I sat down with Jordan Brown and Matt Wilson of Set Your Goals while at When We Were Young Festival. The California natives made their highly anticipated homecoming this past February, playing their first gig in 6 years. We spoke about their return to live performances, whats next for Set Your Goals, and how good “One Battle After Another” is.

Logan Melia: How are you guys doing today? 

Jordan Brown: It’s hot. 

Matt Wilson: Yeah, exhausted.

Logan: Are you not desert folk? 

Matt: No. We’re actually from California.

Jordan: The 8:30 sun here is blistering. So different from California sun, I think. 

Logan: This is my first time here, does it really get that cold at night? 

Matt: Yeah it’s freezing. 

Jordan: Yeah, it’s freezing here. But Nevada’s awesome. 

Matt: Hoodie or jacket weather the last couple nights. 

Logan: How long have you guys been in Vegas for? 

Jordan: Since Thursday. We got in in the morning and did a rehearsal. We rehearsed at MDV rehearsal space. So, plug for MDV. 

Logan: How was that? 

Jordan:  Very good. They’ve got, like, four rooms for local artists and touring bands who want to stop in and a full back line. You know, bring your own gear or borrow from them. So we got to play there for a few hours. 

Logan: Now, I never thought I was going to be able to see you guys. This is huge. I’m 20. I grew up with guys in the background but a little too young to go to your final gigs.  

Matt: We’re also 20. Our band is 20. 

Jordan: 20 years old. Yeah. We play at 5:40 on the Allianz stage. If you don’t have other interviews, come on by. 

Logan: I will definitely be there. I’m absolutely stoked for you guys. 

Matt: Appreciate that. 

Logan: Your first gig back, Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, how was the preparation for that? How were you feeling going into the gig?  

Matt: We booked an adequate amount of time to get prepared. And we felt really good going into it. It was just so cool to play music again after five years off and see so many old friends and family. People flew in from all over the world. It was crazy. So yeah, it was a warm welcome back. 

Jordan: We didn’t really know what we would be doing exactly. Matt and I hung out in 2023. 

Matt: Yeah. Something like that. 

Jordan: Like, the end of 2023. We went into COVID lockdown like everybody else and just went our own ways, you know, doing our own thing. And then, end of that year, I asked Matt. 

Matt: Whenever “Dune Part 2” came out.  

Jordan: I asked him if he wanted to go see “Dune Part 2”. And so we watched that and then, I thought during the film, ‘Hey, this is some great music. Hans Zimmer is a genius again. I miss music. Matt, do you want to play shows?’ He said, I’ll ask the rest of the guys. And so, we just thought we’d do a couple of shows in our hometown. And then, we got offered When We Were Young and Four Chord Fest within weeks. 

Logan: Which was a crazy lineup. Four Chord Fest. I mean, anything with Jawbreaker. 

Jordan: Yeah. AFI headlining with Jawbreaker. blink-182. 

Matt: blink. Jimmy (Eat World). 

Jordan: Jimmy. 

Matt: Great lineup. 

Jordan: Yeah, Knuckle Puck. 

Matt: I like this lineup, really.  

Logan: Oh this lineup’s awesome. Don’t get me wrong. You mentioned “Dune 2”, they just released a teaser for “Dune 3”. 

Jordan: Yeah. They’ll probably keep going. 

Logan: Are you guys big movies guys? 

Jordan: Oh yeah. 

Matt: Jordan’s the biggest movie guy. 

Jordan: Me and Dan and Matt, though. Matt and I hit up movies pretty frequently. I work at a movie theater on the weekends so, it’s like a nice amenity being able to just hop in and see anything. We watched “One Battle After Another” a few days ago. 

Matt: Best movie of the year. 10 out of 10. 

Jordan: Incredible. It is the best Paul Thomas Anderson movie. It is an odyssey. It’s filmed in VistaVision. It looks and feels exciting. It’s funny and thrilling at the same time. I’ve never laughed so hard and been on the edge of my seat for like nearly three hours. Wish it had been five hours. 

Logan: The Springsteen movie is coming out. Are you guys Springsteen fans? 

Matt: Yes. 

