The Digression Sessions - Ep. 296 - Josh & Height Keech!

Episode Date: August 12, 2019

Hola Digheads, on this week's episode, Umar is in Cali for a wedding and Josh sits down with rapper Height Keech to talk surprise shows, battle rappers, and the infamous time that Height let his temper get the best of him in a Checkers parking lot! Scandalous stuff! Height has a new album coming out called, Raw Routes! And you can hear the first single, Gang Way, here! Follow the podcast and Josh Kuderna and Umar Khan, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! Josh - @JoshKuderna on Twitter and @JoshKuderna on Instagram The Pod - @DigSeshPod on Twitter The Pod's Facebook page - Dig Sesh on Facebook Thanks for listening, all! Do the pod a favor and rate and review the pod on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Laughable, Stitcher, & Spotify plz!

Tage Network. That's a Gotti. Let's do it. Let's do it. In the hype man's Hamden abode on the couch. Ice coffees. Ice cold, you know?

Yes. For two even more ice cold dudes about to have a convo. Breaking it down. Yeah, you got a record coming out. That's right. We're going to get to that, too. That's Raw Roots. Raw Routes.

Or do you say routes? That was going to be my first hot topic question. I've already realized that yeah it's not good to have um right and there's a there's a song called raw routes gotcha it would just once you hear it you'll understand but it would just sound silly if it's raw roots right right and they're like actual roots like hair roots or like plants yeah yeah yeah you're like yeah that's how i like them raw i'm all about i'm all about nature on this album it's a concept album all roots are rap are raw

but not all routes not all routes are roots man yeah uh all right so yes what were you were we talking about these uh we were just talking about the this tight recording setup you got here. Oh, yeah, yeah. And you were breaking down how people use these lavalier mics. Yeah, or like the little clip-on mic on the lapel. Yeah. And these, so there's like these battles, like grind time battles, smack URL battles. Okay. And it's like, these dudes will like sell out huge like halls yeah New York and stuff and it's just

like yeah it's it's so incredible it's people just rap battling each other but it's like they're so fucking good it's like it's like and like anyone that's ever been like that guy's like great at freestyling or whatever is trash compared to these dudes. It's not even like music. It's just its own genre. Yeah. It's almost like slam poetry, but mean. Right.

Totally. Here's what's so crazy about it. At this point, these headlining events will be almost an hour long. It's two guys going back and forth for an hour. All acapella. You're memorizing an album's worth of material. You're only going to say one time. It is written material, right? Some only gonna say one time right it is written material right like some of it has to be totally like like especially in these in this context but i'm

sure there's probably still like some some improv in there too if you're responding to something they directly said or maybe you're like oh absolutely maybe you're preparing ahead of time it's like a rose battle like what comedians do now totally but it is uh damn so they'll go for an hour right right they take breaks no i mean i mean it's just kind of sometimes there's like the ring girl comes out ring girl but like uh yeah they go back to their corner yeah but yeah i it's i feel like the people that are the best at it are they've thought of it from every single element like yeah like it's like oh and of course i got the freestyles ready to go if that's what's up yeah yeah yeah so i spent like so goddamn long

writing these rhymes and everything but the only reason i even brought that up in the first place is it's really wild to see these rappers using like lavalier mics in front of a crowd yeah i guess that's better than like a headset mic like it's a ted talk right just like trying to like adjust their ear like man i'm gonna bust this guy up as soon as i get there okay let's do it i'm ready like i feel like just the posture of holding a microphone is like yeah central yeah but we did uh one time i did this show uh i used to do it a lot it was called the mashup so we'd have a stand-up go up do the regular set and then we'd have an improv troupe off to the side. So like somebody would go up to about like 10 minutes and then we'd have the improv troupe use the standups set as inspiration for scenes.

Whoa. So like if a guy or whoever was on stage and they're like, oh, I got in a fight with my girlfriend about X, Y, and Z and then they do a bit, maybe the scene we do is what led to that or like them at dinner after. It's like, wow, really good set you kind of

said some shit back there you know so you get to like see that kind of act it out a little bit or you take whatever they say use that as inspiration it was a lot of fun it was mostly just like callbacks so it was kind of it was like cheating for improv because like all the jokes are already right there you just have to take it to the next level and the audience is like i remember when the other person said that yeah now they're saying it i like it but uh but we so we would try to do it where the stand-up wouldn't use a microphone because it's weird when an improv troupe uses mics oh like you know like you're supposed to be like pretending to hold a cup of coffee but but yet you have a mic in your hand. Yeah, exactly. So it's like, okay, so no mics.

