Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 177.5: Dave Watts (The Motet)

Episode Date: June 24, 2022

Welcome to an extra special, Peach Fest Edition of the pod as Andy and Nick welcome Geoff and Jon to talk about the epic, Scranton PA music festival they've built. But then, Andy AND Nick double team the Interview hour as they put Dave Watts (drummer for the Motet, see also: stud) on the hot seat. Sometimes you gotta release an extra mid-week episode... we love you ;) 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 song, "Puff Break (Believe That)" on iTunes, Spotify  Check it: Dave Watts on IG Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Arno Bakker

All right, and we're back. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast, the Peach Music Fest edition. And of course, we've got the GOATs, the OGs. Jeff and John, founders of the Peach Fest, are on the show today. What's up, guys? How we doing? Good, man. GOATs, OG, just means we're old. Young GOATs. Young goats. Young goats. I always had a question about this. How hard is it to build?

What's your philosophy on building a lineup? Every year, how do you approach building a whole PeachFest schedule? Well, I don't want to jump here, John, but I usually start with Andy Frasco. Let's go. I clear the Frasco set first. Let's go. Thanks, boys. That's it thanks that's it i appreciate it

gotta make sure the u.n is together yeah start with any frasco and kind of like go sideways up down and all around i love it but we try you know what i think it is really just what i just said it's like we try to really go back the element you know the piece is all about the element brothers so we try to make sure that it has every little bit of certainty funky nasty stinky but good stinky like just good get get in the get in the grits get in the get in the the corners of it music you know i mean like just just get there that's why when we call our friends john modes deskie, and I mean, Robert Randolph, about the word, tell me they got to get back together to play. They're like, shoot, we've only done a show or two in the last couple of years.

I'm like, yeah, but y'all got to come back here and play this. That's kind of how it happens. If that somewhat, it is what it is. We need road music. We need road tunes. We want music that when you put the top down, you might light up something you might like and drive cross country and just get the smell

and just the icky, icky, icky of it. That's how we built it. I love it. I love it. I mean, yeah, that's basically true in Allman Brothers fashion, right? Yeah, man. Shit. That's what the Allman Brothers fashion, right? Yeah, man. Shit.

That's what the Allman Brothers did. They'd go outside. They'd sit outside of Gilmore East and Gilmore West and wait for anybody who planned it to jump on stage. Yeah, I was going to say, Jeff, too. We try to build that way, too, because we want to get those components in there that when you put them on the same festival on the same day or next to each other, you don't know who's going to show up, who's going to play with who. You kind of try to put that chaos together and hopefully it becomes good chaos you know if somebody sitting in you never know what we're going to what's going to show up who's going to show up that kind of thing that's how we try to build it too especially in the middle of the

sandwich you know so to speak i mean one of our very very proudest moments this year and as far as I'm concerned in the scene is Mr. Billy Strings. Right. Because you know Billy Strings was somewhere down on the bill and now he's a legitimate, not legitimate, but a real headliner and deservedly so. And same with our friends at Goose. We love facts and we've been there from the get with folks like that. You know what I'm saying? That tells you to us what we're so proud of. We love the fact that we've been there from the get with folks like that. You know what I'm saying?

That tells you to us what we're so proud of, of acts like Strings and like Goose that have built, maybe it had everything to do with it, but we're very proud to be involved with the building careers and that kind of movement of younger acts like that. You know, yeah, that's and I was gonna say that too, like, it must feel good to feel that the hard work of developing small acts when you believe in a band since the beginning, and now see them do your festival only a few years later and be a top of the bill. It's like, it's just amazing feeling to be part of the process, right, John?

That's what it's about. That's like it's just amazing feeling to be part of the process right john that's what it's about that's what it's about you know and like jeff said those actually named and like somebody like pigeons who i think played in the parking lot at one point you know right all the way up so that's that's when you know that you've done it right you know and it feels that's the best feeling in the world as a promoter that's that's why we do what we do yeah you know and i think you know as much as the headliners and things and you can roll around and you never know what you're going to see on the grove stage or you know, or on the Mushroom stage. Some cool act you've never heard of and come across and blow your mind, you know, and that's the great stuff too. You know, whether you're going to run across a Daniel Donato who you've never heard of or a neighbor or, you know, Melt or Shady Recruits or something that's just going to be like, whoa, what's that?

You know, those are the fun points. That's beautiful, man. And guys, I just want to say, you know, I've only known you guys a few years, but how much you've helped my career, I just, you know, I'm just thankful to have you guys on my court. So thank you guys so much.

Well, Andy, thank you. I mean, you've been amazing for Peach. I mean, last year was incredible, you know, rolling around like the mayor of the festival, and it was, you know, I think you saw what the community was like, you know, and like how the community takes you in, you know? How did that? It was amazing and to show like how they travel like that's one thing about peach fest every it's not just That's Scranton Philadelphia

Pennsylvania it is like the whole East Coast coming together for this community That is peach fest. Did you think that was ever gonna happen like that when your first start in this fest? No, we didn't we didn't know. But the honest with you, back then there was a lot more of these type of jam festivals than whatever reason they're not around anymore or decided to change course and went pop or whatever's hip now. You know what I'm saying? I think I get what you're saying about this it's like with having so many festivals back then you never knew that it was going to escalate to what it was here you know right john it was regionalized yeah everything was regionalized right i think that's

what he's saying and then through one reason the other you know things fall off or things fell out over the last 10 years and peach is still there strong and stronger than ever and again going back to that community you know like being able to build that community i think you saw last year too like specifically last year because it was such a crazy year coming out of covid like for jeff and i to stay the course and make this thing happen through the trials and tribulations but to come out the other side of it that like made the community even stronger i feel like that makes me more excited to come back this year because of what happened last year you know what i mean yeah now we made it through and we're back we're truly back.

It feels good. It's like that idea of lifers. How the lifers keep growing and keep growing. For you guys to put on such a special thing when some years could be tougher than others and for you to keep going is just, I'm thankful for you.

Thanks guys for being on the show. Appreciate it. Thank you. See you soon. See you in 10 days. Yeah, see you in 10 days. I can't wait. I'm going to give you guys big-ass hugs. See you up on the road, bro. All right, buddy.

Thank you, guys. John. John and Chad from Peach Fest. Thank you. All right, let's get to our interview. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we have the motet, Dave Watts, drummer of the motet. He's the man.

He lives in Boulder, Colorado. Crazy story. He's basically one of the founders. I would honestly say this wholeheartedly. He's one of the music scene founders of Boulder, Colorado. He moved out there in the 90s, built this community, and since then, the funk scene has blossomed in Colorado ever since. So he's one of the godfathers of the Colorado scene. And it was so great to hear his story.

And he's had a lot of trauma in the last couple years. His house burned down in the Marshall fires in Colorado. He lost both his dogs you know it's the ups and downs of the music industry and for him to still have an optimistic view on everything is why i love talking to dave so ladies and gentlemen hey chris play a little um motet while we're while we're um pimping him out so ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the interview hour for the peach fest installment dave watts of the motet wow we have we have the fountain of youth in the podcast studio

dave watts that's me that's you you're the fountain you do not age what is your secret well tequila start there. And playing drums. The Motet. What's up, buddy? How you doing? Fucking tired, man. What's been going on? I'm tired.

Fucking Denver is exhausting. I know. Jesus Christ. Well, you've dealt with so much with the house burning down. I told you we're not talking about depressing things. I know. Not yet. We'll slow grind this.

Dave, I want to know a little bit about Motet. How long has it been going around? I started it in 98. 98? Yeah. See, that's what I'm talking about. Found a youth. This man does not age.

