Hot Mulligan can name a song whatever the fuck they want.
AMPED! TV recently interviewed Midwest emo band Hot Mulligan at the 2025 Slam Dunk Festival. During the interview, lead singer Tades Sanville discussed the names the band gives to their songs. While the songs cover heavy topics such as trauma stemming from religious childhoods and mental health, Sanville says that they're not trying to think too deeply about their song titles; the lyrics are what they are, and the songs are about what they're about.
"It's born of indifference. It is goofy and it's funny, but, ultimately, we can call a song wherever the fuck we want. It's about what it's about. We'll call it good at that. There's no reason to be so deep about it for us, because we're just like, we're a bunch of dumb Midwestern kids," he said. "Humor is fine. It's more so, like, it just doesn't fucking matter, name your song whatever you want, because it's funny.
"'John 'The Rock' Cena, Can You Smell What the Undertaker,' was the reference thing that we tried to do and instead of just looking for one name, it was, 'What if we reach as many names in One title as we can to see if any of them pay attention to us, and none of them did. So that sucked," he continued. "The titling is a random shithouse play, and we see if it works later on, or if maybe we get in trouble for a name that we have to change. That kind of thing."
As for what the song is about, there are no actual references to any of the WWE legends referenced in the title. Instead, it's about how Tades Sanville's religious upbringing left him with a complicated relationship with his body.
"Christianity sure fucks up a lot of kids, eh? I remember being like 12 at a water park and feeling ashamed of my body in a swimsuit because I thought being that exposed was sinful. I lost my faith when I was almost 16 but the damage was done. Here I am now with body dysmorphia and some kind of complex about being evil. “John ‘The Rock’ Cena” breaks down what that church did to me and how I tried to be a good Christian boy," he told the Brooklyn Vegan in 2023.
Fans can check out the song embedded below and the full interview embedded in the video above.
Check out Hot Mulligan on social media.
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