NAILBAG: Year Zero & Peel It Back Reactions

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Can we stop me? [00:00:04] Speaker B: I'm not a. [00:00:07] Speaker A: Can we stop? [00:00:08] Speaker B: Come on, me. I'm not a. [00:00:12] Speaker A: Can we stop? Yeah, me. [00:00:15] Speaker B: I'm not me. Can we stop me? [00:00:21] Speaker C: I'm not. [00:00:22] Speaker B: I can swallow it down. Come on down. It's nailed. A song by song. Journey through the world of year zero. I'm Blake. [00:00:29] Speaker C: I'm Jessica. [00:00:30] Speaker B: Did I say it right that time? [00:00:31] Speaker C: I think so. [00:00:32] Speaker B: I think the last time I said step right up. [00:00:35] Speaker C: Oh, well. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Oh, well. Too late to change it now. This is not a song episode, though. Letter by letter, we're going through the world of year zero. That's what I should have said. [00:00:47] Speaker C: Ah, yeah. Well, fix it now. Fix it in post. Do it now. [00:00:50] Speaker B: Okay. We asked for people's letters and people wrote in not only about year zero, but also about the current Nine Inch Nails tour. Peel it back. Because, well, we were just gonna do a year zero letter episode, but how could we not get, like, tour reactions while a tour is literally going on as we record this? We can't not talk about it. [00:01:16] Speaker C: Can't not talk about it. [00:01:18] Speaker B: And we got some good ones. [00:01:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:01:19] Speaker B: Letters and voice memos. [00:01:20] Speaker C: Although people are gonna think this is crazy, but I have not listened to any of the full concert that are floating around. [00:01:27] Speaker B: Oh, I'm not. I'm not gonna listen to the entire concert. [00:01:30] Speaker C: No. I'll listen to, like little snippets if people post them, but I won't listen to the whole thing because in my opinion, there's no mystery anymore and I want to have some surprises. [00:01:41] Speaker B: I'm okay with spoiling these set lists for myself, but I'm not gonna spoil the sound of the whole thing. [00:01:47] Speaker C: Plus, it's really just the new arrangements. Like, I'm not gonna. [00:01:49] Speaker B: It's not gonna do it justice to hear someone's recording out in the crowd, you know? [00:01:57] Speaker C: Yeah. Not if you have some rude ass people around you or just talking. [00:02:03] Speaker B: We'll hear when we get there in August. Should we do year zero letters first or show reaction? Letters. [00:02:11] Speaker C: Let's do show reaction first, I think, and then we'll do year zero. Does that make sense to you? [00:02:15] Speaker B: Yeah, if you want. [00:02:17] Speaker C: Okay. [00:02:17] Speaker B: Should we go to Daniel first? [00:02:19] Speaker C: Yeah, let's do Daniel first. And I have it queued up right here. [00:02:22] Speaker B: Okay. So says, this is from Daniel. Thank you. My reaction. Let's see the London show. Oh, I see. Yeah. Where they played at the O2 Arena. I believe a lot of people we know were there. [00:02:37] Speaker D: So I went to the London show with my girlfriend last night and she really enjoyed It. She'd never seen Nine Snails before. [00:02:43] Speaker C: Humble brag. [00:02:44] Speaker D: And she wasn't really familiar with them as well. But yeah, she really enjoyed it and it was quite funny because she enjoyed it more because of the tech issues because Trent showed off his personality more interesting and spoke to the crowd and obviously he threw his guitar up in the air and the headstock broke when it landed and he like stamped on it as well. He was also throwing mics around, like he was apologetic at the end of the. At the gig as well and was like, sorry for the fuck ups. But he was quite funny, you know, he was very dry humored and showed his personality off a bit more. And there was. I can't remember what song it was, but there's a really cool moment where Trent was given a handheld mic without his effects and he was going up to like Robin and Robin was screaming into the mic. So I don't think any of the band's mics were working and I'd never seen them interact with each other, not on recent tours anyway. And that was really cool to see. To see Trent and Robin together, like screaming in the same mic. I thought that was sick. The other thing I was going to say was a lot of fans have been like, wondering why we haven't been getting any of the new Nine Inch Nails like Tron music. And I'm wondering if these Boys Noise remixes that we're hearing, like, are part of the album. I'm kind of hoping not. I'm hoping that it's new music, but. [00:04:12] Speaker B: Sorry to pause it. I think we would. Boys Noise would have been credited by now. [00:04:18] Speaker C: Like, I don't know. They keep things so like under wraps. [00:04:23] Speaker B: I think it. Yeah, it would be disappointing if. If it was just like because the giant NIN logo comes up. It would be disappointing to add a plus someone else at the end kind of a bait. [00:04:35] Speaker C: And I mean, there could just be some. [00:04:36] Speaker B: But maybe. [00:04:37] Speaker C: Maybe. [00:04:37] Speaker D: But maybe is making me think that the new Tron album will be remixes and new versions of 9 inch. Like existing 9 inch nails. [00:04:47] Speaker B: That may be true songs. [00:04:50] Speaker D: So hopefully not. Yeah, really enjoyed it, man. It was really cool. The visuals are incredible and the crowd is pretty nice. So, yeah, great vibes. [00:05:00] Speaker C: I think it's going to be like remixes and new arrangements that are done with Boys Noise, maybe or some. [00:05:08] Speaker B: Since they did that trailer that had a remixed. Something I can never have, I thought, yeah, okay, maybe it is that. I never thought it would be featuring someone else. That's the difference. [00:05:19] Speaker C: Although we don't know for sure. [00:05:21] Speaker B: The stuff they're doing seems to be cool. I've only heard a tiny bit of it, but it'd be kind of weird. We all. Look. We all just want a new fucking album of new songs. Please. Please. Okay. So good. Great. Voicemail. Thank you. And a lot to talk about. But do you like when musicians really show their personality up there? [00:05:44] Speaker C: I do, because I feel like with these big shows that everything is very choreographed, which you have to do because of lighting cues or the visuals you have or, you know. So I like. There is, like, a very limited set list. So when something goes wrong and they have to either, like, improvise or whatever, I think that does let that kind of facade fall a little bit. That is between the artist and the crowd. Because these big arena gigs are just right. Yeah. So timed and. [00:06:19] Speaker B: Yeah. I like when they talk to the crowd off the cuff. Yeah. In Trent's case, personality equals anger. Problem throwing shit around. [00:06:29] Speaker C: It's a tourist thing. You wouldn't understand. [00:06:34] Speaker B: Hate to be a piece of equipment that fails when Trent's around. [00:06:36] Speaker C: Yeah. So is that the show where Robin took over vocal duties on Reptile, or was that a different show with different. [00:06:43] Speaker B: Don't quote me on this, but I think that's what he was talking about. Because I do remember pictures of Trent and Robin singing into the same mic. Like, olden times. I was kind of shocked that there weren't just, like, backup mics ready to go. That seemed like, lack of preparedness to me. But I don't know how they do their thing. I know that Trent doesn't do wireless. He always has a wired mic, as far as I can recall. So it's a little bit different of a situation. But it really shouldn't be that hard to have backups ready to go. But then you gotta run cables out there. I don't know. What a pain in the ass. Glad it worked out in the end, man. [00:07:23] Speaker C: You'd think we'd have better ways of doing this by now. [00:07:26] Speaker B: Yeah. You'd think we'd have figured this out. Oh, well. [00:07:31] Speaker C: Oh, well. Do you want me to read Yasko's Yes. [00:07:35] Speaker B: And we hope we are saying your name right. [00:07:38] Speaker C: Yasko. Yasko. Look, I typed into Google how to pronounce, spelled this name and wrote German next to