Skull from SKINHEAD

Summary

HardLore Podcast: “Skull from SKINHEAD”
Episode Date: August 28, 2025

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EPISODE OVERVIEW

This episode of HardLore features a deep-dive biographical interview with Joshua Long—aka Skull—founder, songwriter, and creative force behind the hardcore band Skinhead. Hosted by Colin Young and Bo Lueders, the conversation unpacks the personal, musical, and subcultural journey that led Skull from growing up in New Hampshire to the national hardcore, punk, and metal scenes. Skull, known for his emotionally raw and autobiographical songwriting, discusses the challenges (and humor) of owning the most misunderstood band name in punk, exploring trauma and vulnerability through music, and the importance of community, authenticity, and friendship.

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KEY THEMES & DISCUSSION POINTS

1. Owning the SKINHEAD Name & Explaining Its History

• The Difficult Band Name

  • Joshua discusses the perennial confusion, discomfort, and misunderstanding that comes with naming his band “Skinhead.”
  • Quote:

    “I tell people that all the time: ‘Hey, I love Skinhead,’ and they go, what, are you crazy? …the name even incites rage within people. For better, for worse, here I am. It’s Skinhead.” (00:10)

  • He explains that, surprisingly, no band ever took the name just “Skinhead,” despite the long history of Oi, punk, and hardcore bands dancing around it.

• Why the Name?

  • For Skull, calling the band Skinhead is both a personal reclamation and a powerful artistic statement:
  • Quote:

    “This is an extension of me. What are you going to do about it?” (03:53)

• Detachment from WP associations

  • Skull is candid that every decision around the band name was made deliberately to avoid any white power association, even as the word itself can incite controversy:
  • Quote:

    “All the white power bands have all the clever names... You can’t go down that road because that’s fucked up. But call it the thing, dude, why are you beating around the bush?” (04:43)

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2. Keeping Art, Work, and Life Together

• Balancing Personal Training and Band Life

  • Skull still works as a coach and manages other personal trainers.
  • The challenge:

    “You can’t tell your boss that you need to take off for a weekend because you have to play a show with your band, Skinhead. That’s not a cool thing that people enjoy to do.” (02:22)

• Living the Straight Edge Life

  • Skull describes his stubborn commitment to straight edge, influenced by personal and family history of addiction:
  • Quote:

    “I’ve been straight Edge for quite some time, and refuse, probably out of spite, to ever give that up.” (03:26)

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3. Musical Upbringing and Community in New Hampshire

• Early Musical Environment

  • Grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire—a “giant suburb of Boston” exposed to both local and Boston scenes (09:10).
  • Influences ranged from grindcore to Oi, punk, and rave culture.
  • Notable Quote:

    “When I was growing up, late 90’s, early 2000’s…people couldn’t get enough grindcore... and violent, roving skinheads just showed up and terrified people. It was quite the juxtaposition.” (09:51)

• First Bands and Venues

  • Describes his first band, FUBAR, and the unique culture of local gigs (“Dairy Palooza,” local swap meets, role of figures like Jake with “Kurt Cobain” looks).
  • Quote:

    “Everyone was like mean and mad and aggressive. Music was everywhere... Rancid was on the radio—things are happening.” (13:08)

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4. The Early Appeal of Skinhead Subculture

• Why Skinhead?

  • Skull paints skinheads as the most “rotten,” “big, mean-looking” subculture with serious emotional draw, especially for an adolescent surrounded by family chaos and addiction.
  • For him, it’s less about violence for its own sake, more about finding belonging and drawing hard boundaries in opposition to that world:
  • Quote:

    “There’s no shit that I turned to something straight edge... I can’t just moderate my lifestyle. I have to say fuck you to everyone who isn’t this.” (18:24)

• Formative Records

  • Chronic admiration for bands local to the New England area—The Bruisers, Dropkick Murphys.
  • Memorable story about trading an Operation Ivy CD for Dropkick Murphys’ Do or Die (19:32).

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5. Writing Approach, Vulnerability & Artistic Authenticity

• Music as Diary

  • Skinhead’s music is described as highly autobiographical—a vehicle to process and share true stories of violence, love, friendship, and grief:
  • Quote:

    “It feels like such an intimate look into your diary... while you’re talking about smashing bottles over people’s heads. That’s the complete package of Skinhead. That’s what sets you apart.” (34:03)

• Vulnerability in Songs

  • Especially noted in “Homesick” (the acoustic song written for a friend who died)—and the audience response:
  • Quote:

    “I wanted to help his sister out... And so part of it was me just needing to talk about that, and part was me just putting out 100 tapes and sending all the proceeds to her.” (29:53)

  • The difficulty in performing these most personal songs (“I’ve had to play it live twice, and that’s probably the worst thing I could possibly think of.” 33:54)

• Songwriting Process

  • Emphasis on immediacy, emotion, and “behavior stacking” when giving fitness/lifestyle advice or music advice:

    “It’s all behavior stacking... If you can’t do that, what the fuck am I doing here?” (07:31)

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6. Recording Philosophy and Collaborators

• The One-Day Record

  • Most earlier Skinhead music was recorded in single-day sessions with collaborator Taylor:
  • Quote:

    “Everything. Wow.” (25:31)

• A One-Man Band

  • Skull writes all music and lyrics, plays all instruments, and arranges everything in the studio.
  • Quote:

    “I just go in there and play drums. Then I pick up a guitar... then I sing and I ask Taylor if he wants lunch...” (28:14)

• Taylor and Martine

  • Both, as producer and designer, are praised for their ability to translate Skull’s convoluted ideas into reality.

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7. Key Songs, Albums, and Moments Discussed

• “Kill Yourself”—described as an “anti-suicide” song, expressing anger at repeating patterns of destruction in his scene (71:07).
• “Chuck”—written at funerals after seeing friends do drugs and not learn (“You learned absolutely nothing”—71:47).
• “Seperate Checks”—the infamous group meal dynamic of splitting bills:
  • Quote:

    “The only solace we have is just gorging ourselves for those endorphins... how do we love each other so much but we are the biggest scumbags when it comes to just the simplest thing.” (76:34)

• “The Dog Song”—an ode to the deep bond with a “lifer dog,” and the way pets anchor us through life’s chaos (79:08, 81:49).
• Use of specific friends’ names in songs—creating a mythic record of his own scene (“Your little Jimmy is Joby, and that’s fun for me.” 35:07).

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8. Stories from Touring: Gigs, Touring Life, and Camaraderie

• Touring with Early Bands

  • Skull tells wild stories from the road with Black My Heart (snack attacks, pranking their Hungarian driver Yaki), Hammer Bros., Death Before Dishonor (the “big guy” dynamic of their fan base), and more.

• Favorite Tour Memories

  • The small, impromptu “passenger seat at sunrise” conversations rank highest:
  • Quote:

    “The impromptu conversations that you have with your friends... When you’re in a van with your friends... your boys driving, you wake up, gotta piss, where the fuck are we?... just conversation strikes, and the sun’s coming up.” (122:20)

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9. Philosophy, Community, and Friends

• Being Who You Are

  • “Live Free or Fuck You” attitude—Skull’s guiding philosophy, best expressed via his New Hampshire roots.
  • Perpetually grateful for the direct support of friends, both through musical participation and through the emotional safety to experiment, create, and grow.
  • Quote:

    “I’m only free to be me because I’ve been supported by all my friends to be myself. I guess I’m doing them.” (127:49)

• Musical Inspirations & Hardcore Top Four

  • Skull’s Mount Rushmore of hardcore LPs:
    1. 10 Yard Fight – Hardcore Pride
    2. Death Threat – Peace & Security
    3. Carry On – A Life Less Plagued
    4. Trial – These Are Our Lives
  • Quote:

    “So many honorable mentions... but this is what got me into straight edge.” (129:22)

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10. Notable Memorable Moments

• The “Double Mochi” Technique (06:29):

  • Skull’s confession to buying two cartons of mochi, eating one on the way home, and sharing the other so as not to appear “greedy.”

• Audience Connection

  • A key motivation for Skinhead is the realization that telling specific, personal stories can become universal:
  • Quote:

    “It’s a collection of stories that nobody can actually relate to. Nobody else has experienced them, but ends up as a relatable listening experience somehow.” (20:48)

• On Dogs, Loss, and Friendship

  • Touching stories about Beatrice (Skull’s “lifer dog,” 81:52), and on encouraging listeners to stay connected with friends and family before it’s too late (“If you have friends who are alive and you love them, dude, just call them, text them. I have a rule—if something reminds me of a friend, I text them, no matter what.” [85:31])

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TIMESTAMPS FOR SIGNIFICANT SEGMENTS

| Time | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:10 | Discussing the Skinhead band name, legacy, and misconceptions | | 03:26 | Skull on being straight edge and the personal roots | | 09:10 | Growing up in New Hampshire, role of music and violence | | 18:24 | Early skinhead subculture’s draw and symbolism | | 29:53 | Writing “Homesick” and using music to process grief | | 34:03 | Vulnerability & autobiographical songwriting in Skinhead | | 76:34 | The great debate on splitting checks—origin of the song | | 81:52 | The “dog song” & the importance of animal companions | | 122:20 | Best part of touring: spontaneous sunrise conversations | | 127:49 | “Who are you doing?” Skull credits the hardcore community | | 129:22 | Skull’s Top Four Hardcore Albums |

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SELECT QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• “I’m an emotional person. I work off emotions solely. So it was an emotional decision and I have no choice but to stick to it.” (03:26, Skull)
• “You can’t say skin. You can’t even… it’s hard even to go to a concert. Are you gonna tell your friends you’re gonna go to the Skinhead gig?” (03:01, Skull)
• “Everything is stories.” (01:03, Colin quoting Skull)
• “Every show we played, I just laugh on stage—are you guys like this? You’re hearing what I’m saying and you’re excited about it?” (24:59, Skull)
• “I’m here for success.” (09:03, Skull)
• “The impromptu conversations that you have with your friends… when you wake up, you gotta piss, where the fuck are we? Just conversation strikes…” (122:20, Skull)
• “I’m only free to be me because I’ve been supported by all my friends to be myself.” (127:49, Skull)
• “Owning pets, knowing we will most likely outlive them, is one of the craziest things that we do. That everyone does. It’s so brutal.” (83:44, Bo)
• “I just want to say, if you have friends who are alive and you love them, dude, just call them, text them... I have a rule. If something reminds me of a friend, I text them, no matter what.” (85:31, Skull)

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FAN Q&A – RAPID FIRE HIGHLIGHTS

• Best Oi Introduction: “Just go Coxsparrer. That’s fine… then listen to The Trouble. You’ll be fine.” (138:22)
• Best Dog Breed: “I’ve only had pit bulls. I think they’re the most magical dogs in the world.” (140:51)
• Top Place to Write: “Airplane… because there’s nothing. I can finally be alone with my thoughts.” (142:01)
• Worst Birthday Party: “Not invited, got dragged out making out with a girl, friends fighting with bats, a plant went missing…” (145:27)

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TONE & STYLE

The episode swings between brutally honest, humorously self-deprecating, and wrenchingly sincere. Skull’s storytelling is both anecdotal and reflective, switching fluidly between wild road stories and vulnerable ruminations on grief, addiction, and community. The hosts match his energy with spirited banter, mutual admiration, and their own nostalgia for the scene.

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CONCLUSION / FINAL THOUGHTS

This HardLore episode is not only a must for Skinhead fans but for anyone interested in the power of punk and hardcore as a vehicle for self-expression, healing, and community. Joshua Long (“Skull”) embodies the DIY hardcore ethos—radically honest, self-deprecating, emotionally open, and always compelled to “live free or fuck you.” Whether discussing surviving touring on $5 Cici’s Pizza, the pain of playing a song about a lost friend, or the paradox of singing about friendship and violence, Skull delivers his truth—and proves why Skinhead is striking a chord outside hardcore circles as well.

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For more:
Listen to Skinhead’s latest album, What a Beautiful Day (Closed Casket), and companion photobook, On an Island.

Transcript

[Joshua Long]

It's hard even to go to a concert. You're going to tell your friends. Are you going to go to the Skinhead gig?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But you did this. You did this to me. I tell people that all the time. Hey, I love Skinhead. And they go, what, are you crazy? And I go, yeah, it was.

[Joshua Long]

It was. I was like, what do we call ourselves? And all. Of course, all the. The white power bands of all the clever ones. And you can't go down that road. Like, what's the. What's the most fucked up. What's more fucked up than a skinhead? Dude, the name even incites the. Yeah. Rage within people. For better, for worse, here I am. It's Skinhead. Hello.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Welcome. It's hard Lore time. How you doing, Beau?

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I'm glistening. It is so hot. That's how I'm doing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'm glistening for other reasons.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Tell me about it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's out of pure joy and excitement because we've got such a fantastic guest today. And I'm gonna begin by quoting the man of the hour here. Everything is stories. So we're excited today to talk directly to the source, the man who hits the hardest on and off the drum kit, the founder, vocalist, songwriter of Skinhead. Please, everyone, welcome Joshua Long.

[Joshua Long]

Thank you very much.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

The crowd's exploding.

[Joshua Long]

Pleasure to be here. Everyone take their seats. I appreciate it. Wonderful time and I'm excited.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

All right.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Thank you so much for being here. How you doing? How's the new record going?

[Joshua Long]

Good. Wonderful. Great feedback. Love the stuff. Kill Yourself people enjoy. They also enjoy the song about the dog that makes them cry. So we gotta. On both spectrums.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, we're gonna get there.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

The hits, the hits. For me, I've listened to it all day today to really get in the zone was Kill Yourself. Split checks.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Separate chest, separate checks.

[Joshua Long]

And that's why they hate you.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, that's why. And 45.

[Joshua Long]

Those are the ones. Thanks, man. Yeah, those are good ones.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Are you still personal training?

[Joshua Long]

Absolutely. Coach people. I also manage personal trainers, too. So I have a hard time keeping my personal life and my. My art life and my work life separate. It's. You can't tell your boss that you need to take off for a weekend because you have to play a show with your band, Skinhead.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's true.

[Joshua Long]

That's not a cool thing that people enjoy to do.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's a damn near impossible sentence to say to a regular guy.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Or girl. No, I've never said it.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Have you ever gotten the. What's the name of the band?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, luckily, I give them criminal instinct every time.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Okay, that works.

[Joshua Long]

And it's like, dirty enough, you know, it's like. It's like, oh, what the heck?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Still believes.

[Joshua Long]

So it's. Yeah. So, like, all right, I'll let it slide. Whatever. It's fine. And yeah, so that. That usually gets me a long way. Definitely. I can't. You can't say skin. You can't even. It's hard even to go to a concert. You're gonna tell your friends. Are you gonna. Gonna go to the Skinhead gig? Yeah, at the water cooler.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But you did this. You did this to me. I tell people that all the time. Hey, I love Skinhead. And they go, what, are you crazy?

[Joshua Long]

And I go, yeah, I'm an emotional person. I work. I work off emotions solely. So it was an emotional decision and I have no choice but to stick to it. I'm also a stub. I've been straight Edge for quite some time and refuse, probably out of spite, to ever give that up. So for better or for worse, here I am.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Well said.

[Joshua Long]

It's still Straight Edge. Skinhead.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

That's the name of the bandhead.

[Joshua Long]

For better or worse.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's okay, good as it should. You know, I think. I think making it. The statement is cool and owning. Now, the word skinhead, as. This is me. This is an extension of me. What are you going to do about it?

[Joshua Long]

Also, yeah, also. I cannot believe. There has never. Dude, since the 60s, there's never been a band. Oi band, a punk band, any band called Skinhead, dude, they all have to be like. They all have to be like. Like funny, like the foreskins or, like. They'll have to be silly things. I'm like, dude, what about the thing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Your skin had number one on Discogs.

[Joshua Long]

I have to be. There's no. There's never been a Skinhead. I need you to fact check that, if you can. I don't want to. I don't want to tell you to do something, but we'll put it in.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What? You will put it in after.

[Joshua Long]

It was. It was. I was like, what do we call ourselves? And all. Of course, all the. The white power bands of all the clever ones. And you can't go down that road because that's fucked up. But. But call it the thing, dude, why are you beating around the bush hard?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That is unbelievable.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Like, what the heck is going on? I can't believe it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You fucking got it, man. The real. The original Skinhead, you know?

[Joshua Long]

The original Skinhead. Yes.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Final skinhead summer 2018. Skull, you were the first. This is the. We're going off the personal training theater.

