LIT

This week is Lit. They are a huge rock band. They had some of the big gets hit I think one of the longest number ones of all time. It went twelve weeks My own Worst Enemy, and they were eaten by Pamla Anderson. If you're gonna get eaten by someone, it might as well be Pamla Anderson. So please welcome A J and Jeremy pop off from the band Lit. Hey guys, Hi, Hello, So I'm here with the pop Off Brothers. Introduce yourselves the pop Off Brothers. Pop Off

it does, it's very um. It catches your attention. Pop Off like popping Off and Lit have become too popular terms in pop culture these days, so we're about years ahead of our time. What does pop off mean? And uh, pop culture like popping off? Like I don't know, one of the reality shows A Girl was just like pop off, pop off perfect. So where are we right now? What is this awesome venue that we're sitting in in Nashville? This is the Redneck Social Club Okay, management Headquarters, which

is awesome. It's like a bar, a dance hall. It's kind of like in a cool like street crid kind of location to sort of stripped down music venue. You know, had the party vibe. Do you guys throw some parties in here with a new couple? Yeah, okay, we had after age over there and bands get up and jam and we've got to find a clip to throw in right here. Of the karaoke that took place, I don't know if it was carried. It was sort of like

an American audition. It was amazing. Was everybody sober doing this? So it sounded great. So I want to start off with a little rapid fire first off, Well, actually I want you to describe yourself, but I want to rapid fire first. What is the coolest venue that you guys have ever played. You guys are in the band lit. For everyone's listening, Jeremy and a j pop off there in the band Lit. They're founding members. They're also brothers.

Then they're also amazing. Coolest venue you've ever played, man, I'd see some of the European festival balls we've done, just like fields of people. That's insane. So I mean that's I guess that's not really a venue. But Red Rocks in Denver pretty breathtaking. Um, it's very pretty. We've played some amazing, little tiny places and some amazing The

first we played um Baltimore Raven Stadium. That was like our first huge show that we ever played, and that was like, you know, impressionable day because we had never played in front of it, played in something that big before, so that was kind of gnarly. And we made it messed us up to because we were on the big screen on the other side of the football field and so there was a delay. So I was like doing my rock pose and and I saw the screen and my hands were in a different place than they were

on the neck. Totally messed me up. Yeah, I learned to not look at those screens after that. Oh yeah, it was it a bad mess up. I mean, it's always weird just seeing a giant version of yourself too. You just kind of want to keep looking in. It's very distracting. That is true, Okay, weirdest thing you've ever seen on the road. We're just saying, maybe like we're you know when after after party like meat and Greek stuff.

I'm autographed a glass eyeball before and I pull this guy pulled his eye out and had us he want us to sign his glass eye. That's weird. Ship, that's so weird. I think when you are when you're a band touring your first time out, so many things are weird because you're in so many new places and you're meeting new people, and you know, the food is different or the cities look different and um, and then after a while, like none of it's weird anymore. It's kind

of all normal. So that's true. Once you've seen so much, just like anything goes. Favorite country you've been to, Japan I think is my favorite. Why because for me, I'm not a big fan of flying. I'm not afraid of flying, I'm just I'm not a fan of sitting down in a chair for fourteen hours. So if I'm going to go through all that paint and agony of being locked up for that long, when I get off that plane,

I want to be somewhere that's like another planet. Um. You know, when you fly from New York to Frankfurt, Germany, you got to play and you're like, this looks kind of like anywhere in America, you know. But when you get to Japan, you know, you're in a front in a foreign country and it's and it's very modern and cool. And I love the food, I love the culture. That's awesome. What about you, a j I would probably stay Japan as well, I mean just because it's you know, if

you're gonna travel, um. So, I think there's so many, so many parts of Europe that just feels like it kind of feels like the East Coast or something. You know, it's not not super um I don't know, you know, like a traveling really, but I think Holland, like the Netherlands and those places where it's just so clean and tidy and you know that everything's like compartmentalized, and yeah, I love I love that part of the world. Okay, who are else biggest biggest musical influences man all over

the place. For us, that's always band. You know, grew up on heavy metal music, so you know, Maiden and Judas Priest and all. That's all the It's almost like you gotta pick a decade because definitely the biggest influence on our childhood was probably heavy metal, but the biggest influence in our um songwriting probably be like more like Elvis Costello or the Eagles, Don Henley, um um and uh. But you know, as a guitar player, Boston I love.

So it's like if you threw a year out or a decade out, I could probably name a handful that it's we're still influenced by. You know, it's two thousand and sixteen and there's still people that influence us. You know. But we were born in the seventies and our dad was on the radio and he'd bring home albums and so we we were little kids, we didn't know what was what was pop or rock or or metal or country. We liked Kenny Rogers and the Cars and Van Halen

and Dolly Parton. You know, this was all stuff that we had in our living room on vinyl. So um, there's so many. Elvis definitely do both of them. I'm actually I want to get I'm gonna get a tattoo, and I think one of our friends, I can't remember whose idea it was, but I think I'm gonna I'm gonna steal it before someone gets it. But it's the playing card with Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello, the king, you know, kings of both sides. Speaking of tattoos, you

