Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 41: Neal "Fro" Evans (Dopapod)

Episode Date: April 2, 2019

Andy's co-host this week is Mike Gantzer from Aqueous. The guys catch up a bit, talk all things jam, and dive into Mike's connection with Dopapod. And speaking of Dopapod, we got Neal Evans on the interview hour! Andy and him talk about the hiatus and how Neal stays fresh through his various outlets. We hear a story about a Christian metal dance circle (not to be confused with a most pit). This is Episode 41, and it's metal af. 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. Keep up with our friends, Dopapod at music.dopapod.com Check out Andy's new album, "Change Of Pace" on iTunes and Spotify Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Arno Bakker Travis Gray Shawn Eckels Ahri Findling Hannah Reese Dolav Cohen

hey andy this is evan um i just thank you so much for agreeing to do this show like it's going to be so awesome i'm so excited i told all my friends like they totally can't wait it's going to be so lit like it's just going to be so lit um i have to talk to my mom still but um, yeah, it's going to be awesome. Like, I can't wait. I'll talk to you soon. Bye. Oh, hey, Andy.

It's your boy, Dolav. Just calling to say you fucking suck, motherfucker. Yeah, bitch. You got fucking owned. Fuck the league. Fuck everyone. Six years. Been trying to fucking get the win. Yeah, bitch.

You're not the fucking champion no more. My shit. Took your ass down. 6'3", fuck you, James Harden all day. Gooboo, gooboo, gooboo. Andy, it's your agent. I just contacted that guy that you sent me this morning. And you can't accept these gigs man i know people come up to you and they uh they ask you to play they have fun at your concert they say you know i got a some show

on wednesday in wisconsin let me handle the booking and you handle the music. I don't tell you what to play or how to dance or what set list, but these gigs make no money. These guys have no idea what they're doing. This guy wants you to play at his laser tag convention. He wants to offer you $1,000. Do you know what 10% of $1,000 is? It's $100. I have three kids to feed.

I wasted two hours of my life on the phone with this guy who I think is 13 years old. Stop saying yes to every offer that comes in. Just say, I don't know what I'm doing. Contact my agent. He will talk through it with you. I've wasted too much of my time. Do you know what I could have been doing today instead of talking with a 13-year-old about Andy Frasco and the UN playing their fucking laser tag convention? I could have been spending time with my kids who don't know my name. But instead, I'm talking to a 13-year-old boy

about what songs you'll play at his fucking laser tag convention. Give them my information, and that's it. Don't say yes. And we're here. Andy Frasca's World Saving Podcast. This is a special day. We have a rock star here with us as the co-host, Mike Ganser. What's up, y'all? Aikwiz. Yeah. Bro.

Hey. You're selling tickets on the West Coast. Man, that shit is so cool. What's going on? I have no idea. How'd this happen? Dude, I wish I could tell you. All I know, we booked the shows.

We went out there. We had no fucking clue what was going to happen. And it turns out there's like a ton of Aikwiz fans out there. And it's like the coolest thing ever. So what do you think happened? I mean, I could surmise a couple of different reasons as to why that might have happened. But I have to give a little credit to the internet here. It's gotta be.

And especially particularly Nugs.net. Oh, because you're doing live streams. And not only that, but we upload every single show as a multi-track audio to that website and people follow them. Wait a second. Every show? Every show.

How much pressure is that? It definitely made us play better because I started listening back to the ones where we were kind of like a little sloppier and I was like, yeah, that sucks.

We can't do that. So I feel like it actually, it was like a win-win because it helped us tighten up a little bit. Did anything didn't land on this West Coast tour? You know,

there'll be moments like sometimes when we improv and like maybe we miss a cue or miss a mark or whatever. That's just fucking your mental, dude.

Yeah, of course. I don't really care about it either though, to be honest. I feel like it's just a vibe now and I go up there and just try to like

just be fucking grateful that I'm like up there with my homies and people are there that give a shit. And so little like when you make mistakes and stuff,

it doesn't matter. And you know, there'll be nights where maybe you didn't feel like you were on quote unquote, especially with improv, like you just never know what's going to come out. So in certain nights you walk away feeling like, ah, like maybe that wasn't our best or whatever. But sometimes those are people's favorite shows anyway,

so who cares? So is it more of we need to stop thinking about what other people think about and we start thinking about how we think is the best show? That's a tough question. I feel like maybe neither. I guess my answer would just be like grateful regardless. You know what I mean?

You're fucking so sweet. Well, you know, but I really mean that. I feel like if you put your heart into one of those two camps too much, you're going to misstep. You know what I mean? Because if you care too much what other people think, it's to affect how you create and that's a mistake. But then if you're only thinking about yourself and your own like ego, maybe that's a mistake too, because like you're not going to relate to other people. So I feel like just trying to be as human as you can

about the whole process of music and figuring out what like the closest way you can get through to somebody is, is like, is the shit, you know? What's, what is ego to you regarding to the live show? You know, I mean, as a guitar player, I mean, No, as a front man.

No, oh, well, sure, either way. I feel like ego is, in, in,

in a live setting, like, would be me building myself up instead of the band. And that is a thing, like, You ever do that though, Mikey? I feel like you never, I've had my moments. I think the that is a thing. You ever do that though, Mikey? I've had my moments. I think the guitar is a very

indulgent instrument inherently and it's easy to just go crazy and shred and noodle and shit. But sometimes it's good to step back and try to figure out how can the band be seen as one unit where it's not like, oh, this is like everyone's going crazy because Dave is just soloing over and over or Mike's going

nuts up there over and over. I feel like I really try to think about ways to lead the band in a direction where everybody is just a fucking team. And we're passing the ball. That's my one sports reference. I feel like I dropped one on you. I don't know sports. You're sweet about it. But as a captain, is that your quarterback move?

Is to like kind of pass the ball around to everybody? Fuck yeah. Yeah? Showcase the band. Like this isn't Mike Ganser's solo show. You know what I'm saying? This is Aqueous. And there's so much to offer from every member of my band.

And I really believe that. And so like some of my favorite jams are ones like where no one solos at all. We just like find cool rhythmic shit that feels good. Discuss that. So how's that how how do you breathe on that i feel like honestly it's like playing less it's like finding one groove that just feels right like that just like make you nod your head like some hip-hop shit for example like we do that all the time now we'll drop into like a you know when i sat in with with you guys and had your drum dude your drummer's so good. He's crazy good. And he does this open-handed thing too,

like the drummer from Dave Matthews does. It's like a trip to watch. I remember when he joined the band, I was like, what is this? And it's the coolest shit ever. What I loved about us conducting you guys is everyone's listening to each other. So that was a really glimpse into how the band

is listening to each other. So if the drummer is going on something or if the bass player, if anyone is going on something, everyone's listening. Is that a big part of your band? If you're in a jam band or an improv bass act and you're not listening, like you're fucking up. Yeah.

You know, that's just the nature of the beast. Like any great musician will tell you, and I've learned this lesson over and over, that like it's so much better to sit back and not say something until your ears are all the way open and you're feeling and sensing what the other musicians are putting out. And that, to me, is everything.

That was a lesson I've learned. And even listening back to our shows, because you asked about the Nugs stuff earlier, our front of house engineer mixes most of them, but I will help him with the mixing and weigh in on the final mixes and stuff. So when do they release those nugs? Pretty much as soon as we can get them uploaded.

So how do you have time to fucking mix it? Just do it in the van, baby. You know, and I have to give credit. Our dude Ryan Brest does like 90% of that work and I'll just chime in at the end and like just, you know, make sure like that things are like kind of the way that I wanted them to be in this.

Mike, backtrack here. Go ahead. So after a late show, after a part show, after you sell out a show, you are getting in the van for an eight-hour drive and mixing the show before? Yeah. And again, Ryan is. You're helping.

I'm in that zone. You're taking the brain power. What the fuck? Got to do it, man. That's the nature of this game. If that's what's going to get us game. Like, if that's, like, what's gonna get us fans, like, because, for example, this West Coast tour,

I could maybe pinpoint a huge part of its success being this NUG shit. Like, I take that really seriously, you know, that we have an audience on there and I want it to sound good. And it's a multi-track recording, so we're not just uploading, like, a left-right from the soundboard.

It's, like, the kick drum, the tom-1. Like, every little input on stage has to find its balance. So as a general though, like how many in like, say if you have like three nugs live streamed in a week, are you going to play any of the same songs in that week?

Yeah. I mean, I think it depends on like the regional, like how far people are traveling. Yeah. So what is that? What is your regional thing? So like there will be like, I remember a headlining tour we did last fall

where there was like a Colorado run. If I'm remembering this correctly, sometimes things get hazy out there, folks. I know, you're working hard. But like if I know that people are going to go to four shows in a row like we will try not to do repeats at all if we can avoid it and then sometimes maybe like one or two

or three like to make sure that we're putting on great shows still and not digging into the catalog just for the catalog sake I hate to say this in like fucking like artist and agent terms but is there a radius clause to songs? Probably.

I think our fans think of it that way. You know like especially in this scene. So like what's the radius clause? Like six hours? Eight hours? That's how I feel like

anything over five I feel like is safe game but people will travel that too but I feel like the people that do that are kind of like really respectful of the fact that like we're out there building too you know.

I think that if we get to like where we want to go as a band and get to the point where like every show is like sold out or in these big theaters and this and that I think our format we'd have a lot more freedom to like really put on the show that we want to put on as opposed to like going out to the west coast for the

first time we like played our strong cards for sure like you go out there and you make sure you're crushing the show so you you know like you you deliver your best content. Yeah, totally. Because if you're playing an East Coast run, I feel like it's going to be harder to play all the same stuff. But if you're playing a West Coast run where these are all new markets, do you feel like you want to hit the bangers?

