The Unexpected Festival Circuit: Peer Pressure’s Music Journey, Food Stories, and Warped Tour Magic

0:04 Hi, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio, and I'm here with.. Peer Pressure. Yeah, I felt a lot. Of pressure to make sure I was here at the media tent for you guys to be here. Thank you. Oh, man. Warped Tour. Warped Tour. How badass is this? Still feels like a dream. Right. But now that we're here, we can say that it's actually happened. It's crazy. No, it's really, really an insane feeling.

0:44 I think that we can both say that we would have never thought we would be here playing, but we would have definitely come here to watch the festival. Right. So, it's insane. So, look at that. Here we are, Montreal. How'd that happen? Tell me about the journey to Warped Tour for you guys. That's a good question. Honestly, I think that... Sorry, I'm going to take the lead a little bit more because our interviews are rarely in English. So this is like, woo! Definitely. Well, you're doing good. And what you're saying is he's not as good at the English. Oh, he's awesome. I'm not that bad, but she's way better, though. Oh, see, there you go. And then it's the same in reverse. That's why we work so well together as a band.

1:26 I love that. But the journey, how we got here... Honestly, I think in the last two years, that's what really led us to be here. We've been a band for almost 10 years. Right. So it's not, like, new, new. But the last two years, we've really given it our all. So we toured Europe last year. We did, you know, France, Spain, Germany, with some great bands, like Defiance from Germany. And after that, we started... going harder and harder and harder we played all the festivals in the last two years and i think that's what kind of got us on the map truthfully yeah. It does because people notice you that's the beautiful thing about festivals you know i'm a firm believer you don't go to a festival to see the bands you know it's to discover the ones you.

2:13 Don't know definitely Definitely. I mean, and even for us as musicians, I think that's a really cool aspect because you get to meet other bands that you might have known their name or you didn't know them at all. And then you've discovered your own favorite band, but you played with them. So you're like, are we friends or am I still a fan? I don't get it. Or both. Or both. So no, it's great in all aspects. We really love festivals. We're a festival band. So I feel like we're really, really stoked to be here because it's just, what do we do next? And Warped Tour is perfect because, like, you don't even know when you're playing until you get here and neither do the people coming. So it's not like people can come and like, oh, I'm just going to come see my favorite band. They have to be here the whole day because their favorite band may be first and they won't know it.

3:01 Very, very, very, very true. As we've seen just today, you know, you don't always expect, like, red jumpsuit apparatus to start a festival like that. So you're like, wow, good thing I got here at 10. Exactly. And then a couple of the bands playing that, you know, I didn't know when bands were playing either. So I was trying to Google, like, are they playing tomorrow or today? And there's a few bands that were said that it said it was playing tomorrow on Google, but they played today. You can't trust the internet anymore. No. Fucking AI lies to us. It's all lies. It's all lies. But that's the fun in it too, right, with Warped Tour? Because you don't know until you get here.

3:42 Like what better way to get everybody here at the same time? That's like the best way to do it, I think. Like everybody's going to come right when it starts. So it's super cool. Exactly. You know, and even for me as press, it's like I remember the first time years ago that I did Warped Tour. I was kind of like, oh, this is going to suck because you're used to scheduling your interviews ahead of time. Man, after doing one Warped Tour, I'm like, I wish. All festivals were like this because you used to have to go into a room in a trailer and sign up to interview the bands. And the time slots would be there when you got there on the sheet. So it was kind of cool because... I just didn't have to worry about the scheduling nightmare because it is a nightmare sometimes. It is. Especially as you get closer. Like, everybody wanted to do their interview today.

4:40 You know, it's like. I kept running out of time and running out of time. That's why we're here now. Like, you got the best time slot. Oh, it's great. It's not hot. I'm not sweating right now. I know, right? It's, like, beautiful outside. It's great. I just got done doing Vakan and Bloodstock, and I live in South Florida, so I've been in hot, hot, hot, hot. And then I came here, I'm like, oh, man, I feel like I'm in air conditioning. Right? Well, we're on an island. Right. And, you know, the view and everything, like, that's so special to have a festival like that also here in Canada and in Quebec. I think it's cool. It's amazing. Like, even the fact of, for me, okay, it was the super easiest festival for me to ever get into because my hotel, all I had to do was walk across the street to the metro and And then I'm thinking to myself, okay, when I get off the Metro, how am I going to find the credentialing? And it dropped me right, like I walked out and there it was.

