- "Shaped by Sound" combines performance and conversation to capture the depth of the North Carolina music scene.

Logan Chaucer and Sam Baker love surfing, classic rock, and being in a band.

Together, they're the Blue Footed Boobies, a psychedelic blues rock duo from Wilmington, North Carolina.

Their music is raw, it's filled with energy, and wrapped in a tie dye nostalgia.

Today on the "Shaped By Sound" podcast, Logan Chaucer and Sam Baker of the Wilmington-based psychedelic rock duo, the Blue Footed Boobies.

So, since we're PBS North Carolina, I kind of wanna start off the show with a bit like this.

So the blue-footed booby is a marine bird native to subtropical and tropical regions of Eastern Pacific Oceania.

- It is.

- It is one of six species of the genus Sula, known as boobies.

It is easily recognizable by its distinct bright blue feet, which is a sexually selected trait and a product of their diet.

Males display their feet in an elaborate mating ritual by lifting them up and down while strutting before the female.

So?

- That's exactly how we date girls.

- That's how we do it.

Sounds like you know more about 'em than we do.

- Well, you know, since we're PBS, we kind of gotta do the, we gotta bring the educational element into this.

- For sure.

- Yeah.

So, you know, whether you're from the Eastern Pacific sides of this world, or from Wilmington, North Carolina, we have the Blue Footed Boobies.

Thanks for being in on the show.

- Thanks for having us, man.

- Thanks for having us.

- Yeah.

- We're stoked.

- So, wanted to start out with, so Logan, you're from Wilmington?

- I am.

Yeah.

- Is that right?

Yeah.

And Sam, you're from Kernersville?

- Kernersville.

Translated to Wilmington in high school.

- Right on.

- Yeah.

- So I'll start out with you, Logan.

What was it like sort of growing up in Wilmington?

- I loved it, man.

It was really cool.

Wilmington's such a cool town.

- [James] Yeah.

- When I was younger, it was a lot smaller than it is now.

You know, it's like really blown up 'cause it's such a cool, like, beach town.

But it's a really cool place.

You know, it's a college town, so you got a lot of young people.

It's got a really good music scene still to this day.

But it's a hard place to leave, you know?

- Yeah.

- It's kinda got a little bit of everything, the beach, cool downtown, you know, historic downtown area, killer music scene, good restaurants, bars and stuff like that.

So I loved growing up in Wilmington.

Mm.

I still live there now, so obviously I like it a good bit.

- What about you, Sam?

- Growing up in Kernersville, there wasn't a whole lot to do.

- Yeah.

- So I always remembered growing up, I always sounded like this, kind of like, "Yeah, bro.

Yeah, dude."

You know, that Wilmington surfer sound?

- Yeah.

- So all my friends that grew up hunting and everything, they'd always make fun of me 'cause of my accent.

So when I moved to Wilmington, I was like, "Wow, other people sound exactly like me."

I was like, "This is my place."

So, and yeah, I love Wilmington now.

I'll probably live there the rest of my life.

Just the active lifestyle, you have the water, good music scene.

Yeah.

Tons of activities.

Everybody takes their health serious there too.

So it's really, really cool in that aspect.

So.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- That's great.

And I'm kind of interested to know a little bit about your music origin stories as well, so.

- Sure.

- Logan, when did you start to shred, my man?

- Man, my, I think my nana had bought me like a little toy guitar when I was like five years old.

- Yeah.

- Maybe even younger than that.

And I never really knew how to play it when I was so little.

But I would.

- Well, you were five, right?

I mean, yeah.

- Yeah.

But I just used to like, mess around with it, you know, and just like make noises with it.

And then I kind of always had, like my parents have great taste in music and they always had, you know, like instruments around, like, they can't play anything.

My dad, he once tried to learn the banjo.

I'm sure he'll get a good chuckle outta that when he hears this, but they don't really play instruments, but they always had a keyboard or a guitar or just like something around the house that I would just like, mess around with.

And eventually, you know, I just kind of started doing it a lot more.

And yeah, here we are.

- So did you have any sort of formal training?

- No, I'm basically self-taught.

After I graduated high school, I went to Cape Fear Community College for two years for music and learned how to read music and took piano classes and guitar classes and all that.

But, you know, and I'm sure it helped me a lot, but I just, I don't really use any of it now.

We kind of just, kind of just make our own stuff, you know?

- Yeah.

- But that's probably the extent of the formal training that I've had in music.

- Wow.

- So.

- That's pretty wild that you're self-taught for the most part, I mean- - Thanks, man.

- Especially the way that you play.

- I appreciate it.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

And Sam, what about you, when did you pick up the drums, start playing?

- Oh, I was probably eight years old.

And my brother, he is a savant.

He can play any instrument that he touches and he plays it so well.

- Really?

- So he was always the musical minded person of the family and I was always kind of the athlete of the family.

So my parents tried to get me to go to drum lessons while he was taking guitar lessons, but I would never practice.

My instructor would always be like, "He's not doing his paradiddles, he's not doing anything."

So eventually they gave up and, you know, I was racing BMX and doing some other stuff at that time.

So kind of just kept doing that.

Didn't ever think I'd pick up an instrument ever again.

It just wasn't my thing.

- Yeah.

- And then, in like 2015, I broke my leg really bad and couldn't walk.

Picked up the guitar, started teaching myself that.

And then I started hanging out with musicians.

Met Logan and he was looking for a drummer at the time, and he was like, "Dude, you should play the drums.

You know, you should play the drums with me on this show I have in two weeks too."

And I was like, "I don't know any of your songs.

I don't know really how to play anything other than like, 'Smells like Teen Spirit.'"

- Yeah.

- And I just said yeah.

I mean, I think it took a few beers for him to convince me.

But yeah, eventually he broke me down and we did it.

And I remember sitting in your Honda Civic that night after the show, and you were like, "Hey dude, you wanna do this?"

- Yeah.

- I was like, "Yeah."

So the next week, I bought $120 drum kit off Craigslist and started teaching myself on YouTube and listening to Nirvana and Dave Grohl drum and just like, wanted to kinda mimic what people looked like when they drummed.

- Okay.

- And not just the com complexity of it all, 'cause I knew I was not good at drumming 'cause I had just started.

So I was like, "I gotta make up for it by being animated," you know?

So I would just study a lot of videos and learn that way.

- That's so interesting that you were looking at the way, like the way that people looked versus what they were actually doing.

Do you feel like that's still, are you still studying that kind of stuff?

- Definitely.

I think I, like playing with Logan, he had already built a fan base, so, you know, playing a live show, going from like not really playing to playing a live show in front of 250 people, you know, it's not like I had months to be able to sit in my parents' basement and figure this stuff out.

So I immediately had to think of it from a performance perspective.

- Yeah.

- So, yeah, that always was definitely really, really heavy, like what I thought about a lot, was just the performance aspect of it.

And I think that's how Logan probably feels too, is like, we're performers first and foremost and musicians also.

- Mm.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, I mean, the performance aspect of it, like, for me, it goes hand in hand.

Like obviously for me, like the music is what comes first.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

But like, especially for us, the performance is such a big part of what we do, you know, like the stage presence and like the, you know, how you look on stage and like, just how you, you get your music across is such a big part of our performance.

- Yeah.

- It's funny that you say that too, about, you know, like having to jump on stage in front of all these people and play a show because I'll never forget, we're playing Reggie's, you remember this?

- Yeah.

- We were playing Reggie's and it was like one of the first big shows we had ever played together and it was packed, like to the gills.

- Mm.

- Like, they were kicking people out and just like, you know, people were losing their minds.

And Sam was like, you know, if I remember correctly, you're definitely like a little nervous, you know?

- Oh my God.

I was terrified.

Oh.

- He's like, "I'll throw up dude.

I'm so nervous."

And I was just like, "Man, trust me, this is gonna be sick, dude.

I've done this so many times, you're gonna crush it.

You're gonna do great.

And after this, it's gonna be all gravy."

And like, we went on stage and played a hell of a show and that was that.

But like.

- Yeah.

I remember I had like, I was completely sober, but I had blacked out, you know?

Like the adrenaline and just the rush of endorphins, it's like we finished playing and I was like, it's like it didn't even happen.

- Yeah.

- And then I was like, "That's the drug I want to chase."

I was like, "That's gonna be my fix."

You know?

- That's funny.

- Well, you were, so, that's first of all, incredible story.

And it seems like you tapped into something that you both knew was incredible.

And I want to kind of follow up a little bit on talking about the performance side of it.

- Mm-hmm.

- How much of your performance is the energy and just the vibe of it.

Like why is that so meaningful to you all as you play?

- I think like, music is such like a connective thing.

Like you're trying to, as a musician and as a performer, like, you're trying to make sure that everyone's really stoked and having a great time and all that.

And like, you know, but you really want to get your point across, you know, like musically or just like whatever you're trying to say.

And I think like, people connect through music almost more than anything that I've been a part of.

- Yeah.