guys both have full sleeves that are amazing. Yeah, gotta finish this one, but thank you. What is your favorite tattoo and what is your least favorite tattoo that you guys have on your arms. I think for me, my favorite is probably our my tribute to al Bigal, our drummer who we lost. Um that's my Alno tattoo. But um, my least favorite is probably my my leg tattoo, my first one. It's like a tribal I don't know what the hell it is, but it's ugly. It's the only

one I think i'd cover up. I've got someone, you know, tattoos that are kind of silly that I'm like, I wouldn't get that again, but I wouldn't cover them up with that leg. When I will, I'll cover it. Not a fan. Okay, well everyone makes a first mistake, but I don't show my legs very often anyway. It's like you should, right, chicken leg. Thank you that I get a tattoo have a chicken bone on it. I do have a leg tattoo that has a similar story. It's my first one. And you guys both did like tattoos

for the first time. I don't know why when we were when we were a teenage and we were like eighteen nineteen with our first tattoos, and back then it was like a big commitment. You know, um, you know, you could start here, but if you could see it from your sleeve, it was gonna be harder to get jobs. And we already had long hair, so it's already hard enough to to, you know, find jobs that would deal with our band in our lifestyle. And so that was like and then if you went below the elbow was like,

oh wow, and drop security. Now kids are starting on their neck. You'll see like you know, you see these kids and they're literally their first tattoo was like the whole front of their throat and they take your shirt off and they get nothing else, but um, I don't know. I went down to the hand recently, and so that is an everyday reminder that it's going to be very hard for me to ever put a suit on and

go work in the corporate world. So but maybe that's kind of why you did it, And yeah, I never probably would anyways, but it's a daily reminder that I have to go out and kick ass because I can't. I don't have a backup option now to just put a suit on and go work at a wherever. Right. Yeah, now you got a hand really pretty much security, all sugar skull, and it's got black diamonds and eyes, which sort of that ring. Um, so yeah, it was that under what Okay, so let's start at the beginning. You

guys are brothers. Jeremy, how much older are you than a j Two years? Okay, So you guys formed this first band called Razzle when a j You were fourteen, Jeremy you were sixteen. Well when I was The band formed around them, but I was a drummer at the time. I know you switched to singing. How did that was? When I was sixteen? I started singing because you kuldn't find a singer that was, you know, half decent um,

So I yeah, I said I'll give a shot. So you did not originally want to sing, you know, I just I love drums and I never really thought about, you know, one instrument. Our grandfather was a drummer, jazz musician, so that was I was exposed to that and had access to his drum kid, and it was the first instrument I learned how to play. Um. And then I think it's just after playing a show as a drummer, I just realized that was I didn't want to be cooped up behind a kid. Run for you, free like

the bird that you are. Okay, so you switched the singing. And then Jeremy, you are in the band as guitar. You played lead guitar, and you're also the original band members Kevin, Sean and Alan. You are together the whole time you formed Razzle and stayed together through lit the whole time. Seawan didn't. And when we started out, I

was actually in a couple of other bands. When I was sixteen, I dropped out of high school as a junior to pursue my rock and roll dreams, and um, they were doing the Razzle thing, and then we all kind of about a year or two later we all joined up, and so there was a fifth member guitar player in the early days and then um and then it was just me, A, J, Kevin and al for twenty years. So that's a huge dedication to stay through all the changing of the band names, the changing of

the record labels, all of your musical evolution. Y'all never broke up. Don't you think that sort of brayer it is? Yeah, extremely, I mean there it's weird, is something about I feel like a lot of Orange County bands have stayed together for for a really long time. I don't know if it's maybe it's just a culture that you know that's so cal kind of um, I don't know, people, it

was family for us. So and you guys never had another option of another job, Like you're like, we're being a van or sticking to it because sometimes people are scared to commit to van that you have to, man, I think it's just like anything career wise, you know, it's just no backup plan. That was the best way spending the entertainment period. You've got to have and you

got to devote yourself. We would always have very menial jobs just to make just enough to let cover studio rent for band practice and gas in the car for gigs, and whatever money we made at the gigs we would put back into the band to make flyers or print CDs or cassettes or stickers, and um, we were pretty relentless guerilla marketers. You know. This is with you know, before social media and that kind of stuff. So our

social media was us being socially active. And we would just go out to multiple bars, multiple concerts, multiple anywhere where there was people hanging out that we thought might like what we were doing. We would go there with piles of stuff to give them, and we'd stand outside of shows and just give them and we and and that worked really um because we were you know, by the time we got a record deal, we were is that what got to the record deal, just going out

and hustling. And Razzle was your first record deal with you know, we never had a record deal with Razzle. It switched to Stain. Stain. Yeah, but then there's another band called Stain, So you came up with Lit, which I love the name let It was the name of the first album, so it was the band was Stained. The album is called lit. I didn't have a record. We got signed to, Yeah, a hip hop label called Delicious Vinyl. It was Malicious Vinyl was there, like you know,

wicked step child for the rock stuff. Okay, it's a Delicious Vinyl. So they had like they had Tone Loc and they had Young MC and they had the Far Side and UM they were like a really cool especially now looking back, they're a really cool, credible UM hip hop label. And but they had this couple of crazy dudes that worked there that were really into rock and roll, and so they convinced them to UM let them sign

