Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 254: LP Giobbi (Gem & Jam Music Festival EP)

Episode Date: January 23, 2024

DONT JUDGE US BRIAN. We're not doing well. Listen in to show bard Shawn as he croons our collective cry for help. More excitingly, we present to you another installment in our  Gem & Jam Music Festival series! As such, we got you your FDA recommended daily dosage of all the hot Nick & Andy gossip PLUS a conversation with Josh Pollack to talk Arizona vibes, gems, & his music festival wheelings and dealings. On the Interview Hour, we welcome House DJ/Producer, classical pianist, and human ray of light: LP Giobbi! Andy takes the conversation as deep as he can while keeping it characteristically shallow... And guess what... Watch the full episodes Exclusively on Volume.com now in color!  Psyched to partner up with our buddies at Volume.com! Check out their roster of upcoming live events and on-demand shows to enrich that sweet life of yours. Call, leave a message, and tell us if you think one can get addicted to mushrooms: [phone]  Check out our new album!, L'Optimist on all platforms Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out our good friends that help us unwind and sleep easy while on the road and at home: dialedingummies.com Produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Arno Bakker Shawn Eckels

Now, a message from the UN. You could be right, you could be wrong The back's so big and the line's so long Brian, we're two and blown Your friend gave us a record deal And a big old fat advance We told this to invest in stocks But we did blow with our fares. We played a show, we sold it out, we met a guy and we bought an ounce. We're sorry.

Brian, we're using blows. We need help. Help us. Schwartz, we're doing cocaine Let's start the show, baby. That's fine. There you go. All right, and we're back. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast.

Yes. Jam & Jam Festival Installation Part 2. Part 2. Part 2. I'm excited to go to Jam & Jam. I am. I think I'm going to go and hang. You should come.

A little vacay. A little Nick vacation. But you're going to have to sleep with Bo. Nope. I'm not paying for your own hotel room. I'm going to get my own hotel room. Nope. Unacceptable.

Okay, you won't let me buy my own hotel room. No, no. If you're my guest, you're not paying for shit. Maybe he can put me on the list. No, but we already negotiated. I'm going to have Phil Salvaggio put me on. No, no. I talked to Phil, too.

There's only a certain amount of hotel rooms. Phil said if I go around and do some content for them, he'll give me a free pass. Oh, well. No, he didn't say that. You got a couch for you to crash on somewhere? Yeah. I love it.

Josh Pollock. We got one of the partners of Gem & Jam opening up the show with us. Josh, how we doing? Howdy, partner. Howdy, partner. How we doing? Y'all ready for this festival out here in Arizona? Howdy. Doing great. We're stoked. Coming to you from cloudy Portland, Oregon right now,

but stoked to get down to the desert. It's going to be nice and sunny, warm. I know. Winter blues. Arizona is really... February in Arizona is the best. Yeah. the desert it's gonna be nice and sunny warm i know i know you know winter blues arizona is really like february in arizona is the best yeah because it's like it's not so cold because you're in the desert yeah but it's also like it's like it reminds me of like la weather like seven degrees you know it's like nice right or does it get cold down there? You know, it gets cold at night for sure because you are in the high desert, but you still

get those immaculate days, just sunny, clear, warm. Yeah, 70s, but then it definitely gets a tad nipply at night. So definitely come prepared. Bring a sweatshirt. We'll be there all weekend. We'll be talking shit, hanging out. We're really excited. We have LP

Giovi on the show. She's awesome. Have you heard her, Josh, yet? Oh, yeah. She's from Eugene. I forgot. She's an Oregon girl. She's badass. The whole lineup is great. We have John Barber on the show. We just interviewed him

yesterday. He's excited. He's hanging out all weekend. We're all very curious of what's your fascination with gems? Why is it a gem festival? What is gem? What's the link here with the gems? It's a great question.

This festival coincides with the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, which is the biggest gem and mineral show in the world. It happens in Tucson. It's been happening there forever. People mineral show in the world and it happens in tucson it's been happening there forever people from all over the world come with you know their their family mine or whatever you know whatever they're hawking um but it's it's a really big deal in the gem mineral fossil jewelry community and the festival actually started as like a late night option

because all these folks would come in for the gem mineral show and obviously there's a lot of crossover with the music community and the gem community yeah and there was never anything happening after the gem shows people would come in they do the show uh you know what it's it's so spread out there's like there's hotels that basically every single room is a different person who has their own offering so like you go to these hotels and every single room is like a different little uh exposition um so there's never anything like going on beyond that so gem and jam actually like was founded as this like after party thing so it started as like basically club shows in tucson and kind of bounced around venues in tucson and it was never like a full-on camping festival um then we kind

of like started that in 2013 and moved to a bigger venue multiple stages were able to do camping and then the festival kind of morphed into its own standalone event where people would come to the festival just for gem and jam um and you know maybe go into go into town for the tucson gem show but we kind of try to bring that vibe into the festival um so we are actually one of the like official shows of the the tucson gem show um so that's pretty cool so we kind of you know just started like that and that's where the connection came from and um you know it's kind of a cool aesthetic. Everyone says it's like real fucking hippie, real cool. It has like a real original vibe to it, which is exciting. Yeah.

Yeah. It's nice. So come on now. It's the first weekend of February. Jam and Jam Festival. It's Tucson, you know, Phoenix and Tucson. It's basically a suburb of Phoenix, right? Yeah.

And it's so every, there's a hub there. So if you're going from out of town and you could fly there for pretty cheap too. So it's like, it's a cheap there so if you're going from out of town you could fly there for pretty cheap too so it's like it's a cheap flight to Phoenix and then from from Phoenix to Tucson or just fly to Tucson yeah

yeah how far it's like an hour drive from Phoenix fly to Phoenix or Tucson yeah it's gonna be great

so come on out your boy the Frasco band's playing we got Disco Biscuits what night are you playing I think Saturday or Sunday Sunday Sunday is it Friday you're playing right before Lettuce let's go The Frasco band's playing. We got Disco Biscuits. What night are you playing? I think Saturday or Sunday.

Sunday? Sunday. Is it Friday? Yeah, you're playing right before Lettuce. Let's go. Oh, is it Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the festival? Yeah. Okay. But we're coming in a couple days early because we just want to hang out.

Right before Lettuce. I like it. I like the competition. It's not a competition, actually. It is a fucking competition. You're two friends. No, it is a competition. We're here to fucking go after them.

Team Lettuce over here. We know that, buddy. I like horns. I like horns. I get it. No, it is a competition. We're here to fucking go after them. Team lettuce over here. We know that, buddy. I like horns. I like horns. I get it. I get it. You have horns. I have horns, too.

I do like the funk music, though. Well, Josh, we're really excited. I can't wait to meet you in person. Stay warm out there. We got two more weeks, and then we all get to hang out in the sunshine. Oh, yeah. And whatever you need from me. But go to Gem and Jam Fest.

So where can they buy tickets to the fest? Go to gemandjam.com. Let's go, baby. That's pretty easy. We're excited. Josh, thanks for being on the show. And I can't wait to meet you guys. And thanks for supporting the podcast.

