SPN20 Music Extravaganza: Driver Picks the Music - Fan Artists Take Center Stage

In this special collaboration episode between Denim-wrapped Nightmares and In Defense of Fandom, hosts LA, Berly, and Sadie dive deep into the world of Supernatural-inspired music—because apparently, watching two gorgeous brothers hunt monsters for 15 seasons wasn't enough.

FEATURED ARTISTS:

🎵 Jackson Taylor explains how a freak accident and Dean Winchester literally saved his life. Nothing says "casual fan" quite like collecting SPN merch, writing multiple songs, and creating an entire anime project. He's not a fanboy though. Definitely not. 🔗https://www.officialjacksontaylor.com/

🎵 Angel and the Deathlights discuss their hit "If You're Dean Winchester, I'm Misha Collins"—a play on an old emo track about being desperately in love with a fictional character. They also geek out about cutting vinyl records on 1940s analog equipment. 🔗https://music.apple.com/us/artist/angel-the-deathlights/1681200167

🎵 Ambush Vin shares how Supernatural stayed constant through two marriages and reveals his "bio rap" tribute to Dean. When asked if he'll write one for Sam, he admits everyone asks him that. Sorry, Sam fans—Dean's just that guy. 🔗https://ambushvin.com/

🎵 Nathan Ball explains how his band Southbound Fearing accidentally wrote a Billboard Top 10 hit with Supernatural themes, despite him being the only fan in the group. Picture a tour bus full of musicians while Nathan's in the back streaming episodes on his iPhone 5. 🔗https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/bury-the-fear/1737653619

🎵 Reyna Roberts reveals how a teenage crush on Dean Winchester became her first country song—and eventually led to working with Beyoncé. She's now the "Princess of Outlaw Country," but still gets shy thinking about whether Jensen Ackles has heard her thirsty lyrics. 🔗https://reynaroberts.com/

Whether you're into outlaw country, emo-pop, bio raps, or Southern rock, this episode proves that Supernatural's musical influence extends far beyond AC/DC and Kansas. As we are at the midpoint of our musical Supernatural journey, please check out these playlists of songs featured in our episodes so far!

• Apple Music
• YouTube Music
• Spotify

Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go Shazam some classic rock while crying about found family.

Content Warning: Contains discussions of addiction, SH, and depression. If you need help, please call 988.

Catchup on Supernatural Music Extravaganza episodes at https://linktr.ee/SPN20

Transcript

Dean Winchester: 0:00

House rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music. Shotgun shuts his cake off.

LA: 0:04

Welcome back to the Denim Rap Nightmares and Indefensive Fandom podcast across the word. Supernatural music is drama guns up. And in this collaboration series, we're looking at music in the show. Music inspired by the show is created by actors, cats, and group. Today's episode focuses on music inspired by the show. Earlier this year, Merle and the past nightmares list to suggest a few artists from the SPN Phantom. We were fortunate enough to vote everyone recommended. Who's first?

Berly: 0:37

Jackson Taylor and Senate offers a raw blend of Outlaw Country, Punk Energy, and Southern Rock. Since 2001, Jackson has independently released over a dozen albums with multiple Billboard Top 100 appearances, building a devoted following through relentless tour. His new album, Red Lights, is scheduled for release on December 26, 2025, and will include the single Hooking Call, which was recently released. In addition to paying homage to Supernatural in his albums, he has amassed an impressive collection of SPN March and is currently working on an anime project. Quick note, Jackson mentions he is friends with Cliff Costerman. For those who don't know, Cliff guest starred on Supernatural before serving as personal bodyguard and driver for Jared Hadaletti and his knuckles throughout the book.

Jackson Taylor: 2:28

Transplanted oaky, like you know, Northern California redneck meets high-end coffee beans. Whatever that is, you know, whatever that, you know, in that area. I've lived everywhere, basically. Kind of a bohemian, I guess.

Berly: 2:43

Can you talk to us a little bit about your musical background, how you got started?

Jackson Taylor: 2:47

I fell in love with Elvis. Like, I don't remember ever not like loving Elvis. I listened to every day. I see pictures every day. I do paintings, and every time I see that dude, I'm still like, it still shocks me that there's a human being that looked like that. You know what I mean? And then I hear him, it's like it's just there's nothing like him. There's there's no charisma like that guy. He's he's he's his own thing, you know. And uh I saw the the Hawaii satellite concert when I was three. It was aired, and it hit me so hard then that I still remember. So that's what I my whole life I've just wanted to be all this.

Berly: 3:17

Oh, I love that.

Jackson Taylor: 3:18

My first single was out in in the mid-80s. It was like uh I was part of the whole Seattle thing, except for um I was like into uh Wayland Jennings and Sam Cook. It's still like kind of music I do. It just didn't really have a a place then. We didn't have the internet back then, so I just kind of uh moved on doing other things. I always kept playing music though. When when I had got a writing deal in Nashville in '97, I didn't even know who Tim McGraw was. Like I didn't know anybody where there was. I just I just I don't I don't I don't like listening to country music, I listen to honk and talk music. You know, I I listen to kind of like old scuff like Buck Owens and Hank Williams and things like that, you know, Merle Haggard, the Wayland Willie. You know, I think the last last country guy I got into was Dwight Yoakum, like in '85. Country radio. We still get mixed in somehow with that. I think it's just the hat. I think so.

Sadie Witkowski: 4:07

I think they're like, oh, it must be all the same. You know, you're like, no, no, no, no. Not all the same.

Jackson Taylor: 4:11

I even had a song called Country Song that explains people. I'm not that's not what I am.

Berly: 4:16

What do you think about the music on Supernatural?

Jackson Taylor: 4:20

I love it. I think I think it's the best that they it's the best uh show for music they they got out. You may have not seen the have you you haven't seen the one with uh Bob Seeker yet with uh with um oh baby, yeah.

Sadie Witkowski: 4:31

When they when they play uh night moves, it's so good.

Jackson Taylor: 4:35

He comes, he waits for his brother, you know. Sam hooks up with some chick, and his brother waits out in the car for him, and he comes out and starts playing night moves, and like I'm literally making the hairstone in my arms right now, you know, because it's it's it's like that's a real thing. That's something that you you and your boys do, you know. It's like a it's a moment, they really captured it.

Berly: 4:50

Since you discovered it on Netflix, have you seen season one on a DVD or a Blu-ray yet?

Jackson Taylor: 4:56

Yeah, I've got the whole collection.

Berly: 4:57

Okay, good.

Jackson Taylor: 4:58

Okay, because I've do you have the comic books?

Berly: 5:00

I don't have the comic books. I just know that they had to change the music in season one.

Jackson Taylor: 5:05

Do you have the coloring book?

Berly: 5:07

I've seen it, I don't own it.

Jackson Taylor: 5:08

Do you have do you have the anime series?

Berly: 5:10

I we've seen it, yeah. We we've watched it. I uh I don't think Sadie's seen the whole thing. Actually, we didn't watch the whole thing, we only watched a few episodes.

Sadie Witkowski: 5:18

I worked in a little bit, I like I'm an anime fan, and it kind of just it was a bad mix for me. I was like, Oh, it's not hitting either vibe that I wanted.

Jackson Taylor: 5:27

Supernatural is is to anything that strays from that, it's not gonna be quite as you know. I was gonna do like a fan art thing because I'm I'm I want to learn how to write episodes and and and make my own my own like little animes and stuff, and because I do comic books and stuff too, and I thought, well, I write songs. I I'll what I'll do is I wrote that song Blessed 45, which is about the show. And um my Boss Burger guy got it to some some guys and from uh um the show who and Cliff, you know, he's Cliff is uh do you know Cliff? He's just he's their uh their bodyguard on so he's a good buddy of mine now, too. So he's actually contacted me. And so I'm actually I'm actually about to send the new video, but um, so I'm I got to know Cliff through the song, you know, and he's like the the greatest guy.

Berly: 6:11

Yeah, he's really sweet, he's at the conventions a lot. So talk to me a little bit more about Blessed 45. Was there a specific scene that inspired you to write that or just the show as a whole?

