The Artist Interrogations Podcast.
[heavy metal music] [electric guitar] Unmute. Hello.
Hey, how's it going?
Good. How are you?
I- I'm doing fantastic. It's, uh, great to have you on this, uh, this early. I'm not used to this light being on me at like 9:00 AM. I don't know how our morning show h- guy does it.
[laughs]
'Cause he wakes up at like 5:30-
[laughs]
... and then he comes in here and does reaction videos, kind of like you sometimes. And it will turn on the studio light and I'm just like... I, I, I stupidly make the dumb, th- the, uh, dumb decision to look right into it. So now I'm like temporarily blinded.
Did I do the dumb decision by making you wake up early?
[laughs]
'Cause I just said 11:00 AM. I just threw it out there.
[laughs]
Like, I didn't know.
No, it's fine.
[laughs] Okay. All right.
It's... I- I- I've done... Uh, I- I did a, uh, interview with Fame on Fire when they were, uh, coming through the area and it was Saturday morning at like 5:30 AM was when they were coming through, 'cause they were going from, uh, Salt Lake City to, uh, Boise, I believe, or something like that. So they, they stopped in our parking lot and sure enough, I had to be the one to wake up that early and interview these guys half awa- half awake and it, it sucked. [laughs] So...
Yeah. Yeah. But I'm sure it went all well and everything.
Yeah. Yeah. Those guys are, those guys are awesome. But yeah, appreciate you doing this, by the way, especially right before the, uh, the year ends.
Yeah, of course. I- it's the perfect time 'cause obviously next week is like the holidays and stuff, so. Yeah. I- I'm totally down to do, uh... I- I've never been on the radio, so-
Oh, okay
... that's kind of cool.
Yeah. [laughs]
Yeah. So that's a, that's a first for me.
We're like the first radio station to reach out to you about, uh, doing this type of thing? 'Cause, uh, radio stations, they for some reason hate YouTubers. I- I don't, I don't know why.
[laughs]
They, they just do. [laughs] And I feel like there are-
Do they? Yeah. That's probably-
And some like inter-
... why I've never been invited. Yeah.
[laughs] And th- they're like, th- there's like some inner competition, I guess, or something like that. But, uh, we've had Nick Nocturnal on in the past and I was like, "I've always watched MetalBurb. W- why don't I just get him on the show?" [laughs] And so I reached out. So yeah, it's perfect, it's perfect. And I- I feel like I'm al- I'm also interrupting you with, uh, all this work you're doing right now with the, uh, best of 2025, with all these different lists and all these different, uh, uh, videos you're putting out, which are quite, uh, informative. Because, uh, it m- m- keeps my eye on different bands that don't necessarily get, uh, love on the radio. So I kind of just, uh... Well, I- I'll take some of your tracks that you react to and just put them as my pick of the day that I do at 2:00 PM every weekday and, uh, play them on the air.
Oh. Can I ask, what kind of picks have you done? Like is there a band-
Um-
... that you're like, "Oh"?
Let's see here. Uh, I do like the... Of course, your song of the year with the, the black shape, the, like a fourth, like the Fourth Wall, that one I've done.
Mm-hmm.
There's been so many that I'm like, "Okay, why..." Like, v- uh, is it Vianova? Is that how you say it? Or Vianova?
Vianova.
Vianova?
Vianova. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've played them, I played the Oh Yah Yes! on. Um, of course, uh, what, what else? I mean, I, I've, I've picked so many that it like... now that I'm on the spot, I'm just like, "How many can I list off?" Or, "How many can I think of?" And my, my brain's just going blank, so... [laughs]
Oh, I, I, I don't blame you, dude. I, if I could like, uh, throw one out there, I think us Sava is a sweet band to keep your eye out on. I think, uh, some of their songs would be good for a radio station too. Song Confidence, it's like a five-minute Deftones-y kind of track too. It's very, very cool. Upcoming band that I think are really, uh, sweet.
I did see your reaction to them and I, I meant to get them on. I think it was just... There was at one point so many tracks before like the music industry shut down that I was trying my best to like pick each, each track for the week. 'Cause I, I, I've turned Peaches' Pick of the Day into like this weird, uh, this weird thing where I pick like a newer song that wouldn't necessarily get radio airplay, but also like it would appe- it would appease the elitists online type thing. [laughs] And I feel like-
Yeah
... that's where I'm going wrong. [laughs]
Yeah. Don't worry about them. Just do whatever you think is Peaches' best picks.
Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] So... But like, going through your process, uh, for the best of 2025, how meticulous is that? I mean, you did... I did hear you say on the metal roundup that it is very time-consuming. And, uh, I just put out these little shorts on social media of my, my five best tr- or my five picks of the week, and even that just takes forever. I can't imagine doing like the top 25 albums of the year.