So that was always kind of weird for stand-ups because they're always used to holding the mic. Totally. What do you do with your hand? Yeah, exactly. So like some people could handle it. We're totally fine with it. Other people was just like, all right, you know, like had to put their hands on their hips. But this one dude, Adrian Rodney, who's such a sweetheart i love the guy

but he had a beer in his hand like an actual beer and he was doing stand-up and he ended up just i don't he wasn't conscious of it but he was just holding the beer to his face like it was a microphone like and oh okay and it always looked like he was about to sip from it and he never did for like 10 minutes so he'd like tell a joke and be like and like tip his hand a little bit and the audience is like is he gonna drink it nope he didn't drink it so then we came out we came out and the first scene was us just like pretending to hold like how does this work hello is this on this thing like so yeah i could imagine as like a battle rapper you're like okay uh all right it's my love mike all right like yeah it's funny to be a battle rapper like i'm

about to destroy this man what do i do with my hands i don't know what to do because i feel like you can't help but strike a like uh like greek philosopher right right right like yeah with the palm out um did you ever battle rap no not i was gonna say i feel like you're too nice of a guy you yeah i i uh have a reoccurring dream where um i i start battling in this new like internet uh-huh league yeah thing and i win one battle oh okay it's not like a thing it's like uh we were gonna have uh see a murder dog has fallen ill is there anybody else in the crowd that would battle and you're like yes i will do it it's no it's just it's just that i enter it and i win but the guy that it's a reoccurring dream the guy sucks that i went against so it doesn't really count i'm like well i guess i

kind of got yeah i'm like i don't know if i'm good at it i mean i didn't lose you know it's fun too to to see like uh the the level of like for lack of a better word like un-pc-ness oh in these battles sure i think it would make like anything almost in like comedy look like tame or something right like yeah it's interesting it's like very very diverse different types of people that are into it but they all kind of come to it with like a like don rickles mentality or something yeah i mean it is a roast essentially uh yeah i have a buddy um he when i worked at Paper Moon, he worked there. I think he was still in high school, but he would do it like in the summer.

Always like kind of a quiet dude, nice dude. Yeah. But he's one of those guys now. I don't know. He's in New York. I think he goes by Red Flag, I think is his name. But yeah, it's funny just to see like just like a dude that was like a quiet busser. And now he's like, and that's why your head

looks stupid like he posts like videos on instagram and he does really well and like damn that's so cool but that takes a lot of balls like to do that like we were like stand-ups you gotta be brave and like not really it's kind of selfish like you're just by yourself you know you're like here's my thoughts but with like battle rap it's oof. Not only do you have to be good at cutting the other guy down, the other guy is going to try to destroy you. Well, I've often, listening to the digression sessions, I've often wanted to ask, why do you still do it? No, no.

With comedy, it's like you guys seem like you're so comfortable with it at this point right and like it's such a second nature kind of thing yeah and like how and you also being a musician like how does it compare as far as like i guess the thing that always would seem scary to me is like yeah with music people cannot like you and it doesn't really matter right like you're just up there doing it yeah like you're gonna play the song either way right it's like if those two people are talking it doesn't matter we're still gonna play the song yeah right i don't know is it like when you go from because to me comedy seems like the hardest of all but like when you go from comedy to like playing a show in a rock band yeah in at least in that sense does it feel like you're on like easy mode or something no i would say it's the

other way around i'm actually more nervous okay to play music yeah because i'm like ah you can't really fake you know what i mean like if if i if i do a bit not as well as i would like but it still goes okay the crowd's not like ah that could have been better like if you miss a note or like you're playing something and it's a little off you can tell but with i think with stand-up you can kind of fake it a little more or i don't know i guess it's just that with i think with stand-up you can kind of fake it a little more or i don't know i guess it's just that i've been doing stand-up more i mean i always played music like at home by myself yeah playing with the band for a few years now so you do practice but just shows with the band are so much more infrequent compared to stand-up like you can go do an open mic any

night you want get a couple in and you're only doing like five to seven minutes yeah but that's still reps like with the band we'll play a show you know we might have it where it's like we play two shows in a month you know versus like stand-up you could do that three or four times a week right yeah um and i think i just and also i'm just like oh man and i'm playing with like real musicians too and like i feel pretty confident in my shit you're a real god thanks man i appreciate it but yeah i mean like you know being like uh being like all right well that's their main focus and i'm like i'm interested in this and i'm also interested in this so i think i put a little bit of pressure on myself so i'm like oh