a couple of rock bands. And so that was like and we were in a bar in San Diego in front of like nine people and they were like two of the nine people and it turned But how did you guys change from Razzle? Why did you all dump Razzle the name? I think it's a lot of it was just the evolution of the band's we've been together that long, you kind of you grow. We were just little kids when we started the first one M and we just changed, we kind of outgrew it. It was

it just felt too high school. Yeah, it was a little too bright for us about not that sweet we were changing, music was changing. Everything was just kind of we we you know, I think with any artist, the more you do it, and as you start doing it for longer, you you start to figure out what it is that you want to do, you know, start more heavy metal, fish or heavy. Right. Well, we were all over the place here, like we still are kind of we We were never afraid to get really heavy or

to get really um emotional and and sad. You know, we were always kind of pushing it a little farther in either direction. And I think when we started to have some success that we started to kind of focus it in a little bit more on what we felt we were the best at. What is the best I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it out. We geek out on on songwriting. We just we love to,

you know. Once we started collaborating with other writers, it's sort of exposed us and opened us up to um, you know, just not limiting ourselves and and always being open to kind of evolved and let it happen. And if it felt I thought right, we just would always go with it. So, you know, if you listen from from one album to the next, we've kind of constantly changed a little bit, and uh, what's the underlying theme

though that connects all the records. Well, I mean we're we like to drink and we like to like a good time. Yeah, I don't know that. We kind of think I think lits more of an energy for us. It's always We've always been kind of lumped into that. We've had, in the beginning a lot of stoner followers and people, and we're you know, well, we also had the guy who directed our very first video. Um, when he after the show and he saw us play live, he said, and this is when we were still called staining.

He said, um, seeing you guys live as like watching a bomb go off in a building, and so we were thinking, that's kind of cool. Bomb fuse lit, like getting ready to explode, like that kind of thing. So it's just the worst. It sucks. I hope I don't ever have to do that again. Oh man. I mean the process of that is exhausting. And then you find when you like like staining and you realize it's taken.

But I think I'm glad you'll moved on. Yeah, I think, I think And actually, well, the funny story about that is that staining the band Staying or Stained a Lewis Music. They got sued by the same guy we got sued by when we were called staining. But the difference was we were like f you to the guy and they were like, all right, we'll pay you. So those guys actually paid the guy off. And you know, oh, I thought it was Aaron Lewis's band that was the stain of the problems and it was like a writer for

Thrasher magazine or something sitting on the name. So what was it like? You guys have been playing since you're like teenagers. Now you get this first record of what happens? Now, what is your life looking like? I mean after the first record deal, not a whole lot change. You know, we just kept doing what we were doing and actually had copies of the record to sell. You know, I guess that was a difference, but still like self promoting or was the record lea well helping? They helped a

little bit. I mean what printed posters and the first deal was very am and we would go up to Hollywood, um to three times a week and go in the mail room and stuff envelopes and stuff, you know, and um use their copy or to print stuff and just we would try to do everything we could take advantage of whatever resources that there were. But I mean, the real, the real beginning for us was when our c A

got a copy of My Worst Enemy. And it was weird how it happened because they had already passed on us, like two or three times. Did you make that with Malicious Delicious? So you guys were out of your Delicious Delicious yea, and now you're a free agent. So that kind of just dissolved over time. It was a great launching point, but it kind of dissolved. Honestly, I don't

even remember that. We may have still been with them, and I think they probably just let us go because they saw and it would be better for us and it would remember all the details then, but that I made a new album after that deal. We did some demos and on that on that demo was My Worst Enemy Miserable Day. They were like, yeah, two top five hits on out of four songs got passed on. Everybody

passed on that. So funny how the music. Yeah, but the whole thing is our manager um at the time, rudas A. Petty's her name was on the CD with her phone number, and radio promo rep at our ci A recognized her name from a college that they went to in Michigan together, like years passed and he was like, WHOA, no way, So he took it into his office and put it in and he flipped out over that song and then he went to yeah, so he went down the hall. It was just a weird thing. And then

the next thing, it happened really fast after that. We went from they heard it, they wanted it. We signed with them. We were in the studio like two weeks later, and then we finished the record right before Christmas time. And then January second, Kai Rock started playing My Horst Enemy and it was actually a station that started playing the demo and we had to like they had to send him a season desist better because it was it was a demo version and we weren't anywhere near close

to you know, ready to release. So it was one of those crazy things. Just isn't that those stories crazy? Because you've now been an issue, why like five ten years? Really doing it at this point over ten years and it feels like that's magical, like someone randomly gets your CD and then you get a record deal. But there's ten years of like custling developing, but then that's just true lucky break. That's the kind of stories that are crazy because it's really like ten years of hard work

but then finally something. It's Yeah, the stars eventually have to kind of align in your favor totally. I mean, because there's too many people. And I didn't used to

believe that. Fifteen years ago. People would say, oh, there's so many talents of people that never make it, and I would always kind of felt at that time, like, well, no, there's something missing, Like they might be talented, but they don't they don't have anything for people to invest in, Like they don't have a vibe or an image, or the show sucks, or they're great in the studio or their four vice versa. They're they're great performers, but they

don't write great songs. Or I always just felt like there must be some piece that's missing otherwise why aren't you making it? So you believe that if all the pieces are too other, you will eventually make it. I used to believe That's why I started coming to Nashville, and then I've actually seen a lot of people get kind of overlooked. But do you think it eventually comes around if you stick with it long enough. Certainly can I mean times have definitely changed a lot, so, I

