Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 120: Michal Menert

Episode Date: April 6, 2021

As Andy and the boys gear up for their first real tour of 2021, Brian reminds them to not skip out on their one & only band practice. Beats & Shawn sing a song that explain their whereabouts. More importantly, on the Interview Hour we welcome artist, musician, and all-around great guy, Michal Menert! Can you hear the spooky music playing in the background of their convo? Nick has feelings on things and Andy is gonna make him share... whether he wants to or not! This is EP 120. 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  Dive into the deep end with menertmusic.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Brian Schwartz  Andee "Beats" Avila Shawn Eckels  Nick Gerlach Arno Bakker

Yo, it's Schwartz. It's Monday, April 5. Of course, Monday morning, all of my weekend anti-fractal realities come hitting me hard. I'm getting calls about your recent dance party, which, by the way, congrats. 600,000 viewers, 20,000 concurrence. It's pretty amazing. I know you think you're a Twitch star now. You're not. You're Andy Frasco. And here's what you are.

You're a musician. First and foremost, all the other great stuff you're doing is other great stuff. First and foremost, primary, Andy Frasco, Andy Frasco in the UN. Musicians make music, songwriters record. And here's the best part, perform. so here's why i'm pissed i'm i i can't even believe this we have two days rehearsal on the calendar just two days for the first time ever you have been kind and and gracious and permitted me to organize rehearsals for your band for the first time and what what do i? I hear you miss the one of two days of rehearsal.

And let me rephrase that. You didn't miss. You guys just didn't rehearse. So I'm just reminding you, while you think you're a Twitch star, I know you're a musician. There's nothing more important than playing shows, period. Right now, your shows, they need to be dynamic. They need to have dynamic set list it can't be the same you're not the coops you're not the strokes you're not mgmt you can't go out there and play an hour set the same set every night you have to show up i'm fucking my mind is spinning that you miss rehearsals get it it together. Thanks. Now, a message from the UN. Had some spicy food

and my mouth's on fire. Harder than anything. I'm regretting this already. Now it's living in my belly and it's still on fire. I'm already the restroom. Gonna need that two-ply Oh I got two feet on the ground

Now it's burning my crown Oh I'm biting down on a towel Turtle head's poking out My ass is on fire My ass is on fire My ass is on fire My ass is on fire. My ass is on fire.

Spicy. And we're back. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco. How's everyone doing? How you feeling on this Tuesday or whenever you're listening to this podcast? Staying strong out there. Staying positive because that's all we got. Positivity. We could be pessimistic like my friend Nick here. Hey, Nick. I'm not pessimistic. I think that's a misunderstanding about me. Really? I'm not pessimistic I think that's a misunderstanding about me

Really? I've actually been classified as even being an optimist I hope for the best I just don't sugar coat things I think But I don't expect I fully expect us to be at 100% capacity It shows in September

I think a pessimist So that's what I was going to ask you So you're optimistic that this summer is going to ride? I think this vaccine seems to be doing well. The numbers, you know, I've been reading some stuff. I'm not a doctor or a scientist, you know. Also, it's just, come on.

We need to start again. Yeah, it's time. I think everyone, even like the people who are the most scared are like, okay. We got a vaccine. Who knows? Anything can happen. A whole other virus could come. are the most scared are like, okay, we got a vaccine. Who knows? Yeah. Anything can happen. A whole other virus could come.

Then we're fucked again. How do you do that podcast voice you're doing in the intro? You got to teach me that. Hey, everybody. It's so good. I'm getting better at it. I'm getting better. What's up, Nick? Nothing. You ready? We start writing music again

well i've never written with you before yeah today's the first you start writing music again i write music every day i love writing back to writing a record yeah we're gonna go over to my buddy drew's and we're gonna work on this tune that i kind of started the demo for when we were in california right yeah and i gave you something to do because you weren't working enough well it was weird because i didn't gave you something to do because you weren't working enough. Well, it was weird because I didn't have that much to do the last few days there. Yeah. I made all the games.

I'm efficient. Yeah, you are. You do quick work. Doesn't it make you think that maybe everyone else is kind of lazy? No. No, I'm not saying I'm a hard worker, but I am efficient. I don't fuck around. I get it done, and then it's done.

Unless it's like something for the podcast, and you do it the last second on your iPhone. Yeah, but the Vegas thing fucked that up. Yeah, we went to Vegas. We got to gamble. Also, I don't get paid for the podcast, so that's a whole other wrinkle to that. You know what I mean?

Yeah, you're right. But no, that was just because of Vegas. We had fun. Nick was our substitute saxophone player in Vegas for the private party for five people We all got tested immediately I got yelled at from Brian It wasn't five fucking people

It was ten We play for thousands of people You know what I mean We headline Red Rocks And by we I mean you You know The reason why we have you opening the show, because you told me to interview Michael Menard.

And I did. Menard. Oh, I've been calling him Michael Menard. So Michael Menard is an interesting relationship I have. No, it's fine. That could even be the right pronunciation. So the interesting thing about you and Menard, I sort of have the same relationship with both of you in different ways.

How? Well, I'm like so michael is a world-class producer you know we haven't no one knows probably some people don't know who he is he's uh you know someone called edm i i think he's more of hip-hop soul music producer i think he's one of the best people are still copying what some stuff he made 10 years ago you know so he has a band and i sort of him am his, like, I help him make albums. That's sort of how I make you help. Yeah, yeah.

So you're the best. We told this in the pocket. You're the best assistant coach. Oh, you guys talked about that? No, how you are the best assistant coach. So I have a very similar relationship with him in that regard, but just music instead of. And I love working with Michael.

And you guys are very similar in that you're both big picture guys you both and i'm not so much a big picture guy sometimes your details everybody can't be a big picture guy though that'd be stupid right explain this giant pictures everywhere it's just colors you know what i mean so you need little people in the pictures too it can't just be the big you know anyway so yeah. So, yeah, I love working with Menard. Menard is one of the most down-to-earth guys. I truly think, I don't think that many, so the word genius, I think he's a creative genius in that it's just he can't help himself from making shit. I don't know if you talked about his visual art, too. No, we didn't get into that.

Okay, so he does all his own album covers. Oh, no, no, we got into that. Okay, and they're amazing. People buy them and hang them up in their house. The guy just wakes up making shit. When he makes breakfast, it's not like... I don't know. The way he makes food fascinates me.

I'm a terrible cook. I don't know about you. I'm horrible. I'm just worthless, basically. I just did a sketch with Vince Herman where we got a whole monkfish and took drugs and we had to cut the whole thing and cook it. It made me kind of want to be a vegan.

Really? It was just like, I couldn't look it. I don't know about vegan. I could go vegetarian. Yeah, maybe go vegetarian. I just think vegan can be a tad elitist. You have to be rich to be vegan. That could go vegetarian. Yeah, maybe go vegetarian. I just think vegan can be a tad elitist. You have to be rich to be vegan, that's my point. If we made being vegan

more accessible, maybe, you know? But there is like an elitist thing to being a vegan. So is it elitist to be healthy? No. That's not what I'm talking about. I think it's a little elitist to tell people, you need to eat this way, but they can't afford or access that.

But that's like the same thing with organic. there's that level but i think vegan is even like a step beyond organic in that regard but if you are telling poor people they need to eat organic you need to fuck off okay why is that funny because it's kind of true it's like it's very elitist to be like, I'm right, you're wrong. But maybe they want to be vegan. You know more about sampling than I do. Why did Girl Talk get so fucking in trouble? See, that's a whole other level. He's just taking two songs and smacking them on top of each other.

So what's the difference between doing that and making a sample? Well, what Mentor's doing is like, it's not like, first of all, the whole song isn't the sample. It's like one part of the song. And it's like, he'll pitch it down and re-EQ it or put it in a different key or stretch it out so it's way slower, which makes it sound all fucking weird.

That's why half of Menard, I think Menard's music's haunted a little bit. He's haunted. Menard's haunted. When the interview was happening, this was the weirdest thing. Menard is fucking haunted half of menner i think menner's music's haunted a little bit he's dude menner's haunted when the interview was happening this was the weirdest thing menner is fucking haunted and no one will ever and i don't even believe in ghosts but if if there's one thing that will make me believe in ghosts it's michael menner yeah because i was doing the interview and he was in his studio

and all of a sudden this like weird desolate music was playing under his talking. I'm like, dude, is there a band playing? He's like, no, man, it's completely quiet. And you'll hear it in the interview where there's this kind of like this, it's haunting electronic music. Yeah, that's, I mean, Mentor is haunted, dude. Yeah, I think so too. It was such a crazy interview.

Have you met him in person yet? No, but we. Another thing I love about him. Let me get to this. You're pretty tall, but he's even taller than you. I bet he's 6'3 or 6'4. He said he's 6'3, 250. He's a physically imposing guy with the personality of the

sweetest childlike energy. The good kind of childlike, but still like an adult. And his life is so fucking... You'll hear this interview. It's one of the best. You know it. I've spent hours with the guy. You help me breathe. I think this is going to be one of the best life stories you've had on the show.

I haven't heard all your episodes. This is why I bumped this up this week, because this story is insane. I'm not going to even... I just want you to enjoy this story. It informs everything he does. I'm telling you, the guy is... There's one Michael Mentner. Yeah, it's true. There's 7,000 million Nick Gerlachs out there. I'm surprised he's not more does. Yeah. I'm telling you, the guy is, there's one Michael Mennert. Yeah, it's true. There's 7,000 million Nick Gerlachs out there. I'm surprised he's not more famous.

Yeah, I mean, he's had his times, but, you know, it's like, he should be more famous. In a just world, Michael Mennert would be, like, the famous one. We only have three episodes left of this shit show. I'm sad, too. Let's make a season three. I'm down. Someone's got to give us money, but they will. Someone will do it.

People are always giving you money for stuff. Speaking of that, we have Zesty Beverages. That's the name of the company? That sponsors the podcast. That's new. Oh, yeah. That's a fucking awesome company name. Dude, they're hard kombucha.