5:45 I'm like, oh my God, I wish every festival was like this. No, it's very welcoming, right? You feel welcomed. You feel like free. Exactly. Because you have that access to speak to who you want to speak to, go see what you want to see. And that's what I think brings crowds to every stage. There's always fluid and like movement, fluidity. Is that a word? Yeah. And there's movement. And I think that just that alone gives you that opportunity. Like, look, we're here and. Exactly. And I, the idea of the Island too, like, cause I live on an Island in Florida as well. It's a little barrier Island. And I always feel while I'm there, I'm away from all the crazies. And there's a lot of crazies in my neck of the woods these days.

6:30 Okay. Like, All the French Canadians that I knew, they're gone. They're like, we're out. You know, they would come every year and now they're out. And I don't blame them. I'm out most of the time, too. It's very true. Right? Very true. So we're here on this island and I feel like, oh, even here, we're away from all the crazies. We could have this festival with all the cool people and all the idiots everywhere. Are over there. Yeah. And they can't come over here. They can't. And it would be very complicated to try. A lot of highways don't. It's not worth it.

7:11 No doubt, man. Oh, so Warped Tour. Man. What other festivals did you do? And now I want to hear the different festivals and how you can compare it. Let's try to remember them. How are the festivals? The ones, well, I would love to mention all of them, but I have a memory of a fish. Give me, oh, watch that spider there. In Florida, that means death. Well. Because we have, like, spiders that. Let's not do that because I want to be here tomorrow. I know, right? You can bite me tomorrow. Exactly. I like how he handled that, though. Oh, he's very. See, my ex-wife used to get pissed at me because there'd be a bug in the house and I would just take the bug and put it outside and, like, Well, you kill it.

7:59 Why do I need to kill it? I'll just put it outside. Honestly, he just learned that from our crew member today. Really? I don't think he would have done that like three hours ago, but not to call him out. Are you kidding? You killed a spider on the way here? They're everywhere. Honestly, I'm just fixated right here, right now. I literally hit the table so hard that it screwed up the connection. That's very hardcore, Dean. I know. That was very punk. You can't have a punk interview without a little static and distortion. I think I'll name a few festivals. Give me the top five.

8:40 Top five. Okay. There's one in Quebec City. It's the FEC. Yeah, FEC. Festival d' été de Québec. That was... Yeah, summer festival in English, yeah. We did the Anne-Vaulée Macadam II in Quebec. That was nice. And the Festival au Lac in Granby. That was super sick. And the one in France, Spread the Rage. Oh, okay. Yeah, that was a hardcore festival. That was super sick, yeah. So I got to tell you something funny. Okay, Nicole here, she speaks French-Canadian. And we went to do Hellfest because I do Hellfest every year. And she goes, watch, they're going to ignore me when I start talking to them in French. And literally, I was talking in English, and they were paying attention to me, and she was talking in French, and they were ignoring her.

9:39 Right? You told me that. But also, if they know English, they want to practice, so maybe they just respond that, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, don't take it rude. I want to practice. It's not that you suck. But the accent's different, for sure. I think it's that they were just real snotty that... you're not speaking proper French like the English do to Americans. I was married to a British girl and she was like, you don't speak right. I'm like, maybe you don't. His sense was married. Exactly. But I did find out later where she was from and It wasn't as hoity-toity as she made herself out to be. That's what people do. They come to America and they put on this act. And we're kind of stupid enough that we believe them. But the one thing I do love about Canada... One time I was walking in Costa Rica and she was on the phone... And somebody said, sorry, near me. She's like, is that Canadians?

10:46 I'm like, let me ask. And yep, there it was. They were Canadians for sure. Justin Bieber wrote a song called Sorry. And he's Canadian. Exactly. But I want to know why all the best musicians come from Canada. My guess is because it's too fucking cold up here that you just stay inside and make music. That makes so much sense. Right? Yeah. We have much more time inside. Exactly. I mean, I'm even from a cold weather climate, but this is a whole nother level. I've told the story of like, you know, I'm from New York and New Jersey. It gets cold. I've done Times Square New Year's Eve and you sit there for 16 hours in the freezing cold. But it never bothered me like when I did New Year's Eve at Niagara Falls. And like, I was like half an hour before midnight and I never do this.

