Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 12: Stanton Moore (Galactic)

Episode Date: June 26, 2018

Jesus Malone! We got a good one here, folks. Stanton Moore, drummer extraordinaire and first-rate human being, joins us on the interview hour. How was it? 2 words: DRUM PORN. Speaking of porn, haaaaaaave you met our resident trombone playing, audio-smut slinging, centaur descended: Arno Bakker? Summer's here and it's getting hot. Stay shady, friends. This is Episode 12. To keep up with the podcast, follow us on Instagram @WorldSavingPodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, tour dates, the band and the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com The views discussed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the guests. For more info on our guest, Stanton Moore, visit: www.stantonmoore.com Thanks to our sponsor, Receptra. Visit them at receptranaturals.com Produced by Andy Frasco Yeti Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Chad Cocuzza Brian Schwartz Alex Greer Arno Bakker

Hey Andy, it's Schwartz. I hope you're well. Listen, as a reminder, you're playing Summer Sounds of Cedarburg tonight. It's not your headline show. It's not Electric Forest. It's not Bonnaroo. It's a family event. There are kids, children. Look what's going on with the children in our country. We need to be supportive of kids. We don't need F-bombs and cocaine talk when there are three-year-olds with their families trying to enjoy a free concert series in Cedarburg. Please, come on. Tourette's boy, get your shit together.

Hey, Andy. This is Mike Edwards. I found out you're texting my girlfriend Apparently you guys fucking met in Mountain Jam and you thought it'd be a good idea to fucking text her you got a lot of fucking nerve buddy, I Swear to fucking god if I ever see your stupid Fucking cigar scarred face I'll beat the shit out of you and I looked up your fucking music too you guys suck ass you look like Adam Duritz with AIDS and I'd love to fucking hit you with my car if you're

ever in fucking Milwaukee you come to my fucking house and I fucking end you, okay? Text her again and I'll beat the shit out of you. Welcome. We're here. Andy Frasca's world-saving podcast with Yeti. That's you, Yeti. I am Yeti. How's your day today?

It's great. It's a beautiful, sun, Yeti. I am Yeti. How's your day today? It's great. It's a beautiful, sunshiny day. I'm a sunshine freak. I grew up out in the West. I grew up in Boise, Idaho, and we have 280 days of sunshine. So if I get less than that- 280? You grew up in Southern California.

You know what's going on. You have 300 days of sunshine. Shut up. 340. 340. Yeah, exactly. It's one of those things. So how am I? If the sun's shining, I'm great. Yeah, exactly. It's one of those things. So how am I?

If the sun's shining, I'm great. Yeah. Yeah. And if it's not shining, just wait until it starts shining. It's time. Summer is here. It's getting hot. It's crazy.

I don't know how we went from... I just feel like it was just like... I felt like I was still recovering from daylight savings. Like, spring forward, lose an hour of sleep. I'm like, what kind of shit is this? I always hated that. But I kind of look forward to it now because it just

means another six months have passed. Yeah, it's true. We got a great show for you today. We have Stan Moore from Galactic and Garage Atoi, one of the best drummers in the world is on the show tonight or today or whenever you're watching this. Whenever you're listening. As we found out, there's a lot of things about our two worlds that are colliding.

And I hadn't really seen a lot of the things that you're introducing me to. And likewise, I think we talked one time. Yeah, let's talk about this. You're Jewish and you were like, what's a parable? I really, it's true. Like, we really, we've been talking about me a lot.

We've been talking about your relationships, but we haven't talked about Yeti while we're playing footsie at a conference room in a hotel room. But like, let's talk about that. You were a religious man before, right, Yeti? Yeah. So I grew up in a sect of Christianity called Nazarene.

And Jesus, the person Jesus, was from a town called Nazareth. And so he was Jesus the Nazarene. And they came out. Are we talking about Jesus Christ? Yeah, Jesus Christ. Okay. Yeah, not like not like jesus malone or anything like that like we're talking about jesus christ so he was from nazareth

nazareth nazareth brief of the old testament i can't think about it i can't give you a big you can go to jewish school i went to jewish school but i was not trying to oh man where do you start i we could go so let go. So let's just talk, let's just talk about what I know. Cause I can talk about things that I, that I have read. Yeah. I can talk about, I just rather talk about what I know. So I grew up in this, in this church that long and short of it, I said this before on the podcast, I didn't, the motto growing up for me was don't drink, smoke, or chew, or go out with girls who do. I didn't… The motto growing up for me was,

don't drink, smoke, or chew, or go out with girls who do. Whoa. So you were really… We were hardcore. So now… My parents were pretty lax, but they grew up pretty restricted.

Like, by the time I was old enough to drink alcohol, which I didn't do until a month before my 21st birthday. Were you like praying and stuff? Like doing like tongue stuff? Oh, fuck yeah. All that stuff. What? Yeah, eventually. You were doing tongue? I'm not talking about… That was what I? Oh, fuck. Yeah. All that stuff. What? Yeah.

You were doing tongue? I'm not talking about that. That was what I got into. Yeah. Yeah. All of that. Not, we weren't dancing. Like Jesus camp style?

Have you seen that doc? Oh yeah. Jesus camp. That thing hurts. Like, and what I mean is it doesn't, like the documentary is real and it's been a struggle for me over the last 10 years. You want to talk about something I've been doing for 10 years?

