Labeled: The Stories, Rumors & Legends of Tooth & Nail Records

Chris Conley is nothing if not original. His ability and willingness to listen to and follow an inner voice led him to an early arrival into the all-ages music scene with great influence. Saves The Day continued to evolve musically and did not get stuck in a certain sound even though commercial success would have wanted just that. After helping set the tone for the scene and being signed to a major label (Dreamworks), Saves The Day delivered their album, In Reverie, which was another evolution of direction & departure from what the radio or even their fans were expecting. This lead to them being quickly abandoned by the label. Nonetheless, it’s Chris’ and my favorite album of theirs. We discuss this and much more including some close ties to my band, so please enjoy this conversation with Chris Conley.

Silverstein is in the club of bands that are true workhorses - continuously active year after year while racking up new achievements. They seem to benefit greatly from being able to self-manage, adapt, engage in long range decision making, while always trying new things. They have played over 2500 shows and have over a million monthly listeners on Spotify. In this conversation with lead singer Shane Told, we cover the Canadian local scene that they come from, getting on and off Victory Records, and many other reflections from the last 20 years. Shane also has a great podcast of his own, Lead Singer Syndrome, so check that out too.

Today we have a convo with Chad Gardner of Kings Kaleidoscope. What's most intriguing about Chad is that he is an incredibly efficient, high-level, high-energy problem solver. He fits a pattern that we see over and over again in this world of kids who come from families with engineering and technical talent and use this to power high level creativity and art. chad's ability to lead creative teams and react and improvise is what leads to the aesthetic and musical excellence that Kings Kaleidoscope is known for. They are also known for having a rebellious spirit from within the Christian music and worship worlds, pushing boundaries, and an extremely DIY approach to everything. They have a new self-titled album out today, go listen on Spotify, and also a full US tour starting this week, go to https://kampkaleidoscope.com/ to find your city and get tickets. Listen to the new album https://ffm.to/kings-kaleidoscope.NQD

Reese Roper is simply a legend. Five Iron Frenzy (FIF) was one of the first Christian bands truly existing in both the Christian and mainstream space. In the late 90s during the ska explosion, they achieved real commercial success, made a bold choice to stay on a small independent label, and were delivering absolutely scorching lyrics that were full of questions and critique - lyrics that challenged the existing cultural structures. Packaging those lyrics in the ska-punk package was a perfect move that paid off deeply to their fan base. FIF is also one of those bands that pioneered and cultivated their followers into super fans by delivering on multiple layers of depth across time and staying true to their principles. They are heroes of the scene and certainly paved the way for the next generation. They are now releasing an incredibly cool vinyl box set of all their music. You gotta check it out and the promotional video for it. I’ll link it in the notes because it delivers the perfect amount of silliness and humor that you’d expect from FIF. I thought this would be a great chance to talk to Reese and get his reflections on some of the special things they have accomplished plus some of the challenges. Link to the FIF boxset promotional video

JT Woodruff is one of the most intentional and efficient leaders and operators in the history of the scene. His band Hawthorne Heights has had absolutely huge ups and downs. Ups like their first 2 records going gold and creating one of the most iconic emo songs ever, Ohio Is For Lovers, which has almost 100 million Spotify plays. The downs include a lengthy, costly lawsuit with their label as well as the death of a best friend and bandmate, Casey Calvert, in 2007. Hawthorne Heights has handled their career incredibly well, racking up over 20 years of successful continuous activity while continuing to innovate, adapt, and grow as people and as a band. JT is one of the most principled people i know, and his values and principles have guided him well across the spectrum from the smallest details of being punk and DIY to large scale business moves like creating the ...Is For Lovers Festival which is becoming wildly successful.

Mayday Parade is an incredibly well-balanced group of guys. Balanced in a way that equates to functioning well as a healthy team in a high output, low drama, great to be around way. Mayday has been able to remain extremely hard-working and consistent for over 15 years in a landscape full of ups & downs and unhealthiness. They have achieved long-term success and have helped write the map on how things are done properly in this scene. Most importantly, they have built up and now benefit from an unimaginably dedicated and supportive fanbase. Join me as I catch up with Derek Sanders and discuss all of this plus much more!

Jason Dunn started Hawk Nelson in 2000 with his pals northeast of Ontario where they were like thousands of other aspiring garage bands who just loved to make noise until a connection with Trevor McNevan towed them in to ride the wave of pop punk right into the height of Tooth & Nail's dominance. In the decade that followed they enjoyed great success, became a business with a full team and commercial momentum of their own until the commercial trends began to shift leaving Jason to feel an internal dissonance that he didn't know how to resolve...

