Alright. Alright, welcome, everybody. Welcome to the Creators Table Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Watson. We're recording here at Owl Radio, and I'm joined here with the band Intention.
Tyler:Give a round of applause, guys. Got a little delayed. We do this every time. We got so we got, we got Zach, and we got Anthony. Wait, Tristan.
Tyler:No. We got I love you forgot the names right off the bat.
Tristan:No. It's okay. It's
Zach:all good. Zach, yours is I'm really Sam.
Tyler:You're Sam.
Zach:Yeah. No, that's not
Tyler:true. That's not true. I like, I know that's not true. I had that locked in because Sam is your brother and he's not here and he lives in Monroe with you.
Zach:Yes.
Tyler:Hey Sam, if you're listening. Hey, Sam. I wish it was you and not Zach. No, I'm kidding. And we have Tristan on bass.
Tyler:Yep. Okay. But first, we're like, to get right into it. Why don't you guys tell us about Intention? You kinda you guys how it started as a band.
Tyler:You started this with your brother. Mhmm. You and your brother are in the same band. So tell us how you guys' paths crossed and how it really began.
Zach:So so basically, back in high school, me and my older brother, we would do music a lot, and his name's Chris. We would do music a lot. You know, he inspired me to play the guitar, taught me a lot about blues, believe it or not. He was a big blues player. And through Summit Academy, which Tristan used to go there.
Zach:Did you graduate there?
Tristan:No, I didn't, but I did go there for a couple of years in high school.
Zach:Yeah, so, went there a lot. It was like this co op group because we were all homeschooled.
Tyler:I was homeschooled. No, really? I went to a co op. What was yours? Is awesome.
Zach:Was yours co op? My
Tyler:co op was Timothy Ministry. It was a Christian one, and it was in First Baptist Woodstock, which is this massive church where I live.
Zach:Dang. Yeah. Ours was Summit Academy.
Tyler:Summit Academy.
Zach:Yeah. It was kind of like Was it religious? Yes, it was very, very. It was also at a church.
Tristan:I don't remember the name of the church, though.
Tyler:And you both went?
Zach:Yeah, y'all were
Tyler:awesome, dude. This is awesome.
Zach:That's where we met. We weren't really friends. We were new of each other. Because you knew Chris.
Tristan:I was friends with Chris.
Tyler:Yeah. Okay.
Zach:So anyways, a little sidetracking there. So we go to Summit Academy and met some good friends, that's where I met Anthony from, and my older brother went there as well. And then we met a friend named Nick, who I don't know what Nick is doing now, but I wish him the best with what he's doing, but he played the drums. And so we kinda like got together. It was me on guitar and vocals, my older brother on guitar, Anthony on bass, and my friend Nick on drums.
Zach:We'd get together, jam, kinda started off as like a tool cover band a little bit, and that's where we got the name from, Intention, because it's a song off of ten thousand Days. And then from there, we kinda just started writing a little bit of original work and then got together a set list with multiple covers, like Smashing Pumpkins, that was kinda like my choice, Some Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, was like Anthony and Chris's influence. And then a little bit of Foo Fighters in there and a Tool And then kinda did that for a little bit, and then band kinda went it separate ways for a little bit there. This was probably around close to my senior year in high school.
Tyler:Which would be what, I'm gonna guess 2021, 2022?
Zach:2020, 2021. Oh, wow. I graduated in '21, and this probably happened around 2020, somewhere around And then me and Anthony continued to do music together. My older brother, he still played music all the time, but he kind of found his job that he was doing. And then me and Anthony started recording what wasn't called this at the time, but started recording Why From Here On Strawberry Wind, and Life in Reverse and Ray of Love was not made yet, but for Crossing the Field Where the Memory Bleeds, which is our EP that we first released back in 2022, I think is when it was.
Zach:Yeah, August.
Tristan:'23, right?
Tyler:I think it was '23.
Zach:It was '23, that's why it did.
Tyler:At least that's It what
Zach:was '23. Then, so we started recording that, and then we got a little decent kind of movement on it, and then my older brother, Chris, unfortunately passed away, so then that's when we kinda just came back together really strong and was like, okay, well now we need to get this EP done, because he played a lot on the songs and had a lot of influence writing them. And so we got the tracks done, we released it in his honor, and then met Brad, who was the bassist before Tristan, gigged once or twice, and then Brad left the band, and then here comes Tristan.
Tyler:Here comes Tristan.
Zach:Yep. And it's been the perfect puzzle piece since. It's been so cool having him on the and just rekindle after not knowing each other for so long, you know? Yeah. It was really cool.
Tyler:Oh, that feels like first off, just the fact that you guys met in an environment such as a co op, like, I'm sure the environment of your co op was very similar to my co op. Like, it's not one of those things where you have a lot of opportunities to do a lot of stuff like that. It's like that's something you do after you get home, and like, you're like homeschooled doing all your homework and stuff like that. Like, that's what you're doing. I mean, so that's really crazy to have that connection there because there's probably not a lot of people at your school as well.
