Ep 54: Sam Carter

James, huge news from the world of off-menu and indeed the world of the world.

Yes.

Ever heard of the Royal Albert Hall?

I have.

We've done live shows there.

And guess what?

We're doing more live shows there next year.

Sure, a lot of them are sold out already.

But we thought, hey, throw these guys a bone.

Let's put on one final Royal Albert Hall show in that run.

The show will be on Monday, the 16th of March.

It's going to be a tasting menu, a returning guest coming back, receiving the menu of another previous guest.

Those shows have been a lot of fun.

We cannot wait to do them live.

Who will we pull out of our little magic bag?

You'll have to come along on the 16th of March to find out.

If I'm correct in thinking, presale tickets go on pre-sale on the 10th of September.

Pre-sale tickets are 10th of September at 10 a.m.

And then the general sale is 12th of September at 10 a.m.

So if you miss out on the pre-sale, don't forget general sale is only two days later.

The day in between is for reflecting.

Get your tickets from royalalberthall.com Hall.com or offmenupodcast.co.uk

Suffs, the new musical has made Tony award-winning history on Broadway.

We demand to be heard.

Winner, best score.

We demand to be seen.

Winner, best book.

We demand to be quality.

It's a theatrical masterpiece that's thrilling, inspiring, dazzlingly entertaining, and unquestionably the most emotionally stirring musical this season.

Suffs, playing the Orpheum Theater, October 22nd through November 9th.

Tickets at BroadwaySF.com.

My top tip would be: don't touch your eyes after you've chopped this podcast because it's pretty hot.

Welcome to the Off-Menu Podcast with Ed Gamble and James A.

Caster.

My favourite intro so far.

Oh, I loved it.

I really liked it.

As you know, I always panic just before I have to do them because I don't plan them in advance.

Yeah.

And it's in the split second before, and that was probably my favourite too.

That was a very good one, Ed.

And here we are in the off menu podcast.

We're going to ask a guest what their favourite ever start, a main course dessert, drink, and side dish.

It ever is.

It's as simple as that.

We're in a dream restaurant.

I'm a genie.

James is a genie.

Our guest this week is the lead singer of the band Architects.

Sam Carter.

Sam Carter.

I'm big into architects, James.

Fantastic band.

Fantastic.

Making waves at the moment.

Doing huge things, playing massive venues.

A massive hope, I think, for British metal.

Very exciting.

Their latest album, Holy Hell, absolutely fantastic.

But if you, I mean, all of their albums are good.

This one's absolutely astonishing.

So go and check that out.

So we're welcoming Sam Carter into the restaurant.

Obviously, I'm a bit of a metalhead.

But even though that is the case, if he mentions the secret ingredient, he will be thrown out of the restaurant.

And this week we are getting specific when it comes to the secret ingredient.

Sicique.

Secret ingredient is sultanas

in coleslaw, but not if there's also apple in it.

Yes, that's a caveat that you added onto it.

Yeah, I have to say, I hate sultanas in coleslaw normally, but if there's also chopped apple in the coleslaw, it becomes a different dish.

The sultanas add to it.

And I really love it.

my favorite coleslaw is sultanas and apple in the coleslaw right my least favorite coleslaw is sultanas in coleslaw x it's so good to know that and this is why we start started this podcast for such specific things like that yes i love it so if sam carter says oh i'd love my side dish to be coleslaw people will be a bit nervous yes and then he says i want sultanas in there we're like oh god we're gonna have to throw them out the restaurant and then he might go and apple and then i'll have to be welcomed back keep your seat you're okay could Could be tuning and throwing quite a lot.

Could be tuning and throwing, he might be in and out the door.

But there you go.

I've actually fitted a new bell, extra industrial bell on the door so it doesn't fall off if he's going in and out all the time.

Well, let's hear it.

Let's hear the off-menu of Sam Carter from Architects.

Welcome, Sam, to the Dream Restaurant.

I'm so happy to be here.

Wow.

Welcome, Sam.

I've always wanted to see the genie come out, and wow.

Was it everything you thought it would be?

It was a bit much.

I put some extra fireworks for you because

I knew you already knew about it, so I put some fizzing whisbees.

I've got to say, the fizzing wisbeys were outstanding.

Yeah, yeah.

I've been whizzing around the room.

Is that Harry Potter food, Fizzin' Wisbees?

Fizzing Wisbee.

It sounds like it could be.

It sounds like an off-brand Harry Potter fireworks.

It sounds like an American trying to

decide what sweets we eat and

have your Fizzing Wisbeys.

Fizzing Wisbeys.

You love Fizzing Wisbeys over there.

I mean, it does sound delicious.

Yeah.

I would like some Fizzing Wisbeys, actually.

Maybe you should try and get sponsored by Fizzing Wisbeys.

Fizzing Wisby's.

They sound like sherbetty kind of sweets.

It's about time we started trying to launch our own line of food.

So I think Fizzing Wisbeys could be the first thing.

I'm pretty sure it is Harry Potter.

I don't know if she'd let us do it.

I mean.

All right.

Well, JK Rowling, if you're listening, just let us know if we can use Fizzy Wisby's.

Maybe get her on the show.

Get her on the show.

Yeah.

Oh, it would be so wacky, though.

The whole.

shop would always be like.

Big food fan, Sam?

Massive.

Yeah, massive food fans.

I'm one of those people that wishes they looked like Joel Dommitt, but loves bread.

So

it's a battle that, you know, I think a lot of people...

I'm also in that battle.

Yeah.

Look, Joel Dommitt, wonderful man, famously controversial episode of this.

Awful decisions.

Awful decisions.

Look, Joel Dommit's in shape.

He works out.

He doesn't eat nice food because he likes to stay in shape.

I was going to the gym yesterday and I texted Joel Dummit saying, I'm going to the gym today.

What should I do at the gym?

That was a fucking mistake.

He's right.

This is just a normal gym.

It's not a CrossFit gym.

He said I should do, what was it, like one minute on the rowing machine, then one minute of press-ups, then burpees over the jump over the rowing machine.

Are they going to think I'm an idiot?

Yeah.

Just a little run, pick up a few weights.

What I like to think now is that I'm at a weight that if I go to the gym, it's not going to to get any worse.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

And it's not going to get any better.

Yes.

So I go so I can eat what I want.

Perfect.

You know, but I'm not trying to.

Yeah.

That's a much more reasonable reason to go for the...

But when that's people's reason for working out, I completely

understand and respect it.

Stupid metabolism.

Got to go and get it sorted a little bit.

Yeah.

Go back and eat a loaf of bread.

Yeah.

Doing this.

I'm not having a protein shake, but I will have a loaf of bread.

Yeah.

I mean,

when I see my body in the mirror, I think that just looks like someone who does go to the gym, but then eats proper food.

When I see my body in the mirror, when I go to the gym, I just think, what do you spend that money going to the gym for?

I shouldn't have mirrors in the gym.

I should be not allowed.

Yeah.

Or they should have like a giant filter where you look thinner.

So you keep coming.

Oh, all the mirrors.

Crazy mirrors.

Or just a picture of Joel Domit.

Also, I like going to the gym because it's sort of...

It's like watching Love Island.

You can see the worst.

people.

You know, you sit there and you just go like, you are scum.

Yeah, yeah.

And I'm here near you.

There was a personal trainer at a gym I went to who, um,

awful man, and would just uh

if ever like he would really flirt with the ladies that he was like personal trainer, they all do, but absolutely like almost try and kill the men.

So like there was a time when at one point there was this guy on a running machine and everyone was in the gym doing their own thing and then we all heard this really high-pitched whimper and we all looked round and the running machine was still going but the guy was on the floor crying in like the fetal position and the personal trainer was just standing there looking at all of us when he pushed himself like like really smart

like yep

another one bites the dust i guess i uh a few years ago i was in the gym and uh was watching like a football highlights video like on the tv and it was a like a just a famous goal that i'd seen before and uh i like imitated heading the ball fell completely off the running machine

like that man landing up in a heath and like everyone's like looking around like what happened there it's like my mistake i think i'd have to quit the gym i oh out of shame yeah yeah if I came off the running machine, I'd have to quit the gym completely.

