Sick Puppies at Welcome to Rockville 2026 - PipemanRadio Interview

0:04 Hi, you live one too. Cue wow for you. Young as listens to pipe Man here on the Avengurance pipe Man W four c Y Radio And I'm. Here with Sick Puppies. Nice. Yeah, I am so excited to have you here at Welcome to Rockville man. Thanks for having us scit to be here. We love this festival.

0:47 I brought a few kids of mine that are out there. I'm like, you have to go to the Sick Puppies show because it's sick Nice. I brought my daughter to today and she got to watch from stage, so that was really that was really cool. Did you get to check out like her expression, Wow, it's funny. Well, she she actually passed out during our set, which is hilarious. But so she was taking a nap during our set, half the half the set. But but yeah, it was fun. She's seen our show before we did after Shock, and she was able to see us there on stage and that's been a new thing having the family come to shows now because haven't haven't done that in the past. It was fun, that's cool. And so what made the change to Brigham now is it because they're older or.

1:27 Well they're young, they're old enough to well she's only four, so it's like, you know, still young. So when we were doing all, we were just reminiscing about our old tour days and you know, no kids back then or anything. So it was just more of a more of the good old days of of of you know, the rock and roll lifestyle, the debauchery. Not so much debauchery with our band, but you know, we had some we had some fun times. Yeah, we were pretty shame Yeah. I you know, I was talking about this earlier, you know, because I have friends They'll say, oh, can you bring me backstage. I'm like, it's not what you think. We're not in the eighties anymore. And I was backstage in the eighties. Okay, You's there was a lot of debauchery and it's fun. I just tell them and like there's nothing really going on. It's kind of like I'm hanging out with I'm telling them like I'm hanging out with Rob from Godsmack, showing pictures of our grandchildren on our iPhones.

2:22 Okay, it's about that's about right. Right. It's like, you know, there's people working in the crew, and there's people running around for that, and then there's you know, singers doing vocal warm ups and nothing nothing crazy, Yeah, exactly. So which one of the Danny Wimmer festivals is your favorite? I mean there's there's there's quite a few. I think, I honestly can say all of them are super organized and that that's something that that really makes a difference when we're there's so many moving parts, so many people working, and times and everything like that. So honestly, every one of his super organized and awesome and we always have a great time. Yeah, Like there's so well organized and just on a world class level. Now, they're all amazing.

3:04 What I love is how artists talk about Danny Wimmer and the festivals. Like from doing his festival since twenty eleven, never once have I heard one bad thing said ever, And that's like, as you know, has unheard of in the United States festivals for sure. You know, I think he patterns more after the European In fact, somebody told me that he literally when he started with starring these, he went to hell Fest and used that how to do his festivals. That's awesome. We've never done Healthfest. Did you do it with Evan?

3:45 We have done health Fest yet, Yeah, gotta go. I do that one every year. Oh my god, is it's like I can't even explain. You gotta do it because it's just like they built this city there, like you can even go there when there's no festival and like tour it because it's permanent structure. They got a life not life size, but a huge sculpture of Lemmy. They have like twelve stages. There's like stages a bunch above merch boosts, like little things where the smaller bands are playing, and they separate everything too, like you have the two main stages, but then you have a regular metal stage, a death metal stage, a black metal stage, a hardcore stage, a thrash metal stage, you know like it.

4:36 So it's just it's like a big city. It's just super wild. I've only seen pictures, but it looks awesome. So I'm telling them out there that they need to bring sick puppies to Hellfest. Yeah, that'd be awesome. We will be amazing. We'll play there all day long. But yeah, look, we were saying about Danny Wimer stuff, like you those those vessels in Europe go off like and he's modeled them after that and he's brought it here and now you know the U say is a top because of d WP is like a top level festival. You know, it never was, right, you know, it really was. Yeah. A couple of things that I think are so important that you do see it. Like hell fest for sure, that you definitely see at Dennie Wimmer festivals. Load in and load out so much easier, and sound checks so much easier for the artists.

5:24 Yeah, for sure. Everything is like literally from top to bottom, everything is like smooth and on a world class level. Yeah, and like and she agreed. I was like talking about catering, like everybody, every artist, We're just talking about catering to the lunch and it was amazing. It's awesome, right, every artist I talked to their like, oh, the care because you guys have to go some of them where it's crap. Yeah, and that's rough. Like he realizes you guys are working hard, you're playing and you need to be fed. Yeah. He traces his arms really well across the board. I think that's so important, so important. So what else do you guys got going on after this?

6:07 Oh? Well, nothing planned as of yet. We kind of just take things by when they come. Nowadays, we're just kind of we're all kind of you know, life happens, and we're all kind of doing our own thing here and there, and yeah, so what. Do you think of, Yeah, well, we're going to take shows as they come and book them as they come, and tours and whatever might come up. We're really yeah, I don't know. It was sort of like kind of like looking back and going It was a bit of a feat releasing wave the ball because it took so long to sort of recall the songs and finally get it out with the pandemic and everything. So I think we're just sort of going breathing a sigh of relief that we were able to do that, and yeah, we're just enjoying some shows here and there, and yeah excited, you know.

