Underoath at Welcome to Rockville 2026 - PipemanRadio Interview

0:04 Hi, you live then too, censure wow for you young right Badusa. It is pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man w four c Y Radio, and I'm here with Spencer from under o nice here back at Welcome to Rockville. Back we are back baby. So we were just talking before getting on about Rockville Louder than life and all the people and how many people and like or selverybody said rock is dead and I tell them go to a Danny Wimmer festival.

0:56 Yeah. And and like I was saying before we started this thing, I think, no matter who owns the festival, be it a Warp tour or a Wimmer festival or a random hardcore festival one off somewhere, you see the numbers rising, that's a win for everybody, because who cares if as long as it's rock music pulling in big numbers, it's a win for everybody, even if you didn't own the festival, like you would celebrate like, hey, people are showing up for rock bands again. You know, I think we did see a downtick for a little while there and in this whole scene for a minute, you know, maybe five ten years ago, but now it seems like it's bigger than ever.

1:39 Which is exciting. It definitely is like. You said, rock music is not dead. Music with guitars is not dead, and to see it growing is exciting. I mean, we've been doing this for twenty years and. Every year it's like, how could it be better? And people keep showing up and younger generations kee discovering music. Like our drummer was at his son's show the other night. His son is in like the school of rock. Oh yeah, and I wasn't there obviously. He flew to go see his son and do this thing and we were coming in this morning. Was telling me about it and his son, who's I don't want to quote this from maybe twelve or thirteen, maybe fourteen, but in that age group was it is listening to the band said like we grew up on like Alice in Chains and corn and loves Old Slip, not like like all the stuff that we were getting into at that young age, from grunge to the early stages of new metal.

2:35 That's what the kids are listening to. I'm like, hey, man, the kids all right, you know? Yeah, and so what's wild to me? Okay? Because I started in the eighties. Yeah, and then I have my son who also into metal on rock. But then his son I brought last year Rockville. He's here today for Rockville and like he's fifteen, he's my grandson. No way, you're a granddad's christ No right, and he it's so fine. It's like it's like me reincarnated because I'm playing all these bands in the car that I think he'll never know. Them. But to be fair, let's think about like, so when I was a kid, bands that I grew up on before getting my like our own discovery. We've got three older brothers, so I was lucky. You know, I got grunge right when it was you know, right at the beginning, you know, when most kids my age weren't listen to that because they were still listening to their parents' music.

3:30 But my parents. I was turned on by you know, the Stones, Led, Zeppelin, Beatles, Pink Floyd and most of this ship was oh. Sorry, I can't say that you did say what you want, all right. Most of this ship was done before I was born, but I loved it. So I don't think, you know, I think we don't see things that way because we're like, how did the kids know about stuff from our era? But like, think about this stuff you listened to when you were you know, like you like, I think we're the great music to exists, and it's timeless. And I don't mean that in the way of like people use that word so loosely. I mean it as like an eight year old kid here's led Zeppelin one for the first time and goes, fuck, that's it. Not thinking that eight year old kid isn't thinking, well, that was recorded before my dad was born and maybe before my grand you know, they're not thinking like that. That's what I mean by like, great music is timeless because the era was recorded shouldn't matter. Like I have listened to Pink Floyd my whole life. And the other night we had some friends over. Me and my wife had just put on Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl. We're sitting there.

4:36 My buddy, a buddy of mine, never was a Pink Floyd fan, was just like, you know, he had never really paid attention to that record in the fact that like that was created that long, Like if that was created today, you would it would still go down as the most phenomen one of the most phenomenal records of all the time. So that's what I mean like great, shit is just time. It doesn't matter when it was created. It could be created tomorrow, it could be created before your parents were born, and it's still fucking great. So seeing kids falling in love with the music that we fall in love with, and some of the music and our parents fall in love with, it's just reassuring that this isn't going anywhere. Well, you know what, I think the key is musicianship, and I think that's on the rise again. Yeah, like a point that we wasn't and now you're getting even, Like you take these bands like Dirty Honey and bands like that that are bringing back that music of the seventies, meaning the musicianship.

