Get Out Alive: Building Heavy Music With a Purpose

Welcome And Meet Get Out Alive

SPEAKER_03 0:11

What's up, everybody? Today we are joined by the artist known as Get Out Alive. We're gonna be talking about a couple of tracks here Death Has Been Defeated, Hornets Nest, and the personal struggle that led to all of these heavy metal, amazing, hopeful, inspiring tracks. But without further ado, let's go ahead and dive in. I fucking love it. What's up, everyone? Welcome back to the show. Like I was saying, we do have Get Out Alive here. I'm gonna be honest with you, they didn't tell me, so I'm gonna take I'm gonna take a crack at this. Okay Chaz or Chase?

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Chaz.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

Chaz, okay. I my heart said Chaz, but I've had a lot of artists that were from different parts of the world on, and my wife was like, that could be Chase. You might want to just double check it. So Chaz, thank you so much for joining the show, man. I really appreciate it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Florida Culture Shock And Wild Stories

SPEAKER_02 1:43

So, Florida. Yep. You still living in Florida? I am. I'm up in the uh northeast side of Florida, like right under Jacksonville.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

Okay, okay. My little sister recently moved to Florida with her boyfriend and and his family. She is in Cape Coral. Not sure where that's at, but she's out there in your neck of the woods.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Very cool. Yeah, not it's not too far. I mean, it's not super close, but it's not too far.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

Yeah, that's cool. She always comes on here with the craziest Florida stories. Recently, she told me a story about seeing a man hit another man with a car and driving off. Do you have any what's like your craziest Florida story?

SPEAKER_02 2:32

You know, there's there's a ton. I've been here for maybe like a decade and a half at this point, but you know, I've seen you've had to stop in the middle of the road because there's an alligator crossing the road, you know. Uh there's been there was this one time the KFC and Wendy's across the street, there was all this commotion going on because there was a literal bear. Just like real? Yeah. And it's I mean, we're not even talking about like we're not in the sticks, man. It was like a beach side town. And so it was it was very strange, but I mean that's it's always some weird, weird stuff a lot of the time with wildlife. And but I mean, sometimes, you know, sometimes the people are a little crazy too. It's definitely uh when I moved here from Illinois, it was a it was a culture shock for sure. Now, what prompted the move? My grandma lived here in in this area of Florida, and most of my family was still up there in Illinois. And I was at that time, I mean, I was maybe like 10 years old or so.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

It wasn't really my choice, it wasn't up to me. I mean, but you know, the the cost of living and everything in Florida was a lot less than where we were at, and it seemed like there was a lot more opportunity. We used to vacation to Florida all the time, so it was kind of like moving to where you know, paradise basically, and right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

No, I I agree. I'm I'm an Ohio boy, so I understand, and and I moved to Virginia about a decade ago, so I I fully understand it getting closer to water is important. Yep, yeah,

Why A Solo Project Won

SPEAKER_03 4:14

yeah. So tell me a little bit about how how did you decide that you wanted to pursue a solo project versus a band, especially after sharing stage with no humble brag here, but puddle of mud, that's gotta be incredible, man.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

That was a fun show. That was that was definitely one of those opportunities that kind of just felt like it came out of nowhere. And I mean, that was back in maybe like 2017, 2018 or so. So I mean, I wasn't even like old enough to be at some of these places, but it's just you know, you get a pass when you're in the band and whatever. So the the reason I ended up going solo is literally just from having to start over multiple times, you know, time and time again, and having to deal with a lot of the internal conflict of being in a band and you know, just getting along with band members. I've been in a lot of different you know, personality groups and stuff, and there's been some that have worked out a lot better than others. And once I once I got to this point though, I was like, I was like, dude, I can't keep starting over. I was like, I'm really interested in like building the brand and just taking it all the way. And it's like, you know what, I'm just gonna see what I can do, you know, do it my way, do it my myself. And I mean, I still haven't I have an amazing team, I have friends and all that stuff and whatever, so it's it's not like I'm completely alone, but yeah, I just you know, just out of trying to really push past the the breaking point of every previous band that I've been in.

SPEAKER_03 5:56

Right. Now, would you say that that there was a little hesitation going solo? I and I only ask this simply because you kept the the branding and the name is definitely signals a band, right? And obviously your your music style warrants a lot of other musicians as well. But is there still part of you that that feels that you're still just a piece of the operation? Kind of more of like not not necessarily self-deprecating, but that nervousness of you're not enough, so you need the the branding of a larger entity.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

