Interview with The Riot Before - Podcast 90

Hi, this is Brett of The Riot Before, and you're listening to Sound Scene Revolution.

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For those of you who don't know, Thanksgiving is a very special time for me, and Sound Guy Nairman, because Thanksgiving represents the time that he and I went out in San Francisco and got punched in the face together. It's a pretty magical moment. Mostly, I don't even remember all the details, except there was some drunk guy who was looking to start a fight, and was going to punch Sound Guy Nairman, and then instead punched me, and Sound Guy Nairman turned around, and then someone else punched Sound Guy Nairman, so we both got punched in the face, and we never got a return fire.

Yeah, he was wearing some fucking horrible butt rock shirt, but the point is, we're both married and successful, and that guy is now getting molested by a priest. I checked up on him. It was a long, I did Google search of, punched a guy in the face at an Irish bar two days before Thanksgiving. And I, yeah, it came off. Everything's on Wikipedia. But, uh, beyond that, we have our last of the fest interviews today. Okay, uh, we're probably gonna do this in one more interview, and then we're gonna go into the holiday season where we'll be down for maybe three weeks, something like that. We'll see how it goes. Maybe less, maybe more. It just depends on how lazy I get. But, uh, this, the last of our fest interviews is with Brett, the lead singer, songwriter of the Riot before, who are based out of Richmond, Virginia area.

Brett, originally from California, really, really, really nice guy. Uh, played an acoustic set in my hotel room at the fest, um, and basically he was the only one of the three people who, like, brought a guitar, and so, like, four, how many, four different people played his guitar that evening, and, I mean, so the whole thing never would have happened if Brett didn't show up with a guitar, and so, at the end, we tried to give him, like, 20 or 30 bucks, you know, as a thank you for coming and letting us, you know, use your guitar, and he was like, no, well, I wouldn't, you know, I basically had to, like, force the money into his hand. Like, he was, he didn't want it. And, uh, then I punched him and put it in his unconscious mouth and drug him out into the street.

I think that's really the best way to say thank you. And so, he's a good guy, and they're a really, really good band, and, uh, they just released their new LP, uh, or new, I guess it's full length, it's not an LP yet, but, uh, called Fist Buried in Pockets. It's on, say, 10 records, so you want to check that out. We're going to play some music, then we're going to play, uh, and then we're going to go back to the show. Um, we're going to wrap up all contests, so the MC Chris, the Austin Lucas, maybe we have one more. I don't really recall, but I think that's it. Uh, we're going to wrap those up when we come back from the holiday break, so that a thousand people have a chance to enter while they're at home, and then they get all those fucking, like, Walmart gift cards that they use.

I don't know, what do you get your fucking kids for Christmas? Right now, I'm assuming with the way the economy is, you get them broken dreams, but, uh, good luck with that. So, here's the interview with the right before, then we're going to hop, uh, or here's the music from the right before, then we're going to hop into the interview, and, uh, all of that, so enjoy.

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At the Palms. Yeah, at the fest, uh, with Brett from the right before. Yep, yep. Uh, so, uh, how are you doing this far? I'm doing well. I'm a little tired. It's Sunday. I think everybody's got it. We were sitting on the couch in the, in the venue, and, like, everybody was just, like, asleep, you know, and then, like, waking up, you know, like, oh, it's been, oh, wait, this is good. I think I'll open one eye. Yeah.

Like, everyone's dragging a little bit more, but it's a good time. I'm one of those. I think the rest of my band is asleep right now. Yeah? Actually, yeah. I'm the only one awake. And you were probably up the latest out of everybody. Yeah, I was. So, I'm, I guess that makes me the most punk. Oh. So, because I got drunk last night and threw up at, like, 11.45. Nice. And then sobered up and played a show at 3.30 in the morning, I guess. Which was actually 2.30, thanks to the time. Thank God for the government referendum to change day late savings time. Yep. So, I guess, really quick, easiest place to start is kind of the history of the riot before. I know it's kind of a long history. Yeah, it's not an, like, easy history to recite.