that's a tough question to answer. And with YouTube there's still much more access to finding artists. I guess there's people now with that are experiencing a lot of success and they have no experience. There's people with a lot of experience that never get the success. I don't think that that was the case twenty years ago. I think you had to really fifteen years ago. I think you had to really bust ass develop your local following and get and then maybe try to expand that to a

regional following. And I mean bands that you you know, if you think back in like the late nineties or early two thousand's, I mean bands like the Dave Matthews band that we're playing selling out stadiums, had a huge college following just showing up, playing in bars, playing at frat parties that they and they built these like legions of fans over time, and then they they sort of turned the tables on the industry, and the industry had

to come follow because there was something happening. So and now it's kind of that's like a band like Dirty Heads is doing that. Now you see some bands that still kind of get it and they're working it, but they'll have following. You know, they'll be able to tour forever, right because they their grassroots following the film. I feel

like that is true. Like in southern California, especially in this era when you guys were emerging, there was a lot of bands coming out of there, like No Doubt came out of that into the Spring were you guys all kind of happening at the same time. They kind

of beat us a little bit. Within a few years you had you had Offspring and and No Doubt, and you had even like Corn and but Orange County, I mean, it's so crazy the history that comes out of there for every time that what year, what were the years that was all nineties ish and the two and then since then you've had you know, bands like Advantage Sevenfold and um Um and Young the Giant and then I

mean country Wise too. I mean there's been you know, Gary Allen's from Orange County and UM and Jackson Brown is actually from Fullerton where we're from. UM and UM. You know there's a street, there's a street that runs through Santa ana called Rate and that's Bonnie Rate's dad. Is that that's named named after him. There's a lot of history in where we come from. It's just it's a really spread out county. It's not like a little scene.

It's like we didn't know all those bands until we were We met him in you know, at some festival in New York or something. So you guys get signed in this two week period. It's like a magical thing that happens. And you're recording your album. You put out my own wor cinam. Tell me what that's like, because this is the this is the biggest charning rock song in if ever right, it's one of the biggest rock songs that ever was. We had a good round with it.

We like twelve weeks at the top, that eleven weeks and number one. Yeah, it was fine. We I mean we got well, we were we were still in an r V and we hadn't glamorous so fast. Well we had all the time kind of it was before we started blowing our money, and we definitely stayed smart and efficient for a while and until we just thought we deserved a little luxury, so we went forward for the bus. Well, we couldn't. We got to a point where we couldn't

really drive ourselves around anymore. We were getting you know, it was getting a little crazy. But when when you're you're in the middle of the country and you have six weeks seven weeks of dates left, and all your stuff is packed in this r V, you have to get home first to unpack it so that you could get a bush. And so we were pulling up to all these so you guys had a tour, books and everything.

You're doing your own thing. When this happened, we were well we we yeah, we were when when that song finally got to number one in the summertime, we were out, we were playing Woodstock and playing you know, on tour with the Offspring and the Warp Tour, and we were doing all this stuff. We were I mean that year we left home in January. We left home in January and we didn't come back until September of two thousand, literally eighteen months we were gone from home. Didn't come

home once. Yeah, just like not even bring you know, not even bring your suitcase in, just like bring your backpack in and paying for a little bit. But yeah, it was crazy, Like the whole video you know, treatments to like we think the song was before we were like as soon as it was done recording, we um,

it was done recording. When we were downe recording that we had you know, video producers in their treatments, and we were you know, kind of thrown into the makeup room and all this new stuff that you know, three hundred three or fifty thousand dollar video, you know, from never experiencing any of that, and the next thing you know, we're on MTV, we're on TRL or so that all happened really quickly. Were you guys ready for that? Were

you ready for this instant thame? I know y'all had wanted it, but like that changed overnight for you guys, literally right, I think we were. I think we were ready for it. I mean we nothing was like you know, like you said we were. We were kind of prime over the course of ten plus years, and we're really comfortable on stage. We were comfortable. You know, we had already done a million interviews and with local fanzines and

things like that, so we're Um. That's the difference I think between something like an American Idol winner and in a band that's been kind of put through the you're not quite ready the American idol, like you don't haven't had that preparation time period. You might have some media training and you know, extensive amount of that, but yeah, not not really. When you get on the stage in that connection with a crowd, that happens over I think, over time learning how to work that. So what we're

the what was the fan situation? Like, what was like we're girls just throwing themselves at you guys? Was it was that crazy to be like walking on a street and everyone know who you are. And Jeremy at that point you had a long beard to like a long braided beard, which you've cut off. I always loved your beard. I had. I had a long beard for a long time and that was kind of like my calling card. But people to cut that off. Um. Actually was when our our drummer Al passed away and it was kind

of an end of an era. So I I um, I'm not to bring it down, but we were at the funeral and people were putting stuff in the ground, like letters and pictures and bottles of Jack Daniels and drumsticks or whatever, and I didn't have anything to put put in there, and I was like, looking, I'm like, well, my watch isn't really going to do him any good.

And and uh so his daughter was there and that I had the the the grave digger guy that was over digging another grave, and I called him over and he had me scissors, and he got me this big old pair of rusty you know, shears, and his daughter cut it off right there and then threw it in the written around with him. So you're going to cut it off, That's so it's kind of a tribute to him. I was kind of the end of an era that day.