I you know, I think it was honestly more of like I've I've done some solo stuff before in like a different genre, you know, some of like the darker pop style stuff. So I have some songs out there like that. More so what happened is I was I was in a band that was never publicly announced. It was it was a band that had a little bit of a following, and they they parted ways with their vocalist. And I was in that band for about a year, and it it just kind of wasn't working out. And we were in contact with Eric from Artery, and me and him were just talking, and we were kind of like when I realized this this group wasn't really working out for me, and I talked to him, and we were just kind of like, hey, you know, if you end up wanting to start something, you know, start something new, let me know. You know, we got your back and whatever. And we had a we had established a really great relationship there. So I was like, it's just thinking about it. I'm like, you know, I'm like, I have I have a great team, I'm a I'm a producer myself, so I I can do you know, this a lot of the songwriting and stuff. And I just reached out to him after that that whole incident, and I was just kind of like, hey man, like I'm down to start something new. And we kind of just decided that it was gonna be, you know, a rock project with a band front, kind of like a like a bear tooth situation. You know, Caleb is like the Caleb kind of is Beartooth at the end of the day. He writes all this stuff and it's it's his brainchild, but he does have his his other faces and stuff, you know. Like some of those those other guys, I would say they're like in the band as well, you know, and they do all the live stuff, and any co-writing is obviously always an open door as well.

SPEAKER_03 8:29

But for sure.

Pop Covers And Heavy Production

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Speaking of your solo work, you have dare I say the best cover of Sabrina Carpenter I have ever heard. The Depressor, yeah. Are you uh are you a big Sabrina fan, or was that more of just a uh virality of her at the time?

SPEAKER_02 8:52

I think I like the song. I'm not I wouldn't say I'm a huge Sabrina Carpenter fan. I don't know a lot of her music, but I live in a house with two women, and they were they were pumping some of that stuff when that was really popping off. And so some of like the big hits during that little peak season that she was having there for a minute. I was like espresso would be wild, yeah. Like rocked it out, and yeah. So I just did that one for fun. That one's just it's just fun. I put a few clips on there. I was gonna try to put it on platforms, but you know, with covers and stuff you gotta do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I just left it on YouTube.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Yeah, everybody listening, go check it out because it's it really is, it's a fantastic version of that song. I'm I'm a metal head man, I I love hard rock, heavy metal, so I really appreciate what you're doing, and I find it very, very impressive as a guitar player that you're basically creating these on your own at this point. How how does that process look for you? Like, how do you sit down and and decide this is the audio direction I want to take? And instead of more of the poppier side of things in in your previous works.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

So I've gone back and forth a lot between you know heavier music and some of that like dark pop. I know that I really like moody music and relatively more serious stuff, and you know, oddly enough, my previous bands have mostly all been like pop-punk stuff. So I was really just starting to want to get away from pop punk as much as possible because I felt like it had become my identity. And I'm like, man, I'm like, I'm always in these bands being like, man, I want to let's let's gear a little bit heavier, you know. But I don't know. I mean, it's it's one of those things where I was just kind of like, you know, this is my my project, this is kind of like my passion project, my forever band. And I just I'm like, I want to capture some heavy moments, but I also want to capture some of the stuff I liked about my pop, you know, dark pop style stuff, and just blend the two as much as I can, be as original and authentic as I can be with it. I everything that I have written, the demo version goes to Zach Baker from the former drummer Rain City Drive. And he co-produced, he's co-produced every song I've done so far, and there's that's pretty much the plan still moving forward. So me and him are are good buddies. So I mean, him having all that experience as well as a producer writing some of the Rain City stuff and producing a couple other bands with that kind of go into that, you know, pop and metal world, that's been really helpful. Me and him have just kind of been on the same page with a lot of that

Chasing Clear Hard Rock Tones

SPEAKER_02 11:47

stuff.

SPEAKER_03 11:47

So like as far as as far as audio goes, your your tones and and depth and just the the kind of capture that you have with your guitar and and the production, it it leans very heavily towards like uh like a three days grace or I would even say like uh Mastodon's a great pick too, Crowbar, those types of bands. Like how how did you decide to go with like the more bassier hard rock style versus like I don't know, like like a megadeth or like a hair metal, you know what I mean? That because you you're varying like right along that line of like metal and extremely deep hard rock.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Yeah, I mean I when I started writing, I think the first two songs written was actually Hornets Nest and If I Leave. And during those, you know, that era of time when I was writing those, I was really I was going down into some nostalgia and I was jamming a lot of like Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin and Chevelle and all that stuff. I was like, man, I really miss these like Mesa triple rec sounding, you know, tones and just really trying to get something that had a little bit more clarity than yeah, you know, a lot of modern metal, it's like it sounds cool and it works, but it's it can be kind of sterile, you know. I was just like, man, if I want to write something that's a little bit more like riffy, you know, not super complex, but just kind of has like a nice punch to it. I want to capture some of the harmonics of the you know, the distortion and everything, get a little bit of clarity and punch in there, have everything just kind of glued together cohesively. And Zach, I mean, I give Zach most of the credit for that. I mean, I do my best when it comes to tones and stuff, but when I send him stuff, because he also mixes the all the music as well. I send the dude DIs. I'm like, look, dude, you got you got better ears than I do. You know, this is what I like, and you know, but you do do your thing, dude. I have I have full trust in him. He's I he sent me a video once of what he was doing to my guitars, and it's I I couldn't even repeat it to you. It was just there was there was like multiple things going on, and he's really into you know, like the impulse response right in the cabs and all that. And I'm just I've kind of I was going into the mixing world myself a little bit, but now with this whole project, I've really just been focusing on more so just the producing and songwriting and letting him letting him have full control when it comes to that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

