SmartLess - "Arcade Fire"

Episode Date: August 8, 2022

Grab your joystick and a handful of kindling; Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire join us from New Orleans to jam a bit and talk nimble futures. In the words of Win: "this isn't weird at all, this is super normal."Please support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, Sean, Sean, Sean, you know that what's been really, I think, catching people off guard is some of our intros, no, we'll know some of our intros because they've been welcome to SmartList. SmartList. SmartList. SmartList. SmartList. SmartList.

SmartList. Hi, everybody. Hi, Jens. I'm feeling particularly lucky this morning and fortunate. Just, you know, walking to this room with my laptop knowing that- Me too. Me too. It's just, we're so, it's embarrassingly light lifting what we do here.

We get to just open up our laptops and talk to people we want to talk to that you'd otherwise have to wait in a long line, a long autograph line to speak to. I also feel very fortunate today. I was having, I'm going to be real with you guys. Uh-oh. I was having a tough morning. Music cue. Music cue.

Uh-oh. Tell me about the tough morning. I was just having, just everything that's going on and I was just having a very tough morning and I know that we always start joking and people don't want to listen to it but I was- About the world, you mean? I'm going to be completely honest. I was having a very tough morning today.

Did you stumble across a newspaper? I made that mistake a few times recently. Yeah. Cartoon. Cartoon. He loves Cartoon Network. I know. And every once in a while, someone will leave the TV on CNN and then, yeah, I can.

I don't know. It was that and just life and everything. What's the main, what's the headline? I got a lot to choose from. Jason and I had a long conversation yesterday about it and I was just like, I woke up today and I, again, I think I mentioned it the other day, I'm a naturally optimistic person and I've been- Yeah.

It's been tough and Amy said to me, my ex-wife, Amy, said, you've been, how are you feeling? You seem- And I said, I was over there yesterday. I said, I feel really irritable and she said, you know, for guys your age, depression often manifests itself as irritability and I was like, it really struck with me and I'm like, maybe I'm depressed. You're not depressed. Am I?

No. I've been depressed and you would know it. It's an all-encompassing weight that you just, you're just constantly taking inventory and you're like, boy, there's just, it's sort of like, it's usually unsubstantiated. It's usually just kind of brought on by some sort of, I don't know, I'm not a scientist, but I think that there's chemical shit and all that stuff. If you're not a scientist, this fucking show is over. I will say that we'll, and then we can get light, but I will say, well, you do an incredible

job of navigating all the things that could trip you into self-loathing. You do a very good job without bearing your head in the sand of, you know, you look at those things honestly. You don't hide from them. You take them at face value, you assess them, you try to fix them and you stay very positive. Well, you've gone through these before, like I've seen you go through these, and it doesn't last very long and everybody has these. So you can't be like, up happy, positive all the way, all the time.

I think it's normal to have these little moments and then you come out of them, you know, but when you're in them, you have to remember that you come out of them, that you can't. Yeah, that's the duper. Well, thank you. Thank you both. I love both of you guys very much. And also just because things aren't perfect, doesn't mean things are wrong. Doesn't mean things are bad.

It just means that's just life and we're all normal in that there's, you know, plenty of things that are pear-shaped and then there's other things that are perfectly round. And the ratio is what you need to look at. You just described both my body parts, body types, I keep to, I'll leave you with this because our guests are probably like, Jesus Christ, what have you stepped into? But I was thinking like, I've been really trying to do that thing of there are certain people as you guys both know in my life who have made it, there's some difficulties. And I'm like, I've got to try to make them my guru.

I have to. I have to make them my, it's the only way out. What does that mean? That I have to make them, that I learn a lot, that they are teaching me something. You know, Dawah, who's in our life, Dawah said years ago, I said, I know it's really tough for you to work with this other person. She said, yeah, I was going to quit a long time ago and I called my dad and I said, dad, I don't know if I can work with this person.

They're too tough to work with. And her dad said to her, Dawah, how will you ever learn patience if you don't have someone to teach you? Yeah. And I was like, fuck. And she told me that. And I love that. I couldn't stop.

I was like, thank you, Dawah. And I went to the other room and just immediately started crying. Yeah. Also, you have to meet some of, you have to meet people where they are, right? So like, like if someone's a type A and you're not, but you just have to kind of meet them halfway, right? So about the last, you guys know, and you guys have been on this thing with me, again, we don't want, it's not like now for a very heavy, very special, very smart less this

Thursday, smart less on a very, but I, I've been going through a lot of stuff and I was in Atlanta and I was thinking a lot of this stuff really kind of came to the surface and I was thinking about all this stuff and I listened to a record that really touched me, kind of talked about meet you where you are, really hit me where I was. Is it the soundtrack to Willy Wonka? It was, yeah. Have you heard it? Yeah.

I love that you were spinning vinyl down in Atlanta. I wish it was vinyl, but I was, I was sent this record and I started listening to it from the first track all the way through, like you listened, we used to listen to albums in that way and that's what I did with this record and I had, and I listened to this and every step of the way, every song was hitting me in this place and I don't know if it's because where I was at and, but it really spoke to me in this way that I've never experienced before in the first time listened to a record or song, song by song, I was like, holy shit. At one point I thought I was going to have to pull over because I was so emotional.

It's making me emotional thinking about it. And I ended up reaching out to the people in this band because I was like, I have to talk to them and let them know what an impact it's had. And this is a band that I've really admired and listened to since the day, from the moment I first heard one note of their music, I was completely engrossed with what they were doing. This is a band that has a lot of members in it and has had various people from time to time. But at the core are two people who, I think who met at a time in their life where they

just, it seems to me and we'll find out that they just creatively, they came together and they, it's like this combustion, like this thing happened and they just started creating incredible stuff. Simon. They're Canadian, partially Canadian, mostly Canadian, but. Is this Ace of Bays? They are incredible writers, incredible songwriters, they're poets, I guess they're philosophers. And they're rockers and they hit me in a way that also is, like strikes every indie rock

bone in my body and I hate even putting that classification, just music bone in my body. They're the incredible. They represent one of the greatest bands today. Keep it together. Butler and Regine Chassain of Simon and Garfunkel. There they are. God. Yeah.

Oh my gosh. Hello guys. Yeah. Wow. Hi there. Garfunkel. Art, you look amazing. This day has been.

Art looks amazing. I didn't like, seriously, art. Wait, wait a minute. That new wig art is just stunning. I have to tell you, Will, I have to tell you, of course I know who you are. I, Will's like, you've got to buy this album. I bought the album, like, what is that? iTunes?

