Episode 6: Tyler Asay (the Tisburys)
Bub & Pop | Episode 6: Tyler Asay (recorded January 16, 2026)
Join music journalist Matt Hoffman at the Boom Room in Fishtown as he has a conversation with Tyler Asay, lead singer and songwriter from The Tisburys. He talks about the band's past, present, and future, along with some of his key influences and what fans can expect from the next Tisburys album.
An audio-first version of this podcast is available here.
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Host: Matt Hoffman | Producer: Tedd Kanakaris | Location: The Boom Room
TRANSCRIPT (minimally QCed)
00:01:14:00 - 00:01:25:07 Tyler Asay Yeah, we're we're demoing. I have songs written. I've had, 10 to 15 songs written for the next one that I've been writing since we finished up the last.
00:01:25:07 - 00:01:51:25 Tyler Asay The last record is Self Revisited was done. We we spent the last three years making it, so, I had a lot of downtime to work on the next thing, and it probably won't take as long to get the next one done, but we, we, I have songs written, but we wanted to because we've played so many shows in 2025, we wanted to write the next record more as a band and more in a live context.
00:01:51:27 - 00:02:11:03 Tyler Asay Because we've been gelling so well together live. We played 50 shows and we've really learned how to channel each other's musical tastes and preferences, especially in a live capacity. So
00:02:11:03 - 00:02:11:05 Matt Hoffman yeah, I think you had mentioned it's like a live in the living room kind of vibe you're going for
00:02:11:05 - 00:02:39:03 Tyler Asay yeah, we want that, something more organic, more natura. But still rocks. So yeah, we've been demoing live at our rehearsal space up in, up in northern, Kensington and, we, Yeah, it's coming together really? Well, we're like multi-track the demos, so we're able to, like, listen back and, like, develop ideas and, get to a place that we're really happy with. We're currently trying to decide where and who we want to do the next record with.
00:02:39:05 - 00:03:01:29 Tyler Asay We definitely want to work with a producer, someone who can kind of whip us into shape and tell us what to do and really channel. Like, I want the the next record to have a, like, an audio just like, feel like throughout the whole record. I love when records have that.
00:03:01:29 - 00:03:02:01 Matt Hoffman Sure.
00:03:02:01 - 00:03:25:29 Tyler Asay So, just identity, you know who,
00:03:02:01 - 00:03:25:29 Matt Hoffman Who are some producers who you like? Albums that really stand out for you?
00:03:25:29 - 00:03:44:05 Tyler Asay Yeah. I just, I want to work with, like, kind of someone, like, with an indie rock kind of legacy that I feel can kind of craft. Our the, like a sonic identity. We have friends right now that are working with, Jimeno from spoon, so that that's someone who maybe we could reach out to and try to work with.
00:03:26:02 - 00:03:44:05 Tyler Asay I think that would be really cool.
00:03:44:05 - 00:03:44:07 Matt Hoffman He produces all their records, right?
00:03:44:07 - 00:04:02:21 Tyler Asay Yes, he he does all most of the Haley's tracks. The spoon records.
00:04:02:21 - 00:04:02:21 Matt Hoffman Yeah.
00:04:02:21 - 00:04:02:21 Tyler Asay So, Yeah, someone like that would be kind of a dream to work with. I'm such a big spoon fan. And there's all that, like 2000 indie rock stuff is kind of my bread and butter.
00:04:02:21 - 00:04:22:08 Matt Hoffman Do you know Mike Viola?
00:04:22:08 - 00:04:22:08 Tyler Asay I do talk to Jason, our keyboard player, about that. He's like, worships the guy.
00:04:22:08 - 00:04:22:09 Matt Hoffman Wow.
00:04:22:09 - 00:04:22:09 Tyler Asay So, I don't know. We've met him. We saw him at Milk Boy like, a year or two ago.
00:04:22:09 - 00:04:22:09 Matt Hoffman He's playing there again in a few weeks.
00:04:02:21 - 00:04:22:08 Tyler Asay Yeah. And our our a friend of ours is his agent, so, I mean, if we could work with him, that would be a total dream.
00:04:02:21 - 00:04:22:08 Matt Hoffman I'd. I love that guy. So he played, he happens to be on a record label out of Doylestown.
00:04:22:08 - 00:04:22:09 Tyler Asay Yes. What is the name of that one again?
00:04:22:09 - 00:04:36:18 Matt Hoffman Grand Phony Records on.
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Tyler Asay Yes.
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Matt Hoffman It's run by a guy named John Young. Super nice guy. And, he just played like it was him into a DI box, and that was it, like, just a guitar.
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Tyler Asay He just play John and Peter's two, right?
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Matt Hoffman Exactly. Oh, did I say Johnny Brenda's? I meant John and Peter's.
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Tyler Asay Okay. Yeah. Yeah, we were going to go to that.
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Matt Hoffman But yeah, he's he's playing milk boy like the first or second week of March I think with a trio.
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Tyler Asay Cool. Is Pete Donnelly in the band?
