Scheananigans with Scheana Shay - Everyone’s A Little Emo with Dashboard Confessional

Episode Date: February 5, 2021

Scheana and Jamie are joined by singer/songwriter Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional. They discuss his early days of the band, career highlights, a recent motorcycle accident that temporarily left him unable to play guitar, his canned wine venture, Canvino, all of Jamie’s super fan questions are answered and he makes a big announcement! This episode was recorded via zoom and at times the audio quality is less than perfect. (Aren’t we all?) Thank you for understanding. Special thanks to PrettyLitter for sponsoring this episode. Your cat deserves the best. Your cat deserves The World’s Smartest kitty litter! Do what I did and make the switch to PrettyLitter TODAY by visiting Pretty Litter dot com and use promo code SHAY for 20% off your first order. Scheananigans with Scheana Shay is produced by ACTIONPARK MEDIA. Follow us on Instagram: @scheana @scheananigans @actionparkmediagroupSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Action Park Media From Vanderpump Rules to Vegas and everywhere in between, it's time to party with Sheena Shea. This is Shenanigans. And now, here's your host, Sheena Shea. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Shenanigans. So, here at Shenanigans, it's like Make-A-Wish Day.

And I am the genie. And Jamie's one wish was to interview Chris Carraba from Dashboard Confessional, which will be happening. But before we get into that, we're just going to do a little catch up, let her get her jitters out. So how you doing? Sheena, red letter day. That's what today is. Like this, I mean, Sugar Taco was opening and I'm interviewing Chris Carraba of Dashboard Confessional. I am beyond, like I'm beside myself. I can't, like forgive me if I can't get my words out.

Because never in my wildest dreams did I think that this day would be happening. Well, I'm happy that here at Shenanigans, we are able to make dreams come true. You know, I sent you that Taylor Swift video where she surprises her best friend, Abigail, on her birthday where it's a house party. And she brings Abigail up and she's like, hey, so I know Dashboard is like your favorite band. Is there a Chris Carraba in the house? And he like emerges from the crowd of people and they all sing hands down up there. And Abigail is losing her shit. And I'm like, OK, I'm Abigail.

You're Taylor Swift. And today is that day. Yes. Thank you so much. Of course. Even without this platform, this would not even happen. And I am beyond, beyond grateful for you. Well, I'm beyond grateful for you.

You've been an amazing co-host and an amazing friend. So I'm just happy that I'm able to facilitate this for you. And I'm a fan, too. So I'm excited. I mean, I've been to several of his shows. I've seen you geek out at one of them, which was a highlight for me at Life is Beautiful. And yeah, I'm really excited. We also, before we get into the interview, have the Sugar Taco opening tonight. And me, non-vegan, never eaten, as I call it, fake meat.

It's not fake meat. It's jackfruit and soybeans and whatever the fuck it is. I'm excited to try the food. It's so good. It's so delicious. Our chef, you know, he brought his, you know, family's recipes from Mexico. And so, you know, and the way that, you know, you would typically marinate meat, he does it, but with plants. And so, you know, meat on its own doesn't necessarily taste good. It's the seasoning or the marinade. That's actually a good point. He's doing the same thing, and it's just to plants instead of meat. And I actually had Zach Wickham was with me last week, and we went to eat,

and he had a chicken taco, and he was like, wait a minute. This isn't chicken. This tastes just like chicken. And he's a big meat eater. And, yeah, anyone who's tried it, they're just like, wow, this is amazing. We don't need meat. So and, you know, the girls over there, like they put in so much hard work, like just getting that place ready. They anything they could do on their own, painting chairs and hanging.

I've seen on the Instagram. I mean, Daniela Monet is nine months pregnant. They're painting like the kiddie play area. Yes, we have an area because it's the Valley. So there's more families over there than Melrose location. So we have an area for kids to play. And she figured out and Jessica too. Jessica Hall.

They were working on that. And it looks so good. And there's like this gorgeous plant chandelier that I can't wait to see in person. Because the last time I was there was maybe a month ago. And it looked nothing like it does right now. So yeah, I'm so excited. I'm excited. We were looking my mom and I she's coming. We were looking at the sugar taco Instagram last night. Like y'all I know like some of you get annoyed when we talk about vegan shit on the podcast, whatever, get over it. I'm pregnant. She's vegan deal with it. But literally like

take a look at this Instagram because it's like you drool looking at it like none of it looks vegan. It just looks delicious. So we're looking at it. And then I'm trying to like see like, OK, so what's the, you know, quote unquote chicken? And I was like, I don't know. There's just something about like fake meat that freaks me out. My mom goes, so eating animals doesn't freak you out, but fake meat doesn't like, OK, valid point. And I was like so i texted jamie last night and i was like wait like soybeans like edamame because that's what i would know as a soybean so is it like edamame tacos it does not taste like edamame but it's derived from the soybean okay the chicken is yeah and there's these like churro donuts that look incredible. And

unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to get your results before going. No, I'm gonna call my doctor after this. So I don't remember if I mentioned it last week. I think I might have briefly mentioned it. But for those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know I had my glucose tolerance test last week. I failed and just did my three-hour one yesterday. So I'm waiting on results to find out if I have gestational diabetes. But in the meantime, until I know, I think it's smart to stay away from the carbs and the sugar. And I've already, I've put on quite a bit of pregnancy weight. She's the same bra size as me. They're huge. She's a 34 D. Literally, they're huge. So I'm like, you know what? I mean, when did cutting carbs and sugar ever hurt anyone? It didn't. I was just I was so looking forward to

these churro donuts, but they they just might have to wait a few months after baby girl comes. You know, I think you should take a bunch to go. And then when you get your results, if it's good, then you'll have them tomorrow. No, I want them fresh. I want them fresh. I mean, it's better than nothing. I'll be back in L.A. next week. I'm actually officially moving back. a week but it's looking like now three weeks because the certificate of occupancy for our building is not able to be had whatever until march 1st we thought it was february 1st so

march i'll be back and you know if my results come back negative then i will go and have some churro donuts yay they're so good i was like i'm so glad i don't live too close to a sugar taco location because I would crave these donuts. And I'm not into sweets, which is the weirdest thing. I'm not either, but those just look so good. And I love churros. They're so good. So really quickly, if we have time in this intro, I just want to talk to the listeners. Okay.

