Against Them All - The Stick To Your Guns Podcast

The riff master, the demo god, the metaphorical, spiritual, and literal STYG dad - Chris Rawson. We talk Chris's experience as a teacher during the pandemic and how his time under quarantine led him to explore new musical pathways. 

We sit down with the man, the myth, the bass player, STYG's resident international man of mystery, Andrew Rose. 

A constellation of episodes reflecting on STYG's purpose and our return to strength.  "Care is a form of political warfare." -Audre Lorde

SET THE WORLD ABLAZE NOTHING GOES TO WASTE NOW I UNDERSTAND MORE OF US THAN THEM Now streaming everywhere here: https://smarturl.it/STYG_MOUTT

Uncle Ho, our song is fire of pure love, it's a dovecote dove, olive from an olive grove. It is the universal song chain that will triumph, the right to live in peace. Rev Left Radio Episode on Chile: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/chile   Blood in my Eye: https://redyouthnwa.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/george_l-_jackson_blood_in_my_eyebook4you-org.pdf   @Queersocialism thread on elections: https://mobile.twitter.com/queersocialism/status/1282797189648060429

Oh my god we’re back again. 

I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. George and Josh relive a traumatic tour that is fun to reflect back on in a sadistic kind of way. 

I am eating from the trash can of Ideology all the time. The band started in 2003 believe it or not folks (haha), and 17 years in, we have evolved in thought and mind on a variety of topics and issues, and I think it’s important to reflect on those sorts of things, because that’s how we learn. Not idealistically through divine revelations, but through experience and perspective that shape our understanding and ideology. Our material conditions produce our culture and ideas, that then in turn influence and reinforce aspects of our life in a cyclical fashion, that is, until there is a rupture. Some old fuck once said “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness.” So come on the journey with us.  

STYG was a part of the 2010 Thrash and Burn tour, which on first glance, might seem like an unremarkable tour, but it plays a very important role in STYG history, especially in relation to the Hope Division. 

“If we have shortcomings, we are not afraid to have them pointed out and criticized, because we serve the people. Anyone, no matter who, may point out our shortcomings. If he is right, we will correct them. If what he proposes will benefit the people, we will act upon it.” 

Militant and unconditional solidarity with black self-determination. The rebellions sweeping the nation are righteous and just. Always anti-racist. Always anti-fascist. Always anti-capitalist. Always anti-imperialist. 

An episode for the moms and dads of the world. Touring for a living presents some interesting challenges to parenting, so we thought it would be fun to have some dads on the cast to talk about the joys of parenting. We get into a whole range of topics, from the difficulties of trying to have family out on tour, to large, existential questions that Chris and Dan grapple with as parents. 

This one goes out to all the coffee heads out there, an episode strictly dedicated to talking about the good stuff. STYG has got some coffee geeks in the band so we thought it would be fun to sit down and talk about our quest for the perfect cup. We are in a unique position to check out shops from all over the world while we are on tour, and it’s been a fun way for us to get to know different cities, countries, even cultures. What started as just a stimulant to keep us up on night drives has quickly turned into an obsession, so we really do a deep dive on all things coffee. If drinking coffee is a part of your everyday, but you don’t really pay any mind to what goes into your cup, maybe this episode will inspire you to explore some shops in your neck of the woods.    The War on Coffee: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/27/the-war-on-coffee

In continuing our trend of covering total buzzkill topics, we did an episode about Veganism. Yes folks, the soy boys are here to talk about the animals. Now, not all of STYG is Vegan, but we do have Vegan members and Vegan ideas have influenced the STYG ideology for over a decade now. And the Vegan members of the band might even break some of the stereotypes you hold of Vegans! We cover a broad range of topics from spicy takes in the Vegan discourse, to how trash our diets tend to get while we are on tour. Link for the video Jesse mentions! http://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/wolves-yellowstone/

The Internationale is going to be a new segment here on Against Them All, where we interview folks from all over the world to talk about different cultures and perspectives. It’s vitally important that we endeavor to understand each other’s cultures so we can not only celebrate our differences, but also remind ourselves of our shared humanity. Luna is a Vietnamese youtuber who has been using her channel to highlight Vietnam’s extraordinary response to the COIVD-19 pandemic. Her channel is amazing and provides excellent insight into life in Vietnam as well as Vietnamese history. Luna had no idea who our band was, but she was still so excited to come on the show! We talk COVID-19, Vietnam’s culture of solidarity, even a little bit about theory. We encourage everybody to check out her YouTube channel after you give this episode a listen!   Vietnam Puts Human Lives Before the Economy - https://youtu.be/3mLxDWl0i_c Socialism in Vietnam is WORKING -  https://youtu.be/gKySZ2fyWss Non Compete - https://youtu.be/8aHvA0KHXqM

Josh is here to pump you up. Over the years we have been tagged in many a “fitness” post - meaning we see a lot of people rocking out to STYG while they are getting fucking jacked. And we think that’s pretty rad! We like that our band is associated with personal improvement types of things, whether that’s sobriety, or exercise, or even book clubs. So, we sat down with the Schwarzenegger of our band to pick his brain on his fitness journey and where he’s at now. Might not be everybody’s cup of tea but we’d be remiss if we didn’t send an episode out to the pump. 