Is that stress to say, all right, if I'm playing in Eugene and I'm playing in Portland, I really want to play this song. But like it's only two hours away. Like what do you do on that? You know, I feel like I used to be like absolutely not. Like we're not going to do it. Like we need to like not do any repeats and stuff. But I started caring more just about like finding a balance between entertaining the people that love the statistics and the paper side of it.

Like it's almost like what people do the fish thing. And it's like baseball cards or something. They're like, that's my second the paper side of it. It's almost like when people do the fish thing and it's like baseball cards or something. They're like, that's my second sports reference. Count it. What the fuck? I don't know.

You're inspiring me. You're on my show. I know. I feel like I literally can't even talk about sports. You know what I do, by the way, sidebar? What's up?

If someone's talking about sports, I mean, I'll just be like this franchise dude. I'll just use the word franchise. I don't even know what it means. We got Dope Pod on the show. They just came back from a hiatus. I love those dudes. They're awesome. I could talk for the word franchise. I don't even know what it means. We got Dope Pod on the show. They just came back from a hiatus. I love those dudes. They're awesome.

I could talk for hours about how great of a band they are. Tell me about them. I don't know much about them. I just know Neil. Okay, awesome. And Neil is an amazing human. They're all amazing human beings. So my Aqueous met them in 2011 and we opened for them in Erie, Pennsylvania

of all places and famously Rob Compa was like pooping downstairs. He loves the story. He was pooping downstairs and heard us playing a Frank Zappa song. We played I'm the slime. Like it was 2011. We were like nobody, like no one knew who we were and we were huge Dopeapod fans already.

And he like came running up. I guess he like finished his shit early and like ran upstairs to like be stoked for that. We were playing this song and we were like super geeked out because they were like Berkeley musicians. And like, upstairs to like be stoked for that we were playing this song and we were like super geeked out because they were like berkeley musicians and like again like our band like we don't even read or anything like we were like wow these guys give a shit that like we're doing anything and so rob was like him and i like kind of struck up like a a friendship pretty early on and it turned out he was from rochester new york and i'm from you know buffalo's only an hour

away and so when back then he would go home sometimes in between tours to his parents' house and I just go there and he would, he was nice enough to call it jamming quote unquote, but it was just me like learning, you know what I mean? Like he's, he's honest to God, like maybe one of the best guitar players in this whole genre. Like, and he's super, yeah. Why, why do you say that? Well, he's really, I feel like he's understated and he is like, he will sometimes will play an amazing supporting role, but when that dude gets going, he will fucking ruin you in the best ways. Like he, he has played some shit that has just like given me crazy chills and just been like, I don't even know what it is that you're doing, but he, he's like profoundly amazing.

And, and, and so him and I got pretty close and have even done like some duo gigs, like acoustically where we'll only improvise. So how's that work? How do you do a duo gig in that jam scene? Well, we literally just walk out. We don't talk about it at all.

We refuse to talk about what we're going to play. Shut the fuck up. I swear to God. And we walk out and just start playing some shit and him and I like really vibe as musicians.

But you guys both have a game plan of like what your side of the plan is? No, honest to God, we really, I feel like I can't do that with just anybody.

In fact, I can do that with almost nobody. But with Rob, there's just like this weird connection that we share that we can just sit down. And we discovered this, by the way, because I did a side project with him and Mikey from Turquoise and the bass player from Giant Panda

and an awesome keyboard player from Rochester. And we were in between gigs staying at Rob's parents house and him and I like started playing acoustic. He just had a couple acoustics at his house and Mikey Karuba like was like loving what we were doing. He's like oh like this is amazing. I got a boner.

Mikey's like the shit. Shout out to Michael. Shout out to Michelangelo. I love you dude. He's a Buffalo dude. But so anyways like Rob and I have always been really close and I've like, and our bands became, like we started opening for them a bunch after that. Yeah.

You know, I sat in with them a bunch. Dave sat in. Like I, you know, they sat in with us and we've done like, I remember we did like a full on like cover of Hotel California and like where me and Dave.

The whole song? The whole, not only the whole song, but like we got to. Who sang it? I think Eli did. But like, so we sat in with Dope Apod doing it. Me and Dave like spent weeks like getting all the harmonies exactly right.

Because there was three guitar players like the Eagles had. But anyways, I always identified with their music because it was experimental. And it was full of musicality. And it was cerebral and like trippy as fuck. But like it also was edgy. Like and had like a rock foundation underneath it and i i've like been a huge i mean like you know everybody in this scene supports each other and you see those memes you ever see those memes where it's like oh good set bro like oh what was that one cover you played and like everyone does say that shit to each other but dopapod like fucking am a fan for real like i

know all their albums. Like I've learned a bunch of their tunes like because they're just so sick and they're all, I'm honored to call them friends. But I'm really stoked

for them to come back because I'm just, I'm selfishly just a huge fan. Dude, Mikey, you're in the fish tank, dude. I'm in the fish tank. Isn't that cool feeling? It's the best.

How long did it take for you to realize you're in the fish tank was this the first year I feel like pretty recently yeah I feel like honestly the past like

year or so there's been like a couple of moments where I said oh wow shit's like happening out here now that you're in the fish tank what are your accomplishments

what do you want to do within the fish tank I feel like one thing I'm pretty proud of is this band that I started with some of the dudes from Umphreys

yeah dude the punk band the Ryans yeah okay no no tell me about this because you did like a punk you're doing a punk band

with Stasik Stasik and Myers so like it's oh Joel's in it too no not no Joel's in it too Chris Myers yeah drummer and bass player

from Umphreys Ryan Stasik and Chris hold on so how did this come about so this started like years and years like not years because Ryan is pumped about this I've been texting with him lately he's like and I told him How did this come about? So this started like years and years, like not years and years, 2017.

Ryan is pumped about this. I've been texting with him lately. Fuck yeah. And I told him that, you know, I'm a geek about you. And I really, I really love you, Mikey.

I mean, you're really, you've got it and you, you're heartfelt. And you're, you're like me where we're just passionate about the scene. Yeah. I mean,

look, this is what you're spending your time on. We're out here on your night off and we're getting drunk on a Tuesday night. Mike, thanks for being on the show. Always on. Thanks for introducing TopaPod. Hell yeah. I'm so stoked that I could be the one to introduce those guys. Dude, thank you so much for being on the show.

And dude, love you. And be safe out there. Love you too, buddy. Bye. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we have my fro brother, Neil Evans from Dope-a-Pod.

Yeah. Dope-a-Pod's a dope band. They took a hiatus for a little bit. Actually, they wanted to get their minds right, but now they're back. They're putting out a new record. They took a hiatus for a little bit, actually. They wanted to get their minds right, but now they're back. They're putting out a new record. They're going. They're doing the Capitol Theater next week, I think,

which is fucking huge. Congrats, boys. Pretty excited for them. Yeah, they recently confirmed that they will be making a new LP, so I can't wait to hear what the sounds are like. Hey, Chris, why don't recently confirmed that they will be making a new LP. So I can't wait to hear what the sounds are like. Hey, Chris, why don't you play some Dope-a-Pod while I'm pumping up the boys? These guys are in the jam scene. They don't like considering themselves jam because they are kind of like ADD, like unfreezes in that scene where it's like,

fuck, what do you categorize them as? But they're just really good fucking musicians. where it's like, fuck, what do you categorize them as? But they're just really good fucking musicians. They've been in the scene for a while. Neil is a good guy. We talk about meditation. I almost said medication, but kind of medication. Yes, check him out.

Great interview with Neil. I hope you enjoy it. Talk about mental health and talk about metal a lot. He loves metal. So here we go. Enjoy Neil Evans for motherfucking dope. And we're fucking here. Hello. With my fro brother, Neil. How you doing, buddy? We got Dopeapod in the building.

You're in like 20 fucking million bands. 20 million and one. Dude, how you doing? I'm great. Doing well? How you feeling? You guys been on a hiatus? We have been on the hiatus.

What's going on? I heard you watched some TED talk that got you, tell me what the real story was. Was it really the TED talk or was it, were you tired? There was a bit of, it got, it got displayed or portrayed a little incorrectly. However, the TED talk is, there's a really great TED Talk about how this company design firm in New York, every seven years they shut down the firm for a year. Everybody goes out, travels the world, whatever. It's a pretty privileged situation.

I don't even know, maybe they can't afford to just go do whatever they want for a year. He comes with all this video content on the TED Talk about this is what these people go travel the world. They come back with all this inspiration, all these new designs and stuff. Some guy goes to India, he comes back, he's got a million ideas for a coffee table.

It's cool. It's refreshing. Great idea. The hiatus was not directly inspired by the TED Talk. However, it did fall directly in line with that idea. It was like, yeah, people were tired. Yeah, were you burnt out? Like what?

You guys were gigging hard. I mean. It was gigging hard for, you know, I had a couple years off, so I was good to go. Oh, you had a couple. Oh, because you got hurt. I left for a little bit, just some personal stuff. And then I was gone for like three years. So when I came back, you know, I knew what it was like to have taken a break from the whole thing

and left the whole thing. And, you know, of course, when that first happened, I had a little, you know, a period of like, holy crap, what am I doing? What can I do? What's going to happen? This kind of thing. But it really, you know, quickly was like, oh, I,? What can I do? What's going to happen? This kind of thing. But it really quickly was like, oh, I'll be fine. Not being in the band is not the end of the world. And I think that there was a little bit of that feeling in the guys when we first started the break. But I think quickly everybody was like, oh, yeah, we're all really good musicians and we're going to be okay.

