No Jumper - The Travie McCoy Interview: Gym Class Heroes, Beating Pill Addiction, Tyga & More

Episode Date: September 14, 2021

Travie McCoy talks about the rise of Gym Class Heroes, growing in a small town, being different, relationship with Fall Out Boy, working with T-Pain, playing at Warp tour many times, touring heavily, having a good team throughout the years and good contracts, working on brand new music coming soon and more! https://www.instagram.com/traviemccoy/ ----- NO JUMPER PATREON http://www.patreon.com/nojumper CHECK OUT OUR NEW SPOTIFY PLAYLIST https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5te... FOLLOW US ON SNAPCHAT FOR THE LATEST NEWS & UPDATES https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE STORE!!! http://www.nojumper.com/ SUBSCRIBE for new interviews (and more) weekly: http://bit.ly/nastymondayz  Follow us on SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ENxb4B... iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n... Follow us on Social Media: https://www.snapchat.com/discover/No_... http://www.twitter.com/nojumper http://www.instagram.com/nojumper https://www.facebook.com/NOJUMPEROFFI... http://www.reddit.com/r/nojumper JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/Q3XPfBm Follow Adam22: https://www.tiktok.com/@adam22 http://www.twitter.com/adam22 http://www.instagram.com/adam22 adam22hoe on Snapchat SHOW LESS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No Jumper, coolest podcast on the world. And today we got the one and only Travi on the show. How are you feeling, man? I feel great, man. Yeah. Excellent. Like, I haven't been out here in a long time. And I try to keep it to like a week and a half to tops.

Okay. So it's my second day. Wait, where do you spend your time now? I live upstate New York. Oh, okay. Out in the fucking woods, bro. Really? In the cut.

Yeah. What made you want to move? there um i mean between i lived i grew up upstate like in between syracuse and rochester oh okay because i was wondering where geneva was

yeah everybody everybody says like are you are you swish are you swish no i'm not it's like that like main and shit too where there's like hella parts of maine that are like parish main we're just talking to your man

he says from New Hampshire same here yeah you're from the same town that's wild yeah it's deep it's deep like But anything above the city they consider upstate. So, like, I live upstate now, which is like an hour or half north of the city. But I grew up five hours, like, west, you know what I mean?

Like in between Syracuse and Rochester. Like smack dab in the middle. Right. And so you just wanted to go back at some point. You just were tired of the fast-paced lifestyle? I just, like, needed that solitude. You know what I'm saying? Like, I lived in the city for years.

Then I'm in 2009 and moved to Miami, worst idea ever. And, like, I'm a, like, super introverted person. I mean, like, I kick it at home. So, like, moving to the city was the worst idea ever. But I stayed there for, like, 13 years. Really? And in 2009, I went to Miami. And that shit got played in, like, the first five months.

I was like, I got to go back home. But you moved to Miami, what? Like, pretty much at the moment where all of a sudden your career was just going nuts? It was, yeah, it was, it was all right, you know? And I was working with a cool and Dre at the time. and they kind of convinced me to move down there. They're like, yo, we can work all the time, come down here. Literally like a half year after I moved there, they all moved to L.A.

And I'm like, you motherfuckers. They left me, hang in. Let's think of that as a preview of what's to come, and let's just go all the way back to the beginning. Because the whole story is pretty fascinating to me, because I feel like you're like a super under-discussed, massive influence on the culture these days. And after I did that interview with GADA, that really just, like, stood out to me in my head, He was painting the picture of you and Tyga meeting on Melrose. And I'm just like, oh, that's a crazy era right there with a lot of talent exploding at the same time.

I'll never forget that day, man. I was just bullshit. I was staying with Pete from Fallaway at the time in his basement. And he almost killed me, but we can get into that later. Motherfucker. Pete went to murder charge coming soon. Don't turn this podcast off. Bro. Yeah, it gets intense.

Smash the like button, bitch. So I was staying with Pete, and he would just let me whip his fucking, like, $500,000 bins whenever, you know what I'm saying? Because he's, like, the biggest star in the world at that moment, right? Jesus, it was crazy. It was crazy. So I take the whip and just drive up and down the middle. I mean, like, I'd never been out here for, like, like, that, you know what I'm saying? Like, for that long amount of time. So I'm just sucking it all in and, like, I park the car and I'm walking down. And everybody's trying to sell mixtapes and shit. I'm like, oh, it's that dude, blah, blah.

I'm like, shit. And at first I started, I buy him and then I'm like, no. Like, there's a point where you got to say no, you know what I'm saying. Right. Just stop, stop. I'm so glad my time on Melrose was after the mixtape era. Oh, my God. Because that would have definitely been a thing.

That's still time squared to his day. We could have sold CDs though, too, so it wasn't sick, yeah. So I'm chilling. I think I was. I can't remember where I was going, but it was Tiger, Gator, SB, who used to DJ for Tiger, and then Q. Cute, school of Q's in the back just like this, like, unfazed. And, like, not that I want anybody to geek out, you know what I'm saying?

Like, or expect anybody to geek out, but he's just, like, size me up and shit. And I'm like, whatever, bro. And so Tiger gives me his mixtape or whatever. But we used to have, in Jim Class Heroes, we used to have this label called Roadside Records. you know what I'm saying and our moniker was yeah give us your demo you know I'm saying and we'll sign you and your demos hit the streets the same night because we used to throw them shit out the bus window you know what I'm saying like literally stack them up and just throw the bitches out the window like yo we like it was like like inside running joe between me and my drummer like like yo we should

write we just like cast up a run up with mixtapes yeah we should sign on the roadside nah you think so yeah yeah let's put my roadside and then we fuck around and blog what roadside really meant I think it pissed a lot of people off. Right. Here's what it is. But yeah, like, it was a funny day on Melrose when I met Gator and Tiger. Right. Okay.

But, okay, let's just talk about your childhood and shit. I want to get into, like, the early days and shit before we get all the way to the craziness that has been your life. So what was your life coming up in Geneva, New York? What was the upbringing like? I mean, I'm biracial. And Geneva's a... It's a small college town, you know what I'm saying?

So, but my family is gigantic, like my dad's side of the family. Quick preface, like, so my last name is McCoy, MCC-O-I. And somewhere along the lineage, an MCC-O-I married an MC-K-O-I. Like, same last name, spelled different. So if you're in McCoy in upstate New York, whether it's a C or okay, we're all family, you know what I mean? And so I had my dad's side of the family. And my mom had a little bit of family there, my grandmother and shit. And I mean, I was a fat kid growing up, you know what I'm saying?

So I'd get busted on all day. And just that's kind of like where the internalization started, where I just started keeping to myself and just like really getting into music. My dad was a bass player. He still plays bass. So I was like definitely in the mix. Like my dad would be listening to like Slice Stone and shit. like listening to deaf leopard and fucking poison with her hair like teased all the way the fuck up here

you know so it was like this crazy like dichotomy of like you know like my dad's side of the family like all bee boys and shit and like my mom's brothers are metal heads so it's just like what the fuck is going on right like i just soaked it all up you know what i mean wow that's like so unique for that time period in particular like i just i was actually just having the conversation with the Toby from H-J-O about how fucking being a kid, like, I remember having friends who would really tell me, like, you cannot listen to, like, hardcore and listen to Jay-Z at the same time. It's just not okay. So, just flipped that. You mean, being black in a small town. Right. And one, being the fucking sore thumb, no matter where the fuck you're at, because I've been

six foot since, like, I'm in fifth grade, you know what I mean? So add, like, a few hundred pounds that shit. So I'll get tested all the time growing up in Syracuse, we'd go to hardcore shows all the time. And I was the kid there, like, you were Earth President. So all these kids are like hard-line, straight-edge kids, and like,

I'm there smoking cigarettes and shit. Like, you're literally before I going in and get going in to whoops of masks, you know what I'm saying? And so it was like, I'd get tested from both sides. You know, go to school and shit. Like, and kids like I'd wear like a like a, you know, just a band shirt, whatever, like what, pick a name, throw it in there and white kids would be like, name one song off the album, like, bro, why the fuck would I be wearing a shirt?

Like, I mean, obviously now it's like- Now that's the whole thing. It's like everybody's just rocking whatever the fuck. I saw a tweet today though that the metal community is mad at Courtney Kardashian for wearing like a Cannibal Corp shirt. I actually got actually had to turn my cannibal Corp shirt, I think, I can't remember what album it was. It was the one was- He turned inside out.

school i had to turn it inside out and i had these nuts shirt that they made me turn inside out as well they at least had a song called raped with a knife yeah they had some like i don't even know i should be laughing but that's just you know they had like the worst meanest evilest song titles ever like what was the one i couldn't even believe they were real you know when i was a kid like how is this fucking real and you know what they were they were like when tipper gore and all them uh all the like senators wives decided they wanted to protest advisory sticker and all that shit. I think like they wanted to go at NWA

because like they're saying fuck the police but they were like we can't only pick on black people so we gotta find some white people doing some fucked up shit too so we're gonna pick on cannibal corpse who I think up till that point we're kind of just like any old death metal band like doing whatever fucking

weren't like begging for the mainstream to accept them or anything I don't think they are any like or ever have tried to you know what I'm saying? Yeah they just had this one crazy moment that made them like legendary and so many people's minds, you know. Fuck.

They're still going out, though. I seen that they put out of the album like a couple months ago. That's amazing, man. I had to turn a lot of shirts inside out. My fucking Pantera beyond, what's that record? Something beyond driven.

It was basically like somebody bent over getting like a leather dildo showed in their ass, but you had to like really like pay attention. And my principal really paid attention that day. What the fuck? He's like, you either going home or you got to flip that shit. She came this whole thing.

