Hi. I'm Vanessa Beyor and this is my brother Jonah. We're two siblings who love to talk about our childhood and nostalgia and how it shaped us into the people we are today, who are extremely artful if I do say so myself. Welcome to how did we get weird? Now? Jonah? Do you remember when I was about to be a senior in high school and I had just finished treatment for childhood leukemia, which everyone, I'm totally fine now, but I just finished my treatment and I had like an end of chemo party for a bunch of people in my grade. It was at our house, a lot in our backyard, and we had like a very special performance. Yeah. I got to get a couple of my buddies. I believe it was Michael Gaileman on drums, maybe Lee Rollins on base and just a power trio and we just played a bunch of music in the backyard, very loud, like full full drum kit. And I can't remember we played, but I would imagine like probably Misfits covers or something. I think my friends thought it was very cool. Yeah, I think we jammed a little bit. There's probably some slap bass involved. And then at a certain point, the cops came. Yes, the cops came. They thought that we were having like a I guess it was lightly maybe a noise thing, but also like they thought we were having like an underage party, and so they were like going through the garbage and stuff looking for beer cans, which which is probably a fair assumption with most high school kids having a loud party there probably would be out right, But we were just we were just our parents were there. We were just jammed into music really loud, probably so loud that you couldn't really talk to each other, right, But you know, I do feel like the cops must have felt so badly because it was like once we told them that it was my end of chemo party, and they were like trying to break it up and like catch us for like underage drinking and stuff. They probably felt kind of like jerks. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, I don't remember. I just remember them being there looking around, but yeah, I don't remember anyone getting into trouble or anything. Well, they probably feel a crap, now, yeah, probably they should. I thought that was just one of those things where like when you're in high school, you're like looking and our guest today. I'm sure we'll understand this too. Like you look for like any excuse to play music live, so you're like any gig or anything. You're like, oh, you're having an end of your chemotherapy party, Like my baby, definitely play like that's a gig for us. Well. I also feel like, as your little sister, I was like, awesome, Jonah and his friends are going to play cool music in the background, and like and now thinking back, I bet like a bunch of my friends that were there were like, what is this music? Probably, but they probably also enjoyed it and thought it was cool, just like me. Yeah, well that is a is a great memory, and um, I think it really segways well into today's guest is Vanessa. Do you want to introduce today's amazing guests? Yeah, speaking of cool people, our next guest is not only a dear friend, he's a comedian, he's a musician, he's an actor, he's a writer, and he's honestly an icon who you may know from shows like Oh I Don't Know, Portlandia Forever Documentary, Now Lois's Spookies, Saturday Night Live, or all the incredible bands he's been in such as Trench Mouth or all of the incredible bands who asked him to play with them, too many to name. Please welcome our friend Fred Armison. Hi, Hey Fred, Hey Fred, that was really funny what you were just talking about. I feel like all over the country, I bet you like that was just like a daily thing, a nightly thing, like any bit of music that's going on. You know, they assume that it's a party, and it's probably I actually think it's probably fun for them. Like they're they're sort of like this is easy. They're I don't think they're they're like out to get anybody. They're just like this is just like the you know what it's like being out in the suburbs. Yeah, do you remember having a lot of band practices kind of grown up or even in Trench Mouth where you would get busted noise stuff or not so much. We never we never had a noise thing, but I do remember there were just a lot of for any reason at all, having a show where no one even asks you to. No one was like, oh we really need a band. It's just like, hey, we should play, and we would play like or just me and my friends play like the balcony behind my house for no reason, you know, or like at some remember when I moved to Chicago at the arts school there, bands would just played for no reason in any party. But like who but going to a party, it's like do you ever want to really hear a band? It's you know, what are they playing? Right? Right? It's just like everybody testing out there, like showing what they can do on their instruments. Yes, that's kind of what it is, or just showing that they could like bring drums somewhere and set them up. Did either of you guys ever do like a battle of the band type of thing? Oh? Wow, I don't think so. I never did, you never did. I actually have kind of a good story. I actually did do a battle of the bands at my school. And oh no, it's a talent show. We did a talent show. We um. We auditioned with the offspring song self esteem. I think self esteem? I think so. But anyway, we played and our singer started a mosh pit and then spit into the audience, and it was this big controversy and our principal said, We're never going to have another talent show again because of your performance. And he said it in this way that he thought like that was going to be like we were going to feel really bad, but we thought it was like the coolest thing ever. And we were like, we ended the whole talent show for everyone. This is like the punkest thing ever. And then he didn't really end. He just said kids from other schools could participate because my band was with a bunch of different guys. But uh, but yeah, that was my only experience. So we not only lost, but we almost ended the entire contest. Jonah, what great was that in That wasn't probably like eighth or ninth grade. And what was the name of that band? That band was called Plug. I don't remember Plug. Yeah, it was like my very first band. It was my first band. I was probably fifteen sixteen. Who was the principal It was the high school principal, Mr Hannigan or something. Mr Hegner was Heddle school, so maybe this was middle school. I remember