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Metal and Menswear with Shane Joseph Curry
118 Plays3 years ago
Our guest is Shane Joseph Curry, thrifting sleuth, educator, metalcore dude, spectacle enthusiast, and all around good guy.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, I'm Connor Fowler. And I'm Matt Smith. And today, it is our distinct pleasure to welcome the erudite educator, the master of the mosh pit, the metalcore maven, the dashing drummer, the Seiko Savant, the champion in chinos, the pristine pug dad. We won't curry any favor with this intro. Here's Shane Curry. That's it? That's all you got? That was all right. All right, I'll take it.
00:00:27
Speaker
I am wearing a statement right now and I am mashing. So that worked. Yeah. Yeah. So where are you from? Uh, I was born in Manhattan, like on Manhattan Island proper, but, uh, I grew up in, um, Queens and I moved out further out onto Long Island. I was about 11 or 12 and I've been out here ever since. Oh man. Yeah. How old are you Shane? Uh, I just turned 37 this past summer. Oh nice. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm getting up there, you know.
00:00:54
Speaker
I just turned 39. Oh, yeah. So yeah, in the same sphere, for sure. Yeah. What can you do? Yeah, you know, you know, life, life has a way of moving forward. So yeah, I've, I've, I don't mind it. I mean, sometimes it freaks you out, but you can't stop it. So got to embrace it. So, uh, so Shane, we're, we're gonna ask what your,
00:01:24
Speaker
wearing today for our new ensemble investigation. All right. Well, today was Sunday. So I just ran a few errands this morning. So I have on some brown cords that are polo thrifted, of course. Nice. I'm wearing one of those Viola wool cotton button ups, just wool band end. And some just some white vans. It was just an easy day.
00:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, very clean, very seasonally appropriate. Yes, it's actually cold here today. It's like in the 30s. And I have the new Seiko, the new Seiko Rolling Blazers watch on. That's a new guy. So I'm wearing that. And that is a nice one. Yeah, I got the blue dial. It's really cool. I like it. Are you kind of a watch connoisseur?
00:02:19
Speaker
Um, in, in a way, yes. In a, in a, in a bigger way. No, I'm purely driven by aesthetics. I know a little bit about them here and there. Um, my good friend, Ed, who I used to play music with, we're still good friends. He works for, um, Warren wound. So him and I get to like, you know, geek out about watches when we hang out and stuff like that. So I know more than I probably, um, you know, what's the word? I'm not like an expert, but I know enough, I guess, as a, aographer.
00:02:49
Speaker
Yeah. I'm more of like a, just a fan, you know, I'm not like a, I'm not a movement guy. I'm not any, I'm not like a luxury guy. If I see it, I like it. I like a, you know, smaller watches, 40 millimeters, like my max. It's just aesthetics. I just like it. So, so as a watch wearer every single day of my life, like I appreciate the people, the fact that people still wear watches.
00:03:11
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I used to, I used to just wear them pretty much like on the weekends, but I'm trying to wear one every day just because, uh, yeah, I have, I actually sold a bunch. I probably have about six or seven now. I used to have like a dozen, nothing crazy, but, um, yeah, I like to wear one every day. And now that I do, I just, I'm used to it, you know, I actually use it to tell the time, you know, crazy. I can't go with that. I mean, do you find it useful? Do you find it useful in work?
00:03:37
Speaker
I do actually, I wear just an old Timex I thrifted. It's quartz, it's really light. I don't care if it gets beat up. And I do wear it to work. And if we're doing stuff with the kids,
00:03:51
Speaker
have them on the playground and we're doing like recess stuff we got to keep track of the time so it's better than taking your phone out taking your eyes off the kids so yeah it actually became useful the more i wore it which obviously yeah yeah well you get to avoid the like mr curry does your phone have youtube on it can i use it
00:04:11
Speaker
Yes, there are a few kids that are very, I mean, it's amazing because they're very young, but they know what phones are, they know what iPads are. So I just, one kid calls it, he says, oh, your timer, that's your timer. And he points to it. And I'm like, yep, that's my timer. That's solid, man.
Changes in New York City
00:04:33
Speaker
Dude, Shane, so you were born in Manhattan, grew up for a while in Queens and moved to Long Island.
00:04:39
Speaker
Uh, I've looked at Brooklyn for a few years, um, and it like 2011 to 2014 and having gone back since then, I've noticed a whole lot of changes in the city. But from your perspective as someone that's kind of been around the city for their entire life, like what are the, what are the crazy changes that you've kind of seen the city go through?
00:05:04
Speaker
I think the city itself, I mean, again, I started going to the city when I was maybe 14, 15 from the island to see bands. Right, right. You know, Rosa and Ballroom, Irving Plaza, all those places. So back then, all I cared about was getting on the train, seeing the band going home as I got older and I started getting into clothing and I would look up what retail stores are in the city, stuff like that.
00:05:31
Speaker
That's the biggest thing I see in terms of, I think retail, things close and open so quickly sometimes. Right, right. Up until this day, I mean stores either move locations or just close because the city is expensive. I would say just things like that, just this retail moves so quickly. There are parts of the city that still feel like old New York if you want to go in and just like walk around a neighborhood. But the broader picture is that, you know, it's Manhattan, it moves so fast.
00:06:03
Speaker
that sometimes it's hard to notice, but if you take a second and look, you're like, oh, wow, I used to go to this venue, I used to go to this store, and you blink and they're gone. Right, right. It's such a small moment in time, even though when you're younger, it's like, oh, this place will be here forever, but it's definitely not. Right. Have you noticed that like, you know, since 2020, it's accelerated at all? Or is it just kind of like New York has always been?
00:06:30
Speaker
Um, I mean, when, when all that was going on, uh, a couple of years ago, I, you know, spring 2020 up until about that fall, I didn't go into the city just because we're really just cause I had no need to. And, and also everything was closed pretty much. But when I went in, it was like maybe November, 2020. Um, ironically, because the store I liked was closing and I was going to get some stuff for cheap. What store was that? Uh, Kamakura, the shirt. Oh yeah. Damn, they closed?
00:06:59
Speaker
They were closing, they were blowing out their shirts for like 40, 50 bucks a piece. Holy shit. So I went in specifically for that. And it was it was pretty empty then. That was, you know, seven months after it all started. Right. So it's it's it's Manhattan. It it bounced back. It will always be there. But there there's definitely some things even a couple of years ago that are gone and moved. You know, it's expensive. Things like that. So.
00:07:26
Speaker
Finding a different neighborhood that you can actually afford as those kind of things. Yeah. I'm well versed in that kind of landscape in New York. Yeah, it's interesting. I love it. I mean, I love the city. I'm never going to not love it. Oh, totally. Totally. Maybe because I don't live there. I think if I lived there, maybe I wouldn't. Right. Right. So we're going to get into music later on just FYI.
00:07:55
Speaker
However, I want to know your favorite venue that you used to go to as kids. In the city or just in general? Let's do in the city and then also Long Island.
Career Transition and Personal Style
00:08:07
Speaker
I think in the city just because it was the first
00:08:12
Speaker
The first big one I went to was Rosa and Ballroom. That was, you know, heading on the train. I was 14, 15 with my brother, a couple of friends. It was within walking distance of Penn. And it was the first time seeing bands that I found myself in like a big setting. I think it capped at like 3,000 people, 2,500 people. Right, yeah. It's pretty solid, like, you know, mid-size venue. That was the venue. I mean,
00:08:42
Speaker
My, the first time I went there, it was, I saw a dashboard. This was the weirdest show already. Dashboard confessional opened. Snapcase. I want to say face to face in H2O. I forget who played when. Oh my God. Yeah. And then I went back. Yeah. It was just. What gear was that? Do you remember?
00:09:03
Speaker
I want to say that was, holy moly. I graduated high school in 2003. That might've been 2001 or two. So I think so far my romance had just come out. So that's why he was opening. Or 2001 or two. Probably two. That's a great show. Very reminiscent of like the music or the underground music scene at that point where everybody else.
00:09:27
Speaker
Yeah, because everyone, you know, everyone supported each other and it was like, oh, you know, just hop on this tour, you know, get your name out. But I saw so many great shows there. And then from there, you know, Irving Plaza, which is still around. Right. The knitting factory was great.
00:09:42
Speaker
Yeah, it was cool because it was too, they had smaller shows downstairs and then like the main national tours would play upstairs in the bigger room. So, I mean, I saw like, you know, like, I mean, Catch-22 headline overtaking back Sunday there, like, so these crazy times back then. Right, totally, totally.
