I Prevail Interview with Meltdown at Riff Fest 2023
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00:00Hey backstage here at RiffFest with Eric and Brian from I Prevail.
00:03Hey, first of all, thank you guys so much for playing.
00:06Hey, thanks for having us, man.
00:07I was thinking about this on the way here.
00:08It's like the Fillmore last year, twice, and now headlining RiffFest out here.
00:12That seems kind of insane to me.
00:14What about you?
00:15Yeah, man.
00:16I have a lot of history, a bunch of us coming to shows here growing up,
00:19and now finally playing this legendary venue, man.
00:22And it's cool that it's back to Pine Knob and, you know, being able to say we play Pine Knob and not, you know, the latter.
00:27Right, exactly.
00:28And Brian, you guys haven't played here at all, opening or anything, have you?
00:31No, this will be our first time, so we're super stoked.
00:34Obviously, a ton of tickets got sold thanks to you guys and the lineup you assembled.
00:38The lineup today is awesome.
00:40We're super excited, too, to have bad omens go on before us.
00:43So it'll be a – it's going to be crazy.
00:46I don't normally get nerves before a show, but I already feel kind of the jitters going into this.
00:50Yeah, a little bit of anxiousness, for sure, especially in your hometown.
00:53How many guys – how many people do you think you have with your crew tonight coming to the show?
00:57Like family and friends?
00:59Yeah, yeah.
00:59Oh, man.
01:00Did you get a lot?
01:01I can tell you, at least I got, like, 70-some first cousins.
01:04Do you really?
01:05Yeah, they, like, 20 or so got a party bus, and they're here.
01:08So just that alone, I think, like, 100.
01:10Well, I was even going to say, we just did, like, a 20-person meet-and-greet,
01:13and, like, five of them brought up that they knew Eric's friend from high school or who he worked with.
01:19So I feel like Eric knows pretty much every single person in Michigan at this point.
01:22No, that's great.
01:22By the way, Lloyd Christmas and Harry were the last ones that came up on the meet-and-greet.
01:27They got the big hat.
01:28Oh, yeah.
01:28You got a dumb and dumber.
01:30I was like, I'd go back out there if I already bought those hats.
01:32Right, right.
01:33That's so funny.
01:34So you guys are on tour with Godsmack.
01:36You were just telling me the most unbelievable story.
01:39First of all, Godsmack, for those that don't know, every single show they do this drum-off thing.
01:43And it's so cool.
01:45I was actually watching it one time, Rockin' the Range, and the drummer from Judas Priest
01:50came up and stood right next to me, and he's like, yeah, I've always wanted to see this.
01:52But you guys got to watch it a bunch of times now.
01:54Yeah, yeah.
01:55It's awesome, man.
01:56It's a cool moment of the show.
01:57And, you know, when you do it for a couple years, I feel like you start getting your rhythm
02:01and you know what's cool and what goes off.
02:02But you're always evolving.
02:04We played a festival with them years ago, and I remember walking away from that and going,
02:07like, man, I just crushed it.
02:10And then, you know, a couple years later, here we are touring with them and being able to watch every night.
02:13It's like, oh, that wasn't just a one-time thing where they just crushed it.
02:16They just consistently, I think that's what happens.
02:18I think it was like 25 years or something they've been doing it.
02:20Yeah, it's one of the coolest things.
02:22It's awesome.
02:23And so tell everyone, so this is really cool.
02:25So I asked Eric and Brian before they came out with me, you know, how's the Godsmack thing going?
02:30And you told me the greatest story about a gift you got from Shannon.
02:33And I hope we're not speaking out of school, are we?
02:35No, no.
02:36It was awesome.
02:38You know, touring, you sometimes give the other band a gift, a little thank you gift or whatever.
02:43And one of the last days, we had a bag and a note.
02:47And it was a nice card, handwritten, like full long note that basically was like, you know,
02:51it's been a short run, fun run.
02:53Thanks for coming out.
02:54And I just, I don't really hang out as much as I used to, but I just wanted to give you guys a gift.
02:59And it was just a pile of books that he's like, I sit and read and take time to myself.