Yeah, I'll be honest with you. I I really love the direction because as somebody who is heavily involved in music, especially new music, I'm getting pop-punked out, man. Like the the resurgence of warp tour has honestly crushed a genre that I held really near and dear because there are a lot of people capitalizing on the resurgence that aren't necessarily in it for the art. And that being somebody in music journalism, having to digest a lot of things throughout my week, it really has been a fresh breath of fresh air to hear you guys or well, you especially on like I I really love Hornet's Nest, but the reason I I talk about Death Has Been Defeated is personally that's my favorite track so far. Cool. Especially like lyrically, too, and you're a songwriter, and and Hornet's

Hornets Nest And Healthy Boundaries

SPEAKER_03 16:05

Nest, I feel, is a bit more surface level. It it and correct me if I'm wrong, feels like storytelling of like basically you're going into the music industry, you're getting back into the music industry, you're you're in the the thick of it, the Hornet's Nest being like the industry, and you're kind of navigating your way through that. Am I on the right page?

SPEAKER_02 16:31

I it's the right concept. That's definitely definitely the so it has nothing to do with the music industry as far as like lyrically, it's more so of just kind of like you know, being more of an empathetic type of person, trying to be kind to everybody all the time, and and sometimes overextending and and you know getting repeatedly stung, you know. So and then people kind of create their own their own realities and their own opinions and stuff too. So, you know, the song is basically like you gotta learn when to stop, you know, putting your hand in the in the swarm and just getting stung repeatedly. So it's it's more so just about like you know, setting up a healthy boundary and you know, some toxic relationships and friendships and environments and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

Now the other song though is something that I haven't truly been able

Death Has Been Defeated Story

SPEAKER_03 17:28

to dissect. You have had some some very major struggles, it feels like. And I would love to know the the true story behind Death Has Been Defeated from your perspective, because it to me it's it's a personal story that I wouldn't begin to truly grasp. I I feel the the pain in the song and like the sorrow, but I want to know what your story is behind it.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Yeah, absolutely. That one is also out of the three that are out. I mean, that one is also my personal favorite at the moment, too. It's and it's the one that has the gotten the least attention out of the three as well. So, but you know, that's just how it goes. And it is it is a little bit deeper and more complex of a of a story there. But you know, I have I have an autoimmune disease, so I've struggled with some of that stuff through time, and you know, you can kind of beat yourself up for you know not feeling 100% all the time, and you know, struggling with some of that stuff. And I had when I was very young, and I when I was in Illinois, actually, my grandfather was a pastor for it, it was like his own church, his whole own building. And so I kind of grew up in that environment. And when we moved, we never re-established into a church or anything. So going from you know, maybe like sixth grade, like going into middle school, high school, and after that, I mean, I did I dabbled a little bit in like a youth group here or there and whatever. But the reality is I just you know fell into that society and I completely distanced from God or whether what I what I even believed in at that point, I don't know. It was one of those things where I kind of like held on to the the Christian, you know, trait or or or label because I was like, you know, this is this is just what I what I've always been, you know? Um and it reached a point, you know, a few years after high school had ended and life started kind of settling in and still wasn't making you know too much progress with music. I mean, I've always I've always had like steps in the right direction, but you know, like I mentioned before, like a band will break up and then you gotta start over and all that stuff. And everything, you know, I was just feeling like very negative a lot of the time. And I'm like, man, this life just kind of sucks, and this sucks, and you know, whatever. I fell into that that mindset. And one day it's like you just have enough, and you're like, dude, I have to do something about this. I was like, I have to figure something out. I was like, I don't know if I need to go into the gym and start like hitting some weights or or eating healthier or get a new hobby or what. I don't know what I need to do, but I need to do something. And I ended up going to I don't remember exactly what I think, oh, what happened was a my fiance's sister's friend randomly dropped off a Bible for me. I just thought it was really random, and I I just set it aside, I didn't think twice about it, and for months it just sat there and I would see it every time I walk in and out of the studio room. And then one day I was like, okay, I'm gonna crack this open. I'm just like, you know, why not? And it just opened a door, you know, and I and then I would keep like praying to without even knowing exactly what I had believed in or what was real and what wasn't. But I mean, I would sit there and kind of just pray and hope that something or someone was was hearing it, you know. And it's kind of like, dude, like whatever I need to do, just guide me there, you know. And I ended up going to church with my fiance and and her sister. It was just kind of a decision I made one day, and I was like, hey, we should we should all go because they were a lot more open to it than I was. I it kind of felt like oh, I don't really want to put another responsibility on my plate and stuff. And I haven't I haven't been to church in a while, but I went for you know a couple months straight, and I felt like it was just I learned a lot. It was like this time around going into the church being an adult, I learned a lot of wisdom from that, and I stood that kind of led me into you know diving into psychology and stuff like that. So it opened up like a whole nother door. So I was watching all these psychology lectures and stuff like that, and I ended up in a place where I'm like, I don't know exactly what I am, you know, but I do believe that there is like a God, and I believe that a lot of the teachings of the Bible and as well as other religions. Know I think a lot of a lot of the teachings are very positive, and if you implicate them to your life, they will be beneficial, you know. And that's just you know, it's a personal thing. I don't go about like gloating it or anything, but it it drastically changed my perspective. And now, I mean, every morning when I wake up, what's on my mind is I'm just thankful to be given the opportunity to have another day. And when you're able to flip your mind like that, and then it becomes second nature, and you're just it's kind of like just rewiring my brain, basically.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

