Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 310: Live from Jam Cruise w/ Snarky Puppy, Marc Brownstein (Disco Biscuits) & Mike Dillon

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Holy COW a live podcast episode recorded on JAM CRUISE, featuring The U.N. as backing band and an insane lineup of interviews? Huge thanks to everyone involved in this incredible Interview Hour: We got longtime friend of the pod and fellow psychopath Mike Dillon; of course, he brought his bad-to-the-bone mom too. We got Marc Brownstein of the Disco Biscuits back on the mic. Will Frasco own up to loving his band finally? AND GET THIS cuz we also got Michael League, bassist for Snarky Puppy! Nick falls in love. What are you doing right now, get your head back in the game and listen to this episode already! Generally speaking, we are 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 who you think the essential American rock band is today: [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 Produced by Andy Frasco, Nick Gerlach, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Mara Davis

You guys ready to save the fucking world right now? You guys ready to get this actual fucking party going? Andy has got a very tonight show style, late night style show for you right here in the afternoon. So ladies and gentlemen, let me get out of the way for Andy Fresco's World Saving Podcast Baby! Dance baby! Hi Andy. How's it going out there, Jam Cruise? Thanks for being here. It's a podcast when everyone's all strung out. I can't tell if they're old or they

just been on this boat for three days. Ladies and gentlemen, this is my co-host Nick Gerlach. Give it up for Nick Gerlach. Hi. What are you? I haven't seen you. What have you been up to? I've just been hanging out here in the Charlotte Hilton lobby for the last couple days, you know, just relaxing. A lot of weird creepy boomer sex vibes in this cruise the first day. I walked through the singles mixture the first day, I felt like Bieber walking through a diddy party. They were looking at me like a piece of meat.

I was like, am I attractive? And then I saw myself in the mirror and I was like, I am not attractive. I've been hearing about this like swinger counterculture on the boat. Everyone's like kind of fucking each other. Yeah, who brought their pineapples anybody bring their pun. Nope No, no swinger's here. They're still sleeping Because they were up all night fucking someone. Oh Well, we have a great show for you Nick. It's been a lot of fun

I love Jim because y'all having a good time on this boat or what? We have a great lineup tonight and our first do you want to jam a little bit? I think we should get this party started with a little bit of jamming. Give it up for Nick, he also plays saxophone, doesn't also just talk shit. Yeah, let's get funky. Hey, and we got Mike Dillon, he's our first guest tonight.

So, I think we should get it poppin Well I'm tired of letting you know every time I'm feeling blue you tell me If you need a friend I'll be the man that you held me Do I gotta hold you? Do I gotta love you like I could? Do you need friends at the end of the road, hold me too That's the way we get around, we get around That's the way we get around, we get around Hits! What do you got Nick? Let's go! Mike Taylor, what you got? I'm a man of my word Sam and Sean. Switch off every four.

Mike. Nick. Switch off every four. Mike. Nick. Pete. Sean. Let's go! Give it up for the band, ladies and gentlemen, not bad. All right. Just getting over our anxiety from last night.

But I'd like to bring up a man, the myth, the legend. He's been in my corner since we started playing 15 years ago. Give it up for Mr. Mike Dillon, ladies and gentlemen. There he is! Hello, Mike! There he is. Hey, pal. The youngest guy on the boat. The youngest guy on the boat, that's me. Mike, how you doing, buddy?

I'm good. How many jam cruises have you done? I was in the first year, they had two, and I was here with Claypool on the second one the first year. And I've been here every year except the year I was on tour with Dean Weinband, and the boat didn't make it to port because of weather. And Annabelle called me and said, you're not making it this year, pal. And I said, I'm not making it this year, pal.

And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And I said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal.

And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. And she said, I'm not making it this year, pal. except the year I was on tour with Dean Weinband and the boat didn't make it to port because of weather and Annabelle called me and said, you're not making it this year, pal. Yeah, these boats are crazy, you know. It's like, I always like having fun.

Like, that's why your mom's in the building. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Mara Dillon. My mom, she's 82. Wow. Let's get your mom up here, actually. Let's get mom, come up here. Give it up for Mara Dillon. Get up for mom.

She's way more interesting than I am. There she is. Come on, get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. He's way more interesting than I am. There she is. Holy shit, look at that bad bitch. Give it up for this bad bitch right here ladies and gentlemen. Yeah. Menopause looks good on you, Vera. Oh my God.

This is a pasty, but I don't wear pasties. Tell me, you don't wear pasties? Oh, she's a sexy bitch as well. Mom. Come sit down. I want to hear a little bit about, you know, how you're doing. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show.

I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little bit of a show. I'm doing a little but I don't wear pasty. Tell me, you don't wear pasty? Oh, she's a sexy bitch. Mom. Come sit down. I want to hear a little bit about

raising Mike Dillon. What was the funnest part about raising Mike Dillon? My other children are normal. Yeah. Mike's my first born. He never slept. So I never slept.

