Artist Friendly with Joel Madden - G-Eazy

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by G-Eazy. In his early days, G-Eazy played 2012’s Warped Tour alongside Pierce the Veil and the Used. Since then, he’s racked up millions of listens with “Me, Myself & I” (feat. Bebe Rexha), collaborated with Halsey, and been nominated for Grammys. Following last year’s Freak Show, G-Eazy released his latest album, Helium, in February and will head out on a North American tour in April. The rapper connected with Madden before hitting the road, opening up about his close relationship with his brother, the challenges he faced getting started in music, and touring for the first time after a six-year hiatus. ------- Listen to their Artist Friendly conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.⁠⁠⁠ ------- Follow Artist Friendly! IG: @artist.friendly TikTok: @artist.friendly YouTube: youtube.com/@artist.friendly ------- Host: Joel Madden, @joelmadden Executive Producers: Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Jillian King Producers: Josh Madden, Joey Simmrin, Janice Leary Visual Producer/Editor: Ryan Schaefer Audio Producer/Composer: Nick Gray Music/Theme Composer: Nick Gray Cover Art/Design: Ryan Schaefer Additional Contributors: Anna Zanes, Neville Hardman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, what's up? I'm Joel Madden, and this is artist-friendly. On this episode, I'm talking to multi-platinum rapper, songwriter, and record producer, G.E.Z. Let's go. I don't want to bettimes. I don't want to have bad. Are you a milkshake guy? Fucking, I love milkshakes, man.

Yeah. Man, one of the greatest inventions in the world. It really is one of the greatest. And every drink invented after a milkshake is kind of just like a milk, a different version of a milkshed. Yeah, like a frappuccino. It's a milkshake. It's a milkshake. It's just a coffee milkshake.

A smoothie is a milkshake. It's a fruit milkshake. Yeah. It's like, how can we make a healthier milkshake? Oh, fruit. It's just not as good. Mm-mm. No, smoothie can never.

Smoothies. I mean, love smoothies. There's not milkshakes. And the good smoothies, the popular. ones, the ones that they're just as much sugar as a milkshed. So you might as well just have a milkshake. I'll do like a milkshake once every like month or two. Yeah.

Like as a little like, you know, a little treat. Are you like a big fitness guy? No. How do you, really? No. You look great. Thank you, man. Thank you, brother.

Just naturally. No, I guess I guess not, but stage. Like stage is cardio. You know, jumping around a stage during cardio for an hour and a half. You sweat a ton. Yeah, you're probably burning like seven to eight hundred calories. 900 counts like crazy it's crazy no it's felt so good speaking of that like you know just being back on the road again i hadn't realized um how long were you off six years off the road long years yeah

wow like like you know one-offs here and there and yeah we did like um we do like little runs like i did india for the first time a year ago how is that you know the festivals in the summer sometimes but like how was india it was crazy so a little world out there yeah yeah huge That was like 8,000 hard tickets. Yeah. Like each night and I'm like, I didn't know. It was my first time. Yeah, yeah.

Next time you go to be 80,000 tickets. Dude, it's nuts. Yeah, that's how it works. Man. So yeah, but I mean the disparity, you know, socioeconomically and just culturally, like crazy. We're staying at the four seasons or something. And nice hotel, but we got in, you know, middle of the night,

checking the room. I hadn't opened my blinds. So next morning I was, wake up and I open the blinds and it's like right across the street outside of the is that like you're in the trenches right right there yeah you know what I mean so it's felt really good being back on the road right now yeah it's weird how that works right like one thing to make music but performing yeah not is kind of the reason you make music yeah almost it's the completion of it yeah you know because it's like you're in front of you're in front of you're in

front of the people that, you know, like thinking about it this way, like a concert, a show, you know, you have some, you know, hundreds or, you know, thousands or thousands or however many people, you know, packed in this room. And the commonality they all share is an appreciation of your music. Yep. You know, it's like, you guys all come from different walks of life. You don't know each other, but you have this thing in common. And, and then in unison and harmony, you know, you're singing along to these songs. And it's nuts. It's crazy.

It's like, so you're in this energy-packed room of strangers, but you all are in sync in this harmony and shared appreciation of the music. And that's just a crazy feeling. Yeah. I think for me, you know, I haven't toured in eight years. Yeah. But we're going to tour next year or something. Hell yeah.

You know, we're like trying to figure it out. Yeah, yeah. We've been trying to figure it out for like five years. Yeah. But it's like family, kids, men, y'all got a whole new. Wives. Yeah. My wife has a career.

My brother's wife has a career. The whole band, like, we've been together since high school. So, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, we have, like, a lot of moving parts. Yeah. And everybody's parts matter. So, you know, our bass player was in college for four years. We wanted to go get his degree.

Fire. You know what I mean? Like, so, like, everything, there's a lot of pieces. So we've been, like, talking about it and talking about it and talking about it. And that's going to be big, though. That's gonna be insane. I think it'll be great just to be back together for like, I don't know how long we can do it,

but like a month would be like, yeah, bro. I think a month, 25 shows or something. I mean, I never went to summer camp, but it feels like what summer camp would feel like, you know what I mean?

And you just band together literally. Yeah. And it's like the catering, you know what, the room's like, you know what I'm saying? The green rooms. The cafeteria. Yeah, dude, it's like getting to kick it every day. Like off days going top golf or like, you know what I mean?

a theme park or something. It's like, it's just so fire getting to hang out. And I love getting to bring artists that I genuinely fuck with, friends of mine. You know what I mean? Yeah. You've always been that way. Yeah. Yeah.

What I realized about touring in early days and then across my whole life is growing up, I didn't have a group. I didn't have, I wasn't popular, we were poor. I never felt like I was in, in, very. I didn't feel like I was a part of anything. Yeah. I wasn't a star of a team. Yeah.

