Jim Semonik, in full

0:00you're all going to die starts with a generation and S with a compation memories fade and we always forget people we CA like a cold sweat it's a cycle of Life a continuation no point of denying no Liberation I leave this with you then hold this the last Refuge of ding man you're all going to die L of spirit days of remot lock your do with the dead W watch your back soal collapse in the midd my time to relaps it's always starts with the generation and always ends with a complication the memories fade and we always forget the evil we cost like a SW nuclear attacks new Civil War VI aent

1:09stress ha and more not our fault we don't know how we are in the forest turning now nuclear tracks new Civil War violent stress and more not our fault we don't know how we are in the for turning now you're all going to die die die die you're all going to die die die die you're all going to die die die die you're all going to die always start with a generation it always say with a complication memories say that we always foret the evil we call I like a CO swag As a cycle of Life a continuation no point in denying no liation I'll leave this with you then oh

2:12this a last Refuge of D hope it's the last of dying hope is a last Refuge of dying man my name is Hope is the last Refuge of dying man hi friends uh welcome to uh Unwritten rules of the road um we have a very amazing special friend today um come on Jim seic yes yes um I have to I have to shout your Praises um I first met Jim actually uh when you uh were doing our Pittsburgh show with ien Tilla and you were on stage W that was a long long time ago it was it was and that was it what civo right civo yes ativo yep

3:24yep so this is when I was first introduced to the amazing uh gym and uh and Distortion Productions uh which has been around since 2000 um yes you see that uh Jim it's also in um red Locust which I am representing today oh look at that wonder where GL I didn't wear my I was going to wear the same one that you were wearing actually and I was like I'm gonna R I'm G to wear a red Locust and represent that so oh thank you um I um I love your background by the way um that show man I'm trying to think of when that was like 2016 maybe

4:062017 uh yeah that was a good one um I uh Distortion was just started as a um a concert promotion company uh back in 2000 it wasn't a record label until 2012 uh out of um they grew out of uh us doing electronic saviors 2 basically wasn't until like the guy I was doing uh saviors 2 with Chase he um he was in the in had a project called boxed warning and uh and which was like this Like Instrumental sort of intelligent techno kind of uh project and um he was like you know I have an album ready to go I want to release on on dis but I I want

4:53to do it on a label and I'm like well I can you know point you into some directions on where to submit and he was like no I want to do it on on our label I'm like what do you mean I'm like I'm not ready for that and uh and you know so he I credit Chase is the one that sort of you know uh got you know gave me the the kick in the butt to to to start the label because I I wasn't it it's something I had always wanted to do but I wasn't really ready at the time um and when everything started to kick

5:25off you know after we put out Chase's album there was another band from Pittsburgh here called shut her down that that we uh we signed and then Stephen Archer came on board with his Stone burner project so I I always tell people we were the first per we were the first label to sign uh Stone burner so there's our street cred and you know but I we went on to work with like some really like big names right out the gate that I definitely wasn't ready for like NES from uh uh you know multitude of Acts kmfdm slick idiot pig face you know he he's been in all of those and uh I've

6:03listened to kmfdm since high school so it was it was uh kind of surreal to to release two solo albums by him and uh you know then dop Stars Inc happened and then Claus larsson's amti Air Park project happened and and it just kind of went from there but like I I wasn't ready to to Really deal with you know such big names so quickly uh you know so yeah I mean uh I love doing it though and here we are 150 uh later and and we're still going strong so yeah that's amazing I mean when you first um started things off um did you

6:50have an idea of how you were going to approach the label or no no idea I I I always have in mind um and you can see this with each electronic savior's comp that we do um I have uh like a wish list of of people that I want to work with uh it you know it doesn't always happen for one reason or another you know people are busy people have crazy schedules and uh you know so there there are still some on the wish list that I would love to work work with but um you know when I starting as a as a label I

7:34kind of was already working with a lot of people that I would have wanted to work with but they were all on labels or had deals or whatever but if ever you know an artist you know didn't have a deal or or was freed up or I did a show for them in in Pittsburgh if they completely blew me away you know I would always approach them and be like wow you know you guys are amazing tonight you know do you you have want to work together uh you know just uh hit me up I'm always around so um you know I I kind of go from that kind of perspective

8:08it's actually how I signed solemn shapes and um and the Russian white is they were on tour together and uh I I led both of their live acts their their live shows and and uh you know approached them that night and was like let's let's do something let's work together and uh so yeah I really like like working with those guys I love it I mean I think it's amazing that your approach has has actually been to think of being of service like you mentioned it started with Chase and um you know wanting to help your friend out and then you know thinking about other

8:45people that you are genuinely inspired by where you're like you know i' love to help you out I'm here for you um If U for those um who are new to you um could you share what um electronic saviors is all about yeah yeah um I mean we only have a limited amount of time how much it's as much time as you would like to share so I I didn't know how long you guys you guys like to go go for I mean I can talk a Blue Streak for hours oh please do please do do not tempt me with a good time so go for it so I uh okay

9:21well in um a lot of people know that I you know it stems from me being sick I got sick in um in the 2000s um I was actually sick a long time before I knew it um in 2008 is when I was diagnosed with uh stage 2B uh choral cancer and I you know I when I talked to my doctor about it now as opposed to back then because I still see the same guy who who my surgeon Dr medic he um which you know and the context of electronic saviors you guys have all heard me talk about this guy because he's amazing but

10:00um he he tells me that at the time they staged it at 2B but if they would have staged it now uh like here 15 years later whatever uh it they would have staged it a three so I like I feel you know I was telling Stephen Archer this the other night I I still feel incredibly lucky you know cuz there's a lot of people who had the exact same thing that I had but but they're gone and I'm still here and uh like uh just as you know several examples uh my friend Corey Devin from the bandad on TV um he was diagnosed really young with

10:41the same thing and by the time they caught his it was stage four it was in his liver already and um this was around the time we did the release party for electronic saviors 3 in Chicago and they were one of the bands that played and he took me aside during soundcheck and took me outside and you know asked me like hey you know when you were going through everything what were some of your symptoms like what were you going through and I told him you know I'm very open about it so the more educational I can you know be about it the more people

11:13can learn and maybe get the proper screenings because it is happening at a younger age uh colon rectal cancer so um you know he he ex you know explained to me what was going on and I was like you need to get your ass to the doctor right now you know as soon as this is over you know tomorrow get on the phone make an appointment um and he gave me a call like two weeks later he was like I have bad news he was like I have stage four it's in it's in my liver you know they got me on a this program you know

11:44this this big schedule of of chemo and radiation this big plan like similar to what they did with me um I was diagnosed in 2008 this was in 2014 so I had already recovered uh and to the point where I could give him advice on what to do and what to expect so uh you know but by the time we did volume four in 2016 he was gone you know and and uh Blain Alexander from the band uh Insight 23 an idiot stare like he same thing Chadwick Boseman same thing almost in these guys some of these guys were my age and uh you know so there is a you know kind of

12:29a survivor's guilt uh thing that that I carry and always remember that you know I never lose sight of the fact that I'm here to do this for a reason and uh not only electronic saviors but the label because it it extends you know beyond just putting out music it's it's about you know connecting with people and individuals from every Walk of Life and um uh trying to understand the struggles and and what people are dealing with so uh but back to you know the origin of this whole thing it was in in 2008 was when I was diagnosed and and a stage 2B tumor of

13:13that magnitude I was told uh it had it had grown like it had grown like on the wall but hadn't gone through the wall yet into like the lymph nodes and stuff so that's kind of a it was a good place to be but I asked my doc I'm like how long would I have had this for and uh and he said uh eight years eight years would would have been when it when it started and now I I had just turned 31 so um like I would have been 23 when that would have started like colon cancer is very slow growing so you can catch it

13:56early and uh and he was like yeah 23 you know I'm like what 23y old thinks of that like people are going to have to start thinking about that because a very real uh re you know reality of of what we're living in now and um so they put me on a a program chemo radiation five this was in during the summer months uh I was diagnosed in May so um they were like you're going to do five weeks of chemo radiation which is radiation 5 days a week chemo which came in the form of a pill called zeloda was um you know this little pink pill that I