I'm aging like vinegar over here. I was like two when I started it. He's like 33. He's the youngest funk drummer in history. Where were you when you started it? In Boulder, man. Yeah? Boulder was the shit back in the 90s.

What was it like? Everything was the shit in the 90s. It was fucking way better. Yeah? Yeah. Was it easier to sell tickets in the 90s than 2020s? Well, it depends. Like Denver kind of sucked in the 90s.

Really? Really? Yeah. When I moved to Colorado, no one hung out in Denver unless you were going to a sports game. Really? Yeah. When I moved to Colorado, no one hung out in Denver unless you were going to a sports game. Really? Yeah. Yeah, it was like there was not, it was rock. So Boulder was the hit place to play in Colorado?

Yeah. I mean, it was incredible. There was like 20 clubs in Boulder. That was like an Apple store. Yeah. In Google. It was like an Apple store up there. So in the night, so how'd you start it?

Did you move? Are you born and raised in Colorado? No, no, no. Where are you from? All over the East Coast. Really? Yeah, man. So what'd you decide Colorado for?

All right. You ready? Yeah. A little story time. I was in a band called Chakra from the East Coast Boston area. And early jam band though we didn't call it jam band back then yeah but we were buds with some of the guys and fish you know and they were kind of forging this new way do-it-yourself

touring and all that stuff so my bass player Edwin taught Mike how to slap pop. Oh shit. Do that whole thing. Yeah. So do you get bitter sometimes if this got so successful? Of being your homies? No, no,

no, no, not at all. No, no, no. I've seen many bands like, it's like fun.

Enjoy that. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. I'd be pissed if my best friend's band blew up and didn't take me with them. Right. Well, I mean.

Would you too, Nick? No, it's happened to me like 15 times. Yeah. I'm pretty used to it at this point. That's right. And you get on the guest list, so it's fine. Yeah, it's fine. I get to sit in with them sometimes.

Yeah. So you had a band. Did you guys all move? Did Chakra move to Colorado? Like, what'd you hear about colorado well story time like bringing we were um hanging with fish partying with those guys that come over the house whatever so they decided to go um to colorado to play some shows and we saw how successful they were they were playing clubs like you know uh crested butte

the eldo and yeah well no i don't think they ever played the fox oh really how successful they were. They were playing clubs like, you know, Crested Butte, the Eldo, and Fox. Yeah. Well, no, I don't think they ever played at Fox. Oh,

really? Actually, Shocker was the second band to play at Fox. I was going to say, your sticker's still there. Right. Yeah, it's on the wall. Yeah.

I put that shit there like fucking 30 years ago. It's still there. It's still there. It's beautiful. I think they painted it around it. Makes me question the cleaning crew. I love that. I love that.

It kind of makes me question the cleaning crew, but, oh, yeah, it's disgusting. But, oh, yeah, around it. Makes me question. I love that. I love that. It makes me question your cleaning crew, but no, yeah, it's disgusting. But, um, oh yeah. So fish gave back in those days,

if you wanted to be successful, you had to send out a mailer, a little fucking card, you know what I mean? A little postcard or whatever that had all your dates on it. I still have some from the, from way back when my mom,

my mom, like after my house burned, my mom sent me this box she found in her attic and part of it was these fucking cards, man. It was amazing. You had to send them via Pony Express. I'm not that old. Come on, man. That's a Joey Porter joke. It is. So you're passing out these promotional cards. You got your first gig.

Where was it? Fox? Yeah, so we came out to Colorado using Fish's mailing list. They gave us their mailing list. That was the deal. It was like they gave us their mailing list. So we sent out these cards that said, our friends and Fish wanted us to come out and play Colorado

and thought you might be interested, yada, yada. And we sent out these cards and we showed up and fucking every show was sold out and it was like this amazing thing. Like that? Holy shit. Because if you did that back then,

like no one did that and if you did it, you had like, you know, you buy a bunch of beer and get your friends to come over and literally licking stamps to put them on the cards,

you know what I mean? But we did that and, you know, through association, we sold out these shows could be well a fish in Boston Bend yeah yeah and we played the Fox theater we were like the second band I think the meters were the first band we the second band to play the Fox and Boulder and you know that show was sold out and to loggy next door was sold out with leftover salmon and then there was a

bullet theater was sold out with another jam band group i don't know the taylors next to that it was just i was crazy like up on the hill it was just madness you know it's just tour kids you know hippie kids uh it was it was great before the internet really was like really cracking and cell phones man we had to look at a map yeah how did you tour it was so fucked up like we looked at him i would literally go to a telephone booth and call my agent to figure out where the next gig was you know what i mean like yeah literally or like do an interview with the newspaper and putting quarters into a you know pay phone kind of thing you know like that it was more of the wild wild west how did we do that i don't know how we did it well you made it through it if you get lost so i mean if we didn't do that we wouldn't be here now yeah did you ever get the wrong directions and get lost

dude always we don't like the band's the worst one yeah we ended up almost in canada at one point trying trying to get here and then and then like in the middle of winter trying to go through estes park which was closed you know yeah go around it's like oh yeah you gotta notice that it says closed in winter on the point on the map and you're already halfway there yeah people don't they don't they don't teach you how to read maps at berkeley do they that would be a great question how to do taxes how to read a map and how to wait did you like going to berkeley drive a cab yeah um did i like it yeah you know no one likes you don't want to Yeah. Did I like it? Yeah, you know. No one likes, you don't want to admit it if you liked it. Yeah.

You know what I mean? What did you like about it? There's just too many fucking metalheads, man. Jesus Christ. There's like, you know, the population of the school is like 80% first semester kids that don't know what they're doing with their life, and so they want to go. Right. And then, you know.

Drop out. Drop out, you know, drop out, you know, I literally had the kid next to me was just this shredder metal head. All you could do was think about how to play faster and then kept turning up his metronome and like, just so obsessed that he went bonkers. Like he literally,

his mom had to come and pick him up. I don't know. And now he's CEO of Google. Oh my God. up take them home i don't know and now he's ceo of google yeah oh my god it's insane so you did you graduate berkeley no no one does no one graduates berkeley yeah they always says what's the thing if you graduate you failed yeah right where are you still here i know a couple people who graduated what uh that's so crazy so was it expensive in the 90s no berkeley yeah no i think it's way more expensive now they got the facilities now are yeah it's just insane back then it was cheap it was like seven grand a year so oh my god yeah

right yeah so who told you to quit i just joined this band we started touring like what am i doing in school you know i mean like you just started working and doing the thing so you don't need to keep taking classes you know was chakra popping in northeast yeah yeah man that was like people like oh i thought it was gonna be chakra that got big not fish you know i mean like no you hear that from our fans all the time oh that must hurt like people were like betting no we're like kind of like betting between like no chakra man it's going to be the band why are jam band fans so territorial i don't know it's weird indie rock not as bad as no this is like yeah they take jam bands like it's a sporting yeah they're all cults yes yeah well tell d Dave your theory about jam band cults.

Every band is a cult, and they each have their followers, and the guitar player in each cult is the best guitar player in the world. Everybody thinks the guitar player in their jam band is the best jam band. Maybe metal bands might be a little bit like this, too, actually. There's other scenes where this happens. It's not hip-hop. Anyway, every band markets themselves, but they won't admit it, but they're just other scenes where this happens. It's not hip-hop. Anyway, every band markets themselves, but they won't admit it, but they're just

all starting individual cults. Right. It makes sense, right? Wow. Yeah. I got so many questions about this. Yeah. What got you into jam music in the 90s if it was so new? Right. Well, it was like, if you like jazz

and you like to improvise you know what I mean no one called it jamming I mean you call it jamming if you wanted to like sure talk about what you're doing but no you weren't labeled as that

it was just like if you like jazz and you wanted to improvise but you wanted an audience that was dancing and wasn't just sitting in chairs because I you know I didn't like

the sort of experience of a jazz show where it was just dudes sitting, everyone sitting in chairs and golf clap or whatever. You know what I mean? I always liked listening to those Cannonball Adderley records where everyone's screaming and shit.