00:10:02
Speaker
But I would say overall, I think Roseland, just because it was the first big experience with bands that I found myself, you know, not counting like concerts you would go to when you're a kid, like with your parents. Right, right. Yeah. On the island, that's tough because you probably know Long Island, like venues come and go like every two minutes. Totally, totally.
00:10:23
Speaker
But there was a place called The Downtown in a town called Farmondale, which is like 10 minutes from me that had every, every tour you could think of from like 2000 to maybe 2006 came through The Downtown. I think like Unearthed shot a video there, like so many bands used it for video. Now it's some like wing, like chicken place now, but. Because of course it is.
00:10:47
Speaker
Yes, but I think the downtown was the big Long Island one, and it was also a smaller, it was just a VFW in a town called, I think it was in Ronkonkoma, a town called Ronkonkoma, this place called the Hungarian Hall, which, I mean, I know we're doing music later, so I'll save it for later, but that was the first time where bands I was in, I first played like a VFW was this place, and that was massive tours went through this little VFW, which is so interesting. That's awesome. Yeah, really cool.
00:11:19
Speaker
I missed it, but yeah, you know, yeah. Times change. That's it. What can you do? So I was going to ask you, uh, to get us to get us back on track. Uh, what do you do? What do you do for work? Um, up until last summer, I actually was, um, a manager for a chain of supermarkets on the long Island that, that actually got bought out and other gone.
00:11:49
Speaker
I did that for a while. I really liked it. But it was getting to the point where I just wasn't a big fan of the scheduling, just logistics stuff like that. And I actually lived down the street from a school for kids with special needs, you know, things like that. And I was like, you know what, I think I'd be good at that. And I
00:12:12
Speaker
just changed gears. And now I work with kids with special needs, like speech, speech issues, like autism. And I've been doing that for a year and a half now is I love it. There are about ages like two to five in that range. And I work with great people and I live on the same block as my job. So I have no commute. Oh wow. See that's like, that's like worth a million dollars. That's the thing. I mean, um,
00:12:42
Speaker
My, my old job, there was a lot of, you know, Oh, can you go to this store instead of this store today? They need more help than this store. So I'd be like going around all these different towns. And this is like, Oh, it's, uh, I have work at, you know, eight, I can leave the house at seven 59. You know, I have a school schedule and weekends off. And, and I actually, like some, most days I look forward to it.
00:13:06
Speaker
That's really cool, man. And I'm not saying, like, look at me, but I jumped right in and I know I'm good at it. Like, I'm not going to say, hey, I'm the best, but I mean, I just jumped in and I really love it. And I'm going to explore more levels of teaching as I go on, but it's really great. I love it. And the kids are, you know, some days are better than others, but they're really great.
00:13:30
Speaker
And it's nice to look forward to going to work at least some of the days, which is nice. I work with great people, I love it. Yeah, there are plenty of menswear goons that are in education. I think part of it is that there still is kind of a dress code, but then I think too, people who find their way to education are not
00:13:58
Speaker
and a
00:14:23
Speaker
But so do you, I mean, do you go to work dressed up just because you like it? Because you, for me it's different because I sort of am trying to like, I don't know. It's not like show the kids who's boss, but it's like, here I am an adult, right? Yeah, I got that. I do.
00:14:44
Speaker
I do in terms like thoroughly today, if it's, if it's obviously weather, the weather thing, first of all, but like, you know, I did, I did some stuff, I worked over the summer because there's, there's summers, there's summer classes in summer school. And, you know, I was wearing like shorts and like a polo shirt because it was so hot.
00:15:00
Speaker
But regularly, yeah, I'll do, I'll, I have like, I have like work designated clothes cause we do art and stuff like that. Things can get messy. So I'll have, um, I have a few pairs of chinos, some pairs of cords and just some Oxford's. I just kind of mix and match. Um, I try to at least wear an Oxford and, uh, do you know, like chinos or cords every day and I'll just do, um, white vans or I'll do like, um, not boat shoes, sort of like a, sort of like a camp mock.
00:15:28
Speaker
Yeah. And it's funny because I do get people go, Oh, you look so, you know, what's the occasion? Stuff like that. And they're just poking fun. But I, for me, I feel better. It sounds funny, but even like mentally, I feel better.
00:15:44
Speaker
No, it's real, it's very powerful. If I just put an Oxford on, tuck it in, and everything is comfortable, like everything I'm wearing is secondhand stuff, like everything is broken in. Broken in, yeah. So if a kid gets paint on my shirt or whatever, it's like, whatever, I'll just throw it out. Or maybe I'll just wash and wear it. Yeah, totally, totally. So I'll wear something like that, like somewhat of a uniform, also too, so I don't have to think about it much in the morning, like a blue Oxford, brown chinos,
00:16:13
Speaker
white vans and I wear like my lanyard and sometimes I'll throw in like a like a quilted vest just so I have some pockets you know or I have like a cotton you know I have like a when we did like parent teacher I was wearing like a cotton sport jacket like something easy you know
00:16:30
Speaker
you know, just, you look put together, but it wasn't as if you got up at 4 a.m. and started getting ready type of thing. Totally, totally. Yeah, so it's easy. Yeah, and if you get pain on an Oxford shirt, you move it from the work clothes to the casual at home clothes. Yeah, to, you know, mow the lawn clothes or give the dogs a bath clothes, maybe something. Yeah. Yes, for sure. So that's nice. So are you like the best dress person at the school?
00:16:59
Speaker
It's a loaded question, but I think you know what I mean. I think, I mean, it's funny because you might know this being in education, there's not a lot of men, especially in early education. No idea. I'm gonna say off top of my head, in my building, there might be maybe six or seven guys in the whole building.
00:17:29
Speaker
So I don't want to say I'm best dressed, but I definitely do think I probably put a little bit more thought into it. Most likely because those guys probably aren't into clothes like I am. You know, it's fair. Everyone looks fine. It's just some people, I mean, we work with young kids. I mean, you're allowed to wear pretty much whatever you want. So.
00:17:53
Speaker
I won't name names, but I've seen people in, in, uh, in Crocs and sweatpants. So what can you do? But it's comfort. It's comfort. You're chasing kids on the playground. You're, you know, things like that. We have a gymnasium. They go to the gym. So you want to be able to move around. Yeah. Best dressed. That's subjective, but I do get a lot of people do like,
00:18:15
Speaker
jokingly and lovingly will comment on. Now that it's getting colder, I'll wear a coat. You got the polo coat. Oh, that doesn't go near work. No way. No way. But the other day, I had this old duffel coat on, and everyone's like, what are you dressed for? I'm like, I don't know. To me, it's just a coat.
00:18:37
Speaker
But to them, I guess it looks, I guess cause it's different. You don't see it that often, whatever, but you know what? Forget it. I am best dressed. Awesome. There we go. There we go. Yeah. A long winded. Yes. We're fluffing you up. We're fluffing you up for the night. My job listens to this. I mean, even so, I bet you're going to, you know, if they do, they'll, they'll get a little bit of, uh, maybe they'll agree to be nice. Yeah.
00:19:04
Speaker
Dude, one thing that Connor and I both kind of noticed in preparation for this episode, is you look so fucking comfortable in basically anything you're pictured wearing. Like, nothing ever seems contrived. Like, you know, as three clothing people, like just how do you, you know, how do you manage like, to just pull that off?
00:19:29
Speaker
I mean, I think about this stuff way too much, so I have an answer immediately. Of course. I think it's just, I think it's when I found my lane, so to speak, when I found what I liked in terms of clothing, that was it. It's sort of like you arrive, like, oh, this is my clothing journey.
00:19:53
Speaker
is ending and beginning here. Cause I found what I love. So I'm going to take that and run with it. But I also know myself enough to know that I'm going to stick with this and I'm just going to hone it and kind of perfect it. So that's when I found this sort of, uh, I don't know, like traditional classic menswear, Ivy prep type of thing I like.
00:20:15
Speaker
I know myself enough to know that I'm never going to be head to toe in Supreme or something like that, which I know people who are, and it's great. I know people who can weave in and out of that stuff, but I know I wouldn't feel comfortable in that stuff. And it's not me. So I think that's what I did. I think it's knowing myself and knowing what I like. And, and, and that just, what's the word that just like amplifies the confidence.
00:20:42
Speaker
Oh, for sure. For sure. And I think what you said a few minutes ago about having a uniform like, that is very much how I like to feel also. And so when you find that uniform, you kind of are just like, I'm home.