[Joshua Long]

This is pre Covid. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, this is pre Covid. I think you were the first most jacked guy I ever saw, I ever knew personally. And I remember asking you, well, how did you do this? And you said that you were dealing with a crippling addiction to mochi. Is that still something you're dealing with?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, mochi and boba for sure. It was definitely boba. I had a. Every single walk with my dog, and my girlfriend at the time was my wife. We'd pass. We'd have. We'd walk by this amazing boba place, and you just can't help but poke your head in, smell what they're cooking, and get a big old. What did I used to get? I used to get a taro, which is essentially a cup this big of non dairy creamer. Right. And then taro flavor and chunks. And then you got. You gotta get. You can't get the norm. You gotta get the double boba.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Gotta get the double boba.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. And since you're there, get a couple mochis and call it a day. So that was how many cats? That's every walk.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Probably a cool 800. No problem.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, we don't count cows here. We just. We just keep them. We just charge it to the game and keep it moving.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But you told me your. Your mochi eating technique, which was you go to the store, you tell. You tell Candace you're getting a carton of mochi. You get two cartons of mochi, one gets eaten on the way home, and then you get to arrive with one carton of mochi, as stated.

[Joshua Long]

Wow. It's called a black truth. I am getting mochi.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yes.

[Joshua Long]

She sees. And we share a carton of mochi. I do not. I do not see the fault in that.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Who's getting hurt here?

[Joshua Long]

Other.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You know, other than me asking you, oh, my God, you're so enormously huge and jacked. And you go, well, it's actually mochi. That's the only downside.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

So college did this put into your head? As long as I work it off, I can have that. Them half doesn't.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

No, no, no, no.

[Joshua Long]

This is.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

This is me going like, wow, I just got skinny. But I want to be as big as. As Skull here. And this is when Skull officially dubbed me Bones, because it was all skin and bones.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Skull and bones. I get it.

[Joshua Long]

It was all skin and bones. Yeah. Wow. I think as a. As a coach, as Someone who's in, like, the fitness industry. It is. I had a conversation with Justin from Closed Casket, and I'm like, dude, it's like, let me know how I can assist. Like, I'd love to, you know, like, help with any workouts or things like that. And he's like, thanks, but I know everyone in the fitness industry gets, like, asked questions, and 15% of the people end up doing the thing that you tell them to do. So I'm going to pass. I go, awesome. However, it's close to 1% of the people, and those 1% do it wrong. And so it is this the most miserable cross to bear being a person. So I have a skinny man who lost a lot of weight, Colin, asking me, how do I get so big? If you can't eat the mochi, how the am I going to tell you? Do X amount of deadlifts or X amount of presses. So once you check the box. Okay. Have you been eating them? You haven't been eating the mochi. Okay. Hey, I'll check in next week, man. It's all good, bro. It's. It's all behavior stacking. It's just. It's just subtle. You know, you can't tell someone, here's you're going to eat, you know, lettuce for dinner every day of the week and lose weight. You got to say, you got a water bottle, my bro. You don't. Let's get a water bottle. Let's start drinking water. If you can't do that, what the am I doing here?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Tiny little baby steps towards the mochi. And then I'm here for.

[Joshua Long]

I'm here for success.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Thank you.

[Joshua Long]

Wow.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

New Hampshire. Tell me about. Tell me about growing up there. Tell me about finding hardcore punk and community in New Hampshire.

[Joshua Long]

Wow. Yes. Thank you for this question. So New Hampshire, it is its own state. We can all agree on that. Sure. Of course, California, you know, Illinois, but it's essentially a giant suburb of Boston. I lived like 50, 50 driving minutes to Boston, and there was a lot of stuff happening in New Hampshire, kind of, but it was all just revolving around Boston. So you would go into the city, you would drive into the city. But when I was growing up, like the late 90s, early 2000s in New Hampshire, people couldn't get enough grind core. You've heard of this stuff before?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Sure, I'm familiar.

[Joshua Long]

Deeply familiar. It's freak, dude. It is. It'll go nasty until. Until you. Your head spins. Also, like, we like Sasha, like, weird. Like, a lot of my friend Tyler he was in this band called the Farewell Chapter. They fucking ripped a lot of that stuff. Okay, New Hampshire, Ton of that stuff. Really. And then you also had violent roving skinheads who would just show up in random places and terrify people. So it was quite the juxtaposition in specifically Manchester, New Hampshire, where I grew up. But kind of all over New Hampshire.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

A lot of what you just said kind of defines the spectrum of music that you have played so far. Yeah, it's a little bit of all that and now you've landed on the latter, but like, with. With the message of the former, kind of. Which is a great combo.

[Joshua Long]

Thank you so much.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Who are some specific people that you connected with early on that kind of guided you towards where you'd end up, like instrumental fig. Key figures in your life, right?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, totally. I was friends with just like rough kids. This kid Jake, who was his dad and brother and uncles were all bikers. Like, 1% are bikers in my hometown. And they loved Alice Cooper. And so we started a band named fubar that we played. Is it the name that got you a little bit.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I like it all. I'm engaged.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I was gonna say who was in the band.

[Joshua Long]

So it was Jake sang. He had gorgeous locks. He had like a part, like a blond part. I had. Dude, the second I would. I would be dead in Chicago right now because my hair, it just curls up with an ounce of humidity. Oh. So I was never. I was never the locks guy. And yeah, Jake, beautiful, like Kurt Cobain, dude, looked gorgeous. I can swear on here. Kennel. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

We're all adults, right?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

So, yeah, he. He was handsome, dude. He sang and played guitar like bad company. Like just normal, like biker stuff.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Like, loved it because his dad and his. And his brother and his uncles and so I played guitar. Jake played guitar and sang. We had like a. A kid playing the keyboard. We got. We were all in. Our first show, actually, was a. Was. It was called Dairy Palooza. You might have heard of it. So it was in Dairy, New Hampshire at the. At the local swap meet. And Common. Correct. Played.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Many such cases. Oh, wow, that's a great gig.

[Joshua Long]

Okay. Yeah, you gotta fact check on that one too. Sandblack church shirts were sold by Rick to life there. Forget if actually play it or not, but yeah, dude, we played. We played. We started with 18 by the coupe, man.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Was it always FUBAR? Did you ever call it by up beyond all recognition?

[Joshua Long]

It was always fubar. Okay. It's always fubar because I think out of the five band members, maybe one of them knew what the that was. And that was Jake's dad. He wasn't even a band member. We just called it fubar. It sounded sick.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, it does sound sick.

[Joshua Long]

It's a badass name. So. Yeah, I mean, dude, like, where I grew up, it's. It's. Everyone was like, mean and mad and aggressive. Music was everywhere. And, you know, like, in 93 and 90, like, rancid was on the radio. Like, things are happening. So I remember a stepmother's son. I don't know what that would be. I'm not a math man, but he gave me a tape or fourth. It was something, but he gave me a tape that was stripe on one side, I think, and mud vein or something on the other. He's like, check this out, bro. And I'm like, okay. And I was like, this side's sick. This other.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

The mud versus Yeah, I was like.

[Joshua Long]

The mud side sick. These other guys are yelling about something I don't know about. No, but it's like things were just around, dude. Like, people. Like, rave culture was still happening in New Hampshire. People were wearing big pants, people were wearing kick wear. And that bled over into, like, the. The hardcore metal scene. Like, dudes who went to raves and girls who went to raves also were at Converge shows. Everyone was wearing a side bag. Everyone was wearing big pants, jumping up and doing kicks with their feet to. To applaud the band playing. It was like a gonna. It was an aggressive style of dancing. But, yeah, it's.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We're kind of back to that now. We're full circle. You just described the midnight hour.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. What.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

What time frame is this?

[Joshua Long]

I went to my first official show in 98. One king down, One King down played.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And you met. You mentioned being 16, listening to Blitz in a convertible.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Is this. Is this around the time where you first also identify as a skinhead?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I would say 15, 16, for sure. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So that aspect of your. Of your life is defined that early, and now it defines you in an artistic way as well. And so much of the skinhead songs are these poetic details of violent instances throughout your life. When did that become a regular occurrence in your life?

[Joshua Long]

Just the violence? Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

When does the violence become routine enough for this to just be a Rolodex of stories?

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Same old story. Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

I mean, junior high people were fighting. The big thing was I found out really early on that if you just punch the person first, you're probably the winner. And then I found out a Little later that you don't even got to punch a guy. You can just hit him with a crazy thing and then it's over even faster. Like an object. Yeah, like a solid. Solid object, if you want. It's. That was. Yeah, junior high, mostly high school. We had these. Dude, it was just. It was a high school movie. There was. There was the. The football kids who hated us. It was me and like 20, like punks and skins. They hated us. There was the. We called them corn kids. This is before, like, we knew what new metal was, but we called them corn kids.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's how big corn was.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, they were huge. They got a street named after them. So the corn kids hated us. The. Everyone hated us. But the. The freaks, like the musical freaks. Like, there was kids like my friend Derek loved, you know, small brown bike and like, stuff like that. Some of my closer friends, we liked, you know, more oil and punk. There was dudes just like, you know, repping, you know, like American Nightmare and Reach the sky and like more classic, like Bane, Stuff like that. But it was all. It was just a known that like, we are like music people, like, punk, indie adjacent. So we just like, we have each.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Other rock together versus the football team and.

[Joshua Long]

And the corn.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And corn kids.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So you guys were against the corn kids.

[Joshua Long]

I don't know how it started, but we didn't. They didn't like us. We didn't like them. Yeah, there was like plenty of meetups. Like. Like west side Story. Yeah. Rumbles. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I remember the football team tried to get a rumble with us and we showed up with like, yeah, 20, 30 kids. And they ended up running away and we like all cheered. It was very strange. It was a very. It was like a very innocent outcome to like, what could have been a horrible, disgusting, terrible incident. Yeah. Let me ask you.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Let me ask you a question. Maybe this wasn't always true, but in my eyes and in my life, finding out about OI and. And like the skinhead subculture specifically was way more niche at the time than discovering hardcore through. For us. It was like the Bridge 9 board or whatever, you know. How did you find that specific subculture out of the hard rock thing? And like, what did. What as a 15, 16 year old. What did the skinhead subculture and like lifestyle mean to you? Like, why did that grab you?

[Joshua Long]

Yes. Skinheads are just the most rotten people you could possibly imagine. Truly. It's this. This, like you look at a skinhead and to me they're just like big, mean like their, their, their pants are like cropped in a certain way. I didn't even know how to tailor pants, you know, like they're, they're, they look big with like their bombers, you know, like there's like. They just look menacing. And as a, as a kid who like, like my parents were divorced when I was like 6 month old and like, you know, I had alcoholics in my family and you know there's drug addiction and so yeah, no shit. That I turned to something straight edge that I'm just like, you know what? I can't just moderate my lifestyle. I have to say fuck you to everyone who isn't this. And it's kind of the same thing with like, like what's the. What's the most fucked up. What's more fucked up than a skinhead? Dude, you even talked about it 10 minutes ago. The name even incites rage with people.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's still a dirty word to most people because they don't know.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

They don't know the full context. They only know that little context that, that dirtied it for so long.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. And it's. I mean, dude, I grew up in New England. The bruisers were from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The Dropic Murphy's like Do or Die was in a. It was. That was everywhere. That album was everywhere. This girl on the bus, I was listening to Operation Ivy and on my CD player and she was listening to. To Drop Murphy's. I'm like, oh, let's do like a trade for a week. And I never gave it back. I was like, you can have that Operation IV cd. She's like, I don't, I don't want it either. And I'm like, well, no. Well, you can throw it away, but I'm keeping the cd. And it was it that, that me up because I thought on do or Die, you know the COVID it's like a bunch of construction workers. Yeah. I'm like, dude, skinheads are just like. They look like my dad. My dad was an iron worker. I'm like, all these guys are crazy looking, dude. I was like, anyone could be a skinhead. I didn't know it was just like a picture because of like art or whatever. Like these dudes are fucking gnarly.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And do you hear that? They're from, they're from near here. And then you with it even more.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, definitely. That was like a very special thing because if they were from Idaho or whatever, I like, it wouldn't, it wouldn't make any sense to me.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

This guy could be in the same union. Union as my dad. Look like him.

[Joshua Long]

I've walked those streets, those cobblestone streets downtown Back Bay. God, we've trudged to the same. The same path. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

When I listen to the current, like, what Skinhead has evolved into, it feels like such a. Like an intimate look. It's like a personal, intimate. Look into your diary. It's a collection of stories that nobody can actually relate to. Nobody else has experienced them, but ends up as a relatable listening experience somehow. What made you want to explore this side of the. Of yourself artistically after spending your life playing in bands like Black My Heart, Unbroken Wings, Criminal Instinct, Rude Awakening, et cetera?

[Joshua Long]

So funny story about Black My Heart, they were just bad dudes, and they were amazing people. And again, like, I was in this band called Drug Test that was more like youth Crew E kind of stuff. I played with, like, Outbreak for a couple tours, so I was in that scene. And so I remember when I joined Black My Heart, we were playing a show at the Cambridge Elks Lodge in Massachusetts, and I forget what the band was called, but it was a couple of the dudes from. Do you guys remember that band Tar Pit?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I know the name.

[Joshua Long]

They were from Virginia, specifically Virginia Beach. And a couple of the dudes were like, yo, they remind. They. They recognize me from the Drug Test days. And like, dude, what's up? You in a band? I was like, yeah, yeah, we're called Black and Hard. He's like, yeah. And then the dude went to all his friends. There was like, six of them on tour together. Like, yo, they're all wearing, like, Minor Threat shirts. And. And, yo, the drummer of Drug Test is in a new band called Black My Heart. They're like, fuck, yeah. We played 30 seconds of the first song, and the look, the. Just the sadness that these men had. Like, I just hung up the dream, dude. I truly betrayed them. And, dude, back then, that was a betrayal, bro. Yeah, like. Like bands like, I don't even know, like, you like that scene like that.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Drug Affairs, Drug Tests, and Black My Heart in a singular lineup today would. Nobody would bat an eye. It would be like, oh, great. This is great.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

2004.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's a mixed bill.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. What the. What are you doing? Yeah, totally. So, yeah, I mean, so they were bums and. I don't know, dude. I feel like. To answer your question, I mean, I've. I've written a little bit. I've. I had that project Sisters a little bit, like, I think, and also the demo to Skinhead that was my feeling at the time. That was what I felt. The self title after that, that is how I felt. The record before this one, that is how I felt. So I'm just expressing what I'm feeling. I'm an emotional man, like I told you. I go purely off emotion. And so this is where I am.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Were you always writing? Like, even when you were young, did you journal or did you write in any creative way?

[Joshua Long]

No, I thought reading was for bozos. And mostly you're the reading guy now. I'm the man who reads. That's how they know me.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

No, dude, because, like, in school you, like, you just. You get all these books and they're like, all right, what's the purpose? You know, like, what's the theme behind. I was like, I don't know. It was cool when like, like, you know, the sister peed off the, you know, thing with the brothers or whatever that was from To Kill a Mockingbird. And they're like, no, this is about pow. And I'm like, ah, whatever. I don't know what it's about then. Or, like, poetry. When, like. Because, dude, Robert Frost was from New Hampshire and still reading his poetry. I'm just like, what is this guy talking about? And it makes me so mad because there is poetry that makes sense to people and you can read something and.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You'Re just like, 100% dude.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I feel. And then, dude, you want me to talk about, like, Robert Frost walking through a path and, like, seeing a bush and be like, well, the price of oat brand was 60 cents on the dollar back then. So what he's actually referring to. So that doesn't how. Fuck off.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Poetry doesn't have to be haikus. It can be about kicking a fat skinhead down the stairs.

[Joshua Long]

For sure. Yeah. And, yeah, the Ford. The first shows that I've ever played in Skinhead. And even, I mean, I don't know, one show that we've played that I didn't just, like, laugh on stage because I'm like, God, you guys, Are you guys like this? You guys, what's wrong with you guys? You are hearing what I'm saying and you're excited about this? I was like, this is great. I'm glad I'm here to say it then.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I like that. The. So the demo, the fuck Fake Skins, the first release that was recorded in a single day. Is that true?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, everything. Wow.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You want to tell me about any stories that come to mind about these songs and the people who inspired them?

[Joshua Long]

I mean. Yeah, There was a real dude in Idaho who like, was just really very rude, man. Yeah. Black Mart was playing a show in, in Idaho and this kid came up and he declared his space. He just. He did one of these in the middle of the. The pit and I don't know what it was, but he wasn't happy with us. And then whatever happened after, and I wrote a song about it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Just don't be rude and you won't be in one of these songs, you know?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Extreme rudeness. I do not like. Hurts me. I'm trying to be a chill dude. Yeah, it hurts me inside.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

The Skinhead EP was up next. Also a single day.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Wow.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Two shots, done. Rsvp. There's a line that says, fuck your plants.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Can you tell me how the fuck your plants line came to be?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Living in Boston, you're going a lot of house parties, people got plants, something happens, someone wants to say something, and all of a sudden maybe a plant goes somewhere or plant disappears.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Are you writing the music as well?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. So I'll. I'll write all the music, all the lyrics, and then just go to Taylor and say, I have an idea.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

And then he. Yeah, give me, give me a day of your time.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

And that's why, I mean, that's part of the reason why I love Taylor so much is because he just gets it kind of like Martin with like, like graphic design stuff. You can kind of just say a thing. He's like, oh, like this. You're just like, God damn.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's more better than I thought. Martinez, Martine and Taylor are very similar in the facts that, like, they're very easy to explain. Hey, here's this convoluted idea I have. Holy shit. You just made it real.