03:04And I just wanted to give that to you guys and give us a pile of books and notebooks.
03:08And I don't know, that was just such a genuine, like, unnecessary, but such a nice thing.
03:15And that's like something you'll never forget.
03:16You know, the next day I literally walked, I walked like a half a mile to Barnes & Noble
03:20and picked up one of my favorite books and wrote him a note and just dropped it off in his green.
03:23No kidding.
03:23Oh, that's cool.
03:24What book was it?
03:25It was that Matthew McConaughey, Green Lights, that new book he just put out.
03:29I think it was like during the COVID times I read.
03:31And it was really, it was a great reading.
03:33Got me through that, you know, downtime.
03:35What did you think of that tour, Brian?
03:38The one with God's Mad Class?
03:39Oh, it was awesome.
03:40And, you know, now getting to tour with them again.
03:42And I don't know, you just have that camaraderie, which I think is so awesome.
03:46Once you get to tour with a band once and get to know the guys,
03:49even we were just talking about Robbie, their bassist,
03:51he brings his golden doodle on tour now and they put a little laminate around him.
03:55So even if you're, you know, not every day is great on the road.
03:58You're going to have days when you wake up and not feeling the best.
04:00But you see that pup walk by and you're just like, there's a dog on tour.
04:03I can't, I can't be too mad.
04:05So they're awesome guys and we're excited to, this run will go from,
04:09all the way from Michigan to the West Coast.
04:11And then we go up to Canada, which will be fun.
04:13Because we haven't been to Canada in a hot minute.
04:15You have to get Robbie out there on the ice.
04:17Right about that.
04:18So before we talk about some other things that we have going on with sports related,
04:23what's going on with the band right now?
04:24You guys have anything you're working on music wise or what's happening?
04:28Just busy touring.
04:29This will be a pretty hefty stretch for us.
04:32We have about a month with Godsmack here.
04:33And then I think we get four days off.
04:35And then we go over to Japan and Indonesia with Bring Me the Horizon,
04:38which will be awesome because we've never toured with them before.
04:41And, you know, I think right now they're kind of the mecca of our type of music.
04:44So someone's sound checking.
04:48Someone not sound checking will.
04:49That's for sure.
04:50But, you know, we're excited for that.
04:51And then we actually, right after that, head to Australia.
04:54So lots of long plane rides ahead.
04:56Got to brace ourselves for that.
04:58Get all the neck pillows.
05:01Now, True Power dropped last year.
05:02You guys have any sort of anything working on?
05:05Or are you guys just going to the studio with a clean slate?
05:07No, we definitely have still, you know, been hitting the studio when we can.
05:11And there's so much touring, but even now, John, who actually is our bassist
05:15and has helped us produce things over the years,
05:18actually brings a little mobile rig with him.
05:20So anytime Eric has like a lyric in mind or I have a melody or Steve has a riff,
05:25we're able to, on an off day, kind of go into the hotel room, put on the headphones
05:28and at least start, you know, putting together some ideas.
05:31Because I think it's one thing for us where we don't want to take two or three years off
05:34and then go fresh into the studio because your mind just isn't quite ready for it.
05:38Where at least if we're dabbling a little bit, when we really rev up for the next record,
05:43it'll allow us to have kind of a head start going into it.
05:46Now, you talked about not taking all this time off.
05:48Do you guys feel that, especially in the last year, that you've gone from like this level to this level?
05:53I mean, obviously you're playing Pine Knob here tonight,
05:55but what about when you're out on tour in other parts of the world?
05:57It's been a, I mean, there's been some moments where we take a big step up,
06:03but we've been super grateful and lucky that it's like whenever we're not taking a big step up,
06:08it's still a gradual incline.
06:10We haven't hit a, it feels like we haven't hit a peak yet.
06:13It hasn't felt like we plateaued.
06:15It's just every time we come to a new city, even if we're playing the same venue,
06:18there's more people and there's new people there.
06:20It's just this train keeps rolling, man, and it's fun to be on and fun to ride.
06:26We're just super grateful to have people like you jamming our stuff
06:30and not just playing us song, but like playing them all, man.