You guys are the shit. Oh, yeah. Likewise. Thank you both. Have a good one, bud. Thank you. Thanks for coming on. Word.

Show. Fuck, yeah. We're excited. I'm excited, bud. Are you excited on. We're excited. I'm excited, bud. Are you excited? I'm so excited that I just can't hide it. I'm going. I want to see Lettuce. Yeah, me too. I can't wait.

We got LPGOB. Get something to eat. Go for a walk right before Lettuce. Arizona has bomb-ass food. It does? Yes. Phoenix is popping off. Tucson's popping off. I love it. But we have LP Giobbe on the show. You're going to love her. She's one of the... A ray of light.

A ray of light. That was amazing. And she's going through mental... She's going through a mental thing right now and she's optimistic. When you're that talented, it's hard not to be optimistic, huh? I mean, being a DJ is a lot harder than being in a band. Two different kinds of hard.

Because they're flying at 5 a.m. That's fucked up. But they could route their tours like a band. I don't understand what's stopping them from that. But Chris, play some LP Geoby while we pimp her out of here. She's amazing. She did a remix

With Taylor Swift The Garcia's Grateful Dead The Garcia family Called her and asked Her to remix Jerry Garcia's first record And she's

The brand The music brand ambassador For the W Hotel She's working She's working And she's a classical Piano player You're gonna love her

So enjoy this LPGOB episode for the podcast. Yeah, she's balling. She didn't want to talk about how much money she was making. I know. You can tell when people are rich. I would ask Josh how much the offer was, but that's rude to talk about. You don't have to tell us, Josh. We'll bleep it out.

We'll bleep it out. So you're going to enjoy this. Head to Jam & Jam. We got one more episode for the Jam & Jam installment. And that's John Barber, round two. And he talks at the Nin Gritty with the Disco Biscuits. And then, yeah, you've been having a good time. Oh, and come to our show, January 26th, the Ogden Theater.

We are almost sold out. From last week, we got a couple hundred more tickets sold. So we're on path, baby. Let's sell it out. We got one more week left, people. The time is now. We'll do a meet and greet. Don't be cheap, Denver.

And it's more expensive at the door. Just remember that, Denver. It's more expensive at the door. You don't have to yell. You have a microphone. I know. Sorry. I yell all the time.

All right, guys. Enjoy LP and go to Denver Jam. We love you. Bye. how we doing leah just we're just gossiping away how you doing well i'm doing good i'm doing pretty good yeah rolling into the trying to ease into the new year instead of one of those i'm not one i used to do in the same place like you know net new year like new me i'm gonna do everything different i'm gonna and this i've been like let's just enjoy your life a little bit yeah right i mean you've had quite a fucking year this year bud i have yeah i have i mean i have put i put my career above all else including my health

so i'm trying to i'm trying to find a balance and enjoy the fruits of my labors. But yes, I feel very grateful for this last year. Isn't it hard to say no when you've been fighting for a dream for so long and all of a sudden you get all this money that starts coming your way? Like, fuck, I don't want to say no.

You must be an artist. I've had to tell my... This year we worked i was like i need a few breaks uh probably like need like two breaks i mean i was i was home like seven days last year and i was like on the road touring the rest of them and i finally was like i i'm gonna burn out like we need some breaks and um we like scheduled this my calendar and then you know offers started rolling in he said no and then they did the power of saying no they just come back with more right and i'm just i'm really i've had to tell my team like listen i'm never gonna say no so i need you to force me to say no like this is

because yes you struggle and you fight like i'm like djing in hotels and like just like trying you know every single day grinding trying to make it work and then it just feels so crazy to say no to people wanting to pay you to come and play it's just so hard right to money you probably like couldn't dream of 10 years ago you know totally not in a literally not in a million i mean my mom worked for a public radio station my whole life part-time like i i couldn't have ever dreamed of this it's like yeah yeah so it just feels so it almost feels irresponsible to say no you know yeah yeah you're like you never know how long this is gonna last and like i want to have savings and 401k i want to be able to retire and um the guilt to me yeah it's like you feel guilty not taking guilty but but also i mean i've just

gotten to a point where my body has forced my hand. So like I, you know, health is wealth. So I keep having to be like, health is wealth. Like you can't do Milan, Rome, and LA in the exact same day. Because, you know, you technically could because you're going back in time. Time change, yeah. Sunrise set, you know, and I've just been like, that would, I just have to. Yeah, what was the moment

what was the moment where were you when you felt like i gotta take a step back for a second that's a good question um it was a very real moment um i was starting to feel a bunch of brain fog which to me is like the worst like i love the feeling of being sharp and on and like i like i love you know feeling like i have a million things going and and too much and like that sort of feeds me and fuels me and my brain was getting foggier and foggier and i felt like when i would look at a computer screen or look at an ableton session like my brain was like won't want a little bit and that that would kind of go in and out and it started just getting sort of perpetually like anytime i opened ableton it looked like that or try to even send an email and so i finally went

and got some blood work done and my doctor i was like had a follow-up appointment and before i even got to that appointment he called me and and um this is like i have a sophie tucker tour me out of this doctor he like deals he helps touring artists and like sort of high people in high pressure situations who need to work with their, um, blood pressure and stuff, not blood pressure, but, um,

like what's in your adrenaline. Yeah. It was like that. So this guy, so this guy specializes in like touring, you know, people who do what I do. And he calls me,

he's like, are you, are you sitting down? Um, because I, I checked your cortisol, which was like when you're, you know, based on what you were telling me. Right. I was worried about burnout is actually a physical thing.

And it's where your body is, your stress hormone doesn't know when to turn off. Your body's always sort of like, oh, in that state. Yeah. And a normal cortisol level is four. A high one would be 15. And that would be like, okay, alarming. We need to start working on this. Yours is 40. And I've never in my life seen a number like that. And I don't know how you're even getting out of bed. Because then... Inflammation, right? Inflammation. And also, my cortisol, in order to keep making more cortisol has stolen all my hormones.

And so I have zero hormones, which regulate so much in your system. And I was like, he was like, when was the last time you had a period? I mean, this is maybe TMI. And I was like,

I don't remember. He's like, yeah, that is. So, and, and then like I ate my stomach lining. So I have a bunch of inflammation and then like,

it just like snowballed into all these, like, he's like, I checked all I have a bunch of inflammation. Oh, my God. It just snowballed into all these. He's like, I checked all these other levels because of that. Were you feeling it? Yeah, this is. Did you feel the stomach? You know, the stomach. So I've always, I kind of just like, yeah, my stomach hurts, and you just keep going and move on. I had some, actually, I colitis for when i was like in

middle school so i've always had sort of stomach issues and i just didn't i just thought that was really normal yeah same and yeah and uh you know it was and i think at the time it's obviously different than now when i'm experiencing but um yeah i guess it's not normal to not be able to process your food properly all the time. Right. And yeah, so he was like, what do you have coming up? And I was like, well, I'm going to play in Scranton, Pennsylvania tomorrow. And I'm supposed to fly from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Torino, Italy. Right.