6:47 When I'm hearing too, which I heard from somebody else, and I've been thinking lately, like, okay, so ever since COVID, the festival's gotten longer, there's more of them, and like last year, Okay, I never thought i'd say this because COVID sucked, but last year I was doing that festival every weekend from March to October. And you know, they're now like four day festivals with a pre party, so it's basically a week long festival and at October I'm like, I'm a fucking burnt yeah, you know, and I mean. It's full on man. Yeah you're saying these deals four day long. People are camping, going every day like it's a that's a you know how that's a long that's a long road right there.

7:29 And so I was like, man, I don't know, I kind of think I want a year of COVID now to take a break. Yeah you know, not really, not really, because we. You know, it sucks big time, but it's like just the concept of the break, like the way you guys are talking about, you know, just taking it as it comes, not stressing out about it. I think that recreates the creativity too. You know, you jump off the hamster wheel. If you want creativity, it. Is the hamster wheel. I feel like nowadays too, it's more of you know, like the country model is kind of like weekend warrior, you know, Thursday to Sunday and then. You have the week during the week off. And I think a lot more artists are going that route with touring, like a week or two at a time, or you know, the two month three months long stretches are like more rare, and of course they happen, and if they do, it's like a day off day on day off or you know, it's not consecutive shows usually.

8:22 I think people are getting smarter to touring because of that reason. You know, they gotta find the balance of writing and recording and then also being on the road. And yeah, I think that Weekend Warriors smartly. By the way, I think it's totally smart because I'm thinking myself, sometimes it kuy of sucks for bands or playing on Monday night at some venue and like nobody can go because it's Monday night. Like I think it'd be better to structure a way that and then you could have a life to Yeah, you know, you need balance. You need balance, and that's a hard thing to I mean especially we were just talking about our good old touring days back in the early two thousands and stuff like just going out, leaving for six months at a time and just like you know, like it's crazy.

9:06 So yeah, we too it hard back in the day, and it did get brutal and burning out. It's like it's kind of expensive because once you do burn out, you do have to like expensive for your health because you kind of you have to take that time to rejuvenate and you can't force yourself to do it. And I think we burnt out a couple of times and we just kept going. Yeah. I think like we didn't even know what it was. We just kind of like worked through it. But exactly like, don't. Get me wrong, we loved it, but we were also a little bit unhinged, like in the mind for you know, a. Lot of it too. I think we I think we just I don't know about Yeah, it's it definitely takes a toll mentally, but you kind of just push through. But I think now, you know, we're a little older now and it's like we kind of we can realize those or kind of yeah, see those times when they come and just go, you know, do what we gotta do to to to reevaluate things.

9:55 Yeah, yeah, and see it's true, like what you're saying, It's like, it's not that you don't love it. It's not that I don't love it. But I got home after October and I didn't leave my house for two months, like and you know how it is, like it's like you're out there, out there, out and then you get home. It's like just like you're in the calm down, like you just came down from doing heavy amounts of drugs and you just want to chill. You know. I mean it's actually that's really accurate because you're because you're going, going, going, and you're like stress stressed out, and then it's great, and then you're stressed out and you don't have that the brain doesn't have that time to like calibrate, so when you do go home, you're like, oh, it's like this dump of like chemicals. It is kind of like that, I.

10:41 Guess exactly, and you love and you love to just kind of do nothing for that. Yeah, it's like it's very extreme. It's like we're on like and we're like, yeah, on fire, and then at home, I'm the same way. I don't even I don't do anything. I just come down, like you. Say this to recharge, as they say, But yeah, I mean. That's what I call it recharging because I'm definitely a person like to be out there and do like I not only enjoy working the festival, but when I'm done doing the interviews, I enjoy being out there. But then there comes a point in time where you just need to seclude from everybody and all the hoopla and just chill out and recharge. Yeah, you need that time for sure. There it is so anything else that you want to tell the listeners that we haven't covered already that they need to know.

11:29 Nothing, really, I mean, just obviously wave the ball is out. We're very proud of it. Check it out on the socials, and you know, just ask us any questions and connect with us on there if you want to. And yeah, I guess we'll see you out at the next show or wherever we may it may take us. Hopefully Danny invites us back to one of his festivals next in the next few years. We'll see so and then yeah. Hopefully, I'm sure he will, because you've been to a few and you guys are badass, and he would just not be very smart to not bring you back. I might trouble for saying that. Now, you wouldn't We always we actually talk about sometimes it's like we're the band that kind of has been around, you know, at this day and age is like kind of a while, and so we're like the band that's kind of you know, We've had our day where we had some songs the radio did well and stuff and so we're kind of we kind of play earlier in the set just to kind of, you know, get people going a little bit, oh, this is we've heard of this band maybe and then but yeah, we're just grateful to be still be doing it because there's so many new bands out there, so it's like we try to keep up with all the new bands, but we just love that we get invited back to play still.

12:32 So yeah, absolutely, yeah, we're happy to be here. Well, I'm grateful that you're here at Welcome to Rockville and anywhere I see you because you guys are great. And thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thank you for having us, Thank you pleasure. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man on w for CUI Radio.