I mean, I wanted to be. Right, right, right. No, for sure. Yeah. Bro, I relate. Yeah. You know, relate. And it was like, uh, that's why I found solace and, you know, in music because it was like,

um, you know, I, like, this was this place that didn't make me feel as lonely. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's like this, this, this thing that became a passion and obsession. But like, it was. a place I could go and I would feel like, you know, like I belonged kind of, you know. Yeah. And you grow up and you get to grow in it. Like, yeah. First, I started dressing a little bit more than the band. We started the band and I started dressing a little bit more. Like,

and then it develops into this whole person who found his style, found his person, personality that I did not have. I had it in here, but it takes those shows and those little basement shows and those little talk shows playing parties and then you get your first gig at a bar and then you're playing this free show at something and then you're the whole way you're developing more than just your music yeah you're developing the whole person self yeah yeah and then all the way forward you get to your first hit song yeah and you're this full almost full you're not fully developed but you're this persona almost that is you yeah but it's also you on stage yeah and there's extreme versions of you, right?

That's how I see it. But then if you hang out with me, I'm me. But then if you see me on stage, I'm me too, but it's this part of me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And extremified, I don't know if that's where, but like, you know, like caricature and version, but also just like a super version. It's a super version. Yeah.

And the growing fan base or crowd that more people show up, more people show up. And the version's getting bigger. Yeah. And then it's interesting. to me because it's not like it's it's a good thing i'm not saying it's bad it's like this crowd that showed up in india and they got to see you for the first time yeah they were a part of energetically before they ever got to see you in person yeah were a part of participating in your like growth because they were putting energy into your like your world that you were building yeah and

some of it you can feel some of it you can see some of it you can hold if you by a t-shirt or a record or whatever, but it's actually like this intangible thing. Yeah. And that's community and culture and, and, you know, it's crazy when I look in the crowd and I see people dress like me, you know, and they'll come into all black to the meet and greets. Yeah, it's like you buy into it, you know what I mean? And it's like, yeah, for so. It's giving something and I always think about it because like I was talking to my brother about you and you know my brother Josh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. From back in the day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, bro, y'all got, man, man, like, you, you guys are, like, like, very,

I was, I was talking on the way here, like, y'all are going to see, like, to my assistant, and I was like, bro, like, I don't know what, like, in y'all's DNA, y'all are amazing human beings, bro. Like, we love y'all. Thank you. Like, outstanding human beings, man, incredible, incredible guys. Thank you. You know, I think we have only had each other.

And then we came in the world and we built something that was special to us. and it meant a lot to some to other people in different ways but at the core of it we were always just together trying to figure life out because it was just us and we all do different things like my brother Josh who's not in the band but has always been a part like a very close like he's a different guy yeah and I always notice the people that notice that see him yeah I always know real ones when I see real ones yeah oh they said they met Josh he's the best guy And we were talking, we talk every day on the phone because he's in Nashville and I was like,

oh, I'm talking to Jeasy today and he goes, Gerald. And I was like, yes. And he said, I fucking love him. Yeah, man. You know, he loves his brother. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, his brother are tight.

And like, we measure a lot of people on how close they are. Yeah, yeah, facts, facts, you know. It's weird. Yeah. Weird thing to measure. Man, I just saw my brother, he, so.

He and I, I don't know if you know this, but we're born one day apart, but three years. Oh, wow. So I was born May 24th at 3 in the morning, and three years later, he was born May 23rd at 3 p.m. Wow. So two Gemini boys, and my mom would always call us the day and night boys. And could not be more opposite. Right. But he's my favorite person on the planet.

You know, he's the best guy I know. And, you know, he manages a restaurant in New Orleans, and he works, you know, around the clock and, you know, lives a completely different kind of life. his wife and uh you know it really killed him that he didn't make it to one of the shows on the u.s leg of the tour and he was he was dead set on coming to one so they flew out to london and they were there you know like 48 hours that's sweet and but they just really wanted to see a show it was so dope and just and i um you know i have this part of the show i usually dedicate to my mom and then i you know and he was there and i brought him out on stage dude and i just had a good cry and a really tight hug with him. It was just a real special moment, man. It was beautiful.

Convierre, your passion in a new business with Shopify and bathe records of ventas with the form of pay with a better conversion of the world. Has you heard it. The Meregoregible system of Pago of Shopify facilitae facilita the site web, in the social and in any place. That is music for your ears.

No, you'll do more vets. Your business will be a super-exit with Shopify. Empea your period of Provebae for a euro a month in Shopify.combe Records There's no one

like your brother Yeah And I I get confused When people aren't close to their brothers Yeah Because I feel like

So sad Yeah Because Do it all There was always Gerald and James And there's a There's a lot

You could miss Out on If you Can't get past Whatever pain You know I see people That have

Everybody has Different relationships And I understand And I think about like the pain we go through a life of growing up and realizing what life really is and we had a tough childhood. And so it was hard for us for some years to be as close, even though we were close, until we started working on ourselves and actually like healing and like learning how to communicate with one another and work through some of our, you know, like problems we didn't

even know we're given to us or going through loss. Like you guys suffered. Yeah, yeah. Um, If you don't work on it and try, you don't get to experience what it means to have a brother who, you know, my brothers never judge me. Even if they don't agree with me, even if we have a problem. Yeah. Like, I just know they're there and it's been that way. And like Josh is a great example of like, like, I can call them anytime. I can be honest with him. I can tell them if I'm nervous about something.

I can tell them if I'm down about something. And you can't really be vulnerable. in the world. There's no room for it. If you're vulnerable. It's such a public world. I mean, it's like, especially, I mean, with social media, it's probably, you're judged by the world. Period. Constantly.

You know, especially as a forward-facing public figure. But, dude, did you know that David Lynch did a Disney movie? No. This isn't completely veering left, I promise. Which movie? It's incredible. I just recently watched it. It's called a straight story, but it's about this old guy, based on a true story,

who only has so much longer to live, and he, you know, he was very poor. And he, his eyesight's so bad, he doesn't have his driver's license. So he drives a tractor with a trailer behind it through states to go see his younger brother who he hadn't, to reconcile who he hadn't talked to in years before he dies. He needs to go visit his brother. Yeah, make a great one. It's a beautiful, beautiful movie, man.

