Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 210: Daniel Donato

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

Call/text us and leave a message: [phone] No topic is out of bounds Nick and Andy discuss impromptu Reggae house parties, selecting a male heir, and our new partner in video podcasting, Volume.com! Shout out to our new homies. Check out their site to watch our conversations and the strange faces we make. On the Interview Hour, we got rising-star, Daniel Donato! Andy meditates on the meaning of youth in the company of some fine young Country gentlemen and wonders if they may in fact be aliens. Beats & Shawn sing ya a song about some hippie love. Listen to some Daniel Donato why don't ya?! And don't forget to catch the band in a town near you andyfrasco.com/tour Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out Andy Frasco & The U.N. (Feat Little Stranger)'s new song, "Oh, What A Life" on iTunes, Spotify  Produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Shawn Eckels Andee "Beats" Avila Arno Bakker

This one goes out to all our deadheads out there. Kick it, boys! Just keep fucking on Fuck it, don't wanna come too fast Maybe he'll put it in her ass Hoping she doesn't pass no gas Just keep fucking on Third day at the festival, he's feeling frisky She's in the corner, two hula hoops round her neck Her titties are swinging, her armpits are looking hairy

He's hoping his dick will get wet Fucking two hippies rubbing some rugs Fucking they're on a whole lot of drugs Together, yeah, they're having some fun Just keep fucking on Let's start the show. Living. All right. Here we are. Andy's Ty Ty, guys. start the show. Living.

Alright. Here we are. Andy's TyTy, guys. Andy Frasco and the World Saving Podcast. Just so you know, Andy's a little TyTy this week. You're more tired when you don't play shows. Yeah. Because you have a party with your reggae

friends. I had to hang out with reggae people. Right near that beach. Zion! Cal State Fullerton! Zion! Andy Frasco's world-saving podcast. How's your hearts? How's your minds? Penis scab. Cal State Fullerton. Penis scab. Reggae.

Speaking of college kids, we have Daniel Donato on the show. He's not college. He's too talented. He's got to be 25 or 26. He's still just too talented to go to college. I know. He said, no, I don't think he did. He went straight to music. Like if Marcus King went to South Carolina. This is a big episode. Yeah, he's cool, right? And he's kind of

blowing up. Yeah, he's getting really big. He just he's on tour with Green Sky Bluegrass right now. Opening. Yeah, it's cool. He's playing. I mean, every show I've seen him on Bob, we're asking him to sit in. I mean, he's starting to get a little buzz. I gotta be honest, I haven't seen him play yet. One time I went by here, they were done by the time I got there, so I don't really know. It's like country music,

right? Yeah. Like Grateful Dead country? Yeah. And the Grateful Dead are kind of country music, if that makes sense. I like them. I want to be that talented where I could just be a space cadet. Too late for that, I think. I know. Who cares? Talents, you don't need that much talent anymore.

Do you wish you were younger? What? Do you wish you were younger? No, because I don't know. I could be older. You know what I'm saying? It's dangerous when you start wishing for things. There's people that wish they could be 40 right now.

That's how I look at it. I didn't really like being 23. My life sucked until I was like 28. Yeah, I think about that too. I was so poor. Yeah, I was so poor too. And when I was 17, I always wanted to be 40. I like being 40.

I kind of like it actually. Yeah? It's a cool zone. I'm 35 and I feel like I'm in my prime now. Yeah, I like how old I am. It's like you have enough life experience to not make stupid decisions. Man, I hate... But I'm still young enough to fucking go to reggae shows with you and hang out.

Yeah, we went to a reggae show. We saw your friend Logan. Logan from Article Sound. I hosted the band at my house. I let them all stay there. And I guess word came out from... Because there's like four fucking bands on the tour. Yeah, so this is like one of these tours where it's like

five bands. It's like a little tour about reggae. Yeah, everyone has 30-minute sets. And all of a sudden, you know, it's three o'clock in the morning. I'm getting back from Cervantes because we went to Cervantes to go see Mike Dillon. We ghosted each other. Yeah, we ghosted each other. That was pretty funny. You texted me at like 1245. Hey, I left. And I go, yeah, I

left like 15 minutes ago. We did ghost each other. Yeah, fuck it. It was fun though yeah, I left like 15 minutes ago. We did ghost each other. Fuck it. It was fun, though. There's no point to go. I'm not going to walk through the crowd of Cervantes to say goodbye to you. Yeah, no, me either. Loser shit. Yeah, I'm not doing that. So we went back to the house and all of a sudden I got the back call

that, hey, do you mind if some of the other band members show up to the house? I'm like, yeah, it's fine. And all of a sudden 30 dudes. Dudes, right? it's fine. And all of a sudden, 30 dudes. Dudes. Right? With dreadlocks. Yeah.

No women. Just straight dudes just having. I only had maybe like 14 beers left and a bottle of tequila. I'm like, boys. Here you go. That's what we got. They're like, we're good, brother. We just smoke weed.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And all of a sudden, they pull out like pounds and pounds of weed. I'm like, this is what they do. And they're really polite. And we were talking about, you know, like when I have a jam party, everyone's taking out the Coke and the fucking ketamine and the nitrogen.

You know, they're hurling in the fucking nitrous tank from the dentist's office. Girls everywhere. These guys are like, hey man, thank you so much. Do you have any water? Do you have any purified water? Purified water? What is this?

You go to the mountains, weirdo. I was like, I fuck with these guys. Yeah, that's cool. So shout out to the reggae scene being healthy. Yeah. Maybe they should replace the dreads with girls, though. Maybe they're not worried about that. I wonder how Logan feels about being one out of 30 people that's a female on that tour.

Yeah, I was talking to her about that. She's like, yeah, I'm the only guy. And she's very attractive, which probably makes it more of a thing. I wonder how many people fall in love with Logan. Although maybe she's so attractive that she's intimidating. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I can see her being intimidating.

You know how in college and high school, the sixes and sevens have boyfriends and the nines and tens don't because people are kind of scared. What was the fucked up part about it? Article South brought all the bands over to the house and they're like, all right, we're going to bed. Oh, they brought everybody over and then went to bed? And then they went to bed early.

I'm like, what the fuck? So I'm out here kicking it with, you know, Wild Bear from the X and X band. The Elevators. They were cool. Elevators were cool. This band called Isatera. And then The Movement. The lead singer came up.

They're all about gratitude in the reggae scene. For what? Thankful for what? They're just like, thankful, brother. They kept on doing this handshake with me. They put it in their hands like, thankful, brother. Thankful,

brother. I'm like, reggae's so weird. That reggae scene. I don't know. I don't know. I don't want the whole reggae community to get mad at me online. I like it. I kind of want to get involved in the reggae scene. Of course you do. You want to get involved in literally every single thing that happens around you, except for having a traditional

family. Let's go. You have no male heir. I have no male heir. Yeah, I'll be the last frasco. Do you have a nephew? Yeah, Anthony. Okay, you should make him your male heir. And then you can at least say, even if it's not your son, you have a male heir. It's sort of a marriage. I don't know if he's gay or not, though. That's still a male.

If they're gay, they're still men. I know. Well, I understand that. Isn't the heir mean like... No, air means you give him all your money when you die. Oh, I thought air means they have to produce. You're getting to be older. No, no, no. That would be his air. The air apparent.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The air apparent. I got to give... Oh, so what do I have to do? Give people my money? I have to put... Well, you'll be dead. Yeah. You'll probably have at least $30,000 to $40,000. I already started with Will. There you go. I gave Sean my couch. So Sean's your male heir.

Who else did I give? Your male heir is older than you. I don't think it... Who did I give my trophies to? I think I gave my trophies to my mom and my Will. You got to pick people younger than you for your Will, bro. Everybody can't be 10 to 30 years older than you. It's not going to work out, bro.