I remember I bought a Marilyn Manson. Far beyond driven, it was. Right. I bought Antichrist Superstar Shirk. Oh, shit. Walked over to my mom in the food core at the mall. She's like, no. You're returning it right now.

Boom. I owned it for like five minutes. That's hilarious. I went to a Manson concert for a birthday party. And I left mortified. Completely mortified. Really? He was walking around like,

these prosthetics and like shitty like like like like like shit stands dripping down his bed I was like yo all right y'all can keep this shit but like I mean there there there are some moments like like the fucking station it was wild like he had like like stained glasses shit behind him he's like at the at the the pedestal or whatever and like shot I'm like this shit is crazy I wonder if he's still doing like fecal matter stuff on stage or is that over I feel like he might have had to just like simplify his act he probably has a fucking a fucking side bag at this point, no?

One of those gastro bags? You would just assume he would have a colostomy bag? I'm saying, bro. I've heard some stories about that motherfucker. I learned a lot of words from him as a kid.

I feel like I might have learned the word colostomy bag from him. Maybe, maybe. Or like tourniquid. Turnicid. He had a song called Turnikin. And I remember I looked it up because of that song.

You know, funny story about turnicot, right? Yo, so we're watching. And I think it was when Matt Penfield was hosting like 120 minutes back in the day. I was thinking about that the other guy. And Matt Penfield's a fucking walking like dictionary

when it comes to music, bro. So I'm watching, we're watching this tourniquet video. We stay up madly to watch 120 minutes. And my boy Eddie's watching. He's like, y'all, you wouldn't hit that? I'm like, bro. Like, what the f you know that's?

Come on, man. And he's like, what? I'm like, nothing. Two days later, he's like, why the fuck you ain't telling you, man? I'm like, hey, you into what you're into, you know what you're into, bro. Wow, that's amazing. So would you describe it as just overall, like, tough, grown-up biracial in a small town at that time?

Like, just from both sides, you just had, like, a lack of understanding from... Drawn in court, you know what I'm saying? And, like, you know, probably one of the first kids, to be tattered in my school, like, had my step and peers, all these peers of this shit. And so like, you know, black kids are like, oh, Travis trying to be white. You know what I'm saying? Like, so it was just literally like, and then I was just like at, I think it was probably around 10th grade where I was like, I don't give a fuck no more. You know what I'm saying? Like, and that's around the time we started gym class.

And a year or so later, you start getting praised for being different. And that's like, oh, that's crazy because I used to clown the fuck out of me and Matt, like, you know, year and a half ago. Because you guys were getting some level of popularity or because the culture was just sort of changing? No, the culture is definitely not changing. The hair still dish bags. Because that, yeah, I mean, that does sound crazy now because when you think about like, oh, like the cool, tall black kid with tattoos and weird hair and he dresses different, I mean, now it feels like that's like a recipe for people to be looking at you like you're a fucking star. Absolutely. And it's funny that you say that because like it's like if kids knew, like, like what I had to go through to, like, dye my hair purple or green or some shit.

Like, if I was to do that shit back then, like, clown fest, you know what I'm saying? But, like, I mean, it gave me tough skin, but also, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, like, I don't know. Like, also made me, like, kind of, like, want to push it more, you know what I'm saying? Like, when we started, like, getting, like, when the, when the fucking Kiki's kind of stopped, It was like, I'm just going to do whatever, you know what I'm saying? Where do you think that confidence came from to take the shit that people were making funny you for and just lean into it and just be like, fuck it, I do not care.

Like, I believe in what we're doing. This is who I am. I think it's literally just not giving a fuck, you know what I'm saying? And taking the negatives and making them positive, you know what I mean? Because, I mean, there's times in high school I just go home and be like, fuck, man, like, I don't want to go to school tomorrow. Like, I don't want to deal with this shit, you know what I'm saying? You're a teenager.

You just want to be normal. You just want to be left the fuck alone. Fuck alone. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not trying to fit in with nobody. Like, just being me. Like, and I had a, my best friend in high school was a girl named Amy, and we shared a locker.

And, like, we used to go all out decorating our locker. We had a boom box. So everybody, like, would crowd around our locker and shit before class. And so, like, we kind of had, like, this niche click of, like, five or six kids that, like, you know, we all sat together at lunch and shit. But, yeah, it was just. like that whole it's it's like that americana like small city jocks versus whoever's different type shit it's definitely still happening under probably like different terms but still you know the kids

will always find something to pick on each other for you know it's I can't remember who said it but it's like if you know if we were all one fucking color it'd be like oh look at this motherfucker's ear you know what I'm saying you got to find something to fuck with somebody about you know what I mean You look at LA. It's just like full of dudes who look like each other and they're beefing with each other over where they live at. You know, like, oh, you live on that street and I live on this street and for some reason we hate each other. Same shit. We got to kill each other.

Except that, yeah, we weren't really killing each other. Right. But, you know, I'm just saying, like, people will always, like, there are some times I was about to go to school with a bat or something and probably do some damage, but, like, nothing crazy. That's, like, the ultimate, like, question of humanity is how do you, like, convince people that you're just people? and that you don't have a reason to, like, feel aggression towards other people. I think, I think, like, if you had that sense of, like, oh, back then, like, it probably freak a lot of people out and make them angrier. Yeah, they wouldn't understand where the fuck you were coming from, for sure. You had to go to war at that time, you know?

Absolutely. You, like, define yourself by who you have beef with. Yeah, it's like, I mean, high school, I mean, and a lot of those kids that, like, they peaked in high school. I love saying that. It's the best. They peaked in high school. And I remember, like, when we started touring heavy, like, going back home and seeing motherfuckers just miserable.

Like, damn, they're never going to leave here. I would say that's probably almost like 90% of people. Yeah. Like, high school is kind of like the epicenter of your social life. And a part of you wants to be a part of that. But, like, once you realize, like, there's life after high school. Shout to Darrell Hall for that. Like, it's like, fuck.

four years of this shit I'm out you know what I'm saying I'm ghost I had no intentions of staying around that town at all but when I go back home

it's all love it's like it like I drive back by my old school and shit I'm like damn it's like a

a bittersweet feeling you know I mean like I remember when there was the 10 year anniversary and like my whole life I had thought you know

oh that's gonna be great I'm gonna go to the 10 year anniversary and then when it actually came around I'm like I'm gonna fly back to the other side

the country to hang out with a bunch of fucking bum-ass losers that are gonna look at me all crazy because I'm actually doing something with my life like why would I want to go stunt on those people? I don't even remember damn near any of, like I've just had this experience too many times where I would go

back home, go to the mall, some dudes like, whoa, we were in high school together and I'm like, I met so many goddamn people since high school. You have no idea how long ago I forgot who you were. I'm sorry.

I'm such a people pleaser, man. Like, I above into people that shows. You're like, oh, yeah, bro. You don't remember me with high school? I'm like, like, in the beginning, I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you go along and, like, hopefully they'll say their name in the sentence. So you can be like, yo, all right. And so you can say their name as you're leaving and make them feel like you remember them.

But I gave up. I gave up. If I don't remember you, I just don't remember you. I'll be honest, too. I love people who preface it, though, who are like, I met you this time. that thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They give you the parameters so you could kind of locate in your brain and be like,

you know what? I did meet people that day. Instead of sitting there for like 20 minutes going like, damn, wait, where again? Like, you mean? Like, part of me wishes I've been taking like meticulous notes about everything I've been doing my entire life. And if I knew when I was like 18 that I would just forget everything that happened to my entire life, I probably would have done that.

You know? I used to keep journals and shit, but I only get like four or five pages in. Always. Yes. And you know what? thing about journals like and I'm about to get real deep on you real quick at him like it's like nobody's watching you write in your journal you can literally write anything you fucking want and go back 20 years later you're like damn I scaled a fucking 20 foot

wall when I was 14 and saved a chick that was trying to commit suicide or some shit you know I mean like you can literally write literally write your own fucking your whole backstory right and not that everyone would believe you but I don't know where the fucking going with that one But I mean, what you could look through, and it sucks like we were talking about MySpace earlier, is that like none of us seem to know how to look through our Myspaces. But like, you know, for like the past like 11, 12 years or whatever, I could go look through my tweets. But somehow that doesn't feel as cool because that's like what I wanted other people to see me saying. Yeah, yeah. As opposed to like a journal is like what you are just writing down for your own.

For your own. Yeah, yeah. Nobody's supposed to see it. For sure. For sure. So it is like a My space was kind of like You have I mean

There's no difference in like Instagram either You know everybody's trying to flex So like I used to flex in my like away messages And shit on aim Like like really deep song lyrics and shit Like everybody

What's on his mind? What's he going to? Shit chilling Playing NFL street You know what I'm saying Right Having an away message alone

In itself was a flex because that showed that you had good internet that you could leave it signed in all day. Or a sidekick. Sidekick. Sidekick was the shit. I remember Johnny Cupcakes was the first person I... Oh, that's my man.

Yeah, he's the first person I ever saw with a sidekick when he was on tour with On Broken Wings was the band that he was in back in the day. He was doing all the sampling and shit. And even at that time, he told me that he was selling $10,000 with a shit a day. Yo, kill him and his mother. I'm like, what the fuck are you talking about?

