0:01 [Applause]
0:02 [Music]
0:04 [Applause]
0:13 I'm just going to like I'll just I'll
0:15 just like look behind you I'll look up
0:17 here I'll look around I'll look at the
0:19 mic I'll look at your forehead and every
0:21 once while be on the eyes eyes look at
0:23 my eyes it's this freaking out Man
0:26 glasses are we rolling yeah have you
0:28 done a podcast have done many podcasts I
0:31 don't know why people keep asking me to
0:33 do podcasts I'm like I mean I didn't to
0:36 be fair I didn't ask you you know you're
0:37 just here sleeping pre feed over there
0:39 and I don't have a choice I know we're
0:41 right I literally was sleeped is right
0:43 there on my air mattress we just got
0:44 done doing an awesome session sounded
0:47 great by the way you were too hard on
0:49 yourself I yeah I'm I am nobody and
0:51 people keep asking me to be on their
0:53 podcasts not since Steve Albini have you
0:55 had such a distinguished guest with the
0:58 with the crowns of Heaven and the The
1:00 Laurels of Earth as Rob
1:02 joins um but here I am you know here to
1:06 talk about it and uh yeah so tell the
1:09 tell the people who you are and what you
1:11 do uh my name is Rob joins I'm from
1:13 Seattle I make music
1:16 and um I'm
1:18 in three projects right now uh I have a
1:22 band called fell off a band called
1:24 Sunnyland and I'd make uh music by my by
1:27 myself under my name Rob joins and um
1:31 that's what I do and people can find
1:32 this music on the internet everywhere
1:35 that music is available all the places
1:38 title I don't know I mean I did you go
1:41 through like dis kid or city B yeah
1:42 exactly it's everywhere band camp uh
1:45 yeah sometimes I unclick Amazon music
1:48 just because I hate Amazon but then I
1:51 sto I kind of stopped doing that because
1:52 I was like I didn't want to make it like
1:53 less accessible the thing I have about
1:57 individuals who char pick which massive
2:01 doll tech company it's like what phone
2:02 do you have right what websites do you
2:05 use exactly like you Spotify is an a
2:07 billion company that I think I used to
2:09 do that I think I just have like a
2:11 personal Vendetta against Amazon you
2:13 sound like Trevor he the say he's Amazon
2:15 yet for some reason he'll use everything
2:17 else it's like there's at at that high
2:19 of a level there's no difference they I
2:21 live in Seattle they exploit I think
2:23 that's you know it's because it's stucks
2:27 visible uh we're okay
2:30 come on now we just started I want to St
2:32 you must only like grunge Nirvana and
2:34 Starbucks maybe death C CU it ends there
2:37 um the like the the the visibility of
2:41 what Amazon has done to Seattle is like
2:43 so everywhere describe it I've I've
2:46 never been to Seattle it's one of the
2:47 few big American cities I Haven been to
2:50 so let let me and the people know and
2:52 you you've been living there for how
2:53 long Seattle 10 years okay so you know
2:55 it well yeah yeah and uh it's home you
2:58 know go Haw and uh like so South Lake
3:03 Union is the Amazon campus and if you
3:06 were just headquarters
3:08 there yeah it's there's like a million
3:11 skyscrapers and like up like a 100,000
3:15 like techies with like badges on walking
3:18 around and if you like were to go there
3:21 as just like a like a a normal
3:24 civilian like I I went and just like
3:26 walked around with my partner and was
3:28 just like it's like a model City blown
3:31 up to to scale like it's bizarre it
3:36 feels like Bizarro world like this 10
3:38 years ago no when did this start
3:40 happening well it was I mean I guess it
3:42 started like yeah 10 12 years ago like
3:44 right when you moved there yeah it used
3:45 to be more of like an industrial kind of
3:47 part of town but it's like uh the whole
3:51 Skyline has changed in 10 years uh we
3:53 call it the Amazon crane Forest it's
3:54 just like 30 cranes perpetually building
3:58 skyscrapers it I mean I don't think it
4:01 just is like it's it's obvious like um a
4:05 lot yeah these buildings are weird
4:06 they're like a lot of them are vacant I
4:08 don't know um why are they
4:10 vacant because they they built them so
4:13 fast that they're like there's nobody in
4:14 them yet you know what I mean like yeah
4:16 it's I don't really understand how all
4:18 that
4:19 works I I don't go to South Lake Union
4:22 like that's not like a place if you live
4:25 in Seattle you don't go there right I
4:27 don't go to the places where it's Tech
4:29 heavy in finance heavy in Chicago not
4:31 often when I do I I know I'm there you
4:33 know you know when you know you're there
4:34 like yeah this is different um my my I
4:38 have a a list of stores you will see
4:42 when you know you are there and I'll
4:44 give you my this is my fun list this is
4:46 just anecdotal but you'll see a um
4:49 Lululemon Orby Parker Molly's Cupcakes
4:52 or Jenny's ice cream one of the one or
4:54 both um some brick-and-mortar like
4:57 flower Boutique looking shops
5:00 what else um you'll see a Panera Bread
5:03 you'll definitely see like a Panera and
5:05 chipotle uh maybe like a blaze pizza or
5:07 something and I'm trying to think of
5:09 like the nicer what are some other like
5:11 really nice obvious stores the biggest
5:13 one to me is always going to be like a
5:14 Lululemon warie Parker like that's how
5:16 you know and then again like a I don't
5:18 know if you guys have Molly cupcakes and
5:19 Jenny's ice cream out there but it's a
5:21 it's a g cuz they're like highend
5:23 cupcakes and highend ice cream like ice
5:25 cream you'll get like two scoops for
5:26 like $10 we have a thing called Molly
5:28 Moons I've never been to to it though I
5:30 mean we have a lot of like boot like um
5:34 or Starbucks Reserve not Starbucks but
5:36 Starbucks Reserve yeah I don't know
5:37 about that I've never heard of that but
5:39 we the fcy St we have like artisanal ice
5:42 cream and stuff and there's always like
5:44 a like like a group of dorks like lined
5:47 up outside to get in and I'm like who
5:49 are these people like they probably
5:51 think you're a dork too I'm like I can't
5:53 imagine being an adult man and standing
5:55 in line like in line for more than 10
5:58 minutes for ice
6:02 so Seattle has a big Tech boom as of the
6:05 last decade certainly and why Seattle
6:07 cuz it used to be San
6:09 Francisco and like New York and now I
6:12 know Chicago's also well Google is
6:14 headquartered in Seattle Microsoft is
6:17 from Seattle MH Um T-Mobile are this the
6:21 Mariners play at T-Mobile Park you know
6:24 um across the water from us if you take
6:27 520 or I90 the Bridges go to Belleview
6:31 which is its own City that's like got
6:35 skyscrapers and stuff but it just like
6:38 it faces Seattle across the water MH
6:42 um and also like a place where I just
6:46 can't imagine going it just it exists
6:48 there I don't know what's going on over
6:49 there you been I mean I have but what it
6:53 what kind of is this a nice area uh yeah
6:55 it's got like a mall that has like Gucci
6:57 and Louis V is it where a lot of the the
6:59 people who work at the tech tech
7:01 companies live I don't know you're
7:02 asking me all kinds of questions
7:04 about for yeah but like you know
7:08 Seattle's like any other city it's just
7:10 like a series of small towns and like
7:12 you don't leave your neighborhood
7:13 necessarily like uh I mean I go there
7:17 are like the places I go I'm like I'm in
7:19 Capitol Hill I'm in Ballard and I'm and
7:23 and I'm up north where I live like I uh
7:26 what neighborhood do you live in I I'm
7:29 not going to I'm not going to like get
7:31 into specifics but
7:33 I what reg don't dox me bro what oh my
7:37 God I live in like shorel first of all
7:39 you go by a fake last name and your
7:42 first name is Rob that's not a popular
7:44 name a lot of red flags um no one's
7:46 going to fight me uh no no I'm not
7:48 worried about that I just like I don't
7:50 want it to make it sound like I don't
7:51 live in Seattle because I live in
7:52 Shoreline which is technically a
7:54 different municipality so I don't have a
7:56 Seattle address anymore I know I was
7:59 really sad when we moved up there a year
8:01 ago I was really sad to lose my Seattle
8:03 address luckily I don't mail my own
8:05 merch like other people do that for me
8:08 so I like I used to have to put my
8:10 return address like and it and it and it
8:13 said Seattle on it so I was like cool
8:15 yeah like I'm from Seattle but like it
8:17 would be a bummer if I had to put
8:19 Shoreline on the return address that
8:21 people just they need like the big city
8:23 name to feel like authentic like they
8:26 got it cuz I I didn't have it until a
8:27 year ago I don't know what that is I
8:29 never really got it I never had I was in
8:31 hickor Hills and people were like hick
8:33 Hills I'm it's Preposterous I should not
8:35 feel I shouldn't feel any it is
8:38 preposterous Preposterous Preposterous
8:41 Preposterous Preposterous Preposterous
8:45 no editing on this podcast no editing
8:47 editing we're going to talk for two
8:48 hours no editing he said we spend a lot
8:50 of time trying to figure out how to
8:51 pronounce words yeah I don't know the
8:54 city it's an obsession specifically with
8:57 bigger cities like New York Chicago La
9:00 Dallas Miami Seattle Oregon San
9:03 Francisco it's not Portland rather um
9:07 you like people want to have that name
9:09 for some reason especially like in an
9:10 art scene probably the same if you're
9:12 like in a in in the Tech Finance SC like
9:14 oh I live in you know in New York I live
9:16 in Manhattan you know or I live in Los
9:18 or San
9:20 Francisco but I don't know it is
9:22 definitely a flex and how I know that is
9:25 I never lived in it I lived in a small
9:27 sub outside a major city and I saw how
9:30 the Chicago individuals sometimes not
9:33 all would Flex it or not take you
9:35 seriously if you weren't in the city I
9:37 think maybe maybe
9:39 like like unpacking the reason why I
9:43 feel that way is probably also just
9:45 because it's like it's almost like a
9:46 branding thing it's like people know the
9:49 brand of Love Like It says says that
9:51 Seattle on all of my stuff on all my
9:54 social media on my band camp all these
9:56 things like it says I'm from Seattle so
9:58 like where the [ __ ] is Shoreline you
9:59 know what I mean and literally if you go
10:02 like three blocks south of my house
10:04 you're in
10:05 Seattle just a suburb um and I live in
10:08 the suburbs now it's very weird I don't
10:11 like living in the suburbs uh why not
10:14 why'd you move why why leave the city
10:16 because I got a very good opportunity to
10:19 live with in-law situation family that
10:23 is very affordable and a very very good
10:26 situation for me my partner and my
10:28 you're married
10:30 uh no I called them my in-laws because
10:32 we've been together for nine years you
10:34 looked like you had a bra I'm a goddamn
10:36 liar you had a brain I'm just like wait
10:38 so you don't live in Seattle you're not
10:40 married this isn't your real ass name
10:43 your neighborhood you haven't been to
10:44 all the other neighborhoods you don't
10:46 know other big 500 4 500 companies there
10:49 who am I even talking
10:50 to um I this podcast has changed to uh
10:54 un uh un unveil the lies of Rob yeah I I
10:58 I I call them my in-laws cuz it's like
11:00 shorthand for like my partner's family
11:02 we've been together for 9 years we're
11:04 we're technically in like a domestic
11:06 partnership under the eyes of the law or
11:08 whatever are you is that's how it works
11:10 right gu I'm sure it's state by state
11:11 yeah um so you've been together since
11:13 you're 21 yeah wow same age yeah yeah
11:17 we're like a month and a half apart oh
11:19 that's cute two months apart
11:21 yeah um and so it was just a really good
11:24 situation for us and um I
11:30 Seattle's just one of those places where
11:31 you got to you got to hustle to live
11:32 there because it's so expensive and you
11:34 got to like figure things out and and I
11:36 think it's really hard for people who
11:38 move away to move back because you need
11:40 to like be there to find the housing and
11:42 like you know you know what to do and
11:44 where to go what's not what's a good
11:46 area but not too expensive yet anyone
11:48 who's lived there for like like as long
11:51 as I have generally like has like
11:53 friends and connections that will keep
11:55 them there you know like so I can like
11:57 you know when this situation ends I will
12:00 find another like the Cockroach I am an
12:02 opportunity opportunist and you cannot
12:05 get rid of me I will like I will not get
12:07 priced out of this city you know what I
12:08 mean so it's gotten expensive there like
12:10 everywhere uh yeah everywhere it's not
12:13 very big I mean it's like very dense
12:15 it's not what's the population like
12:16 700,000 or something oh it's like a mill
12:18 but like it's the metropolitan area yeah
12:22 I don't know City proper is like 700 I
12:24 don't know the demographics I don't know
12:26 the company I don't know [ __ ] 145,000
12:30 looking it up right now just City proper
12:32 pric right rules oh I hate that Trevor
12:35 always does that I don't know I just
12:37 said that he's always like price is
12:39 right dude that this Price is Right
12:40 rules makes no sense for anything but
12:42 the Price Is Right you know this is why
12:45 we need a producer to look at up for us
12:47 okay let's see my guess you heard it
12:49 here first the population of Seattle
12:51 what did I say it was I don't know, I
12:53 said 740 okay look at that I can't read
12:57 that my eyes are no good
12:59 you
13:00 737,000 I was off by
13:03 3,000 all right that was a shot in the
13:05 door uh it's also like a big area
13:06 there's a lot of suburbs there's like
13:08 there's Tacoma there's Bellevue there's
13:10 like other cities like in the area so
13:12 it's like I don't know to me it just
13:15 feels like a big city but it's like not
13:17 that big it's like one of those like
13:18 medium big cities and um I mean I'm in
13:22 the city every day cuz I work on Capitol
13:24 Hill so like and I take yeah either take
13:26 light rail in or I drive that sounds
13:28 fancy What's with Capitol Hill cuz I
13:29 just think Washington DC yeah um it's
13:33 like it it was the gay neighborhood like
13:38 in the I guess in the 80s and 90s and
13:41 like by gay you mean homosexual yeah how
13:45 happy sometimes when
13:46 this who who in America our grandparents
13:49 in 1938 um yeah it was the gay old
13:52 neighborhood he was gay and it back in
13:54 the 20s it was the Gil neighborhood um
13:56 and uh there was was this bump like the
13:59 70s gay like that kind of gay I don't
14:01 know um but it yeah and it was
14:03 like I don't I forgot you don't know the
14:06 history don't know the GE exactly
14:08 there's like some like you know there's
14:09 like oh like Kirk Cain hung out here at
14:12 this Diner like it's like that kind of
14:13 neighborhood you know like um and I'm
14:17 sure like every place claims that kirco
14:19 ban hung out there or whatever but um
14:22 and it's uh it it's yeah it's like Bane
14:25 spilled his milk here once yeah it's a
14:27 bar neighborhood it's a you know like
14:29 it's I would say like people who aren't
14:33 okay so a lot of people come into my bar
14:35 I work in a bar I'm a bartender okay
14:37 you're not going to say which one I work
14:38 at the Cha Cha Lounge oh you'll say that
14:40 but you won't say cha cha Lounge like
14:43 chaa real smooth out exactly okay and uh
14:46 and people will come in from out of town
14:49 and you know they'll ask me like oh
14:51 what's uh what's you know what's good
14:52 around here you know um blah blah blah
14:56 and I'll be like well you know like
14:58 there people will say like oh I I was
14:59 sent to Capitol everyone told me to come
15:01 to Capitol Hill because like that's
15:03 where it's popping off like that's where
15:04 the clubs are or whatever and I'm like
15:06 yeah but it's like
15:07 Monday or whatever you know I'm like
15:10 you're not going to find anything this
15:12 isn't la like you know like we're a
15:14 secret Podunk town and everything closes
15:16 at like 10: p.m. on Monday you know like
15:18 I was like you're in the wrong
15:20 neighborhood you say secret what Podunk
15:22 town like like Boonies like it's it's
15:25 like you know like we just like like
15:29 people go to bed like the train stops
15:30 running at midnight on weekdays I get it
15:32 you know it's not things go down early
15:34 it's not a 24-hour like you know like
15:36 New York never sleeps Seattle sleeps a
15:38 lot New York I would say the only places
15:41 I've been to that feel like not all of
15:43 it but a majority or chunks of the city
15:45 are going 24/7 7 days a week would be
15:47 like New York La New Orleans and Miami
15:51 there's a chaa lounge in
15:53 LA and uh owned by the same people it's
15:56 like our sister bar and they have a DJ
15:58 seven nights a week like and and it's
16:01 like you know and I'm like what's that
16:02 like we're not even open on Sundays what
16:04 is it like to go out like Mondays and
16:06 Tuesdays and wed it would be great for
16:08 me oh yeah you stay up late yeah it
16:10 would be great for me if I had something
16:11 to do I can't even go get something to
16:12 eat what's your vitamin D intake like
16:15 cuz you stay up late and you go to and
16:17 you sleep in late cuz you have your job
16:18 I mean you don't need to see the sun
16:20 right it's optional you do need to see
16:22 this on you do need Vitamin D look at me
16:24 I'm not like I'm not pasty white you
16:26 need you need that that D that vitamin D
16:28 yeah I need I need that D that's true um
16:32 I I don't know like I I that's just the
16:35 thing is that like I don't see the sun
16:37 anyways like for you know from like
16:41 between November and March because it's
16:43 just raining the whole time so what does
16:45 it matter if I'm awake at 3:00 a.m. or 3
16:47 p.m. what's the difference the sun is
16:49 still there is there daylight can you
16:51 see outside it's just gray and raining
16:54 but like
16:55 today uh out like here in Chicago yeah
16:58 here in Chicago it is gray and raining
17:00 right now but there's still sunlight
17:02 it's just diffused it's still hitting
17:04 you though you think that you are
17:05 actually getting the benefits of the sun
17:07 even if it's pouring rain and you have a
17:09 hood up yes more than if you're you're
17:11 wearing a big hat and a jacket more than
17:12 if you're just in a dark basement so the
17:15 the like the like five square Ines of
17:17 your face hands and face that is exposed
17:19 to the and eyes it's something it's
17:22 better than nothing well that's why you
17:24 know there's a dip in the winter for
17:25 everyone people get more sick people
17:27 gain weight of that so like December and
17:32 January are like the busy season for the
17:33 music scene in in Seattle like there's
17:36 so many shows happening like so I don't
17:39 I don't know if that's true I feel like
17:41 I feel like everybody during the summer
17:43 who are you talking you're talking about
17:44 young people I'm talking about like 50
17:46 60 70 year olds I'm talking about the
17:47 old people young people like you yeah
17:51 I'm about you're like three or four
17:53 years I'm a little old I tell my
17:54 students like listen I have two rules
17:56 talk to me like I'm 80 and no acronyms
17:59 okay like those are my rules no acronyms
18:02 what do you mean you know people just
18:03 say like you know BFF like I'll keep it
18:05 simple but you know sure like you don't
18:08 know what BFF means want to be confused
18:11 but they'll say there's so many young
18:13 acronyms like just stuff I've never
18:15 heard of they'll Shand everything those
18:17 lazy bastards they'll Shand everything
18:19 I'm like can you just say it because the
18:22 time in takes you to explain it to this
18:23 old fool which I am you could have just
18:26 said the man squad uh see double time
18:29 right yeah I don't know what you that's
18:30 from the
18:31 [Music]
18:32 office crisis management Squad front and
18:35 center exactly that episode where he
18:37 keeps doing that right yeah I'm just
18:39 like just no acronyms and talk to me
18:41 like I'm an old man because I and your
18:44 students are like traditional College
18:47 age yeah between 18 and 25 I'll get a
18:50 couple that are probably like in their
18:51 late 20s I've had one that was like in
18:53 their 50s one in their 40s but it's rare
18:56 most between 18 and 25 I just like the
18:58 idea of like a bunch of 19-year-olds in
19:00 a room with one 50-year-old guy they're
19:03 all on their phones and he's just like
19:05 staring asking questions and taking it
19:08 seriously following all the rules and
19:09 shows up every time you and him are the
19:11 only two people in the room and there's
19:13 like a bunch of 19-year-olds like just
19:14 scrolling I love I love and and
19:17 definitely uh get frustrated with it but
19:20 I do learn a lot it keeps me young and
19:22 sharp I'm aware of a lot of the
19:24 Technologies going on but what I have
19:26 noticed is the not to toot my own horn
19:30 of my generation but the millennial that
19:33 1980 to
19:35 1996 era because we were integrating
19:39 slowly from analog to digital technology
19:41 from you know from tube to transistor to
19:43 you know to
19:45 microprocessors we had to learn how to
19:48 interface from an analog to digital
19:49 world we know how to do the digital
19:51 thing in an analogous way where we can
19:54 make sense of stuff we had to know about
19:56 kilobytes megabytes gigabytes and
19:58 understand computers and how to make
20:01 signal flow work with TVs and Stereos
20:03 and whatnot because we've gone all
20:05 Wireless and cloud and uploading and
20:08 downloading with large uh capacitance
20:10 now with um with like terabyte hard
20:14 drives and whatnot students don't have
20:16 to worry about any of that stuff they
20:17 could just everything can just be sent
20:19 cloud drive without worrying about data
20:22 uh rate compression rate ratios they
20:24 don't have to worry about any of that
20:25 stuff cuz it's gotten so big when this
20:28 technology first came out you had you
20:29 know floppy discs kilobytes of size you
20:31 can hold so you had to take size into
20:33 consideration you couldn't just do
20:34 whatever you want all the time there was
20:36 no Cloud to save to you didn't have
20:38 phones that have terabyte solite hard
20:40 drives on them now uh you couldn't store
20:42 stuff on Google Drive so what a horrible
20:44 world we lived in what I'm saying is we
20:46 were with the Apes back then you know
20:49 they're really good at certain things
20:51 but they're terrible and this is what
20:53 I've seen Universal universally this is
20:56 anecdotal but this is what I've
20:57 witnessed with hundreds if not thousands
20:59 of people in that age group at this
21:00 point they're really really bad
21:04 with understanding how things work
21:06 fundamentally and how to do things in a
21:09 physical world because they've never had
21:11 to so it's not their fault it's just
21:13 it's part of their upbringing they never
21:14 have to if you go back further behind us
21:16 everyone knew how to do stuff in an
21:18 analog world really well and they
21:20 couldn't figure out digital stuff so
21:21 we're in this weird transition period if
21:23 we're about the same age where you grew
21:25 up learning how to physically have to do
21:27 the thing and integrated with technology
21:29 so now when you work with technology you
21:31 can kind of make sense of both sides of
21:32 it I guess the question is would you
21:35 rather though be a like live in a world
21:37 where you can make a table or live in a
21:39 world where you can make a meme you know
21:42 what I mean grandma can't make a meme I
21:45 Grandma be making tables all day I'd
21:47 rather know how to do both so I try my
21:50 best to know how to do both and not be
21:52 married to either but defin convinc that
21:56 um I I understand your premise and the
22:00 explanation I I'm not convinced that
22:02 it's true no like I don't know if I know
22:05 a lot of really stupid old people like
22:07 that are no no I'm not I'm not saying
22:09 they're smart I I also know about St are
22:12 just like you know that likeed to like
22:14 learn to do anything no of course that's
22:16 what I'm saying that that you're proving
22:18 my point they stopped when it came to
22:19 the digital world they're really good
22:20 with the analog world you gave them a
22:22 home sound system from 1980 and they're
22:24 setting that thing up we're paying
22:26 somebody too they're setting it up dude
22:28 they're like okay that speaker you going
22:29 to plug the cable in RCA okay soon as it
22:32 comes to HDMI and Bluetooth and
22:34 connecting to Wi-Fi they're stupid as
22:37 hell and then you get to the Millennials
22:39 we had to learn how to do both and
22:41 integrate because we were part of that
22:43 we were losing the analog world we're
22:45 growing out of it and integrating into
22:47 the digital world into streaming into
22:49 OLED TVs into smartphones now the
22:52 generation born in the last 20 years
22:54 they missed the analog world they didn't
22:57 have to learn integrate because they