14:39took three in the morning and three at night so it's like six pills a day and uh during that time I would have a once a week injection of uh that's where you sit in the chair and the chemo drains into your arm uh and uh after that five weeks I would have 12 weeks off where I would basically um you know get checkups and you know they would monitor it and because they they tell you that the chemo doesn't work while you're getting it it works after you're done you know primarily and same with the radiation the radiation was you know was zapping the cancer cells like very quickly

15:20because uh I was examined at the beginning of that 12 weeks and during that 12 weeks I went on vacation with my friends Las Vegas and I was examined before I left and the tumor had shrunk considerably one of them I had two um and uh and when I came back and I got examined again it was completely gone so uh they said that at the end of that 12 weeks which would make it September that's when I would have my surgery they were like you know even though you know the tumor was disintegrated by the treatment we still have to take that portion of you and you know we're going

16:03to take 18 inches of your large intestine and we're going to take your gallbladder too because gallbladders tend to get irritated by chemo um and then you're going to do 24 weeks after that of of a more intense kind of preventative chemo and um no radiation though uh so that was different they wanted me to do 24 weeks after my surgery uh which is cycles of three three cycles of eight so 24 weeks I made it through nine of those weeks before it almost killed me because they doubled the dosage of the chemo pill and but the injection went to every three weeks so it works differently and so they they

16:48stopped you know they stopped it because it gave me pancreatitis and it almost killed me so um uh after that they I had an ostomy bag on my stomach uh and they reconnected that and so during that time I I had the idea I was like you know I might not make it through this um so there's I want to maybe reach out to everyone I'd ever worked with in a in the capacity of if I brought them through Pittsburgh or if I you know met them through DJing you know because I was dejing a lot back then a few time a few nights a week and uh I used to buy

17:28music like crazy um since I don't DJ anymore I don't I don't buy a whole lot like the music like like that anymore but I was walking home with I work in a manager record store so it was easy for me to to get music um and uh after after that whole like sort of ordeal um I'm like I I should you know I want to I thought of a project that I you know came up with the name electronic saviors on the on a drive home um so maybe I can help out other people or educate at least other people who are going through this that might um

18:13benefit from the knowledge of what I had to go through so that maybe they don't have to uh and so I just started contacting people so I ned from stromkern uh Tom from assemblage 23 was one of the first people Eric from interace face uh uh and Eric from 16 volt where those were like four of the first people that said yes to this project and I'm like it would have to be a new song um and uh uh so that it would it would have that much more of an effect and and I didn't realize back then I'm like didn't think that that would be that much of an ask

18:54you know to to write a new song and put but apparently it was and that that was like kind of alien to me like I'm like really just to write a song like yeah you know and uh it's still kind of is because uh if someone asked me to do something like that regardless of if I was on a major label or not and I don't care about what red tape there is uh as far as like labels not wanting to release a new song of one of their bands on I just think that's crap I I hate that mentality you know you know uh and

19:29uh you know I get you're protective of your artists and all but like this is we're talking about you know helping out people you know so I didn't think it was that big of an ask and um so some people were like well I I I'm not going to write a song but you know I I have this exclusive remix that I can give you you know and I'm like well that's cool you know you know it's I like that song so an exclusive mix of that song would be cool you know and that tended to be like the main uh thing uh going forward forward and I had two

20:05friends of mine that uh went to school at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh at the time and they were neighbors Jeff coner and Samantha Johnson I'm actually waiting for a very important uh text from Sam uh here in a couple hours because tonight is when electronic saviors Volume 7 goes for pre-order so as soon as I get off here with you I have to go and do that um and I'm waiting for the the completed artwork um to reveal to the world uh tonight uh from her I I've seen the the rough drafts of it and it's amazing but uh those two who became very good

20:44friends of mine uh became basically the face of the the project they've done every single uh box set uh the artwork the Jeff will do the the pencils and the inks and Sam will do the colors and the layout and um so we ended up having I think 83 bands on that first one and then one afternoon I was driving home from work and uh I got a I look down at my phone and it says Dave Heckman on the phone and I'm like oh my God and I immediately started sweating because I was I had never met Dave before I was intimidated by him I knew everyone else

21:24over at Metropolis records everyone else like they you know Jim SMI and uh you know Shannon and uh you know Tom Donovan and and uh and and Joe Schultis like I knew all those dudes for many years just from dealing with them at the store you know because we would every week was a a phone call between me and Jim um or Jeff Lions you know and I would order order Metropolis product for the store so I I can't remember who it was that was like you know you should really talk to Dave about your your cancer project I bet he'd be into that I'm like oh I don't

22:01know uh you know I've never actually met Dave or talked to him so I'm kind of you know I had so much like sort of respect for him because of uh you know I love Metropolis records still to this day love Metropolis records I mean uh just really really great people um and uh so I talked to Dave and uh for about an hour which if if you ask anyone who has had you know Dave passed away a few years ago and he's a wonderful man um a conversation with Dave that you think might last five minutes can turn into just a long conversation about

22:44music and and uh we talked about healthc care and the you know what the state of the country was back then you know and um you know it was I I instantly connected with him and uh you know I miss him man and uh uh you know he uh if if I tell people that if he wouldn't have called me that day because I was still going through it you and I don't I'm not so sure I I would have made it you know uh it was it was it was rough and and Dave kind of gave me something to fight for and like a

23:20goal like something to focus on which I think you really need if you're going that and uh and that comp came out February of 2010 uh we went out we did a bunch of release party shows a bunch of really memorable ones there was one in DC there was one in Chicago those two stand out um because there were just like a a large amount of bands on both that that came out to to do this thing for me and uh I was just incredibly touched um and uh back then I was in a band called reinforced and um before red Locust and uh so we were

24:02playing those shows too uh but to get up on stage and do shows with people like Wade from Christ analog and and uh you know seeing acumin Nation play uh you know for this cause just amazing to me um uh you know I met a ton of new people uh just patrons you know coming to the thing and and fans being like Oh you know it's so great to see you out here and and then you hear their stories uh about what it meant to them or you you hear there was this one this one stands out to me from back then is is uh

24:42this guy Chris Saunders um he uh his wife contacted me said he was really sick and um and he didn't have much longer to go but the electronic saviors was a big deal in their house and uh like they all got tattooed of the gear cross the gear cross the savior's gear cross and I'm like wow that just blows my mind you know and I've had a couple other people like show me their their electronic savior's tattoos and I'm like wow I can't believe you I don't even have one of those I don't have any tattoos and I'm just like that's crazy you know you you put something on your

25:17body that I created that you know it's you're going to have forever you know that's insane but um so that first volume ended up um raising 23,500 um yeah uh and we donated to this this charity in Harrisburg uh and uh and I thought that would be it you know after I'm like wow you know look at what we did you know and and then Chase was you know I I asked some was like what would you do you think Metropolis would let us do a second volume you know if we if we wanted to do a second volume and like expanded it like to six discs and uh the

26:02second volume which at that point came out in 2012 um was when I was getting my checkups about you know recurrence cancer recurrence and and having it come back and spread and you know people don't generally survive the recurrence because it's comes back a lot more aggressively so that was kind of what I was fearing at the time so I'm like well if we do it it's what it's got to be called you know and uh uh so I remember when we sent the email over to Metropolis and I was like could we do a six six dis you know Sequel and they didn't even say yes or no they just sent

26:43us the template for for the CD which was their way of saying yes here's your template go to work you know and uh so yeah it was uh it was pretty awesome and um so the second volume ended up we did the same thing went out played show um that summer um it now like it it had shifted now saviors was coming out in springtime and then we'd go out all summer um and uh and promote it and um that time uh we raised 10K uh in addition to uh the the 2023 from the first volume um and we donated to the bone marrow foundation and

27:26Gilda's Club of Western PA for that one who eventually became our clubhouse which was what uh they're they're still called to this day I think um we did volume three in 2014 another 10K volume 4 in 2016 another 12K volume Five came out in 15K and volume 6 came out in 2020 Now volume six uh was supposed to be it That was supposed to be the last one um because at that point I was full-blown into the record label I have doing this and electronic saviors was like the I didn't have that much bandwidth to to have a full-blown day job to do you know a cancer project and