Tyler:I mean, this is somebody you grew up with as well.
Zach:Yeah, I think, I think my graduating group in '21 was like 10 people, I think is how many people it was. But I forgot to mention, during the riding of crossing the field, Sam started learning how to play the drums. So that's where Sam came into the effect and started to, you know, because he wanted to also be part of the band to carry on my brother's legacy. So he started getting back in the drums, and then he came along and then started drumming for the band.
Tyler:Yeah. And I wanna get more into you guys about your music later on, because I want to save that maybe towards the end, because I think that's a really special part about you guys. But let's go kind of more into your identity, right? You already identified that name Intention came from a Tool song. Like, does Intention kind of, like, mean to you guys now?
Zach:So it's actually funny you say that because with us being a cover like a Tool cover man, know, was like a tool.
Tyler:So, like, at first, that's what the intent was.
Zach:That was the intention. And I literally always tell people, I literally always tell people that our name, man, is literally just, oh, we're called Intention, and because we have the intent to do something great with music.
Tyler:That's what I
Zach:did get it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler:Yeah. That's literally it.
Zach:It, you know, it was just a tool song, and then we had to turn it into somewhat of our own thing because we didn't want to change the name.
Tyler:You know, I kept throwing around the name in my head, and I was like, Intention, that sounds like a word. And I don't know why it took me so long to realize like, that's what it, like the word intent intention. I don't know. I just didn't put it together. It just sounds original.
Zach:Oh, thank you. Did you not think like, So you didn't know that it was a word before?
Tyler:Well, before the recording, yes. I didn't just learn that on the spot, but I didn't really put it together until I really thought about it while I was researching you guys. Was like, Oh,
Tristan:why? The S really threw you off.
Zach:Yeah, I
Tyler:don't know. Feel like you could spell it. Have you ever thought about spelling it weird or anything like that?
Zach:No, because the way Toole spelled it was with an S, so we just kind of went for it like that. So, dude, I'm sorry, bro.
Tyler:I I was, like, completely, like, this is a new word. You know? I feel really dumb doing it, but I was like, you know what? It sounds That's really funny. Half the time, it's, like, half the time, it's, like, crazy stuff that I've never heard of, and then it's like, oh, this is actually just a word in the English language.
Zach:No shit. That's a word.
Tyler:No way. No way. But you guys also kind of alternative rock, I would say that's kind of, like, your genre. Would you guys agree to that?
Zach:We we yeah. We we definitely say so. It's it's kinda like make a lot of genres of music, but alternative rock is the easiest thing to
Tyler:put you class on started as bunch things. Covers. That's kind of where you mainly get your start. Maybe that's where you kind of just started with the group. What point did you guys start to merge into doing your own stuff and really kind of creating your identity around the music you're playing and around what inspired you guys as musicians for the band?
Tyler:So, know me and Anthony started writing original music when we were about 15 or 16,
Zach:just trying to figure out our sound, and that's where From Here On and Why was written. And then we kind of just got older, started listening to a bunch of new music, and then just started kinda combining different things. That was probably about two years ago. We've always been continuously writing. But our sound really came together as a whole when Tristan was in the band, and I'll let him take over here as kinda like, you know, the influence that you gave and everything.
Tristan:Yeah. Well, I mean, I came from a cover band too, actually, before I joined them. I was in a band called M twenty one, and so we did a lot of, like, early two thousands, more like hard rock kind of covers. So, like, know, Bullet For My Valentine, Lincoln Park
Tyler:Right.
Tristan:Right. Stuff like that. So, you know, I always grew up listening to hard rock and heavy metal and stuff like that. It's just, you know, what I enjoy. And I like a lot of the southern rock influences of, like, Creed and Alterbridge and things like that.
Tristan:So I definitely you know, I whenever I listened to the music that they had already written, it kinda was in the same vein as stuff that I had already listened to. So, you know, after joining the band, I definitely I don't wanna say, like, I I pushed it, but I definitely wanted to, like, play heavier kind of music, you know, just because
Tyler:Right.
Tristan:It's like that energy and everything on stage. I definitely feel like especially if you listen to our, most recent record, can definitely hear some of the heavier influences and stuff.
Tyler:Yes. Absolutely.
Tristan:Like, crossing the field and then self titled is totally different sound.
Tyler:Well, when I was telling I'll name drop. Was what I was telling Sally, who's a big fan of you guys, is when I was listening to it because I spent, like, basically, kinda, like, hour and a half just, like, listening to it. I got here super early, and I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna, like, listen to, like, every song that they've put out. And the one thing I really noticed is I was like, you know, when you're kind of getting, like, sometimes music when it's like, it can be too heavy when you're listening to it, at least in my opinion, through, like, headphones or something like that, like on Spotify, it's not as easy to digest, right?
Tyler:Whereas with you guys, I felt such a different vibe. I could see where seeing it live would just be so much more intense and kind of grabbing, I guess. Whereas then you could also still just listen to it online, and it just sounded great. It just sounded like you still jammed to it.
