Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 87: Nahko

Episode Date: June 3, 2020

Andy returns this week to deliver a message of hope and unity for a troubled nation. And on the interview hour, he goes tête-à-têtes with singer/songwriter, Nahko! They talk about the new album, the band, his family, and much more. Shawn & Tobi sing and Ahri imagines alternate sexual proclivities. Andy welcomes Lyle Divinsky as co-host to process some emotions and the cold reality of racism in this country. Demand change. This is EP 87 Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast Stream to support Black Lives Matter movement: Zoe Amira YouTube For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out Andy's new album, "Keep On Keepin' On" on iTunes Spotify  Get yourself some Nahko online at nahko.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Ahri Findling Shawn & Tobi Eckels Arno Bakker 

Hey Andy, this is Frank Ross. I got your phone number from your agent. I have a bar in Lake of Ozarks. I don't know if you saw the video that's been going around on Twitter, but that's my bar, and I want to hire you to play our 4th of July bash this summer. I know you may be hesitant to perform so early, but I want you to know that this is a liberal agenda. This is not a real disease. This is no worse than the flu, and I need you. I want to pay for you and your band to come headline our 4th of July bash. I can promise you there will be over 5,000 people there,

none of them wearing a stupid fake mask. We're all going to be handing out hydroxychloroquine at the door. I promise you it will be safe. There will be no issues. Please call me back. I am excited. I've never been more excited about a band since maybe I booked Def Leppard in 1988 just call me back I want you 4th of July my bar Lakely Ozarks call me back Ev, Ev, Ev, everything, everything is fucked.

I'm sorry, that's no way to start a show. I apologize. I started again. I apologized. I started again. I said, most, most, most, most things are fucked. But please don't give up on me now. Because I'm here to get you out of this dark hole.

That's my job after all. Craigie, make them laugh, make him cry, oh That's what it says in your bio Alright, and we're back Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast I'm Andy Frasco. How's our hearts? How's our heads? How's our minds? Fucking crazy week.

Fuck. America is divided. It's not COVID. It's racism. If it's not racism, it's always something in this country. And, you know, we're going back. It's like history repeating itself so i'm hearing i'm hearing y'all about the protest i didn't i didn't even know protests were happening to be

honest i turned off them i turned off the news um about two months ago because it was scaring me and i kept on seeing um uh you know these memes going around for George Floyd and stuff. And I didn't think about, maybe I'm fault too for being ignorant, you know? I think we just post things on social media where it's so saturated that we don't dig into what's going on. So I did my shit show Thursday, not realizing that the fucking country's fucking burning down and shit. And I'm happy and shit. And then I watched the news right after the shit show. And I was like, fuck, this shit is going down right now.

And I felt bad that I didn't address it and stuff. Because I don't know how to address it. This sucks. and uh because i don't know how to address it you know this sucks african americans are being are getting the shit end of the stick not not just african americans native americans i mean anyone who isn't really white and it's fucked up to say and we need to start realizing um that we're all fucking equal. It doesn't matter what fucking color your skin is. You know, we're all fighting the same struggles.

We're all fighting the same mental health. We're trying to figure out what is life. And we can't make it any harder than it already is. So, you know, the looting and shit's crazy, but there's no rules in riots. No one taught us how to riot. We just do it from feeling. So if you're angry, fuck yeah. Do your thing. You know, don't hurt anybody. You know, peaceful protests, man. don't hurt anybody. You know, peaceful protests,

man. I'm about that. But, you know, the time, you know, enough is enough and we need to start sticking together.

This country is divided and it makes me sad that after all these years of and all these

things like 9-11, and we can't come together, you know? It's fucked up. But that's life, you know? That's why we have Nako on the fucking show tonight. Nako is a peace man. He talks about equality. He's dealt with it with his mom and his dad and, you know, living.

And it was just, I felt like this is the perfect person to talk about this stuff. So ladies and gentlemen, I know it's, I know this is supposed to be optimistic and shit, but shit's going down and we need to start thinking about how we treat people and how we want to live, you know, because I don't want my future kids, if I ever fucking have any. Oh, fuck. If I ever fucking have any, I don't know. The way shit's going down, I might just cut my balls off, just fucking spade them. Don't want to see, don't want to raise kids in this fucking.

I'm hearing for you. We just stay optimistic, you know, fight for what you believe in. But we need to have each other's backs, not just white people, not just Native Americans or Asians or Asian Americans or African Americans. We need to all come together and figure this shit out because at the end of the day, this is all we have, our bodies. It doesn't matter what skin color you are. It doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat.

At the end of the day, we're just fucking people. And if you can't treat people, all people with respect, then you're not treating yourself with respect. Let's love each other. Seriously. I know it sounds hippie as fuck. It's 9 a.m.

Woke up thinking, I gotta talk about this. But I don't know how to talk about it because I've never experienced this. I know our grandparents experienced this. Maybe our moms and dads but this is our first time experiencing this. Seeing the young kids out there fucking fighting, I'm fucking proud of y'all

but we need to figure this out. We can't let violence overrule what the main purpose of these protests are and that's everyone getting a fair chance at life alright sorry there it was

let's talk to Nako and I'll catch you on the tail end and we'll see what's up. Love you guys. All right. Next up on the interview hour, we have our boy Nako, songwriter. Really nice guy.

Never really talked to him before. I've always known his band. His band's our homies, man. They come out to all, whenever we're playing in the same town, and they have a day off before, they always show up to my shows, and they're fucking sweet. The drummer's super dope, and

they're all good guys. I was wondering what the leader of the pack was, and you know, at first I'd, oh, before I start talking about this, yo, Chris, play some Knocko. Play the new record, Take Your Power Back. It's also number five on the billboards. Congrats, Knocko.

I just wanted to see what the leader of this band is all about. He's a good guy. He's upfront. He's honest. He told me a lot of shit. I was asking him some crazy shit on the yard. And he just, he answered it. And he took the time. He was so busy. You know, he's like

probably five, six, seven interviews that day. And shout out to Nako. You're going to love this interview. Crazy shit is fucking about his dad and his mom. And now he's adopted. It's fucking nuts. But I think you'll like this one. All right, guys.

Enjoy NACO, and I'll catch you on the tail end. came to which i will return she said you got to you got to you got to take your power back. Something woke the mind still numb. Sense is coming back. Knock-off. Andy. What's up, dog? I feel like we've been trying to hang out for a while and we finally got this happening.

I know, we're always like... I was hanging out with your band members in Idaho. They showed up to my show or something. It was fucking so strange. Yeah, yeah, I remember that. Dude, number five on the billboards, big dog. You feeling good? What's going on? How's your head space?

I don't really know how to translate that. You know what I mean? It's cool. It's all thespace i don't really know how to like translate that you know i mean like it's cool it's it's it's all the fans though you know i mean like it's it's everybody that downloaded the songs that like ordered the albums like still did physical kind things yeah you know so i'm just really proud of like the teamwork you know i mean well your fan base is really fucking loyal too bro yo. Yo, they've always been. They're so loyal, yeah. I remember this one time we played with you at Resonance

and it was like two stages and you're playing right after us on the other stage and your fan base would just like fucking watch. And like, there was like everyone, your fans were just waiting for you just to have that presence, you know? And I'm like, what the fuck is going on over here, dude? It's like everyone, your fans were just waiting for you just to, to have that presence, you know? And I'm like, what the fuck is going on over here, dude? It's like a cold dog. It's cool to see that you're fucking humble through the whole process, but I want to get to know you a little bit, you know, like tell me your story, like where, what, what's going

on? Like what, where'd you, where'd you grow up? Why'd you get into music? And let's talk about all that stuff well first of all thanks for having me on the show and we're on the same label yeah i know it's so tight i love them um also love your minneapolis jersey oh thanks um also dude do you do all those drawings of your guests no my uh em Emily Rich does, but she's a badass, dude. They're so good, bro.