00:20:58
Speaker
That's it, that's what it was. When I first started getting into this stuff and I was like, wow, this world of these types of items and pieces and stuff, I'm like, this is it. It just clicked in my head. And that was almost a decade ago. And I still, that's just what I like. I know people, like I said, I know people who would like to experiment and like to mess with different cuts and different everything.
00:21:27
Speaker
I love seeing that, but I know that that's not for me. And I think I did that. It would look like a costume or I'm dressing, you know, I'm like cosplaying sort of. I don't like that stuff. That's not me. Right. Right. Yeah. Like the clothes are wearing you versus the opposite. Yeah. Like I put something on. It's like, oh, this is.
00:21:47
Speaker
This, it sounds funny, but it's about how it feels. I put on like an old Shetland or you mentioned that poll code I found. That to me feels like, oh, I was meant to wear this. This is for me. I don't have to think twice about it. Some people go shopping, they try things on. They're like, I gotta think about it. No, I either like it or I don't. Nothing really grows on me.
00:22:12
Speaker
I kind of know it. It's not like music where you can hear a song and it takes a little bit, a few listens and you're good. It's just like, oh, this coat, I love it, or I don't. That's it. It's pretty simple, but it might take people a while to get to that point. Certainly, certainly. Is that also why you prefer glasses over contacts as we're all three spectacle wares?
00:22:37
Speaker
Um, yes. I mean, one, sticking something in my eye freaks me out. I don't want to do that. Dude, I feel you entirely. I don't, I've seen too many gross scary movies where I don't want eye stuff. I don't want to deal with that, but it's also part of, um, your outfit. You can, you know, a darker, I just changed out my frames other day. I have like three or four pairs of glasses. Um, mostly, mostly ones I've thrifted the frame and got re-lensed.
00:23:04
Speaker
So it's not that expensive, and three or four pairs that look a little bit different, darker frames, clear frames, like a tortoise shell. Yeah, like you said, it's like the top, it's like the last thing you can, you know, add to your outfit, which is nice. For sure, for sure. I'm not a big accessory person, you know. So besides, you know, a watch. So changing your glasses can change your entire look, obviously. So
00:23:30
Speaker
Yeah. And now I've been wearing them since I, since I was seven years old. So they're just part of me. Oh yeah. Same here. I think I got mine similar. Like I was like 11 or so. Yeah. So it's just. Yeah. I feel naked without them. That's the thing. When I was a kid, I didn't want to wear them. And then I got to a point I'm like, I, I, I don't want to never not wear them, ever not wearing them. Cause they just, I feel funny without them. Absolutely. Mm-hmm.
00:23:55
Speaker
Yeah, since you have a few pairs also, I went through a period last year where I broke literally three pairs in a month. I broke the ones I was wearing. That sounds like exactly like your life. That sounds like something so appropriate. What were you doing? I don't even know. They just fell apart. It's like the pair, the backup pair, and then the second backup pair all in a month. And I'm like, all right, I have to remedy this situation.
00:24:21
Speaker
Yeah, I try to keep, I've gotten better with it where I try to keep them in their cases and like I put them away because if I leave them on a table or something like that, yeah, the most likely something will happen to them. I actually had a, I actually, I haven't broken a pair in a while, but I had like a thin wire pair that just got, I don't know. They were just really, they were, again, they were, they were secondhand and I got them relensed. But I go for like the thicker, like a little thicker frame and I just gotta be careful with them. But things happen. What can you do?
00:24:50
Speaker
You know, once in a while, your dog gets all over the pair. Not yet. Not yet. That's good. That's good. Not yet. Not yet. We'll see. So were you interested in clothing before thrifting? Or thrifting before clothing? Did they come together? I mean, I think it stemmed
00:25:17
Speaker
The short answer is yes. I think it stemmed from, again, a lot of it goes back to music. Being a kid, you know, seeing bands I liked and I was like, oh, they look cool. It sounds so simple and so silly, but I'm like, oh, seeing a music video, I'm like, oh, that band looks cool. You know, I grew up obviously in the 90s and I came up with the resurgence of punk where like Rancid and Green Day and all those bands were mainstream.
00:25:44
Speaker
So I'd see like, you know, Green Day wearing like, you know, chain wallets and like cool t-shirts. I'm like, oh yeah, they look cool. I want to wear those things. So it just stemmed from that. It stemmed from music, it stemmed from movies. To this day, movies and things like that. I take a lot of my style points and my viewpoints from movies I love. And it's, I don't wanna say I,
00:26:14
Speaker
only been influenced by
Thrifting Adventures and Marketplace Involvement
00:26:15
Speaker
those two things but those are the two main things I can think of where where that would be it because I was never the person who was like you know looking at like fashion magazines or books or like I know people who love to watch like the runway shows I'm like that's not that's not for me I think it's cool that's not I think it's cool it's interesting but
00:26:35
Speaker
It was definitely like pop culture, music, movies, television. You see people now who will repost like the 90s film preview, film premiere pictures and stuff like that, which I think is interesting. Yeah, it's all cyclical in a very interesting way. Yeah, so we know that you do something called Al Fargo's Marketplace.
00:27:04
Speaker
Oh yeah. How did you get started with that? Who's Alfargo? Um, that is a great question. And I feel like I should know that, but I don't. And I've done so many now where I should ask the guys who started it, who Alfargo is, but I don't know. Maybe I will. The next one is the 10th one we're doing. So it's an occasion. Maybe I'll finally ask. Yeah. Where's the next one at?
00:27:29
Speaker
Um, they are all in New York city. Um, 91 East third street. Um, I have a date, but they didn't announce it yet. So I don't know if I can say it. Um, but it's in December. It's going to be around the holidays.
00:27:43
Speaker
But it started, it honestly started because one of the guys who founded it, Elias, he DM me on Instagram. We followed each other for a bit. He's a clothing guy. And he just starts, he was seeing the things I would put in my Instagram stories, you know, things I thrifted. And he was like, man, would you be interested in doing like a pop-up? I see you have some, you find some cool stuff, you know, let me know.
00:28:09
Speaker
And I sell on eBay like here and there. I don't, I'm not consistent with it. So I was like, Oh, that's great. You know, I would love to do that. So it was just a DM. And then I've been, I've done every one of them since that was last September. So we just did number nine last month. Yeah. Number 10 is next month. And it's, it's honestly, man, it's been not just because I get to sell stuff and, you know, you know, make some money here and there. It's just so great to be around like-minded people.
00:28:39
Speaker
of from all walks of life. I mean, it's New York City, it's just a melting pot. It's just wonderful. And Stefan, Nick, and a lot of the guys who run it are really great. And they just, they keep welcoming me back. And like I said, I've done them all. And as long as they keep asking me back, I'll keep doing them. It's great. And it's gained some traction, you know. Now I did the first two or three, we had to get some people in the door. It was a little difficult, but now it's been, I mean, the last two was so busy, so busy.
00:29:09
Speaker
Um, it's been really great. Maybe you guys will get there one day. We'll see. It'd be nice. Yeah, that would be sick, man. I, I'm also like, I do a lot of markets with the, and like, it's, it's so nice to like be face to face with someone and see them get visibly excited rather than like posting something on eBay and who, who knows what, you know, the person that buys it is looking for it because, you know, a particular reason, but.
00:29:37
Speaker
It's wonderful. It's great. I mean, I've had people go, oh, I'm going to, you know, a lot of couples like, you know, uh, buying things for each other and a lot of, and it's funny because it's advertised as like a menswear garage show, but a ton of women come and buy stuff, which is so cool. Oh, for sure. You know, um, and it's just been so great to, to just meet people that I can now call friends. Totally. It's so nice. Do they do kind of a revolving cast of vendors or? They, they.
00:30:07
Speaker
They do and they don't. I'm the one seller who's been there every time. I think it might be a location thing because I'm not too far away. And I have the weekends free, so it's pretty easy to schedule it ahead of time. But there have been sellers that have been there multiple times. There's only been maybe the first two. There were some sellers I haven't seen since. Maybe they didn't.
00:30:31
Speaker
If it wasn't their best sale day, maybe they just can't make it. I don't know what it was. Right. Right. There's, um, there's definitely been a few rotating sellers, but for the most part, I would say there's me and maybe two or three others that have been there multiple times, but I'm the only one that's been there every time.
00:30:48
Speaker
And it's a point of pride now, I gotta keep going. And it's great. And it's, again, besides all that great stuff, it's great to know that, you know, I'm obsessed with this stuff and it's not just me. You know, it's so nice. And on top of the fact that all I do is buy. So once in a while I gotta sell stuff. I'm like, oh, this is, where's the money? It's like a real life version of the style forum thrift thread, I would assume.