But yeah, oh yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

So that song was basically like, Look, I'm not perfect, I don't know all the answers, I have no idea, you know, but I am I know you're there, I don't understand you, I don't understand everything. I know you're there, and I'm just saying whatever you need me to do, I will follow you. Just just guide me, show me the way, you know. And so it's a very I don't know, I feel like it's probably relatable to a lot of people, but I also feel like it's kind of a unique situation. I mean, I don't want to go, you know, throwing out a bunch of labels or anything, but I mean, I I just I feel like establishing that connection and and even just strengthening faith in general. I mean, you people use faith on a daily basis, you know, you have faith that you know your your car is gonna start when you're on your way to work and stuff like that, basic stuff. So I think just strengthening my faith and trying to be more positive and all that has just drastically changed everything for me. I mean, my my autoimmune flare-up has like significantly decreased, like my antibodies on my last blood lab were like 60% down, like right, right. So it's a lot of it is a lot of it is just you know keeping the stress, stress down and enjoying things and you know, not being not being a downer all the time, basically.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Well, if for me, so when I heard the song, it it's interesting that you bring up that it had a lot of religious

Faith As Mindset And Medicine

SPEAKER_03 24:37

aspects because for me, when I listened to it, my version was a father-son relationship, and as a relatively new father myself and and having issues with my own father throughout life, the story for me was more of this concept of like overcoming your father's path or or mistakes, you know what I mean? And to me, that was the the death has been defeated part of like I could have chosen this life, but instead I walked my own path and found my own way, which prevented me from making the same mistakes as the father before me. But I I really love the religious take on it too. That's a beautiful, beautiful message, like truly. As somebody who was also childhood Christian, and now the best thing I can describe myself as agnostic, you know, hopeful, but not sure of anything, right? And also I I as well study psychology and sociology, and I'm constantly dissecting different aspects of my brain and mental health. And do you find that I agree with the faith statement, but do you find that a lot of faith also almost becomes like a mind over matter situation? Like, for example, your antibodies, right? Like having the stress levels down is a biological reaction, but the faith is also part of what created the lower stress. So I know it runs all in tandem, but do you think a lot of it is your mind?

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Yeah, I think I think a huge part of it is your mind, and that's that's kind of why I say, like, I think regardless of what religion people dive into, you know, and that a lot of the times that's just typically where you're from, you know. But that's why I think it's like even if at the end of it all, it turns out that none of it is there is no like afterlife or anything like that, you know. It's like I still would feel like a fool to not follow some of these things that will undoubtedly my life better, you know what I mean? So it's like if I can read this book and learn things and feel better and become better and have a better perspective, it's like I mean, that's that's enough proof for me that it's like it's worth it's worth you know exercising.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

So absolutely I do agree.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

I've had I've had that thought a lot, and I think it's important to talk about stuff like that too, because it's a lot of a lot of people out there, like I mentioned, not wanting to throw out labels and stuff, but like there's a lot of people out there who do go about life and they're just like, oh, I'm a Christian and you know, I believe in God and whatever, but they are like the complete opposite, and they're like I think it's you know, it gives it a bad rep. So I'm like the opposite. I'm like, I don't think I'm good enough to be you're a Christian, you know. But I mean, and also, you know, I just some of that getting into the labels and whatever, it's it creates a there's a lot of like specifics and stuff that I just don't feel well-versed enough to be able to be like, I don't know, you know, but I know for I feel very confident that there is, you know, there's definitely something beyond what our human brains can, you know, perceive or comprehend. I'm I'm I would I would feel it'd be ignorant to be like, you know, we we could understand everything, you know. There you literally a whole fourth dimension, you know, we have no idea, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 28:31

Yeah, that's that's you know, I could talk about that stuff forever because it's just interesting to me, but it it's interesting, it's fascinating, and honestly, it's what makes us who we are, and it's also psychology and sociology are a big part of storytelling, and and especially as a songwriter, because uh similarly, if you think about it, like the the Bible and most religious texts are these guidelines to just help us be people and better for each other. I mean, I always try to just walk the path of righteousness where I can, and my biggest thing is always help those who are around me. If I have the choice of doing something for myself or doing something for somebody else, I would rather be known as the guy that stopped to help the guy that was down on the ground. So let's dive into a little more of the music stuff, though. How long have you been playing guitar?

