Matt Connarton Unleashed 4-12-25 hour 2

0:00 Speaker 1: B w M N h rips the Nobles side.

0:12 Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, mm hmmm.

0:37 Speaker 3: How on the streets the other night you got me

0:42 Speaker 3: a drunk got the fight there?

0:46 Speaker 4: I was onside of road lighting a pool of blood.

0:54 Speaker 4: Stove stove stock left gay stove. I don't mind what

1:21 Speaker 4: time it was, lean on the side food.

1:27 Speaker 5: Let left me to the other night. I don't know

1:32 Speaker 5: any reasons why.

1:36 Speaker 4: Stop level the stove store left on gay stock stove

2:10 Speaker 4: no level as stove stove lac stove.

2:35 Speaker 6: Then I was lying there looking.

2:39 Speaker 4: At the star to mo mad when I wonder how

2:45 Speaker 4: I been and if my life was going to end?

2:52 Speaker 4: Stove level ass stove stop stop left stop stop stop.

3:45 Speaker 5: That is called left four dead. The band is four

3:48 Speaker 5: feet out and you are listening to Matt connorton Unleashed.

3:51 Speaker 5: If you are listening live on Saturday, we have entered

3:54 Speaker 5: our number two new Merrow dose. Today is Saturday, April twelve,

3:58 Speaker 5: twenty twenty five. And again, if you are listen live,

4:00 Speaker 5: please be careful if you're traveling. It is snowing outside.

4:03 Speaker 5: Although while Jenny you said it looks like it might

4:05 Speaker 5: have finally stopped, it does Okay, it stopped, Okay, good

4:08 Speaker 5: but be careful traveling. The roads are are quite messy

4:13 Speaker 5: as we are experiencing some winter weather in the middle

4:17 Speaker 5: of April. But what are you gonna do? Anyway, we've

4:21 Speaker 5: got Echo Ray is here with us live in studio. Welcome,

4:24 Speaker 5: good morning, Hello, Hello. So you've actually been on the

4:27 Speaker 5: show before. As we discussed off air, you were here

4:29 Speaker 5: with Dark Rain, and that must have been well, we've

4:32 Speaker 5: been we've been at the new location for what a

4:34 Speaker 5: year and a half now, so that must have been

4:36 Speaker 5: like two years ago.

4:37 Speaker 3: A yeah, I guess it must have been two years. Time

4:39 Speaker 3: just flies, yeah, yeah.

4:41 Speaker 6: Yeah.

4:42 Speaker 5: It's funny because sometimes we'll have we'll have people on

4:45 Speaker 5: the show and I'll be like, okay, so this is

4:48 Speaker 5: somebody new and then it's like, well wait a minute,

4:49 Speaker 5: though I might I've probably met them at some point.

4:51 Speaker 5: And then when you walked in, I was like, oh, yeah,

4:53 Speaker 5: I definitely know you, but I couldn't remember where. And

4:56 Speaker 5: then you said Dark Rain. I was like, oh, yeah, okay,

4:58 Speaker 5: I remember now you are. And by the way, we're

5:02 Speaker 5: gonna play another other couple other great tracks that you

5:04 Speaker 5: sent us, uh later in the show, but you're wearing

5:07 Speaker 5: your lone Wolf James Shirt, great great band. We saw them,

5:12 Speaker 5: Jenny and I saw them at Swarmy Fest, and you know,

5:16 Speaker 5: I was telling you off air about how how much

5:18 Speaker 5: I was impressed with their live set and how it's

5:21 Speaker 5: such a cool name, Lone Wolf. James and I seen

5:25 Speaker 5: them live. I remember saying to Jenny, I said, they

5:28 Speaker 5: sound exactly like their name. They sound exactly like you

5:31 Speaker 5: would expect a band with that name to.

5:32 Speaker 6: Sound, which absolutely good hard and.

5:34 Speaker 5: We're gonna play a song from Diamond Edge later too.

5:37 Speaker 5: In Diamond Edge they were really good live too. But

5:40 Speaker 5: but tell us about you, what do you do in

5:43 Speaker 5: the in the music industry.

5:44 Speaker 3: Well, I go by the rock and redhead. I travel

5:47 Speaker 3: all over New England, up and down from Maine, the

5:50 Speaker 3: Rhode Island and beyond, even in support of local music.

5:55 Speaker 3: So New England definitely does not get the recognition that

5:58 Speaker 3: it deserves for the music scene. And right now it

6:01 Speaker 3: is truly thriving. Oh yeah, bands are coming out of

6:04 Speaker 3: the woodwork and they're amazing bands with incredible talent.

6:08 Speaker 5: Well, there's so much great talent here and uh, you know,

6:13 Speaker 5: sometimes people will ask me, you know, or they'll last

6:16 Speaker 5: Jenny and Jenny handles the she does all the booking

6:19 Speaker 5: for the show, but people will ask us, you know,

6:22 Speaker 5: how do you find how do you find these musicians?

6:24 Speaker 5: And it's like, well, it's it's not really hard because

6:28 Speaker 5: they're everywhere.

6:29 Speaker 6: Yeah, they really are.

6:30 Speaker 5: You know, there's there's so much incredible talent around.

6:33 Speaker 3: Absolutely. I think one of the bigger problems we're having

6:36 Speaker 3: is venues. The venues are shutting down or oh that's

6:38 Speaker 3: opping local music, and that's always a problem. That's a

6:41 Speaker 3: whole nother story in itself.

6:42 Speaker 5: Absolutely, were you gonna say, Jenny, they actually find us,

6:46 Speaker 5: they find us.

6:47 Speaker 1: Yeah.

6:47 Speaker 6: Yeah. A lot of the guests that are on actually

6:51 Speaker 6: reach out. Yeah, so if you're thinking about it, you

6:53 Speaker 6: should reach out. Yeah, absolutely, most definitely.

6:56 Speaker 5: Absolutely. By the way, our first guest in the first hour,

6:59 Speaker 5: Katie Doins, said in the chat room, thank you Matt

7:02 Speaker 5: for always supporting me and sharing my music and so

7:04 Speaker 5: many local musicians so grateful. Well, we're we're very glad

7:08 Speaker 5: to do it, Katie, And you know that is that

7:10 Speaker 5: is such a joy of doing a show like this

7:11 Speaker 5: and and on the show, of course, you know, we

7:14 Speaker 5: have a we do have a lot of musicians from

7:16 Speaker 5: New England or specifically New Hampshire and and we also

7:18 Speaker 5: talk to people too from other parts of the country

7:20 Speaker 5: and other parts of the world. Like we have a

7:22 Speaker 5: great relationship with a PR firm in the UK, big GPR,

7:26 Speaker 5: and they send us some great artists from over there

7:29 Speaker 5: who skype in, you know, across the pond as it were.

7:32 Speaker 5: But but but, but I think probably the majority of

7:36 Speaker 5: strong majority of the artists we talk to are within

7:39 Speaker 5: driving distance of the radio station here at w m

7:42 Speaker 5: n H. And but I always tell people too, you know,

7:45 Speaker 5: if you're you know, if if you're bored with whatever

7:48 Speaker 5: you're hearing on commercial radio, you know, uh, there's there's

7:53 Speaker 5: so much great talent, there's so much great independent music

7:56 Speaker 5: being made, and wherever you are, whether you're here or

7:59 Speaker 5: because I assume it's the same everywhere, I assume no

8:03 Speaker 5: matter where you are in the United States, there's there's

8:06 Speaker 5: probably incredible music being made right under your nose that

8:09 Speaker 5: if you're not paying attention, you don't even know it's there.

8:12 Speaker 6: Absolutely, I can attest to that.

8:13 Speaker 3: Whenever I travel out of state, you know, like well

8:16 Speaker 3: out of state, I always try to look up the

8:18 Speaker 3: local scene. Wherever I'm at, there is definitely a scene

8:22 Speaker 3: no matter where you go, you just you need to

8:24 Speaker 3: find it, that's all.

8:25 Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely, I'm looking for something. Oh yeah, so our friend,

8:33 Speaker 5: I assume you're familiar with Terminus Terminus Underground in Ashville.

8:36 Speaker 4: Yeah.