Yeah, jazz used to be cool and like punk rock. Yeah. Right, right. And then college kind of ruined it. Yeah, maybe you're right. Seems like it. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it got more sterile.

It's got less like rowdy. It's got a little Scholastic there Yeah Have you heard of Spooky Daily Pride I've heard it What is it Boston band

Oh yeah Kind of punk rock Yeah My bass player was in that band From Oh really Boston When

He's your same age Spooky Daily Pride Spooky Daily Pride Yeah It was a Boston band Yeah 90s too And then what about

And then G Love too was in the 90s oh yeah no no g love actually called me at one point and uh wanted to audition as this chakra singer really what was that like give me this story what the fuck really so i wish i'm super tight with the bass player jim prescott Um, we went to college together. Oh, sick. Yeah. He, um, I was, I was in my dorm playing this practice pad kit, you know, and I had an actual symbol and somehow I thought I could get away with like playing in the dorm, you know? And, um, and he heard me just, you know, shedding. I thought it was going to be somebody like complaining, but he's like, you know, I opened the door and he's like, hey, my band needs a drummer.

We were playing the Dorm Talent Show. Danielson Dorm Talent Show, Boston University, like 1985 or some shit. Holy shit, did people show up? Yeah, dude, it was, yeah, man, it was fucking great. I was like so excited, like my first gig in Boston. So was it nerve wracking if your band was like popping in the Northeast and then all sudden you're like hey we're making this move to Colorado like

kind of the unknown you just like put your dick out there and just did that yeah well the whole band didn't move just me oh we're quit I quit. Oh, man. Let's go. Let's go. Now I'm in the story. Now I'm in the story. The drama. The drama. What happened? You know, just shit happens, man. Sometimes you just got to get out. I would get on my bike and ride around Boston being like, get me the fuck out of this city.

It was just driving me crazy. I couldn't get out of this city. Is it a racist city? Huh? It's a racist city. Racist. Oh, well, it depends on where you are, like Northeast and stuff. Yeah.

Yeah, for sure. Everyone's just angry, man. It's a racist city. Racist. Oh, well, it depends on where you are, like Northeast and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Everyone's just angry, man. Like, we showed up at the Fox Theater, and the sound guy comes running out. Our first gig in Boulder, and he comes running out. It's like, hey, guys, what's up? Let me help you carry your stuff.

Everyone was so happy. Like, the people working, the crew at the venue, they were smiling. I couldn't believe it. We were just like, what's going on right now? Boston just gets dark. Yeah, and you said, I had to get the fuck out of here. Yeah, I had to get out.

And then you get to fucking Happy Land, Colorado. Oh, my God. It was a miracle, yeah. It felt so, like I said, the 90s were nice. It was chill. Everything was like. Were you getting bummed out that in Boston, it it didn't feel like you're you're too nice for that city yeah maybe maybe it was just making me dark and i was like i don't need to you know how much of it was the weather it's the

weather man it's fucking i think the weather's it's cold like it's it's it's cloudy in portland and in seattle but it's not as cold it's cold and cloudy in Boston for many months I mean it's nice in July you got like 30 days yeah I was at the Celtics Warriors finals game

in Boston they were just fucking mean they were like screaming at Steph Curry's family you're a bitch. Like, yo, it's just a basketball game. They take everything very seriously. It's dark, yeah. Well, you know, and I don't want to generalize.

No, fuck that. No, no, we're here to generalize people. We're here to generalize. We're here to generalize large groups of people from entire cities. Hell yeah. Fuck that. It's just sports. You can generalize sports fans.

So you got out of the band. You moved to Denver. Moved to Boulder. Moved to Boulder. Sorry. Yeah. So did the Shock, did Chakra

played in Boulder once and then they decided to quit? I mean. No, we came back. No, we came back like three times. Okay. We toured like from 91

to 94. Oh, okay. Coming out here. But, yeah, dude, I was just like, I'm staying. I'm just staying, you know, and starting over. And I got out here and I just like, we found this house that was kind of like a hippie commune. You know, it was like, I found this house that was like on four acres of land, but then on all this open space. And we ended up being just like 20 musicians living there.

This is like 1994, 95. It was a legit cult. That's the cult that we're talking about. I mean, there's so many cults, bro. That was legit. What kind of hippie cult? Were you guys all fucking each other? Yeah, were you fucking each other?

What was going on? Well, there was fucking, but... There was fucking. Yeah. People were fucked. It did go down like that a little bit. Nice. But, you know, it was all happy.

There wasn't any weird vibes with that. And then we had a garden. The guys in String Cheese lived there for a while. What? Mike Travis was there. He was barefoot for like eight months in the winter. And I was like, Jesus, dude. He lived in a tent.

Yeah. What? Behind the house. Yeah, he lived in a tent behind the house. Just because he's like that? It was cheap, man. I was paying like $ bucks a month for rent man where were you sleeping i slept in this like out building that had a raccoon living in the roof and one night it was raining really hard and the roof caved in like the ceiling because it was leaking into the ceiling

and eventually just came in and there was just raccoon shit everywhere. It was... What the fuck? Yeah, it was... I had a tapestry and it was hanging down. It was dark. I thought it was a ghost. It was just...

It got freaked out. Were you getting into psychedelics at these times? Oh, yeah. We were very high. Clearly. Clearly. Clearly. What was your drug of choice?

I think L. You know, mushrooms too. Mushrooms are better now. Just all the psychedelic stuff. Mushrooms are better now? Yeah, because you can get the goo. The goo's like right there. And you're like eating actual mushrooms.

Was this before? Didn't you like live in Hawaii for a while? Oh, yeah. That's another good story. Was this before Boulder? No, I did Hawaii between. Quitting the band and moving to Boulder? Yeah, I quit the band, moved to Hawaii for a few months.

Didn't you just live in some cave? I lived in a cave, man. You lived in a cave in a cave? Backtrack? What the fuck? I had to make sure this got in there. You lived in a cave? Just kind of like cleansing your palate, you know what I mean?

Like if you're going to like start over, you might as well get off the grid. Damn. And just live in a cave, man. It was fucking cool. Was it free? I think it's still there. I showed Josh Fairman. You think the cave's still there?

No, Josh Fairman and Kevin are like some squabbies. They're like going to... And they actually hit me up and like, where's your cave? Really? I got on Google Maps and like Google Earth or whatever. And like I pinpointed it. You know like where it is that well? Yes. I do it is because there's landmarks around it but it's it's off the beaten path like you have to like kind of sneak into it was it legal what you were doing probably not

i mean were you was it lonely living in a cave no dude i would I would spend the entire day just in a hammock, reading books, uh, listening to tunes on my, um, walkman. Did you have any friends with you or anything? Nope. By myself. And, uh, well, my buddy, Jamie Chan over, he runs Sonic Blue. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, he actually went out there with me and we like, he's living on one side of the island and he come visit me and I would run my bike. Like it'd be like 15 miles up these crazy roads to get to Hana, which is, you know, this groovy little town in Maui. And I'd go buy, like, some tuna fish and some, like, mayonnaise and some yogurt. Wow. And I lived on that for, like, five days at a time. And I'd pick papayas off a tree.