[Joshua Long]

Taylor also talked sense into me. I got. I just. Because, dude, like, being a one man band, like, I'd like overthink things and freak out. I mean, the last record we wrote, I recorded like three vocal tracks. And then I think I was texting him for probably an hour and a half being like, you know, let's just scrap the whole thing. I'm going to change my name. I'll probably move to Kansas. Let's. And he's like, we could just, you know, just sleep on it. I think they sound pretty good. I'm like, all right.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I feel like the first time you did the like speaking double layer vocal, that was the first time I noticed it. And I really like that. So you should do that more.

[Joshua Long]

I'll do it more thank you.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Thank you.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Did you play drums as well?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. So I just go in there and play drums. Then I pick up a guitar, play the guitar parts, and then I pick up a bass and the bass and then I do the leads and then I sing and. And I asked Taylor if he wants lunch, and of course he does. And we get lunch and then I drive home.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What's Great White Hut or Panda Express over there? Great White Hut's pretty good.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. It used to be burritos at the old pit, and I think it's been Jimmy John's at the new pit.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Jimmy John's.

[Joshua Long]

This isn't by. This isn't. It's by necessity. Just like, what's near there? And then. Hey.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

The Italian nightclub, I think is one of the great American accessible sandwiches. But I didn't know that he had access to that.

[Joshua Long]

So I believe. Is it Jimmy John's or Mike's?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Might be a Jersey. I might be a Jersey. Mike's. Might be a JM's.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I love JM. No problem there.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, both of those are just nothing places to me. So, yeah, just like, you eat a sandwich and then you leave. You pay the guy first and then you leave.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah. Right. Homesick, I think, is a song that's where you kind of really started to experiment with, like. I think I'm just gonna really speak some feelings over some guitar. I don't even need drums. What made you not want to put drums on these two singles? I do think it. It made these two songs stand out so much that they kind of. They shock me every time and they're so. The Homesick is so beautiful. I really like that hearing this happen in real time in the discography, like, like, really made the. The future of Skinhead click for me. Tell me about this song, please.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, my friend Ted passed away and luckily, I mean, I'm surrounded by beautiful people and we can all openly talk about our feelings. And no one was having a good time and no one was in. In our close friend group. No one was able to kind of express, you know, like, our sorrow and like, this sudden shock because you, like, in our late 30s, you know, like, losing a friend is completely insane. And unfortunately, it's happened a lot, whether it's, you know, drugs or just, you know, like suicide or something. And I wanted to help his sister out because, like, yeah, someone passes away and it's sad. But also there's logistical challenges, man. There's, like, funerals and there's costs. And my friend Ted passed away and it's the same place that Chet Baker Paker died. Amsterdam. He died in Amsterdam. And so to physically get his body back to, you know, Ottawa, where his family was like. And so a part of it was just me just needing to talk about that, and a part of it was just let me put out 100 tapes and I'll send all of, you know, all the. The proceeds to her. Show them 10, 10,000, because, you know, 100 tapes went in, like, 40 minutes, but four seconds. But either way, dude, it's. I think. I don't know. I. Again, talking to Taylor conceptually helps a lot. Dudes like. Like. Like bands like the Lemonheads or, like, Jay Maskus and, like, you can do full band stuff. Um, even, like, Bob Moulds. Like, I saw. I saw Bob Mould open for Patti Smith. This is probably, like 2018 or something. It was. It was fucking awesome, dude. And he was just him with a guitar, but he was doing Husker do songs. He was doing his solo stuff. He was doing Sugar. He was. I was like, damn. I was like, I would love to be in a place where I can. I can do stuff just like a man and a guitar or do stuff like, as a band. Like, it's so. I don't know. A lot of that had to. Had to do with it, but it was. It was mostly. I'm very sad about my friend not being here anymore, and I'm very sad that things come up and I. And I want. I desperately want to tell my friend these things that happened to me, he was getting me for. He grew up in. In Manchester with me, and he was getting into jiu jitsu, like, in 2004, 2005. And when I got my black belt, or. Sorry, my black belt. Jesus Christ. When I got my blue belt, I was like, the. I was like, if Ted knew that 20 years later, after he was just calling me a coward for not wanting to fight people in a gym, that I would be getting a blue belt, he would just be, you know, beside himself and just that feeling of like, there's nothing you can do. Your friend is gone. There's nothing you can do. So I just needed to tell, you know, my friends mostly who knew Ted. This is how I feel. All of them reflected, or all of them, you know, felt the same way, which was nice, and kind of celebrated it. And also just reminding people that if you have. If you have friends and family who are going through a hard time and you don't say anything, it's. It's. That's. That's a part of your fault, man. If they're not there anymore, you have to. Yeah. It is your. It is completely your responsibility as a friend, if you truly love someone, to have hard conversations. Maybe sometimes not even. Maybe cut them out of your life if that's what they need at the moment. You know, like, there's plenty of friends where they were going through terrible things, and I just had to accept I was like, cool. My friends. My friend's gonna die. That's. There's nothing I could do. So, yeah, it was something that I just felt like I really want to do, and I just wanted to try to heal, feel that. And. Yeah, helped a little bit. The only terrible thing is a lot of people like that song. And so I've had to play it live twice, and that's probably the worst thing I could possibly think of.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, I do think that.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I mean, but that's, like, why this works. You. You embrace the vulnerability while being called Skinhead. And all these songs are like these grand opuses where you talk about your. This cast of characters. You know, you got. You got Joby and Eric and. And Brendan and Kyle in the songs and on the new record, you're reflecting how all these other people that you'd like to talk about are not all here anymore. While you're talking about smashing bottles in people's heads and stuff. And it may it make. That's the complete package of Skinhead. And that's. That's. That's what sets you apart so real.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And that's the authenticity is. Is, like, impossible to fake, you know?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Which is kind of redundant to say, but it's true, you know, just in the nature of the music itself. And. And for people who know you, you.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Know, it makes it fun, too, because all the old, like, the classic oy bands all have these guys, they just talk about these vague first names that you hear, and you're like, what was. Who was little Jimmy? Dude, he sounds crazy.

[Joshua Long]

And then.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But your little Jimmy is Joby, and that's fun for me.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, it's great. It's better if you know the people. Oh, it's. It's a blast. Definitely. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Everything was beautiful and Nothing Hurt Debut LP Tell me about creating this record. The difference between setting off to make a bigger record and the stories that made it come to life.

[Joshua Long]

I still think I could have done everything in a day. And I'm kind of mad at Taylor that he didn't let me just. Just blast it out. But it took like a day. And then Lyrics to the other day, which I'm still sour about. But yeah, dude, it's. It's. I. After everything I. I record, I go, great. I'm never going to write any other skin anything ever again. And then maybe 30 seconds later, I go. And I'm like, that actually sounds pretty nice. Let's put some lyrics over this thing. Yeah, fucking kill yourself. And then. So. And then it turns into a song and I'm like, fuck, man, I have s songs. This is insane. And then two more.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'm done.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, right?

[Joshua Long]

This is almost 20 minutes. I can't. I can't be here. Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, you got some. You get some bangers on that one. You get some. Some hard ones, some soft ones, some nice ones. And again, the. The out of the gang troll. Like, I talk about my dog, who at the time was here, and she's like, we had to put her down last February. And so, dude, Beatrice, my love. Yeah, she was a wonderful lady. But, dude, like, playing. Everyone likes the song. Like, I love. I love it. And I'm just like, yo, I got to sing about straight up my dead dog. Every goddamn playing drums is so much easier.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, yeah, people don't get that, man. You can't lie when you're singing, right?

[Joshua Long]

No, it's. You have.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

If you're not telling the truth, it's. You're. You're ruined. And if you are telling the truth too hard, you're extra ruined because these words are hard to sing sometimes not.

[Joshua Long]

Okay, dude. Yeah, yeah. I didn't think that over. I don't think the. I mean, yeah, I got some sad ones on the newest one. I don't know what I'm doing, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'm just trying to say that has the grandest collection of sad per minute is really on this newest one. Can you tell me about your grand idea for a music video that wasn't able to happen?

[Joshua Long]

Dude, Dude, I thought that would have been amazing. I thought that would have been fantastic. It was for the first song on that record. Welcome back. Let me set the scene. Okay. It's a close up. Close up on a man's face starts to zoom out. You. You notice that he's in the woods. Daytime. He's in the woods. This man's wearing a balaclava. This man is walking towards a home. Okay. In the window of the home. This man is just standing at the door. Casual balaclava. In the window of the. Of the. Of the house that this man is. It's in the middle of the forest, this house. There is these three people laying down, watching television. Song starts, first line, knock, knock, whatever. The next line is you. The. The man in the balaclava kicks the door open. As the man kicks the door open and walks through the door, the camera's panning out. They see this man&55.0 interpretive dancers wearing just bright blues and purples and pinks come exploding through the door. The man is singing the song, yelling at the camera, talking about it. People are interpretive dancing all around you. The people on the ground that were watching TV are getting brutal. The tv. And then it gets to the end of the song. All four walls of the house collapses. And you realize, wow, this is. They're just in the. There's no one around. They're in the woods. And then we all just look at the camera as it slowly starts to rise into the heavens.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Well, I feel like it's not too late.

[Joshua Long]

That was the. That was the basis of it. It didn't come to fruition because of. It was hard to get 50 interpretive dancers. I found 15.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Like, like, good, like, learned interpretive dancers.

[Joshua Long]

They were from a school dance. A dance school.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Dude, you could make 15 look like 50.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

My friend Dylan, he was open to direct it, do all this stuff. It was just a big to do. Yeah, it was a big to do.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I gotcha.

[Joshua Long]

You know, a lot of.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Well, again, this record is so full of other grand poetry, such as easy come, easy go. Your friends are all pussies. Tell them I said so. Which, like, if somebody just said that, that is poetry to me in elementary school. Think about how different our lives would be.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

You would love. But, yeah, you'd be a little poet.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We would start. I would have started so much earlier. So, Skull, thank you for inspiring. The fourth and fifth graders today are all gonna hear this and really change their shit. I love the. So the why me? Why not cameo from one Kyla Young.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Gets me every time.

[Joshua Long]

Really? Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You know that voice anywhere?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I do. Anyway, for sure. Kyla, also the queen of dupes, man. I have this $50 dish soap that I use that smells like a tomato vine. She put me on to this $5 a bottle. Smells like the exact same thing. She is like a true gem of a person. And yeah, she's. She's unbelievable.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

She puts you onto the chocolate candle from Trader Joe's.

[Joshua Long]

Not that one yet. I don't know if I can do chocolate.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That one's. It's too extreme. It's maybe her one flaw Okay.

[Joshua Long]

I used to go to the pit and use the restroom, wash my hands. Every time I would have to go, what, what is, what is that? What is that soap? And honestly, dude, every time she would go from Target, I go, get the fuck out of here. Get the out of here. And then I would get that soap. If I show you my closet right now I have four of the refill bottles of one specific soap that she.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Had of this Kyla tomato soap.

[Joshua Long]

She's amazing. No, this was a different one. The tomato soap. This is dish. Dishwashing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Okay.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, awesome. Fantastic.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So the, the song Fat Skin has this incredible detailed shout out to Eric, Scandalous in the end that I love so much. Can you tell me about meeting Scandalous? And your description of him at the end of the song, 108 pounds sopping wet really gets me, I think.

[Joshua Long]

I don't know if this is all friend groups, but the more you love someone, a lot of the times that means the more you can, how you say, take the piss from them, if you will.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Piss.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, the first time I, I mean the first time I met Eric, I was in Black, My Heart. We drove to, we were doing a tour, we ended in la. Eric was living in la. He opens the van door and he goes, who the fuck is this guy? And looks at me and I'm like, oh, I'm just, I'm just like, I'm the dude in the band. And he goes, where the are you from? I was like, I'm from New Hampshire. He goes, the last guy met from New Hampshire I kicked the fuck out of and then did his air class. And I was like, what is this guy? What's this, what's this guy all about, dude, this is your friend. And then he, then he turns to our singer, he's like, yo, I'll let you guys stay in my house. But like, I don't know these fucking guys. And just only pointed at me like I was guys. And, and he's like, these guys can sleep in the fucking van. And I'm like, I'm the only other guy. And, and, and then he looked at me, he's like, you know what I'm saying though? You know I'm saying like, you're not sleeping my fucking house. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's cool, man. Sorry, I just. Can I use the restroom?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So that's how long, how much later until you guys are chums?

[Joshua Long]

Probably six hours. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

My, my favorite things about Scandalous are when, when you hear something, somebody's having something bad happen to them. And Eric is there telling them that they're ugly as well.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, he's not a good person.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Ugly. Yeah, but he's so.

[Joshua Long]

He's not a good person. Yeah. Again, dude, like, straight edge. I think I'm just friends with them out of spite because I'm like, dude, I can't not be friends. Just stubborn. I just can't not be friends with this guy at this point, you know? So there was my friend Josh Hines. Had a club in Haverhill, and you're throwing a show. And there was, like, Beef. This is way before me or any of my friends were, like, familiar. Well, not familiar, but, like, friendly with any of the Boston people. We're from New Hampshire. And there was, like, a weird thing where, hey, you can't throw a show. And Josh was like, I'm actually just going to throw it anyway. And so dude showed up. Sold out show. I think it was. It was slap shot or something. And dude showed up. I walked outside to be like, all right, I guess we have beef. I saw a tiny Puerto Rican man wearing the largest gang hat I've ever seen in my life. It looked like those oversized Dodgers hats.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

The brim.

[Joshua Long]

The brim was impossibly flat. It looks like earth. That's how flat it was. It was impossibly flat. And he was wearing a Canada Goose jacket. With the fur.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

With the fur, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

This is 2,000 again, like, three, maybe four. Dude. Like, it was insane. So that was the first time I saw him with my eyes. And then I met him maybe three, three years later and get introduced in the van of. That's Eric.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And everything was okay with the Haverill show after all. Was this Anchors up or is this Pre Anchors Up?

[Joshua Long]

It's just Pre Anchors Up. There was a club called Exit 23 in Haverhill. And then Josh took it over, and it was called New Direction. Then after New Direction came, came Anchors Up. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What a place.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, it was a cool time, dude. I'm thankful. I'm a loser. I have the worst luck. Don't laugh at that. I have the worst luck with.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'm laughing because you told me not to. That's. But you're gonna give me the chuckles, all right.

[Joshua Long]

Dude, I. I have the worst luck with, like, guessing. Like, I would go. There was a. In my hometown, there was a Strawberries music, which is like a CD. You buy CDs and whatever. Okay. And I would go to, like, the punk and the hardcore section, and I'd be like, sick Biohazard. Let me get this record. And it's just like a one of the duds. Like, what the is this? And then, dude, it was. One of the songs was like. It was like, welcome to the rat race, people. And I was like, what in the hell? Not okay. It was not okay. Whatever. It was.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

No Bobby Hamill. It wasn't the same.

[Joshua Long]

And so same with like Strife. Dude, I bought the. What is it like? No. Well, I did buy Anger Means, but Truth Through Defiance. I think it was true. Through Defiance, the one that had all the live and like the. I just was like, I wasn't picking the ones. Yeah. I was like, this guy's yelling and they're aggressive and so I'm so thankful for all of my friends who just knew what the fuck was up. Like Josh Hines. I remember he came up to me, right? A show in Manchester, Righteous Jams played and he's like, what's up, man? I was like, nothing. Because you like them. I was like, yeah. He's like, okay. And I was like, this dude's like putting a spot on me. This dude's like. I was like, that was a test. And so I had to watch. I was like, well, what do you. What do you like, man? And then we. He was a huge youth crew guy, so we bonded over like 10 yard fight and that. That kind of stu stuff. But yeah, I'm. I'm so thankful for all my friends around me because I was hearing about bands from friends. I was hearing about bands from people playing CDs and in cars and be like, who's this menace? Oh, sick. And then just having to remember it because iPhones are not real. And writing things down with a paper and pencil, that's like serial killer. Like kind of 15 year old is going to do that. So I just have to be like.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Writing menace.

[Joshua Long]

Dude with an anarchy sign and like Bart Simpson skull. Yeah. So it's. Yeah. So thankful for all my friends. So yeah, Josh thankfully had a couple. A couple venues and we thankfully could, you know, commit horrible crimes of assault within these walls and know that the owner isn't going to call the cops. So it was awesome, dude.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Anchors up was unbelievable. Got to play there a few times.

