EP16 Paul Miller: Reflecting on the Rhythms of Foxtrot Zulu

They say music can bind souls together, but it's the shared laughter and tear-stained memories that truly forge unbreakable bonds. Join me and my Theta Chi Eta Chapter brother, Paul Miller from Foxtrot Zulu, as we honor the legacy of our late brother Ron Gomes. His laughter echoes in our stories, the same way his spirit lives on in the music and memories we've created. From humble college jam sessions to a symphony of life on the road, we unpack the evolution of a band whose roots are as deep as the friendships it sprouted.

Weaving through our conversation are the vibrant threads of Foxtrot Zulu's musical tapestry and the tales that color our past. Who knew that a casual gathering could lead to decades of harmony, both in our music and our friendships? We share a slice of that journey, from the echo of the first drumbeat to the symphony of a life filled with gigs, laughter, and the occasional bee attack. It's not just about the notes we play—it's about the moments that play us, binding us together through the crescendos and decrescendos of life's unpredictable score.

As we wrap up, we shed light on the undimmed vibrancy of Foxtrot Zulu's tunes, urging listeners to immerse themselves in the melodies that have become our life's soundtrack. Don't miss the chance to hear about my own flirtation with stand-up comedy, a decade-long serenade of chuckles and humility. It's a heartfelt ensemble of recollection, music appreciation, and honest reflection. So tune in, for an episode that harmonizes nostalgia with the laughter and lessons learnt from a life richly lived in the company of friends and music.

My apologies for my sound on this one.  Not sure what happened but I was struck by the Podcast Gods and had some audio hiccups.  

Finnleigh would like to remind everyone that a 5-star rating from each of you would be a huge push for the podcast in the algorithms that suggest podcast to listeners.  Please take a second to give us a 5-star rating when you get the chance!  Thanks so much!

Transcript

Scott: 1:24

We had two interviews with Jeff Roberge and Paul Miller, our special ones. Not only did we all live on the same floor in the first year, the University of Rhode Island had an all-freshman dorm shout out to Browning Hall, but we pledged our fraternity Theta Chi Eta Chapter together at URI, cue the police sirens, just kidding. I'm excited and honored to have them both with me on what is essentially a two-part episode. I'd like to dedicate both of those bars to the memory of our recently passed fraternity brother, ron Gomes. A great guy, awesome in every way, a big brother to all, a loving husband and dad gone way too soon. Two words fuck cancer. My guest today is Paul Miller. Paul and I are fraternity brothers of the once defunct but now quite alive Theta Chi Eta Chapter at University of Rhode Island.

Scott: 2:07

Paul plays congas for the almost 30-year-old jam band Foxtrot Zulu, a seven-member band formed in the University of Rhode Island in 1995, where they ruled the URI bar scene throughout the mid-90s and then branched out to dominate the New England regional music scene for the rest of the 1900s, then toured the rest of the US throughout the 2000s with the likes of Howie Day and the iconic OAR. I witnessed countless dynamic performances from the band in the mid-90s at roadie, watering holes, bondview Inn and Ocean Mist. I'm not sure if the guys remember, but they also played a graduation party at my house in 1995, but then I didn't end up graduating until 1996, and that's a show for another day. But a bunch of us would always catch the guys when we could, when they'd play up in Boston. If you listen to their music and you do not move in some way, you should seek immediate medical attention. Seriously. Paul Miller, welcome to Carney Saves the World. It's good to see you. What's going on, man? How are you.

Paul Miller: 2:53

I'm good, it's good to see you. It's been a long time.

Scott: 2:56

Yeah, it's like 28, 27 years I probably shouldn't put a number on it. No, that's not. Thanks for being on, you and Jeff. Jeff's also been on the show. You guys are two of the members of Foxtrot Zulu, one of our favorite bands in college post-college.

