Augusta Koch came to Jeff Rosenstock asking for advice. The ex-Cayetana songwriter, who now plays in the bands Gladie and Universal Girlfriend, had been touring with the punk rock lifer on and off for over a year when she sent him demos of Gladie’s galvanizing new record, No Need to Be Lonely, the follow-up to 2022’s Don’t Know What You’re In Until You’re Out. By that point, more than just demo friends, they were friends friends, putting Rosenstock in the general category of people that many songs on the album feed off of and serve to uplift. “I brace myself to embrace you,” roars the chorus of one early single; “Know that I look to you, just to keep myself moving,” goes another. Rosenstock decided to produce the record, and they tracked it live to tape with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden in Oakland. It’s no surprise the most dynamic songs on No Need to Be Lonely end up sounding eruptive, but the collaborative spirit enriches and sweetens the quieter songs, too, from the devastating catharsis of ‘Fix Her’ to the raw confessions of ‘Blurry’. It’s the rare gut-punch of a record that makes you feel lighter each time you play it.
For the first installment of our In Conversation series, Jeff Rosenstock and Gladie’s Augusta Koch hopped on Zoom to talk about their friendship origin story, sobriety, making No Need to Be Lonely, and more.
AK: This is gonna be hard, because we really hate each other.
JR: [laughs] I think it’s gonna be hard because the opposite, which is the truth, Gus, which is that we really like each other, so I prepared nothing. I’m like, “It’ll be fine,” but now I’m like, “What do I have?”
AK: Yeah.
JR: What color’s your hair? Why do you play all six strings of the guitar? What’s your favorite kind of instrument cable?
AK: I actually got really cool new ones, Jeff.
JR: Yeah? Do you have coilies?
AK: No, they’re all neon.
JR: Nice, I love that. Do you all have neons, or is it just you?
AK: Just me.
JR: Lead singership.
AK: I know, I’m a brat. That was good.
JR: I started using white cables, and I found that I don’t trip over them as much on stage anymore.
AK: Because you see them. That’s valuable.
JR: They’re very valuable cables. You know what’s fucking bullshit? [laughs] This is maybe for no one, but remember how Monster guitar cables were more expensive, but then it was you could go to Guitar Center, and they’ll just give you another one anytime they break?
AK: I know that.
JR: Well, they don’t do it anymore. Now they’re like, “We have to mail them away,” which is useless on tour. But the cheap ones, they do that with. Anyway.
AK: Weird. Do you buy cheap ones now?
JR: Yes.
AK: Cool. I’ve never broken a guitar cable.
JR: What? I think I break them all the time. It’s the easiest thing to break.
AK: I don’t break guitar strings either, though.
JR: You don’t change your guitar strings, right?
AK: Here’s a good way to start the interview. How long ago do you think I changed my guitar strings?
JR: I don’t think you’ve changed them since we made the record.
AK: Absolutely.
JR: Is it the guitar you brought on our tour?
AK: Yes.
JR: I don’t think you’ve changed him since that tour?
AK: I did change them before we recorded.
JR: Oh, okay. So a year. The guitar of mine that you used, I haven’t changed the strings on since the recording. But I haven’t toured with it. You know who doesn’t like to change strings? A little old man named Neil Young.
AK: I’m just like Neil. [laughs]
JR: You’re just like Neil.
AK: I’ve been saying this.
JR: Alright, that’s all my questions.
AK: Yeah, that’s all I got.
JR: We started at a book club. I feel like this could delve really quickly into, like, what’s all the private stuff that we get into on our own time that is both not interesting and also…
AK: Really depressing.
JR: Yeah?
AK: We talk about depressing stuff.
JR: But talking about depressing stuff isn’t depressing, talking about depressing stuff is good.
Are the books you’re reading depressing?
JR: It isn’t an uplifting book so far.
AK: The book club is called Bookworms.
JR: We have a Discord with a few friends. We’re currently reading The Great Believers. Some of us are… It seems like we’re all reading.
AK: Allegra [Anka] is reading it.