It's not like we all got together one day, started jamming, and here we are four weeks later. No, it, yeah, it was kind of, uh, started in Santa Barbara in 2003. Mm-hmm. Um, I, I started a band there when I was going to college, and it was with some guys, two guys I knew, one guy I didn't really know. And, um, we played a few shows, sounded like no effects, never recorded anything. And then, um, I, I quickly realized it wasn't the way I wanted the band to be. Yeah, yeah. And so, it took, like, a really passive. Can we get off the mic a little bit? Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Sorry.

Singing for a band where I didn't do anything except sing. Mm-hmm. And then restarted the riot before as acoustic, um, just because I could. Mm-hmm. And then moved to Richmond in 2005, September 2005, and restarted it with members. And the only song we ever kept was, um, Plastic Chester, Plastic Hearts. Mm-hmm. It's the only song that's endured since the beginning to actually be on, like, a recording. And the rest I'm, don't remember, and I'm kind of glad I don't. They're off somewhere. Yeah, they're on, they're in someone's bad memories. I'm sure. Very cool, very cool. So, uh, you guys' most recent album, Fist Buried in Pockets, is out on Say Ten? Yeah. Is that correct? Yeah. Um, how do you guys hook up with those guys?

Um, it's, uh, uh, Corey's old friend Adam from Virginia Beach. Uh, I forget, it escapes me what label he used to do. He's, he did labels for a really long time and then kind of got out of it for a couple years and got back into it and we are his reintroduction to label life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, he's, uh, he also owns a record store. Oh, wow. So he's full of really bad ideas about making money. So. Like such as? Like owning labels and record stores. Ah. So. But he's a good guy. He's a good guy. Not necessarily gonna be the wealthiest man. Yeah, no, he's, uh, no Donald Trump. Yeah, but he does. But yeah, no, he's a really nice guy and he's, he's doing work, which is kind of nice. It's nice to have people do work. Yeah, I was gonna say, so you guys are like the first one on Say Ten.

Yeah, technically, um, I think he's gonna get some other bands coming up pretty soon. Yeah. We are the inaugural band. Nice. Which is the second time we've been an inaugural band. Yeah, because you did Fall of the West. We were also the inaugural band. Wow. So now that you've put a release out, you have to change labels. I think so. Gotta get a new label. Also a brand new label. Exactly. That's the hard part. So is it weird kind of being the first band on a label or has it been really nice? I mean, we're used to it. We don't really know the difference. Yeah. So, and, you know, like I guess Say Ten is the first label that's operating kind of more like legitimately as a label and not more like a distro. And so, you know, I think Fall of the West is more, like I love Brian, but it's more distro-y than labeling.

He's not calling people and, you know. He's not making deals. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah. Awesome, awesome, awesome. So, what, I mean, obviously there's differences between when you guys did the previous releases where it was mostly your acoustic work that kind of transferred into full song. Yeah. As opposed to, I guess, this album where you guys wrote it kind of all together. Yeah, well, I mean, I still write the skeletons of the songs in my bedroom, you know, or wherever I write them. Yeah. And then I bring them to the band, but, yeah, now we have a little bit more collaboration as far as where the song goes from there. I mean, the general verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, whatever is done. Yeah, yeah. And then, but, you know, what they do and the kind of flavors they add to it are unique to them, I guess.

Yeah. And, yeah, this is the first time from start to finish. Well, we did do an EP, but with the band, and then this is the first time with John. And so it's been a unique experience every time. The So Long the Lighthouse EP? Yeah, yeah. That was with Garrett. And we approached it that way with Garrett, and then this time with John. That's cool, cool. I like it. It's fun because it kind of, when things go well and I think a song is good, it's nice to have, like, somebody say, yeah, this is good. Yeah, this is going to work out. When I'm unsure, it's nice to have somebody there to be like, yeah, you're an idiot. Does that happen a lot where they're like, this is terrible? No, no, not for sure. This is a bad idea.

My shit's pure gold, you know? First of all, it's amazing. Yeah, it's never happened. No, I think they're all pretty quick to point out when I'm an idiot. I think they take a lot of pleasure in that. They're like, finally got one. Yeah, this is dumb. Let's change that. It's a terrible idea. Yeah, it's mostly structure than anything, you know, like, shorten this or lengthen that, you know, repeat that catchy chorus. Repeat this line. I like that one. Yeah, exactly. That's what's going to be on the shoe commercial. Yep, dude. Oh, shoe commercial. We'd have a van if we did a shoe commercial. You guys don't have a van. Well, we have a van. It's dying. It is dying. So, if anybody owns Adidas and wants our song in there, just hit us up.