It's, I don't know how to, because it's, it's, and I was thinking about it, David Lynch just passed. Yeah, yeah, man. It's, it's very lynchian. I don't know how to let him do that. But it's beautiful, man. It's so good. It's called a straight story.

Yeah, David Lynch just died. He was big on meditation. Yeah. TM. Yeah. Yeah. Did you ever learn TM? No.

I did. No, I've never met Rick Rubin. I never went out there and learned it from him right now. A few of my friends who do, yeah, who do it. They got it from him. It's actually amazing. Yeah. I learned it like 10 years ago.

I don't think I would, I would say I don't do. TM every day, but I meditate. I'm way too ADHD. Yeah. Oh, my God. So do I. Yeah. Are you on any medication for it? No. Okay.

I just stay busy. Yeah. Exactly that. Yeah. It says a lot, though. Going back to Josh, and I talked to him today, and I was like, oh, I'm talking to him, and he's like, you know, he's very close to his brother like us. I don't know why that says something to us about a guy when he's close to his brothers.

I don't know. It's weird. Like, that's our language. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. You know what I mean? Because there's something about that that's beneath the surface behind the curtain. Yeah.

The real person, all of us out in the world that we have to work. So you got to be you, and it is you. I'm not saying it's not you when you show up on a stage or on a red carpet or in a photo shoot. That's you. But there's also you, like when you do that, doesn't matter. This is my opinion. You've got to have your guard up in some way, shape, or form to be out there. Oh, yeah.

Because that's just, especially you. The nature of your business is a little different than rock. It's a business full of narratives, criticisms. Yeah, yeah. What are you wearing? Who are you this? What are you that? Yeah, who are you dating?

Yeah. In my opinion, like, the world of like, in the zeitgeist of pop culture, hip hop, all this stuff is very like gossip driven and very like things are out of context. everyone it's oh my god and and opinion driven i mean it's like you mean to tell me that i did an hour long interview that it's just will be reduced to that and you don't even they don't even post a video first because engagement it's so ridiculous that's it so you and you got a clip to swipe and see even and then they will even like take the first like three words that you said and then the last four and combine that but leave out the whole middle thing and it's like how is this okay

how are we not all talking about this this is not okay well well i'll tell you the answer but then that you're taking out of this. You know what I mean? This is the- views. So we all need clicks. Right. So this is the general answer.

This is the general answer, right? Yeah. Any old person, anybody, fuck you. You signed up for this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fuck you. Yeah. Right. You're like, you took that out of context. Right. You know, I'm a real person.

I was saying, I actually cared about that interview. I thought it went well. Yeah, yeah. And you're like, I just said, and they're like, fuck you. Yeah.

You signed up for this. Yeah. Fuck you. God. And the comment culture, just jump straight to the comments myself. I'm guilty, you know what I mean? Because I just, I want to know the general temperature, the reaction.

Yeah, what's the vibe? Yeah. And, dude, it's just crazy, man. You can write the most clever. It makes you scared to like, you know, anytime I'm, which is, which is any time I'm in front of a camera or a microphone is like, or even behind the screen of what I type, you know what I mean? It's like, it makes you become so filtered and it's.

You filter yourself. And then now you're living with this anxiety of like overthinking everything and not, you know what I mean? So you have to be this. kind of like polished perfected version of like your presentation and performance of the world. And you know, I just, man, there's nothing that you could do about it. But it's funny. I do miss some like some brutal honesty of, you know what I mean?

Yesterday, I feel like back in the day you could just, you have more rock and roll moments of like, like, just filterless truth. You know what I mean? Yeah, honesty and truth. And if we were in a room together. We're in a room together. Right? Categorically. And I'm the guy, I'm writing a comment, right?

I wouldn't say any of that to you. I'd be like, oh my God, hey, nice to meet you. I like that album or whatever, like straight up. Or they would just be fucking nervous. Or they would be whatever. Because you got to remember the comment section is them trying to farm engagement, which they are. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Can I write the most clever comment?

It's going to get the most like to be at the top. of the list. So it's all this like gamification of like of people and we all fucking know it. And we all sit there and we still read it because we actually care about our art. We care about representing ourselves. Yeah. Because we're fucking real people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we do something we care about. Yeah. Right. And then we actually do care if people like it. Yeah. And we can't be honest about that. We can't be honest about anything with each other anymore. Yeah. And everybody's. answer is fuck you you signed up for this and you're like okay i get it i get it but it's still bad it like it's

still i still still still i still i'm just saying that's the world to me i just say everybody's everybody's playing that same game and we're all up against it and we all have our moments we all have a moment where we look good we all have a moment where we look bad yeah and everybody has it and anybody that says they don't have it cap they weren't a real person yeah trying to navigate this that we all do, which is... We're all in this together, man. We get one go around with this, man, we're doing the best we can. None of us know what we're doing.

We're just doing the best we can, man. You know what I mean? Like... So we always... So me and my brothers, we don't measure artists a lot of times. Well, we like their art, but we don't measure a lot of times, like, what we see. We'll say like, oh, yeah, that dude, he's really tight with his brother. Yeah, yeah.

And then we're like, oh, he's done. He's good. Yeah. We love him. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's how we see people. We're like...

