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this is one of the greater moments for me you know like this is a I don't even know where to begin with this it's me and Kevin Parker yeah you know and uh I um from the day I heard Kevin's music I knew me and him could do something yeah
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I knew it I knew it from the minute I heard it I was like I was like oh man personally I was like man I would have been in this band uh what's up man what's happening how are you bro I'm all right I've been drinking a lot of water and uh I've been punching good
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and uh they look well man I see that off the record I want to let people know on the record um you know you look like you're in your health I've been working on it man I've been working on it and uh I know it's different you know it's like it's it's a
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constant battle every day you know yeah but I I'm with it you know what I mean it's interesting when we find Health out of necessity and and I think you know when we're When We're Young we're told it's a choice and you should do it and then you get to a point in your life and
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the same thing happened to me for different reasons you know I had to get healthy I had to and I actually loved that that because it put in a different framework out of begrudge it now like I know that it serves me yeah like I am I mean if I'm I'm being totally candid
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with you about it it's kind of like you know again you know the terms and circumstances under which we've met in different prior situations like this you know it's like that was a really life-changing moment for me you know and I think that uh I I you know they would
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I would always get subtle hints and things here and there from close friends or girlfriends at different times I was you know when I look back a lot and even when we talk about moments sometimes you know there would be moments where it's
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like I was kind of like John Belushi man it's like well because you're charming with it right so people aren't quite sure that's the thing and people and people also you know when you're fun with it yeah when it ex when it exudes um you know a a positive fun energy
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people who love you don't know whether to pause yeah or or or get in between that experience or whether it's like oh it's all fun and games it's all cool he's cool yeah no it was it was like at different times I would have different descriptions of things like one
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girlfriend at one point was literally like she she compared it to like Jacqueline Hyde she would like I couldn't tell who I was talking to yeah yeah and it was like I know the real person so I know that that's not really what's coming out of you but whatever's
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coming out of you when you get here yeah yeah either you're not addressing it and it's that Stark of a difference it was some it was literally like it was kind of like a almost like a like culminating to like like a puss bump you know and it
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was like uh it I don't know it's like uh uh I think that you know moment defining a definite change in my life it was kind of like a hey you know I kind of had to tether myself back into reality in a different way well you can yeah well you have to
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ask yourself am I ready for reality yeah because because what what we're doing in those moments is we're trying to separate ourselves yeah reality right oh yeah and it's and it's it's like what a hell of a reality to come back into yeah
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yeah and that's and that's and that's why they call it the work right it's not like you just wake up one day and be like I don't need that anymore and wow the birds are chirping it's like holy look at this trail of Destruction I guess oh yeah and like every now and
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again sometimes you get cussed out and you go man I really do understand why I drank the way I'm like if I can't process it sober I'm like good Lord drunk I'm probably sure that definitely put a Band-Aid on whatever that was but it's funny that
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you talk about being cussed out though and what and how it and how it you know that that idea of having your mood or identity um affected to such a degree by someone else's feelings or perspective oh it's it's you know it's it's a again every version of it is a constant like
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it's like always constantly adjusting or trying to understand more because there's a part where I think for many years I would like like you were saying I would mask it I wouldn't you know I'm like I wouldn't be able to process regardless most of the time yeah but
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alcohol was like a big yes yeah it was like yeah yeah you're old enough to drink people offering it to me even when I was fixed yeah even when I was younger it was like it started young yeah but there's a part where it became like uh uh what I couldn't
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process I would just like it would almost like create a nice good set of blinders for me and the in between was just enough of a crack to be able to function you know yeah I do so it's almost like uh everything from cause and effect to like you know
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things that you can't repair things you can't you know like things you just have to genuinely rebuild and fix and work on yeah yeah it's a country it's a lack of control in moments when you desperately desperately own it it's the it's the great illusion unraveling before your
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very eyes I know that you are a very restless creative human you're always got to put your creativity somewhere yeah and and that's another thing as well like when you don't have an outlet for that or perhaps you're on the road and doing things that aren't the most