8:36 Speaker 5: Yeah, So our friend Eleanor had posted something the other

8:40 Speaker 5: day kind of on this subject. Let me see if

8:42 Speaker 5: I can. Why is my screen so dark? Trying to

8:47 Speaker 5: look at this on my phone? So she posted, and

8:49 Speaker 5: I thought this was a great insight. She said, You know,

8:53 Speaker 5: when you support local bands, you're supporting new music. You're

8:56 Speaker 5: part of an exclusive group of people who hear songs

8:59 Speaker 5: the first time they're played. Get in on the ground

9:02 Speaker 5: floor as a super fan, uh, and be up close

9:05 Speaker 5: and personal to real rock stars. What's played on radio

9:09 Speaker 5: is often decades old music of people who often are

9:13 Speaker 5: no longer performing. Why allow a stage, screen or a

9:17 Speaker 5: speaker to come between you and your music. When you

9:20 Speaker 5: support a local artist, you are supporting real art and

9:22 Speaker 5: real people, and you're not filling billionaire pockets? And does

9:28 Speaker 5: anyone think about that? And then, you know, people made

9:30 Speaker 5: various comments, but I thought that was a great insight too,

9:32 Speaker 5: because yeah, when you support local musicians, yeah, you're you're

9:35 Speaker 5: kind of getting you're getting it on the ground floor.

9:37 Speaker 6: You know absolutely and exactly what it's about.

9:39 Speaker 5: And you get to witness up close to their development

9:42 Speaker 5: as an artist.

9:42 Speaker 6: Yep, yep. You know.

9:43 Speaker 3: Even the national bands, they all started out local at

9:46 Speaker 3: some point too, exactly exactly your your favorite national band

9:48 Speaker 3: wouldn't be where they are if it wasn't for the

9:50 Speaker 3: local scene that boosted them to where they are.

9:52 Speaker 5: Yep. Yeah, Well, what's the expression? Every every overnight sensation

9:55 Speaker 5: was years in the making.

9:56 Speaker 6: Yes. Absolutely.

10:00 Speaker 5: How long have you been? I mean, how long have

10:03 Speaker 5: you been actively supporting I assume.

10:05 Speaker 3: You've well, you know, it's a little tricky to answer.

10:08 Speaker 3: I mean specifically, I've been going with the rock and

10:11 Speaker 3: Redhead brand, if you will, for almost two years.

10:15 Speaker 6: I think August will make two years. But I have

10:19 Speaker 6: been a.

10:21 Speaker 3: I hate to use the term groupie, but a super fan,

10:25 Speaker 3: if you will, as long as I can remember. You know,

10:28 Speaker 3: way back in the eighties, I fell in love with

10:30 Speaker 3: the Guns N' Roses videos and I just knew that

10:33 Speaker 3: I needed to be in the music scene somehow, so

10:36 Speaker 3: I lived out my life. I got stuck doing a

10:38 Speaker 3: bunch of retail jobs, dead end stuff here and there,

10:43 Speaker 3: but I was really good at it, really good at sales,

10:45 Speaker 3: really good at people marketing, that sort of thing. So

10:49 Speaker 3: I just kind of decided to take the skills that

10:51 Speaker 3: I do have with all of that and twist it

10:53 Speaker 3: into selling the music and the bands at a local

10:57 Speaker 3: level here to kind of get that New England scene scene, because,

11:00 Speaker 3: like I said, we don't get nearly the enough recognition.

11:03 Speaker 5: Right, So how do you do that? Like, what do

11:07 Speaker 5: you do in terms of promoting these artists that you

11:10 Speaker 5: work with?

11:10 Speaker 3: Most of it in today's day and age is all

11:12 Speaker 3: on the socials, And as I was telling you off air,

11:15 Speaker 3: I almost need an assistant just to handle the socials

11:18 Speaker 3: because they're so out of control. And then you get

11:21 Speaker 3: the different bands and all of their socials added into everything,

11:24 Speaker 3: and it just becomes this huge tree of bands and

11:29 Speaker 3: musicians and it's pretty wild.

11:31 Speaker 5: Yeah, Like how many how many bands are you sort

11:36 Speaker 5: of actively promoting at any one time?

11:39 Speaker 3: Or quite a few, because I don't really limit myself. Basically,

11:43 Speaker 3: if you have talent and you put your hard work, skill, blood,

11:45 Speaker 3: sweat and tears into what you're doing, I will recognize

11:48 Speaker 3: that absolutely. If your stuff's good, I will throw it

11:52 Speaker 3: out there, share it as much as I can on

11:54 Speaker 3: all of my platforms. I've got a bunch of different

11:58 Speaker 3: groups that I'm associated with all around New England. Yeah,

12:02 Speaker 3: and ever since I went with the Rock and Redhead,

12:05 Speaker 3: my name is actually it's it's being remembered now.

12:08 Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, so people are hearing me.

12:10 Speaker 3: I was down in Massachusetts last year and I went

12:13 Speaker 3: to hand somebody one of my stickers and he says.

12:15 Speaker 6: I've seen you. You're on social media.

12:17 Speaker 5: Yeah.

12:17 Speaker 6: I'm like, yeah, that's that's me, the Rock and Redhead.

12:20 Speaker 5: Yeah, well that's you know, and you mentioned earlier kind

12:23 Speaker 5: of building that brand, and that's you know, I'm very

12:26 Speaker 5: into anybody who knows anything about my background, very into

12:29 Speaker 5: marketing and branding and so forth, which is a part

12:31 Speaker 5: of you know, whether anyone likes it or not, it's

12:34 Speaker 5: an important part of the music industry, or or promoting

12:38 Speaker 5: a radio show or a podcast or anything that you're doing.

12:40 Speaker 5: Really so, so you're you're you're really in a sense,

12:44 Speaker 5: you're doing both at once, right, You're building your brand

12:47 Speaker 5: while promoting these bands, and and it sounds like it's

12:51 Speaker 5: it sounds like it's working for you. Do you have

12:54 Speaker 5: like do you create merchandise and whatnot for for the

12:57 Speaker 5: rock and Redhead brand or how does that work exactly.

13:00 Speaker 6: It's gonna happen eventually.

13:02 Speaker 3: Right now, I just have some stickers, but eventually, as

13:05 Speaker 3: I grow a little bit more, I'm hoping to get

13:07 Speaker 3: some T shirts and stuff.

13:08 Speaker 6: I have been asked to make hoodies.

13:10 Speaker 3: Yeah, people want you know, little knickknacks, patches and stuff

13:13 Speaker 3: like that. So yeah, it's definitely in the works. And

13:17 Speaker 3: I myself, I specialize in merch sales. That's actually the

13:19 Speaker 3: thing that I do the most of that. I really

13:21 Speaker 3: it's my passion. Okay, So I definitely do want to

13:25 Speaker 3: get into doing merch. I'm just not quite there yet. Yeah,

13:29 Speaker 3: but yeah, it's basically just throwing throwing my name out

13:33 Speaker 3: as much as I can and with it the bands

13:35 Speaker 3: that that get the support. Just yesterday, I was in

13:38 Speaker 3: a fast food chain and I was wearing my four

13:41 Speaker 3: feet out hoodies. What's that hoodie represent? And I was like, Oh,

13:44 Speaker 3: this is a band right out of Brunswick, Maine. Next

13:47 Speaker 3: thing you know, she's looking them up and there they

13:49 Speaker 3: gained another fan.

13:50 Speaker 6: So and I do that everywhere I go.

13:53 Speaker 5: The role of merch in the music industry, uh, in general,

13:57 Speaker 5: I think is extraordinarily important because because for one thing,

14:03 Speaker 5: it's it's one of the sort of dependable revenue streams, right,

14:07 Speaker 5: And this is, you know, no matter what level you're

14:10 Speaker 5: operating at, whether we're you know, whether we're talking about

14:13 Speaker 5: somebody local just starting out, or whether we're talking about

14:15 Speaker 5: a national touring act, because you know, you look at

14:20 Speaker 5: other revenue streams. So streaming has has made it very

14:23 Speaker 5: difficult to make any money off of the music itself.

14:30 Speaker 5: You know, you talk to anyone about Spotify for example,

14:32 Speaker 5: I mean it's it's it's so little, even for major artists.

14:35 Speaker 5: In some cases, it's so little money. It's it's almost

14:38 Speaker 5: not not not worth depositing the check.

14:42 Speaker 3: And touring too, like everything's you know, the price gouging

14:45 Speaker 3: is just disgusting, right, Oh yeah, with everything.

14:47 Speaker 5: Tour touring has become cost prohibitive and even for some

14:51 Speaker 5: for some.

14:51 Speaker 3: Artists, the merch is really the only way that they

14:54 Speaker 3: can make the most of their revenue.

14:56 Speaker 5: Now exactly exactly. So that's so it's so important. And

15:01 Speaker 5: it's funny though, I remember years ago saying, well, I

15:05 Speaker 5: kind of I guess I predicted the way things would

15:08 Speaker 5: go a little bit incorrectly because I remember thinking, Okay,

15:12 Speaker 5: there will always be money. See, I thought the merch

15:14 Speaker 5: part was going to go away, and I'll tell you why.

15:17 Speaker 5: So I thought, well, you'll always be able to sell tickets.

