Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 118: Kamasi Washington

Episode Date: March 23, 2021

Andy wins big and reflects on the impermanence of health and the immutability of time. So step back, take a breath, and know that the answer has always been Compassion: For others, and for yourself. On the Interview Hour we welcome LA's own living legend and music GURU: Kamasi Washington! Andy gets a peek inside Kamasi's life philosophy. Don't miss this one. And Nick Gerlach gets frustrated with Andy's success in gambling. This is EP 118. Stop Asian hate. 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  Don't miss out on www.kamasiwashington.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Ahri Findling Nick Gerlach Arno Bakker

This is Menci from Barstool Sports, man. Wild times hanging out with you. The Ameristar Blackhawk at the Barstool Sportsbook. Never forget Oral Roberts plus 950 Moneyline. I'm going to be telling that gambling story for years. Thanks for coming out. Mr. Frasco, my name is Frank DiStefano, and I work for the Ameristar Sportsbook.

I have a piece of business to talk with you about. It seems as though you are delinquent on money you owe to the sportsbook. After your Oral Roberts win, we gave you a chip. You then spent $14,000 on a bet for the Illinois Loyola Chicago game in which you lost. It has now been two days.

You owe $14,000. I want to warn you. There are guys you fuck with and there are guys you don't fuck with. I'm a guy you don't fuck with. 14 laws by Friday, or I will break your fucking knees. Do you understand me? I know where you live.

I know who you talk to. I know who your friends are. I will fucking end you. 14 grand by Friday or you're fucking dead. 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? How's our stomachs?

God damn. I am finally getting better from this food poisoning. That shit put me the fuck down, people. I'm telling you, I took a... I thought I was going to die. I called the nurse's hotline I'm telling you, I took a, I thought I was going to die. I really, I went to the hot, like I called the nurse's hotline because, you know, I didn't want to get an ER bill and they're just saying, oh, you just have a stomach ache.

And that's what they told me, I have a stomach ache. But I was nervous, y'all. I had to do the dance party last week. Pumping Pepto-Bismol into my body. That was the first time I did the dance party sober, and it was hella fun, so shout out to everybody. Let's go. That was fun. Oh, man. How's everyone doing? Y'all feeling good? Closer and closer into spring we go. I got tour dates. I'm playing in Birmingham on the 7th. That's not sold out yet.

I'm playing in Conway, South Carolina on the 9th. That's not sold out yet to drive in. Opening for Humphreys and playing with Goose and Lettuce on the 10th in Suwannee, Florida. And then the 11th is Charleston, South Carolina. That show sold out. We just added a Springfield, Missouri. We're all my Springfield people out.

Sean Eccles is coming home for one night only. We're playing Outland Ballroom. Those tickets go on sale. They probably just did. So go grab them. We're only doing a limited um tickets for that we're not going to capacity it because that's not responsible and then uh the 14th we're doing a fayetteville arkansas same same deal i think there's some tickets left we're doing half capacity

there in the venue um to keep it safe but that's it. Yeah, there we go. Go see us play. The band is kicking ass. Me and Sean have been working on a new set, writing new songs. It's going to be a good one in fucking deep. I've been hearing about all this racism with the Asian community. What the fuck is wrong with people? Love, compassion.

We're not going to get anywhere with fucking hate and insecurity. So, you got any racist friends out there? Tell them to shut the fuck up. Grow up. All right. We are all one. So, start acting like it and start taking care of your brothers and sisters because this shit is fucking out of control.

Do better. All right. Sorry. I'm just mad this morning. Shit show. We got a great fucking shit show this week. We got my boys, Umphreys Mickey. We got Doom Flamingo.

We got Gwar. I mean, what else do you want? I mean, we got a great show, and the numbers keep coming, and it's popping, it's popping, it's popping, and I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Jameson for working hard. Thank everyone. Nick Gerlach for helping me with

the pre-parties. I mean, thank you. I know I'm putting out a lot of content, and we're halfway through the season and couldn't ask for a better response. So thank you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. The guy who inspired me to start a podcast and talk that shit and try to get everyone on the same page on things, Michael Rapaport. Happy birthday, Michael. You're a good guy.

You've inspired me more ways than you know. People think you're just a shit talker, but I know deep down you're a friendly teddy bear. So happy birthday, buddy. I hope you have a great one. But I'll leave you with this, guys. Love is the answer. Compassion.

We don't need all this other shit. You know? If you're not feeling something, you need to express yourself. You need to take that bad poison out of your body and say, shoe devil, I don't need you anymore because I got love. And I've been learning how to do that too because I had a nice hangout with Sean, my guitar player.

We don't really hang out. We haven't really hung out this whole year. And he's going through therapy. Shout out to Backline for helping him find a therapist that understands his crazy ass. But it was a good hang. It was a good talk. And we talked about the idea of loving yourself.

Because if you don't love yourself, you're not going to be able to show love to anyone else. This goes out to all you racist people out there. Love your fucking self so you don't have to pick on everyone else. All right, sorry. But seriously, it's time to love ourselves again. It's time to take the insecurities and the vulnerabilities and face them because that's all we got. The insecurities and the vulnerabilities and face them.

Because that's all we got. It's this little fucking shell of a body that's getting older. I look at myself in the mirror sometimes like, damn, I'm getting older. Well, you know, I was spending a lot of time at the porcelain seat, you know, my mirrors right to the right of the toilet. I look at myself, I'm like, damn, I'm getting older. What am I going to do about it? Am I going to finally love? Am I going to finally love myself?

Am I finally going to accept love? Because that's all it is. I'm done wasting more time on this earth that we barely even have without accepting love and acknowledging that I deserve love too. So, instead of just giving it out, giving it out, if we love who we are, that confidence surrounds us

and that inspires other people to love themselves. And then everyone will get out of their own fucking way and their own insecurities and pushing it on other people. So take a step back and start loving yourself again. All right, guys. And that's what this whole conversation is with Kamasi Washington. Kamasi is a... I was smiling from ear to ear talking to this guy, and I, you know, I was nervous

because, you know, I don't know jazz, I'm not like a super jazz head, but that's not where the conversation went, we talked about humanity, we talked about why we should love ourselves, and why we should have confidence in ourselves, and'm really proud of this and the motherfucker played with kendrick lamar fucking snoop dogg he's in snoop dogg's band i mean he's played with everyone he just wrote the michelle obama score for her documentary i mean he's he gets it and he understands the philosophy of music and why people do it so i can't wait for you to hear that so all right ladies and gentlemen, you ready? I'm gonna get off my soapbox for a little bit and let's enjoy Kamasi Washington and let's take a step back

and fucking love ourselves again. I know this quarantine doesn't make it easy for that with everyone just stuck in their houses and stuck with their heads. And you know, they haven't talked with their head in a while and you're forced to in this fucking situation take a step back and say i am worthy of love too all right i'll catch up all right next up on the interview hour we have kamasi washington ch, play some Kamasi.

Man, the first time I met Kamasi, I think it was Jam Cruise. And I'd known about him. I mean, I know he's in Snoop's band. And, you know, growing up in L.A., I mean, he's an L.A. cat. He was the best. Then he produced or was in part of the production for Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. He's just such a super talent of generational. He's an alien.

And to talk about him, to talk about life with him and talk about the ideas of what is happiness and what is love and how he has a different perspective now that he has a kid. It was just beautiful. So, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoy Kamasi Washington. I use hands to help my fellow man. I use hands to do just what I can. And when I'm faced with unjust injury, then I change my head to fists of fury. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ¡Gracias! Kamasi Washington, what a treat. How you doing, bud? Oh, pretty good. Pretty good. How's Amsterdam? Tell me about it.