00:31:17
Speaker
Yes. I'm still in there. Oh, nice. Yeah. I have not been in a while, but. I don't really post. I just read it every now and then. Yeah. I'm just, I'm happy to know if it's still going. Oh, for sure. So I was going to ask you, and this is just sort of a, like a whatever question, but what is the number one thrift find for you?
00:31:48
Speaker
I guess going back your whole career. Oh, man. Well, there's two. I ramble, so I'm going to apologize in advance. No, no, no. Yeah, we're rambling.
00:32:00
Speaker
rambling people too. I love it. Well, I would thrift in high school because of, like I said, bands I would see when I was coming up early 2000s, a lot of those bands would wear like little league t-shirts and all that stuff. And I'm like, oh, where'd they get those at the thrift store? But the thrifting I do now, that started about eight, nine years ago, maybe 10 years ago. So since then, I mean, I have been so lucky where I found so much great stuff.
00:32:24
Speaker
But things that keep coming back to me, because I have had people, especially at Alfargo, say, oh, this is all thrifted. This is all secondhand. What's your best thrift find? They want to talk about it. Ironically, I have found so much Brunello Cucinelli, which is great, obviously. I don't know why or how, but I have. I came across a Cucinelli suede vest lined with cashmere. No joke.
00:32:54
Speaker
in a bin at a yard, not a bin, a milk crate at a yard sale for a dollar. Oh my gosh. I didn't know what it was at the time. I had no clue.
00:33:05
Speaker
Uh, that was a good one. Um, kerosene, which I'm pretty sure I don't want to be wrong. I think is, uh, only bespoke. Like, I don't think kerosene makes ready to wear from what I know. Um, a kerosene overcoat, I think it was 17 bucks. Um, which again, I think it, I think is bespoke. So you have to go get a name. So that's fine in that secondhand wild. Yeah. Yeah. That's so funny. It's like.
00:33:36
Speaker
Yeah. People just get rid of stuff. I guess they outgrow it. They die. Yeah. Grow it. They pass. It could just be, they have the money where they're like, I don't like it anymore. I'll get a new one. I could be that. Or even if they know it's worth something, they don't have the time or the space to sell it. Um, I mean, I've, I've found so much Alden, which is great. Um, so Cordovan, uh,
00:34:02
Speaker
I mean, Laura Piana stuff, cashmere sweaters, I mean. Yeah, you're kind of in the mecca of this type of thing. That's the thing. I feel bad sometimes when I get a DM from someone who's like, dude, I can't believe, again, like, you found this, like, how do you find it? It's me. Every time. That's me. Every single fucking time. I'm the person he's talking about. It's happened a few times. But dude, believe me, if it was reversed, I'd be like, what the god damn it, man. Like, what are you doing to me? You're killing me.
00:34:33
Speaker
I get it, I mean, when I first got into it, you mentioned the style form thread, Matt who does Luxlop, who is a fantastic guy, so great, so generous. Oh, totally, totally man. But he used to fight it where I'm like, this guy's, I'm gonna kill this guy. Yeah, yeah. You know? So there are people who you even are envious of. There was.
00:34:58
Speaker
That's a bold statement. But I don't think, I don't think he thrifts much anymore. He's so busy with his store and consignment stuff. Great for him. He's awesome. And also too, this is probably pretty obvious, but the stuff I look for,
00:35:13
Speaker
I know Matt, you thrift. I know you both thrift. Most people, especially around here, aren't looking for the stuff I'm looking for. They're looking for 90s pop culture stuff, 90s sports stuff, streetwear, band t-shirts. I like that stuff too, but I'm looking for, I call it the grandpa stuff. I want that stuff.
00:35:34
Speaker
Right. And the menswear kind of thing always ebbs and flows, like, you know, five, six, or maybe not that long or not that short ago, but like, you know, 2015, 2014, like that was hugely popular and everybody kind of was into that. And like things change, but, you know, the, the kind of people that are still into it, you're finding stuff that you enjoy and they, you know, you've got that connection with them.
00:36:02
Speaker
Yeah, you guys just had Zach on, I would look at his Tumblr all the time, like, wow, he finds the most amazing stuff. Totally, totally. Yeah, but it was, you know, old tweets, like Ivy League stuff, like very New England, and he would find that stuff all the time, like, man, like, I gotta start thrifting. Right, right. I'm just lucky now that the stuff I look for isn't what most people look for. Because the Thrift Song on Long Island are, they're busy all the time.
00:36:30
Speaker
Oh, I could imagine, yeah. But it's not really people looking for the stuff I'm looking for. So it's kind of goes under the radar a bit. Nice. And it's also what you know, people who maybe someone just started. They don't really know what they're looking for. They're just trying to get a feel for it. Right, right. So I am very lucky. So to piggyback on Connor's initial question, what is your biggest regret of something you did not buy? Oh, man, that's tough. Not to trigger you.
00:37:00
Speaker
Yeah, I think about literally almost every day. So that's a great question. Are you asking if it in terms of something I would have kept for myself or something that if I if I bought, I could have sold it for like a decent amount of money or both? Yeah, whatever either way.
00:37:18
Speaker
Well, I know for a fact, again, talking about this poll code, I just grabbed a thrift that I used to go to years ago that it's closed, it's gone, doesn't exist. It was a small church thrift, which are always the best. I can literally picture it in my head, the rack, which is so stupid, but a rack was two, back to back,
00:37:44
Speaker
Count, one camel hair, one like wool herringbone, polo coats. I think they were 40, 50 bucks a piece. And I'm like, $40, $50. That's, I'm not paying that. So I left them and it haunts me every day because they're significantly more money now, especially old polo ones. I would say those two polo coats. And when I was, when I first started like, you know, maybe the first year or two I was thrifting. Again, it's, I don't know why this stuff is so clear in my head, but it is.
00:38:14
Speaker
In a small thrift again, it still exists, it's still around. I distinctly remember seeing a Brunello Cucinelli cashmere sweater and it was $20. I'm like 20 bucks, no way. And I left it there. $20, are you kidding me? Right. They'll stick out in my head. But I think about all the things that I don't even see that get bought.
00:38:38
Speaker
which is a whole other very existential part of being a picker. Yes. But I would say, I would say those two and I have a friend, my friend Gideon, who's great. He's big into drifting too, but he really does it more for the, like I said, pop culture stuff, sportswear. He found, I grew up like really obsessed with Green Day and he found a 95
00:39:01
Speaker
Green Day Insomniac, um, Tortee at a store I go to all the time. And I was like, if I had just went that day, I would have found it. Oh man. Yeah. But he's, it went to someone who's, you know, he's a good guy. So I'm glad he got it. But yeah, totally. Totally. Yes. But yeah. And he knows that if he ever wants to get rid of it, it, I, I, I DM'd him the same day in here. He already sold it. Oh, damn.
00:39:24
Speaker
I'm like, I know where you found it. I know what you paid. I'll give you whatever you think it's gone. Like, okay. I used to joke, I used to joke that I would buy things so that other people couldn't have them. And I feel like, I feel like that has doomed and damned me like in, in my thrifting pursuits. Cause like,
00:39:44
Speaker
Oh, I just haven't found really anything at all. And maybe that's the reason maybe that's the reason why was I was like to this my thrifting hubris. It's, it's hard because you
00:40:02
Speaker
You know, consistency is a big thing, but a lot of it's timing. I mean, I can think of things that I've definitely walked into a store I go to all the time and they're literally rolling out a new rack and I just grab it off the new rack. A lot of it's timing. That's a big part of it. Going as often as you can without overdoing it and the timing.
00:40:22
Speaker
If you frequent a store, maybe you go even two, three times a week, you start to learn when they put out a new inventory. You start to learn how the turnover goes and you go based off that. Again, I don't do this full time. I do it for fun. It's nice to make some money off of here and there, but I do it because I enjoy it. It's a hobby. So I'm not as competitive. I know people who do it full time and it's almost like life or death. They gotta find stuff every day.
