#41 - Tom May (The Menzingers)

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!