Somewhere in the Skies - Cosmic Conversation with a Rock Star

Episode Date: March 1, 2021

On episode 202 of SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES, we are joined by rock musician, and UFO/paranormal experiencer, Christopher Harold Wells. Wells walks us through his incredible music career, opening for such bands as Metallica and Def Leppard, and also working with activist, rapper, and songwriter, Lauren Hill. We hear all about his latest solo project and album, The Neverlutionaries. Wells then shares some of the unexplained events that have occurred to him throughout his life, including a dramatic UFO sighting of objects emerging from the water, supernatural experiences while on the road touring and playing gigs, and a heartfelt story about meeting a girlfriend's mother...from beyond the grave. How have these deeply personal and profound events impacted not only his life, but his music? We're then treated to his new single, "Ariana" off the new album. Purchase and listen to the full album on Apple Music, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Amazon, or visit: https://soundcloud.com/the-neverlutionaries  Website: www.somewhereintheskies.com YouTube Channel: CLICK HERE Official Store: CLICK HERE Order Ryan's Book by CLICKING HERE Twitter: @SomewhereSkies Instagram: @SomewhereSkiesPod Watch Mysteries Decoded for free at www.CWseed.com Episode edited by Jane Palomera Moore Opening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per Kiilstofte SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is part of the eOne podcast network. To learn more, CLICK HERE Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Somewhere in the Skies with Brian's bread. This episode of Somewhere in the Skies is dedicated to the memory of Nathan Hendrickson. Nathan was a huge supporter of Somewhere in the Skies from the very beginning. He even sent me a surprise gift once of some rocks glued in place to look like an alien head. When I talked to him, confused about why he'd sent me an alien head of rocks, he went on to explain that they were from just beyond the south. gate of Area 51. He snuck under, grabbed them, and returned back to a safe distance from the gate, all while knowing that he was only doing this for me. I will never forget how much we laugh that day

as he regaled me with the stories of going out to Groom Lake. He was just an incredible guy, and I always looked forward to our chats. I cannot express how thankful I was to have someone like Nathan in my corner from the very beginning. I only hope he's now finding those answers. He's always sought in life. I'm sending all my thoughts and prayers out to all of his family and friends. Rest in peace, Nathan. Hey guys, Ryan Sprague here, and I am so excited about today's interview with Christopher Harold Wells.

Chris is a musician well-versed in the art of blending many different genres into his sound. Born in Philadelphia, by the way of North Carolina, Wells' family tree has generations of musicians within it, making a career in music inevitable for Chris. He formed his first rock band, Peasants of the Apocalypse, at age 19, and went on to perform in bands such as Apollo Heights and Lovehead. He's also had the opportunity to open for bands like Metallica, Everclear, and Def Leopard, and he also got to share the stage with activist, rapper, and singer-songwriter. Lauren Hill. His latest endeavor is a solo project called the Never Lucianaries, for which he blends together his rock and roll roots with his love for blues, gospel, soul, jazz, and psychedelic

shoegays. Never Lucianaries has afforded him the opportunity to release a jam-packed self-titled LP. So today, Chris talks to me all about making the record, about some of the unexplained events he's experienced in his life and how those events have affected his outlook, both on life and of course how it's impacted his music. This is an interview unlike any other we've had before. It's truly a cosmic conversation with a rock star. Enjoy. Chris, thank you so much for joining me today, man. Thank you for having me, Ryan. I'm glad to be here excited. It's going to be fun. Dare to my heart. Good, good. I'm glad to hear you say this. that because, you know, there's been a lot of, a lot of musicians coming out lately, admitting that they've either

had, like, UFO sightings or experiences, you know, to my knowledge, post Malone recently came forward. One of the guys from Oasis and then Machine Gun Kelly, of all people, all saying that they've had brushes with the paranormal or UFOs. And when I heard your album and then found out that, oh my gosh, this guy's an experiencer. I knew I had to have you on. So we're definitely going to dive into a lot of different things tonight. But I want to talk about the album, first and foremost, that recently dropped of yours with your band, The Never Lucianary. So before we do that, could you give us maybe the origin story of how you first got interested in music, maybe a little about your musical journey?

And what led you to pick up the instruments? Oh, well, I have musicians on both sides of my family. Literally, my father played, my grandfather played violin and piano. So there's literally musicians, you know, peppering my family tree. And I just started performing early on, just doing little musical stuff. we were kind of required to do at least one per year and I kind of found myself wanting to volunteer to do it. I just really enjoyed it.

So I guess from that basic enjoyment of it, I got a kiss record when I was a kid and heard a couple of big riffs and big chords and I've been knocked silly ever since. I love that. I love hearing kind of the pinnacle album that got someone into these things. Everyone seems to have one.

Well, you did mention musicals. That's something that caught me, caught my attention because I don't know if you know this, but I'm a playwright here in New York City. I went to school for theater. I've done musicals. I was in a very short-lived off-Broadway musical called Idol, based on American Idol. We got the worst reviews ever, man. But, hey, it's a talking point in auditions for sure.

But, yeah, I read that you did some. musicals back in the day. Can you remember any of those roles? You know, it was such a long time ago. It was literally when like really, really super, super young. And I remember doing like, bye-bye Bertie and West Side Story and Oklahoma. And we had to get up every morning at the crack of dawn and rehearse and then go to school and then rehearse afterwards. But I loved it so much. and it was such a, it never seemed like work to me. I never got nervous. I never got, it just seemed very easy, almost too easy, you know.

