Tom May of The Menzingers joined the show for an epic conversation where we talked about a little bit of everything. We talked about previously being with Red Scare and how good of a person Toby is. We went into detail about The Menzingers getting flown out to California to meet with Epitaph and hearing about their big vision for the band. We obviously discussed the past year. Tom has become serious about cooking and what he puts into his body. Also, he has picked up a hobby in gardening where he grows oyster mushrooms and gourmet mushrooms. He also explained a funk he ran into with writing songs during the quarantine and snapping out of it by taking pressure off his writing.
Tom tells a story about being in Germany when they had their first coronavirus case and then The Menzingers playing their last show in Australia. The next day Australia began closing everything down and the band had to fly home. Tom talks about how everyone has a responsibility while on the road. Next, we got into what happened with the Robinhood app/GameStop and Tom gives us a little bit of financial knowledge. One of my favorite parts of the interview was when Tom talked about the band and how they are all best friends. The Menzingers still have the original lineup and they knew from the start that they were all in for the long haul. That led into Tom talking about growing up in Scranton, being in a band called Bob and the Sagets, and being friends with the members of Tigers Jaw. I also got his thoughts on New Jersey, specifically the New Brunswick scene, since Tom played there often during his early days as a musician.
Tom loves podcasts, too. He has his own called "Future Friday." Tom plans on putting out 52 episodes this year! He says that his passion for podcasts began during long car rides. It originally began with listening to audiobooks and then led into podcasts. He also edits the two podcasts for The Menzingers, which you can find on their Patreon.
We closed out the show talking about the band. Tom discusses the writing process and picking who does vocals with Greg. Tom explains how "From Exile" was a solution to a problem when touring was cancelled and they needed something to do. They decided to do something different this time -- the album was in acoustic form. A lot of the songs, at least to me, talk about leaving the past behind, so I asked Tom about that. "Hello Exile" came out before the pandemic, but lines up with a lot of what has happened over the past year. Two quick fun facts from the episode: Tom's sister gave him an old PC during quarantine and he started playing a game from his teenage years. Also, there's a folk musician with the same name as him... look it up! Give The Menzingers a listen/follow below:
Website: https://themenzingers.com
Bandcamp: https://themenzingers.bandcamp.com/album/from-exile
Instagram/Twitter: @themenzingers
Episode edited/mixed by Calvin McKay!
