Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 34: Mimi Naja (Fruition)

Episode Date: January 29, 2019

Hey guys, welcome to episode 34 of the World Saving Podcast! We continue with another interview from Jam Cruise heaven: Mimi Naja talks about her band Fruition - and contrary their name, these kids are nowhere near to being done! Co-hosted by Vince Herman from Leftover Salmon and Chad Cocuzza from the Spoonfed Tribe... We got fruit, we got fish and we know how to serve it. Consider yourself in paradise and enjoy this new tasty episode! To keep up with the podcast, follow us on Instagram @WorldSavingPodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, tour dates, the band and the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com The views discussed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the guests. Check out the phenomenal band, Fruition at www.fruitionband.com Check out Andy's new single, "Can't Force Love" on iTunes and Spotify Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Ahri Findling The Sweet Lillies Arno Bakker Vince Herman Chad Cocuzza 

Hey, this is the promoter from the concert last Wednesday night. Andy Frasco and the U.N. were opening up for Carl Denton's Tiny Universe in Wilmington, North Carolina. And while on all accounts I heard the music was rip-roaring and incredible, we have received numerous e-mail and telephone complaints about the fact that Andy Frasco decided to rename our town, Jumington, North Carolina. And I don't know what to say about it. I don't know what to do about it, but I felt like I needed to pass that on because we were looking forward to having that music back in town. And now I don't even know if I can get them in here without pitchforks and torches being outside the door, trying to run them out of town. We don't

live in Junmington, North Carolina. We live in Wilmington, North Carolina. Thank you and have a good day. And now a message from our sponsor. Go fuck yourself, Andy Frasco! And we're back. Andy Frasco World Saving Podcast. Still buzzing. Off a jam cruise. I had to get my homie, the man, the myth, the legend, Vince Herman,

to explain what the fuck happened. Vince, how we doing, buddy? Oh, my son, I'll tell you, we're doing all right, man. You know? Oh, go vote. I have hope for the future of humanity. Yeah? Yeah. Every time I come here, every time we come here,

this is the second year in a row, I feel like there's hope. Yeah. And you know, I met you here last year On Jam Cruise For the first time Yeah And when we departed You told me that You were going to set me free And we are well on the path to that

I think so I think that The moment where It was just like When we got to play Better again With everyone And all the horns

It just felt like a ska show Your shows are the Best show on the freaking earth, man. I'm voting for you for P.T. Barnum, man. You know, I mean, you understand so thoroughly what the reason to be up here

doing this stuff is. It's not about, hey, look what I can do. Yeah, not take it seriously. Yeah, even if it is, hey, look, I can pull out my boxer shorts and you can stuff dollar bills in my pants. Sure. That you could do that.

And, but, but it's about the, we, the Royal we, man, and you are master of pulling in the, we,

you know, man, thank you, man. Well, you do it too. Vince, you look at all these people you inspire on the,

on that boat mimi we have mimi from fruition who talked about you a shit ton how she you are one of her biggest inspirations what do you know about her i don't know nothing about fruition fruition is amazing man you know that when i met him a few years back i think they were all living in one van you know i mean you know in portland and you know, I mean, you know, in Portland and, you know, they're just, you know, they started busking and it turned into a band and, and man, their vocal blend is freaking amazing. They write amazing songs. They're all really tight, man.

They are compadres, you know, and, and, you know, they they they've really turned their touring thing into a different thing than busking on the streets of portland man and it's just it's all legit you know it's all 100 percent legit is it real absolutely man it's as real as you can get oh my god you know man their songwriting is amazing they're singing their their harmon their, their harmonies. It's, it's, that's a band, man. That is a fucking band. Yeah. It's crazy. I mean, to see all those bands on jam crew, like, you know, all those guys forever.

Like, do you know George Porter and do you know those guys like kick it with all these guys? Or like, is this your time to finally get some spending some quality time with these guys too? Yeah. You know, I mean, we have known him, you know, over, over guys too yeah you know i mean we have known them you know over over the years you know never had a whole lot of lot of time you know one-on-one time or anything with these cats but yeah we you know we've been playing music in the scene for 30

years and and yeah you know we know each other's faces yeah how special is it though we're all like just hanging out we hung out for seven days. When has that ever fucked besides Europe? We did Europe together. Yeah. That was a fucking ball, dude. What the fuck? But it's crazy. The scene is really coming together, I feel. The young bands are really starting to find a groove with just trying to make this thing more like socialism

instead of a dictatorship, you know, in a sense? Everyone wants to play with each other now like we saw that at our show there was like 20 musicians on the side of the stage yeah who wanted to play with you who wanted to play with me like oh yeah is that just part of the culture is it always been part of the culture like that or is it just well you know coming from a bluegrass world you know that's always been part of the culture you know for sure you know leftover salmon kind been part of the culture you know for sure um you know leftover salmon kind of started in the campground at the telluride bluegrass fest where we'd we'd do this

thing called anawacking where you you find somebody who's asleep at you know say two in the morning and you don't think that's right you surround their tent you play a christmas carol and you run away yeah and they're up and then you know you go to the opposite side of the campground do that and and the object is to get like you know hundreds of people running around in circles yelling christmas carols in the middle of the summer and and and doing that thing but but that train that everybody on board thing you know bluegrass it has a real tradition of that and to see it that that thing coming into the rock world, into the funk world and all that stuff is really cool, man,

because, man, music's going to save us. It is. I don't think we have much left else. I know. I feel like when I'm not playing music and not being with my friends that are on stage and stuff, I start getting anxiety quick. I don't know what to do with myself. I like to anxiety quick. I don't know what to do with myself.

Like, I like to ring lead. I like to, you know, that's like, that's what gives me joy. Like, that's what made me fall in love with the bluegrass scene

was everybody is, has each other's back. Have you ever thought about working with small Mexican animals? Maybe a, a pack of a dozen chihuahuas? Yeah, dude.

Some sort of thing, you know? Do like a choir of, of chihuahua dogs. All right, you guys. I need my altos. I need my baritone chihuahuas, please. All right, we're going to hit harmony. But it's cool.

You brought a friend? Yeah, man. This is my buddy Steve Burnside. I started the Salmon Heads with this guy way, way back in the day, which eventually morphed into Leftover Salmon combining with the Left Hand String Band. So what happened? Why aren't you in the band anymore?

I live in Asheville. Mimi does, too. From the band to Asheville, it's perfect. Really? Yeah. That's the natural progression for a lot of musicians, from the band to Asheville. When I moved to Colorado from West Virginia in 1985,

that was back before the internet, and if you wanted a ride somewhere, there was a thing called a ride board at the Student Union, and there was a map of the country, and you'd put up, hey, I want to go to Boston, I want to go to this, I want to go to that, and you'd put your thing up there. Gump had a sign next to it that said, let's hick and and i knew he was aiming for me so story called him up and uh

now you know what was it 40 years later get close 33 it's a wise well it was a while ago it's a math it's a math but yeah man you know we you know gump's real into the old time music and cajun music and zydeco and all that kind of stuff he has a band called bio diesel oh sick yeah in uh in asheville and environmentally friendly zydeco yeah yeah that's cool yeah what okay so what's your earliest craziest moment you ever had with this fucking guy well the first time that i met vince was he said after he saw my sign he said come on over i'm having a party and so i said all right but i gotta i gotta gig or i had to be somewhere and i'll be coming over later so i get over there thinking the place would be raging you know

probably about you know 10 o'clock something of that sort and so i bring it over i had an upright bass and i go downstairs and um there's vince and two other people and there's Vince and two other people and that's it they're raging yeah one doesn't drink one doesn't smoke

and one does both well guess who which one that one is and we discovered real quickly that that all we needed just a fourth person

to figure out that we all knew a bunch of R. Crumb tunes together oh no shit and the R. Crumb tunes is where we all kind a bunch of r chrome tunes together oh no shit and the r chrome tunes is where we all kind of cross paths is that what joined that band were those two guys that were at that jam formed they formed that band you guys are in uh no well those guys

drifted off but they're actually one of the guys lou is still real good budding uh lou pritchard he was a mandolin player in fact a great inspiration all the way along but uh eventually uh those guys all drifted along and uh the other thing uh vince asked me that very first time you may not remember this but you said uh yeah living in town here you've been in town for like a month or something like that and he said uh hey man you ever heard of this guy drew really and that's how it started that's he said you ever heard of this guy, Drew? Really? And that's how it started? He said, you ever heard of this guy, Drew? And I actually, I maybe had heard about him, but I hadn't really heard about him.