28:17a and a record label you know at that point we had we had like 20 bands on the roster the label so and and I wanted the the label to grow and put a lot more Focus there uh so volume six came out or I was working on volume six it was it was done it was being mastered and then the pandemic happened so we did not get to close the door on the series in the way that we wanted to we didn't get to go out and promote it play any shows uh I didn't get to see any anybody smiling faces I didn't get to give

28:56anybody hugs I it it sucked and I but that volume ended up being our most successful one ever and it it did sell out like the first one the first one sold out to but the the sixth one sold out we we ended up raising 25k which with that we hit the 100K Mark uh because in between those years we would do like these smaller donations so the you know the totals kept stacking up and stacking up and I'm like yeah six is going to put us over the goal uh which I always you know was fictitious goal was something that I just kind of wanted you

29:36know in the back of my head I like it' be really cool to get to 100 Grand and um and we actually did it and now uh to this day we're at 117 wow um and um the whole point of uh you know I I say the six was the last one and I you know I was not lying I was not lying six was the last one I was just going to do the you know like the soundtrack spin-offs that I do like we did with the crow and Transformers and the lost boys I was just going to continue to keep the brand going with

30:11releases like that and uh and that was like going to be the future of of the project because that way it was on a smaller scale that I could you know still release those and still have the B the the project out there like as the you know the branding part of the label you know but uh you know then it then I was out in mechanismus for in 2023 and I did a panel for electronic saviors out there with uh couple of the label guys and because we had played that Festival as red Locust and uh we'll be back out there this summer um to do

30:51panels and uh play again um and uh Christian from cop International records and Nina from Metropolis Dave's daughter were in the audience of the panel and so the you know the the question of you know electronic saviors Volume 7 you know was always something that people were like Hey where's Volume 7 why didn't you do a Volume 7 why didn't you just keep going and I'm like well for a multitude of reasons really is one of them is it's a gargantuan amount of work to do it takes a lot out of you um it's a very very stressful um you'll get to like two months before due date and be like

31:33you'll need like half the comp still and be like guys due dates in two months 30 days goes by guys due dates in one month like I still need like 30 tracks you know it's just incredibly stressful because at that point you don't know if it'll actually happen and so there were you know people being like what would what would it take to get you to do seven I'm like three things and they're almost impossible and uh the first one is that Metropolis would have to agree to come back and uh and partner up like they did with the the six past volumes and nah

32:16shouted out from the audience you know we're on board and uh and Christian was like we're on board to and uh so I'm like okay well that's one maybe that's not as hard as I thought it would be and uh the second one would be um to get Sam and Jeff back for the artwork um because at this point back when I first met them they were a couple you know they uh they were dating and um lived by me and uh By the time volume 3 came out they you know they had split up and lived in completely separate areas of the country uh but you know continued to

32:55work together which was cool um and you know did four five and six um three four five and six um together and uh but at this point you know I people you know grow and and they and they change and you know I didn't know if they were even doing art anymore you know but now like Jeff is you know Jeff's a KV mgab instructor and and you know he's he's doing a tattoo apprenticeship so imagine Jeff's you've seen that artwork you imagine like some of Jeff's art on on you as tattoos like just incredible he's an incredible artist very underrated and um you know Sam is getting into farming

33:38so uh I'm like two phone calls after mechanismus they both agreed to come back um and uh and but the third circumstance is the hardest one of all and that's that every track had to be brand new no remixes no bsides no what I call table scrap tracks where where you know hey we just had this track lying around here I guess you can have it for saviors you know you know not that I take that stuff for granted um because some of those remixes are are dope as hell but um you know it's a lot more heart goes into uh you know creating a new song and

34:22uh I'm pleased to say that you know this this volume s is all new songs for the first time ever like it usually was like sort of a 5050 6040 percentage wise um the first volume had a decent amount of new tracks on it but there were still you know like 30% remixes on there but there's no remixes on this this is all new stuff and uh the amount of talent we have on this thing is mindblowing like I can't I was just list listening to the master earlier today discs three and four I still have to listen to five and six before I I completely sign off on so um

35:06that's my workout music for later but yeah am I talking too much is this too much no no it's awesome um I just wanted to tell you um as ton Turf said um they have all six and they're going to order seven as soon as it goes up 8 o' awesome 8 o' Eastern um I to go on if it's a couple minutes late don't be mad it is going up tonight I'm waiting on that let me see let me see if we got a uh let me see if we got a text from Sam yet here and while you are looking oh not yet um

35:40no no text for Sam CJ is uh sharing that they love your unabashed love for comic books um and was wondering if you have a favorite writer or series oh my goodness this is my question this is like I was hoping someone would ask me this um okay um yes I do uh let me respond to the first guy uh who has all six kudos to you first guy who what was his name uh it's actually um aelon Turf uh it's it's it's Renee Oh Renee oh I'm sorry I'm sorry um thank you thank you for uh all that supports you know there are some

36:24people that I know that do have all six especially having that volume one man because that's really hard to get now but I will say this extra bonus points if you have the premium additions of two three four and and six especially because eventually six is going to be the hardest one to get because we did not for volume six we did not put that through a National Distribution chain one Volume One Hot Topic took that uh so you were able to find that hot topics and Best Buys and it was it was pretty widely distributed so if you can still find a copy of

37:05volume one you know snag it because it's highly collectible now but six eventually will be the hardest one to get and I only have eight copies of of volume five left and uh after that goes it's gone I still have plent of twos threes and fours CU there were higher pressings of those but five is almost so if you don't have five grab five um I only have like I said eight eight or nine left and before that's gone um but for my second guy my comic book uh question uh yes Jim Starin will always be my uh heart and soul of comic books because he created my my f

37:50favorite character uh my favorite villain I should say and um and uh did the best stories of my favorite character my favorite character being Adam Warlock my favorite villain being Thanos um yeah definitely um if if I had to you know have a Mount Rushmore of my favorite comic book uh creators and writers Starin would be up there James Roberts would be up there um uh Simon Ferman would be up there uh Jonathan Hickman would be up there and uh yeah so those are just those are a few that uh I absolutely love and as far as series goes um the more than meets the ey run of Transformers by Roberts

38:38was insane but the the Crown Jewel Champion would probably be the Infinity Gauntlet series from Marvel that Starin wrote and that George Perez and Ron limb Drew um and uh I actually got to meet all of those dudes out at the amazing Comic-Con in Vegas a few years ago ago before George died uh and uh yeah pretty pretty awesome stuff yes but I I am you get me started on on Comics uh that's like you you put the dime in you got to let the whole song play out because I can go on forever uh about that stuff and and you you know you guys

39:18will fall asleep and I'll still be talking I don't know I think you have fellow fans on here uh Pete is sharing that uh he loves he loved seeing the Thanos copter in the Loki series oh yeah it was a cool little Easter egg I have a little Thanos copter uh was this little Cube I think it was a San Diego ComiCon uh uh yeah that was a cool Easter egg cool that that someone picked that up and and you know spotted that and I wasn't the only one I love that oh also uh Renee was sharing uh that they um that she met you in U

39:55Madison like a year or two ago oh that was a great show it was an amazing show yeah yeah and um yes also happy that she's able to get dinner before you drop the pre-order so yeah it's a it is it is tonight I'm I'm I'm looking at my phone I'm looking at my clock I'm like okay yeah I gotta do this so I should probably get off of here in about an hour um and uh and just so I can get those those up I still don't have the artwork uh I you know what pre-orders are going up no matter what tonight so I

40:30might use an old version of the artwork if I don't have the new one yet but um but it is coming that you guys are G to love this artwork oh my God it's so good it's uh exciting yeah yep um oh Micah is asking if you um could share a memorable experience from your time um how do you stay creative and motivated in your work um how do I stay motivated um I don't I can't do anything else uh I um music has to revolve around everything I do um I I feel like and I had this discussion with ilker from regen magazine um during

41:18cold waves time I kind of feel like it's always an uphill battle and uh you know there's never a break uh and uh PE you know there are people who don't understand why I do this still you know 48 years old and um you know I don't know how much longer I can go I'm just trying to my motivation stems from um when my dad passed away and um like shortly before he died uh I remember going to visit him and he was uh you know my aunt was in the room at the same time my aunt asked him what he was thinking about he he was like just the