Paul Miller: 3:18

And give me your take on your time with the band and how much fun it was. Well, you know we started as a bunch of friends just playing instruments in a basement during a cake party and 30 years later we're're still through the original seven, still friends um playing very occasionally. But you know it was many years of my life that I wouldn't change a lot of fun. You know we got to tour the country. I've been to states that I don't think I would have ever gone to um in my normal life. But, uh, you know we've met tons of awesome, awesome people, a lot of whom we still keep in touch with um, you know, through facebook or when we play shows. It's uh, you know it's been a real fun ride and you know I've made lifelong friends because of it it's amazing.

Scott: 4:01

I mean you look at, like most bands, I don't even know what the statistical average is, but most bands don't chill out for 30 years. I mean that's amazing that you guys have that longevity just to remain friends, never mind to still play together.

Paul Miller: 4:13

Yeah, yeah, I mean honestly, I don't have that many friends that I've known for 30 years, to tell you the truth. So you know, and amazingly I have seven of them, you know that are, or six of them. And then Smiles, who's always been there, kind of as our merch guy doing whatever we needed him to do so, but yeah, it's been pretty amazing.

Scott: 4:34

That's awesome. Jeff gave us his take on how the band got started. What, what's your view on it or what's your version of the story?

Paul Miller: 4:39

okay, so let's see, we were at a party and I'm sorry, but I don't remember whose house it was, but it was definitely in Eastward Look, which is down the line at University of Rhode Island. There was a set of drums, a set of congas, and Neil and Nate, who are our guitarists, both lived together, so I'm assuming it was their house. They both played guitar. They knew each other from high school. Both played guitar. They knew each other from high school and TK may have lived there or may not, but he used to play the clarinet but started playing saxophone in college.

Paul Miller: 5:15

And you know we were hanging out having a good time and Jeff's like I know how to play drums. So he started playing the drums and you know they weren't even his. Nate and Neil just grabbed their guitars and started playing along and I'm like you know I can bang on things, so let's join in. And TK brought his sax and that was the original five. And then eventually, one of our friends, jeff, who plays trumpet for us currently, was like hey, I play trumpet, you mind if I jam with you? And so he came on along and we had Brad, who is also a guitarist, since we already had two. He's like well, I'll learn how to play bass. So he got a bass and said, hey, I'll come jam with you as well, and that is the origins of us really you know?

Scott: 5:56

did you have any percussion background at all when you started, or did you just start banging on it, like you said?

Paul Miller: 6:01

no just started banging on drums, wow that's crazy.

Scott: 6:05

We would go see the band and we would watch you and then you know you and jeff would break out in some percussion solos and banging around together. Then we'd go to you and we were like, well, what the fuck is going on right now? How does Miller know how to play these?

Paul Miller: 6:31

drummers, so I kind of tried to play all three parts. Oh, there you go. So that's kind of how I got my style of a little bit frenetic Overachieving yeah, pretty much. And of course I never learned how to play kit, because Jeff plays left-handed and I'm a righty, so I play hand drums. So it's only taken me till this age where I just bought myself a drum kit and I'm actually learning how to play.

Scott: 6:49

There you go. You have specific jam out parts, but what's your favorite song to play?

Paul Miller: 6:54

Oh, that's hard Boulevard always is a big hit, a lot of fun to play. It does have a solo in it for me, but that's not only the only reason. I think that that really is one of the ones that gets the crowd really going. One of my favorite songs is front porch and I don't even play on it and I just love sitting like that's my break time. I get to sit down and watch the crowd and it's fantastic watching people sing along and, you know, have a great time. So, um, you know, those are.

Scott: 7:23

Those are two of my favorites there are other other songs that you're not playing in just because the conga part's not available.

Paul Miller: 7:28

Nope, that's the only one. Front Porch is really only Nate and TK. Every once in a while I'll hop up and do like a little something, but that's kind of like there. You know, like me and Jeff have our solo and that's kind of there.

Scott: 7:38

So that original set of congas? Did that stay with you for the duration or did you upgrade at some point? Or?

