064: Ben Hussey

Episode 064 is with Ben Hussey. We talk about joining American Aquarium and recording with John Fullbright in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and what it's been like jumping back in the world of touring.

Interview Transcript

Note: Transcripts aren’t always accurate since they are computer automated and haven’t been edited for spelling, grammar, etc.

Thomas Mooney 0:03

Everyone, welcome to episode number 64. This is Thomas Mooney, and you're listening to new slang. This episode right here I am joined by an old old friend. Mr. Ben Hussey currently of American aquarium, and formerly of more like just basically like every band in Texas or Oklahoma this past decade. Before we get started, I'll add that this is kind of an old interview, old conversation. It's a from, I guess last time American accordion was in town, which was probably five months ago or so. Speaking of which, they'll be back in Lubbock. December 8, at the blue light. That is a Saturday show. Jamie Lynn Wilson will be opening. Which two things if you haven't listened to her? Her new record jumping over rocks, go get it today. Go do it. Like right now. I give you permission to pause this podcast goes into the record. Go buy it. And then come back over here and listen to this. And to Jamie has been on the podcast before. It's episode number 36. Go back and listen to that one as well. That was a very, very enjoyable conversation with Jamie. So yeah, Saturday, December, December 8. American aquarium Jamie Lynn Wilson, blue light. Maybe we'll get an interview done then to speaking of old episodes. I know you guys are probably like on your way to Thanksgiving home. All that kind of stuff. BJ of American aquarium. He's been on a couple times, Episode 43 episode number seven with William Clark green actually, that was obviously it's number seven. It's one of the first ones we did. Yeah. So like I said, You're on your way home probably to Thanksgiving dinner or maybe you're listening on the way back for wanting to go listen to some other recent new slang episodes. We have a few of them out. JOHN Bauman. Just that was like just a straight up basketball podcast goes into that. My car might have Mike in the moon pies and Adam auteur was an episode Wade Bowen. And there was a special episode with the blue light singer songwriter finals. And then the most recent one, Brandon Adams and Ross Cooper, which came out last week. So yeah, anyways, Ben Hussey is on this episode. He's been a friend for a good long while we became friends back in the six market Boulevard days, when they were playing here in Lubbock all the time, we'd end up sitting on the back porch of the castles. And just talking about music and drinking beer and smoking way too many cigarettes and watching the sun come up and just really, probably bad decisions. Shout out to the council brothers. So my good friends. And yeah, I think we ended up talking some about those days on this episode with Ben. Again, if you don't follow me on social media go do so. underscore nice line, go on Twitter. My email is new slang dot editors@gmail.com. You can reach out with comments, questions, etc, etc. And yeah, I say it every week, but it's pretty simple. Give the Newsline podcast a five star rating on iTunes. write a review share with your friends family and co workers. I don't know people you go to school with whatever Okay, so enough of that here is been hussy of American aquarium

Ben Hussey 4:01

period where I was just like, I don't want to check. But I wanted to really give them a chance to sign because of people like BJ and Brandon telling me to do that. And when when Ben got up there and it was just him and the other guy. I was just fucking floored man by cuz it just took everything away and just listening to the songs. I was like, man, okay, now I get it. That's really fucking good.

Thomas Mooney 4:25

Yeah. Have you listened to any of the stuff on the new record that's been singled out now. You'll probably like it because it's like, talking about trying new things and I haven't done that yet. You probably like it a whole lot because it's a there's a lot more acoustic stuff. You know? Yeah, I talked with him the other day. Oh, really? interview Yeah. Which the first like 30 seconds or so I did not. I was there was a bit of me. That was had a little bit of skepticism that it was been Nicolas on the phone. No, no, no. And then like, because he was a lot more quiet than I yeah. Then he was. Yeah, usually is. Has you interviewed him before? No. Okay. But like it was it was a good interview. I were I had a good conversation. I guess. It's It's strange on those guys were and you know, we talked a little bit about this by the way we already just started I just yeah, I kind of figured those guys are so freakin like, they know how to do interviews on their side. You know what I mean? Yeah, like and it wasn't like he was given me the, the the typical answer. But like, everything was set up in the well, you know, like that song right there was influenced by my brother's movie Jeff Nichols. He's a film Yeah. And like he'll give out the all the parentheses, if you will. My brother Jeff Nichols. He's a director. He directed.

Ben Hussey 6:03

Which I didn't, I didn't know that until like that. Yeah. on this tour. We had Corey Brandon with us at the beginning. And he was I guess he's, they're all Memphis guys. And so he was talking about Jeff a lot. I think he's done some work with him for movies or whatever. But uh, brought up I brought all that up, when we were talking about the hold steady, because when I was listening to them the other day, I started thinking, you know, this is kind of like a northern drive by truckers sort of thing. But I feel like it's better executed. I felt like there it was a little more thought out than what the triggers are. And I think that's kind of a parallel between like northern people and southern people. Right? It's just like, hey, let's crank it up and make it thick. And they're like, let's make it thick with a point.

Thomas Mooney 6:49

Yeah. Minnesota. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's interesting. Um, do you think it's also maybe because there's like, just one voice as far as lyricism? Yeah. So they like Craig's a little bit more tapped into what he's,

Ben Hussey 7:05

yeah. Versus so it can be more of a central thought process, like a like a CPU, if you will. And like, everything's just building off of that, as opposed to trying to build off two to three separate processing units. Not to dehumanize what they do.

Thomas Mooney 7:23

But right. Yeah. But like, that's something that you were kind of talking about with BJ was like, you know, him doing all these interviews all the time.

Ben Hussey 7:31

Yeah, like a machine. Yeah. But he can also like, He's really good. And I don't I can't remember if we talked about this or not, but it like personalizing them to, you know, like I said, I do you remember telling you like, if one of us was sitting around, he'd find a way to, like, throw us under the bus somehow. You know, figuratively, of course.

Thomas Mooney 7:49

Yeah. It's interesting to see those guys in that, because it's to me. You can tell like, on my side, you can tell whenever somebody has been doing like, five interviews that day. Yeah. Like you can. Yeah, just tell like that.

Ben Hussey 8:06

Well, it just feel so automatic. The answers in the in the just their response time alone, you can tell I would think,

Thomas Mooney 8:14

right? And especially like on the especially if they're like, you have 15 minutes or 30 minutes. You're like, oh, okay, yeah. 15 Okay, I know what's going on right now. But then they, I've always loved trying to break that down like that. Let's get out of the that process, right. I mean, which can be hard to do for someone if they're on their fifth interview of the day. Because then they're, they're so used to just going through the motions of that point. And see, like, it's always better to get back that early in the day. Yeah, right. Right. And I've done

Ben Hussey 8:49

people are a lot more honest, when they just wake up to they don't their brain doesn't have time to filter anything.

Thomas Mooney 8:56

There's been a few that I've done with I think like the first one I did with Ron bingum was like at 10 in the morning. Yeah. And I was like, I was kind of like, I don't want to fucking do it at 10 right. And after doing it and realizing the process, it was like okay, this is actually that was probably way better to get him like first or second thing I remember when you have that when you got that interview. Yeah, when was see like now that's like four or five years ago. Yeah,

Ben Hussey 9:22

I remember talking to you about that. I think you were kind of nervous.

Unknown Speaker 9:24

Yeah. Well,

Thomas Mooney 9:27

I always say like when people ask me like what's been your favorite interview kind of thing and I'm like I think with time you get away from being like nervous I guess. Yeah. with them. Yeah. But there is what I've said is like there's that first like the five minutes before it happens, right? It's still like this nervous energy of like, Oh shit.

Ben Hussey 9:55

I mean, it just like shows just like everything. When you're putting yourself out there and trying to communicate with people on more than just like a first level of communication, you know?

Thomas Mooney 10:07

Yeah. What's also just all the, you know, did they give me the right number or three, you know, that kind of shit. But I don't know, I do this.

Ben Hussey 10:20

We were talking about that like just levels of comfortability, BJ and I were last night with Dalton and like watching him on these past few opening shows that he's done like just having a guitar, and he's out there. He's just fucking killing it, man. And it's like, it's not the Doulton from six years ago. It's an adult and from two years ago, that wasn't sure That was him. He just walked in. I don't want to hear him saying that.

Have you noticed just like a podcast? It's kind of like radio, but when it's recorded, and it was. Yeah, he's, uh, it was Gary Johnson down on messenger. That's what I heard. I heard you play saxophone on record, saying, Oh, cool. That's very good. Okay, we're, we're playing the cactus next door tonight. Okay. Very

nice. Alright. See? Ya.