Yeah. Well, look, it can be a lot easier. I do it in a very time-consuming way. Like you could just, you know, name off a bunch of bands and songs that you like, right? But for me, when I'm making these videos, uh, what I like to do is just like clip a moment from the song, right? So I have to source all the songs, you know, I have to come up with the list. Um, but then when I find the, the songs, I actually like to, for my audience to discover the music, hear it for themselves. Because I always try to say in these videos, it's like, it doesn't matter what my rankings are, what my favorite song of the year is. That doesn't matter as much as you guys actually just discovering the music, because I could easily just say, "Number 10 goes to Vianova. Number nine goes to Imminence." But instead, I want you to hear the music just like you, like on a radio station, right? You want them to hear the music. So that's where it gets so time-consuming, then you're clipping it in, and then, um... I, I don't know what it's like on a radio station, how they license all this music. I don't know, uh, understand all that, but when it comes to YouTube, copyright is such a pain, right? You can only allow maybe nine seconds of music that's pushing it before you get a copyright claim. And look, I'm trying to make some ad revenue. I'm trying to make some money from YouTube ads. It's not a lot. Like I don't pull in 100,000 views or millions of views, right? So... But still, it's something. So I, I... You know, I make sure that I don't get hit with copyright, and then I make the videos, I try to make them entertaining and fun. Um, so all in all, it takes about like probably 10 to 12 hours per video to make these videos. So I... All week last week was just trying to like, you know, narrow down all the songs I listened to for the entire year, trying to come up with these lists. 'Cause I feel like all my reaction videos and all the songs and all the Twitch streams I listen, I do where I'm listening to music all comes to it, where, uh, at the end of the year I have to compile these lists and make sure I have like good informative...... and fun videos for everyone to watch.
Are you a spreadsheet kind of guy? Like, do you have every single song that you've ever listened to for 2025 on one spreadsheet? [laughs]
No. [laughs] Oh, man. Not at all. I should be way more organized. So, like, uh, on my Twitch streams I actually, I do have all the songs I- I've, like, listened to on Twitch. Like, every week we live stream and I listen to 30 songs a week or so. Um, and a lot of people, I'm listening to the song and someone in my Twitch stream will be saying, "Oh, Birb, you've already reacted to this." I'm like, "I don't know. I can't keep up with all this stuff." So yeah. I definitely should be a little bit more organized but, um, yeah, I can still figure it out. I do have, like, a playlist on Spotify, actually, and then I look at my videos and then I, I kind of go through my playlists and my favorite songs and look at my videos and that's how I compile these lists.
I'm right there with you. I should have been doing a Peaches Picks of the Year list and put that out there so people can also, like what you mentioned, discover new tracks. We have a lot of people who are just, sometimes they, they, they just tune in for five minutes out of the d- out of their day, and one guy r- uh, recently messaged us saying like, "It's taken me six months to try to find this song that you guys are playing, and I had to Google search all the lyrics on, on, on Google, of course, to find out what it is, and it was a Ghost track." And I'm like, "You don't know who Ghost is?"
[laughs]
Like, I just [laughs] I, I was like, I, I, I just, like, thought that was a given, but then I realized people also have lives outside [laughs] of music. I'm just, well, both of us are in the music industry, kind of. We're both, like, you know, i- reacting to the new releases and a lot of people who are also older stop listening to new music at 30 years old, which is weird. Like, you, is, is, like, it's been proven that, like, at 30 you just stop listening to new music which, I'm, like, a year away from that so I'm, I'm thinking that n- next year I'll start complaining about the new stuff and-
[laughs]
... say, not metal and industry plant and coworker m- music and all of that fun stuff. [laughs]
Oh yeah. Know all those terms. What is your, uh, Peaches Pick of the Year? Uh, ha- have you mentioned it yet?
Uh-
Can you do that yet?
... I haven't mentioned anything of that sort. Um, I, my Pea- my Peaches Pick of the Day is just a track that I have the listeners listen to at 2:00 PM every single weekday. I'm like, "Here's a song I want you to hear." And it could be anything from some random ballad. I used to do Peaches Power Ballad, and that was one of my least favorite segments 'cause I had to find, like [laughs], the sappiest power ballad, and then we, we had this big tournament that I just threw together last minute and, uh, people really seemed to like that, so, and then I had Peaches Pit where I would play, like, a heavy song. We just combined both those features and made it Peaches Pick of the Day where I just play an- any track that I want to at 2:00 PM, but I, I'm trying to think of what would be my alt- 'cause my Spotify Wrapped, my number one song was Architects Elegy. Like, that song right there is-
Nice
... my absolute-
Nice. [laughs]
... my absolute favorite. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, because I- I was gonna go over my top 10 favorite albums of 2025 with you, just to see what you thought of this list, 'cause I was thinking about doing what you've done with, uh, just my, doing my own list and all of that, but I, I'm not good at all with, like, Adobe Illustrator and, like, After Effects, and I, I've been using Premier somewhat but we have this girl named Maddy here in the building and she's our video girl and I've asked her questions and she's like, "Oh, you have to download After Effects." I'm like, "What exactly is that? I, I don't know." [laughs] I'm just lost. [laughs] You know? So, yeah. She, uh, she's, she... I, I didn't wanna, like, give her the whole project and be like, "Hey, here's my top 10 favorite albums. Could you make me a video?" [laughs] type of thing. That'd just be hor- horrible.