Mr Hegner being really pissed. And then then Joe, I hate to break it to you, you're in middle school. Prove Okay, it could have been seventh grade. But yeah, we're very influenced by like rancid and bad religion. Offspring offspring. Yeah, a lot of that like nineties, you know, sound very cool. Maybe you were in high school. I don't know. We got to get to the bottom of this. We'll do some research. I'm sure a lot of people it's very memorable to a lot of people, having very cool speaking of bands, a great seguay. We we asked, We asked what you wanted to talk about, like what nostalgic thing you wanted to talk about, And basically you want to talk about one of your first concerts. But I'll kind of let you explain like the thing that you wanted to talk about, because I don't want to I want you to do it justice. Well, when you guys first approached me about this, you know, first you were like no. First I was like, speak up. I'm like, I can't hear you talk louder. Yeah, And we were like hey, we and you were like you were like, that's You're like if I can't hear you, that absolutely can't do this doing what you can't explain? What what I can't hear? And then you spoke up and I said, was that so difficult? Right? You started like that, Yeah, it was a lesson for us. Yeah, that was a good lesson. That's a good tip. Anyway. When you guys approached me, I was like, I thought the idea was like something physical, like do you have an old magazine from when you were a kid or a teenager? And I thought, I was like, oh, I do have something. There's something I saved. But then I was like, I feel bad because I'm like, I just don't want to always be doing like music stuff where you know, I didn't want to be like, hey, music, I wanted to be like, if I had something like it, you know, like an old magazine or something, I would have brought it. But a couple of things happened where I was like, I have a tour book from one of the first concerts i've I've ever been to, but almost to the day, it's exactly forty years old and I still have it. I still have it. It's something I bought at a concert, a Devo concert. I saw them at Radio City Music Hall, and I bought merch I was fourteen and somehow and all the moving that I've done and like just all over the place, I've somehow, I don't even know how kept it. I have many things that just sort of fall away and somehow and it's a really good condition. So I'm gonna Devot played for um their this album called New Traditionalists, and I think it might have been my second or third concert, and this is one. I don't know if you remember these days, but remember like you just didn't really have any money. So it wasn't like now you go by merch, you know, I'll take that all that's funny, that's cute. I'll just take one of those, one of those. But then it was like a big deal, like what am I going to get? And then so I got this tour book WHOA So night one tour Devot New Traditionalist and Diva was like really into like talking about what their mission statement was and stuff. Here's a picture of them, so Fred is showing us this very cool, very big to this is a big booklet. What's weird for me is that like it's forty years old and that it's now it's an active memory, so it's like that's so many years, but I still remember it as like a modern show because they had synthesizers and like, and they performed on conveyor belts that they were like walking towards the audience. The whole time. I don't know if it's a whole time, but from many of the songs, they would be like walking towards the audience. And to me, that like still feels very um present, you know, I think, so this this book I bought, then I must have carried it around with me, you know, brought it back to Long Island. And then here's some more stuff. Here's a pin, a metal pin that's a new traditionalist. And for those of you listening, the logo is an astronaut. It's like a nineteen fifties maybe a cosmonaut, sort of very classic fifties looking astronaut. That was like their logo for it. A lot of Roman motifs, like Roman columns and stuff. And here's a sticker, same thing like that was like their theme and I and the look of it still seems cool to me. I'm not saying that I'm cool. I'm saying more like, hey, no, no, no, no, I mean more like, I somehow this still works for me as opposed to I don't think of it as like, oh, what a dumb time, or I can't believe my hair looked that way, like oh this is so embarrassing. I'm a little bit like I would fully wear this astronaut sticker or a pin or pin or whatever. There's this other thing that used to exist. I'm guessing it still exists now. But in New York they had these record conventions and you go, you go to the city. This one was at the Pier and there's just floors and floors of like people selling records, and one of the things they would sell was photos. So I went and like, this is not during the concert, this is another time whatever. Months later, I went to this booth and they're like photos of concerts, and I found a photo from the concert and I bought it. I don't know, I don't know if this exists today. We're like, can I have one of those? What however much it was, I don't know, six dollars, ten dollars, and here is what. So I have a photo from the concert and that's what it looks. That's them on conveyor belts. And also they have plastic hair. They have these like pompadoors that they wore as their outfits. That's so crazy, I know, it's so crazy. Where a lot of people dressed up at the show since it was Halloween in the audience. Yeah, and I think they did to Halloween shows. And yes, people were dressed up, but like all really crazy and yeah, I mean of course people had Devo stuff on too. But it was a great show. I mean, that's a great venue. It was at Radio City Music Hall. Yeah, wow, and that was Was that your first concert? One of your first concerts, one of my first so, I first concert was Adam and the Ants for Kings of the Wild Frontier. Then I can't quite remember. It might have been Devo or Talking Heads Okay, later like The Clash and a couple other bands. Yeah, speaking of the Clash, something like younger listeners might not realize they used to sell programs at concerts. And I lived for a while before he passed away with Arturo Vega, who designed the Ramones logo, and I actually remember having him out a podcast or interviewing him um and he had told me that he had basically come up with the idea of the concert t shirts because everyone just