Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast - Ep 506 - King Marcus (feat. Marcus King)

Episode Date: August 5, 2024

Support the D.A.W.G.Z. @ patreon.com/MSsecretpod Support Marcus King @ https://www.marcuskingofficial.com/tour/ Go See Matt Live @ mattmccusker.com/dates Go See Shane Live @ shanemgillis.com Get Merch @ mssecretpodcast.com/merch Go See Optimum Noctis at The Creek and The Cave in ATX TOMORROW Tues August 6 @ https://www.creekandcave.com/events/optimum-noctisvb6dfszg51bdq3z3wnu4ptljon3i Surprise. BONUS EP. Matt sat down w the bro Marcus King and they chopped it up for about an hour. Just two shredders shootin' the breeze. Figure we'd bless you guys with it as a surprise. Please Enjoy. God Bless. 

We're live here with Marcus King. What's up, brother? What's up? Thank you for doing this dude Thanks for having me. I was texting you the other day. I was listening to your first album Shred so fucking hard dude. There's some wild stuff on that first record. It's pretty tight, dude. Thanks Well, I was wondering this too. By the way, if you don't know Marcus King as he's obviously rock god What it what's your what's your go-to? What would they say like use it rock blues? What it was your What's your go-to? What would they say like use it rock blues? What it was your? I mean find one genre man. I never had I just like a lot of different kinds of music. Yeah, I'm in the airport I usually just pick one and tell people that I play rock and roll or country or yeah You know whatever I'm in the mood for that sure well you fucking shred dude. I was I was walking my dogs

I was a little drunk We had like a kid's party, so yeah, I got a little too turned up at it But I was recovering I was walking by the way to I this is a side they sell wheat seltzers now here Yeah, you just go to the liquor store, and there's just I couldn't believe it. I'm like this has to be it Can't be real. It's real. I spiked a cooler with a bunch of those House how strong are they like five milligrams ten some of them are ten which I think's dastardly you can't be dropping ten milligrams of the notable just like You know cuz that's one of those things anyone will pick it up, and they see a label

They're like this is legit right so I just put like eight of them in there being like Yeah, if that's your thing, but then like I was talking my one friend. He goes I don't even know this is a weed cells are just drinking. I'm like oh shit. That's yeah, my bad brother. He's Gonna get you it will but but yeah, so I was I was walking at a nice little walk at nighttime I was listening to your first album like dude you fucking shred. I'm not I'm not just love me or not I'm like you fucking trend dude. I'm trying Robb trying to shred I'm a baby shredling dude, but you can fuck I was listening It's like cuz whenever cuz you know what like you know if you're if your country if your blues like you said you kind of bounce around

Cuz I do feel like you can get kind of stuck and I heard you talking about this on the other podcast getting Stuck in that pentatonic. I mean, sorry, we're going deep on musical theory Yeah, but you can get stuck in that one sound and you when I was listening to your first album Especially I was just like dude You really can you know dance around and like jump out of stuff, and it was cool It was really like it was fresh the whole time. It was tight man. I appreciate that dude I mean I just try to with a guitar just try to express what I'm feeling in here

And I didn't have a lot of friends growing up so just play the guitar. That's awesome. That seemed to do it When'd you start playing I was probably like three or four, three or four years old. What? Yeah, I was like a latchkey kid, you know, and I'd spend a lot of times just at the house alone with records and my guitar, playing guitar. How, what did you, when you were like three though, how did you play? I had a little bitty.

Could you shred? Little bitty, that's fine. My dad taught me like Louis Louis by the Kinsmen, and I just kinda went on from from there damn. That's fucking awesome Yeah, I feel bad cuz I played in high school a lot and there is something like when you play when you're a kid Like it's you're never gonna have that much time again Like I would sit there for hours and just yeah play and play and if I like I talked to adults like I want to Start playing it's like you're never gonna have

Unless unless you can just you know take all day off or get unemployed well I mean my family all played too, so I always thought about it like a like a bilingual family You know like you grow up learning Spanish, and it's just kind of second nature to you Yeah, because you're folks speaking in the household But that's how guitar was for me. I just kind of picked it up because my grandfather my dad my uncle's all played Yeah, that's pretty cool. So you're where they travel in musicians. So they're what we call weekend warriors Okay, my grandfather was like career service in the Air Force and just played honky-tonks every weekend And my dad was a still is a touring musician. He's 71 now damn really

So what was that like when your dad was always I worry about that I'm always on tour So tour a lot so I'm like to my kids does this bother them. I can't tell they're so young I hope it doesn't bother them right Did it bother you well? I mean my dad When my parents got divorced when I was like four mm-hmm he kind of dropped everything and got a straight job became a contractor really you know and You know looking back on it now. I could tell that he just fucking hated that So around the time I was like 11, you know, I was playing good enough where he was like

I'll just bring you with me shit, you know, really my sister would stay back at home With my grandparents and I'd go out with him. Oh really I started playing bars and you know music venues when I was like 11 Really yeah, damn. That's fucking awesome. Yeah, just that man that little girl you got up there sounds great I Still get misgendered online. Do you really yeah, dude people on the Instagram comments are always asking if I'm like a Transgender which I mean nothing wrong with that, but I'm not yeah for sure I mean if you're not you could say you can plainly state like yeah I don't you know don't do that since I was like 11 years old though, man. Yeah, really a little girl is rocking Your dad's like shut up, dude. Just go with it. It's fucking great

Yeah, well, that's that's kind of cool though, so you were literally just how did that happen? You were just shredding for your paw, and he was like Let's get the fuck out of here, bro. Fuck contract. Let's go play music Right I mean yeah, we're going like we would tour just like everywhere we could to get me back in time to go to school the next day and I always kind of looked at it like you know the tribe goes out and hunts Yeah, you become a certain age you just go out with the men and hunt dude. That's what it kind of felt like Yeah, that makes sense. Mm-hmm. What kind of like stuff are you seeing like it was there was it like wild?