But then I did hear about him, and he was like playing like local gigs up on the hill with the Chautauqua Park. Was he, he was in Colorado too? Yeah, you know, when I got to Colorado, my first stop in Boulder was in front of this bar. It said Bluegrass Tonight. And it was the left-hand string band playing.

You know, walked in the very, very first thing. When Lou Pritchard and Von Maris and I rolled into town, we went to a left-hand string band gig. And, you know, my fate was sealed, you know, after that. So I got hired by the left-hand string band. They fired me because they got a better guitar player. Much better guitar player. Then I started the Salmon Heads with Gump because I was selling seafood at the time

and bringing home these salmon heads, you know, because we just throw the heads out and there's plenty of meat in there, you know, for a starving musician type, you know. I'm eating all these salmon heads and people thought I had some kind of weird sexual fetish with salmon head, you know? So...

Vince has always been an cultural ambassador. See, here he is, he's working at the supermarket selling fish heads, you know? Actually selling fish. And what was the Vietnamese? They came in late at night, right? Yeah. They were immigrants and had been replaced by the American government.

And so now here they are in Boulder. And a really good deal was these cheap fish heads that were, I think, for free after an hour. Yeah. Vince picked up on the idea since we were all working on budgets at that point. Yeah. Should I fix the brakes or what will I drink for beer tonight? Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Is that tough? So were you in college or no? No, I had successfully bailed six credits before graduating college in Morgantown, West Virginia. And I heard the call of Go West, young man. By who? What was it? Was that Whitman?

Yeah, right. Horace Greeley. Yeah, Greeley. Greeley was from Greeley, Colorado. That's right. They did it after him. And Vince went a little bit further west, which is about 40 miles further west,

and that was Boulder. Yeah, yeah. That was close enough, yeah. But that was the very beginning of how we met. In Colorado. Yeah, yeah. That's true. And I was chasing the mythical bluegrass scene of Colorado that was centered around Hot Rise being there.

Tim O'Brien. Tim O'Brien and Nick Forrester who does the E-Town radio show and all that stuff. So Boulder was this more progressive kind of thing. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival was there and all that stuff. So compared to the West Virginia scene, which was really more old-timey and all that kind of stuff, looking for something a little more progressive,

something that could be a little more routed up and all that stuff. Colorado certainly provided that for me. Thanks to Gump and the Let's Pick Hicks sign. What did you love about it? You guys feel like you guys are like kindred souls. I feel like you're the Gonzo to his Hunter S. Thompson.

That does have origins. There was a Gonzo night in Church and Liquor Store. Oh, yes. Well, let's see. Well, there was a particularly spiritually enhanced night and the moon was out and we were down at some place in Jamestown. Somehow I ended up with a church and liquor store and there was a little bit of irony, you know, back east. There's a lot of conflict between having a church and liquor store near each other.

There's certain persuasions that just don't admire that aspect. But in Colorado, that was actually one of the unique things. And I believe that was what we were discovering, weren't we? Yeah, as the chorus goes, Well, if I don't see you at church, I'll see you at the liquor store. Way up in Ward at the liquor store. You know what the difference between a Catholic and a Southern Baptist is? Southern Baptist won't say hello at the liquor store. You know what the difference between a Catholic and a Southern Baptist is? Southern Baptist won't say hello at the liquor store.

Yeah, I get it. That's the difference. Do you think if you started your band in West Virginia, do you think it'd be a different band? If you guys all got together in West Virginia instead of Colorado? Yeah.

Well, it wouldn't have happened in West Virginia because the skiing's better in Colorado. Yeah, which means there are places to play. You know, and Colorado was a great scene to be starting a polyethnic Cajun slam grass band at the time, you know. The ski bums are rowdy. They just, it was, people were free to boogie

and just make absolutely crazy, mad, whirling dervishes of themselves in ways that, you know, sometimes the East Coast ain't like that in Boston, you know? What's the craziest thing that's ever happened to you guys at a ski resort? Like, do you ever guys, like, go, you know, take some ale and go naked through the fucking Alpines? Tell me something. We had David Duke come to one of our gigs.

Shut up. What, the KKK guy? David fucking Duke. What? Explain that. David Duke was at this gig in Crested Butte, and a buddy of mine from Pennsylvania was there, and he said, Vince, man, I swear that's David Duke up there.

So we went and we sat down. Fred said, hi, my name is Fred Langer. I'm Jewish. Are you David Duke? Fred said, hi, my name is Fred Langer I'm Jewish Are you David Duke? He says, yeah, I am Really? He said, man, I like that music That's good redneck music you're playing

That's what he said? Yeah, yeah And he walked off or what? No, well, we stood there for a minute And said, you know, I know who you are And, you know, we don't really go for that here. But, you know. You said that?

Yeah. We don't really go for that shit here. You know, Colorado is a different place than where you're from. You know, you're welcome here. But, you know, we just want to let you know. We're on to you. We're on to you. You know.

Yeah. That's crazy, man. David Duke. In Colorado. They're still around. Crawling out of holes and saying political things. The Cheeto is embracing. Go figure.

Oh, Black Klansman. They have a little feature of David Duke. Yeah, that's pretty good. Damn, what a life, guys. You guys are kicking ass. Still kicking vinnie how you feeling you hurting you feeling good uh you know i'm i'm i'm strapping myself to the upright post to maintain upright yeah you know but yeah you know i mean we we've covered some things on this podcast before. You know, change and making things. Yeah. How hard is change, man?

True. It's a mother. Yeah. Sometimes. You know, like, especially when you're not around enough to, like, try to fix a change or accept the changes. That's where I think it's the hardest it's the hardest yeah yeah it's crazy man but you know we do what we do because this is what we got to do yeah you know we don't have

any choice in being musicians you know it's fucked up really don't it'll only change when we're not here yeah right now we're keeping it slow and steady and keeping it mad and ready keeping keeping the ride you know that's

yeah I'm always here for you guys and I know you're always here for me and like you realize

how when things don't go away when things go away how important friendships are so we can help

each other out through these fucking times of chaos because it'll come back to us we just gotta i don't know what we gotta do you know that's why i like roots music man you know it's time travel you know you've got somebody playing a claw hammer banjo and playing a fiddle tune doing that trance thing you know playing the same thing just the melody 20 minutes at a time you know just trancing out on it and man it's it it it connects you with with some continuity that that you just can't can't find you know it's really comfortable to me yeah you know and you know funk is too and rock and roll and all that you know it it it it stimulates a slightly different part of me man

but for me that roots music kind of stuff the textures the the feel of it and all that stuff man i i just it it puts you on a timeline that that's comforting to me you know yeah and it it kind of opened you know like when you write a song you don't know where it came from it's just like this open vessel it kind of like when you're doing those jams and you you get into that vessel again you know and it's not through creativity it's just being part of a gang yeah it's all on the same ride exactly and i love that shit about roots music yeah that's like the best part of a gang yeah that's all on the same ride exactly and i love that shit about roots music yeah that's like the best part of it and i think that's how you do what you do in bringing so many people along in in your jams and and what you share is is you realize that thread that ties

it all together yeah uh and and so what is hell yeah get 20 other people on stage with you sure but what is that tie like what are we tying together people are we tying together our souls are we like attaching our souls back to our body like what are we tying on our souls are reaching out to understand reality

through rhythm and sharing that rhythm and heartbeats with those that are, they're listening and doing that. And the, the music and those, those songs, those melodies carry that energy in them. You know? So when you hear them, it's like, it's like touching, touching the electrical socket, man. That energy carries through. It works in pieces of art.