Oh yeah. It's, takes a long time. And yeah, and learning Adobe and all that software can be s- so time-consuming, but I feel like it's even easier now. Like, uh, I know, um, apps like CapCut-
Yes
... on mobile which I don't, I'm starting to use a little bit when I need it. But, um, they have some AI soft...
Uh-oh. Did he cut out?
Metal Birb cut out. No. [laughs]
... software that can, like, kinda, you know, It's in approach, I guess.
There we go. Now you're back. Sorry. For some reason I completely froze and then it took, like, a minute. [laughs]
Oh, okay.
That's, that's-
Well, I was talking about Adobe products being just, uh, tough to really fully grasp, you know?
Yeah. No, definitely. It's, it's takes, it takes a lot, and, uh, i- it's, it's, uh... Premier to me is still oh so confusing. Um, Audition is something I've used now for years and I still discover new things every day. Our bo- our operations manager is like a production nut, and so he'll, he'll tell me all these things, like, "Here, I'll melt your brain for a second," and he'll turn down these different frequencies and he'll do all this stuff and it just, it, it's, it's, like, it's too much, [laughs] you know? I'm just here to have some fun and play songs and, [laughs] and have a great show, you know? [laughs]
Yeah. I totally get that, and, uh, well, you were mentioning earlier about your top 25 albums and you wanna go through that. I'm totally down to-
Okay
... go through your list. I'd love to know some of your favorites.
Yeah. So this is just the top 10 here. Um, we got Whitechapel Hymns & Dissonance at number 10.
Good.
I feel, I feel like that was the ultimate test of, uh, Phil Bozeman, uh, of, like, people just saying he doesn't have it anymore and then he just came back with a vengeance. I, I feel like that's just, like, him saying, "Screw you all," kind of thing. Um, I didn't really listen to this band at number nine at all until this year. Um, I really liked, I really liked, uh, Distracted By The Mona Lisa. Uh, The Callous Dowboys' 'I Don't Wanna See You In Heaven!' I thought that was a fantastic album overall with Two-Headed Trout as well. I thought that was an amazing song. And then, um-
Damn
... at number eight, got, uh, Spiritbox Tsunami Sea. I figure that was just a given because Spiritbox can never really do anything wrong, I feel like. Also, with them it's funny because I, I've tried my hardest to see them and I feel like, uh, something just pops up every single time. Like, uh, they were supposed to come right here to Idaho Falls but they dropped out of the Popular Monks tour with Falling in Reverse.
Oh, that whole thing, yeah.
That whole thing. So we ended up getting Our Last Night and I'm like, "Well, you, you might as well just not even fill the gap." No, I'm kidding. [laughs] I'm jo- [laughs] um-
[laughs] I'm not saying nothing.
No. No. In fact-
[laughs]
[laughs] Uh, at number seven, um, I felt like this one was a-[laughs] Uh, it, it was too short, but it was still such a great album. Paleface Swiss Cursed.
Mm-hmm.
And that one came out very early in 2025. That was January 3rd, so it's just... It, it almost feels like it's still 2024 in my [laughs] eyes with that one, but-
Yeah
... I remember waiting for that. And then they surprised us with that ballad, and th- they, they just released that, uh, that other ballad. It was, was Everything Is Fine, too? I, I like that one a lot. Um, number six, i- it... This one was different. Um, I don't nec- I never li- really listened to this band back when they were making sort of punky style tracks. Um, of course everyone knows Miss Murder, but this latest album has that completely different sound. AFI, Silver Bleeds the Black Sun.
Nice.
Yeah. I, I, I just like the way that that one sounds to me. And I feel, uh, their, their lead singer has a cool new look. I just love he looks like... He reminds me of Jim Croce. Like, [laughs] that's what he looks like right now.
He looks like a retired Korn star. [laughs]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly, yeah, he does. [laughs] He d- [laughs] Oh, man.
I need to listen to that album, man. Like, I, I remember listening to the first single that came out. I'm like, "Whoa, this is different."
Yeah.
"This is a lot different than the AFI that I know." But then, like, I was kinda drawn to it. I thought it was interesting.
M-
So I need to listen to that album, for sure.
I'm a huge sucker for, like, that '80s sound, 'cause I grew up with my dad playing all these different '80s tracks, and of course, Sirius XM, like, 80s on 8. And we had this Rockin' 80s triple pack CD that we would always listen to. And I, I, I feel like th- with AFI, too, just coming out of the n- nowhere with that, it really just shocked me, too, and thought it just was, like, a great underrated album that most people were like, "Eh." I, I, I... Like, AFI changed their sound, so I feel like they pissed off their old fans with this new sound, but then some new fans, like myself, came in and replaced those old fans.