22:58 missed have that that era of time to
23:01 integrate and now they're just into the
23:03 digital world so they're really good at
23:06 understanding the internet and all the
23:08 things about it and the reddits and this
23:09 and the for CH the whole thing they're
23:11 like Wizards with it and gaming and you
23:13 name it but when it comes to hey how do
23:16 you plug this thing in and make this
23:17 signal go through and what does that
23:18 data rate mean and all that they're lost
23:21 because they never grew up having to
23:23 understand it because everything's
23:23 always been really high quality in their
23:25 life in the digital world high quality
23:27 great internet speed no SBC Yahoo dialup
23:31 from 1999 not Napster because you have
23:33 Spotify now for a couple bucks a month
23:35 streaming high quality audio now on
23:37 iTunes music or apple music you can get
23:39 wave audio streaming Untitled too this
23:41 is unheard of when I was downloading
23:43 music illegally on
23:44 app right years you know why it's news
23:47 to you cuz how old are you 30 all right
23:49 you see my point if you were 18 you
23:52 probably would have found that out by
23:53 now cuz it's the digital world and
23:54 you're know really well I'm tell I only
23:56 know it CU they told me this is my
23:58 podcast and I'm interviewing you so I
24:00 but I I'm just kidding I do have a
24:02 question though about uh since you're a
24:04 teacher by this way is all my anecdotal
24:06 thought and experience I'm not saying
24:07 this is Def well okay and this is this
24:09 gets back to that so this is paralleling
24:11 like your this theory that you know yeah
24:14 or you know like that premise um so you
24:17 teach audio stuff yeah and uh this man
24:21 I'm looking at the camera now for you
24:23 listening at home this man teaches six
24:25 different classes at two different
24:28 universities um the busiest man in
24:30 America and uh you so um a lot of like
24:34 this like audio stuff
24:37 um like are these people who are
24:40 interested in recording acoustic
24:42 instruments and bands like I see a drum
24:44 kid over here and guitars and like
24:46 traditional like instrument bands you
24:48 know the American rock band sound or are
24:52 they like interested in making like
24:55 beats or electronic stuff
24:58 when you said that give you an exact
25:01 number that's loose and not exact so
25:04 I'll contradict myself I would say it's
25:07 um 802 maybe 75 25 75 into the digital
25:11 domain of midi sampling um sound mashing
25:16 of mixing and taking stuff like ripping
25:18 stuff off the internet making new music
25:20 out of it which is kind of like sampling
25:22 but a little bit more pirate piratey um
25:26 digital age not many people have
25:28 microphones I constantly berid my
25:30 students like buy a microphone I don't
25:31 care if it's a used sm57 for 50 bucks on
25:34 eBay get it wait they don't own
25:37 microphones like barely anyone has a
25:39 microphone this is my brain exploding uh
25:42 that's crazy when I went to Columbia
25:44 when I started there I had like 15
25:46 microphones I had the 414s year we
25:48 recorded with today already yeah my
25:50 professor's like you have all this I was
25:51 like bro I I'm serious I feel like I I I
25:54 consider myself to be a lite and I like
25:57 yeah like I I use no less than three
25:59 microphones if I'm just demoing
26:01 something a lot of it is DJ
26:04 producer um samples production based
26:07 electronic music which is fine it's all
26:09 I love that stuff it's great stuff I'm
26:11 I'm not against that at all I'm saying
26:13 you should do both right you need to
26:15 know both uh especially yeah I you know
26:17 um I think that um it's a there's like a
26:21 real they want to be we want to be them
26:22 they want to be us thing going on in the
26:24 music world right now where like it
26:26 seems like a lot of I'm hearing these
26:28 like white Indie artists like start to
26:31 use autotune stylistically in a way that
26:34 like you know like hip-hop artists would
26:37 and I'm starting to see like you know
26:39 artists like Travis Scott um team up
26:42 with Tam and Paula and uh James Blake
26:46 and like you know uh these more Bona
26:50 like these like you know acoustic Indie
26:53 artists and I think it's it's it's like
26:55 it's beautiful but it's also like
26:58 okay you know you can just you don't
27:00 have to I I get like we're all like
27:02 excited about genre blending and the
27:04 different things going on but sometimes
27:07 I do feel like a weird pressure to make
27:10 things that I wouldn't just naturally
27:12 make because there's so much that's so
27:14 accessible now
27:17 um you know I I have had to like you
27:21 know stop myself from making like weird
27:24 you know Alex G ass choices on um you
27:28 know on certain things that I'm working
27:29 on where I'm like but I'm going to make
27:31 it weird man I'm going to like do a
27:33 crazy vocal effect and it's like yeah
27:35 it's it's not if it's not the right
27:37 choice for the project then don't just
27:39 do it for the sake of making a stylistic
27:41 choice but um yeah I don't know and and
27:47 conversation there yeah I also I also
27:49 consume uh like a lot of hip-hop a lot
27:52 of uh I I am I am we were talking in the
27:56 car earlier about I was like are you a
27:58 heavy rotation guy or like a new music
28:00 everyday guy um and you were you you
28:02 said both but I I tend to be like a new
28:05 music every day like it I I am obsessed
28:08 with the idea that you could never you
28:10 could listen to new music all day long
28:13 and never have to hear the same song
28:15 Twice abs for your entire life that's
28:17 true for music it's true for Fine Art
28:19 it's true for writing and reading it's
28:20 true for film and television I mean
28:22 there's a big pet peeve is when people
28:25 especially our age they're getting to
28:27 that point where they're still living on
28:29 that high of when they were 18 and
28:30 discovered some cool music and they
28:31 think there's no there's no good music
28:33 there's no good movies I hear it all the
28:35 time like yes there is there's amazing
28:37 music coming out there's amazing movies
28:39 amazing films amazing television it's
28:41 just how you get to it is slightly
28:44 different what it looks like is
28:45 different and if you don't grow with it
28:47 and be open and accepting to it you will
28:50 build up that membran that keeps you
28:52 insulated to your old music there it's
28:54 very it's very new to me like as I just
28:58 crested 30 that like the like the idea
29:00 that people uh are are like now stuck in
29:04 one like era of Music it takes until our
29:07 age start happening yeah that's like
29:08 that's new to me and I'm just like oh my
29:11 God God help me like cuz like if that
29:13 ever happens to me because I am so
29:15 obsessed I'm like I I like I might wake
29:18 up today and be like I don't know I've
29:19 never heard Cameroon whistling music
29:21 before like that's like I'm going to
29:23 check that out like that's the you know
29:26 that's good though it's healthy to keep
29:27 growing with and I love hip-hop shows I
29:29 think like hip-hop is in a very special
29:31 place right now in terms of um you know
29:36 uh how excited young people are about it
29:39 and like when I go to these shows and I
29:42 just went and saw this artist called
29:43 jalile uh I went with my friend and
29:46 bandmate from fell off Ryan who we were
29:50 in the 21 plus section it was like a 21
29:53 plus and all ages venue and uh where
29:56 he's grabbing a drink and I'm looking
29:59 around and I'm like oh my God Ryan we're
30:01 in the parents section we're the oldest
30:04 people who are here for this show and
30:07 not for our kids to go to this show and
30:10 uh so you know we had to go out and mosh
30:12 and like you know the kids I I you know
30:15 um I don't know how much of like I have
30:20 left in me of being able to like go to
30:22 like a hip-hop music festival and like
30:24 actually like be sardined in with a
30:26 bunch of kids and like in just because
30:28 I'm I'm getting physically exhausted
30:29 from it and like my knees are really
30:31 starting to hurt like and stuff um
30:34 you're also tall you're blocking those
30:35 poor kids view uh well you know if
30:38 you're at like a big huge Like Music
30:40 Festival the stage is so tall it doesn't
30:42 yeah and also like if you go see like
30:44 Playboy cardi or something it's like
30:46 Circle pits everywhere so they're not
30:48 even concerned about like looking at the
30:49 stage so much as we are just like it's
30:51 about the atmosphere and stuff yeah it's
30:54 like uh it's like what new metal was you
30:56 know that that
30:57 Trevor and I had a fun Creed night a few
31:00 days in a row like last month where we
31:02 just once in a while you just go back I
31:04 mean I haven't Listen to Like that music
31:06 or that band in 20 years and you go back
31:08 and I still know every word every Guitar
31:10 Lake and it's hilarious I work a lot of
31:12 karaoke nights uh at at every bar that
31:15 I've ever worked at but at the one I'm
31:16 at and uh there was a guy singing can
31:20 you
31:21 take but he kind of he sounded like just
31:25 his natural voice he sounded like Billy
31:26 Cor
31:28 and I was like oh my God this is if this
31:30 was just a little
31:31 slower it sounded like a Smashing
31:34 Pumpkin song yeah Billy Corgan Smashing
31:39 Pumpkins
31:40 yeah I like not my jam I like I like the
31:43 the first three Smashing Pumpkins album
31:45 a lot
31:46 okay my partner Jeff's really like uh
31:49 very influenced by Smashing Pumpkins and
31:51 that heavy guitar stuff it's not not
31:52 really something I I didn't I certainly
31:55 like never listened to like Nirvana in
31:57 high school or anything I never like
31:59 Nirvana and honestly all of the like the
32:02 bands that you think of when you think
32:04 of like a Seattle documentary about
32:06 music were never really on 1987 to 1994
32:10 like that yeah I like uh I like you know
32:13 Unwound and like you know botch and like
32:16 what about like 9in
32:17 nails no uh Stone Temple Pilots Jane's
32:22 Addiction n Sound Garden no absolutely
32:25 not raage Against the Machine
32:28 none of them none of the above yeah you
32:30 know I mean in high school I was Guns
32:32 and Roses in high school like the first
32:34 three like death cab records were my
32:36 Bible um and uh and like you know Minus
32:39 the Bear um minusa yeah Modest Mouse uh
32:45 that that was all I mean those are all
32:46 Seattle bands too um so like that you
32:50 know that was very much my my wheelhouse
32:53 and the the stuff that in informed how I
32:55 make music now so you would have enjoyed
32:58 a lot of the shows I went to in the
32:59 2000s cuz every band you just named I I
33:01 saw in their time back then all a lot of
33:05 other bands adjacent to that and smaller
33:07 shows before like they got a little too
33:10 big enough time went on when they made a
33:11 lot more money from their their music
33:14 but one of my favorite shows I think you
33:15 would enjoy was Ben gibbert solo at the
33:17 Metro in 2007 and it was amazing and he
33:21 play I think he played with Damen rice
33:24 there was this time was a good time
33:25 there was like a boom in the early 2000s
33:28 where you could just like did you ever
33:31 watch the OC that was probably a little
33:33 okay was that yeah it was on when I I
33:35 think between the ages of like remember
33:37 the the the Adam Brody character Seth
33:39 Cohen and like what his aesthetic was uh
33:43 there was a time where you could just
33:45 like look like that dude and make like
33:49 pretty mediocre indie rock and like and
33:53 you know and you could get your song on
33:54 like a Target commercial and like M and
33:57 like have pretty moderate success and be
34:01 on like get guest spots on TV shows and
34:03 stuff and have absolutely no sense of
34:07 like personal style and fashion in terms
34:09 of clothing like you look back at what
34:12 those dudes were wearing it is a damn
34:16 shame let me try anything like uh like
34:18 van slip-ons that were like plaid and
34:21 like an AR an Argyle Sweater and like
34:24 really like ill-fitting blue jeans we
34:27 got to name these bands we got to try to
34:28 we I'm not going to do that I'm not
34:30 going on I'm not putting anybody on
34:32 blast you know who you are grizzly bear
34:35 okay I'm I'm starting off with these
34:37 bands from that era um the honorary
34:39 title do this all day talk if we're
34:41 talking like specifically like yeah like
34:43 OC adjacent bands like Rooney would be
34:46 like the classic example um but yeah I
34:50 mean even largely like uh you know like
34:54 I don't want to put minus the bar on
34:55 blast cuz like those guys very much like
34:56 we're not put in a bad way this is funny
34:58 like those guys are around like I see
35:00 those guys I love those I'm I'm poking
35:03 fun at these bands that inspired my life
35:06 I love these bands I've seen these bands
35:07 live I'm laughing at what people dressed
35:10 like 20 years ago when they were
35:11 hipsters in Indie rocks they weren't I
35:13 mean I guess they were hipsters their
35:15 version of hipsters they didn't dress
35:16 like hipsters I mean I think I think
35:18 hipsters have been
35:20 changing for the last probably since
35:22 they came out I'd say about since the
35:24 mid-50s right wouldn't you say that's
35:26 when it started like greenage Village
35:28 like beat Nick poet like alen gin
35:30 Ginsburg gin Ginsburg and um and like
35:35 Bob Dylan and and um Lenny Bruce like
35:38 these people of you know that era late
35:40 50s early 60s and it I think it's it has
35:45 to lot a lot to do pop culture
35:47 influencing for or influencing forward
35:51 and trickling down post World War II um
35:54 like post World War II fashion changes a
35:57 lot because of fabric shortage that's we
35:58 get shorter skirts for women yeah well
36:01 also like uh the idea of like um you
36:04 know prep and uh and like athleisure
36:08 wear coming into like being able to like
36:11 wear KS and sneakers and like yeah
36:14 that's all like back half of the century
36:17 stuff um and here I am today wearing
36:20 like yeah like a crew neck
36:22 sweater and yeah um to be fair I've been
36:25 wearing my new B this is a beautiful
36:28 polo by the way I love this shirt I
36:29 pride myself on my stripes and patterns
36:33 um you know uh uh but even just talking
36:38 about the the idea that uh things you
36:43 know being stuck in an era of music or
36:45 thinking things were better at any given
36:47 time I'm also seeing a lot of people who
36:50 are really frustrated about um how
36:54 difficult it is to make money in music
36:57 yes and um you know I never respond to
37:02 these kinds of things on like social
37:04 media CU I don't want to be that guy but
37:07 I'm als I'm just not convinced that like
37:09 things are any like better or worse on a
37:14 net level than any other given time in
37:18 in the recorded music in the world of
37:20 recorded music industry it's just
37:23 different it's like everything is like
37:25 more micro scale
37:27 you know little CMS and like uh you know
37:30 uh and and and lower Al together than
37:34 like I I guess yes in the 90s and early
37:36 2000s you could like get a record deal
37:40 and uh and you know make money a as a
37:43 musician but
37:45 like just like the way that you
37:48 know the work of intellectuals is
37:51 largely what survives and therefore what
37:53 endures in terms of Fine Art in like
37:56 record Ed music art world what indoors
38:00 is like what we remember so we only
38:02 remember the people that were successful
38:04 and made money and so we look back to
38:06 that and think oh things were so much
38:07 better back then because you could
38:08 actually make it if you were like an
38:10 indie band and I'm like you still can
38:12 it's just different and the ways that
38:14 you get seen are different the ways that
38:15 you can Market yourself I think people
38:17 are frustrated by the idea that you have
38:18 to manage and Market yourself all the
38:21 time right you don't have an anr and a
38:23 manager but you don't need one you just
38:24 are that so that's why you don't have
38:26 one it's not because you know unless you
38:28 make enough money you can't have one and
38:30 you don't have to go on the phone you
38:31 can stay away from that but yeah that's
38:33 that's all you and just this idea that
38:35 like you know that like Spotify is the
38:37 devil but band camp is the saint I'm
38:39 like I don't make a penny from from band
38:41 camp streams so you know like and I make
38:44 a fraction of a penny from Spotify so
38:46 it's like you know I would rather have
38:49 people listen to my music on Spotify
38:50 than band camp because that's also the
38:53 way that um you get hurt on you know
38:56 Spotify radios or related to artists or
38:59 whatever and and it's it's how a lot of
39:02 people discover new music and the
39:04 accessibility to new music is I think a
39:08 great thing it's like fantastic I you
39:11 know you had a um Molly Compton on uh
39:15 she's uh does vinyl stuff right and she
39:18 was talking about I actually was like
39:20 listening to her talk about the way she
39:22 consumes music through vinyl I was like
39:25 I could never do this but I'm fascinated
39:28 by it and I love that like that she just
39:31 like puts on a record like she has like
39:32 a thousand records or whatever and
39:34 she'll just like pick one out and put it
39:35 on like well she's like getting ready in
39:36 the morning or whatever and like and
39:39 meanwhile I'm like the first thing I
39:42 like look at in the morning is like the
39:43 hip-hop charts and like you know I'm
39:45 like listening to whatever the latest
39:46 releases for hip-hop is so it's like
39:47 just different ways of consuming music
39:50 um but I don't think one's more virtuous
39:52 than the other no they're different
39:53 different intentions different outcomes
39:55 different
39:57 states of mind you're in when you do it
39:58 I mean I love vinyl I have a ton I mean
40:01 between my roommate and I probably have
40:03 800 9900 records and all very very good
40:06 ones spanning you know 100 years I have
40:09 a ton of local and touring artist
40:12 records and I love them and I listen to
40:14 them with certain intent like later
40:15 today when we're hanging out we're going
40:17 to listen to records the whole night and
40:20 but when I'm driving or walking which I
40:23 do every day or do or doing um errands
40:26 around the house I have my earbuds in
40:28 and I'm listening to Spotify MH and when
40:32 I'm with a person and I want to show new
40:34 record I'm not now I'm not doing a
40:36 playlist or random I'm putting on a
40:37 record on Spotify there's certain places
40:39 where I do certain things but at home on
40:41 a sound system nine times out of 10 it's
40:43 going to be you know vinyl but I keep up
40:45 with buying new ones right I do
40:48 sometimes feel like an outlier in my
40:50 world view of how the of um of existing
40:54 with how music consumption has has
40:56 changed and and how much I value it and
40:59 and actually like think that a lot of
41:01 things have gotten better um in some
41:04 ways I like think that Spotify saved the
41:05 music industry and that streaming s like
41:07 when people talk about how it killed the
41:09 music indust I'm not saying it like
41:10 literally saved but I'm saying it made
41:12 things like net net positive rather than
41:14 net negative um you
41:17 elaborate uh that like the accessibility
41:20 to music is a good thing and the fact
41:22 that you don't have to go to a record
41:23 store and buy a record to hear like that
41:25 you can um you know that you can just
41:28 like as a music listener it's certainly
41:30 gotten better you know yeah and fight
41:32 for like radio play and stuff like back
41:35 in the 90s right if I want but it also
41:37 also hyper hyper saturated like it's a
41:40 lot to par so you have you are a music
41:43 enthusiast a music consumer at a high
41:46 level that makes it part of your hobby
41:49 passion and like homework to like dig in
41:52 and do that stuff but that would have
41:54 happened either way because technology
41:55 March in forward would dictate that more
41:58 people would have access to uh like
42:00 electronic instruments and means of
42:02 recording M where as like recording used
42:05 to be a big deal sure now like that
42:08 would have happened either way the
42:09 streaming thing wouldn't have
42:10 necessarily happened either way but
42:13 there still would have been so much more
42:15 people with the ability to make recorded
42:18 music as art either way
42:21 so um you know I I think it's just like
42:25 okay so if you're frustrated that like I
42:29 I I just wonder if like people who are
42:31 super frustrated that they're they're
42:32 not being seen or heard or getting paid
42:36 um because of the oversaturation have
42:38 have maybe just never looked in the
42:40 mirror and thought is my music that good
42:42 say am I
42:44 ugly cuz that's a whole I can talk about
42:47 that subject for a long time I'm like
42:49 I'm like looks are huge sure and I I
42:52 think that in every industry yeah I I'm
42:55 just like coming from one ugly person to
42:57 another
42:58 okay if I'm just like you know maybe
43:01 maybe your shit's just not that John
43:02 Blaze so like people don't [ __ ] with it
43:04 like and I'm sorry but like like it's
43:07 like not just because you made music
43:09 doesn't inherently give it value or a
43:12 random Factor there's that that Rando
43:14 factor that you can't like why is beat
43:17 happening popular but not some other
43:18 jaon banging on an random there is a
43:21 random thing um but it's always been a
43:23 factor there's always been the random
43:25 factor in all of it
43:26 and I'm not saying the people who do
43:28 randomly blow up aren't skillful it's
43:31 just they have they probably haven't
43:33 been doing that long well you got to
43:35 work hard the work has to be good and
43:37 and and the rest is luck right so some
43:40 there are some anomalies because of the
43:42 way an algorithm and the internet works
43:44 that they didn't work that hard they're
43:46 okay and they still blow up mhm it's the
43:48 right look the right age the right place
43:50 the right the right Tik Tok uh viral
43:52 video you name it but that was true of
43:55 all times there's always
43:56 it's been for a while there's always
43:58 going to be mediocre bands that somehow
44:00 like rise to the Sur what wonders that's
44:02 what we used to call them watch VHS like
44:05 I love the '90s or I love the 8S or
44:08 whatever version they do and you will
44:10 have the smells like sex
44:14 and what other songs do they have I
44:16 don't know but that song probably pay
44:17 for their mortgage and stuff so one hit
44:20 wonders have been around for a long time
44:22 now on now another thing that's changed
44:25 and I don't know whether it is for the
44:27 better or worse but I think it's
44:28 interesting to observe is the length of
44:32 releases the runlength of releases so
44:35 we're seeing a lot more really random
44:38 like three song EPS six song albums
44:42 seven song albums singles yeah now you
44:44 can have an album two s releases right
44:47 like and and we think about okay well
44:49 why were records 38 why why was the
44:52 traditional album 38 minutes it's got be
44:54 under 40 phant record
44:56 because of the vinyl industry so those
44:58 were the constrictions back then we just
45:01 have less constrictions now around it's
45:04 so much more free form in every way
45:06 genre runtime all the choices that you
45:08 can
45:09 make does that mean it's better or worse
45:12 it's not it is it just is it's just
45:15 different so uh so you know now like my
45:19 brother and I I I would be um it would
45:22 be ridiculous of me not to talk about my
45:24 new project now that I'm here because it
45:26 just came out um my brother and I are
45:29 launching a band called Sunnyland right
45:30 now what's your brother's name my
45:32 brother's name is Will Will and um and
45:35 uh we've been making music together
45:36 since high school we started this new
45:38 band and it's it's very much our project
45:40 it's like the two of us making the music
45:42 that we grew up with and and uh and you
45:45 know kind of no one to tell us no no
45:46 other band mates it's just like the two
45:48 of us like big record ex telling you
45:50 know yeah right yeah that was never the
45:52 issue it was the it's it's it would be
45:54 like yeah it would be other people
45:55 people who are like creative uh
45:57 contributors to the project and you know
45:59 it's just us so it's really exciting um
46:03 and we made the decision that we're only
46:05 going to put out four song EPS period
46:08 unless like unless like maybe yeah a
46:10 label wanted to put out a full length
46:12 and wanted to press final for us then we
46:14 would talk about either putting together
46:16 a collection of songs that we've already
46:18 C recorded onto a 12 in or uh doing you
46:22 know a new record Al together um but for
46:24 now while it's just us just doing our
46:26 thing and having fun and making this