Was it kind of like yeah, pretty chill and tame. It was fucking crazy, especially like By the time I got to be like 13. I started booking my own gigs outside of my dad's band So I was like 13 and 14 is when I got my learner's permit and I had to have a licensed driver in the car So I had like my two, you know, but you get your permanent Oh, I mean, yeah, when is it when you when can you drive? So I'm from South Carolina You get your permanent. Oh, I make it wait. When is it when you when can you drive? So I'm from South Carolina. So in South Carolina I got like a working permit because I was able to work at that age gotcha So I got that which was like super restricted and I could drive with a licensed driver in the car

And it was like an extended, you know learners. Yeah. Yeah. So I had a bass player who was 18 My drummer was like 35 with kids player who was 18, my drummer was like 35 with kids. I had like grown men and I had like a fake email I would book us, you know, have us working like four or five nights a week and I'd end up in like Asheville, North Carolina and there's like crazy old bartender lady was just like trying to you know teach me about being a man and just like all these crazy stories. She was trying to usher you into, she was trying to awaken you.

Trying to usher me into adulthood, yeah. Damn dude. Some wild stories out there, yeah. How'd you feel about that at 13? I mean, Florida I'm guessing. It was pretty exhilarating, yeah. So she was, I guess, I mean, did you look younger? Because you were just a boy.

Yeah, I'm just a punk. But you had your permit, so. I did have my permit. I was driving my 94 Pontiac Transport minivan, and I had my rig, the PA, I had my bass player's rig. It was a good deal for him. And I found out later, we would go work in Asheville, North Carolina twice a week. We'd go up on Monday, I'd play a gig. And unbeknownst to me, he was moving

some serious weight and I didn't realize it. He was just filling his gig bag with a QP every time we'd go up. We'd come back down to Greenville. I think the Statue of Limitations were good now, but he'd come back and then move it and then we'd go back up and play a different gig Thursday. That's so funny. And he'd pay the guy. But we used to work this club called the Hole in the Wall. It was spelled Hole in Dough Wall. Yeah. And like a couple people got stabbed and they maintained, you know, their liquor license and then somebody got shot and killed. That's when closed down finally really but I was like all the 14 years old in there working and Describing quops around no idea. Yeah, you peon you. Yeah Sketchy as hell I got I don't know how I got out of some of the situations I was in but yeah

You know, so did you ever have a job then or you just did the music stuff when I was 16 I had a job at Mellow Mushroom. I actually like that place a lot. Mellow Mushroom is pretty good. Pretty good. I got fired twice from that same job but the manager was a buddy of mine. And just pretty mellow about it. He was chill.

He was chill. So you got the fire rehire? Yeah. Nice. So what did you get fired? Was it him who fired you or the hires up fired you and then you kind of had your Comeback So I was working back of the house. I was a dishwasher and then I

Got fired just for being kind of a slacker Yeah, and I came back and I was from a house and I was trying to like quasi unionized the hosts because we did everything We bust the tables, you know We took drink orders and you know know we didn't get tipped out at the end of the day And I think you know I was being a little bit too You were saying you wanted on the waiter steps. Yeah What's going on with this? You know like we work our asses off and let us get some of that back end There's some some restaurants do that though. I've worked in restaurants where as a busboy you'd get a little bit of the waitresses tips Yeah, and it was kind it was it mean it was a pittance dude. They were making

Probably like 400 bucks a night and they're gonna slide you like 40 bucks. You'd be like sweet. Yeah, the money got funny I got the bartenders tips. There was a bartender named Matt. I worked in a restaurant There's a bartender named Matt. So they gave me the wrong envelope and I was just like Also, I would get like 40 bucks as a busboy and I had like $400 in an envelope And I was just like fuck yeah, like we gave you the wrong envelope was like night I don't think you did. I don't think you did no we did I'm like nope said Matt on it like how much is in it I'm like I don't remember You gotta you gotta have a little bit of hustle about you

Yeah, man I mean if someone hands you an envelope of cash now I would have obviously I'd return it to the rifle owner, but back then I was I a little bit of hustle about you Yeah, man I mean dude if someone hands you an envelope of cash now I would have obviously I'd return it to the rightful owner, but back then I was I was a bit of a dog I'd be like nah, that's mine. I'm thinking that right so you had so you started as a kid. That's crazy I didn't know you could even start. I guess you can't do it anymore. Maybe I don't know man I don't know really how I worked around Yeah, but I was really you know I knew what I wanted to do from a young age so I had that going for me had a lot of gumption yeah so I just wanted

to get the fuck out of there. Was there any like nightmares or I'm sure there were just like absolute nightmare gigs or like any meltdown have you ever freaked out on stage and melted down? Well I played a cruise one time we used to work the cruise circuit a little bit, like blues cruises and shit. And like this particular blues cruise, I mean, I had gone off one morning and was trying to find some drugs. And like the first like t-shirt vendor guy came to,

this was in like one of the little port cities in Mexico. And I was like, you know where I can find a little weed? And he's like, I think you want something a little stronger. And like, I was like, you know where I can find a little weed? He's like, I think you want something a little stronger. I was like, how'd you know? How'd you fucking know? I got in the van with him and he took me out in the middle of nowhere. They gave me some good coke, but they robbed me blind and took me to an ATM and strongly suggested I pull out some more money for the driver.

I see. They did sell you the Coke. Yeah. But they did half of it with me. It was kind of a smooth grift. Yeah. You can't be too mad. So they basically were like, it'll be this amount, took you the ATM, like, withdrawal funds, and sent you on your way with half of it.

It was kind of like, are you not gonna tip my mom for all the tequila you drank? Are you not gonna tip the driver? And I was like, man, you just took all my money. They're like, well, not going to tip my mom for all the tequila you drank? Yeah. Are you not going to tip the driver? They just juice you up. I was like, man, you just took all my money. They were like, well, there's ATM right here, man. So it was a smooth grift. I respect the hustle, but they didn't kill me, which is nice.