Dude, I appreciate it, man. I was like peeping at it the other day, and I was like, does he draw these? I was like, what the hell? They're so good. Man, I appreciate it. Like, literally. Do you do any other art besides music? No.

Oh, yeah, tons. I mean, I think like everything I feel like i like to do is some kind of art you know what i mean yeah um well what is art to you then uh art is the ability to break out and break through a box uh some kind know, confine. I think anything that exists beyond the confines of, of its origins can, can be looked at as art and, and anything that you like feel drawn to express through, you know, I think it's very artful and I think, um, and I'm therapeutic, you know?

Yeah. So like for me, like, um, I grew up in the suburbs of Portland, moved away when I was like 17 and lived in Alaska for a couple of years. I got a job up there playing piano for like this um just like dinner theater why'd you pick alaska well because the job came to me right and yeah i was like ready to leave oregon and like i got this job up there and i was like well never been to alaska before so i'll just head up there and went up there for a couple summers and like made some scroll and then i was like what i want to do next i was it was random though bro because i was like you know i didn't know what i was trying to do

really because i was you know just just left home hadn't i barely graduated high school you know like was homeschooled through high school um and then like by the time it was time to leave it was like i i knew i was good at playing piano. And I could music direct for musicals and stuff like that. So they hired me up there, and that got me out of Oregon and kind of introduced me to more of that vagabond lifestyle, seasonal worker vibes. I met a lot of kids from all around the world

who were just traveling from you know dope national park vibes you know around the world and working at these joints and like i didn't even know that kind of lifestyle existed so um it was there that i got introduced to like a lot of different music you know i was i picked up the guitar when i was 14 but i started piano when i was six and took lessons for 10 years and taught myself guitar once I got myself one. And, you know, so once I started to travel, the guitar was, you know, so much easier to lug around, obviously. And in Alaska, I got introduced to like all the indie rock that like changed my life. Like what?

all the indie rock that like changed my life you know like what like broken social scene wolf parade the shins um arcade fire um arctic monkeys uh uh who was it just this new day uh what's that song you got a nerve to be asking a favor. It feels like Side One Dummy is perfect for you know, young knock-offs. Well, that's what was so funny about meeting them

is because they're all old punk rockers. You know what I mean? Like, my first show I ever went to was the Distillers. Oh, really? You know,

what are you, 32? 34. 34, yeah. But I didn't start going to shows until I was like, like I saw a show when I was like 15 or 16, you know? So what was your path then? Like, okay, I got a lot of questions for you. Okay.

Were you running away from something? From home? Yeah. Don't we always run away from our parents, though? Yeah, but like, yeah. So what was your relationship like with your parents? Like your dad? Yeah, no, so I was adopted when I was

nine months old and so I was raised by my mom and dad who I associated with my mom and dad of course. They was a very it was just one of those typical situations of being raised in a suburban environment by a fundamentalist Christian family.

And it was very sheltered, you know what I mean? And so we were homeschooled and all that. But my dad loved music and instilled that in me and us kids. There's two other kids that were adopted with me. We were all from different families. I was the only brown kid in the family. So when I started to become aware of myself, Um, you know, this is all I knew. Right. Like I didn't question maybe like, you know, where my other family was or whatever, like, you know, this or that. Um,

but I was, bro, I was like, till I was maybe like 13 or 14, I still would like pray to Jesus Christ, like at nighttime. Shut the fuck up, really? But religiously to the point where I would curse in my brain during the daytime at random shit. I'd be like, fuck this shit.

And then at nighttime, I would remember how many times I had used a bad word and I would ask for forgiveness. That's how in it I was. Now, by the time I was 15 or I had used a bad word and I would ask for forgiveness. Like that's how into a, in a, a what, right. Wow.

Now, by the time I was 15 or 16, I started, you know, all of the like air sign in me, it was just like, I need to get the fuck out. Like I would do all the things that like,

you know, were very rebellious or very like, you're not okay in the household. Um, cause it was just, you know, it was very confining, you know?

Um, and exploring my own self, exploring my artistry, exploring my, you know, interests. It was just a very controlled environment. Was it abusive? Nah, no, no, no, no. They were like literally like their picturesque parents. They did everything in their power to like raise us in a good way. They did an amazing job for what they knew how to do.

And it took me some years, you know, down the line to like turn back around and go, I just love you for who you are. You know what I mean? So, um, so in a sense, yeah, I was running, but I was just like trying to like figure out my life. I was like, I need to get away. I need to go figure out. And traveling became the vibe, you know, um, through circumstance, you know, through getting a job. and then after i was in alaska um

a friend of mine told me about uh this program uh where you can travel around the world and like um learn about different places like agriculture and shit so like what it's called wolf willing workers and organic farms so you work for free on these farms and you can live there? So it's yeah. So it's like a work trade program. Like mad people will go to like Italy and work like, you know, all the farms, you know, during the season or whatever. Or you can go, you know, and work at a winery, you know, stuff like that. And in Hawaii, where my friend was trying to like, he was trying to say, oh, we should go to Hawaii. where my friend was trying to like, he was trying to say, Oh, we should go to Hawaii. Um, there was everything you can imagine.

Like, you know, uh, fruit, um, you know, coffee, I worked on a coffee farm. Um, I worked a ranch where I learned to like, you know, herd animals and like castrate sheep and shit. And like, it was the full deal, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah. So, you know, I'm saying like yeah so you know i was learning about dynamic farming i was learning about um uh you know uh permaculture etc and it was a whole thing you know and like you could you basically go you set up a time frame that you want to be there you know and yeah you essentially work trade so like you do a certain amount of hours of work on

their farm learn about their stuff um and then you get to stay there for free and there's always a different situation as far as accommodation is concerned most of the time it's camping what did you learn about yourself through these uh through this farming well i learned that i was a real suburban boy i was like goddamn i was like i'd never really sweat in my own clothes before i've been that uncomfortable you know i mean so like so what was the most uncomfortable thing that's happened to you there I was like, I'd never really sweat in my own clothes before. I've been that uncomfortable. You know what I mean? So like, so. What was the most uncomfortable thing that's happened to you there? I mean, being broke for years was uncomfortable. What about it?

And I think, well, because I couldn't do anything you know and I was I never asked my parents for money even if I was giving money to my parents so like I was always doing it myself and there was that pride thing about it too I think but I remember being in Hawaii and thinking like you know this is hard not having you know very much

cash to float on but I was also kind of loving it you know it was really teaching me to fend for myself and actually keep like and to watch what i spent shit on and like you know um it was hard but it was it was really rewarding at the same time it was weird i tend to like being in the thick of something that either scares me or like um or i don't understand necessarily because i'm like what does it mean so do you feel alive when you're in those situations you feel present yeah no i thrive in crisis which is kind of you know what kind of crisis have you had in your life

well i mean in any kind of well family crisis right like um i tend to like uh i tend to like end up being a good mediator in those circumstances and or a perspective holder where i can peel back and look at the bigger picture for everybody um but uh but man it was a wild experience, you know, being out there and working out there. I ended up staying for, like, seven or eight years. Shut the fuck up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you know an instrument by then? Were you playing during?