46:28 music that we enjoy um we want to put
46:30 out four song releases and uh it's it's
46:33 a lot easier to bite off if the
46:36 expectation is not there that you need
46:38 to make you know 38 minutes of Music um
46:42 then uh you can spend like that much
46:45 more time on four songs and really be
46:47 happy with them uh you know a week in
46:49 the studio than having to feel like you
46:51 really need to bite off this whole
46:53 project of like nine songs and spend
46:57 $10,000 doing it uh you know you can
47:00 make four songs for a lot less money and
47:03 spend a lot more time and Care making
47:05 those songs the best they can be and
47:07 largely people are probably not going to
47:08 make it through your whole full length
47:10 if you're not if you're you if you're
47:11 not on a mainstream radar you know so uh
47:16 so that's been like that's a cool that's
47:18 a cool thing and I'm not yeah I don't
47:20 really feel one way or another about it
47:21 it just sort of is and uh um yeah I do
47:26 you have any vinyl my so Rob joins my
47:30 the Rob joins like project has been
47:32 pressed to vinyl and that was through a
47:34 small label called lovers weekend um and
47:39 I that's pretty cool I have not checked
47:41 the spreadsheet lately but I'm sure that
47:43 like I'm going on mic I'm saying it to
47:46 all you people out there listening I
47:48 don't think I've made the money back yet
47:49 that it cost to press the vinyl let
47:51 alone what it cost to to record the
47:53 record not who does am I about that
47:56 because I'm like people should have
47:58 realized that my [ __ ] is John Blaze and
48:00 that they like should love it I'm like
48:03 no it just so happens that you know well
48:06 there was a pandemic and a lot of other
48:08 reasons why you know I wasn't able to
48:10 tour on it or like sell sell out of that
48:13 of those copies of the record
48:16 um but I'm I'm happy you know I'm happy
48:19 that it's on wax and I'm happy that
48:21 people can like consume it in that way
48:24 um and enjoy it in that way
48:26 uh I don't really know like and I had
48:29 fun working with the label cuz that
48:31 guy's really into vinyl and he loves all
48:32 the precious you know like the The
48:34 Collector quality of it and stuff I
48:37 don't know what exactly what the value
48:40 of working with a label is when you're
48:42 an artist On My Level other than the the
48:46 best thing that lovers weeken and Dent
48:49 tapes which is like the um the local
48:51 Seattle label that puts out uh cassettes
48:54 and they put out a cassette for me the
48:56 best thing that they do for me the most
48:59 valuable thing is that they mail all my
49:01 merch I never have to go to the Post
49:02 Office that's great I I I don't like
49:06 like like going through the orders and
49:09 some people are they love that they love
49:11 that aspect of running the label they
49:12 like all of the like oh I get to yeah I
49:15 get to like write a little note or put
49:17 stickers in there or like love the notes
49:20 yeah it's fun thanks me I'm like I don't
49:23 have time for this [ __ ] like throw in a
49:25 goddamn you got time for it don't lie to
49:28 yourself toss it in the US in the
49:30 mailbox and be on my way uh so uh I'm
49:34 glad to have somebody to take care of
49:36 that stuff but that's not even like like
49:38 what is a label anymore other than just
49:41 alone to make something that you pay
49:43 back through sales are they providing
49:46 you with PR are they providing you with
49:48 like social media outreach if they're
49:50 not really doing anything for you
49:52 otherwise other than just giving you
49:54 money that you're you know you're going
49:56 to have to pay back in some capacity
49:58 just like maybe find a way to you know
50:01 if if you have the means to just raise
50:02 that money yourself and and have no ties
50:05 to anybody else how do how do you feel
50:07 about bands that do GoFundMe for
50:10 records
50:12 anti elaborate uh I know I know I know
50:15 plenty of people who have and do I would
50:17 never do that tell us more please uh if
50:21 I like I said like you're totally
50:24 welcome to do that that's your
50:25 prerogative I just personally would not
50:27 do it um uh I I also don't presume that
50:33 anybody likes my music enough to pay me
50:37 for it in advance I don't feel like
50:39 that's earned on my half like you know
50:42 uh yeah cuz if they haven't already you
50:44 know what I mean like there's I have
50:46 made lots of music over the years and
50:48 it's all available it's all out there
50:50 for you to hear so if you like it all
50:53 right yeah buy my merch because all that
50:55 money is going right back into the fund
50:57 to make more to finance I self Finance
50:59 everything all the recording stuff um
51:03 all like yeah um it's all yeah it's all
51:06 me baby until yeah DIY do yourself or
51:09 until someone does it for us right yeah
51:12 I don't think I'll ever do a gofund me
51:13 ever again they've never been s I've
51:16 never done it for records what ends up
51:17 happening is your family and and like
51:20 people who love you end up giving you
51:22 money yeah um that's but they but yeah
51:26 but I'm like okay but then like but I
51:28 don't make music for those people MH
51:30 like my family doesn't understand
51:32 brother does but like my my folks don't
51:35 it's a Pity donation you're like oh
51:36 Robin is a little thing here like some
51:39 distant
51:40 relative GL Andy some cousin that like
51:44 that this link got shared to like I
51:46 don't need them funding my album like
51:48 I'll just hustle I'll make them I'll
51:50 make the money myself and yeah and yeah
51:53 I always found gof fundies to be for
51:56 either massive massive projects or like
51:59 serious situations like um funerals
52:02 serious operations you know things like
52:04 that people like who just freak stuff
52:07 and they don't have health insurance
52:08 they're usually low means of of income
52:11 it's a great tool for that it's like
52:12 saved people's lives right but for
52:15 Middle Ground um middle class
52:17 Kickstarter is traditionally like more
52:21 used to fund art projects you know
52:23 Kickstarter IND goo too right yes yeah
52:25 Kickstarter has um like uh prizes you
52:28 know or um what's the word yeah like so
52:30 if you gifts and prizes yeah it's almost
52:32 like a pre-order so just do a pre-order
52:34 yeah if if enough people want to hear
52:36 your album that they are willing to
52:39 pre-order it and that ends up covering a
52:42 substantial amount of the cost of making
52:45 it great now that being said they might
52:48 pre-order it you know well what two
52:51 years in advance if you're going to make
52:53 the record and then press it to vinyl I
52:55 mean
52:55 takes a long time sometimes the Cyber
52:57 truck you know takes a
52:59 while what the Cyber truck the Tesla
53:02 cyber truck that's like was people
53:04 pre-ordered like three years ago oh sure
53:07 it's only a 100 bucks it still hasn't
53:09 come out yet so um yeah so you know uh
53:14 yeah so there's that I mean okay if you
53:15 want to pre-order the vinyl so that you
53:17 can cover like up front a bunch of the
53:20 cost of pressing um great yeah I don't
53:23 have any problems with that I I just
53:26 uh you know I also think it's um a kind
53:30 of a cloud hanging over your head if a
53:32 bunch of
53:33 people um donated to your Kickstarter
53:36 and are expecting to get their their
53:38 prizes or prizes is the wrong word but I
53:42 I don't know I like the idea it's fun I
53:44 like the idea of like prizes like it's a
53:46 carnival like you're going to get a
53:47 stuffed Pikachu or whatever if you if
53:49 you donate to my next record um but um
53:54 you know um I I I just don't really need
53:58 like the pressure of family members who
54:02 I've never met or or don't really know
54:04 that well like who donated to my album
54:06 like expecting to get a copy of it later
54:08 and then here I I mean we just finished
54:10 doing a live session and those songs are
54:12 like definitely not for even people who
54:16 know me personally you know what I mean
54:17 I would rather have people who don't
54:19 know me personally listen to and enjoy
54:20 my music than people who don't do know
54:23 me personally because you have a nice
54:24 voice by the way thank you um thank you
54:27 dragged across gravel over thank you
54:29 very much yeah Rob just did a live
54:32 session it was glorious first person is
54:34 singing to my new mic sounded good it's
54:37 good I will I will know yeah when I when
54:40 I hear it back it's a beautiful looking
54:41 mic the design of it is very uh it's got
54:44 like that faux leather on it if you I
54:46 mean it looks like yeah if you put Wings
54:47 on that thing I bet it's like I bet it
54:49 sails through the air you know it's
54:51 aerodynamic it flies it's uh Stevie
54:54 Nixon and uh Kevin Parker singing into
54:57 those mics from uh D Paulo and uh well
55:01 whatever Stevie Nix is doing now I don't
55:03 know yeah probably just chilling on her
55:06 royalties for quite some time you know a
55:08 lot of the people I think that like
55:11 started the crusade of complaining about
55:13 artists not getting paid were high- paid
55:16 artists oh absolutely who saw who saw
55:19 their they saw fun La homes go down like
55:23 no just crumbling and they scrambled and
55:25 they like put out a lot of propaganda
55:28 that a lot of like lower lower tier in
55:31 terms of visibility
55:33 artists uh you know saw like absorbed a
55:37 lot of that propaganda and like
55:38 reappropriated into I'm not getting paid
55:41 enough MH uh maybe maybe I'm just maybe
55:44 I'm maybe that's unfair UNF a different
55:47 era of selling records that is a that is
55:50 something that is completely true bands
55:52 have always made money off merch they
55:53 still do bands have always gotten paid
55:55 to play Sur they still do but where the
55:57 difference is between 2000 and before
56:00 and now that's just the number I thre
56:02 out there but it's hard to say exactly
56:04 when is because you could just stream
56:07 everything you KN only people I know
56:09 just don't buy records or CDs are out
56:11 but don't buy records or cassettes CU
56:12 it's like they don't have the money for
56:14 or just don't feel like giving up their
56:15 bad habit to put the money towards art
56:18 uh that's a lot of people back in the
56:20 day the only way to get music was you to
56:22 buy the CD the cassette the eight track
56:24 or the
56:26 the other thing I see a lot is like
56:27 people throwing out these figures that
56:29 are like well you know if you break it
56:31 all down like it costs like $10,000 to
56:34 make a record and like how are you going
56:35 to make that back and I'm like okay it
56:38 shouldn't cost you
56:40 $10,000 records technically after I paid
56:42 for everything I've been making records
56:43 for free for quite some time especially
56:45 if you are a part of your music scene
56:47 and you are like up in your music scene
56:50 and your music is good people will want
56:52 to work with you and they will like they
56:55 want to be a part of it and they want to
56:57 see that record get made because they
56:58 believe in you they're not going to
56:59 charge you 10 grand I've made some
57:01 epically long time time consuming
57:04 records I don't think I've ever made
57:05 like over $2,000 on like the longest
57:08 form record I've ever made it's probably
57:09 never been more than that we're talking
57:11 months years of like overdubbing and
57:14 just taking our time with it yeah no
57:16 it's like I'm not yeah and I'm not like
57:18 there are first of all you might have to
57:19 lower your expectations that might be it
57:21 maybe you're not going to be recording
57:23 at Electric Lady Land
57:25 or right you know or electrical audio
57:29 you know you might have to go down to
57:31 the $500 studio and like that's fine
57:33 start somewhere but yeah that that's
57:36 what I'm getting at is the complaints or
57:38 the um the concern with the gofund me
57:41 Kickstarter records it's always
57:42 something trying to raise 10 15 grand
57:44 for record it's like whoa whoa whoa whoa
57:45 what are you doing go to the place
57:47 that's going to cost you a th000 bucks
57:49 or the person who's in a band Who
57:52 records a bunch of other bands in your
57:53 scene who has the gear and you give him
57:55 two grand and there's your record like
57:57 easily no no anywhere in this country
58:00 you can do that absolutely so when
58:03 people want to go to some fancy you know
58:05 why they want to do it because it looks
58:07 great on the gram another looks really
58:09 good on Facebook and the gram that
58:11 you're in a real air quotes real studio
58:13 uh not to like not not to like total non
58:16 Seer but I I was just thinking about
58:18 we're talking about all this stuff and
58:20 the cost of making like a a record in
58:22 which you're ATT tracking uh in which
58:24 you're tracking acoustic instruments and
58:26 in a studio that looks like the one
58:28 we're in now and Etc um is uh the
58:33 accessibility of recording and creating
58:35 hip hop allows people to do it at a much
58:38 more frequent rate uh which is why you
58:42 know a rapper can put out like three or
58:44 four mixtapes in a year where it might
58:46 take a year and a half for a band to
58:48 come out with an album I think there's
58:50 value in both of those and I don't think
58:52 that like I don't think that
58:55 the um the the quality or the the
58:58 staying power uh is necessarily like you
59:04 know um one is like better than the
59:06 other or whatever I'm like okay I like
59:09 like this rapper that I'm kind of
59:10 obsessed with right now that I was
59:12 showing you in the car Midwest this kid
59:14 is like he's cranking [ __ ] out and it's
59:17 like it's all super cool and dope but
59:19 it's like there's new stuff out all the
59:21 time and he's like we are in kind of a
59:24 content creation like world and
59:27 Marketplace so the there is value in
59:29 putting out music that fast but there
59:33 are always going to be you know fans of
59:36 guitar music uh who are willing to wait
59:40 for the next you know lamda record to
59:42 come out or whatever and they're not in
59:44 a rush they're not like why the [ __ ] has
59:46 lamda not put out another album it's
59:49 been two years you know like I just
59:52 don't see that kind of like command or
59:55 whatever you know it's different for
59:56 different styles and also like Playboy
59:58 cardi Travis Scott like they they take
60:00 [ __ ] three years to put out a record
60:02 and those are much more like elevated
60:04 hip-hop records there's a lot more like
60:05 production put into those they also can
60:07 they could afford to take their time
60:09 right exactly yeah you know Kendrick was
60:11 able to take five years between Dam and
60:14 Mr morale like cuz he probably is worth
60:17 $100 million yeah he do he could sit for
60:21 matter I also understand that it's
60:22 actually more financially viable or um
60:26 it makes more sense for like um like a
60:29 large art artist like you know to um to
60:33 just be playing shows all the time
60:35 because they're making you know 50 to
60:37 100,000 um dollars just for a
60:41 performance midrange by the way yeah
60:44 well sure I was thinking yeah like yeah
60:46 like uh you know like a rapper like so
60:47 like Don Oliver or something you know
60:49 okay he's going to get paid like he
60:51 might be play getting paid like 80 to
60:53 play at a festival or something you know
60:55 um and who knows how much he's making on
60:58 his on on on an album sure they probably
61:01 press it to vinyl but like those artists
61:03 are making a lot off of streams M um you
61:07 know I see a lot of like okay if you
61:09 spent $10,000 on your record so like say
61:11 there's like somebody saying oh if you
61:13 made a record for $10,000 you would have
61:16 to get a million streams to make that
61:19 money back and I'm like yeah if you made
61:21 a record for
61:22 $10,000 you should get a million
61:24 like that should be that hard for you to
61:26 do you're putting in that kind of
61:27 quality I know I know bedroom pop
61:29 artists from Philly who like plenty of
61:31 them who have like more than more than a
61:34 million streams per song and they
61:37 probably made that record for the cost
61:38 of the gear that it
61:40 ,00 Buck yeah I my advice to musicians
61:45 out there is buy a couple microphones
61:48 buy an interface buy some cables and
61:50 some stands and just make records on
61:52 your own and collect stuff with other
61:54 people and collaborate and come together
61:56 with other likeminded producers ask
61:58 questions learn read some books take
62:00 some courses get certified watch YouTube
62:03 you can do it yourself my advice stop
62:05 making music sell all your [ __ ] gear
62:08 invest it in my new Bitcoin in my new
62:11 coin I've got a great coin for you joins
62:14 coin joins
62:17 coin uh join do you have any uh
62:20 cryptocurrency do you own any cryptocur
62:22 currency no I am a gambler do you hear a
62:24 lot of the the the tech people around
62:26 you talk about it there are no tech
62:28 people around me no like where you said
62:30 and they go to the bar I don't talk to
62:31 those people you just serve them take
62:33 their money yeah do they tip well no so
62:36 on uh yeah Friday or Saturday night
62:37 we're talking like 10% gratuiti really
62:40 like when I walk like what I rang from
62:42 these people who all make over six
62:43 figures each wow yeah but you know you
62:45 got to think like I'm I'm I I have like
62:47 400 transactions in a night a lot of
62:49 those people their mentality is well
62:51 everyone else is going to tip this guy
62:52 so what does it matter if I give him
62:53 nothing you know yeah if I have a night
62:55 where it's like I'm only ringing like so
62:57 that's if I'm like you know ringing like
62:59 um you know $3,000 on one till um with
63:04 like three other bartenders behind the
63:06 bar with me all with their tills like
63:08 but if it's like you know if I'm like if
63:11 it's like a slow night and I'm at the
63:13 upstairs bar we have two bars at my bar
63:15 like and it's like all regulars and I
63:17 only ring like $600 I'm probably going
63:19 to make 30% gratuiti maybe more so uh
63:22 because those people they know me and
63:24 I'm giving them more like FaceTime like
63:26 what's the biggest tip you ever
63:28 got
63:30 um during right before the pandemic uh
63:33 when when it was clear that actually the
63:35 night that everything shut down was my
63:37 birthday um birthday March 15th 16th
63:40 yeah was close right uh yeah or the yeah
63:42 the day before my birthday whatever it
63:43 was gu is weird uh yeah it I definitely
63:45 remember that it was my my birthday was
63:47 the day that they came in and said it
63:49 was Monday the 16th right I guess yeah
63:51 and they came in and they said we're
63:53 shut down this is the last night whever
63:54 that bar never reopened uh that was a
63:57 gay bar that I was working at and uh and
64:00 a guy who owns another gay bar one of
64:02 the like other like uh bar owners in the
64:04 neighborhood came in and uh gave me like
64:08 $150 $200 tip you know on his like two
64:12 drinks or whatever because like he was
64:14 worried about me 2,000% tip or something
64:16 um yeah shout out so Alex the Admiral
64:19 he's a great guy out of curiosity Billy
64:22 what' you say say shout out to Alex
64:24 Billy that own Admiral in West Seattle
64:26 who gave $200 tips uh also I have been
64:28 given a watch I got a I got a
64:31 watch it was a it was a citizen but it
64:34 was a nice gold watch a watch yeah it's
64:37 probably worth like1 $150 interesting
64:40 tip sorry I forgot my cash at home but
64:42 here's my watch no I told I was just
64:43 chatting up with this guy he was really
64:45 really nice I like watches and uh I was
64:48 telling him I was showing him a watch
64:49 that I was thinking about getting and
64:52 and uh and I was like I really like your
64:53 watch it reminds me of this other other
64:54 one that I've had my eye on and he said
64:56 you and then on his way out he was like
64:57 you know what man just take this cuz he
64:59 was a rich guy you know he was like I
65:01 don't know he just we really hit it off
65:02 and so he just gave me his watch I still
65:04 have it it's a great watch if I was a
65:06 very wealthy person like billionaire
65:08 level I would have so much fun with
65:11 blowing people's minds with tips and
65:13 like donating and stuff you know like
65:16 you see that person on the stade that
65:17 just looks looks coherent and whatnot
65:19 they just need a little bit of money and
65:22 you just I'll just give like $1,000 just
65:24 10 100s just give him a stack and walk
65:26 away I just like walk up to a uh you
65:28 know to a guy that's in a tent and be
65:29 like here's a watch man no here's a d do
65:31 a house I would just mess with people
65:33 just like over the top I me that's not
65:37 sustainable you don't want no I'm
65:38 talking I'm Bill I'm like Jeff Bezos
65:40 like Elon Musk like just hundreds of
65:42 billions you would never be that because
65:44 I know but if I was this is how I get
65:45 back you never would because you're a
65:47 good person you sound like Trevor he
65:49 always gets mad whenever I do
65:50 hypotheticals he can't this this my
65:53 brain does not well you're not an only
65:55 child I called the only child look you
65:57 you don't get to be a billionaire by
65:59 being a good person the two are mutually
66:01 exclusive you cannot be a billionaire
66:03 and a good person at the same time F
66:05 okay I got a trillion dollars in the
66:06 bank right I'm messing with people I
66:09 every tip is like 10 grand no matter
66:11 what it is I buy a coffee at the local
66:13 coffee shop there 10 grand for everyone
66:15 just messing with they're like confused
66:17 like they think it's illegal like no
66:18 it's fine just doing it all the time so
66:21 much fun I don't like this there are
66:23 people that do this on YouTube and it
66:25 makes me very uncomfortable I would go
66:26 above and beyond like way more than like
66:28 a Mr Beast thing like just where someone
66:30 is like I'm going to buy an entire
66:32 grocery store I'm like this is not
66:34 you're doing this out of vanity this is
66:36 not actually like helpful or sustainable
66:38 for helping Community would buy anything
66:39 I would just give people stuff all the
66:41 time all the time you just be like just
66:44 a maniacal Willy Wonka just handing out
66:46 bills like that why why not do something
66:50 that's more sustainable I would do that
66:52 too I would have I would start and and
66:54 have events and whatnot and you know
66:56 everyone clap when I walk around you
66:58 know just imagining you going like full
67:00 like like like benevolent Mr
67:02 Burns SMS yeah and like I'm I'm just
67:06 like you don't need to do that Rick
67:07 Steve so I live in I live in Shoreline
67:09 and just north of me and Edmonds Rick
67:10 Steve do you know Rick Steves um it's a
67:12 travel show guy okay through Europe
67:14 through the back door with Rick Steves
67:15 okay and he bought um I would say he's
67:18 like Rich necessary I mean he's like a
67:20 successful you know public television
67:22 personality he does well I'm sure he
67:24 bought uh like a a motel uh up in Edmond
67:27 and repurposed it into a women's shelter
67:30 like that's and and like it's a
67:32 sustainable thing that I defit do things
67:34 like that why don't that's some real
67:36 that's some real like walk in the walk
67:38 in the walk you know [ __ ] I wish more
67:41 people did that that have the means to
67:42 you know if you think about what Jeff
67:44 Jeff Bezos like gives away charitably
67:46 like his philanthropic and you know um
67:49 Endeavors are like me giving $5 to a
67:55 panhandler
67:57 is on ratio like percentile wise is more
68:01 than he's ever done like period like
68:03 trust me I know I know I I I don't have
68:07 a lot of money so I give my
68:10 time my education and my um life life
68:16 abilities to people I also think that e
68:18 like uh even like if you were to total
68:21 up all of your gear and add that into
68:23 your you would be like net worth
68:26 um you giving that away would be less
68:29 valuable than than you like what what
68:31 you do which is like give the like the
68:33 music Community an opportunity to do
68:35 things absolutely using this space and
68:37 this gear and your knowhow to do all of
68:39 that stuff you can't even you can't put
68:41 a dollar amount on that no I mean that's
68:43 what I've been doing for you know 13
68:45 years is that yeah and and uh that's
68:49 that's my way of understanding how to
68:51 give back because I don't have the means
68:53 I I don't come from any means to give
68:57 Financial you know to give money to
68:59 things so I just give time experience my
69:02 my my hands you know my muscles I give
69:03 what my body like it's Priceless so I
69:06 could just do that this is Ben's body
69:08 broken for
69:09 you that just sounded kind of kind of
69:12 creepy Jesus I just came from uh uh you
69:16 know so I'm here in beautiful Chicago I
69:19 land
69:20 yesterday I came uh I didn't sleep all
69:22 the night before cuz I closed the bar
