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Ep 78: Making Greatness with Ed Robertson image

Ep 78: Making Greatness with Ed Robertson

LoserKid Pinball Podcast
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47 Plays4 years ago
Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies joins us to talk about Rush! Need we say more?
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Transcript

Introduction and Hosts

00:00:07
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
00:00:09
Speaker
We are on episode 78.
00:00:11
Speaker
You are with Josh Roop, along with my co-captain as always.
00:00:14
Speaker
Scott Larson.
00:00:15
Speaker
And Scott.

New Pinball Machines

00:00:17
Speaker
I heard you got a new pinball machine.
00:00:18
Speaker
I did.
00:00:19
Speaker
I just got a Mandalorian premium that I got delivered yesterday.
00:00:22
Speaker
It's sitting in my frozen garage out there with my Iron Maiden and Beatles, which is too cold to go outside and play.
00:00:31
Speaker
And I'm super excited because I saw the pictures of the Rush LE.
00:00:36
Speaker
They're signing those cards.
00:00:37
Speaker
And so my Rush LE should be on the way.
00:00:40
Speaker
So I am super excited about that.
00:00:42
Speaker
Nice.
00:00:43
Speaker
So if you need to order one, check out Zach and Nicole Mini at Flipping Out Pinball.
00:00:47
Speaker
They are always good to hook you up.
00:00:50
Speaker
And if you have that game that you're looking for, whether or not it's in the future or something that they could possibly obtain through a trade, reach out to them, let them know, and they'll be able to hook you up.
00:01:00
Speaker
Definitely.

Guest Introduction: Ed Robertson

00:01:02
Speaker
So speaking of Rush, I know, Scott, you like Rush, and you dared me to find someone that likes Rush better than you.
00:01:10
Speaker
And so I scoured the internet.
00:01:13
Speaker
I may have called in a couple favors, but I think I found someone a bigger fan than you.
00:01:17
Speaker
You ready for this?
00:01:19
Speaker
I am ready.
00:01:19
Speaker
Bring it on.
00:01:20
Speaker
So Mr. Canadian Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Ed Robertson, is joining us today.
00:01:24
Speaker
How are you doing, Ed?
00:01:26
Speaker
Good to be here, guys.
00:01:27
Speaker
Thanks for having me.

Lyman's Legacy and Mental Health Discussion

00:01:29
Speaker
So, Ed, before we get into any of this, this is our first episode since we heard about Lyman's passing.
00:01:37
Speaker
And we've talked about on the show before, we've talked about the devastating effects of mental health.
00:01:44
Speaker
And a lot of people don't, they don't want to talk about it because people feel either embarrassed about it or they feel social stigma.
00:01:52
Speaker
And
00:01:53
Speaker
Uh, we, first off, we want everybody to know that you're welcome at our table and we, we are inclusive to all.
00:02:02
Speaker
And, um, you know, your brain is just like any other part of your body.
00:02:06
Speaker
So if you need help with, with your liver, your heart, you're going to go get help.
00:02:11
Speaker
And, um, talking about things that are affecting your mental health are just as important, if not more so, because usually people suffer in silence, um,
00:02:20
Speaker
And so we do want to respect Lyman, respect his memory.
00:02:24
Speaker
We're going to talk about more his influence on pinball, but we want to reach out to Ed and say any Lyman memories or any Lyman thoughts that he had.
00:02:34
Speaker
Well, I'm still struggling with Lyman's passing.
00:02:41
Speaker
Lyman and I spoke pretty regularly and we actually spoke at length
00:02:49
Speaker
about his mental health.
00:02:52
Speaker
And I tried to be a resource to Lyman.
00:02:55
Speaker
So I, I spent an awful long time, uh, after Lyman committed suicide, worried that I hadn't done enough to let him know how appreciated he was and how loved he was.
00:03:11
Speaker
And I'm sure a lot of his friends are, are having those fears right now.
00:03:20
Speaker
it uh it's been really hard to reconcile and it's you know i've battled depression myself for many many years um i've i've i've never been at that intense end of the struggle but i've i've spoken to a therapist regularly for
00:03:43
Speaker
almost two decades, definitely the last decade on a weekly basis almost, um, as my schedule permits.
00:03:52
Speaker
Uh, and I've explained to a lot of friends, like I never really feel like I'm in a deep hole, but it's really wide.
00:04:00
Speaker
Um, you know, it, it feels like a, a, a crater that's only, it's only up to my knees, but it kind of goes to the horizon sometimes, you know, and, um,
00:04:12
Speaker
It's just like a background depression.
00:04:19
Speaker
And I, I really wish we were at a place where there wasn't a stigma attached to talking about mental illness, but there clearly is.
00:04:30
Speaker
And people are ashamed when they're struggling.
00:04:32
Speaker
And, you know, Lyman, you know,
00:04:37
Speaker
was so loved and so respected and so revered in this community, but he was so hard on himself.
00:04:48
Speaker
Um, and it didn't matter what game I brought up to Lyman.
00:04:54
Speaker
The first thing he always talked about was what disappointed him about it, you know, and what he wished he could have done better.
00:05:01
Speaker
And, and I'm saying,
00:05:03
Speaker
Lyman, this is a perfect game.
00:05:05
Speaker
Like, you know, talking to him about Walking Dead and saying, like, I think it's perfect.
00:05:12
Speaker
Like, I love it so much.
00:05:13
Speaker
I think Horde might be the greatest moment in all of pinball.
00:05:17
Speaker
I just love it.
00:05:20
Speaker
And I explained to Lyman in so many ways that the intensity of
00:05:28
Speaker
that he's given so many pinball fans the variety of emotions from humor to stress to euphoria.
00:05:40
Speaker
He has been the architect of so much joy for so many people.
00:05:46
Speaker
And I think that's why so many of us are struggling right now.
00:05:50
Speaker
Whether you knew Lyman personally or not, you're thinking, my gosh, how could this guy...
00:05:57
Speaker
who gave so much to so many people and did so many things that, that pinball fans revere and rejoice over.
00:06:10
Speaker
Um, how could he not, um, feel the intensity of that, that love?

