How are we all feeling, 3 weeks removed from Bonnaroo's 2025 cancellation? This episode might just improve your mood a little. With the new survey out, it offers a rare insight into the festival organizers' thoughts about the future of Bonnaroo. We all feel pretty sure it should stay in June on The Farm, however.
We also introduce you to one of our favorite new discoveries from the festival: emo/folk duo hey, nothing. Bryan and Barry sit down with Tyler and Harlow for a conversation about their journey from high school musicians to Bonnaroo performers, the creative power of Maine, and their stacked summer tour that includes stops at Lollapalooza, Shaky Knees, and more.
Got something to say about Bonnaroo? Call our voicemail line at (423) 667-7877 and tell us what Bonnaroo means to you-we just might feature your message on a future episode!
Listen to this episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!
Topics: Bonnaroo, hey, nothing
00:00 | Intro |
01:16 | StoneOnAir Podcast's Bonnaroo Coverage |
02:30 | Comments on social media |
06:08 | Phone line is open |
07:14 | I Am Bonnaroo photos |
08:38 | Our thoughts, 3 weeks later |
10:17 | The Bonnaroo survey |
27:59 | Setting up this week's interview |
29:47 | Interview with Hey, Nothing |
46:51 | Upcoming episodes |
49:59 | Outro |
Guys, we don't know anything.
You don't know anything.
I don't know anything.
I have a very strong feeling we're back in 2026.
I think it's got to be in June.
It's got to be on the farm or it's not a bonnaroo.
This is a summer festival to me.
And I think for 20 years, we have solid solid data that this
timeframe June.
Well, they have cornered the market on June.
Welcome back to the what podcast I'm Barry.
That's Brian.
That's Russ.
How you guys doing this morning?
Doing well, as good as we can.
Yeah, doing really well.
Yeah.
Are we feeling better with three weeks removed from the not
so great best week of our lives bonnaroo 2025.
I'm feeling better.
I'm gonna go ahead and just say it.
I'm feeling better because there's a version of this.
That's maybe I'm forcing it but the not so great but you know,
I don't know.
Maybe it was pretty good but not you know, I don't know.
I'm it's an inner inner word struggle here.
But yeah, I'm definitely feeling better.
I'll go ahead and give Brian a plug Brian your stone on air
show.
You talk about Bonnaroo quite a bit and I'm going to reference
we can send people over there.
I'm not going to we're not going to relive it all but I thought
you grabbed it.
You captured it.
We had a great Thursday and Friday.
I mean, I this was one of the best Bonnaroo's ever in a lot
of ways, but also one of the worst.
So well, thanks.
Thank you.
I do an annual here in Chattanooga just kind of a local
deer diary.
Just it's just it's just a hobby and but I do the annual
recap just from my perspective only and a lot of people around
here like that and I yeah, I appreciate it.
First of all.
Yeah, I there was a lot of things about Bonnaroo this year
that after I was able to sit down and think about it.
Like this is still and the obvious stuff that you guys know
about that we enjoyed but it was more than that.
It was a little more than that.
So thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
Yeah, no, it was go look up the stone on air podcast if you
want to hear it.
Yeah, I commend everybody go listen to it.
It's really good and it it nails and that's the reason I
bring it up and Russ you tend to look at the socials a little
bit more than we do Brian and I though Brian looks at it more
than he wants to admit.
That's not true.
Okay.
Anyway, sorry.
Yes, I do look at it just not as much as everybody else but
go ahead very and so but that I think that's where I am.
So we're three weeks removed.
I feel better about it because and I'll be honest.
I reached out to our friend Brad Parker, the director of
Bonnaroo and just kind of like I didn't ask him any questions
just basically.
Hey, how are you?
And he said one thing I've learned people are very
passionate about this festival and we knew that going in we
had it 1000% confirmed while we were there and we'll talk
about that in weeks to come.
But I think that's my message or that's my takeaway from
the last three weeks.
Obviously some people had their hearts ripped out Brian.
You summed it up soul-crushing heartbreaking.
I mean pick any word you kind of joked and what was it you
told your brother?
You said before we got on on the air today.
Yeah, I said we were talking about a variety of different
things and he doesn't get the spirit.
He doesn't get the essence of all of it and that's fine.
But he's a big sports guy and I was like, you know, this this
isn't just like the ball game got canceled like they have
been so much here in the South recently and we'll have a
doubleheader tomorrow.
Right.
Yeah, there's a ball game every week.
It's not the same kind of thing because I think a lot of
outsiders would be like, well, you know, hey, you still got
to go.
You had a little bit of fun and you know stuff happens.
Well stuff like this doesn't happen even though it's now
happened twice.
Yeah, it's difficult to explain sometimes but everybody in
this ethos that that listens to our show and the people that
we interact with mostly get it.
But but we also know, you know your question Barry who you
know, who's tired of or who's had been told we're tired of
hearing about Bonnaroo in your regular life and that's
everybody there.
Well, yeah, you mentioned comments and all that YouTube.
We now have a community section on our channel and some people
have already started posting there if you want guys want to
go look at that.
We got one from John Cena's cousins.