Jackson Taylor: 6:22

I was writing uh a record for a buddy of mine who's uh he's a great Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash tribute artist. He's too good not to have his own his own record. He didn't have one, he just needs the Johnny Cash stuff. So I wrote a bunch of songs, kind of in a Johnny Cash. Actually, my whole last record, uh uh JTS in Memphis, was an album I wrote for him. It just we could never get things worked out at the same time. So I went to Memphis and and we went to Sun Studios and I stayed in Ellis' apartment and just we recorded it all there. And uh that was just one of the songs that it just popped in my head.

Berly: 6:51

Did you decide beforehand that you wanted to have that sound bite from the show there, or was that picked in after?

Jackson Taylor: 6:57

It was probably after, yeah. It was after. So we did we did a a video of of the song when we first did it, and it was just videos from the show. It was like it was like it was like uh like closure stuff, but they wouldn't let us push it on YouTube because of uh, you know, it's copyrighted material. So we just actually redid one and we're using my am anime characters. So Blessed 45 now is gonna be uh a short anime every week, like uh six to ten minutes, and then um there's also a short story to go with it on Substack, and then like a uh audiobook for the short story. Uh that's why I'm so busy. And I'm also doing like six pages of uh of a comic book every week. So uh now it's it's I start off as just like a song supernatural. But um so I have these two characters, but they're in the 50s. It's it's it's it would start out just a little more as a like in fan art to to kind of uh to to learn stuff with.

LA: 7:43

Uh uh.

Jackson Taylor: 7:43

But it's uh it's kind of become its own thing now. So I'm pretty I'm pretty pumped about that. You know, it's not so much, it's not them so much. It's it's like it's uh it's a brother and an adopted brother, uh and they drive around in a 57 Chevy. They're actually more uh lonesome dove than they are uh supernatural, than they are Sam and Dean. They're the more Gus and Call. But the aesthetics uh, you know, with the with the Black Chevy and and Hunt Monsters is pretty supernatural, but it's it's it's a very different tone, but I think if you like supernatural, uh you'll get enough of the of the the fan stuff in it because I'm I'm like Sam Uber fan. My little anime thing has it kind of supernatural stuff all the way through it. I'm not a fanboy, I don't I don't watch I don't watch TV. I watch Bobsburgers and South Park, and then I got into Supernatural in 2014. It's very weird how I got into it, but like that freaking show may have like literally saved my life. And you hear that a lot with I always try to tell people, I'm like, my my buddies that know me, you know, like they're like, What is dude? What are you watching? I'm like, you understand, dude? Like, I'm Dean, dude. You don't get it. It's just it's great. It was a great show.

Berly: 8:54

Yeah, yeah, and and it's still going strong. Uh over COVID, it got completely refreshed with a whole new fan base.

Jackson Taylor: 9:01

So I never I'd never heard of it until uh 2014 because I said I didn't watch TV, so I I Netflix is was my window. I'd binge I got in a bad accident and I had to cancel like months of shows. It was a really bad, bad thing. And uh and uh man, I I went through everything and I just kept passing by these uh two male model guys. I'm like, oh fuck, so watch house again or whatever. And then I forgot stuff to watch. I started watching it, and I was like, Yeah, you know, that Eric Crypto didn't bring that out of a out of a vacuum. And that that's uh that's butcher's sundance. I mean that it's it's it's your classic buddy film, you know. What I like so much is that especially in the first uh nine episodes, Dean is like one of the first traditionally masculine uh people I've seen on TV. You know they they they don't show guys like that very often. And that's I was that's what I was like so I was surprised by that. You you have to when you say it, you'll you'll know what I mean. By by taking anime and kind of you know, it's it's it's not really supernatural uh fan art anymore, but it's uh it's really steeped in it.

Berly: 10:03

Yeah, I follow you. Just like supernatural isn't Star Wars, but Eric Kripke talks all the time about how Sam is Luke and Dean is on solo.

Jackson Taylor: 10:12

And that's the it's it's a class. That's what I'm saying. It's a classic story that goes back to the show's very important to me. It's like it means a lot to me. Like more like I don't like I have to be honest with you, I don't give a shit about actors at all. The work, the show, what they would have put out and and when I found it and how I found it and what it got me through was like I said, I my hand would destroy it. We we'd had a big record, it was doing great. We had months and months worth of sold out shows, everything was like popping again. I was like, I'm gonna tith come back. I'm totally independent and I'm always getting in trouble. So you know it's I can't believe I've been making a living doing this for 25 years, but it was after two pretty big good records, both on billboard and a freak accident destroyed my hand. All the momentum had a drop, and it was like so it was so bad. The pain was so bad, right? That um it's like I was watching everything I'd I'd built was just falling away because I couldn't tour, couldn't couldn't do anything, and uh and then uh I just I started watching that show. It was like literally, and and I'd gotten off opiates and I for the pain I got back on them. Right, yeah, and opiate junkie again too. So it's like I got literally to the point where there's there's days where I literally I was like, I'm I like literally this gonna blow my head off if I wanted to see what happened first of the next next show. You know what I mean? And so that that show I was in such a dark area, it just it was just uh normally I know I said I didn't even know it was out for the first uh what uh 10 years, you know. It was just it just uh the predicament I was in and what they were always going through. Because you know, Dean's the first guy on TV I ever saw TV that uh represented like like me or the guys I grew up with, you know, the type of men I grew up with. You know, you don't see those guys on uh on TV that much, you know. And so it was just it was a real it was a really weird thing, man. Like I said, I I it's the only TV show I'm like that. Uh the only one. And I love South Park and Bob's Burgers, but that's that's different. But like drama TV show, yeah, it's the only one. When we went and cut the um the Blessed 45 song, we were we were in Austin for like three days shooting the video, like, and then I just went ahead and made a a weird no no, it was it was this one's about a song called uh it's a song called Long Live Lovers. And uh there's uh my my drummer called me he was in this message at the end of it. And so I had I had to I had to put it on at the end of the in the song. It's not it's not even the the supernatural song, but uh it's a song where I use a bunch of uh it's where I start taking like collages of of things online and trying to make a story out of them, you know. I used a bunch of supernatural ones and he and he called, he's like, Yeah, he goes, uh so the video. Uh I was uh a little surprised by it mainly because we're not in it. Because we were awesome for two days and nothing's there, it just seems to be a lot of supernatural. Dean in particular, he's like, I know you're a fan of the show. And so like I've driven everyone, I know completely naturally.

Sadie Witkowski: 13:27

Condoleon's production incorporates vintage analog equipment, giving their pop culture-inspired sound a distinctly old school character.

Angel Gajraj: 13:40

Only a little ghost can you feel me trying to hold you close. You are a new day on your voice is hard to take me today like yesterday. Yesterday was more sincere a way to make you socks. You are honestly just unaware of the erotic sounds that you can try, and I have no intention of losing your intoxicating son. Your every day I'll ever spend a tie. You cross a lie, but I would never push you far away. Reasons why should bury you behind. I use your eye.

Sadie Witkowski: 14:39

Here's our conversation with Angel and Michael.

Angel Gajraj: 14:45

Yeah, uh, so I'm Angel from the Death Lights, and this is Mikey from the Death Lights. He's also from Birds in the Boneyard and Delkota and Odd Brothers. I've got a lot of things. Yeah, the room really represents how talented this man is.

Sadie Witkowski: 15:01

I was gonna say there's a lot of old school tech in there too.

Michael Condoleon: 15:05

Yeah, and we use some of it uh to record uh angels songs. Yeah, I don't think we've gone to all of it. No, we have used this tape machine though. It's actually on here still. Like the the is literally like it's still on the it's bumping up against the other machine right now. There we go.

Angel Gajraj: 15:26

Yeah, yeah, so that was the one we recorded on film.

Michael Condoleon: 15:29

That's the only one we did, right? Yeah, on tape. Yeah, we recorded that one on tape, yeah. And it it like he came to me with it, and then I was like, Oh, we couldn't get the TV working for you. Yeah, I was trying to get the old TV on. We use the TV and all his all his songs. There's like it like taps into some weird radio like waves because it's an old TV from the 40s.

