- 2 months ago
High above Manhattan, The Paradox recently joined us inside the Hard Rock Hotel for a round of beers and conversation with Brad Steiner. Over a few IPAs from the appropriately picked, Paradox Brewery in North Hudson, NY the band looked back on their rapid rise, the Pop Punk village it takes to raise a daughter on the road, and their war against perfection in a world of AI.
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MusicTranscript
00:03Oh my god, welcome in to another round of beers with the band at the New York Hard Rock Hotel.
00:08Introduce The Paradox.
00:10Hi.
00:10What's up everybody?
00:11Oh my god, I'm so excited to see you guys again.
00:15It's been a while.
00:16This is going to be a different sort of hang because I want to pair a beer with one of
00:22my favorite bands.
00:23Pair and share, if you don't mind.
00:25So I have a couple of beers here, so you get a couple of options before we get into it.
00:30We have the basic beer, but also I found something that's very special to you guys.
00:35This is from Paradox Brewing in Hudson, New York.
00:41Give that to me.
00:41Yep, that's yours.
00:43We have four of them just in case everybody wants one.
00:47All right, try it.
00:48I mean, it's literally named after you, so I think I'm going to make sure that they...
00:53I'm not a fan of IPAs, by the way.
00:54You what?
00:55I'm not a fan.
00:56You're not a fan of IPAs?
00:57I'm not really.
00:57All right.
00:58I've got to try this.
00:59We also have just regular Stella's.
01:00I drink one one time, and I sip the one, and that was it.
01:05I just sip the one.
01:05I was like, yeah, this is ass.
01:06Yeah.
01:07Yeah.
01:08This is how you and I like our snacks different.
01:11Let's cheers.
01:12You're going to try it.
01:12All right.
01:13I'll try it for the one.
01:15Do you know I get killed by my friends because I hate cheersing?
01:21Really?
01:21I think cheersing is weird.
01:22The one of the weirdest things we do is a culture, but we're doing it anyway, so here
01:26we go.
01:26Cheers to the paradox.
01:27All right.
01:28I'll tell you one of my favorite cheers.
01:29Yeah.
01:30That's a good one.
01:30Here we go.
01:31Let's hear it.
01:33My stepbrother actually introduced me to this year.
01:35Shout out, Oscar, my bro.
01:37Okay.
01:38He goes to lying, cheating, and stealing.
01:43Throws you off already.
01:44Okay.
01:45If you're going to lie, lie to protect somebody you love.
01:47If you're going to cheat, cheat death.
01:49And if you're going to steal, steal somebody's heart.
01:52The bottom's up.
01:52Oh, come on.
01:53Let go.
01:54That's so romantic.
01:55It's so much more romantic than what I was expecting.
01:58Man, a man.
01:59Man, who knew he was a prophet?
02:02What does Oscar do?
02:03What does Oscar do?
02:04Yeah.
02:05He is an artist.
02:06Okay.
02:06He's a crazy artist.
02:07Okay.
02:08Tell him to keep going in that studio because he's crazy, man.
02:12Okay.
02:12I was just wondering if, I don't know, he went by a name that ended in Mushy.
02:17No.
02:18That's not him.
02:19Shut up.
02:19Okay.
02:23So I'm a huge nerd for dive bars.
02:25I love dive bars.
02:26I love drinking.
02:28If you guys were a cocktail, a drink, what would you be?
02:30What would the paradox as a band be?
02:33I would say a beer.
02:35Yeah.
02:35I'd be a beer.
02:36I'd be a Malibu rum.
02:38Malibu rum?
02:39Yeah.
02:40Man, even in your drinks, you like to snack.
02:44I don't know.
02:45I feel like the paradox might be a dirty Shirley.
02:47Dirty Shirley?
02:48Sure.
02:48I just like the sound of that.
02:49What's a dirty Shirley?
02:50I think you guys dated her once.
02:52It's a, um, what's the, uh, Shirley Temple with liquor.
02:57With liquor.
02:57Uh, all right.
02:59Sprite, grenadine.
03:00Yeah.
03:00Okay.
03:01There you go on top.
03:01All right.
03:02Can somebody make that, please?
03:04What, uh, what about when you walk into a bar, do you ever choose the jukebox?
03:07Who runs the jukebox in the group?
03:10I'm usually on Ox because I'm driving.
03:12Okay.
03:13All right.
03:13I do like jukeboxes.
03:14Yeah.
03:15I'm a very, I'm like a vintage head.
03:17Okay.