It's pretty good. I'm not really a seltzer dude, you know. I had to do the fucking twisted tea all summer that I can't even smell a seltzer anymore. Twisted tea, though. What a great summer they had. Oh, my God. What a great summer they gave. Shout out to Twisted Tea for paying us. I mean, it's a weapon against racism now, I guess. I know, dude. It was like perfect timing. We were promoting twistedisted Tea, and then all of a sudden that viral video came out. How happy are they that the cam was going that way and not the other way, though?

I know, seriously. That's great for PR. I know. That's why it was everywhere. Zesty Beverages, Hard Kambucha. Go check it out. In Colorado, they're all at the Whole Foods. It's a bomb.

If it's at Whole Foods, it's good, right? Yeah. And they're cool guys. I hung out with him, and he's a really good guy, and he loves music. So go grab them if you're in the Colorado area. They're out of Whole Foods. And if you don't drink alcohol, they also have just the regular kombucha. You like those probiotics, don't you?

No, actually, I'm not big on kombucha. Why not? I don't know. It just tastes like the earth to me. I like other things. Yeah. But I'll try it because it's zesty. I don't know. It just tastes like the earth to me. I like other things. Yeah. Well, I'll try it because it's zesty. I do like zest.

I just love that company. It's a cool name. It makes me want to drink it. Yeah, yeah. It's awesome. So go check out Zesty Beverages. Yeah. Go get it.

Actually, the blueberry mojito one is bomb as fuck. You like mojito? I like blueberries. It's fire. I like mojitos. Yeah, it's bomb. I like a minty flavor. That's why I've been brushing my teeth lately.

Really? At least every day. I brush my teeth after I do coffee, which is like detriment because I forget that you're coming over, so I haven't brushed my teeth yet. Oh, that's fine. Alright, can you smell it? No. Alright. Are we done? I want to talk more. I know, we're not done yet, but we got

a couple things we need to promote. I am playing Bonnaroo. I'm proud of you. Yeah, that's a big to talk more. I know. We're not done yet, but we got a couple things we need to promote. I am playing Bonnaroo. I'm proud of you. Yeah? That's a big deal for me, right? I'm more proud of Ernie. Because everybody's always congratulating you. Like, we were in that text chain today.

So we're in this text chain. We're in a fancy basketball league. And everybody goes, also Craig Broadhead from Turquoise is in it. They are also in Bonnaroo. And I can't remember who said it. They're like, congratulate Andy and Craig on blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, yo, and Ernie's in the group, too. And I'm like, hey, and congratulate Ernie, who's also playing Bonnaroo.

It's just not fair, those guys. I know. Sometimes. I know. Sax players don't get any love. I don't know. You know, Ernie's been working hard. Yeah.

He's put up with you for like 15,000 years. No, that's hard enough. We got the shit show this Thursday. Episode seven is Kitchen Dwellers, Mahali. Carl Denton teaches us Tai Chi. His golden messenger. We have Greg Orman from Pigeons doing a sketch. Our interview is Trixie Mattel.

You know Trixie? Yeah. I was there for the interview. That was actually kind of the funniest interview I think of the whole season. Dude, it was the best one. And, you know, she's a drag queen and she has a show on Viceland. She's like one of the most famous drag queens besides RuPaul. She won one of the all-star seasons or something.

She's a badass. I asked my friend. That's a fan. And then the musical guest is Goose. So. Goose. We got three more, guys. A lot of jam bands. That's a fan. And then the musical guest is Goose. So. Goose. We got three more, guys. A lot of jam bands.

Yeah, we got. I just. The next three are just like 10 guests each show. Yeah, we're banging it out, guys. We're slamming this. We put a lot of work into this, so. Yeah, go watch it. Just download it or something.

Yeah, no captions. You don't have to watch it. Just buy the ticket. It's free. Yeah. And we're at seven episodes now. So you could binge it. I know how much people like binging. You know, if you want to wait

till all nine episodes are done. Eat a couple edibles. And fucking binge this shit. It's a good show. Nick and I worked our dicks off on this thing. Yeah. What little dicks we had to begin with. And then what else? Oh, I'm going on tour tomorrow. Birmingham, Alabama. The seventh. Still not sold out. Come on. Let's go. What? Yeah, no. I don't tomorrow. Birmingham, Alabama, the 7th. Still not sold out.

Come on, let's go. What? Yeah, no, I don't know. Birmingham is half capacity. That's bullshit. I don't know. But this happens every time in Birmingham. Wednesday, if I play during the week, half the people show up.

If I play the weekend, it's sold out. Because maybe they have jobs. Some people out there have this thing where they get up and they go somewhere every day. Yeah. But the other cities during the week are sold out. What's the venue? Zydeco or whatever? Ironworks.

Oh, I haven't done that one. That's a dope venue. Yeah. We weren't that big in the South. It's a big venue, so they put it to half capacity, and we're half of that. So come on, Birmingham. Come on. Conway, South Carolina. Myrtle Beach.

You've never been there? Not really. My uncle has a timeshare there, though. We're going to hang out with Stasek and Bayliss and Umphreys on the 10th and Goose. That's sold out. Oh, that's the Suwannee? I wish you could come to that. I'm fucking pissed I'm not going to that. I know. What the fuck? Why didn't anyone

put you artist-at-large? They have artist-at-large, too. It's like a violin player. Come on. They have you artist-at-large? They have artist-at-large, too. I know. It's a violin player. No, no. Come on. They have an artist-at-large for that show? Yeah, there's like four of them.

I didn't know that. Someone needs to be like, yo, just host the stage, Nick. All right, we're just going to get you. Make fun of Bayless all day. I'm going to be your agent. All right, new thing. Andy's my agent. Okay, we're going to get you.

You can have 15% too, because I'll be my own manager. Ooh, that's a good deal. 15%. All right, I'll consider that. And that includes the cameo thing. Deal? Okay. Since you let me promote it on your show's a good deal. 15%. All right, I'll consider that. And that includes the cameo thing. Deal? Okay. Since you let me promote it on your show to start.

Deal, deal. Okay, all right. Andy Frasco's my agent now. I now represent Nick's car lock. You know what sucks for me? You're better than my old agent. Well, you know, at least it's a step up. Repsy.

Repsy. Springfield, Missouri on the 13th. That's pretty sold out. And Fayetteville is sold out. That's Sean's hometown, right? Yeah, Springfield. He's going back for one day. He's like Missouri on the 13th. That's pretty sold out. And Fayetteville is sold out. That's Sean's hometown, right? Yeah, Springfield. He's going back for one day. He's like, I'm going in.

I'm going in. I'm going out. Back, back to Springfield, Missouri. And then one last thing. I like that we shook on an audio podcast. Yeah, you're in. I'll be your agent. But we shook, but no one can see it.

Anyway. June, I just picked up. We just announced those dates. Oklahoma City on the 15th. Kansas City. Go Thunder. Cedar Rapids. Tanking the right way.

Omaha, Nebraska. Have you seen how many picks, first round picks, the Thunder have in the next four years? Yeah, it's insane. It's like 42 picks. It's like every pick. Well, I think there's one year where they have every pick in the first round. Yeah, it's insane.

Then I am going to St. Louis. I'm going to one year where they have every pick in the first round. Yeah, it's insane. Then I am going to St. Louis. I'm going to a suburb. Aurora, Illinois. That's in June? I'm going to Indianapolis. I'm going back to your hood, bud. Maybe I'll go and hang out. No, I'm going to put you as the opener. Just hanging out? No, no. I'll put you as the opener and do your one-man show.

Or I can maybe bring my jazz trio. You know, I'm actually looking for an opener for these 10 days. I thought Kyle was doing this. He's not doing June. He's doing the May one. If you wanted to be I can maybe bring my jazz trio. You know, I'm actually looking for an opener for these 10 days. Like anything? I thought Kyle was doing this. He's not doing June. He's doing the May one. If you wanted to be the one man band for that, I'll book you.

Maybe. All right, let's talk about it. I'll hit up your agent. June 24th is Indianapolis and then two nights in Columbus, Ohio. So go and grab some tickets. All right. Last thing before we go to Michael's interview. Yeah.

I actually don't want to ruin it. What would you say, going into this interview, what do you think the listeners need to say? What do they need to what? Think. They don't need to think anything. If they don't know anything about this guy. Just be open.

I mean, just be, here's the thing with Mentor. He's extremely genuine. Yeah. You know, just everything he says is true. Okay. I don't even know what he said. What if he says, like, Nick Gerlach's a garbage human? He did talk about his heroin addiction or opiate addiction.

Oh, really? That's something that we haven't gotten into too much. But, you know, the guys just buckle in. Yeah, buckle in. Get something to drink. Don't watch the TV. This is one you want to, like, give your full attention to. Yeah, this is podcast history. It drink. Don't watch the TV. This is one you want to give your full attention to. Yeah, this is podcast history.

It kind of reminds me of Mike Dillon. Like Mike Dillon's show. Is that one? I haven't seen that one. Dude, he's crazy. Mike's my man, but he was fucking crazy. He was shitting on stage and doing heroin and just relapsing and then having to go to methadone clinics before gigs.

I don't know him very well. Insane. He's in Primus. No, I know who he is, and I appreciate his show and everything. But I like his thing. It's very unique. Yeah, I like it too. He's punk rock.

Anyway, here's what you should take going into Menor. Have fun. Just give it your full attention. Yeah, give it your full attention. All right, guys. We'll catch you on the tail end. Just give it your full attention. Yeah, give it your full attention.

All right, guys, we'll catch you on the tail end. Hey, it's Nick. I'm introducing my dear friend Michael Menert because Andy doesn't have Ableton on his computer. Michael's a legendary electronic producer in the hip-hop world. Chris, play some Michael. We've written a few albums together. We're working on a track right now. He's hilarious, nice, genuine guy.

He's, you know, done it all. Michael Menard, everybody. Enjoy. It's the same old way It happens every day Thank you. It's the same old way It happens every day It's the same old way It happens everyday It's the same old way It happens everyday Yeah. We'll be right back. It's the same old way It happens every day It's the same old way

It happens every day What's up, Michael? Hey, how you doing, Andy? What's going on? How's your world? You know, it's pretty timid. You live in the COVID dream or what? I live in the COVID dream. I mean, I've been isolated on the coast for about four years before COVID,

so I got pretty good practice. Yeah, tell me about that. Why'd you pick the coast? Where are you right now? I'm like right where Sonoma County and Mendocino meet on the coast of California. Yeah, yeah. Aren't you like close to Mickey Hart? Don't you do a lot of stuff at a studio

yeah yeah exactly i've been uh i've been working with him uh since 2016 uh producing and sound designing and random stuff i went on tour with him a couple times um but yeah it's just been uh you know it's been uh i i was traveling out here in 2016 a lot. And I think I was only home from like January to October. I was only home like 20 days. So I was, I just decided to move out here because who doesn't want to live in California if you get a chance, right? Yeah, totally. Yeah. And I just was looking at places and found a place on the coast kind of far away and didn't realize how far it was from civilization until I moved here.