I put Bo in my will. What does he get? All your emails? I gave someone my jerseys. I think Dolov. You have a ton of male heirs. Wow, that's impressive. Someone told me I need to make a will

because my lifestyle is not that healthy. Yeah, and you're getting older. Yeah. You'll be 40 soon before you know it. I know. And then you'll be wishing you were younger. I know. I feel good right now.

We're about to start our West Coast tour. Don't wish to be younger. This is the week we start our West Coast tour, baby. Hell yeah. Nick McDaniels. I'm playing him in Fantasy right now. We're going on tour with Big Something on the West Coast. Guys, I know you guys have been procrastinating. You're the West Coast.

I've been hanging out with a bunch of reggae guys from the West Coast all week. Gratitude. My gratitude would be to help us sell out these tickets. Yeah. Please, I will give you all the gratitude, all the purified water. California, a state full of sea markets. Don't say that. Well, it's not like an insult.

I'm from Indianapolis. The only fucked up thing about traveling on the West Coast is like all the drives are like eight fucking hours. Yeah, but Bo said this one's routed a little bit better than the last time we did it. Yeah. All right, good. Connecting in those little northern mountain towns.

Well, shout out to Bongiorno for routing a good route. What I mean by California being sea markets is it's hard to draw on the West Coast. It is. They have better shit to do. It's 80 degrees out. Everyone's hot. They're all rich. Why would they want to go to a concert inside?

I get it. But like, no, then folk bands and reggae bands sell thousands of tickets. Folk bands. I don't get it right now. Why is everybody going to folk music? We just had a pandemic and you're all going to listen to people be sad? Because they've been sad for two years. Yeah, but why do you want to be more sad?

Because that's all they know. They should be going to Andy Frasco shows and dancing and celebrating that they're still alive. It's fucking good. Thanks for pumping me up. Thanks for dancing me up. If you turn into a folk singer, I'm going to beat your ass. Don't get sucked in. I know Brian Jermanger and everyone he has is a solo

singer-songwriter. Yeah. They do make money, though. Yeah, I don't think I'll do that. I don't want you to turn like a solo. Why? You've been watching my videos online. I'm turning into a sad boy. So hard. I was so... Every fiber of my being, it took me not to comment something funny on that.

Because everybody was liking it so much and being so supportive. I didn't want to be the turd in the punch bowl. But God damn it. When you're from Indiana, that's just like what you do in the Midwest. Anytime your guy friend does anything, you make fun of him for it. Get married, get a new job,

put a piano thing, anything like that. Trying to promote yourself? Embarrassing. Everything's embarrassing in the Midwest. That's why you've never seen me eat. Well, they want me to change the narrative and add more musical stuff to my social media. No one cares. Well, it did do well. It did do well. It got like 50,000 views.

I mean, they're right, but it's still funny. I want to be a peanut butter and jelly in the family. Shut the fuck up. I thought about making a video where like... What have I become? I don't know. What even are you?

I don't know. What were you before? Have you ever been something? No, I just want... I just, you know, people are here for my music too. So I got to be appreciative to them Right, but I still need to make fun of you for it It's just an ecosystem

You can't just go through life not getting any pushback On everything you do That's how you end up like you were in your 20s And now you're more successful Because people are pushing back on you Yeah, they push back and I delivered I think you should keep doing those videos And I think I should keep making fun of you for doing those videos

I mean, I am scared of making fun of. No! Bring it on. That'd be terrible if you were. And if you are one of those people, get out of society. You're the worst. Oh, yeah. Like Megan and Harry. That could be a thing. What if I'm not hot enough? It is an issue, though. Because that whole thing, like, everyone's got to be hot.

Everyone's got to be, like, sensitive. It's so weird how, like, the sensitive, deep, genius artists are all hot. Weird, and they all look depressed or they all like every photo, they're just like staring by a wall or something. Yeah, and their dad's like the VP of a bank outside of Boston and they're hot

and they're like tall and cool and they went to a cool private school and they're all depressed. I don't like singer-songwriters. Wow, what a show. We're having fun, dude. This is just vibing. Hey, we're on a newriters. Wow, what a show. We're having fun, dude. This is just vibing. Hey, we're on a new platform. Yeah, volume.com. Hi, guys.

If this is the first time you're listening to us through video, you're like, why is it on YouTube today? Well, because we just signed a deal with volume.com. Yes. Make it rain. Let's go. Money graphic. Shout out to volume.com. Money graphic. Pew,. Let's go! Money graphic. Shout out to volume.com.

Money graphic. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. Volume.com. Guys, go ahead. You should really check out volume.com. You should watch this show. We have a lot of fans that listen to us through Apple and Spotify, and we are building our video content up.

And volume.com is a great place to check out live music. Am I correct? Yes. And here's, I found some stuff out about it when I got these talking points. I didn't know. What?

I didn't know that it was sort of, I didn't, first of all, I didn't know it was completely free to use. Yeah. I think you can also tip people or like buy subscriptions, but most, a lot of content's free.

One thing I liked about it and actually in our meetings with them is like a lot of the people that work for volume are musicians or from they came from they're not tech people doing music okay yeah not nerds they're not nerds trying to take over the music industry they're real people they're musicians going into tech which is a much better transition okay it's actual creative people right okay um Just go to volume.com. You can join the community. Also, if you're a creator,

it's free to sign up and put a platform up there and reach more people. Yeah. So just put a... If you are a creator, put volume.com slash become a creator.

Yes. So it's artist first, basically. Artist first. Live streaming. They're in the podcast world. They signed... We're one of the first

podcasts they signed to their platform. If you want to watch the video version, for this year, you can only watch it on volume.com. You should because you can see how well we're taking care of our bodies.

They do a lot of stuff where they have a network of music festivals they work with. lot of... They have a network of music festivals they work with and stuff. So you'll probably see Andy on some festivals with volume. Yes. We'll be doing the pod live a few times. We'll be doing some live streams. Yeah, we are contractually obligated to do at least four live stream podcasts

as well. So we are doing one. I guess I can announce it. Are you allowed to announce it? Yeah. Yep. Hold on. Our first one. What city is it going to be, Andy? It's going to be in New Orleans on April 29th during Jazz Fest. First live podcast ever. And you're doing a show.

And we're doing a show. It's a podcast on April 29th. The same day as the show? Yeah, it's called the Andy Frasco Big Day Out in New Orleans. And we're going to do it, and then you're going to play the show, so it's going to be like one big thing. Well, we're going to do it, and then you're going to play the show, so it's going to be like one big thing. Well, we're going to do the podcast first. I have a bunch of New Orleans special guests we're going to interview.

We're going to talk about the city of New Orleans, and then we do a show where we have five different sit-ins from New Orleans. They're all from New Orleans. All from New Orleans. Then we're doing a dance party. Oh, you're doing that? A lot of work. Nice.

Yeah, the dance party's a lot of work. Three sides. I mean, it's going to be a big day for me. I'm doing three things. It is. But the dance party is mostly just... So you get to see every inch of my brain in one night from podcast interviews to

music to dancing. You will see it all. Go grab your tickets. It's at Republic 429. And I'll be there. And Nick will be there. And Sleepy will be there. It's the Andy Frasco. Sleepy, oh yeah.

Big night out in New Orleans. 29th. So go out there. Volume.com. And if you can't come to New Orleans, we will be live streaming it on volume.com. So thank you, volume.com. Go sign up for volume.com.

Go check out volume.com. One more thing on the Become a Creator one. Make sure you put little hyphens between each word. Okay, cool. They'll put it at the bottom. So head out to volume.com. Let's go. Thank you for being a partner.

Let's go all year. Volume, baby. I like them. They got a good team over there. They're not nerds. Yeah, not nerds. They're helping us out with marketing. We have now a graphics team. We have a bunch of stuff that they're helping us out with marketing. We have now a graphics team.

