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It's It's slowly taking me over. I'm going to be honest.
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I'm I'm trying to keep it together, but it That one is really hot.
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Hey, what's going on, everybody?
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From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans, and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today, we're joined by Zayn Malik.
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He's a singer-songwriter whose new single, What I Am, releases tomorrow, leading to a lot of speculation and excitement around his highly anticipated fourth studio album, and he's here today who leads me to believe that it's coming soon.
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Zayn, welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me.
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How are you around spicy food?
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I know that you grew up eating fresh chilies as a kid.
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Not particularly chilies, but a lot of obviously Indian food growing up.
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Um so, I've got a a pretty high tolerance, I think, but we'll we'll let today be the tester. Okay, this side? Yeah.
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Mine is That one seems pretty easy.
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It's actually quite tasty, that one.
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It's got a little bit of warmth to it.
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So, when we had Dave Grohl on the show, he talked about how he believes music is shaped by its physical surroundings.
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How, if at all, has your retreat to a more quiet and simple life on a farm in Pennsylvania shaped your sound?
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Um that's actually a really interesting way to put it.
1:40
Um I never thought about it like that.
1:42
Um I think life uh in general just, you know, can influence your writing process, you know?
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You have to live, go through things to have something to talk about.
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So, yeah, it definitely has took on the surrounding area of Pennsylvania, you know?
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It's got that feel, it's got the chill.
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Like um introspective, kind of conscious thing going on.
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And yeah, I'm really excited for people to listen to it cuz it's really different to anything I've ever done before.
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It's super personal and real. Okay, smokey jet.
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Yeah, no, it's it's tasty.
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It's a good chicken wing. There we go.
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So, I'm always intrigued by songwriters who use poetry as an entry point to crafting lyrics.
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What impact does composing that way have on the final product?
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There's different ways that you can start a song.
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You could start with a melody idea, some, you know, a basic line from an instrument, some keys, maybe a little bit from guitar, maybe even just a drum beat, and then write fitting in that pocket.
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Or you can have something completely like just written as a piece of poetry, like you said, and then try to figure out how you're going to make that work musically and fit that in and base the music around the the sentiment or the lyrical, you know, the feeling behind the song.
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So, yeah, it just really depends.
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I think they both impact each other.
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I think it's definitely a good skill to have to be able to write poetry just so that you have a sensibility of beginning, middle, end, you know, telling a story, get your point across, and don't bore people too much with what you're trying to say.
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So, yeah, I think they both tie to each other.
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Ideally, you know, I think you need one to do the other and one to do the other.
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You can definitely taste the chili on that one straight away. Mhm. Still not too bad.
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It's actually tasty chicken wing I got to eat this.
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You know, I think this might be my favorite sauce in the line.
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Yeah, I think this one's nice.
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It's got a nice flavor to it. Yeah, it does. But a little heat. A little bit of a snap. Yeah.
3:48
So, as we mentioned years ago, you moved to Pennsylvania to seek a life of simplicity.
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In what ways do you find gardening most rewarding and what would you say has so far been your greatest gardening achievement?
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Uh my biggest achievement, sorry, uh growing stuff is probably uh a couple of years ago we grew like some of the the biggest watermelons I've ever seen.
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They were like huge, like 40 lb watermelons. Wow.
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Um yeah, and I showed it to my uh friend's parents and they were growing them at the same time and theirs were like this big and then I sent them a picture back of mine and they were like, "I don't know what the [ __ ] you're doing wrong with us, but uh that's a massive watermelon."
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So yeah, that's probably my proudest uh moment whilst I've been uh I've been trying to be a gardener.
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Yeah, what do you think makes you such an elite watermelon grower?
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Like do you think it's the soil?
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Like do you the soil, yeah.
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I don't even think I had anything to do with it, but I'll take credit, you know.
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I think the soil's just great and the weather's ideal the and the the rain's really good.
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It's really humid out there.
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In the summer you get a lot of um like uh humidity, so I think that's like ideal for them.
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Do you have a favorite plant? A favorite plant?
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Yes, I do have a favorite plant, but I don't know if that's appropriate for uh for here.
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Um yeah, uh I I love growing chili plants though.
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Oh, you're growing chilies?
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Yeah, I do grow chilies, yeah. How's that been going?
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I've been growing uh a lot of scotch bonnets and uh a lot of Carolina reapers. What?
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Um yeah, Carolina reapers. There's a lot of them.
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They grow really well, too.
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Like they're growing like a bush.
