Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 71: G. Love (G. Love & Special Sauce)

Episode Date: January 21, 2020

Denver's newest resident, Andy Frasco, opens the show solo-style. He then reveals his own workaholic tendencies as he welcomes Philadelphia's own, G. Love to the interview hour. They talk about the effort it takes to find stability & family life while slogging it out on the road. The guys then take a stab at figuring out what Love means. Good luck, fellas! Dolav makes sports predictions, with enthusiasm; and Arno analyzes the lyrics of Phish through the lens of mathematics. Ryan Montbleau joins Andy to close us out. This is Episode 71. Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, tour dates, the band and the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com The views discussed on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the guests. Check out Andy's new album, "Change Of Pace" on iTunes and Spotify Keep up with the inimitable, G. Love at https://philadelphonic.com/ Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Ryan Montbleau Shawn Eckels Andee Avila Dolav Cohen Brian Schwartz  Ahri Findling Arno Bakker 

Hey Frasco, it's Schwartz. I hope you're well. Happy New Year. Great seeing you. Great seeing your new house. Good job. I'm very proud of you. Listen, we are close on this record deal with Side One. Joe Sibb is on it, as is everyone else over there, and Ratner. and Ratner, that means you're going to get a check soon. So I'm letting you know that you're going to have a little bit of extra cash and you need to be wise with it and not suspend it and save it or invest it. Keep it for when we're having flow issues. Listen, I generally think you're pretty good with money, but sometimes you do something and it makes me really question your understanding of finances. So I'm giving you a little bit of a heads up.

Money's going to come in. You can't just spend it. If things are turning around for you, that means you need to turn some shit around, break some old habits, get wise, evolve, pay attention, listen to people around you, pull your head out of your ass. Don't fuck it up, Frasco. This money is not to be spent. All right?

Later. Andy, Mark Weber here. Thanks again for hiring us to plan your party next week in Denver. We're excited. I just wanted to go through some of the lime items. You seemed a little intoxicated when you left me the first message, so let me just get through it. You can confirm anything via phone or email.

Okay, we're looking at 200 pizzas from Little Caesars, 100 pizzas from Papa John's, and one pizza from Domino's. One albino black bear. Not sure if you mean a polar bear here. Please confirm. You need VHS copies of Free Willy 1 and 2. You want to hire the Jabberwockies but not to dance, just to stand in the corner of your living room four mini horses painted like zebras one frozen themed bound house one cotton candy machine one barbershop quartet singing exclusively Lizzo songs three naked sushi women the dog from Air Bud an authentic Chewbacca costume an appearance from Jackie Chan and one male cadaver no questions asked give me a call if you need anything. We're super excited. All right, all right, all right, all right. Here we are.

Episode 71. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. How we doing, everyone? I'm Andy Frasco, the fearless leader for the next hour or hour and a half, however long we decide. This episode is going to be, but do you hear that? Chris, play that Rocky music. Yes. Play it.

We got Philadelphia's own G-Love. Perfect time to pump up 2020. Play louder, Chris. Yes. Fucking play it. Fucking pumped up. 2020 is going to be a badass year. We got Philadelphia's own G-Love in the building today. We might as well just rock it. Play louder, Chris. Let the people feel it.

This song pumps me the fuck up. Alright, turn it off, turn it off, turn it off. What's up, everybody? How we doing? It's going to be a fun, fun episode. G-Love is dope. He was talking to me about all this crazy shit on the yard, how fucking managers try to take his money and signing to a record deal early in his life. It's just a fascinating story. So I'm pumped up for that. We'll get into that in a second. We got tour dates up the wazoo coming up next week i start touring with the boys from big something we're doing a co-headline all around the country before that we're opening for our boy dave schools

um at panic on the playa in mexico try not to get arrested i one thing i like about these resort trips over the boat cruise I was having definitely a jam cruise I was missing the fuck everyone was gone I was in Denver it felt like the wild west

you're at a bar and there's a tumbleweed that goes by because all the fucking jammers were at jam cruise and a shout out to, I saw a couple homies just dress up as me for Spirit Ambles. I was definitely thinking about you too, Jam Cruise. You're not the only one who was trying to have a good time. I was trying to party, but I was sad. I wanted to be on Jam Cruise, but it was probably healthier for me if i didn't because i can't say no to shit and i'm on this like detox workouts thing for another at least until i start touring again let's see if

i could last it's nice the exercising is good to sweat everything out because i've been treating like an asshole out here in denver um just hanging out with all my friends I didn't realize I live in Denver All these musician cats I've been kicking it with Dave Bruza Who's my homie now from Green Sky That guy is a fucking good, good guy I'm going to try to get him on the show When our schedules collide I've been hanging out with Jeremy Sulkin

Jew Unit That guy's like He's my tribe member We've been going to basketball games and work. He's actually my workout partner. So, um, shout out to a Jew for getting me on the fucking orange theory regime. But yeah, I'm liking Denver. I was afraid, um, that it was going to be too much scene and it's not. Well, not yet. I've only been here a week, but the vibe is cool here. It's not all just jam music.

I could get away and fucking go to a nice restaurant and meet some coogs or whatever and fucking hang out. And then a lot of people in the sports scenes out here. I'm trying to join a basketball rec league, which is pretty exciting. Yeah, things are moving. Things are bumping. Getting ready to tour. Like I said, we're going all month.

All month long. We got a new record coming out. February is our first single release. I'm going to introduce it early before it actually happens on the podcast. But, yeah, I'm talking. I'm going to introduce it early before it actually happens on the podcast. But yeah, I'm talking. I'm feeling good. It's 8 in the morning here. I'm about to go to the gym.

Jeremy's about to pick me up so we could catch a ride to the gym. And then I fly to Boston today and open for Gary Goldman. I'm going to be there for four days. So the closing segment will probably be me in Boston. It's going to be a great time. I'm looking forward to it. But yeah, ladies and gentlemen, let's fuck this week up.

I'll catch you after the G-Love episode. G-Love's episode is inspiring. You can find love at any time. You just got to go for it. And he's got a new record, which is going to be dope, dope, dope as well. So ladies and gentlemen, let's get, let's get this fucking party started. I'll talk to you soon. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we got the ultimate swag man. G Love, Philadelphia.

the ultimate swag man, G Love, Philadelphia. Well, Cape Cod now, but the man's dope. He's such a nice guy. I learned so much about him. He's had a crazy life. He got a record deal early in his life, and he went through the major label ups and downs and management ups and downs, and now to see him still kicking ass out there.

He just put out a new record. Yo, Chris, why don't you play some G-Love while we pimp him out a little bit? He digs some sports. He's just, he's my type of dude. And he's like, he's charming as fuck. Like, if I was a girl, and if he was single, I'd try to smash for sure.

So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the thoughtful, the creative, the heartfelt, true love. We got the juice. We got the love. We got the dream. We won't give up. We are the chain. We had enough. We are the chain. We are the chain. We had enough.

We had enough. We got the juice. We got the juice. Chow's up. Devour, let you fall. You know that we rise. It's been hard to see. And we're fucking here.

Okay, we're doing it. Hey, Garrett. Hey. What's up, Andy? What a nice surprise. We've been trying to do this for a while now. I know, I know. So we almost did it after

your show where was that where were we both i think we were in like um i can't remember no i think we're in boston oh yeah no in philly no it was philly and i was like damn you want to do a after your show you're gonna be wanting to do a podcast after what i've seen on instagram or your show i'm like okay man and they were both like nah fuck it we're not doing this shit tonight i'm a workaholic g what about you you work a lot yeah i'm a workaholic yeah what like what because we don't really have a real job so what made you become a workaholic i don't know like um i guess just uh you know just wanting to just the constant thing in the music thing, just needing to stay on the hustle. It just seems like there's always stuff you can be doing if you can figure out what to be doing.

Because you grew up in Philly, right? Yeah. So what was it like trying to be a musician in Philly? Did you grow up poor, wealthy? What was your life when you were a kid to make you feel like, fuck this, I want to be on the road and get this fucking thing yeah well yeah like um well you know um um you know my parents my parents did well my father was uh an attorney and um so we grew up you know and we grew up in downtown philly and uh you grew up in downtown philly yeah yeah what was

that like right by you know the tla yeah yeah like right right around the corner from there a couple blocks so you're a fucking city kid yeah yeah no fucking way all right tell me about this yeah so i mean philly was a so you know philadelphia is a cool city it's like a real like walkable city and it's just on a grid you know so it's neighborhoods you know so um growing up in the city we we lived in like a nice kind of affluent neighborhood and then um if philly's was really interesting especially in the day because you always said like look don't walk too far in one direction because you're gonna end up walking in some place where you might not want to be or the people that live there might not want you to be.

Did you ever get your ass kicked when you were a kid? That's the thing. It was like you walk around as kids and you're always on the lookout for other roving gangs of kids. And then you're like, run! And you know, you had like all these, because you know your neighborhood.

So then it'd be like invaders coming in your neighborhood and then you'd be like oh man we've got all these secret alleys you could run run down and and escape give me a story what happened well i'll never forget this one time um it was like christmas day you know so i was probably you know i don't know 12 or 13 or whatever and it's christmas day you know how old were you i was probably you know i don't know 12 or 13 or whatever and it's christmas day so you know you open all your gifts and then call all your buddies and then you know what you get okay come on let's let's go play let's go play with all our toys you know so so um my buddy had got this super deluxe remote control car. And, you know, so we're out next to my house. It's this, like, bank parking lot.