it. [00:07:47] Speaker B: Okay. Because this was the Cologne concert. That's Germany, right? [00:07:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Yes. [00:07:54] Speaker B: Hello? Nailed, guys. That's funny. It's Jasko from Germany. Proud listener of your podcast since the TDS episodes. Thank you. Inspired by the latest episode about the Dublin concert. I thought I'm going to write you about what I saw at the Cologne concert. A sort of field correspondent. We'd love to have more field correspondence. [00:08:15] Speaker C: Winky face emoji. Also, this gig does not pay. So I'm sorry. [00:08:22] Speaker B: Yeah, this is all volunteer. So where is everybody? I mean, where do I start? The Lenxus arena in Cologne. I don't know how you say that. Lanxess. Sorry, I'm dumb. In Cologne was maybe too big for Nin because according to the ticket website, there were still a lot of tickets available. And from what I saw, the arena wasn't sold out. Whole sections on the top floor were empty. I think Jess predicted this, right? A lot of people did. Sad. We want to see it filled. But they're not 21 pilots. [00:08:55] Speaker C: I just don't think of them as an arena band. I know that sounds stupid. [00:09:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Were they at one time? [00:09:03] Speaker C: I don't think they've ever been big enough to be a huge arena band. Think about it. So at their peak, which would probably be TDS to Fragile Era. Yeah, of course with the most like radio airplay. I mean not necessarily like any kind of creative peak or whatever, but with regards to videos and radio, they went from smaller venues to slightly to bigger venues, but they never did arenas until what the Fragile. And that did not sell out. [00:09:31] Speaker B: Right. [00:09:32] Speaker C: So I don't know. And I feel like probably I don't know because I didn't go to any of the Lights in the sky tour or anything. Were those outdoor arenas? [00:09:43] Speaker B: They might have been. [00:09:44] Speaker C: And they could have been smaller arenas too. [00:09:47] Speaker B: They can fill out. They can fill like every kind of. [00:09:50] Speaker C: Venue except for like 20,000 seated. Like a United Center. [00:09:56] Speaker B: They can fill amphitheaters, theaters, stadiums. Is a stadium different from an arena? No, not really. Is it? [00:10:04] Speaker C: Well, when I think of stadiums, I think of football stadiums and I think of Taylor Swift like in her eras tour. [00:10:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:10] Speaker C: So that's what I think of when I think of stadiums. So no, I don't think they could sell out stadiums. They can. [00:10:15] Speaker B: Obviously they. Obviously they're popular and can fill out big ass venues all day long. But maybe not like United Center. [00:10:22] Speaker C: I feel like if you're gonna want to sell out a huge arena tour, make the tour smaller, don't have as many dates. [00:10:29] Speaker B: But then that sucks for fans too. [00:10:30] Speaker C: It does. Yeah. But that's the only. I mean for. For them. I'm not trying to like degrade or be mean. I'm sorry. That's not what I'm trying to do. [00:10:38] Speaker B: But I'm sorry. We stopped in the middle of the letter. Anyway, boys noise. Very good choice. Expected to be a very bad techno act. I was proved wrong. Start of Nin. I liked the quiet. Or should I say still start? Unexpected for a heavy band. Okay, right where it belongs with last chorus of Somewhat Damaged at the end. Ruiner. First part acoustic, then the second part bangs hard. See that I don't think I've heard any of. And I want that to surprise me. Oh, well, if we go. If we hear it. [00:11:12] Speaker C: Yeah. If we don't, then I'll go back and listen. [00:11:14] Speaker B: I would love. I love Ruiner, so I would love to get that. The Fragile. I need to hear that at our show. I love the Fragile. [00:11:22] Speaker C: You know what I want to hear because, you know, spoiler alert for people who don't want to know about Setlist. Did they really do the Twin Peaks theme? [00:11:33] Speaker B: It said there was like a asterisk on Setlist FM that says they played a tape. [00:11:41] Speaker C: Oh, so it was just like an intro tape. Why did they even include that in a set list then? Don't do that. Because that makes me think. [00:11:47] Speaker B: I know. I don't know why Set List FM is including. [00:11:50] Speaker C: Because someone did that. I mean, it's all fan based, right? Fans upload the set list, so. [00:11:55] Speaker B: But it's like still on there. [00:11:57] Speaker C: Oh, well, anyway, sorry. [00:11:59] Speaker B: It makes it seem intentional. So maybe that was just how they wanted to walk on. Okay. The Fragile. Fuck. How beautiful was that? Trent, I need an acoustic album or a live CD of this tour. Yeah, how about still part two? And a lot of people are saying they want a live album. It's been a very, very long time. [00:12:21] Speaker C: Very, very, very long time. [00:12:24] Speaker B: Well, yeah, and if you include the DVD beside you in time 20 years. But that's not an album. According to Setlist FM, the Piggy remix was played. That's not true. Yeah, that's kind of weird. I think they might have removed that by now, but there. Yeah, there have been a lot of errors. If you look at Set list too early on there transition from the B stage to the main stage with instrumental part of eraser. Trent isn't blowing the mouthpiece. Trent is blowing the mouthpiece in the beginning. Hey, I saw a picture of that. Would love to hear that. See that? Ilan Rubin and Robin Fink on the screen. TDS era. Robin Fink. My first bisexual gay celebrity crush. Okay, fair. [00:13:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I thought he was hot too. [00:13:12] Speaker B: By the way, where is the Fink Files, Part two? Fuck. People keep asking this. [00:13:16] Speaker C: Okay, yeah, so I won't do the Fink Files Part 2 Until Robin comes back to the band. Because I think that makes just more. [00:13:23] Speaker B: Sense in the chronology. [00:13:24] Speaker C: In the chronology of. Yes. Of the nail. [00:13:27] Speaker B: So that would be what, in the Slip era? [00:13:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:30] Speaker B: Okay. Well, we'll be there soon. Okay. Then the next part of the set. Yasuko goes on. Wish March of the Pigs. Hot take. Maybe overplayed. It's played a ton. But I'm not gonna say overplayed because I want to hear it. It's one of my favorites. [00:13:48] Speaker C: I know. I love it. [00:13:49] Speaker B: I need it. I crave it. I think they didn't play it on our first night. Red Rocks Reptile copy of A Gave up was never a fan of this song, but this performance changed my opinion. Okay, cool. Must have been those red and blue lights. Yeah. A lot of this is very by the numbers and inset for that section. At least. It's been the way it goes. One banger after another. And goddamn Reptile is heavy. Yes, it is. Again, to the B stage with Boys Noise for Vessel Only and Came Back Haunted. I'm super excited for Vessel and Came Back Haunted and to a lesser Extent Only. I never thought I would be excited for Came Back Haunted, but now I am because it's a new version. [00:14:37] Speaker C: Light Came Back Haunted. [00:14:38] Speaker B: I think it's fine. [00:14:39] Speaker C: I like it a lot. [00:14:40] Speaker B: I think it's fine. I like copy of a better Trent hardcore electronic album. Win. I mean, maybe it's coming for Tron. You never know. Back to main stage. Somewhat damaged twice this evening. Was it? [00:14:58] Speaker C: Well, yeah. [00:14:59] Speaker B: That is wild. You get the little acoustic section of it up front. And then the real song. That's pretty cool. Heresy. Closer with the Only Time interpolation. Yeah. Which is the only way they do it now. [00:15:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:11] Speaker B: Apparently that's how we saw it in 2022. I'm afraid of Americans. Band introduction and a little speech about Bowie and Trent banging those tambourines. You knew that tambo had to come out less than again. Trent can't keep his hands off these tambourines. That's one of my favorite songs to see live. [00:15:30] Speaker C: Yeah. I love Less Than. [00:15:33] Speaker B: I just