sold programs at shows, and he designed the Ramons logo was basically like, you guys should sell the shirt and it can pay for me to go on tour with you. And they were like, no one's going to buy a shirt for like a band logo on it, and then they did it, and then it's sort of like became a thing. And now you don't really see programs, but you still see shirts obviously. Yeah. And with the Ramons, that's kind of like it or I don't know if that maybe became like their main probably like their main source of income, you know. Oh yeah, not that I know their finances, but like no, but now you that's like that's what you see is like the everywhere logo everywhere. Yeah. So an amazing thing about the show you were at this is Halloween rest City in music. That same night at thirty rock Fear Legendary performs on SNL. No way. Yeah, we weren't sure if you would know that. I thought you We thought maybe you knew about that. I wasn't sure. In our research we found that out. I mean I knew about that show, but I didn't know that it was the same night. Yeah, you were just like down the street. Oh my god. And what happened with Fear at SNL? They did well. I think John Belushi, he wasn't John Belushi wasn't on the show anymore, but he convinced them to put Fear on. Like John Belushi got really into like hardcore punk and convinced them to put fear on. And Fear might have played four songs or something. And what they did is they also brought in like an audience to like mosh and slam around in front of the band. So like people from DC came. I think I Mackay might have got Mackay, like Henry Rowlands, all of these like really yeah, influential DC hardcore people who are all so young at the time. Yeah, and so like it wasn't like a regular you know, musical guest because it was like mayhem, people like throwing each other around, and it was just so like noisy, and I think it was like very much in the tradition of also John Belushi liked when I Gather. But yeah, so it was just one of those things that it wasn't like a regular musical performance. It was just craziness. Yeah, it's very hard to find footage of it, um but kind of become this legendary thing, especially you know in the punk community. And yeah, you were there that night. I mean obviously Radio City just down the street right nearby. But then I'm a little bit like I somehow I just wasn't punk enough. Like I went to what I thought was like a punk thing to do, and I was like, nope, there's always one step, yeah, punkier, you can always be more punk. To be fair, I think you have to be sixteen to go to us now, so you could not go on anyway. So you did the most punk thing you could have done at your age. Thank you. Of course, that's exactly right. I tried to get in and this isn't this isn't true. For the record, this is not true. But I tried to get in and I was like, what, this is where I want to be and they were like, you're too young. Go across the street, go to Radio City Musical and go see Deebon instead. And I was like, okay, there it is. Well, we're going to take a quick commercial break, but we'll be right back with Fred Armison. Okay, and we're back with Fred or missing having the time of our lives now. Fred, we were just talking about your experience at this Devo concert and it was obviously it was on Halloween. Are you a big Halloween person? I love Halloween. I love how it looks like I love seeing Halloween decorations on people's houses. It's just it's the time where I feel like people have the most sense of humor. Everyone's like being kind of funny and kind of it's working, like you know, something really does make me laugh when I see like my neighborhood right now that I've been seeing a lot of skeletons in poses, yes, you know, sort of like like well made skeletons. And I love, I love a love Halloween. I'm not a big like going to a Halloween party person. I don't really that's a little hectic, but I just love the colors of Halloween. I love how people decorate things, and um, yeah, I love it. Are do you guys like Halloween? Yeah? I think it's really fun. I I remember when we were at SNL, Halloween felt so it was like so not as fun because we were liking costumes all the time, so it never felt like it was like people were so excited to dress up for it and it was like I'm in another costume every second or whatever. But um, but yeah, I do like it. I I've noticed living in l A that like people will really go all out in a way that I didn't remember from New York, like in terms of like decorating their houses like what you're talking about. And I've talked about this on this podcast before. Sometimes I feel embarrassed for the people, like if it's like I told this story already, but like I was walking by this like mansion and this guy had like such a decorated house and he was like outside, like on a business call, and which just felt so embarrassing to me that he's like he's like, you know, what's to deal with this trade or whatever, and like but like behind him is like being like pumpkin and like, you know, like interest to me is like slightly embarrassing, but also I like your attitude about it that it is showing people's sense of humor. Jonah, do you like Halloween? I do. I we got um yeah. I like I live in like a very kind of residentially neighborhood now, so we you know, I don't think we've ever given out candy. We were I think this year we're gonna try to give out candy. We get some pumpkins and we've got a reethe So yeah, I like it. But I think fred I think we were thinking like obviously so people can't see you have this photo of the band the Cramps behind you, who are kind of like, kind of like a spooky kind of band. I mean, do you I feel like me and Vanessa stayed at your place a long time ago when your old places in Portland and there was a lot of um kind of skull type arm souf. I mean, are you are you sort of drawn to that kind of aesthetic in a way? Do you think? I love it? I love like tombstones and bats and anything golf. I really I just love it. I love being surrounded by it. It's comforting, like the colors of it. There's something like there's also a sense of humor to to like, there's something even though it's heavy, it's actually it feels very light to like, it feels kind of fun. So I gravitate towards it. For sure. I have like little tombstones in my backyard, little tombstones in your bad Like how how little are we? Sort of like, uh, I don't have full size ones, but I asked the cemetery to make me some small