Yeah. It's trying to figure out what I believe and why I believe it. I mean, they're making a lot of money. Who's, is it a scam? Yeah. Nonprofits are a complete scam. Like a 501c3. I mean, I get it. Like I donate to things that I believe in, like the environment and I get involved in it. I volunteer for organizations that are behind that, but I'm sorry. Like we've got to, I just, I'll get out a soapbox on it and I'm not going to, I just. Cue presidential music.

I was a part of an organization that for better or worse, as much as they wanted to change the world, they wanted to change it and it had to fit in their box. And that's kind of where things stopped changing. So in 2004, I went to Uganda, Africa with the Nazarene church. I went over there for six weeks on this thing called youth and mission. And it was college age people. I mean, it was crazy. It changed my fucking life. I'm not even kidding.

Like, I mean, you try to convert these people to Christianity or we weren't trying to convert people. They were trying to convert their friends. What we were doing is we were, it was called discipleship. So what we're doing is we're educating them in the ways of the religion so that they can go out and do that with their people. And it's stupid because we've got these American white kids coming in telling African people how to talk to their own people. How absurd is this?

We were there six weeks traveling around Uganda. It was the most beautiful, it's the most beautiful place on earth. I really think so. This is where the Nile River starts. You know, it flows north for 5,000 miles all the way to Egypt. Fucking, I rafted the first 20 kilometers, whitewater rafted the first 20 kilometers at

one point on this trip. It was amazing. And I, I really came alive in this place. Do you still believe in God? Do I believe in God? I don't call it, I don't call it that. What do you call it? Energy. Energy. I believe in, I believe in energy. Me too.

What kind of energy? Everything. Everything is energy. The universe is 99.9999% space. Do you think half the things that happen in these scriptures and these Korans and these Torahs and these Bibles. Do you think half of them are fairy tales? They're stories.

So, like, did you ever… In school, did you guys study mythology? Greek mythology or Norse mythology? Greek mythology. I studied that in college. We talk about Zeus. We talk about all of those things, right? Yeah.

Those are stories? Yeah. Those are stories. Yeah. It's an explanation of how things happened by people who weren't there, heard from people that weren't there, heard from people that weren't there, heard from people that were there. But isn't it kind of like telephone?

It is. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, exactly. It's exactly what it is. It's like you and I experience it. We tell somebody, they tell somebody, they tell somebody.

By the end of it, Jesus was ripped. And he shoots fireballs out of his ass. He shoots fireballs out of his ass. Remember, the apostle Paul said, faith without works is dead. And basically what he talked about is he said, if you're not willing to live out on a day-to-day basis what you believe, then you don't really believe anything.

What? Think about it. I see it. I. What? Think about it. I see it. I hear it. Think about it. You wouldn't have toured for 10 years if you didn't believe in that. Yeah, true.

You walked that walk and you went through some dark times in that and you went through some really amazing times. All I have to say, if you're practicing something, keep practicing. Yeah. Don't think you have it figured out.

Yes. And that's the same with Stan Moore. He's been studying drums his whole life. Yeah. People are like, how are we transitioning? No. Well, we did it.

But he does. Stan talks about this. He says, you know, I grew up in New Orleans and this was my life. Like this is, so yeah,

of course I'm drumming. Yeah. Duh. Why wouldn't I? It's rooted deep into the New Orleans culture. You know, music is like a religion to them. Music is…

I mean, it is… It's not like… It is a religion. Yeah. It's true. I mean, you think about it. And I've never been to New Orleans. But, I mean, the stories that I've seen come out.

You guys did some recording down there. Yeah, it's crazy. Like, this album. Like, it's nuts. Yeah. this episode. Or this album. Like, it's nuts. Yeah, he said, like, basically, he learned how to play by sitting in

with all these guys that are, like, no other city in the world where you could have a beer with your favorite musician and then they'll have, they'll sit in with you or they'll allow you to sit in

without even knowing you. That's just the culture. It's that southern hospitality. And Stan really talks about that. If you don't know who Stan Moore is, he plays for Galactic. He plays for Garage Retrois. He's one of the staples

of New Orleans drummers. But all things said, the reason why we have him on the show today is because this episode is sponsored by Receptra Naturals CBD oil. CBD is the talk of the town these days. I can tell you the hype is real, not because I'm reading this from a cue card, but my

mother always asked me as well about CBD oils. You know, Receptra Naturals helps me sleep better on tour, You know, I'm focused. I don't have to get super stoned. I could just get the CBDs that I need to keep my anxiety all good. Receptor CBD products are a must-have everywhere you go. And they're legal in 50 states, so the cops won't fucking arrest you for it. I brought it to China, and I got nervous because I got pulled out because of my afro. And yeah, they looked right at him,

like, oh, those are fine. Thank God I didn't see the mushrooms. Anywho, they ship to all 50 states, so if you don't know about Receptra, check them out online at receptualnaturals.com. And because you listen to the World Saving Podcast, if you put Frasco in the promo code, you'll get 15% off your first order. So check it out, Receptra Naturals. Thank you for hosting this episode. Guys, enjoy Stanton Moore. this episode. Guys, enjoy Stanton Moore. All right. How are we doing, everybody? We are here in Kansas City. That's right. I'm with my man, Stan Moore, drummer of Virtroso, probably one of the best drummers in the scene. Yeah, definitely top five, at least. We're here. He's touring with his band Galactic. I'm playing in Kansas City.

And he's playing in Kansas City. And last time we saw each other, we were playing together in Kansas City. That's right. Yeah. We did a little touring together. That was a heck of a lot of fun. You're the first band that ever let us open for them. Oh, really?