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:36:18 Matt Hoffman I think so
00:04:36:18 - 00:04:53:09 Tyler Asay okay. Yeah. I love Pete, he was supposed to produce one of our, earlier records, before he moved back to upstate New York. He was kind of. We were talking. We were his studio. We were going to do the Sun Goes Down record with him, but, he's. I love Pete. I think he's a absolute genius.
00:04:53:09 - 00:04:53:09 Matt Hoffman Yeah.
00:04:53:09 - 00:05:09:07 Tyler Asay But, yeah
00:04:53:09 - 00:05:09:07 Matt Hoffman Um, well so you've also, when we've talked, you know, offline before, you've mentioned had talked about the Tisbury is kind of failing in public for a lot.
00:05:09:07 - 00:05:09:10 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah.
00:05:09:10 - 00:05:09:10 Matt Hoffman And hey, I'm, I'm totally facing as the next guy. Tell me, tell me what? That's. What's that? What's that meant for you?
00:05:09:10 - 00:05:12:10 Tyler Asay people always ask, like, how long of the Tisbury has been a band?
00:05:12:10 - 00:05:24:01 Tyler Asay And, I think, like I said earlier, John and I started the band technically in 2012. But we didn't really start taking it seriously, and
00:05:24:03 - 00:05:40:21 Unknown we played shows, but they weren't very good. They were for like, maybe our girlfriends at the Fire and the Gray Room when it was called that.
00:05:40:21 - 00:05:40:21 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:05:40:21 - 00:06:15:12 Tyler Asay but, it wasn't until probably around 2016 or 17 where we started writing actual songs. We had like joke songs that we wrote, back in the day, back in high school and college. But it wasn't until I had moved here in 2016, ten years as well. And we started I started writing more like actual songs that could have some legs and or an audience. Is that's kind of when we started taking things more seriously and, like I said, failing in public, playing, putting out these kind of, scrappy DIY records, that we recorded, actually, the first record, The Wax Nostalgic, was recorded.
00:06:15:12 - 00:06:32:12 Tyler Asay I just walked past my buddy's old apartment where we tracked it.
00:06:32:12 - 00:06:32:12 Matt Hoffman Oh wow
00:06:32:12 - 00:06:32:12 Tyler Asay he lived, above the Pinto guitars, which is. Right.
00:06:32:12 - 00:06:32:12 Matt Hoffman Yeah.
00:06:32:12 - 00:06:32:12 Tyler Asay There. Shout out to John Covert from the Levee Drivers, if you remember that band.
00:06:32:12 - 00:06:32:12 Matt Hoffman I don't, no.
00:06:32:12 - 00:06:51:13 Tyler Asay Yeah, they're a great bluesy rock band from they just played. We see them at Johnny Brenda's all the time.
00:06:51:13 - 00:06:51:13 Matt Hoffman Oh, wow.
00:06:51:13 - 00:06:51:13 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:06:51:13 - 00:07:17:11 Matt Hoffman You mentioned you moved to Philly in 2016. Where did you move from?
00:07:17:11 - 00:07:17:11 Tyler Asay I went to Westchester. I'm from Scranton originally, and John and I are both from Scranton, and we moved. I went to, Westchester University for college, so 2012 to 16. I was there living in Westchester, and then we moved to manioc in 2016. And I've been there ever since.
00:07:17:11 - 00:07:17:11 Matt Hoffman Oh. Super cool. Yeah, Westchester has got its own nice little scene out there.
00:07:17:11 - 00:07:38:04 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah. It's cool. I feel like it's kind of coming back to. There are a lot of those venues, that we used to play, like Fanerio. The coffee shop and, the old Note, which I guess just reopened under a new name
00:07:38:04 - 00:07:38:04 Matt Hoffman Oh wow
00:07:38:04 - 00:07:38:04 Tyler Asay so that I'm trying to get us back out there at some point because our, drummer Dan and bass player Ben are both from that.
00:07:38:04 - 00:07:38:04 Unknown My wife's from that area, too.
00:07:38:04 - 00:07:38:04 Matt Hoffman Oh cool.
00:07:38:04 - 00:07:56:20 Tyler Asay So, we still have friends and family out there, so we good to get back to Westchester and visit the alma mater.
00:07:56:20 - 00:07:56:20 Matt Hoffman Yeah, yeah. For sure. You didn't take any accounting classes there, by any chance?
00:07:56:20 - 00:07:56:20 Tyler Asay No, I took, communications.
00:07:56:20 - 00:07:56:20 Matt Hoffman A friend of mine teaches there.
00:07:56:20 - 00:08:18:08 Tyler Asay Oh, okay. Yeah, I was, I took it was a communications major with a journalism minor.
00:08:18:08 - 00:08:18:08 Matt Hoffman Oh, interesting
00:08:18:08 - 00:08:18:08 Unknown So, yeah, there was a point where I thought I was going to be a music journalist.
00:08:18:08 - 00:08:18:10 Matt Hoffman Wow
00:08:18:10 - 00:08:40:14 Tyler Asay Why? It's tough. Credit to you for that.
