# Alien Ant Farm’s Dryden Mitchell on 25 Years of ANThology and the Journey to “Reasons”

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-weekly-mixtape-music-discovery-nostalgia-5972905/alien-ant-farm-s-dryden-mitchell-on-25-years-of-anthology-and-the-journey-to-reasons
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-weekly-mixtape-music-discovery-nostalgia-5972905/alien-ant-farm-s-dryden-mitchell-on-25-years-of-anthology-and-the-journey-to-reasons.md
Podcast: [My Weekly Mixtape: Music Discovery & Nostalgia](https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-weekly-mixtape-music-discovery-nostalgia-5972905)
Published: 2026-03-29T21:25:48+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/my-weekly-mixtape/2637453
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/content.rss.com/episodes/360630/2637453/my-weekly-mixtape/2026_03_27_13_53_45_9d1ac2b2-14c1-4857-bdf0-c49169f85feb.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/my-weekly-mixtape-music-discovery-nostalgia-5972905/episodes/alien-ant-farm-s-dryden-mitchell-on-25-years-of-anthology-and-the-journey-to-reasons
Duration seconds: 2398

## Resource

This week, I’m joined by Dryden Mitchell of Alien Ant Farm to trace the band’s journey: from the early $100 EP and Love Songs recordings—when tracks like “S.S. Recognize” and “Wishing” were still finding their final form—to the tongue-in-cheek Greatest Hits release that arrived before the band had even broken nationally. From there, we dig into the era that launched the band worldwide: ANThology , which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026. Dryden reflects on the explosion of the band’s cover of “ Smooth Criminal” (originally by Michael Jackson ), the momentum behind songs like “Movies” & “Attitude,” and how hidden tracks like “Orange Appeal” managed to survive the jump from Cassette & CD era hidden-track Easter eggs to modern streaming . Along the way we talk about what it was like working with Dean DeLeo and Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots on TruANT , and dig into some deeper catalog moments: from the cult-favorite 3rd Draft tour CD release that became Up In the Attic , to the band’s evolving approach to album titles, long gaps between releases, and how those breaks shaped later records like Always & Forever and Mantras . And of course, we talk about what’s happening now : the upcoming ANThology anniversary vinyl release and the brand-new single “Reasons,” written by Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome —plus what fans can expect from the band’s next chapter . If you’ve been spinning Alien Ant Farm since the early-2000s radio days —or you’re just discovering the band —this one goes deep into the catalog , the stories , and the moments that shaped the band over the last 30 years ! 🎙️ LEARN MORE 🎵 Hear the Playlists / Browse the Catalog: ⁠ https://myweeklymixtape.com⁠ 💬 Join the Mixtaper Community (Patreon): ⁠ https://patreon.com/myweeklymixtape⁠ 🌐 Conn…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/my-weekly-mixtape-music-discovery-nostalgia-5972905/episodes/alien-ant-farm-s-dryden-mitchell-on-25-years-of-anthology-and-the-journey-to-reasons/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/my-weekly-mixtape-music-discovery-nostalgia-5972905/alien-ant-farm-s-dryden-mitchell-on-25-years-of-anthology-and-the-journey-to-reasons.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.