I can't even run, but I'm judging everyone else in the game.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or you'd go back in a disguise.

Yeah, like a big hat or something.

Yeah, yeah.

Just uh

don't react to it.

I'd give the whole my hair off a different wig.

But then you'd give yourself away when you reacted to the football again.

Yeah,

once again,

here he is.

Come forward.

Let's start putting it on.

He's come in, change his channel.

Falling off the exercise bike because you tried to do the hand of God.

So we'll start with, as as always,

the water.

Still all sparkling.

Sparkling, please.

Strong, sparkling.

Absolutely.

Strong, sparkling.

Yeah.

I used to hate sparkling water.

I used to despise it.

When we were touring in Europe when we were younger, I was not about it at all, but it was just all that they seemed to have.

So you'd be on stage and be like, oh, I'm so thirsty.

You go and pick up a big bottle of water, go to down it, and be like, whoa, what's happening here?

Not on stage.

You'd be burping and worse.

Terrible, terrible to quench a thirst.

Yeah.

But now, over the last two, three years, I think, yeah, I've got really into sparkling.

Would burps quite help, though, in metal vocal?

Maybe, that's a new style.

I was listening to

now I'll get the name wrong.

Fergoffin.

Fergoffen.

How are you spelling that?

It's a funeral doom.

So T-H-E-R.

T-H-O-N.

Right, yeah.

Fergoffin.

Yeah.

Amazing album, but he does sound like he's burping.

Yeah, yeah.

And a lot of that black metal.

Yeah.

There is a real sort of low, sort of like, it sounds like they're not really making much of an effort.

Yeah.

Or they're really sad about the fact that they have to sing like that.

It sounds like he's doing that thing we used to see how long you could go.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mayhem are like that.

There's a band called Mayhem that just sound like the singers burping.

Yeah.

Like really nasty.

But yeah,

I don't know what happened.

I used to hate it and now I love it.

No.

It was my go-to.

Big time in.

Have you you got it coming out of your taps?

Yeah.

Oh, no, I'm winning.

You can get it out of the taps.

Yeah, I wish I had one of those soda streams.

I was thinking about getting one recently.

Our drummer has one.

Every time I go out of his house, I'm like,

this is nice.

He's like, wow, you've made it, man.

Pretty awful that you have to go around your drummer's house and think, you've made it.

Yeah.

I just,

why am I waiting?

Has made it?

What are you up to on the side?

Where's this money coming from?

It's really, really stiff join the contracts there.

Yeah.

Have a little look at the contract

why am i why is everyone else getting soda streams but me

um would you still not drink it on stage though because you no yeah i would not not not not sparkling on stage i have steel on stage yeah yeah yeah i have gin on stage actually so that's sort of tonic water isn't it oh yeah some gin as well yeah so that's a bit burpee yeah is a little bit maybe burpy a little gin on stage two gins on stage and a bottle of tequila but not wow i don't drink it all yeah but the tequila's there for a shot if i need if the show's boring me i'll have a shot.

Right, yeah, yeah.

That's a bit mad.

But that's quite honest.

No, the shot, you know, the shot's for fun.

I love, I love it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, because he just wanted to make it even more fun.

Bloody love it.

The tequila saved it in terms of rock and roll attitude, I think.

Yeah, because of the gin.

Yeah, it sounds like I'm going to watch the cricket.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Maybe a Pyms this summer.

I love Pims.

Jug of Pims is trying to pick a bit of cucumber out of your mouth.

We went through a phase where we got really into margaritas.

But it was like we would our rider would be about 40 limes a day and then we would have the tequila and then we would get it like a we would make it all before we go on stage.

Oh, before you're not you're not juicing while on stage.

Yeah, no, we would get our tour manager before we go on and be like, I need another one.

I've just drank this one.

This one took half an hour to make.

Yeah, it takes so long, but it's so worth it.

They'd get you absolutely...

Just, I was way too drunk on that.

On that.

You just ran out on stage and you're like, oh, no.

Because it's quite a high-energy show, isn't it?

Yeah, once the adrenaline hits you and you're like at Alipally, that was the one where I remembered I'd had too many, yeah, too many margaritas, and you're like, oh, there's a lot of words in this set.

A lot of words.

And then the acid reflux kicks in, you're like, shoot, just had a bit.

Doing a lot of putting the mic towards the audience.

Yeah, like, whoa,

come on, guys.

Please.

You know this bit, right?

Please.

In this weird B-side.

One of the most embarrassing moments of my life was when I went to see a band called Scourge, who are a local Ketron Sludge Corps band.

And they were

great.

Scourge is a great band.

I absolutely love Scourge.

Real Evil.

Yes.

Really loved them.

And they supported Raging Speedhorn at the Northampton Roadmender.

And it was a big deal.

Some of the people who scourged were our mates, so it was a real big deal that they were getting to do the Roadmender.

We all went to see it.

And I was at the front, really loving it.

And Cliff was the singer.

And it was just all

screaming vocals for the whole thing.

And then he went into the audience and he just knew that I'd seen them loads.

And he just put the mic, but like in my mouth.

Like I could feel the grill of it on my teeth, touching my teeth.

And he just had it like that.

And there was too much silence to begin with.

I didn't know what to do.

And Toby, who was my friend who played the bass, was literally looking at me with his foot on the speaker, looking at me like, fucking do something.

And eventually I just went.

And I made that noise.

And then Toby started laughing because he was like, he he was on the speaker, so it came right up at him.

Oh, and really laughing.

It was the most embarrassing.

It was so embarrassing.

I love it.

I mean, I have not told this story on this podcast before, but I had a very similar thing.

Years and years ago, Dragon Force at the Camden Underworld.

I think it was their first London headline show.

It was after the first album had come out.

And I knew all the lyrics.

So I thought,

really hard.

Singing the line.

Really hard.

Really going for it.

And the lead singer at the time, ZP, who now sings for White Snake,

lent right in with the microphone and handed it to me.

And I started, I sung the right lyrics, but not for the right part of the song.

I started finishing the song.

Wow.

You're not good, aren't you?

You're like going for it.

He pulled the microphone away, just laughed in my face.

I have a thing where sometimes you'll see people that don't know the words, but they think that...

They think that they can get away with it when they're looking at you.

So we call it chewing gum.

Wow.

Where you can tell when you're watching them going,

nah.

Nah.

So you watch them a little bit and just make them feel uncomfortable.

Or do the old hold the mic out and then they're like, oh, great.

Oh, oh, is that the time?

Yeah.

I must be gone.

I doubt we'll be picked up on this, but I think he sings in Skid Row, not White Snake.

Oh, okay.

Well, you will be picked up on it.

And you know you won't be on the ball.

It was the same day at Download.

They were all playing on the same day at Download.

I was there with Joel Dummit, actually, watching Slipknot, and no one knows any lyrics to anything, really.

Just the big bits.

Just the big bits or occasional turns of phrase.

So we were all bouncing around and like

going home in a basket.

That's all you remember.

Where you're going to be in the next five years.

Those are the only select no lyrics I remember.

My favorite trick to play on bands is when you go and see them and they're like, this one's for everyone who was, this is an old song, this is everyone who was with us from day one.

And often, like, before I go and see him, I listen, I'll catch up and listen to stuff.

So I'll know the words, and I'm there singing along.

And then the sucker band thinks I've known them since then.

And I hadn't really.

I listened to it last week.

I love it when people are like, why don't you play your old stuff?

Why aren't you playing your others?

It's like, well, because we're playing to like 5,000 people.

Would you play songs to the 5,000 people that know your new records?

Like the two, three big ones, or maybe the one person that's.

Because trust me, the show's going to take a dip in enthusiasm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This one's for all our old fans.

I love it when fans are like grumpy about people who haven't been with them from day one.

Yeah.

So they got the big room and they're like, oh, you weren't here in the early days.

You were shit then.