It works in songs. It works in dance. There's a smile on every face. Yeah. Or a laugh in any language. It doesn't make a difference. You can always... You always hear that it's funny,

no matter what language they are. Yeah. It's true. Music's universal, and like i i felt that in china when we just play in china no one speaks fucking english all they know is smoking dope and rock and roll or like you know just like blame it on the pussy mr frasco like they don't know what the fuck they're saying they just love that saying you know but it's amazing like even with this 20 people chaos on stage at the Jam Cruise set,

we all were listening to each other to try to all breathe as once. There's going to be some hiccups, of course, but once everyone's on the boat, that's when shit gets special. And that's one thing I learned about Jam Cruise, you know, and how we could build this community of crazies that are all fucking fighting the good fight. We're all traveling 200 plus shows a year. We're all making, we're not making fucking money.

We're fucking tired. We're losing relationships. It's like, it's all fucked up. But at the end of the day, we have each other. We have our music and we have us. Yeah, you know, and, you know and we sacrifice a good bit of our stability and relationships and home life and all that stuff to do this. But, you know, I think my kids understand it now.

They're 31 and 24. Do you understand it? I don't know, man i i think so you know i just i just know that uh uh i'm gonna do this and until i figure out where to move and run for office yes you know i think politics is the only thing that's left after music where would you go what would it be politics is the only thing that's left after music where would you go what would it be yeah either west virginia west virginia needs a political rebuilding um you know colorado i certainly have have you know my campaign staff there yeah um i don't know maybe maybe oregon you know maybe yeah shit maybe new orleans maybe n. I don't know. I'm trying to figure out what the next phase is, man. Yeah.

I advocate a heat limit, liberate another state of some sort so that we can keep the battle, you know, win the battle. The war's going to make complete win over the war of all these various anti-humanitarian aggression things. And, you know, keep fighting. Vince has been very good at leading the battle. What would be the main theme of your battle? Like the all-around purpose

of if you have two topics you really want to explore. Jewgrass. I'll be your VP, baby boy. Yeah, man. You know David Gerstmann. David Gerstmann. Rocky Top? Rocky Top. Yeah.

By a very nice Yiddish couple from New Jersey. Yeah. They called Rocky Top? Wrote Rocky Top. That's true. Yeah.

Vince. Yeah. I love you. I don't know when I'll see you again. All of a sudden. All of a sudden. Like you won't see me

at all then there'll be. There you'll be. And you know hey happy anniversary man hey one year baby yeah i'll tell you this year we did i'll take you to the garden cafe tonight treat you right all right man whatever you need we did a lot this year we've done uh europe we did jam cruise we did a uh the uh the uh spelling bee at relics brooklyn yeah yeah i i've just been i'm you make my life better in my

life for you being in my life and you've helped me grow and as a human i keep on telling you this every time but i can't tell you enough how much you inspire me and like all the trials and tribulations you've had in your life and ups and downs, and you still put a smile on your face even if you're hurting. And I appreciate and admire that, and I support you 150%, my man. Well, man, I certainly see a thread in you that reminds me of a young me. Yeah? You know, you embody my beliefs about why we're doing this in a way that I've never seen before on planet Earth. You're amazing, brother.

You give me hope that I could do this forever. So I love you, man. You're the best. You're the best friend I could have. Thank you. Give me a hug. Yeah. I love you.

Let's go listen to Mimi. All right. Hear what she has to say about being sober. Let's go listen to Mimi. All right. Hear what she has to say about being sober. All right. Next up on the interview hour,

we have Mimi Najah from Fruition. This is one of my favorite bands out there right now. They used to have this bluegrass sound, but these last records they've been putting out are really fucking cool. It's like an indie songwriter Americana thing. It's so, I just love it. It's been nonstop on my Spotify playlist. Chris, why don't you play some music from Fruition? These guys are working hard. They're a buzz bam. Mimi is killer. Nice girl. First time getting to meet her. She's wild. Everyone wanted her on the podcast. So here we are. Let's listen. Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy Mimi from fruition.

But first, let's hear a little track. There ain't no tears left in my eyes No, no, no I'm running out of plans I can't even understand How to move on, move on Start to look up Cause I'm all so down Cause my baby, my baby ain't around, no, no, no Cause I went on a bender, now she don't love me tender

Yes, I went on a bender, now she don't love me tender. Yes, I went on a bender. Now she don't love me tender. I went on a bender. She don't love me tender. No, no, no. No. I'm making noise. We're making noise.

Mimi. I'm making noise. Fruition. How the fuck we doing? I still have a voice somehow. Oh my God. I're making noise. Mimi. I'm making noise. Fruition, how the fuck we doing? I still have a voice somehow. Oh my God. I still have a voice somehow. What's up, Mimi?

I'm just kicking it. The waves are really crushing it. You're like shit today. Yeah, this is the worst sway I've ever felt on this boat. Have you ever done jam cruise before? We did one before. Yeah. And I guess it was pretty sway considering a storm shut down our pool deck set.

Oh, a storm did? Yeah, we didn't get to play. We had to move to a lounge. So I hope I still get to hit the deck today. But damn. You guys play pool deck? Yeah, we do. All right, cool.

But I feel like I'm tripping, but I'm not. I feel like I'm tripping too. It's just the sea. Yeah, I took some LSD last night And fucking It was a bad idea It made my stomach hurt But

I'm here I'm feeling good You look You look good Thanks bud You got a good attitude Aw thanks bud Mimi let's talk

Let's talk Your fucking band Is one of my favorite bands Right now Man All these badasses Keep saying that What the fuck

I just don't know New record sounds good. What was the idea? Why did you want to change the sound? Talk to me. Well, we just feel like it was like just kind of, we were naturally born to be a rock and roll band. We just like, we had acoustic

instruments so that we, because we were poor, so we could go play on the street and sing really loud at people's faces for money. So that's kind of why, yeah, we were busking hard. like go play on the street and sing really loud at people's faces for money so that's kind of why yeah we were busking hard where where are you from uh we're based out of portland oregon so we started busking because you know acoustic shit was easy to move around yeah and you know we like folky shit we like songs we just like songs yeah but uh yeah once we were you making money busking we were making enough to drive around and keep busking so you're just to eat and drink and yeah busking regionally or were you finally getting gigs like how did it start i don't know much

about you guys we were mostly busking on the west coast um like we would we called it we called our first tour the detour because we had like three gigs booked at like these little like restaurants and shit and we but we would go out we went out for like a month we had like three gigs booked so we would just busk in san francisco and mendocino make? We made enough money to not die out there. Was it like when you're doing those type of shows, was like getting in, like, you know, taking drugs and drinking and shit, was that part of the scene?

Whiskey and beer money definitely came before food. Yeah. And cigarettes. Yeah. It's like, oh, I got a pack of American Spirits. I'll eat someday. Yeah, well, shit, $, I got a pack of American spirits. I'll eat someday. Yeah, well, shit. $10.

I could either get a meal for $10 or buy some fucking spirits. Yeah, it was like that. But did you love every second of it? We're rock and roll in our heart, you know? So, yeah, we loved it. Yeah. We lived for that shit. It gave us our gusto.