And then I'm there for four hours. And then I get back on a plane and I fly to Denver and play. And this is in three days. And he was like, no. I'm not doing that sorry no so i had to cancel the first time ever i had to cancel two shows the one in italy and then one in seattle and man it was so it's so crazy because if i see another artist you know for their health i'm like fuck yeah but it felt humiliating and that is i was like I got to work through this because that's not cool to be embarrassed.

Yeah. Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves and give everyone else slack for the same thing they're dealing with, you're dealing with? Totally. And I mean, it is, I wish that I had better foresight

in preemptively saying no, instead of, you know, people bought tickets, you know, like that's a bummer. But also shit happens and we're humans and we're not fucking machines. And especially as a DJ, you know, they sort of can ping pong, you can be in a different continent every day and the time zones. And, you know, I asked my doctor, I was like, okay, what do we do to heal this? He's like, well, I mean, in an ideal situation, you would go to one place for six months and

go to bed by 10 p.m. every day, wake up at 6 a.m. every day, start regulating your system. I was like, lol. What's plan B? Give me another. I'm on like a thousand supplements and it still isn't i mean you still get brain fog great i still have brain fog it's been six months and it's fucking killing me and i'm just trying to be patient i'm like i keep being like

okay just take more breaks be patient be patient and i am not a patient person. That is not one of my virtues. Where'd you get that from? It's the brutal. My dad is pretty chill and patient. My mom is pretty high strung. I would say her. God bless her. She's a doer. You know, you're like talking about your adrenaline.

Like you ever just like, you're like, it's like, you're so exhausted. It's 4 a.m. I just said, you just start crying. Yes. All the time. My tour manager, I'm just like, man, more than my tour manager, he is my therapist. Like he's, I've been like, he's seen me on airplanes sobbing. He can see me.

I'm just like, I can't do it. He'll be like, you can do this. Just please, you can just please get off the plane yeah i mean the once i always say the best drug is is hitting play on a cdj because immediately you're just like oh you know yeah but the yeah it's the it's the it's the getting up and coming down that is um is you know it's hard and i'm sleeping on airplanes a lot which isn't like the best night's sleep. And the more I read about how sleep is tied to all health aspects, I'm just like, shit.

Yeah, I know. I'm like that too. Yeah, we do 250 shows a year. So we're like, we're on the move. Like, yeah. And I feel that the adrenaline thing, I can't come down, you know. But yours is a little different.

Wait, so how do you do that? Tell me, how do you feel? I don't need, all I need is four, five hours of sleep and I'm good. But it's just the 5 a.m. It's the five, waking up at 5 a.m., that's why the

plane thing, I think you have a harder life because I could just sleep in the van. You have to wake up at 5. Yeah, do the airport. airport do the airport thing so your adrenaline's already up and then like how how much good sleep are you actually getting to get to the next city you're not getting that much the air but i've literally thought like should i actually change i mean like i love dj all the craft of djing i love that like i love making it i mean it's it's part of what i love but i'm just like god being in a band like and you know shows are usually earlier in venues yeah and you're like only able to move as fast as a car can take you and like i've just been like should i just completely change the music i make so i can not have to be on an airplane yeah like which is

insane but no but it's all i mean traveling it's just, it's so crazy because you're like, all I'm doing is sitting here. Why is this so tough? And then I beat myself up for that. Have you ever had to check yourself for being too uptight? I mean it's it's up it's funny because it's like the thing that propels me also holds me back in a lot of ways like you know being especially when I'm in the studio with somebody else if I'm like in collaboration mode yeah um yes and and just like letting it go and like letting like in my head I'm just like oh my god like he's like especially if I'm not the one at the computer you know for some reason I'm just like oh like make sure like i need that like oh make sure to move that back for me i'm just like in my head and so i'm just like it what's meant to be will be like oh man it would be beautiful to feel that way but like and i'm taking little notes like let me drive i want to

drive yeah totally i can't do that either when the other person's running the session and you just know it it's so hard to explain what you want them to do instead of just like moving the thing for them. You know what I'm saying? Yes. And like we all have our different workflows, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They want to change the automation

and then move the thing. And so it's going to be fine. And I am just, yeah, that's the part where I know that that definitely comes. And I'm just like, guys, I think I'm good at hiding it but in my head I'm freaking out what about that same philosophy for like

when you're improvving with piano and classically how do you get out of your head that way that's a good question I get out of my head by being obsessive about practicing you know so like I know that I have like if I know that I didn't practice as much as

i should then it's actually hard for me to let go but if i feel like i did you know i prepped for this the best i could then it's it it's a little bit easier for me to get out of my way but i mean i've reached flow state in like jamming and improvving yeah it's harder for me to reach that. I'm thinking about, I'm observing myself doing it oftentimes. But the few times I have hit it have been the most euphoric moments ever. I just keep sticking around. If I even have two or three more of those,

it's worth it. But I'm rarely... And I'm present, but I'm not reaching the full flow like, flow. Yeah. How hard is it to get the flow state DJing versus classic piano? Oh, great question. Yeah.

There are definitely, I mean, it's so interesting because I think flow state is easier to reach the more you've done or practiced something right like I now have the my arsenal like I've organized things exactly how I like them I've spent time you know loop warping different acapellas and repitching them so like I have this at my disposal and like you know the more I play with them and then and then all of a sudden there's a few sets with like them like i just feel like i'm i have somebody else telling me what to recall and and where to put it and how to mix it and how you know i so when i when i play i try to if i've long for longer sets i have like a cdj that's for drum loops and one that's for maybe instrumental loops and acapellas oh and then i can enter you know sort of weave them together how

i'm feeling and there have been a few sets where i felt like like it was just coming like they were all just coming to me and yeah i think it's easier actually a dj do you run your like your instruments through do you live sample yourself too and like loop stuff or you do yeah yeah my fourth cj is something is a djs okay so i i run my keyboard through that and then um you know let's say i have a few loops going and obviously the drums whatever doesn't matter but the the instruments and the um acapella and a c what c minor or something, then I can play, I'll just hold and play a C into the DJS

and then sequence that and then use the scale mode to chop it up and play something in C minor. That's interesting because most people would use Ableton to do that live.

Do a lot of people run their instruments into CDJs like that? Are you kind of unique? Yeah, so I would say a lot of people don't have instruments when they're when they're yeah that's exactly yeah i guess i guess that's the point yeah yeah there's not very many people that you know bring a keyboard when they're when they're djing but that i actually found that silly i just have a usb stick and a and um you know a shitty like yamaha keyboard that i can get anywhere if it breaks or doesn't show up or something right because i you know i run it through the sampler which has a lot of effects but um

because i was really like for a while i don't know why i had a i had an aversion to using a computer on stage for like you know if it got too hot or let's say it broke or yeah i just i just like didn't want to worry about that but i just did my first tour where i pulled the cdj's and i used ableton live and i had a few extra synths um that were you know the the ableton session was sending information to the synth both the midi notes and also want to change oh for like arpeggios and stuff like that yeah and just and just to like change patches at certain times. Oh, right. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, which was like, that was a new, really fun discovery. That's cool. I was like, I don't have to like go in there and... Yeah, it just does it for you. Anomaly does it. You know that guy, Anomaly? No. He's a producer from Montreal. He's real good with that kind of stuff.