Paul Miller: 7:44

No, the person who owned them took them back. Oh really, yeah. So I had to get my own. That's not cool. Well, you know, they were there and I just was playing on them because they were in the house. So you know, eventually I worked my way up and bought my own set and then expanded my kit. So now I have you know Timbales and Juniors and Bongos and and you know all kinds of stuff to play nice.

Scott: 8:10

Do you remember? You guys played at our house I don't know, like 95 I think and uh, you guys came in. You guys were gonna start setting up. Jeff was like hey, do you mind if we all pre-game upstairs? It's like, uh, we're gonna talk about smoking on this, is that okay?

Paul Miller: 8:24

oh, that's fine. It's legal in massachusetts.

Scott: 8:27

So it don't matter anyway I know I literally moved here like a month after it became legal, I. So we go upstairs to my room and Jeff says do you mind if my little brother comes with us? He's, he's up from high school, my little brother Mark. 10 years go by and one of the guys text me and they're like did you know Jeff's brother's the lead singer of OAR. I was like Jeff's brother, the little kid that spoke pot in my room.

Paul Miller: 8:51

Oh yeah.

Scott: 8:53

I was like all right, that's nice, but you guys have played with them a ton.

Paul Miller: 8:58

Yeah, they have been kind enough to let us open for them on occasion. I mean, we actually were the ones who gave them their first gig before, so they opened for us, but now they're way more successful than we ever were. So they're still kind enough to you know, when they're in their area, throw out a laurel and let us play for them in front of a big crowd.

Scott: 9:19

so it's tons of fun good kids, awesome, what's that feeling?

Paul Miller: 9:21

like it's fun. It's always fun, it's. You know. I mean, I love, we all love playing. Obviously didn't get rich doing it, but you know I'll still go out and play when everybody wants to get together, because it's just fun to be on stage. It's fun to, you know, hang out with your friends and make music and make people happy. Yeah.

Scott: 9:38

One of the things I was also thinking about was so I played drums when I was like in junior high. It was awful, but they teach you all how to read the music. How were your parts written? Were you just kind of feeling it as you played, or were there specific parts that were written?

Paul Miller: 10:08

for you. No, it was all out of my own brain and I cannot read music to this day. That's awesome.

Scott: 10:14

So you were just literally just feeling it and just going with the flow, every single song.

Paul Miller: 10:18

Yeah, you know.

Paul Miller: 10:19

I mean, after you play them enough, you kind of like settle on, like, okay, this is what I'm going to do for each part, you know.

Paul Miller: 10:25

But at the beginning it was just I pretty much almost made up on a song by song basis what I was doing at the time, you know. But again, once you play the songs, like, you really start to write your parts more. And you know, when you're practicing and going through the process of writing a song because it really it was a very collaborative effort in writing most of the songs you know, someone would have an idea, either on guitars or horns, would have something, and they would come in and say, hey, I have this riff, or I have this something, and they would come in and say, hey, I have this riff, or I have this idea, and they would kind of jam it out. And then we would all kind of just jam together and kind of work out our parts and then, as you keep practicing it, eventually those parts get tighter and tighter and then you've pretty much written your song at that point so that's.

Paul Miller: 11:10

That's kind of how all of our music was written. I think the only person who can really read music fluently is Brad Right? Yeah, I think Jeff Light might be able to. I think Neil and Nate can do tablature, but I don't think they read music. Pretty sure, wow, don't quote me on it.

Scott: 11:26

Yeah, when did you realize, like at school, that things were starting to get a little crazy for the band?

Paul Miller: 11:32

Oh, I was probably.

Scott: 11:35

Because you guys were literally one of the most popular bands that had played in my five years. I don't want to brag, but my five years at URI, people went to see you. It was an event to go see Foxtrot.

Paul Miller: 11:45

Yeah, it would have to be probably maybe the end of my first senior year, because I was on the five-year plan, like yourself, nice, so you know when we would play two nights at Bondview and it would be completely full both nights, you know, and people would know who we were when we were walking around. That's kind of when you started to realize that it was something that we might want to pursue.