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creative expression it's more of a recreation of the creative expression um I wonder sort of how that affects your balance and and how you find a balance between satisfying that hunger but also realizing that life is life and creativity is a part of that you know
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I've kind of aired on the side of there's a part where because there's no there's no rhyme and reason the place where it exists with you is bigger than any part of sensibility that you can put to it depending on where you're at when
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it shows up so there's this part where it's like uh beautiful I I um you have to like be okay if there's nothing there yeah you know a good example is uh um I guess like even my process for songwriting you know it's like uh it's like a like everything else is there's
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an art to it there's a tool it's a tool you know it's a it's something that you're always constantly chipping away at or something that nature but it started showing up different for me after you know it's like okay that's not the first thing I want to do and a lot
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of the time like you're saying life takes precedent sometimes you got to just be able to live life and like experience what it is yeah you know and it lends itself to something completely different otherwise you're forcing there's the the practice of there's
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always the want to keep sharpening and practicing which is always fine but it doesn't mean it's always meant to lend itself to something you know it's like it's I think there's a part of it where I had to learn a different functionality
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for it for myself I'm a person that's always felt more comfortable writing by myself well you strike me as quite an introverted person I hope yeah aftermarket observation and and the reason the reason I feel that way is because in the times we've made and and
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how hung out or spoken on the phone or whatever we have a great banter it's very natural yeah but then there's been times when I've been like hey I'm at the same place you've got five minutes to say what's up and you're like yeah and I realize that there's a
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difference but and I love it because I realize that what you're saying is like when we have our time together and I feel like this is probably how you look at life I'm engaged but I don't live for that like there are human beings that live for that you're freaked out man
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yeah I mean regardless what everybody sees sometimes there's a part where I'm genuinely like I think most of the time yeah anytime somebody's like you're like what are you doing I'm like nothing yeah it's just like an invitation yeah like I wasn't doing anything man
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what brings you here today my man you know I we would we would talk for lots of different reasons and we've spoken off the Record without any music or anything to talk about but I'm gonna I'm Gonna Keep It open-ended and ask you why
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are we here today and and where is this like what what have we got in our hands here man oh man I I for me personally I would like to this is one of the greater moments for me you know like this is a I don't even know where to begin with this
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this is me and Kevin Parker yeah you know and uh I um from the day I heard Kevin's music I knew me and him could do something yeah I knew it I knew it from the minute I heard it I was like I was like oh man I was like personally I was like man I would have been in his
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band yeah all right man you know all of that and like that's uh that's one part of it the part of it where [Music] um there's a there's a there's a moment for me that I even had to talk to him when we started making this song and uh you know like there's that part
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where you know you the the ways you come about collaborating and working on music sometimes sometimes people at the label try to say it could be kind of gross yeah and I I remember you know like you know like something like saying I'm a
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fan of your music it's so kind of like I almost like feels like tongue-in-cheek it's almost like you can you say that just to like you know you know nice to meet you I'm a fan yeah it's like a weird way to fluff you know like you're kind of fluffing being weird yeah but
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there's a part for it where I'm like genuinely for me I own all your albums yeah and I'm like I I remember a very specific thing for me we we both we were sitting there while we started working on it and I was like I had to make sure I had to because you know
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there's a part where it's all washed over in alcohol psychologically yeah there's a part where I was like me when did apocalypse come out and I'm like when did Apocalypse dreams come out and I was like this makes me see which order
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this is in because there's a part where I was like you know there's a part that this could have inspired that yeah and there's a part where we both were just in the same mind frame psychologically in the feelings of certain things I think and I I expressed to Kevin how
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apocalypse dreams got me through one of the hardest moments in my life there's only a couple songs like that you know and I mean I know you remember like I remember Austin Peralta and it was like that helped me cope that was one of the
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helps that was one of like a genuine spiritual like moment for me and I told him and I was like every the the minute you said everything is changing I was like it just made me feel okay and I think and and I was like I was like Kevin I don't think you understand what
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I'm saying so what you're hearing with this is everything from that that's what this feels like for me like I've con distinctly remember myself in the car crying and screaming the lyrics to that song and I was as just as kind of one of those things where I've I'm like