And, okay. Next thing I know, Andy goes and gets his Corona and a bowl. I've got story time, bud. I've got to get ready for story time. Yeah, so we're in a bank parking lot playing with the remote control. And all of a sudden, like, we look over and there's a gang of kids, and we see them, they see us, they see the remote control car, and we're like, fuck, run!

Because they jump over the fence of the bank parking lot. We run out the other side, jump into my parents' front little yard, which in the cities is walled off, and then we're down there. I'm fumbling with the key in the lock and there's like you know 10 kids like like up on my parents wall like we're gonna kick your ass they're like get in the house you know so just like always type of shit like that but but hoops hoops was always the saving grace you Yeah, yeah. So I was big time into hoops when I was a kid. And so the league we played in was, you know, it was me and my manager, who was like my best friend,

and two other kids were the only four white kids in the whole league. You've had your manager since you were, your manager's been your best friend since you were a kid? Yeah, since like second grade. All right, we'll talk about that too. Keep going with this ball. Yeah, it was cool. It was just great because you know everybody in all the different neighborhoods.

So that was great because you would be walking down the street and be like, oh shit, man. Cross the street and then you'd be like, no, what's up, Kiki? How you doing, man? Oh, okay, we know these guys. So, you know, just living in the city. Basically, long story short,

Philadelphia's cool because all walks of life, you know, everybody's so integrated. And that led to the integration of the music, you know? Yeah, so what about, talk about, like, in basketball. Like, were you a basketball player before you were a musician? Or were you always trying to play, like, blues? Like, what got you into, into like the competitiveness of the music industry because i feel like basketball i think of basketball yeah the same way i think of the music industry you think of basketball i'm obsessed with basketball dude i like who are

your guys growing up like when you're a kid oh my you got to see him play oh yeah that was like that was my shit when I was growing up. It was the Sixers, the great year. It was like, so Dr. J, Mo Cheeks, Moses Malone, Daryl Dawkins, and Andrew Toney was a starting five. And that was the year they won. Who was your favorite out of that rotation? Dr. J.

Why? Oh, because he was Dr. J. Yeah. And because of his like... Swag. The finger roll layup was kind of like his signature move. But yeah, I mean, he was kind of, in a lot of ways, like him and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, right? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

These were the first like huge superstars. Well, rock stars. Yeah, they were rock stars, you know? And they'd probably be like, damn, man, I wish I was playing that because I'd be making way much more loot. Yeah, for six all you do score six points a game and you're making 20 million a year dude you know so those guys must be like damn i mean we've made some loot but damn braun you're making some serious yeah like what about like what did you take from

basketball that you take in your everyday life and songwriting? Yeah, you know, well, I mean, honestly, basketball is kind of everything. And, I mean... Did you play in high school? Yeah, I played in high school. What did you play? What position? I played like... Because you're tall as fuck.

I played forward. Forward. Forward, yeah. And I was a shooter, you know. But yeah, actually, the two things came to a head. So I was in 10th grade. It was my last good year. I was like, you know, JV, you know, not to toot my own horn,

but I was the star of the team. Star of the JV team? Star of the JV team. And, you know, the only reason I wasn't on varsity that year is because that was the one year that they actually recruited from, you know, outside of our school. And that year we had this guy, John Haynes, and he was, like, top five player in the country that year.

And so my school Germantown friends, they won the whole city that year. And, you know, Philadelphia is, is like a huge hoops town. Yeah, huge basketball. So yeah, anyways. And the Kobe. Coach called practice over the Christmas holidays. And I was like, well, there was a music demo derby in the local city paper. So I was kind of hating on going to school on the holiday

and i was like fuck that i'm gonna stay home and i made my i made my kind of one of my first demos to send to this demo derby and didn't go to the song or i don't know i can't remember but basically i i recorded some stuff on my boom box and didn't go to practice and then coach benched me the rest of it didn benched me the rest of the – or didn't start me the rest of the season. And so I was pretty bummed. And then – so I didn't play junior year, and the coach called me. He was like, well, look, you don't even have to come to practice.

Just come for the games. And I was like, no, I'm not going to do it because I want to pursue my music. How did that make you feel, like being really good at something and just because you missed it over something else you wanted to do now you're now they won't even let you play and you said you're you're good yeah no i mean it kind of was like a choice i mean to tell you like basketball and music were like these these two huge passions in my life and you know basketball was like a really serious thing for me as a kid and um you know i don't i wouldn't have played at d1 but i maybe could have played at you know d3 yeah bench or something yeah i mean maybe not if you would have

gave it your effort yeah you know i mean so what made you transition so you did that demo what happened did did the people like the demo or how oh i don't never heard back about the demo yeah i never heard it back from the demo but um yeah but you know and then i heard back from coach but um and then senior year i came back and played varsity and i i was not even a starter and it's funny because it's like you know you only excel in the things that you dwell on you know i mean so it was like taking that year off and just taking my focus away from basketball and into music and marijuana. Who were your first psychedelics? Well, no, not psychedelics, but just becoming a teenager and being like,

yo, I'm not trying to do basketball anymore. I'm trying to play folk music and blues music and move on to a different part of my life. So I kind of made that made that kind of call you know i mean it was just cool you know yeah so now let's move on to that part of your life who are you listening to to like like damn i want to do fucking that right right who is it yeah so it was um so i think you know uh i've been taking guitar lessons since I was like eight. Oh, so you were already playing?

I was playing. And then I was learning how to sing songs. All my teachers were always showing me how to play Beatles songs. So I must have learned how to play. I can't read music, but it was just like, G, E minor. So I had a good handle of all the songwriting and chords and stuff. And listening to Bob Dylan and The Beatles, I think that kind of subconsciously led me to writing some songs at a young age.

And then once I started writing songs, then I really got into my music. And then I was doing kind of folk music and folk rock you know and then I was playing harmonica in Iraq and then that led me to trying to find someone other than Bob Dylan and Neil Young who were the only guys that I knew they were playing you know acoustic guitar and harmonica and then they terminated his guy John Hammond who was a blues guy and um and and he does a lot of renditions of old blues artists so I put I put on um his record and it was his version of Robert Johnson's Traveling Riverside Blues and that was like I was that was like an epiphany

it was like the sky opened up and it was like holy shit like that's what you know one man you can do with a guitar um and not just like strumming you know yeah this is like the delta blues like you're playing melodies and riffs while you're holding down the chord or the bass so then you got obsessed yeah and then it was like a path like it opened the world of the blues and then that was kind of and then and also watching john hammond perform i got to see him a bunch in high school and it was like just to watch him do his one-man show was like oh yeah and then at that point i was like yeah um there's got to be i i want to make a record and play coffee shops because the music industry at that point was like you know there was no internet or anything so the music industry was

like you know fucking um light years away how are you marketing yourself during those years that's what i'm saying it was not anything like that like i don't there was like by playing coffee shops by doing all the local gigs getting your base regionally in philly like you're you started saying all right this is my i'm gonna start in philly oh yeah but it wasn't even like that it was like you know just making songs and doing a couple gigs here and there and in high school and playing on the street and you know there wasn't any type of like or notion to market or build up anything. It was like, all right, play on the street and write songs

and keep recording them on your cassette tape. And then for me, it got serious when I was like, okay, I'm going to not go to college and become a street musician. And that was the gig I could get. And then that gig led to some club gigs, which led to me meeting my band. And then nine months after the band, we signed with Epic Records.

Nine months after? Yeah, yeah. And then it was like game on. So we kind of built it up. So how many years of this transition are you learning the from learning round robert you know about hammond to you getting a deal from epic how many years was that yeah so like well 17 is probably when i got hip to the blues and um and then so that was the thing like

john hammond recorded his first record when he was 20 and Bob Dylan recorded his first record when he was 20 so in my mind it was like I'm 17 I got three years to get this good and make a record and that was what that was so you know at 19 I moved to Boston street musician and then by the time I was 20, the band was together. And then we signed, and we had already cut half the first record and kind of made it up the ranks of local Boston acts. So we were doing really well in Boston. So that was when Epic was developing acts.

Yeah. They were doing development deals. Yeah, I was one of the last generation of like you know developing yeah developing artists which means you know you don't have a hit right now but we think maybe you could you know what i mean but you're good enough that like we're gonna give you a shot and then so my class was like you know michael franti ben harper dave matthews and all these guys were coming up at that time so were they giving advances like were you balling at 20 oh yeah yeah yeah like money no it was crazy like we went from

you know street performers you know living off a mac and cheese can of tuna fish and an onion yeah and to like you know getting an advance for 250 000 and fifty thousand dollars and it was like wow like i remember i was at jeff my drummers he lived in his loft you know with the bathroom down the hall and we got the call from our manager at the time okay yeah we got the deal you guys signed an epic record i just broke down and cried because it was like you know it was like wow i mean he couldn't imagine it was like you didn't know what was going to happen, but things were going awesome in Boston. And it was like, you didn't know it was going to change,

but you knew like, you didn't know what was going to happen, but you knew nothing was ever going to be the same again. Do you believe in putting your dreams into fruition? Like you just said that, like 17 years old. Yeah. Like, I know Bob Dylan, all these guys made records at 20. That's me. Look at you. You did it. I know, Bob Dylan, all these guys made records at 20. That's me. Yeah. Look at you.