Well, yeah. I had my guitar with me, and I was writing music, you know. But, like, then basically like i i spent a year there right and then after the year um i was like well i don't know what i was thinking i had like a girlfriend i had a car i had like four jobs i was working i had my like we connect i had like a motion i had all the things you know what i'm saying like and i was you're comfortable i was comfortable after a year i got into the flow, but then I was like, well, I guess I'm going to quit everything. I'm going to buy a ticket to Burning Man. I'm going to go,

go try and find my birth mother. So I literally like flew back to Oregon. Next day, I looked up my mom's name. I knew she was like in Oregon somewhere, literally found her. She'd been posting online. I was 21 21 at this time i didn't realize she was even looking for me um she was looking for you too yeah she was looking for me too yeah it all just happened like that you know i mean how old were you i was about 21 holy fuck so tell me about this dude so like i got it was like literally the day that i the day i landed at nighttime in portland in the evening and in the next day in the afternoon i was like oh i'm just gonna google her name and see what's up and so i look it up and then there's this whole listing of like

posts that she had made over the years and the most recent post looking for me was in 2016. And this was in 2017 when I was looking for her in August, 2017. And you're popping, your career is popping already. No, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm a nobody.

You're nobody. I'm just a farmer that I was in 2007, not 2017. Correct. Okay. Keep going. Yeah. So,

so I, I find that this posting she'd made had like an address and her phone number i called the number it wasn't the phone anymore but the address was like 15 minutes from my mom's house uh-huh uh so i was like hey ma i think i found my other ma i'm about to go and see what's up i'm about to go like drive over there. She's like, okay, well, good luck. Like that's how, that's how it was. No shit. Yeah, so, you know, I don't know. Did your other mom know about her?

Like, is there like some like, do you guys, do they communicate? So my, so my, my adoption was closed in private. Therefore, when my mom, my birth mother gave me up, she knew the profile of the people she was giving her child to, but those parents, my parents that adopted me, it was closed. Therefore, like there was no communication except through a caseworker. And so, um, the part, both parties knew of each other, but they did not communicate nor did they have their contact or know where they lived or what they looked like right yeah so uh so i drove over there and the apartment was empty

the manager's office door was open i rolled in there i had one photo it's like a movie i had one photo of my mom when she was my mom had me she was 14 years old so when i had a photo of her when she was 15 years old i rolled in and showed a photo of her when she was 15 years old, I rolled in there and showed her the photo. I was like, hey, do you know this lady? And she's like, oh yeah, I do, but she looks really different now. And I started a trip, so I was like, I'm talking to somebody that actually knows my mom.

I was like, whoa, this is crazy. So she gives me her phone number, and I walk outside. I have no plan, Andy. I'm just like going with the flow. I'm like, I don't even know what to say to her. I just call her up. And I said, she's like, hello. Hello. I was like, hello. She's like, who is this? And I was like, this is your son. He gave me up for adoption 20, you know, 20 something years, 21 years ago. And she hung hung up on me she thought it was a joke and so i called her back and she's like well who is this and i was like this is your kid like what's up and she says she starts to cry like i'm crying and she's like where are you i was like i'm at your old crib she's like i'm five blocks away i drive over there there's my mom there's my two

sisters my two brothers my two nephews and nieces like the whole family was there and all of a sudden you know this this this space that was missing that i wasn't aware of started to fill up with good things right so you didn't feel like you your other your adopted parents had that family in rooted well they you? Well, they did. And so that's where I want to be clear is that the family values and the kind of parenting

and love that was expressed was... It meant something to me and it still does. But when you're adopted, there's always, generally speaking, I can't speak for everybody, but being adopted for me, there was a feeling always, especially as I became aware, I became a teenager and whatnot, of just a curiosity of like,

well, does my mom want to meet me? What's she like? Would we be friends? you know, what's she like? Like, would we be friends? Now, she had written letters to me until I was about five and then we lost touch with the caseworker. But in every one of her letters,

she would end it with like, well, it was always full of love, but she'd always say like, please don't be mad at me. I had to do what I did to protect you. If you feel like you want to come find me one day, you know, come find me. So I was, and I would always read those and be like, I ain't mad at you. You know, like that's, I didn't know at that time the fullness of what it meant.

Right. Yeah. For my own personal journey, my life, you know, I wouldn't take anything back at all. So, yeah. So like I spent a few years, you know, getting't take anything back at all um so yeah so like i spent a few years you know getting to know my mom uh before i began to learn more about my dad and his whole story and like uh what's his this whole well we'll finish this with your mom first then we'll go to you yeah yeah well like so yeah so like me and my mom have been on a big-ass journey. Like, me and my family have been on a big-ass journey, like, for over 10 years now.

And, you know, it's a whole learning curve, you know what I mean? Like, to, but at the same time, it's been, the drop-in has been relatively easy because my mom and I are pretty close in age. You know what I mean? That's crazy, dude. So we're really good friends. Yeah. And my brothers and my sisters and I have been really tight. I got so many questions about this.

When you're 20 and you find out you have brothers and sisters, what type of trip is that? Did you know you had brothers and sisters? Did they look like you? Like, what the fuck? I assumed that I did, right? Yeah. And yeah, I mean, we all kind of look like the same mom.

We all got different dads. Yeah. All five of us. Plus my mom's heart. And I don't want to like blow up her spot necessarily, but I've been doing this for years. So I'm going to do it a low key way. But, you know, this like lends into like my dad's story.

But my mom lived a tough life i mean my grandmother lived an even harder life she was native in like the in the southwest or excuse me the south at that time like it was worse to be like uh native than it was to be black in that sense why and like uh because of uh the very strong oppression of Native peoples, like in the early 1900s, you know. And like in certain areas, like black folks were, you know, in a different space, in different neighborhoods, in different, you know, states. And Native folks were far more oppressed and suppressed in these ways. oppressed and, um, suppressed in these ways. So like, you know, if you look at it like that too, where like the native people of this country also were the first people to have, you know,

this genocide committed on them and then, uh, inherited into fucking corrals, like sheep and goats. Right. And, um, you know, and then of course the onslaught of slavery, et cetera. But, um, but like, you know, so my grandmother had a really tough life. I mean, she was a hustler. You know, she was a survivor. And so my mom, you know, naturally followed in those footsteps. But my grandmother also trafficked my mom and my three other, her four youngest children. She had 15 kids. Trafficked.

Yeah, her four youngest kids, she was 15 kids. And her four, yeah, her four youngest kids, she was trafficking them out of a bar in San Diego. And so when my dad showed up to San Diego on his ship, because he was, had just joined the Navy in the Philippines. Now my grand, my grand, my dad's dad was murdered right before my dad left the Philippines by, and i'll just say it out loud but by a gas and oil company because he had defended these people in this trial where shell gas wanted to come in and decimate this village so that they could drill for oil and they they uh basically won a court case that stated that Shell Oil was going to have to pay tenants. They were going to have to house these folks. They were going to have to give them

the first jobs. They were going to take care of them because they were about to tear up their whole home. A few days after that court case had been settled, somebody came into my grandfather's office and shot and killed him. Now that case is still open today. It was never solved because

of the high profile that it was and also because of the corruption, of course. It was those fucking shell motherfuckers, wasn't it? I mean, yeah, I mean, private security, whatever, you know, like you hire out, like you can't have ties, but we know how that goes. Yeah, man. So within a month, my grandmother

went, yeah, a month after that happened, my grandmother fled the Philippines. She moved to the Bay with my auntie. And my uncle and my dad had joined the Navy, and they shipped off to America and landed in San Diego. Promptly ended up in a bar, met my grandmother. And my dad bought my mom for two weeks. And that's how I was conceived. Oh, so it was like it was it was your sex oh it was rape oh because she was 14 yeah fuck yeah and she was

not she was a saint yes it was like she was doing it because my grandmother made her do it holy shit so and she held that burden her whole life man yeah. Yeah, but my mom's a survivor. She's a hero, you know what I mean? Now she works for the city, helping black and brown communities that are underprivileged, that don't have health insurance, et cetera. So they do.