Oh, cool. I wanted to go in the direction of... Do you guys knowink k-i-n-k yeah kind of like seeing his live show i mean it's all like just drum machines and he's i mean he's just watching it just physically like i could watch them on mute and it would be interesting it's all hardware all hardware and i mean like what he's doing with drum patterns, just like sequences. And that was mind blowing without Ableton or anything. But yeah, I finally did a tour with Ableton. And actually, I was playing New York, which was my biggest headline show today. It was 4,000 people.

What the fuck? On the train to... Let's go! Thank you. Well, just you wait on the train from boston to new york my you know our stuff was like when you when you get on a train you put your shit there you know you go sit down in your seat yeah my computer was stolen oh no and um i obviously had a backup of the session but i didn't have another laptop that could that could handle the set yeah that could handle it and i had an hour before the show i mean i had an hour until sound check

oh my god and um so i used i like deleted everything off my old computer to try to have enough space on it you know some enough memory and stuff and uh yeah it was it was doing this weird skipping thing though it. It only happened a few times. Oh, because the CPU couldn't handle it. The CPU, that was exactly it, yep. And it was devastating for me. So that's what I was like, this is why I didn't want a fucking computer.

I mean, hardware is... Can't really be hardware. I should have had a second computer, but those are so fucking expensive. I'm like, another $4,000 computer? You know, I'm like, no, it'll be fine. That's like what Gigantic does. They have like an exact copy of what's running like offstage too as a backup in case it goes out.

And everybody said I should do that. And I was like, yes, if you want to fund that, no problem. You got three grand on you? Yeah. I love how everyone gives you ideas, but they're not paying for it. Yeah, it's always like, oh, yeah, you should get this $10,000 thing but they're not paying for it. It's always like, oh yeah, you should get this $10,000 thing. All right, pay for it.

Yeah, exactly. Like, what the fuck? This is the music business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yo, I have a couple questions about your growing up. Because you went to UC Berkeley, right? Yeah. Okay, so, and your parents, you studied jazz piano.

Yeah. So what was that conversation like with your parents you're like hey mom i think i'm out and i'm going to be a dj okay this is how fucking amazing my parents are and like the the older i get the more artists i meet in the world and just like wait that wasn't how your parents reacted i i god i'm so i'm so grateful for them they're now at every show riding the rail. They didn't know about electronic music before I started playing. I did see a video of them at your show. They are...

I mean, they are riding. Sometimes my mom would just be like... And she's kind of twirling, doing the twirling thing. I'm just like, that is my queen. So when i went to college i actually you know i was an orchestra and band and i was a band kid nerd growing up and i was like i'm gonna i'm gonna go to college and spread my wings i'm like i'll just do music for fun like i don't need to take courses or whatever and i was at uc berkeley Berkeley and struggling to pick my major. My dad, my dad gave me the worst advice ever, which was just take, he's like, you love,

you love school. You'll probably go get your master's. So your undergrads, whatever, just take all the classes you like, and that's your major. So then I like, I was like, well, I want to take some music classes. So I started, Myra Melford was there and she's an incredible jazz musician. So I started, you know, taking some like entry-level classes with her. And then she was like, you want to audition for this program? You know, and she was so inspiring to me that I, I did it. And then I ended up, I just took so many music classes. I ended up as a music major. And then I graduated with out-of-state tuition debt

up to my eyeballs. And I was like, dad like dad that was that was literally the fucking worst advice you could have ever given me he's like uh yeah maybe sorry about that i can't believe i went to one of the best schools in america and i got a degree in music so um that was eye-opening but um certainly well i i at the time i was reading bill graham presents um it was one of like kind of the first promoters to make promoting like a thing yeah and put on the grateful dead and stuff so it was like the first time in a while that like my blood like i i got excited reading this book and i found out that um greg perloff who took over bill graham's company when he passed away uh their office another's office, was right down the street from my apartment in Berkeley. So I wrote a letter as to why they should hire me. This was actually also my dad's idea.

And I went down there and I pretend like I had a meeting with the CEO, Greg. And they said they let me in because I was really confident. And they saw some 19-year-old girl and they're like, and luckily he came out of his office right then. I able to hand in this letter i was like here's why you should hire me and he's like i don't know if i should call the cops or if i should read this i was like i think you should read this and so i i started interning there and it worked you know that was my industry then uh fell in love that's a great question i learned a lot i i had a great i loved everybody on the planet and i you know i learned what the manager is and i learned what a promoter is and and um that was a really important education i'm still so shocked about how many artists i meet on the

road who they're playing a show and they don't know who the promoter of the show is you know they yeah it's crazy they maybe don't even have a relationship with their agent right it's it's so i guess for me it feels really empowering to know those things. Yeah, same. When you asked me about like, do I have, you know, when I come home and have a break, I'm also W's global music director. Yeah, W Hotels, right? Yes, yeah. You're fucking crazy, dude.

And so I have like 9am calls with Australia all the time that, you know, things like, so that's usually why I don't actually get to a break. But I really like, as an artist artist i feel more like a commodity and so i really like having a seat at the industry table and be able to you know put on my friends artists who i believe in and love and you know spend some brand money on them and put some food in their pockets yeah yeah so um and then i also run a non-profitprofit that teaches women how to produce music. Femme House? Yeah, Femme House. Femme House, yeah. Look at you doing your research out here.

Queen, I'm here. I'm prepared for this one. But Leah, maybe the control thing. Let's go back to that. You're starting to sound like my therapist. At the end of the last session, she was like, this all feels like it's about control.

And I was like, ah. Yeah, I mean. That's what makes you happy, though. It's kind of hard to balance happiness. They all feed the ecosystem. And also, the thing that actually, I get so

sick of myself. I'm fucking sick of talking about myself. I'm sick of seeing myself. I'm sick of like my entire, you know, there's so much about how in order to be happy, it's like contribution to society or, you know, helping other people and like that. I just feel like so much of my job is me focused that that's not healthy. And I just feel like so much of my job is media focused that that's not healthy. Uh, and something that I found that is like,

uh, that, that really does keep me going and is a why and keeps me motivated is, is fem house is meeting these other powerful, amazing female or gender expansive identified creators. Um, and just getting to be like, just getting to say,

you can do this, like you can do this, keep going like that. That brings me more energy than anything else I do. So I just can't give it up. But also like, I don't, I think you're overthinking that too.

Like you're doing things that are so selfless with Femme House and with W Hotel. You said you're helping your friends get branding gigs. It's not, that's not about you. It makes me feel good, though. It's still about me. But yes, I think there's obviously, there's a bigger...