Rush Pinball Machine Development

00:06:17
Speaker
Um, so it, it's been a real struggle and I would just reiterate what you were getting at.
00:06:23
Speaker
Um,
00:06:25
Speaker
If anyone out there is struggling, reach out.
00:06:29
Speaker
You have people who care about you and just don't give up on yourself.
00:06:36
Speaker
It's really scary when you see someone like Lyman succumb because we all hold him in such high esteem.
00:06:44
Speaker
So if you're struggling, reach out, reach out to a friend.
00:06:48
Speaker
If you don't have a friend to reach out to, reach out to a doctor, reach out to a coworker, reach out to somebody because the world is a better place with you in it.
00:06:58
Speaker
Definitely.
00:06:59
Speaker
I think we're all, all of us, like you said, even if we know him personally or it, I feel like one of the reasons, well, the main reason I got into this hobby was because of Lyman's code.
00:07:08
Speaker
I mean,
00:07:09
Speaker
you find medieval madness and it's just something that draws you in.
00:07:12
Speaker
And you look at someone, like you said, so revered.
00:07:16
Speaker
I I've never heard a bad thing about Lyman.
00:07:18
Speaker
He was such a gentleman.
00:07:19
Speaker
He, he was always open to listen to you and whatnot.
00:07:23
Speaker
And it just, it stinks.
00:07:24
Speaker
Cause you do question, um, you know, hindsight's 2020.
00:07:29
Speaker
Could I have done something more?
00:07:30
Speaker
Is there something I could have done?
00:07:32
Speaker
And it's just, you know, give someone the opportunity to, to help if, if you are feeling at that state.
00:07:38
Speaker
Yeah, it, it makes me think about Gattaca.
00:07:41
Speaker
If you haven't seen Gattaca, it's a great film, but he's, he's talking, I don't want to give away the premise of it, but he's talking to his girlfriend at the time.
00:07:51
Speaker
And he says, this is the quote, they've got you looking so hard for any flaw that after a while, that's all you see.
00:08:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:01
Speaker
And people who are in deep depression, that's all they see about themselves.
00:08:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:09
Speaker
And, uh, my heart goes out to Penny, who is just one of the loveliest people on the planet and, uh, Lyman's family.
00:08:18
Speaker
And, um, yeah, I think anybody who knew him will be struggling with this for a long time.
00:08:25
Speaker
And the pinball world has lost an absolute Titan, an absolute legend who walked among us.
00:08:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:34
Speaker
Everything he touched turned to gold.
00:08:36
Speaker
Yep.
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah, I agree.
00:08:39
Speaker
So we will do a Lyman retrospective in the future, too.
00:08:43
Speaker
This is more of a snapshot, but we are going to awkwardly transition to what Ed has been working on.
00:08:52
Speaker
And it's near and dear to my heart is the Rush pinball machine.
00:08:56
Speaker
Well, it's not an awkward transition at all because Lyman was the biggest Rush fan.
00:09:03
Speaker
He loved the band.
00:09:04
Speaker
And even after he left Stern, he just kept texting me, you got to make it awesome, man.
00:09:10
Speaker
You got to make it awesome.
00:09:12
Speaker
You got to do justice to this band.
00:09:14
Speaker
They're the greatest band.
00:09:16
Speaker
And yeah, he was on me, riding me the whole time.
00:09:21
Speaker
So it was cool.
00:09:22
Speaker
That's no pressure at all, right?
00:09:24
Speaker
Yeah, no pressure at all.
00:09:26
Speaker
I said, you know, I know one way I could have been sure it was going to be amazing.
00:09:35
Speaker
So this game is fantastic.
00:09:36
Speaker
I got my hands on a pro last week.
00:09:39
Speaker
I got to play it.
00:09:40
Speaker
I enjoyed...
00:09:42
Speaker
the depth of it.
00:09:43
Speaker
I enjoyed the call outs.
00:09:44
Speaker
It's a really fun game.
00:09:45
Speaker
I've got to know though, I was listening to your Stern Insider interview and Getty and Alex reached out to Jody and said, Hey, we want to do this as long as Ed's on board.
00:09:56
Speaker
So are you just known as the pinball guy in the music industry or is it like, like, is that your calling card?
00:10:02
Speaker
Like how, how does like, is that just your thing?
00:10:06
Speaker
Yeah, I'm kind of known as the pinball nerd.
00:10:11
Speaker
And I,
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah, it was initially Getty reached out to me and said, hey, you know, we're being approached about doing a pinball machine.
00:10:20
Speaker
Can you help us?
00:10:23
Speaker
make the decisions.
00:10:24
Speaker
And I said, yeah, I'd be happy to, you know, any questions you have.
00:10:28
Speaker
I said, if you guys want to come over and I'll, I'll show you what I've got and show you what to look out for, that sort of thing.
00:10:35
Speaker
And Geddy said, okay, well, let me get back to you.
00:10:38
Speaker
And then the next call I got was from Jody Dankberg who said, so Rush wants to do this pin, but they're insisting that you kind of be the quarterback and creative direct the thing.
00:10:50
Speaker
It's like,
00:10:52
Speaker
their main stipulation on doing the licensing.
00:10:55
Speaker
Um, and so I was flattered of course, cause I'm such a huge fan of those guys.
00:11:00
Speaker
Uh, and it was a, it was just a really cool opportunity for me to dive in.
00:11:06
Speaker
I'm such a pinball fan.
00:11:08
Speaker
It was really cool to be involved from, um,
00:11:13
Speaker
the initial, like, just from the discussion level all the way through layout, through concept, through artwork, every single aspect of it.
00:11:26
Speaker
It was a really cool insider's look.
00:11:30
Speaker
I mean, I understood the process fairly well because I've been pretty close with a lot of the guys at Stern for a long time.
00:11:39
Speaker
But it was really cool to be involved at every step.
00:11:44
Speaker
So when someone says, I want you to make it awesome, that's a steep hill to climb.
00:11:51
Speaker
And that's like saying, hey, no pressure, but your next album, we want you to sell 5 million.
00:11:57
Speaker
Been there.
00:11:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:00
Speaker
I've had that said to me.
00:12:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:02
Speaker
But okay.
00:12:03
Speaker
So that's the question.
00:12:04
Speaker
Like what is it that, you know, you have been very involved in pinball, but when someone says, I want it to be awesome,
00:12:13
Speaker
What do you do to make it awesome?
00:12:15
Speaker
How does that work?
00:12:16
Speaker
Well, part of my goal with this machine was to transcend the band because you knew that Rush fans were going to be interested in a Rush pinball machine.
00:12:30
Speaker
But I wanted to do what Stern did so well with Metallica and ACDC and Iron Maiden.
00:12:38
Speaker
The machines were...
00:12:40
Speaker
were bigger than the bands.
00:12:42
Speaker
Like I wouldn't put a Metallica record on ever, but it's one of my favorite pinball machines, you know, and same with Iron Maiden.
00:12:53
Speaker
Like, you know, it's not a band I would ever listen to, but it's one of my top favorites.
00:13:02
Speaker
three games of all time.
00:13:04
Speaker
Like, and so that's, that was really important to me at the outset.
00:13:09
Speaker
I want to make a great pinball machine that even if you're not a rush nerd like me, you're going to want to play this game.
00:13:20
Speaker
Um,
00:13:21
Speaker
So it's got to be fast.
00:13:23
Speaker
It's got to be exciting.
00:13:24
Speaker
It's got to be interesting to look at.
00:13:28
Speaker
It's, you know, we just, we wanted to transcend the hardcore rush fan and, you know,
00:13:35
Speaker
you know, I'm such a huge fan of Borg's layouts because they always offer some fast shots, some fast returns to flippers, but also super brutal, dangerous shots that are necessary to do well in the game, you know?
00:13:52
Speaker