They posted some pictures of their camp and some of the muddy
aftermath and then Travis Beckett posted saying it was
great seeing us Thursday on the live podcast and had some
nice things to say and then another guy posted what looks
like a van stuck in the mud trying to leave.
I guess Friday.
Yeah, keep that kind of stuff coming.
And when I when I talk about the I stay out of the comment
section, I do look at our our show comments.
It's it's the reddit Bonnaroo weeds.
Those those threads get so stay out of reddit.
Yeah, so long and like anything on Facebook and some of these
other socials.
I just can't stand it.
But I I do look at our show, especially through YouTube and
talk of the YouTube channel just looks better and better.
And so thank you guys for coming.
So I don't want to I don't want to deter people from from
participating.
Yeah, and we'd like to see more.
I mean if you come on the YouTube channel on the community
section posts or whatever you can make a post you can put
some pictures up comments, whatever.
We'd love to see it.
Maybe put some on the show.
Can we set up a phone a phone line that we have used for
contests in the past and gotten great response.
So if you'd like to share basically what Bonnaroo means
to you, we'll just keep it real simple.
You can say anything you want to basically, but what does
Bonnaroo mean to you?
Why is it important to you and that number 423 667 7877 call?
I'll be honest.
We're doing this because we want to hear from you, but it
also maybe provides a little show content going forward.
Yeah, we could play it on the show and do remember it is
voicemail.
So you can't call and talk for 30 minutes.
I thank you.
Thank you.
Taco is about the limit.
Thank you brevity is the king of this kind of thing.
And I'm the worst.
I'm the worst.
I'm the guy who like keep it at a minute or get out of here.
Yeah, he's got a he's got a he's Brian's gonna spend five
minutes telling you why you should keep it to 30 seconds.
423 667 7877.
I'm glad you mentioned pictures because another thing that I
have really enjoyed the last couple of weeks is our friend
David Bruce has started posting the photos that he took in
the short days that he was there.
I am Bonnaroo.
He was in our camp came back home with me and spent Saturday
night here at the house.
His work is amazing.
It's a it's one of the things.
He captures the spirit.
You mentioned the spirit of it Brian.
I think I think David he he loves this as much as anybody
and he captures it in every single photo.
Well, that's the uniqueness of what he does.
He does he goes for the the everyday man and woman the
every the every moment the every other hour type rather than
the concert footage photographer.
They both have their own place and he does that you know
different and I got to know David for the first time this
year and I mean I've been around him two or three years
in a row.
But I mean as you guys know I get a little aloof and I kind
of like oh hey nice to meet everybody see ya and so this
was the first year so that's even another part of what made
this year great another relationship that right that he
went out of his way to to be even you know more engaging in
a in a way that was palatable to me.
So I appreciated that from David.
Absolutely which sort of helps encapsulate why I'm feeling
better about it back to the Brad Parker comment about people
are passionate about this thing.
Guys, we don't know anything.
You don't know anything.
I don't know anything.
I have a very strong feeling.
We're back in 2026.
I know the survey came out.
We're going to talk about that.
I think the survey was done because they needed to do something.
Here's the reality and I think Brian you brought this up last
week.
People keep pointing out that of the last six years three have
not happened.
Well two are complete outliers or this year's the outlier
whichever way you want to look at it.
Yeah, and I brought that up a lot on the my regular show too.
Yeah, go ahead.
Yeah, you can't predict COVID and you can't predict a hurricane
in September.
This year was we had a hundred year rain in the Tennessee
area.
That's not going to happen every year.
The survey, you know, do do do we want it to go every other
year?
Do we want it to go in the fall and if we do what we'll get
in the way?
I think you got to ask those questions.
It has to happen in June.
It has to happen in Manchester.
It has to happen just like it always does and let's go.
The questions they've asked before and they've always said
this doesn't mean that we're going to do it.
We're just kind of curious what people think.
Yeah, don't take it as gospel.
But yeah, I agree.
I think it's got to be in June.
It's got to be on the farm or it's not a bonnaroo.
That's right.
And we'll be back next year in June.
Do we want to get into this survey for a minute now or
sure?
Yeah, go ahead because I didn't take it initially.
I was going to and it dropped between our last show and
we actually talked about things that were very relevant
to that survey.
We just got lucky that that's what we talked about.
But to speak to it, we are professionals Brian.
You can go ahead and we know what we're doing.
We're the best podcast in the streets.
Certainly the oldest.
Anyway, and so I shout out thanks to Mary on our discord
because she grabbed those screenshots because like you
said it closed before we really got a chance to look at it.
Right here.
Thanks.
Thank you.
So I went to go take it and then it had already closed.
So it's a very short window on that.
I have a big problem.
This is just me in regular all-day life.
I just junk data polling just weren't analysis data gathering
distribution kind of crazy society in America.
We just we psychoanalyze everything and I'm not going to
call it a slanted pole because it's not but it yes.
Yes.
No is almost never a good way to ask a question get an answer.
Do you like Bonnaroo?
Yes or no?
Yes or no, I don't.
It's pretty good.
I like it a lot.
It's actually I thought it was more open-ended.
It was more like, you know, I don't remember the one but I've
got him right here.
So yeah, would you want would you want to see it move?
It's kind of like yeah, but I want to I want where's my
comment what they asked though.