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Um I got uh really big yield uh last year. Have you ever eaten one? I haven't, no.
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I've seen you eat the pepper the pepper.
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Yeah, I watched that video, yeah. I've seen you eat it.
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That's some serious uh se- serious balls going on there.
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It's It's uh it's a it's a whole thing eating a eating a chili pepper even as opposed to trying the hot sauce.
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No, it's very extreme, but you know what?
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If you need some uh pointers, some tips as you go along in your pepper growing journey, you know, I have some connects that I can uh that I can bring to the table, you know.
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I'll I'll pass you a smoking hot Carolina reaper.
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and yeah, it it's called the pocket pocket book. Oh my god. Yeah, I like that name.
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I was like that's really funny name. Feel that straight away. Mhm. Yep.
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It's definitely got kick.
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Um What chili pepper is that in that one? Do you know what it is?
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Get out of some serranos.
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Serranos, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Kicking a little bit. But me too. Same wavelength. Yeah. Over here. All right. All right, cool. That's good to know.
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What would you say are the greatest lengths you've ever gone to to find inspiration?
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I think what I found is when you try to find inspiration You can't squeeze it from the rock.
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It's not It's not going to come.
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Yeah, I think you kind of just have to let it come to you by itself.
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Um and you know, live a little, have some life experiences, go through something so that when you actually are talking about something, it's a genuine feeling from you.
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It's not something that's made up, you know?
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All right, how we doing after four wings? I'm good, yeah. I'm good so far.
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Well, that's good news because we are now officially approaching the halfway point. Okay.
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This next wing right here is called queso sin queso. Okay. Interesting color.
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Yeah, very interesting color. Okay. Here we go.
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Excuse me, but uh That's That's some serious sauce. Yeah.
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Do you have a Zayn's Kitchen signature dish?
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And if so, can you tell us how to make it in as much detail as possible?
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Um signature dish, uh I guess that's the the thing I cook the most.
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So, I actually cook uh this thing called uh tandoori chicken quite a lot, which is like a red chicken in in spice.
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And uh you can do it, you know, different ways.
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You can serve it however you want on a kebab or in a chicken wrap or whatever.
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But if I was to make a meal Yeah.
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I would probably spaghetti bolognese.
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Spaghetti, minced meat, a whole the concoction of beautiful things going there. Tomato, garlic.
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You can use carrots sometimes cuz the carrot counteracts the acidity of the tomato and gives it like a umami flavor.
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And I'm getting pretty good at sneaking vegetables in there for my daughter because she's not about vegetables at all.
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So, Yeah, Trojan Yeah, that's everything. Yeah.
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Um and it tastes really good. But, yeah.
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Um so, maybe I can cook you some spaghetti bolognese at some point. That would be nice.
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I would absolutely love that. real spicy for you. That one's good. I like that one.
8:26
So, back in 2021, you released Calamity, a comic book inspired by your album Nobody Is Listening. Mhm.
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Was there something about the music on that album that you felt lent itself to that kind of animated storytelling?
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Or as a comic book obsessive, did you kind of just want to make a comic? Uh excuse me.
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I've got chicken in my tooth. You know what? No problem.
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I think we have toothpicks.
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We've got some toothpicks.
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We've got some supplies for you. It's fine. Get out.
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Yeah, so it was just the the love that I have for comic books. That's why I used that.
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Is there any sort of backstory if you're willing to share about the early edition Iron Man comic that you have that's signed to Stan from Stan Lee? Yeah.
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Um so, when we did the One Direction movie, um Morgan Spurlock, he filmed a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that was used for the film and he directed it.
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Um and he became pretty close to us.
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Um so, at the end of the filming process, he brought us all a present.
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Um and he brought me a signed Iron Man comic uh Stan Stan Lee signed Iron Man comic, which is a real, you know, um amazing thing that I still have on my wall.
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And yeah, just an amazing thing to tell your geeky nerdy friends who love comic books, you know, they definitely want that comic book from me.
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None of them will have it at any point while I'm alive.
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So, they'll have to wait a while.
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But, yeah, that was really cool.
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And I remember the other boys being super like pissed off about it, too, because they didn't get as good gifts.
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And he gave me this signed Stan Lee comic.
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I was like, "This is [ __ ] sick."
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But, yeah, I love that that comic book.
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It's interesting that you that you know about that. You say we have to know. We have to know. do research. Ooh, okay. Okay. Mhm. That's very fruity.
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And it has kind of like a fresh apple taste up front almost.
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But, then you catch the the violence on the back end, you know.