69:24 caught an early flight I'm just
69:26 recounting for the listener at home my
69:27 my adventure here um uh I I caught my
69:30 early morning went straight to the
69:32 airport lost two hours on the flight
69:33 here so what time give them a time they
69:35 don't know what time it is right now uh
69:37 well right now no no in the story you
69:39 haven't said a time yet yeah so like I I
69:41 flew out at 5:30 in the morning work uh
69:46 2 A.M see this is really 2 this
69:48 important for the listener to understand
69:50 the narrative cuz you didn't say any
69:52 times you just said I didn't sleep yeah
69:53 closed the bar I went home I got my
69:55 luggage uh I got to the airport my
69:58 partner drove me to the airport flew out
70:00 lost two hours so I landed here at noon
70:02 ouch I got um I got here um uh and
70:07 dropped my stuff off and Trevor was
70:11 working from home so he he lets me in I
70:12 come down and I to this nice situation
70:15 that you guys have for me to my
70:17 accommodations and I tried to take a nap
70:19 but I'm in a new city I'm excited I
70:21 haven't been to Chicago in 6 years I was
70:23 like like I couldn't sleep so even
70:25 though I was like I was so tired I was
70:27 like I'm going to get up and I'm going
70:28 to go to the Art Institute um and I'm
70:33 there the art insute of Chicago Museum
70:35 yes beautiful overwhelming Museum Top
70:38 Notch it keeps winning best museum in
70:40 the world too and over again to look at
70:42 it's I I got there and I had to I wanted
70:45 to get a cup of coffee and I had to go
70:47 to the bathroom so I went to like the
70:48 cafe or whatever just walking to the
70:52 bathroom in the cafe I like just breezed
70:55 past you know all of these classic
70:59 iconic images and I was just like [ __ ]
71:02 me God damn it it has legendary
71:04 paintings yeah I'm like spoiling it all
71:06 for myself but also just like it was
71:08 just like Waltzing past you know some of
71:11 the most iconic art in the history of of
71:14 humans and um and so then I was like
71:17 okay I go back to uh Renaissance and
71:20 medieval section which is what I was
71:22 most excited to like look at and see and
71:26 oh man hour three I haven't even left
71:29 the like the the medieval like
71:31 Renaissance like Hall and uh and I'm
71:34 starting to get real woozy um I I like
71:36 it's catching up with me I'm starting to
71:38 get I'm starting to hallucinate I'm
71:40 starting to feel kind of high and I'm
71:43 like I'm looking around at all these um
71:46 these students who are scribbling in
71:48 their
71:48 notebooks um you know they have like
71:51 their high school students like having
71:53 to do I'm like oh my gosh this must be
71:55 horrible for you that you have to look
71:56 at this like rendering of the
71:58 crucifixion you know the the passion
72:00 story or whatever you know um me and and
72:04 I'm just like here to just enjoy it and
72:06 I don't have to write a paper and then
72:08 I'm like okay I'm going to hit the wall
72:10 soon I'm gonna I'm going to pass out if
72:12 I don't get out of here so I beIN for
72:15 the impressionism section well you don't
72:17 need much thought for you just go
72:19 impression I get to I get to already I
72:22 Breeze past
72:24 I get to Van go so easy to and and and
72:28 I'm and I'm looking at and there's all
72:29 these people like taking pictures on
72:31 their phones of like you know of of the
72:34 bedroom and the self-portrait and
72:36 they're like 5T away and I'm like with
72:39 my face like 8 Ines from the from the
72:42 self-portrait looking at all the brush
72:44 strokes and they're starting to move and
72:45 I feel like and I'm like looking around
72:47 being like these people have never
72:48 dropped acid they don't even know you
72:50 can't enjoy van go if you've never done
72:53 acid and uh and then I and then I was
72:56 like tunnel vision and I like and I just
73:00 I I booked it out of there I went to the
73:01 red line I took the train back here and
73:04 um yeah that's my that's my uh that's my
73:06 art institute did you go to like State
73:08 and Lake Red Line it was um I just
73:12 walked up two blocks to um Monroe in
73:15 state on road line yeah and uh to 35th
73:18 it's great right so convenient it's fast
73:20 it is it's a little far the walk from
73:22 the station to your house is you have to
73:23 walk past the white so Stadium it's like
73:25 a half mile not bad the white sock
73:28 stadium is called something really weird
73:30 it's called like guaranteed R Stadium or
73:32 something used to be it used to be us
73:34 seller before that then it was kamsky
73:35 before that people complain about um you
73:38 know uh T-mobile Park used to be safe Co
73:40 and Lumen uh used to be sentury link
73:43 they called the clink and I'm like I had
73:47 no problem adjusting I like what's the
73:49 difference between sentury link and
73:50 Lumen they're both just you know they're
73:52 both like
73:53 uh you know phone company monopolies who
73:56 cares what we call the Stadium you know
73:58 but I I think I might have a problem
74:00 referring to uh a ballpark as Guaranteed
74:03 Rate stadium that just it doesn't roll
74:06 off the tongue it's a weird collection
74:08 of the tongue it didn't roll off the
74:10 tongue when it was us cell cell I can't
74:13 speak I can't speak I can't even say it
74:15 kamis I still call it kamsky okay see I
74:18 don't like that I don't like like
74:20 calling a ballpark something that it
74:21 used to be because I'm just like that's
74:24 just confusing for everybody just call
74:25 it what they call it it's confusing for
74:27 people who aren't from around here if
74:28 you're from around here and you say
74:29 kamsky 100% of everyone knows cuz
74:31 they're all from here but like you know
74:33 lum's been Lumen for two years people
74:35 are still calling it centry link or
74:36 whatever people are T-mobile's been that
74:38 for yeah for several years uh people and
74:41 and and I'm like I'm like what brand
74:43 loyalty do you have to safco insurance
74:46 company you know that you don't to
74:49 T-Mobile it's just what you learn and
74:50 you stick to it I at least have T-Mobile
74:53 you know Key Arena listen what do you
74:55 call the tallest building in the
74:58 midwest um it's in Chicago yeah yeah
75:01 yeah I know oh God what's it called [ __ ]
75:03 me you're hurting my feelings right now
75:05 you're hurting my feelings legendary
75:07 building now was the tallest building in
75:09 the world for like 23 years it's not
75:11 it's not SE Sears Tower is it well it is
75:14 the Sears Tower but it's actually not
75:15 it's the Willis Tower okay but no one
75:17 calls it the Willis Tower well it's
75:19 Willis Willis Willis Tower yes but it's
75:22 the Sears Tower
75:23 even though it's not just like it's not
75:25 kamsky it's you know great well it's
75:29 been Willis for a while like 20 years or
75:31 so yeah well thank you for informing me
75:33 of that cuz now I'm going to only refer
75:34 to it as Willis to you're going to get
75:35 jumped and I'm not and I'm not going to
75:37 help you I'm like yeah beat his ass he
75:39 deserves it I will help you jump in this
75:43 poser is from Seattle yeah get out of
75:45 here what is this this is an elf bar
75:48 what is it strawberry banana but like
75:51 what is it I don't know it's not a Vape
75:54 it is a vape you were saying everything
75:57 nicotine Vape can I try it sure you
75:59 don't care yeah go for
76:01 it we've holy oh shoot that tastes like
76:05 strawberries and bananas careful I know
76:06 it tastes like a Gogurt that it does
76:09 taste like a Gogurt oh and that's why
76:12 the kids are all addicted to that so
76:15 dangerous it tasted like a Gogurt man we
76:17 don't even know we don't even know the
76:19 kind of you know the kind of health
76:21 effects that this is going to have on
76:22 that is why every time I've tried
76:24 someone's Vape which isn't often it's
76:26 always blows my mind I'm like the
76:27 flavors are potent it's disgusting when
76:30 I had a jewel back in back in the jewel
76:32 days uh I just had the like original
76:35 flavor which was just like it just kind
76:36 of tasted like tobacco MH and I was like
76:39 I hated I hate the flavors I don't want
76:41 I I'll take tobacco or mentol that's all
76:43 I want um and uh and then now and then I
76:46 like and then I quit you know sigs
76:49 vaping all that stuff and I don't really
76:51 know how it started back up again but
76:53 but I'm just like everyone else I'm
76:55 whipped by these Vapes and you know and
76:57 I just and you can puff on it all day
76:58 long it's like a portable hookah I take
77:00 it to shows you know I'm I'm at I'm at
77:02 the symphony the other day and I'm in
77:04 the bathroom smoking this [ __ ] thing
77:07 between between the conero and the and
77:11 strain between Moonlight Sonata and
77:14 Stravinsky canid and D um fire bird I
77:17 think is what I saw yeah and uh and so
77:20 I'm at such an interesting Benoy Hall
77:23 puffing on my [ __ ] elf bar I'm the
77:25 only I'm wearing music you like it's so
77:27 wide I'm like I'm like everyone's all
77:28 dressed up I'm wearing like a denim vest
77:30 and a shirt from the movie Society I
77:33 don't know if you know you ever seen the
77:34 movie Society it's a melt movie I know I
77:37 know Menace is society but I've never
77:38 seen and the shirt has blood stains all
77:40 over it that's it's like a white shirt
77:42 that has like red dye all over it or
77:44 it's from the movie yeah I mean it's
77:46 just the shirt is it's a it's a fan art
77:48 it's a I bought it off of an artist and
77:51 um and yeah and here I am wearing my my
77:54 vest and my and my Society shirt and my
77:58 and my white high tops and I mean it was
78:00 a mat so people don't really get dressed
78:02 up for the MAA but like there were a lot
78:03 of people in suits and I definitely felt
78:05 I was like I'm [ __ ] it I'm wearing my
78:07 sunglasses inside let's go so did you
78:10 you wore your sunglasses inside yeah
78:12 interesting yeah I was like I want
78:14 what's your vision cuz you were saying
78:15 you need glasses what's my vision like
78:19 what what what what the numbers that how
78:21 should I know oh I haven't been to an
78:23 optometrist in 12 years oh okay never
78:26 mind then yeah because I'm saying if you
78:28 wear sunglasses inside and you can't see
78:31 well it's probably really really hard to
78:32 see yeah but you don't need to see you
78:34 just listen it's true it is it is just
78:37 sound yeah I mean I had great seats I
78:39 was like five rows back from the stage
78:41 so yeah I like to watch the you know the
78:44 the the performers you know and that's
78:46 what what you go to live Symphony for is
78:49 to you know to see it done live that's
78:50 the way it's meant to be enjoyed what
78:52 was your what has been your favorite
78:54 Concert Experience like the best one
78:55 you've like in every way all around the
78:58 best concert I've ever been to In My
78:59 Life yeah that's not fair you can't how
79:01 about this one one of your favorites
79:03 like you can't do that extremely
79:05 rememberable maybe not best but like it
79:07 pops in your head when you think of this
79:09 question a couple pop up which one just
79:11 choose any of them I mean the first one
79:12 that just like popped into my brain was
79:14 the last time I saw mwai was at the Show
79:16 Box uh downtown and um I've seen mwai a
79:20 couple of times uh that was really
79:23 really great
79:25 um you know I one one that comes to mind
79:29 is uh Sasquatch 2010 I believe I saw
79:33 Bona touring on Forma forever and and he
79:36 was on the small stage cuz you know that
79:38 was back before you were young 18 I was
79:41 16 16 um and um yeah that one that that
79:45 comes to mind
79:47 um you know and then and then a lot of
79:50 them are are like artists that you know
79:52 know you like that you probably even
79:55 heard of because they're like it was
79:56 like my friend's brother in a basement
79:58 you know kind of thing or whatever so
80:00 it's like the most some of the most
80:02 emotional concerts for me like okay so
80:05 we just
80:06 um Trevor and I just uh were're at this
80:09 wedding which is like kind of how we
80:10 reconnected in therefore for why I'm
80:11 here in Chicago visiting and and uh
80:14 we're at this wedding and we were
80:16 groomsmen quter quane it was in quane
80:19 Idaho and we're we're groomsmen so
80:21 there's a there's you know the there
80:23 there's like the bachelor party and the
80:24 wedding rehearsal day before the act
80:25 before all the everybody else all the
80:27 other guests show up and the and the
80:29 actual ceremony happens and everything
80:31 they had a lovely um day for just the
80:35 you know just the the the family and and
80:38 the wedding party and um the uh the
80:42 bride McKenzie her brother Nate who's a
80:45 guy I grew up with played oh so Trevor
80:48 played I played and then Nate played and
80:50 and truly he only did covers which is
80:52 like he he makes his own music and he's
80:54 a great artist but I I cried I mean it
80:57 was absolutely beautiful like that's
80:59 that's the most recent performance that
81:01 moved me to tears you know um cuz he did
81:04 songs that were their favorites you know
81:06 and uh and like he just oh my gosh he's
81:09 got this kind of James Taylor quality to
81:11 his voice that's very like like kind of
81:13 soft and round and feels like a like a
81:16 like a comfy pillow or whatever and just
81:19 a beautiful um so that was yeah that was
81:21 really nice
81:23 um in terms of
81:26 um uh symphonic or you know orchestral
81:29 music or whatever I I saw um rock Mon's
81:32 first two um piano concertos this year
81:36 that was really emotional because the uh
81:39 that second piano coner is like one of
81:40 my favorite pieces of music of all time
81:43 um and you play piano right I do not
81:46 like that how long have you been playing
81:49 I started taking lessons I was like
81:50 seven years old you still do
81:53 uh I did take
81:56 lessons I I so the the the history of me
81:59 like playing piano is um I did like you
82:02 know your standard like you know CDE e f
82:07 g g g g f e d CCC you know you just
82:11 start like with that you know and that's
82:12 how you learn to read and everything you
82:14 know you're a little baby and then uh
82:16 and then then I then then then comes the
82:19 bo you know the like the more like the
82:21 teaching pieces the bo
82:23 and uh and I was taking lessons from the
82:25 organist at our church um and uh then I
82:30 I had a teacher named Kristen who was in
82:32 my mom's band and your mom had a band
82:36 we're we're not talking about it um wait
82:38 wait wait wait wait wait I'll respect
82:41 that but my mom my mom was in a lot of
82:43 bands but like Christian rock band yeah
82:46 that's awesome she's a jazz singer
82:47 though she uh that's great she seems I
82:49 thought your mom's I thought you like
82:51 saying like that was one of your first
82:52 band names like my mom's like the band
82:54 name is called my mom's band that is an
82:57 it's an okay I didn't say it was good or
82:58 bad name I just thought mean then I
83:00 realize like Oh you mean like your mom I
83:02 mean I'll say like anyone listening free
83:04 to use my mom's band it's out there you
83:06 know your with Ben's permission are you
83:08 okay with I'm fine with it intellectual
83:10 property I have a I have a lot of band
83:12 names that I like you know um but wait
83:16 so your mom cuz I always say there's
83:17 only like there's only like five good
83:18 band names and they're all taken you
83:20 know what I
83:21 mean um man like probably like duster
83:25 that that's a good band name yeah duster
83:27 Unwound great band name um yeah you know
83:31 what I mean uh I feel like I can predict
83:33 the style of Music These are so far the
83:35 seeds the seeds is a great band name um
83:39 so far you're 0 for three you don't like
83:41 any of these band names I think they're
83:43 fine but you're like there's only five
83:44 great ones not great oh said five good
83:47 the rest are like just passable or or
83:50 range from passable to terrible good
83:52 band names out there name them I think
83:54 Sonic Hugh is a pretty cool band name bo
83:56 you don't because you don't like 90s
83:58 music that's why I love Sonic Hugh it's
84:01 a fine band name you don't think it's a
84:03 good name I think it's a really
84:04 interesting name is is I mean obviously
84:06 it probably wasn't when they were around
84:08 but like youth is way like played out in
84:11 in oh yeah that's I'm saying relative to
84:13 the time yeah 1981 no one in the world
84:15 has a band name like that um Talking
84:18 Heads is not too bad it's pretty Talking
84:19 Heads is good not too bad uh radio isn't
84:22 that too it's not too bad for how
84:24 popular is it's not the best but it's
84:25 not bad fine just makes me think of the
84:27 iron ran novel Fountain Head
84:31 um if Nirvana didn't get so big if you
84:35 were to keep it just like underground
84:37 like a garage Rock punk rock grun rock
84:40 band it's not a bad name cuz who in the
84:42 world even knew what that meant in 1989
84:43 we have no internet no one could Google
84:45 Buddhist information Buddhists knew well
84:48 they knew but like that's that's an
84:50 interesting word and they were like they
84:51 were like man you CED our stees you know
84:54 what I'm saying that's like a new word I
84:56 don't know if you ever met a Buddhist
84:57 but that was Flawless impression have
85:00 not met a Buddhist you need to inter
85:02 interview one for the Pod something I'm
85:04 going to try to do you got Steve Albini
85:06 how hard can the dolly llama be just
85:09 call up the doll to have my tongue put
85:11 in his mouth or
85:13 something I might do it cuz I'm not a
85:16 child you might do it I would do it I'd
85:19 do it the dolly I'd be like I'll do it
85:21 if you do it for me doll Lama I'm all
85:23 about stories and experiences and tongue
85:26 kissing the doll I get to say that the
85:28 doll llama sucked in my tongue yeah uh I
85:31 don't know I I could live myself okay
85:32 new band name Dolly llama tongue sucker
85:35 there you go Dolly llama Tong sucker uh
85:37 okay so um yeah so the um the
85:40 keyboardist in my in my in one of my
85:42 mom's like yeah Christian rock bands uh
85:44 she taught me um like uh so so her thing
85:49 was
85:51 um uh bring me chord charts and I
85:55 will like teach you how to rever oh my
85:57 God okay for the viewer at home Ben is
85:59 getting ripped off this [ __ ] nck
86:03 Nicki Vape I'm in a candy store with
86:05 that thing yeah um so she would have me
86:08 bring like death cab songs like chord
86:10 charts like guitar guitar um uh tabs and
86:14 stuff and we would like reverse engineer
86:17 how to play a Ben fold song or an Elton
86:18 John song or whatever just from ear
86:20 using only the chords
86:22 um then I was in you know band and
86:26 Orchestra winter drum line you know did
86:29 you play piano and
86:31 play xylophone vione
86:35 monea
86:36 morba like wait you're making up ban
86:39 phone B so did you go into the
86:42 percussion World cuz those are starting
86:43 to getting percussive inst uh my brother
86:45 was on the drum lines so that was how I
86:47 got into marching band and stuff
86:48 marching band was awesome so nepotism as
86:50 always it's always no yeah right yeah I
86:52 I just I was in I was in the pit I was a
86:55 keyboardist so that's what they do you
86:56 don't March wait did your mom go far
86:59 with her music in the in the band she
87:01 was in uh let's put it this way a
87:05 personal go my mom asked me like what
87:07 would it mean wait wait wait let me
87:09 guess something sorry to cut you off you
87:10 said Christian rock
87:12 bands uh and Jazz but a lot of big band
87:16 jazz like Andrew sisters kind of stuff
87:19 but Christian
87:21 rock you do any Christian why you why
87:23 are you so yes why you why you cuz I
87:25 don't want people to Google this [ __ ]
87:27 it's my bread and butter I grew up on
87:28 that so my first people always say like
87:30 oh my first concert it was like I was
87:32 like 15 or 16 I was like bro I've been
87:34 going to concert since I was born it
87:36 wasn't until 15 that they went to
87:38 secular before that it was all Christian
87:40 so because I grew up heavily in the
87:41 Christian world and Christian rock so
87:45 like you know uh Amy Grant Carmen Avalon
87:49 News
87:51 Boys Jars of Clay uh I mean Jars of Clay
87:54 still [ __ ] can we just talk about that
87:56 hey we're talking Christian don't bring
87:58 the f word in
87:59 here they [ __ ] for Jesus dude you know
88:01 what I'm saying like the bands I just
88:03 named I can I I know a lot of that era
88:06 the 9s Christian rock alterer rock used
88:09 to always go to this Christian music
88:10 festival called pulse in South Bend
88:13 Indiana um yeah so I was just wondering
88:16 switch foot well they Switchfoot was
88:19 doing what like pod and like these bands
88:22 they're like we're Christian but like
88:25 they were just trying to double dip mhm
88:27 that's what they were doing like they're
88:28 kind of Christian but like you like
88:29 they're music you can take either way
88:31 depending on how you interpret the and
88:32 that's why the music industry now is
88:34 broken because Christian crossover bands
88:37 don't have a chance anymore that's for
88:39 all you listeners out there thinking oh
88:42 Rob thinks that the music industry is
88:45 better I did my back hurts oh what do
88:47 you mean it hurts I just got to lean
88:49 forward do you need this to go up this
88:51 is fine and then way you could SK up
88:52 closer I don't all right this is no
88:54 editing no editing on I want you to be
88:56 too out of frame bending brains we don't
88:57 edit here that's one rule um yeah yeah
89:00 for all you people thinking oh Rob is
89:02 like sing for the way the music industry
89:04 is now did your play with like those
89:07 kind of artists Psych the music industry
89:08 is broken because Christian crossover
89:10 bands can't make it in this world
89:11 anymore they can't double dip they have
89:14 to stay in their Lane did Mother with
89:16 those bands like not that level no no
89:19 she's older than that um she's older
89:21 than that how old is your mom uh
89:27 68 she would have been of the 80s then
89:30 yeah of that era of Christian music
89:32 right uh yeah but the but this band it
89:35 was a contemporary like Christian music
89:38 band whatever and uh so that so yeah so
89:41 that's um she was playing for Billy
89:42 Graham okay I get it now yeah like
89:45 worship yeah worship team kind of music
89:48 um and um yeah so that that but I I
89:52 always say that that that piano teacher
89:53 like Kristen she really unlocked that
89:55 like my playing style as it remains to
89:57 this day um how I play is because of the
90:01 way that she taught me to like to block
90:04 chords and stuff you know I do a lot of
90:06 like fifths and sevenths and stuff on my
90:08 in my left hand and and a lot of leads
90:11 on my right you know um and and pretty
90:15 traditional like um rock guitar chord
90:20 progressions and stuff like that pry on
90:22 the on the piano then you've been
90:23 playing a while yeah it's it's like yeah
90:24 it's second nature to me yeah and you
90:26 have training so and you you learn how
90:28 to read music and stuff and so this is
90:30 the thing is like so I I like I lost the
90:33 ability to like read music largely and I
90:35 never was very good at it like even when
90:37 I was in marching band one of my best
90:39 friends was the lead of the of of pit
90:41 which is like the the auxiliary that's
90:44 on the sideline in front of the marching
90:46 band um which is like yeah where I was
90:49 like playing you know Vib phone and
90:50 banana phone and stuff
90:52 and uh and um even even a lot of the
90:56 times I would just go over to her house
90:58 and she would site read my parts and
91:00 teach them to me so I didn't have to
91:01 read them because I was just like I
91:02 don't [ __ ] have time for this you
91:04 know I don't I got I got homework to do
91:08 I also I also didn't do the homework so
91:11 um yeah so I yeah it's just all ear you
91:13 know and I don't really like I don't
91:15 really do a lot of covers like uh I'm
91:17 here I'm here in Chicago to see one of
91:19 my favorite artists Kath Bloom tomorrow
91:21 whichever I I have covered a couple of
91:23 her songs and I I do covers for like
91:26 Halloween sets and stuff like for fun
91:28 like fun covers but I'm not really much
91:30 of a cover artist but I'm not one of
91:31 these people that like sits around
91:33 trying to to pluck out like Jeff does
91:35 that a lot at home like he'll be sitting
91:36 at home like learning how to play um you
91:39 know like um like a Neil Young song or
91:42 something that's not really what I do
91:44 look at my life I'm lot like you you
91:49 sound just like him you actually kind of
91:51 sound like a you kind of sound like a
91:54 creaky Old Prospector like remember when
91:57 he took his music off Spotify you're
91:59 like well what a move must have been
92:02 really hard I got a big pile of gold in
92:04 my mind and I'm going to take it away
92:07 from spottify I love nothing more than
92:10 one really really really really really