Scott: 12:11

Yeah, you know, there was no cell phones back then, so you made plans during the day as you were walking through campus and most nights it would be like, hey, you're going to this bar, you're going to this bar, but if you guys were playing it was like go to see fox azula, gotta get there early. It was always just a mob scene and, yeah, it was always fun.

Paul Miller: 12:26

Yeah, bond view was it was always like just an insane show, always an interesting night.

Scott: 12:31

They were always very, very crowded so a friend of mine had a home video the old school home videos and she popped it up onto YouTube from Bonview and it was pretty ridiculous just the amount of people that they would stick in there.

Paul Miller: 12:44

Yeah, I don't even want to know what the fire hazard was.

Scott: 12:48

Yeah, just people crawling on each other. It was horrendous. When I got down here I had a work truck and I had a CD player in it and I got rid of all my CDs and I was like, well, you know, I'll go to like thrift store and see if there's any CDs in there. People ditch their CDs all the time and I'm going through the cases and I found one of your CDs in a box down here for like a buck. Oh yeah, of course, but I mean, all CDs are a buck. Going through it. It's like Springsteen and icons of pop era has gone by, and then, oh, foxtrot's over, right there too. That is pretty funny, it's pretty crazy. Now you're a husband and dad, right, I am.

Paul Miller: 13:20

How many kids? You got Two. I've got two kids. I have a 15-year-old and a 10-year-old and my 15-year-old's about to be 16.

Scott: 13:31

Good Lord, I know time go. What would 16 year old paul miller say to your daughter?

Paul Miller: 13:33

don't do anything I did. Yeah, she's a great kid, without question. She's, uh, she's super smart, super independent.

Scott: 13:41

Yeah, she's, she's awesome both your kids, uh, or either of them have seen your play before. Both of them have yep yeah what do they think?

Paul Miller: 13:47

oh, you know, they're just like oh, dad's on stage, it's cool. So you know you're a dad. They're like whatever it's so crazy.

Scott: 13:54

Like to think, like you know, when we were 17, 18 years old, like to listen to the music our parents listened to. Like if our parents were in a band and listen to it, it'd be like the old 60s music. We're like god, that's like old garbage. I don't want to listen to that. Yeah, you guys could be played on the radio today and no one would know that it's a 25, 30 year old song yeah, probably not.

Paul Miller: 14:13

um, I guess that style of music hasn't changed a ton. The music scene has definitely gone more towards the hip hop, r&b stuff. Nowadays it seems like that's more popular, and we were never really like poppy. We could probably still hang out and play with some of the jam bands that are around now, like Goose and Weedfoot right now I would never think your kids would watch you guys play and I'd be like, oh, dad's such a dork well, I think the last time they saw me play they were pretty little too.

Paul Miller: 14:43

So, um, usually when we do play nowadays, I mean we play like maybe once a year, so it's just you know more, just for us to have fun hang out. Um, yeah, you know, that's more of a like parents night out, because jess will come and see her friends and you know we all kind of it's more of an adult night, so we're not taking the kids with us so, yeah, it's amazing that you all can still get together and uh, and just, you know, hang out, you, the kids all get together.

Scott: 15:09

30 years ago you would never thought in a million years you'd be at that spot no, not at all.

Paul Miller: 15:12

And there's a lot of kids too. Like you know, we've had foxtrot reunions where you're just like wow, there's a lot of kids here like how many do I have now?

Scott: 15:22

yeah exactly do your kids brag about you?

Paul Miller: 15:24

my daddy's in a band I, you know, I honestly I don't know, I don't think so. I think my daughter's more proud of my tattoos. I'm the one who takes her to like the metal shows and like the punk rock stuff and whatnot. That's always been kind of my style anyway, so that's more where I get to brag on. We're like oh yeah, my dad took me to see Rancid, my dad took me to see Murphy's Law or whatever that's pretty cool.