00:40:53
Speaker
That takes the fun out of it. But like you said, I used to have that mentality too. I'm like, oh, this is a great piece. It has a stain in it, but I don't want to leave it. I don't want someone else to get it. So I'm going to buy it. And then I probably just re-donated it, which is so stupid. But you got to grab it when you see it. You have to. Yeah. So you were a touring musician for a while. And we were just wondering what
Musical Journey and Influences
00:41:23
Speaker
What was your band called? The band was called The World We Knew. We were like a metal core-ish band, not like too, too heavy, but heavy enough. Yeah, I did that for about, I would say touring for about three and a half, maybe four years. Oh yeah, what time period? Our busiest time period as a band was probably 2007 to about 2010, 11. Okay, yeah.
00:41:51
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But I joined my first band, I think, when I was 13, 14, locally. But that was the band that actually got to tour and stuff like that. We were on a few labels. We put out some albums on a label called 7th Dagger, which is my friend Danny, which was a straight edge record label back in the day.
00:42:10
Speaker
And then we actually got picked up by Stillborn Records, which is Jamie Josta. We did one album on Stillborn in 2009. That's wild, man. So you guys were pretty underground music. You guys were pretty big in the scene.
00:42:32
Speaker
It's funny because we were and we weren't. We got to a point where we were getting put on decent sized tours where we knew, okay, there's gonna be people here. We didn't have to think twice about it. There'll be people at the show, we don't have to guess. But I always say we were too metal for like the hardcore fans and we had too many hardcore elements for the metal guys.
00:43:00
Speaker
So we could never really find our spot. The kids that liked us were really wonderful. And I actually am still friends and talked to people that I met through the band to this day, which is great. But we got on these decent sized tours through our label, which was awesome. And our friend Danny used to book us too, which was great. I don't know if we were big, but we were
00:43:25
Speaker
doing well at a point where, you know, the band was what we did. Right. I mean, I would say maybe 16 months maybe with just doing the band, which it's hard to do a band full time, especially like a heavy band. Oh, totally. Yeah. I mean, unless you're a fucking Slayer or someone, you know, like
00:43:47
Speaker
You know, I mean, we got to do, um, uh, a short run with Avery. We did like four or five dates together. Oh, that's killer. Yeah. And you would see like, Oh, this is a tour. Like this, you know, it was us, um, crowbar, the Acacia, the Acacia strain. Hey, I was just going to mention them. Yeah. That's crazy.
00:44:09
Speaker
I know, and we rolled up to the electric factory in Philly, and I'm like, this is nuts. It's just amazing. Yeah. How old were you at the time? When the band was its busiest was 2009. So that was what? Math 12, 13 years ago? So mid-20s? Mid-20s? But at the time,
00:44:37
Speaker
I think I have a twin brother. He was in the band too. He played guitar, played drums. We were the oldest, but our guitar player, Tim, I think he was only 18 or 19. So we had some younger guys in the band. So being able to do
00:44:54
Speaker
bigger tours like that and being so young was wonderful. I mean, I grew up, I was 12 years old when I first bought a Hapery record. So being a satisfaction, of course. Oh, of course, of course. It's a monumental album, you know? Absolutely. So it was like, you know, life came full circle.
00:45:14
Speaker
Uh, which was great, but yeah, I was in my mid twenties and, um, it, it was a fantastic time. I'm still great friends with, I mean, I hung out with all the guys from the band last week. Like it's, they're still, they're wonderful people and it's great to keep in touch. Um, one of the guys in the band, my friend, Tim, he's actually in a band now. I don't know if you guys know, um, fit for an autopsy, they're on nuclear blast. They're, they're now, they just, they just did a lamb a god tour. Like it's awesome.
00:45:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So there's still, there's still heavy, heavy tours that do very well, but it's, it's hard to, it's hard to get to that point. Oh, absolutely. As someone that spent many, many times with, you know, nine people packed in the conversion band with gear. It's like, okay. Yeah. We, we did our first tour. It was, I think it was 50, our first time doing the entire country, I think it was 50, 54 days or 55.
00:46:10
Speaker
We didn't have a van. We borrowed our singer's mom's two door Ford Explorer and put a trailer on it. And we had a guitar player at the time. He was like six two. Yeah. No, we had no, it was just, I think back in like, I don't even know how we survived. Like it was just unbelievable. It's like, you contrast that with like the hate free tour and they're just like, what on earth?
00:46:35
Speaker
I know. I mean, we did a tour with that band, Despise Icon. I don't know if you guys know that band. And our friend's band at the time, this band called Wins the Plague. And that was, I mean, Wins the Plague was like at their peak at that time. So these, it was like massive venues. These guys are on buses. It's like, this is, I mean, this is wild. Like it's just the difference between the opening band and the headliners like night and day. It's so nice.
00:47:05
Speaker
It was a really great time. So we have to ask, because we've seen him a few times as we were lurking your Instagram, is the bearded dude that's taken selfies your twin?
00:47:20
Speaker
Oh, like way back in the day before, like a while ago before my feed was just pictures of my outfits. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. We're two minutes apart. That's awesome. Cause yeah, Carter and I were like, this is this shame. And then there's like, there's a picture from, I don't know, a year or two ago, maybe where he's wearing like a bike hat turned up and you're, you know, yourself. And we were like, no, that's not shame.
00:47:44
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, that's that's yeah, that's my brother. That's awesome. Yeah, we were we we did the band together, which was great because we got to travel together. Yeah, like I said, we're two minutes apart. I'm lucky that he knew how to play guitar and how to play drums. So it's like that. Let's join a band together. Yeah. Yeah. Do you guys jam like when you were little kids?
00:48:07
Speaker
Funny, honestly, not that much. He didn't really join a band until that band The World We Knew. I had been in bands locally before that without him. We sometimes would play together at home or here and there, but we didn't really start playing together until the band.
00:48:25
Speaker
Um, cause he didn't really start playing a lot until we joined. Cause the world we knew was a local band that had all different members besides our singer. And when, when, when our singer Frank wanted to start touring, all the other guys were like, Oh, I can't. So Frank was like, well, I want to tour. So honestly, this is years ago. It doesn't matter now. Frank was like, you're all out of the band essentially. And I'm going to bring all new guys in cause I want to tour.
00:48:50
Speaker
So we all kind of, him and I joined the band at the same time. And then we, that's when we started playing together way more, obviously every day, every day. Yeah, that's him. So did you thrift while you were on tour? Were those two different, two different eras of your life? Dude, I didn't have money.
00:49:12
Speaker
Yeah. We don't know. We don't know. And I guess there's no space to keep. You're not keeping a polar coat somewhere. No, I, you know, it's funny. Again, it was so our, our, our margin, so to speak, we're like razor thin. It was, we got to put gas in the van. We got to eat. Um, luckily enough to the point, you know, I played drums, so I had a lot of moving parts in terms of gear. So if I had like a kick pedal break or I had my drum thrown break one time, mid song.
00:49:42
Speaker
Oh God. You know, so like I had stuff breaking. So like the band would buy, buy replacement gear, thank goodness. So in terms of money to spend on stuff, not band related, it wasn't there. It wasn't there. So we would always play this place in Michigan. I forget the town down the block from our grift. I remember it distinctively. And I think back on it now, I'm like, man, imagine the stuff I could have found if I had, if I was doing it when we were in the band, but I didn't, I couldn't, I didn't have money. Yeah.
00:50:10
Speaker
Any, any cent I had would go back into gear or, um, getting merchandise printed, um, fixing our vehicle, fixing our trailer. That's all, that's all I cared about back then. It was like a laser focused on the band. Yeah. It's a being in a touring band where literally like, Oh, we got, we got a hundred bucks to play last night. And we have an eight hour drive. How do we do the $100 guarantees? That's yeah. Yeah.
00:50:38
Speaker
Yeah, we, uh, one of my old bands play the show. Uh, I don't remember where it was, but they, you know, they, we had like a $200 guarantee or something. I think it was in Arizona and literally we rolled up and they were asking for donations at the door. They weren't even charged.
00:50:56
Speaker
Oh, no. Yeah. Oh, no. And like 20 people came. And so it was like us and two other bands and just those situations, man, unless you've been in it, you don't understand. No, no, no. It's we. The door deal was always like, oh, here we go. A door deal. They didn't want to they want to guarantee you money. So it's like, well, you know, I know at least 100 kids are going to show up. Don't worry about it.
00:51:26
Speaker
And we'll split the door, you know, X amount per X amount. And it was like, wait, 17 kids showed up. They paid $10. Yeah. It's like, do you roll the dice and at, you know, just drop that show and have a two-day drive or do you play that show and just hope for the best? Dude, we had a few times, not a ton thing than this, but a few times where we would get to a venue and it was just, the show wasn't happening.