like the song Head Like a Hole. No instruments were hard, were harmed during the performance. It's a rare, a rarity. And finally hurt. This is not what Yasko wrote. But they were doing a double H for a few shows instead of a triple H, which I think is fine. Vary it a little bit. You don't have to play. Hannah feeds every single show. [00:15:56] Speaker C: Play down in it, please. Thank you. [00:15:59] Speaker B: Yeah. That was played rarely on 2022, right? Maybe only a few times that we didn't hear it. Merch. Good looking T shirt. Like the TDS theme. Sadly, nothing in my size. I'm a big boy. [00:16:12] Speaker C: All right, let's get some inclusive sizing here. [00:16:15] Speaker B: I mean, they might have been sold out. Maybe a bunch of big boys were ahead of them in line. Some vinyl CDs would have been nice. Or at least a tour program. Or I'm adding this. How about a poster? And who the hell needs airtag holders? [00:16:29] Speaker C: Okay, listen, I don't know. Some people have ADHD and just put their keys down in random places. [00:16:34] Speaker B: You need lots of air tags for everything you own. I want one just for the novelty of it. [00:16:40] Speaker C: Yeah, it's bonkers. [00:16:41] Speaker B: I don't remember how expensive it is, but if it's cheap, I'll get it for my first time with Nin. Okay, this is the reactions. Fucking awesome. Some people say the concert was too short. About 90 minutes. Yeah, that is kind of short, but I think it is perfect. Not too long, not too short. I think it was perfect the way it was done. Yeah, you've called this the eras, but if it was the length of eras, that's kind of too fucking long. [00:17:07] Speaker C: I would totally withstand a three hour nine Inch Nail show. But I don't know if the band themselves can do it. [00:17:12] Speaker B: They shouldn't be expected to do such a thing. They're older men. Liked the minimalistic approach of the stage setup. Is this the reason why the tour is called Pila Back? I think it probably is. And now my hot take. Uh oh. Why? Changing between two stages. Stay on the B stage. Just Trent, Atticus, Alessandro, Robin and or Boys Noise. That would be crazy as fuck. And play in smaller venues. Yeah, kind of like we were saying we want a theater club tour. Would be really hard to get tickets though. [00:17:44] Speaker C: Yeah, and you probably have to pay like a zillion dollars, so. [00:17:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Would you rather they stay on one stage? [00:17:52] Speaker C: You know, I really don't have a preference for that because I haven't seen it. [00:17:55] Speaker B: It's a weird gimmick to go back and forth, but I. And it seems really hard to pull off the way they're just walking through the crowd. But I do get why they're doing it. Can't wait for the Tron soundtrack. Still waiting for the Year zero. The Slip vinyl. [00:18:10] Speaker C: We are, we are. [00:18:12] Speaker B: Someone send us those for free. Where's Deviations Part two? Good fucking question. I would like that for like TDS or anything. Yo, Trent, okay, this is what the writer said. Sorry. Yo, Trent. Please make the downward spiral deviations to the upward twist. That'd be great. Just a little pose that no one can see. Inventor of the upward twist. Thanks for making this podcast. Thank you for listening. Well, we. We might as well answer this now because I'll forget to later. It says a few questions for the next nail bag. Do you guys already know how you're going to handle the ghosts? One through four episodes, I can tell you what I would like to do. [00:18:57] Speaker C: Well, read the rest of his. [00:18:59] Speaker B: Okay. Is it going to be one episode for ghost one, et cetera, like one episode per ghost, or like year zero, one episode for one song? Absolutely not. For a 32 song album or whatever it is. [00:19:10] Speaker C: We're probably never going to do the one song at a time thing again. [00:19:13] Speaker B: No, because it fucking sucks. I'm kidding. It's great. When all the halos are done, are you going to start with Null Seed and Sigil, or are those reserved for bonus episodes? [00:19:24] Speaker C: Okay, so what is. I know that you're planning Ghosts, that you've been thinking about it for a while. [00:19:30] Speaker B: I'm going to spearhead Ghosts and I can do the slip as well if you want. But Ghosts, I would just like to do four parts. 1 per. [00:19:38] Speaker C: 1 per. [00:19:39] Speaker B: 1 per Roman numeral 1 through 4. Pretty simple, really. It's not going to be all that involved because we're just going to listen to instrumentals and give our reactions. We'll talk about some of the making of. I'm sure. But four episodes, I think that's all we need. [00:19:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree. [00:19:56] Speaker B: Okay. [00:19:57] Speaker C: I concur with that. Yes. [00:19:58] Speaker B: The slip, I'd like to keep short. That's my opinion for now. [00:20:02] Speaker C: I mean, in previous episodes, we would just do the songs that were on each side of the vinyl. Right. That's how we split it up. [00:20:10] Speaker B: We might go. [00:20:11] Speaker C: Yeah, we might go back to something like that for the Slip, but it just depends. [00:20:14] Speaker B: I actually always loved the Slip, so I'm not trying to give it short shrift, but we may go back to our old way of doing things, like Jess just said, but we're getting way ahead of ourselves. It's too soon to decide that. Null Seeds and Sigils. Those could definitely be part of the bonus episodes. The bonus feed. I think those should go in there. [00:20:39] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree. [00:20:40] Speaker B: Whether we will cover every single one of those on this podcast, I don't know. What do you think? [00:20:49] Speaker C: Not 100. [00:20:50] Speaker B: We're not sure. So that's not a certainty yet. [00:20:53] Speaker C: But yeah, most likely bonus episodes for those. [00:20:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks so much for writing that. Very nice email, Yasuko, and for your tour reactions. [00:21:07] Speaker C: Okay, so we have another tour reaction. [00:21:11] Speaker B: Our third and final Peel It Back react. [00:21:13] Speaker C: Do you mean to go ahead and start playing it? [00:21:15] Speaker B: Yes. [00:21:16] Speaker C: Do you want to introduce it? [00:21:17] Speaker B: This is from. Is it Lara or Laura? [00:21:20] Speaker C: I think it's Lara. [00:21:21] Speaker B: Lara from Germany. Hello, Blake and Jessica. Here is my reaction to my first Nine Inch Nails concert. Oh, it was her first one, so this is exciting. [00:21:30] Speaker A: Hello, Jessica. Hello, Blake. Hello, fellow listeners. Lara here. And as I promised, I sent you a little reaction after I saw Nine Inch Nails for the first time. That was yesterday in Cologne and I'm still hungover from it because I caught a nasty sunburn because of the weather and I have white ass skin, so I now look like Mr. Krabs. But it was worth it. And obviously emotionally it was extremely draining and it was also really intense. So, yeah, that still makes me feel really empty in the moment. I can say that it was for me a surprise in the beginning that they booked that arena because that arena is 20,000 people capacity, and if they sold out, it would have been the biggest show they would have ever played in Germany. They didn't sold out completely. It was around 16,000 people, as I read. But man, the crowd was so loud and so intense, they made up for the 4,000 people that were too stupid to not buy tickets. Before I come to Nine Inch Nails itself, I want to say something about Boys Noise, because I really liked what he did. It was building tension all the way. I couldn't see him, but it was really great set and I think most of the people were digging it. They were dancing around, you know, at least in the front part of the A stage or the main stage, however you want to call it. And most of the people didn't even know he was German, which kind of was a missed opportunity. But they kind of asked around when he was playing a German song called Paul Is Tod, which is a kind of a German punk, post punk song, I think, from the 80s. Great song. But, yeah, then people understood that he's actually German. And