He was all the method too. Yeah, you did have a meth problem. We all know that Mike, telling you. Well, probably my milk was not strong enough. Anyway, and the thing about back in the 60s, they didn't want you to nurse. They wanted you to use formula, but I was going to do it old school. Did I suck the tit when I was a kid? Hey, hey. Hey, I live to embarrass my children. I know the tables are turned, bro.

But let me tell you, when he was 10 months old, he started running, and after that he never slowed down. But this child slept from 1 o'clock to five o'clock as a baby in the morning. So what's the most embarrassing thing Mike's ever done in his life? Billy Goat. Narrow it down. Okay, that whole era of music, Billy Goat. And Andy, I took my mother when she was 92 and 93 to watch him play and we went to the Flamingo in Austin on Fifth Avenue and I said mom and oh we had a boom before that we'd been in West Texas for West Fest shut up and he

played there with brave combo we drove all the way to Austin. I said, Mom, we're going to go upstairs and sit outside. You don't need to see what's going on down there. Were you at the infirmary? Actually, it wasn't going down, it was going up. But anyway. Whoa! Whoa! Hey-o!

Oh, Vera. OK. Vera, give it up for him. Pre-Viagra. Pre-Viagra. That's just all meth. My mom said. We didn't have Viagra back in the 90s. Good thing.

Hey, my mom said... She said, I don't understand his music, but I support him. But let me tell you about this boy. Hold on, your mom said that? Yes. You guys are so supportive. She was amazing. Lived to be 95. But anyway... I got good genes, Frasco. Look at her. And you know who she loved?

Motherfucker's the found the youth over here. She loved Carl Denson when he played with her. She did. I remember she came and saw me play with Carl D. And she's like, I really like Carl Denson. And she went to see Les Claypool, all of them. She thought Les was weird. Were you at the infamous Billy Goats show where Mike shit on stage? No.

No. Neither was I. But you know. That's the only time I ever blacked out in my entire career. Mike brought a whole bottle of Jägermeister backstage. Yeah, and you shat yourself on stage. Everyone, that's not allowed in Lawrence, Kansas anymore. Jager Meister and heroin withdrawals are not a good combination. Oh my god. Okay and there's also the story he went to the vibra room

and guess who helped bring his gear in? Well, mom! Mom! Hey I'm 82 and I've had a stroke. Give it up. But, but Andy. What a bad bitch she is, right? Give it up for my mom. Yeah, I love it. Andy. His favorite character on TV was Jacques Cousteau. And when he was a little boy, he would dress up using whatever he could and get his, the

others to follow him. He also would be a priest tell him what I was a priest and she told me that I would make all the kids come take communion on Sunday after mass yeah I was a good little Catholic boy and then I make them all take their clothes off when we go running down the street naked oh so a priest so pretty much a regular priest yes a regular priest and I think I learned the trick from priests. Yeah, exactly.

When he was... I'm watching you. When I taught him in sixth grade, girls loved him. Everybody loved him. And one day they came to tell me something and I said, if you can't tell me something good about him as well, don't bring me that other crap. Oh my God.

Have you ever caught him like having sex when he was a kid? Yeah. Remember how you found out about, I got grounded, I didn't get to see Kiss play when I was in sixth grade? Yes. When on what? OK, I was going to go see Kiss and Sticks. This was like 1976.

And I was super stoked, yeah, because I was in the Kiss Army. And back when we had phones, I was talking on the phone to this girl that I finger banged underneath the... Nice. Oh, you are Catholic then. Yeah, yeah, it was Friday night football and I went and made out. It was the first time I ever made it to second base.

I was all excited, little 12 year old. And woo, this is awesome. And then her mom called my mom and Candice Furlough's mom. I remember. And I wasn't... I didn't get to go see Kiss because I got caught talking about finger banging. As long as you didn't ask her to smell your finger. Mute the drummer.

Okay, and Andy, Andy, you know his song that he wrote about me? He writes beautiful. No, no, I gotta tell this this is embarrassed Mike Dillon segment. Yes Fucking ruse You're with your we brought your mom on stage But he wrote my mother My mother was your teacher a lot of people thought I was teaching something I taught history sixth grade through 12th and government and everything. But he's in that place in Houston. Oh yeah, this was a ten hands

gig, another band from Denton, Texas. Let's hear for Snarky Puppy from Denton, Texas y'all. Fuck yeah. I'll tell this story, mom. Okay. So check it out. So we were playing at this club called Fitzgerald's. You ever play Fitzgeralds in Houston, Texas? Legendary club back in the day. And it was like my second gig ever out of Dallas. We went on the road to Houston, man. Here we go. Yeah.

So after the gig, the bouncer's going, all right, unless you're in the band or fucking someone in the band, get out of here. And I said like the smart ass I was, who wants to fuck me? And this young lady goes, I do. And I was like, wow, this is easier than I thought it would be. So we go backstage, we start doing the thing. And all of a sudden she turns around, she goes, hey Mike, by the way, your mother was my teacher.