We'll take your Adidas money. The guys from Adidas listen. Yeah, I'll take the money from Adidas and give it to Ford or Dodge or whatever. We probably won't keep any of it. We'll go from one corporation to another. There you go. That's culture. Yeah, and the bridge will be right before songs. There we go. I can ask, just because I'm looking at your shoes, what are those? Oh, these are Tom's. It's in my ever, I guess, my quest to be the ultimate hipster. Oh, yeah. I'm not. This has nothing to do with the interview. I was just curious. I don't have my track bike with me right now. Oh, okay. I've never seen them before. Yeah, they're cool shoes. They actually do, I like them, I guess, aesthetically. They're probably not the most comfortable for walking in all instances.

But they also give away a pair of shoes for every shoe that is sold. So that's kind of cool. Yeah, so you feel good about it. Yeah, you can feel good about buying things, which I'm all about. Nice, nice, nice. Yeah. So on that same vein, and I guess on that same vein, you guys do a lot of work with These Numbers Have Faces. Yeah. How did that come about? And I don't know, just general. These Numbers Have Faces was started by a very good friend of mine named Justin Zarati, who I went to college with. And so I always wanted to use the stage that I get as a person in the band to point towards people who don't get stages but deserve an audience. And it just was pretty natural to work with those guys because I trust Justin and I trust his vision and I can get right behind it and not feel like I'm just somebody tagging along with whatever's possible.

Yeah. Or just even a really good non-profit, but I don't feel like I'm a part of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With These Numbers, it's really cool because I feel like what we can do is pretty significant. And I think I really, really like the idea, which is to work with individuals in the midst of a huge, overwhelming crises. So, you know, hunger, poverty, these things that you can't fix entirely, but you can help individuals. So they're currently working in a small township in South Africa, working with some young boys there on a soccer team that's kind of giving them a place to go when they don't have a family and things like that. It's really, really cool. And I'm sending three students now to college. Oh, wow.

So the idea is let's empower these people so that they can do, they can come back to their communities and have an education and build their communities up rather than come in with what we think is the best thing for their community and, you know, mess around with it and then leave. So I think it's really cool. It's helping, making them like self-sufficient and being able to stay in this kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, and it's cool too, because it's very, it's very realistic. I was talking to Justin the other night about it and the goals that they're reaching are very realistic goals and they're, they're almost kind of detached from the, the romantic accomplishments that we want from our, our nonprofits.

Like we solved all these things. Like now it's like a very realistic goal of, you know, the student finished his first year of college and was very successful. Yeah. But you're realizing that you're laying these foundational things that take years to, to see like actualized in the community and how long of a process that is. And, and I think it's very, yeah, it's very realistic. And I like that. I like that a lot. Oh yeah. And it's, it's more almost concrete than, oh, we delivered 30,000 bags of rice to Africa. Yeah. It's not huge numbers. It's very small numbers, but you can see the person that you're helping. And I think that's really cool. That's cool. Not to discount, obviously, other nonprofits, but it's a, it's a unique approach, I think.

And I really like that. Obviously, if anyone wants to give money to a nonprofit. Yeah, of course. It's better than a lot of the other alternatives, but it just happens. Except for, I mean, right behind our merch table. Yeah. Of course. Right behind, buying right before CDs and T-shirts. Buy right before CDs and T-shirts. And then, I guess, help people in need. If possible. That is a terrible thing. No, it's all right. Your merch table, you have fantastic T-shirts. It's all available in Youth Large. Yeah. It's the only size we have. You are appealing to the small audience. Yeah, we don't have one. We realized that after we ordered Youth Large shirts and didn't sell, like, almost any. You're like, no. Well, you guys got to get younger audiences.