We're at comment.
It is nasty.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like I want to comment.
You attend.
Yeah, but even that like would you attend?
Well, I mean, I don't know like I don't know what I would
attend.
I would definitely attend.
Do I want it to be in October?
No, right, right, right exactly.
It's not a full real.
I don't think it's asking the right question.
Yeah, there was a and but there was where was the but yeah,
where do I type my comment exactly?
Here's another thing.
It's the most measly thing ever.
It's five questions.
So we'll just run through real quick.
Would you attend Bonnaroo who have happened in 26?
I mean, yeah, I mean, I think I don't know maybe my mom or
maybe maybe I would say no.
Yeah, or maybe my best friends getting married in June and
I don't know about it yet.
Yeah, would you likely attend if it happened every other
year?
I think that's a fair enough question to gather what people
think but it's still yes or no.
Well, I mean, yes.
No, I just just not a clarifying I am looking into this too
much.
I get it.
But would you attend if Bonnaroo who is a few weeks later in
the summer?
Yes.
No.
Yeah.
Okay.
And then a good one that I circled fair question still don't
believe it falls into a yes.
No, would you attend Bonnaroo?
If it was late September early October, I thought that was
at least a good gathering question.
You guys don't understand if you think that it's late September
and early October.
I mean, maybe I'm wrong and you disagree with me here, but
I don't think you understand what you're getting yourself
into in October.
I mean, you know, cold cold nights warm potential days.
Yeah, hot hot hot or cold cold cold.
You and I you and I went to exit 111 in October at the farm.
It was off.
It was there.
It was cold.
Yeah, I was there.
It was very cold.
You were there too.
And yeah, you yeah, you went it was a nice warm day and I'm
going to the farm like I'm used to and I don't pack for it
right and I live here and I should know better and I was
freezing.
It was good weather.
Like it was a seasonable regular weather day nice and warm
during the day very very very chilly at night.
And so I you know, does that some people who love fall are
going to be like, yeah, you're speaking my language man.
Right.
Yeah.
See like I can't be around anyways.
I'm prepared.
I bring Mr.
Heater.
I know what I'm getting into not everyone that goes to this
thing is going to have is going to have that level of preparedness.
They're not going to have enough supply.
This is a summer festival to me.
And I think for for 20 years we have speaking of data.
We have solid solid data that you can that that is not open
to do interpretation that this time frame one week later one
week earlier, what June well you they have cornered the market
on June you want to start moving into other areas and you're
infringing on other established events national regional
whatever it might be.
I think the home run is sitting right there.
I think the question is I agree.
Do you live nation see three do you want to have a camping
festival in rural Tennessee?
That's the question and it's either yes or no for you guys.
That's the that's the real question right?
Yeah.
And June is still the most predictable stable month for
weather.
Yeah.
This hot and dry.
This was the outlier not the other two.
That's that I think that's right.
And the other thing that I found fascinating is four weeks
ago.
Everything was rainbows and unicorns.
This was a great lineup.
One of the best lineups ever that Friday lineup was killer.
We couldn't wait and and in the two and a half weeks since
and again, I shouldn't do it but I do some of the some of
the comments.
I mean people are nitpicking.
I mean we're pulling things apart and blaming live nation
and here's the other point I want to make for all you guys
and Brian.
I know you're not a fan.
Live Nation is Brad and Cory and tuba and Ken Weinstein and
all the people that run this festival.
These are the people that run this so that throwing live
nation under the bus while I get it and certainly there
were mistakes and we can talk about the exit strategies and
what could have been done differently and we will get into
that eventually as we get more actual details.
But a lot of it is anecdotal if you're the car that got
stuck in the mud.
It was a shit show and I get it now and you should be angry
and there's nothing anybody can say I get it.
But you know at some point we got to figure out.
I'm glad you mentioned that because you know live nation is
almost like the boogeyman that you know everybody is quick
to say oh live nation screwed up live nation should have done
that but like you said live nation is it's the same guys
that we talked about for 51 weeks about how awesome knowing
her be I've got a one ever sorry, but when things when
things go right no one's ever like oh live nation did such
a great job.
Exactly, you know it it doesn't go both ways but it should
because it's the same people without without live.
Yeah without live nation a lot of things right.
We have no Bonnaroo.
Yeah, they don't survive covid and they don't survive a
hurricane without live nation.
So if you're going to blame them, let's give them the give
them some credit.
Yeah, I got I like to share this real quick.
It's it's just a long message from a local person who's
been going to Bonnaroo for years that I don't know well,
but I do know as oh hey, maybe we'll see each other this
year that kind of same kind of thing.
We're talking about the other week.
Sure like somebody I would never know if it wasn't if it
wasn't for this and she said I want to listen to the show
before I comment and it said okay there.
I listen I agree with you guys on almost everything.
I unlike you talking to me can't stop reading the reddit
threads and people are mad and anytime someone tries to
toss in it's still Bonnaroo and will always go quote unquote.
They get called a live nation plant or a bootlicker.
It's wild goes on to talk about the trying to get out on
Friday and into and into Saturday and so there's a lot
of stuff and when this is the things we might go into more
down the road that I I don't know really what was going on
out there and I do believe it was probably pretty bad, but
I don't I think there was no way around that right.
