Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 59: Greensky Bluegrass

Episode Date: September 17, 2019

We're bringing all the feels this week. Opening the show with our brother & longtime collaborator, The Manimal: Richard Martinez. The guys discuss the artist path and finding your niche. And on the interview hour, Andy has a little chat with our new buds, Greensky Bluegrass! Ahri reviews Andy's screentime and is appalled with what he finds. RIP Ric Ocasek and Daniel Johnston. We love you. This is Ep 59. 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. Catch Greensky in a town near you: www.greenskybluegrass.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: Richard Martinez Floyd Kellogg Ahri Findling Arno Bakker 

Hi Mr. Frasco, this is Dr. Rosenberg from Tribeca Physicians. Just wanted to give you a callback on the results from your physical last week. Looking through it here, you're weighed 205, that's a 15 pound increase over last year. Blood pressure 140 over 90, That's a little bit high for somebody your age that teeters on hypertension. Cholesterol 305. I've never actually seen that in someone that isn't morbidly obese. Your hemorrhoid seems to be clearing up nicely. I'd recommend just keep using preparation H to reduce inflammation. You ask us to do a full STD panel. You are negative for HIV, negative for herpes, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.

In terms of HPV, there are no tests in men for human papillomavirus, but given the amount of sexual partners you told me you've had, I'd say it's pretty safe to say that you have it. If you notice any itching or genital warts, just go to your local pharmacy and pick up some extra strength Gardasil. All right, that's it. I'd also recommend to just eat a salad every once in a while. God knows your heart could use it. Okay, give us a call back at the office if you have any questions. Thanks. Hi, Mr. Frasco. It's Dr. Rosenberg again. We need you to come back into the office this week. One of the nurses just told me that you gave us a semen sample instead of a urine sample. Anytime that we ask a patient for a fluid sample, that would be urine and not semen.

Please give us a call back to schedule the appointment. We're here 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Thank you. All right. Here we are again. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco. How we doing, everyone? How's our heads? How we doing? How we feeling today? Take a deep breath. Look at yourself in the mirror.

Hello, Jackson! We have a child in the building today because we are with Daddy Daycare himself, the manimal, Richard Martinez from Analigital. He's built all my videos since I was a kid about the band. He's just been with me since the beginning. So we're going to get some inside dirt about what the fuck really is going down with the band when we were younger. But Richard, good to see you, buddy. How you been?

Good to see you too, Andy. What's up, dude? Always a pleasure hanging out. We've been a friend for how long we've been together for now? How old are you now? I'm 31. You were about 14 when I first met you. Well, introduce the spot.

You were like the Puff Daddy of the Valley. No way. San Fernando Valley. 14-year-old Puff Daddy of the Valley. No way. San Fernando Valley, 14-year-old Puff Daddy. Huh, Jackson? Well, my best friend Schrader was dating your sis and one night they're like, let's go out to see my little brother's

show he's putting on. I'm like, what kind of show is this kid doing? He's 14. What could he possibly be doing? We go out to the Cobalt Cafe one day, and we pull up to the door, and sure enough, they're like, 20 bucks a piece. What? This little dude's taxing us.

Stephanie's like, your sister's like, your sister was like, we're not paying, Andy. These are my friends. You actually still charged us. I think I forked up the dough we got in and it was just this cool little scene that you had built and it was impressive to see somebody at such a young age just doing it. You were already stacking some cheese, 14

but I guess what got me the most was you did that for a few years and you did really well with it but then inspired by the people that you were managing and putting on there at the place, you're like, I'm done with managing and I think I want to be on that side of the show. Be on stage. And the fact that you even took it there

and ran with it and have been running with it, to me, that's the impressive side. Somebody that just flipped it. Thanks, Richie. Do you think living in LA helps that change of dream or that more fine-tuned perspective of the dream, or do you think people can do that anywhere? I think living in L.A. just gives you more of that spark for that dream.

People from other parts of the world want to come to Los Angeles. I think there's just this energy out here. But what I always say is get the energy and get the fuck out get here don't get stuck here because the rest of the world needs to see you and i do love that you guys take that into consideration and get your faces you guys get your faces out there you know you got you got to do the footwork you got to be the foot soldiers you got to get your face and other people's faces and you're not going to do that i mean you sure you can try to do that with youtube and all that stuff but the true act is being in front of somebody and let them feel

you and hear you and see you and put on your show and your live show will always surpass anything you record although the recordings are amazing but everything that you do live is pretty fucking impressive and the guys are wild and everyone's wild and when the manimal leaves daddy daycare we're coming back baby yeah let's talk about that man cause you're in the film industry and like you've been working your ass off hustling making all these independent videos now you're working with bigger

production companies talk about that like what's how do you get to say a guy who's an inspiring editor or an inspiring director how do you get to a point where you could start talking and pitching to these big companies because you're you've been doing this like me since we were fucking 19 years old you know 18 years old and um yeah look look at you now you're fucking you bought a house with

what you did with your art you know it's it's impressive you have a baby now that's fucking stressful like talk about that how hard is it to be a daddy daycare fucking rocking? Basically, you're working from home a lot because your editing system's here. How tough is that? Editing from home is tough with a little dude running around, although I love hearing that in the background. I'll be honest. I love hearing that little giggle in the background.

We are blessed to have grandmas. Come here, Jackson. We're blessed to have grandmas in the mix, you know, backing us up. But for me, you know, when I started early on, when I started early on, I was working at Disney. Actually, so right out of film school, I went to a video symphony out here in

Burbank. It was just like a trade school. Jackson's singing on the mic. Check, check, check. Check, check, check. Mic check, one, two. Check, check, check. Jackson James. Check, check. Very good. Quick drop. Yeah, so right out of school, I got an internship at, actually I was offered an unpaid internship at Dodger Stadium doing all the Jumbotron videos, and I didn't take it because I needed the money. That's like one of my regrets. Dude, you love the Dodgers.

Why did you say no to that? Because it was an unpaid internship. How old were you? I was like 20, and I had rent to pay. I was living on my own and I had rent to pay. I was living on my own. I had rent to pay. Oh. But knowing what I know now, you can't always do it for the money.

And now I don't. Now I've learned to say no. Now you can't. Because if you go and you do it for just the money and not the inspiration, you usually end up shooting yourself in the foot. So early on, working at Disney really let me kind of see how the big studios work, how they function. I worked in the marketing department over at Disney and understanding how the machine pushed out movies and the marketing behind it and

all that. It's pretty impressive to see, although there were a lot of executives that were in those positions through like nepotism that were in there through, I would say, the wrong reasons. So there's an executive, and that executive is hiring 10 production companies to do the same job, wasting a trillion dollars, and then they pick the one production to pick it. And I was like, why isn't that executive the guy that's doing the work? Why can't that executive go out there, shoot, write, direct, edit?

That company would be saving so much money. Maybe you need one company to help. So I was like, all right. So I learned the ins and outs. I learned what not to do. And I kind of created my own formula. What we were doing there was creating all the content for anything Buena Vista put out.

So I was like, huh, interesting. Then the internet came out. MySpace, MySpace videos and all that stuff. So I was like, oh, hell yeah. And I've always been about, so the artist doesn't have any way to represent himself. They're they don't want to deal with it so i was like all right well what do you need to do well let's create the window into their world let's be the company that tells the little documentaries about these guys just to kind of plant plant them out into

the world of people that don't know who the hell they are but how hard is it to make a living dealing with independent artists who have no budgets you know like you're basically working for free again you know like that's hard dude so like that vision of like trying to bring independent art to the main media you still gotta get paid so like how difficult is that to like balance between like doing passion projects that you want to do and doing jobs that you got to pay the fucking mortgage. Yeah, well, early on, we didn't have a house. We were young and we were kind of living with roommates and all that kind of stuff.

And ultimately, I was just working with the people that I believe in. I feel like anybody that is in my field of photography and video, film the people around you. Film the people you believe in. Film your family. Just do it because you believe in. Film your family. Just do it because you love them. Do it because you're inspired by them. Do it because you want to do it. Don't do it for the money. And it was hard. My wife at one point wanted me to go and she's like, go work it. She was my wife at the moment, but she's like, go work at McDonald's

if you have to. Go do anything. Go get some money. But for me, it was like that pro bono work was leading to money. And I knew that it would come eventually. And it was coming. It was coming. And it did. And it did, man. And I always say, 10 years is usually the time it takes for somebody to kind of get their bearings and really get their pace and their stride in an industry. Stick to it for 10 years.