But it's been a dream since uh what do you like about isolation um i like being able to get away from you know i feel like in society you you get like a shared reality with the people you're around you know like you kind of if you're around a certain amount of people you kind of share a headspace and here i'm just in my own headspace kind of so it's like i can unplug from all of the other just not not necessarily distractions but just different points of view and uh you know a stimulus it was a lot it was a lot easier to live in isolation when i had touring and stuff because you could you know i came back to isolation rather than just being there like right now it feels weird even just talking to you you know yeah bro i feel that this is a thing that you used to do, you know?

Yeah. You know, it's like we forget. Like I feel like a lot of people are going to lose communication skills when we get back from this fucking thing. Even that way with our phones, you know, like it's like people are already on their phones when you go out in the public, you know, they don't stand in a line. People don't want to talk to you, that kind of stuff. And now it's like there's even more their phones when you go out in the public. You know, they stand in a line. People don't want to talk to you, that kind of stuff. And now it's like there's even more reason to be afraid of each other. How'd you get in touch? Like, how'd you start working with Mickey Hart and like at the Denco and stuff?

You know, Jonathan Singer? Yeah. He does visuals for like Tipper and Den and Company and The Greys. He was a friend of mine and he just, you know, works with mickey and they shared the same manager at the time and mickey was looking for people to kind of help him after fairly well to bring uh you know his rig and his vision uh into the into kind of like the future and just have some people that kind of can see eye to eye with him and help him uh articulate his ideas you know so So, so I went out there, I had an open-ended ticket. I was really scared. I'd never been in a situation like that where, you know, like

a legend asks you to come out and see them and doesn't tell you anything. He just said, bring some of your special sauce. And I was like, all right. So I packed up all scents and little things I could use to like affect stuff. And I got there and he was like, he was away. He had, he had been in the studio and he went back to his house and was just chilling. So I just like started setting up and his stuff and playing with the stuff. And I set up all these synths, right? First thing he does when he walks in, he goes, what are those? And I go, oh, those are synthesizers. He's like, I hate synthesizers.

I'm out of here. But I showed him what I've been working on with one of his files. And he just kind of did this thing where like he stomped one leg to the beat, and another one, he's like, yeah, it's got a groove, and just started dancing around the room. And then they started to call me back, and I just became someone he trusted, I guess, in the studio and someone that he couldn't scare away. Yeah, tell me about that. I mean, I've heard a lot of stories about your life. I mean, I heard one story that you had ghosts in your house in Denver, multiple experiences and had stories about it.

Tell me about this. Like, what's going on? What do you think your life is making ghosts follow you? Oh, man. You know what I noticed from seeing ghosts and things? I noticed that they kind of hang out in your peripheral where it feels like they don't

they kind of like they'll walk in places where you don't see them fully so you don't have an idea I mean in my experiences I've seen like full apparitions for like a split second in like clear view but a lot of times like when I was in Denver my wife would go she was a nurse so she would walk

from our bedroom upstairs into the kitchen and i was in the living room that kind of wrapped around and uh i remember i was like playing playstation or something one day when she was heading to work and i saw like you know i saw what i thought was her walk down the stairs and go in the kitchen and i was like hey can you give me a drink and like 20 minutes later i was like man she's been in the kitchen a while and i went in and it was like three hours after she went to work i was like oh crap i saw a woman like walk down the stairs into the kitchen wasn't my wife what hold on hold on this is real real yeah so you've seen this ghost multiple times yeah yep and uh like i'd be upstairs and i'd hear someone knock on our like

our glass uh like screen window uh on the front door and i'd go down there and then i'd hear someone knocking on a window upstairs in the back of the house that didn't have a porch on it you know like just like on the outside of a glass window in the back of the house so it kind of fucked with me like that and my engineer you're sleeping on the couch right now my best friend uh jason scholarships born town uh he's seen a lot of it we had these things we called space spiders these are like black like shadows that would just like run across the keyboard and stuff when we work in the studio and he's seen a lot of it we had these things we called space spiders these are like black like shadows that would just like run across the keyboard and stuff when we work in the studio and just like weird just weird apparitions you know there was a light that we i kept going down

to the studio basement we had and there's one light in the corner of this little crawlspace door that was like really weird that was always on right i'd like go downstairs i'm like man you forgot to turn the light on and i was like after a after a while, I was like, hey, man, when you're done in the night, can you just turn it off? And he's like, yeah, for sure. I'd be on again. And then one time I actually unscrewed it a little bit just so it was like hanging.

Came back the next morning, it was screwed in and on. What the fuck? How long did you live like that for? Five years. I mean, it's never menacing, you know? It's like even when I saw the ghost in like the corner of my eye, it didn't scare me, me you know it only scared me when i realized that it wasn't my wife that had walked by you know dude did you ever have communications with them no not really

my friend jason had a dream where like he heard her screaming super loud and like terrified him but that's about it oh so what is like what is your take on death? I mean, I don't know. I feel like whatever energy... I mean, I feel like heaven and hell or the ideas of that are kind of like if you make peace with the things you've done in life, your brain and the energy you have when you leave kind of takes you there.

If you're sitting there thinking, man, I was a horrible person. I fucked up people. It's going make you like not go to the right place you know because your energy is kind of like in this spot where you're in turmoil i think that some people that have that kind of unfinished business might kind of let their energy linger and be able to materialize it in kind of a on another plane that we can kind of see sometimes if we're loose so it's like the people who are who don't aren't ready to die they stay the people that aren't accepting that they're dying you know like like you know you hear about ghosts a lot of times and like tragic accidents where people

die in a flash and they don't you know like a car accident or you know a murder or that kind of thing where like i think that they it was just you know they didn't accept the fact that they're dead and they become this like you know in between have have you ever had any near-death experiences oh yeah man i was uh back back when weed was illegal i sold a half a pound of weed to some uh to some uh sir 13 mexican mafia dudes in london or not in Loveland, Colorado. Um, and, uh, they pulled a shotgun and a couple of knives on me, jumped on my back, uh, tried to split my throat. Then they're then like, I, cause I grabbed the gun away from my face when they, they like pulled it. Cause they were just kind of like, give us your money, drop everything. I was like, all right,

let me go. They're like, no, this is how it's going down. I was like, fuck. I don't know what that means. I mean, they're gonna kill me. I think training it's going down. I was like, fuck, I don't know what that means. Does that mean they're going to kill me? I think training day had just come out. I'd seen that bathtub scene, you know? Oh, my God. Hold on. So, you just laid in so much information here. So, you sold a half pound or you bought a half pound from them. We were growing at the time and trying to make some extra money.

You know, as a musician, you can't really hold a real job. So, you're growing at the time. And why did they want to kill you, though? musician you can't really hold a real job so so you're growing at the time and why did they want to kill you though because you didn't give them enough or it was just the guy i had that led me there he was i think he was like buying methum or something you know he was a guy that i had known intermittently and he'd been buying little quantities for me and stuff he's like oh i got some friends that want to buy some stuff i think he was just leading me there to like you know get a little bit from them and give them something that they can have you know uh-huh you know a half pound of weed is 2400 you know so it's like it's not that much money for your life you know between three guys it's 800 a piece to kill me yeah like i don't get why someone would kill someone over 2400 bucks i think i was like a

lot bigger than they thought you know because i'm six foot three you know 250 pounds and when i came in they just kind of because they were kind of shaky when they're holding the guns that's why i kind of after like a minute or two i was just like i just pulled the gun away from my face because i was like man this guy's gonna twitch and blow my head off with this thought off shotgun uh and like right when i did that i was sitting on a bed and the guy next to me with the knife like jumped on my back and i was holding the gun on all fours and he like the third dude was kicking me in the back of the head and the side of the head and my face the dude with the gun was holding it with one hand and punching me and the guy on my like the guy that was next to me was like on my back trying to slit my throat and they actually tried to cut

the gun off my like cut my hand out of the gun off the top of my knuckles and uh i got some scars right here and they're from cuts what they cuts? What? They were trying to cut your throat? On my back, he was trying to get the knife around. I was elbowing him with the gun in my hand, trying to get him off me. And the guy with the gun was screaming, let go of the gun. I was like, let me go.

Let go of the fucking gun. I'm like, let me go. All right, let go of the gun. We'll let you go. And the guy got on my back, and I stood up. And right as I stood up, the guy that was kicking me was like, get the, let go, let go of the gun. We'll let you go. And I like, I, the guy got on my back and I stood up and right as I stood up, the guy that, uh, was kicking me was like, get the fuck out of here. He lunged at me with the, with the knife. And he got me like right below the heart. I'd actually pulled it down and like my thumb splayed open like a hot dog right there. Uh, and then I like drove my stick shift car to like an intersection and plopped out. It was crazy.

Cause like when I first leaned on the car, I't get my i couldn't hold the keys with this hand so i was like trying to get the keys out of my hoodie pocket and i'd like smeared all this blood all over my windshield i was like leaning on it so it was like this weird like movie scene where i was and i was driving under lights and all like the lights hit the red and it made the car kind of red inside were you like getting like dizzy from losing all this blood? Yeah. It wasn't really painful, but it was crazy. You feel the spot, and it feels like a CPR dummy because your nerves are all shot.

