BJ Barham of American Aquarium Is Never Gonna Burn Flicker Die
From our archives in 2012:
BJ Barham, of American Aquarium, takes a deep dive into the whirlwind of creativity behind their new album in this laid-back chat. They kick things off by highlighting a key point: the band's commitment to evolving their sound with each release, as they embrace a different producer for every record. BJ shares some personal anecdotes about how his life experiences, especially those messy relationship moments, fuel his songwriting, creating a vivid backdrop for the band's narrative-rich lyrics. He also reflects on the unique chemistry within the band now compared to earlier days, emphasizing how their camaraderie allows for a more organic and collaborative creative process. As they gear up for an intense touring schedule, BJ expresses excitement about how their fans are already singing along to new songs, proving that the road has truly shaped their music and its reception.
Show Notes
- BJ Barham, lead singer of American Aquarium, joins the Country Fried Rock podcast for a candid and engaging conversation about his musical journey.
- Barham reflects on his early days discovering music in high school and how those formative experiences carried into his college years.
- Shares how young love, heartbreak, and personal struggles became the foundation for his songwriting and artistic voice.
- Opens up about the cathartic nature of writing music and how channeling personal turmoil led to songs that deeply connect with fans.
- Discusses the band’s impressive run of releasing multiple albums in a short period, emphasizing their strong work ethic and creative momentum.
- Explains their approach to working with different producers for each project to create distinct sounds and avoid creative stagnation.
- Cites legendary influences like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, highlighting the importance of storytelling in songwriting.
- Encourages listeners to dig into the narratives within his lyrics and find personal meaning in the songs.
- Keeps the conversation light and entertaining with humor and relaxed, conversational storytelling.
- Shares memorable stories from touring, including the connections built with fans across the South and beyond.
- Talks about the excitement surrounding their upcoming album and the unique experience of playing unreleased songs live.
- Highlights how live performances allow fans to engage with new material before it’s officially released.
- Reflects on music’s power to bring people together and create shared emotional experiences.
- A mix of humor, honesty, and insight that showcases Barham’s passion and the band’s continued evolution while staying true to their roots.
Mentioned in this Episode
- Chris Stamey
- Jason Isbell
- Lone Star Music Company
- Turnpike Troubadours
- Gaslight Anthem
- Bruce Springsteen
- Bob Dylan
- Paul Simon
- Craig Finn
- Amanda Shires
- Jimmy Nutt
- Caitlin Cary
- Peter Holsapple
- Donald Glover (Childish Gambino)
- Jay-Z
- J. Cole
- The Hold Steady
- Drive-By Truckers
- Dawes
- Shovels & Rope
- Turnpike Troubadours
- Reckless Kelly
- Jason Boland & The Stragglers
- Lucero
- The Lumineers
- The Killers
- Brooks & Dunn
- The Fulltones
- Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts
- Tin Roof
- The Jinx
- White Water Tavern
- The Triple
- The National
- Jefferson Theater
- FAME Studios
- Nuthouse Recording Studio
- Antique Hearts
- Bones EP
- Small Town Hymns
- Burn.Flicker.Die.
- Blonde on Blonde
- Born to Run
- Heartbreaker
- Nebraska
- Last Chance Records
- Nuçi’s Space
Recommended If You Like
Country Fried Rock, American Aquarium, BJ Barham interview, songwriting inspiration, music creativity, Raleigh music scene, indie country bands, folk rock music, live music performances, recording process, producer collaborations, narrative songwriting, emotional songwriting, music festivals, touring musicians, North Carolina bands, music industry insights, mental health for musicians, Americana music, musician interviews
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Welcome to Country Fried Rock where we talk with musicians to find out what inspires their creativity.
Speaker A:Country Fried Rock music uncovered.
Speaker B:My guest today on Country Fried Rock is BJ Barham of the Raleigh band American Aquarium.
Speaker B:Welcome to Country Fried Rock.
Speaker C:It's good to be here.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:My voice is going badly, so I apologize.
Speaker B:Well, I've actually been a fan of the band for a couple of albums, but that's only been a couple of years because y' all have put out a lot in a short period of time.
Speaker C:Yeah, we've put out.
Speaker C:I think this is going to be our fifth full length studio record, but this will be like our seventh release in six years.
Speaker B:That's pretty amazing how you managed to make that work while still be on the road pretty much all the time.
Speaker C:Yeah, I guess.
Speaker C: earts came out in February of: Speaker C:It's been antique Hearts, Bobble To Bottle, Dance for the Lonely, the Bones EP Small Town Hymns, the live record.
Speaker C:This will be our seventh release year.
Speaker C:Burns Liquor Dial will be our seventh release.
Speaker B:I don't know if it was by design or simply coincidence, but did you all intentionally choose to work with different producers each time?
Speaker C:Yeah, kind of.
Speaker C:We're one of those bands that we really believe that every record should kind of try to sound different.
Speaker C:Some of my favorite brands put up the same record every two years and not buy them.
Speaker C:And I enjoy them.
Speaker C:We just wanted to have something that sounded different every time.
Speaker C:So one way to ensure that it sounds different every time is getting a different producer every time.
Speaker B:How did you get into playing music originally?
Speaker C:I've always kind of been into music in high school and all that kind of stuff I played around with.