I can rest at night knowing that that's really my reason. But it definitely is. It's a nice escape from just the LPGOB world. And it's just, yeah, it is the LPGOB world and it's just it's yeah it is awesome to support artists

that you believe in totally I mean like it must have been like what did you tell your you know your parents are deadheads what did you tell your parents

when you said you're going to do this dead project oh yeah they probably flipped shit my parents were just you know when I

when I told them I was going to leave this job and go pursue that was you know steady and I was them I was going to leave this job and go pursue, that was, you know, steady. And I was able to pay off some college loans and to pursue music. Actually, I called my dad and I was like, I'm going, I'm really struggling. I had this opportunity to move down to L.A. and join this all-female electronic band.

It was some of the guys from Daft Punk were putting it together. And I didn't even, honestly, I didn't know anything about electronic music. I barely knew who Daft Punk was. Like, that wasn't even that impressive to me. I was just like, what is a synth? What? But I called my dad and my dad was like, you don't have golden handcuffs. You don't have kids.

You don't have a mortgage. You know, you'll figure out a way to put food on the table. I have no doubt. I think you should leap. And like, that's how fucking awesome my parents are and then when i started getting into electronic music to understand what their kid was doing they too started you know listening to serious chill and that's cool my mom actually called me recently she's like i wish that they would play more of your music on serious chill

instead of diplos revolution because i just sit through diplos revolution it's just a bunch of crap and like if you if you could just make more music on chill that i'm like mom i love you but i brought my i brought my parents to a rave and the first time they set foot on uh at the concert it was like this big open field and there was definitely an aha moment for both of us because my dad was like oh okay if i was born now i would be a raver instead of a hippie. I would be taking molly instead of acid, but everything else is pretty similar. It's very similar.

Peace, love, unity. There's a little weird uniform. The dead were called a dance band. It was nonstop dancing. They figured out a way to get into it. Then when I called them, I got the phone call, uh, where Garcia's family asked if I wanted to remix, you know, Jerry's first album. I literally was like, I'm, I'm, can I call you right back?

And I had to hang up because I had to call my parents and my mom dropped, I FaceTimed them and she dropped the floor and started sobbing. I love it. Just like, couldn't, I mean, she, yeah. And at that point they knew a lot about remixes and you know they knew what that meant yeah and they just started sobbing

it's funny in hindsight because god there's so many dead heads that fucking hate me and hate what I did I was gonna ask about that that never really crossed their minds which is funny because I sort of knew that would be the case. Jam band fans,

they really feel like they know everything. It's so annoying. It's the beauty that raised me and it's the people. I'm just like, wait, the people that, you're my people though. And it's an official remix. They asked you to do it. Yeah, it felt,

when we released it, I had to I had to be like I was in I was actually on my way when it came out I was playing

O2 Arena in London with Pete Tong I was playing this like classical piano moment of the song that we wrote together

and it should have been a really great moment you know this thing is coming out or going to the O2 and my parents were with me and I had to take my mom's phone and be like you need to stop reading the comments like it's

it's um there are they're fucking me they're they're really they're really fucking mean and there were like there was a month where i was like this was a massive mistake but then i played a dead house set. And where was I? I think it was, it was the first time I played in my hometown, Eugene. And afterwards this dad and luckily my parents were staying next to me so they could hear this,

this dad and son came up to us and they flew in from New York and LA to come to this set because he was, the dad was like, I just have to let you know, like full disclosure, we're a very dysfunctional family. My son is gay and a raver, and we just don't see eye to eye on anything. There's nothing that we have in common.

It's been a struggle. And I'm a deadhead, and he is a raver. And this is the first hour that we spent together, two hours that we spent together, that were joyous. So thank you. And I was just like, you don't know how much I need to hear this oh my god the haters aren't there anyway is everything to me because it's honestly i started like weaving in grateful dead stems to like show my community who you'd be so you were like when i'm touring in europe nobody knows who the dead is nobody in my world does does. Which is so crazy. When I

realize that these people, I'm like, wait, I'd be talking about the Grateful Dead, people would be like, oh, who? I'm like, what? The most important band of all time? It's really just my way to be like, try to turn this band on to these people.

It's been an interesting journey. How did that make you feel that the community that you grew up on, that you always wanted to be accepted by, first was like, fuck this chick? Yeah. Jerry's rolling in his grave. I got that so many times.

So fucking stupid, by the way. At first, I mean, I tried to for social media i try to get in and get out because i don't think it's a healthy thing right um but there was one person who left like them sent me the meanest dm i've ever received and i was i was on i was on a um a cruise for it's like groove cruise or something and so i I was trapped in a boat and I was bored and I just like, you know what? I'm going to engage with this person. So I just like kindly responded to all their points.

The only person I ever responded to. And we actually went back and forth for like three months. And he ended up, I was like, next time I was like, where are you based out of? He's like, New York.

I was like, I would love for you to come to one of my shows. It's not a dead house show. Like, so you can see like, this is not, the thing is, this is a side project. This is not what I do. This is just an honor to my family.

And he ended up coming. And we had a great... He's like, this isn't for me, but I see what you do. And it ended up being a really life-learning thing. But yeah, it was really... I'm like, damn, is you know i became a musician because of the dead because i saw how important like music was like the how important it was to

come together in community and be a part of something greater than yourself and to be shunned by those by those same people was uh yeah it was heartbreaking but i guess you can't really have thin skin in this industry. It's like finding out Santa Claus doesn't exist. And what's so funny is when I did a remix for Taylor Swift recently, and I thought, okay, here we go again, right?

Wrong. Her fans love it. Okay, so first of all, the remix between us is, I didn't even get to, it was not my best work. I gave them a demo. They decided they wanted to put it out right away. It wasn't even done. Whatever.

That doesn't matter. The nicest fans in the world. Like, they could... The meanest thing somebody said was, this isn't for me, but I'm just so pumped that Taylor had another female produce a song. That's awesome. That was the meanest thing somebody said was this isn't for me but i'm just like so pumped that that you know taylor had another female produced a song that's awesome that was the meanest thing said that's amazing that was a real big i'm like wait what that was mind-blowing to me you know because she's even has an even wider net and i thought and these people are you know pled allegiance to her yeah and it was yeah so that was that was, that was kind of, I still love the dead community, obviously.

My parents are part of it. I think it's like the most incredible, what they built is the most incredible thing ever, period. Yeah. But that was a, that was kind of wild to see. That would have scarred me. No, fuck that. I'd be like, fuck y'all.

Fuck y'all. You just got to remember the minority of those people are, it's like a minority of those people. And they're just the loudest. The people that are hating are always the loudest i i guess i just thought like instagram mostly though you know people are really nice on instagram that seems to be a nicer platform so i was like oh shit whoa but even you know i'm i i become good friends with the goose guys and i after this like after the first remix came out and i was being torched,

I like, I called Rick from goose and I was like, dude, I am struggling. And he was like, Oh man, what? Don't worry.