Jordan: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. You’ve got a great cast supporting that feature. I think it’s opening later this month. Yeah. I’ll be there. I liked the Bob Dylan movie, that was good. The Queen movie was excellent. Biopics are great. Even if critics are not on them, audiences love them. If you have fun, you’re having fun. 

Logan: You guys announced Slam Dunk Festival, so this is going well. You guys are having fun if you’re still going next year. 

Matt: Yeah. The ball is rolling. 

Logan: The ball is rolling. I understand if you can’t say anything, but have you guys started jamming maybe some new tracks here and there?  

Matt: We are working on some new music. Very excited about it.

Logan: It’s been a minute, but if you can remember back then, how long did it take to get a track going for you guys? Is it a laborious thing or does it kind of fall out of the sky?  

Matt: It depends. There’s some songs where we just, I don’t know, Jordan will come up with an idea that’s really complete. And other ones, it’s just a riff and we build around it. 

Jordan: Mikey and Dan are contributing a lot as well. Mikey, our drummer, plays a lot of guitar. We’ve just been working on one of his songs. We’ve also been working on a song that we first originated in 2019, pre-COVID lockdown. Mikey and I had a batch of, I’d say, 10 to 12 songs pretty ready to go. And then 2020, everything shut down. We went a little hard that first year because we had nothing else to do. But yeah, Matt, I remember you hit me up in 2023 and were like, ‘Hey, I heard some of the songs you and Mikey were working on a few years ago. How do we get this ball rolling?’, and I just had no idea at that time. It’s nice to not have a deadline. Just spend our time with tracking it and getting it to where we’d like to be. 

Logan: When you guys are in the studio, do you ever say, ‘let’s get a banjo in the mix. Let’s do something off the wall.’ Is there any wild ideas that you guys either want to do or have done? 

Jordan: Yeah.  

Matt: I’m trying to think of a good one. We used a shaker in one song, little egg shakers. 

Jordan: We do like percussion. Any sort of texture you can add to the underground of a song. 

Matt: Yeah, we’ve been talking about some very subtle synth, stuff like that. 

Jordan: Yeah, I saw John Williams play two summers ago at the Hollywood Bowl, and it was phenomenal. It was like a bucket list thing. But there’s something about cinematic film scores, the cues and the way they lift the scene. So we’ve been playing around with effects, even a basic tremolo effect on some of our guitars. Things that are pleasant to hear in the headphones, but we might also be able to play live if the audience reacts to it once we release them. There’s a great studio in Oakland, California called Shark Fight Studios. It’s like $350 a day, which is very, very affordable compared to LA prices. We hit a day there for drum tracking, and we’ve just been enjoying tracking guitars, bass, vocals with a buddy of ours. He has a recording studio in his ADU in his backyard. So it’s got a very… what is it, the vibe is good? The home vibe is good? 

Matt: The vibe is chill. 

Jordan: The vibe is chill. 

Logan: You mentioned Oakland. Your first gig back in 2016, if I’m correct, was 924 Gilman Street. For any kid who listens to Jawbreaker, that’s the coolest venue in the world.  

Matt: Thank you. I agree. We’re fortunate to have grown up going to shows there. That was incredible, that was a great gig. 

Jordan: Yeah, no barriers. 

Matt: Uncomfortably packed, but that’s the best way to do it. That’s how you do it. 

Jordan: Gilman. Another venue on the rise in Berkeley is Cornerstone. I don’t know if the UC Theater is still doing shows. Berkeley is an incredible city. It would be great to play Gilman again. 

Logan: Do you guys have any dream venues?  

Matt: I would love to play Red Rocks one day. That would be incredible. I guess we played The Gorge on Warped Tour.  

Jordan: Yeah.

Matt: Red Rocks would be unreal. 

Jordan: Outdoor amphitheaters like the Greek Theater, another Berkeley venue. The Greek Theater would be a very neat place to open for anybody if we could get that opportunity. 

Matt: That would be really cool. A hometown venue on the bucket list. 

Logan: Do you guys have any favorite gigs you’ve been to? 

Jordan: So many. You just saw two Oasis shows. 

