I hung out with the UK post punk band Cymbals one hot summer night in 2014. Sweat dripped down our foreheads and we drank ice cold beverages to keep cool backstage while the opening act completed soundcheck. It was the last show of a North American tour. The band was equal parts excited and exhausted.

As the band would later reveal "2014 was a really intense year. One-by-one the other guys in the band couldn’t face it anymore, so we widened the family, met new people and worked with them, until they had to move on and then we worked with others. It was hard on a personal level, but as a band, it also felt like a kind of chrysalis." Cymbals would continue as Jack Cleverly and Dan Simons after some soul-searching.

What was the highlight and challenge of the tour? Why did vocalist/guitarist Jack name their record, Age of Fracture, after the history book by Daniel T. Rodgers? How does the band like being described as having "rough edges"? How did the band write the record with full time jobs? What does it mean when the band says they need to become more ruthless as songwriters? Does the band have two to three versions of each song laying around? You'll have to listen to find out.

Tracks played on the podcast edition of the show...

1) Cymbals, Age of Fracture (2014) "The Natural World"

2) Cymbals, Age of Fracture (2014) "Erosion"

3) Cymbals, Age of Fracture (2014) "You Are"

4) Cymbals, Age of Fracture (2014) "Like An Animal" (partial/background)

5) Cymbals, Age of Fracture (2014) "The End"

NO songs CANCON