15:21 Speaker 5: You'll always be able to sell live tickets, because that's

15:25 Speaker 5: one thing you can't replicate, is the live experience actually

15:29 Speaker 5: being there. And I don't see how, you know, even

15:30 Speaker 5: with virtual reality and whatever advancements we see in the

15:33 Speaker 5: next few years, with that, I don't see how it

15:36 Speaker 5: would be possible to ever replicate actually being there. So

15:38 Speaker 5: I thought that would be the one dependable revenue stream,

15:41 Speaker 5: not not foreseeing you know, what would happen to the

15:44 Speaker 5: touring industry in terms of costs. I thought merch would

15:47 Speaker 5: be a problem. And the reason I thought so would

15:49 Speaker 5: be because of three D printers. I thought. When we

15:54 Speaker 5: first started hearing about three D printing, I remember saying

15:57 Speaker 5: because prior to that, I had always said, like when

16:01 Speaker 5: because I was working for a national retail chain of

16:03 Speaker 5: music chain.

16:04 Speaker 7: Uh.

16:05 Speaker 5: I worked for Strawberries, which eventually became f Ye and everything,

16:08 Speaker 5: And I remember when Napster came in and it was like, oh, okay,

16:12 Speaker 5: so music is free now and at that time, I said, well,

16:18 Speaker 5: we'll always have merch because at least you can't download

16:21 Speaker 5: a T shirt. And then we started hearing about three

16:25 Speaker 5: D printers and I said, uh, oh, you're going to

16:28 Speaker 5: be able to download a T shirt. But it hasn't

16:31 Speaker 5: that that hasn't panned out that way. So so now

16:35 Speaker 5: actually because again it's so hard to make because the

16:38 Speaker 5: profit margins are so thin with touring and and uh

16:41 Speaker 5: and if you're a national act, you know Ticketmaster Live Nation,

16:45 Speaker 5: I should say I guess to be more precise, they

16:48 Speaker 5: take so much money. So so it really is in

16:51 Speaker 5: the merch.

16:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Yeah. They make most of their revenue

16:55 Speaker 3: with that. So it's really important to be selling the

16:59 Speaker 3: merch out there. And one of the things that I

17:02 Speaker 3: run into a lot too. You know, bands will often

17:06 Speaker 3: run the merch themselves, and you know they'll miss a

17:10 Speaker 3: lot of their revenue when fans are coming back and

17:13 Speaker 3: forth and you know they're tearing down that first fifteen

17:16 Speaker 3: minutes while you're tearing down your set. So crucial, Yes,

17:20 Speaker 3: merch sales, yes, and there's nobody at the table to

17:23 Speaker 3: sell the stuff.

17:24 Speaker 5: That's a great point.

17:25 Speaker 3: That's that's where I step in and I want to

17:28 Speaker 3: make sure I'm there to get out of the merch

17:30 Speaker 3: soul at the times when the band is busy. Yeah,

17:33 Speaker 3: and a couple of the band's two four feet out

17:35 Speaker 3: lone Wolf James, I actually kind of work as a

17:37 Speaker 3: personal assistant. I do everything and anything for these guys. Yeah,

17:40 Speaker 3: you know, they need their their drinks filled up in

17:43 Speaker 3: the middle of the set, or sweat rags whatever at

17:45 Speaker 3: the end of the night.

17:47 Speaker 6: Come on up, your rocking redhead's got y.

17:48 Speaker 5: Yeah, No, you just set because a lot of music

17:51 Speaker 5: industry people listen to the show and you just made

17:53 Speaker 5: a great point though about with the merch that first

17:55 Speaker 5: fifteen minutes and how crucial that is because you know,

17:58 Speaker 5: you like anything any kind of you know, you got

18:00 Speaker 5: to strike while the iron is hot. Somebody they've just

18:03 Speaker 5: seen your set, they're enthralled. They're like, that's when they're thinking, Oh,

18:06 Speaker 5: I'm gonna buy a T shirt, or'm gona buy hoodie,

18:08 Speaker 5: or I gotta get something from I gonna buy their

18:09 Speaker 5: CD if they have physical media, which not all bands do,

18:12 Speaker 5: but that's when they're thinking about it. And if you

18:16 Speaker 5: if you wait for that to cool off, then they

18:19 Speaker 5: might think, yeah, you know I wasn't gonna get something,

18:21 Speaker 5: but maybe i'll I'm just gonna spend this money on

18:23 Speaker 5: another drink, and some.

18:24 Speaker 3: People want to scoot out and beat the traffic, don't

18:26 Speaker 3: want to wait around.

18:27 Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly, exactly. So that's a that's a great point

18:30 Speaker 5: that you bring up about the importance of making those

18:33 Speaker 5: sales right away, and if you don't have a dedicated

18:36 Speaker 5: merch person, you are in a very tough spot because

18:39 Speaker 5: especially if if you're not the headliner and you've got

18:43 Speaker 5: another band waiting to go on, because I I don't

18:46 Speaker 5: I don't actively play anymore, but I've I've played in

18:49 Speaker 5: a lot of bands at one time. And you know,

18:52 Speaker 5: so anybody who's who's done that knows the pressure of

18:56 Speaker 5: you finish your set, you've got another band waiting to

18:58 Speaker 5: come on, you want to get off that stage as

19:01 Speaker 5: quickly as possible so they can, you know, unless you're

19:03 Speaker 5: a jerk, which I encountered that a few times. But

19:07 Speaker 5: most musicians are good people. But every once in a

19:09 Speaker 5: while you encounter somebody who's a little bit of a

19:11 Speaker 5: slow poke getting off the stage, and then you want

19:13 Speaker 5: to choke them.

19:14 Speaker 8: But yeah, I'm thinking of some specific stories that I'm

19:19 Speaker 8: not going to tell on the air about the people

19:20 Speaker 8: I wanted to strangle, but well, yes, yes, but uh

19:25 Speaker 8: but yeah, so if you don't have a dedicated merch person,

19:28 Speaker 8: yeah you are. You're losing revenue because you got to

19:31 Speaker 8: get off the stage. You can't be unless you're the

19:33 Speaker 8: lead singer, and you're not gonna help anyway.

19:36 Speaker 5: You know, there are.

19:37 Speaker 6: Those situations to that that happens to.

19:40 Speaker 5: You know, it's like, well, I could carry this amp,

19:42 Speaker 5: but I don't really want to because I'm a singer.

19:44 Speaker 6: Somebody else will get.

19:45 Speaker 5: It right, Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, but no, but that's

19:48 Speaker 5: that's a great point that you make. I want I

19:52 Speaker 5: want to stay on that for a moment too, because

19:53 Speaker 5: I'm curious, are there other mistakes that you see that

19:58 Speaker 5: you see bands make, uh, when it comes to merch

20:00 Speaker 5: or anything really with the live performance and that whole aspect,

20:04 Speaker 5: because again, it is it's sales. Whether anyone likes it

20:07 Speaker 5: or not, sales is a part of it. Like, are

20:09 Speaker 5: there other mistakes that you see bands make for solo

20:13 Speaker 5: artists or anybody?

20:14 Speaker 3: I don't know if i'd call them mistakes. I think

20:16 Speaker 3: everybody has their own kind of method and way of

20:20 Speaker 3: doing things. One thing that I do see that just

20:24 Speaker 3: kind of makes me scratch my head is again going

20:26 Speaker 3: back to the pricing price gouging. It happens more at

20:30 Speaker 3: a national level than locals, but I'll see the locals

20:33 Speaker 3: doing it a lot too. They're charging national prices for

20:36 Speaker 3: their T shirts and stuff. I mean, I understand, you've

20:40 Speaker 3: got to make your profit and the money's going out otherwise,

20:42 Speaker 3: but there's pretty low, pretty high profit margin on T shirts. Yeah,

20:49 Speaker 3: you know, yeah, so to be selling them for forty

20:52 Speaker 3: five to fifty dollars just doesn't make any sense.

20:54 Speaker 5: One of the great challenges with that, in my experience,

20:57 Speaker 5: is trying to figure out how much how much profit

21:00 Speaker 5: should we really realistically be trying to shoot for, or

21:04 Speaker 5: should we be trying to shoot for any should we

21:07 Speaker 5: be trying to break even? Because you know, we're we're

21:10 Speaker 5: trying to promote, We're not trying to make money on

21:12 Speaker 5: this merch. Yet, We're not yet at that level where

21:14 Speaker 5: we can make money on the merch. We're at a

21:16 Speaker 5: level where we can use the merch to try to

21:19 Speaker 5: promote the band, but not exposure, not expect any money.

