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The Hell That Is Our Existence: 2023 Year in Review image

The Hell That Is Our Existence: 2023 Year in Review

S4 E11 · Apocalypse Duds
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319 Plays10 months ago

Our annual year in review with the Apocalypse Duds’ Godfather, Renato Pagnani. We talk about our collective years in clothing, music, and life in general. We get into hockey (to Conor’s chagrin), Renato crosses a publication off his bucket list, we learn about an up-and-coming clothing brand in Connecticut, and his favorite concert of the year.

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Transcript

Introduction and Renato's Role

00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome. Happy New Year. We are here today in our digital studio with the one and only Renato Pagnani, who we welcome with open arms, etc.
00:00:19
Speaker
We have done this in the past and we're happy to be doing it again. So welcome. It's been a year since we did the last year in review. And for those who may not have heard this before, Renato
00:00:38
Speaker
was crucial to the inception of this show. He is a much more adult person and has many, many real responsibilities that Connor and I do not. And so we like to consider him the godfather of apocalypse studs. He just kind of shows up. So yeah, dude, thanks for coming on. He has financed the entire operation. Right, right. You know, he's he was our first and our biggest fan. Yeah, huge supporter.
00:01:05
Speaker
Yes, yes. But yeah, dude, how's life? How's everything going?

Annual Tradition and Writing Success

00:01:11
Speaker
Life is good. Once again, I'm glad to be here. And I like that we've made this an annual tradition, so to speak. It's something I look forward to every year and getting to catch up with both of you and
00:01:23
Speaker
Now that also I'm sort of removed a little bit from the operation, it's wonderful to see all of the episodes that you've dropped, the really good work that you two have done and the growth that I've witnessed of the podcast. So I'd like to start by congratulating you two on a great 2023 and
00:01:43
Speaker
2024 is going to be even better. I know it. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, this is correct me if I'm wrong, Connor, this is episode 42. Since, yeah, since what, early fall of 2022. So yeah, it's it's wild. So think, like, that's almost like an episode of weak pigs. We try, we try. Yeah. Well, when I said what I said in the document is it's almost the number of US presidents.
00:02:12
Speaker
That's too far off. And not a war criminal amongst the episodes, not one. Right. We have not yet had a war criminal. Yeah.

Humorous Discussions and Writing Interests

00:02:24
Speaker
But not that we have a platform, a war criminal, obviously, but it just depends. I would love to interview Dick Cheney.
00:02:34
Speaker
I don't know like what I would ask him if he is still alive even yeah what was it like shooting George or uh wait I can't remember did he did he shoot George W or did George W shoot him I can't remember yeah it's a good I'm pretty sure he was the shooter
00:02:53
Speaker
Yeah. And he shot, and I don't think it was a bush that he shot in the face. I think it was like an attendant. It was like someone. Maybe it was. I thought that they were hollering together. It was like someone who extremely didn't deserve it. Harry Whittington, a 70 year, then 78 year old Texas attorney. Wow. Yeah. All right.
00:03:12
Speaker
What's awesome though is the first search suggestion when you look up Dick Cheney's name is Dick Cheney's shooting. Yeah, that's a nice legacy to have for Dick. As a Canadian, I'm unfamiliar with, is this an accident that happened at some point? Yeah. Oh God. Yeah, it's worth a look up. I don't really, I'm sorry that I took this fucking tangent.
00:03:35
Speaker
Yeah, Dick Cheney. You know Dick Cheney? I know Dick Cheney, for sure. Yeah, of course. He was in a hunting expedition, and he shot this guy in the face with a shotgun. Yeah.
00:03:48
Speaker
did this man survive yeah yeah it wasn't like super super serious shot yeah right it was birdshot and so it was like uh it was like pellets like in the guy's face damn but of course had it been a real gun he would have just been dead or had it been a real bullet you know
00:04:08
Speaker
So it's not like I'm saying, my God, we need to try him for the shooting as well, because of course, many, many, many crimes. But the shooting is something that we should never forget. There's another incident from that time that we are supposed to never forget, but this is something. All right, we have to get off this fucking tangent. Anyway, we're not doing it. God damn it. Yeah, this is why we do a year interview with the three of us, because it's just us shooting the shit for an hour.
00:04:37
Speaker
So we can talk about 2001 forever. Right,

Retail and Menswear Insights

00:04:41
Speaker
right. The year that matters. Seems like the film. Yeah, seems like you have had a pretty good year with your with your writing and things. You know, I just saw the was it yesterday you posted the profile that you had in the Edmonton paper?
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah, so this, what you're referring to, was a profile I wrote in sort of our magazine, the big magazine in town, which is called Edify. Oh, cool. And it comes out once a month, usually in the winter, I think, every two months. So this one was the January, February issue.
00:05:20
Speaker
and it was basically a profile of a woman who works at a local news station and over the last 30 years she has ran the series called Women of Vision in which she profiles extraordinary women around town which is a really cool thing and so basically it was just sort of you know
00:05:40
Speaker
It wasn't a terribly long profile. I had about 500 words, but I got to tell the story about this woman, Leslie McDonald, and just kind of her journey on the genesis of the Woman of Vision series. And you know what kind of she's up to now. So, but yeah, it was.
00:05:56
Speaker
I was fortunate to get some really cool pieces accepted and published this year. What I was happy about is I've really kind of been able to write more about fashion as we continue.
00:06:12
Speaker
And Complex was a publication that I had been meaning to check off the list of publications that I wanted to write for for a long time. And I was able to write something for them this year, which was a profile of a up and coming menswear brand called Manresa, which is based in Connecticut.
00:06:30
Speaker
Um, if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure. Um, I forget now the details exactly. Um, and they kind of are a heritage inspired brand that like a sort of the triangulation, I would say of like Ralph Lauren, um, Nike's ACG line and something like, uh, you know, Patagonia maybe. So there's, you know, there's, Oh, that sounds great.
00:06:53
Speaker
Yeah, so they're like, obviously, like your traditional sort of preppy influences, there's a workwear influence, there's a hiking and outdoors influence. And, you know, that's also one of the brands that we'll get into later that I've probably I've probably spent my money of the limited clothes I did buy this year, mostly with