We've been down with Johnny for ages. Every time we played in Boston. He'd come with bags like shit like you you look up gym class here as like 2,000 4 or 5, 6 with cupcakes and crossbones all every day every day back in the day it shows it used to be like the person who's the best mosher would be like Johnny would be like giving them clothes and stuff lower incentive the whoops about his ass yeah and so you'd see all the dudes who are moshing real hard and they'd have a fucking johnny cupcake shirt on the shit blew up and now they're no longer on Melrose but they did have have a there's a pokey stop still that shot he had dope they had he had the i think he said he

had the dudes from uh disney come and put the piping in the frosting coming out the pipes and shit in the ovens that were i do yeah i never saw it in real life but yeah oh man it was crazy he was the first person i ever met in my life where i was like oh damn you're like doing something with yourself like you're really making money and shit you're like building a brand like that had never really occurred to me until i saw him doing it and i had never i mean I had just heard the term brand building and he was like the icon

you know what I'm saying like it was super it started off super grassroots and organic and then just I mean put fucking tons of work in you know what I'm saying like I remember like he was shooting pictures of him and his mom packing and shipping shit off

like this is my day bro and like and but I'm so soft spoken so sweet like man yeah like like I could chill with that dude all day, every day. In Boston, that shit is still, like, I remember I was in Boston on a trip and just seeing so many goddamn people wearing it. It's like a red socks logo where it's like they think of that as like very much something

they're proud of that that came from Boston. Boston don't got that much of that. Yeah. Like, I couldn't put it better. Like, we actually, uh, right before, before the pandemic and all this shit started, we did a, a tour with 3-Eleven and, offspring um and i think we did he had like a one-off in boston and we did a a collab with with johnny and those shirts fucking i think the first one was like i think we did pink like baby blue and pink

and then we did the the boston colors the red and the navy blue and them shes blue like cupcakes so the band starts taking off while you're still in high school are you just like going and playing like local metal shows or what? And what was the mission statement when you started the band? One was just like, I don't think there was a mission statement. Like we literally, how I went down was I was playing drums in a punk band at the time called the Anti-Social and Matt, drummer of Jim Class and the original guitarist Milo. They were in a band called Hey Little, Pardon.

They were called Hey Little Buddy. And we both played my home girl Marta's graduation. party and they didn't have they were just playing instrumental they didn't have a singer so after our set like fuck it I went off and grabbed mic started like just spitting and we're like it's just kind of dope you know I mean I think I think we might have did like a oh yeah they played an instrumental and I wrapped uh jruda damages can't stop the profit over it like and this shit was so fly and we're like yo after after the party and shit we're like yeah let's let's get up like in a week or so and try to like see what happens and so we went we

went down to Milo's base, we'll like, a week and a half, two weeks later, and just started fucking around. And then, like, Matt, Matt's parents basically gave us their second living room as a rehearsal space. So we just were fucking around trying to, like, write original shit.

And, but everything was just, all the songs were so structurally different. Like, I mean, I didn't know how to count bars back then. I was just until it felt right, you know, writing until it felt right, you know what I mean? And, um, so there weren't, no venues in, in my hometown. There was one called Smith Opera House where they'd have like plays and

shit, which we ended up playing like years later. But there was a pavilion. Geneva's like right at the tip of Seneca Lake. And at the bottom is Watkins Glen where they have the fucking NASCAR races and shit. So all wine country in between. So there's a gazebo at the lake and we went down to the rec department and talked to like the Chamber of Commerce like, yo we want to play a show here, you know, like, so we went through the, all the fucking loops and rings of fire, and they were like, fuck it, yeah, you guys can play a show down here. And I mean, everybody, like, all the kids that knew about us from school, like kids were coming from, like, surroundings.

So we had fucking, there's this tiny-ass gazillo on the lake and tons of kids, and the lady that gave us permission came down and saw that, and she's like, you guys can play down here whenever. So that became like a thing during the summer. We'd have a few shows down to gazebo. and then a spot called jelly beans opened. It was like a restaurant slash bar, but they had like these big ass windows in the front

and they set the bands up in the front. So the kids that weren't old enough to go in because they served alcohol, they just stand outside and get a free show, you know what I'm saying? And we played there a gazillion times. Such a walk-down memory lane of like what it was like at that time period

on the East Coast of like, you know, you'd just be playing in some random restaurant or like fucking, you know, coffee shop. bro like just like 40 kids you know wherever you could play yeah wherever you could play and then you know like so then you know we we graduate and we all go off to college i went to art school in utica matt was in onyanta um milo i can't remember where milo went and our bass player was in ferdonia it's all upstate so that gave us like now we're all spread out across new york so that gave us like the us with the college circuit so we played my school mad school Ryan's school and then

we got out so we started getting booked to play college festivals and shit so like we just started destroying like that whole circuit and colleges pay so much fucking money and that money doesn't roll over into next semester so they got to like they got to get rid of it you know what I mean so we made a we made a grip just touring colleges and shit so you're seeing like the future right there like oh shit this is an actual business this actually a lot of people don't even get that like with their band like it takes years and years and years before they actually start to see like significant amount of money coming in it definitely took some years for us and i mean like but being a broke-ass college student anything i mean we played shows where we got paid and

fucking mad dog you know what i'm saying like we played an abandoned church in virginia somewhere and the dude that promoted this show uh worked at the the stocking uh or the fucking warehouse for mad dog and he gave us like four fucking huge ass box is a Mad Dog 2020. And it was when the bling, bling first came out with the chain on it, and it said bling bling, it was blue. So, like, we're traveling around in a van, mind you no trailer, just us in a van with all our equipment like this,

boxes of Mad Dog. I was like, yo, throw me a bling, bling, son. Like, drinking Mad Dog like it was Kool-Aid, like ridiculous. Wow. So did it occur to you, like, that, you know, who were you guys looking at to for inspiration? Did it occur to you that, like, what you were doing was, like, very, out of the ordinary at that time in terms of just sort of mixing rock music and rap and all this

different influences because you guys would go on to like be really at the forefront or all that. I think, I mean, I don't think we set out to reinvent the wheel as far as like genre blending or anything. I just think that we were kind of all like, you know, four different dudes from four different walks of life that happened to be from the same town. You know what I'm saying? And we all grew up on all types of different music and that shit just found its way.

into what we did, you know what I mean? But, I mean, we were kind of privy to that. And the way that happened was because we would play with fucking metal bands, you know what I mean? Like feminist slam poets, fucking whoever would let us on a bill we'd play with it. And so we got really good at, like, taking crowds that were just like and making them have fun. You know what I'm saying? Like, I cut my teeth a lot, you're like, like heavy, like just being in front of people who weren't necessarily there to see what we had to offer, you know what I mean?

But as far as the music, like, I mean, the influences are all over the place. So it'd be kind of almost impossible to like set out and say, you know what, we're going to do this. So, you know, once we were aware that like we kind of were doing something different, we were just like, no ceilings, man. Like let's just fucking keep doing what's always worked for us. And that's just like sitting in a room until, you know, we're doing. were satisfied what we made. Because you guys were like real like not childhood, but like, you know, high school friends.

Oh, absolutely. You think that was like just a huge part of like what the energy powering the band came from? I think it was definitely, we were a fucking family unit, you know what I'm saying? Because it's different once you're like all in your late 20s, your 30s and you're like picking some guy who's already been in another band

and you're like sort of assembling the band like that. Like you guys were really just like out of your adolescence together. It's like very unique, you know? And I think it, I don't want to say, it kind of prepared us for what was to come. You know what I'm saying? Like, we unfortunately lost our original bass guitar, our base player, like, early on in the game. And actually lost our original guitarist before, like, we put out our first video and shit. Okay.

Because, like, one, no disrespect, I love Ryan to Death, but, like, he had, like, some, like, serious, serious anger issues. So, like, when you're with fucking three other dudes or four, yeah, three or four other dudes and it's stuck in a fucking van and it's just a dark cloud flowing on them. At some point, somebody's going to break. And, like, me and him got into it a few times and decided to part ways and shit. But, um. Right. Yeah, I was looking at on Wikipedia that they have, like, the graph of, like, how long each member has been in the band. I like looking at those.

They do, though. Yeah, yeah. A great visualizer thing. Or sometimes those fucking lists go down, right? No, because there'd be like 20 people in the band over the years, and there's just tiny little blips. For real. It's O.D.

It's kind of nice to look at it. Just to, like, understand it by looking at colors. It's not. Right off. Anyway, so, yeah, so you're doing all those, like, college shows and shit, then, like, what's, like, the next step after that? So, um, we got in, we, we, uh, we had, like, an EP called Greasy Kid Stuff that we recorded for, like, 150 bucks.

So we were, like, slinging those. and I would do all our merch designs back in the day just black and white prints because we didn't have any money, you know what I'm saying? But then like, we were like, damn, we need some more music to put out. You know what I mean? This is back in the days like MP3.com.

Like, there's another one that I can't remember the name of pure volume. Like pure volume was popping back then. So like any, you know, like, which was like the sound clouded today, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. So like any platform that we could use to upload music we took advantage of, but like damn we only have this one EP so

we're like fuck it, we need to fucking get our shit together. We released another EP and then we started working on our first full length which was the paper cut chronicles and I think we went at it for about a week and a half and after that

record was done it was like what the fuck like I think we got something kind of fresh here you know what I mean and that's when And this is still in the days where you, like, ship demos out to every record label, you know what I mean? Like, and, like, so I started- Record labels hunt you down. Exactly.

When you get, like, 4,000 followers, they start banging on your door. For real. Things have changed a lot, to say the least. But, yeah, so we went through that, that whole thing. But once we had the record done, you know, we, when am I talking about? Oh, yeah. So Paper Card Chronicles, first record. But so we started getting a little traction, you know, from these sites.

Like, you know, a lot of really dope feedback. And, you know, people started emailing us back. And, oh, shit, like, nobody's fuck. Like, where the fuck is this coming from? You know what I'm saying? Internet's cool. Right. This shit might work.

Like, and mind you, we got a, we got, and mind you, we had set up a, we had started setting up tours by now. You mean, like, not like crazy tours, but like, you know, six or seven dates, like, northeast. you know what I mean? Right. Or down, like, to Virginia, whatever. And I think Matt got a, he got a email from his kid named Nick Schmecca from Chicago. And he was like, yo, I heard this song, Taxi Driver. And Taxi Driver is a song on our first record where, like, it's a story, but it's just using all, like, hardcore and emo band names, like pop punk band names.