5:32 Yeah, yeah, I want to hear more human element in music again. I don't want to hear I mean, everyone got so good at computers that I think even the heaviest quote unquote scariest music being made recently doesn't raise a hair on my arm because it's so computerized and so perfect and so unreal to make. So the more human element I'm hearing in music again is exciting and that's what makes my hairstin on it and gives me goosebumps, you know, Like, and I think that's coming back, and I think that's exciting. Yeah, well, you know, it's funny you should say that because I say that all the time. You know the fact of like you have so many micro genres and subgenres.

6:21 I'm saying like a lot of metal nowadays is like a formula that you plug in. But if you have a stay in, that's multiple, Like if all your band members have different you know, influences, genre influences. That's where the uniqueness comes from. Otherwise it's just all the same. Yeah, we don't. We need less of the same now. I'm hoping that that is on the rise too, like less of the same. You know. I want to know when I turn on something or someone plays me for some place something for me, I want it to be like I if I don't know who it is, I want to be like who is that?

7:02 Or if I do know it is, I want to immediately know because they're so you know, it's so unique and so different, like oh that's this or that's that guy's voice, or that's this. I don't want it to be like, oh that sounds like this span, this band, this spand this ban. You know, I'm not looking for that in life anymore. Like if you hear under oath, you know it's under. Oath hopefully that's why. That's why. But still saying, like, go back to the eighties from when I started in it, the Big four of Thrash, none of them sounded the same at all. Yeah, they had maybe the same components, yes, but other than that, you could pick them out easily, like and you could pick out the guitars, you could pick out the drums, you could pick out the singer, all of it easily.

7:43 And so I think that's what I want to see. Come back even more and more and more like where you're just a unique get rid of the AI, Like what's up with. The AI music? Like to me, like first they're taken in out of school and now you're gonna just take it out of musicians hands, And what good is it if it's just some computer generation? You know what? My my hope in theory is is that AI it's not going away and people aren't gonna stop using. It, but that that kind of musician. That's making the more mainstream and the more watered down and the more music being made for money and for success will be taken over by A because no one's to be able to outdo it and think about five years.

8:32 You know. So what I think that's gonna do is lift the veil and like the artistic kids and the kids that are really doing you know, like weird avant garde like artistic shit, you know, like they're painting with a brush. You know, like that will come to the forefront because people are going to start to gravitate towards and see that because it's real because I don't think computers are gonna be able to create that kind of and and I don't know if this is the right word to use, but that kind of genius, like the the person. That it doesn't have the emotional passionate element that music means, yeah. In the to paint with that brush of like do like following the artistic mind and the brain of where it could create something that's not safe and not made for TV radio and success. But you know, where's the next Trent Resnor, Like people like Trent Resnor and Tom Yorke that make these songs that are just like.

9:30 Where did that come from? And I don't, I don't, and I don't think AI will ever be able to do that. But I think AI can make a blockbuster, you know, success like big smash like machine wrapped up in plastic and zipped in a perfect bag and presented on a you know, silver platter for perfection, way better than a human will be able to do. But that's not hopefully, that's not what we're looking for, right well, you know. We're looking for what I just saw recently. Okay, you're talking about school rock. Now, there's more of those type of places popping up. There's one down in West Palm Beach by me. They just did a music festival in West Palm Beach called the five six to one Festival.

10:11 There must have been forty bands, all from this school that is similar to school of Rock. And these kids were good. And it wasn't just kids, it was adult it was kids. There was this one punk band. Two of the members were like seven. And I was like, this is the best fucking band in the whole festival. Man, you know, so that's the stuff I love. Or like my grandson little did I know, Like his birthday last year, I'm like, what do you want for your birthday? A guitar? Hell, okay, let's go. We're going to Guitar Center.