06:34We're super grateful for the love and the support from everyone.
06:37No, you're welcome.
06:38It's funny because I'll be around town and all of a sudden there's Eric at the car show
06:42and at Disturbed, and I think I've run into you a few other places as well.
06:46Yes, you have.
06:46All right, so final thing here for you guys.
06:48So, Brian, you said you got some sort of wager here as far as the Lions are concerned?
06:53Yeah, so the wager, we actually, we should honestly set up a new wager for this year,
06:58but last year, I'm the biggest Lions fan probably known to man for the last,
07:03I mean, every year on tour, the guys make fun of me.
07:05I wake up at the ass crack of dawn and put on my Lions jersey,
07:09and obviously we've had a rough last couple of years.
07:12However, last year, Eric and I made a bet going into it,
07:16and I was drinking the Kool-Aid hard, so I said, all right,
07:19if the Lions have a winning record, you have to get their record tattooed on you,
07:23but if they have a losing record, then I'll get a tattoo.
07:26Now, the Lions started the season awful.
07:28I think we started one in six.
07:29Terrible, yeah.
07:30Let me just put it this way.
07:32So when we started with the bet and it was like 500,
07:34the last three years, I think it was like they had six total wins or something like that.
07:40So a betting man would say that's a good bet.
07:44But a true fan would say no.
07:45I am going to double down on this.
07:48So even when they were one in six, I don't know.
07:50I just had faith, and it was pretty amazing to kind of see the run they went on.
07:54Unfortunately, they didn't get in the playoffs last year due to the Seahawks
07:58and the Seahawks game last week also kind of crushed my soul a little bit.
08:01But I was at the Kansas City home opener.
08:04That's right.
08:04I saw the pictures.
08:05Yeah, you were the personal fitness guy.
08:07Yeah, he's from Germany, who's actually a big fan of us,
08:10and he had a hookup, so I went to that game.
08:12But, yeah, so Eric still hasn't gotten the tattoo,
08:14which upsets me a little bit because it's already the new season.
08:18So Eric's going to get the tattoo.
08:20But on the record, should we do a bet for this year?
08:23Oh, there we go.
08:24That's what I'm talking about.
08:25Well, first, you know, I'm getting a Lions tattoo with the standing or whatever,
08:30the record, and, you know, if someone's going to get a Lions tattoo,
08:34it's going to be one that's like a great season.
08:36I'm getting the most mediocre tattoo.
08:38It's going to be Lions with nine and eight.
08:40How about this?
08:41If the Lions make the playoffs, you have to get another tattoo.
08:44If they don't make the playoffs, I'll get a tattoo.
08:46What do you want me to get, though?
08:50Like, what's a bad tattoo for me?
08:53I can't put one on the spot.
08:54All right, just know we'll work it out with you guys.
08:57It'll be something.
08:59We got it right here on camera.
09:00If Lions don't make the playoffs, Brian's getting a tattoo.
09:03But they will make the playoffs.
09:05Eric will have to get a second tattoo.
09:07Oh, by the way, what was it like being Carrie Underwood?
09:09I forgot to.
09:10Oh, she.
09:11Yeah.
09:11Yeah, so we actually, she came out to, or we went to her show first.
09:15She actually invited us out to her show at LCA, which was incredible.
09:18We had to go backstage and meet her afterwards, and she was the kindest person.
09:23She, you know, wasn't rushing us out.
09:24She really just took time to tell us how much she enjoyed our music.
09:27And she puts on a kick-ass show, too.
09:29And then she actually came out to our show in Nashville on the last Godsmack run.
09:34And I'll be honest, I was a little nervous for that.
09:36We looked up, and we just saw her jamming out, which was, you know, where was it at?
09:41It's in the quarry, the stone quarry.
09:43That's a great place.
09:44I saw a show there last year.
09:45Really cool.
09:45It's like a mini Red Rocks.
09:47It was definitely kind of a WTF moment, just, like, looking up at me, like, Carrie Underwood's
09:51headbanging to our music right now.
09:53It wasn't even like she was, like, singing along to Deep.
09:55I wish she was, but it was like I looked up when we were, like, doing the heavy stuff,
09:59and she's just getting it.