Scott: 15:48

Yeah yeah, my daughter's seven and found out I did stand up. We'd be out and she'd be like my daddy did stand-up comedy and I'm like, don't, don't tell people that please don't, don't tell people that that's because then this would like both tell me a joke and you're like, yeah, oh, no, like if I was good I would still be doing it. And this, yeah, do they have any musical desires or do you see any musical talent in them?

Paul Miller: 16:10

uh, my daughter picked up guitar for like a second and was like no, and then she said she wants to learn how to play the drums. We'll see what happens with that, but it's not really their focus. She's more into like art and athletics and whatnot than music at this point, and he is your typical 10-year-old who is on his tablet 95% of the time or playing video games with his friends.

Scott: 16:36

We mentioned earlier was that our recently passed attorney brother, Ron Gomes, passed away from cancer a few months ago. Such a great guy Wanted to see what your favorite memory of Ron was. Oh, I love Ron.

Paul Miller: 16:50

We used to sit in his room and play Techno Bowl. Yes, I forgot about Techno Bowl. He was a master privilege player. I played many, many games with him, always had a smile on his face, always wanted to make a joke. Very rarely did you see him angry. And boy, did you not want to.

Scott: 17:10

I can tell you that, oh yeah.

Paul Miller: 17:12

But yeah, he's gone way too soon. The world lost a good one, without question.

Scott: 17:18

Such a great guy. But I totally forgot about Tecmo Bowl. Oh yeah, You'd be up all hours, You'd have to go to the bathroom some nights and you'd just still hear Tecmo Bowl play at like 3 in the morning.

Paul Miller: 17:27

Of course, yeah, it was usually me and Jeff.

Scott: 17:31

Yeah. So getting back to the albums, did you guys do five albums, I think?

Paul Miller: 17:50

We did four studio and one live. What was your favorite to make and what's your favorite to listen to? Oh, that's, that's a tough question, okay, so to make they all had their instances of fun and misery. Um, I think our first one, I'm gonna say, was maybe my favorite to make, just because it was our first album. Uh, we were camping in vermont in the middle of nowhere, this little home studio, yeah, like literally living outside, just like going in the studio, then going back outside and sleeping in tents, um, tons of fun.

Paul Miller: 18:13

Our second album I want to say that one was a little bit more interesting because that was our first album that was covered by a record label, which is running dog at the time or not running dog that was. Uh, I'd have to look, but we had an actual record label backing us. So we, we recorded an actual like famous studios in upstate new york and, you know, went into master it in times square in new york city, yeah, um, so. So that had its interest too, because it was like this is how professionals do it. I think the first album was really so grassroots and so kind of okay, we're doing this, we're going to actually make music and have it on a recorded medium that we can distribute was really kind of awesome.

Paul Miller: 18:56

Yeah, honestly, I really don't listen to our music very much. To tell you the truth, again, my style of music I listen to metal, I listen to punk rock, I listen to techno, breakbeats and whatnot. I think probably our most polished and interesting album is probably Frozen in Time. I like that one a lot. It was definitely the tightest I think that we had. Yeah, as far as the album's quality.

Paul Miller: 19:25

I think that was probably I think our best.

Scott: 19:28

So you mentioned earlier you had DJ headphones. Do you have DJ equipment? I do, so you do a little DJing on the side.

Paul Miller: 19:35

I did more party stuff, like you know, when we'd have parties, I would. So I have like 1200s in the mixer and I whole bunch of records that I honestly just digitized and bought myself a digital controller. So now I'm learning how to do that, but it's more just for me hanging out with friends throwing down having a good time, you're? Uh, mix up any foxtrot I'd have to like produce some tracks for it. I don't know if the BPM is not right for it.

Scott: 20:03

Kind of a funny story that I remember of Jeff. When I first met him we had a barbecue out in Browning Hall. He took a sip of a soda and a bee flew in his soda and came back out and stung him in the lip and his lip swelled up and he had to go home. It was hysterical. Oh, I remember that.

Scott: 20:21

I totally remember that it was like the second day we were there as I'm talking to him about it too, I was like I've told this story like 100 times to 100 different people over the last 30 years because it's just such. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen live.