Angel Gajraj: 15:50

I don't think we used it on MediaCon.

Michael Condoleon: 15:51

No, we didn't. No, we used it in the song right after that. Um but yeah, we we I you know I like old stuff, I think it sounds better and and uh and it's exciting and fun to use and frame out with so um so um I guess you can just talk about it.

Sadie Witkowski: 16:07

Um you guys I was gonna write can you tell us about the start of Angel and the Deathlights? Like how did how did that project get started? How did you start creating music? Was it inspired by Supernatural? Like, have at it.

Angel Gajraj: 16:20

Well, you know, I saw Supernatural when I was like a teenager, so it might it definitely have some influence on me uh for sure. But um I've been writing like songs my whole life, but uh I really didn't get into it until I was able to record with Mikey. Like I've had like teenage bands, but they weren't really like real bands, in my opinion. Uh but yeah, I had like three songs that I wanted to record and I wanted to keep it for myself, really. I wasn't gonna put it out, but it came out so good, and they were like well received. So I was like, Alright, let me let me release it. And then when those three did so well, like Nisha Collins was the most popular one out of the gate almost. Yeah, so we were like, okay, we gotta do volume two, and that's how we got started on that. And that one is actually pretty well received, you know, it's for a local band that has not done any shows, it has been well received. So now we're working on volume three, which uh I think now, like Mikey, it's gonna be ten. I'm telling Mikey now, it's gonna be like ten songs.

Michael Condoleon: 17:22

Yeah, it's so exciting. Yeah, we uh we literally came in earlier like two hours ago, and we started listening to some of the stuff that we already recorded on this newest volume, and it's really it's it's coming out, it came out really great.

Angel Gajraj: 17:37

Yeah, this one will be out uh soon, I think. I want it to be out before the summer's old.

Michael Condoleon: 17:43

Yeah, there's one track specifically that we're both like, oh, it's so good. We have to put it out like now, but um, we just got the drums finished. Uh I just had my brother um who's a bass player put the bass in. It's funny, I feel like all the bands that that were involved with, like, even like from birds to Delkota to even Holy Vulture, like it's all like very like we have this weird like ancestral band relationship where it's like everybody just plays for everybody else's bands and certain like things, you know, because we grew up most of us grew up playing together, right? So like there's a chemistry that is that is is so undeniably tight in that aspect where like most of the takes on all the songs that we track are like it's like three takes at most, and it's like the drummer that we that that that um that we use on on all this stuff on all the recording stuff, is um probably one of the most found singers also that we know.

Sadie Witkowski: 18:45

Um tell us a little bit about creating so you've been calling Misha Collins, but the full title of a music is if you're Dean Winchester, I'm Misha Collins. Yeah, tell us about the song.

Angel Gajraj: 18:59

So the name is uh a play on an old emo song from Sleeping with Sirens. I don't know if you're familiar with them, but it's called If You're James Dean or If I'm James Dean, you're Audrey Heffern. Yeah, so it was kind of a play on that because I I'm an emo writer at heart, you know. Like all my I think I think that comes across. All my songs are pretty emotional, I think. Um so it's kind of a play on that one. Um so I was it was gonna be like Dean Winchester and Castell, but Misha Collins just kind of sounded better to me. And the song itself, uh I I kind of it's it's weird because maybe it didn't start out that way. But I think the song the song uh represents my relationship with the person I wrote it for, kind of similarly to the way Misha Collins probably feels about the character of Dean Winchester. Like not even not even Jensen A. Like the way I view it is cast like Dean Misha Collins plays a guy who's in love. With Dean Winchester. That's just fandom speak. He's not action. Like in the show, in the show, they're more like bugs. Like the fandom has turned it into, you know, like, no, they they love each other. Like Castell is an angel, and if he wasn't in if he wasn't possessing a guy, it's totally about that, like for sure.

Sadie Witkowski: 20:19

I like that you did kind of break that into both the fandom and then also kind of the meta fandom of like, but this actor playing this character, like if he's playing this character that's in love with this guy, then it's like, nope, I'm in love with the character. We we're committing to it.

Angel Gajraj: 20:31

Like, I really like the way that you think he does commit to it later on. I think like he reached the college just goes with what the fandom thinks.

Sadie Witkowski: 20:39

Well, do you feel like the lyrics also so you said the lyrics were originally written for kind of a relationship that you had with someone, but you feel like it also reflects on to the supernatural experience as well. Have you have you thought any of the style of your writing is influenced by the show? Because I mean the show is such like a classic rock, like it has a very clear musical direction.

Angel Gajraj: 21:02

Uh yeah, I'm I'm very much like Dean, you know. Well, I don't know, Dean kind of comes across as like this tough guy, but he listens to like glam rock and like hair rock, you know, like from the 80s, like uh like Asia.

Sadie Witkowski: 21:14

Yeah. So but so I for hair supply.

Angel Gajraj: 21:17

I I listen to all of that. Like I love all those. If it came on on the radio, like uh I don't know if you guys have 101.1 out there, but they play like all the oldies from like the 70s, 80s, 90s. So I'll I'll just throw that on in the car. So I'm always listening to hair rock, really. Yeah, oh yeah. Don't don't I look like a like a hero.

Sadie Witkowski: 21:39

Like, I've got the whole aesthetic, man. I'm ready for it.

Angel Gajraj: 21:42

It's got beautiful hair, it's crazy. Yeah, so that's totally I'm yeah, I'm I'm calling it glam rock, like with a con negative connotation, but no, that's totally that's totally me.

Michael Condoleon: 21:53

Um in the process of him recording, um I mean I remembered there was a lot of pushback on recording Misha Collins. Was it? Yeah, like you didn't want to record it because it was something that I like remembered that you had written maybe that was maybe that was or was that channel or was that channel three? I think it was Misha Collins.

Angel Gajraj: 22:18

It might have been Misha Collins, and you were like, I don't want to record this because you know so it so it it meant a lot to me, but like that song specifically does mean a lot to me. And just all my songs do, so there's I think there's always a little pushback whenever I do, or at least in the beginning. Because like I said, I didn't really want to release any of the songs, I just wanted to like listen to it for me.

Sadie Witkowski: 22:40

Uh sorry I was gonna say, were you worried about like fan reaction to the song? Like, were you or were you like it doesn't matter, no one will know about it?

Angel Gajraj: 22:48

Yeah, no one was gonna hear it anyway. Like, yeah, so maybe it was just me, you know, getting in my own head.

Michael Condoleon: 22:54

Uh but there was significant pushback. Like, I really had to be like, no, dude, that song is sick. Yeah, yeah. You I I because I remembered him playing it. You know, we've known each other for a really long time.

Angel Gajraj: 23:05

Yeah, I've played we've we have like uh, you know, some friends get together here every now and then, and like everyone's you know, we all end up playing a song at some point, a bunch of songs. Yeah, so my song has definitely come in space, you know, and uh when it has it's you know, people liked it.

Michael Condoleon: 23:19

So we heard it, we've heard this song. He'd written it a while ago, and I remember like we've known each other since high school.

Angel Gajraj: 23:26

I wrote it in like 2016 and it didn't get recorded until 2022.

Michael Condoleon: 23:32

And and so I remember hearing a song years ago and being like, what happened to that? You know, what about that song? Whatever happened to that song, and then he um he was like, he's like, Yeah, you know, I don't really I don't really want to do that one. It was there's wasn't there something about a girl it was and you're like, I don't want her to think anything, or blah blah blah, or it was a very like specific weird situation.

Angel Gajraj: 23:54

I re I recall, maybe I'm recalling wrong, and I I think it was a mix of that, but also like if at that point, did we decide we were putting out the songs? Because we had already no, there was yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael Condoleon: 24:05

We put out channel three, yeah, right. That was the first single.

Angel Gajraj: 24:08

Oh, Delavine, and then we put channel three, and then this one. I was like, I didn't have this one. Yeah, so so I've written like a a bunch of songs, but not all of them are great. I just wanted to make sure we picked the best ones, you know, like the ones that absolutely hit, yeah. And even in my opinion, I I think like uh acco I love acoustic songs, but unless you have an emotional connection to an acoustic song, it sounds just like any other acoustic song to me.