Speaker C:You know, I've always been a vocalist.
Speaker C:I've always been one of those dudes that loves singing.
Speaker C:I grew up in the church.
Speaker C:That always just leads to singing.
Speaker C:I sang in school.
Speaker C:I sang and I was a theater kid.
Speaker C:I did all that kind of good stuff in high school.
Speaker C:So I've always been singing, but I never really realized that I wanted to play music for a living until probably my freshman year, sophomore year in college.
Speaker C:Before that, it was just kind of a fun deterrent.
Speaker C:I could write songs and it was funny and I wrote funny songs for my friends and then I wrote pretty songs for girls.
Speaker C:And then I started realizing that it was something that no matter if it was funny or lovey dovey, that people really appreciated what I did.
Speaker C:But what really launched me into playing music was it was a really bad relationship.
Speaker C:It was very cathartic for me to write it all down.
Speaker C:And when I wrote it all down, I realized I had like, you know, 16 songs about the same kind of topic.
Speaker C:That's where, you know, Antique Hearts, Bob on the Bottle started, was writing songs about this relationship.
Speaker B:You didn't intend for them to be like conceptual.
Speaker B:It was more just.
Speaker B:That's where you were at that time.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Looking back in retrospect, I've learned that I write exactly what I know or exactly what's going on in my life at that time.
Speaker C:And I've learned that, you know, every year that turns into a.
Speaker C:Pretty much turns into an album of.
Speaker C:It's kind of a snapshot of where my years been or where my head's been during that year.
Speaker B:Several writers have said something to the effect of, at first you write about your life, then you write about your friends lives, then you start writing about characters.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:A couple songs off the first few records are very character based.
Speaker C:Just because I'm a huge Springsteen fan, I'm a huge Dylan fan, I'm a huge Paul Simon fan.
Speaker C:They're the kings of like writing these like really great narratives about people that they just make up.
Speaker C:Like these kind of just like bad that don't really exist, but they tell them in such detail that you really believe these people exist.
Speaker C:And I think Craig Finn from Hold Steady is another one of those new guys who just makes up these people and tells these really, really descriptive stories about them to where they're almost real people by the end of the records.
Speaker B:Because Springsteen and Paul Simon come up a lot.
Speaker B:What kind of hooked you on their songwriting?
Speaker C:The detail.
Speaker C:I'm such a fan of Springsteen in particular, is my biggest, you know, influence.
Speaker C:He's so descriptive.
Speaker C:Like, he paints, he makes.
Speaker C:I've been to New Jersey and New Jersey is a giant hole.
Speaker C:He paints New Jersey in such a romantic way that you're like, oh, man, I really want to go to New Jersey.
Speaker C:The first time I drove up the Jersey Turnpike, I was like, is this really what those records are about?
Speaker C:You know, the first time I walked out in Asbury park blew my mind.
Speaker C:Like the whole time we were riding, you know, in Asbury Park, I'm just humming Sandy.
Speaker C:And then all of a sudden I get there.
Speaker C:I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.
Speaker C:This is like Myrtle Beach.
Speaker C:It's like a really bad Jersey Shore version of the Myrtle Beach.
Speaker C:It was so weird.
Speaker C:But then, like, you hear these songs about Asbury park and like, it's the most magical place of all time.
Speaker C:That's where, you know, not only just like the words, but that's where you really appreciate Springsteen.
Speaker C:Because he took something that was dismal, turned it into something almost fairy tale like.
Speaker B:And so then Paul Simon kind of coming at it from a different angle.
Speaker C:Yeah, Paul Simon.
Speaker C:I just always appreciate, like, his honesty, his approach to songwriting.
Speaker C:Those first couple records.
Speaker C:I remember the first time, like, my dad played me, like that self titled record.
Speaker C:Me and Julio down by the Schoolyard and stuff like that.
Speaker C:I just thought, this guy sounds so different, yet so familiar.
Speaker B:That's my favorite.
Speaker C:And over the years, he's really pushed a lot of boundaries with his songwriting.
Speaker C:He was a big one.
Speaker C:Springsteen was a big one.
Speaker C:Dylan was a big one.
Speaker C:When I was in high school, I used to listen to just be top 40, whatever my parents played, whatever was popular with the kids.
Speaker C:And then I think my junior year in high school, somebody handed me three records.
Speaker C:Handed me Dylan's Blonde on Blonde.
Speaker C:They handed me Springsteen's Born to Run, and they handed me Ryan Adams, Heartbreaker.
Speaker C:And those were three records that completely.
Speaker C:You can listen to any record that I've ever put out.
Speaker C:And those three records kind of.
Speaker C:You can find something on one of those two records that, like, can be.
Speaker C:Oh, that's what.
Speaker C:That's where BJ gets influenced.
Speaker C:Just because.
Speaker C:Just three great, great, great, great.
Speaker C:Perfect record.
Speaker C:Near perfect records.
Speaker C:Hey, guys, this is BJ from American Aquarium and you're listening to Country Fried Rock.
Speaker B:As you channeled your personal experiences into writing as you were in college, the band has developed as well.
Speaker B:So how did that happen?
Speaker C:The band's definitely developed up until Dances for the Lonely.
Speaker C:The band was completely different every time.
Speaker C:It was me trying to be in college and be in a band.