Paul Miller: 20:37

Yeah, like I do remember that that's hilarious.

Scott: 20:41

And we were talking about how absolutely insane that dorm was as a freshman, to be the only freshman dorm First time they'd ever done it Kind of experimental and all this jackasses just went in there and just acted a fool.

Paul Miller: 20:53

Oh it was chaos. Oh yeah, 100% chaos. Yeah, it was. That dorm was nuts.

Scott: 20:58

Do you remember this kid? He lived upstairs from us. Mike Traynor, hilarious kid. He's from my hometown. He had filled up a trash bag full of water, put it under my RA's door and then jumped on it. No 30-gallon trash bag.

Paul Miller: 21:11

Shot all the water under.

Scott: 21:13

It rotted his floor. It went all the way down to the first floor. It was absolute train wreck.

Paul Miller: 21:20

It was just insanity. Oh yeah, it was nuts. I think the only reason I didn't get written up in that dorm is because I had a computer in my room. Really, and I was one of the very few that had a computer in my room and my RA would knock on my door and say, hey, can I borrow your computer? Instead of having to walk a half a mile, the computer left. So you were like, oh sweet, so half a mile of the computer. So you were like, oh sweet. So I'm like, yeah, free pass. Oh, I'd be sitting there drinking beers in front of him and he's just like dude really. And I'm like you want to use my computer? Yeah, I'll turn a blind eye.

Scott: 21:48

So when you guys get together, figure it out and play.

Paul Miller: 21:53

The hardest part is trying to get to have a weekend off, yeah you know, and then have a venue that has that date match up yeah it's definitely challenging. That's why it's like almost like once a year ish, yeah, that we play, because, you know, trying to get everybody together and we're not playing without everybody, because that's just that's not box shot at that point, that's great that you guys like that.

Scott: 22:16

What's the funniest story you have from touring? Because jeff gave me one. I'm curious to see if they match up, oh God.

Paul Miller: 22:23

There's a lot that I'm not telling you, so I can tell you that, okay, I think this one's a good one. I think it was our first tour ever. We had bought a short bus school bus and painted it gray and taken all the seats out and turned it into like a loft and carry area and whatever. And we're touring the Northeast and we go to Portland, to this club called Geno's, which is still there, because I was in Portland last year and I walked by it and I was like, oh my God, this is crazy. So Geno's is a well-known hard rock club. It is not a jam band club. First of all, I think we're playing on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter in Portland Maine. It's freezing outside.

Scott: 23:06

Lovely time of year.

Paul Miller: 23:07

Yes, nobody's around. So we're sitting in the club at a table waiting. We're there early, as always. Band is a ton of hurry up and wait, and we're sitting at the table, we're hanging in and this guy walks in from out off the street, whips out his piece and takes a leak on the floor. Middle of the club.

Scott: 23:29

All right, that was not what I was expecting. That was not Jeff's story, but that's still. That's a pretty good one.

Paul Miller: 23:33

It was hilarious. It was hilarious Just in the middle of the club. Yeah, just like in the middle of the dance floor. Like nobody there. Lights are on, you know the bartender's like dude get out. But yeah, because I'm homeless. He just walked in and pissed on the floor and we're like welcome to rock and roll. This is our first stop on the tour, so this is where we're at.

Scott: 23:53

I'm like okay it can only get better right.

Paul Miller: 23:56

Yeah, exactly.

Scott: 24:00

You told this story about how you guys ditched the van.

Paul Miller: 24:02

Oh, that was a good one too, yes. And then we went back two years later and there was migrant workers living in it. Still there, they're just sleeping people in it, picking tobacco right on the side of the road in the tobacco field.

Scott: 24:16

You're in North Carolina.

Paul Miller: 24:17

It was North Carolina, virginia, somewhere down south, because it was hot and we rented a U-Haul box truck and we, like half of us, sat in the well, three sat in front, the rest sat in the back of this thing, which, totally illegal. We got pulled over. We all would have got arrested and it was, you know, 115 degrees in there and, like you know, every hour they'd pull off to a gas station and we'd have to rotate so people could get air conditioning and get new water and whatnot. It was the longest ride home. Oh, it was horrendous.