Oh, man, it's cool. It's cool. It's cool. You know, I was kind of shut down now when I first got out here. It was cool. It was like it was like wide open. But now it's kind of like, you of like a little bit of a coast town. But it's fun to open that cup again, too. Half my band lives in Utrecht. Oh, nice. Yeah, I love it out there.

Why did you pick Amsterdam for the quarantine? Man, I just recently had my first child. Let's go. That's awesome. had my first child. Let's go. That's awesome. You have a child. That's killer, man. So you guys, was it planned? Or is your wife from Amsterdam?

Or tell me. Yeah, she lives out here. She lives out here. You know, I mean, we didn't plan for it to happen during the pandemic, but... Yeah, yeah. I feel like... You're surprised, you know? Yeah, you know, it's kind of like, you know, I feel like it's going to be like that, you

know, like the baby boomers. It's going to be the quarantine babies out here. You know what I'm saying? Everyone's getting pregnant. We're all getting pregnant out here. Yo, I'm actually from LA. I did some research on you. I didn't know you went to Hamilton.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I went to El Camino. Oh, nice. Nice. Okay, yeah. Tell me about your experience in Los Angeles. Tell me about growing up. Well, yeah.

I mean, I grew up in South Central, but I went to Hamilton at the Music Academy there. And it was, you know, my experience in L.A. was cool because I was kind of like all over the city, you know, because I was a musician. So I was playing gigs in Hollywood and going to Hamilton. And like, you know, I was from South Central and I was going to Leimert Park. And, you know, L.A. is a real big city. And it was perfect for a kid like me that was just wanting to be in everything and doing all the stuff. So I had fun growing up in L.A.

You grew up in South Central. Tell me about, like, your childhood. Was it hard? Was it easy? What was going on? I mean, you know, it's like anywhere else. It's both. You know, I mean, I was fortunate

and all the musicians that I played with, we all grew up together in that neighborhood and we grew up playing music together and, you know,

it was always the little areas you had to like avoid and, you know, the people that were scary in the neighborhood

but, you know, there was a lot of, there were a lot of different people, you know, so it was, you know, I grew up with all different types of people. And I feel like that was good for me. You know, it kind of prepared me for, you know, life, being in the world and being around different people and doing different things, you know.

What do you most like about music? The freedom. The freedom. The freedom. I mean, I think that, you know, the ability to express yourself beyond the words that you can kind of find, that's a cool tool to have, you know? And so, like, being able to kind of

And so like being able to kind of pull out beautiful sounds from the universe and share them is like, it's a euphoric feeling. Is it hard for you to communicate? Is it hard for me to communicate regularly? Yeah. According to others, yeah. What's difficult about it to you hmm I guess you know being a musician you know

we're so intuitive I'm used to you know the slightest thing kind of communicating something when sometimes people need you to be really direct you know I'm good at perceiving a little small thing but maybe not necessarily um communicating directing yeah um is is that hard with relationships for you because you know how to communicate in other ways that sometimes it might be, it gets difficult? Well, once again, I don't think I've been caught with it, but maybe the rest of the world says so.

Oh, man. Let's get back to the music. What does Art Blakey mean to you? Oh, man. Art Blakey is how I got into jazz. You know, that was like the musician that really, you know, when I was a kid, my dad's a musician, too. So he was always trying to get me into jazz and stuff like that. But, you know, it's always felt like his music, you know, and then, and he probably did play me some Art Blakey, who knows, you know, but I had

a cousin that was like my older brother's best friend. And he gave me a tape of Art Blakey music. And I don't know, it was something about hearing that tape but just like it clicked for me you know and it was like you know I got I got like all my friends in my school too in Art Blakey it was like a whole little jazz messengers click back in the 80s you know so it was uh I, his music really opened that door for me. What about it? What about his music that opened the door for creativity? Something about the rhythm of it, you know, it felt real. It felt like, it felt strong, you know, and it felt black.

I don't know about black, but it just felt like, you know, and I was glad he said that, you know, he it felt black. I don't know about it, but it just felt like, you know, and Art Blakey said that, you know, he was making music like that, and something about it just felt like, I don't know, lack of a better word, like gangster. I was like, and stuff like that, and I heard this Art Blakey,

and I was just like, oh, man, this is dope. And, you know, I was already playing music, but it was just, that was like my gateway into, like like really having a place in my heart you know not just something that'd be it for fun yeah oh so you're at first what was your first instrument was it sax or you said it says you hear you played multiple instruments my first instrument was drums actually really yeah then i started playing piano. And around that time, I was about 11 years old,

I was playing clarinet. What the fuck? You're playing drums at nine? No, I was playing drums when I was like three or four. And then piano probably when I was like seven. And then when I was around 11 or 12, I started playing clarinet. So why?

Jesus fucking Christ. So did you learn from the church or did you learn that was just something, a hobby you were growing up with? My dad was a musician. So his instruments were all around the house. And I did actually, when I started playing saxophone

is when I started playing at church. My dad, he wanted me to keep playing clarinet because I kept switching instruments. One day, I just grabbed his saxophone and I just started playing it. And when he heard me play the saxophone,

it's like he took me a little more seriously too. And I think I, like I picked up his saxophone on like a Friday and like that Sunday, he took me to my uncle's church and played with them like at the service

I don't even know what the notes are he was like just use your ear just play what do you think he saw in you when when he first heard you play saxophone like looking back now as a professional musician I think he always saw it I mean he said he talked about all time when I was younger I was just you know I was an easy kid because you could just kind of put me in front of the piano or put me in front of my little drum set, you know, or you just, you know, you could just put me at something and I would just kind of fall into my own world, especially in music, you know?

And so he kind of always saw that. And a big part of music is just like how interested you are in it, you know, because it takes a lot of time and a know because it takes it's a lot of time a lot of like it takes a lot of you to really be a musician like that you know it's like it's a it's not something that well it's a lot of times it's something that like it really takes a lot so you have to be willing to give a lot so you have to kind of love it know, in my opinion. And so he saw that, he saw that love music. And like, and especially like when I got to the saxophone, it was like, it was like instantaneous.

It was like, oh, this is it. This is it. You know, the other instruments, it was like, oh, this is fun. But, you know, as soon as I saw something else, I wanted to play that too. When I got to the saxophone, it was like, oh, this is it. This is the thing. This is my voice. It's unbelievable, you know, when you take a step back and just

not pressure yourself to play one thing or do one thing and open yourself up to the idea that, yeah, I might find a different passion in my life that I could love, you know? You only live once. I always say, yeah, I might find a different passion in my life that I could love, you know? You only live once.

I always say, like, you should try to do everything that you want to do. You know? I mean, why not? What else do you want to do? Lately, I've been working on graphic novels. I'm writing, like, kind of, like, delving into these stories and stuff like that. That's kind of been where my head has been at. Tell me.

I'm still writing about the stories that have come along with them. What are you writing about? What themes? It's all over the place. It's kind of science fiction kind of like other worlds and possibilities

and stuff like that, you know? So it's like you love the idea of escaping. Hmm. Or traveling. I mean, I guess, you know, it's a middle of the mile, I guess. Yeah. Is that part of the reason why you became a musician, too? The idea of traveling, moving?