00:51:55
Speaker
the people who say it was, I don't know, like a bar. And they were like, oh, we don't know anything about it. The promoter never showed up and we'd just be stuck there. We actually, again, no names named, nothing. We actually went to a kid who was, who booked us, I think in Philadelphia, somewhere in Pennsylvania. We actually went to his house and knocked on the door and we were like, can we have our money?
00:52:22
Speaker
And his roommate was like, well, he's at school. We went to his school and we waited outside and we're like, you need to pay us. Cause we need, we, we, we're not like those types of people, but we, we were like, you, you told us we were playing the show and you just didn't show up. Right. Right. And it was a tour package, like four bands and you didn't even come to the venue. The show didn't happen and you just weren't there. Right. And we, so we got our guarantee and the next day the other bands were like, did you get ours? And we're like, no.
00:52:53
Speaker
We spent all day trying to find this guy to get our money in. Right. And the kid probably had like, you know, your guarantee in his bank account. That was it. Yeah. It sounds so bad now. And it's like, it's just like you, you know, that it was just, it was so cutthroat. If it was a hundred bucks, like it was life or death sometimes. Totally. Totally. What a wild time. So on, on that note, um, I think our, the last thing we had on the ticket, uh,
Subcultures and Personal Style
00:53:21
Speaker
So personally, I have noticed some sort of connection. I can't put a name on it, but between the people that came from a subculture and are now really into clothing. Do you think that there, in your experience, is some connection between kind of like thrifting and punk rock and then like counterculture as a whole? Because it kind of sounds like that's the world you came from.
00:53:52
Speaker
Oh yeah, for sure. Like I said, I grew up, you know, completely obsessed with music. And when I found the local scene and then I branched out from that, again, I would see these bands wearing, you know, clothes that I would later find out, oh, that's like, you know, they got that at a thrift store. So I wanted to do that.
00:54:11
Speaker
I wanted to go find these clothes based on this music video I saw or this live, you know, someone videotaped it on their old, like, you know, I had like a VHS tape of some band playing a VFW. I'm like, oh, those jeans are cool. Where'd they get those? Right. One of the times out of 10, it was thrifted. So it was a huge connection. It's a huge connection. That's awesome. Yeah. It kind of seems like you keep that same vibe too, like even to modern day.
00:54:40
Speaker
Like you said, everything you wear is pretty much secondhand. Yeah, it's very rare when it's not. I have to really love something and or it has to be something that
00:54:48
Speaker
You know, you see a piece and you're like, I can't, it sounds dramatic, but like, I can't sleep. I gotta get it. Right. Um, but most of the time, yeah, it's just, it's, it's, it's 99% of my stuff is all vintage secondhand. Um, and yeah, it definitely stems from that. I mean, I don't know. I'm sure you guys are familiar with, um, wind sleepers. Um, who, who, when we first, when I first went to his store back, when he had a store in Brooklyn, like we realized, Oh, we were in the same room a lot. Like I would see his old band all the time.
00:55:18
Speaker
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Cause he's, he's not like, I think he's a couple of years older than you and I are. I think he, I don't want to, I think he just turned 40. Okay. Yeah. Yes. But we, we realized like, Oh shoot, we didn't know a lot of the same people. And when he said his band name, I'm like, Oh, I've seen your band.
00:55:37
Speaker
So that's a great example. Someone who makes their living in vintage came from, uh, this, this underground music scene, you know, which is, like you said, it's just, it's just like, uh, it all goes together. All the subculture stuff, all maybe it's like a punk thing too. Like, Oh, I'm, you know, I don't want to wear what you're wearing. I want to go find something rare or different. I'm not shopping at JCPenney. Exactly. I'd rather put a little effort in and find something really unique. Um,
00:56:07
Speaker
And it's all related and not to not to return to this thing we talked about at the beginning, like nonverbal communication. But I do think if you think of a hardcore show, right? You think of a punk show. It's loud. You're not talking. And so the way that you have to communicate.
00:56:26
Speaker
is your clothing. And so it was odd for me seeing these guys who just like would beat the shit out of each other at the shows, like really giving a shit about the like tidiness of their sneakers. That's a great point. Well, I mean, I think about back when I was doing the band I was in and we would be, you know, taking, I don't know,
00:56:51
Speaker
like a stupid little promo photo and be like, oh, I have to wear a friend's band's t-shirt so people know that I like this band. Like you said, you're not speaking, you're not, there's music playing in a show. If you wear the cool shirt, if you wear the cool shoes, that's how you can communicate with people. Like, whoa, that guy likes that band or that guy likes that brand. That's cool. So you immediately know a little bit about the person just by what they're wearing.
00:57:18
Speaker
which is really interesting. And it's the same thing with the stuff I like now. If I'm out and I see someone wearing, is that a Shetland sweater? I do it all the time. That's cool. What are those shoes? I do it all just instinctively do it. Same thing with watches. I'm like, what watches that? It's the same thing. And you don't even know these people. You just see somebody. Yeah, it's all about the observation. If you're into something, you pick up on it no matter what. All the time.
00:57:48
Speaker
Shane, dude, it's been awesome having you on the show. This is great. Yeah, dude, it was a fun conversation. I'm glad we got to do it finally. But yeah, we want to give you a chance to kind of shout out yourself, the market, whatever you want to.
00:58:07
Speaker
Um, I'm just, ironically, I've never made like a, uh, an official, uh, any official social media for like my vintage stuff, but I'm just Shane Joseph with the under the underscore, uh, on Instagram. Uh, I just post pictures of stuff I wear. I post.
00:58:23
Speaker
Drift finds in my stories, and alfargos is just alfargos marketplace on Instagram, you know, everything on there in terms of the next sale photos from the previous sales. It's on there. My eBay is in my, is in my IG bio so people can find it there if they want to find some cool stuff.
00:58:43
Speaker
And if anyone's listening, and if I post something in my stories you like, you can always message me on there. If you want to pick something up, I'm always down for that. That's me. That's me in a nutshell. Awesome. Well, thanks everyone for listening to Apocalypse Duds. I'm Matt Smith. And yeah.
00:59:08
Speaker
Thank you, guys. Right, right, right. I'm at Connor Fowler. Matt is at Rebels Rogues. We thank you all for listening, for all of your help, for listening to my nagging. And we hope you will join us next time on Apocalypse Duds. Oh, and you can email us. No one has ever emailed us, apocalypseduds at gmail.com. There you go. Awesome. So that's it, fellas. Dude, that was solid.
00:59:38
Speaker
Thanks, guys. I didn't want to go on too much, but I didn't want to leave anything out. No, man. That was a nice conversation. That was good. I think it flowed well. It did. I definitely heard pods where I'm like, we're rarely going. Not you guys, other pods. Yeah. It's also funny. I asked you in the text thread, if you'd seen Foundation, it's just hilarious that that's a thing that happened.
01:00:03
Speaker
So, yeah. I mean, were you, okay. Were you in the, did you join the band at a certain point? Did you, like, were you in the band from the start? Um, I, I was, so I was in a band called overdose, um, before and well, before and concurrently. And then, um, one of the original guitarists, uh, foundation broke. Uh, and I joined in, I think, I think edge day 2007 was my first show with them.
01:00:32
Speaker
Did you guys ever play at those edge fests? We played, we played one in Haverill Mass in 2007. And we also like recorded the first, the first like EP, the Earth's evidence that we put out that that same week. Oh, wow. And I mean, we toured with have heart and title fight and forfeit from Syracuse a lot. Yes.
01:00:58
Speaker
Yeah. We, we probably been in the same room at some point in time. Well, that's what I was saying before about, you know, the band I was in, we were, we were two, like the metal guys were like, yeah, they're not metal enough in the hardcore. They're two metal. So we didn't really ever find our place. Yeah. It's weird, man. And like, you know, coming from like the early 2000s when like you said, or like we were talking about everybody kind of played together. Yes. You know, it's, it's funny that that, that kind of broke up, but I think it's kind of come back to that now from what I put together.
01:01:27
Speaker
Oh, it definitely has. I see local shows like posted on Instagram sometimes. I'm like, wow, these bands are mixed. Yeah, it's like an indie rock band, an electronic band, a metal band, and a hardcore band together. And you're like, okay, all right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's because kids now are sort of looking back when we were coming up, like, oh, that was a cool time. Right, totally. Let's make our own, which is cool. I've listened to a lot of Archangel this year, so I have also been going back to that.