You did it. I did it. It's fucking insane. So I want to talk about these years, 17 through 20, then we'll talk about the rock star years. But 17 through 20, so when you're busking and stuff,

when you're living poor, were those like kind of one of the best times of your life? The best. Because you're free. Yeah. You just said it. It was that.

It was like, yeah, I mean, you know, you can never go back to it but like it really was like a magical time like uh you know give me some examples of like what what was the moment where you realized like fuck i could do this yeah was it eight like were you busking and all of a sudden you had a huge ass crowd you like look up from one of your songs and all of a sudden there's fucking people no no what was never people no were you making money busking no so wow so you're just working on your chops that's like you're fucking making working on my chops your hoops yeah because i mean because in boston at the time it was like the street musician scene was like super competitive and it was harvard square you need to have a permit people would have like a bose sound system

powered by like four car batteries like and and every there was all these like coveted spots where you'd want to be with the most you know pedestrian traffic come by and you know there are stories like you know if you sat in's spot, you can get a knife pulled on you. Shut the fuck up. Yeah, I swear to God. Yeah. Have you ever seen that happen to you? I never did.

Like, but there's... You never... I hope you never... Yo, get out of my corner, bro. I'm Quaker, man. Quaker Oats. No, but like, yeah, like,

this one day it was funny because like I said, no one would ever watch me because I... And that's the other thing because people would be... There was a guy that played all Bob Marley covers and then there was a full band

and then there was this one woman named Mary Lou Lord who was like this emo rocker and she notoriously like, you know, fuck Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love hated her and she was like kind of iconic in Boston. So it was like the Boston groupie? Yeah, but she was like a real emo singer. Like she never really made the big time, but she was like kind of iconic like the boston groupie yeah but she was like a real emo singer like she never really made the big time but she was really talented and anyhow so one day i was playing and i came by well no one was in this killer spot so hey man i set up my stuff

and i'm playing doing my thing and all of a sudden i look up and oh my god there's someone watching me so i'm like because no one would ever stop and watch me you know i mean because i'm playing just my shit and blues and nothing no one can recognize and i played shit really fast like a million miles an hour and um anyway so nervous are you a nervous person no i mean i i'm a little bit of a nervous person but that's just i mean if you listen back to the i this record g love oh yeah which is my first like solo acoustic record i sold out of my case but it's like everything's like it's like i was playing i just played really fast yeah i don't know i was a kid yeah exactly but um so i look up i see this kid i'm like fuck yes i'm watching playing my song playing my song i

finished the song i'm like hey man you know thanks for watching he goes hey man this is mary lou's spot you should probably go because she's about to be here oh my god i was like damn that sucks all right cool i packed my shit and moved down to you know a different spot but yeah it's pretty competitive damn dude this is the second time you told me stories about this one with your basketball coach yeah now one with this like have you always felt like you've had to, like, prove people that you were good? Yeah, it's kind of a thing. Like, we kind of did because, also because, like,

the music of G-Love and Special Styles is, like, rooted in the Delta Blues and in hip-hop. And, of course, both of those, you know, types of art are, you know, based upon African American culture and experience and so early on

when the record came out and then we started you know we were kind of blowing up but we didn't know it you know but we were doing a lot up, but we didn't know it, you know, but, um, we were, you know, doing a lot of press and then, and then especially in Europe.

Yeah. Everything, all of a sudden it just went from like, what, before you're with Epic? No, this is when we, yeah,

I was saying when we, after we got the deal and put the record out, I started doing press and then people are saying, well, how can you do this? Like what gives you the right to rap and play the blues and you know even in philly yeah and then also it was a thing like you know you asked earlier like what was my family like well your father was a lawyer and you're from philadelphia and you know how can you play the

blues and you know it was like wow it was like it was a lot of pressure like when i was a kid it fucked me up because um it was constantly like that like constantly like you had to prove it every night to like the fans loved it but like there's always just a lot of haters and and just a lot of people that were interested in that culturally like you know what gives you the right or doing you can't fuck with this music yeah and and also back in the in the in the early 90s when that was it was like hip-hop was a black thing like it was the african-american thing it wasn't it was the excuse me there was a bc boys there's third eye not third i went third base and you know vanilla ice who everyone hated on and it wasn't a lot of white rappers and certainly not any guitar playing rappers. That's a lot of pressure for 20 years old, 21 years old, man.

We'd show up and open up for Guru, Jazzmataz, or open up for Tribe Called Quest. We opened up for all the hip-hop acts in the day. And the crowds were like hip-hop. It was just a real cultural thing and like you know the audience was um they did not want to see three white dudes playing garage band rapping you know just there's like it was it was hard dude like were you getting booed off stage you you were getting not so much booed off stage but you weren't kind of hated on

no it was like you know you open up for a tribe called Quest Crown and they're just like just got their back to you but then Q-Tip

would come on stage and he'd be like y'all give it up for G-Lo they came out they're doing their thing you know fuck that so he was like

really cool yeah they always got definitely got approval from like the people all the artists no the artists but not like from the hip-hop scene so how did that make you feel fucked up it made you feel like it made me just feel like fuck hip-hop and i was like a big hip-hop kid and then i was like

fuck this hip-hop shit because i want to play the blues and that's why our second record was like we should have stayed on our shit after our first record because it really hit a chord and um like i said we didn't really know we were blowing up and then the second record was like a more blues new orleans based record and it's really cool but it wasn't what it was different and we took a lot of hip-hop out on purpose and then you know you I think it was a big mistake not I think the second records classic in his own right but yeah I mean it didn't do well commercially and that's how we knew that like we were having success because all of a sudden like it was like the rug pulled out for the second record and

like all that crazy buzz was like not there. And it was like, oh, okay. So you should have listened to your gut. Well, we should have just not made the second record yet. We should have done like another single probably off the first record. Because everything was like that, you know, it was like singles. If we would have put one more single, I think that thing would have, I mean, the first record kind of blew up. But I think it would have just gone through the roof if we stayed on it more. Like I say, you don't know what you have

when you're doing 250 shows a year in a van and you're just trying to make it to the next gig and you're also writing and creative and you're just like, well, fuck the old shit. I want to do some new shit. You know what I mean? And a lot of people, including me,

made that mistake of it's kind of a patience thing. What was the point where you finally said, fuck thinking about what everyone else wants me to do and I'm just going to do what I want to do? I don't know. I'll let you know when I have everything. Well, I mean, I still feel like there's that thing where you got to go out every night and prove it to yourself.

Because at the end of the day, it's like you can have the worst show of your life or the best show of your life. And someone's going to come back and tell you, oh, that was all right. And someone's going to come back and tell you, that was the best show I've ever seen in my life. So it doesn't really matter. It does matter but for you know for the musician it's really it's different that's the one thing that's different from hoops and sports and music is that like if you win in basketball you got the w you could have a you could have me and you could go on stage together and i could come off saying man that was our best show ever and you could say man that one sucked

tonight and i'm like what are you talking about weren't you just there like you didn't feel what i felt it's like so subjective so you gotta prove it to yourself first and then prove it to your band right and then prove it to the crowd and um explain proving it to your band well i mean you gotta inspire especially if you're the lead man you gotta inspire great performances and call a set that people are excited about playing and get these guys to

you're trying to get you're trying to bring something out of everybody you're trying to bring something out of the crowd bring something out of yourself bring something out of the whole night technically you're a point guard you're really like Bring something out of the crowd, bring something out of yourself, and bring something out of the whole night, right? Technically, you're a point guard. Yeah, you're a point guard.

You're really trying to set up everybody's experience. Some people are really ready to go and want to go there, and some people take a little more. You know, some crowds you've got to work a little harder than. Sometimes you come out and you're just like, from the first note, it's like, oh, it's on. Do you think that's a lot of pressure, being a front man? Yeah, I mean, you know, it is a lot of pressure.

Like, I don't know, for some people it's maybe, well, for me, yeah, it is. Like, how do you entertain by yourself? Like, do you feel like you have, it's harder for you to entertain when you're by yourself? solo acoustic yeah so look versus when you have a band like if a joke doesn't nail you're like all right let's go to the next song boys you know like with you you're but it's like being a stand-up comedian yeah well like you know with the it's too like for me it's like two different experiences when i'm doing um the band show

i hardly ever i don't talk much between songs and i don't really tell jokes and um but it's funny when i do acoustic show i'm like blabbing away and um it's a different kind of communication um and it's something about also like playing acoustic show it's not as much it is pressure and set up and everything getting ready for the show but it's kind of it's a different thing I don't know I feel like more comfortable and then the band thing is more about like you're vibing with your guys and like trying to get

this vibe going and doing this while you're thinking about the crowd so there's a little more yeah I don't know it's different but they're both like equally While you're thinking about the crowd, while you're thinking about... So there's a little more... Yeah, I don't know. It's different. But they're both equally cool and draw different things out of me. And hopefully out of the crowds, too.

Can we talk about your best friend? Yeah, who's my best friend? Your manager or whatever. Maybe he's not your best friend now or whatever. Actually, I was talking to his mother when I showed up here. So when did he decide to jump in the game? Did he always believe in you? Well, actually, my manager's got Jason Brown.