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Matt Hoffman It's I, I sort of faked my way into it.
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Tyler Asay Yeah, it's. Yeah, for me, it was always kind of like, I, I loved radio, I was part of the Westchester University radio station, and, had so much fun doing it. I interned at WXPN, but, it was I always it's sometimes people are like, oh, it's like, you can't do it teach or whatever, like that whole dumb joke,
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Tyler Asay but I always found it the other way around where I thought playing music is the easier thing to do, and being like a journalist or a radio person is that's way more difficult.
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Unknown And takes a whole lot more work. So credit to you
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Matt Hoffman I mean, to your, to your point earlier about just the money thing being difficult.
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Matt Hoffman It's difficult as like, I don't know how anybody makes money
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Tyler Asay no
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Matt Hoffman in any
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Tyler Asay creative arts.
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:40:14 Matt Hoffman Music Related, Yeah.
00:08:40:14 - 00:08:55:23 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah, it's tough. You've got to have rich parents
00:08:55:23 - 00:08:55:23 Matt Hoffman Yeah, I guess so
00:08:55:23 - 00:08:55:23 Tyler Asay I don't know.
00:08:55:23 - 00:08:55:23 Matt Hoffman Yeah. Well, but I mean, I'm, you know, I think like
00:08:55:23 - 00:08:55:25 Tyler Asay a trust fund.
00:08:55:25 - 00:08:55:25 Unknown Yeah. Well. Yeah. Hey, wouldn't that be nice?
00:08:55:25 - 00:08:55:25 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:08:55:25 - 00:08:55:25 Matt Hoffman Maybe our kids will be so lucky.
00:08:55:25 - 00:08:55:25 Tyler Asay Yeah. Totally.
00:08:55:25 - 00:08:55:25 Matt Hoffman Yeah. But, I mean, so a still life revisited,
00:08:55:25 - 00:08:55:25 Tyler Asay Yes
00:08:55:25 - 00:09:00:18 Matt Hoffman Like, you guys put together a really fucking great record. It was one of my favorites of last year
00:09:00:18 - 00:09:00:19 Tyler Asay Than you so much.
00:09:00:19 - 00:09:00:19 Matt Hoffman Dude, I mean, thank you. As a fan,
00:09:00:19 - 00:09:00:19 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:09:00:19 - 00:09:00:19 Matt Hoffman I just I love listening to it.
00:09:00:19 - 00:09:33:16 Tyler Asay I appreciate that.
00:09:33:16 - 00:09:33:18 Matt Hoffman Yeah. You said you put it together over the course of three or so years.
00:09:33:18 - 00:09:58:27 Tyler Asay Yeah. We, we took the time. So we put out the Exile on Main Street record in 2022, which I people thought it was our, our first record because it was the first one. I think people started to hear. It was technically our third, and it was the first one after the pandemic where we could, cut it in like an actual studio and, like, tour it a little bit, still in a tiny capacity was the first one that kind of caught on too. And, once we finished that one, it was like, okay, let's make a record that people that we could, you could hear on the radio that had a like a bit of commercial commerciality to it. So we took time to really craft, parts like, like musical things that are happening in each song and each instrument is playing a specific part.
00:09:58:27 - 00:10:11:14 Unknown So, credit to Jason, our keyboard player, because he was kind of the, the producer of that record. And we, we really wanted to dial in every, like, every guitar. It's not just like strumming chords. It's not just like playing the bass.
00:10:11:14 - 00:10:24:23 Tyler Asay It's like the bass. There's bass lines that are working with the guitars to really create like pop elements and, exciting musical moments and each and each like, 10s of every song.
00:10:24:26 - 00:10:46:22 Matt Hoffman Well, and I mean, your, your band seems to have a really, like, awesomely broad musical vocabulary.
00:10:46:22 - 00:10:46:22 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:10:46:22 - 00:10:46:22 Matt Hoffman I remember when I saw you at, it was at a Philly music fest,
00:10:46:22 - 00:10:46:22 Tyler Asay Ok
00:10:46:22 - 00:10:46:22 Matt Hoffman maybe like six years ago.
00:10:46:22 - 00:11:10:12 Tyler Asay Was that Mondo Cosmo and Devin. Yeah, I remember that, it was fun
00:11:10:12 - 00:11:10:12 Matt Hoffman yeah. And, like, between songs, it's like, that's a Roy Hargrove song. The band is like.
00:11:10:12 - 00:11:10:14 Tyler Asay Yeah, Oh, that's that's like John and Banner are jazz guys, so they they are both like jazz school dudes.
00:11:10:14 - 00:11:10:14 Matt Hoffman Okay.
00:11:10:14 - 00:11:18:23 Tyler Asay Dan a little bit too. They're, he's a school of rock guys, so they all come from like gig gig life, you know, learning just chops building stuff.
00:11:18:23 - 00:11:18:23 Matt Hoffman Yeah.
00:11:18:23 - 00:11:18:23 Tyler Asay Like that. So I guess that has to do with like, the jam universe stuff too. It's kind of funny.