42:00stuff that he said was heartbreaking to me it was like all this regretful stuff and uh and I heard that I was just like wow you know I I don't ever want to you know go out with that level of of regret I I want to go out thinking you know if I'm laying there at the end I want to be like wow I did some awesome stuff and I got to be with this person or I I got to you know sing on stage with this band or you know I got to go on the road and and you know touch people's lives like

42:35that's what motivates me is is the fact that I can play on stage to 15 people and it still matters you know and I I can come off the stage and if one person comes up to me after and we was like man that was amazing you know here can I buy you a drink or or you know thank you for doing this and and that's all the motivation it takes for me really um you know I I love these people and uh I can't really it's hard for me to articulate without getting emotional of of what what this this scene and these people mean to me

43:17because I wouldn't be here without them know it's as simple as it's as simple as that I mean it's it's not to not to get mushy but like I I tend to whenever I do these interviews I talk about you know deeply personal things and because that you know I I stream a Consciousness you know kind of you know thing it doesn't uh I'm I'm open like that I I understand cancer is a very personal thing for some people and some people are really private about it like like Chad Boseman like you know nobody even knew that he was sick not even you know Kevin over at Marvel knew knew that he

43:55was sick you know I think just like his close family knew you know some PE some people don't like to even talk about it you know and um you know so um yeah so that's that's that's if if you're talking motivation then that's kind of where that all stems from I think that's beautiful and I think it's it's also a testament to you know your incredible character um that you know it's it's it's it's once again thinking of the giving like I I've always known you as a person that is really just so giving and and generous and kind um and and we all love you for

44:36that so oh I love you guys too I love you guys too and thank you but I will say that I'm also a taking person so if anyone has any Comics or uh you know action figures that they just want to give away of like some cool I'll give you my list and if anyone wants to send me some stuff that'd be cool but yeah I mean I I'll take stuff too I don't always have to be given H crane cran fish is sharing that your emotions are a testament to your authenticity and that we love you gimmers that's my sister right there like that that young lady is

45:17um oh my God like she's a I I almost I I consider her a soulmate like I I you know I connect with her on such a fundamental level like you know I don't get to see her often cuz we you know live far apart and she's traveling the world I don't she's probably in like Belgium or something right now but uh uh yeah what an amazing uh person she is yeah she's incredible so thank you my dear see you soon a and Pete Pete Russell is saying I've just met you and I love you for you I love you for it already Jim oh thank you Pete um yes when when did

46:01we meet when did we meet uh well he's just met you just now oh just now okay yes just now now love you too bro yes pet pet is a wonderful wonderful person we got we got to meet Pete when we played actually in Savannah um okay and yes and Pete brought us fudge and treats and and yes wow excellent gu yes yes so I actually wanted to um like chat with you about like any advice that you might have for artists that um you know are either starting out or would love to be a part of distortion Productions like if they if they're looking for a label

46:46like what kind of things are you looking for when when you're working like looking for a um uh well I always tell people and I I've made this mistake um in the past with with signing artists too quickly um rather than getting to know them first uh and bands that don't play live I think is uh really hurts the artist play live as much as you can that's very important uh and you know there's there's others that put a high um importance on on like Digital streaming I am not one of those people um I tell people that you can get the same amount money selling a few CDs at a show or a

47:41vinyl at a show or a t-shirt in one night than you can get in three months streaming you know I'm like I don't I I get that you know a lot of people like some promoters look at that look at your streaming numbers and and you know I don't look at that I don't think that's important at all um and uh I think it's lame uh for and is not a a metric of talent by any means to look at a number of of what you're streaming uh and and think that this band is either worthy or not worthy to play this event or that show or that

48:24Festival that's crap and uh you know because you don't know what these guys are doing on band camp or or what they're selling at shows you know like I some of my my most successful bands on the label have low Spotify numbers but are very successful in selling their media you know I have the exact opposite bands like that too you know but it's every band is different so you're never going to uh no no two are the same in that way so I I always tell people play live as much as you can but try not to do it too much in your own

49:07Hometown um try to get out there uh even if you're if you're only playing to you know five or 10 people connect with people you know uh talk to them you know hear them out you know try to I it's all about connecting with people it's all about you know ha having some sort of commonality you what I look for um I look for how hard a a band Works um because if you're not gonna really work on your band why should I you know I like Martin Atkins told me a long time ago that he that he once said to you know his bands I'll work on on your band

49:50as hard as you will and uh that makes that made so much sense to me and that was in like 200 three he told me that and I'm like that's that's fantastic you know and uh I kind of feel like I I I live by that same code you know if I see you out there busting your ass you know I'm more likely to to put my energy behind you uh you know to to to push you further than you know what you what you might think you can be and um you know some some artists release release an album and don't go out and you know play

50:32a single show to support it and I'm like what am I supposed to do with that you know I'm I'm putting you know a ton of money you know behind this you know and I I will say that I don't I I manage a record store I don't have a six-figure salary I have a very low salary so I don't make the kind of living you know that you you guys might think that I do you know and uh it's you know I do this and and not for the not for monetary reasons but for you know the the survival of this scene uh this kind

51:11of music that got me through so such rough times and uh I kind of feel it's my way of of contributing to this community and giving back to that you know but you know there's only so much I can do if you're if you're you know I I put money behind your your your disc and in your album you're and and paying for publicity and you don't go out and play any shows that just makes me angry you know and I'm not an angry guy you know and it's just like I just get frustrated you know with that you know that does that make sense you know like uh you

51:47know so so you know certainly I if you're if you're motivated and and you're out there and you're playing and uh and you maybe you don't even have your stage show together to where you want it to be you know or uh you know you're you're but you're trying you're making that effort you know I think that's really important yeah does that answer the question I don't know yeah no it's so helpful and I mean I just love that you're you know sharing the fact that it's like you you see behind the numbers you see like the energy and the effort and the intention that artists put um

52:31know there are some bands that deserve way more than they get um you know I I won't ever you know talk about my own projects or my own things because that's I don't want to sound self arrising you know but um I do we we had a you know couple products on our merch table that did very very well and helped the band get out of the the you know the hole that you start out in when you release an album you want to make that money back you want to make the publicity money back you want to make the the you know whatever you put into merch you

53:06want to make all of that back you know we we got our own coffee our own branded red Locust coffee you know but I saw you know laureli dreaming they had their own branded soaps you know safira V she had her own uh you know safira tea that she that she made which I thought was you know brilliant and uh you know some people like even talked about having like craft beer you know uh with their with their name on it so try to go that extra mile and and think of something like a a something that you could put your brand on that might uh you know I I

53:43highly recommend doing the coffee thing because you know everybody loves coffee and you know we had coffee beans and we had ground so we had two different options and we sell out of that stuff all the time it's it's great so and you know but at the same time you you know a year might go by where you know the label releases you know like La last year as an example we had a really strong spring we we released uh the metamorph album the Trade Secrets album the glass apple Bonsai the sensuous enemy and the red Locust all within the span of three months and then we released the the drro

54:27album during the summer that's the only thing we did during the summer but then we in the fall we signed inertia we put out the inertia disc and the Russian White Album and the interface record and a bunch of digital things too then the the end of the year comes and you see all like the the people posting their top records you know on their you know the either the magazines or the you know the The Taste makers of the scene and they're posting like I'm looking through the list not one Distortion release on on these lists and I'm just like you know that when when

55:04that happens it's you get kind of like a a punch in the stomach you know it kind of feels like wow like why you know you know just using my my own record as an example we released a new red Locust album in May it's the best record I ever wrote in my life uh it comes like so much from the heart and it's real political and and reflects a lot of of what's going on right now in this country and um you know I'm just like man if if a record that I put so much into can't at least show up on the radar of some of

55:41these people I mean it it has shown up on the radar obviously of you know some people because we're playing mechanismus this year but uh you know so there is that but um you know from a journalistic standpoint you're just like you feel defeated and uh and then you have to pick yourself back up dust yourself back off and just keep going and it's on to the next record and it's on to the next you know so it's not easy by any means um and uh and I don't by any means want to sound like a whiny complainer when I talk about these things it's just a fact