We can do all these other things. And I don't know, for me me playing with a bunch of other bands while i was you know out of the band was really really refreshing and just so much fun and to be able to like share band dynamics and band energy with different groups of people and then bring that into the into each different thing that you do. So, you know, energies that I was able to bring back to double pod. And I've kind of done that all the whole time,

had several different bands to play with. So I would love to take, you know, compositional ideas from something we did in this group and bring it to that group, just having all sorts of different sources of inspiration or creativity and just even vibes, you know,

just makes it nice. It's nice to take a break, man. When you're gigging that much with the same people, it doesn't matter if you do all improv, all sets, change sets. Everyone needs to change the scenery just for a little bit. That's why I think that concept with that Ted thing is like, I know it wasn't

completely inspired, but it makes sense. Everyone, we work our asses out they don't realize that we're in a van hanging out with the same group of people who might have girlfriends or might had a shitty day or might have been hungover or might you know and we still have to like be happy and entertain because it's most of this life is about the hang right if you can't you know eight hours a day you're in a van with these guys and if you can't, you know, eight hours a day, you're in a van with these guys. And if you can't, if you need to be inspired in a way, it totally makes sense for you to take a break.

And I want to talk about that anxiety about how is it, you know, it's like we're afraid that we're going to lose momentum. Sure. Or what is it? What do you think it is? Like that angst, but we still have to do it. Like was the band nervous? Like, oh shit, we're going to lose our flame a little bit. I don't think so.

I think that, I mean, I think there was an idea of that sort of floating in some heads as we kind of approached it. But really when we first started talking about it is when everything was just like, holy shit, what is this going to be like? What's going to happen from this? And I think we were all able to rally and be like, we know that we have to do this for ourselves. And it's just, you know, it's like a self-care day. Yeah. Yeah. Like a spa year. You got to do it. Yeah. Sick spa year. You have to do it.

I stick to porn. That's my spa day. But yeah, I get it. And so I think we were able to really understand that there was going to be a bit of unknown, but that it didn't really matter because we had to do this. Like you can kind of go into like, oh, we're going to take a break. But you're thinking before you even take that break, like when the comeback is going to be and what we're going to do for that. We should even do something.

At that point, you're not taking a break. So it was really, as we really got to the time of the break starting, I think we were all kind of finally getting to the same page of like, this is a break. I will see you guys later. We're obviously friends and we're talking and everything but it wasn't like,

we weren't talking about anything until who knows when. How long did it take until everyone's like, okay, let's start. There were little ideas floating around, maybe like July, August kind of thing. But nothing was really being super set into place. So until like October and November, we're making plans for getting together and stuff. Is that when Kunj got into the picture?

Pretty much. So did you guys drop your management, drop your agent? No, we actually hadn't had a manager since mid-2017. And it was okay because we knew we had this last bit of the year and that was it. So it wasn't like we needed somebody there to do all this extra manager stuff. Managers do is for like months down the road most of the time,

you know? So we were pretty much at that point. So everything else we needed to do was just like tour manager mostly. And you know, stuff we can handle. So in this Jamson, do you think we need a manager like that? Or do you think what's your,

what's your opinion on having a manager? Yeah, I do. And I've gone back and forth on the feeling. But it's just like, as the artist, if you have to deal with Facebook announcements, all kinds of content posting, all this day-to-day stuff that, one, is really time-consuming and energy-consuming. Two, like having a

booking agent, if you've got somebody that does this all the time they know the best stuff to do you know just years of experience of doing it you know years of experience of not doing it right you know like and i feel like a lot of bands you know me sometimes with my other bands it's like i feel like i'm doing something good like you know social medias promos this and that you know and it just like flops like I'm doing something good, like social medias, promos, this and that, and it just flops. And I'm like, what the hell? I thought that's what I was supposed to do. And then it just doesn't.

So having somebody, to me, it's absolutely worth it to have another team member for that stuff. And especially if that's what they care about and that's what they're motivated to do, then you can't go wrong. Yeah, I agree. Sometimes I get pissed at my wasting money. And I realize, and I come to the office and I'm like, oh yeah, they're working

all the fucking time. It's super important. They do all day, every day, this stuff that is so stressful. I mean, just being on the social medias anyway, whether or not you're putting stuff out, spending time on there, putting up videos or putting out announcements, you end up on there and you're putting stuff out or spending time on there putting up videos

or putting out announcements, you end up on there and you're looking at stuff and it's stressful. These guys are paid to be doing this stuff, email blasts and all these things. How many years have you guys been doing this? Well, Dopeapod started in about 2008, 2009 Damn

Which was just Mikey and Eli And then Rob joined, and then Chuck joined, and then I joined And I was playing percussion There was a while where What year was that? This was 2010, 9 to 10 And there was a while where Eli, Mikey, and I were in both Turquoise and Dope Pod. You were in Turquoise?

Yeah, yeah. Shut the fuck up. Really? Yeah. So did you live in New York? Are you from the city? Like, where are you from? I'm from Boulder.

Okay, so how'd you get hooked up with Turquoise? So I went out to Boston to go to Berkeley. Yeah, so you and Chuck went to Berkeley. Is that your homie? That's your dog? I met him out there. Oh, wow. But yeah, so you and Chuck went to Berkeley. Is that your homie? That's your dog? I met him out there. Oh, wow. Everybody we're talking about I met out there.

And so it was pretty cool. The Dope Pod guys and I lived in different houses on the same street in Boston. They had more of the band house hang and everything else. I'd go over there and jam and stuff.

But yeah, we were, and then I don't even remember how we sort of met the Turquoise guys, but dude, I saw Turquoise. They're Berkeley kids too. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, we're all, it's all the same circle. I just, I don't remember like official integration. Yeah, but they were like 90s, you know? Oh yeah, older than you.

Because from what I understand, and I'm probably wrong, was that Lettuce was a band before like 2000. Then Soul Live went off and like did the stuff and everything else and they were just kind of doing different things and then they brought it back. I remember 2008 or something hearing Lettuce on MySpace and being like, holy shit, this is the funkiest thing I've ever heard. And like saw him at this one- time festival that happened in Maine and just

like, like on a tiny stage, you know, like, holy shit. But yeah, speaking of tiny stage, I saw Turquoise 2008 or nine in a super tiny, like Berkeley music venue that they had. And they had on, they would wear these like, like coat, like blazers, like sick suit jacket things. And the horn players had jumpsuits and the girls were in some thing. Were they in the band?

No, they had other people. Yeah, the original girls. And I was just like, holy shit, this is the greatest band. I'm never going to miss a show of this band. And then I got to join the band. Yeah, dude. Dude, can you talk to me about got to join the band. That's bad, dude. Can you talk to me about the Berklee scene? It's like a niche.

All these jam bands are coming out of Berklee. Do they graduate? What's the scene? You're going into debt to not graduate. What the fuck's that about? It's an interesting situation. You go there first of all, as a school.

You get out of it what you put into it. And I feel like a lot of people, and especially, it sort of changes in groups of years how the school is run and then what really comes out of it. Because I was one of the last years that didn't actually require an audition to get in. I think that they were at a transitional point. And I could be wrong.

Sorry, Berkeley. But I think that they were at a transitional point where they just were ready to take money. Like, yeah, give us all the money. Bring all the kids. I'm almost 34. 34. Okay. Because, yeah, I talked to the R.I.P.E. guys. You know R.I.P.E.? I know. They're younger kids. I'm almost 34. I talked to the Ripe guys.

They're younger than us. They're in Berkeley and they had that transitional thing. But yeah, keep going. All these kids were getting in, but the dropout rate, freshman dropout rate was astronomical. I think a lot of kids were coming in and being like, oh, I'll go to Berkeley, which means I

will graduate as a rock star. I mean, I swear there were some kids in one of my ensembles that were like, you got a guitar for high school graduation present. Shut the fuck up. And they're just letting people in? Because how much is it a year? $30,000 a year? Something like that, yeah.

Oh my god. And there are majors at Berklee that you don't have to be a proficient musician to be in. There's music therapy, there's music therapy there's recording there's music industry yeah business all that so you know they just want to know that you have some idea of what it's like to be a musician so that if you're you know recording like you know what it's like to be on the other side of the glass yeah it's like helpful for everything that's important you know so but uh yeah i and that's why i say when you get out of it, what you put in, it's like, if you know that you're going to this, it's a grand institution. There's resources are amazing.

If you know that and you want to like learn all this stuff, go for it. Don't go in there expecting I'm just going to come out a rock star because kids go in there and like, wait, I have to learn how to read music. I have to learn music theory. I have to actually be a musician. I don't want to do this. It's like, yeah, well, that's what this is. They're telling me, someone was telling me how you could join a band

and that could be part of your degree. Or you get points for, what do they call it? Credits for practicing and shit. I don't know about credits for practicing, but for instance, Eli did what was called Pro Music. And basically his final project, and I think you could equate it to what is like a thesis?

I don't know. Whatever. The final project thing was basically the first Dope About It record was like his final project. Oh, wow. No shit. Yeah. That's pretty cool. It's awesome. So you get to practice your craft for $100, dollars and put out a record do they get the record you at least get the recording for free we didn't do the

recording at berkeley but just like you know it it's like it's like you put it down on paper like yeah i organized i wrote these tunes i organized the band i made arrangements yeah we booked the studio we did it you. Got it mastered. So they want you to see the whole production. Yeah, totally. So what about that Berklee? Is it like a click? It feels like all these Berklee bands hang out with each other.

I don't know. I mean, we weren't, you know, like, Dope Pod and Dirkwise, we weren't like, that just happened. We weren't trying to shut anybody out or anything. Was that the plan to be in a jam band? No, not at all. What was the plan? I mean, when Dope Pod pod started as the duo it was just keys and drums and then

rob joined and at that point in time and i'm actually remember seeing that trio at a super tiny bar and being like oh this is cool group remember see eli dance dude's crazy yeah um and uh it was like probably more along the like medesky martin wood um a little more jazzy and soul kind of stuff um and then it just it yeah i don't think there was a there was no intention set out to be like we should go be a jam band but i think that we ended up on music festivals and just embraced by the jam community yeah you know, I mean, we always take, always have taken a lot of energy into improvisation in the shows. So that's jam. You know, for us,

it probably comes from more of like trying to fuse the jazz idea with the rock and roll idea. Same deal. I mean, you know, I think it's safe to say that we're, we tend to get into like heavier stuff than you know other jam bands and stuff like me and Chuck are like punk rock and metal guys

all day. Your band mom and dad does like full black sabbath and shit dude fucking that's what I'm fucking talking about. Bringing metal into that scene is like I mean it just brings a different energy I have this really sort of I don't know revelation or something and hopefully you, I don't know, revelation or something.