Like, do you know how much we get torched by fish? Oh, they get fucking torched. I mean, he's like, dude, this is totally,

it's just part of it. I'm like, what is wrong with you guys? What's normalized? Like this, this is so mean but i mean that kind of gave me a different perspective like yeah these guys because the jam man community like really they have so they're so um they really really believe in what they love

they really believe in their band they really believe in the music and and you have to appreciate that like i had to step outside be like you what? It's because you love this band so much and good for you. Listen, John from Kansas. They called me. Yeah. Okay? Fucking asshole.

Totally disregarded. You're begging for the gig. They called you. Jerry Garcia's family asked me to do this. Totally. I was like, shit. I guess I didn't really... Of course, there's going to be people who don't like dance music. i didn't i guess i didn't really of course there's gonna people who

don't like dance music but i really i didn't i think that people saw it as me like clawing on to yeah it just like was a fun side project for me and i do remixes for people also the remix culture is so normalized where exactly it's like you release a song you get a remix for it that's so normal yeah but i i see that now that it wasn't for this community well the problem is they they think it's sacred the music which i guess like you know you could argue to some people it is but like nothing's really sacred when it comes to remix oh it's so sacred so they're gonna let some mediocre yeah cover band cover it right they fucking lose their shit no fuck that exactly it's fucking dumb I fucking love you guys

So who are you excited to see at Gem and Jam? Have you been to this festival before? I haven't and I'm really excited I heard it's a blast It's a mixture of DJ and live And I guess gems I was going to say Are there literally gems?

That's what it started as. It was a gem thing for a long time, then they added music to it. We're playing it. I know. What day do you play? I think we play Saturday and Sunday. What day are you on? That's a good question. Just real quickly, February.

I play Saturday. Perfect. We'll hang out. Yes! Are you doing a straight DJ set? I want to make sure I get to your set too. So I'll put that on my calendar. Are you doing a DJ set? What kind of set are you doing? Yeah. I mean, I always play the piano when I DJ, but it's a DJ

set. Yeah. So this is like a Jameer festival. Yeah. It's like a hybrid festival, I feel like. These are always my favorite to play because the Hulaweens of the world. At a DJ set, I find I get more musical fans, but who aren't hating me because they also are electronic fans. I love playing these festivals versus the super snobby electronic bands or the extreme jazz.

I love this. What's the difference between playing fast in America versus Europe? Oh, my God. Every dude, everything. I love you, Leah. You're,

you're fucking awesome, dude. I'm quite expressive. It is, um, that I think as an American artist who like really, um, looks up to and love,

like there's, have you heard of circle loco it's a party and it started in abiza at dc10 but like they're kind of the gatekeepers for what is cool underground house music and um being introduced to like that party blew my mind but um the u.s i guess i would say it'd be the opposite learning how to play in different countries has been like the the hardest part of the last few years most challenging but like very exciting like i mean i've gone to when i first went to mexico oh fucking bombed when i first went to the uk fucking bombed when i first went to visa absolutely bombed like it was it was so intense to learn uh interesting how to read each dance floor and how to...

So for me, the challenge in the US is that I have some songs that have done well on Spotify. So there are people who aren't dance fans, who don't understand DJ culture, who've heard me on Spotify. And so they came to see that song. Right. But I'm playing at two in the morning at a club, you know, in between two underground artists, I am not going to play a song with a pop vocal on it. Yeah,

absolutely not. Right. And then they get pissed and I get, you know, like angry DMs like I came to, I bought a ticket to that. I went, you know,

so it's been really, are you a DJ? Are you an artist? And in festivals in the U S you can be an artist. so it's been really are you a dj are you an artist and in at festivals in the u.s you can be an artist like it's people expect you to kind of you have an hour set which is usually wait hour to two hours shorter than most dj sets yeah you can kind of just like bang it out you can like play harder yeah but the the club like when i went to europe really what i like the the even at festivals you always research who's before you and who's after you.

It's all about, it's not about you. It's about making the night flow well. So what time slot are you in? You should play to that time slot. Like I said earlier, you should not go above 1.20 BPM. You should be setting up the next artist. So then they set the next artist. And it's a slow rise of you know euphoria on the dance floor

and learning how to play to all those slots um and you know bring in different samples from different countries and uh i would say outside the u.s that it's really about the journey it's really about cultivating a night they yes and they want to discover new music and they want to not have their shazams work and they want it you know it's really they want it's kind of headier it can be more psychedelic it can be um it feels like this like more

jam bandy crossover festivals also can be you can go there a little bit more but you know like the more mainstream US festivals are wow they are so different have you ever done Zagat in budapest that thing on the island i'm dying to play that one that looks amazing i was i had an offer for last year but i had already i couldn't do it i'm i'm yeah that one looks amazing so are you electronic fans no

i'm i am he is i don't really listen to much of it but we tour through europe like our biggest fan base is like Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland. Wait, what? Yeah. That's so rare. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I write songs. I'm not really in a jam band. So like I'm a songwriter. So that's why it works out there. Cause not a lot of jam bands.

Yeah. They don't really like the jam. Europeans don't fuck with jam. They like real. No, they, I, in fact, when Goose played,

you know, when I'm playing out there, I was like, well, so like, oh my God, I hope you're the first jam band to actually do your, you know, when I'm playing out there, I was like, well, it's so like, oh my God, I hope you're the first jam man to actually do a year, you know?

And it's like most of the people that went were Americans. It was three fourths Americans. Yeah, I was like, whoa, that's so, first of all, it's crazy. I'd follow you out there, but second of all, wow. So that's, oh, that's incredible.

Yeah, like we were on, we were playing in Europe the same time they were and it was funny. Like they had all American crowds and our crowd was just all Germans, just fucking sweaty ass Southern Germans. He's been going there for like 10 years yeah i've been touring europe for 10 years like you were bigger there before america i feel like yeah wait so do you play differently there

versus yeah in the u.s yeah it's everything's a every you know they're like you nail it on the head like they're curating a night like when you do lowlands or something like they're they take it it's special and it's punk rock. It's like mosh pits during our happy songs. I love European crowds. I love Europe. Have you gone to South America? No, I heard

that's insane. I heard that is fucking crazy, dude. They can party. I had to, after all this health stuff came up, I was like, you know what? I haven't been to Asia and I thought that I wanted to conquer like, after all this, like, health stuff came up, I was like, you know what? I haven't been to Asia, and I thought that, like, I want to conquer all the continents. You know what? Let's just focus on South America.