Is that true? On a tour, on a consecutive tour. Oh, wow. So thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, absolutely. Very cool. And where are you from, man? You from New Orleans?

I'm from New Orleans. Born and raised. Yeah, I grew up in the suburbs of New Orleans. How is that being living in that culture and learning drums in that culture? I feel like that gives you a step up. I would like to think that what's coming out of new orleans is very unique you know i think that there's multiple reasons for that having so many

roots in african rhythms and culture and music that came over through, of course, the horrific practices of slavery. But New Orleans was a place that not only had those elements, but really did a lot to foster and nurture and support those elements. the Americas that would allow African people who were forced into slavery to practice their religion, dance, and song. And this happened in Congo Square on Sundays. So that culture was kept alive in New Orleans. And so when you have European instruments, snare drums, bass drums, instruments, snare drums, bass drums, trumpets, trombones, and clarinets, violins even, the rhythms that were heard in Congo Square permeate any music that is played in New Orleans. And that has a big effect on the funkiness, the groove, the elements of New Orleans music that people love. Yeah. So it's always been a drummer's town, a piano player's town, a trumpet player's town. Even when you were a kid?

Oh, I mean, back until the turn of the century and before. I mean, so many great drummers have come out of New Orleans. And when you think of Baby Dodds and all that he influenced. Baby Dodds is one of the earliest jazz drum set players. And Gene Krupa, who's people who have been influenced by New Orleans drummers. So whether if you can see the influence right away, once they tell you, oh man, I checked out this drummer from New Orleans, that drummer from New Orleans. And nowadays we know of Zigaboo and some of the other drummers that have come before Zig, Smokey Johnson, Idris Muhammad, and some of the drummers who are coming out of there now. But this is a thing that's been going on for years and years and years, back to Paul Barbaran and Baby Dodds and Zutty Singleton.

Those guys have been influencing people for over a century now. Do you think they got the recognition that they deserve? I think over time century now. Do you think they got the recognition that they deserve? I think over time they have. I think that they don't maybe necessarily always get the recognition they still deserve nowadays. We talk more about things that have happened in recent times. Unless you're talking about people who are really aficionados of the music

or really excited about learning about the history of things like in jazz circles and in in drumming circles of people who are informed they definitely know who baby dodds is and so they sing but you know the music that these guys made happened over 100 years ago, but it's still very relevant, you know? But maybe nowadays people don't talk about them quite as much, but I think that over time they have been talked a lot about. And I'm sure, you know, it would be nice to see them get more recognition. Yeah, totally.

Of course, you know, that would always be nice. But New Orleans has been, it's been influencing things for a long time. So to be that close to the source, you know, is beneficial. And growing up around all of that and growing up being able to see all the great drummers that I got to see.

And what's so great about New Orleans is that you're seeing these great musicians, but even as a kid, they'll let you sit in. And they'll pull you aside. That's the cool thing. Yeah. Oh, that's the one thing I miss about that.

Yeah, so you get learning experience. You get playing experience that you wouldn't get in other cities. Like in New York, you can't go up to the best drummers in new york and say hey let me buy you a drink and and then they'll say sure you want to sit in on the next set that's not gonna happen you know but that happens all the time in new orleans and so i've gotten so many in so many five minute lessons for the cost for the price of a budweiser for shannon powell

or jack and coke with russell batiste or back when he was drinking a bud a budweiser with johnny vodakovich you know that's so crazy yeah i just catch them on the break and then you know once you meet them once and they know you know oh hey buddy what's happening and you buy him a drink and ask him questions what was that thing you were doing you know at oh, hey, buddy, what's happening? And then you buy them a drink and ask them questions. What was that thing you were doing, you know, at the end of that last song? And then you'll get some information. And then they'll say, hey, you want to sit in on the next song or the next set?

And you'll get a lot of experience growing up that you wouldn't get in other cities, you know? So it just, New Orleans is a very community-based music scene that is very encouraging to younger players. So you still have people moving to New Orleans all the time just to gig and play and get that playing experience. Yeah, I think it's definitely one of the, I think it's the best,

I consider New Orleans a metropolitan city. Yeah. I mean, it's a smaller city. It's not, obviously, it's not on the same level as New York or LA or Chicago as far as population. Do you think it's on the same level as Austin? That's a good question. I mean, we looked it up yesterday as Austin? That's a good question. I mean, we looked it up yesterday as we were flying into St. Louis.

It's about the same population as St. Louis. Austin's growing so fast that there's probably more population in Austin now. But, you know, growing up in New Orleans, you don't realize that it's not a big city. No, totally. You think it is. And then you start to realize when you go to other places that how much larger some of those places are. But culturally, it's a giant, you know, from everything from the Mardi Gras Indians and the brass bands. So much culture. Yeah. And there's so much coming out of there that you can draw from,

be influenced by, and be inspired by, and learn from. And I really have tried to embrace that all my life. And there's so much else out there too, but I feel like I'm just scratching the surface on the New Orleans stuff.

And I love it so much. And it even goes with food too. I'm a foodie. I'm a bad, and you know, the best, best chefs in the world are, are really trying to do some creative stuff in New Orleans. Like everyone's an artist. It's from, from being a, you know, being a musician, just sitting in with everyone to, you know, any, the culture of food.