And hopefully, you know, I don't know if we get feedback from anybody on these podcasts. I'd be curious to see if anybody agrees or what they think. But I think that a lot of kids, I think that lots of people love metal. And it's not anything anybody's trying to hide. It's just that there's a different kind of community and friendship in the metal scene. And it's certainly not bad. I would argue actually that metal kids

are maybe even way happier than a lot of jam fans in the circles and everything else. But as far as like, my imagined scenario was this. Somebody in high school loves metal. Go to college, making new friends, maybe not find as many metal friends but you love music and you love friends and you find all these kids are into these jam shows and this kind of thing so the community's there so you get you become a jam kid you love going to the

festivals hanging with your friends and then mom and dad comes and plays the workout festival and is just slaying you with double bass and crazy metal and they're just like holy shit i forgot i love this stuff you know like and something like that you know so therefore the jam community is embracing the heavier stuff because like they always were there and they knew it and loved it but they like didn't have the community around it for themselves to to go to all the metal shows be in all the metal scene you know yeah i mean it's different i to me it's like if you like if you like metal you like music you know like people are like oh i can't hang with the lyrics and i can't hang with

the screaming and stuff and it's like man like just try it out yeah get past this stuff like umphreys does it really well too adding these like add metal breaks oh breaks and shit. Like, what's your like, do you think one of your favorite musical moments like hanging out with all these bands on a jam scene, do you have a moment where you're like, damn, looking around seeing like maybe George Porter Jr. playing the bass. I mean, Jam Cruise

is just the most insane. Tell me how you feel about it. I had the best time. Yeah, that was so good. You get there, you hang with all the friends. There's nowhere for people to hide. I had dinner with Jay Lane. He was like, I walk up to him, he's eating by himself.

I was like, what's up, man? Can I hang out with you? He was like, yeah. And then he was like, hey, you were side stage during the Electric Beethoven set. I was losing my mind. I couldn were side stage during the Electric Beethoven set. And I was like losing my mind. I couldn't believe how cool the Electric Beethoven set. Yeah. And he saw me. What is Electric Beethoven?

That was the thing that was like Stoops, J. Lane, Reed Mathis, and I play Welsh. And Reed Mathis basically reimagined all this Beethoven music for like modern rock. It's incredible, man. Was it dope? Absolutely blew my fucking mind. I was like, I can't believe that I've never seen this and I can't believe nobody's doing anything like this. It was a ride.

Does it mean a lot to you, that guy? Who's that? Musically? Who? Beethoven? Not Beethoven. J. Lane? J. Lane, yeah.

Absolutely. I love that dude. He was like, I'm a huge Primus guy. And then, you know, I didn't know until way later that he was like the original Primus dude. He was in Primus, you know, before Tim and all this stuff. And Sausage is like,

Sausage, do you know that album? So Sausage came out in like 93. Were you a big Primus fan? I've probably seen Primus more than any other band. I hear it now. I feel it. It's just like, they're such a funny bandus fan? Oh, yeah. I've probably seen Primus more than any other band. I hear it now. I feel it. It's just like, they're such a funny band because they're like alternative rock, but they're metal and they're psychedelic.

And in the 90s, they didn't ever jam at all. And now they totally jam. In the 2000s, they were just like jamming. But Jaylene was one of the first guys in that and um talking to him a lot like i've talked to him a lot after like really meeting him on jam cruise and stuff he talks about how you know tim alexander's this actually like heavy metal guy like so it's this weird combination for him to for tim and les claypool and be this like groovy funky stuff with this like solid metal dude just like these parts like i didn't even realize it until many years later but i was like

you know always knew the primus songs the drums and was inspired by like oh this this little section this two bars is absolutely written out this part for the drums you know it's like here's back and forth these two little grooves and it's like so impactful and so effective musically you know it's like really interesting stuff and then jay lane is like i'm more of a funk dude and it's totally true he's just like got this crazy bounce to all this stuff you know and like but i didn't i didn't know all that stuff in like 2010 when tim left primus and jay came back and i was kind of like went to the primus show and i was like all right let's see how this is and it was like holy shit how old were you?

that was 8 years ago so 8-9 years ago whatever that means I don't know 26-27 something like that who was the first person to inspire you to play music? Metallica Metallica? Tell me about it so I took piano lessons

when I was in like second grade and then my older brother was also taking piano lessons. And then he somehow got into like taking drums. And so I was like, well, I'm going to do that, you know, around fifth grade. And then, and so, you know, my drum teacher would be like, here's some books and stuff, but like, let me know what kind of music you listen to. And you can bring in some songs and I'll like teach you how to play the songs. And I actually remember bringing in Metallica and Primus

and being like, my name is Mud. I was like, how do you do this? So you wanted to be a pianist, or did your mom force you to play, or your parents force you to play piano? I mean, I was into it. I was pretty good. Second grade you were good?

I don't know if I was good in second grade, but I was good in fifth grade. Throughout elementary school and middle school, you were good. Yeah. Like classical trade? Classical stuff, yeah. I don't know if I was good in second grade but I was good in fifth grade you were good like classical stuff and you know unfortunately all that dexterity is out the window I still know the music and stuff

but I just don't play piano enough isn't piano and drums kind of similar? I consider them percussion instruments yeah tell me about that piano is probably it's just the most versatile instrument out there just as far as the different textures and emotions and stuff you can get out of it you know like and then it goes beyond

just the keys you start jamming stuff into the strings and you know getting to hold different worlds and then it's also this like giant amazing um you know acoustic resonator box and just hit the side of that fucking thing. Yeah, it's true. It's a big drum, you know? Who's the first person? Did you ever have a moment, maybe it was on stage,

like, wow, I'm really doing this. Was it in high school? Explain the moments in life where it's like you open up and you're finally fully present. And basically, you're finding out who you are and what you want to do for your life. Did you have an experience like that?

Oddly enough, one that I can definitely recall was 2005 Bonnaroo. It was the first music festival I ever went to. Found out about it the week before. My friends were going. She's like, I'm going to this thing, Bonnaroo first music festival I ever went to found out about it the week before my friends were going she's like I'm going to this thing Bonnaroo I was like oh my god that sounds amazing she's like I have an extra ticket I was like I'm going and so I went and I you know I had found out about Umphreys

a little bit before that and then I saw that they were playing I was like cool I'm going to check that out it was actually the only set that I saw the entire thing front to back and I was like in a weird, so I was going to go to Berkeley after that summer was going to be my first year. Were you in a band in high school?

Yeah. I had a metal band. Sick metal band. It was called human ox. Yeah. That was, that was my original metal band. And then I also had a Metallica cover band called the Metallic kids.

Cause it was me and two other like 18 year olds. And then this like 33 year old guy. So you go to Bonnaroo. So you go to Bonnaroo. So I go to Bonnaroo to see Humphreys and I was in this weird mood about going to Berklee. I was like, I don't know if this is the right thing because my band was good, but I was like, I want to leave Colorado,

this whole thing. And so then we, just seeing Humphreys, I was like, all right, that's something that can be done. Like, you know. So it was 04. Plans 05, yeah.

And I was just like, all right, this is going to be sweet. You know, seeing just, you know, not particularly Humphreys, but the whole music festival

and this whole thing. I was really stoked by all the sit-ins at the festival. I was like, oh, this is great. I said, Dave Matthews,

like everybody sat in with Dave Matthews. And I was like, that's fucking awesome.. I said, Dave Matthews, like everybody sat in with Dave Matthews. And I was like, that's fucking awesome. Like we should have this, every show should be a big party with all the friends coming to play. Why is a band just like the members only? You know? Is it hard to do sit-ins with metal bands?

Because there's so many different parts and moving. Yeah. It's hard, right? Yeah. You know, I mean. I was wondering why there's not enough, there's not a lot of jamming in the metal scene. Right. Yeah. It's hard, right? Yeah. I was wondering why there's not enough, there's not a lot of jamming in the metal scene. Right. Yeah.

It's, you know, I've always been, I've always loved, and every band I've played with, we've had lots of time to just jam, to just get into the room and play. And like these metal dudes that I played with in Colorado were really good at that. And I always felt that we were a really good metal, before I even understood the word jam band,

we were just good at jamming in heavy metal styles. I don't hear anybody doing the kind of stuff that we used to do. We would have these crazy basement house parties. In Boulder? Yeah. Fuck yeah, dude. These were nuts.

Was there a metal scene in Boulder? Not really. There's like this definitely underground, like punk and metal situation, but you know, it wasn't, I never felt like it was enough to like, grow some legs.

I mean, the only, there's only a couple, you know, really well-known metal bands out of Colorado. And there's, there's, there's a scene now,

I think that's like a little more grind, a little more, you know, dark kind of Colorado. And there's a scene now, I think, that's a little more grind and a little more dark kind of stuff. But what was the scene growing up in Boulder? Was it like Bluegrass and the leftover salmons of the world? Probably, but what was really funny just for me is that I never knew about any of those bands. I knew one kid in high school

who mentioned Phish one time. Shut the fuck up. And he was showing me Oysterhead one time because he knew I liked Primus. And he's like, oh, you should check these guys out. And I was just like, oh, that's cool. It's funky. I don't get this Phish thing.

Not at all. It's so funny. Oh, this super funny story to sort of, I don't even know, the culmination of that vibe. So I played with Rack for like a year, a couple of years ago. Yeah. When they sort of like 2014, 15, when they kind of like did this thing. Dude, sick.