Yeah, I know. Along with the shoe. They all have beards and beer guts, and we didn't realize that. Along with the shoe commercial, we'll get you guys a cartoon headline. Yeah, we'll get you, like, a theme song for a cartoon show. Yeah, we just need a supporting tour with Paramore, and we'll be good to go. We'll get rid of those youth margins. That's the goal of this band right now. Who is it? Ben Connolly from Punk News was wearing one of your old T-shirts. It has the right on the front. Yeah, the Paramore shirt. And, yeah, everyone thought it was a Paramore shirt, and he's like, no. I got it right before, and we're like, whatever, dude. You know, I had this Blood Brothers shirt a long time ago, and I thought it was really cool because it kind of just said, like, brothers.

It didn't even say the full name. I was like, that's kind of cool. Just, like, have a shirt that doesn't say the full name. So we had a shirt that said Riot on it, and then Paramore released an album called Riot. But screw it. Like, we had hoodies that said Riot, and I thought that was cool, really cool. And I think we're just going to do it again. I don't care. Bane made a lot of money on that idea, so we're going to follow in the footsteps of Bane. Some people will buy it. Other people may just buy it. Yeah, and you know what? If you're getting called out for it being a Paramore shirt, then you can just play dumb. Like, you obviously don't know who Paramore is. Yeah, I'd be like, what? I'm too cool for that.

Yeah. I've never seen anything on the radio. And then you can make the person calling up feel dumb because they're like, no, this is like this. Totally legit, awesome punk fan. Totally awesome street cred punk fan. Yeah. Tons of street cred. Oh, an unbelievable amount. Until we put out the Adidas ad. Until. Everybody loves Adidas. You're still good with that. That's true. Actually, it's a very punk rock shoe. I've seen a lot of Adidas represented at the fest. Or New Balance, if we can get you a New Balance shoe. That's like a stuff white people like, I think, article. New Balance shoes. White people love New Balance. They love it. Everybody, I've had a pair. Back when I was a door to a salesman in Kentucky. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I was a door to a salesman. Rewind this. When were you? The summer after my freshman year of college, I was a door to a salesman in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I lived in a single wide trailer with a guy named Ed Reed. I slept on his couch. And I knocked on doors all summer and didn't sell anything. What were you attempting to sell? These book things. It's for this company called... Basically, I just didn't want to go home for the summer. And so my friend signed up for this and it seemed like a really good idea. And it turned out I'm a terrible salesman and I made $80 all summer. That's not such a good number. No, it's a terrible number. Oh my God. Oh yeah, if you were in Bowling Green, you probably got your door knocked on by me and you promptly closed that door.

And you were like, uh, I'm just going to swing that closed. Yeah, I've had a whole host of bad jobs and that was, I might have been the best. Well, you guys currently, I mean, because obviously, not to be rude, you probably don't make living money off right before. We bought ourselves Arby's the other day with the band money. And you guys were so, you're like, aw. Yeah, Arby's. They got that five for six dollars thing going? No, it's, well, we used the, um, they had a five dollar toasted sub. Oh yeah? With, um, and I feel like I need Arby's money for this. Yeah. With, um, delicious curly fries, seasoned curly fries and a soda. Wow. They have Pepsi products so you can get Mountain Dew. So I was pretty proud of it.

And that, and the entire, uh, money that you've gained from right before went to that one Arby's meal. Yeah, pretty much that and the, the Arco next door. So you do what you got to do. Yeah. But so yeah, what do you guys do to earn money to continue to live? We all work in restaurants. Yeah. Um, everybody except for me cooks. Freddie cooks at Applebee's. So that's not really cooking. It's microwaving. Oh, it's yeah. No, honestly, I haven't explained how they make the fettuccine Alfredo. Believe me, I've eaten at Applebee's before. It involves microwaving. Yeah. There's no ovens there. Yeah. No, there, there are. It's where, it's where you put the, um, steak for a time being before you put it in the microwave. Before you throw it on the plate.

And then John and Corey also cook. Um, and then I wait tables and bartend and I save my cooking for pleasure. Hmm. Just something you do on the side. I love cooking. Yeah. We cook a lot on tour. Um, if anybody wants us to cook them food. If anyone wants to stay there. Yeah. No, seriously, we'll work something out. We're really good with, um, Mexican food and various pastas. Fantastic. We have a tub of lard in the van right now from when I made tortillas the other morning. Seriously? Like real lard. Yeah. How long does that last? Forever. Seriously? It's hydrogenated. Oh my God. It's terrible for you, but it's so delicious. It is pretty fantastic. All the best tortillas. But I mean, it's not vegan, but we can make it with shortening if you're vegan or vegetarian.