Thomas Mooney 11:50

But, uh, Dalton has gotten like, a lot more comfortable. Yeah, we talked about this last time you played here was like three months, three weeks ago. So yeah, maybe two weeks ago. And it was full band. And when I told him I was like, You're finally getting comfortable enough to just the entire damn set is your songs. Right? And you're not like it one night when a bunch of covers which, you know, is a good thing like you know, you you're getting into that zone of being comfortable enough to do your own songs.

Ben Hussey 12:26

One night, backgrounds playing was statesboro review. We had a show in Arlington. We had an early show in Arlington. And then the next day we were playing in like New Braunfels or something or will in them or playing somewhere in between like Soweto or something like that. So I left Darlington that night I was having to drive myself so I just went down and tried to catch their said, but I missed it. So I just got up with him at a bar afterwards. Or taking jobs and shit and Dalton had opened up the show Well, we go back to the hotel. I mean Serato go out I guess I was still smoking cigarettes at this time as we went out smoke cigarette with Dalton and he's sitting on the curb and Josh looks at and goes don't you got to stop doing so many covers man. And I just went Jesus fucking Christ. I'm glad somebody finally said it indulgences is in there because this was you know, five six years ago or whatever and Dalton just like got all like big items like well, what am I supposed to do like Brian more fucking songs man you're a great writer just do that but he had like covered a will song in his opening set for will that nine were like, you can't do that shit. That's against the rules.

Thomas Mooney 13:33

Right? It's this I mean, like there's this this this aspect of him wanting to do like an homage to people? Yeah, right right. He's covering people who he looking up to Yeah, it's like man Thank God you're you're getting comfortable enough to start doing those songs. Yeah, you know and yeah like that the other night when they were up here they like every song except for they did a on the Encore was like killers. Yeah, so But everything else I believe was like, you know, original content

Ben Hussey 14:08

and that's great. And it's all good stuff. Man. These new songs. Well, I was a big fan of that. The corners of those a great record. And I think it I think it like I don't think it landed well here. Like in the Texas and I told him like, this album like, is bigger than what's happening here and you need to try to shop it out on more of a national level. And he's kind of lazy, but I told him I remember the first day. I was running sounded city limits for a while when I wasn't touring there in Stephenville and he was he was playing ball songs at night but half of his band was playing with David Allen when he was living in Stephenville they were opening up that night and then I think they were going to buy socks to to headline Middleton or they were I don't know something like that. And Dalton came over to city and he was like, Hey, dude, come out and listen to these rubs for this new record. He's like the first half, they just got done with the tracking. And I listened to it with him. And I said, Well, shit, man, I can actually listen to this one. This is some good stuff. And he goes, thanks. I guess

Thomas Mooney 15:17

that's the thing is like he I think he's had all these different transitions from okay. Were like that first. When he first showed up, it was like he was wanting to be like, he was wanting to be will Yeah, or something. Right? Well, I can't really blame him. It was like, Oh, I want to be something like like whiskey Myers or something. Then it was like was like he's in of course, that's like the the process of Of course, find yourself right.

Ben Hussey 15:49

And especially when you're, you know, in this scene in the blue light scene, and you see guys like will and Josh that have just done that and taken off with it. Right? You know, you want to follow in their footsteps as closely as you can, because that's what you see succeed and you've watched it succeed from the ground up.

Thomas Mooney 16:09

And now it's it feels like he's finally settling into something that's his own. But like, it's also if you had told him, this is what you're going to sound like, five years ago, he would have said, Hell no, that's not. That's not me. And it's closer to more of a singer songwriter like the Yeah, the I will say like the, the not top 40 jacking groom,

Ben Hussey 16:37

right. And that's what's been so great about watching him with just him and his guitar is past couple of nights in front of like, 300 400 last time was 600 people. And he just he's commanding that crowd and half an hour, and it's really cool to see that growth. We were working on a song earlier today. It was something that I'd started a long time ago. And like when I was writing it, I was thinking, Man don't need to help me with this thing. Together, we can come up with something pretty cool. And it was kind of like it started as like a man's descent into insanity. Or just, you know, I'm saying and is like, really dark and suicidal. And he's riding on it and he goes, God, if we keep going this direction, people are gonna be like, dude, the Jesus in handbags guy in the Santa Fe train guy are really fucked.

Thomas Mooney 17:36

Yeah,

Ben Hussey 17:37

that's the way that Santa Fe train song was a death song. I think that I think a lot of people miss out because it was happy sounding and there was a good sing along chorus but the the main character died in that song.

Thomas Mooney 17:49

Like, Jesus in handbags. Well, I remember when he first put that out. I was like, I don't like that. You're going to I told I was just one of those. You got to sing that for you're stuck. You know, that's that. I guess there's there's I don't know if there's there's much worst. I guess that like that plight of like singing your big hit right there. Right. There's not many worse. Like Ray Oh, like really? Well, yeah, exactly. Go up against a wall. Yeah. But I'm sure he would much rather sing up against the wall, redneck mother than Jesus. And I thought, Chris, I mean,

Ben Hussey 18:37

I always remember, this probably be the last story about Dalton. As I remember the first time that we like actually met, or it's not the first time it's the first time I remember meeting him. It was here at a six market show. And we were in the hallway. And he's like, hey, great, chill, man. I said, thanks, dude. I'm Ben. He goes Ben, it's me Dong. We've met like six times. And I remembered him after that one.

Thomas Mooney 19:09

The The first time I met Dalton was he had messaged me on Facebook, saying that he was wanting to start a podcast. And that he was like, gonna be interviewing dirty river boys that night. and wanted to see if I wanted to meet him. And I was like, Okay, sure. So he has he had his first interview planned. Yeah, but then it was having anything else. It was here at blue light. And he was like, yeah, I'm doing a podcast with him. Like, I'm aware. And he's like, oh, we're doing it like, out back by the van, like before the show, and I'm assuming like he never put it out and it never like, it was just on his cell phone. He just talked to them for about 20 minutes or something. Right. But the next time I saw him, it was like he was playing Monday night. every damn Monday night. So he had never mentioned he was wanting to be a songwriter or nothing like Yeah, he just wanted to do like a podcast. I was like, Okay, sure. And then of course, that kind of just dropped and yeah.

Ben Hussey 20:12

Oh, you know, he probably wasn't very good at it anyway. Right. Somebody was asking me about how I, you know, no one's like somebody that he had rubbed the wrong way was like, why are you? Why are you guys so like, Why are you always defending him engine by when he was living in Stephenville? You know, he was living in melody Mountain Ranch and studios there. So we were, we were seeing each other a lot. And he was sober. And I had just gotten sober. And we became really close through all that. And that, like, that friendship turned into me, like, just respecting him more as a person which led to me respecting more as an artist. Like, I'll you know, I'll fight for him. Right. Totally rubs me the wrong way.

Thomas Mooney 21:01

Yeah. I mean, he's he's definitely had some growing pains. You know, you keep shooting yourself in the foot. It's gonna hurt. Yeah, you mentioned sobriety, you mentioned quit smoking cigarettes. JOHN, yeah,

Ben Hussey 21:21

I quit smoking cigarettes when the kids were born. Because I didn't want to like I kept thinking about it. And it wasn't really like, I want to try to live longer thing. It was like, I don't want to miss five minutes of their life to go smoke a cigarette. And now I'm missing months of their lives. And when I did that, I started I started eating candy a lot. And so like, every time I wanted to smoke a cigarette, I would go to the pantry and eat some m&ms. And, you know, he spoke American spirits to take like eight minutes to smoke. So I would sit there and eat m&ms for eight minutes. And I gained like, 20 pounds of m&ms. And I was like, Man, this shit isn't gonna work either. Over the years, I've been trying to figure out ways to not do that. I when we went on this first tour, when I joined aquarium, that was my first time back on the road since I quit drinking. And I'd forgotten that after shows you have all this energy. And it's either like positive energy like that was a great show. or negative energy like that was not a good show. And I'm all upset about it. And my my go to used to be that was a great show. Let's go get drunk about it. And then it was that was a bad show. Let's get drunk and forget about it. You know, you were there for a lot of but without having that that go to Vice anymore. I started by working out in the hotel gyms. Nothing like heavy or anything just like half an hour of you know, like free weights and ellipticals and shit. And then BJ was like, hey, I've got this work with his running shoe company running gear. Athletic. I don't even know what the fuck you call it, man. This is all new territory to me. But it's it's saucony or Saccone or whatever, you know, plug that. And he's like, I can order y'all some stuff. So we all got running shoes. And he kind of challenged us he was like, but if I get this real, you'll have to actually go running. So they came in the last night of the previous Who are we were on. Like the first leg of the thing change release to her. And when I got home, I said, Well, I got these shoes now. I guess I'll start running. And so I did. And I kind of like it. And again, I don't do much. I do like a mile on the day, in a mile and night. And it's a good way to kind of like start my day and think about what I have to do during the day and kind of put all that stuff in order. And then at the end of the day, erase all that stuff, you know, and like booking bookending the day that way is has become a process for me that just kind of helps me keep things organized. Because man once the fucking kids were born organization went out the window for both me and my wife. And now we're finally to a point where we're starting to, you know, recover and dig ourselves out of that kind of chaotic lifestyle we were in and a lot of that started with her getting into minimalism. Have you done any? Like, do you know a lot about minimalism? No, she that's like