It just feels like you're touching rubber that's volcano-ing blood. It was really weird. They stabbed you in the body? Went through the front back of my stomach punctured my pancreas and cut my liver almost in half what the fuck

Michael did you think you're like okay what's going through your head did you think you're dying I thought I was dying you know it was definitely like and I was in a town that I'd been around but I didn't know where the hospital was or anything you know I just got to an intersection where I saw cars and I just kind of like drove in the middle of it like laid on my horn and flopped out of my car and like got up

was like running back through through the traffic to like knock on people's windows like hey call for help you know and everyone was just kind of like locking their door like yo this crazy long haired bloody dude's trying to get in my car so no one helped you eventually someone like the third or fourth car i went to someone that got out and was like yo go to the side of the road and what's crazy is they were worried because like one of the dudes had like a suspended license he's like oh shit i'm not supposed to be driving but he's like the dude that helped me you know um and then uh coincidentally someone that worked at uh at my dentist's office in loveland uh one of the one of the uh dental hygienists happened to be walking her dog on that street and saw me and she had like she

carries a like a tourniquet with her all times because she's like a medical professional and she like came and like helps out the bleeding but i remember like looking up it was like kind of snowing a little bit in december and i looked up at this like brick house right and there's this dude just outside the window smoking a cigarette just like kind of like looking down at me like shaking his head it just kind of stuck with me oh my god my God. Like, what's fucked up is, like, no one is trying to help you, and you're bleeding out. The first cop that came on the scene, he just took out his notebook and started asking me questions about a knife fight I'd been in.

I was like, I was stabbed. I was like, please help me. You know, he was just trying to. How did you last this long? Like, what are you telling your brain? You're not going to die. You're not going to die. I mean, like, you're not gonna die you're not gonna die i mean like you're going to you're bleeding out it's it's i mean it's half panic and it's half kind of weird

peacefulness you know because you're you're you don't have time to be really worried your body's just like let's get this done let's figure this out you know yeah and i mean i remember like my my legs starting to get numb from like losing blood and that's when i started kind of freaking out you know yeah uh you know when i got in the ambulance, I kept asking like, oh, I'm going to be okay, right? And they're like, well, you know, we've seen worse, but you're hit pretty bad, you know? And they didn't know if it was like under like it nicked my heart or anything like that. So it was a pretty rough time. And then, you know, and then like the surgeons don't really have a good bedside manner, you know?

They have to like see people as like car parts kind of. like when i when the surgeon like was starting to put me under they were like waiting for the ekg and then they were waiting for the guy that could the technician that could see it and then the guy that got the wrong one and it was like half an hour me waiting there to see if they can operate on me and he's like listen it's a 50 50 chance you're gonna live we're just gonna put you under and cut you open did you have any friends that were like there with you did you call anybody like were you were you dealing with this by yourself yeah i called my girlfriend at the time and i she was uh she was at my house with uh with derrick from pretty lights because we were in a group together at the time pretty lights and a band called listen and i you know i called her because i had her

number memorized and i was like yo just tell him to clean up the house in case the cops come and you know blah blah tell him i'm gonna be this hospital you know damn you're like micromanaging a fucking drug deal while you're fucking dying michael what the fuck i gotta shout that out to you that is that's insane bro damn because you don't want to go to jail for the half pound of weed you have crazy the cops were like well if you can get any more of that weed we could like dna test it against the stuff we find try to catch these guys like nah man i'm not bringing you guys no weed yeah i'm not bringing you near them they just tried to kill me over a hat for 2500 bucks damn so yeah that was my near-death experience you know so when you're at the hospital tell me about that did you like when these moments of like near death

like you know like people would like come in the room and just look like oh my god you know like like you you'd look for that like look of uh you know comfort from a doctor but people just like oh damn he's up you know yeah that's what i remember is people like walking up they'd be like what the oh damn homie you're you're fucked up you know i'm just like oh man don't tell me that so how'd they fix it did they how'd they stop the bleeding like what what happened how'd you stay alive i start from like under my uh my sternum down to my belly past my belly button um they cut me open and just fixed me up i had a i had like nine months of physical therapy they told me i'd never be able to paint or play keyboards or anything again.

It was pretty crazy, you know? It was, they had to go in, like my tendon had snapped back to like below my wrist. So they had to like wait till it loosened because it like tightens up after you get hurt. And then they have to like wait for it to loosen up again so they can do surgery. So I basically didn't have a thumb for like a month. And yeah, I mean, you know, it was also crazy because the, you know, Sir 13 had a hit out on me in the hospital. So I was like on some Godfather shit.

Hold on, what? Who's that? The gang? Yeah, the Mexican, the Colorado version of the Mexican mafia, I guess, you know. It was loosely affiliated. It was just a bunch of kids, you know. They weren't like, they didn't have like ties to like any cartels or anything per se, but they were just organized in that region, you know they weren't like they didn't have like ties to like any cartels or anything per se but they were just organized in that region you know um and you know they had uh they basically didn't want me to to let the cops know what happened so they were trying to get

you know the cops got a tip off that they were trying to kill me in the hospital and uh and so i was like under police protection and under a fake name and like a different wing than what i was supposed to be uh so people had like say a code name and under a fake name in like a different wing than what I was supposed to be. So people would like say a code name and like a fake name and stuff like that to go see me. Oh my fucking God. I thought you just got cut or something. You, I mean, when fucking Nick Gerlach told me this story, I'm like, oh my God.

Were you into drugs? Like, were you an addict of anything when you were younger? What was going on? Right around that time, I started experimenting with some opiates and things. I think it was just smoking weed and dealing it and things like that. It made me more paranoid. And I think one of the guys that we were getting weed from was like, Hey, man, try out some Oxycontin.

And then it just led to like, just experimenting that kind of stuff. And then, you know, uh, after getting stabbed, I like, uh, I, I just, I fell back into it because like, I couldn't work a job. My band had taken off without me. I was just like, I don't know what I'm living for. You know, like everything I wanted to do in life, I can't do anymore. I can't even hold a job because they can't hire me because i can't carry more than 20 pounds with my stitches you know hold on so pretty light you guys they you he fired you or did you quit or like you just what happened it's kind of i mean i don't i don't know it was just like i i was you know we we dropped the album in october i got stabbed in december it was like blowing up so he was like going out and hitting shows and stuff like that i was just in recovery i was you

know i had other things to deal with and by the time i got out i think it was just like the shit had you know we didn't we were friends we didn't have any contracts or anything so it was just the shit had blown up past any of our expectation i think that just for whatever reason it just i wasn't a part of that story anymore you know it was i mean it was a weird feeling for me it's like it was it was something that like that was part of the reason i think i fell deeper into addiction because i was just like i was heartbroken you know like i lost my best friend and my my musical partner you know and and we're good i i don't blame him for it you know it's like who knows what you would do if someone that you were you know living with and

doing that just all of a sudden got stabbed and was not functioning for nine months to a year you know oh my god but it's like even past that i feel like it's yeah so you start getting into opiates because you because of depression yeah yeah i mean i got back into them you know i was into it before that but it was just like i got out of the hospital i was just like living with my parents again you know it was just i was like what what the fuck am i going to do, you know? Like, I can't, like, I don't, I didn't, at the time, I still couldn't, like, use my thumb that well. So I was, like, trying to play guitar or play keys. It was just, like, it was torture, you know?

It just made me feel, like, it made me realize, like, the lack that there was rather than, like, the invigoration of playing music, you know? What is it about opiates that made you get back into it? Was it the pain? It was the numbness, you know what what is it about opiates that made you get back into it was it the pain or the numbness you know it was the fact that it like it quieted all of the all of like the the man you fucked up man you ruined your life you know all that shit in my head that was going on you know yeah man did you were you self-conscious with yourself growing up or did you did you have confidence or i mean i was you know i was i was born in poland we were refugees to germany uh because my dad was like a political activist in poland so we were political refugees um so we escaped when i was like three years old in germany and then we came here but i was like just an only kid kind of living in

between cultures you know i do i wasn't all the way polish and i wasn't all the way american when i was growing up because my parents had a very traditional eastern european thing cultures you know i do i wasn't all the way polish and i wasn't all the way american when i was growing up because my parents had a very traditional eastern european thing so you know like i would see my american friends and be like oh man these guys have trampolines it could be out all the time you know they get like pizza parties all this stuff and i got this like sauerkraut and sausage and stuff you know oh my god hold on so you're why why why did you have what did your dad do that made you had to get out of Germany? My dad basically, he was – when he was a kid, he started learning English because he just liked books and things like that and English literature. And then he studied English and became an English professor there.

And then he was drafted to the army and was a beret out there. there and then he was drafted to the army and uh and was a beret out there and he actually through his through knowing english he got out of actually serving because he went to the doctor and was trying to like make a bullshit excuse of like not having to serve and the doctor's like all right you can quit fucking with me i can see that you can read english i got all these medical textbooks i can't read if you translate them for me i'll give you like leave so you can see your newborn son and stuff so he was doing that and because he spoke english and was a professor he got to be one of the few people that left communism to go to to london once a year to go like immersively kind of understand the culture he would go and bring back like band literature and band music you know and like distribute it to his friends and stuff and

he would uh translate band movies live like at like little private theaters you know like after hours where like he'd stand there and say the subtitles before there were subtitles. Holy shit! His friends were pretty hardcore. His friends would hold up trains and pay the guy off to get fuel from fuel convoys because

everything was rationed. I remember we had ration cards. You had to have ration cards and money and the stores had to have food and there was never food on the shelves it was like the crazy it was like the toilet paper aisle during like march last year you know so tell me about so living basically as like you know in a communist country what what did you learn from it like uh i mean i i guess i mean i was too young to really understand

it then like from hearing what parents told me the little bits i picked up like i could i i you just see people afraid you know you see the and in a lot of ways a lot of governments are doing this now where it's like they make people kind of intimidated into turning it on each turning against each other you know like in in poland and in turning against each other, you know? Like in Poland and in Russia and the communist, you know, the Eastern Bloc, there was a lot of like neighbors that would get scared and kind of like snitch on their neighbor because they saw something shady that was or was not, you know, organization or whatever. And the police would intimidate people.