Zach:Oh,
Tyler:wow. You know? And I really loved it. I was like, Okay, this is actually fantastic. And I say that about a lot of I have to say that about every band, like, Oh, I love your music.
Tyler:And no hate to anybody who's been on the podcast, I did love your music. But I did really, really like this. I really, really did.
Tristan:Appreciate that.
Tyler:And I definitely see the undertones, you guys were kind of saying. Like, there's definitely Foo Fighters, there's definitely Smashing Pumpkins. And I guess where I'm going with that is where do you guys like the trajectory that you guys are going? Are you guys thinking of experimenting and going into different of realms, I guess, of music, different ideas, incorporating different instruments and stuff like Most
Zach:definitely. For me, I don't really classify songwriting or being in a band as like, Oh, you know you're stuck in that genre. I create for myself. I create because I wanna hear what what I'm creating, like I'm doing it for myself. And definitely going forward, I listen to so much music, and so does Tristan, so there's gonna be days where I'm on like a massive Foo Fighter kick or Smashing Pumpkins, like, Oh, I wanna write that style.
Zach:Next day, I'm listening to Sabrina Carpenter in Chaperone, and I'm like, I would love to make a song like that. There's no telling what the future could hold. I know our newer stuff that we have that we're working on is definitely diving deeper into a shoegaze y kind of vibe. It's a
Tristan:little experimental. Exactly.
Zach:Yeah, we just kind of create what we're listening to at that time and then just kind of take it from there and see what happens.
Tyler:It doesn't sound all over the place, right? It still sounds like you guys. I don't know if it's just your voice is very distinct, so I think you could change the background a lot, and you'd still identify it as like, this is still Intention, right? This isn't like, Oh, I'm just going off of the deep end, right? Now, one thing I want talk about you personally.
Tyler:So, you and guitar, so you're, you do guitar, and I don't know if you guys are the lead guitarist, or are you more rhythm on the back, or do you guys switch in and out?
Zach:We switch in and out, you know, like I said, we take turns writing songs. Like, Anthony will write a song, bring it to a table, you know, that's probably something he's written, and I'll write a song and bring it to the table and sing with everybody else. But when the guitars come into play, we kind of write a song, both bring it to the table, we shop work it together. Anthony is a way better guitarist than I am in a million. That dude can shred holy smokes.
Zach:But we definitely just get up there and just share the roles together for sure. Like there's moments where I have some lead, you know, especially in some of the newer stuff, and there's moments where Anthony's have lead, and same with the vocals as well, just swapping off. We both are lead vocals and lead guitar.
Tyler:So I like to ask this question. I don't ask it a lot, but I like to answer because I resonate I grew up playing guitar a bit, so I like to get into a lot of guitarists and stuff like that. So, like, for each of you guys, who's kinda like that musician you guys kind of look to for inspiration and stuff like that for your respective instrument, I guess? Like, what would you say?
Tristan:Start this one, brother. I was asked this question at a at a show the other day, and it's kinda bad because, like, I don't really take inspiration from any bass players. No. I am a guitarist at heart. You know, I've been playing guitar for Yeah.
Tristan:Many years. I only been playing bass for, like, two years. So I just kinda tried to take my guitar skills and try to move it over to bass, so to speak. But my guitar influences is Mark Tremone, Alterbridge, and Creed, and then Zach Wylde, Black so People Society, Ozzy Osbourne. That's probably like my two biggest influences.
Tyler:Yeah. What about you, Zach? What about you?
Zach:So for me, my inspirations mainly come from, like, Adam Jones from Toole, Dave Navarro from Jane's Addiction, Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins, Josh O'Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, big, big influence to me, and even some of Jimmy Page's work too, like the way he can work around the neck and just his whole creativeness as a whole. I pull a lot of inspiration from that.
Tyler:Yeah, absolutely. There's some guitarists, I think, that just kind of have the ability to create their own sound, like they're playing their own instrument. Not to say, like, you know, but I feel like, you know, sometimes you, guitar is, something that you can experiment with, but we're kind of at that point where a lot of people have done there's a lot of songs with guitar. And I mean, like, come on. So always finding, like, a new way to, like, make it sound unique and different.
Tyler:Like, there's some guitarists where you're like, that's who that is. I think that's fascinating to identify just from an instrument like that that can be replicated. It's crazy that you can kind of identify
Zach:that, for any musician. Yeah, it's crazy to just be able to watch somebody. It's the same thing as listening to someone sing. You can listen to a singer and then you have those amazing guitarists like Dave Navarro, Jerry Cantrell for example, you you can just listen to them and just be like, Oh, I know exactly who that is. Straight from the rip when they play the first note.
Zach:That's always such a unique thing. Like, We're born with a certain voice, right? And you can train it to sing how it is, but everyone has their own unique voice. When it comes down to guitar playing, in order to take it and just make it your own and original, it's an incredible hard thing to do, and it's really so amazing to see people taking that instrument and craft so serious and be able to turn it into something that is basically their voice is so important. I've pulled a lot of inspiration from that because never been good with my words, so I always, you know, before I was singing, I would only play guitar or piano, and I would always try to just sit down with my guitar and let it speak for me.