11:36 I'm like, I'm out. I'm done. Yeah, Quebec City. Yeah, it's even worse. Yeah. I don't know how you guys do it, but that's why you make great music. We're born in it, so yeah, we're just built for it. Exactly. Well, it's no different now. I live in South Florida, and at first I really hated the heat and the humidity. Now I kind of like it, but it's taken years, you know? And now.. I go back to New Jersey in the winter and it's a freezing rain and the gray clouds. I'm like, why did I ever fucking like this weather? Because I used to say when I first moved to Florida, oh, I miss the seasons.

12:17 I miss winter. Fuck, I don't miss winter at all now, okay? Snow, yes. Snow is cool, but it's not as cold when it snows. It's cool, but... When you have it for six months. Exactly. Well, it's cool for the first day or two until it turns dark brown, black and crunchy. And we, we call that May. Right. Yeah, exactly. You know, and that's another thing too. Okay. May already from where I'm brought up is like, okay, there's no reason for cold weather in May. Like that makes no sense. I went snowboarding last May.

12:58 Nice. So now we found out that you like snowboarding and you're more of a snowboarder than a skier. I do try to skate. I broke both of my ankles at the same time. Skiing? Skating. No, I'm saying snowboarding over skiing. Oh, skiing. Yeah, no, I don't like skiing. I prefer skiing. See? Okay. And I have philosophies on this because I'm a surfer. I'm a skateboarder. I prefer snowboarding. I do skate and I'm good at it, but I don't like those big things on separate feet going different ways. Okay. I want one board. I don't even like the fact that I'm stuck on the board. Like if I'm on my skateboard and I'm about to eat shit, I can jump off.

13:43 Okay. But at least it's just one board and I'm not twisting my legs into like a human pretzel. So I'm with you on the snowboarding. But I did learn the pizza, the pizza form. Oh, tell me about that. Well, it's the pizza form. Like when you go skiing, you need to make a triangle. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a reverse triangle. Yeah, that never worked for me. I just kept going that way. How about, here's an idea. You guys, your next music video, you could do a song and he's on skis and you're on snowboards. And you're racing down the hill singing the song.

14:25 I'll be much faster. I think so. Oh, yeah. You're on. Oh. Oh, here comes his challenge. Here comes his. Are you going to kick his ass down the hill or what? Not on a recording, but yes. Yeah. Oh, man. So now what are you going to do for the rest of the year? Now you've come to the holy ground of Warped Tour. It's funny because I just did Wacken, and that is the concert. They call that the holy ground. But I do think Warped Tour is kind of holy ground. In its own way. Yeah, exactly. They're just different a little bit, right? Exactly. So they both have their own special thing, but it's hard. As all festivals. It's hard. Even we felt the same way coming back from Europe. We're like, what do we do now? Right, right.

15:11 toured Europe. Now our, not to say Ontario tour wasn't cool. It was really cool. But, you know, it's like you eat at a five-star restaurant and then you go eat at a half-star. I know, right? And again, Ontario is great. Not the poutine. Well, yeah. And apparently not here either because she got some last night and said it was terrible. Okay. I might have to try it. Not yours. I mean, I'll get another one. I mean, come on. It's like you know me. You know that I would do that, you know? Shh.

15:51 Did you see me earlier? Oh, yeah. So, have you never, you've had poutine, right? The what? Sorry? You've had poutine, right? Yeah, of course. Okay, so you're going to compare where you're from to Montreal's poutine. Oh, I mean, they do have good poutine here. It's like, okay, I think Montreal is, you'll agree with me, or you won't, skier, you know. I think that in Montreal, the poutine is fancier. It's fancier. But in Quebec City, it's a real poutine.

16:32 See, but that's usually what's better. Yeah, that makes sense. But I feel in Quebec City, it's more the classic poutine. Yeah, that's what you meant. Well, that's usually what's better. Like, you don't see from where I live or in California, you don't see Mexicans going to a fancy Mexican restaurant. Like, where I live, there's this little trailer in the middle of the Spanish ghetto that at 2 o'clock in the morning has a line as long as all these Warped Tour food truck lines. And for a reason. It's like the best shit. And then there's this Cuban restaurant. It's open 24 hours a day and it's always packed.

17:14 Because it's 24 hours a day. Yeah, exactly. You know? But real Cuban food. But you go to these fancy places. I was in two Italian places in the last month that they didn't know what al dente was. And I'm Italian. That's really insulting. That's offensive, right? How the hell do you not know what? I literally did say to one of them, I'm like, how do you work in Italian? Is it because of how you said it? No, I tried to explain it. Still didn't understand. Still didn't understand it. That's very bad. I was just in Italy, and you don't even have to say it. Because if you say it, they look at you like, of course we're going to make it al dente. There's no such thing as mushy pasta.