[Joshua Long]

Hot.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Probably the hottest experiences. Every single time I was ever in there. Chris puked while playing drums. Pretty sick. But what a place.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Josh as a guy, just like one of the most. What a warm presence, you know?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I always felt so comfortable with whatever he was booking. So inviting. Great guy. Miss him. Excited to hear the new band oh.

[Joshua Long]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm excited, too. First show is in. Yeah, December. I'm excited for the. It's called Recollection. Got some bangers on it, if you like good songs.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

This is you. You and Josh back together.

[Joshua Long]

Me and Josh, finally back together. I'm playing guitar and doing backup singing, and Josh is singing. The first time I went over to Josh Hines's house, he looked at me and goes, more. And I go, what? We're in this kitchen. He goes, more. And I go, I don't understand. He goes, dinty. I go, what? He goes, d. Moore Timor. Yeah. And I'm like, what does that mean? And then he pulls out a can of Dinty Moore beef stew, and he goes, would you like some soup? I went, yeah. And we've been friends ever since. Perfect. He's an amazing person.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Or love him. Tell me about rounding out Skinhead with a live band. After grinding out this solo project.

[Joshua Long]

How.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Do you round out this rotating cast of characters here?

[Joshua Long]

Well, I thought I would have to beg my friends to play, but luckily they heard it and there were pumps to play. So the first show we had. Yeah, I think it was Frank Martine played. I just kind of asked people that were around, so I'm like, hey, I got this thing. You want to hear it? And you want. You want to play guitar? It was like I was. Asked him to the prom. It was, like, super weird dude, because, like, no one helped me write this. I just wrote a thing, and I'm like, you guys, like, kind of. You guys like this thing? And it was super weird and humbling, and luckily people liked it. So we had my boy Joby. Had to have him in. Had to play. Can't play a lick of bass at the time. Specifically, couldn't play a lick. So we had to get my friend Poops on the back base. Aha.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's a great video. Here it is. He looks like he's playing so well.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, that's. That's movie magic there. Yeah. But Poops is on the back base holding down for us, and it was. Yeah, it was awesome. And also, dude, the band is called Skinhead, so you. That's kind of like the attitude. My friend. My friend Ted, who passed away. I mean, the new New Hampshire. The. The state motto is live free or die. And when Ted was alive, I used to go visit him in Montreal. He was a tattoo artist, and he gave me this tattoo. It looks like it was done with a crayon because he was so terrible at tattooing at the time. Just says, live free or fuck you. And that's kind of how all of my friends have acted, no matter what state, no matter what city we were in. So who's to say we can't have three guitar players and two bass players? You should fuck you. You know, Live free.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Or two guitars and two bass. Three guitars, two bass, four guitars, two bass. I don't know. Coming soon, you skinhead. Played live in the Mayans series finale. Can you tell me about how that came to be? And I know for a fact Josiah was plugged in for that.

[Joshua Long]

He came and he conquered and he ripped it, dude. He got a private lessons, I think Taylor and dude, Josiah just shredded it. He learned the entire song on one string.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Nice.

[Joshua Long]

He was shredded it, dude. Yeah, I. So being bad, being a loser, being bad at picking out music helped me in. In movies because if you go to Blockbuster and go to like, the 50 cent horror movie section, you can't go wrong 100. So I would pick whatever one is the weirdest one. And so a lot of my. My young, younger friends and friends were into punk and. And metal and all that stuff. We would bond over, like. We would bond over just, like shitty B movies. We had. I had a, like a death metal band called the Sons of Sheetar that was off this. This movie Blood Diner. It was like the demon that, like, they were building. This is in like high school. And we just obsessed with movies, trauma films and like, just fucked up movies. And so every movie, dude, if they would have, like a band or a punk band, we would be sitting in Manchester, New Hampshire, being like, dude, who is that? How does that happen? Yeah, like, this is crazy. And like Valley Girl. There's like all. Every single, like, perfect shitty movie for the most part. It has like a band at a bar or whatever.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And there's always some cool explanation to how they.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, yeah, right?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. The director. The director bought coke from the bass player and then he brought him in or whatever it was or. Yeah, Cannibal Corpse with like, Ace Ventura. Like, to all. All this shift, you were just like, dude, being in a. Like you made it kind of find out that's not the case. But yeah, Elgin. Elgin was directing and writing all of Mayans. He came from. From Sons of Anarchy and started this thing on his own. And he heard some of the stuff. Eric. Eric hooked it up too. And they were filming the final season, so Elgin was just like, how do we, you know, cultivate this feeling of, you know, this the show? And so I got a call saying that Elgin Wants to put your song in one of the episodes. And I freaked out and said, absolutely no. What's the money? Talk to my. Talk to my lawyer. Then they gave me an offer I can't refuse. So I said, absolutely, let's do it. And then it kept, like, it kept. It kept molding. Like, at first it was like, oh, we're just going to put it in. Yeah, like it's gonna be at a thing. And I'm like, all right, that's awesome. And then they're like, actually, there's another scene where we want you to be the backing band. And I was like, what's the scene? Okay, so it's a white power biker group. And I'm like, perfect, sign me up. But, dude, it's like this pinnacle. I haven't watched the show, but it's this pinnacle scene of like the Mayans coming in and just murdering people.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

While you're playing.

[Joshua Long]

I'm. I'm yelling in a thing. Joby's riffin. Josh James, like, all the dudes, Aldo. Everyone's playing. People are getting murdered. Mexi is beating a man half to death with a. With a baseball bat. This dude, like, the first thing they do, they walk in the show, people turn around and a guy gets his head blown off. It was pretty awesome, dude. It was. It was really cool. What I didn't know is that was maybe like 15 or 20 seconds long. And I was there for 13 hours.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, yeah, that's how it goes.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. So they used.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

They used the live audio of you playing in the show. It's not that's recorded song, so that's pretty cool.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Wow. It was awesome. Yeah, it was cool. And dude, to be like, yeah, it was. It was a dream come true. Because I was like, I'm finally a shitty band in like a show or a movie. This is awesome. Like, all. A bunch of our friends were extras. I think Vic was wearing a. He was in like, a punk gang. He was wearing a. A vest that said the. The. That was their. That was their. Like, yeah, it was. It was awesome, dude. And just like all the fake posters, you know, because it was a real bar, but they set it up as a fake bar in a real bar. And it was just like, the High Voltage is playing tomorrow night. And so it was just. It was awesome. Fake beer cans. It was cool.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Kind of reminds me of. Of the. The Green Room death metal band that plays before.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Dude, they're so good.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

They're so awesome. And they're just like, what was it we talked about it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We looked. We got to go back to that episode and look it up. But it. Dude, the band was incredible. And they're hard as. And they're not White Power.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And they're not White Power.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, thank God.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So it's all good.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, there's. There's a band. There's a band. Dino Lee that plays in Blood Diner. And he's just a sick freak. Dude, the guy's absolutely insane. His Pompadour is like 4, 4ft tall. But yeah, he was the backing band and Blood Diner while they were having like a Blood seance. And like, people, you never forgot, ever. I never will either. Lord willing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Pardon this interruption. This episode is brought to you by Mad Vintage.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Boy, is it ever.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's Mad vintage dot com. Every band we talk about on this show, damn near every week, you can find 20, 30, 40 years old sitting, waiting for you on mad vintage.com.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

He'S got everything from punk, hardcore metal, hip hop, wrestling, movie stuff. That's right, he's got it all.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And listen, some of these shirts have survived for so long in single owner households, if you let us buy them, we're going to cut them up and do God knows what to them.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Look at this.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So you need to save these shirts. They're sitting waiting for you to be saved on maddvintage.com mad ball, agnostic front. Anything else that people from Mad Ball and Agnostic Front were in you can find on madventures.com so please act fast. But if you use code hardware15, you're going to get 15% off.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And that might not sound like a lot go on that site. That's going to add up for you.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's going to add up, okay? So quit dicking around.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And also keep in mind that if you catch Luke, Mr. Mad Vintage at any fest that are happening, he was at tied down. He was at the rumble. He was at that helium fest just now that just hellfire. He's looking to buy, he's looking to sell, he's looking to trade. Talk to him, reach out to him through the Instagram. You never know.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Just send him a message. He's a very nice guy. He's got good stuff. This episode is also brought to you by a G1.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I heard some very exciting news about AG1, Colin.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Honestly, it's. It's revolutionary. Not only is AG1 the first thing we do every single morning, one scoop of little green powder, couple 12 to 16 ounces of cold water. You shake it up, you suck it down, empty stomach and You've got all your daily probiotics, prebiotics, all the biotics you need. But coming soon, in late August, agz.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Agz. What could AGZ be?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

AGZ is a nighttime drink designed to support restful restorative sleep with clinically studied adaptogens, herbal extracts and key minerals.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And get this, AGZ will be available in chocolate, chocolate, mint and mixed berry flavors.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's right, different flavors. AG1 is no longer one flavor fits all. Okay? And they're all, they're just looking out for your well being. They want you to feel better, they want you to sleep better, they want you to live better.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Imagine starting and ending every day with AG A to Z.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

They should pay us for this. Go to drink ag1.com hard lore and get started on your health journey today. So out of the Gang, let's go back to the record here. Out of the Gang opens with. We beat so many cases. Is there any concern documenting these alleged incidents via your art?

[Joshua Long]

I think the, the main word to focus on is art. Art.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, right.

[Joshua Long]

I love. So fucking. Fucking prove it. Yeah, okay.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You beat him.

[Joshua Long]

You know, and also the cases are done. Like, what are you going to bring up? Like, they're done, bro. Yeah. The judge has rung his gavel and I am allowed to move on.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Outstanding.

[Joshua Long]

But also, dude, it's like, yeah, there's, there's like glory in winning fist fights, but also sometimes having to rely on people and having to be the person that people rely on. Fucking sucks.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

And that song in particular, I felt like I kind of portrayed how it kind of sucks to like, have like so many friends that you love. Unbelievably. Just like, have this sickening deep love for someone that you're like, I love my wife and like, my son is the coolest dude I've ever met and I have a house in south Orange County. I will murder you if you ever say that to my friend. You know, there's also like this weird fucked up thing in my brain. Hopefully I never get in trouble in my life. Hopefully I never throw up this again at a man's face.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Agreed, agreed, Agreed. You tackle this, this topic very earnestly where I. I would have to imagine even your friends that you're talking about would hear that and go, we understand. Yeah, that's beautiful. We love you too.

[Joshua Long]

Hey, thank you very much.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Back in the Gang, the closing track on this record. This is where I think you've done something. You've really cracked the code on a new type of art here.

[Joshua Long]

I'm Onto something.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Here you document the story of losing your virginity and so much more while literally narrating a spoken word story over punk music. What inspired this? Can we expect more of this? This is, this, this is fun to hear every time.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. I mean, just youth is. Youth is so fucked up, man.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Straight up. I'll never forget that girl that my friend got a blow job from her Tupac T shirt. It was like, I don't even know where. Like, I don't think Spencer's had Tupac T shirts back. Like it was. She got it from someone. Like it was. It was such a small thing, but said so much about this individual girl that it always stuck to me. And it being summertime, like the whole story is. Is true, but it being summertime and the wind, like, I will. I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. There was like this cool summer wind breeze and it was truly like a hurricane and it was golden hour. Like. Like you see your friends like you're you. Like you've never seen them before, like physically. And the excitement inside being like, dude, Brian's going to get his dick suck. This is fucking crazy. Like, I've seen channel 76 of like the blurry things and then all of a sudden it has a tit on it. Yeah. But like this dude's gonna witness it in real life.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So this is a lucid experience of you in real time realizing you're witnessing a memory.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And years later would write it into this beautiful story over punk music.

[Joshua Long]

Over punk music.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I gotta hear more. I need. I need more of these stories in this, in this format. If you've got. I know you've got some. So I got a couple.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I got a couple.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Are Ryan and Chris still alive? You seemed unsure at the end of the story.

[Joshua Long]

They are actually dead. They're long dead. Apparently. I'm one of my friends wives. This is. I went back. I don't know why all this stuff we're talking about is about death and murder, but my aunt passed away in. In May. And so me and my wife and my son went back to New England to go to the funeral and spend time with family. And I played a skinhead set, just me and a guitar. I sang a bunch of covers and did some original stuff. It was super fun. And my friend's wife was talking to me and she's like, wait, where did you grow up? What junior high did you go to? I was like, oh, I went to Gilbert H. Hood Middle School. And she's like, I Did. I'm like, I did. She's like, when did you graduate? I was like, this. She's like, that. We were. Wait a second, were you and fubar? And I was like, yeah. Holy. So she dated the base. She dated the basis of fubar. And I was like, holy, man. And so I. We. We were rifling through people and I was like, yeah. And this person's like, yeah, he's dead. I was like, oh. And I was like, I know Stefan killed himself. He's like, yeah. And then what about. Ryan's like, ryan OD eight years ago. I was like, what about. Oh, yeah, they're. They're dead.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

They're suburban New England, baby.

[Joshua Long]

Dude, People can't get enough opioids.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's like, man, it's the only thing.

[Joshua Long]

It must feel awesome, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I've been saying that.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

How many times. Yeah, how many times have you said that? That's.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's gotta be this. This is like the true, like the edge trifecta. Brain speaking, you know? Just like, it has to be so awesome. I. Damn. I never want to know.

[Joshua Long]

You have to respect your enemy, you.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Know, 100% what they're willing to give for a second of joy. It's gotta be awesome.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's a beautiful day.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What a beautiful day. What a record as well. Tell me about putting this together. Tell me about the. The. The stories that come to mind in writing it. You said you say every time you finish a skinhead song, you swear you're. You're off. You're done with it. You're off the stuff forever. And then you get this beautiful nine song record that everyone I know is in love with.

[Joshua Long]

How.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

How did this come to be. Tell me about putting it together.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I mean, after I recorded the last record, I was. I was just like, that's it. No more. I was like, let me do something else. Like, I can't. I can't do this again. This is really great. People like, the spoken word thing. Like, what am I going to do? Write another record with a spoken word song and then a nice song and then till you're. And I was like, what about yourself?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, we gotta do something different.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is all about yourself now. So. Yeah, I was just. I don't know. There's something inside me. It's like this. It's this driving force. If I don't. If I don't create something, photos or writing something or music. It's mostly music. I can just feel not good. I don't Feel okay. I feel like, you know, I. I think if I had a better mom, I would have probably learned how to deal with my emotions better. But thankfully I found punk and harker music. So I just always. I'm always writing on, like. I just have a guitar on garage bands. My friend Pat from different op. Fit from an outfit for an Autopsy. Yeah, from an autopsy. 4. 4. You fit them for the Autopsy?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, yeah, they are fit for that. Autopsy.

[Joshua Long]

Dude, straight up. The pal looks awesome, by the way. He's amazing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He's Slenderman.

[Joshua Long]

He was talking to me. I forget what record came out. And he's like, dude, these songs are great. And I was like, yeah, I write them on this thing. And I held up like a 69, like, squire, like, whatever.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And he's the squire.

[Joshua Long]

He's like, you're not. You're not doing that, bro. And then so he hooked me up with a. With a strap, and I'm like, hey, this does sound better. This is cool. And so I wrote most of that. Most of that record on that. And yeah, I'm always just creating. And I just have these. You hear comics talk about it where it's like, I have a premise, and then all of a sudden, just like magic, it just comes to you. That's kind of what. That's kind of what happens to me is I'll sing. I'll just. In my head, I'll like, hum a thing. And then I'm just like, oh, it should. It should go like this. And then I'll just pick up my guitar and go and just play something, and that'll turn into a song. And then actually, that song might just get butchered up. And it's three separate songs that I kind of branch off of. And so, yeah, it's. It's. It sucks. I think Neil Young, I heard a quote from him and he's like, if you. If you got it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's my favorite. It's my favorite quote. I love it. Give it to me.

[Joshua Long]

Really? You know what? I'm gonna say?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yes.

[Joshua Long]

Neil Young said, if you have. I'm gonna paraphrase. If you have the gift. If you have like a gift of. Of. Of music and you don't give into that gift, like, if you have. If the moment strikes you and you do not act on that, your doing your gifted to serve, you're throwing your gift in the trash. That can't be the same quote.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I just LeBron to you because I've never heard that quote in my life.

[Joshua Long]

That's my.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's my favorite saying. That's my favorite saying. That's my favorite saying. Mine is, if I knew where the good songs were, I'd go there more often.

[Joshua Long]

No, I don't care about. I don't care about that one.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I love that one. That's like give me a time. I don't know, I got. They gotta find me. I can't go find them.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I'm also not a guy who just writes, you know, 40 songs a day. Cause like I gotta write, man. Like same. Who. Who said that? Bob. Was that, was that your boy or was that Bob Dylan? Was like, I gotta write. I gotta get all the bad ones out of the way. Remember that's Tom Petty. Who's one of those dudes?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Maybe.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I can't.