Speaker C:So basically, when responsibilities got more intense, a new band came along.
Speaker C:When we first started, it was, we're going to play one show every few months in Raleigh, and we're going to have a good time and it won't interfere with your personal life at all.
Speaker C:And so that was easy.
Speaker C:Everybody wants to be a part of that.
Speaker C:Everybody wants, you know, that one every couple months, get up on stage and be the cool dude.
Speaker C:And then it turned in, okay, guys.
Speaker C:Well, we're gonna play a couple shows a month in Raleigh and we're also gonna try to go to, like, Charlotte or try to go somewhere closer and play another show.
Speaker C:And then that changed, and then so on and so forth, until by the time when Dances Are Lonely came out, it was like, hey, guys, we're gonna be on the road for 300 days a year for the rest of our life.
Speaker C:Who's ready for that one?
Speaker B:Who's in?
Speaker C:Who's in still, you know, we've lost one member since that record, but it's.
Speaker C:It's been pretty much the same band.
Speaker C:And I have a core now.
Speaker C:I have a band now.
Speaker C:Before, I had people who played with me, with me, people who were nice enough to stick around for a little bit.
Speaker C:But the difference between the first couple records and now is I have a band.
Speaker C:I know exactly.
Speaker C:These are my best friends.
Speaker C:These guys have been with me for the newest member that's been in the band for almost four years.
Speaker C:We're doing okay.
Speaker B:Once you forge that relationship as a band versus, like, the lead guy with a rotating cast of support friends, how does that change the writing for you?
Speaker C:The writing doesn't change as much.
Speaker C:The writing process is still very much me and an acoustic guitar just writing.
Speaker C:The part that really changes is what happens between the writing and what hits you on a record.
Speaker C:Because every song I bring to the band is some kind of folk song.
Speaker C:And having a band that we all trust each other and we all know each other's tendencies, and we all kind of believe in what each other believe is the arrangement changes completely.
Speaker C:Like, everybody kind of feels comfortable enough to say, I think we should do this.
Speaker C:Before, it was just, okay, it's your band.
Speaker C:We're just going to play your songs straightforward.
Speaker C:And that worked to a certain extent, but we never really grew.
Speaker C:Now we're actually growing as a band.
Speaker C:Burn Flicker Dies Hit heads above everything else we've ever done, especially on the
Speaker B:arrangement side specifically for this record.
Speaker B:As you got into those arrangements, did that happen before you went into the recording process, or was that as you decided to do?
Speaker C:Very much.
Speaker C:Very much so.
Speaker C:We recorded Dances for the Lonely.
Speaker C:We arranged the songs, then we toured on the songs for six months and just kind of got a good feel for how the songs were going to play live, how they needed to be recorded, how people responded to them certain ways, if they were slower, if they were faster.
Speaker C:And then what we did was we took.
Speaker C:With Dances Alone, we took it into Chris Stamy, who produced that one.
Speaker C:Then the record happened.
Speaker C:Small Town Hymns was a very different record because we went in the studio with no material.
Speaker C:We went to the studio.
Speaker C:We moved down to Oxford, Mississippi, for a month, lived in a studio, and just wrote the record there.
Speaker C:So there was no.
Speaker C:It was very much what you hear is the first idea we came up with.
Speaker C:What you hear is I would write a song one Morning, we would record it that afternoon, it would be done by dinner, and we would never go back and change it.
Speaker C:And, of course, all those songs have evolved now, live, to something completely different.
Speaker C:But it was cool to record a record that way.
Speaker C:But we just figured that's not how we, as a band should operate.
Speaker C:We're not that band, which is great to find out, great bands that only function that way.
Speaker C:But dealing with Burn Flicker Dial, we realized we needed to go back to what we were good at.
Speaker C:So I wrote a bunch of songs, we arranged them, we took them on the road, we tweaked them, we took them on the road some more, and then we took them into the studio with Jason Isbel.
Speaker C:He made some tweaks, he put his own shine on some of the songs, and we couldn't be more proud of this record.
Speaker B:How did you choose to work with Jason?
Speaker C:I've known Jason for about four or five years now, pretty much since he left the Truckers.
Speaker C:It was one of those things.
Speaker C:We just became friends, I think.
Speaker C:We opened up for him one time, and so me and him would just play a lot of pool together.
Speaker C:And, you know, we were sitting there one night.
Speaker C:He basically asked when you let me do one of your records.
Speaker C:And I was like, you can have the next one.
Speaker C:When we were coming down to deciding who was going to produce this new record, I was like, well, Jason always said he would do it, and nobody in the band believed it.
Speaker C:You know, other than Jason being a friend of ours, it's a really good thing that he's been doing there.
Speaker C:So I called him up and asked him if he wanted to produce it, and he said, I'll let me hear the songs first and I'll agree to it.
Speaker C:So I sent him the songs.
Speaker C:Like, a day later, he sent me back, like, what studio we were recording in, where we were doing it, what days we were doing it.
Speaker C:It was really nice of him to, you know, hear the songs and kind of give his approval.
Speaker C:And the cool thing about the record is, you know, not only did he produce on it, like, he got to play some on it, he sang some on it even, you know, I guess now his fiance, Ms. Manishire, she played fiddle on the record and she sang some on it, too.