And it was the best. It was the most fun. Tell me about it. It was just insane. You know, so Stoops hit me up. You did a tour? Yeah. And by that, I mean like we did the first run we did was five nights and they were like,

we're never doing that again. It's too many nights. Yeah. So it was always like fly dates to like three days or something like that so Stoops calls me he's like hey we're trying to do some rack shows you should come do this and I was like absolutely

and then I went to C-Rack at the Fox Theater in Boulder in like 2003 or something like that and my buddy had won tickets on the radio and then went and he was like, he called me and he's like, you got to come see this keyboard player.

He's crazy. So I'm like, all right, I'll come down there. And again, I'm not into jam at all. I don't even know what that word is at this time. So then fast forward to when I'm about to join Rack and I call my buddy and I'm like, hey man, remember that band you took me to see? I'm going to be playing with that band.

And he was like, that's really funny because when we left that show, you talked so much shit about that band. That's so funny, dude. See, that's what it is, dude. Full circle. You don't realize how small this industry is. I used to talk shit on EDM bands.

Now we're hanging out with them. I have to like before they find out that I was talking shit like listen bro I was a hater, I'm not a hater anymore you're a good guy you don't realize how small the scene is it doesn't matter if you're in metal

all the cream of the crop bands they all know each other it feels like there's like a I don't even know if there were a pie chart that all the artists are in this like inside the circle of the pie chart yeah and the venn diagram that's on top of the pie chart is that everybody knows each other but each little slice of the pie group of artists spreads out towards like a different uh audience group you know what i mean

yeah and so all the artists all the different styles everything we're all just like our commonality is art yeah we all make music like it doesn't matter you know like I mean? So all the artists, all the different styles, everything, we're all just, our commonality is art. We all make music. It doesn't matter. I just did this run with Jeremy Garrett and Bill Nurshey, bluegrass guys. I'm not a huge bluegrass guy. Was it a trio? No, it was me and those two guys,

and this guy Josh Schilling. Those are the guys from String Cheese Institute, right? Bill Nurshey, yeah. And then Jeremy Garrett's from Infamous String Dusters. Oh, dope. And then Joel Searle's the bass player from Genetics. And then Josh Schilling is a dude who's one of Jeremy's friends from Nashville. You're fucking staying busy, dude.

Yeah, nonstop. But this group was so great because all these different kinds of music coming together. And really the common denominator that I felt that we all had was that we were all pretty good at getting on stage with some random people and having a good fucking time. It was just insane. But we were playing all these bluegrass tunes over nasty funk grooves.

So it was like playing a funk show for a bluegrass crowd, which is like the people were just freaking out. Cause they're just like hearing all this stuff that they know in this new vibe, you know? And it was like, awesome. It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour. What up world saving fam. This is Travis Gray from wild Adriatic. And this is a segment we like to call Outside the Venue with Travis. Let's get out there and fucking do this.

Yo, what's up? It's Travis on the field. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. I got David Birdsey here. Birdsey, I'm going to ask you a few questions. You ready for this? Birdsey, name every drug you've ever done as fast as you can. Ready? Go. It's really easier to just name the ones I haven't. I got my new friends. Tell me what your name? Chance. Chance and Cloud. Cloud, that's

fine. Chance, what's the hardest drug you've ever done? That dick right there, bro. You've done Cloud's dick. Cloud, what do you have to say about your dick being done? He's done this dick off my dick. I stuck his penis in my butt. How many years have you guys been together?

What? How many years have you been together? Partners? Oh, we're not gay. Oh. This is... Oh, I thought... Didn't I...

Birdsy, tell me some... Just tell me the most interesting thing about your life right now. Quit drinking and trading it in for LSD addiction. I'd say that's pretty interesting. It is trippy as fuck. All right, Travi on the streets here. Have you guys ever boofed anything? Um, once.

What did you boof? A roll. A roll? So you've boofed a roll of ecstasy. Now tell me, what do you do to prepare your butthole to boof a roll of ecstasy? I was pretty fucked up when it happened, so I don't remember much of it. Boof everything you got. Just put it all in your butt.

Believe in yourself. What if I told you the reason that Andy Frasca has so much energy is because he boofs a pound of cocaine before every show? That's what I hear. You know, it's your life. Here we go. You down to party? I got doobies right here. I'm trying to light

it. Party, party, though. No, beer, wine. Party, party, party, party. Oh, yeah, no. Yeah, you went party, party. Oh, yeah, no. Yeah, you went to prison? Tell me why. Tell me why you went to prison. For LSD.

Selling your LSD? Just driving around with it. Oh, fuck, dude. How much? On my way to a fish show, I had a little bit more than 50 hits. They put me away for four years. Holy fuck, dude.

I did... For 50 hits of LSD, you did... Over 50 hits. Do you think people would fuck with me in prison? No. Because you would probably talk to the right people and be smart because you're... So there are people from our world in there. Oh, yeah. There's a few of them.

Not a ton. You know what I mean? A few of them get unlucky and go in there. But once you're in there, you find them. And then... You gotta find your fellow wooks in there, right? There are definitely fellow wooks in there. But once you're in there, you find them. You're going to find your fellow wooks in there, right? There are definitely fellow wooks in there. I met a guy in there who's like 12 years older than me.

His third time growing weed. But he was in there for like 20 years because he grew weed for the third time. Fuck, dude. You know what? I stood up for what I believe in. I believe in marijuana being not such a criminalized thing. I believe in that in 2009 when I got persecuted for it.

It's a smarter thing. It's not like it makes you a bad person. Explain. Okay, tell me all the projects you're in right now. Okay. Obviously, Dopeapod. Of course. With the Dopeapod bass player,

I have another band called Mom and Dad. I can't wait to hear that. Me and Chuck and our friend Ben. And it's super wild. We're working on a new album. We've got a bunch of new videos coming out, a bunch of really cool content happening. Elephant Wrecking Ball is me and Dan Africano,

the bass player from John Brown's Body, and Scott Flynn, trombone player, who was in John Brown's Body. And now he tours in Odessa. Yeah, they're all here. This last March was great. Everybody from Mom and Dad and Elephant Wrecking Ball finally moved to Colorado.

The last two pieces of each of those bands moved to Colorado actually on the same weekend. I was just like, yes. Yeah, that's fucking badass. So what else you got? And then also with Dan Africano and my buddy Jimmy Dunstan, this nasty keyboard player, we have a group called Photon. And that's like 70, it's like Mineski, Martin & Wood meets The New Deal

meets like Tycho. It's like electronic sounds, but we also play like 70s fusion ripping stuff. Like, you know, it's kind of like balls to the wall shred band. These all different bands too this is so exciting i mean it's yeah i mean that's those are the ones that i'm like you know making videos with oh my roommate wolf van elfman um he is like a songwriter singer um very like you know amerana rock somewhat country but like it's almost like a bad word yeah these days

which is bullshit because you know you ask anybody what music do you listen to like everything except country and it's like what about Johnny Cash

I'm like what about Johnny Cash yeah yeah it was fucking country yeah so also Dan Africano is in that we play

as like a trio for his band, his music and stuff. Can we talk about this Denver scene right now? It's blowing up. Yeah. It's going crazy. What's going on? What is like,

what's happening? You're in here. What's going on here? Yeah. People are moving here. There are cool venues, um, that are supporting,

you know, I, there's a lot of like the, uh, super group stuff, which I think is, it's kind of like what Brooklyn did with their scene. But I think that's all, they're super group stuff. Yeah, that's right. It's kind of like what Brooklyn did with their scene, but I think they're all coming here.

Yeah, a lot of... Like, Dyche came here. Somebody was like, Brooklyn 2. 2.0? Yeah. It's kind of like a slap in the face, because you grew up in this scene. It's always been kind of like everyone jamming with each other.

It's just more mainstream, no? Yeah, I mean, I'm not even really sure, because I didn't really pay attention to anything other than metal. And I just feel like growing up, it didn't. This shit did not exist to me. We're going to talk about that.

Grateful Dead wasn't even a thing. Yeah, this is exciting. We're going back. We're telling that. Yeah, I just was... Touring bands. Always Denver's been a spot for the national touring bands. So Denver's been a spot for the national touring bands.

So that's why I think that, like, I got to see everybody growing up, you know. And this was metal bands, you know, and hard rock stuff. But, yeah, I mean, it's always just been, I think that, my guess is that the nationally touring bands would love to come to Colorado because there maybe wasn't that good of a local scene so that when the big bands come, everybody goes because it's like, we're stoked you're here. We're this island in the middle of the fucking Midwest.

Or the West Midwest. Do you see less people coming to shows now because there's more things going on or more people are just always going out? What do you see with all these's more things going on or more people are just always going out? What do you see with all these super band things going on? It's hard to say.

Every Tuesday, every Wednesday, there's three super fucking bands at Cervantes. I saw somebody hashtag the Colorado curse the other day

because it's like even the show that we played Cervantes with Jeremy Garrett and them, the Great Boy All Stars were next door.

And they were both sold out. So it's like, people go. But this weekend, Mom and Dad's playing the Fox. Turquoise is playing the Ogden. Aqueous is playing the Stanley and Estes Park. All these shows all the time. I don't know about that, but

I don't know about my show. I hope so. Fuck the people. support the homie. Jesus Christ. No, that's crazy because I feel like it's like the same thing in the music festival thing where my analogy is like when there's too many regional festivals, I feel like the numbers are smaller.

The festivals are getting smaller. Well, that's why so many big ones have canceled. Yeah. Lots of festivals have canceled. Like Grand Ducey canceled in Colorado. There's a lot of... What? Vibes and Mountain Jam bailed. That can't be. Those are the ones.

What do you think that is? Oversaturation? Absolutely. What do you think the scene is dying? Did you say, do I think the scene is dying? I don't think the scene is dying, but I think it's oversaturation? Absolutely. Or do you think the scene is dying? Did you say, do I think the scene is dying? I don't think the scene is dying, but I think it's oversaturation. Yeah.