JR: Goo got it. Matt [Schimelfenig] got it. Ginger [Alford] couldn’t find it and got a different book.
AK: That’s not how a book club works, but okay.
JR: [laughs] But maybe it’s how our book club works.
AK: I like it, freestyle book club. But it’s a good book. I was reading it this morning.
JR: How do you feel about the middle of books?
AK: I’m locked in. I’m gonna be in the van for 36 hours, I’m gonna finish that book.
JR: I know, and I’m playing that game, Silksong, that Mike [Huguenor] and John [DeDomenici] were screaming at in the back of the van on our whole last tour.
AK: Yeah, that was annoying.
JR: It’s a hard game, and I’m probably not that deep into it, but I feel like that was slightly overreacting.
AK: Yeah, when I went on tour with Jeff last year, there were people screaming about a video game.
JR: But I was screaming, too. I was screaming about jumpy game. So, half of us were playing Silksong, and then me and Rick and sometimes Gus were playing this game called Velgris, which is part of this other game called UFO 50, where you just have to keep jumping. It was a very complicated game, and then a very simple game. And all of it made us scream. Kevin [Higuchi]’s watching YouTube. Christine [Mackie]’s scrolling. Dan P’s up there, ribbing Rick Johnson. What’s your van vibe like? I know that you and Matt split the drives, but what’s everybody else up to?
AK: Well, everybody drives now. We listen to music.
JR: I know, Miles [Ziskind], death metal guy, we talk about death metal a lot. But what’s everybody listening to?
AK: If you’re the driver, you pick the music. Classic rule. But Miles listens to a lot of jazz.
JR: Freaky jazz or chill jazz?
AK: Both. And a lot of hip-hop. Evan [Demianczyk] likes 90s’ emo shit. I listen to, you know, the same old stuff.
JR: What’s the same old stuff? What gets your gears turning when the wheels are turning?
AK: I like to listen to new music on tour. I make some playlists. I’m excited, because Aldous Harding’s record is coming out while we’re on tour. I also like to listen to podcasts. I think we’re gonna try and do a book on tape for this drive.
JR: Do you know what yet?
AK: No, we’re doing some research. You have any good recommendations?
JR: It depends on how willing you are to commit to this, but Scar Tissue, which is Anthony Kiedis’ biography.
AK: Oh, I’ve heard that is really good, actually.
JR: Ryder Strong, who played Sean Hunter on Boy Meets World, is excellent.
AK: Funny you bring that up, he was my first crush.
JR: Oh my god, this is a hard recommendation. You will not be disappointed.
AK: I do love music books, and I heard it’s really messed up.
JR: It’s really messed up. He does voices for the characters, which is also kind of funny.
AK: That’s a great idea. There’s a Bruce Springsteen biography, which is fun. He reads it himself, and he says “fake problems” at some point, which is just fun to hear him say.
AK: I’ve read that book. I want to read the Replacements book. Danielle said it’s really good.
JR: I read Trouble Boys, but there’s another one, right? Did you read Trouble Boys?
AK: No.
JR: Trouble Boys was good. Man, that’s a sadass story.
AK:They were pretty crazy, huh?
JR: There’s the famous, Bob having quit drinking, and then Paul Westerberg saying, “Drink a beer, get the fuck off my stage,” and then he died of alcoholism after that.
AK: That is sad. Shouldn’t be mean to your sober friends, ever.
JR: Yeah, you shouldn’t be mean to your sober friends ever. Can we talk about that? Are you…
AK: Sure.
JR: How long have you been so–
AK: Well, remember when we were on tour, and I thought I had been sober for 4 years, but then I realized it was 5?
JR: Yeah. [laughs] One, five years to me feels like a major milestone, and I love that you just didn’t realize that you did it. And also, congratulations.
AK: Oh, thank you.
JR: Does it feel regular at this point?
AK: It definitely feels regular, I don’t really think about it at all, unless… Well, when my dog died, I wanted to drink. I think I texted you being like, “I want a drink.”
