041: Mike Harmeier of Mike and The Moonpies
On Episode 41, Mike Harmeier, lead vocalist and chief lyricist behind Austin’s Mike & The Moonpies returns. On this episode, we talk about our favorite George Strait songs, the band’s upcoming album Steak Night at The Prairie Rose (in which they worked with Adam Odor at Yellow Dog Studios), and writing the song “Country Music’s Dead” with fellow Texan John Baumann.
Interview Transcript
Note: Transcripts aren’t always accurate since they are computer automated and haven’t been edited for spelling, grammar, etc.
Thomas Mooney 0:04
Everyone, welcome to episode number 41 of the new slang podcast. I'm Thomas Mooney, the editor in chief of new slang here in Lubbock. And I'm gonna try and get two or three of these podcast episodes out this week. So I'll make this really, really short. Episode 41 is with Mike of Mike in the moon pies.
We talked about their new record that's going to be coming out in February. A lot of other just stuff, George Strait music, Garth Brooks, that kind of thing. Just the typical stuff that we talked about with Mike. He's been on the podcast, I guess two or three times now. And so if you haven't listened to those, go back and listen to those. He's a really interesting dude. A lot of knowledge about old school country music, TV shows, all that kind of good stuff. As far as stuff I've been writing lately, go to wide open country. There's a piece on Willie Nelson that I recently wrote. There's one that helped contribute to as far as ours that you should be looking for. In 2018. The two that I wrote on, that's Ross Cooper. He's from Lubbock. He's got a new record coming out. And Ben Danaher. He's a Nashville songwriter, originally from Texas. Really, really great song. Really great songwriter really, really great songs. Just Yeah, go go read those pieces. Also, for some reason, the audio here, it breaks a couple times. I have no clue why. But for I don't know, a few seconds here and there. We I don't know. Like we just didn't record for some reason. I'll blame that on GarageBand. So yeah, sorry, I apologize for that. So like I said, I was gonna make this really, really short. Here is the interview with Mike.
Mike Harmeier 2:16
drinking beers. Yeah. Okay, well, okay. What is this like third time you've been on here? Is it Yeah, I think so. Something like that. The first time? I don't know we talked about the second time we talked about television shows.
Thomas Mooney 2:35
Yeah, no. We got really into television shows that
Mike Harmeier 2:39
I realized how little I remember about shows. Like I intently watched the show. But then I always forget plot lines. Yeah. Later Well, I mean, that's like in loss and stuff like that. You can tell what's up thanks.
Thomas Mooney 3:00
But yeah, like lost has you lost fan? Oh, yeah. Like lost had like all these little things, especially like in the mid seasons where they really didn't know what the hell they were doing.
Mike Harmeier 3:10
Yeah. And they jump back at least on a day to day basis. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 3:15
Like,
Thomas Mooney 3:16
oh, all of a sudden here's Claire again.
Mike Harmeier 3:20
Very confusing.
Thomas Mooney 3:22
But anyways yeah, okay, so I don't know if you read this piece I did like the the underrated George Strait songs.
Mike Harmeier 3:32
I remember you talking about I don't think I read it.
Thomas Mooney 3:34
Okay. I wrote it on on wide open country.
Mike Harmeier 3:36
Yeah. Anyways, why don't we country a little bit.
Thomas Mooney 3:39
Yeah, it was a your your street fan.
Mike Harmeier 3:42
Yeah. Big fan.
Thomas Mooney 3:44
I was wanting to get your opinion on this. Actually. What you thought like what? Okay, first off, there was a song that I didn't put on here. But because I guess to backtrack, yeah. I basically isn't a read George Strait song a couple weeks ago. And from start to finish, you know, and the one song that really stood out as far as like, just didn't feel like a George Strait song is a song called she loves me she don't love you, which was really originally written by Conway Twitty.
Mike Harmeier 4:16
I think I know that song and
Thomas Mooney 4:19
oh, it's like George is like being the the aggressor guy. Really? Yeah, like this dude comes up and like starts hitting on his woman. And he's just like,
Mike Harmeier 4:28
that doesn't pick song that he is talking to you.
Thomas Mooney 4:31
Yeah, so everyone go listen to it. You need to listen to I will. It's just like even just the way he sounds and the soggy sounds kind of
Mike Harmeier 4:39
didn't record it. Um, yeah, I
Thomas Mooney 4:42
do. I had straight country or something. No, this is actually like midnight, or like rather than let's see here. It's unlimited up.
Mike Harmeier 4:51
Okay.
Thomas Mooney 4:52
Yeah. Which is also strange because he's like in the the tuxedo and tuxedo on that he
Mike Harmeier 4:55
had a weird cover.
Thomas Mooney 4:56
Yeah. Yeah, this cover right here.
Mike Harmeier 4:59
Yeah. Yeah, it's a strange, strange. It's one of his strange covers.
Thomas Mooney 5:03
Yeah. On my record right there. There's a drinking champagne.
Mike Harmeier 5:06
Yeah, that's what that was what I was gonna say.
Thomas Mooney 5:09
I've come to expect it from you. Yes. The one song that I put up on my list though, on this record is lonesome rodeo cowboy.
Mike Harmeier 5:15
I don't think I've listened to that many man. It's a good song. This is crazy. I'm getting a list of Georgia. I know. So my favorite maybe the okay. It ain't cool. To be crazy about you. Yeah, that's like one of my favorite songs. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 5:31
See on that record, too. One of the things that you notice when you listen to George straights entire discography at once, is that's on like, hold me now.
Mike Harmeier 5:42
Yeah. are holding my holding my own. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 5:46
That record has like the longest long title.
Mike Harmeier 5:49
Yeah, for sure.
Thomas Mooney 5:49
There's that on there. It has, like there's something like, Is that also like, gone as a girl can get up and get
Mike Harmeier 5:57
out?
Thomas Mooney 5:58
I believe. It's amazing just how long those song titles
Mike Harmeier 6:03
are. That's a great record. The other one that I really, really like that. I don't I feel. And it was crazy, because it was a album title cut was beyond the blue neon. Like I love that song. And it's, I would love to play it somebody who's really hard. All those like jazzy songs are the ones that I really like.
Thomas Mooney 6:21
Yeah, that record right there too is that one has some monster hits on it. But like no one ever really talks about it as being like be like their favorite joiner
Mike Harmeier 6:31
and that one? That was the one I think that I have like the most memory of that record like that. My that I must have been really, really in the middle of my big George Strait phase when that record was out because I don't remember everything about that. Right. Here's that article.
Thomas Mooney 6:46
List. Yeah. See, I mean, for me pure country was like the that's whenever I can mostly remember George Strait. As far as like the earliest memory.
Mike Harmeier 6:56
That's his best selling record. For your
Thomas Mooney 6:58
country. The soundtrack? Yeah, yeah. I believe it. I mean, it's
Mike Harmeier 7:03
but like right after he swears that's their that's on the end of the neon.
Thomas Mooney 7:06
Yeah. See, like a song like that. I feel like, what what surprises me most is one. It's severely set in a specific time because of the Hollywood Squares thing. Right? Yeah. But also it sounds like a single but it was never released.