We have a bunch of stuff that they're helping us out with. So shout out to Varnium.com. What if there's some guy that's out there named Mark Ting? And his middle name's like Edward Marketing. Mark E. Ting. That'd be weird. And you know, the OGs. We might as well give the love to our boys.

People have been asking me about Dialed In a lot. Me too. I actually went into a... Dialed In a lot. Me too. I actually went into a... Dialed In Gummies. What's it called? I went into one, not Cush Club. I went to one by my place. And first of all, one of them was a podcast fan.

Really? So we started talking about Dialed In. He said they've been flying. Yeah. They had four flavors. I can't remember which one. They didn't have ours. Dialed In Gummies.

The best gummies in the planet. And you know, I'm telling you, I'm not just blowing smoke up their ass. I actually use these. We wouldn't lie for money. Yeah, what? Us? What am I, a congressman?

What am I, a cop? You a cop? You a cop? You a cop? You guys cops? You cop? You gotta tell us if you're a cop. You gotta tell us if you're a cop.

Guys, you have to tell us if you're cops or it's entrapment. Yes. Are you a cop? Dialed in gummies. Grab yourself some dialed in gummies. Denver, Colorado. Solvenless. Colorado in general. It's gummies. Denver, Colorado. Solvenless.

Colorado in general. Solvenless. Homogenized. Homogenized. They just taste good, too. You can just eat them all day, get super high. Yeah. And, you know, I had, I had, I finally got the last of my world-saving batches.

I have my last 10, and it's been there for a couple weeks. And they're still pretty fresh. So they hold, they hold together pretty they're still Pretty fresh So they They hold They hold together Pretty good We should do Like a bunch Like one of those

Sarah McLoughlin videos In the arms of an angel But just empty Empty dollar boxes Well I had one last night It was pretty good right You slept pretty good What right

And knocked If you eat a whole one You could You could go to sleep Yeah I generally eat three to four and I get knocked out. So get yourself some dialed-in gummies.

You might as well just go to volume.com and start a live stream of you just eating dialed-in gummies. I would watch that. I'd watch it. As long as you're not a cop. Are you a cop? You a cop? You guys cops?

What if we just have thousands of cops? I asked Daniel Donato if he was an alien. Is he? He might be. That's why, going back to why he's so spacey. I don't think an alien would want to look like a person. Maybe. What if they can shapeshift?

Yeah, like my sister thinks Justin Bieber is an alien, a shapeshifter, like a lizard person. He is like an evangelical Christian. My sister's on the kooky saucy stuff. Yeah, what the hell? I like it though. I mean, it's fun. It's way more fun to be a conspiracy theorist than like a regular. It is kind of fun.

Maybe she just wants to feel something. Yeah, I do too. Yeah. So the tour starts, go buy some tickets. Yeah. Just buy tickets.

Idiots. I'm not on the, I mean, the ticket sales are okay. They're not the greatest, but I think they'll pick up. You gotta remember some of these gigs are a month from now. No,

they're this week. No, the first ones, but like the end of the tour is a three week'll pick up. You got to remember, some of these gigs are a month from now. No, they're this week. No, the first ones, but like the end of the tour is a month from now. It's only a three-week tour. Okay, well, three weeks, but people are buying tickets later like we went over. I know.

I don't want to get too... Come on, West Coast, step it up. I don't want to get too like inside baseball with the ticket buying shit. All right. Just go buy them. Y'all ready for some Daniel Donato? Y'all ready for this.

Daniel Donato. From Nashville, Tennessee. I'll just do the tag now while we're here. Ladies and gentlemen, next up on the interview hour, we have Daniel Donato. Nashville, Tennessee. This motherfucker is good, bro. You have a saxophone in his band? No. Y'all hiring?

His whole band showed up to Cosmic Country, and I really love him. I've seen him multiple times. I think they're the real deal. I think they're his band. And the best thing about this is when I was interviewing them, they all like each other still. Well, that'll pass. They're still fresh. This too shall pass.

I want to interview them again once. Like three years? Yeah, when they get... They're like, Daniel? When they fight. I want to interview them again once. Like three years? Yeah, when they get... They're like, Daniel? When they fight. I love when bands fight. When they all try to, like, some girl will make them all fall apart. Really? I think tension and fighting, not like physical fighting, but like

fighting and growing through a relationship just makes your bond with your band even better. You can't just have all good times. Yeah. Your band will not grow. It's like every other relationship ever in the history of the world. I know. I've been learning that. Things aren't that much different from each other. I love that about life.

I learned a lot of lessons this year and I'm growing. Even Brian said, I love watching you evolve. You're more adult than I was. I wonder if I've rubbed off on you at all. 100%. I listen. People think I don't listen because I work all the time.

I get it. I hear people and I listen. It's like two minutes later, you'll be like, yeah, four. Somebody will ask you something and then two minutes later, you'll hear you go, yeah, yeah, 17, 17, 50. Or whatever the answer is, yeah. After you look up from your fucking Kobe video on your Instagram.

I love Kobe. Who else do I love? I love a lot of things. God. Christian God. Jesus. I love the devil. You should love Jesus. He was a Jew like you. Yeah, I do. I mean, I like what Jesus did. Jesus was a good guy. He wasn't a hippie. He got murdered.

He didn't do anything. I mean, he might have claimed he was the son of God. You know what I mean? He. I mean, he might have claimed he's the son of God. You know what I mean? He might have walked around the desert telling everybody he's the son of God, doing fake miracles, but you know, whatever. Besides that, his message was fine. Treat people good. Do you think the devil and Jesus were homies when they were kids and then they had some beef?

No. Lucifer's an angel. He's not a person. He's an angel that was cast out from heaven. Basically, I think being too lit. What if Lucifer and Jesus were in a band And the devil was the bass player And Jesus was the lead guy And he was always jealous of Jesus Because he was getting all the pussy

That seems possible And then he bailed to start his own project The devil will get way more pussy than Jesus I mean how many bass players get pussy A lot actually If Floyd wasn't married I feel like he'd be You think like before Les was married Les Claypool do you think that guy was just

I don't know probably he has a good personality Men don't have to be as attractive as women You know we can just like be funny I have a hot girlfriend We gotta end this dude Alright we're done Enjoy Daniel Donato and We'll see you next week

With Daddy Mommy here. When they come into town, don't interrogate them too much. Did I do that last time? I don't remember. On air, you know. It was an interview. I just want to talk about politics with your dad the whole time. Okay. Yeah, he'll tell you.

He's fired up right now. He is? Hell yeah. I love you. I just wanted to know. Does your dad know? Yeah, I just wanted to know. Thank you. Does your dad know that Bruce Springsteen is a massive liberal? Yeah.

Joe Biden? Okay. Yeah. I love you. Bye. Bye, guys. See you next week. But seriously, I just think you're a really close friend of mine.

Information received. And I just think you do great things for my life. I just want to say thanks. I do. Brian should really be happy that I'm around for you. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me. You're welcome. I'm happier because I have you as a friend.

Yeah. I'm pretty low effort. Thank you. I don't come over at four in the morning with a bunch of people in dreads. Okay. We're done. Let's go. Okay.

I like that energy There's something very cosmic about a clap Cosmic There's something very interesting about that What is it? Well, it's almost like you have this left hand That's like your unconscious And your right hand, for most people, that's their conscious

And we're all just agreeing That we're doing this yin and yang together And there's a sound and an energy. There's a dynamic. All the time, Noah's drumming with his hands. And so the music lies within this intention that we just have within our bones. And we all just started this podcast with that. It's marvelous.

And then the claps in between songs. Where the fuck did you come from? And it was pretty together, though. We agreed on time. It was a little flam. Well, you would know. Daniel Donato's on the show with his cosmic warriors, I'm going to call you.