You're going to fucking hit walls the whole way there, all types of obstacles. And trust me, there were plenty of times when I was like, fuck this shit. Everyone doesn't want to pay for this. No one likes this stuff. But the stuff that I would put out just got so many great reviews, and people were really inspired by it. More importantly for me, my pieces are just to inspire the world,

inspire other people, inspire other people on. So how do you get through those humps? How do you mentally get through those humps? How do you mentally get through those humps of those walls and the fucking baby crying and the whole shebang, dude? How do you keep going? I mean, this morning was even like that.

I'm dead tired from this trip I just had this last week and this morning and a little dude just jumps on your face, but again, it's just that giggle. Just that little bit of love. And the hardest part about being a dad and a working dad is just it's a transition. It's the balancing act.

It's just the balancing act and just giving him enough time. But at the end of the day, I could see that he is growing so quick and he's learning so much. See, he just wants to come up and hang out. Come on, hang out and be part of the party. As hard as it is,

and I know it sounds very cliche. Here, take this. There's a mic. It sounds very cliche. It's the hardest thing, but it's the most beautiful thing. It's tough, but at the end of the day, it's worth it. Because what else would you want to fight for?

All I know is that this little dude is going to take over what I've started, hopefully. And the little inspiration that I see with him, you know, he jumps on my turntables. He loves the camera. Huh, Jax? You love the camera? Uh-huh. You love the camera. Camera.

Say cheese. Huh, Jax? You love the camera? Uh-huh. You love the camera. Camera. Say cheese. 19 months, dude. 19 months.

Jackson is pretty far along, man. So it's really cool just seeing his little brain tick. And if it wasn't for me being as, I mean, creative. And our family is very creative. His uncles are muralists and painters. And my little brother, same thing. I was like, you want to be an artist? He wanted to be a fireman.

So I let him try. He's like, I don't think I'm going to be a fireman. I was like, all right, cool. What do you want to do? Well, I want to be an artist. All right, great. Well, how do you want to start? I have no idea.

So we gave him a little job at The Voice. And he ran with it in terms of the art department. And he almost quit a few times. And now he's one of the biggest muralists out here in Los Angeles, too, just he ran with it in terms of the art department. And he almost quit a few times, and now he's one of the biggest muralists out here in Los Angeles too, just by sticking to it. I've always been a pretty positive guy, and I think it's because of sports and my uncles growing up. He's got to have that positive, too.

But when that positivity falls off, man, you know what it is. It's just my friends and family and the support. Ultimately, your loved one, your wife, your brothers, your mom, who kind of pick you back up when you're feeling at your lowest. And I try to stay off of those substances that really make you depressed. You know what I'm saying? So I've done all that stuff early on. I got all that out of my system.

And I'm happy, man. Like you said, I stuck to it. I've been at it for about 25 years, about 10 years professionally. Now I haven't sent out a resume in God knows how long. People just hit me up, and it's cool. It's like fighting through those. It's like in anything, any mental health thing. We're going to have these lows.

We're going to have to fight. We're going to have have a baby maybe have a mortgage you know you might have you're gonna be lonely you're gonna be fucking no one else is gonna get it you know you just have to fight through it and realize that the bigger picture and the next day could be your time and just keep hoping for it to be your time and not give up, right? Yeah. And then you just know that when you do go out, it's like the stories that they tell about you are like, you know, this dude

worked his hardest. He provided for his fam bam. He never gave up. Just don't fucking give up. My wife got struck with a little bit of postpartum. The doctors were like, oh yeah, you'll get postpartum. Then you'll be okay.

Very passive about it. We didn't really know what to expect. And it hit us like a fucking freight train. And then you realize, oh, shit, I got to pick up the pieces. And as hard as it was, I'm not going to go and crawl into a little hole. You got to just run with it. So I had to become mom and dad for a little while and just be there for the wifey too.

And it got to the point where it was like, do we keep going? Do I give up now? But the bigger picture is more important. Yeah. And that's in anything in life. It goes for relationships, your job, in search of finding the path

that you want to have in your life. Just keep looking for it. Don't feel like there's an exit you have to exit or have to kill yourself or fucking go into drugs you know that's a lot of people do that when they get anxious or they get worried that just because one of the path has a dead end you know yeah it doesn't mean that there's another path right next door you know we're so stuck on that dead end, it doesn't mean that there's another path right next door. We're so stuck on that dead end. Why don't we just look left or look right? We could still veer that

dead end and get to wherever we need to get to if it's happiness, if it's your occupation. It's easy to quit. It's easy to pull that and just be like, I'm out of here. Check out. Stick to it, man. Stick to it because there's happiness at the end of that. And no matter what you're going through, I mean,

even my little brothers, for the longest, I couldn't understand depression. Like one of my younger brothers, he's got a little bit of depression and it's like, what the fuck are you depressed about? And I was always that kind of dude. Now to check myself a little bit because I was being very hard on these guys and I'm all about tough love. And I was always that kind of dude. Now to check myself a little bit because I was being very hard on these guys and I'm all about tough love. And I was like, well, I've been depressed. And it's like, what the fuck are you depressed about, dude? Really?

And then you got to get in their face like, man, the fuck up. And being Latino, your folks are always like, boys don't cry. You don't show any fucking emotion. And I don't think my dad has ever told me, I love you, son. And giving me a hug and a kiss on the head. He's not that type. Do you think that's why we're getting a lot more mental illnesses? Because

we feel like we shouldn't be depressed because for any reason? I honestly think it's social media, man. It's social media. I think social media has created this beast of comparison. And the facts are, I know people that are on social media

that are having the hardest time of their lives. And you look on their social media. And they're happy as hell. And it looks like they're living the best life of their lives. And then they come and visit you and then they spill the beans. And you're just like, dude, what the fuck? You don't have to put on this front on social media. I put out this little piece I made on our deal with postpartum,

and a lot of people were like, whoa, you just gave us too much information. Are you guys good? I was like, motherfucker, if I'm your friend, you should be appreciative that we're sharing this with you. Yeah, isn't it funny? Social media is about to be public or is about to be open with your life. And the minute you start becoming open with the actual hard shits about your life, you're like kind of, you are like an asshole. Yeah, people don't want to hear it.

It's like fucking stupid. So fucking stupid. So that's what it is. So everyone's all fake. So everyone's being fake. Everyone's just being, everyone's just comparing their lives. It's like, go live your fucking life, man. Like the stuff that I do on my social media and the only reason i really have social media is for

my family and my business so i have analogical analogical is a blend of analog and digital i have to educate people on that all the time they can't even say the word because it's tough but i chose it so when you do learn it you can you know you steal it you feel it um And it's really just one of those things where I'm not putting stuff out there to like showboat or it's like this is just my life. I'm just going to pepper some stuff out there. But then there's certain things that you put out there and you know that people are comparing and they're kind of low-key hating. Even some of your fucking good friends are low-key hating, dude. I hate that, dude. And it's the worst because you'll put something that's, I don't know just just a regular post and everyone's loving it and everyone's loving it

and you put like another post maybe it's something you're doing something a little bit cooler and those people won't like that type of yeah and that's what happens my band dude sometimes yeah i'll be honest with you you're just like what the what the fuck dude like really um i'll do anything for you and you're still over your treatment in that fashion whatever i don't let it get to me i just continue to do my thing yeah um but it's just sad that people once you start talking about the real issues in life including death and including like cancer some people just don't want to hear it and maybe it's that whole spark of depression that they kind of feel like damn that kind of sucks and then they just want to shift that

shift over to something isn't it kind of like suppression, damn, that kind of sucks. And then they just want to shift that, shift over to something. Isn't it kind of like suppression? It's like everyone is. Suppression of depression. Suppression of depression. Yeah. Exactly. Because everyone doesn't want to hear the bad things about life, but we all have to go through the bad things of life.