so I have to say I really appreciated the him as an opener. It was really cool. Even though I also say he played for like a little bit over an hour. And at the end it felt a little bit long. So I think it would have been better if he would have had a bit of a shorter set, because I think that would have picked the intensity a little bit better than such a Huge set. [00:23:47] Speaker B: German, Iraqi. German. German, Iraqi. [00:23:51] Speaker C: Interesting. [00:23:52] Speaker B: Yes. Sorry to be pedantic about it. I had to look it up. [00:23:56] Speaker C: Try living with this man. [00:23:58] Speaker B: Boy. [00:24:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Where should I start? When boys noise was finished and then the curtain came down, it was loud and then completely silent, which was really cool and intense. You could have. You would have been able to hear. A piece of paper fell to the floor. You know, it was really, really quiet. And I have to say, I don't know if it comes across at the footage that will float around, but when Trent was seeing the Fragile, everybody was singing along, you know, and it was so cool standing there and hearing the. The arena sing along to such an intense, emotionally intense song. That was my highlight of the acoustic set, if you want to say. And then. Which I thought was really hilarious. And I didn't thought that, you know, I thought when I saw clips of the transition to the age stage with Erase, I thought it was like they were playing it somehow, and then Elan and Robin would join in. I actually didn't thought that Trent was there playing the mouthpiece of the saxophone. And when I saw that, I was blown away that he's actually standing there on the B stage playing the mouthpiece of the saxophone. [00:25:27] Speaker C: I just want to interject here and say I'm very disappointed that it's not a McDonald's strawberry. Just gonna say that as we thought. [00:25:34] Speaker B: It was at first. [00:25:37] Speaker C: Do you remember the straws from when you were a kid, though, and how they were striped? Yeah, they were different anymore. I don't know. I never go to McDonald's. [00:25:45] Speaker B: I think now they're clear, but striped. [00:25:48] Speaker A: The intro, that was really cool, actually. And when Elan then joined in with the drums, the bass was so extremely heavy. I was standing in the second row and I could feel it. And my friend who was with me and had a seating ticket, he said you could feel it in the seats. It was so intense, but I loved it. The crowd was really wild. There was a lot of moshing going on. I have to say I had to fight most of the time to not be totally demolished. And it was actually really cool. But therefore I couldn't take a lot of pictures. I took three pictures and just one picture is somehow okay. So sorry for that. That there's not much outcome out of my side. Luckily, the security handed out water from time to time because it was extremely humid and hot in the arena. And I think it prevented from people collapsing, actually. [00:26:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Damn. [00:26:50] Speaker C: That would never happen in America. [00:26:52] Speaker B: No. They'd be like, fuck you. You're on your own. [00:26:54] Speaker C: $10 a bottle. [00:26:55] Speaker B: Although usually when I'm in arenas, they're cold, so kind of surprised. It's hot in there. AC problems. [00:27:02] Speaker A: Also, there were quite a lot of crowd surfers. I think there were like six or seven people doing the set that were picked out of the audience. So I think it was a really intense crowd who really seemed to enjoy it. But also it's been a long, long time since nine HNAs played an arena show in Germany. I think the last time was in 2009. Yeah. Then I have to say the techno part, as I call it, the middle section with Boys Noise. I loved it when I heard it on footage, but live, it's unbelievable. I love it. I love it so much. And I'm totally not an electronic person in a bigger sense and like the techno kind of world, but that was amazing. The sound was great, the visuals were great, and it was just really hyping. Even though I understand when people say it feels like in that moment there is a lack of energy in the crowd. But I guess it's more like because, you know, it's not something you can mosh to. So the intensity is different. You feel the intensity in the crowd, but I think it doesn't translate that well in footage. [00:28:08] Speaker B: I get that. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Then I have to say my personal highlight was Less Than. Of course, I hope they would play the Perfect Drug, but Less Than was really cool. I always loved that song. And obviously seeing Trent playing with the tambourine is always a highlight. And man, he's. He's shaking. Not only the tambourine, but also his old ass butt around a lot. So it was quite fun. And what I noticed actually was he was smiling so much. I think that a. Because there were no technical difficulties up to that point, and there weren't the rest of the night. He was just happy. But also I think he just really enjoys himself and the band on this tour because he was smiling constantly. Besides maybe playing Hurt, that that was. It's not. Not such a smiley song. But other than that, he looked really happy and really relaxed, as that goes for the rest of the band. It was really interesting for me. I was focusing from time to time on Robin, and he was totally in a zone. You know, he had his eyes closed like 95% of the show, and he was just wandering around on stage and just really being in the zone and wobbling around, I called it, because he was just whipping from one side to the other. But, yeah, he seemed to be really in a zone and was quite Cool to see. Couldn't see Atticus that well because on that stage side there was a quite group of quite a tall people. So I couldn't see Atticus that much. Saw Alessandro and when, when Trent introduced the band and everybody was really hyped up and Alessandro came, I was the loudest because I quite have a special place in my heart for Alessandro because I love his instrumental music so much and I was showing him the heart with my hands. I was screaming like, yes, Alessandro. And he looked at me and I was somewhere in between of being proud and embarrassed. But I think that is normal. Yeah, I mean, I just can say I'm, I am, I was and I will be for the rest of my life. Blown away. I think I'm not quite able to even explain in words right now how I feel because this is such an important band to me. And especially with me having a ticket for 2018 but not being able to go because of anxiety. It felt so good to finally be able to see them. And yesterday I said to my friend jokingly, I could just die in this train right now. I would die in happiness. And that's how I feel right now. Last thing, I took a friend with me because I had a seated ticket first before I got standing option. I gave him the ticket and he had no clue who Nine Inch Nails is. He never heard of Nine Inch Nails before and he didn't listen to anything beforehand. So he just took the ticket and saw the show and we met afterwards and I asked him how he thought the show was and I wanted to record it, but I totally forgot. Would have been cool to actually hear his reaction. But he said the moment that Trent started singing acoustically he got goosebumps. And when Eraser started, he was totally in it and he said he really, really enjoyed the show. He was really blown away and. And yeah, I think I made someone a Naish Nails fan, which is great, I guess, and nice for everybody who will attend the next shows. You are in for a treat because the band seems to enjoy what they're doing so much, especially Trent, he smiles so much. That's just that what stands out for me from the last show. And yeah, just enjoy it. I'm so sorry for this long message. Cut it short if you need to. And yeah, for all people attending, have fun and just relax. And I know it's hard to not have the urge to take a lot of pictures, but there's so much stuff floating around. Let other people do the work for you and just, just enjoy the show because who knows how long we will have the chance to see them live. So, greetings. I wish you all the