And she works as a mental wellness coach, I guess you could say, but for NGOs, important. So she's like, you know, she's done a lot of work to overcome those things. And, you know, part of this album that I just put out has roots to like me and my mom going to therapy together and shit, you know, and my own work in counseling counseling you guys would go to therapy together and what so what would be the what

would you be talking about what do you what are you talking through this therapy with your mom our triggers triggers okay yeah you know we're like we we piss each other off, you know, and those things are rooted in abandonment for both of us, you know. So we have a very similar thing, you know, me and my mom. But we're like, you know, I think it takes two pretty, like, available people to want to work through that kind of shit, you know what I mean? Yeah, totally. So what triggered you guys to do therapy? Were you fighting at first? Yeah. What were you guys fighting about? on set like you know you know and um i think like i honestly you know i don't really feel like people actually have to have a reason to go to therapy i think like it's actually really important for

people who don't live in a situation where like you know like for us and i mean in like native community or like in the islander community like we have elders you know what i'm saying like so we keep those kind of those those people around whether they're actual um blood or they're like you know relative kind you know relations where you have counsel with like elder men and women who um who will help you talk through your shit right now now that's not to say you know that having an actual therapist is actually productive because i do believe that is also the case but a lot of folks don't have anybody to talk to period yeah you know and having somebody that's older than you that you respect um that's that has has experience in life in these ways i think is is is imperative

for for us to like be working through, um, our traumas, you know. Who was that figure growing up with your adopted family? No one. You didn't have that. No. And we had a, you know, we had our like level of communication and like going to these things, but there wasn't anybody like that you know um when i was a kid so did you feel like you're always alone um i always felt like i was different you know and then i was um uh yeah i mean i guess i didn't feel like i was alone yeah alone but think a lot, and I guess a lot of kids would feel like that, though. You know what I'm saying? Like, we always, when you're growing up, it's really, it's hard to fit in.

It's hard to, like, find meaning and purpose. And so you kind of automatically go into the shell, even though you're trying to break out of it. Is this why you have an alter ego? Like, did you build an alter ego through this? Yeah, I have so many people that, like, live for me. Yeah, like who? Give me the ones that come out a lot. Alright, listen, right?

So, like, sometimes when I'm talking to Andy, right? Like, it's crazy, right? I'm thinking, like, do I tell him all the crazy stuff that's going on with me? Or do I just kind of, like, you know, just scratch the surface, right? Yeah. Like, that guy's name is, um, his name is, uh, well, let's just say he's a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn. Yeah, I got that. I felt that. Hey, Papi. But, no, I mean, like, well, let's just say he's a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn. Yeah, I got that. I felt that.

Hey, Papi. No, I mean, yeah, go ahead. So you have all these different – this is why it's important to have people have therapy because people think they go crazy because you have all these alter egos. And I don't think that's the case. I think alter egos are important for self-growth. You need all these guys to meet in the middle to find out who you are, right? Yeah. Well,

your highest person, right? Your highest self has to ultimately be making the decisions for you, right? And who's that to you? You? Yeah.

Or was it one of these alter egos? Control me. It's all one, but it's up to me, all of me, um, to choose who pivots from what place. So, you know, I could say that there was a period of time and I'm still working through that. I would say actually, and I probably will be for my whole life, but a stronger period of time where like the child in me was in charge of things, especially when I would get like, um, when I would get, uh, sidetracked or like, you know, anytime a sidetrack would happen or like, uh, you know, I'm trying to think how to explain this um what would be a i can look like not focusing on you ever get into drugs heavily oh of course yeah absolutely like

what like stuff that gets you oh yeah like when i was in louisiana bro when i was like 19 i was just like i spent all my money i spent like i had I made so much money in Alaska and I didn't know what the fuck to do with it. So I went to Louisiana and kicked it with some friends that I met in Alaska. And like, you know, I went through a whole winter of like just spending money on cocaine and booze, you know? What'd you like about cocaine? Luckily, oh, I liked it because it made me feel depressed.

Because I was. And it continued that feeling of like, I'm out of control. Anything could happen. Especially when you're 19, you do a lot of blow. And you have nothing else going on. And you're just like, I don't fucking care if I die tomorrow. I'm just fucking chilling. So were you suicidal when you're a kid no no no no no you just weren't living you weren't living but i just wasn't like i wasn't i wasn't like centered i wasn't like in

zen space period i was just like experiencing life you know and there's definitely times where i'm surprised that i've survived different drug and alcohol experiences because, uh, you know, I know mad people who didn't, you know? Yeah. So like,

you know, I would say that I, luckily I had a sensible countenance to the point where I never like shot something up or like, you know, um, put something in my butt. You know what I mean? Like, um, I never shot something up or put something in my butt. That's not to say I didn't like to ride the edge.

I was always pushing the envelope. I liked to live fast and move fast. But Hawaii really changed my life, though, because it really brought in the vibe of an island, man. It can go either way now. Obviously, Hawaiian Islands and Polynesia has a huge ice problem. But I never got into that. And I think that lifestyle, though, really shaped me and was really healthy for me, ultimately.

Explain what happened in New Orleans one more time because I interrupted you about you're just doing too much cocaine, hanging out with the wrong people. It was just drugs and hanging out. No, they were good people. They're still good people. We all went through that time together. But it was just one of those winters where you do a lot of drugs

and you do nothing. You play Risk and you watch Regis and Kelly. Oh, no, it was Regis and Kathy, actually. Yeah, dude, exactly. And you have a pet skunk in the basement and you shoot guns in the afternoon and wait for tornadoes in the evening. So you're living in the moment. I was, exactly.

I was living in the moment. I was just living in the moment, man. I was trying shit out, you know? So what made you have a life change? Was there a day where you just did too much? No. I have a really short attention span. Okay.

Yeah, me too. So I'll do drugs, and then I'll be like, all right, what's going on? What's over here? I did that. That was cool. What's that? And so, which is great i mean it's a blessing because like you know i know how addictive like the personalities of my ancestors you know were

and like um so i'm just grateful that it never got to the point where like i was needing like rehab or something like that that, you know? Yeah. It's your own personal rehab moving on. Well then I created my own rehab by starting a band. Like, you know what I'm saying? So, you know, we'll talk about that too. It is halftime at the Endy Fresco interview hour. It is halftime at the Andy Fresco interview hour.

Who I'd Go Gay For. Welcome back to Who I'd Go Gay For Quarantine Edition. I'm your host, Ari Finling. Today's man I'd go gay for is the man who's been gracing your TV for the last two months on every TV station 20 to 30 times a day. CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC News, fucking YouTube, it's Dr. Anthony Fauci, the hottest, sexiest infectious disease doctor that I know. And you may be saying, how many infectious disease doctors do you know? I know 30 or 40 infectious disease doctors, okay? or 40 infectious disease doctors, okay?

I'm all over the infectious disease business, and I know that this guy is by far the hottest. All of the other infectious disease doctors look like fucking mutants compared to Tony, okay? He's the Brad Pitt of epidemiologists. This guy is fucking hot. Sure, he's only 5'1", 5'2", but if he stood on a stool, I'd kiss him right on the lips, tongue, no tongue, his choice, okay?