You know, I just loved music yeah it was just fun for me you know i mean i mean i mean honestly i mean i didn't really have um it wasn't a it wasn't a it wasn't an aspiration it wasn't like a way to escape it wasn't a way to do anything it was just what was fun to me you know know? And so me, you know, especially coming up in LA, playing jazz, you know, the world didn't necessarily like, the world wasn't necessarily checking for LA jazz musicians like that.

Yeah, it's true. But we just loved it and it was fun, you know? So like, you know, it was one of them things where it was like, it was the one thing I could just do all day long, you know so like you know it was one of the things where it was like it was the one thing i could just do all day you know i was if i was good at and i was about that you know i kind of enjoyed doing but music was the one thing that like you know it just felt like i can do this all day long and it's cool uh tell me the parallels between hip-hop and jazz? Oh, man, there's tons of them. I mean, I mean,

you think about, like, the origins of jazz, you know, like, just the voice given to people who had no voice, you know? And you think about, you know, what the nature of what happened with hip-hop, you know, in the late 70s and early 80s, that's when they started taking instruments out of the inner city schools. And so, you know, you had this next generation

of musicians, of kids, who didn't get to have instruments. And so what'd they do? They had record players. So what'd they start doing? That was the nature of, like, making beats and rapping. I was like, you know, so, doing, that was the nature of making beats and rapping. That same energy of... And jazz was a similar thing. Just the same way hip-hop passed samples, jazz...

We would take standards. We would take Broadway show tunes and turn them into bebop. So there are a lot of parallels. The history of jazz is seen as a very institutionalized music now, but when it was made, it was a music of people who were kind of, in a lot of ways, rebelling against. Yeah, it's like the first punk rock. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that's beautiful. Is it hard to navigate through a market that's so scarce?

Or is jazz bigger than it ever was? Well, yeah, I mean, it's definitely hard because it's, you know, because you have to make, not only make music

that people like, you also have to convince people just to listen to it. Make a real amazing R&B song. That's all you got to do. People don't have this notion they don't want to listen to R&B.

A lot of people have this notion they don't want to listen to jazz, you know. But when they hear it, and they hear good music, they don't realize they're listening to jazz all the time. They're listening to hip-hop and R&B and stuff like that as well. You know, these labels kind of like separate things in a way that's not necessarily so accurate.

So, yeah, growing up fighting past that notion was something that me and my friends, like, we kind of tried to do. That was something that we really did deliberately. You know, we used to play, you know, we used to take our jazz band and go play places

that you just wouldn't expect us playing. What was the craziest, like most random gig you brought the band? We played, you ever heard of Bar Sinister? No, what's that? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. In LA? Yeah, it's a gothic club in LA. Tell the audience about this.

Yeah, we played at Bar Censor. And they were like, you know, they had like the whole like whipping station upstairs. And, you know, the S&M was people with the vampire teeth and the whole nine. And we got up there and they loved it, you know? Yeah. And that one, we were like, I don't know. But it worked out. We played there quite a few times, actually.

When's the moment you found out you're like damn I could do this or did you always know I mean I always know I would always play music and pretty early on I was gigging a lot so like even when I was like 15, 16 years old

I was playing gigs and I was already 15, 16 years old, I was, I was playing gigs and I, you know, I was already kind of making money. So it was very gradual. You know what I mean? I didn't have a whole lot of doubt. Like for one, it didn't really matter to me because I just wanted to play music. You know, there was no like, there was no like, I got to make it to do this. It was like, I'm going to do this no matter what I'm gonna do. And then early on,

you know, I was able to find a niche for myself and it was like my path was pretty clear since I was 15, 16, you know, so I didn't really start really, really playing until I was like 13. So it wasn't that much of a gap before I started really kind of just going.

And stuff like that with different people. Do you think when you take out expectations in life, you could be more of an open vessel? Like you said, like you always knew I was going to be a musician. I didn't care if I was going to make it. I just knew I was going to do it. That's like not having expectations for succeeding. Yeah. I think it's about like not having expectations for succeeding. I think it's about managing what you really want.

I think that the key to happiness is appreciating what you have and getting a good beat on what you want. If you can balance those two things, you're probably alright. Sometimes people think, I really want to be famous

and they don't know like being famous kind of sucks you know it's so true man or you know they think they really want to be rich and they're like oh man like once you have all the money then it's like you don't really want the stuff you know so

it's like you know I was lucky that early on I found something that like I just love to do you know my grandmother told me that like it's not about what you have it's about what you do you know so if you can find something that you want to do and that you know that you really

want to do not that you have to do to gain something but something that you just want to do that's a real key component you know and I was really lucky to find that early do, that's a real key component, you know? And I was really lucky to find that early on, you know? And I was lucky to like, you know, I had like a bunch of siblings. So like, it kind of made me not so materialistic, you know?

Because it's like when you get a bunch of brothers and sisters, anything you think you've got. Yeah. It's all yours. What's the hardest part about that? Having so many, do you feel like you're left out? Nah, that's what I'm saying. It was fun. You know, it was like, you know, I don't want to send me, we fought and stuff like that sometimes.

It was always somebody to play with. Always something happening in the house. Never a quiet moment. Yeah. I heard you're into like old school video games too. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Tell me about it. Which games? Yeah.

Street Fighter. Street Fighter. You know, I mean, all the fighting games. You know, the games used to have it at 7-Eleven back in the day. Yeah. I remember at a festival and we were playing together and I was really intimidated to talk to you because you are one of my favorites

and you're playing video games backstage. I'm like, oh my God, this guy's so into it. I don't want to fucking ruin the mojo. You know what I'm saying? No, but it... That's the funny part.

We were backstage and sometimes it would get intense. We had to start chilling out on it because it would start affecting the music on stage. That was some bullshit what you did on that. But definitely one of the must-haves on the road is the console. Are you competitive?

I am joyfully competitive. Tell me about that. I enjoy competition. You know what I mean? I don't really mind losing. And I'm not necessarily particularly like... I enjoy close matches. You know what I mean?

I'd much like have a close match and lose than like blow out and win every time you know but I do enjoy like I enjoy the intensity and the focus of being in a close match with someone in anything you know

something about that it quiets the rest of the world you know I get why like athletes and people like that are really into it because it's you know when you know focus focus comes with a lot of harmony and a lot of peaks actually

you know and so like for me that's what like competition kind of does it allows you to focus on your mind on one singular thing. Because if you're really trying to win this one thing, then you're not thinking about all the other little stuff that's going

on, you know? Yeah. Music is kind of like that, too. Like, when you're really, really playing music, even if you feel sick, like, we talk about this a lot, like, sometimes you'll be on the road and you'll feel sick, but when you're playing road and you'll feel sick. But when you're playing, you don't feel it.

It's like it goes away for that hour. Yeah. And then comes the finish. But it goes away, you know? And so, like, it's a similar thing to me, like, with, you know. And, you know, fighting games is like something I've always played. It's kind of like fast action chess, you know,

cause you, it's all about the mind. It's all about like thinking and anticipating, you know, that, that whole idea of being in someone's head, you know, I'm just kidding.