- So your performance has to like, kind of reflect that.

Like, you have to engage your audience, kind of on another level, I think.

And I think that's something that we've tried to do really, you know, really well over our time together is just like, really engage your fan base and give 'em whatever kind of energy you're trying to put out and really get your point across.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

And, well, what is the point that you're trying to get across?

- For us, I mean, it varies song to song.

- Yeah.

- You know, like, music's such an emotional thing for me, you know what I mean?

Like, every song contains a different sort of feeling and a different sort of emotion.

So like, some songs are very rock oriented, you know, and you're like, or party oriented, you know, like you're wanting your audience to have a good time or, you know what I mean?

And then we've got songs that are like more, you know, not as high energy, not as high tempo, that are more kind of emotional songs that people connect to.

And you know, everybody receives musical messages differently.

Like one song could mean this to one person, and then to somebody else, it could mean something entirely different.

- Yeah.

- But really, just connecting with your audience is such a big part of our live performance.

- Yeah.

- You know?

- And when do you feel like, are there times where you're also picking that energy up from the audience as well and just feeding off of it?

- Totally.

- Yeah.

What's that like?

- Sam, you wanna take this one?

I mean.

- I think it's pretty incredible, like to kind of reverse engineer that question, it's like a lot of the things that I get from watching other bands perform, you know, or like I have role models or mentors that I look up to and I want to experience their world and kind of jump into it.

Like, my perception of them and what they're outputting, I'm able to kind of take away and kind of transfer that to my own life and things that I have going on.

It's like, I think when you look at an artist, it's a little bit more complex than just the sounds that they're creating.

You know, it's their lifestyle, who they are off the stage, what they're doing.

I think we have the ability to connect with audiences through action sports.

You know, like from my wakeboarding background, Logan's surfing background, we've had some really great opportunities doing stuff with "Alliance Wakeboarding" magazine, and all these big companies, like Tige Boats have used our music in some of their promotional videos and stuff through those connections.

So I think it's like, you know, a lot of those kids and people that want to like, get stoked on music and that music fires them up to go do some insane tricks and stuff, they can like easily identify with our music because they're like, "Okay, that's what they're doing."

You know?

And then same with kind of like Logan and stuff, you know, he was a collegiate basketball player and stuff.

So it's like that crowd and those people can connect through him and the thing he's doing and that can be their, like, walk-on songs and just stuff like that.

So I think it's just, it's a really broad spectrum, but I know that to me, it's really important to use the music to connect with people in these other facets of life.

You know, whether that's construction or action sports and things like that.

And that's kind of the bridge that closes that gap.

- Yeah, so are you saying sort of that you want people to come and see your show or listen to your music and then pick up on you two as people making it and know that they can ride this metaphorical wave with you and just be whatever they wanna be?

- Yeah.

Hopefully get inspired.

- And take that energy and push it forward into something new, exciting, and whatever they can do.

- Mm-hmm.

- Yeah.

And I will say, like going back to, you know, your question about kind of feeding off the energy of the crowd, that's something that Sam does really well.

It's kind of why I was like, you know, threw that one to you is like, if the vibes are high, like if the crowd is really stoked and like really having a good time, it just enhances our performance, you know what I mean?

I think when it's super high energy, like last weekend we played the Lighthouse Beer and Wine Festival.

And you know, obviously it's always a great crowd.

Everyone's drinking beer and it's like, my buddy Will Thomas, he ran the merch for us and he was like, "This is like a home game for you guys."

And I was like, "Yeah, that's a really good analogy.

That's a really good way to put it."

But like, shows like that, that are so high energy, like we're trying to also match their energy.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

Like, we're like, if we're feeling like we're a little bit too boring, we gotta pump it up, bring the vibes up a little bit, you know?

And I think we definitely did that.

But like, you know, it's kinda like every show's different.

Like some shows, I think I told Jody this yesterday, I was like, some shows you play for thousands of people and it's just insane.

It's the sickest thing ever.

And then some shows you play for a few people and it's still awesome that we get to do it and they're basically gonna get the same, same like content, like same show, but, you know, I feel like personally, in more intimate settings, I kind of dial back the stage theatrics a little bit, wouldn't you say?

- Oh, yeah.

We both do.

- And focus more on like, you know, if these cats came out to see us today, if they took the time outta their schedule to come see us, I'm gonna get the music super dialed.

- Hmm.

- I'm gonna give 'em the best show that I can put out.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

Like, for me in terms of guitar and vocals, I want to make sure my performance is like, just super dialed, so I might not be like moving around as much.

Or Sam might not be like, you know, swinging his arms as much and bashing the symbols quite as hard.

But you know, in a setting like that, it's like, I want to be super tight, so they're like, "These guys are killing it, they're giving us what they got," you know?

- Yeah.

- So.

- It's pretty interesting that you say that because first of all, it just shows your dedication to what you wanna do and how people listen to you and perceive you.

But I would say as an audience member, I don't know if I would know too much of the difference between you being like, "I'm gonna focus and super dial" versus you all just like, getting crazy with it and having fun.

It feels like two of the same same.

So it's interesting to hear you say that.

I've never really heard anybody really talk about that before.

That's really cool.

- Yeah, I mean, like, in terms of guitar playing, if you're doing all kinds of crazy stuff on stage and moving around a whole lot, sometimes there's less technicality to your playing just because, like, if I can sit here and just lock in, I'm gonna make sure that I hit every note.

- Yep.

- And just like be, you know, super in it, you know what I mean?

But like, when you're just going nuts and like.

- Playing behind your head.

- Playing behind your head and doing all that, it can kind of be like a little less tight just because you're just like, there's so much motion and so much like, a little bit more variation in your performance.

But yeah, I mean, like you kind of gotta, and that's something that I really dig about us is like, our show kind of does vary based on, you know, setting, like what the setting is, what the crowd's like, you're gonna get a little bit, you know, of a different Boobies show every time you come to see us.

And I think that's cool because there's people that have seen us like 30 times.

- Right.

- And they're like, "Oh dude, this show was so sick, but you guys did this different," you know, it's like, gives the audience something to kinda latch onto and just something that's different instead of just being rigid and being like, "We're gonna do this 10 songs every night for this entire run of shows that we're gonna do and we're gonna do 'em the exact same way," you know?

- Yeah.

- It's gotta be fun.

There's gotta be some freedom for variation in what you're doing, so.

- [James] And it keeps people coming back.

- Exactly - Right?

To see the new thing.

Like what will you all do next?

- Exactly.

So.

- Yeah.

- It's like reading the room, you know, you can, like, if the crowd's kinda starting to nod their heads and head bang, I'm like, "This is my opportunity.

We're doing a punk beat and we're gonna start head banging and getting after it."

And then usually the crowd will start head banging and start getting, like jumping up and down.

So it's like, we'll change sections of the song to accommodate what the crowd's doing and try to just feed off of each other.

And those shows are so much fun.

- I bet.

- Yeah.

- Is there a way that you all sort of communicate with each other?

Like that message of like, "Okay, it's like, let's maybe turn this up a little bit more."

- It's so funny, like, I don't think we've ever been asked that question, but like, it's sort of like a intuition thing.

- Like a chemistry for sure.

- Yeah.

- We've just done it so many times and like, like this last show we played, I was like, I just kind of like look at him and be like, "Okay, here's what we're gonna do."

You know what I mean?

But like, without saying it, I'm like, kind of like looking at him and then like, we just kind of figure it out, you know?

And it's like, there's different cues that we kind of go off of.

Like we can read each other really, really well after doing it for years, you know, but there's never been like any like, language per se.

- Hmm.

- If something has to change on stage, you kind of just kind of ride it out, you know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- You look over at each other and if Logan's eyes are really big, and then I'm like, my little antennas are going up.

I'm like, "Something's about to go down and I'm ready for it," you know?

And then I'll listen to a couple of the notes he's playing.

And like you said, we play with each other so much that like, a lot of the times, each show, we do bring, incorporate something new into a few of these songs.

- Definitely.

Definitely.

- We're like, "Wow, we've never played that song like that before," you know, but we're, I think, it's been like that since day one, though.

Like, we didn't have to learn each other or have a curve or study each other like that.

It just like nat, it was so- - Supernatural.

- Super.

Yeah.

It was just extremely natural and just was there, and I've like, I haven't experienced that with many other musicians or friends, so.

- Yeah.

Never.

- Yeah.

That's pretty cool.

- And like, it is like, like going back to how, you know, your set can kind of change sort of in the opposite way, like if we're playing a big show where or like a music festival, you know, where the exposure's high and you're trying to engage more people.

You're trying to win fans.

Like we do kind of taper our set to be like, this is what we're about.

Like these 10 songs are what we're about and we're gonna play 'em like really tight.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- But a lot of times we get hired to do like, hour and a half sets, two hour sets, like three hour sets.

And in situations like that.

Just three hours are a marathon, man.

- Vomit music, like the most random new stuff out there.

- Yeah.