00:11:18:23 - 00:11:21:20 Matt Hoffman It's, it's it's just like it's layered really nicely. And again, seeing you, you know, up close at Johnny Brenda's
00:11:21:20 - 00:11:21:20 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:11:21:20 - 00:11:21:20 Matt Hoffman I think last week. Do you write songs? Just kind of you and a guitar. You, John and guitars.
00:11:21:20 - 00:11:47:04 Tyler Asay Totally. They always kind of start, with me just kind of playing this thing, in the basement and, like, kind of building demos and GarageBand or logic or whatever. And it's usually it starts with like a lyric or a melody idea. I it's only once I'm like, walking down the street and I'm humming something that's like repetitive in my ear.
00:11:47:04 - 00:12:07:10 Tyler Asay It's like, oh, that's something I want to develop. So that's kind of usually the nugget. And also with records, I like writing records that are thematically coherent too. So I'll kind of write two ideas that are exciting to me, that I can kind of bridge across a couple different songs, on my favorite records or concept records.
00:12:07:10 - 00:12:31:03 Unknown So I like to kind of build that identity. But yeah, once an idea has like once I've written the song, I'll bring it to John or Jason and we'll kind of add musical elements or develop them and yeah. And then there's songs on the the Select Revisited record that started with John sending me a musical idea like The Elephant Hotel.
00:12:31:05 - 00:13:01:12 Tyler Asay That was all. That was just a little 42nd music loop that John sent me that sounded like Vampire Weekend or something. And I, I looped it more and then added a bridge, and then I wrote a melody and lyrics over top of it. So a lot of my favorite Tisbury songs like that one, have come from me and John, like writing a song together, where I kind of take one of his something dumb that he makes that he doesn't think much of because he's like, oh, this is just something I made in like 30s.
00:13:01:12 - 00:13:20:02 Tyler Asay And I'm like, that's really cool. Why don't we take this and build it into a real song? So that was that song. The loss in the electricity song was kind of built that same way. The Paulette song on, the Exile on Main Street record. So. And I'm still, I'm still bugging John. Like, give me some stuff.
00:13:20:05 - 00:13:41:12 Tyler Asay Yeah. Let me let's work on some more music. But, yeah, I'm excited for what we do next to, because I'm really excited with work. We have like, ten songs that we're really, developing right now that I'm. I'm pumped to get out there.
00:13:41:12 - 00:13:41:12 Matt Hoffman Super cool.
00:13:41:12 - 00:13:41:12 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:13:41:12 - 00:13:41:12 Matt Hoffman And if I remember correctly, you guys, toured maybe once or a few times of Neon Trees over the last few years.
00:13:41:12 - 00:14:02:26 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah, that we did, 11 shows with them, last year
00:14:02:26 - 00:14:02:26 Matt Hoffman Ok
00:14:02:26 - 00:14:02:26 Tyler Asay In like 2025. So that was a super cool opportunity. They found us on TikTok, of all places
00:14:02:26 - 00:14:02:29 Matt Hoffman That's amazing
00:14:02:29 - 00:14:28:02 Tyler Asay It's and it's like, you got to play the game no matter what you think of, of TikTok or Instagram Reels or whatever is just throwing stuff up there, I feel like always helps. Not like doing dances or anything, but just just like you have your you spend money to make a music video. Just like, cut the music video in the, vertical format and throw 30s on it. And luckily an entry saw it and asked us to go on tour with them. So I was so gracious for that. We got some play and a lot of places I never thought we'd get to play, like Nashville and Asheville, North Carolina, Buffalo, New York.
00:14:28:02 - 00:14:53:23 Tyler Asay We played the Stone Pony with them the day our record came out, which was a total dream come true because like, Springsteen's my my number one favorite guy and and music. So, yeah, it was it was amazing.
00:14:53:23 - 00:14:53:23 Matt Hoffman So I feel like, let's take Still Life, for example.
00:14:53:23 - 00:14:53:23 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:14:53:23 - 00:14:53:23 Matt Hoffman I feel like a page that you took out of Springsteen's book just relates to kind of characters who are repeating
00:14:53:23 - 00:14:53:23 Tyler Asay yeah
00:14:53:23 - 00:14:53:23 Matt Hoffman songs
00:14:53:23 - 00:15:17:26 Tyler Asay that there's a Still Life Without You, that song. Yeah, that and that was part of the, invention of the record too, was, these kind of characters that were moving. The record had a lot to do with, like family history and, and memory. So I wanted these characters to kind of move from one part of life to the next over. It's actually supposed to be three songs, but the third song got cut from the record.
00:15:17:26 - 00:15:33:18 Tyler Asay It's like a demo that we never finished. It was going to be the last song on the record, but then we're like, oh, we can't not end the record with Lonesome Dove.
00:15:33:18 - 00:15:33:18 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:15:33:18 - 00:15:59:14 Tyler Asay It kind of is perfect for that. It was going to have like a little coda song in the end that maybe we'll release on a deluxe edition of the record at some point. But, yeah, yeah. There's the the Tom and Mary characters were, kind of the inception of the The Still Life Revisited. They just kind of two people moving in and out of a relationship over the course of like, decades. So. Yeah.