You have to. You have to, right? You have to. I was thinking about something the other day, which was kind of crazy. I have an uncle who's very, he's a Mason. He's like a 43rd, whatever degree, whatever 33rd degree. I don't understand how it works,

but he's saying that you need the, you need the evil. Otherwise you won't have the good. It took me a while to understand that. And a lot of people think basins are like devil worshipers and all this shit. Cause there's a lot of snakes and like devil shit. But like,

for example, politicians, I was watching the Woodstock documentary the other day and they were saying all the artists yeah jackson strongly jackson strongly graced with free masons um but if it wasn't for the vietnam war or these wars that were going on these artists and these musicians would not have a source of material to pull from. It's almost as fucked up as it sounds. You need this fucked up shit happening in the world. Otherwise, where are the artists

and the people that are projecting the light in these songs? They're pulling from all the bullshit that's happening. What if that bullshit wasn't happening? What are you going to sing about? What are you going to write about? That's what people are writing about. The fake. Not what's really going down.

That's why I think we're not like the fake, like not what's really going down. Yeah. And that's why I think we're not having the big of the Renaissance art movement they had in the 70s, in the fucking 50s. I don't know about the 50s, but I think of like, when are we going to have our Renaissance? Well, I think also with social media, everyone thinks they know everything. They're seeing people people over the world so even kids man they think they know it all just because they saw it on youtube just because they've seen it and not lived it they think they

know it all yeah but the fact is you gotta you gotta live through it man and even me as a writer you know i haven't i haven't directed any of the films that i've written or that i'm writing just yet because I have the mentality I'm about to be 40 next year. I was like, once I turn 40, I'm really going to buckle down on my writing. And it's because I had to live life. What the fuck am I going to write about at 20 years old? Yeah, you got to live to write. Yeah, I could write about fiction. That's all good. Whatever, whatever. I have a great imagination and I'm cool with that. And I have some things, but real life stories, real life issues have to happen through real life.

And if you're not living real life then what the fuck are you going to write about? Yeah, so why are you being an artist if you're not going to be completely vulnerable? You have to. And that's actually where I have a hard part because society and actually, I actually blame my pops a little bit. He was very hard on us in terms of

making fun of us if we're doing something a little bit different and always kind of checking us just because if we were a little odd, he'd kind of call us out. So being vulnerable... Like what? Learning how to play guitar. They got me a guitar teacher early on.

Dude, I had classes for everything. I had piano classes. I had guitar classes. But because my teachers were teaching me Metallica or shit that I wanted to learn, my dad would be like, get that shit out of here. Fire my guitar teacher. Fire my fucking piano teacher. I don't want him playing that. I don't want him learning this.

And just very adamant about what the fuck he wanted me to learn or whatever. My parents were kind of like that, too, about money. If it didn't make money, why do it? Yeah, yeah. So my mom still doesn't know what I do to this day. She's like, well, how do you, like, what? She thinks I just, like, film it, and it just magically is put together and goes and airs in uh my culture if you're not out there with a goddamn shovel and a rake you know with a

wheelbarrow you're you're not you're not working you know yeah um so the good thing though is my dad taught me how to work really fucking hard early on doing that so i just basically transitioned that hard-working mentality into my field. Like, I'll work 24-hour days. I'll work 40-hour days, whatever, knowing that I gave it my all and just run it. You know what also?

I think maybe that was the fuel that got us to become artists was the parents, the drive, the fight of like, you know what, I'm going to prove them wrong and I know I can make this into a living, maybe you need that angst too, that fuel yeah, you do, and I had my parents doing that I had some of my friends doing that

I had some executives, I had some teachers and it's, I don't know like I said, I've been a positive guy all my life and I can't stand negative fucking people I cannot stand people that you know, pessimists. Yeah.

It's true. I mean, when we're in a hole, we become pessimistic. So, without that, you know, we need a little bit of pessimism to grow, but we can't let it control us. Don't let it control you. Exactly. Just let it fuel your flame.

That's it. Thanks for being on the show, Richie. Hey, Jackson, do you have anything to say to the audience? What do you think? Any advice, life advice? Yeah? What else? What about, what do you think the meaning of life is, Jackson, at 19 months years old?

Really? Really? That's fascinating. the meaning of life is, Jackson, at 19 months years old? I don't know. I don't know. Really? That's fascinating. Alright, guys. You heard it from Jackson. We're all going to be okay. The future is in good hands. We're going to have Green Sky Bluegrass on the show. Let's hear their interview. Thanks, Rich, for being on the show. Thanks for having me, buddy.

Love you, bud. Also, thanks for always fucking being part of my life. Always had your back, man. You always had my back when I'm fucking low. You know when I'm fucking acting crazy, I take it out on you. I can sense it. You know. And you're like, calm the fuck down.

We're going to get this video done. So go check out Analigital.com. Is it Analigital.com? Analigital.com, the blend of analog and digital. And he's got a bunch of documentaries. You should watch all of them. Check it out. Anything you need, Analigial.com.

Hit it up. All right, Richie. Love you, buddy. I'll talk to you soon. Peace. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we got our boys from Green Sky Bluegrass.

Just went on tour with them. These guys are the real deal. They're nice dudes. They write really fucking good songs, and they shred. You know, they've been doing it for a long time. They've been kicking ass. Hey, Chris, play some Green Sky

while I'm pimping them out a little bit. They're just good dudes, and the new record is really good. The live show is really good. They got it all going on. They're like psychedelic bluegrass. Them and Billy Strings are really trying to make bluegrass more progressive. And you've got to love that.

It's finding old traits of music and turning them into their own style. So, ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy, for the next hour, Green Sky Bluegrass. honest. I lie a lot. Lie down with strangers when I'm dreaming. And I lie about drinking. I lie about dreaming. I've just been sleeping all this way. It's gonna take chances to keep us alive.

And the chances are looking slim. Maybe we're dying or maybe we're living over and over again. How we doing? With the Green Sky Gang. First off, thank you so much for letting me fucking open for y'all. That's fucking tight. I was a nice surprise.

My homies are Little Smokies. We were talking about you and how they really love you. I heard you called them to make sure we're cool. Yeah, I did. Am I going to fuck this up for my band if I roll in here all, you know, what's up?

I appreciate you guys and thank you for being part of this show. We don't have the whole band here, so let everyone know who you are in this group. My name is Anders Beck. I sound like this. I play dobro, which is like a slidey guitar, which is like a regular guitar except cooler. Next to

me is Mike Duvall. Step right up. Level check. Test, test. I say good evening. right up. Level check. Test, test. I say good evening. This year. In 2019. I'm a good evening guy.

I sound like this. Good evening. And I play bass. And I sing harmonies. I sing lead also, but only in my own privacy. Do they let you sing lead? They're like, no, fuck that. They beg me to all the time, but I'm like,

I don't feel like it today. I want to do that song again that you sing. Which one? Either of them. Which ones? Yeah, any of them. I like them all so much. Either the one or the other. Were there two? I think there were three.

What are they called? Who Could It Be Now? I forgot about that. I forgot about that. The Power of Love. Give us a little sample of that. Who can it be knocking at my door? Go away. Don't come around here no more.

Thank you, Mike Duvall. Good evening. Great. Good evening indeed. Tis I, Paul Hoffman. I play the little guitar, also referred to as mandolin. Oh, I thought you said you play a little guitar. Little guitar.

He also plays a little guitar. It's also called a little guitar. It's actually not. Whatever I call it, it's mine. That's true. It's my tool. I name it. So you play a little guitar.

I want to talk about your little state, Michigan. You guys grew up out there. Well, half you. You're from where you're from. Neither of these guitar. I want to talk about your little state, Michigan. You guys grew up out there. Well, half of you. You're from... Neither of these guys. I did. I'm the native. You're the native.

The band is Michigan, though, through and through. I was late to the party. I grew up outside of Philadelphia, Villanova, Pennsylvania. And then Deval, my bass guy, good evening guy, he grew up in Ohio. So the good evening thing just so just so i mean you've got some semblance of what the hell we're talking about uh every year i don't remember how it started but so every year somehow we decided first paul did it first the show should start with good evening somehow we decided this i started i was doing it for like several years

almost all shows and it's like helps me know if my microphone's on but i figured out later that i think i got it from the one from the vault recording. Good evening. We welcome you. Yeah. On bass and vocals, Mr. Phil Bush. We love and please the grateful. And then they come on.