Paul Miller: 24:48

The life of a rock star huh, oh yeah, not all glamorous oh, no, no, no, trust me, I, we knew every dollar value item that there was on any menu at any given time. How to make a wonderful salad at Roy Rogers' Fixin's Bar. There was days where you'd be like, here's five bucks, that's your food for today.

Scott: 25:10

That's so crazy, because you've got seven guys that are trying to do that together. I don't know how you do. Yeah, it was always interesting. I mean, it's such an accomplishment to have seven guys go through just one year of touring and you still, to this day, like talk.

Paul Miller: 25:24

It's shocking oh yeah, and it wasn't always seven, because we also usually had at least one other which was smiley wow yeah, um, and then a lot of times it was smiley and our sound man. So there was nine of us. God that's crazy it was, it could have been eight. There were some definite interesting times, you know.

Scott: 25:47

If you can try to remember at some point. Just let me know where that tobacco field was, because I would love to track it down. Right, I'm down here. I might as well track it down, See if it's still there.

Paul Miller: 25:56

I have to talk to people, because that's beyond my memory at this point. I know it was. I had to have been south of Maryland because it was definitely in a tobacco field. So you know it was like gas station tobacco fields as far as the eye could see. Welcome to the South. Yeah, pretty much.

Scott: 26:13

Well, I grew up in Virginia Beach, so oh, did you really?

Paul Miller: 26:16

Yeah.

Scott: 26:16

Yeah, oh, okay, I thought you were. Did you live in Massachusetts after that?

Paul Miller: 26:18

I lived in Massachusetts through high school but, like I moved up to Massachusetts for ninth grade, okay, so I lived in Virginia. I lived in Virginia Beach beach in Charlottesville for the rest of the time. Oh yeah, no, I was a Navy brat, so my dad was stationed in Norfolk. Oh, all right. Yeah, quite the culture shock when I moved here. I don't mind the South, it's just a slow pace and you just have to get used to that. No one's moving faster than they move, which is fine.

Scott: 26:43

What your funny story was, because he told me that one and then he told me was there another school?

Paul Miller: 26:47

bus. Oh yeah, that was the bus that we left in North Carolina. So we had the short school bus. It was a church bus, is what it was that we had. The church had sold it and so some Baptist church was on there. So we painted out that and we ripped half the seats out, turned some sideways, so the back was basically like you could sit in a circle, because we used to play. We put the kick drum in its case in the middle of that. That was our table and we would play poker and whatnot until whatever time we felt like crashing. So that was the one we left in North Carolina.

Paul Miller: 27:22

I can tell you another great story about that bus. So while we were touring the Rockies so we were in Colorado, that area we didn't realize that there was a pinhole in the fuel line and so when you got up to some of the passes it would stall out. It wouldn't get enough pressure in the high altitude. So it was one of those vans where you took off the cowling from inside and you could see the back half of the engine. At one point it was rabbit ears. I remember the pass because it was ridiculous. We had a bunch of people that were visiting with us. So there was like 15 of us in the bus and we couldn't. It wasn't going to make it. Everybody in the bus got out, we took the cowling off. Somebody is spraying starter fluid straight into the car while the other person drives and everybody else is running alongside the van to the top of the pass and as we get to the crest we just start throwing people in as we're getting ready to go down yeah, that was hilarious.

Scott: 28:22

That's fantastic. You think about it, though you probably wouldn't have had it any other way, like you wouldn't have been like. Oh, I was in a band and I had this amazing bus and we got everywhere we're supposed to on time oh, I would have been.

