CRAZY & THE BRAINS interview: TOURING w/GOGOL BORDELLO, PROCESSING GRIEF, IGGY POP, NEW LINEUP

CRAZY & THE BRAINS interview: TOURING w/GOGOL BORDELLO, PROCESSING GRIEF, IGGY POP, NEW LINEUP

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[Music] thanks so much for tuning in to watch this video if you haven't already don't forget to subscribe to my channel for new punk rock videos every week and tap the Bell to get notified when new videos Drop per my name is Erin Micklow and I'm here at the Belasco in Downtown LA with crazy & the brains introduce yourselves Ernest young I play guitar Rob Bellinger I play bass I play drums Ally presses I play keys my name is Kristoff Jesus I sing and write the music yay so everybody here is new except for you Ernest and obviously you Chris can we can we talk about this what happened uh yes everyone is new everyone is awesome uh we had a bunch of lineup changes um yeah we went on a six week tour and uh when we came back the crew that we were rolling with decided that uh they couldn't do it anymore so um you know we had to find new people and uh it's it's really been a blessing because uh meeting with Ali and Rob and Zach you've been with us for quite a bit already but uh has been great you know and this band has always been like an evolution from day one you know the band started with me on guitar alone I met up with my my homeboy at the time Jeff we started you know incorporating xylophone drums bass came over the years and then a sound just continued to evolve over time and we met Ali Ali's a phenomenal keyboard player and uh it really was just like Divine timing you know everything just kind of came together in this organic way um you know like this lifestyle is definitely a choice you know and it's and there's sacrifices to be made and it's not it's not always easy but I think when you when you retain that appreciation and that gratefulness for this lifestyle you know all the hardships are worth it and I know for all of us here that's definitely the case so I'm really happy beyond happy with with with how things evolved you know and uh yeah I love Ali Rob Zach I love you and you're all very handsome um [Applause] [Music] [Music] well so that seeks big tour that you left on your father actually passed away right before that tour yes yeah and you made the choice to go on the tour anyway can you talk about that choice for you yeah you know it's funny because Ernest was like the only one who I don't I don't want to say had faith in me but he was the only one who'd never questioned my commitment like yes my father passed away about a week or a few days before that tour was ready to take off and people you know people in our crew wasn't they weren't sure what was going to happen but he was telling them nah bro like prepare like we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna hit the road in a week like and um yeah you know was it hard yeah but like there was no question in my heart and my mind that that's where I belonged and I know like that's what my father would want me to do and um you know I I think I think this family that I have you know like to to that supported me during that time um to be honest it was there was nothing better for me in that moment than to be on the road performing music you know obviously I was in touch with my family every day and and they gave me their blessing to go on tour but um music is therapy for us you know it's as corny as that may sound like that that it truly is what it this music and this lifestyle is for all of us yeah well everybody Grieves in different ways too I mean you know there's people that will crumble and be sad about it and that's that's fine that's a valid way to process grief and then other people their way of processing grief is like needing to take action and do something so it feels like it means something to honor to honor that person because you were really close with your dad oh yeah he he was and and still is you know a a major supporter of this band and and and uh and I I I'm just so grateful every day that that I had that support in my life because I know a lot of people don't have that you know and I meet a lot of people on the road who who never had that you know like fans and and just people in the business who who just who never had a father at all or never had a support system so like music really is such a powerful um force in people's lives and and I'm so grateful to be here you know and I'm grateful to have had the support that I had to be able to have the strength to do this yeah [Music] well and then Ernest how how was that for you being on that tour I mean you know obviously the other members of the band that were on that tour are no longer here how was that for you do you feel like it brought you guys closer together because obviously you're still here yeah um we hung out a lot and like we spent a lot of time together and we you know I love Chris's dad he was an amazing person and so like we helped prod helped him process that a little bit um and those guys didn't they just weren't around they you know in hindsight they just weren't that interested in being out there and they made total sense that they left yeah and that's fine because the new players that we got are like rad awesome people and we're badasses on stage now um we've played probably like 60 shows with the new lineup now um so it's it's easy it's great life's awesome the band's in a great spot I like that too I mean you know back to that the everyone processes grief differently you know some people just don't know how to handle someone grieving so their way is to kind of you know disassociate and it's always sad when that happens because you know like you and I have talked about in private it's like well you know it kind of it moving forward it tells you who should be in your life who has a place in your life and who doesn't and that's fine everybody you know sometimes stuff's not meant to last forever oh yeah uh this band has always been about Evolution from day one yeah so like stylistically artistically like this makes perfect sense you know like there