10:51 Yeah, and he He shocked the shit at of me cause I didn't even know he knew exactly what he wanted, what type of guitar. And they start playing a start playing Green Day. I was like, you know, schorts already there you go, wow, wow, you know, and uh, this year, he wanted to go back again, get a keyboard. He wanted to go back and get pedaled, like he's getting good. That's the only place he wants me to get him as gifts. Yeah, and I love that. I love that good good and yeah, like you bring it back full circle like you were telling me before this interview started that they're breaking records again at Rockville with attendance. And that's that's just exciting to me, is you know, I don't care the reason. I'm just glad people are here. You know, live music is something that you know. I'm a music you know, this is my job, you know, right, this is what I do for a living.

11:47 And I still am a fan. I'm a diehard. I collect final I buy stuff from bands. I go to shows. Me and my wife go I mean we go to at least one show a month when I'm off at the minimum. And it is and it's not like oh, we got to go to a show because it's my job and I need to do research. No, it's not like that. It's like, because there's a band coming through that I fucking love, and like I wouldn't miss it, and even if I don't, and if I don't know you, I'm gonna buy the ticket, you know, you know, like I'm I don't ever want to lose that part of me, because I think I did at one point just before COVID, and I got bitter and angry about music and different you know, things about this industry that can really piss you off when you dive into it. And then I had to remember, I think, you know, I was living in New York at the time, and in New York you walk everywhere and take the subway, and you always got your headphones in because it's just kind of what you do.

12:44 And I was just listening again and listening all the. Time, and I just fell back in love with music and remembered why I started this, Because when I was a kid like your grandson's age, I knew exactly what I wanted. I knew I saw, I saw, you know. I grew up in Zeppelin and Floyd and all of my parents, But I saw I saw Nirvana when I was a kid. I had, like I told you earlier, I had an older brother and two older step brothers who were always listening to cool shit, and I was like, that's it, you know. I saw that, you know, the sweaty venue. You know, this is early Nirvana stuff, footage and diving off of speakers and the anger and the attitude and just a dude ripping a guitar and yelling ato microphone.

13:25 I was like, that's what I want to do. And I never stopped doing that, so I I still to this day, like I go to a show as a fan, and then if I get into invited to a show that maybe not be my cup of tea, I go with an open mind. He's like's what's great about festivals? Yeah, That's where I learned my new favorite bands at a festival, Like don't come for the headlars, Yeah, come for all of the music. And I and honestly, I've been to a few things that like, I wasn't necessarily a fan before, and I left going like. I get it. I either get it or I'm like I get it and I love it, you know, And I think that's. Been there like so many times. Like one thing happened to me. I was covering okachobefests. I'm like, I was always like I don't get going through a concert of a DJ, like go to the nightclub for that.

14:13 But then Scroaks came out and I was like. I get it. I'm looking I get it. Yeah you know, and it's like, holy shit, this is like a rock concert. Yeah, you know. And that was what was cool about. The funny story about him. We we took him on his first couple of tours when he was singing from the first to last. He was sixteen years old, and. They were in a van and we were at a bus and we used to play Halo, like this is original Halo on the Xbox in you know, and you would connect the back lounch to the front lounge with a land cable and most people listening maybe you not even. Know what that is, but look it up. I had it, and uh we played front lounges with back lounge in his name his halo name. And this is way before he didn't even know what DJing was.

14:57 He hadn't even created that genre yet. His Halo name was Skrillicks on our tour bus. Wow, yeah, there you go. And he was always the sweetest guy. And we've run into him several times since he's made it big, and he's still that sweet guy. Like, you know, I've heard from him maybe once every other year or so if I don't run into him, And like, I think I reached out to him one time and I heard from him since like twenty eighteen. I reached out to him about a record he put out. I was like, man, this is fucking great, and he was like, dude, I mean so much coming. He was still a sweet guy, still the same sweet kid that we met. And that's the kind of large that that I love to see. And the longer you do this, the more like there's most of the people around are good people. Not I mean obviously not all of them, but you know, you find the real ones and they're they're still real. And you see someone take that level of success and still be the real dude that will text you back.