If you're vegan. But I mean, otherwise they're just going to have to be okay putting you up with a tub of lard in your van. Oh, it's so good. So good. Not the lard itself, but when you put flour in water and salt. I'm waiting. I, I, I, no, I'm not going to say that. I learned how to make tortillas from an old Mexican lady in Tijuana. True story. So, okay. So far we have, you are a salesman in Kentucky. Yes. And you've learned how to make tortillas from an old Mexican lady in Tijuana. Only trip out of the country. Why were you in Tijuana? I went to a Christian high school and we do that, um, the missions thing every Easter. Um, so you can come back and be like, Oh my God, they have so little. And like, you know, you do the, yeah.

The terrible cliche of, I vowed not to have that experience and I didn't. Um, it was a very, it was a good experience. Um, but we stayed in this like really small town and, um, it was like, it was like the outskirts of Tijuana and, and, um, yeah, we did like, you know, vacation Bible school and built a house, which I thought was really cool. Build a house. That's, that's great. And, um, in the midst of that, I was taught how to make tortillas. Which is what you really took away from it. Probably the most. Everybody came back. We also bought fireworks, a lot of fireworks because we're high school kids. And I think we put an M80 in a dead dog that we found. Go Jesus.

I don't, I'm not even going to get into that one. That's a little disturbing. I like that you think there was like, there may have been a dead dog. There may have been an M80. Well, I mean, we're throwing rocks at it for a while.

It was dead before we ran into it. Yeah, of course. It was bloated. It was bloated and made this weird sound when you hit it with rocks. So, I mean, I'm 17 years old. What do you think I'm going to do? Sounds, sounds viable. Um, uh, just taking the quick little break in the middle, let you get a little bit more right before music. Uh, since we are talking with Brett, lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, um, commercial mastermind behind right before, uh, then we'll get back in the interview and then we're going to wrap it up. So, uh, stay tuned.

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You've discussed before for a long period of time, you were like born and raised Christian. And, uh, currently you are atheist, is that correct? Yeah, an atheist, yeah. Uh, how did that come about? It was a very long process. Um, I, I took being a Christian very seriously and, and for, you know, a long part of my life, it was the only worldview. So there was different nuances of that worldview, but the overarching worldview was, was Christian. Um, and I, I, I took, yeah, I took it very seriously. I participated, um, a lot in high school and, and somewhat less in college. Um, and then as time went by, I started to kind of, I think when you get educated and you see the different ways that people view the world and how different it is from yours, um, it is, uh, it's really humbling and you have a lot less, uh, I guess you're not as convinced anymore, or at least I wasn't convinced anymore as to how right I was.

Cause for a long time I thought I was right and I was 17 and had all the answers. Um, so yeah, there was like a five year process of being like learning about these things and then on like a, you know, a personal level, a big part of Christianity is this personal relationship they always talk about and realizing I had none and that I'd never felt God in my entire life and kind of coming to terms with that. And yeah, eventually I just, I think that was a big part of me moving to Richmond and just kind of getting away from all that. Yeah, getting away from it, not because I wanted to run away from it, but because I needed time outside of it to decide for myself. And, and I decided that, you know, at this, at this point in my life, I don't believe in God and, and it's been a really, really good thing.

Um, I don't think it's for everyone. You know, I'm not like preaching atheism. I think that I've, you know, these numbers, um, my friend Justin is a Christian and, and I, he does it well and I, I respect him and admire him for the way he approaches his faith. Cool. That's just not my disposition. No, no. I don't think. That's fine. That's very good. Yeah. Being that you have such a long history, I'm sure you have a pretty good knowledge of it. Yeah. Do you get in a lot of debates with people about it or is it something you kind of just bow out of, you kind of avoid? I, I debate, I debate, um, so I can learn, I think. Um, I really enjoy like argument, but like civil argument, you know. Yeah, not where it's like, you're fucking wrong.

