WEBVTT - ITS Home Edition: All Time Low 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:05.520 Welcome to Inside the Studio presented by h Heart Radio. 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:17.800 I'm your host Joe Levy. Hey, so, I hope everybody's 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:21.520 doing well out there, keeping safe, keeping healthy, and hearing 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:25.279 lots of great music. All of those things are the 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.440 reason that the Inside the Studio team put together this 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:31.480 home edition of the show to let you know how 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.760 artists are coping. Would lockdown how it's impacting their lives 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.000 and what it means to the way they make music. 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:42.960 Now this time out, our Quarantine correspondent Jordan run Talk 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.800 connected with Alex and Jack from All Time Low to 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:50.839 talk about their new album Wake Up Sunshine, which came 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:56.120 out in April around the time everybody realized Quarantine was 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.680 not going away quickly, which for these two guys men 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:05.440 ditching their sweatpants and picking back up their guitars. And 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:08.039 after you finished checking out this episode, be sure to 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.040 give a listen to the I Heart Radio podcast that 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:16.280 Jordan's hosts, Rivals Music's Greatest Feuds, which is available wherever 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:32.520 you listen to your favorite shows. Hello, everybody, my name 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.000 is Jordan run Talk, But enough about me. My guests 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.760 today first started playing rock and roll together as teenagers 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.240 in a Baltimore Basement back in two thousand three. Seventeen 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:43.920 years later, they are still rock and hard. They just 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.600 released their e f LP wake Up Sunshine in April, 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.800 featuring appearances by Black Bear on the band Camino. It's 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.240 a return of their roots. If you listen closely, you 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.480 can hear echoes from that Baltimore basement nearly two decades ago. 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.000 I uttered their name with reverence because make no mistake, 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.200 they are pop punk royalty. I am very happy. I'm 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:03.360 thrilled to welcome Alex and Jack from All time Low. 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:11.680 They quite nice on Jack's birthday, I might add, Jack's 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:15.600 very kind to share his birthday with us. Birthday, I 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.720 love spending it with my with my friends and people 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.760 who are lovely like you. Oh, I appreciate that well, 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.240 first and foremost, How the hell are you? How does 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.239 quarantine life find you today? I'm all right. I'm feeling 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:29.440 quite good. You know, the sun is shining um and 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.440 things could be a lot worse. So I'm I'm pretty 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:36.400 I'm content, honestly, like I feel like at this point quarantine, 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:38.680 I'm scared to go back to normal life like I'm 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:40.720 used to quarantine life. You know what I mean? Like, 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.400 that's that feels normal to I like my house now, 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.400 I like my safety bubble. Generation of agoraphone. So what 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:51.280 we are? Yeah, well, Alex, you're on a farm, right, 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.040 That's like I've been fifteen years in New York City. 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.440 That's the most exotic thing in the world to me. Yeah. Man, Um, 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:58.840 we we live out in the middle of the sticks, 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.160 so we're sort of like we're just surrounded by nature 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:06.600 and woods and uh dear ticks. But no, it's great, man, 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.800 It's it's really nice here. Uh. We are lucky and 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:13.240 very blessed to to sort of be in a position where, um, 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.639 the quarantine has not made our daily lives feel that 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:21.280 much that claustrophobic. I guess, you know, we're able to 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:25.640 get out and um, you know, get some air and 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.040 and we're like sort of in our own little safety 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:32.040 bubble here, which I'm very grateful for right now. But yeah, 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:33.959 things things are. It's fun. It's fun. We got a 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:36.160 bunch of animals. We got horses, we got goats, so 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.800 they keep us pretty busy, keep us on our toes. 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.000 Oh man, were any of the animals from the Sleeping 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.600 in video yours? Like the tiny horse? I wish. In fact, 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:46.920 that day, um that the day that we shot the 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.240 sleeping in video, I actually asked if the horse was 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:53.560 available for rescue because we were working at an animal 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:56.880 rescue in Nashville with the sole purpose of trying to 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.720 get that place emptied out. And obviously the horse they 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.200 do not. They do not how as many horses at 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.200 that facility, but they brought one in and I was 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:06.040 not sure whether or not it was one that was 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.000 actually up for adoption, and I did ask, but this 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.280 one had an owner, which I was dismayed to find 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:12.400 out because I would have taken them home. Do do 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:14.400 do mini horses like, do they have health issues or 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.320 they like just like a normal horse, which is smaller. 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:18.200 I don't know. To be honest, I don't think so. 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.719 I don't think it's like anything where they get weird 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:22.760 stuff that'd because that'd be is like super cute to 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.279 have one of those. And yeah, we thought about it. 