Why'd you pick Hawaii? Well, why not? I mean, it's fucking gorgeous, right? And how long did this go on? I lived in the cave for like a couple months. What the hell? Yeah. And I could see the big island and the snow caps.

And there was like a freshwater stream that ran down. I would swim in it every day. And then I climbed the waterfall. Dude, I was blissing out. Did you feel really healthy at the end of that ran down. I would swim in it and every day and then like climb the waterfall. Dude, I was blissing out. Did you feel really healthy at the end of that? Yes.

I said, all right, I'm going to take this moment with me for the rest of my life. No matter what, I'm going to have this little, this little like memory. This explains so much.

This does explain so much. You're so zen all the time. That's what I was going to ask you. I heard that. So like- Then you get that little place to visit when things get stressful or whatever, you know? So that's what I was going to say.

You learned how to calm your brain down through those times in Hawaii. Right. And realize that time, you would think that if you had nothing to do for 18 hours a day, that you'd get really bored, you know? But it's like time would go by really fast

it didn't feel like i was like okay now what you know what i mean like because i would go snorkeling and stuff in the little bay yeah and there's these big rocks it was like it wasn't that came from the river it wasn't sand and they would go up and down with the waves of the of the you know the tide and just make this super soothing meditative sound. Were you playing music then? I had my practice band. I was sitting on a rock with my practice band. No fucking way.

Did you have any dangerous situations at all? Nothing? No, I don't remember. Like raining too hard? I ate shit on my bike once, that was pretty scary. Were psychedelics involved in this part of your life? Of course. I also have brought some weed, so I was smoking weed.

Okay, cool. All right, shout out. Shout out. Have you ever been back to the cave since you left? No. I do want to go back. That's so crazy that you never went back once. I don't think you should.

No. And here's why. Interesting. Because your memory of it is so beautiful and pure that if you try to go back to it and something's bad there, what if there's a dead body in there? True. What if you forgot you killed someone? What if you forgot you killed someone?

Like there's a skeleton there and you're like, oh my god, I was a serial killer. What if the bass player's chakra is in that game? I totally forgot that I spazzed out. That would be amazing. I totally forgot I spazzed out and killed someone. Okay, so you're zenned out. you get back to boulder yeah yeah what was your game yeah yeah um well we found the hippie house so that was good that was a part of the game plan yeah and then um just to build a community community i think was the game plan because boston didn't feel like it

had much of a community you know people were just a little more like rat raced yeah you know like just everything's about a gig and like getting paid or whatever and i would just call people get people's numbers and call them hey you want jam we just set up jam sessions at the house right and um and that's basically what i did i mean my rent was 150 bucks you know what i mean so i didn't i played two gigs a month and I was good. So yeah, I would just set up these jam sessions at the house. And just- But you still kind of do. Yeah, that's true.

Yeah, you're right. I did a lot of that actually during the pandemic. Yeah, I remember your house was the jam house. That's true. Socially safe. Socially safe, of course. Yeah, no, of course. Wink. Wink.

Okay, so through these years of these jam sessions in Hawaii. Well, no jam sessions in Hawaii. I mean, sorry, jam sessions in Boulder. Yeah. That's when you started finding your band members? Or how'd that happen? Yeah, well, this is, I mean, originally it was called Dave Watts Motet. Uh-huh.

Because, you know, I was putting together these different, Dave Watts Trio, Dave Watts Quartet, Quintet, yada, yada. I was like, I'm just going to call it the motet so I don't have to change the poster. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, so we got a gig. I mean, I was building up the community playing, you know, jamming and doing local gigs. I mean, honestly, I was playing like 25 shows a month

just in Boulder. Holy shit. You know what I mean? Between Boulder and Nederland. They didn't get sick of you? No, dude. They loved it. So cool. Because they didn't really have, you know, the stuff we were doing, you know, acid jazz and funk and world music and just, we were kind of

expanding the sort of idea. Yeah. You know, cause there was like more like folk music and hippie rock and that sort of thing happening back in those days. So we kind of like, we're expanding this. Plus you couldn't just hop on YouTube and watch whatever you want at any time.

Like going to a concert was much more valuable then. Right. Right. Yeah, exactly. That's a good point. So you build this community, you're starting to gig out with Dave Watts going solo.

And seeing like String Cheese, you know, kicking ass. Those guys we had on tour and they come back to the house. They were starting to pop. Mike King was living at the house. Travis was living at the house. They leave their bus there. So we were all inspired by, you know, the success people were finding, you know. Who inspired you the most to work hard?

Oh, shit. That's a good question. I mean, those guys for sure. Seeing Phish blow up, that was for sure. You know what I mean? Just all of our friends doing well and getting into it. I think that even just the local guys were just psyched to be playing music.

Wasn't about the gig necessarily. Just psyched to play playing music. Right. It wasn't about the gig necessarily. It was just psyched to play music and have a community. So what I was saying is I got a call to do the Mountain Sun. Do you know the Mountain Sun? Yeah, I used to play that on those Mondays. Yeah, right. Yeah, I played it too. And Sundays too.

They had the one on Pearl Street. Yeah. But they called me to play their Halloween party. And their Halloween parties at that point were notorious because they'd make this mushroom beer. Really? Yeah, mushroom beer.

It was so crazy. And it was strong, like really wild. So like, they got rowdy, those Halloween parties. I think I did three of them. Yeah?

But that was the first motet show. Really? Dave Watts motet. So when did you start getting singers um yeah we started out as like instrumental like dom in the band right away no okay dom dominic lolly yeah yeah he was like 2005 i think okay um we had some singers doing like back then we were doing a lot of afro cuban We had some singers doing like back then we were doing a lot of Afro Cuban and Brazilian music. Yeah. Yeah, we're doing a lot of world music. So which was really fun. I went to Cuba three times study bata Really? Yeah, so we were more wrapped around percussion. So boring go back to Cuba now. What the fuck? You're just throwing these curveballs like like it's everyone goes to Cubaa to learn right okay so you're in cuba now

well you're uh that was like 2000 i went there like on the oh no it was 98 because it was also way harder to go to cuba then wasn't it it was you had to sneak in and it could be sketchy yeah and they um it was like we got there on in 1998 so it was it was a new year's eve so it was the um it was the um anniversary of the revolution so people were just out in the street people throw water balloons out of the window when they celebrate in cuba it's kind of interesting so cool but we got there and then and then we were staying with the family it's called casa particular and you you stay with the family and it's kind of off the books. So, you know, you could get in some trouble for it. But I had, to even get into the country,

we were supposed to show that we're going to a hotel, but we didn't have a hotel. We were going to this house. So like the sort of, you know, security there that were getting us through, and we were the last people to get in for whatever reason, our flight was delayed. We're given such a hard time.

And like, I was with my girlfriend at the time and she was crying and it was all this thing and so i ended up bribing the security guy like 20 bucks and he let us into the country it was like a little sketch you know what i mean 20 bucks is all it took yeah you know you know a lot of money yeah for them that was especially in 20s yeah 2000s. Yeah, 98. 98. Yeah. And Janz, our singer, actually went to Cuban jail for like a week.

Why? Because he left the country to... You're supposed to stay for a month and then you have to like renew your visa. So he left

and came back and he thought that would do the trick but he didn't have a return ticket. I don't know, they got caught up with some weird

bureaucratic thing and they were like giving him a hard time. He's like, just take me back to where my stuff is and I'll show you my return ticket or whatever. And they just took him straight to jail. And he was there with no one speaking English. Was he scared?

Yeah. At one point, the lady from the consulate showed up and she was like, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. She gave him a hard time. He thought he was going to be there for like, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. She gave him a hard time. He thought he was going to be there for like, he met people in Cuban jail that had been there for years because they had a layover that got messed up.