don't fuck it up don't fight i always end up having more fun yeah then like in the beginning when i'm like i'm a little nervous but i've definitely had shows where i'm like all right i feel pretty good about this yeah yeah totally i i also wonder like sometimes on tour i've played with comedians like which i think is it's totally cool but it's like yeah such a weird concept yeah to be like yeah you're a touring comedian that just does a set yeah in the middle of like a like rap and hardcore show dude yeah and if if the audience doesn't know i was talking about it on this on the latest podcast or the last podcast we put out um if the audience doesn't know there's gonna be comedy it's fucking awful and you can't blame them there has to be a pretense for that like i've heard stories of people opening for

bands like modest mouse i think they had um fuck oh god what's his name i'm blanking on his name um he does the voice on bob's burgers of the kid god what is his name but he would open up and be like an arena of people you know and they're just like get the fuck out of here i feel like like in different books and documentaries and stuff it seems like that was like the thing in like the 70s yeah so i think even before that it started like speaking of people like rickles and stuff you would go see like strippers essentially or like chicks do like the burlesque dance where they come out like it's like a bunny and then they kind of strip and they got the tassels on their boobs and stuff and they're like all right give it up folks isn't she great totally and then you would try to do bits from there like kind of like

in between but now i think if you're going to a music show and you don't know there's going to be stand-up the crowd's like what the fuck is this right yeah it seemed like stand-up used to be just some like side yeah exactly and it's just i don't know like i know like donna summer and stuff would always have like oh really and it like it would be like yeah what's the guy's name like gary shanling or something yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah he opened up that yeah i don't know i know like bobcat went on tour with uh nirvana like bobcat cold weight yeah he would tell stories he's like yeah they would throw stuff at me one time they threw a whole person at me like it just picked a dude up and he's like he's like yeah somebody just like

ran into my legs i was like what the fuck is this um i think uh speaking of your surprise comedy at the jazz club, I think I thought of maybe two worse instances of surprise music. Oh, yeah. Okay. First one, a guy contacts me. He's like's like hey you got a date off in like after your cleveland show he's like he's like we do this open mic and he's like but it ends at 11 or something he's like yeah he's like you guys just like rock a set at the end and so it's always like just do your thing it's like dude

there's got to be a context for it yeah i mean but but i was like whatever and i was like thinking all day i was like yeah how can we kind of like tailor the set to be like all right a bunch of people are probably leaving yeah and uh and kind of just make everything snappy and everything. Right. But anyway, we get there. And that was my first ever experience seeing horrible comedy. Oh, yeah. When it's bad, it's so bad. Yeah. Yeah.

And I don't think... I mean, it was just like some people that seemed like straight up psychopaths. Yeah, that's comedy. Yeah. Yeah. Comedy is like the porch light to mosquito for the crazy person right it's like oh yeah i'm interesting and i got really uh unique thoughts like oof okay right yeah but and there are a few guys that have i guess it's still

musical comedy but there's people that have like guitars and stuff yeah in their short sets right right and everything but anyway it's like they're like all right at 11 or whatever you set it off yeah and we rock like a full like set that we've been doing on tour and then it ends and then the host is like all right then our next comedian no what it we just rocked like yeah like you're going for broke and they're like yeah that was fine all right the next crazy person come to the stage right i just i just would not have done it right you're playing in the middle i'd be like no we'll just nah like thank you but no thank you yeah no it's kind of cool to be like all right yeah we'll close it out yeah yeah and then just be like yeah that was fine all right this next

insane person god um yeah no with comedy that's always bad too like an open mic that you go to at a restaurant you're like oh all the tvs are still on it looks like people don't know what's gonna happen here and they're just like, and then you like turn the TVs off when they're watching a sports game. You're like, all right, no, uh,

no, you thought you're going to be able to talk to your friends, but, actually, uh, there's a bunch of strangers about to yell at you essentially. Right. And they're like,

oh, good. No, one time, um, me and my buddy, Mike Fonazzo, he,

um, he got contacted by i think it was the glenn bernie mva to perform at their holiday party holy shit right and so they needed him to do an hour and he was like uh he asked me to do like 20 up top just because he's like i could do the hour but it's gonna be it's not gonna be a good gig probably and plus like i want you there so you do a little bit of time we can split up the money like great yeah whatever you know so um we get there and it's i think it was a spot in towson was it the glenn bernie nva i don't know it was some nva and it was that and the spot that they were having it at was sort of like uh like elks lodge kind of vfw style just like big wide open room circular tables right so everybody's sitting in a circle so they're not even facing where like the stage would be and we go in and the guy uh the contact he's like oh hey what's up