Yeah. Uh-huh. But then if I say good evening and I can't hear it in the front of the house, then my anxiety level rises really high. Like, what if I start singing and my mic's not on? So I had to say something in the mic first. Then we passed it off, so now I don't know now i go nice is that some ferris bueller action but then but then so every year we decided someone else's turn for good evening it was

i did it you were first i did i do the next year i just know that we definitely made devolgo last second year no no bont had a year. There was the Bont year. Dave did a year. You did a year. Dave's done a year. I think Dave might be next. No, everyone's done it except Deval. That's why he's doing it this year. So it's back to you next year? Yeah, I would suspect so.

Hold on. Backtrack here, boys. So everyone does a good evening. You have a year. It's like for a whole year. For a whole year. Starting lineup. Good evening. You're getting year. It's like for a whole year. For a whole year. Starting lineup. Good evening. You're getting good evening in 2019. Yeah, straight up. Yes.

It's been his year. It's your year. And this is not like a planned thing. It's just something that happened. And last night he missed it for the third time. Yeah. What happened? Yeah, let's talk about it.

Tell you what happened. I do need to talk about it. Where's your head at? Get it out. Get it out, man. I'm trying to get it out of my... Can I say ass? Yeah, you can say whatever the fuck you want.

I'm just kidding. You said fuck like 16 times, like opening lines. Like, what the fuck's up, y'all? Andy fucking Frasco. I forgot. I do this thing where I forget to remember. And right when it became my year, I think that's why I had to go last. When it became my year, they're like,

oh, Duvall's going to fucking forget to say good evening every night. And I think they were taking wagers on it. And in 2019 so far, I've forgotten only a total of three times where I've needed to be reminded. Because the show can't start. The show can't start until someone says good evening. And I forgot last night, actually

was, but I've been off work for like three and a half weeks, just chilling. I haven't had to say good evening to anyone ever I say it everywhere I go to anyone so is routine important in this band especially like you know how like athletes like bounce two times

free throw you know it's all these guys have these weird stigmas do you guys have that in your band all the things in our band all the things in our band that we have that must happen, that are part of a real system and pattern, they're all really stupid. Like what?

Like that. Like good evening. It's really important, but it's also meaningless. That's okay. Some people have to wear a blankie until they're 40 years old. Or don't change your underwear for a whole tour. If the tour is going well. Change your underwear until we hit a stride, and then don't take it off for a whole tour. If the tour is going well, change your underwear until

we hit a stride and then don't take it off. I feel like you're making that up. It's just an example of something we could do. Do you guys have heavy anxiety still? How many years have you been doing this? Tons. We've been touring since like 2005.

What was giving you anxiety in the beginning years versus now what gives you anxiety? You know, I'd say that I personally have more now than earlier. You know, I often think about how it was daunting and sometimes not fun to be playing a bar where

no one was there and no one had ever heard of you or if there were people there that they were talking and not paying attention, maybe asking you to turn it down. But it's fun to win people over. And in like a low pressure kind of way, we'll be like, okay, you don't think you like bluegrass? Well, what about when doves cry? And then they're like, wait, maybe I do like bluegrass.

And you're winning them over and you're like, yes, small victory. And maybe they smiled once. And you're not even worried if they're ever going to come back again. It's like it's the small victory. They didn't really have to do anything to make you succeed. They looked for a minute and you're not even worried if they're ever going to come back again. It's like this small victory. They didn't really have to do anything to make you succeed. They looked for a minute and you're like, we fucking killed it. They didn't leave for half the show. They didn't leave until like 10.

And they had like three drinks before they left, man. They must have been having a good time. They were listening. Now people have all these expectations we have to meet. What expectations? Like that every show is going to be better than the last show. Longer, harder, faster, better. Jesus.

And that just gets a little overwhelming sometimes. So that's what I want to get at. You guys listened to The Dead, I suppose, growing up? More Fish. More Fish. But that whole JMC. I didn't know who any of these guys were until I was 20. So getting pressured into this scene, not pressured,

but jumping into this scene and realize, oh, yeah, I have one shtick. And they will tell you that you only have one fucking shtick. You mean like the jam band scene? Yeah. The fans of the jam band scene are some serious shit, and that's what's amazing. But that's also where a lot of the pressure comes from, I think, too. Yeah.

Because I was in Dead and Fish and all that jam band thing that's where i come from and it's like that's where a lot of that thing comes from where like you know people come and see a lot of shows in a row they'll like come on fucking tour with us and it's like see nights in a row and it's um it's stressful it's yeah i mean i don't i don't really feel it as much i don't feel it that much because I try really hard to ignore it and just be like, this is fun, this is fun. Maybe, you know, self-medicate or whatever to get through that anxiety of it all. But for me, it's in the albums a lot.

Like, I had this realization that every time, with every band you like, there a certain like there's an album that you're like well i like the last one better and like we we make i think we make really good albums and the fear that that could happen freaks me out every time we go into the studios particularly yeah um i also don't really care like i like all of our albums more and more personally but it's like that's where my that's where the anxiety really hits me sometimes, I think. Because I feel like there's got to be pressure. There's something kind of counterintuitive about it.

People start to like what you do and then they want to come see you play more often. And I think it's about seeing us take chances and take risks and be vulnerable to that vulnerable thing. When they just get to know you, everything's vulnerable. Then they discover they really like this thing we do and then want to come see us not do that and it's like wait a minute so i'm supposed to do what you something you don't like because otherwise you won't like

what we do and it's just this real like kind of head so how do you get through that headspace you find some kind of common ground that balances all of it i think like do what we do and do it with unabashedly with no apologies but then also be just have fun with it and i think that like as much as it is kind of hard work it's also this blessing like that we don't have to go out and just play our new album from beginning to finish every night and like we if we don't want to play a song we don't maybe we won't play it for three weeks. Or if we like it, maybe we'll play it twice a week for three weeks. And we can kind of do whatever we want and have the ability to play our whole catalog. And I think a lot of artists don't have that. They don't get to play a three-night run where they can't play the hit all three nights or something.

So what's your philosophy when you're doing either a region tour? Say you're doing like we did Tucson and Phoenix. You're not going to do anything from Tucson? Are you going to play some songs? We'll do... So for these four nights, these next four nights of shows, we won't play the same song in four nights. In the next four?

The whole four nights. Probably. The whole four-night run. Yeah, probably. Because they'll show up. Unless we want to. Unless we really want to. Because we're in charge.

Right. The rule is... I'm fucking talking. You're the boss. You're the fucking boss. The rule is unless we want to. We're in charge. The rule is unless we want to. For me personally, a lot of the way I get through whatever is that weird feeling, anxiety, whatever the mental trip of it is, I like what we do. I like us. It's fun. Essentially,

we're playing to a lot of people, but we're also playing to us. Do you forget that sometimes? We're entertaining each other, I think, is a big reminder for me. But do you forget that sometimes? That the reason why you started playing music is to play as a group, as a family?

I don't know if we forget, but on a personal level, it's not even that I forgot as much as I try to remind myself of that. I was going to say the same thing. As a musician, I think having done this for this long with these guys in particular, I remind myself before I come out on tour just that we're so lucky to have a tour to go on and people to play for.

And literally, it's simple, but if you strip it down to the fact that we get to have each other, we've been able to make this work in our lives where we can take time and dedicate this time and energy and resources toward going on a tour. And what that's about is playing music together on stage together every night. And to be able to do that, we're so lucky.

So then you start to think about the pressure of our crowd's expectations and i think that the best approach for me in meeting those expectations is just to like focus on the fact that it's all about getting to play music together with people that you've done it for so long enough we just i mean it sounds sort of vague vague and lame but if you make it happen and just in or let it happen and just enjoy it, you can sort of remove yourself from that pressure. So let's talk about that. So you guys have let this happen for 15 years.

And through the ups and downs of each person, everyone goes through their twos. Maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it's a bad relationship. And maybe someone's being an asshole. How do you maintain for 15 years without just like fucking beat the shit out of each other like what

what happened like what anyone get in a fight like Duvall and I once got in a fight what happened it would

I threw don't you wish we had footage of this fight I do we talk about it a lot it would be hilarious for people to see they'll be like

they call this this is what it's what we call a fight but it was like a slapping match it was the pussiest ass fight you've ever seen in your life. To be clear.