Paul Miller: 28:31

I would not have been sad, I wouldn't have the stories that I have, that's for sure. But you know, I think once we did finally buy a um, like 15 passions or diesel van that we towed a trailer behind and that was, you know, super reliable. That made it so that we weren't at least, even though we were stressing about money and like getting places on time, so that we weren't at least, even though we were stressing about money and getting places on time and whatnot, we weren't stressing that it was going to break down at any given moment. I have a good story about that van too. We were in the mid, we were in one of the flyover states Ohio, kansas, something like that. It was 2.30, 3 o'clock in the morning, neil was driving and, like I said, it was a diesel van. So he pulls up, gets out, he's half asleep, we're getting ready to change drivers, he's pumping the gas and all of a sudden he gets in the van, he goes. So what happens when you put regular gas into a diesel engine?

Scott: 29:33

into a diesel engine and we go. What do you mean, neil?

Paul Miller: 29:35

and, yes, he had filled 80 gallons of regular fuel into our diesel. Are you serious? Yeah, so it's again three o'clock in the morning, gas stations open, we all go inside. We're like he just did this. Uh, what do you think we should do about it? Because, again, again, no cell phones. I think I had my. I did have a cell phone at that point, but it was you know I had. It was like roaming charges and whatnot, and so you couldn't use it except for emergencies. So the guy's like all right, hang tight, let me see if what I can do. So he calls one of his friends and again, this is like three o'clock in the morning and his friend's like yeah, I'll take it, and he was going to put it in his boat motor.

Paul Miller: 30:13

So he came and siphoned all 80 gallons out whoa and yeah, yeah. So we're sitting there waiting for this guy to show up and all of a sudden two cops come into the store and our salmon at the time was chris hovered. And they look at him, they look at us, they look at him again and say you come with us. We're like what is happening, you know. So look at him again and say you come with us. We're like what is happening, you know. So they take him outside and start like giving him a third degree and we're like what is going on? Like we have no idea what's going on.

Paul Miller: 30:39

So apparently there was a, b and E that happened and he happened to fit the description. He's like dude, I am not from here and I've been in that all night long. That's great. But yeah, it was hilarious and like, yeah, if we hadn't broken down, like if he hadn't filled up the gas, that never would have happened because we'd just been on down the road. But yeah, it was a long night, without question, until we finally got back underway and then we had to hightail it to our next gig, because now we were four hours behind.

Scott: 31:08

So no damage to the engine on.

Paul Miller: 31:13

So no damage to the engine, nothing. He got it all out. No, the guy got most of it out, and by that point you mix 80 gallons worth of diesel into a little bit of regular gas. It's fine, wow, didn't do anything to it, so lucky. Luckily he realized it before we turned it on.

Scott: 31:25

I just want to ask you guys a question what would happen if, oh, that would have been the end, that would have been like it?

Paul Miller: 31:30

would have been so screwed. Oh, it would have blown up the engine and that would have been absolutely the end. That's nuts.

Scott: 31:35

Well, paul, this has been awesome man catching up with you. It's been too long it has been.

Paul Miller: 31:39

Yeah, definitely.

Scott: 31:40

Super psyched to have you on. I'm super psyched to be catching up with you. You look great.

Paul Miller: 31:46

Happy for you doing the podcast and it's been good hanging.

Scott: 31:50

Yeah, definitely You'll have to come on again. Next episode we'll talk about all our obnoxious drinking data guy stories, oh God. If I can remember them, yeah, there's a reason you don't remember college stories, right?

Paul Miller: 32:01

Yeah, exactly.

Scott: 32:03

So, all right, well, thank you again. You guys are, and so we'll be one of my favorite bands. It was so much fun having you on. It was so much fun watching you guys throughout the years and listening to music. I still listen to it to this day. Folks, just check out Foxtrot Zulu on Spotify or anywhere you get your music Right. You guys are out there.

Paul Miller: 32:20

Sure thing, we are, yeah, spotify Apple.

Scott: 32:22

Check them out. They're just an awesome band. You'll love them and you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it and take care, buddy. I did stand up for 10 years. I was atrocious.

Paul Miller: 32:34

Atrocious. Gotta leave a little stupidity in. That's the fun part.