The fucking holy shit experience. That was very nice, boys. The only time we've hung out was at 3 a.m. in Columbus, Ohio. You went to bed. You're like a good boy. But I took your boys to the band house, and I got to meet you guys. I was closer.

I got to meet, you know, but I'd never heard the music before. And last night was very nice. That was nice. Where are you from? Are you an alien? Are you a narc? How'd you get in here so quickly? What's going on?

Give me the story. I was born in Florida. Really? Yeah. My mom was there on a vacation. And she had me unexpectedly. And I was there for like two weeks. And then she moved back to Jersey where she's from.

And she met my stepdad when I was a young boy. Then they got married. And then she's the oldest of six. And I had an uncle who's just a week older than me. And we started playing guitar together. When I was four, we moved down to Nashville to a town called Spring Hill. Hold on, go back. You have an uncle that's a week older than you.

Samuel. Shout out to Sam. Keep going. My parents wanted to leave New Jersey and have a different life and commit to a familial ideal that was like lean towards my mother's side of the family.

What was that? To follow what my mom wanted to do my dad kind of dedicated his whole life to her started a family with her and um adopted me and um you know he gave me american beauty but we moved to nashville uh to a town called spring hill when i was, I think, eight years old. And we moved in on Christmas Eve, and I got a guitar the next day. And then it sat in my room for four years. Eight. Older you, okay. And then when I was 12, I started playing.

And we were only an hour south of Nashville. And so I guess I'm from Nashville, Tennessee. Do you remember Florida? Do you remember Jersey? You don't remember being born. So I guess I'm from Nashville, Tennessee. Do you remember Florida? Do you remember Jersey? You don't remember being born. That's the weird thing about this whole thing. You don't remember when that started.

What's your earliest memory? A lot of my early memories are actually pretty, some are pretty intense for me. Mind talking about it? There is actually, I'll tell you, I would like to talk about the most intensely beautiful one that I remember. I think about it often. It was in Brigantine, New Jersey,

and it was when my dad and my mom were dating, and they lived in this, like, right by the the ocean it was this single story of apartment complex and my mom was working two jobs and my dad was working two jobs at the time and i didn't get to see them too much and they lived in separate buildings when my my mom's brother mark would watch me and he was a deadhead and he mom's brother, Mark, would watch me, and he was a deadhead, and he would drop acid and just take me to the beach. How old were you? Two, three.

Hell yeah. Keep going. You remember this. He would just give me these Sony Walkman headphones and have me just put this music in my ears. I don't remember any of that, ever. The musical content doesn't exist

in the memory so much. It's more visual for me. Pretty visual thinker, but also verbal. What did you see in that moment that made you feel good about life that you like to remember versus... Well, there was a moment later that day that i had this little red uh flyer bicycle and um there is this like intense yellow sun like so bright i it was the first thing i remember in my mind it was like like uh

what is it like genesis you know the it the first there was light in my mind. It was like, what is it? Like Genesis. You know, at first there was light and sound. So like almost like in the archives of my memory, the earliest file is this, and it was just being blinded by this mesmerizing light. I was riding this bike. I was alone. I remember just up the sidewalk, my mom was in front of me.

You know, and she had like this slightly baggy champion gray sweatshirt that she loves to wear these champion sweatshirts, like these thick collars. Best in the 90s. So you see this beautiful, graceful being at 2 o'clock or whatever time at 2 years old. It was the golden hour. And it was this, I mean, metaphorically, it's actually,

it's probably no mistake that that's probably one of my earliest memories because it just holds so much content. There's the metaphor of the maternal. There's the metaphor of riding the bicycle alone to return to the mom. And then there's the son. Holy shit. And I think about it now and it's like, this memory comes to me often. Like sometimes three times a show.

Did someone ever tell you this memory as a story? No? You remember this so clearly. That's always been my trip. I always like you know as I get older I try to listen to other stories more. When I was younger I really only listened to my story. Were you a loner?

Um I don't know Always been a lover Always been a lover Yeah for sure I hear you But you said there's like some darkness in you When you were a kid What do you think triggered it?

Well when my mom was When she got pregnant, she was in college, she was going to Drexel. And it was an unplanned thing. And her parents actually like exited her from the house. And she got into this pretty toxic relationship with a shady character. And he was in my life before my father, Severio Donato, which is Italian for savior.

Oh, shit. And Sam, you know, I remember meeting him the first time too. Marvelous time. My mom locked her keys out of her car. And we were in the parking garage and it was a very desolate, echoey, marvelous time. My mom locked her keys out of her car. And we were in the parking garage and it was a very desolate, echoey, you know, like fourth story parking garage

with all the poles, like in Seinfeld, where they go and try to like take the piss in the public parking. And man, wow. It's a nice moment for you? Yeah, because my dad, I remember, so he was like, I think he was like, I think he was coming down from a previous level.

I remember the first thing I ever heard him say was, I can help you with that. Wow. Because now I'm his age when he was getting married to my mom and they were having my sister Leah. And I realized the amount of personal sacrifice that he gave me and my sister and my mom and ultimately it bettered his life too which is like

makes sense out of this equation of like the more you give the more you receive and he's a beacon of light for that reality for me in my life like intensely my dad like every my dad's why I started playing why I even ever had the idea to go and play on stage.

Your dad? My father, yeah. It seems like these angels come into your life. Mom, dad. Maybe you're a light beam from another dimension that you feel like, oh, these are just my parents. No, this is people who are trying to save me in a sense. I think that's pretty beautiful.

What made you have this mindset of needing to be saved? What happened before you met, you know, Savior? Yeah. I remember just a few dark moments, like being taken out of school and like this guy calling my mom like from a payphone in the street and him like bagging the phone in the telephone booth and like i not knowing any idea about that or like them fighting in another room and be hearing it and

then like hearing things get broken and people getting pushed around. Wow. You remember all this? Yeah, I remember one scene very vividly where there was a pretty intense event happening. It was like the middle of the day. And there was like this, I don't remember if it was a BB gun or a pistol or, it was a gun-shaped

object and it was right next to me. And I remember just picking up and looking at it and it was like in the hole of, of, of where the bullet would, what's that? Your dad collects guns.

Was it the chamber? The barrel, the barrel. There was clay, the barrel on the barrel. And I remember just like picking away at the red clay and just like holding this really heavy object, not knowing what it was, but feeling danger with it. And this intense fight happening next to me.

You were holding a gun? As a kid? Yeah, man. The gun was just chilling? Allegedly. It could have been a BB gun. It could have been a BB gun. This was a weird one.

And I've actually, this is actually really marvelous to dive. Because I don't think I've ever socialized these thoughts verbally. Because they've really only existed visually so intensely in my memory. Right, right, right. But to verbally talk about them actually sheds a whole new spectrum of light on it. Which you're talking about the beings of light. My father, Sam, suggests an idea constantly is that we're spectrums of light in momentary and temporal time.

Mm-hmm. Fucking A. It's pretty much always like this. Is it always like this? Y'all are just driving down Kansas, and he's just spinning this shit? It gets heavy, dude. It gets hypnotizing sometimes.

What made you start taking LSD? It was more psilocybin before it was LSD. How old were you? 20 or 20. I think I just turned 21. I was about to turn 21. Were you with these boys? No.

Not yet? I was in a band at the time called The Wild Feathers. Oh, I fucking love that No. I was in a band at the time called The Wild Feathers. Oh, I fucking love that band. You were in that band? I was in that band for like I think a year and a half or a year. Oh, that band fucks, dude. They do.

They're good. They're really good. Ben. What were you before? Were you this spiritual before you started taking drugs? Well, I think innately in my unconscious, I probably had an aptitude for this kind of information just because of my relationship with music. Right.