It's that city brings so much, so much to America that we don't really under, don't really understand. Oh, yeah. Because it's a melting pot of the world. Like, I feel like that's the only closest culture of a city than like other than like New York City or Boston. I mean, they're just the cultures there. of a city than, like, other than, like, New York City or Boston. I mean, they're just, the culture is there. Do you think growing up with that, you know, learning from your grades by a cocktail or a, you know,

a joint or whatever, do you think that inspired you to do this music school like you're doing now with everyone? Oh, yeah. I mean, yes. Giving back? Yeah, yeah. I mean, yes. Giving back? Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, the way that I got into teaching was from— Yeah, I love that idea, though. You did the video?

You're doing the videos, right? Oh, yeah. I've just been working on an edit on the latest video all day today. How's it going? It's going great. We're growing in subscribers, you know. So, for those who don't know about it yet, it's stantonmoordrumacademy.com

and there's over 15 hours of video lessons up there. 15 hours now? Yeah. Oh man, that's what I'm talking about. I'm telling you. So I've been... Is it a subscription base? Yeah, subscription base. You can choose to do monthly or you can buy

the yearly plan, which is a little bit... works out a little bit less than the monthly plan. But what's great about it is, yeah, sure. There's 15 right now and I'm adding to it every week, right? And this lesson that I'm working on is 30 minutes. I'm working on it every, what I mean is I'm working on it every day. And then every month I release a new video lesson. And then I'm always throwing in new written lessons and guerrilla lessons just filmed with my iPhone and stuff. Yeah. So what's great about it though is, yes, there is all this material up there,

but then the forum and all the guys getting in the forum and the community in the forum. And hey, have you heard this guy? Have you read this book and the guys posting videos of variations of stuff that they've come up with that might be based on something i did or might be something else and so everybody's just sharing and learning from each other and it's so man you're breeding drivers yeah that's awesome yeah and i love it so Yeah.

It's awesome. Yeah. And I love it. So giving back and sharing this information that I've spent my lifetime accumulating. And if you've got people who are actually interested in that information, well, then there's a real joy in sharing that with people, you know? And the more I do it, the more I love it and the more I feel like I get better at it. I do it, the more I love it and the more I feel like I get better at it. And it also, it makes me a better player because when you, you know, I recently did a webinar where with the Sabian Education Network, where my topic was learning through teaching, right?

And so just off the top of my head, I listed out, you know, six points, like six, you know, what do you want to call it? Bullet points of examples of how you learn through teaching. And some of it is when somebody asks you a question, hey, what is that that you're doing, right? And then you have to explain it to them. That makes you understand it on such a deeper level. Or if, you know, when you write a book, like I've written a couple of books already and I'm working on my third book.

You've written books on this? Yeah, well, I've written one book on my approach to New Orleans drumming called Take It to the Street. I wrote a book on my approach to funk drumming called Groove Alchemy. And now I'm working on a book that is my approach to applying rudiments to the kit.

So all of that stuff, that's another way that you learn. Like when you're writing a book, the learning process, like I love researching everything. So you learn that way. You learn so many different ways on, you know, just by teaching. So for me, teaching is an incredible way to stay fresh and to continue the learning process. And then when you've got students who are like,

as I said a minute ago, hey, have you learned, have you read this book? Have you heard about this record? Have you checked out this guy? So you're learning that way when you're checking out new drummers. Oh, I didn't know about that guy. Like man, this one guy, Dave Herland on the Academy, so you're learning that way when you're checking out new drummers oh I didn't know about that guy like man

this one guy Dave Herland on the academy he's posting stuff all the time so man he's got these guys from like Senegal

and different parts of Africa who are playing multiple so they're making drum I'm using in quotes drum sets out of all these Senegalese

hand drums and stuff and they're playing them with pedals and it sounds like a tribe of African drummers with one guy. And I'm like, okay, I'm going to be able to watch this and draw so many

ideas and so many variations on stuff. I'm like, oh my God, that's a whole nother world that I'm going to be able to get into. And then when guys post variations of stuff that I've done, and I'm already familiar with it because I might have done it, I might have presented the original idea, and then they come up with a variation.

I'm like, oh, I didn't think to do that with it. And then I'll come up with variations on that. And I'm like, man, you better believe you're going to see that on a Galactic record or a solo record. So I'm learning and creating new stuff all the time through teaching.

And it's just constant inspiration for me. I love that. Because, you know, how long have you been touring with Galactic now? Over 20 years. Over 20 years.

Yeah, we started in August of 96. Holy shit. Yeah. It's awesome. How many dates were Yeah, we started in August of 96. Holy shit. Yeah. It's awesome. How many dates were you doing a year in your prime? We started off, I think, doing close to 200 a year. And then we've done less over the years.

But it's always averaged out to about 100 a year. Same as Carl. it's averaged out to about 100 a year. Same as Carl. Carl's like, he's 62. And he's still doing 170 shows a year. Oh, yeah. He's the man.

Yeah, there was a time when I was on the road for over 250 days a year. So do you do your… How many dates do you do for your solo project too? Depends. And Garage of Twa too, right? Yeah, Garage of Twa hasn't been doing… Hasn't been doing anything lately. your solo project too? Depends. I mean, and Garage A Toi too, right? Yeah. Garage A Toi hasn't been doing, hasn't been doing anything lately.

We've been on a hiatus, but occasionally we'll get together, me and Charlie Hunter and Skarik and maybe do like the original Garage A Toi. Skarik sat in with me. I just met him.

He's a wild guy. Oh yeah. He's awesome. But for my solo stuff, I play Tuesdays at Snug Harbor when I'm in New Orleans. So over the year, I might do 50, 60 dates.