No, no. And this is stupid. I like, I learn, I learn the most when I'm talking about things. Yeah. And, um, and so I debated a lot about it when I was still deciding. And then now that I'm a little more confident and I, um, I've kind of backed away from that. Yeah. I just, I don't, there's nothing really to, it's not like I'm going to win. Like, yeah, now you don't believe in God, I've crushed your worldview. Yeah, they're like, oh my God, you're right. Yeah, that's terrible. Like, I don't want to do that. And, and, you know, it came to me at a time when it was appropriate for me to know that and, or to decide that. And I don't want to pull the rug out from someone on someone's feet and like, you know, have it be a terrible experience.

Not that like I'm this like great argumentative power. Yeah. But like at any moment, I'm going to unleash the truth on you and blind you and destroy your worldview. Oh my God, I have Brett's so right. But, but yeah, I mean, I, I think obviously if you're, I mean, someone's struggling with the issue to just come out very aggressively, I think it would be a bad, I mean, even if they, you had valid points, it would be a terrible experience. Yeah, I mean, most people don't debate with like reason, you know, it's, it's very, it's very emotional. Yeah, absolutely. And so you've got to like, wait till, you know, their emotions are there. And I don't know, there's a lot better people to talk to about this than me, you know, don't read a Richard Dawkins book, you know?

No one's going to read. This is the internet people are listening to. Oh, you can actually see Richard Dawkins and all the other, you know, dominant atheists on YouTube. Yeah. You can watch them. That's, that's, that's the way to go. You can watch them say words that they have once written. But you don't actually have to read. Yeah. Thank God. New generation. Yep. Fantastic. So, uh, for your own self, is it, I mean, you've said it's, it's a very good thing. I mean, do you feel it's not, I mean, I'm sure there was trouble at the beginning when you were kind of like, maybe there is no God. It was depressing at first. Um, but the, a thing that really made me open to the idea was that I'm a really analytical person and dealing with the philosophy of this sort of like supreme being always knowing your thoughts, always knowing the future.

How does, you know, like things like that, and this means nothing to most Christians, but for me, you know, looking at, well, if God knows the future and he interacts with your life, then he's determining where your life is going. Cause he knows what it's going to take to say yes or no. Yeah. Um, but if you have free will, then God can't interact in your life because anytime he does, he's altering your free will. And he's like, like things like that, that most Christians are like, well, that's how you have faith. And I'm like, well, I don't really, I want to know things. And, and there was this like kind of roadblock that faith was, um, um, for me at least, I don't think for a lot, for a lot of people it's not that, but there was a lot of arguments that I, that I wanted to advance and ideas I wanted to advance that you had to have faith and that stopped the idea.

And I like this sort of limitless possibility that there being no God provides, um, as far as everything is, you're able to figure out everything on a very like philosophical level level. And, um, you know, it's not, I think, you know, the earth circles the sun. No, the sun circles, the earth, God said it, you know, like stuff like that. You know, I think for a lot of people, religion is the end of the argument and I like having leaving it open, but that's my disposition. Like I said, that's fine. I mean, I'm, you're not on here. We'll have a religious authority on here one day and we'll let them. Yeah. And they'll probably make me look stupid or, you know, or not. I have no idea. We'll probably, let's be honest, I'm never going to get any one of the credentials to do this.

Yeah. They'll be like podcast. Podcast. What's that? What's the money in that for me? Yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean, I don't know. I try to be like reasonable with the whole thing. Cause I think I, I was going towards reason, which led me away from God and I want to be reasonable now with people who still believe and respectful of that. Definitely. Well, it seems like, I mean, certainly this ties in with the political aspect of the band is when you, when you believe in something and it's complex of that nature, there's no, you know, definite solid answer like that. I mean, even like we just like politics is there's no, the Democrats are right. The Republicans are right. The green party's right. It's, there's always, you know, issues with that.

And so, I mean, with the upcoming election, a lot of people are really pro Barack Obama and it's kind of like, it's good. But at the same time, it's kind of like, he's not going to come in and, you know, fix everything. No, he can't. I mean, he's got to like, he's got so much to fix before you can even make progress. I'd say he wins. I mean, I think it looks like he might at this point. Yeah. Fingers crossed. But, um, yeah, I don't know. I, I'm not, I'm not, um, a political scientist and I'm not an economist. And the more I learn about those, I've actually been reading the economist a lot recently. And, um, the more I kind of like learn about how complicated all these things are, the more humbled I am. And the less I really have to say definitively on how to fix these things, I think, um, it's really tempting and a lot of, a lot of life to come up with an answer.