I just want to let you guys know. The way that this interview came about is because I asked for it. And I want to stress the importance of asking for what you want. You know, like Dashboard was not going to come to us. Yeah. He wasn't, you know, knocking on our DMs like, hey, can I come on Shenanigans? And same thing with Sugar Taco. The way I got involved is I sent a DM and I asked.

And so if there's anything you want to do, if there's anything that interests you, if there's anyone out there that's doing what you want to be doing, just ask. People want to help. I just, I don't know. I just want to stress the importance of that. So I am going to piggyback on that and I'm going to stress the importance of this guy whose DMs I've been telling you to slide in. Just ask. Ask if he wants to get a drink. Slide in the DMs. Take your own advice. Okay, I'm going to give Jamie a second to catch her breath, compose herself. I'm going to leave you guys with a word from Pretty Litter, and then we'll be back

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and it lasts up to a month. Plus it's safer for your cat, the whole household, better for your allergies, and it arrives safely at my door in a small lightweight bag. Shipping's free and I never have to worry about storing bulky containers. Your cat deserves the best. I mean your cat deserves the world's smartest kitty litter. So do what I did. Make the switch to pretty litter today by visiting prettylitter.com and use promo code Shay for 20% off your first order. Again, that is prettylitter.com, promo code Shay for 20% off, prettylitter.com, promo code Shay. So we have a very exciting guest via Zoom all the way from Nashville, Tennessee, exciting guest via Zoom all the way from Nashville, Tennessee. One of Jamie and I's,

Jamie's personal favorite, one of my favorites since high school, Chris Karaba from Dashboard Frickin' Confessional. I did it. I made it. We did it. I made it. Oh my gosh. Okay. We did it together. You have no idea. This is like huge for us. So thank you so much for taking the time to be here today. We really appreciate it. I'm so thrilled. This is awesome. Yes. I am like, I'm most prepared for this episode out of all of our episodes and the least prepared at the same time. I feel like I out of any guests that we've ever had, I'm most familiar with your body of work, I would say. But you know, I also wanted to take my notes. And I have four pages of notes in front of me from going to 20 years worth of shows. So I've spent a lot of time with you at all of your live shows. And on one hand, I was in the middle of, I was like making all these notes

and I was like, you know what? I don't even want to look at that. I just want to have a conversation and be in the moment, you know? And let's just hang, let's hang out. Let's, let's. And I almost kind of, I kind of learned that from you because it feels like when you're on stage,

the moment you play like the first chord, you're in the moment. You know, it's maybe surprising to you, but I have like paralyzing stage fright before i hit that stage um it's kind of menace and manifests itself as stage fright but i think it's it's just kind of excitement probably but that's like strangely that that the shift is so when i get out there and i'm with you guys becomes the most relaxed i am in any part of my life but it's such a it's a it's a hard shift, man. It goes from racing heartbeat, like total fear that I'm going to lose my mind trying to get out on stage to like never wanting to.

How many shows would you say you've been to, Jamie? I know I've been to a few over the past decade. How many have you been to over the past two decades? I mean, I'm not saying I'm a super fan, but probably under 100. Wow. That's not a lot. Under 100. Under 100. She's like, I was your number one bandaid. I actually toured on the tour in 2006. See, I'm from New Jersey, Chris. So I feel like the whole scene almost, I don't want to say started there, but I mean, between New Jersey and Florida and like Northeast, Southeast, I just feel like I was there from the early 2000s. Totally right. That, that weird Jersey, Florida connection where the bands in Jersey and the bands in Florida really kind of connected as friends. We kept like booking shows together,

really no shows in between because we didn't know anybody there yet. So I would go up to Jersey all the time and play tons and tons of shows with tons of bands like Midtown, Saves the Day from Jersey, Chemical Romance, you name it and they would and I would get them shows done in Florida you know I'm originally from Connecticut so I'm I'm like a northeastern guy even though the band started in Florida but I really think there's this like inexorable link between the northeast and and where bands bands from the Northeast and the bands from the deep South Florida. I agree. Yeah. And oh my God, saves the day. Those basement shows. Were

you there? I was there. I played a lot of those basement shows. I played a lot of those basement shows, those living room shows, those backyard shows, and eventually the club shows. VFW halls first and then eventually closed. So I think you graduated to Maxwell's in Hoboken. Do you remember that place? The big leap to Maxwell's. I wish Maxwell's was still around. It's like all the great ones kind of get turned into bistros. Absolutely. So a couple episodes ago, we were talking about me growing up in Jersey. And when I was 14 years old, I would sneak into Manhattan and I would go see Wu-Tang Clan and all of these hip hop artists. So you grew up in Hartford. Did you ever kind of sneak down and who were you influenced by anyone from the area? So I didn't really like get full bore

into music and move to Florida. But where the sneaking out I did while I was in Hartford was we would take Amtrak into New York City, you know, tell mom, hey, mom, I'm going to go stay at Mike's today. And meanwhile, we would be just like sleeping in the street in New York City for the weekend. So was sneaking out more of like an East Coast thing? Or was I just like a goody two shoes? Because I just I never did the sneak out thing. I think that one's on you. It's pretty universal. You blew it. You missed out. I love all the stories. Okay, okay. It's pretty universal. You blew it.

You missed out. I love all the stories. I've made up for it, I think. I don't know. Was it a neat northeast thing? Or was it just a delinquent thing? I wouldn't know. I'm totally a delinquent. But I don't know if it's because of where I grew up or what.