was a reason that certain people tagged out and knew people were tagged in you know and like as friends and as collaborators we all click so well and I think this was like the perfect timing for this you know and uh yeah like to your point you know everyone does process grief differently you know and that's why we have a lot of songs that touch on that you know and and um for me and I think for a lot of us music is that vessel like art is that vessel that's how we get those feelings out um that we that's the best way that we know how to do it yeah and so at the time that the two of you had done it was about six months ago the two of you had done um those acoustic sessions they're on YouTube um was that when you were still figuring out who's the rest of the band and it was just the two of you was it I think you guys I think Zach you were in the band definitely in the Bandit yeah okay yeah is that we were with Zach but I think we were still figuring things out you know yeah um or we just started we might have just started I think we just started jamming maybe and I think Rob and I both came in like the same audition yeah yeah like the same day yeah yeah and so can you tell the story of how you guys officially came into the band how you got the audition well I knew crazy in the brains from we played a gig together with my band um and you know and it's you know Jersey and New York it's close it's the scene is you know small um and so you reached out to me about playing keys and I was like yeah let's Jam I was already a fan of the music actually my cousin and I really liked uh the first two records a lot and so I just was like let's see how it goes let's feel it out and like I said that was Rob was there and it was just like oh this is easy this is fun you know and yeah it just felt it just felt really good and it's funny too because I don't think I I don't think Kristoff had like warned me that there was no xylophone player yeah so I like wrote All My Own Parts yeah and I just like came in oh I'm the xylophone player okay yeah all right and then I was like well I kind of like wrote These like you know Parts already and he was like let me just hear him and you know and then the rest is history yeah those are now the parts and so it's been really fun really cool good music you know well and so open eyes was the last song You released with xylophone right and so obviously that's a huge change in your sound now um but you know moving forward you guys were the punk band that had a [ __ ] xylophone player like when I first interviewed you guys it was like that was your thing but you know watching another video that you guys did reading mean comments it is you know it was a gimmick for a minute and I think that it is a good choice moving forward of like a change not that the xylophone was a bad thing it you know it was who you were in the beginning but you outgrow things you know you you suffered a major loss and it that like peels a layer of an onion off of who are you now exactly yeah um you know it's not something that we like planned um but it was something that felt right you know the music the music was evolving organically yeah and uh this is just where it took us you know and uh I'm so very happy with it yeah like the way the way music you sound like we're gonna play some new songs Tonight some songs that you never heard and I'm stoked to see what you think because it's like the same but also very very different and I think that's that's what I want from a band you know when I'm listening to bands like I love The evolutionary process I don't want to hear the Same album every time I think there's maybe one band that was good at that and that was the Ramones yeah rest in peace Joey Ramone yeah Ramones are Untouchable but it's hard to do you know and I think it's way more interesting and way more exciting when when bands keep pushing it you know and keep and keep trying and keep experimenting [Music] to myself well when you were also in that phase of you know searching for new members I'm sure it's a lot easier to find a keys player than another xylophone and you'd be surprised you'd be a surprise is that a New York thing because it's like you know what I the first time I interviewed you I had to Google what a xylophone was because I wasn't sure I'm like y'all just have a bunch of xylophones over there like [ __ ] yeah but you know what like we we auditioned a lot of keyboard players and no one fit like Ali yeah of course when we when we when we met Ali was like goodbye everyone else is done like she was so perfect and like no and you I've said this to you many times like nobody plays like you like it's like it's really yeah it's hard to find his iPhone player but it's all right go on it's hard to hard to find someone who really commits to playing the keys the way you do you know and uh I'm gonna say something of that you know I'm sorry to say it but women have to work twice as hard for half the [ __ ] credit oh you're just preaching to the choir right here you don't even know I mean like I'm from Florida you're we'll probably have like a lot of similar stories and um yeah and I like grew up in the punk and ska scene in Miami and that was rough that was a really rough time you know um so it you know it makes you stronger and stuff I will say that things are like kind of kind of changing and kind of pushing forward now and you know um I think that for a long time I got a lot of you know oh yeah you're pretty good or like oh you should listen to so and so you know after the gig or like you know what would be really great and everybody loves to hear those comments after a show let me just tell you like they love to hear that you know everyone um anyway so like my whole thing was like I have to be really really good at this instrument um so that no you're not just pretty you actually are a talented musician also exactly and I just that is always my that my Artistry and musicianship is like number one to me yeah yeah well you're seeing it more in you know mainstream music as well like Machine Gun Kelly just brought on a female guitar player and