Michael Condoleon: 24:31

Yeah, yeah.

Angel Gajraj: 24:32

And that was my that was my dilemma. I didn't want it to just be another one thrown out there, and I'm glad it wasn't.

Michael Condoleon: 24:36

I'm no, I think it's a beautiful song.

Sadie Witkowski: 24:39

Well, and I see that like so much of the equipment is extremely analog. So, like what draws you to that really kind of like I mean it is very like 70s recording studio vibe, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael Condoleon: 24:48

So well, so I've always been very 60s, 70s, uh uh my vibe in general. Um, on this side, which you can't see, and it's not so pretty. Maybe I'll turn the camera around. Um, is a I'll turn it around. Yeah, they got it. Um it's a record lathe. So this machine right here is a is a machine that cuts vinyl records. Oh my gosh. I can I print my own vinyl records in here. Um yeah. It's one of one of a couple hundred in the world, I think. That that of this particular machine. And um yeah, oh yeah, yeah. And um, yeah, it's pretty cool. It's really fun. I love old stuff. I don't know why, or this is now uneven and it's bothering me.

Sadie Witkowski: 25:35

Well, do you feel like you love the old stuff? Because it it gives you more of like a tactile experience with like like creating the music where it feels more than you know just staring at a computer screen all day. Is it the sounds it makes?

Michael Condoleon: 25:46

Both, both, both. These things get me to the finish line faster. Like I don't want to sit on the computer and figure out why something doesn't sound good, right? I would rather Angel sings into a microphone and then we go into all this hardware and then it comes out sounding like a finished record, right? Like I would rather that than have Angel sing into a microphone, and then I've got to add a bunch of shit onto it, you know, in the computer. And then because it's digital, there's there's this weird harshness to certain things that I have to find out now and I have to filter out where that harsh sound is. And you know, if I just do everything right going in, it makes my job making him sound better and making everything sound better a lot easier. It's like we barely touch the songs and they just sound great.

Angel Gajraj: 26:34

Yeah, sometimes they sound great right after recording, you know.

Michael Condoleon: 26:37

Yeah, and you're just like, all right, sit done. You don't even want to touch it, but you know, you know, you know, I mean that's why Michael's came out so great. I think there's this wonderful warm uh sound on that recording that uh the tape machine is really the the the reason for, you know. I mean, and if you listen really closely, I I if you listen really, really closely at the end of I think like towards the end of the song, there's a crackle sound okay from the tape machine in your in the right ear, okay, that I can never not hear.

Angel Gajraj: 27:16

Um you pointed out to me, I hear it.

Michael Condoleon: 27:19

But it's I love I love it. And the reason is because I look at the meters on the tape machine, right? And I was like, oh no, this side is a little bit louder than this side. So I like made song turned the volume up or down to match it. You could not hear the difference, but you do then hear my tiny little crackle sound of me turning the knob really slowly. Um and it's it's and I but I love it, it's got character and it gives the recording this character.

Angel Gajraj: 27:49

There's probably a few things like that that we've gotten from recording this way, yeah, that we wouldn't have gotten any other way.

Michael Condoleon: 27:55

And it's just like I like it. I don't know. It feels it feels like right to me. You know, it's like everything I grew up listening to is like that. So why wouldn't I want to why would I want to try and copy that with the computer?

Angel Gajraj: 28:07

Why wouldn't I just do it if I if I had the means, right? Which I think I think most people feel that way, right? No one likes to do it in post or digitalizing. No, I'd rather it's so much better, you know.

Michael Condoleon: 28:17

Anyways, this is getting really nerdy, but um no, I definitely appreciate it. A lot of people are going back to analog recording, like a lot of a lot of people are because there's there's truth to it. It's becoming more affordable here, significantly more affordable. Yeah, there's companies like uh company that I used a lot of their stuff that actually let me a couple of these microphone prees up here and uh stuff behind you guys, more stuff, believe it or not. More stuff everywhere. Um and uh it's a company called Audioscape based out of Florida, and they make some of the best, in my opinion, recreations of like old stuff. Like if I were to buy one of these vintage, it would be like fifteen thousand dollars-ish where you can get it for like under a grand from audioscape, which is so so it's a lot of really cool stuff that I really love working with them, and I always have to crop shout them out, like no matter what, they're they're so good to to to the community of and in the recording world, you know. Um, top top tier. Back to music, you know, more nerdy gear stuff.

LA: 29:32

I hope that's just low.

Ambush Vin: 30:39

Uh perform what I brand is sci-fi music, it's not necessarily all about sci-fi, but it's a lot of fandom and kind of realness, kind of like a a gritty blend of like my experience along with, you know, all my nerd, because you know, I'm a big nerd. So it's like a nerd from like Gary Indiana. So it's just like, you know, it's kind of a a mismatch of both worlds, you know. Um, and but mostly I really aim to bring like value to like people who are scared or have a fear of sharing their own experience because that's what this is for me, honestly. And that's that's honestly a reason why I'm not, I haven't pushed myself to the point where I'm out there yet. Okay, that's a long intro.

Berly: 31:30

No, I love that. I think that's important. I think that's important. How are you connected to Supernatural? When did you start watching the show? When did you get into it?

Ambush Vin: 31:38

It was probably around 2010-ish. I I mean my ex-wife probably was watching TV or something, and I don't know. It was I I ran across the show like Supernatural. Let's check this out. And I watched the like the first episode, and I was like instantly like hooked. And I looked, I was like, oh, you know what? I'm like, this show is still on, and it's like already seven seasons. So we just like danced everything and I kept on watching. Uh like and it's crazy because we went through our entire marriage watching that show. And like it ended. When the show ended, I was with my soon-to-be next wife. That show was on for a long time.

Berly: 32:24

It was, and now you have somebody new to introduce it to. Let me show you this world.

Ambush Vin: 32:30

Well, she advanced it. Like Yeah, so it was like when we got together, like our first um so when we started officially dating, it was March 13th, 2020. So we're like a COVID couple. So we like started watching TV and she's like, wanting me to watch Gray's Anatomy. So I'm like, okay, you gotta watch a show of mine. And she's like, what show? And I'm like, Supernatural. She's like, okay. And she being supernatural, and I've been like 20 seasons of Gray's Anatomy in like three weeks or something crazy like that.

Sadie Witkowski: 33:07

And both of them have Jeffrey Dean Morgan, so you know, crossover.

Ambush Vin: 33:11

That's the truth, right?

Berly: 33:12

Okay, so what do you think about the music in Supernatural?

Ambush Vin: 33:18

Oh my god. Like, I think whoever the music director was for Supernatural did a a really good job on uh the I mean the whole team did an awesome job of choosing the right music to to help set the scene. I mean, especi in particular, like the first like five seasons. That's important to any show, of course, but you know, it was a few times I found myself like back when, I don't know if it's still a thing, but we used to Shazam, you know, before Siri. So, like, okay, hold on, I need to Shazam or something. What song is this? So I could find it on Apple Music or Spotify or something like that. Supernatural had a diverse playlist that somehow made me feel like it should have been like a classic rock soundtrack or something, even though the music was diverse and supernatural. So, and then oh, just just you know when you hear when you hear Way with Son come on at the end of the season, and you know it's kind of like you know, it's that time that that's what that song became for me. It was just like, all right, I know it's the time, like we're at the finale, now I'm gonna have to go back and digest this entire season again and then wait for the next season. It became a it became kind of nostalgic for me, to be honest. So, yeah, I love music and supernatural, but then again, I might be biased because I'm a music lover.

Berly: 34:39

I want to talk to you about your song Dean Winchester. We've talked to quite a few musicians who have songs that were inspired by this character or inspired by this journey, but your song is not inspired by you. Literally put on your Dean Winchester hat and wrote a rap song. Can you talk to us about that?