Yeah.
But, all right, so-
That's how it works.
Yeah, yeah. [laughs] Number five, this one, very catchy, very fun. Uh, Sleep Theory, Afterglow.
Hmm. Yeah, those guys are blowing up. I, I haven't really done a deep dive into them, but I, I saw them live. Vocalist is incredible live, man.
Oh, Colan's amazing. We had, uh, the wh- We had them and Never Tellus stop by our building, and we ended up just talking about sneakers and also playing Marvel Rivals. And so now Colan wants to play Marvel Rivals, and I suck at that game. So I've been holding it off ever since just because of that. [laughs] Like, I don't wanna disappoint him and just see him unfollow me in Instagram, because, like, this guy sucks. [laughs]
[laughs] This guy sucks at Marvel.
Um, this one, uh, I'm shocked I cho- oh, actually, you know what? I'm shocked this band decided to release two albums this year, and number four. Uh, Silverstein, Anti-Bloom. They also released-
Silverstein released two records this year?
They released Anti-Bloom and Pink Moon.
Oh, and it wasn't, like, two EPs?
No, it was full two-length... It was, like, 23 songs altogether. It was, like, uh, 12 on one, 11 on the other, or vice versa. I forgot exactly what, but they decided to release two full albums this year.
Wow, that went way over my radar. Like, I, I heard the song with Rory, where, uh-
Oh, yeah
... uh, that, that collab- Yeah, from Dayseeker? That was good.
Drink the Blood. I love that one.
Yeah.
But th- they w-
Yeah, that was a-
At the beginning part of the year, they pl- released Confession, Don't Let Me Get Too Low, like, all these different great tracks.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
See, I already forgot what I heard this year. [laughs]
[laughs] Well, I can onl-
How much music
Dude, I could only imagine how much you have to listen to and how much you have to look out for. It's so much, you know? [laughs]
Well, I'm sure you have, like, a lot of your listeners chiming in. Like, my community is constantly showing me new bands all the time, and it's weird. When, like, there's a song that they hype up, um, when I go live on Twitch, then all of a sudden everyone is asking for me to check it out. Like, that happened with Villanova at the beginning of the year. Everyone's like, "Listen to the new Villanova song." I'm like, "Okay." Then I did, I'm like, "I get it. Okay."
Yeah, yeah. I wa- I was thinking about, uh, Nick Nocturnal, and I was thinking about, like, you know, he took that hiatus this year, and so many great new albums, tracks, EPs came out. I just imagine him, and it, like... Trying his best not to go towards his computer and react to one of these things, [laughs] 'cause he's just, he's like, "I'm just trying to take a break," you know? [laughs]
I know, I was thinking that too. Uh, I was just, like, yeah, that like compulse- compulsion to, like, kinda just wanna hear it and film it or something. 'Cause I, I... Like, after he left, Lorna Shore dropped one of the heaviest breakdowns of the year.
Yes.
[laughs] And then-
President Flesh. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm like, "He missed that. Wow."
Yeah, dude, that whole album, um, was awesome. We... It's funny, 'cause we're the only radio station to play Lorna Shore, uh, at all hours of the day. And I remember when To The Hellfire first came out, we played that on the noon hour, and, uh, or we do, like, a specialty noon hour sh- show. It's called, like, The Noon Hour of Madness and Mayhem, and it's all the DJs getting together. We're just doing absolutely nothing, and we're, but we're also trying to be entertaining at the same time. But we played that song in the very beginning part, and I remember I was, uh, I was on my lunch break. 'Cause after we record that, we just all kind of disperse, and I was on my lunch break, and I heard that song. I'm like, "I can't believe we're playing this." You know? I can't believe, [laughs] like, someone can turn on the radio [laughs] and just hear Will Ramos doing his thing.
I'm genuinely shocked.
[laughs]
[laughs] I'm like, "That's so surprising."
Yeah, yeah.
The radio stations here, like Canada, like, man, we listen to Arcade Fire and bunch of indie, Mumford & Sons is what you hear on the radio here.
Oh, yeah. No, I, I grew up in Southern California with K-Rock and Alt 98.7, and they all play the sissy alternative, which is great if you like that, but there, there's no true active rock station, and it really does suck because there's a lot of people there that are heavily, heavily into that, and there's nothing for them anymore. And it's just, it's, it's... Like, I, I tried telling my friends from back home. I'm like, "Please, just put..." Like, I'll, I'll give them K-Bear stickers, and I'll be like, "Put, put, put these everywhere, and tell people to download the app [laughs] and, like, listen to us." 'Cause I feel bad for people who are out of state, 'cause we'll, we'll play Lorna Shore, Knocked Loose, Slaughter to Prevail, all the
crazy tracks. And then our fans sometimes will, like... They'll, they'll become spoiled, and they'll be like, "Why don't you guys play Daedric?" Or, "Why don't you guys do this? Why don't you guys play this band?" [laughs] And it's like, "Go to, go to Michigan and tell them to go start playing those tracks."