Mike Harmeier 7:23
Yeah, there's so many. He does. I mean, every record has like maybe two or three. that aren't it? Yeah. But the majority of those records are chock full of his. And they're mostly Dean Dylan's
Thomas Mooney 7:38
Yeah, we'll see. What's crazy about that first one on that list, baby Your baby. Yeah. No, not maybe your baby less than love our country. That was written by JD Salinger. And Glen fry.
Mike Harmeier 7:49
Oh, really? Yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 7:51
and it's actually like on jd souders first record, right. Yeah. But if you listen to it now you'll go. Oh, I can hear those little bit of the Eagles kind of salad. sad thing going listening. It's
Mike Harmeier 8:06
gonna be a George Strait day in the van tomorrow. Yeah. Let's good. Yeah. not complaining about that.
Thomas Mooney 8:14
It's funny, though. Did you Did you see any of the the conversation that I had with the George Strait stuff on Twitter the other day? Now? I'm not on Twitter these days. I know. Now, but one of them was like, when I went and listened to all these every record, every song I said was like, obviously, from 81 to 2000, whatever. George didn't write, but like one song, right. But every what I said was like, every song feels like a key. He grabbed ownership of the song and
Mike Harmeier 8:52
a lot of ways he like that's it. That's his thing he'd like, I remember I read like, he would just like drive around in his truck on his ranch and listen to songs that are being pitched and I hear he personally picks all the songs that he does. And he says very he's a melody, man. That's what he calls himself. So like that gets his first go to thing and that's why he loves Dean Dylan so much just because there's so many of the melodies are so good. So yeah, he did. Like, he really curates this whole catalogue, himself, which is amazing.
Thomas Mooney 9:19
Yeah. It's, it's that it's like you see the evolution of the sound. Because obviously at the very beginning, it's the Honky Tonk, right like and What's strange too is like the heartbreak song changes for him. very beginning of the career it's like oh, my my woman's she's decided bust up with me. Well, hey, let's go to the bar and up. And then mid career. Like he is the the sad, heartbreaking song is like it's turned to shit like we're like 10 years into a marriage. Yeah, and like now like Least 10 years have been essentially wasted
Mike Harmeier 10:02
and I feel bad. He he matured through his songs without writing the songs. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 10:08
Isn't that like, to me that's like really strange and interesting. And
Mike Harmeier 10:13
yeah, you know, I mean, I guess he, I don't know, man, his his process must be pretty interesting. Like at what he chose to keep close to home, you know, the songs are like, like, I don't remember that thing about baby blue. And everybody said like, a long time people like Oh, he wrote that song and wrote it for his daughter or whatever. None of that was true. Yeah, I mean, but it was close to something in his life at the time. That he didn't, but he didn't write the song. Yeah. So there's got to be some sort of common thread there through his entire life that that keeps it that way.
Thomas Mooney 10:42
Yeah. And also, I think the, the the thing about like him just starting to write songs in the last eight years or whatever. That is, like some development that I don't think anyone saw coming. And but he's not like a bad songwriter.
Mike Harmeier 11:00
He's that bad. I mean, that song. I can't see Texas from here. The one that he wrote, like, early on in the career, that's a great song. Yeah. And he, like Johnny bush cut that song, too. Like that sounds been covered before. Yeah. But I think he's only writing now because Bubba wants to be a writer. So like, he wants to write with his son. Yeah, I think is the is the reason that he's doing that. Because I mean, it's been, he doesn't need to write. But he also, there's a weird phase in his career where he quit picking Dean Dylan songs. And like, his records got not as good.
Thomas Mooney 11:31
Yeah. What you also see like this, jump between early 80s. A lot of ways like, obviously, he was natural guy. He went to Nashville, had major press, all that kind of stuff. King of country, but during the, like around 89 to 93 or so. You see him go from being just a country mega star to being a mega star. Yeah. And just like icon. Yeah. And like, where you don't just go, oh, George Strait. That's a country guy. Like everyone literally knows you. George Strait is in like a sense where it's like, this is like a pop star. You know what I mean? And his songs do change. And they they become a little bit more mellow. And they become a little bit more. I guess, like more towards the middle. Sure. You know,
Mike Harmeier 12:30
yeah. He's not offending anybody. He's not Yeah, he's toeing the line of being, you know, staying pop. Yeah. Yeah. Not Yeah. not offending anyone. Yeah, doing anything that's out of the ordinary. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 12:42
I find I find that so interesting. And like, I wonder if you go back and like really do the research on it. Like, I want to know, like, how conscious of a decision that was, like, what the team did to decide like, how they would transition? Sure. Yeah.
Mike Harmeier 13:01
Yeah. I wonder how much I would assume that these days, he has pretty much full creative control on every aspect. And in the middle, maybe he didn't. Yeah, maybe like his manager, or herbals or whatever was, you know, really directing his career in a way? Which, dude, I mean, I'll be completely honest. There's the later George Strait stuff, the more recent George Strait is up, I just don't like Yeah, I just, I mean, I did he uses he is that auto tune thing on that one song? Yeah. Like, he got weird versus like, why is he doing that? what's what's the reason for that? I think like, easy come easy. Go is like the last record that I liked. of Georgia's. Yeah, after that, man. It's just it's not interesting enough. And it's like, not just not the same George Strait.
Thomas Mooney 13:50
I think I think that there are some songs on this. On that love is everything. There's a few songs that I was like, Oh, this is like the best George Strait record I've heard since it just comes natural. I think it just comes natural is like, as far as the later stuff. That's my favorite. The last records that has I probably
Mike Harmeier 14:08
stopped listening after blue clear sky. Probably. Yeah, that was a good day. For me. That was a really poppy record. Yeah. That was kind of a turning point record. I feel like, yeah, that's where I noticed it. But then again, I was doing different things. Like I you know, I was playing blues and stuff and like, I wasn't into it as much as I was as a kid. Yeah. So my perspective changed
Thomas Mooney 14:30
as well. That it is interesting to see because, like, for me, it's not like those records I had or have, but you still heard them on the radio. Yeah, you know, sure. We didn't have iPhones and iPods to pick up. We're just all radio stuff. So
Mike Harmeier 14:48
I remember man. I remember like having a Walkman at a family reunion. I think it was a blue clear sky record. Or not blue sky. Now it was one of those records like right around that time. Like that's all I listen to over and over again. I didn't listen to them. I just listened to George Shea tapes.
Thomas Mooney 15:07
Yeah. That's what's also interesting to see is like all those guys when they just stopped doing vinyl, because like vinyls and background I just bought but like I was gonna see like I was gonna say like, what when did straight quit cutting vinyl because I'd have like all the ad stuff on vinyl. But it's one of those things where I don't know if I even saw but if if I went to like the local radio record store wouldn't be like they would have the nice stuff.
Mike Harmeier 15:37
Yeah. Did they even I don't print vinyl at all on he does like I know they did I don't think they printed.
Thomas Mooney 15:41
I think it's like a reissue kinda Yeah.
Mike Harmeier 15:46
Yeah, but I mean, I have like, yeah, I have a bunch of the volunteer. I have like number seven and all that stuff on vinyl. And I wish I mean, I wish I could have all of them. Yeah, I know.
Thomas Mooney 15:54
Because like, I know, like Garth Brooks, none of that song. Of course. It's like 89 plus, so sure. It's not like people were buying records.