So require some precision shooting as much as you'll often have a repeatable ramp shot or,
00:14:00
Speaker
an easy combo you can make.
00:14:02
Speaker
I want the game to beat you up and frustrate you.
00:14:06
Speaker
So those were the kind of early conversations that John and I had.
00:14:11
Speaker
And John, for the first time in many, many, many years, had the luxury of time to design this game and really tweak it and work on it.
00:14:22
Speaker
And he was in heaven because normally...
00:14:26
Speaker
their schedules are blindingly fast and he's got to come up with something quickly.
00:14:32
Speaker
He's got to get it up and flipping.
00:14:36
Speaker
And because of the COVID shutdowns and lockdowns, Borg had time to really play with this layout.
00:14:43
Speaker
And, and the other thing is Borg's a huge rush fan too.
00:14:47
Speaker
So it was, it was a great,
00:14:54
Speaker
There was great synergy right from the beginning because John and I were already really good friends.
00:15:00
Speaker
When the band brought me on, John said, well, this is going to be amazing because you can talk pinball to the Rush guys.
00:15:07
Speaker
You can talk music to the Stern guys and we can get everything we want here.
00:15:13
Speaker
Um,
00:15:14
Speaker
So I felt like John and I were real co-conspirators on the project and pushing it forward, pushing for what we wanted.
00:15:23
Speaker
It was important to have as much music as possible.
00:15:27
Speaker
I didn't think we were going to be able to sneak all the music we did into the game.
00:15:33
Speaker
But you're looking at two hours of music because we got the full first side of 2112 Cygnus X1 book one and book two.
00:15:42
Speaker
Like it's insane how much music is in this game.
00:15:46
Speaker
Unprecedented.
00:15:47
Speaker
I think.
00:15:48
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it's really impressive.
00:15:50
Speaker
And I know that you had spoke about you guys, you said you want to do some bangers.
00:15:55
Speaker
You was it picked 20 songs if I'm correct.
00:15:57
Speaker
And then 15 out of those were the same for you, Getty and Alex.
00:16:01
Speaker
Number 16 was different.
00:16:02
Speaker
If you'll tell us about 16 and then why you went with 20 songs.
00:16:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:08
Speaker
We initially picked 20 songs each.
00:16:12
Speaker
And of that list, we shared 15 songs.
00:16:17
Speaker
Then next down the list, there were two songs that had two of three votes.
00:16:24
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:26
Speaker
And those were YYZ and La Villa Strangiato.
00:16:32
Speaker
And you guys did an arm wrestle for that.
00:16:34
Speaker
Well, we went back and forth via email and it's funny cause I've seen so much chatter online.
00:16:45
Speaker
YYZ should have been in there.
00:16:46
Speaker
Like, why is that song not in the game?
00:16:48
Speaker
Well, it's not in there because Getty argued against it.
00:16:53
Speaker
Oh, Getty Lee.
00:16:55
Speaker
Getty Lee said, no, Love Illustrangiato is a way better song.
00:17:01
Speaker
And, uh, you know, people have a fondness for YYZ because the drum solo on exit stage left happened in YYZ, but La Villa Strangiato, the melodies in that song and the different sections, I think Ged was right.
00:17:17
Speaker
Like ultimately I caved to, to Geddy's argument that La Villa Strangiato is the better song.
00:17:25
Speaker
And I, I, because I'm from Toronto,
00:17:30
Speaker
And because Exit Stage Left was like the beginning of my love affair with the band, I wanted YYZ, but I had to admit he was right.
00:17:41
Speaker
Well, La Vie Estrangerado is also on Exit Stage Left.
00:17:46
Speaker
And Geddy's right, just so you know.
00:17:49
Speaker
It's a better song.
00:17:51
Speaker
Yeah, he is.
00:17:51
Speaker
And I still love YYZ.
00:17:54
Speaker
Oh, it's a great song, yeah.
00:17:56
Speaker
I will play it ad infinitum.
00:17:58
Speaker
Always.
00:18:00
Speaker
And I always play it when I plug an electric guitar and that interval is so weird.
00:18:05
Speaker
C, F sharp, C, F sharp, C, C, C, F sharp, C, C. That's like, that's a weird interval.
00:18:14
Speaker
Okay.
00:18:15
Speaker
It's dang catchy though.
00:18:16
Speaker
It's one that makes you set up and listen.
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, no, absolutely.
00:18:19
Speaker
But they're actually, um, rush is a little bit of an outlier because they actually have, they will pepper in instrumental songs.
00:18:27
Speaker
And, um, there's a lot of bands that just won't touch instrumental songs unless you're, you know, like the cliffs of Dover or the iconic ones that everybody knows.
00:18:35
Speaker
Um, but,
00:18:37
Speaker
So here's the question.
00:18:38
Speaker
Like, and I have, I have said my, the rush song that speaks to me the most is the analog kid, which is actually a, it's number two on subdivision on a singles, signals, signals.
00:18:51
Speaker
Yes.
00:18:53
Speaker
But is there a song that you connect with a rush song that speaks to you?
00:18:59
Speaker
And did it get in the game?
00:19:02
Speaker
My favorite song has always been either limelight or free will.
00:19:07
Speaker
I tend to say free will when asked.
00:19:10
Speaker
I just think that those guitar riffs are so interesting.
00:19:14
Speaker
Uh, but free will wasn't one of the 27 or 28 songs that I played in my high school band.
00:19:22
Speaker
Like we played 28 rush songs and then about 10 songs by other bands.
00:19:29
Speaker
Um, but yeah, uh, I used to love Xanadu as well.
00:19:34
Speaker
I did that one in my high school band.
00:19:37
Speaker
We did Cinderella Man.
00:19:40
Speaker
There's a lot of Rush stuff that I love.
00:19:45
Speaker
But for me, with the pin, the one song I wanted to make sure was in there was Free Will.
00:19:53
Speaker
I haven't played it yet, but on the streams that I've watched, it sounds like they skip the intro on Le Vie Estrangiato.
00:20:02
Speaker
Is that correct?
00:20:03
Speaker
They just jump right into it, right?
00:20:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:06
Speaker
There's a couple of cases where there's a bit of a slow burn of an intro and we just wanted to get into the hook of the song.
00:20:15
Speaker
I think you'd have to, that's the right call because it is an amazing guitar intro, but jumping right into it is, is certainly the right move.
00:20:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:25
Speaker
We had to make some judicious editing choices.
00:20:29
Speaker
Plus like Tim Sexton was worried that,
00:20:32
Speaker
that we were not going to have enough room for that much audio and video to sync with it.
00:20:39
Speaker
It's an enormous amount of data.
00:20:44
Speaker
Um, and like I said, it's, it's unprecedented.
00:20:47
Speaker
It's pretty awesome.
00:20:49
Speaker
I, I, I was really enjoying it.
00:20:51
Speaker
I mean, the pro, if you don't feel shortchanged with the pro, it felt really good.
00:20:58
Speaker
You also played at a bar, though, that intentionally turns all the music down.
00:21:02
Speaker
You can't even hear the pins.
00:21:04
Speaker
It was a happy hour yet, so it was pretty quiet.
00:21:10
Speaker
So was there a moment when you're recording with Getty and Alex and it just was like an aha moment or, you know, there was just a moment that stood out to you during this whole process?
00:21:20
Speaker
Well, recording with Getty and Al was hilarious because those guys are really funny.
00:21:27
Speaker
But also super professional.
00:21:31
Speaker
And they really wanted to understand...
00:21:36
Speaker
the various things they were saying.
00:21:38
Speaker
Cause some things, if you're not a pinball nerd, they, they like, we take stuff for granted that, uh, that we need to hear to understand what's going on in a game.
00:21:48
Speaker
And when they hear shoot rush, they're like, what do you mean?
00:21:53
Speaker
Shoot rush.
00:21:56
Speaker
Is there a violent aspect to this game?
00:21:58
Speaker
We didn't understand.
00:22:01