Matt: Oasis was great. One of the most recent ones was this last Nine Inch Nails tour. The production is incredible. They have a live camera and a see-through screen around the stage that they project onto. It was just so cool. 

Jordan: Going back to John Williams, two nights at the Hollywood Bowl. He played everything from the Jurassic Park theme to Princess Leia’s theme, Yoda’s theme, Asteroid Field. He had some deep cuts. Then he had the Indiana Jones theme. A new pick from the most recent Indiana Jones movie. They had the whole Cal State University Fullerton Choir on stage for A Duel of the Fates. That was an unbelievable experience. That’s probably my most memorable in the last couple of years. 

Matt: Also, last time I was here for Sick New World last year, which this same company does, I saw Danny Elfman and that was unreal. They had like 30 people on stage, it was crazy. A whole orchestra. It was nuts.  

Logan: Do you guys have any dream gigs that you want to play that you’re like, you know what, I want to do something with these artists. I want to do it with a live orchestra. 

Matt: So many. I wouldn’t even know where to start. 

Jordan: I’d really love to play with All Time Low again. It would be great to reconnect with them. They’ve been one of the first bands outside of the hardcore scene that really appreciated us and would take us out. We did our first tour of Australia together. They dropped a new album today. I’ve been listening to it all morning. 

Matt: I just got my haircut in the barbershop tent next to Zach. He was getting his haircut at the same time. 

Jordan: Just talking about Danny Elfman, a couple of the tracks on their new album sound a bit like Oingo Boingo to me. I can hear that 80s horn influence. No horns on the song, but you can just feel the deep roots. Turmoil would be great. We were talking about playing with some friends of ours. Turmoil, Terror, maybe trying to do some throwback type tours that we did in the early years. 

Logan: Anything else you want to talk about as I let you go here? 

Jordan: I just want to thank everyone who’s come out and supported the shows. We booked those February shows and didn’t know. We didn’t have any plans and these offers came. We played Area 15 yesterday, and people were so supportive of us opening that show. 

Matt: We just really appreciate the love after 20 years of doing this. So it’s really cool.

Logan: Thank you so much for taking the time. I’m looking forward to your set tonight!

Set Your Goals played an electric set at the Allianz Stage that was an absolute joy to watch. With enough energy to power the whole festival, Jordan and Matt picked up right where they left off. They have wrapped up their shows for 2025 but recently announced that they will be playing Slam Dunk Festival in May of 2026. You can find tickets here. I’m eagerly awaiting what Jordan and Matt have in store for the future of Set Your Goals. Tune in Monday nights 9-11pm for Downey’s Hour for your latest festival news and more coverage of When We Were Young Festival!

Cover photo by Sophia Juliette, courtesy of When We Were Young Festival.

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Allianz Stage

One of the first bands of the day is recent Iowa City visitors Arm’s Length. These Canadian DIY stars have been making waves since their debut record ”Never Before Seen, Never Again Found” in 2022. They’ve toured with the likes of Silverstein, The Wonder Years and will be opening up for Hot Mulligan later this fall. They released their second record “There’s A Whole World Out There” in May and will continue their busy stretch in the Europe next year.  They play bright and early at 11:50.

California punks DRAIN will make an appearance at 1:35 as a stop on their tour supporting fellow WWWY players Khublai Khan TX. On November 7^th, they’ll be dropping their latest LP “… IS YOUR FRIEND” through Epitaph Records. Their loud and brash sound lead to memorable pits and plenty of crowd surfing. Make sure to stretch before this set.

Right next door to where I grew up, The Plain White T’s have been making music for 28 years. Starting in the Chicago suburb of Lombard, Illinois, Tom Higgins started writing tunes and would later churn out hits like “Rhythm of Love” and “Hey There Delilah”. Their latest record, bearing the same name as their band, mixed their punk upbringings with the acoustic guitars that brought them fame. You can listen to their 2023 record “Plain White T’s” here and catch them at 2:45.

PVRIS has become a mainstay in the alternative music world after their hit debut album “White Noise”. Lynn Gunn has dug her heels in opening up for the likes of Fall Out Boy, The Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park and many more. After 2023’s “EVERGREEN” hit shelves, Gunn has continued to release music with “F.I.L.T.H.” released in 2024. Her most recent release was a rerecord of “My House” with Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox this past February. PVRIS plays at 3:20.