ones. Um so meaning like I don't know a quarter of the size of a regular tombstone. Is there anything written on them? Or they're just just the shape ghost one ghost to ghost three goes four. Wow. That's great. Now, are you okay? So you just like being surrounded by that stuff because I remember there were some like holograms and I hope I'm not sharing too much. Fred has a hologram. We hope that's not too much. There would be like hologram things were like it looks like a person and then like you walk by it, they look scary. Yeah. I love it. It makes me happy. I got that at the Magic Castle. There was just like this like little merch area and I was just like, it's like these things where you passed by it and it's like it looks like a regular person and it's medusa Like it's almost like lightning is hitting the picture or something, and it just makes me happy. I love it. Yeah, I wish I had more of it. Why do you think that is? I mean, it's okay if you don't know. I think it's that. If I go back to my childhood's probably the most I ever connected with my parents. We lived in Brazil for a while and they didn't have like as much of a network of Halloween costumes there, So my parents made me a Dracula costume, Like my dad made fangs and my mom's you know, sold this cape and stuff. And I always really liked Dracula when I was a kid. And I think that it's like something that like I brought my family fund you, Yeah, more than more than Christmas or more than any other holiday. That's the one that like was it was all of us being actively doing something together. Yeah, I think that's where it comes from. That's so nice. I could see that being like, yeah, it takes you back to that time and like you have such fun memories of that kind of stuff, and that stuff is so fun, like it is really especially for a kid, but even for it's like just it's fun. It's also like it's it's not as corny as the other holidays. Like the other holidays, there's a sentimentality that I understand and I agree with, and but there's like a little corny nous to it. Yeah, like that, I like the sort of a little bit. There's like an edginess to like, you know, a pumpkin, even a pumpkin is there's something about it. It's like it's just more imaginative or something. There's like fewer sparkles or something. You know. Yeah, totally, yeah, I agree, And I like you embracing your guss side because I feel like that's like a subculture that can be very easily mock kind of like scott or something. You know. It definitely has that quality to it. YEA, sure, did you ever like get into like dressing super goth when you were younger? I dressed like a punk, but also I dressed like, um, a suburban punk. Like when I see pictures of real punks from like London or like really from New York City. I'm from a suburb of New York. It's definitely it's it's different. It's like a little it's not as like dirty and aggressive, you know, or it's a little like admittedly, like you know things that I bought. I bought these pins, you know, there's like a certain it's it's just very suburban. Yeah. Jonah probably had a similar look. I had a similar Well. I just read um Steve Jones's biography, Um and yeah, it seems to be like those British punks in the seventies, like all those like Malcolm McLaren's store all that stuff, Like it seemed like so much work getting to look that way, like I felt like, especially as a teenager, I was just like lazy, like you know, they were like having to get like safety putting safety pin things together and stuff exactly exactly, you know what, you know what I was really into. That is so teenagery and I almost also feels very eighties to me. It's dead babies. Like I had a pin. There was like a little baby doll, like a little teeny one with blood on it and a safety pin through it, and I pinned the baby like what it's you know? It did baby? That was like the ultimate expression of like, you know, I'm crazy. Yeah, friend died. We got an art exhibit with Steve Jones. Ditty crazy. Yeah. I don't think you ever told me this. I'm sure I did. I must have told you, Donna. It was about it was about the fashion scene in London, the punk fashion scene in nine seventies seventy seven, And we went with Steve, who was like a huge part of it. Wow, isn't that so crazy? Fred was like, do you want to go with I'm going with Steve Jones to see this thing at like MoMA or something. It was that metropolitan. Yeah, that's how funny is that that what a rare. It was crazy that we did that. I just realized that when you mentioned him. Yeah, did you see them on the reunion I saw them in like ninety six when the Filthy Lucre tour. I saw them on the other reunion tour like early two thousand's. But speaking of music, I want to get too in the weeds. But you actually performed with Devo in two thousand and eighteen? Is that is that? Yeah? I played drums for a show at a festival in Oakland. The way it happened was, you know, I've become friendly with Mark Mother's Ball and I had tickets to go see this show and he texted me and he was like, do you want to take the Devo challenge? And I was like, I guess it's a contest to see if, like, you know, you could play a Devo song on the drums. So I was like, yeah, I'll do that, I thought, I and uh, and I'm not making this up. That's really what I thought. I was like, I thought, they're going to have all these different drummers and what we'll just try doing these songs And he meant, do you want to play a full set? Their their drummers couldn't play that show. So I rehearsed with them, rehearsed a lot, and I played this full show with them. It's something I cannot believe ever happened. It was insane. It was insane. Were you thinking about that Halloween? Just in that, Like all of those songs I knew so well without even having to think because if I was fourteen then and what I didn't have to think about, Well, how many parts does this going for it? Like I just knew it? Did you tell them about that? Yeah? All the time? I like, and they're pretty good about reminiscing sometimes you when you when you meet heroes, they you know, they kind of don't want to talk about it too much, but like they're really they had like they have good memory and like they were like, oh yeah, they're like that's the only time they got to, you know, sort of rise up from the bottom of the stage and and all that stuff they were telling. I was like, what happened to the treadmills and the Roman columns and stuff? It all got thrown