Thomas Mooney 24:38

probably the the worst thing like that's like the exact opposite of me. Yeah, I've seen your record collection. I'm not like a hoarder of stuff. Yeah, like I'm a I'm a music quarter. Well, yeah. Book hoarder, I

Ben Hussey 24:56

think, but and the wife would disagree with me on this, but I think when It comes to art, it's a different thing. You know, keeping art is, is, or what you what you like is art. I mean, don't keep every little trinket or, or painting or whatever. But unless that's unless it speaks to you unless it moves you as you read a book, and I don't know what it was called, but it was like I did. I've seen a Simpsons episode where they make fun of this. And so that's how I knew about minimalism Was that you? Take a look at all your things. And it says, What? What brings you joy? And if you can't find a reason that something brings you joy, get rid of it, because there's no sense of having it in your life. And, you know, if, if the music is bringing you joy, then why would you get rid of it? Yeah, you know, because it's all about I think what I've taken from from this, and at first I thought it was just a phase she was going through until I got home. And the the whole principle for her and for us is like declutter your surroundings, declutter your brain. And you can just focus your your energies on the things that actually matter. And it's really been a game changer, man like we we got rid of it was we got rid of a bunch of stuff that was very hard for me to get rid of is why when I moved to Stephenville to go to a school, I had to take pretty much everything I owned with me, because my mom, my sister, we're moving out of the house we lived in and they were moving to a place that there just wasn't room for, for me or any myself. So I moved into a college dorm room with pretty much everything I own, you know. And then everything else that I own wind to this trailer on a property that my dad's company owned. And so all my stuff is spread out between Fort Worth and Stephenville. And then one night that trailer got broken into and everything got stolen. And so somewhere, something flipped inside of me where I like, I was like, I have to hold on to this stuff, because it's all that I have. And right about that time was when I started touring, right. So it was like, I needed some sort of sense of home. And that sense of home for me was all this. It was basically just crap that I'd had since I was like eight years old, you know, none of it was really important, or like the individual item wasn't sentimental. But the whole bulk of it. I thought was, you know, but now that I'm 32 I look back at all that stuff. And I'm like, man, there's no, this doesn't do anything for me anymore. And like now I have a home. Now I have a family. I have that to go back to so I don't need what I thought was keeping me grounded. You know what I mean?

Thomas Mooney 27:45

Right? Yeah, I know. Like I, I guess I probably I have a couple boxes of just like that. That kind of stuff. Right? probably get rid of it. You said, you know, it stems from your mom and sister moving. I know. Like, when I moved out of high school out of high school. My parents were getting divorced. Yeah, it was the same situation of like, and I know like there for a while. I had like, just stuff, right? I was like that kind of shit. Yeah. Right. That's a whole lot of it. I feel like he was just like paper. As a writer, you

Ben Hussey 28:24

also want to hold on to that stuff, because it's something you can pull back.

Thomas Mooney 28:27

Yeah, no, no, I like that. I'm talking like, this notebook of like, you know, geometry and you know, like those like notebooks right? Just shit like that, where you're like, why do I still have this?

Ben Hussey 28:43

I found some of my college notebooks the other day, I was purging my office. And I was looking back through my college notebooks. And there's like shafter lyrics written in all of them. And just like my legs, and just doodles and scales and like, God, no wonder I didn't fucking graduate.

Thomas Mooney 29:02

I was a really, really bad note taker. And so hard, and especially in math, like through my notes, it would be like that. And like

it was

I think it was there's this one history, or no, it wasn't a history. It was like an English class. And it was just like, super boring. And it we could, it should have not been boring. You know what I mean? But it was the way it was taught and everything. And I was just like, always falling asleep in class with this. And you can tell like, where my notes were like, Oh, he's he's just chilling out right there you like

Ben Hussey 29:41

English classes, like, for me, and I'm sure you can attest to this as like as a writer and as like the creative side of you. Were never as fulfilling as you thought they would be. Or at least a word for me like I enjoyed reading the literature, but you spend so much time studying other people's work. And they never really like, unless you take the creative literature class, which the one that was offered for me was just like a semester where he just very basic, you know, right. And, you know, in the public schools and encouraging and shit. Yeah, so he never really like learned how learn their process or what they were doing it was just kind of, Hey, this is a metaphor, and this is why it's a metaphor and

Thomas Mooney 30:25

yeah, I mean with with the public school stuff, it's because they teach to pass whatever Yeah, right, right exam or whatever. I guess it's not tax or toss. Now, that's what I don't know what it is. But this is in the past that kind of shit, right? And so you'd like that's, you're not ever really learning. You're memorizing?

Ben Hussey 30:49

Yeah, it scares me, man. Like, I'm the, I have to think about that shit. Now with my kids, I'm like, God, I really want them to get a better education than I had. But, you know, you're talking about taking notes. And like the generations coming up, have, you know, our attention spans are all getting shorter, shorter, shorter and short. And they must have a really fucking hard time taking notes. Yeah. And that's just like, that's got to make the teaching process extremely difficult. And then the teachers are slaves to this, you know, curriculum for the test. And it's all in it's all just such harsh shit to deal with.

Thomas Mooney 31:33

Yeah. There's, it's, it's because and I think it all really kind of stems to that they've, they've made education, obviously, a profitable, profitable business. Right. So like, the, the reason why all those things are, like, for example, just this short, the small thing is the buying books in fucking for college. Like those books. That's a racket dude. Expensive as hell and like, every couple of years, it's like, oh, this right here is obsolete. Yeah. Right. It's, we don't need it anymore. Even though it's literally the same thing as the one before except there's like, a couple of things changed. And, you know, you try and sell them back. And you're like, 20 bucks. Yeah,

Ben Hussey 32:16

I bought this for 100. Like, man, I was really counting on selling these things and getting more than that.

Thomas Mooney 32:22

But I don't know, they everything gets turned into a profitable

Ben Hussey 32:28

Dude, I was talking to somebody about it the other night. And like you mentioned, obsolete like, for us, like, I think our generation was like the last time bachelor's degrees were acceptable. Now you have to get your masters. And then I know a guy that graduated with a marketing degree in 2008, I think is what it was 2009 maybe. And the last day of classes professor told him like, everything we taught you this year, like the course changes next year, everything we taught you is now like obsolete information, like you basically wasted four years of your life, because that was when all the digital stuff was really starting to take over. And so like the old old guard was getting pushed out. That like, if I was told that, I'd be so fucking pissed.

Thomas Mooney 33:19

I'm of the belief that if we're going to go to school, you need to like, either get that fucking Master's or doctorate? Or just take like some basics. Yeah, and then go and do because like, I didn't graduate either. And at some point, experience, Trump's Yeah, no, you're exactly right, man. And that's a lot with a lot of places. But like, of course, or a lot of fields, it's it's about experience and who, you know, more so than the paper. Yeah. But, you know, I still I kind of also believe, though, that Why say you need to go at least for a couple years, is because it teaches you obviously, like life experience, right? I don't think like anyone, I get 1718 when I graduated high school, I was just obviously not ready for the real world. Right? You know, when you only know the people, you know, right. And those classes a lot. We're talking about how boring some of these classes are. But like a lot of times, that breeds a work ethic or, you know, some structure, right. And that's what you need in those first few years. And also, that's where you build that contact list. Yeah, like if anyone's going to school right now. Like, meet me meet people, like, figure out why they're doing what they're doing. And like, if they're good at what they're doing. Well, that's because like, you can call back on those people. So, I don't know.

Ben Hussey 34:56

That's just made me think if I do that, I don't really know how many people from college I still talk to I just don't talk to a lot of people period anymore, man. I mean, if we're working together I do. But most of the time, I just kind of keep to myself and, and yeah, when I'm home, I hang out with my family, you know?

Thomas Mooney 35:16

You have that that Rolodex of people. Oh, yeah, yeah. Call about, hey, I need you know, information on

Ben Hussey 35:23

your Well, no, we were talking about Brandon earlier, he's probably the most valuable contact. Just because his wealth of knowledge with with music related stuff especially is so deep. Like people I'll have clients asked me about, like copyright stuff or, or copyright laws or whatever the fuck and I'm like, man, I don't know the answer to this. But I know the guy that does. So give me an hour and I'll call Brandon and run him. I think I'm really good at that. Like, I don't know a lot, but I know a lot of people that know a lot.