Speaker C:So we were just very excited because he definitely gave us the whole Muscle Shoals experience.
Speaker B:You know, I knew that Jason had produced it, but did y' all head down there?
Speaker C:Yes, we actually did it down to Muscle Shoals.
Speaker C:We were.
Speaker C:We were at the nut house, which is where he's done his last two records.
Speaker C:He's tracked his last two records at Nuthouse.
Speaker C:He also does work at Fame.
Speaker C:I think like Abby Owens, they worked with him at Fame, the Nuthouse.
Speaker C:Basically.
Speaker C:Jimmy Nutt was an engineer at Fame and then probably five years ago, he opened up his own place and his new place is just this amazing.
Speaker C:It's an old bank in the middle of Sheffield, Alabama, one of the Tri Cities.
Speaker C:It's just an amazing environment for creating.
Speaker C:Luckily, Jason knew him and it won't be our last record recording with Jimmy down there.
Speaker C:Jimmy Nutt.
Speaker C:That studio is amazing and we're probably gonna do a lot more work down there in the future.
Speaker A:Several great musician friends of Country Fried Rock generously donated songs for a free music sampler.
Speaker A:Download it@noisetrade.com countryfriderock 19 songs to help raise awareness and money for Nucci's Space, a nonprofit serving the mental health needs of musicians in the Athens, Georgia area.
Speaker A:Find out more about Nucci's at n u c I.org when you're working with
Speaker B:someone where there's a level of familiarity, for example, working with Jason, with whom you also already had a friendship relationship, how is that different than working with someone with whom you're not familiar when you're in the recording process?
Speaker C:Because I can take their criticism a little bit better if Jason it's just when you're more familiar with something, you trust it a little bit more.
Speaker C:Rather than some stranger telling you, I think this should change.
Speaker C:Your friend being like, hey, maybe we should try it this way.
Speaker C:Giving it a shot and it actually working out.
Speaker C:You know, we've never had a really bad experience recording with anybody.
Speaker C:We've always had fun.
Speaker C:It's always been very, very different.
Speaker C:But this time was definitely the best.
Speaker C:It just a good mix of professionalism and comfort.
Speaker C:You know, everybody was 100% work, work, work, work, work.
Speaker C:But that work did not feel like work at all because, you know, we were doing something we all loved.
Speaker C:And as far as everybody in the band, we were doing something we really believed in, like this record.
Speaker C:I'm so excited for people to hear
Speaker B:this record, as you've said.
Speaker B:But Also just from YouTube, as I know you've pretty heavily road tested the songs before you recorded very much so.
Speaker C:Every song on this new record has been played live for the last six months.
Speaker B:What ended up changing the most for you from what you came in there with to what you ended up recording
Speaker C:thanks to YouTube and all that kind of stuff?
Speaker C:Everything's pretty much documented.
Speaker C:There's a YouTube video of this song called St. Mary's and there's a YouTube video of it just me playing acoustic.
Speaker C:And it was like, the day I wrote it, I wrote it, and we went to a festival and we did, like, some interview, and they were like, hey, do you want to play a song?
Speaker C:I was like, I'm gonna play a new one.
Speaker C:I wrote, like, last night, and I played it.
Speaker C:And then you listen to that version of Saint Mary's and you listen to the studio version of Saint Mary's and you can tell what six months does to it, you know, because it was documented in a very folk form that I wrote it in.
Speaker C:And then now, because it sounded like a Springsteen song off Nebraska when I wrote it, and now it sounds like a much bigger, bigger, bigger Springsteen song.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You added the band back in.
Speaker C:Added the band.
Speaker B:You mentioned the 300 dates a year.
Speaker B:Y' all are on the road constantly.
Speaker B:What does that bring into these songs now that you've recorded them and you're still ready to get this release out there?
Speaker C:It really just solidifies every amount of emotion and pride that we put into this record.
Speaker C:The fact that we're able to play these songs every night and none of us are tired of them yet, and the fact that, you know, we're playing shows in front of fans that are singing along to songs that haven't been released yet, that's a really cool feeling to know that there's not a record.
Speaker C:The only way these people hear these songs is sitting at work or sitting at home on YouTube and just having it on repeat.
Speaker C:It's a cool feeling.
Speaker C:It's a really good feeling knowing that people actually care about these songs before they're even out.
Speaker C:This is definitely a milestone in our
Speaker B:career for sure, with as many dates as you all play.
Speaker B:Most bands that I talk to who are on the road heavily are like, we never get to see our friends, and we never get to hear anyone else play.
Speaker B:Have you all had a chance at all for any downtime to hear anybody?
Speaker C:Um, not really.
Speaker C:If I'm home, I try to enjoy being home.
Speaker C:I live in downtown Raleigh, so there's a bunch of the bars and music venues within, like, a block or two of my house.
Speaker C:So I occasionally get to go see friends bands when they come through.
Speaker C:I got to see our friends.
Speaker C:Shovels and rope.
Speaker C:I got to see those guys last time they were through.
Speaker C:And then the last time our friends just bamboo Baltimore called G. Roddy Walson in the business.
Speaker C:I got to see them when they came through.
Speaker C:Wanted to see the Gaslight Anthem on Thursday.
Speaker C:I'm excited about that.