Yeah. And we earned our keep, I feel like. How many years you been doing it now? 10 years. What is that about? What is that about? Blows my own mind. Dude, same here. I can't believe I've been doing 250

shows a year for like 13 years straight. That's insane, dude. You guys do the same thing. Let's talk about that. I think now that you have this record it's very single friendly. that like i think now that you have this record is very single friendly it's very triple a friendly and um i mean i feel like you guys open for jack johnson and shit right yeah that was how it's tight that was cool you guys make some money on merch i i think so yeah i try to stay away from that world because like you know we're at a good enough

place where we know that we can pay our bills and And I'm like, I'm going to let that be mysterious for me. Because the fact that I don't have to trip about money just to live my life, I'm like, I should bank on that while I have it. It blows your mind a little bit. Yeah, I'm like, I'm going to chill on that flat pay rate and not fuss with that. But I think we moved some stuff. That's trippy. Talk about the record.

Like, I interrupted you about the busking. But like, what was your, so you were, you wanted to make a record, not just bluegrass. You wanted to write some songs. You're just songwriters. Yeah, we were never a grass band anyway. So why did people give you that rep? Well, because I play mandolin. And we started on the streets with an upright bass and a mando. You know, it's like, play people give you that rep well because i play i play mandolin and we started

on the streets with an upright bass and a mando you know it's like yeah it has the look and we got harmonies but it's like i we were just we were just a street band we were just a string band you know it's not the same thing but i feel like those lines are blurred in this world anyway you know i think a lot of stuff gets called bluegrass that isn't really there but but anymore we're like any traditional grasshead that ends up at our show is going to be very very disappointed so um yeah what's a traditional glass grat like grasshead band you know it's like banjo fiddle dobro like high and lonesome harmonies. I mean, we can get there sometimes. But, you know, they don't want to hear distorted guitars.

And I mean, and fucking drums, man. We have a badass drummer, T-Tom. What up? Shout out to T-Tom. Yeah, T-Tom. What's your guitar player's name? Redhead guy. Jacob.

He's dope. He's so fucking dope. I saw him busking Or doing At the spot Just chilling Yeah He's one of the He's one of the OG spotters Nathan started bringing him out

Several years ago Oh yeah Do you know the Shook Twins? Yeah Absolutely John Craigie and those guys Those are Portland fans Yeah so like

Are you guys all like This songwriter community in Portland Is so Depth Do they all Everyone just like support each other, goes to each other's gigs? A hundred percent.

A hundred percent. Do you guys write songs together? It happens, yeah. Some collaborative stuff happens for sure. Not on my end so much. I'm not afraid to do that, but like most of the fruition dudes kind of write in solitude and then come together

And tighten it up together But yeah that whole Portland fam is just Full of love and support You know We'll go see someone with a good gig At the Crystal Ballroom Just as much as we'll go to like the Star Day Tavern The most okayest bar in Portland

Or like the Laurel Thirst Pub Like you know It doesn't matter the importance of the gig Or the clout or whatever It's like we all just want to see each other Doing their thing Yeah it's great Shout out to all the Portland people

I don't live there anymore So I miss it I live in Asheville The Portland of the East. Yeah, pretty much. But we got the Blue Ridge, baby. What do you think of Asheville? I fucking love it.

What do you love about it? It's new to me, but yeah, I just got there a few months ago. Cool. I just feel so relaxed there. I just want to chill. That southern mentality. I just want to hike with my girl's dog and fucking just mountain life yeah it's so chill is it is you feel like it's mountain life or do you feel like it's close enough to portland

with enough mountain life that makes you feel comfortable with everything it's all of that yeah because i can still go eat heady organic food and like go raid some music. Or I can just hide out and go on hikes and not see humans for a day. It's nice. I creep your Instagram a bunch and you're funny as fuck. But you're sober now? I'm trying hard, man. So what happened? What's the moment that made you sober?

Man, I tell you, the jam crews in dry January really fuck shit up. No, I'm fighting the good fight, man. I'm fighting the streaks. It's like drugs and alcohol. It's like they can just really. I'm like all or nothing. Once I open it up, I'm just like AWOL. What's the craziest thing?

Tell me what's the craziest thing you've done on an AWOL binge. Okay, you're in a safe space, me. I know, but I've only had like half a cup of coffee, so it's hard for me to dig in the depths right now. I can make coffee now.

But like, say like, what was the moment this time where you're like, fuck, I need to kind of dry up Was it like a Was it a bender? Were you on blow? Was it just tired? It was a bender

It was a bender and it was my birthday Like New Year's Day And it's like You know you like wake up And you feel like fucking hell And you're like all like It's the emotional hangovers That really fuck me up

So it's like a It's like a combination of the like The like emotional hangovers that really fuck me up. So it's like a combination of the emotional hangover. Supposedly, I just had all this fun, but now I hate everything and hate myself. Yeah, the existential crisis. Yeah. In combination with just like, I don't know. Just like I don't know Whenever

Whenever like Your Your like Debauchery It starts to mess with like Yeah How you feel about yourself First and foremost

And then like With your With your work And your people Like that's when it's like Reel that shit in Yeah So yeah

I'm still I'm still having some Well no I mean I know I'm a I'm a lot to handle But but she knows what's up. Yeah. But, yeah, you know, we've let ourselves have a couple nights here on the boat, and it's all good.

Yeah, that's good. But, yeah, I know that the clean mind, I know that I function better, and I'm still fucking fun to be around. You know, that's the thing. I'm still fucking fun to be around You know that's the thing You feel like if you're not like Taking shots or like getting lifted That like maybe some of your like Wily fun

Like good times are gone That's so not true it's like That shit doesn't make me So I'm working on it I'm still slipping so Don't go judging if you see me out there with a cocktail in my hand today But I am working I'm working

What about So what do you do? What's like ways to like get your mind off of relapsing When you were Like say you're on the roads You go hiking You said you go hiking Hang out with your girl

Yeah for sure But what about when you're on the road? The road has proven to be pretty hard Yeah But just like stay busy Yeah Like you know What about when you're on the road? The road has proven to be pretty hard. Yeah. But just, like, stay busy. Yeah. Like, you know, like, help out your homies in whatever department they're in. Like, you know, help set up the video cams or, like, go on.

Even just, like, go on. If I have no task to do while we're setting up or while we're sound checking or something, like, go on a fucking coffee run for everybody. like make yourself useful that's been helping me out that's pretty good stay fucking busy and like since i like don't wake up hungover i always want to drive now we all drive yeah but i've been like really wanting to get my drive on because it's like i'm contributing to something yay this is positive Keep my mind off some shit. Yeah, and I bet you're waking up earlier now and not as hung over,

not as, like you said, existentially. Yeah, totally. Fuck yourself up. Totally. What are the biggest tours you guys do? Like, a longest tour? Do you guys live in the van still?

You said you're financially getting better, better so is it still grind though through i see you guys in a sprinter van so you still have a lot of people so it's still not a lot of room yeah no we we get hotels cool we get hotels now we used to like share oh man tell me we used to pile the fuck into one like motel six like 6. Really? Oh, yeah. What was the worst one? Oh, dude. It's hard to say. There was a shit ton of them.

I think a lot... Actually, a lot of the West Coast ones were super bad. And then, like... Oh, probably the worst was somewhere in, like, Nowheresville, Texas. Yeah. You know, that state is just so fucking big. Like, if you're not near one of the major cities and you can't crush that whole drive yeah stopping to crash somewhere is sketchy as fuck but yeah

we all sleep in our own beds now look at you those are the little things that keep you going that'll keep us yeah i'm like we balling now i don't have i'm not rolling over into the next thing oh what was that a sentence no it's totally a sentence so you started in 2008 you were busking then you went on tour with uh when did you go on tour with green sky so like it was pretty early on so like I don't know, 2012 or 2013 maybe? Was there a... 2012? 2013. 2013, I want to say.