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:27.520 We we talked about rescuing like a mini donkey or 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.080 a many horse, but um, it didn't. It didn't come 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.560 to pass. What's that old saying, never worked with kids 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.480 or animals where they were they well behaved on the set. Dude, 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:39.560 I'm honestly like the cat was not. Cats are the 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.240 hardest cats are. We've worked with cats twice on videos, 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.040 and they are very difficult because we all know how 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:47.200 cats can be. Um this, this show stops for the cat, 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.160 you know what I mean, Like everything suddenly the entire 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.279 production revolves around whether or not the cat feels like 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.760 doing the thing that it's being asked to do. And 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:56.960 you know, we we are not ever going to bring 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.159 any discomfort or harm or anything to the cats. So 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.240 it's really like, really, is there's no way to like 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.000 coax it into doing something. You just it either does 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.160 it or it doesn't. You just have to kind of 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.960 you just kind of have to wait to get the take. Um. 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.240 So yeah, I mean, it's it's funny. It's actually We've 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:14.000 worked with animals a lot in music videos, and in 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.960 the earlier days I didn't think twice about it and 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:18.840 never really worried about it. Then I got to a 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:20.840 point where I was becoming a little more aware of 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:22.600 like some of the things that these animals go through 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:24.279 in show business, and it made me feel a little 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.280 bit icky, and I didn't love doing it until we 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.520 came up with this premise for this sleeping in video 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.039 where um, A, the animals were wonderful to work with 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.400 and amazingly trained and we're under great care and be 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:38.640 it was for an amazing cause. It was for getting 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:41.479 a bunch of animals rescued, which we all in this 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.000 band feel very passionate about. So it was pretty cool. 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.560 That is awesome. How have you been feeling? Just like 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.680 I know a lot of people in quarantine. I feel 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:50.880 like half the people I know are feeling super creative 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.480 and productive, and then the other half are just really like, 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.640 what day is it? I don't know, maybe how have 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:58.600 you been doing? Are you? Are you feeling super creative 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.360 and productive? Um? Personally, the first three weeks of quarantine, 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:04.800 I went I was like, okay, this isn't how long 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.560 is this gonna last? What am I gonna do? I 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.200 decided I'm just gonna watch movies that I've wanted to 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:11.280 watch my whole life and haven't seen. So I made 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.279 like a list of like fifty movies and I got 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.479 like really close to hitting them all, so like it 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:19.120 was straight up just watching an insane amount of movies. Um. 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:20.919 And then they got to the point where I was like, okay, 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:22.960 we have a record coming out, because this is before 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:24.520 the album came out. We have a record coming out. 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:28.760 This may last forever, like we need to. I need 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.560 to at least personally do something that's a little more fulfilling, 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:33.560 or else I'm going to actually go crazy. And when 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:35.320 this is over, I'm gonna look back and be like, 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:37.919 did I just waste like four months of my life. 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.960 So I started taking music lessons with an old friend 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:44.760 and kind of, you know, going back to why I 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:46.560 fell in love with playing guitar in the first place. 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:48.920 And I started reading more and doing all these things 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:50.760 that I don't think I would have done without quarantine. 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.200 So yeah, began enreaching his life. Yes, learning how to cook. 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:57.279 I was hitting up Alex for like like cooking advice. Yeah, man, 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.320 you got creative in the kitchen. I was. I was 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.320 proud of you, like I had never really seen you, 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.440 uh cook much before, and then all of a sudden, 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:05.279 you were making these amazing looking dishes. I was. I 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.440 was like, yeah, let's go, buddy, let's go. Thank you. 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:12.760 What's been the most successful one? Most successful? Oh? Um, 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.200 I guess most successful tasting was this bold as my 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.160 sister gave me the recipe for which is actually bold 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:19.760 as is so easy, Like it's really easy. You just 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:21.040 like put a bunch of stuff in a pot and 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:23.360 just wait like a couple of hours. But um, it's 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.040 wait a day. It was really good. Bolonaise is always 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.360 better than next day. Yes, you gotta let it cool 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.080 down and then heat it back up. And there's something 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:33.080 about whatever happens in that process in the fridge overnight 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:38.000 just gets even tastier. You know. It's really interesting because, um, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:40.520 I at first kind of like what Jack was saying, 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.320 Like I I kind of settled into the idea of 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.600 all right, we're stuck at home and I don't have 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.800 any responsibilities anymore, and I'm just gonna wear sweatpants and 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.480 you know, turn the lights out and close the curtains 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.440 and not leave my den. Um. And after about a 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.480 week and a half two weeks of that, I was like, 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:01.280 I need structure, I need something, and um, you know, 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:03.560 between all the farm stuff that we just talked about 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:05.960 and then like just needing some kind of creative outlet, 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.480 I think, Um, you know, I did find myself picking 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:10.760 up the guitar and going back to sort of these 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.160 very like almost felt like getting back to the beginning 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.680 you know, like when I would be in my room alone, 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.520 sitting on the bed, like recording demos um and just 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:21.960 coming up with ideas, and suddenly that started happening again. 