We also live in an in a in a society of America these days
where anecdotes equal proof right like everything in
everybody's life.
Well, my dad had trouble getting a kidney transplant.
Therefore health and care in America is horrible.
Don't sorry about your dad, but it's not really doesn't
really matter and like so we use this anecdote but here let
me tell you my story right and therefore here's why everything
is horrible right and that's we're getting a lot of that
a couple things though.
One thing that I mentioned on the my local show that I don't
know if we talked about here that a lot of people were saying
that there was no help people disappeared as far as staff.
Well, a lot of the staff is volunteers, especially down on
the ground not certainly not all but a lot are and the only
compensation the volunteers get basically they might get
a few meals and this is not new live nation did not ruin
this.
This is how this has been from the jump.
I've known volunteers for 20 years.
You guys have to yeah, my daughter ran the program for
three years.
Exactly.
The main compensation is a is an admission to the festival
and when there's you know a panic borderline panic situation
and the only compensation was the festival you just canceled.
Well kind of on your own on that one and so that's not the
volunteers being bad people are not falling through on their
on their end of the deal.
They got to get out of there too.
But one comment here that was in reference to that point the
volunteers from her her again also anecdotes here.
I get it.
So this is just somebody else the volunteers were a lot more
hostile this year in the few interactions that I had with
them from from the past.
And then the last one that I think that Bonnaroo lacked what
the where they lacked was emergency risk management.
Obviously everyone was going to party like crazy on Friday
night and all of that partying was more spread out because
center who was closed basically meaning just that's going
to create a lot more confusion and that's your own damn
fault, but it's also understandable but her comment was
there's having more medic fleets and 24-hour response,
you know, just one one person's opinion and then also the
self-service thing.
I didn't realize this but we should have known when everybody
is camped out sitting around all day on their phone.
Of course none of the phones work right a regular port time
every only I'm making stuff up a half the people are going to
be on their phone or a third well for a day and a half every
single person there was on their phone.
So therefore no phones work isn't I agree.
Isn't this a good argument though to bring back radio
Bonnaroo if they had you know, I'm going to say hell yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I figured what you would agree.
But yeah, I mean they that could be turned into a you know,
24 7 communication thing and you know, it's impervious to
cell phones because it's just radio the the infrastructure
sitting right there 45 minutes up north in Nashville lightning
100 many of people we've known over the year good friends of
ours.
They'd be happy to do it.
Think about it.
Bonnaroo think about it.
Bring it back.
Yeah, you know, it's interesting.
I remember sitting there Friday and we talked about this
before talking about what was going on in the room the
discussion.
Oh, yeah, the fly on the fly on the wall.
I'm the wall.
Yeah.
Do you how do you how do when do you announce that it's
canceled and what's the exit plan?
You know in theory you say, okay plazas or pods as I like
to call them 10 and 11 you're out first.
That's never going to work.
That was this.
That's the silliest idea going to comply and I mean I just
can't imagine and what happened is exactly what happened even
even on a good year.
Everybody leaving on Monday morning or Sunday night.
It's a traffic.
It's a lot.
It's everybody wants to leave at the same time at their
own convenience.
Now you throw in mud and water.
So yeah, and I'd like to know to everyone says, oh live
nation screwed this up.
Okay, give an example of a festival where everything went
a hundred percent.
Right.
Give me an example of a canceled festival and everyone
got out exactly according to plan.
Yeah, you know, it's going to be it doesn't matter who it
is.
It's going to be a shit show either way.
It's funny you say it that way too, because there was just
a little weather concern on a thread somewhere.
I think it was reddit and I was like the weather pattern.
This is before it's almost like.
I'm looking back like, whoa, I was maybe onto something.
I didn't realize it, but I was like the weather before what
we've had here.
If this continues, this will be a problem.
It will be fine, but it will be a problem.
And somebody was like, well, will it be fine or will it
be a problem?
Are you entering this thinking that there will be no problems?
Because if you are you're already out to lunch on this
one.
Oh, I think I said you guys are in our super group text on
Tuesday.
Maybe I said this could be a problem.
This mud is going to be an issue.
And I think it was after you sent a note, Ross, that you
and David had helped somebody get out get unstuck, right?
Yeah, that was that was Tuesday Tuesday and you were alone
Wednesday because you were alone in a field.
It was Wednesday because yeah, Joe and Tara had shown up.
Joe used his truck.
I had the chains MacGyver.
You had to go pull out a truck from the mud.
And yeah, you're right.
This was Wednesday.
This is before the thing even opened.
So yeah, that probably should have been a clue that and I
think I sent a text and said I got a bad feeling and you
guys were like, what are you talking about?
What do you know?
And I'm just saying I wasn't ready to believe those things.
But that's the fact that they you know, they delayed opening
center or not center at Arou on Tuesday by a couple hours
specifically to try to let the ground dry.
Yeah, I mean I was going to do nothing.
No, there's no Ryan.
Brian you and I have seen it when they put the sawdust down
and the plywood down and we've seen those threads where people
said why didn't they bring in plywood and I mean like how
much I mean you have to buy out the world.
Somebody's right under you can't get that much on such a
short notice.