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maybe if I ever meet him one day yeah you know yeah and here we are so what was it like when um you and Kevin got got together and started forming what what what's become this song No More Lies because it's so beautifully equal parts yeah it's like you uh doing that
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thing you do here I am projecting back on you but you'll appreciate this it's it's a nice projection uh you know you are utilizing your ability to write a scale like a wave like a beautiful like a beautiful set yeah on a surfboard right like thank you it's it's like you
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you ride the wave better than almost anyone I listen to um you make skill feel Soulful and simple and that's that's right that's which I love and then you got Kevin who does the same thing in his own way you know you underplay your Brilliance
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to the highest level and so it's like when you're coming in together how was that chemistry how is that how was that whole thing I had to like make sure I wasn't coming in too hot because I was like so excited yeah like I'm like box every day I'm like way to the 80d's in
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full swing yeah yeah and also because you're coming in with this thing of like you've kind of changed my life and I just want to tell you before we even get started I don't know if I should just immediately get naked and like sacrifice
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myself I was like I was like Kevin I was like hey you like me We genuinely warmed up to each other and that's the it's a couple of moments I think the minute he played the idea that he had started working on yeah I had pulled the base out I was like man
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please let me let me I can I was immediately like engaged yeah and it was kind of like this thing where it was like um he was like oh okay he always and it was funny his his demeanor is so funny sometimes you know because he was just like oh
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it reminds me of my daughter like she like any my daughter could hear the wildest news like hey you know part of California is crashing into the ocean her response to everything is just oh you wouldn't not denoting one way or the other it's just literally like oh yeah
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and I was like there's no internal media yeah you can't see what the meat is doing right I was like was that good was it bad help me help me understand I know exactly what you're talking about because the amount of times I've tried to explain it to
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that guy what his music means to me and it's like you get the same thing oh yeah yeah it's like cool running traffic after talking to Kevin now um but it was one of those things where and then uh I I you know we I kind of wanted to sit with it for a bit because
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I think sometimes and this is one of those moments for me even where it was like the the contents of the heart or wherever you know it's like it kind of came up like vomit and I remember I I started recording lyrical stuff to it and he was like it
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was funny because there's a part of it where it's like I think sometimes my lyrics can be a bit like off-putting because it's a bit of humor sometimes maybe or something like that that's why we love you like I feel weird go to bed brush your teeth go you know go to sleep
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exactly and so everyone's just like a focused in on the kind of like the jokiness of it but but that's a sad song that's basically depression on a stick yeah it's like I do not feel like right right now this is Lula guys it's getting darker yeah no but um so I sat with it
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for a bit and then I kind of you know came up with a bit of an idea and I remember Kevin was just kind of like again oh and I was like help me yeah you know I was like am I saying too much is this not the right type of content that I should be talking about
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like yeah were we what were we dreaming about here help me help me you know but it was like I think that he immediately from what I could see yeah it kind of sparked his interest to want to delve into it more you know and it was one of those things where it just became like a
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and it became like a game of ping pong for us oh it was like oh oh and we're talking about life we're sharing stuff you know but we're talking about it and it's I think we were just there was moments that we captured with it within
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this song and it was funny because I was I don't know as I I think that I get a joy out of like seeing somebody laugh you know I do you know what I mean and so it's like there's a part for me where I'm just like when we hit that place where it was just like and it's like
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there's the here comes the Beavis Leslie yeah yeah yeah because it is deep so you clearly surprised him what was the thing that he did that surprised you what was the moment when you win even internally ah I think that I just feel like I I personally to be
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honest with you the minute he pressed the space bar it was like I it was immediately being met with everything that you would think it was for me it was like it was just like I was like sir we can stop right there yeah all right I'm ready and it hits you
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immediately yeah I just love that you're you're unafraid to write a song like no more lies to your point it was a vomit you didn't sit there coming in that studio that day saying I've got someone to say it's not like it was a script you had in the back of your mind
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and then but that's when you have to make the ultimate decision and you have to decide to be brave enough to Let It Go funny thing about change man as I keep saying is you're always one step behind it I just I just think that's