Yeah, exactly. It's not a buy. You bought it? I did the same thing. Yeah, I bought it. So cute. That's adorable. But you can't buy them, right?

I didn't know people did that still. That's amazing. Well, how would I get it? I don't know. Because if you just have like Apple Music subscription. I don't. I have to buy it. Okay.

Hang on. Okay. Hang on. Go into settings. No, right. But isn't that the way it is now? So, you can add to your library. Yes, but it was done.

Yeah. I didn't get charged anything. I know it's all the music of all recorded history for like $10 a month. It's ridiculous. Oh, really? Is that why? Is that real? It's awesome.

And that's why touring, touring is so huge now, right? Because it's the only way that bands can monetize their music anymore, correct? Aside from the piece you get from the subscription services. Yeah. You don't really get paid for streaming unless you're Drake. Right. He gets, they pay him. Oh, really?

They worked out to change your band name. All the money just, yeah, we tried and the lawsuit was, it's merchandise and touring. Right? Mostly touring. Yeah. So, when in regime, I'm not allowed to tell these guys, we never tell each other who our guests are. Yeah.

But I needed them a few weeks ago. I needed them to listen to your music. Luckily you guys got COVID. Yeah. Because you were supposed to be on this show. I'm sorry. I say luckily for us. Just me.

Yeah. Or just you win. Yeah. And then you guys, and so these guys had a chance to, and I said, somewhere down the road, this is going to come in handy, please listen to this record because I hope it touches you the way that it touched me. Yeah. Only Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris were the other two that we were given a heads up

that were coming on the show. Her record's amazing, by the way, is her voice, it's melodic, it'll pick up on you. And then Stacey Abrams, this is true story, actually writes romance novels. Yeah. No, but did you know that? Stacey Abrams writes romance novels. That's cool. She does.

On the side. It's actually very prolific. Yeah. Now, sorry, just so I can be clear. Regine, I'm saying your name correct, Regine Chassain. Oh yeah, Chassain. Chassain. Yeah.

Oh, look at you guys. Well, she's already correct and my friends are terrible. I know. It was pretty good. How do you pronounce your first name? Regine. Regine. Regine.

Regine. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Regine. Now, listen. You try. This isn't weird at all.

This is super normal. Everyone together. Regine. Regine. Regine. Regine. Regine. Well, Regine.

Oh, it's not French. Yes, of course. We can speak French a little bit. No way. Okay. We can interview you in French. Well, yes. We can do it in French or in Quebec.

Yes. Choisi. Choisi, yes. In Quebec. Yes. I parked my car. My car. By the way, so guys, first of all, after 10 minutes of pronouncing Regine's name.

Regine. Regine. I'm so excited you guys are here. Talk to me a little bit about, was I right. You guys came together at a time in your lives. Regine, you were already in Montreal. And when you were going to McGill. Is that right?

That's sort of the move. Dude, of course. I dropped out of Concordia in Montreal. Yeah. I went to Concordia. We both went to Concordia. Did you guys drop out too? I transferred.

I dropped out of McGill. Regine dropped out of McGill. I did one better, dropped out of high school. That's cool. What grade? Ninth, right? Just two weeks short of finishing 12th. Yeah, I've...

Did you ever go back, GED? I went back, I talked to the headmaster, tried to get a diploma out of him and he asked me for a donation to the school instead. It was a shakedown. Did they do honorary degrees for high school? Oh, that's... That's what I was lobbying for,

a doctorate for high school. That would be great. That would be great. I want it. Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. Now, where are you guys in your musical life right now? Are you in the studio recording or are you touring? This is nothing.

Neither. Excellent. You're golfing. No, no, no, no. The record just came out and we're going on tour in the fall but we're actually kind of not working, which is... Nice. For the summer.

It's really strange. Are you guys a couple or just a parts of the band together? We're a couple, yeah. Okay, nice. Couple of goofy kids who are just making music. Couple of crazy kids who love music. That's cute. Yeah, and you guys have a son.

How old is your son? He's nine. He's nine. He had his favorite part of Lego Batman is the nine-pack joke. No one. And he was like, tell him about the... I was like, do you have any messages? He's like, the nine-pack, that's really funny.

Walk us through that, Willie. I remember, because these kids watch so many Marvel movies and he was like, Dad, why doesn't your stomach look like the people in the movies? And I was like, well, son. You have to be a cartoon. Sean's been getting in shape for a Marvel movie. Show him, Sean.

Let's see. It's incredible. Who likes cookies? Who likes it? How do you do that? What's the secret? Well, you start with some ice cream. Yeah.

Jason calls it my cookie pouch. Although, you know, we always say there's nothing less funny than a six-pack. Yeah. You know what I mean? It used to be a mark of wealth back in the old days, right? The King Arthur days. Like, that was, you didn't look like you were in charge

or powerful or wealthy unless you were big and fat. Oh my God, you didn't go to high school. Big and fat. You know, I was working out a lot during Will and Grace and Jimmy Burroughs, the director said, you got to stop because big isn't funny. It's true. I've always lived by that creed.

Yeah. Yeah. Unless it's big around the waist. Yeah. Wait, so you guys, various colleges and transferring and quitting and whatever, but when you find your way to Montreal... Yeah, I think it's Montreal.

Yeah, Montreal. Montreal. And wait, is this... And so you find your way to Montreal and then what? How does it come together that you start making music with all these Canadians? Well, I... Then you start going, a one and a two.

Yeah, usually someone counts it in. Yeah, and then you just start making music. There's a lot of writing. I dropped out of art school and started a band as one does and my bandmate had gone to Concordia in Montreal because it was so cheap. It was like half price for American, you know, I think their exchange rate was like half then

and it was also like $3,000 a year to go to college, which is pretty amazing. So he was going back to school there and I sort of followed him. I didn't know anything about Montreal or Quebec or anything, but I got there and it was sort of like... What I thought New York was going to be like, it was like kind of the same...

It's kind of the same soup as Brooklyn or something. It's like tons of African, North African, French Caribbean and like... But it was also cheap and there was crazy art. Every, you know, like contemporary dance and cool electronic music and everything was at an illegal loft and it was like shit was just happening

in a really cool way. For Jason and Sean, I don't know if you guys have ever been in Montreal. It's such an incredibly vibrant city in a way. It's like this jewel of North America that doesn't... It's kind of good that it doesn't get talked about because it doesn't get overrun. I've got a half brother there.

Hello, Derek. Oh, you do? And sorry, where did you come from before you got to Montreal? I was born in Northern California. But my dad's from Maine and my mom's from LA. So I have like in New England, I've got a bunch of Maine people.