And also like discipline. I was always very into manifesting my personality in that way of like being disciplined. Like even as a young boy, like, so when my parents moved in together, we moved into a house that my grandfather built on his junkyard. His name was also Severio in New Brunswick, New Jersey. And it was this crazy, awesome, individualized house. And there's these photos of me in my own sector of the house that my dad gave me

of me organizing all my Power Rangers and organizing all my Army stuff. I was always just into variety and seeing patterns and things. I think that innately is somewhat spiritual because that's somewhat geometric and that's also what music is. There's a big nexus there. So I think I was always aligned for that kind of thinking. But the psilocybin experience was a whole different, it was an archetypal mystical experience.

How much did you take your first time? Don't know. It was hilarious, man. We were playing at the Rave in... Where's Jeffrey Dahmer from? Oh, Minneapolis. Milwaukee? No, Milwaukee.

It was this crazy venue. One of these weird, old, big buildings. Three stories. Every floor is a venue. It was cold that night and there wasn't a lot of people there. We were on a bandwagon and when the

green rooms weren't good, we would hang in the bandwagon and then when the green rooms were awesome, we would just hang there all day. I came off the bandwagon to the green room. I remember this big sterile container of Chex Mix and it said, four band only. And I was like,

I'm going to have some Chex Mix before the show. And I guess there was like, psilocybin chocolates in there. No one told me this. You know, until Versailles stage, and like, alright, you guys are ready for the show, and I'm just still eating a little Chex Mix. And they called me

Wolfie at the time because of my hair. And they were like, Wolfie got into the snacks. And they didn't tell me what that means. I didn't know. What were the drugs those guys were into before? You were the youngest guy in this band? Oh, yeah. By how many years?

At least 10. Holy shit. And, you know, 10 years also, the difference of, conceptually speaking, 20 to 30 on a developmental level. Oh, yeah. That's me and my guitar player, Sean. He's 10 years older than me. And we've been in band almost 15 years, 13 years. That's a long time.

That was 20. Good for you. That was 20, though. So this is wild. This is like the same. This feels like the Dewey Cox story. You don't want none of this, Dewey. I love that.wey Cox story. You don't want none of this, Dewey. I love that.

You don't want none of this. It makes sex more overthinking. It was marvelous. I loved it. Okay, so you're on it. What did you like about the first day? It was a very playful experience. Well, the thing that was really fortunate for me was I was young enough to have not been told anything from society of what to expect from that. And then from nothing from my mother, but although she did have a phase of partaking in psychedelics,

my father, he always said to me that my grandfather loved psilocybin. He went and foraged for them. And then also ashwagandha and lion's mane. And he really just loved fungus and so i kind of had this paternal confirmation of like well like it it might be interesting but it's not going to be uh you know against any rule of the id of some kind You know, which growing up in Spring Hill was a very conservative and, um, Yeah.

You know, Small town. Not into anything like that. Yeah. But, when I was on the road, man, I didn't give a fuck.

I wanted to experience it. It's always been about the adventure. Were you doing like blow and shit too? No. Just psychedelic? Not for me. Yeah. You weren't into uppers?

Ever? I like tequila. That's cool. That's an upper. Liquid upper. But we played, and I remember, you know, really, there was one moment. I think it was a song called Overnight, and I started the guitar riff on it. And I was so high that Ben, you know, the drummer, Dumas, he was counting down the heart.

One, two, three, four. And Joel's like, I'm like, what? He's like, overnight. Overnight you gotta start. And Ben's like, one, two, three, it's just the wrong key. So there was that

what's that called? When you're inducted into something, almost on a sophomoric level. It's like welcome. I had the initiation of doing something wrong by my ego. But then those guys were my brothers. And so they were very loving about that. And then I was able to embrace the other spectrum

of what that experience could offer. I loved it. And I remember after the gig that night, all the guys, we got into more of the Chex Mix and they went to a casino and did their shit. Andy, whoa, this story's wild. So this night, wow. Marvelous.

What the fuck? This man is an alien. This man is an alien This man is an alien This night that I did this I remember it was very cold on the bandwagon And um Sounds like a start to like Hateful Eight Um

And I was like Just chilling and I was starting to feel the come up And it was Kobe's last game Oh wow No way And it was me alone watching it. And it was like, I really understand. 72-point game or something, or like 64 points.

I remember seeing him like wink at his family. Mm-hmm. And it was like, wow. Pretty beautiful. Oh. So. Yeah. And then I listened to Morning Phase by Beck.

Yeah. Oh, I love that album. On headphones. And it was just that and metal by Pink Floyd. It was marvelous. Okay. So did you ever have... So it was a good lesson of knowing that you're human and growing with...

Taking your ego out was a good point. So were you always had an ego? Were you always this virtuoso guitar player your whole existence? Yeah. The thing I've been learning still is that I don't know if the free will that I personally have

allows me to fully take my ego out. I'm left with this responsibility to more or less integrate it into ways. So it's not going to go away. It's there. And so when I started guitar, I remember just knowing what to do intuitively. I was inspired.

I was listening to things all the time, discovering new music, learning it ad nauseum, listening to things all the time, discovering new music, learning it ad nauseum, going in it all the time, waking up three hours before school, like waking up at 4.30 and playing, playing at lunch, playing when I got home,

everything I could. I was very regimented in my practice. And so I kind of like developed this good relationship with my ego all of a sudden because I found something that I could kind of like let this dog chew on something and it was just like practicing and

like creating my own world with this and it happened very in a very facile manner yeah I've never done anything else since then. Are you obsessive compulsive? No. No? No.

My boss was Don Kelly. Really? Yeah. That's when I knew I wasn't. Yeah. So what do you think drives you to perfection? It's probably unconscious. I think everything wants to point up.

Yeah. You know. But is it? I also, I drive myself to practice up. Yeah. You know. But is it? I also, I drive myself to practice too. That's a big thing, man. I like to remind myself that it's all, like, I bet you guys can relate to this too. I feel like it's a constant work in progress. What?

Life? Or music? And the longer I do it, I, exactly. Yes. I don't know the difference. There's no difference. It's parallel. Your passion and life should be parallel.

There is that thing of, you know, things are literal. That's a book. But it's not. It's actually about Kobe Bryant and his, like, how he learned how to work with his mind. Practice. Talk about practice. Talk about practice. That's why...

It's like what I'm suggesting, though, though is that there's a secret soul behind all things literal. You know? Life could be perhaps a literal thing or not. Music can sometimes be a literal thing or not. And there's this integration of those two.

Yeah, man. This is very fat. He's an alien. I think he's an alien. What do you guys think? We've actually never socialized this. Am I an alien? Some people... You have alien-like qualities.

Some people... Maybe you're like a first lifer. Some people have experienced life five, six, seven times. I feel like they've already been here. I feel like with you is all these moments are new to you and makes you kind of like be stoked on the whole existence. Like some people are like born sad, I feel. And I think because they've experienced life 10, 15,000 times.

Is that why I'm sad? Yeah, that's why I think I'm sad. I'm like, I've been trying to be a musician for 500 years. Just troglodyte tunes. Every recirculate. You're barred class. You just barred class everything. What was it like when you guys all first played together?

We were talking about it today. What was it? I love that story. You tell us. We were talking about today. What was it? I love that story. You tell us. We were at your house. I can do this one too. What's crazy though is... So... To add

contextualization to this happening, when I was 18, I was playing at Robert's Western World and I had gotten into Belmont. I didn't go. These fellas were at Belmont and so was this guy. There was a guy named Stuart Singleton. Stuart Singleton knew me and he knew them and I guess he was trying to put a band together? Yeah, yeah. I remember he told me, he's like, this guy he was trying to put a band together? Yeah.