21:23 Speaker 5: Or are we even still at the level where we're

21:25 Speaker 5: not even going to break even on the merch. We

21:28 Speaker 5: just want to but we want to get that T

21:29 Speaker 5: shirt on you if we can, so maybe we'll take

21:32 Speaker 5: a loss. It's an investment. We're building a business. Again.

21:36 Speaker 5: They don't want to think of it. They don't want

21:37 Speaker 5: to think of the building the business part. That's a

21:39 Speaker 5: bad phrase to a lot of musicians. But that is

21:41 Speaker 5: what you're doing.

21:41 Speaker 6: It is what you're doing.

21:42 Speaker 5: Yeah, So that's very tricky.

21:44 Speaker 6: Yeah.

21:45 Speaker 3: And that's a very good point too that you bring

21:46 Speaker 3: up about. You know, sometimes you're giving the product away.

21:51 Speaker 3: I see a lot of bands often will do just

21:54 Speaker 3: that and just hand out their T shirts like here

21:57 Speaker 3: have a free T shirt.

21:58 Speaker 5: Yep.

21:58 Speaker 3: You know, I hand out my stick for free. I'll

22:01 Speaker 3: you know, every once in a while somebody will pay

22:02 Speaker 3: me a dollar for them. I'm like, okay, great, thanks.

22:04 Speaker 5: Yeah.

22:05 Speaker 6: Yeah, but you know, I hand it out like this

22:07 Speaker 6: is me, get me out.

22:08 Speaker 5: Yeah.

22:09 Speaker 3: Look at what I'm you know, look at all the

22:10 Speaker 3: bands I'm promoting and what we're doing.

22:12 Speaker 6: Yeah, we're making waves.

22:14 Speaker 5: Yeah. And it also depends on what your priorities are,

22:17 Speaker 5: because I'll act that's true. Obviously a lot of bands

22:20 Speaker 5: they're not Some bands aren't interested in building a business.

22:23 Speaker 5: Some bands are just they're just doing it for fun.

22:26 Speaker 5: Maybe maybe you've got a band member who has a

22:29 Speaker 5: super high paying job who's willing to put some money

22:31 Speaker 5: down to get these T shirts made, and they don't care.

22:34 Speaker 5: This is just a hobby to them. They don't care.

22:36 Speaker 5: They're just whatever. You know, we're just having fun anyway,

22:39 Speaker 5: you know. So you know, so you've also got that aspect.

22:42 Speaker 6: But definitely see my fair share of that too.

22:44 Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah, And there's nothing wrong with that. No,

22:47 Speaker 5: not a thing wrong with that.

22:49 Speaker 3: Like I said, everybody kind of has their own method

22:51 Speaker 3: and their own way of doing things, and people are

22:53 Speaker 3: in it for different reasons, as you were just saying

22:55 Speaker 3: as well.

22:56 Speaker 5: So yeah, yeah, absolutely. I assume the bands that you

23:01 Speaker 5: tend to work with or are bands that that are

23:05 Speaker 5: not thinking that way, but rather they're thinking they want

23:07 Speaker 5: to you know, they're trying to get somewhere with this.

23:09 Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, most of them.

23:10 Speaker 3: I do work with a couple of bands that are

23:12 Speaker 3: that are kind of in it for funzies and just

23:13 Speaker 3: doing stuff. But we all love playing and I think

23:16 Speaker 3: that's that's what it boils down to, is we're just

23:18 Speaker 3: in it for the musicianship and the camaraderie and yeah, yeah,

23:22 Speaker 3: I just love it.

23:23 Speaker 5: Yeah. What are you a musician yourself? Do you play?

23:27 Speaker 6: I'm not.

23:28 Speaker 5: Okay, I'm not.

23:29 Speaker 6: I always wanted to be, but I just couldn't find

23:31 Speaker 6: the right skill.

23:32 Speaker 5: Yeah.

23:33 Speaker 3: So, like I said, I found a way to morph

23:35 Speaker 3: the skills that I do have into and bring it

23:38 Speaker 3: into the music business.

23:39 Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah. Are there are there certain bands that you've

23:45 Speaker 5: been that you've associated with them, that you've helped to

23:48 Speaker 5: have who have kind of, I don't know, gone to

23:52 Speaker 5: the next level or just really kind of kind of

23:54 Speaker 5: broken through it a big way, because we should talk

23:56 Speaker 5: about some of those. Yeah.

23:57 Speaker 3: Absolutely, well, First and foremost, I want to give a

23:59 Speaker 3: shout out to the first band that we played at

24:01 Speaker 3: the top of the hour, four Feet Out. Those guys

24:04 Speaker 3: are my brothers. I've known them for over half my

24:06 Speaker 3: lifetime and they've been jamming together. The three of them

24:12 Speaker 3: have been jamming for like ten years, maybe a little

24:14 Speaker 3: more as four Feet Out they've been together for about

24:17 Speaker 3: five or six years now.

24:18 Speaker 5: So they're a three piece. Yes, I'm always impressed when

24:21 Speaker 5: you've got a three piece that has like a big

24:23 Speaker 5: sound they've got a big sound.

24:24 Speaker 6: Yeah. Oh, they've got a really big sound. Yeah.

24:27 Speaker 3: They don't really fall into their own genre, which I

24:29 Speaker 3: really like. We kind of refer to it as like

24:32 Speaker 3: your psychedelic stoner hard rocker.

24:34 Speaker 5: That's kind of thee from Yeah.

24:36 Speaker 3: Yeah, but those guys kind of gave me my start

24:39 Speaker 3: doing what I'm doing. I started as their merch girl

24:41 Speaker 3: five years ago. Yeah, a little less than that actually

24:44 Speaker 3: because of COVID. But as soon as COVID let us

24:47 Speaker 3: get back out there, we were, we were hitting the storm.

24:50 Speaker 3: And they've got a pretty good following right now. You

24:52 Speaker 3: can find them on YouTube and on Facebook. So they've

24:56 Speaker 3: got they got a gig coming up in Turner.

25:00 Speaker 6: I believe.

25:03 Speaker 5: Is that in Is that Maine?

25:04 Speaker 6: Turn Turner, Maine? That's right, thank you, I forgot where

25:06 Speaker 6: I'm at.

25:08 Speaker 5: So they're from Maine.

25:09 Speaker 6: They are from Brunswick, Maine.

25:12 Speaker 5: Yeah.

25:13 Speaker 3: We also I want to give a shout out for

25:15 Speaker 3: dark Rain. Dark Rain also, as you mentioned, I I

25:18 Speaker 3: roll around with them for quite a while doing some

25:20 Speaker 3: merch and those guys make waves. They're they're just out

25:23 Speaker 3: playing anywhere and everywhere they can good and I love

25:26 Speaker 3: that for them. Yeah, Lethal Creed They are also a

25:31 Speaker 3: three piece that that they are from Newfield, Maine.

25:36 Speaker 5: Newfield. Where's Newfield? I don't even know where that.

25:38 Speaker 3: Is, literally right on the border of New Hampshire, it is,

25:40 Speaker 3: kidding Rochester Oh okay, Yeah, it's right up by Rochester.

25:45 Speaker 5: Okay.

25:46 Speaker 3: But they are also a three piece and they are

25:48 Speaker 3: made up of a grandfather, father, and son, no kidding.

25:51 Speaker 6: And they are incredible.

25:53 Speaker 3: If you're in the thrash metal and you really like

25:56 Speaker 3: getting into the hardcore headbanging, Lethal Creed is definitely your band. Okay,

26:02 Speaker 3: they've been jamming, not as the piece that they are now,

26:05 Speaker 3: but they've been a band since nineteen eighty seven, no kidding,

26:08 Speaker 3: and they just carried the name right along and now

26:11 Speaker 3: it's the father, grandfather and son.

26:13 Speaker 5: Oh that's fascinating. We got to get them on.

26:15 Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely recommend them there. They're solid group of

26:19 Speaker 3: people to now and musician musically.

26:22 Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah.

26:23 Speaker 3: Paradise is canceled. Those guys. I don't know if you've

26:26 Speaker 3: heard about them.

26:27 Speaker 5: I have. Did we have them? Jenny, Paradise is canceled.

26:31 Speaker 5: Did we have them on the show? The names, the

26:33 Speaker 5: name's super familiar.

26:34 Speaker 6: Yeah, they're out of Biteford, Maine.

26:36 Speaker 5: It becomes a blur. We've been doing this a lot, No.

26:38 Speaker 3: I understand. Yeah, that's my thing. I had to ds

26:40 Speaker 3: some names down for the exact reason.

26:42 Speaker 5: Yeah.

26:43 Speaker 3: Yeah, I also have Burning Time on my list. Those

26:46 Speaker 3: guys are really making waves out there right now. Okay,

26:49 Speaker 3: And actually, speaking of Burning Time and Paradise is canceled tonight.