So I ended up going to boarding school and for the end of high school in New Hampshire. So did Will. Yeah, not in New Hampshire. Where did you do? North of Toronto. I don't want to give them any credit because you know what I mean?

Yeah, fuck them honestly. They claim kick out. I said they asked me not to come back. Honorary degree. Anyway, so you go, so you're from Maine and Northern California, but you find your way to Montreal and then Jean, you're from Montreal.

You're of Haitian descent. Your parents are Haitian immigrants. Yes. Move to Montreal. And... From Haiti, you moved to Montreal? Were you born in Montreal or Haiti? I was born in Montreal.

Okay. And you started making music in your head when you were really young. Is that right? That's what I read once. Regina is by far the most accomplished musical member. I mean, she's just like one of those savant types who taught herself classical music

in the basement when she was five. Wow. And she, like on our first record, the first song, Tunnels, like she started playing drums like a week before we cut that. It's like... No way.

Because we didn't have a drummer at the time. She's like, I can play drums like you can. It's like, well, I'd never done it, but let me just figure it out really quick. I'm just like, insane, just insane. And like, yeah. So she's like that type. I love that.

Wow. That is so... And Haji, were you making music? I also read once that you were like making music in like shopping centers, and that's how you guys met. Is that a true story? Or am I mixing it up?

That's kind of a mix up, but I did do a million gigs, million different jobs, too many to remember. I was with a person driving around in Montreal one time and for like a month and she says, you know, Regina, every time we go somewhere, you say, oh, I used to work here. Oh, I used to work there.

Oh, I worked here. Oh yeah, I worked there, too. I was like, wait, you worked everywhere. Now, were you quitting a lot or getting fired a lot? The stuff that I would quit was like telemarketing and things that where I could be replaced very easily. Yeah. Have you ever fired for anything?

No, yeah. Yeah, I don't quit on people. I just quit on things where I knew that it wouldn't matter. I love that. I don't quit on people. I just quit on people. I love that. Regine, I like when it just rolled off my tongue.

Regine, it was my dream, my whole life to play the piano at malls. I thought you made it if you played at Nordstrom or like some kind of department store. And so my whole life I'd be like, if I can just get a job, how great would that be? I'd just go to the mall. I play, I get a check, I go home.

I thought you had it made. Anyways, I ended up working. Once you get to work out the mall. I did that stuff. I was dressed like an elf and I played in a hallmarks. And I also was dressed with a wedding dress that I got at the thrift store. You worked in the fish department.

Yeah, I sang jazz. Bossa Nova in the fish department of the grocery store opening. We got that sea bass. We got that fresh. You know the ice, the ice scraping sort of when they move the ice around. Yeah. It's hysterical.

Fresh sea bass. Go ahead, Sean. Come on, Regine. I played an elf on the Kenny Rogers Christmas tour. Ooh. How good is that? That's the end of the story. And it was, she was not playing a piano.

It was a, it was a keytar, right Sean? As a kid. As a kid. Yeah, I was playing a keytar. Sean, you always had that elf bar then. Yeah. Yeah. It goes, it goes that far.

It's coming after you now, Sean. Go get him. They brought all the boys to the yard. Sean played, Sean has possibly trained pianist. And he went to, he was a music, he was a piano major in college. Yes. And he's very musical.

We keep telling him he needs to have a keyboard while we do the show to just kind of, you know, take us and he won't do it. I don't know why. I know, I guess I got to move all this equipment over to the thing, but next time. What do you call the equipment? You're in, you've got a bookshelf behind you.

Casio keyboard. Could be the fucking Paul Schaefer podcast thing. Yes, yes. You know what? I'm going to start doing that well. I'm going to start, I got to move, I'm going to move all this stuff and I'll live in the room next time.

By the way, you're not moving anything. Your husband, Scotty, does everything. So you don't even do it. Why would you do that? Because we could have had like some like back and forth because you know there's a piano right there. I know that would have been great. And we will be right back and now back to the show.

Now, what about your son? Is your nine year old musically inclined at all? Yes. Yeah. It's kind of scary, scary. Oh really? Yeah. He's got a little bit.

He came out gifted. I don't know. He just, he's just around it so much. He lives in the studio with us basically. And what would his specialty be at this point? If you had to make a guess where he's going to really excel, is it going to be on a particular instrument or singing or writing?

Well, he lives in New Orleans. So he's around like the people are playing drums in the street all the time. Like he's just, you know. I'd love if you were like, we live in Montreal, but he lives in New Orleans. He's moved out. He's got his own apartment.

He likes to drink. Living in Montreal was really like messy enough his drinking schedule. Are we not in Montreal right now? No. No, we're in New Orleans. Oh, God. Okay, so you guys met, started in Montreal.

The band started there. Yeah. You have now journeyed down to New Orleans. That's where bass is. Yeah, but we're kind of back and forth. We sort of do the opposite Canadian thing where we go north in the summertime. Do you take the kid with you when you go north?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Of course. Well, listen, the guy likes to drink. He's got probably a favorite bar. He doesn't want to be away from that. They're not on Ozark and like leaving their kids for five years, like some assholes.

You know what I mean? Listen, the price is right. I love hearing Americans say Montreal too. It's always so amazing. Montreal. Well, it's spelt with an O, not a U, so. It must be hard if you're directing an episode of something to have your kid there.

Like, dad, hey dad, dad, dad. No, exactly. Dad, what are you doing, dad? Why are you killing that person? What did that person do to you? Although you, Jason, you did, you've had the girls there before when you were directing episodes, did you have?

Yeah. You had Maple there when you were directing, right? Yeah, but they could not care less. It's all about what's at the craft service table. It's all about snacks. Snacks can hold their attention if they're happy. Otherwise. You don't have to pay for the snacks even in Hollywood.

Snacks are free. Snacks are free. Well, you're paying for it, don't worry. But I always say, the joke I always say to my kids when they come to work is like, when they come in and they're getting ready, I'm like, you guys love watching your dad get his makeup put on in that voice.

You know, we talk about this a lot though, when it's like, you know, I'm always fascinated. If I was, because I knew as a kid, I loved the arts and theater and acting and movies and all those kinds of things. I knew from a very young age. And I was always like, I'm always blown away. Like Jason, you just said Maple,

just like she couldn't care less. Like when she gets older, is she gonna be as Maple or your son when, is he gonna be like, shit, I wish I would have tuned in a little bit sooner. Cause that's really cool. They'll appreciate it later. I doubt it.