Sports Talk and Fandom

00:07:12
Speaker
them.
00:07:13
Speaker
and other small brands so yeah they're I think they're a really exciting brand that kind of puts a unique spin on some of some classics you know and I was really happy to to write that piece I talked to their founder Mike McLaughlin I'm a really good guy and kind of got to learn about the brand it's it's starting you know how tough it is to start a brand from from scratch in 2023 like the brand's been
00:07:37
Speaker
operating for a few years now. And it's just finally started to take off, right? When I hired a second employee this year. And, you know, that's, that's what I think happens for, for a lot of these brands, right? Like it's really, it's really slow to get that ball rolling, but eventually you get some momentum and that ball starts to roll faster. And it's great to see that, you know, there are a lot of small sort of independent brands that are still succeeding in the space. And to me, like that's where I see the most excitement in menswear and probably where I spend
00:08:07
Speaker
you know, or where I'm a customer of and, you know, be able to to kind of cover those kind of upcoming brands is sort of what I'm looking to do going forward.
00:08:18
Speaker
Yeah, the retail landscape as a whole in 2023, or I will say the physical and or I guess online too, because like, you know, even if you just have an online store and you're stocking bullshit, how do you get that in front of people? It's the hard part. I had a friend in Atlanta, an old, old friend and drummer in one of my old bands, Champ Hammett, that started a
00:08:42
Speaker
like a high-end, you know, kind of mensweary, workwear-oriented store in Atlanta called Filthy Party. They carry Dename, Ironheart, 316, you know, a bunch of heavy hitters. And, you know, he's like just watching him, I think he opened in September, and just watching the growth, you know, it's mostly in person, which is awesome. And he was like, you know, the online thing, like we'll keep just trying to get, you know, get in front of more eyes, but like,
00:09:12
Speaker
it's, you know, walking that balance is hard. Absolutely. Right. And, uh, you know, especially when you don't have that, um, physical, you know, footprint, um, for example, Mike has, and then Risa has done a lot of, um, popups, you know, over the year in, in New York, particularly. And I think that has,
00:09:30
Speaker
Because I think at the end of the day, being able to get these garments in your hand and feel them and touch them and understand sizing and see how they look on your body, that's always going to be something that customers will, I think, appreciate. I do most of my shopping online, but it's always a crapshoot. You never know if something's going to stay properly until you get it. Totally, totally. Even the most perfect measurements, I think I've actually said this before in a recent episode.
00:09:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I want these, you know, these four measurements are perfect. And you get it in and it's like, if they measure right, but they don't, it doesn't fit right. For sure. And I also think like even with like the pop ups, for example, it's not just about getting the clothes on you and feeling them in person, but it's about I think building those relationships. Yeah. Oh, yeah. With the people.
00:10:18
Speaker
building the community, which I think for that sort of aspect, they're even more valuable, right? Because for a lot of these, I think, small brands, there still are personality-led and there's a face to the brand, even if the face is not up in front and center in their promotional materials or whatever. So getting to know that story,
00:10:43
Speaker
and that narrative and becoming a part of that lifestyle I think is something that a lot of these small brands are aspiring to do. Totally. Totally. How are the Oilers doing this season? You know what? The Oilers?
00:10:55
Speaker
Oh, the old orders. At the beginning of the year, it's been an up and down season so far. At the beginning of the year, they lost, they started the season like two and nine, I think, or two and 11 it was. Very poorly, they ended up firing their coach and hiring a new coach. And since then, I think they've gone 16 and four. So like they've pretty much turned their season.
00:11:24
Speaker
Yeah, and at one point the playoffs were looking
00:11:29
Speaker
very far away and unlikely but right now they're back in the mix. I think they're only just a few points out of the last playoff spot and there's still a lot of season to go. The NHL regular season goes on until the end of March early April so there's over half the season to go still but they kind of are now playing as everyone expected them to play. They went into the season as a Stanley Cup favorite and maybe
00:11:54
Speaker
it was part of those expectations that maybe made them nervous and maybe got to them a little bit. Maybe it was in their heads, but they started to play a lot better and they're kind of resembling that team that we hoped they would be. So yeah, it's been up and down and I was very lucky. I got to see them last week in LA and I went down
00:12:15
Speaker
with my wife
00:12:30
Speaker
a mall in the 90s. It's all tile and like yellow light. Oh, that's fun. Very, very funny. And yeah, they won both games. And it was always cool for me to watch one of the teams I cheer for away, like away from home, because then there's always this, you know, kind of camaraderie with other people who are also wearing those jerseys of those teams.
00:12:53
Speaker
You don't get when you're here because obviously a majority of the fans are cheering for the same team. So their season's looking up. I hope they continue to play well. Their schedule is one of the easiest schedules on paper over the next month or so, so they can really make up a lot of ground here. But they have a terrible tendency to sort of play down to their competition sometimes. So I hope they can avoid that.
00:13:18
Speaker
As someone who is from Atlanta, every single sports, sorry Connor, we will end up the sports chat in a second. Every single team here is like the biggest choke artist on the planet. Like the Braves, the Hawks, the Falcons, they can have the best season on earth and then they fuck up like three times in a row.
00:13:38
Speaker
yeah okay connor we can get off sports you can get no no no listen listen listen i talk about shit all the time i know i know i also so to talk about sports
00:13:54
Speaker
It is what it is. I had to hear about Anaheim because I, like every fucking older millennial that loved the Mighty Ducks as a kid, like the Ducks were my fucking team at a point. Well, didn't you say crypto.com? That's the LA Arena's name. Yeah. So it's sponsored by a cryptocurrency outfit? A website, technically? Yeah.
00:14:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Interesting. Interesting. We really do live in a new world and boy, is it scary. Well, you got the hat on. Always. Always. I didn't notice. I didn't know what it said. I was like, was that a P? It's an O. It's a long. Yeah, it's a long. Right. See, my eyes are getting shittier. So this student I was working