Some of them, a lot of them in New Orleans. You never tour it? Oh, I do. Totally. Yeah, absolutely. We've done Japan three times. That's a big scene.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's huge. But yeah, we go and do like the Blue Note in New York, do two nights there. Jazz, like Jazz Alley in Seattle, two nights there. Four nights at the Cotton Club in Japan. So we have our circuits.

Your pockets. That we do, yeah. It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour. And now, a voicemail from my family. Hey, Andy. Andy, this is your cousin Vinny. Hey, I'm sorry we missed you in Brooklyn a few weeks ago. Your Aunt Donna, she sends her love.

She misses you. You should give her a call sometime. Hey, listen. I was watching the Travel Channel the other day. And there was a special in New Orleans. New Orleans is a great place. And it gave me an idea for a song. I think you know this one.

Oh, when the saints come marching in. Oh, when the saints come marching in. Oh, when the saints come marching in. You know I want to be in that number. When the saints come marching in. You know that one?

Oh, I think you and the boys can do that one real good. It'd be a real good one. Okay, listen, Andy. We love you. Drink a lot of water while you're out there on tour. And please, please wear a condom. I hear that chlamydia is going around. And you kids, it's not the 60s anymore, Andy.

Okay, bye-bye now. All these projects, keeping your brain busy, you know, keeping it focused. How do you stay inspired to write new music and not let the industry get you down? Right. Yeah, that's a great question. And I mean, you know, some of it comes for me, staying inspired. A lot of it comes from my interaction with other drummers. And a lot of that is through the umbrella of teaching.

And for me, though, with teaching, it's not like I sit in a room and then, okay, play page one from this book. So it's not that for me. I'm in a very fortunate position that people are like, okay, what was that groove that you played on this record? And I'm like, okay. And they're like, where did that come from? Is that coming from the Mardi Gras Indians? And is that coming from, you know?

So I'll break it down. I'll show them, okay, I combined this sticking, then I did this to it. And then I'm trying to approximate Mardi Gras Indians in the street, combine, throw in a backbeat to make it a funk thing, and then that measure wrong. It's I'm sharing ideas, right? And I usually have people who are very passionate and involved in the learning process, right? So that inspires me to keep coming up with new ideas and to make new music, you know? And so for me, it's coming back to that a lot. And, you know, it's funny, I was hanging out with Adam Deitch the other day and cause they were on the road with us. So, you know, I'm sitting here working on all these lessons and

that's inspiring me. And then I hung out on their bus and we had a masterclass on day two of our tour, but our bus broke down. So I had to get on the lettuce bus and spend the night on the lettuce bus. Oh my goodness. But Dyche is sitting there with his computer open, making beats and writing songs and coming up with ideas for songs like all the time, right? And I've got my computer open. I'm coming up with ideas for lessons and that's keeping me inspired all the time.

So, you know, different people have different ways of staying inspired. But I think what you need to do is just keep those creative juices flowing on a daily basis. Oh, yeah. Whatever your process is of doing that, that's kind of what keeps you from getting overwhelmed

with the industry and the business side of it. And staying on the road forever. Yeah. It can be, I mean, it can become very tedious. Yeah. Especially if you have so much downtime because you really work. We only work two hours, three hours a day.

Right. And we have 10 hours that we're just washing away just sitting watching television or something you see for me man it's like i hear you and for me i like i do not have enough time in the day yeah like to finish what i gotta do like i had to take a break from working on this lesson to come talk to you and i've got like three other lessons I'm working on. This one's just the one that's due like today. So thank you for your time.

Well, no, absolutely. And I needed a break. It's great. So I hear you and it's like, I don't want to spend those 10 hours like just vegging out, watching stuff. I love watching stuff, but I'll wait till like the end of the night

and, you know, watch documentaries or watch, you know, get into shows and stuff. But this stuff keeps me, it keeps me working and keeps me fresh and sharp. And because you're right, man, you can sit on here on the bus or sit in the van and just, you know, zone out. And then, you know, for me, I like to try to use that time constructively and productively. And once you get those wheels moving, then you're like,

oh man, I don't have enough time to get out all the ideas that I have going on in my head. Going back to Deitch and stuff and talking about drums and the electronic scene, what do you think of that whole Ableton drum thing?

Like, is that something you'd be considering doing? I've, I've, you know, I've, or is it just a trend? I don't think it's necessarily a trend. It's a, it's a tool that helps contribute to making music for me. You know, I've, I've had Ableton and it's a funny story. My marketing guy for my site started off as an A&R guy, sales and marketing guy at Ableton. And I met him because he came and gave me a lesson, you know, and he was standing over me like, you know, okay, yeah, you just do this, you can do that. And I, at the time, it was just like kind of going over my head, you know?

So I think that those are useful tools, all the different, you know, there's so many now. Yeah, it is. And those are all useful tools. And I dig all that. And I just personally haven't been using a lot of that as of late. Like, you know, i've got rolling v drums

and running them through different libraries and recording into pro tools i've done all that you know and i like doing that but i also i'm just so into like making up new ideas in the analog world you know and then recording those and writing those down and, you know, doing lessons on them. And I'm right now, that's where I'm at creatively, you know, um, and sitting in the computer to, to write, um, right now, you know, I'm doing a lot of that for the lesson stuff, but as far as Right now, I'm doing a lot of that for the lesson stuff. But as far as Ableton and all that, I can see that once I feel like I've gotten caught up on all the ideas that I want to get out there, get down,

then I will start wanting to pursue that as a creative outlet. Like, you know, more composing through in the computer because it's such an easy tool. You can sit with it on your lap and be on the plane, be on the bus. But right now, I barely have enough time just to get the stuff that I'm working on done. But I'm sure I'm going to get back into it.