Zach:So I would write like this instrumental, and instead of reading something that made me feel better, I'd be able to listen to that and be like, Oh, how I felt. Those were the words I wish I could have said, but it's just in music form. And it's really cool thing to be able to I don't know, when you're not speaking good with your words, to be able to put it out in music.
Tyler:Right. Maybe go off the notes that you're thinking, maybe establishing lyrics that second. Right?
Zach:Right.
Tyler:Now, let's talk about your album that you recently released. You it's called Intention, the name of the album. You guys released this October 3, I believe, right? So, tell us about it. Tell us about what you guys did differently.
Tyler:I like the album cover, I mean, I really like that. Tell us about your inspiration for all of it.
Zach:Yeah, so the album cover, shout out to AOS Graphics, she does a lot of stuff for a lot of Atlanta people, as far as graphic designs. I think she's based out of Michigan, which is crazy. Oh. To be involved in a completely different scene is really cool.
Tyler:Yeah. What?
Zach:Okay. So the album, I don't know. It just kinda we wanted to do something that we haven't done before, which is, of course, an album because it's our debut album. So we wanted it to be strong enough but also very easily digestible at the same time.
Tyler:Which it 100% was.
Zach:Thank you. I appreciate that. And we just kind of just wanted it to be a really good base for what you're going to be listening to in the future. It's by no means an end. It's something that's gonna only continue to grow from there.
Zach:So we record everything independently by ourselves, so we record it in my basement, and that was a really fun learning curve. Anthony mixes, masters, and produces it all. And we would just get together, record it in my basement. It was really cool to be able to work with Tristan. The stuff on the album was the first stuff that he was able to be a part of and record with us, and and it was what what did you think of that experience?
Tristan:Oh, man. It was it was a blast. Mean, that was my first time really, like, sitting down and, like, recording something, like, at that level, you know? Because I I would work my brother-in-law does music as well, and so he and I would, like, you know, record covers and stuff together sometimes. But just to be able to, you know, sit down and just create a full length album front to back and be able to listen to it and be like, wow.
Tristan:You know, I played on all of that. It was it was it was pretty special. I do wanna touch on, you know, like, just the album a little bit too because, like, thematically, it's a lot different than crossing the field because I feel like crossing the field is more like, you know, grief
Zach:Mhmm.
Tristan:And how, you know, you deal with those emotions and stuff. And I feel like thematically for the self titled album, it's more about, you know, healing
Zach:and
Tristan:learning how to deal with those emotions and then put yourself back together and and move on, you know, and I feel like if you kind of, you know, listen to the words of the songs as you're going through the tracks, you can really hear that.
Tyler:Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, really listening to through it all. I mean, I like albums you're gonna listen to, and you feel like you're just listening not necessarily like you're listening to the same song, but that it just it just flows. Right?
Tyler:Not that you kind of feel like you're kind of jumping around and stuff like that, it is very seamless, you know? It feels like a however long it is, thirty minutes, probably longer than that song. That just feels like one massively long song that is kind of just traveling up and down.
Tristan:That's how an album should be. That's how it
Zach:should be.
Tristan:It be like a book. You're reading it cover to cover.
Tyler:Right. And I don't do enough album listening, to be frank. I don't do that enough, and it's inspired me be like, I should just turn on an album and not just click, You need
Tristan:to That's my favorite way to
Zach:listen to To me, I truly feel like that's the only way to listen to it. It's a little different nowadays because there's a lot of people who will do music, they'll release some singles, and it's kind of like a jumble of a bunch of music. Other than some of the local bands around here are people that are also doing the same genre of music. I haven't really seen an album that has that album flow, that you need to start at track one and you need to finish it here. It seems like it's a bunch of just songs they wrote smashed together.
Tyler:Like a mix tape almost,
Zach:Yeah, exactly. I don't know, I just think that listening to an album from start to finish is how it's intended, especially from all the music I listen to, especially being a big Tool fan, Williams fan, those albums are start to finish. I usually listen to it about two or three times start to finish, and then I'll pick out the songs that I really, really like.
Tyler:Well, think you learn to like a song more when you hear it next to maybe the ones that are more like the hits in said album, right? It's like, I learned that as well. Heard this one song from this one artist and never listened to the album. Unless the album would be like, know, alone, I don't necessarily love these songs as much, but when I listen to it together, like, seamlessly, it's like, okay, I actually like these songs a lot more now because I like it in the flow of the album. Right?
Tristan:Right.
Tyler:Now, want to touch into another topic. A little bit off the trail a little bit. Now, we first talked about having you guys on, and I was kind of looking over your guys' accounts, stuff like that. You guys had maybe, like, 2,000, maybe a thousand followers, something like that, and then, like, I came back to revisit it because I'm obviously, like, guys are scheduled, going to review your account, and you guys have, like, 12,000 followers. I was like, woah, something crazy happened.
Tyler:And then I started looking through, and you guys have a ton, a ton of short form content.
Zach:Mhmm.