Yeah, exactly.

Like, yeah.

Also, you weren't in this room because we weren't here.

I like it when people are like that.

They're like, why do you play this record?

It's like, because it's shit.

We know that we're doing well now for the last three or four.

But the ones before, just...

It's not nice to say you've got eight records.

It's a bleak, it's a bleak.

We've really stepped our game up and everyone loves to do stuff.

Number six, everyone was in.

Yeah, yeah.

It's like us doing a gig and someone shouting.

Do that joke from your first set, from your open mics.

Do that joke from your so you think you're funny, heat.

Do the routine you tried to write about Bjork, throwing items items off of a cliff that's what i did first kick well there you go there you go and i'm sure you get it i'm sure there's people like expect to you to do things that they see on youtube as well they'll see like your first ever stand-up when they go there and it's like well he's not done that joke yeah like you're not allowed to write new jokes i still do all of it well that's fine

no no one knows that stuff

popping arms on bread popping up's on bread sam it does catch you off guard and i thought today i thought i was like i'm ready for it i'm gonna be ready but it does get you does get you

um this this has been a hard one for me, actually,

because I love poppadums.

You've already given Bread a shout-out.

Yeah.

So I love Poppadums, but

bread is the best.

Bread is the best.

And then you also got to think, bread, you can move into naan bread, bread, pit of bread.

Yeah.

For catcher, sourdough.

Poppadums are just.

I mean, I love poppin's.

I don't want to put it down.

Poppadums are.

Yes, bread.

It's bread.

Always bread.

It's breaking for you.

Yeah.

You did listed a lot of the fabes there.

Yeah.

What one are you going to go for for this meal?

I think I'm going to go for a Fokacha.

Really nice, like fresh Fokacha is like,

it's the best.

You get that with some olive oil and some balsamic vinegar, and you are.

You're set.

You're laughing.

Yeah.

Do you remember when we all got into it?

Into Fokacha.

Yeah.

This is like upper-middle-class Peter K routine.

George, do I remember?

Do you remember Forcatcha?

Remember when you first said Forcatcha?

I think I was probably pretty young.

I think my dad used to make another PK reference, like garlic bread for catcher when I was a kid.

Right, yeah.

So he would like cut it down the middle and then put loads of butter and garlic on top of it.

That's my earliest memory of it.

Is that do you want that now?

Yeah, I'll take that.

Your dad's garlic for catcher bread.

Yeah, I'll take my dad's garlic for catcher bread, yeah.

Yeah, that sounds good.

I'm mainly trying to push you in that direction because I want to eat that.

Yeah, yeah, that sounds really good.

It's amazing.

Yeah, just what a, it's so soft and you can just rip it and it's hard to just have a bit, I find, because you know when you buy it, it's sort of in like a tray, and it's like, you know, sort of like the size of a big book.

Yeah,

that's what I've always said.

And then you go, Can I have the catch with the back, you know, the size of the Bible?

Can I have that one?

But it's just gone.

There's no way you can, you don't want it to get hard.

No, exactly.

You want it in a day, that's what I say.

And then straight back down the gym,

whipping yourself over your shoulder.

It never happened.

And then another loaf on the way back to add to the library of

a few beers on the way back.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Wheat man.

So we come to your starter.

Putting down these are the big guns.

Yeah, these are the big guns.

Although, you know, I really do love that sound of that Picachea garlic bed that your dad makes.

Yeah, I mean, it's a good.

Have you ever tried to replicate that?

I have, yeah.

And I do a pretty good job of it.

He's,

I mean, I'm vegan now, which I have been for like seven years.

Yeah.

And

surprisingly, like over the years, I'm not surprisingly, over the years, it's got so much easier to be vegan.

So So now you can just go and buy a flora and just mix that with like some garlic and some oregano.

And I love cooking at home.

So it's pretty easy to just whack that together.

And for catchers, normally vegan anyway.

And yeah, there's some, especially in Brighton, there's some amazing like patisseries and stuff you can get like sick bread from, which is just, again, a nightmare.

So you live in Brighton?

Yeah.

Did you move to Brighton and then instantly have to become a vegan?

Yeah.

And start a band.

So at the same time, yeah.

So everyone's working on a Brighton.

No, No, I'm in a band.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, I'm vegan.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Six days a week.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, yeah,

I was just

before I moved to Brighton.

I lived just outside, lived with my parents for so long of us being a band because I didn't make any money.

Thanks so much.

And yeah, then as soon as I could, I moved to Brighton.

And we all lived in Brighton.

Yeah, we all went vegan at the same time, actually.

At the end of recording a record, we just watched a few documentaries and we're like, well,

this sucks.

I'm watching it like, there goes everything I ever loved.

Meat, cheese, eggs, brilliant.

That's the bad thing about being in this band.

You watch documentaries.

Yeah, that is it.

And you just see it, and you're like, I can't unsee this.

I remember I actually, I went home

in the middle of the recording.

We'd be there for like a month, and we were only a few hours away from home.

So I went back and I came back and I got picked up from the train station by a couple of the guys.

And they were like, right, just say you know, we're vegetarian now.

And I was like,

what?

What happened when I left?

And they were like, we watched this.

And I got back back and watched them.

I was like, you're so annoying.

Everything was so easy.

And then we watched this.

It's easier that you all decided.

Yeah.

Almost like, all right, I'll watch it, then I'll

then we just all did it together.

It's all about the catering.

It's good, yeah.

Also, I'd say, and I think this is a fairly solid observation.

The heavier the band, the more documentaries they watch.

Yeah, yeah.

I think that's a genuine thing.

Yeah, what are you talking about?

I think that's a genuine thing.

I think people are like,

what can we write a weird record about?

Oh,

9-11, 9-11, what happened?

You talk to a band who play heavy music and ask them what they've been watching lately.

It's always documentaries.

It's always documentaries.

They watch so many people.

But how do you establish the heavier the band?

Because that's just the way it goes.

The heavier they are, the more they're watching documentaries.

The more that they're like shredding it on stage and it's all right.

And then you go, what have you been up to?

And they'll be like, oh, I just watched this as crazy.

You know very well that nails are not going on stage and watching a documentary.

I bet they do.

To be fair, whenever we meet up and we go away and do these shows at at the moment, that thing that we do, being a band, the conversation is about what everyone's watched is mad.

Yeah, I watched this documentary last night on mushrooms and now

you're like, oh, wow.

Oh, yeah, I watched this thing on sleep for three hours, actually, and now I don't know if I'm going to sleep again.

Giving up sleep.

Yeah, well, I'm going to fast for 10 years.

Give me the Forcatcher.

Let's go.

It holds up.

Anyone listening to a heavy band, confirm the theory.

Ed thinks this is mad, but I'm pretty sure.

Yeah, I just have seen nails live.

I can't imagine them popping off stage, and I imagine them getting off stage and smashing themselves in the face with a plank.

I don't imagine them watching a documentary,

just beating each other up after.

Yeah, maybe.

I got into a band called Sleigh Bells because of Nails.

What?

We got a completely different band.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But like Slay Bells because

the guy from Sleigh Bells was in Poison the World, I think.

Was he?

One of them was in Poison the World, yeah.

Oh,

but like, yeah, they're like almost like the pop version of a metal band because it's so affronting and like everything's turned up and you're like, it was so poppy that it's almost offensively great.

You're like, oh, Jesus.

And like, yeah, I'm so happy.

I'm so annoyed about it.

It's that YouTube series, that What's in My Bag series?

Yeah.

Someone goes and buys a load of vinyl from a record shop and the nails go with it.

And it was just like, I've got the Slay Bounce album.

I'm going to buy it.

If it's a pop album,

if it's a good album, I'll recommend it to people.

I always think about doing that What's in My Bag thing whenever we're in LA and I'm always like, I wonder if they give you the records?

And then you go in there and you go, like, you go on the wall wall and you go, you see, the one that's for a grand.

I've always wanted to

get that one and get these ones.

You come out and you're like, got all these first edition Beatles records.