26:53 Speaker 3: They are both playing a show at the Palladium, which

26:57 Speaker 3: is super exciting to have our main boys down there. Yeah, Palladium,

27:02 Speaker 3: So I think I'm probably gonna brave the weather and

27:04 Speaker 3: scoot down there after I'm done up here with you guys.

27:06 Speaker 6: Who are they check them out?

27:08 Speaker 5: Who are they playing with?

27:09 Speaker 3: They are playing with a cursed death's hand. And I

27:14 Speaker 3: believe Scarecrow Hill.

27:16 Speaker 5: Oh, Scarecrow Hill.

27:17 Speaker 6: I'm actually unfamiliar with them.

27:19 Speaker 5: We had we had Scarecrow Hill on the show. Maybe again,

27:22 Speaker 5: it becomes a blurb maybe three months ago, right, Yeah.

27:25 Speaker 5: I love those guys. Yeah, that was that was great.

27:27 Speaker 5: We had a we had a great discussion with them,

27:29 Speaker 5: and I love their sound.

27:30 Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm super excited to check it out.

27:31 Speaker 5: Is that the headliner, Scarecrow Yeah?

27:33 Speaker 6: Okay, yeah, those are the headliners?

27:35 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that's uh, you know two six one Main Street, Worcester,

27:39 Speaker 3: mass at the Palladium tonight.

27:41 Speaker 5: Yeah.

27:41 Speaker 3: Yeah, we're gonna rock hard on that one for sure.

27:43 Speaker 3: Very don't let the the weather's clearing up, so.

27:45 Speaker 5: Oh yeah, by that it'll be fine.

27:47 Speaker 3: Yeah, don't let that stop you come on out and

27:49 Speaker 3: rock out with us tonight. Yeah, the rock and Redhead's

27:52 Speaker 3: there with stickers yep, yeap Diamond's Edge. I think you

27:57 Speaker 3: have a song of their's queued up here too, don't you.

27:59 Speaker 5: Yeah, play that a minute.

28:00 Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah they are.

28:02 Speaker 3: They are the wicked friendly band from New Hampshire and

28:05 Speaker 3: they are just that. They are amazing people inside and out.

28:09 Speaker 3: Also three piece, yes, yes, also I love these three

28:12 Speaker 3: pieces because you get so much sound out of them yep,

28:15 Speaker 3: and you never even really know it, but they're just

28:17 Speaker 3: rocking it.

28:18 Speaker 5: Yeah.

28:18 Speaker 6: Yeah, and I love Trish, she's amazing.

28:21 Speaker 5: Yeah, we saw I think they were the opening band

28:23 Speaker 5: ats Swarmy Fest. Yeah and yeah, I think that's right.

28:26 Speaker 5: Very impressed.

28:27 Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, Midnight Positions making waves out there, and man,

28:32 Speaker 3: I'm not entirely sure where me and they're based out of,

28:35 Speaker 3: but I've seen them a couple few times and they're

28:37 Speaker 3: just the crowd reaction every time I see them is

28:39 Speaker 3: pretty insane.

28:40 Speaker 6: Yeah, signal to noise.

28:42 Speaker 3: Those guys are making waves that they actually just landed

28:45 Speaker 3: a tour with Tantric I believe, going across the country.

28:48 Speaker 5: Oh very cool.

28:48 Speaker 6: Yeah, so we're excited for them.

28:50 Speaker 3: Yeah, I've got to find perspective in here.

28:54 Speaker 5: Uh.

28:55 Speaker 6: Fifth Freedom you've mentioned a couple of times.

28:59 Speaker 5: Yeah, is in the chat room, actually, says referring to

29:02 Speaker 5: our conversation. Some bands are just trying to get some

29:05 Speaker 5: music uploaded or play for friends, not everyone on iTunes.

29:08 Speaker 5: That's trying to play live. That's true, that's true.

29:11 Speaker 6: That is true.

29:12 Speaker 5: Yeah.

29:13 Speaker 3: Yeah. I also have Black Orange. They went on a

29:16 Speaker 3: little hiatus for a little while there, but I think

29:18 Speaker 3: they're coming back. I've seen some promotion, some promo pictures

29:22 Speaker 3: and stuff on online in the last few days.

29:24 Speaker 5: So that's a that's a cool name, Black Orange.

29:26 Speaker 6: I love it. I love it.

29:27 Speaker 3: Their logos are usually pretty graphic and really pretty cool

29:30 Speaker 3: looking too.

29:30 Speaker 5: Yeah.

29:31 Speaker 6: Oh they're cool. Yeah. And Sonic Bomb.

29:34 Speaker 3: I recently caught a caught a show of theirs that

29:39 Speaker 3: was in Bideford. They're Massachusetts based band, I believe, but uh,

29:46 Speaker 3: I saw them up in Maine and it's fronted by

29:49 Speaker 3: a female who's got one heck of a power voice. Yeah,

29:52 Speaker 3: she's incredible and the energy to like just falls to

29:56 Speaker 3: the wall. Yeah yeah all the way.

29:58 Speaker 6: I love that.

29:58 Speaker 5: Well, very cool. Well we were talking about them. Let's

30:01 Speaker 5: give this a spin. So this is a track called Speak

30:03 Speaker 5: and this is Diamond Dead. And where are they from?

30:07 Speaker 6: They are from New Hampshire.

30:08 Speaker 3: I'm not entirely sure exactly what part of New Hampshire,

30:10 Speaker 3: but I know they're from New Hampshire.

30:11 Speaker 5: Oh, very cool. Yeah, let's give this a spin and

30:13 Speaker 5: then we'll come back and we'll chat some more. We

30:15 Speaker 5: have Echo, Ray the Rock and Redhead here with us

30:17 Speaker 5: in studio.

30:19 Speaker 2: Speak Deil Mountain, speekl.

30:27 Speaker 4: Mountain, Sweet Mountain.

30:52 Speaker 9: Now you're here for a reason.

30:55 Speaker 5: Un don't let time run out.

30:58 Speaker 2: Region sign Now it's your season.

31:02 Speaker 6: What are you really?

31:03 Speaker 2: Fell out? As an inner man who knows is worth?

31:08 Speaker 4: Come on and let it out.

31:11 Speaker 6: Look alive. Now it's your word.

31:15 Speaker 2: Shut, speak to your master, tell me where to go.

31:25 Speaker 4: Speak?

31:26 Speaker 2: So the problem, don't you know?

31:31 Speaker 6: Speak to your mountain.

31:34 Speaker 2: Word's come true when you believe. Speak to your mountains.

31:41 Speaker 2: Oh and cast it into the season. Want your eyes now,

31:53 Speaker 2: your eyes on the windows to your very soul.

31:58 Speaker 6: What's your ears now?

32:00 Speaker 2: What do you hear your like PRISSI down so long?

32:04 Speaker 2: What would you say?

32:06 Speaker 6: Your words tell your future son't make them good?

32:09 Speaker 2: Hand aloud like your voice.

32:12 Speaker 6: Now, run to your giant as shure.

32:18 Speaker 2: Speak to your mountain, tell it where to go. Speaks

32:25 Speaker 2: to the problem, don't you know? Speak to real mountain

32:34 Speaker 2: words going through?

32:35 Speaker 6: When you and me.

32:38 Speaker 2: Speaks real mountain and cast it into the sea.

33:18 Speaker 6: You you'll lie within.

33:24 Speaker 2: You make the time to lessen the lie, for in

33:34 Speaker 2: the power of the dog. So speak, lie and live.

33:47 Speaker 2: Speak to real mountain. Speak to real mountain. Speak to

34:03 Speaker 2: your mountain. Let's that speaker your mountain, speak for your father.

34:13 Speaker 2: Tell that to go, tell it to go. Speak to

34:22 Speaker 2: you about it.

34:24 Speaker 6: Tell me where no.

34:27 Speaker 4: Me to the problem. Don't you know.

34:34 Speaker 10: Me?

34:34 Speaker 6: So your mountain.

34:36 Speaker 2: Were't going through? When you believe, speak to your mountain,

34:46 Speaker 2: cast it.

34:46 Speaker 6: Into the sea.

34:49 Speaker 2: Just get into the city.

34:52 Speaker 9: Sleep.

34:59 Speaker 5: What that is called speak? The band is Diamond Edge

35:16 Speaker 5: And you are listening to Matt Connorton Unleashed, and we

35:19 Speaker 5: are live from these studios of w M n H

35:21 Speaker 5: ninety five point three FM, Inglorious, Manchester, New Hampshire, and

35:25 Speaker 5: if you are listening live on Saturday morning, please be

35:28 Speaker 5: traveling safely. If you are traveling, it sounds like the

35:30 Speaker 5: snow has stopped, and who knows, maybe this afternoon it'll

35:34 Speaker 5: all just melt away. It'll be like it never happened.