If you told me today that the vaccine for coronavirus could be gotten if it was inside Anthony Fauci's dick, I would suck that thing right if the vaccine was in his penis i would be taking so many vaccinations they'd have to put me in jail because i would be stealing them every single day from good hard-working tax-paying americans and if it happens if the if if the goddamn task force says we've discovered the vaccine and it is in anthony fauci's sperm then giddy up i'm sucking that shit down all right this has been who i'd go k4 i'm your host r.e. finland have you had relationships or did that with the the relationship you had with your mom get handed off to the relationships you had with lovers? Oh, absolutely. I mean, it goes, you know, it goes without saying that like anything that you experienced in your childhood, um,

is going to affect, you know, both negatively and positively your relationships, whether that's with your bandmates or your business partners or your lovers or, you know, whoever it's all gonna pivot from that same place of like how you navigate communication. Yeah. It's so true. And how you,

and how you navigate, um, using your voice and speaking up for your truth, your needs, you know what I mean? Like, and you know, that people pleasingpleasing aspect,

it's enduring and it's honorable, but you have to have boundaries. And that's a tough thing to understand. When we go through parts of our life that we don't have boundaries for, some people say it's self-destructive or self-sabotage because we can't say no until we die. So what was that anchor in your life to make you not want to die in a sense? You're not trying to be suicidal. I'm not trying to say that.

I think it was a number of different things. I think it was finding passions for activities that were grounding, right? Whether that was surfing, riding horses. I mean, music absolutely was that force too. Actually, that's first and foremost, because the music that protected me from going too far down a darker path. Is it still like that as you get more successful? Oh, hell yeah.

Really? But I also would say that the fullness of my life, the things that I like to do, my ever-expanding interests in things have kept me in a good place because I know that I'm more than just playing music. I know that I'm more than just a musician. You write songs, it does the band, it does the tour, it does the CDs, blah, blah. I have a full life that feeds, it all feeds itself. Did you ever feel like this was your only part of your life?

Was that why you went to therapy? Music. Did you feel like you're more than just the music sometimes and you're just giving your whole life to just this music? Yeah, there was a couple years where I just, I almost burnt myself out because I overworked myself let's talk about that because I'd go through those too what did you do?

I was just doing too much shit you were saying it, just said yes to everything I was campaigning for like three different projects this was 2017 actually when I burnt myself out I campaigned for all these projects and then like was also on tour

was trying to manage a band, was trying to manage a relationship, was trying to deal with a team that wasn't fulfilling all their stuff. And it was driving me crazy. I had zero time for myself, but I didn't look at it like that. And now, when I look back on those times, I'm so glad that I did the things I needed to do to create the space for me to take care of myself and put me first in order to have longevity in this job. Yeah, who taught you that? Therapy? No, dude. Fucking spirits, man. They just said, like, bro, get the fuck out. this job. Yeah. Who taught you that? Therapy?

No, dude. Fucking spirits, man. They just said like, bro, get the fuck out. Do this, do that, cut it up. You know what I'm saying? Is that alter ego? Is that another alter ego, you think? In your soul? No, it's just my intuition. You know, you got to trust your gut too, right?

Like, my gut told me like, you need to get the fuck out of LA. You need to, you know to not work with these people. You need to work with someone else. You need to ground somehow. You're super ungrounded. So what does that mean? I need to choose my whole lifestyle choice. And so I moved out to the fucking country the fucking country bro now i'm in the woods

and you've been there ever since i've been here since it's been two years this is like my second that's my third year right now what do you like about the woods i can be as loud as i want and i can i got space to do shit shit and it also like helps me drop back into like old farmer knocks cause like I got my like and I'm such a I'm a full Sag moon where I'm like full on like fire

signs so like all of that just gets like blown out and like I'm nerdy I get into landscaping oh it's insane because i love things everything has a home to me it's like okay let's do one more how is it keep going keep going sorry i was just saying i was like i find so much peace by creating a space that allows me to do all the things i like to do play yeah what about when you're what about through this quarantine when

you're oh you need to be do you feel like you always have to be on the move how hard was it to stay in one place for more than not hard actually because i like if i can move around in my home that's the vibe you know um i i haven't left here in almost well i guess it's three months now have you seen anybody yeah i've seen some folks. My neighbors and my mom has come over a couple times. Yeah, it's like semi-steady flow, but it's been pretty quiet. You know what I mean? But I've been fucking busy. I'm in a bed.

I stay busy, though. I don't like sitting still. That's what I'm saying. So what are you doing through quarantine to stay busy? Bro, I'm taking care of my horses. I'm riding them every weekend. I'm saying. So what are you doing through quarantine to stay busy? Like besides. I'm like taking care of my horses and riding them every weekend. I'm like growing gardens. I have two 45 foot like beds that are like popping with like good stuff. And then like I live on like a little,

like a little ranch farm thing. You know what I'm saying? Like, so like I'm outside anytime it's nice that i like i go outside i gotta do shit you know um fucking epic dude you know what i'm saying it's like i can't and so and then when you have a home dude his maintenance is insane like i gotta repaint and steal his deck next week and i got a leak in my roof i gotta fix and like you know it's just like home stuff it's like on top of that though yeah

I'm like recording music I'm like writing I'm um doing my Sunday service every Sunday on Instagram and like and then I'm like you know just and then it's self-care stuff right like I'm doing the yoga I'm doing the meditation I'm working out every day it's like I'm eating good foods I'm doing the yoga, I'm doing the meditation, I'm working out every day. It's like, I'm eating good foods and like challenging myself to like make new things in the kitchen. And like, you know, it's like, I'm just taking the full, full spectrum of, you know, advantage of this whole situation with being home. Can you, are you a guy who accepts happiness or do you feel like there's always a happier moment? Accepts happiness. Yeah. Can you accept happiness in your life? Can you accept being happy? Or are you a guy who always needs to be driven?

Always needs to be, you know, you mean, am I content? Like, yeah, yeah. You,

yeah. Happiness is yeah. Content. Are you content with your life or do you always feel? Yeah. Yeah. How long did it take you to get there? I mean, I think I've, I'm I think I'm so chill and easygoing,

but I'm also, like, hella driven. So, like, you know, I live in both those worlds, I guess, right? Yeah. Because, yes, I'm content, but I'm always striving for more and better. Not more objects or, like, worldly possessions per se, but just driven to like create dope shit yeah and see the fruits of the labor um and i get i'm satisfied i get

satisfaction of like completing things yeah i mean i agree i agree like but do you see satisfaction in completing life or is that philosophy in life as well? Like, will you be satisfied when you die? What I'm saying. Because that's a completion. This is how I perceive death. It's coming for you. No matter how you look at it.

And anytime I do something that I am scared, like, oh, I could die doing this, that kind of excites me because I know that I've lived a full life and I know that I will leave behind a legacy of good medicine. So anything past this moment is going to be amazing. That's what I'm talking about. Shout out, dude. Oh, shout out to you. Shout out, dude. Oh, shout out to you. Shout out to you.

Shout out to you. Brilliant, Nakko. But it's true. What did Christopher McCandless say? He said, happiness is best shared. And so once you, I think this journey of being happy with yourself, being alone and being with being with you all the versions of you that's a journey and especially for men you know in this like you know space of

demasculating like experiences where we have to like really rewrite the feminist masculinity like this whole merging of the matriarchal, patriarchal experience. I think that's a lifelong journey. And I forget what we were talking about. No, I agree. We were talking about how if we're comfortable with who we are and you feel like like you giving you, you

feel like if you died tomorrow, you've given them, you've given life all you can. And I was, then I quoted Chris McCandless and saying, happiness is best shared, which like, if you can share it with oneself, that's deep, that's important. That's first and foremost. Then, you know, being able to share happiness with other people, a partner, whatever, you know. And trust me, like, I am fully on board with you in the sense that, like, I know commitment is scary to per se, like, one person. But I also want to say that, like, I'm sure you've dove into this a bit, but I think it's bullshit. The whole construct of relationships that we've been taught.