Sorry, guys.

No one's getting paid tonight.

Do they must give you the records?

It must do to get you to go in.

But then, like,

there's that sneaker.

Have you seen the sneaker shop?

Yeah.

Sneaker shopping.

They can't.

No, they must have to pay for it.

There must be a limit.

They must be like, right, you've got $300 and that shit.

Unless they got a genie as well.

Yeah.

They could have a genie.

Yeah.

So there's any records you want forever.

But then you go home and you open the bag and it's just gone.

Yeah, yeah.

You can only listen to it.

Oh, you can have them, yeah, but you can't leave.

Yeah, you can only listen to them.

That's why everyone just works in there now.

So yeah, your starter.

Yeah,

starter's been hard.

Starter's one of my favourite things for

everyone's really going with Ed Starter thing.

Yeah, starter boy, I'm a dessert, man.

Yeah.

I'm a starter boy.

Yeah, starters are the...

That's the first thing.

You look forward to it, don't you?

Because I think, obviously, when you're going for dinner, you're always a bit hangry because someone's late or it's never, you never go for dinner at like when you'd normally have dinner at home.

So you're like an hour later and you're like, oh God, I really want to eat.

So the starters are the first thing where you're like, can't wait for this to come.

And

I've been tied between two actually.

One is you've already had on here, which was

from a place called Cafe Gratitude in LA, which is the

coconut calamari.

Oh yes, actually,

yeah, yeah.

And when i was actually there i was thinking about the young dumb coconut

and i couldn't believe it was it just came into my head when it came over i was like wow

i need to get out um but that is honestly so tasty every time we go i i'm i'm there that that that place is amazing for food but if you get four english people round the table and you ask them or tell them what they're grateful for

no one's going to reply they alone look up, like,

and today, what are you grateful for?

It's like, nothing,

nothing, there is no food here yet.

But that place is absolutely incredible.

And then the other one

is in LA as well.

And it's Travis Barker has a restaurant called Crossroads.

Right.

And Chef Tarl works there, I think.

That's the guy.

And last time we were there, me and our bass player, Ali, went for,

we went with our friend Veeaman, who plays in Slipnut, actually.

We went for dinner there.

We were sat in there.

Travis Barker was there.

Joachim Phoenix just walked past.

Pink was there.

And somebody else had walked past.

And we were just sat there like, this is mental.

But we've got these.

Did my guy sturve his mask on?

He didn't, but he did have it in his car.

He was like, you know, that when you need it, you never know when you need it.

Covered in vomit.

Yeah.

But

they do a thing there called Impossible Cigars, which I don't know if you've heard like the Impossible Burger.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Which is like that beyond burger, but it's like a step above.

I don't know how they make it.

The first time I had it, I was like, this is, I need to send this back because it tastes just like meat.

That's what a lot of people say.

And also, it was a really weird way when they started pitching it when it first came out of the light.

Yeah, it was just in meat restaurants.

It bleeds.

Yeah, and it was like Mark.

I don't think any vegan really wants it.

No, I'm not missing the blast.

Yeah,

I think it was in like Mark Wahlberg's restaurants because he has like that wool burger in America.

Yeah, yeah.

And that was the only place you could get it at first.

And we would like scout it out and try it.

And like the first American tour, we had one.

And it was like, oh my God.

The second time we went over, we had like 13 yeah it was like we've overdone this I'm out I'm back to just sweet potato burgers what's happening so many wall burgers yeah um but it's in like phyllo pastry they do it okay at Crossroads so it's like a tiny little cigar and like this phyllo pastry with this amazing like garlic oily dip and it's so what's the actual cigar so what's it filo pastry but it's filled with yeah it's filled with like a slim bit of like the impossible burger ah so it's like meaty in the middle but then it's got that garlic dip in it so yeah it's between that and

i think if you need if you need a push in one direction I think because we've already had the coconut calamari yeah I think I'll go with that nice to shout out the coconut calamari again because it's quite good to have like been on it before and like double doubling down on it where this is like a mustard

it's a real good one yeah I think we should go yeah impossible cigars yeah sounds great

that restaurant is absolutely incredible as well and just such a cool place and it's weird because it is right in the middle of LA and you you there's all these like celebrities in there, but it's almost like they don't know that it's like a vegan place or they're being served by this guy.

They're just in there because they think it's cool.

And you're just sort of in there, like, what's up?

Have you been to Gracias Madro?

I have.

That's a lovely place.

Yeah.

That is a vegan, vegan Mexican restaurant.

Is it Johnny?

Does Johnny Depp own it?

I think he has a part to do with it.

It's another, there's another actor that I think has got a...

They've all got like fingers in pies.

Yeah, it's crazy.

But it's phenomenal food.

But I don't remember what I ate because I got so smashed on margaritas that I could not tell you what I ate.

There was another place

before I was vegan that was opposite the House of Blues in LA.

And every time I was there, I'd go and get this like prawn burrito, like king prawn burrito.

My God.

Like, I think about that a lot.

Prawn burrito.

Yeah.

Which normally you'd be like, oh, so rancid.

Like, why are you doing that?

Mixing those flavours.

Prawns aren't good here.

No, yeah.

And out there, it was just a massive, like, juicy.

Yeah, I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant, but that house of blues is gone now, the one that was in LA.

I'd say, with

back to the prawns, like, I like the fact that in America it's called shrimp because it is

a different

dish over there.

Yeah, for sure.

They do them proper.

Like, I didn't think I liked prawns at all because I just thought of the little, like,

frozen prawns.

Bottom

eaters.

You just look at them.

And as soon as someone pointed out to me that, like, you know, it's just like you're just looking at a mass grave.

Like,

if you look into a sandwich and it's just all the prawns there, and it's just...

Hundreds of them.

All the dead bodies of these prawns.

Because they're so kind of like just similar to how they weld their own.

I never thought of that.

A mass grave.

Yeah.

A big frozen bag of death.

Yeah.

You're double old now.

But then the shrimp is like

a proper

looks like an actual boot.

A plump, juicy shrimp.

Big fat daddy.

You have a big fat daddy.

I always feel bad when I talk about meat and fish and stuff.

I didn't stop going vegan because I didn't go vegan because it tasted bad.

Sure.

You know, it's always going to, I'm always going to remember it tasting good.

You know,

I wish I could eat it.

I just can't morally and ethically do that anymore.

But if you put a big fucking prawn, a big shrimp with some chili and garlic, you are laughing.

Yeah.

You're laughing.

Chuck some pasta on that.

Yeah.

So it's so simple.

Yeah.

But like, it just, oh, God.

Have I mentioned.

No, I would have mentioned it.

I bet I've mentioned that where I was on the yacht in Australia, in Sydney.

I'm not sure he has.

I was once on a mixed bill in Sydney at the Sydney Arts Festival and five comics, and we all died every single day.

It went really badly.

And one day we died so bad that a rich man in the audience invited us to go on his yacht the next day because he felt sorry for us.

So we went on the yacht and his wife bought out the shrimp that had been caught that morning.

She She just like, just

peeled it all, washed it, and then she just served it with fresh watermelon and some lime juice squeezed over it.

That's all she did with it.

It's the most refreshing meal.

I couldn't stop eating it.

It was absolutely incredible.

Just like, just refreshing in a way that I hadn't really anticipated.

It's something about seafood and citrus.

It goes so well together.

But the watermelon was a real curve.

I remember seeing that going, I don't like watermelon with shrimp, but absolutely.

I think about it.

There's a few food things that I think about all the time.

Yeah.

That if we ever had to do our own off menus,

that would be on there or be close to getting on there.

And it's absolutely.

That platter of shrimp and watermelon.

Do you think it has to be on a yacht, though?

Yeah, did it help?

No, because it helped that you were.

No, no, the yacht was.

I felt a bit seasick after one on the yacht and I got sunburned.

So the yacht was actually the worst part.

Ironically, you ended up looking like a shrimp and a watermelon.

Yeah, I was a little shrimpy watermelon.

All curled up in a little ball.

bowl, or red as a watermelon.