Speaker
So sometimes it was just about explaining pinball terminology to them.
00:22:06
Speaker
What is the scoop?
00:22:07
Speaker
What's an orbit?
00:22:08
Speaker
What is, you know, and they're, you know, they're, they are keen learners, like they're tech, they're tech minded guys, they're gear heads.
00:22:23
Speaker
So they were fascinated by that aspect of it.
00:22:28
Speaker
but overall the recording session was just a joy.
00:22:32
Speaker
They, they burned through so much dialogue and people haven't even heard a quarter of the call outs yet.
00:22:40
Speaker
There's so much more audio to go in the game.
00:22:44
Speaker
So I think there's going to be a lot more elements to come.
00:22:50
Speaker
For me, the moment that was really cool was getting to voice the Federation pilot role.
00:22:58
Speaker
which of course on 2112, that's Neil's voice.
00:23:02
Speaker
Um, and, uh, Getty and Al suggested that I do it cause I have a deep voice like Neil did.
00:23:09
Speaker
And I was, I was kind of taken aback at first.
00:23:12
Speaker
I was like, Oh no, I can't, I shouldn't like someone's going to get mad.
00:23:19
Speaker
And, uh, but when we decided to do it and then we were able to get in touch with Terry Brown, who,
00:23:25
Speaker
produced all those early Rush albums and get the actual settings he used on Neil's voice.
00:23:31
Speaker
And so when you hear that Federation pilot in the game, it sounds pretty close to Neil on 2112.
00:23:39
Speaker
So that was really exciting for me.
00:23:41
Speaker
And being able to hear that in the game is going to be super cool.
00:23:45
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:23:45
Speaker
So is that the end?
00:23:47
Speaker
Is that making it to the all the way all 20 minutes and 40 seconds all the way to the end of 2112?
00:23:53
Speaker
You you pop in there.
00:23:55
Speaker
Well, you're going to be hearing instructions from the Federation pilot all the way through.
00:24:01
Speaker
So that'll be sort of like the game voice, actually.
00:24:04
Speaker
So Gideon and Alex are kind of peppering in jackpots and advice and just humor.
00:24:12
Speaker
But I'll be the kind of mechanical voice of the game.
00:24:17
Speaker
Locks are lit.
00:24:18
Speaker
That kind of stuff.
00:24:20
Speaker
I'm already starting to see a really great game out of this and we're at early, early code.
00:24:24
Speaker
Like you said, there's still plenty to go into it and whatnot.
00:24:27
Speaker
What makes a great game to you and what did you bring to the table to make sure that this game was going to be great?
00:24:35
Speaker
Well, I requested Tim Sexton and Raymond Davidson early on in this project because I wanted a real modern sensibility to the code on the game.
00:24:50
Speaker
And
00:24:51
Speaker
Tim has got a great sense of adventure when it comes to how he approaches a rule set.
00:24:59
Speaker
He, both he and Raymond, I think knew very little about Rush.
00:25:02
Speaker
So Tim said right away, I'm going to need you to explain the band and the music to me.
00:25:09
Speaker
But I said to Tim, look, this is your chance to do Rush.
00:25:15
Speaker
everything you've been wanting to do.
00:25:17
Speaker
Like I'm down for it.
00:25:20
Speaker
Let's do fun stuff with this rule set and I'll figure out a way to sandwich it in with lyrics, with theming, with the band, but tell me what you've been wanting to do from a rule standpoint and let's try to do it.
00:25:34
Speaker
So I wanted it to be the reverse, not for those guys to feel like hampered in by a theme.
00:25:43
Speaker
rather for me to figure out how to marry their crazy ideas for a modern, highly nuanced rule set.
00:25:54
Speaker
But man, those guys dove in and Tim was immediately sending me things that I hadn't even thought of.
00:26:02
Speaker
Tie-ins with lyrics.
00:26:04
Speaker
They poured over the lyrics and watched all
00:26:08
Speaker
videos and watch documentaries about the band.
00:26:10
Speaker
And before I knew it, those guys, they were like total aficionados on the band.
00:26:17
Speaker
After a couple of months, they'd just been living and breathing it.
00:26:21
Speaker
And, uh, all the ideas just started coming together.
00:26:25
Speaker
And I, I feel like Tim and Raymond, uh, really have, uh,
00:26:32
Speaker
they've all read like the game launched with so much to do and it just shows you a roadmap of where they're going.
00:26:40
Speaker
Um, it's very exciting.
00:26:43
Speaker
It's, it's everything I was hoping for.
00:26:45
Speaker
It's, it's might be Borg's best layout and I'm a huge John Borg fan.
00:26:50
Speaker
So I think it might be Borg's best layout.
00:26:54
Speaker
Um, calling that one early and, uh,
00:26:58
Speaker
And I think what Tim and Raymond are bringing to the project in terms of a real modern nuance to the code is exactly what I wanted.
00:27:09
Speaker
I wanted the game to be intriguing for people who aren't just hardcore rush nerds.
00:27:14
Speaker
And I feel like that's what I'm seeing from all the feedback from people who are playing it.
00:27:19
Speaker
Do you have a favorite mode or shot in the game right now?
00:27:22
Speaker
Well, you're looking at
00:27:26
Speaker
a guy who has never touched this game.
00:27:30
Speaker
You still haven't touched it.
00:27:32
Speaker
I'm, I'm flying to Chicago Friday and meeting John at the factory and, uh, fingers crossed.
00:27:42
Speaker
Ellie's will be hitting the line.
00:27:44
Speaker
And, uh,
00:27:46
Speaker
I am really super stoked.
00:27:48
Speaker
But yeah, I have not touched the game.
00:27:51
Speaker
I have been involved in every decision, every aspect, but I have yet to flip it.
00:28:00
Speaker
I've watched John flipping it for hours, and I've watched Tim flipping it for days.
00:28:08
Speaker
Okay, so what mode are you most anticipating or looking forward to then?
00:28:13
Speaker
Or what shot?
00:28:17
Speaker
Well, I love the double scoop.
00:28:19
Speaker
Um, the 90 degree scoop kick out, I think is super cool.
00:28:24
Speaker
Uh, I love that it was an early request for me to have an under the flipper shot.
00:28:29
Speaker
Um, so that looks great.
00:28:33
Speaker
Um, love the little, uh, post up, uh, ball lock on the far left.
00:28:41
Speaker
Um,
00:28:42
Speaker
And the ramps just look so fast and fun to shoot.
00:28:48
Speaker
So I can't speak firsthand because I've, you know, I've watched all the streams so far.
00:28:55
Speaker
And like I said, I've, you know, I've got hours of video of the whitewood and talking through all the plans for the game.
00:29:06
Speaker
But I'm really excited for this Friday.
00:29:08
Speaker
It's going to be my first time flipping the game.
00:29:11
Speaker
The one thing I like about Borg too is you look at his layout and you think, oh, I can shoot that shot.
00:29:16
Speaker
That is not a big deal.
00:29:17
Speaker
And then for some odd reason, somehow he's put that ramp somewhere different on the flipper than you would expect.
00:29:24
Speaker
And that's one thing I was like, first couple games was just trying to figure out
00:29:27
Speaker
Where on the flipper am I shooting the shot between, you know, going through the pops?
00:29:31
Speaker
Because that's a very dangerous shot.
00:29:33
Speaker
And then same with the right ramp.
00:29:34
Speaker
It just I'm like, that doesn't feel like it should be that far down the flipper.
00:29:37
Speaker
But it's still it's that's the thing I do like about Borg is it's it's out of the normal of what you usually feel a shot should be.
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you know.
00:29:50
Speaker
I saw a lot of chatter about similarities on this game to other of John's layouts.
00:29:57
Speaker
And it kind of frustrates me because, you know, there's the play field is a finite amount of real estate.
00:30:10
Speaker
And what John has been doing very successfully for a long time is refining ideas that he likes, you know, and,
00:30:20
Speaker