Ambush Vin: 34:59

Like, Dean is so obviously Dean is like my favorite character and supernatural. Like he's so complex, but at the same time, he just comes off as a simple guy. You know, I'm just this American guy. I'm just gonna, you know, hook up with my bro and we're gonna fix up this impolit and just drive around the country finding and killing monsters and everything else, you know, and then in the end, you know, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna die saving you. And that's gonna be it, you know, I'm Dean Winchester. So I don't know, but it was a lot that attracted me to Dean, and I was like, I like writing I call them like bio raps. So like, you know, I could put myself into like that character's eyes and um like literally tell their story like my way, how I would tell it. You know, and that's kind of like like what I want to do for uh Dean Winchester, but it was kind of like a an ode to Dean, you know, at the same time, because I actually wrote the song like before like Dean was killed.

Sadie Witkowski: 36:06

So the spoilers Burley doesn't know the entire show. She's you're on what season eight?

Berly: 36:13

Season eight, but I have I have seen Dean die. It's okay.

Dean Winchester: 36:16

So I'll not I'll not want to tell that one.

Berly: 36:22

I've seen him die. Yeah, you're right, a couple times. I saw him die at the end of season three, and then he died again when those hunters came in and killed them. I've seen him die, so it wasn't quite a spoiler, but you mean like he I do know he dies, Sadie, just FYI. At the very end, okay, it's it's all over. You can't be you can't be following supernatural stuff on social media without see people seeing people talk about that. I don't know how it happens, but I know like a bar a barbed wire or a reveal or something, yeah, is evolved.

Sadie Witkowski: 36:51

I don't know how it happens, but yeah.

Ambush Vin: 36:53

But does he die though? Maybe not.

Berly: 36:57

So it was the season finale that inspired you, like, let me write my ode to Dean, or the series finale, I should say.

Ambush Vin: 37:05

Well, I wrote it before that.

Berly: 37:06

Oh, okay.

Ambush Vin: 37:07

I wrote it like at a point. I had to watch what I say. Yeah. I wrote it. I wrote it at a really crucial point when you can kind of see where it was going. You know, that's when I just like, I'm gonna I'm gonna write this O to Dean and I'm I'm gonna do it my way, and it's gonna be dope. I just want a really dark beat. And so it took a while to just find that beat, but I found it, and then I just turned off the lights and typed. That's kind of like my ritual. I just kinda like to just kind of get my mind together, and I just kinda just it's weird because I see like I can see what I'm saying in my head, and I can see the words in my head while while I'm writing it. And it's like I don't even try to make the words rhyme. It's like I just tell the story, and then it's just like, okay, I need to find something that's gonna go with this word so I can rhyme and hear, you know, because for me, the most important part of uh musical tale or the structure is the story. You know, people get captivated by the storyteller. It's like anybody can rap. Like to be honest with you, we all come back just write sentences that rhyme, but when you can tell a good story and do that, it makes it a little classic.

Sadie Witkowski: 38:29

Are you ever gonna do a follow-up uh bio uh bio rap that's gonna be from Sam's point of view, or are you just sticking with Dean?

Ambush Vin: 38:36

Everybody asks me that I'm not lying. They're like, oh, what about Sam? What are you gonna do, Sam? And I'm like, okay. I mean, I can go on a rant about Sam, but I'm Sam's Sam's character. Well, Sam is the character. But yes, I can do one about Sam. I'm I'm I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna I really wanna do one for Sam and I wanna do one for uh Crawley. I I think that'll be dope too. But yeah, that's a good one. Um Yeah.

Sadie Witkowski: 39:12

Gabriel.

Berly: 39:13

Gabriel, do you want to Gabriel? He's my favorite. He has your favorite.

Ambush Vin: 39:21

All over again.

Berly: 39:23

All right, so Al, have you been to a supernatural convention?

Ambush Vin: 39:27

You know what? I have not. And uh I need to go to one, I want to go to one. I do go to a lot of comic cons and anime cons, but I have not been to a supernatural convention. One, I would love to perform at a supernatural convention. Like I would do a I would do an entire supernatural album if they just gave me like 10 minutes to perform at a supernatural convention. I would do an entire album and just Give it away for free.

Berly: 40:08

We also spoke with Nathan Ball. You might know him by his social handle, turn tiny pink. Nathan's flamoclad and salt circle videos made him TikTok famous, but he's even more well known as a drummer with a powerful presence behind the kit. He previously held down the rhythm section for Southbound Fury before joining Very Theater, who released two new singles in 2025. Nathan's solid drumming and dedication to his craft have made him a respected figure in the Las Vegas music station. And it all started with a love for classic rock.

Nathan Ball: 41:22

Hello everyone. My name is Nathan Ball. On social media, you can follow me at Turnt Twenty King. The band I will be talking about today was a former band I used to tour with full-time called Southbound Fearing. Currently, I'm involved in a new project out here in Las Vegas called Bury the Fear. So we'll see. One of the things that got me into the show was the classic rock music. If not for that, because I started watching it in 2005, and you know, my parents raised me on Led Zeppelin and Sticks and Photo and a lot of these classic rock bands. And so when I started hearing this in the show, um, you know, back then it was on cable on WV. It's like, wow, this is great. No one's doing this. This is right up my alley. So big part of the show for me as well.

Berly: 42:17

We found out how you kind of got started with Supernatural, uh, but any additional thoughts to the music, the soundtrack of Supernatural, even the original compositions.

Nathan Ball: 42:28

Yeah, uh, the original compositions, obviously my favorite. Those are the OG compositions. Um, my my mother was the person who got me into Supernatural. She made me watch it with her um when I was a uh young wee lad. And um, you know, I I think they couldn't have gone with a better playlist given the type of show, you know, that it is trying to really embody this person who's throwing themselves at all of these scary things, driving around, um, you know, Indian Pala with their brother, you know, just falls to the wall, full speed ahead. And it totally embodies Dean's personality as well. It was the perfect choice for that show, honestly.

Sadie Witkowski: 43:10

Did you feel like the music evolved? Like, did you watch all 15 seasons? Do you have thoughts or feelings about how the music did or didn't change across those years?

Nathan Ball: 43:18

They they took an interesting turn with the music over the years. Um in the in the first five five seasons, I I think that was kind of their prime playlist. Season six, it maybe fell off a little bit in my thinking. Um when it went to CW, you know, I I think it kind of got more generic with sort of the background music. So I in terms of a musicality standpoint, I wouldn't say I was really into what they were doing there. I mean, I still love the show, but talking those first five seasons, man, they really, really killed it on it.

Berly: 43:53

All right, so let's talk about the song with uh Southern Fearing. Wait, is that right? Southern Fearing? Southbound Fearing. Southbound. Okay, I knew that didn't sound right. I was like, wait a minute, that doesn't sound right coming out of my mouth.

Sadie Witkowski: 44:06

Southern Fearing is what I have when I go to visit my family in Texas in August.

Berly: 44:11

Okay, southbound fearing, southbound fearing. So whenever you wrote the song, did you set out to write something as a band? Or first of all, let me pull it back.

Nathan Ball: 44:21

Who wrote the song? It was a collective arrangement from all the guys. It was really the first time that we did that, and I think because of that, it was some of the best music we ever made. Uh, prior to that specific record when it came out, and I think it was 2014. It was a while, it was almost it was about 11 years ago. We lived in different parts of the country. So the singer would, you know, write a lot of the music and the lyrics and the riffs, and then we would kind of write stuff with him whenever we would go on tour. But he kind of had the crux of everything together, you know, here's what I have, what can you write over it? And and this record was really the first time that we really got together intentionally outside of touring and you know, just hung out together, bonded together, and wrote. I think it really brought a lot of the songs to a different level.

Berly: 45:13

So, did you guys set out like you were all fans of Supernatural and you set out to write a song inspired by the show?

Nathan Ball: 45:22

No, I was the only Supernatural fan in the group, actually. Um, so I I wanted to bring sort of my flavor and influence since we all were getting together and sort of writing these songs together. Um, so I think it was really the first time I got to do that, which is cool.

Berly: 45:38

So, can you tell us the name of the song and what that creation process was like for you?