Later on in the evening, Loathe will be taking the stage at 7:25 as their first dates of a hefty 28 date U.S. headline tour with Trauma Ray and Spy. The English metal band have been climbing up the ladder quickly getting opening slots for fellow When We Were Young players Knocked Loose in 2024. Loathe just release their latest single, “Gifted Every Strength” in May of this year.  

A personal favorite of mine, Jack’s Mannequin, plays the Allianz Stage at 8:00. One of Andrew McMahon’s projects, Jack’s Mannequin stands out amongst the rest with it’s piano led compositions. McMahon, of Something Corporate and Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness fame, has been busy reuniting with his groups touring with Something Corporate in 2024 for the first time in 14 years. Jacks Mannequin also made its long awaited return with their first gig in Las Vegas since 2011. You can see a full list of their tour dates here. 

If you’re searching for mosh pits this weekend, look no further than the final acts on the Allianz Stage. Kublai Khan TX has engulfed the metalcore scene since their debut in 2009, and have not slowed down. Dropping 5 full length LP’s and a collection of EP’s throughout the past 16 years, the Texas stars released their most recent single, “The Moment of Corsicana” in September. Kublai Khan TX plays at 9:45. The final act of the night is an absolute treat as well. Members of Gulch, Hands of God, Spinebreaker, Lead Dream, and fellow When We Were Young players DRAIN all joined forces in 2019 to create the hardcore outfit SUNAMI. Hailing from San Jose, SUNAMI has been touring what feels non stop for the past 4 years hitting North America, Europe, Asia and Australia throughout the years. They released their first full length LP, “SUNAMI LP”, in 2023 and will headline the Allianz Stage at 10:20.

Ghost Stage

The Ghost Stage will be hosting 18 bands throughout the day, including pop punk favorites The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and We the Kings. Playing at 12:10 and 2:30 respectively, these Warped Tour alum are known for their high energy performances and pumping out the same energy they have been dishing out for almost 2 decades.  

At 3:05, The Cab make their long awaited return after an 11 year hiatus and 14 years since their most recent Las Vegas gig. Their first music since the break, “Road to Reign: A Prelude” was released on September 26^th this year. They have been making the rounds since their return, embarking on a tour with fellow WWWY players Mayday Parade and All Time Low. WWWY alum The Paradox are also on the tour, and they will be playing a show with Hawthorne Heights, Plain White T’s, and more at The Strat in Las Vegas on Oct 17^th.  

The Maine are a southwest emo band that doesn’t have to travel far to Vegas from their home of Tempe, Arizona. They are working on their 10^th record now after dropping one unreleased song from each previous album entitled “Dyed (2008-2023)”. Following The Maine who play at 4:15 is The Gaslight Anthem, who just wrapped up a lengthy summer tour with Counting Crows. Since returning from their hiatus in 2022, The Gaslight Anthem have released the album “History Books” with frontman Brain Fallon sharing vocal duties with Bruce Springsteen on the title track. The Gaslight Anthem plays at 4:50.

Keeping up their busy year, Bad Religion will hit the Ghost Stage at 5:25. When We Were Young are the bands final dates of the year before sharing the stage with The Offspring this winter throughout the northern U.S. and Canada. Year 45 of the band has shown no signs of slowly down with their performances still holding youthful punk energy they have always had.  

Taking Back Sunday makes their third appearance at When We Were Young at 6:45 on the Ghost Stage. Following a sideshow with letlive. and Straylight Run on Friday night, Adam Lazzara will lead the band in one of their first gigs since their summer tour with Coheed and Cambria and Foxing. Taking Back Sunday’s 2023 record “152” was the bands first in 7 years, marking their territory as active scene legends who have rightfully earned back to back appearances at this festival. 