I remember he told me, this guy's the next Jimmy Page. That's the thing that he said about you. That's what Stuart said. Really? Yeah. That was it. I never knew this.

But wait, who was the band though? Do you guys even remember? It was Sugarleg. It was just us three. It was Noah. And it was me. Was it? Yeah, I don't think anyone else was there. Was it seriously? It happened one time. It just, yeah. It happened Sugarleg. It was just us three. And it was me. Was it? Yeah, I don't think anyone else was there. It was a serious thing.

It happened one time. It just, yeah. It happened one time. Yeah. I, I, we were 18 and I never saw them again until. Until we went to. Hold on. You were 18 when you guys first played together?

It was. It was very random. It was like passing checks. But that's what, but like, imagine like, you know, Fish, they started that, but they kept playing together. Yeah. Our lives, there was like. Cause you played like, you know, Fish, they started that, but they kept playing together. Our lives, there was like... Because you played with Wildfeather, right? There was just, yeah, like there was more...

My life, my business, that wasn't my hour for that kind of a thing yet. So I had to go and experience all that information until I guess it was time. I had to go and experience all that information until I guess it was time. And I guess it seems to me like the, the, the proposition had already been started years and years ago. And like, it feels now like it's time. What was he like before acid?

Well, he had shorter hair. Not really. He was leaning a little more Tom Holland. Tom Holland. Yeah. I was going, no, I did have a short hair. I broke it with my girlfriend. I had this weird...

I bought that Mini Cooper in cash, bro. I was so proud of this car and it fucking broke on me in like a year. It was so devastating. I always wanted a Mini Cooper and playing at Roberts, you would just make cash.

I was living with my folks. I was stupid. I just went and bought a car. So when was the re-reunion? Yeah. Oh, so Daniel and I, so we had another band together. And at that point, the next thing was like, we need to have a second soloist. Because it was just all Daniel carrying the solo section of things for a while.

So we were like getting pedal steel players involved. And like, that was so fun, though. We had like five different guys for a while. We were kind of doing that. And then we were just kind of like still thinking, like, what is it? Like, who do we need? What do we do? And we were going to,

have you ever been to Hockey Talk Tuesday at the Legion in Nashville? We went to Hockey Talk one night because I think Marcus King was playing. Yeah. And these guys were playing with Luke McCreary, who's another great Roberts guitar player. Right. And Daniel and I are standing there and I saw Nathan walk by.

They had just finished their set with Lukeke so they're just chilling now i saw nathan walk by and i grabbed daniel i was like do you know who that is he was like i i don't know i'm like that we need to go talk to that guy right now because i was like he can do everything and he comes with a kick-ass drummer yeah you guys are a duo. They have a band. We were always a band from the first time we had jammed together. Wow. At 18?

Yep. Holy shit. Down Boy. That's their band. You toured your whole life, right? I played at Roberts for close to 500 shows. Is that the place with the bologna sandwich?

Yeah. Okay, I like that place. We played four hours a night. Hold on, this real? This happened. That was from, I think, when I was 17 to when I was 19 or 20. Four hours a night, every night? Four nights a week.

Marvelous. It's fun. It's fun and it's intense. It's fun and it's intense. It's real and it's real training, man. It's like everyone was way older than me. It was the Don Kelly band, which is in Nashville, like one of the hottest bands in town since 1983. How'd they hear about you?

of the hottest bands in town. Since 1983. How'd they hear about you? The second night that I went down to Broadway was directly informed by the first night I ever went busking on Broadway. But the second night I went busking on Broadway, the first day was immensely...

I won't say this often, but it was a revelatory day. The first day I ever went and bust on the street. Because then I played on stage for the first time the first day. And then the second night I discovered the Don Kelly band. This is the first ever gig? This is my first. Daniel leaves his room with his guitar and enters the forest.

No shit. So you played a gig. With my father by my side. It's like Zelda. It's dangerous to go alone. his guitar and enters the forest. No shit. So you played a gig. With my father by my side. It's like Zelda. It's dangerous to go alone. Okay. So what did your dad, was your dad watching you busk? Yeah.

He was making sure no one, you know. Stole your money. No one stole my money. I fucking love it. Yeah. So he's like your coach. He's like your. He's my custom auto.

Yeah. Yeah. Dad didn't auto. Dad did not. Custom auto. I've never made that. Has he ever yelled at you about some shit. Yeah. Yeah, dad didn't auto. Dad did not. Custom auto. I've never made that. Has he ever yelled at you about some shit? Yeah.

What's the worst time he yelled at you? Oh, dude. I've pissed my dad off so much. What'd you do? My dad's been so patient with me. I don't know. Just so much. Like what?

What was the worst? You fuck a teacher or something? I wish. Were you sex addict? No. No? No. No.

Why would your dad get pissed off at you? What would you do? Just stupid shit like getting speeding tickets. I never did anything very, very bad. No. It doesn't seem like you're a troublemaker. I'm not. Not really.

It's not something that's born. It's not really born in me. But that's not a value judgment either. I have friends that that's kind of their thing. And it's cool. Holy shit. You're just not reckless. I'm not particularly reckless.

I don't know what it is. It might be a personality trait. Organizing your Power Rangers. You need it to be in order. Being reckless doesn't equate with that. My action figures? In a fucking bucket. Fucking mess.

Yeah. So, damn, you really do have, what's the word? Oh, fuck. You really know what you want I think I I think I No distractions No distractions And I've always had a vision

What do you want Dan To Like what do you mean? What do you want? What drives you? What do you want out of this life? What we did last night. Yeah.

That experience. How many times do you get to that experience where everyone's talking with each other? So this is good. In the music? Yeah. Yeah. All the time.

Yeah, but there's got to be some nights where you guys aren't just connecting. Absolutely. What's a night, do you remember, where everyone was fucking on full cylinders, like rocking? I was just going to say Brooklyn Bowl. Yeah, our last, our end of the year. Nashville? Nashville show. Yeah.

It's the end of the year. You guys have been working your ass off. It's kind of a mess. It was exciting, too. When there's like a real excitement in the air, that always makes it hit. Nashville show. It's the end of the year. You guys have been working your ass off. It was exciting too. When there's a real excitement in the air, that always makes it hit. This is fucking beautiful, guys.

Andy, thank you for this. You got time? No, I'm not suggesting an ending. A thanks could be anywhere. True. Thank you for this. This is so good for us too on how to talk as a band and communicating

that's what we have to do what was the biggest blowout on the band personally for me I had one that was like particularly intense in Missouri right what was that place we played particularly intense in Missouri, right?

What was that place we played that? Oh, shit. Springfield. Where the guy gave me the wolf ring. Kansas City? Not St. Louis. No, he gave me the wolf ring from the Beggar's Tomb. Springfield, Missouri?

It might have been Springfield, somewhere like that. Outland Ballroom? No, small club. Was it Zubar? No, it was the night after Zubar. I think that was Ballroom. Ballroom. We need an archive.

It was next to the road. We do. It was a small room. I was very stressed and we had all been on the road and I had just like perceived miscommunications in everybody that I'd felt like made me feel very isolated

and I retaliated against that feeling so I didn't acknowledge it and I didn't empathize with that feeling and so I blamed it on everybody else but they weren't trying to make me feel that way I was making myself feel that way. And, you know, we were about to go and do two weeks of rehearsal,

and then we were going to go do the 27-show, 30-day run with the Dwellers. Then we were going to go do two weeks in the studio. It was a lot. It was a lot. Yeah, so I was kind of addicted. You were burnt out. I was burnt out, I guess. Yeah, it sucks.

It does, especially when you have to talk to my brothers like that. When you're burnt out, you're a dick? I think we would agree. What do you say? You are kind of all dicks in some way. The only one who doesn't really take a turn

being a dick is Sugar. I bet. Maybe Neil over here. You did say that Sometimes you get in a mood. You did say that the freewheeling chords were like, quote, the worst chords ever.