And we were best friends in second grade. He did everything in grade. I literally wrote my first song about him and my first girlfriend. What was it? Because he got kind of busted for selling weed yeah in ninth grade and kind of was kind of politely i think his parents were politely asked to send him to a different school so he was like a big skier so he went to this ski school in vermont gmvs green mountain valley school and um so i was like really bummed you know like my best friend

was like you know going to vermont and then at the same time i had fallen in love with my first you know girlfriend so you were fine and i was so it was just kind of uh it was yeah it went we've shared the best we've had the worst but it's always been the two of us that was like the first song i wrote that's beautiful man it was a beautiful song and it um yeah so then you know um anyhow i went off and did did my thing and i had a manager out of new york and um jason was he he went to college and he became a banker for core states bank in new york and uh and then actually he was crashing on my manager's studio or loft down in tribeca um when he was first getting going in new york do you have a fallout oh yeah like well we you

know he's my best friend so we've we've had fistfights and shit you know like we've we always battle like we're yin and yang so yeah which has been good but also challenging at times but um yeah so then my old manager he he really messed things up and i ended up what happened well can we talk about yeah i mean it's a good story. It's just... We were in Europe. We came home, and we're pulling up to his loft in New York, in Tribeca, and right across the street from Nobu there

on Franklin Street. And the cast... What else was he managing? He was managing fun-loving criminals. Do you remember that? Were they making dough back then? Well, they hit it. They put a record out and blew up and really blew up in Europe

to the point where they all live in England now because that's where they make their loot. They don't really have anything going on over here. Isn't it amazing the markets? Oh, yeah. Sometimes some people don't hit in America and then they hit in Europe. Well, dude, they were opening up for us, pulling up in black prevo and we pull up in our van really yeah and my manager would be like i'm gonna go hang out with the boys on the bus see you later i'm like all right cool

fuck that yeah exactly and so what happened yeah so basically he was just not he could schmooze like anybody bro he could he could just and he was like my big bro like i loved him to death really looked up to hold on the first no my my yeah my first manager this guy jonathan block and you know we had a great relationship until it wasn't and um i basically pulled up to his house and you know all right pay the count you know you can pay he goes what so you can owe me more money i'm like what and he's like yeah you owe me 250 000 in unpaid commission what the fuck plus 50 000 in unpaid expenses and i was like what the fuck yeah and i was like he held this again you didn't know anything about this i didn't know anything

about it basically he he had had a falling out the accountant and they hadn't made a budget for anything so we're grinding doing all these shows like working as hard as humanly possible how old are you here i was like you know 22 no no no no this is in 95 96 no this is 97, so I was 25 or something like that. So you're in a $2 million band right now? Well, no. At 27? Well, you know, I mean, we were making enough money to not be able to pay our commissions and making enough money that the commissions were substantial.

Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah. So you didn't realize you weren't paying commissions? I didn't know anything about anything. I was just playing the guitar and writing songs. That's what I'm saying. There was nothing. So what happened?

So then I was like, well, fuck. Basically, we went to the label soon after that because we were getting ready to make the third record. And he said, oh, well, we were getting a $325,000 advance for our record. And then John said, they gave you a $325,000 advance to make a record? Yeah, every time. What the fuck, dude? Times are changing, dog.

And they want you to spend it all. So Jonathan basically just threw it out to the head of the label. Well, we also need $250,000. And they laughed. So then we continued the meeting. I came back to him. I said, look, we really do need $250,000

because I know we haven't sold a lot of records, but made you a ton of money, but we haven't lost you any money. And, you know, we're doing really well and blah, blah, blah. And I owe John and I'm working as hard as I can. And I'm, you know, my commissions were unable to pay commissions. So can you bail us out? And the label said, yes. to pay a commission so can you bail us out and the label said yes and they literally like wrote us a check for an extra check for 250 000 which stupidly because again i didn't know we fucking just give it to him instead of like firing him and like litigating well we're not gonna give you we'll give you a hundred thousand so but he got all that money and then jason and my father and i we suited up you know because we were like inspired by the goodfellas you know the movie dad was with your dad yeah so we're

building now we all suited up a suit and tie fucking drove up for a goodfellas music drove up from philly to new york and i you know open up my nokia flip phone i said oh no i don't even they didn't have flip phones in i don't know but i said hey um jonathan where where oh i'm just leaving the office i'm just leaving house call in the office oh i'll meet you on the street okay cool so literally met him on a street on frank suits and i just me though and i had a you know a letter of termination letter or whatever. And I said, hey, man, I wanted to give you this. And he read it. And he goes, you're making a big fucking mistake.

And then I said, I don't know what I said. I said, yeah, I'm going a different direction, man. Thanks for everything. And then you're making a big fucking mistake. How old were you here? was like you know 25 or 26 and then so he walked away and at that point like every like everybody was calling the teams like he was calling the label and we were calling the accountant saying we just fired john are you with us are are you with him? Then to the label, are you firing him? It's like Jerry Maguire, dog. It's like Jerry Maguire's shit right here, dude.

It's all good. Yeah, it was, man. It was like that. So what did your dad say? What advice did your dad give you? Well, because that's kind of like, why is he in the suit with you? Well, because he was a lawyer and he wrote an official letter and it was just like, we're just going to...

Here's the thing is that we didn't know what he was doing. We knew what he wasn't doing and we knew that something was getting weird with the money to the point where like, I was taking all the merch money cash from every tour and bringing it home and giving it to Jay and being like,

okay, buy a fax machine okay what do you need need a printer okay buy a computer and we had a little office for our street marketing team set up in my house in philly yeah and then we're like so we didn't know what's going to happen when we fired john block whether that was going to be the end there's a big time manager you know you're like fuck because we didn't know if he was going to be like you know you're never working this town again kind of thing yeah we didn't know you stuck up for yourself bro yeah well you know the first time you really stuck up for yourself like that yeah but it's hard but just imagine like you can't like you know it's hard to be friends

with somebody that you owe 250 000 to like that just immediately changes the relationship like if if you owe somebody money or somebody owes you money, it's like, well, this is going to be between us, you know? It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour. Hello, everybody. Welcome to Dolab Sportscast. He's talking shit about the game. He's got a weird fucking name.

It's Sports with Dolav. This week, we're going to be talking NFL playoffs. Let's go. Patriots are out of the fucking playoffs. First time in 10 years Tom Brady, Bill Belichick Fucking massage parlor ass Robert Kraft Aren't in the championship game

The world is right Their stupid ass fucking lost to the Dolphins In week 17 And then didn't get a bye And then had to actually play a playoff game And then lost to the fucking Titans Are you kidding me? It's all about the Chiefs.

They're taking it. They took out the Patriots. They took out the Ravens. Fuck yeah. Fucking hate the Ravens. This year, championship week, we got the Chiefs taking the Super Bowl. You heard it. On the Sportscast with fucking Dola.

It's Sports with Dola. Fuck you, Patriots. Woo-hoo. Looking back at it, you should have fired him and then let him try to sue you. Yeah. So you can negotiate. So you don't owe 250K. Yeah.

But you're just a fucking nice guy. You're like, all right, I owe him 250K. Let me ask him. Give me $250,000. But you're just a fucking nice guy. You're like, all right, I owe him $250,000. Let me ask the label for $250,000. Sure, give it away. And then you go back to the label, and now you have a $325,000 advance and a $250,000 advance. Now you're up to $575,000. Yeah. Owe back to the label.

Well, yeah. Or did they not put that part in the recoup? No, no. I don't know. I imagine that they did yeah yeah so what was the third record the third record was a record called yeah it's that easy and it was it was a rebound record from coast to coast motel which was the blues record and this was like coming back to philly you know back with my homies like we had a 76 year song it was like back to hip

hop and like you know you're bring into shows at this point in your career so yeah like probably probably um i don't know i'd say like the medium-sized clubs like you know 800 five yeah five five to 1500 okay great so you're on a stride yeah no we're like in it yeah so you make this record. How'd it do? Actually, it did well. Well, if you were to look at it now, it did awesome. It probably has sold close to 400,000 copies.

That's fucking amazing. Yeah, but that was a moderate success. And that's actually 20 years of sales. In that record cycle, it probably sold 250,000 copies, which was solid. So you're in like a third record. You're in the stride of epic. You hire your best friend to be your fucking manager saying, hey, let's ride this thing, dog. So what happened?

What was the game plan? Like, what were you going to do? What was he? What was he? Were you guys just like in just like doing it blindly? Like, let's see, you know, or did you guys have like a solid game plan? Yeah, well, that's when it kind of became a solid game plan because Jason's like a business guy, not a schmooze guy. You like that better?

Well, you know, I'm kind of, I've become, when I was a kid, I was a lot more kind of like to myself, but like, I'm a people person. Like, I love people. I love hanging out with other musicians. I love, over the years, I've gotten really good at the music business game. And so I can hang. I like to hang with people. And that's what I knew.

I was like, like I said, we're yin and yang, Jay and I. So you take care of the budgets you know we're gonna have this shit tight working rolling and then i'll network and then and that was a good formula for us and you know since that time we never lost a penny unless we were consciously aware okay we're gonna take a hit on this run is it worth it you know but it's a small business you know it is amazing once we start fucking taking our putting our mind 110 out of the whole thing like you know when you're like living blind like you didn't know you owe 250 000 now that you know it's like fuck that that's never happening again yeah no so like when you're touring now do, have you always taken that lesson to know exactly what you're getting yourself into?

So when you're with Special Sauce, how long were you doing that for? Well, we're still doing it. Oh, so I thought you were just doing solo now. No, no, no. We probably do about 75 shows with the band, and then I'll probably do another 50 acoustic in a year. That's like a typical year. Okay, so you're still doing 130 shows.