I mean, quality of character is such an important. thing bro yeah and and you know what I said about you guys earlier it's like and people know because you know what I mean the way the way I hear people talk about choose the same is like how how high of a regard you guys you guys are always held in anytime you come up in conversation oh that's nice guys like the best people period and that's that's quality of character and and a lot of people just don't have it you know what I mean like it's your bones it's your grounding it's your foundation and a lot of that comes from you know I mean like so like I remember me and my brother, we would ride the Amtrak train together every other weekend to go visit our

dads. And on summertime, we'd go visit our dad. Where was this? In Fresno. Okay. So it was like a three, three and a half hour train ride from Oakland down to Fresno. So Oakland to Fresno, that's a long. Yeah, yeah. Every other weekend, there and back. And Fresno is an interesting place too. And that's a very interesting place. You know, so that's a lot of time, just me and him, you know? And, you know, I looked after him all grown up because the three years apart and I'm the big brother like whether that's you know protecting him shielding him from stuff you defending him you know um looking out for him when we're you know little kids like always being the protector and the you know the one next to him and then i left for college and it was just you know the three of us my mom's partner had passed a year before um so now it's like

it's just me james and my mom and when i left for college i had a real guilt like thing about you know And because my mom was already sick. And like I felt like I was abandoning both of them. Yeah. You know, because I was like, I already had my job all through high school. Like, you know, like, and now I'm just leaving them. And he was, you know, now he's a sophomore, you know, taking care of my mom. Yeah.

And then it was a few years later that, you know, and, you know, after college it was like, you know, what were you going to do? You're chasing this music thing. It's not working yet. You know what I mean? You're barely getting... I was playing any shows I could get, you know what I mean? Whether that's... Bro, I was...

I'd open for some hardcore bands and garages and shit like that. You know what I mean? I was doing anything I could get. And as G-Easy? As G-Easy. Yeah, yeah, and trying to figure it out as I go. That's fucking awesome, bro. And then my mom lost the job.

You know, so then she's moving back into my grandma's house in the room that she was her room when she went to high school. You know what I mean? Right. And that was the moment where I was like, this has to happen. Like, this has to work. Or bust. Or bust.

You know what I mean? And it was. And it was right around then that it caught, you know. And that was always a battery in my back is, you know, taking care of making sure that moms live straight and then, you know, helping my brother in every single way I possibly could, you know. I mean, he'll be paid for his wedding a year ago.

That was such a special feeling for me. You know what I mean? Or like getting him his car, you know, his first of his car, you know what I mean? Or like stuff like that. He just bought a house. And that's, I'm so, so proud of him in New Orleans. I know that feeling. Yeah, dude.

So, you know, helping with things here and there with that. And, yeah, man, that loving Lillotty being that strong, but that determination because we're so close and we care about each other so much that, you know, I got to always make sure that, you know, the people I love most in life are taken care of. God, that makes me so fucking happy to hear that story. I'd never heard that story. Yeah. I didn't know what you guys were up against.

We were the same story. We were just trying to make it. We got evicted so many times. Then we moved out of our, we moved out the last time we were getting evicted. We were like just turning 18. And we were like, okay, mom, don't worry about us. Yeah.

We're going to go. She had my sister. And then we went and just started trying to make it. Yeah. And we were done high school. It was the same time. We were ending high school. And all like the people we knew around were like going to college.

and stuff. Yeah. And we were like, well, let's just give ourselves four years to make it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then if we don't, we can go get a job or go to try to get a college. Because those years, man, 18 to 22 around there. You know, it's really, really big because, you know, you've completed something most

times in high school or whatever, but you're at an age where you're still so, like, you know, you have your maturity and your intelligence, like, of, you know, of an 18-year-old, but, you know, you're going to see so much between 18 and 22. Yep. you can't experience so much and you're gonna figure out who you are you know yeah if you figure out who you are in high school then i'm sorry for you it's bad it's bad you don't want to peek no you know what you know what you know what you're still just like figuring shit out yeah but think about it that whole time you're there you're trying to figure it out you're actually trying to do too much yeah you're trying to

go to college and make it yeah and i know you're thinking you're like i'm gonna do this just because it's the right thing to do well yeah to me it was a It was a promise to my grandma. And I got into, like, one school. Okay. In New Orleans, it was right after Katrina. They were, like, taking anybody. Yeah.

So I rebuild the economy. Like, yeah, come to New Orleans, please. Yeah. And, you know, and I got- Nice. Yeah, man. And, you know, I was, man, I mean, I still, to this day have reoccurring night terrors of, like,

it's, it's, I'm in college and I'm like, I have, like, one semester left to graduate. I need these credits. But I'm having to decide between the music and there's one class it's always this one class in the dream and it's like a lady teacher who's like kind of a Karen

and like I just stop going to that class because I make the decision I have to fuck that off I'm going to prioritize the music I can't take all five of these classes I need to make some time like carve out you know that's the one I can sacrifice

and then skip ahead in the dream and it's like and it's like final exams and it's like a stress dream it's a night's hair about like fucking tests give me so much anxiety. Yeah. Like I could study, study, study, and I'd panic when I get that. I can't do tests. I'm terrible at test. Yeah. But, you know, the people around me at the time in the place that we lived was a very small place. It's like backwater in Maryland. It's like no one even knows where this place is.

It's just nowhere. And they don't have any idea what you're trying to do. So none of them can give you any kind of encouragement. They're just like, be sure about that? What are you going to do? Yeah, right, right. In the context, enough. No, zero. But the person who was always cheering us on and giving us ideas and trying to help and participate in a positive way was my brother. Yeah. And that's why he, that's why we're the three amigos. Like, anytime we have an idea, he's all in.

Like, we started our business 12 years ago, our businesses. And like, he's the guy who's like, he's like a bit of a shaman because I'll go to him and I'll go, I got this idea. I want to do this. And he's like, that's a great idea. And then it always works. Yeah, yeah. So the three of us, there's something that we don't, we just know we have to be connected for our, I love that.

Success, you know, in life and then supporting each other. But that about you says it all to me about your success. Yeah. And your ability to navigate the most fucked up part about success is when what we thought of and what we wanted to do and what we created becomes everyone else's in, in the sense of who we are, it's their narrative, they write it, yeah, yeah, yeah. What our music is, they write it, that's the narrative.

