Sunday, November 11, 2012

Pheaturing Alumni Sam and Luke


Hello, and welcome to a Sunday entry of the Phile, how are you? Happy Veteran's Day as well... is that something you should say? Happy Veteran's Day?  Well, the vote's have finally been counted here in Florida. What goes on in Florida? They had four years to fix this. We need to make sure Florida never gets the Olympics. A lot of people said over the last few weeks that if Obama wins, they're going to move to Canada. How come nobody threatens to move to Mexico? That must be depressing for them.  Colorado and Washington have become the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. That's a big deal because here in California, you can use marijuana legally only if you receive it for a fake medical condition.  You know, I always wonder what the day after the election is like for the candidate who loses. You get so close to becoming the most powerful person in the world and just like that, you wake up hoping to get a call from "Dancing With the Stars." Mitt Romney, the morning after defeat, was in his Boston hotel room surrounded by his children and grandchildren. There was a gallon of chocolate milk on the table. Looks like someone's on a serious bender.  Two-term presidents is a pretty small club in the history of the United States. The only club smaller is Latinos for Romney. And then the only club smaller than that it Latino women for Romney.  Karl Rove was running the Republican deal. He spent $400 million to try to get his party in power. They don't know what happened. The Republicans are confused and scratching their heads. They won't know what happened until they find the black box. I have political insiders who tell me that Mitt Romney... and he seems like an upbeat guy, is depressed. He just sits in a darkened room watching video tape of that first debate over and over and over. His wife Ann said, "Mitt you got to cheer up. You know what will make you feel better. Go spend some time with your money." Here's what they're saying was Mitt's problem. He lived in his own bubble, his own little air-tight capsule, surrounded by sycophants who told him only what he wanted to hear. Wait a minute, I'm sorry, that's me.  I just read, and this is kinda sad, this is the first Veteran's Day without a surviving WW I vet.  Hey, so, have you seen the new ad's for NASA and Apple? They are very similar.


So, it's Veteran's Day and there's a Veteran's Day inspirational poster. I probably showed it before, but what the hell.


Have you kids seen this ad? I have no idea what it is for, but it is real.


So, I haven't been sleeping that good at night ever since my accident, so one of the thing's I have been doing is going on Twitter and twittering different words to see what is out there. I always twitter Foghat and this is what I found.




Lilykily, no shit. I could of told you that without an app. LOL. And now for another...




Here's a clue, kids. "Can you keep it down, guys, I've almost made it to level 60." If you spot it, e-mail me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com.


Well, yesterday I had Jim Messina on the Phile to talk about the election you kids who voted for Obama and today I am very excited to say, Stephanie Cutter is here. So, please welcome once again, the hottest politician I know... Stephanie Cutter.


Me: Hello, Stephanie. Welcome back to the Phile. Congrats on the win.

Stephanie: Thanks, Jason. So, Jim told you President Obama thanked supporters and staff.

Me: Yeah, he told me, it happened right after the election.

Stephanie: Well, I wanted to single you out especially because you've gone above and beyond in your support of the President.

Me: Ummmm... thanks, but I don't believe I did anything.

Stephanie: Jason, over the past year, we faced an unprecedented amount of negative ad spending from our opponents... and the content of those attacks was often misleading, or just flat-out dishonest. But you got out there and talked to your friends, your family, and your readers about what was at stake in this election, and you set the record straight about the President and what he stands for.

Me: Alight, so I guess maybe I did do something. I take all the credit that you guys won the election. LOL.

Stephanie: We didn't just win an election... we proved that not even billionaires and super PACs can overwhelm the power of ordinary Americans talking to one another about the values they share. Our politics will be better off because of that.

Me: Thanks, Stephanie, and your team, for being on the Phile, and I hope you will come back on again soon. It really is an honor having you all here.

Stephanie: As Jim said, we'll be in touch soon about where we take it from here. Thank you so much for all you've done, and all you will continue to do as we move this country forward. This is your victory.

Me: Thanks, Stephanie.








Today's pheatured guests were last on the Phile back on May 1st, last year. Since then they have a new EP out simply titled "Sam and Luke EP" that is available on iTunes. They'll next be appearing at the SPICE 4LIFE FESTIVAL in Mt Juliet, TN on November 17th. Please welcome back to the Phile... Sam and Luke Remedios, known as Sam and Luke.


Me: Hey, kids, welcome back to the Phile. How have you been?

Sam: Hey Jason! We've been doing great! Been working hard playing 3-4 shows every week. Plus we just released our new album called "Sam and Luke EP" on iTunes! So it's been music all day, every day.

Me: So, apart from having a new EP out, which we'll talk about in a minute, what has been the biggest change in your lifes... lives? You know what I mean.

Sam: The biggest change so far in our lives has been sacrificing everything in a "normal" life to pursue music full time. We left school, our friends, and our home to do whatever it takes to make it. It's not a bad thing that we left everything behind, but it is definitely the largest change so far.

Me: You boys are originally from California, but lived in Canada for awhile, right? What part of Canada did you guys live in?

Sam: We lived in a small, seaside city called White Rock, on the outskirts of Vancouver, Canada. That was a great place to grow up and it's really where we discovered music and began writing our songs. 

Me: What made your family move from California to Canada?

Sam: Well, our dad's American but our mom's Canadian, so we have a lot of relatives that live up in Canada. In 2004 we all decided it would be a good for us to change countries for a while in order to connect with our Canadian relatives.