Yeah, that's sweet. When I got back on the boat, and I had a real bad drinking problem. And on those cruise ships, it was international water water so a lot of a lot of people would Kind of turn the other way I was 18 and 19. Yeah. Yeah, you know it was kind of like We're out the middle of the ocean this kid can drink you know I got served on a cruise like 14 right I was with my friends family went on a cruise, and we were just ordering beer in there like whatever yeah They didn't care at all. They didn't give a shit because it's just all the like for the most part like on the Norwegian boats it was all like Indonesian workers. Yeah, I noticed and

Yeah, they would serve me but I had a meltdown on that cruise on a blues cruise way too drunk and just like had a full cup like the size of this coffee cup of just whiskey Neat and just dropped it and it spilled all over the fucking stage and I was just I Got pissed off started throwing furniture around damn in the lounge What happened today? Did you get fired from the Blues Cruise? They asked us back the next year. It's kind of tight if I was at a blues cruise and the dude just melt it down on stage I'd be like this fucking rules. Yeah, I mean it was the most punk rock thing happening Did you still play or did you not play that night that was after the gig?

Oh, really? I always managed to get through the show. Yeah. Yeah, you know, that's when I The last time I put You know, I quit drinking and I've quit drinking many times, but the last time was because I was still able to get the shows done. As long as I was getting the shows done, nobody was really too concerned about me. That's no good because I can always get the work done. Really? Because I love it.

Yeah, how drunk can you get and play? I've always wondered that. I get really drunk and play, but singing is a whole other thing. You know? Yeah, how drunk can you get and play? I've always wondered that. I get really drunk and play, but singing is a whole other thing. You just muggle through it? Yeah. Start jawing into it. Is it drinking and coke or just drinking? Yeah. There are two peas in a pod?

Oh yeah. The best peas. Somebody, like, sometimes, you know, when I'm playing, like, and I think all guitars or guitar players are guilty of this, like, Mayor is a real culprit of, like, just the crazy mouth shit that you do. Yeah, yeah. Because you're kind of just, you're not thinking and you're reacting. But they posted a video of me playing and somebody was like, this dude's totally gacked up.

And I don't really usually respond, but, like, just simmer for like 48 hours and I responded I was like Dude, you know have no idea how much I miss cocaine so she weren't even all code No, you're making guitar face. I was yeah, I was just guitar facing everybody Yeah, and he was the same as cocaine face true. Oh, yeah, you start getting like, you know, yeah That makes sense. You kind of fly under the radar. I guess because if you're yeah, you're like you're like I was just making guitar face. I'm not cooked out of I don't like coke by the way. Yeah, I mean I don't I've never done it to be fair. I just I don't like the idea of it I Heard it's everyone. I tell it to they go you should try it. It's fantastic. I say no. I'm not going to I don't like

I just I don't like it. I got convinced at a young age. I was like that shit's fucking it's bad Yeah, don't listen to those guys think it's bad my dad's only advice to me was like never do cocaine cuz you'll love it which Absolutely did yeah, he's right. Yeah Yeah, people do it casually now to a lot of younger people I talked to were just like oh dude like we're just bumping some coke And like they're like young like frat kids now just do blow yeah when I went to college It was a big deal if you did coke It was kind of like a lot of people did it, but it was kind of like now

It's it's as acceptable now. I think as smoking weed right I could be wrong I don't you know I don't frequent frats, but just like the stuff I hear about it like yeah, dude do some bumps and to get out there and I'm like dude people just like hide That was younger people like hot people still I guess kind of do hide a little bit, right? That was always kind of my thing was like You'd be at a party and then everyone would be in the bathroom and there's like 30 of you in the bathroom I'm like, well, we just bust this out on the coffee table All crowding around the toilet. Well that yeah

I mean, I don't know I just my problem is I didn't do it and I knew people who did and I hung out with people on coke Not on coke a lot and I was like this fucking sucks So it really kind of turned me off to it forever, right? Because it's brutal dude. Yeah, someone's on coke and you're not It's like, please get me the fuck out of here. Yeah, that's a tough hang. It's a Wildly tough hang. It's not it's not fun, bro. You fucking go like yeah Yeah, they always got big ideas, but but shredding on stage Gacked out and drunk is probably pretty tight. You know pros and cons. It's probably kind of fun

I mean whatever the buzz is that you like it's pretty nice. Yeah, having it while you're doing what you love, you know Yeah, but they will here's this is a question for you. Do you like do you even now off of you know that? is it really because I think a lot of that for me is like a Kind of a blanket over inferiority issues So like a lot of it kind of like just gets you able to like get out there and do your thing You're pretty good. Obviously guitar. You're fantastic at it. Do you still have those like do you feel like you need to kind of? Drug yourself a little bit to kind of perfect was it that was it that the issue or is it just you could perform? But it was like yeah, why not? I might as well party

I think that was a lot of it because now like the stage fright is like so much worse. It is worse Yeah, so much worse like being sober Yeah, you know and like just having a little something to get you out there And just having that confidence because it is a lot of inferiority And you get out there and like once I'm like five minutes in I'm like alright. This will be alright Yeah, but like those five minutes before showtime. I'm just you know Yeah, and you can't address it. I've always wondered if you can go out I've done it with stand-up like I'm like like to fuck around like yeah

I'm kind of having like a panic panic attack for the first five minutes and like crowds are like stop that right now They don't like it. We don't want to hear this shit. We want to see you perform. Yeah, it's like you dance I've tried to address it many times Yeah, that's unfortunate, but yeah, I mean that's I, I mean, you know, stand up similar where it's like you have to do it. And I'm the same way. I can just inhabit like a mental torture chamber. I'm better now with it because I feel like what's helped me is instead of focusing on

myself, I just focus on the people who are watching it and like, I'm just going to do my best to let them have fun. And like when you get out of, you're like, I need to be great, I need to be the best, and just be like, literally they call it dereflection, there's a term for it, where you're just like, I want these guys to have a good time, and you focus on making them have a good time rather than am I doing good enough?

And I think it makes everything a lot easier. And you have fun, you end up having more fun, which, you know. It runs counter to all the stuff you hear where it's like you you have to suffer. If you suffer, then good things will happen. It's like, you cannot suffer, and good things will happen, too.

Right. Just, you know, it takes half your life to learn that. And by then, you're like, oh, fuck. I wish I knew that. Right. I mean, like, the philosophical thing behind it, like we were talking about Rick Rubin in his book. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And his whole thing is, like, put the audience last, which was always really foreign to me. Because I'm like you, I like to, you know, you call it dereflection, right? Yeah, yeah. It's like, as long as they're having a good time, I'm cool. Yeah.