out. They all got thrown out. They had it at some storage space and something moved and then something happened where like it all just got tossed and I was devastated. At least you got to see it, though, at least I got to see it. And then I mean, in a way, it's it's devastating. And then it's kind of just the way that like movie and TV sets work anyway, you know, like it's not like anything we've done a SNL, Like they've saved every one of those, like you know, backgrounds, and they just paint over it to throw it out or whatever. So it's kind of show busy anyway. That's okay, Yeah, how are you about sort of like reminiscing, Like if someone brings up like an old sketch or in or an old Portland a thing, like do you like talking about that or is it hard? Or how do you feel? No, I don't mind, because I remember how people are with me, Like if I asked Devo or Bob muld or someone about their past, the way that they're enthusiastic, really, I'm like, that's really nice of them. So I try to be more like that. But when I've met a few people who are like I clearly don't want to be walked down memory lane. It's it's so awkward that, Um, I don't want to put someone else through that awkward, Like I don't know, you know, like I don't remember, I don't know. I'd rather Yeah, they're sharing something with you. Also, like the more of the time goes on, I am really blown away that people remember that they enjoyed something. Vanessa, I don't know if you go through this, but like now it's been enough years that like people will refer to your cast as like, you know, that's the cast that I grew up on. Yeah, yeah, they're a little older and there, and so that's that's really interesting feeling. Yeah, it's a crazy feeling, especially being someone who grew up with a certain cast, like remembering what that was like and being a kid and like watching us and know and obviously, like Lauren would always say, like everyone's favorite cast is the one that they grew up with, Like no, no matter what, like they'll be like they're they're not as good as they were like when I was growing up or whatever. Yeah, that's so crazy. But would you say, like, I feel like a lot of these bands that feel kind of nostalgic and like that you really loved when you were a kid. You've you've gotten to play with as an adult. That must be pretty incredible. One of the things that makes me happiest out of anything in my whole life. I can't believe it. I can't believe I was ever, you know, having gone to see these bands and then getting to know them as people and then getting to play music with them, unbelievable. I can't believe. It really makes me happy to be alive. That's it's it feels very complete. Yeah, that's really incredible. I don't mean to be gross about this, but like, what would you say are some of the highlights that come to your mind with playing music with people? There's three that are like the most present tense. One would be Bob Moulds because I grew up on Who's Could Do as well. Yeah, I love them so much, and then I became friends with Bob mould and then I've played recently some shows with him where I played guitar and sang with him. And the drummer of who s Could Do was the was a singer as well, and he died a couple of years ago, and so singing those parts is like I've sung those parts at home, you know, when I was growing up so I would say that, I would say devote it's that's incredible. And then one time I got to play with the Clash. They were promoting this box set that they were putting out and they didn't want to do too much press, so they did this sort of funnier die comedy, you know, this sort of comedy video, and I as a character got to play music with them. I cannot really a real highlight. Steve Jones probably playing with him. Clem Burke my favorite drummer ever, I've gotten to play music with him so and I think I saw you play with um like ten years ago or nine years ago, you did that Live Portlandia series. Played with Hu from the Stranglers, I think, another hero of mine and really sweet guy. And yeah, that's another one. Getting to play music with him, it was. It's it's you know, they're all up there, but those are whatever the top five or something, even like um. Carrie Brownstein Sleeer Kenny are my favorite band, and I don't take for granted even though I'm friends with them now. I used to or still do, loves Leeder Kenny so much that doing anything with Carrie, even though you know, like when we're doing a sketch it, we're sort of in it. There's still a part of me that's like I cannot believe I get to do that, I get to work with with Carrie. That's so nice, man. I love that. Carrie is so great. She's the greatest. Yeah, the greatest. So yeah, and I love that band endlessly. You know, all these years I've been saying Slater Kenny, so I still don't know which is correct. Like I see Slater Kenny and then I hear people saying Slater Kenny. I mean, I just try to say it fast enough that no one notices, right, like Kenny, Yeah, yeah, se Slarter Kenny. And then as long as youre gon ask you to do that. Do you know what? Um? Do you know what Jona's first concert was? Oh? This is good. I see this. I don't know, but I'm gonna try to guess. And the first concert. First concert is a weird because they're not always like you know, they're not always like you know, your first favorite band. It's always so I ended up, but you know this this show, you're right because sometimes your parents can take you or whatever, what year and what city. So it's um so I'm like around eleven or twelve eleven, something like that, and it's Cleveland, Ohio. I'm gonna do. I'll do my top three because they're a good kind of book, Benjamin. But so your you might give it away though, Jonah, No, I'm not. I'm gonna get any of your first three first three, yeah, but not from one or something in Cleveland. In Cleveland, so that means like probably was a pretty big band. So I'm gonna just start. I don't think this was it, but I'm gonna do with two arena bands because I'm gonna maybe just ended up in an arena just for I'm just gonna throw out YouTube, Okay, then I'm gonna do God, I so badly want to see nine inchinnails. I'm gonna say it. I already said it, nine inch nails. And then I'm going to do the Google dolls. Okay, all good guesses. I want to give you one clue. Yeah, one of these concerts. The musician is very well known for being a drummer. Oh did you go? Was it Nirvana? No? I think this is a little before that, like a