[Joshua Long]

He's like, I write a song every day because I gotta get the bad ones out of the way or whatever.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I can't even deeply emotionally invested in one. If I play one note I'm like, well, I gotta figure out where this note goes. It could take me a year.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I can't even write a bad song, let alone find a good.

[Joshua Long]

Wow, that must be nice, bro. That must be nice. You've heard your bands, you've heard all your bands before.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

My wife was cry laughing because Kyla posted something about like me listening to the Hundredth Bounce. It was just like a woman crying next to this guy, like playing some fucking demo band that was. My wife was like. She was like, I'm painful inside. But I think that's very funny because you know, just. I was like, I just wrote the best song I've ever written in my life. And she's like, that's nice. And I'm like, we're going to listen to it 700 times until. I hate this song. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh yeah.

[Joshua Long]

And then I know you got to.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Hear version 5z Honey, I promise this is the one. Taylor says the mids are a little higher and the vocals came down a little bit. It's totally different.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I'm sure I didn't mention this earlier or anything, but I do think this is the best Skinhead record. Colin and I did have spoken several times separately that the overall arc like this is by far the best music, the catchiest music, which I think is really important for this kind of thing. And then also like to have your. Is the number one Spotify song Kill Yourself?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I believe so. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Which is pretty amazing.

[Joshua Long]

Which is an anti. I mean, what do you want to say something about that? Sure. It's like, it's I fucking agree with you, man.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah. Well said, Bo.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Thank you.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's a great song. There is something.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Please.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Because there's something somber and intimate about this record. Even though it starts with kill yourself and. And then kill yourself, you know, the message is kill yourself, and then it's really kill yourself. But like, Chuck, is this beautiful take on grief. Did you. Did you approach this record overall with a different theme? Or again, is this just what you're feeling at the to time?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I'm just like writing music and the more up the content is, like, it kind of has to be a little more catchy. So it, I think, worked well. And yeah, dude, Chuck, like, it sucks. But, you know, plenty of our friends, unfortunately, like, or. Or people who are around us have died from drug or alcohol abuse. And then you go to their funeral, you go to a party for them, and then you just see all of the people who do drugs, doing drugs to be fucking sad. And I'm like, you have learned absolutely nothing. Most of these songs come from anger. Kill Yourself, I would say is like almost an anti suicide song because the guy in the song is such a loser. Why would you want to be like that guy? But all the songs are just like anger, dude. I'm just mad. I'm mad about stuff. Yeah. Chuck, dude, it's like, how many times do I have to see three friends leave a bathroom out of a funeral and like, then talk to me about. You drive here, you take the train. I'm like, what the. Yeah, yeah. Like, I heard it. I heard cocaine's like coffee.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I don't believe it.

[Joshua Long]

And I don't believe it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I don't believe it, man.

[Joshua Long]

I don't believe it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Coffee's like, to me the only thing good for you.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, it's one of the most important.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, water's good, but it's in coffee, right?

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Did this.

[Joshua Long]

It's made primarily from coffee. Yeah. Bean water.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I would love your perspective on. On this as a. As a trainer and a man who knows about fitness.

[Joshua Long]

Oh, great.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

James from my band maintains that if he drinks 10, 12 Diet Cokes a day, he's ingesting, taking in as much water as he would if he drank, you know, 10, 12, 12 ounce things of water.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

How do you feel about that?

[Joshua Long]

I believe that the proof is in the pudding. So that guy looks ripped. And I think you should keep doing whatever the fuck he's doing.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

There it is.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Water is everywhere.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

It's everything.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Can you tell me about Eric doing the. What do you guys want this. It's so, Eric, this performance here in separate checks. What do you guys want to eat? How did you get that performance out of him?

[Joshua Long]

You know, he is about, like, 108 pounds. So he has a lot to prove. And he's the most.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He's gotta be like, 190 at this point. He's rock hard.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I don't think so.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

108 is so insane.

[Joshua Long]

Put a. Bring a scale, dude. Do one of those YouTube things where you guys step on the scale. How much do you weigh? Awesome. Bring a scale. I'm not afraid. All right. But, yeah, we got him in the. We got him in the booth. And we're like, yeah, we need someone to be like, let's go. Let's go to eat. Let's go get some tip for food. And the first, like, seven takes, he was like, well, you guys want some. You guys want some steaks? We're like, dude, what are you doing, man? You don't talk like that. He's like, I'm just talking like, I talk. And everyone's like, what are you. What are you doing, man? You were. Weren't you an actor or whatever? It was like, just say what you're doing. He's like, all right, you guys hungry? I'm looking for some food. And we're just like, dude, just say what you know. How. Why would you say it? You know, we're hanging out as a group, like, you know, getting the things, like, all right, anyone wants. And we're just like, dude, just say what? He's like, well, he's like, I am saying it how I say it. And then he was like, like, what do you want me to say? You guys want to eat? And then we. Taylor was recording. The whole thing goes. Got it. See ya. That's it. Get out of the booth.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And it's perfect.

[Joshua Long]

Perfect emotion.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You directed. You're a director.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, partially. Yeah, absolutely.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Think about that.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Can you explain your stance on getting several checks and, like, why. Why was this. This particular topic, one that had to be put to wax again?

[Joshua Long]

I'm going to go back to it. New England is a miserable place. It's got mosquitoes in the summertime, it's got the cold. Some days you cannot. I know. You know, this being in Chicago, some days you cannot start your car. Gasoline. Something that does not freeze somehow freezes. What's happening here? So the only solace we have is just gorging ourselves for the endorphins. So in high school, we used to go to this place called The Belmont hall that we knew, some girl that worked there, and she would give us the great end of the greater breakfast. There were two different options. The grater had three pancakes. Oh. And it was always a about. It was always okay. All of a sudden. Yeah, it's. And, dude, this is what, 2001. 2002. So this is the bill. $28. And we're like, we are financially ruined from this.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

It's over. Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

And so some dude has, like, a Visa gift card or like a Simon's gift card for, you know, $4.80. They're like, dude, this is pretty much five bucks. And you're, like, kind of scrounging all this together, and then you have, like, $3 less than. That's been my entire relationship with my friends. I'm like, how do we love each other and care about each other so much, but we are the biggest scumbags when it comes to just the simplest thing. How about you pay for what you're fucking getting, dude? Yeah, I saw you get the lemonade and the coffee. I saw that. It's not $10, dude. I guarantee you it's not.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And it's not split. Splitting never works. Even split is just impossible. Unless you got the same thing and it's all you can eat and you get the identical orders. It's not possible.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I thought. I'm glad people resonate with the song, dude, because big time. Yeah. And writing a song about again, I'm just angry, dude. I just write about anger. I'm angry. Just write about angry stuff, dude. Put the. Just the whole 20. Don't start taking the things that. The whole 20. And also, that's not enough. In addition to that 20. That's not enough.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, I agree. You are like, if Larry David was a skinhead and wrote music instead of television, you know, situationally, I would say. Yeah, you're a situational songwriter.

[Joshua Long]

Situationally thing. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You know what I'm liking now is the places that do the thing where they bring you the. The little scanner. You. You picked just what you got, then you tap. Then they pass it around.

[Joshua Long]

That's every.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Every restaurant in America should have that.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Absolutely.

[Joshua Long]

I thought I was ruined because of that technology. I was like, this is dead tech. I was like, separate checks. This is dead technology. Now. This is a thing of the past, but now people still get checks.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

People still get 100%, but that is a form of a separate check. So you. I mean, you're going that.

[Joshua Long]

You're going.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

If they got that thing right.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I'LL be there. I'll be at Fred 62 later.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

That's exactly right.

[Joshua Long]

You nailed it. Yeah, that's exactly right.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Smoked it, dude. That's a promise. The song about a dog masterpiece. Work of fuck. Van Gogh painted this song. There's this incredible video of you playing this song years before this record would come out and giving this beautiful monologue beforehand about a dog you got to know and. And grew to love over time. I'm. I want to play that entire video right now in this episode for anybody watching it. So here it is. It's two minutes long. Please enjoy.

[Joshua Long]

You know, have you ever had a relationship where it was a little bit tumultuous in the beginning and then ended up blossoming into an amazing friendship?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'm gonna share a story with you real quick.

[Joshua Long]

Two minutes and 2006. I was sleeping on a floor. There was a dog. Dog there, right? I love dogs. I didn't like this dog because it was mounting me like the goddamn lone Ranger. It viciously hugged me for, I don't know, probably four hours. And also it ate my blanket that I was sleeping in. Piece of. Anyway, fast forward two years. I met the dog again, and the dog saw me, and I saw him, and he started wagging his tail like, you know what? Water under the bridge. I want to give this dog a chance, right? Fast forward another two years. I moved to California. I end up sleeping on this dog's floor again. You know, I grew up in New England. I'm a long way from home. This dog looked at me and he said, you know, I can tell that you're. You're kind of scared. You know, your family's over here and you're over there. I want to do something. I said, okay, I'd love that. What is that? This dog said. He looked at me in the eyes. When Martin, he looked me in the eyes and said, you know what? If you're. If you're friends with my dad, he said, you're my family, and I'm friends with you. I said, wow, okay. And he said, one more thing. He goes, you know what? If it's okay with you, can I in the morning, just. Just sleep on your bed sometimes?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Right?

[Joshua Long]

I was sleeping on the living room. Can I sleep on your bed? And can I just make sure that you're okay while you're adjusting to this new home? And I said, absolutely.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Me and the dog had a wonderful relationship.

[Joshua Long]

But as all things, you know, this. This dog, it started getting older, unfortunately, started getting up a little slower, you know, it couldn't go for walks as long.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You know, I love this dog very.

[Joshua Long]

Much, so tell you one thing. No matter how much, much pain this dog was in, any time I would walk into the room, that dog would get the up, it would come over to me and it would say, hey, man, I love you, and you're my family. And if we can all give a round of applause to this dog.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You just watched it. It's unbelievable. You'll see Taylor standing there holding the base. What you don't know is he's fighting back tears because Duke had just passed. So you're doing this beautiful monologue about. I might. It might get me right now just talking about it. And then you shout out Duke and then, like, eight other dogs. And Taylor's just ripping into the song, tears in his eyes.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Oh, man.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Beautiful stuff.

[Joshua Long]

Yes. Yeah, man. It's hard, dude. Yeah. My dog Beatrice, I adopted her 10 years. I had her 10 years, and she was on. My friend Paul calls your lifer dog. Like, the dog that you have when you go through all the shit, you know, like, when you're younger, you have a dog and you're just, like, relationships and jobs and moving. And Beatrice is just there, and she was so perfect. And I know how my friends feel about, you know, their dogs and their companions and just, like, how they appreciate love. And I don't know, Like, I don't. I don't think if you're a singer in a band, you have to say important things. But I really, like, if I have something to say, if I want to, like, tell my friends that I care about them, I was like, what a perfect way. But to. I'm on stage, like, hey, before we play, I just want to say this thing. And, yeah, Eric's dog passed away. There was Duke. Yeah, There was different Gibby's dog. Yeah, there's a lot of them. And it's just. I was just like, I really want to, you know, thank the. The dogs who've just loved us. And we're terrible people sometimes. Not to the dogs, but just, like, terrible people. And it feels so good to, like, go home and just, like, cuddle this dog. And it's almost like a redemption. It's almost like, you know, man, I just did something terrible to another person and I'm coming home. And I'm like, stop, Beatrice, I'm not a bad person. You know, there's like, a bit of that.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You're the best person to me, my favorite. You're out of that door. Don't matter. Who you are when you're home. You're the best person in the world to this one thing.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And it's the best part of my day.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, no, it's. It's awesome, dude. And it's just like. Yeah. They unfortunately, like, pass away way before us. And, dude, owning pets. Yeah, it's fucked, man.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Owning pets, knowing we will most likely outlive them is one of the craziest things that we do. That everyone does. It's so brutal.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But, dude, I mean, how that. That time we do get with them is so valuable. It's all we got. It's all they have. It's the only life they know. It's their whole life. And then it turns into these portions of our life that define us. And now, like, I got a senior dog recently. Never wanted a senior dog. Now I will never not have a senior dog.

[Joshua Long]

Dog.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

As soon as he's out of here, I'm saving some other dog because I can't believe this guy with his shitty little eyes and his dumb little legs. I can't get enough.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And that's. That's the silver lining, the solace is knowing you delivered the best possible outcome for this thing that just loves you.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Never stop.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

It's. It's. It's awesome. It's the best. I love it so much. Yeah, I'll. I love Beatrice more than anything. She's. She's. She's amazing. And I just think that me knowing I love her, me knowing that she has an expiration date, unfortunately made. Made me drive to Joshua Tree on Thanksgiving to go take a hike with her. Made me wake up early and be like, fuck, I'm so tired. I do not want to go to work, but I'm going to wake up early and give Beatrice like a perfect hour and a half, walk around piece of shit Echo Park. And like, that's the same way I think we have to treat our friends. And it sucks that, you know, we have friends who pass away and we're like, we should have done this or this. And if you have friends who are alive and you love them, dude, just call them, text them. I have a rule. This is probably like eight years ago, one of my friends died and I said if I think, if I just have a thought or if I see something that reminds me of a friend, I'm going to text them no matter what. I have to. If it's stupid, if it's late, I don't care. Oh, dude, this. This weird clown, this, like, tiny 2 inch clown reminded me of you, Eric. Here's. Here's a picture of it. Like, it's just. It seems like a non negotiable. Dude, I've had bad days and friends text me and I'm like, fuck, your friends call me and I'm like, dude, I haven't heard from you in two years. How's it going? And then it's. Yeah, it's. It's so beautiful having friends and then you commit violent crimes with them and you become closer and that's.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

There you go.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And that's Skinhead.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

That's the thing.

[Joshua Long]

We've got.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We've got this annual call going on that I look forward to now. We'll see. 2026 is just around the corner. I'm looking forward to the annual call.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, keep it up.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, thanks, man. What can you tell me about plans for Skinhead going forward? Because I really feel like I'm seeing people outside of punk and hardcore connecting with Skinhead, you know, random regular people in my life. Reposting this record, it's connecting with people profoundly. Despite how personal it is to you, it means what it means to the listener. You know, they interpret it how they're going to interpret it. Are you feeling. No more music mode? Are you feeling. I'm inspired. Let's write another book. Let's write another record. Record mode.

[Joshua Long]

Definitely want to write another book. I have never had a plan for Skinhead. If songs come to me, I'll. I'll record them and hopefully people still like them. There was an interview with Jamiroquai where he goes, once people are calling me Jamiro. What's your habits? I'll never. I'll never. I'll know that I fell off. And so that dude fell off hard. And there's still the video of him. So I don't want to look like an asshole and say, you know, we're going to take over the world, baby.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, sure.

[Joshua Long]

But, yeah, it's just a vessel for me to express myself and my anger and hopefully not take it out on anyone else. And. Yeah, but I'm constantly. It sucks. It sucks doing the things that you never wanted to do. I've been doing Muay Thai on and off for like 12 years. My friend Brennan got me into it and martial arts has made me a better person, and it makes me so annoyed admitting that. But with music, like, I go see artists and I'm immediately inspired. I'm like, fuck, that is awesome. I would love to create a song that sounds like this. And so that shit's happening all the time. Yeah, all the time.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

As soon as you turn that off, life sucks. You know, as soon as you turn off inspiration, shut yourself out, everything gets fucking miserable. And then you start appreciating everything around you. I see a good band now. That genuinely moves me. I'll think about it for weeks.

[Joshua Long]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I don't. I don't know how to write anything that sounds like it, but I'll do it in my own little way so I fully hear you.

[Joshua Long]

Dude, what's this? What's the singer? The Lemon. Lemon Heads. What's that guy's name?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Evan. Evan Dando.

[Joshua Long]

Evan Dando. I saw Evan Dando. I saw Evan Dando play. It was him and an acoustic guitar. He played for two hours. It was the most magical. He played. I forget what Metallica song. He played a full Metallica song with solos on acoustic guitar. I was like, yes, wow. Yes. That.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Like, where did you see that?

[Joshua Long]

That was at the. In the Constellation Room at the observatory. There was 17 people there. Oh.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And he played for two hours. Holy true.

[Joshua Long]

Full hours. Yeah. He was truly amazing. And then I think his merch guy goes, hey, Devin, why don't you play the new song? He had like a new release. And he goes, I'm sorry. And ran off stage. And that was the end of the show.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That was it.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, he's. He's phenomenal. Yeah. The Get Up Kids. I saw the Get Up Kids recently with their Something to Write Home about tour, dude. Just like constantly inspired, dude. Awesome. Music is great post.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Animal was the band that I saw recently where I just like 45 minutes of just like, what am I doing? I need to be making something.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

We both, yeah, we left that show talking about an unreleased song for hours.