I have no idea. Well, I will say Dashboard Confessional is the band that got me into the whole emo genre back in high school. Napster, LimeWire, the days when I unfortunately couldn't afford CDs and just went on LimeWire and would burn CDs. I remember my ex-boyfriend and I, like hands down and just all of those songs in those early days. I still know every word to we were rocking out because my boyfriend, he's like, okay, play me some Dashboard. So the whole drive out here from San Diego, I'm just like jamming out. He's like, wow, you still know all of these words. I'm like,

it's just, it's crazy how your brain can just remember things from 20 years ago, but not what I had for lunch 20 days ago. I was reading about memory and the way that it works and how we process short-term versus long-term memories. And I was thinking this in relation to the music of Dashboard. And it's like, if a memory is so attached to a feeling, an emotion, like, you know, think about of like, if someone's getting married, they're going to remember every detail of that wedding day. That's so true. Yet they have to cram for a test and try to remember those types of details that they don't

care about. So it's really like what we care about and you know, what we put our attention to and our feelings. And once that feeling gets attached, it's like goes from the amygdala to the long-term memory. And it's super cool. Yeah. I love that. You know, I feel the same way, you know, where there's an old saying, like music is a time machine. Chris, I have that in You know, I feel the same way. You know, there's an old saying, like, music is a time machine. Chris, I have that in my notes. Oh, my God. Do you really? I swear to God.

I'm going to read. This is the only thing I'm going to read from my notes. Time machine. His music is like a time machine and a soundtrack to so many people's lives. When emotion is so strongly attached to something, it creates a lasting memory. So a song can transport us right back there. I love that. That's what I always say. Music can literally transport you to a different time in your life and bring up all those feels. And every time I listen to Hands Down specifically,

I picture myself burning that CD at the desk of my ex-boyfriend's computer, like junior year of high school. And, you know, I got to say like Napster made my career. You know, there's a lot to be said for how that changed the industry and all that stuff. But just me personally, I don't, I wouldn't be here talking to you if it wasn't for people downloading it for free. The thing was that I just wanted people to come and, you know, I wanted to get to play live for people. So it was incredible to get a chance you know it was by virtue of somebody downloading it for free i didn't care as long as i had a chance to sing with them see i always feel bad saying like oh i downloaded it for free

i'm like no offense i i was broken in high school and didn't have a job but i love that you can appreciate that because you know that's yeah yeah i mean a lot of his music wasn't even out yet and so the kids no i had no. That's the other factor. You're absolutely right. I had no way to get... I had a record out, but it was like, if you bought it, you bought it from me out of the back of my van. Yeah.

Oh, that's a little shady. Yeah. Sorry. I don't know how to dial that one back or walk that one back. We know what you mean. But these kids would show up and know all the lyrics already and that was because it's kind of shocking it was the Napster and it was uh really it was a shock it was a shock to me to get to someplace I had never been before

and have people be singing these songs it's not like I had songs on the radio obviously and I barely had a record out so it was just an incredible time. I love that. So did you envision this happening before it happened? Or once all the kids were singing along, were you like, OK, this is what my band is? So I don't know how to answer that exactly. But let me say this. The reason I didn't Chris Carra was intended it to be shared.

And I thought it was harder to share music that was just like this person's name. And I thought it was more inviting to have a band name and just make the audience part of the band. But I didn't think, or make the scene part of the band. I didn't know the audience would become so inexorably linked with the songs. I thought it would open me up to being able to play

with a lot of different people in the band if I ever had one. Originally, it was just me and an acoustic guitar, but I thought all my friends are in touring bands, like regionally touring bands or indie touring bands or, you know, not big time careers, but everybody was out on their runs. And when they would come back, maybe I could get Chad from Newfound Glory to play guitar with me, or maybe I could get so-and-so to play with me or so on and so forth. So I don't know, I guess I wanted it to be communal, but I absolutely couldn't have envisioned that it become like a community.

I love that. I love the inclusion of it. And there's really no other feeling than being in a dashboard show and being with the whole crowd and singing along. And it's such a catharsis. It's like therapy. And there's no better band name than Dashboard Confessional, because I feel like it's not only you confessing, but it's us when we sing it back. I'm glad that I finally got to experience you at a Dashboard Confessional show. It was about a year and a half ago at Life is Beautiful. Oh, such a fun show.

Such a fun show. And just that moment, just seeing her, like, oh, it was the best. It was, I love that festival. It was I love that festival. It's one of my favorites. And to see a band that I've followed for a couple of decades at a festival, it was just with my best friend. It was incredible. But those moments.

I wasn't going to go to Life is Beautiful until I heard Dash was playing because normally that's not my scene. So obviously that was the highlight. And it was so funny because Sheena and I kind of got in a fight the night before. Yeah. And I was texting her and I was like, our only fight we've ever had. And I was texting her like, Sheena, I just want to go to bed so I can be awake and enjoy dashboard tomorrow.

And we did. We thoroughly did. and we did we thoroughly did so we also saw post malone at that festival and we were curious how did those circles cover come about did you meet him there too and did that facilitate it oh um i'm just a fan i've never met post malone i'm a big fan who isn't there's artists that come along once in a while that just transcend that scene and i like so many of the songs but that one just it just hit me just hit me in like a personal way um i think the lyrics just got me in the same way you were talking about how like you can have a visceral reaction to some music when you're young for me that doesn't stop i don't know about you guys probably so it doesn't stop for you either um i still find those songs every now and again

the thing is they're like more few and far between as time goes by, because I don't know, life gets more complicated, I guess. I had such a visceral reaction when I heard that song. And I found myself singing it all the time. I would sing it backstage, like when I'm a guitar player, I'm in Jay, who's a fantastic singer-songwriter with a great record out, by the way. He would accompany me on these really beautiful melody lines. And we were thinking about what we might do

when we had a chance to record at Electric Ladyland. He suggested, why don't we do circles? You know, you play it nonstop. You sing it nonstop. Why don't we just record it? Once in a while, I'll do a cover of a song that's very current, very rare. But he said it's become part of the fabric of our show,

even though no one ever sees it. The audience never sees it. It's just like part of our show, even though no one ever sees it. The audience never sees it. It's just like part of our routine, special moment that we have just us. And we just have to let people in on it. I love that. And I love that song. And speaking of covers, I wanted to ask you about one in particular. It's a little one called Jamie.