It's kind of similar to music too. That's, that's great. What about being in love? Does that keep you focused or does that keep you distracted? I mean, love gives you a different focus. What kind? I don't know. I mean like I said, as a child it's like just having someone else's well-being be your focus, you know, and having

someone that you can, you know, share life with. Yes. I mean, it's, it is a distraction, but it's a good distraction, you know? It's like, I only live once. And so there's time and there's room for everything, you know? And I think that like, you know, if you miss out on love,

you live this life on earth and you miss out on love, then you miss a real big piece of what, you know, what existence on this planet is. out on love, then you miss a real big piece of what existence on this planet is. What is love to you? What is love? That's a difficult thing to kind of put into words. It's a lot

of things. I think love is caring, it's trust, it's affection. I think it's almost like the entirety of all the emotions kind of put into one I think it's almost like the entirety of all the emotions kind of put into one and apply it to a person, you know? Yeah. That's a hard thing to define because I feel like it's such a vast thing that I continue to learn what it is, you know? So it's like, it's hard to say.

It's like, you know, when you feel it, it's hard to say what it is, you know? So it's like, it's hard to say. It's like, you know, when you feel it, it's hard to say what it is, you know? Has that word evolved now that you're a father? Yeah, absolutely. I say all the time, it's like, you know, you think you know what it is, but then you go through that and it's like, oh, wow, that's a different thing altogether, you know? Yeah, it's like selfless. Yeah, selfless and it's immediate.

You know, it's like they come out, you know, you know, nothing about this person, but you just all the way in, right, immediately, you know? And it's like a different version of it, you know, that, you know, until you experience it, it's hard to, that's what I'm saying, it's hard to explain to, you know, people say it.

I have other friends that have kids and they told me that. It's like, oh, wow, okay, now I see what you're saying. Yeah, this is like a whole nother thing. Yeah, what mind state changed right when that baby popped out? Well, the world was so different, you know, that, I mean, I'm trying to imagine if it, if the baby would have came in a regular world, you know what I mean? Yeah. Probably a bigger shift, but I mean, you know, with COVID, it was like, that was the only thing I was thinking about. So, you know, I mean, I know, with COVID, it was like, that was the only thing I was thinking about. So, you know, I mean, I was just,

you know, you're preparing for it. And when it happens, you know, it's hard to say what the mind shift was. You know, it's just more like all of a sudden, you know, for sure, without a shadow of a doubt, this person is number one. They go straight to number one. You know? And so, like, that's

a shift, because it's like, you know, like, who's number one in your life? That kind of usually kind of varies, you know, different time. Who needs to be up there? You know? So, like, someone kind of taking that spot and kind of sitting up there, you know, like someone kind of taking that spot and kind of sitting up there you know kind of kind of strongly yeah so like when you say that that shift is it do you put music in

that number one two growing up or was it is that just something that was always there well i mean music music is an activity it's not a person you know so it's like it's different you know i mean like when i was young when i was young i was very singularly focused on music you know i was just like only thinking about that you know but as i've gotten older music has taken a different form you know know, it's not the same thing. Music is not in the same category as the people in my life, you know. Yeah. It's, you know, and even when I was young, I wasn't so aware of it,

you know what I mean? But it still wasn't even when I was young, you know, like the people, I mean, the music is always there. The music is inside me. It travels with me everywhere I go, you know, like the people, people, I mean, the music is always there. The music is inside of you. Travels are everywhere I go, you know? So my interactions with people are more, you know, this is different, you know, I don't, I don't, music is, and music, life is bigger than music, you know, but music enhances life. You know, music feeds life, music nurtures than music you know but music enhances life you know music feeds life music nurtures life you know and life is where the people are so it's like um you know it's like if you're saying like you know what's your favorite place to go on earth

someone said what about the sun? And you go like, well, you know, the sun is kind of external. It, it, it makes the places more beautiful, but it's a separate thing than the place,

you know? And it's everywhere. Music is everywhere I go. You know, it's in my head. So the music, music is like the sun. Yeah.

And earth is human. Yeah. So that's, that's actually a great concept like who is the number one person then who is the number one person in your in your stratosphere before your wife and your kid growing up i didn't have one i didn't have a singular person. You know? I had a group of people. I had a tribe, you know? I've always kind of been like that, you know? I've always been kind of a person that, like, wants to love everybody, you know? So I was never like the person, like,

oh, I got my one brand that's going to focus on, you know? Yeah. I always try to, and I still think this is an important skill, is to appreciate everyone for who they are. And I'm not looking for everything out of anyone.

I'm only looking for what they are. Try to find what they are and how can I appreciate what that is? You know what I mean? It's like, um, it's like if, if you're cooking and like somebody said, what's your favorite ingredient to cook with? It's like, well, each ingredient kind of brings its own thing, you know? Yeah.

You know? So community is important to you. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, tell me, so your, your music community, your family community, I mean, they run parallel, but they're different. I mean, your analogy on music was spot on. I mean, I focused my whole life on just trying to be good and successful in music,

that I shooed away all that other stuff in my life and when you put that in perspective is life is more is the most important thing you know that's that's that's where it's all about you i mean your spot i'm gonna clap for that fuck yeah let's go kamasi that's dope yo, I mean, has your mind state changed? I mean, it's like, by the way, congratulations on the ASCAP Screen Music Awards. That's dope. What'd you get that for? Thanks for becoming the score I wrote

for Michelle Obama's documentary. Tell me about that. How did they approach you to do that? Well, the director, Nadia, reached out to us and you know,

she came by and played us an early cut of the film and it was really powerful. You know, Michelle Obama's story is a really powerful story, you know, and her perspective is very, I think, enlightening, you know, for me, you know, and I just felt like this is an important story to tell.

And I was really honored to be able to help tell it, you know. And it was a trip, you know, just to, you know, because their life, the life of Michelle and Barack Obama is, regardless as to like anyone may feel about whatever their politics are, that moment is a momentous moment in history, you know. And it's an important moment in history, you know, and it's an important moment in history, you know, and it's a, it's a shift. And, and definitely in Western culture, you know, in, in, in, in a large way, you know, not that it changed everything, but it definitely was a shift. It's an undeniable shift, you know? And so to be able to like, kind of help tell that story was, was, was, was cool.

That's beautiful man it is halftime at the endy fresco interview hour nick gerlach here with that's enough march madness edition this week it's that's enough oral roberts oral roberts is a small private school in Tosa, Oklahoma, which explains their Hunger Games-like determination to beat major schools like Ohio State and Florida. Now you have a story you can tell your kids and your grandkids. Oh, and you're young and you're hot and your whole life's in front of you, too.

That's great, but guess what? A lot of people at Ohio State to win it all, and you're costing them a lot of money. Oh, except for one person, and his name is Andy Frasco. When somebody told me Frasco was going to be spending the entire day with barstool sports in a casino, my first image was someone jamming a movie theater-sized box of Mentos into a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola and tossing that off the Empire State building into traffic. Oral Roberts, you have to stop winning basketball games. You're giving people like Andy a false sense of confidence when it comes to gambling. You're going to collapse the economy if you don't stop winning games.

He doesn't watch college basketball. He probably can't even tell you where Oral Roberts is. Stop winning games, Oral Roberts. That's enough. Stop winning games, Oral Roberts. That's enough. Tell me a little more about how important that shift is in community, that how much we needed that as Western culture.

Oh, man. Well, it's, you know, it's equality and just humanity and the feeling that the world can be the place that you want it to be. We have these moments where we doubt it and then we have these moments that kind of reaffirm it. The world is always slipping. It can go one way or the other. Sometimes it goes

in a way and you're like, man, this world is like, wow. You just see what's happening in the world and you know it's hard to hard to watch it and then other moments you have you go like okay well we are kind of moving

more towards you know a place that's you know that's sustainable because I don't think that a hateful greedy divided world is really sustainable. You know, it's just not. We're outgrowing that possibility as a species. You know, we're going to have to care about each other and work towards what's best for everyone.