Oh my God. Instant boner killer. Oh my God. Bring back Reagan. So Vera, I know this is the roast of Mike Dillon, but before we let you off this, what is something you're most proud of about Mike? I'm most proud that he mentors others from small children.

It's Uptown Arts in New Orleans. They bring in all these young people. He brings in, not his tabla, but he has so many instruments. He brings them all in. He brings the children up, and they get to play everything. This is why he's the best. Yeah, kids, we love him. It's a write-off.

It's a write-off. Yes, it is. Andy, he also helps people when they need him for things. And when I mentioned to him, he says, oh, Mom, he never helps people when they need him for things. And when I mentioned to him, he says, oh, mom, he never tells me anything. He's like his dad who was gorgeous. I fell in lust instead of going to law school and never talked about himself. And he's that way.

Yeah. The first time I tried to quit cocaine, you were the first one I talked to and you helped me through alleged because you were going through sobriety and stuff and I didn't know who to talk to. And Mike Dillon gave me advice to say, you know, this is a long road and forever that I've been maintaining as much as I can. And I think you're the reason why I'm still alive. So give it up for Mike Dillon, ladies and gentlemen.

Yeah. Thanks to you, I have a job. Andy, one other thing. He was not only a percussionist, but he was a pole vaulter. That sounds naughty, mom. I didn't say bone low vaulter, but anyway, his coach came up to me, which I knew and he said-

I don't even know this story shit. He said, Ms. Dillon, I hate to tell you. Actually, Siddy. Hate to tell you. But then he said, I hate to tell you. No, he said, I don't even know this story shit. He said miss Dylan I hate to tell actually city hate to tell you but he said I hate to tell no He said I hate to tell you pole vaulters are like anyone not like anyone else on the track team His band director in the fifth grade said is Dylan Drummers are unlike anybody else in the band So I've got two things but but this guy could pole vault. Five years later, he starts Billy Goats.

Yeah, yeah, right. What if you shit your pants pole vaulting? That'd be even crazier. Well, actually I did. Hey, I taught him better. But at least his vows were. For real, Andy, we always talk about drugs, but you know what, the truth is,

I quit shooting drugs a long fucking time ago, and's why I'm still here that's why let's go well you know good because I wanted to live for my mom cuz I love her to death she's a bad bitch you know and he takes care of me but he's not gonna live with me I don't have a basement I'm actually your dad, Mike. Randy, yeah. You and Mary have been dating for the last 10 weeks. Oh my God. I took care of his dad until he died of Parkinson's dementia. I want younger.

Play her off. Ladies and gentlemen, Univer Mary wants a younger man. Please, we want a younger man. Come on. Univer Mike Dillon and his mom, ladies Vare. Yeah. Come on. Beautiful Mike Dillon and his mom, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable. Just beautiful.

Best percussion player on the planet. Woo. Mike Dillon. Watch out. Oh, there you go. Vare has been coming to Mike Dillon's shows. I see her at all his shows. You are the biggest fan.

I love you. Oh, she says. Come here. No, no, no. We'll talk after the show. You don't have to use a condom. Magic love potion. Hear that, Mike? Magic love potion. Come here. No, no, we'll talk after the show

You don't have to use a con magic love potion hear that Mike magic potion No condom needed. I'll see you after the show 10 0 8 8 by Vera. Oh my god Yeah You guys think he's joking stop laughing serious. He's gonna fuck that old lady. No he's not. Shut up, Nick. No. Ladies and gentlemen, next up on the interview hour, a man that's been in the scene not

as long, but he's the king. Give it up for Mark Brown, seen from the disco biscuits. Ladies and gentlemen. Woo! Ladies and gentlemen. There he is. The hot seat. He talked about meth. Let's talk about ecstasy. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

How's it going buddy? It's good. I'm feeling a little nervous. Specifically because my mom has been begging me to come on Jam Cruise for years. For years she's been begging me and when she listens to this podcast I'm fucked now. Thank you Mike Dillon. Next year mom. Well that's so funny, we have Mark Brownstein's mom out here. Give it up for Mark Brownstein's mom. Jessica Brown, Mark Brownstein's mom. Wow. I do have a mom and dad on the boat. This is a whole 40 and incest. But Brown Scene, the real question is why did it take 15 years or 20 years for your

band to finally have a band practice? I'm very curious about this. You've been in the scene forever and all of a sudden your guys are fucking amazing this year. It's unbelievable. God. Thank you so much We've been waiting a really long time for this moment The reason is if you want to know the truth is well everybody is like grew up and nobody's really like partying anymore, and so it's a little more focus on stage and everybody's like kind of Taking it on stage and everybody's like kind of taking it seriously like a job. Right. After 30 years. Yeah. Well, it was we were really on a lot of drugs for most of those years until you came around. Yeah. You basically handed off the torch to me.