So you saw people kind of become very skeptical and paranoid of each other, you know? Yeah. Yeah, it was, I mean, it was weird, you know? Like, I mean, I remember my parents talking about, like, there was a guy that, you know, did self-immolation where he set himself on fire in the middle of the square in Krakow

and people just walked by because they didn't want to even look because they knew that if they looked, they'd be seen as, like, you know, a conspirator or co-conspirator so how so why did you have to move countries like what who ratted you out who ratted your dad out what happened like a lot of my dad's friends were getting picked up and like on like bullshit charges and just sent to prison for a year or two you know it's kind of like a uh you know a lesson or like a scare tactic and he was

like one of the only ones that had a wife and a kid and he was just like listen i've seen the western because like the whole thing too with communism this is what this is what i this is actually what i learned because my dad had been outside of it into like capitalism and the westerns you know the other the other part of the world that is considered western civilization and you know he saw it as like this beautiful place where people can express themselves and you can you know you can eat food because it's there and stuff but my mom was so scared that like i remember the day that we got to germany we went to like the uh the capital building whatever like the place where we could seek asylum basically and it was a bank holiday so it was closed and my mom was just like oh i knew this wasn't going to work out and like she

was so indoctrinated with uh with the propaganda that she was just like this place is evil this place is bad they're going to find it you know like she was just like certain that like capitalism was like the devil, like she'd been taught in school. And, you know, I remember seeing her on the steps just crying and being like, I want to go home. This isn't safe. You know? And it was, uh, and that was one of the things I realized it's like, man, you can see this world in front of you. That's like people are being peaceful and, and, and, and normal.

And you can see it as evil because of what the government tells you, you know? So it's just basically propaganda propaganda and because they close off the borders you're just stuck with that you know so it's like if you grow up there it's like i mean it's like north korea you know a lot of people actually do think that that the you know the supreme leader is you know some kind of deity so tell me about the resentment did you ever have resentment? Like, who were you closer with, your mom or your dad? I would say, I mean, growing up, probably my dad at first because my mom worked a lot, you know?

Like, I mean, I remember my mom, my mom had a great work ethic, you know? She worked two jobs and got her PhD at the same time. Oh, my God. same time you know she started out working uh you know washing dishes at a diner in in bertha colorado you know for like two change you know and she ended up being the breadwinner in our family and just but she was always gone she was like going to china to set up because she was an agricultural uh she was an agricultural industry and she uh she was a plant pathologist so she'd go to china and study grains and set up labs go to Argentina, uh, you know, go to, um, just all over the world. You know, my dad was more, uh, you know, my dad, my dad was a drummer when he was growing up. Um, so, you know,

he played in like little psych rock bands. He, he, uh, he was a photographer too. So he was more interested in the arts and that's the kind of stuff that I gravitated towards. And he was also a tinkerer. So like he built like a monom with me you know he'd like help me build you know a rack to put my my rack mount keyboards in and stuff like that yeah so we did little projects together and he'd teach me how to like you know when our our shitty little tour van uh would break down he'd help me like change the brakes and stuff you know did you grow up poor or well off or at first but my parents really just worked their ass off when we got here you know by like second year we were here they they bought a house you know so it was like and anyway we're still poor when they bought a house they had like the people

that helped us get here kind of helped them you know with the deposit and stuff and just wanted to help us out there was this mormon family called the westons that we lived with for the first three months and uh yeah they really helped us out they gave us like an old ford fiesta and like they helped us buy the house next to them so they could kind of help us out if we ever needed you know anything do you speak german i did when i first moved here but man kids in kindergarten are cruel i was called like nazi and hitler because i only spoke german and i just quickly forgot that because my parents didn't speak it at home, you know? Yeah. Oh, my God.

So, yeah, this is what I wanted to talk about. So, like, was it, were you picked on as a kid? Um, a little bit. I mean,

basically, like, when I first moved here, I didn't speak the language, so kids kind of, you know, they picked on me for that, but then I made friends. But then as soon as I got friends, we moved another town over, and I was like, I like i got glasses so that was like the kid in third grade with glasses and got made fun of for that you know but but i mean i always i always found

kids you know it's i i mean i think everybody gets picked on until you find ways to to shoot back you know defend yourself or just brush it off you know is it hard for you to trust people um sometimes but it's also like you know through everything i've been through i think that i've learned that if you if you stop trusting people if you stop believing in the good of people like that's when the evil wins you know it's like break you down people can make fun of you people can fuck you over people can cheat on you take things from you and they only really win if it changes who you are you know if it changes like i don't trust people anymore man um it's me against the world you know like that's not the mentality i mean granted you have to know that in the world anyway that it's it all comes down to you in the end you know but i also think that people are good you know i've seen i mean through trusting strangers

strangers i've gotten where i'm at in music you know i've trusted people to promote my shows that i've never met i've trusted people that i've you know i meet at shows i'm like hey can i stay stay on your couches tonight so i don't have to get a hotel room and save some money and yeah you know friends around the country because i trusted strangers man that's beautiful so when you're addicted to opiates did you not trust Like, did that change your perspective on people? I don't think so, man. I mean, opiates by nature, they kind of mellow you the fuck out, you know? So it was just, I'd say, I'd say if anything, I was just more neutral, you know?

At a time when I would have been really paranoid and really depressed, and I still was, it kind of allowed me to just function, you know? And I mean, the whole thing too was during that whole time, my dad had cancer and he was like dying of allowed me to just function you know and I mean the whole thing too was during that whole time my dad had cancer and he was like dying of cancer for like eight years he was like in and out of treatment and spreading and stuff so it was like I was I was like the night that I got stabbed my mom had gotten back from Denver uh at like eight o'clock with my dad who was like getting like this treatment that like made his face all puff up you know chemotherapy so she was taking care of him she gets home the cops come to her door and 8 o'clock with my dad, who was getting this treatment that made his face all puff up, chemotherapy. So she was taking care of him.

She gets home. The cops come to her door and they're like, your son's been in an accident. He's been stabbed. He might not make it. So she was just bearing the brunt of all of it for the family. Oh, my God. So how strong is your mom? She's the strongest person I know.

She could beat me up for sure. And I mean, she's just amazing. It's like, you know, I always, you know, because my parents were always wary. They always pushed education like they wanted me to pursue the arts. But like, you know, as as a young kid who liked hip hop and was white in Colorado, they didn't see a future for me in music. You know, they were just that's cool. You're doing that. But you need a backup plan, you know. And so for a long time, it was like a lot of, you know, I get stabbed and all the, all the things that happened to me, you know,

opiate addiction, getting stabbed, getting a felony, all these different things. Like it just enforced that I was on the wrong path, you know? Yeah. But like my biggest supporter, you know, she's at all my, she's like my play in Colorado. She's at the show. She's like screaming, you know, she's meeting people in the audience. She's like my Michael's mom, you know, she's awesome. And she's like screaming you know she's meeting people in the audience she's like my michael's mom you know she's awesome and she's uh we have a really strong

relationship now too i think you know um i lived with her after my dad passed away and uh and she's just you know seeing her seeing her through the through the years struggle so much and now she's like retired and just can just enjoy her life she's an amazing person i mean she still busts her ass and there does a ton of stuff around the house and always has plants and stuff, you know. She'll come to my house and be like, I'm going to start standing your deck so you can stain it while I'm here. And I'm like, what are you doing, Mom?

Relax, you know. Is she ADD? Is she always trying to make something out of nothing? Her way of dealing with like stress and anxiety was like cleaning and making sure everything was spotless at home you know yeah like get a long job and be like stressed out and she just start cleaning the kitchen or the bathroom or something you know so it was like she she she just liked things tidy you know she's one of those people that won't take painkillers for surgery because she doesn't like feeling disoriented you know yeah

yeah so what did she teach you about work ethic? I mean, she just taught me the, I mean, really, it's like, I feel like I got to see the American dream firsthand, you know? And I know that for a lot of people that's, it's, it's not even a possibility, you know, with like the social political climate that we're in, but I was able to come, we were able to come here with nothing. We had like maybe $400 and a couple of bags when we moved here, you know? And, you know, by the time I graduated high school, my parents had paid off their house and we'd built a solar and wind powered cabin. It was like a little vacation spot on the Colorado border. You know, and, and they built themselves. Like my dad, you know,

I was like digging the, the, the septic tank with him, you know, I was helping him set up the solar panels and all this stuff. So it was like, I got to see, I mean, the biggest thing my parents showed me is that you can do anything. Even before YouTube, you can read about stuff and just do it. You don't need a professional to do it. Are you recording right now? What's going on behind you? Oh, no, this is my studio.

Oh, I hear music in the background. Dude, ghosts. Man, you're hearing the ghost play a song for you, man. She likes you. Hold on. So is there a ghost in this house? I mean, I don't know. I felt things, but it's definitely not like the last house.

The last house was built in 1908, and it was like downtown Denver. It had this creepy crawl space. I just felt like there was bodies in it. And yeah, it was definitely a much creepier place and i mean the crazy thing is that you know like my wife had seen it my friend jason had seen it my old roommate roommate ac had seen it uh i when i moved i let late night radio and his and his girlfriend danielle lived there and they both saw it you know or like felt it and it was just you know it's crazy because people are like yeah whatever man you're kind of You're kind of a weird, you're a little stoner weirdo.

But then like they come there and they stay there like, oh, I saw the ghost, you know? Holy fuck. It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour. Hey, this is Nick and I'm here with the halftime. Andy has asked me to do a show review. So yes, I give shows a positive review. I like shows. Do you want me to review a specific show?

Friends is the most overrated sitcom in history, and here's why. It's not that good, okay? It's not funny. The men are terrible on that show. The reason it got famous is because it was on right after Seinfeld. Okay, and another thing. This whole Lil Nas X Satan thing where the Christians are up

in arms like it's Marilyn Manson in 1996 again. You guys, shut up. You invented Satan. Okay? There would be no Satan if it wasn't for the religion, for Christians, okay? So how are you going to get mad at people for using imagery of something that you invented

unless you're suing him for copyright infringement? That's really the only claim I feel like they have. He's using your shit. Thanks. God damn it. It's just a goddamn rap song. Bye. You know, I want to get back to your childhood this is so dude this this is crazy like when

did you start meeting derrick from pretty lights like i heard you're like young friends or eighth grade we we met at the end of eighth grade um and then we started like in ninth grade i went to this program called ib which is like the International Baccalaureate Program, where you can like during high school, you kind of do advanced classes and start taking college credits and stuff. Yeah. So right when he was coming to school that I was at, because he'd been like moving school to school, I guess he was like, you know, he's a little troublemaker, you know, and he was like a lot of like, like church schools that didn't like his behavior, I think. So he went to public school finally. And I remember the first time I saw him, I was walking from the bus stop from my high school when he was walking to where it was at. And he had a shaved head and a white polo shirt and had a girl on each arm.