Or it won't work out for anyone you know and I think that you know the sooner we kind of come to that conclusion and the sooner we start

moving and acting in that direction you know the better chance we have yeah to make it yeah

yeah yeah because it's just you know and you know we got to spread that out to also the just you know and you know we gotta spread that out to also the world you know

we haven't learned how to love each other we definitely can't love the rest of the world yeah I mean it's like you know you can't love

another human being how are you gonna love you know the animals in the ocean yeah do you think it's hard to love yourself um it can be you know I mean once again I mean there's different levels of love Do you think it's hard to love yourself?

It can be. You know, I mean, once again, I mean, there's different levels of love, you know, and I think there's different, I think it goes back to that same thing. Like, are you able to appreciate what you have and do you have a clear vision of what you want? And, you know, usually when people have a hard time loving themselves

it's because they think they want something that they can't get. That they want something that they feel like is outside of the possibilities of the being that they are, you know. And, you know, I mean, I can't say that that's not a possibility, but I find that's probably a rare possibility. You know, I feel like if you really search what you really, really, really want, you have what you need to get what you really, really want. Yeah, I feel like we distract ourselves from what we really who we really are with all this other shit, all this other noise that we forget what we like in the first place because we're just i blame you know social media and i blame just the fast pace like my question is like how did we get here as a community you know like what because we were so on the path of community yeah i mean I think that

if you zoom out to humanity as a whole and you look at our progression, it's like we've reached this place it's almost like we just graduated from high school, but we still

live like we're in high school. You know, it's like we just graduated from high school, but we still live in like we're in high school. You know, like, you know, you know, it's like when you're a kid and you're in school, you know, you do what you're told to do, not necessarily what you're supposed to do. But as you become adult, you know, if you're going to be, if you're going to have a good go at it, it's because you're kind of doing what you should do without someone

telling you to do it you know and I think that you know I think part of like the difficulty people have with finding themselves is that that's not

like no one tells you to do that you know? So the people who do find themselves usually go on some long journey to getting there, but they're just lucky. Like, I was lucky, you know? Music was in my household, and it touched my heart, and it felt like what I wanted to do.

But, you know, had it been like, I don't know, like, jet skiing or something like that like I don't know stumbled upon that you know yeah and so there's not like a real big push in our society to like to help people find themselves

it's all about like getting a job and making money you know and I think that notion that you should do what you do to make money, I think that humanity has outgrown that way of thinking. That way of thinking

is not sustainable anymore. There's too many of us and that leads to too many people doing things that they shouldn't do. But if everyone just did what they thought they were supposed to do, what they really love to do,

think about how many problems that would solve. Who would make plastic straws? No one. A lot of the waste that we have on Earth, it just wouldn't be there because no one would want to do that you know so you know people would do more things that were most people would do would be doing something constructive i mean maybe it'd be a few people here and there that are doing something that wasn't so good but it'd be most people you

know and so the the general momentum of life i I think, is going to shift. And I think the Internet has kind of already taken a step. You think about the Internet being this space where everyone wants, your intellectual property, your intellectual, like your knowledge was your biggest asset. Yeah. People held on to it. You know, it's like, that's what like the whole like, you know, Masons and all that stuff. Like people like, if you had a skill, if you had some knowledge, you kept that secret. You would hold it and try to benefit from it. And then, but now it's like, if you know how to do something, what's the first thing you do?

Make a YouTube video and give it away to the world. You know what I mean? Like, you know, I know how to fire break a 57 Chevy. Like, I'm going to put a video up and let everyone else see how they can do that. You know, and so like that, that energy of like, just doing stuff because you like to do it. Yeah. I think that's the future, you know? And I think that is, you know, you're going to, as that mentality grows and grows and grows,

more and more people are going to just find what they're passionate about because that will be what everyone's trying to do instead of everyone trying to somehow make create a hustle that can make some money yeah and it's you know that's the one thing that i love because i i travel to i go to amsterdam and the netherlands and germany you know twice three times a year and And it's the idea of working to live and not living to work, you know? And I feel like Europeans understand that, you know, Americans it's just always been in our DNA that we are workers. You know, we need to get out of that mind state that we're workers.

They were hustlers. America's like the hustle. If you're not hustling, if you're not trying to win this game, the Europeans don't look at life as a game that you win. It's more like an experience that you enjoy.

What, life? Yeah, they make sure they enjoy it. They travel, they have vacations, they, you know, which creates a different kind of thing. You know, there's a different kind of slope that they kind of slide down.

Being out here for a little while, you know, you see that like, you know, because America has such a like hustler mentality there's also a passion that we do things with that's like unique you know like where you i do think it's important i think i think i do think that it's valuable to pour your whole self into something you know yeah not just kind of halfway do it you know so that you can have enough money to go on on a holiday yeah i think that like the problem is like it's the balance it's it's not one

thing or the other and i think that's a big thing too it's like you know i'm sure you traveled around like it feels like everyone has a piece of the puzzle, but we're not just putting it all together. It's so right. We don't have. We have a piece of the puzzle. They don't have. You go to Japan,

they have a piece of the puzzle. Everybody has a piece of this puzzle. And we just got to come together and put it all together because it's like, yeah, I think that the American culture of, you know, because I want to make it and because I can like fail to the ultimate degree if I don't, I pour my whole self into something, you know, everything, everything, whole essence is poured into one thing. I think there's beauty in that, you know? And beauty comes, there's some beauty that comes from that, you know? Yeah.

Like the notion of understanding that like you get one life and you should enjoy it, which is something they have here. Yeah. Would also be that they can work in conjunction with one another. You know what I mean? It's like they don't have to be opposed. They don't have to pick one or the other. Totally.

And like the idea that, oh, I'm just going to do all this other stuff when I die is kind of, we need to get that mind state out of our heads. Like, oh, yeah, I'm going to go whatever you believe in. I'm going to do all the rest of that stuff then. Why can't we just do it now? Yeah, the whole notion of I'll enjoy life when I retire. It's like, that's a little backwards. Yeah.

So when you're old and you can't, your back hurts and you can't. Yeah, exactly. Am I going to try to enjoy life? Yeah, that's, yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, it's, you know, once again, I mean, it's all about like, once again,

I think it's about knowing what you want. Yeah. You know, I think it's, you know, once again, I mean, it's all about like, once again, I think it's about knowing what you want. Yeah. You know, I think it's that notion of like there being a cookie cutter for what a good life is. I think that's also false. You know what I mean? It's like each person is going to be a different thing. And part of your journey in life is just be figuring that out. Like, what do you really want? You know, that's, you know life is just figuring that out. What do you really want?

You know, that's the... You know, if you can answer that question, that's half the battle. What do you really want, Kamasi? Oh, man, I'm still trying to answer that one. I mean, what do I really want? I mean, I want to create beautiful music.

And now I have a daughter, I want to enjoy the experience of her life you know so it's like you know in a broad sense you know like that's that's an addition you know to me before that it was like what do i really want you know my whole life has been i want to create create beautiful music. That's what I want. I want that. And everything else is kind of just add-ons. It's beautiful, man.

Create beautiful music. And I want to enjoy the experience of being a part of my daughter's life. Being love. Yeah. We love. Yeah. Yeah. Tell me, you know, we were talking a little bit about the hustler idea,

the American. I just keep thinking about to pimp a butterfly, you know, that idea, the mentality of like work hard, work hard. Like tell me about your experiences with Kendrick Lamar. Man,

he's, he's like a real full-on genius. Really? You feel it when you're around him. You feel it when you see him creating. How did that even connect? How did y'all connect? Terrace Martin.