[Joshua Long]

Crazy.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Now it's out.

[Joshua Long]

Now it's out.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's called Setting Sun. Check it out. Setting sun so black my heart on broken wings. These are pivotal moments in your life. Can you tell me about some tours you did with these bands?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Black My Heart. We were so poor, it was insane. My rent in Boston, we had a two bedroom apartment with seven people living inside. My rent was $280. And so we were just like, let's get on tour, dude. We got. We need like to make money, dude. And also being home. It sucks being home. So, yeah, we were. Dude, we did so many tours. We did a Europe tour. The first Europe tour we ever did. We had this Hungarian driver named Yaki.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I know ya.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

We've had Yaki.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, yeah, he lives there. He hated us. Yeah, he didn't like us. I'm sure he still does not like us. I don't like them. No. This is like maybe two years or however. I think two years after the tour, Pat Flynn came up to me at some show and he's like, dude, we had Yaki, your driver at Black Martin. I was like, oh, yeah, cool. He's like. We were like, pestering him. We're like, hey, he was like the worst band. And Yaki goes, I love all of my bands. Black My Heart was the worst band I've ever toured with in my entire life, but we just.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Was the worst.

[Joshua Long]

We just wanted to party, dude. And also, if I'm in Europe, why am I getting to the show at noon to load in, bro. I'm playing at 10:30 at night.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

True.

[Joshua Long]

Bring me to the water park. Stop on the side of the road. I need to run up to this castle. I need to punch it. I need to do something. You to grab the ground.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And the venue's never near the castle.

[Joshua Long]

Fuck no, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's in the. It's in the fucking sewer.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And then the most beautiful monument you've ever seen is 10 miles away, and it. And going to. It is. Is not possible.

[Joshua Long]

Didn't. Yes. So we did Yaki together. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We had turkey.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Think about James saying yaqui.

[Joshua Long]

Isn't that.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Can't you hear it in your head?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, yeah, I can. Dude. We. We had a hack. So if we wanted to stop somewhere, we would. Our first line of defense, we would just be driving down the road. We would go, yaki, let's go get some snacks, dude. He's like, we must load in the show. And we would just start chanting, snacks, snacks, snacks, snacks, and violently shaking his poor van. And then if he still didn't pull over, we would just straight open the door and just be like. And stick our feet out and just try to, like, pretend like we're jumping out on the highway. And he's just. He's a good man. Yaki's a great man. So he would of course, not want us to die. And then he would pull over and we would get snacks and then stay at the. At the rest area for probably two, two and a half hours, eating jelly beans, being like, yo, Yaki, they got pasta here, man. He's like, we are so late. Yeah, dude. By. I think it was like four weeks long. Maybe Yaki d stuck in there, bro. By.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He always does.

[Joshua Long]

By week three and a half. We broke his ass. We broke his ass. Finally. We were like, Yaki, let's go to the water park. And he goes, who gives a shit? You don't want to go to the show anyway. Now you got it. Let's go, Yaki. But dude, I'm on tour. I don't know if you guys are the same, but Black My Heart had a hard rule. No hardcore in the van. When we're on tour, we're going to go to the venue, we're going to play hardcore. You guys are a little different, I can see in your. In your mannerisms.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But I've got Taylor Young in my band.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, it's.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That rule is he's. If it's not extreme, it ain't playing.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I just. It's like you're going to go to the venue, there's going to be the thing playing over the speakers. There's going to be the bands, like, let's know. And dude, Yocky opened up his. His CD booklet to his was Funny Van. And dude, it was just like local straight edge demos, bro.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

A lot of Rikers.

[Joshua Long]

It was Gather was a band that I remember. I'm just like, dude, get this out of here, Yaki. So we played. We played Suzanne, that single from Weezer.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Weezer.

[Joshua Long]

We played. Yeah, we played that song. We played Get Up Kids, Something to Write Home about. And we played Miss Ohio from Gillian Welch. Repeat on. Repeat on Eric's like MacBook one that he plugged the jack into it until Yaki went crazy. And then we found this Hungarian that actually brought it. So we're gonna play the clip right now.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Unbelievable.

[Joshua Long]

Wasn't that insane? So we played that song, this Hungarian fiddle song for some. He had all straight edge local European bands and one classic, like Hungarian fiddle. Dude, we. It was like track two. We're like, turn that up, Yaki. No, because we would listen. We would say, play it again, Yaki. You go, this song has already played. I'll go play. You're gonna play it again. It's a long drive to Copenhagen. You're gonna play it until you. You can't play it no mo.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah. Wow.

[Joshua Long]

It was awesome, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's how you do it, though. You gotta remember, like, bands gotta remember. These guys are working for you. I don't want to get to the show, you know?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, you. I my pet. My tax dollars pay for you, man. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And my regular dollars.

[Joshua Long]

I want to have a good time. I'm on tour. Black my heart. We would go on tour because we. We wanted to have fun. Like, playing the show was just. Because that's the that's the thing. Oh, yeah. We got a thing to do. Yeah, we would show up. I can't tell you how many times we would show up. People would hear rumors about Black My Heart. They would hear all this fucked up shit that happened the night before, and then the night before that, and we'd pull up to the venue, there'd be like 10 dudes looking like they listen to Shattered Realm. This is like 2006 shattered. Like tall TVs, gold foiled. And then we'd walk out with short shorts and like. Like, wicker hats that we just got from, like, south of the border. And. And they'd be like, what? We're like, you guys got burritos around here? Who's got a pool? They were like, we don't. You know, like, we were constantly a letdown, and we were having a great time doing it. Wow.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

When did Unbroken Wings come along for you?

[Joshua Long]

I mean, Wheeler and John Blake. I've been, you know, best friends forever. And it was mostly. I forget what their drummer was doing, but they needed a drummer. John knew me for a while. I played in Black My Heart. And so it was. It was mostly. I did, like, two tours with them or two and a half tours of them. So fun. So sick. One of the coolest things I did was play the Palladium, and I got, like, three of my friends on the list. I felt like a man, dude. It was awesome. I was like, not only am I playing the Big Room Palladium, but I got to ask someone to please let my friends.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

King of Worcester that day.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, absolutely, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You and Scott Lee, man. The kings of Worcester that day.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Do you have any. Any fond memories of playing or attending the Tiger's Den? Define fond, I guess. Anything that stands out.

[Joshua Long]

Good. No. Good memories. It was in Brockton, and, dude, it's like, that's like an hour plus from. From. From Boston. And, I mean, I saw Ramala. That was her. Truly horrific. That was a horrific set.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Was that pre. Pre. Pre. Kill a Celebrity or.

[Joshua Long]

No, that was. That was Kill a celebrity. And the shitty thing about Brockton is, dude, I'm like a guy who wants to hang out. I want to get snacks. I want to, like, walk around. People were actively getting robbed just walking to their car by Brocktonites, by people who live and grew up in Brockton. They would just rob you. So you weren't really walking to the store to get, like a, you know, Swiss cake rolls. You were staying inside the venue. And, you know, the pizza's not that good. You Know it wasn't. It was. I don't have fond memories. I have fonder memories elsewhere. The Cambridge elks Lodge, the ICC Church. That was. That was number one. Me and Wheeler lived like a 15 minute walk from the ICC. That was. That was pretty phenomenal. Yeah, it was a good time.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Let me tell you about a band I love, skull bands called Hammer Bros. Talk to me about Hammer Bros. The vitality I got day of dude Day. I was a release day pre order. I don't know if it came by release day, but I had it. I loved this band. Saw you a few times once in Riverside. Please tell me what you can. Some stories that come to mind. Were you an original member of Hammer.

[Joshua Long]

Bros. No, I wasn't. Hammer Bros. Came out with a demo. You know what's funny about Hammer Bros. Is New England and California and Tacoma, Washington are the three locations that enjoy Hammer Bros. The entire rest of the country and world couldn't give a. Or don't even know who we were. But like those three specific places, dude, Tacoma. God bless them, Zach and all those dudes like dude, Steve. Like, yeah, yo, yeah, dude, you got.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You guys got over in Southern California for a while. It was happening for Hammer Bros. Man. The community was. Was a buzz for the bros. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

People were. People were talking. The Hammer Bros. Came out with a demo that was two songs. The demo was maybe like 90 seconds long. And I was in drug test at the time. Our friend Jim was singing. We listened to the Debt. We were playing a show in Long island, so New Hampshire to Long Island. That's like a five plus our drive. We listened to the Hammer Bros. Demo for maybe four and a half hours of that. And then hey yeah. And then hey y' all was on the radio. So we listened to hey yeah. You. You could scan when hey ya. Came out. Yeah, you could scan the radio until you found hey again. And then when it ended, you could scan it again. And so we listened to hey Yah and the Hammer Bros. Demo. Yeah, for five hours. And we were just obsessed, dude. They were. They were fucking awesome.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah. When did you come into the fold?

[Joshua Long]

I joined in maybe like 2007 or 8.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Okay.

[Joshua Long]

So.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So before the second record.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The one with Animal came out and then I joined, then I played on the last record that we did. It was sick, dude. Hair bro was awesome.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I only saw him once. It was at the Great American Hardcore Bash or whatever it was. I don't. I don't remember exactly what it was called. It's like A big fest outside of Boston. And I think Hammer, bro. Yeah, that was right before us.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, that was in Revere. Yeah. Were you. Did you play the Great American? I was, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was cool. Like again like local stuff, dude. Like if you're from the Merrimack Valley, you don't with people from here and if you're from here, you don't with people from all this stuff. So there was always weird stuff. So it was always kind of funny when we would play Boston or whatever. Like people wouldn't with us. It was. It was all weird. And the Boston's always been like that. New England's always been like that. It's just kind of like, you know, you think you're better than me. Like that's everyone's attitude when outside of Boston to.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

To like us. It's all Boston.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Like Matt to like, to the layman. Massachusetts is Boston and you think it's one beautiful United States related thing.

[Joshua Long]

Well, yeah. That's because you think you're better than me. And you live over there. Yeah. Yeah, dude. It's. Yeah. I love Hammer Bros. That was awesome. I love. I was. We. We wrote the last record knowing we were breaking up. So we have. I think in the inside of the records is like our suicide notes. Oh wow. And so that was. That was pretty fun. But yeah, love that bands. It was. It was a fun time. Played drums again, dude. I played. I played guitar in this band called Moments Till Death and I played drum. I play guitar in this band. Big rig. Other than that. All drums. Drums. I just got sucked into it, dude. Every drummer.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You were the guy.

[Joshua Long]

Not even. Not even. It's just drummers are either or they're annoying or they're just like, oh, I'm actually going to do. I have this theory that if you are a good drummer. Where I. Where I grew up, if you're a good drummer, it's probably because you have a house with a garage and you're a cunt because of that.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I've said this on the show.

[Joshua Long]

Have you?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I've not the cunt part, but I do think it is. It's an access thing and I do think. I think that. And I don't know if the president or whoever's listening is ready for this. We need to be subsidizing drummers. There's not enough. There needs to be a system in place. We need to be testing small children for rhythm early.

[Joshua Long]

Early.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Doing rigorous testing. Physically exhausting testing to these kids to figure out if they have rhythm. If they have rhythm, the President buys them a house, end of story. So that they can learn in a peaceful environment. We don't have to stick them with the bass guitar or the acoustic guitar or a microphone. They get subsidized drumming.

[Joshua Long]

No, that is beautiful.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We'll make it happen. But tell me about the cunt thing.

[Joshua Long]

I just got back from England to saw Oasis a little while ago. Unbelievable. Yeah. Let's say. I'm saying cunt all the time.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

How was the set, dude?

[Joshua Long]

Oh, my God. I went to. We went to the first Cardiff show. I. I went there. The first one. The first one. We were like, hey, if they just fight each other on stage, we at least saw it.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

If they play forever and we eventually get sick of them, we at least saw the first one back.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

I. I went there as a normal Oasis fan. Love the songs, definitely. Maybe it's got a bunch of bangers in it. Love that record. I left, dude. I feel spiritually changed. My wife could not be more annoyed. I talked. I've talked about. I've listened to. I've. It's. They were. They are the greatest rock band of all time. I'm a firm believer. And just looking at them, dude, being there, looking at them, they're playing fucking open chords, bro. Every single song there, I'm seeing a D. I'm seeing a G, bro, that.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You need two guys. And these Oasis cover bands, have you ever seen one of them? They need two people to do what Noel's doing by himself.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He's a secret, absolute fucking ripper. And the fact that he's right, that's coming from his mind. And he's singing 30 of the time.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

They're the goat. I'm with you.

[Joshua Long]

They're unbelievable.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

A number one favorite track.

[Joshua Long]

I'm a SAP. I do. Like Half the World Away.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Beautiful.

[Joshua Long]

I love that one. Yeah. There's a ton of them. I love many of the songs for different reasons. Some are like the lyrical stuff, others just. Let's. Let's rip it, Rock and roll star. Let's just shred. Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Acquiesce is as I've gone on record to say it's the greatest rock and roll song ever written.

[Joshua Long]

That song played, and I remember I was next to my friend Charlie and Eric, and I was. I was watching them. The chorus hit to that song and I go, we need to get ISIS together.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

We need to all witness this together. All the beef will be squashed, guaranteed. I was moved, bro. I was moved. I can't even tell you. And it was like, we were. You were in England. So everyone was singing like, it was like a soccer hooligan chant. I came home and I said, candace, we are buying tickets to the Los Angeles show immediately. I know it's not going to be as good because it's not going to be 7,000. Well, it was in Cardiff, so. So Welshman. Yeah. Singing along. But, dude, it was. Oh, my God.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I think for that reason, I'm going to go to Mexico City.

[Joshua Long]

Beautiful.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

How fucking lit does that sound?

[Joshua Long]

Unbelievable. 100%. You have to go. You have to buy the tickets. If I also want to make this podcast the most, just, like, timely podcast. It doesn't make sense. Even, like a month, say, if you haven't seen Oasis and you get off your butt.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, yeah, I'll be going to the. The Soldier Field show here for sure. It's in a couple weeks. Can't wait.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'm jealous.

[Joshua Long]

Can't wait.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'll go to that, too. Death Before US Honor. Tell me about your time playing in that band and some stories that come to mind.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, man. I don't know what it is about me. I think it's. It's a. I've been saying this for years as a big guy. People perceive me as a big guy. You know, you've. You've talked to me about being a big guy before. Other big guys. Other big guys look at big guys and just go, fuck this guy. Was he think he's big or something? You as a big guy, you walk into a room, you see three other big guys. It's okay, yeah, fuck it. Me versus you. All day, bitch. Like, what was this big guy? And then you walk up, you're like, what's up, man? But there's always this, like, big guy. Like, fuck this big guy. And I don't know what you know about death for dishonor, but all the fans are just big guys. True. And I'm just some dude trying to just, like, riff with my boys.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

So, yeah, there was some scuffles, some hubbubs across the. Across the ponds, you know, There was this guy, we were playing a show in Adelaide, Australia, and this guy was buying drinks for everyone. I was like, oh, no, thank you. Like, I don't drink. He goes, all right. And then he comes around again. He's like, oh, you know, let's get. Let's get some drinks. And he looks at me, he goes, I don't buy fucking soft drinks. I was like, that's totally fine, because I Have a water. And I do not need to drink, but I thank you very much. And then he comes back and says, hey, here's your drink. Here's your drink. By the way, do you want me to ask the bartender if they have a shot of concrete so we can harden your ass up? Because you're really acting like a bitch right now.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Why? Why?

[Joshua Long]

I have no choice.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, he's giving you. He's giving you no choice.

[Joshua Long]

I'm a product of my environment.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Unbelievable. That's literally the cranberry juice.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

The cranberry drink. Yeah, that's right.

[Joshua Long]

Departed from the departed. You're right.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He departed.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Sucks. He did. He did.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He no less sucked, man.

[Joshua Long]

He was like something. It was super funny and. Yeah, that. I mean, just things like that happen all the time and, like, it's kind of same thing. Like, black one heart. Like, dude, dudes would just walk up to me and be like, yo, Boston Beat down was my bible. And I was like, what do you. What is that? We weren't even in Europe. We were in America. We're on American soil. And a man told me that to my face. I was like, how's that supposed to make me feel, dude? It's like, wasn't even in that thing. Yeah, DeForest honor was awesome. I think, like, Friends, Family Forever is an, like, truly unbeatable record. I think Bruce LePage and Brian Harris do best. The number two, they're. They're tied at first. Hardcore vocals of all times. Brian Harris and Bruce LePage. There is nothing that I will ever hear that will. That will match those two. Wow.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I respect that. And what Brian manages to do while with the amount of cigarettes that he smokes, like, I would think would be legit, be biologically and scientifically impossible. You're not supposed to have a voice with that many cigs. And, dude, it's miraculous. His voice is impenetrable.

