Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A:
Josh: I grew up in a family that really loves music. As a kid I was exposed to punk and indie, new wave and shoegaze through my dad. My mom was the classic rock and hip hop fan always jamming Aerosmith or Whodini in the car. My dad was the OG hipster and was always ordering “12 for the price of 1” CD bundles through the BMG music catalog and would always let me pick a few out. One of the first records that really drove me towards punk rock was The Offspring record Smash. I would always throw that on and jump up and down on every couch, chair and mattress in the apartment just going nuts from the energy of it haha. There have been so many people and so many experiences that helped define and propel my own personal journey towards writing music but maybe one of the earliest and most seminal moments happened when I was about 4 years old. We’re talking core memory haha. I remember my dad had bought me a singles CD for the new Batman Forever movie from that BMG catalog, and it featured this U2 song called “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”. I know U2 is probably the least punk rock band in the world, but as a kid that song sounded so dramatic and epic. I remember dancing around my parents apartment with a broom and a pair of sunglasses pretending I was Edge playing the guitar, and I knew in that moment that someday I wanted to make something for real that gave people that same feeling and energy I had listening to that track and Smash.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Elephant Protocol”?
A:
Josh: The plan for the immediate future is to finish promoting this current run of singles from our upcoming EP Sink In. We have a ton of multimedia content in the works to help further tell the story of each song and help new fans find us. We’re also planning for a special performance/event featuring a mix of songs from our first record as well as this new EP. That one is still in planning, but I’m pretty excited. We’ve got a lot of cool stuff in the works for that. If you’re just finding Elephant Protocol for the first time my hope is that you’ll keep a close eye (and ear) and stick with us. This next year is gonna be a really fun ride and a great time to join the fold
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A:
Josh: Oh man it’s so hard to nail it down to just one. The top ones for me right now are Deftones, The Flatliners, Run The Jewels, Drug Church, Haley Williams and Billie Eilish. Sidenote on Billie I don’t even listen to that genre that much I just love her whole attitude. All of the artists I just listed really carry that “Fuck you I’ll do it my way” energy and that to me is always what I look for and what inspires me when I’m listening to an artist.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “They Live.”?
A:
Josh: Oh man so this is a question I could write an essay in response to and my best friends would tell me to “land the plane” haha, but the idea spawned from my ever present obsession over control structures. I saw The Matrix when I was 11 and it hit right at the same time that I was hopped up on punk rock. Fast forward to me working through the references of that movie and I found John Carpenter’s They Live which, to me, was the perfect encapsulation of political messaging AND punk rock. I’ve always resonated with the idea that everyone just wants to live a life where their family is safe and they have space to love and enjoy the simple things that bring joy in life and yet there seems to be an ever present force pushing us towards conflict and disunity. I fell in love with the idea of the hero’s journey where someone found the source of that disunity and attacked it with all their might with the ultimate goal of bringing about that total peace, and that became the basis for the single [They Live].
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A:
Josh: Caffeine haha
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “They Live”?
A:
Luke: Josh made this entire thing super easy. He was incredibly trusting and interested in what I had to say. I stopped taking projects where I just hit record over and over. The recording process with josh was always littered with “what do you think?” and we engaged each other the entire time never considering anything final without trying out other ideas. He also brought me treehouse beers. I was spoiled these sessions for sure
Josh: No challenges at all in writing or recording because Luke and I just vibe so well together that the whole experience was the most genuine and fun process. Case in point, the maniacal laugh at the end of the track [They Live] was something that just randomly popped into my head as a way to give the song that last oomph across the finish line. I explained it to Luke and he met this weird idea with, “Yeah I can’t hear it unless you do it so get in there [the vocal booth]”. First take, I ripped into my best Jack Nicholson The Shining impression and I just hear Luke come in over the headphones at the end with a laugh and a “Yeah that was fucking tight we’re keeping that” haha.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: Josh: Forge your own path, tell your own story, don’t let anyone or anything hold you back or hold you down. My goals as an artist are really to tell cool stories that make people think and to, hopefully, sonically, give people the energy they need to face whatever challenges they come across when they come across them, and to embrace the fire of the moment when the winds of opportunity are at their back and push to that next level whatever that looks like to them. Aside from that humble hope haha, I’d love to rock a couple of sweaty shows where everyone packs in close, crowd surfs, dances, sings and passes the mic around screaming together.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A:
Luke: RX Bandits has been an all time favorite for me since discovering them. Definitely a huge influence in how I learned to advance in drums and guitar. The songs they wrote when they were in the late teens/early 20s are still so inspiring. I also recently read they live track all of their songs with the exception of vocals and overdubs. Wild stuff. Would def suggest a listen.
Josh: Honestly it might sound trite but everyone I’ve worked with on every record thus far has been a dream. Jake Detwiler [producer, lead guitarist on Thailand] is one of those people you’re lucky if you meet in your life just once, and he gave me the confidence to even write an EP let alone the full length that became Thailand. He brought in the lyrical drummer and one of my lifelong homies Shawn Riley who MADE the first record. He just understood what I was trying to write and gave it an actual heartbeat. I can’t overstate how much this band would not exist were it not for Geneviéve Marziani, who is one of the greatest voices of our generation and one of my best friends. She introduced me to Jake and dropped absolute heat on two songs for Thailand before heading out to Arizona and is still a fan favorite on that record. Then there’s Luke who is my musical soulmate (sorry dude you didn’t think I was gonna do an interview and not try my hardest to make you blush haha). Jake introduced me to Luke as I was getting ready to start work on Sink In and we went into the studio with some shitty demos I had for the songs. Luke took a listen as he was sitting at the kit for about 27 seconds, bopping loose fills around the kit and then told the engineer to back it up and that “he got it”. He then proceeded to bring every song to life with some of the most ferocious drumming I had ever heard. The dude is a genius and this record and these singles would not be what they are without him. TL;DR the people that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with are the moonshot artists that a younger me would have given everything to work with, I’m extremely lucky.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A:
Luke: Keep at it. It can really bring you down at times, but do it and keep doing it if you really love it. Look for mentors and never be the smartest person in the room. Consider every option and keep an open mind with both music and people.
Josh: I second what Luke said and I’ll simply add be as wild as possible. I know there’s a ton of apprehension and doubt that comes from offering up your innermost thoughts and feelings by way of your art but as much as you can – BE THE WILD HORSE, lean heavy in the direction of what makes you uncomfortable and give it that punk rock “fuck it” energy because thats what makes you human and that’s what drives kids to jump on couches and break shit and dream of the next thing.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A:
Luke: buy some bitcoin
Josh: Dude I second Luke, buy Bitcoin hahaha