[laughs] Yeah.
Playing those bands. [laughs]
'Cause at least you guys are actually playing the stuff. Yeah.
Yeah, and m-We are paying attention to what our listeners also say. Like, that, that's the thing. You gotta pay attention to what the listeners are wanting. And, uh, we'll... Our whole playlist is based off of what people are streaming, not the radio charts. So, we'll add-
Mm-hmm
... random stuff. Uh, a listener actually told us about Electric Callboy years ago. Um, one of the, one of our listeners told the morning show host, Victor Wilt, who's also the, uh, music director, the, um... They're like, "Hey, have you heard MC Thunder?" And he's like, "What's that?" And so he turned it on and was, like, just blown away. So, we immediately added that to the playlist. And ever since, we've had Kevin and Nico on the show. We've been to their show-
Oh, nice
... the, the show in Salt Lake City and it's... It... They're, they're an awesome, awesome group. I- I'm... I- I feel like their, um, sort of formula of these party metal tracks might run its course, and it might eventually kind of become, uh, just stale. But I- I want... I- I'm hoping that, [sighs] that they, they continue their- their reign. I- I don't know how to put it. Like, I feel like... I- I feel like with these latest tracks, I'm like, "Yeah, I feel like I've heard this before." Like, [laughs] I- I- I- I feel like there's that same thing going on with them.
I know. Elevator Operator is awesome though. I love that song, love th- love the video. I'm like, it is quite similar to a lot of the stuff that they've written. But then they dropped another song, uh, later, just like a few months ago or last month, and I remember thinking-
Tanzanite?
Yeah. And I'm like, "This is good." But, like, the formula is there. I really hope that they continue it or just, like, somewhat tweak their sound 'cause their formula is awesome. It just... It is getting a little stale. But seeing them live-
Oh, yeah
... they put on one of the best shows.
Absolutely.
So fun.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, no. I'm- I'm excited 'cause next year they'll be in Salt Lake City again for the first time since 2023 with Polaris and Scene Queen and-
Ooh
... that's- that's marked in my calendar 'cause I love Polaris. That- that la- l- last album from them, p- phenomenal. Phenomenal.
That is gonna be such a good show. Polaris-
Oh, yeah
... and Electric Callboy.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. And so number three on this list here. I wa- I- I feel like this one... We were just talking about songs that sound the same. Dayseeker, Creature in the Black Night. I- I love their sound-
Okay
... but I feel like most of their songs are like, "Okay, we get it, Rory."
[laughs]
Like, [laughs] y- you're- you're singing about, like, the same stuff. And I've had 'em on the show and I- I talked to 'em. I'm like, "Y- y- I- I do like the way you guys sound and everything." I feel bad for, like, sort of saying all their songs [laughs] sort of sound the same after I talked to him. I was like, "I'm very excited for the new album." But [laughs] at the same time, I feel like bands are gonna get a whole lot worse criticism compared to what I'm saying.
It's f- funny how you put that at number three after just saying it all sounds the same. [laughs]
'Ca- 'cause it's, "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Like, I love those songs. [laughs]
[laughs]
Um, and this one, I feel like this band, um, they just got onto the scene really, and they, uh, hardly have any followers online. But their latest album really blew me away. Uh, Downswing and Everything Was Dark.
Hardcore, right?
Y- uh, they switched to, like, modern metalcore.
Oh, okay.
Yeah. They kinda, they kinda switched their sound. I think they switched, uh, vocalists and, um, I just had those guys on the show last week and was talking with, uh, their drummer. And also, Harrison, this... The vocalist actually hopped on board too. But, uh, we were talking about how, um, the vocalist, uh, Harrison, he... How he felt over the past five years about this world. And they just decided to go as angry as possible with this. And it's just right to the point. Like, there's no fluff really with it.
Yeah. I- I think I've heard some of their stuff before. I just recognized the name. Again, I- I probably heard it on Twitch and it's just blanking, but I... Just knowing the name, it's probably pretty heavy.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. And, like, the coveted number one spot on Peach's list, like anybody cares, [laughs] is Architects of the Sky, the Earth and All Between. I figured that, with that- that whole album with Seeing Red, Black Hole, Whiplash, Elegy, the- Everything Ends, like all those tracks, phenomenal.
Yeah. Yeah, I think it's, uh, their best work, uh, in some time for me. Like, have you been a Architects fan for a long time?