JR: Yeah, that makes sense. RIP Benny. Sweet dog.
AK: Yeah, the coolest dog. But yeah, it feels regular, I feel good. It’s nice to have something that you’re proud of.
JR: Sure.
AK: And… I don’t wake up feeling like shit.
JR: No?
AK: I mean, for other reasons.
JR: Come on, I’m not believing that!
AK: I don’t wake up, like, covered in shame.
JR: That’s true. Well…
AK: Just regular self-hate.
JR: [laughs] Regular shame, not drunk shame.
AK: Yeah, I can’t even imagine it.
JR: I’m noticing that younger folks drink less. Younger folks don’t drink at all. They don’t give a shit.
AK: They don’t. They’re over it.
JR: You’re on the next wave already. You’re basically Gen Alpha.
AK: I know. I’m getting younger.
JR: What’s beyond that? Gen Beta? Which brings us to cuck chairs, which you love, so that makes sense. And we could quickly explain cuck chairs, how do you feel about that?
AK: You can explain it, Jeff.
JR: I mean, is your press cycle all cuck chairs because of… [laughs]
AK: Yeah, I think so.
JR: So, cucking is essentially, you sit and you watch your partner fuck somebody else, and you do whatever you do while that’s happening. A cuck chair – which, once you see it, you can’t unsee it – it’s in pretty much every hotel room. There is an inexplicable armchair that’s just angled towards the bed. I kind of always thought it was for, like, if you want to sit and read a book or something.
AK: I think it is a reading chair.
JR: It could be both. So, what are you looking for in a cuck chair?
AK: Just something funny. Like a ‘70s vibe. Do you ever see those egg chairs?
JR: Yeah. Like a hangy egg chair?
AK: Yeah. Or a hammock.
JR: Cuck hammock.
AK: That’s gotta be… Someone’s doing that. We gotta move on from this. Why don’t we talk about our friendship origin story?
JR: I was trying to think about this. It seems like we were friends, and then we were immediately, like, very good friends. And I don’t know when that switch flipped. I know the bond got strengthened when we did that tour with [Sydney] Gish that we had to end. But I feel like it was already pretty strong there, and I’m not sure exactly where that came from.
AK: You know where it came from? ‘Cause I was thinking about this today. When we hung out at Steve’s house from PUP, when it was Cayetana’s last show in Canada. That was the first time we really talked. Like, we had been friends, but we never talked.
JR: At that point, you had done the compilation, right?
AK: Oh, Don’t Stop Now? Yeah, I had done a few of those. And you always said yes, which was nice.
JR: Yeah, I loved it, and I loved Cayetana, I loved Gladie.
AK: And then we played the Sheena, Anika, and Augusta shows.
JR: Yeah, and that was fun. What a great record.
AK: And then we became better friends. Yeah, I was listening to it the other day.
JR: For anybody reading this, the Sheena, Anika, and Augusta 7”, Simple Pleasures, with artwork by the wonderful Danielle DuBois.
AK: But then we played that show, and I think that was also the beginning.
JR: Yeah, it was like building blocks. I think we have a lot of same-brain stuff – aside from our mental health issues, we like a lot of the same music, books, and things like that. I guess once we were on that tour, it was just like, “Let’s go.” And I think we were all just blown away by Sydney Gish every night.
AK: Yeah, that was a really fun tour. That was the first tour in a long time where I was like, “This is so fun.”
The first time you really talked, do you remember what that conversation was about? Music, books, mental health?
AK: You know what I think we were talking about?
JR: What?
AK: Politics.
JR: Okay. Was that when you found out my politics were good? [laughs]
AK: I always assume that they’re terrible.
JR: Same with you, and I was like, “Wow! She doesn’t like Trump. Okay, I’m in.”
AK: I think that’s what it was, because I do remember tangentially talking about Bernie Sanders, but not really…
JR: I bet that was around the time that we would be talking about the conflict that exists within Bernie Sanders having a lot of really good policies that I agree with, but how nice it would be to not vote for a fucking old white guy?