56:20of life uh and uh and it's it's a fact of being an artist and uh you just have to keep trying and you have to keep going I mean is it going to stop me from making music no it isn't it might make me try to change up a few things but um you know when you when you written what you consider to be the best material you ever have it's hard to top that and it's the same with the savior's compilations because man after volume 4 I didn't think I'd ever be able to talk top that I mean we had kmfdm on there for Christ

56:59sakes you know and uh all stemms from playing a gig with them you know we played a gig with them I asked Sasha to be on it and he was like hell yeah you know and it was like he was like I'll send you something as soon as I get back from tour and he did you know it was like I didn't even I didn't even have to like poke him or prod him he was just like boom and uh and you know there are you know I have a wish list of of bands I love Frontline assembly to be involved with this and uh

57:28you know this I know skinny pupp's not really doing anything anymore but uh you know there are bands of that caliber that I would I would love to you know I mean we've got Paul Barker on this one we've got mark from Cub and8 on this one we've got 16 volt we've got the first acumin track which blows my mind that we we have that because it's you know there hasn't been new acumulation since Jamie died and um you know uh very dearly missed individual you know and um it's just I look at this track listing and I'm like okay this might be the one you know but I I did I did sort

58:09of hint that you know if I was doing seven and it opened the doors for an eight and a nine you know so yeah it's probably not the end probably we'll see we'll see we'll see how this we'll see how this one does so we get a maybe there's a maybe we'll see I mean they all they all kind of you know had to do with each other's success you know I wouldn't have been able to do sequels if they didn't if they weren't successful and helped out people you know we're working with a charity called young adult survivors United I really urge you guys to check them out Stephanie who is

58:47the um the owner CEO she is uh amazing and uh we've been donating to them probably for since volume Five we've been sending them some money but I mean we're I'm we're actually putting the logo on the back of the disc this time and uh I had dinner with her a couple weeks ago and I played her the the the track from black car burning which for those of you don't know black heart burning is Mark Hawkings side project mesh now this song will make you cry uh this song will make you ball your eyes out it's it's it's called Uh uh uh I've got to carry on I need to carry on

59:29breathing is what it's called and uh whenever I first listen to this song Mark sent it to me he was like I I hope this is this song's good enough I hope you enjoy this and I'm like Mark I can't believe you wrote this for me and uh uh I I heard it at the exact same time that I needed to hear it um it's an incredibly emotional song and uh is the soul of the compilation um but like I was at work and I sat down I was just like waterfalls coming out of my like listening to this it's just so moving and so uh and it took me right back when

1:00:09I was listening to this song it took me right back to laying on that table and getting radiation treatments like it took me right back there I'm like oh my God I just closed my eyes and that's all that went through my mind was like being back in that room and getting Zapped and uh you know the cool thing was is that when when I was getting radiation they let me bring in my own music to listen to which was cool so I would bring in like my own CDs like chem lab records and people be like this is some weird stuff you're bringing in like

1:00:44yeah so yeah um but uh yeah I don't know how I got on to that but well I wanted to actually share uh some love that you've been getting in the chat oh all right yes yes so evil radio um said it's good to get mushy and emotional it's definitely needed in this impersonal World keep up that energy I agree I agree like everyone's so closed off these days so not me I love that I love that I I I feel like it is so needed it is absolutely needed um yeah I feel like it opens the door um you know when when you are able

1:01:25to do that that for other people to do that as well yeah yeah but just like you know I'll tell you that I'll tell you the same thing in person that I I'll tell you here you know it's you know I just want to grab you by the shoulders and be like it's okay you know it's all right yeah you know some maybe maybe right now some of us are feeling you know very scared and and um you know kind of very fearful you know and you if you know one of those people you see one of those people maybe you you give them a hug and maybe you hold that hug for an

1:01:59extra few seconds you know and uh you know that might do something for that person that was you know unexpected you know maybe they'll they'll feel better the rest of the day you know maybe things aren't so bad whenever you're around people that you love you know absolutely can make all the difference that one hug it really can um Clint Carney is also saying love you Jim keep doing what you're doing love you Clint thanks for coming on love you your his song's awesome too oh my God yeah that's another emotional one um Shadow dance is saying at any Distortion production show it is always

1:02:46filled with love support and pure wonderful Vibes thank you oh of course and I don't know I if you if you come to my shows thank you so much we we have one coming up with amulet on April 5th and murder for girls which is a Pittsburgh band that you guys will love and doors in The Labyrinth both of those bands are on savior 7 awesome actually all three including amulet amulets on the main Edition the other two were on the premium um so yeah yeah thank you so much for coming to my shows you're what keeps it going you know yeah it's it's it's amazing I mean

1:03:24I feel like you know like you were saying it's like in this in this in our community that we have um it's we're so fortunate to have people who who truly care about the music and the people um and you know not in it for the money just in it for the love you know I mean it's nice to have money yes we do like that yes that's point is nice that for sure that enables us to continue to do things you know but it's it doesn't it's not the uh it's not the focal point of it you know um like I I I've been going back and forth and

1:04:04and struggling on on what to charge for the the Premium Edition and I hate that I have the the price is so high on it because uh I I've been asking a bunch of different people like what would you think like in 2020 when we did volume 6 the price on that was you know uh 60 bucks and you got you got all the discs you got the bonus discs you got the bump buper sticker you got The Wristband you got the the the autograph postcard and I think I I had an enamel pin back then um this time I'm I'm putting a vinyl like a

1:04:36seven-inch vinyl as part of the package with the Chris Connelly Trade Secrets song on it with a our red Locust remix on the BS side which is the only way you can get that um but you also add into all the inflation that has happened since 2020 so add in a vinyl record and inflation and that's how I come to 90 bucks and uh I'm like I still think that might be a little low for for for the the costs of doing this but um you know I'm I'm trying to keep it as low as I can you guys I promise you um but uh

1:05:17yeah it's it's all the same same goes with uh the PRI the ticket costs for shows now you know because I you know the venue that I use got sold and uh under the new ownership the costs are increasing a great deal like more than you know doubling I think for me and uh and so it's it's I have to adjust unfortunately and I I hate that you know so I'm trying to you know add some different things to you know shows like I'm gonna stay and DJ after the show until 2 am so that people can have like maybe a club night in addition to the

1:05:53live band so an added value of of uh what you can expect on Distortion shows forward I think it's interesting like you know when you come into certain challenges um that like you think like an artist where you're like okay how can I creatively find a solution here yeah yeah um a funny funny little story uh from the other day um there is a a vinyl man manufacturer that opened in Pittsburgh here called hellbender vinyl highly recommend using them for your own you guys want to get vinyl unless you have a local place your own they're awesome to work with um and we just got

1:06:38the everything ghost cold 7 inch uh done which you know a few years ago we we did an N7 in and um it was it was opaque red it came in this um we put it in this 7in bag with a flap on it like hard plastic clear bag with a flap on it and slapped the sticker on it no artwork no nothing but it looked hot you know it looked hot like through the through the plastic it looked like an attractive item that you could have on your merch table we just did the same thing with everything goes cold and we're doing that with the Trade

1:07:14Secrets which is going to be a hot pink vinyl for breast cancer so um Mike over at help Ander vinyl he was like hey I hope you're not mad about this but I kind of want to steal your hack and I'm like what do you mean and he was like I love the the design that you're doing for these seven inches that he was like it's it can really help out you know smaller artists that um maybe don't want to spend the extra cash on the like a sleeve for the artwork and stuff and it looks good and he was like it's a brilliant idea and we kind of want to

1:07:52like make that an item in our in our uh inh house so he's gonna run that by his management and he was like we want to call it the gimmers which I think is hilarious and I'm like yeah I I have my own product named after me that's cool um I was like yeah do it if if it can help out you know struggling artists that want to have like a vinyl out like a vinyl single and they want to make it look good yeah that's the way to go that's awesome um oh so uh George on Instagram is asking um thank you for your question

1:08:28by the way um what kind of tips would you recommend for a band that wants to tour for the first time and how do I um uh band that wants a tour for the first time I now I want you guys all to know in all transparency I've never done a fullblown like monthlong or three week long tour I've only done like these little things where you go out for like five days at a time you know and uh you know it's as hard for me as it is for anyone else I hate booking shows I hate it I hate it so much and uh like I remember we were