Fashion Preferences and Challenges

00:14:44
Speaker
with, his name is royalty. He's just the shit. And he's five. Right.
00:14:51
Speaker
Anyway, he's fucking walking around squinting all the time. And I'm like, dude, I know you have glasses. Where are the glasses? I say to the five year old. And he's like, they're home. So I'm like, just take my glasses. You will be able to see better with them, presumably. And he's looking at the screen. He's like, man, yeah, I can read. So we were doing it today. We were doing it and.
00:15:18
Speaker
I don't know. I began that tangent for some reason. My glasses, my eyes, I don't remember. Oh, I was saying I couldn't read your hat. Yes. Well, it is white on white to be fair, but yeah. It looks cool though. I mean, I'm for it. I'm supportive of it. When my friends are made happy by a sports event, I'm like cheering on the inside. You can't see it, but I'm cheering very loudly. Yeah. I like to think that I,
00:15:47
Speaker
have a healthy attitude to sports. Like if a team that I cheer for loses, it really doesn't affect my mood. It's beyond the game. Back in the day, it used to ruin my mood for days, if not weeks, and perhaps it's maturity, or I'm just losing interest to a degree.
00:16:08
Speaker
I feel like that's a much healthier relationship with sports. I like it as an excuse to get together with my friends and have some beers and talk about shit that's really pointless in the grand scheme of things, but it's a nice distraction from the hell that is our existence in 2023. That's the title of the episode. That is the title. The hell that is our existence 2023 interview.
00:16:35
Speaker
I think that my sports frame of reference is just like my grandfather and my uncle who liked the Washington football team, like above all. And so not only is it a bad organization in that little thing, the whole thing is bad and then it's a racist name and then they always and only loot.
00:17:03
Speaker
So I don't have very much, just like, I don't even know what it's like to win. Because I feel like you can't root for a team that you weren't from. It's like- You can? You can. The Bruins were my team after the dubs. But then aren't you like every fucking person who thinks the Patriots are good? No, because like growing up in the 90s, like the Braves and the Cubs were the only two nationally televised baseball team. So the Braves for a long time- Why is that?
00:17:32
Speaker
Because of TBS and WGN, I think this is Chicago. But there are tons of Braves fans that live in bum fuck Idaho because they had cable and that was the only baseball game they could watch. I'm not mad at that. I'm not a sports person. But even that is a caricature of a native person, right? Oh, yes. I will go on record and saying that
00:18:00
Speaker
I think they should rename me to the Atlanta Hammers for Hank Aaron. They wouldn't even have to change very much and they could get rid of the fucking Tomahawk Chop. Like play an MC Hammer song and have people like pounding a nail or something. It's the same fucking movement. But I'm just, yeah, I'm just being historical.
00:18:20
Speaker
That's this hysterical historical podcast. Hysterical historical, yeah. But yeah, I don't think it's weird to root for someone that you're not geographically close to.
00:18:32
Speaker
A lot of teams, or I would say people don't have a team in their city, right? So they're rural people. And then you have to grow with the closest geographically. I mean, to be fair, like when I was growing up and I loved hockey, like there was no team geographically close to me. Like this was before we had the Thrashers, after we had the Flames. And like- Both of those sound like made up. What?
00:18:59
Speaker
Thrashers and the Flames. The Flames moved to Calgary and then Thrashers, I don't remember where they ended up, but like Atlanta could support a hockey team now. Like those games were fun as shit to go to, but there were only like 8,000 people there. But like this was also the early 2000s. A sports team and move to a country that has socialized healthcare. Could be great. Could be great. I don't know why we've never thought of this before. Yeah.
00:19:27
Speaker
the apocalypse does. But that's what you said they did, right? They moved to Calgary. Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, yeah, but you know, that's, that's the weird part that happens with professional sports and the shitty part, you know, like a team, a team will be lured away. Irrespective of international, uh, like,
00:19:47
Speaker
cities dump a ton of fucking money to get a team to move there and it's like oh cool this this benefits us and like we get a brand new stadium or whatever at taxpayer expense anyway not a not a tangent i care to go on but uh we're not out
00:20:03
Speaker
What has been, what has been both your favorite clothing purchase of the year and your most worn clothing item? So this really sort of runs the gamut. I would say these two items, there's a very big juxtaposition. My, I would say my favorite purchase from this year. Do you say purchase or most worn? Or both? Both, both. Favorite purchase and then most worn.
00:20:29
Speaker
I'll take my favorite purchase is probably and it's from, you know, the brand I had mentioned earlier, Manresa, but it was a a chore coat, you know, workwear jacket, inspired from a vintage
00:20:44
Speaker
tour coat that Mike from the brand had found somewhere at some vintage store, and then he made his own riff on it. Oh, cool. As it's called, in a really nice sort of slate blue canvas material with a contrast, a corduroy collar, and it's kind of nice gray. It's wonderful. It's got a nice length to it.
00:21:08
Speaker
Yeah, it's really cool. It's got a nice length to it. So it's not quite cropped, but like it's on the verge of being cropped. It's nice and boxy. And that's probably the one item I've worn more than anything. Besides, it is probably maybe the simplest item in a person's wardrobe. But for me, I was in my most worn garment of 2023 was a tank top. Just a lot.
00:21:32
Speaker
white ribbed tank top or as you know some call it the the wife pleaser um it and I didn't wear it too often in a you know uh stereotypical mobster way where I was wearing nothing over top of it but as a as a layering piece like you know with a nice camp collar shirt over top unbuttoned or even a uh
00:21:54
Speaker
Oxford cotton button down, long sleeve shirt unbuttoned. It allows you to layer in the summer, which is hard to do at the best of times, giving a little bit more dimension to your outfits and also a little bit of sexy sexiness. Get the taco beef out. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling
00:22:15
Speaker
I'm feeling sexy. And so honestly, I probably wore a tank top like most days with a different shirt over top of it. Honestly, sometimes even a jacket over top of it for a cool look. I even wore actually to my brother's rehearsal dinner. He got married this past year in July. I wore a tank top underneath a very relaxed
00:22:38
Speaker
uh suit made out of it was um what was the material um the crinkly the crinkly stuff um it's escaping me now linen um not linen um but the other one it's usually striped uh seersucker seersucker yes yeah okay uh blue and white stripes seersucker you know casual suit from uniqlo honestly was a great value too um with just a tent up underneath and some um white uh Birkenstock Arizona sandals and it was a great summer outfit i think
00:23:08
Speaker
We're going to associate the tank top with you. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to need a photo of that for the post also. Yeah. I feel like the camp collar tank top under open is like, that's like a Renato staple. No, I feel like I have worn a tank top because I have seen you wear a tank top and been like, we're not like exactly the same person, obviously. But there's like a Venn diagram of our style.
00:23:38
Speaker
Um, yeah, the tank top is cool. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's great to see its resurgence over the past few years has been awesome. I mean, it's also functional. A lot of people wear just underneath as a, uh, an additional layer for war, but here's the question.
00:23:54
Speaker
It's not an underarm cover for the sweat protection, you know, or whatever the sweat abatement. I don't know. I've never like the tank top as sweat. Something has escaped me for a long time.
00:24:11
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I don't think that's its primary purpose. I think it's probably as like just a layer of warmth rather than, yeah, like preventing a sweat because I agree with you. Like if that's your concern and some people are, you know, I can be a sweaty guy. Um, it's not helping on that aspect. Like I'd much rather wear just like a white, uh, you know, a crew neck t-shirt or a t-shirt of some sort. But, but the problem with that is.
00:24:36
Speaker
If you're sometimes you don't want that, that height of collar, right? So that's, that's where the tank top comes in. Cause it's a nice scoop. You can see your chest a bit. It's not necessarily peeking out and some outfits you don't want to peek. Yeah. It's a nice white line. And it also reminds me of my dad. Like my dad is a staunch tank top wearer. Um, he's Italian. He was born there. He came here.
00:24:58
Speaker
when he was 15 and he's never without one. Like I think he's worn one every day of his life. Like he must have 50 of them. He came out of room one for sure. That's how my paternal grandpa was.
00:25:13
Speaker
I don't know. It's nice that they're leaving the association with that garment behind, which is like negative and is like bad and is like, ah, maybe a little accurate, but also like. Yeah. Yeah. I like the euphemism that you used. That was the, the wife pleaser is a, is a A plus euphemism. Of course. I'm sure family loves seeing you in just that and like a pair of pants too. It's, it's very like your Brando moment with her.
00:25:42
Speaker
Absolutely. No. And especially with, you know, a pair of, uh, looser pants, right? Which are, um, I'm really, I'm really happy that we've, um, sort of firmly moved back towards looser fits. Um, I can, I, a skinny jeans, skinny pants never worked on me. I could never find them that would fit because I have, uh, quite large legs. Um, especially like my upper legs, I have a little bit of, uh,
00:26:10
Speaker
um, junk in the trunk, as they would say, I always have to, player build a little bit of a dump truck. Um, even during the hashtag menswear era, when you know, slim was being heralded as the, as the ultimate fit, the correct fit. Um, what we should aspire to, uh, finding slim pants that accommodated my butt and legs were difficult. And I'd always have to size up.
00:26:35
Speaker
to such a degree to fit my thighs that then the waist would be too big because our waist is not that big and then it also wouldn't be slim anymore at that point you know so I'd have to get them at that point tapered and it was just a way too much of headache also
00:26:50
Speaker
I don't think tight pants are comfortable. Not only that, they're not comfortable. The majority of people, it's not the most flattering look, honestly. There's a very small segment of the population that it looks good on. I'm not in that population. Also, just being able to throw on a pair of pants that are flowy and loose and
00:27:13
Speaker
I don't have to feel uncomfortable in like, that's a win for me. I'm never going back. And to bring this back, you know, with a nice, nice leather belt, a pair of loafers and a tank top, like that's a simple outfit, but I think it rocks. It's killer. It's killer. Classic in the good way. Absolutely. Do you have a tank top recommendation? Yeah, yeah. Just buy five packs of something. I don't know. I don't mean to put you on the spot either. No, no, I know the answer.
00:27:43
Speaker
I probably have about seven to eight. Like I usually, for things like that, for staples like that, or like just a basic white tee, or I would say underwear is different. I probably have, you know, I'm a trunksman, so I like the boxer briefs that have been cut shorter, so there's less material to bunch up. For me, it's very much a sort of practical reason, but I have probably 20 pairs of those.
00:28:10
Speaker
But I have about seven to eight pairs of tank tops, so I can at least have one a week and then at the end of the week, you know, I can wash them all. And most weeks I'm not necessarily wearing them every day, so I'll have one or two ways extra. But I'm partial these days. And honestly, this goes for most of my basics. So things like basic white tees, underwear, but it's Uniqlo and it's an affordable tank top. I think it's like $15 Canadian.
00:28:37
Speaker
I could be wrong, 14.98 rings a bell for some reason. But it's a nice shape and cut. It's affordable, it's ribbed, easy to find. They don't always carry it at the Uniqlo store where we have two in town. So I usually have to end up ordering them online, but I know my size, so every few months I'm ordering a few more. So that's kind of my go-to.
00:28:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a huge proponent of Uniqlo underwear and socks. Yup. Great. Great socks. For probably 10 years that I have faces that are just cotton and they are like. Right. So I don't know if they make their stuff like that.