It was like we got one gig opening for them in Portland and then it was like, these dudes are cool. They're doing something different. Were they big back then? They were climbing. And back in just a couple years before that, they were playing some of the same clubs Were they big back then? They were climbing. Back in just a couple years before that,

they were playing some of the same clubs that we would play on the West Coast. Yeah, they just started soaring. They're selling out big things. No, it must have been more like 2015 when we opened for them almost 100 times. It's insane but yeah then they're selling out you know two night runs at like thousand cap places at that point at that point at that point and now they're just like now they're crushing yeah hard yeah

because like you guys little smokies they really love the little smokies yeah it's nice that this like i'm one of my close friends is leftover Sam, Vince Herman. Do you hang out with Vince at all? We're pals. Yeah, what are your experiences with Vince? He, like, that dude changed my life. He changed my life. How'd he change your life?

Like, being introduced to him and, like, following him around at String Summit, like, my very first String Summit, like, I just never knew a, like, psychedel first string summit like i just never knew a like psychedelic quest like party magic man captain like him just like you knew like shenanigans would ensue but it was also like it was always celebration based and like no matter what madness was happening wherever you were if you just followed that guy around, you'd find the charm.

Yeah, you would find the tunes and the picking and the harmless, positive debauchery. Yeah, and he teaches you how to just be a front man, even when you're off stage. Yes. That's important. I'm still working on that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like stage. Yes. That's important. I'm still working on that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know, it's like, you don't want to be an asshole to your fans.

Right. Just because you're hungover or whatever. It's tough. You have to always keep a smile on your face. And I know you get spotted hard with the hair. Yeah, dude, I'm fucked. I can do things to try to, you're tall and fro-ing, man. Yeah, it's tough.

You're spottable. No, it's definitely, I'm definitely sp spotable. No, I'm definitely spotable. You do a good job. What was your first musical memory as a kid? How long have you been playing? I had a piano in my house growing up, so I remember being not tall

enough to see over the keys, but like, reaching up and plunking them and being like, this is dope. Like, my brothers are running around like tearing down the house. And I'm like trying to find some peace of mind as like a little four-year-old. And I'm like, plunk, plunk. I like this. I want to do this.

How old were you? I started taking piano lessons when I was four. Holy fuck. So it's like that rooted everything. Where'd you grow up? In Portland? In Georgia. In Georgia?

In Georgia. Oh. But yeah, just, I just love song. Cheesy ass fucking jazz ballads, like, like church hymn music.

Like, I loved, I just loved melody. So when did you move to Portland then? Were you in Georgia? I turned 18 and graduated and moved out there. I was like, cool, I want to adventure as far away from home as possible.

I did for a minute. I went to Lewis and Clark College. Oh, cool. But that didn't last very long, but I found the Fruition Boys pretty quick. Yeah? So what was the moment when you knew that these guys are going to be your buds? Do you remember that? Kellen and i were tight first

before uh before jay moved to portland uh-huh um and then yeah it was it was really me and jay and kellen rooting down that that made fruition of things three-part harmonies just landing yeah we would just name any song we could think of and just land them just, we knew that was it. A lot of Bob Marley in there. A lot of Sublime, too. You know, we're fucking 18. Yeah. Oh, so you guys have been, how old are you, maybe? 28?

Oh, no. I'm 30. What did I just turn? 32. 32. I'm 32 now. Damn. But yeah, it's been a long, good time with those dudes.

Yeah. It is halftime at the Endy Fresco interview hour. And now, your Planned Parenthood moment of the week. No! You are going to listen! No! No! No!

No! No! Take me NO! NO! NO! NO! TAKE ME HOME! TAKE ME! I can't stand this whore! I don't care! I can't stand this whore! This is... this is... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Stick your cock up her ass. You're grounded. No! No, I'm not! Don't even think about it! Get out of my life! You motherfucking worthless...

What was the moment where you felt like, all right, you turned a page in your band's career? From busking, was it a show? Was it your first sold-out show in Portland? Was it an opening for a big band? What was that moment? Man, I think one of them,

one of the milestones was steady on those Green Sky and Infamous String Dusters gigs. Oh, Infamous String Dusters. Yeah, we opened for them for about 10 shows or maybe 15 shows. And yeah, it was getting to play out in front of like a thousand people at a time.

I was like, this is legit. It's like, almost even the bigger opportunities, like, were too surreal to be as meaningful as those were. Like those Amphitheater Jack Johnson gigs, those are just like, that didn't feel like real life. So I can't say that really was a milestone because I think I was dreaming that shit. It's crazy. You and Craigie got those Jack Johnson shows too. Craigie did a lot of those Jack Johnson shows too.

You guys on the same management or something? Yeah, which is a great fit. We got the Jack gig thanks to Mr. Josh Nicotra. What up, Josh? Love you. But he's the general gig thanks to Mr. Josh Nicotra. What up, Josh? Love you. But he's the general manager at Brushfire Records, and he's our manager. Are you guys on Brushfire? We're not on the record label, but he's our manager.

Oh, that's cool. Yeah, he's the man. He found us when we were busking South by Southwest a long-ass time ago, and he was like, we were his passion South by Southwest a long-ass time ago, and he was like, we were his passion project, you know? Yeah. He didn't need more work, you know? Yeah.

But he's like, these kids got some magic. He didn't want to sign you guys, though? He just wanted to manage you? Yeah, you know. Was that like a conflict of interest because he manages... I think, like, yeah, I think Brushfire vibe and groove is a little different than what we're up to but you know as you can see on the boat it's like doesn't

allos grooving we're grooving yeah who you signed with uh we did a couple of we're not currently with anyone or we did the last one with low high records we're kind of just going record by record that's cool so we did low high records we had some on uh on another label that i don't really want to talk about yeah it's too early for shit talking talk that i'm being so professional i'm being so professional right now come on you've been so good. Talk that shit. No. How hard is it dealing with record labels? The last record is dope. The last record's dope. How hard is it dealing with record labels, though?

It's fucking bullshit. You don't have to explain why it's bullshit. It's fucking bullshit. And there's a reason when you're a young kid and these contracts come out and you have this lawyer that you're like, I don't know why I'm paying you for nothing that's happening. There's a reason you're paying a badass

lawyer because people that you think are making sweet deals, there's some mental health issues out there in the world and there's some cutty, dark, twisted motherfuckers. There's a reason you have someone that understands that fucking paperwork because it is not me.

No? Did you get fucked? There's a reason you have someone that understands that fucking paperwork. Because it is not me. No? You know? Did you get fucked? We, yeah, we kind of got fucked. What happened? I, I, see, I'm too dumb to even explain, right? Plus, I don't really want to. But, uh.

But it was only one. But I'll just say, thank God we have a fucking lawyer. Because she's a G. And we needed her. Yeah. Because, like. We needed her. George Porter had a shitty contract with the meters. For 30 years, and we needed her. Yeah. We needed her. George Porter

had a shitty contract with the meters for 30 years and didn't get publishing. Wow. 30. Wow. It's crazy.

Yeah. Unlike the most played fucking funk jams ever. And all the most samples. Yeah. He has everything. Dude. You know,

that's what I was saying. Read your contract. Get to know the industry, I think. You know, I started my industry. I worked at Capital Records before I was thinking Like read your contract Get to know the industry I think You know I started My industry I worked at Capital Records

Before I was a musician So like from 15 to 18 I worked at Capital And I worked for an entertainment lawyer And basically I was into pop punk Sure Like New Found Glory

Something corporate Oh yeah dude But um You learned a lot of shit I bet Yeah But like it It put me 10 years behind musicianly.