SPEAKER_02 29:37

I would say seriously playing guitar,

Learning Guitar And Loving The Craft

SPEAKER_02 29:40

probably around 2011, 2012. I've I've had I've always had little phases, you know. There's pictures of me when I was little jamming on one of those like three-quarter scale thread strats, you know, the square.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

But I mean, I don't know that I knew what I was, you know, I don't think I knew what I was doing back then, but I had one. No, I think I I think I seriously started like just learning stuff on YouTube probably in like sixth grade. Marty Schwartz guy, of course, yeah. Marty Marty Schwartz is awesome. I mean, I'd watch I'd watch anybody who was teaching what I wanted to learn, but yeah, Marty Schwartz is always popping up. I mean, I he just popped up like two days ago. I was looking up something acoustically, and the dude was there, and my fiance goes, Oh my gosh, it's that guy. Like, she's a musician as well. And I'm like, that's like, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

He literally is at this point like a generational teacher, you know what I mean? One of the first on YouTube. And how many musicians can reference his name and be like, Yeah, I learned it from Marty?

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Dude, I have I have no idea. I mean, he's he's done it, it seems like he's done a tutorial on pretty much every song under the sun.

SPEAKER_03 30:51

So right. What is like your favorite element of not just music but production and all of it? Like, what's what's the thing that drives you as far as like you know, keeping it not just your work, but also your hobby and and your passion?

SPEAKER_02 31:13

I really I feel like there's a moment when kind of when you start getting into the layers of a production and writing a song where it just feels like magic starts to happen. And I just I love that head space and that flow state of just being there. And then, you know, especially when you land something really good and you bounce it at the end of the session and you just like listen to it a million times over until you're sick of it. Those are those are the best. That's that's I think that's my one of my favorite parts is just you know, you start with a blank canvas and you start building, you know, piece by piece, and then next thing you know, you're laying a lead over like a chord progression with some production and stuff, and it's like just it just works, and you're like, Oh my gosh, we're like we're cooking, we're on to something here.

SPEAKER_03 32:02

So I I find myself I I kind of lost the the passion for production, but I never lost it for songwriting. So I find myself writing songs, but I've always been my writing style has always leaned more towards like an alternative, almost like southern rock. Okay, and I hate that. I've always because I love metal, I love metal, I love hard rock, I love pop punk. Like my playing style is all of that, but my writing style just doesn't lend itself to that music, and and I find it difficult to find some sort of a counterbalance for what I'm writing and and what I hear it sounding like, you know what I mean? Yeah, so I I haven't done much production over the last few years. This show obviously keeps me plenty busy on the production and editing and stuff, I bet. But my songwriting passion is still there. What would you say is like your your songwriting muse as far as like because I know you like the darker side of things and you're a fantastic storyteller, especially emotionally, like we've discussed. But what is because obviously you can't just only write from a place of pain. How do you find yourself kind of breaking away from that and writing like something happy or or what like keeps you coming back to the writing?

SPEAKER_02 34:29

It's tough. I I don't I just don't see a world where I'm not writing music. I think it's just it's just ingrained in me at this point. I mean, I get I get so many ideas. I mean, the reality is is like I don't I don't really pick up an instrument and just jam anymore. You know, I don't really jam songs or I wish I did, but I but I don't. I mean I'm I'm pretty much like I grab a guitar and I sit down at a computer and I'm like I'm gonna write, you know? And that's kind of like my way of just connecting with with music. And it's it's funny because you know the songs, the songs can be dark, but I enjoy writing them, you know? It's like I enjoy the process. I think there's a you know, there's a little bit of therapy in it. I always think they're really cool. I like, you know, I like when the melodies lock in and the top line locks in and everything. And it's just that when it comes to like writing the actual words down, I mean that's where I kind of pull a little bit deeper into what's going on in my head. And you know, at that point, that's where that that kind of comes out. But I can still enjoy the you know the music and appreciate the message without feeling like like I'm sulking, you know.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

So what could we expect over the next we'll say six-ish months from get out alive? Do we have more tracks coming? Because I'm gonna be honest with you, three is not enough right now.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

Yeah, I mean, I don't know exactly how much I'm I'm allowed to say about some of that stuff, but I

New Music Plans And Physical Releases

SPEAKER_02 36:01

will say that definitely more music before the end of the year, and definitely more than double what is out right now.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

So that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

So we'll yeah, we're we're building a bed, and I mean there's a bunch, there's even after that, there's there's a bunch of stuff, and I mean I'm going, I'm literally going into a whole nother writing cycle here in the next few days. So there's there's gonna be plenty.