Like, kind of like, you remember how Jizzid did labels. Right, I remember those. Yeah. So it was basically like the fucking the emo version of labels. You know what I'm saying? And we shot a video in Geneva. If you can look it up when you get a chance, you're going to die. We paid $250 for it.

It's fucking hilarious. I think that that right of itself sort of like sums up why you guys blew the fuck up so much is that you just weren't scared to do something like that that was like maybe a little corny. Oh, bro. And like just, but you guys were just like down for it and like the people just couldn't resist. Bro, shout out the man. Rest in peace to my man, Bob. He actually, I had to fucking, like, beg him to dress up as a girl to be my girlfriend in the video.

You know what I'm saying? Right. And Bob was, like, pushing, like, 375, you know what I'm saying? You got to go see the video. Right. But we mentioned Fallout Boy in this song, and I think that's why Nick reached out, because Nick, come to find out, we didn't know, was, like, he was doing merch for Fallout Boy, but he was friends with all those dudes.

and so Nick plays the shit He plays taxi driver for Pete He's like oh shit He's like all these dudes are shouting you out whatever And taxi driver kind of becomes this Online thing You know what I mean like

I wouldn't say viral necessarily But like you know like all the The blogs are absolute punk and all this shit We're picking up on it because of all the name references And shit Right And so Nick did a few designs for us

and then we went Pete invited us to go see them in Buffalo and we went out to see them play and I'll never forget it was the day that Ray Charles had passed away and Patrick was in the Patrick was in the fucking dressing and crying his eyes out

like he's just bro like from that day I knew he was a real one like you know what I mean like it had like hit him that hard and he was just like I'll see you at the show you mean like I'm just like going through I'm like, hey, do you think, but I remember the first thing Pete ever said to be when you walked up to he's like, he's like, grab my mom and he was like, oh, bro, you got tats? I'm like, yeah, man, black people

get tattoos too, you know what I'm saying? What I'm saying? What I'm saying? You got tats, bro? I'm like, a couple, I'm saying? But yeah, he's like, yeah, dude, like, oh, I love the shit, blah, blah, blah. So, you know, we kept in touch be a sidekick for a little bit And we had never

Like fucked with samples or anything And my roommate at the time was my roommate from college And he's a producer DJ just a fucking beast Probably one of the dopest tattoo artist in upstate right now To my man's side one And we'd never fuck with sampling But I'd always wanted to sample Super Trans Breakfast in America

But the part I wanted to sample was Don't you look at my girlfriend she's the only one. So he fucked up and used to take a look at a lot of people don't know that. A little Easter egg. So that song could have been completely different. And he used the take a look at my girlfriend, which fucking worked. You know what I mean?

And we recorded the whole shit in like maybe like an hour and 20 minutes. And I think it was either the day before the day of Pete hits me is like, yo, you guys want to play a show with us. I'm like, duh. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, of course. It's like, here's the thing. I'm like, oh, shit. It's like, it's in Davenport, Iowa. I'm like, motherfucker. We're in Buffalo.

You know what I'm saying? Like, New York. And then he's like, oh, yeah. And it's in two days. I'm like, so literally like, we like, we did a desk mix of Cubist chokehold and fucking hop in the van and darted to fucking in Davenport, Iowa. You know what I mean? And we were on the bill. it was us

Bayside Armour for Sleep some other band in Fall Out Boy and they put us on first and at first kids were literally jaw drop like like on some Napoleon Dynamo and shit like you know what I'm saying

and I'm just like all right fuck it like but we didn't we didn't let up we just did what we do you know what I'm saying and and by the end like everybody was just like bugging out and after Fallow Boy played pia came he was like yo you guys crush blah blah he's like um i got bob from crush my manager on the phone he wants to talk blah blah blah set up a meeting blah so we go down to new york after the show

and we crushed that show too that's still one of my favorite shows at this day because like just the fucking tension of fucking jumping out of studio darting to davenport crushing the show and then basically practically getting signed after that so we met with crush sign with crush They were on fuel bar ramen at the time, and Pete had just got his own imprint, which was Decadence. So Pete got us our deal with Fuel Barama and Decadence. Wow. And then, this fucking, unbeknownst to us, Cupid starts bubbling, you know what I mean? And there was a radio station in Milwaukee that was, like, playing it heavy, heavy.

And I think radio stations started like, you know, they all, they go through each other as fucking. in playlists and see who's getting most played. And for some reason, like Chicago area, Milwaukee, that whole area was just heavy on Cupid's. And it was literally like that was when shit got super crazy, like super duper crazy. So like in between you signing with Pete and that happening though, like was that like immediately after?

It was like. It was a build. It was a build. You know what I'm saying? But we definitely, after that Fall Boy show, we got a lot more shows Was that show like insanely epic From your perspective

It was absolutely worth driving there Because I feel like nobody would do that now Because a show is kind of like devalued But back in that era A fucking concert was like everything Well our thing was just like We loved making Who I was playing after us look bad

That was like what we're going for You know what I'm saying We fed off that shit So they have to move you up the bill For real Like you know what I mean So and and And, well, so not too far after that show, we got a, Nick Stewart started booking us.

And so more shows started coming in. But a lot of shows in, you know, the early days of gym class were with a lot of bands in that scene. You know what I'm saying? So, like, then we played our first Warped tour, and a lot of kids had already heard of us. So, like, they put us in the, I don't know if you remember this, or if you went to a lot of work. I went to Warthor once in 1998 Oh shit

So I think Deftones was on it In 98 right Black IPs were on it Pre-Fergy I do remember that And Eminem was on it And they killed it

Yeah I was doing one in Buffalo And it was like Eminem but like He'd only been out For like six months Somebody knew what the fuck He was like brand new

People throwing shit out of him And he's like Wobbling all over the fucking I wish I'd have gone to more Because Warthor is like I mean Such a pivotal part of the culture I think we

We did So our first warped tour experience was in a minivan with all of our equipment. Not a van, in a minivan. And we sleep in a motherfucker too. And they put us, they had a hip-hop tent. So they like had all the hip-hop in this one tent called the Code of the Cuts. And I mean, everybody's played the atmosphere, fucking non-fiction. Like anybody could think that was dope in underground like late 90, the early 2000s.

Like they were playing in the Coal of the Cuts stand. But it was this little-ass tiny tent And we would pack that motherfucker every day And like Kevin Laman started like paying attention Right And every like, so we shit Every year we get bumped up to like a bigger stage And then we eventually start a headline the motherfucker

But I think we all in all we probably did At least seven or eight Seven eight seven eight war tours like right It's intense like intense The first I'd say the first four or five We were lugging in all our shit every morning, you know what I'm saying, like getting dirty, and you never know what time you're playing

until, like, an, like, an hour before the show before they open the doors. And when you think about that period of your life, it's like, you know, you guys must have just been driven by just like pure, like, obsession and love for this band and this music because it's like nothing. Like, you know, people just don't really, well, I don't know. I shouldn't say people don't do that, but, like, I feel like that people don't have that same, like, vision of this being, like, your hero's journey to just be on the road with your boys for six months and just play these shows constantly? How did you take to it? Like did you just love it and just fall into it? You have any growing pains? Not at all. I don't have a single fucking regret, man. And, you know, I was still on

Warped Tort tip. That shit was like fucking band camp for derelicts, you know what I'm saying? Like straight up like the most insane fucking fat camp you could ever get sent to. It's like prison for band dudes where like they all all you like are teaching each other like how to be a bad boy absolutely and how to be a rock star really for sure for sure like and there's a lot of pretentious like rock stars that weren't really rocking shit you know what I'm saying but you learn how not to be as well you know what I'm saying like um but yeah man like we we definitely had and I mean I still I mean I just turned 40 last month and I feel like I go do another their eight war tours and be cool.

You know what I'm saying? You'd do it again right now? Absolutely. Actually, they ended it last year and I did the last two shows. They did the East Coast one and I believe it was Atlantic City and then they did one out here. Right. Yeah, yeah.

That's the life. It was crazy. Right. What, like from the beginning, I feel like you guys must have attracted a ridiculous amount of women as well. Oh, yeah, that part. The music wasn't really like aggressive, nothing like off-putting for the ladies. Nah, and we definitely embraced the fact that, I know, we, we all noticed early on there was a lot of girls coming out to show, you know what I'm saying.

And like, being this fat kid that no girls were fucking with to like, what I'm saying? It's like, the fuck is going on, you know what I'm saying? But so, I mean, I was a douchebag, complete dirtbag for like a lot of years, you know what I'm saying? But who wouldn't be? When you're having that much of something that's typically a very scarce commodity thrown at you, I mean, it's just like not a position that almost any guy is in. And it's like, I could just imagine that the number of girls throwing themselves that you must have been absurd. How the fuck do you, like, like, where do your mind go with it?

Like, how did you even make sense of like all this energy coming your way all of a sudden? Well, see, I just got engaged like last summer. So I don't really remember none of that. shit. She hadn't watched her. I don't remember. None of that shit. No, man.

But it was definitely it was definitely different. You know what I'm saying? And I don't know, man. Like, our old bass player, Eric, was definitely the fucking like Pino Star, though, for sure.