[Joshua Long]

It is. There was a study where it's. They. They took lab rats and did a bunch of cigarettes. They were like in a. They're being hot box with cigarettes. And then they dose him with. With Corona. And it completely. They had like, this unbelievable vocal talent. And that's why Brian got the. The idea of only drinking Coronas because it counteracted the cigarette but made this guttural noise. It's. It was like an 82 study. It was in the Harvard Journal. He showed it to me. It was.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I read that. I read that. I read that one.

[Joshua Long]

Brian's been cigarette free for, like 10 months now.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

No.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Wow.

[Joshua Long]

I'm proud of my guy. I don't even know if I should tell you guys on this is like, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Congrats. Congrats. Brian. That's insane, man.

[Joshua Long]

But by all. Yeah, he's a man.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

A very difficult thing to do.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

I'm sure.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I can only imagine his voice now about 10 decibels louder. Rude awakening. Talk to me about this. This incredible band doing another band with. With our boy Josh Hines. Please fill me in.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Hammer. Hammer Bros. Broke up. Josh Hines was like, let's. Let's get back in the saddle, dude. And so recorded a demo. The thick thing about Josh is that I don't know how he wrote every single Rude Awakening song on guitar. Whoa. Shredded. I was like, I didn't even know you had that in you, bro. Dreaded. It was awesome.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I had no idea.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, he's the man. But yeah, we had some iterations like Hammer Bros. Broke up. So Jim, the singer of Hammer Bros. Play guitar. We had our. Our friend Dave who played guitar and since the Flood on guitar at one point. But it was just like a rotating cast of. Just like you're a boy, let's you play bass. You know, our. My good friend Jordan played bass for a long time. It was fun, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And Markman was in it for a while, right?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, he was in it. I think when I moved to California that I said I wanna. I don't wanna be in a band with that guy. And so when I moved to California, they let him in. And yeah, it's every band I was in. The whole theme was we're just gonna do whatever the we want. Whether it was like musically or like attitude. Yeah. So that was Rude Awakening, dude. I remember there was this like. There was this tweet from a Salinas hardcore page. We played Salinas out of all places and had a great show. Our merch guy was moshing and it was like the classic who's this guy? So like 8 dudes like jumped our merch guy. He was a. He was an idiot. But eight dudes jumped our merch guy. And then everyone at the show got the kicked out of him. And it was just like two early tweet days. Like early. Like Rude Awakening ruined Selena's hardcore. And so I remember just like. Do you. We were like posting like, you know, Selena, like Rude Awakening's new Selena cp. Yeah, it was. It was. I don't know. Do people hate. People hate when you have a good time.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh yeah, people hate.

[Joshua Long]

I can't stand it. And that's really?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Like having a worse time than you, you know?

[Joshua Long]

No. And we're always having the best time. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And. And always you're. You're. You just described Rude Awakening as another example of the live free or fuck you mentality.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Right?

[Joshua Long]

That's the vibe, bro.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Just. It's. You're not lying, you know, you're saying you're being who you're saying you are.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Which.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What do you want from these bands? You know?

[Joshua Long]

I chopped down the cherry tree. I cannot tell a lie.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's what I've been saying about you. Tell me about joining Criminal Instinct. And rounding out, this photo of Criminal Instinct is maybe my favorite band promo ever.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I know the exact one.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

One of the most menacing groups of people ever. Tell me about joining Criminal Instinct and your time in the band.

[Joshua Long]

I was in Rude Awakening. Me and my friend Brendan and Richie and a couple others, we went to Thailand to train Muay Thai. For, like, a month, we lived there. We were the poorest we've ever been in our lives. And we get back and I'm like, fuck it. I'm moving to California. I was like, something. I was like, something happened to me. You know? Thailand changed us. It was wonderful.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And you had a good experience there.

[Joshua Long]

Oh, yeah. This is 2012. I've been doing Muay Thai for, like, two weeks. And I go, let's buy a ticket to Thailand. Me and Brendan bought China air tickets, the cheapest. I think we were both somehow in middle seats next to each other. It was the worst experience. We had a layover in Hong Kong, and we were starving, dude. We went to sleep, woke up, and the stewardess was like, beef noodle. And I was like, yeah, whatever. It's breakfast. That makes sense. And then we go to sleep again. Wake up, she's like, it's dinner. Would you like beef noodle? I'm like, this is it. Yeah, let's do it. Yeah. So we had a. We were just starving, dude. This is like, a portion this big. And Hong Kong, they had all these convenience stores, but they were all just, like, chicken feet and stuff, like, in bat. In, like, lay's potato chips bags. And I'm like, I can't. I do not feel emotionally ready to do this right now. Yeah, I'm too hungry. So, yeah, Thailand was amazing. We lived in Phuket in 2012 for a whole month. Me and Brendan were pretty dead set on becoming just killers. And we trained twice a day. I almost did a fight. My coach, Song, who was like 50 years old, he looked about 100. He wasn't allowed to ride a scooter. And when you would see him riding a bike down the road, he would just be drawing big S's because he couldn't. He's been elbowed and need so many times in the head. He couldn't just ride a straight line. He tried to get me to do a fight. I'm like, all right, let's do it. And then being like a big American, There were no. Like, the pool was smaller for fights, and the guy at the gym was like. He's like, hey, train with the. The pros, but I don't know if we'll have a fight for you. And so I got to show with the pros for a while. That was awesome. Yeah, we had nothing but the best time.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

How much running did you do while you're doing your training?

[Joshua Long]

I ran twice the whole time. Oh, wow. Yeah. Two times. And. But. But the. The secret is you tell the coach that you ran before class, and everyone is sweaty, so it's like, who's the same? You know, like, coach, I'm pooped. I have to do class now. You just like, yeah, just drinking it M150 energy drink and started sweating immediately.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And you have the most energy of anybody there now. Good.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Right?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Good hack.

[Joshua Long]

Smart. 100. Yeah. So we get back from Thailand. Me and Brendan are just on a rampage. We're playing. What's that fest in Richmond? United Blood. Yeah. Rude Awakenings playing United Blood, and they have a tour lined up with Criminal Instincts. And I was walking up the stairs, and I see this joyous, bouncy kid, like, waving his arms. And I look behind me, and he goes, what's up, man? I'm just saying, dude, we're doing a tour tomorrow, like, next week. I'm like, what? He's like, I'm playing Criminalistic, Sarah. Criminalistic. Dude, I'm psyched to do a tour with you. Rudeway things. Awesome. I'm like, I'm moving to California, bro. And he was super bummed. That was. That was how I met Josiah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That was it.

[Joshua Long]

And then that was it. Yeah. I forget how we got connected later on, but Criminal Instinct just recorded Zone Six music.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, okay. So, okay. This is later, right?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, they just recorded Zone 6 music. And a friend, Josiah, was like, yo, can you hit up Skull? We're gonna do a string of shows. And the friend just dropped the ball. The friend's like, oh, yeah, yeah, I'll text him. Never did. And me and Josiah met, like, later on. He's like, dude, it sucks. You can't do that tour or you couldn't do that tour. And I was like, what tour? And he's like, well, will you play drums? I go, absolutely, dude, let's do it. And so the first show I played was this is hardcore in 2016. Wow.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Right after re meeting him.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, he's an amazing dude. Yeah, that was great. Yeah. Being in a band with him is so sick. I love Criminal Instincts. I. The band is just like. I don't know what it is. I. The only way I can describe it is just like. It's almost like, like military anthems. Like the, the caveman, like, songwriting style that Josiah has and this weird like, like militia, like all that shit. It's like, it's so amazing. I think CI is so sick.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He's another one of those musical minds that we were talking about where like, oh yeah, like somehow translates these ideas into these hard songs that aren't like traditionally hard in like the beat down way, but it comes across as uber violent, insane music that you really can't replicate, which is awesome.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And then is simultaneously able to put out the Josiah Daniel stuff, you know, like one, one mind, just two crazy half seconds. It's amazing.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, it's awesome, dude. We did a tour once where we stayed in casinos. It was like a long weekend. We. He racked up enough points or was like a platinum or whatever member that we at casinos. I think that was a tour with. With you guys, maybe with Eyes of the Lord.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, it was.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, that was.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I don't know if. I don't know if any show lasted until the end on that tour. Not a one very unsustainable way of touring, but I'm glad it happened.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That was our only tour ever, so. Pretty cool.

[Joshua Long]

People just don't. People just don't like having a good time.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's all what, live free or you, you know.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And sometimes they choose you.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, that was the tour. That was the tour where I'm like, dude, this calling guy. I'm going to be friends with this guy. I'm going to try to be friends with this guy. I'm going to crack this guy's. I'm going to crack this guy's nut. You did.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You did. I felt the same though, you know.

[Joshua Long]

I knew I won you over because I had seen.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'd seen you play for so long and so I only knew you as. There's the guy who hits hard from all these bands.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Which. What more do I want? Do I need to. To know I'm in good company. And then you call me Bones years later. And Skull, when Skull calls your Bones, you did our own Bones it is.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Skull, could you tell me something you miss about touring regularly?

[Joshua Long]

I don't know if people have said this already, but the, like, impromptu conversations that you have with your friends. I. I used. I worked for bands, like, stage managing, guitar teching, and we're in buses, and, like, it's not the same. Yeah. When you're in a van with your friends and you have nothing and you're driving to Billings for a show at.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

A pizza, Lord knows what goes on between now and Billings, baby.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. And, dude, it's like your. Your boys driving, and you, like, wake up, you got a piss, and you're like, what. Where the are we? Oh, we're in so and so. Like, damn, man. You just sit in the passenger seat. No one's saying anything, and then, like, just conversation strikes. And, dude, like, the sun's coming up. Like, people don't see that, man. Like, I'm living like a Jack Kerouac novel. People. People don't see that. I think if you are a person who. Who. Who lives in America and you do not just drive with a friend or yourself or your dog or a bunch of friends just cross country, you're missing out on so much because that boredom just. Just it. It boils up into just, like, either insanity and chaos or, like, these beautiful conversations. And that is my absolute favorite thing about touring. Going into a gas station and, you know, like, Topeka or something, or, like, you know, two. Two hours away from Topeka.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Someone looks at you like, where the fuck you come from, man? Dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But then you get to that gas station, you go, oh, I've been here before.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Yes. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We are so fortunate to experience that boredom. Like, the. The people I went to high school with won't ever know those magical moments. How lucky we are to be bored looking at that sunset or that sunrise.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

There is a sense of. There's no other place I could possibly be right now, because the most important things that I'm doing are all in this van with me, barring probably a relationship at home. But other than that, it is a sense of, like, I'm with my four best friends. This is. This is all I want to be doing. This is the best.

[Joshua Long]

Me and Wheeler had this thing, speaking of four best friends, where we would. It was mostly at Waffle House, but whenever we were in the south, somehow me and him always had, like, if it wasn't my turn to drive it was his. If it wasn't his turn to drive, it was mine. It just always worked out like that. So we play a show in, like, Florida or the south or whatever, and we always be at Walthast. And whoever. The person who wasn't the driver. Yeah. Would always be eating their waffle, being like, oh, and their sweet tea, just being like, oh, man, I'm just eating myself to sleep right now. Can't wait to just cozy up on that little bench. And the driver was always just like, yeah, you are the most hated person in my entire life. But, dude, guess what? Tomorrow. Now I'm that. Oh, I'm eating myself to sleep to. Now you gotta drive after this. Oh, baby, no, not me. Let's get another hash brown chili, please. Thank you very much. Just waking up 40 minutes later with the explosive emergency diarrhea. That's the best part.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Gotta clean the tank for the next meal.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Come on, man. That's a great answer.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Speaking of food, you seem like a man.

[Joshua Long]

I.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

You know, we've not. I don't know if we've ever formally met before, but you seem to me like a man who eats.

[Joshua Long]

Who.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Who will take the time to. To eat what he wants because it's, you know, eat or fuck you.

[Joshua Long]

My God given, right? Yes, sir. That's right.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

So I would love to know Colin, should we hit him with the question?

[Joshua Long]

Question?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, I think so. I think we make this. Maybe go the personal route and the, like, band route, depending on who's touring. If you're in the United States of America and you're touring and you see this big magical sign, this exit. Now for all these things, anything.

[Joshua Long]

What's.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What's the one that's getting you to pull over?

[Joshua Long]

I'm an adult, so my answer now is not going to be as exciting. But when I was touring, especially with Black My Heart, our bass player Ben was vegan. So it was C's Pizza. Oh, man, it was $5. All you can eat Cici's pizza. Legend be told that the cinnamon buns somehow are vegan or vegan. Yes, that has. I need you to fat in the third thing. I need you to fact check about this.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

No, no need.

[Joshua Long]

Dude. There was all this vegan lore around. All these vegans on Tour in like 2003-8 were just like, yeah, they were.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Eating Jack in the box tacos.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I'll tell you what. Yeah, they're getting poisoned.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, it was. Dude, it was Cici's pizza because we had no money and $5 to get full. Oh, baby, you better believe I'm getting that water cup. And it's going to be. It's going to be Coke, Diet Pepsi. Better. Better believe it, bro.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Good. That's a crazy answer. The dessert pizza. Pretty good.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Dessert pizza is pretty good. I think that's our first cc's too.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

First cc's answer ever. Here's another fun question. This one was first said asked on the show by Mr. Coa. The question is, who do you do? And that is who are the musicians you've studied in life, who you've subconsciously taken things from on stage for? Skinhead. Who are you doing?

[Joshua Long]

The. Like, I don't know. I think it's a call. It's. I mean it's gonna. Is a culmination of everyone that I've ever known in my entire life. And I'm only free to be me because I've been supported by all my friends to be myself and I think. So I guess I'm doing them. I guess. No, pretty.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Pretty good answers.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You're doing the community. Community, Basically, I'm doing the community from behind.

[Joshua Long]

Yes, sir, of course. Doing it dirty, baby. You got to do it wrong standing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So true for the community. Here's another fun question. You can take your time with this one.

[Joshua Long]

Okay.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Can you tell me your top four hardcore records in history?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I got beef. I don't got be. Whatever. It's your, it's your personal thing. Whatever, dude. But I feel like when you throw in Age of Coral, Master Killer. Sure. But obviously you think that, dude.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But, but people, the guy, the 80s guys think we're crazy for the Master Killer stuff they call. They're. They think we're insane. Yeah, it's obvious to some. It's obvious to, you know, intelligent people with great taste.

[Joshua Long]

It's obvious. Top four. There are so many honorable mentions. But I'm going with. I'm going to abide by the rules. I will abide by the rules. This is what got me into straight edge. 10 yard fight. Hardcore pride.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

All right, great, great.

[Joshua Long]

Proud to be straight. I've had an argument with plenty of people. Proud to be straight is. Is, is my nature number one. I don't. I don't ever want to say Firestorm. I don't ever want to say more. Season ender and ends. But proud to be straight. Dude. So many of my friends have fallen.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Like, just truer than ever.

[Joshua Long]

Motherfucking right. Yeah. My friend called. My friend called me. I won't say their name, but they called me two weeks ago and they're like, dude, I don't know. It's. I. I don't even want to have this conversation right now. It's like, you know, I've been talking to people and it's only right that you hear from me. And I go, you drink alcohol, don't you? He goes, no. They go, oh, okay, what is it? And then he just told me some terror and they just told me some terrible thing. And I'm like, oh, that's awful.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What a relief.

[Joshua Long]

We're still. We're still part of the. Of the gang. Okay, good. We're. We're good, man.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

The first.

[Joshua Long]

But you.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

One of the first songs I got on Limewire was Proud to be straight because I was able to find, you know, something about straight edge and hardcore pride. It all like tied together. My personal favorite tenure fight song is the Only Way.

[Joshua Long]

Josh. I was talking about that. About that one. What is it? There's like a. The lyric is like, as long as.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

There'S breath in this body, my blood will run pure. Throw these fights on.

[Joshua Long]

Oh, God. Dude. It's insane, dude. It fires me up. To this day, it fires me up. I think. Yeah. 10 yard fight. Amazing. I was in a band called first and 10 where it was me, Josh Hines, Clevo, the original basis of 10 yard fight and wrench where we played all 10 yard fight songs. I think we played like maybe three or four shows. But that was a highlight of my. Of my. It was like a full circle moment. It was. That was insane. Yeah. 10 yard fight.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

People don't even know that the.

[Joshua Long]

The.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That Edge day exists because 10 yard fight broke up 10.

[Joshua Long]

1799.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's it.

[Joshua Long]

Also, to be fair, Sweet Pete was the man who coined it. Sweet Pete was the man who says, this is 10 yard fights last day. This is Edge day. So yeah, that's. That's definitely on my top four. Love it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Great answer.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Love it. We don't get a lot of 10 yard fight love on the show.

