ARMORED SAINT's Joey Vera on 'Punching The Sky' 2020

Bassist and songwriter Joey Vera was kind enough to share a few minutes with us. We chatted about coping with the pandemic, memories of when he has punched the sky, and their upcoming show on October 10th at the Whisky A Go-Go. The pandemic which hit the world hard at the start of 2020 still rages on. I asked Joey what has been the biggest challenge in dealing with the pandemic and how he is coping with it. Joey responded “Staying sane probably (laughs). Yeah, you know it’s just kinda been this process of like you know evolving with the world; what’s happening with the world. We’ve gone through so many different states of mind along the way. It’s actually still changing.” Given that music is a lifeline for many of us in these troubling times, we turned the conversation to the new Armored Saint album called Punching The Sky. The title reminds me of being at a show and sending my fist into the air when I hear one of my favorite Armored Saint tunes or making eye contact with the band. I was wondering what is one of Joey’s best memories of when he felt like he was punching the sky? “You know, we’re having a moment right now” Joey answered. “We wrote this record before any of this stuff, before COVID. The songs were already written by the time this thing came into our lives…In a sense, punching the sky or raising your fist into the sky is a way like saying of victory or success.” Joey continued “The fact that we have this record that’s coming out now and a lot of the things on it, they feel current. They feel like they are in the perfect place at the perfect time. Poignant if you will. We didn’t really plan that. It’s just the state that we’re in and where we are now. We’re stoke that this record’s coming out when it’s coming out (laughs), as weird as a time it is. I think that people are really starved for music. No one can go to shows anymore; at least temporarily. And people, more than ever people really need and want music. And maybe that was something we all took for granted before this…maybe this is reminding us all that we can’t take it for granted.” Having had a chance to listen to the new album all the way through, I told Joey that I felt it had that trademark Armored Saint sound, yet still has elements of experimentation and exploration. I wanted to know what would be a key takeaway that Joey would hope fans will grasp when they listen to Punching The Sky? Joey answered “We’ve always been a band that had a little bit of diversity along the way. Like with each record there’s always something on it that’s a little bit different than the other songs; either It’s maybe a bluesy rock song or a hard rock song, or a ballad, or maybe some interesting ethnic instruments. Things like that. And this one is really no exception in that way and I hope that fans come along and they will appreciate those efforts again.” As with most Armored Saint songs, the tunes on the new album are infectious. One aspect that stands out to identify Armored S