Any aspect of our life, whether it's relationships or personal trauma, they write about it. They decide the narrative, that's the narrative. You know, it was crazy, I was just talking earlier today, in this interview, my mom came up and I was talking about this voicemail, she left me that I used on a song,

where, you know, I was, Looking back to this day, I'm so happy I didn't answer the phone that day because I got that voicemail out of it. And it was the day I was going to sign my record deal. And I tried to call her and she wasn't by her phone. So when she called me back, I was in there signing it. It looked like physically, you know what I mean? And the voicemail is like, hey, Gerald, I just wanted to say how proud I am of you. Because you've risen to heights of creativity and maturity and and it's going to be your life by the sounds of it.

You know, this is, you know, you've followed your dreams. and you have your grounding and yourself, and that's so rare. And, you know, there's something about like, you know what, I hug my brother, the way he smells. They're like, you know what I mean? I go back, you know, to like see my aunts and uncles, like, you know, and the house smells and feels

and their eyes, you know what I mean? You see you because it's DNA, it's, you know what I mean? And it's so easy to kind of like, it's so, not easy, but often times, you know, you can get lost in this industry, in this space, you know, and it also becomes, like you were saying, it's everyone else's narrative, it's everyone else's music. I post-publish, and it's yours now.

You know what I mean? You live with it. And it's up to your interpretation, and, you know, you get pulled in all these directions because, you know, maybe they like the G.E.E.Z. who sings, but, so, but they want the G.E.Z. who, you know, rap, like, over, but they want the pop songs, but they want me to be doing this, and you can't make everybody happy.

you're not tequila like you know what i mean yeah so you're getting pulled in all these directions you know and then you play the game and you know and you and i both know it's like we're smart like we're intelligent people yeah and we can we get the industry we get the strategy we get the business side of things you know and you continue to evolve and mold and grow and you know you you figure what works and then you do it and you do it you know but then you can kind of like wake up one day and be like you know how did i get here yeah like i strayed away So then you go back home and you hug your family and you remember it's like and you come back to your bones. Yeah.

You know, it's an important thing to do, man. Yeah. And you can do the same thing I found. I'm older than you. But I found like I have a little bit. I'm getting up there. I think I'm way older than you, bro. I think I'm 45.

Hey man. I'm, I'm going to say. I'm 35. You look like you're like fucking 25, bro. Oh, man. You're too kind. You look 35. That's great.

That's a good age. You're in your prime in my opinion. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was just talking to someone today about, I said when I was 25, I was like, there's no way I'm going to be playing shows and on stage at 45. And now at 45, I'm like, what?

Yeah, yeah. Like, we're better actually live. Yeah, yeah. We're better now. Yeah, absolutely. Because, I mean, dude, it's like anything. You know, like, we're of the luckiest people on the planet because we fell in love with something.

Yeah. And not everybody, like, loves anything. It falls in love with anything. You can go your whole life and never figure out what it is that you truly, truly love something you love. Yeah. And then, you know, like anything you love to do, ideally you'd like to do it a lot. Yeah. And if you do anything a lot, you get better at it. Yeah. You do it a lot. And then if you get really better, better and better at it because you're doing it a lot, lot, lot, and then you get paid for it,

well, then now you want to do it even more. You know what I mean? And it becomes this thing that you keep getting better and refining. And, Dude, I'm like constantly in a state of curiosity and hunger of like every night I'm like off stage. I'm like taking notes, you know what I mean, going over notes with the team. Watching the game tape and shit. Like or even if, you know, living in New York, man, I go to a lot of comedy shows. Their cadence and timing of how they place a joke here and then circle back to it. You know what I mean? How I incorporate elements of that even into the show or theater and like, you know, parts of showmanship.

Yep. you know and involving all that um yeah man it's a craft yeah and i think we have to give ourselves the time in the space to do that without a clock ticking like our times running out if you have talent and you have work ethic you'll have success yeah it's a matter of time if you're always keeping to some metric of success like a chart or or whatever those are good metrics sometimes for certain things but at the end of the day if you continue to work on your craft and continue to do work that you like you'll continue to have success and you'll have an interesting career yeah and i think as long as you stay inspired but i do think like having a sanctuary having a place where the guy who

started in college in new Orleans and was trying to figure out how to help his mom and his brother if you don't bring him along and keep him close to you and then find a place where he can be like that guy is still you that's probably the you that I just got to know then I'm like oh I knew I fucked with him

you know what I mean and then you find out and you're like oh I fuck with him and that's the guy that you can only give to certain people you can only be that guy well he's something you preserve and protect right because the world you protect him at all cost. And he's too good for anybody that doesn't see him. I mean, yeah, the day you lose him is the day

you. And that's the thing, man, is like I realize with my wife over time, over time, because I always felt I wasn't good enough for her. It was my thing, a self-esteem. And, and then somewhere in, like, we've been together almost 20 years, somewhere in the middle, I was working on myself. I was starting to like myself more than I did. And I figured it out. She sees that guy, the guy who was working two jobs trying to make it with his band trying to help his mom find a place to live trying to help is you know trying to make it just every dollar mattered when you're like 20 bucks short every fucking yeah yeah yeah you're like you can't eat or you can't pay your electric or you can't and you're just trying to make it and you're fucking tired and any amount of money would help at that time

I would have fucking signed any deal I was just starving yeah to for everything for love for actual food for safety. The world was a tough place. I was like, the music business is a joke. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've been through hard. Out there.

Out there, it's hard. So, but that guy, and then I came in the music business and I thought everybody was going to love me and everyone was going to celebrate me and everyone was going to be so happy I made it. And then some people were.

Yeah, yeah. The fans of Good Charlotte were. Everybody else, no. Yeah. The world is hard. It's cold. It's cold. It's hard.