reimagining shots that feel good to him and finding a new way to approach things and really coming up with a new take on an interesting mech or a new mech that'll affect some aspect of a layout that he likes.
00:30:37
Speaker
But I think the criticism is kind of lame ultimately because, you know, if you get a great flowing design and you get
00:30:50
Speaker
a challenging layout, then if it has aspects of other games we've seen in the past, is it not nearly impossible to avoid that?
00:31:07
Speaker
Even, you know, I'm so in love with Elwynn's designs right now.
00:31:14
Speaker
But Keith will tell you where he's ripped off every one of those ideas from.
00:31:20
Speaker
You know, it's the bottom, the upper right corner is Congo and the lower left he got from the original Jurassic Park and whatever it is, you know, it's about combining ideas that work.
00:31:39
Speaker
If you try to reinvent the wheel too much, you just end up with a brick fest.
00:31:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:45
Speaker
And ultimately it's about subtly tweaking shots that work and maybe altering the returns and the kickouts and things.
00:31:53
Speaker
So it's a new game experience.
00:31:56
Speaker
But ultimately, if you want the machine to feel good and shoot well, it's going to have aspects of games you've seen before.
00:32:04
Speaker
Right.
00:32:05
Speaker
And it's and we're all we're all victim to it.
00:32:08
Speaker
I mean, I I sold X-Men.
00:32:11
Speaker
And so this has a lot of similarities to X-Men.
00:32:13
Speaker
So that was the one thing I was concerned about because I I owned an X-Men and I moved on.
00:32:19
Speaker
However, I will I'll be the first to admit that layouts and code create a different beast.
00:32:28
Speaker
And having that code and that layout, even though I was looking at it, and there are things that are different enough about this that are going to feel significantly different than the X-Men I had.
00:32:40
Speaker
And so that was my only reservations that I felt like I had already played X-Men and enjoyed it.
00:32:46
Speaker
But there are a lot of aspects to this that I'm really looking forward to.
00:32:50
Speaker
And it feels like he's taken all the good things and made them better.
00:32:55
Speaker
And if you saw Tim and Raymond and well, and everyone who was on that reveal stream, I, they were all hitting things and it looked so good.
00:33:06
Speaker
And I know they're, they're so much better than me.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:11
Speaker
They are so much better than me, but it still gives me hope that an experienced good player will be able to make a good flowing game.
00:33:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:20
Speaker
I was just watching Bowen's latest, uh,
00:33:23
Speaker
tutorial on Jurassic Park that he put up on Papa.
00:33:26
Speaker
And I was like, yeah, I think I already knew everything you're saying, but I've never put it together that well in a single game.
00:33:37
Speaker
Yeah, that right ramp is still like a luck shot for me on Jurassic Park.
00:33:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:44
Speaker
It's just so hard to dial in.
00:33:46
Speaker
And the right orbit, the O shot in Chaos.
00:33:48
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:33:49
Speaker
That's a pretty tight shot.
00:33:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:52
Speaker
I get pretty good at C-H-A and then... What's going to be easier to shoot, the O or try to go for the smart missile in between the... I have really good luck with the smart missile.
00:34:05
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:06
Speaker
And there's enough of a grace period that if I don't always get it, I'll often get it on the second shot on the rebound shot.
00:34:15
Speaker
Well, no, get it back to the flipper quick and still make the shot, which there's just enough time that you can get a second crack at it.
00:34:24
Speaker
I would say I get the smart missile.
00:34:26
Speaker
At least 60% of the time, if not more.
00:34:29
Speaker
Okay, that's much better than me.
00:34:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:33
Speaker
That's an amazing game.
00:34:34
Speaker
Yes.
00:34:36
Speaker
So have the Rush guys seen the machine and what after you worked on it, they did all that and you showed them?
00:34:44
Speaker
Did they have any sort of impression?
00:34:47
Speaker
They're not pinball guys.
00:34:48
Speaker
They said that.
00:34:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:50
Speaker
They haven't seen one in person yet, but I sent them all the...
00:34:56
Speaker
all the streaming links and all the kind of chatter around the release and, uh, a bunch of the, the media that went out around the release and just basically congratulated them on a very solid, uh, uh, release.
00:35:12
Speaker
But the plan is in the near future for me to actually school them on their games when they, when they get them, there's a plan in the works to have dinner.
00:35:21
Speaker
and a little pinball tutorial.
00:35:23
Speaker
Well, that was going to be my next question is, is it's going to be when it's pinball night at the Robertson house, do you think you've gotten addicted enough to the server ball yet that they're going to start joining you on pinball night?
00:35:33
Speaker
I would love it.
00:35:34
Speaker
I would love it if they did.
00:35:35
Speaker
They're, they're just a stone's throw from where I live here.
00:35:38
Speaker
So you need to ensure that Getty brings one of his monocles.
00:35:42
Speaker
Because, you know, he has like one of the most impressive monocle collection, which if you thought that collecting pinballs was niche, collecting monocles has to be like five levels above, which is the only way Getty does anything, really.
00:35:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:57
Speaker
And he collects a lot of different things.
00:36:01
Speaker
He's got a pretty impressive watch collection.
00:36:04
Speaker
He's yeah.
00:36:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:06
Speaker
Getty doesn't mess around.
00:36:09
Speaker
So are you going to like, I, I'm assuming they're going to make a special game for you or, or some sort of, uh, some sort of customized, or is it like an Ellie or is it a band member?
00:36:22
Speaker
Like what do you do for founding members like this?
00:36:25
Speaker
Like, how do you get them a game that has their likeness on it?
00:36:29
Speaker
Um, yeah.
00:36:32
Speaker
You know, I don't know if Stern's got anything extra special planned.
00:36:36
Speaker
As far as I know, the guys are just getting numbered LEs.
00:36:41
Speaker
But maybe I'll do something lewd to their games before I deliver them to them and then not tell them until well after the fact.
00:36:51
Speaker
Then I'll send them the photo of what exactly was on their flipper buttons just before they started handling them.
00:37:00
Speaker
I was thinking you were going to pull the glass and lift up the play field and sign Ed was here or something like that.
00:37:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:07
Speaker
No, I should just blow the game up and enter my initials.
00:37:12
Speaker
And then that'll be the GC on their game forever.
00:37:18
Speaker
So I assume you had some fun putting this all together.
00:37:21
Speaker
If Stern called back up and said, hey, we want you to help do another, would you say yes?
00:37:26
Speaker
It would have to be a band that I...
00:37:29
Speaker
love um or um you know a license that i really love because it's it's an enormous amount of work uh and i was super happy to do it for the rush guys and uh to be the the bridge between pinball and rock and roll for those guys it was it was a really unique position and really cool and
00:37:51
Speaker
You know, as I said, I'm such a pinball fan.
00:37:54
Speaker
I would love to be involved in any project, become really good friends with so many of the people at the company.
00:38:01
Speaker
So I'd love to do another one, but it'd have to be a license that I was excited about because it's very time consuming.

