Ace, Leah, Mike, Groundlift

0:05HostWelcome to Interceptor Beyond Podcast. My name is Arthur and this is episode number 12. Today we have the band called Groundlift. They are from Boston, Massachusetts of the US of A. Really good musicians and really good and pleasant people. Recorded online. So we talked about them working together with their producer Steve Ebbets, getting signed to the Oracle management, band rebranding, well sort of, social media fame and you're gonna hear my reaction to the new song and the video. Keep in mind that I edited all the pauses during that reaction so the song is actually a bit longer. Don't forget to subscribe, follow, hit that like button and of course tell your friends. Share on social media. It's so easy. You can also help out and subscribe on Patreon. You'll get an early access to the episodes, updates on the current episodes and shout outs on the future episodes. All right, let's talk to Groundlift.

1:06?I'm Leah. Hello.

1:08MikeI'm Mike. I'm the bass player. Hello.

1:10AceAnd I'm Ace, the singer and guitarist at Groundlift.

1:16HostWe need to say that you're right now in Boston. I'm in Austria and it's like six hours of difference and you're like still a little bit sleepy and I am about to go out later. So I'm more hyped than you are. So it's there.

1:33HostIt's important for people to understand the context. Well, anyways, so I came to know your band one year ago. We talked one year ago and I was doing research on Oracle management to see who they're following, who's the next big thing. And I came across your band. I was like, OK, I will check you out. And then I sent you a message and then you responded. And then we had a little talk. And then I back then one year ago, I said, would you like to be on my podcast? You know, like I talked to Leah, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're like, yeah, sure. And then one year later, here we are.

2:11GroundliftOh, my God. Sorry, it took so long.

2:13HostNo, no, no, no, no, no. It's planned. It's all planned. It's part of the big plan. So I need to ask you what. So in the beginning, when we first talked, you just got signed to the management, to Oracle management. Right.

2:30HostAnd that's it. Fresh. Fresh, you know, and now, one year later. So what changed? I think a lot of things changed.

2:39?Yeah. Yeah.

2:40MikeDefinitely a lot of things changed. Ace, you want to say?

2:44AceYeah. I mean, we've been, since last year when we signed with Oracle, we recorded this whole new EP with Steve Ebbets, this producer out of LA.

2:56AceAnd, yeah, we've started playing a lot of shows this year, too, which we haven't since the pandemic. So, and we've just been trying to grow our, you know, online social media following, too, in the past, like, you know, year or six months. And it's been, it's been going really well. So a lot's been going on this year.

3:16MikeYeah, some of the shows we played were, we played at the Whiskey A Go-Go with a few, like, Los Angeles bands. So that was our first show on the West Coast. And our manager, Dez, hooked that up for us, which was really great. And we also opened up for Richie Cotson. He plays in the Winery Dogs with, like, Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan. So we got to open up for him, and that was really awesome. That was, that was probably our first show opening up for, like, a real, like, an actual artist that we've been, like, fans of for a long time. You know what I mean? So that was, that was really special.

3:47?Yeah, it was really cool.

3:48MikeYeah. And then we also recorded a music video with Vicente Cordero. I don't know if you know him, but he does all of, like, Haken's videos. He also does. He does Richie Cotson. Yeah, he does Richie's videos, too. It seems like everybody we meet knows Richie. It's really weird.

4:03GroundliftLike, they know him personally. But, yeah, no. So we've done a lot of stuff. It's been cool. It's been good.

4:08HostYeah, it's been, you've done a lot of stuff. And especially, yeah, I know, like, you played at Whiskey and Go-Go. You know, like, let's, okay. We're going to talk about all of this a little bit in more detail. So we need to go a little bit back to introduce you to the local community. I will just go quickly. So you, Ace and Mike met at high school. I mean, you were in high school, got to know each other, needed a drummer, found Leia at Berkeley University of College, played together. And then, since 2016. And around June, you got signed to Oracle Management, something like this, you know. And you released around, like, five singles. Like, from 2016 to 2021.

4:53MikeWell, yeah. I mean, we released actually a lot more than that. Like, for a while, we had, like, a whole, like, record out and then, like, more singles. But then, as the years went by and then we became, like, better at our instruments and stuff, we were, like...

5:07LeahAnd also, we were recording those ourselves, like, in the basement.

5:10GroundliftAnd we, like, we didn't know what we were doing there either. So we were, like, okay.

5:16HostI mean, but the first, like, for example, on Spotify, right? Yeah. Like, the first singles. Is it your first singles or it's the one that you left, kept, and the first singles you removed?

5:29GroundliftYeah. We removed the first one. Like, the first part. Yeah, these are newer ones.

5:34HostWhat I want to say is, like, right from the beginning, you already sound really cool. You know, like, the quote. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, you're getting better and better each time, you know. But right at the beginning, I mean, I guess you've done the right thing. You removed all the stuff that you were not satisfied with. And you got the best stuff out. So I don't know. Like, right from the beginning, it sounds cool. And now it's getting better and better.

5:54?Yeah, thank you.

5:56HostOkay. So not all stuff is there. And I think that's where I heard your music, right? There were, like, a couple of singles.

6:06GroundliftYeah, now it's just singles up there.

6:08?Yeah.

6:09HostSo let's talk. All right. So how did you get discovered by Oracle Management? Is it personal connections or you sent some songs to them?

6:20AceOh, yeah. We sent them, like, a music video we made for our single, Till You Run Out of Time, that we have out now.

6:28GroundliftAnd they really liked it.

6:30AceSo that was kind of all we did, you know.

6:33HostSo, you know, like, we need to, because I'm asking you already, like, a band that already made to the next level, you know, got signed, you know, recording with producer, went to LA. So I'm asking these questions from the point of view of, like, oh, how did you get it from the point of view of musicians who are still on the level?

6:54?Yeah. Oh, of course.

6:57HostSo, like, okay, you sent just a music video or you sent music video, a link by email and some information about you?

7:05GroundliftYeah, kind of. It was in an email. Yeah. With, like, a link to the video.

7:08AceAnd we just kind of explained, you know, what we're about and sent them the video. And, yeah, then they responded.

7:16GroundliftBecause what we used to do is, like, we would sit down.

7:20MikeThis was before we, like, knew. We realized we need connections. We need to know people, right? We need to, like, get our name out there. So the three of us would sometimes just sit down together and just send out all of our stuff to as many people as we could. Literally kind of, like, cold calling and just trying to sell.

7:34GroundliftAnd then Oracle, yeah, Oracle liked us.

7:38HostYeah. So you just did some Googling, right? Like, where you've tried all over the place, right? Not only in your area, obviously.

7:47?Yeah, yeah.

7:48LeahYeah, because Oracle is based in California.

7:50?Yeah.

7:51HostYeah, they're based in California. And when did they respond? Was it fast?

7:56GroundliftLike, we did 10 minutes. It was crazy. We were like, oh, MJ. Yeah, it was crazy. It was instant.