What happened? You can't use pussy as a derogatory term, dude. I have a daughter, okay? 2019, dog. Come on, Anders. It's 2019. I have a daughter. Pussy is not derogatory.

I'll tell you what happened. Yeah, tell me. Back up. Paint the picture. It's the end of tour. It's probably 2005. No, no, no. 2006 was long?

I think much. I remember I lived at Russ's house. Hey, Russ, if you ever hear this. I remember I lived at Russ's house because I remember writing the angry email afterward at my desk at Russ's house. But it was like the last day of tour and... Who are you writing this email to? 2011.

Let's call it 2010-11 or something. I'm writing an angry email to Paul. It was that late? I lived at Russ's house. Okay. We were in a van still. Hey, Russ. With no trailer, I think, because I was getting my suitcase out of the back of the van. Hey, what's up, Arnold? How are you? Keep going.

Keep going. Come on. So it's like the last day of tour. We're pooling in, and you know that feeling of having been in a van together a lot. Paul and I are like best buds, but also like, you know, we can rub each other the wrong way, probably. Yeah, like any best friend. I probably don't ever annoy Paul, but sometimes he annoys me. Just kidding.

The setup is going to just... It better be good. Keep going. Paul's walking the house, just casually strolling, pulling his roller bag behind him. I think it's hilarious because it is. To kick his roller bag and kind of like,

he like jerks his wrist. I wish you could see my gestures right now, people. But jerks his wrist and he kind of, it just, he snaps. He turns just like boiling with anger snaps runs charges at me paul you take it from take it for a while here that's when i lurches at me i had to really hold back and not just like break your bones because i'm so strong yeah you had to hold back fierce and the amount of training I've had in ninjutsu and kung fu

and you know, it took everything I had not to just break you with one finger. There was some soft pushing. We may have wrestled in the grass a little bit. Was it serious though? We were really mad. It was really lame.

My closing argument is that I opened up the back of the van right before they drove away, and I took his suitcase and threw it. Like just chucked it down the street like eight feet. And then slammed the door. And it was like, well, fuck you then. Paul's wife. I was on the porch going,

you guys. She's like weeping. Like, will you stop it? Stop it. It was a great fight. And then I wrote a real angry letter. And now we're friends again. To whom this concerns, Paul.

Don't you ever. This has gone too far. But really, though, I think the answer to that question is that doesn't happen very often. We definitely get on each other's nerves. And there are things that we are really good at communicating and things that we're not. But ultimately, we can kind of talk through anything and we're all really honest with each other.

And I think we all understand that if I'm mad at you right now, it's because I care to not be mad at you later. It's not like I'm turning my back. What's the most important thing to be honest about when you're living in a cube of a... Rules and regulations about how to behave with the sink in the bus, what to do with the door when someone else is asleep,

where your shoes are allowed to be and not allowed to be. I think an important thing to remember is, like, I sort of had this revelation a couple years ago where it's like, okay, you're living with all these people in very close quarters, and it's like okay you're living with all these people in very close quarters and it's like it's a it's a family i described as like it's a family except if that family lived in a van for two months at a time yeah that's a fucked up family and you can't fuck yeah and it's like you're basically you can't get out you can't get it out of your system no no i mean like it's a relationship you're married to him what I realize is like you can literally be like I fucking hate you

but what twists it up for me is like you can be like I hate you right now you know and that's real that's real hatred but it only has to last it doesn't have to last forever you know it's like I fucking hate you you're the worst

and that's like you're allowed to say that. And that's real. But then 10 minutes later, you're like, we cool. Like, you get past it. But when I realized that you can hate someone for a small period of time, that's what really helped me get through a tour on some level. It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour. Welcome back to Review. I'm your host, Ari Finlay.

Today, I'm reviewing Andy Fresco's screen time. If you don't know, if you have an iPhone, you can look up how much time you actually spend looking at your phone every week. And Andy sent me his for last week, and it is ridiculous. I'm going to start with the apps he spends the most time with. Obviously, number one is twitter he spent four hours last week on twitter for total hours and he's not funny i don't know what he's doing on twitter literally all he posts is just retweets of michael rapaport's with the crying face emoji and uh dudes getting hit by cars uh the second app he spent the most time is Instagram. Three hours.

This is just him reposting people's videos from his shows, showing that he knows what the horror is. The third app is TikTok. Two hours on TikTok. It should be illegal for anybody born prior to 1999 to download TikTok. You're a goddamn adult. Get off the children's app, you sexual predator. The fourth app, Weed Maps. He spent three hours on Weed Maps. Apparently, this just shows you where you can buy weed across the country. Not sure if that's legal. The last app, definitely

not legal. He spent two hours on something called Rub Maps, which I looked into and just tells you via a map where you can get a legal rub and tug on the, you know, hush hush. So 14 hours spent on the most ridiculous fucking apps. Put your goddamn phone down handy. Live in the present. You could watch all of the fucking Lord of the Rings movies in that time. Pay attention. Live in the now. This has been another edition of Review Rings movies in that time, pay attention to live in the now. This has been another edition of Review.

I'm your host, Ari Finling. Peace, bitch. This mentality of like, is it running that you like? Being in a different place? What makes you do 200 shows a year? Or I don't know if you're doing that now but for the last 15 years we traveled that many days

what does make us do that hmm hopes I mean that's what you do I mean that's how you I don't know that's what you do it used to be our reasons have changed,

and maybe it's harder to define our reasons now, except that sort of it is just like it's what we do. But I personally have been personally fulfilled by coming here and having the opportunity to make music. I think the sense of the running part of it, the adventure part of it, the adventure part of it, I think is less so than it was when Paul was talking about that sort of nothing yet to lose stage when the empty rooms and camping out and stuff.

That's when we hadn't seen the country and hadn't been around. I think we're old salts in a certain way that we've done so many shows for so many years that I do kind of feel like the adventure element is less prevalent. It's not like the adventure. It's going on tour to advance the arc of the band

and the music more so than it is. Well, it's a business, but also our artistic endeavor just a lot less of the personal sense of adventure for me. I think the cliche of to play music, because we like playing music together. We're an improvisational band, and so for me, that's what does it. I think for a lot of us, it's the idea that we can create.

Like I said, it's almost cliche, but that idea of it, the music is the deal. That's why we're doing this. Certainly at times other parts take a hold of it. It's like it's really hard to put into words. It's a good question. There's something nomadic about all of us that's natural. We all love to travel.

I often travel for recreation after we spend all this time traveling too. I went through this stage for a while where I just like, you get to this point where I remember we like, the longest tour we ever did was like eight weeks. And it was like this place where we had just been grinding so hard. And you're like, you earned this gig that you just can't say no to. So you keep tacking it on.

And then after that tour, it was like, okay, we need to start saying no to some stuff. And so then we took like the first time we had three whole weekends in a row without gigs and after like you know you need it you're like we need to rest i need to sit still and then like after about six days i'm like well now what what am i supposed to do with myself at my house i don't have like a job to go to and i don't know how to fix things and i don't like go to the gym for sure. What am I supposed to do with this time off?

I guess I'll drive somewhere or go sit in with some other band or write songs or play music. There certainly is something that's this driving. Can we talk about that a little bit? I look at... Going to the gym is technically mental health, right?

Yeah, sure. We're clearing our mind if you're running from something, if you're working out, blah, blah. You know, it's like, you know, I think of the Jeff Austens and I think of the Neils. There's this mental health problem that's going on through all these touring acts and stuff. And how can we make sure we could do this forever? Because it's hard to we're lonely i mean we you guys probably all have wives and or you have lives outside of music like i've never had that because i've dedicated this whole i've i've lived on the road do 250 shows a year for the

last 13 years i just stayed on the road damn i'm crazy i mean but like it's a mental that is crazy that's just real. How do you fix that? How can we fix that? Honestly, I'll tell you because I think you're kind of cool, kind of fucking cool, and your podcast is fucking cool from what I hear. I never listen to it. You're a rock star.

Rock stars don't listen to this shit. I'm busy. It's Jim. It's cool from what you hear, which is not hearing it. So what exactly does that mean? They don't play it at my gym It's something we've been talking about And we've certainly spent Plenty of years Having a great time

Raging our titty balls off Can I say that? Is that okay? Titty balls? I'm definitely not sharing this podcast with my mom. Okay. Well, you were going to. Fuck is one thing.