If you take off your like swimming shorts and like t-shirts, it does give you the white sort of thing.

Yeah, yeah,

little stripes.

And you've got little seeds on your tummy.

Yeah, Americans call this limey's.

So that's

that.

There we are.

Australians don't, of course, palms.

I'm a travelled man.

We go on to the main course.

Excellent stuff.

That starter,

I would like to try it.

Yeah, sounds delicious.

Yeah, it was a good time.

Pastry in general, like a nice thin phyllo pastries.

It's like

always like those kind of pastries always remind me of like Christmas or something, where you like go to your nan's house and she's forgotten you're vegan again and she bought like the Chinese selection pack.

You end up having like 400 spring rolls to get you through the weekend in Manchester.

It's a good one.

You have a lot of that as a vegan, a lot of emergency food that people go, oh, fuck, okay, there you go.

God, he's coming.

Where's Linda McCartney?

Let's call him.

I think yeah, I used to get it more, and now it's like so much easier.

Like everywhere has an option.

Just it's part of the perks of capitalism, I guess.

People wanting to make money off of

they just chuck oh, we just chuck vegan cheese here and they flock there and you know, KFC are doing it and everyone's doing it and whatever.

That's the best thing about like, you know, w when these big places start introducing the vegan stuff and then you get all the uh you know angry old men of the the world getting like, well, you're just all these snowflakes and you just bend them to their ways.

It's like, no, no, no, it makes money.

Yeah, it makes less.

It's going to sell a lot.

That's why they're doing it.

They're not going, oh,

when they want KSC, they don't give a shit yet.

I love it.

I love it so much.

I love people going, obviously, like Waitrose is doing so much more vegan stuff now.

It's like, oh, they really care.

They really start.

Do they give a shit?

They just see your cash.

And it's like, well, I'm willing to open up the wallet and buy all of it.

so keep coming, yeah.

Yeah,

um, and so obviously, we're gonna uh go even even bigger, bigger vigs now, I imagine.

Unless you completely swerve us, yeah, exactly.

So, I'm back, you know,

I'm out here, I'm off for a prawns.

In between

watermelons,

in between the start and the main course, you're watching another documentary and then you're completely turned around.

I'm gonna go for there's this place in Paris that we go to every time we're there.

It's called Tian Hang,

and uh, it's like um a small it's really small place but every time I'm there I get this caramelized chicken clay pot but it's a mock chicken clay pot

which is

sounds crazy sounds almost horrible right but is delicious and it comes in this clay pot it does exactly what it says on the tin yeah and it's like boiling hot you know it comes over and it's like

you can see that it's hot it's like don't touch it for a minute comes over this amazing rice and it's just it's so tasty just caramelized sort of coconutty amazing mock chicken and it it's oh it's so delicious so delicious so like also

additional question to that the uh because I talked to a vegan friend of mine recently and they were saying they're sick of coconut yeah they're sick of it but you've mentioned coconut twice yeah already it's it's a good I love cream right like I was like a creamy I loved cream and like creamy pasta and cream and everything but my one of my things that I remember when I was a kid was my dad would make this amazing like um,

like a tomato-y, creamy, like, pasta with loads of seafood in it.

Right.

And just, you know, carbonara before I was vegan was like my go-to.

Like, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a dairy boy.

But yeah, that there is just so.

It's something about, you know, the sweet and the savory together.

Yeah.

And then when you have this, like, really nice sticky rice with it.

Yeah, yeah.

It's amazing.

That's amazing.

Sticky rice is a revelation.

Yeah.

You have that for, I didn't have it for ages because I thought it just sounded gross.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, thank you.

Yeah.

Do you know what?

Sticky rice is really good when it's like cooked in coconut as well, like coconut rice, where they like boil it in that and then it comes.

I'm the coconut kid.

You are the coconut.

Yeah,

you're the original young coconut.

Yeah, I am.

I've turned into it.

But there, yeah, that is my.

So

is it in a sauce?

Is it like

a saucy bubble?

And it's this big clay pot and it just, it's amazing.

I actually went on holiday with my girlfriend recently and we went to Paris and I'm pretty sure the reason we went is because of that.

Yeah, yeah.

I was like, you've got to try this out.

We've got to go.

Best reason going on any holiday.

I think mostly, I think you're the same as you.

Oh, 100%.

Booking a holiday, you're basically following your stomach.

I am going to Copenhagen in a couple of weeks.

Yeah.

And

my girlfriend loves food.

Like we have nice meals together.

She really likes good food.

But she's into other stuff as well.

Yeah.

And I said, we should go to Copenhagen.

It's supposed to be really fun.

She was like, oh, that sounds good.

And I booked it.

And then I was like, oh, by the way, I've booked booked four restaurants as well.

She went, oh, you've tripped me into a food holiday.

What's happening?

What are the best chance you've booked?

Caddo.

There's one called Caddo.

There's one called Relay.

And there's one called Bar.

What kind of food are we talking, Ed?

Those are like Michelin star tasting menus.

And then Bar, I think, is like

quite meaty, I think.

Right.

It's where Noma used to be.

They do really, really good.

There's a really good raw place out there, which is

never normally something that comes out of my mouth.

You know, you just think about like just different vegetables cold.

But I had a raw lasagna there before with like really nice sun-dried tomatoes.

Oh, nice.

And

it was absolutely incredible.

But normally, if I see the words raw, I'm like, I'm out of here.

So raw lasagna is completely cold.

Yeah.

Just layered up.

Layered up with like courgette and like just amazing vegetables.

Right.

It's a go-to in a raw restaurant, which is normally why I don't go near them.

Right, okay.

It's normally like, I've got one meal today and I'm not having this.

Having a lasagna.

But some some raw places are absolutely incredible especially if you're like if you're like trying to lose weight or you're like

it's really healthy.

Right yeah yeah.

I think if you've if you've if you're particularly hungover on tour I imagine something like that would really help.

Oh would it?

I want dirty stuff if I'm hungover.

Yeah but that's absolutely it's like the body craving it yeah the body craves it and you feel awful but you've just got to lean into it haven't you?

Sometimes you've just got to go fuck it.

I'm having a pizza.

Yeah yeah.

I'm not moving.

Me and Ali, who plays bass in our band, we have a thing.

If we go out on a night out and it's a particularly heavy night out, at the end of the night out, it's like, tomorrow's a double delivery day, isn't it?

You're like, yeah.

You just sit there and you're like looking over at the oven, like,

judging me.

And then at the end of the day, you're like, so what did you get?

And he's like, oh, I only did one.

You're like, what?

I put this together.

I didn't drink

before.

That's what I did.

You always shook.

Have you ever done

double delivery for the same meal?

No, I haven't.

Have you?

Quite a lot.

Amazing.

What?

In the same day, you've ordered the same meal twice?

No,

as in for the same meal time.

So you've ordered two of the same thing and combined it?

Yes, I'll do like, I'll do a pizza.

You're like, oh, I'd really like an ice cream.

And then I'd order ice cream.

Nice.

I did do an ice cream.

order the other day at 10 o'clock at night and I felt like such a piece of shit.

with the man arriving, just like, here you go.

And I was like, tipped him, obviously, to be like, yeah, I'm like, taking it, like, I couldn't really look at him.

Like, I know, and you know that I've just been overcharged for this because I'm lazy.

Ice cream this late at night.

So sorry.

Don't like creeping out the door.

Thank you, sir.

I ordered a curry recently, and

I was really looking forward to this curry and I ordered some other bits with it.

And it arrived, and the curry wasn't in there.

It was just the starters and stuff.

And I was so angry, but I was like, I want that curry.

Yeah.

I am ordering that curry, but I'm going to order it from a different curry house.

Nice.

And look, it was so quick.

I'd finished the starters and the curry arrow.

Amazing.

Amazing.

There is nothing more devastating than a wrong order.

Oh, it's awful.

This story's going to sound hilarious in a few years when I'm bankrupt.

When I start listening back to this, going, ice cream.

Eight pounds.