That's cool, yeah. I guess from there I just got into, you know, into other kinds of bands and went to military school in Virginia for a year and got into punk rock and stuff like that. And that really turned everything because there was like big pop songs and then punk and having those two things mixed together and having a love for it. And then the riffage from Kiss coming into it at the beginning. But you're like, damn, that's good. Yeah. Because it's, you know, sometimes whether the art is to your taste or whatever, sometimes you can't deny beautiful art and wonderful art. You know, it kind of speaks for itself, no matter what you're.

injure you have to at least admire the effort that wanted to create it. Absolutely. Yeah, an appreciation for sure. Well, I did read that as you kind of progressed in your musical journey, some of the noted people you've worked with. Lauren Hill was one of the first ones that stood out to me. What was that experience like working with her? It was really cool.

You know, it was the spur of the moment thing. I was actually New York City hanging with me. friends of mine and she got in wind of this little, you know, group they had going and said, hey, you know, I'm looking to, you know, for a new band to do some shows. And I think Coachella was one of the shows originally that that was supposed to be a part of, but had never ended up coming into fruition. But the short of it is we ended up flying out. She flew us out to L.A. and put us up. And we hung out for about nine days or so. And we learned all, all these songs and Bob Marley's songs that she wanted to do. Then she would kind of come into the rehearsal and

check us out and, you know, give her input or whatever. And it was really interesting. You know, it was definitely one of these times you were like, oh, wow, I think I made it. I've made it. I made it. The next thing, you know, it's like nine days there. It's like I'm back where I was. I'm like, well, wow. That was quick. Yeah. Yeah, man.

I can imagine it's a flurry. Like, you know, you kind of get put back into your shoes, right? Yeah. But I look at it like this. It's like when something's in your heart and in your soul, and it's a part of your being, not doing it is a bigger pain than the pains that happen that you go through while you're trying to make it happen, you know.

The fact that you're not doing it or doing something else that you're really not feeling, but you're stuck doing, that pain is greater than any pain of, you know, or dues that one would have to pay. You know, for me, I feel, I feel lucky. I love it so much. And, you know, it's a feast for famine. Sometimes it's really great. Other times it's not. And especially in times like this, you know, I was about to, you know, go over to France.

You know, my drummer, Chris McGruy. and I, we had plans to go to Paris and had stuff booked, and we're meeting with some people over there to make some things happen, and, you know, had great plans, you know, but as I say, you know, the best plans of mice and men often go astray or whatever. Yeah. Drinking happen, and then you end up getting, you know, homeland bound with a pandemic. But, you know, it's been an interesting journey, though, for sure. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even like the weird stuff that have like, why am I here? Because it was kind of heartbreaking because I thought that we were going to go

and go on the road, play Coachella, do all these cool shows. And that wasn't to be the plan, you know. So, you know, I guess life will kind of have its, you know, you're doing the New York City thing. You know it's up. I know the game. The highs and the lows. It's like you're skiing in the Alps one day and the next day you're down in the gut it.

Tell me about it, man. I, you know, I've done some television work in the past, and, you know, I'll be on set, and it's awesome. Like, you feel like you're doing something you've always dreamed of doing. You're living in the moment. And then the next week, I'm back here in New York, and I'm, you know, mopping the floors at the bar that I work at during the day. And it's just, it's a very humbling experience. And I think that that could be said of any artist, whether it's a musician or a writer or painter. you will have those existential moments of creativity and and rewarding moments of people being like,

I love your work. And then the next thing you know, nobody knows who the hell you are. You're just another cog in the machine. And that's just, that's the way it is. But it's good to hear, you know, that you find music as a release and a way to kind of move on. Like, you may not be given it live, right? It's been my best friend. It's been my, you know, my psychiatrist. It's been the, you know, besides, you know, a few close family members, like the main constant in my life, you know, it takes up the biggest place in my heart and in my soul. You know, it's what, you know, it's what I am. Literally, it's in my blood from both sides.

and when I've tried to kind of do other things and really put my, develop my energy towards me, just didn't work out. It was like, things always pushed me back towards this. You know, and even doing this record, just the happenstance on, you know, the studio time and High Street coming available. And certain guys that I wanted to play with were in town.

You know, everything just fell in the place. and this record just, you know, of these songs, some of them I've had sitting around for a minute, and some others were kind of created around it to kind of compliment some songs that had already been written. But, you know, it's really exciting just to, even during these times, to be able to have something to focus on instead of looking at the TV and wondering what this bizarre, you know,

person's going to say or what this person is going to say. And what's the new news? You know, it's like you turn it on and you're like, yeah. Okay, we can watch it. Yeah, what world ending thing are we going to hear about today on Twitter? I totally get it, man. Yeah, but just to create during this time has been, it's been a godsend.

I completely understand that. I mean, doing this podcast for me has been my outlet, my release, my way of creating something to put out into the world when, you know, kind of the world, like you said, has been put on hold for people in all walks of life. And it's just, it's an incredible time to be living in good and bad ways. But let's talk about the album. Could you tell us a little about the process of making the album? You mentioned where you did the recording.

I'd love to hear more about that. And what kind of makes up the band that neverlutionaries? I love the name first and foremost. But yeah, tell us a little about the history of the band and how the album came to be, if you don't mind. Okay, well, essentially, the history of the band, most of the parts on the record were, except for the drums,

which were played by Chris McGrew and Nick Baglio. Most of the other parts I did myself. On a couple of the tracks, namely Ariana, I had Ryan Hickey, who is an awesome pianist. add his piano vibe to it, and also Johnny Extell played guitar on it. And I had my buddy Kenny Olson, who's played with a bunch of people from George Clinton, the kid rock. He plays with a bunch of folks, but he played a lead on something.