Like, I think it was dating that, uh, what was that chick's name? She did the, the porn site with all the scene shicks like oh

a Bernie Angel or some shit Joanna Angel yeah I think he dated her for a minute so I know they were doing some wild shit That's tight But you didn't hear it from me Yeah I'm sure My name is Benita Betray

But yeah So that period of your life was Ridiculous It's intense Yeah not even like the sexual stuff But like how does it feel It just be all of a sudden You're like worshiped

You got all these kids just freaking the fuck out In the state Like did you full let it go to your head or like how when you look back at it how how much of yourself were you able to you know keep well did you fully just drink the Kool-Aid and how was it well one it was it was hard for me to swallow because I knew the shit wasn't genuine you know what I'm saying like after being like after going through what I went through and as a teenager it's like you don't give a fuck I mean

like if I was just some random dude like so I knew from jump that like the shit was like false as fuck so I never really bought into it and I mean My dad would never, ever allow me to have my head inflated. So it cut me, chop me down real quick. So I always kept that in mind as well. So, but it was, it was different. It was different. You guys partying your asses off on the floor?

Oh, fuck, yeah. Like, stupid, like, stupid, stupid. Like, I had, like, I don't know if, fuck it, I don't care. I talk about the show. I mean, been blatantly, like, open about it in my music. We had the song called Pill Mazz. like on the paper card chronicles the first record and this is before like kids were like really really dropping you know like flies and this is like the early days where you could be

excused for not knowing how dangerous pills were yeah yeah and whereas now it should be really obvious to you very obvious very obvious and and not that I was glorifying it at all it was just like but after I got clean like it just didn't feel right performing anymore I'm saying but there was a a time where like kids would literally like just throw bags and pills on stage and my assistant would run out and just at the end of the show like and we're about the pill book like

all right all right it was it was bad man but I mean we had such a good thing going I wasn't trying to fucking burn out you know what I'm saying like I'm like I got way too way too much more to give you know right when did you uh and the whole band was all getting fucked up too so you guys were all sort of feeding off

I think I well I was I was never like a like a I never would get super fucked up with anybody I was always like on the back of the bus you know alone by myself um I mean we drink together and shit but I was the only one that really really got like really fucked up

you know I mean everybody else drank smoked me a little but I was the one getting silly you know like like flirting with that you know when did you have to get clean and did you have to get clean like multiple times it took a couple times you know what I'm saying like I really don't keep track um anymore because I feel like

the more I focus on like how long I've been off fucking drugs like the more I think about it is like I'd rather not even think about it you know what I'm saying but I have it's a constant struggle for a lot of people you know it's like it's never because Michael K. Williams just died

and that I was just listening to an interview with him and he's talking about like getting clean but it's also it's just you know his battle wasn't over like it was he was going to be an addict for the of his life and he was going to have to take it day by day. You know what I'm saying? Like, like, nobody saw that, you know?

Like, he had been clean for 20 plus years, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, that, damn, I'm totally fucking spaced. But there's a lot of people who like that who just, you know, you feel like they've got a hold of their addiction. And then one day, it pops back up and, like, hopefully they make it through that and they're able to be sober again. But it's like, you know, see it happen all the time. The thing is a lot of people don't realize that like,

you know, like, when you're going hard, hard and you, and you decide to like, get your shit straight and you don't realize that like you can't do the amount of drugs that you were doing before where you got clean so a lot of people just dive right in and it's fucking Croke City you know what I mean and I've lost so many fucking friends I can't I don't have enough fingers and toes to fucking count them man yeah it's sad like and that was all pretty fake drug era oh yeah absolutely absolutely I mean we used to get real fentanyol like patches like yeah once again not glorify I knew no but I knew I knew other people to do that as well.

We used to chewing them shit. Or they even made fentanyl lollipops back in the day. What? Yeah. I got to Google that. On God. Fetano lollipops. Google it right now.

And they taste like grape. Wow. It's fucking ridiculous. That's insane. So with that said, it shows you like, why are they making lollipop lease fentanyl. Or fentanylase lollipops? Most lollipops are not consumed by adults.

That's what I'm saying? Or like, why are they? grape flavored. Right. You know, like, why is lean purple? Right.

Black people like purple. Oh, like, you know what I'm saying? They're getting on to it. They're getting on to it. They got menthol, flavor,

fett and all now and shit. I was kidding. I was like, whoa. Really? I was kidding. Like, the cartel is getting creative.

What the fuck? But yeah, so that, like, you have that whole period of your life. Okay. Were you at that time, like,

based on your music, it's kind of hard for me to tell were you more of like a hopeless romantic type band guy or were you like a just purely like slut band guy? I would definitely the fucking romantic, the hopeless romantic. That's what I would get for the music. So I just want to make sure.

Definitely like I'm not saying no names, but there's definitely some sluggers in the band. Yeah, you had some, some hits over the years. It's impressive. But yeah, okay. So the band's just going good and everything. like would you say that you guys despite like doing all this drugs and everything and like you know basically having this chaos that was that was that was just me i don't want to throw anybody else in the bus but like you know you guys sound like it was kind of chaotic but for the most part you guys

just holding it together for all those years um i mean i was i was a full full full blown functioning addict you know what i'm saying like we did the ams and i was fucking like three feet off the ground you know i'm saying i don't remember the shit at all but we crushed it you know what i'm saying I watched the playback, I'm like, damn, killed it, thank God, you know what I'm saying? But like, that's no way to live, you know, like, hoping that you get through a show, you're hoping that you perform and hoping that you please the people that paid money to come see you. Like, it's the worst. Like, so, I mean, my first tour, like, clean where it was just like, all right, no smoking on the bus, no nothing.

Like, it was awkward as fuck. Like, it's super awkward, but, but then I just found myself getting high off the performance, you know what I'm saying? getting off stage and being like super adrenalineized and like ready to do what the fuck ever but then the reciprocal the flip side of that is that like now you got all this energy and your hype now what the fuck do you do

right you know what I'm saying but how was that like you know getting to bed after performing when you uh you know or just trying to like stay mellow you know like drugs are all about like altering your state of mind and so we literally like we have band nights and watch movies and shit like we didn't turn into the fucking we didn't turn to the 4H camp or anything

but like you know, like, people were still getting down doing the thing. I wasn't like, all right, everybody has to fucking be clean because I'm going to some shit. But, you know, like, they respected the fact that I was trying to, you know, like, straighten out. And the crazy part is, like, some of them didn't even know what was. It was as bad as it was, you know what I mean? But, yeah, like, we, we actually, me, I feel like it brought us a lot closer because we do, like, before that, we hit a city and, like, they, like, two, two guys have shit planned for this. day when we didn't have shit to do.

And we started doing more shit together, you know what I mean? Like dumb shit, like tubing in a fucking Texas down the Guadalupe, you know what I mean? Like shit we would never do together any other time. Yeah, because I mean, that's the whole, that's the sort of unfortunate part about touring is that you get to go everywhere. But you don't get to do shit. You sit the hotel room or you sit backstage of the show.

And like, you get to have this amazing experience of performing your songs for the audience, but that's kind of... On to the next. Kind of the same every night. And like, you know. It's like living in a fucking fishbowl, bro. Like a moving fishbowl. Yeah.

Like, you just seeing all this shit and you stop and see. But I made it, I made a vow to like, you know, when I start touring again, to actually take some time and fucking, but I've been around the fucking world eight, nine times and couldn't tell you shit about a lot of the cities that I've been to, you know what I mean? Is that a regret? That's probably my main regret is not fucking, like, taking time to just walk around. And our drummer, he would, he would.

was on it from day one and we started like touring heavy he was just like and i got us asked some trouble in mexico but right that's a long story no yeah i think i wrote that down prison in mexico or something so we're playing this we're playing a show in uh for mtv in mexico you know they have the the spring break shit right and so we get there a couple days early and the first night we i go out we go out with we go out with we go out and stevo at this place, I'm like, oh, shit's gonna be a bad one, bro. And I got shit-faced. And me and Matt usually were like, like, we stay together, no matter.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, on tour, if we're out together, whatever. And Matt disappears. I'm like, fuck. I'm like, whatever. Like, me and Steve are getting retarded. And so I get, and me and Matt were sharing a room. I get back to the hotel, and I see, like, the windows are slid open

and the curtains are, like, flowing. And I see his slippers. in front of the window. And I'm like, you know, my whole shit just, like, felt like my heart just, bleh. I'm like, and I, like, literally stood there for, like, five minutes. I'm like, I got to go to this window.

I got to go see. I don't want to see him, like, splatted on the floor. I mean, so I'm walking towards the window. I'm like, oh, please, please, please, please, please, man. And look out the window. Nothing. What the fuck? All right, cool, cool.

At least he's not dead, you know what I'm saying? Like, so I'm waiting for him. I finally fall asleep. The next morning, I find out this motherfucker got so, wasted. He went, he, like, found some sliding doors and slid them open, went to somebody's place, and, like, fell asleep on the couch, and he wakes up, and he's surrounded by cops with machine guns, police, yeah, police, yeah. And he's like, what the fuck? Like, so they snatch him off and take him to jail. The owner of the house said that he stole, like, a $15,000 statue or some shit from the house.

Like, where the fucks had that been? Like, you picked them up in the house, so, like, super-sussed. and so we have to play a show that day and so I went we finally found the jail that had him in there's like dirt floors he's in the corner like this mad dirty looking like shaggy and shit and they actually like the the dudes that were in jail with him

like in the cell with them were calling oh shaggy shaggy shaggy shaggy and like I'm looking these motherfuckily you told him I'll get through these I'll find the way through these fucking bars and hurt you I'm telling you I'm like mad don't worry we'll get you out we're good right but it didn't happen like that So the jail's like, we're going to need this amount of money, X amount of money,

or we're going to put them in another place down here. And then basically that's what they do. They'll arrest you and they keep putting you deeper and deeper into Mexico until like you give up that dough. So we had to pay a lot of motherfucking money. How much? Five figures? Wow. Bro.