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that's something that we've had to acknowledge and unfortunately it's often the most um uprooting and difficult circumstances that allow us to come to terms with that man you hope that experience isn't always the best teacher but it want it is again
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like again if I was to go back to where we know you know the places that we've been yeah it's like I'll yeah you're you're bound to learn if you don't you're gonna do the same thing you know I was forced to look at myself after when my again a few of my closest friends you know passed
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away in such volatile manners I was forced to look at myself there's a couple people to tell me about myself too anyway yeah and now that you you know it's like oh now you're going to pay now let's have that conversation yeah and it was like it's like a ton of
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bricks like I always have this thing to myself sometimes like I was saying where I go oh I could see why I drank yeah but there's a part where it's just kind of like I remember I can remember the day that it felt like a sickness I felt it more
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of a sickness it was like I completely lost the whole entire one like it was just kind of like it it was like the side of it's like it but it was personal it wasn't like where everybody like keep it away from me it wasn't that it was kind of like it was like mocking me
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it was like wow I remember looking at and I remember it was one I forget I think it was a bottle of Glen meringue and I was looking at it and I was like wow I was like wow who's drinking who I was like I'm never the way I was like this is it this is it
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I was like this is literally the moment wow yeah we fool ourselves through a few of those before we reach the one that truly resonates yes that's what Erica said to me too Erica Erica told me she said you'll stop when you're tired Eric about
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it yeah yeah she said that to me and it was kind of like you know it's always like you know you know she's country so there's a program it's just like okay but then and she said it to me and I remember when I stopped that was the first thing that came to mind she was
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like yeah you'll stop when you're actually tired and it was like that moment I could acknowledge and admit I was tired I was like wow I'm gonna do the same thing he surrendered yeah I was like I'm I'm about to do the same thing again if and I was like I realized like
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I was probably next yeah yeah and it just kind of it it sat with me in such a manner that was just kind of like it became a driving force um yeah that's a lot I know as they say it's you know it's but that's where that came from so glad you're here as it was
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it was a lot to see front row Mack was it was like uh I don't know it's like my emotions went concave you know and I think that it it's it was a very interesting Crossroads because as that happened things were even amping up in my life where it was like it was like
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I it was like I couldn't walk down the street without somebody saying something to me it like it scarred me like irreparably like like it was genuinely like whoa that is a clash of experience I'd walk into a building people cut the
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music down I didn't even it just somebody walks up to you and it's just like hey hey hey you know it's like and it would be like that for a couple years what a shadow following you around that's just it was wild and it was something to have to like
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and then also sobering up at the same time yeah see a hyper lip oh my gosh it was it's like loud noises like somebody just shooting a gun next to your ear like and like flashing the strobe like like all the time all the time you know anytime friends would come around they
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would be like you know what's going on and I just kind of like it was kind of in the days and then here we go with the you know you know uh of somebody that would be interested in me they would start to see little things they would see stuff
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they'd be like you're not processing this like you're not you like you're just not just like whatever you've done the start it's like but you're not processing it so like I'm I had to like work on being able to communicate all of this stuff showed up at the same time it
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was like a ground zero for me for real and I don't know it's like uh you know anytime there's like a giant mural of them you know that's right off of a Highland uh worldwide and I salute it just like you're just saying with you know your friend where it's just like I
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wouldn't be doing him Justice I wouldn't be doing any of my you know I mean I would it wouldn't serve me to do the same thing and go the same way wouldn't serve anything that was built you know like anything that was created with this it's like this it's
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being able to acknowledge it and being able to look at it and go like okay that's be accountable for what that is what am I gonna do with my time yeah yeah I'm trying to figure out in this never-ending sort of well it will end
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one day because I'll stop breathing but like uh while I'm here it will never end this this search for like um through lines not an analytical way but just because I'm curious the thing that I can apply as far as I know today to the things that become my core Memories
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the things I'm invested I'm married to yeah is that I there's a there's an Unapologetic authenticity to the creative process for you and for the people I love hey I don't feel like you make art for any other reason but that it serves a purpose for you for