18:01 That's terrible. So that's probably what you had, like some mushy poutine or whatever. I don't know. Well, that's like going in a Quebec restaurant and they don't know poutine. That would be really bad. But to be fair, she did order it from Uber Eats. I don't think I'd order that from Uber Eats. You hear it, right? That's why it's called squeaky cheese. She's got some cheese stuff she brought here today. If it's empty, I'm not going to dig. Yeah. All right, so there's a good question. What's your favorite thing to eat when you're on tour? Because it sucks sometimes eating on tour.

18:45 I feel like a good salad or a poke bowl is like the best before a show or something. Nice. You had that today. There's two poke bowl places out there. Yeah, yeah. That's the best way to do a show. And Vic, what do you think about eating a poutine? You already talked about this. Yes, okay. Honestly, full disclosure, in Ontario, our first show, I had a poutine right before the set. Uh-oh. During the set, it was coming back up, so I had to poop. And I will never eat a poutine from Ontario again. So it's not poutine. I don't know.

19:28 For me, I think it's... It's cheese. I freaking love cheese. Well, see, here that's popular. It's popular in France. But you know where else it's really popular? Where? The festivals in Wisconsin. I would have never thought that was the answer. Really? Wisconsin, we call them cheese heads in the United States. Really? Because that's the big thing. If you watch the Green Bay Packers games, and you'll see people in the stands with fucking hats that are big pieces of cheese. Interesting. I kind of want to go see it now. I'm going to. Like, the first time I did a festival in Wisconsin, like, I'm from New York and New Jersey. We look at those places a little weirdly in my country. I'm like, what the fuck am I going to do in Wisconsin?

20:19 All there is there is cheese. I actually kind of liked it there, though. Not the cheese, I don't mean, just in general. But that's the concept you grow up with. Like, the only reason you go to Wisconsin is for cheese. So we have to play. We got to play there. You can play like Rockfest is like one of the biggest festivals in the U.S. It's in Wisconsin. You can play that festival. Don't tell anyone else. Exactly. How about, do you like serial killers? Yes. Okay, so. I've been to a few places. Like me, my weird niche is I just randomly search haunted places or weird shit that's happened in U.S. And I cross the border and they're like, what are you doing here? I'm like, I don't really know how to answer that. And then I'll be like, ghost hunting. They're like, do you know where you're going? I'm following ghosts. We need to stay here for at least four hours. I'm like, that's enough time.

21:12 Right? I love it. Okay, so then I have more festivals for you. I have more festivals. Incarceration, are you familiar with that one? So that prison is haunted. And they also have a haunted house in the basement. But you don't know if you're being haunted by the characters... Or by real ghosts. And, like, William Revis, formerly of Mushroomhead, now with Killer's Confession, he told me they filmed a video in, like, one of the torture rooms in there. And when he came out, his chest was all scratched up and bloody. That's crazy. Yeah. So, there's that one. And then there's... It's.

21:55 So weird to say something like, I want to go, after you say that, because then I look like a fucking freak. But I want to go. But wait a minute. My youngest daughter, she'll call me a lot. And, like, before festivals, she'll be like, so, Dad, are you excited about this festival? I'm like, well, it's a lot of fun. I love it. But when you go every weekend, it's excited, the proper word. And then when I got to Inc. for the first time, I called her up. I'm like, now I'm excited. I'm in the prison yard of Shawshank. That's crazy. And if you think about it afterwards, like, that's a little crazy to say. Like, yes, I'm very excited now because I'm in prison. And I have pictures of me in the prison cot in one of the cells. Pretending to sit on the toilet in one of the cells. And then again, you think afterwards, yeah, I might need a little mental help because that's a little weird. Right? But..

22:51 There's this other one I did, Milwaukee Metal Fest. Guess where it is? Wisconsin. Oh! Okay? Wisconsin is the home, that's why I brought that up, of the major serial killers of all time, okay? That's why they play metal there. Exactly. Because they're so demonic. So I was interviewing Chop Top, you know who that is, right? And our back around was the Ambassador Hotel because the festival is right across the street from the Ambassador Hotel. Do you know what the Ambassador Hotel is? It's fucking Jeffrey Dahmer.