35:36 Speaker 5: But today is of course Saturday, April twelve, twenty twenty five,

35:41 Speaker 5: and we're talking with the rock and redhead Echo Ray

35:45 Speaker 5: is here with us live in studio, and so I'm curious, like,

35:50 Speaker 5: do you have any do you have like a like aa.

35:53 Speaker 5: It's probably like trying to choose between one of your kids, right,

35:56 Speaker 5: but do you have any any particular favorite that you're

36:00 Speaker 5: really passionate about as far as these bands.

36:02 Speaker 6: That you work with, it is like trying to choose

36:04 Speaker 6: my kids. That's that's not that.

36:06 Speaker 5: Yeah.

36:08 Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, you know, this year, especially,

36:12 Speaker 3: my calendar has been blowing up. I'm already booked all

36:15 Speaker 3: the way in through October. Yeah, and I have a

36:18 Speaker 3: couple of plan a couple of shows planned in the

36:20 Speaker 3: winter as well.

36:21 Speaker 5: Yeah.

36:22 Speaker 3: And I'm finding a lot of double bookings, so you know,

36:26 Speaker 3: I get booked in with one band and then I

36:28 Speaker 3: get another band that says, hey, we need you on

36:30 Speaker 3: this date, and I'm already booked somewhere, and it's where

36:33 Speaker 3: you gotta you know, I I literally have to choose

36:36 Speaker 3: and pick between which one. I had this conversation with

36:38 Speaker 3: somebody the other day and I say, you know, it's

36:40 Speaker 3: not always very black and white. Sometimes it's about the

36:43 Speaker 3: family you're born with versus the family you're married into.

36:46 Speaker 5: Right, I love you both.

36:47 Speaker 3: I don't know how to choose which one. Yeah, you know,

36:50 Speaker 3: Lone Wolf James is playing a lot of national shows now.

36:53 Speaker 3: They're they're making some huge waves out there with some

36:56 Speaker 3: really big names.

36:57 Speaker 5: Excellent.

36:58 Speaker 3: But then I've got four Feet Out, who does a

36:59 Speaker 3: lot of like barbecue and local kind of events and stuff.

37:03 Speaker 3: But those are all really close to home. They're they're

37:06 Speaker 3: like family reunions. Yeah, you know, so it's hard. Do

37:09 Speaker 3: I want to go to a big Lone Wolf James

37:10 Speaker 3: national show or am I going to a to a

37:12 Speaker 3: local family barbecue with four Feet Out? Yeah, but you know,

37:17 Speaker 3: I'm trying to balance it out. I'm actually trying to

37:19 Speaker 3: work to the point where I might be able to

37:22 Speaker 3: get an assistant or somebody to kind of help me

37:25 Speaker 3: out a little bit, somebody that I can hire to

37:27 Speaker 3: go to extra shows. When I'm not available to run

37:30 Speaker 3: a show, they can run it for me. But I'm

37:34 Speaker 3: kind of working through the business politics of everything and

37:36 Speaker 3: trying to get like like an actual business plan down.

37:40 Speaker 3: This has gone a lot farther than I ever dreamed

37:42 Speaker 3: it would, and it's just getting started.

37:46 Speaker 5: Yeah, that's a good problem.

37:48 Speaker 6: Absolutely.

37:48 Speaker 5: But yeah, it sounds like in the scenario you presented,

37:51 Speaker 5: I mean really just from a business standpoint, pragmatically, you

37:54 Speaker 5: would have to go with Lone Wolf Games, right as

37:56 Speaker 5: far as what commitment you're going to go with, because

37:58 Speaker 5: pretty much it sounds like they they need you, and

38:01 Speaker 5: you know you're you're working with them at a critical

38:03 Speaker 5: time for them, when they're starting to, like you said,

38:06 Speaker 5: they're starting to open for some nationals and and really

38:08 Speaker 5: getting out there.

38:09 Speaker 6: So absolutely absolutely, And I gave him my commitment.

38:12 Speaker 11: You know.

38:12 Speaker 3: He told me when he brought me in that he

38:14 Speaker 3: really needed somebody that was committed and that was dependable,

38:17 Speaker 3: and I said, I'm there.

38:19 Speaker 6: I'm so there for it.

38:20 Speaker 5: Yeah.

38:20 Speaker 3: I remained to that. Yeah, absolutely, I'm here for the ride. Yeah,

38:24 Speaker 3: as far as we can take it.

38:25 Speaker 5: Yeah, where does the name Do you know where the

38:28 Speaker 5: name lone Wolf James comes from? If they ever told

38:31 Speaker 5: you that. I'm just curious because it's such a cool name.

38:33 Speaker 3: Well, I you know, I don't really want to give

38:35 Speaker 3: the whole story away because it's not my story to tell. Okay,

38:38 Speaker 3: but the cliff Notes version is he was just referred

38:41 Speaker 3: to as there goes the lone Wolf one day.

38:43 Speaker 6: Oh really, and it just kind of stuck. And his

38:46 Speaker 6: name is James as it's Gary James.

38:48 Speaker 5: Oh, Gary Gery. Okay, gotcha, gotcha.

38:50 Speaker 6: He's a singer, he is yea and he plays guitar.

38:52 Speaker 5: Okay, Okay, if they've been around it, I mean I

38:54 Speaker 5: assume they've been around one.

38:55 Speaker 3: They've been around for a long time. Actually, I found

38:58 Speaker 3: them roughly ten years ago or so. I think they've

39:01 Speaker 3: been around a little bit longer than that. Yeah, I

39:04 Speaker 3: think they have five CDs. Okay, we're working on getting

39:08 Speaker 3: on a new one out very soon. Yeah, but yeah,

39:13 Speaker 3: you can get all of that. In fact, I did

39:14 Speaker 3: want to mention while I'm thinking about it here, they

39:17 Speaker 3: do have a show coming up with Tim Montana on

39:20 Speaker 3: May seventeenth at the Webster in Connecticut. Okay, so we

39:24 Speaker 3: want to give away some tickets.

39:26 Speaker 5: Oh, very nice.

39:26 Speaker 6: Yeah.

39:27 Speaker 3: All you have to do is buy a T shirt

39:29 Speaker 3: from Yours Truly, Echo, Ray the Rock and Redhead, or

39:32 Speaker 3: you could get Gary James from Lone Wolf James himself.

39:36 Speaker 3: But if you buy a T shirt between now and

39:38 Speaker 3: May first, you automatically get a free ticket to the show.

39:41 Speaker 5: Oh that's good, yeah, very cool.

39:42 Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, it's fifteen dollars for your tip for your

39:45 Speaker 3: T shirt you'll get ticket for free.

39:47 Speaker 5: So excellent.

39:48 Speaker 3: You can hit me up on any of my socials Facebook,

39:51 Speaker 3: Instagram and Lone Wolf James as well. You can get

39:55 Speaker 3: them on Facebook, Instagram, I'm sorry. Lone Wolf James is

39:59 Speaker 3: a on Instagram. They're on reverb Nation and YouTube okay

40:04 Speaker 3: and Facebook.

40:04 Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, but.

40:07 Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely get in, get get a T shirt, get

40:10 Speaker 3: a free ticket for the show with Tim Montana.

40:12 Speaker 6: Excellent, super excited.

40:13 Speaker 5: Oh that's very cool. And what's the data on that again?

40:15 Speaker 5: May seventeenth, Okay, very good, very good. Something else I

40:20 Speaker 5: wanted to ask you about, and we alluded to it earlier,

40:22 Speaker 5: but physical media, you know, because you work with merch

40:26 Speaker 5: this is this is a subject that comes up on

40:29 Speaker 5: the show a lot, because a lot of artists now,

40:33 Speaker 5: at least that we've interviewed, there seems to be obviously

40:37 Speaker 5: it never went away, but there seems to be kind

40:40 Speaker 5: of a newfound commitment to releasing things on CD and

40:43 Speaker 5: in some cases even vinyl. I know vinyl is expensive

40:46 Speaker 5: to produce, but we've had a lot of artists too,

40:49 Speaker 5: a lot of guests who you know, they'll bring us

40:50 Speaker 5: a vinyl record and it's like, wow, we even't have

40:52 Speaker 5: a CD player now. It's it belongs to I mean

40:55 Speaker 5: a DVD. Geez, I can't even say it were a

40:58 Speaker 5: record player there it is. We actually have a record

41:01 Speaker 5: player now in the studio that belongs to one of

41:03 Speaker 5: the guys who does a show here, who brought it

41:05 Speaker 5: in for anybody wh wants to use it. I haven't

41:07 Speaker 5: used it yet. Well, we do have a functioning CD

41:09 Speaker 5: player here too that I never used, but one of

41:11 Speaker 5: the other guys uses. But but like, do you have

41:15 Speaker 5: any thoughts on that, Like do you think it's worth

41:17 Speaker 5: it for you know, because part of the calculus just

41:21 Speaker 5: like just like there's some business calculus with what do

41:24 Speaker 5: we do with these T shirts in terms of pricing

41:26 Speaker 5: and are we trying to make money? Are we not.