Music Highlights of 2023

00:29:15
Speaker
But just because I don't have experience with more pro-Uniqlo. We are. Sponsor us. Connor, what is, same question to you. What's been your favorites and your most worn items?
00:29:28
Speaker
Well, Matt, I have to say, uh, in the document, I even, I even wrote down whatever those genes that you gave me the Levi's that you can, like, people love those fucking things. And they were solid. So what are the, give us some details. They're five of five. Yeah.
00:29:48
Speaker
They're like probably late 80s, very early 90s, like Levi's made in USA 505s, which is my personal favorite cut. And yeah, I just... How do the 505s differ in fit from the 501s for reference? They are... the 505, it's similar in certain ways. The 501 is button fly, 505 is zip fly. That was their first, well, after the...
00:30:17
Speaker
After the 554Z, which was essentially a Zipli 501 in 54 is, or I guess 53 or so is when it officially came out, the 505 was their answer to that. So they basically, it's a mid-rise like the 501 Zipli, which is personal preference, but in my opinion, I think that it like, it's got a little bit more room in the thigh and it's got a little bit more taper.
00:30:47
Speaker
So it's, it's like, it's just the best fucking straight fit gene I can think of. Um, they're a little less like 501s. Yeah. 501s are like stovepipes. These have like enough of a taper, but then they keep room up top where they like fit a variety of body size. Yeah.
00:31:07
Speaker
Yeah, they are good though. And I have had them repaired like by different people. So they look cool. Even my like aunt, it was like, she doesn't give a fuck. She was like, Oh man, those are jeans. So like, I would say those I have been really happy with the LBM 1911 jackets that I got. Yeah.
00:31:30
Speaker
I think those were my recommendations. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I was giving you credit though. I was in the midst of giving you credit. Yeah. I think those are amazing. Like I've never had a nice cotton jacket before, but it really is like, it is like a night and day difference in terms of we're talking about comforting and like Jesus, the fucking like unstructured Italian jacket compared to basically anything else. There's nothing.
00:31:59
Speaker
that compares. And I like, I don't wear tailored clothing very much at all anymore. I still appreciate it. But like, I wear my tailored shit the same way that I'll wear like a tour coat. And so unstructured, like super comfortable stuff, I beat the fuck out of it. And it like somehow still holds up. But like,
00:32:20
Speaker
you know if you're kind of when i was working in menswear you know i was constantly moving around and like that shit shifts with you and just i don't know there's just something about it like it's not you know you're not going to wear that to court if you're a fucking lawyer but it's just yeah it's like a natural feeling jacket to put on
00:32:38
Speaker
if you want to be taken seriously. Yeah, yeah, probably not. Yeah, you want to, we want a gray charcoal suit with a little bit of structure, but yeah, well, shit. They're sick. Also, bucket hats. I've accumulated a lot of bucket hats this year that I'm pleased with from Matt, some from Matt.
00:32:57
Speaker
So I'm from Miss Taylor. I didn't expect a shot of admin at my school. Well, it's like funny because like a lot of my good shit has come from you this year. But that's like not a coincidence. You have good taste and you're pretty well connected. So it's like it all it stands to reason really. Right. I mean,
00:33:18
Speaker
I think I got that purple canali cashmere jacket, which I love because it's like, I got it at the thrift store for like 12 bucks. It has patch pockets. It's so nice. It kind of looks like a maybe blazer, but it's a purple cashmere, which is really... So anyway, I got a lot of clothes that I like. I have yet again gotten a lot of clothing that I like this year.
00:33:44
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that like, honestly, Connor, you've kind of like come into your own shit again. And or, you know, like, you've evolved. Connor famously sends me things that want make me want to puke. And I'm like his arbiter. If I hate it, or his girlfriend, Aaron hates it. Connor's like, Yeah, this is my shit. But I think you give me
00:34:07
Speaker
Oh god. Any of the terrible patterns. So, bright yellow wallabies. Which are sick actually. They are sick, like they have the twisty curly laces on them. Very, very, I feel like that's like the original Wu Tang wallabies. Right. You know?
00:34:28
Speaker
Yeah, it looked cool on Lusine. It doesn't mean you should buy it. Yeah, Lusine. I will admit that I am not always the person who should be wearing these things. Not in an appropriative way. But like, I just like how stuff looks. And I haven't bought the yellow wild bees, have I? Right.
00:34:43
Speaker
Yeah, I know, I know. Hit your knowledge. Renato, he will, yeah, to my knowledge, he'll send me like the, do you remember Gantt salty dog shirts? Like the crazy pattern, like Gantt button downs. Like Connor somehow finds the most hideous prints on earth and is like, yeah, this is cool. It's yellow and maroon and a bunch of other fucking colors. And he'll send it to me and I'm just like,
00:35:09
Speaker
uh this is nuts yeah this one is sick i've successfully worn this one many times yeah i mean i'm not saying that like it some of this doesn't look cool on you i'm just saying that like if i hate it
00:35:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Then I'm going with it. Then I'm going for it. But he also has started to listen to me when I'm like, Hey, don't wear that tie with that jacket, please. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's, he's laughing. Uh, well, I think one of my, you know, resolutions have been to start doing a lot more sort of, uh, procuring of my clothes via vintage. So I lean into your experience, Matt.
00:35:52
Speaker
Oh, dude, you're always welcome. Hit me up. I dress very boringly. We're gonna get to that, motherfucker. Yeah, I know.
00:36:05
Speaker
forever that I remember like I am one of those people that finds like kind of a uniform and I just like wear that for extended periods of time in in like you know various ways and yeah like I I am very much like most of the most fascist part of you it really is it's just like a uniform
00:36:27
Speaker
It's like, oh, I find this insanely comfortable and it fits what I need it to fit right now. I'm just gonna wear something like this every single day. Like I am one of those people, I don't buy a whole lot for myself. And my general rule is the only things I want to own, clothing wise, are things that like are fighting to get me to wear them every single day. And so that's where the uniforms end. You know, I don't know. I don't think it's a bad thing. It's just like, it's how I am. It's how I've always been.
00:36:55
Speaker
I don't think it's a bad thing. I'm just making fun of you. I know, I know. I also beat the shit out of all everything that I own. Like I have a jacket that my buddy Matt thrifted. It's a 50s JCPenney Big Mac chore jacket. All right. He thrifted it shortly after I met him in 2017. It was like one wash, maybe two wash. Within two years, that thing I had people telling me, it looks like someone wore this for a hundred years because I would just like wear it almost every single day.
00:37:25
Speaker
Yeah, that's just how I am. But yeah, like, dude, I love I love helping people and like people sending me shit that they like. And, you know, Connor, I'm a little bit more brash, but, you know, like, I feel like I'm pretty nice to you. Yeah, I'm not trying to be like an arbiter of taste. But you know, like, if you need help and be like, I know how a lot of things fit. I have a lot of experience handling shit. And so yeah, like, I'm not expecting what it's having that
00:37:55
Speaker
outside perspective is helpful, though, right? Like, you know, to somebody to bounce an idea off of or be like, Hey, what do you think of this? I mean, yeah, for sure. Like, I think as I get older, I doing a better job of buying things that like, I won't eventually regret in six months, or like, I won't be like, Ah, why did I buy that? But you still, I think no matter what are gonna
00:38:15
Speaker