best and can't wait for the next episodes. Love you. [00:32:40] Speaker B: Love you too. Thank you, Lara. What? Oh, just blew a kiss. Yeah, excellent. Great reaction. Long is good. Gives us more to think about. I forgot about a very brief one from Peter. It says patreon Pete here, longtime listener, etc. I may not be the first to tell you, but just saw NIN in Manchester and they did. That's what I get. Second song in. This was back when that was big news. You couldn't make it up. True. Genuinely love the podcast. Been a NIN fan since 94, but have learned loads from the pod. Peel It Back was the best NIN show I've ever seen. You're in for a treat, Pete. Thank you very much, Pete. Can't wait. [00:33:31] Speaker C: Okay, so I have an update of a couple things. One is our friend Andy. I hope he doesn't get mad that I read this, but too bad. [00:33:40] Speaker B: No, he didn't give permission. [00:33:42] Speaker C: It's not like there's anything bad. [00:33:44] Speaker B: No, I'm just. I don't care. Read away. We know the guy. Who cares. [00:33:48] Speaker C: Well, first my morning started off with him sending me a picture of himself in front of the Hacienda. [00:33:55] Speaker B: That's where they should have played. Oh, wait, that's not a venue anymore. [00:33:58] Speaker C: It's not a venue anymore. No, no, no. And it would be probably pretty small. Tiny, comparatively. Yeah, it's apartments now, I believe. Or flats. [00:34:10] Speaker B: Boo. [00:34:11] Speaker C: Okay, so he sent me pictures of the venue and then where he was positioned, I think it was a newer arena that they were at. So the first thing that he sent me, really, that is show related, he said there was no pre show music. And then this song just started absolutely blasting. And it's. I don't even know. It's our friends Electric Chris. Baja remix. He had his. He sent me a picture of like his. His Apple watch because I guess he didn't know what it was. [00:34:44] Speaker B: So the Gary Newman song. I'm not familiar with the remix though. [00:34:47] Speaker C: Mm. Mm. Then he said, incredible stagecraft, very cool set list, truly terrible crowd, so much talking. [00:34:54] Speaker B: Oh, well, you know, I heard that about these Manchester folks. Not to disparage the whole city, but I heard that they were rowdy. [00:35:04] Speaker C: And then he said it wasn't safe to have my phone out up there because he was gonna send me pictures and stuff. Cause he was on the floor. But he did send me a nice picture of Trent. Very good picture. [00:35:14] Speaker B: Was he Close. [00:35:15] Speaker C: He's pretty close. [00:35:16] Speaker B: Yeah, that picture looks close. That's a good shot. [00:35:19] Speaker C: And he said the lads around me yelled at each other the entire electronic set on the B stage. And due to my diminutive stature, I couldn't see it. So I didn't really get to enjoy that section. It was infuriating. And he said, he said the show fucking ruled. I'm just complaining. [00:35:37] Speaker B: Hey, that's. That's being old. You can go to the best show on earth and you're still gonna find shit to complain about. [00:35:43] Speaker C: Meh. And then he sent me a screenshot of the set list and he said, I really dispute the label acoustic here. There was not a single acoustic instrument on the B stage. Yeah, to us it's acoustic. Okay. [00:36:00] Speaker B: Acoustic spiritually. But don't expect any acoustic guitars or pianos. [00:36:06] Speaker C: Yeah. Then he sent an even closer screenshot of Just Came Back Haunted with Boys Noise. And he said, I love this song. And the talking was so bad that I didn't realize they were playing it. [00:36:18] Speaker B: Damn. I heard, Yeah, I heard similar stories. And like, I get you should be screaming, whooping, singing, why the fuck are you talking? Is it related? [00:36:29] Speaker C: I mean, it's one thing to just lean over to your friend and say 9 inches. [00:36:35] Speaker B: That's what I get. That's the song. But they just haven't. Maybe it's like non fans who just wandered in by the thousands, who just wanders in and gets four seats just having unrelated conversations. [00:36:47] Speaker C: I think people are just assholes. That's what I think. The only other thing I wanted to say before we move on to some of the year 0 male is I forgot to ask Viv, who was our first correspondent, a very important question. [00:37:03] Speaker B: Viv on the street. [00:37:05] Speaker C: And I said that I forgot to ask about maybe the most important thing. And that was what was your favorite part of the show? And she said I'd have to say it was the opening, the middle stage with Trent Solo on the piano and right where it belongs. I love the quiet times. [00:37:23] Speaker B: That's nice. [00:37:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I do too. [00:37:25] Speaker B: Had to get that wrap up from her because we forgot. [00:37:28] Speaker C: Yeah, it was rude of me not to ask and I'm sorry. So I think that's all I have before we move on to Year zero. [00:37:35] Speaker B: And if you want to be another correspondent, by the way, or write us a letter about anything, nailedpodmail.com Let us make you a volunteer on the ground tour correspondent. Do you want to take a break and then do the Year Zero letters? [00:37:53] Speaker C: Yeah, but yeah, it's got to Be. Be quick, though. [00:37:55] Speaker B: All right, I'm gonna pee. Be right back. Okay, what's the first up on Year Zero letters? [00:38:13] Speaker C: Yeah, so Year zero letters. The first one is from John. I'm not gonna use the last name, but we never do. John D. Okay. John D. So he sent us a picture of. [00:38:25] Speaker B: And this was months ago, by the way. Sorry, we're just now getting around to it. [00:38:29] Speaker C: Yeah, but we saved it. [00:38:30] Speaker B: So we save everything. [00:38:32] Speaker C: Yeah. So he sent an image of a Year Zero sampler. It's really cool, but it has the art. Is Resistance Flag as the COVID It literally just looks like. [00:38:45] Speaker B: Looks like a bootleg. It's a cdr. [00:38:47] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a CDR is what it looks like. And he sent us a little bit of information about it and said. Wish I thought of this sooner. I have a Year Zero sampler promo CD that includes four tracks, and it includes survivalism, capital G, the Good Soldier and Vessel. And then John says, I've always wondered if there were plans to release the Good Soldier and Vessel as singles. I also thought it was odd that it skipped the beginning of the end. So it isn't just the first few tracks. Anyway, I love the art. Is Resistance Flag. And then followed up, and he said, they are fairly rare, but one pops up every now and then. And it's cool that the original recipient's name is printed on the disc. Supposedly it is encoded in the files to identify leaks. So if you got one of these, your name is on it. [00:39:40] Speaker B: Yeah, they do. And they also do that with, like. [00:39:41] Speaker C: Movie screeners for reviewers. [00:39:44] Speaker B: They burn your name into it. So if you put it out there. [00:39:49] Speaker C: Who is this person? I want to know. [00:39:51] Speaker B: It says. It says John. I may have to bleep that. I don't know. [00:39:56] Speaker C: We'll say John B. [00:39:57] Speaker B: Well, John B broke the rules and sold it on ebay. And it's a different John from the one writing the letter, presumably. [00:40:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:08] Speaker B: But I love that it has capital G. The Good Soldier and Vessel. Those are my big three. Those are my top three. All right there. But, yeah, they should be singles, so thank you for sending that in. I'd never actually seen one. [00:40:22] Speaker C: No, me either. That was cool. Do you want to do the next one? [00:40:25] Speaker B: Yep. Is it Armand Year Zero reminiscing? Oh, Armand's also entering the remix showcase. That's another episode. But if you should do a Year Zero remix and send it into us, we're going to play them on a episode behind the Paywall. Anyway, greetings. This is Armand, AKA Doku from Houston Texas and I'm so thrilled that y' all are finally covering Year Zero, which may be one of my all time favorite NIN albums. Been listening since