1:09:10trying to get a gig this was what two summers this 2023 we we were playing that gig out in Madison and I was and we played a gig in Pittsburgh and we were trying to get something in between and I couldn't get anything in any of those cities in between no one would book us and I'm like okay well I guess we're doing a 13-hour long drive for one show you know and it's it's because I couldn't get anything you know in between there so booking shows is what I hate the most about the business I can't stand doing it um don't wait for people to come to

1:09:47you try to know as many people that book shows as you can uh and trust me I know a lot of people who book shows and still it's tough um because like now venues are booking like 8 12 months out which is insane to me you know like we're going to try and put together some some shows during the summer for saviors where some saviors bands can play um but uh like for for a band that's that's just you know starting out the this was a good hack that that I learned from um the Russian white guys they just went out and they did uh you know like a

1:10:28three- week long thing with solemn shapes in October and uh they tricked their van out to where they could sleep in the back every night they didn't have to get a hotel they ended up you know the tour ended up being very profitable for them because they they saved so much money by doing that uh so that's a great thing I mean that wouldn't work for me um uh but uh I mean that's that's super cool that they were able to do that so if you're looking to go out longterm like that I mean I'm 48 long-term touring does not appeal to me at all

1:11:03anymore you know I like doing these like short little JS like maybe in in June we'll do like a Northeast you know you know Buffalo Rochester New York Jersey kind of thing Wilmington maybe uh and then we'll we'll go west and July and do you know Detroit you know Pittsburgh Detroit Chicago Madison and then you know uh maybe go a little bit South you know in August and do you know like Richmond DC Charlottesville like like down there I like that's that's kind of what I plan to do and you know if people want me to come out west they got to send me a plane

1:11:45ticket because that's that's what'll get me out there but uh yeah I can't like I got to be realistic about it you know what I'm able to do you know so yeah so it's a matter of just kind of figuring out like you know first of all what you're able to do and then also like kind of maybe picking regions like you know like being kind of strategic about like I'm going to hit these few like in this in this area yeah yeah yeah exactly like try to go out and do like maybe three or four or five at a time uh and uh that will probably make it worth it

1:12:23for you you know but at the same same time uh you know try to try to keep your costs down however you can you know crash with friends you know make connections in your in your in your town if that's an option for you um in the towns that you're going to um you know definitely uh if you know don't bombard your promoters with links uh I I highly recommend not doing that uh you know because I mean people send me links all the time you know for you know some of my bands do that on messenger and I'm like you know I had to put a

1:13:04stop to that I'm like don't send me links in here uh it'll get buried in a day and forgotten about I was like if you really want me to hear it send it to my email at least then I I will see it every day you know and I will get to it you know or you know send me a demo in the mail you know that always works too you know that way I they don't put CD players in cars anymore uh but I bought an external one to you know velcro to my Dash so I could still listen to CDs in my car that plugs

1:13:35into the USB so uh yeah so that's uh oh oh I gotta text I gotta check see oh oh Sam she says I forgot you're an hour ahead I'm fine I'm fine-tuning the color shift for print almost done okay it's it's coming you guys close so you know yeah it's close yeah she's out west so she's in the midwest I guess but gotcha gotcha yeah so sending sending links if you're going to do it is best done through email email yeah and I even even sending links I think is is not a great um unless it's to your band camp if it's if it's your band camp then you

1:14:26know that's that's cool because I could just go on your band camp and check you out uh you know I always prefer to have something physical um but that's just the the kind of person I am uh I've kind of have that old-fashioned kind of tangible you know thing that I can because I'm always driving to have a 40 45 minute commute to work every day uh going and coming you know both ways uh 45 minutes but um you know so I spend a lot of time in the car uh you know and uh you know I I do going back to the guy who who asked the

1:15:02question about you know advice to uh for for people trying to get signed a record understand what kind of like if it's if you're trying to get onto a label that's just run by one or two people understand if they what they do for a living if they have like speaking for myself I have a day job like I said I have a commute I get up at 8 every morning I commute I open the store at 9:30 we close at 6:30 I'm home by like something after 7 usually I have to eat dinner I have to play with my dog you know otherwise she'll get mad at

1:15:47me uh I have and then I I have to you know you know basically uh you know go through my physical mail and see what bills I have and and then I you know so by the time I get to my my laptop to like check my computer it could be like 9 10 o'clock at night you know and what I'm doing electronic saviors forget about it you know because I have to listen to these tracks and you know when it comes to structuring them on a comp think about what I could do with this record label if I didn't have to work if I didn't have to have a job where I was

1:16:23gone from here for you know 11 hours every day you know and then there's sleep don't forget about sleep you know you know six eight hours of sleep you know how much time does that leave you after after that it leaves you you know maybe like five six hours to do other things you know and you know you have a relationship you know you know and uh you have uh you know you have to live your own life you have to you know save time for your Hobbies take some time for you you know so I just I want my you know people that that want assign Distortion to be

1:17:02realistic with that that I'm you know that's my life and that's what I do but while I am at work I am in a record store so I can promote you there too um I think that's awesome um I speaking of promotion um how does a band go about promoting their shows and are there anything is there anything effective that you have seen that works well I'm the absolute worst at social media I'll I'll tell you that right now like nobody agrees with me when I say that I think I'm the worst at it I can't handle 50 different platforms you know uh I just heard of

1:17:44one that I didn't even know about the other day called Mastadon what the hell is Mastadon I didn't even look into it yet I'm like I don't know what that is it's that's some giant dinosaur I thought or something um but um yeah like people seem to you know Instagram seems to be really strong for for promoting shows I just printed flyers I I print a very small amount of Flyers to hang at the club and to hang at my store I'm not one of these guys who goes around to storefronts anymore and hangs flyers I don't have the time or energy for that um uh but I will print up a small batch

1:18:27for you know to to put at the venue to put it at my store um and to you know hand bills maybe I'll stick some in in orders going out um even if the order is in you know New England somewhere that they can't get to to Pittsburgh but um yeah uh social media seems to be the way uh for for um uh I'm not on Tik Tok I I I I have a Twitter account I don't know what's going on with it I haven't been on on there in years um it's it's basically for me it's Facebook and Instagram and with Instagram I have

1:19:08Melanie from solemn shapes helping me with that because I don't have and you know the time to it's just it's all time you know I can't I just can't and you know now there's blue sky and you know some dinosaur related social media and I I I like I don't know what's going on so maybe I'm not the best person to ask about about that but um yeah it seems to be you know online promotions you know you know T you know if you have a band camp I I stress that any band and I've had some savior submissions this last time around where I couldn't find you

1:19:47know the artist band camp because they didn't have one you know I'm like you're submitting for electronic savior 7 and you don't have a band camp you know get on that you know it's a high-profile comp you should have a band camp you know people might hear your track and be like whoa these guys are awesome I'm going to go check this you know try to find them online but there's some some of these submissions that are on the Premium Edition that I could not find anything from them and uh yeah and and I'm just like man I this is a good track you know

1:20:18that's why I picked it and put it on there but come on guys you should at least have a band camp if you're if you're a band you know even if you're just one guy in a in your bedroom creating your music you know put it on band Cam man it's the best platform there is uh you know it's way better than than Spotify for sure you you'll get a better payout you'll get you know it's a it's I think it's respectful uh of the artist itself and um yeah so I I really you know I'll stress that band camp number one yeah for sure yeah and and you know

1:20:54something that you touched on is is to be able to be found CU sometimes it's like you know if a person mentions a certain band and then you look online and you can't find anything about them um so yes yes yeah a number of my bands uh uh interface being one of them there's like five other interfaces I think there's a couple different amulets too um you know you might you might run into a problem on Spotify where it'll mesh your stuff together with one of the other versions of the the bands that had the same name as you you know uh We've not run into that with red Locust yet we

1:21:35we put a K in there just to make sure you know so uh yeah yeah sometimes you got to be I mean you guys have a number one in your name you know so there's nobody that's goingon to do that uh you know for for Alice but uh uh yeah I mean that that can happen for sure yeah well um you know it's I think it's you know it's one of those things like you were mentioning when you were first starting out um how you you didn't really know like how you were going to approach having a label um you know and here you are you know I still don't know