You'd have to order that months in advance somebody somewhere
was like electric forest has like fresh dirt that they found
and you're like what are you going to do with fresh dirt in
the middle of Tennessee when it's raining torrentially for
two days?
You're going to have much like, you know, I get it.
People are so passionate and I love that about this.
It's just sometimes it does go totally sideways and there is
a level of you know, the Rick Rubin comments or his kind of
philosophy the you know, the renowned producer Kanye sure
Beastie Boys right against machine all those he that was
running in the last year so that it was kind of like the
audience doesn't matter kind of thing.
It was it's the idea that you should just create and not
worry about what the audience thinks I subscribe to this
theory in this is more of a customer base.
It's a little different than the audience, but there is a
little bit of a level of guys going back to live Nation.
I know very you said, you know, I'm not a complete fan.
Well, I'm not a big fan of huge conglomerates and then on
any level for sure, but but but live Nation, you know,
you got the data already you understand what this is you
figure this out.
Don't worry about what reddit thinks we really kind of
comment mentioned this last year or last week and so that's
why I'm like, you know, put out this five question survey.
If you want it's going to keep a little bit of a news cycle
and some buzz going and that's that's fine.
Do that NFL is cornered this market use the same model,
you know, just regularly having things out there for people
to digest but don't worry about it that much.
Don't worry about these answers, you know, you're the pros.
You got this.
Do you want to do it or do you not and back to what I put
Brad Parker's point.
We love this festival will be back.
We're coming and there's a but there's a plenty of us.
There's there are people who had a bad time and will never
come back and I'm sorry.
I hate that and I can't blame you.
I mean my god the stories that you know people who traveled
across country and got there and it's stuck in that and I get
it.
Yeah, I get it.
I get it.
I get it.
If you saved up your vacation and your money all year to come
do this one thing and it ended up like this.
I mean, yeah, of course I get it.
I get it.
I want to risk it again.
I'm glad you brought that up taco.
It made me it just sparked a memory here and I wish I'd wrote
it down.
I'm sorry I didn't but the two or three or four however many
it was festivals on the East Coast that offered free admission
for Bono wristbands any of the southeastern places of business
of bars of small events that offer discounts to people with
wristbands.
That's a huge thing and you guys deserve huge credit for that
because a lot of people places around where we live didn't do
that kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
So thanks to everybody who did that because it's it's such a
nice sentiment.
Most people aren't going to take you up on that and so thank
you for doing it.
Yeah, just good business.
Yeah, it's pretty simple stuff.
Like I don't know anything and I know that but anyway what we
got today.
We're going to wrap things up with Barry.
All right.
I'm so excited.
This was one of the one of the things that we love the three
of us love about Bonnaroo or the band interviews that we get
to do.
We love to work.
We love especially on Thursday and Friday.
We love to set up these interviews with bands.
We honestly don't care whether they're well known to us or
brand spanking new.
We just love to talk.
But I almost like them.
Bakes basically equal ports of the man.
Hey nothing.
I'll take either one of you.
Me too.
Me too.
And we especially because we've done it for so many years.
We love like following and we landed on.
Hey nothing and Tyler Tyler and Harlow and I didn't know a
lot about them.
I knew a little bit going in but man they were so cool.
And now I now I'm a huge fan.
They were fun and their buzz was already picking up a little
bit.
They have a you'll fight you'll hear it in here.
They have a huge summer schedule that is that is just
in the end.
Yes of any band up and coming.
So I think they're playing.
They're playing Shaking Ease in September and I can't wait.
That's one of my most anticipated acts now.
Thanks to this interview and just getting exposed to them
through Bonnaroo and they couldn't have been happier to
be involved in that is a joy for people like us who are all
well for me anyway, who's always terrified that I'm going
to get somebody who doesn't have any interest in talking
and they yeah, right.
They were fun and they were and so good stuff really happy
to have them 20 years old and they're far more mature beyond
those years.
And when I was 20 if you talk to me with a microphone get
out of here.
That's a good point.
Now they were terrific.
They walked right up sat down and we just had a conversation
and that's what I love and I cannot wait to see what happens
with these guys.
I'm Barry.
That's Brian with us is Hey Nothing with Harlow and Tyler.
Yes, are you guys?
We're so good.
How are you?
Yeah, you just got on campus as you called it.
We did tell us about the excitement level.
Oh my gosh, you start this feels like a dream come true.
Yeah, really?
Yeah, our first Bonnaroo we went with Harlow's dad in I think
2022 and we just remembered watching every set and kind of
hoping that one day we would get to do that.
Yeah, but I mean like yeah, it's insane.
It really is really good here.
Yeah, and you're actually doing the thing.
I'm going to say the dream can't be that long.
Y'all are quite young and you've made a splash very very very
very fast.
Absolutely.
How's that been?
I mean you start playing some music next to you know, you're
a Bonnaroo.
I mean, it's not normally on the trajectory.
No, it's not normal at all.
I don't know.
We had a lot of we dream really hard.
You know what I mean?
And I think we're very surprised by the success we had but we're
so grateful and just so we're just taking it as it comes and
we're really excited and happy about it.
It's our dream.
We're living our dreams.
It's just our dreams.