So all the shows I've been to, I've heard you tease it once. And I think it was in Hartford. But I've never heard it live, fully live, and I can't get it on Spotify. So I have it here from 2004, and I can only own a car that has a CD player because of this CD. I'm going to send you this song. I have steered away from that song for a long time. No good reason. The fact was when people had started asking, it's a, it's a song by Weezer. Weezer was one of the first bands that ever gave a shot. They kind of plucked us

out and said, we believe in what you're doing. We get it. And we want to give you a shot. And having been such a massive Weezer fan and still such a massive Weezer fan that was and remains like this huge moment in my life um I think the way they might have heard was there was a in their brief hiatus not so brief when their hiatus was happening I did a cover of a rare b-side of theirs called Jamie for you and when and I think that's how they first heard Dashboard and then later they listened to the music on the records. So I have a tradition of, like, if a band is really important to us for various reasons, maybe they took us on that tour like Weezer did,

we will continue doing songs at theirs live. But I had moved to El Scorcho, so another song of theirs. It wasn't like choosing to not play jamie i just like had the thing i was to and people kept asking that it almost became like this foregone conclusion that i wouldn't play it you're the dumbest thing ever i love that song i just couldn't like bring myself to say yes i was like oh man the idea of this song is better than you're ain't the song to me i was like maybe that's the thing that's strange that you brought it up because I've been playing that song a lot lately. I don't like to sit around playing dashboard songs. I sit around playing like songs I love by other people. And that's

when I've been playing a lot. And that means I'll probably start playing it whenever shows happen again. Yes, finally. Vindication. I can't wait until we can go to live shows again and speaking of vindication when you said that so last year not gonna get into what it was but there was something that happened to me personally and it kind of just all came full circle everything made sense and i'm like probably the only time in my life I've actually used the term vindicated. I was like, I just feel so vindicated. I was like, you know what? I'm posting it.

I need that dashboard song. And I just had a selfie of me on my story. And I did the when you do the music and it has the lyrics on it on my story. And it couldn't have been any more perfect i've been like what that song was like what like 2006 five is that one spider-man i don't know yeah so anyways for 15 years i've been listening to this song and i've never had like a reason to post vindicated and i was like this song is so perfect so thank you for for that. Because I just, I felt vindicated. And the song just, it put it full circle.

I tell you, I posted that recently. Really? When they declared that Biden had won the election. That's what I posted. Yes. Was that a career highlight for you, being on a Spider-Man soundtrack? Abso-fucking-lutely. So cool.

For so many reasons, like growing up crazy about comic books. The whole way the song came to be, the idea that we were going to be on the soundtrack and that was that, not even in the movie to becoming a single and being in the movie. It's a little hard to believe still. I remember all the previews

and everything that song. It's huge. And that wasn't the original song you submitted. No, I submitted a song when I was invited to be on the soundtrack. And I like that song. That song's never come out. I have a recording of it, but it's never come out. And I was invited to see the movie while it was still being while it was in like post production, which is a great experience. It's just me in a theater on Sony, on the Sony lot watching the movie. So cool. And there were like themes within the movie that just kind of resonated to a personal thing I was going through. So I don't really think I wrote Vindicated about the movie. It just kind of like kickstarted some thinking for me for sure. And about two weeks later, I was in Hawaii and we had a couple of days off and I wrote Vindicated one morning and called my friend at Sony Records who was putting it together and she said yeah come and record it we'll replace this thing you got to do tomorrow. Wow. So I flew back to the states and to the mainland and recorded it the

next day and somehow they decided it would be a single and the rest was like a career-making history. That's amazing. Between that and MTV Unplugged, I think those are like the two moments that were the combined watershed moment of my career. I was listening to the MTV Unplugged CD on my way up here from Orange County. It's not like I forget, but just when I put it back on, I'm like, wow, these songs sound really special. Because I don't know if it was like Bone Break's stand-up bass or whatever, but it's different than, just sounds different. Maybe it's just the audience, but it sounds different than the original songs on the first two albums. And they're just so beautiful. And it's, you have to hear it. I don't think you've heard it, but all of my favorite songs are in

one place. It's a moment in time. How did that come to be? Because I think Unplugged wasn't even on air anymore. It wasn't on air. It was not on air. The guy who created Unplugged is a guy named Alex Coletti. He's a genius. And MTV Unplugged was something he had put behind him and was on to other things. It was off the air. And he came to see Dash play in New York. And he came back after the show backstage and said to me, you know, to explain to who he was and said that he had no intention of starting Unplugged again until that night. He said that what he saw that night, what he heard with the audience participating, they were

singing along, not just to the chorus, but to every word, was what he always hoped for, for MTV Unplugged, but he had never gotten that piece. So he revived the show just for us. As a matter of fact, we were the first, as far as I know, although actually it's revived again, but I think it's a different format. But at the time, we were the only non-platinum band to ever do an unplugged. So that was quite a chance on us that he took. And consequently, it went platinum, which was a big, like what I said about being a watershed point. Wow and and we're coming up almost on the 20-year anniversary of that i wonder if

if you could get the same lineup back together do that whole unplugged album for a tour cool i would think there's a uh chance for something special i don't know that i've thought through what it should be but i do think it should be celebrated i don't i didn't used to get into that kind of thing i remember the 10th anniversary for my first record and i didn't think to do anything about it it just never occurred to me till fans started messaging and saying you know what are you going to do what are you going to do with this like feeling of expectation that i didn't expect i didn't expect and um I realized it was more about what they did than what I needed and went out and did a 10-year anniversary tour. And that kind of

planted a seed for the future. Like, oh yeah, these are things that are worthy of like honoring because it's not just mine. Like by no stretch of the imagination, it's this thing I share with my audience that I'm celebrating. Absolutely. I have to tell you, like when when your fans see you on Letterman or anything or on a Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, it's like you didn't get there from any help by the mainstream or from radio, you know, and it's like so when we see you do that, it's just like this accomplishment or this proud moment. And it's like we did that. That's so true. Yeah. That's why whenever, you know, bands and actors win awards, it's like you always thank the fans because you don't get there without the fans. And by we, I obviously I include.