- We've made new songs from that.

- Literally.

- Really?

- Like, "Oh dude, we need to take a mental note of that.

We need to do that again."

- Yeah, or just like new riffs, new drum patterns, like whatever.

But when you're on stage for three hours, and like we play some covers, like kind of like selective about what we decide to cover.

It's like Hendrix, Zeppelin, we do that Beatles cover, you know, stuff like that.

Sabbath, we've been covering Sabbath.

- Sabbath, that's been super fun lately.

- That's super fun.

They're one of my favorite bands.

But like three hours is like.

- It's a long time.

- A long time.

Like, we're not a cover band.

Like, we can't just like, be like, "Oh, let's," somebody's like, "Free Bird!"

"Oh, we got that one."

Like, no, we don't got it.

You know?

So we play a lot of originals that, like in a long set like that, you know, we play a lot of originals that we don't do all the time.

And also, your set kind of gets looser.

You can kind of do more of like whatever you want, you know, as opposed to like I said earlier, if you're playing a festival or if you're opening for a big act, like a big national act or something like that.

You wanna keep it more tight, you know, really get your like main songs across, so that you can win more fans and engage more people and, you know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- Dave Grohl has a really cool quote about that.

He said, "I'd rather watch the drummer," like instead of watching a really tight drummer that's really technical and really good, he's like, "I'd rather watch the drummer that's on the verge of collapsing off of this cliff.

He's barely holding it together and he's kind of pushing it.

And he's just a little sloppy, but still super tight."

- He's riffing.

- But he's just like, he's riffing, but he's just teetering on that fulcrum of like, "Ah," you know, and I always thought that that was really cool.

And that kind of gave me some confidence going into it.

I was like, "Oh, it doesn't have to be perfect.

It's just gotta be fun and exciting."

- You both surf, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- Is the way that you play music sort of like the way you would approach surfing?

It just seems like, just hearing your analogy there, it just seems like, when you get on the edge like that, riding that edge and just being on this teeter-totter of, like control and not having control.

- I call that flow state.

- Yeah.

- And I use that every day.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, it's flow state, just unplugging and allowing things to just happen.

- Right.

- You know?

And just trusting in the process and trusting your body and your mind.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, I think like, in terms of how music compares to surfing for me, like, you're not really in control when you're in the ocean.

- Right.

- You know, you're not really in control at all.

I mean, like, it's just like nature.

It's just like everything's so different.

And like, you know, like I said earlier, we have different sort of kinds of songs.

Like some songs are very more heavy, more like rock, you know, rock and roll.

Some songs are kind of more relaxed.

And that's kind of how surfing is.

Like sometimes you'll go surfing, it's like very, you know, glassy and fun and just easy.

And other times you'll go surf.

- It's double overhead.

- And it's like pumping.

- Blowing you up.

- Windy as hell.

And you know, like you're getting worked, but it's all super fun.

Like, it's just, you know, and that's kind of, like with music, live, in terms of live performance, you never really know what you're gonna get.

You know, like same thing as going for a surf.

You never really know what's gonna happen.

But you could walk on stage, and this is one of the cool things about us, I think, is like, we're not like, when you see us play a show, it's just us doing it.

- Right.

- Like there's no click track, there's no backing.

You know, there's tracks.

Like there's nothing.

It's just me and Sam up there.

And anything can kind of happen.

You can go out and play the best show of your life and everyone's stoked.

Or we've had shows where like, a cable goes bad or Sam busts a drum head or just like, and usually it's never really performance based.

It's usually like, is our gear gonna work?

And 99% of the time it does, but you just never know.

- Yeah.

- You know, or like, like yesterday during rehearsal, I was like, "I'm gonna dial it back today with the vocals because I don't wanna lose my voice."

I'll never forget one time we played Brooklyn Art Center for Charlie Maultsby's benefit thing.

You remember that?

- Oh yeah.

- And it was in April and I thought I had allergies, you know, 'cause of pollen and I got sick like the day of and lost my voice.

And like, we had to play in front of all these people.

And like, we made it work.

- You were downing honey and water.

- I was like drinking honey and mixing it with Emergen-C and drinking like gallons of tea and stuff.

- Whatever will work, I will try.

- Whatever will work.

And it didn't work.

I mean, I was just like, I sounded like a 90-year-old chainsmoker.

But people dug it.

I mean, it is what it is.

But you know, when you're in our position and especially me with my voice is like, I feel the least controlled instrument- - Yeah.

- That we have on stage because like, you know, you could have allergies and your voice just doesn't sound right or something like that.

- [James] Yeah.

- But I always try to like really, you know, take all the precautions I can to make sure that like, I can sing as well as I can, because if somebody's paying to see you, you know, if someone's taking time outta their schedule to come see you, like personally, I want to give 'em, you know, the best show I possibly can.

You gotta give the people what they want.

- Mm.

- You know what I mean?

Like, somebody's like taking time outta their busy schedule to come to a rock show, like, you better be really good.

- Yeah.

- You know?

- Well, here's the thing.

You all are really good.

[group laughs] - Thank you.

- But it's also awesome that you think like that and keep that audience mindset.

I mean that's huge.

And I could say that definitely translates to your music too.

So, one thing I wanna jump back into just really quickly, 'cause you were talking about being a two piece, right?

And you have to be, it's just you two.

So it seems like you have to keep things as tight as you can or be together and really be on the same wavelength.

Why did you sort of choose to keep it just the two of you all?

- I think you kind of just said it right there.

Like, me and Sam were just on the same wavelength.

You know, it's like, we started doing it and that's how we did it.

And like, it's worked so far.

- Yeah.

- So we were just like, if it's working and like, and we really enjoy just doing it like that, you know what I mean?

Like, for me, just having to rely on one guy, my best buddy, is a lot easier than having so many different moving pieces.

You know, and we just have that sort of connection where I know he's gonna be on that same wavelength with me.

So it just works for us.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, I think it's like, I've said this to people before, it's like, almost everybody that plays music can play music and play music really well.

Like, even better than us.

But it's the, with us being friends before we started playing together, there's that level of mutual respect.

There's those boundaries, those guidelines.

There's just the support with one another that when you start getting a bunch of musicians together who are strangers and we're like, "Let's make some music, let's do that."

Then you start getting like different opinions and butting heads and stuff.

And I think that the success that we've experienced so far can be largely attributed to our friendship, and our just respect- - Totally.

- For one another.

And I think that that's extremely important.

- Sure.

- And I think that's like a make it or break it point for a lot of bands.

- Definitely.

- I've seen so many good bands, so good.

Some of my favorite bands and they've split up, just 'cause they just couldn't keep their stuff together, you know?

- Right.

- And- - Is it sort of a part of it where it's become like, when it stops becoming fun, then you stop doing the thing.

- It's always so fun.

- It's gonna be fun forever.

- Right, yeah.

- It's never gonna not be fun for us.

- But yeah, I think with the two piece, we've talked about it, it's like, okay, we get a bass player, you know, it'll kind of fill out the sound, but also, it'll distract from what him and I have going on and the freedom that we get to experience because we're able to fill out so much space while we're playing.

Like bass and drums stick together, you know?

So if we had a bass player, I would have to keep playing to the bass line and keep it in line with what he's doing.

So my artistic freedom would be limited now.

And you know, same with Logan's guitar playing with a rhythm guitar and things like that.

So we have kind of taken that and run with it and decided, you know, like, this really works and it's a unique situation.

Two pieces are unique but it works for us.

So we definitely wanna keep going that route.

And I think we've talked about like one day, when we were playing like Bonnaroo or something huge, you know, having some bass player pop up on stage and some backup singers and dancers and stuff, that would be sick.

But yeah, I mean, for right now, the two piece, it rules.

- Just y'all.

- Yeah.

- It does rule.

I wanted to kind of also tap into this too, because it feels like it's reminiscent of the music that you're trying to play, right?

This really raw blues rock that's, you know, sort of filling in with all this psychedelic rock too.

And it does seem like you're kind of, like being a two piece really speaks to that.

- Definitely.

- So if you were to add somebody, it might change it, right?

- Yeah, I think like, you know, like Sam said, if you add pieces, obviously there's gonna be change, but, you know, we do like to have that kind of freedom.

'Cause to me, like in essence, that's kind of what rock and roll is, is just doing whatever you want.

Like we get on stage and if we want to do something, we just do it.

And with more pieces, it definitely changes the vibe and like, you know, and some people are like, "You need to get a bass player.

You know, you guys are great, but you'd be even better with a bass player."

But, and like, in some respects that may be true, but it definitely just changes the whole dynamic of what we kind of do.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

So, like Sam said, hopefully one day we're like packing stadiums and like, we'll hire some other pieces if we need to.

- Yeah.

- But for now, in terms of like the live outfit, it's definitely two piece for sure.

And like, you know, we're getting ready to really start working on this new album that's hopefully gonna come out next year.

And like, there's songs on there that are definitely not gonna be just like, just two pieces.