Tyler:And even there's one where I believe you're eating insulation. So, off, I want to ask you about how that was, because that sounds incredibly painful.
Zach:It actually wasn't that bad.
Tyler:Really? Okay, so first, tell me about the idea for that and doing other content like that and other crazy things you've done.
Zach:So, idea for the fiberglass one, we our stupid six, seven video blow up, right? Yeah. Yeah. Which we got together and just did that for fun. That's the one that started it.
Zach:And that started that snowball effect of other content, and then we were like, we need to dive hard into this. Yeah. But a lot of the content stuff, it really comes from Anthony. You know, me and him will brainstorm together and Tristan, and we'll all get together and try and like just have content days. And one day I was in the basement and of course there was no roof on it.
Zach:Well, was a roof, but like no ceiling.
Tyler:There was no, yeah, so it just bare roof. Exactly.
Zach:And let's get this real quick. And so we I was just like, dude, I need to figure out a way how to like eat this insulation because so many people were commenting on it. They were like, you know, breathing this shit in is worse than smoking three packs of Marlboro today. You're gonna die. You're gonna die of cancer, son.
Zach:And I'm like, I'm like, okay. Well, sweet. I'm like, oh, that's that rage bait. That's I can get into that. I can tap into that.
Tyler:You test me.
Zach:Yeah. So, I mean, every video we post, it'd be installation, installation, installation. I was in Publix and I saw pink cotton candy and I was like, oh, that can work. That can work. So I had Anthony get up on a stool, and then I just acted like I was eating the insulation, but it was pink cotton candy.
Tyler:Oh, that pisses me off, dude. I'm sorry. Because I I I really bought into it. Like, I really was not locked in.
Zach:Dude, I would probably not be sitting here if that was real fiber
Tyler:if I was gonna real fiberglass. Because at first, I thought you were saying, oh, yeah.
Zach:I just I just straight up
Tyler:ate fiberglass. And I was like, there's no way. There's no way. I mean, like, I've that makes so much more sense now. I think it was like, I think I saw that video and I, this is before, like, we had officially planned you guys and I'd saw the video online at maybe like 2AM.
Tyler:And I was like, Oh my God, this dude just ate insulin. Woah, why would he do that? Like, that's gotta be painful. Now you guys have done a bunch of other crazy stuff. What other crazy stuff have you guys done?
Tyler:So Wasn't there a bathtub video? Hold on.
Zach:That's what
Tyler:I was gonna bring up.
Zach:Go for this. It's your favorite one, bro. Oh, man.
Tristan:Yeah. So, yeah, we filmed a video with, Zach in the bathtub, and we Oh. Played one of our songs in the bathroom while he was taking a bath. And it, unfortunately, it flopped.
Tyler:It didn't very I
Tristan:did see it. Thought it was hilarious. Yeah, we were dying while we
Zach:were filming.
Tyler:There's a lot of uncomfortable I love that type of content where it's kind of a little bit uncomfortable, little bit ugh.
Zach:Yeah. Why are you yelling that? Yeah. It's always fun. I've kind of viewed content as, like, if you're not okay with embarrassing yourself, don't post a video.
Zach:No,
Tyler:dude. Exactly.
Zach:There's so much content out there, and you have to be able to stick out in some kind of way. So doing those very bold videos that are like, but at the same time it's like, Like the other kind of, the opposite,
Tyler:To me, there's two ways of doing it. You can go online, you can post only professional esque content like corporate, right? It's gonna be very professional, it's gonna get to the point, but people aren't necessarily gonna discover you, because it's not gonna stick out like you're saying. But then there's the complete other side of that, and you're only doing rage bait. You're only doing kind of stupid stuff, where people aren't really even discovering anything about you, they're just seeing something stupid you did online, and then that's it.
Tyler:Now there's the perfect in between where it's it's making who you guys are as people, and your comedic self, your personality, stuff like that, marketable, so people can discover that, and then use that to find out about your music.
Zach:Mhmm.
Tyler:And that's, that's what you guys are doing. Mhmm. And that's why, I'm big on, I'm big on social media stuff, but that's like, you always are doing it right. It's like, because you guys are you guys are putting you guys yourselves out there. You're being a little weird.
Tyler:Man, I wish you had eaten the fiberglass. I really wish you had because I wanted to know how that ended up.
Zach:It would have been bad. I I will say, though, I think a little bit of it got on the cotton candy for sure.
Tyler:Yeah. Oh, so there was a little burn.
Zach:I think there was a little bit of burn, a little bit of burn, but not much.
Tyler:So, man.
Zach:I really appreciate you saying that. That's very nice. I've never had anyone, you know, people are always like, you know, the content's great. It's really, really good. But, like, you dove into an aspect, which is, like, very nice.
Zach:I appreciate that compliment.
Tyler:Of course. There's there's there's social media is like I think it sucks because I feel like I always talk about this with artists because I feel like that's what inspired me to make this whole show, is it's like there's such a push nowadays to use social media, and you don't want that to undermine who you guys are and what you do. Like, don't want to just put yourself like a clown on the internet to just get views. Like that just feels so demoralizing. But I think there's a way to use it to where you can still maintain your artist integrity and not just be making like brain rot music.
