who first connected at a Weezer show in 1996 and have maintained a deep, enduring friendship over 30 years.
Their bond was strengthened through shared musical interests, early internet exploration, and participation in the punk rock scene, including organizing shows and creating fan websites.
Despite stepping away from music for years, the two reconnected when Sam learned to play guitar and began writing songs, reigniting their creative collaboration.
The reunion was prompted by a desire to share new music and connect with fans, especially during a time when music accessibility and artist accountability became more meaningful.
The conversation reflects on the evolution of friendship, personal growth, social awareness, and the enduring power of music to address real-world issues like immigration and systemic injustice.
Both emphasize the importance of accessibility and fairness in the music industry, rejecting exploitative practices and dedicating proceeds to social causes.
A pivotal moment in their story is the performance of “Bar Set Hello” after the tragic shooting of Alex Pardy, which resonated deeply with audiences due to its theme of immigration and resilience.
The narrative underscores how personal memories—like birth or first experiences—can be fragmented yet universally profound, symbolizing a shared human experience.
Summary:
The episode chronicles the enduring friendship between Nate and Sam, two musicians who first met at a Weezer show in 1996 and have remained close through decades of life, music, and personal evolution. Their early connection was forged through shared passions for punk rock, internet culture, and DIY music projects, including fan websites and show organizing. After years of stepping away from music, Sam’s rediscovery of guitar playing reignited their creative bond.
The reunion was both personal and timely, motivated by a desire to make music accessible and meaningful, especially in a time when artists face criticism for exploitative pricing. They chose to release a new song, “Bar Set Hello,” after the tragic shooting of Alex Pardy, using its themes of immigration and resilience to connect with listeners. The episode emphasizes how music can serve as a tool for empathy and social awareness.
Both reflect on personal growth—particularly through parenting and maturity—and the importance of community, direct action, and supporting causes beyond profit. The story is interwoven with vivid, shared memories, such as their birth experiences and first concert days, highlighting the deep emotional roots of their friendship. Ultimately, it celebrates the power of long-standing bonds and the enduring relevance of music as a source of connection, healing, and hope.
FAQs
First-time Kroger Delivery customers can get $20 off their order if it is $75 or more. Restrictions apply, and details are available on the website.
Kroger uses refrigerated trucks to keep perishable items fresh and carefully selects and packs orders to ensure quality and freshness upon delivery.
The Weezer show in December 1996 was a pivotal moment when Nate and Sam first met, leading to a long-lasting friendship and eventually to a renewed musical collaboration.
They were reconnected when Nate saw Sam playing guitar in his basement and began writing new songs, reigniting their musical partnership after a 20-year break.
Nate and Sam used the internet in the 1990s to create fan websites and engage with music communities, which helped them build a connection and explore their interests early on.
They believe the music industry often exploits fans by charging high prices, and they emphasize accessibility and fairness, wanting fans to enjoy concerts without financial hardship.
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