01:01:55
Speaker
Oh yeah, dude, I try to listen to new music, but which I do enough of, but I definitely go back to stuff from like 20 plus years ago. Oh, it's great. I guess we have become old though. I mean, I feel like that is a thing that old people do. Yeah. I tried to listen to a band called Soul Blind yesterday. They just put out like a new record and it's very like helmet alt rocky.
01:02:24
Speaker
but I just hate the fucking vocals. That is my friend, Tom, who's in Straight from the Path. Oh, shit, okay, yeah. They're on his label. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It might be something that I need to listen to a little bit more, but I was just like, I can't, the more high-pitched vocals with the super heavy riffing, I was just like, I don't know about this.
01:02:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's straight up just, you know, you would see them on 120 Minutes back in like 90 minutes. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very, very quicksand-ish. Mm hmm. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, I've been trying to listen to more modern music lately. Just sometimes it's hard.
01:03:08
Speaker
Me too, me too. I still have friends that are doing bands, and I try to listen to their stuff, but for the most part, it just comes in waves. Some days I want to listen to just heavy stuff. Some days I want to listen to new fan glory. It just depends on the day.
01:03:30
Speaker
I mean, um, satisfaction. I think last Friday was like the 25th anniversary, like 25 years ago. It's unbelievable. Still so good. Still so relevant. Still holds up. Buried alive. Oh my God world. Like, yeah. Front to back banger. I love buried alive. I don't like terror, which is funny. I like terror up to a point, but true. You know, like the first couple of records and then one with the underdogs is kind of like meh. Yeah. Yeah. You know,
01:03:58
Speaker
Scott, Scott Bogle with Scott Bogle. Yeah. I mean, it's hard. Imagine being like, like I just mentioned, Tom straight from the path, they were, they've been a band almost 20 years now. Right. They were a band that my band, when I was 18, we would play shows all the time. And they were a completely different band. They were like a Dillinger sort of like all over the place, crazy like Matthew band. Right. Now they're more like Marauder band, right?
01:04:26
Speaker
Actually, Stray, Stray is, I mean, Stray gets a lot of crap for being just like a, like a discount raging against the machine. Oh, okay. Yeah. Maybe I think it was somebody else. Maybe, but it's just, I mean, to be a band for that long and to still be doing it, like Azure job is unbelievable. Right. Yeah. And not being, you know, Lamb of God or something. Yeah. Or, or like converge, like my buddy Nate, conference with Nate Newton. Oh, nice. It's crazy to see, like they've literally been a band for almost 40 years at this point.
01:04:55
Speaker
I know, I remember buying that they put out that huge like career spinning DVD and I watched that thing like every day. And there was footage in there from like 93. I'm like, they were a band in 93. I was in third grade. It's crazy. I was in third grade. It's unbelievable. But you're right. They still do it. And they don't even have to, they don't have to tour full time, which is the coolest thing. No, Nate's in like three other bands. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
01:05:23
Speaker
All right, Connor, sorry. You know me in talking about music. Me too. No, no, no. I mean, it's like I will just say this, which I don't know. I was really interested in heavy music, we can call it. And now I only listen to rap music. I just got tired of yelling white people.
01:05:44
Speaker
I get that because again which is an oversimplification I can acknowledge but like not that much of an oversimplification that's not you're right right
01:05:54
Speaker
I get that. I mean, I was saying, my brother, I had to, I had to watch my niece last week. Cause he went to see, he went to see the men's singers. And I was like, man, I just, I just have no desire to see live music like every day, but I don't want to go see it. I would see it every day for years when I was touring. Yeah. I feel like that a lot too. Just like, I'll just put on a record and yes, you know, just jam out in my, you know, in my car or something.
01:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, there's a big trapped under ice show, which maybe has already happened, but I guess they're like having a Baltimore show, which is like a big deal. But I think tickets for it are like a million dollars at this point.
01:06:38
Speaker
I'm sure. God, we used to play the auto bar all the time. Oh, that's like, that's like, yeah, that's like right near my house. I go there all the time. I should have fallen down the stairs there many times. That stage is a nightmare. I can imagine. Everything about it is a nightmare. That's not a place where like, uh, many, many people would ask how exactly did 500 people die inside the fire? Yeah. Yeah. It's some of my favorite venues for like that though.
01:07:09
Speaker
So, oh, me too. Yeah. You know, like, yeah, it's just, it's a, it was a wild time.
01:07:16
Speaker
It was, it was. I was, like I said, I was with the guys I was in the bandwidth last week and two of them still tour. One of them's in a band, one of them just tour managers. And they were like, dude, it's so different now. It's so much more organized. There's really no like, there's really no like demarket tours anymore. It's either on a huge tour or you're on like a small or a huge tour. There's none of those, like you and I did. There's none of those tours happening anymore. Yeah, there's no three touring bands playing a house show.
01:07:45
Speaker
No, no, no. And I think it's honestly, God bless America. I think it's, I think it's social media. Like if you're a band now, you have an Instagram and you have a hundred thousand followers or, or whatever, you know, you can, you can get a pretty decent following just by your, just by your social media. Oh, totally. Totally. You know, like it's just so different now. There's, I would never want to tour that. I can't think about that anymore. Yeah. But what a world. What a crazy time. True.
01:08:16
Speaker
I don't regret it. I just wouldn't do it now. Yeah. It's a good experience, man. Yes. Well, now you have an adult brain. That too. Like I said when we were doing the pod before, I was laser. All I cared about was the band.
Band Experiences and Music Evolution
01:08:31
Speaker
That's it. That's it. What would you recommend? What should I check out? In terms of heavy music? No, your band. Are you on the internet?
01:08:44
Speaker
Actually, yeah, our singer, I think about a year ago, he actually went through all the loopholes and he got everything cleared and he put it on Apple Music. I think it is. Let me check. I only recorded the drums for two records because after I left the band, actually me, my brother and our bass player all left at the same time.
01:09:07
Speaker
So they put out a record after I was in the band, but I'll send you guys a link to the Spotify for the record that I, the one record we did with Stillborn that was like, I guess our quote unquote biggest. I'll send you guys a link to that. And that's me on the drums. Yeah. I'll send it. I'll send it in the text in a second. Keep in mind it's, it was a long time ago. It's not bad by any means. It was, we were, I mean, we just wanted to be a Black Dahlia murder, honestly.
01:09:38
Speaker
So you'll definitely hear those influences, but Dolly was like on earth breakdown. So that's what we wanted to do. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. We were all there at one point or another. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. I don't know how to even qualify what I was listening to like through the eyes of the dead job. Yeah. Cowboy like the more the more it was, the better that it was.
01:10:05
Speaker
God, we played, before we were a touring band and we were a local band, we were allowed, not allowed, we were asked to be the local band, the first time job for a cowboy play Long Island. It was a VFW, 600 people, 600. That's insane. Their drummer was 16 at the time.
01:10:26
Speaker
And that was 2006 or 2007 when Metalcore, we called it MySpace Metal, was the biggest thing on the planet through the eyes of the dead as Blood Runs Black, Job, Suicide, Silence, all those bands were massive. Yeah, that was kind of before the resurgence of hardcore and I feel more thrashy kind of metal, municipal waste and shit like that.
01:10:54
Speaker
And so, yeah, it's so funny. As we get older, you can kind of track the timeline of things. Just talking about this is so funny to me. I know, I think- I like that shit though, like a bass drop, like a breakdown that is absurd. Yeah, totally, totally. Oh yeah, me too. Still to this day, I catch myself listening to absurdly heavy stuff. I'm like, I still like this, honestly.
01:11:24
Speaker
It just makes you feel a certain type of way. It's very much like, cause people would always be so surprised at my attire, you know? Like I wore a tie to the shows that I was going to. I wore a tweed jacket to the shows that I was going to. And like, people were like, what in the fuck are you doing? Cause I'm a redhead already. So I already stand out way more than I would like. And it's just like,
01:11:51
Speaker
knit tie at the job for a cowboy show. And they're like, crowd kill that guy. Yeah, dude, that's why I stayed out because I'm little and I don't like pain. You know what's funny? I always, when I think about this stuff, I think to myself, you look at me now, it's like, oh, that guy was in like a metal bin. That's weird. But if I wasn't
01:12:14
Speaker
playing the show, I probably wouldn't have been there. Right. Like I didn't dislike the music. I just disliked the local scene back then was very clicky, you know, stuff like that. So I would play loadout and half the time I would just go home. I just want to I just want to play my drums. I didn't want to be at the show. So this day, if they were like, oh, do you want to play this show and you get to
01:12:41
Speaker
You don't have to break down your kit. You just get to leave. I'm like, yeah, sure. Yeah, right, right. Yeah. Yeah. I can make an exception once or twice. It's just the easiest thing on the planet. Exactly. Actually, the band I was in 2019, Frank, our singer, he actually got a few guys together and he played a quote unquote reunion show with with different guys. And he was like, hey,
01:13:06
Speaker
Do you want to jump on the drums and play a song at the show? And I was like, okay, three minutes, I get to play the drums in front of people and then I just get to leave. And it's great. Not my drum kit, beat the shit out of it and then go home. So it's great. Do you still play drums?