Yeah, or more. Yeah, I think it's somewhere between 100 and 150 a year probably right now. What do you love about the road? Well, I mean, I love the moments on stage. I love to be... There's nothing like doing the shows. And then I have to say, I love the experience of just seeing...

And the older I get, the more I cherish being in Denver today and then tomorrow being in New York. And I just, like, eat up, you know, I just, I eat up all of, you know, all these things of different, and then just, like, having a day off and, like, you know, Duluth and walking around or, like, you know, being in Sioux Falls. Like, you still love it? Yeah, I mean, but then there's a part of me, too, because, you know,

I got three kids. So, and there's a part of me too, because I got three kids. So there's a part like you're like, fuck, dude, like really hard to be away from the kids. Especially that young. Yeah, so that's hard. What's the most heartbreaking thing that's ever happened? Like with that. What, with the kids?

Just like being on the road being far away yeah you know like probably not with your youngest one but your 18 year old yeah he he saw it yeah saw you always away yeah yeah oh damn andy yeah no that's like that's uh that's that's like a tearjerker because it's like you know um you know like you know you know people are always like oh well people always say if you have like a baby they're like oh you're happy it goes so fast cherish these moments you know and it's like really true because it does and then you know my eight and my oldest son's like he's 18 now and we're super close but yeah like him and his mom split you know when he was right before he was two and you know i wasn't real i wasn't ready for that type of commitment at that time and okay so you you had the kid you tried to make it work for two

years yeah we tried to make it work but you know how many gigs were you doing a year yeah while you're trying to make it work oh there's like in 2001 so yeah i mean probably you know i don't know same thing like 150 shows like we did like i'd say for the first like five years we did over 200 shows a year and then like the late and then we were able to kind of do you know get into that zone like 150 shows a year so what happened what with the two so two years in you tried to make it work with your baby mama oh yeah well you know we i don't think we we never really were good together anyhow but when she got pregnant she wanted to have the baby and i was 29 and i felt like well i'd like to have a baby too and i kind of knew in my heart of hearts that she wasn't the one.

But I knew that I would love my kid and I knew that I had my dream job. So I felt like to me it was like, well, two out of three is not bad. But I did love her.

And anyhow, she's married now to the guy who was both of our best friends. No way. That song. When she say he's just a friend. Oh, my God.

He's just a friend. Oh, baby. Did that fuck you up? Yeah. What happened? How did you feel about that? Oh, I mean, it was just, well, the first thing was like, you know, my family, my parents are together.

Our family is really tight. Just to fail at that, that was my first big failure in life. I have had a kid now, and now we're not going to be never getting married or to be together. So it was a huge, really, really tough time. Were you afraid of failure before this happened? Well, no. I mean, like again, because I was like a kid and everything was just,

we had had some ups and downs by then as a band and stuff. I just can't believe you experienced all this at such a young age. Well, I was 30 by then. No, but you had a record when you were 20 years old. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You lived in the music industry. Yeah, you basically are. I was like, oh my yeah. Yeah, I was almost like a boy band. Yeah, you basically are. Oh, my God.

Yeah, so anyways, just back to that. 18. Yeah, he's 18 now. And, you know. What was heartbreaking, man? Well, I mean, it was heartbreaking, you know, playing in Seattle and then having to wake up at 6 a.m. to fly back and visit with him for like an hour you know after school and then

have to fly back to portland the next day for the show because that's what i was doing like for a lot of his childhood was like breaking my back to yeah i didn't want to go more than a week or two without seeing him on any tour so that's fucking awesome man they. I really did that. And the other thing about it was a major thing. I had to move to Boston. So we got our deal out of Boston. And then I moved back home to Philly in 96, 97. And with all my homies And my community and everything To leave

And then to come back As a rock star Is the greatest fucking thing ever And Philly's like a big city but it's a small town That's pretty amazing From tribe To coming back to Philly Now you're a rock star

So I had to leave Philly And move back to Boston But now you're a rock star yeah and i was like so i had to leave i had to leave philly and move back to boston but this time it wasn't by my choice like when i first moved to boston that first two years were the greatest years of my life moving back there was like going to jail because i didn't want to be in boston i want to be in philly i got a studio in philly i got all my best friends i got my best friend has a daughter the same age as Aiden. Like we're leaving all this shit. My parents, everything. So it was like, oh, it sucked.

And then I was basically in exile on Boston Street for the last 14 years. Because your boy was, was that when your boy was dating? Yeah, because, yeah, they live in Boston. So then, so his whole childhood, I've moved to Boston. So it's always been about Aiden. It's either been about... And I made a conscious effort when his mother left. I said, well, you know what?

If I can't be on my son, I'm just going to focus on my career. And every second that I'm not with Aiden, I'm going to be on the road. And I did that. Were you running? Yeah, I was running. And that's why i was just like fuck i'm not gonna and then i didn't have any friends in boston because every boston's super transient town so everybody that was that i knew in 94 was gone you know so like come back to boston

yeah and then you get older you're on the road like you don't have time to like oh you meet somebody cool like oh let's go get a beer oh shit i'm going tomorrow so and then i'm you know then i i'm home i'm with my kid so well i don't really want to go out tonight i gotta wake up and take him to school and i don't want to be like hung over so you know it was really kind of honestly it's kind of like an isolated time when i was home but um you know now everything is good you know do you think it's easier to run yeah i mean what you mean to like run and work hard or run away from your problems run away yeah well i mean that's the thing about like what we do is like if you're on tour it's like the ultimate escape because like you know what you're doing you know at the end

of the day you're gonna fucking have a music music climatic orgasm and get to like do the best part of you and and you know you can party, and then you know you're going to wake up again and do it the next day. And if you happen to have a day off, you're like, well, fuck it. Day off in Denver, I can just go chill. But what about those eight hours

until you're on that two hours of nirvana? How do you feel during those eight hours? Well, I feel great because it's just like a routine. It's like I don't have to do it's all about you right like get up go to the gym you know go walk around explore the city then go to soundcheck take your nap do the show and party and that's it it's like the same days like every every the same like a routine yeah i like a routine yeah me too man and then when you're home it's like fuck what am i gonna am I going to do? I got to, you know. Yeah, talk about that.

Do you get anxious when you come home? Oh, my God. What do you do? How do you get through that? I had to go to the doctor, not anymore, but for a while. Therapist? No, I went to my doctor and I was like, can you give me a prescription for Xanax? Because I get so much anxiety and stress when I'm being home.

Why do you think that is? Because you have to do real everyday life shit and you don't have the release of the performance at the end of the day. You have no itinerary and you have to like... And then you also have to take care of... If you have a family coming home, all of a sudden it's not and you have to like and then you also have to like take care of if you have a family you're coming home so you have to like all of a sudden it's not about you and like make sure g is good for the show like make sure you get your ass up and take these kids to school and then like

do the dishes and fucking cook and yeah you know and i was like a single dad so and then trying to find a way to get like all right well or then you fall in love with a girl in New York City. And then you say, well, fuck, yeah, can you take the train up here? Because, you know, Aiden's in school this week. Or like, what are you doing tonight in New York City while I'm sitting up here, you know, watching TV while Aiden's sleeping? Oh, nothing, I got to go. You know what I mean? So like all that type of shit too.

Being home is a little more challenging. Yeah. Is it for you? Hell yeah, dude. That's why I've never had a girlfriend, G. I've always been on the run just suppressing my feelings. I was going through heavy anxiety and the only thing I saw that got me through my anxiety was being on

stage right like i was always just like all right just like start a business or like make a business plan for a fake business i'm gonna hopefully make in a couple years like i was always just like making clothing line companies and like making just i don't know if it was just running i was just like i always needed to do something right so when i get home i and i don't know if it was just running. I was just like, I always needed to do something. So when I get home and I don't have anything to do, I start freaking the fuck out. And it's like, maybe I do need that kind of family. Because that's a routine. Yeah.

You know, like having a family, doing the fucking dishes, and maybe not be the routine that you've been fucking making perfect for the last 30 years, like with the road thing and being on the road and loving that. It's just a new type of routine. And I don't know. It freaks me out. You are stronger than man than I am, my guy.

I don't know. I mean, it's just something you're just constantly figuring out because, you know. But this is the way it should be it's like you want to come home and like you know then it's like it's like real life it's like yeah i mean you still work on your music and and so do we just put these in our heads yeah because when you come home it's like it that's really the if you're coming home and especially – well, whatever. Family gives – I guess the point is that like for me when Aiden was born,

it was like that was when I grew up. And that was when I found my true focus and kind of that gave me legs to like still have a career now. So what was distracting you? Well – Partying? Yeah. It wasn't so much like i was distracted like i was still highly focused and highly artistic and all about everything was

going on it's just that i didn't take the time to like learn the music business or like really pay attention to what was going on outside of just the musical part so it when Aiden was born it like gave me that focus like I want to figure out like the other side of what I'm doing and just be aware of it you know I mean and know how to navigate it yeah how hard was it to find what you're looking for well I think it's like the hardest thing for like every artist to like find a balance between you know you have your art your music which is like a spiritual emotional thing and then you have the business side of it which is just the opposite and so to be able to find some type of peace in like you know you know being pure about your art and and um and and your music and then to not let the business side infect infect it so

not try to not try and you know try to make great music that connects but not do it for the reasons specifically because you want to make money even though you know you're paying attention you're trying to make money and do the business side and so you're trying to new record emulate that is it honest to who you want to be oh yeah i think i think that the new well yeah i mean i don't think i know that the new record is is very thoughtful like because it has it really like um it really like one side of it's like really personal, personal about this great joy I've found like recently with my new family, like being in a solid supportive relationship with a woman that like totally has my back and like my kids that I, that I love. And like, we've moved to Cape Cod and found this wonderful, you know, so for the first time in 14 years,

I got to live where I want to live. Right. Um, been so it's just like it's the last two two or three years have been a real like turnaround positive in my life and so the record reflects that great like peace i found in my relationship fucking awesome and then the other half of the record is really like a like a kind of a protest to what's happening now in our country you know with the Trump administration and all the divisiveness

and the creeping militias and one thing I really try to do is write songs from like a place that's pure, that's like an emotional reaction to whatever I'm reacting to. That's not about like, well, this song needs to go like this and it needs to be about this because this will sell.