Mike Harmeier 16:03
Yeah. I mean, at that time to like, I wouldn't really want those like really overproduced pop records on vinyl anyway. Yeah, I mean, that's, that's cool, I guess, to have the vinyl but at the same time, like there's something about those older records like that men's himself the vinyl way more than than that over producing, and he was doing later on,
Thomas Mooney 16:25
you don't have a good ear. That's better record. Yeah. I was talking with somebody about that. I think it was like Jetson ko whenever we're doing a podcast, a couple, I guess about a month ago. And I was saying, we're talking about how, yeah, vinyl is great and everything like that. And I'm not even like a big vinyl, right dude, as far as knowing all of the how to set up all the stuff but even whenever you do have the vinyl, it sounds better. But it sounds significantly better if you have a really amazing set option, which like 90% of us don't have
Mike Harmeier 17:07
Yeah, like when I got my test pressings for this most reason record. I put it on a fucking Crossley. And I mean, it's cool. But it sounds like a shitty record player. Yeah. You know, I would love to take it to a place with a good record player. Yeah, but that's it's expensive. Oh,
Thomas Mooney 17:26
yeah. Do you think you have to do is you have to have an old record player or you have to go and like have a new thing.
Mike Harmeier 17:35
I have one of those things in my house. But it doesn't work go into those like credenza ones or whatever. It's like inside the thing with this, please get the speakers built into it or whatever. And it needs like a new transformer or something. I could probably fix that. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I think that's the only way to do it is have like an old ass record player. Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 17:51
I found an old one at a an estate sale the other day. And like everything worked on it, except for the record player. And they're like, you sure you don't want it still? A track works. I'm like, no. I mean, it was kind of a deal breaker on that and have my favorite records on a track. Yeah. I do have some eight tracks, but it's like, what do you no one's listening? Like a track will not come back? Yeah, for sure is the thing. You know,
Mike Harmeier 18:15
my dad has a bunch of a tracks and boxes and boxes and boxes.
Thomas Mooney 18:18
Really? Yeah. Okay, I've got one a trek story. And it's not my story. But this is one that I always remember. My eighth grade history teacher was talking about how he was growing up. He just turned 1516 getting his license and bought like a bolts wet or a station wagon used and had an eight track in it. And he fixed it up and all this kind of stuff. And when he bought it like the entire back was just full of eight tracks. And the person he bought it for him was like, yeah, you can have all of them. I mean, I can't play him. Blah, blah. And so he was all happy and stuff you're buying, he's buying his book and he got like the Volkswagen, it was, you know, just first car kind of thing. And the bag was Ajax, and he would they all worked all that kind of stuff and gets his license. And like, I think like within two weeks of having it somebody freakin like ran a stop sign and like, smashed the back end of it and fucking just won. It was totaled, but it was like all those eight tracks all over the place. So yeah,
Mike Harmeier 19:32
this guy's really hip. Hop is a drag out there picking up a drag about the street. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 19:40
You imagine that though? Like
Mike Harmeier 19:45
I rolled a truck, like maybe five or six years ago. And I like is bad. Yeah. So I went I went back to the scene of the crime the next day. And like there were CDs and tapes and shit. All over the There were people out there in the street digging through my CDs, like picking up CDs and check it out.
Thomas Mooney 20:06
Yeah, you were like, what do you do in that situation? Hey, give me back my music. I don't know. I would have to say something.
Mike Harmeier 20:15
I didn't. I didn't. I didn't want to stop. They want anybody knows me.
Thomas Mooney 20:21
Man. So yeah, you guys cut this new record?
Mike Harmeier 20:25
Yep. We sure did. February. Yeah, February 2. Yeah. Yeah, man. Adam motor dude. slated. I don't think I can make another record now without having had them over. Yeah. Yeah. It was like, it's that moment when you think he finally he, like we found the guide for us. And yeah, it changed the game man. And now it's great, because he has. He's working a yellow dog out there in Wimberley. And now we can just kind of use the studio like, all the time, it's like having a place to go and record that with a producer that we like and gets it. That's what we did that country music's dead thing just because, yeah, we could. I mean, we did that after the record, just cuz we wanted to make something else.
Thomas Mooney 21:14
Yeah, had the opportunity to do so how'd that come together? First off. The company music said,
Mike Harmeier 21:19
Yeah. We were not on the record. And when we were making our record, I think damage record had just come out when we were recording. And I really liked damage record. And Dom has a very identifiable voice, like the way he phrases things, the way the words come out of his mouth is very different. And I wanted to do some kind of Willy Whalen thing at some point with somebody I didn't know who I wanted to do that with. And we started talking about how much would like damage record and that he'd be a good fit for it. And I like them. And style balance seems like a lifer. Like, you know, he's, you know, we seem like we're maybe cut from the same cloth a little bit. So it seemed like it would, it would work out. So we hit him up. And he came out. And we wrote that song, I had it as an idea for what potentially would have been on the record. Before but it was an unfinished idea. So I thought it was a great opportunity to do a co write and had some extra input on a song that I couldn't finish. Yeah. So me and Adam and Domine wrote the thing and like a day. And then we recorded it maybe a week later or something like that with it with my band. And then being handed did vocals, maybe a week or two after that. And I just came out so, so good. It's like exactly what I wanted it to be. Yeah. And I like the idea of one off singles like that. Like, I don't know how many I would do just by myself, like just a moon pies put out something. But I like the idea of a collaboration one off. Yeah. And it's kind of a single driven market kind of right now anyway. And it ended up being a good thing to have content before the record comes out and a permanent thing for that and something for steamboat and it just timed out. Well. Yeah. And like I said, having Yellow Dog, we were able to do it in a pretty quick turnaround. And I'm stoked about it now. I think it's awesome. It's gotten all controversial on Well, I've got like an idiot, and I started reading the comments on it's just there's so many trolls on that site, dude. Yeah, it's all it is. It's like a hub for trolls. Is that
when it came out? This is how I know people didn't listen to it. I didn't care the people that said something on the internet, because it was misspelled on Spotify and it just said county musics dead right? And I was pissed off about it. At first I was like, I don't care, whatever. Everyone knows this country music's dead. Yeah. And not a single one of these damn trolls said anything about that at all. But they had all kinds of other shit to say like, wow, these hipsters are like, I'm tired of these hipsters doing Waylon beats they'd like they didn't hear any music before 1973. And I was like, You guys just don't understand. That's not even like the point that you didn't listen to song. You don't understand what the song is talking about. those assholes are the people I'm talking about in the song.
Unknown Speaker 24:11
Yeah. Fuck.
Thomas Mooney 24:12
It's like, my favorite part is? Well, it's everything. It's always been like this forever. But like the internet is just made it where you don't have to read anything. And you can say what you want. And no one's gonna be like, I don't know. The Internet in general, is it's like the it's like a binary thing. Sure. You either with us or against us. And one person says something. It didn't like something that's like, I don't agree with that. And then later, everyone else is like, Yeah, I don't agree with that. Yeah. And then like, or on the other side. It's like, Yeah, fuck yeah. Like, yeah, that's my thing. Yes. Yeah. And there's like, no, talking about it in the middle.
Mike Harmeier 24:53
Yeah. And yeah, it's just hard to either side.
Thomas Mooney 24:56
Yeah. But like, you don't have to read anything. You'd have to listen to anything. You can just say something and there's no accountability. Yeah, I guess.