you know, find, find some duds in terms of like your personal style, what you think you might wear is something that you don't. So having somebody who could maybe help reduce the number of, you know, Ls you take, I think. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I take, I never try anything on in a thrift store. Like it's just something I don't do. And so like, I bought so many things that I personally like looked at and I was like,
00:38:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's cool. That'll probably fit. And then I put it on and I'm like, I feel like a fucking clown. So, you know, I understand how that goes. You don't want to take else when you're buying like a non thrift store thing off eBay. Do you Matt, when you're doing your vintage shopping, do you use those like, you know, you see on TikTok and all those things, use your like arm length to like know if a pair of pants will fit you or something. Those actually put the waist on the neck.
00:39:07
Speaker
I always carry a measuring tape with me. That's like part of my everyday carry. I don't do that. I have found that it can work, the neck thing in particular. My friend Will, who is a bigger dude, like he's 6'4", I think he's like a 37 or so waist. He uses that a lot and it works. If you're mostly normally proportioned,
00:39:36
Speaker
you know i don't want to say fuck normal is a bad word but like you know most you can't do that it doesn't work for me i will use this example okay so most normal suiting is drop six drop seven so if you're a 42 chest you're probably a 35 or 36 that's pretty standard um you're probably like a 16 and a half inch shirt like
00:40:00
Speaker
pretty standard things. If you're if you're, you know, kind of in the in the regular range, like you can buy stuff off the rack, and you're, you know, your proportions all kind of match up, it can work. You know, not everyone is like that. But a good majority of people are kind of like that. Like, you know, it just you know, if you're a if you're a fucking bodybuilder, and you've got a 17 and a half inch neck,
00:40:24
Speaker
in a 32 waste not that probably ain't gonna probably ain't gonna work but you know you cut if you kind of think about it like in terms of just regular builds because obviously like off the rack shit has a purpose you know most people can buy something off the rack at a store and you know with a little bit of tailoring it you know that those kind of tricks can work i don't trust them totally but you know
00:40:47
Speaker
Depends. That was a long-winded answer for that question. They can work, yes. Okay, good to know. Because Bailey, yeah. Of course they can work, right? Like, with one person's waist and the same size as their neck, then it can work. Well, it's not even that. It's like, it's not that your waist and your neck are the same, but a lot of time that proportion matches up in a way and so it does work out.
00:41:13
Speaker
Like, I haven't done the science or the research on this, but I have seen it work countless times. I have just personally never used the thing. Yeah. Yeah. You want to talk about music? Always. Yeah. I think... Well, I guess, Renato, you should go first. If you feel satisfied, Matt, with talking about clothing, I mean, we continue to talk about clothing. Oh, I'm good. I'm good. But we've each had a turn, so now we can go to the mic. Yeah.
00:41:39
Speaker
Sure, let's do it. And sure, I can take lead. I collected my three favorite albums of 2023. I thought, you know, overall, there was a lot of good music this year. I got to see some cool shows. Bailey and I, my wife went to Vancouver in, I think it was April.
00:42:06
Speaker
with two friends of ours, a couple. And we went there to see the boy genius show. So boy genius being the super group of Lucy Dacus, Julian Baker, and Bridgers. They were playing at an outdoor amphitheater there. And it was a really lovely show. Also maybe the chillest, most friendly audience of
00:42:29
Speaker
Um, any show I've ever attended, it was all like, uh, 17 year old lesbians and, and, and like, uh, gay dudes. It was awesome. Like it was like a very queer audience. And I think that is not, um, unrelated to why it felt so welcoming and inclusive. Um,
00:42:46
Speaker
And they're just vibing with the music, but yeah, those girls are so talented. And that was one of my favorite records of the year, their full-length debut. I think it's a great record, something I've returned to often. And the other two records I really love this year. Well, before I get to those, an honorable mention, and it's because it's
00:43:08
Speaker
kind of sort of pertinent to time, but it was, you know, just the holiday season. And I am a Christmas music man. And Oh, yeah. Oh, it was the new
00:43:20
Speaker
a new Christmas EP that Sabrina Carpenter, who makes pop music, she's a former Disney, Disney star. She was the one who was sort of involved in that love triangle that Olivia Rodrigo was singing about on her music. But she also makes really good on her own. And she released a Christmas EP called Fruitcake, which is fantastic. I love it. And I listened to it probably 100 times in December, maybe 200 times.
00:43:51
Speaker
Because it's so short, I just had it on loop forever. It's a good thing that Spotify stops counting new music, I think, at the end of October or something. It's probably definitely been number one for me. But for Kate, a great collection of mostly original Christmas songs. She does one cover of White Christmas at the end.
00:44:11
Speaker
But yeah, there's our originals and they're really fun. But the other two full length LPs that I really enjoyed this year were World of Hassel by Alan Palomo from who is also known as Neon Indian. And it's actually kind of funny, I went to listen to that album again the other day and it's marketed as an Alan Palomo solo album.
00:44:33
Speaker
Um, right. Uh, not a neon Indian project, but he recently added Alan Palomo slash neon Indian to like the Spotify, um, record, at least because I think he probably really, he was realizing the on Indian.
00:44:47
Speaker
is a much more known quantity than his own name is. So he was missing out on a lot of, you know, people searching for Neon Indian and whatnot on the streaming services. So I think it was a smart move of him to do that. But it's a collection of, if you are familiar with Neon Indian's music at all, sort of a continuation of that sort of synth pop sort of chill wavy, he's moved away from Chill Wave, which is, he was one of sort of the, you know, biggest names of it back in the day.
00:45:15
Speaker
when that subgenre was cresting. But this is sort of a more poppy sort of collection of songs where his voice is actually very high up in the mix and they're proper pop songs, very 80s inspired, music inspired, like honestly,
00:45:34
Speaker
It might be a pretentious reference, but it's very sort of like pension-esque. He has all these characters with weird names in it. He writes a song about getting lost in a mall as a young Latino kid called The Wailing Mall, and it's sort of like tongue-in-cheek, and it's a very, very funny record.
00:45:55
Speaker
Yeah, Bailey thinks it sounds like music and can't stand it, so your mileage may vary. But I really think it was an underrated record last year that didn't get the props it deserves. It's awesome. But my favorite record of the year was called Madras, or Mother in Spanish, I'm pretty sure. Or maybe not Spanish, or some Spanish adjacent language.
00:46:20
Speaker
Sofia Cortisis, who is a Peruvian electronic producer. She is great, and that was by far my favorite record of the year. It was a lot of really cool dance, house-inspired music that really uses a lot of South American influences and really works those sounds into it in an organic way. And that was probably my three most played records of the year. Solid. All things that I don't know. Yeah.
00:46:49
Speaker
Yeah, I was just going to say we can make a playlist of the stuff and put it out. Yeah, definitely. And then everyone will know. Everyone will be able to hear it. Yeah. We can do a collective playlist. Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Our favorite tunes of the year. Absolutely. Yeah, fuck yeah. Do you want to go, Matt? Or do you want me to go? I can go.
00:47:11
Speaker
Um, yeah, I feel like this year, um, I kind of rediscovered, uh, how much I enjoy going to like shows again, which has been really refreshing. Not, not like I'm going to show all the time, but, uh, I've been to, I've been to more this year or well, 2023 than I probably had been in like five years. Yeah. It was just a really.