Tristan:Yeah, and you don't want content to to be forced either, because if you're not enjoying it, then nobody else is gonna enjoy it. But I mean, we just sit down and brainstorm, and if we think it's funny, we post it. If other people think it's funny too, then great, and sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
Tyler:And yours are doing it's really funny. Like, lot of these are genuinely funny.
Zach:Thank you
Tyler:so much. But, going into more back to, like, kind of our serious topics, you know, a lot of your music is very personal to you guys. I mean, you guys talked about your brother, Chris, like, kind of writing your music and stuff like that. So tell us about the storytelling aspect of writing your songs, and maybe what songs you would highlight that have a little bit more of a deeper meaning for you guys.
Zach:Yeah. So when it comes to me writing lyrics, like I said before, I'm not very good with my words. So when I'm writing a song, I always try to write the song how I'm feeling for the song to speak with me, and when I have achieved that within the instrumental side of things, that's when it makes it so much easier for me to add lyrics on top of it. Because I can't just sit down and be like, Oh, blah, blah, blah, blah, write all these lyrics. I have to get that instrumental part done and have it match what I was feeling during that time, and then I'm able to put lyrics on top of it.
Zach:Usually, it really depends. There's times where I'm writing songs that are just about random things, but genuinely, all the songs that are on the record that I've done the lyrics to, it's kinda just like, I know this is cliche to say, but it's literally like an open diary. Because I can't write down my words. I have to have that music behind it in order to get it out. And songs like know, What's Your Age in Heaven, or Raya Love, or Life in Reverse, or Tilt, those are songs to me that are truly going to a very deep, deep, dark aspect within my brain that I do not know how to talk about, and I have to put it on that music.
Zach:So it's kind of pretty much
Tyler:that process. Tristan, do you get the opportunity to usually play a part in, do they let you play a part in maybe writing lyrics or anything like that?
Tristan:Yeah. Do. And I I haven't really written a whole lot of lyrics for, like, anything that we have out currently.
Zach:No. You helped do the chorus with face. Remember? You helped a lot with face.
Tristan:I did. Yeah. I did. Yeah. I I definitely have input certain things and stuff for sure.
Tristan:And I have some lyrics written for some unreleased stuff that comes out. But I mean, my approach to it is very similar to his. I don't sit down and write a poem before I put music over it. I always have the music first, and then I kind of figure out how it makes me feel, you know, and then I'll go back through and just write whatever whatever comes to my head. But I always try to most of the stuff that I write, I try to do it where, you know, maybe it starts from, like, a dark place that I was at at some point, and then I'll kind of talk about, you know, how that influenced, you know, decisions I made or things that it made me think.
Tristan:And then I'll try to kind of segue towards the end into, the light side and how to get out of it or something that helps me or something like that. I try not to just write shallow music. I want it to come from a deep place that might be able to help somebody else someday.
Tyler:So why don't we y'all tell me this is too personal, because I want to obviously get you guys too personal out there. But I think would you guys want to share where this song related to this bad part of my life, and this is how I told people about it through music. I mean, you guys wanna go into the deep inspirations of certain songs you guys have? Like, is there ones you guys highlight? Would you guys want to share?
Zach:Yeah. I'm completely fine with it. You know, I'm I'm very, you know, it's out there, so like I want people to hear the meaning. It might be a little hard for me to talk about, but as in crying, I would definitely be down to of course talk about it. So for me, most of my songwriting really came after my brother's death.
Zach:I would write a lot on my own before then, but, you know, really didn't come until after he died. It was really the only way that I was able to process it. And I've always kind of went off of what I was feeling during that time. So, the main feelings that I was dealing with is confusion, very big depression, you know, it was a very unexpected death, so there was really no answer as to why he had to go. And so a lot of those lyrics with What's Your Age in Heaven specifically, well, we'll start with Raya Love.
Zach:Raya Love was a song I wrote. I personally don't even remember writing it. I don't remember anything from that time. Was just something I wrote. It was a song that really talked about the confusion aspect, but then also the heaven and Christian aspect, because I'm a Christian, and it's really hard to be mad at a God you love so much, you know, and everything happens for a reason.
Zach:So Raya Love is kind of like going into those aspects of my anger and my confusion, but then at the end of the song it truly kind of opens up as in like, You know what? I'm happy you're home, you know?
Tyler:And
Zach:if that's where you needed to be then, that's where you needed to be. And then Life in Reverse is another deep one for me. That was a song I wrote because he passed away, I was about to be done with college and go and get my bachelor's degree, I was dating a girl at the time I really, really liked, and I was ready to start making money, live my life, and it got completely pulled away from me when he passed away, and then just felt like I got pulled backwards, and the song still stands to this day. That still means a lot to me. Yeah, absolutely.