Mike Harmeier 25:03
And but it's like the people that were commenting on it, obviously do that on everything that that guy posed on that site. They had their little fucking names on there like, whatever the name is Yeah. And like that's just what they do. Yeah. And so they all kind of like know each other through the shit that they talk on the on those on his click. Yeah, yeah, so I take it with a grain of salt. And it's it's hilarious. Yeah. But those people just don't get it. Yeah, they shouldn't even you know, they don't understand what the fuck they're talking about. Yeah. And they didn't listen to the damn song. Or if they did thanks for the stream.
Thomas Mooney 25:45
Yeah, see, I think first off the it's a good song but also I do like like all the people Baumann was a great choice because I think Baumann. I've said this before Baumann, like sing songs about Texas without ever like being like, Hey, this is a Texas option. And there's something the way he writes songs always feels like there, and especially on those first, that first record and EP, a little bit on that second EP. They're all like, you know, location driven, which I think is really Lind. Linda, has made this new record better, because it's like the new records not location driven, per se, but like, it's it's made his writing better and why you know what I mean? Yeah, I
Mike Harmeier 26:34
agree with that. Yeah, I mean, I think that he's doing, he's doing this Texas thing, but he's not doing it in the way that everybody else is. Yeah, he has his own identity, and his own style. And that's kind of what this whole thing is about is like, knowing what you like to do and how you do it. And doing that no matter what, like I don't he's not writing something that sounds like radio country, Texas country song because that's not what he does. Yeah. And that's kind of what the whole song is about. So yeah, I think he was a he was a perfect fit for that.
Thomas Mooney 27:07
Yeah. Yeah. The line about the trees. That's a good one. Yeah, I was like, because I tweeted about that was like, Well, I guess I'm a tree.
Mike Harmeier 27:17
I saw, I didn't see that. I see things you see if you wanted me to read a tweet you had tagged me,
Thomas Mooney 27:22
just from now on?
Mike Harmeier 27:24
Just anything that you think is interesting? And I've interested?
Thomas Mooney 27:26
Yeah. Because like there's, in a lot of ways I know you're like you're, you're doing like on countries not or countries dead. This tongue in cheek kind of way. But like, like Baumann song where he's like, too soon for accolades, too late to quit, like, that's very much like in the same vein. But like in a I mean, like, it's a funny line. And I think, in a lot of ways, like the it's too soon for accolades, too late to quit. But it's also like really can be depressing and heartbreaking. At the same time. I
Mike Harmeier 27:59
think that song is when I heard that song, I think that's when I knew that it was going to be dominated that thing. Because that's, and, you know, he writes a lot in that song about growing up, and when he was listening to and his dad influencing him and given records and stuff like that. And that's very much in the same vein about what I write about a lot. Yeah, so I mean, and we didn't, we weren't like great friends. Like we hung out a couple times. We met at steamboat a couple of years ago, I think. So it was kind of, I never do co writes Really? Yeah. So it was interesting kind of experiment to put myself in as well, to just see how that would pan out. And that's by far been the best co ad experience I've ever had. And we also had odor. And it was a really, I think it really benefited by having three people. Yeah, like any other time, I've tried to do a co writer just me and one other person in a room. And it just never really has clicked as well as this one did. So um, yeah, I think maybe a three way co ride is the best way to do it. Yeah, yeah, that's fun.
Thomas Mooney 29:02
So this new record you you guys have released two singles, right? Like two
Mike Harmeier 29:06
Yeah, we really speeches a Biloxi road crew
Thomas Mooney 29:10
issues of Biloxi is like bury that reminds me like the that lady's country of the the narrative of, you know, losing your money and all that kind of shit.
Mike Harmeier 29:21
Yeah, there's kind of a lot of that theme on this whole record that kind of time period of country music thing.
Thomas Mooney 29:28
Is it? Is it more nostalgic longing for that period? Or is it more like now it kind of sound like that stuff.
Mike Harmeier 29:34
It's, it's kind of trying to take it in a different direction. It's kind of trying to put the balls back into that. Like that. That era was cool. But it was also it lacked a lot of what happened earlier on without law stuff where it was just more in your face and more aggressive. So this is kind of a hodgepodge of those things. And I didn't intend it to be that way. It just the way We wanted the record, the intention was to go in and just play like the band does, I don't wanna do it, it didn't, didn't wanna do anything on the record that I couldn't do live. And I wanted it to be our band and our guys. And it's like, no acoustic guitar on it, I'm playing electric guitar the whole time. Like, just, you know, a fun record to go and play. Yeah, I tried to write kind of simpler songs, because I wanted the band to be able to stretch out more and have an I, I wanted to be able to take, I got really tired of doing 24 songs in a 90 minute set. So I wanted to write songs that I could stretch out. Yeah. And like I can make these songs last longer, I can play less songs, with longer music breaks, or whatever. So I kind of geared myself in the writing phase to that to lend itself to that. And so what we I didn't expect to get what we got. But I'm glad that it came out that way. Because it sounds like the band. And I did, I'd kind of been thinking about that when we did the live record. Because that's what I wanted to. I wanted to get everybody used to the idea of hearing stuff on a record that just off the cuff. Yeah, you know, because the last record, Mockingbird was really like organized and like all these were all parts and like we worked out all these parts. And on this one, it's just kind of go in and play and if that's so that was good. And that's what we keep if there's Miss small mistakes in the record and keep the mistakes like, you know, I just wanted to make a record like that. And I'd never done that before. And again, having Yellow Dog was great, because we stayed there for five days. And that's the way I want to make I'd never done that. I want to be like, we just were here for five days, we're going to 10 songs a notebook, we're going to record these songs. And that's going to be a record. Yeah. Is that how you typically write notebook? Yeah, I do. I am. It's usually starts off with just voice notes on my phone, voice memos, or whatever. And then I'll transfer that to paper. And that's when I kind of zoned in on it. It's but it's mostly, it's mostly just voice that I have so many voice notes. Hundreds of half written songs. Yeah. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 32:08
I do think there's something to like taking pen to paper. Yeah. You know, that makes it like if I know I'm not writing songs, but if I'm like working on something, an article or something, right. And I'll typically started out like on a notepad. sure we're like on a on at least where I'm writing something. ideas down. Yeah, exactly. I feel like it
Mike Harmeier 32:32
is your way to think through it. like seeing it. Like I'll go through, I'll write down all the lines that I have. And then I'll kind of like circle the ones like, okay, I can make that a better line or whatever. You know, and then sometimes I'll look up something on the internet or something. I mean, like, and you end up with like, notes all over shit, you know, scratched out and yeah. But yeah, definitely, like just seeing it written down. Gives you well, much more better perspective of like, what it actually what you're actually talking about. Yeah, cuz a lot of times if I'm just doing a voice, then I'm kind of just like spitting out words that go to this melody that I have in my head, that maybe make no sense at all. But then you write that down, and then you see like, kind of what your syllables are landing. And, you know, then you get a little bit more technical with it. Yeah. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 33:22
Interesting. You say like, you know, you'll look up something. I know Bellman does that to a whole lot, especially on this first record, he would look up to like, I'm writing a song about this area. Right. Let me go and look at a map. Absolutely. You know, how much of that do you do?