8:01HostOh, that's cool. Were you excited? I guess you were freaking out a bit.

8:06GroundliftYeah. I was. Yeah, we were. Yeah. Really excited.

8:11HostAnd, all right. And what did they say? So I guess you talked to Des, right?

8:17?Mm-hmm.

8:18HostWhat's the next step? Okay, they got an email. Was it a response? You know, like, oh, it's cool stuff. Let's talk. Do you have time now?

8:28MikeWell, yeah. Basically, he emailed. He was like, I love this video. This is sick. Like, I want to talk to you guys, like, tomorrow morning. So we just, you know, emailed with him a little bit. And then we called him the next day. And he was like, yeah, like, we should work with you, you know?

8:39?So.

8:39HostYou're like, fine. Great. Yeah.

8:41GroundliftI'm like, okay. Sure. Sure.

8:44?Yeah.

8:46HostAnd then, and when was it? Like, in around June, if you remember?

8:51GroundliftI think it was. It was like May, I think.

8:53AceYeah, it was like May of last year. Yeah.

8:55HostMay, June. Because when I, when I was talking to you, you were like, we're still fresh from this experience. You know, you, I were asking you questions. So, all right. I mean, you're signed. All right. Cool. Do you know what you're going to do? No idea.

9:07GroundliftRight.

9:07MikeWe didn't have a lot to say on your podcast a year ago.

9:10GroundliftThat's true.

9:11HostWell, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, my idea was like later, like in half a year to, to call you, but no, it's better one year. I mean, everything, nevermind.

9:20?Yeah.

9:21HostSo, all right. So they've got signed. So what happens next after that, after that moment of understanding that you are with the music management company?

9:32LeahHe really helped us like develop our like look first. I feel like that's the first. Our brand. Yeah. Our brand. Cause we, we would just go out on stage. Like, like he told us we were, we were kind of collegey, which we didn't realize, but

9:45HostYou're a clean, you're a clean and nice kids from the, from a neighborhood.

9:50LeahLike looked like we were like in college, which made sense. Cause we were, you know, we just finished college, but yeah, we like, we wouldn't, um, like we would just wear our normal clothes on stage and stuff. And like, you know, we wouldn't, we didn't really think too much about that stuff, but he was like, no, you need to look really cool. You need to walk into a room and people be like, wow.

10:08GroundliftHello. These people are cool. So, so yeah, we all, we all like got a new wardrobe. Yeah. We all got new stage outfits.

10:18MikeSo if you look at pictures of us from like before 2020 and then after 2020, like it's like, there's like a different look there.

10:24?Yeah.

10:25GroundliftYeah. And he hooked us up with, uh, uh, Jeremy Safer.

10:28LeahHe's a photographer. Um, so he got us some like cool edgy photos with him.

10:32?Yeah.

10:33GroundliftUm, cause he's like, he's like the guy that, and he's like really famous, he is really

10:38Hostfamous, uh, music photographer. He does a lot of photographs of, of, of many famous rock bands and metal bands. Yeah.

10:47?Yeah.

10:47MikeLike every single, every single one. Yeah. I've seen him do like Alice Cooper, Dave Mustaine, other people like that. And then he also did us this little band from, we were like, okay, cool. Well, we would love to.

10:58GroundliftSo yeah, that was the first thing that I said, he kind of, right. Like he helped us with the, yeah. We had to rebrand the socials too. And like, you know, get a good look online going.

11:09MikeYeah. But then also the music, he helped us with that too. Of course.

11:12LeahYeah.

11:12GroundliftAnd we, we also were like, we're very like our, our, our sound is very like scattered all over the place. We were like, he helped us kind of, well, he hooked us up with Steve Evans who helped

11:21Leahus, um, like really hone in our, our sound because we were kind of all over.

11:27MikeWell, there's like a reason for that. Like, you know, when we first got hooked up with Des, he, you know, while he was helping us develop our brands, right. Like the look and the social media stuff and the logo, all that kind of thing. Um, he was also submitting our songs or submitting, I mean, he was just showing our songs to various people he knew in the industry. And a lot of people are like, this is really, really cool, but it's kind of all over the place. Like if you listen to some of our older stuff, that's why we took a lot of it down. I mean, we're going to re-release it one day. We record some of it, but, um, it was kind of all over the place. Like some, some of the tracks sounded like a metal band. Some of it sounded like a pop punk band. And some of it sounded like a band trying to be like progressive and, uh, Des and then the producer we work with now, Steve, he helped, they helped us really be focused with that and combine that.

12:12LeahUm, yeah, we still do some crazy stuff, but like, yeah, it's not as like, whoa, what is going on?

12:17MikeWell, I mean, we, we, I don't know, just a lot of the people that he was showing our stuff to, they were saying it's great, but it's scattered. Like it needs to be more focused. So we were, we were able to get more focused without compromising our like original sound of what we wanted it to do. You know, initially I was skeptical about changing the way we thought about our music, but I mean, after it just made more sense. Now our music's better because of it. You know what I mean?

12:38HostAnd so far, there's no new music at the moment that you recorded with Steve at this point.

12:44?No, there is. There is.

12:47HostWait, but it's not till you run off time. It's different one. Yeah.

12:51AceIt hasn't been released at all, but we have it. We have it.

12:55HostBut it's online?

12:57GroundliftNo, no, no, no, hard drives.

13:01HostYou're talking about my professional review abilities of research or finding the stuff about you, you know, if I couldn't find it, it means it shouldn't be there, I guess.

13:11GroundliftNo, don't worry. You didn't miss it.

13:13?You did not miss it.

13:14HostBut wait a second. It's like, were you at LA? So you did at least one trip to LA to record a music video, record the music, do the photo shoot. Was it only once? No, probably. Or two times?

13:27GroundliftYeah, we went to LA twice.

13:29AceOnce back in the end of last year to record the actual EP.

13:34GroundliftAnd then we went back to do a show at the Whiskey and to do the music video and some other stuff, the live video at Sawtooth.

13:44HostAll right. So, okay. So was it your first time last year in LA?

13:51GroundliftIt was in Orange County.

13:53?We were in...

13:54GroundliftWe recorded... It's like... Basically LA. Yeah. But I mean, it's like... Yeah, that was our first time doing anything as a band out there, pretty much.

14:02HostSo why I'm asking is because for Europeans... I mean, okay. I will just say for myself, you know, like, okay, LA, the show business, the music, then film industry and everything that glitters can be really scary. How was it for you?

14:20?It was...

14:20GroundliftIt was fine. I mean, Steve was so great. Like, I feel like we bonded with him immediately and he made us very comfortable. So, like, it was...

14:29AceIt's just a very, like, creative and, like, good process instead of it being, like, I

14:35Groundliftdon't know, scary or whatever. I don't know what you guys think, but...