Yeah. It was serious. That's impressive. I'm impressed that the, you know, Mexican government know, that they could extort you for that much. They could tell that you were, that you guys had something they were working with, yeah. I mean, so Matt, obviously,

he didn't make the show because we were trying to figure this shit out, you know what I'm saying? But thankfully, we were there, we were down there what the academy is, and we toured with them so many times that butcher from the academy played for us. But the stage went out, had a catwalk out into a pool,

and the pools full of people, so the catwalks for the water, so I go out there, and I'm trying to fucking make sure he's, You know what I mean? Like playing the right songs and shit and I'm slipping a slide and then in the back of my mind and like my man's in this nasty ass jail in Mexico

like it was wild it was wild no more parties in Mexico yeah like go to Mexico but don't break the law that would be my advice to pretty much anybody because I mean I like I listen to this story from this dude

talking about going to prison in Mexico for a couple months and like he said there were kids in the prison that had like been born there and we're just born in the motherfucking prison and we're just had lived there their whole life

that's like some bane shit oh my that's not fair bro the kid didn't do anything what the fuck your old collateral damage what the that's sad god damn that's the craziest

tour story the most extreme thing that happened that's definitely not the craziest shit the craziest because you guys were like warriors oh bro we've we've

how many months out of a year were you doing on average for a few years there bro I think there were times where I think one of the longest was when we did the I Music tour with Wayne it was us Wayne Payne and I think Keisha Cole did the first half and um what's her name homegirl that did the song with Kanye and and Neo knock me down remember that song She did this song with Timberlin.

You know what I'm talking. Carrie Hilsen. Carrie Hilsen. Yeah, she did the other half. And so that, I can't remember exactly how long that tour was, but it did so well. The first round, they did secondary market. So, like, we were on the road for a long-ass time.

I mean, yeah, about six, seven months. But, I mean, our time off when we were, like, traveling, would be like three or four days here and there you know what I'm like yeah it was pretty and it got so it got to a point where like I go home and now I've been unpacked my bag you I mean I just take shit out and like I'm still like that to this day like go to a hotel I keep all my shit in my in my luggage you know what I need to put it back in did that like that does something to you like your brain really is just not like everybody else when you've been on the road for that long it's literally like like I said it's like living in a bubble you know what I'm saying like

and honestly I feel like it's stunned my development in a little bit, you're saying? Because like... You're being, like, trotted around the world, being adored. Every place you go, it's just like, oh, here, we're going to insert you into this fucking hall full of people

that are going to suck your dick for an hour. And then you're going to be swept away. Sounds enticing. It sounds enticing, but like... But it's got to do something to you, you know? Absolutely. I mean, and, you know, like... Hard to hold down any kind of real relationship.

Oh, absolutely. Girls, I mean, I finally found... They love the idea of it, but then... Once they're in it, they're like... like this is not a life you want to live ladies yeah you got you got you got to you got to you got to be a fucking unicorn yeah a couple weeks here and there sure like a month you know whatever but like you know nine months out of the year like it's just like what woman would want to stay on board for that after a while right it takes a strong one gee it takes a strong one and it took me a long time

to meet her ass like actually i've known her for a long a long time but right um i think it took her a long time to understand it, you know what I'm saying? Were you guys like, did you feel very financially comfortable at that point? Like the deals that you signed were they good ones? Were you actually seeing the fruit cheer labor? We had a really fucking great team, like a really great team, you know? And I have a great team now. You know what I mean?

Like I definitely had to rearrange the roster, you know what I'm saying? And rebuild the team. But I like to think that, I mean, I've seen, I mean, there's definitely been some. some shady shit that I've seen go down, but like, um, none of the, none of the run of the middle, like,

dirty label shit that you usually hear about. I mean, and I, I, I, I, I've never really had to deal with a lot of label or industry bullshit. You know what I mean?

That's good. I feel like everybody in your position usually has a story of how they got completely fucked by the label. Exactly. I mean, and I can't say that. I really can't. Like,

they were, they were behind us, man. Like, and, And, you know, there was a time where, like, you know, Fallboy were kind of out of commission and, you know, we were all in the same. We were all in the same management.

And we were kind of like holding the fucking torch for a while, you know what I'm saying? And that was a burden in and of itself. But, like, there's no fucking, there's no, like, manuscript that teases you how to fucking maneuver through this shit, like, once you're in it, you know? And so, like, like, I was saying, like, living in a bubble, like, once, you know, I took, I think the last single I put out when I put a single out a couple months ago The last single was like 2013 or 14

I took some time just like fucking I was focusing on my painting and a lot of other shit And I want to say music took the back burner But just trying to like figure out a lot of shit And I ended up moving out to the woods You know what I'm saying? Just to like fucking This shit is too chaotic

So you had basically just like had enough Of just the turbulence of being famous as fuck and constantly on the road and everything you just decided that you just wanted to take a step back and you know being being too accessible to management and a label you know what I'm saying like like feeling like they can reach me at any time like I hate when I'm I'm I'm I feel like somebody can just reach out like hey you know like like and not not not not in not I guess not in a bad sense like but you know when you're working on music the last thing you want is like label exists coming like so what you got what you got what you got you know and so like

I have a studio at the crib. I work out music out there all the time, but I wrapped up my latest album in Nashville. I caught a whole different battery in my back down there. Yeah, shout out to Jared who produced the record with me and Matt, who played drums on it. Like, a whole different vibe. Right.

Did you guys, like, just going back to the breakup, we'll talk more about the new album and stuff, but, like, did you guys ever specifically say, like, okay, we're breaking up? Or was it more like it just kept getting more and more turbulent or you want? Because you guys have been touring the same songs for so long that I feel like there's just that natural urge of like I don't give a fuck if I'm playing to an audience that's 5% of the size. I got to just do something different. I got to like I feel like you guys sort of started all these different side projects and sort of went in all these different directions.

Yeah. Yeah, there's definitely. Well, the side project thing was never like a hindrance. Like I feel like it was like one hand wash the other. Like if that, if any of our side projects caught some traction, it'd put more focus on gym class. So like that was everything. But, you know, it was definitely like an escalation and a whole amalgamation about a lot of shit that built up in to the point where Matt and I were kind of just like, let sleeping dogs lie for a little bit. You know what I'm saying?

Actually, it's funny because we were actually talking about, I was speaking with my label earlier. and yeah so you ever see a gym class getting back together and like we'll see you know what I'm saying but right now it's just like there's a lot of a lot of a lot of cannonball holes in the ship you know is it personal issues or is it just the fact that you don't really want to tour that oh no I mean I can't I can't wait I mean I mean shit we got we we got four four or five full lengths and so we got we got a pretty decent catalog you know what I mean and on top of my solo shit so I never get bored and um and I can't wait to fucking get back out again and like but it's definitely gonna take a uh some some uh rebuilding I think every band ends up like this though where there's like never thought we would I think I think

that that day never is never going to come either you know what I mean but I mean but you guys were good for so long yeah when we hit the 20 year mark like damn like I've spent more than half my life in this fucking band, you know what I mean? Like, that was, for me, like, like, a reality check in and of itself. Like, damn, like, more than half my fucking life, you know? And, um, but honestly, like, things had kind of gotten so toxic towards the end that I feel like it was for all, like, the best of all of our fucking mental health, you know what? Right.

But, yeah, I mean, but at the end of the day, like, we're all still supportive of each other, you know what I mean? No bad blood for the most part. Right. Yeah. I mean, it's just the idea that you're going to have people that you were close to 20 years ago when you were a completely different person and then you're just going to hold. I know not all the band's original members and shit, but like the idea that you were just going to be able to hold that together. I mean, it seems almost like an impossible task or something that's like bound to like be left with some scars at a certain point.

Yeah, but you know, you know, one thing I was I was like cock strong and sure about was the fact that like, you know, although we were. were kind of accepted into that scene. Like, I was like, yo, there's, and Matt and I used to have this conversation all time. Like, there's gonna come a time where all this shit just kind of fizzles out, you know what I'm saying? And like, the fact that we didn't,

we didn't fucking, you know, like, bend over and try to fit into what was popping on Warped Tour what was going on in the time. Like, we'll still be standing. And like, it proved, it proved true, you know what I'm saying? Like, on a couple different planes, But yeah, man, like, I wouldn't change a motherfucking thing. Right.

Because, I mean, but are you, like, saying no to money, like, that you guys could be getting from going on tours and stuff? Obviously. I mean, we've, I mean, I think it's pretty well known that, you know, like, we're kind of, like, dissolved at this point. But you still got to get hit up by festivals that want to book you and give you good-ass checks, right? Yeah, absolutely. That's what the fascinating part is that the ego is so strong that it gets in the way. It's like, off the back. Sometimes it's a little more than ego.

Right. Well, I mean, hey, I don't know. I have no idea. So, you know, it gets complicated. You know, you remind me of one of my friends growing up. It's hilarious. Damn. Alarious.

I'd love to meet him. So wait, you signed a T. Payne? So what happened was on the IAM music tour. Payne had a whole studio set up on the bus on his bus. and him and I just started making records together, like fucking crazy crazy. I still, no one's heard of them, but, no one's heard.

A bunch of dope records, no one's heard. But actually, actually, we put out the Nappy Boy mixtape, and I got a couple joints on that. That was a while ago. But, um, so we started cranking out records, and I was like, let's just do a record, you know what I'm saying? And, like, we had this grand idea. I never signed anything contractually.

It was just kind of like the homie, like, you know what I mean? And he, uh, produced a couple of joints on, my solo record and gave me a huge ass nappy boy chin. I still had to stay and like, wow. Yeah, shout out the pain. That's legendary. He's a big sweetheart. How often do you talk to him?

Actually, I just talked to him about a week ago, a week ago. Right. About a week ago. But so if you want to put music out now, does he have to be involved with it? Are you signed like that? No. No. No.