I was just like, what's up? And I was like, man, this is so cool. I want to hang out with this guy. And you're like ninth grade. You see someone just m macking you're like man that's that's the dude and then i remember like um we both went to we both knew a mutual friend and we both skateboarded into this house and derrick showed up with like a skateboard with like no grip tape and he's like i'm just trying out this new style oh my so what did you like about him like fearless like he had like a swag to him that you didn't have like what what would you what was attracted attracting to him he was like he was like

very confident and like but also like goofy you know what i mean like like when people can be both kind of like like uh like confident and and and uh and very attractive to and then kind of have a leader a leader vibe but then also have like the goofiness where you're like this dude's goofy this guy doesn't know what he's doing you know uh i don't know and we just i mean one day he just showed up the skate spot with the bass guitar and i was playing guitar and cues and stuff like that and i was playing with the drummer and i was like yo we're looking for a bassist you should play with us you know so in ninth grade we started playing in bands together and uh you know played with different drummers throughout high school and just kept it going you know went to college at the same spot in cu boulder

um and it just evolved you know that just evolved from from band name to band name but it was always the two of us with other people yeah so like i mean you've worked with this guy for so long it must have been heartbreaking when he just fucking didn't care that you got fucking stabbed up and he just kept going on with his career i mean i don't think it was as much he didn't care i think he just you know like he was he was starting to just play out shows and seeing what worked in the live setting for electronic music and i was still kind of like in that i want to make heady down tempo stuff you know and i just you know i i you, this is always a hard topic because I never want him to think that I'm coming off as, you know, critiquing him because I don't know what I would do in this position, you know? And it's like, we're on good terms now, you know?

Yeah. And you're young. I mean, fuck. Yeah. And the last thing I want to do is, is rehash old beef. Cause it's like, I mean, yeah, that shit bothered me for a while, but it's like, I've come to terms with it. And it's like the shit that happened to me since our split made my life infinite times better you know like i i did i mean i met my wife we were both working

at walmart when i was like at like posts you know i basically like after i got stabbed about six months to a year after i healed i started getting a double hernia on my belly button where my small intestine was like poking out like three inches oh my god i didn't have insurance because they dropped me when i was like 25 for my family insurance so i started working at walmart because i was the only place that would just hire me flat out and give me insurance after six months i think you know yeah and you had that hernia for six months the hernia for a year. Yeah. Before you fucking fixed it? I mean, dude. Oh my god, you're crazy. Yeah.

I would like lean back and like pop it back in. Were you on opiates here? No, no, I was clean. I got clean in 2008. Did you ever go to rehab or? No, I got, I I mean, the whole thing is with anything, it's like if you're not ready to change

you can tell your family you want to change you can you know you can have people cut you off you can do whatever but it's like and i went through that i went the ups and downs of like lying to my family being oh yeah i quit you know i'm done for sure but then it was just at some point i was just like man i gotta change and i got on this stuff called Suboxone, which is like, basically it's kind of like an abuse where it blocks your receptors from being able to use opiates, you know? So it doesn't make you, it kind of like pacifies your need for it. And I got off of it in three months. My doctor was actually like the last time I went in,

she was like so proud of me. She's like, I'm going to not even charge you for this meeting. So it's dope. But a big part of that was like at that time, I was like going with my dad to he was at the NIH in Maryland doing a stem cell transplant for cancer. So like and I was and this is one of the things it's like, man, if I hadn't fucked up in my life, I wouldn't have been able to go help my dad because I was the only one in my family that didn't have like a job or you know yeah i couldn't put on hold for a couple months to go be with my dad so you know um the pieces fell together and i was able to to go be with him and take him to the doctor every day and take him for his labs and live with him you know wash him when he needed to be washed that kind of stuff and just kind of take care of him and give back to the

person that took care of me and that taught me a lot and it also like it was it made me want to be sober even more you know it made me want to be there with them opiates compounded i mean the the opiates the opiate use was compounded by the fact that my dad was dying and i didn't want to fix it you know and i and i felt so like shitty being a piece of shit that i didn't want to like go be with him so i was just like on my own living in the same town with my parents not wanting to and not showing up for dinners and stuff because i was too ashamed you know damn so did you have closure did he pass away i didn't know yeah he passed away in 2010 like a week before i dropped my first album uh did you listen to it like i was i was really sad because i was like man i just

wanted to see him see him have him see my success, you know? See that I could make it on my own and see that the shit actually worked out, you know? Did you ever have resentment towards him or you were always his fan? I was always his fan. I mean, the resentment I had at the time, in perspective, I can understand, you know? What was it? in perspective i can understand you know like what was it well he i mean he you know he he would just like like when i failed out of college he like erased all my music software off my computer and shit like you know like stuff like that uh and and it pissed me off because like i lost like the

first year of the beats i produced and stuff you know when i was like first actually like serious about producing but it's like i mean dude he put me into college and i fucked up you know and he gave me the computer and he's like that's my computer you know so wipe it when you what didn't what sorry keep going keep going what did what did you not like about college versus did you always knew you're just gonna be a musician like why why'd you even go in the first place if you always knew you're gonna quit i liked education i like the information you know i like learning things and i got to college and i realized it's just high school 2.0 you know parents around so like oh i'm gonna try cocaine and i want to make out with a bunch of people

you know it was just like it wasn't this higher you know academia that i thought it was going to be and i i just honestly like it was like right when nafster hit so i was just like i was like download we had like t3 connection at cu and i was like oh this is so fast and i was just downloading a bunch of music downloading things i could sample and just like for the first time because my parents were really strict and like had a very eastern european upbringing this is like the first time in my life where i didn't have any supervision you know so i was just like sitting there smoking bowls and playing tony hawk listening to new music and being like oh if i leave right now i can make it to class and then 10 minutes they're like oh if i

leave right now and take my bike i can make it oh if i leave in 10 minutes i can catch the last end and it's like oh shit i missed it you know um so holy shit bro it was i would i was a dude that would show up to the to the class and they'd be like handing back tests that i didn't take you know was there pressure like do you have siblings no i'm an only child only child so was there pressure for perfection because your fucking parents were so fucking scholars and shit and also they were just like dude we gave up our lives to give you a better one and you just fuck around what the fuck you know yeah did you did you have closure with your dad about that stuff before he died i mean i think i mean you know the last part of the last part of his life

i was there with him you know i was i was working i was i went back to like online education while i was on house arrest taking care of him house arrest what why were you on house arrest jesus christ michael what the fuck give it to me after i got out of the hospital and was on opiates uh i didn't really have that many ways of making money so i started kind of hustling a little bit so i could get my own you know were you selling opiates i was selling opiates i was selling a little bit of blow and uh i mean it was small quantities you know it wasn't like i wasn't stacking money or anything i was just basically like getting enough to like pay my rent a little bit and and uh and have my own supplies i didn't get dope sick um but one of

the guys that i that i was getting from was uh hold on say that again. Your microphone broke up. This dude named Kenny Core, who went down, basically. But he was kind of like a silent partner in the Mishawaka back in the day. That's actually a funny story, too. Him and his partner that ran it, they came out from the East Coast under the direction of the organized crime out there. And they were buying it up to burn it down for insurance. And the first year of mishawaka they actually booked enough shows to make like twenty thousand dollars profit so they're like i will just keep running it and so it just kept being a theater burning down ever since like 72 that guy basically you know he'd

known me from that and saw that i was like a struggling musician like down on his luck you know was kind of fronting me some stuff to help me get by and one time i went to his house and he got a call and he was like oh yeah yeah i can have a i can have my friend can you drop something off for me i was like yeah sure he's like i'll take 100 bucks off your tab just drop off this you know it's quarter a coke to to some dude he'll meet you at your house i think it's fishy and it was undercover cop and I didn't know it he was supposedly like the guitarist for my friend my friend's band um and I showed up and you know I gave it to him he's like thanks he's like you got anything else and I was like oh yeah I got a little bit of you know some black tar that I just you know he's like oh yeah I'll take that so basically

they kind of like entrapped me you know yeah calling me to try to get me to to take them to this dude Kenny and I just was a dummy and i was like oh no but i can you know i can get something for you you know so they basically had me on three different deals um where where and the fucked up thing is this is like two years after i got clean right because i like i got pulled over in 2009 i got clean like at the end of 2007 and i was just driving to one of my first shows back at the time i was like living with my parents taking care of my dad i was like his caregiver i was working at walmart full-time getting straight days at the

university of phoenix online and i get pulled over on the way to the show and the cops like oh you were swerving a little bit and i was like all right i'm not i'm not on anything i'm completely sober i'll you know i'll take a breathalyzer or whatever. So he pulls me out of the car and tells me to turn around and starts handcuffing me. He's like, you're under arrest for three counts of felony or class one felony, drug distribution, blah, blah. And I was like, oh, shit.

And they'd actually planted a gram of Coke loose in my passenger side handle. Like not even in the back, just like dust. And they were like, what's this white powder in your car? And I'm like, I don't know. Cookie crumbs haha very funny we're gonna test it and i was like test it and they come back they're like red pure cocaine what this is entrapment it didn't make the police report or nothing it was just like they just wanted an excuse to you know pull you over well they just wanted to basically have me be like, oh shit, yeah, I got coke back at my house.

That kind of thing. And I didn't. I'd been away from that stuff for two years and stuff. So it was just this crazy thing where I was just like, this is the stuff you hear about in movies where cops plant drugs on you. And they're not even good at it. They plant loose drugs. Oh my god.

And you were clean through this? I was smoking a little bit of weed, but that's about it. So you're just doing this for the hustle. Make some money. I was doing that for the hustle back in the day. This was two years after I quit. You know, I'd like gotten this girl. And that's one of those things I was like, man, you know, if the point of law is rehabilitation, I rehabilitated myself. I was like an upstanding citizen. I was paying taxes. I was working a job. I was going to to school i was taking care of my dad who's dying of cancer you know like what what more are they gonna do to turn my life around you know i get that you have to have penance if you do something wrong you know but it's like i was facing 16 to 48 years what the fuck are you serious

do you feel like you have bad luck yeah man yeah but it's i mean i mean think about any movie that's good think about like a coen brothers movie it's all about characters that got bad luck but they're awesome you know yeah yeah i'm gonna shout out to that too let's go michael let's go big dog okay so how'd you get out of 48 years of prison? I basically, like, I, you know, my dad had been a librarian for the county jail. Yeah. Right? And because he just wanted to be around books. And this is a way to kind of help people and be like a positive force for them in jail, you know?

