PipemanRadio Interviews Flat Black at Aftershock 2023

0:04 Hey, you have done to censure? Wow crazy you whycoume of America. It's time for the Adventures of Pipe Man on W four c HY dot com. West Palm Beach is number one Internet radio station. Here's your host, the white Man, Cracy, little bicices, gerful man I know says so when you stole them out there. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm here with Jason Hook Rob here, Nick Delton, Rex Shorton like thanks, Dick flat Black here at aftershock Man. You guys were to talk back here when you guys were out there, like you guys kick ass? Okay, tell us about that a lot of people were just talking about how great you guys were and that it was really badass. How did you see the crowd out there? How do you see the crowd out there where they they loved it? Right, We're converting people every single day. We're converting people. Uh, you know you were on first. We got added to these festivals way after the lineup

1:36 had been decided on, So this was sort of like a chuck them on there as a favor, right. So our job is to like basically open the festival, which is fine, right, but it's a bit of a challenge, right because you know people are still kind of like rolling out of bed right to the flat black show, right, including us. Right. But it's been fine, it's been great. It's funy. You should bring that up because I think of artists that when they got played early in the day, like, that's kind of weird when you're like, if you're on tour, not doing a festival, you're playing at night, so it's kind of a weird trip in your head when you got to play early, like kind of you're not used to it. It doesn't matter to us. I mean, we're here to, like I said, to convert people. We want people to figure it out, and we, like I said, the alternative was that we would be in a hotel room rotting. So we're right, we'll take it there. You go. Absolutely, Yeah, I think like the sun is a whole another factor once that's involved. Yeah, but especially today, the cool thing is is normally you can't see that many people, but you can see everyone's faces for quite some distance. So it's sort of nice because you get to see their faces and how they're reacting. Especially with us, we're brand new you know, they you know, they don't know a lot of the material we're playing, so it's a sort of imperative that we deliver on the on the wake up, I think, but they woke up, so it was a good one, I think. On that note, it's like a breath of fresh air too, to us the listeners, because there's a lot of stuff out there that isn't fresh. So when a band like you comes out, it's like, oh, that's a breath of fresh air and has some kick ass music and it's not like everybody else.

3:08 Rob have to say. Well, Rob says this, No, it's great because you know, we made a concerted effort to try to stand out a little bit and not do what everybody else is doing, like genre wise. Yeah, and we have like some hints of that in our album that's going to be coming out soon. But you know, at our core, we're a four piece band and we play live and we're just trying to bring the ruckus. Four people on stage, old school, We got guitar solos, Old Rexers over here sing his nuts off, you know, and it's like nick and sing like everybody sings. We play and yeah, so it is a little different, but we're really glad everybody's digging it. I think different is good, okay, because I find nowadays there's a lot of bands that they like just use this formula and in this genre whatever you want to call it, because I hate those labels. I mean, there shouldn't be a formula. It should just be you as artists, expressing yourself the way you want to express yourself. Yeah, no, I agree. I think you know, it's it's so much more about not trying to sell something.

4:16 It's more just about us, the four of us, making the music we want to make that's natural. And luckily we all really love old school rock and roll like Van Halen and Kiss and Motley Crue, and we want to kind of take it back to that vibe where it was literally just the guys up there having a good time playing their instruments, you know, and putting on a rock show, you know. And it's just that's what it's about. The core of it. The solid the solid songs and the solid musicianship, you know. Everything else on top is just it's just the sprinkles totally. And it only gets better from there when you have that solid of a foundation. So it's funny too with the shirts. I was gonna say something, but now you mentioned Kiss and Motley Crue. Those two bands are the bands that are why I'm sitting here today. Absolutely, my first album I ever had my life I won at Seaside Heights and Jersey at the Jersey Shore and it was the original Kiss album when it first came out, and that was what started my whole music journey. The first club show I ever went to on the Sunset Strip at the Roxy was Crewe before they had an album, and I know right, And let me tell you, I was like after that show, I was like, oh my god, I'm never going to a real concert again. And that started me going to all the club shows like all the time, and I got addicted. And that's what brought us here today. What do you think was the moment for you guys that brought you to where we are today that you just knew music was your life, our life basically? Well, jeez, we're all lifers, you know,

5:49 as they say, and there really is no better existence. Like being in a band is fucking cool, it is fun, and it's is rewarding. There really is no better life. I mean, I was I was off the grid for about three years. I mean we're pretty much all paralyzed from the pandemic, and me specifically because I had no band or anything, you know, But to be back, it just feels like, ah, this is what, this is why we do it, you know, And don't you feel like refreshed now? Even though that really sucked that period of time, But it's like you were on this hamster wheel for years that you couldn't jump off of and you finally got a chance to jump off and evaluate how you wanted to go for the rest of your music career. That's the way I think about it. Yeah, there was a lot of time to think and refine too. I think it was a good time for musicians because you know, we got a practice to stay good, right There's tons of free time for that. And you know, it was like the couldn't been any better for you, for you to figure out, for Jason to figure out like what he wanted to do with this whole project, which you know, glued this whole thing together. So yeah, it was it was a good time for get it better and preparing what we're unleashing right now. I love it, and I love something you said in an interview you called like the tour bus like a rolling submarine, isn't it though? It is like that. I read that and I'm like, holy shit, that is the best description you could ever give because it's so true and I love that.