Thomas Mooney 36:02

Right, right. Yeah. See, that's like that stuff. Like I don't even know anything about and Brandon does. Oh, dude,

Ben Hussey 36:10

he's so good at it. And he sent me over he wrote like a 40 page paper on it or something for for, you know, whatever he was doing. Yeah. and fun. Yeah, yeah. breeze. You know, Reader's Digest did it, which for the young kids, I was a short version of a longer story. And which readers I just still a thing. I didn't know that. I saw one on the bus. Yeah. There you go. I was just blown away by it. And, you know, anytime there was all this stuff going on with the with Congress and royalty. I forget what it's called. But anytime I have a question about that, because you know, that affects all of us. I call him and say Hey, dude, can you please explain this to me? Because it's going way over? Right? Yeah. He texted me today. Alright. What's your What's your opinion on us playing the galaxy theater tonight.

Thomas Mooney 37:11

I want to see see American aquarium in a different. I want to see what it looks like in a different spot. Cool. I've seen Yeah, you know, American aquarium in this room. 20 times? Probably. And you know what you're gonna get? Yeah, you know, I guess they played outside once, or twice, maybe twice. Yeah, out in the front here. For a street show. I've seen BJ solo. But like, I want to see what it looks like in other a different place.

Ben Hussey 37:45

I did that. And a lot of the places that we played on the first leg of this tour, were just like the cactus theatre, you know? And that's, that's becoming more comfortable for Well, I mean, you know, it's a different kind of show. And we enjoy that. Just as much as we enjoy the rowdy shows, but like, this is more of a chance for us to really, you know, it's not just balls out rock and roll the whole time. You know, it's balls out, but with more focus. And some guys around here have been giving us flack for that. But Brandon texted me today. I was like, dude, I'm really happy that you guys are playing there. It's a great place. It's great. Y'all are gonna kill it. And I wish I could be there. Yeah. And I was like, Man, that's cool. You're one of the only like, old school lover guys that has had our back on what I mean? And we got the blue lights buzzing before we did.

Thomas Mooney 38:38

Yeah. Well, also, I would say you know, it's a Sunday night too. Right? You know? That's right. There's something to that.

Ben Hussey 38:48

Well, I mean, it's damn near sold out if it isn't already. So you know, it obviously. Isn't that big of a deal to the fans.

Thomas Mooney 38:54

Yeah. I do enjoy going and seeing shows that cactus

Ben Hussey 39:00

mercury played there the other day that I'm totally fine with.

Thomas Mooney 39:04

Well, I still okay, like a great example of a somebody playing in two different spots is Wade Bowen he, of course, you know, playing he mainly playing like Charlie B's capacity wise, but, you know, he's played in here a few times. And it's different than than playing in cactus. And he played one show and cactus and it was acoustic just him. But that was killer. Yeah, it was it was a this is probably like two or three years ago now. And it was just him and a guitar. No side man no auxilary nothing. No. And he was up there just telling stories and playing songs. And Jamie Lynn Wilson had opened up for him. And it's done this little, probably like three or four show run together. And like after the second night or something like that. Jamie was saying how Wade was like, how do you how do you just do that like by yourself up there. You're playing? How do you just consistently do that? have, you know terrified going up there? yada, yada, yada? How are you able to do it for so long? And she's like, well, how long do you think he you're even playing each night? And he's like, Oh, I don't know about like, an hour or so. And she's like, No, you've been like, going on two hours, basically every night. Like, I don't know why you think like, you think you're going on for an hour? And he's like, Yeah, I was like, No, you and like that, that show at cactus hidden. He was up there probably like two hours. Maybe like 215 with the arm really in, like, encore was probably like four or five songs there, you know. And he was just I you could tell like, it was something he was. It's cool that he knew he was not paying attention to the clock. Right? You know what I mean? Right. And he was just playing a whole bunch of songs telling a whole lot of stories and something different than you're gonna see him and other.

Ben Hussey 40:56

Yeah, it's like BJ, when he started doing his acoustic stuff. He told me you're connecting with the audience on such a different level than you have before. And it is it's a big change. Like, whenever I started doing acoustic shows, again, after playing with bands for so long, I felt empty. And I felt alone and nervous. And like, wow, I really miss hearing a kick drum, you know what I mean? But my sensor completely different than these guys. And they're doing their songs that they've done with bands. But all sudden, people are really paying attention to what they're actually saying. And through that, you get a deeper connection with the audience. And then you have with a band show, you know,

Thomas Mooney 41:46

yeah, how does the you guys play in full band? How does the the theater show? Make the I guess, like the setlist change? Or do you guys play? Are you able to play songs that you wouldn't obviously be able to play? Yeah. Bar.

Ben Hussey 42:07

Yeah, there's, there's a lot of those, we're able to pull out some deep cuts. This ban like this formation of the band. Now we we've got four hours worth of material that we can do. We've got, there's like maybe two songs off the dances for the lonely that we can't do, or that we just haven't learned a couple of songs off the walls. And I can't remember what the there's a very first one that BJ doesn't talk about mine. But, uh, yeah, we got the song is for the sewer, and there was a lot of deep cuts on there. And because we're not in like rowdy bars, where we just have to play the hits and move on, we're able to pull out more of those songs. And that's been really cool to, to watch this band breathe new life into those songs, you know what I mean? Because there's some really cool stuff that was done on those records that we get to take now and kind of make our own a little bit bright. You know, the,

Thomas Mooney 43:08

I guess like, when they when the the new lineup was announced. And you guys already had like, I don't know how many shows lined up or whatever. But you know, a lot was here. Yeah. And you guys went off. And then it felt like, for me, at least I thought it's gonna be a year or so before they get a record out. And it was like, six months or eight months, homeboy

Ben Hussey 43:36

out of timeline. Yeah, we stuck to that timeline. Well, I

Thomas Mooney 43:39

mean, how for you as somebody you know, joining a band, you have this experience of doing a whole lot of you know, self producing, producing other artists stuff. You go into this band, did you guys record a record? And you know, fulbright's producing like what I guess like, what, what is that like transitioning back into just being an artist like was there it was hard, it was fun. Like I

Ben Hussey 44:05

hadn't done something like that, since sixth market. But even that even a dolly shot and record we did walk about I was still producing that right. This was the first record since 2012. When we did that second six market record, shake it down. I think that was 2012 might have been 2014. Again, this is the first one that I was strictly the bass player, and that I was going to to err on. And I knew that going in. So when West Sharon from 115 Studios, he engineered it did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed working with him. But we he wanted me to sit next to him in the control room which was right in front of the computer. And I said Man, I don't want to do that. I said I engineering produce records all the time, and I don't want to be staring at your computer screen the whole time, because that's normally what I would do. said I want to be out there with the band. And I don't want to think about what you're doing on that screen, I want to and it took them a little while to agree to that. But I stood strong. I was like, Nah, man, this is what we're doing. I know it's going to be better for me, because I'm not going to be thinking like you guys need to be thinking, I'm going to be thinking as a bass player for American aquarium,

Thomas Mooney 45:27

right.

Ben Hussey 45:29

And that's what we did. And we recorded at Hansen's place, which is kind of cool. We bank now that record in like eight days, most of it was and john went in and did some overdubs afterwards. But that was that was the biggest thing for me was trying to get away from my studio experience, and just be the artists like that was very important to me for this record, which I was able to do for my parts. After that I kind of helped, you know, helped. We all collectively worked on parts together, and I kind of helped the guys communicate what they want with the engineers. You know, my experience was able was good to be the kind of the middleman for that. Right. But like I said, My main concern was making sure that while I did my part, it was solely as the bass player. And that was nice, it felt good to do that. And it feels good to tour on a record that I played on again, you know what I mean? Because even when I did walkabout, I was I played two or three CD release shows, and then I was done. You know, my kids were coming, I had to, I had to take a break. So that's, that's been the biggest thing is, it's the first time in six years that I get to tour on a record I played on, you know, on the it's a fucking great

Thomas Mooney 46:56

that, you know, talking with BJ, he said, You know, a lot of those songs, they just came so quickly after, you know, the, the the format, the re formation of the band, right? Yeah. What was it like building those songs like the since it was such a

Ben Hussey 47:11

quick Oh, it was a whirlwind dude. They came down to Stephenville. And we did, we did pre pro at my place for three days, I think, and kind of got basic ideas. And then at the end of those three days, we drove to Tulsa and started working. Well, wasn't john didn't know that we had just learned the songs. They were kind of like, Hey, why don't you guys have like, parts that we can work with? That we can kind of start and we were like, well, man, we just learned these songs too. Like, we only know the songs a little bit better than you guys do. And they were like, Oh, okay. Cuz, and there was some miscommunication where they thought we were just gonna come in and bang out the record. And we thought we were going to, you know, everybody collectively come up with parts and ideas and things. And there, there was a lot of that that ended up happening. And a lot of seven posts that ended up happening that that ended up making it a really good record. When we left house, I was kind of nervous about the record. But by the time we got finished, I was I was really into it. And I still am, I think it's a strong record. And a lot of, you know, you've seen all the responses I've been getting is going really well. A lot of the fans have come up to me and been like, man, first time around, I didn't get it. second time around, is now the 10th time around, you know what I mean? in that school, like, you want that sort of feedback, right? Because it is it's different than what aquariums done before. But when I when I rehearse at home, I've got iTunes playlists, it's got, you know, every song played about four hours worth of material on it, and I'll shuffle through it. And if a song from the new record comes on, I think it's still fits into the canon of the old records. But it doesn't throw me off every time I hear right. Something from Bible in the bottle. Next is something from things change.