Bare Naked Ladies and Pinball

00:38:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:38:10
Speaker
I'm going to pitch a license to you.
00:38:12
Speaker
Okay.
00:38:13
Speaker
Okay.
00:38:14
Speaker
What about Bare Naked Ladies?
00:38:19
Speaker
Uh, never heard of them.
00:38:21
Speaker
Um, yeah, I mean, I, I don't think we're in that stratosphere of, you know, the 50 million bands.
00:38:29
Speaker
Let's pretend you do it.
00:38:31
Speaker
We do a bare naked ladies pin and you're like, okay, what would you do for a bare naked ladies pin?
00:38:37
Speaker
Yep.
00:38:38
Speaker
Well, don't, don't think I haven't, uh,
00:38:42
Speaker
Possibly sketch something out and created a kind of rules hierarchy that I think would be fun.
00:38:52
Speaker
I've certainly thought about it.
00:38:54
Speaker
But it would have to be a boutique project at Stern because we just don't have the record sales to support a foundation release there.
00:39:06
Speaker
I I'd buy one.
00:39:07
Speaker
I would, I think you're downplaying yourself.
00:39:10
Speaker
Well, you know, that the other approach would be to do almost a, uh, an original theme, but with the license of the band, you know, because I, I think I could make a very cool pinball experience that was maybe more similar to like, uh, uh, Scooby and the mystery machine, you know, kind of, uh,
00:39:36
Speaker
banned chasing down mythological creatures, kind of, that may have been an idea I've thrown around.
00:39:44
Speaker
Nice.
00:39:47
Speaker
The tour is just a front for this centuries long battle against the folklore monsters of the world.
00:40:00
Speaker
It's like a Scott, Scott Pilgrim versus the world or something like that.
00:40:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:04
Speaker
Yes.
00:40:04
Speaker
That kind of thing would be great.
00:40:08
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:08
Speaker
And I agree.
00:40:09
Speaker
I'm sold.
00:40:10
Speaker
You've sold me.
00:40:13
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:14
Speaker
So, so you are, you guys are getting back on the road.
00:40:18
Speaker
You're starting to, you were pretty much in lockdown for, for the first part of COVID you, you've done some online concerts and,
00:40:27
Speaker
And now you're starting to ease your toe back in there.
00:40:32
Speaker
You have famously talked about taking pins on the road.
00:40:35
Speaker
Okay.
00:40:36
Speaker
So when you take a pin, do you take one, do you take two?
00:40:40
Speaker
Do you take one that you can play that's all set up and then one that's a project pin?
00:40:46
Speaker
Or do you just focus on one?
00:40:49
Speaker
I actually had a custom road case built that that holds one modern stern pin and the pin is in the road case already at the right angle.
00:41:02
Speaker
So my crew guys just have to take the top off and lock the wheels in and it's ready to play.
00:41:09
Speaker
fold up the head um so i will bring a modern stern with me out in the summer but i generally also end up filling the bus bays and parts of the truck with project pins that i pick up along the way um so i usually leave for the tour with
00:41:33
Speaker
a new stern in a road case and i get home from the tour with six or seven pins in the truck so yeah that is awesome hey you might as well take advantage of it right like if you're out there you might as well why not why not yeah and i mean it's about reaching out to
00:41:55
Speaker
you know, people I know in different areas.
00:41:57
Speaker
If I'm, if I'm going down through Texas, I'll, I'll reach out to Darren at pinballs and Ed Vanderveen at TPF and say, Hey, I've been looking for, you know, a joker poker.
00:42:10
Speaker
Can you, can you keep your eye out for me?
00:42:13
Speaker
And, you know, I'll give him a couple months notice before I get to their part of the world.
00:42:18
Speaker
And, uh, I just put the feelers out far and wide and,
00:42:22
Speaker
I've got enough friends in the hobby that word gets passed around and, uh, you know, I'll hook someone up with tickets and backstage passes if they can get a, a game out to a gig.
00:42:36
Speaker
I, I was imagining you like scouring Craigslist and then meeting someone behind a seven 11 and like, uh, been there, but I try to keep it a little more professional than that.
00:42:52
Speaker
So is there anyone that you've introduced to the game of pinball and you've been kind of shocked they've just taken off with it and now they're bugging you all the time about pinball?
00:43:01
Speaker
Well, it's more the opposite.
00:43:04
Speaker
I'm surprised when I introduce someone to pinball and they don't fall in love with it.
00:43:09
Speaker
Like I just, I can't understand it.
00:43:13
Speaker
So there's a lot of people in my life that have been exposed to it from me and are now starting to collect.
00:43:20
Speaker
You know, my neighbor just
00:43:22
Speaker
I've got two neighbors on the street now that I got a fun house for my neighbor Volker and my neighbors, Paul and Leah are now looking at their sixth and seventh game.
00:43:34
Speaker
Paul just ordered a rush Ellie and he's already got five up at his cottage and, uh,
00:43:42
Speaker
Yeah, so it is spreading for sure.
00:43:47
Speaker
But I'm never surprised by it because it's the greatest game.
00:43:52
Speaker
And I'm shocked when people don't fall in love immediately with it.
00:43:57
Speaker
I think, you know, I've said this many times.
00:43:59
Speaker
It's that light bulb moment when you explain to someone that it's not just...
00:44:06
Speaker
When you explain that pinball is chess, not checkers.
00:44:09
Speaker
Yes.
00:44:10
Speaker
And it's not just about keeping the ball in play.
00:44:12
Speaker
It's about making specific shots at specific times.
00:44:15
Speaker
People go like, oh my God, really?
00:44:20
Speaker
It's like, well, yeah, that's, that's why when you flail around on the game, you're going to get 320,000 points and, uh,
00:44:30
Speaker