Mike Harmeier 33:38
I do a lot of that. And I also, I think that this thing, from Felker, we were trying to write one time in Corpus. And he had his little notebook or whatever he has. And he had a idiom dictionary. And, and he's like, I use this all the time. Yeah. And then I went back and started listening to all these Turnpike things was like, Dude, this is all idioms. Yeah, like classic idioms to me. But like he's put a little turn of phrase on it. Yeah. So now I have like a website that has like a idiom dictionary app on my phone. Because I use that all the time. And that's like, it gives you a good idea of you know, how to make one line a little bit more interesting. Yeah, I mean, instead of just flat out saying something, you know, you can say it with a little bit of pizzazz.
Thomas Mooney 34:25
Yeah. Well, I know like the we're, anytime I've talked with him about songwriting stuff. It's been like, just his use of idioms is always it comes out of left field in a lot of ways, right. And what that makes what makes it so interesting is obviously an idiom is something that we should probably all know, you know,
Mike Harmeier 34:47
yeah. It's universal, right? What it means
Thomas Mooney 34:52
Yeah, but like, a lot of times, he uses him in ways that you just go Oh, shit, man. I didn't think Yeah, I know. Like, on One of the new songs he try think what it is though. He basically it's an idiom but like he replaced the first part of it for something else. Something else and like it. It took a few listenings to pick it out really pick it up in like three or four people to really hone in on like, is this what he's talking about? Yeah, cuz I mean, he's,
Mike Harmeier 35:34
he's a good turn of phrase, man.
Thomas Mooney 35:35
Yeah. That he said that, like he said that, that used to be kind of like a family game of probability and creating idioms.
Mike Harmeier 35:44
That makes sense. You know, that makes a lot of sense.
Thomas Mooney 35:48
Yeah. Because there's, there's like the one that I still think is the best idiom that he's used. Or it sounds like an idiom, but it's not as like everyone wants to be Hank Williams. Nobody wants to die. Cuz that's like, Oh, shit, man. Are you sure? Like people haven't been saying this?
Mike Harmeier 36:04
This has got to be similar in a book somewhere. You know what I mean, though? Did you read that thing? I think it was like gardening gun that they said that he's the Springsteen of like, Red Dirt songwriting or something like that, really. And I was like, that's obviously very high praise. But that actually, like that makes a lot of sense to me. Because it's all story driven. It's all like about these characters. And it's a lot of the same characters.
Thomas Mooney 36:29
Yeah. Well, I've always said Faulkner. Yeah, like for sure. In. Yeah. Music form. Absolutely. But, yeah, Springsteen, though.
Mike Harmeier 36:38
That's both hot. Those are both. He deserves it. Yeah, that's great. Well,
Thomas Mooney 36:42
I think like he he's maybe like the best songwriter going right now. I mean, everyone, obviously, there's izabal. And there's Yeah, Moreland and there's a bunch of other people. Lori McKenna is amazing. But like as far as like, I think, one of the most like what he's done. That's maybe not maybe it is different than everyone else, though. is like he's created a world. Sure. That's a Yeah, I mean, like, the Springsteen thing is AP, because Springsteen made new jersey into his own version of New Jersey, right?
Mike Harmeier 37:17
Yeah. Yeah, that's the I think that's they were spot on, man. Yeah. And I agree, like, I think, I think Isabel is maybe the best one. But it's completely different than what felger does. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, as far as, as far as this, this group of people, yeah, the top of the game, man.
Thomas Mooney 37:38
Yeah. I wonder like how, you know, he. He's talked about like, how, you know, he's dabbled in writing some short story kind of stuff, but like, never really finished it and never really uses his best ideas for that kind of stuff. Because he obviously wants to use them for songs. I wonder like if he'll ever go down that
Mike Harmeier 38:01
road. Read a collection of short stories.
Thomas Mooney 38:03
Yeah. A collection of short stories. I said, a play or something. You know,
Mike Harmeier 38:09
that'd be interesting. Yeah. A musical. That makes a great DVD. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 38:16
You ever do any of that stuff? Now? You just a songwriter? I just write songs. No painting. No. No drawing?
Mike Harmeier 38:23
Really? I'm a terrible artist.
Thomas Mooney 38:27
There's a I can't even doodle. I mean, there's, there's people who buy that stuff. Terrible or? Yeah, market for it.
Mike Harmeier 38:36
I can't even write handwritten lyrics to sell that people can read that.
Thomas Mooney 38:42
Man, BJ Barnum has gotten down. Yeah, for sure. That's one of those where?
Mike Harmeier 38:47
Yeah, well, that's how he's afforded Christmas gifts.
Thomas Mooney 38:50
One of the things too, though, is like I'm like, man, how is your hand not cramping? You have to?
Mike Harmeier 38:56
I can't do that, like just writing one song. And he's like, and I get like, my little thing in my hand, my finger where my fingers are hurt no spine. I don't like writing. I don't like writing or reading or doing. Just watching TV. It's like to watch TV and sing songs.
Thomas Mooney 39:12
Have you? Okay? Have you ever written saw a song about a TV show? Or like influenced by like, Oh, that's kind of funny. Or like, Oh, that's an interesting little.
Mike Harmeier 39:21
I think that there's a lot of times where I'm inspired. Like, I'll be like laying like on a couch or in bed or something and had the TV on. It's like, have a guitar with me. And there's a lot of times I'm inspired by something that may be on TV in a movie or something like that. But I never directly take you from that. I just there's that they're just one of those moments of like, Okay, I think I have an idea. Yeah. And it happens a lot while I'm kind of in this weird zone where I'm kind of watching TV and kind of playing guitar. Yeah, there's a lot of those things. I don't think I've ever really written. Anything based, like directly off the TV. What's said in there Robert Ellis song It's like Something about watching TV. Like the whole premise is watching TV. Yeah, it is.
Thomas Mooney 40:04
I think it's like a long one of those long song titles. Yeah. I think that's a guy who like, as far as like people liking the the old surgical stuff, right? It's like, hey, if you like that, go check out old Robert Ellis.