You guys are so talented. I'm still trying to catch up musically. We're all working on our shit. So what's the ideal situation for a new... Why don't you just do it yourself? No one's buying records anymore. Yeah, we're kind of changing the structure now to fit with the times you know we don't want to get left behind but you know uh the way things

are moving with digital markets it's like like small like full lps as much as they're like charming to me like i will always buy vinyl albums of full lps like i love that and like the chance to make like a i mean i'm not saying i'm prepared for like to make a concept album but you know like a long like a like a full length project that'll always be endearing to me but the the truth is it's like people want fast digestible shit now. Like drop one track and get it played for two weeks, get streamed for two weeks and then on to the next. Is it the ADD culture? Yeah.

And like just technology, like fast, being fast fed everything, like everything loads and is there for you immediately. And it's just like, I think that's part of it. I don't feel pressure about it, but... Just for the band to make a record every year. We put that pressure on ourselves because we're like, otherwise, what are we doing? We want new songs. Yeah.

You know, once you... Because before you drop a full record, you've been like, you've been like painstakingly playing back those tunes over and over. So then when you go to tour that record, you've heard the fucking songs too many times. But luckily, our drummer, Tyler Thompson, is an engineer and he kicks ass. So you guys just do it yourself? So now we're just going gonna stay as busy as we can and just anytime we can session

one or two songs we're gonna make more palatable more frequent drops in the coming years here. Like in like sprints. You know, three, four tracks and send it. That's the way it is now.

I think it is. Like EPs are like the new form of demos. It's like the it is now. I think it is. Like, EPs are like the new form of demos. Like, it's like the 70s again, where the single industry had you know, a B-side of the single, the actual single, and then like two other songs. Yeah.

Which is, I mean, I'm cool with it. You know, I think you can be working on a full length, like, maybe like concept type of album if you want to. Like, as long as you're giving the people what they want in the meantime just keep content coming ever think of doing a solo record?

yeah I've done one what's it called? it's just my name but you know it's a little bit like schizophrenic genre wise I was just kind of pushing myself to get stuff out but you know there's a lot of i like a lot of sounds i like fucking i like fucking r&b and hip-hop

you know and i like like cheesy jazz ballads and i like a lot of different sounds so like i'm definitely not afraid to venture out on a project like that someday. So if you could say you have your own solo project and you could pick musicians dead or alive, who would they be? Holy shit. Let's start with the drums. You could say you're a band too if you don't want any politics. Yeah. I mean, I have no reason not to stick to T-Tom.

But you know what, drummer? You know what drummer fucking loves me? Like, that I get to jam with? Stan Moore loves my ass. I would love to rock with Stan. Okay, you got Stan on drums. Who's on bass? Laura Leezy.

Yeah? Come on. Dude, they're all on this boat right now Come on baby Set this shit up girl Laura Leezy Come on baby What about

I thought we were gonna do this interview together Damn Did you get her? No not yet I'm going to Is she cool? She's really cool I gotta meet her

Yeah I've never really fucked with her before You gotta get her Krungbin is like the Krungbin and Alabama Shakes Are like the fucking The bands of the past decade And for me I can't think of better album drops

In the last couple decades For me And they're both like strong ass women Strong ass women Let's talk about that a little bit Women in the scene Do you feel like they get disrespected? Do you feel like you have to work harder

As a woman to get Like built it over I see Arlie too from Sister Sparrow Why these girls who are fucking badass Badasses So I don't feel like I don't feel like we get disrespected Within

Our band people, like our fellow musicians. But I notice on the road, it's like this. It's like rolling into, you show up to a venue to load in or you show up to a festival to check in with the stage manager. And, you know, me and five dudes pile out of the van and instantly they assume That I'm the TM Or I'm doing merch

Or I'm somebody's girlfriend And that shit is just like I'm like It's like I just can't believe it I'm like setting up my pedal board And you're asking me where the merch goes I'm like

Actually my male bass player, Jeffy, is going to deal with that. I'm not the fucking merch girl. Suck it. I'm not the TM. Don't play fiddle. No disrespect to ripping fiddle girls. It's just like, oh, you're a female musician.

You must play the fiddle. It's like, no, I wish I played the fucking fiddle. Do you play the fiddle? It's like, no, I wish I played the fucking fiddle. Oh, my God. Do you play the fiddle? So they just, like, stereotype you. That shit pisses me off hard. They just stereotype you right from the bat. Right off the bat. That's fucked up.

But, you know, over... What's the worst situation that's happened where a bad stereotype came your way? Um, it was... Yeah, it was at a festival. It was a stage manager at a festival that, like... And I know the lady that was running the fest. So as soon as I got this, like, you know, it was like I was like I was standing in the way. And it's like, dude, it's nine in the morning and nobody back here. And like my other dudes are like standing in the supposed way of your like, your like power trip and ass right now. of your power-tripping ass right now. But no, it's just treated like garbage,

and I didn't belong there. And yeah, I hit up my homegirl right away and was like, yo, your stage manager is balls. But yeah, it happens a lot. I'm not a TM. I need a TM does that hurt your feelings? um I think I say

it pisses me off because deep down it probably does hurt my feelings I mean we're all like we're all trying to you know be accepted

in one way or another and for someone to just bash us over what sex we are is fucking bullshit yeah or just assumptions you know

it's like even if it wasn't aggressive, it's like, you just assume you go right up to the dude in all black and Ray-Bans, what's up bro? And then, you know, it's like, I'm setting

up four instruments and getting ready to rip fucking front row center and fucking Yeah, you don't even see it. It's just way over. Yeah, it's the assumptions that piss me off. That's bullshit because I get with that too. I consider myself a songwriter,

but everyone thinks I'm just a good entertainer, good conductor. Like, oh, he's not... This is the first year I've finally... Bands have been letting me sit in and shit but like yeah like it just pisses me off like oh that guy is just a good he's a good he's just got some energy party dude he's the party i'm like fuck off they throw a good party you're like listen to my songs yeah like i feel you it's that's bullshit well i think it's just because once they put a stamp on you Like everyone thinks you're bluegrass

You're not fucking bluegrass And we know that we were a party band For a long time It's like we can play for fucking four hours And we will And we'll pass a bottle around But yeah We're like listen to our songs

We like our songs I think we're just maturing. Isn't that crazy? We're getting older, Mimi. I know. I feel it. I feel it like the waves on this boat right now. Quickly, a couple more.

So who's your guitar player in this fake band? Oh, good God. Oh, man. Maybe like Mike Campbell. Yeah, from Petty. Yeah. He was my soccer coach what i grew up in calabasas stop it and when he was going through the break with tom like the hiatus i was close with his kid darian he's a in a punk band bass player really cool what mike was just with his fucking dreads like at our soccer practice he was your soccer coach? Yeah, Tom Petty at the trophy meeting

where you get a trophy, I guess, at the end of the year. Tom Petty and Mike are just playing guitar. I was too young to know this. Oh my God, that's amazing. Mike is one of the best songwriters that doesn't get any credit either. Yeah, man.

He writes a lot of those songs with Tom. Totally. Man, they're at your soccer joint and you're just like waiting to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Yeah, I'm like, I didn't know. I was wondering why my dad kept on showing up to all my soccer practices. I'm like, this fool doesn't like soccer.

I want a snow cone. Alright, we'll do one more. Give me one more, Mimi. By the way, thanks. It's been a really honor to meet you. I'm just such a fan of you. We're friends now. Deal with it. Yeah, fuck it. Get that in. Okay.