It's all colonized ideas of patriarchy that have taught us that we can only love one person and that that one person is going to change our lives and is going to make us whole. And that whole thing has also been debunked for fucking years. However, we still exist in a world where we limit ourselves when we tell each other or when we live our lives in a way that says,

live our lives in a way that says, I won't find love like this. I won't be able to love like this again. And what I'm learning, what I've learned is that the love you share with somebody, however short, however long unique and so unique to you two individuals that even when you guys leave each other you can still hold that appreciation and respect and love for that unique love with somebody however

boundaries comes into the whole thing where you say this cannot be anymore like this, but I can still love you like this, but not be with you in that way. So I think, like, I don't know, there's a whole conversation there as far as breaking down the constructs of

the boxed things. And as air signs, we don't like being put in a box, man. I agree. So that's what I'm saying. So do you think polygamy is fine? Polygamy is another construct. It's like, it's a, it's a,

I think per person, you have to decide how you want to build your relationships in your life. Yeah. Um, and communicate as fuck. Yeah. You know, and,

and express your needs and express your intentions. And it's hard. Yeah. It's not easy. I know. What about with ourselves too i mean the like we going back to 19 year old naco doing fucking blow and sucking titties or whatever you're doing in new orleans you know i had i had the mirror underneath the van seat that's how much i was doing blow yeah what about what about like any psychedelics? How'd you get so

I don't want to say spiritual because that's a fucking pretentious ass word. I know what you mean though. Who woke you up? Yourself? The mushrooms. Yeah, me too. Big time.

They really helped me deconstruct what my idea of spirits were, what God was, what God is, who God is to me. Who is he? Well, he's not a man. Who is he? It's not a thing, a person. It's an idea.

It's a divine right as humans to align themselves with a higher power. creators or a creator um you know uh what i understand is that that divine high or power exists in all things um is there is there is there a plan no i don't think there's a plan necessarily. I think that nature itself responds to you, to your frequency. I think it's all frequency. And so I think if you're paying attention, God works. Yeah. Do you feel like God is in music or in your best shows? God is in music or in your best shows? I think that the spirits are doctoring at those times, yeah.

Because I think when you're bringing in different language and you're bringing in intention and you're casting these spells in the sense of projecting these ideas out of like, this is my truth. This is the mantra. This is the thing. And you get everybody to do it. That's magic. You're opening up a portal to allow spirits to come in and doctor people.

Yeah. It's so true. I mean, I keep on thinking, going back to your pops, like you being now a man, is he still alive? Do you still talk to him or no? Both of my fathers passed away.

My birth father was murdered in 1994. I never met him. And then my adopted father passed away from cancer about 10 years ago. So do you feel like you're frustrated because you never had a chance to tell him how you feel? Which dad? Both. I was able to tell my adopted father how I feel, and we actually were able to make peace

before he passed away. What were you talking about with him? Just my frustrations with the way that he had parented. And then it circled around to um uh essentially loving him for who he is you know and looking at the things that he did offer which was um you know music and a love for music and a love for um writing And, you know, he was always there. You know, he was always there. Even if we didn't talk much, you know, he was there.

Did you put a lot of pressure on him to be a dad? In your own head? I mean, I probably did, yeah. But you got to understand, you know, for a man who, you know, was raising kids that weren't his blood, too, you know, for a man who, you know, was raising kids that weren't his blood too, you know, that's a whole deal, you know, so he loved us, you know, he loved us, you know, in that sense. It's tough, man. I mean, I'd never, I, you know, dealing with adoption and stuff is probably one of the hardest things to go through as a kid. Cause you feel like you're not loved.

Yeah. It's just very confusing, you know? Uh, but, um, I felt like I're not loved. Yeah, it's just very confusing. But I felt like I was loved. But I was a confusing love. What is love to you? What is the definition of love to Nako? I almost feel like there's a very similar explanation to love as I just gave for what God is. And I think it's a way of life. It's a lifestyle.

It shows up in everything we do. And there's a lot of propaganda around it. Yeah. You know, so, uh, I think, um, I think it's important for us to redefine, you know, what we consider love is and, uh, look at what we might not think it is at all. Love can be a language that is unspoken between yourself and nature. It can be an appreciation. It can be in gratitude. It can be in service.

It can be in action. It's a verb, a noun, an adjective. How hard is it to love someone that you work with every day? you know how hard is it to love someone that you work with every day uh i mean on a general plateau i could love them for their service yeah you know uh i can love them because they're another human being that's sharing air and you know and dimensional field with me, but, uh, uh, you know, there's a difference in loving them for being of service to your thing. Um,

and being in love with them, obviously like that's a whole different experience. Um, yeah, I'm talking about like band, like keeping a band together. Like you've had your band for years, you know,

you work with these guys, they're your brothers. They know that the band is knocko. I'm the same thing with my band. So how do you go out of your way to make them feel loved in a sense where this isn't all about me, this is all about the community we're building? Well, we were all friends before we really started doing this. Oh, really?

Yeah, that was already established. And so I think we all hang out a lot. So we're all really good friends. Yeah. It's a very different dynamic than I have seen in other bands where some bands don't even hang out. Yeah, I know. It's crazy. Or talk on the daily.

So we've all been growing up together for a while. So we all, again, we do a lot of extracurricular shit when we're not on the road. Bonding and stuff. Yeah, we just like doing shit. Yeah, it's fucking epic. Let's talk about Take the Power Back. Is that the name of the record, right?

Yeah, Take Your Power Back. Take Your Power Back. So when you're talking about that are you talking about take it finding your finding who you are as a person and taking full 100 confidence that i am i am this man that i don't need anyone else uh it's not that i don't need anyone else. It's just reclamation of the voice of your boundaries, of your, uh, of yourself, um, of your awareness, um, and looking at the celebratory experience of, um, coming through a time, a hard time coming through a chapter and looking at how to celebrate your grief. Which, you know, is blanketed in taking the power back. It's being able to hold the celebration of your life, of your things, of the thing that you want to celebrate, of your abundance or whatever.

But then also being able to hold the disparity uh and the struggle and the pain and the wound and the grief and the mourning and be able to hold all those things uh in order to um reclaim uh your presence um inundated daily with propaganda inundated daily with you know uh needs that aren't really your needs they're other people's needs uh and being told like what you should buy what you should drink what you should wear who you should vote for blah blah you don't think for yourself anymore you know you're looking at the phone you're looking at the screen like what the fuck you know uh is trending blah blah you know i'll solve what i'm good but like if you can step away from that and you know and if you're on a journey to like uh to empowering yourself first so that you can then care for the rest of your world. That's what this album's about. Do you think with that theme, do you see that with your career in the last five years?

Did you feel like you couldn't be your complete self because now you have this big machine? You have this, I'm not saying idea of NACO, but like, you know, for people who are trying to sell NACO, do you feel like that's like a push and pull between artists and sell, between art and selling art? Yeah. I mean, there's always that underlying concern, right? Yeah. And I think that I have taken painstaking amount of time to put the right people in positions who give a shit about what I'm doing. Great. And I definitely really care about everybody that I work with.