little this is pretty Nirvana. I think you Genesis. Yes, So my first concert is Phil Collins, but seriously, second concert Genesis We Can't Dance Tour, and then third concert Guns and Roses Use Your Illusion Tour. Wow. But I also did see nine inch Nails pretty early on. Okay, yeah, I saw them, I think on the Yeah, yeah, really early on. Who knows if like maybe we've already talked about it, like maybe it was in some conversation, but I feel like first concerts are in that zone of like it's it's such a it's like at an arena. It's just like that's just how it is. Yes, yes, but were you I mean, as a drummer, were you kind of a Phil Collins fan? Or was because I know he's kind of a divisive saying obviously he's not a lot in common with the punk everyone's um I think come around with him. Like all I hear from drummers and music people is that he's great, and I agree all of that stuff. Anything negative is just when someone's really popular, everyone always is like they will complain about them. But his legacy has aged well. I think I think he's like that's pretty cool that he's a drummer who's sang and had tons of hits and then when you hear the songs, you're like, this is this is well written and well played? Yeah? I agree, I agree. I saw nine Shails and you know who opened up was the Jim Row Circus side show. Do you remember that? Yes, Vanessa, do you know what this is? No, because my first through third concerts were a little fair little fair little there really? Yeah, So who was on it? Was it Sarah mclacklin. It was Sarah McLaughlin, Torrey Amos. Who is my favorite? Victoria Williams. This is great. Jonah took me well, so I went with Jonah and you Victoria Williams. Who else was there? I think maybe Fiona Apple? Oh that sounds rightly, Yeah it was. There was like dream so many people. Yeah, and Jonah had his first cappuccinos cappuccino cappuccino machin. Yeah. Yeah, he won tickets on the radio for us. I wish they had some more little affairs. I know they tried to bring it back, right, Yeah, we talked about this. Yeah, why not bring back? I think they tried and they had a problem with the funding. But maybe after this podcast will be like a lot more people interested in bringing it back. Yeah. Wait, really quick. I wanna tell you the gym Ro circus side show was like, uh, like a guy would like lift like a cinder block with like chains attached to his nipples and stuff. It was like like like circus kind of like crazy, freaky show. And it was like they just performed as if they were a band or something. They just would introduce a guy who's like the whole body was tattooed and you would like stand there. It was really At the time I thought it was insane. I was like fifteen years old or something. But that's a good opening act. Yeah, it's a good idea that it's not a band, you know. Yeah, Thank Vanessa does not sound like the kind of thing you would be in. Yeah, just we'll be back right after this. Garbage dot Com order your own garbage to come and pick up your garbage. It's easy anywhere, Yeah, anywhere you want, simple could get weird garbage dot Com. Let's take your garbage. So Fred, now that we're back from the commercials dot com, which probably is a real thing, we'd like to play a game with you that we call back to the present. You've got to go back prompt. So the name of this game is obviously a hilarious take on the nostalgic Back to the Future film franchise. In this segment, we're each going to say something from our childhood that we wish would come back. So to give you a little time to think, we're going to go first, and just remember there's no wrong answers. This is something we wish would come back. Yeah, like from your childhood. Yeah, So, Jonah, I'm gonna start with you. What do you wish would come back from childhood? Well, I was thinking about like childhood toys I had, And I had a toy that was the Noid, which was a Domino's Pizza cartoony kind of claimation character. Fred Do you remember that the Noid? Absolutely? Okay, Yeah, so there's very famous. And I had like one he had like suction cups on his hands you could like stick him like in the car window. And yeah. The Noid was created in the eighties by Domino Knows. He was clad in a red skin tight rabbit eared body suit with an end with a white circle on his chest, a black end with a within a white circle in his chest that was kind of like the noise. Okay, Yeah, I'm trying to really paint a picture here, and uh Wikipeda says he was the nod was a physical manifestation of all the challenges inherited in getting a pizza delivered in thirty minutes or less, so persistent. His efforts were repeatedly thwarted. So it's like, avoid the annoid was like the phrase, and so, yeah, what does that mean? It means does the annoy turn get in the way of the pizza delivery? I think so, do you remember? I bet they came up with that slogan first, yeah, figured out that it just worked too well, and then I don't know, just we'll say that he's, you know, getting in the way of deliveries or something. Yeah, yeah, but he was. This was a It's super popular. It was created by the same people I guess that made the California Raisins. So that similar claimation vibe successful company, very successful company. UM and S. Cartoon series called The Noise was planned by CBS, but that was scrapped and made complaints that it was merely an advertising em ploy and not a show for children. Funny, I guess it's true, But I guess you know, where do you draw the line? Right? That's like a whole other podcast. Well, it's funny that they got like to a certain like they got so far just like having it be an advertising ploy. And then finally CBS is like, you, guys, you can't make this in new show. Yeah, you can't just make a half hour long commercial and cartoon basically, Like I wonder if it was just like I'm going to flock everybody from getting delicious pizza from domino is available in five different plays, you know. Anyways, Okay, we can cut that, Okay, go ahead. So the darker side, basically annoyed kind of was super popular. He was in a bunch of video games. They had this commercial cartoon thing planned and then, um, kind of something sad happened with a guy whose last name was Noyd, who had some mental health issues. Uh, entered Dominoes in nine and basically held these people hostage into my demanded ransom. And then he thought that he thought the ad campaign was a personal attack. Yeah he thought that, yeah, and I think he had had some some