People are looking for something to find hope in because so much of music and movies and

television, spits in their face, insults them for having very simple, fundamental values.

In this episode, I sit down with Matt Ezreali and Brad Skislamis, who is also known as Five Times

August. Ezreali co-founded the post-millennial and is now CEO of Based Records, a new music label

for artists who refuse to conform to political and cultural orthodoxies. Based just released,

Five Times August, new single. Ain't no rock-and-roll was sort of like my response to all of my

musical heroes that didn't show up over the last three years with COVID and worldwide tyranny.

There was never like a better time to speak up against the man and very few of my heroes

showed up to the fight. This is American Thought Leaders and I'm Yanyi Kellek.

Brad Skislamis, Matt Ezreali, such a pleasure to have you both on American Thought Leaders.

Thanks for having us. It's great to be here. So, of course, you are better known as Five Times August

and Five Times August is now signed with Based Records, of course, which is incredible and

you've got a really wonderful, thoughtful music video out. And why don't I just actually start

with a quick clip of that. Ain't no rock-and-roll.

Where did this come from? Ain't no rock-and-roll was sort of like my response to all of my musical

heroes that didn't show up over the last three years. I feel like with COVID and just worldwide

tyranny, there was never like a better time to speak up against the man and very few of my heroes

showed up to the fight. So, this was my sort of musical response to those guys.

It is actually remarkably shocking that few people that kind of made their names,

right, and essentially speaking truth to power or supposedly speaking truth to power,

just suddenly we're absent here. It is amazing because you think about

the counter-cultural movement of the 60s and the energy that was behind it, and it seems like

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