Mike Harmeier 40:21
Yeah, somebody commented down on that saving country music thing, too. They were like, that was me. You're the hockey guy. Yeah. He was like, because people were calling us hipsters or something, which I don't understand. I don't like why that is. Yeah. What am I doing? It's so hit. Absolutely nothing. And they're like, if you like, if you think that if, you know, hipsters are not like, look at Robert Ellis, they would arguably say that he is a hipster because he has a fashionable haircut and wears a suit or something. But they're like, go back and listen to his first record, you know, photographs or whatever. And like, there's all kinds of classic country stuff on that, you know, I mean, and he's, he's just like a long haired hippie. Yeah, yeah. There's way too much put on, like, what someone's character is outside of the music that they write or? Yeah, yeah, I mean,
Thomas Mooney 41:14
I do think that there is this like, but I don't even know if I would say any of the people we're talking about or there is this like aspect of I think of a certain kind of artists who would is doing or who would do a song like, okay, it'd be like, if I don't even know if I have an artist though. But I think that there's like there are there is like this selection of people who are trying to play music, or they would do a cover, let's say an old cover of something as an as a hokey kind of genre. It'd be like the same reason why it's the same reason why a lot of people will cover vorsprung Brooks friends in low places, right? Yeah. But I don't know if like any of the people like I don't think like Robert Ellis is that way. Like,
Mike Harmeier 42:21
there are some bands that's like,
Thomas Mooney 42:23
there's like Honky Tonk hipster band. Yeah. But like not I don't think like, obviously, when y'all were in Austin, there's
Mike Harmeier 42:28
a handful of them that I you know, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you who they are. Yeah, but there's people that are doing it because it's a hip thing to do. And the white horse exists. So like, there's people that you know, they want. It's just like, every damn club in Austin started having a damn Honky Tonk night. You know what I mean? Yeah, like, every club. And it's not because they're into it or whatever, just cuz there's so many people that are like, doing it now. That are just like faking it or whatever. You know, I
Thomas Mooney 43:00
mean, like, they I would suspect that like Marfa would be really high on this list of places. You know, I mean, that's, that's that kind of where I'm like, y'all are doing it. Because there's this aspects of irony in it. Yeah. And we're like, you think there's irony? Yeah. Like,
Mike Harmeier 43:18
I just don't I mean, we're doing it. Because it's what we sound like when we play together. Yeah. It's like, I'm not trying to do anything. There's no, like, trude we don't sit there and say, Okay, this thing's not country enough. Yeah, it's just, this is what this is the songs that I write. And this is how the band sounds really plan. Yeah, there's absolutely nothing there that's, like forced about it. And we're not trying to do it, because it's cool. I'm not trying to sell records, because I'm not because it's not cool. And I'm not selling. Yeah, if that was the case, I'd be I'd be doing something completely different. Yeah. So like, all that other. If there's plenty of bands that do what we do on a fake level, just because it's a cool thing to do. And then there's plenty of bands that probably could be like us that want to do kind of what we're doing, but they don't because they want to be more commercial and more poppin. So more records. Yeah, so I mean, it goes both ways. Yeah. You know, I mean, either I don't know I just think it's more important to me to do exactly what I want to do.
Thomas Mooney 44:22
Yeah, I do think there's probably more listeners that are that way than bands. Yeah, that's probably and it's like the mic comparison would be up bunch of people being big Terry Allen fans, not necessarily because of like, Oh, this guy is a great songwriter and great artists but like the and typically it's like in this it's like the it's like in a backhanded compliment kind of way. Like you'll never like it like the outsider art aspect of like, Terry Allen is this outsider artists and you'll never guess where he's from. Lubbock, Texas, and by God like living in Lubbock, he must've suffered a whole lot. Like that entire thing because I feel like there's a little bit of that. As far as like the the 60s and 70s 80 or 60 7080s Lubbock guys is thinking like, these guys are all from Lubbock and like, Oh my god, living in loving Muslim really sucked. Yeah, granted it did, especially back then.
Mike Harmeier 45:30
Yeah, then I'm sure but like,
Thomas Mooney 45:31
they were, like really suffering through it. But there is like an aspect of like, thinking of them as like a novelty or you know what I mean? And there's a certain fan base. That is like real. I suspect that they're like, all real highbrow. Yeah. college educated, kind of.
Mike Harmeier 45:51
It's like the idea of like, people, all those people that talk shit about Midland, it's the same fucking thing. It's like, Oh, well, they're not the real deal. This guy is not a cowboy or some shit like that. And these people even know what the fuck they're talking about in the first place. Like that. Like that guy, mark for middlin really did grew up on a ranch to do all that shit. But he's not singing about that shit. nor is he trying to sell anybody. I'd like people are so interested in what your background is. And like, if you're if you're real, it's like, if it sounds fucking good, and you like the fucking music? What the fuck do you care? How real that person is? I mean, I think it's good to have a background that you can honestly sing or write about. It's nice to be true to that. Yeah. But at the end of the day, man, like,
Thomas Mooney 46:41
I think on the entire on that the the background aspect of that is that it was like a little like, it became a bigger story than it really ever should have.
Mike Harmeier 46:53
Yeah, right.
Thomas Mooney 46:54
I do think like, it's kind of like Kochi and I mean,
Mike Harmeier 46:59
of course it is. But it's not and that bargain.
Thomas Mooney 47:02
My thing is though, is like had they never even said that it wouldn't have never been sure a deal. And hell for all I know. Somebody said, hey, let's do this, because it's gonna get like a lot of
Mike Harmeier 47:13
Yeah, there was a big machine decision, obviously, that there because that's the only story they had as a publicity thing for their press release. Yeah, I mean, like, what do you what do you say about three guys? That dress the way they do and play what they play? Like? How do you? How do you make that story? And the obvious way is to say, these guys grew up in the hockey togs? Yeah, blah, and all that kind of shit. Which may or may not be true. I mean, I'm, I know. But I don't care. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, their bio reads like, our bio is, you don't I mean, their bio reads like, day played all these places that we played, and they never played, I was there, you know, they didn't play those places. And like, we played within a tutees one time, you know, I mean, they're all really nice, guys. I've known him for a couple of years. The great guys. Yeah, I couldn't care less about what their publicist wrote. for, you know, to make to give them to give them the opportunity to be successful. Yeah. And I hope they are successful. It doesn't that all that all that's kind of fade away. It's already gone now. Anyway, nobody talks about anymore. Nobody cares. Yeah. Those guys are making another record. Yeah. with Paul Franklin on it, and like all the Nashville cats, you know what I mean? Like, it's just it's a big machine thing. Nashville cats. Yeah. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 48:39
Yeah. Well, I mean, like, I think that's the one of the one of the other things I said about them was that you can't, we can't go what's happening in that are in in top 40. country is all shit. It's all bro country. I absolutely hate it, yada, yada, yada. And then somebody does something the total opposite and then go. But I don't mean like that either. You know what I mean? Yeah. There is an aspect of of that, where I think that, like, I wish the, you're nostalgic for the way things used to be in the 90s and 80s. And a band comes and it may not be genuine or authentic. Those are both in quotes, air quotes, but like, if they're sounding like that, you can't necessarily also go,
Mike Harmeier 49:32
but not that bad. Yeah. This band is what you asked for.
Thomas Mooney 49:36
Yeah. And everything's like in waves like that. Right?
Mike Harmeier 49:39
Sure. I mean, their records are really well produced albums that are made to sound like what they sound like. Yeah, I mean, it's all it's all set up for a reason for an end game. Yeah, I mean, and I think a lot like none of none of those kind of records. are my favorite records? My favorite records are somebody who's not trying to do anything. It's just that's a fucking band. Yeah. You know what I mean? So it's all to set up for me to be into. It's just not calculated. Yeah, it's not, it's measured. I don't care if it's not real because of their background. I hear that it's not real, because it's just not. It's not real. It's all manufactured for a reason. Yeah. And they're just like, the pawns in this game, that big machine is playing to sell records. Yeah. I mean, so whatever. Good for them. Yeah, you know, I mean, like, there's those guys knew what they wanted to do. And they set out and accomplished it. So that's awesome. I will, I will open for them. I don't care. Let's Let's do it. Yeah. It doesn't matter to me. Like I would love to play a show with Midland on the site here on this podcast, right.