1:22:15what I'm doing I'll be honest with you I still uh 150 releases later I still don't know like I no I'm learning every day I'm learning every day you know even like doing up doing up my own contracts for my bands I try to keep it simple I try to keep it short I try to keep it lighthearted I'll put a pizza Claus in there wow a pizza Claus that's amazing yeah I put a pizza clause in in a number of them and uh sometimes I'll throw that in there just to see if people are paying attention are you reading are you reading your contract did you see what number nine is

1:22:54you know part of the most important Clause like I the funny funny thing was when I when I sent that to Russian white they sent back there like we have one problem with the contract can we change something and I'm like yeah what's what's the issue they were like uh the the pizza Claus we'd like to change the tacos if we can so I'm like hell yeah and we ended up taking them to this really great taco joint after their gig here um so uh so I I stay true to my word Dutch is fine I don't always have to be the the guy who treats it does say

1:23:28Dutch is fine but I mean there is something that I didn't put in the contracts for the longest time I didn't even think about and that's if something happens to me you know you know if if like I would die like what happens to the band of obviously they're released from their contract you know Distortion will cease to exist you know I I told chase you know even though he's no longer with with the label and it's just me like he he you know moved away you know he's got a family now you know and um he still worked with me on savior 7 though I went down to Maryland to where

1:24:00he lives and we built it together um it was the first time I'd seen him in like two years um but uh you know even with uh with with uh with Chase you know I I I try to you know ask for his advice you know I I I try to include him you know whenever I can so if something did happen to me I'd want him to have the label and I you know because he was the one I started it with so any of the you know I told him honestly if if something happened to me and I was no longer here I said dude I know you don't you don't

1:24:36have the patience or the you know the you have your own thing going he has like an artisan business down there uh he's not going to want to run a record label I was like try to at least maybe sell it to you know somebody that's to where where the maybe the name could you know carry on forward and you know somebody like like cop International or Metropolis could could maybe look after it you know and and like that's kind of how I feel about it you know but just as long as as the bands aren't left out in the cold you know I I wouldn't want that

1:25:14you know for them you know I want the best for my bands and and uh anyone who trusts me with their music um I mean it's it's it's quite something and um you know I don't ever want to do wrong by anybody but I and I'm I'm perfectly uh you know I I understand that maybe not all relationships go the way you want them to you know and and that sometimes you might not agree on the best way to get to a certain point you know but I kind of feel like everyone at this point I think has been pretty reasonable with the there are a couple exceptions but um

1:26:02other than that it's it's been a really good experience um running the label so uh I just I I really want it to grow and I I want more people involved and if if you feel like you can trust me with your with your music I'll do my best for you that's the that's all I can tell you I really love that I mean I I I see that it's like you know well I mean I love your humble attitude of you know I'm I'm still learning you know I'm still learning I'm still growing I mean aren't we all really to to a degree like

1:26:38where like in life we're never gonna really fully get there I mean if I look back at when I was in my mid-30s even post cancer I'm in a way different head space now than I was then you know but my passion for music hasn't changed like there's something things that will always stay you know I'll never lose the the zest for doing this um ever you know so unless I go completely bankrupt and I'm out of money and I'll be like sorry guys we don't have any more money but um you know I I would I don't ever see myself stopping doing this do you have

1:27:17like long-term visions that you might be able to share or you just kind of let things in their own year happen well I mean both both I I do have some stuff in the long term that I really would hope happens but it can't that you know I would love to be able to make a living on doing this like I said you know because I do feel like my job as much as I do love my job and I love everybody there um they're my family you know eventually like the original owner of of the store passed away of Co in 2021 uh and since uh the manager uh has

1:28:02taken it over and uh has done a a really wonderful job and I'm like you know other than the two owners that the store was passed to I'm like the next in so um everyone there you know kind of depends on me showing up there every day to to you know open the place and and and get everything situated um but one day that store is not going to be there anymore and I hope that by the time that happens the label is in a place where it's self- sustaining you know and I can actually live on doing it myself uh and I could spend 100% of my time well maybe

1:28:47not 100% but 80% of my time um because they're still my dog uh you know concentrating on the label and and doing things and trying to find new ways but I mean it's tough when people don't buy physical media as much which is you know the best thing a label can thrive on is is physical stuff that's where the money is it's not in streaming it's not not not from what I've seen um and uh and yeah so the long term is to to maybe do this uh for a living until I'm old and gray and uh uh I hope to do it until the day I die you know I

1:29:33don't I don't I don't want to ever not do it it's it is my dream job don't get me wrong and a lot of people do not get to do that nobody gets you know you you run into people rarely that that are living that dream you know uh so I'm lucky that that I get to do that and that that there are people out there contributing to letting me do that um but what it's going to take is you know getting the attention of some of those bigger acts that can you know maybe maybe it is a circumstance of an act coming on the label that can help the

1:30:12label out more than I can help them you but that's that's the the fact of it you know and uh I think that that's getting a break like that can be really important and gamechanging and I'm kind of waiting on that but again going back to the you know if I'm not even registering on the radar of of some of these magazines or or or online blogs that you know that we're doing you know I clearly have a lot of work to do and a long way to go you know so I hope I just hope to get there one day before for um you know may maybe

1:30:55it'll happen 20 years from now and I'll be like man why couldn't this happen 20 years ago when I was talking to TSH on the on the internet you know I could have I could have maybe enjoyed those 20 years more you know had it happened earlier you know so you know I just I just hope I don't get so frustrated with it that I I throw up my arms and and you know just be like I quit you know and flip the table you know I I just I don't not not that I not that I think that would happen but you know I I want to be

1:31:31able to do this until I can't anymore you know but yeah you know we'll see you know so but until then I'll just take it day by day and year by year and uh and try to help you know my bands become you know more than that they are I mean it's amazing how much you juggle like truly like you're listing off all these things and you know you you you do so many things like how how do you manage your time and and how do you manage your own self-care in the midst of all of that um I go to the doctor on the regular once a year I go

1:32:11to the dentist twice a year uh so I don't I don't let things like that like Health stuff I don't let that fall by the wayside you know a lot of you know M in in our lifestyle might not you know all meds you know I take fish oil in the morning uh and um you know my day starts when the alarm goes off and uh you know I leave the house I go to work I have my coffee or or tea my eggs there's a there's a stove at work so I cook my own eggs eggs and uh and uh and I get to work you know I have

1:32:58a banana I have strawberries I have vegetables and then I come home at night I eat a meal and that's pretty much it and I I do all my work and then I go to bed and I get up and I do it all over again you know and uh like my my girlfriend's a nurse like she I we've been together for almost 11 years now and I see her maybe twice a month we get like two weekends together like I'll we'll be out on a date or something we'll go to a movie or we're having dinner and stuff yeah after 11 years we still all do those things that

1:33:31we did you know after we were together for a few weeks so I'll be out and you know I'll get a message pop up from one of my artists I'll be like sorry it's date night leave me alone you know you know so you know I Gotta Be You know like that um you know but I mean it's that's also a struggle you know it's to where you know it's sometimes things aren't exactly where you want them to be but uh um you know you you kind of you just have to work at it and uh it's it's a it it does feel like like I said to elar it's an

1:34:11uphill battle constantly and uh you know sometimes you get tired you know like right right now I'm feeling it I'm feeling tired I still have to work out tonight um so so I'm doctor's orders I have to you know if I'm getting on stage I have to lose about 10 pounds because you know the holidays just happen and I'm I love sweets so I so I I put on like 10 pounds and I have to I have to get rid of it so I can at least like not look like I have a dad bod when I'm playing at mechanismus well one thing I really

1:34:51respect and um have noticed about you is that you are actually really good at expressing boundaries like you will say like hey guys um you know I'm I'm I'm not going to be able to be gotten a hold of this weekend um and like I think that actually is amazing that you are able to just like honestly Express those boundaries in that way I have to otherwise I'll go insane you know I have to have time to you know lay out on my porch on a Sunday and and read Comics or you know hang out my dog um but um yeah oh it's it's I don't ever really mean to