Terrace Martin. Shit. Yeah, I mean, Terrace hit me up actually he was working on his record he did a while back and so I went to go work on his record

and he was like you know what are you working on these days you know we grew up together for a long time so this was before the Epic came out so I played the Epic my first album. And he was like, oh, snap. Like, who did those strings for you? I was like, I didn't. He's like, oh, wow, you write strings? You know, I was like, yeah, yeah. He's like, damn, we're growing this record for Kendrick. And we need somebody to come write some, you know, do some orchestrations for

us. I'm like, oh, yeah, cool. And I went down to the studio. It was a trip. It was like Michael Jackson was up in that piece, man. You have to give your ID up. It's all secretive. I was like, okay, it's a trip. And you know, originally I was

only supposed to play on one song. So they played me just one song. It was the last song, Mortal Man. But for me, you know, that album is such a story, you know, so that I would understand what that song meant. They played the whole record for me about three times. And every time they played a record, they were like, oh, yeah, you should put something on this one, too, and on that one, too.

And it just turned into, like into me working on a whole album. But yeah, I mean, it was a really fun experience. As a working musician, Terrace and I and Thundercat and all, we've all worked on a lot of different records. And

typically, when you're working with a lot of artists, you kind of got to sneak the cool stuff in there, you know. But with Kendrick, it was more, he was like pushing. He was like, I want, I want you to put the whole thing. I want the, I want the raw, the real thing. Like, don't hold back. the raw, the real thing. Like, don't hold back.

And I was like, that was actually a little counterintuitive at first, because you're so used to like, let me only give you a little, so I don't want to scare you away. Let me not put the five-part harmony, let me just put the three-part. You're like, no, give me the seven-part. Are you sure you want all the notes? You know?

And so that's... And, you know, because it was, you know, it was kind of, you know, a big project and they were keeping me on the raps. Usually in those kind of situations, I would take the music home and write, but they didn't want to let, they wouldn't let that music out of the building. So I had to write the music,

write the orchestrations right there in the studio. And so it was like sitting on a couch and I'm sitting there, you know, my little, you know, music paper and listening to the record, you know, arranging the stuff out. And it was great, man.

And it felt like another one of those moments, kind of like with Sean Obama, where it's like, man, this is a moment. This is a, this is going to shift music in a way. Did you knew it was going to be that big of a smash?

I knew it was going to be an important record. You know, I knew that like, whether it be now or in history, that this is a moment. I could tell, even before I did anything on it. When they played it for me that first day, I was like, oh, man, this is I've never heard anything like this. This is a whole nother level, you know?

Yeah. Explain to me the importance of that record. You know, that record is that, you know, what Kendrick did, you know, like I was saying, I mean, I mean, you have all types of musicians working on all types of records. People just don't know it. Like, if you pull the curtain back, like that whole thing you're talking about with jazz,

you pull it back, there's a whole bunch of jazz musicians back there working on all your favorite pop records, hip hop records, and R&B records, rock records,

everything. You know, they all, everybody's all back there together. And on the other side, on the public side of the curtain, it's all separated. And so what Kendrick did is, you know,

he took all these great musicians and writers and producers and artists, and he let them put their whole heart in his music, you know, with no, no, no filter, no, no, no barriers, you know?

And that's why that music is so rich. It's so full. It's so lush, you know, because everybody was pouring everything in. Yeah. Normally you gotta like, get a couple of tips from everybody. You know, it's like, everybody's like, no, no, no, no, no. I only want this little piece of what you can do. It's like, all right, well, you know. But Kendrick was like, no, give me the whole thing. To everybody.

And then he took it and shaped it into what it is, you know? Yeah. And then you take him, who's also like this bright shining star, and he went all the way in on it too, you know? And so it was, you know, it was a moment of artistic freedom, you know? And, you know, with the, you know, with the momentum to be able to push it out into the world, you know?

So I think it was a big moment. I think that, I think that we're going to see it as the younger generations come up, they're going to see that record as, as like, you know, like it's going to inspire people to push themselves further, you know? And it's like a lot of times those types of records, you know, the impact is more visible in the generation that comes after them than it is maybe that he's in because it's everybody can't do that yeah hendrick is a very special person you know it's like

but he's going to inspire all the seeds all, all the sprouting young musicians and artists that are going to be inspired by what he did, who he is. That's when you're going to see it. I'm excited for music in 2030. I think it's going to be some crazy stuff, you know? Yeah. Do you think like this whole age of Aquarius, the age, the age of like waking up, I think that's going to be like, we're going to have that new renaissance in music.

Oh yeah, for sure. And it's the fact that like information is so accessible. Like, you know, when I was a kid, you know, most people had like 10 CDs. Listen to your little 10 CDs or whatever your friends had. How many little mixtapes you can muster up in your lifetime. Yeah. Every person has access to the entirety of music. You know, like, man, like once that really sinks in and like once, you know, it's like,

I think that, and that's new, that's relatively new, you know, it's like the, imagine, you know, what, you know, the possibilities. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I don't think it's really materialized yet, but it will. Yeah, it's like the idea. I mean, it goes back to what we talked about in the game, the idea of freedom. We can be free when we have the opportunity to be free.

Yeah, exactly. That's beautiful, man. Man. So, overcome, easily overcome now. You know what I mean? are so overcome easily overcome now you know what I mean it's like if you really want to there's nothing in music that you can't

get to now it's like ooh man so once one of these super talents come along with that reality growing up like what's that gonna sound like? Do you think the best musicians are the ones

who don't put themselves in a box? I think the best musicians are the ones who try to be themselves. You know? Yeah. I think that the music that we all really love

is the music that is honest and true to the person. You know, I think that, I mean, some people get away and have success just kind of like, you know, copying or doing what they think is popular. But what we really love, it all comes from a very internal place, honest place. You know, so I think the best ones

are the ones who are searching in and absorbing out. Yeah. They're not searching out.

They're searching in. Yeah. And this out is just absorbing it. Hearing it, listening to it experiencing it but their journey is

all all in all in like what's what can I what can I do you know

yeah and it's I mean we could say that same thing about love because like love is inward once we could love ourselves then we could love everything else you know I think I mean yeah once you once you have acceptance, love is, I think that that part is one of the difficult things with love.

It's like when you're looking for validation. Looking through validation within, you mean? From without. I think that a lot of times we block someone from being able to love someone else because they don't feel loved themselves. Once you kind of let go of, like you said, the expectation of like, you know, I need you to give me something to love. That's why I say like, you know, when you have that love for your child, it's like, oh, that's really the real, real version. Because you're not looking for them to give you anything. You're not looking for them to do anything for you. You're not looking for them

to show anything to you. You just love them. And you don't even know who that person is really. They don't have a personality. Yeah, you just love it. Or they do, but you don't know it it you don't know what it is

you know um and you love them and that like to me like okay that's the real thing it's like it had nothing to do it's nothing to do what they're gonna do for me it has nothing to do with who they are what they can do they can't do what they have what they don't have you know nothing to do how they to treat me, it's not, that's not what it is. It's like, and in that regard, you start to understand that love in a certain, to a certain degree

is it's something that you choose to do. You know? It's, there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a side to it that's that. You know, there's another side to it that's like, you know there's a there's a side to it that's that you know there's another side to it it's like you know like you have no control over it

you know it's like I'm so in love with you but you also realize like I can't tell you why you know I can't tell you why oh you can't tell you why yeah you can't explain it and there's nothing you can do to make me not love this person.