You know what I mean? Is it trusting yourself? What's that? Is it trusting yourself? Yeah, I think it is. That your art is going to be genuine? Because it isn't. I think you have to work to it.

You have to make a conscious effort to catch yourself and be like, yeah. But we were talking about it last night when we were backstage at the show, or whatever. Because I was saying, oh, yeah, you know, Kraz and I were talking about you and saying, oh, well, you know, if Andy's shows are so crazy and if he had a – if one of these days he's going to have like an anthem like, you know, fight for your right to party like the Beastie Boys, and then it would be like game over.

So then the question is like, all right, so... Well, so say when you write the anthem, but it's got to be an anthem, but it really has to be about how much of a party you throw and what you're giving to your peeps. So it's going to come from a real place. What's your anthem? Well, actually, it's really cool because um you know i've i've

got hits i guess that are popular songs that amongst my fan base yeah but like actually the title track for my new record is called the juice and this is this is a protest song it's like a call and response song and um it's been really cool the last two years since writing it and performing it and it's like to me it's my it's like the reason i never really had this before it was like it's like it feels like the reason to do any show to get to this one song this is really what i want to get out there right now and um that's awesome so you have a message yeah it's trying to fight for Yeah, and the lyric And it's a call and response

It just came out A couple weeks ago The single did People have been singing along with it Every night Because they don't even know it But it's easy We got the juice

We got the love We got the juice we got the love we got the dream we got the we won't give up we all the change we had enough we got the juice time's up and so the second time that chorus comes around people are like oh shit I know what this is about and then people are

like really feeling strong about it because look let's face it like if you're like a person that's into progressive values or whatever, liberal or whatever, you know, especially in this day and age, like the kind of right wing, they come to the fight with you know a gun and liberals come to the fight with like a pillow and so i think that i've kind of um been pretty pissed off about like where our country's heading and kind of wanting to be kind of a rallying cry and like a cheerleader for you know people that are in the trenches like for activists and you know trying to encourage people to vote well because you lose a lot of fans you lose a lot of fans because what you think is optimism is pessimism to another side of the yeah your fan base and then you know you put it out

there and then people and the fucked up thing is people are like here's what like the people will say oh gee you know i've been a fan of you for 20 years but you know you know fuck you unfollow i'm gonna unfollow you i love how they have to tell you yeah i'm gonna unfollow you unfollow i'm like all right and then and then they say oh you know i like your music i don't like your politics or you should stick to entertaining motherfucker haven't you, haven't you not listened to any of my records at all? This is not something new. I've been going to the peace rallies in Washington, D.C. in high school. When are you going to start a desert storm and shit? I've always been a protest kid.

Why do they think, like, why are they so entitled for us just to like entertain why can't we have a voice too the same thing with athletes yeah exactly but you know that and and that's the whole thing is like no the artist's job the musician's job is always to use that platform to like speak on these things it's always been like that. It's not something new. So I'm just like, good, fuck you. I didn't even... Get that Philly in you, dog.

I'm like, look, I didn't even know you were at my show in the first place. Do you think they're popping up more than they used to? Fuck yeah. Do you think you can control me because I'm worried about your ticket sale or buying a record? No, I don't give a fuck. I'm not gonna like pander to you because you know you buy a ticket like thank you for your support if you don't like my music now because you don't agree with me

um you know certain things then that's cool then that's you i mean if you don't want to come to the party don't come what does love do you how do you like when you give love well you know on a selfish thing like love love to me is like my family now and then on a on a on a you know like i feel like it's you know like it's my job to like bring love like to to bring love out of people the love for music and love for people and like um so i mean that's what is love i mean you know i i've i'm starting to realize that it's that it's not just um well there's all kind of love but like you spend so much of your life like trying to you know find this one person to love you know i mean and that And that's what a lot of people are going to think. Well, that's true love when you love your partner.

And that is a big part of it. But it's also like you can love that skateboard, the dope-ass Caballero skateboard right there, or you can love the way you love your children or the way you love your children or your audience you love your audience and you love your work and all these different parts of love are also part of that that love experience so you know um this kind of an important thing like figure out in life you know and then even with your like my relationship with my now wife which feels feels so weird to say, like my wife,

Kelsey is like, we, we love each other, but I also love the fact that like we have this really solid, like, um, supportive kind of relationship. And especially she's,

she's so supportive of, of me and everything. And, and it just makes it easy. Um, and yeah, I, I love her, you know. But it's also something like deeper than like the thing that we think about like I'm madly in love. I'm madly, you know, passionately in love with this person that's going to burn you up and it becomes it becomes an obsessive thing and and um it's not it doesn't have to be like that and it's great when it is like that but it's also great when it's

um kind of like a more encompassing love i guess like a whole life you know i'm talking about yeah i totally know there's a buddha thing well well it's a it goes back to that fucking guy who's not understanding that all you're trying to give is love right okay yeah that's what i'm trying to get so like fuck this guy yeah because this is your whole game plan in the first place it is on the hunt for love it doesn't have to be the fucking stereotypical love it could be the love that you see in the fucking walk from the hotel to the the coffee shop right on the tuesday that you have a day off yeah yeah and that's what you're encompassing yeah and like yeah i totally agree with that so fuck that unfollow that guy could suck my dick whoever

you are so thank you but gee thanks for being on the show but seriously man you know we're gonna do some rock and roll One of these times too I believe in you man I think you're a genuine dude Alright this is the last last question What do you want to be remembered by? As a father and as a musician What do I want to be remembered by?

What would you like people to remember you by When you're in the history books Well I hope that like You know like people to remember you by when it's all when you're in the history books well i hope that like i you know um i i we're we're 28 years deep in it and you know that's probably what we got on the back end too something like that so you know um you know to me i i feel like um the work that i'm putting into like my craft like consciously especially with my singing and um writing i feel like um you know very hopeful that you know i'll continue to make great records that and um hopefully have more like you know hits and and notoriety from that to elevate my because it's

still my goal to be the greatest musician in the world and still well i mean yeah i mean i want my music to be heard by the most people in the world as possible and i want to make people happy and i want to bring love and i want to and there's nothing saying that you or i couldn't be in the history books it's like oh oh yeah bob dylan and andy frasco and janice joplin and the grateful dead and g love and like you know there's nothing holding us back from that um so that's that's my goal to to be and i feel like i've you know the first part of my career like established a true like individual style um and to be an originator and that's kind of so if i can be remembered as like an originator of the hip-hop blues and a great performer and um then you know on my professional career and then

it just to be a great now just a great family man for my family. To be like when you get older and you have grandkids and stuff, to be the patron of your family, that's a special thing. I'm happy to meet you, and I'm happy that you accepted love, dog. It's fucking awesome. Thank you, my brother. I'll see you next time, buddy. Well, hello. I am Arno Bucker, and this is Staying Relevant with Arno Bakker.

Today, we will analyze lyrical structures and deep contemplation in the song Way by the artist Fish. All you non-mathematicals, try to keep up, will you? Shall we get started? I'd like to cut your head off so I could weigh it. What do you say? Five pounds? Six pounds?

Seven pounds? I'd like to go to your house and gather all your raises and pick all the little prickly hairs so I can weigh them. What do you say? Five pounds? Six pounds? Seven pounds? I'd like to gather all your friends

and squish them all into a small swimming pool so I can weigh them. What do you say? Five pounds? Six pounds? Seven pounds? Why? Why weigh on a sunny day? So much to do, so why, why weigh on a sunny day?

Why weigh? Well, my friends, weighing items is a way. There's no pun intended. Weighing items is a way to understand your world. Particles, atoms, elements, a pound of feathers is as heavy as a pound of lead. It all leads back to physics and mathematics. So my out of the question instinct would be to weigh. And especially for the artists of fish, who seem to struggle not only with spelling, but also with the simple reality of weight and size.

I am amazed that their musical preciseness and intelligence seems to have an inverse correlation with their ability to make a simple estimate. I can only hope they are making themselves useful on that sunny day. So, see you next week and stay relevant with Arno Bacher. And there we have it. Thank you, G-Love, for being on the show. Fucking fascinating shit.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are backstage at the Wilbur Theater and I have Ryan Mobblue. Hello. He backed me up like a fucking pimp. He's a... You don't normally do this. I did my homework. I don't.

It was an honor for me to get hired as a side man for Andy Frasco. I'm like a band leader. I hire people. So it did give me more of an appreciation for the dudes I hire. Me too, bro because like i'm always afraid to sit in with people because like i feel like i'm not worthy enough i know what you mean

like that i'm totally like that normally when i sit in i just sing because it's so much easier and i just feel much more confident that way but the guitar thing is a whole different thing like when i'm not sort of dialed into my own world it's like i'm not like one of these guitar slingers and get up there and rip you know but it was tonight was cool man because we opened for gary goldman comedian at the wilbur theater a couple sold out shows in boston i like doing these it was only 15 minutes sets so let's paint the scene so like people are expecting to be to. So like we come in there playing music. I think it's a good combo, music and comedy. I totally agree.