41:28 Speaker 5: What about physical media? You know, Uh, do like do

41:32 Speaker 5: most of the artists you work with, you they actually

41:34 Speaker 5: release physical CDs?

41:36 Speaker 6: A lot of them do.

41:37 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, at this level that you know, it's it's

41:40 Speaker 3: nice to have that, not not just at this level,

41:42 Speaker 3: but it's nice to actually have that physical Yes, you

41:45 Speaker 3: can have something to play in the CD player in

41:46 Speaker 3: the car or whatever. A lot of fans, myself included,

41:50 Speaker 3: Like I said, I'm a super fan. I just like

41:51 Speaker 3: to have it just to have it, yes, just as

41:53 Speaker 3: a collectible item.

41:54 Speaker 5: Yeah.

41:55 Speaker 3: And I do see a lot of people will buy

41:57 Speaker 3: them just to have them, especially you know, if you're

41:59 Speaker 3: if you're there to see the band, you'll you'll buy

42:02 Speaker 3: what they have to sell, you know. It's it's just

42:04 Speaker 3: the market that you're selling it to. Yeah, So I

42:08 Speaker 3: do see a lot of that, and I have you

42:10 Speaker 3: You made a point about the records too. Those are

42:11 Speaker 3: making a comeback.

42:13 Speaker 6: Yeah.

42:13 Speaker 3: I think they're probably a lot more expensive to reproduce though,

42:17 Speaker 3: aren't they.

42:17 Speaker 5: Yeah, from what I understand, it's very expensive, uh to

42:20 Speaker 5: do vinyl. But but a lot of our guests are

42:22 Speaker 5: doing it. And I think with vinyl, to my theory

42:26 Speaker 5: is most most people who purchase vinyl, probably never actually

42:29 Speaker 5: open it. Yeah, they just they just want to support

42:31 Speaker 5: that artist, and it's cool to you know, if you

42:34 Speaker 5: don't have a record player, you know, mount it on

42:36 Speaker 5: your wall or something. Yeah, or they open it so

42:38 Speaker 5: they can look at it, you know, and because as

42:41 Speaker 5: usually you know, the nostalgia. Yeah, yeah, I love that.

42:45 Speaker 5: But uh but then they but they never actually play it.

42:47 Speaker 9: You know.

42:47 Speaker 5: I don't know how many people have an actual record player,

42:49 Speaker 5: but it's cool to you know, if you're really into

42:51 Speaker 5: an artist, it's cool to cool to have.

42:53 Speaker 3: Yeah, and they sell modern record players now at Walmart.

42:57 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, forty five fifty bucks.

42:59 Speaker 5: Oh yeah, absolutely, Yeah, that's probably where that one came from.

43:01 Speaker 9: Yeah.

43:02 Speaker 5: Yeah, but yeah, I think it's interesting, you know, the

43:08 Speaker 5: decisions that go into whether to do because there was

43:11 Speaker 5: a trend. You know, like if I think about I've

43:13 Speaker 5: been doing this a long time, and if I think

43:15 Speaker 5: ten years ago, probably a pretty safe bet. Most of

43:20 Speaker 5: the artists maybe maybe less than ten years ago, but

43:23 Speaker 5: most of the guests at that time that I had

43:25 Speaker 5: on the show were kind of like, eh, no, we're

43:27 Speaker 5: just putting stuff online. We're not we're not doing CDs.

43:30 Speaker 5: Who does CDs anymore, right, But but I also remember

43:33 Speaker 5: when I first I've talked about this on the show too,

43:36 Speaker 5: when I very early on in my days of interviewing bands.

43:40 Speaker 5: Sometimes they would before I was even doing this on

43:43 Speaker 5: FM radio, when I was just doing it as a podcast,

43:45 Speaker 5: like they'd show up with when they were still doing CDs,

43:49 Speaker 5: and they this was before people got super comfortable with,

43:53 Speaker 5: you know, just using Dropbox or Google Drive or whatever

43:55 Speaker 5: to send files. Guess would show up with a CD.

43:59 Speaker 5: But there was this is the old uh put the

44:01 Speaker 5: CD on the finger, you know what I mean? Like, oh, here,

44:04 Speaker 5: well here, I don't know how many times that happened,

44:07 Speaker 5: like here, man, here's here's here's our music, you know.

44:10 Speaker 5: And it's not even in a case it's a CD

44:12 Speaker 5: on the finger that they're.

44:13 Speaker 6: Trading the envelope for it.

44:15 Speaker 5: No, no, that would that would happen. That would happen.

44:18 Speaker 5: Here here it's on my finger, and now we're going

44:20 Speaker 5: to transfer the CD to your finger. Here you go due,

44:23 Speaker 5: you know. And it's like and of course now everyone

44:25 Speaker 5: just emails the files to us, but but uh, yeah,

44:29 Speaker 5: it's it's interesting how technology changes and attitudes about technology changes.

44:33 Speaker 5: Oh yeah, and I think it was. I think it

44:36 Speaker 5: was twenty twenty two. If I'm not mistaken. Somebody in

44:38 Speaker 5: the chat room can correct me if if you know,

44:41 Speaker 5: maybe if I have the wrong year, But I think

44:43 Speaker 5: it was twenty twenty two. Was the first year that

44:47 Speaker 5: Vinyl actually outsold CDs because Vinyl has had such a resurgence. Yeah,

44:53 Speaker 5: and Vinyl never went away.

44:54 Speaker 6: But I didn't hear that. That's that's crazy.

44:56 Speaker 5: But yeah, yeah, Vinyl's actually But like I said, I

44:59 Speaker 5: think most people who open who buy Vinyl don't never

45:02 Speaker 5: even open it. But but but so most of the

45:05 Speaker 5: artists you work with at this point, they are doing

45:06 Speaker 5: physical CDs. Yeah, yeah, do any of them ever sell cassettes?

45:12 Speaker 6: Oh, that's a good one I have. I think hmm,

45:19 Speaker 6: I think I've seen one band that's that's come up

45:22 Speaker 6: with with cassettes.

45:23 Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm just curious because I hadn't experienced. I think

45:28 Speaker 5: it was six or seven years ago. I was on

45:30 Speaker 5: band camp dot com and all of a sudden I

45:34 Speaker 5: started encountering I was I was looking for new new

45:36 Speaker 5: artists from the area, and I was encountering these uh

45:41 Speaker 5: new Hampshire artists who were releasing cassettes and the first

45:44 Speaker 5: one that I found. They were like just this, you know,

45:46 Speaker 5: sort of indie pop band, and I was like, oh

45:49 Speaker 5: my god, they have a cassette and I thought it

45:52 Speaker 5: was a fluke and I thought, oh, they just thought

45:53 Speaker 5: it would be funny to do that. Whatever, it's just

45:56 Speaker 5: a gimmick. And then I found more and I kept

45:58 Speaker 5: finding more and I was like, oh my god, odd

46:00 Speaker 5: this is real, Like there's there's There was this resurgence

46:04 Speaker 5: and I don't think it lasted very long. I think

46:06 Speaker 5: it was a but there was this sort of nostalgic

46:09 Speaker 5: resurgence of cassettes and I was like, I guess some

46:11 Speaker 5: people like tape Hiss, I don't know.

46:13 Speaker 6: Slip Not dropped a cassette with their last album too.

46:15 Speaker 5: I didn't realize that. No kidding, I'll be damned, I'll

46:18 Speaker 5: be damned. Yeah, it's wild. It's funny because I used

46:20 Speaker 5: to play in a band called the Jinx, and we

46:23 Speaker 5: used to it was a running joke in the band

46:24 Speaker 5: that we were going to release a a single that's funny,

46:28 Speaker 5: and we never did. But fast forward a few years

46:31 Speaker 5: and it actually might have It might have worked. But yeah,

46:34 Speaker 5: what's what's like the the are there any merch items

46:38 Speaker 5: you've seen that are just really unusual where you go. Really, guys,

46:41 Speaker 5: you're you're selling I don't know, like Frisbees or something.