92:12 really really rich and successful people
92:14 do something so darn bold and brave that
92:16 doesn't affect their life at all
92:18 spotify's trying to steal my gold it's
92:20 so goofy like people always respect like
92:23 what do you mean these people can afford
92:25 to do it it doesn't do anything what I
92:26 don't understand about Neil Young it
92:28 doesn't do anything like as a as a as a
92:30 figure what I don't understand about
92:32 Neil Young is is he's like all about
92:35 like audio file [ __ ] right like he's
92:37 like all about like it has to be the he
92:40 like designed a thing that was the most
92:42 pure way to like listen to something
92:44 it's like the most true way to listen to
92:47 a vinyl or whatever and I'm like your
92:50 recordings suck like 70% of the time
92:54 like listen to the album mirror
92:57 ball what the [ __ ] was happening in that
93:00 studio like what people need to remember
93:02 it sounds like a it sounds like a line
93:04 six with the bass knob turned all the
93:07 way up spider lion 6 or you know the
93:09 spider the LI 6 Spider terrible with the
93:11 [ __ ] with the base turned like all
93:13 the way up and just FL it sounds ass
93:17 it's the worst guitar tone so I'm like
93:19 wait you really need like the most pure
93:22 way to learn listen to that like you
93:25 know what I mean okay and even like on
93:26 harvest sure you've got like you
93:29 know um you know you've got you've got
93:32 the cuts from Harvest that everybody
93:33 knows you know Heart of Gold and all
93:35 that but like uh you know or uh see the
93:38 Lonely Boy out on the weekend that that
93:42 acoustic is really crispy it sounds
93:44 beautiful really true kind of vintage
93:46 beautiful like analog sounding tone but
93:49 you get later into the record and
93:51 there's like weird like quasi live
93:54 sounding recordings where he's like
93:57 hitting wrong notes in the solo I'm like
94:00 on his most popular record so I'm like
94:03 why are you the one that's telling me
94:05 the way that that I can't listen to your
94:07 music through earphones doesn't get
94:09 better
94:12 than people who are and and you know
94:14 what here I've said it so Neil Young at
94:17 me bro at
94:20 me
94:22 Hit The Vape mic drop I have hit me up
94:25 on X bro I don't have much patience for
94:28 um big artists that are pushy with tech
94:32 and quality and stuff they don't really
94:34 know what they're talking about like
94:35 they're just artists they're not
94:36 Engineers they're not they're not
94:38 engineer producers that are trained in
94:40 like research this stuff and do the math
94:42 and they're not they don't know how to
94:44 do any of that stuff and that's fine
94:46 that's fine but like no like know that
94:49 about them when you listen to them
94:50 they're not gods they're just humans
94:52 they're promoted at the right time by
94:54 the right people and they got the yes
94:55 stamp of approval by the industry and
94:57 that's about as far as it goes and their
94:58 skill and talent that's my word on it
95:01 I've heard just as many good musicians
95:03 at the lowest lowest Echelon of Fame and
95:06 I've heard great ones at the top and the
95:08 difference is who's promoted more by the
95:11 entities that say they want to the power
95:13 as it be it's that simple it's the same
95:15 with movies it's it's it's all the same
95:18 it is uh it is interesting well we talk
95:21 about that with movies that's that's a
95:22 hot take but I will say in terms of just
95:24 like a solo artist writing music like
95:27 the uh like like the people who are like
95:29 held as like Gods you know like oh it's
95:31 a well it's [ __ ] it's Fleetwood Mack
95:34 or it's like you know it's it's Jimmy
95:35 Hendricks or oh my God it's Joe Walsh
95:37 whatever like I'm like yeah but like you
95:40 ever heard of swirlees you know what I
95:42 mean the don't even talk about the swir
95:43 swirly's the greatest band all time I'm
95:46 going to do a session with them shut the
95:48 [ __ ] up I'm not going to shut the [ __ ]
95:49 up you shut the [ __ ] shut the [ __ ] up
95:51 bro I just saw them so I saw them at um
95:54 I saw them in Seattle and Bellingham
95:56 last time they were on tour which this
95:57 is like years ago now it's like five
95:58 years ago before the pandemic and uh
96:00 you're like the third person in my life
96:01 that knows them and they're like and
96:03 they and they literally like they rolled
96:05 up I I got to the venue and like they
96:08 were touring in the grossest like old
96:11 ass van and like and I was like and I'm
96:14 like this van this band deserves the bus
96:16 dude like they need ni po coming down
96:20 the stairs upstairs not when you come
96:21 down the stairs to our bedrooms come
96:23 down I have the swirly poster with the
96:25 guy lighting a fire with the spray can
96:27 it came in my broke di car vinyl I have
96:29 all their vinyl they finally released
96:31 two years ago we spent our wild youth
96:33 fers in the glitter saloons finally one
96:35 of the greatest records of all time it's
96:36 it's top top five records for me of all
96:39 time one of the greatest openings for a
96:40 record of all time the way that record
96:42 opens is
96:46 mind needs to be on a m rush I'm like
96:49 you don't talk to me 65-year-old man you
96:51 do not talk to me about the [ __ ]
96:54 beetles like I don't want to hear about
96:57 it the swirlies are my Beetles the
96:59 swirlies are so good so unbelievably
97:02 underrated for what they did with sound
97:04 in the '90s and they were like that was
97:07 happening at the same time as like
97:08 [ __ ] Pearl
97:10 Jam I don't want to talk about [ __ ]
97:13 Pearl Jam I want to talk about sound
97:16 garden like I can't I need the S I need
97:20 I like those bands too but the it's not
97:21 even the swirlies it's just swires
97:23 talking about good band names that's a
97:24 great band name wish they contined to
97:28 like make music and have more of a thing
97:30 but what are you gonna do welcome to
97:32 swirly's cast the podcast where we talk
97:34 about
97:35 swirlees I I love them I mean I
97:37 literally have met like I said three but
97:39 like seven people my whole life that I
97:42 always left that PO they one of je
97:43 favorite bands he showed me them one it
97:46 it was my indicator this it didn't help
97:48 me at all in college from 18 years old
97:51 to 24 6 years I was single no
97:55 relationship when I went to any parties
97:58 which wasn't often but when I went out
97:59 anywhere the only stipulation for me to
98:01 take anybody seriously by that I mean a
98:04 woman I'm a heterosexual man is I would
98:06 go I'd Lee with do you know the swirlies
98:09 and if they said yes I'm going to try so
98:11 hard to talk to this person 100% of them
98:13 said no so it never work and this is why
98:15 you don't deserve love and no one ever
98:17 wants to date
98:18 you but eventually that came true and
98:21 eventually someone did know them when I
98:23 was much older mhm and that that was
98:25 while I was like wait you do yeah there
98:27 are there are a few bands like you know
98:29 it's funny duster used to be one of
98:31 those bands for me but because of Tik
98:34 Tok and how much their music has been
98:35 proliferated like in the last few years
98:38 it's no longer a metric for like are we
98:40 going to see eye to eye about a lot of
98:42 different kinds of music stuff and what
98:44 quality like what tonality and quality I
98:47 like in music that we will like I I know
98:51 Kath Bloom is one of those artists like
98:53 uh so you know I'm I'm here in Chicago
98:56 to visit you and to visit Trevor and all
98:58 that to visit this lovely city but the
99:01 the like the Catalyst for me coming was
99:03 to come see this artist Kath Bloom and
99:05 very very unknown I would say I would
99:07 say that where's she playing uh she's
99:09 playing at The Hideout nice and uh there
99:12 yeah small venue exactly I mean dude
99:15 she's playing a house show in Pittsburgh
99:17 I mean if I if I had known people in
99:18 Pittsburgh that would like put me up I
99:20 would have gone but I I also maybe need
99:22 to like be at a venue so I can like hide
99:24 from her and not like cuz it's like a
99:25 real metor hero situation that's going
99:27 on here so um so I like don't
99:30 necessarily want to just be like hanging
99:31 out in somebody's backyard with her yet
99:33 uh although I do know two people who
99:35 have played shows with her so she's just
99:38 a person Rob is she though we're all
99:41 just people yeah you know I'm saying
99:42 like no no Joe Walsh is just a person
99:45 don't put anyone on a pedest cath Bloom
99:46 is a God don't put anyone so yeah so
99:50 like I would would say like in terms of
99:52 yeah or like visibility or legendary
99:54 status it's probably somewhere like in
99:56 the ballpark of swirlees so she is one
99:58 of those artists where I'm like if you
99:59 know who [ __ ] Kath Bloom is like
100:01 we're going to get along I've heard of
100:02 her I've never listened to her music do
100:04 you want to go to the show tomorrow I
100:05 can't I won't be around okay well that
100:08 means you're really missing out on a
100:10 once in a-lifetime thing here you know
100:12 it is what it is till it ain't you know
100:15 that's the problem with live music is
100:16 that it is uh it is very um it's here
100:19 and it's gone you know it's happens one
100:21 instant I uh I go to a lot of shows I
100:24 have a really cool show I'm going to
100:25 next week menit trust do you know menit
100:27 trust I do not a really cool like a
100:32 Jazz Low fi IND D soft rock I have some
100:38 of the records with new ler really cool
100:39 band first impression just off the top
100:41 of the Dome I don't trust them
100:44 why I just don't trust that name man I
100:47 trust I was trying to make a joke didn't
100:50 it didn't it's all good really good
100:52 music I'll show you it later I have the
100:53 records from Montreal for The Listener
100:56 at home uh you're going to be missing
100:57 out on the next like five hours of me
100:59 and Ben just screaming at each other as
101:01 we like just share music back and forth
101:04 wait you've never heard of this manand
101:05 wait you've never heard of that band
101:07 it's just going to be that for the rest
101:08 of the day
101:10 so we got a lot of we have enough
101:12 records to appease anyone because there
101:14 every have all the Styles and genres out
101:16 there and yeah I'm I'm happy of my
101:18 swirly's collection I have I think I
101:20 have four four there three and are you
101:24 an Unwound person at all I don't know
101:26 you're not really into post hardcore
101:27 maybe as much I don't know them okay so
101:30 Unwound I it's interesting I've see I've
101:33 found that Unwound is like very very
101:35 known and regarded in the Northwest it's
101:38 actually very Regional uh and I don't
101:41 feel like their reach is maybe as wide
101:44 elsewhere uh but the people who do know
101:46 you know if you know you know talking
101:48 about acronyms for uh you know for the
101:50 the children um yeah no acronyms here if
101:54 you know you know and um and so Unwound
101:56 like uh like I would say like leaves
101:58 turn inside you is similar to a swirly's
102:00 record but the rest of their stuff is
102:02 like pretty is like you know drive like
102:04 J like post hardcore more more in line
102:08 with like you know the the more angular
102:10 guitar stuff of like Sonic Youth and um
102:12 but they're a great band one of my
102:13 favorite bands yeah Sonic Youth I have a
102:16 fun story about that let's hear your
102:17 Sonic Youth story he's never told on mic
102:19 first time you're hearing it people I
102:21 think I've told the story well then once
102:23 or twice I think this is just redundant
102:25 you see that jazz Master over there that
102:27 ocean turquoise Jazz Master Bea be
102:30 beautiful Heaven Heavenly Angel over
102:32 there Legend has it that thirst Moore
102:35 Lee Ronaldo when they were in Wisconsin
102:37 Milwaukee Wisconsin in the 2000s on the
102:40 Sonic Youth 2009 tour which I saw them
102:42 at the Vic theater for that they played
102:45 that guitar well this is a real um John
102:48 voits car George castanza tell you the
102:51 story I can go
102:52 further I would love to have John vo's
102:54 teeth on a
102:56 pencil I like Angelina Jolie's father um
103:01 so I was in the market for buying a jazz
103:04 Master this is December 2011 that's when
103:06 I got that back before it was cool to
103:09 have
103:09 one and I was reaching out to this guy
103:13 on eBay who was selling it and at the
103:18 time he had a red one matching headstock
103:21 a sonic blue one matching on stock and
103:23 the ocean turquoise one and he told and
103:26 then I was looking at all three it was
103:27 at his guitar shop and I was like okay
103:29 I'm gonna go up to milwauke to buy it
103:31 and the red one was owned by Joe p
103:35 pantelon and uh so I reached out to him
103:37 and I was like I might I wanted really
103:39 wanted a sonic blue one they're more
103:40 rare color I wanted it and he was like
103:42 oh um it's not available anymore I was
103:45 like oh okay I guess I'll just get the
103:47 ocean turquoise one then and it's it is
103:51 a little mermaid in in like yeah in
103:54 color so I can see why it's a kind of a
103:57 mermaid color you ocean yeah it's ocean
104:00 yeah and the legend has it and he said
104:03 thirst Moore and Lee Ronaldo came into
104:06 the shop and we're trying out all three
104:08 guitars cuz they're known when they went
104:09 to cities for picking up Jazz Masters
104:11 and jaguars that's why they had like a
104:13 hundred of them each I was going to say
104:16 like I was not going to be like
104:17 particularly impressed if you were like
104:19 this was thst Mo's guitar cuz I was like
104:20 doesn't that dude have like 12 guitars
104:22 on St it up it if it was it would look
104:25 hammered and destroyed and I guess they
104:27 tested it and tested the other ones they
104:28 played it at the shop and they ended up
104:30 buying the other two and they left that
104:32 one and then that's the one I got so you
104:33 have thirst and Mo's sloppy seconds
104:35 hanging on your wall yep and you're
104:37 bragging about it yep sorry
104:42 Kim yeah well you know I think I think
104:46 we have one of Chris Walla guitars so oh
104:48 yeah yeah I mean we I mean like that's
104:50 it's not I feel like as maybe as crazy
104:53 just because uh he's like very much just
104:54 like I mean he's not a local anymore he
104:57 lives in like Iceland or something but
104:58 that's where I tracked my record was at
105:00 his no at his studio in Seattle oh nice
105:03 with him no with a great um great
105:06 producer called Sam rosson who is uh an
105:10 engineer there and uh yeah and that's
105:13 cool yeah a lot of great records have
105:14 been made there you know is that where
105:16 um um Red Ribbon recorded
105:19 there um
105:21 I don't think so I think Red Ribbon was
105:23 like tracked in um in New York oh okay
105:26 with I really like them with what's his
105:28 face red ribon cool I have that that
105:29 vinyl and uh so I mean you know Red
105:32 Ribbon because of Jeff or yeah they came
105:34 through 2019 was Jeff with them yeah
105:37 okay Jeff was with them they stayed the
105:39 night it was a fun time okay good
105:41 session man I just don't even have any
105:43 recollection of him telling me about
105:45 that I mean he must have but um it's
105:47 because you're too cool you're too busy
105:49 in Iceland with Chris Wall called me and
105:50 he's like hey I'm with Ben and I was
105:52 like we had a good time Ben [ __ ] who
105:54 and I hung up Ben S I said I want a
105:57 divorce we're not even
106:00 married yeah that was a fun time when
106:02 they came through I really really like I
106:04 would never go to Iceland no no why
106:08 scary white people place I don't want to
106:09 go there I Midsummer Vibes Seattle bro
106:13 no Midsummer Vibes I don't want to go
106:15 isn't Seattle a scary white person
106:17 place I guess so that's why people from
106:20 Seattle of Seattle that's why people
106:22 from Seattle like to go to Iceland so
106:26 much because they're like I want to go
106:28 to like Seattle but like even more white
106:33 guess Seattle's
106:34 demographics uh gosh what is the this
106:37 has just become like the you know like
106:39 Seattle Civics podcast like know your
106:42 Civics yeah I live there I don't work
106:45 for the city Jesus come on Guess for me
106:47 bro guess I don't I don't care to do
106:50 that you can't do it I don't it's about
106:52 6% white 177% asian about 7% black
106:59 really only 6 6.6%
107:02 Hispanic 4% Native American .9% Pacific
107:06 Islander and 2% other races and 5.6% two
107:09 or more
107:10 races you heard it here first so about
107:13 2/3 ending
107:16 brains Seattle
107:19 Civics um yeah I don't know if you could
107:21 go anywhere in the world where would you
107:22 go Ben for how long what's the context
107:26 just just go right now yeah like you got
107:29 let say two weeks week and a half to two
107:32 weeks one
107:34 location uh probably
107:38 Tokyo okay yeah bit of a basic [ __ ]
107:41 choice but you I would go to record
107:43 bands though how basic is that okay yeah
107:45 see and and here's the thing is that you
107:47 probably will is like that's going to
107:49 happen the plan is like next year to do
107:50 Tokyo hopefully my goal I I'm thinking
107:53 maybe doing an Asian tour of
107:55 Tokyo South Kore Soul South Korea
107:59 Singapore and try to throw
108:02 in the Philippines or I was really
108:04 hoping you were going to be like I want
108:05 to go like recording like you know like
108:09 Nigeria or like you know I mean Ethiopia
108:12 is possible because of some connections
108:14 to that I got connections I might have
108:16 connections in Ghana for you yeah if you
108:18 want to go to Ghana Togo let's go yeah I
108:21 was thinking about going to
108:24 ugogo
108:26 because I just I want to see those
108:28 chimps man after watching chimp I don't
108:30 know I don't have any like music
108:31 connections there but like you know I do
108:34 a podcast with a
108:35 chimp we were watching uh for the
108:38 listener at home we're watching uh chimp
108:40 chimp Nation or whatever no we were
108:41 watching our universe but they had a lot
108:42 of chimp footage mhm chimp Empire is a
108:45 different thing which is really cool
108:46 really interesting
108:48 documentary kind of overwhelming and
108:50 heavy and really sad there's some sad
108:52 stuff they really play into the feelings
108:54 of us relating to them as humans even
108:57 though they're not not going to watch it
108:59 well not interested if I were pick a
109:02 less easy one like a you know Tokyo or
109:05 Paris or something um chimp Nation you
109:09 go to Chimp Nation go record The Chimps
109:11 do you think chimps can make music
109:12 honestly Ethiopia would be pretty sweet
109:15 um I think that they could do
109:17 something I would probably
109:20 do
109:22 um really want to go to
109:25 Thailand Asia I that's a big to record
109:28 or just to visit see I can't ever I've
109:31 never been anywhere with just to visit
109:32 I've always recorded everywhere I've
109:33 been this is my problem I feel like up a
109:36 lot of people when I I feel like when I
109:39 travel if I'm not doing it for music
109:42 then it's frivolous I know I don't know
109:44 how to just show what a waste what a
109:46 waste I could have been playing a show
109:48 it sucks I can't vacation I've never
109:49 like vacation I felt guilty about coming
109:52 here just to go to a concert and was so
109:55 relieved that you asked me to do a live
109:57 session because I was like thank God at
110:00 least I'm like being productive or
110:01 whatever while I'm here and like getting
110:03 my music into some new ears potentially
110:05 I don't know how do not ask slforce an
110:08 artist to do a podcast in a session when
110:10 they come like I said relief I was like
110:12 because I I just feel like the like the
110:15 whole mission of my life is to share my
110:17 music with other people and if I'm not
110:20 doing that every opportunity I have uh
110:24 you know then yeah then it feels like
110:27 yeah it feels like kind of a waste maybe
110:29 but that's funny cuz the whole mission
110:30 of my life is to share other pe people's
110:32 music with other people yeah which is we
110:35 need you and not me you know what I mean
110:37 hey man a solid Bridge with good
110:39 geometry and good downforce man you need
110:41 that you need that perfect arch you know
110:43 just distribute that weight right good
110:46 foundation takes all kinds takes all
110:48 kinds Tak a village
110:50 it takes an Icelandic Village yeah um
110:53 yeah yeah about you where would you want
110:55 to go uh now's a really bad time but I'd
110:58 like to go to Jerusalem I okay well I
111:00 was going to say a really bad joke that
111:02 was insensitive but I didn't do it I'd
111:04 love to go I'd love to like I'll tell my
111:06 joke now but I don't mean it it's okay
111:09 you can say I was going to say it's
111:10 between two places Ukraine or
111:12 [Laughter]
111:14 Jerusalem uh I'd love to love to see the
111:17 Vatican I would love to go to those
111:19 places in
111:21 right now that these things are happen
111:24 yeah uh yeah love to uh um yeah I mean
111:29 this is the thing is that Jeff and I
111:30 have been talking about going to Japan
111:32 for years now and sick yeah right I just
111:36 feel like we just can't we can't get
111:40 ourselves to do it because we just feel
111:42 like if we're going to take the time off
111:44 to do that and spend the money that it
111:46 takes to travel and do all that why
111:48 wouldn't we do a tour yeah it's just
111:51 like it feels crazy especially while
111:52 we're in the throws of fell off which is
111:54 like a band that is very much active
111:56 right now and the iron is hot and we
111:58 want to strike and we want to do as much
112:00 as possible while we're excited about
112:01 this project and while we feel like uh
112:05 you know excited about getting it like
112:08 the shows are good and the turnouts have
112:10 been good and like people are are
112:12 listening and the feedback has been
112:14 great and like to just be like cool
112:17 great now instead of going on tour I'm
112:19 going to go to Japan like why don't you
112:20 tour in Japan that sounds like a lot of
112:23 work the two of you oh it's not really
112:25 that kind of band make it uh Do Your Own
112:28 Thing I mean if you heard it you'd be
112:29 like this is impossible Do Your Own
112:31 Thing like make like five six songs
112:33 together and then just do like shows
112:35 like just two person shows around I
112:38 could why not I could I will say like
112:39 juggling the three projects that I'm
112:41 doing right now is already enough I
112:43 can't
112:45 imagine yeah I already like also like
112:49 you know just this is like I I feel like
112:52 this is a like I I feel like I was
112:55 coming on this podcast to talk about DIY
112:56 music and we have talked a lot about a
112:58 lot of [ __ ] but like talk about DIY
113:01 in term in terms of DIY music like uh
113:04 the way that DIY touring has changed
113:06 post pandemic it's like so different and
113:08 it's so much harder talk about it that
113:11 now I'm like I don't want to uh like you
113:15 know I'm like I don't I don't like I'm
113:17 like only going to DIY t or if I feel
113:20 like it's if it's really worth okay get
113:23 it together
113:24 bud W edit it out that's some good banan
113:28 it chop it out oh what in the world how
113:31 is that stuff
113:33 legal
113:35 that I'm such a noob so wait so keep
113:39 going on um you know I think that like
113:42 you know you had a lot like I I feel
113:45 like I knew a lot more like Road dog um
113:48 people who have just been like DIY
113:50 touring for like 8 to 10 years and like
113:53 you know and they just like they do it
113:54 all the time and that's like part of
113:56 their bands like stees is that like
113:59 they're just like they're they only ever
114:01 play to like 50 to 100 people but they
114:04 play but they do it all the time like
114:06 two months out of the year they're on
114:07 the road and you know they're just
114:10 hitting all the all the stops in the US
114:12 you know um and I just feel like that
114:16 used to that idea of doing that used to
114:19 appeal to me and now I'm like my God
114:22 does it take me a 100 hours just to book
114:25 like six shows on the west coast if if
114:27 I'm cold calling especially for the kind
114:29 of music that I do as Rob joins it's
114:32 it's hard to place it's hard to build
114:33 those bills that make sense and that
114:35 will get if I don't want to play to just
114:37 like a dozen people if I want to play to
114:39 any substantial amount of people it's
114:42 like really you really got to like comb
114:45 and curate and uh um it It's just tough
114:49 tough and and also like a lot of a lot
114:52 of that kind of booking for like House
114:53 shows and stuff is all done through like
114:55 Instagram now you know U lot less emails
114:59 like a lot yeah it's like so uh the
115:03 whole thing is is a lot harder and when
115:05 we went on tour with fell off uh it was