No, I saw Andy Frasco on this boat the first time and I knew immediately that I needed to grow up. I did. It was like a passing. I said to myself, there's a new mascot in town and I am going to Jeff Gordon of Jam Cruise. Step back, make a little space and look and three days later he had a bandage around his head and I was like, oh my God, I knew it. I walked into a wall, Mark. I'm sure. We're sure. That wall jumped out right in front of him. Shout out to free health care on the boat, though.

That's amazing. Woo! Every musician on the boat, even if you have a small illness, go to the doctor. I got a lung transplant. Get your meds. This is free. It's free here. on the boat, even if you have a small illness, go to the doctor. I got a lung transplant. This is free. It's free here. But Mark, I'm serious.

Like, it feels like I saw the show at the Mission and it was one of the best shows I've seen you guys play and you guys are and I went backstage and normally no one's talking to each other. And you were all talking, having fun, hugging the camaraderie is at an all time level. How do you think it got there? well, it's it is definitely true what he's saying is that that the band is Friends now and we all hang out together and we you know, we drive together and Joke together, you know

practice together joke together, you know, practice together, you know, all of the different things you're supposed to do as a band. Yeah. And it does it in all seriousness. I was watching the internet the other day and I came across a clip of Brasco on his podcast. And I really appreciate you saying what you said on it, which was that, you know, the band is finally good, funny, joke. We used to be good. There was just a period in the middle where things tanked for a little. I was just seven years old then. But we wrote 40 new songs in the last 2 and 1 half years.

And there's, I feel like a lot of it is our best material that we ever wrote which is rare when you've been in a band for 30 years to have like a creative spurt where you're putting out some of the best music that you ever made and you know everybody's just the band can sing better than we used to sing the band can everybody's gotten better on their instruments and it's just I felt like the mission ballroom was the culmination of you know like maybe two and a half years of just heads down grinding every single day and just kind of you know when you do that much work that good things are gonna happen and

and like that was the good thing we showed up in the place. Let's clap it up for Mark Brown. Let's go. It was the first time that we ever played the Mission Ballroom that they didn't have to shorten the room and put a curtain up. Lock seats away. Oh, yeah, we played before you. They had to put the curtain up for us. Curtain up. No, no, we did. We did. We played the night before you at the Mission Ballroom.

That was a lot of fun. And it was just been a great weekend for Denver. As a Denverite now, I feel like I lived there for the last five years. I feel like this is the first time I have a home. And to have this community of jam musicians all together, supporting each other, like you're always there supporting me on this podcast. We're talking to each other. I mean, this jam family is something that I don't take for granted because everyone loves each other. And this is, and it's because of you guys too. So thanks for supporting this whole culture and this whole scene. It's we're all in this together. It's a weird cult. Yeah, we're all in the same. Yeah. Take that

Taylor Swift, bitch. Yeah. I'm just kidding. Speaking of, don't call them out. Yeah. I'm just kidding. Don't call them out. Yeah, don't have us killed, dude. Do that. There's a red dot on your forehead right now. One time I was Yeah, but tell me your relationship with Barbara. Do you guys like each other right now? What is the like we love each other? Yeah, we really do love each other. When I know you're like really you love him So I'm obsessed with bar. You're obsessed with him. I'm like literally obsessed with him That's when I started really liking him was when I saw how much you liked him And I was like, he's just so fascinating. He'll like say no, I'm gonna quit the band. Fuck y'all

I'm gonna start a tech company, you know, and then come back to the band like that's gotta piss you off He did all those things. Well, it was a nice break. We had nine years basically off. But yeah, it was weird. You know what I mean? The guy's like one of the best guitarists that I've ever seen play. And then he was like, I don't want to do this anymore. And then he started a tech company. He he sat in the back of the bus and learned how to code. Just while we're the rest of us were fucking around on the bus and he was in the back of the bus and learned how to code just while we're the rest of us were fucking around on the bus and he was in the back of the bus on a computer and

he spent like two years learning how to code and then started baking startups. Did very well. He's one of the, he was his splice, which is a piece of software that musicians rely on heavily right now now was his idea. And he gave the idea to the founders and as obviously an owner of the company. And it's impressive when you have somebody that knows how to get good at things. Yeah, they can get good at anything. You know what I mean? That's true. It's about sitting down and repeating it over and over and over again. And that's called practice. He did it.

He did it. That's what that is, right? It's practice. There you go. You're getting it. Hold on, Mark. This is amazing. The band's happy. Are you happy?

I'm very happy. This is this works out. So how long? It's awesome. Yeah. It's cool. I never knew what that was like. You're like Tiesto over there and from three to five a.m. in the black and white and from 3 to 5 a.m.

in the black and white room. 2 to 5 a.m. But nobody comes until 3, so it's fine. It's basically like 3 to 5 a.m. When did you start DJing? I started DJing on Jam Cruise in the Galaxy Disco. And 2014 was my first DJ show. So 11 years ago...

