Matt Connarton Unleashed: Aaron Bilodeau with Huey The Gecko

0:00 We've got a couple of great musicians here with us making their return. Uh we have Aaron Billido is on the couch. Hello, Hello, welcome back. And Huey the Gecko is with you. Hello, and uh oh, get right upon that, Mike. Uh you've that's okay. No, you've been on. You've been on with us a bunch of times. One one time particularly memorable. Well, actually, no, that was the time you guys were here together. Uh. Well, I think I think you were. Hughie was kind of the featured guests right right, and I was playing that day.

0:34 But yes, yes, the pod awful cult. Uh that that was a legendary. But you had such a good sense of humor about which is great. Yeah, I always had my reptile. Reptile. He really handled it, you know, like a champ. But he was still good. But people around here still talk about that about that day. So we're gonna hear now you guys are gonna play live for us, but we're gonna play uh studio track too. We have a couple of studio tracks to play, and we're gonna play this fiesta control and this is now this is not out yet, right this Tuesday, this comes out Tuesday, the twenty first.

1:08 My new album is Drone at Home. So this is being the first to hear song. Yeah, yeah, So this is the world radio premiere. Yes, excellent, We love the World Radio premiere. Is very good. So let's give this a listen and then we're gonna come back and talk some more and these guys are gonna play for us and really looking forward to this. But here it is from the new album Drone at Home. This is Aaron Billdoh is uh? Is he with the Gecko on this with you? No? No no, this is He's only on the first two tracks, gotcha?

1:33 Gotcha? All right? This is Aaron Billdo And the track is called Fiesta Control rights. Let's see week chasing that a world water. How they d got your name over that direction? Feeling their should start of set aside, allows for time, went out bright without break paste, poppas paste, the stop moshishshast steps stopping post stop change. Very cool. That is Fiesta Control from the Great Aaron Billdeau and his new album Drone at Home coming out Tuesday, and Aaron is here with us along with Huey the Gecko in the studio.

5:45 Yeah, very nice. Yeah you know, it's interesting you don't hear a lot of uh. I mean, I'm trying to think of other artists who who do anything kind of like where the bass is really the lead instrument, you know, because we're used to, obviously in rock music the guitar be and the lead instrument and so forth. But I mean, are there are there other artists, maybe something that you're influenced by, who do that where the bass is what is right out in front. Yeah. Uh. My main influence growing up is a square pusher.

6:14 He's a he's like a DJ from the nineties. Okay. He played stuff like gayfex twin kinda type of music, but he was a bass player, so he used to play like fretless jazz over techno and then he started playing uh slat bass and stuff over and just he just went crazy and it was a huge inspiration to me. Yeah yeah, yeah, so uh yeah, that's uh, that's I do it out of necessity, and I'm a bass player, not a guitar player, and uh, you know, I'm all by myself most of the time, so I you know, I use the tools that I have or or nothing gets done and on a track like that, are you doing everything.

6:49 You're doing everything? Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I play keyboards and all the drums are programmed and uh yeah, you know, I do the sense and all the hand hand tools, and of course the bass and now I'm doing a lot of uh distortion in my bass, which I've never done before really yeahah never, I've never used distortion. So this is the first on this album. Yeah, Now is the Is the entire album just you? Or do you? Well? No, there's I mean most of it's just me. There's no there's no guest musicians. Uh, there's a couple of songs.

7:24 Hugh's on Mushroom Dust with me. He does vocals on there, and I got like seven people on the first track doing gang vocals. Okay, and that's it, you know, And then I did I did everything else. Wow? Is it? Is this the first full album where you've done everything? No? Well, I mean, uh, okay, So like my first couple of albums, I had guest musicians. Yeah. Uh. Huey was on a song on on Destroyer and uh you were also on a song on Zero Acid Burn, my techno album. He was on there. Okay, what was that one that was relaxed?

8:05 Kid? It's just acid name of the song. Every every song it's that album's all acid techno from the nineties, so every song title has acid in it, just for fun, right, And then I had Fredo on a couple of songs on the first album. Ye. So yeah, this is actually the first one where it's like just me on all the instruments. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing, very cool. By the way. A few chat room comments for our friend Huey the Gecko. Jim Hurley says, htg get on that mic. Yeah, Ramani, I probably won't say this correctly.

8:43 Ramani beckhamsall Wood Well, Remy, oh okay, Yeah, she's very happy to see you here. Justin Hale says, whoop whoop Huey the Gecko. Topp Tier so very nice room. Yeah. Matt Juno from of course The Morning Show with Peter White, I got to hang out with those guys yesterday morning. Uh, Matt says, uh, did you forget about Lemmy Motorhead? Come on, that's insulting to a rock and roll icon. But I wouldn't consider that he sweated on me once. Oh, let me did. I wouldn't. I wouldn't consider that a lead like what he did that.

9:21 Yeah. I mean, Lemmy, the way that he played kind of was I wouldn't consider that a lead though, like in front, you know, it was rhythm. Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely. Uh. Mattie Juno disagrees. He says he was definitely a lead. Well, he was the lead singer of course, in the leader of the band Themous. It's got to be the most infamous one, right. Well. No, but I was talking about though, where where the bass is the lead instrument, like right out in front, you know what I mean, Whereas Jean's like a big bass player if you talk about rock icons, like oh yeah, yeah, of course, yeah, absolutely, yeah, Jean Simmons.

10:07 No, I got a lot of my influences by h from Ryan Martini from mud Vein. Oh really yeah. He did a lot of slap in metal and he was like, my he was my big influence what fifteen years ago, back when were we doing it, you know, for slapping all the bands I was in. Oh yeah, helped me kind of stick out a little bit. Yeah, totally totally. Chad Felch in the chat room says that Helti. He says, Aaron, you rock brother ran very nice, and Isaac Bank says Huey the Gecko. You rock, everybody rock, everybody rock.

10:39 Very nice, very nice. I'm dying to hear you guys play live. So I went the wrong way with that one. Let me let me meete that mike for a for a second. Era. Okay, how are you are you for? Uh don't yeah, I don't worry. It's don't don't worry. You didn't. You didn't break anything. It's it's supposed to. It's supposed to come out. Well, I mean it's not supposed to, but it can. Yeah. So really looking forward to hearing you guys play. So I'll let you kind of introduce the tunes as we go, and uh right, all right.

11:26 This first song is called what you Play. It's a sing along. The lyrics are for you guys, what you play, all right? So what you play? What you play?

11:52 It's a bad what you pay what you play? Sol how what you play? It's all about what you play, about what you play? So about what you play? What you play? So what you play, what you play? All right? This next dome it is called Mushroom does flavor strange behavior? Will that mystic man come save me from his little van? I don't know chocolate flavor, strange behavior. Will that mystic man come and save me with his little plan? I don't know. You go prave field of color, where the shadows play, where the shadows play.

13:36 Gray field of color, where the shadows play, where the shadows play. Whispers in the trees. They're calming him. In this altier state. Nothing is the same. Drift him through this, all of his bons roughing the magic of my mushroum dolls, Whispers in the trees, they calling him in this altier state, nothing is the say, drifting through this cosmic cause, lost in the magic of my husband. A psychedelic vision, a full cosmic sense through my college is hell transcend whoa my heart, psychedelic division as cosmic sense through my college hel I trans so many vapors and smoke.

15:10 Yeah, it's hazy.

15:18 I don't know if a savior to me or not, but it's a savior to a lot. Yeah. Can it turn the babine take a ribbon. It's just a little. Don't get sched Just how America ghost it's it's it's yeah, it must do. Great fields of color where the shadows like, where the shadows like, Great fields of color where the shadows like were the shadows like whippers, and the trees they common name in this salted state. Nothing is the same drifting through cause mad Crust lost in the magic. My mushroom does waverers in the great they call my name, and this soup the stick, nothing is the stick tript them through this cause mid Crust lost in the magic.

16:16 Oh my mushroom does as the trip goes. Thank you. I wish my fingers would move that fast. That was awesome, Thank you, thank you. I appreciated that one. This is the first time for me now playing without all my backing tracks, my safety tracks. Yeah. Last time you were here, you had you had quite the shut up. Yeah all right. This next song is called Winter at the start of winter, early evenings come, that means the darkness, that means no sun three months of winter. It's still ahead of us all and it's cold and it's dark.

17:36 M don't let the sadness come oncet si si si shim me sa sh save me, save me, save me, shame me shih mad once some hot sive me see me sa me sim me si me s sive me si me si me sive me sim sim mmmmm. At the start of winter, early evenings come, that means the darkness. Love means no sun.

18:51 Three months of winter still a hell's all and it's cold and it's dark. Don't let the sadness come. Want you my ha si si shim me see me simm sim sim sim sim me see me sim simm want some hair sam sam sim me si me shio me si si si si si si sim Who who? Right? That was one there? Thank you? I got two more? You want to do him now? Yeah, let's go for it all right. I'm digging it me too. Hello, sir? What brings you here? Sitting all alone in the state of bear, rocking back and both sides side. Wasn't that a nice ride?

20:10 Have a steel limit, it's something. It'll help you stop the Doc ben Helay back rest your head if you can't anythin bed, Doctor Milligram. Can you see gravity? He pulls me through, Doctor Milligram, can't you see grab through? Pip a spoon to finish showing me kicking back in cement seats Warner. Soon you'll get out of here, maybe maybe not that soon, Doctor Milli Graham. Can't you see gravity? It pulls me through? Doctor Milli Graham. Can't you see gravity? It pulls me through, Doctor Miller Graham.

21:34 Can't you see gravity? It pulls me through, Doctor Miller Graham. Can't you see gravity? It pulls me through? Grab mill. Can't you see gravity?

22:06 It pulls me through? Very cool. We should mention, by the way, that's a single right And there's there's a video on YouTube on on on my Facebook, on YouTube, but definitely find it on YouTube Doctor Milli Graham starring uh my wife Amy the nurse and Philip as the patient. Pick up you're out there and of course my hype man give me the get go. Yes, yes, you got a one more live one to do? I do I have another one for you? Awesome? H yeah, m hm.

23:41 Lady Alma s in the same Lady Ana who chose to say lady an the so is it chosen to say Lady Ana? Who's so Lady on the s S Lady on the show is chosen the sand Lady on the show,

24:06 Lady on the show They Don't Want was a man in the mill over the valleel Stag so little he said he would find a laugh so poor that he did with the lady on the show. There we go down in the valley, but the sun of as no flowers grow, and the man human She lived in sandy stave the middle and would dance him a red would say she made brooches and the free market, tappy curling hair, old day lady. So lady saw with the toes in the sand lady, and so with the toes in the sand, Lady on the s when they're to sand with the toting the sand lady on the show with the ton the sand.

27:35 Here we go down in the valley with the sun doesn't reach, no flowers grow, and the man never sleeps. Right, that's called Lady on the Shore. Very nice, thank you. That's off my first album. Hello to nobody. Ah, very good if you're just joining us. We have Aaron Billido here with us, alive in studio and Huey the gecko is accompanying him and

28:37 very very cool. In a moment we'll play we'll play another studio track from from the upcoming album Drone at Home coming out on Tuesday. But uh, let me I got a which Mike, because that that's that one? Okay, But yeah, these guys have been playing live for us and before we get to the studio, track, You're getting a lot of love. In the Facebook live chat, Justin Hale says, Hughie is a pinnacle of energy and creativity. He needs to be put out there more. Uh, everybody bring him out. Tony Petrello, one of our co hosts on Retrospectrum Radio on Friday nights, says, I am not stoned enough for this.

29:15 But he didn't say he didn't like it, so he just said he's not. You know, there's always time, proper state. That's right. Jogi's basket, says Huey. The gecko is so talented. He can play so many instruments. So well, let's see, I'm kind of working backwards here. Lizards. Yes, yes, now you mentioned in the song. I'm sorry, I'm getting the titles mixed up the single with the video. Oh doctor, doctor milligram. Yes, so you know you mentioned being pulled by gravity. Melanie La Liberty, our friend from Vermont, says, fun fact, if the gravitational pull of the moon changed and the slightest, we are all blanked.

29:57 So that's scary. That is scary. Yes, that could happen at any moment. Uh. Miriam vanishes in the chat room, she says, I like this. Uh, she likes, Uh, thank us with what you're doing. Absolutely, and John Burke in the chat room says, hell yeah, brother, I think that's for you, Huey. Hell yeah, brother. Yeah that sounds about right. Yeah yeah, and uh. Nick Murdoch joins us in the chat and says, damn, I forgot about the new time until now and the wife and I are about to head out. Hello to everyone.

30:27 Hope things are going well, Maddie. I love you brother, Thank you, Nick, thank you for for everything. I appreciate you tons of support. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, Miriam Miriam said, I'm so clueless. What is slapping? Yeah, that's uh, the the slapping of the bass. Yeah. And you know what I noticed too when you were playing actually I think it was with the last song, Lady on the Shore. It really when you turn on the distortion and you're playing in that high register, it really does sound like an electric guitar.

31:02 Nice. Yeah, was out of necessity? Yeah yeah, no, that really that really works. Uh Lou Saviano, who I suspect is related to uh to our favorite Gecko, Uh Lou says Aaron, one of the best bass players in New England. Oh, yes, thank you, I love you.

31:21 Absolutely, I would I would agree. Let's see, I think we're think we're caught up there. Oh, Isaac Banks from Greensboro, North Carolina, says Justin and Aaron from Huey the Gecko. Keep on rocking and check out on Facebook Live online. Is me known as Iikeman, Breezy, Yes and teen Sensational on Sunday evening seven to nine pm. Already about him today? What's that I'm worried about him? About Isaac Banks? Yeah, there was no hashtag, no hashtag, Yes, that's all. That's uh, we say tags everything. Yeah, someone else.

31:59 Yeah, our friends from Greensboro, they use a lot of uh, they use a lot of hashtags. Well, let's I'm dying to hear this other track, this studio track glamping. Yeah, we wanted to play and this is, uh, this is this is of course from your upcoming studio album, Drone at Home. Now, what does what does that mean? By the way, the name of the album. I used tones behind like every song yeah, so uh yeah, I just it ended up being a theme for this album. I really liked. Uh. I was using some pads and and able tin and uh, I really like it.

32:33 Like metal, I kind of just dragging through the whole song. Yeah, you know, in the background with a little reverb on it. I kind of it kind of became the theme of every single track on this album. So that's what a drone tone is. Yeah, okay to me, I didn't I hadn't heard that term. Okay, like droning music. Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, cool, very cool. Well let's give this a listen. So this is called glamping.

32:57 Whoops, let me uh, I made a mistake there. I haven't been here in a couple of weeks. Here we go, kids, we got a brand new air seen by you just want to say. It's a wide scream even bigger than me by come. You just want you say here,

34:05 just let's go. Let's not, let's not, let's not, let's list

35:30 let's That is glamping. That is from Aaron Bill. His new album Drone at Home, coming out on Tuesday Day, and so we're featuring new tracks from that today as well as these guys who the Gecko was here with them and they played live for us, and Miriam in the chat room says ha ha, I love this. I just want I just want to stay home.

36:15 As songs for all those ungrateful children out there that I don't appreciate the finer things like nature. Oh, I'm that way. I don't. I don't, I don't do Uh. I don't like to go into the woods. Well, I'm very afraid of you know, deer ticks and uh, you know, the mountain lions, the blair witch. If you're afraid of everything, though, you're going to miss out. Yeah, I'm okay with missing out on the woods. I feel y, I feel yeah. I prefer I prefer going out on like boots over the woods personally. You know, it's a little bit safer.

36:51 You know, you don't have to worry about bears, right right, I mean there's drowning, but you know, hopefully not. You know, just where you laugh jacket, that's right, that's right, Miriam says regarding glamping. I needed this song when I was driving back from Pennsylvania. Thank you. Now, So when you play out, is it is it always the two of you together? Do you perform together always? Or no? No? Just when he's available. Yeah, you know, if he's available, he's he's there with me. But it's not always.

37:21 I got my full show, uh set up for myself. Yeah, you know. So, so when it is just you are you Are you bringing the like the setup like you? So yeah, I bring the full setup I had last time, like that rolling Pa, and I got to make sure that I run on my backing tracks I got. I got a ear piece with my click in it. Yeah, because it's the only it's the only way I can keep up with my uh the perfect time with the backing tracks. And then uh, yeah that's it, I said, I sing with songs, and uh I played a show recently.

37:52 I played portrait Fest and Antrim Okay, yeah that was that was That was like a really good I got oh okay yeah, and it even an hour just flies by. Yeah. I was really pleased with like the sound. Everything came out really good. So yeah, that's the plan moving forward. And you were saying, I can't remember if this this was on air or off air. You were saying, your plan is to release an album a year going forward. Is yeah, so what I've been doing. My first album I came out in twenty one, okay, and that was a big push because I was having an existential crisis, thinking I was going to die.

38:29 You know, I'm in my forties. We're gonna have a heart attack. Something's gonna happen. You know. I've always wanted to put out an album and I never did. So it was a big rush, yeah, and then the sooner I got to the deadline soon, like my anxiety was just through the roof, you know, like I gotta get it done. I got to get it uploaded. As soon as I get it uploaded, it doesn't matter after that, you know. And then I put that out immediately after I joined Thank Sinatra. I was in that band for eight months as a keyboard player.

39:00 And then after that I put out an album right away. It took me a couple months, and I put out Destroyer, and I'm like, I'm just gonna keep doing this every year. So after Destroyer, I put out an EP after on the first of the new year, and then I realized, like I should just do an album and an EP like that guy Square Pushed I was talking about. He puts out like a full base album with all the tracks and everything and all the instruments every year. But then right after that he puts like a techno album out, which is like an accompaniment album.

39:30 The way he just put out He's been doing that for years. I love that. Allison chains did that. They did like album, EP, album EP ye, so I kind of like, that's my goal now. It's so now I got three full lengths. I've done it every year for three years, and this year January first, I put out an EP, so I plan on putting one out. I'd like to push it out towards the spring a little bit because it was just like too soon last time. But yeah, album, album, EP, MEP, and just keep popping them out as long as I can.

40:01 Yeah, there's no excuse not to. I got music just like like flowing on me. Yeah. Yeah, you know, there's no there's no lack of inspiration on this end. It's it's just motivation really. Yeah. Well also too, you know you've you've found a way to do it all yourself, right, It's like, I mean that must be kind of liberating, right, But it was, I mean it was hard. It was hard at first, Like I didn't even know how to play keyboards for my first album, and I bought it. I'm like, oh, I've never worked with Madi before.

40:30 First I was drawing midi you know, and then I got a keyboard and I started doing that and I learned how to do that and then all of a sudden, I'm thrust into a band. Yeah, playing keyboards. Oh my god. The anxiety was through the roof like that towards the end, like every gig, like I was shaking and causing a scene and everything, and then I get on stage. It's all fine. But yeah, you know, once you once you hit that first note, everything's fine. But it was rough. I made some weird investments, like I bought an eighty eight Keith fully weighted, heavy, heavy keyboard, you know, and I'm like, oh my god, I'm in my forties lugging this giant thing around.

41:08 But I got two keyboards and then my computer, my whole setup, all my sense and everything. Ye, and that my anxiety was through the roof at the end. Yeah, and it did, like it took me a while, but like the best thing was like, like I wasn't made to be a keyboard player. That why you left? I mean it was yeah, it was. It was a lot. It was a lot of it was all me, yeah, you know, and you know rightfully so at the time, but like, uh, it was like the time in that band really like forced me to like get good quick, get good quick, learn how to jam, learn how to make changes on the fly.

41:47 Yeah, because we were doing it all the time. And if I didn't do that, have that whole experience, I would have never put out Destroyer immediately after. And like, uh, it was just it was really the best thing that could have happened to me at that time. Yeah. It pushed me. It pushed me, and and here I am now, and you know, I got three more albums out of it so far, albums in an EP. So yeah, that's the goal. I think we have time. I'd like to if I can find it online quickly, I'd like to play that other you were telling me about, Yeah, Tech Death Whistle that's off of Zero Rested Burn.

42:23 That's the techno EP. Let me see if I if I can find it quickly, I'd like to play that. I think was there something get your attention? Well, Aaron was talking about it earlier because Auto is on this track right right from Deast Profit. He plays guitar on that track. Yeah. I reached out to him and he was he was, yeah, no problem. He had it back to me in like like three days. That's awesome. Yeah I found it. Yeah, yeah, so I'm curious to hear this and now but it was off air you were talking about it.

42:59 Do you want to explain everybody what that is? Death whistle? So my friend gave me this whistle. It's black and it's in the shape of a skull. It's about fift size, it's pretty good size. And you blow into it and it sounds like a scream, like a real breathy, ghostly banshee scream. And back in the day when the Aspects would go to war, there would be a thousand of them over the hill like blowing these things all night, keeping the enemies up, not letting them sleep. And then they charge in blowing these whistles, and it just sounded like ghosts screams.

43:32 Amazing. You can hear like it's the first sound on here and it repeats all right track, so you can kind of hear it. Cool. Cool, I'm really curious to hear this, So let's give this a listen. So this is acid death whistle Aaron Billodo featuring the Great Auto Kinzl. I'm very curious here it is.

44:00 And bo yea anything get me? Do you go? You anything? You

46:23 heavy? And is that is that it again? At the end? That's it? Wow, very cool, very cool. While we learned something. I like it, very catchy. Wow. We are rapidly running out of time, So the new album comes out Tuesday, Tuesday twenty first, all right, right before the Turkey Day. Thank you for everyone that shouted us out. Yeah, yeah, thank you, Thank you guys. That was a lot of fun, amazing. Should you maybe for people looking for you online? Should you maybe spell your last name for yeah? Sure, it's Aaron A A R O N billod oh B I L O D E A U. You can find me everywhere.

47:44 Find me on YouTube. I got like two hundred videos on there. Yep, yep, very good. Yeah, and check out the video for is it doctor Milligram, Doctor Milligram. That's the newest video today off Drone at Home. Yeah, very cool, very cool play. I played it without all this stuff today, kind of acoustic or whatever. And do you have any you have any live shows coming up in the area. No, that's it for now. I'm booking. I'm looking yeah yeah, but uh yeah, that's it. You were the last one for now. All right, all right, well guys, thank you so much.

48:15 Aaron, Billido Hue the Gecko. I appreciate you both. Thank you for having us. Thank you you guys. Absolutely, and Jenny, did you want to plug your plug your website or absolutely. You can always check me out at Gencoffee dot com, j E N N C O F f u I dot com. My work, my artworks up there, my writings, things of that nature. And thank you all and we'll talk to you a little bit later. Bye, everybody, Goodbye,