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That's why I took one bite and I was like, "Oh, let's let's see how that settles first before I have another one cuz I could just tell just from the first like fruity flavor that that's going to be real spicy."
10:43
You've been there before.
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What's the worst technical difficulty or equipment malfunction you've ever experienced while performing on stage?
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Like, have you ever been burned by pyro or had to endure a prolonged power outage?
10:56
I've never actually been burned by pyro.
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One time there's footage of it.
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And it's actually amazing cuz it makes me look great.
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But, on stage, Harry was right next to a pyro.
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And the pyro was was about to go off cuz they were on timers.
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And he had a towel over his head.
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And he had his head over the pyro.
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And he didn't see that the pyro was there.
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So, I just kind of like you see me like run from one side of the stage and just push him out of the way.
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And the pyro kind of like explodes him in front of his face.
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That was really dangerous.
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In terms of tech tech technological like uh, difficulties.
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The whole, like, rig would just go off sometimes.
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Like, in our early gigs, like, we would have a power outage and there was no microphone.
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So, we would just put our microphones down and we would just, uh, burst into a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, uh, a cappella, um, just do the whole performance of that until the the the microphones were working again.
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Um, and that was the thing that we had, like, just in our back pocket always.
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Like, if the microphone goes, you know, we've still got that.
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As if it was some amazing performance, but, you know, I hope it entertained people. Yeah, funny times. I'll go for a big bite. Respect to me, too. Woah. Yeah. No one's up. Right.
12:29
This one never gets easier for me, but, uh, in sort of your expression, you are, uh, composed in the in the face of this fire. I do have to say, Zayn. Yeah.
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It's it's slowly taking me over. I'm going to be honest.
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I'm I'm trying to keep it together, but it that one is really hot. Yeah, I know.
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Well, you you can let it go cuz I'm just going to kind of let it go. All right? Yeah.
12:48
From here forward, you're going to see a different Shawn from across the table, okay, Zayn?
12:53
All right, you might see a teardrop.
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I'm just letting one go now, so dramatically.
12:58
Do you bump your own music?
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You know, I'm always curious an artist's relationship with their work once it's out in the world.
13:04
Uh, yeah, it depends, um, on the occasion, you know?
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Um, I don't like to just bump my music to to people as they come over, you have to listen to my music.
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Uh, but if if I'm having like, um, uh, a moment to myself where I'm listening to things, yeah, I'll listen to my own music quite a lot, yeah.
13:25
What's your most, uh, treasured memory as a loyal Bradford City FC fan?
13:30
Going to a game with my granddad when I was really young.
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And we used to have this amazing player who used to play for Bradford City.
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As kind of like a charity thing basically, he was too expensive for the club, but if they paid him his wages for the last um season, they would have gone bankrupt as a club.
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So, he did it for free because he loved the club so much and that's probably one of the coolest things uh like memory-wise for for Bradford City, I think. Yeah.
13:59
Do you still collect uh samurai swords?
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Uh I uh Should I say this?
14:07
Uh I have some samurai swords, yeah.
14:07
I don't collect them, but I have I have like three, yeah.
14:12
Is there one that has the most sentimental value?
14:14
Um Yeah, um my one of my best friends just got me one recently. Um and it's really cool.
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It's like a tempered like blue steel blade.
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Um and that one looks really cool, yeah. Excuse me. That's all right.
14:30
Speaking of sharp pains, you know, how we feeling on the other side of the bomb here? I feel good, yeah.
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It was like a whole experience.
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I think I've come through to the side of it now, but yeah, my eye definitely wouldn't stop watering, so. It's all right.
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You're just, you know, reflecting on the club, you know, going to games with grandpa, you know, it's all bringing a tear Fully, yeah.
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And the good news is, Zayn, that there are only two more wings to go. Okay.
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This next one They get hotter than this?
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Only one way to find out.
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It's still got burn to it.
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It's still definitely burning my lips.
15:16
Uh but I know what you're saying, yeah, it's not as intense as the other one.
15:18
The other one's a bit smokier, too, right? Yeah.
15:21
Bit more intense flavor, but What video game do you most associate with your youth in West Yorkshire?
15:25
Like I'm kind of curious if titles hit the same way on either side of the pond.
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It's got to be Pokémon, right? Respect. Yeah.
15:34
Um just remember playing that game for hours on the Game Boy.
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Just obsessed with it and they and they've always like kept up to date with that kind of stuff, too.
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Like every year they they bring out a new Pokémon game and it's The IP doesn't fall off. No, not all.
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They they just they hit hard every time.