Yeah. That they can do or that anyone else can do. And that's when I go like, well, then that has to mean that that's, I'm kind of, you know, part of that is I'm choosing to do this, you know. And that's where you say like, oh, so we could love the whole world like that. Imagine if we did. So we choose not to love. Yeah, I mean, to a certain degree, you have to kind of acknowledge that

because it's like, we could. We could love the whole world like we love our newborn babies, you know? And imagine what the world would be like if we did. Fuck. Fucking beaut. Come on, I would be like if he did. Fuck. Fucking beaut. Kamasi, I'm going to clap for you, dog.

Kamasi. Seriously, these conversations need to be had. I know we were going to talk, we didn't even talk about music. We did though, but I mean,

that's important to me. Yeah. Is it important to you? Yeah. Humanity? Yeah. And to me, Yeah. Humanity? Yeah. Music lives within life. So it is music.

This is what music communicates in a way that is more than verbal. You ever work with Dre or Snoop? Yeah. My first tour was with Snoop. What did he teach you about life oh man a lot you know i mean i was like 1920 years old and so you know that was my you know i hadn't really left i I mean, I think the only place I'd ever gone, like, really outside of L.A. was Vegas. But it was my first time traveling, firstly.

And then, you know, it was just, it was a whole other world, you know. And it was, you know, it was, you know, it definitely opened my eyes, you know, to just, to the world. And Snoop has a, has a devotion to excellence. That was like, you know, very inspiring, you know, and he was, he was fearless, you know, he would do things like one time we were, we were, we had a show and we had a, we had our whole set, you know, we rehearsed and we knew we had a show that we had our whole set, you know, we rehearsed and we knew, we had a show

that we had already rehearsed that was set, you know. And so one day, you know, before the show it was like the pre-party

was just as crazy as the after-party. So backstage is always a part of it. And so this one night in particular,

you know, the music is always, you know, the music is always, you know, the playlist is always, you know, good music. But this particular night, they were looping this song, Busting Out by Rick James. It was on a loop like the whole time

for like, you know, an hour and a half, two hours, something like that. Just one song that's playing over and over and over again. But no one said anything. And no one was really,

I mean, people noticed it, but no one said anything. Everybody was just chilling, you know, smoking, drinking, partying,

getting ready for the show. So this song starts off with Rick James going, we're all right, two squares. And then the trombone comes in. And so whatever, you know, it's a whole bunch of people backstage. No one says anything to anybody.

Walk on stage. And I think at that point, we start the show with Snoop Doggy Dog you know what's my motherfucking name Snoop Doggy and I see you walk out and say that

what's my motherfucking da da da da and we would start that song so that was the normal cue to start the show so we walk out in front of 60,000 people once again

no one no one said nothing no one talked about playing Busting Out no one said again, no one said nothing. No one talked about playing Busting Out. No one said what key. No one said nothing. And all he said on the mic in front of the audience, he said,

all right, you squares. And so he didn't say let's play Bustin' Out. He just walked up, got on the mic and said, well, all right, two squares.

And so all the band were like, does that mean play Bustin' Out? And then he turned around and looked at us and said, well, all right, two squares. And Trombone Flair just intuitively

just went right into it. And the whole band just dropped right into that song. Never played it. Never talked about it. He would fuck with y'all like that? Or what? Huh?

Would he fuck with you like that? Like he knew. No one said nothing. No one said nothing. We just, he was just, we're going to play this. Not even on stage. Not even like, hey, we're going to play this. Not even on the stage. Not even like, hey, we're going to play

Bustin' Out. So you can kind of like think about what you, you know. What do you think it was? He was testing you guys or what? I think he just liked having a band that was like on their toes, you know, and was open, you know, and paying attention, you know, and like

and was ready, you know. You have to always be ready playing with Snoop. You know, it was open, you know, and paying attention, you know, and, and like, and was, and was ready, you know, you had to always be ready playing with Snoop, you know, it was like, you know, he never know what he would make up a song on stage and he had to just make up a song with him. You know, he just, he was, he was a very spontaneous person like that. But then also you have to know his songs like the back of your hand, you know, those songs that wasn't in the set list.

Because he might just call some song, you know, he did. Y'all ever fuck up? Huh? Y'all ever fuck up like that? Well, no. That's the thing. It's like music, you learn

there really is no mistake. If the music sounds good, it ain't a mistake. Learn how to make, like in that moment, I'm sure we didn't play Busted Out exactly like the way it was a Rick James record. But we were kind of good. That sound, you know what I mean? Yeah.

We learned to always be in the spirit of music and if you're in the spirit you can't really go wrong you know and that's what Snoop's band was and he had

I mean he had a good band you know his band was like you know Thundercat was in his band Spud Robert C. Wright from Stunky Club you know me, Terrace Martin

Ice Smith Ryan Porter R.C. He had a band that was like everybody. I mean, like everybody could really, really play. And it was like you just always had to be in the moment. You had to always be ready, you know. And that was a fun experience, though, because it was like, you know, I like that kind of stuff. I like curve balls, you know, that was fun for me because it was like, Oh man,

we on the edge of our seats. Do you take that philosophy now with your solo projects? Oh yeah. Be fair with me. You don't know. You don't know what's going to happen. What is going to happen? You don't know what key song is going to be in or what the feel. We play the songs different every night. That is the shit, dude.

And so it's like, it's a surprise. Sometimes it's so far off. A couple of times, Patrice, the singer in the band, it was so far off that she thought we was playing a different song. So we've had moments like that where we're playing Rerun, but we switched it up so much that she thought we was playing Ask Him.

She's singing Ask Him. So then we got to turn this version of Rerun into Ask Him, in a different key. You know, and so it different key, you know? And so it's like, you know. Oh my God, come on. And that's how it happened. And, you know, there's stuff like that. You know, sometimes we're playing one song

and it just feels like another song and we'll just start, we'll just turn one song into another song, you know? Or, you know, it's just, or sometimes like that same thing. We're backstage and someone to play something and it's like oh let's play that man and like go do it you know and and understanding that the freedom of music you know you know and and understanding that like i was saying it's like that there really isn, there's no right or wrong answers in music. There's just good

and bad feelings. As long as you're feeling good, and I can find that anywhere, anytime, or anything. Is that philosophy in life? Huh? Is that the same? Do you feel like that philosophy parallels in life? Huh? Is that the same? Do you feel like that philosophy parallels in life? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, to a certain degree, it's like, that's why you say, like,

when you think about the notion of happiness, there is no one thing you can say that can make anyone happy. You know? Yeah. So from that, you can kind of extrapolate that

anything can make anyone happy if they're open to it. You know? I can give this, like my daughter, just little things on my table,

this little thing, and she would be happy with that because she had never seen that before. You know what I mean? She's trying. I just give her something that I know she never had a chance to put in her hands, and then she's happy. And it's like, I could

push myself to be in that same mentality. You know what I mean? And with that, if anything can make you happy, then there's no reason to ever not be happy, you know? And so like, there's no, you know, and being in this pandemic has made me have to like lean on that a lot, you know, because just my normal go-tos

have been gone for, you gone for over a year now. My normal go to a jam session, go to my mom's house and just play some music. Go hear some music, go to the movies, go to see a show. All those things. I'm kind of an out-of-the-house kind of person. For sure. 100%, I'm not of an out-of-the-house kind of person. Yeah. For sure. You know, 100%, I'm not a homebody. I'm not the most homebody that you can imagine.