Yeah, no, no, I know. But I'm saying like group. Yeah, for sure. I probably appreciate that more than some. I'm very keen to be aware of that. I'm grateful all the time, all the time. I mean, even to the degree where they've like been there for me with so many letters and cards and even gifts or books to read to like this difficult year I went through post COVID when I was in this accident and pretty severe, severely injured. But it was like, it goes beyond the music. It's just a real personal, true, honest relationship I have with these folks. And they seem to have with me. We wanted to get into that if you're okay to talk about your accident and having to learn how to play guitar. I mean, I can't even imagine I was reading an interview that you did. What was it a few I think it was like a few weeks ago. And just reading your story of having to, go into five minute guitar lessons and just having to relearn something that you've known how to do for so long.

So if you can kind of take us through those beginning moments of having to relearn your favorite thing. Such a. Yeah. So. All right. Just so that I'll just fill people in that don't know. Most people probably don't. I was in a motorcycle accident in June. I severely broke both shoulders, many surgeries, and I'd severed the muscles. I lost all the muscle coordination in my wrist and bicep and forearm, my whole arm. So the guitar wasn't accessible to me. I could not get my fingers to do the right thing. I'd lost all the

muscle memory. You know, first came rehab and I was just so eager to play guitar. And I mean, I couldn't even hold my arms up where the guitar was without fatigue. And that's how I started, just holding my arms like that, you know, as if there was a guitar in my arm. It felt like I was moving a couch up the stairs for you. It was just intensely heavy. You know, I chipped away at that stone. I believed I was going to get better. I had a lot of low moments. The recovery was long. It's been long.

I'm still recovering. But I cycled guitar. It was just too important to me to let go of guitar, even if I ever played in front of anyone again, which I absolutely will. But even at the idea that this is really first, just for me, this is like the thing that I enjoy, you know, besides my family more than anything else in the world. My friend Fred from

the band Taking Back Sunday, formerly the band Taking Back Sunday, is a incredible guitar teacher among other things. And he said, you know, I want to give you lessons. I expressed to him that I lost the ability to play. And he said, how long can you like play guitar? I said, three minutes before moms give out. He goes, okay, I'll give you three minute exercises. So that's how it started. And three minutes turned into 30 minutes, turned into hours and hours and turns into like really just chipping away all day,

reclaiming that ability. Wow, and that's amazing that Fred also kind of knew instinctively like, all right, let's just start with a few minutes. So between Fred and his kindness, my family's kindness, these lessons from four or five different teachers now, and I had never taken lessons before the accident, one or two, not really.

But I'm just hellbent now. But moreover, like Fred's kindness is kind of mirrored by like, Fred's somebody I know. We're friends. We've known each other for 20 years. But there are fans out there that I've known for 20 years 20 years plenty of them there's also fans I've never met before and they're sending me gifts of encouragement and constant well wishes and I don't feel at all like I'm in it alone wow yeah and you're not but I'm a lot better now waiting for you

thank you I'm a lot better now I've got a long way to go, but I'm, I'm look, I'm here with you guys. That's a huge deal. Yes. That's huge, huge accomplishment. It really is. Are you playing any differently now with lessons versus self-taught before? Is your style changing? I think like my instincts are just the same. Okay. You know, I play from my heart, not my hands or head. So I think that you can't change that through lessons. I would hope my palate gets a little broader. If I'm taking lessons, I might as well try to become, to learn new things. But I think my instincts are just, they're too tied to my playing. They're just, it's like a symmetry between like, it's just, I just put it in. I can't imagine how frustrating that is when it's like in your head, you're like, no, I know how to do this.

I've been doing this for so long. But then the muscle memory is just like not there. Really bleak. It got really bleak for a while there. Every stage was a mix of determination and fear. But I'm stubborn as fuck. So I wasn't determined. I was just going to, whatever fear was there, I was going to let that take over.

And, you know, I had dark times. I had some dark days. You know, the pain was severe. The atrophy was severe. The repair was severe. And I'm not to go on and on about this. But like all that to say, like, I really appreciate that it's been largely behind me. And one day will just be another story I tell infrequently.

Yeah. I find with anything traumatic like that or with loss, for me at least, I've learned my biggest lessons. Are you kind of at the point where you can look back on this and get some sort of lesson out of it? I know it's such a terrible thing. Or are you still kind of in it and not on the other side? I'm in the deep end. I'm in the deep end. I mean, I don't know what lessons there are to learn other than like not take that road on my motorcycle again. I mean, it's an accident. There's really nothing. There's no two ways about it. I just got unlucky. I guess I've learned things about determination. I've learned about my family and their determination. I've learned things about what's like the hierarchy of what's truly, truly important to me, which I thought I knew before.

But maybe it took a little shakeup to reestablish the truth about that. And it's just life. It's cool. I'm good. Good. Good. The pandemic for all of us has shaken us all up as well. And is this the longest time you've ever been off the road in your career?

You know, I took a hiatus from dashboard. Even then, I had two other bands that were touring like crazy. Yeah, I don't know what to do with myself. I'm fucking losing it. This is bananas, just to be not touring. I mean, for the first five years of dashboard, I toured, the first two years, I to be, like, not touring. I mean, you know, for the first five years of Dashboard, I toured. The first two years, I toured, I only had 11 days off each year.