03:17If it's an actual jukebox.
03:19It needs to be an actual one with actual CDs or a record player.
03:22Yeah.
03:23It's gotta be a real one.
03:24What are you choosing?
03:25What do you, it's the first thing you're choosing.
03:26If you go to a real jukebox, no touch tunes, no nothing like that.
03:30Usually they'll have like great stuff.
03:31Great balls of fire.
03:32Jerry Lee Lewis.
03:32That's a banger.
03:33Yeah.
03:34Johnny B.
03:34Good.
03:34Chuck Berry.
03:35Sure.
03:35He also married his cousin.
03:37Yes, he did.
03:38Yes.
03:3813 years old.
03:39Yes.
03:39He was almost the king of rock and roll and lost it because of that.
03:42Sure enough.
03:44I'm going with Prince.
03:46I think you can't go wrong with Prince.
03:47I think it hits in every, every single jukebox that it's on.
03:53So in real life though, this past year has gotta be crazy for you guys, right?
03:59Is there like something of the past year that you missed that you said, man, I hate that
04:05we had to do this band thing because I missed insert thing here, whether it was a show or
04:11an experience.
04:12Shaking Knees in Atlanta.
04:13I wanted to see that.
04:14Shaking Knees with Cage of the Elephant and it's one of my favorite bands.
04:18I wanted to see them.
04:18Yes, Blink was there too.
04:19I wanted to see that in, in our city, in our hometown and we couldn't make it because
04:23we were gone.
04:24I was sick about that.
04:25All right.
04:25I would say I generally just miss like if I'm not with my daughter, I generally bring
04:28her with me, but like if not then, but to be honest with you, I always just have
04:32to be where I was at.
04:33That's a, that's a really good one and I'm glad you brought it up.
04:36I'll say that.
04:37The Nimrod's premiere and the Travis Barker premiere.
04:40Okay.
04:41We were with Chris Massey doing a song with him.
04:44So me and Donald had to stay back and Percy and Zeeland held it down for us.
04:48But yeah.
04:49Yeah.
04:49A little FOMO there.
04:50You know?
04:51When, when you bring the daughter on the road now, right?
04:55Is she, is she hanging out on, on the regular?
04:57Is she serving drinks?
04:59What is she, what is she doing at this point?
05:01Because she's got, I mean, last time I saw you, she was a baby baby.
05:04Yeah, dude.
05:05She's two now.
05:05About to be two in like lesson week.
05:07And she's like, yeah, walking, talking.
05:10Yeah.
05:11It's crazy, bro.
05:11Singing our songs.
05:12Singing, bro.
05:13She would call my phone.
05:15She would call my phone.
05:18She called me yesterday.
05:20Really?
05:20Yeah.
05:20She just sees the picture.
05:22And he told me, he, like, he, she'd be like, Zeeland.
05:26Yeah.
05:27Press the button.
05:28Uh-huh.
05:28And she's just all in the camera.
05:30Uh-huh.
05:30Yeah.
05:30She called me.
05:31I was like, I was like, ah, I was like, what are you doing?
05:33And she was like, bye-bye, Zeeland.
05:35I was like, ah-ha.
05:38Is everybody sort of responsible for the kid?
05:41Do everybody get a moment where like, all right, you got half an hour.
05:45We got to go do something.
05:46I take pride in being the favorite uncle.
05:47Yeah.
05:48Yeah.
05:48Oh.
05:49They're great uncles.
05:50They're great uncles.
05:50You're already claiming favorite uncle.
05:52I'm claiming it.
05:53I'm claiming.
05:54I'm claiming.
05:54She does.
05:55She does.
05:55You guys have a problem with this?
05:58You guys have a problem with this?
05:59Nope.
05:59All right.
06:00So with the last year and change, not only does it come with, you know, getting bigger
06:07and bigger and bigger, you got to stay to your core.
06:10And to me, I think that the core, the reason why I love you guys so much is you lead
06:14with humor.
06:15You lead with, you know, making it fun first.
06:19Where was the time that you guys wrote a song when you're really early on where you're
06:23like, oh, that's the joke.
06:25That's the moment that this band is supposed to, that's what it's supposed to sound like.
06:30Was there a-
06:30It's Insider, right?
06:32Nah.
06:33Yeah.
06:33No.
06:34Okay.
06:34So that was what I really wanted to name this EP coming out.
06:38The Received of the College.
06:38I really wanted to call it like, well, like D-I-X-O-N and then Cider.
06:43Yeah.