Not- not at all, actually. Um, we... In 2021, I think, when I first started working here, we were playing Animal. A- or Ana- Animals. And I hated that song 'cause that was our number one most played song and I had to hear it all the time. Should I just pull the pin over and over and over again? And so I heard that track as much as I did, and then I forgot exactly what they released after it that really drew me in. And then this latest album just blew me out of the water, I think. It's just... It's awesome.
Yeah, I, uh... Elegy is such a stand-out track. Black Hole's great too. There's a lot of songs that I like on it and I do think... Yeah, like I said, it- it's their best work in some time. But for me, if... [sighs] The thing is, I- I discovered them back in like 2009 with Hollow Crown and that, that was like math core. That was intense, relentless metal. And then, uh, I've been, you know... It's one of my favorite bands. And then after Tom Storl passed and obviously the writing's changed a little bit, I haven't been fully connecting with their music. And even... Uh, I saw them live recently this year and they barely played any of their old stuff. And I'm like, "This, uh, this is a whole new band now," which I to- can obviously respect because they- they got involved. But I couldn't get into, um, a lot of their albums, but I find the new album... Yeah, like I said, it's one of their strongest. It's not my favorite and it could be because I'm just, like, maybe looking at their music with rose-colored glasses, loving a lot of the old stuff. You know, All Our Gods Abandoned Us, Hollow Crown stuff. But, um, the new album, I like that it's heavy and it's f- catchy and it's fun and reminds me of Bring Me The Horizon in some aspects because of that. It also helps Jordan Fish help produce it, but I've... I think it's, uh, a good direction of where the band...Uh, I hope to see them go more into heavy stuff in the future.
Yeah. ARKHTYPS, I feel like the same thing happened to them with Whitechapel, the same as Whitechapel, where Sam was kind of, like, told the band is dead because of the passing of the, you know, the former member and all of that. Where I feel like Sam really just did something hilarious and also awesome at the same time with putting out Seeing Red, which is like a diss track to the haters, like, I just, I find that awesome. I find that so cool. Like, I would do the same thing. If I was a vocalist [laughs] I'd be like, "Screw all of you, you suck," type of thing. [laughs]
[laughs] It's funny, 'cause he got a lot of heat from that too. A lot of people were like, "Oh, this guy's so passive aggressive. Uh."
[laughs] dude-
But, like, the fans were kinda annoying, right? So.
Yeah. You know- you know who has the worst fans? I can tell you this real fast. Um, Seether-
Sleep Token.
Oh, Sleep Token for sure, but-
[laughs] Sorry. Not to steal the spotlight.
No, no, no. No. Uh, I, uh, Seether came to Idaho Falls, I'm gonna s- I'm gonna try to go through this as fast as possible. Seether came to Idaho Falls. I interviewed Dale from Seether prior to the show. I asked their subreddit, "What questions should I ask Seether?" They then go... The whole, everyone in the subreddit goes, "Why haven't you released the deluxe version of this album? Why hasn't this come out? What are you doing with this? Why is this no longer a thing?" So, I just ignored all of their questions. I had a brief 10-minute conversation, 'cause you only really get 10 minutes with the- the- sometimes with the person. Um, I- I only had 10 minutes with Dale. I asked him all about, like, his personal life and stuff, and outside of music. And he was talking about fishing spots in East Idaho. Like, he was out there fishing at Snake River. And I thought that was awesome, so we were just talking about that. And then the interview ends. I then put it all together, put it on YouTube, shared in the subreddit. They all just trash me. Like, they're like, "You didn't ask a single one of our questions, you moron."
[laughs]
And- and- and so then, um, our podcasts, like, our... We do our... We- we put our after... We put our shows on demand, like, on places like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, et cetera. Um, our m- our music director, our morning show host is also our social media director. So he's like, "You know what? On the K-Bear YouTube channel, we're gonna start putting all the podcasts that we've put out." So our videos went from, like, 150 videos to, like, 990 or something like that. Like, it was all of our podcasts all- all at once getting uploaded to our YouTube channel. Well, that one p- sh- afternoon show where I, uh, sort of talked about the situation with the Seether subreddit after that whole thing happened, um, I wrote in the, I wrote as the podcast title, "Seether Fans Need a Hug."
[laughs]
And sure enough, the- the- one of the moderators like, "Oh, I see Seether got tagged in something. Let me go to it." And then the- [clears throat] the- he went to it and listened to the, like, the entire show [laughs] and heard me talk about the situation. And then commented, like, this whole thing, like, "Seether moderator here," then, like, just roast, tried, like, roasting me. And then proceeded to permanently ban me from their subreddit.
[laughs]
And said, like, "F right off to bald hell where you belong." And I was just like-
Oh, wow
... I was just like, "Dude."