00:15:59:14 - 00:16:21:03 Matt Hoffman Well, and and of course, there's also the Jersey shore element, though, Springsteen wasn't a Margate guy necessarily.
00:16:21:03 - 00:16:21:03 Tyler Asay No. Yeah. But that's where like, my, my dad's from South Jersey. My mom used to work in Atlantic City. She, was, she was the manager at either the Hard Rock or the or Bally's or one of those casinos, but, Yeah. So that's kind of has a lot to do with my, my family history and. Yeah
00:16:21:05 - 00:16:42:29 Matt Hoffman Are, are either of your parents musicians, writers, creatives?
00:16:42:29 - 00:17:12:23 Tyler Asay My dad is. So I learned to play guitar from him. And, and John, but when I took piano lessons growing up and then learned guitar just from he would play, like, coffee shop gigs. So he'd do, like Jimmy Buffett cover. And I ate it at the bar that my mom was a waitress at. So that's. And then eventually I was like, opening for him and stuff. So it's cool to for to be full circle.
00:17:12:23 - 00:17:12:24 Matt Hoffman Yeah, yeah. Are you a Buffett guy?
00:17:12:24 - 00:17:12:24 Tyler Asay I am
00:17:12:24 - 00:17:12:24 Matt Hoffman I'm a massive fan
00:17:12:24 - 00:17:34:20 Tyler Asay Yeah, I appreciate him so much as a pure songwriter. Like, put aside all of the gimmicky Island Margaritaville commercial aspects. My first concert ever was Bruce Springsteen, and then my second concert ever was Jimmy Buffett in the Coral Reefer Band.
00:17:34:20 - 00:17:35:23 Matt Hoffman Wow. Do you remember when that was, the Buffett Show?
00:17:35:23 - 00:17:54:01 Tyler Asay It was Camden Waterfront. I was probably 13 or something.
00:17:54:01 - 00:17:54:01 Matt Hoffman I'm sure I was there.
00:17:54:01 - 00:17:54:01 Tyler Asay Yeah, it was like my, one of the first, like, I like big concerts. That was that same summer. And. Yeah, just as a showman and as someone who has built, like, a universe within his own discography.
00:17:54:01 - 00:17:54:01 Matt Hoffman yeah
00:17:54:01 - 00:18:20:01 Tyler Asay Yeah. Unbelievable. And they had some of those Buffett records, like, there's, like, deep cuts
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:01 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:01 Tyler Asay that I really love. Stars on the water. I know it's a cover, but, like, that's my favorite.
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:01 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:01 Tyler Asay Jimmy Buffett song. I assume you know Jammy Buffett, right?
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:01 Matt Hoffman We're, we're interviewing them next week.
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:01 Tyler Asay Nice.
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:01 Matt Hoffman Yeah. So they're they're opening for the dwellers at one of their shows.
00:18:20:01 - 00:18:20:03 Tyler Asay Yeah we just got them on nugs
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:20:03 Matt Hoffman Oh
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:20:03 Tyler Asay so, yeah, I we've been putting up a bunch of their shows.
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:20:03 Matt Hoffman I'm like, equal parts delighted that they exist.
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:20:03 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:20:03 Matt Hoffman And mad that I didn't come up with the idea.
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:20:03 Tyler Asay Yeah. Yeah, it's it's pretty brilliant. And it's cool that they do not just, Buffett covers, but then they'll like, go into like Jackson Browne
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:20:03 Matt Hoffman Yeah, and the Eagles
00:18:20:03 - 00:18:43:10 Tyler Asay yeah, like the world of that, kind of smooth folk, 70s rock. It's cool.
00:18:43:10 - 00:19:07:27 Matt Hoffman Well, a lot of his tunes, too. I mean, the early records are like, really singer songwriter kind of country
00:19:07:27 - 00:19:07:27 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah
00:19:07:27 - 00:19:07:27 Matt Hoffman I so there's an interview that Bob Dylan did with, like, rolling Stone in 1982.
00:19:07:27 - 00:19:07:27 Tyler Asay Did he say that Jimmy Buffett is his favorite songwriter or something crazy like, that's so Bob.
00:19:07:27 - 00:19:07:27 Matt Hoffman You just you never know whether he's sincere
00:19:07:27 - 00:19:07:27 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:19:07:27 - 00:19:07:27 Matt Hoffman or not.
00:19:07:27 - 00:19:07:29 Tyler Asay Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Jokerman lifestyle.
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Matt Hoffman Exactly. But there's video, I'll send it to you later of him and Joan Baez singing a pirate looks at 40 at like
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Tyler Asay Oh my god
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Matt Hoffman Newport Jazz in the 80's and a few.
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Tyler Asay Can you send me that?
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Matt Hoffman Absolutely. It's like it's.
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Tyler Asay Thats so cool
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Matt Hoffman I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it.
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Matt Hoffman So,
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:07:29 Tyler Asay I love it.