what's up come here come here come here we're like what he's like oh um sorry i just want to pull you guys over because uh they don't know there's going to be comedy tonight oh my god so this is like a holiday party where they're finally like we can just like let loose doesn't get like working the nba you're constantly busy and you're finally like we can just like let loose doesn't get like working the nba you're constantly busy and you're finally like let's just talk shit we'll have some drinks eat some food and he's like nope here's comedy oh my god and then you have the circular table so people have to like turn like intentionally turn away from their table it ended up being fine like because we just joked about what a nightmare

it is and like they were cool with it but it was like i just love that the guy's like yeah no this will be better you know because you're like hey now now we're doing comedy it's like dude that's terrible i feel like uh surprises are just generally not a good look unless it's like you know like yeah like two chains is here like like yeah but then they're like but two chains is gonna be doing stand-up they're like ah man all right well that's still kind of cool it's just like like i feel like there's a trend in like around like the time of like wartscape and stuff like that yeah yeah like and then there's going to be a secret right and it's like right right there's already like 400 things going and that is it's like they're all secret right no one knows what any of this stuff is really so yeah dude

yeah who's gonna be like waiting to be like yeah i gotta get into the secret yeah like yeah with this glenn bernie thing like it's just like yeah yeah like yeah with this Glenn Bernie thing like it's just like you know we got a surprise comedians and even when they show their faces it's still a surprise well here here's maybe a worse introduction ooh at a comedy kind of variety show yeah many years ago uh-huh at creative alliance that we were booked to play uh-huh and like i feel like it was kind of supposed to be like the format of like uh like like david letterman or something like it would be like yeah the person comes out then they bring out other people talking blah blah and then and it's like a packed house at creative alliance yeah way older people than i imagined being there um uh like way older than the people on stage

performing yeah and and they were about to go on and they're like thank you good night everybody the entire audience is like getting their coats yeah they're like great and and filing out oh and i'm like wait what and like the host like comes back and it's like wait there's one more thing and it's rap but it's actually really good it's actually really good and so they have to be like ah fuck do i take my cardigan off so yeah what oh god and that just like really gasses you up for a set you're like now i really want to commit right uh uh so what did you did you just do one song and you're like all right i think it was two songs okay did people stay or was it just like a mix i feel like some people were like song goes out to all my people shuffling out there shuffling towards the

door you guys get home safe i remember at the time it was um i had the live trombone going. My man Justin was playing trombone. And he was talking about being... We were backstage. And it was like... You've played there before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to be so quiet backstage. People can basically...

Yeah, there's no wall. It's just a curtain. Yeah. And we got there so early. And we were just like waiting for like hours yeah and your last too yeah and and he was talking about how he read uh when they had i think it was a concert for like bangladesh okay huge benefit show yeah yeah yeah yeah by george harrison's thing yeah like yeah like eric clapton yeah did so many drugs they had to give them the like i don't know what yeah what you call it oh the paddles yeah yeah right before he went oh jesus he's like he's like it's really

crazy that like that's what used to go on and But you guys needed it for boredom, not for drugs. You're like, fuck, I'm going to die just of being so goddamn bored. Yeah, my friend Matt Bergman, really funny comic. He's from Buffalo, and he knows the bass player from the Goo Goo Dolls. I've heard a lot about the bass player oh really yeah interesting oh nice okay um they're i yeah i don't know if they're like super tight but they're pretty friendly just because i guess buffalo's like a small scene yeah um but matt moved to the dc area really funny comic and the goo goo dolls are doing their 10 year anniversary tour of whatever

their big album was oh you know that's like the new thing now it's like 10 years we're gonna tour the whole album so they're playing anthem in dc which is like a massive venue i think it's like 6 000 people or something like that like it's essentially like an arena almost it's like a club arena mix like a club and arena had a baby it sold out and they asked matt to uh open now matt is not listed on the ticket anywhere it's not like goo goo dolls and matt bergman totally so so matt was like god this going to be a nightmare, but whatever. I'm going to go do it.

It's going to be an experience. And so he's backstage and he's like, it's incredible. The layout was sick. The food they had back there was insane. And he's sending me pictures and stuff. I'm like, God damn.