You were going to. Okay. We can't repeat it. Keep going with this. But like, we've been talking about it because, you know, these are our friends. Both of those guys have opened up for us in the last year. And Jeff is a dear friend of mine and ours. And Neil was, we got to know him pretty well.

And it's like, it brings up really important points about the longevity of it all. And we've, you know, we talked about it as a band, like, to make sure that, you know, A, just sort of check in with each other, for sure. And, you know, I'm certainly not a shining beacon of light, of example. Do we forget to check in with each other?

Is that what it is? I think so. I mean, I think there's five-minute conversations backstage at a festival. Hey, how you doing? You good? Cool. And right when you start to get past the regular, like, how's tour? How's your show?

How's this? It's like, oh, man, I got to go to catering or I got to go to my set. And so I believe that you don't really have the depth of conversation doesn't necessarily get there even these people that I call my dear friends, some of my best friends that are in other bands, you know we talk about stuff for a short amount of time

and like there's like that look of like just make sure you're good but it never gets that much deeper I find and that's for me that's what touring musicians need to kind of get to it with each other and be like try and delve a little bit deeper with each other um and and kind of i mean i don't know that's the best thing that i can sort of figure out is to is to check in is the right word but that's kind of like a small

phrase you know what does that really mean what do you think paul yeah word, but that's kind of like a small phrase. What does that really mean? What do you think, Paul? Yeah, I think that that's valid. It gets a little bit surface level. But there's also, with that surface level thing you're talking about, there's this sense that I don't know you that well, but I can tell that we are kindred spirits, and if we spent any longer together, that we would find all sorts of similarities and common ground

and have a great time talking about anything, even if it was like french fries. Oh man, let's talk about that. And there's clearly this high-low thing with being a performer where you're the center of attention for the whole night and then you're in the loneliest place. We're by ourselves. After the gig, in the loneliest place like we're by ourselves you like you know after the gig in the alley having a drink before you get on the bus and there's like no one to talk

to and if you do talk to them it's mostly about like how great you are and they love the show and like how that's like hard to receive as a real gesture that thing that darren wrote was just like really moved me that was on the and like nailed so many points about this paradox that we exist in of loneliness and the center of attention. And I think, you know, it's easier said than done, of course, but like just being validated by what we do and realizing that we have something good to give and that we create joy for people

and that to find joy from that myself instead of like focusing on criticism i imagine that this feeling and this paradox has existed and as long as touring musicians or performers have done it like i'm sure it's not a new thing yeah i wonder sometimes if like i wonder if sometimes the but that shouldn't be cliche like social media contributes to it. Everyone's a critic without a face. And people who love something still want to be so critical of it because they can have a conversation behind a veiled mask on the internet. I wonder if sometimes that eats us.

Do you think it's social media that's doing it to us? I know that conversation exists for kids. Kids used to go to school and get bullied and then go home and it went off. And now it's like, whenever they turn it off, they're on their Facebook page making sure enough kids liked their posts before they go to bed at 8 o'clock. Crazy. There's a conversation there for children. But I don't know that we're not children. But we're still doing the same thing.

Like, you're worried about a big mass of people. You're looking for validation. Like, appreciating your... It's bigger now. It's bigger than just that 10 i wanted to say while we were talking about that too that that feeling is like it's all that's me i don't know that that really exists like that pressure from the fans they're not put if they were listening to this they'd be like i'm not putting that pressure on you and i'm aware of that that's

just something that i conceive and we conceive i think think it makes us a great band. Do you think that fuels the fire? If you hit yourself too hard with all those expectations, it's like, how are you going to be self-fulfilled? That's us. That's a really good point. I talk shit about my favorite bands. You talk shit about your favorite podcast, too.

If I had one. I'm just kidding. Keep going with it, Anderson. I talk shit about my favorite podcast, too. If I had one. I'm just kidding. But keep going with it, Andre. But yeah, I talk shit about my favorite bands and always have. I'm like, oh man, I liked Fish Better in the 90s or whatever. And that's exactly what Paul's talking about. And I'm sure people do that about us. I'm damn sure they do.

I don't know. But I try to tune it all out. I like us, and that's kind of how I get through my day. I think the social media side of it is really – what Paul brought up is a really good point where it's like if you pay a lot of attention to that, you could go down a dark wormhole of people saying bad shit about you. And that's real. But also if you surround yourself with enough positivity among your friends and your band, you know, like that's, that's what gets you through it on me through it on a day to day level,

you know? But I think that that's a really good point. Um, the duality of what we do, people love us. And then you get to a point where people love you enough that they can start talking shit about you because your music wasn't as good as it used to be or whatever. And I'm guilty of that, like I said.

I don't hate that shit. I think that brings it sort of around or just what I said about just like we kind of like have to go with the flow and let it happen. There's a lot of criticism. I think we're our own worst critics

in a lot of ways, which like Paul said said i think is like has helped us become the band we are because we really care um but if you let that stuff get you down all this criticism who's you know like what other bands are rocking harder right now or if or if we didn't have the best show or something like the letting it happen part is the part of recognizing it's like your own worth and the music is like this is us and we've created something that's powerful. Um, and it works and, and, and we're doing these cool things when we let it happen and to get burdened by any sort of these self-imposed perceptions of, of expectations or the criticisms from the really our biggest fans, like fish fans are the most critical music fans I've ever seen. Sometimes it's just like, shoot, you know,

fans like fish fans are the most critical music fans i've ever seen sometimes it's just like shoot you know what gives you the right to just sort of rip that these guys are these guys are gods of rock and roll and everybody's like oh bro i don't know they've been a little lame you know i'm like i've seen that it's it's like i'm yeah it's like i'm on i'm so this wasn't what's tell us wasn't cohesive and it's like i'm honored if somebody would pick our shit apart like that, I guess, in a sense, because that's how jam band fans do it. I don't read that shit on Facebook. Isn't there a Facebook group?

What's more important then, the songs or the live experience? I think they coexist. It's something that I think is really awesome about our band. I'm also really grateful that we get to exist in both of these worlds somehow where I can be a songwriter who writes

meaningful lyrics that are emotionally challenging I'm writing about heavy things, death and fear of responsibility and regret I love heavy things, it's a great song and then so there's these real songs and

these real like difficult emotional subjects happening but then it's and then it's followed by like a 15 minute psychedelic jam that's designed for you to have an awesome experience in the show where you're just having fun and letting your cares go. So you're able to confront these feelings in a safe place that's fun. But you're not just singing happy-go-lucky lyrics that don't matter. So it's like a singer-songwriter, folky thing mixed with a rock and roll, carefree thing

that I love about our band, that we can do both of those things. And our fans seem to be very receptive to both of them. They want to have long, fun jams that go to weird places, but they also want to hear that sad song that we never want to play because they like it a lot and it means something to them. That is the duality of our band, and that's the key. That's why we get to do what we do.

That's why people like us. That's why people like us. That's why I like us. That's why we all like us. It's because exactly what Paul's saying. He's the guy that's writing the songs. And Dave are writing those songs that are poignant and serious and badass and emotional. But then we also get to go stare over the edge of a cliff every night improvisationally and get weird as hell. And it's like that is the duality that makes us what we are.

And, you know, that's why it works. And that's why we're lucky as hell. Yeah. It's true because, you know, not a lot of people get to find what fulfills them and get to let out that fucking vavoom for an hour or two. You know, people get stuck. Like, they think that, oh, this little town. I was talking

to Billy Strings. He's a Michigan boy, too. He was talking about how people are afraid to get out of their towns and fulfill their dreams. So for us to find an outlet to say, I am giving my art a chance. I mean, that's respect in its own way.