But but yeah, so to go. Actually, what you were talking about it was it was we were I think the only thing about that time that looking back on it, when I said, watched videos and I see stuff, I'm I'm like, man, I wish we would have been able to kind of soak that in a little bit more and enjoy that a little bit more. Because they had us run so ragged. We didn't know our head from our asks. We didn't know if we were coming or going.

And um, we knew it was awesome and we were having a great time, but we were a few months in. We were so exhausted because we were just burning the candle at not only both ends, but in the middle too. We just were It was gnarly. And how did you guys keep your health up and keep your relationships with the band up? Because that is probably I guess you'd had all that practice, a lot of drinking, kept it all in perspective, and that was that was the one

thing that learn in the hard way. A few times, I guess, you know, you get run down and you start stalking the bus up with vitamins and you know, to kind of offset the drinking, and you learn how to you drink a lot of water. Definitely, you fall down a few times before you figure out your system. And you guys always got along before it was just the four of you, all right, you always got along.

We always had a road crew that was like family too, so we were just like this, you know, unstoppable unit on the road us. Yeah, it was really cool. Looking back.

It was kind of a neat thing that that there wasn't really any one particular person that was getting It was kind of all for one, one for all, and and we would come back into the bus at the end of the night and we were just the same knuckleheads that we were five years ago, ten years ago, we still watching the same stuff on the TV, drinking the same cheap beer and you know, playing CEO and poker and stuff with our friends, and um, I think that we had that foundation that we had built and

that's what kind of kept us through all the all the roller coaster ride. So my on ours enemy is huge, massive, and then here comes Miserable and you guys are calling all over Pamela Anderson, which unfortunately it's not a real version of Pamila innersion, but it's like a giant Pamlet. How is that better? It was killer? We m the coolest music video I've ever seen. That's one of my favorite videos. She eats all of us. Who's the last to survive? I think is the last one? Yeah, you

hang on the longest. I was hanging on her ear for a while there. Uh. That's an interesting thing in YouTube is the TV show that Pan did called v I P where they wrote an entire episode about the band. So we all we got our little our shot at acting, and we're really good actors, especially if the one on YouTube I think is German subtitles. Oh yeah, that was that's amazing. Really gives it a nice touch. So you guys friends with Tamil Anderson. We were, I mean, she

was amazing. She's super, she's great. We talked to her in a long time, but she was. She was very sweet to do our video. She and that was her prime time too. She was on high. Yeah, she um. A couple of years later, we were on tour with Kid Rock and that was when they were together, and she made a point, you know, when she would come out, she always make a point to come in our dressing room and hang out with us and say hi and

and check in. And she was just very always, very sweet, very down to earth, very you know, and and just a real pro. You know. It's just, um, she totally knew her her drill and she just kind of it was neat. It was a neat process to be a part of. You know. At the same time, Harry Jeremy, you did Cribs, which was amazing. I just watched your whole Cribs thing, and you have like a ticky jet synviobe going on. It's how you described it your house.

Tell me what that was like. I've just always been into um, mid century modern furniture and stuff and it's evolved over the years, and um, I've always kind of just had a Before music paid their bills, I used to buy and sell furniture, and I used to like have to like set up the store and like set up little scenes and all that stuff. I've just always kind of had an eye for like design and stuff. So, um, the nice thing about that time frame is I was able to afford some stuff that up until then I

was only admiring from Afar. So I was able to buy some cool stuff. And it was fun. You know, the Cribs episode, it looked like we were just drinking and partying and had a bunch of friends about the house. But that's how it was. Once we were home and had got a little bit of time to celebrate with our friends and our family, that was what it was like every night, just people coming over, people hanging out, barbecue and having drinks, just you know, enjoying your first house.

I mean, you know how it is. It's just that's awesome. And um, people, there's a big community, people like you guys, y'all love a big group of friends. We live in a really cool town. Yeah, and it's and we've had the same friends for forever. Yeah, so we like to and now they all have kids and they're all married and have their own houses, so we like, you know, we definitely love to get everyone together and barbecue and that's what it's all about. So after this time period,

you did the My Enemy Miserable Ziplock. That's another great one. Yeah, we filmed that at the house where they filmed the rat Back movie. So it was just, you know, that was all about everything. We we were very We're one of those bands that fancy ourselves, you know, the Rockwell rat Pack. When did you, guys feel like you have arrived? Like how did did you have a moment where you're like, okay, we're doing this like we are we are stars, we have arrived on the scene and how did that change

your mentality? And I guess for it was kind of surreal being in Times Square and you know, hang out with that Carson daily and having you know a bunch of kids in the street like we did TRL a few times and yeah, that's to me, that's like one of the most surreal Um the MTV era too, like this is an MTV was so happening, And yeah, we had never been in New York city. So I was

just like, what the hell, this is crazy? It was we were we kind of we got very lucky that we were able to see an experience because that was kind of the end of all that. You know, it was the end of selling you know, a million CDs and you know it was sold a million CDs. We sold more than that, but I mean that was when

people still bought CDs and artist anymore. It's like, it's just what do you down If we wanted to go buy a CD right now where we even go, we have to go to music row and just walk into an office and grab one. But we just like you wouldn't you know that we we kind of rode that

last wave. And we also got rode that last wave of of MTV playing music videos and their shows like trl UM, which would be cool if if that element of it came back, because I feel like that's there's that it's missing, that that like fan interaction, Like that's counting the new trls like Twitter and Instagram. I guess that kind of thing that they can get closer um

that way. But yeah, it used to be you'd have to like wait out in front of a you know, you're the MTV building or whatever and hope to get a glimpse of I mean, I remember I remember one of the first we we we got to experience. It's what it was like to have fans camped out in front of your hotel and like you get out of your van and try to walk from the van to the lobby and you have to stop and sign stuff. Take.