Whereas, like, most people they met in jail were just, like, treated them like criminals and didn't care about them, you know? Yeah. It's like the county jail had, like, all my high school CDs. My dad would bring it in for, like, the listening material care about them you know yeah it's like the county jail had like all my like all my high school cds my dad would bring it in for like the listening material and stuff you know i'd have people from like the jail like writing me letters like yo i heard your cd dog is dope oh my god but yeah like like you know through that he knew he knew a lawyer he knew a lawyer that had done good work and luckily my parents put up money and got me out. They trusted that I was actually clean, that I wasn't fucking around. So they put up money and got me a lawyer.

And we got it down to just one count of felony. I mean, I remember when I was going into the courtroom, the DA still didn't have, the prosecutor still didn't have a guarantee that I wasn't going to go to jail for a long time. It was just kind of like, all all right we'll see what the judge says you know and the girl before me had like even less of a of a thing than i did you know she had she got caught with like a weed pipe and some weed and she was going to jail for like three years and i was like oh man this judge is not being lenient but you know i pled my case and i think the fact that my dad was on cancer or i, was on, on cancer treatment and living at home. And I was there with them.

I was just like, I'll take long. I'll take, you know, six to nine months or whatever. I mean, they gave me like six months of house arrest basically, instead of doing hard time,

which was a blessing, you know? My God, it saved your life. Yeah. It saved my life, you know? And it was,

did they knew you were clean? Like you were taking, you took drug tests and they knew nothing was in your body. F out like like the morning i got bailed out i like went and and took the drug test first thing you know just to like show them like i don't have any of that shit that you try to plan on me in me you know yeah there's nothing that kind of stuff um so yeah you know it was uh it was a crazy time you know like but but at the same time like i made my first album that like was really successful then you know like but at the same time like i made my first album that was really successful then you know like i was at home i would just i would go to work at walmart

come back and just you know like have have a meal with my dad hang out with him for a second go in the basement and just work on in my little home studio you know so you wrote you wrote that record while he was dying yeah Yeah, man. It was crazy too because I was finding samples that were just like talking about my uncertainty about what happens next after death. You know, there was like one of them was like, where do you go when your lights go out? One of the one was a death in the morning coming over, turn my head and my father was gone. You know, that kind of thing where I was just like, I'm finding these like weird records

where it's like the first thing I put on, it's like telling the story, story you know a lot of ways that helped me deal with that because it was like i didn't there's a lot of talks that i i i didn't know how to have with my dad about like what he's feeling you know like you were afraid to talk to him about death it's just you don't you know like you're still hopeful the whole time you still you don't want to bring that you know you don't want to be like hey so what if you die you know because you yeah you like optimism i mean to the end he was like he was like certain that he was gonna turn around i mean i remember like what like the the the day that it all changed when he went on hospice and he had like less than a week left he uh i was working and i got a call from my mom that's like uh we're at the hospital you should you should come here you know and i was like oh fuck and i

told my boss i I was like, listen, I gotta go. And they're like, well, you might not have a job when you get back. I'm like, fuck you then, man. My dad's dying, you know? Walgreens said that? Walmart, yeah. Oh, Walmart said that? Jesus, fuck. Insensitive motherfuckers, dude.

Your dad's dying. And then I called the house arrest people because I'd like call because i'm an ankle monitor you know when i was at work i had to call anywhere i went and i was like i have to go to the hospital right now they're like well you're not approved for it and i'm like well have the cops meet me there man go arrest me there you know i'm not gonna miss my dad right now you know yeah and what they say uh they're like all right cool you know they kind of ran it up i i think she was being sympathetic but she was also just trying to be like listen this isn't how it works you know yeah and they were it was fine um so but yeah i remember

going in and seeing my dad and the doctor walked in and told him his because he had a kidney removed because he had kidney cancer and the second kidney just went into failure you know and i just watched like everything leave my dad you know it was just like all of a sudden he was just like he like went into himself and was just like you could tell he was just dealing with like what do i got to prepare inside to be ready for the next level did he um did you have what was the conversation like did you have closure with him during that time or was it too hard to do that he was on hospice and like he was like in a little bed in the bit in the living room and our whole family came and like lived with us for like about a week um and it was uh we had some closure i mean he was

just like his body was so worn down that he was just kind of like in a semi almost like like sleep state you know he was just like we just gave him morphine and he just laid there but it was funny uh you know because his legs were swollen because it was kidneys and he just had a sense of humor you know i remember i remember uh i remember at one point i was like hey man your legs look better he's like oh why don't you put them online and sell them we can make a little money you know he's always had like you know even to the end he was just wisecracking and didn't let it get to him so but yeah yeah and going back to my album like i you know i'd made all this stuff and i was just like man he never got to hear it i was hoping he'd make it he'd hear it and then like six months later i was like cleaning out his office and he had like stolen all like these burned mixes of my cd from my car so he'd been stuff like on his

own without telling me oh that's that's beautiful that's the love he knew he knew what you're passionate about this and stuff like that that i know like i know that he was just trying to be a good dad when he was trying to keep me from, you know, throwing my life away to music because it was, you know, it was, it was a thing where, where, you know,

I, I saw that like, he always wanted to help me, you know, he was, he was always really wanting to help me. And he, I mean,

he was a musician, so he wanted me to succeed. But at the same time, you know, he didn't want me to feel what he felt, which was just like, oh man, it didn't work out,

you know? Yeah. Dan, what the fuck? Michael,'t insane dude so you then so now you start your solo career right it starts taking off yeah it starts taking off um you know derrick had a had had uh given my album to his booking agent hunter owens or no i mean hunter hunter hunter williams um oh buck williams kid yeah buck williams kid right because uh and and you know i remember like the day my album came out i was like i'd just gotten off a house i got off a house where it's three days before my album came out uh and i went down to denver to see derrick and we like went out to dinner and stuff and hung out and you know on the way back from dinner he like called

hunter and was he was just asking because i was just like i need some advice on how to get shows and stuff and hunter's like yeah man i want to book you and i was like what you know all of a sudden i had a booking agent like just like that and it was like that opened so many doors because i mean as you know as an independent musician when before you have a booking agent you're just like sitting there trying to negotiate how much you're worth. And that sucks to feel like that. You know, be like, well, maybe I'll do it for like a can of Coke and some Skittles, you know. Dude, this industry is so fucked up sometimes.

You know, and it's crazy how you see like the same people that were telling you no all of a sudden. Like, yeah, how about $1,000? No, you're a no-name, you know. You're like, fuck. Really? That's all it took? Just one person to believe in me? You know, in that funny, like it just takes someone to open the door for you. It's kind of fucked up. It's like someone has to tell you you're cool to be cool. Speak of the devil, Mickey's calling me. Oh shit, dude. Do you have to

take that? Are you good for a second? Hold on. I thought I got something going on until I'm ready. All right, cool. So let me, we'll close this in a second. So how long, so when did it start really popping for you, your solo career? 2010, end of 2010, I started to go, I went on the road. That was the first time I'd been on the road for like a long time it was like three months three and a half months or something like that yeah and i was out with the fresh and mimosa and then went out with pretty lights for like a month and a half just doing like first of three um and it was great but it was also like one of those things where

like i mean i was making 250 a show and you know i was i was driving myself i was you know with after hotels and stuff like that and gas it was like there was nothing left in commissions it was just like you know i came home after three months uh to my girlfriend who's now my wife it was just like hey i have no money and there's a bunch of pictures of me with girls all over the country after shows that you know and so it was just kind of like a tumultuous time coming home because you're just like that was a success in the sense that i went out and did shows but i didn't i don't have rent you know yeah like even after being around the country for for three months it was just like it was very um you know it was it was cool but it was also made me realize i have to

figure out a way to do it where it's sustainable you know and how'd you do it because i mean just just being like like part of it was like what i said like meeting people staying on people's couches you know um not like you know using the buyout to get food instead of instead of booze and things you know but things like that just small little little uh little changes well you know You have a little bit when you come home. And honestly, when you're on those first tours, when you first come out, you're going to lose money anyway because it's basically just trying to get your name out. I was a friend from it.

Yeah, so did your wife almost like, or your girlfriend almost break up with you? We broke up for a while. We broke up for like a couple months and then we got back together, which was actually good because I think like, you know, I mean, she'd been with me since before I was, since like right before I got on house arrest and stuff, you know? And I mean, I met her working at Walmart.