And so it's essentially me having these songs around and really wanting to get them out, and then having these awesome players that could kind of add their bit of their energy and their vibe to it to kind of make it a little, you know, push it to another place that necessarily my energy may have not taken it to, you know. So like what, you know, Kenny brings to it, you know, his vibe is different than mine. And so it kind of, it's a nice little surprise when everything comes together so nicely. But most of it's me. and recorded it at Hyde Street Studio C, aka Wally's Hideout, where back in the day,

that's where the Grateful Dead would go and do their records, and they would hole up there because they felt it was like one of their recording homes away from home, per se. And just the amount of amazing energy and the amount of awesome artists that have recorded there, it's a very hallowed and sacred it's like a musical church of sorts you know

you can just walk through the halls and you can just feel like you know like the dead Kennedy's recorded there and Krazy Stills Nash and you know digital underground you know

Michael Fronte Green Day you know just through all different different times you know it's been a constant there and just to be kind of able to record

at such a historical place that I also, you know, was recording there with my friends and, you know, literally everyone had worked on this record. It wasn't like I got some, you know, hey, session guy over here, they were people that I cared

about and I have love for. So you're getting so much more on that, you know. Right. They care about your product. You know, they have an investment in it because they have a relationship. I get that. I would tend to, I guess, presume that some musicians who go into a studio with, you know,

someone on keyboards they've never met in their life but is there for a paycheck, like they're not going to be as, they're not going to give it what you really want. Am I correct in assuming that? No, it really depends on the caliber of musician you're dealing with. If you're dealing with a professional, you know, you've been in, you know, the theater game. and just doing a podcast. When you're that person, you have to bring it regardless.

And it's like I played shows in front of three people and then 30,000 people. And I play the same with each show, no matter how many people are there. And I think you can have guys that show up that just bring it. Because you can't fake the producer out because you're not going to get something he wants,

and they have you there because they know that you're capable of doing this task and doing it with a certain level of professionalism and a certain outcome, you know, positive outcome. So I'm going to get too many people in there clowning around. Well, you mentioned Ariana. Now, this is one of the first songs that really stuck out to me on the album. I know it was one of the first singles released. And I loved this description that you've given for the song

of being a concept of a dream love. It just sounds so romantic to me. I love, could you maybe tell us a little about the process of writing that song and what it means to you? Because that one really resonated with me. I'm glad it did. I guess from a lyrical vibe, I was thinking about just if I met my soulmate,

what would she look like? What would her voice sound like? What would her energy be like? You know, when I got into like almost a meditation of that feeling and how to take that feeling and translate it into sound. So I wanted the guitarist to be swirly and almost dreamlike. So I used an ebo, which is a guitar effect that you hold over the guitar strings and it vibrates.

It makes a string oscillate so you can actually hold a note on them. It's like a little violin noise. A lot of really cool songs that it's been used on that you probably love. But that helped me mimic the swirly kind of feeling and a nice bouncy kind of bass line. It was just kind of laid back and grooving. And then Chris McGrew put this really laid back, kind of carefree in the pocket.

could beat to it that just kind of makes it really, really flow. And that was definitely a moment. That was one of the first songs we tracked, actually. Because I'm usually at the core of me, I'm a rock guy. I love the big guitars and stuff. But I've always been a sucker for a really awesome ballad that's done well and it's tactful and that, you know, that gets to the point of, making you feel that's the beauty of it yeah and you're right that um it it was definitely one of the more

uh ballad-esque songs i would say on the album but that's what i like about this lp chris's um it's it's all over the place in a good way you know some some albums if it's a concept album boom you've got like a story front to back um some like the style is exactly the same every song which is fine it's okay there's a place for that but But with this one, man, I mean, you did. You had a little of something in every song in a different style. It was so refreshing, especially right now, man. I mean, we're living in this world where everything's like standing still and mundane and

kind of, you can kind of predict what the day is going to be like. But I remember putting your album on when your producers were so kind to send it to me. And every song, I was like ready for something new. So you're right. There's awesome. Yeah. What were the other? The ticking away and everybody's losing their minds were the other two that really stuck out to me. So I highly suggest all of my viewers and listeners check out those songs on the album as well. Ironically, everybody's losing their minds was written before the pandemic. That was a question. Just to let everyone know, because that would be kind of artistically irresponsible.

I mean, I was kind of juggling with it, making it the first single instead of Ariana, but I figured Ariana had such a universal appeal to it and just a nice, vibey, you know, way to kind of come into things, you know, that we can get funky with it later, you know, but for now, let's kind of ease into it. Right. That's definitely what it did for me. And, I mean, some of the guitar riffs you had throughout were awesome. And your voice, man.

I can tell you come from a musical background because your vibrato is insane. That's my musical theater coming out in me right now. Thank you. Yeah, it was awesome. Well, I wanted to ask you about Ariana, the idea of dreams. I also, in doing a little research on you, Ariana being a song about dreams, there was something else that really stuck out to me about dreams in an article that I read about you.

I believe it was for a tattoo website. And it was about one of the tattoos you got from a dream you had. Would you be willing to maybe share a little about that with me? I find that fascinating. Yes, I had this interesting dream where I guess it was me in the future because I was a lot older and I was on this mountain and there was lightning and all this stuff around me. And I guess at the time, from what I can see, it was that triangle with the eye in it, and then I got like a tribal thing around it because that was as close as I could kind of recollect it and bring it into, you know, description to have someone do it.