I mean now it's back then you you ead stay in hotels under fake names so that people couldn't find you. And now people people are twittering, Hey, I'm at such such hotel, Come see me, and it's like they're and it's like a whole different, whole different plans now, but it's it's crazy name a few different ones almost, Mr Blonde, I wanted Mr E for a while, say it again, Mr Mry Mr. Oh my gosh, creative. I think I think I stole from someone else. I can't remember Elvis obviously.

So you guys toured with a lot of people, butch Walker, No Doubt, Kid Rock what those tours like, How's no Doubt is amazing? Which is super cool. Yeah, they're all wired them together. I've never we've never had any bad experiences with with tours. We've always been lucky and had had a great time with all the band's we've gone out with. UM. I don't know, we think Gwen's Gwen's

Anaheim girl. She's like, you know, she's very much like a lot of people we grew up with, and we're all still we're still friends with a lot of the

people that we've toured with. We um UM And I think there was only one band and not just saying this because I don't want to throw them under the bus, but I don't even remember their name, But there was one band that we sent home one time after one show because we just always had such good chemistry with anybody that we toured with, and that if we sense that that wasn't going to be the case, we would either pass or we would nip it. What was the vibe you liked to tour with? Like, what's the vibe

you're looking for on the road? I mean going out with thousand horses that was a fun tour. It's just having we started to feel like just one big band. You know, when everybody even you, after you've done a sound check, y'all meet up for dinner or you know, we'd have those guys on our bus all the time and go to the next town with us, and it's we wanted to feel like um one big crew. You know, it's cool. But a thousand horses was getting started. You

guys took them out on a tour with you guys. Yeah, that was a great time. And our fans, dug those guys are they're a great band. It was a great guys, great friends. So you guys just want to fun. You want to be a family, like a band of brothers.

You know, there's too much downtime on the road to to if if the people that you're around all day or on days off or after the show, if if that group of people aren't like your second family, then it makes being on the road even that much more, you know, trying and taxing because it's just your you know, there's so many hours in the day. You know, you have to sacrifice a lot to be on the road, like families, wives not being the kids so all have.

So you have to make it worth it, I guess, and you want to and you want to have a good time and you and you want to help people out, so you want to give bands a shot at stuff. And you also you know, you want to open up for cool people too, so you can. I mean, it's just a big The touring community is different. Everybody's in the same kind of boat. What whether you're in four buses or you're in a van, you're still away from

your family. You're still away from your kids or your wives and your girlfriends are um and you're you know, you're doing what you love to do. But you know there's there's a lot of it's not you know, it's awesome, but it's not easy. You know, what do you love so much about it? Why is it so awesome? And you get to do with what we love doing, you know, just performing, performing and connecting with people that have already

connected with you. To be able to be out on the road and go from town to town and have that in common with all these you know, people come to the shows and we're one of those bands that hangs out with with you know, the people that came out to see us will hang out until the last person leaves. You know, as a word, that's what it's

all about. You're always cool about this guy. Now we're yeah, we've you know, you know where you come from, you know how much work it takes to get there, and and without the support of all the all the fans, you know, you really you don't have ship. Okay. So after that big air of like this big record, you guys had a little bit of tragedy, A lot of tragedy struck you guys with your parents and your drummer.

So how did life change for you guys, like that phase hit and what did it make How did it make you reevaluate because your drummer passed away and your parents were in a car accident. Yeah, it was like it was back to back. Well I don't know how it back to back it was, but definitely it was pretty close period of a couple of years. I just felt like, no matter what, like he's trying to get up and you just, yeah, we get kept getting like

pulled back down. Um. Our mom and stepdad were on on their Harley and they got hit head on by a drunk driver. He was killed and she barely survived. She was you know, really really critical for a long time and was in the hospital for several months, and so we had to kind of put music on hold for a little while because we you know, we had to be there. Two three, four, shifts a day at the hospital, taking turns and you know, working with the doctors and the nurses and all. I was, um, really

like life changing time. And then but what came from that was that was my first trip to Nashville to start experiencing this place and and writing and writing country music and doing all that, and so it opened up. It's like it was like this really dark period of time and then this little window over here kind of opened up and like the sun kind of shined through it. It was like, Okay, my our manager at the time, just kind of tricked me into coming out here. I think.