Holy shit. I play like probably 50 or 60 shows around the country now and get the honor of like playing big stages at Electric Forest and Hula Ween and big festivals. But it was Jam Cruise that the people here at Jam Cruise are so supportive. They basically will let you cook up anything, come out, experiment with it. Like, you know, my first DJ set was terrible. It was really, it's hard. It looks easy, but it's not easy. I learned that it was not easy by trying it and sucking.

And little by little learned how to do it. You know, and now you should come out, everybody, at 2 a.m. tonight at the Galaxy Disco. Yep, you'll be. The theme of this interview is practice. I said, gentlemen, that practice your sport, passion, passion. You got to practice life passion. You got to practice what you want to be in life. You got to practice anything to keep chipping away at your dreams. Right, Mark?

That's the way. And you and there's it's never too late to get good at things. Right. Is the other theme. I got one more question. When did you get the parachute pants? I saw you with some parachute pants. It looked like you just got fashioned from what guy from the jam guy. Yeah, for sure. For sure. I've always been a walk kind of secret walk. So I'm this last year.

I've been kind of just embracing my inner walk a little bit. I went to the sphere and and kind of just hung out on Shakedown Street for three days and before it was like just knew all the different people, you know, like squirrel. You know, what's up here? Starting to look like your manager, Ben Baruch a little bit. Yeah. Well, my other glasses. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Really? He won't wear them anymore. No, I saw him at the mission. He he's like I'm not wearing them if Mark's married I can't wear the glasses well Mark Brown seen for it we're forever thankful for you and thank you for being such a cult a leader of this jam scene you are one of the best guys and the disco biscuits are good again ladies a job Give it up for Mark Brownstein, ladies and gentlemen. Give it up for Marky, ladies. Go Eagles, go Philadelphia Eagles, ladies and gentlemen.

Hell yeah. You're a Jets fan, you fucking poser, Jesus Christ. I knew this fucking, I knew it. I just had a feeling you were a Jets fan. So we, Sean Echols wrote a parody song. Give it up for Sean Echols, our man. Hi. I didn't want to write this song.

What is it about? Which one are you singing tonight? We're on a bus now, thank God. Kenny Frasco. We're in a tour bus now, ladies and gentlemen. We're pretty excited. Let's not get too excited, because before that, he would drive the fucking Sprinter.

I would drive, yeah. Here it goes again on his own. Driving down the fucking highway on his phone. It's drifting in the lanes and parking zones. Come on. Frasco's made up his mind. He's gambling with our love. Here he goes again on his own. Shove it down the fucking highway on his phone. It's true. I'm scared to live the shit out of me. I'm so glad we're in a bus. Thank you.

Well, someone had to work in this fucking band during the day. We all can't just take drugs all night and not answer emails. I'm working. Yeah, you're the guitar player. But give it up for Sean Echols. 15 years with me. He's the guitar player. But give it up for Sean Echols, 15 years with me. He's the fucking man. We're celebrating our 15 year anniversary as a band this year.

And, um. Aw. What is that, silver? We made it, we're like the cockroaches of the jam scene. Thank you. This is very special. Our final guest of the night is a man from Snarky Puppy, ladies and gentlemen.

Please give it up for Michael League, ladies and gentlemen. Give it up for Michael League ladies and gentlemen give it up for Michael give it up for this guy Michael like snarky puppy ladies gentlemen unbelievable Michael so attractive are you are you scared to be up here right now? I mean, after hearing you all talk and Mike's mom, I feel like the most boring person on this boat. So actually I'm fucking terrified. Michael, tell me about Texas.

Tell me, do you have to go to music school to be a good musician? I think if you go to music school, you're probably not, no. I mean, it's, I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. No, no, the answer is no, you don't have to go to, I mean, I would say 90% of my musical heroes didn't go to music school, maybe more, yeah. What do you think the key to having a good ear is?

I mean I guess it's like an overused cliche, but you know everybody says music is a language, which it absolutely is, and if you think about the way that anybody learns language, you know, you see kids who are... I met a family last month in Luxembourg with kids who were 10 years old that were speaking four languages fluently. Oh my god. You know, because one parent was from Italy, one parent was from Spain, and then in Luxembourg they're learning in French and English and it's like it's not that these kids are exceptionally intelligent they're just around it from a young age

so I think it's just exposure. Why are we so dumb in America? How long is this podcast? We got time. All the kids everywhere in Europe. They have like four languages. We're out here just like, I really don't think we have enough time. Pizza and espresso martinis. Golf of America. We're in the Gulf of America right now. And this is the best we have to offer as a country, actually. So we might be the first boat in the Gulf of America. Right now. Yeah. Um, but Michael, for real, I got a lot.