I think it's transforming via the changes that come from the oversaturation. You know, I mean, you look at any band's schedule the last couple summers of like, you know, me, us, Turquoise, or whatever. It's like they're on every festival. And then you look at every festival, and it's like the same lineup.

So it's like, why would somebody come from, I drove to Bonnaroo in 2005. Because that lineup was so unique. It was insane. And it was my first, like, I didn't even know music festivals were like a thing, you know? But like, I ended up going to the next two Bonnaroos after that, and the two Rothberries when they happened.

But I drove halfway across the country to go to those. You know what I mean? And then that same year of Rothberry, I also went to like Cambisco and Nativa and all these other ones. But they were all to go really far to do. But now it's like, oh, there's another one in my state. There's another one in my state.

Why would I go to Bonnaroo? There's a rise. There's five of's oh there's another one in my state yeah another one in my state why would i go to monterey there's a rise there's a five of them there's five of them you know like that's what i think it's hard because like i mean for us they put radius closets on our all our bands so like you can't make more money you have to do these regional things and like it's exactly 260 miles away or like miles away where it's like they're all actually working together in a sense but that's kind of like deflating the value of

fans traveling to see your band. And in our scene it makes it tough, the festival season makes it impossible to go to clubs to tour clubs because nobody's going to go to club shows, they saved all their money for the festivals. Exactly.

Doing all these festivals, is there a lot of pressure of always changing the set on regional stuff? That's band to band. In Dope Pod, we keep a solid record of everything we've played in the region. And so Rob is like... Explain this.

You guys keep record of... Yeah, Rob is the set list wizard. And he writes the... Well, he used to... This was the best I miss these days. But he used to handwrite all the set lists. Just the best handwriting, everything. These things are glorious.

Relics of the past. He's the guy. He's the guy to organize the set lists. He has the database. What we played last time we were in this town. Last two times we were in this town. Shit, because they're traveling, though. What about the shows that are only three hours away? Oh, it's original stuff.

We might look at that, but for the most part, it's town to town. But then if you play a festival, it's like, okay, we're taking into account the three surrounding states, our last place, and be like, we want to give everybody some different stuff. What if you played the bangers two years in a row and you had to go into the B-side stuff? You don't stress out that

you're not giving them the best show you can? Maybe they're all bangers. That's what I'm fucking talking about, Neil. That's dope, dude. I have so much stress. I have schticks. I do the crowd surf I do the thing

We do some weird shit At the workout festival This is one of my favorite things to do The first time we did this was at Brooklyn Bowl Opening for Kung Fu And it was the best one We've set up a second drum set At the front of the stage facing backwards

So facing away from the crowd And this was Brooklyn Bowl And we were the the front of the stage facing backwards. So facing away from the crowd. And this was Brooklyn Bowl and we were the first band of the night. So it's probably only like 100 people there. And we made everybody go all the way back to the bar. As far from the stage as possible. Also, side note, we had Rob was at the show

in a costume, in a polar bear costume. Like full mascot costume. This is a mom and dad show. Full mascot costume. This is a mom and dad show. Rob was there. He came out on stage and would walk all around us and we made no acknowledgement of him. As we're playing. We're just playing our show.

He's invisible to us. The original idea was that he was going to come out, sit in a chair and read a book, a giant picture book about bears. I fucking love it. The reason I mention that is because while everybody was as far away from the stage as possible, Rob had this entire

Brooklyn Bowl floor. He went out there and was doing jumping jacks and calisthenics and stuff. It was amazing. Then we played drum solo. Who's the front man? Ben is the main singer. And Chuck and I do some background vocals as well,

which is mostly just screaming, yelling stuff. I love it, dude. So, excuse me. Everybody's as far away from the stage as possible. And we play drum solo Red Light, Green Light. So you remember Red Light, Green Light? And we even had... Oh, I told you.

Yeah, yeah. So I'm facing away from the crowd at this other drum set. And when I start playing drum solo, that's Green Light. So people start moving forward. And then I stop and turn around. And you know what I'm saying? That is fucking brilliant. Actually, Taylor, the bass player from Turquoise, he won.

Really? Yeah. Oh, Taylor's a good guy. He's the best. We just went on tour with Turquoise. Good heart. Taylor's got a great heart, man. I lived with him for a month or two in Brooklyn when I first moved there.

What made you listen to metal and this heavy, dark... It's a lot to take in for a kid, you know? Sure. I mean, I didn't really... My brother was showing me some more rock stuff when I was younger. He kind of got me into Aerosmith and the more more rock stuff. When I was younger, he kind of got me into like Aerosmith and you know, the more like classic rock stuff.

And then actually the same buddy who took me to that rock show, we met, when we met in high school, he was just, you know, I knew I was like into like hard rock stuff, but he started showing me like metal,

metal, like thrash and like some other shit. I mean, I always loved Metallica. Yeah. And Megadeth. And actually, now I think about it, going back a little further uh there was this my cousin um my cousins grew up in a very christian family and they were only allowed to shop at this store in the mall

in colorado springs that was basically like a christian topic. No. No joke. Like what? Like Christian bands, like Skillet shirts and shit? Well, but they had this huge selection of Christian bands and there was a ton of Christian metal, like heavy metal. So there's this band called Tourniquet, which is like a total thrash band, Christian thrash band, like early Pantera. Shut the fuck up.

And this shit is sick. I love this stuff. Actually, some of the megadeth dudes have gone on to play on albums with like the drummer is the main guy of the band and some yeah so all these like you know metal all-stars have gone to play on this guy's albums like he's known in like an underground way but like anyways i saw this band at a church in like seventh grade in Denver. Were you raised Christian?

I mean, you know, loose. Loosely, yeah, bolder. We would go and then it turned down to Easter and Christmas. Once a year. I know that he is born and he is risen. Perfect. Rejoice. So you saw this band at a church. Yeah.

So my cousin and I and my brother and his brother, so me and my brother and my cousins, we were all about this band, Tour church. Yeah. So this was like so my cousin and I and my brother and his brother so me and my brother and my cousins we were all about this band Tourniquet. We listened to Tourniquet all the time.

And actually I went to a church camp and they had like talent time and me and my brother and cousins played this like thrash metal shit

at the fucking church camp talent time. Like got mosh pit going. It was like out in the tent with the wood chips on the ground. They had to like clear it out because it was all dusty.

Check this out. Christian rock band mosh pits are like skipping circles. So it's kind of like a ska show. Yeah. It's like a circle pit. Yeah. It's a circle pit with no pushing.

I'm not even kidding dude the tourniquet show in this church we were just jogging around in circles with each other yeah dude there's no drugs there's no booze yeah and you want to move but you don't want to like you know punch anybody or push anybody and that's it there's a big misconception about mosh pits and metal too it's like people think that it's like this angry thing. And there's obviously like anytime there's going to be like two super drunk people who are like taking it a little too far. But for the most part, it's just fun.

I mean like when I first saw Primus at the Fillmore, like I was like, holy shit, this band is sick. Like I didn't even, they weren't playing when I first really started listening to them. And then I saw in the newspaper that they're playing i was like holy shit i gotta go to this see what this is about and i get there sold out lines around the corner everyone's wearing like maiden shirts and all this metal stuff i was like what i'm about to get into and note one biggest mosh pit i've ever been in at the film or like i mean ever in my life was there at the

film or the whole crowd fucking place went nuts I was like, this is my favorite band. They're playing their funky, groovy shit. And then it's fun. People think that the Monash Pit is scary, but it's just like, no, man, we're pushing each other on. If you fall down, you're picked up before you even know you fell down. I used to do Warped Tour every year. And I used to follow it.

I had a clothing line when I was like 14. And I was always hustling, dude. I was always just trying to fucking make a dollar. But I followed the Warped Tour and a lot of them, did you see these pits? Because they do it in these parking lots. Have you been to Warped Tour? No, I never did.

But kind of like the same thing as another. No Effects is my favorite band of all time. No Effects? Pump Up the Values is my favorite record. So good, yeah. So you see these people and they're like, but when someone falls down, they pick them right back up.

It's not aggressive. Like the hardcore crowd where they're like, I don't like that. That's crazy. I went to see one of those bands. Well, that's the thing is they're not, they're doing the slam dance and it's like on your own. When somebody's out there slam dancing,

you don't touch the person. So I learned this the hard way because I went to a Screamo show or something. It's the first one of these shows I ever went to. And it's like a hardcore thing. And these guys are doing this thing. And I'm used to pits. So I go in there and push this guy around. And he turns around, what the fuck?

And then people start kicking me in the shins. Like everyone in there was kicking me in the shin. I'm like, why are you kicking my fucking shins? And that's like the response to somebody who's like i came in as the wrong yeah clearly and i didn't know that i didn't know that when they're slam dancing you have to respect the fucking kicks and shit let them do that you know it's not something you want to get in the way of because they're going i had a friend in mass who was a hardcore fan, she's this little girl. She would go onto the stage and run across people.

She would just jump out and just stomp all the way across people's heads and shoulders as far as she could before she fell down. You guys are playing Capitol Theater. That is correct. How exciting. Very exciting.

Yeah, that's a big room for you dudes. Have you ever done that before? No, not that room. I think this's a big room for you, dude. Have you ever done that before? No, not that room. I think this is the perfect move for the hiatus. Who knows if you're going to do something afterwards. If you do this, your fans have been wanting you out there, and it's nice. So are you nervous?

Or is this the first show? Or you guys been doing some fake pre-shows to just not announce and just play for a crowd. Because it's like, you're going to walk in with your band and play cold as fuck. How do you prepare for that? Well, we're going to be hanging the week before, at least. And we have some other rehearsals and whatever lined up. Are you all stressed out?