But as time has gone on, I've had the dream a couple times before, I mean, again. and it turns out being what ended up being the symbol that I used. It was like a crown with a lightning bolt at the bottom of it. So at first it just looked like this really weird tribal thing, but then it's time shifted and I've had a dream like I've gone back there. And the last time I remembered it, it kind of looked like that. So even with coming up with the idea for, I wanted a strong image. and that image in some form of fashion

has been in my life for years and it's morphed. And this is, you know, I even have it on my guitar on the top of the headstock. You know, and so it's kind of what it's morphed into being. And I don't know what it means, you know, because I don't know what our subconsciouses

or, you know, if we could figure out the messages, then we'd be millionaires, right? Oh my gosh, man. Well, that was going to be my next question for you. What stock do you put in dreams? I know some people just think there's nothing to them. It's just, you know, random spurts of your brain going through or some people think it's another plane we live on and alternate reality.

But what power do you give dreams, if I may ask? I think it's honestly probably a little bit of everything you mentioned. I'm sure that there's some that are insignificant that are just born from fear. I'm sure that are some that are brought in. from the cosmos to give us hints. I'm sure others are, and this is something that I have when I sleep sometimes, it's like I

guess it's like my, I have like these little astral travels. Sometimes I feel like I've got go places. Not all the time. But when I come back, I'm very worn down in my spirit like the next day.

It's very strange. So I take a lot of lot a stock into it, but it really depends on, A, what you believe in. You know, that you're, you know, where your faith value is is the biggest thing. I'm someone that, you know, I'm not a religious person. I'm a spiritual person. I believe that there are probably many higher powers, you know, that, but I believe in something greater because I've seen miracles.

And, you know, I've seen things, you know, that we'll get into that I can't explain them. And other people can't either. So at this point, I'm not going to, you know, doubt something simply because I don't have the knowledge. I'm just lacking the knowledge to know and confirm. Gotcha. Well, you open the door. So let's go there, man. Let's definitely go there. The unexplained. I don't know any of these experiences. We haven't talked much off air yet about them. So I'm really excited to hear whatever you're willing to share. I mean, I've heard that you've had a little bit of everything. So whatever you want to share with us, I am here, man. I am here for it. I'm ready to hear about it. I don't know. You take the lead

on this one. What are some of the experiences that you would consider out of the ordinary or unwanted in your life? Well, interestingly enough, I've had a few experiences. has happened in one town. There's a little town in North Carolina called Wilmington. And it's a quaint little town. It's old, has a history, kind of a dark history in some places. And I've actually had an instance where there's a old pool hall downtown where some famous pool guy broke some record of knocking in a gazillion balls or something. But this place used to be a hotel and a hotel burned down. And I was actually there, you know, years and years later, I mean, the hotel, I think,

it burned down around the turn of the century. And there was rumors that it was used for tunnels for the underground railroad to transport slaves to freedom. and a friend of mine's band was playing there probably about 12 years ago or so and we were hanging out in one of the rooms and one of the guys that worked at the bar was telling us like, hey, this place is haunted,

there's actually people that haven't gotten their checks that they were supposed to get and pick up because the place freaked them out so bad they never wanted to come back. And we were like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you, I hear. So we end up going to this one room and we opened this door and it was like a short door

and they said this was one of the doors that possibly was used for one of the tunnels and the guy opened this door and you could just feel this frigid musty wind

and vibe and energy come in and it felt like we violated someone's space that was sacred to them because there was like a thickness in the air. You could almost cut it with a knife. And then what was interesting,

there was right outside the door, there was a young lady and she was getting sick in the bathroom. I guess her boyfriend was helping her with her hair. And the boyfriend said right around the same time, we opened that up, something had kind of pushed her over and knocked her into the side, where there was like a where the toilet was and I guess like the toilet roll was over here and it doctored that way and that was one of about two experiences I've had there and just seeing like little shadow people at the end of the night because it was a venue so I would play there and we'd be doing the load out and this one part would be pretty dark and you can kind of tell when everyone's gone home and we're just waiting to get pain and all that stuff so it's empty and then you just feel you just feel you like people looking at you and you just feel it.

And also in the same wonderful little town, and this actually happened, both times it happened with the groups of people. We were at this pier and we're just out standing in the sand, watching the sunset or whatever. And out in the distance, we saw, it was like, two things come out the water very quickly like silver ash then back in then back out then and gone and we all just kind of looked at each other because it's one of these times that I'm glad I was not by myself because I just never would have told I never would have told us all

about it but I was there with four people you know and we all saw it and we were all kind of like what and the heck was that? But I'm not going to say it was, it would make sense, you know, that it would be alien, but I'm expecting it's probably some kind of government stuff that they have because there's a lot of military bases near there. And, you know, what do they say? Like, what is it, like 80% of the oceans, you know, of the world is the ocean or something, 70% like that? So there's no telling what's going on down there. And I'm sure it's not, sometimes I think would people come all this way to like, you know, discover a crackhead.

You know, like they come from like a million years away. Like we've traveled far to meet your people. And we find, you know, this guy, little Kenny over here and little Kenny has a problem. and that's their person that they think. You know? Right. So all that being said, it's like, I don't, I think it's more of like a dimensional thing where rifts in time,

like places like the Bermuda Triangle that have high, you know, like kind of super strong magnetic pulses or something. And that causes, that might cause a, a optimal positioning for something to appear that needs that to do its thing. Right.

