Flightless Bird: "Nest Sessions: The Format on Fan Clubs & Being Birthed"

Date: March 5, 2026
Host: David Farrier (with Rob, regular cohost)
Guests: Nate Ruess and Sam Means (The Format), Interviewer, and additional guest

Episode Overview

In this introspective and entertaining episode, David Farrier welcomes Nate Ruess and Sam Means of The Format for a wide-ranging conversation spanning fan club culture, the early days of the internet, friendship, the American desert, homeschooling, bizarre childhood animal companions, memorable (and surprising) early memories—including literal birth—and the realities of reuniting as a band after decades apart. The recurring theme: how shared roots and quirks forge enduring friendships, and how formative experiences shape creative identities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Format’s Origin Story and Fan Club Beginnings

[00:43–06:06]

• First Meeting at Weezer’s Pinkerton Tour (1996):
  • Sam & Nate reminisce about their first encounter at a Weezer show.
    • Sam: “There was a Weezer show on the Pinkerton tour, December of 1996." [01:10]
    • Mutual friends connected them at the show.
• Running the Weezer Fan Club Website:
  • Sam, homeschooled and internet-savvy, reached out to fan club leaders and became webmaster at age 16.
    • Sam: “My dad had a computer… I was in the fan club. It was 10 bucks. They'd send you a zine every quarter and a little merch item… I made a Weezer website, and I was like, hey, you guys don't have a website for your... like a fan site? Like an official fan site?” [02:09]
  • He received tour dates via fax from management. Early hacker-ish skills let him infiltrate music industry circles.
  • Press passes were forged:
    • Sam: “We started making these like fake press passes… and started going to shows and just walking in.” [03:28]

2. The Power and Purity of Early Internet Culture

[04:00–05:23]

• Late ‘90s/early 2000s message boards created a unique, direct fan culture.
  • Interviewer: “The Internet was so pure back then. My God, if only we could go back to that time.” [04:48]
  • Sam: “I loved that version of the internet. It's kind of where it died for me.” [04:52]
• Sam and Nate both credit early online spaces for building lasting friendships and even marriages.
  • Sam: “I met my wife on that message board…” [05:11]
  • Their modding/web skills got them real world jobs at venues.

3. Adolescence, Homeschooling, and 90s Desert Life

[07:21–11:55]

• Arizona Scene:
  • The Format’s early band evolution: from pop punk to emo to the Format, with the same core friends recurring in each.
    • Nate: “Just different iterations, really. Just like the same people, too.” [05:52]
  • Nate: “Whatever we had in Phoenix ... have found a way to stay together in one way.” [06:24]
• Homeschooling:
  • Sam pulled out of third grade, initially struggled with the social scene, but a best friend ("the conduit") facilitated access to the broader world.
    • Sam: “She just had some issue with the school… it was super weird at first… But then I had a friend… moved in across the street… and all his friends I started hanging out with.” [08:32, 09:39]
• Adolescent Independence:
  • Early road trips to LA for shows—a freedom unimaginable now for their teenage children.
    • Sam: “As soon as I had a car, I was just like... we're going to shows.” [10:01]
    • Nate: “We were still in high school, driving up to LA from Phoenix.” [10:25]

4. Americana, Goats, and Childhood Memories

[11:00–12:49]

• Pet Goats and Rural Life:
  • Farrier shares wildlife stories—pet goats, hunting, growing up rural in New Zealand—prompting a hilarious series of animal anecdotes.
  • Nate: “My earliest memories was the goat would just not get off the fucking car so we could leave.” [11:27]
• Extraordinary Early Memory (Being Born):
  • Nate claims to remember his own birth:
    • Nate: “I remember being born. I remember the lights turning on.” [12:11]
    • Interviewer: “Are you serious?” [12:14]
    • Nate: “Yeah, I remember just like screaming. And then it kind of went dark again.” [12:25]
    • This builds into a recurring motif throughout the episode.

5. Phoenix, Fame, Food, & Geography

[14:04–20:18]

• Phoenix Desert Sprawl:
  • Reflections on growing up in Phoenix’s endless suburbs, its transformation, and the quirky amalgamation of Chicago transplants, deep-dish pizza opinions, and local landmarks.
    • Sam: “Phoenix is kind of depressing because it was like a stamp and repeat of like a mall…” [19:09]
  • Discussion of sprawl into California:
    • Nate: “The houses would just get closer and closer to California… Now it's in.” [19:34]
    • Sam: “California’s doing the same thing. So they will eventually meet.” [20:07]
    • Nate: “They'll kiss like the lady and the Tramp.” [20:10]
• Iconically American Taste Tests:
  • Peanut butter lattes introduced as an “American” treat:
    • Sam: “It's an iced latte with, like, peanut butter, like, actual peanut butter in it... It's my favorite treat.” [20:46]
    • Nate: “There's not enough peanut butter for me.” [22:02]

6. Friendship Longevity & Reuniting as a Band

[22:15–26:35]

• Sustaining Friendship:
  • Will their bond last another 30 years?
    • Nate: “The hope is that we're still alive.” [22:19]
    • Nate: “We're not dramatic people… we're just so low drama… it's just a cool thing.” [22:27]
  • On growing up and now having families that intermingle.
• Returning to Music:
  • Guitar lessons and organic inspiration led Nate back:
    • Nate: “I was very comfortably retired for about eight years… I started writing a whole bunch of music with no intention. I was just like, okay, well this will just be for me. And then I started to be like, I actually kind of like this stuff…” [24:06]
  • Sam: reuniting musically “felt easy,” like “no time passed at all.”
    • Sam: “20 years has passed, but in a lot of ways it feels like no time has passed at all. Almost like a parallel universe situation.” [25:23]