That doesn't mean that I don't see holes in the process where I absolutely can see where I'm not happy with people's work ethic with what they're putting out. Cause, uh, it's not, you know how it is when you're like either, um,

you want to be the stallion, you know, but you're getting treated like a regular quarter horse. And I'm not saying that that's, you know, but when you are that passionate about your shit and you're that driven to stand out above the rest, you will. You can't put a fucking saddle on a goddamn Mustang, knocko. That's what I'm saying, bro. Bear back every day. Bear back every day.

Man, I could talk to you for hours. You're a great guy, man. Thank you for this. I know you got a lot of shit you're doing with your fucking plans and shit. So I'll leave with one thing. What do you want to be remembered by, bud? Hmm. for building bridges with medicine music to places that never had the courage before to walk across them.

I'm glad you're finding peace, brother. Wow. I'm going to give you a high five and then I'm going to jerk you off. Cause that was beautiful. That was absolutely beautiful, buddy. Oh man. I'm going to have to, I'm going to have to shut because that was beautiful. That was absolutely beautiful, buddy. Oh, man. I'm going to have to shut it down right now because they're calling me up. My next thing is going on. But, hey, I love you so much, bro. Hey, Nako. Have a great day, buddy.

Take care. Thank you, my friend. Later, bro. Ciao. Now, a message from the UN. I've been holding my breath, I've been counting to ten over something you said I've been holding back tears while you're throwing back beers, I'm alone in my bed You know why I'm afraid of change I guess that's why we stay the same

So tell me to leave, I'll pack my bags, get on the road Find someone that loves you better than I do, darling, I know Cause you remind me every day I'm not enough but I still stay Feels like a lifetime just trying to get by while we're dying inside Just trying to get by while we're dying inside I've done a lot of things wrong Loving you, being one, but I can't move on You know why I'm afraid of change Guess that's why we stay the same

So tell me to leave I'll pack my bag Get on the road Find someone that loves you Better than I do Darling I know Cause you remind me every day I'm not enough

But I still stay If you want me to leave, then tell me to leave And baby I'll go, baby I'll go Cause you remind me every day I'm not enough but I still stay What a week, what a week, what a week Busy, rocking, rolling Keeping me sane is this fucking weed

I've been smoking from Boulder, 14er. Have you all had this weed before? Fucking great. They have this thing called Kosher Kush, and I fucking love it, dude. I rock it for Shabbat, and I play. I smoke it. I like sativas. I like hybrids, and these guys do pretty good hybrids.

So if you're in the Colorado area, go buy some fucking 14er. I enjoy it. I think you will, too. It's not too heer. I enjoy it. I think you will too. It's not too heady. I'm not really into psychoactive fucking weeds. And this is clean weed. And the best thing about living in Colorado is these guys are fucking scientists when it comes to weed. So go grab some 14er.

All right. Thanks, Nako. That was awesome. Thanks for pouring out your heart for me. I think this is an important message about equality. And I wanted to bring one more person into the show. My man, my spiritual advisor. Give it up for Lyle Davinsky. How you doing, Lyle? What's up, buddy? I'm good, man. How you doing?

Tough week this week, huh? Yeah. Yeah, to say the least. How do you explain this? Man, I don't know if there's necessarily a way to explain it in a concise way. concise way i mean the is that this isn't shedding a light onto a new america unfortunately it's kind of shedding a light onto an america that's been existing for a lot of people i think one thing that it's really doing is putting it into perspective and showing maybe folks who weren't having to deal with this kind of stuff on the day-to-day a little bit uh a little bit more of the reality of some people's worlds and so i guess the the only thing

that that we can kind of take this as is motivation and inspiration to come together and a way that we can maybe actually create some change. Because it's easy to ignore a lot of the things that you're presented with on the day-to-day. But when it's shoved in your face like it is right now, and we see the injustices and the, and the dichotomy between how one race is treated versus the other, or one, uh, class is treated versus the other. It, it shows you just how,

just how fucked up things are, but yeah. And how much, oh, sorry, go ahead. No, it's so true.

It's, it's, I mean, it's like putting a, putting a bandaid over an open wound. Yeah. And how much... Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, it's so true. I mean, it's like putting a bandaid over an open wound. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, it's one of those situations where, like, I... You know, we've seen it a lot of times where, you know, something major happens and everybody bands together. And then, you know, the next week something else happens and then all of a sudden

it starts to trickle away like these are the moments when we need to when we need to create the snowball effect when we need to be able to step up when we realize that posting on facebook or posting on instagram or something like that is not gonna affect the change that we're that we're hoping to see that it takes more more action, it takes more education, it takes more awareness, and it takes really coming together, not just in a digital format. And that's a really tough thing right now because we're also in a stay-at-home quarantine, you know? And like, I know certain places are starting to open up more and everything like that. So it's a matter of like, cool, how do we create a movement and how do we come together in a way that we can help support everybody

and try to create the most even playing field for everyone and really just create a fucking change in the system because it's not fucking working. No, it's not working. I mean, this is going to be an eye-opener, especially with no one having jobs and all this stuff going on. We're going to find out who we really are in the next couple months, right? Absolutely, man. I mean, America has been in a power position for a very long time,

and now there ain't no power position. There's still people with money, though. And so that's like, there's still people with money though. And so like, that's like the, you know, in a certain sense, a lot of the, a lot of the economic disparities are going to only be enhanced at this point. And so that's the thing that like kind of scares me a little bit more, but maybe that just creates even more desperation. Maybe that creates the movement that needs to happen. I mean, you know, some of, some of these riots that are going on and some of these movements that are happening across the country, I think that they're spurred from a lot of frustration. And it's not just what just happened. It's what's continually happening.

It's what's been beating a lot of people down for a long time, and I'm just curious to see how it plays. Yeah, I'm curious too. I mean, think about it. How's it going up there in Northern California? You're in the fucking sticks, though. Yeah, we're tucked away, man. We're in Lake Tahoe.

I would be, yeah, we're not really exposed to a lot of it right now. And like, you know, I was talking with Drew the other day, sax player from Motet, and, you know, he's talking to me about, you know, just the vibe from the vibe in Denver. And like, I mean, I have so many friends in Brooklyn from my time living there. And it's like, I can't imagine being in that, like being in that environment versus this. I feel very lucky.

I feel very privileged to be able to be up in a place where I can get away and hike and get into, get into areas that are gorgeous that can kind of bring me away from the, the, the quarantine kind of quarantine kind of, you know, quote unquote imprisonment if people feel that way or whatever it is. But like the biggest thing, at least in terms of that, is just remaining safe and making sure that everybody's taken care of and that everybody is as safe as possible. But it's tough right now because we got not only that, but also America is divided,

divided. I mean, it's been divided. It's just like, it's the, my, the magnifying glass has been, has been put on it now.

Yeah. Do you think it with people locked up in their houses, do you think that helped the revolution? I think, I mean, I think that it definitely, uh, it motivates, you know, yeah, it's, The revolution? I think that it definitely motivates. It's motivating people because people are frustrated.

People are cooped up. I'm sure that that motivates. But the other thing is that people aren't distracted right now. So when everybody watches the video, when everybody sees what's going on, when everybody is confronted with this, all eyes are on it. Like there's no one distracted with other things right now. So it's like, in a certain sense, I'm glad because we actually get to focus on what's in front of us. Yeah. And we get to really take a look at how does this make us feel? How does this, like, is there any part of this that is okay and like it's no

no so have we so how do we come back from this how do we come together and how do we move forward with this that's one beautiful thing about this is the revolution is now being televised we used to just it'd be hidden these revolutions were hidden. These revolutions were hidden. And these revolutions were sneak attacks. But now, it's all in our faces. And if we don't do anything about it now, then shame on us. Because now the public sees it, right?