115:09 I didn't book it it was it was booked by
115:11 our guitarist who's the booker at ver
115:13 project in in in Seattle which is a DIY
115:17 um operation and you know it's like a
115:20 all ages music operation and um so they
115:25 are connected with um with a lot of like
115:28 places like Holland project and Reno or
115:30 you know whatever and um and and we're
115:34 able to do like a lot more of that and I
115:35 was like and it just came together so
115:37 much faster and I'm like oh you're
115:40 telling me that the reason this is so
115:42 hard for me is because I'm just some guy
115:44 just some like Jabron you know what I
115:46 mean like I can don't ever want to be a
115:47 Jabron and I I can get you a Show in
115:50 Seattle but like only by passing you on
115:52 to somebody who actually like books
115:54 those shows and like you know makes it
115:57 happen and promotes it and stuff uh so
116:00 like my connections are like largely
116:03 just dead you know like I you know
116:05 they're like why because they're old you
116:07 know they're because the pandemic wiped
116:09 a lot of stuff out you know and like two
116:11 years went by as well and and even
116:14 though like and and you even though it
116:16 feels like we were frozen in time kind
116:18 of and on the other end of it we're like
116:19 okay now we need to pick up where we
116:21 left off that's simply not the reality
116:23 right uh like people did move or their
116:26 or their life or their Lifestyles or
116:28 living situations changed or their
116:31 priorities changed and maybe they don't
116:32 really do the live music thing so much
116:34 anymore but there's like a whole new
116:36 crop of like other people that do and I
116:38 don't know them yet because I haven't
116:40 met them so I have to start at square
116:41 one again and that means that like if
116:44 I'm going to take a band on the road I'm
116:46 asking them to I'm asking those
116:48 bandmates my friends to lose money to
116:50 like take a dive for my music Rob joints
116:53 like you know like hey here's a band
116:55 with my name on it can you lose a bunch
116:58 of wages from work and spend your
117:01 vacation days uh helping me live my
117:03 dream like you know it's like it doesn't
117:05 really seem fair so I can do it solo and
117:09 I will and have like I did fly out dates
117:11 last year with just a laptop and a mixer
117:14 and a sampler and like you know and I
117:16 went out and I did that kind of set um
117:19 and it was fun it felt exploratory like
117:21 it felt like I was like oh next time I
117:24 come back I'll have a couple more
117:25 connections or whatever and so that did
117:28 give me a little hope there but I will
117:29 say like making Rec the best recorded
117:32 music I can is much more of a priority
117:35 to me right now than like Road
117:37 dogging um just that's just like me
117:40 personally but I think that that coupled
117:42 with the the the way that uh DIY touring
117:45 landscape changed and maybe it just
117:47 became less accessible to me because of
117:49 my age too you know like because I'm not
117:51 23 and and will do anything and sleep on
117:54 any floor anymore you know I [ __ ] no I
117:56 still will got you we got you a queen
117:58 air mattress [ __ ] it I still will hey
118:00 this is not too bad right this is like
118:02 much nicer than half the places half not
118:05 I would say like this is much nicer than
118:07 90% of the plac missing an actual
118:10 bedroom for you half half was just a
118:11 word I'm saying this is literally your
118:13 own shower and bathroom yeah this is lit
118:16 laund room nicer than second place if
118:18 you don't like that you got a food MH
118:20 you have a podcast Studio I wake up once
118:22 an hour I wake up get some fresh air you
118:24 got a door right there overnight I'm
118:26 sleeping I'm tossing I'm turning I'm
118:27 waking up every hour I'm switching futon
118:29 mattress futon mattress just living it
118:32 up no it's not too bad I I've also I've
118:35 slept in some places mhm and this is a
118:38 good middle ground obviously one notch
118:40 above would be like a bedroom now I did
118:41 see one spider really I did crush it
118:44 I've never seen a spider down here I
118:46 killed that [ __ ] spider this a pretty
118:47 smack because we don't have
118:50 um animals and I 9 9% of time don't
118:54 allow no food down here no smoking um
118:58 it's a tiny spider smaller than I'm just
119:00 saying like there's kids if you want to
119:03 keep your DIY place or Studio place or
119:06 collaborative space clean keep food and
119:08 drinks out of it MH it'll help with most
119:10 of the problem roaches I don't mind a
119:12 roach roaches if I say Ro I'm not happy
119:15 like that means something wrong is
119:16 happening yeah but I mean if I'm
119:18 sleeping somewhere like I would rather
119:20 sleep with roaches than spiders what is
119:22 wrong with you well because spiders will
119:24 [ __ ] like they're not going to do
119:25 anything no the spiders will [ __ ] you up
119:27 no they're not going to do anything I'm
119:28 also very afraid of spiders yeah it
119:30 sounds like it cuz they're not going to
119:31 do anything they'll bite you we live in
119:33 Chicago there are zero poisonous spiders
119:35 here and they're not going to bite you
119:37 unless you hurt them or do something to
119:38 I was talking about like California well
119:41 does it sound like I'm in California
119:43 where I have played the most amount of
119:44 like shows on tour for those who don't
119:46 know the animals reptiles spiders snakes
119:50 and amphibians insects in Chicago are
119:52 not threatening the most threatening
119:54 thing you'll find isn't going to
119:55 threaten you is a coyote look out for
119:57 your small dogs and your pet rabbits but
120:00 that's about it um spiders bees bugs
120:03 they're only going to go after you if
120:04 you're disturbing them or threatening
120:06 them or vibrating too much so if you
120:08 stand still and they go on you don't do
120:09 anything they're not going to do
120:10 anything to you they have no need to
120:13 I've slept with a lot of well you put my
120:15 mind at ease cuz frankly this place is
120:18 infested with spiders the old DZ that
120:20 you saw 6 years ago I lived in there for
120:23 like a decade yeah and it was completely
120:26 unprotected from insects they could have
120:28 got in every way left and right and I've
120:30 I slept with them I felt them crawling
120:32 on me at night I didn't care at all they
120:34 didn't do anything nothing were
120:35 comforted you thought you know what at
120:36 least I'm not alone you realize it's all
120:38 in your head it's all in your head I
120:40 would destroy Fear Factor I wish I could
120:42 have been on that show 20 years ago damn
120:44 when I was a kid and I watched it I was
120:46 like I could do that I could do that
120:47 that doesn't bother me I'd eat those
120:48 test I i' chill with those snakes i'
120:50 jump off that Cliff that car ride looks
120:52 awesome those horses I'd ride Zero of
120:54 those things looked scary or threatening
120:56 I'm like I need to get on the show but I
120:58 was too young and probably not pretty
121:00 enough it's always a bunch of Attractive
121:01 people on that show that are are fit and
121:03 stuff you know yeah they're like uh you
121:06 know I think it would be a very
121:08 different kind of show if they just had
121:09 a bunch of like schlubby Schmucks and
121:12 like and they were like eat a [ __ ]
121:13 spider all right and you're just like
121:15 and there's just like a [ __ ] like
121:16 greasy dude who's like [ __ ] a spider
121:19 I used to eat bugs at parties to spice
121:22 it up and mess with people they'd be
121:24 like oh my God there's a spider in the
121:25 kitchen I just go up to it and just eat
121:26 it put my mouth and it all just the
121:28 first thing that Ben does when he's on a
121:29 date with a woman is he asks is do you
121:32 like swirlies and then he eats a spider
121:34 yeah and if they stick around we're set
121:37 yeah marriage marriage is right the
121:39 Wedding Bells Are Ringing I have
121:41 realized
121:42 that you you you need someone who
121:46 compliments you who's the opposite I
121:47 need someone to to normal aliz me bring
121:49 me back to Earth cuz I'm too out there
121:51 in the clouds with just a little wild
121:54 and I just need someone to Center me I
121:56 don't want someone as well opposite
121:58 attract you need a woman that hates
121:59 swirlies and
122:01 spiders no my my my girlfriend loves the
122:04 swirly pride is not like spiders but she
122:07 is not like me in any of my wildness
122:10 which is good you know when we go to the
122:11 beach now I still have gone swimming in
122:13 this weather and I'm the only one out
122:15 there in the water cuz it is 55° and
122:18 she's just shaking her mad at me but
122:19 it's like hey I will do that I love cold
122:22 water it doesn't bother me I'm going to
122:24 try to go swimming once a month the
122:26 whole year so I'm going to try to go in
122:28 the winter too oh you're going to do
122:29 full-on polar plunge I used to do when I
122:31 was a kid I used to you know go out
122:33 there break the ice with a sledgehammer
122:34 and jump in mhm and which I have no idea
122:37 why the adults let me do that at like 9
122:39 but hey it taught me a lot that most of
122:43 the fear is an anticipation and it's in
122:45 your head it's not really real
122:47 especially stuff that you know you be
122:49 okay like I'm at a beach I'm not like
122:50 jumping into deep water it's 8 in deep
122:53 like I'm not going to be swept away or
122:55 go under and get frostbite or I can't
122:57 say that appeals to me I'm not much of
122:58 an outdoorsy guy let alone uh jumping
123:01 into ice water I don't understand the
123:03 appeal I like a cozy I like a cozy
123:06 indoors I like cozy indoors but life is
123:09 too easy it's too soft I watch a lot of
123:12 horror movies so therefore I don't leave
123:14 the city I like you know okay I flew
123:17 from one city to another I never I'm not
123:19 in like an urban area really you don't
123:21 like nature no what not really you got
123:24 to go camping with me Rob no I went
123:26 camping with my brother like once last
123:28 year and it rained we'll do a we'll do a
123:30 double date camping trip I'll teach you
123:32 all how toang I didn't even I didn't
123:33 even have a tent I slipped in my van and
123:35 I was like it was raining and I was just
123:36 laughing to myself watching movies on my
123:38 laptop being like what what do people
123:40 enjoy about you got to go camping with
123:42 no internet connection um yeah you know
123:45 I don't know um you don't like it I just
123:48 uh you know I'm I'm a city boy you know
123:50 I'm a city boy soft he soft I'm a softy
123:52 you know I like both I love both I love
123:55 the the access to information food
123:58 culture people different architecture
124:02 different histories museums I love all
124:04 everything about Chicago New York um big
124:06 cities it's great but equally love
124:10 absolutely the middle of nowhere you
124:11 could throw me in the middle of nowhere
124:12 for a month I'd be happy if I had the
124:14 means to compensate work I would do that
124:17 every other month now mind you I grew up
124:20 Eastern
124:21 Washington yeah not not in the boonies
124:23 by any means definitely like in
124:26 Civilization but very like just a bike
124:29 ride away from hikes and rivers and uh
124:33 and uh you know like I had a real boy in
124:35 his dog childhood you know black lab and
124:38 how far wait what town were you in
124:40 specifically I was in Spokane okay but I
124:42 was in the county so like north of
124:43 Spokane the next town up is me how far
124:46 are you from Trevor do you know minutes
124:49 minutes yeah we grew up neighborhood
124:51 apart we yeah we we were on the high
124:54 school improv team but I mean like
124:56 outside of school well he was a year
124:58 younger than me and I I had pretty much
125:00 like stopped going to high school by the
125:02 time you were too cool for school
125:03 literally yeah by the time we would have
125:06 maybe run in the same circles like I was
125:08 out of there I had one foot out the door
125:10 so but he grew up kind of on some land
125:13 there's some property around him don't
125:15 know that's what he says like a like
125:17 open space forest and open space and
125:19 stuff don't know didn't know him then I
125:21 will say a lot of people from Spokane
125:23 from like my uh from my world like
125:26 growing up grew up to be some of the
125:29 coolest most creative people you'll ever
125:31 meet um you know and
125:35 um so like
125:39 uh uh like I'm I'm very pleased to have
125:42 like reconnected with Trevor you know um
125:45 even though we weren't really friends in
125:46 high school because I think we did come
125:48 from a a a pretty exceptional group of
125:50 people um maybe other maybe other
125:53 creatives feel that way maybe they don't
125:54 maybe they're like I got out of my
125:56 hometown and and uh and like I never
125:59 looked back or whatever uh you know uh I
126:04 and I know a lot of people like did
126:05 Escape situations where it was a
126:07 creative drain for them like their that
126:09 their their their creativity was not
126:11 fostered by the community that they were
126:13 raised in uh but for me man my my high
126:17 school experience was pretty great like
126:20 I uh yeah second second two years like
126:23 Junior and Senior year I didn't go to
126:25 the high school but um I was in the
126:28 building for in my senior year I I was
126:31 in the building for improv practice like
126:34 once once or you know once a week or
126:36 every other week that's cool your school
126:38 had an improv class that's awesome it
126:39 was it was just run by students it was
126:42 not like it was not an established thing
126:45 at all still cool yeah um
126:49 it was just my yeah my my friend Mike
126:51 and my friend Jake who also are
126:53 creatives and I've worked with Jake on
126:56 other projects since and like I wasn't
126:58 even friends with him in high school
127:00 really either but um but he he went on
127:02 to like yeah do do uh writing and um and
127:06 you know stuff and um but
127:10 um uh but yeah just Jake and Mike just
127:12 like ran the ran the Improv team and I'm
127:15 sure it was a nightmare I I'm I'm I'm
127:18 thrilled student ran things don't go I'm
127:21 thrilled that there is no like footage
127:23 that I'm aware of that exists of
127:26 Performing we were in a time when people
127:28 there is no footage of what we were
127:29 doing in high school I am glad about
127:31 that I am glad about that I'm
127:33 disappointed that like that even like my
127:36 my early 20s were captured you know what
127:38 I mean I would be fine if like the uh
127:41 you know the the the the the the public
127:44 and very very recorded nature of the way
127:46 we live now if that would have started
127:48 like six years ago I'd be gold like
127:51 everything before that I can just toss
127:53 in the trash do you you put a lot of
127:55 stuff on to the internet of your private
127:57 life or like in like the behind the
127:59 scenes or in between life or do you
128:02 mostly just keep it like mus and stuff I
128:04 have um you know Peaks and valleys in in
128:08 in terms of my interaction with social
128:10 media I will go for I will go for like
128:13 two months without posting a story or or
128:15 anything um but I'm on it you know I'm
128:18 I'm what's going on I feel like pretty
128:20 left out if I can't see who's releasing
128:21 music and what's going on in our scene
128:23 you know absolutely um and and also
128:25 artwork you know U visual art stuff and
128:29 um so uh but I don't I don't feel the
128:33 need to like constantly be creating
128:35 content out of my regular life of course
128:38 uh when it's interesting I do I think uh
128:40 I think there is this like kind of um
128:43 there can be a negative attitude towards
128:46 the um the the the the thing of um for
128:51 instance like Instagram being just
128:52 highlights of the best things about your
128:54 life I'm like well yeah duh like I don't
128:56 want to see somebody just eating a bowl
128:58 of cereal and watching Desperate
129:00 Housewives or whatever like yeah you do
129:01 not want to see me eat pizza but I want
129:03 to see the you know I want to find out
129:04 if somebody got married or you know or
129:06 if or a friend of mine is is in is in
129:09 Berlin that's interesting oh cool I'll
129:11 ask them about that next time I see him
129:12 like got to see some cool pictures of
129:14 that or whatever like I'm I I I think
129:16 social media is what you make it and
129:18 like I think a lot of people have their
129:20 are bringing their own negative baggage
129:22 to it and maybe they're feeling
129:23 inadequate in their lives or um or
129:27 struggling with something and and uh and
129:29 and social media can really exemplify
129:32 that and and um and exacerbate people's
129:35 like feelings of isolation or or
129:38 inadequacy or or like my life is not as
129:40 interesting as all these other people
129:42 who are like doing cool stuff on social
129:44 media but well what it doesn't show with
129:48 the like my life is not as cool as that
129:49 person's life is all the groundwork to
129:51 even get to like putting putting up that
129:53 post which might show like maybe a cool
129:55 show or behind the stages a theater or
129:57 even a really cool Studio it's like you
129:58 know what it took to get to that that's
130:00 what they're not showing like all that
130:03 effort and hard work that it takes to
130:07 when you do post the thing that people
130:09 are like oh I can't believe you get to
130:10 do that it's like this wasn't just
130:12 overnight it was it wasn't by accident
130:14 homie I made some I made some pretty
130:17 serious sacrif my life to this literally
130:20 financially loans risks everything to do
130:25 this and be here and still working on
130:27 and there's a lot of post part of this
130:29 to even put out the footage you know the
130:31 podcast the sessions the shows the
130:33 festival the traveling all of it is
130:35 immense amount of work I've never had a
130:36 sense of a normal life not even close
130:39 what is a normal life I don't know I
130:41 couldn't tell you I I have I love yeah
130:43 and I'm really really happy with like
130:45 the way that I've structured my life
130:47 yeah because I didn't like uh I didn't
130:50 take on things that couldn't be
130:51 sacrificed you know like uh and and I
130:55 actually would really I think really
130:56 regret if I had because it would have it
130:59 would have like hindered my ability to
131:00 like make music and put it out into the
131:02 world and and you know make cool [ __ ] do
131:05 cool [ __ ] like I like to you know I like
131:06 to make projects and I like to do cool
131:09 things and and experience other
131:11 people's music and stuff but like yeah I
131:14 mean I like sound yeah I'm just like
131:16 well it just made me sound like uh like
131:18 like going to shows or experiencing
131:20 other people's music is somehow work or
131:21 require sacrifice but um but I just I'm
131:25 a bartender so I have to like see a lot
131:27 of people and hear a lot of people who
131:29 are [ __ ] miserable and tell me some
131:31 of the stuff they tell you uh so I have
131:33 like worked at a lot of different kinds
131:34 of bars how many oh um I don't know six
131:39 or seven sure um maybe seven or eight I
131:41 don't know and and not all and not like
131:43 not always consistently sometimes I just
131:45 I fill in at bars or I like work I how
131:48 long have you been in bars working in
131:50 bars I've been a bar chender for six
131:52 years um a while okay yeah uh and uh and
131:57 like you know I've worked at at like
131:58 neighborhood Dives where you know you
132:01 see the same people every day playing
132:03 the pull tabs I don't know if you guys
132:04 have pull tabs here if that's a thing
132:06 it's a form of gambling um gambling yeah
132:09 in the bars it's like tickets that you
132:11 open they're like little lotto tickets
132:12 kind of and uh uh you know people are
132:15 like addicted to that they're addicted
132:16 to drinking you know they're uh they're
132:18 staring into their into their beer and
132:20 they're like you know and they're just
132:22 they're just Uncle Rico from Napoleon
132:24 Dynamite like oh [ __ ] I could have
132:25 thrown a football over them mountains
132:27 you know and it's like and I'm like I
132:30 just can't fathom like living like that
132:32 I totally like s i I totally sympathize
132:35 with people who do feel stuck or that
132:36 their situations or their geographical
132:39 proximity or whatever has like hindered
132:41 their ability to like um to live a
132:43 satisfying life but um but I also just
132:48 the kind of person who I seriously don't
132:51 have time to spend in a bar if I'm not
132:53 working there I cannot just be like I'm
132:56 going to go kill three hours at the bar
132:58 by myself like just go hang out with the
133:00 regulars like there is so much [ __ ] I
133:03 have to do if I have two or three hours
133:05 to spare I'll probably be going to the
133:07 movies and catch a movie that I haven't
133:09 seen yet it's more productive I mean I
133:12 don't even think it's productive so much
133:13 as like that's more interesting to me
133:15 and more I mean it's definitely not as
133:16 detrimental to your mind and emotions
133:19 and phys health I think you certainly
133:21 can lead a full and happy life that is
133:24 small localized and largely takes place
133:28 at your local bar I think there's
133:29 nothing wrong with that if that's what
133:30 you want to do I mean if you're sitting
133:32 there drinking every day at a bar that
133:33 you if you're sitting there drinking
133:35 there every day and complaining to me
133:36 about how your life sucks and continuing
133:39 to do absolutely nothing to change it it
133:42 gets a little hard for me to sympathize
133:43 with you yeah absolutely especially when
133:46 I have to see it all the time how many
133:48 how many uh if you could throw out an
133:50 anecdotally if you could throw out a
133:52 number how many alcoholics have you
133:55 encountered two million
133:59 I it's it's impossible to that's like
134:02 one of astrophysicist is asked like how
134:04 many galaxies are there many stars are
134:06 there I like two to the 18th trillion
134:08 you're like what uh I did work at one
134:11 bar in particular no names mentioned
134:12 that was um a very very sad place to
134:15 work and was very much Weighing on me
134:17 emotion place I work at now is not
134:19 really like that at all there I mean
134:20 there are like people on the Block who
134:22 never leave the block and are constantly
134:25 talking about like man my [ __ ] is dope
134:27 like I can make I could you know I'm
134:29 going to blow up one of these days I'm
134:30 like yeah but you never leave this block
134:31 and like you don't like you're not
134:33 really actively taking the steps or
134:35 working hard to um to you know to raise
134:40 money for a project that cuz like
134:42 sometimes good music does cost money you
134:44 know absolutely and like and if you are
134:47 like you know not are if you're choosing
134:50 not really like like to work that much
134:53 and make that much money and then you
134:54 the money that you do have or make
134:56 you're spending at this very expensive
134:57 bar that I work at it's like okay like
135:00 maybe break that habit so that you can
135:02 like put that money to just change up
135:03 your life you know expensive how like
135:05 what's an oldfashioned cost uh with
135:07 mid-range BB that's not that bad yeah um
135:11 when I see them here in Chicago and
135:12 they're 20 bucks I'm like uh this is why
135:14 I don't Dr bars definitely not that kind
135:16 of part this is like I I'm not that kind
135:17 of bartender either like I'm I'm a dive
135:19 bar guy like this is like we're talking
135:20 like venues yeah Dives we're talking
135:23 like vodka sodas and like beers like you
135:25 know it's like what's the cheapest beer
135:27 you guys have reineer is our um is like
135:29 our Yingling it's like uh it's like our
135:32 like our regional um and what is it like
135:35 bucks yeah like a tall can's like $2 to5
135:38 depending on what neighborhood you're in
135:39 a draft is like three to three to five
135:42 or six maybe love me a draft um yeah you
135:44 know it's just like it's like yeah I
135:45 don't know if you know like Olympia
135:47 that's our other like piss beer you know
135:48 it's s they like it's the capital uh it
135:51 is but they're the beer yeah Olympia
135:52 Beer which I guess probably comes from
135:54 Olympia like the city know more about
135:56 Washington than you yeah that that beer
135:59 is also like the that's like what my my
136:01 grandfather like drank a sixer a Rainer
136:03 like till the day he died kind of beer
136:05 you know it's like but uh um it's like
136:08 yeah uh so um yeah so I'm like you know
136:12 I'm just like okay like I I'm like I
136:15 cannot in some ways it's some ways it's
136:18 like almost like mentally taxing on me