AK: Yeah, because that was 2019, so it would have been right before good old Sleepy Joe.
JR: Good ol’ Sleepy Joe. Our finest president.
AK: Is he dead? I think he’s dead.
JR: Which one’s gonna die first? Oh my god, do you know about this fucker, I forget his name, who’s like 59 years old – he looks like he’s 30 years old, and he’s like, “My goal is to never die. And if I ever am close to dying, I’m gonna be uploaded to the singularity, so people could learn from me.” It’s like, “Learn what? You’re a fucking idiot, and you don’t respect how fucking life has worked for millennia, you dumb shit?”
AK: Is he the guy who has the documentary about himself?
JR: Maybe. I just read an article on him. He sounds like a guy that would.
AK: Would you want to be uploaded to a cloud?
JR: No. I am uploaded to a cloud. Music. I already did it, you know, and so did you. But I think it’s gross. I think it’s really arrogant to be like, “I want to be in the cloud so people can experience me for all times.” But at the same time, I think it’s beautiful that when you make music, in a way, even if in a small way, it lives on, if not forever, for a really long time. It could get passed down from generation to generation to generation, even if just one tape survives 20 years from now. And even beyond music, just your memories of somebody keeps them alive, and retelling their story keeps them alive. So, I’m into that shit, and then I’m like, “Well, is that really any different than this fucking ding-dong?”
AK: I think it is. Because it’s music, and it’s beautiful.
JR: Would you want to upload yourself to the cloud?
AK: Absolutely not. Would you ever want to be frozen? Like, so you could get brought back to life?
JR: Oh! Yeah. I’ve never thought about it, but sure. You wouldn’t want to?
AK: I wouldn’t. I don’t want to wake up in, like, 50 years and be…
JR: Oh, wait, I’m gonna be brought back to, like, 50 years from now? [laughs] That’s not exciting.
AK: Yeah, wouldn’t it be weird?
JR: Yeah, but I don’t know, it’s weird now.
AK: I mean, maybe it will be better.
JR: I don’t think I would benefit from it mentally or emotionally or anything, but I think it would be funny, and I love a good bit.
AK: It would be scary. Everyone you know would be dead.
JR: Yeah, but… That’s true. That’d be fucked up.
AK: Did you ever read that book when you were a kid, Tuck Everlasting?
JR: No.
AK: Where they drink this water, and it makes them live forever, and it’s really sad.
JR: Okay, living forever… hard pass. Hard pass onliving forever. Let’s say it’s a fine point to be frozen when, like, I’m about to die, but also my body still works, and something’s miraculous about it. And then I get to live out my final year in, like, a crazy future. Why not?
AK: Yeah, that’s kinda nice, actually. How about this, Jeff, we can talk about how we came to make the record together.
JR: You sent me demos, right?
AK: We send each other demos, which is a really cute thing. I think that’s one of my favorite parts of playing music, is friends sending each other demos.
JR: I send demos to you and, like, Chris Farren, and that’s pretty much it.
AK: It’s nice, though. It’s nice to have demo friends. I sent you mine, because I was asking for advice. And you called me, because I remember sitting outside, and Matt was there too, and you were like, “Let’s do this!”
JR: I remember being in the van, asking everybody. I was like, “I think I wanna produce this Gladie record.” Because I hadn’t really produced a record since before the pandemic. I recorded this record by this band, Fuss, on my 8-track, but that wasn’t really the same thing as this. I was scared to do it, but you were like, “Do you have any advice on this stuff?” And I remember feeling like I do have advice, but I feel like more than advice, just being there and being able to try and encourage everybody into believing that it’s good, and feeling all the shit in there, and getting Jack involved to record it super clear and super well. I really liked the demos, and I really liked the songs. I think I said, “I feel like I could see some spots for, a little bit of extra dynamic,” and you were like, “Yeah, I feel like maybe it feels a little flat.” And I was like, “Okay, we should just do this.” Because that’s easier than texting. I don’t even know what I would text. I really like your records, they’re really lush and cool, and when I heard these songs after touring with you for so long, I was like, “I feel like Gladie’s ready to rip.” I just wanted to be the little friend in the ear being like, “Hey, make this one rip!”