And it was just like. This is when they were starting to get real spicy between America and Cuba. Yeah. Yeah. It was definitely like, you know, they were not. But now that you can get there. I can fly to the southwest on points.

Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah, there's no embargo. We're back, baby. Yeah, it's way back. We're back. that's you can get there on it yeah i can fly there southwest on points yeah that's amazing we're back baby yeah we're back it's way better um that's so so weren't you kind of scared like if you got in trouble they'd keep you in jail like were you doing some ratchet out there or just focusing on drums no just on drums and trying to like, you know, absorb the culture. And like the next day we went to this place called Calle Honda Hamel. This is like, you know, January 1st or whatever, 1998, 99. And they have these ceremonies, you know, like Cuban,

African-Cuban ceremonies, Santeria. There's always like, you know, they believe that the blood of the animals has like ashe or like energy to it. So we go down to this Calle Honda Hamel and they're having a ceremony for the just tourists, you know what I mean? Whatever. And we're like, wow, this is great. Like great drumming and guys like dancing around and he picks up this turtle and just bites the head off this turtle and just starts sucking the blood just right into his mouth you know what i mean this is like on the street i'm like holy shit man we're in for a fucking wide is that gluten-free yeah it was intense man i was like this this shit is serious what'd you learn about the culture

uh it's just like you know the culture in cuba is so cool because street culture you know and everyone's out in the street walking because there's not even that many cars you know like all these old cars from the 1950s yeah oh yeah but there's so much action in the street and everyone's like the community community is huge you know what i mean like it's just everyone knows everyone in havana and. And people don't have a lot of stuff, you know what I mean? It's kind of amazing. Like you go and like people are dressed really nice and like nice sneakers and like everything is clean

and pressed and like everyone's looking sharp. And then you go into their house and there's just like a fridge and one painting on the wall and like two chairs. And that's all I got. You know what I mean? Like there's just not a lot of stuff. And there'll be like eight people living in a tiny little apartment

that's kind of falling apart. What'd you learn about simplicity? Well, it's like living in the cave, man. It's just like you can get away, your life can get away with a lot less stuff. And in fact, less stuff can really help with your sort of clarity your your mental

state do you think of that it's the same way as the pocket yeah right clearing out the stuff yeah like you know playing simpler you know i think that's like generally my styles is played yeah simple you know like backbeats and see that laying it down and sort of hearing whatever everyone else is adding to it you know so you went to hawaii to clear your head then you went to cuba to get good at drums did you feel like you got really good after that yeah but i mean you go there and you hear like a 12 year old just ripping yeah it's like the new orleans horn player thing yeah they're just like it's in the in their blood yeah it's it's so deep yeah at such a young age. Yeah. So you get back to Boulder

with this new sense of mentality. Yeah. And what happened then? Right. We started playing a lot more Cuban music. Yeah. Janz, our singer,

he was steeped in it too. So we did a lot of Afro-Cuban stuff and Brazilian stuff. What was your first break? You think with Motet? First break? Like you felt like, damn, this is really starting to pop. Yeah.

Well, we played Aspen Jazz, Jazz Aspen Music Festival. What was that? Was that a popping thing? Yeah. Is it still popping? I met James Brown. What? How cool is that?

You talked to him? Yes. I shook his hand. What'd you talk to him about? No, I just said, thank you for everything. You know what I mean? He was there with his wife. is that you talked to him yes shook his hand what'd you talk to him about man i just no i just said thank you for everything yeah you know what i mean he was there with his wife like i shook his hand and we had a nice exchange and then you walk over the elevator and then he walks up right next to us at the elevator and then it got super awkward because i was just like oh you already

said goodbye i was like now i gotta wait in the elevator with james was it silent there in the elevator yeah i was just like now what do i say in the elevator with James Brown. Was it silent there in the elevator? Yeah, I was just like, now what do I say? It's like when you're leaving somewhere with someone and it looks like you're following them, but your car is just parked next to each other or something in the parking lot. I swear I'm not stalking you. How important is James Brown to funk music?

Well, he was it, right? Yeah. I mean, I'm no historian. You can talk to Deitch about all that you know but um yeah come on that wouldn't be it what it is wouldn't be what it was you could argue he sort of invented hip-hop almost yeah i mean you know it was one of the you know yeah you know i also i'm thinking about you know identity of a band you know it's like It's so weird how they place a vocal voice with the identity

of a band. When you've had three or four vocalists, how hard is it to... It's a weird thing. It's weird to play songs that Lyle wrote and then have a different singer. No offense, Nick, but you can have a different horn player and it doesn't really make a difference.

It's fine. He's saying you're replaceable, Nick. but you can have a different horn player and it doesn't really make a difference. It's fine. Yeah, it's fine. He's saying you're replaceable, Nick. Okay. In a good way. I'm sorry my saxophone doesn't light up and have smoke come out of it. Hey, fuck off. But is it hard to always...

Ever since I've been with you, or we haven't been with each other, but ever since I've known you, you've had different singers. And it's like, is it like, do you have to feel like you have to rebuild the band every time there's a new singer? Yeah, man. No, I do, actually. Because going back to Chakra,

I actually used to write lyrics and melodies for the vocals. I'd write the vocal songs. But then for a singer, not me know, but then for a singer, not me to sing, but for a singer. And then we lost our singer. I guess that's why we broke up because we lost our singer. And,

um, and that's like, what do we do now? You know what I mean? Like a different guy trying to sing the same words might, it might not work. You know what I mean? So,

I mean, Sammy Hagar did it. Yeah. I guess that worked. Did you ever try singing? I, they made me did it. Yeah. I guess that worked out. Did you ever try singing? They made me sing once. No. It was terrible.

What song was it? What show was it? What happened? It was a song I wrote. I don't remember what it was called. Was it Chakra or Motet? Chakra. No, I'm not.

No. I did that once and I'm like, all right, that's it. Why don't you want to? Drummers who sing actually are really good at drumming. Yeah. Like Levon Helm. Phil Collins. Nicky. Andy Avila. Yeah. that's it why don't you want well the drummers who sing actually are are really good at drumming yeah like leon helm phil collins nikki andy avla yeah jesse from full house but no there's something about a pocket a singer you know drummer who sings things is like their pocket tends to be really good yeah i mean i think do you not write song sing write lyrics and melodies for your new motet songs anymore no I mean I write grooves and I let you know other guys do that stuff it takes a lot man yeah writing takes a lot

for me you know I'm like my quick at it I write things because I want to play the things mm-hmm I don't necessarily write to write like I think the best writers are guys that just write because they're just hearing shit and they get it out. And for me, it's like, well, I want to play this kind of groove for the live show, so I'll write something that is appropriate. So you just say, all right, I'm making this groove. Vocalist, fuck off. You figure this out.

Well, it's a lot easier to write instrumental music and then change your lineup, you know what I mean? And then you can still do that you know that music you know and now you're kind of instrumental again right yeah yeah we're like half and half you know what i mean but you know why don't you have a singer that we're meant to be an instrumental band i mean i love playing his wrong music but i feel like we all like yearn for a singer the singer and a vocal the vocal element that just brings in the audience and has a message and you know vandy's band falls apart maybe you guys can hire mota yeah are you are you hard to be in a band with

no he's not i've worked for him enough times yeah yeah i'm the easy one i'm just annoying what do you what what annoys you no nothing annoys me I'm just I'm annoying why because you know at one point they wrote a song called where's Dave okay on that level yeah see when I work I like okay guys like to move quick I can't like to saunter I'm a center yeah that's a word you live in a cave in Hawaii yeah so you're a flo in Hawaii. Yeah. So you're a floater. Yeah. But your pocket is so strong. No, that's what I'm saying.