Right. That's an interesting theory, man, because I mean a lot of people that look into this UFO phenomenon, they have so many theories on what it could be, other than just alien. You know, that's all we ever hear

as quote-unquote UFO people or UFO researchers is, oh, so you're saying aliens have visited our planet. And I'm one of the first always say, no, I have absolutely no idea what UFOs are. They could be, like you said, a sort of rift in time, or they could literally be time travelers. Maybe they're coming back to check on us or whatnot, or maybe they are interdimensional. I think the theories are so vast and so immeasurable that will probably never know what those things were that came out of the water that you saw. I think one theory is if they were from the future or something like that, they're probably

coming back for like comic relief. You know, they're sitting there like on a front of like, hey, you guys want to go back to 2020? Check that. You guys want to laugh? Let's check this out. Yeah. There's so much out there. Like even I was in Virginia.

about four or five years ago, and my girlfriend and I were riding on Shore Drive, which is right next to the bay. And it's about 10 o'clock at night, so I'm driving, and it's pretty much the road, then some beach houses, the beach, and then the bay. So I'm looking to the left towards the bay, and I see this huge orange, orb and I didn't say anything at first. I just kind of looked and was like,

okay, I'm tripping. I didn't see that. And then I looked again. And then I asked her, I said, hey, do you see that? You know that big orange thing over there? It's like, yeah. And at first I thought it might have been the sunset, but it was 10 o'clock at night. And there was no reason for, it was just odd. It's really odd.

And at this point, for another idea to be debated over, it's our vanity of ourselves to think that in this whole vast universe that we're the only ones, we're the only ones of this reality. But I'm sure there are other things going on. Like when I think about Roswell and you think about the advances in science that have happened And you check the timelines on crashes and certain things. And then certain interesting biblical moments that happen in certain pictures. They have like little spaceships and stuff like that.

And even in cave drawings and stuff, there's like little dudes with little helmets on and little oxygen things. And the pyramids, there's a dude with, yeah, you know, he's in the spaceship too. You know, he's just hanging out. Yeah. So maybe there's. something, but I can also understand why, look at the amount of idiots we have here. Just look at what was happening a few weeks ago in our capital.

These irresponsible people doing that kind of stuff. Could you imagine what those knuckleheads would do if you told them that's like everything you've been taught? Because when you start talking about life on other planets, you're talking about taking someone's religion that they've been taught and raised on in a baster value system upon and you're talking about taking everything they believe in and breaking it in half right and then giving it back to them and asking them how it feels for it to be broken so that's a part of why they almost would have had to even if they know something and at some point you know 10 15 years we're going to know for

sure. I think they've been trying to desensitize this for a long time. Just the amount of media that's there and people are like it's accepted and people are like, there's several kinds. And they probably slide in one real picture

with a bunch of the fakes. And then there's a whole thing with Valiant Thor, you know, and all this stuff. You know your UFO history, man. I'm very impressed. I'm a lot fan, you know. Right. What's up guys, Ryan Sprague here, and I'm just dropping in to remind you about our Patreon campaign.

Somewhere in the Skies is always free to consume, but it's not free to create. So if you want to help the show on a monthly basis, we have tons of rewards for you in return, including shoutouts on the show and website, bonus content and episodes, and free merge. Want to be my guest or pick a topic for the show? You can do that too. So if you'd like to learn more and to help support the show, visit Patreon. dot com slash somewhere skies. Thank you and keep looking up. I love that hypothetical question of what would happen if we did finally the government comes forward. And I hate saying the government because it's not some monolithic thing.

You know, it's hundreds of thousands of people working different jobs and sectors within this government. But let's say the president of the United States, comes out and says, hey, we're being visited. We've been visited since Roswell happened. We didn't think the public could handle it, so we kind of kept it quiet. You're right. I mean, half the country would be like,

yay, bring it on. And the other half would be like, uh-uh, like let's build a wall around the whole world. It'll be just like the elections in the same makeup of people, the same makeup of people that would be freaking out. Because you're going against their religion. You know, and they've been taught. And they go, and every Sunday, you're just taking all that.

And, you know, what are they to think? You know. And that's the main reason why, if that does exist, it has to be kept quiet. Because it would just be too many unstable people because everybody's on medication or drunk or on something at this. point. Then you just have all these tore up people out there just running around half out of their minds and someone trying to maintain control over this. It's like the balance would be, well, hey, why don't we just go ahead and get some technology from these people, get some Velcro so Chris's collar can stay up, you know, and some great inventions like that. Right. Or just sit there and

destroy people's spiritual lives. Because that's at the end of the day. that's the biggest responsibility. And I've never really even thought about it until just kind of saying it out loud just now, but it's that that would be the biggest thing. It's not like, oh, are they going to be nice? Will they stink? You know, do they like music?

You know, can I jam with one? Can I get one to play keyboards in my band? Is one already playing keyboards in my band? No, that kind of things you can kind of go around. but at the end of the day, I don't think people are ready to handle it. Yeah, it's hard, man. It's, you know, they say there's two, the two biggest questions in life are, why are we here?

And are we alone? So either of those questions being answered is going to profoundly change people. It's going to be a paradigm shift that some can probably adapt to, but many probably won't be able to. So I completely agree with you. Well, I guess moving back, if we pull it back into the whole alien UFO thing, abductions. I'd love to get your opinion on this. I know you've looked into the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, Travis Walton.

Those are two of my personal favorites because of documentation and whatnot. But what do you think of the abduction phenomenon? Again, are we dealing with aliens kidnapping human beings and experimenting on them? Or is it all something in the mind? I think it's the government, to be honest with you. Really? Okay. Mind control stuff because the idea that if they're barbaric enough just to come and just take experience, you know, take people up and put like cigarette burns on people and stuff like that, it's kind of hokey a little bit. So the whole thing, the whole abduction thing sounds a little hokey, you know.

I think what's less hokey is like the thing of Eisenhower meeting with the tall whites while he was going to have some dental work in California. Right. That makes a little bit more sense to me. Why is that? Well, because it's not someone coming and popping up in your backyard and like, okay, we're going to fly you back up here. I think they would be able to kind of have something worked out where, with the government, they would be able to get more than enough people that they could like, you know, get them to donate themselves and do it for free rather than having to snatch them up against their will. Yeah.