And he's like, so the show was supposed to start at like 8 and it's like 8.10, 8.15 or something like that. Like a little bit past 8. You can hear's like, so the show is supposed to start at like 8, and it's like 8.10, 8.15, or something like that, like a little bit past 8, and you can hear people like, go, go, dog, like shouting it. First of all, who are these people that like the Goo Goo Dolls that much? I don't know. And also, like, you're just like, go, go, dog, you know,

like you really want to hear it's like, slide, ba-da-ba. I don't know. But they're fired up they're ready and um they're like all right matt you want to you want to go out and he's like yeah sure but would you mind introducing me like from the god mic on the side of the stage just so it's not like i just come out right like what the fuck is this he's like yeah yeah of course man so uh again matt and and the goo goo dolls both from buffalo and somehow that's like widely known that the goo goo dolls are from buffalo so on the god mic the bass player gets on he's like uh washington dc how you guys doing they're like yeah it's like

are you guys ready to get this show started like Like, yeah. He's like, from Buffalo, New York. People are like, raw. Oh, no. You're opening act comedian Matt Bergman. Matt came out and he just said that people were just like, what the fuck? So I think he did like eight or ten minutes. And he was like, I just tried to like focus on the people up front. And he's like, I just tried to like focus on the people up front. And,

uh, he's like, there's still some chatter. He's like, but I think I had the people I was like trying to connect with. It wasn't that bad. It was just like, he knew he was up against it from the beginning,

but he got off stage and he's like, I survived. I did it. Um, and then you're doing that thing in your head where you're like, it wasn't that bad. Like the set was like pretty good. You know what I mean?

You know, actually, you know what I mean? You know, actually, you know what I did? I think I did really well. And he said, he's leaving the show and like walking to his car and he was passing these people that were like talking about the show. And,

uh, he said, he said it was like this couple that were talking. They're like, yeah, it was pretty good. I mean, it started a little late and then that comedian came out and he was like all right like you know is she

gonna give me a compliment here he's like and she just looked at the sky and was like he sucked a comedian came out and he sucked and he's like oh cool cool cool god like an arena full of people that are just like what the fuck but like getting doubly set up into being like from buffalo new york and they're like here we go yeah i i gotta tell you this confirms um everything that i've heard from buffalo pals about yeah robbie goo oh yeah uh super supportive of all all yeah yeah i mean matt says yeah he's like the dude's such a sweetheart there's a jack toff song called robbie goo yeah he's a buffalo guy and he's got my favorite line is i knew a lady who screwed the both of you in the screw review johnny got a two robbie got 11 he was mad attentive robbie goo you can really screw

oh my god he was so good man the show that we all played together at uh crown last year was so fun yeah you crushed it he was great he was i mean speaking of uh comedians he's basically a comedian too right totally dude that guy was so fun um yeah man so so what's going on now so you got a tour planned yeah it's uh it's happening super soon it's like uh september 5th it starts nice nice it's gonna be like uh kind of like midwest slash south stuff okay for the first time and then in october it's like new england and some canada and more oh okay all right and just gonna do a whole bunch of tour in this i like that you're like as we get closer to winter i'm gonna go closer to canada i like that nice nice i can't remember why but

no it's like october in canada yeah so not terrible not terrible and plus with global warming you know oh boy i mean it might be really nice actually might be really nice that's great man um so and then did you produce this album too yeah yeah that's great dude uh one co-production like like the song that i'm just about to put out now and put out a video for that's me and i alive together producing it awesome man yeah it's mostly just just me that's exciting yeah how many tracks 12 tracks oh i was gonna say 10 look at you 12 crushing it hell yeah hell yeah yeah i was talking to um to to mickey free a couple weeks ago mr uh mickey freeland yes and he was saying yeah you're

just crushing it as far as like production goes oh taking care of all your own shit oh tight man yeah i'm glad to hear yeah he's such a good dude we're actually gonna try to do some sketch stuff hopefully in like the next couple weeks oh cool yeah yeah just before you came in i was watching um uh have you seen emilylaughter's variety show? No, no. Mickey, he stars in one of these. Oh, does he? Yeah. It is really funny. He's so funny, dude. Talk about people that are multi-talented.