Your band has been help grow this scene just as much as Disco Biscuits has. You have like 27 people in your band. How do y'all how'd y'all make money in the first couple years? Oh, simply we didn't for the first. For the for the first 11 years, I remember that like our 11th years, 11th or 12th year was the first year where we didn't hemorrhage. So how did you keep the band alive?

How did you keep the psyche? You're the bandleader. I burned six credit cards. No shit. Yeah, I just burned them. Like just went ripped right through them. I didn't pay off the band started in 2004 and I paid off my debt in 2017. Oh, my God. Yeah, a lot in common. Dude.

Yeah, yes. Fellowed fan driver. Yeah, you Jewish too, bro. No, this is some deep down. Yeah, Midwest Jewish. He's Midwest Jewish. But that the the den school you went to, it's it's Deep down, yeah. He's a Midwest Jewish. He's a Midwest Jewish. But the Den school you went to, it's a pretty prestigious school. How hard was it to get into that college?

Actually, it was really easy to get in. It's just hard to stay in. Really? Like, I was a guitar player. I started playing guitar when I was 14. I started very late, and then I switched to bass when I was 17. So I had only been playing bass about six months when I auditioned for North Texas.

And they let me in kind of provisionally, and then they basically said, like, I went into my audition, which is about a 25-minute audition, and I went in about 12 seconds into my audition, the teacher stopped me and said, how long have you been playing bass? And I said, six months. He's a very sweet guy, Lin Seaton.

And he said, okay, we're just gonna treat this like a practice audition, because I can't put you in any ensembles with your level. So I was like, oh, okay, cool. So he kind of taught me, but he was very sweet, but then when I left the audition, he said, by the way, if you don't make an ensemble, like you don't make it into any of the ensembles at this school this year by audition, I'm going to recommend you change majors.

Oh my God, like whiplash. Yeah. Did he like beat the shit out of you? He's kind of like a big bass playing Santa Claus. So it's a little different from the dude in the red black. Oh, so it's passive aggressive. Yeah, it was more passive aggressive, yeah.

No, but so yeah, I mean, he basically just said like, you have one year to get your shit together and if you don't get it together, I'm going to recommend you become like an accountant or something. Or actually not an accountant because no one would trust someone who can't count to four with their money. And we heard the credit card story, so that wouldn't really be good for accounting either. Exactly, yeah. I'm the worst accountant you could ever hire.

So yeah, basically I just had to kind of practice. I practiced 10 hours a day every day for like a year, and then like my last audition, I made it in the last slot of the last band. I got the last bass chair in the ensemble, so they let me stay in the school. Oh my God. And then yeah, yeah. Was your parents pissed pissed? I didn't tell them any of that. How's school honey? It's great. It's great. It's going great. So how many years until you started Snarky Puppy? I started the first year because no one would play with me. No shit? Yeah.

You're out here burning money on credit cards and you don't even know if you're gonna get into the fucking school? No. I mean, dude, this is better than methamphetamine. Yeah. That's a real drug. Definitely way more dangerous. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, debt is a real drug.

Yeah. No, no, no, yeah, because my first year, I was kind of a black sheep because at that school, it was really hardcore jazz. If you played electric bass, you were kind of like a charlatan. And I was mainly an electric bass player. So I started this band, Smarky Puppy, which I would have named better if I had known that

I'd be giving a podcast about it 21 years later. But yeah, it's terrible. I appreciate that. I think it's terrible. But I mean, the jam scene doesn't have the greatest names. Let's be honest. I think Disco Biscuits is amazing. I agree. I think Disco Biscuits is amazing.

Objectively, that's an amazing. Pigeons playing ping pong. Umphries McGee. Okay. A lot of weird band names out there. Fish. Yeah. Okay. Okay. We don't have to.

All right. Calm down. Calm down. Now you got that laser pointed at you now, yeah. Okay, okay. We don't have to. All right, calm down, calm down. Now you got that laser pointed at you now, Nick. Say Trey's name wrong, they'll kill you. They have guns in Vermont. Yeah, they don't have guns. Yes, they do, Nick. But Michael, that's crazy. So how long did it take until you guys actually really got successful? What was the first big break for the band?

How long did it take until you guys actually got successful? What was the first big break for the band? The first six years we were going on tour sleeping bags. So we would just find, we'd normally do two sets at a bar and in between the sets we would find whoever looked the least bored or confused and be like, hey, kind of schmooze, be like, oh, thanks for coming. You live around here, you had a big living room floor, you know, and if they said yes, we would basically convince them

to let us sleep in their house. All 14 of you motherfuckers? And that moment it was 11. Oh my god. Only 11. Only 11. Three people is a lot actually. You all are gang banging that carpet, dude.