The mind of Brandon Ebel is quite a unique thing. He has an ability to rapidly shift his perspectives to analyze things at multiple levels, and has a strong bias toward action and a incredible eye for talent of all kinds. He seems to be all over the place but a better description might be that he has a laser focus and intensity that is consistent on a different horizon that perhaps only he understands. His special abilities to adapt and find consistency in extremely dynamic environments like the music industry have had a profound influence on many people over many years and seems very likely to continue.

Capital Lights came along in the peak of Tooth & Nail’s power and influence. Oddly, in this period there there are many bands who seemed to have everything going for them and were musically outstanding, yet their full potential was never realized. Bryson Phillips is a a truly gifted singer and songwriter that has been praised by both Brandon Ebel & Aaron Sprinkle over the years. I have had no personal experience with him though, so I really enjoyed getting to hear his perspective of the time he spent in the scene. I’m sure you will too!  Capital Lights on Spotify Listen to His Favorite Christmas Story

Special drop here!. Matt and Devin got the chance to preview the 2023 Furnace Fest lineup and have Chad Johnson and Johnny Grimes join the show so we could all react to it together. Emery is not playing this year, but we love the fest and we love Chad and Johnny and just like talking about all these bands, the history of the scene and fest and the future of it all. Grab your tickets at: https://www.furnacefest.us/

Josh Porter is one of the most interesting frontmen from our scene and is of a particular type whose spirit of rebellion resonates across many mediums, one of which being Showbread’s music. Their legendary set at Furnace Fest last year seemed to be a testament to how deeply connected their fans were. This podcast spends a lot of time analyzing the musical, relational and professional choices that bands make. We are often asked why we don’t get into people’s faith more on the podcast, given that it’s such a central theme. Certain people just have a more inherent energy toward the spiritual things, and Josh Porter is one of those people. In this case, he has a new book called Death To Deconstruction, and it seemed like an ideal opportunity to give more perspective into how Josh’s mind works.

If you have been paying any attention to Tooth & Nail over the last several years, you can tell that they have a special regard for Tyson Motsenbocker. Tyson seems to always have been able to make great connections with other artists with both his personality and his songwriting. He’s great as a solo performer and on another level when he has a full band. I always enjoy hanging with him. I do love his new record, Milk Teeth, and we start this episode with an amazing story that caused us to postpone the original recording of this episode. Join the Labeled Facebook Group!

It’s the inaugural music draft! Matt Carter and Devin Shelton join to make their picks for a team of songwriters from the Tooth and Nail / Solid State universe. Lots of weirdness in this one, as we are friends with and have played in bands with people who are eligible to be drafted.  Voting will go up 24 hours after this episode airs in both the Labeled FB Group and the Emeryland FB Group. It's free to join the groups so hop in and cast your vote! Join the Labeled FB Group Join the Emeryland FB Group

Jason Wisdom himself falls into a certain archetype. A Tooth & Nail kid with a uniquely-wired mind who was inspired by bands like MXPX and Zao - and the range of possibilities for mixing various styles, genres, and mediums of expression that is permitted in the underground scene. Becoming the Archetype began in 2005 and released records until 2012. They are now back in full force after a decade-long hiatus with a new concept record entitled Children of The Great Extinction. Please join us as we discuss the entire history of the band from its humble origins to the recently-released 6th full-length release on Solid State.

Today we’re talking to Nathan Richardson of Salt Creek. Nathan started promoting shows as a teenager in Nebraska, he started his own merchandise company, and he has continued to make connections while growing his DIY skills. It seems that Nathan has real gratitude, curiosity, motivation, and finds joy in all that he throws himself into. Salt Creek is a newer Tooth & Nail band who put out a great record last year called Out of The Sky. They will be on the last leg of Labeled Fest in Texas playing with Emery, Norma Jean, Aaron Gillespie, and Oh, Sleeper. Grab your tickets now! Follow Salt Creek on Spotify Watch and listen to the new Labeled Series: Deep Dives  https://link.chtbl.com/underoath Become a Labeled Member! Join us at https://www.patreon.com/labeled Not ready to become a member yet? That’s okay, you can still join us in the Labeled Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2502620686459105/?ref=share MORE FROM TOOTH & NAIL: Labeled: Music From The Podcast: smarturl.it/labeledplaylist DISCOVER IT: New Tracks from T&N Records: smarturl.it/TNNDiscover This Is Solid State: New Tracks from Solid State Records https://spoti.fi/2CUCsaH