They're upset You better get a coat Yeah But then my wife Met that guy After a little bit of dating After I took the Took the persona

Like I did as long I know I've impressed you at first With that rock and roll stuff But then When you have to get to know someone You gotta show him who you are And you're

You let your guard down And you're just a fucking Like corny kid from wherever Trying to make it with his music and you actually care and you actually care about things that's when I think she

and me got really tight and then over the years of being together I realized my home and what I share with her and my kids is where I get all my safety that's where I recharge that's where I get the confidence to come back out in the world and try

and something about that allows me to not give a fuck if I'm honest here on this show. I can be honest. And if anyone wants to take it out of context, if they want to rip it apart, if they want to do whatever, they can.

I don't fucking care. Because I go home to a place where... You know who you are. Yeah. And I see that my wife, my kids, my brother, his wife, the little, the crew we have. It gives me what I needed.

And I think, like, family, it's what you have with your brother, absolutely what you had with your mother. Yeah. I think we are fed this fantasy with our success. It's not that our success is bad. It's fucking great. But there's a fantasy that everything just gets better.

And like we live this like magical. Some things get better. A lot of get better. You can pay for stuff. You know. Yeah. Like yes. Absolutely.

There's a bunch of great things. But I feel like if you don't have that place you can get lonely. get in the ground and like be there. I think it makes you better out in the world where you're actually just trying to succeed. Yeah. And sometimes you do. And sometimes you don't. Yeah. But that's like,

if we're playing a sport, 500's great. Three hundred's amazing. Yeah. In baseball. You know what I mean? I say it all the time, man. The best it is in baseball hit it, one third of the time. And in music, especially in like pop culture these days, It's like if we're not batting a thousand. Dude, I talk about this all the time. That's what I say. Like, you know, like, I'll go into the studio and I'll, you know,

sometimes I'll do three songs tonight. Or like, you know what I mean? Or you have like, you know, you record 20, 30, 40 songs for an album or whatever. It's like, yeah, the best hit is in baseball hit it at one third at the time. Or you roll out this single. It doesn't work. I don't bat a thousand. You know what I mean?

You hit a really well. I mean, I have hit the ball very well throughout my, like in my career. Yes. And, dude, every time you catch one. You know, and you've known this. Like, when you catch one and you ride that roller coaster of a hit song, you know, it's crazy because that just did so much for your ability to sustain for years ahead. Because, and I'm realizing this now, you know, 10 plus years into my career.

Yeah. That I'm, you know, me, myself and I still hits. Still hits. Like, that shit comes like when I play it out my shows and it's like, comes on. And they scream it word for word, man. That song's over a decade old. It's a hit. It's like, oh, yeah.

you got a cash cow you got a for life song out of that you know yeah and like dude you know if you get a few of those you're like you could play festivals for the rest of your life yes it's amazing it is amazing and i'm i'm 20 uh yeah 25 26 years in and and guess what songs we'll get a year guess yeah yeah the hits we're kids you know what and and look dude if somebody put on me myself and i at a party or something like that or like like you're like In the car, I was, I probably fucking turn that fucking shit off. Yeah, yeah. Please, I don't want to hear that.

In real life. You know what? I don't want to hear it. But, you know what I love to perform? Each night is that song, dude. The hits. And because it's like, this means this much to these fans, and it takes on a different life live.

Yeah. You know, and then immediately I get overwhelmed with the gratitude of getting to keep doing this. Yeah. You know, like, you can't, like, I hate it. Like, I hate when artists are like, you know, it seems like, it's like being a brat. It's like, oh, I don't want to fucking, I hate that song. I don't want to play it.

Like, I'm not playing that shit. I'm not putting it in this out. It's like, fuck you, dude. Like, these people pay their hard earned money to come and be here. And they love you for it. And I'm sorry. They want to hear it. Yeah.

They want to hear it. And it's a, it's an acknowledgement too. It's love. Some people struggle with that. Some people struggle with love. Straight up. Yeah. They just struggle with being loved.

that they struggle with people expressing love. They struggle with people loving their shit. It's like suddenly they love it and you're like, fuck that. Yeah. Like, okay, I get it, but people love it. So it's cool when you can actually embrace it. And it's a gratitude thing, though. I do think it's gratitude.

Yeah. How's the new record? Man, the new record is the best work I've done. And I know everybody would, you know, feels like that when they do something. You better say that. The difference is, not everybody, But the difference is, I'd say, for one, this is the first time I've done an album with just one producer.

Oh, cool. Like, somebody was, you know, and this is not a sight to anybody who worked with this past, but, like, real credits. Like, he, Radia McDonald did the album, and you talk about somebody who did, like, Adele's first album. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, bro, who did the XX, like, real, like, old-school producer, producer. Yeah. And we locked in, we did it all in the same studio, all in New York.

Over, like, two months. We'd work three weeks. take a week two off, work through it, you know what I mean? Just lock in and I got his full

100% attention and took his coaching because, you know, I respected him so much. You know, I took his, you know, harsh, you know, suggestion and criticism

and suggestions, you know, because he was, he was that mindful, attentive, and involved. You know, it can feel like

speed dating when you're doing sessions with, you know, certain rap or pop producers. It's like, they show up with,

laptop, plug in the ox, open a folder of beats, you know, leave you with that and then they're out. Yeah. That really happens. And then there's so much yes man, just culture and laziness really is what it is. You know, it's like you get to a certain point you work in these rooms with, you know, if you get in these rooms, you belong in these rooms. So it's like you're not going to make bad music. But there's such a difference between good music and great music. Yeah. You know, and really pushing yourself to like ask yourself questions like, what are we trying to say with this song. Could this be better?

Could you rewrite that verse? You know, could this chorus, is it doing enough for us? You know, or can we beat it? Yeah, that's experience. Yeah, experience. You can't just, and experience in passion and caring. Yeah. And we were just all in, man.

There's no fat. There's just no filler, no fat. It's like condensed and it's concise. And yeah, man, helium. It's the highs and lows of love, highs and lows of life. I mean, that to me sounds like a classic, like how classic records are made. I mean, certainly there's records where, especially in hip-hop, it's a compilation of producers' tracks that someone picked really well or whatever.