AK: Yeah. I would say one of your greatest qualities as a person is that you’re very encouraging.
JR: Thanks. I’m glad you feel that way. Sometimes I feel like Tina Fey in Mean Girls. I’m a pusher. I’m a mean old pusher.
AK: No, it’s a good thing. I was thinking about what to write for the record tomorrow [release day], because I haven’t done it yet. I’ve been doing an email blast.
JR: Love it. I like emails these days.
AK: Me too. I saw this fucking quote on Instagram yesterday, and I don’t repost quotes because I’m like, “That’s corny,” but in my heart, I love them. It was something like, “I always try and mention my friends’ names in any room that wants to hear them, because that’s what friends do.” And I always try to do that, but I also think you are a great example of that.
JR: I try to do that.
AK: But you do that for everybody, and as someone who is now – I know you’re not gonna like this, but your band is really big now, and you still do that. So many people that I came up playing music with got really famous, and I saw that they don’t really uplift people anymore. And I’m like, “Damn, that sucks.” It’s so important for me – that’s how music works, I think. You have to uplift smaller bands. I still listen to and try and know what’s going on in Philly with 20-year-old bands, kids that are young, because that’s what’s helped me. I’ve tried to do that for people, and I think you’re really good at doing that. Encouragement to me is a big part of the record. A lot of it is friends that encourage me, and me trying to be a good friend. And also trying to do that for myself even though I’m out of it.
JR: It’s hard, the second thing’s harder. I wonder if there’s some toxic part of it – of course I wonder if there’s a toxic part of this nice thing you just said to me [laughs] – where it’s easier to do that for others than it is to do for yourself, because there’s a really blurry line between when you give yourself a compliment versus when you are an arrogant fucking prick. Where you’re full of yourself and you got a big head and your ego’s crazy. That’s the kind of person I don’t like to be around, and that I don’t want to be, and it makes me feel gross. But we all see bands get more popular, and when they don’t bring everybody into the party – the bands I liked growing up did that. I would read the thank you notes on the liner notes of records and find out about bands that way, because I feel like these punk bands that got bigger would shout out their smaller punk band friends, and it worked like that. And then I feel like there was maybe a bit of an era where a band would get some indie fame, and it was like, where’s this scene behind you? You gotta do what you gotta do to keep it going, in a sense. But also, I don’t think it works, man. That isn’t gonna work out for you, because then when your moment is done, you’re just around, and you have no one, and where are your friends? You kind of said fuck you to all of them. Maybe I’m speaking too hypothetically now, because I don’t even know what I’m talking about.
AK: No, I think that’s true.
JR: I think AJJ’s really good at that.
AK: They’re great at that.
JR: I think it’s cool that as big as they have gotten, they’ve really always taken friends–
AK: They’ve taken me on tour twice. That kind of stuff is so helpful. I always think about how I want to be, and how I would like to be as opposite from all the bad things in the world.
JR: Very noble of you, Gus.
AK: No, but in the sense of, like, if I’m going to hate these elites, or these people destroying the world, I want to try and figure out how to do the opposite, which is not being bitter, not being individualistic, not being a hater all the time, even though I can hate a little bit. Really trying to remind myself of living by some good values. And it’s also nice to have role models. We have a lot of good friends that do that, I think.
JR: Leaning into that vibe, something that stood out to me when I heard the demos of this record were the lyrics. They’re very much like talking to a friend, but also, talking to a friend that’s often encouraging you, and encouragement is such a difficult thing to put into a song without it sounding saccharine or like self-help bullshit. But I think you really pull it off in an incredibly special way on this record, especially ‘I Want That for You’ and ‘Brace Yourself’. Do you feel like there was a shift on this record where you wanted to do that more? Does it feel like something you were always doing? Does it feel like a natural progression?