I'll have for the same rough length of play, I'm going to have, you know, 45 million points in that span of time because I'm looking at what the game wants

Touring and Cultural Impact

00:44:42
Speaker
me to shoot.
00:44:42
Speaker
And when people make that realization, it takes the game to a whole other level for them.
00:44:47
Speaker
You guys know that.
00:44:49
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:44:51
Speaker
I've never heard that analogy, but that's perfect, actually.
00:44:55
Speaker
So we are rounding out our time, but we want to know, where are you going to be this summer?
00:45:03
Speaker
If people want to come out and watch you guys play, where are you going to be?
00:45:06
Speaker
Well, we're going to be all over America this summer, starting down in St.
00:45:14
Speaker
Augustin, Florida.
00:45:16
Speaker
In early June.
00:45:17
Speaker
Friday, June 3rd.
00:45:19
Speaker
There you go.
00:45:19
Speaker
There you go.
00:45:22
Speaker
And we'll be all over the country.
00:45:23
Speaker
I think we've only got one date in Canada and the rest are in the U.S. Got about 35 shows with Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket opening up.
00:45:35
Speaker
We got a U.K.
00:45:36
Speaker
tour scheduled to start in March.
00:45:39
Speaker
So I'm really hoping...
00:45:41
Speaker
That happens.
00:45:42
Speaker
The restrictions seem to be lifting there.
00:45:44
Speaker
We've got a sold-out Royal Albert Hall that we're very excited to get back to.
00:45:51
Speaker
We haven't played there in about 14 years, something like that.
00:45:55
Speaker
So, yeah, I'm really excited that things are starting to open up and I'm able to get back on the road.
00:46:03
Speaker
So that reminds me, Jeff Teolis was given Martin Robbins crap because you guys had never been to Australia.
00:46:07
Speaker
Is that true?
00:46:08
Speaker
I thought you guys have been to Australia.
00:46:10
Speaker
We have been to Australia.
00:46:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:13
Speaker
We only went there once and it was in probably 2000, 99 or 2000.
00:46:18
Speaker
It's just really far.
00:46:21
Speaker
It's really expensive to take a whole bunch of gear there.
00:46:24
Speaker
And realistically, we'd be playing large clubs, you know, so it's a lot easier for us to stay in North America and do our kind of annual or biannual trip over to the UK.
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:37
Speaker
where we do really well there and have lots of fans.
00:46:40
Speaker
Um, but, um, America is a big country.
00:46:44
Speaker
There's lots of places to play, uh, very handy to us here in Toronto.
00:46:49
Speaker
So, Hey, where's the Utah tour, uh, stop.
00:46:53
Speaker
You guys go to Colorado, just jump right over.
00:46:57
Speaker
It's so close.
00:46:59
Speaker
How about you guys come to us?
00:47:03
Speaker
We might have to.
00:47:04
Speaker
Yeah, we'll have to do that.
00:47:06
Speaker
You know, I knew Bare Naked Ladies had made it when I was listening to Weird Al's Running With Scissors and he covered your song one week and turned it into Jerry Springer.
00:47:19
Speaker
I feel like if you make it, Weird Al covers you, right?
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:24
Speaker
Honestly, like that...
00:47:28
Speaker
I've often said like that was cooler than any kind of award we won or nominations or whatever.
00:47:35
Speaker
You know, the fact that Weird Al actually did one of our songs is pretty cool.
00:47:42
Speaker
And I, you know, I love it when they mention us on Family Guy or on...
00:47:49
Speaker
what we do in the shadows or I just saw it on Tosh.0, uh, on the flight down to Mexico.
00:47:56
Speaker
We just did a show in Mexico with Hootie and the Blowfish.
00:47:58
Speaker
And, uh, I was watching Tosh.0 and, uh, a horrible sketch in the 12th season of Daniel Tosh in the fourth episode.
00:48:10
Speaker
There's a one week reference in it.
00:48:12
Speaker
And, uh, it just made me laugh.
00:48:15
Speaker
I,
00:48:16
Speaker
It's awesome that you've had such a cultural impact too.
00:48:20
Speaker
I was a music man first, then found pinball.
00:48:22
Speaker
And so it's really cool to have you on the show as well because I played in a band for a little bit.
00:48:27
Speaker
I was nowhere near what you guys were, but we did have some fun.
00:48:30
Speaker
It was fun just touring and getting on the road and playing shows.
00:48:35
Speaker
It's the greatest thing.
00:48:36
Speaker
I'm so lucky to get to do what I love to do.
00:48:41
Speaker
I would pay to get to play at the venues that I get to
00:48:45
Speaker
get paid to play at.
00:48:47
Speaker
So, I mean, anyone who's been in any kind of weekend warrior band or you know, it's the greatest thing.
00:48:55
Speaker
So the fact that I've been able to make a career out of it and just beyond grateful and overjoyed, I'm, I'm literally the luckiest person in the world.
00:49:07
Speaker
I could tell that we're, I was listening to a detour de force and I love good life.
00:49:13
Speaker
I feel like that song just is an amazing snippet of life.
00:49:18
Speaker
I love that song.
00:49:19
Speaker
And I love having written that song 30 years into my career.
00:49:24
Speaker
And I write a song and I go, wow, I really liked this song.
00:49:29
Speaker
You know?
00:49:30
Speaker
So I feel like,
00:49:32
Speaker
I'm learning all the time.
00:49:33
Speaker
I'm improving.
00:49:34
Speaker
I'm, I'm, uh, I've still got something to say that's interesting.
00:49:38
Speaker
I still managed to find a, a turn of phrase or a couplet that's funny or interesting to me.
00:49:46
Speaker
It's like it just refills the gas tank, you know, keeps me going for another tour and another writing session.
00:49:54
Speaker
I got to ask you, I'm trying to figure out what play field that is.
00:49:59
Speaker
Oh, this is all Keith L. One's designs.
00:50:03
Speaker
I'm going to steal that.
00:50:05
Speaker
I'm going to steal it from Josh.