You know, just throw them some Burger King or something like that and they'll go up. Right. Think of the ethical, you know, dilemmas with if we did find out aliens have been visiting us and they were doing these abductions, like, how do we hold them accountable? are, you know, the people are not okay with them doing these things to them. So I can't even imagine. I think that, I think that whole thing is too easy. I think the fact that, you know, something probably did crash here. Maybe if it did, you know, but, well, that's, it's, it's, it's such a, it's such a tricky thing because within a couple of degrees, you go from sounding like, you have sense to sounding crazy as hell.

Welcome to my life. You know? That's such a good point. It's really interesting, but I do, just the abduction thing, I'm just kind of, like the Travis Walton thing, you know, I think maybe they all took a bunch of acid

and Travis got lost and he got really lost and they were embarrassed and then he kind of showed back up and they're like, dude, if you ever come back, you know, something like that. It wasn't, you know. Yeah. Hey, that's, that's just as viable as, you know, aliens coming down and taking it because we don't know. And I think that's a good point to bring up is we can theorize till the end of time about all these things. Will we ever get the answers? Maybe, like you said, maybe we'll get a glimpse of the answer someday. But I'm with you. I kind of, I'm open to every possibility for UFOs, for supernatural, for cryptids, which is another thing. I'd love to get your opinion on, of being anything, because we don't know. I'll tell you something I do know.

Okay. I've had a couple of interesting experiences with spirits, I would say. Oh, yeah, if you're willing to share, I'd love to hear. There is an old neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina, called the Mordecai area. And at one point, they owned a bunch of slaves. and I'm sure people kind of met a negative demise there. And I've been to a couple of houses that were on the property and actually because they're spread out over a couple of blocks

because it was a rather sizable plantation. But I've been to a couple of the houses and had the feeling of someone behind me, whispering in my ear, pushing on me, and just not being very happy, very negative. And I'm thinking it's probably people, that were maybe slaves or something. And it just is a very sad energy.

And another interesting thing I had happened was I was at girlfriends a few years ago for Christmas holidays, I believe. And we weren't married at the time, and nor have I been. But we weren't, I wasn't allowed to stay in the room with her because that wouldn't have been a proper thing. And I slept on the couch. About a year or so before, she'd lost her mother,

and I never got to meet her. But I guess that night, her mom decided, you know, she waited too long to meet me. And so she was going to meet me. So I'm laying there on the couch, and it's about 3 o'clock in the morning. and I distinctively feel someone above me and I feel a little cool

and that I hear, can you see me? Can you hear me? And I looked up and I could see an outline of a person and I could kind of tell who it was because I'd seen pictures of her mom and I got up and then went into her room. And I said,

hey, babe, by chance, were you just in the living room? You know, of course, I'm waking her out of a dead sleep. And she's like, no, what are you doing? And, man, I slept right there on her at the foot of her.

Wow. I sit right in there with her. Because I know what I heard. And it was one of these nights where, you know, I wasn't had any cocktails or anything. like that and you know it wasn't it was just so strong and from what i was told she would have been you know kind of interesting interest it would have been kind of weird for someone just to be in the

house hanging out you know so maybe that kind of you know but then the next morning i talked to her father and i told her father what happened and he went yeah she's here i hear her wow Okay. So that was, and would that make sense? I mean, some people, you know, I've always been fascinated with that more than anything. You know, this is a whole thing of reincarnation and being an old soul. You know, I said some cookie stuff to my mom when I was younger about, you know, being a spy for God and choosing her to be my mother and stuff like that. And stuff that most four-year-olds just don't kind of just randomly say.

Right. Yeah, that's, well, the whole spirit thing. I'd love to know what you personally feel. I mean, are we dealing with the disembodied spirit of an individual? Is this an energy that just seems to stay in the house because she lived there? And yeah, or have we lived these lives before in different vessels, I guess, is a way to put it, too. You mentioned, you know, you said those things. At four years old, what four-year-old does that?

unless they know inherently that they've lived before. Yeah, I guess the overriding question, what are we dealing with? I don't think it's all the above question because I do think that sometimes, just like, for instance, if you're cooking something in the kitchen, like popcorn in the microwave, perfect example, and you burn the crap out of it, it's going to make your kitchen reek. And you could put all the air freshener incense, whatever, It's still going to be there. I think that energy through experience does the same thing.

Like if someone has a very intense experience or leaves this mortal coil in a very odd way that's very intense. And just as that smoke can permeate something that energy can permeate and sometimes it repeats itself. because sometimes I've seen things that are you could tell them what they're called residual hauntings where it's just something that's kind of you're just catching like a commercial you didn't sing it on a really screwed up television that you didn't know you're watching and uh

but other stuff can be intelligent and I think that things can be upset and not ready to go or feel that they still have work to do and maybe you're given a choice you know like a lot of people say they go to the light but a lot of people

maybe they want to hang here and they have a place that they loved and they want to go back there and that's where they were the happiest. I was actually watching a show about hauntings in the San Francisco Bay Area and they were talking about going to the war field

and they actually took a picture with a flur camera and it actually showed a face and you can see the eyes, you can see the mouth, and you could tell from the color of it that it was extremely cold. And then they went back three years later and they caught the same face again. Ooh.

That gave me chill. But so much to the point where they were actually able to figure out who it was. It was like a guy that was a photographer in the area. And I guess he was taking pictures of the Ramones' concert, I mean, of the marquee while the Ramones were playing back in the day. Drunk driver runs him over. But he was always there hanging out at the Warfield, taking pictures of bands in the dressing rooms,

hanging out, participating, getting the vibe on, you know. So it made sense that he would want to go there because he would still want to be in that energy. But stuff like that makes a lot, that makes sense. I would, you know, but it also depends on your faith. You know, if you're someone that doesn't have faith, that's why it's so tricky where this can go because it all depends on. At the end of the day, what you believe in your belief says.