Like, I'm gonna track bass on some songs.

- Hmm.

- There's a song that's gonna have piano in the background.

Stuff like that.

But it's still just gonna be me and Sam doing it.

You know, it's gonna sound that way on the record.

But in terms of like our live show, it'll just be- - Yeah.

- The same sort of outfit.

- Hmm.

As far as making that music like that, recording it like that, so you always kind of imagine it just being you two live versus just having other people in because you wanna keep sort of the authenticity to you two.

- [Logan] Mm-hmm.

- But then why would, so then adding the other layers on the record, I'm wondering like, are you worried that people would be like, "Oh, so they're gonna add piano now or they're gonna bass or."

- Yeah, I think some people might think that way, but I also think that not all music is meant to be performed the exact way that it's recorded.

- Hmm.

- Does that make sense?

- [James] Well unpack that for me.

- Like that song that we did yesterday in rehearsal, like "Wasted," that song's gonna have bass and keys.

I'm gonna play bass and piano on it.

And like, on the record, I think it's gonna sound really good.

When you play it in your car, or like how I intended it to be, you know, consumed is like, if you're listening to it in a bar with your friends at 1:15 in the morning, it might give it that extra, you know, just kind of like low end or, you know, some shiny keys on there, it's gonna sound really cool.

- Yeah.

- But when we play it live, it's more of like a punk rock song.

And it's gonna be a punk rock song either way.

But like I said, I think like, Hendrix is like God to me, basically.

I have heard everything he's ever done.

And a lot of his stuff, like in the studio, it sounds great for being heard on the record or being heard on the radio or like, if you're in your car or whatever, you know, it sounds awesome for what they did on that record.

But then when you hear him on stage, he's doing whatever he wants with it.

Like, he's taking it in different directions and like, you know, creating something new out of that, in a live setting, you know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- So like, some of our live stuff might sound a little bit different than what it sounds like on the record, but, and there may even be songs on this album that like, we don't even perform live, because some songs are just kind of birthed in the studio.

Like they're just meant to be like, you know, a studio song or something that you listen to.

And some songs are more meant to be performed live.

- Right.

- Like there's certain jams that we do that we have so much fun playing, you know, and they vary a little bit every time we play 'em.

And that's like a song that like, you want to perform live and you want to kind of do a little differently and have fun with.

- Yeah.

- You know?

- Are there songs that you, so like, when you identify that, is there something like, "Oh, I've got this song, let's record it, but this is one that I think we should really push live."

Is there things that you're like thinking like that as you're making them?

- Definitely, - Yeah?

- And it goes back to kind of the same thing.

Like sometimes, like "Sky Is Falling."

When I came up with that song, me and Sam played it and he was like, "Dude, that's gonna be a banger."

You know what I mean?

Like that was one that immediately just kind of clicked and we were like, "We're taking this in the studio, knocking it out, we're gonna make it sound as good as we can, and this is gonna be one of our big live songs."

And the recording, you know, of that song, the released version, is literally us playing live.

- It's a live recording.

Yeah.

- It's a live recording.

And then like guitar solo, I overdubbed, just because you don't wanna lose the main riff in that sort of section.

But like, when you hear that song, that is a live take.

And that's also kind of testament to our buddy Chase O'Neal.

- He rules.

- Big Rude Studios.

- Yeah.

- He's great, and he, like we had, we must have done that song, what, 10 times in the studio.

- He did not stop on us.

You know, I remember there was the drum breaks, like the three drum breaks I do like three quarters of the way through the song and I thought I was nailing 'em.

And he was just like, "Nah dude, you gotta do it again."

- "Do it again."

- "Do it again.

Do it again, do it again."

And I was like, geez, this guy is awesome.

Like he has the guts to not inflate your ego or anything.

And he'd be like, "No man, that just wasn't good enough.

It wasn't right enough."

And that's the type of people we wanna work with and to have that level of honesty and things like that.

And kind of like, on the live verse recording stuff, I know for me, the marketability of some of these songs is extremely important.

I mean, we want it to be in a car commercial one day, you know, like Tige wakeboarding boats using it in their ATX boat release video and stuff like that.

You know, I think for what Logan was saying, having those additional layers and that bigger studio performance, it makes it easier, 'cause as a musician, that's how you're gonna make a living.

That's how you're gonna keep the lights on, is people paying royalties to be able to use your songs and getting it out there to the masses.

So I think that's really important.

And we don't wanna kind of taint the live performance aspect either.

You know, we wanna make sure that what people hear in their cars, they can still hear with just two people on stage.

So there is like that really fine line of making it bigger on the studio recordings, but not too big that, whenever someone comes to our show, they're like, "That sucks."

You know?

So.

- Exactly.

- That's kind of a fun dance to dance.

And I think, you know, that's the cool exciting part about the studio is like, all right, let's make this really tight, sound really good.

For me, when I listen to music, I like have like action square edits in my brain.

I'm like driving down the road and I'm like, "Oh, look at those hills.

Someone's just doing like a CanCan on a dirt bike and gapping that," you know, or whatever.

I mean, so the music- - Wakeboard Pond.

- Yeah, we've passed ponds.

We're like, "Wakeboard Pond."

But like, I think that's what is cool about the studio recordings is it allows the listener's mind to have that type of freedom.

If it's a love song and you're thinking about your crush.

- Right.

- I mean, so, yeah, we wanna make that stuff as tight and as relatable as possible.

- So y'all were kind of speaking to this a little bit, wanna tap into it more, but where do you sort of see yourself going then?

It seems like you've got these grand ambitions for what you wanna do.

So, what do you wanna do?

- This.

- Yeah.

- I want to continue to play music and make records forever.

And I'm 29.

Sam's 30, you're 32 now?

- Don't, don't.

- Don't out him.

- Sorry.

I didn't wanna out you.

- Sam, I'm 34 if it makes you feel any better.

- We're definitely like, you know, getting older.

I mean, we've been doing it for years, but like, I don't ever plan on not performing as Blue Footed Boobies.

I don't know about you, like I just, you know, I want to continue to do this and like, in terms of goals and aspirations, it'd be great if we could be the biggest, most popular rock band in the world, you know?

But if that's not the case, hopefully we can, you know, really make something out of ourselves and our name and our music and you know, be a little bit more recognized and make a good living, like, you know, playing and touring and making records.

But as long as I'm, you know, touring with this guy and recording and playing really killer live shows and making a little bit of money, I'm stoked.

- Yeah.

- So it'd be great to be, like I said, it'd be great to be, to win a Grammy or do something crazy like that, something huge.

But if that never materializes and we still get to do this, like, you know, it's kinda like one of those things, like, it just feels like what I'm supposed to do is like, make music.

You know, play guitar, sing, make music, and I think Sam can kind of relate to that.

It's just like what we love to do.

It's just the most fun that I've ever had.

Some of the best times in my life have been traveling around playing shows with this guy, hanging out, meeting new people.

- Van-versations.

- Van-versations.

We always like- - Ooh.

- Have really good.

- That's a new podcast.

- Exactly.

If we're gonna start a podcast of us just like, talking about stuff in the van.

- Ooh, what's a topic in the van-versations?

- Hmm.

What was our last van-versations topic?

Honestly, like a lot of stuff we've kind of already covered, like in this podcast- - Okay.

- Talking about playing different venues and just like, a lot of the conversations we have in the van too are like, industry related.

- Ooh.

- Like music industry related.

We've been doing it for years and you see things change and see like, especially like COVID was a crazy, like such a crazy shock to the music industry and we're finally completely on the other side of it, I feel like.

You know, like COVID's still around, but it's not like, we're having to play drive-in shows or we're live streams or stuff like that.

- Yeah.

- You know, we're back out and playing shows and traveling around and stuff like that, you know, but just how the industry's changed and how venues have changed and- - Would you rather.

- Would you rather?

- Would you rather rules our van-versations.

- Yeah.

- 90 percent of the time.

- That's a good point.

Yeah, well, there's a lot of dumb stuff that we talk about too, just like traveling around, but.

- So would you rather play in Black Sabbath or with Jimi Hendrix?

- Oh my God.

- Dude, Mitch Mitchell ruled.

I kind of get to play, I'm like a little bit of a Mitch Mitchell and you're a little bit of a Hendrix.

- I was gonna say like- - We're kind of trying to do that.

- We have a similar relationship to Jimi and Mitch because Sam gets wild sometimes and like, obviously I'm going off and doing crazy stuff.

If you look at The Hendrix Experience, Hendrix and Mitch are both kind of out there, just experimenting, doing wild stuff, And then Noel's like holding it down.

But we don't really have somebody to hold it down.

So we both kinda have to hold it down a little bit.

- Sometimes we go off the rails.

- And then sometimes we go off the rails.

But it is nice to have that freedom.

But to answer that question, it's so hard because like, Hendrix is like the greatest of all time.

Like, he's the most badass guitar player to ever live.

- Yeah.