Right. And Europe, because South America, I mean, Europe is, like, I feel like I always get better after I'm over there. But South America, those fans, I have never, I mean, they come early. They don't give a fuck who's opening They're gonna be there, they're gonna show you the love They're gonna scream, they're gonna whistle They're gonna hoot and holler It is incredible I fucking love it

It's the opposite of playing in New York or LA I know right What did you say about metal? They love metal down there too Like metal music It's really big down there It's interesting Yeah the cities

Why do we think We're so fucking cool for school That we can't just have fun Yeah Oh my god Playing in the major cities Is like Nashville is like

Give me a B market all day long Give me Asheville Oh yeah Give me fucking Kansas City I'm just like I know this is gonna be magical You know Damn

And then when you go to LA especially, they're just like I know. You're like... Blue cities and red states. They're like, who is this bitch, you know? Yes! I couldn't agree more! The blue cities and red states are the best markets. I literally moved to Austin for that because it's like they doubled down on being weird. Yeah. And like, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, aren't you from Eugene too? So like, that's kind of like a hippie dippy town. Yeah. Dude, born and raised there. I couldn't wait to get out of there and now i'm just like damn it's one of my favorite i mean my dad always says there's no racial tension because they're all white people so that part is like that's a bummer but it is a beautiful beautiful i mean the pacific northwest i i'll never forget i was playing a as a dj it seems like you chase the summer and beaches and i actually fucking hate the beach and i also don't like the summer so i'm like playing uh i'm standing on a beach i'm playing another sunrise set somewhere in mexico

there's an led wall behind me and i turn around i see my visuals for a sunrise set are what i me my tremendous walked and did a sunrise hike, you know, timing it in, in Eugene, Oregon. And, um, so like, that's what plays behind me. And I turned around and I saw the trees and I started crying and people are like, yeah, the music is so beautiful. And I was like, no, no, no. My body is being called to the forest is's being called to like green to the pacific

northwest like that is all i ever want i just want to be in the rain i want to like i want to be like rehydrated and refueled and i miss it so much your dopamine level she's trying to see bigfoot and your dopamine level yeah i try to see big. What I'm saying here is I'm retiring music and I'm going to be Bigfoot. Hell yeah. You're going to find Bigfoot. It must have been nice to headline the Oregon Fair then. That was the... Yes, but then immediately I got...

When they called... This is so funny. My mother is... She works for KLCC in Eugene, Oregon and they broadcast the main stage music. So I've been going to the fair since the womb. My mom has been going since, my parents have been going together since they were in their 20s. They would just like take acid and sleep in a bush.

And then when she started working for the NPR affiliate, and she like was the big pusher to like go out there and broadcast the music. And so I was a fair kid, would never miss it. And then as I got got older it doesn't matter where in the world i am i'm cut even one time i was in abusa and i flew in for one night just i'll never miss the fair okay it's the most important thing on the planet to me and i've been trying i'd submitted myself every single year since i was 18 to play the fair every year and i was turned down every time and my mom even got on the board to try to see if she could help me get on the fair. My mom is a doer and she is a mama bear.

And she tracked down the bookers and she would send them. She would see them at meetings or things around Eugene. And she would, I mean, she was hunting them down. They're like this fucking crazy mom. Right. And then when they called, I got a phone call to see if I'd want to headline Saturday at the main stage. And I was literally on like a massive tour in Australia, okay? And they're like, essentially, there's no money.

But, you know, if you want to play. And I was like, this is the best thing to ever happen to me. I was, you know, crying and sobbing. But then I did immediately get freaked out. I was like, oh, no, no. Is this going to be the Jerry Garcia remix 2.0? You know how people are going to be fucking pissed that the elders are not fans of electronic music? But the booker was...

And I called back and I was like, okay, this is my biggest dream come true, but also I am terrified. And he was like, you know what? If the fair doesn't embrace the the you know the younger generation and electronic music we will die and so you know yeah we're gonna get a little bit of hate but like you know that's cool they're honest about that yeah totally yeah and he's like but you know be the bridge like we need that and i was like okay you know i'm here for

this um and so uh who was gonna going to say? How'd it go? So my, well, oh yeah, what was I going to say? Just to wrap up the story about my mom. So my mom was in a meeting and one of the bookers was like, oh, Gail, we're so sorry. We can't book your daughter again this year. We booked an artist LPGOB. And my mom was like, that is my daughter. Bitch.

Listen. She was just like, like me. she's like i just thought when i was able to and i was waiting for him to say i was like finish saying what you're gonna say and i was able to be like that is my you could have had her five years ago you know were they embarrassed totally was like wait what and she's like yeah i've been sending you emails about lpg ob you must have not ever opened any of them. I was like, Mom, you do come across a little bit of... Book my daughter!

Book my daughter right now! You know they get other submissions too, right? It's not just this one. Totally. It was the best hour of my life. The bar was set high for me. The bar was set really for me the bar was set really high the sound

was trash they've never had a dj before there were no subs it was like it was my my partner's running around like at you know at uh sat at the soundboard being like please turn up the bass like it was hilarious i didn't give a fuck about any of that like i was just like this like to stand there and look out and see the puppets that i've been, I, you know, grew up like worshiping these like huge puppets they bring out at main stage. And I just was like, I can't believe I get to share this. I just, it was, I mean, I literally was, I was actually straight up sobbing the entire time. Tears just rolling down my face. I saw my mom in the front row and my little niece was the first time she had gotten to see me play because it was finally in all ages.

I'm just sobbing for an hour. It was remarkable. Oh my God. Leah, your dreams are coming true, queen. Let's fucking go. I know we're already at over an hour. Thank God though because my

agents had gotten an offer and they didn't even pass it on to me. They're like, what is this? Oh, because they didn't even know. Yeah, yeah, right, right. Thank God somebody was able to get in touch with me, because that was the most important thing I could have done. And my agents weren't even going to present it. This isn't enough money.

No, it's like, fucking Oregon Fair. My artists are not, you know, it's like. Totally. They're like, this is offensive. I'm like, no, no, no. This is the greatest thing of our lives out of the three things you've you've mentioned getting the call from garcia family getting the organ call or getting the taylor swift call or w hotels or w hotels that is so funny uh i'm not funny i mean those Hotel a call too? Actually, W was...

Was that you? When I was at Another Planet, my only job out of college, I was reading a Billboard magazine. And I saw that they had music curators and a global music director. And I just thought, oh my gosh, how fun would it be to just use brand money to put together shows that have the stress marketing expenses versus like the stress of having to sell the tickets. And so I, um, immediately contacted the nearest W and, um,

that, and, and I also wanted to learn how to DJ. So I thought, great, maybe I can DJ in their lobbies and like practice out in front of people and then work my way up to the global role. And like,

I put that on my dream board, they ended up canceling the global position, but I, I, once I got, once I figured out who was in charge of the global leads of marketing and stuff, I reinvented the position for myself and they hired me this year. So that was a fun journey. Leah! I would say, though, without a doubt... You could be running Costco or something.

Without a doubt, the, oh, that's really hard. That's a really hard, I mean, it would be between, I mean, the Taylor Swift thing.

That's pretty unbelievable. She's pretty famous. The funny, the Taylor Swift thing was, was a really fun experience. Um, and because, because it's sort of like, I remember like the first time I got my first billboard,

it was like the first time my brother was like, oh, you oh, my brother knows nothing about music, doesn't like music, is like a Midwest sports guy. It was like, oh, I'm going to call my friends and tell them. It was the first time it validated me to him. I'm finally proud of you. For Taylor Swift, he saw her tweet my name. And first of all, I'm like, you're following Taylor Swift? What? But that sort of validated me to like the greater community but and and i think that what she's built is absolutely incredible but but i wasn't necessarily like a you

know did you talk to her she's so talented and um i have the uh pr script I'm supposed to read. So... Never mind. We'll go over that later. It was a very eye-opening experience. She's a businesswoman. I bet it was an eye-opening experience going through that process. Oh, my God. You have no idea.