Nathan Ball: 45:44

Absolutely. Um the song is called Easy Way Out. We really wanted to write something that was bigger than I think we were at the time. We really had to do a lot of soul searching of like what what do we want to say in this record and in this song, and and what do we what story do we want to tell people? I think where the supernatural stuff kind of started penetrating into the song and was relatable to them as well. Um, sort of that working man vibe. Folks who have struggles, and I think these characters have some of the same struggles as sort of the everyday working man, a blue-collar working man that gets up every day, puts themselves on a front line, sacrifices what they want, what they have for everybody. No matter what problems you have sort of going on at the time. Um, no matter what comes their way, you know, they're not gonna back down, no matter how difficult life gets, how work gets. And um with that sort of relation and relatability, you know, I was able to kind of throw some of these these lyrics in there with with you know what they were trying to write as well.

Berly: 46:52

That's awesome that it just kind of inched its way in there. So, what was the reception to this song? I know it was over a decade ago, but do you happen to remember?

Nathan Ball: 47:03

I do, I'll never forget it. We were driving to a show that it was somewhere in Florida, I forget where we were driving to, but we were just flipping through the stations in our uh bus at the time, and it had just happened to come on the radio, and I like almost had to do a double take. I was like, wait a minute, this is our song. And probably a few a few hours after that, um, we got notified by our record label that it hit number nine on Billboard debut that debut week. It hadn't been out on physical CD yet, so a lot of fans haven't got to hurt it yet until it was on radio. Um, so within like that week, like we just had comments and comments pouring in. Um, the reception to it was probably something I would never forget as well. Everyone loved it. Like it's really scary putting something out there, you know, that you don't know if it's gonna work or not. You don't know if people are gonna be receptive to it or not, and it's kind of a part of you, it's part of your soul, it's part of your heart. Um, so to have that love kind of pour in of like, wow, really relate to this song. This is like the best song I've heard from you guys, or you know, this really helped me through a hard time, or this really fired me up today for the gym, or you know, fire me up to go to work, or you know, help me keep pushing. Um, it was such a tremendous moment kind of in my life to write it, hear it on a radio, hear people's feedback, and it's it was just a weird full circle thing that was a truly amazing moment for me.

Berly: 48:29

Uh, do you have any general musings about music and supernatural fandom?

Nathan Ball: 48:34

You know, I I have not gotten a chance to listen to Loudoun and uh streaming and and stuff like that. I have been a witness to their concerts. Uh I I do go to the conventions pretty often, and that is one moment, and it's just a testament to how powerful music really is. I think that's one moment in the Phantom where we can all get together in a real space and really see each other in the real world. But when we're doing the panels and we're we're going through all the craziness of the convention, we don't really get to talk to each other, we don't really get to hang out as much. That Saturday night special concert where you have the cast coming in and singing, Loud and Swain is singing, sometimes uh Jensen comes in and sings. It's the camaraderie in that room is just a testament of how music can bring us all together, and even kind of carries into the karaoke, right? And I think those two nights are really something special that we really all share in a no matter what we have going on in our lives or who we are or what our opinions are, like we can all just come together and just have fun and connect. And that's what I love about music. Music brings everyone together, and um, that's kind of my opinion on that.

Berly: 49:46

That's perfect. That's a perfect soundbite, Sadie. Time time stamp set. Time stamps up.

Sadie Witkowski: 49:51

Well, you just mentioned music brings people together. I'm like, so did having a hit single lead your bandmates to be like, oh, I guess we gotta watch this show, or were they like, no, I'm good.

Nathan Ball: 50:03

They they're like, nah, I'm good, but I definitely was the only like when they were driving, like I was the one on my phone at the time with uh the wired headphones in on like an iPhone 5 or 6, just like trying to stream it on a CW. I don't care what else is going on, but you know, I'm watching my supernatural because uh at the I think at the time it wasn't on Netflix, or maybe that wasn't even a thing really yet. It was still in the DVD mode, but that was like my favorite part of each week of Torin. It's like, okay, it's Thursday. Let's watch Supernatural, stream it on CW.

Sadie Witkowski: 50:36

In the back of the tour bus thing, like, yeah, yeah, that's nice, y'all go. I got this.

Nathan Ball: 50:40

Yeah.

Berly: 50:41

Quiet down, fellas. I'm watching my stories. I'm watching my stories.

Nathan Ball: 50:45

And everyone's like, where's Nate? Oh, he's in the back watching supernatural. Just let him be. You're not gonna see him for a couple hours.

Berly: 50:53

Do any of your bandmates in your new band happen to be supernatural fans?

Nathan Ball: 50:58

Oh, yes. Oh, they all love it. They love the videos. Um, I think we're gonna start incorporating some supernatural stuff in um the TikTok and Instagram content that we're gonna be doing. I don't know if they'll be in the video, but they're at least gonna let me have fun with posting some of the stuff to integrate it.

Berly: 51:17

Is it a single or an album that you guys are going to be have coming out or has already come out?

Nathan Ball: 51:22

Yeah, this is this is a single that we're gonna have come out. Um the song is called Move On. The band is called Bury the Fear. Um, we only have two songs out right now on streaming. We will we're working on a full album at this point. We have about 10 songs down, you know, it's just kind of releasing them and getting the album stuff together. But I've already started posting some stuff on my personal pages with them, um, with the the supernatural characters with the song called Move On. Things supernatural characters have had to move on from. So it's I think it's a really, really powerful song. I don't know if you've had a chance to listen to it yet, but it really embodies hard things people have to go through in their life and how we move on from them in a sense. I know that sounds pretty simple in general, but um I think it has the opportunity to connect to people and sort of what fits their situation. Yeah, we're we're really proud of the new song.

Sadie Witkowski: 52:20

Last but certainly not least, Raina Roberts is a powerhouse country singer-songwriter and pianist dubbed the Princess of Outlaw Country. She was featured on Beyoncé's Blackbird, which charted at number 27 on the Billboard Pop 100. An has opened for Ruba McIntyre and Jamie Johnson.

LA: 52:43

Roberts released her acclaimed debut album Bad Girl Bible Volume 1 in 2023, blending country with hip-hop, rock, and pop influences. She made history as the first female country artist to perform at Rolling Loud and advocates for acknowledging black pioneers in country music.

Berly: 53:00

With influences ranging from Chris Stapleton to Beyoncé, Roberts is redefining modern country with her unique Raina Country sound. Was this musical journey also partially influenced by a crush on Dean Winchester? Let's find out.

Reyna Roberts: 53:27

And tell me the secrets you hide. And I got the like it. And you don't want to buy it. If I if I'm remembering correctly, um, I had started writing music probably around like 15 years old. And I've always drawn inspiration from TV shows and movies that I've watched, and Supernatural has been like my favorite show. And so I'm like, wait, why am I not writing a song about Supernatural? I'm like, I'm watching it every day and it's inspiring to me. And um, I also do this process where um whatever I'm writing about, I'll get like videos, photos, all that stuff. I'll put them in the in a folder and then I'll look through them to describe like either the photos or the videos or the emotions I get when I look at the photos and videos. And I just put a whole bunch of um specific photos together of Dean Winchester and what I felt like was showing his personality. And I kind of just wrote about the things I was seeing in the photo. Like you got the tattoo on his chest, five o'clock, five o'clock shadow, all those things. Um and I wanted to uh bring him to life in in music. I feel like he's already immortalized in, you know, in TV and that space. And I'm like, okay, it'd be cool to do that in music. Um and I I appreciate their um creativity and and it's the show has always been very inspiring to me in my imagination. And I feel like this is a way of just pouring back into what someone else's creation is.

Sadie Witkowski: 55:26

When you start writing, are you really starting with kind of a beat and you know the melodic structure, or are you really starting from the lyrics and then you go back and you fill in?

Reyna Roberts: 55:34

It depends on the session, but I know for 67 Winchester, this was kind of before I was having sessions and and meeting with producers and stuff. So it was just me and my piano. And I don't even remember how I started writing it. I think I was probably just singing some like I was probably like making coffee or something and was singing, and then I was just like, oh, I like that melody. Let me put these lyrics to it. That's typically how it goes for me, or I'll start start start at the piano, start playing some chords, and then melodies will come and then the song starts to write itself. I do know it took me a while to write that song though. This was like when I first started writing. So it took me like weeks to make that song. Um, but it was a process I loved and enjoyed because I mean I just kept watching supernatural episodes to get the energy right.