Speaker C:It was sold out but a friend of mine at the club put me on the list so I get to go see them.
Speaker C:But yeah, it's.
Speaker C:I don't ever really get to see music unless we're like festivals.
Speaker C:We're playing this festival next weekend called Floyd Fest.
Speaker B:Oh, what a great event.
Speaker C:It's so amazing.
Speaker C:It's like us and then after us we get to watch Dawes, then the Drive by Truckers and then Jackson Brown back by Dawes.
Speaker C:So it's basically like we start and as soon as we get off stage I can't wait to see what comes next.
Speaker B:Do you all have a chance to choose who is going to be playing with you in any of the dates?
Speaker B:Do you like pick an opening band to take them with you?
Speaker C:We're not at a point in our career yet where we can really afford to do that.
Speaker C:It's still kind of about just making ends meet, building our name up one of these days.
Speaker C:That'd be the goal.
Speaker C:We still haven't done too many national touring opening acts.
Speaker C:We've never really been a support for an entire tour.
Speaker C:We still have a lot of that.
Speaker C:We did it in a very weird way.
Speaker C:We did it without a booking agent.
Speaker B:I didn't realize that.
Speaker C:Yeah, we signed a booking agent in January for this new record.
Speaker B:I did not realize that we didn't
Speaker C:have management up until two years ago.
Speaker C:So all of that was me.
Speaker C:I booked the shows.
Speaker C:I was our manager.
Speaker C:I booked 300 shows a year.
Speaker B:Oh, my jaw is on the ground.
Speaker B:And I guess because regionally I'm in the same place that you are.
Speaker B:I didn't realize that.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C: January of this year, January: Speaker C:I was our booking agent.
Speaker B:How did you all divide up tasks then up until you were able to have the management and booking agent this year?
Speaker C:Every day I would get the boys to drop me off at a coffee shop and I would sit on a computer for 10 hours.
Speaker C:I would just book shows and I would send.
Speaker C:I was our press guy.
Speaker C:I had a fake press name, I had a fake booking name.
Speaker C:My name was Bradley Thompson when I was booking and I booked for small time booking and I had like my own website, I had my own email address so it looked legitimate small time publicity.
Speaker C:Bradley Thompson did that too.
Speaker C:And I would email all the weeklies and all the newspapers and all that kind of stuff and try to get write ups.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker C:Yeah, so yeah, nobody ever put Tundra together.
Speaker B:I won't say you're the first person to do that, but I will say you're the first person to do it that well.
Speaker C:Yeah, it was, you know, the business side has been something that's always intrigued me and I feel like, you know, we definitely are serviced very well.
Speaker C:Because no matter where this band goes, no matter if we have a booking age or not, I know every one of these club owners in the south and they like us, they believe in us and they are always willing to give us shows.
Speaker C:So it's, it's just another taking a step in the right direction, just like solidifying that we're gonna be able to do this for the rest of our life.
Speaker C:It's a little fun fact.
Speaker C:Check out more of our music and tour dates@www.americanaquarium.net.
Speaker B:so how was that then, being able to turn over some of those tasks to someone else?
Speaker C:It was the greatest day of my entire life.
Speaker C:It was better than anything that I'll ever experience.
Speaker C:I told the guy that we hired management I didn't have to contact people anymore.
Speaker C:The fact that I could just send them to somebody was great.
Speaker C:And then we had a booking agent.
Speaker C:The fact that once a month I get an Excel spreadsheet telling me what I'm doing four months from now is one of the greatest feelings of all time.
Speaker C:It's made it to where I can really focus on being an artist.
Speaker C:Which is funny because I guess you've always.
Speaker C:I've always been an artist, but it's like now it's like my sole job is to be an artist and to approve emails.
Speaker C:It's the greatest thing ever.
Speaker B:Emotionally then it sounds like it has freed you up in a lot of ways.
Speaker C:Very much so.
Speaker C:I don't have to worry.
Speaker C:I don't have to worry about anything.
Speaker C:Like we have a tour manager now.
Speaker C:So basically the only thing I have to worry about is leaving a hotel room, going to a show, playing a show and then going home.
Speaker C:We have somebody that takes care of all the business and that's the greatest.
Speaker C:That's a really good thing for us, you know, because before it was very hard for me to be a part of the band when I was also the mom and dad of the band.
Speaker C:You know, it's very hard for somebody to listen to you when you're just.
Speaker C:You become like almost a villain in your own band because you're the one making everybody get up at 7:30 in the morning because you got a 10 hour drive.
Speaker C:So Now I get to actually, for the first time in a long time, be a part of the band, you know?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:I know that sounds weird, but I get to be one of the guys to be like, who's that?
Speaker C:You know, It's a good feeling.
Speaker B:Do y' all have some favorite places that you like to hit up recurring when you can?
Speaker C:Oh, definitely.
Speaker C:The south has been nothing but good to us.
Speaker C:Charleston, South Carolina.
Speaker C:Savannah, Georgia.
Speaker C:Charleston, South Carolina, is a little place called the Tin Roof that has my heart.
Speaker C:Leslie and Nick, the owners there, have been good to us since the very, very, very beginning.
Speaker C:I think I was the second person that ever played their bar when they opened up.
Speaker C:They're good folks.