And there's classic records that are certainly exists that way. But a lot of, in the sense of like the greater sense of music across all genres, a lot of the classic records were made with one group of people with putting their minds to trying to create a cohesive body of work that tells a story. or has a concept or whatever. But that's what it sounds like to me. That's awesome. Awesome, man.

Awesome. And yeah, dude, it was fun to make. It put a battery back in my back. It just, you know, like, freak show comes out. It didn't do, you know, commercially what I'm used to. You know, it was humbling a bit, you know. But it was like, all right, what are you going to do about it? Like, get right back in.

And luckily, me and Roddy, Roddy, had like hit it off. It started as doing sessions to do a free show deluxe and it became, Oh no, no, this is, no, we're doing a whole record. Oh, like that. Yeah, dude. And we just, like, locked in. And I was really just having fun in the studio again. And I'd be excited to come in every day.

You know, we'd work, get there in the daytime and, you know, cut it at night. It wasn't like I was showing up at 8 and recording until 5, 6 in the morning. It's like, no, let's do this. Like, it's a job. Yeah. And come in every day and just be on it and know when, you know, he's, I mean, with that experience, He's really good at, like, sensing, okay, we're burning out this idea. Let's air break it.

Stop, put it aside. You know, load this one up, but let's go take a walk. Or let's go get dinner. Like, getting out of there. Man, there was a few lessons, man, that he taught me. This one story, he was like, you know, like, G.A., we get it. I know you want to sing. I was like trying to hit a chorus, you know, and sing it myself.

And you like to sing? I mean, dude, I could never sing. Like, I always thought I was toned of. Right. Because rap, I mean, like, you think Jay Z and Nas. That's all monotone. Yeah. Like, hear with it.

I was one of the same, but I couldn't. My brother was the musician. That's funny. I think you're a great singer. In COVID, in COVID, I took vocal lessons. I finally learned my voice. Yeah. And I love it.

For me, it's like I've been rapping for so long. It's like it was a new challenge. Yeah, it's a new instrument. But I'm a non-singer, you know? Oh. Like, I've just had to learn techniques to find my voice to make it work for me. But anyway, I was trying to sing something that he goes, gee, I know you want to, I know you want to, I know you want to sing.

We don't want to hear you sing. Yeah. And it was like, it was said in a way that it didn't hurt my feelings. It was like, he was like, but I've thought a lot about this. And, you know, your natural, like speaking voice and deeper or lower voice like this, there's somebody that I know you like a lot that has a similar kind of tone as that. And I wanted you to try it like Leonard Cohen. Oh, wow.

You know what I mean? And that was like, whoa, yeah. Actually, that makes sense. Yo, and it was like, and it unlocked. and you know instead of trying to hit like the top line part you know like i i did it you know like more down here without the auto tune on but i'm still you know what i mean it's tonal um and it just worked and it was that kind of suggestion and like you know i'd never had a a producer before like you know like push me and and help find my voice and make the utility of it work

per song the way he did you know i was doing one and Like, you know, he was like, you know, I get it. You like sad music. You like to write sad music. It's okay. It's fine. Doing some of the greatest songs are, you know, but just let's keep it fun. Like, production-wise, you know what I mean?

Let's make it up tempo. That's like, you know, shit like that, man. It was just, it was dope little like, that's cool. Yeah, man. That's a great way to make an album. Yeah. That sounds like really fulfilling. Yeah.

Fulfilling, man. So that's why my eyes lit up when you asked about the new record. Yeah. Yeah, dude. It's interesting, too, because I think you have one of the smoothest deliveries. Thank you, man. Just very hard to be smooth and, like, authentic. This is, like, a smooth delivery is like, God damn, he's fucking cool. Like, it's very rare you find the smooth delivery that's also believable.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, it's hard. Also, I'm just going to compliment you because, you know. about my. You only get one, you know, you get to talk to someone and you get to tell them everything you think. I'm very lucky I get to do that sometimes.

You have a smooth delivery. The way you use words is you can hear the hours. I can hear all of the, before you were G.E.Z, the world knows. You were writing in a pad or you were wrapping over a tape or you were doing whatever you were doing when you were doing it trying to make it. And then you make it. And the world gets to know the character. that we wanted to be, right?

Because we needed to be that guy. I needed to be strong enough and tough enough in my mind to survive this big scary world that I was in. It's almost like against my will. I was pushed out into the world through poverty. And like I needed to become something to survive. Yeah, yeah. And then I became a survival mechanism.

Right, and then I became the singer of a band that was blah blah, blah, blah. And everyone's like, and that's just, it is me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I had to believe every second of it to be to survive. Yeah. And then to survive the entertainment business and to survive fame and to survive success. Yeah.

To survive. Crazy. Having money. To survive having whatever you want kind of. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Such a mind fuck.

Like such a mind fuck. Dude, it's whiplash. And yes. And you have to survive it and get. And sustain it. Yeah. And get to the other side of it almost. Yeah.

I always say like if you survived the first round of fame. Yeah. If you survive it, you'll be all right. Yeah. Yeah. Because then on the other side of it, you realize. Catching that second one is like a plane landing safely. Like, here we got this.

Yeah. Because riding that first hit is like, you're up in the air. You know what I mean? And it's like, but the hardest thing is getting that second one. Because then it's like, you know, it's like, okay, this is gotten to at least a cruise controller. And then you get the third one. Surprise.

And then you get a third one. You're okay, now you're cemented. Yeah. And it never gets like easier. There's always that pressure. It's always hard. back to like, well, where's your next one? Where's your next one?

But at least, you know, I can say, I've made peace with it. I've made peace with it. Yeah, and now I know in like my heart of hearts, you know, like, we've accomplished so much. Yes. And are so blessed. And all I ever wanted was just to be in a position where I could keep doing this thing. And take care of your family. And taking care of my people.

That it. You know, like, we've done that. But you became more than that. I mean, you really, you really are one of those voices, right? And you have a lot more to achieve, and you will. But to look at what you've done over the last 10 years is really important to go, here's what I've accomplished. And what I've done so far, I'm very happy with it.