Jesus. And then we started doing, then we started doing, when we really made it big, we started doing two rooms at Motel 6's. So then we'd have two people per bed, five people per room, we were 10 at that point, so two people in each bed, one person on the floor in the middle, whoever drew the short straw. And I remember one night in New Orleans, I don't want Mike's mom to hear this, but one

night in New Orleans, the least probable guy was getting flirted with by like a really hot bartender and we thought like this is his moment. This is the only time he'll ever get laid on tour. Oh my God. So the other nine guys stayed in one of the two Motel 6 rooms. Wow. And we gave him. Yeah, let's clap for the fan.

That is top gun level. That is clap for the fan! That is Top Gun level win! That is dedication for the pussy, my man. That is awesome. Or the dick, whatever y'all are doing. I don't know what you're doing. We don't know what was going on there, but yeah. Congrats, Chris Bullock. Oh my god, I wish you were here. I'm sending that to him.

It was a saxophone player, it wasn't him. So it was like that? player, it wasn't him. So it was like that, yeah, so there was like three years like that and then slowly it started getting better. I would say yeah, I mean we started in 2004 and then we won an award in 2013 and then we thought, okay, this is the moment and then of course it's not the moment. I remember- Didn't you guys win a Grammy?

Yeah, yeah. Let's go, give it up for Snarky Puppy. I think they have five. They got five. Five Grammys? It's okay, it doesn't matter. It does not matter. Five hits for five Grammys.

Fuck yeah, thank you. But I remember one of the funniest days of being on tour was in 2012 maybe or 2013, I can't remember what it was, but we released a record and it was number one on iTunes Jazz and we were like, wow, this is gonna, doesn't mean, don't do any hits for that, please. And we thought like, man, this is awesome, but the funny thing is like we were in the middle,

I was driving the van, not on my cell phone. Thank God. From Austin to- I got ADD. I don't remember. To New Orleans. And it was like 10 AM. We had the AC in the Chevy 15 passenger had broken. So it was like 100 degrees in the van.

All the guys were, at that point, it was all dudes. Thank God, because I wouldn't want any woman to see what the condition of the van was in that moment. Everyone was in their underwear, sleeping, like on benches, on the floor of the van. And I remember I got the news that, yeah, like, congrats, your record is number one on iTunes, which basically means like seven people bought it on iTunes at that point,

because seven sales on iTunes in 2012 was an achievement. And I wanted to take a photo and just be like, wanna know what number one looks like? It's 10 guys in their underwear, sweating, smelling like ass, in a fucking white Chevy 15 passenger that Chris Farley warned us not to go by when they're parked down by the river.

Like that's what being a musician in 2012 was. It's crazy, the difference between what people think is happening with us and what is happening with us, it's wild. That was the moment you realized, why the fuck am I in jazz? No, but we're thankful for it. Get back to the gang bang of the Motel 6. Which one?

Have you ever accidentally caught some of your homies beating off or anything or some weird shit? Or maybe someone's like sleep with Boner and your homie turns and maybe touches it by accident or like... Let's get deep. Let's get to the trauma of the band, please. I need a... Next question, please.

Okay. Next question. Not accidentally. I need a next question. Okay Next question Michael. This is uh, it's a It's a really I'm really I never met you But I am just you're one of the pros that I've always looked up to and all my guys even my nerdy Co-host Nick Gerlach is obsessed with you nerds. I'm not obsessed with him. Yes, you are You talk about him all the fucking time No, I was can we prepared we prepared trivia for you Michael. Oh god

Don't worry. It's fun Nick take it away. It's not about jazz. Thank God Okay question number one. It's multiple choice. Okay Valentine's Day was this weekend and it has all the older single guys on the boat acting like Pepe Le Pew every time an STS-9 fan walks by in fishnets We all know that red roses were given to symbolize love. What color roses symbolize the friend zone? A. Blue B. Yellow C. Camo

D. Tie-Dye What's the friendship color? C, camo, D, tie-dye. What's the friendship color? I'm gonna say yellow, B. That's correct! Wow. Thanks to whoever fed that to me, thank you. You're very intelligent.

Well, I listen to women and a lot of women yelled yellow. So I. To be clear, that wasn't a dig at Chris Bullock, it was just a dig at saxophone players in general. Good. They deserve it Yeah, we're terrible people And we're out of tune TV now just kidding today we stopped to the island of Cozumel Which is home to the Mesoamerican reef the second largest reef of coral in the world. Nick, what the fuck are these questions? Chill!

Chill! All right, chill, chill, chill. What country is home to the largest coral reef? A, Jamaica, B, Indonesia, C, Australia, D, Galveston, Texas. Australia, Great Barrier Reef. Bam! Holy shit, Jesus, Michael Leake.