Right now, I wake up in the morning with song ideas and I just sing them into my iPhone. Yeah, me too. And I'm going to go back in and I just sing them into my iPhone. Yeah, me too. And I'm going to go back in and then put them into the computer later. Yeah. What about, how hard is it to write songs for yourself and not writing songs to follow the industry's tail? Is that a difficult thing now that you have a fan base you have you like you basically have a security blanket this band draws you know x amount of people a night like

how hard is it to keep just like doing writing music for yourself and not writing for anyone else yeah i for me it just kind of feels natural to stay on my own creative path. You know what I mean? Lately, I've... Especially with Galactic? Yeah, just, you know, I... Like, with Galactic, we all contribute together. I'll lay down a beat, and then they start writing stuff to it,

and then I'll come back and replay to what's been written. writing stuff to it and then I'll come back and replay to what's been written and it you know for for my solo stuff I decided to head in more of a jazz direction and that is not a commercially that is not a commercially wise uh endeavor although you know I feel like it's made me such a better such a better player and you know we talked about Mike Dillon uh you know, I feel like it's made me such a better player. And, you know, we talked about Mike Dillon. You know, he's told me, man, it's been fun to watch you go through this process and watch you develop, you know, and I feel like it makes me a better player, you know, all around. I mean, I've spent years shedding brushes, you know, often sitting right here in my pajamas with a brush pad on the bus,

practicing in slow motion. And then now I'm playing a lot of brushes with my piano trio. And that's what I wanted to do creatively. And I feel like it's made me a better player. It's made me a better musician. And that's what I want to focus on. So, as far as, and it's been good. I mean, you know, I do my weekly Tuesday gigs and sometimes that pays really nice for a Tuesday night gig. But I didn't start doing it because I was like, oh, I want this to pay well. You know, I started doing it because that's where I felt

I had to head artistically. And that's what I've done. And I love where I'm at with all of that. And it is yielding creatively the results that I want. And so I don't think that I usually think in terms of, okay, what should I be doing commercially? And then the latest record that I did with the Alan Toussaint tribute. That was awesome.

I love that record. Well, thank you. And that record, I just went in like, all right, I just have to make this record. How long did it take you to make that? Well, we recorded in the studio. That's a great question. I mean-

It seemed like you were working on that for a little bit. Oh, yeah. Like on and off question. I mean. It seemed like you were working on that for a little bit. Oh yeah. Like on and off tour. A long time. Yeah. And then, you know, a lot of it, well, we went in and we recorded the, the mains and, you know, the drums, bass and keys and all that. Yeah.

Maybe three or four days. And then, then a lot of it was having vocalists come in and add to it, horn players. And then a lot of it was sitting at my kitchen table with David Torkinowski running the Pro Tools. And we're just picking out, comping the best vocal performances and the best horn performances and the best background vocals. You kind of co-produced it. Yeah. I mean, David Torkinowski was definitely at the wheel. Yeah. I mean, David Torkinowski was definitely like at the wheel. Yeah.

You know? And then he was doing all the, you know, the heavy lifting and running Pro Tools and I was, you know,

there with him for just about all of it. There were some things that he had to do without me, like recording Wendell Pierce, recording Ivan Neville, recording Maceo um things that i i wasn't there i couldn't be there for you know but um but you know we co-produced it uh

together but he definitely did a lot of the you know a lot of the heavy lifting so but the whole time with that record it's like it was a labor of love you know i mean and i wound up spending more on the record than i got from the label you know it's like what you're gonna do i mean so uh where did the label uh what label was it from yeah so it's on mascot which galactic did our last record with too and yeah yeah, I mean, I'm really happy with the way that the record came out, but it was just, when I get into something,

I just feel compelled that this is the way I've got to go. And it's usually creatively driven, not by any kind of business direction, which, as was said with this record, it's like I'm you know i've put more into it financially than i've gotten and i have no qualms with that and that's okay and i don't because i don't just i just don't think in those terms yeah you know it's great and luckily

for me it works out most of the time you know it's like you know i mean heading in the direction that we decided to head in you know we want to write music that's influenced by vintage funk and you know but kind of contemporize it and do our own thing with it you know yeah but it's like if anybody would tell you know say what do you want to do when you grow up i want to play drums in a funk band somebody would say okay make sure you don't want to like you know, say, what do you want to do when you grow up? I want to play drums in a funk band. Somebody would say, okay, you sure you don't want to like,

you know, get a job, get a real job? Yeah. So it's not, it's, none of it is business driven, but luckily we're all

able to make a living doing it. Yeah. And especially doing it for 26, you said 26 years? Well, we started in 96, so it's going on 22 years now. 22 years. Yeah, man.

And that's 22 years of touring. Robert Mercurio and Jeff Raines and I started playing together in 1992. So, yeah. You ever think of producing? Oh, yeah. I mean, I've... Didn't you produce Anders' record? I did.

I co-produced two of Anders' records. And I just, I'm in a space where I, as I was saying earlier, I don't have enough time to work on all the ideas that I have. Just getting all this stuff out. I mean, working on my third book, and I just haven't been able to spend time on it because I'm doing all these other lessons. And man, I've got three to four hours of email a day, man.

You know, and some of it is just, you know, some of it's super simple, you know, some of it's longer. Some of it's my, some of my forum members asking me to answer a question and it turns out that, well, that's a great question. That deserves a three-page worksheet.