No paperwork. Okay. That's what's up. Yeah, so like where do you see, you know, like how do you, where you're at in your career right now and like you know how like I was watching the video that you put out it felt like you were sort of like addressing like a bunch of different traumas that you've had to live through over the years just 20 just 20 20 basically yeah yeah like a motherfucker oh my god yeah I mean it started like the top of January um I lost my best friend Bob like one of my

best friends in the whole fucking world man like and uh so And another crazy thing, like my mom's biological father, like, he wasn't too hip to her having a kid with a black dude, you know what I mean? So, like, he didn't want anything to do me when I was born, you know what I'm saying? And like, and over the years, like, I mean, even before anything happened with my career or anything, like, he started reaching out to my mom like, you know, I want to meet him, blah, blah, like, he had kind of, like, realized he was being a fucking idiot. You know what I mean? And I don't want to call my grandfather, an idiot. He just passed. But, you know, he realized that, you know, but, like, he's down, like, deep, deep in Georgia,

Jessup, Georgia. Like, it's, I don't even think it's on the map, bro. Like, third rows and shit, you know what I mean? And he had just turned 80, and I was like, I got to go, I got to meet this man before, you know, he leaves us. And so I took a trip down there. I flew down to, I had to fly to Savannah and then take, like, a fucking $300 Uber to get to It was ridiculous.

But I showed up at the crib and he was literally standing in the doorway and like it was like I was looking at myself, you know what I mean? Like big ass ears, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, same facial structure. And I'm like, this shit is weird. And he gave me the biggest hug ever, man.

And I met my nana and like, I stayed there for a week and ended up missing my flight, So I stayed for another week. So I got to hang with him for like two weeks. We hung out and fishing and did all that old country shit. You feel like that helped you understand yourself and where you come from better? Absolutely, man.

Like, for real, for sure. It helped me understand, like, how my mom grew up. And, you know what I mean? And you could just see the reflections in her through him. It was insane. That's deep. It was really insane. And so I stayed for a good, too.

weeks. I didn't want to leave, man. Like, I mean, I saw some wild shit, like, my little cousin Jonathan's eating a pickle pork, a pickle pig's foot, like, out of the plastic bag. I'm like, what the fuck? Like, I ain't never seen no shit like this, but, um, rolling around with a fucking revolver hanging out the back of his fucking, like in the back of his jeans and shit, like, where the fuck of my hat? But I love it. You know what I'm saying? I love this shit. And then I I went back down a few months later, and I came back and... Oh, I went back to... My nan had passed away, and not too long after I met both of them for the first time.

And then a couple of months after she passed away, he passed away. And it was just like back to back to back to back to back. Like, it was nothing but funerals, you know what I'm saying? And yeah, that song was a tough one to write and record, just like... 2020 fucking sucked. Fuck 2020. Yeah, no, definitely during 2020, there's been a lot of moments where I've had to just think about the fact that,

like, oh, yeah, I'm probably going to outlive a vast majority of people that I'm close with. It's sad to think about, man. It's sad. And, like, we came here. I mean, I forgot it was Labor Day. Like, we came in yesterday, and L.A. looked like this fucking post-apocalyptic, like, like dystopian fucking mad mad because there was nobody out like and everything was gated up and closed i was yeah damn it was wild name you had never seen it like that before i was like

you know i was like bro like uh you sure we should be here so yeah something he's like labor day i'm like all right i'll take that one i guess that was a pretty fucking unique time we were just we went on riding bikes and we were just cruising around and there's fucking nobody oh i'm i'm seeing pictures of Times Square like I mean bro we were double glove like in the beginning we're double gloving fucking double masking hoodie straw like strung up like right why am I even out here you know what I'm saying and like it kind of got like I guess we kind of got lazier's fuck the gloves you know what I'm saying but like especially in New York the shit just kept going up and up and up and up and like then

you see pictures of the piles of bodies and shit oh boy yeah it's this ain't nothing that can compare you for some shit like that you know like It gives me the fucking willies, man. I'm thinking about, like, we're living through some weird fucked up movie, you know? Right. No, yeah. It's been a wild one. I mean, where do you see yourself at in your movie?

You know, you've had some, like, extremely high points in your life at a young age. Made a huge impression on the culture. I mean, like, where do you want, like, where would you ideally like to see yourself going from here? and how do you see the rest of your life playing out ideally? Kind of like the end of Purple Rain, you know what I'm saying? You know, like, after he plays Purple Ring and, like, he gives Appalooney with that smile. You know what I'm saying?

Like, I mean, I just want to make a bunch of fucking babies and get back on the road and, you know, just and have space for them to chill when they want to come out, you know what I'm saying? Like, I can't see myself not necessarily. making music or being artistic in some way, shape or form before I leave this fucker, you know what I'm saying? But you still have that deep desire to get back on the road? Oh, absolutely. That shit doesn't go away.

It's a love, hate, too. You know what I mean? It's like an addiction kind of, what did you say? Without a doubt. Without a doubt. Like, I mean, if I can, you know what I'm saying? It's like towards the end of any tour, you're like, I can't wait to get home. You get home a day after like, man, I can't wait to get the fuck back on the road, man.

Right. It's definitely like. It only takes a day for you. you to get back to the state of wanting to be back in the road? A day or two. Yeah. It's different, man. Like we were talking about earlier, it's a lifestyle.

It's definitely a lifestyle. It's funny because I see a lot of, like, a lot of bands like, going on tour. And there's like three dates on the poster. And I'm like, tour. Like, what the fuck? You're going on vacations. Yeah, I mean, you've definitely been on the road, like, way longer than I've ever been on the road.

But there's definitely been times in my life where I was away for like a month. And you come back and you, like, you know, go get some. some food with your girl and you're just like I have no fucking clue what the fuck I'm supposed to say to you because I've just and this is like the primary difference I think is that when you are at home and you're doing roughly the same shit every day yeah you're your brain starts to notice the little differences you know like the little things when you're on tour you're every moment of the day you're being bombarded by something new so it's like you know you're not used to having to sort of like work for something being interesting it's just automatically every moment of the day you're seeing something crazy you never seen before

and it makes you like somehow your brain gets wired in such a way that people just can't fucking relate to you and it takes a little while for you to like break that down get back to being a... It's so crazy you say that

because like I remember early on touring and I couldn't wait to get home and tell all my friends the stories and then it comes up to a point where just like same shit like I want to hear it

you want to hear it again you know what I'm saying like but yeah it definitely gets old but then like I said like get that tap on your back like come on let's go right but um yeah man like well it's funny because in the beginning like it was out of necessity because I was homeless for a minute like when we first started touring so like I don't want to go home right I can't go home you know what I'm saying like I see how motherfuckers got a couch what do you think is the part that drives at the most of this one. Is it that you're like at your most profitable when you're on the road?

Or is it the fact that like it's just something about the experience? It's definitely the experience. You know what I'm saying? Like, um, yeah, we were literally on tour when the Tom Tom came out. So I mean,

we were Matt Quest in and using Atlas and shit before. And the Tom, time came out, motherfuckers were fighting to drop the baby. Like, no son, it's my turn. Like,

fuck you. I'll kill you. Want to fight for it? Like, like fighting to use, I could not fucking believe it the first time I saw somebody with one of those. I was just like, so we're not printing out,

MapQuarse directions anymore? It was like fucking God it just went here. Use this tool my friends. And bro, like we use this shit out of it. That's something, that's an addiction I'm trying to stop

is saying bro and bro. Like, I'm, I'm doing bad, bro. I'm doing bad. It's better than Xanax. I think I need a fucking, I definitely need an intervention

with this bro shit. Way better than Xana. Yeah. No, you're always at battle with like your tics. Yeah, you know, the shit that you say

that you don't really think about saying, but you say it. It's like absolutely. I say absolutely way too much. Yeah. Or I'll watch a random interview with myself and I'll just be saying like too much and I'll just want to go back in time

and kick myself in the fucking teeth. Well, like like is almost like the like the pause why you think word. You know what I'm saying? Like, uh, or. But I would rather speak slowly and never say like. Yeah. I like that.

And like that. I like that idea. Take a little extra time to think of the next word. My ideal self would speak like that. Yeah, I got fun. I got like this fucking funnel, like, and I just start stuttering because I got so much, you mean, like, I've been like that my whole life. Like everything's just trying to get out at once. Like slow down, down down. Yeah, I like that though. I'm going to definitely put that in my notes. Definitely. Talk slower. Are you going to, you see yourself staying in upstate New York for the time being? Like you like, you want a tour, but then you'd like to be able to come back to something very slow. You'd never be an L.A. guy again? I've never lived here

Oh you never did It's crazy A lot of people thought we were from here Because when we shot the Cupid's video We shot at MacArthur Park And right Fucking Compton Like we were all over

And I was just watching that And I'm like wow I got a lot of good LA destinations in here Yeah yeah And so people automatically thought we're from Cali And uh

But I've never lived out here I stayed with Pete for I stayed with him for a while And um I got my taste And I was like My feet don't fit the concrete out here bro I'm super fascinated by the fact

that you are a part of this big lie that Tyga was related to you. So here's the thing. Here's the thing. So like, and I don't know, like, I think Gator spoke on it. Like, yeah. And the way he framed this,

he said that like at that time, to the label, it felt like it was going to be so hard for the fans to grasp Tiger and how he was going to just be. That's how Tiger felt. Or that the label felt, I guess, that like, a non-gang affiliated,

young, light-skinned black dude, that they weren't going to be able to really love Tyga unless they have like a good backstory from where he came from. I think that was his excuse for telling people that he was my cousin. You know what I'm saying?

Like that ass. Like that was his excuse. Taga just wanted to be your cousin? I got like, bro, like it's so weird because like I'll see like interviews or whatever. He's like yeah, you know, Wayne put me on, Wayne put me on. It's like, hold my pearls.

