Labeled: The Stories, Rumors & Legends of Tooth & Nail Records

Chris Conley - Saves The Day

Chris Conley is nothing if not original. His ability and willingness to listen to and follow an inner voice led him to an early arrival into the all-ages music scene with great influence. Saves The Day continued to evolve musically and did not get stuck in a certain sound even though commercial success would have wanted just that. After helping set the tone for the scene and being signed to a major label (Dreamworks), Saves The Day delivered their album, In Reverie, which was another evolution of direction & departure from what the radio or even their fans were expecting. This lead to them being quickly abandoned by the label. Nonetheless, it’s Chris’ and my favorite album of theirs. We discuss this and much more including some close ties to my band, so please enjoy this conversation with Chris Conley.

Shane Told - Silverstein

Silverstein is in the club of bands that are true workhorses - continuously active year after year while racking up new achievements. They seem to benefit greatly from being able to self-manage, adapt, engage in long range decision making, while always trying new things. They have played over 2500 shows and have over a million monthly listeners on Spotify. In this conversation with lead singer Shane Told, we cover the Canadian local scene that they come from, getting on and off Victory Records, and many other reflections from the last 20 years. Shane also has a great podcast of his own, Lead Singer Syndrome, so check that out too.

Chad Gardner - Kings Kaleidoscope

Today we have a convo with Chad Gardner of Kings Kaleidoscope. What's most intriguing about Chad is that he is an incredibly efficient, high-level, high-energy problem solver. He fits a pattern that we see over and over again in this world of kids who come from families with engineering and technical talent and use this to power high level creativity and art. chad's ability to lead creative teams and react and improvise is what leads to the aesthetic and musical excellence that Kings Kaleidoscope is known for. They are also known for having a rebellious spirit from within the christian music and worship worlds, pushing boundaries, and an extremely DIY approach to everything. They have a new self-titled album out tonight, go listen on spotify, and also a full US tour starting this week, go to www.kingskaleidoscope.com to find your city and get tickets.

Reese Roper - Five Iron Frenzy

Reese Roper is simply a legend. Five Iron Frenzy (FIF) was one of the first Christian bands truly existing in both the Christian and mainstream space. In the late 90s during the ska explosion, they achieved real commercial success, made a bold choice to stay on a small independent label, and were delivering absolutely scorching lyrics that were full of questions and critique - lyrics that challenged the existing cultural structures. Packaging those lyrics in the ska-punk package was a perfect move that paid off deeply to their fan base. FIF is also one of those bands that pioneered and cultivated their followers into super fans by delivering on multiple layers of depth across time and staying true to their principles. They are heroes of the scene and certainly paved the way for the next generation. They are now releasing an incredibly cool vinyl box set of all their music. You gotta check it out and the promotional video for it. I’ll link it in the notes because it delivers the perfect amount of silliness and humor that you’d expect from FIF. I thought this would be a great chance to talk to Reese and get his reflections on some of the special things they have accomplished plus some of the challenges. Link to the FIF boxset promotional video

JT Woodruff- Hawthorne Heights

JT Woodruff is one of the most intentional and efficient leaders and operators in the history of the scene. His band Hawthorne Heights has had absolutely huge ups and downs. Ups like their first 2 records going gold and creating one of the most iconic emo songs ever, the song Ohio is for lovers, which has almost 100 million Spotify plays. and the downs include a length and costly lawsuit with their label, victory records as well as the death of a best friend and bandmate casey calvert in 2007. Hawthorne heights has handled their career incredibly well, racking up over 20 years of successful continuous activity, and continuing to innovate, adapt, and grow as people and as a band. JT is one of the most if not the most principled person i know, and his values and principles have guided him well across the spectrum from the smallest details of being punk and DIY to the large scale business moves like creating the ...Is For Lovers Festival which is becoming wildly successful.