1:35:32be rude about it it's just something that I you know guys I'm I'm tired I need some time you know and and there's also mental health to all of that you know uh everyone needs time to themselves and uh yeah boundaries are are very important um and uh I I refer to it as um you know there's there's silly gimmers and then there's business gimmers there's Al there's also there's also if you catch me at a festival you'll see Tipsy tipsy gimmers so yeah and everybody loves Tipsy gimmers everybody loves to oh let's get let's let's buy gimmers a bunch of drinks and see what he says

1:36:17kind of thing you know that that kind of thing so yeah I mean uh you me at mechanismus or especially at dark force Fest where you could carry a drink around wherever you are at 12 noon and uh yeah my my friends my friends Jessica and Tim who uh uh Jessica is gonna be with me at at mechanismus festival working my table with me and um we couldn't get Tim to go but they're going to both be at dark force Fest and I walked into their their hotel room it was after hours at at dark force last year I'm like Jesus Christ you guys this

1:36:56looks like a wines and spirits with with beds so just like my God you guys might have a so and so yeah I mean there is there is that you know I have to you know I don't drink uh alcohol very often um at all unless I'm in that environment if I'm in that environment I will indulge I will have a good time I will be silly and goofy and it's you know what I said this to Stephen the other night I'm like it's all about those laughs it's all about those laughs oh my God I miss those when the festivals are over and I'm driving

1:37:41home and there's nobody with me and I'm like God I miss those laughs man you know and it's just like or or those hugs and seeing people that you haven't seen you know like I'll I'll tell you the same story that I told Stephen the other uh at this dark force fest last last uh last year I and Tilla played and I I have a a profound affection for for Jim and Britt and and uh and Vince and Dean um and I always stay at their house when I go to Chicago uh for cold waves and um spending time out there with them I don't ever

1:38:28laugh I don't ever laugh like that like the kind of laughter to where your stomach hurts like Jim he he has the ability to make me laugh like nobody can like he and it he could just say something or just do something that will just you know put me on the floor spinning around like Homer and ah they were there they played out there and I'm like I I was so happy I was like oh my God they're going to be there we're going to be in a completely neutral area to where I don't have to worry about promoting a show in here in Pittsburgh

1:39:04for them and I'm not in out in Chicago and have to worry about the cold wave stuff and and all that stuff that goes with that we could just be in the party environment and hang out together and I it was after hours I had met them I had just come from my my merch table I had my cash box with me so like walk and I run into to Britney and and Vince and Dean Jim was up in the hotel room and we all just you know we were just all ha so happy to see each other this was after the night they played and um they had to leave the next

1:39:38morning and it was I was like oh what let's go do this let's go do this let's go grab a bite or whatever and you know it was like 15 minutes of being with them and they were like you know we were all you know three sheets of the wind at that point and they had to go because they had to get up early to to catch their their flight home and I just I remember them leaving and I I don't ever feel like I've ever felt more alone that and then that moment when I I had like looked so much so much so forward to to seeing them and

1:40:17being with them in in an environment like that and I only got to be with them for 15 minutes and I just got so profoundly sad like roll ver a clamp and like I sat in one you know you know that it was in that the area the the sort of bar restaurant you you know what I'm talking about where like where that they do that Kick-Ass breakfast buffet every morning that's amazing well we were in there and I just sat in like one of the booths and like I just sat there for a minute and uh just like real sad and like Tim messaged me on the phone and

1:40:52crane too and uh was like what are you guys doing or what what are you doing and I was like guys I think I'm just going to go up to my room I was like I'm feeling really sad right now and I I don't know if it was you know the booze you know like hitting me like that but I I don't think it was I just I was really sad that I only got to spend 15 minutes with people that I really care about and uh you know but then I go to the elevator and uh the elevator comes down and Tim and crane walk out of the elevator

1:41:22they're like we're coming up with and so we just like we talked till like 3 or 4 in the morning it was the best it was it was amazing so it completely like turned me around you know and so yeah it's just uh you know I have that like I'll do a show for a band like you guys like when we did the last show at black Forge and I had to say my goodbyes I'm the worst at it I'm horrible I'll give like 50 hugs before I say my final goodbye you know I don't uh I I don't like it you know you know I just I get

1:41:54to spend a moment with you a small moment in the in the span of your lifetimes and and you know as I said to Steve the other night I'm like there's guarantee that it will ever happen again yeah you know no there's no guarantees in life you have to if you if you're going to to see somebody that you care about you're seeing a band that uh that means a lot to you that you might know person Al I mean try to you know make that known to them that might completely make their day or weak you know and and just be like you know dude

1:42:34I [ __ ] love you dude and I'm sorry if if I can't say [ __ ] but I just did but um um all words are welcome you can you can edit that out if you want to but uh um well it's all live so but yes all words are welcome all right all right um so yeah I mean it's you know some people may be not that expressive but you know I am I I will totally tell tell you you know I might not see ever again so you know please be safe be cautious be you know use discretion uh you know just uh yeah you know be good to people you know because

1:43:21you might not uh might not get the chance to see them again so that's kind of how I I always I try to carry that with me through every you know aspect of life but so it's 7:41 we got time for a couple more questions before I have to jump off of here and get these pre-orders up for you guys so uh I wanted to share some love um crane fish and uh Jen Gilbert are Al both expressing um their love for tipsy oh yeah it was Jen's fault at Cold waves last year uh her and her friend Erica took me out after uh having a particularly bad night

1:44:04at the table and uh and we went to the Afterparty and yeah they got me nice and Tipsy and that was that was fun uh what I what did I scream out that was there was a band playing um it was like two techno guys um Nevada Hardware they were were playing and they were awesome and uh the one guy's name was Doug so I screamed out I love the Doug like right right as the song cut off like I I screamed out I love the Doug and what his brother I guess was in the crowd or what it like came over was like who said that I was like I'm gonna

1:44:45give you a CD that was awesome I was like that was me I love that so yeah I I love Jen and uh and crane both amazing people yes uh crane is saying uh can't wait to repeat that this year promise oh all right don't let me get sad oh yes no sad gimmers please yeah no I love I love that um it's like you're you're able to share your heart in that way um as we were chatting earlier about the fact that I think that's it it makes it I think easier for other people to do the same and I think that's one of one of your

1:45:31many beautiful qualities is just having this big heart that you are so willing to share with all of us and we're very grateful for that you only live once right why not why not it's maybe that's like I I I joked because you know stepen said something like that the other night on Facebook and I was like I'm might need a pacemaker one day you know you know so yeah yeah it's uh you know just got to kind of uh you know live your life and and be true to yourself and you know if I wasn't like this I don't know who else I would be

1:46:11but yeah anyone else we got anyone else in chat I'm not looking at chat right now so is is there a way to do that on here I just see I just see I'm uh I'm I'm lobbing them over for you is so all right um well if if there aren't any more questions um I just want to say thank you so much to um Jim seic our gimmers oh it's it's simonic by the way simonic I've been saying it wrong all this time I'm so sorry now I know thank you for the correction I've I've got I've gotten it all my life it's all good oh my gosh you

1:46:52know it's funny cuz my my full name is Natasha and I've gotten nastasha like so many times so is a lot easier nastasha yeah I feel very I feel very nstasia this or I've had some of my bandmates that have referred to things as a catastrophe because I'm very clumsy so ah I I love it it's awesome yes yes thank you so much for having me on here uh thank you it's you know I'll come back on anytime anytime you want to have me on and uh come back to Pittsburgh soon so we could hang yes yes proper hangs um we can't wait to hear um

1:47:36the amazing new electronic saviors that's coming out um very very soon it's the the clock is ticking so yeah I'm sure there's people like waiting by their by their keyboards on the Distortion site being like where the hell is it all right well I I hope I can get up there in time let me see if I have the artwork yet let me see oh drum roll drum roll oh she said check she said check my email so it is you guys are gonna see the artwork very as soon as I get off of here I'm posting it oh my gosh exciting yeah yes yay well thank

1:48:09you so much you so wonderful to see you love you yes much much love and thank y'all so much for hanging out and for the amazing questions and uh thoughtful commentary it's so great to see everybody on here thank you again Jim thank you so much thanks for listening to me ramble always all right