Wow. And then the next, for the total of five years in a row, I was gone for 300 days. That's crazy. So, you know, and that just set the template for me, template going forward about how, what my life would be like. And I loved it, and I love it. So this is weird. It's totally weird. That's insane weird that's insane everybody's got their shit like just turned upside down these days so I know everybody

understands even if they're even if touring isn't their thing well going to shows is our thing and this is the longest I haven't seen live music in forever mine too like you know I love music I don't just play music I mean that's my yeah that's my bliss. I mean, to not have been at a show in a year. I'm like, I mean, festivals, there was one month where Life is Beautiful was part of it, but it was four weekends in a row. Jamie's like, are you trying to kill me? Like we had Caboo, Life is Beautiful, the Rise Lantern Festival that was also a Vegas crazy weekend and crossed like all back to back four weekends in a row. So it's like, I mean, we were very avid festival and live show goers. I mean, even if it's just

going to a Mexican restaurant and hearing live music at dinner. And so to not have that. I mean, I live in Nashville. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, totally. It's music, music everywhere. Absolutely. Probably go to the library and there's somebody playing. So has this downtime afforded you other hobbies like getting into the wine business? Yes.

I'm pregnant, so I can't enjoy it for a few more months. But I'm so excited to have this rosé that she is sipping on. I'm so jealous right now. It's delicious, by the way. Yes. In the time off, I bought into a company called Canvino. Just drink Canvino everywhere on socials and what have you. And it's bottle quality canned wine. And I love wine. And I love the culture of wine. And I love vineyards. It's one of my favorite things to do is to find myself maybe

in Napa or Lodi or somewhere. And Lodi is where our vineyard is. It was like a dream of mine many, many years ago to be involved in wine in some way. And this opportunity came along and I just jumped on it. It's been beautiful. That's one thing I could do once I could lift a can again. People were asking me, how was it before I was able to try it? And I said, well, I've never had wine in a can before. But if Chris Carraba is involved, it has to be good because I just know you wouldn't be involved unless it was great. So I was interested in canned wine from many years ago when I was like, I'm a, I'm a beach kid, you know, you can't take us on the beach. And I like wine.

I remember, you know, you know, thinking like this would be the right place for it or friends that had boats. I ended up on boats, you know, like I like beer too, but I really like wine. So this is, this was my shot at helping that get up there. Yeah. I love it. It's really good too. I mean, if I wasn't involved, I'd say that.

It is good. And it's a female founded business. It's very sustainable. It's a female vinter. We have a, it's like a worm farm. That's how the water gets processed and the runoff gets processed. Worms clean it and it's, so it's sustainable.

I see it's vegan, it's sustainable. I see. It's vegan. It's gluten-free. All of Jamie's favorite things. Mind you, I don't like gluten. So we actually have a mutual friend, Matt Cutshall. Yeah. My homie.

And yesterday, he sent me a little note. I wanted to play for you. And then I wanted to get into y'all's collab. Okay. Yeah, so working with Chris was awesome. He was super professional, super sweet. And I found out that he was following my felt emo or my Emo's Not Dead series because he commented on one of my Facebook posts and fans all freaked out. And I was like, man, I should do a video with him. So I just sort of DM'd him.

And we talked about it for probably like six or eight months. And then finally, we just made it happen. But, yeah, he's so awesome. Down to earth. Cool guy. And you know, we're, we got, we got some more stuff in the works, so you'll, you'll be seeing some more stuff with us soon. So are you able to elaborate on the more stuff in the works or is this top secret information? Well, he didn't give it away. I'm not gonna to. Okay. But I love Matt. I love Matt.

And like, even to hear him talk like that, I get a warm feeling in my heart. He's such a good dude. And you know, like I, I, I kind of like when you said I have, it could have gone either way. It could have been this lambasting hysterical thing, but then he's like equally genuine. And I think that's like why his comedy and his presence is so powerful. Yeah.

Because he's real. He's so real. I love that. He's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. One of the smartest guys I've ever come across. Yeah, he was one of the first friends I made in LA like I mean, or like mid 2000s. And we've just stayed friends ever since. So to watch his career, from you know, Vine Vine to now just everything he's done and up into doing a video with you. It's just like, that's just so huge. I love when you see someone who just is so talented and deserves it and you're able to watch their career grow. And he's like such a perfect example of that. So I love coming from the other side of it. She's not knowing him before only knowing him as this like really successful guy who has this persona and also has like all this, this faceted body of work that he does.

It's really hysterical and fun and entertaining. And like, but finding out he's just this QN down to earth, really kind person was great because, you know, sometimes with a was was great because you know sometimes with the personality that big you know the person his professional personality is so engaging you just think like oh i wonder like if there is a real person there sometimes wonder that and and find out immediately with him that he's so real totally him and i used to wait tables together and it's just it's awesome that we don't have to do that anymore. But I just yeah, I love it for you guys. Yeah, definitely. I love seeing those come ups and collabs. And yeah, so I know. Was there a question that came in on the Reddit dashboard is regarding that, if you were familiar with his work before, I mean, I have to imagine people, even if you weren't, people must have been telling you, hey, this kid is making Emo's

Not Dead videos. You have to check it out. Oh, 100%. Yes, I've been watching that stuff for like probably two years. Yeah, I think the first one I saw was like with the used and I was like, what? Yeah. I remember when he did that. I mean, that was really great, by the way, the used one. If you haven't seen that, you should go check it out. I like when good things happen to good people. It's really great. Definitely. Yeah. And I've, speaking of watching our friends progression, I'm friends with TJ, who founded Emo Night with Morgan and Babs. Yes, love TJ. And I'd like to say I was there from the very beginning, but I wasn't. What brought me to Emo Night was Dashboard Confessional played their one year anniversary. And I got a notification.