Thomas Mooney 50:54
The one thing also, this is something totally a little bit different, but kind of related. I don't like how, for all intents and purposes, mittens a new band, right? I don't like how like, really, instead of like getting their own tour, and like, being like a mid major tour, per se, right. Why are they like the the 30 minute set opening for a massive tour? Like why do why is like that the system that people use versus
Mike Harmeier 51:24
because they do like the they're the band plan when you're walking into the stadium? Like, I don't know if anybody saw that Garth Brooks tour, but there was like two of those, like on opening for him. So it's all just while you're getting seated, and like the house lights are on? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think it's, for a couple of reasons. It's probably pretty financially responsible of everyone involved to do that. Probably. Yeah. And grinding it out. Like, you know, their back story reads like they already did the grinding it out. But in reality, if you have a record that's spinning, if I had a record that was spinning on the radio as much as theirs is I would happily grinded out doing what I'm doing now. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that would be amazing. That would be that's like that's building something. Yeah. I mean, we're just going and playing in front of, you know, john party or Florida, Georgia line, you know, for a month. Yeah. That's just the way that big machine has it figured out? Yeah. And I think it's also, they do a lot of those shows with just the three dudes. Because they don't you know, I mean, like, they have this, the other guy, that loop guy that plays guitar. And they've had rotating drummers and stuff like that. But they don't take them on the road all the time. You know. So just like a lot of times, they could just easy for them to show up and sing those three or four things they have on the radio. Yeah. While people are walking into the end of the room. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, it's obviously it's going to work for them. They're going to be continued to grow. And then they'll have some sort of headlining tour themselves. Yeah. years years from now. I bet they do this for a while. The really early opening slot.
Thomas Mooney 53:12
Yeah. I just don't understand like we, I mean, I understand why there is that aspect of like going out and tours and whatnot. But I'm also like, man, all these all those bands should be trying to go out and do rooms like this. Right? Exactly. Right. And going out for either during the weekend thing or doing months or weeks or whatever out. Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you have like the the backing and the financial. I don't know. Like, I just think like,
Mike Harmeier 53:49
Lady Gaga just did it. She just went around doing small rooms. And she the whole tour of it.
Thomas Mooney 53:54
Lady Gaga. I think she's like, she's one of those artists where when she first came on, she is so polarizing, right? Either you love her, you hate her. And I thought she was good. But then like, what bothered me? The only thing that really bothers me about artists like her is that her fandom is usually, like, over the top, where like if you said, I like that song by Lady Gaga, but not this one. They're like, Oh, bah, bah, bah, and they're just on your back. You know, that kind of aspect.
Mike Harmeier 54:25
It's interesting about Lady Gaga, because I don't really, I mean, I've heard some of her songs before, and I think she can sing really well and I have no, I've heard some of that stuff that she recorded his record like with Barry Manilow or something like that and Tony Bennett, Tony Bennett. So like, I heard some of that stuff. Everyone, she's great, but like, I don't really know. I don't know any of her songs. And she's a mega star. Yeah, it's like Ed Sheeran. Yeah, I don't know a single. Huge
Thomas Mooney 54:51
Yeah, I only know the song that was on Game of Thrones.
Mike Harmeier 54:55
When he's sitting around the campfire,
Thomas Mooney 54:56
everyone's shit so much. thing and I was like, Like, man, when I was just thinking, honestly, I thought one, I didn't think it was that bad. But two I thought, you know, this is gonna be such a weird thing in like 30 years and people are like going back and like reef rediscovering like there'll be like a renaissance for Game of Thrones in 30 years and they'll be like, What was this?
Mike Harmeier 55:18
I was they were kind of playing it like he was gonna be a reoccurring character. And then when I first saw that scene, I was like, don't do that. Yeah. Well, I
Thomas Mooney 55:25
thought like, they were gonna see those, that that bunch right there a few times. Yeah. At least one more time. And there was gonna be like a
Mike Harmeier 55:34
right? Yeah, they'd never that never turned into anything. That was just a plug for Ed Sheeran to be on Game of Thrones, right.
Thomas Mooney 55:40
It was that and I think like there is a little bit of like, making Aria, like humanizing Aria. But I don't know. Yeah. Well, we have like, one more season of that. And it's not until next year's. I know. What's up like that happens. I'm like, man, I know. You. Well, like, I mean, it's not like I'm gonna get in trouble. But that's like one of those. I feel like there's people out there. You're like, don't go to jail. Next in 2019. I guess 19 you don't I mean? I'm excited. You imagine like just go into, like being sentenced to I'm sure. Like, there's not a whole lot of Game of Thrones, or I don't know. You were like, gonna go to jail.
Mike Harmeier 56:34
Yeah. for an extended period of time. Yeah. for however long a season is like three months or something.
Thomas Mooney 56:40
Well imagine going to getting sentenced to death or something right or die before
Mike Harmeier 56:45
the last season. The king. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 56:48
No last meal. Just let me watch that. You know, watch that
Mike Harmeier 56:51
last episode of Game of Thrones. Yeah. That would be I don't know, do they have like, if you're in like a maximum security?
Thomas Mooney 57:01
prison. I'm sure you can pay for HBO. That's
Mike Harmeier 57:03
what I'm saying. Yeah. And you've got to be able to do that. Yeah. I mean, really? That wouldn't be that bad. Would you watch?
Thomas Mooney 57:11
You just like watch every
Mike Harmeier 57:12
Yeah. If I was in prison, of everything that I would watch so much. Awesome. Yeah.
Thomas Mooney 57:23
It's a prison break. If you're watching. I don't know. I never watch Prison Break.
Mike Harmeier 57:32
I've never seen it. There's some show that comes on. It's like a lawyer show. It comes on like right before another show that I watch. It's like suits. So I've seen like the last scene of like, almost every episode of suits, which is like the last scene because it my DVR records that last minute of it. Yeah. And it's always the exact same scene. It's like, that's your suit, right? I think so. It must be Mr. Robot
Thomas Mooney 57:59
that was gonna say what it is, Mr. Robot. I'm not watching the last couple seasons.
Mike Harmeier 58:04
I have a new one because I tried to watch the new one when it came on a couple, like a month ago or whatever, the first episode, and I was so lost, like what was going on? I couldn't remember anything. So like, I got to go back and watch the last season. And I just don't feel like I want to do that.
Thomas Mooney 58:19
Yeah, that first season was so fucking good. It was and like the second season started and I was kind of like, a little lost and thought, man. I'm just gonna let this finish out. Yeah, and then I'll watch it all at once.
Mike Harmeier 58:34
Do you actually know from experience? I've not watched that now. It's interesting. They did a weird thing. What's that on? stars. Maybe? I don't or Showtime these stars now. We're Showtime. A lot of those networks are coming out with decent shows. Yes. like everybody's getting on that HBO bandwagon and having like, all this independent Yeah,
Thomas Mooney 58:54
HBO just added like three or four shows that were that are all from different countries. Like there's like a one I believe that's that was made in
Mike Harmeier 59:10
like a German one. Maybe German. Yeah, there may be a German one.
Thomas Mooney 59:13
I think there was like a one that was like didn't made in Denmark. There's just something else
Mike Harmeier 59:18
that just maybe maybe I'm thinking something on Netflix. But it just came out. Oh, you're talking about like the dark dark? Yeah. Have you watched that? No, I'm
Thomas Mooney 59:26
not but
Mike Harmeier 59:27
yeah, it's I put on the first episode. It's um, it's dubbed in English. Okay. Which is weird. I've never I don't think I've ever watched anything that was
Thomas Mooney 59:35
is it good dubbing or is it like
Mike Harmeier 59:38
it's decent? But I mean, what's good dubbing? Yeah, I know that that's not that's not what they're saying. That's not their voice.