136:20 to like I miss working a job before I
136:23 was a bartender when I could just like
136:24 listen to music and podcast all day and
136:26 not talk to anybody I'm sometimes like
136:28 horse at the end of the day I mean I'm
136:30 talking for you know I mean you're
136:32 you're a teacher you know like you're
136:34 literally lecturing I'm fried I'll lose
136:36 6 hours I'm like soaked in sweat and my
136:38 brain feels like it put into a blender
136:40 and your voice is just crusty yeah my
136:42 voice starts to hurt absolutely and I do
136:44 miss like not having to do that
136:46 sometimes and um and I feel like it
136:47 really sucks my energy out in a way that
136:49 makes me like uncreative when I go home
136:51 after a shift I can't just like write a
136:52 song I do have to like I write I work on
136:55 music on my off days I don't really I
136:57 can't really I can go home and like
136:59 listen to like an audio book and do the
137:01 dishes and I can be productive in that
137:03 way sure but I can't really be creative
137:05 you're tapping part the brain yeah so um
137:08 so in in some ways it like really Burns
137:10 me out like to to like have to just be
137:13 like to just have the you know the like
137:15 the burnouts who are just you know at
137:17 the bar every [ __ ] day but like the
137:19 other hand it does like motivate me to
137:23 you know or it has in the past has like
137:25 motivated me to be like okay I don't
137:26 want to be I don't want it to be that I
137:28 actually like the last bar that I worked
137:30 at so like the current bar that I work
137:31 at is a lot of creatives I mean yes on
137:34 the weekends it's party people but like
137:36 a lot of the people in our neighborhood
137:37 they are artists like everyone the guy
137:39 serving you your burger is in is in a
137:41 band that like has tour the country you
137:43 know what I mean like it's like it's
137:44 that kind of part of town so like um
137:48 you know these are like this is like
137:50 these are cool like real like people who
137:52 like you know are like um are doing that
137:56 kind of stuff and so it's this doesn't
137:59 really apply as much but that last bar
138:00 that I worked at really made me never
138:02 want to hang out in a bar like just to
138:04 kill time yeah like ever again and I
138:07 since have stopped like I don't I don't
138:10 just like go to the bar to like make
138:11 time disappear anymore I rarely go I go
138:14 I go for shows I go for like if my
138:16 friends invited me out and it's like oh
138:18 wow I haven't seen this person yeah we
138:20 want to like hang out and catch up but
138:21 like I'm not just like oh I've got a
138:23 Thursday night free I'm going to go to
138:25 the bar and like play pull tabs and and
138:27 you know whatever it's hard for me to go
138:29 to um a bar just to hang like if the bar
138:33 has something I don't have like a venue
138:35 pool tables some a DJ spinning vinyl
138:39 whatever it is that I don't have I have
138:41 no problem going but with my what you
138:43 saw upstairs it's really hard for me to
138:46 go to bars cuz I have so so much better
138:48 stuff here oh yeah your home rules like
138:49 I would never leave this [ __ ] place
138:51 there's so much to do here yeah I
138:52 usually don't I mean we have I do
138:54 podcast we have band practice here I
138:57 haven't shown you a picture but I have
138:58 like I have like I'm a VHS collector so
139:01 I have like thousands of [ __ ] dope
139:02 rare tapes that I haven't even seen yet
139:04 I got a Zen rack like I go to I go to
139:07 like this this there's a festival in
139:08 Seattle called short run I go every year
139:10 and I just I stock up I got Zen that I
139:12 could just like you know I got book I
139:14 got lots of [ __ ] to do man I got never
139:16 and and me and that doesn't even factor
139:19 in like the time it takes to record
139:21 music which like I could spend eight
139:23 hours in my studio just on an off day um
139:27 you know and just be left alone and I I
139:29 really value that so is uh is pinball
139:31 like much of a thing here in Chicago
139:33 I've seen it at places especially um
139:35 there's some cool arcade places Emporium
139:38 is a cool uh Bar Arcade pool table they
139:41 have shows there it's a cool spot I
139:44 think uh people in Seattle maybe kind of
139:46 take for granted that like
139:48 uh pinball like pinball is everywhere
139:50 it's like Seattle's like a pinball like
139:52 capital and every bar has pinball
139:54 machines there are leagues people yeah
139:57 people I don't think it's quite like
139:58 that yeah people play competitively
140:00 there are bars that are just pinball
140:02 bars like and even me as like just a
140:06 person who has spent time in venues and
140:08 bars and um I'm not I don't even
140:11 consider myself to be a pinball person
140:13 but I can like Crush certain machines
140:15 like I can like you know like I have my
140:17 machines and like I it's just the
140:19 proximity to it like everybody in
140:21 Seattle plays pinball huh yeah I don't
140:22 think it's quite that popular here yeah
140:24 I had a really cool pinball machine in
140:26 my garage for a while um my friend
140:28 stepen had in his living room for a
140:30 while the game it was hook hook like
140:33 okay it was awesome yeah like when when
140:35 you do a certain like the ball goes into
140:36 a certain tube and that era game is is
140:39 like my favorite 1990 love like you know
140:42 Sopranos Star Trek Lord of the Rings
140:45 like Black Knight Medieval Madness like
140:48 Jurassic Park like a lot of like those
140:50 those Terminator '90s movies like so
140:53 those machines were either made um once
140:56 the movie was a hit or like later you
140:58 know like early 2000s and so a lot of
141:01 them are in like good condition they're
141:02 upkept the the farther back you go like
141:05 the games get much harder to play
141:07 because they're either just older or
141:09 they're just like they're not they're
141:11 it's I mean it's just like video games
141:12 right it's like you know video games get
141:14 more intuitive and easier to play and um
141:17 and they're just designed better and
141:18 with the user in mind and some of these
141:20 retro games are really tough yeah yeah
141:23 the Pino stream was fun though we played
141:24 it every day in my house hook I remember
141:27 when um the ball would go into a certain
141:29 place and the guy would go you can fly
141:32 you can fight you can grow I can't even
141:35 watch like Lord of the Rings without
141:38 like every time I hear a line like in
141:42 The Lord of the Rings movie that's in
141:43 the pinball machine it just all of a
141:45 sudden my brain just goes like ball here
141:47 we go like man it'd be fun when when
141:50 when Saron goes a new era or a new age
141:53 is rising to all that's the beginning of
141:56 the multi ball on the game and like you
141:58 know it's like that's funny yeah they're
142:01 taking The Hobbit sien guard you know I
142:03 used to love those movies I saw them all
142:05 opening night when they came out in 2001
142:08 2 and three let me tell you I I had a
142:10 like an experience with those movies
142:12 recently because I did they were out
142:15 when I was growing up you know and we
142:16 had they were some of the first DVDs we
142:18 ever owned I don't know why box set or
142:20 something but um so I always just kind
142:23 of took them for granted as like movies
142:24 that exist they're out in the world like
142:27 you know like a lot of people see them
142:29 as comfort food movies or whatever but
142:33 um but um Jeff had been rewatching them
142:37 or falling asleep to them or whatever
142:38 and I would just like get really sucked
142:40 in even though I know nothing really
142:42 about Lord of the Rings or the lore or
142:43 I've never read the books or anything I
142:45 read The Hobbit but like I felt like
142:46 that was pretty easy I mean like Lord of
142:48 the Rings is a little bit different and
142:50 um but they have the the extended
142:53 versions on HBO now that are like
142:56 they're you know they're four hours plus
142:57 per movie and I just said you know what
143:00 I those on Blu-ray I think the extended
143:02 version yeah I was like I'm just going
143:03 to spend a week where like all I watch
143:06 is like Lord of the Rings like I'll just
143:07 dip in and out you know when I have an
143:09 hour or two uh and by the end I was like
143:13 in tears I was like these movies are so
143:16 [ __ ] good it's amazing that they were
143:18 able to capture a story of this
143:21 magnitude on screen it's like a
143:23 seemingly impossible feat and I feel
143:25 like the narrative around the time when
143:26 they were coming out was no one's going
143:29 to be satisfied because the fans are
143:30 going to be like they left out so much
143:32 and the people who don't aren't fans of
143:34 the books are just going to be like I
143:35 have no idea what's happening because
143:37 there's 30 characters and they all have
143:39 like crazy backstories Peter Jackson did
143:40 a good the fact that they were able to
143:42 make a like a Layman like me just
143:45 totally understand everything that was
143:47 going on uh is a is a a feat yeah great
143:51 movies they were fun movies great movies
143:54 the the hobbits though booty never saw
143:56 them they're not good they're so bad the
143:59 CGI much of a uh I'm not really much of
144:02 like a fantasy or sci-fi kind of guy
144:05 like my wheelhouse for BHS collecting is
144:10 uh 80s action and um horror uh slashers
144:14 campy slashers um that's kind of stuff
144:17 you know I love really bad like um
144:20 there's a movie called tracks t
144:23 trxx uh that is like just horrible trash
144:26 like movie that I love that's like it's
144:28 like a like a real just like getting too
144:29 old for this [ __ ] kind of movie like VHS
144:32 I used to I used to have a really cool
144:33 collection of those I got rid of them
144:35 when I moved and I I mean I grew up in
144:37 the VHS world had so many VHS there's a
144:40 really cool DIY venue that you would
144:43 like to visit and or play with any of
144:46 your bands uh in Chicago it's called VHS
144:49 and there the theme there is it's a just
144:51 wall toall VHS can we go there
144:54 tonight is it open I I'll look into it I
144:56 I'm I'll I let you know but probably
144:59 love to check that out it's cool I uh I
145:00 try not to like play there unless I'm
145:03 driving I try not to like go places
145:05 where I can buy VHS cuz I don't I don't
145:07 want to like fly home with a bunch of
145:08 tapes like they're they're sensitive you
145:10 know um little you know little it's it's
145:15 physical media so it's you know it's
145:17 um it can deteriorate and stuff I had so
145:21 many I saw on a um something I had never
145:24 seen before on Instagram from a from an
145:26 account that I follow that uh that
145:28 collects and trades and sells rare
145:29 movies and um they they posted a a
145:32 picture of a sticker they saw on a tape
145:34 from a um you know uh from a
145:37 um a video store like a um uh what what
145:41 do they call that when it's a you know
145:43 they're they're getting rid of stock so
145:44 they just sell it off or whatever you
145:45 know and it's said um uh it said do not
145:51 rewind immediately after watching uh it
145:55 was like don't it was like a Not Be Kind
145:57 Rewind it was like rewind before you
146:00 watch the movie because the um because
146:03 the tape stretches and warps it it gets
146:06 warm when you're watching it and if you
146:08 rewind it immediately after watching it
146:11 can warp the tape that makes sense and I
146:13 was like I have never heard that before
146:15 and I think sense I think that that's
146:17 probably a little overly sensitive you
146:19 know it's like you can beat these tapes
146:20 up pretty bad and they they they survive
146:22 a lot of [ __ ] M um that sounds but it
146:26 did make me think that I'm just GNA from
146:29 now on when I watch a movie and I put it
146:30 back in my collection I'll save
146:32 rewinding for for what before I watch it
146:35 I used to love rewinding I have a couple
146:37 of little you know car rewinders yeah I
146:39 was just going to say we had a
146:41 1957 Chevy red rewinder there I have
146:44 that one do you yeah yeah I have that
146:46 exact that's like my
146:48 childhood black one we had that one and
146:51 I remember like we would measure which
146:54 one was faster like the actual VCR when
146:56 you turn it off you hit stop and then
146:59 hit rewind versus doing it while it's
147:00 playing which was always faster and then
147:02 doing the external rewinder we' like
147:06 just take bets on you know like seven
147:07 result I'm like what a silly piece of
147:09 technology
147:11 because is your time really so valuable
147:14 that like say you're watching like uh
147:16 you know back when they used to say like
147:17 friends okay a show that was home
147:20 released for home media on VHS you could
147:23 watch episodes like you could watch a
147:24 whole season of friends on BHS it's like
147:26 five tapes in a box or whatever takes up
147:29 so much space but your time is so
147:31 valuable that you need to okay I just
147:33 finished I'm binge watching friends just
147:35 finished one tape and I'm going to put
147:37 the next one in but I cannot wait I
147:41 don't have time for it to rewind so I'm
147:43 going to put in the next tape and put my
147:45 tape into the rewinder
147:48 I mean it's one of those things like why
147:49 does it need to exist it's it's just uh
147:52 because that technology is just built
147:54 for that task it does do it better and
147:57 it doesn't wear down the Mechanics for
147:59 the one that you want to just use to
148:01 watch St forward cuz those are moving
148:03 Parts I'm not convinced do you know what
148:05 I'm saying though it's going to break
148:06 down those parts faster one the car one
148:08 in particular I think is purely
148:11 aesthetic well yeah that they do it's
148:14 fun think I don't think that it's like
148:16 for the tape no no and if it is it is so
148:19 negligible what I'm saying is the
148:22 mechanism of the VCR right it plays
148:24 forward and backwards it does a bunch of
148:26 different stuff when you take the tape
148:28 out instead of rewinding it in that VCR
148:31 it's going to wear down the components
148:33 in that VCR more which you should save
148:35 for the quality for when you do just
148:37 watch stuff off of it and beat down the
148:40 external rewinder that's cheaper that is
148:42 designed just for rewinding so it will
148:44 do it quicker and that's all shop is and
148:47 it might be 30 bucks you could replace
148:48 it versus your nice fancy Sony or
148:50 Kenmore VCR that might be and not to
148:53 mention but on a lot of these TV VCR
148:56 combos the C uh
148:58 CRT um whatever they're called um is uh
149:02 that the VCRs will go out on them long
149:04 before the tube TV does the tube TV will
149:06 last you 20 years so you know it's it's
149:09 a pain in the ass finding and now those
149:10 are going on eBay for crazy money those
149:12 TVs yeah oh man I smashed so many of
149:15 those the are comos yeah I've smashed so
149:18 many smashed I'm wild what did I tell
149:21 you I need some new you just smash TVs
149:24 how
149:25 destructive I've blown up and smashed so
149:27 many things I was inspired by
149:29 MythBusters and how it's made and
149:32 Einstein you know they tell you not to
149:34 do it at home I everything [ __ ] Rebel
149:38 everything that they said not to do home
149:39 I've done at home I used to climb to the
149:41 top of the tree in the backyard that one
149:42 went the platform if you rem remember it
149:44 the old hicker Hills house yeah i' climb
149:47 to the top of the tree it's 100 feet up
149:48 and I would carry computer monitors TVs
149:51 and then throw them off watch that I
149:54 just did when they weren't around I was
149:56 going to or or or they were around and I
149:58 just I'm 300 feet away so they like or
150:01 they or you were going to be like no I
150:02 did this after they moved out of that
150:03 house I just as a full grown man no I've
150:05 done it I did it most of it as a
150:07 teenager but yeah we used to smash the
150:09 fall time I'd take a sledgehammer and
150:11 just go right through that screen so
150:12 give me like uh give me your your like
150:14 comfort food if you're going to pop in a
150:16 tape you can go to sleep it's going to
150:18 lull you to sleep what's your comfort
150:20 food movie my VHS or I like Netflix on
150:22 my phone I think it's got to be like VHS
150:25 worthy geez I haven't watched a VHS in
150:27 ages but if I were to be in a situation
150:30 where I have like an old tube TV with a
150:32 V vcr and a plug in VHS which you will
150:34 be if you come to Seattle and stay in my
150:36 guest room are is the um the RCA are the
150:41 red and white um audio cables are they
150:44 going to external speakers or just audio
150:46 from the TV it's audio from the TV all
150:49 right fine uh comfort food probably a
150:52 frozen pizza because that'll bring me
150:55 back to what I used to do when I was a
150:56 kid but now I'm so sorry but you're
150:58 making me like very like self-conscious
151:00 right now like I need you're you're
151:02 making me think that I need to get
151:03 speakers for the guest room everyone
151:05 ever always for every situation I kind
151:08 like have TV you need kind of like the
151:10 way that TV sounds cuz it's so janky the
151:13 TV is designed for one thing display it
151:16 does everything else poorly so okay but
151:20 like but I think there's something to be
151:22 said it brings me back to Childhood to
151:24 have the shitty little tvcr combo and to
151:27 listen to the horrible tiny shr audio
151:31 from those speakers if I'm watching my
151:34 cousin Vinnie on
151:35 VHS you know what I mean do I really
151:38 need the external speakers the problem
151:40 is uh Rob when I was quite young my dad
151:42 had a dope sound system uh a nice
151:46 massive Pioneer you know 15in Subs 4in
151:50 mid 1-in Tweeter full range sound system
151:53 graphic equalizers turn table six disc
151:55 CD changer um two cassettes dual you can
151:58 record stuff on so when I discovered
152:01 that I could take this this RCA of
152:04 yellow red and white I could keep the
152:05 yellow in the TV split because the
152:08 cables were kind of like glued you split
152:10 off without breaking the white and red
152:11 and stretch it and plug it into the back
152:14 of the VC or the back of the receiver
152:17 the power amp receiver in the back of
152:19 the stereo into aux one and two or just
152:22 aux one and then you select Ox when on
152:25 the input select and you can have a full
152:27 rain sound system of your VHS once I
152:29 discovered that it changed my cousin
152:31 Vinnie forever it changed hook and ET
152:35 and
152:36 boys you know Goonies and uh um Monster
152:41 Squad so you like adventure movies
152:43 you're into the adventure movies you
152:44 know Land Before Time never ending story
152:46 page
152:48 master these are also a lot of Coming of
152:50 Age movies too you like are good like
152:52 boys growing up well see I was born 1989
152:55 so I'm like in in the thick middle of
152:58 being a millennial but I always tell
153:00 people I grew up with
153:02 the technology and pop culture of a Gen
153:07 X and I grew up with the mindset of a
153:10 boomer and I don't mean that in my
153:12 beliefs or anything I just like latch
153:14 key kid like go out and play till the
153:15 sun sets like seriously like my whole
153:17 life it's why I'm a wild man like zero
153:20 rules about
153:22 like up stuff andash city boy now
153:25 because I got it all out of my system oh
153:27 I don't I got to keep it was so much fun
153:28 it's the best way to live I mean any
153:30 other way is just sad I was like
153:32 basketball like let's let's like let's
153:33 go shoot hoops until the sun goes down
153:35 let's shoot something basketball BB guns
153:38 guns
153:39 GS basketball shoo those cans off a saw
153:42 hor I made a mini golf course in my
153:45 backyard I used to make I made a a
153:46 nine-hole golf course across my neighbor
153:48 yards without asking them I just dug
153:49 holes and just made a course and mowed
153:51 the grass at different heights like I
153:52 just did whatever I wanted all the time
153:54 and it was awesome it was great but the
153:56 same is true for how I would what I
154:00 would watch but the thing is I was my
154:02 family is really really big and I had
154:04 uncles and aunts born from
154:07 1948 to
154:09 1968 um and with that they had kids at
154:13 many ages so I have cousins that are
154:14 born in 1968 same age as the youngest
154:17 Aunt I have all the way to 2002 so there
154:21 was many generations of our cousins and
154:24 our family is really big and at the old
154:26 house that was the main house my grandpa
154:27 built the house so the whole family
154:29 always hung out there we have like three
154:32 generations of cousins I was of the last
154:35 of the I was the youngest of the last or
154:37 the first generation so I had cousins
154:39 that were born the 60s and 70s who I
154:41 grew up with I got the hamme from
154:44 they're gen xers so although I'm morning
154:46 '89 a lot of my cousins I'm also the
154:48 youngest of my siblings and they grew up
154:50 with older cousins so I had all the
154:53 movie and technology and the video games
154:55 and and music and clothing and ideas and
154:59 ways of living it's a little bit older
155:01 than what I grew up with and you throw
155:03 on top of the fact that when you grow up
155:05 with less means and less access to
155:07 information didn't have cable didn't
155:08 have the internet didn't have the
155:09 computer nothing um wasn't allowed to
155:12 watch cable just basic TV which is
155:14 nothing you even grow up leaving more
155:16 behind like more old like it's it's I'm
155:19 leaving further
155:20 behind and handd downs from Brothers you
155:23 got it from cousins so even my fashion
155:25 sense everything I know is is all old so
155:28 yes I'm you know born 1989 but sometimes
155:31 when I hear even people my age talk
155:33 about their upbringing who did have
155:34 cable who did have cell phones who did
155:36 have internet who did get new clothes
155:39 who were allowed to watch South Park and
155:42 stuff they I can't relate to them they
155:44 did Watch dub what I'm really hearing
155:47 from all this what I'm taking away is if
155:48 a butterfly had flapped its wings just
155:51 one one time more different or whatever
155:55 you would I can totally see you being
155:58 the proprietor of a mini golf course
156:01 maybe a chain mini golf courses I love
156:04 mini golf it's a great thing to do on
156:05 tour with your band because it's like a
156:07 good way we have the afternoon we got
156:09 three hours before soundcheck and we
156:11 don't really know anything about this
156:12 city or whatever or we're in like bum
156:14 [ __ ] nowhere New Jersey let's find mini
156:16 golf course yeah and they're never
156:17 expensive it's always like eight bucks
156:19 yeah I was just going it's always
156:20 between like seven and $10 and there's
156:22 like nobody there and golf Wednesday
156:24 kids are at school go go-karting too
156:26 another 10 bucks oh yeah I also love uh
156:30 like I love like a bumper boats bumper
156:33 cars um yeah that's interesting you know
156:36 uh kids these days man they'll never
156:38 understand the RCA cable and yeah
156:40 they're like they'll never watch my
156:42 cousin Vinnie wait you mean you just
156:44 don't use Bluetooth and stream it's bro
156:46 you know what though I do go to people's
156:47 houses especially people who are a
156:49 little younger than me and my God if
156:51 they yeah if they be watching everything
156:53 out of the speakers on their TV I cannot
156:56 deal I'm just like no it's like I don't
156:59 I don't think I'll ever watch stuff out
157:00 of a TV ever again I'm like I can't
157:03 everywhere I go where my life is is
157:05 existing I bring them speakers I hooked
157:07 up my brother with speakers for his TV
157:09 my parents were there is my girlfriend
157:10 with hers mine here every room where I
157:13 consume stuff has s you have you have
157:16 made it this far into the podcast into
157:18 here we are in hour six of us talking
157:21 about actually where are we though guess
157:23 how long we've been talking oh man it's
157:24 got to be over two is it two and a half
157:26 24 240 okay um about yeah we've been
157:30 talking like almost a like a almost
157:32 almost a Lord of the Rings amount of
157:34 time um but but if you're still
157:37 listening and you do not have some kind
157:40 of
157:41 external speaker that you literally
157:44 could buy for like $30 at your local
157:46 Goodwill or on Facebook Marketplace or
157:48 something you probably get something for
157:50 free yeah you cuz someone want to get
157:52 rid it you doing how much do you not
157:54 respect yourself and your life if you
157:56 are watching [ __ ] through your TV
157:58 speakers I'm going to put out a PSA
158:00 right now ready PSA ready kids this this
158:03 will work it'll double it will quadruple
158:05 and function you can do your vinyl your