14:39MikeHe speaks our musical language. Like, we'd be in the studio with him, like, working on one of the tunes and he'd be like, yeah, like, try... Like, he would just reference, like, some obscure song from, like, Cheap Trick or something. He'd be like, you know that Phil from that song? And we'd all be like, yes, we do. And he'd be like, oh my God, you actually know it. And it was just a bunch of things like that. You know what I mean? Yeah.

14:59GroundliftYeah. So we vibed with him very, very well.

15:01HostYeah, it's really important. And I could see it on the photos because you posted a lot of photos on social media. So I could see that everything, the atmosphere is really cool.

15:07GroundliftYeah, he was awesome.

15:09HostSo how... So you recorded an album or an EP?

15:14GroundliftSix-song EP.

15:16HostUh-huh. Six-song EP. Okay, I can see. And then you're recording the music. We'll talk a lot of... Okay, let's talk about the music again. So, all right. You said it's more...

15:30HostIt goes in one direction, like, musically. So how different is it... Well, not mostly. How different is it from the stuff that's online at the moment? For example, two year round of time. Like, how different is it?

15:42MikeIt's actually the most like Till You Run Out of Time.

15:46MikeLike, it's... Because Till You Run Out of Time, it has a lot of different things going on with it, right? But I remember Dez said, like, yeah, that song, Till You Run Out of Time, that is what your guys' focus should be at the moment. Like, that type of song and that kind of vibe, that's what you guys should do, which was easy for us. I mean, you know, it's our song, so...

16:06HostFor example, if I compare, like, the first song that you have on Spotify, for example, like, Guerrilla Master or something, this is more like Rocky, like Rock Rock. Yeah. And this one has elements of funk, kind of.

16:18?Yeah.

16:18HostI mean, I might be wrong, you know, like, I'm not a musician, but I'm trying to... You are right.

16:23?You're totally right.

16:24GroundliftYeah. There's elements of funk on the EP. Yeah. On the new stuff, there's definitely some funky stuff, like Chili Peppery.

16:30HostAnd I agree with Dez. This is the stuff that you're, like... This is, like, fresh stuff, you know? Like, this is your thing, you know? Trendy. Especially, like, all of you are, like, really good musicians, technically, and in general, as an artist.

16:43?Thank you. Thank you.

16:44HostSo, I think... Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's totally right. You should push in that direction. Yeah.

16:49?Yeah.

16:50HostAll right. So, like, more funky. What else is there? Is it, like, the whole EP is like that, or just, like, a couple songs?

16:57AceYeah. It's not all, like, funky or anything like that, but there's just, like, some groovy stuff, like, a couple funky sections. But it's, like, in general, just, like, it sounds amazing. Because Steve did a great job. And it's, like, really...

17:10GroundliftAll the songs are, like, a lot better, like, organized and, like, you know, produced than we'd previously been doing, like, as far as the song structure.

17:21GroundliftAnd each of our individual parts kind of, like, fitting together. It's, like, very well thought out, I think, and, like, on another level than anything else we've done before.

17:30HostWhat was his part, like, regarding your direction? It's, like...

17:35?Whose part? Steve's. Steve's.

17:38HostYes, Steve's. You know, like, sometimes, you know, like, if you compare... Well, if you check online and you Google music producer and you see Rick Rubin and Rick Rubin is, like, on the couch doing nothing, you know, like, this meme, you know, like, everything's great. Yeah, yeah. It's, like, the best... But sometimes, when I talk to other musicians, they said, you know, he didn't do anything. He didn't mess up the song. That was exactly the right move, you know? So what was, like, with Steve, you know, how was it? We already talked that he knew how to talk to you, but what did he say? Like, how did he direct you musically?

18:13GroundliftWell, we were, like, before we worked with him, we recorded, like, how many demos?

18:18LeahLike, 15?

18:19MikeNo, more than that, before we worked with him, yeah, we recorded, like, over 20 demos of songs we just... Because we have a lot of songs, like, just the three of us know about, you know, like, a ton of them.

18:29?All right.

18:30MikeAnd we're going to record them eventually. So we recorded, like, every song that we could possibly think of that we have written over the years, and we sent them all to him. Yeah, he listened to all of them. And then he picked his six favorites.

18:39?Ooh. You know?

18:41GroundliftYeah, so we did that.

18:42HostWell, you're one of the bands who can actually produce so many songs, not many bands. Like, I talked to the bands, they're like, oh, we need, we need, and then we're recording a new album, but we need a lot of songs. We need 10 songs, but we don't have any songs, but we need to record them.

18:54MikeWell, that's Ace. Ace is just very, he just is constantly, like, spitting songs out. It's really weird.

18:59GroundliftYeah, I feel like we have, like, more songs than we need or whatever. Like, we have to whittle them down.

19:07?Yeah.

19:08HostWell, just like Prince, put them in a vault somewhere, always. For the later, for the future.

19:15?Oh, yeah. There's a vault. There's a vault. They're in the vault. But, yeah, I mean, it's not like, in doing this, we, like, totally changed our sound. Like, it's very similar to what it was before. If you listen to our songs on Spotify, it's similar. It's just more focused.

19:29MikeThat's the best way I feel like we can describe it. It's just, it's not as all over the place, but I think it's more effective that way, you know?

19:37HostAre you going to make some, going to write some, like, description? It's a conceptual album.

19:43GroundliftOf course. Concept album.

19:46HostConcept album.

19:47?Yeah.

19:48GroundliftIt's also, though, like, within the EP, it is more focused, but there's still, like, a lot of different kinds of influences coming in, I think. Like, and it's not all one thing or, like, one concept. Like, it's, this, each song is, like, still very different from the other, I think, which I enjoy about it. But there's, like, a vibe to the whole thing. Yeah, there's a sound.

20:09MikeIt's, like, the first Foo Fighters album. Like, you listen to it, like, you know, some of the songs are, what, you have, like, Big Knee, and then you have, like, This Is A Call, then you have I'll Stick Around, then you have, like, Weenie Beanie or whatever. Like, it's a lot of different stuff, but all the same vibe, you know?

20:22?Yeah.

20:23HostAll right. So, this is, like, going to be your first EP. I mean, it's not your first EP in general, but it's, like, a first EP in this new, new, new direction, how to call it, I don't know.

20:34?Yeah.

20:35HostAll right. Do you already know when it's coming out?

20:38GroundliftNo, we don't. No, we don't. Or you're lying. We don't have a release date. Or you know.

20:43?No, we're not.

20:44HostI guess there's still, I mean, everything is in plan of Des, he knows already when it's coming out, but maybe he doesn't want to freak you out.

20:52MikeWell, no, I mean, it's kind of, like, it kind of depends on a couple of things, right? It depends on, you know, if we can get label support to release the EP, then we would want to do that. But then if, you know, we, labels end up not being that interested right now just because of what we have going on, then we'll probably self-release it. It kind of depends, you know? Yeah.

21:10GroundliftSo, he's, like, trying to shop it around.