00:19:07:29 - 00:19:37:20 Matt Hoffman Yeah. Massive, massive fan of his. Who are some of the other songwriters who who do it for you?
00:19:37:20 - 00:19:37:20 Tyler Asay Yeah. Springsteen's got to be number one. I got to say, like Paul Westerberg and Jeff Tweedy, like that whole lineage of, the college rock stuff. Michael Stipe, I love R.E.M.. I think that's maybe the band that influenced us the most. Like, that's probably the the closest comp in terms of sound of like, what I'm going for at least is something like R.E.M., talk about a band that has just like, evolved from like one era to the next and just only got better.
00:19:37:27 - 00:19:58:08 Matt Hoffman Well, yeah, that's what I was going to ask. Like, R.E.M. kind of means a lot of different things depending on
00:19:58:08 - 00:19:58:08 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:19:58:08 - 00:19:58:08 Matt Hoffman which which eras of theirs really resonate with you?
00:19:58:08 - 00:20:38:11 Tyler Asay All of them. I don't really know, like the later records. But the, the, the first one, I kind of got into murmur in college and that, like, kind of was life changing for me. And then kind of I would go to, the Madd Platter in Westchester, which is, a record store that doesn't exist anymore. But, I would go buy a used R.E.M. CD, and I kind of went from murmur to reckoning to, fables to. And just like through the discography and, man. And it's just like to track the evolution to then their major label stuff is like it's all really good, but like, murmur is still, the, the one for me, but, I kind of when I'm like, where, like when we were working on the still life revisited, I was listening to Life's Rich Pageant a lot because it's like, that's their fourth record. Like, how can we make our fourth record kind of emulate that in certain ways? And so now I'm like, now that we're on, we're about to make album five. I'm like, document, that's the one for me. So, I'll be listening to document a lot over the next like two years.
00:20:38:11 - 00:21:04:08 Tyler Asay To prepare so just to like, be in that mindset, you know
00:21:04:08 - 00:21:04:08 Matt Hoffman For me, I mean, I was a teenager, or maybe a pre-teen when, Out of Time came out. And, of course, like, you know, radio was king then and Philly had a ton of amazing radio stations. So, like, you know, Eagle 106 or whatever was, you know, was was playing, you know, like the singles from that. Then of course, automatic just like exploded.
00:21:04:08 - 00:21:27:16 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah.
00:21:27:16 - 00:21:27:16 Matt Hoffman But the ones that I come back to now, over time, it's Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
00:21:27:16 - 00:21:44:26 Tyler Asay Okay. Yeah
00:21:44:26 - 00:21:44:26 Matt Hoffman Just like. And those are, you know, not like people's go to image of R.E.M. necessarily.
00:21:44:26 - 00:22:15:01 Tyler Asay Monster, like, kind of a joke because it's like the ultimate bargain bin CD. Like, I work at a record, I work at Mainstream Music up in Manayunk, and that's probably the number one used CD we get in is Monster by R.E.M.. But it is a great record. When they did that remix reissue for like the was it the 20th anniversary recently
00:22:15:01 - 00:22:15:01 Matt Hoffman I think so, yeah.
00:22:15:01 - 00:22:15:01 Tyler Asay Or maybe
00:22:15:01 - 00:22:15:01 Matt Hoffman Maybe the 25th
00:22:15:01 - 00:22:36:17 Tyler Asay Eight years ago or something. I got back, I was like, oh, actually, Monster is really good
00:22:36:17 - 00:22:36:17 Matt Hoffman It really is.
00:22:36:17 - 00:22:36:17 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:22:36:17 - 00:22:36:17 Matt Hoffman There's a tune on there. I'm forgetting the name. It's like, let it go or let me go, or unless that's on New Adventures in Hi-Fi, one of them, it's just like, it's just like Peter Buck playing an electric guitar and Stipe singing over it.
00:22:36:17 - 00:22:36:17 Matt Hoffman Yeah, it's just
00:22:36:17 - 00:22:36:17 Matt Hoffman pure butter.
00:22:36:17 - 00:22:36:17 Matt Hoffman Oh yeah, amazing, amazing. I love those guys. So. Well. So I know that kind of, you know, themes are a big part of how you think about, you know, songwriting and also constructing the album. What are some of the ideas in your mind as you work on the new one?
00:22:36:19 - 00:23:06:14 Tyler Asay Yeah. Well, just like, I was saying earlier about, we did the The Still Life Revisited record was like very much a studio thing, like nothing was cut live. Everything was like, we're dialing in every little part. We're like comping and stuff and just making sure it's like air tight for for radio and, like, not commerciality, but just like to get to get people interested, you know?
00:23:06:16 - 00:23:35:22 Tyler Asay But, and now I'm like, totally overcorrecting to do the next thing where it's like, now I want to do it totally live in the studio, like all of us playing, just make something that's really, really raw and organic. I kind of been doing the same thing for for lyric, for thematic ideas to where the the Still Life Revisited record was like super personal and like about, like, family and stuff and like, I'm writing about my own life.
