Spotlight on Real Talk!
I have always been a fan of pop punk. It was the perfect music to channel my angst and emo through different stages of my life. So, it is refreshing to see new pop punk bands emerge and hit the mainstream. Real Talk is a perfect example of what pop punk needs to be...catchy, lyrics that are mad relatable with just the right amount of emo to go with a hard edge.
Real Talk's Pat Nadeau spent some time with us to talk about broken down vans, trolling 10-day challenges, why he is #TeamTobey, and why pop punk is not dead.
NON: So, how did you guys get started?
PAT: That's the weirdest part. Our guitarist, Steven, used to play in his high school band. He started touring and he met our singer in Connecticut. He met me in southern Maine. He met our new drummer in Vermont. It's pretty much a bunch of people from different places that thought it would be cool to like join a band where no one could practice(laughs.)
NON: Wait, how did that work then if you guys lived so far away from each other?
PAT: I would drive up. A couple of our members lived about two hours away. It wasn't too bad. Now it's a little bit harder because some of us live farther. So, we plan to meet up on the day of a show to work on stuff, sometimes it works out...sometimes it doesn't.
NON: Tell us where the name "Real Talk" comes from.
PAT: A lot of people get the name confused with this band called Man Overboard because they have an album called Real Talk. But, "Real Talk" just comes from a saying.
NON: Like, "Real talk, I love Bed Bath and Beyond(laughs.)
PAT: Yeah(laughs.)
NON: I saw something you guys recently did on Instagram. Something that's like a rite of passage for bands. You bought a van. When bands think that they are going to start doing this as a career...they buy a van(laughs.)
PAT: We did! We have a long history of vehicles in our band. So we bought that van, later that day...a tire blew out. The brakes weren't good. We actually had an RV, took it on a three week tour. We were near the end of the tour...and on the last week of the tour it just broke(laughs.)
NON: What?!? So no van?
PAT: It's up in the air right now(laughs.)
NON: I was personally interested in this van because I saw you guys had a bit of a game about it on Instagram. You were asking your followers to name the van(laughs.) What did you guys end up naming it?
PAT: We were going to go with Wally the Green Monster(laughs.) For people who might not be Red Sox fans, the Green Monster is a huge thing. And Wally is the name of their mascot.
NON: So, it's obvious you guys are sports fans. I saw a picture you guys took in front of a stadium.
PAT: That photo was from last fall. After we recorded our EP out in Indiana, we would go play shows on the weekend. One day we played in Chicago...and the next day we played in Green Bay, I am a huge Packers fan...and we went to Lambeau Field. But everyone else in the band loves the Patriots(laughs.)
NON: You guys receive a lot of love from Spotify! They put on a playlist called "Pop Punk is Not Dead."
PAT: Yeah, we got hooked up on that. It was pretty cool!
NON: Punk is a bit hard to describe, it's put into different kinds of styles. For people who don't know, tell us what "pop" punk is.
PAT: I would say our punk is catchy but hard.
NON: What did it mean for you guys to be named on that Spotify playlist?
PAT: It was cool, they have bands on that list that I look up to or bands that I love right now. We were also on the Hopeless Records playlist for a bit, that was awesome too. It had New Found Glory on it too, that was a huge moment for me in my life.
NON: You mentioned New Found Glory. What other pop punk bands are you into, personally.
PAT: I am an avid Blink-182 fan...New Found Glory...and Jimmy Eat World, you can put them under pop punk, also. I am a big Weezer fan too. Have you seen the "10-day challenge?" You get tagged on this challenge to post your favorite albums or like 10 days. I get tagged in so many of those, so I started to troll people(laughs.) I think I only posted two Weezer albums for the 10 days and only tagged one person. And it was like the albums that people don't like(laughs.)
NON: So, we have to talk about your video for a song I love..."Bury Me Easy." The video has your lead singer, Joey, collecting random stuff in a room. He gets in a car smiling, drives off...and the camera shows he has a shovel in his car. It scared me a bit(laughs.)
PAT: It's part of a story. The other videos for the album will connect the story. You'll see. It's pretty cool.
NON: Wait, so there is new music on the way?
PAT: Yeah, very soon...that's all I can say(laughs.)
NON: So, tell us, what do you Nerd out to?
PAT: I love comics, especially Daredevil. I didn't think the movie was bad either. The Netflix show is cool. I loved Iron Fist, I don't really get the hate for it. I loved it. I've watched the Marvel Films, it's crazy because it's like you have to go to those movies now...it's like Star Wars. But, I do have to say this. And I want this to be on the record(laughs), I'm #TeamTobey when it comes to Spider-Man. He is definitely my favorite Spider-Man.
Team Tobey or not, we are definitely #TeamRealTalk.
Stay tuned for new music, very soon.
Check out "Bury Me Easy."
For more about Real Talk, check out their Facebook page...with brand new music from Real Talk!