I mean, we you know, we had been here a bunch of times, just on tour and playing you know, we were fortunate enough to get to play the star Wood and um and um. But it was so yeah, there was that, and then we kind of fired back up, and then things were starting to rap back up. We were actually getting ready to go on tour with Kiss in Europe when the news came down for about our drummer,

So Allen. So then again then then we had to push pause again and then we had to be around to take care of him and so and to be there for him and to support him. And that was another several months of being on the pause button, and not just pause that we had to decide whether or not we were going to keep, you know, moving forward

as a band. We just because you're twenty years at this point, right, Yeah, we were never a band that we never had to audition anybody, you know, we never we we just we just always were, you know, so decide, Okay, well I was not in the band. Do we have you know, we're going to keep keep playing, We're gonna make another record. Um. And I think it was Nathan, who's our drummer now, was close with Alan, and he

just sort of it was just a natural. He had kind of already been helping when Al got really sick, and he would he would get up there with him and take over when he got too tired, and and so it just naturally he kind of just you know passed the tork absolutely. So I mean that that definitely was part of the organic, you know, the thing that

happened that kept us moving. And then you know, I think, um, like Jeremy's talking about coming here and finding some new inspiration, and then I started coming here with him, and um, I met so many great writers and learned how to kind of you know, expand my horizons writing wise and learned. I have learned a lot. This has been a you know, the school of Nashville has been pretty crazy. Were you guys surprised to see that it's not just so liked

like people think Nashville is really not at all? It's so diverse? It was it was diverse. I mean I started coming here ten years ago, and um it's changed since then, but even then, it's pretty diverse. I mean it's never been this like backwards country thing. It's always been pretty Yeah. Divorce, I guess is the word. So what has life looked like for you guys in Nashville, like today in your career? Like what is happening with you guys in the Nashville community, Like what does that

look like for real? It's you guys writing country songs? Or is lit going more country? Or where is the direction of your music these days? I mean, he has it's it's it's definitely taken on a little bit of a country flavor. I don't know, you know, it depends on who you're asking. Um, you know, when some people there's people that that when they think of country music, they feel like it's gotten so it's changed so much and it's gonna the lines of them have gotten blurred,

and there's a lot of crossover. So I don't really necessarily think we claim to be country. We just definitely

have that influence on our music now. And I mean, I think I think so much of the countrys that's all, that's all I listened to, and I think it's just been um all these life changes, you know what I mean When you when you hear country music, it's a lot more relatable to a you know, a guy that's been through loss and guys that have been married and divorced and have kids now, and not even just that, but it's also you know, we still write songs about

having a good time. We still write songs about girls, and we still write songs about drinking, and that really has been completely absent from rock and roll in the last ten years. I don't know if any band that's come out that you hear on our rock station that write songs that have anything to do with what we write songs about country. It's a different story. That's we write about the same stuff. And so the country has

kind of opened up to rock. I feel like you have Steven Tyler coming in even like my husband's been a thousand horses for kind of southern rock. Well, and it's not just rock. I mean, there's there's a lot of bands. I mean when you when you see their shows, I mean, it's a rock show, um with country leaning production, with music wise, but it's still it's um. I mean, and there's several country out of it. I mean, you can't walk down Broadway in any of those honky tonks

without here and them play one of our songs. Um, they're gonna play our songs as many times as they're gonna play friends in low places, and and it's just we're all because we're all singing, we're all. You know, there's some bands. We used to say this a long time ago, but it kind of still applies. Like there's some bands that you listen to what your headphones on and you know, what your eyes closed. And then there's some bands that you put on the boom box when

you're hanging out with your friends. And we kind of always wanted to be that band, like don't don't don't dissect our music too much or or read too far into it. Just turn it up and just hang out and have a good time. And that's, um, I think that's why we relate so much to the Country audience

and they relate to us. And we've you know, we were such good friends with like I mean, our best friends are thousand Horses and Jamie Johnson and you know the guys that uh people would would would be surprised at how in time we have been with that with that community for as many, many many years as we have.

But um, we were talking about this week. It's funny because the the fans are kind of the same and and we're you know, the only the only people now that I guess, um, that we have to convince, if that's the word you want to use, is the old school gatekeepers that are deciding whether or not the country fans get to hear it, you know, and there's just a few of them, and they definitely still hold that key. Definitely hold the key. Yeah. So what have you guys

learned like your evolution? How have you guys? You have transitioned so much through your career. What has made all these transitions just flow for you guys? Because you'll never quit you know, You've had what level record deals kind of change direction. You've dealt with tragedy, and yet you'll have been together twenty plus years. How have you managed to stay fluid? Uh, loving making songs and loving playing

them live. I mean, ultimately, it's still a process that I mean, you know, we're gonna leave here in a few minutes and go over Jeffrey Steel's house and write with him, one of our favorite writers of all time, and it's such a walking into his place with nothing but a guitar and walking out with a song that you're stuck in your head for three days is like, that's mind blowing. Still after twenty years and having some hits and selling some records or whatever, to still be

that excited about. I wonder what's going to happen today. I mean, that's the thing. It's like going fishent you know, you could not catch anything. Or it's like golf. You know that one golf shot they'll keep you coming back time and time again, even if you suck. So kind of fun that you don't know what you're gonna get, it kind of makes it magical. Yeah, yeah, it really is. And it's a process that we've never gotten used to, and it's a process we've never taken for granted. So

I think it's that. And then I think, also, you know we have stepped away. We've never stepped away completely. But you know, I own a I own a bar restaurant in California. They have a slide bar, a J owns a salon, and so we do other things too. You have you can't just be all time one thing,

I don't think, because um, you'll just go crazy. So it's nice to be able to step away and do dive into something head first for a couple of weeks, and then go back and dive into music and go out and play some shows, and then come back and spend time with your family and you know, go to your kids football game and and you know, you guys have kids. Yeah, have a thirteen year old daughter about to enter the fun years of that school coming up. It coming for you guys. Yeah, let's pay back time.