21:12HostYeah. Yeah. That's why you're so quiet, because they're going, like, you're not talking, you're not telling me a lot about it, because at the moment, Des is working his magic with the labels and with your new EP and says, like, this is how they look like. There's the sound. They're going to be amazing. They're going to sell arenas.

21:32GroundliftYeah, yeah.

21:34MikeBut you asked, Arthur, about, like, what was Steve's role in the writing of the songs, right? And this is probably an interesting thing for, you know, the musicians that listen to this podcast. Like, what we would do is we would all get in the studio together. I mean, we were in the studio for, like, 10, 12 hours a day when we were there for, like, two weeks straight. It was just...

21:52HostWhoa, that's a long time. Two weeks.

21:55MikeYeah, yeah. It was a lot. But we would, the four of us would just get in a room and, you know, with our guitar-based drums, and then Steve would stand in the middle of us, and we would play the songs, and Steve would just stand in the middle and kind of listen and write notes down, and then he would start reorganizing, and we would all just start bouncing ideas off together. Like, he'd be like, why don't we try this, or why don't we add this, or take this away, or make this longer, you know, all that kind of thing. And he became, like, a fourth band member.

22:20HostWhoa, like in Beatles with the... Yes, exactly.

22:24?Exactly.

22:25HostWow. Okay. I've never heard about that. Well...

22:28MikeIt was very, very cool. It was great.

22:31?Yeah.

22:31HostOh, wow. Okay.

22:34GroundliftHe likes it.

22:35HostIt's the next show that I don't know what to ask about.

22:40HostSo, did anything, like, completely surprised you, like, that came out of it that you didn't even expect, maybe musical or anything, you know? I mean, the whole experience is, like, magical, I guess.

22:52GroundliftI mean, there are definitely some, like, pleasant surprises, but, like, nothing, you know, that we wouldn't have wanted in the songs. But, like, we... I think he encouraged us to, like, write, like, better parts for songs, like, when they needed it, too, which I think was a cool surprise, like, that we weren't expecting, like, there's some songs that have, like, these great parts now that, like, we... That were not previously in the song, because he, like...

23:15?He was like, this...

23:16GroundliftLike, what could we do different with this bridge or whatever, or, like, this interlude here, like, can...

23:21?What can we think of?

23:22GroundliftAnd it ended up being fantastic. So, that was a... That was kind of a surprise, but in a good way.

23:29HostWas... Did you all... Did he also influence the lyrics? Or it was just music?

23:35GroundliftOccasionally, the lyrics, like, if he was like, do you really want to... Say, motherfucker, like, in this verse, like, you guys are too nice for that, like... I remember that. I remember that. Like...

23:44HostActually, it was one of my first impressions, like, oh, these are nice guys, you know? Like... Yeah. When I checked you out for the first time on Instagram, it's like, they're so nice. They're, like, studied in college and music industry, like this, you know, like... Yes.

23:59?Yeah.

23:59GroundliftIt's not like Axl Rose in 1986, like...

24:03HostIt's a different time now.

24:04GroundliftRight, right. We're not... We're not that. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, mostly he left the lyrics, like, pretty untouched, like, except if we're, like, really wanted his advice or something. But it was more so, like, the arranging and the music, I think.

24:18MikeYeah. He's a great instrumentalist, too. He's a bass player. So he helped us, like, develop our parts. Like, you know, we would come in with a drum part or whatever that was, like, pretty much done, and he would just take it to the next level. Same with the guitar parts, same with the bass parts. He added a little bit of keyboard, too, I think, right? In, like, a few spots. Yeah.

24:36GroundliftA small amount, yeah. And percussion.

24:37LeahHe's amazing at percussion. Like, tambourine and, like, shaker. I was like, I don't want to do it. I want you to do it.

24:44GroundliftHe's so good. Like, he would just shake it and be like, I feel like, whoa. He's grooving. Whoa, Steve. Fell down.

24:52HostNext level. So good. All right. So you recorded this. The experience was magical. Then you came back. How did you get to LA? You drove or you flew?

25:03?Flew. We flew. We flew.

25:04HostOh, nice. Yes.

25:07GroundliftIt would take too long to do it. We were worried about flying with our guitars.

25:12AceIt was scary. Yeah.

25:15HostI know Slipknot. They traveled from Iowa to LA and they drove all together. Like, I don't know how many people.

25:23GroundliftGod, isn't it like 15 people in that band? Exactly.

25:25HostIt's like a whole football team. I don't know.

25:28GroundliftWhat's the bathroom situation on that drive?

25:31HostSlipknot. They don't care.

25:35HostAnd do you know the story? They went to LA. They're recording a song. And then their producer or, no, the labels. And then they came home and the label people said that the song is too fast. So, you need to come back and record a new song, another version. So, they actually did that and recorded also another song together. But this time the song was too slow.

25:58GroundliftOh, my God.

26:00HostSo, in the end, on the album, the first album, the song that they're talking about, I forgot the name, but they used the demo version for that album. So, the first, yeah. So, the version number zero.

26:15GroundliftYeah, version zero. Wow. That's crazy. I should have just said it's as fast as it needs to be.

26:20HostYeah. Yeah, actually. And the guy who, the label guy, he said, like, they could have said just like, no, we're not going to do this. But no, they're okay. Let's do this. Okay.

26:32?Wow.

26:33MikeArthur, this is random. But you know what I'm realizing we should have done before this was that music video that we recorded, we could have sent that to you. I have the link for it because it's unreleased. It's to one of our new singles. Like, one of the songs we did with Steve, like, I could have sent it to you. I screwed up. I should have done that. I could do it now if you want. I mean, you can watch it and then take out the pause. It's up to you. Yeah. I'll DM it to you right now just so you have it.

26:56HostYeah. DM it right now. And I will open it and it's going to be a live reaction, how it's called, the reaction videos, but we're doing the audio. I don't think you will hear it.

27:09LeahYeah. We should make sure they don't hear it.

27:10MikeYeah. We can't have people hearing it.

27:13HostI mean, if you're not going to hear it, then nobody will hear it. That's it. Here.

27:17?I'll send it to you.

27:17MikeAnd then there's also a password to view it and I will type the password as well.

27:22HostOh, by the way, you have on your website. So, yeah, I guess everything that connects to your visuals, how you present yourself in the world is the work of Dez. Yes.

27:33?Yeah.

27:34GroundliftIt is. It's the work of Dez. Absolutely.

27:36HostBecause you have a press page that I can't enter.

27:42?Oh, yeah.

27:43HostBecause you need...

27:45GroundliftWe can give you the password for that too.

27:48MikeWhat is the password for that? Oh, yeah. You got it. You got it. I know you're not going to say it.

27:54MikeI just DMed it to you on Instagram, Arthur.

27:57HostYeah. Yeah. Do that because I will probably... Probably you have information, photos there and a couple of songs. That's what I'm expecting from that.

28:05MikeYeah. Well, she's sending you the password for the press kit thing. And then I also sent you the link and password for the video.