Let's go back to you standing in the field with your grandfather.
Did you at that point crystallize a dream?
I'd like to do that.
I mean when that was that even in your universe or yeah, I
think it's always been our dream since we were little.
I think like a lot of kids can attest to like growing up
wanting to be a rock star but all of us.
Yeah, just about every single one of us.
Exactly.
So you never really think like that's going to be me like,
of course I'm going to make it.
So it's been like no way to know.
Yeah, it's just been wild to like actually make our dreams
happen.
Yeah, well on that point.
Sorry very real quick because I wrote this down just a minute
ago.
How many people told you that this is a silly ass idea?
Let me piggyback because that's yeah, being here with your
grandfather.
Obviously he was supportive, right?
I mean, he's cool enough to have brought you to come with
you to Bonnaroo.
So yeah, like double up with that question getting into
playing music.
You're very young youthful and that's great.
But how many people told you that's a fun little dream you
got there?
I think we had like equal amounts of people be like this
is kind of crazy and all but we also had like a lot of like
my dad and like, yeah, my mom be.
Yeah, those kind of just being like, yeah, do it.
Yeah, and I don't think we ever saw it as people being like
you guys are crazy.
I think they're just being realistic.
Yeah, and we were honest about that way.
Absolutely.
Family is going to be supportive, but you know, yeah, that's
just a it's a wild.
It's a wild dream.
Yeah, absolutely wild wild dreams are worth pursuing.
Yeah, my mom definitely did not want me to not go to college.
That was a thing.
For sure.
That's a good moment.
And I was like, well, we'll just see.
And now we're here.
Did you do did she set like the whole time limit?
Give it a year.
Give it to then you got to go back to school or was it I'm
sure that that conversation was had.
I kind of remember that a little bit.
Yeah being like, all right, but if it doesn't work, I don't
really like the give it a year necessarily, but I think it
was more like a kind of a nudge of like just know if this
doesn't work out.
You can always go back college.
When did you know it would work out?
When did it become still don't?
You got, you know, today's a pretty good that you can maybe
do this.
So I think there's always going to be anxiety or just like
not even anxiety just the idea that tomorrow we could wake
up and we could live normal lives again.
And I think we're both pretty comfortable with that.
We're just happy.
Yeah, we're just like happy that we get to do it.
Yeah, we really take it as it goes because one it really
was like one day we were in high school and like playing
the cajon in the backyard and then now it feels like we
blinked and now we're here.
Exactly.
It's really crazy.
Yeah.
Well, I mean on your on your schedule so far this year.
Tell me if I'm getting this wrong.
You got summer fast.
Milwaukee.
Yeah, still never been to summer fast either.
Lollapalooza.
Yeah, Hinterland, which we just had a long conversation
with the promoter and head Booker of that festival in
Iowa.
Yes, shaking knees in Atlanta.
Yep.
Yeah, I mean stop me when you're when you're impressed.
Yeah, so like I mean that's a that's a really strong summer.
Yeah, it's the strongest summer ever.
Yeah.
Like yeah, do you worry that like there's those guys that
come out of college and their quarterbacks and they play
in a Super Bowl.
Yeah, and I think it's going to be like this.
Oh, yeah.
We'll play summer fast.
Bonerul, Lollapalooza.
Every year.
Every single year.
But it's a hell of a start.
When did you guys start playing together?
Well, we met when we were 11.
The first time we were 20.
We're both 20.
Yeah, we met when we were 11.
I think the first time we hung out outside of school.
We were playing music together.
Yeah, and we were really bad at it at the time.
Of course you were.
Yeah, bad.
But I look back in five years from now and think you were
bad now.
Oh, yeah.
Two days ago and I'm like, yeah, I think that's a good cycle
have to be constantly like critiquing your younger soul,
critical in a healthy way of kind of what you're doing and
just making sure that you stay dialed in what you're doing
and you know what you want.
And I think you could have but how close were you to knowing
at 11 what you wanted to be doing at 20?
I knew.
Yeah, you were better about it.
Music wise.
I was very, yeah.
Wow.
I had the idea in my mind from a very young age.
I don't know why or how it just kind of made sense.
I think it was more just music made sense.
It didn't necessarily mean like and it'd be in a rock band
and play music festivals and go on tour, but it definitely
wanted I wanted life to be centered around music and I
remember hearing Harlow sing for the first time and being
like, you got to do this with me.
No.
Yeah, and I feel like like since we met it the whole time.
It was just like you being like, I'm I'm going to do this
thing and I want you to like, yeah, I remember being like
I'm doing this and I really want you to do it.
I love it.
I love it.
And I and I and I got a I got to do it too.
I have to do it too.
Let's explore that a little bit because you said at 11.
So you're about to go through some of the most traumatic
years.
What about human beings?
Yeah, the last thing you typically want at that age is
for anybody to be looking at you much less know what's
going on inside and potentially be critical or analytical
at all.
Yeah, that could be so how tough was that?
I mean, that's always helpful that it might have been
helpful to have somebody who you know, I think it's helpful
to have each other to kind of be able to share those things.
I'm not really sure we weren't super or at least personally
I wasn't super like scared to be myself to that capacity
like I think we both were comfortable being ourselves
with each other.