Podcast Appreciation and Farewell

00:50:07
Speaker
When we went to Pinball Expo, he, uh, Zombie Yeti gave it to me.
00:50:10
Speaker
Uh, but that's cool.
00:50:13
Speaker
It's his four designs.
00:50:14
Speaker
And then they all signed it there at the bottom, the chairs in the way from the signatures, but.
00:50:18
Speaker
Nice.
00:50:19
Speaker
My wife was nice enough to get that framed and give it to me for Christmas.
00:50:24
Speaker
That's very cool.
00:50:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:27
Speaker
I know Scott was kind of jealous.
00:50:29
Speaker
I had people almost like, so you want to trade for that?
00:50:32
Speaker
I've got a banner.
00:50:33
Speaker
This is much better.
00:50:34
Speaker
I'm not trading.
00:50:36
Speaker
Do you have a game?
00:50:38
Speaker
I'll consider a game.
00:50:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:41
Speaker
No, that's super cool.
00:50:43
Speaker
Well, the first song on the album is Flip.
00:50:45
Speaker
Was that inspired at all by Pinball?
00:50:49
Speaker
It wasn't.
00:50:51
Speaker
You could have said, yeah, yeah, yeah, it totally is.
00:50:55
Speaker
This is great.
00:50:58
Speaker
I enjoyed talking to you guys.
00:50:59
Speaker
No, we really appreciate having you on.
00:51:01
Speaker
We know that you're a very busy man.
00:51:03
Speaker
And so we appreciate you taking time out of your, your busy schedule to, to join us on our little podcast here and spread the good word of pinball.
00:51:11
Speaker
Yeah, no problem at all.
00:51:13
Speaker
Thanks for doing it, guys.
00:51:15
Speaker
I love listening to podcasts, so making good content is important.
00:51:21
Speaker
Us pinball people are starving for good content, so appreciate all the effort you guys put into it.
00:51:28
Speaker
You're going to have to start up your own pinball podcast when you're flying to Mexico and stuff like that.
00:51:32
Speaker
You'll just have to interview the person next to you and talk about pinball.
00:51:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:37
Speaker
The last thing I need is another gig.
00:51:39
Speaker
Another project.
00:51:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:41
Speaker
Do you want to do the outro, Josh?
00:51:45
Speaker
Yeah, definitely.
00:51:47
Speaker
I assume you don't want to be bothered, Ed, right?
00:51:50
Speaker
If someone wants to get a hold of you, do you want them to get a hold of you?
00:51:53
Speaker
Buy a ticket.
00:51:54
Speaker
That's how you want them to get a hold of you, right?
00:51:56
Speaker
Come to the show.
00:51:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:58
Speaker
If anybody wants to get a hold of me, my email address is support at Google dot com.
00:52:07
Speaker
Or 411 if you have the number, right?
00:52:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:10
Speaker
I'm going to laugh when we get an email next week saying I Google or I send an email to support at Google and they haven't a clue what I'm talking about.
00:52:17
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's support at littlecaesars.com.
00:52:22
Speaker
Oh, their stuffed dress is so good.
00:52:26
Speaker
If you want to get hold of us, we are Loser Kid Pinball Podcast at gmail.com.
00:52:30
Speaker
We're also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all at Loser Kid Pinball.
00:52:34
Speaker
Also on Twitch if you want to stream, which I haven't done since October, so I should probably not mention that anyway.
00:52:40
Speaker
But no, it's been a great show.
00:52:42
Speaker
We're excited.
00:52:43
Speaker
Texas Pinball Festival's coming up.
00:52:46
Speaker
I got a couple new hat designs ordered.
00:52:49
Speaker
You going to be joining down there, Ed, hanging out with Ed Van Der Veen and whatnot?
00:52:52
Speaker
I sure hope so.
00:52:53
Speaker
Are you going to be in England?
00:52:55
Speaker
Oh, it is, isn't it?
00:52:56
Speaker
Yeah, it overlaps this year with my UK tour.
00:53:00
Speaker
But Ed and Kim put on one of the greatest shows.
00:53:05
Speaker
It's my favorite.
00:53:07
Speaker
So many games.
00:53:09
Speaker
great spot um yeah i wish i could go but you're right i'll be in the uk you'll just just block out that weekend you can fly back come hang out with us and then you can fly back to uk and do some i wish all right we'll see you at the greek theater los angeles friday june 10th i'll be there awesome well see you in two weeks scott hey thanks josh
00:53:43
Speaker
Shut up and sit down.