00:47:33
Speaker
Really good time. There's a ton of fucking good music coming out of Atlanta right now and like I started a band recently as I've talked about and you know a ton of my friends are making just killer fucking art and I'm really excited to like jump back into that too.
00:47:52
Speaker
But yeah, my favorite record of the year was a collab record, this kind of like noise band. I don't really know what their genre is, but they're called Uniform from New York and they did a split with Boris, the Japanese band. Stoner Metal, just amazing, amazing musical outfits. And yeah, that was definitely my favorite of the year. It was nine songs, already five minutes. I listened to it.
00:48:22
Speaker
on a not daily, but probably like at least weekly basis. That was fucking awesome. And then the flip side of that, which I think I've probably also talked about was Jason Isabel and the 400 units LP weather veins, which that dude might be might be my favorite current like songwriter, you know, in the in the like Americana rock country, whatever side of things, but
00:48:49
Speaker
Those two records blew me away, honestly. And I got to see Boris with the Melvins back in September. That was fucking fantastic. This band from England called High Vis, that kind of sounds like if the Stone Roses wrote a hardcore record, that's kind of High Vis's vibe. Saw them at a small club like back in April. Yeah, it's just been a really good year of shows. Yeah, I want to shout out from Atlanta, Radium Jaw,
00:49:18
Speaker
No Head, Hubbell, Symbiote, All The Saints, who are a legend here. But yeah, like, there's just a ton of fucking good shit happening here. Really, really excited about it. Also downgrade and all phenomenal fucking bands that put out good, except for All The Saints. Yeah, they're just, they play one show every like two years and they played two this year and I was really happy about that.
00:49:42
Speaker
Nice. You mentioned Jason Esbel, who is awesome. I'm a huge fan of myself. Also, surprisingly, good actor. I don't know if I haven't. Yeah, I haven't seen it yet. I want to. I just haven't had this question half hours to commit or whatever it is.
00:49:56
Speaker
Yeah, and he plays a supporting role and he's not in it for that long, but more than you'd think, and he actually holds his own. So shout out to the multi-hyphenate Jason Isball. Yeah, yeah. He has said on record multiple times that he wrote a lot of that record while he was on set. And one song is called The King of Oklahoma, which is fucking
00:50:18
Speaker
man that's a that's a song and a half um but yeah like i don't know it's just funny to see that that were or to see him collide in that kind of like context it's wild
00:50:30
Speaker
Yeah. Now Jason, this ball, obviously you mentioned Matt is sort of, you know, on the perferia country, Americana genre. Have you gotten at all into sort of like the recent sort of, um, resurgence of like outlaw country guys like Brian. Uh, yeah. I love surgical. Yeah.
00:50:50
Speaker
Yeah, like there's, you know, Chris Stapleton, which is wild because like he came from that, you know, he came out of that like, country scene and, and just did the, you know, the Monday Night Football anthem. And like, yeah, it's, you know, I've been into that shit for years. And like, it's, it's nice to see that resurgence of
00:51:10
Speaker
of the attitude and the type of songwriting that is, in my opinion, more true to legit country than this pop bullshit. People can like what they like, but I don't like anything that's been played on modern country radio in probably 20 years. Yeah, yeah, fair.
00:51:28
Speaker
Yeah. There's, there's a lot of good, a lot of good songwriters and like, you know, in, in the, the outlaw and the, the kind of overarching, like Americana, I guess, like world that kind of includes like folk and whatnot. Yeah. There's a ton of good shit. Charlie Crockett. I don't know if you am much, but he's, he's become one of my favorites the past couple of years.
00:51:48
Speaker
Okay, I'll have to check him out. Hell yeah. Connor, what you got for us? All right, well, so I went through my Spotify, whatever, my Spotify plays, my year review. I want to say the Westside, yeah, the Westside Gun album that he released was so horrid.
00:52:18
Speaker
Oh, no. Despicably bad. It was just just just terrible. Anyway, so I was really looking forward to that, as like, were a lot of people, I guess, maybe not a lot of people, but some people were looking for. And that did not materialize. But I was going to say number three, El Michael's affair, Black Thought, glorious game. I thought that album was really good.
00:52:44
Speaker
Amazing even I recommended it to my roommate Rob who is like not and we do like do not really have a Venn diagram of music But if you like loves it Connor I have to interject in the same way that Connor sends me Listings to things on eBay that I either don't approve of or just don't care about Connor sends me a lot of links that he tells me to check out which are
00:53:12
Speaker
You know, I like some rap and hip hop. I'm not really up on it. I listen to some and they're usually really good. They're just not my shit. But yeah, we have a dichotomy. We go back and forth. Yeah, we go back and forth. I also said, I said, you are not going to enjoy. But I said, Connor, like I said, Connor, a stoner metal song. And he's like, I don't even. Yeah, sometimes doesn't respond. I'm a stoner. But I'm made out of clay. Right. Right. Yeah.
00:53:41
Speaker
Yeah, expanding each other's boundaries. Yeah, so I thought that that was a really well done album. I thought that all of production is really beautiful and Black Thought who is sometimes kind of monotonous.
00:54:00
Speaker
like the same flow that over and over again it's like he doesn't do that so brazenly this album and i think that it really just goes it's like um yeah it's kind of a tortoise for both him and then i would say free young thog
00:54:21
Speaker
Young Thug's business is business. I listen to that album on repeat for many, many weeks at a time without interruption. I just like, what is there to say about Young Thug that hasn't been said? I mean, Nado has said things about Young Thug better than me.
00:54:39
Speaker
I just think he's the artist of our generation. It's just that he is likely never going to get out of jail is very bad. I should know this because of the news junkie that I am, but is he part of the YSL case that's happening right now?
00:54:59
Speaker
He's the guy. Oh, yeah, that's what I thought. That's what I thought. God damn. Yeah, I follow a couple of the journalists on Twitter from Atlanta that are covering this trial extensively. It's terrible. And so of course he has done dumb shit and continues to do dumb shit, but it's like the justice system just doesn't work, so we can't put anyone in jail.
00:55:22
Speaker
right and so that I thought was amazing maybe not as amazing as some of his earlier stuff um finally the young nudie album gumbo I thought just blew my mind like it sounds like uh like future era Atlanta it's very
00:55:45
Speaker
I don't know, the production is really powerful, I guess. And Nudie just raps about dumb shit, basically, and sounds really great. He talks shit about video gaming, which I think is funny.
00:56:02
Speaker
You know like Xbox that's for lambs It's like yeah No, I think that the point is like you should be like chasing tail rather than playing video Yeah Yeah, you can you can of course there's a lot of tales that are also gamers in any gender whatsoever so
00:56:30
Speaker
Well, Young Nudie doesn't know any of them. And Young Nudie is not pursuing any of them. Young Nudie gets to their chicks. Young Nudie gets to be woke to the real gamers that span a variety of... I'm just kidding. I don't know.
00:56:45
Speaker
We really got a, we're really going out on a limb here going, going out. You're not like a gamer, right? You have a, you have a, you have a respect for people regardless of their sex or gender.
00:57:01
Speaker
all right we gotta we gotta fucking leave this subject um also we're quitting a lot of them this time yeah we're we're i'm pulling the cord on this one um they also fuck they also fuck uh anyway yeah i think
00:57:21
Speaker
Yeah, this has been a fun interview. And the end of 2024, we'll see what the future holds. And if we're not on fire, we will be just again with Renato. Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, dude, thank you so much.