Speaker C:There's a little place down in Savannah on Congress called the Jinx.
Speaker C:Another place.
Speaker C:Suzanne and all the boys have my heart.
Speaker C:I've told her I don't care how big this machine gets.
Speaker C:Like, I will always play her club, no matter what.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker C:There's a place in Little Rock, Arkansas, called the Whitewater Tavern.
Speaker C:Another great, great, great place.
Speaker C:I love the South.
Speaker C:I grew up here.
Speaker C:It's the kind of music we play.
Speaker C:The kind of music we play definitely resonates more in Southern people.
Speaker C:Not saying it doesn't resonate anywhere else.
Speaker C:I'm just saying that it tends to resonate more with Southern folks just because they get it.
Speaker C:You know, I can make.
Speaker C:I make.
Speaker C:I can make a farm reference and they get it.
Speaker C:Instead of having to look, look it up in like a farmer's almanac or something.
Speaker B:You can talk about tobacco and people totally get it.
Speaker B:That doesn't even have anything to do with smoke.
Speaker C:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker C:Like, I. I have to explain that to some people up north that when I talk about.
Speaker C:That's what my parents did.
Speaker C:My parents were tobacco farmers, right.
Speaker C:So it's like when I talk about tobacco, it's like it's an actual occupation
Speaker B:and its history and it's the decline of, you know, small town, family farmers.
Speaker B:I mean, it's all that.
Speaker B:It goes into just that one, one
Speaker C:word, just in that one word.
Speaker C:And they look at it as, oh, that's something you smoke.
Speaker B:So as you've been able to then geographically expand a little bit further, what seems to be working for you outside of the south?
Speaker C:Texas.
Speaker C:Texas is awesome.
Speaker C:Texas has been the nicest bunch of people I've ever met in my entire life.
Speaker C:We had no idea that they were keeping.
Speaker C:They were just hoarding.
Speaker C:All the music fans in Texas and the rest of the country is completely oblivious to the fact that Texas is not giving any of the music fans away.
Speaker C:We went out to Texas.
Speaker C:Our new booking agent books a lot of the Texas.
Speaker C:We had no idea what Red Dirt was.
Speaker C:We had no idea what Texas country was.
Speaker C:Just thought that was country bands that were from Texas.
Speaker C:I didn't realize that that was a.
Speaker C:They have their own charts, they have their own music stores, they, their own magazines.
Speaker C:It's the real deal.
Speaker B:Lone Star Music Company.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, Lone Star Music magazine has been a great.
Speaker C:We actually have like a full page ad in their new magazine for the new record.
Speaker C:They're just really good to us.
Speaker C:They've been really nice.
Speaker C:And we did a tour in March for South by Southwest where we spent about a month in Texas and Oklahoma and nothing but awesome people.
Speaker C:We toured with Jason Boland and the Turnpike Troubadours.
Speaker C:The Turnpike Troubadours are hands down one of my favorite bands now.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker C:You know, they're young guys and they're definitely making a huge name for their self and the Texas scene.
Speaker C:So we're going back to Texas in October and November.
Speaker C:We're doing a bunch of shows with Reckless Kelly and we're doing a bunch of shows with the Turnpike Troubadours.
Speaker C:Anytime you can, you're lucky enough to get on tours like that.
Speaker C:Texas, you know, it's one of those senses of like, it's definitely like a big fraternity.
Speaker C:Being able to be, you know, a part of that and be able to play good music, that's the big thing.
Speaker C:A lot, a lot of folks in Texas are really leery of us because we're from North Carolina.
Speaker C:But then they hear us play and they're like, oh man, you guys sound just like some of these bands.
Speaker C:And I'm like, I'm like, cool, cool.
Speaker C:Because like I said, we never knew it was a genre.
Speaker C:So we're just very, very excited that folks in Texas let us play.
Speaker C:It wasn't all unicorns and rainbows in Texas.
Speaker C:There were a couple people that came up and said, you guys ain't Texas enough.
Speaker C:And I was like, there might be a good reason for that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I'm sure you found that the whole issue of can you dance to it?
Speaker C:Can you dance to it?
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:We had to change our set the first time we played there because we were playing.
Speaker C:You know, when you get to play with these amazing Texas bands, they play a lot of these big dance halls and we don't have dance halls in North Carolina.
Speaker C:And if you do, it's kind of like the line dancing places that everybody goes on a Friday or Saturday.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker C:And they don't have really bands.
Speaker C:You just line dance to, like, you know, Brooks and Dunn.
Speaker C:It was really cool to be able to play these giant dancers.
Speaker C:Wow, this is amazing.
Speaker C:And then you'll play a couple slow songs, they'll be dancing, and then you'll play something upbeat that you can't dance to.
Speaker C:And they stop and move to the back of the room.
Speaker B:And they don't do the weird, like southern hippie dance there at all.
Speaker C:No hippie dancing is outlawed there.
Speaker C:It's all very much like just two stepping around.
Speaker C:It's like a giant roller rink.
Speaker C:Instead of wearing, you know, skates, they just kind of dance around.
Speaker C:It's a.
Speaker C:It's amazing to see.
Speaker C:Yeah, they all flip out when I get so excited about it because they're like, this is what we do.
Speaker C:And I'm like, I've never seen this before.