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good and for and for tough does that make sense well it's it's a I appreciate that it's like uh I feel like it's always a double-edged sword you know it's like it's for you and also not for you that's how I've always felt about it like how
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do you say okay so when do you make the disconnection because you're not it surely can't be not for you when you're in the middle of making it oh well it's gonna come out of you you know it's gonna come out of you it's like I don't know I think there's a I think there's a
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part of it where it's like you have to lend yourself to it you know you know just just these these perfectly constructed sentences you have to lend yourself I'm just collecting them you have to lend yourself to you don't own it yeah it's like you know
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there's you know I was I was uh I was actually writing with JD and Domi last night you know amazing we're sitting here you know it's like even the part where we're just like you know putting three of us in a room is like a bad episode like a Nickelodeon episode of
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jazz Masters it was just like you know it's like you know three of the most precociously talented musicians in one room and see what happens kids yeah we were you know Greg Kirsten and oh my God you got you got always on in the room as well I call them always on because the
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is always on Greg is a beast man he's a beast but we're sitting here and it's just like you know emotionally it's like watching literally like an episode of a Ren and Stimpy with uh too much was it French toast man is a horse and all you're just like flying in the window
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backwards you just yeah you know and but there's a part where when it comes to the moment of what it actually is yeah and the it was one of those moments because it's all you're joking and going turbo and going crazy and what comes out
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of what we were creating it was like whoa whoa you know it's like it's so many things it could be but then when it becomes it was becoming this thing it was be starting to take shape and form it was like it was a lot to it was like well that
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was it's a lot it was like whoa that was a lot that's gonna be the most present you can ever be in your life oh man right oh yeah like even when it comes to the content of what you decide to sing about and stuff like that it's kind of like can't be afraid of the you know
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what you know like exploring it and like letting it become something last time I saw you play Live you were one of the few artists who actually were brave enough to step out on a stage in front of a bunch of cars like a Disney film and uh and and and and do it and do a
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show and from the confines of our cars uh it really was like a drive-through experience it was nuts um that's crazy we loved it but I never really got to ask you how you felt about it was just the weirdest thing ever oh it was it was
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awesome in one respect I felt like I was on the set of California love with Tupac I was like oh this is where we're at now without the Mad Max without like the modern Mad Max like real Posh man yeah it's like oh you know Mad Max a company Retreat for
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the dystopian company yeah it was just like all right guys you know anybody want to have a roller derby you would start crashing all right no but it was it was fun it was fun again I any uh things that again like we were talking about core memories and stuff earlier
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I'll never forget kamasi saying to me like you know no matter how you feel about how well or how you know you didn't do or whatever it is when you're playing it's like any day you get the chance to play and you get to do that it's a great day it's a great moment you
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got a chance to play you know that was like a real thing kamasi instilled in me when we were younger as teenagers he's like shoot man ah yeah like my it's like anytime I would feel some kind of way about something like oh man it was
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killing you know I was like but I didn't I could my pedal blew up and it was like one of the strings popped and I don't know half of the scales and nah man it was killing you know and it took a while to set it and realize like yeah no any time you get to play like that
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it's a joy I think about that that Collective of friends that have all individually gone on to achieve things and yet we're still obsessed with the collective hey man you know we're obsessed with the unit as it exists even though technically it doesn't really
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exist yeah they move as one yeah you know but you cross paths and you do what you've got to do and everything else looking back on that time now and thinking about the way everyone's kind of uh identity presented themselves you make kamasi sound like he kind of had
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the wisdom even at any age oh yeah I always say this kamasi's been 50 since he was like 17. it's just first dude he's wearing a suit he just been wearing a suit the whole time yeah he's like Massey is you know but yeah no it it I I would say
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that he's always been like that I dare say he's always been like that you know he's you know I think I've said a couple different points he literally could have been a physicist yeah you know yeah but there's a part of it where this is just
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I grew up with this Sage of a friend you know what what is one of those kind of core feelings or memories you have if you transport back to that if you look through the annual of life and you and you sort of recognize and remember that that period in time when you were active