I did that. You did that. And I was like, what is Emo Night? I don't, this sounds amazing. I look it up. what is Emo Night? This sounds amazing. I look it up. And I was reading that these three guys, the two guys, one girl, were out one night doing karaoke. They sang a dashboard song. And they said, hey, we should make this a thing. And Emo Night was created. And then a year later, they had you up on the stage. And I was there for that. And that was such a special moment. And it got so much bigger. So, so, so big. But that was a special night. That was cool.

That was like this. So I watched because it caught my attention because of the name. I thought it was a witty thing. And then I thought it was really cool. And there were other people doing emo nights in other parts of the country. Like Tom from Washed Up Emo was doing one in New York and so on. But theirs was they captured lightning in a bottle and people were so excited about their because they were they were genuine it was there

was nothing about it that was like they were trying to cash in or there was nothing about it where they were you know like making fun of the scene that people were like long for, you know, the, you know, the people that followed emo in the early days. And still, you know, they just want to include it in something together like that. That was our whole scene was inclusion. So here was this thing like, even if the bands can't be here, like we can celebrate those bands together. We can celebrate what we built together.

We can be together and we can sing our hearts out. And stage dive. Jamie did that at emo night. Yes. Yes stage dive. Jamie did that at Emo Night. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's still on my bucket list. So I played that one year anniversary, but now it's been many years now.

Yeah. So I hope Emo Night can come back. I miss it so much. It's probably the most fun thing to do in LA. And when I first moved here over 10 years ago, I started missing all the New York, New Jersey shows. And I started, you know, I would only go to shows if someone, you know, was coming through that I liked. And it wasn't as often as it had been. And so with Emo Night, it kind of brought back that feeling that I was missing in Los Angeles, that community

feeling. And they did something really, really special with that. And I'm so proud of him. It's so much fun. Yeah. And Sheena and I DJed it. So that was another. Oh yeah, we did that. That was another bucket list item. And I refrained from playing all dashboard, but I did close with hands down. Yes. I appreciate you. So fun. So with the word emo, let's talk about that for a little bit. Because you had mentioned, you know, they weren't making fun of it. And it was it's just this love. And, you know, at one point, it's the term kind of became an insult. And I feel like we've come full circle where I don't think it's that anymore.

And it's more just a respect and an appreciation. What are your thoughts on that? You know, emo is like a term that started out with uh it was like a neutral term but just like kind of like sincere music then after several iterations iterations of successful bands it just got like really it got so big that like you know of course it's going to take slings and arrows and uh yeah it became like a four-letter work i didn't i never i always thought it was a apt name like the bands i really liked were called emo bands and i didn't think that that was reductive or anything like that and i don't think the fans thought it was either but it just was a social thing you know it got too big got too big

and so it got backlash. And then once it kind of like you separate the wheat from the chaff and you got the people that were in it for the right reasons remained. The whole thought of when something gets too big or too popular, maybe the people who originally liked it won't like it anymore. Did you ever have that fear with you when the whole, I don't know, Vindicated came around or when you were playing Madison Square Garden or anything like that? Was that ever a thought? Of course it was because it came up in the punk scene and the hardcore scene and, you know, being a sellout was really the last thing I was ever willing to do or being thought of that way was something I couldn't control. I just had to stay true to what I was doing. And my goal was like, just include as many people as I can. It wasn't to be the biggest bit in the world that wasn't to have massive success. The success I had

from early on was more than I thought I'd ever get. I guess I feared the backlash because I didn't, I didn't want the thing to be defined by other people for something that wasn't. And I was really careful in my choices that I made, which is all kind of a thing of the past now. People don't think about that kind of thing, I don't think. It's really about promotion. Everything's about promotion now. And don't get me wrong, I wanted to be successful and I wanted to promote what I was doing, but that wasn't the engine driving what I was doing. Success was the engine. That wasn't the goal. What was the goal? Goal was connecting with people and as many people as I could. Yeah. So I have a love-hate relationship with social media. I think we all do.

Yeah. You know, I love the connection when it happens, but I don't like the, you know, putting up a photo and just people complimenting you or just the attention from that. I don't like the, you know, putting up a photo and just people complimenting you or just the attention from that. I don't enjoy it. But like you said, the connection is special. So what's your relationship with social media? I see you on Instagram, but not a lot, but you're still there. So how do you feel about it? I feel like, great question. I enjoy social media for what it can be at its best. I try really hard not to get sucked down to like the worst nature of it. That's why I don't post a lot. I'm really careful about what I post. I don't really care how many likes we get and how many shares we get and all that stuff. It's nice. It's when people pick up the mantle of something you said or a conversation has started, but

it's just a tool to connect with people. The whole nature of things where success is measured in numbers is weird to me. That's so true. So switching gears a little bit. Yeah. When I was preparing for this podcast, I was very conflicted because I said, do I do the interview that I want to do and ask the questions that I want to know? want to do and ask the questions that I want to know? Or do I think more about the listeners who maybe aren't as much of fans or not as familiar with your work as I am? And I kind of have this group on Instagram where it's a bunch of Shenanigans listeners, and I go to them for feedback often, and I love that connection part of it. And I asked them that question.

And they said, do both. So I'm going to ask you some music-related questions that, you know, maybe some people won't know what I'm talking about. But I would be remiss if I didn't ask you these questions. Do it. Go ahead. I said today, I said this is Shenanigans with Sheena Shea that is now co-hosted by Jamie Lynn. But I said today, Jamie, you're running the show. I will be your co-host. You take the reins. If I have something to add, I will. But go, girl. Years back, I had the idea of starting a podcast called