Yeah, and we got through it with that.
Yeah, it's like if we didn't have each other, it probably
would have been terrifying and impossible.
But the fact that we did have each other made it work.
Yeah, no one no one loves being perceived, you know, but
we I feel like sometimes most of the time like we are
each other's like safety blanket and in the sense of like
like you can always just like cast your anxiety on the
other person like it's all good and they'll take it.
I'm not a songwriter, but that's a good line.
No one likes being perceived.
We should write that.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
So what do you like better Indie folk or emo folk?
If someone's saying that that's just two things I saw quickly
with some good.
That's a good question.
That's hard.
I know folk duo or Indie folk.
I prefer a mo folk.
Yeah, I think.
Yeah, I think you know, but the email alive.
I think yeah, keep it alive somehow.
I think you know folk is a bit more specific and has a
bit more of like a an intentional meaning to it.
Yeah, and I think that's a nice.
That's a nice label.
Yeah, well, I've been sampling some of your music the last
couple days and I've been I've been enjoying it and so
you're from Atlanta and then your EP released last year
is called Maine with the it has a the title track is a
song main.
How do you find yourself somewhere in the middle of Maine?
What just a clever name you were in the state.
Yes, writing music in Maine.
How does that happen from a couple of Southern folk, you
know, ATL ATL?
Yeah.
So my mom is from Maine.
So I grew up going to Maine every summer and it's like my
favorite place in the whole entire world.
Okay, so there was a lot.
Yeah, a lot inside your head and your emotions in your life
that lead to Maine.
Yeah, for sure.
And then it like all came together when I took Tyler for
the first time I had always wanted to and we'd been talking
about it for forever.
Yeah, and it's a beautiful place.
Yeah, it's a really beautiful place.
Never been would love to.
Yeah, you really should go.
It is the best place and we were also when we wrote that
AP there are some pretty traumatic things kind of going
on back at home and in our lives that we didn't really
know how to deal with or cope with it all.
So to be in the most beautiful place in America or possibly
even in the world.
It really brought out a lot of really brought out a lot of
creativity and a lot of thing gave us just some some clarity
and some insight and writing those songs helped us kind of
get some things off our chest for sure.
Yeah.
Well, I apologize for going too much into a bio to find
questions, but I got to run through a bunch of stuff quickly.
It says amongst the describing of your music coping with
dealing with however, was worded growing up too early too
fast.
Yeah, I don't know if y'all wrote that or your PR wrote it.
I could have what does that mean?
What does that mean to you guys as far as like what that's
easy to say?
What does that mean?
I think because I think it's a I think it's something a lot
of people deal with.
Yeah, absolutely all ages, but maybe even more so now.
Yeah.
I think we were both.
Fortunate and a little bit misfortunate.
Having to had go having to go through.
Some really hard things when we were younger and in high
school that I feel like a majority of high schoolers don't
really go through.
And I'm not going to get into specifics, but sure.
I don't know.
We went we went through it.
We had some issues that we had to kind of get through and
I think we both because of those things felt a little bit
outcasted having to be in like in the community of people
that are dealing with everyday struggles and I don't think
any struggle is like has more value than any other struggle
that a high schooler is going through.
But they were different for sure.
Yeah.
You had a you said you had a in your head at 11 kind of what
you you're now 20 we talked about you kind of half jokingly
but very should be very seriously.
This is a great summer.
Yeah, you're having a really good summer.
What's what's the goal?
What are you guys hoping looking forward?
Are you planners?
Are you goal-oriented type list maker types for so long?
Our goal was this and like that's what I mean.
We're having to reevaluate.
Yeah, I feel like this summer is like a big like some milestone.
Holy shit.
Holy shit.
Yeah, we just named them all off.
I mean, that's that's that's so incredibly impressive to be
able to throw a whole lot on your on your on your docket
for the year tours coming up after all this possibly.
Yeah.
We love being on the road our main.
I feel like our main passion and what drives us is like playing
live.
It's about the only way you got to make sure you turn you
making a bucket this at the point that you're not going to
sell any records not enough to make a living.
Yeah, exactly.
So it's yeah, we've we've we were there.
Yeah more tour more tour more like how much do you credit a
lot of this success and trajectory to social media and
it's primarily Instagram and maybe tick tock first a lot of
this.
Yeah, a lot of it honestly.
Yeah, we're very very grateful for social media.
Yeah, it's the timing is really interesting because that group
of people that you just saw walking by or Belmont students
really that were just having that exact conversation.
Yeah, people who book this and run this we're giving them
advice.
They were actually talking about how those social media numbers
don't mean what you think they do, but they also can write
that can mean they can mean something.
Yeah, I was listening because I knew we were getting ready to
talk to you guys and the question was how does a bad band
get on their radar and get booked?
Yeah, it was a whole lot of do this don't do that.
You know, be good.
Yeah, that's the first start.
We've never really set any rules for ourselves other than
just to be as authentic as we can and I think and try to
display that offense authenticity online.
Yeah, you know, I know you say a lot that people can tell
when you're bullshitting your experiences and yeah, and when
you're trying to be something you're not.
Yeah, like we're not the type to like and this is not a dig
in like anybody who's doing this but like we're not going
to like dance.