06:43And like, yeah, the label was like, no.
06:46Yeah.
06:46But-
06:47Well, Blink did it.
06:48I mean, take off your pants and jacket.
06:50You know, there's just a little bit more clever.
06:52Yeah.
06:53Closeted.
06:54Not in that, not in that way.
06:55Yeah.
06:55But it was more safe, you know, in a way like that.
06:59Yeah.
06:59You know, if the kids seen it.
07:00Because like when you say take off your pants and jacket, it's like to a kid, okay, take
07:04off your pants and jacket.
07:05They don't, they're not, when you say Dixon Cider, you know what I'm saying?
07:08It's like, oh, okay.
07:09Well, there is a cidery in, I think it's Michigan called Dixon Cider.
07:17I love that.
07:17Wow.
07:18It's a literally Dixon Cider.
07:19I love that.
07:20Yeah.
07:20So maybe it was legal.
07:22Wow.
07:22Maybe that.
07:23That whole time we would have got copyright.
07:28That's crazy.
07:29Yeah.
07:29No, I would say like, I think for me personally, it was like, we'd had like this like, like,
07:36like collection of like songs, like Miss Lauren, Caitlin, Imani were a part of it.
07:41And I think that was like where I started to, I felt like it was like starting to like formulate.
07:45But I think Do Me Like That was probably the first time I was like, yeah, this is like.
07:50Nail in the coffin right there.
07:50Yeah.
07:50Yeah.
07:51You know, because, because I mean, if anybody else is making these jokes, it would just come
07:54out crass, you know, and you guys are not afraid to go there, but it comes across as
07:59charming and, and, you know, fun and lighthearted.
08:02And I can't really ever, you know, yeah, we all giggle at the same jokes, guys.
08:07Yeah.
08:08It's not that hard.
08:10So the thing that I, I would always want to know, you guys are obviously big pop punk
08:15fans.
08:16I mean, you're wearing Blink-182 on your shirt.
08:18Is there an influence that we would be surprised that you had that I wouldn't guess?
08:23I mean, you got outcast over there, right?
08:25So I, those I can get.
08:26Any artists?
08:27Yeah.
08:27Is there an artist that is inspiration that I would not have even pegged you for?
08:31Like inspiration or just like we listen to?
08:32Inspiration, yeah.
08:33For me, the Beach Boys, the Beatles are just a big inspiration for the band.
08:38Beach Boys, all right.
08:39The Ronettes, Frankie Lyman, and the Teenagers, the Channels, they were a group from out here
08:45in the 50s.
08:48Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Aretha Franklin.
08:53Are these coming from mom and dad, probably?
08:55Yeah.
08:55Yeah, I was raised by my great-grandparents, so that was like their music of their youth,
08:59yeah.
08:59How do the parents and the grandparents feel about the band?
09:02Are they coming out?
09:04Are they into it?
09:04They're so excited.
09:05Yeah.
09:05So proud of us.
09:06So proud, you know?
09:08They come to the shows?
09:09Yeah.
09:10Wasn't it I met your dad?
09:11Was it your dad that was at the show?
09:13There was a dad that was at the show a year and a half ago or so.
09:16I had to see you, man.
09:16Yeah, and the pride on their face was just beaming, you know?
09:21Yeah, it was like ear to ear.
09:24New York?
09:24It was in New York?
09:25Yeah.
09:25You know what?
09:26I had my family.
09:27I had my family.
09:28It was with games.
09:28What was it?
09:29It was your cousin, right?
09:30Oh, it was your cousin.
09:31Was it the games we played to her or the all-time low?
09:33Something like that.
09:33No, it was games we played.
09:34That's right.
09:35Your cousin does a little more like your dad.
09:35Okay, yeah.
09:36It was my aunt and her husband came out, Paul.
09:39Yeah.
09:40Like the way that they could –
09:41I had my family out there too.
09:42I had my cousins, sister, yeah.
09:44Yeah, because they knew you when you guys were doing – I mean, what?
09:49Working at the airport, gas station.
09:50It wasn't a gas station.
09:51Yeah, gas station, yeah.
09:52Yeah.
09:52I mean, what were they thinking when you were working at a gas station?
09:55What is he going to – is he stealing the snacks?
09:58What is he going to do?
10:00Free food at a gas station.
10:02Y'all be making some crazy shit at the gas station, you know what I mean?
10:06Make gang bangs and shit.
10:07Like what?
10:07Dude, I literally made a donut burger at the gas station.
10:10Oh, what?