Thomas Mooney 49:19

Yeah, the thing I will say about things change that it's not more country. You know, it's Yeah, I mean, BJ talked about like that second half feels a little bit more like a traditional country. Yeah. Right. A lot of ways. Then then a lot of stuff especially on the lows of those last couple records, like burn flicker died. And wolves. Those are a lot more streamline as far as like being roll records, but like there's a few songs on here that just feel like old school country. Oh,

Ben Hussey 49:52

yeah. And Dude, what's that one tune? That's the one. I know what Oklahoma, but it's got a real name. Yeah, work conquers all. Yeah, there was there was some pretty extensive like, Byron berline played fiddle on it. And there was some pretty, there's a lot of fiddle parts. But there was a lot of stuff that wasn't really gelling for us as far as the field for the song. So we kind of took it out, and I was emailing the ryan Hewitt who did the mixing. And I said, Man, you know, it feels kind of weird to say this, but like I picked and choose some of those stronger fiddle stuff that wasn't distracting from the other things. I said, Let's keep it in this timestamp at this timestamp of this. And I was like, man, we're kind of taken the country out of the country a song on the record, but it still works. Right.

Thomas Mooney 50:47

Well, also, you know, something that BJ had mentioned was, like the, I guess, a lot of times, you don't really think about this, as far as you know, making a CD. But since this was also geared for vinyl, you have that flip of the record that yes, it feels like an actual tablet, you know,

Ben Hussey 51:08

yeah, that was a very sequencing very sought out sequence to have it like that. And it was, that was a decision, you know, everybody kind of weighed in on it and knew was weighed in on it. And that just that seemed like the best way to go. And it is it is a definitive, this is side A, this is side B and like you said, there's there's a field change between both sides. I think that's kind of cool man. And, you know, aquarium has never really, to me as never really been a where this. You know, they're one of the few bands that has been able throughout their career to surpass labels and genres and be able to mix it all together and make it work. A lot of industry people won't work with a man like that, right? Because they don't know how to. But shit. Nobody had to work with his band for a long time because BJ was just doing it all and making it work saying hey, you're gonna like this shit. Right?

Thomas Mooney 52:14

Yeah. That's it's the, you know, they transcended the label as far as you know, obviously, bigger than, than anything else in Texas, right. But then, like, you know, they're at the core like BJs North Carolina, right guy. Right. And, you know, so you have all those fans of different styles, right? He's he comes from that. Ryan Adams is will Springsteen background right, but then, you know, obviously like guys like Felker and loose arrow, yeah, Nichols, right. It fits here in Texas, Oklahoma, just fine.

Ben Hussey 52:56

And it works really well. Yeah, you're for us or whatever. I always used to, when I first heard about aquarium, we'd played a, like Lone Star jam or something with them. And I kind of looked into their schedule, said I've never really listened to a whole lot of their material. Burn flake or die was a was a six market band, Van jam that we would listen to a lot. But uh, I started looking at their schedule. I was like, Man, these guys have made they just come out to Texas for like, two weeks at a time. And then, you know, fuck shit up and go home. Like, that's cool. Right? Not slaves to the scene. But one time. Me and we'll we're out of melody mountain one night. And he was like, man, BJ is doing pretty well, just like, all over the country is and he was like, Yeah, yeah, there's, you know, our crowds are consistently good. He's like, Man, that's so great. And as I started thinking about it, and you know if I bet if you looked at a map in tracks, like wills career in the early days and American aquariums career in the early days, the area that they traveled is probably like, mileage wise, probably not that different. Because like, yeah, we were all staying around Texas. But we were going all over Texas, they were going all over these codes, but it's probably about the same distance. It's just they were there's it's all considered a different market. Whereas in Texas, it's all just one market. You know what I mean?

Thomas Mooney 54:28

Yeah, I get what you're saying there.

Ben Hussey 54:30

I haven't tracked it out or anything. I would assume that the early days were probably mileage wise. Pretty simple, right?

Thomas Mooney 54:40

Obviously, you do. You've done a whole lot of producing engineer work. Yeah, I'm not as good at the engineer work. How's it how has that changed like since obviously, you're on the road more now. Ma'am. We've

Ben Hussey 54:55

we've the studios slow down a lot for now. Because, you know, Josh and I are getting ready to release their new record early next month, right? It's like August. Yeah. So, and they're on a push, right now gearing up for the CD release, we're on our CD release. So we've been doing some singles when we're home, but we're actually and I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about this yet, but we're expanding the studio, we're saying in the same location, but we're building a new building. And so we'll be able to have two live rooms. The existing live room can be a drum room or a full band library. And we'll have a new control room lab lounge with a bathroom and a shower. And, you know, all these things that we don't have now isolation booths, and because of that, we're gearing up for a pretty busy fall. As of right now, I've got dates shopped out through October, and hopefully to finish out the year. And so we're because we're expanding, you know, where, when we're home, we're both just going nonstop to be able to a afford the expansion and be, you know, earn it, right. And that's really exciting for us, because we want to be able to offer more to the artists that come to work with us. Because the biggest thing about being in the studio is being comfortable. And we want to make everyone as comfortable as possible. And with these expansions that we're doing. There's no way to not be comfortable. If you're not then you're in the wrong place. And you know, have a nice day.

Thomas Mooney 56:42

Obviously, you guys work with a whole lot of up and coming guys first, a lot of first second records, ups that kind of stuff. Does that keep you like more? I don't wanna say like, is it make you feel? Or does it make you feel like more young working with younger artists? But like, No, me does it makes you feel old man made you feel real? Yeah, but like, does it make you feel like, you know, you got like a sense of a war? The scenes going, I guess.

You get I'm saying

Ben Hussey 57:17

Yeah, yeah, to an extent. It does. I think Josh has a better grasp on that than I do. I think Josh is a lot more connected to what's happening in the scene than I am. Because he sees a lot more of it than I do. And he has for a while now, like, since he's been with will. And I was kind of doing other things. He kind of has a better grasp of that. So I let him I don't let him that sounded bad. He takes the reins on a lot of things because of that. And that's the way we need to be working, you know, and I've started trying to diversify a little bit. Like I've been building furniture and shit now that, you know, when I'm home, I like to do that too. Because it gives me a break from working on music constantly. And I'm pretty behind on the bookkeeping for the studio. So I've been doing a lot of that aspect. But Josh, is, is, you know, he's just so good about keeping up with what's going on around him on the technical aspect, and in the scene, and he knows what's going to work and what's not going to work. And he's always been that way. And, you know, one of the smartest decisions I've ever made personally was getting in the business with that guy. And yeah, it was also one of the hardest things I've had to do. He's just, he's really connected and smart about what he's doing. And I tell people all the time, like, if I'm not going to be there, you know, I'm handling most of the booking for the studio. So I have to make it clear, like, you know, there, I'm not going to be on some of these sessions. It's going to be you and Josh. And nobody ever really has a problem with that. Yeah. Which is great. Yeah. Kids goofy man. He called me yesterday. And he bought the sticker for the bus said he was real proud of us in Kansas City. And it said, proud as fuck, but it was about you, Casey. And I didn't get it. I was just like, cool, man. I was on the way to meet my wife for dinner. And I was like, cool. That's great, dude. I'm proud of you. And then like, three hours later, I told Shane about it. And he's like, Oh, that's funny because he's in Kansas City and went, Oh, I get it now. So I texted him like three in the morning. I was like, Oh, I finally got that sticker.

Thomas Mooney 1:00:01

What does it been like? Obviously, we've talked a little bit about this earlier, but like, what's it like, where you're really doing a whole lot more outside of Texas, like you're playing in places that are obviously outside of Texas, but also with artists that are non traditional Texas artists.