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Like a little bit like this chicken wing.
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Um they know what they're doing, for sure. All right, Zayn.
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You'll have to put some sauce on this one, yeah? Okay. This one here, yeah? Yeah.
16:07
God knows running and everything. Here we go. Here Okay. Put it on there. Okay. Cheers, Zayn. What a run. Cheers. Cheers.
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And my mic pack fell out. That's all right.
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You know, we made it to the finish line.
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If we lose a mic pack, we lose a mic pack. You know what I mean? No.
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Just a couple guys taking on the wings over As long as we don't lose no taste buds. I got no fun.
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What you're eating right now, a concoction from the twisted brain of Smokin' Ed's Curry, all right?
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Not to scare you away from ever going back to PuckerButt. Excuse me.
17:02
Zayn, I know that you don't do many interviews.
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We're very appreciative to have you here today.
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And I have a feeling that you wouldn't be here unless you had something very important to share.
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So, my last question to you is kind of simple.
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With your brain and mouth on fire, what is it you can tell us about the new album?
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Um the new album is just a very different sound um to anything that I've ever put out before.
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It's just really raw um and honest and I hope people get that when they listen to it.
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Um I hope they get some insight into, you know, how I'm feeling and the things I've been going through over the last 6 7 years while I've been writing this record.
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Um and that's the most important thing for me, I think.
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I just want people to really feel like they get a connection with with the record. Do you have a name?
17:50
I do, yeah, it's called Room Under the Stairs cuz I recorded most of it in in a tiny little like shoe cabinet in my house.
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Um so I felt like it was fitting to to name it after that room so that people can get, you know, even more sentiment into what the whole idea behind it was. Well, you know what?
18:07
You heard it here first and look at you, Zayn, taking on the wings of death, living to tell the tale, and now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you. Zero milk.
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No milk all the way through.
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This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
18:25
Uh right now, um my mouth is burning. It's on fire.
18:26
Um very excited to be on Hot Ones.
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Um so thank you for having me.
18:33
Um I've got my album coming out um and a new single coming out.
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So um go check that out if uh if you want to.
18:40
You're not forced into doing that, but uh if you're interested, please go check it out.
18:44
Yeah, tell me what you think. Hey. Thank you very much. That was amazing.
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One of the best interviews I've ever done.
18:57
Is there any way you have another wing?
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Don't make me pick up that one.
19:01
We got to get into the sauce business together, right, Zayn?
19:04
Therefore, let's make a sauce together. Let's Let's do it.
19:08
This one's smoked, so all of the peppers were smoked first and there's smoked pineapple in there, too. Oh, I like that.
19:13
You know, sometimes we do that with like a little fruit, you know?
19:16
Like a little sweet, little heat, you know? Yeah, it's nice. Balances it out a bit. Mhm. Smoke immediately. Yeah. Hot.
19:33
And I'm not just saying this. This is actually elite. Yeah? This is amazing.
19:39
Well, you like the taste of Yeah, yeah.
19:40
And it has sort of you know, you're talking about how you like American barbecue, you know?
19:43
It has like a little bit of of that, like a sweet, like Kansas City barbecue.
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The smoke The smokiness brings out the flavor, I think.
19:52
But, there's a lot of different seasonings in there, too.
19:54
There's garlic and all kinds of stuff to like make it taste good.
19:57
Onion, salt, and stuff like that. You know what, though?
20:00
The key ingredient in this one? Love. Oh, yeah. I'm glad you feel that.
20:07
Well, thank you for trying Yeah, of course, buddy.
20:08
Thanks so much for You're welcome. Thank you. This is awesome, man.
20:11
You got like a natural talent. Thank you. I like cooking.
20:20
CAMERA GUY BILL HERE FOR A SPICY PSA.
20:23
HERE AT HOT ONES, WE LOVE SPORTS.
20:25
BASEBALL, FOOTBALL, go long, BASKETBALL, HECK, and even fancy horseback riding.
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AND WE KNOW YOU SPICE LORDS ARE tuned in, too.
20:42
So, the next time you need a little snack to go with your sports, make sure to make it a Hot Ones Buffalo Bonanza.
20:50
Our Hot Ones Buffalo sauce is made with real butter, cayenne pepper, and even a little bit of celery.
20:55
It's the perfect companion for chicken wings, dips, and all your favorite game day snacks.
20:59
So, don't fumble this one, and order your bottle of Hot Ones buffalo sauce today. That's heatness. com, heatness. com, heatness.
21:11
com for all your buffalo needs.