I think there should be more of it. Yeah. Why don't you think there is? I don't know. It's like, I don't know. Probably for the same reason it's like movie theaters have to be like feature films. Like why aren't there short films? Why aren't there, why isn't, why don't we go back to vaudeville or, you know, the good parts of it, you know, like why, why isn't there short films why aren't there why isn't why don't we go back to vaudeville or you know the good parts of it you know like why why is there like more variety

shows and like just different stuff going on well like with your yes darling project you guys have jokes in that right oh yeah i mean it's basically like it's kind of a music show that's a hybrid kind of into a play kind of thing it's's fucking awesome because it just feels so good to kill a joke. People are laughing and shit. I was so nervous going into this gig. More nervous than my normal shows. You killed it though, man.

You get up there and be Andy Fresco and you're fine. Yeah? I don't know, man. It's just tough for me because I've never done a solo show You're good at that Thanks man The furnace is talking to us Don't you fucking

You do these solo shows How hard is it to be Completely vulnerable I love it because it's a kind of Controlled vulnerability It's the vulnerability I've created on stage It's taken me years to realize that, but it's like, yeah, it is. It's like, it's my, it's a perfect space in which to do it.

But the solo thing really requires listening. It requires a quiet, silence is the canvas on which we paint. Yeah. Cause like thing is like really when you, when you only have the firepower of your instrument and you, it makes it's like night and day. Cause if it's loud, I don't have the firepower to get over you. it makes it's like night and day because if it's loud i don't have the firepower to get over you i spent years coming up through the bars and but when it's

quiet and everyone's locked in that's this whole other kind of show have you read hecklers no i saw that there was a documentary hecklers wasn't or heckler i saw that what what is hecklers like uh you know just like no just like people who are just like being i know what hecklers? Like, you know, just like, no, just like people who are just like being. I know what hecklers are. I just don't know what. No, I know. What is hecklers? But like, it's hard to like control them.

Like Gary did it perfectly today. He was one heckler from Boston. Just talking, just talking to his in Boston. So everybody in there was. Yeah. What's the deal with that out here? Why is there so fucking tough? Is that.

I don't think they're tough out here. I don't know. I mean, it's hard for me to speak about where I'm from. I mean, I think there's a... Well, I don't think there's a heckler thing out here, is there? No, I don't play here enough. I don't know. I think culturally, Boston is like, and the Northeast in general

is like, it's a little more... It's more introverted. The first time I went out west and a stranger started talking to me in a bar, the Boston in me is like, the fuck's more it's like more introverted like the first time i went out west and like a stranger started talking to me in a bar the boston to me is like the fuck's this guy's probably you know what i mean and you're like oh people are just nice you know i think i might have even said that in your last podcast i don't know because i think it's like because i uh you know i ripped off my shirt and we you know you're rocking celtics gear and i had to rock my laker jersey out here i got booed fucking heavy out here for that.

Yeah, of course. But in LA, it's like if someone... Yeah, welcome to Boston. I was on, I got in from a flight last week and I'm like, I live in Vermont now, but I'm from Boston. And I'm on the shuttle bus thing to get from Logan Airport to the train, wherever I was going. And this guy had just come in for Chicago businessman He's kind of douchey

He was sitting there next to his businessman friend And I just hear them talking And I'm just sitting there all tired from the trip And he's talking and he's like Yeah, well, of course, the best thing about these playoffs Is that the Patriots aren't in it And I just overheard And I don't usually talk to strangers

But I was just like, I disagree And he was like what i'm like i disagree he's like are you a patriots family yeah welcome to boston you know and it was you know it's just like a pride thing is it because you think like you you're not new york you're not is yeah there's a thing of that you know what i mean it's like i don't know the sports thing has been and it's worked out pretty well for us. Yeah, you guys are kicking ass. But it's like, you know, yeah, there's a, I grew up, look, I grew up going to Pats games when they were,

I sat through the 1-15 season in 1990 when my father had season tickets and just like, I mean, you know. Who was the quarterback? What was his name? I mean, it wasn't Tony Easton then, was it? It was Bledsoe? Well, I saw the Bledsoe years too And then Bledsoe brought them to the Super Bowl

In 97 and I watched them lose when I was in college But I think that was pre-Bledsoe And pre-Parcells So they were bad Might have been Tony Eason But it was like Until the Sox won in 04

It was like 86 years since was like until the Sox won in 04, you know, it was like 86 years since the championship. Or it's basically until the Pats won in 01. So maybe that's what it is, like pent up aggression. There's a lot of fucking, people talk about how angry Philly is and stuff like this because like they haven't won a ton. And now we have. So it's like taking the edge off. But it's still like this fear thing of like, it could all go bad. It could all go horribly wrong.

Because we sat there. I mean, back then growing up, it was like my father's never seen them win and his father had never seen them win and his father before him you know and i was like it was tough yeah you know now it's not tough what do you speaking of fear what do you fear what do i fear good question man it's a big one i don't know for me it's like a lot of internal stuff more than like external a lot of my struggles are internal so i might fear that i'm not making the right decision or i fear that i'm not doing as well as i could do with myself or something like that or just get on myself it's for me it's much more that than like I fear. I mean, I probably should fear like nuclear war.

I mean, I won't say I don't, but I don't as much as I used to. Yeah. But I don't know. That could be different if I was, you know, like really dying. But it's like, you know, I think we all go on. I just went to a funeral this week for someone I love. And it's like, I don't know. We're all just passing through. Yeah. We're all go on. I just went to a funeral this week for someone I love. And it's like, I don't know. It's,

it's, it's, we're all just passing through. Yeah. We're all going there. So we can fear it, but it's just, you know,

I don't welcome it. I want to, I want to live as long as I can, but it's going to happen. Fear failing. I think I have, maybe, maybe I wouldn't have used those words,

but I think so. Yeah. Like I fear like whatever this crazy drive is that makes us get out there and get on the road and all this stuff like I think I fear yeah I guess I fear failing do you yes all the time this is why I stay on the road because and they can't catch you they can't catch or like yeah it's like at least in my brain i can't i'm not failing because i'm still doing it i feel like i trick my brain tricks me when i'm not doing what i'm supposed to be doing like it's like the same thing is like your brain tricking you that you think you're dying yeah because like as we get older you know like you could have i'm a very

hypochondriac we're like if i have a cold i feel like i'm dying this is it well like you could have, I'm a very hypochondriac where like, if I have a cold, I feel like I'm dying. This is it. Well, this is it. Or like if I have a little throat thing, I'm like, oh, I've got throat cancer. Dude, I'm fucking neurotic, dude. Are you neurotic? I mean, I get a little bit, for sure. I get in my own head.

I have a big echo chamber in my head that I'll get in my own, you know, bubble sometimes. How do you get out of there? How do you, what tricks to get you? I mean, I don't know that I do it, but I like the Tony Robbins thing that he said of get out of your head and get into your body. He has that ice bath thing that he goes in. I don't have one of those. But, I mean, I don't usually do.

I honestly just fester until I'm fucking so crazy. Get one of those with that fast car money, baby. No, but, like, it's crazy, man, because, I don't know. Like, I'm trying to get out of that that where it's like right when something bad happens, I just go into panic mode. You know, it's like the same thing with you. I was convinced myself this whole for two weeks going into this show that I'm going to bomb. You were great. Killed it, man. It was scary, dude. going into this show that i'm gonna bomb and i'm just going you were great oh killed it man scary

dude i'm you know what i've you know what i feel like i don't know it's it's weird to talk about this but one thing i've come to kind of start to understand over the years is that like so much of it is just you showing up in the room with you and it's like i'll spend so much time worrying about like oh my guitar sounds like shit or i got that lyric wrong it's like i'll spend so much time worrying about like oh my guitar sounds like shit or i got that lyric wrong it's like all these things and you're the most qualified person to pick apart that stuff but it's almost like you can almost argue like 90 of it is just you showing up in the room with your presence and doing you whatever it's gonna be that's half the battle it's more than half i think it's like just fucking you know because you i mean especially at this point like you have the instincts to it's like you got on

that stage tonight it's like you may thought you were gonna bomb but you just get up there and you're like how about if a gary fucking gorman in the house tonight they're like yeah like first things out of your mouth and they're like yeah you got this maybe it's just committed but i worry too i mean i don't know i you know it's like yeah because you I worry too. I mean, I don't know. I, you know, it's like, yeah. Because you're by yourself, man. Like you're doing these solo gigs. But these days I've spent so many years trying to like win rooms over to get to the point where now I can, I just play these smaller rooms, but they're tickets full of people. It's taken me, it's literally been only the last couple of years where I realized like,

wait a minute, these are all people who want to see me. They all bought a ticket for me. So that's cool. We're good. I don't have to win them over. You know what I mean? Let's just go for a ride. It's getting more and more fun.

Did your therapist teach you that? Probably a lot. My therapist is a big music fan too, and he's super in tune with that kind of stuff. He is. Yeah, yeah. I met him on one of our retreats. He came to a retreat that I do. Like, I was leading a retreat with me.