Zach:Then What's Your Age in Heaven, other than an unreleased one, What's Your Age in Heaven was probably the most recent one that I wrote about Chris, and I wrote that on his birthday last year, and it's basically just was me trying to deal with the grief that I was experiencing for his birthday, because, you know, he died like a week after his birthday or two weeks after his birthday, and I wrote that song because I was officially older than him, you know, from what he was here And on Earth, you that kinda like clicked the question to me, like, do you age in heaven? Yeah. Are you like, does your hair turn gray? You know, do you celebrate a number that won't change? Because no one has an age in heaven.
Tyler:Is there a time? Mean, yeah, it's very And philosophical.
Zach:So it was just kind of one of those songs that I wrote about that and then the processes of it, you know, because unfortunately, when you lose someone, there's a lot of things that you don't really think about until they come, and one of those is like, I'm about to have to get married without my best friend there and have a kid and tell them that there's someone who's not there who's supposed to be there. There's just a lot of things that a lot of people don't talk about, and trying to put that into music to where people can relate to it the only way that I've been able to come to terms with it.
Tyler:Well, think, like, that's, to me, I always tell people, it's like, for myself, it's like, you know, obviously, I who the artist is, their name, stuff like that, it's important. To me, it's not important. To me, it's like, you relate to Hart not because this person has the same name to you, right? Like, an artist's name is Tyler, I'm not going to be like, Oh, I like the artist because his name is Tyler. I might like it because there are certain aspects of how they tell stories and emotions and feelings through their art, and I resonate with that.
Tyler:Right? And so I'm sure there's probably and I'm sure you maybe have had to have, I want to say uncomfortable experiences, but in a good way of having people who have been through similar situations like you have with your brother, and them resonating with that and really taking a really deep meaning to your music. And so if you go out there and you say, only going to write music that I feel comfortable about, right? This is just what makes me comfortable. This isn't what makes me feel sad.
Tyler:Just makes me feel mid. I just feel like I'm singing something that I like to sing, but it's not anything deep and personal, then nobody's gonna resonate with it. Because you're not really expressing yourself truly. But if you go out there and you're really putting yourself out there being vulnerable and really playing music as that's you want to be uncomfortable with in front of a ton of people, then that's like way more meaningful. Meaningful.
Zach:Exactly. You know, I music has been the only thing that has helped me through this, and of course, my relationship with God and my family. But music, you know, without it, I don't know where I'd be right now. And I'm creating, you know, of course for myself, but also I don't wanna just make another song. I wanna make a song for someone that they can listen to and pull that from it, that they're, you know, you're not alone.
Zach:Like, I wanna make that music that helped me get through what I needed to get through and other people get through. And on top of that, just carrying my brothers with him. With me, it's like I'm doing this music stuff. It's not only doing it for myself, but I'm doing it for two people. Know, like I bring his guitar on stage at certain shows, know, I play his guitars on stage, and there's just, When someone passes away, I know it can be hard, but you can truly still carry them with you on this earth while you're here, I don't want to be just sad all the time about it because we were young.
Zach:Was 20, he was 22. Instead of mourning and grieving all the time, which is something I do, I want to be able to carry that flame that he left, you know, and that's what CRC Fest is for. Those are his initials, that's you know, what it's for. You know, he always wanted to help people and that's why it's always a fundraiser kind of concert for when it happens. So definitely having that as whoops.
Tyler:That's an interesting thing to think about is like you say moving on, kind it's of like that doesn't mean you leave something behind. Exactly. You just bring something with you. That's a I really like the thought of that. That's a really good thought.
Tyler:Really. Now, now let's talk about CRC Fest because this was there was a lot with this. It seemed like this was a little bit in correlation with the debut of your album, if I'm correct. A lot of the artwork for the actual CRC Fest was around. This was something where it wasn't just obviously you guys, there was a ton of other bands that you guys have collabed with even on that album that came out to perform.
Tyler:So why don't you tell us about CRC Fest, how that went, what that meant to you guys, maybe also collaborating with the other bands, stuff like that.
Zach:Oh man, it was a lot of fun. We've only been involved in this Atlanta, Athens music scene for a year and a half to a little bit longer than that, don't you think?
Tristan:It's about two years now.
Zach:About two years now? And I just wanted to We had this idea for an album. We wanted to release an album, but then I was like, How can we take this album, do a big release show just benefiting and supporting everything about the scene and everything about just the goodness of what a community can do when you just come together and be able to create together, support each other together, and just come together. And that was the whole drive behind it, and I came up with the CRC Fest idea because I wanted it to be in my brother's name as another way to carry on that flame, you know? And it was magical.
Zach:Probably cried about like 20 times that day, and just seeing how everyone came together, and like Phantom Dan, you know, during his set, he was like, you know, Love you, Chris, and that was like, it meant a lot to me because, you know, I just was not expecting that. You know, like, you just don't expect that, you know? So shout out Phenom Dan, which is this one? Yeah. Shout out Phenom Dan.