There's some people that are agnostic and think that when you die, it's black, and that's it, and that's it. That's that. Some people think that people that are religious, that it's fear-borne and just gives them something to believe in to kind of quill their fear of their mortality and the afterlife and the unknown, because everyone knows that we don't like to. The unknown scares us. It's like that lack of information, hence being. called the unknown and not denown. You're so right. That fear of the unknown, I think, is what keeps people

from looking into these things. I mean, here in the UFO world, I live in, I think a lot of people refuse to accept that it's possible because they don't want it to be. Even though scientifically and mathematically, the statistics point to, yes,

there is other life out there. It's a question of whether it's visited us or not. And is that what these UFOs on our planet represent. But you bring up a good point. It really is the lens, I think, in which you look at these phenomenon through. If you are religious, you might have an alien abduction experience that you think was demonic, you know, or like, you know, or if you have a shadow person or sort of a miraculous

experience, you know, you survive a car crash you definitely should not have. If you're religious, you're probably going to look at God for thank you. You know, thanks for doing that. When someone else is just going to be like, no, man, it was just sheer chance that you survived that. You know, the angle was just off and go the scientific route. So, yeah, I think you're right. It really is the lens in which you look at these experiences through that really matters. And you could be so informed and you could, you know, I'm someone that's pretty firm in what I think.

but I'm not so firm that facts won't be able to pry, you know, pull me back once I hear them, but some people, you can't tell them anything. Yeah. They never want to hear,

they don't want to go through that fear right now. You know, so no matter, you could sit there and show them a picture of it and have one of its hairs and have an autograph. And they would just be like, Nope, it's fake. Nope. Yeah.

So at the end of the day, I think that maybe helps the plight of, you know, our visitors from other places if we're having them. Because there's a lot of people that have that, you know, mindset that's not too far from original man still. Right. We can talk better. That's about all that's true. age, right? That's so true, man. I feel like we're entering the second prehistoric age right now, sometimes myself. But, well, talking about, I guess, measuring scientifically something. Another topic I find fascinating is, you know, cryptic creatures. Is this something you've ever looked into or have had an experience with? We're talking not like aliens or angels, but, you know, cryptic creatures. Is this something you've ever looked into or have had an experience with? We're talking not like aliens or angels, but like a flesh and blood creature that we may have just not discovered yet or is some sort of missing link.

And of course, Bigfoot is the one I always go to. But yeah, have you ever had any experiences like that? What do you think of that whole thing? I think that the theoretical probability of some kind of some kind of. kind of ape-like creature at this point in time to still not be discovered. And, you know, I guess people say that the big foots, they bury each other. So no one ever finds them or something. You know, they must do a really good job because at some point,

you think they might have messed up on one at this point. I think they might just be some, you know, some backwoods kind of feral people that have kind of lived up in the woods, you know, for a long time and, you know, I don't believe it's going to be like a bottomable snowman and all that stuff. It's, I don't know,

because we would have discovered it at this point. You know, there's, we have, there's too many trail cameras and too many ways that we can catch things. You know, the, you know, the, you know, the mystical eyes in the night now have ways of being eliminated and lit, well lit. So if it was out there,

this point we would have seen something. Like, you know, they say like Blockness Monster, I'm sure there might be some big, ancient, not ancient, but something that may have survived in the sea is more likely at depths where we can't really go to. That makes more sense.

And then just because they're living without oxygen, they might have physical deformities that kind of reflect their atmosphere or, you know, their surroundings. or, you know, their surroundings. But I don't think, like, Bigfoot and all that stuff, I don't know about that. I think somebody was just trying to, like, sell some sandwiches.

Cash in. Well, that's a good point, man. I mean, there's a cultural aspect to all of these things as well. You look at, like, forgetting the area where the Bigfoot was first sighted, but now it's a famous tourist trap in Roswell, New Mexico. You know, this crash of 1947 is what this town thrives on now. They probably wouldn't have survived the economic downfalls of our country throughout the decades without this one big festival they do every summer

that brings like millions of dollars into their town. So what do you make of that whole thing? It seems like each city and each town has a story that's just begging to be told about this. I mean, it's mankind's, you know, people are grieve. at the heart of it and we'll monopolize

on anything they can get their hands on. So some of these same people that were probably talking junk about you know, Betty and Barney Hill, they didn't get picked up by any aliens, you know,

as they're talking stuff while they're opening their alien store, selling alien trinkets and mugs. Yeah. At the new aliens are us and our mainstream Roswell. Yeah.

But I just think that's just people just monopolizing on, you know, people's fears. And then that goes to discredit it too, you know. And, you know, but I have a feeling that within the next five to six years, my gut tells me that we will know something more. About what, if I may ask? Everything? No, of course not. I would hope not.

That would be depressing. Yeah. That would be depressing. Then it would be boring. Yeah. Very true. I think about just increases in science, maybe finding underwater creatures will be something. Maybe an underwater city might be something interesting. But I don't really think that mankind is at a point where we could handle finding out there's life on other planets and then having that. You know, it's good if we can guess. and wonder maybe possibly

the mystery is cool enough but I think the reality would scare the shit out of most people I couldn't agree more I always tell people the journey is what gets it for me that's why I do this show I'm not here to answer what happened to you

when you say you were on board of craft and experimented on or what that cylindrical object was coming out of the ocean I just want to talk about it and like have that conversation. So I think you're right, man. I think the technology and the science we have now is just exploded leaps and bounds. I mean, we just landed on Mars again, which was just an incredible historical moment that in our lifetime.