I doubt it. Yeah, it'll be, no, they don't care. They don't care. Well, they do care. These are, it's hard. How can they possibly put it in context at this age? They can't. Did you care what your parents were doing

you were growing up? Imagine hanging out with my, I'm trying to imagine hanging out with my dad at his office, his office like all the time. He's like, dad, dad, is your son impressed with what you guys do? Does he, does he get what you guys are doing? He totally gets it.

Yeah. And is he impressed? Does he give it up? Does he, does he? It's kind of his too. You know, it's like, yeah. Yeah. He helps out?

Luckily we're good. It'd be really awkward if we sucked. And he was like, dad, oh my God. I want to be just like them. No. If he was like, I have to like my parents and it's terrible, would be messed up. But he, what kind of music, other than arcade fire,

what kind of music do you think he would listen to? If you were like, hey, put something on the record player. What would he? Beast, Beastie Boys. He really knows. No, no. He really understands music that's like really genuine and original versus stuff

that's just like crap, you know, crapped out to go on the radio. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he'll listen to something and he'll know that this comes from here and this comes from this band and this, this sounds like. Yeah, he knows Jamaican music. He knows Haitian music. He knows jazz.

He knows classical. He knows, he knows. Yeah, wow. But I think about that sometimes too, because it's like I, there's the stuff that you're exposed to when you're a kid that's like not at all of your generation. Like I, I was obsessed with like 50s music when I was,

because I heard Stand By Me when I was a little kid. I remember the first time I heard Stand By Me and I was just like what, like it just, because it conjures it so emotionally deep and the soundscape of it, like the first second I heard it, like the lyrics are about the mountains crumbling to the sea and I would imagine, like, you know, like your imagination is so fresh when you're then.

I would imagine the mountains crumbling and it just was this epic, you know, like, like, like almost like visual landscape. And then, so I just was really imprinted with this stuff that was not, you know, I was in suburban Houston in like the 80s and like listening to this music from the 50s and they really liked stirring my soul. The 50s music is like one, four, five chords,

every single song. Every song, yeah. Louis Louis, the opening of Louis Louis, the easiest way to, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, every song is those three chords over and over five minutes. I could have written that. But it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it. Exactly.

Eugene, what kind of music, so with your background, what kind of music were you listening to when you were like, you guys were teenagers growing up in separate places, you were in Montreal, what were you listening to? What was informing or feeding your musical appetite? What did I listen to? It's very...

Rochoisine? Rochoisine, I mean, Rochoisine was on the radio, of course, you can really escape it. I listened to classical music, Billie Hall, the first tape, the first cassette I bought, I had to like, I didn't have a lot of money to buy, I didn't have like a collection of records, I only had my grandma's records.

And then when I had money, I was like, okay, I'm gonna go buy something and I have to buy something quality because it has to last forever and I just, so I bought a double tape, double cassette, of Billie Holiday, I was like, can't go wrong with this, can't go, it's just a double cassette of Billie Holiday,

I will always love this. And then the second cassette I got was Bob Marley and then Legend and then, but besides that, I listened to my grandmother's records and... What was the classical music that you loved the most? Well, when I was really young, the first piece I ever heard was Mozart's Symphony No. 40, I think. The Jupiter.

The Jupiter? It's called the Jupiter Symphony, yeah. How does it go, Sean? Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. That's a, that's the overture to marriage a figaro. No, that is not. Oh, no, that's sorry, that's the Rondo Allaterca, that's an A minor. Yes.

Oh, thank you so much for... Fight, fight, fight, fight. I'm sorry, the Symphony No. 40 is that... Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. This is the one. So that's the one, that's what the one I heard in when I was four years old and I got obsessed with it. I apologize. Sorry, I'm so sorry.

I started playing it that. After that, I discovered Chopin and I was obsessed with Chopin and after that, well, I listened to my grandmother's record, so they had like... And after that, the Smiths. Beethoven, no, Beethoven, Bach. It was the Pixies, actually. And the Pixies. I love that. Hey, well, you guys, when you're on tour and you've got your set list and you're out there and you're playing the music and you've rehearsed it a certain way,

talk to us about what the process is when you guys kind of absorb the energy of the audience, the kind of mood and tone and pace of each other and the combination of that to inform how differently you play a particular song on one night versus the next night. And the reason I ask is because there's a similarity between like actors when they do theater, you do the same material every night, but it changes every night per the audience's energy, per the other actor's energy. And so it'd be a completely different performance. Is that a signal that you guys send each other or is it something that you just kind of mutually feel? Can you explain that process a little bit? I like this. Sign language. Yeah, I mean, it's, no, it's...

Obviously, probably not something said, it's just something felt, yeah? No, 100%. I mean, I always like to, because a room always starts with a vibe and a lot of it's like depends on, you know, what's happening in the news and what people ate that day and what country you're in and what kind of like, so the audience comes in like with their vibe and you can tell a lot. Sean's vibe is he ate everything. Yeah, yeah, so sorry, go ahead. Right, so he's uncomfortable. So I'm shifty, I'm a little shifty, but I'm open. Stuff's unbuttoned. Yeah.

Elf, just elfin out, you know? Yeah, probably not. What an elfie. By the way, you got that elf, bud. We're never going to stop. Also, like poetry is like a little bit like holographic, so like it does have all different colors, so like a word or a sentence can come out so many different ways. And so it's just, it's the same thing. It's just like today it shines like this and tomorrow it'll shine purple.

And I'd imagine that's the exciting part of it, right, is waiting to sort of mutually feel those cues and... I thought you were going to say waiting for the lightning, that that's the exciting part. No, I mean, we're all there for the song, you know what I mean? So it's like the song, I sort of visualize it as the songs in between us and the audience and you sort of meet in the middle and... Do you ever get an audience that just blows and you like get pissed and you like... Yes, of course all the time. We're going to end early tonight because you guys are terrible. We played Montreux Jazz Fest and it's like Switzerland is just a bunch of extremely rich white people for the most part.

And they're very used to being entertained and you're at Montreux and the vibe is like, entertain me. And we're rock bands, we're playing and I'm just like trying to get a reaction out of the audience. I'm just like being kind of combative and at one point I'm like, and this is the last fucking time we're ever going to play this song in Switzerland and start the next song. And be like, and now this is the last time we're ever going to play this song in Switzerland. You said that or you're thinking that? I said it, every song, nothing. I got like, I didn't even get a boo, like I want them to boo me. Right, I wanted any reaction.