10:11A donut burger.
10:12Okay, tell me.
10:12Yeah.
10:13What is it?
10:13So you take a patty, a burger patty, and you get two donuts.
10:19So we sold donuts on the middle of the floor.
10:22So it was like Krispy Kreme.
10:23The Krispy Kreme guy would like come in and restock.
10:26So I would take two donuts, burger, bacon, cheese, donut burger.
10:33What a healthy breakfast.
10:35I mean, that is a way to start the day.
10:37I was like posting it on his Snapchat story the first time he ate it.
10:41I mean, we are sitting inside of your artery right now, and I'm feeling tight.
10:45There have been so many instances of the garage pop punk thing happening right now, right?
10:50There's so many bands doing it well.
10:53You guys, you know, part of that thing.
10:55What do you think is the reason why you're hearing this sound affecting so many people the way that it
11:01is right now?
11:02I think because music has, and like for a lot, especially like people like my age, I feel like by
11:07the time like we had consciousness, a lot of the, you know, bands and like just live musicians and like
11:14live music in general was just kind of like, as far as like live recordings, I mean.
11:18And I think with how I computerize everything, like the perfection of everything, like, you know, pitch correction, quantization, you
11:26know, computerized instruments and everything.
11:28I think people are like just longing for like the humanism that was, you know, within a lot of those
11:34like, you know, records that have stood the test of time.
11:37Like Motown.
11:37I think there's a war on perfection right now.
11:39Yeah, especially with AI.
11:41There's a war, you know, and you're either team that or team garage.
11:47You know what I mean?
11:48So I feel like.
11:49There's nothing in between.
11:50It's just the old heads defending the AI.
11:52Like dog.
11:53Man, we don't play it for quick course.
11:54I mean, they're doing it now because, you know, business, everything, and that thing, and business.
11:59I also look at it like this way, right?
12:02When Pro Tools first came out, they was the same way.
12:05They was like, bro, what?
12:05I'm not using that.
12:06I'm not using that shit.
12:07Let me get my two real tapes.
12:08What do you mean?
12:08You're not cutting the tapes no more.
12:10That ain't no real.
12:11You know what I mean?
12:11So I understand that trying to keep up with the time, but also we got to keep up with the
12:15art.
12:15We can't lose that.
12:17We can't lose that.
12:17I feel like Pro Tools wasn't losing that.
12:19And now like playing with just amps, no click, and track.
12:22You're going to play with setless.
12:24Right.
12:24He just makes it up on the fucking fly most of the time.
12:27Yeah.
12:27And honestly, like just doing it that way is just a lost art.
12:31It feels more authentic.
12:33Yeah.
12:33You know, mistakes are good.
12:35We like the mistakes.
12:35I feel like setting a setless like all the time is hard because, you know, different
12:39vibes and stuff.
12:41Like, you know, sometimes like, okay, like, yeah, we should pick it up or like we should
12:44slow it down, whatever, you know?
12:45Man, guys, I couldn't tell you how proud I am of you.
12:49From the first time I saw it, it was just something specials here.
12:53Thank you, man.
12:54And you guys deserve everything you're having now and getting.
12:57What happens in the next two years?
12:58Where do you want it to go?
12:59Where do you want the sound to go?
13:00Where do you want the band to go?
13:01Man, I just want us to evolve.
13:03Like, I was listening to Strawberry Fields on the way here.
13:06Yeah.
13:06And like, just thinking about that, like how the Beatles like went from like, I want to
13:09hold your hand to that.
13:10Sure.
13:11No wonder we took a break out there on the patio.
13:14You know?
13:14You know?
13:15Strawberry Fields.
13:16Had to go to Strawberry Fields.
13:17But, you know, yeah, I definitely just want to evolve, I think.
13:23Like, we have a lot of different, you know, musical influences and stuff.
13:26And just experiment.
13:28You know what I mean?
13:29Like, make something new.
13:30Hell yeah.
13:30Guys, congratulations.
13:33Thank you, bro.
13:33So happy to see you.
13:34The Paradox.
13:35Beers with the band.
13:36Cheers.
13:36One more time.
13:37Oh, yeah.
13:38Cheers.
13:39Cheers.
13:40Snacks.
13:41Snacks.
13:42Snacks.
13:42Lava cakes.
13:44QC.
13:44This is The Paradox, and you're watching Disney Channel.
13:48I'm kidding.
13:50You're getting sued, bro.
13:52Yeah.
13:52Yeah.
13:52Yeah.