AK: I don’t know if it’s changed, I feel like it’s kind of the same. But your life changes, so it’s gonna change what you’re writing about a little bit. The last record was so much about being sober, and the weird thing that happens when you’re sober for a while is, I do think you kind of learn who you really are, for better or worse. I realized that I had some really bad codependency issues, and I think when people say codependency, it’s like you’re reliant on a partner. But when I actually started working on that, I realized it was being a people pleaser. Being a people pleaser, to me, now that I’ve tried to do some work on it, is not really knowing who you are; or knowing who you are, but being afraid to advocate for yourself or be strong. I notice it in little tiffs that come up where I’m alarmed, and I don’t know how to react because I don’t want the person to think badly of me. It’s not a good thing.
JR: I know, for sure.
AK: In a way, it’s incredibly disingenuous. It’s been something that I have had to work on a lot. But then it’s also revealing your true nature, which can be good and bad. Because it’s hard to stand up for yourself. I think a lot of the record is about standing up for yourself. Something I’ve noticed in this sobriety healing shit is that when you change and you were always a pushover, people don’t like it. And that’s really hard, and people talk about that, but seeing it in actuality – I’ve had relationships that have really changed that were really important to me because I stopped being a pushover. And that is super weird and really depressing, because then you realize: Did you ever really love me, or did you love that I just accommodated you all the time? So with the encouraging aspect, I try and be a friend that people can come to, and – here’s a compliment, I will say I’m a good friend.
JR: You’re a great friend.
AK: But I also realized that a lot of my relationships changed when I was like, “This isn’t a reciprocal friendship.” When I stopped being a pushover, I lost some people that I really cared about. And so, the encouraging of friends is also selfishly written for me.
JR: I’m not trying to just throw a warm blanket and a mug of tea at you right now, but also, that stuff that is for you, like psyching yourself up to face difficult moments through the course of this record, it’s just strength and resilience that you can feel and makes you feel like, “I could do this too.” There’s something really special about the lyrics on this record that resonate with the person inside, at least me, and I think will with others, that wants to get better at that, to be strong enough to advocate for themselves, and not conflate advocating for yourself with being unkind to others. I think that must be difficult for you as, honestly, one of the kindest people I’ve met in my entire life. Like, how do you advocate for yourself when people see you as this beam of kindness? And it’s like, well, no, sometimes I feel like shit, and sometimes I want things too.
AK: Yeah. And I do think the nice thing that I learned in this little chapter is I’m being more honest with myself, and I’m being more honest in my relationships. I’m not gonna have a bunch of relationships that aren’t real anymore. And I think the relationships I do have are much richer.
JR: Can I ask you some questions about the making of the record?
AK: Sure.
JR: Can you describe the smell of the house that we stayed in?
AK: It smelled like sewage.
JR: How did you feel about the sewage smell?
AK: It didn’t bother me that much.
JR: What was your favorite thing you watched while we were there?
AK: Mr. Beast videos.
JR: That was your favorite?!
AK: I think that’s all I remember. You showed me MrBeast!
JR: MrBeast is… Look, I’m not in or anything, but I feel like everybody’s gotta see one of those once, it’s crazy.
AK: I think it just came out that he’s alt-right.
JR: That he’s alright?
AK: No, that he’s alt-right. So the opposite.
JR: Who the fuck is shocked that MrBeast is alt-right?
AK: Not me.
JR: No one. I feel like he was doing these stunts where it’s like, “I bring a million gallons of water to this starving community somewhere,” and I feel like people were like, “Fuck you, man,” even though he was trying to do a good thing. So I could see how he would get, like, “Fuck you, guys, I’m just gonna be 100% bad. I’m not trying to be 2% good.” So, I can’t buy Feastables anymore at the store, because he’s alt-right, that’s good.
AK: I know, sorry, Jeff, it sucks.
JR: Cancel my subscription to his zine. [laughs] What about Jack? He’s a fun little sweet weirdo, and I love him.
AK: Well, I was scared of him at first.
JR: Yeah? Why?