I'm proud of myself. I worked hard to have it. I worked hard to get it. And now you've made this record you love. Yeah. And you did it in a different way. You're like, I'm going to try to do it a different way. Yeah.

But I think it's great. I just think about it. And I'm like, I'm a fan. And so I listen to your delivery, the way you put things together, and the way you carry yourself is it's always been different. And I've always liked it because it feels like, yeah, it just feels different. And I think that where you sit in music, you're going to, you're going to have to do this a few times. You're going to have to go make this record. You're going to have to make helium a few different times to continue to tell the story and to develop what it means to be G.

easy in the world. And then also what it means to be g easy in real life when you're at home, when you're with, you know, when you're in a relationship, when you're building that life, whatever that life is. It might be marriage and kids. It might not. Like what I learned is my lived life. And the life that I go out there in the world and live in front of people are two different lives. Yeah. And I have to figure out how they interact. Yeah. And find a way to like help them help each other, but also have them separate. Yeah. And like that was the weirdest mind fuck.

Yeah. Of realizing like, oh, it could be, that duality could be polarizing. It's crazy. Yeah. And it's like,

and I mean, I was, I say this, man, it's like, you know, you work for UPS. You go home,

you take that brown off. Yeah. We don't take this off. No. I mean, I like, sometimes sleep in my clothes or I fall asleep drunk,

but like, yeah. Me too. Um, uh, but, and it catches you at the weirdest times. Like if you're out with your wife or you're out with your kid and then somebody comes up and

you're who they think you are. Yeah. And you're not that person. It can be, you have to find ways to navigate it with grace and like understand like it is a weird thing to to kind of get your mind all the way around when you actually weren't trying to get famous. You wanted to make art and have success. And actually, the driver for me, if I'm being really honest in the early days, was literally, just making enough money to take care of my family. Dude, that, yeah. And it's not cool for artists to say that. Yeah.

But I actually cared more about the money. I mean, I just had to get by. We were desperate. Yeah, desperate. It felt like we were drowning. I mean, my mom is an art professor. She would almost discourage me from pursuing the arts as a kid because she taught, she didn't make anything, but she taught at a very nice school.

Yeah. Like, she would say, Gerald, you know, you're going to have to figure out how to make a living because, you know, I know you, you're falling in love with music, but, you know, these, these kids I teach, it's a privilege to be able to pursue the arts the way they do. They come from money. You know, I can't provide that for you. Yeah, I can't pay. And you're going to have to, and what do you do with your art degree? After you've studied at the most prestigious art school and you have a degree in art, it's like, that's not like you can go get a job just because, you know what I mean? It's like, she's like, you're going to have to figure out how to make a living and get by it because

we don't come from that. Like, and it's crazy. I mean, how things work time because I'm sure she was your biggest fan. invited to us to just be the avant-gardeist who only cares about the art. Yeah, it must be nice, too. Some of us have to figure out how the fuck we're going to get by. I need to survive. I need to survive now. I need to take care of my mom yesterday.

Yesterday. That's how I felt. And she actually wasn't asking for it, but she was like, you take care of you. She was always very supportive. Like, you guys go try, but it wasn't good enough for me. I wanted to take care of my family. And, like, I wanted to know what it felt like to have money. and I wanted to know what it felt like to be rich

if I'm being honest. Fucking right. It's like it's not okay to say for some reason. It's crazy, but no, man, I wanted everything I never had and I never was close to as a kid. And I'm happy when other people get it. Yeah.

Hell yeah. You know what I mean? When I see some guy make his first million, I'm like, fuck. Like, man, you know what I mean? Seeing the young homies like get that paper. Go get your bag. And I love getting people gifts.

Oh, man. I feel like Santa Claus. First, yeah, around the time, I got that voicemail. You know what I mean? I'm signing my first RCA deal. I really, I wanted to get it done before Christmas

and I did. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I remember going, dumb on my mom, my grandma, James,

everybody for Christmas that year. Yeah, I was, man. It's the best feeling in the world. Yeah, I was Santa Claus that year. It was crazy. But we got to remind ourselves that it's the nature of the world to pick those things apart and overdo it.

They do way too much when they want to look at us or you under a microscope and see how you did that. and why'd you buy that and why did you do that but at the core oh you can't spend this on that but you can't take care of blah blah blah blah yeah I don't you have no idea but at the core we have to accept that with some kind of love that that comes with you know success or with our our success but um I just think it's important as you go down this road I think that you're going to continue to

have a ton of success and I think that you're going to have all kinds of success because I think you're one of those artists that have things that we, we all, like, I wish I was as tall as you and as good looking as you. Shut up. Let me tell you. And the delivery and the talent. You know what I mean? So I think that that's all, that's all a guy who has that and works hard, forget about it. That's success. You're just going to succeed. As you continue to go down the road and build your life, I think it's important to unpack it and make sense of all of it so that you can enjoy it. Yeah. That sounds great, man. Yeah, I do. I'm excited for the record. Yeah. And then you're going on tour. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Another great. It's been six years.

Six years, yeah. Yeah. So I'm combining six years and miss touring. It's great. Yeah, leave for Australia tomorrow. Congrats on the record. Thank you, brother. I can't wait to hear it. Yeah, I can't to play this on. Thanks for coming, man. Yeah. Appreciate it. Thank you for listening to Artists Friendly. We really appreciate it.

If you like the show, you can also follow us on Spotify. You can follow us on Instagram at artist.friendly. And you can watch us on YouTube and Veeps. Leave comments. I always read them. See you next time. I'm Anna Mena. And like my music, my hair changes with me and has to be able to

to continue my rhythm. For so, potion 9, of Sebastian Professional, has all what my hair needs. Nutrition Profunda, protection contraband and the encrespaid, 99% less of rotura, and punas abirtas,

under control. New potion 9 of Sebastian professional, the secret professional of who not who are not they're not the people who are they're not.