Me: You're based in Nashville now though, right? How long have you been living there? Were you living there the last time I interviewed you?

Sam: Yeah, we're in Nashville! We've been living here for about 14 months now... time sure flies! The last time we talked with you, we were still living up in Vancouver.

Me: Where is your favorite place to live?

Sam: This is a tricky question because everywhere we've lived so far has its pros and cons. Guess you could say our favorite place to live is anywhere as long as we have our guitars... LOL!

Me: By the way, Nashville is one of my favorite cities. Have you seen the new TV show "Nashville"?

Sam: Us too! Not only have we seen ABC's new TV series, "Nashville", but we were acting as 'extras' somewhere in episode 3. We're way in the background though, so we're not too visible. Plus, the night the show premiered we went to a viewing party for the pilot where we met and jammed with Damien Horne from the hot, new country trio The Farm. So that was very cool.

Me: Okay, let's talk about your EP. I downloaded your new EP from iTunes, and I even reviewed it there. Anyway, I love the new EP, is my favorite out of all three of your EP's. Who produced this one?

Luke: Haha, thanks for that awesome review, Jason! We're really proud of this record. Tom Hambridge (Grammy-winning producer for Buddy Guy) produced this new EP, and he did an absolutely fantastic job. He's so knowledgeable and a ton of fun to work with!

Me: It has a more country sound to it, boys. That must be the Nashville influence rubbing off on you. Are you guys country fans?

Luke: Yee Haw! Country music is the best! They say everyone who comes to Nashville always leaves with a little bit of country in them. For us though, country music has really transformed us and now we completely see ourselves as a 'New Country' act.

Me: I know you like the Beatles, Mayer, and The Everly Brothers... and Foghat, but what other bands are you into?

Luke: I prefer bands that have a lot of fog in their hats... LOL, but definitely right now I’ve got either country radio or Sam Cooke blasting.

Sam: Right now I'm into a LOT of different music. It's ranging from Keith Urban and the Zac Brown Band to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock to Matchbox Twenty and Prince. I like all music as long as it's good, hahaha.

Me: Anyway, like I said, I love the new EP and "Helpless" is a great single. Is it getting a lot of airplay?

Me: Happy to hear you like the new single 'Helpless'. We’ve just released it to iTunes and we’re hoping to get it to radio soon. We'll definitely keep you posted when that happens!

Me: Who does most of the songwriting, kids?

Sam: When we write songs together it's almost always a 50/50 split, believe it or not!

Me: I have to ask you about the band name, Sam and Luke... did you guys ever debate on whose name should go first?

Sam: I don't think we ever debated about that and I certainly have no problems with how it turned out!

Luke: Well the truth of the matter is that we actually got the name from a random band name generator website. It was just coincidence that it had both of our real names in it. Just kidding...  hahaha.

Me: That's funny. You should stick to that story in your bio. I guess Sam's name went first as he is the older brother, right?

Sam: I think it just sounds better with my name first... haha.

Luke: Save the best for last I always say :)

Me: Do you guys have any other musical siblings, or unmusical siblings?

Sam: Nope, it's just the two of us.

Me: You guys are both really good guitarists, and last time you were here you said you learnt to play by watching Jimi Hendrix videos on YouTube, and Stevie Ray videos. You kids must of had SOME kind of talent to learn how to play while watching videos. Trust me, I watched hundreds of videos of my dad and other musicians and I cannot play a lick. How many hours did you spend watching those videos?

Sam: Thanks, Jason! Actually, first our dad showed us the basics of how the guitar is played, like chords, strumming, picking etc. Then we spent many, many hours watching Youtube videos of the guitar greats! It was a very time consuming activity. After that we spent even more hours figuring stuff out and practicing. So yeah, that's how we learned to play Hendrix songs and stuff by watching videos on Youtube. To be honest we can’t remember not being able to play guitar, but we do remember always having a guitar on.

Me: What make of guitars do you both play, and what do you like better, playing rhythm or lead? 

Luke: We play Fender Strats (electrics) and Gibson J-45s (acoustics) at the moment. Lead is great because it is a free flowing expression that you can basically do anything with, but rhythm is fantastic too because it is what drives a song, there’s nothing better than a strong groove.

Sam: I'm playing a Custom J-45 Gibson as my acoustic and a Mica John Mayer signature Strat. And it's no contest... playing lead is my favorite!

Me: Well, boys, thanks so much for being on the Phile again. I hope you will come back when your next EP comes out... actually, are you gonna be recording a full-length CD? Please come back when you release something new. Go ahead and mention your website. Take care, and all the best.

Sam: Thanks, Jason. Always a blast talking with you and we'd love to be back soon!

Luke: We don't have the dates for the release of our next full-length album yet, but we’ll keep you posted. Fans can stay up-to-date with all our happenings on our website SamAndLuke.com and they can 'like' our Facebook fan page (just search up Sam and Luke) or they can 'follow' us on Twitter. And check out our new EP called "Sam and Luke EP" on iTunes!

Me: Thanks, guys, you kids are great.


There, that about does it for another entry. Thanks to my guests Stephanie Cutter and of course Sam and Luke. The Phile will be back tomorrow with another Alumni, Kevin Rowe who will be here for his third time. Then on Thursday it's the great new British rock band Damn Vandals. Next Sunday it's another Alumni... Jon Tiven from his new band Yo Ma Ma and Monday young singer Anya Parker-Lentz. So, spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.



No comments:

Followers