[laughs]
"What in the world?" Because I was, uh, that- that was six months after the show. Like, it was just, like, a couple weeks ago. A- and that show happened in May. And I'm sitting there on my computer playing, like, Postal 2, and I get, like, a Reddit notification that I've been permanently banned. I'm like, "What- what in the world is this?" And sure enough, yeah, it was the moderator just losing his mind. So now every single time I just trash the Seether subreddit, the moderator will then come to-
[laughs]
... like, our YouTube channel and comment saying, "We got the- the screenshots, pal." And I- I don't want to say anything back, 'cause it's just funny egging him on kind of thing. [laughs] He's gonna see this interview and- and be like, "Oh, that, I hate that guy." [laughs]
[laughs] That's such a personal vendetta with the Seether fans. That's crazy.
And it's weird how it's just that band. Like, it's not... Like, I- I've shared plenty of interviews in the past in other subreddits, like Memphis May Fire, um, Silverstein, Dayseeker. Everyone's, "Thank you so much. That's awesome." Seether fans, "Screw you," because I- I didn't ask their questions. Like, I- I, sure enough, I- I could try getting one of the members of Seether on the show and just go through that list and call it, like, a- a garbage interview with the garbage interviewer peaches. And then just [laughs] really start listing off questions from their subreddit.
Yeah. I feel like poking the bear a little bit could be helping that. But that- that sounds really fun. I know what you mean where you just kind of want to egg them on, 'cause-
Uh-huh
... [laughs] it's just, it just becomes goofy.
Well, they wouldn't know what to do if I actually did that. If I actually m- interviewed one of their members and asked all of their questions, 'cause then they'd be like, "Oh, we hate this guy," but then he did exactly what we wanted him to do. I feel like they would take some credit and be like, "We bullied this guy in asking our questions." [laughs] And something like that. But I don't know. It- it- it was just funny how that early 2000s band, just out of nowhere, like, that's the fan base that sucks, you know? But I do agree with the Sleep Token fans. Like, I'm a... We're all huge fans of Sleep Token here. But those fans can get very weird. I don't know if I saw, like, a meme post recently or what it was, but somebody posted about how they store their Sleep Token vinyl in, like, a room control- a room temperature-controlled room. And [laughs] I was like, "There's no way that this is real." [laughs]
Yeah. It's the... I don't even know what to- how to start with the Sleep Token stuff, because yeah, they're like one of my favorite bands. Um, and saying maybe the worst could be a little bit tough, because there's a few, uh, fan bases that I've upsetted in the past. Nightwish, Tool, [laughs] the- these fan bases are intense. Babymetal, Babymetal fans like me. But if you say one thing that you don't like about Babymetal, ooh, you're gonna get roasted.
I was gonna ask you-
Um..
... that question if, like, you've gotten into arguments with fan bases before. So I'm glad you said that.
Oh, well yeah, in the past for sure, I would probably, like, argue back in the comments. Like, "Oh, no, you, I'm not an idiot, you're an idiot." Right? But, like, over time I realized there's no point. Um, uh, and also, I don't really like putting out the n- negative vibes as much. Like, before in the past, I used to be a lot more critical. But now I just kind of want to praise the stuff I actually do enjoy. And I'll also, I just understand that some stuff is just not for me subjectively. But when it comes to Sleep Token, oh yeah, they're for me. I've been listening to them since 2018. They're, like, one of my favorite bands. And seeing their popularity just become, like, the- this phenomenon...They, they're, like, the biggest band right now. And I'm so happy for their success. But with that comes some crazy intense fans, right? These guys are so intense that you can't say anything critical. A- and everything is just, like, his personal struggles. Oh man, I talked about the, uh, lyrics in Gess- Gethsemane where it's like, "You never saw me naked."
[laughs]
I'm just like, uh, I don't know. It's just so like... I get it, you're vulnerable and it's sad for you, but like I- I find the lyrics can be a little bit cheesy. And, oh man, people did not like that at all, right?
Oh.
And i- it's just like, you can't look at anything, uh, critical with these guys. But another thing is just the band, I understand why they're, they get so many haters, is because they've become such a huge phenomenon. And I went to a store recently at my shopping mall, and, um, I saw Sleep Token merchandise at this random store. A- and, uh, they had Sleep Token hair clips, Sleep Token necklaces, bracelets. I'm like, "My God, these guys have become this whole, uh, commercial thing." And it really feels a little forced. So, I get why people may not... feel a little iffy with Sleep Token and, uh, yeah, and the fan base being very intense. Also, they're very, um, oh, I don't even know how to descri- Actually, no, I do know how to describe them. A lot of them are sad boy cry wankers.
It's true.
[laughs]
It- it's true. I mean, there's a weird mixture of like people who just enjoy music with girls who discovered them on TikTok, and they're reading their smut and listening to Provider, like, over and over and over again. And I, uh, people are spending so much money on their concert tickets. Like, we always say, w- we always tell people, "Don't buy resell." Like, you know, wait till like the day of the show sometimes if the tickets are that overpriced. Because resellers are going to be freaking out the day of the show, and then that's when they'll sell at their lowest point, and you could just go to a show for real cheap. Some girl calls us and says, "Hey, I- I took a loan out to go to Sleep Token in Salt Lake City. I paid four grand." And, um, [laughs] I just, I just started hitting like, "You're an idiot. You're an idiot," on the soundboard. [laughs]
Are you kidding me? Four grand?