And you have Jake. Yeah, okay, that's the right. Jake will be beating up, beating up the boys that are not you're not being appropriate with Presley security. So what are you guys looking forward to most musically? What does it look like for lit in the direction you're headed where are you guys going. We've been I mean we're stoked on. We've recorded six songs so far, like masters, UM,

we're here this week writing more hopefully. UM. We're just looking to get we'll have a single out hopefully by summer and UM shows coming out and play with some of these some of these guys are talking about more shows. Okay, So I like to end my podcast a little thing called leave your Life. Just give me some inspiration to all the listeners out there based on your life? Man, mm hmm. Are we has everybody stumped on this one?

Or it can be anything, doesn't that be super deep or just some inspiration that you tell maybe to some other people trying to do music, or what you have learned through your journey. And one of my favorite quotes is if you if you ain't growing, you're dyeing, so constantly try and push it a little bit. I'd say, keep pushing the envelope. Get out of your comfort zone.

I love that any dad, mm hmm. I mean I think that if you're whether you're making music or you're making jewelry, or you're you're you know, you're doing hair, or you're doing any kind of you're being creative, and um, if people are into what you're doing and you're getting good feedback, then there's no reason to ever doubt that

that couldn't translate into bigger and bigger success. I mean, um, you always have to kind of look back and if if you're doing something and no one's really reacting, then maybe you gotta take a look at it. And but if if if the feeling is like, wow, this is cool. Um, that's how we always felt about our music. And I

think that we just followed that. We just just hold onto the believers, keep them close and keep them motivating you and and and the people I've I've found that usually the naysayers are just kind of people that have failed in their own you know, on their own way to wherever they're at. So um, So I don't know if that makes any sense. Believe in yourself and hold onto that little fire. Yeah, just be smart about you know, if you're doing something and it's not quite dialed in yet,

then dial it in. Brow it back out there, you know, follow the signs. So you guys are all good at taking a little bit of construction constructive criticism, sure, absolutely, but only to a certain point. You know, there's a difference between between constructive criticism and naysayers. You know, so you kind of have to have a good age and what's gonna you know, I guess who you're listening to.

And social media has really messed up people's ability to um be themselves and stick to it because um, it doesn't matter what you do. I mean, you could go you could go on Facebook right now and say hey, I'm gonna give away a hundred dollars um to everybody I see, and there's you know, ten or twenty people are going to go, oh hundred or one out of thousand,

you know, Oh that's stupid, you know whatever. And we you know, we're almost forced to post multiple things a day and you're almost like you check back and it's like, oh, I wonder why that didn't get very many likes or you know, the comments are always Look, it's just it messes with your head like that. You know, there was a time where you just did your thing and you

just went for it. And and I uh, when our publicist told me a few years ago, he's like which I always try to remind AJ because he's a little more sensitive to it than I am. But um, whatever you do, don't read the blogs or the Yeah, now it's now everything is a blog. But it's like, whatever

you do, don't read the blogs. And if you do that, whatever you do, don't read the comments and so and I've the other brutal and I've actually learned over the years that if you don't read them, they really don't exist. It's true, that's so true. It's whatever you put in your own reality. Yeah, if you never read the comments section, they will A negative comment will never mess up. You're getting to the point now it's too because you know

you have control. If someone says something rude or negative, you can delete it for no one to no one sees it. And I've gotten to the point now where I'll leave the like the most fucked up ship just so I can kind of and I learned to kind of laugh at it, like, Okay, I'm gonna let I'll let the fans that die hards get after handle this. That's a great Just don't look at it. Yeah, it's hard, it's hard, but it works if you don't. Okay you guys, eight Day and Jeremy pop Off from the band Lit,

thank you guys for on my podcast. You guys are amazing, Hey, sater Caral, She's a queen of talking. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. I hope that you love listening to LIT. And next week is really special because it's the week after Mother's Day and I decided to do a tribute to Mother's and I found three of my favorite new moms and we are talking everything about motherhood, all of it. And they are real and honest and hilarious and we have champagne the whole time. I Kristen

Brest joining me. She's married to Preston from Low Cash. They had a huge hit last year called I Love This Life. And she also worked at Big Machine Records, where my husband is signed and Taylor Swift is signed over there, Florida, Georgia, Line, Thomas Rhett, the Band, Perry Cassidy Pe, There's so many stars, so she has huge insight into the music industry. Audrey Ball guest is also joining me with Mary Katherine Music and Audrey. Her father

was David Ball. He had he sold over a million albums and he had a huge song called Writing Shotgun with Private Malone and Audrey and Mary Katin. We're in a trio called the music the Mercy Birds, so they have so much to talk about, and they all have

little new babies that are precious and adorable. But they just spilled beans and get real with it and it's really awesome and it's refreshing to hear, so you're not gonna want to miss that, and we laugh a lot and it's just the best, So tune in next week and also please subscribe on iTunes. So many of you guys are awesome and listening on my website Caroline Hobby dot com. But in order to grow this thing and become the number one podcast, I need you guys to

go um subscribe on iTunes and leave comments. So y'all are the best. See you next week. Thanks by