Yeah. They've been going back and forth there for years. I have a feeling that there's like a 10-year lag on when things are discovered and then when they actually released the knowledge to the public. Because, like, I'm sure that, you know, the Internet just didn't pop up, you know, and you're like AT&T plan, you know, to say, hey, what's all the Internet?

Wow. This is cool. They had that technology before, and they utilized it to the point where they thought there was at a point where it would benefit the whole. And at the end of the day, even the powers of B, it's about benefiting the whole at the end of the day.

You know? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're so right. At least when it comes to like the military, you know, sort of the idea of the stealth, stealth program. They've been flying those things over the skies for a decade before we found out about them. Just to see if people would see them.

That's the point of being. That's 10 years ago on your about, too. Exactly, man. Yep. I think you're right. And I think there's a lot of suppressed information, whether it comes to UFOs or the supernatural or mind control. We know our government has looked into ESP and telekinesis.

Like, officially they've looked into it in the past and tried to use it to their advantage. There's so much out there we probably don't know and that they don't want us to know yet, yet. You know, and they're saying put the brakes on. But yeah, what do you think? Is there a grand cover-up? To bring this back around. there's no grand cover up but I think the truth

would be scary as hell yeah you know the truth would be scary as hell because there are too many things that the truth would disrupt you know even if the truth was there were then it's like now what then you have a whole new onset of other issues and other

fears that were replaced that when you just figured out so that rabbit hole deepens and deepens and deepens. So I'd say that, you know, I try to keep an open mind and I let the facts lead me to the truth and not my fears. And I think for all your listeners out there, if you do the same thing, let your facts take you where you want to go, not your fear. because fear will take you some crazy-ass places and it's really, you know, it can be a bad thing. Yeah.

But then again, also the fear of not being open enough to welcome these changes in the world if they were to be and welcome these new amazing things that hopefully one day will be commonplace. That will be like, you know, living in some space station and races from all over the universe will be hanging out, you know. I love that when science fiction becomes a science factor. Playing a blues ball.

Because I'm sure that's exactly what they'd want to do. Yeah, that's the priority. I get it. Well, I guess kind of wrapping things up, Chris. Have any of these experience influenced you and your music within your lyrics, or your compositions. Has anything in your life other than, you know, a love you once had, or, you know,

we all have those ideas of what makes up a song, but have any of these experiences kind of morphed your, and melded into your music? Yes, I think more than something direct, more than just the ideology about the questioning and, like, and ticking away, it goes, do you seek the truth?

When are you going to? Changes in the air, but does anybody care? That essentially deals with that. It's like even if you're given the truth, what are you going to do with it? Could you handle it? And so that's how I kind of do it. I would never want to be like,

I'm an alien. Name Rob. Annie introduced me to. It was. Got to be a bit more. subtle right yeah and it's more of just like the the concept of it that will kind of seep in more but you know as far as the writing I'm more about the here and now human experience and the love because I think if you know people have love and acceptance even you know things that are

somewhere in the skies will be welcomed a lot easier I love that. You couldn't have put it more eloquently. Live in the moment. God, it's just, it's an incredible place to be. Even though the world seems in shambles right now, there's beautiful things happening. And the shambles didn't necessary, my friend. Yeah. It had to happen because unfortunately, society needed a really big mirror to really truly see itself. And the reflection was quite frightening. But now, people can get over that. frightening reflection and start working on you know making a better one

that they can live with that they're not afraid of it doesn't get fear one that gives them hope and one that gives them promise you know instead of just paranoia well Chris I mean kind of I guess encapsulating everything what do you want people to take away from the album I mean for me it gave me hope exactly what you said

from song to song, it just lifted me up when, just like many other people out there, I have dark days, man, during all this stuff. And your music came at the perfect time for me as an individual, not just as a podcast host interviewing you, but I needed it. Thank you so much. My pleasure, man.

What do you want people to take away from it? What you did, what you took away. I want it to be like, a little journey, you know, for 48 or so minutes, however long it is. And you just put it on, you kind of, it goes in different directions, it kind of has ebbs and flows, dips and dives, high points, intense points, funky points. I just want people to feel it. And at the end of the day, music is healing.

And it's the most important universal language we, have the most important language we have. And I feel honored to be, you know, to be a musician, to have that as a part of my calling. So it's my honor to bring people music. And hopefully, you know, what I bring them will make their hearts warm

and entertain them and make them feel hope like you did. You gave me the best compliment. Because no one sells a gazillion records anymore. If I can reach a cat that I never met before that was having a bad day and, you know, he had to listen to this record. And not only did he like the music, but it affected his mood

and maybe put some light on his day, then, man, how do you beat that? Yeah, well, you definitely, yeah, you can't. And you did. You met one tonight, man, and I know you're going to meet a lot more after people listen to the album. So last question, of course,

where can we find the album and everything you're up to, Chris? You can find it on all of your online music retailers, Apple Music, Spotify. You can listen to it there. It's released on polychromatic records. And I like to give a shout out to polychromatic records and to Ravy PR, all for doing such a fantastic job. And to you, Ryan, and I want to thank you for listening to the record

and taking the time to really get what it was about. and to really feel it in your heart. That means a lot to me, and I really appreciate it. My absolute pleasure, Chris. Again, it's the nevolutionaries. Please go check it out, everyone. And like I said, man, it was my honor. I'm so happy we connected.

You shared some awesome stories with us. We got to talk about the album. And I'm going to go put it on right after we get off here. But on the spot, I'm going to ask you. I love if we could play this episode out with one of your songs. from the album. So is there a song that you want to lead people with?

We'll go ahead and we'll put it at the end of this episode. Arianna. Awesome. Somewhere in the Skies is produced by Third Kind Productions in association with the Entertainment One Podcast Network.