Speaker C:It blew my mind.
Speaker C:But the best part is as soon as the bands get done, they start playing hip hop.
Speaker C:And the same people that were two stepping start booty dancing in the middle.
Speaker C:Like, there'll be 3,000 people packed into a dance hall and it'll be dudes in cowboy hats and wranglers, booty dancing with girls.
Speaker C:Texas is probably.
Speaker C:I'm most excited about going back to Texas in the fall just because of the hospitality they showed us and the time they showed us.
Speaker C:We played a lot of places 20 times that don't treat us as nice as the folks in Texas did the first time.
Speaker C:We're really, really excited about it.
Speaker C:Hey, guys, make sure you check out our new record Bird Flicker die Out on Last Cast Records.
Speaker C:You can get it at our website, www.ameritaquarium.net, or pick it up the new way on itunes.
Speaker B:What else is looking like kind of a nice surprise for you?
Speaker C:Always a nice surprise is the Northwest.
Speaker C:Every time we go up there, they always treat us really nice.
Speaker C:Virginia happened in the past year.
Speaker C:We really have never spent a lot of time in Virginia connected to us.
Speaker C:You know, we're two and a half hours from Richmond, we're two and a half hours from Charlottesville, four hours from Bristol.
Speaker C:And we just never really played it in the past year.
Speaker C:Year and a half.
Speaker C:We've really been hitting it hard and they've just been super good to us, the folks in Richmond.
Speaker C:We started off in a little place two and a half years ago called the Triple, which is like a little pool hall.
Speaker C:And then last time we played Richmond, we were headlining the National.
Speaker C:A really nice little theater There, Richmond's came along.
Speaker C:We're actually playing the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville coming up next weekend.
Speaker C:Virginia's happening.
Speaker C:Virginia's really, really cool to.
Speaker B:When you have places like that where you go more than one time and you play, you know, bigger venues or more music oriented venues, as you head back each time, what are you noticing?
Speaker C:We have the best fans ever, but we have the most eclectic crowd ever.
Speaker C:It's like punk rock kids having a beer with a frat boy.
Speaker C:It's people my dad's age hanging out with girls in high school that love our band.
Speaker C:I will never, ever, ever complain about it.
Speaker C:It's sometimes just so funny to see, like, the kind of kids in certain areas, like in Columbia, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, most of our crowd, like the tattooed up old metal kids who are really into country now, they're really into the Truckers and Lucero and stuff like that.
Speaker C:It's weird to see them mix with the guys that are really into the Texas stuff.
Speaker C:It's funny, but it's awesome, though.
Speaker C:At the end of the day, everyone loves a good, sad song.
Speaker C:You know, everybody.
Speaker C:Everybody's been broken up with, so it's funny to see they have the same reaction.
Speaker B:They just look different in working with different people.
Speaker B:As you go into the studio each time, intentionally, as you say, that brings out a very different sound in a band each time.
Speaker B:And are you finding that people get it, that that's what you.
Speaker B:Or is it like, oh, man.
Speaker B:But I liked that record.
Speaker C:We have plenty of people who walk up to us and be like, that's For Lonely is my favorite record, y'.
Speaker C:All.
Speaker C:You know, everybody, like, I'm the same way with bands.
Speaker C:I have my favorite records, you know, that sound different.
Speaker C:I get what they're talking about, but I don't think they understand that.
Speaker C:It's like.
Speaker C:Like we intentionally.
Speaker C:I don't think they notice that.
Speaker C:It's a different producer every time and it's a different guy that mixes the record every time.
Speaker C:It's a different guy.
Speaker C:It's a different place that we did it, different studio.
Speaker C:I don't think they notice stuff like that.
Speaker C:I just think they notice that.
Speaker C:Sonically, I like this one better than I like this one.
Speaker C:Caitlin Carey, who used to be in a band called Whiskey Town, she's nice enough, she sang on every one of our records.
Speaker C:But yeah, we don't really purposely try to change it up too much because we definitely feel like we have a sound.
Speaker C:It's just fun to see how different people capture that sound.
Speaker C:That's the part for us.
Speaker C:We're like, okay, this is cool.
Speaker C:Or maybe another way was better.
Speaker B:What are you excited about?
Speaker B:That's going to be new with the process this time around.
Speaker C:Just everybody being so proud of the songs.
Speaker C:Every other record, there's always been something that somebody didn't like or there's always been a couple songs that somebody didn't think should be on the record.
Speaker C:This record we're all 100% positive about.
Speaker C:Everybody in our band is very, very excited about people hearing this.
Speaker C:We just want people to hear it.
Speaker C:This is a game changer.
Speaker C:This is the record for us that we really believe people are going to get.
Speaker C:No matter if you hate everything we've ever done before, we think you're going to like this record.
Speaker C:Hey, guys, this is BJ from American Aquarium, and you're listening to Country Friday Rock.
Speaker B:Couple of totally random questions.
Speaker B:Long story short, but it's a Chris Damie connection.
Speaker B:When I interviewed Peter Holzapple.
Speaker B:Now I ask people, what was the first vehicle that y' all used on your first big on the road tour?
Speaker C: did was in my Trailblazer, my: Speaker C:We put six people in a Trailblazer
Speaker B:and your gear was in a U
Speaker C:Haul trailer behind the Trailblazer.