she's and she's hot she's like up there with [ __ ] pasties on but she shreds yeah it's badass you know and it's you're seeing the changes and it's like well is the music industry doing it for a gimmick if they're doing it for a gimmick whatever [ __ ] gets our foot in the door is women um to make to make the change it's time for the matriarchy you know you know even it out we'll see what happens you know yeah well so you guys are actually um you're on a 19-day tour right now direct supporting Gogol Bordello so can we talk about this tour and how it's been some of your worst moments your favorite moments challenges uh it's been absolutely amazing you know like I feel like obviously GoGo Bordeaux is a band that we all loved um and uh it's like a great fit I think we're being we're given the opportunity to play in front of the type of people that really resonate with our music you know and you know we played with we've toured with a lot of bands you know and and I think not to sound cocky but like I think we we kind of fit in everywhere but this is really like I don't know there's something really special about this tour where like it just seems like The Perfect Storm um and the band is just everyone in the band is just so cool and so welcoming and supportive and I think we've learned more in in these two weeks on the road and probably any of the previous stories we've done you know yeah there's some things you've learned uh being conservative with your energy Gil told us that day one Gil is a bass player okay Energy Management yesterday these guys would tell you I was asleep for 20 plus hours didn't move I was just in bed the whole day because I'm like going a thousand every night and uh you know that's not super smart to do I guess but you know these guys have been at it for for what like 20 20 plus years you know what I mean like they're they're veterans and they're they're gurus at this point you know so like learning from them has been great there's there really hasn't been any bad moments I don't know if you what you all think here's the thing like which I love about GoGo bordell which I know we all relate to is like we're so grateful to be a part of this you know and I think sometimes it's easy for people to lose that gratefulness and that's where you where you start losing people that's where people start dropping off or you know get upset or or bail out but like if you if you have a grateful gratefulness for this lifestyle and this culture like I think you're gonna you're gonna be all right you know and we all have that and they totally have that and that's part of what has made this tour so fulfilling yeah and so fun yeah your your Olive Garden trip the other night hey we gotta treat yourselves you know what I mean my sister gave me a 25 gift uh 250 000 gift card to Olive Garden and we and we blew that it's a lot of zeros in one night we blew down one night wow I did like the sign on your van that says no valuables it's a good way to not get your van broken into because you do hear that with with musicians touring it's like sometimes their Vans get broken into yeah and their [ __ ] gets stolen yeah yeah luckily we've been we've been uh pretty pretty safe thus far thank you [Music] um so let's talk about your song punk rocker you covered Iggy pops punk rocker and he actually talked about it on the radio and said he he first of all he acknowledged it he saw it he spoke on it he watched the music video for it and he said that he actually likes it better than his because it's more dropped in more real is what he said yeah that was an amazing moment uh we got an email while we were on that last tour remember it's a six-week tour with days and days I pulled up with my phone I'm like the [ __ ] is this got an email from Iggy pops manager and it was a personal personal uh letter from him and just the greatest email I've ever gotten in my life to I'm pretty sure most of the my emails are spam at this point anyway so like no I I I it was it was an amazing moment you know and uh I mean every time we do a cover Our intention is to add to the Legacy I never will do a cover just to cover it I always add My Own lyrics we put her on spin on it and my hope is to you know add to the legacy of the song and and hopefully you know like please the the artist or plea please the author and this was one of those times where where we actually got the validation and the verification from the man himself and again I just I all I can say is I'm just so grateful that that he approved and um do you know who passed it along to him like how did he find it I do somebody obviously showed it to him I can't tell you that don't I can't can I I don't know I guess I can it's actually a weird it's a weird funny story so I don't know if you know um you remember the TV show Pete and Pete yeah you remember that okay so Pete Pete I'm so Danny I hope I hope this is okay shout out to Danny tamborelli um if you're watching so Danny tamborelli is was a little Pete on Pete and Pete he was also in do you guys even know this but do you know this story or his father or whatever like Iggy was on the show okay backtrack I don't know the story Danny tamborelli he was on Pete and Pete he was also on all that he was on he was in Mighty Mighty Ducks right yeah he's a jersey boy so we know him there's a name like that of course he has to be yeah so so he we're boys with him I think we played a show or two I remembered that Iggy was on uh Pete and Pete back in the day so I just hit up he was he was yeah yeah he was Michelle trachtenberg's Dad yes yes so I hit him I hit him up I'm like Yo dude check this song out I think you might like it he's like oh I love it it's red I'm like yeah I don't know man what do you think you you know how I could get this thing you pop like I know I know you met him back in the day and he's like yeah no doubt here's this email um I think he might have said don't tell him I gave it to you so once again Danny I am very sorry it all worked out it all worked out in the end shout out to Jones that's his band um I emailed his manager I'm like yo blah blah blah do you