158:08 TV your aux cable for your computer
158:11 which I recommend so you don't do
158:12 Bluetooth you plug your laptop into it
158:14 and then control all the music from your
158:16 phone as a wireless remote but it's
158:18 still streaming straight from the cable
158:19 not Bluetooth and you can have
158:22 Bluetooth and you can plug into your
158:24 Blu-ray or 4K or video game console you
158:26 literally can do everything buy yourself
158:28 a receiver get a Kenmore a Sony one set
158:32 of speakers and one set of speakers
158:33 that's what I have in my ENT go on
158:35 Facebook Marketplace everything's
158:36 plugged into it eBay Craigslist whatever
158:38 and you I'd say top spend between $100
158:41 and $300 on their receiver and speakers
158:43 you're set for life it's so simple
158:46 that receiver is a hub to connect all
158:48 the technology you want from every type
158:50 of medium you listen or watch or view or
158:52 consume your set you select between the
158:55 different channels if you want to watch
158:56 TV vinyl uh video games streaming phone
159:02 whatever so come on down to Ben's audio
159:04 supply get yourself a new pair of
159:07 pioneers get it and then after you're
159:10 done buying your new set of speakers
159:12 head on out to the back and we'll play
159:14 mini golf at Ben's mini golf Palace we
159:17 have an archery golf course we have a
159:19 paintball course we blow up old TVs off
159:21 The Treehouse this is like I'm I'm
159:24 saying like the space that DZ Fest was
159:26 thrown in like could have been like this
159:29 it could have been like a paintball SL
159:31 mini gol it was all of those things I
159:32 had a paintball course there's a reason
159:34 why there was a festival there I didn't
159:35 start off going with right the festival
159:38 evolved out of golf the festival
159:40 happened at 22 years old but since 2
159:42 years old I was already doing wild stuff
159:44 back there so I got a lot of experience
159:46 of learning how to UTI I feel like yeah
159:49 I don't know I you know I I also I hear
159:51 a lot of kids these days [ __ ] from
159:52 people who like didn't grow up like in
159:54 the city or in Seattle but they're like
159:56 oh like kids these days don't just like
159:58 ride their bikes around the neighborhood
159:59 I'm like yeah cuz they live in the
160:00 [ __ ] city they're like there is no
160:03 yard you know what I mean like they
160:04 can't just like bike to to the river and
160:07 play poo sticks or whatever you know poo
160:08 sticks uh like but they like but they uh
160:11 you know so I'm like but I I still feel
160:13 like the like kids growing up in like in
160:16 like far farther out in the suburbs and
160:19 and around where I grew up in Spokane
160:21 are probably still doing all that stuff
160:23 maybe maybe not maybe I am the last of a
160:27 generation that was just digging holes I
160:29 don't think I just dug holes I don't
160:31 think they did you dig holes I yes I I
160:34 just dug holes I tried making
160:35 underground forts me too yeah it never
160:38 worked no it never worked Roots I was an
160:40 ID did in a forest yeah I did one time
160:43 though I did make one where I I got deep
160:45 it was not far it was like 4 feet I'm
160:47 we're talking like if you ever watch the
160:48 movie Holes with Shadow buff yeah yeah
160:50 they're digging like what is it like 5x5
160:53 like 5ot deep and and diameter five like
160:56 uh like every single day I'm like I
160:58 maybe got four feet on this [ __ ] hole
161:00 put a piece of plywood over it cover it
161:03 with dirt maybe like move some put some
161:06 sharpened bamboo sticks underneath it to
161:08 kill your enemy you know all yeah or
161:09 like uh like well no I mean this was the
161:11 fort you go into it and you got the roof
161:14 and you maybe put some like that stuff
161:15 growing up and you're not into nature
161:17 now that's wild like I said got it all
161:19 out of my system really isn't it's you
161:21 don't like I don't have time to dig
161:22 holes anymore I'm not saying you know
161:24 you grow up you grow up you lose your
161:27 childhood wonder and you don't dig holes
161:31 anymore you you're breaking my heart I
161:33 got I got to get my kids to school I got
161:35 to pay my mortgage I can't I can't dig
161:37 be digging holes you're you're breaking
161:39 my heart yeah I know I really need to
161:41 just dig some holes you know what I'm
161:42 going to take a break from making music
161:46 booking shows making records I'm going
161:48 to take some time for me and I'm going
161:49 to dig some holes there's one thing I've
161:51 gotten out of this podcast so um yeah I
161:55 mean uh yeah definitely did did a lot of
161:58 shenanigans as a childhood boy
162:00 um and uh yeah I was I was on the very
162:04 very end of I was the you know the the
162:06 VHS to
162:08 DVD uh change over was like you know uh
162:12 was late 90s early 2000s yeah so and and
162:14 I also you know so I was born in '93
162:18 which means that
162:20 March March 16th I know I'm kidding okay
162:22 we already been down this road pandemic
162:25 day D 3:16 John 316 joh 36 I'm a holy
162:29 guy man um you know that Bible verse for
162:32 God so Lov the world that he gave us one
162:34 and only begotten son who shall ever
162:36 believes in him shall not perish but
162:38 have everlasting life amen ameny amen um
162:42 yeah no I grew up in the church grew up
162:43 in the church uh but um
162:46 um uh you know I also think I'm probably
162:49 like the last like uh you know the
162:53 youngest person that still like
162:54 remembers 911 you know happening cuz I
162:57 was 7 years old so and I'm happy to be
163:01 hopefully I live a long life I'd like to
163:03 live a very long time if possible just
163:05 cuz I want to see how things turn out
163:06 you know if I live into my 90s I think
163:09 it would be really really cool to be the
163:10 last person that remembers like well one
163:13 of the last people who remembers the
163:14 turn of the century sure uh you know
163:16 imagine like you know talking to
163:18 somebody who was born in you know
163:21 1893 uh and uh you know and what that
163:24 was like and stuff now no one's going to
163:26 want to listen to me I'm just going to
163:27 be some old cot that like you know that
163:29 like digging holes playing putt putt I'm
163:32 just digging holes I can't wait spfy
163:35 took all my goals I can't wait to be old
163:38 like after 90 I am going to be a wild
163:41 Cowboy like just I'm going to be but
163:42 what are you going to do to me I'm 9 I
163:43 mean you heard my music I feel like like
163:45 it's going to lend itself very well to
163:47 me being an old man like can you even
163:49 get arrested after 90 like what they put
163:51 in jail you're over 0 one of my best
163:53 friends is 70 years old that man gets
163:55 away with so much [ __ ] you can't get in
163:57 trouble if you're 90 like seriously the
163:59 judge will be like uh what just go get
164:02 out of here what are you doing you're
164:04 harmless to society you're incapable of
164:06 hurting people you don't know what's
164:09 going on you need help getting around
164:10 like come on now that being said I don't
164:13 think I I'm hoping I'll still have like
164:15 lot of friends of all ages I mean I'm
164:16 friends with people of all ages like I
164:18 said got one of my one of my best
164:21 friends is 70 one of my good friends is
164:23 you know in in her 40s so two of my good
164:26 friends are are in their 40s and uh I
164:28 you know I have a uh just later this
164:30 month I'm I'm doing a 21 run with with
164:32 one of my friends for for their 21st
164:34 birthday what's a 21 run uh going out to
164:36 the bars for the first time on your 21st
164:38 birthday like going yeah going bar
164:39 hopping on your on your on your 21st
164:41 birthday I didn't do that but I did now
164:44 yeah you know just going all the places
164:45 that you've been locked out of your life
164:46 place you couldn't go and you find out
164:48 how not that cool and not that
164:50 mysterious ter it is and expensive yeah
164:53 just uh oh W this place is just like
164:55 shitty has flat carpet and pinball
164:56 machines oh I have a question for you um
164:59 oh well to finish my thought is that
165:01 like I don't think there's going to be
165:02 like a whole lot of people who are like
165:05 uh I'm not going to have kids or
165:06 anything so I'm not going to have like
165:07 people who are like going to I'm not
165:09 have an estate you know what I mean so
165:11 I'm like I better make my own
165:13 preparations for burial and stuff like
165:15 that so if I want a big old Tombstone
165:18 and a statue and a plaque that says here
165:21 lies Rob he died as he lived in a hot
165:23 tub drunk surrounded by beautiful women
165:26 then you know I have to do that all you
165:28 already dug your grave you've been
165:29 digging these holes just go climb in one
165:31 that's free is it legal though are you
165:34 allowed to just bury I mean if you're
165:35 dead if you're dead I want people to
165:37 know where the hole is oh you know so
165:39 they can go visit it I want I want a
165:40 hole in the middle of the forest throw
165:42 me in it plant a tree call a day don't
165:44 waste anything don't put chemical put
165:47 chemicals in me like the Ben Giving Tree
165:49 like you can visit here lies the Ben
165:50 tree man Ealing people it's crazy what
165:54 are you putting these chemicals in me
165:55 for what about um could we do something
165:58 to the tree that resembles your likeness
166:01 like could we call yeah build a tree Al
166:02 So eventually the tree dies from getting
166:04 poison from the nails that works so
166:06 what's your question and then yeah and
166:09 then we should probably route this
166:10 [ __ ] thing you're like after that
166:11 stupid statement what's your goddamn
166:14 question
166:16 ah what was my question oh what is what
166:19 upcharge do you guys send to do on
166:22 alcohol what do you mean like what
166:24 percentage like how do you know how to
166:25 gauge the price and what like say a beer
166:30 say CU it's so expensive to go to bars
166:33 mhm so the
166:37 upcharge say like how do you gauge what
166:40 percentage to do so like industry
166:42 standard for like retail or like you
166:46 know whatever is like or restaurants is
166:48 like 300% of the cost to the right so
166:52 it's 3 times what you paid for it right
166:54 that's how the beer is $2 for the bottle
166:57 right you're charging six okay uh I will
167:00 say that like it's very random at bars
167:03 because uh at a lot of bars like a well
167:07 a well bottle of vodka like you guys
167:10 call Wells here right uh so like that I
167:15 mean wholesale [ __ ] man those things
167:17 those bottles might cost like4 to6 and
167:20 you're getting like you know 20 it's we
167:22 we're free poor state so you might be
167:24 getting like less than 20 shots out of
167:25 it sometimes but like if you're charging
167:28 eight or $9 for the well that's like way
167:31 more than a 300% up charge like right um
167:35 but the lowest like the worst money that
167:38 we make is on Red Bull because Red
167:41 Bull's very expensive even at wholesale
167:43 yeah uh and so if you're charging $5 for
167:47 a Red Bull like if you just bought a can
167:48 of Red Bull for me it's like five bucks
167:51 it's probably like 250 at cost so that's
167:53 only like 100% markup and then but
167:56 what's weird is like if you get a vodka
167:58 Red Bull it's a $4 upcharge on your
168:00 drink MH which is funny to me because
168:02 you could just buy a shot of vodka and a
168:04 Red Bull for and it' be a dollar more
168:07 and you get twice as much red bull but
168:08 these are the things people don't think
168:10 about they're drunk they're partying
168:11 what you're saying is why I really
168:13 appreciate and loved when Red Bull like
168:15 sponsored Dy Fest and brought like so
168:17 much red bull for free cuz I know how
168:19 much money they cost they give us a lot
168:20 for free and they also come into the bar
168:22 a lot and do a lot of promotional stuff
168:24 the thing about Red Bull is much like
168:26 you know Jack Daniels or you know
168:29 whatever if you can get your um people
168:33 just order a Jack and Coke now I could
168:35 give them an Evan and Coke which Evan
168:37 Williams which is essentially the same
168:39 thing as Jack Daniels the bottle even
168:40 looks the same I'm sure it comes from
168:41 like the same Factory the same
168:43 Distillery whatever it's $2 more for
168:46 Jack Daniels but their branding is such
168:49 that they got into the you know the
168:53 Zeitgeist at large they got into the
168:55 common vernacular that you just order a
168:57 Jack and Coke SYM with whiskey and Coke
169:00 vodka Red Bull you order a vodka Red
169:02 Bull like but it doesn't say a brand
169:04 with vodka Red Bull it's not like I'm I
169:05 want an absolute Red Bull but Red Bull
169:07 is the brand so oh you know there are
169:09 not other you don't order a vodka
169:11 Rockstar you don't order a vodka monster
169:13 right right so
169:15 a lot of places do have like uh turbo on
169:18 the gun turbo is like is like the RC of
169:20 energy drinks and it's it it's it's a
169:22 bag on the gun so like uh you know and
169:25 it's very cheap but um we have such a
169:30 like brand Loy especially at our bar
169:31 just because it is also kind of like a
169:33 club and people like expect Red Bull you
169:36 know uh we we don't do that we have we
169:38 have one of those they give they gave us
169:40 the fridge you know with the with the
169:42 design thing all over it one of our Red
169:44 Bull fridge is actually really cool it's
169:46 like it's got um it looks like an old
169:48 Diner Booth almost it's got like plush
169:50 or it's like padding all over it like
169:52 cushion kind of um you know they're like
169:55 they have lots of like merch and you
169:56 know all this [ __ ] like and the Red Bull
169:59 girls come by and uh and so like we we
170:02 we're pretty like brand loyal to Red
170:04 Bull in particular so they're a fun
170:07 company they're a fun brand not going to
170:09 lie they're really cool they they really
170:11 gracious and fun to work seems like uh
170:13 they did good things for you I uh we got
170:15 a we got a a Dey endorsement over here
170:18 Red Bull I mean I don't really drink it
170:20 much cuz it's terrible for you it's
170:22 [ __ ] gross but for a DZ Fest I sure
170:25 had like 10 each day and I was like yeah
170:27 I don't drink that [ __ ] it's nasty I had
170:29 so much I I was messed up I mean but
170:31 when you're riding on that kind of feel
170:33 you need whatever you can get I like
170:34 needed to have it because I was it was
170:36 rough um time is it shoot we got 9
170:40 minutes before we hit 3 hours you want
170:41 to go three hours or you want to call it
170:44 9 minutes we can do it let's do it
170:46 what's our what's our what's our top
170:47 what have we not hit we not hit let's
170:49 see I probably should talk about music
170:51 some more or something talk about music
170:53 well first of all tell everybody
170:55 especially if like somebody made it this
170:56 far because they like my music and they
170:58 wanted to hear me talk about it about
170:59 talk about um the projects you're in
171:01 again and where everyone can find them
171:03 and going a little bit depth about them
171:04 so fell off is a project that I started
171:07 with my partner Jeff that the Genesis
171:09 was that he had written a lot of guitar
171:12 songs guitar focused songs
171:15 uh in his style and uh but is not a
171:18 vocalist is not somebody who is maybe as
171:23 confident about putting putting an aabc
171:26 song together you know so he would like
171:27 write really cool parts or like put most
171:30 of a song together but our collaborative
171:34 effort there is that uh he will give me
171:36 demos or whatever and I will uh like
171:40 write the vocals to it maybe rearrange
171:42 it a little bit and then we bring it to
171:45 the band and now the band is writing
171:46 together on our latest project uh where
171:49 we are actually writing at band practice
171:51 and a lot of the times I won't even go
171:53 because um because they want to write
171:55 the guitar parts together and I'm just
171:57 going to be sitting there reading my
171:58 book and they don't I if anything me
172:00 being there is almost like a hindrance
172:02 to them getting stuff done um that
172:05 project is uh a lot of fun it's like
172:07 just really like spontaneous and
172:10 happening really fast and um and I think
172:14 it I think think it shows in the music
172:15 that like we're having a good time and
172:17 that like and uh one thing that was like
172:20 a surprise to me about it was that when
172:21 we did go on this tour that um I wasn't
172:25 really sure if guitar music uh if if
172:30 like the youths were all that you know
172:32 uh excited about guitar music because
172:34 largely the way that I interact with um
172:36 the 17 to 23y Old demographic is at
172:39 hip-hop shows and uh and and and you
172:42 know raging at the you know at the uh at
172:44 the SoundCloud trap shows and stuff you
172:46 know so I was very pleasantly surprised
172:48 when we it was a mostly all ages tour
172:51 and that at the spaces we played at the
172:53 demographic was very much excited 17 to
172:56 23 year olds who are not cynical because
173:00 it's all new to them you know they're
173:02 still very excited about about this
173:04 music and they have never heard you know
173:07 a lot of the bands that we sound like
173:09 from 10 years ago or whatever you know
173:11 just to quote Steve Albini like
173:13 something funny that you know I heard
173:14 him say in an interview one time was
173:15 that like it's amazing how much music
173:19 progressed uh from like the ' 50s like
173:21 especially guitar music like from like
173:23 40s with like jump Blues Fats Domino and
173:26 all that stuff to like you know to Chuck
173:27 Berry then to Elvis and all the rock and
173:29 roll stuff in the
173:31 50s and then in the 60s like you know
173:34 you you then then we really start to
173:36 take shape and see like weirder band
173:37 names and the idea like what is a band
173:40 you know what concept records and um and
173:43 you know obviously like what's going on
173:45 by Marvin Gay changed everything and
173:47 like the progression of music like
173:50 changed so much and then the 70s and
173:52 like and then you know and the 80s we
173:53 have a lot of electronic music and it's
173:55 like you hit the 90s and it's like done
173:58 all right we did it all now we're just
173:59 going to recycle everything and Hip-Hop
174:02 is the one thing like well one of the
174:04 genres that has really like taken form
174:06 and evolved in so many crazy ways and
174:09 absolutely same thing with electronic
174:10 music but um but guitar music has
174:13 largely stayed the same since the early
174:15 90s and like I feel like swirlees was
174:18 one of the last bands to like really
174:22 shatter people's expectations of what
174:24 guitar music can be and um so
174:28 so it's still all very new to you know
174:32 to these younger people so they're so
174:35 and and you know young people just they
174:38 they want to buy your merch they want to
174:40 listen to you you for the next 10 years
174:42 they're going to be the people who in 10
174:43 years are like stuck in that ER right uh
174:45 when they're 30 they're going to be like
174:47 I still listen to Phil off but uh so my
174:50 other project Sunnyland is uh is me and
174:53 my brother and it's much more your kind
174:56 of traditional indie rock um the songs
175:00 that I played on the live session with
175:02 you today uh one of those is from the
175:05 release that uh we just put out it's
175:08 just called ep1 the EPS are just going
175:10 to be numbered you know um lots of music
175:13 videos coming out filmed three music
175:15 videos for it so far three out of the
175:17 four songs have videos might make one
175:18 for the fourth we're still trying to
175:20 figure that out um it's like uh Ben
175:22 gibbert style what what is death ca cu I
175:25 think it was trans glanis oh well plans
175:27 had a video for every that's was plans a
175:29 little more shock like a lot more
175:31 shotgun than that they're all just like
175:32 us like just like hanging out and
175:34 playing the songs and like you know it's
175:37 like very low budget videos and very
175:39 just fun and us just having a good time
175:42 and um a lot of it was filmed in Spokane
175:45 around the places we grew up and stuff
175:47 so um there's a lot of uh a lot of
175:50 respects being paid to my you know my
175:52 upbringing where I came from and stuff
175:55 um that's that's what Sunny land's all
175:56 about very much a Brother Band very much
175:59 like
176:00 uh kind of encapsulating all that all
176:03 the stuff I like about being in in like
176:05 a in a softer rock kind of Indie Indie
176:07 band you know because at the end of the
176:09 day that is my background you know uh
176:12 Rob
176:13 joins Jo y NES is like you can you can
176:16 find my music any anywhere and I I it's
176:19 a bit of a um Patchwork of different
176:22 kinds of music and genres but it is
176:25 still kind of your you know your sun
176:27 kill Moon kind of stuff and um Kath
176:30 Bloom inspired you know she's one of my
176:32 biggest influences and lyrically uh uh
176:36 so that's everywhere you know you can
176:38 hear all that stuff and um I've been
176:41 I've been working on a lot of very
176:43 different kinds of things with my solo
176:45 stuff and I I think it's going to take a
176:46 lot of different directions as time goes
176:48 on um the last few shows that I've
176:51 played have been just with me and a
176:53 laptop and a sampler and it's much more
176:56 like kind of sound bath like noise
176:59 collage kind of stuff they are still
177:01 very much like songs you know they do
177:03 have structure um but but it's much more
177:08 experimental so far it has not landed
177:10 nobody likes it um but if I if I release
177:14 it maybe maybe people will be a little
177:16 more excited about it I think that maybe
177:18 people just don't know what to expect
177:19 when I show up with a laptop and all
177:21 they've ever seen me play is like guitar
177:24 or piano and with and with a band with a
177:26 four on the floor you know drums and um
177:30 so uh still trying to figure that out I
177:33 am self-recording an EP right now that
177:35 doesn't have any drums and it's just
177:39 yeah it's just more like singer
177:40 songwriter kind of more keyboard focused
177:43 uh uh Sunnyland has kind of become the
177:46 outlet for for my guitar songs and uh
177:49 and I've taken the more abstract stuff
177:51 that uh I really just can't do with a
177:55 band or you know whatever and that's
177:57 that's what I'm doing now with uh with
177:59 with my solo stuff so there's a lot of
178:01 projects going on yeah that that keeps
178:03 me busy and um and the last thing I'll
178:07 do is like I said if you made it this
178:08 far I'm gonna shout out a few Seattle
178:11 bands that you should check out yeah you
178:12 should uh so apples with Moya is a great
178:15 band uh they're coming out with a new
178:18 record soon that is going to blow your
178:21 mind it is so good I got to hear the
178:23 leak and I'm really excited about it uh
178:25 dead family dog kind of inactive right
178:28 now but they have great they have a
178:29 great um release on
178:33 Spotify
178:35 um and
178:37 um let's see who else am I excited about
178:42 um man like I it's like as soon as I
178:45 said that those were the only two that I
178:46 could think of that's like what I've
178:47 been listening to the most my good
178:49 friend Luke hog fos just put out a great
178:51 record called Florida um with also done
178:54 by Sam rosson at the at the hall where I
178:57 recorded my record and um I've been I've
178:59 been listening to that a lot uh and
179:01 really vibing on it um and um yeah those
179:06 are my three wrecks there you go awesome
179:10 well thank you rob this was fun thanks
179:12 so much for having me laugh maybe think
179:16 May me giggle it was a good time we had
179:18 a fun day today we had a really fun
179:19 mandate today we did we went to uh R
179:23 great great breakfast place breakfast
179:24 had beet as we shared Brew then we did
179:27 two video live session here our behind
179:30 me and then we did a three-hour podcast
179:32 this man made me play guitar for the
179:34 first time in like a month I haven't
179:35 even like picked up a guitar and
179:36 strummed it that's right my fingers my
179:39 fingers are feeling it that's good and
179:41 uh a lot of good content today yeah
179:43 we're have a fun night too let's do it
179:45 all right well thank you everyone for
179:47 listening thank you rob for coming all
179:49 the way out from Seattle
179:51 Washington and uh for sharing your your
179:54 music today I really enjoyed it I'm
179:56 excited to hear it and edit it and work
179:57 on it and yeah check out the bands you
180:00 just mentioned and check out more
180:01 Seattle bands it's a great scene I've
180:03 always enjoyed it and uh thank you for
180:07 [Music]
180:12 listening
180:13 [Applause]
180:14 [Music]
180:21 wo
Chrome Extension