mental health issues, and um, he thought that the owner of Dominoes had stolen his name, and he demanded a hundred thousand dollars and a white limousine is his getaway. All this stuff happened, everyone will end up being okay. This guy unfortunately passed away shortly afterwards. And then because of this kind of like high profile crime. Um, A lot of people speculate that kind of caused Dominoes to discontinue using the noise and their advertising. It just was sort of like now associated with this kind of thing. So then fast forward to April one. I guess the nooid has made some appearances and in some social media sites for Dominoes, and they confirmed, uh last year that he's going to be in this Crash Bandicoot video game, So I think they're sort of bring in the noise back. I think enough time has passed since this kind of tragic event happened. But um, I never knew about that. I just, you know, remember seeing the noise everywhere and now not seeing seeing him, And now I guess he's coming back. So I guess my wishes coming but it's true. I guess it's coming true. But but I don't think it's gonna be I can't imagine, like I was thinking about this, like I can't imagine another corporate like character like entering the public. It just seems like there's so much more stuff now then it just seemed like there were less things to get your attention. You know, are less advertising? Right? Yeah, for sure. So I don't know, I don't even know where it's annoyed. I guess like on Google or where do people where would you see an add Yeah, I mean, you're right, there's so many more cartoons and so many more things and product branded thing. I mean, it's it's much more garbage dot com. I mean, yeah, there's all kinds of stuff. So yeah, I guess mine kind of came true. But Vanessa, what would you like to bring back to the present? Well, you know, I was thinking is there food? Is their toy? Is there you know show when I was thinking in honor of our really musically inclined guest and my musically inclined I mean talented in music and something like that, I would love to bring back my favorite band from when I was a kid, which was the band Vixen. They were an American rock band formed in St. Paul, Minnesota. They had this song Edge of a Broken Heart, which was my favorite song as a kid, which is I just really loved it. They also had the song Crying, which was pretty popular. I really was so into them because they were like a female hair band in the eighties, and you know they were I think that they were. They were on MTV. I think they Yeah, they played them on MTV for sure. They were produced or something by m Richard Mars. And if you watch the Edge of a Broken Heart video, Richard Mars appears in it, and they also had the Edge of a Broken video. Was like it was like one of those videos where it kind of like shows the band like on the road in black and white, which was maybe a thing that Guns and Roses kind of started, where like they're just like you just see them and they're kind of like touring and they're just like hanging out and you're like they're so cool too. Also yeah yeah, and then but and they also like they just had seeing like a hair band with women was I'm not trying to say like their hair was cooler, but sorry, Like they just like looked so cool to me, and I just loved them, and so I would love for them to come back. Now. It sounds like I was doing some research on them. It seems like they have come back in a few different iterations and their lead guitarist Jan I don't want to pronounce her last name incorrectly, but she actually passed away, which was really sad. She passed away, Yeah, in two thousand thirteen. UM, and then you know, the band, the band was kind of getting together. I think she had we don't need to get into the base sickly. She had like they had tried to continue as Vixen, and she kind of like sued them for the name, I think. And anyways, they they all. I think they were all I'd like to think on good terms, but they are. I'm not doing a christ because of of going through their their history. But basically, they do have an upcoming album that had a tentative release date UM, but it was delayed due to COVID. But if it comes out, it will become Vixen's first album of new studio material in more than a decade. And so I'm I'm really hoping. You know, there's some new members in there and everything. Lorraine Lewis of them, Fatale is in there now and stuff. But I just really hope that they do release this new album because I was such a huge fan of theirs and they were just an incredible band. And I just thought that they were the coolest. They were kind of like, um, I mean, I loved Heart too, but they were almost like an edgier Heart in some ways, I feel like meets poison or something. Yeah, exactly exactly, And that is no burn to Heart because I love Heart. Fred. Do you have any memories of Vixen just from MTV? And I felt like they had um like the record company was really behind them. I do remember it was very like, you know, this is happening now, like it's it seemed like a high budget video. Yeah, that's definitely worth revisiting. Would be nice to see them come back at least on maybe on some tour where there's a bunch of hair bands. Yeah, it would be really cool. One of my former editors I think, I can't remember, maybe a Revolver I think him hit Tom Bujour and this guy, Richard Binstock, wrote a book earlier this year that called Nothing but a Good Time. That's an oral history of the eighties glam scene, and it's Vixen is interviewed in it. Remain members are in it. They interviewed like five people and what's crazy is that like almost every one of these bands are still together with like zero to one to do original members. But it's really interesting to hear about that era from from the people in the bands because the way they're marketed them going on these tours like it's it's just um, just a time that will never be replicated, and it seems very specific to it. Like a location. I always associated with l A. I know it existed everywhere, but for some reason I really associated with No. I think I think a lot of the bands are from l A, or if they weren't from l A, they went to l A. Yeah they ended up Yeah yeah, So Fred, now it's your turn and again no wrong answers. I have two thoughts. Even better, I have two thoughts, but I I want to I don't know which one to pick. You can tell us both doing both. One is the trade of posters, Like there was a time where