28:11HostAll right. I got the video.

28:12MikeAgain, I don't know why I didn't think to send this to you beforehand. It's kind of silly. We're doing a live reaction video.

28:18HostAll right. I can see the... Yeah, I'll be commenting, you know. Listening and commenting. I can see the LA feel.

28:28HostI'm talking about visuals.

28:30?Yeah.

28:31HostThe sound. All your regular shticks are there. The ground lifts.

28:37?The ground lifts.

28:39GroundliftThere's some funky riffs in this song, for sure. Yeah.

28:42HostIt feels like not so messy. I don't want to offend the previous stuff, you know. No offense.

28:51HostBut it's like you can hear everybody. Like everybody has a part and it's not overlapping too much.

29:00?Yeah. Yeah. Steve Avitz. Yeah, Steve Avitz, man.

29:04GroundliftEspecially in the verse, it's just a three-part thing. Like there's only one guitar and obviously one bass and drums. But, you know, usually we used to like pack on like 18 guitars into a song.

29:16HostUh-huh. Yeah. That's what I was talking about.

29:18GroundliftYeah. But then in the chorus on this song, we fill it out a little.

29:22HostDid you play it at Whiskey?

29:25?We did.

29:27HostIt's a perfect place for that song.

29:30GroundliftThis is our opener now. When we play live, this is what we open.

29:34HostHow was the response? Good.

29:36GroundliftIt was good. Yeah. It was pretty good.

29:38HostI like the new style of everybody.

29:42?Thank you.

29:43MikeThey had to help me. Ace and Leah had to help me.

29:45GroundliftYeah. He just wears cargo shorts. I wear cargo shorts, too. Yeah. Cargo shorts in the summer, cargo pants in the winter. Yes.

29:53HostJust one more minute.

29:54?Oh, please.

29:56GroundliftWhen he played the first few bars, I was like, ah, I want to hear it.

30:00?God damn it.

30:01HostOf course, I will mute those. Nobody will hear it.

30:04MikeNo, you're good. Yeah. Thank you for listening to it right now. No, it's fine.

30:10HostYeah. But all your strong points of each musician is there. It's like a perfect song for showcasing.

30:18?Thanks.

30:19GroundliftYeah, I think it is. It's a good song, too, because it's kind of short, but it has a lot in it for that length, which is cool.

30:27MikeAnd I feel like it's just a good synopsis of what we sound like. If you want to know what his ground would sound like, play him this song, and they'll pretty much know. This song happens to be in a minor key. Not all of our songs are in minor keys, but they're generally, you know, they have a similar

30:41Groundliftvibe to this. You know, Arthur's grooving face right now.

30:45?Yeah.

30:45GroundliftHe's grooving. He's drums.

30:48HostNice. You look mean. Nice.

30:51?Okay.

30:54HostAll right. It's played. Okay. So, yeah. So, what did I say? Yes. So, I can hear the change in the sound a little bit. Just, as I said, like, all the strong points are there, but it's now more precise. You start to understand why it's so cool. Let's say like this.

31:16GroundliftThank you. Wow. Thank you so much, man.

31:18?Yeah. Thank you.

31:19HostYeah. It's all together. So, I can see, yeah, this is like the song, this music video, how you look like, and especially in the end that they show you the, I mean, can I a little bit talk about the video? I mean, like in the end, they show you just a dolly out and they show you how you look now. It's like, it's this introduction, introduction of you to the, to the public, you know, it's like the new ground lift kind of, this is like rebranding kind of a video.

31:49?Yeah. Yeah. A little. Definitely. Yeah.

31:54HostAnd nobody has seen it right in the public. Not yet. No.

31:57MikeNot in the public. I mean, we've sent it to a lot of different people that we know, like within the industry, but it's, it's not released. And we, yeah, we haven't like posted it anywhere. Yeah.

32:06HostYou should, you shouldn't. No, no, no, no. You have a good, good stuff there. You need to sit in it and be patient. It's actually like what I learned from other musicians. Once you even like when you release, no, when you get signed to a label and you release your first EP, uh, the patience is the key because not, you're not going to get success immediately. It's highly unlikely. There needs to be some time, even sometimes up to two years so that the momentum keeps going. So the more people discover your music.

32:37?Yeah.

32:37HostIf it's done correctly, it just goes faster and if done this really correctly, then maybe there's a chance that it will go viral, but realistically you need just to like be prepared just to wait a little bit and that's fine for everybody.

32:54?Yeah.

32:55MikeYeah. That seems like the, the, the trend in the, in the music industry now, like what, it seems like the overnight success people talk about in the past is extremely uncommon now. It just doesn't happen. You know, it's so much more common.

33:07GroundliftIt's not like a, unless you like get a viral sound on Tik TOK or something and then it's like, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's, I think that's your best bet.

33:15HostThat's your best bet. But actually we need to talk about social media. Um, uh, well, first of all, I wanted to ask you not about social media, but I don't think you have band camp. Why is that?

33:26?Band camp? I don't know.

33:28GroundliftMaybe we should, maybe we should. I don't know. We'll make an account today. Yeah. Do you use band camp?

33:34MikeI think we had band camp a long time ago, but like, didn't, I don't know. It didn't seem like it was very like, I don't think it exists.

33:40HostIf you had it, it got close, but I suggest, but I suggest that you need to have a band camp because it's, you, you have, you need to have it anyway at some point. So better to do it now or maybe, or maybe Des doesn't, I don't know how much Des gets involved in your day-to-day activities, you know, like the, the music stuff.

34:05MikeUm, no, I mean, he kind of gives us like loose direction. Like, you know, you guys need to be doing more of this, more of that, but, um, it's, it's mostly just the three of us who are in charge of our social medias and trying to, you know, trying to make them more popular.

34:19HostYou know, like, uh, one year ago I asked Lea, so I said like, okay, so you got signed. I mean, you have Des now, uh, now you need to find the lawyer.

34:30?Yeah.

34:31HostBecause you'll need the, you'll need the lawyer later anyway.

34:34?Yeah.

34:35HostAnd I think Lea said that Des said, yeah, that he said the same thing that you need to get the lawyer, the entertainment lawyer or anything. Have you found one already? It's been a year. No.

34:45?We don't have a lawyer yet. No.

34:48HostWow. Des will hook you up with somebody.

34:50MikeYeah. We got, we got a producer though.

34:52?Yeah.

34:53HostYeah. Oh, wait. Oh yeah. You got the producer. Yeah. Actually. Yeah. Everything that you, all the people, the music video, it's, it's Des context because it was funny, you know, like if you, uh, if you, for example, music video, right. For example, if you go on Instagram, you're like, okay, is devil, devil driver is here or not here. Okay. Context from Des. Right. Definitely.

35:13?Yeah. Yeah.

35:14HostOr Jeremy Safra, he's also an Oracle management, uh, thing.

35:18GroundliftHe is. Yeah. Exactly.