y' all covered Broken and it's nice to see y' all saying y' all a lot. [00:40:57] Speaker C: It's a Texas thing. [00:40:58] Speaker B: Blake all right, Houston. Nice to see y' all good soldier through the Ninhalos. It's kind of hard to read. This podcast has helped me get through some pretty hellish days at work, so I humbly thank you folks for your service. Thank you. I know I need my pet podcasts to stay sane throughout the day, so I get it. Now for some reminiscing. Nine Inch Nails has been a constant in my life since I was plopped out into the world in 1998. [00:41:28] Speaker C: Gross walls. I love that visual that I have. [00:41:31] Speaker B: Okay, anyway, my dad is a huge fan and would play an infrequently around the house or in the car, so of course it rubbed off on me and I became a NIN fan at such a young age. I can perfectly remember the first time I heard Year zero. I was nine years old and my dad actually got me out of school early the day it came out. Nine is crazy young to to get into NIN in my opinion, but cool. [00:41:52] Speaker C: When I was nine I was listening to the Aladdin soundtrack on my top bunk and reading babysitting club books. I was not cool. [00:41:59] Speaker B: For me it was ninja rap. He picked me up and we immediately went to the nearest target to buy it. Now that's a dedicated fan right there. Once we did, we spent the rest of the day riding around in the car and blasting it at full volume. The two of us were amazed and blown away by the sound and we were in awe of the noisiness and glitchiness of the record. We'd never heard anything quite like it before and we were hooked immediately. We must have played the album four or five times in a row that day. I can vividly remember how hot the CD was when I took it out of the car player and was extremely confused at how it changed its color. That of course led me down the rabbit hole of the arg, which spooked the hell out of me at such an early age. Fucking nine he's going Getting into the arg. [00:42:42] Speaker C: What the hell? [00:42:43] Speaker B: That's wild stuff right there. Good for you dude. [00:42:48] Speaker C: In 2007 I probably couldn't even tell you what an ARG was. [00:42:52] Speaker B: No. [00:42:55] Speaker C: This nine year old is fucking way cooler than I will ever be. [00:42:58] Speaker B: I could. I Was in my early 20s, though, and I was following the arc. Okay. This album also basically kickstarted my music making journey. I soon discovered the remix NIN site after hearing the album and immediately downloaded all the multitracks and dragged them into GarageBand, which was my first time ever using a DAW. That's digital audio Workstation. Jess. [00:43:19] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:43:20] Speaker B: So you have Trent Reznor to blame for all the weirdo music I've put out over these last couple of years. Also, likewise for me. I probably make music because I became addicted to his music in formative years. Anyway, anyways, this album means a lot to me, and seeing y' all do this remix showcase excited the hell out of me. Getting to do a YZ remix brought me back to being a kid again. Thank y' all so much for that. It was really fun. Y' all are the best. Thank you for everything you've done. My heart goes out to y' all during this tough time. Rip to the one and only Oscar. His sassy meows will be forever missed. Thank you very much, Armand. Yes, he will be missed, and it's a bummer to not have them on the show anymore. Not to get everyone down, but thank you very much for the memory lane. [00:44:11] Speaker C: Yes. Thank you. Now we have one from our friend. Our friend Laura. And Laura is going to be our shelter. She doesn't know that yet, but when everything goes to hell up here, we're just going to be running up to Canada. [00:44:25] Speaker B: Yep. I hope you like harboring illegal aliens, Laura. You're about to get to. [00:44:34] Speaker C: Okay. Hi, Blake and Jess. Year Zero was the album that really got me into NIN. I was 14 when it was released in 2007, and I bought it alongside TDS, which is wild to think about because they are such different albums. [00:44:48] Speaker B: Yes, they are. [00:44:49] Speaker C: I like tds, but I had an easier time getting into yz. I can see that. Yz, I think, is way poppier. [00:44:56] Speaker B: Yeah, but so noisy and strange. [00:45:00] Speaker C: I don't have a clear timeline of when I first started listening to nin. I know I was watching much music, which is the Canadian equivalent of mtv, a lot during those years. And that's how NIN got on my radar. I'm pretty sure I was already paying attention in late 2006, so I'm thinking it was the Closer video that got my attention. I definitely remember Survivalism being released. I was listening to metal at the time. Favorite band immediately prior to NIN was Slipknot. So I actually don't know what drew me to the extremely Electronic music. I think it might be because there's some harshness to it that resonated with me. I had a CD player, clock radio, and I woke up to YZ a lot. Imagine being jolted awake by hyper power every morning. [00:45:44] Speaker B: Yeah, crazy. [00:45:45] Speaker C: I remember discovering the heat sensitivity on the disc. That was cool. [00:45:49] Speaker B: There we go. [00:45:51] Speaker C: Anyway, my thesis statement is Year Zero is very special. It's maybe not my favorite album musically. I have to give that one to the fragile. [00:45:58] Speaker B: Hell, yeah. [00:45:59] Speaker C: But it's definitely the most meaningful to me. I also saw Nin for the first time on the Lights in the sky tour in July 2008, which was incredible. Trent played a glockenspiel. [00:46:10] Speaker B: Ooh, a good soldier, I bet. [00:46:12] Speaker C: I snuck a digital camera into the show Bad Girl and took some shitty pictures. A few attached for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for the pod. Oh, by the way, speaking of digital cameras, we're packing and cleaning and I found my old Nikon. Cool pics. [00:46:28] Speaker B: Yeah, this is crazy timing. [00:46:30] Speaker C: Yeah. And I plugged it in and charged it and it still works. And I pulled it up and. My God, the indie sleaziest pictures you've ever seen in your life. Insane. [00:46:40] Speaker B: Yeah, you can see me with hair. Oscar, when he was really young. [00:46:44] Speaker C: I was rocking some, like, light blue Wayfarers a lot. Oh, I think they were imitation Wayfarers. [00:46:49] Speaker B: This is an interesting blast from the past, but I like your pictures, Laura. I hope you're cool with me uploading them to the nailed socials, because it's interesting to see these digital camera pics from that era. I love the grain on this camera. Definitely not like an iPhone. So, anyway, thank you very much as always, Laura, and get that pullout couch ready. We're coming. Okay, our last one is a letter from someone called Judson Augram. A year zero reference, also also known as Parapin Lab Escaped Gibbon. I started calling them God Gibbon. And they also put God given in the subject. And this is a whole long thing. So we'll see how this goes. It's going to be hard to translate. [00:47:52] Speaker C: And some of it also is asking questions about stuff we haven't really gotten into yet. So we might not have very good answers for those, but. Or we might skip over them until later. [00:48:04] Speaker B: Okay. It starts with a warning. Some say it was a warning. The following message originated from outside the Solutions Backwards Initiative Secure Intranet and has a high temporal instability index, suggesting a timeline fluctuation level 3. Clearance required for further reading. So basically, this email came from the future. [00:48:27] Speaker C: Mm. [00:48:29] Speaker B: Hello, my friends. I Hope this message finds you well. Here are my notes on the materials from our captured comrade. Classified name redacted. I hope they can help to offer some additional insight into what he uncovered. And it says Personal Headcanon's beliefs about YZ Unofficial unverified Some are so far fetched and couldn't possibly ever be intentional. Some extremely tenuous connections at best, but still interesting to me if even just as ways to further analyze the themes and lyrics. Judson takes this