I would go to the store and you'd look through these like posters, like they'd be like in this rack and then it's like, okay, a seventeen. So I'd like go down and pick a role that poster, like oh, here it is. And I don't know if that exists now anymore, but that's something that I just that was like a you know, I don't know, there's something about such a thing that was such a thing with posters, like I feel like Jonah and would be like in Coventry or something and you'd go to like those oh yeah, all those music stores or whatever and they just have those like yeah, like those racks and you just like flip through does that Do they still have those? Like? I think they don't? They do? And it was very official. It wasn't just like any picture of any band. It was very like this is the official poster for you know whatever. So yeah, Jonah, you had your whole room was those room was covered. And I worked at a record store, so I had a lot of promotional posters. I would take Fred. I don't know, did you go to college, Yeah, School of Visual Arts in New York. That makes perfect sense. So I don't know if they did this at SBA, but they when I was in college, people would come to the school and like set up in the common area like a poster sale. So they would do that. And I had some friends after college who were like, we're gonna work for the poster. I went to school in the New York. They're like we're gonna work for this poster store like Beyond the Wall or some kind of weird name. And they drove around in a van selling posters of colleges like I guess. They set up with the college and one of my friends got I think arrested because they went they set up the posters and then they stole a piano from college. Still I won't give any names, but these people were working for this poster store. They set up the posters, they saw there was a piano there. These were like guys I knew from the music scene. They took the piano somehow got it into their truck, and then they came back the next day because they had a second day of the poster sale, and they pulled in and there were cops waiting for them. And we have on video that you stole this piano from school, and now you're in trouble. Yeah, piano can't. It's tough. It's you're gonna steal something. The piano is tough, to huge thing to try and hide, and it's also very gettable. You can I think you could find a decent piano for like not that much money, just because people want to get rid of them. If they need to and a state sale. I'm like, totally, guys, maybe it's two hundred bucks you could find one. Yeah. I think our parents have a piano in the basement that they probably need to get rid of. I think that they did did finally just get rid of it. And I think they they donated it somewhere or something, and I think they, yeah, asking it if we wanted it, and I was like, how do I get it? I know, I didn't know where to. I think that the piano was really much more. I think we thought it was a really incredible piano and maybe in you know, later years, it didn't hold up or something. But I think Mom ended up using my name to try and get them to take it. Got it like this piano has been played by Vanessa Bay and it worked. Wow, So now the big deal. But guess what she could have said, Jonah bear too. Okay, that's right, Jonah okay, Jonah, thank you, thank you, Fred, thank you both of you. Your good piano player. You're a good piano player and a good person. Yeah. It's gonna sound you know, maybe a little condescending, but I think, yeah, that's when I like playing piano than you you number one. Yeah, thank you both. Fred, What what is your second I kind of want to stick with that first one. I thought that went okay, and I would like to hear what the second one is. I'm so sorry, just just I don't know. I'll make it quick. I don't know the world of toys right now, but when I was a kid, toys, like if you had an Action figure, it had a world around it. I'm not talking Legos. I'm talking like whatever the action figure was, there was like the van and the headquarters and like all these things you can get for it. And I don't know if that exists right now. I don't know if you go to a toy store if there is a whatever, I don't know, Game of Thrones and then there's like a mountain and then like all the things, right, but I don't know if that exists anymore. We can get the whole I think only in Legos it does. But yeah, that's the other thing. Well, we heard from another podcast. We know that micro machines are coming back and they have a Supervan's world like they have like a world with them, which is why people love micro machines. Do you remember micro machines with a guy talking really fast. Yeah, that's right. Has there ever been a Fred Armison action figure with all the stuff you've been in, I don't think. I mean the closest would be the Smurfs, Like when the whatever new version came out, there were like new Smurfing. But that doesn't count in that Like that's a Smurf, it's not you know what. It had no resemblance to me, So no, So I would say, no, I think that does count because it was it your the Smurf that you were. Yeah, but you're being modest. That is you, isn't it. Maybe how about let's say it's in the timing of White when it came out. Yeah, yeah, I think it counts. Yeah. Sorry, Yes, sums would be a great one for us to do in the future too, because we love the summerse growing up. Who didn't Who didn't? Who didn't? Seriously? Yeah, well Fred, thank you so much for coming by. That was so amazing. Um, well you're eating you know, I'm trying to like have this day live your life. Yeah, and you know to pause everything, Yeah, to have to talk to us, and you know what's gonna happen if you're gonna want to part two and a Part three and right right, right, guys. Yeah, you know, first of all, speak up, Yeah, totally. Well that's our first mistake, right, just like be present, be up, all that kind of stuff. I totally got it. We were joking and I love you guys, and I'm glad I got to do this. I'm glad I got to hear about your childhood as well. It was fun listening hearing about yours. Yeah, super fun And thanks again to Fred for coming by. If you enjoyed that, please subscribe to the podcast and keep an eye out for next week's episode, how Do We Get Weird? We will discuss more stories from our childhood and cultural milestones, such as our first concerts and garbage dot com one click, but what your garbage? Yeah? It saves you money, time, and saves the planet.