I fucking bet. Let's meet at the festival and we'll talk about it. All right, cool. Thank you. But I would probably say the Oregon Country Fair. Yeah. Hometown. I was offered red rocks like the week before and i was like and you know i was like okay cool and that though that phone call wow i just i was i'll never i mean i in i was in australia and like i i mean i had literally i had

gone online and applied you know like done a little application process myself for the last seven years. And so, and I thought when they first called, I was like, okay, so cool. At the Blue Moon stage at like three in the morning when nobody's there. Awesome. And they're like, no, Saturday Night Headline. And I just thought, I mean, I just was so confused actually at first. Did they know you were a hometown? Yeah.

Yeah. The guy, like they brought out a new booker. The booker knew. And he was like, if we don't bridge this gap, all the elders are going to die. Yeah. We're going to have nobody at the fair. How far is it from Eugene? How far is the actual fair from your town?

It's in Benita. It's 20 minutes. Oh, it's right there. Okay. Oh, wow. Yeah, it's right there. And also, tickets are kind of like gold. You can only get a ticket if you are contributing or if you're working on a staff.

It's actually really hard to get on a staffing team. You have to be on a wait list for years. So I was able to bring friends out that had never been able to come and show them. Damn, it's that hard. And that was so... To see it through their eyes the first time was so beautiful and so special. And yeah, it was just a magical weekend my family my whole family came and all of my dad's brothers came to the the show to see it and they're and a

lot of them are like he's like right wing i don't know you know my dad is is definitely different than the rest of them but they came to support and saw a lot of naked people and it was awesome i fucking love it wow all you guys been to the fair? I haven't. I never have. Yeah. I'm homies with like, that's like my crew, like the full crew. Steve Pultz,

John Craigie, Rainbow Girls. John Craigie? That's like my, I have a man crush on him. Don't even get me started. Yeah, he's so hot. I would go gay for Craigie.

I say that every time. Okay. Me and my girlfriend, I've been with my partner forever. So this is not about me, okay? But me and my girlfriend, I brought her out one year And we saw her perform and literally spent the rest of the fair Just like walking around

Hoping that she would run into him That man He's so hot He is so beautiful I mean still to this day we joke We send each other jokes about John Craggy all the time Oh my god he's gonna fucking He's gonna love this

Because he is really a sweet man And my God, he's going to fucking, he's going to love this. Because he is really a sweet man. And I just think he's an amazing talent. And I'm just like, I crush on him. I mean, he's getting pretty big himself. He's getting huge. He did all of his theater. I mean, yeah, I think he's, and I just saw him at the fair.

So I thought like, oh, maybe he's like a local musician, whatever. And then the next day we realized like, oh no, he's actually like a, he's a pretty big deal. He's from Oregon though. And she like, she ran into him one other time and like offered him her yogurt. And like, he was like, oh, I'm okay.

And like, it went horribly. And so I always now make fun of her for like, remember the time that you offered John Craig your yogurt? Oh, I can't wait. I'm going to, I'm going to skip, skip. I'm going to send this fucking clip to him immediately. Another thing about how he's hot. He's just so hot and he's so cool and he's so sweet.

And he's funny. And he's funny. Which hot people don't know that funny. Don't tell me that. I don't need to hear he's funny. It's too much. I know he's funny too.

I'm trying to lessen the crush. He's also rich and he has multiple charities. I heard he has his adrenaline taken care of so he can help you with that. Remember he saved all those puppies from that house fire? That was weird.

Because he's also a fireman. Volunteer firefighter. Volunteer firefighter. We got to let this queen go. Leah, it's been a pleasure. You're the shit. You're amazing. I can't wait to see you in two weeks.

Yeah, I can't wait to see you in two weeks. We'll go hang out at the Gemma Jam Festival. My last question before I let you get back to... And you're taking care of yourself, right? You're getting better. You're feeling like you're charging up your battery. How's it going? Gotta get there. I am. I'm working my ass off on it.

I'm seeing all the nutritionists and specialists. I mean, do I follow through with the nutrition? The eating part is like eliminating gluten from my diet and things like that. It feels like it's the hardest thing I've ever done. How do you do that on a road? For six months, they've been like,

okay, no gluten. I've gone one day. Yeah, fuck that. You can't eat bread? You can't do it. My nutritionist was like, if you go to Europe, have whatever you want, but in the US, don't eat gluten. They have real food there.

I'm just like, this is so fucked up. We're fucked. I appreciate you asking though. Thank you. I'm working on it. Good. So when it's all said and done,

when the dust pass, what do you want to be remembered by? What? I was like, I just started crying right there. Wow wow she is tapped into her feelings um my mom's face came to my mind which was wild but what i want to be remembered by is um sharing joy and light yeah god damn it le it. Leah, you are- Pretty basic. Pretty basic, pretty simple. I care a lot about family.

I care about just, like when I started Pursue Music, I think I saw my mom's face because when I started Pursue Music, I was first studying at UC Berkeley, pieces and studies conflict. And I felt like in order to make a change in the world, like you had to, you know,

go into policy or be an activist or whatever. And I felt like Pursuing Music was a really selfish endeavor. And it was my mom who sat me down and was like, listen, for those of us who work normal jobs, which is most of us going to the Grateful Dead shows, those moments got me through everything. Those moments of happiness are what I, you know, tapped into when I was at work or stressed out and whatever. And knowing that I would have another one of those moments is like what got me through some days.

And that's where I fell in love with your father. And, you know, that's where I, that's where I really felt the most joy and it is important work and you have to take care of yourself to spread that joy. But like that, those are my best memories and,

and, and that's, that's enough. So I, I, I really, you know, I really pursued music because I thought, okay, like if I can bring that i i i really just you know pursued music because i

thought okay like if i can bring that to people then you know it's not that i'm an activist for changing the world but like people you know i think that i think bringing joy and playing music is is an important escape for people i love you so much i don't even know you that well and i fucking love this shit out of you leah you do you you know it's really i've never been asked that and i really appreciate it thank you for asking things i've i every question i feel so stupid i can be like great question but i really meant that like i've oh it's so refreshing and artists should only interview artists this is what i'm talking about i agree actually everyone else is fucking sterile as shit yeah and also fuck Grateful Dead fans for fucking putting you under a corner.

Only the haters. The nice ones are nice, but three-fourths of them, they're fucking mean. I don't want them to fucking disrespect my queen, okay? Thank you. Bye, guys. Bye, guys. And what's the one thing you want people to forget about you?

Can I remix Jerry Garcia's first album. Sorry, guys. He asked me to do it from the grave. All right, Leah. Go enjoy your day. Thank you so much. Have a great day. I'll see you guys soon. Thank you. Bye, bud. See you later. I love that.

I love that. You tuned in to the World's Health 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. No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast. As far as we know, any similarity, instructional knowledge, facts, or fake is purely coincidental.