Are you good? No? Are you good? No, I feel good. Yeah, I feel great. Got new songs? Definitely got some new stuff. Some really great new stuff. That's been one of the best products of the break. Everyone's been writing.

Yeah, and you're playing with all these different bands, so you have all these different ideas that you could throw back. I mean, this is a perfect recharge for you guys. Huge new ideas, new influences, new vibes. It's going to be the best. It'll still be dope pot at the core, but with some new...

That's every fan's dream, to have a core, but change it up. This is why they're in the jam scene, I think. I don't really consider you guys a fucking jam band. I watch your band. Do you consider yourself a jam band? We kind of like, for the general answer to the

question, what kind of band are you guys? We're a jam band. Because at the core, from the outside... Do you think that pigeonholes you? Well, I think that's what gives that, you know, the jam band makes it kind of like a bad word sometimes. And

because there are plenty of people out there who are so turned off by jam band, but they like music. And so if you say, hey, we're jam band, and they're like, oh, well, that means I don't like it. I mean, it sucks for that person. But unless I'm trying to have a deeper conversation with this person, it's easier to just say jam band.

I usually say something along the lines of like, you know, think late night at the festival with the light shows and stuff like that. Psychedelic rock throwdown. That's my level two description. Chuck and everybody's like, we're Jam Man.

Chuck is the fastest. We're Jam Man. It's so funny because what would you call mom and dad avant-garde rock metal sort of i love that you're a fucking trio too dude so tight trios are the best why do you like trios because everybody there's there's very little instance where you're gonna be stepping on somebody's toes you know it really lets everybody do whatever they want whenever they want yeah and there's like you can't hide so like you going to be stepping on somebody's toes. It really lets everybody do whatever they want, whenever they want.

Yeah, and there's like, you can't hide. So you've got to be fucking solid. You've got to know your parts. It allows for a certain tightness that can be in jeopardy with a fourth person. But also, that tightness might even be some level of not loud, not big

and that tightness is what makes things big if there's a huge space in a tight trio it's the loudest thing in the world so people are always like my trio is like I can't believe only three of you making all this noise it's a perception I my trios are, Oh, I can't believe that only three of you making all this noise. And it's like, it's a perception,

but you know, like, so it's, I think trios like to pull off a mat, like, is, would you consider like, um,

Zeppelin a trio? Almost, you know, I mean, it's one thing when it's like three instruments and a singer, You know, that's like pretty much a trio. Like you could throw

Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin in a listening situation. Well, they are a trio, right? Yeah, but I feel like the backtrack, nowadays, when they're in their course. My dad has a lot of backtracks too, which is fun. Ben and I are both synth geeks.

Can you explain that to me? Sorry, do you got time? We got time. I got time. Can you explain that to me? Sorry, do you got time? We got time. I got time. Okay. Can you explain that to me? When you're in a jam band and you have backtracks, how do you get out of the backtracks into an improvisational jam back into? Is that you?

Well. Or the drummer? Who's controlling the cue? We don't have any in Dopapod, but basically Ableton Live is the answer. Ableton Live is the most versatile, useful, functional situation out there. And you can do it with loop pedals and sampler stuff.

But for instance, in Mom and Dad, we have some stuff where, I'm controlling the Ableton session. And I also control a MIDI clock, which controls the guitar player and bass player's loop pedals. So everything, all the loops. And you're drumming? Yeah.

Well, all I'm doing is pressing play. And now I've got a click track. So they're creating loops, and all this stuff is in time and everything else. And it's just super cool. We have some stuff in Mom and Dad where Chuck just makes a loop and then he just like puts his fists up in the air. We're like rocking the song

you know, like going crazy. I just watched a video that he made a loop and then was like dealing with monitors. Like, I need more of this. The loop's just jamming. Is that one of your favorite bands playing right now? Mom and Dad? Oh yeah. Why?

Because it's just like I mean it's really different than all my bands are really different but I'm because this one really lets me be like more of the metal thing

and actually I mean Mom and Dad's been a band since the same length of time as Dubapod maybe even longer. Shut the fuck up. And Elephant Wrecking Ball.

Yeah. All these bands are all happening at the same time. We just couldn't play them because as a drummer, it's like we're doing stuff for other people. Singers and songwriters, they're writing their music and we're in this support

zone so we can hop on a lot easier with different projects. But people would say in the first early mom and dad days, they would say something like I've never seen such an honest performance. And so it's really the three of us totally being ourselves. We got to do a tour together.

Oh, yeah. You've been pitching this for a couple years, and now that I'm finally like, I'm in now. Sweet. Man, this hiatus was the best thing for you. You're glowing, dude. Hell yeah. And I'm really proud of you that you

said no to the fucking managers. You said no to the agents who were going to book another year of you making money. You said, no, let's focus on mental health. Let's focus on getting back to who we are because if we lose our sense of self,

then how are we going to play music? Why are we doing this? Because we How am I giving myself to somebody else if I don't even have myself? Because we already have to fucking drive and do all this. We're already giving so much else to everyone that the music is what keeps us sane. And if you're not sane,

then the music is going to... It sucks touring if you don't like music. Dude, I'm telling you, man. I have the curse of the bass player right now where it's like, if you don't like music. Dude, I'm telling you, man. I have the curse of the bass player right now where it's like, if you don't like the music I'm playing, just tell me now. Don't just do it because you want to be in it. Or you don't want it because you need a gig

or you need money. That's not what music is about. Go get a 9 to 5. This is why we're here. To fucking create and to make art and to just be authentic to ourselves and that's why i'm like really proud of you that you did the meditation stuff 10 days is by yourself with your mind dude yeah like were you crying like what was the hardest part like what did you like bring up any memories like what was the that's like one of the goals you goals. And it wasn't really bad memories or anything.

What was the worst one? Or the one that really got you? I remember kicking back to some thoughts and things that I was thinking about in middle school and high school. Or observing from the future my behavior at that time and being like, oh, this behavior was me trying to do this, me trying to be this way, you know, and this whatever, like some of it was good. Some of it was like weird, false identity, you know, just unknowing, you know.

But seeing these things that I did that dictated these things in the future, it's like, oh, I remember how I was in this year of my high school and things that happened to me socially. I mean, high school is just like you're fucked. No matter what, it's going to be terrible today. And then just how that impacts the kind of person you become

in your high school career and then on into college, which is like just high school too now. It's just a hangout now. College is just a hangout. I feel like there's people that use stories of whoever successful person back in the day worked three,

my mom worked three full-time jobs when she went to college. I was like, I'm just in college hanging out. But that's good. You got through those things that was kind of like... You learn a lot about yourself. You suppress. When you suppress feelings, they're just staying there.

They don't go anywhere. The whole goal of this particular method of meditation is to bring all those things up and let go of them because they're all stuffed in there. It's a funny process if you have to get through the ones that are currently happening then you start to get into the deeper ones and they come up and they get let go

and then you can start to be like, cool, now I'm just dealing with the one that's right in front of me right now. And cool, now I know how to handle it. It's all about learning how to respond to things rather than react to things. It doesn't put you in a glass shield against the world but it just gives you a different perspective

on how to handle stuff. Same thing with jamming, dude. Super important, I'm saying. I'm telling you. It probably made you a better listener. Absolutely. Because now you're listening to yourself. Totally.

How hard is that to listen to yourself? Well, I don't know. Because I don't know if I'm doing it. I'm listening to everything. You are. You took a two-year hiatus. You were making't know if I'm doing it. I'm listening to everything. You are. You took a two-year hiatus. You were making money. Your band was doing really good.

And you said, fuck that. I'm worried about us. That is talking to yourself, bud. So give yourself more fucking credit than that. Seriously. Yeah. No, as a person, listening to myself is the thing. I just over took that into jams and listening to whatever.

But it's all the same. Like it's exciting. You, you get a lot of outside influence in your daily life and you have to decide if that's something you want to, you know, pay attention to subscribe to versus what's going on in your mind. You know,

I got two more things for you. How do you listen? How do you not listen to like when you guys have like all these jam bands and rock bands, I'll have like fan pages and shit how do you not listen to like oh dude day two of fucking

or you know like oh god I wish they would have done this do you not listen to that? definitely do not listen to that like PT? get out of here it's nothing but the worst shit ever and it's also knowingly full of trolls yeah i know i know people personally who go on to pt to talk shit to start shit up i know it's

literally what they do and but i know plenty of musicians and bands that read it and they're just like i didn't like get all depressed about it's just like man who the fuck is that yeah who the fuck is that person and And why does their, you've studied guitar your whole life. Or, you know, you've studied,

you know, whatever. Your band has been working on this thing for eight years. This guy is just some fucking schmuck. Yeah, exactly.

Who thinks he has an opinion. You know, everybody wants to relate this shit to what they know. You know, like, I had a rock and blues funk band,

you know, I showed this dude and he was like, oh, you guys sound like Umphreys and Warren Haynes. I was like, those are just bands that you know. Your comparison, most people's comparison is just based on whatever they know and like.

That's the same thing I'm dealing with. He's just a good entertainer. Do you listen to what we're doing? I'm conducting. You're crushing shit massively. I'm like, do you listen to what we're doing? I'm conducting. You're crushing shit massively. I got one last question for you, Neil. I'll let you go do your wonderful life in Denver.

We're going to hang out tonight after you're done with your session. I got you. One last thing. When you're sitting on your deathbed, when you're 90 or 100 or 120, hopefully the drugs are good, they keep us alive. What are three things you want to be remembered by?

Oh, man. Well, I hope that I've given off a good vibe of hospitality and inclusiveness. That's the burner in me. Yeah. And I don't know. given off a good vibe of hospitality and inclusiveness. That's the burner in me. And I don't know, some level of like that people had fun playing music with me. And, you know, I don't know,

some level of musical legacy would be cool. Just like, oh, that guy did a lot of different things and had a ton of fun doing most of it. I hope that all that shit inspires people to do that. I was inspired by, when I went to Burning Man for the first time, I was like, holy shit, all these artists are just doing what they want to do. There's nothing out here that says,

this needs to be like this. There's a giant robot arm that could throw a car. Who the fuck is like, I need to build that for the fans. It's so true, man. You're on your way, bud. I'm really proud of you. I'm happy to call you a friend. Thanks for supporting me.