There's got to be two sides of you, Dave, because this freedom, the idea of freedom, but then your pocket is so strong that that's got to be a different mind state in itself. Where does that come from? Right. Well, I mean, music. I know what the music should sound like.

There's that so like um and i like i like to play for a dancing audience right so for me it's like if i keep it simple and keep it steady yeah you know i'm satisfying like my purpose i've always felt like i never when i work for you you're like one of the best guys to work for it's always very prepared organized you lead the band well i'm a little OCD with that. But you're not a sauntery on those gigs, I guess, because we're not traveling. So I guess I don't see that side of it. Right. Yeah. Well, maybe, yeah, maybe I put in all that effort so I can saunter.

Yeah, maybe. See, you're a preparer. He saunters up and then he kills it. You prepare so you can float. Yeah, right. That's how I am too. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, right right if you do your homework and you spend the time ahead of time to like make sure everything's legit and you know and you know

there's a lot of these life's easier is there a formula to make people dance um it's a good question there's definitely a formula to make them not dance you know what i mean true but what's the formula to make people dance? I think being steady, no matter what it is. Because if you go to Cuba or you go to Brazil, the rhythms themselves are way different. So it's not a rhythmic or a pattern concept to make people dance necessarily.

But I think it's also like a sort of, you know, group thing. If everyone's, I think it's probably the least danceable bands or bands where everyone's kind of doing their own thing and not really locking in with each other. Right. You know what I mean? That's like distracting from like that feeling. I don't know, like, you know.

You ever notice like some of the musicians that play the most pocket stuff or whatever don't know like you know you know you ever notice like like some of the musicians that play the most pocket stuff or whatever don't dance yeah musicians don't do yeah yeah I mean or like it's you know like it's almost like what it will ask the dancer what makes you know yeah I was at Krasnows wedding star-studded event all jammed crazy. Not one person wanted to dance at the wedding. I was like, damn, we're with a bunch of musicians and nobody's fucking dancing.

You have a point there. It could be that. I feel like the people who give the music aren't the dancers. Right. Because you're giving them the dance. Right, right, right. Exactly.

Yeah, it's a different feeling. Yeah, it makes sense. I do like to practice my ballet three or four hours a day. I have one of those mirrors with the bar in front of it. Yeah. It's so wild, Dave. Okay, so now we're in the mid-2000s. Who was the first singer that came into your world as Motet? Well, Janz was, and that was early, actually. What happened? He kind of,

he did like some, he did an album or two and then bounced and came back for a while and bounced again. So like, you know, he was actually

first a percussionist with us and then the singing was like an additional thing. He's killing it then. Oh, I met him in Connecticut. Does he live in Connecticut?

No, Portland. Portland. Oh, that's where I met him. I met him in Portland, Oregon. Yeah, did you? Oh, I met him in Connecticut. Does he live in Connecticut? No, Portland. Portland. Oh, that's where I met him. Portland, Oregon. I met him in Portland, Oregon. Yeah, did you? Yeah, I met him once.

He has a goatee. On a motet tour? No, no. We just played a show in Portland. Taller guy? Taller guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He does something else now.

He raises kids. Yeah, he's raising the hell out of his kids. I took him around the world and stuff. He did. Fucking awesome. So, was he your best friend in the band yeah we were tight he's good yeah he's he's good like um he's just one of those sort of you know your bands like maybe find balance you know what i mean with different members and that sort of thing and like he's good balance was it hard when

you wanted to leave um no because i started the band knowing that everyone's going to leave at some point. That's sad. Oh, no, I think it's not sad at all. It's realistic. It's realistic because you're basically a front man in the band name. I said to myself, if I'm going to do anything, members are going to change. The music's going to change. It's just the way of the world.

But at least I can have the name stay the same. And you don't have to redo the brand. At least you have that and that keeps your base. I feel like, speaking of bass, Garrett's been in the band for a long time. Yeah, Garrett's the longest standing member for sure. Man, lucky there.

That guy's amazing. I think also the situation you had with Chakra prepared you to have an open door policy with your band. Because how you said, oh man, I got to change the band name now that the singer's gone. Right, yeah. You know? So maybe that, like with that subconsciously teaching you,

like, all right, up and down, but I know I'm going to be doing this forever. Right. And whoever wants to come on the ride, come on the ride. Right, yeah. It's fucking awesome. Yeah, no hard feelings. No, you know,

weird shit. It's just like. So you're a guy who doesn't give up. No. I mean, what else do I got? Yeah. You know what I mean?

Like, I can always move back to the cave, I suppose. What about, are you a guy who has a backup plan or just full on dive into one thing? No. No backup plans.

No. Yeah. There's no plan B b do you feel like a plan b distracts you from plan a yeah i think so because then you're like uh when do i make plan b happen instead of just like right it's all the same plan man yeah so now let's go let's go move band now 2022. yep so as the band gets you know grows more and you know you see the ups and downs of the music industry what's your take on the state of the music industry in the state of jam music oh damn that's deep bro uh it's i think it's different right now than it was six months ago right it's kind of like tell me about it well it's just like the pandemic thing it's like i still feel like there's a decent amount of people that are wary

about going out into crowds yeah you know what i mean so selling tickets is weird you know numbers are down in a lot of festivals and you know yeah ticket sales ticket sales are tough you know um it's just like yeah you know the whole like streaming thing and how to monetize that you know that's like a whole thing too so but on the other side the streaming thing is great for exposure and people like you know your music will precede you whereas it used to be like got a tour of this town three times and then like bring the cds every time and hope that like 15 people buy cds and they tell their friends and, you know,

it used to be a big deal when you'd sell like 10 CDs at a show. Yeah. Like, Oh, people are going to hear the music. Now it's like, you just, it's out there,

you know what I mean? Everyone's going to hear your music. So that's a whole different story. It's, I think it's great. You think it's easier to make albums now than ever? Yeah. Yeah.

Oh yeah. But it's also easier to make garbage. Of course. Right. You know what I mean? But the actual act of completing but it's also easier to make garbage of course right you know what i mean but the actual act of completing it's easier right and cheaper i feel like yeah it's almost like it's almost hard to know when you're done you know it's like yeah there were it's like recordings like you you have so many options creative options yeah like if you're doing it at home you know you can just keep mixing and doing all this stuff and then like when is it done and

it could be the same with making a record like a lot of people are releasing singles yeah yeah before the album comes up you know what i mean it's like okay what's you know at what point is it the album or the a bunch of singles you know what i mean so it's like i don't know but it's also hard because like you're touching on a little bit that funk music and jam music doesn't get the streams that a songwriter well except for like the nugs on that thing that's the only time you're getting pennies you're not getting fucking real mailbox but i mean like live recordings get more streams than actual studio recordings yeah and youtube you know but you're not in the millions. No. Like these folk singers. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

So how do we change the state of royalty and streaming music? I think of a dude like Otis McDonald in Krasno's band. Okay, yeah. Where he just makes these 20-second funky things for YouTube and Facebook and just builds all these loops. Yeah. You know? Oh, he sells them as loops? makes these 20 second funky things for YouTube and Facebook and like just builds all these, just loops. Yeah.

You know? Oh, he sells them as he sells loops and he sells loops to all these different commercials and stuff to make money. What, what like I look at these guys like color red and I look like these other, cause you're, you've done a few things with color.