46:45 Speaker 3: Um, goodness, I can't think of any off the top

46:48 Speaker 3: of my head. I'm sure there's been some some random

46:51 Speaker 3: items out there for sure. Yeah, I know, I have

46:56 Speaker 3: a keychain from from four Feet Out bottle opener keychain. Yeah,

47:00 Speaker 3: we love those classic seller. Yeah, these bracelets actually are

47:05 Speaker 3: huge sellers. Okay, but no matter who I'm who I'm

47:08 Speaker 3: working with. Actually, we're I just convinced four feet Out

47:12 Speaker 3: we're getting some with them. Those guys too, so excited

47:16 Speaker 3: to get those in. Oh you know, I saw somebody

47:21 Speaker 3: was I was selling autographed stage worn bandanas really and

47:29 Speaker 3: I don't know why, but I'm totally here for that,

47:31 Speaker 3: Like as a super fan, I would totally get something

47:34 Speaker 3: like that. Sure, So yeah, that's that's probably one of

47:39 Speaker 3: the most obscene of well not obscene but awkward things

47:42 Speaker 3: I think I've seen.

47:43 Speaker 6: Bandana. Yeah, yeah, no, I see a lot of it

47:48 Speaker 6: out there. It's hard to keep it all.

47:49 Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, no doubt. What's what's the most critical

47:53 Speaker 5: thing to have, Like if if a band, if they

47:56 Speaker 5: have a very tight budget for merch. Is is a

47:59 Speaker 5: T shirt?

47:59 Speaker 10: Is?

48:00 Speaker 5: Is that the most critical thing to have?

48:01 Speaker 3: I would say, I would say T shirts and or

48:04 Speaker 3: maybe do something like a like a small postcard. You

48:07 Speaker 3: want to have something that's not quite as high price.

48:09 Speaker 3: You want to have a lower price thing too, because

48:11 Speaker 3: you're not going to get somebody that's gonna not everybody's

48:14 Speaker 3: going to want to put down the full price for

48:15 Speaker 3: the T shirt. You're going to want some smaller ticketed

48:17 Speaker 3: items too. So that's why I like selling the bracelets.

48:21 Speaker 3: These bracelets are easy for people. You know, kids come up,

48:24 Speaker 3: they just you know, kids actually usually get bracelets for

48:28 Speaker 3: free because.

48:28 Speaker 6: I'm like that, Oh really yeah yeah sometimes depends.

48:31 Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, oh that's that's very cool.

48:34 Speaker 6: We like to help the kids out, support the future

48:36 Speaker 6: of the local music.

48:37 Speaker 5: Yeah, absolutely absolute. Where should uh? Where should people go

48:43 Speaker 5: online who want to connect with you, want to learn

48:45 Speaker 5: from you, want to work with you, whatever? Whatever? Like

48:48 Speaker 5: what what's what's the best way for people to reach you?

48:50 Speaker 3: So my primary page is Facebook, It's just Echo Ray Straight.

48:54 Speaker 3: I do have a business page that's Echo Ray the

48:56 Speaker 3: Rock and Redhead, and you can find my happenings on

48:59 Speaker 3: both of those pages. I am also on Instagram that

49:04 Speaker 3: is Echo dot Ray Dot Rockinred and that page pretty

49:11 Speaker 3: much mirrors my Facebook page. Working on boosting out a

49:15 Speaker 3: little bit more. I don't know if I'm going to

49:16 Speaker 3: go into snap or X or any of that stuff.

49:20 Speaker 3: I'm just kind of trying to get my feet wet

49:22 Speaker 3: with what I have right now, because it's still very overwhelming.

49:26 Speaker 3: But that's primarily where I'm at right now with the

49:30 Speaker 3: Instagram and Facebook and just out and about supporting your

49:36 Speaker 3: local bands. That's where it's at. You know, go out

49:39 Speaker 3: to the local, go out to the local gigs only

49:41 Speaker 3: you can prevent empty venues.

49:43 Speaker 5: There you go, There you go, and do you want

49:45 Speaker 5: to for people listening live? Do you want to plug again?

49:47 Speaker 5: What's happening tonight?

49:49 Speaker 3: Yes, tonight you can catch your favorite rock and redhead.

49:52 Speaker 3: That's me down at the Pollidium. I'm going down in

49:55 Speaker 3: support of a couple of my favorite main bands. Paradise

49:59 Speaker 3: is Canceled and Burning Time are going to be playing

50:02 Speaker 3: with a Cursed and Death's Hand, as well as Scarecrow

50:06 Speaker 3: Hill headlining the Palladium two six' one Main Street in Worcester,

50:12 Speaker 3: mass and also Don't Want You to forget. If you

50:15 Speaker 3: buy a Lone Wolf James T shirt from either myself

50:19 Speaker 3: or Gary James online between now and May first, you

50:24 Speaker 3: automatically get a free ticket for the May seventeenth show

50:29 Speaker 3: with Tim Montana and that is going to be at

50:32 Speaker 3: the Webster in Hartford, Connecticut.

50:34 Speaker 5: Oh, very good, outstanding, outstanding. Well, we encourage people to

50:38 Speaker 5: do that and echo. This has been fascinating and very

50:43 Speaker 5: very enlightening. And I learned some things about merch that

50:47 Speaker 5: I didn't know, so that's very cool. And we will

50:50 Speaker 5: end the segment with this track Cradle to Grave from

50:53 Speaker 5: Lone Wolf James. And like I said, we saw them

50:55 Speaker 5: live and we were very impressed. So so very cool.

50:57 Speaker 5: Glad think glad good things are happening for them.

51:00 Speaker 6: You absolutely thank you.

51:01 Speaker 5: We will do this again in the future. And if

51:04 Speaker 5: you are listening live on Saturday, Jesse Rutstein is coming

51:07 Speaker 5: up next and the third hour. Can't wait for that.

51:09 Speaker 5: But here it is. This is called Cradle to Grave,

51:11 Speaker 5: and this is Lone Wolf James, your story.

51:40 Speaker 1: Walking to someone who kids, save.

51:46 Speaker 10: Your preaching, your rock, go adoptees.

52:00 Speaker 4: Willing to roll the slave.

52:06 Speaker 2: Maybe I'm not the world.

52:08 Speaker 11: You need to say.

52:12 Speaker 4: So keep it, my man, never change.

52:18 Speaker 2: From cradle dray.

52:33 Speaker 5: You know your knees.

52:35 Speaker 2: It's nothing to me.

52:38 Speaker 7: So see you're heaven in hell for the wishing well.

52:48 Speaker 5: You you know my.

52:52 Speaker 4: Time?

52:53 Speaker 5: Well we slay.

52:59 Speaker 4: Man, you need to saying, think you bla.

53:08 Speaker 11: Some from cret.

54:51 Speaker 2: My way, the fa black from.

55:40 Speaker 1: Yo's april.

55:41 Speaker 2: Where's the sun as it?

55:42 Speaker 7: Day's supposed to boom flowers?

55:44 Speaker 5: But the snow on the way.

55:45 Speaker 7: Manchester feeling like the North Pole zone.

55:48 Speaker 5: I'm out hearing buff lash.

55:49 Speaker 7: Of rock alone snow shipping the springtone Miles, I sung

55:54 Speaker 7: a black life lingers say styles. People should be won,

55:57 Speaker 7: but I'm bundled instead. Come on you, s why isn't

56:00 Speaker 7: messing with my head?

56:03 Speaker 2: I'll put a shovel away.

56:05 Speaker 7: I thought I'd seen the last flake. Now I'm now

56:09 Speaker 7: here again, cooning pass. I can't say win a chill

56:14 Speaker 7: pulling Franks playing out of season?

56:17 Speaker 5: What's going on up there?

56:18 Speaker 2: Whether gotten no reason?

56:21 Speaker 7: So stripping the spring gone wild? I saw my black

56:25 Speaker 7: life wringers ey Stiles. People should be won, but I'm

56:28 Speaker 7: bundled instead. Come on you says it messing with my head.

56:32 Speaker 7: Sun's on vacation and Cloud's taking charge. Driving here ring

56:35 Speaker 7: the snowman. That's a sabotage. Those guy's a hostage by

56:39 Speaker 7: frosty spring mother nature.

56:41 Speaker 6: What's this joke you're pulling on me?

56:43 Speaker 5: Dream of barbecues?

56:44 Speaker 2: Now I'm stuck with this view.

56:45 Speaker 5: I'm be coding gloves man, how about you?

56:48 Speaker 7: I want to see green grass and forget the bleak slaves,

56:50 Speaker 7: but the sells crashing all my springtime dates.

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59:29 Speaker 5: Seven times out of ten.

59:32 Speaker 11: We listened to our music at night.

59:36 Speaker 10: That's gon titled books program.

59:39 Speaker 9: Late Night to Light with DJ Midas right here on

59:42 Speaker 9: WMNH Manchester.

59:43 Speaker 2: You want to know why because

59:46 Speaker 1: Saturdays and Sunday nights midnight to four am.