And I've also got a seven piece band behind me, so I can kind of lean on them, and like try to entertain them to a degree, and not focus on the larger audience in front of me. Yeah. And like try to entertain them to a degree and not focus on the larger audience in front of me. Yeah. That's worked for me in the past, but I couldn't imagine being up there alone. Yeah, I mean, I don't know,

because I've tried to play music a couple of times and that's harder for me because when you're doing standup, you're getting feedback in real time. Like if people aren't laughing, you know, it's like red alert, this isn't going well. This isn't going well when I was so like in the laugh it relaxes you yeah one when I'd play music I would the whole time I was like watch people in a crowd like dude they fucking hate this

There then the song will be over to go people clap, and I'd be like I guess that's good I there's no like you're not getting that feet the feedback kind of relaxes you and stand everyone says that does music like standups Crazy, it's like I don't know. I think it's easier. I could be wrong No, like you're not getting that feet the feedback kind of relaxes you and stand everyone says that does music like stand-ups crazy It's like I don't know. I think it's easier. I could be wrong. I mean, that's a wild take having a band behind you I mean, I'm also I'd be I wasn't that good though So I'd be worried about like missing a string and I'd be like fuck So I don't know I Mean as long as I got my boys with me, I like they they kind of keep me humble

Yeah, my drummer points out a lot of the mistakes. I make really yeah, he's a he's a stickler It's good to have yeah You can't get too loose especially if you're I mean I guess you get if somebody fucks up if I'm like watching a band Somebody like fucks up a chord and I kind of laughs and keeps playing I'm not gonna be like what the fuck was that? Right, you don't ask for your money back. Yeah, but I mean we also grew up in the service industry true So I only was in the restaurants briefly I didn't construct what construction but similar It's like yeah, I mean it's not similar, but yeah, you do what you actually I guess when you do that kind of work though you do like

I've heard this from waiters Especially they're like people who do construction usually leave like blue-collar type jobs Whatever it is they usually leave better tips Yeah, because they're like you know what it's like to be at a job that sucks. You're like it here's you know Yeah, that shit sucks. I mean what you're doing sucks what I'm doing sucks. Yeah, there's some extra money. Yeah Yeah, I've heard the same thing and I was in the service industry long enough to to realize like You know no we're talking about Mellow Mushroom tongue Mellow Mushroom at the end. I was there just long enough I was a Mellow Man

Just long enough to you know now get frustrated about how long it's gonna be for a wait for a table Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah to be like right man. Yeah, especially if you work in a restaurant, dude I I worked actually know what I take that back I was in my brother's taco truck, and I remember like when people are waiting for their food They're they're like very they're like especially angry like if you're in a restaurant And you're like hey we took the day off or closed people show up And they're like they're furious like you see I do it if I show up to a place and like Normally open their clothes it takes me like 10 seconds to calm down because you're like thinking it's like primal you're thinking of a meal

You're about to eat. They're like you can't have it. You're like All right But it fucks you up, but yeah, yeah, so I remember like Trying that we were like a little lunch truck So I would just watch people waiting angrily and just be like my brother be cooking in the back And I'd be like just another couple minutes everybody then like you'd run out of food and there'd be a guy who's waiting half an hour You have to be like bro We're out of food bro my bad. Maybe like what the fuck you're like yeah, I get it man

So you get active shooter on your hand? It is really primal. You know it is man dude if I waited for a half an hour like hey We don't have any food my bad. Here's your money back. I'd freak. Yeah, all the cops I think I'm calling the fucking police that happened to us recently with my drummer actually like everybody finally got their meal and like what he wanted they were like they came around gave everybody their food and They didn't bring his and they were like, oh Yeah, we're actually out of that

It's like why are you just now telling me? You know? And they were like, he wants something else. And he was, no. He fasted. He's a grump when it comes to food. Like. Dude, a lot of people are. Yeah. He hunger striked. I would have done hunger strike as well. I'd have like, I won't eat that.

He protested. I'll be hungry and you guys will pay for it. He just sat there and watched everyone eat. Damn dude. Yeah. So how was it? So you said you did your last album with Rick Rubin? Yeah, how was that? It was it was interesting man. I mean it was it was a long process Cuz he's super Mysterious guy that dude. I was trying to figure out what the guy I had seen him in stuff And I was like is I learned he doesn't play instruments right plays no instruments

And I was like how does he produce all these like all this musical stuff and I it almost his mystery Almost perverted my mind to being a hater where I was like I think he's full of shit, right? And then I read his book and I'm like fuck. This is the coolest dude I think that might have ever lived it's super interesting It the books awesome because he does try like the way I've explained it is he's like He's like a ambassador of music for the human population Dude, I'd hear I would hear shit like that. I'd be like shut the fuck up Yeah, I read this book and I'm like, yeah, he could do that. I was like he's the for real

It might just be the coolest dude Yeah And he'd come in and we'd listen to stuff and you know he's always like just barefoot and he wears like you know These tie fisherman pants which are like these huge pants. I want to wear those so fucking bad. I don't have the courage I don't either you know what's courage took me to wear my biohacking ring, dude This is my aura ring. I've been hiding under the table dude. I'm not a two-ring man Yeah, I got rings Fuck that dude. My wife won't let me wear the tie fisherman pants? Why not?

She hates him we have to let me Google these things real quick I want to see I think I know you're telling like the long flowy like almost kung fu master looking pants big time fuck Yeah, fuck dude I'm just Fuck yeah, dude. That's all I want to wear every time I see people in them I'm like I'm a coward and I a coward, and I won't wear these things. And it doesn't work for me, so does my wife. But he would flow in with those and a big iced coffee

or a tea. And he would just like, he lays down in meetings a lot. What? Like while he's talking to you, he just lays down. And then how did you feel? So you, who produced your other album? You had other people producing, obviously. Yeah, well, I've worked with like Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys. I worked with this producer named Dave Cobb, who did a lot of the Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson stuff. Yeah. I've worked with a lot of different producers and all of them kind of have their weird quirk. Yeah.