- So like, it would be so sick to play with him, but also like- - Be intimidating.

- I'd have to play bass, man.

- Yeah.

- I couldn't play guitar in The Hendrix Experience.

I mean, like, I don't know, that guy didn't need a sideman.

He just, you know, like, I don't think it's possible to really like play guitar, I mean, I guess for Hendrix, you know, you could play rhythm for him, but like he's just so- - Yeah.

- He's so far beyond anybody else.

- How about this, would you rather party with Hendrix or with Ozzy?

- Ooh.

- Ozzy all day for me.

- Dude, you're a brave man, Sam.

- I was gonna say like- - It'd be like a week long party, but.

- Yeah, we might never see you again.

- Yeah.

You might not survive an Ozzy party.

I feel like Hendrix, you might just get stoned and play guitar and hang out, have a few beers.

But can I just say both to- - Yes.

- To each of those questions?

- You sure can.

- I would love to play guitar in Black Sabbath.

- Yeah.

- To play along Iommi would be insane.

I'm sure you'd rather play for Black Sabbath.

- I think so.

Did you know Tony Iommi is actually missing- - What?

- The tips of his fingers?

- No!

- Yeah.

- He worked in a sheet metal factory, so he'd run the sheet metal, clamp down, run the metal, clamp down.

- Oh no.

- And on his fretboard hand, it cut off, I think it's like three of his fingers, like to the first knuckles.

- Three of his fingers.

Yeah.

- So he's full on nubbing it out on all of these riffs and it's awesome.

- Well, he's also- - I think he's one of the greatest guitar player ever.

- Yeah.

- He like, developed those thimbles- - Mm-hmm.

- For guitar players.

- Huh.

- That's why he has like a different sound because- - It's like a wax fingertip.

- It's not even his real fingers playing.

- Right.

- Like, it's like, it's something, there's like a substance between- - Huh.

- His fingers and the guitar strings.

- Necessity breeds innovation.

- Super cool.

- Yeah.

- Sabbath and The Hendrix Experience, definitely two of my top five bands.

- Hmm.

- So.

- Sorry to lay that hard van-versation on you.

- One of the hardest questions- - I thought I had to.

- I think I've ever had to answer.

- Good to know, man.

I wanted to also kind of tap into another part of this show here.

So we, whenever we have folks on, we like to ask them, you know, what shapes you?

Like, how are you shaped by sound?

How would you all respond to that?

How do you think that you all are shaped by sound?

- I think, you know, sound has been a huge enhancement drug for me throughout life.

Even when I was a little kid, I always, when I was like really young, I was like, "I wanna be a professional wakeboarder."

So I was doing everything I could through middle school and high school to do that and to tap into like that next level of energy or like coming home from school, I'm gassed, I don't have anything else to give out there.

Flip on some Lincoln Park or some Blink-182, and then it's just like go time again, you know, you're ready to roll.

Or like, when I'm laying in bed at night, visualizing tricks I wanted to learn and stuff, I'm listening to the music and making these edits in my brain to the sounds and the drops of like the drums and things like that.

And I think, you know, to get me through college, I'd listen to a lot of Thom Yorke and Radiohead to help me dial in and focus.

So it's just, I'm never almost, I'm hardly ever not listening to music, and there's a type of music for every part of my life.

You know, if I'm hanging out with my girlfriend and trying to set the mood, throw on some Rick James, know what I mean?

[group laughs] - I'm Rick James.

- But yeah, I mean, I think music's constantly shaping me and I get to manipulate it to my needs, you know, and what I'm trying to accomplish or achieve at that moment.

- Hmm.

- And I think that as a drummer in our band, I think that's what I'm trying to kind of push out there is like, we are a higher energy band and I wanna fire people up, and that's a big goal.

But yeah, music's always shaping us.

- Yeah, I like, music and just sound in general has always been such a huge part of my life.

Like, I just can't even remember a time when I didn't have some sort of musical instrument in my room, where I could just kind of go and mess around with.

- Hmm.

- But like, when I was really young, this is kind of funny, my mom has told me this over and over again.

Like, I guess I was like, I didn't speak for a very long time when I was a young kid.

- Huh.

- And they were like, "Oh my God, he's gonna be mute."

But I had like, like a vast sound vocabulary.

I wouldn't speak, but my mom could point to something, and I would make that sound.

- [Sam] And now you talk more than anyone I've ever met.

[group laughs] - Yeah.

So like, sound has always had such a profound effect on just my state of consciousness and even like my body.

Like now when I hear a song that like, either you hear a new song that you've never heard before and you really love it and connect with it, it's just like such an incredible, physical feeling for me.

It has such a huge physical effect on my body.

And like, or like, I'm one of those people, I'm gonna listen to the same song a hundred thousand times because I love it.

You know, I love listening to new stuff, and I'm constantly trying to take in new music, but if there's like a Hendrix song or a Beatles song or Zeppelin or something that I've heard 10,000 times, pretty much gives me the same reaction- - Mm.

- That it did the first time.

But in terms of like, you know, musical influences, like what you listen to really does shape your life and kind of what type of person you are, I think.

- Yeah.

- Music is such a huge, like, influential factor in people's lives.

And I think like, you know, Sam and I are different and we've been brought up on different music and that kind of like, you know, influences how we sound as a band.

Obviously, the stuff that you're taking in is gonna be, you know, more correlated to the stuff that you're putting out, I think.

- Mm.

- So.

Yeah.

- That's awesome.

And it's great 'cause we've had, we've asked this question a lot, and we get such tremendous answers from everybody and they're all different and it's really cool to hear y'all say that.

So thanks.

I wanted to tap into a little bit of the set that we've got for y'all today.

- [Logan] Okay.

- When we were reaching out to you and asking you about influences and things you'd like to be surrounded by and sort of the vibe and theme of your show, you're kind of talking to us like, "Hey, what we play is fun.

It's groovy.

It's a party.

That's what we want to be surrounded by."

And we kinda landed on this set here that you see today.

For y'all, how is that set sort of a reflection of your sound?

- I mean, I think it kinda looks like my living room.

- It looks like Logan's living room.

It does.

- Like a lot of the stuff, especially, you know, like the stuff I was brought up on, you know, like, my favorite acts are obviously like Hendrix, Zeppelin, the late '60s is my favorite period of music.

You know, I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan.

I listen to a ton of Bob Dylan.

- Clapton.

- Clapton.

The Yardbirds were huge for me growing up.

But like, and all that stuff is just directly related to the set that we've created.

You know what I mean?

Or you guys created really.

Now we brought some amplifiers and some random stuff, but you guys did a killer job on that.

- Shout out to Jody.

- Shout out Jody.

- Yeah, Jody!

- Jody you crushed it.

- Woo hoo.

- But yeah, like the late '60s stuff, like all the psychedelic rock and the groovy stuff, that's like, you know, very directly related to the set.

But I also, like my biggest influences, other than like Hendrix, Beatles, Dylan, Zeppelin, you know, guys like that, Clapton, are like, like Freddie King is one of my favorite artists of all time.

I don't know if you guys have heard of Freddie King.

- I don't know Freddie King.

Can you, who was Freddie King?

- He was a blues guitar player and singer in the 1960s.

I mean, I think he had stuff coming out in the '50s, if I'm not mistaken.

They called him the Texas Cannonball.

He's a big old guy.

- Hell of a name.

- Like 6'6, 340 pounds.

But he just has like that voice that you just can't replicate.

Like his voice is just like, if I could sing like anybody, I can sing like anybody, it'd probably be like Ozzy or Robert Plant, or Freddie King.

But his guitar playing is just so, like, he's just like, everything is like, it sounds like everything is just totally planned out, like he just knows exactly what he's gonna do and exactly how he wants it to sound.

And he just has so much soul and feeling in his guitar playing and his vocals.

So he was such a big influence on me.

Freddie King, BB King, Albert King.

Like, you know, you gotta go through those guys as a guitar player.

Like, you have to kind of like.

- Yeah.

- But he's my favorite.

"My Feeling for the Blues," that album, if you've never heard it, go home and listen to it today, it's unbelievable.

But yeah, like a lot of like, you know, 1960s, '70s like blues guys I'm super, super down with.

Robert Johnson is one of my favorite guys to listen to.

But like, in terms of the set, that is the kind of vibe that we sort of give off as a group, I think, is like, sort of a groovy like, you know, 1960s, 1970s, like psych rock band, but just with a more modern rock sort of flare to it.

- Yeah.

- And I think you guys did an incredible job, like, kind of getting that point across, you know what I mean?

- Oh, thank you.

- Sam, you have anything to add to that?

- I'd say the Boobies is a lifestyle.

- It is.

- And like, with the skateboards and the surfboards and, you know, we're like an extremely active band outside of the music, and that's really important to us, and y'all captivated that with the vintage skateboards.

- Those are so cool.

- And everything, you know, it's just, when you look at the set, it's vibrant.

It is full of life and creativity and kind of just gets the brain churning, you know?

