Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Banger.
[00:00:14] Speaker C: Lionheart.
Hello, guys. How are you? I'm good. How are you? Good. Nice to see you. Nice to meet you.
So what represents a festival for you? Is that better than a gig, a venue? Or do you prefer that massive places like festivals?
[00:00:35] Speaker A: It's a hard question.
I feel like it probably depends on the festival, but I don't know, I guess we look forward to both. I guess I probably enjoy playing in a venue, like, have a normal show a little more. Like, I get a little more out of it because I can connect with people a little easier. But there's nothing like being on a big festival stage and seeing that many people out. I mean, that's like childhood dream type, you know? That's like. That's. That's crazy. Those are pictures I send to my mom, you know? And I'm like, look, I'm doing something real. Like, that's awesome. You can't. You can't. You can't beat that. So they're. They both. They're both awesome.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: Challenge, like you said. You can say, this is a real walk. Look at this.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: Totally. It's crazy, dude. It's crazy. Like, we were just editing pictures from last night and it's. We played grass pop and it's crazy. Look and see. Like, holy. We played for that many people. Like, that's. It's just.
[00:01:28] Speaker C: It's.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: It's crazy. Hellfest is the same thing. It's huge. So it's awesome.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: Do you have time when you're on stage to actually see how much people is there in front of you? Or do you actually realize it when you watch the picture?
[00:01:42] Speaker A: I mean, it's funny that you asked that, because I was just thinking. I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't realize it until we look at the pictures later. I mean, you realize. I mean, I have eyeballs, so I realize that I'm playing for a lot of humans, but it's more like you. There's so much adrenaline and so many nerves, you know?
Like, I was joking with Kubacon, played our stage last night too, and I was joking with them before we went on, and it was like, man, I still get nervous, you know? Like, it's crazy to look out and see it's not normal, you know? And we don't tour that much, so, yeah, there's more nerves than anything. So I don't feel like I realize it or I fully appreciate it until after the fact when I'm looking back at Photos and it's like, oh my God, that's crazy. You know, I used it.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: Are you still impressed by the reaction of the crowd? Because in festival, when you get them, it's. It's never, never ending. Like you can keep them like getting crazier and crazier.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: Probably. I'm probably more surprised than surprised. And relieved because.
Still surprised that people react to the band like they do? Of course. You know, and also relieved that they react to the band the way they do because again, it's like you see the lineup and you see all the other bands and of course I see where we're slotted. It's like maybe it's like imposter syndrome or something where you don't feel like you belong or you don't. You always kind of second guess yourself, you know? And so it's like every night I'm like, man, I hope we belong. I hope the show is awesome. And then it feels great when first song in and everybody's singing along. It's like, holy shit, that's crazy.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: So you mean even after such a career, you've been there for a long time now.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:24] Speaker B: And you, you've toured all over the world, you're still surprised by the people?
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Totally. I mean, we're not, we're not like a full time band, you know, we only get to do this a couple times a year and so we don't play that many shows throughout the year and.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: Yeah, but, but, but for the people like the. Yeah, they don't know, it's, you know, is that.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: But I know it in my head, so I feel like I don't belong, you know, I get it. It's like, oh man, is this do we belong with? Because these festival lineups are insane. It's like all the greatest bands of the, all the genres and heavy music and it's just no matter where on the bill you are, it's still humbling to be on the bill, you know, and if you don't think like that, you're probably a psycho.
[00:04:13] Speaker C: And is there a frustration or to not see all the bands you love when you're in a festival, you're just like, oh, gosh.
[00:04:20] Speaker A: I mean, tonight is a perfect example that they were playing at the same time as Limp Bizkit. So I'm like, no, that fucking sucks.
First of all, I hope that people are there to watch us, but I would not.
I would much rather be watching Limp Bizkit than watching Lionheart. But yeah, there's always those clashes and it's a pain in the ass, but that's how it goes, you know?
[00:04:42] Speaker C: Yeah. And you've got a sound for festival? I think so. You know what I mean? It's like really strong one, but groovy. But there's a really special thing.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: I was about to say this. Your music is really perfect for festival.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: I agree. Yeah, no, it's nice. I think it works. Well. You mentioned like the groove. We always try to.
We just want to write catchy shit that's fun to head nod to and fun to get down to. You know what I mean? Not any deeper than that. And it works in the festival setting for sure.
So.
[00:05:14] Speaker C: Yeah, we used to talk about groove when we talk about like bands from 2000 or maybe 90s, you know, like new middle bands or.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: It was way more important at this time.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: All that like cool mid tempo, like the. All the head nod stuff. Like I feel like the ear like the mid-2000s of hardcore, like when we were first starting, they didn't ever play that tempo. It was. The tempo's on the other side of it, you know. And so we kind of try to bring that. Bring that mid tempo stuff back and seems to work.
[00:05:43] Speaker C: So it means y' all like your great dancers.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm a professional dancer, so. Yeah, I'm a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Oh, really?
[00:05:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: Can you do the.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: I'm the best looking one on the team.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I see that.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
[00:05:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Can you do one or two kicks?
[00:06:00] Speaker A: Yeah, if I was in the pit, maybe.
[00:06:06] Speaker C: There it is.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: He's also a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. He's who. He's who got me the gig originally. Right here.
Yeah. You probably saw him on the Netflix documentary.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
Did you watch the third.
The third season of the documentary?
[00:06:23] Speaker A: No. But just for the record, Dallas Cowboys suck. They're the worst team in all of sports.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: They're just known for their children.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Make sure I'm on the record saying that. I don't want anybody to get it confused.