So, like, being stuck home every day all day is just, like, really counterintuitive for me. But I've learned how to, like, enjoy, you know, it's been an exercise in enjoying whatever you do have, you know? And it's like family music. It's like, so it's like that notion of like, there are no bad notes. You just got to find the one that feels good to you or, or play, you know, like sometimes when you try to teach someone, you know,

I learned it when I was trying to teach, when I was younger, I was teaching someone a lesson and the person was playing the right notes but they weren't playing them the right way and I was like, well if a right note can sound wrong and I can play a note that, you know, according

to all the rules is wrong but I can make it sound right then there are no right or wrong notes it's just feelings and how you feel, you know but I can make it sound right, then there are no right or wrong notes. It's just feelings. Yeah. And how you feel, you know? And are you creating the feeling that you're trying to make, you know?

Because it's like, that's the real reality of it. It's just like, these are just feelings. And so the most important thing being right or wrong, that's like saying that a feeling is right or wrong. You know, it's like being sad is sometimes an appropriate feeling to have. You know, like if you lose a family member

or something like that, I would feel weird if I didn't feel sad. You know what I mean? It might make me more sad if someone who I love is gone and I didn't feel sad you know what I mean it might make me more sad if someone who I love is gone and I didn't care that might throw my head off even more yeah I'm like why aren't I sad do I not like this person

you know like so it's like understanding that everything has it's place everything has you know has everything has its place and everything is, is, you know, has its balance and you know, it's all, it's all supposed to be there. You know? We'll leave you with this one, but dude, Kamasi,

thank you so much for talking to me, man. You are, this is great. Were you getting depressed during the quarantine? Oh, absolutely. I mean, I should say I got depressed. I struggled with depression. I struggled with missing playing music. I struggled missing just being able to just go out and fellowship with people.

Absolutely. And I'd have moments where it just felt like, man, you know, you just feel down, just feel like something is missing. But then I would always kind of take the approach of like, let me look around at what I have. Okay. You know, so it never, I think that the feeling of being down and being depressed

is a way that you either embrace or that you kind of float it on along right past you, you know? Yeah. I've definitely had to float at home right past me a lot. You know, I've had to do a lot, you know,

and, you know, I just kind of look forward to, you know, I feel like the blessing of this is that

when, when the world does go back, I'll have a greater appreciation. Like, I'll love what I love even more because I'll, and it's happened to me

a couple times in my life, but like, when you, when something that you love is kind of, gets taken out of your reach, you know,

then when it, when it gets back into your reach, you can appreciate it a little bit anymore. You know what I mean? It's like the, the, you know, you know that special sauce at my favorite restaurant

is going to taste a little bit better yeah thankful for that you know it's like I always try to on this show I always try to preach the optimistic version of this quarantine you know I mean we could marinate it in our own shit,

or we could see the brightness that is life through something that's hard. You know, it's pretty heavy. I feel like, for me, what I've looked at is like, I haven't had this much time to kind of dial up to my own psyche. I was a kid, you know, whenever I had this much time to really kind of like think and search my own mind, you know? And so I, you know, the new parts of my mind that like, Ooh man,

when I get to go play again, it's going to be some other stuff coming up out of here. You know what I mean? I've knocked the cob. I'm over here, like, finding new rooms and new spaces. You know, it's like, nah, I don't have the opportunity to express those

like I want to, but they're there now. You know? So that's been a blessing. But yeah, I mean, it's... And I feel like I'm gonna just the emotional attachment the feeling I will have

when I get to go out and just play music and and connect with people again it's gonna feel amazing

you think you'll cry maybe I will I'll cry for you Kamasi thanks for being on the show man I will. I'll cry for you, Kamasi. Thanks for being on the show, man. I got one last question. I'll let you go.

What do you want to be remembered by? What do I want to be remembered by? You know, I think that, you know, I think I'll be remembered by different people for different reasons. You know, and I'm cool with that. You know, I mean, I think a lot of people will remember me for the music, you know.

But not everyone, and people that are important to me, like my brothers, they're going to remember something different. They'll remember the music, but that won't be what they really remember. You know what I mean? They're going to remember our time together, you know. So I just hope that I'm remembered. I just hope that I'm remembered. I hope that every person

that has a memory of me, that it brings them joy, whatever that is. Beautiful. Thanks, Kamasi. It means a lot. Thanks for being on the show and hopefully I'll see you

on the road, buddy. Yeah, man. Same here, bro. Dude, cheers, man. Have a good see you on the road, buddy. Yeah, man. Same here, bro. Dude, cheers, man. Have a good night. You too. You too. Later, bud.

All right. Kamasi, Washington. That was fucking beautiful. Wow. I got chills just thinking about this. All right. We'll catch you on the tail end. And there you have it.

Wasn't that fucking special? Kamasi. Kamasi Washington, baby. Just in the flesh. That was great. And I love that you're living in Amsterdam. That's dope. Super sick, Kamasi.

But that's it, everyone. Hope you had a great show. Next week, we have Samantha Fish, my homegirl. She's from Kansas City. She lives in New Orleans now, but one of the baddest guitar players on the planet. We became close when I lived in Kansas City. I moved out there, actually, to chase her because I was having a little crush on her.

It was great because this is one of the first girls that I, um, had the confidence, like I could just be friends with girls and not just, we hook up and then that's it. And then, and that was beautiful. Like, so she's, I'm really excited for you to hear that conversation I have with my sister, Samantha fish. And, um, ladies, gentlemen, have you heard of zest beverages? Hard kombucha, the fire that is the fire. I like it. I like it. And it makes me feel good in my stomach.

I mean, it's hard to drink now because of this stomach bug. So I've been drinking these hard kombuchas and I love it. I think they're badass. So check them out. Zest Beverages. There's different flavors. It's vegan-free, parsley. You know what time it is. Stephanie, all my vegan homies out there, go grab yourself some kombucha. Let them know that

Frasco sent you. They have different flavors. Blueberry Mojito is my favorite. That one's the bomb bomb. And the guys who own it are fucking badass. They support the band. Blueberry Mojito is my favorite. That one's the bomb bomb. And the guys who own it are fucking badass. They support the band. They support the podcast. And I want to help them support their business as well. So go check it out. Zest Beverages.

And go grab yourself a hard kombucha. And think about my stomach when you're drinking it with all those probiotics and stuff because Lord knows I fucking need it. All right, guys. Be safe out there. Like I said in the beginning of the podcast, don't be racist. Love yourself. Be considerate to what other people are going through. Don't just express, just piss on people just because you're feeling insecure.

That doesn't get anywhere. We don't get anywhere in life doing that. So let's have a little more hope in humanity and let's have a little more love for our brothers and sisters on this world. All right, be safe. I love you and I'll sisters on this world. All right. Be safe. I love you.

And I'll catch you next week. You tuned in to the World Saving Podcast with Andy Fresco, now in its fourth season. Thank you for listening to this episode. Produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angelone, Chris Lawrence. We need you to help us save the world

and spread the word. Please subscribe, rate the show, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking this shit up. Follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates. Fresco's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfresco.com. Check our socials to see what's up next.

Might be a video dance party, a showcase concert or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain. Also, the shit show has returned. Find it. We thank this week's guest, our co-host, and all the fringy frenzies that helped make this show great. Thank you all. And thank you for listening. Be your best, be safe, and we'll be back next week.

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