And I feel like a lot of the things that are incorporated into it have a direct correlation to our lives.

You know, whether it's the pizza boxes, the Vans shoes, you know, the Beatles posters.

You know, our friend Shawn, we have some of his artwork on the walls.

- Shawn Griggs!

RedEye Laboratories.

- Yeah, I mean, everything on there is spot on.

The "Thrasher" skateboard magazines, even those small details y'all threw in there are awesome.

- Shout out Matt.

- Yeah.

Yeah, it's just, it's super funky.

It's really groovy.

And yeah, I feel like it exuberates creativity.

- Yeah.

Well, it does feel like we get to go on that, you know, as, Logan, you were kind of speaking to it a little bit earlier, you like to kind of just explore these musicians and I guess sort of we, I kind of just like pictured you just sitting in your living room and listening to one of their records.

- Oh yeah.

- It feels like we get to sit with you in that living room now and experience it with you all, which is really cool.

- Definitely.

Yeah.

I think you guys created a really killer space to do that.

And I think, hopefully when this airs, the audience will kind of feel kind of at home, like, you know, listening to us and watching us in that setting, 'cause it does feel like we're playing in our living room.

Like when we were first practicing together, we used to set up in Sam's living room.

- Yeah.

- Like his roommates would be gone.

He'd be like, "My roommates are gonna be gone for an hour.

Come on over."

[Sam laughs] So yeah, I think it'll definitely get that point across, like create kind of like a, a comfortable sort of space for people to- - Yeah.

- To experience us.

- And we can vicariously live a part of the Boobie lifestyle.

- Bingo.

- I do wanna start this segment just quickly with a story.

I'll make this fast, I promise.

- [Logan] All right.

- The first time I saw y'all was, I guess, 2022, maybe, just after the pandemic.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- A friend of mine, a family friend of mine, it's actually kind of a tough story, but they had recently passed away and they were like a massive Beatles fan.

But we were gonna get together, like all of us were gonna get together in Topsail, and kind of get together, have a little memorial, and then just like, you know, do the ashes into the ocean thing.

And again, his name is Billy who passed away, and Billy's a massive Beatles fan.

And we're all sort of feeling it, you know, we're coming together from all across the state and the country and just kind of hanging out together and being sort of sad.

And we were meeting at this restaurant, and you all, the stage for Ocean Fest, I think it was called.

- [Sam] Ocean Fest.

Yeah.

- Literally next to this restaurant.

- Oh, yeah.

- And it was you two.

And I swear, like, as we were all showing up and saying hello and kind of getting together, y'all went into "Don't Let Me Down" by The Beatles.

And I've never felt more connected to a place and time via music than that.

And it just kind of all sent us, we all started crying.

We were just like, "Oh my gosh.

What are the chances of this?"

And then after that, a friend of mine, his name's Thomas, he lives in in Wilmington, I think he met you at a bar once- - Yeah.

- And told you this story.

- I totally remember.

Yeah.

- And you were like, "Well, we'll play that again sometime and we'll play it for you," I guess.

And I think the next time we saw you was in Beaufort and that was like a year later or so and y'all played that song and gave Tom a shout out.

- Yeah.

- And I remember being like, "Man, these guys are just incredible."

Like, truly, so like, thank you so much for being here and doing what y'all do because you do connect with people on a level that is, in some ways, just really incredible and transcendent, so thank you.

- Man, thank you so much.

It really means a lot.

- Thank you, it does mean a lot.

- That's such a huge part of why we do it, is like, just connecting with people, you know, like music is just something that brings people together.

And one of my favorite things too, especially like, oh, and by the way, that Topsail show, if you guys were at that restaurant, I'm sure it was, we were just blowing the windows out of it.

- Dude.

- It was so loud, wasn't it?

- Yeah, and that's why I think we were like, because like the emotion that you were putting into that song, like we were like, riding that with you.

- Oh yeah.

- It was just one of those things where like- - Love that.

- What an incredible take on this song.

- Thanks, man.

- So yeah.

It's funny that you say that.

- Yeah.

Thank you.

- Yeah.

Like, one of my favorite things, especially when we play like a home game, a hometown show in Wilmington, is like everybody just comes out just to, you know, to see us, but I feel like even more so, it's just to see everybody that you know and that you're friends with, it's like a huge reunion and it just, like, it makes me so happy to see, you know, people that you love come out and see each other because as you get older, you don't see your friends quite as much as you used to.

When you're young, you see your friends every day, or like in college, you see your buddies every day.

But like, you know, as time goes by, those connections are kind of more few and far between.

- For sure.

- And it's such a cool thing to have everybody come out and see you and just kind of like, you know, reunite with each other.

And like, one of the coolest things for me too is like, so many people told me like, "Dude, I met my girlfriend" or like, "I met my wife at your show."

- That's awesome.

- That's the coolest thing.

- That is the coolest thing.

- Because like, you know, we're doing this and people come to support us and have a good time and see us and see each other.

Like, you just changed somebody's life.

- Yeah, one of our best friends just had a baby and while they were pregnant they were like, "This is their first concert!"

- Yep!

Yep.

- "CJ's first concert."

So it's like, stuff like that's cool.

I think one of my other favorite parts is like, we're both really close with our parents.

So our parents come to a lot of our shows.

And I don't know, for me, when we're playing and I see my mom and my dad kinda standing like front right stage or something, that's just the coolest feeling ever.

And Logan's parents are the same way.

They're so supportive.

And I don't know, that's just so incredibly special.

Like, when we played Greenfield Lake Amphitheater this past July or June, my dad came and we have photos of us after the show, like his arms around me and stuff.

I'm like, dude, that is the photo for the rest of my life that I'm gonna have of my dad, you know?

- Yeah.

- Just like, remember these special moments and stuff 'cause there's an incredible amount of energy at some of these things, you know?

And it creates some really special moments.

- For sure.

- Yeah.

It's so cool.

Like you said, seeing your folks.

Like my mom, you know, she's the greatest human being ever.

She doesn't make it to all our shows because they're super packed and crazy a lot of times.

But when she does come, it's so awesome.

And my dad, Paul, he's one of my best buddies.

He's like my best friend, you know, besides Sammy, he's like my best buddy and he's been so supportive of us over the years.

Like, he's done so much for us, and he's just such a good dude and he loves good music, you know?

- Yeah.

- So, like, he loves a good old Boobies show.

He won't miss it.

He'll be here today.

- Sir Paul's a legend.

- Yeah.

Love you, Dad.

- So I'd like to kinda just go through the set list.

- Sure.

Yeah.

- Start off with "Hooked On You."

- "Hooked" is one of the original Boobies songs.

I think I wrote that song when I was 19, maybe, or 18-years-old.

But that's a very like, you know, rock and roll sort of song.

That's sort of a high energy, like, you know, party song if you will.

You know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- Drivey.

- Those emotions you feel when you're 19 about an attractive woman.

You know what I mean?

It's just like a very raw sort of rock and roll song, you know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- And it's like one of our favorite ones to play.

We still do it every show.

- Oh yeah.

- People want to hear us do it.

So.

- Top three.

- Yeah.

We'll still do it, you know.

And it's just, it's really fun.

That's a really fun one to do.

- Yeah.

- So.

- What about "Fade Away"?

- So "Fade Away" is like another, another kind of original song that I wrote really early on, about the same time as "Hooked On You."

And it's kind of like, instead of like, you know, a sort of straightforward rock song, there's some more, like, it's kind of dancey, you know, more vibey song, not so in your face.

Little bit more of an emotional song, where you just don't, like, you have some kind of feeling and you just don't want it to go away.

You know what I mean?

And I think it's, it's not like, when I say emotional, I don't think it's a sad song.

It's just like, more kind of, it's just different than our traditional sort of rock numbers.

It's more like, it's in a minor key.

So, you know, it makes some people feel kind of, some kind of way.

- Yeah.

- But that's also a really fun song for us to do because it's really evolved over the last several years.

- Yeah.

- Like, I think when we first started doing it, we were just kind of playing through it straight.

- Straight, like pretty similar throughout the whole time.

And now we have tempo changes and we'll go, like, speed it up, then we'll do halftime, when Logan's playing behind his head and stuff, which is really cool, 'cause it brings in that like, really heavy hitting dynamic, but then it goes right back into the [vocalizes].

So it's really cool to kind of have those dynamics in that song.

That's why I love playing it because it's just, it's like a rollercoaster.

- Yeah.

- Taking you a few different places.

- And it's one of those songs that we've done so many times that it's just kind of dialed.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

- Mm-hmm.

- Like, we just kind of know where each other's gonna be at musically and it's just a fun one to just kind of just groove through.

- Yeah.

- You know what I mean?

- What about "Take Me Away"?

- "Take Me Away" is sort of, like it's definitely another one of those rock oriented songs, like very bluesy rock and roll.

Kind of wrote it at a point in my life where, like, I was very stressed.

And music is such a relief for me.