10:01I'm like, all right, Carrie.
10:03She's got the hottest legs of music, as far as I'm concerned.
10:06I texted Eric.
10:07I'm like, dude, tell me about the legs.
10:09Come on.
10:10She's amazing, though.
10:11Honestly, truly just a great person and so excited to continue to see her path grow and grow.
10:17Well, finally here, I know I said finally a few times, but, okay, biggest Detroit memories
10:21of concerts or slash events?
10:24Like, give me something growing up since we're here in the Motor City.
10:27Oh, man.
10:28I'll say, since we're here, since we're at Pine Nam, one of my first shows I got to see
10:35was Deftones and System of a Down, and my dad's friend was taking this kid, and he asked me,
10:43he's like, do you know these bands?
10:45And I was like, yeah.
10:46Yeah.
10:46Yeah, so we went.
10:47I ended up being like front and center, third row.
10:50One of those moments where, like, I grew up.
10:52I like the Deftones, but I saw them, and, man, blew me away.
10:56And then System of a Down played, and I caught what's, oh, my God, I'm blanking on his name.
11:01Serge?
11:02No.
11:03Chavo?
11:04Yes.
11:04I caught his pick, and, yeah, man, that was one of those shows at that age that I was like,
11:13holy crap, like, this.
11:15I'm thinking, like, when we play shows now, we play, are lucky enough to play, like, venues
11:19like this, and thinking, I hope we're giving kids the same moments that I had like that,
11:24you know.
11:25Yeah, what about you, Brian?
11:26What do you got?
11:26For me, I'm going to actually go a little away from music and go to last year when Eric
11:31and I actually got to throw out the first pitch at the Tiger game when the True Power
11:36record came out, and Eric and I both played baseball growing up.
11:39Eric actually went to college for baseball, so both of us are enamored with it.
11:43Oh, I didn't know you went to college.
11:44That's interesting.
11:44Yeah, yeah.
11:45Eric, unfortunately, the knees gave out a little bit, but it worked out.
11:49It worked out because I met him, and we started this band.
11:52So I didn't see that.
11:53Did you throw strikes?
11:54I threw a strike, and then Eric whispers in my ear.
11:57He goes, I'm throwing a knuckleball, and I go, what are you thinking?
12:00I literally go up there, and what's, oh, my God, what's his name?
12:04Kerry Carpenter, who's on a streak right now.
12:08He caught the pitch for us, and I get up there.
12:11I lean in, look for the signal, and he's smiling.
12:13He's like, all right, just throw the ball.
12:14And I go, I give him the hand signal for knuckleball, and I see him look at me like,
12:18what?
12:18And I just throw a nice little no-spinning knuckleball in there and dance a little.
12:23And he got it.
12:23He caught it.
12:24He gets up, and he laughs.
12:25He goes, you really threw a knuckleball?
12:26I was like, was that the first time someone's thrown a knuckleball for the first pitch?
12:29He's like, I don't know.
12:31It might be.
12:31Gotta be.
12:32It still, like, got to the mitt, which makes me happy.
12:34It bounced a little before, but it could have been way worse.
12:37He scooped it at the plate.
12:38I mean, it's not that bad.
12:40Yeah, my son throws knuckles, and, yeah, sometimes you don't know what's happening.
12:43Yeah, I remember, I know good catchers for knuckleball pitchers, they use a softball mitt
12:49because they're bigger and has a bigger, yeah, but that's a whole other thing.
12:52Anyway.
12:53Well, I've taken up way too much of your guys' time, but thank you guys so much for all the
12:56love here in Detroit, and good luck with everything.
12:59Good luck on these tours, man.
13:00I'm so happy for you guys.
13:01Thank you guys.
13:02Thank you guys for the love.
13:03It's awesome to come home from tour, go cruise in the truck, and turn on the riff,
13:08and hear you guys jamming our stuff.
13:10It's awesome, man.
13:12Growing up listening to the riff, and now we're a part of it.
13:14That's for sure.
13:15There you go.
13:16Eric and Brian from Ipervale right here at Riff Fest.