00:23:35:24 - 00:23:57:28 Tyler Asay So now it's like we're totally overcorrecting and it's like, I'm totally going external for the next one, for like, what we've been writing, where it's just like kind of what's going on and not totally like, I don't want to say like political, like, this is our fucked Trump record, but it is like I've been writing about, like the media and just like how people are just all fucked up.
00:23:58:05 - 00:24:23:08 Tyler Asay Can I curse on here?
00:24:23:08 - 00:24:23:08 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:24:23:08 - 00:24:43:19 Tyler Asay It doesn't matter. Okay. Yeah. Just like how? And social media. Just, like, kind of messing with people's brains and, just trying to get out of my own head and just more in the, in the world. Global warming, all that fun stuff. Yeah. So, that's kind of where I'm at right now in terms of, we're still deciding on a title, but I kind of have the everything sketched out. I know the vibes where we're going for. So, yeah
00:24:43:19 - 00:24:43:19 Matt Hoffman a friend sent me a meme the other day at something like, you know, when folk music gets good again, that's not a good sign
00:24:43:19 - 00:24:43:19 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:24:43:19 - 00:24:43:19 Matt Hoffman for like, thinking totally. There's, plenty of plenty of stuff to talk about.
00:24:43:19 - 00:24:43:21 Tyler Asay Oh my God. Jesse Wells shout out.
00:24:43:21 - 00:24:43:21 Matt Hoffman Yeah, yeah, for sure.
00:24:43:21 - 00:25:09:20 Matt Hoffman Well, and also, it's funny what you mentioned about the kind of, you know, bouncing back and forth a little bit in terms of approach record to record.
00:25:09:20 - 00:25:09:20 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:25:09:20 - 00:25:09:20 Matt Hoffman What you were saying made me think of Dawes.
00:25:09:20 - 00:25:09:23 Tyler Asay Oh, yeah, and speaking of Mike Viola. That was kind of when we were, looking at the next one, we were looking at the record that I thought the new Dawes record that they just made with Mike was their best one in a while.
00:25:09:23 - 00:25:09:23 Matt Hoffman Agreed
00:25:09:23 - 00:25:30:10 Tyler Asay Nothing against those, like experimental jammy records. They made The Misadventures of Doom Scroller
00:25:30:10 - 00:25:30:10 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:25:30:10 - 00:25:30:10 Tyler Asay or something, right. Which are cool experiments, but like, I like to hear just the brothers singing together and, like, writing really good songs. And the sound of that record with Mike is really, really great. Sorry. Where are we going? Sorry.
00:25:30:15 - 00:25:30:29 Matt Hoffman Oh, no. I'm so like, I think of all your favorite bands.
00:25:30:29 - 00:25:30:29 Tyler Asay Yes, yes
00:25:30:29 - 00:25:48:03 Matt Hoffman very much a live record.
00:25:48:03 - 00:25:48:03 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:25:48:03 - 00:25:48:03 Matt Hoffman You know, versus really the one before and the one after, like, I think they kind of leaned more into the studio.
00:25:48:03 - 00:25:48:05 Tyler Asay I love Dawes.
00:25:48:05 - 00:25:48:05 Matt Hoffman Oh, dude, I could talk about them all day.
00:25:48:05 - 00:25:48:05 Tyler Asay Yeah
00:25:48:05 - 00:25:48:05 Matt Hoffman I have, I have a Taylor.
00:25:48:05 - 00:25:48:05 Tyler Asay Oh, wow.
00:25:48:05 - 00:26:06:18 Matt Hoffman Tattoo on my forearm.
00:26:06:18 - 00:26:06:18 Tyler Asay Yeah. They're like number one on those bands that i'd like to open for, and play with.
00:26:06:18 - 00:26:06:18 Matt Hoffman Yeah, dude, they are. They are the best.
00:26:06:18 - 00:26:06:18 Tyler Asay They came in. They they've played, Main Street Music, the record store.
00:26:06:18 - 00:26:06:18 Matt Hoffman Yeah, they've done in stores back in the day.
00:26:06:18 - 00:26:07:24 Tyler Asay Yeah. They were just there, to promote the last record, and I got to chit chat very briefly with Taylor, but
00:26:07:24 - 00:26:07:24 Matt Hoffman Wow
00:26:07:24 - 00:26:08:01 Tyler Asay he's he's super nice.
00:26:08:01 - 00:26:30:01 Matt Hoffman He is. Yeah. so I also really love the new record. I also I like the one they did with Blake Mills, which was super experimental coming like
00:26:30:01 - 00:26:30:01 Tyler Asay we're all gonna die.
00:26:30:01 - 00:26:30:01 Matt Hoffman Yeah
00:26:30:01 - 00:26:30:01 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah I like one. I really like
00:26:30:01 - 00:26:30:01 Matt Hoffman Passwords. Didn't do a ton for me.
00:26:30:01 - 00:26:30:01 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:26:30:01 - 00:26:30:01 Matt Hoffman After that, not as much, Doom Scroller a bit, but this last one is is fantastic.