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together and life hadn't gotten and taken you all into different yeah what what do you think about when that comes to mind I think about like uh we were all we would always be together we would go to the movies we wanted amoeba first popped up we were at amoeba
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you know like spending 100 spending the money from the gigs on CDs yeah you know yeah you know sitting in the car eating burritos listening to Revel you know like going on you know like same thing with Brandon Coleman Brandon Coleman you know like uh
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uh I remember Brandon Coleman gave me his car you know yeah like he passed his car down to me he's like because he knew he was like man you need to be able to get to shows dude like you know like discovering Herbie uh practicing at Cameron's dad's house dad and mom's
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house and practicing that kamasi's dad's house you know we'd it was like I didn't realize how specific it was that we grew up until around now in the 30s where you're like holy crap you know it's like it's hard to put two thoughts together
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there's so many funny moments where it was just like uh I remember one time we went to the movies it was me Ronald Cameron Taylor and kamasi yeah I mean I forget who else was we went to Universal CityWalk and it was like you know like our parents our parents would never
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question if we were together you didn't have nothing it was like yeah someone's gonna be the grown-up we're gonna be fine you know it's like where's Ronald oh he's acting so okay we're there the Cameron's house okay whatever and I remember one day where it was like
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you know uh uh uh it was like this but we were still kids so there's this part where it was like me and my older brothers like like interaction with our parents was just completely night and day it was like you know I was like I and I remember it was one of these
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moments where we were like we went to the movies and we were out late and so I always knew if you just call them and let them know what you're doing you're in trouble yeah Freedom secure yeah like Ronald would be like shoot first ask questions later like and so we called
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him back to back it was the and I I guarantee you kamasi and Cameron they remember this we had just got out the movies and I called my parents and was like hey we just got out the movies uh yeah we're just gonna be probably a little late we're gonna get some food or
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something just kind of you know let them know what's going on yeah and Ronald was going off he's like see that's not the same thing that happens what I call it and like for sheer experimental purposes Ronald he called and my mom was like
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come home now it didn't matter what just come home now and it was just like I'm but we're in the same room it's like we're in this but it was just kind of one of those we're still kids you know we're still kids because it's like you
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know you know you got here 16 17 years old it's like no you bring your butt you come home now it's just like I'm standing next to Stephen we're in the same place it was but it was just like again kids we were still kids how is um how's it been rocking with the four
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funksters from California oh yeah Chili Peppers yeah I mean I think if you're gonna if you're gonna step into an environment that is stadiums only and you're gonna get to tour with a band of that caliber a Chili Peppers um I reckon that's probably the most
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dialed in experience because those guys have lived at all right awesome so so you're not moving in into a stadium you're moving into a purpose-built Chili Peppers lifestyle environment oh man let me tell you something I kid you not man I I have I like you
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know like seeing again I I keep saying this yeah seeing flee come out on stage and then I've seen all of them but seeing flee come out and just whoop ass every night was like I have no excuses I have none this is like full account this was like do better it was like way
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better you know awesome and and also to do it within the framework of songs that draw 80 000 people a night like it's one thing to go out there and whip ass and be a you know to to be a maestro it's another thing to be doing it over
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all around the world I'm like man you know it's like that's a actual pop song man it just it was inspirational Beyond Reason you know there's a couple funny moments for sure you know like those I think we were in a where we had in Florida where like the
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whole entire show gets pushed back because uh it was like a thunderstorm so when I usually walk it's like you know what I'm I'm playing I'm you know showing uh opening up and so there's a lot of people there but it was like I had never gotten to see the full the
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full you know the full full monty you know I was like oh shoot everybody's here so the show gets pushed back yeah and I I walked out on stage with everybody there and it felt like the Avengers Infinity War I was like I came out and just belted I was like I was
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like oh my God it was like raining and I was like you got Stadium fever it's a real thing and I remember seeing that and going like this whoa I was like what do I do now what's funny is when it comes to that situation when it's final flight dude you fought you Grand
31:43
I was like I almost got completely naked and just no it was in it was like wow yeah I was like whoa but like every day like getting this again like because I would be out after I play I'd be out in the audience yeah you know just out there screaming the lyrics you know and
32:00
I don't know it just it was growing in many different directions psychologically for me for sure you know it was like it it was like it was so much bigger I felt so small but I also felt so massive yeah you know it was like whoa [Music]