SPEAKER_03 36:28

Is there is there going to be a physical release or are we sticking to just streaming for now? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

I always think the physical releases are cool. I don't know. It it just kind of depends, I think, on how it goes and where we end up with some of the you know, because it is a business at the end of the day, and you know, we need to we need to kind of make sure that you know if there's some demand, we're gonna we're gonna supply it, you know?

SPEAKER_03 36:56

Right.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

But I don't think there's a I don't think there's a plan in place to do that unless you know it end up hitting the road or something, then we'll probably sell some some of that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 37:06

If if you were to do a physical release, what would be like your preferred medium? Are you a a vinyl guy or cassettes, CDs?

SPEAKER_02 37:18

I would definitely want to do CDs and vinyls. I think vinyls are are really cool collectible like art piece. And I know there are people who are actually like spinning them too, but I mean, just from like an artistic standpoint and a collector's item, I have a lot of personal friends who who get into that and collect a lot of that stuff. CDs just I don't know, man, just for the nostalgia, I guess. You know, I just I have a bunch of CDs from I haven't bought any recently, but I mean I still have you know a few a day to remember CDs and you know Pierce the Vale CD. What's trying to remember what that one album was. But I mean it was it was always fun. I mean, when I learned how to drive, I was driving my my dad's car and he didn't have an aux cable or or any of that type of stuff. So I was just popping in my CDs and you know, bumming around town, and it was it was a blast to be able to listen, like plug it in and listen to an album front to back and no ads, no interruptions, none of that.

SPEAKER_03 38:20

Yeah, yeah. My first CD ever purchased with my own money 16 was see there's I believe it was called Negative Spaces, it's the one with the little girl on the front, like the Japanese doll. Yeah, yeah. I loved that album, man. I I read or ruined that CD putting it in there. Yeah, yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

Yeah, I'm I'm a big vinyl guy myself, so if if there is any inclination of a vinyl, I'd very much love to have one. But everybody listening, Chaz from Get Out Alive, I highly recommend checking them out. Is there anything that you can promote that's coming up? Do you have any plans on going on the road or anything?

SPEAKER_02 39:12

No plans right now because it is a solo project. It's it's I just put together a live band. I have a lineup now. We've had a couple rehearsals, we're still kind of tightening some things up. I have talked to my team and let them know, like, hey, we're open to you know, playing some shows at this point, and we'll just kind of see what what crosses my desk, you know, and definitely gonna do some some more local support and in Florida stuff to start.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:44

I mean, if I leave just dropped, you know, definitely recommend spinning that. That one is done phenomenal. I mean, it's the third single, and it's it's it's done like drastically better than the other two. And I mean, Hornets Nest for being a debut was awesome. We landed two two Apple Music playlists right off the bat on our debut. Um it got you know, it got decent streams for for being a brand new project. Like I said, Death Has Been Defeated was kind of like it's a little bit different, a little bit more, you know, deeper, more complex. Is one of my personal favorites. And that one did that one landed, I think, three, three Apple Music playlists, and then if I leave dropped, we landed, we landed all new metal on Spotify, the editorial. So it's just been popping, and we're like enjoying it.

SPEAKER_03 40:34

It's incredible, man.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

Yeah, yeah. So definitely listen to that. I haven't announced any any dates or anything, but there's definitely gonna be more coming out as early as next month.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

So between you and I, well, and everybody listening. I am putting together a show here in Virginia exclusively of artists that who that have been on the show. You would be a great fit if you if you're interested. It's in October. No, no pressure, but I think you'd fit in fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

That's I mean, that's super cool. I would love to love to learn more about it. If you got some info and stuff, you could shoot over to my email or or hit me up on Instagram, or I know we're connected on there too.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 41:21

But I mean, I'll definitely definitely look into it. I think I don't I don't think I have anything aside from of course just you know music stuff and whatever, but at home. But I mean, I don't think I have anything going on in October. So I would definitely definitely send that over and I'll I'll I'll see what's possible.

SPEAKER_03 41:40

Yeah, make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 41:41

That'd be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

Heck yeah, man. But I also have a game that we're gonna play today. Do you like party games? Sure. Are you familiar with a game called Cards Against Humanity? Yes. So this is the music version of that. It's called

Mixtape Game Song Picks

SPEAKER_03 41:58

Mixtape, and basically the concept is I ask a question and you answer with the title of a song. You can choose to be very funny or you can choose to be very serious, but this will give the audience a better insight into kind of you as a person. So the first question, and and I'll give you my answer for these as well. First question is your first time crowd surf crowd surfing song. So what song would you like to crowd surf to?

SPEAKER_02 42:33

I think so. Am I like answering literally here? Like, like it doesn't have to necessarily be like a pun, right? To the no, no, no.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

Yeah, however, you prefer to answer. I'm a bit of a comedic guy myself, so I usually answer funny. But for this one personally, my first time ever crowd surfing was to the song it was Papa Roach's Last Resort at Rock on the Range in Columbus.