00:26:30:02 - 00:26:31:04 Tyler Asay Oh. For sure. Yeah.
00:26:31:07 - 00:26:46:15 Tyler Asay And I'm excited to see what they do next, because everything with the, I know they were really affected by, like, the Altadena fires. They just did that. Did you see it?
00:26:46:15 - 00:26:46:15 Matt Hoffman I did, I watched it on nugs.
00:26:46:15 - 00:26:46:15 Tyler Asay Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Then bringing Brandon Flowers up and doing Springsteen was like, God tier to me.
00:26:46:15 - 00:26:46:15 Matt Hoffman Oh, yeah
00:26:46:15 - 00:27:06:20 Tyler Asay I'm sure whatever they got in the can next will be great.
00:27:06:20 - 00:27:06:20 Matt Hoffman Yeah.
00:27:06:20 - 00:27:06:20 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:27:06:20 - 00:27:06:20 Matt Hoffman No, they're they're wonderful. And the, the new Basement Tapes record that he was a part of?
00:27:06:20 - 00:27:06:20 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:27:06:20 - 00:27:06:20 Matt Hoffman Years ago was just wonderful. I could I could talk about those guys all day.
00:27:06:20 - 00:27:06:20 Tyler Asay for sure. Yeah.
00:27:06:20 - 00:27:06:22 Matt Hoffman Well, so I know, you brought your guitar.
00:27:06:22 - 00:27:12:10 Tyler Asay Yeah.
00:27:12:10 - 00:27:12:10 Matt Hoffman I would love to hear you play
00:27:12:10 - 00:27:12:10 Tyler Asay Let's do it
00:27:12:10 - 00:27:12:10 Matt Hoffman a song from Still Life.
00:27:12:12 - 00:27:25:22 Tyler Asay This is Forever by the Tisbury, from, the album A Still Life Revisited.
00:27:25:25 - 00:28:03:26 Tyler Asay [performance]
00:29:59:14 - 00:30:01:15 Matt Hoffman love the songs that you write.
00:30:01:18 - 00:30:06:03 Matt Hoffman The melody. It's just everything. Come.
00:30:06:03 - 00:30:06:05 Tyler Asay Thank you so much.
00:30:06:05 - 00:30:21:17 Matt Hoffman In a way that feels really, familiar, original, comforting. I mean, I grew up here. It's it's wonderful. I,
00:30:21:17 - 00:30:21:17 Tyler Asay I really appreciate it.
00:30:21:17 - 00:30:21:17 Matt Hoffman Yeah. I would love to have you and the rest of the band back on at some other points.
00:30:21:17 - 00:30:21:17 Tyler Asay LP five is out. Yeah, we'll do it.
00:30:21:17 - 00:30:55:12 Matt Hoffman So excited. When, when are you targeting for a release?
00:30:55:12 - 00:30:55:12 Tyler Asay Probably, definitely next year. Just so we can get all our ducks in order in terms of, like, setting up tours and stuff? Yeah, because all that stuff it's planned so far ahead for. So sometime in 2027 I would think would was like, we have to make the record. I definitely want to, like spend, a short, or not a short, but like a long weekend, like just cranking it out and in a studio, maybe minor street, I don't know, maybe.
00:30:55:12 - 00:31:17:25 Matt Hoffman Maybe Boom Room. Who knows?
00:31:17:25 - 00:31:17:25 Tyler Asay Yeah, yeah, maybe we actually, we're doing it a track next weekend at Studio Four in Conshohocken
00:31:17:25 - 00:31:17:25 Matt Hoffman Oh, cool
00:31:17:25 - 00:31:17:28 Tyler Asay with Ron de Silvestro. He's running like, a recording seminar, and we're like his, band. Like, it's for, like, producers and engineers to, like, come and see how the the, the chicken gets made.
00:31:17:28 - 00:31:19:03 Matt Hoffman The Sausage
00:31:19:03 - 00:31:19:03 Tyler Asay The sausage.
00:31:19:03 - 00:31:28:20 Unknown There we go. The chicken sausage. How the chicken sausage is made. And we are has, like, guinea pigs that we, So we're going to record a track, with him.
00:31:28:20 - 00:31:35:05 Matt Hoffman Oh, I can't wait to hear.
00:31:35:05 - 00:31:35:05 Tyler Asay Yeah. So we'll probably put that out, in the spring. It's a song that will probably be on the record. So we'll there'll be tastes out there and it's like, nice to just keep putting music out and, juice the algorithm and stuff, but, yeah
00:31:35:05 - 00:31:53:21 Matt Hoffman yeah. Singles eventually turned into albums.
00:31:53:21 - 00:31:53:21 Tyler Asay Exactly. Yeah. Building it over time.
00:31:53:21 - 00:31:53:21 Matt Hoffman So. Yeah. Dude, thanks again so much.
00:31:53:21 - 00:31:53:21 Tyler Asay Thank you. I really. Yeah.
00:31:53:21 - 00:31:53:21 Matt Hoffman That was fun.
00:31:53:21 - 00:31:53:21 Tyler Asay Thanks for having