Thomas Mooney 59:46
Yeah. Sorry. You want who would just watch with what's called
Mike Harmeier 59:52
subtitles? Yeah, I hate subtitles though. I don't like to read a show. I can't win who always subtitles you Just sometimes on all the time
Thomas Mooney 1:00:01
on shows that I watched not like on the news or something like that. Not on. I watched a lot of sports not a lot of sports. Actually, I just watched maps games, really. So I obviously don't watch.
Mike Harmeier 1:00:15
I turn the subtitles on on my TV the other day because I was watching the literary David hosted episode of SNL. And they did a sketch. And he says my last name, My last name is hardmeyer. That's strange. Last name. Right. And he I thought he was like the I think he just said my last name. Like there's a character named somebody who's talking about he's like a principal or something at a school, like Laura hardmeyer, something like that. I was like, no way. So I had to turn the subtitles on to make sure.
Thomas Mooney 1:00:42
Yeah, sure. Well, I always go back and like, have to do the the rewind, Gen catch something.
Mike Harmeier 1:00:51
There we go. I
Thomas Mooney 1:00:51
always hate though, is, uh,
Mike Harmeier 1:00:54
you know, but it doesn't bother you have it on his word on your screen? No.
Thomas Mooney 1:00:58
Like, I'm able to bounce back and forth pretty easy. It's like not necessarily like, for some reason I'll read along the entire time.
Mike Harmeier 1:01:05
So you think about what you're missing? No, not missing anything. You guys can't read that. And
Thomas Mooney 1:01:11
so far back, I'm able to just catch it all at once. You know, there's like those people who read read lines at a time versus reading words. Yeah. And I haven't. As strange as it sounds. I read a book about trying to read that way, or at least the first part of it, man. There's that that's one of the things like I'm not even. I'm just I have to do word. But I don't know. Sometimes it's fine with me. But I was gonna say that was like, have you ever had or have you ever tried? You see, like a funny joke or something? You're like, oh, man, I remember that. And so you'd like rewind it and you try it or like you see some weird and funny. You're trying to you rewind it, and then you try and record it. And then you're like, you're off a little bit. And you do it like eight times or something like that.
Mike Harmeier 1:01:56
Yeah, definitely done that. There was this one
Thomas Mooney 1:01:58
guy earlier this season, tech game, versus TCU. And there's this guy on TCU or not a fan TCU he's wearing these overalls and he was going crazy. And like, he didn't have a shirt on underneath. And it was just like, the most funny dancing and I was like, Dude, that dude is such. What the fuck? And they took me like eight times to get it out. Yeah, there was another game where I think it was maybe like, last year, there was this dude, who was doing like the, like an air guitar.
Mike Harmeier 1:02:29
Yeah. And
Thomas Mooney 1:02:31
I captured that one. And it was funny, but like, what sucked was like it ever uploaded just to Instagram. Yeah. Cuz like Instagram is like three seconds or longer. Yeah, but I had that as like, just you know, whenever. I don't know, like, I would throw it up as like, whatever. Great guitar. So look, you know, creating your own memes. Yeah. Creating your own memes. Yeah.
Mike Harmeier 1:02:52
I recorded one of Rachel Maddow, saying that she was listening to john Moreland. And I put that on Instagram. Yeah. I rewound that a couple of times before I got it. Right. Yeah, to get that perfect. I know. And then I had to let everyone know that I was watching Rachel Maddow.
Thomas Mooney 1:03:11
I used to watch her all the time.
Mike Harmeier 1:03:13
Yeah. I don't know. She's a little bit stuck out. But I still like her.
Thomas Mooney 1:03:18
Yeah. Does she still do and like, I guess you probably don't watch her much on Fridays. Now, on Friday, she used to do this thing where she was always like, do cocktails. Really? Yeah. I've never seen that. Yeah, it was I think it was like only a Friday thing.
Mike Harmeier 1:03:32
Yeah. You're seeing it on Friday. Do we like on a Tuesday? Tell Tuesday.
Thomas Mooney 1:03:40
I feel like I don't know some of those nice people. Okay, actually, I don't know.
Mike Harmeier 1:03:46
What news network do you watch? Be honest.
Thomas Mooney 1:03:48
I always watch MSNBC and watch that. Or I'll throw it on CNN every once in a while.
Mike Harmeier 1:03:58
I definitely just watch msnbc. It's like on in my house. Yeah. I know. At least one television. 24 seven.
Thomas Mooney 1:04:05
Yeah. Let's see, like my thing now is that it's, you don't even have to watch the news. Yeah. If I hear something is typically my first thing. I'll do like it. Let's say if I was. Well, that's, that's probably a bad example. Let's say I saw something on the local news. We're running across the bottom. Yeah. of sports center or something like that. My first thing is not to go. On, let me go turn it to turn on the television. It's go on to Twitter, and search on Twitter. Like it's so much quicker than search
Mike Harmeier 1:04:43
like that thing or what's trending or whatever. Yeah, I don't know. I just don't use Twitter enough. I have been lately. But I don't know. I I got off Facebook. Like I was trying to disconnect from the social media world. I mean, I have to say Because of the band and stuff, but I just feel so much better. I feel cleaner. Yeah. Being on involved in the conversations on Facebook and Twitter. Yeah, I still get involved in it sometimes. But
Thomas Mooney 1:05:14
see, like, for me, like one of I mean, I, I like getting into the music conversations in this letter. But like, I there is like the aspect of like, when you see stuff that you're like,
Mike Harmeier 1:05:26
yeah. What, like,
Thomas Mooney 1:05:28
how is that an opinion on? But it's frustrating. I don't know, it's it's worse on Facebook just because like, I don't know, it's I think it's worse on Facebook just because they're there. I think what, what happens is, in your head, you think I can say whatever I want. Because these people said they're my friends. And you're supposed to be honest with your friend. Then why are we Why don't I mean? Like, it's like, if you accepted my friendship, my Facebook request friend, then that means, like, you gave me permission to say whatever I want exactly like that. That is weird, strange way, but I don't know. I think like, Facebook is just worse.
Mike Harmeier 1:06:16
It's, you know, like, there's a whole generation because everyone's on Facebook. There's a whole generation of kids now that aren't like all the people that are younger than us. Like, don't do Facebook. It's like, it's their parents thing or something. Yeah. There's Instagram. Yeah. Instagram, is it like and I think there's probably other ones. I don't even know LinkedIn, LinkedIn. LinkedIn. Yeah. Generation, what is the Generation Y? What is that generation? What it's like after us millennials or whatever? I don't know. I don't either.
Thomas Mooney 1:06:50
I don't do they have a name yet? Yeah, I think so. You would think that like you would let the generation name themselves now, you know, we're naming that's like such a baby boomer thing. Like we're naming all the generation from now on. So I don't know. Yeah, well, go get go get a beer.
Mike Harmeier 1:07:13
Yeah, cuz I'm not a beer. Well, let's go do that.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai