Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 104: Jeremiah Fraites (The Lumineers)

Episode Date: November 10, 2020

Can the real Andy Frasco please stand up? Following a complete lock-out from his social media accounts, Andy reflects on a week long holiday from his phone. This week on the Interview Hour, we are elated to welcome Jeremiah Fraites from The Lumineers! He and Andy talk about growing up in Jersey, the death of a beloved brother, and how he got wrapped up in music. Don't miss this convo. Shawn does a song and hopes y'all will sing along. This is EP 104. Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out Andy's new album, "Keep On Keepin' On" on iTunes Spotify  Check out The Lumineers and Italian bound bard, Jeremiah Fraites  Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Druggy fan Brian Schwartz Shawn Eckels  Arno Bakker

Bradco, bro. Somebody told me you're in town for a few weeks. Come hang, man. I got the shroomies, got the Yippee-Yay. We can invite some strippers or hookers. Whatever you're down for, I can get you. So, yeah, let's chill. Later. Hey, Schwartz. Listen, I'm concerned. You you know you have a few days off you chose to hang back and not come home post tour um I'm reading your Instagram messages and um your DMs and I'm seeing these freaks hitting you up and offering you drugs and and and more please don't respond to these people don't get in trouble you don't need to do drugs you don't respond to these people. Don't get in trouble. You don't need to do drugs. You don't need to go to a strip club.

Please keep the fun legal. Be aware. Don't get in trouble. Be kind. Be loving. Drink some water. And seriously, ignore these fucking idiots who are offering you drugs and worse.

Bye. All right. And we're back. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco. How's everyone doing out there? How's our heads? Staying out of the darkness, as they say, in your minds when you overthink shit and you keep on running in circles about overthinking overthinking your brain gets tired and you need to settle the fuck down take a breath get out there oh it's been

so nice i've been i got hacked on uh my instagram got hacked and my twitter got hacked and uh people are running rampant in these streets, messaging people and shit. I couldn't do anything about it because I don't have my emails, my manager's on it, Brian. Shout out to Brian for fucking working that out. Way to go, Brian! My guy! Always looking out for me.

Always worried about me. You hear all the voicemails. He's the dad that I never had, you know, no, no disrespect to my dad, my dad just worked his ass off, um, and Brian, he, he worries about me, worries about my health, I, um, still working, I'm kicking ass in my work, I just did adult swim, which was kind of awkward, um, but I loved it, I'll tell you about that in a second But You know Just get off the social media Get off the news I mean I bet people right now

Are watching the fucking CNN And the Fox News And all those fucking news 24-7 They ain't saying shit I tried to watch that thing for two hours The motherfucker said the same shit I'm like uh-uh

Don't do this Not today devil Cause the same thing as Instagram or social media, you know We're like searching for gratification And we're searching for acceptance And we're searching For

To judge our lives over other people's lives We don't need to do that Don't judge What makes you happy Versus what makes other people happy. It's not a competition. We're all in this COVID jungle, you know? What you're doing ain't no different

than what the motherfucker is doing. So take a deep breath. Realize this is just clutter. This is just all information you can throw in. Like, basically, just a bunch of shit everywhere. Just throwing, everyone's throwing shit and seeing what sticks. Just take a breath. Turn off the news.

Like, shout out Lucas Nelson. Hey, just fucking chill. Go out there, read a book. Fucking water some plants. That's why I'm in Charleston. I've been having a great time out here. Just great chill. Go out there, read a book, fucking water some plants. That's why I'm in Charleston. I've been having a great time out here. Just great people. South Carolina is sweet.

Shout out to Home Team Barbecue. Shout out to Home Team Barbecue. They put me up. They put me up out there. In this COVID jungle, they let me stay at their guest house. And I've just been chilling. I'm literally across the street from the poorhouse. And it's been a lot

of fun I did an impromptu show with Doom Flamingo which was fucking badass got me powerful again you know like sometimes you don't when you rely on so many people to do something you're afraid to rely

on yourself sometimes this was my first time at a band. We never played with each other. We had a one-hour practice. These guys were bad motherfuckers. And they listened to me, and it just felt real again. You know, like the conducting. I love conducting.

So shout out to all the musicians who were on that show. Doom Flamingo, Corey, Dave. Thank you, boys, for trusting me and just trying to show people some love on election day, it was weird weird times to be throwing a show, you don't know if what's going down

fucking people are gonna riot and so far so good, no rioting everything is working itself out whoever wins, whoever loses I'm not a political guy but like let's just understand that all right whoever wins they win but don't don't we gotta come together we have to come together it's important this is why i brought jeremiah on the show from the

lumineers yeah baby lumineers big show tonight baby, Lumineers. Big show tonight. Let's go. We got the Lumineers. This guy's great. I remember I was telling this story to Jeremiah, but I met the Lumineers. I loved that first record. And I actually connected. I think I told this story a little bit

earlier in the years with Yeti, but it's like the first girl I ever fell for. And I flew out to the Netherlands and fucking Lumineers are playing at Paradiso before they were huge and it was sick. And we all knew it was, they're going to blow up and fell, fell for this girl hard. And,

you know, then my commitment phobe ass fucking started backpedaling. That's one of the girls I regret not, and, you know, then my commitment-phobe ass fucking started backpedaling, that's one of the girls I regret, not, um, not committing to full-time, you know, she had a tragic thing with her family, and, uh, you know, I don't want to get into it, because that's not my, that's not, yeah, I won't get into that, but, and I kind of just didn't know what to do, and I kind of bailed from it. But the great moments, you know, you think about the good moments, like we're talking about 2020. Don't just think about the bad moments.

Think about the good moments you had in 2020. That great moment was we went to Lumineers, and that's when we really fell for each other. So Lumineers will always be in my heart, so it was really great to go full circle and interview Jeremiah. We talked about some crazy, amazing goodness on the yard that, um, you know, it's great to talk about, you know, talk about addiction, talk about, you know, death in the family and how, you know, from one thing leads to another thing and without the death

and I don't think that they would have had a band together. So it was a really nice conversation. I think you're going to enjoy this one. But I'll leave you with this before we do the interview. Stay healthy. Stay strong. Get your vitamin D in there. COVID's running rampant in this motherfucker. It's crazy.

So be careful. Be safe. Be considerate to the old ass people out there. The people who have immune problems, because, you know, we're all in this together, can't be selfish, be considerate, if you're sick, stay home, but if you're not, if you're thick, come through, said that wrong, but you know what I mean, but you're gonna enjoy this Jeremiah interview, I'm feeling good, oh yeah, the adult swim, enjoy this Jeremiah interview.

I'm feeling good. Oh yeah, the Adult Swim. I was doing Adult Swim too. I was on Adult Swim. That's hard, man. Improv like that without the band, you realize what you got with the band. But I think I did okay. We were talking about some drumsticks, talking shit ass. The host, if he still beats off

and if he still fucks his wife and stuff, it was good. I thought I got some good stuff in there, but we'll see. I'm coming back to Denver Wednesday. I'm going to get that 14er weed. I'm out. I can't. It's illegal to ship shit to illegal states. Shout out to 14er for being responsible. There you go. You're my people. Keep me out of jail, baby. There we go. You're my people. Keep me out of jail, baby.

I'm going to go back to Denver and smoke some weed. 14-year weed. Go grab some if you're in the Denver area. Go hang out with my friends. I'm going to Angelo's. Evan, you hear this? I know you listen to this podcast. We're going to Angelo's right when I get home.

Oysters on Frasco for being such a great guy. And what am I doing? Oh, oh i got a meeting i'm flying into la for a couple days um i can't really discuss it but it's shit show related guys it's pretty cool we got some we got some good things rolling i'll tell you once we uh seal the deal i'm coming in there to um you know get my feet wet and see and see what Hollywood has to offer for the frasco. All right, guys. So I love you. Be safe.

Enjoy this interview with Jeremiah. And a lot of big things happening. So stay strong out there. Be the people you want to be. Love the people you want to love. And let's be authentic to who we are and what we want to see in this world. All right. Love you. Catch you soon. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we got Jeremiah from the motherfucking Lumineers, y'all. Let's go.

Yo, Chris, play some Lumineers. Actually, play a little bit of Lumineers, y'all. Let's go. Yo, Chris, play some Lumineers. Actually, play a little bit of Lumineers and then play some of Jeremiah's solo record. That'd be awesome. And if the city sky Scrapers rise Over this island Would you be willing to see His first record was one of my

I think I've overplayed that record millions of times. Just felt good. He had a crazy life, you know? I don't want to ruin the whole thing, but he lived in New Jersey. His brother passed away. Became obsessive with music. And then because of that, he met Wes.

And now they are the Lumineers. And beautiful story of fighting addiction and overcoming and the lessons we learned from addiction as well. So, without further ado, let's get Jeremiah on the show. Enjoy. Whoa, whoa, we won't let them, they won't take it from me, no Whoa, whoa, whoa And if the sun don't shine on me today And if the subways flood and bridges break Will you just lay

down and dig your grave? Or will you rail against your dying day? ... ... ...

... ...... I love you. Thank you. What's up, Jeremiah? How's it going? How are you doing, bud? I'm doing okay. I'm all things considering. I'm doing okay. I just moved to Italy about two months ago with my wife and son.

Congrats. That's been a huge kind of deal, a new deal in my life. That's been a huge deal, a new deal in my life. So that's been awesome. And yeah, I just actually flew back to America to my house in Denver, Colorado. I'm going to be working on some new Lumineers material with my partner in crime, Wesley Singer. So that's been cool. And yeah, I'm looking forward to that a lot. What have you learned about COVID living in Italy? I guess learning... What have I learned about COVID living in Italy? They take it really serious there. Not to say that we're not in the States. I mean, it's really serious everywhere.

And it's really bad in the United States. But I've noticed without saying one thing and negating another thing with just saying one thing, I guess, trying not to be political here. I have seen that the Italian people really take it seriously, which makes sense. I mean, they got hit hard. They were one of the first countries to really get hit hard in late February, early March, I think. They shut down all the airports for two or three months. late February, early March, I think. They shut down all the airports for two or three months. It was a real lockdown. It wasn't like,

oh yeah, we went into lockdown. This was an actual lockdown. You needed a piece of paper if you were on the street. The only reason you could be on the street was to go to the grocery store or if you had a pet, ideally, typically a dog. You couldn't just walk around and enjoy outdoors.

It was a real lockdown quarantine. So they got hit hard and I really got the impression that they learned from that, you know? Yeah. And yeah, it's important to learn from your mistakes. You know, it's like, we're not missing. Yeah, you can say mistakes. I'm not trying to be political here, bro. Don't worry about it.

I'm just trying to understand. You moved to Italy during a pandemic. Why did you choose Italy in the first place? Is your wife Italian? Or did you guys just... Oh, nice. How'd you meet? We met at a concert, actually. Her name is Francesca. She's from Torino, Italy. And she was born and raised there. And our first ever Lumineers concert, actually, in fact, near Milan, Italy. I forget how long ago. Maybe six, probably seven,

eight years ago now at this point. It was a festival called the Un Altro Festivale, which means another festival in Italian. Yeah. And she was working at the festival. She was helping the people behind the scenes running the show. She used to work in the music industry with a lot of great Italian artists. And I was the annoying American that I just thought she was beautiful.

And I was trying to, I guess, flirt with her in my stupid way. Or just trying to talk to her. flirt with her in my stupid way or just trying to talk to her. And her English at the time, it was obviously her second language and I didn't really speak any Italian. So with technology and stuff, one thing led to another. We used to Skype a lot and we kept in touch. And it's kind of a crazy story. Our first date was probably three months later after that encounter. Because we played the show and then we just got in the bus and we went to the next show. of a crazy story like our first date was probably three months later after that encounter um because i you know we played the show then we just we got in the bus and we went to the next show and then we you know did our tour thing for the next year or whatever but it was about three months later

that we met in london um of all places because i was on tour i think i was in germany or spain or something and then that was like a a mutual agree, like equidistant place to meet. So our first date was at this burger joint in London. And then we started dating from there. And I was living in Denver, Colorado at the time. She was living in Torino, Italy. The time difference is eight hours, which is terrible when you're trying to... When you're in a relationship,

any time difference can be difficult, but eight hours is really tough because as soon as you want to start to go to bed, maybe 10, 11pm, the other person's starting to wake up. And then you're just off, even keeping in touch with friends. If you're having that morning coffee and you're hitting someone up and they're about to go to sleep or they're in the afternoon slump that I hate, you're just off kilter. You're off. You're not in sync. So it was a lot of work, but I'm really proud of us. And we got a little boy who's two and a half years old now. And we're super happy.

So we moved out there. We moved to Reno. And that was a long time coming. We always wanted to do that. But we wanted to make sure that things with the band could stay afloat. And we got three albums under our belt. And I think between me and Wes, we've really figured out how to work with each other remotely, how to work with each other and use our time wisely, I guess is what I'm saying. So, yeah, we're,

we're excited. Yeah. You know, I think about that, you know, once you start getting successful, I feel like this, every,

every fucking band, they find, they find their girl, they find their love interest, and they all just start moving away from where they are from. And that's okay. I mean, we're travelers. We're explorers.

I don't know. That's why we travel so much. Is that correct? Yeah, that is correct. I mean, I think in the beginning, it depends on the craft. I think in the beginning, it depends on the craft. If you're a one-man show or if you're a DJ or you're a whatever that just relies on yourself and you alone, then I guess you can do whatever the hell you want.

But you're in a band. And thankfully, we have a fantastic... There's two distinctions within the band. There's the two founding members, which are me and Wes. We started this band 15 years ago in Ramsey, New Jersey, this really small little town where we grew up. And then we have this amazing touring band. We got this girl Lauren

on violin and Byron on bass and Brandon Stealth. This guy Stealth plays piano. His real name is Stealth too. S-T-E-L-T-H. Damn. I want to meet his parents. He's a living legend. You should talk to him. I will. He's got some stories. But yeah. And I think that when you're starting out though and you're trying to get successful, you got to make sure that you are approximately

close. I mean, me and Wes, at one point, we lived in the same house. We worked at the same side job, which was this Japanese restaurant. And then we also worked in the band. This is when we were unsuccessful and unpaid. And that was a lot. That was really intense to go through that with each other. And then probably arguably more importantly, once you do become successful, you don't want to just change the things that got you successful in the first place. And I think that's a big temptation with a lot of people. They think, we got this. And I think the day that you think you got this, whether as a parent, as a friend, as a driver, as a musician, as a whatever, that's probably the day that you start to dwindle in your success. I personally think that, I think as soon as you become overconfident

and you're like, oh yeah, we can change some things now. And I think there's just a couple of fundamental things that you can't change along the way, like practice, getting together, talking a lot, and all that fundamental stuff that keeps a band together.

I mean, we could even talk about that with addiction. You know? When you feel like you got this, got this, living a life through addiction or living a life through overstimulation or living a life that might not be healthy, and if you keep saying you got this, we're reflecting that we got this in the future. We're not being present. How hard is it to be present through a transition of a band separating to different countries?

Yeah, I mean, it feels good because I think that we've just been so close to each other approximately for so long and I think that it was just the right time. So I think it's really going to be great that i think for me in my personal life when i'm off stage when i'm not touring i'm going to get so much more i think from being in that environment um a new environment with you know new culture new friends new new everything and i think i'm really gonna i think it's gonna feed me it's gonna nourish me it's gonna give me like sustenance and things that I need off the stage,

out of the band sphere dynamic. And then I think that when we come back together, for example, me flying home, even home is a weird word now, but me flying from home one to home two in Denver for the month, we're going to make so much time. We're going to make so much out of this time together

that if you're just around each other all the time, you might get a little lazy with each other or whatever, but I flew two flights to get here. We're both going to make damn sure that we make it work. We're both looking forward to it. I think it's going to be great.

As your careers and your lives separate as much as it is right now i mean it's got to be nice to come back to your brother and you know your your musical brother sure and um you know and get back to what it was because you know i've been in a band for 15 years as well and you know sometimes separation is important especially you're, you have a routine and, you know, you, you kind of lose the love in a sense because you're just doing the routine and it's becoming a job and it's doing this, you're getting pulled left and right. Did you ever feel

that way? Like when you guys were just really, when shit was just, I mean, it's still popping, but you know, when, when it's new. No, I mean, it's, you really struck a nerve. I mean, it's still popping, but when it's new. You really struck a nerve. I mean, when our song, Ho Hey, came out, it was really great. But that term, blowing up, hey, they blew up. You blew up. You are blowing up. I never thought about what that term meant until we ourselves blew up. And I was thinking, well, the term blow up means something's exploded. And now it's in tiny little pieces all over the room. And I was thinking, well, the term blow up means something's exploded and now it's in tiny little pieces

all over the room. That's true. That's kind of how I felt, honestly. We got nominated for two Grammys and I was like, I don't know, I love my favorite show probably of all time is Seinfeld. And I think for better or for worse, I'm a little bit akin to George Costanza.

I think that when I see success, I get worrisome or nervous or something. And we got nominated for these two Grammys. We lost them both. Proud of that. But we lost them. And just all these crazy... We were playing Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien and Letterman and just SNL we got to do on

my birthday years ago. And we just did all these... We ticked all these boxes that i think we thought was like a 10-year plan and we did it probably in the matter of six months and it just was so much and it was you know we blew up and then um yeah that feeling of you know everybody's interpreting it in a different way also and it's just it's a lot so i think that you never want to just be robotic about it and you know it can get so robotic too when when you are doing that and i think a lot. So I think that you never want to just be robotic about it. And it can get so robotic too when you are doing that. And I think a lot of bands have...

There's not a lot, but there's probably a few crossroads every band has when they start to see success. And there's a couple of pivotal life-changing moments where it's like, do we like this? Do we want to continue? A or B or C or D or whatever. Which way do we want to go? But I think I'm really happy. What's that?

Do you like it? I do now. I feel really... I was just about to say, I feel really grateful and thankful that I got through the other side. I mean, something that you touched on before, I've celebrated five years of sobriety two months ago, I guess.

Let's go, big guy. That's what I'm talking about. Let's get it. That's kind of cool though, right? Dude, it's impressive to do that when you're being overstimulated. Like you're saying, it's hard. This life is hard. So there's no causation of going on tour for three and a half years straight with alcohol and drugs. But there's definitely a correlation, obviously. And I think a lot of musicians, artists, whatever, people in the limelight or people that get these ridiculously over-exhaustive schedules, you got to... I don't know. It's a lot and it can be a lot at times.

So I think being able to celebrate that sobriety has been a really huge accomplishment for me. And I guess where I was going with this was that I'm really happy now with our success. At the time though, it was really hard at times to keep going. It was hard at times to cope with it. Yeah. So that was going to be my next question. I felt like you coped with it with maybe drugs and booze. Yeah, it was kind of particularly alcohol, I guess, if I'm going to be candid. It was a thing that you have a drink

maybe after the show, you meet record label people or whatever, and people just want to buy you drinks. Nobody's ever like, hey, Jeremiah, let me buy you a glass of OJ. Or like,

you want some vitamin C packets? Yeah, no, that ain't happening. We'll drink some Fiji water. It's always like, let me buy you a drink. Or people, I get it. They feel honored.

They want to take a shot of whiskey with you. They want to buy you a shot of vodka or whatever the hell they want to do. Tequila, whatever. And that's an easy trap to get into. And then also, you start to do these things where it's like this mentality of like, well, now I'm becoming successful. I'm doing this lifestyle. So this lifestyle and this success, it's all bundled up in your head. And before you know it, you just kind of... Also, you got to remember, you know this as much as I do. Every time that you go to a city and play a show,

that's someone's Friday. Even if it's actually Monday, that's someone's Friday and or Saturday night. So every night of the week that you happen to be on stage, and it could be... You've played shows on Sunday night. And you're like,

Man, I'm so beat right now. But this is someone's Saturday night. And you got to bring it and you got to give it your all. Then the next day in the hotel room... Tour really takes it out of me too. I think it's just... I think for me, maybe being an introvert... I think I always thought of myself as an extrovert.

And then when I got sober, I was like, Wow, I'm an introvert. I think I always thought of myself as an extrovert. And then when I got sober, I was like, wow, I'm an introvert. And I think all that touring, I was able to get through it. And now I feel like I thrive on the road. And I think that's largely in part due to sobriety that I don't have this monkey on my back, so to speak. And I'm really able to stay 10 billion times more present. That's hard too though. When you're always lucid, when you're always awake in your own head, that's the best part of sobriety. And that's also a difficult part. And I've met people too that have said

they've been 20, 30, 40 years sober. And they say the danger with that is that at some point, they don't even remember why they got sober. I remember this woman was talking about it and she was 33 years sober. And she said, I don't even remember what the problem was.

I just know that there must have been a problem. And I think about that sometimes. As I continue this, if I become 30, 40 years sober in my 70s, it's probably going to be an interesting... I don't remember how bad it was. And then that circles back to, like you were saying about, yeah, as soon as you think like, I got this in my sobriety, this is easy. This is a cakewalk. That's the point which

probably started to slip up. Yeah. And totally. I mean, did you ever... Do you remember how... But it's like the same idea. Do you remember who you were when you were a kid? Do you remember? But it's like the same idea. Do you remember who you were when you were a kid? Right. I mean, kind of. But it's like, I think I do.

But do I? I mean, memories are so faulty too. I mean, they're like the worst in terms of accuracy. Exactly. It's like memories are stories that we maybe have told fiddishly when you're a kid and that's all you remember. It's like this idea, what we remember about this life. I mean, what was it like growing up in New Jersey? Strange. probably over... Strange in the sense of... I don't know. It was presented as this over idyllic situation. It's like, oh, the suburbs is so beautiful and clean or whatever.

And then it's just like, on the flip side of that, it was also just... A lot of people had drug and alcohol problems. And everybody... I don't think people wanted to talk about it. And so I was born in 86. And we don't need to get super dark, but we can talk about whatever we want to talk about, I guess. I guess, tragically, my older brother, Joshua, he died of a heroin drug overdose in 2001. He died at our grandmother's house in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, which was just kind of down the road from Ramsey.

And when he died, I thought, what a tragedy. I still think that, but I realized now in the last couple of years that the opioid became declared a crisis. It's like the only thing I thought former President Trump declared. I think it was the the only thing I thought former President Trump declared. I think it was like the only thing

that I thought, nice, he actually is awake on one thing, declaring this opioid crisis. Like in the last 20 years, like hundreds of thousands of people have died from heroin that were directly related from overprescribing opioids

and things like that. Yeah. And then once my brother died, though, over the last 20 years, every time I talk to somebody from that area, specifically it's like Bergen County, this is the county in which I was born and raised for the first 24 years of my life,

everybody either knows somebody that was an addict or was an addict themselves, or just the heroin and the opioid. And it's interesting because again, I took sociology, so it fascinates me in a weird, peculiar way. But heroin is thought of as like, quote unquote, street drug or something. But a lot of people get hooked on these painkillers. They get overprescribed. You go in for a cavity, you're going for some random operation that doesn't really need these grade A

insanely strong, powerful opioids like Percocet and things. And Percocet was something that my brother got started on because he had something wrong with his knee. He had a knee operation. He got prescribed Percocet and got instantly hooked and then eventually found heroin. And once he started shooting up, that was

pretty much the beginning of the end in my mind. But growing up in New Jersey, besides all that, I don't mean to totally derail that, there was a lot of beautiful moments. We used to go down to the Jersey Shore, which, believe it or not, can be quite beautiful. The show did not help, the Jersey Shore and Snooki and all them.

And it did not help the perception of the Jersey shore. But no, a lot of great times, trying to build a tree house in our backyard and playing in the woods or going hiking or I don't know, just whatever, playing with friends on bikes. We didn't have phones back then. So it was kind of idyllic in that regard. I love talking about the good things, but you struck a chord with me about opioids and stuff. Did you, is it the idea of hiding your emotions? Like, did you know all this stuff

was going on with your brother? No, I mean, no, I didn't. Like, and then it all just sort of started to come out and it would like get teased out, you know, and then in drips and dribbles or whatever.

And then I just remember, I just remember kind of laughing at this idea that like in high school, he was probably, I don't know, 15, 16, 17 tops. And he got busted for smoking weed.

He smoked some weed in his car. And in New Jersey, especially, I mean, smoking a bowl of weed, it's like you're going to prison for life. It's like, you're totally fucked. It's over the top.

Punitive measures that they used to take. I hope it's gotten less now. So he smoked some weed and the protocol was that the teacher, the history teacher, who I've kind of always hated to this day, but I'm not going to say his name, but I kind of always hated him. Talk that shit, Jeremiah.

Yeah. Yeah, so he told my brother to go to the nurse's office and then I guess they tested him and then it turned out he was smoking weed, so then... What a ho! Yeah.

Yeah, it was annoying. And then I remember that my parents, we were in the kitchen and my parents were like, Josh, tell Jer what you did, what happened. And I was like, all right, what happened? And then he told me that he got caught smoking weed. I was probably 13 or 14 at the time.

And I was like, sick. So you don't have to go to school now for three days? You got suspended? It's awesome. I'm a kid. I don't know what to think of that. But also smoke. I mean, it started out as weed.

And then I guess it progressed to Percocet. And then just a myriad of things. Eventually, he wrote in one of his journals that he smoked PCP and it just got real out of control really fast. And you didn't know anything about this? I sure as hell didn't. And I think my parents, it was really tough to understand what was going on because there's no owner's manual. There's books you can buy about parenting and I'm sure there's books and

things you can read about how to deal with when your child's a drug addict or whatever. But when it actually happens to you, I think you're probably the last family to ever think, well, this is ever going to happen to me. And when it gets really bad and something as addictive as heroin, it's just

so bad what it does to your brain. And I'm just thankful I've never even come within a mile of ever doing that or wanting to do that. And I think in some ways, I thank whatever higher powers out there, whatever's up there, that in some weird way, I can't change the fact that my brother died. And hopefully, if I learn nothing from that, then I'm kind of an asshole. Do you know what I mean? So I learned something from it. And I try to be silver lining. But this is like 20 years after the fact.

I mean, when he died, it was obviously the worst thing that I pray has ever happened to me in my life. And I really stopped caring about school. And I felt like I grew up. I felt like I did grow up overnight. And I just plunged myself into music and into drumming particularly. And maybe I'd be a different type of musician had this thing not happened.

So again, I'm not happy that it happened, but I've tried to take things out of it. And you can either sink or swim, I guess, when you experience something like that. Yeah, and it's okay to think optimistically, even through tragic times. I mean, I think people are afraid to see the optimistic things of something so tragic, right? Yeah. And I think the idea that when you experience something really terrible, sometimes the only thing you want someone to say is like, hey man,

that fucking sucks. And that's the best thing to hear sometimes. And sometimes if somebody's like, hey, but look on the bright side. That's a timing thing. If somebody says that at the wrong time, too soon after something terrible happens, you're just going to want to like...

Punch the motherfucker. Timing is everything. Contextualizing is everything. No, absolutely. Man, it's tough. Did you meet Wesley because of your brother? Yeah. That's what's kind of crazy. There was a lot of kids in our

town that all had this three or four year gap between boys, particularly. All my friends, people like Patrick and Sam and whatever, they all had older brothers like Maddie. And then Sam's older brother was Wes or is Wes. So I was friends with Sam, Wes's younger brother growing up. And then Wes was friends with my older brother, Josh, growing up. And we'd see each other at each other's houses. We'd

go over each other's houses to play basketball, whatever. And then my brother passed away in 2001. But then it took like... I don't know how many more... 5... Maybe 2006, 2007. In a roundabout way, Wesley graduated from university. He came back to Ramsey where I was still in college. And he actually wanted to start a band with a mutual friend, this guy named Justin Papp. And we call him Papp.

And Papp was like, let's do the band, but not without Jer. Because me and Papp at the time, believe it or not, we were making rap and hip hop beats. I always... I know it sounds so crazy.

Is that what you like listening to? Yeah. I really was enamored with beats. I always... It always sounds so crazy. Is that what you like listening to? Yeah. I mean, I just... I really was enamored with beats. I do love rap and hip-hop. And I just really love all types of music. But I loved Timbaland in particular. I just loved what he brought

to the table. And I loved... Production-wise? Yeah, just production. And I really wanted to be a producer. Listening to things like and I just love when someone could find the right beat for the right rapper

so Timbaland working with someone like Jay-Z it's just it's like this match made in heaven or you know Dr. Dre

reinventing Eminem or inventing Eminem and whatever you want to look at it like or some of Missy Elliott's beats or what's the tip of my tongue pharrell

was in a band with this other guy and yeah like that stuff was just really like a lot of times like and i'm not when i listen to music i'm pretty bad at listening to lyrics and stuff so i just the beats the drums the sound of the hi-hats that type of thing yeah really like just came into my my ears and i just loved that so we were going to try to do that. And I had no idea what we were going to do. I just knew I wanted to do it. And then we started this band and started out as a cover band. And then I couldn't even play the piano to believe it or not.

I was like struggling to play a Tom Petty, a major chord. Fuck yeah. You know, we'd play in bars and like, I didn't know what I was doing. Yeah. Yeah. you know we'd play in bars and like I didn't know what I was doing yeah and 15 years later now playing piano and releasing a piano album which is kind of a crazy transition

but yeah back then couldn't even play a chord to save my life so it's the idea like you said sink or swim you want to learn something you want to be part of this I mean we learn quicker yeah right so it's like so swim. You want to learn something? Do you want to be part of this? I mean, we learn quicker. Yeah. Right?

So it's like, so Wes brought some songs to the table. And what made, because I feel that first album, the drums, it's very like an open style feel. You don't really, you hear this whole, it's kind of like a room vibe in the drums. Yeah, there's almost no, when it comes to Lumineer stuff, I hate drum beats. I feel like if we were in the same room together and we were practicing, I could make you laugh, I think. If I took one of our songs and just added a cheesy,

quote-unquote, drum beat under it or over it, I think it would make you laugh and be like, oh yeah, you're right. What you did was good call. Yeah. And I don't know,

for me, it was like when I first got into drums, it was all about, um, like Prague rock and like, you know, listening to things like Metallica and tool and dream theater and planet X. And this is my sugar.

These bands that are just crazy complicated, heavy, you know, like things like that are just crazy complicated, heavy. Sick. Yeah. Things like that. And then once we started writing though, not covering anymore, it was like it became full circle

where it was like after 10 years of learning the craft and playing the craft of drums, all I wanted to do was do a simple kick drum hit or a floor tom or just some sort of thing that I thought would... You put your producer's cap on. I think if you're just a drummer, sometimes you think, well, where are the drums? I need to put drums in this. But if you're more like a producer that happens to play drums, you'll have a better

understanding of what the song needs versus what does your ego need to be on that track. So I think that was a huge benefit to the... I think that is a huge benefit to the writing partnership that me and Wes have. That we're both kind of producers and that we both understand... Even he'll have drum ideas and I'm like, yeah, I'll try anything.

I have no ego. And one of my favorite songs off that first album is called Slow It Down. No drums. One of my favorite songs we've written in all time. I had no beef about no drums. I'm like, dude, drums will ruin the song. No shot.

Yeah. I like Flowers In Your Hair, too. It's all it is. It's a kick drum, dude. Kick drum and tambo. Yeah, dude. It's fucking killer. That's what got me. I'll be honest with you. I chased a girl to the Netherlands because we both love that record. It's fucking killer. That's what got me. I'll be honest with you. I chased a girl to

the Netherlands because we both loved that record. I went to your first Paradiso show. Holy cow. Is that in Amsterdam? Amsterdam, yeah. That old church. Yeah, it was there, bro. Everyone knew in the air

that you guys were just going to take off from there. It was just a beautiful moment because it's like, I really see, I play party funk music, but I listen to I mean, I'm not going to suck your dick a little bit, but Lumineers, fucking

Damien Rice, you guys taught me about space in the drums, space in music. You know, it was, it was just, it was,

it was one of the, like, I'm, I'm very picky about music and I'll, I'll like one song of a band, but that, that first record, man,

I loved every fucking song. And I mean, that means a lot, man. I really do appreciate that. man. So it's like, my question is,

do you think you wouldn't have played music with Wesley if your brother didn't die? That question is so absurdly crazy that you just asked me that because I literally, I said that to Wes. I swear, hand over my chest. I said that to Wesley yesterday. No way.

In the midst of a deep discussion. And I actually thought we were just kind of going over, kicking around how we all met the band and all the band members. The one in a trillion chances that this all comes together and that this all...

The complications of the chances of meeting someone is just a blink of an eye, you know, you, you, you missed that chance. So you get,

or you, you take care of that chance, whatever. And, uh, yeah, I said, I thought this is such a weird thing to say and say out loud,

but I'm wondering if we, you know, would we have met had he not died? Would we have met had he not died? Would we have met had he not never been born? Would I have become so obsessed and addicted to music had he not passed away? Because I mean, I don't think I became overly obsessed in the music because he passed away. I think that's a stupid notion. I think that's a stupid notion. But when he died, I've always thought happiness and joy, as far as the fuel for creativity, is very short-lived. If you have a sick day and you have an awesome time, whatever, maybe the next day you can and burns really fast. I feel like grief and misery, for better or for worse,

it just lingers and sticks around. And I think all that grief I experienced when I lost him, just so much grief every day for so long. Fuck, man. Just countless amounts of grief. I needed to do something with that. I was pent up and I just threw myself into drums. I threw myself into music.

I threw myself into smoking weed and trying to make rap and hip hop beats. Fuck yeah, dog. And that was... It was fun though. I was like... Then it became like, now I was like,

life is fun. This is cool. Doing this type of stuff made me feel cool. I thought I was cool. But most importantly, I had such a... Just life is fun. This is cool. Doing this type of stuff made me feel cool. I thought I was cool. But most importantly, I had such a just a fucking

fun time doing it. So, you know, it was a really pivotal time in my life. I don't know. It's a great point because it's like

the idea that bad times aren't going to stay forever if we let if we float through the ups and downs. You know, it's like that idea like,

shit, if you didn't meet Wes, you could have been fucking Timberland. You'd be the white Timberland, dog. You just don't know what life brings to you. And like for you guys to have such a partnership over something so fucking heavy. I mean, that's some real shit, man. Yeah. No, I know. It is. that's some real shit, man. Yeah. No, I know. It is.

It's beautiful. So I didn't know. See, I had to do my research. I didn't know y'all were from New Jersey. Everyone thinks you're a Denver band. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. So we are from New Jersey.

And I think maybe the way we look, maybe the way our music sounds, maybe not from New Jersey, maybe from Colorado or something maybe the way we look, maybe the way our music sounds, maybe not from New Jersey, maybe from Colorado or something, you know, we're self-aware. We know, we know what's out there.

Do you listen to that shit? Or does it offend you or anything? No, I think if you're getting made fun of on the internet or made fun of in public, it means you've done probably 10 things right in your life at least. Fuck yeah,

let's go big dog. That's the confidence I like. So tell me about Denver. So why Denver? Why'd you pick Denver? So we were in New Jersey and we considered ourselves a New York City band because we were so close. I mean, Bergen County, Ramsey, it's really close. It's like 30 minutes to New York City. So we were there and we were there a lot playing shows and it just wasn't working out for us. So we moved out to Denver and that was the best decision we ever made. I mean, we met Stealth, our piano player. And Denver at the time, you got to imagine this was 11, maybe 12 years ago, probably 11.

It was so much cheaper than New Jersey. It was so much cheaper than moving to a city like Philadelphia, which was close. New York City was impossible to live in. West was living in Brooklyn for a little bit. And he was working like two, almost three jobs. We didn't have time to practice anymore. It was a bad scene. And we actually thought about trying to move to Brighton Beach, which is a really sick

place in England. And we wanted to go over there, but we had trouble getting visas and we didn't know what the hell, how to get a work visa. Holy shit. So we, yeah, like before Denver, believe it or not,

we were going to try to move to England to this Brighton Beach place because we just thought, me and Wes had both been there separately and we both thought it was a really cool place. But then as like fate would have it, we had these two buddies of ours move into Denver to become teachers.

And we thought, well, if we get a four-person house, make the rent cheaper, and we'll have much more space to work on music, it was a win-win. So the two guys, they had typical nine to five jobs. So they were out of the house most of the day. And me and Wesley, we would take over the kitchen.

We put amps and stuff in there. The basement was ours for drums and all that stuff. So it was awesome. So you're just a duo in the beginning. Or you had your piano player too, you said. Well, no. We had so many people come and go in New Jersey. We had probably one, two, three, at least four or five different people come and go in New Jersey. We had probably one, two, three, I mean, at least four or five different people come and go. And I've played every instrument in this band at one point. I've played at one point because we found a drummer. So we found a drummer at one point.

So then I was playing bass and keyboards. And then at one point, I went back to drums. And then we hired a bassist and a keyboardist. And then I went back to keyboard. This other drummer came in and it just was a lot like that. And, you know, it was, yeah, it was really

just moving out to Denver. I mean, something about it was just really special. So, like, the idea is like, alright, man, you are like the ultimate flex musician. You know, like when I say flex spot, like you could be the quarterback,

you could be the tight end, you could be the blocker, you could be all this stuff. Has it always been like that? Were you always flexible like that in your life? I think that I've tried to be. I mean, I think that a lot of the, with the flexibility with regards to music,

a lot of it was just kind of going it over again in my head with you talking about it. I think a lot of it was necessity and just how valuable that can be in someone's life

when it comes to learning a new skill or craft or whatever. Because like I said, when we started the band, the other guy, Justin Papp, he could play bass and drums. So he was primarily the drummer.

So we needed a keyboardist. So I was thrown into trial by fire. I was just thrown into the midst of it and trying to learn how to play the piano. And then when we got a piano player, I went back to drums. And at one point, we had a drummer. So I had to go to bass.

And I think it just was that trial by fire and that willingness too. I mean, I could have been like, F this. I'm not going to... I just want to play drums. That could have been... But I think I saw something. I think it dawned on me when I was about 16 or 17. I thought, I just don't want to be just a drummer. Because then I'm always going to be at the mercy of someone else, which I hated the idea of that. And I'm always going to be at the mercy of someone else, which I hated the idea of that. And I'm always going to have to be in someone else's project. And I love the idea of... I really wanted to start writing songs that meant something to somebody and mattered.

And if you're just a drummer, I just think that you're just limiting your options. I'm point blank. I'm sure there's some just drummers out there that are going to hear that and be like, fuck you. I think if you're just anything, it can be terribly limiting. And that just worked for me. So that's what I thought. You're just trying to be flexible to the situation

because you still dealt with the death of a brother, but you're living so presently in the moment that you're just trying to deal with the moment right now. Maybe? I think so. I mean, I think that definitely offered some sort of like insight maybe in my young brain. I think I was 14 when he passed away. And I think that told me very quickly, matter of factly, like nothing is guaranteed. Be ready.

Be ready at all times. Be flexible. Because if you're stiff and you just think that... Because I mean, one moment you have a sibling, an older brother, whatever. And then the next you don't, what else could be taken away? I guess it was a very like, I don't know.

I looked at it as a very dramatic. It was a very... It wasn't something that happened in like... I probably became numb, but I a very like, I don't know. I looked at it as a very like dramatic. It was a very, it wasn't something that happened in like, I probably became numb, but I was also like, all right, this thing is like just occurred. And this is a, so maybe you're onto something. The more we flesh this, this is like a little therapy session. Sorry, bro.

I know we're supposed to talk about music and your new record, but this is what I'm more interested in. And you know, this is the real stuff, which is it's all part of the record and all new record. But this is what I'm more interested in. No, this is the real stuff. Yeah. Which is, it's all part of the record and all the records. You know what's funny is like any record that's ever been made

that's affected anyone ever probably stems from like something really bad happening in that person's life. So, add things happening are oddly profound and arguably important. Any songs you write about

that's basically about your brother? Yeah, so we, when he did, you know, after he passed away, me and Wes, we wrote a couple songs about him and that was always like a lyrical thing

that I tried to like, I wanted to write like a song, you know, like when you listen to Eric Clapton, Tears in Heaven, about his little boy falling out of the window. It's just so sad,

but it's so touching and beautiful. To be able to do that, what a gift. So we tried and none of them ever really just made sense. And that's also one of those things, I'm fine with that. I don't necessarily need to hear

that song every night that might be a little intense but if we ever do write one that's touching and makes sense that's that's fine um and then instrumentally i think when i when i write instrumental music um there's just certain chords i can't put my finger on it but i was working on something the other day and there's just certain chords that like remind me of him or make me think of him or make me think of childhood. That gives me chills, dude. They get cauterized. It gets

cemented into my bloodstream where I'm like, wow, that particular shape on the keyboard and those space and absence of certain notes just does something to me where it triggers something and I can't untrigger it. That's actually... I love when that happens. I love the beauty of like what

music I mean man it's just it's so crazy like music is just the best thing ever ever ever ever and it's the best coping mechanism I've ever been lucky to be like become acquainted with you know yeah no totally

is this the reason why you started a partnership to end addiction or or not start but be be involved in working with something yeah i mean so addiction sure sure uh i was like man i started something cool no no no uh it was actually i think it stemmed from our last album which was just simply called Three. And it was called Three for a number of reasons. One, it was our third album, but then also it was also our third. There was three characters involved, fictional, but based on people in real life. And I think that it was much largely in part due about this family going through addiction,

and in particular, a female protagonist going through alcoholism. So I think that they reached out to us and they knew that. So it touches me and Wesley both in different profound ways. There's someone in Wes's extended family that has had severe alcoholism

and it's been very tough on the whole family at large. And then that album, for me, I almost interpreted it in a more personal way with what I saw within my own sobriety and what I saw with losing my older brother. So doing something like that type of partnership, it just means the world because... Again, that might be a dark thing to post about on Instagram or something. But it's like that stuff's happening out there and let's talk about it. I love talking about this stuff because it feels like

still kind of taboo or something or it feels like oh man, this guy's depressing or whatever. But it's like, okay, well unless you've ever... If you never experienced anything super dark in your life, then kudos to you. That's awesome. But millions of other people, this is like, uh unfortunately a norm for a lot of people so it's the idea of the stigma that it brings like people are free i mean thank god people are

talking about mental health more than they ever have in the last five years because the stigma that people have anxiety and people deal with PTSD, whatever is dealing with, was never talked about. Like, what the fuck? That's so crazy that we take care of our fucking stitches in our elbows and our knees, but

we don't take care of the stitches in our brain sometimes. And that's, the brain is like the, that's the thing, driving, steering the ship, our brain sometimes. And that's, the brain is like the, that's the thing driving, steering the ship, driving the car. Yeah, dog.

That's arguably like the only thing that needs to be repaired. You know, a broken leg, no doubt, needs to be tended to. But, yeah,

no, I'm glad you said that, man. I think that's really smart and insightful. I think that's really, and I think, man, after this pandemic and after what this election is doing to everybody in the last four years for whatever it's been doing to people, but particularly all this isolation, all this constant fear, even if people don't say they're afraid of the COVID, constant fear even if people don't say they're afraid of the covid um just constantly subconsciously you got to wear your mask you forgot your mask or you touch something should i hand sanitize immediately that person just coughed i'm in target should i run out like we're just living in a state of fear we're in you know massive isolation um and that's that's

not good so i think people are gonna are going to be talking about mental health a lot more over the next years. I mean, it's not going to be months. It's going to be years for sure. I mean, yeah, you think about it. You guys are a stadium band now. When is that going to happen? Man, we were supposed to play Coors Field,

which is the baseball stadium here in Denver. It would have been our first bona fide, quote unquote, stadium. And that was supposed to happen in September and that got canceled. Yeah. Such a bummer. Such a bummer. Is that why y'all are doing solo projects now? Because you

realize you can't really push the band the way the band... You guys are such a big machine right now. Yeah. We can't really go on tour. And maybe we can go on tour, maybe start in the second half of next year, hoping June, July.

But at this point in time, no way. Unless something like a vaccine happens immediately in the next month or two. Unless that happens. I mean, I don't know. So yeah, that was largely in part due to that. I mean, I had with my solo album, this solo instrumental piano album

I got coming out in January. I've been working on that, those songs for... Some of them are like 12, 13 years old, believe it or not. Really? Yeah, I've just always kept them around. There's a song called Nearsighted on the album. It's going to come out January 22nd.

And the guitar, believe it or not, I came home from... I was living in London at the time studying abroad. I came home from the bar pretty hammered. I went to my little dorm room and I got out my laptop and I recorded the guitar with a little microphone hole. And I just did this thing. And that's

literally... Those are the stems. That's the actual take still. Shut up! It sounds very strange, but I love the way it sounds. Yeah, when I was working with my engineer, David Barron, who helped make this... He helped co-produce and co-mix

and co-engineer this whole thing. Yeah. He was like, can we... Are those the stems? Is that like scratch guitar? Are we going to use that? I'm like,

that's the take, dude. And it's just got a vibe on it that I just love. So a lot of these songs are old. And I write so much that a lot of it... When I write something, I'm like, this feels like a Lumineer song. I'm going to show this to Wes. And this just feels... And then sometimes I'll be like, is this a Lumineer song? And I'll still show it to him. And a lot of it, I started over the last decade, started to get into this... Never tried, never thought, oh, you should do that. But just naturally got into the cinematic type style of writing from the perspective of a piano. And not all those types of songs can make it to the Lumineers catalog. A lot of them wouldn't really make sense. It might be too dark or too complex or too dissonant, whatever. So there's a couple songs.

There's a song called April on album three and a song called Patience on album two that were instrumentals and that really felt right to be done on the Lumineers. But this album I got out coming out called Piano Piano. It's just kind of like all these songs that I've always wanted to put out. And I never really had the time to. And I thought I was going to do it in about a year or two after tour. But then once COVID struck, it allowed me the time and space to do it. Do you think being in a band like at your level now, is it hard to re-identify yourself?

I mean, I think for me, putting out this album, it was really scary because I realized it was just going to be my name. I guess I could come up with a band name, but I thought that would be silly. I was going to try to make a joke. I don't even know what I would call myself. So just like Jeremiah

Freights, he's not pretty boring, but self-explanatory. It's me, dog. That's me. Yeah, it's me. And yeah, I was fearful of not having the juggernaut, the thing behind me that is like the safety net now or something. Like when we put out music and... But I got over that i think pretty quickly i mean those thoughts came into my head and i talked to a couple different musicians and peers of mine that

have done the same thing and they very similarly would tell me like yeah it's scary but you know embrace it like lean into that it's it's all good and uh so i did and i'm really excited i think that i think that inevitably i I just know this, inevitably people are going to say, it doesn't sound like the Lumineers and that's going to be a good thing or that's going to be a bad thing for people. I think what's hard in a perfect world,

I just want people to ingest it as music. And I know that that's almost near impossible. I know that it's possible like somebody goes into, eventually when we have vinyls, somebody goes into an Urban Outfitters, randomly buys the vinyl and is like, I like this.

And then they're shocked and surprised that I'm in this other band. Yeah. That's going to be probably like the 0.1% of people. But that's going to be the best feeling though for you. That would be the best feeling for sure. I was just curious. I saw a YouTube comment and someone was like,

this doesn't sound like the other instrumentals on the Lumineers albums. And I think that was a turnoff for them. And I'm like, sick. Sick. I don't know what to do with that. But I put out the music and then I'm done with it. I have the confidence that it's good because otherwise, I wouldn't have paid someone to master it.

Yeah, exactly. All the music that I have yet to release, that's the bad music. And that's the music I don't feel confident about. And going to the other point I was thinking about, is there sort of like a... Competition is a weird word to say, but in that level of nowadays where you see this big old...

The machine that is Lumineers. Is there more stress to write Lumineers songs? I don't think so because I went through this with album one to two and now I think I've gone through it enough where I went through a lot of stress going from album one to two because we had a big song,

Ho Hey, and it was like really, it almost cast a shadow on ourselves if that's possible. Yeah, no, totally. I totally see that. Like a reverse shadow effect. Yeah, 100%.

And you get in a band and have a big song and then it's just like, it can be great and it can also just get weird, you know, dot, dot, dot. And I think the stress I went from was like, how do you...

What's the call and response? What's the response to that call? Or whatever. And I remember my aunt, she was like, well, didn't you feel stressed before you put out your first album? And I was like, yeah.

She's like, so what's the difference? You didn't really have any songs before your first album. You I was like, yeah. He's like, so what's the difference? You didn't really have any songs before your first album. You just wrote them. And then that was just your first album based on circumstances. Why don't you just do that again? And I was like, oh, sick. That makes a lot of sense, actually. Cool. Thank you.

Shout out to your aunt, by the way. I need to meet her. Yeah. Shout out to Ivy. She's got a beautiful name, Ivy. So shout out to you, Ivy. That's amazing. No, it was a really profound, simple thing. Like, well, weren't you stressed or afraid with your debut album? And I was like, yeah, I was terrified. She's like, well, it just sounds like you're probably just,

that's just part of it. And I was like, all right. So it was really profound and really, sometimes a simple question is just perfect. I'm about to get therapy from her, dog. Sometimes a simple question is just perfect. I'm about to get therapy from her, dog. It's the idea that we overthink simplicity or we overthink being present.

Is it? I think so. And I think also a big conundrum that you have is if you get successful off, let's say the first album is heavily acoustic guitars and minimalistic drums, you're at a crossroads where you're like, do we try to rinse and repeat in a really negative way? Do we just literally try to copy and paste that and try to repeat the success? Or in my opinion,

a potential really negative reaction to that would be like, okay, well now we're going to go all electric guitars, crazy complex drum beats. Unless you're Radiohead or David Bowie, you can reinvent yourself to a degree, but you should maybe do it in baby steps. So I think we've been a band of baby steps where in my mind,

the difference between album one and three, the way they sound, the way they feel, they're continents apart. Some people, again, I've seen comments, I've heard things. Some people say, it all sounds the same to me. And I'm like, I get that. That's fine. I take that with a grain

of salt. Bullshit. Because I've watched your development. We all have, man. I'd say maybe you get it. I think maybe you see it a little bit the way we see it. I think if people think it all sounds still the same, then I think they're just not trying hard enough in my opinion.

It's like this idea of we judging books by its cover. This idea of we're going to stereotype you. This is with racism too, man. This is with how we understand. It's so frustrating

when I was addicted to coke and just fucking everything. And I put that in my music in the first couple years. And now that I don't do that shit anymore. I'm talking about things I want to talk about. Mental health

and addictions and stuff. Do you consider yourself, are you like a sober, quote unquote sober person now? Or do you still partake in some drink every now and then? Oh, fuck. I wouldn't call myself sober, but I don't. I used to be highly addicted to cocaine and highly addicted to just one night stands.

That's what I was addicted to. The idea that I need to feel love because I was empty. And living on the road doesn't help because you're only in town. You're in town with people for three hours, four hours a day. You're not building relationships with yourself or with lovers or the love of your life. That was what I was having accidental crisis with.

Like, you got any advice about that? I mean, that's crazy. I mean, that's, it's, it's,

it's also crazily normal. I think that, yeah, feeling like, feeling that emptiness and trying to fill that with, with whatever. I mean, I think whether it's one night stand or drink or drugs or whatever, I mean, I think whether it's one night stand

or drink or drugs or whatever, I mean, that's such a... It's kind of a crazy thing too. I think as a touring artist, everybody knows you and everybody thinks they know who you are. But it's like that classic... I think Dr. Seuss, it's like,

to one person, you're the world, but to the world, you're one person or something. It's like you have these thousands of people that think they know you and then go back in your bus or your van or you go to the airport or whatever. And then, yeah, it can be like, ironically, you're around so many people, but it can be so lonesome, which is so ironic. You could be literally around tens of thousands of people every night and still feel completely empty and lonely. It's a very strange paradox. Is that why you thought... Were you lonely when you were really

addicted to drink and stuff? I think I was also bored. I feel like I was bored. I was bored and it was a way to shock my brain into coping with it. I don't even know what it was, but it was a way to like shock my brain into coping with it I don't even know what it was but it was like you know whether it was

cleaning out the mini bar or whether it was it's like now it's also being a father but even before before my wife got pregnant before we even decided to have kids

and while I was sober I was like what the hell am I going to do that's actually literally going to nourish my soul between the hours of let's say even midnight to 5am? What's going to happen that I'm going to... Am I going to meet a producer that's like, yo, let's take a meeting at 3am in LA? That's possible, I guess. But I might be like, can we just do it at like 9am maybe? And we'll have coffee at like a Starbucks or something.

So I think I started asking myself those questions. And I just... I'm the type of person that I could still go to a bar. I could still go to all those types of environments and be fine. It doesn't trigger you? No, it doesn't. There's no triggers at all. Zero now.

And I think that the fact... If I go to a bar, I'll get a Coca-Cola with some ice or a soda water or something. It's just like... I know there's just a time limit. It's probably going to be close to an hour. If there's a lot of cool people to meet and talk to, maybe it turns into two or three hours.

But it's definitely not going to be like a $60 or $80 night easily at a bar. Yeah. Because I think it used to be also like yeah it was just feeling this filling the glass of boredom or something with with with alcohol or feeling the loneliness or just feeling like yeah it was it was tough man i bet i mean that's i feel like when you're in that level and you're going to these fucking radio shows and these in the morning 6 a.m and you're drinking till three when you're in that level and you're going to these fucking radio shows and these in the morning, 6 a.m. and you're drinking till three, then you're an uncomfortable bus.

I mean, that's when you start the dopamine level starts getting lower and lower. And you just it feels like you're just digging a hole and you can't. Now, all of a sudden, you can't get out of it. It feels like you're trying to, you ever like, you're at a hotel, you're like scraping for ice and there's no more ice in the bottom of the ice machine. Oh, that's a great example.

No, totally. Just like, and you're just like, and like, you know, when you're 15, there's like cubes are flowing out of that machine with dopamine.