Yeah. I feel like they have a good business model of how to get funk bands and jam bands revenue yeah publishing publishing yeah and um you know i guess like if you do instrumental music is it easier or harder to get publishing it's got it in my brain i think it'd be easier right because there's a lot more things that need instrumental music versus but it's just like don't the seven people who control the whole fucking commercial world or the music supervisors who control all the movies you have to get with them and like it's hard to do that and from Denver yeah yeah so that's why live music is like the only way we can yeah selling tickets is like my bread and butter always.

I've always, I've never experienced like that much mailbox money. Yeah. You know, when I know it's out there and I know that people. Luckily, jam band people go to stuff. Well,

he's saying they're not going to stuff right now. But nobody is in any industry. EDM? Yeah. Yeah. I think EDM and the jam band world are a little bit linked to. Country? No, EDM and jam band. world are a little bit linked to Country? No EDM and jam band

Well here there's crossover with everything Same kids are going to Bluegrass They're going to Skrillex So like with that idea of you're saying Like it's scary the last six months Where you rely on making Selling tickets and you can't Is that scary about your livelihood?

Well yeah I suppose Yeah it's kind of like If you can't, is that scary you about your livelihood? Well, yeah, I suppose, yeah, it's kind of like if you don't tour, you can only play so much locally without just being a full-on freelance artist. And that's not necessarily my cup of tea to be just a freelance artist. Although around here, we're pretty blessed. We could make a living doing it. Denver is like...

I do. That's what you do. Pretty much, yeah. It's easier when you're a horn player, though. You tour, is that right? Yeah. When I can,

but also I am freelance. You know what I mean? What's your ideal tour schedule? How many days? You know, I feel like I would like to do something different because right now

we're out every weekend. You know what I mean? Or we do these gigs. Like we opened up for P-Funk last week and, um, you're doing the whole tour with them, right? We're doing a bunch of dates,

but it's not, you know, it's like weekend stuff and, and you know, one else, but it was like three, it was meant to be three days of travel. It ended up being four days of travel because the flight got canceled for a 40 40 minute set you know what i mean it's like god damn man like it's

so a lot of work a lot of work you know what i mean you could do a lot in four days you know and do you run the business side of it too i used to we have manager yeah but like you're still like still in there yeah you know you got to manage the manager yeah someone's got to do that oh yeah let's go that's that gangster shit i'm talking about micromanage i'm on 7s2 so i do that i'm on i'm on schwarzenegger's back all the fucking time i saw him i saw him there he was like he looked like he was working yeah at red rocks he was he was like... I want to go a little further now. Are memories important to you? Memories?

Yeah. Of course, man. Of course. I mean, you can't... Can't remember everything. You go crazy. I know. People are like, remember that time we hung out?

And I'm like, no. How hard was it to lose the house that you've been in forever? Oh, yeah. That was rough. I mean, you know, again, that was, you know, a moment where it's just like letting go and just, you know, not being attached to the physical thing, you know, so.

What was that day like for you when you heard your house was getting burned down? It was a wild ride. It kind of sucked, to be honest, you know what I mean? It kind of really sucked. Because we didn't, when I heard it, because it's so weird, man. Like, you wouldn't think a house in a residential neighborhood like we were in. It's kind of like Pleasantville, man.

Like, manicured lawns and kids running out in the street. And it was all, like, chill. And we were all in open space. It wasn't like we were in the woods where, you know, forest fires happen. It was like a subdivision. What was that fire called again? Yeah. Marshall Fire.

Marshall Fire. Did it happen quickly? Like how long? Yeah, dude. Like so quick because of the wind. I think the recipe is the wind. When you have hurricane forest winds. And the dry grass everywhere.

I honestly thought that the grass was not going to be a big deal. Like we're on prairie. It's like you wouldn't think that there'd be a threat with fire, and it'd be easy to bring in trucks into a neighborhood and spray down whatever needed to be sprayed down. But apparently, it was like with that wind, the flames were going sideways. Whoa.

And then the sparks and embers were flying like a mile and a half up and then landing somewhere else and then taking out another neighborhood. Like these different neighborhoods were being taken out, separated. So ours was on the front lines. We were right there where it started. And our tour manager, Jason Bruton, just happened to be driving by that area on 93 in Boulder. And he called me.

He's like, are you home right now? I was like, no, we're in L.A. Yeah, you were getting ready for New Year's gigs. Yeah, we were down in L.A. And I was like, no, I'm at home. What's up? And he's showing me these pictures like fucking Armageddon, like the amount of smoke that was in the air. But I still just couldn't believe that was happening.

We had neighbors that were actually there and were trying to get stuff out of their houses. And the fire was so fast coming in that their house was burning, like their doors open and embers flying and their houses were burning from the inside out just because it was so chaotic and just so much. Did people die people died yeah some older folks people that couldn't get out oh really i didn't actually didn't know that yeah yeah you got you and you you know your dogs passed away yeah right yeah that was the worst part of it it's just the pups man two dogs and a cat i was seen i

was watching um pk's and just graham's story oh he was trying to go to your house to get the dogs. He did get in. He just stays with a lot. His dog was there though. It was our two Yorkies and a cat and our roommate was at work. He snuck in. He managed to sneak in.

It was too late at that point. There was nothing left you know it's like total it's total annihilation like forest fires like that it's just like nothing gets saved you know i was hoping like oh maybe i'll there'll be a hard drive you know what i mean it's like nothing no man it's like it's so trashed yeah um how do you forget about that do you still have nightmares about that yeah i mean sometimes i, sometimes I'll like, you know, I'll just hear the wind and the wind kind of freaks me out. Right.

But yeah, and then, you know, you see pictures of the dogs all the time. That's like, you know, the heartbreaking thing, you know, like Facebook will be like memories. It's like, oh shit. Sorry to bring it up. No, it's like, it's real. It's real, you know.

I mean. Think about the community coming together though. Yeah. And helping out all the people. sorry to bring it up no it's like it's real it's really not I mean think about the community coming together though yeah and helping out all the people like I remembered all those five did one of the fundraisers for Marshall Fire Boulder Theatre but like people like you did your registry and people were helping you buy new stuff yeah yeah they go goMe. I mean, I got more stuff now than I did before. Like, we, like... Let's go.

That's how good Colorado is. It really is. It's that idea of community that you talked about, that you're searching for. And look what... I feel like you're one of the frontiers of this building these music communities in Colorado, bro. I guess so, man.

It's like a blessing, man. I just, I can't even believe it really when I think about it. But people like from all over the country, like giving, gifting me gear, music gear. So cool. That's how Nikki gave you that really nice kit. Yeah, she gave me that chrome wrapped,

you know, custom absolutes, man. Just beautiful drums. Yeah, she just, she's like hooked me up you know like and actually like that's like the i like six drum sets now wow people like just taking care of me you know i mean they're all killer and then um yeah it's been it's been really cool man like that aspect of it has been really like heartwarming like okay you know the feeling of security people care about you yeah and vice versa you know yeah you know it a lot has changed since fucking Boston Massachusetts where you felt like no one gave a fuck about right yeah that might have been my best business decision and personal decisions

yeah to move and it saved your life so think about how bitter you would have been if I would have stayed in Boston do you think living in the cave helped prepare for you for this too yeah oh hell yeah that experience of yeah i think i found out what why he's the fountain of youth because of no worry yeah he learned how to not worry yeah see look and then go look in the mirror look and now he looks hot he's hot yeah dave you're hot he He's a hot guy. Thanks, guys. So let's talk about Beach Fest a little bit before we get off this podcast. By the way, thanks for being vulnerable. I bet you haven't even skimmed the fucking top of the mountain with your stories. Yeah, there are a lot of stories.