Everyone's Little Emo. I remember that. Welcome to the first episode of Everyone's Little Emo. We'll be back to your regular scheduled programming next week. So first question, what is a Swiss Army romance? Swiss Army romance was my first record. And the title was referring to a romance that was utilitarian, fixed in feeling any longer. So that's kind of like the worst part of like, when you get to the stale part of the relationship when there's not that passion anymore yeah like before before it's passionately over and after it's passionately started okay where did you get the album title a mark a mission a brand a scar so we were talking about emo and it was a reference to what i felt emo was a mark was this badge of honor. I was proud of where I came from and what I hope to do. And my mission to share it with people and brand was something you could rely on,

something you could share together that you could rely on. And then a scar was what happens to it when it's corrupted. And have you gotten to that point? I haven't. What stage are you in? Or I've gotten past it. Okay. Maybe I've come around again. Interesting. Okay. So the So Impossible EP, probably my favorite ever. It tells a story. What went into writing that? And it ends with hands down. And he's often said that that's about the best date he's ever had. So what can you tell us about the So Impossible EP? The So Impossible EP is a four-song EP. It's a story and I wrote it in reverse order with hands down, which is the culmination of the story,

being the first song I wrote. And then it just spilled out after that. I wrote the next three songs, four-song EP, in about an hour. I wrote the whole thing in about two hours. And it just tells one story. The story is a feeling you have when you know you want to be with somebody. The next goes on every stage, that emotional ride to actually the end of the last song

where you're finally with that person. I love that. And For You to Notice is such a good song. They all are. But something about that song, that yearning, that's kind of like where I live. Like, that's, that's me. I love it so much. Me too. You and me both. I have a question from one of my best guy friends. He's a fellow emo musician. His name's Colin Deaton, formerly lead singer of the Mowglies. He's now solo known as

Little Hurt. He said he loves you, first of all, but wanted to know, he said, ask him if all the girls these songs are about know that they're about them. I think so. I think so. Sorry. I read a story in the book Nothing Feels Good. I recall something about A Plain Morning, which is a beautiful song. And you have a line in there that says, you wrote the words, I love you. You sprayed it with perfume. It's better than the fire is to heat this lonely room. Wow, you're just like a poet over here.

He wrote it. I know, but just like hearing you like not even read that, you just recited that. What was the story behind that? Because it's not what someone might think. Yeah, that's a complicated story. We need more time. Okay. Next time you come on. So I know you've been in the accident. You've been having to relearn guitar. What is next for you? What do you have anything coming up that you can announce? Yeah, I need to play in front of people and we can't play in front of people after all this time and all this recovery and losing so much and working to regain it. I just can't wait until

touring starts up again. So we're going to do a stream, but it's the Lonely Hearts and Lovers stream on Valentine's Day. Ooh. Valentine's Day. You saw them last year on Valentine's Day. I saw you at the Wilturn on Valentine's Day. It was probably one of the last shows you did. One of my favorite shows I've ever played, actually, that Valentine's Day show, which is part of the reason I wanted to make sure I came back and did a show by Valentine's Day. There was a couple of shows before that that were like I played in Austin,

and it snowed in Austin a couple of days, which is crazy. It snowed a couple of days before LA when we were in Austin. But the one that stands out from that first leg of that tour was that LA show on Valentine's day. It was just beautiful. Yeah. I drank too much that night and all my videos are just, I'm dancing the whole time. I have to remember when I'm taking video to not dance.

Don't move or you need to get a stabilizer. Who cares? Who cares? Find somebody else that has the footage. Yeah, just have someone else take the videos of you dancing to the music. Right. And I'll come next time. I'll be your videographer. Okay. I'm very good with a camera. Okay. Good. Thank you. So, okay. So this is very exciting. You're doing a live stream. How can people find it? You know, we're going to make sure we post it everywhere in our socials. And, you know, it's going to be easy to find. We're going to make sure people find it.

I mean, just search Dashboard for a live stream. And also you'll be able to find it on Jamie Lynn 24's Instagram because she will absolutely be posting it. That's true. Will you be playing at home or are you going to go to a venue that's, I guess, empty and play there? We're going to go to a venue called the Bodecker in Nashville. Fun. Very much excited to see this. And I hope to hear Jamie in it.

It's always been a good show when I've been there. I was just looking at some videos from. it's always been a good show when I've been there. I was just looking at some videos from, so where Jamie lives in Orange County used to be where the Irvine amphitheater. And I saw you there, I think it was 2015 with Third Eye Blind. And I was just looking back at videos. It was such a good show. That just like was so back to high school for me to see both of y'all it was the first time

I I think the first time honestly I had ever seen you live and same with third eye blind and now I have a couple more times since and it's just that music that just takes you back yeah fun fact about that last tour was a fun yeah so that location in Irvine, that amphitheater has been knocked down and it's where I live. And when I was like, I'm on sacred ground here. That's amazing. Yeah. It's just sad that you can't, but I was, I was in New Jersey at the time. So I saw you at, in Asbury park, um, which I thought was super cool. Cause you know, Bruce Springsteen, like I was like, wow, this is, this is, I think that's where he played was, was it the stone pony? I think it was stone pony. So they have a stone pony summer theater. It's like, I don't know, five, 10,000 people can fit in there, but the stone pony can only fit like a thousand people or 2000, I don't know, less. It's amazing. Super vibey. Yeah. And that's where I have a photo of me with you there. Um, and I was with my ex-boyfriends

and I knew it wasn't going to be, I knew it wasn't going to last. And I just wanted a picture with you and he hopped in there and I'm like, damn it. Ruined the photo. We'll make it up. Yes. Well, that's all my questions. Oh my gosh, we got through them all. Yes. Well, Chris, thank you so much.

Literally, I know this was a dream come true for both of us being fans for so long. So really appreciate you taking the time. And we absolutely cannot wait to come to a show and see you again. I can't wait for that either. Thank you, Sheena. Thank you, Jamie.

This was incredible. Thank you so much. And thank you guys so much for listening. We'll be back next week. Wait, don't end it. What? Hands down. This is the best day I can ever remember.

Yes. We will be back next week with your regular scheduled programming. Thanks for listening, guys. Bye. Sheena Shea. Shea FK. Thanks for listening to Shenanigans with Sheena Shea. Download new episodes every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you want it? Let me see you shake that. Do you need it? Let me see you shake that. Do you want it?

Let me see you shake that. Come and get it. Let me see you shake that.