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.560 And there's something very interesting about that because having been 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.360 in a band for seventeen years and having made eight 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:30.400 records in so many different ways, that sort of back 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.199 to basics approach is not something that we've really done 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.360 a whole lot since the early days, and so it's 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:38.520 it's kind of cool now full to come full circle 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.160 and um, you know, think about writing songs in a 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.560 way that is just very d i y and like, 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:46.880 you know what I was doing in high school. Well, 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.920 for Wake Up Sunshine, you guys rented a house right 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.960 like out in what Palm Desert? What was that experience 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:54.840 like for you? I mean that almost sounds back to 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:56.240 basics to me because that was the first time you've 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.800 done that since two thousand nine, right, like nothing personal? Yeah, yeah, 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.079 absolutely was back to basics for us. I mean it 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:04.480 we had not made an album in that way since 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.520 probably uh so wrong, It's right, if I'm being honest. 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.480 I mean, don't panic. We did the majority of the 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.360 record with Mike Green at his studio in California. But 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.560 the idea that all four of us were under one 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:20.160 roof living, uh and like eat, sleep, breathing these songs 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.160 and this music together. It was a shared experience from 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.520 the moment these songs were conceptualized to the minute we 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.800 finished recording them. And I think, yeah, it just lended 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:32.520 something so good and so pure and so like very 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:36.800 unique energy to the creative process because it's something that 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:39.040 we hadn't really tapped into for for many many years. 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.800 And I think it just refreshed us. Like it was 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:43.959 like hitting a reset button on the band. It kind 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:47.120 of made us look at everything from a different perspective again, 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.559 and it really refreshed I think our take on our 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:51.400 band and our music. I mean, just living in that 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.480 house I'm picturing like the Monkeys directed by John Hughes 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:56.480 or something like that. Like it seems like, what was 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:58.719 it like when you weren't recording working on music? Was 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:00.959 it fun? Yes? It was. It was very fun. It 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:04.240 was very comfortable. Um, a lot of you know, it 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:06.760 basically was like tour, but like way more comfortable because 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:08.160 you didn't have to wake up in a different city 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.280 every day. Um, it was a lot of you know, 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.120 an amazing backyard. We we made sure that if we're 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:14.400 going to live in a house for a month, it's 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:16.480 really nice. And luckily, you know, Palm Desert is not 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:20.400 that expensive. And um, it was about a hundred and 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.960 ten degrees out every day, so there wasn't yeah, there 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.600 wasn't too much going outside. We went during the time 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.000 of year where everybody leaves Palm Desert, so the rental 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.560 prices were so cheap. So yeah, we got we got 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.680 a good amount of house for for We didn't dip 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:39.800 too far into their record budget on that one. It 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:41.400 was It was smart though, and our I guess our 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.280 manager was like, oh, I'll put him in the desert 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:45.000 in like the middle summer, like they're not gonna go 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:51.880 anywhere quarantine. Really, yeah, there was no distraction because you 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:53.960 literally could not step outside of the house without the 0:10:53.960 --> 0:11:11.040 soles of your shoes melting to How do you guys 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.640 compliment each other as as songwriters? What what does the 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.000 other one bring to the table? I tell Jack he's 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.440 really good looking all the time. That's how I complimented him. Yeah, 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.200 and then and then he goes in the closet and 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:21.720 writes the song comes out here I got it, and 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:26.400 I'm like, wow, I didn't help, that's crazy. Um. This 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.960 this process was really again just thinking about Wake Up Sunshine, 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.199 it was really complimentary. And I say that for between 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:35.120 me and Jack, but also between the other guys as well. 