Yeah.
A loan?
Just to go to the see Sleep Token at the Maverick Center or the Delta Center, whichever one that it was. But I also thought it was hilarious that Thornhill dropped out of the Landmarks tour. Um, there was that whole announcement that they dropped out. And then the next day they're like, uh, they announced that they're gonna be opening up for Sleep Token [laughs] on that tour. It's like, I would do the same thing. Y- you gotta go to the s-
Oh, yeah.
The tour that's gonna sell out in like two minutes. And-
Even Landmarks was probably just thinking like, "Yeah, go for it."
Yeah. Like those lucky, those lucky dogs, you know? [laughs]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, "Damn it, why not us," kind of thing.
[laughs] Because I- I, the one thing I wish I saw. I don't know, was it... It was Sleep Token and Bill Murray over in Europe. That's the one tour I- I wish I- I flew all the way out to Europe for the first time for, just to go see that. See people freak out to listening to Bill Murray and then Sleep Token afterwards.
Yeah, that would be an interesting crowd, wouldn't it?
Oh yeah.
[laughs]
It would just be, uh... Like there's some tours that I see pop up and I'm just like, "Wow." I- I saw, uh, Scene Queen because I- I went to go see Deadlands. I love Deadlands, they're awesome. Casey Carlson and CJ, they're cool people. And so, Deadlands was opening up for Scene Queen, and I show up. And I'm not trying to insult the Scene Queen fans here, but there were some, uh, people as big as I am wearing a wig and dresses. And it was just like... I- it wasn't good [laughs]. It wasn't... Like, I felt so out of place myself there. The- the fan base was definitely into it. I'm also, you can't tell, but I- I'm six foot nine. So anywhere I go in the venue-
Whoa.
Anywhere I go in the venue at all, um, I can hear that person behind me, "Oh, son of a..." You know, they just get all, [laughs] all pissed.
S- sorry, that's just the most mind-blowing fact of this entire-
[laughs]
... podcast. Like you're six foot nine. Holy...
[laughs] Yeah. Yeah, that's like the one thing I like telling people for sure. Like, I will always like say that just because I'm like, "You can't tell, but I'm six foot nine." So when you... When I'm at like... I'll tell an artist like, "If I'm at one of your shows, you'll see me."
Oh yeah.
And so far, like, uh, Brian from Fame on Fire is like, "Yeah, dude, I saw your head the whole time right there on the, like right there on the side." And then John from Point North, same thing. He's like, "Dude, I saw your big ass in the crowd." [laughs]
[laughs] Man, I would not want to be standing behind you at a show.
And I don't wanna be having... I don't wanna have people behind me either. I'll tell people to get out of the way, like, or go to the side. And I- and, uh, people think I'm a safe spot if they don't want to mosh because they'll just be like, "Oh, this guy doesn't wanna move. He'll just stand here." And [laughs] they'll just consider me like the pole of safety in the crowd.
[laughs]
Well-
It's true, you should be like in the middle of a mosh pit, just like that little buffer.
Just be that guy in the back, just arms crossed. [laughs]
Oh yeah.
That's, I love that joke of like the, uh, what's it called? Like, you can always tell a band is great when their like 3X or their 2X and 3X are sold out. And that's it. Like there's no... All the other siz- sizes are available, which also sucks 'cause, you know, I need the 3X for the extra room. And sure enough, some guy who's like five foot eight, 400 pounds is standing there in the back watching the guitarist, you know, the whole time like this, judging them.
[laughs] That- that's true though. I've never actually heard that before. Like if all the shirt sizes like sell out, then yeah-
Yeah
... they're doing well.
[laughs] Well, Metal Burp, appreciate you so much. I didn't expect it to go on this long. I looked at the time, I was like, "Oh my God, we're hitting 40 minutes." But, um, appreciate you doing this. Really, thank you for, uh, just joining and talking about the- the best album, my favorite albums of 2025. And, um, I- I've been really, uh, diving deep into your videos, uh, since last night, trying to figure out what to play for Peach's Pick of the Day. So I'll check out that one band, you said it was called Asava. Is that what you said?
Yeah. So my song of the year is Black Shape, "Like the Fourth Wall". And that song is a little sad. Like, it's a beautiful song.
It is.
Yeah. But more for like radio, I think Asava is a great band. They got some interesting stuff right now. Confidence is a good one. Uh, Rue is a good one too. Um, yeah, just, I would shout out the band Asava.
But with us too, like we just throw the radio rules right out the window. The longest song we have in our library is, uh, Devin Townsend, Singularity. It's like 23 minutes long. [laughs] Sometimes...
Wow.
Our- our- our, uh... Of course, Victor ...
is
the
best