7. The Realities of Musical Fame & Industry Critique

[30:09–32:59]

• Leaving Success Behind:
  • Nate discusses burnout from mainstream success, not wanting to be defined by fame.
    • Nate: “I'm into something and then I'm off of it. And I hate the idea of being defined by one thing ... I had no choice but to spend every waking second thinking about [music] ... This sucks and I don't even love it … I'm out.” [30:09–30:54]
• Ethics of Touring & Merchandise:
  • The Format now keep prices accessible, prioritizing break-even tours.
    • Nate: “We live to break even… you just watch how much people get ripped off by musicians … if you are privileged enough, hardworking people are paying money... and you're taking everything they have so they can watch you live." [31:36]

8. Website Evolution & Digital Gimmicks

[33:01–34:28]

• Conversation about websites moving from ambitious, interactive Flash games to simple link pages.
  • Sam: “What even is a website?... It's all modular stuff.” [33:33]
• Stories of a custom video-game-themed Format website from 2006.
  • Sam: “It was a full video game website ... these little stops where you could get tour dates and whatever.” [34:10]

9. On Songwriting, Protest, and Direct Action

[34:35–40:46]

• Song "Bar Sets Low":
  • Song about immigration, direct action, and injustice—timely to events in Minneapolis.
    • Nate: “The whole song is about just immigration and the way that we treat our immigrant population … it just seemed very fitting to play it that day.” [35:24]
  • Band donated proceeds from Bandcamp to organizations.
    • Sam: “We released it on the first [Bandcamp Friday] this year… donating all that money to a basket of organizations that we think are pretty cool.” [36:54]
• Activism & Social Change:
  • Both guests emphasize the need for direct action over passive charity.
    • Nate: “I think we’re hopefully coming to a point where direct action is just much more... the time of charity-based type stuff... is not enough.” [40:02]
    • Sam: “It's horrible that seeing things like this have to happen in order to, like, wake up people... but I do feel like even some people in my family... are even starting to kind of wake up and be like, okay, this is actually very fucked up.” [40:14]

10. The Birth Memory—An Encore

[41:04–43:45]

• Nate's vivid birth memory:
  • A rare “scene” involving a surge of light, crying, sensory impressions—no words, just the emotional feeling: “It’s go time.”
    • Nate: “The light is on… the thought in my brain was, here we go… All I know is I’m crying… I feel like it’s all foggy. It’s probably the placenta.” [41:26–42:10]
    • Nate: “The feeling of it’s go time suddenly was just like, all right, it’s on… Maybe it’s my second time, maybe it’s my third time, you know, I don’t know.” [43:12, 43:17]
  • Farrier reacts in awe—“the most remarkable thing I’ve heard”—and others revisit their earliest memories.

11. In-Studio Performances—Setlist & Social Context

[44:31–53:30] Three songs played live:

• "Bar Sets Low"
• "Back to Life"
• "Depressed"
  • Each song is introduced briefly, with context connected to biographical and social themes discussed earlier.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On fan club access:

"We started making these like fake press passes… started going to shows and just walking in."
—Sam [03:28]

On the internet’s early spirit:

"Message boards… was like peak internet for me."
—Interviewer [04:55]
"I met my wife on that message board through him."
—Sam [05:11]

On lasting friendship:

“…Just different iterations really. Just like the same people, too.”
—Nate [05:52]

On desert adolescence:

"We were still in high school, like, going, driving up to LA from Phoenix."
—Nate [10:25]

On extraordinary memory:

"I remember being born. I remember the lights turning on."
—Nate [12:11]
"That is amazing."
—Interviewer [12:38]

On musical ethics:

"We live to break even. Like, that's all we can ask for in this situation doing this… because you just watch how much people just get ripped off by musicians… when we were kids, it was an outlet. Going to concerts was an outlet. Now people have to take out a fucking mortgage just to go see a show.”
—Nate [31:36]

On coming back together:

"Twenty years has passed, but in a lot of ways it feels like no time has passed at all. Almost like a parallel universe situation."
—Sam [25:23]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Meeting at Weezer show, Fan Club, Coding – [00:43–03:28]
• Early Internet & Message Boards – [04:00–05:23]
• Arizona/Phoenix Music Scene – [06:24–07:46]
• Homeschooling & Friendship – [08:18–10:10]
• Goat Stories & Early Memory – [11:00–12:49], [41:04–43:45] (Return)
• Phoenix Character and Urban Sprawl – [14:04–20:18]
• Peanut Butter Latte Taste Test – [20:46–22:10]
• Band Reunion & Evolving Friendship – [22:15–26:35]
• Industry Critique & Band Philosophy – [30:09–32:59]
• Songwriting & Protest – [34:35–40:46]
• In-Studio Performance – [44:31–53:30]

Conclusion

This “Nest Session” of Flightless Bird is both whimsical and honest—a testament to long friendships, creative partnership, and the strangeness and wonder of American life, from message board fandom to peanut butter lattes, from birth memories to band reunions. Through banter and musical performances, the episode fuses personal nostalgia with present-day reflection and social consciousness, ultimately inviting listeners to appreciate the beauty (and absurdity) of real connection.