Actually, I got two things for you. If you could tell 18-year-old Mimi, just getting out of Lewis and Clark, some advice of what you know now after 10 years of this road and maybe had some anxious vibes

what would you tell her? I would say don't try cocaine and I'm serious and it's funny and I'm serious I would say you don't want no part of this Dewey and I would say

don't write Don't write Don't write Songs Don't write for a final A final project A final piece of work That's like supposed to be the best Just fucking flow

You gotta pan for gold Don't criticize your writing Just write to write And I'm still telling myself that Yeah, do you ever get in these hiccups? Oh yeah I just wrote my opus, what am I gonna do now? Yeah, absolutely dude

We all do that Absolutely And that's tied into the drugs and booze too Cause it's like You get all high and lifted And you write this shit that you think is like It means something to you And it's like you get all high and lifted and you write this shit that you think is like, it means something to you and it's like, it's high and mighty and then you read it back

when you're like self-deprecating from the come down and then you're like, this is garbage. All of my shit is garbage. This is all garbage. It's like, no, dude, just maintain the course and just remember when you were writing before anyone was listening and you were writing for you. Stick to that shit. What was your favorite moment of you when you're writing for yourselves?

Any songs that you still play? Like, God, I still really love that song. There's some songs that I still like to play that I wrote when I was 18. You know, any of those? Yeah. Yeah, there's one song, being a Cali dude, you'll appreciate it. This song, Highway One. Like, I wrote that when I went down to Big Sur and had no money

and was just like kind of, it was like my prime, like, hippie, like free and easy. See what happens today type of thing. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, I think it was beautifully crafted song about the space I was in.

And yeah, check that too now. I will. Um, what's the dream? I'll leave. Let's end with this. What's the dream?

The dream is to not have to grind the, not have to rely on the road so hard. Like, to not have to grind six weeks at a time multiple times a year. But to, like, plot and plan, like, we're going to go crush two weeks at a time and, like, fucking be able to chill at my house and like have a jam room in my house and like you know the balance of of road and home is the dream yeah i don't want to not be on the road but i don't

want to rely on grinding the fuck out of it forever and what do you think that takes singles i don't know man aren't. Let me know when you figure it out. It's so true. I think it's some mad alchemy forever, forever changing what it takes. I don't know. I think it's the balance. Instead of doing 200 shows a year, we do 100. Right.

And they're smart. They're planned. The marketing strategy is we're not wasting time. I feel like that's the thing. When you're living on the road, you do a lot of this waste time Tuesday, Wednesday shows that are like just gas money shows. Yeah, because you're out there. You're like, what else am I doing? Yeah, exactly.

Mimi, keep up the fight. You're fucking badass. You are too. I'm rooting on you. You guys are going to be so huge. You already are. I hope we get to see you along the road more often. I think we will. I think now that we're slowly,

you know, we're new to this whole jam scene. You know, we're just a bar band forever. I feel you. So it's nice to have people who are fighting the same fight and don't take any shit

from any motherfuckers anymore, Mimi. My man. If you tell me you text me, I will fuck them up. I'm going to look for you. I will fucking just give them a pimp slap. No one fucks, Mimi. If you tell me you text me, I will fuck them up. I'm going to look for you. I will fucking just give them a pimp slap. No one fucks with Mimi. Pimp slap.

Mimi, thanks for being on the show. Thank you. Appreciate you. Have fun today. Hey, guys. It's Andy. While we're on the Americana bluegrass theme, I wanted to show you a song I recorded

in my room of this band called the Sweet Lilies out of Colorado. They're awesome. They're like a bluegrass number. These girls do like they rap and shit. It's dope. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Sweet Lilies. Don't give me no lip, don't tell me no lies, baby.

Don't make a good girl cry. Don't make a good girl cry If your love is like you say You do your best to treat it right It ain't no good no good without you, baby You ain't been dreamin' like you should Now I'm sitting here in pain my darling Because my love's misunderstood

My love's misunderstood It's dead now and I'm a weeping willow Drowning in my tears as you were but a falling leaf And all my piercing heels are Love with all my soul that's how I know it won't be long When all my leaves enter that's how I know it won't be long When all my leaves turn to white, soon we'll be going strong They say that love is a surrender That takes over your mind

But if you love the way that I do Ain't got no problem being blind Cause I love you like the ocean Like the ocean loves the moon Comes in the care and the reflection Carry the reflection of you Why can't you see it now that I'm a wee poohie low Drowning in my tears

And you are but a fallen leaf And all my passing years I love with all my soul That's, oh, it won't be long All my leaves return to be growing strong Lost your focus now, you leave me in the dark I'm walking far away from the only light I saw And you're the only star that shines in the sky for me, baby I'm turning out the lights on us And when the clouds are in the sky, yeah

You are the sun that broke on through, oh And now my eyes are tired of crying Cause you ain't telling me the truth, no Don't give me no lip, don't tell me no lies, baby Don't make a good girl cry, oh And if your love is like you say it was You do your best to treat it right Oh, darling, darling, because I'm a weeper Well, I'm drowning in my tears

You're a butterfly, I think All my past and guilt I love with all my soul I know it won't be thief, all my friends in kiosk I'm in love with all my soul and soul I know it won't be long, no When all my needs return To be growing strong I've been growing strong, yeah

I've been growing strong I've been growing strong, yeah There we have it. Mimi. What a great interview. She's awesome. We got Chad Cacuz from Spoonfed Tribe helping me close out the show again. What's up, Chad?

Yo, yo, dudes. What's happening? Man. Mimi's talking about touring and stuff, and now it's just a grind if you don't get it. I was thinking, what was touring like? Because I was too young.

But what was touring like without cell phones and out digital communication, knowing how many tickets you've sold, knowing how many? You were touring before all that shit. Do you have any crazy experience? Was it stressful without knowing? It was definitely more of a challenge. I mean, because you can just look up directions or whatever. We're cruising in the front

of the bus. We got all these big-ass maps and maps goes and printed out directions and there's all this construction and you don't even know if you're on the right road and shit. What about any nightmare stories of traveling during then?

What if you booked a tour and realized no one's promoted any of the shows? Well, I'll tell you. So I think it was back in 2007. We were on the road, and we were in Dallas, and we played the Edge Fest there. It was kind of a big deal for us at the time. And this guy comes out. He's like, what's up, man?

I'm Tree. I work for Interscope Records and all this stuff, he's like what's up man i'm tree i work for interscope records and all this stuff and i want to bring you guys out to california and stuff and so we had a little tour there and he kind of gave us some anchor gigs you know like uh some of the bigger ones on sunset strip and whatever shit like that and uh you know we kind of called and checked in about this guy. He's all legit. Everything seemed to be lining up. So we built this tour.

It was like six months later. We get out to California and we play our couple shows that we booked. Then we show up to the Roxy or whatever the hell it was. There's other bands loading in. They're like, who are you guys? We're like, Spoonfed Tribe. They're like, yeah, that's not on the. Oh, Jesus.

You drove so long. Yeah. And, you know, so that was. And this was your showcase show for Interscope? Yeah, there was like three shows that he booked and everything. I mean, you know, we, you know, we call him and he's in. He's like, I'm in New York right now and I'll see you guys at the show. I'm going to finish up this meeting. I'm jumping on a flight. I'll see you guys at the show. I'm going to finish up this meeting.

I'm jumping on a flight. I'll see you guys at the venue tonight. Yeah, right. I mean, that kind of shit. The day of. Yeah. And we show up and they're like, yeah, we never heard of you guys. Get the fuck out of here.

Really? Yeah. And you know, you don't really, you're on the road, so you got to stop and use a pay phone to call people. So that was the call. Pay phone? Yeah, that was the call in the morning, you know. What did he say? A voicem you know and say a voicemail

you get a voicemail from this guy like how'd you get a hold of this guy oh we talked to him like he had a cell phone i think we had like one band phone like a band like old school fucking you know like four foot long phone and like it that that doesn't always work and you know you're cruising the middle of the desert or some shit And you're trying to get Ahold of somebody So yeah I mean Traveling with Without the

What about mental breakdowns Didn't you tell me Like you're You started talking the story So yeah So that night We After all that man

I like Fucking I was like Where's the bottle dude I'm Uh uh This is fucked up Like you know So we all get drunk

And shit And some people Invite us back To come stay at their house And I think it was Ocean Beach we're, I'm on, this is fucked up. Like, you know, so we, we all get drunk and shit. And some people invite us back to come stay at their house. And, uh, I think it was ocean beach. We were in San Diego at the time and everybody gets wasted. And half the band stole the van from the other half of the band. So we get in there.