A Baker’s Dozen - noun - a group of 13; a dozen plus one. This is the number of people that watched STYG and Stray on their first tour together. STYG and Stray From The Path’s histories have been intertwined since 2008. We might have lost track of how many shows we’ve played together, but we can never forget the first tour that we did together in 2009. The shame and humiliation we felt would be permanently burned into our brains. Jesse and George sat down with Tom Williams to talk about the dark times for both STYG/Stray during the earlier days of our careers. We’re both still here and thriving, but at what cost?

If you have purchased a t-shirt from STYG over the course of the last 11 years, chances are you have met merchandise manager extraordinaire - Drew Soria aka Spider. One of the best in the game, a true professional Cotton technician. This isn’t just a fucking schmuck we found at a temp agency, this is the god damn 5th Beatle we are talking about. Spider is an integral part of the STYG family and we can’t imagine life on the road without him. We wanted to do the man justice and try and highlight his day to day responsibilities when he’s out on the road with us. 

STYG has seen some shit throughout our years touring. Broken feet, blown out knees, fucked up backs, impacted wisdom teeth, torn calf muscles, chipped teeth - it’s a goddamn warzone out there. But! The show must go on. This is an episode all about the literal blood, sweat, and tears that we’ve given to the band. Our bodies have gone through hell over the last 17 years, but what doesn’t kill you...idk insert some Hatebreed lyrics here or something.

You may or may not know this, but STYG is a secret Straight Edge band, or well, at least by default we are. Yes, all 5 members of STYG are living, breathing human buzzkills here to harsh your mellow. It’s a mentality that has undeniably shaped our perspectives. While it’s not for everybody, and we certainly don’t feel the need to try and convert the world to our lifestyle choices, it’s been an important part of our lives that’s worth talking about. So, here is an hour and a half podcast of grown adult men talking about the XXX sober fan club that we are all a part of (lol couldn’t resist the joke). Music featured in the episode - Inclination - “Inclination” Have Heart - “Something More Than Ink” Earth Crisis - “The Discipline” Casey Jones - “Butt Hash” Earth Crisis - “Gomorrah's Season Ends” NOFX - “Straight Edge”    

The expected “reacting to the quarantine” episode that is to be expected of every podcast. Life is strange and confusing right now. We are all trying to adjust to this new reality that has been thrust upon us. Please look out for one another. Now is the time for militant compassion. Uncompromising solidarity. Your heart is a weapon and you have a social obligation to use it for the betterment of all. 

Here is an interview where George and Jesse interview people much smarter than them! Jared, Ken, and Jordan came out to our DC show on the Motionless in White/Beartooth tour and we decided they would be a big get for the cast. Seeing as how we are full blown idiots, we are way out of our depth here folks, but these guys are doing such important work that we felt like we needed to take the opportunity to highlight their work as well as their platforms. This conversation took place in January 2020 before the entire political world seemingly fell apart, but it’s still a conversation focused on optimism and building political movements that can bring about true change. Enjoy! 

BIG RIGGING Q&A. We recorded this episode while driving 70 mph, which was very dangerous and irresponsible. We asked y'all for some questions so we could have something to do on the drive back from the Motionless in White/Beartooth tour. We learned a lot about Josh's extensive pokemon knowledge, talked about the German honesty, even spilled some tea on the new record. The first of many Q&As for the pod!

Believe it or not folks, it has been 10 years since we went into the studio to record The Hope Division! We thought it would be fun and nostalgic to reflect on what that experience was like for us. Hear the stories of what the recording process was like and how the record does not have the correct track listing. The Hope Division marked a big change for STYG: New members, new sounds, new ideologies. Happy that y’all were willing to take that leap with us!

Imagine the part of the STYG set where Jesse talks and rambles on about injustice and topical political issues. Ok, now imagine an hour and a half podcast of that with all of us. If we had a dollar for every time somebody told us that they wished we weren’t “so political” about everything, we’d have enough money to start a podcast. 

2 episodes in and all we’ve got are shit jokes. Serious content warning if you want to avoid hearing 5 grown adults talk about shitting themselves. Nothing can ever prepare you for what happens to your body on tour. You do irreparable damage to your back and knees, you eat like a garbage can, you piss in bottles, and sometimes, you end up shitting yourself. Taking a quality and private shit on tour is a luxury. If you are fortunate enough to be graced with a safe and enjoyable bathroom experience while on tour, it will undeniably be the highlight of your day. These tales are from the times where we were not fortunate enough to have a pleasant bathroom experiences in the sanctum sanctorum. It was the best of times, it was the shittiest of times.

The inaugural ”Against Them All“ episode! The saga begins, Christ is risen, a T-shirt is seen at a goodwill and a band is born. Listen to us recount our STYG origin stories, how our lives intertwined, and how we came together to form a Megazord a mighty morphin hardcore ruining STYG-A-ZORD.