And at a certain point you got to step back and remember like, you know, I'm paying for this guy to produce the record, so I'm going to lean into like their process. Yeah. So a lot of personality mirroring, like end up laying down on the adjacent couch talking to Rick. Really? Yeah. Oh yeah. Fuck dude. I'm like, I'll take my shoes off

and lay down and talk to you. And he just, because his book, the way he approaches his book is pretty cool. And you were saying he instructs you the opposite. He's like, fuck the audience, do your thing. Yeah, it's like- So hard to do, dude. And that book, like, I read it after we worked together

and like hearing him talk and like, I mean, he's a big he practices what he preaches you know yeah such a big fan of music and of comedy too like he loves comedy and I was in Italy working with him when he was about to you know go on Rogan and talk about his book yeah and he was like nervous you know it was it was really to see him kind of have these like human emotions Yeah, cuz I guess you kind of like legend dies them in your mind. You're like, dude He doesn't recommend doesn't get nervous. Yeah, where if you think about him you think about him floating and shit

Yeah Flying Lotus Tony anyone I would recommend his book I like started especially if you're like trying to write something or do something or even like If you're just like trying to chill at your job That's my mission right now is like how can I just make my inner world as peaceful as possible it's obviously hard dude I fail all day every day but his book you read it and you're like damn this is it's a cool approach to just like sitting brainstorming letting like ideas flow letting them take shape and like

creating things it's you know that's what that's the one thing I think a lot of people who aren't in like when I whenever heard the term like I'm a creative I I dislike it because I think anyone can do a cool thing you can like build something in your backyard You can do all this stuff And I think that's a lot of people get frustrated because they'd have no creative outlet it's like I think it's a you know, it's like a God-given right for every man or person or girl whatever to a Like do something other than wake up, stare at your phone, go to a job you hate,

go home, watch TV and go to, I think that's like, it kills you. Yeah, it really- Just build a thing, draw something, dude, it gives a fuck. But if you read that Rubin book, I think that helps people get out of their head. I read it and it was just fantastic.

Yeah, I'd recommend it to anybody because I agree with you, man. I think anybody can do something creative Mmm, and it really just it helps you do dig like a fish pond. Yeah, like that would be all I want to do that Dude, it's like you can do literally people think like it. I in my opinion. It's like the commercial aspect is Like a hard kind of brick wall for a lot of people because if they think of something that's like deemed like creative or artistic They go well, I could never sell that it's like who gives a fuck dude, right? Just build a fucking statue and you're gonna look crazy

But it's like you the satisfaction you would get you got good at building a statue digging like a fish pond Anything like that. I mean, it's it's unright. It's unmatched. You got to be okay with failing Yeah, and that's the approach I take to every gig if I can find like that transcendental place Yeah on stage and it's the approach I take to every gig if I can find like that transcendental place Yeah on stage, and it's so it's hard But like I think I even heard you talk about this like if you're doing something like like the assembly line You know you're doing a repetitive motion over and over oh yeah, and unlocks like that creative side of your brain. That's what um Fuck what was that guy's name? I think Adam Smith that was the guy who found it was like one of the thinkers in capitalism He thought that was what he thought though

And I think it is right because if I when I would paint houses especially if you're doing a repetitive task It does unlock you to think about other stuff but he had this dream or like people would work in like Dog food factories and then like just start coming up with these sick ideas and it turns out It's like now a lot of people will just stare at a fucking wall, too So that is it but I agree if you have that capacity to like for your mind to float It's like yeah when you do something that's like like manual labor intensive your brain really can yeah like my wife You know when she started her she has like a trucker hat company

Mm-hmm, and she started it out of our garage And I just go down there and make boxes. And I'd make the same box over and over, and I'd go, we're good. And I would come up with so many ideas, and I would just write them down, you know? Yeah. And it kinda led me to like, you know,

now when I write, a lot of times I'll have like, a show that I've seen a thousand times, like The Office, or like The Big Lebowski, something that I've seen a million times, that'll kinda get those gears turning. Yeah, it's kind of stimulating my brain But I don't have to think about what's gonna happen because I know what the you know No, that's a cool idea I used to trash Adam Smith for his take when he would be like, yeah, you're gonna get guys in factories

They're gonna unlock the next level and unleash all the secrets Right when in reality they were just a lot of them were just bored to death But yeah, I do agree though I that works for me too if I when I would do manual labor any of that stuff or like I used to have to That might it was working with my dad and my uncles and they would like knock a building down pick up like concrete like chunks of rock bricks Plastic metal and wood and they would just dump it and you had to separate them into like those five categories Yeah, and I would do that for like eight hours a day. Dude, you really do, you can't hit a flow state.

It's pretty tight. There's something healing about that in my mind, having a task and just getting it done. We've been in the moving process. I'm like, I gotta get this couch from here to the truck, from the truck to the storage unit, and just doing it and just sweating and earning your rest at the end of the night dude

and I'm telling you man people like Because I've worked I've done jobs that are purely physical my dad work with my dad He's like look I need you from the neck down today. I don't want to hear anything just I don't need any ideas I just like you to lift that and put that there Because I've done what if we do it this way you'd be like don't want to hear it do that there to there That's it, but like yeah, it's like When you use when you do a job I always wanted to have a job where I just use my brain

But then it's like you do get to the point we're like dude I would love to move some boxes right now yeah and people who move all day like fuck you, dude You think I'm like dude. You don't understand like just let me when I like get to carry shit like if I do yard work I mean have a dude mm-hmm, but if the thing is if you do it all day every day, you're like, alright man, fuck this sucks. Yeah Good point So And you how many albums you have four you have or five? So it's kind of weird the way it was so I did three records with my guys called,

it was Marcus King Band. And then I did a record called El Dorado and it wasn't my guys. It was the first album I did without my band. So I didn't feel right calling it Marcus King Band. And I just thought this would make everything a lot simpler and it actually just kind of convoluted everything. Because now I see articles that refer to me as like

the former lead singer of the Marcus King band, which is like a brain pretzel. It doesn't make any sense. Marcus King, aka former lead singer of the Marcus King band. It's still the same band, or at least my drummer. You know, relationships kind of have been flowing. You grow. Yeah.