Just give me something and literally anything spit at me and just give me something. I would have been like, it's so good to be here at the Montneau snooze festival. Yeah, I'm going to say that for next time. And so wait, how did it end? So we finished and I'm like, and this was the last song that we ever played in Switzerland and leave the stage. And I see this guy sitting on the road case and I'm like, oh, he looks really familiar. And it was like Quincy Jones, like we have been watching the entire set just sitting there on side stage. And I went up to him and was like, hey, nice to meet you. Like that's so cool that I'm really sorry that that's the set that you saw.

That was like, maybe my worst time on stage in my entire life. And he's like, he's like, man, I work with Miles Davis. That was that was fine. Like, he was just like, he was like, that was like, whatever. He's like, Miles will play with his back to the audience. He hated those fuckers. Like, yeah, I love that. Boy, I can fucking relate to that.

These guys know I can be so grouchy. But if you buy a ticket to Arcade Fire, why wouldn't you be like, this is fucking awesome. Like, I don't understand. It's just cultural shit. I mean, they were probably like, it's like you meet people and they're like, the second song was too slow, but that was the best show of my life. I'm, you know, it's like people just, it's like, they can't help it. They can't help it. It's just, it's just how they are.

I'm going to be the dork and ask you a question. You probably answered a million times, but I've never heard it. So please indulge me. Tell me where the name of the band came from. Yeah, don't tell him, don't tell him. Yeah, I can't, I can't. Bob Dylan, I signed a blood pact with Bob Dylan that you're never supposed to answer a question like that. Not in your business, dude.

It has to do with Bob Dylan. I'm not a Bob Dylan. No, I'm just kidding. Oh, yeah. I, for a second there, I thought it was like a famous Bob Dylan song and I just amazed myself. You know, Arcade Fire, stirring up, she's in the basement, stirring up the Arcade Fire. So Woody Guthrie, yeah. No, I don't know, when I was, I was like a kid in, I just remember going to an arcade

when I was like four years old with like an older friend and my parents and just, it was like, I'm leaving my parent, you know, I don't know, just like being alone as a kid in a weird place like that. And it was like super futuristic in the, at the time it was like, what is this weird place with all these weird sounds? And it was like almost like an emotional, you know, it just sort of was like a weird touch tone and like almost like aesthetic reference or something like that. You guys, I, you know, I was thinking about your, first of all, kind of to what Jason

was saying before about, you guys, I've never seen you guys live. It's one of my big regrets, but it's going to happen this fall. I'm going to come and see you guys and you call yourself Canadian. I know, I know, but I haven't lived there in a long time. I know I am a pathetic Canadian, but I was thinking about especially with this new record with we, how I can almost visualize the, the crowds singing along with you guys to virtually every song. It felt so, you guys are just by nature of a collaborative band.

There are different people and people coming in and out and sometimes the band expands and you have lots of people and that collaboration kind of almost extends kind of what these guys were saying. It extends to when you're in concert, feeding off the audience and in so many years. And that's kind of been a hallmark since day one. I mean, right. All those songs. I remember, I watched that video of you guys playing with Bowie when you guys did Wake

Up. I don't know what theater that was in where you did that. I think it was Radio City. Radio City, right? Yeah, it was. Yeah. I'm just like, there's something about it that's so like engaging and I wonder, was it always that intention like to be this kind of like just like this big, messy, collaborative

kind of engagement. And by messy, I don't mean that I don't mean sloppy. I mean, that there's a lot of parts to it. I mean, we came up playing like DIY venues. So we were always, we were never on a stage like the first 40 times we played, we were always on the floor with the audience. And I remember just sort of like, I didn't really even need a mic for a lot of these rooms.

It was like, you're playing to 50 people. And so like, I remember at one show, I just started walking, singing the song through the crowd and like walking to the back because it always at the back of a party, people are drinking beer and talking. And for playing a quiet song, you can't fucking hear anything. So I went over to where they were and was just playing the song in the back room. You just brought it to them. I just brought it to them because I, you know, it's a quiet song.

It's fine. You know, people like to talk at shows. Do you guys, you guys, last thing I want to say, ask you, it reminds me of, I was thinking about your first record. I think you guys did Conan. That record came out, what, in 2000, funeral came out 2004 or yeah, we did Conan and Letterman. And you did Conan and Letterman and Jeffrey Tambor, Jason and I were on a rest development at the time.

And Jeffrey Tambor was on the show. That's right. That's right. And so you guys won't remember this, this part, which is Jeffrey said, I'm going to New York to do Conan to promote this show. And I said, there's this band. They've just released a record called Arcade Fire. And I gave him a CD and I said, well, you have them sign it.

And he said, okay. And so he came back and you guys, and I've got it somewhere in a box and you guys at Sun is like, we were told that we needed to sign this for you. You guys wrote it out and I have it. Oh, that's cool. That's cool. That's so cool. Me that Jeffrey gave back to me after that.

That's really cool. Yeah. So that was. Yeah. Our guitar player, Richie, was obsessed with, what's the show that, what's the amazing show that he was on before on Larry Shader's? Oh yeah. Larry.

It's brilliant. It's brilliant. He was obsessed with Larry Sanders and, and Jeffrey was getting his makeup done and Richie was sitting next to him. He's like, it's kind of like Larry Sanders, huh? And he was just like, just so non-plus to just give him the like, just like, just like dead eye. He gave him nothing.

He just gave him the death, just the dead eyes and Richie was just like, his heart was like, oh my God, like, I think Jeffrey just like, like, I don't know what I was thinking. Why did I say that to him? He's like, he was just so mad at himself. That sounds like- Jeffrey was probably like, that's, that's, that's Jeffrey's humor. It's so good. The first, the first thing I ever said to him was the first day I met him on set at Rest of Development and, I met him and then as we were separate, I said, all right, well,

have a great day. He says, don't you fucking tell me what to do. I was entering a door at the same time as Jeffrey, exactly at the same time. And he goes, oh no, please, by billing, in order of billing. And he let me go first. It was the first time he met Amy, we were doing a rest, and she came to a table read my ex-wife and she came in there when I said, she said, I said, Jeffrey, this is Amy. And he goes, I didn't ask.