Sadie Witkowski: 56:23

You're like, oh no, I need to do homework. Let me go binge some more TV.

Reyna Roberts: 56:27

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, honestly. And it sounds, it probably sounds crazy, but that's always been my creative process. So it's just, you know, I was just like, oh, I don't know what to write next. Okay, let me, you know, watch more of the show, get some more ideas and try and pull from it. Okay, like they love all this, all the rock music. Let's mention Led Zeppelin in there and that kind of stuff.

Sadie Witkowski: 56:47

What was the reception when you first like put it out there online?

Reyna Roberts: 56:52

Um, well, this was before I had a career. So it was uh I feel like it took a while for things to start moving. Um now I'll see like a lot of people who might not have heard it yet, but have listened to like my other albums or my other catalog, and they'll go and they'll be like, oh my goodness, like 67. Is that about who I think it is? And I'm like, if you're if it's a supernatural uh character, then yeah. And it's really cool to see people's surprise and um love and affinity for it. Um but I feel like it's really positive. It's it's very, it's like, you know, younger Raina, but I think people have an appreciation for like my nerdom, like like just the fact that I'm so nerdy and I I'll write about like supernatural, Doctor Who, or you know, just the the characters that I love. So yeah, I think it's been a pretty good response.

Sadie Witkowski: 57:43

I feel like I definitely have people be like, oh my god, but have you heard this song? And then send me the link to the YouTube. I'm like, yes, yes, I have.

Reyna Roberts: 57:49

Yeah. And I I think it's, I mean, when I when I was going to the conventions too, then the energy was like definitely specific because we're like a it's a whole bunch of Supernatural fans. Um, outside of Supernatural, it's cool when people, you know, don't know that I wrote it about Supernatural, but they're listening to lyrics and they're like, I think I know what this is about. Is this is this about like Dean Winchester? And I'm like, yeah, it is. And it's cool to see people's reactions to that. Uh, it's one of the first songs I've written and and specifically it was like the first country song I wrote. So it it's uh like the cornerstone to where my career is at now, just because of you know the evolution through music.

Sadie Witkowski: 58:29

You've moved through a lot of um like genres and you've mixed a lot of different genres in your catalog, which is really cool to see. Thank you very much. I try. Um, I was curious, I mean, I know you've been to a couple of conventions when you were going early on. What was that like for you, especially because there is such a musical element at the conventions?

Reyna Roberts: 58:49

It was super different than I mean, I I've never been to a convention before, so I don't know what I was expecting. It was cool to see how much people like really love and enjoy the show. Um, I thought it was, I I think I was surprised just because I didn't realize the um the the love, the affinity, and the just how how much people truly love the show. Cause I'm like, I love the show. I wrote a song about it, but then you're around a whole bunch of people who really do love the show and they show it um in various ways. And I thought it was really cool, especially the way people express themselves through their outfits, um, and having conversations with people. Like if I'm talking to my friends who don't really watch Supernatural, they'll be like, oh, that's cute. And then I can have somebody have a conversation with a friend at a convention, they'll know exactly you know the episode and everything I'm talking about. So that's really cool. Um, and it was awesome to see people's creativity in forms of costumes and books and all the different kinds of fields of entertainment and music. Um, I met Jason Manns there. That's actually how we started to become friends, and we worked on a lot of music, and he really helped me with my vision and where I wanted to go in music specifically and with my career. So that was um another stepping stone that I'm I'm really grateful. For. So that's yeah, that was it was really great. It was an awesome experience.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:00:05

I didn't realize that's how you met Jason Manns. Oh, go ahead. Sorry.

Berly: 1:00:09

Oh, I was going to say he actually told us that you were initially thinking about selling the songs, not performing them yourselves. And let's just say, I think everyone on this call can be great. You made a different, different decision there.

Reyna Roberts: 1:00:24

Yeah, definitely. I agree. I mean, I didn't know, I didn't remember, I wasn't sure which genre I wanted to sing because I can write so many different genres and sing so many different genres. And I was like, okay, well, maybe I can actually send, like, maybe I can get this to Carrie Underwood. Maybe I can get this to like a different country singer. And he was like, You need to sing that song yourself. Like, you know, you need to have it for yourself. And I was like, Yeah, he's right. Let me go to Nashville actually and and see like people's response and how they receive um my writing, my musicality, my artistry. And it was a it was an awesome response. So he was right. He was definitely right.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:01:04

It's a classic move. You gotta move to music city, gotta let it meet everybody, go to all the live shows. Yeah, yeah.

Reyna Roberts: 1:01:11

Yeah, and it was interesting because before I had moved to Nashville, I was doing like sessions in LA, but it was with a lot of pop and hip-hop producers, and I was creating uh music in that space. But I wanted to go to Nashville to see how people would receive my music that sounded like 67 Winchester. So it was awesome. Uh and now we're here, like however many years later. So it's been in journey. It's been crazy. Yeah, it's wild when you look back, you're like, that's not that long.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:01:36

Oh no, it was that long ago.

Reyna Roberts: 1:01:37

It was a little bit of yeah. I think about like not even necessarily, I guess, the years, but like the things that I've done since that moment when I think of 67 and writing, writing the music when I'm in Hollywood, and me, my mother, my father all living in like a one-bedroom apartment in on Vine Street. And then you fast forward, and now we have like we're living here in Nashville and in California, and the things we've able we've been able to achieve together as a family, as a unit, and um things I've been able to accomplish in the last like year and a half. So it's been it's been a ride. It's been a ride.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:02:12

Well, you you've spoken a little bit about how you kind of started in kind of the more hip-hop LA scene. What are some of your like biggest musical influences, would you say?

Reyna Roberts: 1:02:20

Biggest musical influences, uh Beyonce, Adele, Chris Stapleton, um, Chris Cornell, Sia, Lady Gaga, Luke Combs, Brothers Osborne. It's such a uh nickelback audio slave. It's just it's very, it's very broad. I I love so many different genres. Um, those are like the artists that I can think of off the top of my head that I'm like, oh, I love them so much. DMX, straight, like um, but I feel like my music kind of reflects a lot of different uh, a lot of those artists in different ways, and maybe sometimes like a combination of those artists together. But those those 12 I just listed are like, you know, my my go-to's.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:03:04

I love there's a lot of cross-pollination. I feel like it's fun to be able to cross genres because you get to bring in some elements that aren't getting used in other ones, like yeah, absolutely.

Reyna Roberts: 1:03:13

And I think like listening to um artists like Beyonce and Rihanna when I would listen to some of their albums and it would have like country, hip-hop, RB, pop all with in the same like album. I'm like, I want to have something that reflects that, where you're going on a whole musical journey and it doesn't necessarily sound like the same song over and over again. So yeah, I wanted to make sure that people would go on a musical journey when they listen to my whole body of work.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:03:43

Um, well, kind of bringing it back to supernatural. I'm curious about what you think about the music within the show and how it kind of built the world that like a lot of it's so audio-based, I think.

Reyna Roberts: 1:03:54

Yeah, I mean, I freaking love it. Um, well, number one, I think one of my favorite quotes, if I'm remembering it correctly, it's like Driver picks the music, shotgun, touch his cake hole, if I if I have that correctly. I just love the fact that so much of it is music-based, like you said. But I've grown up listening to all those songs, all the music that they play on there. My mom has played for me growing up. All that rock, hard rock, classic rock, it's like it's a part of my soul. It's already living in me. So to see it in a show that I really love and appreciate is just an added bonus because I already love the music and it's being paired with like characters and storylines that I really enjoy and love. Um, it's makes it even better. Because it's not always, it's not always the best feeling if you have if you're watching um like a story that you you feel invested in, but the music doesn't really hit you the way you would like it to hit you, especially as a musician. I'm I'm looking for that feeling to connect with the music. So I it just brings another added sense of like love and and enjoyment.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:04:58

Burley, I'm gonna check in and see if you had any questions you wanted to ask.

Berly: 1:05:02

I'm going to pivot away from supernatural a little bit. You mentioned that one of your inspiration artists is Beyonce.