I mean, it's in front of everybody at all times. I know, but sometimes you hide it. Like you said, we're distracting ourselves with work. We're distracting ourselves with social media. We're distracting ourselves now that it's in our faces. And if we still don't do anything about it, then it's our problem.

Absolutely. Yeah, and it's been a lot of people's problem, and now it's being confronted as the full recognition that it's all of our problem. It's not just some of our problem. Yeah, we all got to stick together because at the end of the day, no matter what color you are or if you're poor or rich, we have to be together because we're people. We're human. Only way it works, man. And only ways it works.

All right. I'm glad you're on the same fucking page that I am on this shit. All right. Give me one more thing before we leave. What happiness have you found within yourself through this quarantine? Oh, man. I mean, I'm incredibly, incredibly lucky with the situation that I'm in right now. I mean, like I said, like I'm in Lake Tahoe, like, which is one of the, you know, with my best friend, Jen, who's, you know, I get to hang with every day.

And I feel very, very lucky about that. And it's been cool, man. We've been finding a lot of different discoveries because as you and I know, our lives are frantic. Our lives are, you know, constantly on the move or constantly like what's next? What's next? What's like, what's the plan today? What's the plan today? And I mean, shit, being able to sleep in the same bed.

Yeah, right. For like two and a half years has been pretty fucking cool. But it's been amazing. today what's the plan today and i mean shit being able to sleep in the same bed yeah right for like two and a half pretty fucking cool um but it's been amazing man i mean it's even like it's finding joy in the little things i think and creating new habits that like so easy to be attached to your phone attached to technology attached to like the you know the the what's next and whatnot and like shit man i mean we've been leaving the phones downstairs and going, going upstairs and in the bed with like, like going to bed and ending the day without technology, starting the day without technology and being able to just kind of like settle

in, like wake up and journal for a couple for, you know, even if it's just like a couple of pages, just like wake up and get some thoughts out and start to like, I don't know, just live with a little bit more intention as opposed to, as opposed to kind of following what's been laid out for you. And so I think that, I think that that's kind of, it is taking, taking a little bit more control over, over the, the, the minutia of my life has been really, really cool.

Isn't that the most important thing is trying to find out the little things we like, not the big picture stuff? Because we're always so focused on the big picture stuff, like the fucking career, the fucking girlfriend, the wife, the love, the fucking babies. But when we look a little deeper into ourselves and realize the things that we love too, it's pretty a powerful thing. So I'm glad people are fighting. I'm glad people are sticking up for each other because at this point in the quarantine, in life, and our evolution as humans, this is, I think,

an important turning point in where they're going to, we're going to let this shit fly or we're going to fucking fight about it. So I'm glad we're either going to let this shit fly or we're going to fucking fight about it. So I'm glad we're fighting. Absolutely, man. I mean, if anybody thinks that we're going to go back to

what the old version of normal was, then you're wrong. It's not going to be that way. There's going to be elements that we bring with us, but there's going to be a lot of things that are up to the collective us i think and like in in terms of rewriting what the new normal is in terms of moving forward after after what's been going on this week you know it's

it's it's going to be really interesting and i like it you know it's it's it's a funny thing because i feel like so conversations of uh that that i have is just like yeah it's going to be interesting or time will tell or who knows because the thing is we don't but so because of that that to me is inspiring and and and motivation and motivational and i like it likes a fire under my ass because it it means that we have potentially more control over what our normal can be yeah i mean what's what is normal now who the fuck knows man it's different i mean dude straight up it's like it's different for every person i mean one in what is it one in four people are on unemployment right now in the country but like some people are still working some people are still venturing out some people

are living in places where they haven't had to deal with this and it almost feels trivial and like some people are living in hot spots where it's's scary to go outside and do that. We're living in very different ways right now. But to me, that that moves forward it's just taking care of each other and and looking out for everybody yeah amen to that thanks for being on the show lyle i just i needed some advice from my guru you know i was feeling low today i woke up feeling like shit and i needed to talk to my guru so hey man i always appreciate these talks too it's hard not to feel like shit right now, but I really value you a lot, man. I love our conversations, and I love what you do for the community and for everyone around you. You're an incredibly selfless dude. I love you, bro.

Love you back, man. You are, too. So go have fun. Go fucking make love with your beautiful girlfriend and your beautiful town and your fucking fur carpet and shit. You fucking live that life, bro, because you fucking deserve it too, Lyle. Love you, brother. Love you, bro.

Have a great day, pal. All right. Back at you, man. Later, bro. Peace. All right. There you had it. Lyle Davinsky, thanks for being on the show.

We're serious. Let's get compassion back in our lives. Let's start thinking about everyone else too, not just ourselves, not just the community that you built. Let's think of everyone right now because people are hurting and we need love right now. We need compassion. So that's it. Thanks for being on the show. Knocko, Lyle, everyone. I love you guys. Thanks for supporting me. I know you've seen a lot of me this quarantine. I'm just trying to do my part to keep people's vibes going and for you to believe in me and all that good stuff just warms my heart. So I'm here for you. Also, if you're feeling low or depressed, hit me up on Instagram, hit me up on Facebook. I'll talk to you. You know, I'm getting, I'm busy, but I'll always have time to talk to you. So I love you guys. Wear condoms, especially now. Wear fucking condoms. We don't know what the fuck's going down in the next couple of years. We don't know what the fuck's going down in the next couple of years. Just in case.

And just be happy. Be happy that we live, that we leave. Be happy that we live. Be happy that we breathe. And be happy that we could just be fortunate enough to see this beautiful thing called life. I love you guys. And I'll catch you next week. Not sure who's going to be on the show.

But I like these surprises. Talk to you soon. Love you. You tuned in to the third season of Nattering Mammals at Andy Fresco's World Saving Podcast. Thank you for listening to episode 87. Produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angelo and Chris Lawrence. Please subscribe, rate the show on iTunes and Spotify so we can make this a worldwide phenomenon. For more info on the show, please head to our Instagram

at world-savingpodcast. For more info on the blog and tour dates, head to andyfresco.com. Check out the new album, Keep On Keepin' On. Or let Andy entertain you at the Thursday night online shit shows. Or check out his crazy dance party. This week's guest is Nako. Find him on nako.com. N-A-H-K-O.

And the co-host is Lyle Davinsky. Find him on lyledavinsky.com. D-I-V-I and Sky. Lyle Davinsky. Our special guests this week are Ari Vindlings, Sean and Toby Eccles and Arno Bakker. And he asked me to say something on the protests.

And that should be reasonably safe. Hearing comments from a socialist foreigner on American matters. So read my disclaimer if you want to hear why the world is beautiful and we all should be peaceful. But to be honest, I think we're not protesting enough. Not just you, but the world on the whole. Worldwide, there's so much injustice, so many people suffering,

and so much wrong being done to the earth and all its other inhabitants, that I think we should be sharp and on the barricades 24-7. The strong have many ways to keep themselves on top, from bullying to clever malpractice, from unilateral contracts to sheer force. And if we don't control those strong, they will take over your democratic state, hijack

your financial systems, they will bias your judicial system, they will ignore your human rights and rob you from truth, livelihood and dignity. And they will set you up against yourselves. When this day has come, you have left only your body, your voice and your numbers. When this day has come, there is no other place to reclaim your dignity but the streets. When this day has come, there is no other option but to raise your voice and make heard from millions of mouths that change is not optional. Demand change and burn the headlock contract. Day after day after day.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage. Rage against the dying of the light.