01:13:23
Speaker
Um, I have my my hi-hats my kick and my snare set up and I mess around a bit I haven't played in front of people since I played that one song at that show like three years ago now Not really honestly, I mean I can still judgment or shame here I used to play guitar for like 12 hours a day and I don't play at all anymore I have one hanging on my wall in my office Yeah, I have it like I still have it in me like
01:13:50
Speaker
You know, I would still, I would, if, not that I don't want to, it's just, I don't know. I did it so much for so long.
01:14:00
Speaker
that I just don't feel the need to. Like I still love music. I listen to it every day. I can still play like physically. I just, I don't know. I think I did it for so long. I got so burned down on it. And towards the end of the band, there was a lot of, you know, we weren't getting along and stuff like that. Maybe there's like negative connotations with it, but so the short answer is yes and no.
01:14:25
Speaker
here and there. I'll jump on the kick and the snare and the hat for like 20 minutes. But then the dogs go crazy and I stop. So. Right. Yeah. I like to get an electronic on an e-kit, but it's just, they're expensive. Yeah, dude. Music gear. I've been, I've been obsessively searching for like a new guitar and set up for the past like month. It's gone actually more obsessively for the past like six months total. It's gone through the roof.
01:14:54
Speaker
for pretty much anything. Towards the end, I was getting the Sam Ash that's closest to where I live. They had a lot of secondhand stuff. I obviously could play the drums, but I had no technique. I would just smash it.
01:15:12
Speaker
I cracked symbols all the time and stuff like that. So I was able to get stuff cheap secondhand, but I mean, I remember buying a Ziljan, like when I had money from like, I don't know, a birthday or Christmas, I bought a Ziljan, um, like an A customer. It's like $3.50 and this was like 2004. Right.
01:15:29
Speaker
You know, so now, like you said, now I think quarantine though, people who, you know, a couple of years ago, quarantine, I think people were picking up instruments or learning instruments, like, you know, staying home, like, I'm going to teach myself piano. So it's like, the prices went up.
Value of Vintage and Collectible Items
01:15:43
Speaker
Oh, totally. Yeah. It's hog shit though. That is not.
01:15:49
Speaker
uh well i mean even pretty much anything that is kind of collectible skyrocketed they're just they're increasing the prices because they're fucking greedy well that too i mean even i'm not even talking about new instruments i'm talking about like the second hand market mostly because like it also has people in control of the prices yeah well i mean it's it's like looking at ebay for something
01:16:14
Speaker
and seeing you know seeing a jacket listed for three thousand dollars and then you look at sold listings and like none of these have sold for nine months so it's like people you know people thinking like oh i've got some gold man i'll throw it on reverb and it's like nah that it sits there for nine months and then nobody buys it i found a coat over the summer um like a like a
01:16:43
Speaker
Abercrombie and Fitch from I think like the late twenties, early thirties. Oh God. Yeah. And I put it in my stories and I got a DM from someone and he said, um, where did you find this? You know, can you say, can you, can be details on it? I sent them pictures. I sent them everything I could on the measurements, everything. He goes, I showed it to a friend who's into this stuff. He said, um, you know, if it was in a little, you know, cause it's, it's kind of rough. It's old. Right.
01:17:11
Speaker
And he's like, if it was in better shape, he would pay like 2,540. He's like, don't sell it for less than two grand. I'm like, I still have it. No one's buying it for two grand. Like you said, you could think something is worth something, but it's just worth what someone wants to pay for it. It's so cool when I'm like, I'm not getting my hopes up.
01:17:29
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I paid $8 for it. So, you know, maybe with your, I don't necessarily want to sell a price. Somebody will pull the trigger, but. Yeah. I have it up for, I think I have it up for two grand or best offer. I actually got a few offers on it, but it was like, I paid $8 for it. So if I get 500 bucks for it, I'll take it. Yeah. But he's like, don't take less than 2000 or 2,500. Don't do it. There's collective in Japan that would buy it. I'm like, where are they? Yeah. It's just like so silly.
01:17:59
Speaker
It's all subjective. 100%. 100%, most of it is. Most things are. All right. Well, I think I'm going to have to eat some dinner. Yeah. I might just leave this in. Can you think of anything that we said that was not good? In the past 20 minutes? No. I mean, I feel like we kept everything
01:18:26
Speaker
We weren't like talking shit about anyone. No, no, no. I was actually trying to be, I'm not that type of person. I was trying to be mindful of like, don't say something bad about a band or a friend. Yeah. You seem, you seem like that type of person. So good. This could be our, our first with a, with a bonus conversation episode. Someone's going to be like, job for a cowboy. What? Yeah, dude.
01:18:51
Speaker
I love the job for a cowboy. I like to sing every song. Dude, that dude, that dude EP was like, everybody had, everybody was listening to that. It did not never. Literally never had this band in my life. It was amazing. It was amazing. And somebody did that. They dubbed over a SpongeBob SquarePants ever. Which was like even better than the album. It was like so, this was like early YouTube days.
01:19:17
Speaker
I think the main thing about that band was that they were all in high school. I think they were teenagers. Yeah, they were really young. It was the first extreme metal band to really blow up because of the internet, honestly, to me, at least. By going viral. And I think like you said, it was the Myspace music days. Yes, they were on Metal Blade. And ironically, they put out records on Metal Blade that are like,
01:19:46
Speaker
real, real good like death metal records, they're good. The stuff they put out is actually very good. But yeah, they were like the pioneers of that world. That was the issue with us, the band I was in that we were not that heavy. So kids were like, oh no, it's not the same thing. I just wanted, as the adjective that they were using at the time brutal,
01:20:14
Speaker
Like, that's what I wanted was the brutal death metal. I don't know why. I don't know what's wrong with me. I thought it was some stuff like that. But yeah, you're right. At that time, it was, you know, the imagery was like the merchandise and the album art and like the song titles. It was like the chase through the woods by a rapist, like all the shirts with like, you know, heads on spikes. And it's like, you know, yeah, I had a chainsaw belt buckle.
01:20:44
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say I did. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was ironic. It was a I mean, the whole the whole of it was like this obsession with like hyper violence. And for me, with my like really long, curly red hair, it's like, well, clearly this is a fucking joke. I have a chainsaw belt buckle and hoodie.
01:21:05
Speaker
Well, that goes back to what I was saying when we were recording. I was saying that, you know, feeling comfortable in clothing. When I was in that world and I would wear, I would wear a band t-shirt with like blood on it. I'm like, this is not me. You know this isn't you. But I just like this band a lot. Or maybe I'm friends with this band and they gave me a shirt.
01:21:24
Speaker
I'm gonna wear it, but you know me, you know, I'm not the guy who wears this stuff, but it's just what you did back then, you know? I wasn't wearing a Shetland sweater. I was wearing a, you know, like a death metal band t-shirt. But it wasn't what I wanted to wear, but I just liked the music. Yeah, yeah. There just weren't really other choices. And it's like, you sort of wanted to fit in.
01:21:49
Speaker
You would see, it's funny, I keep talking about this stuff, but I would see merchandise for bands sort of shift as the years went on. It went from like really big prints and like you said, images of like gore and like violence to more of like a, there was a band, I forget the name.
01:22:06
Speaker
But a lot of their merch was like collegiate. It looked like a crest. It was like a lot more accessible, I guess you would say. So things shifted in like the 2010s, 2011. But that like 2006 to 2010 window, it was like the Wild West when it came to like heavy music and it was just so nuts. It's crazy. Crazy. Cool times though. I'm glad they happened. Same here. Same here.
01:22:33
Speaker
All right, dudes. Yes, this is right. Whatever. All right. Well, I'm going to see what it looks like to edit this thing. And sorry. No, no, no. I'm not going to fuck with it at all. I don't think like, I think that it was more like, I'm going to cut this off of the end and I'm going to cut off the beginning as well. But I think that it was for the most part fine. Cool. Yeah, it was good. All right. Well, thanks again. Yeah, thanks. Take care. Bye. Yeah.