And I just kind of, if I don't know, I don't want to say that I do. And so like for things, for example, like that I'm passionate about, but don't have a solid answer for like, you know, um, immigration, uh, I don't know the answers to immigration. I'm not going to be like, well, you know, all we got to do is, you know, it's a very complicated issue. But I do know that a really bad answer to it is to treat those that are immigrating as non-human and to make them less than what they are and to take away their dignity. Um, because, you know, if I was born and my family lives in Mexico, in wherever region, um, the only reason I'm coming to America and I'm leaving all of that behind and working absurdly difficult jobs that they all work is because I'm dedicated to my family.

Um, and it's not because I'm coming to like screw the American healthcare system or something, you know? So I think that as long as you, for the people like us that aren't politicians and aren't political scientists, um, but do have daily encounters with, um, immigrants of all sorts, I think there's things we can do and, and treat them humanely. Um, and with a lot of respect, cause what they're doing is braver than a lot of the things I've ever done, you know, to leave behind your family in order to support them is a really courageous thing. And, uh, yeah, so I, I think that's more important than like dicing around issues cause I'm not going to be arguing on Capitol Hill anytime soon anyways, but I'm going to interact with people every day, especially with the amount of Mexican food this band eats.

Oh yeah. Yeah. It's so good. It is pretty fantastic. Yeah. There's, I've been surprised there's a pretty good amount in Gainesville. Yeah. Latienda. I had that for breakfast. No, where's that? Very good. It's on, um, 13th. Is that 13th? You make a left? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go past the Rush Lake. Um, it's by the Waffle House. Oh. Yeah, on the right. It's very good. Done past. Tony always takes us there every time I come to Gainesville. Past the Rush Lake, uh, Nature Preserve and? Classy motel. I've slept in that parking lot numerous times. Slept on a floor next to a, uh, bathroom last night there. Well, there you go. I was going to say, I don't think it speaks as well to the motel if you're like, I've slept in the parking lot.

Well, I mean, there's like 15 people in a hotel room like, the van is empty. I'll just pee in the parking lot when I need to pee and then you're good to go. There we go. That's why they have trees. That's what that's for. Yeah. Um, all right. So, I think, uh, we're going to wrap this up. I really, I feel bad. I didn't talk too much about the specific music, but I mean. Uh, whatever. I hope. All right. Just because we should. Favorite song off the new album.

They're all my babies. Um. No, I mean, I like, I like them all for different reasons. I know. Well, you, I would like to believe you wouldn't be like, this song's terrible, but we need to fill up three minutes. I like capillaries the best. Um, I think, and I think combination of music and theme. Um, lyrically, it's like one of my favorites and I think it, it kind of dives into that idea. Like capillaries are the smallest veins in your body and that's where oxygen transfer takes place. So, it's almost this idea that, um, the most important things kind of take place in the smallest settings. And, um, focusing on little, on little things and, and, uh, yeah, not getting overwhelmed by the large issues. Cool. Yeah.

I don't know. There's that. Every, every line, I guess, gets a paragraph of explanation. So, it takes forever. But, yeah. We'll have you write that up sometime. Yeah. Oh, I would love to. The entire book about the song. Yeah. Oh, God. Nobody would want to read that. Oh, you don't know. I wouldn't want to write that. I already wrote the song. It took forever. Don't have that kind of time. Yeah. Um, I also heard the album may get put on vinyl. Yeah, we're definitely putting it on vinyl once we sell out of the first pressing of the CD and Satan makes enough money. It's like Satan doesn't have, like, the stockpile. They don't have the capital. Stockpile of loot. Yeah. So, yeah, but, I mean, if, once we sell enough that we have money to press the vinyl, the vinyl will be pressed.

It'll get done. And it'll be glorious. And I won't be able to play it because I don't have a record player because I'm so on punks. Except I am. I live down in my car for a year and I'm not going to, like, take a record player and all my record collection around. In your car? Yeah. Yeah. Don't worry, most of the kids who have records now don't own players. They just buy records. I mean, as long as it, like... As long as they buy the music. Scene points. Yeah. Yeah? I'm all about that. That's all. That's why you guys started the band.