I don't even know if they're all that appropriate for this situation. Give us one inappropriate story. Really? Just one. Are you sure? This is a NC-17 podcast. My kid might hear this. NC-17.

I also want to talk about that. Yeah. What was it like raising a kid while doing all this touring and shit? Oh, yeah. It's a challenge. It really is a challenge. I have a friend who has five kids. Oh, fuck that.

He's a drummer, touring drummer with five kids. Fuck all that. Oh, man. That's perspective for me. Right. I've seen other guys i know they're doing it with like you know yeah five times as you know many kids as i have although i have what about your own experience raising kid well yeah no it's i feel very fortunate my son

milo is he's super chill he's a great kid you know and like i was saying before it's really strange kids today like they don't want to drive a car yeah it's crazy yeah it's so weird like him and all his friends they just like don't want to do it you know like when we were kids it was just like we were just having that podcast my parents talked about getting at 16. yeah and they got i got in trouble i was driving with girls that's what i'm saying so i I'm like, is this weird? Then I'm like, well, at least he's not doing the dumb shit I was doing. Yeah.

But also a little dumb shit's good for you. Yeah. A little dumb shit's good for you. Yeah. Not too much. A little. Speaking about dumb shit, what's the dumbest shit you ever done?

Oh, oh, man. Dumbest shit I ever did. That's a hard one. It really is. There's so many. Any things you still regret doing?

So many choices. Regrets? No, I don't know. I don't think so. So you're cool with doing dumb shit? I think so. Like, I think doing dumb shit, like you said, it builds character. You know what I mean?

Learning lessons. You don't want to just keep doing the same dumb shit. No. But you can do dumb shit your whole life, and I think it's okay. Right. You know what I mean? Fun. Learning lessons. You don't want to just keep doing the same dumb shit. No. But you can do dumb shit your whole life. Right. And I think it's okay. Right. You know what I mean?

Fuck. Like, you know. Dave is a Buddha. Yeah. I told you. Who comes out of the Northeast and be a Buddha like that? You got to go to a cave in Hawaii. This is an anomaly.

Right. It's because he went to that cave. And he was taking a bunch of drugs in a cold. Were you chill before the cave? Huh? Did you become chill or were you born chill? It's because he went to that cave. And he was taking a bunch of drugs in a cult. Were you chill before the cave? Did you become chill or were you born chill? Born chill. I should ask my mom. I think I was pretty chill as a kid. I didn't yell and scream too much.

Did you have a good relationship with your family? Yeah, my folks are the best. Super supportive? Yeah, they let me play drums in the house when I was a kid. That's helpful. You know what I mean? That's just like... That's helpful. You know what I mean? Especially drums, loud as fuck.

So loud, dude. And like you're not good. Yeah. It's just annoying as fuck. Even when you're good at drums, it's annoying. You know what I mean? True.

You know like, oh yes, relaxing drums. Right. Well, yeah, maybe it depends. Saxophone's the same way. I used to crank up the stereo.

We had a turntable. We didn't have iPods and shit when I was a kid. And so I would like this, the turntable would be in the living room. My bedroom was like 40 feet away. So I, I made these headphones with 40 foot reach.

I like took the, you know, some wire and like made extended the headphones. Right. And I would like go into the room, put on the record, you know, be like,

you know, Boston or like, you know, you know what I mean? Like some classic rock shit. Right. And run into my room as quick as I could to catch the downbeat, you know,

throw on the headphones and play along to the record. But I'd forget to turn the speakers off and my brother would be like, you don't sound anything like the record. Just give me so much shit. Is your brother a drummer too? No. No, no, no.

I'm the black sheep. Are you the youngest? Did you have a good relationship with your brother? Yeah yeah still do so like yeah he was just being an he's just brother brother you ever beat the shell he used to kick my ass yeah yeah you know over what petty yeah dumb brother stuff how many years younger older he's two years older oh so you went to high school together everything right in the wheelhouse of getting oh that's yeah that's the wheelhouse of assholes we were tight and then all of a sudden it was like little brother's not cool anymore yeah you know what i mean it happens sick so dave what a

episode you just just like you're just like prosciutto over here bro you're just cutting a little bit there's still a whole ham left and And I'm just like, whew, let's come back. You never changed. I went to Cuba. I went to Hawaii. I went to Hawaii. Then I went to Cuba. I'm so much more enlightened than all of you and chill than all of you are.

And I made love with mermaids and the Galapagos. Every day I would catch a tuna and eat it raw. Yes. Pure protein on acid. I used to have my drum pad and I used to fish while I waited for the fish to come to my mouth.

Nothing can affect me. And then I went to Cuba and learned properly how to play drums. I almost went to jail but I said, no devil, I'm going to learn

the drums instead. No. I'm going to sit here. Dave. Wow. It's been a pleasure. Thanks for that. Are you excited for Peach Fest?

Yeah. Have you ever for Peach Fest? Yeah. Have you ever done Peach Fest? Yeah, I did, man. We played and there's fucking people in a lazy river watching you play. That's awesome. Yeah, it's great. Water slides and like...

Look, just pissing in the wave pool. So much pee. So much pee. I'm not getting in that shit. The new South Park has a whole bit about that. I always get like a little blister on my kneecap every time I crowd surf into the wave pool.

Just like a little thing. I do it every year. I crowd surf to the right thing. Some herpy being flared up. They just toss you in? Yeah, and it's far. The wave pool is far from that stage. You're probably on the same stage we are.

Yeah, the wave pool stage. They toss you in and then you come out and then they bring you back? Then I'm all wet, and I get electrocuted. Oh, my God. I get shocked. That's brilliant. But what's your favorite Peach Fest memory?

Man, what did we do? I saw Trey band play there. Sick. It was cool. And I saw String Cheese with Butch Trucks. That was tight. That was cool, man. That was cool seeing him play for it.

Trey still remember you? Trey? Yeah. I don't know. We played with Chakra. I mean, he played with Chakra. We used to do these shows up in Burlington, and the whole band, all official,

would come and sit in with us. Sick. And we even rehearsed in their living room once for one of the shows. So sick. And Trey was like, he living room once for one of the shows. So sick. And Trey was like, he came down and saw us play in our basement. And he's like,

I want to play with that guy. He just pointed right at me. And I was like, fuck yeah. Fuck yeah. And it was pretty cool. And so he probably doesn't remember me. Well, fuck that.

We're going over to Trey. We're going to Trey's trailer. We're going to knock on the door. Yeah, Trey. Yeah, he's a big fan. Trey? Dave? Dave Trey. We're going to Trey's trailer. We're going to knock on the door. Yeah, Trey. Yeah, he's a big fan. Trey? Dave. Dave?

Trey. Remember this guy? Did you go to a cave in Hawaii? Yeah. I don't think so, Mr. Vermont. Dave, you said it all. Thank you. I didn't, though.

There's more. I know. Should we do a round two? Yeah. Round two. We'll give it a few. Give it a couple months. A couple months. I mean, we live in the same town. Yeah. And by the way, thanks it a few. Give it a couple months. A couple months.

I mean, we live in the same town. Yeah. And by the way, thanks for being so good to Sean Eccles. Oh my God. Thank you.

Sean Eccles is a fucking madman. He is. He's underrated. He's beautiful. People, he's underrated in the scene. Not a lot of people really talk about Sean

and they should. I'm doing my part. Good. He's tall. I like that. He's handsome. He's handsome. All right, guys.

He loves that. Dave, we'll see you at Peach Fest. Yes. You tuned in to the World's Selfie Podcast with Andy Fresco thank you for listening to this episode

produced by Andy Fresco Joe Angelo and Chris Lawrence we need you to help us save the world and spread the word please subscribe

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