When Dean Lamb auditioned for Archspire, he didn’t feel that he was good enough to play with the band -- it took him weeks of pure practice to get up to match Archspire’s incredible speed that pushes the boundaries of how fast humans can play music. And now Dean is not only an integral part of Archspire’s success, but he’s got a YouTube channel that’s its own standalone enterprise.

He knows how to “Stay Tech,” but what he doesn’t know is how to fix a touring van that doesn’t beep incessantly every 5 minutes.

Being an artist is one thing, but a band is a *group* of artists -- and everyone’s weird. Kevin talks to Dean about being in the middle of serious talent with a drummer and lyricist that work their own wizardry. And oddly enough, being a virtuoso may not extend to all genres.

What makes Archspire (and Dean) so unique is a blend of death metal and classical principles, which can be heard throughout their albums, all of which are concept albums. They have to be, as each album is a child of acid dreams that are enmeshed in a 3-4 year cycle of playing, recording, and refining.

The whole thing is one big metaphor for life as an artist, though. Dean talks about how important it is to scrap things rather than hold on forever, developing a connection to the art, and the sacrifices it takes to actually get a project done -- like going into near-seclusion to focus on completing an album.

Patrons jump in to ask about his favorite guitar solo, playing other instruments, recommendations on improving guitar playing, the first song he ever learned, and the future of music in a DMCA era.