Talking about Paris, though, and like vegan foods.

So

Action Bronson does that delicious show.

Yeah.

And in one of the episodes, he goes to Paris and he has a.

It's at least a vegetarian burger, if it's not a vegan burger.

Is that the one where he loses it?

He loses his mind.

It's the best thing I've ever seen.

Yeah.

Is it Hank Burger?

I'm not sure what it's called.

There's a place called Hank Burger, and they've also got Hank Peterson out there.

And they're super nice people.

It's like almost like a marketplace kind of thing.

Amazing.

But

he says it's the best burger he's ever had.

That's amazing.

Better than any meat burger.

Amazing.

And I've been to Paris for gigs twice since then.

And both times found the place, gone there, and it's been shut both times.

And it's like a real...

I want that burger so much.

Like, I had this for ages with a sandwich that I saw Adam Richman eat on Man vs.

Food.

Yeah.

12 years ago.

Did you get it?

Yeah.

It took me 12 years.

It's one of the best sandwiches I've ever had at the Nixon Redding Terminal Market in Philadelphia.

Amazing.

And it's this pork, thinly sliced pork, and it's got broccoli rub and bit of cheese.

And then they dip it in the juice.

It's absolutely, but it took a decade, over a decade, of thinking about it.

And then I bought it, loved it so much, and then I bought the t-shirt from Denix.

Yes.

And then Great Benito, our producer, went to Philadelphia recently and bought me back a Redding Terminal Market cap

that I've been wearing.

And it's the first cap I've ever had.

I've not got it on me.

You'll notice that I'm wearing a different cap.

It's just I've suddenly got into caps because of that.

Yeah, there you go.

So basically, I've got the red internal market cap, never worn caps in my life.

I love that cap so much.

It turned you onto caps.

Yeah, you're walking around wearing it.

And then I went to...

By the way, you, because people can't see you while we're recording this, obviously.

Yeah.

Now you wear a cap.

You gesture by

a crack.

My gestures are

a gentle touch of the brim.

I adjust the peak.

You treat your cap like a top hat.

It's your little top hat that I do a little bit.

Is your hat from Monty's Burger?

Monty's Deli.

No, no, it's Monty's Deli in London.

Okay, cool.

So Jamie DiMitchu, friend of the podcast, and his episode, he mentioned Monty's.

Yeah.

And so I went there because of that.

Loved it.

Bought the hat.

It's been there the other day.

It's like the new been there, got the t-shirt.

Yeah.

Been there, got the hat.

Got the hat.

So like, you know, so that's the thing.

I got the Red Intermedi Markets hat that Benito got me.

I've been walking around in that, absolutely loving it, really happy about my new hat.

Texting these two, going,

I love my cap, it's so great.

Then I went to Monty's to get a sandwich and they came over and they were like, would you like a free, would you like a cap?

Because they see now that I wear caps.

I was like, yeah.

So now I've got two caps and they're both food places that I like.

You've never bought a cap.

I've never bought a cap.

I'll get you an architect's cap.

Well,

as much as I would like that, I'm only doing food places.

I will wear an architect's t-shirt.

Okay, I mean, but I will not wear a cap.

Maybe we need to open a restaurant.

Because I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's the only thing.

Just to get James out there, you're going to go.

I don't care how good the food is.

I'm wearing the cap up.

Like, you know,

at the minute, I've got two caps.

They're both food places that I like, well, love.

They're both like top-notch food places.

So I'm going to be that.

I said to Ed before we were recording today, I thought I was going to start, you know, buying, just getting caps, collecting caps at food places that I like.

He went, oh, that's weird, isn't it, James?

That's another weird thing you've started doing.

There is an amazing place actually in LA that I haven't been to, which I wanted to go to last time called Monty's Burger, which is like

it looks like an old sort of diner place, but it's the, I think, Travis Barker that's invested in Crossroads, has just started putting money in that.

And a few of my friends have been to LA and have been like, you have to go to that burger place.

He's done all right, isn't he?

Travis Barker.

Yeah, he's making some banks.

I mean, making some bank.

Very few bands I can think of who are...

The drummer is the most successful one.

Yeah.

It's funny if you go.

It's just Blink 102 and Architect.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Solar stream, restaurant, same thing.

So that sounds like a great mate, of course.

Yeah, it's a real good one.

And

the only other thing I was thinking about was, again, from

Crossroads, when I was there, I had a Carbonara, but like a fake Carbonara.

And it came with a fake yolk on it.

I've never seen that before in my life.

And it wasn't like the Wagon Mama's fake egg where it's like, what is in my mouth right now?

This is insane.

It was like the best, best, one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life.

Wow.

Yeah.

And it tasted properly like eggy.

It wasn't, yeah, it tasted exactly like a carbonara.

And like the pasta was obviously fresh.

And I couldn't believe it.

I was devastated when it was over.

Yeah, yeah.

One of those meals where you're like, I'm coming back tomorrow.

Yeah, yeah.

It was amazing.

But that clay pot has taken me on holiday.

and books us French shows.

We're like, go in there.

Where's the venue?

Okay, cool.

I think that's a very good feeling when you've had a meal and then the next day you just, you think, I'm going to have a lunch.

Yeah.

And you're like, I want the same thing as yesterday.

And you're thinking, I can't do that.

It's a great feeling when you go, I'm going to do it.

I'm an adult.

I'm going to have the same thing two days in a row.

Yeah, I'm an adult.

I'm a grown-up.

I'm a big boy now.

Dan, who's in the band,

we're all massive fans of this place called Flax and Kale in Barcelona.

And it is like, it's really, really healthy food, but it's absolutely delicious.

And he went on holiday there recently just to go and eat at Flax and Kale for the weekend.

Wow.

And it was like every pretty much every meal.

Him and his wife absolutely love it.

So I messed him, like, how many times have you been there?

It was like day two.

He was like, I've eaten there three times.

And he was like, and I've got deliveroo from there as well.

It's incredible, incredible place.

So yeah, shout out to Flax and Kale for being great.

Yeah.

And side dish, we come to the side dish now.

Yeah.

Also, I like about your menu, Topa, I like that it's a globe trotting menu, even the shout-outs going all over the world.

Yeah.

This is the great thing we hadn't even considered about having musicians on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Is you've been so many places and you've got to eat.

Yeah, but also the worry is that you sound like a complete twat as well.

You're like, I travel around.

Yeah.

Well, I was in Paris having a mock chicken clay pot.

Everyone at home's listening going, twat, just have some chicken.

I tell you what, if you're listening to a food podcast, you're getting angry about someone for traveling around eating food, then

you're the twin fan of you, man.

Side dish.

This is a hard one, isn't it?

This is a tricky.

What would you consider like a side?

Like, what's your...

Well, I'll throw some things out there, Sam.

We'll make the call.

What about like a little bow bun?

Is that a sign or is that a man?

I'd know that side.

I'd take that as a side.

So that is a side dungeon.

If someone brought me a bow and said, there's your main, I'd throw it back in their face.

Yeah, yeah.

I'd accept that as a starter or a side dish.

Because if you were going out for dinner and you ordered and you went to a restaurant that did bow buns, you would order at least two or three for like some dumplings for you'd have a few, wouldn't you?

Yeah, so if you were getting like a little side one,

and there's a place in Brighton, actually,

which is a pub called The Pond.

And they work with Baby Bow.

I think that there's one in London as well.

And they have one, which is a mushroom ball goggie, which is just insane.

Right, I'm having that incredible.

It is absolutely incredible.

They do meat and they do vegan food as well.

And on Mondays, they do like a meat-free

meat-free Monday.

And they check.

It's absolutely incredible.

I can't hear meet-free Monitor not laugh.

Yeah,

because of the McCartney Monitor.

Yeah, it's so funny.

I mean, I'm a massive, massive Beatles fan.

But that video of him singing and doing that, it's like

John Lennon is rolling in his grave.

He's just going, Paul, just stop.

Just stop.

But A Meet Free Monday is an amazing thing, but that video is the opposite of Amazing Foot.