SPEAKER_02 43:03

Very cool.

SPEAKER_03 43:04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:05

I I was thinking when you said crowd surfing, I immediately thought about right back at it again with the data remember.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:13

It was like a big, big thing at that point where you know Jeremy would go on there and you know encourage everybody to do it. And a lot of bands were I mean, there were some bands doing it before before a data member as well, but you know, I feel like he definitely created like an a cool surge of that where they were I think it was called like the human human surfboard or something where they'd have some like this and then they'd stand and surf on person.

SPEAKER_03 43:40

That's pretty awesome. You're pumping gas at a late night deserted part of town, and you're enjoying your own little dance party, nobody's around. What song are you bumping at the gas station?

SPEAKER_02 43:59

I'm gonna I'm gonna say right now, I'm gonna say Janice STFU by Drake. That's completely out of character, but that song, I don't know, man. He hits he hits something something there with that one.

SPEAKER_03 44:14

Mine, unfortunately, is anything from Taylor Swift's 1989 album. I I love that entire album, front to back. I think it's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 44:24

Good.

SPEAKER_03 44:25

The only thing of hers that I enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 44:28

I heard it.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

Yeah, but you probably have. You've probably heard other songs from it. Okay. I think all of the hits are on there. Okay. A documentary about you and your travels across Europe. Which artist plays during your scenic travel montage? So you're a documentary is made about your life, and this is your travel across Europe scene.

SPEAKER_02 45:01

Shoot, dude. I I wanna I'm gonna go with asking Alexandria just because they're they're from that that neck of the wood. Maybe I don't listen to that you know, that uh that accent in there.

SPEAKER_03 45:15

Right, right. I was thinking anything dropkick Murphy's because if I'm in Europe, I'm I'm definitely going to either Ireland or Scotland. Those are the two spots I'm going.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_03 45:29

Okay. This one's a little dark. The casket has closed. The eulogy has finished. What song plays at your funeral?

SPEAKER_02 45:44

So my fiance's dad has a song where he goes, get on down the road. And it's like, it's just kind of like a you know, a chill, like jam, jam rock style song. I think it would be hilarious. Or people like it's like, all right, it's over, get on down the road. Like move on. I don't know. That's I guess that's that's such an inside joke for me to say, but that's that's that's my answer.

SPEAKER_03 46:13

I I think for me it would have to be Johnny Cash's God's Gonna Cut You Down. What song do you play while riding Falkor the Luck Dragon? So essentially you're in fantasy world. We're thinking Lord of the Rings type. You have a pet dragon named Falkor. I like it.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

I think it would need to be something like super cool. Like like one of the song that like makes you feel cool. I'd have to go with shoot, dude. What's I don't know, I don't know the name of the song. It's a like like moths to a flame song. I think it's called Kint Kintsugi. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That would I I've been really digging that song lately. I would, I would, I would definitely be blasting that on a dragon. Dragon got like an oxcord or what?

SPEAKER_03 47:25

For me, the trooper by Iron Maiden. Okay, yeah. That's oh, that's uh yeah, that's a ride into battle song if I've ever heard one. That would be cool. All right, let's see here. If you had but one disco song to listen to on a deserted island, what would it be? So we're stuck on an island, one disco song.

SPEAKER_02 47:49

I don't know. I feel like no, I feel like I don't even know a disco song off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_03 48:00

I feel like I only know one.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

Yeah. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna, I know this is not disco, but just for the sake of answering the question, we're gonna do party rock anthem because I feel like the dance dance track is is gonna be close enough.

SPEAKER_03 48:17

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

Well, if I need to be getting down, you know.

SPEAKER_03 48:20

So I only know staying alive by the the VGs.

SPEAKER_02 48:25

Okay, okay. Yeah, I gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 48:28

From the uh the CPR trainings, you know.

SPEAKER_02 48:31

Yep, yep. I heard recently that that's apparently it's not even like accurate anymore.

SPEAKER_03 48:36

Like really, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

I mean, that's I just heard that recently that there's apparently it's they're saying that that whole like concept, it was like a good way to to memorize and like get people on the right base, but I I guess it's not like entirely accurate. I don't know. Huh? Take that. You might need to Google that. I don't know. I don't remember where I saw that, so could have been just some random dude on TikTok. I have no idea. I don't want to spread false information, right?

SPEAKER_03 49:04

I would like them to switch it to the Creed song. What the hell is that song called? The Hold Me Now song.

SPEAKER_02 49:12

What is it? One last breath. One last breath. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold me now, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:20

Yeah, it's a good song. It's a great song, dude. I love Creed. I honestly I might be a little bit of a hipster because it upsets me how much my little sister, who is Gen Z, and all of her friends that are like Gin Alpha and like younger Gen Z, they love Creed so much, and I'm like, you don't even know. You don't even know Creed. You don't know the lore. You know one song.

unknown 49:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:53

Also, we were talking about this recently on another episode that everyone just kind of forgot that Scott Stepp tried to assassinate the president. Like, we just moved past that, and nobody talks about it. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 50:06

It's I think he's done so many like funny things through time. I I it's one of those things where it's like you kind of just know you know what you're getting into. So it's like it's like you know, in from one ear out the other, we're moved by uh the walk down the aisle at a wedding song.