It's such like, you know, and at some points in my life, it's been such a coping mechanism.

And the lyrics, like, you know, "I'm broke," you know, "my girl left me, my car broke down."

Like those kind of days where like, everything just seems like it's going wrong.

You're like, "Take me away."

You know what I mean?

I kind of wrote it at a point in my life where I was stressed.

I didn't know where I was gonna live.

You know what I mean?

I was like, maybe 20, 21 years old, and you don't have a lot of money, you know what I mean?

Your car breaks down, you're like, "What am I gonna do?"

- Right.

- And it's just kind of like a release, you know, like that song I wrote is kind of like a release.

And then we started playing it and it sort of just clicked and it was like, "Man, this is so fun to play, like, this is such a fun song to do."

And you're kind of just getting that sort of stress out, that sort of stressful emotion out of your body via music, you know?

- Yeah.

- And like, I think a lot of people can relate to situations like that.

Like everybody has stuff in their life that doesn't go right all the time.

- Yeah.

- So, that's one of those songs that I feel like a lot of people can connect to.

- Yeah.

You feel like you tap into something with that one?

- Yeah, a little bit.

I feel like every song that we put out, you know, you're tapping into some sort of emotion or just some sort of feeling, or just place, you know, place in life or place in time.

And I think like, when you do that as a musician, if you can put out what you're really feeling, and like where you are, then people can really connect to it, because, you know, everybody has stuff like that in their life.

Everybody has ups and downs and hopefully like, it makes some people feel better or helps people do something, you know?

- Yeah.

- One of my favorite things about your songwriting skills, and this is kind of like right hand in hand with just blues rock and roll, it's like, a lot of the songs and the lyrics that you write, you know, it is talking about like, "Oh," these negative things that are going on, but it is portrayed in such a positive light.

You know, like when you sing that and when you put that out there, it's not like, "Man, life sucks.

My car's broken down.

I don't have any money, ugh!"

You know, you're like almost making a parody out of it and putting it out there in such a fun and energetic and positive light.

And I think that like, that's really special and that's a good trait that you have that is really cool.

And I think that isn't just who you are as a songwriter.

I think that's just inevitably who you are as a person, and you get to see that through your songwriting.

- Thanks, man.

- And I think a bunch of people might not realize that, 'cause you are, you know, you got that optimism in you.

Shitty things will happen to you, but then you'll make the most out of it, you know?

So.

- I appreciate you.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

And I think like, on that note, when like, you know, songs like "Take Me Away" or "Sky Is Falling," you know, about going through a breakup or someone leaving you or whatever, it's like, when you sing it out loud to, like, you know, at a performance, it's in such a more optimistic light because people hear it and they're like, "Yeah!

We're in this together!"

They're like, "I feel that same way!"

You know what I mean?

Or like, "That's happening to me," you know?

- Yeah.

- So, you know, "Take Me Away" in particular, like, I wrote at a stressful time in my life.

I think I'd just gotten back from England.

- I think it was around that time.

- And I had nowhere to live.

I was sleeping on my parents' couch and they're like, "Okay, find a house.

You gotta get out of here."

And yeah, I moved in with Will Dobb, our buddy Will Dobb, and I kinda just came up with that, like, my car broke down.

It's very like, you know, real stuff that happens- - Yeah.

- In your life, you know, and just kind of put it down on the page and it came out as "Take Me Away."

- Yeah.

What about "My Tree"?

- "My Tree" is sort of like a, in the same way that, you know, in "Take Me Away," you're trying to get across that sort of stress, stressful emotion, emotional state.

I think "My Tree" I wrote kind of at a low point, but it's, to me, it's like a very hopeful song.

It's like, dealing with what's going on in your life.

I wrote that song at a point in life where I was kinda lonely.

But I really do feel like some of the best material, I feel like a lot of songwriters and musicians can relate to this, like a lot of the best art, a lot of the best music, best lyrics, whatever, kind of come to you at a point where like, you're not necessarily depressed, but maybe you're not at your best, you're not at your, you're kind of at a lower point, you know?

- You've thrown out some of your best music post breakup.

I mean, like, anytime Logan's like, "Oh man, this is not really working out for me."

I'm like, "Dude, this is about to be awesome."

- I mean, it's true.

You know?

When you're going through something- - "Man's about to go off."

[group laughs] - "Let him cook."

- "Get this boy in the kitchen."

- Like, when you're dealing with something like that, a lot of times, there's a lot of emotions in you, there's a lot of stuff happening.

And I've always, instead of like, you know, turning to something negative, like I've always just tried to harness that and make it something, like, beautiful, you know what I mean?

Like make it into a really killer song or, you know, or even like, even like musically, I feel like guitar has helped me so much.

Like, I feel like a lot of times I can communicate better with my guitar than I can vocally or lyrically.

- Yeah.

- But "My Tree" was one of those songs that I wrote at a kind of a low point, and it's just like, like at that time, I was just spending like six hours a day in my studio, just playing guitar and writing songs.

I was just like, you know, not feeling so great.

I'm just gonna go in here and just, you know, just push it out.

And there's like some aspects of that song I really like, like the breaks are really weird.

Like, they're kind of out of the time signature.

- [James] Uh-huh.

- And so you don't really hear stuff like that a whole lot.

- [James] Right.

- And that was a creative thing that I just was like, you know, I'm just gonna try this and see if it works and it really did and I think the lyrics of that song as well, they're like, you know, "Sometimes this world never seems to change.

It's like every day is the same old thing."

But as you go through the song, it definitely is a hopeful song.

You're like, "This is where I am, but it's not always where I'm going to be."

Does that make sense?

- Yeah, of course.

- So that was a really fun one to write.

And it's still one of my favorite songs to perform.

- I've had a lot of people at our shows come up to me and say that that's one of their favorite songs too.

- Yeah.

- Hmm.

- Which is ironic to me because it's definitely got some energy to it, but it's not one of the super high end- - Yeah.

- Bangers.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- So - It's a change up.

It's definitely- - Like, very dynamic.

- Yeah, it's like, when we go out on stage, a lot of times we're like, "Boom," you know, like come out with a banger, sort of like Blitzkrieg style, you know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- You're just like, and then that one definitely kind of brings it down.

It's more rhythmic and kind of more relaxed and then it builds as the song goes on.

It definitely has some dynamics to it.

But it is kinda like a change up in our set when we play it.

- Yeah.

- To Sam's point, it's definitely a different sort of level of energy, so.

- Yeah.

What about "You and Me"?

- So "You and Me," personally, it's one of my favorite songs to perform, 'cause I just get to go off.

- Yeah.

You get a- - You know?

- Some of the finger patterns you do are really technical and extremely fast.

- Yeah, and that song I really wrote as a, just sort of like an avenue to get that riff out.

- Right.

- You know, like I had come up with that riff and I was like, you know, like, I can't, I've got like a hundred thousand songs in my notebooks and in my head that haven't been used and may never get used.

But that's one where I was like, "Damn.

I gotta figure out how to make this into a song so we can put it out," you know?

- [James] Yeah.

- And live, that song is so fun for me just because you kinda get to like toy with the crowd a little bit.

I've done it so many times.

A lot of these songs we've done so many times.

Like "You and Me," I've played that riff so many times, even though it's like fast and technical, like I just don't even have to think about it.

Like, I just, it just kind of happens.

So like, I always start playing it at a show and then kind of look around to see what people are doing because I don't have to like, be super, you know.

- You just know it.

- I just know it.

- Yeah.

- And just seeing people's faces and stuff.

And then there's some breaks, like, I'll speed up, I'll take that riff and make it way faster, you know, so people are like, "Whoa, what, it's building even more."

- It's a headbanging song.

- It's a headbanging song.

It's high energy.

- As soon as he's done with the guitar break and the drums come in, it's just like, slow, kind of just like [vocalizes].

- Yeah.

- And then like, then the drums cut up and then he's back to like, [vocalizes] you know, it's just crazy- - That was a good one.

- Little finger stuff going on there.

- Wow, interesting.

- [Logan] Good rendition, good impression, by the way.

- Thanks.

Yeah.

We'll add that, we'll cover that next time.

- What about "Physical Voodoo"?

- "Physical Voodoo" is, is that our last single that we put out?

- It might be.

- Yeah, that's another one of our more recent songs, even though it's been- - That's a fun song.

- Several years.

It's a fun song.

- Good vibes.

- With that song, I kind of wanted to branch out a little bit in terms of like, you know, rhythm scheme and not necessarily like a different time signature or anything, but like Sam, when I wrote that song, Sam had came up with that really cool kick drum part in the beginning.

And it's kind of just more like, rhythmically, it's a little bit more thumpy, you know, and gives people something to kind of sway to.

Lyrically, it's about desiring either your girlfriend or like, you know, having feelings about somebody.

You know what I mean?

And like having an overwhelming kind of amount of feelings for someone.

And I think musically, that one's really fun for us to do because there's, there's different sections of that song.