Now that's made me think of when Ringo Starr said to not send him any more.

Yeah, again.

Now, George Harris is rolling his grave.

Peace and love.

Do not send me any more fan mail.

The funny thing is about that is like, obviously, they were so cool when they were younger, but they are human beings.

And when you get to a certain age, you should not be allowed to drive.

You should not be allowed new technology.

You should not be allowed on tour.

Yeah.

Or have access to an Instagram account.

Yeah, social media is a no-no.

But yeah, that place is incredible.

I love it.

I only really started eating it probably like two years ago.

Like bow buns.

I'd never, I'd always looked at them and been like, I wonder what the hell that tastes like.

So I've always been like, oh, I'll just get something else.

But yeah, that is incredible.

It is deceptive, isn't it?

The actual one itself, when you look at it, it just looks like foam.

Yeah.

It does, yeah.

It looks like

they're animating a meal and they've forgotten to colour that there.

Yeah, it's like,

what's the nutrients like in that?

It's just

a little marshmallow colour.

Five calories.

Yeah.

But then, yeah, I mean, I actually don't like it when they're too bready, about our ones.

You want it soft, don't you?

You don't want to be picking up like a

like a baguette size thing when you're having like loads of little mini ones.

They look very satisfying, though.

Yeah.

Yeah, they look satisfied.

So it's mushroom bulgogi.

Yeah.

So like in the Marines sort of flavour.

It's amazing, yeah.

Oh man.

And they do some amazing seitan ones in there as well and the tofu.

Yeah, they smash it.

And every week they do like a different one.

So you I had a katsu seitan one in there recently.

Oh man, that was delicious.

But again, there's something about the small plates that it comes with as well because you like have one, and you're like, fuck yeah.

You're like, I'm an animal.

You're just like going through it, like conquering this meal.

Yeah.

But yeah, it's an amazing place.

It's a really cool pub, actually, as well.

And

they always have like good local beers on as well.

Great.

Whereabouts is it?

It's just down from the station.

So you come down from the station.

Come down from the station, it's first left.

I'm excited about this, but it's really great.

It's all the only problem is it doesn't take reservations.

It's always like you go in there and you're like, right, we'll meet at seven, we'll go in there.

You walk in, you're like,

right, let's go somewhere else.

But yeah, it's an amazing place.

Ah, the drink.

Is drinks easier for vegans?

Yeah, drinks are fine.

There's only a few beers that you have to avoid.

Yeah.

Wine?

Wine's a bit of a drink.

Yeah, wine's a bit lucky, right?

You love a bit of egg in wine.

wine.

Who doesn't know?

Who doesn't love a lovely old egg in a wine?

I'm not a massive wine fan.

I like a white every now and then.

Sure.

But yeah, I'm not really big in the wine.

A couple of the boys are really big into wine.

What's the one that they always have?

It's like the Running Duck, I think.

Running Duck red wine.

It's like an organic red wine.

I think it's that.

And that seems to be, I mean, by all accounts, they seem to get quite drunk off it.

So I think that looks quite nice.

Does the trick.

I've sort of tied because I i love margaritas i love margaritas so much but then i also love beer yeah so it's it's a it's a tricky one but i think it i i kind of went with the what would i have at any point of the day yeah

and i i think i'm gonna go for a medelo oh day life oh wow yeah madelo

with a lime in the top of it i like to call them medelo we have a thing we call modellos coronas and all those like light spanishy mexican type beers yeah we call them toe dippers right Where like at the start of the night, you know, you wake up or like wherever you're going to go, you're like, oh, I don't know if I want to get two shit pay suits.

So you dip your toe in.

You dip your toe into a pool and you're like, ooh, the water's nice.

And then you're into your heavier drinks.

It's toe dippers, but at any point has any of you had one of those and gone, you know what, I'm not up for this.

Yeah.

God, it's actually tick off.

You dip your toes in, it stops the flies getting in it.

Yeah.

But

we'd done a tour ages ago.

We were on a tour in America.

And

it was about 10, 11 years ago.

and our bus had broken down well not our bus we were in a van and we just bought a van and it had broken down for the second time and it was like right we're going home we don't have enough money to do the rest of the tour and the bands that we were on tour with like hooked us up we were on tour with like under oath and between the buried and me and a bunch of other bands on this crazy bill but we were super young yeah and they were like we don't want you to go home we really like your band so two of us stayed on uh Under Oath's bus and the rest of the guys were on Between the Buried and Me and we were all sort of dotted around.

And I remember sitting on the bus and Tim from Under Oath giving me a Medello, and it was the first Medello I'd ever had.

Yeah, and I was like,

I'm in, I'm in forever.

And now it's like on our riders, it's our go-to.

What did you love about it that first time?

It's so fresh.

It's sort of like annoyingly fresh.

You know, every time you open it, you're like,

this is gone.

And it's small enough.

Yeah, yeah.

But it's about five sips, and you're into your next one.

Satisfying bottle shape as well.

So it never gets cold.

Yeah.

It never gets cold.

It's like a nice can.

What would you say to the people, and I'm not one of them, who would say,

Corona's just the same thing?

Same thing.

I've had enough Corona.

Yeah.

I've had too much Corona.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm overdone of Corona.

But Corona's like a...

Yeah.

Yeah,

I'm not a Corona guy.

Madello is better.

Yeah, Madello is better.

There's something about Corona that tastes a bit like sweeter.

Yeah.

Not that I know anything about alcohol and what is in it, but it tastes a bit...

I don't know, it tastes like a fake beer.

I'm not a fan of putting a lime in the top either.

I know you say you do that with the Medello.

I think it's a good one.

I like putting a lime in it.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It always goes well with you try and do that trick where you put your thumb on it, turn it upside down, so it goes, the lime goes in, and all the it all flows through it.

If that goes wrong, you look like a real twat, and that goes wrong so much.

So, you know what?

I really, I really don't like is beers with lime flavour, no, like a synthetic sort of lime.

That is

what's the one that is basically one of those ones with it's basically a corona or whatever, but it's got tequila in it.

Desperados.

Yeah, yeah.

First time I had that, I went bananas.

I went insane as well.

Yeah, yeah, I really loved it.

And then I overdid it.

I wasn't sick or anything, but I just had too many in an evening.

And I was like, oh, I'm never drinking this again.

Sort of, you can sort of, when you talk about it, you can feel the heartburn, the acid reflux coming up.

You're like, oh.

Yeah.

So I don't think I even knew there was tequila in it.

So I think the first time I bought it, I thought I was buying another kind of like Magello Corona kind kind of thing.

Yeah.

First sip, lose my mind.

Yeah.

It's the tastiest thing in the world.

Tell everyone, like, I don't know what's in this.

Like, well,

it says on the thing.

It's marketed.

It says tequila in it.

How old were you when that happened?

Oh, it was at the Edinburgh Festival.

So I was.

Oh, wow.

So, okay.

Late 20s?

Because I think I had desperados when I was like 14.

No, no.

Because I remember someone at school being like, it's got tequila, but it's got tequila in it.

It gets you mega-drunk.

No, I was.

It's sort of like the 4Loco.

Have you guys ever had 4 Loco?

No.

It was in America.

They had to take it off the shelves because it was so crazy.

It was like caffeinated.

It was like that, but caffeinated.

And I had half a can.

I think I had half a can, and then I had another half.

Me and our guitarist split two cans.

It was the most fucked I've ever been in my life.

I remember driving to the next, I remember playing the show and being like, I can't believe

half a big can has got me this wrecked.

And then I remember going to the next venue and us having to get our get the van to pull over and us both be sick after after one can after one can each

it was insane but then they took it off the shelves yeah

it was insane I think it might have taken years off my life whatever was it it was not all right no that effect it had on you but yeah it's it's funny isn't it because you I love tequila I love tequila so much and and I've recently started getting more into like actual tequila because like tequila's at you know your average pub uh and it doesn't it's not not what tequila supposedly tastes like it's the same with like vodka you know once you actually try something nice like a Don Julio or something my my friend Ben who plays drums in Royal Blood he actually started getting me into tequila because he's obsessed with it as well and it's so funny because for so long I was like oh I'm not yeah not into tequila at all and then you actually have a really nice one with a with a beer and you're like that is just a drink we were in Brooklyn recently we were in Brooklyn and we were we had it was their end of the night and there was this cool bar around where we were playing.