7:24 I can see it even between you guys that you know, you spend all that time with people you either want to kill them or you love them to death. And you, guys, that's why you're making great music, because you guys just mesh together and can have fun on the road in that rolling submarine. Look, it just it's way better when your friends. Yeah, it's way better. I've been in a lot of bands and I've seen the gamut of how it can look. So when it came to putting this band together, it just was really important to me that we could all gel as people like. I didn't rush into anything. I just want to spend time with these guys and see how are we on a personal level. And because it does get dense and you are confined, you know, for very long periods of time. So if that's not if that's not worked out beforehand, you could have problems. And I didn't want problems, you know, Yeah, it should be a drama free life. There's enough drama with everything else in life, but not when you're on that bus with a bunch of people that you got to be with all the time. Right. The cool thing about this band is like, if we didn't play together, we would probably still hang out since I love this, which is rare. But you know, so what would you do, Like, what hobbies would you guys do together besides music? Well, he likes girls. Yeah, obviously that's true.

8:45 But we all are interested in like health and fitness and things like that, so it's pretty easy. You know. The first thing we we do when we wake up is try to figure out where the gym is nice, and you know, we all do it together, so it's motivatd and like you're watching here, especially like the bass player. You can't see him right now, but he's uh, he's significantly changed recently. Yeah he's uh, everybody else but we're we all love that. That's cool. And I like the healthy part because you know, back in the days I was talking about, there was none of that, and uh it shows yeah, yeah, lots of partying and yeah, looking off for sure all these years later for live shows. But I think it's cool that nowadays Bann like you guys like choose like the healthy rock star lifestyle. Well I saw they had the they have like the aftershock, the sober shock, things like yeah yeah yeah yeah there yeah, And there's like a whole in the artist area. There's this whole like uh, there's like a bar and there's a non alcoholic mixer like Bar two. So you know there's options now you don't have to do that anymore to have a good time, you know, we we can all attest to that. Even the chef over here is making vegan pizzas. Yeah yeah, and it's good. So if you if it might be even better than catering, you might want to try his food. Catering has been pretty spectacular on this story. Yeah, well, Danny Wimmer knows how to treat the artists right. Good on Danny, Dude, he's you know, he really

10:18 came to bat for Flat Black and it goes without saying, we are truly grateful. So I don't know if you're gonna ever hear this, Danny, but thank you very much, he will. We'll make sure of it. Okay, But listen, I do a lot of festivals and you've done a lot yourself. You've all you know seen there's not many in the United States that there's none that can really compare to the Danny Wimmer festival. You got it, that's true. And you know, I always hear, which I love from the artists, is how great he treats the artists. Like I listen, there's festivals. I've been at one recently where that really isn't even close to the case, and I think that's like bullshit. Like the artists, there is no festival without the art that's my opinion. He's got it down. Oh yeah, thank you, Dandy, Thank you Danny. Thanks Danny. So how does everybody reach out to you guys on socials? On the web? Checkout all your music tour dates, buy your merch and all that good stuff. It's really simple. So on Instagram we are at flat black, so can't forget that. And then just about everywhere else we are flat black music, including the dot com flat black music. How'd you even get flat black on Instagram? Like that? That was a luck of a draw right there? We Uh, funny enough, somebody had it and had zero posts, zero followers, zero activity. So I immediately went to work on you know, I put my team on it and said, let's secure this. Get it from this person before they catch on that there's a band coming behind it. You know, right right? That was pretty good,

11:50 worked that well. So craziest story in your whole musical journey? What would it be? I fell off the drum riser one time? Oh my, that's not fun mid song. Wow, embarrassing. I had to get up and finish the song. So well, see, there you go. Then you're a true rocker man. Horrible nightmares about it? Still, well, you know, I'm never good at this question for some reason, like I should have something prepared, but I can think of a few. I remember opening for Lamb of God in Europe and like getting booed off the you know, getting food, and it was very uncomfortable. It was my fault, my shit, my rig at all fucked up, and I was the new guy and blah blah blah blah. Great story. Okay, here's nick.

12:35 My first ever European tour, first show out, I missed bus call and had to walk two miles to a train station and take a train, pay for it with my own money to get to the next gig. I walked through cobblestone streets with cowboy boots. Wow, my feet were bleeding. That's the worst part, YEP. I guess when I was filming a music video for a different band, the first take of the music video sort of like okay, everyone's gonna start head banging on like one, two, three go, and the first, very first take of the day. It was a three day shoot. I pinched a nerve in my like top left trap and it's it's still pitched to this day. It's very pleasant, but it was like the very first shot, very first take, I just I heard it crack in my head, like big inside my head. I though that was stuck. So I spent you know, hours icing it to get it up to a point where I could play. And I had to relearn how to head bang with my back instead of like my neck. You know that that was That was a tough one for sure. That's I don't really have anything too crazy, but that that was wrong. I feel you though, because my neck is so screwed from head bagging for me too. Fucking fifty years or forty years, you know. Anyway, A final words you want to leave our listeners with that we haven't talked about anything you want to tell them or got coming up. Well, our record comes out the beginning of next year, and we're putting a song out out on October eighteenth, and that song is called Justice, and it's coming out very soon. Nice and Jason,

14:09 Well, I was basically gonna say say the same thing. I mean, we're playing our songs live and nobody I mean, we only have two songs on Spotify. So the record does come out first thing a beginning of March, and there's a new song being released on the eighteenth of October. Justice will be done. You're here first, folks. Nice Well, love it, love that you're here at after Chuck. I hope to see you guys a lot more. You're badass and thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipe Man. What's up? This is Jason Hook from Flat Black and you're listening to the Pipe Man on W four c Y Radio. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of pipe Man on you for c u I Radio. Yah