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.000 It was kind of everybody brought their strongest suit to 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.040 the table, and it was really cool having everyone at 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:44.120 their best throughout the process. UM. I would sort of 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.280 I'd be sitting on the couch with my iPad and 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:48.679 and a guitar and a microphone and sort of like 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.160 spitballing these ideas. And what was nice about that was 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.400 that at any given moment, Jack might walk through the 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:56.800 room or Ryan might walk through the room or Zach 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.440 and be like, oh, don't do that, try this, And 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.920 just that of real time feedback UM was extremely helpful 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.280 in crafting songs that felt, uh, really true to all 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:09.400 four of us. And I think, you know, in the past, 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.400 when it's just been me writing a full song and 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.559 then taking it to the guys, they're always going to 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:15.920 have input, but it's not in the moment, you know, 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.520 it's not at conception, yes, I guess, And so there's 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.720 something to be said for that spontaneity. Um, that I 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.280 think really shines at conception of the song. There's so 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.800 much more I guess, room for it to grow and 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.080 change and move in different directions when you're creating it, 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.080 rather than you know, going retroactively back and like being like, 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:35.400 let's change this chorus. Then you kind of lose that magic. 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.959 You know exactly exactly Prior to recording Wake Up Sunshine. 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:41.439 Know you both have been involved with other projects, Alex 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.240 with Simple Creatures and Jack with Who Hurt You? Was that? 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.520 Did that kind of prime the creative pumping away for 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.720 All Time Load? Did it kind of like flush out 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.160 some of these other ideas and make you see things 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:53.720 in a completely fresh and new way for your next 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.520 project together as a band? Yeah, totally. I mean I 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:58.560 for me personally, it was in a way for me 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.920 to get some things out that I don't think would 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.000 have fit the mold of All Time Low as well. 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:05.840 You know, um, we're always gonna write for ourselves. But 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.480 at the same time, you know, seventeen years into a career, 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.000 you have to recognize that there's a bit of a 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.959 brand and uh, you don't want to completely alienate everyone 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.080 that listens to you. Um, So it's like you know, 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.360 we've always been given a pretty wide lane by our 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.280 fans to work in, Like, even when we've tried kind 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.400 of more absurd, off the wall different ideas, our fan 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:27.880 base has come along for the ride, which is very gratifying. 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.760 But you know, for me, Simple Creatures was a means 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.440 to be a little more out there and try some 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:36.600 unusual things. Mark was in the same boat. We both 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.520 wanted to explore some stuff that was not, uh in 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.720 any way kind of reflective of our other bands. Um. 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:45.720 And so you know, it just allowed us to scratch 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.439 an itch. And I think that gives you perspective when 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:51.240 you come back around to work on the main baby, 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:52.760 because then you're like, all right, well I got this 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:54.400 stuff out of the way. I don't need to try 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.120 and force that into you know, I don't need to 0:13:57.120 --> 0:13:59.400 try and force a square into a circle here. Um 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:01.680 And uh, it also just gave me a lot of 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.400 you know, a lot of new tricks for the album. Um. 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:06.280 That really helped out. And I think, you know, I 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.319 don't want to speak for Jack, but as an observation 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.120 I made was that you know, Jack going and doing 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.320 who Hurt You was like I think his writing chops 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:17.200 just upgraded tremendously. I remember the first time Jack came in, 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:19.200 you know, and we were starting to work on Wake 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.560 Up Sunshine, it was just like, who is this guy? 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.760 Who is this guy? Get? It gave me a new confidence, 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:26.960 you know, to to kind of say something. You know, 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.600 it's it's like learning a new skill and kind of 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.560 giving you the confidence to to to give input, you know, 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.680 and and and not and be okay with hearing. People 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:37.080 would be like, no, I don't like that, or I 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:38.680 like that, you know what I mean. But um, I 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:41.080 think it was important for when I was did the 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.040 Simple Creatures thing. I think it was really important at 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:46.040 least to me, Ryan and Zach for us to support 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.720 him because you know, he was also starting a side 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.360 project with you know, pretty much the reason why we 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.280 started playing music, you know, with with Mark oppis so 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.600 that I think we felt, you know, really good about 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.240 because you know, we were we were like, we're letting 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.400 our boy go with our with our dad, you know, 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:07.480 with his new dad, like learn learned from him, and 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:09.440 and yes, that was really cool. I mean not the 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.640 totally famboy up, but like, does it did it ever 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.600 start to feel normal working with you know, your hero 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:19.400 Mark Office. To be honest, yes, it did actually normalize. 