And did he come up to you and say, hey, I'm a therapist. Have you ever needed a talk? Well, after, we, like, did this whole journey, this whole, like, retreat, and it was great. And then afterwards, we were having drinks in Montezuma in Costa Rica. And I was, like, super depressed at the time.

I mean, I still had the space to, like, lead this thing. It was great. I played music and did yoga with people. What were you depressed about? I mean, me like again like all internal stuff i mean it's always internal but like you know i was like real isolated at that time i had like you know i mean had you know like got out of a relationship lost my management lost my band just kind of like just that whole like journey and wondering what i'm doing and not really having a home and being on the fucking road for 15 years or whatever it was like you know that shit gets in your head i think also when you do something every day for like years don't think

about it and then all of a sudden you have this like oh this like looking back at time then you start freaking out do you yeah what about you i don't know what got you to that point of depression like you're just you're you've been kicking ass for 15 years yeah but it doesn't always fit i mean i've always been beating myself up and like just i get in my head and it's like you're like you're saying like i mean i get neurotic about like like oh you're killing i remember like you just almost have no idea because the shit's in front of your face all the time so you can't have that perspective on it. You can't be like, Oh, I'm doing great. And it's also like, I think physically really hard,

like just to be on the road and not have a sense of home and to lose touch with your community. Like, you know, basically that was it. Like I have community, like I have it, but it's spread out in a far net and I have close friends, but they just assume I'm not going to be around. So no one's calling me when I'm home. And I would just not really stay in touch and just assume it's all going to happen do you feel like you get less text messages now from people that are important to you

probably more now because I'm a little because I've come back and been a little more active with it and actually have fostered some sense of community but I really I mean it took me a long time to realize I hadn't been doing that for like over a decade, you know, and you're just sort of blindly going after this thing, which is why I have a career now, but it's like, you really, you have to, you know, you gotta, yeah, you got friends, but like be a good friend to your friends. You gotta like stay in touch. You gotta, yeah. You think it's just like, we're just thinking selfishly? Well, I think so. There's a certain amount of, it's not, it's like, it's self, you're just self-involved. We have to be self-involved to do what we do.

Yeah. And then it gets fucking crazy because you're like, it's me all the time. My business is me. And I made these posters of me and I'm going to sell t-shirts with my name on it and play this show that's me and get, you know, but you have to be self-involved to do it. And I'm going to reflect on me and i'm gonna sell t-shirts with my name on it and play this show that's me and get you know but you have to be self-involved to do it and i'm gonna reflect on me and do that and it's there's a role for that it's okay it's not like shameful to do that were you ashamed at it no i mean i never but it's like a little weird to get you know like when the dust settles from years on the road and you're like shit where are my friends you know they're there but i'm like oh god i'm and just you can get really isolated you know i think that's one of the toughest things of

going home after your tour empty house the dip day yeah you know what the dip day dip day that came from my therapist it's like i had the first day back like at usually the first like if i get back like sunday night or whatever it is then the night i get back or whatever it is it's almost like you're in shock still it doesn't even count whatever the next day or even the day after that is the dip day and you just go so how do you get out of that i mean you got to go through it i think honestly like knowing just have like having a name for it for me helped to do be like oh this is my dip day and even i'll still feel like shit but I sort of have some glimmer of awareness of what's going on.

And it still happens. I think that's important. It's so just having that one thing you can grab onto where maybe it's like you don't go into total despair. We're like, oh, this is my dip day. You still feel terrible, but it's like something to grab onto. And it's just, if you just ride it out,

it gets better the next day, you know? Exactly. So what do you do on your dip day? I mean, honestly, when I get home like that and I'm so exhausted, like I don't do, I mean, I just allow myself to take care of myself, whatever that means. You know what I mean?

Porn. Stay in, porn maybe, sure. Or like ice cream and that stuff. It's like ice cream and porn. I don't know. Yeah, me too, bro. Whatever it takes, I guess. I'll come like five times on my dip day. I swear, I'm like porn where, you know, like, I don't know. Yeah, me too, bro. Whatever it takes, I guess. I'll come like five times on my dip day.

I swear, I'm like a fucking machine. Like two minutes, just like power minutes. You got to watch that stuff too because then that takes you down. I know. I realize that too. Like when I have my own room sometimes and I have like three days in a city, I'll just beat off so much. I can't believe it. Andy Frasco's masturbatorium. Andy Frasco's world-'ll just beat off so much. I can't believe it.

Andy Frasco's masturbatorium. Andy Frasco's world-saving beat-off. No, but it helps me for now, then I get back into my low dopamine. It works for a couple minutes. What an episode. We're talking about masturbation,

suicide, and G-Love talking about spreading the love. G-Love's a man. Garrett's a cool dude. Yeah, you have any good stories about G-Love? Do you know him? I just met him once. I mean, now I know him. It's cool. I was just a fan of his, you know, but then we got hooked up through a mutual friend, I think, and I went over his place once in Boston to do a co-writing

thing. And I was like a fan, but I was like psyched and I didn't really have anything ready like for, it was kind of weird and because I just didn't know what was happening. It was like real last minute. And I went over and he was cool as shit, man. We just shot the shit and played tunes. That dude would play blues for hours and he loves it.

And he's a big, you ever see John Hammond Jr.? No. John Hammond Jr. is a real deal. His dad is a famous A&R guy, John Hammond, who discovered Dylan, Aretha Franklin. It's crazy. Billie Holiday, I think he had something to do with it. A lot of pressure on his hand. But John, his son, he's a blues man,

and he kind of came up in the village. He told me a story. At one point, a couple weeks in the village in the 60s, his band, I think he had clapton and hendrix on guitar shit like that he's got stories like like johnny cash and dylan he like but he's a blues he's like a blues vessel he's seen all these guys and he embodies it and he's sick player playing like bottleneck slide and ripping harmonica if you ever get to see john hammond Jr. And so the reason I bring it up is because that's G-Love's hero. Because last time

I saw G-Love, I was like, man, you sound like Jon Hammond. He was like, man, that's my hero. So spot on. It's fucking amazing. G-Love, thanks for being on the show. Ryan, thanks for doing this. Thanks for having me, Andy Frasco. I love getting to know you, bro. I love to get to know you, too. I feel like we're

becoming closer now. Bro, stop touching bro. I'd love to get to know you, too. I feel like we're becoming closer now. Bro. Stop touching me. I know. Keep touching me. Oh, God. One last thing before we leave this dressing room. It's my dip day, bro.

I need it. Don't tell the people. Don't tell the people. If there's something you could improve on in 2020 what would it be we got an election seems to be room for improvement there i know uh i i would i would actually this is kind of a cliche one but for me it hasn't been i would like i think i need to improve my diet yeah seeing the ways i'm getting older i feel

the ways it's like not horrifically bad, but I feel the ways I could get a lot better. Let's prove our diets. Let's fucking write smash hits. Let's kick ass these solo shows. Let's wear condoms. I tell my fans all day,

wear condoms unless you're trying to have kids or unless she's on birth control or whatever or you're on birth control. I heard there's male birth control. Or if you're at that moment not having sex at all, there's no reason to wear a condom. If you just kind of hang it out in your house. Wear condoms too. Keeps it clean.

When you go to the store, wear condoms. Oh, my God. I had a horrible story. I'll tell you. Then we'll leave uh dude my when my mom moved out of my parent or when i my parents like left the house yeah like they're my family house i i would just beat off and put all my dirty cum underwear and stuff in one drawer and when they moved out it was like the fucking dna fucking room dude my mom was so distraught that's my dad called when my dad calls you know it's like oh my mom's pissed

at something you know like andy why why is there so much hum in this drawer that's it guys thanks for coming to world Saving Podcast. That's it. Ryan, Mom Blue, thanks for being my co-host. Hey, thanks. Let's go hang out in Boston before you go back to Burlington. My brother's in the lobby. I'm going to go say hello.

I'll go say hi to him. Yeah, man. And I'm going to go say hi to Gary. Guys, be safe out there. I'll catch you. We're taking a week off. I'm going on Panic on the Playa. I'm going to go party with Dave schools and the widespread boys, but I'll be back next week.

I forgot. I'm not on my computer, but it's a dope guest. So listen up. All right, guys. Love you. Arno,

take us off for something nice, sweet, and something not so cynical about America. Thank you. You tune in to the third season of the celebration of madness of Andy Fresco's World Saving Podcast. Thank you for listening to episode 71.

Produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angelow, 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 worldsavingpodcast. For more info on the blog and tour dates, head to andyfresco.com

and while you are listening, why not listen to our albums? You can find them on iTunes and Spotify. This week's guest is G-Log. Find them on philadelphonic.com PHPH Philadelphia This week's special guests are

Ari Findlings, Dolof Cohen, Ryan Montblew and Anna Bakker. And I'm not drunk enough to start philadelphia this week's special guests are ari findlings dolov cohen ryan montblue and anna and i'm not drunk enough to start waffling about g love g spots that usual sauce and other sexual remarks that might end up being sexist belittling degrading or just plain stupid in fact i'm not drunk not even a little tipsy for i stay stay away from alcohol, full stop. No funny stories, no meetings with the cops or the AA. I just didn't start when I had the right age. That might be the reason I love to talk politics. I am into boring stuff. Boring.

I always visualized the special sauces being red, like saucy red, you know? Only now I realize sauce also comes in whites. And browns and yellows. Shit, even greens with that minty stuff. Anyway, if you want to discuss politics and food, you know where to find me. For all other stuff, please go to an Andy Fresco show. See you next week.