And he was so, and we both of us died. We fell to our knees. I mean, how, how much on a Rest of Development, how much is that like a, I always related to that, like a band when it's like a collective of, because it's like you have, I don't know, like when I would watch like a Monty Python, I always thought a Monty Python is a punk band. You know what I mean? Like, because it's like you have this, people are bouncing off each other, you're making

each other better. It's like you're trying to impress the other. I don't know. I was, I was wondered if that was. Somebody asked me the other, we were, maybe when we were doing the show, we were talking and saying, who do you try to, who do you do the performance for? I was with Jeff Bridges and I was saying, and I never answered it. And I was going to say my answer, which I'll tell you is in those moments, yeah, when,

when Jason and David Cross and Tony Hale and I are doing a scene, I would always be trying to, we're riffing off each other, feeding off each other's energy. And I'm trying to make those guys laugh in the moment at how silly it is what we're doing. That's who I'm doing it for. Maybe the crew, definitely not the camera. I could give a shit. It's really these guys. I want Jason and Cross and Tony Hale to laugh.

You know? I'm trying to ban too. I mean, it's like, cause you're playing, you're trying to get a rise out of the other people on the stage and, and then that energy gets transmitted, you know? And right. And it fuels, right? Like it. That's why I asked the thing about the audience.

Like when an audience like in Switzerland, would you just then start turning to each other and start playing for each other, you know? Cause it's like, we, it's, we always have. Yeah. No, for sure. I wanted to ask you. Sorry. So just to follow up, the last thing Sean about that I was getting to was I've always wanted

to know on that first record on funeral, uh, that song in a nice on Lumière and right near the red, right at the end where it goes into the guitar. It's always reminded me of the guitar at the end of love vigilantes on new order on low life. Have you ever heard, do you know that song? Of course. Yeah. I do.

Yeah. It's a brilliant. And it's always reminded me and I've always been like, and I've, oh, I love new order. And then I loved you guys. I'm like, no wonder I love these guys because you guys remind me of a lot of bands and no bands because you're unique, but you also have pieces that we all have influences of stuff. Right.

So saying that, what of those kinds of bands that you guys like a part, you know, Well, I actually found a flyer that we made when we first met like in 2002, we were looking for musicians. And so it's like, you just, and it was like, I wrote the text like an apple, like it was shaped like whatever we made, we made a poster that was like this very, it's like so pretentious and almost it's like art school kind of, but you're just, we didn't want to just make a poster because we wanted to make something that was like, we thought was cool so that the person who read it, and it was like our influences that we, it was like looking for

musicians and it was like New Order was one of them, Pixies, Dylan. And then it was like Motown and Debussy and Arvo part. That was like our, those are our influence list. You know what I mean? Wow. And then nobody, nobody, nobody took the number. Nobody took the number. Not one person.

No, not one person. They're like, they're like, these guys are too, this is too broad. This is crazy. They want to. It doesn't make sense. These things don't go together. They're into everything. Yeah.

It's not everything though. It makes sense. There's a thread. Yeah. We'll be right back. And back to the show. There's such a great fullness to your music too. There is, there is, it is truly like, it has that ensemble sound.

You're not surprised if a horn section comes through or, you know, or strings or, I always love that about Pink Floyd always was, there was always just, as you said earlier, like a soundscape as opposed to, well, it's just four instruments and it's four, four time. And it's somewhat of a predictable rhythm to it. We're filmmakers. Ultimately, it's like we think of it that way. Yeah. It's still like, I always think like, I listened to a lot of Dylan too when I was a teenager.

I listened to the cure a lot. I mentioned the Smiths were like one of my all time favorite bands. And at the same time, I went to- Cure is huge for me. Cure. Huge. That EP that, what was it, Japanese whispers. And then they had, and then, but I also went to 15 dead shows, but I'm not a dead head,

but I appreciated Jerry Garcia. But at the same time, I was like, I'm really into, you know, just all kinds of like indie. And I think that that's important, right? Like to have like, you don't have to be like just into this genre or just into this genre. Makes you a better musician. I'm sure. Yeah. Like Sean, you don't have to just listen to Erasure.

In the Pesh mode. Sorry. In the Pesh mode. So wait. But wait. I love the Pesh too. Well, that was one of my first big shows, the Pesh was, I love the Pesh, but I love them everywhere.

Every word, every song. Who said the keyboard player just died, right? Andy Fletcher. Yeah. Andy Fletcher died. Yeah. But I have a question about your voice because, you know, when I was younger, I didn't understand the technique of singing or anything or musicianship or really anything.

I would go, you know, I'd watch bands on TV or on music videos or on tour or whatever. And I didn't quite, I was like, wow, that's amazing that they can scream or sing or do whatever with their voice. And then you get older and you learn how the instrument works and the training that needs and the warmups and all the stuff that you don't ever see musicians do or singers do off to the side. And then today I'll watch like, you know, something on TV, I'm like, how can they do that?

How can they sing like that night after night after night? Aren't they ruining their vocal chords or whatever? So do you have any kind of things that you do? Was there ever a moment where you're like, wow, I really got to take care of my instrument here in my throat? Because both of you guys belted out to a lot. Yeah. I mean, Regine had nodules when I met her from jazz school.

Oh, yeah. I met Regine and she had, and the next day she got braces, like one week later she got braces and then had vocal cord surgery and couldn't talk for like two months. No way. Yeah, no way. Wow. You're like, I'm in. I am in.

Yeah. Yeah. But was there a moment that where you're like, oh, shit, I got to really kind of maybe go see a teacher now, now that I'm like getting, I'm doing more work as a singer and stuff because you never learned or do you not even think about that? You never did it. There was a point, I mean, I sent, particularly on the first record, like I sang like the world was every single fucking time we played.

I was saying like every second of it, the world was going to end the next second, you know. The first two tours, you were like a ghost. You were like. I was a ghost. You're like so pale and just kind of upset. I had, I had really horrible sinus infections. I think I was sick for four years, like pretty much non-stop sick the entire time.

Wow. And just singing, like we would always start with wake up and I mean, like back in the day, we'd, there'd be seven of us and we'd be playing to six people and we would still fucking sing it like it was the fucking end of the world and it was always the first song. So we would come out, set up our instruments and like, I remember seeing a video of us in Austin back in the day, we're playing some little club and we're loading in the equipment ourselves. We're just like, look white and just like sweat pouring down our face.

We just arrived from like a 400 mile drive. Oh, I remember that. Like load in our crap in front of the audience, the audience is already there. And then we're, I'm just like, we're, we've just turned on the instruments. I'm like, more fucking voice, more fucking voice, more fucking voice. That's too much. It's feeding back. Okay.

Good. And then we're like, one, two, three, four. I was like, just like, just starting there. Like that's where we started. Especially when you get done, I guess it'll just have to adjust and it's like insane. Like the, both of you guys are just like going for it. So I burned out. I, I mean, I was sick and singing every night and at one point on Neon Bible, second record,

we were playing in Norway and we came out and I was just like, there's nothing, not a, not a fucking sound. And I basically went and had sign of surgery. In Norway? No, I wish. I wish. No, in Montreal. Okay.