23:32 That's great. That's where Jeffrey Dahmer did shit. And then like Ed Gein ain't too far down the road either. And Ed Gein's the one that every other serial killer, that's like their idol. It's like you guys have music influences, serial killers have their. Influences, and it's Ed Gein. Of course. And it all happens in Wisconsin. It's crazy. It's like, and now there's so many, like, series and mini-docs about all of them, so. Oh, I obsess about it. Like, they just came out with another Charles Manson one. I'm like, let's play. I'll hit play on that. Like, I can't. Tubi. I love Tubi, because Tubi has the greatest documentaries on serial killers and the greatest music documentaries. Like, I can't tell you how many times I turn on Tubi just to see the decline of Western civilization, even though I'm fucking living it. But we're here at Warped Tour, and if we had everybody in the world like it is here at this community, we'd have no problems in the world. Agreed.

24:35 Let's all put them on an island. This island. It works. That would work. It works. No doubt. No doubt. I agree. So tell everybody how they can connect to you guys on socials, on the web, how they can buy your merch, because they can't listen to my show unless they buy your merch. I love it. And anything else that you want them to know that's upcoming that we haven't talked about yet? Well, you can follow us and see our journey on Instagram, Peer Pressure HCQC. That's our... Yeah, he doesn't know any of the taglines. On Facebook... TikTok. We're there now. We're on all streaming platforms. And we're going to be dropping new music very, very soon.

25:23 Are you dropping new music on the new MySpace? Did you hear MySpace coming back? Honestly, I don't know if I want to take my time to do it for the band or myself. Right? And is Tom still going to be my friend? That's what I want to know. Tom is everybody's friend on. Yes. I want to know if he's still my friend when they bring it back. It's the only friend. He's still got the white shirt. Yes. It's firmly implanted in my brain, that picture. It's like everywhere you went, there's Tom. It's true. It's like your first stalker, Tom. It's true. But it wasn't a real person.

26:03 Or it was. It was. It was the owner of MySpace. I mean... So he just made himself friends with the world. Yeah. He's creepier than Zuckerberg. I mean, well, it's a very fine line. It says a lot. But other than new music, we're going to be on the road again very soon. We're going to be playing a few shows locally, so in Quebec. We're going to be doing a festival in a place called Rimouski. I tried to say that as English as I could. Rimouski. Rimouski. It sounds better when you say it in French. Yeah, it does. Okay. It sounds kind of lame in English. I know. Rimouski for Skate and Athlete, which is cool because it's going to be another festival that's kind of revolved around skateboarding and that whole concept of sports. And I believe they have some athletes who are going to, you know, skate during the festival.

26:58 So it's like its own. Quebecois warm tour vibe. If they have troubles for copywriting or anything, I'm not involved. But just saying. Other than that, we're really working on new music. And hopefully, we're trying very hard to be in the USA for hopefully spring, beginning of summer next year. I'm working on. Things they just don't even know yet. We need you at the Wimmer Festivals. I am going to Wisconsin. You're going to Wisconsin. That's where I'm going. Cheese and metal. Yes.

27:39 And serial killers. You can't forget the serial killers. How do you have cheese and metal without a serial killer? You don't. It's the cheese that makes you crazy. And maybe that's what you use to fight off the serial killers. Like, you know, with vampires, you wear garlic around your neck. So serial killers, you wear cheese. Oh, man. Well, I'm glad that I stuck around and blew off Sublime. Are they still playing? Honestly, in my head, I was singing Santeria. I know, right? And I was listening to you at the same time. I was like, I don't what? I am really good at that.

28:21 I was listening outside the headphones on the other ear. If there's two bands playing at a festival that I want to see both of them, I will stand directly in the middle and listen to one in one ear and one in the other. Most people I tell that to, they think I'm a little insane, which is partially true, but not for that reason. The only band I came to see was Sublime. So I'm telling you, we really enjoyed this. Wow. I feel honored. So now we. Will always hear our voices with Santeria playing in the background. And it will be on the interview in the background. Wow, now I feel honored. Now it wasn't just me blowing off Sublime. We all blew off Sublime together.

29:09 We did. And now that's why people have to listen to your music. We made major sacrifices, listeners. You need to listen to their music and you need to buy their merch or fuck off. Sublime, take us on tour. Yes, let's put that out there. Sublime, make it up to them and take them on tour in the U.S. Yes, Wisconsin. I'll get you cheese. Well, it's been a pleasure. Thank you. Thanks for being on the adventures. of Pipe Man. Thank you. And I can't wait to interview you in Wisconsin. You will. Yeah, we will be there. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man on W4CY radio.