Some people don't grow with you, and then you come to those hard moments in life where you kind of have to move on, and they have to move on or stay behind. Yeah. But I've got three out with my group, I think three as a solo artist as it were. But it's still my band on the road. And me and my band just did a record together that we're going to put out next year. Okay, so you guys were the Marcus King band and then you went solo. Who were the musicians you used when you went solo?

Did you just bring different people in here or there or did you have a different band that was with you when you did solo stuff? Was it some of your Marcus King band? How'd that work? Right, so that was another kind of trust the process. When I worked with Dan Auerbach, he's like, I got a few Memphis boys. They worked on all the Dusty Springfield, Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, that kind of thing. And they on all like the dusty Springfield Elvis Presley

Bobby Womack that kind of thing and they're all like 80 years old But they're incredible musicians and they played on that record with me and just watching them work Was just astounding did a record with eight-year-olds. Oh, yeah, that's crazy that record El Dorado everybody on that records like 70 plus damn dude. Yeah, how was that? It was it was incredible? They must be like wizards at that point They are I mean it was it was it was really just like you know you know How do you say like? Yeah, like wizards. That's crazy Yeah, you can't really hate on those. That's what I was curious about it people get like that. It's a tough thing like

My I think I was saying this or like when you have a band. It's like having like five girlfriends Because you really do have to like you have to maintain all that's the one thing I will say stand-ups easier because if you have a band you have to like maintain all these different schedules All these different people's lives all these wants and needs where if like it's got to be difficult. It's like a marriage Yeah, it really is and It gets it gets hard Yeah, how so how was assault was the solo move to like doing solo stuff kind of freeing or like how'd you feel about it? I mean in some ways it was freeing and you know

Like now I just really crave like that familial aspect and like working together as together as a team to have something that's creatively ours. We did that. We cut it down in Macon, Georgia. Macon, Georgia is just a really fascinating place to me. They've got this export, it's like this powdery substance that they have reservoirs there for it's like this protein That you need it. It's like Kyle light or something like that. You know what I'm talking about No, making Georgia exports a protein powder. Yeah, not a protein powder been like it's like a

It's like a natural resource that you need to build like most shit. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, so they mine it Yeah, gotcha like because of that. it's all like still mom and pop there. Mm-hmm They don't have like a lot of chain places. Yeah So it's like a really old-school feeling town and we went there and cut a record. It was really really cool. That's pretty tight Yeah, yeah I feel like Neil Young had something similar with his his band was crazy horse I mean and I think he would like go off and on where he like would do a solo thing come back with crazy

Where's do a soloing come back and and I was like thinking about Carlos B Still's Nash and young a lot and like all those dude had they had the band then they had their own little solo things Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah. I mean I've always kind of thought about Neil Young Yeah, like it's somebody to model a career after because he kind of like if somebody to model a career after because he kind of Accomplished that idea of having a band having the solo shit. Yeah, he did, you know do whatever he fucking crushed it He had that catalog in the 80s was wild dude. We got in the vocodaphones. There's that I haven't dug much into his catalog in the 80s. He had a destroy I feel like he like just cry for real like crushed it straight through the 80s

He just did his own. He was like chillin with Devo a lot Which I could see that if I was in the 70s and eight I've never heard of 80s music and it was coming out I would dip my toes into it as well right and then he came back in the 90s real hard And you know he's been touring for What ever 50 50 60 years that's one that's one fella. I'd really like to meet yeah, but you know like he's a grump dude I heard he's a grump my dad loves Neil Young and he'll come home from his concert He's like fucking bitching about politics again a fucking god damn he gets so mad. He's like fucking crying about the goddamn press

My dad loves Neil Young my dad loves Al Stewart my dad seen Al Stewart 40 fucking times You see Neil Young a bunch of times. He's like you're fucking Neil Young's crying about fucking politics. Yeah, you come home all pissed off Well, yeah, my dad wanted to see Al Stewart recently in the Poconos like the mountains in Pennsylvania And he was like, it was just me These two gay guys are singing every song right next. So he's like dude. I couldn't focus Wow, yeah, I grew up my dad was a big my I think my dad was a huge fan of music He had this like when we were younger. He had this It was like this double-sided

Cassette case where he would he just had like 48 tapes like little like cassette tapes and he would carry it around his truck He always just like blast different like dude it going to work with him was so fun because he would just blast like Neil Young and all these other just like 70s like we got into like NXS for a while, which is funny Hmm. It was weird man. He had a very like kind of eclectic music taste, right? And he would just Jay he would get home from work and he would just like hit a tape in the deck Fired up and just sit by fire and and just blast albums It was really nice. I Mean, it's it's great to have that growing up Yeah, who have an eclectic sense and or taste in music my dad was like that

My grandfather listened to a lot of country and Western my grandmother loved like Dean Martin Frank Sinatra And my father loved rock and roll so I had a really eclectic kind of mix of music Yeah, I'm home from school. Yeah, I was sorry I don't know I've ever like I've ever been in someone's house and there's just like no music at all Well, I riding in a car with somebody and there's no music. Yeah, so it's a psychopath move I'll try I used to have a very I've gotten better with this But I'd be very nervous to play music for other people because I think they would listen to him be like deal this fucking So it's from having older brothers. I'm worried they'll listen to him. They kill this sucks, dude

You're a loser So I would do a thing where I'd look play music but I play it very quietly Which is almost worse than silence people are kind of like What it like my water torture? Yeah, like what are you doing? I like to play the fucking song or turn it off cuz I would play it I like maybe they don't turn it up a little bit It was just psycho thing I would do we're like nobody there No one's thinking about it like you never get into someone's car, and you're like what the fuck is this?

Yeah, just like all this music on right, but yeah, I'm always you know just a glimpse into my tortured fucking world, dude Well, I mean you're talented at what you do, so there's got to be some torture in there true I need a Ruben I need Ruben to lay down with me Dude, I mean as friends you lay down head-to-head Paul Howard Paul's head-to-head yoga pants That's got to be so cool though, dude like what do you do when you're sitting there with that guy? I would I would but I think I might bug that guy till he leaves. I'm like oh Rick What should I do with this dude? I like. I think oh Rick look what should I do with this dude? I like close my eyes and like like what should I do?