shit seriously as you'll see. [00:49:04] Speaker C: Number one yeah so one Year Zero and the Slip Over Time I've begun thinking that the Slip could be another protest album in the world of Year Zero but heard in real time versus being sent back in time. Lack of distortion and glitching as seen on Year Zero. And it touches on a lot of the themes that are similar. Yeah, a lot. I think a lot of people have this kind of theory too. I'm gonna read through some of these. Subjugation being treated like property by those in charge and being killed off A million letting you in Head down Feeling very extreme things or the lack of any feeling due to the circumstances Feeling like things are completely surreal and unreal and feeling like you become something else again. A million Discipline Head down and demon seat pollution Letting you greed by those in charge Letting you running out of the will to fight back and possibly giving in Discipline destroying things and fighting back Demon seed People with bad motives whispering to you the greater good to Lights in the sky Looking back at your past actions and realizing that you acted with hubris and are now going to pay the price. Lights in the sky Things in the sky those things arriving and having it be associated with a moment of introspection and regret. Lights in the sky Staying with someone you care about until the end Lights in the Sky Both albums also contain a very similar slow and quiet song with references to the sky and things in the sky that sound very familiar. They don't refer to the Presence explicitly, so maybe it's told from the perspective of someone who couldn't see the presence but knew there was at least something going on. Or the lights are bombs and the person speaking was instead a victim to one of many conflicts in that story. Also, perhaps this album is told from the perspective of someone with more to lose and that's why it's less direct in a lot of its commentary and unwilling to directly address the Presence for fear of being sent to Judson Ogram. Okay, that's a lot. [00:50:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I think there is a connection between the albums as we'll see in the artwork at the very least. But we'd be getting ahead of ourselves. We'll get there, right? We'll get to that. To be continued. [00:51:10] Speaker C: And also, these are some themes that I think that Trent has been addressing throughout his entire career. Subjugation, greed. [00:51:18] Speaker B: A lot of this is just Trent being Trent. [00:51:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:20] Speaker B: But no, I think there is something there. [00:51:22] Speaker C: Okay, you're next. [00:51:23] Speaker B: The next comparison is Year Zero and Ghosts one through four. As I've listened to more of Ghosts, I've started to imagine it as God sorting through the wreckage after it by way of the Presence or wiped the earth clean as threatened in the warning. It's reliving the lives of everyone to learn what went wrong and why. I never thought about searching for deeper meaning in Ghosts, but maybe I should have been. Okay, I'll go to the next one. Year Zero and the downward spiral. The fragile and pretty hate machine. Maybe TDS and the Fragile are post cataclysm dystopian themes. Religion being fake and hollow is referenced a lot. Mourning and loss, desperation, trauma, More references to God and corruption and societal pressure. God reaching down in the wretched. And perhaps PHM is someone renouncing their religion in the lead up to YZ once they see what it's being weaponized into. Lots of very critical lyrics toward religion and being let down by it, along with reference to greed and corruption. Fair points. [00:52:29] Speaker C: Well, I think that saying PHM is part of Year zero is kind of a stretch. [00:52:33] Speaker B: Yes. [00:52:34] Speaker C: As they said before, because I don't think that this was planned that far in advance at all. I just think that there are themes that Trent explores over and over again in his music, like most artists do. So you can easily make that connection. Or, you know, it's just that thing of when you're looking for ways to connect things, you'll find them. And you see that with like, QAnon and conspiracy theories in general. [00:52:55] Speaker B: Not calling you QAnon. [00:52:57] Speaker C: Oh, no, no, sorry. That's not at all what I'm saying. [00:52:59] Speaker B: She's just a really big fan, and so it's understandable we all, you know, we all go down these rabbit holes. [00:53:05] Speaker C: Questions. Do you want me to read the first one? [00:53:06] Speaker B: Sure. [00:53:07] Speaker C: Okay. Do you think the Presence is God reaching down? I'm going to read the rest of this question and then we'll talk about it. I've heard a lot of speculation that it's actually aliens, but personally, this kind of cheapens and ruins the YZ concept for me and the significance and creepiness of sense it also makes it feel like yet another faction to be suspicious of in the story. And that would just be way too many if you're asking me. Too many factions just exerting their will over everyone else versus divine retribution for what we've done from a completely separate place being that is Omnipotent. [00:53:42] Speaker B: Go ahead. [00:53:42] Speaker C: Sorry. I was thinking about the Friends joke with Joey. Every time I see omnipotent, I think of that. [00:53:47] Speaker B: I don't know that joke. [00:53:48] Speaker C: Well, I feel sad for you, Joey. [00:53:51] Speaker B: Omnipotent. [00:53:54] Speaker A: You are. [00:53:56] Speaker C: Which is part of why that aspect of YZ is so impactful and scary and emotional to me. Parts where there are a reference to all of our eyes and it referring to itself as we are. Definitely things that make the alien angle look possible, but I interpret this as maybe many destroying angels slash angels of punishment slash messengers of death etc and there's a link to the destroying angel Wikipedia from the Bible being sent to take us out and speaking to us or possibly God is really a multitude of otherworldly and divine beings all thinking as one. Which to me is an interesting idea and kind of ups the creepiness factor of the idea of a higher power. [00:54:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:36] Speaker C: Do you think the Presence is God reaching down? [00:54:38] Speaker B: I. I maybe think of it as somewhere between God and aliens. I don't like either of those as an absolute, but I like something maybe more ambiguous between the two. [00:54:48] Speaker C: Do you think it's a mass delusion because of all the drugs and things in this world that are going on? [00:54:53] Speaker B: Possibly. But they also hinted at you don't need drugs to see it and a bunch of people saw it. Yeah, maybe some type of alien or extra dimensional presence that is so powerful to us it just seems godlike, so it might as well be a God like being. But yeah, I agree the creepiness stays intact if you keep it more mysterious. So I do like that. [00:55:26] Speaker C: That's true. [00:55:26] Speaker B: I never thought it was a reference to the song the Wretched. A lot of people say that, but that just never. I just never assumed that even though they're similar, the lyrics seem to describe it. [00:55:38] Speaker C: Yeah, the lyrics basically describe what the Presence is doing. [00:55:42] Speaker B: I don't know that there's a major connection there intentionally at least. [00:55:48] Speaker C: There's a question about add violence. Let's put a pin in that for now. So we'll come back to that later. [00:55:54] Speaker B: There's going to be more alternate reality game later on. [00:55:59] Speaker C: Okay. What's your favorite aspect of the story and vibe of Year Zero? I think it's people grappling with the choices they've made and how we've got to what. How we've got to where we are, I guess. Does that make sense? [00:56:18] Speaker B: Yeah, like, oh, no, not the consequences of my action. Well, well, well. [00:56:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's cool. I don't know. I like all the. The drug stuff. [00:56:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:31] Speaker C: And not because I'm a druggie. That's not true. Don't. I'm