Was it hard? Were there low points like how do you get your brother who maybe like you were all feeling good but maybe one guy in the band is just have is fucking in a cloud how do you what tricks can you do to get him back into present because he's right now he's you know what what can you do are you do do you experience that is everyone have yeah i mean i think any of us on, you know, varied levels of darkness, but I think any of us and all of us have been in, like,

the two-er slump that just, like, kind of, like, can't get out of your head, can't have fun, can't appreciate it or enjoy just, you know, for various reasons you brought up, you know. There's relationship drama. There's, you know, a lot of, like, financial woes being in a band, too. Like, you asked us if there are low points,

like hell yeah. Like what long time, like the, you know, the, the key is to stick around and stick through it. And I said something earlier about just like everyone's situation in their own life continues to make it possible for us to come out here and be on these

tours and do some player music. And it's a lot harder for a long time as a band coming up, like, you know, financial pressures weighing on you, not making any money and convincing yourself to go do that. Well, yeah, now you guys have wives and shit and fucking kids. Like, how hard is that?

I mean, like, you've got to, like, really plan your tours now. And you've really got to, like, you can't just play to play anymore, right? Yeah, I think we're, yeah. But it's going quite well, to be clear. Of course. Of course.

But like, you know, for our mindset, for artists. Yeah, but I'm also saying like what you're asking about like the depth of like how do you pull your friend out of that thing? It's like I don't know that I've got a great answer. I couldn't think of a great answer. Yeah. It's like you kind of just – Space. On stage.

Yeah. You just have to kind of be there because, i mean yeah you can be on tour and you can be crushing these huge venues and get and like you can still be in the depths of darkness pretty easily yeah it's fucked up because you're not really allowed to admit that because everything is going so well and that's the thing that we're talking about mental health that's it because it's like you're flying along and like everything should be so great and it's like someone be flying along and everything should be so great. And it's like someone would be like, why are you depressed? Or like, why are you, what's wrong? Why are you doing this?

And the answer is, the real question is, everything's so perfect, why would you be fucked up in the head right now? And it's like, that's not a reasonable question. You could be anyone in the world and you could be all fucked up in the head. But you feel guilty about it on some level, I think, is the hard part. But with us, with the five of us, we're lucky enough to be like, you can at least, we're close enough that you can be like, dude, we're good.

Everything's good. You can at least have four of your best friends reminding you that everything's okay. But I can imagine if that weren't the case, we could get real lonely out there, man. Do you guys take therapy? Do any of you take therapy? I do. Yeah? Yeah.. Do you guys take therapy? Do any of you take therapy? I do.

Yeah? Yeah. So I want to take therapy. But what are the things they tell you about opening up? Did that teach you how to be more open to how your feelings are? I mean, we suppress things, like you said, because we're afraid to look foolish because, yes, our life is great. We're fucking in a successful band.

But, like, it's hard, right? I had to talk to my therapist and be like, he was like, so what do you do? Like, the first thing you do, you talk to him about, like, what you do for a living, you describe yourself. And he's like, man, that's so cool. That sounds awesome, like, all this stuff. And I'm like, bro, we're not talking about that. So, like, you know you know it's like i get plenty of that like yeah no one knows what it's like to be in the and so it's like he wanted to talk about that side of it and it's like but it was really

it was kind of it was kind of comical because i was like no no that's what i'm trying to i'm trying to talk to like about real conversations with people not just like yeah playing red rocks is fucking sick you know like i don't want to talk about that with this guy on the couch you know but even his inclination was to be like whoa cool you know like that sounds awesome it's like no let's talk about the bad yeah absolutely yeah maybe i don't know it's yeah i think you just have to be grateful i don't it's hard but i tell people sometimes i like when i talk to other bands and stuff or like younger bands who are like how did you make it through this part where like you're not making any money and you're playing all these gigs and i'm like no matter how many gigs we play no matter how successful we are i still have that feeling

on those days off it's just like i told you about the time off like we just played six shows in a row we really need a day off so we take the day off and that one i really need and i sleep but then if we have the next day off i'm like i'm out on tour and i'm like what am i doing what am i doing with my life like why am i out here in the middle of nebraska at some hotel and like i can't sleep anymore i'm not tired i don't need more rest and they're like it's like we should just play seven shows a week so that I have a purpose every day. But, you know, you find things to do

that hopefully are good for you. Do you think that's what brought Jerry to his death? Because he didn't take time off. Like, when he was off with the dead, he would do Jerry Garcia tour. Do you think he was afraid of his meaning? Stagnant or like being alone with your thoughts alone yeah i don't know well a big a big part of his thing was from my understanding of it from reading

a lot about it and talking to people that were in that circle was the the weight of the weight of the machine like if he stopped touring then there's these 100 people that are not employed. You have to dissolve your corporation. Yeah, let's also be real clear. Fucking heroin killed him. I mean, it wasn't being alone with his thoughts. That's my... Seems like it's about... What triggers you to do heroin?

Is that you can't talk? You have to go inward? Like, what is it? I don't know because I've never experienced that thing. It triggers me. I think doing it once triggers you to do it. I think it seems like it's a lot about finding balance. Like, we're talking about, you know, playing shows or not playing shows, like, resting versus going.

It's like your purpose versus this, like, sense of recharging so that you can pursue that purpose. I think it's about balance. purpose i think it's about balance i think we're more and more the mission becomes i think finding in defining sustainability and health and you know our relationships during all this becomes about like making it not a matter of like extremes in any way like you know extremes amount of time off make us feel like we're not moving forward at you know too much time on the road makes us feel exhausted you know too much partying versus too much like you know boredom or whatever like it's you know i'm trying more and more you know i'm trying partying versus boredom well i mean that's that's what i'm afraid of sometimes you know you think

about like you know like going on tour with like less of a partying mindset and more of like a restful sustainable healthy like i always i'm setting up to make my tour life a lot more like my life at home, which is pretty healthy. I have a two-year-old, so I have to sleep and I can't be drinking a ton of stuff. The more I try and find balance,

but my fears about, if I'm thinking about party less, is like, oh man, is it going to be boring? Because it's so much fun. Am I going to miss something cool? We've been doing this for 15 years where it's always been an environment

of going out and partying, rage with your buddies. I don't think myself as old or anything, but I just turned 38. Damn, y'all look good. Y'all the same age? No. I'm 41, and I look great. If you don't say it, it's cool.

Do you guys regret anything? Sitting down in this room. Have you heard my songs I had kind of a weird oyster yesterday I ordered some oysters and one of them was just chewy in the wrong way and I really regret eating the oyster I ate after that one because I was like you know what maybe the next one is going to be fine

and it was but I didn't get over it and that's a big regret. That's good. That's a good regret. That's my biggest regret in life, actually. I've lived sort of a blameless kind of life. That's my biggest regret is that oyster. I regret all sorts of stuff.

I'm not sure what, though. Joining Green Sky. Joining Green Sky. Doing just podcast. No, I try and live a pretty regretful life in general no no regretless regretless

no I liked it the other way I try and do both I go big and I enjoy myself but I'm also working on trying to live a long time that's a thing as well but regrets I mean every day i wake up and

i'm like i'm lucky as hell i'll say it again it's like this is amazing what we get to do um so like friendships do you regret getting close with people i haven't these are big questions man yeah like you know uh i'm sorry is this too much no it's good it's not at all i love it i i wanted to say that like there's this connotation that regrets is a bad thing, that people say don't have regrets. But to me, it's like if you live a life with no regrets, you either didn't take any chances

or you didn't ever imagine a way that it could have been better and learned from things you did or didn't do. So of course, I want to have a lot of regrets. Maybe I shouldn't have had that one more drink, but now I know. Or maybe I should have done this a different way. A life with no regrets just sounds unchallenging

in foresight and looking back. And I think realistically, honestly, it's a big question. And you should leave us with you know i'll be like cool let's talk about this in six months when we've thought about this for a while but like you know well we're coming back no no i mean i mean it's a good it's a really good question um and it's it's interesting to talk about that stuff because you know when it's all said and done and it's it's our time to go you know what do we want to be remembered by you know

that's the that's the big question for my like what do do we want to be remembered by? That's the big question for mine. What do you guys want to be remembered by? Side note. Side note. I was thinking about, we were talking about people in mental health and the music industry and people that we're losing. I was trying to figure out a way,

and maybe you might be good at this, Frasco, figuring out a way that, okay, the day after we lose people that are really important to us, musicians, for example, the day after we lose people that are really important to us musicians for example the day after that the entire social media uh everybody's saying all the best things and how important they were and how special and how great all these long-term experiences that these people gave them musically were how do you figure out a way to like if if jeff had read all that stuff maybe

the day before like the day before he died how do you encourage people to receive that love if Jeff had read or Neil had read that stuff the day before they died maybe they would have made you know

things could have changed is that society though we see social media Maybe they, you know, things could have changed. Is that society, though? I don't know. We see social media, and we just like the photo. We just see, oh, they're doing okay. Maybe a fake smile. But then we don't say hi.