Well like the first day I met him because he he just cold called me and I showed up at the studio out in Malibu and I pulled up and like I noticed he was in front of his airstream trailer and he was interviewing Mike Campbell from the Heartbreakers. Mm it's like the two most distinctive looking dudes ever sitting out there and my window's down from the car and I'm at the gate and I just hear the director say, cut, there's a fucking car in the background and I ruin that take. And they open the gate and I go up to the main house

and I start checking out amps and the way Rick likes to have his studios laid out It's all really open and all the doors are open and like you can hear everything Like when I was recording in the chapel, I could hear the red hot chili peppers cutting because you know Chad Smith is such a distinctive sounding drummer But I went up there and started trying out these amps and then this poor intern runs up and starts yelling at me because I ruined another take just from playing these amps. So I haven't met him. But they were filming a movie?

They were filming that documentary, that Tom Bade documentary. Oh, I got you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I fucked up a couple takes. But when he came in, he didn't even mention it, man. He's a really cool dude and he's a fan first. The record was difficult because Rick migrates with the weather that he likes.

So he'll be in Malibu for a few months and then he goes to Costa Rica, then he goes to Hawaii, and then he goes to Tuscany. And he just kind of migrates with the weather. I thought I'd take a break, dude. He's so fucking cool, dude. So you had to go to all these different little places. Yeah, so it was challenging.

I mean, it was truly challenging. He put me through a lot of shit. I wrote for six months and we didn't use any of it. What was that? How did you decide not to use it? Was he just kind of like, do you like that? Do you really like that? Yeah, he made me more introspective with all of it.

Because the whole record, the concept was mental health. And my struggles with mental health, and he wanted to just be as bare bones with it as possible. Yeah. Like no metaphors. Yeah. So I'd write something that I thought would be appealing to a listener.

And he's like, no. Yeah. That's so obvious. Probably. And he's like, no. You know? That's so sweet. Probably especially very calmly be like, no. Yeah. We're not going to use that. Yeah. And he doesn't like to be in the room during the creative process. He'll come in after the fact and then just like make little notes and adjustments and

then he'll just like kind of drift away, which is unlike anything. So the record took like two and a half years to finish. That's kind of cool. Which is interesting because you listen to the record, I can listen to it. And some songs I wrote when I was with my ex and out there writing about her and how I was unhappy in this relationship,

didn't know how to communicate it. So I was writing about that. And then there's songs from when that relationship ended, You know communicate it mm-hmm, so I was writing about that and then There's songs from when that relationship ended and I kind of just became a trainwreck. Yeah, it was just so heavy metal yeah, I was just I was abusing everything and and then kind of after the fact like when I met my now wife like so the record kind of takes me on this journey and I don't know if he like had the foresight for that Yeah, that's kind of nuts. So you have songs from like a period of like, you know Domestic, you know, let's call it domestic kind of hell like a hellish domestic situation where it gets disintegrating blah blah blah

Drug abuse period and then kind of like, you know greener pastures. Yeah, it's kind of fucking cool And I'm thankful for that and and in any other circumstance I wouldn't have had, you know... They would have churned it out, like pop it out, put it out. Yeah. Because I've done records in six days, I've done records in, you know, two weeks, but never like more than like a month. Damn. That's crazy. So for like two and a half years, it's really just a full journey. It's like the full like

Circle that is pretty cool. And when did that come when did that come out? I'm sorry. I'm like came out in April. Okay, nice Yeah, that's awesome. So it's pretty new. It's it's pretty fresh still But you know, we kind of have our sights set on like the next thing. Yeah, and You know like this honky tonk shit is like popular again I Grew up playing in the honky tonks and like it's like in my blood my family's from the Appalachians I'm bringing the fiddle back out. I'm like this shit's hot I'm gonna fiddle does move here the fiddle it does it does something to me or something about us whites For your hard fucking shrill note on a fiddle

I started I started thinking like I might grab someone's arm My dude, I see though Yeah, they like that Ruben did too in his book where he's like stop reading the news like stop taking in all this bullshit Entertainment news like just knock it off read the classics try to like take in it was like a Not even as an entertainment diet, but just like he's like think of it like the food you eat he's like like take in it was like a I didn't even as an entertainment diet But just like he's like think of it like the food you eat. He's like stop taking in this shit like So you don't need to read the news fuck it don't worry about the news read classic novels read this read that you know It to your own taste you don't have to read try to read like like while they complex Shakespeare stuff

But he was like yeah, just stop taking in bullshit information. It's funny. I love whenever is like fuck the news. I'm like yes, dude. Yeah, you like I like hearing that I don't even have a news source really that I trust right now. Yeah And I don't really know where to get my news. I mean I just kind of overhear a lot of it Yeah, I I do like I will spaz check the news before podcast sometimes if I have nothing to talk about And I don't I something happened to me when I was like I think like 22 I got I was very high stone I was just very high and I was watching that I like you know So you go to I'd see the news on like my parents would watch it I'd be like well fuck the news, and I would be like this sucks

I would like run away And then like I watched it as an adult for the first time like at my brother's house just stoned to death And I was like this looks it looked like the homeroom show in my high school I was like this is fake yeah something happened where I was like this is just this is the homeroom show for adults I'm like this is bullshit. It's pageantry. I something happened where I can't every time I see it I just I can see the set and stuff and I'm like this is people talking behind like a painted billboard, and it's fake. It's not real. Like, I don't know.