[Joshua Long]

Love it, man. I was a weird metal. I like, I loved hardcore love, punk love. Oi. But like metal I loved. And weird shitty metal, metal core, all the stuff. Big fan. Be New Hampshire. Makes you screwy. All there.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's the land of plenty. Sorry. There you go.

[Joshua Long]

That's true. It's the goal. It's the. Yeah, the Granite State. This is an easy one. I'll give this one to you. Death threat. Piece of security. Piece of cake. No problem. The other two might come to quite a surprise. Maybe the most. The last one, which I'LL get to the last. My third one. Carry On. A life left plagued. A life less plagued.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Outstanding.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Fantastic pick.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Straight Edge.

[Joshua Long]

You know, Straight Edge. There's nothing else you could say. It is what it is. And being like, dude, loving that record. Being in drug tests and playing with Internal affairs like that was awesome. Corey telling stories about Carry On. I'm like, dude, this is nuts. That was pretty phenomenal. I see a 10 year fight. Death threat, carry on. And then the fourth and final. I think this is going to be a wild card for you guys. I don't know if anyone's ever said top four hardcore albums. I will defend it. I will defend it. A little band from the northwest named Trial.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Okay. These are our lives.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

That record. Insane. Insane.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I mean it opens within like all time pit part right off the bat.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

And like so ambitious and crazy. It's awesome. It's amazing.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Wow. All the political. All the political stuff. I completely did not like Kosovo. I didn't even know like where that was when I was listening to it in high school. But I remember my dad waking me up Saturday morning. Mow the lawn. I would get the lawnmower out. I was wearing a hooded sweatshirts because I just got three X's tattooed on the back of my arm and I was freshly out of high school and my. My dad would have killed me if he knew I had any tattoos. So I wore a hooded sweatshirt for probably two years. He thought I was on drugs and I was just my CD player with Trial on the headphones. Just. Just trudging through my lawn, just mowing it on a Saturday in August in New England.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

No problem.

[Joshua Long]

Straight fucking Edge. Wow.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So. So Death Threat, the real. The. The. The exception to Straight Edge.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

To the Straight Edge bands.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

In your top four hardcore record.

[Joshua Long]

Wow. Yeah. There was a point in time where I was seeing Death Threat every weekend.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Especially in New England like Reach the sky. And Death Threat played every single. Seemingly every weekend. And then sometimes Convergent play like it was just like that. It was such a mad. The early 2000s. Dude. God damn. Magical time to be in New England.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Great. Unbelievable answer.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Good. Different. The only. The only one that's common is Death Threat. As it should be.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Wow. As it should be. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Speaking of which, this has nothing to do what we were just talking about. Do you. You're a very rational person. I think you look at life, you know, very literally, what you see is what you get.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

This is the buttering.

[Joshua Long]

This is what it is.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Very intelligent person land. So I'm curious what you're. Do you believe in ghosts?

[Joshua Long]

Ghouls, Specters?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah. Yeah, the big three.

[Joshua Long]

Wow. I do believe that the veil of this world is much thinner than we like to believe. I don't think that, you know, you're getting spooked by a guy who got his head chopped off. Yeah. But I do believe there are times in which you are feeling and hearing things and experiencing things that are not there for a reason. And I think that's very special. And I think we would be very ignorant not to pay attention to those things.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Have you ever experienced anything yourself?

[Joshua Long]

No.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I see. But you're open to it and you. You're not convinced otherwise.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Like, skinhead played Boston last year and it was December and it was snowing and like, I felt there was some feeling. It was like, me, Aldo, Vic, we left this pizza place, our boy Alex was there. It was snowing. And you know that, that silence. Yeah. When it, like big, thick snow and there's. It's just. It sounds like you're in a sound booth. Played an amazing show and it just felt like everyone was exactly where they were supposed to be. No one was like, oh, I gotta get to this thing. Or like, no one's like, texting. Like, whenever I was like, with someone, I felt like, this is exactly where we should be. I looked at this, the street lamp, as it was snowing, and I felt my friend Ted with me. I felt my dog Beatrice with me. And not that I was sad, I wasn't sad. I wasn't angry. I was just like, wow, this is like a very special moment that I'm feeling. And I would be truly ignorant not to appreciate and just live in this moment for just a second.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Unbelievable.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Wow, that was profound.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's. You heard it here. I'm with you 100. They were there.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. You, you don't feel that for no reason. You're more of like, I saw the guy with a nightstick. He was running up the stairs.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I haven't seen it. There's no night stick. I mean, per se. There was a. I've seen a gal, you know, long black hair, Grudge esque. Juan.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Juan, if you will.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But, you know, but I, I, the, the energy is more so I think, like constant everywhere.

[Joshua Long]

You get. No, you get horny when the thing goes. That's when I love the thing. Yeah, you nasty. The feeling. Oh, the energy. No, you. You want to see.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I know, I know that. I know. The feeling of energy is all around us. When the EMF tells me that they're right here. And that they've maybe farted towards me in this moment. I couldn't be more in undeniable truth. So I'm glad you agree.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

All right, we've got some questions from our Patreon people here. Couple good ones. This is a great question. This one is from JBasty227 Mount Rushmore. Bands or albums to introduce someone to Oy. Music.

[Joshua Long]

Music. Yeah. I think just go Cox Bar. Just like, that's. That's fine. I had a friend, me and a couple of my friends open up a Muay Thai gym in Florida in Gainesville. And one of the. The members texted me and was like, I'm thinking about getting into oi. He has a child and a wife. And I'm like, yeah. He goes, what should I do? And I'm like, dude, just listen to the Cox Bar. Like, you'll get it, you know?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

But if that doesn't do it, if you're. If shock troops or guilt is charged alone aren't like signing the deal for you. It's maybe not for you.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Then get the fuck out of here. But the trouble. Listen to the trouble. Like, that's. Like. Just do that. You'll be fine.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Boston or England? Just. Just do some googling.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Figure it out.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You'll be fine.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Best Adidas samba color. This is from ag.

[Joshua Long]

Athletic greens.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I mean, technically, yes.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

This is all from athletic greens.

[Joshua Long]

I'm going black, dude. Just. You don't got to be weird. I do. This is. Can I. May I digress for a moment?

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah, you may.

[Joshua Long]

Back when you're a gentleman, you're a bit older. You're around my age. When you saw a person with samba sneakers on when you were 16, 17, 18, that meant something.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

You were like, oh, shit. Like that. That's crazy. It's either like some super cute girl who likes small brown bike, or it's this weird guy who's going to do something weird.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

He's better at mocking than me, therefore I need to.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

To keep an eye on.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, yeah. And Chuck Taylor's meant a thing. Like, it was like. There was all these subtle, if you had to, Sambas cuffed jeans and a carabiner. That meant something different than if you wore sambas cuffed jeans and a track jacket. A Fred Perry track jacket. Like, there's so much nuances. I just go black.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I mean, what you're saying about subcultures are just culture now, you know, Everything is one thing and nothing means anything.

[Joshua Long]

What I was Getting with that is if you get the. If you get the black Adidas, but you put the white laces. It used to mean something. It doesn't necessarily mean anything anymore.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Well said. Top five dog breeds. This is from Run the Jewels. The Guy.

[Joshua Long]

The guy. Aren't there two guys?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, not. Not in this one. Not this guy.

[Joshua Long]

Top five dog breeds. I've only had pit bulls. I think they're the most magical dogs in the world.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What's a sweet pit bull will change your life, Truly.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. My aunt had a beagle named Ginger. Wonderful dog.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Outstanding. Snoopy. Good dog.

[Joshua Long]

Is Snoopy a beagle?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I think so.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Should learn something new every day.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Pit bull, beagle.

[Joshua Long]

Love it.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

That's it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What's your stats on Chihuahuas?

[Joshua Long]

I met a really nice Chihuahua in 2015. Love that thing. Took a picture of it.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah. Come meet mine. You'll. You'll change your life. It'll change your perspective on this whole dog.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

It is a thing where. Growing. Growing up, I only had big dogs. Only ever wanted big dogs. Dated a girl who had a really tiny Chihuahua. And the first thing. First time that thing sits on your lap and just curls up. It just changes everything.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Nothing else in the world.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. Yeah. It's true. Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Carl Speckler asks, Spackler from Caddyshack asks, is there any one place you love Slash preferred to do all of your writing? Anything in particular that gets the creative juices flowing?

[Joshua Long]

Airplane.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Oh, nice.

[Joshua Long]

Because there's nothing. Dude. I can finally be alone with my thoughts. I would love nothing more than to just go in a cabin for two weeks and just not talk to anyone. I might not get any writing done, but I'll feel a lot better. So, like, an airplane. Airplane's like, the second best, dude. When I'm on an airplane, like, I'm kind of sad because I miss, like. Like my wife or like, just. It's. Airplanes to me is always like. Is. Is always just like there's something happening. It's usually a funeral or whatever, or it's a show. I'm excited. Like, there's some. There's not just a casual.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

There's an emotion attached to the trap.

[Joshua Long]

Yes. You're not gonna go to CC's Pizza and take an airplane there.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So true.

[Joshua Long]

Airplane, dude. It just clears all the shit. And then I start writing a thing and then. Yeah, that's definitely airplane for me.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Phenomenal answer.

[Joshua Long]

Interesting.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Andrew Tucker asked. Favorite memory of playing in Outbreak.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. There was a. There's one I can't talk about. And there's another one that I can't talk about either. Those are probably my top two. Perfect.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Outstanding.

[Joshua Long]

Actually, you know what? When I was in Outbreak, the coolest thing, because the Drug Test and Outbreak did a tour in 2004. Maybe it was both bands first US tour. The drummer, Outbreak, couldn't make it for some reason. So I played drums for both bands. And I knew when Drug Test was playing, we got a crazy reaction that the Outbreak reaction is going to be fucking crazier. So it was just like a double whammy. It was. That was pretty fun and just going. We were in a Winnebago that the singer Drug Test girlfriend's parents had. We were just pissing in that thing. It had a toilet. We were. Dude, we would drink more water just so we had to piss. Just.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yes.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

We just thought it was a toilet. Oh, that just sorted itself. We were like, oh, it flushes like.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It goes somewhere, bro.

[Joshua Long]

By week one, we were like, barricading the door. The stench of rotten piss was just overtaking this Winnebago. That was a fond memory.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You'll never forget that smell.

[Joshua Long]

Everyone is like, sharp. Yeah. Ammonia sweet and sweet spice, man.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Good job, champ. Asks, who are your top three skinheads? Fictional or non? Fictional.

[Joshua Long]

I really like the. The. What's that movie? This is England. I like the show. The movie was cool. I like the show version. Mookie was a cool guy. I don't look. I try not to look up to anyone. I try not to look. I try not to look up to.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Anyone out of fear of disappointment.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. And it's like, then what am I doing? I'm just trying to emulate this person. Sure. Like, I try not to do that. There are some. The first skin that I ever saw just burned into my head. And then there's a couple other skinheads that I've seen in my life that are burned into my head. I try not to emulate them because they're truly horrifying. But. Yeah. I don't know. How am I supposed to answer that? I'm just trying to be cool. I'm just a drunk thing. I'm trying to be cool. Right?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

You did great. JBL asks, worst birthday party you've ever been to. I really like this question.

[Joshua Long]

It's a good question. This is awesome. Yeah. I think there was this birthday party that I was not invited to. We showed up. I was making out with a girl in a bedroom, and someone kicked it. One of my friends kicked the door open, said, yo, we got to get the out of here. I got torn away from her. I was like, probably 16, 17. I got torn away from her. Romeo and Juliet. I get outside, my friend is swinging a baseball bat. Chaos ensues, A plant goes missing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, this is damn plants again.

[Joshua Long]

That was the worst. And, yeah, I didn't know her. Aim like, I couldn't. It was like, whole thing.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That is sad. That's a bad birthday party.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Oh, Aim like instant messenger.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Oh, yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Oh, that's tragic.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That is tragic. You never knew her away message could have been longing and.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

And heartfelt for you. And you'll never know.

[Joshua Long]

It could have been screaming infidelities.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Mark Armenta asks if an alien came down to Earth, and his first question to you was, what is a skinhead? How would you describe it?

[Joshua Long]

I would punch him in the eye.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Independence Day Live for your. You.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Welcome to Earth.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Yeah, welcome to Earth.

[Joshua Long]

That's the whole vibe. I saw that movie with my dad.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Me, too.

[Joshua Long]

Never been the same. Yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Never forget the people cheering when the dog.

[Joshua Long]

Boomer.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

When Boomer makes it.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

In the tunnel. The whole.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

It's like final.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

The whole theater cheered. Everybody.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We're sick of the dog getting killed.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. You know what's crazy? I thought. When I was a little kid, I thought a lot of things that weren't true. I thought that if it was a movie based in the 50s, that meant that the movie was filmed in the 50s. So I thought John Travolta, who wasn't in Independence Day. I thought John travolta was like, 140 years old. I'm like, this dude's been in Greece because of Greece. He's been in that disco movie. I was like, bro, he's in all this. Like, I think that Alien movie came out after. After Independence Day, kind of. I was like, this dude is 100 years old. Did you guys think that at all?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Like, the concept of a period piece was just impossible to you?

[Joshua Long]

No, they filmed it all weird. I was like, what the hell? They get all these cars. Like, I haven't seen a car like that ever.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

I definitely thought the Sting was filmed when it. Like, in the 20s or 30s when it was in color. I definitely did think that. And then later on was like, oh, wait a minute. So kind of.

[Joshua Long]

I love. That's just.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Maybe you're right.

[Joshua Long]

And we don't know.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

John Travolta could be a lot, lot older than we give him credit for.

[Joshua Long]

I had a lot of ideas. When I was a little kid, I had an idea that credit cards.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Yeah.

[Joshua Long]

Because, no, my mom didn't tell me how a credit card works. She would just swipe the thing, and it was gold. I think it was American Express or something.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Sounds right.

[Joshua Long]

And I was like, I get it. Because they put on the thing and. Yeah, and I was like, I get it. They give you a card with, like, a $5,000 limit, or back then, I thought it was 200, because that's a lot of money, and that's the amount of gold you got on it. And then the grocery store shaves off the $7.85 worth of gold. I mean, and then they turn it into the bank.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's as reasonable as the stork, you know?

[Joshua Long]

No, I mean, or actual credit cards.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Or actual, like, commerce in Rome. Like, they did do that. That is what. They would shave precious metal off. And that's how you. I mean, it works.

[Joshua Long]

And I wasn't far off.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

What was your stance on unicorn as a young.

[Joshua Long]

Did I like him?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I mean. I mean, I know you liked him. We all like them.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Do you have any closing remarks for the people here? We've had. We've had such an unbelievable conversation.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah. I think if you have children, don't lie to them. Talk to them about. Talk to them like they're an adult. I thought. I thought that Tooth Fairy was real. I thought Santa Claus was real. I thought Easter Bunny was real. I come home, I'm mad. All my friends are saying those things are not real. I'm pissed off. I go to my mom. I go, yo, Santa Claus, tell me right now, is it real? Is it real? She's like, you know what, sweetie? It's. You know, it's not real, but it's. It's just the magic of it. There's. There's no difference than, you know, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. And I go, you're telling me there's no Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy as well? What the fuck? Where do I get my bearings?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So I think, you know, you're saying, don't ever tell any kid that these three things exist. You're saying. You're saying, end the illusion of Santa Claus, or do you just.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

You commit all the way?

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, I'm having a hard time. Like, when do I teach my son how to read the hands on a clock? I'm losing my mind. So I don't know. So how do I talk about. He's 15 months old, but how do I talk about Santa Claus? Dude, 16.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

At month 16, you start doing the Coca Cola St. Nick propaganda. You start Showing him the red and white real quick in flashes.

[Joshua Long]

When the hell happens? Where did you take me?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Ah, he transported. Unbelievable.

[Joshua Long]

What the fuck, man?

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

We were just about to sign off.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Sorry about that.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

So, so many unbelievable life lessons were taught throughout the recording of this episode. But lastly, don't lie to your children. That's very important. Josh Skoll, thank you so much for being with us today. What an incredible time. It's a beautiful day. What a Beautiful Day is out now on Closed Casket and the book companion. 28 pages, 25 pages. I see 28 and 25. Very conflicting.

[Joshua Long]

That's for you to find out.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Okay, good records. On an island. Out now. Written by you, designed by Martine Stewart. Did you take all the photos in the book?

[Joshua Long]

You better believe it.

[Interviewer 2 (possibly Bo)]

Wow.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

I knew it. Check that out. Check it all out. Listen to Skinhead. Rewind this episode and listen to the whole thing and maybe you'll learn something all over again. And if you're straight Edge, you're a great person. We love having you. Skull, thank you so much for being here.

[Joshua Long]

Yeah, we ain't gonna stop. Fuck you.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

That's right. Oh, Live free or fuck you. We'll see you next week.

[Joshua Long]

Bye.

[Interviewer 1 (possibly Colin)]

Bye.