We're not going to like like not going to do like a trend
or like trend.
It's it's like ironic making fun of that itself.
We just want to be like, you know ourselves and then like
if people like that great great and join us.
Yeah, do you do all your social media or do you have a team
that helps with that now?
We do have a team that helps.
I know you eventually you have to because it's that it's
every creative outlet now.
It's like oh you used to do this.
Well, now you're a video producer on social media.
Yeah, everybody usually is God damn it.
I know how to do this really well.
Yeah, I don't know how to necessarily do this.
Have you so you guys have done well with that would it appear?
Yeah, I think we didn't have a social team really until recently.
We had people that were like pushing us to post and kind
of like directing it a little bit.
But now we definitely have more people that are like we have
some people posting for us like just clips.
I feel like as we grow the workload does increase.
Yeah.
Oh, it's a never-ending grind.
Exactly.
Just the social media alone.
If you got the openings, I can help with my social media.
Give me a call.
I mean, it's exhausting.
Yeah, it is so necessary.
Yeah, and we were lucky enough to have like a team really
super creative people.
That's true.
And they all like get us and like get our humor and get what
we're going for.
Yeah, so it all does like when it ends up on social media.
It's us, you know, like it feels like us.
It's our team.
It's yeah, you're you're playing tonight should have asked
you this at the jump any family going to be out there.
Yeah, family here.
Yes.
Awesome.
My dad that took us the first time we ever came my mom's
here.
My brother's here.
My aunt is here.
So yeah, a lot of that's so cool.
And my sister my brother are both here as well.
What have you on an AMA or something somewhere called you
a refer to yourself as a handsome boy band.
Yeah, I like that.
Yeah, that's us.
That's what we'll go with.
Yeah, we'll drop the indie full chemo.
But yeah, that's a boy.
That's just handsome boy band is good for us.
All right, guys.
I can't thank you enough.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
This is awesome.
I'm I'm really excited for you.
Thank you.
You can feel it.
I love it.
Just a little bit of housekeeping, I guess along those
lines.
We did that interview.
And again, all of this happened before the cancellation.
So this is our normal work.
You know, mo so we talked to them.
Russ did a couple of interviews with the Common John folks
on what Monday night was it or that was Monday and Tuesday
Monday into Tuesday morning.
Yeah.
And so we'll we'll probably run that in.
I don't know if we're going to take we may take next week
off since it's 4th of July and we basically had planned to
take this whole month off to kind of rejuvenate but obviously
news is happening.
So sorry.
I do want to throw this out.
We were talking about Cory and Brad.
I spoke to Cory a little bit last week.
Nothing to share because he didn't you know, it wasn't it
was his personal but he is as bummed as we are that this
thing didn't work out.
I guarantee you he is he's feeling it just like we are.
He reads the comments just like we do and we probably
shouldn't if you get a chance go see a boot scooting
boogie nights concert.
They're playing July 5th in Chattanooga.
They're playing July 25th in Knoxville.
So if you're close to either one of those, please go see
a show.
It's a lot of fun.
And I just yeah that night has been yeah that 90s country
thing.
Yeah, and I didn't realize it was coming up in days here
in Chattanooga.
So Cory I'll see you Saturday.
Yeah, unless it rains like hell.
I meant to open the show with it guys.
I went to our minor league baseball game last night.
What it was special event free food.
Come on down walked in took a right under the concourse.
Ladies and gentlemen tonight's game has been canceled.
Here we go.
I was so it's you.
You're the dark cloud.
Yeah, it rain and rain and rain on the lake.
Just you know, it happens.
Yeah, it does.
Well and at the risk of sounding like a homer that was the
point of my what I said earlier.
We want to think of live nation is some, you know, corporate
concrete.
It's it's Brad.
It's Cory.
It's tuba.
These guys all started at festivals if not Bonnaroo
specifically as fans and now they are in charge.
So yeah, if you don't think they're soul-crushed you're
wrong.
Yeah, so good point.
I'm glad you brought that up.
Yeah, didn't mean to derail but that I just want to mention
that you did.
I'm glad you did too.
So what was I saying?
We may take next week off don't know if news happens.
We'll be back.
Obviously we're on top of this as much as everybody else.
We want to know what's going on.
But if nothing if there's no new news, then we may not have
a show next week.
We'll see how it goes.
We're gonna we're kind of week by week on everything right
now, just like Bonnaroo live nation.
You guys, you know when I joke of a sports talk radio guy
like down here is anytime somebody says, you know, a
sports guy is their day to day.
He's like, well, aren't we all?
Yeah, no kidding.
Give us a call on the voicemail line.
423-667-7877.
Post on our new community tab on YouTube.
Yeah, I'll check that out.
I'd love to hear that.
Yeah, post on discord, you know that will even if we take
a week or so off the conversation continues there.
I've even gone to discord a couple times the last week
or two.
So there you go.
Look at me.
It's the end times.
It's the end times go check out I am Bonnaroo and his
photographs.
If you're looking for something else to keep you hype, go
check that out.
So, all right.
Thanks guys for listening and we will either be back next
week or we won't.
Get the latest episodes of The What Podcast delivered straight to your favorite app. Subscribe now!