And we got some shots, and it was like Don Julio, so it was like nice, nice tequila.

And some of the guys that we were with had not had that before.

And I was trying to be like, this is really good tequila, you should just try it.

If you don't like tequila, you'll know after this.

And then as they brought them out, some of the guys went back in and got the limes and the salt.

And I saw someone squirt the lime into the tequila.

And I was like, oh, God.

I felt like my granddad whenever, he'd be like, can I have a whiskey?

And he'd be like, yeah, of course.

And then he would hear like the can of cocoa.

What are you doing?

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

I've had this for 100 years.

James, you don't like anyone doing things like that.

How do you feel when you're having dinner with me and we get a bottle of wine?

You always make me taste the wine.

Yes.

To be the person to go through that ritual.

Yeah.

And I do it.

What's that like?

What are you looking for there?

I don't know, Sam.

I'm looking for the waiter to pour a full glass.

Is this good?

That's what they say

in the trip, that episode of The Trip.

Yeah.

Because that's all

I love the trip so much.

All people like us have as frames of reference for the world in comedy shows we've seen.

But like, or documentaries if you're in a metal band.

But like, you know, he does the thing about you're meant to, all you're doing is testing if it's corked or not.

So if you say it's lovely to him, you look like an idiot.

Right.

And all that.

But I'm like, well, I don't know if it's corked.

I'm just going to say it's nice either way.

Ed has a posher voice than me.

Ed, you try the wine.

What I do though, I swill it in the glass.

Yes.

Sniff it.

Yeah.

take it into the mouth,

that phrase, sip it,

have a bit of it, and then

suck in some air over it

to just get some basic aerate it in the mouth,

and then swallow it and then say, yeah, fill her up.

Is there something about the way it drips down the glass?

Is that sure?

That's the legs.

So that's the alcohol content.

So the more alcoholic a wine is,

the more visible and thicker the legs are.

We'll definitely have a tweet in saying I'm wrong.

Yeah.

Yeah.

See I only know all I know about wine is what I've seen on the trip and sideways the film.

Yeah sure.

So that's it.

We come to the dessert.

What is for pudding?

It is,

we had it on tour and it was in Manchester.

And we had this same team of like catering throughout all the UK shows, which was amazing.

And it's the first time, I think it was the first or second time, because normally in Europe there's catering every day, but it's a different service every day.

And they always look after you out there.

But we just reached the level in the UK where there was catering.

We were doing two shows in Manchester, and it was the same lady that was doing everything.

And I had this, I'm not a massive dessert guy.

I used to love it.

My go-to was profita rolls when

I was eating...

When I was the dairy.

When you were the dairy.

When I was the dairy dairy.

When I was the Loki Bar kid.

But I had this Oreo,

I had this Oreo cheesecake that I don't know what or how she made it,

but it completely fucked me up.

I went straight back in for a second.

And then the next day it was like, do you think you will be making that again this evening?

But

everyone loved it.

And we were all like getting ones for after the show.

And yeah, it was incredible.

It's quite normally

catering on tour is up to like a pretty reasonable standard.

It's pretty hard to make

incredibly delicious food for 60, 70 people on a tour of support bands or whatever.

It's normally just like pasta being warmed up.

But you could tell that this lady had worked super hard and she absolutely smashed it.

Was the biscuit base of the cheesecake Oreo like black?

Yeah.

Yeah, like Oreo.

So she'd really gone to town and then the middle was just like amazing, like hazelnut.

It was just

incredible.

Oh man, that's

so good.

Absolutely nailed it.

Did you have it with anything or just as it is?

I had a little bit of soy cream with it.

Like the soya, I can't remember what it's called, but

the brand Outpro.

I had a little bit of Outpro cream with it and whoa.

Woof.

That was absolutely incredible.

It was absolutely incredible.

Yeah.

And we just...

I love an Oreo.

Pigs.

We just picked up.

Oh, but the problem is I can't buy a pack of Oreos because that's done.

They're gone.

They're gone.

Yeah.

So it was a nice little treat because you're like, oh, Oreo cheesecake.

Like, yeah, first off, you're like, well done.

Vegans and Oreos, classic.

You've thought outside the box, have you?

Like, you know, up on on your high horse.

I'm like, guess I'll give this a go.

And then the first mouthful, you're like, gee, I want to marry you.

So, here's your meal.

Red batches, Sam.

I'm excited.

Tell me if you like this, Sam Carter.

Imagine if I was like, I changed my mind.

Yeah.

Sparkling water.

Absolutely.

Bread, you would like your dad's garlic for ketchup bread.

Starter, the impossible cigar from Crossroads in LA.

Main, caramelized mock chicken, clay pot from Tian Hang.

Tian Hang in Paris.

Woof.

Side, mushroom bough from the pond in Brighton.

Woof.

Drink.

A Madello with a lime.

Dessert, the Oyo cheesecake from the lady to the catering in Manchester.

God bless that lady.

Sound good?

Feel good about that.

Sounds incredible.

I'm chuffed with it.

Yeah, yeah.

Do you know what?

One thing I will say before I go to help out vegans is there's an app called Happy Cow, which I use and loads of people use.

This is not sponsored.

They're paid for the app.

Yes.

It's three pounds.

I know what you're thinking.

I'm rolling in it.

But it just, you put, you turn it on wherever you are, like the app, and it tells you all the vegan and vegetarian places around you.

It's got like reviews and like tells you the best ones, and that literally saves us wherever we go.

Happy cow.

Yeah.

Ed was a vegan for a while, weren't you?

Ed?

I was for a bit.

I hate being called out for this in front of actual vegans.

I love doing it.

Vegans get a hard time, but I think the first two years of me being vegan, I was unbearable.

I now know, looking back, it's like, you're never going to get through to people being a prat.

Thank you very much, Sam.

No worries.

Thanks so much for having me.

There it is.

The menu of Sam Carter.

A lovely meatless meal.

Lovely meatless meal.

Thank you very much for coming in, Sam.

If you like the sound, hey, if you're not really a metal person normally, I can highly recommend getting yourself the new Architects album.

I think you'll love it.

I saw Benito listening to it the other day.

Benito doesn't like metal and he listened to it and he liked it.

He doesn't like metal.

He likes roller coasters and magic.

Yeah, Yeah, but he liked holy hell.

He liked holy hell.

So check out Holy Hell by Architects.

Check out Sam's Instagram, which is Sam Architects.

Go on the official architects website, architectsofficial.com.

What a relief because I like Sam a lot.

Thank the Lord he did not mention Sultana in Coles Laws with no apple.

Yeah, that was it was very pretty tense, but

he didn't say it.

And so

he got to say his full menu,

which is good because, you know, the Great Benito is his his favorite menu.

We've had so far.

Great Benito is a vegetarian.

Yeah.

That's his favorite one.

So I was glad that Great Bonito got to have a fun episode where he heard the whole menu and he liked it as well.

Thank you very much for coming in, Sam.

It is goodbye from us.

Make sure you subscribe and review the podcast.

Sam's just waiting outside, in fact, and we're all going for margaritas.

I want a margarita so bad.

Yumma yumma.

Hello, I'm Carrie Add.

I'm Sarah.

And we are the Weirdos Book Club Podcast.

We are doing a very special live show as part of the London Podcast Festival.

The date is Thursday, 11th of September.

The time is 7pm.

And our special guest is the brilliant Alan Davies.

Tickets from kingsplace.co.uk.

Single ladies is coming to London.

True on Saturday, the 13th of September.

At the London Podcast Festival.

The rumours are true.

Saturday, the 13th of September.

At King's Place.

Oh, that sounds like a date to me, Harriet.