Zach:Love you, bro. And he said that, and I was just like, just felt so warm. And then night went on, we were raising money for a local nonprofit that I work at called the Winter Walton Center for the Arts, and this year is gonna be for a different fundraiser. It's probably gonna go towards OCD research because my older brother struggled with OCD and he wanted to be able to make a
Tyler:Oh, so you guys are doing the Fest again?
Zach:Oh yeah. Oh, awesome. Yeah. That's great. Yeah,
Tristan:It's gonna be an annual thing.
Zach:Oh heck yeah. It's gonna be every single year, every single year is gonna benefit a different fundraiser, and would like to do a different band each time, but we'll see. But yeah, that festival, holy smokes, it meant so much to me in the way that the people came together to help and just collaborated on this amazing event was super big, and I really, really appreciate everyone who was involved in that and helped and played and just celebrated life, celebrated an album, supported a nonprofit, and supported each other. It's beautiful. Absolutely.
Tristan:Yeah. It was really cool. You know? It was one of those things where, like, kinda echoing what he said, but, like, going into it, it was it was very stressful because we'd never done anything like that before. And it was such a big undertaking trying to have 10 bands in one spot, figuring out all the logistics of everything.
Tyler:And then coordinating the schedules of 10 bands.
Tristan:Right, and then we're like, oh my goodness, that's so much music equipment. How are we gonna even Oh And then thinking about the sponsors and all that other stuff.
Tyler:The location, the venue.
Tristan:Right, and then on top of everything else, Atlanta Utility Works, that was their first live music event that they had ever had. And
Tyler:Wow. No. So no? No. No.
Tristan:Thought that's what the lady said.
Zach:No. Utility Works. They're they're a venue. That was, like, their I'm pretty sure that was, like, their first festival, like, day festival day time. Yeah.
Zach:They're biggest. Yeah. Like like 10 bands. You know, that was like the first time that I'm pretty sure that was like the first time that it happened there.
Tyler:Right. Right.
Tristan:But yeah. I would've just but yeah. Just to see, you know, all 10 bands come together and I mean, it it all flowed and the the turnout of people and just how excited everybody was to to be there and everything. I mean, even my wife, she was there. She had a booth set up.
Tristan:She was doing face paint and everything and our our families came out. Yeah. It was just was a really, really special time, you know, and I hope everybody was able to feel the love as as much as we were. Know? Was a lot of fun.
Tyler:I wish I was there. I feel I'm coming back
Tristan:next one. Come to the next one.
Zach:October 3. Yep.
Tyler:Wait. Wait. Wait. When was it last it was last it
Zach:was twenty twenty five October? Yes. We're '20 yeah.
Tyler:Was That was so long ago. God, why did I think it was, like, the other day?
Zach:Yeah. It was October 4, and then this year, it's gonna be October 3.
Tyler:I'm excited.
Zach:Yep. I'll be Exclusive drop on the podcast. We haven't told anybody about it yet. It's October 3. CRC Fest.
Tyler:I sure hope the podcast makes it to next October. I sure hope we make it. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Well, sidebar.
Tyler:We're kind of at that forty minute mark, I believe, right? What are we at? Oh, shoot. Awesome. We yap.
Tyler:I yap. Well, I actually thought we were under time, and I wanted to throw in, is there anything that we did not talk about that you would really like to talk about? Because I feel like we covered a lot of good stuff there. I'm shocked that we're overtime that much. We're actually over by six minutes, I guess, right?
Tristan:We're having so much
Zach:fun. Okay. Yeah.
Tyler:Okay. Well, thank you guys a lot for coming in. We really appreciate it. I think it was another great recording. Truly one of the more impactful conversations.
Tyler:I really think it is impactful. And I think a lot of people maybe resonate it. I hope that if there's a comment saying, This is a story I wanted to hear. Hope there is. Other than that, is there anything you guys would like to say to your fans?
Tyler:Any shout outs you'd like
Zach:to give? Can I look at that camera? Let me think real quick. Nah, go ahead. You got anything to say?
Zach:To the people of the world?
Tristan:Don't have to think about it. Don't know.
Zach:The thing is there's a lot to
Tyler:say. There's a lot of people.
Zach:I gotta like sum it up.
Tristan:Love you mom and dad.
Tyler:You want to shout out your guys' school? I
Zach:just want to say thank you so much to The Creators Table for having us. This is awesome. Such beautiful people, amazing place. What you guys are doing is awesome, supporting a scene that, you know, needs it, and you guys are doing it so much. Thanks.
Zach:Thank you to each and every single one of you guys for listening and streaming our music and checking it out. It means so much to us. And, yeah, we got new music on the way. Tons of shows planned. I don't know when this is coming out, but we got some cool stuff planned, so definitely stay tuned.
Zach:Yeah. Thank you for anything, Tristan? Anything?
Tristan:I'm good.
Tyler:I'm good. Alright. Well, thank you guys again so much for listening. If you guys are looking for other places to listen, there's Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon, YouTube, pretty much everywhere. If you're looking to find their music, same thing.
Tyler:Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, all this. If you're looking for any links, they're gonna be in description, in the wherever you're listening. Other than that, have a great day, guys, and, goodbye. See you guys.