Ben Hussey 1:00:21

I love it, man. It's it's something that I've wanted to do for a long time. You know, I kept my teeth here and, and loved the time that I that I spent here. But I've always wanted more. And I wanted more with six market and there was a lot of times that I was worried about is getting pigeon holed here. And, you know, to an extent that ended up happening, I don't think it really had the time to flesh out the way I had it pictured in my head, right. But that's something that I've always wanted was to be able to go out and see these other markets and then play these places. And when this opportunity to do that came up, like the aquarium thing was a perfect fit for me. Because when when my boys were born, the wife and I made a made a deal that if a gig came along that was already established, did block touring as opposed to weekends. Yeah. and was able to branch out beyond this scene. Then we could talk about me playing it. And when I got the offer, I had originally said no, because the studio was busy. I had my family. And then I went home and I told Lindsay where who it was and she goes, Hey, dumb ass. That's exactly the kind of gig we were talking about. You need to call them back before they call somebody else. Right, right. Yeah, you mentioned Cory Brandon. Jamie White's would open it up if you will. She's She's starting on the next like next week or something. I don't know. I don't know much about her. Yeah, she's California. Yeah, that's and Dude, I'm excited about that. I've never been I've toured damn near every state from Utah east. I've never been Nevada. And that's not just suing like I've never been there. I've never been in Arizona, Utah, Washington, Seattle or Seattle was in the same place. We're in Oregon. That's what was known as a California Yeah, and we're gonna do all that and way back in the day I made a I made a list of things that I wanted to accomplish through through the music business. And it was like blue light was one of them. This was a long long time ago it's like you know blue by Billy Bob's Luke umbach green tour Europe tour the West Coast tour everywhere. And you know, I would slowly crosses off cross off green cross off your cross off all this the West Coast was still out there. And then BJ was like, yeah, we'll be going to the west coast in the fall. It's I can finally now I can quit.

No, late night show was another one of those. And that might be happening soon. I don't know. That's still kind of on the fence. But if it does, I'll be very happy about that. Yeah. The other one was buy a house which my wife owns house we live in now but we found some land that we might buy in the next couple of years. Or they might say my you're going to fail they were going to buy in the next couple of years. And so that's just like a huge after that. I'm gonna have to make a new list. Yeah, but then like what else is there? Oh, there's bigger bigger rooms, I guess. I don't know.

Thomas Mooney 1:03:41

Yeah. All right. At that point, it's like we all tour with our own buses. Yeah.

shit like that.

I guess. I guess the bigger rooms would be the next bigger next logicals late night thing is that man be so cool. It's not strange. Is that like, like Turnpike's never really been on Late Night? Huh? Like that boy like Austin City or I mean like only what you know, right? I get Have you not done any? Like SEO Austin City Limits? No, I haven't. That'd be so I'll put that on my list. Out here. Yeah, that'd be cool. off limits I'm surprised I guess like American Graham hasn't done any. Don't Don't one of those. I don't think so. Or BJ solo. I don't know. I don't think so. How is like the your Sonic palette your music tastes expanded since since joining the band.

Ben Hussey 1:04:53

I've started listening to music again. Which is cool. You know for a while You know, when you work in a studio eight to 10 hours a day, like the last thing you want to do is listen. Yeah. Or like go to a show. Well, that that came from like playing shows you start to get by nitpicky. I'm sure you've heard that before when you go to a show or like, Iran sound for a long time. So you start to like, dissect the mix. And, and it starts becoming fun.

Thomas Mooney 1:05:22

Yeah, but like,

Ben Hussey 1:05:24

everybody has different tastes. And so you started listening to some of the stuff they're into, and it gets you, like I was saying about the hold steady, right. And like, Felicia, she turned me on to him back in the day, and then now needing something to pump me up all around. And I was like, Oh, this is perfect. And then I start, you know, dissecting lyrics. I'm like, wow, there's some real serious shit going on here. And then production aspects will go, but that's the that's my point right there. I stopped listening to music because all of a sudden, like, it's not. It started, it turns into work again. Yeah, you know, but these guys have made me start listening again, and enjoying it. And Cory Brandon was big on that, too. Like just listening to his songs every night. I was like, Man, this guy's got some very interesting stuff. Yeah, you know. And that was the first time in a long time where I thought music was interesting. That sounds terrible, doesn't it?

Thomas Mooney 1:06:19

Now I get what you're saying, though, because I think more so this year than some other years. It feels like there's just so much coming out. Yeah, that for me, personally, like I'm listening to record for. I may get it early, but I'm listening to it for like three weeks, right? Like, I have to put it away and roll on to something else. And that kind of sucks. Like it sucks where it's hard to peel back those layers and like really dive into something and seeing trying to see what somebody is trying to say, right? And because I'm a firm believer that you listen to a record six months from now, you're gonna get something else out of it. Yeah. That you didn't see the first time you heard it. And well, I mean, fuck, maybe I should have asked that question. like that aspect of, of a 10 year anniversary records are full. Yeah, that's, there's too many records that I remember when they came out that I know from people that we know now, you know, I'm saying Yeah, better. There's too many records made by people that we know that are coming on 10 year anniversaries. I'm talking about feeling old. That's what all those records used to be like, oh, blah, blah. Like Ryan Adams. You know, I got it. I don't know that guy. Yeah, his records are 1015 years old now. Right. And then now it's like, Oh, I can't think of anything off the top of my head. But.

Ben Hussey 1:07:52

Well, I'm sure like that six marker record. Well, that was 2012. Yeah, that was a fucking lifetime ago.

Thomas Mooney 1:07:58

Yeah. What What was the what's the American aquarium record that just got reissued on vinyl

Ben Hussey 1:08:03

Bible in the bottle? Yeah. Alright, keep checking to make sure I'm not missing challenge. Check. Oh,

Thomas Mooney 1:08:11

whatever you guys have that. I remember a couple years ago, and this record always to me. It's felt ahead of its time, but too far to care. Oh, 97. That came out in 97. Which what was what was on that? That's like time bomb barrier. Oh, okay. Yeah, like the that's, that came out in 97. And they had played like a 15 Year Anniversary Show here at blue light. They had done a run. The last night was here. And that's one of those records. I'm like, that was probably 20. Yeah. And I love those kind of shows where they they basically they played the entire record in a row and right played more songs after. And do you like that? Do you like when a band does the record in a row? Yeah, actually, I because we don't see it a whole lot at all. Yeah, really. We don't see it at all. But I love like that kind of shit.

Ben Hussey 1:09:03

I know, a lot of people I talked to were on the fence about that. I think it's kind of cool. As long as you're following it with with other songs. Right? Right. Like if you just play in the record, start to finish and then you're like, Alright, cool. That's our new record. Yeah, we did that was statesboro one time when they're Alyssa records like 20 songs

Thomas Mooney 1:09:21

longer. So

Ben Hussey 1:09:24

what was that record of theirs called that came out when I was playing with them. I can't remember but we played it. Front to back on the release night and I was nervous about because I'd never done that before. And I was like, Man, this is an okay thing to do. And it ended up working out great. And then we went back and played, you know, the hug fan and all that stuff. And it was a really fun night. Yeah, that's actually the night that gave birth to the corporate chief record. I mean, to an extent, we went back to Super towels to have a you know, release party after the party. I was sitting on the back porch with with reo trebbiano. And we had a fucking gallon of rum, or just passing it back and forth. And he's like, I want to make a solo record. And I said, Dude, come to Stephenville, Josh and I will take care of you. We'll get it knocked out in a couple of days. It'll be fucking awesome. And he goes, alright. And I thought it was just drawing target furs. And shortly after that, I got married. And we scheduled a studio time. And so I told Josh, like, Hey, I'm gonna be on my honeymoon for the first week of the second week. So come in, he goes, alright, cool. And it starts He's like, he emails me. It's like this copper cheap ban as bad as the fuck is copper cheap. And he goes, it's real. And then I said, What? Because Yeah, dude, it's like, we've got it. He's got a four piece band in here. Him and this other guy are switching off on vote on lead vocals. And it's like a 15 track record. I was like, Dude, that is not the deal. We made Rio. Because I got him a pretty good deal. You know, Rio is a buddy. Yeah. And I thought we were throwing him a bone. And then he comes in with this full on. Have you heard that record? on that when we were doing it. And I was like, holy shit, Rio, this is not the deal we made. But it's good. Let's go. That whole process for that record was a lot of fun. Because, you know, I was newly married. So I was minding my P's and Q's work all day, and go home to the wife and all that shit. And they would go out and just party balls all night long. And they would record to so I would come in 910 o'clock the next morning fresh, and I'd let them sleep. They all slept on the floor. And on this little shitty couch we had, I'd let him sleep for about an hour while I went through everything that they'd done the night before. And I'd make notes and say, Okay, this works. This is shit. This could work if we get a better take of it, you know, that sort of thing. Yeah. And then around 1112, I'd wake him up and say, Hey, guys, I've got my notes, let's get back to work. And they just anatomy and start laying shit down, man. And we did that for two weeks or so. And then they had to go back home and, you know, play some shows and whatnot. And they by the time they came back to finish it, we'd moved from the trailer house, we were in out to Melanie mountains, we've finished the last bit over there. But the whole process like working with them and getting to know them was just a lot of fun. And it was neat that they had that opportunity to go out with Josh and and and party and then come back and really flesh out these somewhat ridiculous ideas in some in some spot. And then I would come in and just kind of you know, clean everything up for a little bit. Right.