Yeah. Fantastic. Is there anything else you want to add before we wrap it up? Websites? Anything you want to push? I don't know. Anything else you guys are working on? I do. I haphazardly keep a tour journal that I've been completely non-diligent about in the last few weeks. But, yeah, that's at theriotbefore.com. And get on me about that. And if you're a person that wants me to write things and pay me money, do that because I can really use it. That's about it. You'll start your job as an author. Yeah. Moving through that one. Yeah. Very important author. There we go. I think... I think that's everything. And I don't know. I don't have a favorite team or else I'd say go... No sports team. Go that team.

We're ready to whore out the ride before in any offer. Any opportunity. All right. And I think that's a good closer. That's the only one. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much for taking the time. Of course. I appreciate it. Of course. All right. That's the whole interview. That's it. All of it. All wrapped up in a neat little bow. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank not only Brett, but everybody who came out to the fest and who did interviews and who helped us out. The whole fest experience was insane. I definitely want to thank Virgil for... He videotaped the Austin Lucas performance in our hotel room. Scott Heisel, the fucking epically bearded meatloaf looking dude from AP who videotaped some of the sets in the hotel room, Kyle William, who helped make that happen, who gave us a place to stay in Tallahassee.

Like pretty much everybody at the fest was fucking awesome except for that dickweed on the tall bike who saw me in a fucking Ruiner shirt and was like, hey, Bridge Nine. Yeah, bro. Fuck you, Bridge Nine. Because Bridge Nine Records is the record label for Ruiner. And apparently if you're a big fat dickweed in a tall bike in Gainesville, you like to make fun of guys who like hardcore bands and it must be pretty fucking awesome to be you dude. On the upside, maybe, I don't know, maybe you'll shower one day and lose your virginity and fucking lose that dreadlock fucking mullet thing you had going there. But other than that dude, everybody in Gainesville was completely awesome and totally rad and super nice.

There were a bunch of other interviews we were supposed to do. This is the second year in a row we fell through doing an Eric from O Pioneers interview. Hopefully, they'll come through the Bay Area and we'll get an interview with them. He's a super nice guy. Aaron Danger from Team Science, also a really, really good dude. Hopefully, we'll get an interview with him. But the whole thing was rad and Brett was a super good dude. So you should definitely check out the ride before. Go pick up their album, Fist Buried in Pockets. And I'm trying to think what else. Download their album off quote unquote records. They have a ton of shit out there. I mean, for a band who's fairly young, they have their own 7-inch, a split 7-inch, an EP, an LP.

For being like two years old, they have an amazing amount of fucking music out there. So definitely check them out. Gonna play one last track from them. And then that wraps up episode 90. We've been doing this for like fucking three years. We have 90 episodes. That's fucking... We're like The Simpsons. Soon every podcast is gonna be like, Oh, Sound Scene Revolution already did that. But we don't care. We'll steal their shit. It's true. If you look online, you will find people who cite our interviews and ask questions based on our interviews. And it's cool, I guess. But it's kind of like lazy journalism to ask the same questions and shit. But, I don't know. I don't know that. Yeah, yeah. A couple of our interviews, there's been a guy who like asked a question.

Like, it was based... Well, okay. One was based around a question that we had asked. Like, he was like, Oh, I saw that you said this in one interview. And I think that's kind of rad. Because that's the question we asked inspired this guy to ask, you know, a follow-up. And then one was like verbatim. Like the same band asking like the same question from the same thing. And I was kind of like, well, that's kind of fucked up. I don't know. Maybe two people thought of the same thing. But the way it was phrased, it was a little too much like, I liked the response he got. I'm going to get that same response. But man, what the fuck with all the money we're making off this shit? I don't really... I mean, the fucking bags of cash.

I just got a check. Are you serious? Oh, yeah. It took him more money to print and send that check than it was worth. It was originally a $3 check. But for postage and check generation. All right. Well, we're out of here. We'll be back next week. Yeah. So, enjoy. Check out more of The Riot Before. And we'll see you all in a week.

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