Speaker C:That was the first full Nationwide tour.
Speaker C:We had two people up front, three people in the back seat, and one person curled up in the cargo hatch.
Speaker C:That was a really cool situation.
Speaker C:Seat that was like the sleeping seat.
Speaker C:You didn't have to be nearing anybody else.
Speaker C:You didn't have to sleep on anybody's shoulder, Right.
Speaker C:And the first, I guess, van we ever bought was a.
Speaker C: We had a black: Speaker C:A friend of ours worked at a decal shop, so we got these decals made that said American Aquarium Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C. on the side.
Speaker C:Both sides.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker C:And on the back.
Speaker C:And we had that van for two and a half years and we never got a ticket.
Speaker C:And we got pulled over once in Portland for going 35 over.
Speaker C:And we told the cop that we were a youth group who was late for a revival.
Speaker C:And he totally let us go.
Speaker B:That's fantastic.
Speaker C:It was great.
Speaker C:Now we're really boring.
Speaker C:We have one of those white vans with a white trailer.
Speaker C:Very generic band.
Speaker C:It was awesome, though, because, like, every time we would pull up somewhere, you would just read people's mouths being like, american Aquarium bad breath for a while.
Speaker C:If you typed in American Aquarium into Google, one of the options that came up with Baptist church, because people had been Googling it.
Speaker C:It was awesome.
Speaker B:It's hysterical.
Speaker C:It was really funny.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Now we're in the white van and nobody really knows.
Speaker B:And what do y' all agree on to listen to in the van?
Speaker C:The rule is, whoever's driving is to pick whatever we listen to.
Speaker C:We all have very similar taste.
Speaker C:The stuff we're listening to now, we all like the new Dolls record.
Speaker C:I absolutely love that new record by the Lumineers.
Speaker C:It's just a great record from start to finish.
Speaker C:I love the old stuff that people associate with our band.
Speaker C:I love listening to Tom Petty's records.
Speaker C:I love Springsteen.
Speaker C:I listen to a lot of Hold Ste.
Speaker C:I love the Gaslight anthem, Shovels and Rope.
Speaker C:Anything that Carrie Ann Hirsch sings on is perfect.
Speaker C:She's the Lorelen of my generation, and she's perfect.
Speaker B:I've been trying to get them on the show forever, and they're on the road so much, I can't nail them down.
Speaker C:We were very, very lucky when we crossed paths.
Speaker C:Seems that every time we're in Charleston, they're actually home.
Speaker C:And every time they're in Raleigh, we're actually home.
Speaker C:So it works out great because, like, we get to see each other and we get to sing on each other's stuff.
Speaker C:And her voice, her stuff.
Speaker C:Old Hayes record's great.
Speaker C:Haze is another one.
Speaker C:Hayes is really popular in the band, but then stuff that throws people off, like, our bass player really loves, like, electro pop.
Speaker C:Like, really love stuff like the Killers.
Speaker C:And then anything happens since the Killers, it's very dancy and he loves that stuff.
Speaker C:And I'm a huge fan of, like, hip hop.
Speaker C:Really Huge, gigantic fan of, like, just backpack hip hop.
Speaker C:Like, I used to manage a record store and a guy got me into listen to a lot of hip hop.
Speaker C:And I really and truly think it's one of the only evolving lyrical art forms they come up with.
Speaker C:It may be stupid what they say, but they come up with some of the coolest ways to say things in hip hop.
Speaker C:And it's something that, like, I'm a sucker for it.
Speaker C:There's this guy, he's off of Parks and Recreation, his name's Danny Glover, but he put a record out under the name Childish Gambino.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, I know who he is.
Speaker C:And that stuff is just blows my mind.
Speaker C:Kind of the renaissance man of the art world.
Speaker C:He can do anything.
Speaker C:He can really do anything because he.
Speaker C:On that Childish Gambino record he produced, he does all the lyrics, he does all the background vocals.
Speaker C:Just a super talented.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:He did all the beats, he did all of the singing, and he did all the.
Speaker C:The rapping.
Speaker C:It's amazing.
Speaker C:Anytime I'm driving, oh, there's also this guy that Jay Z just signed called J. Cole.
Speaker C:Been listening to a lot of him.
Speaker C:Like, anytime I'm in the band, if everybody's sleeping in the van and I'm driving, it is only hip hop or, like, comedy.
Speaker C:Comedy is the best thing to drive to.
Speaker C:You won't fall asleep.
Speaker C:Listen to comedy.
Speaker C:I listen to that a lot during the overnight drives just because, like, you always have to be paying attention for some reason.
Speaker C:I can listen to comedy and stay up for hours, definitely.
Speaker C:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:Take it easy.
Speaker B:Look forward to catching y' all again.
Speaker C:See you.
Speaker A:Country Fried Rock.
Speaker A:Find the full playlist from this episode on countryfriderock.org.
Speaker A:check us out on itunes.
Speaker A:No music, just talk.
Speaker A:Our theme music is from the full tones.
Speaker A:Our Country Fried Rock stinger is from Steve Soto in the twisted hearts.
Speaker A:Country fried rock.
Speaker A: Copyright: Speaker A:All rights reserved.
Speaker C:Country Fried Rock.