When we were growing up in this jam scene, I was looking up of you. I'm happy to call you a friend. And thanks for supporting me. You know, it's like, you know, when we were growing up in this jam scene, I was looking up to you guys. So thank you for like letting us in. And thanks for sitting in with me. Oh, dear my God. We're still making that Afro band. All right, good.

I found the bass player. That second sit-in was not so good. No, we're getting it. We'll get it. We'll get it. We'll get it. No, no. The first one was great. The first one was great.

The second one, I was like, oh man, we talked about maybe I'm playing a show with you later this summer during set break, and then I was like, I haven't heard from him in a long time. No, you're always on my mind, Neil. But I love you. I'm glad you're happy. I'm glad you're taking care of yourself.

And I'm glad Dope Pod has one show. Yeah, man. We're really, really stoked. I hope that it's not like undercut in this interview. We are extremely excited. No, no. This isn't about promoting the band. This is about... I want to know who you are. So don't worry about that. It's going to sell

out. You're going to fucking kill this shit. Let everybody know that I'm really excited. The band is fucking pumped. Kunj, you heard it from the source. Everyone's pumped. Thanks, Neil, for being on the show, bro. Love you, man. Yeah, I love really excited. The band is fucking pumped. Kunj, you heard it from the source. Everyone's pumped. Thanks, Neil, for being on the show, bro. Love you, man.

Yeah, I love you too. I come right! I come rain I come rain I come rain Buckets of coal Buckets of coal When I come, I come rain And there we have it. Neil, Mike,

Dope, Pod, and Aqueous on the same episode. That is one fucking heady-ass block right there, guys. Hope you learned a lot. I did too. Meditation is important, I learned. You can't always just fucking do everything without taking a step back and checking with your mind

and your heart, body, to see how you're doing. I'm glad that Dopap Pod took a hiatus. It's important, man. Right when you're feeling burnt out, you got to take a step back. You got to. And realize what's going on in life. Why am I feeling this way?

This is why I went on this trip. I was getting anxious. I knew that one year, it's every year where I get this like 10-day ball of fucking angst and stress. And it couldn't have happened at the right time. Our tour ended last week, but not mine. The guys went home.

I flew the guys home so they could go fuck their girlfriends for eight or nine days and get ready and whatever. Because we're going to be, we're hitting the West coast next week. So I was like, drunkenly, I do this a lot when it's 2am and I'm all happy and chill. I'm like, yeah, I'll just do these crazy obstacles to myself to see into like the fucking proof to myself. Like, yeah, I'm a team player or something. But I said yes to driving the van 36 hours across the country from New York City to Los Angeles. And I turned it into my meditation tour where I was just like, I went into bands in town and seen who was playing

and how far I could drive. So every 10 hours I'd take a stop. And the first one I took was in Atlantic City. That wasn't 10 hours, but I did a charity event for the Humane Society, raising money for all those dogs and kitties getting their dicks cut off and shit or their balls cut off. It was cool. We raised like five or seven grand.

Then I went to St. Louis, hooked up with the Magic Beans, got to do some sit-in solo stuff, and then Todd Glass asked me to do some fucking stand-up. I've never done stand-up. It was fucking nerve-wracking. I got to do it with Todd, and he's a fucking legend in the scene, so it was just like, oh, my God. He let me in.

He thinks I'm funny. And it's harder than you think. Shout out to all those comedians out there doing standup. You know, shit's tough as fuck. But, you know, I like to test myself. And I got some laughs. I did some bits. I was razzing on Todd.

Then we took a bunch of mushrooms and headed straight to Magic Beans. I just sit in there. And then I drove to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and I sat in with my boys, Groovement. It's been like a couple years since I've been in Fayetteville. I promise I'm coming back. I'm working on a way to get there. There's some miscommunications at the venue I normally play at,

so I'm trying to figure that out. You know, throw a street party or try to figure something out. But I haven't forgot about you, Fayetteville. I've just been focusing on the coast, trying to build my markers on the East Coast and the West Coast. And it's working. So thanks for being patient. And then yesterday I drove another 12 and a half hours.

And now I'm sitting here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm actually naked right now. I ran two and a half miles this morning. Finally got some sleep. I did a podcast. I did this closing segment last night when I was all doped up on NyQuil and Xanax because my brain was just so stressed out.

I don't know why. I just get these like stress balls. But I woke up today I'm like, let's run, let's sweat it out I got 12 more hours to get to Los Angeles I'm gonna try to smash that out today Because we start our West Coast tour on Thursday And I just want to see my parents for a little bit

And my mom, give her a hug It's important to go back to your roots And get back to normal for a second. And then I'm heading west. I'm going to LA, San Francisco. Doing some fancy ass fucking wedding in Napa Valley. I'm wearing a tuxedo and shit. It's going to be dope.

I don't know if they know what they're getting themselves into, but fuck it. I'll dry hump grandma and shit, whatever they want. And then we're going up to Portland, Seattle. We're going to Bend. We're going to South Oregon, Talent, Oregon.

Then we're going up to the Idaho area like Boise, Ketchum. And then we start heading south into 420 land Where we're going to Denver Playing 420 at the Bluebird Fucking huge Last time we sold it out

So grab your tickets guys Grab your tickets to these shows West Coasters I know there's a lot of you listening A lot of our fan base are from the West Coast That listen to the podcast So if you haven't seen the band Go check it out

But this has been great I was really nervous of doing this drive by myself A lot of our fan base are from the West Coast that listen to the podcast. So if you haven't seen the band, go check it out. But this has been great. I was really nervous of doing this drive by myself. I thought I couldn't handle my brain at this point in my life because I've been working so hard on this one track that sometimes you just suppress those other feelings. Like, oh, how are you doing with your personal life, Andy? But they came in at all the right times, and I just confronted them. I felt like a crazy person.

I bet the people who were driving right next to me just saw me talking to myself. They're like, oh, God, here's another crazy fucking driver. But it was good. I feel clean. I feel good. I'm getting back on a regimen. I'm going to quit smoking cigarettes. I realized that today. I listened to Duncan Trussell and Joe Rogan interviewing it. It made sense to me.

So I think I'm going to do that, but I'm podcasted out. I'm going to take a week off. I gave you four this week or four this month. So give me a week off. I need to sleep and start writing new songs. It's so crazy to turn your brain into what other side you need to be. I love doing this podcast stuff. I love doing it. I just spent a lot of energy on it. So I need to start focusing on writing a new record too. But that means the podcast is not over. I'm going to keep giving you the truth, trying to be honest with ourselves because that's the most important thing. So guys, live in the moment, be safe, go on crazy adventures, even if it's by yourself. Like, fuck, like I normally go, I take a trip to Europe. I've been

going to Greece every year and I haven't done in a couple of years. And it's, it's important to like go by yourself and figure out who you are You know Without anyone else telling you who you are What other judgments or whatever thing You're trying to like Get with people We're always taking care of everyone else but ourselves

So take care of yourselves Mental health is important STDs And pregnancy is important Don't get anyone pregnant Overpopulation is important STDs and pregnancy is important Don't get anyone pregnant Overpopulation is important Unless you love each other and shit And you want to have like 25 kids or whatever

Fuck it But don't just have like accidental babies What else? Come out to the show Subscribe and rate the podcast We've been getting so much love We are at 100,000 downloads. This is fucking nuts, guys.

Thank you so much. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being part of my life. Everyone who's been coming out to the shows, who listened to the podcast, we're helping each other. I can't ask for much more. Be safe out there.

I got 12 more hour drives, so I'll see you on the West Coast. I'll see you on the East Coast. We got tour dates everywhere. Just check them out. But I'm here for you. I'm only a message away. Hit me up on the DMs if you're feeling sad, if you need some advice, or I'll be the Dr. Phil

of your life. Might take me a while. I've been getting a lot more DMs about people asking me for help and stuff. So just take your time. I promise I me a while. I've been getting a lot more DMs about people asking me for help and stuff. So just take your time. I promise I'll get to every one of you. But I love you. Thanks for believing in me. Thanks for riding this wave with me. This West Coast tour is going to be fucking awesome. We'll sell this bitch out like we sold the East Coast out. And let the fucking fro journey continue. All right, guys. I love you. Be safe.

And we're going home. Well, thank you for listening to episode 41 of Andy Fresco's World Saving Podcast. Produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angelhow, and Chris Lawrence. Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes and Spotify so we can make this a worldwide phenomenon. For info on the show, please head to our Instagram at world saving podcast. For more info on the blog and tour dates, head to andyafresco.com. We've got a new album. Change your pace.

Go check it out. For more information on our guests, Neil Evans from Dopapod, please head to music.dopapod.com. music.dopapod.com. Special co-host for this week is Mike Ganser from Aquius. You can find him and the rest of the band on aquiusband.com. I've spelled it out before, so I expect you to know it by now. I Come Rain, written by Sean Eccles and Joe McDermott.

This week's special guests are Sean Eccles, Arno Bakker, Ari Feindlings, Hannah Rees, Travis Gray, and John Pinjorna. I just returned from Hamburg in Germany, and I mean the real Hamburg, not the one in Pennsylvania. After the gig, we were a bit peckish. We had a late night drive around the city to find some food. Somehow the only hamburgers in sight seemed to be people roaming the streets. In the end, we did find hamburgers at McDonald's.

But since then, he always stresses to keep it real. We had pizza. Now, stop fattening up. Spring is here, and it's for real so see you next week anything uplifting you want to tell the people on the annie frasco's world saving podcast yeah don't grow up just grow fuck yeah david birdsey ladies and gentlemen