Thomas Mooney 1:12:57

Odd Couple was an odd couple.

Ben Hussey 1:12:59

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, that's it. That's why Josh and I've always worked so well is because, you know, we can we feed off each other in that way. Like, his his strengths are my weakness and my and vice versa. You know what I mean? Right? So it's a really, it's a really good team. And now, the last record, we actually got to work on together like in the same room at the same time was Zach maghen, his new solo record. And that shit is cool. It's his the songs that he's written for this record are his you know, I've known Zack for well over a decade. And I've written with him. I've heard everything he's ever done. And this is the best material he's put together. Yeah, very excited about it. We're so worried. He wrote two more songs that he was like, man, I want to I want to keep adding to the record. And, you know, that is everything else has been so good that it's just like, yeah, okay, let's see what you got, you know,

Thomas Mooney 1:14:04

right. Here. Yeah. Yeah. I know when it'll be done. I guess he had posted a few. Or, like Instagram videos. Yeah, some, some some of the songs. I'm really interested to see what what happens with that.

Ben Hussey 1:14:20

I am too. And I think he is too because when he first started it, it was just something that he wanted to do for himself. And he was like, you know, this is something I've always wanted to do. Like, even with Dali, Chinese, like I still wanted to make a solo record because he ran he ran Dolly shine pretty diplomatically where like, everybody had their voice in songs. And he felt like he sacrificed some of his voice for that, which a lot of guys do when you're in a band situation like that. Right? And so he's always wanted to make something that was just him. And it was really exciting to do that with him. Yeah, and to just sit down and say what do you want here? Or we're thinking this what do you think? And and really get to watch him flesh out his own ideas. And it's it's come together very well. There was a song that him and Brandon wrote together of some of the guys about this last night that had a line in it that I just did not like and you know, brand new jacket to my favorite songwriters. I called Brandon immediately I stopped stopped to take I was like, hold on, hold on. Zack come in here. Call Brad. And I put them on speakerphone. I said, Dude, what is this? You guys are better than this. Come on. He goes, we'll forgive. You're so good. And so I did call it like, we all sat there and ran was like Yeah, dude, do whatever you want. So Zach, and I sat there and kind of restructured that part. And then, you know, we immediately called Brandon and said, okay, How's this? Does this work for you? And, and he was on board with it. So yeah, shaving shaving out nicely?

Thomas Mooney 1:16:00

Yeah. Good. He had opened up a show for his like CD release for Ross Cooper's record. Yeah, exactly played up here. We talked a little bit about what was his plans for that record. I'm excited to hear what what's in store? Because I like you said, I think everyone always wants to at least do that one record where they make all the decisions. Yeah. Because you don't you don't ever it's one of those. You never know, unless you do it.

Ben Hussey 1:16:29

Yeah, I tell you that was another cool thing about working with BJ in the studio was he was very adamant that we, you know, he's like y'all can do whatever you want, musically, whatever feels right to you all, as long as it doesn't change my melodies. He said, that's, you know, my songs are my songs. But the music is you guys. So do whatever you want. Just don't fuck with my melodies are like, Alright, yeah, we can do that. So that was that was a really cool aspect of making this record with him. And if he didn't like something, he would speak up about it. But for the most part, he was very much as do what you guys want to do. And, you know, I got a lot of respect for that.

Thomas Mooney 1:17:06

Yeah. You know, going back to the whole plan of record and row. Things change for like, you guys could do that. Just like play the record.

Ben Hussey 1:17:16

I think you're right. I think we could I think because of the whole side a side B, the diversity between the two? I think it would work.

Thomas Mooney 1:17:24

Yeah, I don't think we will. What's the if you could see any band do that? What record would it be?

Ben Hussey 1:17:33

I don't know if this is like a technical thing, or just something I would want to see. But I'd love to watch mercury II do. Where do you hide the body? Start from the back. But that's kind of just one of my all time favorite records or if we're doing like living or dead. The band do the brown album? I'd like to see that front to back. What about for you?

Thomas Mooney 1:17:59

I don't know. Why so hard. Yeah, a wide scene to reality. lubicon everything. Yeah. Which is like that's just kind of and what makes that. Obviously, not necessarily more special. But that's 21 songs. Yeah. And so there's something to that. I love the idea of seeing somebody take on like their obviously their Opus, right. Um, Springsteen does a few who do a few shows where he does like darkness on Earth.

Ben Hussey 1:18:30

That would be a good one to see to Nebraska record. Oh, I know what it would be. Tom Petty do an echo. Because you've never played those songs alive. You know, that was like a well, I guess that was a dark period in his life. So he would I think there was one I read this story. I don't know if it's true or not, but like Gwyneth Paltrow was at a show and she loved one of the songs out baco and he played it for her but that was like the only time he would play one of those songs. So that seeing him do that at like the Continental club would be really cool.

Thomas Mooney 1:19:06

Also, like there's there's records where for example, like let's say like old number one by Guy Clark. I think all those songs are great. And I would love to see God I would have loved to see in guy Clark play all those songs. But I don't necessarily think it wouldn't matter seeing them in a row. Oh, yeah, I'm saying so like

Ben Hussey 1:19:26

some of those go with something like echo like it's more or less a concept record. It would all it would fall into place. Yeah,

Thomas Mooney 1:19:34

I would say. I don't know like, South Eastern by is yeah be pretty cool all in a row.

Ben Hussey 1:19:44

One night. I was partying with the Dead Ringers. And Sean Shawn Shawn fair, the guitar player and other like the not Johnny mark. He did the entire redheaded stranger record. Front to back Just by himself, we were just sitting there with a handle of Jim Beam. And I was just sitting there for the entire time. I was like, wow, this is really cool. It's been going on for a long time, but it's really cool. And I loved the Dead Ringers as when I played with Johnny, you know, I did like nine months. So with him, so excited to play some of those songs is a lot of those by that sideman blues. I've learned all those john Michael chef parts when I was learning how to play bass, you know, right. So that was exciting for me.

Thomas Mooney 1:20:37

I did you ever get into the war on drugs? Now? I

Ben Hussey 1:20:41

haven't extensively that's been a van jam that a lot of the guys BJ and Shane are heavy into them. Last

Thomas Mooney 1:20:48

dream, I would say would be a fucking record. Yeah, see that? I've checked that one out. Yeah, that was like that's, you know, like, every once in a while, there's a record that'll come out that you go, Oh, fuck, this is gonna be in my top 10 forever, right. And that was one of those ones where it came out. The first time I heard the first single, which is red eyes. I was like, Oh, shit, what? This is gonna be something cool. And they became like the record. I was like most anticipating. Right? Yeah, it comes out. And I was just like, okay, I thought this is gonna be like my top 10 Yeah, this is the one that they're like, now, whatever, you know, and then they, one of my buddies listen to it. And he's like, I thought you're being dramatic about you know, saying that. And I listened to it. And it's like, Holy fuck, no, this is actually that good. Right, you know, but that's a shame to play it for me. Yeah, I know. He was a big fan of the show. Yeah, we talked a little bit about it. It just What's strange is I was telling Jordan King last night. He's lying to us. Oh, right. Right, right.

We we

lost in a dream came out. Like, three, four years ago. And you can already see albums being released that are like highly influenced by that record.

