Matt Connarton Unleashed: Dave Strong discusses new holiday single

0:00 Speaker 1: I love it this time of year. That is Dave Strong featuring Soda. By the way, if you happen to be watching online, I'm wearing my Soda shirt so ot ah if you're not sure how to spell it. And I believe, I believe we have is this Dave Strong on the line Strong, Hey, Dave, welcome back to the show, my friend. I love that this time of year. Dave Strong featuring Soda. Well done, my friend, well done.

0:28 Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Yeah, it's awesome.

0:31 Speaker 3: You know, it's been a long time coming. I wanted to do a Christmas song for a really long time and as far as I can remember, this Mighty Money Bostones one.

0:38 Speaker 2: Is like my favorite. So yeah, all came together very well.

0:42 Speaker 3: Yeah.

0:42 Speaker 1: Absolutely, And by the way too, I love the video and I notice at the end that's actually directed by Casey Darren of Soda and he's in the video with you and really cool. Was that just shot around various locations around Boston or where did you film that?

0:58 Speaker 3: We've actually filled it in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Oh, just downtown.

1:03 Speaker 4: Oh, I'll be damned. I didn't realize. Oh, right in Portsmouth. All fantastic.

1:06 Speaker 1: I don't know I guess in the back of my mind I figured Boston because of the Bostones, but uh no, that's really although in some ways Portsmouth does look.

1:14 Speaker 4: Like Boston released parts of it too, but uh no, that's very cool, very cool. How long did it take? Was that one day just filming in different places or what went into that it?

1:25 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, we originally were gonna do it for at like like eleven or one or something like that, but it ended up raining that day.

1:34 Speaker 2: So we cut it back a little earlier. But we went. So we showed up in Portsmouth.

1:39 Speaker 3: We started at the parking garage on the top floor. That's how we got like a nice shot of like the whole downtown and the top of the North Church and everything. And then we went to the streets, you know, like Congress Street and I think I think Daniel Street.

1:58 Speaker 2: Maybe we went to Daniel Street.

2:00 Speaker 3: But we went to this cool little toy store called g Willickers shout out to g Willickers Booking Toy in Portsmouth. Yeah, and we played with some trains in there and stuff.

2:10 Speaker 2: They were really nice.

2:11 Speaker 3: It's actually where the original Slackers was like in the day, that old that old skateboard shop.

2:18 Speaker 4: Okay, okay by the.

2:20 Speaker 3: Same person, I guess. I mean, we found out a lot of cool stuff. They they came out and danced and they said we could use their shop, and we ended up in Prescott Park, you know, we tried to get all the all the Fox, you know, yeah.

2:33 Speaker 2: Up in Portsmouth. I love Portsmouth. I didn't even know we were doing it at Portsmouth.

2:37 Speaker 3: But like everything about this whole song in video is like a holiday miracle come true. You know.

2:45 Speaker 1: Well That's what I'm curious about too, to ask you, So, how did this come about? You and Casey Darren of Soda collaborating on this and doing a Bostones cover?

2:54 Speaker 3: What?

2:54 Speaker 1: Like?

2:54 Speaker 4: What what went into that? How did this happen?

2:58 Speaker 3: So he's on tour with The Defiant right now. He works with them. That's Dicky from the Mighty Bosstones other band now And I I just when when I want to say, like, cause we were talking about this the other day, I was like, how the hell did we kind of get together? How did we end up talking? It was definitely through Instagram and I was checking out The Defiant and I think I think maybe I reached out through there or like we had maybe gone through like.

3:32 Speaker 2: A post Or. We had both been from.

3:34 Speaker 3: New Hampshire, both hardworking musicians from the area, both kind of like trying to work our way up, and we just we just started talking through DMS. You know, That's how it happened.

3:47 Speaker 2: And you know, I.

3:48 Speaker 3: Actually the Defiant played with the They played with me first in the Gimme Gimmes in Portland and Casey was the tour manager for that and he did the merch does everything for them, I believe. And I got to meet him, and you know, I handed on one of my records and you know, we've just been talking. It's been almost a year we've been talking, but after I met him, we've been talking more. And I was just like, you know what, I want to do a Christmas song. I didn't have like solid plans to do this song.

4:21 Speaker 3: I just I was going up to North Conway where I am now. Actually I was coming up to North Conway to my friend Sean and Ryan studio by to push records and we and I just was like, you know what, I was going to do two songs. I was like, I'm going to do a Christmas song too, and the Mighty Bosstones one is my favorite Christmas song. It always is the first on my Christmas playlist ever since it came out. It's just like my kids love it. I tried. I just tried it in the studio. I did a scratch track of it, and I was like, hey, Casey, you know, do you want to play the home gun?

4:59 Speaker 3: He said absolutely, So I pretty much just did the guitar drums. I left all the background vocals empty. I left the horns all empty, and Casey did that cool solo in it too, So it was really a collaborative thing, you know. I recorded my part, I sent it to him, like I'd sayed, like three weekends ago. I recorded my part, sent it to him on the Monday. He had it done by Wednesday, sent it to my buddy Josh to mix it and master it, and it was done by the following Friday. So it really just fell together, piece by piece by piece perfectly.

5:37 Speaker 3: Yeah.

5:37 Speaker 1: No, that's fantastic, and especially too, whereas you know, you kind of, you know, getting it out pretty close to the holiday, so you know, obviously the clock was ticking on that. So good for you for being able to get it done and get it out and it sounds great, and like I said, I love the video too.

5:53 Speaker 4: Do you know if Dicky Barrett has heard it?

5:58 Speaker 3: I personally having talked to Dicky in my brain, like in my mind, like my dream world, he has heard it and he loves it.

6:08 Speaker 2: But I do love I don't know.

6:09 Speaker 3: The Mighty boss Stones have reposted it a couple of times.

6:12 Speaker 4: Oh okay, that's good. Then they then they they must like it. Then that's good.

6:18 Speaker 3: I'm guessing he heard it. I'm hoping that he likes it. I'm hoping that it's all it's all good and they they love it, you know, yeah, it's it really was an honor to do the song, and I just I hope I did it justice and you know, yeah, that's what it is. I'm it's all fairly like Holiday chair, you know. I'm just really stoked that.

6:40 Speaker 2: I got to do it. But I think he did. I think he has heard it.

6:43 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and in my dream world he loved it.

6:46 Speaker 4: No, I'm sure he does. I'm sure he does.

6:47 Speaker 1: Uh have you been able to have you had a chance to play this live or or I don't know if I don't know if you intend.

6:53 Speaker 3: To or I have not got to play it live yet, but I am playing on the twentieth and Lowell at Codo and I'm playing the twenty second at O'Brien's in Austin, mass And those are my last two shows of twenty twenty four before I go to Germany in twenty twenty five, and we're gonna we're gonna put it in the set. I'm gonna add it into the set. I don't think Case is gonna come out and play the horn. Yeah, maybe, I don't know.

7:22 Speaker 4: That'd be fantastic. Yeah.

7:24 Speaker 3: Uh.

7:25 Speaker 1: You mentioned Germany, So are you are you going to abby touring over there?

7:30 Speaker 3: I am. I think like January fourteenth, we're gonna fly out and we're gonna play four shows that lead out to the school festival called puke Fest.

7:42 Speaker 2: We're gonna start out in Hamburg.

7:44 Speaker 3: We're gonna end up in Munster and we're gonna play every day to it, and then Pukefest is actually sold out already, two hundred tickets.

7:52 Speaker 2: It's pretty crazy.

7:53 Speaker 3: So it's small tour. It's like a week yeah, and it's it's me Lee and j We're coming as a three piece. But it's my first time solo overseas and I'm very excited about it. It's going to be a real fun time.

8:09 Speaker 4: Yeah, no doubt that festival is It's called puke Fest.

8:14 Speaker 2: Yeah, puke Fest.

8:15 Speaker 3: Okay, a lot of pop punk bands.

8:20 Speaker 2: Yeah.

8:21 Speaker 3: My buddy, my buddy actually from Wisconsin, is in a band called Jagger Hawley. He lives in Australia half the time. But so I don't know if they're considered the American band. I think I'm the only American band full fledged on this tour. But but yeah, we have a nice place to stay every night, you know, food every night. Yeah, it's gonna be a really cool time. You know, I'm really excited.

8:45 Speaker 4: You've have you been there before? You have toured in Europe before? Right?

8:50 Speaker 3: I have been to Spain and I have been to I have been to the Netherlands before. I played Rotterdam and Amsterdam and Lyon and d Yeah, but I played with my friend Jeff Palmer's band. Uh so I've never done the Day of Strong band by myself yet.