Like, damn. I thought I thought I put your first burger out. I thought I brought you out on your first five tours, you know what I'm saying? But, like, I don't trip on shit like that, man. People like to simplify the narrative over time, don't that. Or completely rewrite it, you know what I'm saying? I mean, it sounds good to say, hey, Lil Wayne did it all for me. You know, that's like, you know, little Wayne is royalty and hip-hop.

I can understand the desire to simplify the narrative. So I guess at some point I was Lil Wayne cool enough to be Tiger's cousin. Right. Damn, okay. That's interesting. Now we have more information. It might not have been a diabolical label plot. I looked after him like he was family for sure and Gator.

You know what I mean? I took those boys everywhere with me. And I couldn't be more proud of Gator, man, than this thing. How much time do you spend thinking about, like, your legacy or, like, how you want to be remembered? Do you give a fuck about how you're remembered in, like, hip-hop specifically? Like, how do you think about that? You know what? I really, I don't give a fuck.

I don't leave a fuck. Like, I know, like, the kids that. came up listening to us and still enjoy what I do or you know what I mean like throw on paper cut chronicles here like I know we have like we built our fan-based grassroots you know what I'm saying like we put in the work and damn near died doing it you know I'm saying a few times over so like I mean I got a I got a box full of you know like when I got my shit together like kids would come up and start giving me instead of fucking pills they start giving me their their 30-day tokens and shit you know what I'm saying like so I got a box full of you know I'm saying like so I got a box and of shit like but I mean I think and and when I go down to my studio I have like I've kept every laminar every tour I've ever been on and like the shit weighs like 110 pounds you know what I'm saying oh really one of those guys who kept the lanyards every single one and like every time I pick it up it's just like a reminder of how much work we put in you know I'm saying but um I mean I I I feel like like when I am dead and gone like I feel some like

I was going to pick up a record and be like, when this shit come out again? This shit is kind of dope, you know what I mean? So if that happens one time while I'm in the ground, like, I'll be stoked. But do you ever feel like you guys just aren't really necessarily given the credit you deserve? Because you kind of came out during this weird black hole era of music where, like, you know, you would be able to say probably, like, we had like number one songs and records and shit. Like, or were you, like, charting like that? Or I feel like the streams weren't accounted for in the same.

same way back in the day, but you still were hard copies. Selling hard copies. Like, like, um, yeah, we've got, we've got a bunch of plaques. Like, I don't talk about this shit a lot, but, um, yeah, we, I mean,

the last gym class record, paper called Chronicles 2 had, I think three or four number ones on it. Wow. Um, ask back home, stereo hearts, the fighter with Ryan's header. And, um, I could be wrong, but I think there's another one.

And then, um, that's crazy. Yeah, I mean, We've had a lot of joints. I think Cupid definitely, Cuba's a billionaire kind of like over, like just stomped over everything else that we did for a while. But is that sometimes kind of feel like, like did it feel like a curse almost in the sense

that you have some songs that are so huge that it kind of like overshadows the rest of your body of work? I think that happens with everybody. I mean, I think, I feel like a lot of... If you're lucky enough to have that fucking record. Yeah, yeah. Like, it's like, like, no, we're not playing a shit. shit no more. It's like whatever.

But we're creative so we're like we flip shit up and like you know like as long as we're having fun doing it like I've never played a show and had it feel like a burden, you know what I'm saying? And like that's when it's time to go do something something else, you know what I mean? But I don't see it

coming anytime soon. What kind of music do you get inspired by or motivated by at this point? Um fucking I'm a nostalgia junkie, bro. Like I just love like early late late 90s hip hop like um

70s funk like huge on like like Philly soul like gambling huff type shit um but I'm also into fucking you know terror and everything like bro like my my music I'm like

shout out Scott Vogel oh the man we gotta get him on here you haven't had him on you? No but he hit me up after the Danny Diablo interviews and show you shout to Danny Diablo that's you know like I another legend you know he told me that he had done no jumper.

And I was like, oh, shit, like, that's the, that's the whole thing. That's a blueprint from legend right there, man. Absolutely. People are going to be revisiting. Yeah, like, I, like, I, like, yo, I get anxiety. I love Danny to death, but I get anxiety because he's so intense. Like, yeah. But it's a good anxiety.

It's a good anxiety. Yeah, yeah, no. He'll, man, he had so many quotables on the podcast. I bet. I bet. I still am who I am. I still like to drink. Still like to drink.

still like to do a bunch of coke, fight. I'm give a fuck. He's dead-ass serious, too. I am and I am, bro. At the day, like, I might have changed. I might have slowed down a little bit, but I ain't slow down the whole way, bro. I ain't slow down the whole way.

That's a whole, that's a whole thing. I'm paraphrasing. You should watch the interview if you want to hear what he actually said. I have to. That's my man. For sure. Have you had scam up here yet? No.

Debbie Lithu. A whole, a whole other anxiety. It's at a lot. He sold it, like that motherfucker. I could literally like, just like watching, like, for hours. Just do his thing. Did you see that when he went viral for the cat call shit? No.

So, like, some website did this thing were like, is it still cool to cat call in New York? Right. And they, yo, of all people, they find scam. And this motherfucker went. He's like, so, you know, Twitter, like, starts catcalling. Like, it became this whole thing. And, like, he was everywhere for, like, a minute. Wow.

Yeah, you gotta get scam up here. He's got some stories. No, that would be legendary. He's got some stories. Holy fuck. All right, so what's your game plan for new shit that you want the people out there to be in tune with? Actually, I'm out here to do no jumper, obviously. Yeah, so I just wrapped up a, I didn't just wrap it up.

It's been wrapped up for a little bit. But I just signed a one album deal with Hopeless Records and really, really, really, excited about it man this album has been probably eight nine years in the making you know what I mean like with everything that went on in gym class like I just said fuck it like

I'll just come out of pocket I can't not see this album through you know I mean like I just so attached to it and um wrapped up the album in Nashville and then ended up during the pandemic we ended up recording like three or four more songs like remotely like

My producer and one of my best friends, Jared, he finangled some way for him to control, like, control the session from Nashville while I was at my crib. And one of those songs was Spoonful of Cinnamon, which we dropped a couple months ago. And we're shooting a video this Thursday out here for the next joint. It's called Love Me Back to Life. The album's called Never Slept Better. I want to give the people a couple more jams and then shoot the release date out there. But the album's done. It's crispy.

I love it. I can't stop listening to it. I think it's not, I think your archetypical gym class fan. Definitely a word that's never been said on a jumper before. I feel. Your archetypical gym class fan would not. would, yeah, I think they would definitely gravitate towards it, but I feel like

I've definitely grown, you know, within the time it's taken to make this record, you know what I mean? Like, um, and I feel like I got a lot more confidence on this album, you know what I'm saying? It's like, um, there's a joint that's kind of like on some

Bill Withers shit, like, that I never thought, I imagined myself doing and I, like, 12 vocal stacks and shit, like, did a lot of like, I don't want to say experimenting, but like, you know, like, we, I just try to push myself every, every album just to kind of like, come on, motherfucker, like, you know what I mean? Like, they can listen to that record if they want to listen to that record, you know what I mean?

That's always been, like, a huge, like, one of those fucking voices in the back of my head, like, don't do anything like to last, please, like, just don't, don't. Because, like, I mean, when billionaire blew up, you know, I started getting, like, influxes of of folders from producers, and every song sounded like billionaire. Like, can you know, send me some shit without an acoustic guitar, you know what I mean? And like a reggae rhythm, please. That's so funny. So it's weird because, you know, people get one taste of what you do.

And I think that's what you do, you know what I'm saying? And, like, it was crazy. I mean, I'm getting, like, folders from, like, pretty, like, you know, a steam producer. And they're, like, I'm like, come on, man. Well, that's hot now, kind of. You wouldn't send that shit to anybody else. You know, like, now you got, like, you know, you got a fucking juice world or a little peep. And, like, all these artists who basically were, like, kind of, like, referencing a lot of stuff from, like, the MySpace era in their music.

And it's, like, it's new again, you know? And even those are artists, obviously, rest in peace. So over the past few years. But there's all, I mean, there's just a lot of influence, like, where you can see the influence from shit that you guys were early on. And it's love when people, you know, like, you know, kids that are, they're doing today come up, like, yo, like, um, who. was I talking to like uh like I was working with my man remi the other day and he was just like bro like or even my man west period like I'm he's he showed I worked with him he came out to my crib for uh you familiar with you should check him out he's really dope he's from out here

um he came to the crib and we worked on this this project with a few other homies from new york and um he showed me a picture of me and him at one of my shows from like fucking 2008 or some shit. And then we took another picture. It's like, this was just a kid that was at one of my shows and now were chilling making music together. You know what I'm saying? Like, shit like that.

It's like, yeah, I don't know where I'm going. Time flies. We all grown up. Hell yeah. Not believing. Nice. Travi, I appreciate you coming on, man. Yo, thanks for having me.

Very important story to be told right there, I think. Word up. We're actually working on a documentary. my man Jason from a fever 333 and yeah we should we should uh that should be out once we get this shit sussed out and figured out but yeah we're gonna we're gonna work on he because he's he also came up biracial and went through the exact same shit I went through you know what I'm saying so we can we kind of we kind of relate on that plan you know I mean like like kind of feeling like we're being tugged each and every way but like

he he did the same thing I did it and said fuck him me you know what I'm saying but thank you for having me man appreciate man absolutely you got teaching me how to do that motherfucker oh the condama well no jumber.com for everybody out there if you want to get your hands on one uh travi no jumber coolest podcast in the world check us on youtube easily patreon iTunes all that like comment subscribe nojumber.com if you want to support i got a piss like a motherfucker right now appreciate y'all yeah tour style