Ben Hussey 1:22:13

That's cool. That's got to feel good to them to to like it. There's a strange

Thomas Mooney 1:22:19

or not strange. I don't know if it's necessarily strange. But like, there's a lot of Americana records that are coming out that kind of have that Shimmer and Shine. Yeah. to it. That that I feel is a direct response to,

Ben Hussey 1:22:33

to that record. Yeah, ma'am. That having that sort of impact on somebody on other artists is such a cool thing to see, you know, am I such contrived? You know what I mean? Unless somebody is like doing it, because that guy did it. Like, we get a lot of a lot of these younger kids that want to sound like a certain, you know, guided spring. And they'll say, I want that I want that. It's like Ma'am, why don't you want your own

Thomas Mooney 1:23:01

rice? Well, something that I've always said is that like the especially in Texas country or a there for a while everyone was doing like an impression of Robert Roe Kane. Yeah. Right. Right. And I've always said like, the lineage was like, Jerry, Jeff Walker, Robert okene. Like they like those guys. are not the the technical great singers. Right? Right. But they have like a distinct style, right? And then you saw like, Pat green kind of do this trying to do the same thing. And then you hit like, Are there any routers? And like, you would say those four all sound away because like they're that's just how they sound yet. Then after like, Randy came out. You saw all these guys doing their impression of like that,

Ben Hussey 1:23:49

right? And it just, just like weird and that that happens with every, like, it happened with avid, right? There's a lot of guys doing that doing this. And it's like, man, just because I worked for him, doesn't mean it's gonna work for you. Yeah, there's a whole lot of alright dude. So I'm reading this. The outliers. Malcolm, Malcolm McDowell. Gladwell. Gladwell, that's it. And, you know, he talks about successful people. But all the all the factors as to why they're successful. And with guys, especially guys like avid, it's not his sound that makes him successful. It's the work ethic. It's the, it's all these different factors. So you can't go into the studio and say, I want to sound like that because it's working for that guy. Well, there's so many other things that are going into that. Yeah. And a lot of people don't realize that I think Yeah, and that's, that's fascinating, but I'm like 10 years late on this book.

Thomas Mooney 1:24:49

Gladwell, he's one of my favorite dudes.

Ben Hussey 1:24:51

Yes. We're talking about him the other day because he was like, What are you reading? And he said, He's got another book called tipping point. That's really Good.

Thomas Mooney 1:25:00

Well, you need to listen to his podcast. He's got a podcast. Yeah. And he's also been a guest on a bunch of podcasts that just different ones but like, always I really listened to had been with Bill Simmons. He's been a guest on

Ben Hussey 1:25:15

him. I've been listening to the mF CEO project lately, if you heard that podcast, dude, it's a entrepreneurial bass. mentorship podcast, okay. And the guy is fucking, he's got me all fired up about business.

Thomas Mooney 1:25:32

Let's see, like the reason like I love the Gladwell stuff that I've been listening to is the or the stuff with Bill Simmons mainly has been about sports. Yeah. And of course, like, it's always these different viewpoints on sports, right? The I don't want to say like the outsider view, because like Gladwell is a sports fan. Yeah, but so it's not necessarily like an outsider view of like him. If you just showed somebody basketball for the first time, right? So it's not that but he always has like that kind of view of it. Like what if it's like this, you know, I can't think of an example but you know, I'm saying another great guy. He's not like the, the, the the statistician, if you will, but that Gladwell is he's not like the business aspect or like the economy, the the aspect of any of that, but Chuck Chuck Klosterman Oh, I've heard as always he's like he's more of like a pop culture writer. Yeah. Journalist guy, but like he always says fresh interesting takes he's got some books that you probably would enjoy reading because they're all about music.

Ben Hussey 1:26:44

Yeah. I like that I like when people take something like that like sports or music but then we'll get more of the like sociological aspects you know what I mean? And how how it's really affecting the society in in different facets as opposed to just looking at it it's like oh, sports are fun music is entertaining right? or emotional or whatever. It goes so much beyond that to you know, time and place things and and crude thought and all of that

Thomas Mooney 1:27:14

right? Well like one of my favorite things about as a kid I loved basketball more than anything. Yes. And I was like really into the stats right? And like I loved you know, watching game to game aspects and like love the storyline of the game itself right and to an extent I loved the game the storyline of the game for footballs and or football and like baseball games, right? But as I've gotten older, the individual game has mean less if you get what I'm saying. Yeah, and it's been more of what I love about sports now is the the storyline of the the the soap opera around the sport, right? And then I love in the strange way the analytical side of like, all the stats but the super stats now though, right? Like all the tracking and because that I find that

Ben Hussey 1:28:06

fascinating, too. Did you ever did you play any the video games or sports video games? Yeah. I remember. One year I watched a buddy of mine playing a game and he never played the games. He just went through and did like the like that that

Thomas Mooney 1:28:21

aspect like franchise Yeah.

Ben Hussey 1:28:23

Yeah. But like he never sat there and played an actual baseball game and like that blew my fucking mind. But I think that was like I think that was a turning point for maybe it was an age thing or I don't know but like it started getting people into that side of the into what you're talking

Thomas Mooney 1:28:41

Yeah, it's Yeah, because like that's the thing is were with basketball now. Like I was I'm a big Mavericks fan. I'll watch there's some seasons I watched every regular season game every playoff game. Now I'm looking around like 70 games probably Yeah, season. There's just so many there. There's a bunch. But like, what I love more is, is the the storyline the arc of the season, right? Like the like basketball right now is not being played. We're in the offseason, but I'm still listening to the podcast.

Ben Hussey 1:29:16

And I had this buddy in college and I used to smoke weed with and I've never really been into sports that much. But he was a big college basketball fan. And so I'd go over to his house and I remember one night we got high and watch his basketball game. And it was the second basketball game I'd seen all the way through the first one was before pag green concert at reunion arena when I was in high school. I just watched the game because I was there for the concert with this one like I was high and I was just sitting there and I was like oh my god, this is the he was fast pace and like the turnovers and all this I was like this is the most fascinating thing I've ever seen. And I look at the guy like I hadn't seen I hadn't said anything in a while. I just went Dude, what else am I missing out?

Thomas Mooney 1:30:03

That's funny. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 1:30:06

I don't know I

Thomas Mooney 1:30:09

I'm not really a fan of the college game.

Ben Hussey 1:30:12

It but yeah, a lot of that stuff is on me. But like you said the keeping up with it in the offseason That's funny. That's just like, Yeah, because it's just such a different kind of fan. It's a different like he said, It's like watching a show. It's like a series of that you're just so invested in

Thomas Mooney 1:30:28

right. And and I know a lot of people when it comes to basketball in general, like specifically, like the NBA, there's a lot of transactions there's Yeah, like free agency moves. Right. And so everybody's got an opinion on that everyone's. And it's this. What's weird now is that I think it's better to better game with players having more say on where they're wanting to play, where they're wanting to where they're wanting to go, right. I mean, they should they should have in their life, man. This guy is not fucking loyal. Yeah. And it's like, dude, like the best example of it is obviously, LeBron. The Cavs? Yeah, everyone knew even. trader, right? It's like, dude, he's making a decision on where he wants to live. What let's imagine you if you were drafted by whatever company you write for, and they just had your rights for, you know, 10 years, like when Steve decided to leave the company,

Ben Hussey 1:31:34

these guys like the lifespan of a professional athlete is shorter, much more. Yeah. So they should be able to have some sort of saying that because it's their lives, and it's the problem of their lives. You know, but that's the thing. A lot of people take the personal aspect out of out of celebrity, right, you know, and then I think that's a problem with our society. And it's like, these people are still people, right? And they still have their own personal goals and their own personal wants. And despite what they do, they should be able to achieve those just like the rest of us.

Thomas Mooney 1:32:08

Yeah. I like the when Durant left Oklahoma City. Golden State, there's still people were like, fucking snake. And I'm like, dude, he gave Oklahoma City nearly a decade to like, win a championship. So like, and like gave, but just like I'm saying gave that franchise 10 years of his life. And Oklahoma City like I I'm sympathetic towards the thunder. I'll do like Russ, Russ, but sometimes the fans for Oklahoma, I'm just like, calm down, guys. You guys also still a tea, right? Thunder used to be the Seattle SuperSonics. So like, what about that loyalty for to Seattle? Hmm. I would not be like throwing so many stones is what I'm saying.

Ben Hussey 1:32:57

Oh, you know, it's like, it's like with bands too. It's the same thing as man. If you're in a band for 10 years, and it's not working and you decide to do something else and your fans get pissed. say well, you know, I tried. I tried for 10 years. Right now. I'm gonna try something else. Yeah, it should only be fair

Thomas Mooney 1:33:12

with bands. I think like my, the reason why I've been more lenient on sports is because of the band aspect. Because, like, a good band. Doesn't. How many bands last forever, right? Not one band last forever. Right. Let's your I guess the Rolling Stones. Yeah, they'll play until. I don't know. There'll be they're not dead. Like. I'm not convinced that Charlie Watts isn't dead already. They just, yeah, they just shoot electricity and do his body. Yeah, no, that's I mean, shit. Look at me. Every band. Like, disappears at some point. And sometimes it's good that a band stops. Yeah, whenever they stop, you know? So it's better. That's how I've kind of viewed a lot more sports, but it's interesting.

Ben Hussey 1:34:11

Yeah, it's funny in comparison. Maybe like I said, I've never really been into sports. I tried when I was younger because my friends were into it, but I wasn't good at it. So I didn't like it.

Thomas Mooney 1:34:21

That's surprising like people don't like what they're not good. Yeah, but yeah.

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