35:19HostThat's what, what, that's what the, uh, true manager, uh, does. It's like, he gets you in touch with people that you can't get in touch with normal life. Like if you don't have this context.

35:29?Yeah.

35:30HostSo you don't have band camp, you're going to open it, social media. All right. Leah, what's up with you? It's like one year ago, I don't think you had like 108,000 followers.

35:42LeahYeah.

35:43GroundliftNo, I, I just, um, I just one day was just started posting a bunch of like little cover

35:48Leahvideos, um, on Tik TOK. And then one of the, I did a video of, um, song for the dead by Queens of Stone Age. And then that kind of just like got a lot of views. And then, um, that was connected to my Instagram. Some people started like liking my Instagram.

36:04GroundliftSo then I just posted, uh, I started posting the, the Tik TOKs on Instagram and then, um, yeah, eventually it just got to a hundred thousand. I don't know.

36:13HostIt happened this year, right? It's got fresh. Yeah. Yeah. And it was like a long time, I think like 2000 or something. you had, and then all of a sudden 10,000 and then a hundred thousand.

36:25GroundliftYeah. I don't, yeah, it's kind of crazy. Yeah. We were trying to do that with the band now, trying to, um, that's what we need.

36:32HostThat's what I'm asking is like, okay, this is, I wanted to ask, all right, you have 108,000, uh, followers on Instagram. How does it affect the band? You know?

36:46GroundliftWell, we, we post on like both the accounts. So like a lot of her followers see our posts, which is awesome.

36:52LeahWe've definitely gotten way more followers than we have before since that.

36:56GroundliftUm, we're just trying to like, keep, keep using it to get more.

36:59LeahUm, yeah, like I, I've been doing a lot of like, like, you know, you can like collaborate with people. Like you make, like my post is also on the ground with Instagram.

37:08GroundliftSo then, um, you know, people see our page and they're like, oh, I think I'm going to follow them too.

37:13?So it isn't trying to like.

37:15MikeTo get her audience to the, the, the full band, you know, but you know, since we haven't released anything in a while and we're kind of sitting on some stuff, it's, it's, it's kind of slow moving. I think once we start putting stuff out there, people will be much more inclined to follow the band as opposed to just her, you know?

37:30HostYeah. Because I'm asking you because again, it's a next step, next door, like getting 100,000 followers is like unbelievable for most of the musicians and like, okay, now what you do with this, you know?

37:43?Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

37:45GroundliftYeah. We're definitely like when we, especially when we go to like release stuff, um, we'll definitely

37:50Leahuse that to be like, make sure you watch like the music video and like share and follow

37:56Groundliftand yeah, follow ground lift.

37:57LeahAnd, um, no, it's definitely a really good tool to have, to have like people like that

38:02Hostmany people that do, do you think, uh, uh, uh, does it have an effect on you personally and professionally, like all those followers, do you start to notice that you're changing how you play based on the response of the, of the people? Because it's, it can be easily addicting, you know, like, Oh, like this video didn't get so many views or something like this. And you, you start to change who you are.

38:31GroundliftNo, no.

38:32LeahI still, I, I only post videos of like songs I really like, like, I, but I do like, if

38:38Groundliftpeople are like, can you do, can you do this? I've like, if like a bunch of people are like, can you please do, I don't know, do more rush, more rush, more rush. I'm like, I'm happy. People love when we do rush covers. I'm happy to do more rush. Sure.

38:48HostYeah. And you're doing a good covers. I mean, there are some covers on online, on YouTube, I checked it out. What's the name of the song? The one, the first one.

38:58GroundliftLovia Estrangiano.

38:59HostYeah, exactly. Yeah. Around eight minutes, 10 minutes.

39:03GroundliftThat was really, that was tough.

39:05?Why?

39:05GroundliftWe're in the studio for like six hours, just doing take after take after take of that song, trying to get it right.

39:10HostHow many takes did you make? Do you remember?

39:13GroundliftProbably seven or eight of them.

39:14LeahYeah, like we recorded that at Berkeley and when you get a studio at Berkeley, you have

39:19Groundliftlike a total of four hours.

39:21?Yeah.

39:21LeahWe had to set everything up, like make sure all the levels were good.

39:24GroundliftAnd it was in like the middle of the night too. Yeah.

39:26HostIt was like, I think it was like, you can't say because there's no windows.

39:30GroundliftExactly. Exactly. Just lose all sense of time. But yeah, I think we ended up being able to do like five or six takes probably.

39:37?Really? Okay.

39:37GroundliftYeah. Because it, because it's such a long song that, um, that, that ended up taking like an hour

39:42Leahand then you, you, you basically have like an hour to record once you like set up and then you have to break everything down. So, but we practiced that a lot. We played, we, we played that a lot.

39:50MikeWe played that at one of our, like the last show we played before COVID, we actually played La Via Strangiotta live. Like we were playing in like this, this small, uh, venue in, uh, in New England. And, um, I can't remember, somebody like requested Rush because we, we play all originals, but then sometimes we'll play like a Rush cover just because we love Rush and it's, it's good music for a trio to play, you know? Um, so somebody requested Rush and we were like, all right, we're doing, we're going to do La Via Strangiotta. Like, cause that was the one that we knew at the time, you know?

40:21GroundliftYeah. I can't believe we did that. Yeah. That was crazy. Now we do YYZ at all of our shows.

40:26HostWell, this will go into the world. You'll make the whole album of Rush covers. We should.

40:32GroundliftExactly. Exactly. Like Dream Theater.

40:33HostI think Dream Theater did something like that, right? Yes, they did.

40:37?They did.

40:37LeahYeah. We should do that. We should get on that today.

40:40MikeYeah, screw our, screw our songs. Let's do, let's do Rush.

40:42?Yeah.

40:43GroundliftWe're doing a lot of Beatles covers actually.

40:45HostBeatles covers. Which album?

40:47?Yeah. All of them. Any.

40:49GroundliftYeah. Any of them. We did, uh, I Feel Fine recently and Paperback Writer.

40:54MikeYeah. I Feel Fine got like 80,000 views on TikTok. Like, so we're, we're just now let's do more Beatles things. People like when we do Beatles, you know?

41:01HostOh, you see, you started to get into, you get addicted to the TikTok thing. And like, oh.

41:07MikeWell, I mean, no, we don't do it because like, that's what people in the music industry care about. They care, people at record labels, agents, they don't care about, all they care about is how many followers you have. That's the only thing they care about. Yes.

41:20HostUnfortunately, it is like that.

41:21MikeYeah. So you got to do whatever it takes, you know, but also stay true to yourself. I mean, so we all love the Beatles. So it's easy for us to just do Beatles covers and have fun with it, you know?

41:30GroundliftYeah. It's not like an unpleasant thing to do. It's pretty, it's pretty fun. Because it's such a great song.

41:35?Yeah.

41:36HostAce, like you're writing the lyrics, right?

41:39GroundliftMost of the time. I mean, they, they've definitely written some, but usually.

41:44HostHow close do you get to your personal feelings? You know, is it something that you like put yourself like into the lyrics? Like it's like real life stories or you make them out because they sound good or?

41:55GroundliftYeah, I do. I think it, it is some of my real life stories. I don't know. I pick like little, like, little, like interactions I have and like, make them into a song or like little, like, you know, I don't know, like emotional interactions I have with people, like sometimes become a song or like just an idea I have. I don't know. It's like, it's very varied what the lyrics are about, but.

42:17?Very, very.

42:18GroundliftI'm not afraid to put my, you know, personal spin on them or whatever.

42:24HostI made a music video for a band called the Loom of Time and they released the music video recently, finally. And the thing is, is that the, the, the guy who composed the songs he met, he said, like, I don't care about the lyrics. I just put the lyrics there so that people need something to read, but they don't, don't, don't matter. And then actually, if you go on YouTube, it's like all the credits and there's like a line, lyrics are not that important.

42:56?Tell us how you really feel.

42:58HostActually, you need to check it out because I think they're like really, uh, musically is completely different. He said that there's no parts that are repeating.

43:09?Wow. Wow.

43:11HostAnd the whole album was recorded in a sequence. So, I mean, one after another, not.

43:16GroundliftWhat's the name of the group?

43:18?Say it again.

43:19HostThe, the Loom of Time. I will send you on DM after the. I found it.

43:24?The Loom of Time. Amazing.

43:26HostYeah. Yeah. Check it out. I mean, it's metal, but still, you know, musically it's something that.

43:31?Yeah, we like metal. We're metal people.

43:34HostYou don't look like metal people. You look like a band from, from, from the nice families.

43:39GroundliftThis, this hair doesn't.

43:40MikeThis is good metal hair, man. Come on.

43:43HostFor the, for the listeners who can't see the video.

43:47GroundliftOh yeah. Mike has long hair.

43:49MikeYeah. I have long hair. Sorry, people.

43:51?Yeah.

43:52MikeYou'll see, they'll see it on our Instagram. I have long hair.

43:54HostYes. Yes. Yes. Everybody should follow you on Instagram and TikTok. You're one of the few bands who actually use TikTok and actually quite successful at TikTok. Not many people are, are, are, are, are even close to you.

44:08GroundliftI mean, we're, we're trying to be.

44:10MikeYeah. We're, we're trying to be successful. We're trying to, we're on a schedule now of we're putting out at least one band TikTok a week. But a lot of times we end up doing more. But I mean, a lot of resources go into making just like a 50 second video. It's a lot, you know?

44:25HostIt takes a long time. I don't know how you, you find time for music. Actually, nobody knows these days how a musician should actually be a musician with all the social media and it takes so much time.

44:40?Yeah.

44:41LeahIt's like you have to make, cause there's just so much content. People are like, where is, I want more, but it's like, it's just, and it's hard cause YouTube has to be like horizontal, you know? Like it's like a normal, but now all that social media is vertical. So if you record a video, it's like, okay, now I can't put that on YouTube.

44:57GroundliftYou got to do two versions. You got to do horizontal and vertical. It's really dumb.

45:00HostWell, the music video that I just saw, the new one, it's fine for vertical. I think it was also like the idea also behind that, how it's cut.

45:08MikeYou could do a lot of it vertically. You could.

45:10HostYeah. Yeah. And I noticed also like in the music videos, a lot of videos think about TikTok and vertical, just how the, how the, how the musicians are positioned in the frame. And usually it's like center, so it's easy for the, for the future to, to cut it.

45:26?Yeah. No, that's, that's.

45:27HostAll right. So what, what's your plan? Okay. You recorded EP, you recorded music video at LA.

45:36HostSo what's the plan for this year? So we have a couple of months till the end of this year.

45:41MikeWhat's your plan for the time being where we're not releasing the video just yet. We were thinking about doing it, but we're kind of just in talks with various, you know, and our people and different people associated with labels to just see if we can, you know, make a mutually beneficial deal with where we're at. And then if we end up deciding not to go the label right route right now, then we'll just self-release and we'll, we'll start doing it that way. And then, you know, a few months down the road, start thinking about labels again, perhaps, you know, it's, it's, it's honestly kind of up in the air right now. We're just kind of trying like a few different things simultaneously.

46:22HostYeah. You're probably, most probably you, in any case, even if you get signed now or you don't find anybody, you will have, you will release your music around February at least.

46:34MikeYeah. I mean, that would be great. I think you're probably right about that.

46:38HostBecause even if you find the label, it takes the time to find the lawyer that you don't have to negotiate on the deal because there will be negotiation because Des is there and he knows the business, how tricky it is. So it won't be, it will be not fast, probably a month. So nothing is fast. And you're not going to release the album right before Christmas because it's not a Christmas album.

47:07GroundliftSo very true. This is not. We'll start writing one.

47:11HostAnd January is a dead time in the music industry anyway, February also. So sometime around March.

47:17MikeWe've heard that, that January is a dead time. So you're, you're confirming this.

47:21HostYes. Nice. All my, all my knowledge about the industry that's, because I could feel it also because there are no commissions coming from musicians before January. Like the whole, this November, December, January, and February, there's nothing usually.

47:41MikeYeah. It seems like that. It's very strange. It's like, it's a total lull in the industry. It's weird.

47:46HostIt has to do also, I mean, it has to do also with the financial year of the labels, how much money they can spend at the end of the year. Yeah. And how much money they can, and also with the, all the gigs that you can get the money from plus the, I mean, it's just naturally it's dead time, but I'm pretty sure your music will come out on Friday at some point.

48:09GroundliftYeah. It'll be a Friday. It'll be a Friday.

48:12HostIt will be a Friday.

48:13MikeYeah. But even though we're not releasing any like actual music right now, we're, we're very busy with, with creating things and putting stuff out there. Like we're, we're super active on Tik TOK. We're super active on Instagram. We're always releasing little jams and clips like that. And we're booking a lot of shows, you know, like we just played in California last month, we played in Rhode Island. And now we're, we're setting up a couple of shows around new England for this fall. And then also, you know, if there's other venues, I mean, we're, we're open to going anywhere to play. We literally like fly to Austria and play if, if it, if it made sense, you know, so we're doing a lot of shows.

48:45HostIf you, if you, if you're planning that, I can hook you up with bookers on this podcast. Everything is possible. It's not a problem.

48:52?That would be great. Oh yeah.

48:53HostYeah. Yeah. I know bookers who would be interested.

48:56GroundliftThat's what we'd like to hear, Arthur. We'll talk about that, man.

49:01HostRight. By the way, like Whiskey Go-Go, how was it? Like, did, I think I didn't ask you. How was it? It, it went really well, except, except, I mean, oh, give me the except.

49:11MikeExcept there's an except.

49:13GroundliftNo, it was supposed to, originally it was just going to be us and one other band.