She was putting herself through nursing school and was working at the produce department with me. Wow. And I remember seeing her. It was like right when I was like finishing off detoxing from opiates and i was like she was wearing like a chemical brothers hoodie he's like oh that girl's that girl's cute and and and i kept looking over and she walked over to me when i was like stacking apples or something i was like oh she's gonna talk to me and she was like are you okay

you're really sweaty and like the next time i talked to her, I was like, you want to see my scar? I was just like, so how to meet people. But but it worked out, you know, and now she's your wife and my wife. She's wonderful. We got two beautiful cats. Oh, fuck it. Hey, what would you tell younger Michael? What you learn now? Keep falling up. You know, it's one of those things it's like every time I get frustrated with things that aren't going my way like a few months later it all makes sense you know a few months later like

something happens where I'm like if I would have been on the road then I wouldn't have met this person I wouldn't be able to make this song or do this thing you know yeah um and it becomes it's this thing where like and I've always felt this you know it's like we we sometimes especially in the industry it's easy to be like oh i'm missing opportunities or this isn't working out the way i could or i didn't maximize my potential or whatever you know but it's like all all store like no story ever goes like this is what the character wanted to do and

that happened the end you know it's always like this is what they wanted to do everything got up for like the rest of the book and then right at the very end it all pulls together you know and that's what makes the book good it's like the adventures you know like the the the missteps and the and the trial and error and the learning things it's like you know if i hadn't gotten if i hadn't gotten stabbed um and and had all that horrible shit happen i wouldn't have been on house arrest and working at walmart i wouldn't have met my wife you know what i mean um all all these things that fell into place because of things that at the time i was like this is horseshit why is this happening to me you know what i would just say

just keep believing that your story isn't over you know yeah i mean what a fucking story dude i you know nick told me this was going to be a good one, and this expectation is insane because I know Crawford, your manager, he used to manage my buddy's band, Wild Age Erotic. He ran a lot of clubs. He was doing

talent buying and things like that for a lot of clubs like Sherpa and Yeti's back in the day, which was in 320 South and stuff like that. All along the I-70 corridor, he was like, when we were in our fledgling bands, he was the dude that would give us shots and stuff. He was pulling up for bands we loved. Really, it's one of those things that I think

in management, it's like sometimes people want to have someone that's just like this industry hotshot, but a lot of times those people will steer you astray and want to manipulate your career in new ways that are are profitable for like the spark and you know the flash in the pan kind of moment yeah Crawford just believes in me which is like I'll stick with him man he's he he believes in me and he really like actually loves my shit you know I remember like like Derek met him first when uh me and the pretty fantastics were doing uh Red

Rocks opening for him and he was just like dude your is so awesome. He like really fucking vibes your shit. And I'm like, that's why I believe in him, you know, because he believes in me. And it's just like, I'd rather have someone like that than someone that's just like going to open all these doors for me and push me into a room that I'm not ready for, you know? Yeah, totally. Michael, I'll let you go back to Mickey Hart.

I know he's got you. But thank you for this, because I feel like the most important thing in life is to hear people's stories and to hear how you get through, you know, death and fucking isolation and, you know, thinking you're a communist and getting beat up for fucking thinking you're a Nazi. Like, what the fuck, bro? And you could hear it in your music. And now it totally makes sense. Thanks, man. It's been an honor, man. I was really nervous about this. It's been a long time since I've done any

kind of interview or anything because of the pandemic. And so it's just, I appreciate you giving me a chance to tell my story and talking to me, man. It's been great meeting you. Yeah, bro. We got to write some music together. We should do that. Me, you, and Nick. Yeah, man. Anytime you want to come out west, I got got a spot i got tons of instruments and old synths and keyboards and tens like 10 000 records you know i'll come out you know my buddy dave schools lives right next

to you he's a great dude he's actually one of the dudes that uh you know when i started working with mickey dave dave because i've met him through through buck williams and hunter you know i opened a couple shows for them and he was like the only dude from wise but that really just kind of like hey what's up man i'm dave you know he's just like such a great dude um he got me off a coke that's great man yeah he's he's a good he's a he's a good person you know he really he could just he just feel comfortable around him you know but he told mickey because he'd been in mickey's bands he was like don't fuck with this dude man this guy's special you know so like i think that he's, you know, him and him and Singer are a big part of why I have my life out here.

And I'm really thankful for them, man. So, yeah, come out and visit us, man. Yeah. Shout out to Dave Schools. Let's fucking go. Let's fucking go. All right. I got one last question for you and then I'll let Mickey have you.

What do you want to be remembered by Michael Muneer I mean I want to be remembered by making music that people that people are reminded about sorry man I'm stumbling over my words

I want to be remembered for being a soundtrack for people's good and bad times you know I want to be I want to be remembered for for being a soundtrack for people's good and bad times you know like i want to be i want to be able to like i feel like i already been able to do this it's like you know like the biggest the biggest accolade is being able to be a drop back into the pool of of inspiration that you got from music you know like like when i have people that that are inspired by my music to make music or when I talk to people and I can

give them tips or things like that or you know like or work with young artists that that you know are just shooting their shot and like yo you want to co-produce a song or something it's like that's that's the memory I want to have I want to remember that like I was a good dude you know yeah well that I wasn't I mean I've been I've been lucky because of people like Crawford and even people like Hunter that I was just able to do what I wanted, you know, and a lot of times I was going I was playing soft ass music at dubstep shows. I was like, what the fuck am I doing here? You know? Yeah. But I was able to do that. And that's that's I mean, that's a legacy in itself to me, you know? rocking tell uh mickey get on the get on the podcast let's get mickey on this show too and um be safe out there and uh whatever whatever you're doing out there it's working so thanks for being alive and thanks for not dying over a fucking stabbing over a quarter pound of weed that's fucking nuts to me dude well thanks yeah cheers. I'll see you in person sometime. Yeah, you will. Have a great day, Michael.

That was awesome, dude. Thank you. Oh, man. What a fucking story. Whoa. Wow. Maybe one of the craziest stories in life. What the fuck?

Yo, shout out to Michael for being vulnerable. That shit's nuts. Damn. All right. We shit's nuts. Damn. All right, we'll catch you after this. Before we continue on the podcast, I wanted to talk about this project I was involved in called Isolation Concerts for No One, brought to you by DistroKid.

Basically, me and my friends, Sean Eccles, my guitar player, Kitchen Dwellers at Mahali, all hop in a car and we do these concerts for nobody. We did it in the Navajo. We've done it in Lake Powell.

We did it. I mean, we've done it in all these isolated areas and it was such a great experience. So come on and watch it every Tuesday for the next three weeks um it is april 6 13th and 20th on fans.live uh distro kid presented it district

kid is the easiest fastest and cheapest way to get your music just onto streaming services like spotify apple music youtube music and pretty much anywhere else people continue to consume music. Starting at just $19.99 per year, you can get unlimited uploads and keep 100% of your earnings. DistroKid is the standard in digital music distribution. 7% off your first DistroKid membership. Just use distrokid.com slash VIP slash isolation. All right, we'll see you at fans.live for Isolation, concerts for nobody.

What an interview. Wow. His dad died. I haven't heard it yet, and I already know it was amazing. I know you two. You're a great interviewer, and he's a great story. Crazy-ass story. But that's it everybody hope

you had a good show today yeah do you have fun I try to have fun every day man ready to help me write a hit record Nick uh one hit song hit record I don't think you know Krasnow you should get him if you want that Krasnow I wonder if Krasnow had a hit probably somebody yeah I'm sure he's written on something he's working on a project. I don't know if they're able to announce. But he's working on something fucking big. I'm sure he is.

It's one of our friends, and it's with a big producer. Good. It starts with a... I don't know if I've done one gig with that guy ever. He would never remember it. But I just have a really deep respect for him as a musician. Yo, yo, yo. Tell me one thing.

We'll talk quick basketball. Basketball, baby. How are we feeling with Andre Drummond on the Lakers? So I think, you know, a lot of people are hard on Andre Drummond. I do. Because he's never been on a winning team. But you have to look at, so here's my opinion on Andre Drummond. If he's your best guy, I don't know if you're going anywhere.

But if he's your third or fourth best guy like he is in the Lakers, that's pretty fucking good. Yeah. And you know what's good in basketball for a role player like him? You want a guy that has a thing, right? And he's maybe the best rebounder in the NBA. Yeah, he is. He gets his 14 rebounds a game.

He was on teams with guys that missed a lot of shots, to be fair. Lakers are missing a lot of fucking shots. I think he's going to be rangy on defense. Yeah. You're big. He's big, you know? We're going to be fair. Lakers are missing a lot of fucking shots. I think he's going to be rangy on defense. You're big. He's big. We're going to be slower. You're going to be slower, but that's fine. I don't think speed is your thing.

Also, let's talk about the Nets signings real quick. Can we go to the Nets? I hate the Nets. I'm trying to make this a five-minute segment. Oh, it's not going to be that long. Just a caveat. I love LeBron James, okay? They got LaMarcus Aldridge.

That guy can't guard anybody. Yeah, I know. I don't understand what they're doing. Neither does Blake. Yeah, but I think that he's going to be better than he was on the Pistons for sure. And he's smart. He knows where to go and what to do. I don't know.

Lakers in six. Let's fucking go. Let's go. All right. And another. I'm taking the week off. I've been saying that every week and I keep on putting on podcasts. What do you mean you're taking the week off? What does that even mean for you?

Because I'm on tour tomorrow. I leave tour tomorrow. Oh yeah. So I'm gone for a week and I'm not, I want to focus. I gotta start, Brian keeps on giving me this fucking motivational speak. Alright, well, you're going back on the road and we're gonna have to make just focus on the music,

focus on changing the set, focus on... Why do you need to change the set? You're going to have the same different people at the show every night. I know, but... Fucking jam band nerds think you need to play a different fucking show every night. No, not if you have fans. You got to move it around. Yeah, you do if you only have 3,000 fans,

and they're the only people that go to your show in every city. Yeah, you have to play a different show every night. It's okay to only have 10,000 fans and they're the only people who go to your show in every city. Yeah, you have to play a different show every night. It's okay to only have 10 good songs. God. Well, I'm going to change this. Way to go, Nick. Hold on. I'm going to change the set fans.

Sorry, sorry. My fans are jamming. What does that mean? No. It's kind of true, but I like the both things. All right. I want to give a motivational speech to jam bands coming into the summer tour.

Jam bands. Okay. Jam bands. Let's talk about your show. Let's talk about what you're going to do, okay, and what you have been doing. We need to concentrate on songwriting. And what I'm talking about here is lyrics, okay? You don't necessarily have to have lyrics. Don't say you have vocals just to have vocals. Try to have some content. Don't sing about being in a band. No more lyrics about we're on the road. No more lyrics referring to the genre of music you're playing. Okay? Write about maybe something more general like life, you know?

Or just play instrumentals. Also, you don't need to play a different set every night. Just write some good songs. Put a good show together and make people happy. And there you have it. And then my motivational speech is do whatever the fuck you want to do.

What the fuck is wrong with you, dude? I don't know. It's just espresso. Yeah, you're jacked up. It's one o'clock. I've been thinking about jam bands, you know? Yeah, what are you thinking? I love them. That's the thing. I do too. And, you know, there's a place for a different show every night. If you have like, Umphreys can do a different show every night.

You know why? Because they have 120 pretty damn good songs. But a lot of these bands have, like, eight good songs. All right. Can't comment. Thanks for being on the show, Nick. Always and forever. And let's write.

Always and forever. My favorite optimist. Have a good night and we'll catch you goodbye goodbye yeah goodbye 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

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