[00:06:33] Speaker C: And there's also also something in music that is really amazing. You know, it's like when the people can sing together, things. Are you just thinking about this when you're on stage? You know, when all the people just singing because you choose totally to put lyrics like, you know, to. To shout to.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: Totally. I mean it was the. The. I think it's.
I don't think my story is special in. In. In the sense that I started the band to be able to write about all the things that I had a hard time speaking about or that I didn't have somebody to talk to or that I felt like wasn't being said right. And so yes, it's, it's. And it's super meaningful to have people react to the lyrics in a way that.
To reacting to the lyrics in a way that they do. And of course to sing them back. It's incredible. When I was a kid, there was a couple different bands that changed my life and saved my life, and it was all because of the lyrics. And so to feel like you. You have that impact on a different generation of. Of kids is awesome, man. It's. It's. It's incredible.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: It's better than pay to pay a doctor. You may. Music is better.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: It's. It's the best feeling in the world, man. It's 1000% the best feeling in the world.
[00:07:39] Speaker C: So for you is. Is like, oh, also today the same thing that at the beginning, you know, mentally, it's a help for you every
[00:07:48] Speaker A: day music, doing music a hundred percent. I wouldn't. I wouldn't be able to. I don't know how I would live if I couldn't. If I couldn't do this. It's. Yeah, it's just a part of who I am. It's big part of who I am. And yeah, I love it, man. It's. It's awesome.
You need it 100 and it's. It's cool. I mean, dude, I even be able to talk to the people who relate to the lyrics or who. I mean, even somebody that was working at. I won't mention his name, but one of the guys that was working at Grass Pop yesterday came up to me at the end of the show late at night, and he was like, hey, I've been a fan for 15 years. Your music got me through a ton of dark times, a ton of hard times.
And he was like, I'm sorry if I'm not being professional, but I just want to tell you that I love that. Thank you so much for the music, blah, blah, blah. And it was like, dude, that's. This just made my whole day, you know. And sometimes that's what you miss. To go back to your first question, Sometimes you miss those exchanges when you play a festival because you're like, so removed from the people. I can't sell my own merch. I can't go and meet anybody and talk, you know, that's like the beauty of playing just a normal venue. Inevitably, every day somebody tells you a story similar to that. But anyway, I'm good. Grateful that I got that last night, you know, because it, it made my whole day and it was, it was awesome. But yeah, it's the coolest thing. And I see all the messages that people send us and I try to respond to every single one, but it means, it means a lot, dude, of course it's awesome.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: It's something that reminds you what you're also to keep you, to give you energy, fuel you to keep on doing this sometimes when you feel like.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: Totally. Because it's like every time.
I mean, I got, I got kids, I got a five year old and a seven year old. It's not easy to. That's why we don't tour that much, you know, it's not. I don't want to be gone from them, you know, they're only five and seven one time. And so it's a really. I talked about this on a different interview too, but it is, it's a, it's a hard trade off, you know, and so I try to make sure if I'm not at home with them that it's for good reason. And we're doing, we're playing the right gigs, we're. We're doing the right thing and we're advancing that, that side of the career. And so. But it is, it makes it worth it. You know, when you're kind of feeling bummed out that you're not at home and you're not with the kids and then somebody else tells you a story like that, it's like, okay, I'm. I'm supposed to be here. I'm doing something meaningful.
Makes it worth it.
[00:10:10] Speaker C: So we used to say that this kind of music, metal music, heavy music, strong music, is really good for health, mental health and things like this more than the other ones. Maybe that's why we choose this kind of music. You know what I mean?
[00:10:26] Speaker B: I mean, it's less shy with emotions. Yeah, it's like a more raw and genuine.
[00:10:33] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: Feedback.
[00:10:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so.
[00:10:35] Speaker C: Music in general.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: Music in general, yeah.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: You think so? Yeah.
[00:10:41] Speaker A: Just like the man.
I'm just here so I don't get fined.
He's been waiting for that one.
Been waiting for that one.
So he already used his meal ticket,
[00:10:53] Speaker C: so he's
[00:10:55] Speaker A: might as well.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: We're actually dating, so.
[00:10:57] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I'm. Yeah.
[00:10:59] Speaker C: So there's a lot of fun, there's a lot of good vibes, a lot of brilliant things when you play a gig and thank you for your music. Yeah, yeah.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Thank you for having us.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: Can, what can we expect from Lionel
[00:11:09] Speaker A: in the future, I wouldn't expect much because that makes it easier for me to outperform. You know, that would give my preference set the bar very low. That way I. That way I pass it.
I mean, we just had it. We just had a new album come out. Valley Death 2. I'm running out of titles for albums, so I'm doing all the sequels, you know. So I guess you could probably expect a Valley of death 3 at some point because at least I get another year without having to come up with a new title. But we just had that come out. It was awesome.
Neil from a data member produced it and helped write some stuff on it. He's just the coolest dude on the planet. The nicest guy, most thoughtful guy. Was just an awesome, awesome, awesome experience that we were not deserving of. But it was. I feel very grateful that we had it. And so I'm. I'm super stoked on that. We're going to keep touring on that.
This is our first festival run in a couple years. We weren't here last summer, so this has been nice. We're going to probably do a headliner at some point next year, maybe the end of the year.
So, yeah, there's. There's more to come for sure. And I. Beautiful things, beautiful things to come.
[00:12:13] Speaker C: Happiness.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: Yes. Thank you very much.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:12:15] Speaker C: Thank you for everything. Yes, sir.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I appreciate you guys. Thank you so much.
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