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.680 You know, I'll say this, I feel really lucky that 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:25.320 I got to know Mark over many years and that 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.880 we did not work together until him and I were 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.720 very much like friends first. Um. I think if he 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:35.080 had come to me before meeting me like years ago 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:36.360 and be like, hey, you want to work on something, 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.160 I would have just been sitting there like with my 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.760 mouth hanging open, being like whatever you say, Mark, Yeah, 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:44.280 I love everything you do. Um. And you know it's 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.200 that would not have been that would not have made 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.160 for a good or interesting project. I think. So the 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.960 fact that like you know, we we're friends, and uh, 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:53.720 it was amazing to be able to kind of sit 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.200 down and work creatively on something together because we tried 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.440 so many times in the past. We had like we've 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:00.360 written songs but for All Time, a little four that 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:01.800 didn't end up seeing the light of day, and we 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.680 collaborated on a couple of tracks together, you know, Tidal 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:06.680 Waves for All Time Low. He came and sang on that, 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.440 And so there's always been these moments of creativity with 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.120 Mark and I and and we always sort of like 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:15.240 never fully you know, punched through that wall and uh yeah, 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:17.760 Simple Creatures just kind of was the culmination of many 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:19.680 years of like trying, yeah, to get it to happen. 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:21.640 I don't know if you would have had the confidence, 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.120 like ten years ago to be like, I don't like 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.520 that verse he would have been like, it's hard to 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.840 get to a point where, like someone who inspired you 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.400 to to be in music to begin with, you can 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:32.840 sit down in a room and be like, dude, I 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:34.880 think that kind of sucks, you know what I mean, 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:36.960 Like you have to have that, You have to have 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.360 that on its back and forth, and and we have 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:41.600 that now, which is good, Like we can keep each other, 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.880 we can compliment each other rather than just be um, 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.200 you know, like rather than me being there like we're 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.680 not we're really. So you have this new record ready 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.120 to go, Wake Up Sunshine. It's it's upbeat, it's refreshed, 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:57.080 fifteen tracks, and then Corona hits touring and release plans, 0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:58.800 I'll go out the window. A lot of acts like 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.000 Lady Gaga and I think the N seventy five actually 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.720 delay their albums. What made you decide to to go 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.520 ahead and release yours? We actually made this record knowing 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:11.439 that the whole world was going to shut down just 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:15.960 um we yeah, like it's it's absolutely insane. I don't 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:20.800 think anyone, uh could have possibly anticipated how this the 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:23.000 whole thing was gonna go. We we really just found 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:26.200 found that the idea of not putting out the music 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:28.200 would be doing a disservice to our fans who were 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:29.879 ready for it. You know, we had already announced that 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.399 it was coming out music out as this was happening. 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.000 Everything was sort of starting to shut down, and we 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.359 had that conversation like two weeks out with the label 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.520 and everything, like do we push back, do we delay this, 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.520 do we wait? And it's just the more we thought 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:45.000 about it, the more we felt like it would be 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.760 kind of selling everybody short. Like this was this was 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.200 an album that you know, made us feel really good 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:53.040 and really excited and felt like kind of therapeutic and 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.720 cathartic for us to make it, and so maybe some 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:57.520 of that would shine through in the music for people 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.399 in a really tough time. And uh, we we just 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:02.280 decided that it was the move to put it out 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.439 and to let our fans enjoy it and hopefully have 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:08.320 it be sort of a safety net in all of this. 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.879 Looking back, I'm happy we stuck to our guns because 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:14.479 you know, we released a song in January and then 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.560 a song in February, and then March came around. If 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:18.560 we would have you know, delayed the record a couple 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:20.720 of months, you know, then those songs and the whole 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.680 and the whole kind of anticipate anticipation for the record 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:26.160 kind of dies in my opinion. So I think it's 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.919 important that we stuck to to what we we felt 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:32.120 in our gut was the best decision. And yeah, I'm 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:34.080 happy we did that because you know, people had something 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.320 new to listen to, you know, throughout all this. Yeah, 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.520 people need stuff to look forward to. How have you 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:40.240 been connecting the fans in the midst of all this? 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:44.679 We have tried a myriad of things, you know, every 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:48.359 everything we could think of that's that's physically possible, uh, 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.159 in the current state of it all, Um, I mean, 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:55.439 zoom calls have been huge. We've done concerts exactly what 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:58.119