They were. I stand by it. I think it's cool. It's great. It's marvelous. You guys spent all this time together. You know you guys love each other. How was the recording process now that... I like the process

of being on the road, being tight with the boys, being like, fuck, we are fucking simpatico tight. And then we go record it. Do you get stuck in playing it the way you play it live when you're recording it? Or are you up to trying new ideas again? Yeah.

Is it hard to get into doing new ideas when he's like, oh, this works live? I personally didn't perceive too much friction in us adopting the energy of what we were doing live to fit in the square of a record. I think we were all pretty ambitious actually to figure out how to take this story of the live

context and communicate it shorter. Yeah, we did think about it a lot beforehand. It wasn't going to work. When you don't have the visual element, that's also like, that wasn't going to work. We're missing... When you don't have the visual element, that's also, like, that doesn't translate onto a record, so you kind of have to do these different kinds of moves

to make sure it's translating, because all you have is sound. It's true. Wow. It was marvelous. We did it with Vance Powell. Oh, Vance is great. Vance, do you know Vance?

Yeah. How do you know Vance? Oh, just through the scene. I mean, he's done a couple records with Ben Miller Band. Oh, I think you talked about him. Yeah, they're from Joplin. That's how I know Vance. Okay.

Did he tour with Ben Miller Band? Oh, for sure. Right. He had some crazy stories about Ben Miller. Ben Miller is kind of like, he's on the same wavelength as your crazy ass. You're very spiritual. I'm trying to figure out if it's bullshit or not and i think it i think it's real you're a fucking real dude oh this is great because i you know when people start talking big words sometimes they just like kind of like it's like puffer fish style I think you're really about this life. And I'm trying to figure out how you got that.

Like, did someone hurt you? It's like someone, how did you just, the door to the ether lets you in. And how did you open your brain for it to be like, okay, I hear you. Some people are afraid to listen to the universe. It seems like you're a guy who's like, yep, this isn't my time yet. When my path comes for that part of my career,

we'll see. That's why I was asking, what do you want? Are you just letting someone move you? I'm always listening and searching for something. My whole thing that I tell myself is when I'm not playing with the truth, I'm seeking the truth. And that is what I'm to do.

What is the truth, though? Truth seems to be this unification of this temporal being and this almost transcendent opportunity that's outside of this all um and so it's like truth is it and it's a living thing um it's alive in the moment that's really what it is there's just as much truth that I'm perceiving right now in this present moment that I was perceiving last night on stage and that's why I don't know

the difference between life and music so much I'm just honestly just trying to figure it all out and do it with music and the second that I started doing it on the guitar that was it. It was something that was a deep one, man, in my unconscious.

It was like down to my spine. I was like, this is it. I was locked in. Locked in. I knew it. I was, this is, this is my way. Do you see him morph into this shit on stage? Yeah, he kind of slips in and out of it.

Yeah. Do you guys do that too? I think so, for sure. I remember one thing that I think about when I started touring with Cosmic Country, that was like getting back to shows finally after a break for a while. We met on my birthday.

Yeah, in a session. And I had taken almost seven or eight months off of playing anything and kind of like was lost in the forest. But once I was getting back to these shows, it was like, oh yeah, this is who I am. That's why all of that other shit felt so weird and terrible. It's like, I'm not being who I'm supposed to be

if I'm not doing this. Right. Yeah. and terrible is like I'm not being who I'm supposed to be if I'm not doing this. Isn't it amazing when you just trust your dreams you're happier? Even if the dream is fucking at a hard point right now. You feel like your soul's content. Even if you're like

you're still chasing the dream. It might be a shitty show. It might be you might not be connecting or maybe you're burnt out and you're still chasing the dream. It might be a shitty show. It might be, or you might not be connecting or maybe you're burnt out and you're yelling at the band or maybe you're yelling at your salad or whatever it is. Or yourself. Or yourself, yeah. I yell at myself all the time.

You do? And, but you still have this fullness in yourself because you're chasing something. I think that's meaning. I think that's deeper than happiness. Yeah. That's what I've really rejected in school, was

there is a constant suggestion that was very invasive, that you want to have a happy life. And I was like, no, because I'm really tired because I've played out five nights this week and going to

sit in at bars, and I'm really pissed off, but I'm still very inspired. And so I think that whole thing is like, I'd rather search for meaning than happiness because meaning is the thing. That's the anchor when it gets really hard out there. So maybe that's what you want, meaning. Definitely.

In truth and meaning, those are it right there. I think what I want, I think this is what we all want, is just to keep compounding our experience with the live show. That's it. That's what we do. We play for three hours, you know, and every night is its own story and it's its own intentional adventure of what the present moment is.

And the songs are always changing and we are always changing and that's in it. Just to keep compounding that and keep going. I want to hug you guys. Let's go. I love this. I love this.

I love this. I love this. This is what I'm fucking talking about. World saving this This Is what I'm fucking talking about World saving This is what I'm talking about World creating actually Meaning Yeah

Why we do this And I think that's beautiful That you guys are fighting Cause that shit's old school Fighting and dancing No one worries No one worries about I'm so worried about

You know You live in Nashville Where everyone's worried about the song Or the fucking top hit We're worried about the you know, you live in Nashville where everyone's worried about the song or the fucking top hit. We're worried about the song. Well, totally. But you guys, while you're, that song will eventually come. You know, you guys are in the ether.

That song will come. But until it gets there, you guys want to perfect your live show and just be on the road and live and be fucking vagabonds. And I fucking love it. It'd be so nice to have a bus. Oh, yeah. You will. You will. When we get a bus, that would be brilliant.

Everyone talks about what they like about it. What don't you like about the Nashville scene growing up? Yeah. My experience with the Nashville scene was very form-fitted, as your experiences were to your life um so mine was like it went the way it went and it was very interesting I got to observe a lot of the potential ways that the trip could unveil um going into uh you know studios and you know Sound Emporium and Blackbird

and Oceanway and watching Brent Mason and Paul Franklin cut records and just do four songs in three hours and then break at lunch on Demumbrian and then go to another studio and do it again. And that was cool. And then I got to see you could tour with Axe and be on Salary like use a Kemper amp and like, or just, you know, do, you know, playing somebody else's story, I guess.

But when I started playing at Roberts, I almost immediately knew I didn't want to do any of those things anymore. Yeah. And I really liked just the idea of being in the room and playing music for whoever is there. of being in the room playing music for whoever is there. And with that process came a lot of really terrible gigs that were... And then there were bad gigs.

But that is where meaning comes in, because there was always the suggestion of the hammock, that I'm doing it. I feel a frequency. I feel a feeling with this when I do this. I'm blindly following it because I'm puppeteered in this way and I really can't even visualize another life without this. I have to do this. It's beyond my control.

And so, man, there were some terrible shows. I had some terrible hard shows, man. And that's where the meaning comes in now. Do you feel like you're on a leash? What kind of leash? Like an imaginary leash. Like someone's

pulling you to fucking go through. You're like, I don't know why I want to go through you like i don't know why i want to do all this i don't know why i want to play five hours for 11 hillbillies or i or like four hours for tourists someone's making me do all this because there's you know what i'm saying and here's another thing i got to this was marvelous for me man this was so marvelous for me, man. This was so good for me. It actually took me at least 10 years of seeing this pattern reoccur in my life that I could start making

sense of it, of how it relates to me. I got to see why people pursue music. Oh, the different people. I really did. I got to meet kids that started as managers, or kids that started as guitar players and ended up being managers, or people who got into it just to drink and do cover songs all the time

and not really take it anywhere or do anything that was very challenging that adds something new to the archive of what is. I got to see all of these facets. Guys who were just cool that want to wear Allbirds and get a hazelnut latte in their Tesla 3 and go cut records every day.