SPEAKER_03 50:29

So this would be like your fiance's walkout song. Have you guys talked about the music for the for the wedding?

SPEAKER_02 50:38

We actually have not. But

Wedding Songs And Love Music

SPEAKER_02 50:46

maybe just the two of us. That's a good one. Bill Withers, right? Yeah, yeah, I think that'd be a nice that'd be a nice one.

SPEAKER_03 50:56

Ours was when when my wife walked down the aisle, it was Pearl Jam. Future Days was the song. Okay. Um she walked down to an instrumental of that, and then our first dance was More Than Words by Extreme.

SPEAKER_02 51:20

I'm not I'm not familiar with that one.

SPEAKER_03 51:23

Oh man, I'll I'll send it to you on Instagram. Jack Black does a version with Jimmy Fallon.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

It's fantastic. Cool, yeah, yeah, I'd love to check that out.

SPEAKER_03 51:33

Yeah, also, congratulations, fiance, man. That's that's incredible. Congratulations on what's upcoming in your life. That's uh that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 51:43

Thank you. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 51:44

The music's a big deal at the wedding. Are you you guys are both in music? Are you guys going to do music at your own wedding?

SPEAKER_02 51:54

So, one thing we did talk about that we think would be cool is her side of the family, even like family friends and stuff, they're all they're all into music. A lot of it's like a you know, acoustic singer-songwriter type of stuff. So I'm kind of like the odd odd man with that, you know. But we thought it would be cool to kind of set up. I mean, we'd obviously play some songs too, but we thought it would be cool to just set up a little like jam corner. That would be amazing and let everybody do their thing. You know, her sister plays guitar and sings, my fiance plays guitar and sings, their dad is a musician, he's got a little trio band, and you know, just kind of like open it up and let people enjoy themselves. And that's I mean, honestly, at at an event like that, that's that's really what I'd be most interested in listening to, as well as just the live, you know, live music from the family and stuff like that. I think would be really cool.

SPEAKER_03 52:48

That's so cool, dude. That's an incredible idea. Yeah, oh, that's awesome. I love that. I wish I had thought of something like that. We uh what we did was I was at the time I was a musician, and my wife was insistent that I not have anything to do with the music. She said, This is our day, you need to focus on me and our day. I don't need you rehearsing for a show. So we were very strict on that, and I ended up having my producer that did my album DJ the wedding for us, and and it was it was awesome. We had a blast. Yeah, sounds like got one more here for you defining collegiate song. I'm gonna be honest with you, not super sure what the word collegiate means, I have another one in my hand we can do instead.

SPEAKER_02 53:47

Yeah, let's skip that.

SPEAKER_03 53:50

Your favorite slow dance slash love song.

SPEAKER_02 54:04

There's a song I it's very old. I don't remember exactly when it came out, and I don't remember the artist's name, but it's I want to say it's like a 50s song or something, but it says it's like I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck, and a s oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's just a really like it's like an inside thing with with me and my fiance. It has been for years, and she grew up hearing her her grandma sing that all the time. That's honestly like that'd be a cool, that'd be a cool intimate, intimate moment for something like that. Yeah, slow dance would be cool.

SPEAKER_03 54:45

Yeah, absolutely. I I'm trying to think, like my favorite like slow dance song has always been You Needed Me by Ann Murray. I've loved Ann Murray ever since there was a Family Guy episode a long ass time ago. And I had never heard of Ann Murray before, but they they were doing an episode about Ann Murray, and I got super into Ann Murray at like 11 years old. So that's cool. Yeah, yeah. That's cool. Yeah. Well, Chaz, thank you so much for being on the show, man. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 55:24

Thank you so much for having me. It's been it's been a blast.

SPEAKER_03 55:27

Yeah, you are welcome back anytime. I could talk to about music with you like for hours. I know we

Wrap Up And Final Message

SPEAKER_03 55:33

we didn't dive super deep into like the songwriting stuff, but I would love to talk more about it with you sometime. Chaz from Get Out Alive, everybody, check it out. Is there anything that you want to tell everybody before we get off of here?

SPEAKER_02 55:48

I'd say just you know, keep tuning in to Hook and Bridge Podcast, check out some Get Out Alive music, stay involved, stay connected, stay positive, enjoy life. Every day is a gift.

SPEAKER_03 56:01

Hell yeah, man. That's those are great words to live by. I love it. Yeah, man. Thank you so much. Really, truly, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 56:08

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 56:10

All right, have yourself a wonderful night, and I will be in contact very soon.

SPEAKER_02 56:14

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 56:15

All right, take it easy. All right, see you, man.