Pink Stage

Entering year 10 of Destroy Boys, Alexia Roditis and Violet Mayugba have delivered time and time again. After 2024’s “Funeral Soundtrack #4” that received a 4/5 from Kerrang!, they have only continued their live presence touring with likes of Pierce the Veil and blink-182. The final North American dates of the year, Destroy Boys are a great way to start your day at 12:20 

Continuing their year of festivals, Knocked Loose will play the Pink Stage at 4:05. The Louisville natives will travel to Las Vegas before they embark on an Australian tour in December. Knocked Loose’s 2024 “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To” accelerated their path to stardom, earning them a Grammy nomination for the single “Suffocate” featuring Poppy. Knocked Loose will appear in front of European’s eyes as they open for Metallica next summer, and they will be in front of your eyes on the Pink Stage at 4:05.

The Used are in the midst of a landmark year for the band. In celebration of 25 years as a band, Bert McCracken and company have taken up residencies for three nights at venues throughout this year. Each night, playing either “Self Titled”, “In Love and Death”, or “Lies for the Liars” in full along with a rotating selection of hits from their other records. A feat that very few bands have the catalogue to pursue this, and the fans fill up the same venue three nights in a row. The western natives’ third appearance and second consecutive showing at When We Were Young at 5:25. 

Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker come back to When We Were Young to headline for the second time. With their previous appearance coming off the heels of the most recent record “ONE MORE TIME…”, the trio that makes up blink-182 has been playing a wide pool of songs off their 10 albums in 2025. This includes a half dozen tunes from my personal favorite record “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket”. These are the final dates of the year and of their “Missionary Impossible” tour for blink. They took out a wide variety of bands on their tour including Scowl, End It, and Drug Church. Showcasing these up and coming bands to their wide audience is an amazing thing to see. blink-182 will headline the Pink Stage at 8:25 

7-Eleven Stage

Mayday Parade carries on with their busy year at 12:55. A band like Mayday Parade this early in the day is a sure-fire way to get people in the door fast. After wrapping up a tour with fellow When We Were Young players Jack’s Mannequin, and in the midst of their current slot supporting All Time Low along with The Cab, Mayday Parade put out 2 records this year “Sweet” and “Sad”. Continuing their streak of exceptional releases Derek Sanders, Alex Garcia, Brooks Betts, Jeremy Lenzo, and Jake Bundrick push like very few do after 2 decades.  

If you are in search of dozens of people in Scooby-Doo onesies, you should make your way to the 7-Eleven stage at 3:25. Boasting a catalog of favorites that you’ve heard for years, Simple Plan make their third consecutive appearance at When We Were Young. Even with “no pads and helmets”, the pit for the Montreal Natives is a great spot to find yourself in the afternoon.  

Coming through Des Moines on October 29^th, All Time Low will continue their “Everyone’s Talking!” tour at When We Were Young. Jumping headfirst into the scene in 2007 with “Dear Maria, Count Me In” off “So Wrong, It’s Right”, there is no denying their star power at the festival and in the pop punk world. Dropping a brand new album, sharing the same name of their tour, the day before the festival leaves me with hope to hear some brand new tracks from the Maryland favorites at 4:45.  

269 miles southwest of Las Vegas, The Offspring began in 1984. Coming out of Garden Grove, California, Dexter Holland and Kevin John Wasserman, better known as Noodles, started jamming playing under the name Manic Subsidal. After 2 years and a name change, there was no stopping them. Releasing 11 studio records, including their latest in 2024 with “Supercharged”, The Offspring continue to put out great music and memorable live shows. On their most recent tour, Noodles and company paid tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne with snippets of “Electric Funeral”, “Paranoid”, and “Crazy Train”. The Offspring will take the stage at 6:05 

Weezer. I can’t get enough of Weezer. Creating quality tunes since 1994, Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Matt Sharp have all combined to be one of the most successful bands of the past 30 years. After wrapping up their final show of the “Voyage to the Blue Planet” tour in September, Weezer will play their last North American dates of the year. After sending out multiple videos teasing album 20 in the past month, the California based band will jump through their collection of hits at 7:35. They are always a cant miss set. 