It's cool. It's totally... What I got to see was I... Sometimes they're just for girls. I really got time to really confirm to myself that I'm doing this for

a very internally seeking intention. And you can never go too deep. And so, yeah, man, that was my experience with Nashville. It taught me that I'm really doing this. So, what do you guys think?

It's a great city. I love it too. Guys, it's been an hour. I'm going to let you go. We got to do this again. We're just getting started. We're going to be homies. I kind of like this. We should check in next time and see where we're at. I can't wait to see what else is going on in your life.

A couple more things. When did you start getting into... Are you guys trying Trying to like trip together And play some music Oh yeah Like live What's up Yeah

What was the biggest meltdown Oh god Halloween Halloween What happened I didn't think This is actually good Because I

You were in it that night Yeah I was in it That's why I don't think this is actually good because I you were in it that night yeah I was in it that's why I don't think it was a this is actually good a bad show I like that one a lot yeah

let's go what did you guys think of it? that show? dude this is I'll tell you exactly what I think before it's

usually Will and I socialize yin and yang and it's great so here we go alright so here we go so it's great Will and I socialize yin and yang and it's great so here we go so here we go we get there, it's the Halloween show and we're playing in Cleveland it's Cleveland right?

Columbus so we get there and the sound guy is just a bum sound guy it's not going good with him he has no idea what's going on and we barely get anything together um no time he's like i gotta go to the next room next door and do that there's another band i'll just come back like 15 minutes before you play or some shit terrible you were

fucking pissed about that and i said you had a couple of soundcheck beers that day so i was kind of like i've never even seen him i don't even know if I've seen him have a soundcheck beer. I was really mad, man. You were pissed. And we were burnt at that point. I don't think I've ever even seen that. Dude, that was the end. That was almost the end of an entire month.

Yeah. So we've been going hard. Yeah. And then you took that gummy. It was this big, fat gummy. And you took that thing. that gummy it was this big fat gummy and you took that thing and i just remember we got into sugar leg we got into sugar like rag out of a song and it was like it was it was kind of wobbly at this point i remember we were on that transition it was like dude wobbly's cool wobbly's cool but we were on that that we like vamped

this hard beat like that and then you come in on the head and I remember you were like stuck for a second

you were like alright hold on a second but we we stuck through yeah I couldn't get in right it was like

I couldn't get in sometimes it's jump rope and you don't know when right it's hard when it gets a little bit turned around in your head.

I think it makes it more fun. I do too. That's the chaos. Noah has a great propensity to understand how to manipulate that kind of energy with chaos because when chaos starts to interfere with time you got to be

the man for the job, dude. Noah has steered us back. Yeah, he's bailed us out. He's bailed us out. I'll clap the big time. We need one, baby. Let's go.

Boy, have I been Odysseus. And I've been like, let's go here. There's a fucking Cyclops. It's like... Can you tell Daniel's having a bad day by how the show starts with the jams I mean I think we're all in the music

no but I will here's what I will say sometimes when you're pissed off that's like my favorite playing you do you're just hitting it you're like getting out that energy like playing a show when you're pissed off can be such a good outlet to just really dig it.

Sometimes those are good shows. Those are the best shows. To me, it's very strange to me. There's only ever one show that ever was in a deep part of my intention for each show. It's only been this show.

Have you guys ever punched each other? I don't know. Have you guys ever punched each other? Yeah. What? You probably stand the most chance. Sugar, what happened? This guy has fragile bones over here.

Can we punch this man? I know. Noah did lock him up in his room though. We were in the Hamptons. That was terrible. What happened? has punched you for me on my behalf right that's true oh yeah I got a dent that was our first

down boy's first manager was pale halls and we all got drunk and I was like trying to wrestle Nathan and he took it too seriously and he slammed me down on the concrete and I got like a dent in my elbow it was for messing with Nathan so I second hand beat the shit out of him He took it too seriously, and he slammed me down on the concrete, and I got like a dent in my elbow. It was for messing with Nathan. So I secondhand beat the shit out of him.

Let's go. He said secondhand. Our guy. Can't do it now. The muscle is there. The muscle. He is the muscle. All right, guys.

Let's conclude this. This is only round one. We're going to be friends. We're going to be friends. We are friends. Yeah, I know. But now. This is beautiful. this is beautiful.

Now I know your souls and I really feel like yeah. It's hard for me to trust people. Especially how you're getting more famous now. Isn't it hard to like, everyone's now kissing your ass and it's hard to know what's real. I'm still like carrying my amp and the gigs every night. But like the fans and stuff, you don't know what or real. I'm still like carrying my amp and the gigs every night.

I don't know how famous it is. But like the fans and stuff. Like you'll know what or like managers or new booking agents. You'd like you never know what people want out of

the situations. Yeah. Or if they're really your friends. You know? Yeah. I want to be your friend. We're friends. Yeah, man.

Can I? Can I be your friend? All friends. Let's all put it in. Let's all put it in. Let's put it in. You're doing world-saving podcasts. Yaga on three.

One, two, three. Yaga. Yaga. That's funny, Joe. All right. All right, guys. I love you. I got one last question

for this part of our cosmic experience. I got two questions. No, I won't. That's a longer question, actually. I'll just do this one for today. What do you want to be remembered by, Daniel Donato?

Truth, beauty, and goodness. In my music. What about you, Boyd? In my music. In the music I play. That's a heavy question. I guess in the music I play is what I would say.

Yeah. It's in the music. I guess the adjectives. Power. Yeah. Power! That's good. Okay. I guess in the music I play is what I would say I guess the adjectives Power Power That's good Do you guys ever go in the woods and just like trip dick

Come back here to the middle of the road Yeah we got it This is the most wholesome shit I've ever heard in my life This is my people Yeah man That's great Keep staying alive Drink water First song ever played on stage shit I've ever heard in my life. This is my people. That's great. Keep staying alive. Drink water.

First song I ever played on stage, Lip Sync was staying alive. Really? Yeah. The fifth great talent show. And don't burn out. What do you want to be remembered by? Because that's a good question. Just that I was honest.

Truthful. Truthful. Right. And I did things because I, with intention. What a brave, yeah, dude.

To be truthful is to be brave. Right. Yeah, it's hard. I had to tell my, I broke up with my girl because I told her I wanted to have sex with different people.

I want to have an open relationship. And she did not think that was tight. That's fine. I understand that. But I was always hurting. It always just like a pin in my stomach that I can't be honest about how I feel about something. So it just suppresses in there and it turns into cancer or whatever it turns into. So it's like instead of just keeping it in there, we should just say exactly how we feel.

It's going to sting at first. But at least you're honest and both people understand each other. I hate passive aggressiveness in anything in life. We got to be honest. Like with your boys, you have a fight with each other? Fucking put it out there. Drink it out. Take some L and talk about it

Or whatever Drink some water Yeah Talk about it Have a cup of coffee Say you know boys Have some pilots Yeah

Cause you're guys Gonna get famous I feel it This is You're on the You're there You're going there And you're doing it

For the right reasons I hope we stay I hope we get famous And that would be nice And humble That would be nice That would be We'll get you that tour of

us big dad oh let's go let's go all right uh dana donato cosmic you tuned in to the world's epic 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, rate the show, give us those crazy stars. iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking

this shit up. Follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates. Fresco's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfresco.com and check our socials to see what's up next. Might be a video dance party, a showcase concert, that crazy shit show, or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain. And after a year of keeping clean and playing safe, the band is back on tour.

We thank our brand new talent booker, Mara Davis. We thank this week's guest, our co-host, and all the fringy frenzies that help make this show great. Thank you all. And thank you for listening. Be your best, be safe, and we will be back next week.