could you possibly send this to Iggy like who he said yeah he was like I'll send it to him and then fired back like like an hour later with Iggy's response and uh we were crying tears Joy we're gonna link up with him in the Dominican Republic also with GoGo Bordello so yeah you're on that Festival destination chaos coming up in the end of January early February yeah so have you is will that be your first time potentially meeting him in real life yeah what are you gonna say to him like what are you what do you want like you have you're gonna be thinking about it like what are you gonna when you get to meet him honestly I I'm gonna I'm gonna Embrace him with a hug I hope I hope he accepts his leathery skin yeah beautiful leathery skin Iggy is a huge inspiration huh you know what I mean so it's like so amazing to even be acknowledged by these people I mean this is what this is what you you grow up dreaming about you know what I mean like yeah it's not like the money and and and this and that is not really what's valuable here it's like things like this like hanging out with Eugene Iggy Pop I mean we've met so many people that we grew up inspired by and that's that's the most valuable and of course meeting kids and fans and stuff like that you know yeah but uh oh yeah I'm so stoked to meet Iggy you know what he's gonna say yet I have no clue it is funny I met him for the first time in 2014 it was backstage at a festival and I was in the pinup contest and um the the producer of the festival had told us um the Iggy Pop helped pick the girls and I went up to him and I had my [ __ ] Sash on and and I walk up the first thing he says he goes well you're hot and I was like thank you Iggy Pop I hope he thinks I'm hot and I said I said oh I said you know thank you so much for like helping choose me and he he's like I was like they told me that you helped choose the girls and he goes that's a lie just can I get a picture and then he had his like glass of red wine and he was just there and it was a very special moment of meeting a gig pop with his leathery skin I love it I love him so much he's really funny uh I'm I can't wait so I respect that he's he's real he's the real deal I hope you have a very special story and he says something really funny to you oh yeah I mean honestly the goal the goal is to perform with them I'm just putting that out into the universe like that would be the ultimate moment to have him come and sing with us on that song you know so we'll see what happens yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] so that video was actually directed by um shibby pictures which is is it a is it a girl or a boy it should be a boy a man a man a man excuse me um I never knew the the face behind Chevy pictures but I do know a lot of his work and his work is stunning and he's actually done a lot of your videos now how did you guys come together was it through your work with days and days because he works with them a lot no actually that just was a coincidence I think I I linked up it should be um in the early days when we were still very much like playing DIY squats and and parties I think we played a party of his before you were in the band yeah and we filmed the music video on the beach and we all got arrested because uh we were illegally setting Fireworks off on the beach and uh yeah you know we were friends for years and then eventually started working together I love his I love his work you know he he puts a lot of heart and soul into his videos I think that video is probably our best that we've done with him yet you know well and was that one filmed the same day as Eastside because they look the same actually no but that they look the same it looks like you filmed him like it's like hey while we're here let's just shoot it's actually it's cool you say that because that was uh intentional it's supposed to be like the part two of punk rocker okay and we filmed it almost a year exactly from the day apart we are very cold in those videos let it be known uh it was a cold cold Jersey winter um yeah shout out to Chevy though he does a lot of great work um we love him so he's in he's an East coaster also then is that how you he he's originally from Boston okay and he travels all over the place God knows where he lives at this point he's always he's always traveling awesome well so lastly let's close with what's coming up next for you guys uh we're currently in the studio not currently right in this very moment but yeah yes uh we're in the studio um working on a new album and it's it's uh probably like more than halfway done okay and uh we're really stoked on it like I said we're gonna play some new songs I'm I'm actually excited to see what you think about the two new ones you play Okay um and uh yeah more touring you know like like you mentioned the Dr is coming up um we'll probably do our own headlining tour and just kind of be open to you know whatever whatever comes our way are you recording this one with Pete from Bouncing Souls again yes yes cool um principal tracking for it yeah yeah we we got a lot done um and we're gonna finish it up when we get home and uh release it in some in some fashion maybe uh maybe we'll do some nfts switch it up on y'all they're still trendy are they still trying no they popped off for a minute and everybody he thought they were going to get rich so everyone hopped on him and then they realized it's a lot harder than it looks honestly on on some real [ __ ] though we are gonna do vinyl again because we haven't done a vinyl in a minute uh are you done with the cassette tapes now are you still doing those no you know what we're selling cassettes on this tour and people people mess with them people like them so okay yeah yeah more new music coming and more touring um you might see me on only fans possibly don't watch that okay well I'm gonna close with that and say thank you guys so much for taking the time tonight thank you Aaron we love you we're crazy in the brains and you're watching last rockers TV okay [Music] [Applause] [Music]

2023-01-12 18:25

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