Cause it was like one 1,000th of the cost of doing in New York and so then it was like $200, please. And then I, I had the surgery and then after that, I, I kind of realized I'd never lost my voice. Like I was just, I was losing my voice cause I was sick and now I don't, cause I did all the singing coach crap and I was always losing my voice and every singing coach is like, I'm the only one who knows the secrets of singing and like my, my method, which is passed down to me by the two tonic nights.

Right. By my book and my tent. Get my oils. Whatever. Did you use my oils? Like it's always like this, like tell no one of the oils I gave you. I was at that, I was at that show in Berlin with you two guys when, when Bono lost his voice and after three songs, it was so scary and it was like, yeah, it's terrifying, right?

You must, it's scary when you're losing it. How do you stay healthy now, when, when you guys are on the road and I imagine it would be hard to have any sort of rhythm of proper stuff to eat or sleep or how diligent are you with the food? Here we go. Yeah. The travel is crazy. Yeah.

I mean. Jason wants to know if you have access to salads cause he's trying to think about himself on tour. Would there be an hour? We have snacks. There's always hummus and carrots. You know, every backstage. Jason's in.

All right. I'm in. And then. Do you have access to a handful of nuts? Yes. Would that be possible? Yeah. You can get some nuts.

Even out the blood sugar. And then, so your son, what happens during the school year when you guys are on tour? Do you just schedule your tours so it's only during the summer? I mean, it's kind of a brave new world now. It's like we, it's our, this will be our first time touring since COVID and it's all, it's you know, it's kind of happening, but it's also like a little bit terrifying. It's like, like the health perspective. I mean, not getting COVID cause I just had it and it was like no big deal.

It was like totally fine. Right. It just boosted and everything. You were psyched. Be honest. We were texting and you were kind of psyched. I was psyched. Yeah.

I was like, I'm, I'm about to watch Blade Runner and then alien and alien too. With no kill. I love it. Yeah. Eugene, were you psyched? Were you psyched also? Uh, you know, not particularly, but she's the one, she's one of the last ones. She still never had it.

I didn't get it. Oh really? Yeah. I didn't get it. I don't know. Sean and I didn't get it either. I don't know. I'll pick right here.

Thanks man. Uh, yeah, but it is a great, but, but you are, yeah, I guess because of COVID and stuff, you're probably, your son was too young and now you're going to have to figure out what that is like going on tour and kids. We talk about it a lot because we do, Jason, I have three, three boys and Jason has two girls and where it's always like a, that's always the thing of like what, you know, with kids and managing that and their school and work and that balance and what are you doing? And it's, it's just, it's the number one question.

I think what's cool now is that because of the pandemic and the schools, at least the school where he goes, got really organized in terms of the remote and the curriculum. So that it's not, it's not like a brand new thing. If we tell him he has to come out for a few days, you know, that's great. I feel like our job as parents is mostly to prepare him for a world which will be insane and constantly changing and you better be able to take a hit because shit is going to be gnarly. So like,

You mean, you mean this planet that we lit on fire and left for them? The whole fucking thing is just, I mean, like the whole war raging in Europe and climate change and like the technology, like all of the companies are all just trying to remove humans. So it's like no one, no one's going to, it's just going to be, I think in the future, it's like you're just going to have to be really nimble and like able to like mix it up and adapt. And for sure.

So being on tour is a good training ground. Tour is awesome. It's a great training ground for that. You guys wrote that great tune, look out kid on your new record on Wee. Sort of about that. Yeah. Not, not by the way, not on Wee, on Wee, not E-N-N-U-I. Oh, you really do speak French.

Oh, he speaks French fluently. But I am also suffering from a great deal of on Wee these days. You probably heard earlier when, before you guys got on, it's been weird times, but yeah, you wrote about it in Regine, look out kid, it's kind of exactly about that you were saying? Yeah. I mean, it's just like talking to my son and being like shit's going to be pretty nerly and, but I love you a lot and it's like kind of about unconditional love basically, like in the face of like, just the inevitability of like, I don't know how high school was

for you guys, but that shit was gnarly for me. The best. I mean, the worst. It was so rough. I'm like, I'm trying to imagine being in high school now. I'm just like. No way. No way.

I hated it. I loved it. What got you guys down to New Orleans? What was the, aside from, it was United, I think it was, or Delta, probably. Yeah. Delta, American. Was it the music influence down there, or was it something less obvious than that? Well, Regine's family is from Haiti and the whole French-Canadian thing and when we first,

I grew up in Houston. No, I was just thinking about you guys, everybody saying like, oh yeah, high school is so bad and who did you like it? I didn't like it. I hated it. It's like, whoever liked it, like, no one, does anyone. Sean, Sean liked it. Sean liked it.

I loved it. We loved it. High school? Yeah. Wow. He peaked. He peaked. That was his, that was the highlight.

That was the highlight. But he was, you have to understand, his father left, that's a whole other story. The bar was. Once you talk to him long enough, you'll get it. No, there was awesome shit in high school. I really, like, I, you know, there are aspects of high school that were amazing. Like I loved, I loved, just, I mean, I first read, you know, when I first read like, just the beatnecks and the first, you know, just literature and art.

But that shit, you say him here. Like I read on the road when I was 17 and I was like, I got to leave where I'm at. But that wasn't stuff I did in high school. That was stuff I did on my own. Yeah. Wait, wait, wait. First of all, just on the last thing on We, end of the empire, man, I don't know when you wrote that song.

It feels like you wrote it today. And I don't know, at least like it feels every time I listen to it, it feels, it just puts me right in the present in this really remarkable way. Talk to me a little bit about that, that song, because it's just, I just connect with it so much. I mean, it's, it's kind of, it's a four, four parts. So, so it's like kind of, it's kind of the most ambitious thing we've done in a lot of ways.

I mean, it's nine and a half minutes. But it's not, it's not Prague, you know, I never really liked Prague music, but it's like, I mean, I love Radiohead in high school, like a, you know, a paranoid Android probably has like a little bit of a, of a influence in there as well. But it was just sort of looking, we started it before the pandemic. So the first couple parts lyrically were kind of the world, America was just feeling pretty heavy there for, for a while, like before the election, before the pandemic just really felt like just energetically, like, like in America, I was like, man, this is a really

dark, heavy cloud, just like you're constantly being like barraged by all this stuff. And so it was just sort of like that, like just sort of like a reckoning with ourselves about, you know, it's been a, been a good ride, but this shit is, you know, not, not, not going in the best direction. So a bit of that. And then the world kind of ended. And the fourth part is like kind of, there's a black hole in the middle of our galaxy called Sagittarius A.