completely sober right now. But I do think I've always liked dystopia. Dystopian stories where there's like mind control with drugs. I'm thinking of like, I believe it was Brave New World and I just like picking out all the dystopian elements in this that you can find in other works. And I think it's just really smart how you put it all together in this way. [00:57:00] Speaker B: Now it just seems so bleak and dark in contrast to what's going on now in our real world that it's hard for me to think of things I like about the story. It's just all so bleak. [00:57:13] Speaker C: It is really bleak. But I just like dystopias. [00:57:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I do too. I do too. And the overall vibe I dig. It's hard to even put my finger on why I like that. There's a sci fi nerdiness to the whole thing that I always liked as a lifelong nerd. I picked up on that. I like alternate reality shit. This is maybe more time travel, but you get what I mean. [00:57:45] Speaker C: Are you safe right now? Cough twice if Brian is in the room with you. [00:57:50] Speaker B: That I can't comment on. [00:57:55] Speaker C: What is your favorite YZRG website, media or in person event? Oh, well, I'm gonna be kind of boring. So I think for websites, I like another version of the truth. I think that's interesting imagery. [00:58:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Where you wipe away the like this. [00:58:12] Speaker C: Beautiful like, you know, right. Farmland, Middle America image and it's just like a desolate, burnt down, hellscape. Okay. Media. I like the physical media of the album and how it, you know, changes color after you play the CD and it gets warm. I think that's just a really cool thing. I've never heard of any other artists doing that. I'm sure maybe some have. I don't know. I also like the murals. I think those are really cool. And it just shows how into this arg everyone was. Like, putting murals up is really cool. In person event is going to be the end. [00:58:55] Speaker B: Yeah, that's the big one. [00:58:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:58:58] Speaker B: Yeah. If I like, that's obviously the open source resistance meeting at the end. Of the arg obviously stands out just because it's so fucking insane. And if you were there, we still have to talk to you, so get in touch. [00:59:15] Speaker C: Yes, please. We need witnesses. [00:59:18] Speaker B: Yeah, no one out there who was there is talking about it anymore. [00:59:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, you just got like a super secret concert and then you're not gonna talk about it. [00:59:28] Speaker B: And more so than the websites. I just love the fact that USB sticks were left out there in the. [00:59:36] Speaker C: World and I love that they were unlabeled and people just stuck them in their computers. [00:59:41] Speaker B: Cause all of that, like, what if no one picked it up and no one put it in a computer? It could have been ignored. So it was all a big gamble. [00:59:48] Speaker C: I mean, someone could have picked it up and just turned it into like the lost and found at the venue. [00:59:52] Speaker B: Someone left their USB drive. [00:59:54] Speaker A: I found this by the urinal. [00:59:56] Speaker B: Back then they were more expensive. [00:59:58] Speaker C: That's true. Would you be interested to hear what YZ sounded like before it was sent back in time? Personally, I feel like it's impossible to have it be the work of art it is without all the glitches and distortion. And from a very practical perspective, Trent created the. The album with that as an aspect right along. So I don't think a clean version of it would really be all that compelling since the glitches and distortions make up such integral and classic parts of so many tracks. But interesting to think about. No, I don't want to hear a clean version. I love those glitches and distortion, and that's what makes this album for me. [01:00:32] Speaker B: It is integral. It is inter. [01:00:36] Speaker C: That's a heart. [01:00:36] Speaker B: Why is that word so integral? Yes, to it. It's part of it. But I almost would want to hear the clean version just as an experiment, because I think that would be interesting. But I don't know, that might be boring. [01:00:51] Speaker C: Well, then I think, like, all the cool outros would be ruined. [01:00:54] Speaker B: Yeah, like, Great Destroyer would just be quiet or something. Yeah, it'd be a short song. Yeah, that's cool to think about. Yes. [01:01:01] Speaker C: Yeah. YZ is very near and dear to my heart and has truly opened my eyes to the dangers of the ways of thinking that it warned. Warned us about. Mm. And you need only watch the news to see just how prescient it was. Truly, truly. We know that it has inspired me to look around and learn. Educate myself on fascism and extreme polarization and demonization of innocent people in groups and how it can be fought. Learn the tactics used to divide and subjugate so they can Be called out and exposed and given me the small mercy of being able to lift my head above the mayhem and chaos, if even just for a quick breath, to see that it's all just a game to keep us distracted and fighting one another so we don't realize how much we're being sold out behind closed doors. Although I'm not sure they're really trying to hide it anymore. Love parapin. Testing given number 187262A. Ooh, they have a number. Yeah, I'm glad It's from 262A, because I hate 262B. [01:02:04] Speaker B: Yeah, fuck them all. My homies hate 262B. I need to look up this number now because maybe that's a clue to something. So I'll look into that later. [01:02:14] Speaker C: Look into it. What is it? [01:02:15] Speaker B: Interesting. [01:02:16] Speaker C: Did it bring you somewhere? [01:02:17] Speaker B: It brings me to a big long number that includes that number and letter package. 54 Circle. Mesa Bone. What the hell is this? Durable circle. What's Mesa Bone? It's some product that's being sold on a website, but I don't know what it is. Something for industrial restroom environments. This might be a $6,000 toilet. I wish there was a picture of it so there's something to that. To be continued. It's the product model number of $6,000 restroom equipment. Okay. Thank you for that. That whole thing. [01:03:02] Speaker C: Yeah, that was a really fun letter. [01:03:05] Speaker B: Some of it. Maybe we'll get to later. And thanks everyone for tuning in. And sorry that it's not an episode about a song that's coming next week. Yeah. While we're in the middle of moving, it's very hard to do our song research and get one of those episodes together. It was easier for us to do a letters thing first. [01:03:29] Speaker C: Yeah, we're trying to. I think we're about to wrap up the hardest stuff and packing, so. [01:03:36] Speaker B: Yeah, packing is a pain in the ass. [01:03:39] Speaker C: Yeah. It makes me just want to burn all my possessions. Like, why do I have this shit? It's ridiculous. I'm done. I'm done. Fucking done. [01:03:49] Speaker B: Anyway, thank you. The next one is My Violent Heart. [01:03:52] Speaker C: That's right. [01:03:53] Speaker B: First song. I think we already said all this at the end of capital G, but yeah, stay tuned. [01:03:59] Speaker C: Never played live, right? [01:04:00] Speaker B: Never fucking played live. Crazy. Even though it was the first song ever heard from Year zero, the USB song. [01:04:07] Speaker C: Maybe we'll get it this year. Maybe. [01:04:09] Speaker B: I would love to be that show. [01:04:10] Speaker C: Maybe in St. Paul. [01:04:12] Speaker B: That would be awesome. [01:04:13] Speaker C: Okay. [01:04:14] Speaker B: Anybody out there going to Minnesota show hit us up? [01:04:19] Speaker C: Maybe yeah, let's all go get pizza or some shit before. [01:04:24] Speaker B: Speaking of pizza, we really have to go and get food now before it sells out. It's a long story. [01:04:30] Speaker C: Yeah, listen, it's vegan cashew chicken, okay? We gotta get it, we gotta go, Gotta line up. [01:04:37] Speaker B: Only in Springfield, Mo, baby. Right. Thanks for tuning in. Hey. [01:04:45] Speaker C: What? [01:04:46] Speaker B: Can we stop? [01:04:48] Speaker C: Yeah. I want some fuckin chicken.