I mean, obviously there's like real stuff that happens they talk about. But it's, I've been in newsrooms too, and it's like, I've heard, like there was a guy, and I'm not saying this is like, you know, to prove it's fake, but I remember a guy got a call, specifically on like the Palestine Israel situation

They were like I remember he was on the phone and I was waiting to do something He was like, um, I'm feeling pretty good and the guy was or he was on the phone talking to the guy I think how you feeling about ease you're doing good, dude. Hang in there. You're doing good Just keep going keep and he's like coaching him. It was like I was being like damn dude. What the fuck is this? It was just weird. This is a weird phone call today. Hang in there, dude You're doing a good job keep talking to you I was literally like right next to him. That's kind of like you cut. What are you coaching him into dude? Yeah, I don't like that. It made me feel weird and I did like a good morning like local news show I like do you like comedy? I was like those are the worst

And he feel bad cuz I you know I really think like I'm gonna go on there and just fuck with these people and it's just something like nice lady being like yeah, so what's it like at your comedy show, and you're like. It's nice I like it. I like comedy Please come But yeah, I agree. I think yeah, I don't know I I'll like I'll check in on stuff here and there But yeah, you just never know you're like dude like I'm reading a book right now. It's a it's called born again, and it was by Chuck Colson who was Richard Nixon's they called him like his hatchet man He would like bulldog people politically like if you had like a political rival coming up

You would like dig in to them And you would use your contacts in the press to run something fucked up about his wife And they do they would do that you like it's they talk about this like it was like this guy's a hothead We'll start releasing news stories We know that'll fuck with there's like all this stuff going on in the news Where it's used as like a political tool to where you just never know Yeah, I mean like I watched that uh octopus murders What was that the octopus murders about a Tommy Castellero that a reporter that got that killed himself in?

West Virginia, but yeah, yeah, it's pretty recent. It's on Netflix it's all about like the promise like software and like You know like these eight like key figures like including George H. Bush who were just kind of Maneuvering and manipulating everything behind the scenes. This is on Netflix. Yeah, damn. It's fucking crazy That's kind of nuts. What in what is there's a journalist who got caught up in this yeah, there's journalists Castellero Tommy Castellero, I think but Or yeah, I can't remember his first name, but I watched it a couple of times it's it's really fascinating man like he was he was really onto some some wild shit and

Killed himself. He killed himself. Yeah, but you know like it just it doesn't really add up Yeah, you know like you should check it out check that out every guy cool But yeah, that's that was the one that was the one thing I fell in love with room and when he was like dude stop stop doing the news listen to classic albums straight That's what I do now with music. I try to just listen to it in albums More because they I would like just do song song like in my car I don't know if you ever got to the place where you're like I've heard every I've listened not I've heard everything but I've listened to all my little playlist is just burnt out

Yeah, I use Spotify. So I'll just do I like make a little playlist or do like Spotify morning and I'm like, yeah fucking put it on right and I'm like, they're just feeding me the same songs over I get like depressed if I don't have like a new thing to listen to, I get kind of like, fucks a point. Same. John Martin just broke me out of my music depression right now. Yeah.

He has a couple of live albums I like. But the, yeah, so now I try to just like put it on an album in the background and listen to it straight through, or like before bed with headphones. Just try to do as much as an album as I can do and just pass out. It's kind of nice.

Right. I get like, I've been chasing the hit rush. That's the problem. I'll do and just pass out. It's kind of nice. Right, and- I've been chasing the hit rush, that's the problem. I'll do a playlist of hits. Yeah. And then it's like, they just start, they like wear off. You gotta listen to like all the songs, I don't know. I feel like you gotta listen to all the songs.

Yeah, it's like a dopamine. Yeah. Like instant gratification, like social media, like you hear all the hits in a row, like don't go listen to the Eagles greatest hits. Yeah. You know, artists put together a compilation of songs meant to be listened to in an order.

Do you do your own playlist when they do that? This presents? That's kind of tight. I want it to be chronological. And sequencing is a big deal. And they still make a big deal out of it. And then people listen to it it and they shuffle it or whatever You know how dare they but I thought that was like an AI generated like check out blah blah blah So you have the control of that well at the playlist you see on Spotify and stuff like if I'm on a playlist

I don't have control of that if it's for sure yeah, but the one of your what is that called your picks? Or is that this is oh like that one? I don't I don't even know how that one comes about but like my records I'm like this is oh, I got your saying my record my records the sequencing is important. I thought you're saying okay So okay, so you're talking about the out the sequence yeah That's out of my pay grade like the Spotify they just do what they do the ex it'll be like editor like artist picks Yeah, so I was like damn you get to put the other playlist for all of Spotify. I guess everyone can do that though Yeah, it's kind of tight Well, dude, so what do you have coming up? What's your what's the next? What's the next move man?

We're about to finish this last leg of the tour. We're doing Canada We're doing like the East Coast. We're gonna be going through Philly. We're gonna be going through DC and New York City playing at the Paramount in Brooklyn, and then we're heading overseas, doing UK, all that. Are you taking any break? You're like, how do you tour? Do you do it for like six months at a time,

take a break, or just do it forever? We let it go out for like six weeks at a time. Okay. You know, just kind of hit it and stay out, because once I get in that mode, I just like to stay in, you know. Gotcha like six weeks on how many off kind of depends like for this particular tour cycle it seems like we've done like six weeks two weeks off got you that's not bad and a couple one-offs here and there but I like to

tour on a bus this is like there's just something different about it but, I mean I just had time off and I just get a little stir crazy So that's why I'm down here and Austin just kind of fucking around. That's cool. I was real nervous to come on here Why did I don't know man like I don't help I'm like zooming anxious Big fan of the show and the fans are very vocal so I hope I didn't fuck it up dude you killed man. Oh, yeah, dude. You're the best you fucking that's the thing to you shred, dude Oh, thank you. Absolutely shred It's crazy. I appreciate I know I guess I guess it wears off on you, but dude, it's like it's got to be so gratifying Is there a level of sure does it wear off if you shred right now? Well, it'll bring you deep joy You're just kind of like yeah. Yeah, whatever. Well,, I think you know I try to I try to keep the guitar

Fresh you know so when I'm home. I'm like playing banjo or piano Ukulele that's cool and just trying to create in any other way except for the guitar so when I come back to it It's fresh, and it's like you know a reconnection almost that's a good idea Actually, I feel you get better too when you leave it alone for a little bit I think so something happens in your brain I would like stop playing every down again, and I pick it back up like goddamn I got better you just you have you have more ideas. Yeah, did you come come into it fresh you come into a blank canvas? Yeah, you know yeah, man, or maybe your brain to go to sleep, and it just

Figures out stuff for you. Yeah, I don't know but either way dude thank you so much dude thank you for doing this you're the motherfucking man Marcus King. You are bro. Dude I try bro I'm trying I'm doing my best but no thank you so much man. Yeah man I'm glad we connected. Thank you bro.