15:44 And he showed up. We did a secret show one time in LA and he popped up and was in our green room hanging, and you know, I was like, that's the kind of dude's like man, you're You're still the same kid that we fell in love with at sixteen, and like, you know, we love we cared for him and cared for those guys, you like, we love taking those guys on tour back in the day. And still the same great kid. He's just a man now. You know. It's awesome. Yeah, it's a longevy. And at that festival, I found myself like jumping and up and down. Just like, oh, is that what your shows? Yeah? I was like, this is fun. Dude, we I know, we're just rambling here. We played a festival one time, same same kind of scenario when that world was kind of taking over and we were overseas somewhere and dead Mouse was playing, and me and our guitar player and our tech I think we're like, let's go see what let's see what this is about, and not go see and stand on the side stats. We went around and entered where the crowd was and got in the middle, and when he started, the place just lit up and the people were and it was like, oh my god, we're like in a pit at a slipknot. It felt like that, you know, it was like which I wouldn't I'm smart enough to know I grew up in the hardcore scene, and I wouldn't go get in the pit at a slipknot show, you know what I mean, I'm not I don't want to go home with bruises tonight. And we're in the middle of the crowd when he started, and I remember looking at our guitar player and going.

17:02 We gotta get out, we gotta get out because it was so it was insane. And then I left going like, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna listen to it on the flight home and I'm gonna Like I was like I get it because like the energy I saw it, you know, and I wasn't a fan going into it. So yeah, well that's like I don't know if you saw anywhere on social media, but yesterday Waka Floka came out. And started a pit. Oh I didn't, and then we got evacuated like he started, he started a pit, and like there's it's all over TikTok Man and there it was a killer pit with him in there. Like so that that's what's cool about the Wimmer festivals too. It's like this blend of everybody.

17:43 Yeah, I last year louder than Wife. I sang would bring me the horizon, could we have a song together? And that under Earth wasn't playing, And I was watching Suicide Boys before, which I thought was a cool thing for when we were to put on because that's a that's a different world, but it fit. It fits so well. And you know, I've I've seen them live before and the first time I saw them a couple of years before that is where I was like, oh, I heavily fuck with this band, you know, and it's not something I would have again, not something that would have. Been on my radar. And then seeing that at a Danny Wimmerfest, I was like, that's cool because a lot of these kids probably were where I was at and didn't. Know, you know, knew the name. It wasn't like, you know, that's not really what I would typically would go to. But once I saw it and heard it, I was like, dang, I and I and I put them on regularly, you know.

18:30 There you go, Yeah, well, last thing, because you guys go tell us about the upcoming tour. We're gonna be around a lot this year we were doing. So we do a secret show once a year typically where we play like a super underplay, like five hundred cap room, no barricade thing, sell tickets at the door, played, independent venue, you know, bring it back to where we started kind of, and we're doing a bunch of those shows. We're gonna do in like ten or fifteen shows like that this year, which is exciting, but we'll you doing more. It's we've got things that are are un and out still. So just if you're an Under Oath fan, just keep your eyes open and we put up something today that that on that might if you're if you're a diehard fan, you might. You might understand it if you if you uh, if you go, look, it's probably just a story. So I think it's just a little bit of a uh an easter egg for what's what's to come. So a lot of exciting stuff on the horizon.

19:27 Though. In the Under Oath. World, I love it well. I love that you're always at these festivals and you're just as relevant today as you were when you first started. In my opinion, even more so. We love this, you know, like I said, this is I'd be in the crowd if I wasn't performing. Maybe not here so hot, but any other way, it's dude. Far it is too hot. I know, right, oh my god, but thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Always a pleasure, Always a pleasure, man. I feel like we do this every year. Almost I think we do, and it it's better and better every year, and you guys just get better and better. So thank you. Thanks for going on the adventures pipe main. Thank you man, appreciate it. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipemin on w for c u I Radio.