Furnace Fest means so much to so many different people. From the bands who performed, to the fans who attended. All voices in the Labeled community have truly gathered around this Festival in a deeply meaningful way. Today we're talking to Jason Zeimet, founder of UnoriginalVinyl, frequent collaborators on physical media projects with Solid State & Tooth & Nail, and former T&N/SS Director of A&R Chad Johnson about a timeless, totally unique project. In this intimate, vulnerable chat, the guys detail the process of creating DEAD ALIVE, a limited edition, hardcover, foil stamped, 200-page coffee-table book they have created that captures the electrifying photographic history and "direct-from-the-fan & band" accounts of the most uniquely-spirited music gathering in the last 20+ years. There is a very limited amount of these books available so you'll want to make sure you head to Unoriginal Vinyl at 12 EST on Wednesday, 8/17 to grab a copy before they're gone: https://unoriginal-vinyl.myshopify.com/ 32 EXTREMELY limited edition “alternate cover” exclusive vinyl versions of the three UOV Furnace Fest 2021 releases will also be put up with the book, in partnership with Solid State Records.

Ernie and his band members in idle threat seem to have arrived at a very interesting time in Tooth & Nail/Solid State history. There is currently a resurgence of interest in raw, aggressive music that incorporates intimate, spacious, and emotional elements. idle threat has done a masterful job of absorbing the important feels of the last 30 years from grunge to emo while finding & pushing new boundaries & complexities. Get your Labeled Fest tickets @ LabeledUniverse.com

his conversation with Kevin Klein from Valleyheart is a great look at how a modern artist sees the landscape today, and in what ways some things always stay the same in the midst of constant change. The one trend that continues to grow is the amount of control artists have over more and more layers of their art form, and why having clear vision and identifying constraints seems to matter more than ever. Valleyheart has a brand new Tooth & Nail album called Heal My Head out now, and its a terrific listen. Follow Valleyheart on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xVyJGp Get your Labeled Fest tickets at LabeledUniverse.com Watch and listen to the new Labeled Series: Deep Dives  https://link.chtbl.com/underoath Become a Labeled Member! Join us at https://www.patreon.com/labeled Not ready to become a member yet? That’s okay, you can still join us in the Labeled Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2502620686459105/?ref=share MORE FROM TOOTH & NAIL: Labeled: Music From The Podcast: smarturl.it/labeledplaylist DISCOVER IT: New Tracks from T&N Records: smarturl.it/TNNDiscover This Is Solid State: New Tracks from Solid State Records https://spoti.fi/2CUCsaH

The Ongoing Concept is one of the most DIY bands in the Tooth & Nail/Solid State catalog, and they have achieved many innovative things like building their own instruments from scratch. The journey they have been on has been shaped by those that came before, but is a long quest for the artist to have as much creative control as possible. That desire to control everything has disadvantages too and this all makes for a very interesting conversation with band leader Dawson Scholz. Follow The Ongoing Concept on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3PEUZuM Get your Labeled Fest tickets at LabeledUniverse.com Watch and listen to the new Labeled Series: Deep Dives  https://link.chtbl.com/underoath Become a Labeled Member! Join us at https://www.patreon.com/labeled Not ready to become a member yet? That’s okay, you can still join us in the Labeled Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2502620686459105/?ref=share MORE FROM TOOTH & NAIL: Labeled: Music From The Podcast: smarturl.it/labeledplaylist DISCOVER IT: New Tracks from T&N Records: smarturl.it/TNNDiscover This Is Solid State: New Tracks from Solid State Records https://spoti.fi/2CUCsaH

In this episode, we get the chance to to talk about a bunch of people in the Labeled universe through the perspective of Seth Roberts whose band Watashi Wa is back and doing big things. Watashi Wa has a new album out on Tooth & Nail on which Seth has pulled together some awesome collaborations. Not only do they have a new record coming out, but they are also on the west coast leg of LABELED FEST for which Seth is working on the the art team to do all the tour visuals and design work. Matt has known Seth since the first Tooth & Nail Tour in 2004, and Seth has always been a great connector of people in every environment he is in. That has led him to a rich set of experiences. We loved getting to discuss that with him and I know you will too. Follow Watashi Wa on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3N6AXXT Get your Labeled Fest tickets at LabeledUniverse.com Watch and listen to the new Labeled Series: Deep Dives  https://link.chtbl.com/underoath Become a Labeled Member! Join us at https://www.patreon.com/labeled Not ready to become a member yet? That’s okay, you can still join us in the Labeled Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2502620686459105/?ref=share MORE FROM TOOTH & NAIL: Labeled: Music From The Podcast: smarturl.it/labeledplaylist DISCOVER IT: New Tracks from T&N Records: smarturl.it/TNNDiscover This Is Solid State: New Tracks from Solid State Records https://spoti.fi/2CUCsaH Presave People Like People! https://ffm.to/peoplelikepeople