The long-awaited return of Panic! At the Disco is upon us. Nearly 3 years after their last US gig, Brendan Urie will return to the stage in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada playing “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” in full. Promising a set containing of the seminal debut album and more, there is nowhere else anyone in the scene would rather be. Holding enough time for the record and some hits afterwords, the anticipation is high for the first glimpse of Panic! in years. Returning to the record that made so many people fall in love with not only the band, but the scene, will be a joy to witness. Panic! At the Disco will close out When We Were Young at 10:00. 

When We Were Young 2025 is here. One day filled with all of my favorite bands, what more could a guy ask for. Tickets for Sunday are still available here. Stay tuned with KRUI for interviews from the festival and a recap of this incredible festival. Listen to Downey’s Hour on KRUI 89.7fm, Monday nights 9-11, for your latest music festival news!

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Most people I meet don’t know much about Reno, Nevada. Maybe that it’s the other place in Nevada where you can gamble, or that it used to be the divorce capital of the United States. What most people will tell you though, is that it can be grimy, dirty, funky, and more than a little weird. As a guy who lived there for five years, I can tell you it is all those things and more, in the best of ways. And bubbling up from that formula comes a suprisingly impressive and diverse music scene.

Representing all of the funk, soul, and stank of Reno is the self proclaimed garage rock and soul band Failure Machine. The band is helmed by Spencer Kilpatrick on guitar and vocals, Clint Philbin on drums, Zac Curtis on trumpet, Harry Mahony on saxophone, and Robbie Lynn on bass. After releasing two EPs and spending the last few years touring the great American West, the young band, known as Failure Machine, has finally settled down and released a premiere album: “Boy.”

Boy only has six tracks, but it does not take long for the energy level to get pumped up well past eleven. “Beautiful Scene” opens with a somber guitar lick and solo vocals from Kilpatrick, but gets going once the drums really kick in and the winds start playing. As an opening track, it sells me instantly. It’s quick and boasts good, catchy riffs while simultaneously bringing out the dirtiness that you would expect from any garage band. “Beautiful Scene” begins the showcase that is Kilpatrick’s voice, and lets the rest of the band back him up in an effective way.

The pace gets picked up with “Lonely”, another appropriate title you would expect from any band branding themselves as a soul group. Focused on a driving rock beat and a bass that keeps the tempo up, the track yet again shows off Kilpatrick’s singing while giving the horns a little more to do. “Lonely” also makes sure to have its fun and get out of the way. The track doesn’t overstay its welcome and is over before any of the repeating lyrics, rhythms, or riffs become stale.

The next track, “Secrets” is very similar to “Lonely.” It’s quick, fast, fun, and the winds sound like they have just the right amount of grime in them to keep them sounding authentic. However, after these two tracks, I’m really hoping for a slow down into more soulful territory.

The last three tracks deliver on that pitch, and almost too much so. “Kiss or Kill me,” “Innocent,” and “Too Late” all take a more tuned down approach, and overall, it is to the album’s benefit. However, I wish they had placed one of the first three tracks in here to mix it up a bit.

The whole album feels almost frenetic with energy in the first half, and by comparison, the back half almost loses it. That being said, the last three tunes are each still worth a listen and hold their own in terms of musicality, technique, and enjoyability.

“Kiss or Kill Me” is a mournful love song with a surprisingly powerful bridge section featuring the saxophone and trumpet that really differentiates it from the rest of the songs on the album. The vocals and guitar remain as on point as ever, but this track belongs to Mahony and Curtis on the sax and trumpet. “Innocent” is a duet piece with an accompanying female vocalist, which propels it to a very impassioned place. It easily takes the most soulful and touching spot in the six songs, and remains memorable because of it.

The album ends with “Too Late,” a somewhat fitting title to me, as I thought the song tries to bring some of the previous energy, perhaps a little bit too late (sorry). Or that’s what I thought. The chorus-powered ending to the song, along with the rousing horn lines and howling vocals provide a very different kind of intensity–a positive one. “Too Late” helps to cement Failure Machine as a definite soul band, while letting them stretch their musical legs into some more uplifting territory.

Not bad, not bad at all. Failure Machine is able to capture sounds of rock, soul, and even a little R & B while putting their own grungy Reno sound into it. The album is short at only six tracks, but I will be keeping my eye out for any more that Failure Machine puts out.

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