We're like, we're going to go get some fucking tacos. Just all pissed off. And yeah. So, uh, our, our tour or bus driver at the time, Quatro,

was a big old fucking meat hook motherfucker, dude. Like rock and roll as shit, but just goddamn, you know? And so he starts driving. And next thing you know, like I'm kind of passed out in the back. And I kind of like wake up and go up to the front. And I'm like, he's like pulling into Tijuana with our tour bus. And this is like right when like just a party or what why was he going to tijuana because he's fucking hammered and shit like and he was like fuck it we're going to tijuana and this was like during the time when

like on the news like you had to have a passport to get back in like they're like the cartel is gonna chop your head off if you go over there you know in the news and shit so i'm like don't fucking do it dude don't do it and next thing you know like i i felt like i was like so just like like the whole tour you know i was like so fed up with it and i was just at my breaking point i fucking flipped out and i sat up punched out one of the windows in the bus and like there was this poor old lady sitting on the other side like outside like there's a parking attendant and like freaked her out and then so now we're now we have an inter we have a interview with interscope records the next morning so we go to meet them they're out in the parking lot like you know so what kind of vehicle are you guys in and stuff and like

i'm like oh that's you know that's it down there and you look out the window and the guy's like replacing the window they're like what happened to the window and they're like why is your hand all bloody we're very don't worry we're a very stable band we got this you know so you know traveling you know like just back to square one you know traveling without like an immediate cell phone or something like that was a bit of a challenge. You can't just get on the horn and be like, what the fuck is going on?

Yeah. I thought, yeah, also about promoting, I'd be worried about like, fuck, I drove eight hours and who knows

if they even promoted because normally you could just look at the Facebook invite like, oh, kind of get a basis of how many people

are going to show up. For sure, you know, and those things are always kind of Was it fun though, the unknown? I kind of like that. It's kind of like a basis of how many people are going to show up. You get an idea of it for sure, you know. And those things are always kind of interesting. Was it fun though, the unknown? I kind of like that. It's kind of like new age exploring. Dude, with our situation, I mean,

we were literally just pirates cruising around in a ship, like surviving. That's how it is in the beginning years, you know. It's like you're only making a couple hundred bucks a night. Yeah, and you're touring the western states, so you're driving from like Phoenix to San Diego. And it's just like, you know you're touring the western states so you you're driving from like phoenix to san diego and it's just like all you know like on the east coast it's boom boom boom boom city two hours but then you know you're out in the middle of the desert in this fucking makeshift bus that you built and you know you got a cooler with melted ice and like

some fucking moldy cheese and like crackers and you you know, are you going to make it? But that was the funnest times of your life, you think? Dude, I would never give those days up for my life, man. For the world, I wouldn't give those days up. Those were, I mean, looking back on those, man, I wouldn't do it now. But looking back on that, that was, I mean, that's how we got our name. And like, that's just, we were literally homeless people that had a bus that played music. That was pretty good.

Amen to that. That's why I stay on the road, buddy. But yeah, it's been a great episode. Thank you, Chad, for hanging out with us. Three weeks now you've been with me. Yeah, thanks for having me, man. This has been a great run. And now we got a little bit extended.

Yeah, you're coming to Rockmo with us. We're going to relax. We're not going to work as hard as we did. Yeah. Fucking jam cruise. It's been a lot of boats lately. Yeah, you're coming to Rockmo with us We're gonna relax We're not gonna work as hard as we did Yeah Fucking Jam Cruise There's been a lot of boats lately Like we were on the sailboat And then we went on the Jam Cruise And then we're gonna be on another cruise

We're like totally boat people now Yeah, we're pirates I don't even drink rum Then we went to a pirate festival And saw titties and shit Oh man, dude It's been a good week The Gasparilla in Tampa

I mean, that's like a pirate Mardi Gras. Yeah, it is. I thought I was going to see more titties, though, to be honest. Yeah, that was kind of... Because it was supposed to be like Mardi Gras with titties, like a lot more titties. And we interviewed people,

and everyone was like, titties! Yeah, no, and it didn't work. But it's okay. Next time. There's always next time. But some exciting stuff I'm gonna be doing Jazz Fest this year

We're opening For the Revivalist At the fucking Fillmore Which I'm excited about We're doing the Bayou Rendezvous At the Howlin' We got some good shit

And then Some festivals I can't talk about But we're touring Go see us Subscribe to the podcast Go listen to Spoonfed Tribe, my boy Chatty. It was nice to have

Vince on the show today, too. Shout out to Vince and Mimi and the Sweet Lilies. It was a good show. I think it was. Yeah, Chad? I fucking love Vince, dude. I fucking love Vince. I met him probably, I don't know, almost 20 years ago, dude.

First guy I ever saw roll a joint with one hand. I was like, this dude is fucking badass. And we had, you know, came up and jammed with him and stuff. But then, you know, we kind of lost touch over the years. But hanging out with you, you guys are all buddy-buddy. Yeah, that's my dog. I kind of got to rekindle the relationship with him. And so that's been really cool. It's good to see him in better spirits.

And I love him. And I love you guys. Subscribe. Follow Instagram. Frasco and Yeti. But it's been good. We've been having a good time out here. We're taking a week off because my cell phone bill was fucking expensive on Jam Cruise.

I spent like $300 on my fucking cell phone. Just trying to like keep up with social media. That's the death of me, dude. It's keeping up with social media. So I'm not doing that this week on the rock boat when I'm in the Bahamas because I'm cheap as fuck. And so

we're going to take a week off and then we're going to have Taz on the show. The 15-year-old prodigy. Taz is bad, dude. Taz is bad. We might have to tone down the show so 15-year-olds could listen to it, but it'll be fine. Taz is great. dude. Taz is bad. We might have to tone down the show so 15-year-olds could listen to it, but it'll be fun. Taz is great.

The interview's awesome. We got some fun stuff on our way, but first, be calm. Comb your hair. If cougar women make out with you, like it happened to Chad, keep your mouth in the back of your tonsils. She was giving it hell, bud.

She was trying to fuck. I don't know. She's, yeah. What are you talking about? All right, guys. I love you. Be safe. Until, I'll see you in a couple weeks.

But hit me up on Facebook. If you want to chit chat, I'm here. Love you. Ardo, take it home. Well, thank you for listening to episode 34 of Andy Fresco's World Saving Podcast. Ardo, take it home. show please head to our instagram at fresco and yeti for more info on the blog and tour dates head to andyfresco.com for more information on our guest mimi nasia from fruition please head to fruitionband.com let me spell that for you that is f-r-u-i-t-i-o-n band.com fruit iron band.com this episode was co-hosted by Vince Herman from Leftover Salmon and Chet Kakuza from the Spoonfed Tribe

the music you heard were the Sweet Lilies playing and singing and boy are they sweet coming up very soon now and his new album Change of Pace will be released on February 22nd this week's special guests are Ari Feindling, Arno Bakker,

Matt and Chet Kakuza, and the lovely people at Gasparilla Pirate Festival. And this morning I found some guys sharing my bed. This night we'll drive overnight at Land of the Tampa. It's all about sharing, people. The van, the bed, the hangovers, fags, the drugs, and that stage. And sharing this party with you, the audience. Tonight we share the stage with Carl Dunstan again. And we're getting mixed up in each other's bands.

Jamming, winging it, beautiful. My mum always said, when you're winging, you can probably fly too. Now, go and grow some more feathers.