And then that three-page worksheet turns into ten pages. So, some of the emails are super easy. Some of them, you know. You ever put those out? Like, emails your students as a book? Well, I am answering a lot of that in the forum. And ever put those out? Like emails your students like as a book? Well, I am answering

a lot of that in the forum. Oh, cool. So it's all documented. Yeah. And then some of it I turn into written lessons and then I put that up there. So, you know,

and that's what I've been working towards for a while is just making it so that if people decide that they want to know this information, it's there, you know uh two more two more questions and then i'll let you uh get back to uh studying studying your your instrument um

one question is um if you could play with anyone be or set up a band anyone dead or alive who would be on be on any instrument? Not including a band. Not including Galactic. Oh, you could include Galactic because you, yeah, any musician. Yeah, well, that's a you know, that's a fantastic question.

And I'm really lucky to have played with a lot of these people, you know, but like George Porter Jr. on bass. Oh my God. M a lot of these people, you know, but like George Porter Jr. on bass, Maceo Parker on sax, you know, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, you know, Ivan Neville and David Torkinowski on keys, James Singleton on bass.

I mean, these are all guys that I had with me at the Joy Theater, you know, so in some ways, there were moments during that gig, and that was all playing the music from this new Alan Toussaint tribute. But there were moments during that gig where I was like, man, it doesn't get any better than this. And when I die and go to heaven, I hope that this is the band. That's awesome. How was that show, Joy? It was awesome. is the band. That's awesome. You know? How was that show, Joy?

It was awesome. This is great. It's amazing. How many seats is that room? I think it's like nine, 900. Yeah, it's a great room. I really like that room. And Galactic's playing there

during the Jazz Fest. Yeah, you guys always do something really big for Jazz Fest, Galactic, right? And then you do all your side things during Jazz Fest, too. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I usually have tons of gigs busy i think i've got 17 17 gigs this year um and last year i had like 27. so i'm

i'm intentionally 27 yeah last year a week in 11 days yeah crazy Yeah. And one year I had 31. Did you ever get burnt out? No, I love it so much. You know, I mean, I get tired. But I don't get to where I'm like, I can't bear to do this. But this year I'm paring it down and, you know, just

trying to not do some of the things that don't make sense. And so this year at 16, I've actually got two nights where I don't have gigs, which hasn't happened in years. Also, I've gotten to play with Branford a little bit. We were both special guests on this all-star big band thing at the Jazz Education Network in New Orleans. Like last, not this January, but last January.

And I got to play with Brantford and it was great. And I'll tell you a funny story. We were doing the rehearsal and it was like a normal street beat thing, right? And, so we're doing the rehearsal, we play through the tune and the director

and the thing's like, you know, so Brantford, just cue everybody when you're ready to, when you're ready to get out of your solos. He said,

oh, I'm just going to play two choruses. And the guy said, well, you know, that's fine. If you want to take well, you know, that's fine. If you want to take more, go ahead.

Just let everybody know when you're going to. He said, nope, just two. I'm just taking two. So we get on the thing, man. And we get through the two. And I'm like, oh, he's going to go for another third. I say, well, I must be doing something right. That's awesome, man. I was like, all right.

That's sick. He wants to play more so I was like okay he's just testing out the band at that point you know yeah well I was like well he must be digging what's going on so I'll

you know cause you know when I rehearse that's one that's one spot where you're at I mean it's you know but when

hopefully when you get live you know you think things raise But hopefully when you get live, things raise to another level. And everything just elevates. And so if that's what's going on and he wanted to play longer, then I'm like, cool. That's amazing.

Playing with the people who inspire you, that must be the best feeling in the world, right? Fantastic. You guys are my inspiration. To get to play with you guys That must be the best feeling in the world, right? Oh, yeah, man. Fantastic. I do with you. I mean, you guys are my inspiration. To get to play with you guys, it's the same feeling you get when you sit in with my set. It's just,

I just feel the same thing probably you felt with him. And one last question, and I'll let you go do your thing. You've had amazing life so far. Are you genuinely happy? Oh, yeah. A hundred percent.

Yeah? Yeah. I mean, creatively creatively artistically no no not really at all no i can't think of anything i mean i'm super happy what would be nice is you know if the academy starts bringing in uh bringing in a return you know we're growing in subscribers all the time but we're still getting it off the ground and it

and I'm still every month you know have to have to pay my videographer and my sound mixing girl and and

it's still a grind even at this point but it's great no I love it but am I happy I'm 100% happy. I'll be even happier if things start to grow a little bit funds-wise, right?

Because we've been doing this for a long time. So it would be nice to know that, oh, my daughter's college. It's going to be fine. I'm not worried about that. But right now, it's like, okay, I'm not worried about that but right now it's like okay I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to figure that out

you're gonna have 20 more shows to that I'm gonna have to figure that out but we'll get there but yeah I'm totally happy congratulations on the new marriage

congratulations on everything man I'm really I'm a fan of your work and to get to know you on a personal level has really been an honor, man. So thank you so much for being on the pod, man. Yeah. Have fun. Awesome.

Thank you, man. If you're not too tired after all your world saving work. All right, guys. Enjoy. All right, brother. Kill it. Andy, your podcast. We got to talk. It's disgusting and gross. Nobody wants to sit around, listen to this moaning, listen to you talk about your penis and all this other disgusting stuff. Cut it out. I don't know what's going on. Does your mom listen to this stuff? Christ. And now a message from the UN. Oh, dat is echt... Oh, dat is... Nee, lekker. Oh, ja.