Social Media and Closing Remarks

00:57:36
Speaker
Shout out your, your thing so people can get to know you better, my friend.
00:57:42
Speaker
Well, if anyone is so inclined to follow me on social media, my handle is the same everywhere. It's Renovate, R-E-N-N-A-V-A-T-E. And yeah, I basically just post a lot of fit pics of whatever I'm wearing. Great fit pics. Wonderful fit pics.
00:58:03
Speaker
Thank you, thank you. I try to continue to push myself. It's just kind of a nice way to catalog all of the outfits I wear for future reference for myself so I can think about what worked or what didn't work and it's a nice little sort of catalog and I also post whenever
00:58:22
Speaker
I do occasionally write things, links to articles there. But yeah, you can find me on Twitter because I refuse to call it anything other. It is Twitter. It's Twitter. You know, we don't acknowledge the other name. Always has been and forever will be Twitter. And maybe
00:58:39
Speaker
I would like to maybe do more TikTok this year. I feel like when it comes to Instagram, they're really pushing reels and I really don't know if I feel compelled to make reels. But I'm not too concerned about that. I post things just for myself and if anybody else is interested in them. So yeah, that's where you can find me. And I wish you two guys the best of luck in 2024. I know the podcast is gonna go
00:59:06
Speaker
uh you know to the moon and it's always enjoyable to sort of wrap up the year with youtube thank you yeah same here uh you post things for the culture that's that's why you post absolutely um yeah um this has been a great year for us and um our audience uh thank you so much for listening
00:59:26
Speaker
We're going to take a few weeks off of making new episodes. We have a very special project in motion that we will soon reveal. And yeah, we'll come back strong and try to continue the quote-unquote work that we're doing. But everyone... Apocalypse is our first win. Yeah.
00:59:52
Speaker
Soonish, soonish. Okay, good. And listen, if it's not work, then you can produce the rest of the episodes. I mean, you know what I'm saying. We're not getting paid to do this. We're at the mercy of our friends and the people that... Wait, how many listens have we gotten to so far around what? I think you're at like 15k.
01:00:17
Speaker
dude that yeah for for like two cute little dudes starting this program like that's fucking huge for so yeah yeah i downplay it but i am forever grateful that anyone gives a shit continues to give a shit and is cool so yeah uh yeah and i was gonna actually i was actually gonna do this yesterday but i'm gonna do it now uh it's not a bud Dwyer thing it's uh
01:00:45
Speaker
Shout out to all of our new listeners from Argentina, Chile, Kenya, Serbia, and Nigeria. That's wild. Who knows if that's real, who knows if that's real, but like, whatever, we take it. Yes, yeah. Well, yeah, it was much appreciated. And until next time, I'm Matt Smith at Rebels Ropes. And I'm Connor Nunez at Real Connor Nunez.
01:01:13
Speaker
Uh, if you would like to follow us on Instagram, it's at apocalypse studs, uh, questions, comments, concerns, hit us up on email, whatever you want to send us. We don't care. It's apocalypse studs at gmo.com. Yeah. Thanks again. We'll see you soon.