You know, like, I'm kind of matching my vocals with the guitar in a lot of that in the verse section.

So that's fun for me, being able to sing along with it, and then Sam's like really driving the rhythm behind it.

And then like, kind of how we come in at the chorus is a little different, 'cause you'll be like [vocalizes].

- Yeah.

- The breaks are a little- - Instead of a cymbal- - Different.

- And a kick, it's a cymbal and a snare and it'll, yeah.

It's definitely different.

- We kind of just, when we recorded that one too, we just kind wanted it to be a little different than some of the more classic rock sort of style stuff that we do.

- Yeah.

- And like, it's still one of my favorite songs to play.

And I think it breaks up our set nicely.

- Mm.

- It's like a good change of pace, kinda like "My Tree," but just in a different way.

- Yeah.

I love the songs we do with those breaks.

Like where the drums break out and then it's guitar and you're just kind of doing rhythm stuff, 'cause it just leaves room for people to breathe and air, you know?

And I think that's really important.

I think, I don't know if it was a Grateful Dead drummer or somebody, but there's a book on it, and it's just like, constant sound and constant music can be overstimulating sometimes.

So allowing the listener to hit that reset button, it punctualizes the next part of the song.

- Right.

- So.

- Totally - Kind of emphasize stuff like that.

- Mm.

What about "Oh My Lord"?

- "Oh My Lord."

- "Oh My Lord."

- "Oh My Lord."

- "Lord."

- Yeah, that one's like, I really wrote that one, like kind of similar to "Physical Voodoo," like you're just like, you have an overwhelming attraction to somebody.

I wrote it about my lady, so I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that.

[laughs] But yeah, like, another dynamic sort of song that one, like, you bring the wall in a little bit and I'm matching my voice, but then it's very like, drivey in the chorus also.

- [James] Yeah.

- So it's like, kind of has some more dynamic sections and then has some cool breaks, like drum breaks.

And then also, just a very like punchy, straightforward, sort of like rock chorus, so.

I really like doing that one too.

That's a new one.

That one's never been recorded.

So you guys will have the first cut of that one.

- Sweet.

- So.

- Heck yeah.

- A couple of those on the set list.

- Yeah.

A couple of those.

Couple newbies.

- Fresh Boobies.

- Yeah.

New Boobs.

- Newbie Boobies.

- What about, you talked a little bit about "Wasted."

- "Wasted" is the most recent song that we've done.

I just wrote it in the last year.

- Party anthem.

- Party anthem.

It's like, like you know how in Europe, especially England, like you'll go to a pub and they're singing drinking songs.

- Yeah.

- You know?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Like when I was over there, I just thought that was so cool and something that we don't do in the United States.

- Right, and if we do, it's like, Billy Joel's "Piano Man" or something.

- Yeah.

- Creed.

- Yeah.

Oh my God, yeah.

- Something like that.

- The New Age pub song is Creed.

- I mean, that's another one that's very real, like the lyrics of that song are very real feelings that I've had, you know, like, I kind of wanted it to be a drinking anthem, something that, like, you could be at a bar at 1:15 and hear it and you're just like, "I know this one.

We're gonna sing it together."

You know, something like that.

And really also the point of that song too is like, you know, I don't drink all the time.

I work for a brewery, so I'm around beer all the time.

And it's like, when you do that, I'm kind of like, take it or leave it, you know what I mean?

Like, you're pouring all the time.

But some of the best times that you have in your life are when you're wasted with your buddies.

You know what I mean?

Like, you're just going for it, having a great time, and that's kind of what that song reflects is just, like, an epic night with your friends, out drinking.

- And there's key lyrics that are, you know, like the scars and stuff like that.

- Oh, for sure.

- It's like we, yeah, we're, yeah.

It's very pertainable.

- Very, very, very realistic.

- Things we've experienced and stuff like that.

- Yeah.

It's a very real song.

That one's not very transparent.

I mean, it's very transparent.

- What about "Sky Is Falling"?

- "Sky Is Falling," that's probably our number one.

Like Sam said earlier, I wrote that one after a breakup, and you're just kind of getting those emotions out of you.

A lot of times, when you go through something like that, it really does feel like the world's ending, you know what I mean?

It really does feel like the sky's falling on you.

And that's basically the driving force behind that song.

- Yeah.

- And I also wanted it to be a very, like, like memorable and something that, when you hear it, you remember it and you can sing it.

Something that's easy for people to kind of latch onto because everyone's been through a breakup, everyone's been through something like that.

And I think that song really like portrays those emotions very like, like literally, you know what I mean?

- Yeah.

- Like, "The sky is falling, the sea's coming ashore," all that stuff is very metaphorical, but it's very straightforward in terms of like, you know, this is what's happening in my life and this is what this song's about.

- There's a victory in that too, whenever you say like, "I don't need her love no more."

- Exactly.

- It's overcoming that and then getting to the other side of it, and I think that's like the comradery and the cheerfulness behind it is, yeah.

Like, "Wow, you know what?

Screw that.

I don't need your love anymore anyways.

I'll be just fine on my own."

- Yeah, and I think that's really, really cool and fun.

- That's the song that we'll play live and they'll be like, there's been times where- - Everybody knows it.

- There's literally been like 100 people singing it back to us.

- For sure.

- And I was like, that was one of the most special live moments that I've ever seen in one of our shows.

I was like, "How do this many people know the lyrics of the song?"

- I know.

- It's crazy.

- Yeah.

- I guess, so I like to leave our conversations with opening it up to you all and just saying, is there anything else that you would like to talk to that we haven't had a chance to talk about yet?

- I can talk about anything.

- I can talk about anything.

- It's okay if there isn't, you know.

I just like to give you all the open space if you want it.

- I know like, such a huge part of this show and what you guys are doing is about like North Carolina and how, and you know, all the acts on this series are North Carolina acts and musicians.

And I know like one thing that you guys had had asked us about was like, how has North Carolina shaped our group and our music?

And for me, North Carolina is the best state in the United States.

- Whoop whoop.

- It's such a cool, cool place because it kind of has a little bit of everything and I think that has influenced our music, you know, vastly I think.

Like we're from Wilmington, there's a lot of like, you know, surf rock and punk rock and sort of like, you know, grungier stuff, beach music, stuff like that.

There's also a lot of reggae where we're from, You know, our buddy Michael Akins was in a killer reggae band for a long time.

There's a lot of like, you know, reggae stuff in Wilmington as well.

And then like, you go to the mountains, like I spent some time in the mountains.

There's a lot more folk and sort of like bluegrass and Americana, you know, stuff like that.

And then in the cities, you hear a lot of more pop stuff or more, you know, sort of like, just what you hear on the radio or like- - Hip hop, even.

- Hip hop or just anything.

And I think being from North Carolina, we have such a wide variety of music here, it's such a melting pot for musicians, 'cause you have the beach, you have like the college, there's a lot of big universities here.

There's cities.

You got the mountains.

There's just a lot going on musically and I think that's influenced our music a whole lot.

And like I said, it's the best state in the country.

Like, it's just the coolest place to live.

- It's like on the East Coast, it's the only place you can really go where you have good temperature water.

- Yeah.

- So you hop in at the ocean and you have tons of lakes and then you have the mountains.

So like, the diversity of interests that people have is like, it just keeps things so interesting.

You can stay in one little area and a lot of the people would be the same type of way, but you drive two hours down the road and then there's just like, it's like you're in a totally different country, to be honest.

- Totally.

- Totally different types of people.

- Yeah.

- And that's extremely refreshing.

And you know, you can hit that reset button and it's just not a static way of living.

We're fortunate enough to go from the mountains and back a lot to play shows.

I'm really grateful for those opportunities and just the people that we meet along the way.

We meet so many cool people and we'll go to a different area and we'll see someone that comes back to one of our shows that we haven't gotten to see a while, hang out with 'em afterwards, and yeah, I know we're extremely grateful to you guys for this opportunity to come here.

- Oh.

- I don't know if we told you how excited we were, but we have been- - So pumped.

- I mean, for months now, this has been number one on our list.

- We're gonna be on PBS, man!

- Yes, dude, Mom, you won't believe it.

You know, so, it's just, we're so incredibly grateful for this opportunity.

So thank you.

- Of course.

- Yeah, we appreciate you guys a whole lot for having us man, we're so stoked.

- We appreciate y'all.

So thank you so much for being on.

I mean, the pleasure is all ours.

I mean, we were incredibly excited to have y'all in.

I mean- - That means a lot.

- And you all have been so gracious with your time and also just your feedback and hanging out with us and it's just been really great.

So thank you so much for being here and being on the show.

- Thank you guys for having us.

- Yeah, of course.

- It's been awesome, man.

It's been a dream.

It's been super cool.

- Yeah.

Thanks for joining us on the "Shaped by Sound" podcast.

If you'd like to hear some of the songs we discussed today, you can find them on our website, pbsnc.org/ShapedbySound, or find us on the PBS North Carolina YouTube page.

Thanks for listening.