And then, no, it's really true, man. Like the, the yin and yang, the balance of your life gets so out of whack. And at some point, you know, if's really true, man. The yin and yang, the balance of your life gets so out of whack. And at some point, if you have six to 10 drinks the night before the show, and then you got another show, the honest truth is the only thing that's going to make you feel better or less shitty, which is not necessarily better, it's just less shitty, is that Um, is that drink or, you know, resort to some sort of substance or something and yeah. Quick stimulation. Yeah. And that's not going to do shit. Easy come, easy go too. Easy come. Yeah, exactly. Wow. This has been a great conversation,

bro. Thank you so much for this. Um, I'm really proud that I don't even know you, but I feel like I know your ass now. So I appreciate that. I'm going to turn my video on, man. I really do. This was awesome, man. Thanks, bro. Oh, there you are. What's up, dog? How you doing? You know, we do a lot of interviews, a lot of podcasts, and this was like, I'm not just saying this, man. This was really fucking cool.

Thank you for having me. Cheers, man. I mean, you telling me some stuff that helps me reciprocate or something. So, appreciate it. No, totally. And at the end of the day, we don't know what the fuck to do in life. We're all just trying to figure it out too.

That's true, man. Some people get the cards dealt the way they do and we're still people. It's funny because people are probably going to listen to something like man Jeremiah and Andy they're so fucking centered and wise but it's like when I get off this with you I'm still like a mess and in my head like people probably like yo that dude's so fucking centered he's

just figured out life and it's like no way if you take someone's like sound clips they're trying to you know we're trying I mean yeah this was such a cool conversation man I don't know. I really was like way different for real. Well, let's be homies. I live in Denver too. So whenever you're back, let's go

have a coffee or something when you're back from Italy. It sounds good, man. I just love your life. This is great. You moved to Italy with your Italian wife. You got a baby that's going to speak Italian and English. It's going to be like... It's epic. It's wild. It's wild. I got a baby that's going to speak Italian and English. It's going to be like,

it's epic. It's wild. It's wild. I got one last question for you. This is actually a fan question. I actually got two questions for you. Before I do the fan question, what do you want to be remembered by?

Well, I guess I want to be remembered by probably by my music. I mean, I'll just, I love, I love trying my hardest to put a musical stamp, a musical DNA on the music that I record. I work so hard at it, and I don't know if I've achieved it yet, but I hope that people remember me by my music. And fighting all that, dude. Yeah, I definitely hear that and from an outsider's perspective

getting to know you is just understanding um being in the moment living through a death like that through your brother and meeting wesley through this thing and letting life come as it's supposed to and that's so beautiful, bro. You have a great story. Man, thanks, dude. Dude, fuck yeah, dude. And you're in Italy, dog. That's my dream.

To meet a European girl and get the fuck out of America for a second. Make it happen. You know I will. We tour in Europe all the time. I mean, no bullshit, man. Like, I followed a Dutch girl. I followed a Dutch girl because I sent,

because we both love that Lumineers record, dude. This is a question from a fan. So you have gone from being a self-funded band to one of the largest hacks in the world. What advice would you give young artists navigating the music industry in 2020? I think some advice trying to give to an artist navigating the music industry,

I would say just try to always trust your gut. I know it sounds cheesy. I know it sounds cliche. I know it sounds like it's been said many times, but I really think if you're an artist, a particular songwriter, just try to write stuff for you. As soon as you start to write stuff to try to get quote-unquote signed or have a hit in the radio, I think you're really doing yourself a disservice. If you are a pop writer and that's your prerogative, then that's a different story.

If you're a Ryan Tedder type person or a Jack Antonoff aspiring type person then maybe you should pursue that. But ultimately, just try to trust your gut. And I think if you can do it with a friend that you really trust on... And not necessarily even a friend because it might be hard to start a business or a writing partnership with a friend. But if you can do it with somebody that you really trust and see eye to eye musically and artistically, whether that's from a production standpoint, engineer standpoint, or writing musical standpoint,

having somebody to have your back and hold you up when you're down and you hold them up when they're down is a hell of a lot easier than going it alone, I think. Fucking beautiful, bro. Thank you so much for your time, Jeremiah. Thanks, Andy. This was awesome, man. This was fucking great, dude. I knew

you were going to be this dude. Put some pep in my step for my dad. I'm not even kidding. Do I have to play the Rocky music? Go fuck shit up today, Jeremiah. Right. Let the world know that you're fucking shit up with whatever you got to do. All right, I'm done with that.

Bud, thanks for being on the show. And I look forward to hopefully having a friendship with you later in life. Yeah, man. You got it. Have a great day, buddy. All right. You too, man. Thanks.

Yeah, of course. All right. Bye. Wow. That was dope as fuck. Give it up for Jeremiah. I got to give him one more hand. Jeremiah.

Tight. All right. We'll catch give him one more hand. Jeremiah! Tight. All right. We'll catch you on the tail end. Now, a message from the UN. When he was younger Decided to join a band That's when you can't feel half his face Cause he's been partying with his fans Frasco got fucked up he was drinking shots and doing

drugs Frasco got fucked up took too many mushrooms and lost his butts he ain't wearing shoes got nothing to lose don't give no fucks put his body on the line

he'll commit a crime just entertain us you know he ain't wearing shoes got nothing to lose don't give no fucks frasco got fucked up he was drinking shots and doing drugs and there we have it that was good good. That was special, right? You know sometimes when you do an interview, right away you just know that you're going to connect with somebody. And that's how he was. His band's fucking huge. They're doing stadiums and shit.

They're doing crazy big shit. And for him to talk to me like we're brother to brother And discussing the fights of addiction And discussing the fights of being in a successful band And how it just fucking breaks you It's so much work to be a level caliber band like that And for him to take it on the chin and fucking keep fighting Kudos to you Jeremy

Let's go, my man You get the standing ovation from the World Saving Podcast writing. Kudos to you, Jeremy. Let's go. My man. You get the standing ovation from the World Saving Podcast. But that's it, y'all. Stay safe out there. Go grab some 14-year weed if you're in the Denver, Colorado weed area. They're probably going to lock shit down here pretty

soon. I want you to, whatever you didn't do in the last lockdown, do it this time. Go learn language. Go read a book you thought you'd never read. Fucking masturbate to that weird porn

you always thought about but never did because you're too scared to. Go get it. Go bust that nut. Because this is what we need to do to be authentic, to be real, and to be honest with ourselves. So find out all those little crevices that you're missing in your life and go fucking attack them.

All right. I love you. Be safe. Wear condoms. Let the world know that I'm going to fuck shit up today. You are. All week. I want that attitude all fucking week.

You're going to fuck shit up this week. That's why we're living. That's why up this week. That's why we're living. That's why we're present. That's why we're focused. Arno, give us something nice and sweet, and I will catch you next week. I'm just going to keep all the guests surprised, but I do have some fucking bangers coming up.

So, love you. Be safe. You tuned in to the third season of Blissful Blah At Andy Fresco's World Saving Podcast Produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angel I'm Chris Lawrence Please subscribe, rate the show on iTunes and Spotify So we can make this a worldwide phenomenon

For more info on the show, please head to Instagram At World Saving Podcast For more info on blog or tour dates, head to andyfresco.com Check out the new album, Keep On Keepin' On Or let Andy entertain you at a Thursday night online shitshow or at this crazy Saturday night wanna dance with somebody dance parties

oh right summer season is here no festivals no music so instead of trying to keep the lip going and hoping to find some shitty paid trombone and tuba gigs this summer I decided to reroute

build in closets and wardrobes build a tiny summer house and do some painting to find some shitty paid trombone at Juba gigs this summer, I decided to reroute. Building closets and wardrobes, build a tiny summer house and do some painting. It will be October in no time. And yes, I sort of hate it compared to the wonderful life I live, but I'm also thankful that people trust my skills or my good looks or whatever. They have my back and I manage to make some money. The big danger in this line of work actually, it pays a lot better than being a musician. All right, how are you doing?

Making ends meet? Worried? No work? Putting on a virtual dance party every week? Let's make sure to carry each other. Get one another's backs. Keep each other safe. Keep each other sane.

Keep each other healthy. Let's unite, for it will be a long road ahead. See you next week.