49:16LeahSo that was going to be really easy, but then it ended up being like, they added a few more, they added like seven more bands.

49:22HostSo what, you know, no, not in one evening.

49:25?Yes. In one evening.

49:27LeahYes. So that, that meant we all had to like use backline.

49:30HostSomebody got really greedy. Yeah, I know.

49:33LeahSo that, we had, we all had to use backline.

49:36GroundliftLike I had to use a, like a drum set that everyone else was using and we didn't have a sound check, but I mean, we did, you know, we played the songs.

49:45LeahIt was, it was good, but yeah, we felt like they just wanted us to like, okay, okay, start play. Like, cause you know, they were in a rush basically. Cause it was a long night.

49:55HostOh, and you played rush songs. We did.

49:58?We did.

49:58MikeYeah, no, it's just, it's just a tough stage to play on. I mean, that, that, that's what it was. Like, it's, it's kind of hard to hear up there. It's one of those situations, you know, you said you're not a musician, but I'm sure you're aware that like on stage is very different to how it sounds off stage. Super different. Like it's not even the same thing at all.

50:14HostYeah. And I could see, I mean, there are some recordings from whiskey and I could see that the stage is above people. Uh, and the sound that you're getting is going somewhere not on stage. Yeah.

50:27?Yeah, exactly.

50:28MikeYeah. Like I could, when we were playing the whiskey, like the only thing I could hear was my bass. Like I could not hear Ace and I could like Leah's drums just sounded like really weird to me. Yeah.

50:35?So I just kind of had to get through the songs, like not quite knowing where, you know what I mean? But it, it went well.

50:41MikeCause we were her so much that like, I can't like, we could still do the songs without hearing,

50:45Groundliftyou know? Cause we're just so like locked in.

50:49HostSo in the end it worked out. I guess it's your real first time, uh, LA experience, like playing, like you, you're getting through the fire of the show business, getting to know it a little bit is step by step. What are your expectations at this point? Are you just like trying to keep it cool and not, not to go completely mad about, I mean, everything that's like going on, going on for you is like a huge, uh, I mean, chance kind of, you know, you're good musicians, right? But the chance of actually like getting on, on, on, uh, like signs, um, working with Oracle management and des and all this stuff, you know, like this is like happens not often.

51:36MikeUm, yeah, it's a really, really good opportunity where we're, we're, we're lucky, but we're also like really eager, you know?

51:43HostYeah. Yeah. You look like that. And that's what people like, you know, like, uh, like, uh, I could totally see when I, the first time I talked to you just before I sent to you the message, I could see that you're eager. I could see that the music is there and you're actually ready to do the work because it's really important.

52:01?Yeah.

52:01MikeYeah. But as far as expectations, I mean, we just, we, we want this band to be the only thing that we do. Cause you know, all three of us right now, we do a lot of different things, obviously as musicians. Um, but we want this band to be the only thing that we, that we really like have to do. Um, we want it to be our, our full-time job, you know, our like musical legacy, all that stuff. You know what I mean? Um, so we just got to figure out how to get it there.

52:26HostWell, you have a, you have a nice start and keep the momentum going.

52:30?Yeah.

52:31HostUh, but yeah, everybody with whom I talked, they said like, you should, you should focus on one band. Otherwise it's just physically, you don't have enough time for other stuff.

52:41?No. Yeah.

52:42HostIt will become, once you are signed and I think it will happen. In your case, once you're signed, Ooh, you need to work harder than before.

52:52HostSo you won't have a time for anything else, but I know that you're ready for that anyway.

52:57?Yeah.

52:58MikeSo you said a lot of musicians, uh, a lot of like younger musicians listen to this maybe for, uh, like just to kind of hear, uh, what is Ram with doing? You know, maybe we should start doing that. Right.

53:08HostYeah. So the idea, you mean like, uh, with the interviews of this kind, right? Yeah. Yeah. The idea is that we should like, I ask pretty much questions are pretty much the same around the music and how you got there. And the idea is that, Oh, so it's, it's for people to understand what to expect. Basically just sharing the knowledge about everything. Plus a contact of, they know you now. I know you now.

53:35?Yeah.

53:35HostSo this is like a place where the magic happens. For example, I like to give the example when I interviewed a band, they said, okay, we need, uh, a booker, a promoter in Austria. I'm like, okay, I will try. And I found a guy, I mean, I just contacted them and then they came from United Kingdom to Austria.

53:56MikeAnd now we're, we're, we're going to be talking to you about bookers now in, in, in Austria.

54:00?Yeah.

54:02HostWell, it will be fine. I mean, yeah, I know just, just connecting people and that's it.

54:06MikeYeah. That's great. Well, as far as young musicians that I'll, if, if there's more listening now that we're, we're, we're towards the end of this, uh, all like all this stuff we're doing, it takes a lot of time, like doing social media, you know, flying to LA, making an EP, writing songs and, you know, playing shows and hooking up all this stuff. It takes a lot of time, but none of it matters if you don't practice. And a lot of people, I feel like they don't, like we, we all, it's super important to the

54:31?three of us that we all have enough time to like practice our instruments and play and

54:35Mikemake sure we have it. Are you know what together, you know?

54:38HostHow, how often are you practicing per week as a band?

54:42MikeOh, I didn't even mean as a band. I meant individually.

54:46?All right.

54:47HostIndividually and as a band, we need to give an example.

54:50GroundliftAs a band, we meet up like usually like once a week to rehearse for shows and stuff.

54:55MikeWell, if we have like a big show coming up, it'll be more like sometimes we'll do three times a week, like in the, you know, in the evenings after work, like we'll all get together for a few hours.

55:03?Yeah.

55:04HostAnd practicing individually every day.

55:07?Oh yeah.

55:08GroundliftYeah. We all try to practice every day for a while.

55:11?Definitely.

55:12HostYeah. But you can even see, I think you recorded it on, on social media that you're practicing or something. I mean, it's like, you're like crazy with the music and stuff. You're like really into it. It's, it's self-explanatory. It's, it's, you are more about, that's the thing. You're more about the music, uh, but you needed help with the direction and the visuals. And that's what you get now.

55:36?Yeah.

55:36HostSo, but there are so many bands that want to have the, uh, the, the fame, the glory or the visuals, you know, but nobody wants to do the work.

55:48?Yeah.

55:49MikeYeah. In the end, it's all about music. Like we do all this extra stuff so we can do the music.

55:54?Exactly. Yeah.

55:55HostAll right, guys, uh, I don't want to bother you too much. Uh, so the last thing is I ask, uh, keep me, uh, ground lift song till you run out of

56:05?time.

61:49HostThank you, ground lift. And thank you, dear listener, for staying till the end. Don't forget to follow this show on Spotify. And if you like what you're hearing, rate it show on Spotify, Apple, or any other podcast platform that you prefer. Write a review, I love, and I hate reviews. All right. Until next time.

62:09?Bye.