And I read an article about it. Yeah. And I was just sort of like, I was, there was something about the image of this black hole in the middle of everything that just, I, I was just trying to write that lyrically write that part for a long time. And Regine, like we recorded that, just the two of us, it was Mardi Gras day during the pandemic when Mardi Gras didn't happen, which is a really eerie, really like it's such a spiritual day and it's just like this, the streets are empty in New Orleans.

It's like this really like deep spiritual kind of energy and like nothing, the sound of nothing, no horns playing, no one in the streets. And yeah, we just recorded that in our living room, the fourth part. Yeah. And the part two is from 20 years ago, the second part, we know that it's time to go. That is from like, when I live on an apartment, we didn't even live together, like he lived a few blocks away. And I,

Did you have braces at the time? Yes. I did have braces at the time. And I played it on this little organ that I bought for like a hundred bucks or something, or a few hundred bucks maybe. And I love that. Regine, what is that?

And I know it's time to go. Yeah. Send the news on the radio. One last round before we go. One through the pale atmospheric glow. And the oxygen's getting low. Sing a song that we used to know. Oh, you're wrong key.

One last round before we go. One last round before we go. All the alcoholics, let's go. And we know that it's time to go. Heard the news on the radio. One last round before we go. Bye everyone. Regine and win.

You guys, you gotta go. I love that song. That's a first for us. That's awesome. That's really cool. You guys, thank you. We've taken up so much of your time. We've taken, we've, thank you very generous.

And we know that it's time to go. Heard the news on the radio. Sing, Bayman. All the elves. All the elves. Thank you. Thank you for giving us elf bods. Thank you for giving us all your music.

Thank you for giving us your time. Hashtag elf bod, hashtag COVID. Hashtag relatable. Hashtag tell your son hi from Batman. Yeah. Nine pack. And Bateman. Yeah.

And Bateman. That's good. Honestly, just thank you guys so much. You guys should do this where you like talk to a whole bunch of different people. Oh my God. You guys have a great chemistry. It's really funny. Like you should just like hang out.

Do this thing where you like shoot the shit and then surprise people with. I don't think anyone would ever listen. No, you should. You should do it. It's great. I don't think. Oh my God. Thanks you guys.

Huge fans. You guys are amazing. Amazing. When I am, when I need to go to sleep, I use a sleep pill. Do you guys have to do that crap or do they like, you know, in podcasting or you have to just do that shit? Oh yeah. Can you do one now?

Can I hear you guys do one? Oh yeah. What are you doing? Doing that for their album right now, Will. Yeah. Doing that for our album. Yeah. You have such a great voice.

So this summer, arcade fire. And who do you want to play with? Sean Hayes and the arcade fire this summer at the Molson Burbell Center. I don't know what they call it now. Just do like a promo. Give us a wee one. Give us like a good like just give us. Arcade fire would be great name for like a sitcom if you do like then on an all new

arcade fire, win and regime come home and their house is not exactly as they remember it. They've been super depressed about the state of the world. Previously on arcade fire. Previously. Previously. Oh, you guys, we could do this forever. I can't wait to join you on stage and sing that song and the empire with you on stage

is going to be epic. And it's going to be amazing. Yeah. No, honestly, you guys, thank you so much. It's been amazing. And thanks for giving us your time. Yeah. Thank you guys very, very much.

Thank you. Guys, now Willie, that seemed to be a beautiful elixir for your day. Right there. That changed. Right there. Yeah. Yeah. My whole chemistry.

Absolutely. Of course. It just takes a little something like that. That's what music can do. It was so impactful. I can't believe we just saying that all of us. I know. That's cool.

I can't believe we just say the empire with those guys with one in regime. Yeah. You know, I did want to mention not in front of them, but I will to you guys, whenever somebody they're not listening. I wasn't listening. They won't. They're not listening. Yeah.

Go ahead. No, I wanted to tell you whenever somebody brings up New Orleans, I think about the four way I had there. I associate that same with the four way. God damn, I wish they were still on. How many dudes? How many girls? Yeah.

What? No, I'll do just four dudes. Yeah. Four dudes. Yeah. Years and years and years ago. I'm not sure that's a four way. I think it's just a train.

You know what the great thing about a four way, it's a train, but you know, the great thing is you have two lucky peers. Yeah. Right. So that's the good news. Train. Everybody hop on. You just don't want to be the caboose or you do want to be the caboose or you don't

know. Well, you don't want to be the caboose in a, in one of the human centipede that you don't want to be the caboose. No, that you do not want that. Because you're getting the waste of all the other people. Have you ever thought about where you want to be on a human centipede? Can I be one of the shoes? You want to be in the front.

By the way, just, you know, you want to be the first guy. You got to sign up. You got to sign up early. Well, somebody is sewed to your ass, but it doesn't. I mean, that, believe me, it's the best case scenario. Now, Willie, when they say careful about meeting your heroes, I would imagine that that didn't over-delivered. Yeah, they seem so lovely and funny and like great to hang out with.

They over-delivered. And like I said, I, you know, because I knew we were going to have them on and they graciously and generously sent me their record a few months ago before it came out. And I, like I said, it was so impactful and I ended up listening to it so much and I had to reach out. And so Michael and Bennett and Robert, somebody got me their number and I ended up texting with both on a chain with both winning regime for a while. And we had a really great exchange.

And then, and then they had to cancel. And then so when did I started texting when he got sick and he wasn't really sick, but he was just at home and then we, he started talking about it when I said that he, he was happy, meaning that like, he was like, I, I'm not really doing anything for the first time in a while. It's kind of great. I've just watched Alien and, and, and Blade Runner and we started talking about reading and books and stuff.

And it was just, I don't know, I just really connected. Yeah. It's incredible. Yeah. They've got some really great energy, very, very sweet. Incredible musicians. I mean, yeah, they're really great. I love, I love that song so much under the empire.

It's like, it sounds like an instant classic and it's off their new album, which is amazing. Yeah. It's off their new album. We, and it also, yeah, there are moments of it that sound like a Sergeant Pepper's. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, there's just, it's a great, that's a great song, you know, when you want to end something, you know, when you want to like say, you know, it's a really good for like, if you're going to bed, it's a really good lullab.

Bye. Nice. Well. Smart. Blast. Smart. Blast. Smart.

Blast. SmartLess is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant Terry, Rob Armjalf and Bennett Barbicó. SmartLess.