He's smart. He's saying some pussy for the rest of us, Jesus Christ. Yeah. You barely got to school, you're smart. He would've been fine if he switched majors. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, You graduate you failed right Michael yes question. Oh my god really not multiple choice Okay, you are extremely talented hard-working low-key handsome and respected by your fears handsome. What's that like? It sounds like a true or false question I'm going false. That's incorrect. It's true. What are you talking about? I want to go in false. I'm going false. That's incorrect. It's true. We're talking about No, what's it like what's it like being hot and handsome and have fucking Grammys? Oh my god, you guys are killing me We're in the jam scene. We don't know anything about fucking Grammys in the jam scene We have beards for a reason yeah, I

for a reason. Yeah. I mean, to be, sorry, I know this is supposed to be funny. Can I be serious? Please be serious. Yeah, please, save space. Thank you. I mean, I think no matter what scene you're in, there's gonna be people who think you're cool and people who hate you and like, you know, I feel like with us, at the beginning, we definitely were like way too rock for the jazz scene and everyone on the jazz scene like kind of shunned us but we were also too jazz for the rock scene. Everybody thought we weren't like, you know, ballsy enough or whatever. And I think that doesn't really stop. I mean, I think just as things go, I mean, I think just as things go, I mean, you know, obviously you spoke with, you know, Mark

and they've been around for a long time and sold a lot of tickets and, you know, sold a lot of records and when people bought records. And yeah, I mean, even as time goes on, there's just always gonna be people that think you're cool and people that you think that you suck. And I think that's why it's just so important that everything we do as musicians,

and not just musicians, but as people, we have to do what we believe in. Because somebody told me once, if you make a record that you believe in, you can be sure that at least one person on earth will like it. Let's go. I love that.

Hell yeah. If you make music because you think that this is what the scene wants or what people want, there's really a chance that literally exactly zero people on earth will like what you do, including yourself. So, I mean, I think it's just that's all of our task as artists is just to try to do something we believe in. I think it's more likely that other people will believe in it when you do it, but there will always be people that don't believe in it and think you're terrible and

think you suck and you just kind of have to, yeah, you just kind of have to block it out and focus on what it is that makes you happy. Because if you can do that in an honest way, I feel like it transmits and people receive that. Let's talk about the hot thing though. Let's get to your look. What's it feel like being hot, Michael? I really don't. I would not know.

No. I don't know. No, but that's actually the perfect answer. Stop giving a shit what people think about you. Care about what you do and how you love yourself and everyone else will follow suit if they got it. 100%. Give it up for Michael League, ladies and gentlemen.

The man. Snarky puppy. Michael. You're the man. Wow, what a fucking show. Give it up for all the labels. The man. Snarky Puppy. Michael. You're the man. Wow, what a fucking show. Give it up for all our guests. Hell yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, all the guests. We got a, we're gonna end the show with a little jam session.

Mike, get in this with me. It's a, oh. So, you know, it's not about the money like Michael said or the fancy shit. It's about how you feel inside. And if we love ourselves, I think we can do anything. We've got to get out of our own way because happiness comes from within. That's what this song's about. Never thought I'd wake up to my own dreams

And finally seein' what it is to be free Tired of waking up feeling bad about myself For life I lead, for somebody else It's not about the money, cars, even the plane It's about how you feel without all those things Cause happiness is gonna keep us free It's not about the money, the cars None of those things

It's time to freak out Turn the power off There's a bigger world outside of our phones Don't sit in your head, it'll make you feel alone When time is a poison, you shouldn't do alone It's not about the money, the cards, even the plea It's about how you feel without all those things Cause happiness is gonna keep us free

It's not about the money, the card, none of those things? I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word

I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, That's my co-host Nick Gerlach ladies and gentlemen. Give it up for Nick. Thanks for watching us talk shit for an hour. You know, we're all in this together if we like it or not. We might as well drink water, take care of each other, and go see Mark Brownstein from 2 to 5M at the DJ set.

But love yourself every day, because that's all we got. Taking care of each other, making sure everyone feels good. But most importantly, you've got to love yourself, because at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, you're looking at the mirror at 80, you want to make sure that you feel good about the life you took. And I appreciate that. I'm Andy Frasco. Thanks so much for being here tonight.

Yeah, give it up for Andy, everybody. Come on, make some noise for Andy. -♪ It's time to freak out, turn the power off There's a bigger world outside of our phones Don't sit in your head, it'll make you feel alone When time is a poison, you shouldn't do it alone It's not about the money, cars, even the plane It's about how you feel

Without all those things Cause happiness is gonna keep us free It's not about the money cars None of those things It's not about the money cars None of those things, it's not about the money, cars None of those things, it's not about the money, cars None of those things Have a good night ladies and gentlemen, we'll see you later Going up in the World City Band ladies and gentlemen, the World Saving Band, ladies and gentlemen. The World Saving Band. Let's go get fucked up somewhere.

Go to bed, Nick. Have a good night, everyone. Thank you very much. You've just tuned into the World Saving Podcast with Andy Frasco, produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhowe, and Chris Lorenz. Please help us save the world by subscribing and rating the show on volume.com, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening so we can spread the word and save the world. Follow us on Instagram at World Saving Podcast for updates, for tour dates, merch, and whatever Save the World Saving Podcast.