How you doing? Yeah, I mean, what do we do? Celebrate birthdays better? I've got no idea. But how do you make people feel more love when everyone's showing them all this love? At the time, I really don't know. And I was just thinking about it. Sorry to sidetrack that, but I was thinking about that the other day. Maybe we need to, if you guys ever played that game, there used to be this thing that we had in my house

that was called the Traveler. And it was this random photo and then you would hide it random places and then years later someone would find it and then they find the Traveler and they re-hide it. Maybe we need to start finding some items that incite joy. Whatever they be, like a random

photo of somebody's butt or something. Oh, that's a good go-to joy bringer. Then we start hiding it in green rooms across America. All musicians, we all set out to hide these random things that called the traveler or whatever.

For example, tomorrow night when my laminate falls off and I'm like, where the hell did that go? And I look under some chair and I find some random item that brings me Picture of a butt. I don't know. Geocache. Pranking. More pranking.

More practical jokes. More mooning. I think we need to feel like we're not alone We need to feel like it's a community Technically we are, we love each other I see the Bluegrass community Vince Herman's one of my best friends And to see him

I just want to say thanks guys For building that Bluegrass community And building that friendship between the bands More Mooney Oh man, I feel happy right now. Well, guys, thanks for letting me talk music with you guys. You know, I think it's important to say that before we leave this conversation,

even though we're talking about all these things that you can do to make the love more received and stuff, I personally feel that love for my friends in a really great way. Like, I think we can all do better for each other, and I'd to do the best i can but man i like you understand i feel blessed and like i have a lot of musician friends that i have these relationships with that are a little fleeting and come and go but they're so special to me and like when i feel like when i need those people they're there and i'm getting a lot of good right now. And I'm happy for that. Anything I can do to return it to the world,

I want to try my best to do. One last question, guys, and I'll let you go. Sorry. By the way, thanks for doing this. We got tacos to eat, man. I know, doggy. One last thing. If you could tell Green Sky at 2005

some advice that Green Sky knows in 2019, what would you tell him? Stick with it, kid. Keep on picking, kid. You're going to be on this sweet podcast when you grow up. And now, a heady jam to get you through your week. Psyche! All right. And there we have it. Thanks, Green Sky, for being on the show.

Thanks for letting us open. I didn't really recap. Last week I recorded before we went on tour with those guys. But that was fucking awesome. Dudes, it was such an experience. tour with those guys but that was fucking awesome dudes it was such an experience um you know for them to like have a full band with drums and shit open uh for them is just a lot of respect so thank you so much boys um all the boys were awesome we had Anders sit. We did a song where we did Signed, Sealed, Delivered, and the boys backed me up, which was fucking tight.

So shout out to all the tours. I hope we get to do more shows together. I'm in. I got your back, boys. Whatever you need from me, I'm here for you. But that's it, guys. Hope you had fun this episode. A lot of talk, a lot of discussion about mental health.

I don't want, I don't want to sound like we're a peeting record, but it's, it's here. It's alive. It's part of our everyday experience. And it's just going to get worse and worse if we don't talk, communicate, and just be with each other. It's hard to be vulnerable. Paul was talking about that with the whole Neil stuff and the Jeff stuff. It's just like you never know who's having a bad fucking day. So take care of your friends. Take care of your neighbors. Let's go fuck this thing.

Let's take the mental illness and just fuck it, just fuck it, I'm feeling crazy, I finally feel good again, I was having this weird digestive thing, I think every time I drink a sink water that has fluoride in it, it fucks up my stomach, so then I was having throat problems, so I was like, ah, fuck. But I'm back. It's the start of the fall tour. I'm feeling good. I'm back with my boys.

We had day one yesterday together, and we decided to bond over 25,000 picklebacks. We got it. We got rolling with it. We're about to tour with our boys, Wild Adriotic. So Travis is going to be on the show, being my opening co-host yet again, my boy. It's always good to see Wild A. And I can't wait for that.

It's going to be a blast. We're doing Resonance Fest this weekend. I mean, it's big. They sold a lot of fucking tickets. I mean, there's a band called Tipper that I think I'm interviewing for the podcast Or he's a DJ or something We got a lot of cool interviews I'm doing

Papa Dojo And then I have to play two sets So Pretty busy that weekend But if you're out Come say hello I'm there all weekend Let's party

Let's hang out And then next week We're recording with AWOL Nation again. And then in LA for three days, doing this thing called City Fest. Or fuck, I don't know. It's in Encino. It's for Variety. It's a private party in LA.

And then we're doing three days. The Gary Goldman premiere at the Largo. Fucking Judd Apatow and Gary Goldman are going to do comedy with Patton Oswalt and then they're going to show the film that we fucking scored. It's going to be tight, dude. I'm bringing my mom. She's asking me, what should I wear? I'm like, bitch, this ain't...

I didn't say bitch, I love you mom, but you know what I say. She's like, I'm like, you know, this ain't the Grammys, dog. This is just a comedy special, but it's going to be great to take my mom to this. It's a big, important, you know, this ain't the Grammys, dog. This is just a comedy special. But it's going to be great to take my mom to this. It's a big, important, you know, it's a special moment for us and the band. So I got to take my mom before I get locked up with a woman. Then we fly to, we're going to see Marcus King playing with Jason Isbell.

Marcus King and Josh Ritter at Marcus' family reunion. We're going to see Marcus King playing with Jason Isbell. Marcus King and Josh Ritter at Marcus' family reunion. We're going to back him up, so that's going to be tight. I'm trying to get a Jason interview. Pray to the rock gods that he allows it. I think he will. I think word's out on the podcast and I think he's cool, so hopefully I get

that to end the season. We got a lot of big stuff coming our way. I'm very excited. I just want to, we'll leave you with this. Be safe. You know, talk to people. You know, if you're fighting through fucking a downhill, if you're downhill in your life right now, or you're just at the bottom, it's okay. Stand up, start walking back up the mountain because there's no point in giving up. There's no point. We got each other. We have each other's backs. Look at all these bands fighting through the same shit. If bands are fighting through it while making you guys happy,

you could do it too. So love you guys. Wear condoms. Too many babies out there. So love you guys Wear condoms Too many babies out there Support each other And I'll see you I'm going to take a week off Because it's the end of the month week off And I got to record and shit

And do this Gary Goldman thing But I'll be back the first of October We got a killer lineup This for the next You know couple months. I can't believe we're almost at the new year, dog. It's fucked up. It's fucked up.

Anywho, I love you. Be safe out there. And I'll catch you in a couple weeks. Arno, give me something nice, something sweet, something for these guys to hold on to until I see them again in a couple weeks alright love you bye and Spotify so we can make this a worldwide phenomenon. For info on the show please head to our Instagram at worldsavingpodcast. For more info on the blog and tour dates

head to anniefresco.com Listen to our latest album Change of Pace. I will keep repeating it. It's available on iTunes and Spotify. This week's guest is Green Sky Bluegrass. Find them online at greenskybluegrass.com

Our special co-host Richard Martinez from Analigital. Find them online at greenskybluegrass.com. Our special co-host, Richard Martinis from Analigital. Find them online on analigital.com. And this week's special guests were Ari Findlings, Floyd Kellogg and Anna Bakker. So this would be the moment to come up with all the banjo jokes, I guess. But somehow wearing baggy trousers and old shirts myself, keeping that unkempt beard,

playing tuba and thus being off-key regularly, I don't feel quite qualified enough to actually do so. Besides, bullying and ridiculing others seems to be the hip thing to do, and I have been out of touch with hipness for ages. So, let's do the old-fashioned thing and make it a contest.

It's a contest everyone. Just finish the joke to the best of your abilities. And send the answer to Andy through any hip digital means. You know what to do, you know where to go. The winner of the contest will be granted hairy armpits and 12 hour shifts odor. And maybe a used t-shirt. So here we go the contest

what do you get when you throw a banjo and the tuba of Trump Tower dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot see you next week