Reyna Roberts: 1:05:10

Right. Yeah, she's always been my favorite artist.

Berly: 1:05:13

So, what was it like getting to work with her?

Reyna Roberts: 1:05:16

Incredible. I her, she's great, her team is great, and I had nothing but like an incredible experience. Um, and it's cool because I mean, my whole life I've talked about Beyonce. Anytime someone's like, Who do you listen to? Who's your favorite artist? My it's always Beyonce first. And so it's really cool after working with her. Um, I mean, it's the same energy, if if anything, just more love and and uh adoration because she has made me uh a part of like her project and a small part of her her catalog and history. Um, but it was absolutely phenomenal. Like I've always dreamed like, okay, one day when I meet her, you know, what is that gonna look like? Am I gonna be nervous? Am I gonna be excited? Am I gonna keep it cool? Um, and it was it was wonderful. I was I I met her and I was just ready to work. I'm like, I'm ready. I've showed up, I'm here, let's get it done. And but in the best, like, you know, headspace and positive way. Um, I I hope to have half of the work ethic that she has. I I'm just very blessed that um I could be just a small part of her story, you know.

Berly: 1:06:24

Were you hand selected?

Reyna Roberts: 1:06:26

I can't give all the details. Um but what I can say is that I feel like because I've been such a student of her work, there's nothing that she doesn't select herself. You know what I mean? Like there's she's very particular. And that's just from like watching, like studying her her work and all the things she's done, like essentially my whole life. And there's nothing that she's gonna, there's nothing that you're gonna see that she hasn't like, you know, done herself or orchestrated herself if it's a part of her like performance and all all those things.

Berly: 1:07:03

I have I have a question that I want to ask before we have to wrap it up. You sang a song at the post-concert in Nashville last year. Oh yeah, rather be wasted. I've been following your Instagram waiting to see that like pop up as something that's dropped, and I haven't seen that yet. Did I miss the drop or is it coming?

Reyna Roberts: 1:07:24

It's it's gonna be here at some point. I don't it's kind of like I don't know how um the most articulate way to say this, but like sometimes songs that people hear, like if I were to release it like next year, for example, I actually wrote that song like six years ago. And so sometimes it takes, it'll take, you know, uh the specific kind of um producers, like this, this a specific kind of packaging that I want and I envision until I'm like, okay, now I want this song to come out because it looks like everything that I want it to look like when I when I release it, but it's gonna come out. I absolutely love that song. And that's gonna, that has to be shown to the world. It's there's no way it's gonna be like just discarded or like, you know, like tucked away. It's just it's gonna, it needs a special moment to live and to be introduced to the world.

Berly: 1:08:17

Good to know. Yeah, because I heard a segment of that song coming up on a year ago, and it's still been an earworm for me. So I'm like waiting, like I need it's like I need my brain scratched. Like, I'm like, when's it coming?

Reyna Roberts: 1:08:30

Thank you so much. And that also is so like um special to hear. I mean, like as an artist, you always hope that your song will resonate and will live, uh, have like some kind of impact on others. And so when when I have people that tell me that, that gives me so much hope that, like, okay, I love this song. Hopefully, other people will feel that same way. And that gives me hope when when when I hear that, I'm like, okay, has uh has a lot of potential.

Berly: 1:08:56

I'll share another story with you really quickly. I was at a take five getting my oil changed, yeah, and they were discovering some other stuff. And my co-host from my podcast who isn't with us today, uh, she was in the car with me, and I was telling her about your music. And I started playing 67 Winchester. Yeah. The guys at the Take Five were like, Turn that up. I love it. Who's that? And they were out there kind of dancing. So I got a little so I got a little show while we were getting the oil changed and everything. So yeah, that little 18-year-old Raina was resonating with a bunch of middle-aged men at the take five.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:09:33

Wait, speaking of middle-aged men in that song, how did Jensen respond to that song?

Reyna Roberts: 1:09:38

Oh, I didn't think I I um I mean, I haven't really asked him like outright. I don't know, but especially because like the lyrical content, like I didn't really think about that as I was younger. I was just like, oh, I love this song, I love this character. Um, had you know such a big crush on him when I'm, you know, 18, 17. Whenever I started, I think I was actually 15 when I started watching the show, but um I have no idea. Hopefully he likes it and hopefully it's um I think when I think about that, I get shy. I think that's the answer. Okay.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:10:20

Are there any things we didn't talk about, supernatural, your music career that you think is like really important for people to hear and know?

Reyna Roberts: 1:10:27

I think one thing about me that um might be surprising to people is that um outside of like being a country artist, outside of being like a nerd-loving supernatural, like Doctor Who, Sherlock, all like these phantoms that I've always been in love with, outside of being a wrestler. Um, I feel like you kind of almost never know what to expect when it comes to me and like where my music and my imagery is gonna go. Um, but it's honestly it's all authentic. I feel like that's what I want people to know about me. It's not something that's like formulated or um what people are telling me to do. Like what people see is just me being my authentic self. Sometimes I just have different avatars come out looking with red hair, with blonde hair, with pink hair, cut cowboy hats. No, you just never know. Stripper poles, it's up in the air. It's all yeah. Um, but it's just me being my authentic artistic self. And I just want people to know that.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:11:25

I think that's impressive because it's like I said, when you're when you're bringing in all these different elements, you're like, no, I don't have to be stereotyped into one bucket. Like I have I'm all of the buckets.

Reyna Roberts: 1:11:33

I'm all of the buckets. And I think sometimes people um expect you to be one thing, or say if if people have heard me first by 67 Winchester, and they're like, that's the imprint they have in me in their mind. Anything that variates for or different, not differentiate, anything that varies from that, like image, can sometimes be like, oh, you're not who you were, or you're not, you know, somebody's telling you to do all these other things. And it's just like, no, as a person we evolve, as people we evolve, and as artists, that's why we're artists. That's why we have all this art in us, and we want to showcase it and express it to the world. So yeah, I just want people to know that.

Berly: 1:12:12

I grew up on Dolly and Reba and Gar, but I also grew up on Eve and Little Kim. Like, I was like, I I love Reina's stuff.

Reyna Roberts: 1:12:22

Because I loved it. And I think that's the other thing too. Like, as a as like I've grown up listening to Reba. I went on tour with Reba. I think she's amazing. I think, like, yeah, I went on tour with her, I think maybe three years ago. I think that was was that my first that was my second tour. My first one was with Jamie Johnson. I think like if there's some people who listen to country and only country, so they want to live like a country's lifestyle and have like a country aesthetic. But I do not live the country lifestyle, but country music lives in me, country music stories live in me. And I think it's um sometimes it can be difficult for people to understand that it's not a gimmick or it's not not real just because it's not in the package that you expect it to be in. Um, especially like how you said when you listen to so many different genres.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:13:07

Like I'm yeah, I'm just really excited um to hear what music you put out next. And all the all the songs from 18, you know, when you were 18 years old, you're like, now's the time to drop it. We've come to the moment. Like we've come to the moment. We're ready.

LA: 1:13:19

Thank you.

Berly: 1:13:20

Wait till you hear that liquor song, Sadie. Wait till you hear it.

Reyna Roberts: 1:13:23

Yeah, no, every time I sing it to you, I just feel like oh my heart's being ripped out of my chest. But I'm enjoying the feeling the whole time.

Berly: 1:13:53

Now for the show's credit. This season is a co-production between Denim Wrapped Nightmares and In Defense of Fandom. Cover art for In Defense of Fandom was designed by Liz Hand. Cover art for Denim Wrapped Nightmares was designed by Rain Zealman.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:14:12

Music featured in this episode was by Ambush Vin, Angel in the Deathblight, Jackson Taylor the Sinners, Southbound Fury, and Rainer Roberts.

LA: 1:14:26

If you've enjoyed this collaboration we want to know, send us a message on Instagram or Twitter. We love hearing from you.

Sadie Witkowski: 1:14:33

And while you're at it, make sure you're subscribed to both shows so you never miss an episode.

Berly: 1:14:38

Also, a review on Apple Podcasts wouldn't hurt either. See you next episode. Bye.