9:08 Speaker 1: Oh okay, okay, very good, very good. Well that's awesome.

9:12 Speaker 3: This is very special to me because I get to play my songs over there.

9:15 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, no, that's that's fantastic. Congratulations on that. Have you been have you been playing a lot of shows here.

9:23 Speaker 4: Have you been not?

9:24 Speaker 1: Have you been busy since uh, since we had you on last Yeah, yeah, I've been.

9:29 Speaker 2: Doing a lot.

9:29 Speaker 3: I've been doing a lot of recording and I'm working on getting my second record out. I have been playing some shows here and there. I also play with my friend Brad's band. We're playing with Marky Romone next weekend and would soock New York. So yeah, I mean, I'm I'm I'm also playing with the River City Rebels. You know, a show just sold out at O'Brien's.

9:52 Speaker 2: With Big D and the Kids Table in April.

9:54 Speaker 3: So I'm keeping my my punk rock schedule pretty full.

10:00 Speaker 4: You are, Yeah, you got a lot going on. Oh that's uh, that's excellent. That's excellent.

10:05 Speaker 1: Um So, now, so after Germany, are you are you coming? Because you said you're working on your second record, right, so are you gonna finish that or your second record as Dave Strongband?

10:16 Speaker 4: Is that? Is that what it is?

10:18 Speaker 2: Yep? It's all recorded.

10:20 Speaker 4: Oh it's recorded.

10:21 Speaker 3: Okay, got to button it up, you know, do some do some cover ard and it'll be out on Sameless Records, the same label that put up.

10:28 Speaker 2: My first full length.

10:30 Speaker 3: Oh cool, yeah, I'm.

10:32 Speaker 2: Really excited about it. He's I think.

10:35 Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know exactly the details. It's definitely gonna happen. It is probably gonna be like one of the first releases of twenty twenty five.

10:42 Speaker 2: So okay, yeah, that's you.

10:44 Speaker 3: Know, Germany in twenty twenty five, my full length second release in twenty twenty five, and you know, the future is.

10:54 Speaker 2: Possibilities are endless.

10:56 Speaker 1: I suppose yes, yes, absolutely no, it sounds like it's gonna be a big year off to a great start. Outstanding, outstanding.

11:03 Speaker 2: I'm excited.

11:04 Speaker 4: Well, Dave, I appreciate.

11:06 Speaker 1: Your calling in today, and like I said, it's wonderful to be able to play that track this time of year. And then where should people go online to keep up with everything that you're doing?

11:19 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean my Instagram is put your Man Dave twenty twenty.

11:25 Speaker 2: Most of it is music.

11:26 Speaker 3: Now. I do post some family stuff. I don't have like a band page. I do have a Facebook. It's like Dave Strong Music. Sometimes there's another Dave Strong that I actually have become friends with, oh really, that lives in North Carolina. Sometimes when you tag Dave Strong, it goes to his Sometimes when I tag it goes to his too. But he's bought my records and stuff too. That's a whole nother story. It's really cool.

11:49 Speaker 4: Oh that's cool.

11:50 Speaker 3: Dave Strong on Facebook, you know, Spotify, I'm on Apple Music, I'm on Amazon YouTube, all that good stuff, you know. So yeah, pretty easy to find, just Dave Strong. I'm out there.

12:06 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely, Dave. I was thinking about ending the conversation with Nights in Jail. I really I really love this song. What do you think is that a good one to wrap up with?

12:16 Speaker 2: Oh?

12:17 Speaker 3: Yeah, I love that song.

12:18 Speaker 2: That's one of my favorite ones I've ever written.

12:21 Speaker 4: No, I like that one a lot. I like all of them, but I really like that one a lot. Dave.

12:25 Speaker 1: Congratulations again on the collaboration with Soda the Great Casey Darren on that track This Time of Year the Boss Stones cover. Absolutely fantastic, and and congratulations on everything that you're doing, of course, the new record that's going to be coming out, and of course the tour in Germany and puke Fest and all of it. You got a lot going on, my friend.

12:45 Speaker 4: It's great to see really love your music.

12:48 Speaker 1: And uh, and we'll let you go. But if if we don't talk before. Have a great have a great rest of the holidays, and a great Christmas.

12:55 Speaker 3: Yeah, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. I'll talk to you soon, all.

12:58 Speaker 4: Right, Dave, thank you for the call. Take care. Bye bye