AK: Because he’s a hardcore guy, and I was like, “What if he hates me?” Everything he records is, like, crazy. Besides your band, of course. But he records a lot of heavier stuff! And then, he was so sweet. He does intermittent fasting, which I think is really cute.
JR: What’s your favorite song on the record right?
AK: I think my favorite is ‘Talk Past Each Other’.
JR: Cool!
AK: I like a slowie, you know this.
JR: It’s a short, chill slowie, too. And you got no slow songs as a single, huh?
AK: Well, ‘Brace Yourself’ is kinda slow, right?
JR: I guess I’m equating slow with quiet, which is wrong.
AK: ‘Blurry’ was cool.
JR: One take?
AK: One take. And ‘Fix Her’, I think, is one of the ones I’m most proud of.
JR: You should be. That song is special.
AK: We’re playing it on this tour, which is fun.
JR: How are you doing the piano stuff?
AK: We’re not.
JR: Cool!
AK: It’s just guitar. But my favorites are always the songs that no one likes. How about you?
JR: ‘Fix Her’ is one of my favorites, too. If I had a voice in it, which I shouldn’t have, because that isn’t how it works, but if I was in this band and I got a vote on a single, I would have ‘Fix Her’. I like ‘I Want That For You’ a lot.
AK: That’s the most meaningful song, I think.
JR: Yeah, that’s a beautiful tune. ‘Car Alarm’ is a banger. Really like ‘Unfolding’. And low-key ‘Poison’. It’s such a good punk jam.
AK: That’s gonna be fun to play on tour. Wait, really important question, are you still blue?
JR: Kinda. [Takes off hat] I have a little, but it’s on its way out. I had a short little era here, and that was fun. What, you’re disappointed?
AK: A little bit.
JR: I don’t want to like the maintenance of it. It doesn’t seem like you have to do maintenance at all. Because I toured with you, and it was just good blue the whole time.
AK: I just throw it in my hair and then wash it out.
JR: How do you not get it all over your fucking head?
AK: I don’t have that problem.
JR: Yeah. You got more hair! When you got more hair, it’s easier. But I’m also low-key painting, like, the thin spots of my head with blue, which feels weird.
AK: I think it’s cool.
JR: It’s fine, it’s fun, but also, I’m not gonna do it for a little bit. Now I’m in Suicidal Tendencies hat era, which I feel like is gonna be a short era.
AK: Dude, I’m in hat era, too.
JR: Yeah, let me see some hats. What do you got?
AK: It’s not in this room. I have one hat. It’s blue, and it says Angel Du$t.
JR: Oh, wow. So they’re both hardcore hats.
AK: We’re tough.
JR: Yeah, we’re tough. What record are you looking forward to this year, aside from Aldous Harding? Talk about Aldous Harding a little bit.
AK: I always talk about her, man. I love her. But I’m also excited for Hurray for the Riff Raff’s live record that comes out tomorrow. I don’t normally like live albums that much, but I heard the first two songs from it, and it’s so good. I’m excited to be record birthday twins with that record.
JR: I’m really excited for your record to come out tomorrow. I think people are really really gonna love it.
AK: I’m excited, too, because if it fails miserably, I’m just gonna go to nursing school.
JR: So, either way… Either the record is good or you’ll be like, “Thank God I don’t have to keep trying to fuckin’ be a professional musician,” one of the dumbest things you could try to do.”
AK: But I’ve done it a lot longer than I thought I would.
JR: And the thing that I think rocks about you, and this is where, again, same brain: I think you’re gonna play music forever.
AK: For sure. I really look forward to being an old lady playing music in my garage with my friends.
JR: If we’re living in the same location, and we’re old, can we rock together? Or at least play shows together.
AK: I would love to rock together, our band would be so good.
JR: Right? What are we playing? I’m playing drums, what are you playing?
AK: I’m just singing.
JR: Wow, now we’re a mature indie band. Drums and vocalist.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Gladie’s No Need to Be Lonely is out now via Get Better Records.