Oh, ja. Oh, schatje. Oh, niet ophouden. Nee. Oh, oh, oh. Wat? Nee, nee, niet ophouden. Oh. They need to go out and do it.

Did you see Andy Frisco? World's favorite. Oh, God. Drum porn. Do you think drummers are like beating off? Yeah. I would be. No no I just have pictures of Neil Perth on the wall

just beating off Neil and Stan man it's fascinating stuff some of those musicians that he was talking about I had no fucking idea

who they were until I had to look them up I'm like damn these cats are good well it's that you know it's kind of like when you go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole

and you start seeing what the acts are associated with and you're like, you get those, you know, two degrees of separation to see who these people played with and what the influence is. And suddenly, I mean, I mean, you've, you've lived it for 10 years. You know how close this world is. Yeah. You don't realize how, how many friends you have that know the same people. you have that know the same people. But you show up to a town and you're like, oh yeah, I know those are my homies. Yeah. I did this in the church.

It was the exact same thing. With like pastors and stuff? Yeah, you live in Kansas City, right? Kansas City and Brooklyn. Yeah. So in Kansas City, you're on the Missouri side or the Kansas side? Yeah, and Jews aren't allowed in Kansas side.

Oh, you're on the Missouri side? So on the Kansas side, there's the Nazarene church headquarters. Like, I'm like, how do you not know about this? I thought about that. We, you know, where, before we broke, I was like, ah, we'll break and we'll go to the interview and then we'll talk about it. Yeah. So this like world headquarters for like, like I live in Salt Lake city now and that's the world headquarters for the Mormon church. You live in Kansas city, Missouri, but across the, across the line from Kansas City, Kansas, where the Nazarene church headquarters are. No wonder.

Yeah. Over in Olathe is where a lot of it is. Oh, yeah. I feel that. There's a Mid-American Nazarene University. Oh, really? It's in Olathe. And that's where my dad went to college.

My uncle went to college there. I had two uncles that went to college there. Played football there. Wow. It's crazy. Crazy stuff. So all that to say that the degrees of separation, like you're just like, yeah, I know these people.

Or it's just like, oh, that was your influence. It's crazy. It is unbelievable. Guys, that's it. What else can we talk about today? You know, that's it. That's enough. It's enough.

It was heavy. Heavy. We told you to leave your mama's religion. And start a cult. Join your daddy's cult. We started a cult last night. Remember? Oh my God.

We did. We were woke as fuck. We were pretty woke. Oh my God. Yeti, another episode. Great episode. Subscribe. Check us out on Instagram at Andy Frasco. Or Spotify or Stitcher. All of them. We're on all of them episode. Subscribe. Check us out on Instagram, at Andy Frasco.

Or Spotify, or Stitcher. All of them. We're on all of them now. Yeah. We're making moves. Wherever you listen to podcasts. It is slowly becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

We're making money move. Yeah. You could press L1 on your computer if you want to hear it in Japanese. I'm just kidding. That's not a- Left one. I was like,

what is this? This is a new button. Andy just invented a whole new button. I got you. For the computer. And all the computers are going to be fucked up because they have this one button now. It's off to the side. It's summer. I've got tour dates. I'm playing everywhere this summer. Feels like I'm

playing everywhere. I looked at my schedule today. I'm like, I don't have a day off. And that's okay because I love what I do. Sleep on planes. Sleep on planes and beat off in hotel rooms. Home your hair. Guys, once again, thank you so much for following us. Comment, email us. And, you know, be safe.

Yeti, until I see you next time. We'll hopefully be soon. Yeah. I love our times together. You really are making me feel less alone in this world. It's good. I think we're,

I think it is mutual. It is. We've fast become friends and we're glad to share this with you guys. So, show us some love. Let us know

how we're making your life better. And if we're not, just, you know, ask us to send you some pictures. Just write hate mail like they do, like trolls do on the,

yeah. I can't understand that. Why do people, I don't feed the trolls. You don't feed can't understand that. Why do people... I don't feed the trolls. You don't feed the trolls? I like feeding the trolls a little bit. It's because you're a whore. We'll talk about that next episode.

Alright, we'll do it. Alright, guys. Love you guys. Be safe. Comb your hair. Thank you for listening to episode 12 of Andy Fresco's World Saving Podcast with Yeti. Produced by Andy Fresco's world-saving podcast with Yeti. Produced by Andy Fresco, Yeti and Chris Lawrence.

Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes and Spotify so we can make this a worldwide phenomenon. For info on the show, please head to our Instagram at frescoandyeti or our website frescoandyeti.com.

For more info on the blog and tour dates, head to andyfresco.com. Our sponsor for the week is Receptra Natural CBD oils. If the daily stresses of life are wearing you down mentally or physically, you should consider adding CBD to your daily routine. Andy's been using the products from Receptra Naturals and it's been life changing for him. Believe me, I live with this guy. He's sleeping better, more calm, less anxious, more focused, more creative and he's actually feeling better.

More touchable and soft. Fluffy, even. They ship to all 50 states. So if you don't know about Receptra, check them out online at receptranaturals.com and use promo code FRESCO for 15% off your order. Use promo code FRESCO for 15% off. For more information on our guests, Stanton Moore,

head to stantonmoore.com and galacticfunk.com. This week's special guests are Alex Greer, Chad Kukuzza and Arno Bakker. May this week be touchable for all of us.