Hell yeah. That fella. Yeah, no, he's, yeah, we wrote up a sketch where we're astronauts, so we're going to try to get that done, try to film it in like a minute or less hopefully for this this instagram age you know yeah because you can't be like here's a four minute sketch people like i'm never gonna watch that it's totally true yeah it's crazy like four minutes are you fucking nuts um but yeah man so with the with the tour so do you have it broken up into two legs where you can like go out and then come back chill and then go back out um yeah yeah for

like the fall it's gonna be like that yeah like and unfortunately it's gonna be i mean more just work than chill yeah day job stuff but right well yeah yeah yeah i mean yeah but still i mean it's also good to break it up because yeah totally do you do you do it now in a way where you're not like your mental health is built into it are you a guy that that would be like all right if i have to tour 40 weeks a year i could do it i could totally do that yeah um but i mean i guess not in i guess the touring part of it yes yeah i guess the the going broke part but yeah i mean of all things being like okay i'm okay like but being on the road wouldn't drive you nuts not at all interesting yeah i i mean i feel uh would you say you keep your zen on 10 let's go but um no i i feel like sometimes the crazy part with tour is that i feel

like it it uh keeps you it it makes you come face to face with like uh what's not good you know what i mean okay like uh like i feel like i mean i feel like it's so similar with comedy it's got to be but like like about your music or personally just about the whole enterprise like okay yeah like you know like i don't know like say if you play a bad show where you've always had good shows and just no one comes or whatever it's right right right or like yeah you were there last year and it was like yeah we fucking crushed cincinnati what happened and then and then it's like with that feeling it's like i think it's one thing to think about that happening but then another thing when it is happening and and it's like so i think that that part of it is hard but i i think that

it's i still think that it's better to be doing it than thinking about it or right right yeah or to not be doing it and to be like oh i wish i tried that or like i wish i went out on the road this year yeah totally and so yeah it's it's to be a mix where it's going to be like, yeah, we're going to have some ones that are not the best, but like overall worth it still. Yeah. And I'm definitely like, you know, I got to tell you, like listening to this podcast, one thing I definitely appreciate is like you guys definitely will be open about like, yeah i don't know what i'm doing with comedy right oh yeah no i'm gonna i'm in a definite spot where i'm just like yeah like i've definitely kind of like slowed down a little bit i think summer is a part of that too where it's you know where it's like all right am i gonna drive i don't know almost like two and a half hours round trip plus traffic maybe to do 10

minutes of comedy right it's like beautiful outside and i can hang with my girl and like go get a drink or a meal or whatever um yeah and there's part of me it's like yeah i'm okay like i cannot do comedy five nights a week yeah and then yeah you then yeah you have those shows that are like killer and you're like yeah i'm fucking back here we go let's yeah it's on let's go yeah and i i think it for me it's always like i think i kind of like struggle against the side of me that's like just wants to retreat kind of yeah yeah and like i don't know i i do think just also the nature of like playing live music is that there is it's such like an investment you know what i mean yeah like like i don't know just just today i was

having like last minute scares with like the uh the pressing plant oh yeah and like um i don't know i was just thinking about like how like like things going right by conventional standards isn't even an option like it's not like oh man yeah we're selling these records like hotcakes i just got you know like it's not like a great business plan anyway yeah yeah on top of that it's like everything has to go right right like to even have it be wrong yeah i guess like like yeah yeah it's like yo our plan can take uh no negative aspects yeah yeah exactly and like i don't know i've been thinking about just about how that's kind of wild wild to to yeah like you have to be all in on the tour and the album and pressing the album up and you know right right right yeah and you still have to be a hundred percent in with zero percent

guarantee yeah yeah and but it's worse because then if you're the more that you're not invested in it the more likely it is that it's gonna not work out either totally so it just sucks to be like all right i'm putting all my chips in and i don't know what my cards are right right yeah like i don't know what my hand is gonna be And such a huge part of that beginning to be somewhat easier for me is understanding. I don't even know if you... Have you ever met my wife, Cameron? I don't think so. I think she might be back to the house soon. I'll be honest with you.

I don't think she exists. I'm happy for you. You look like you're having a good time here i haven't seen her well you'll see but um all right if you bring out a cat i'm gonna be very upset but like i think part of it is for me is just realizing that i'm with somebody that is just down for this journey that's tight you know yeah like like i like i remember did you ever watch that um movie anvil oh yeah yeah yeah yeah about the metal band yeah that uh yeah what was so they're a canadian metal band and they were pretty big right they got they played like some huge festival in japan yeah like when they were like super young yeah and like this their late 70s early 80s right yeah

and then did they try to get it going again or did they had like a secret like big following somewhere well they never stopped getting it going gosh it's like small level gosh it's like right doing these canadian bars right i'm confusing that with the the sugar man documentary right right yeah i mean there there is some moments where it's like okay anvil has more fans and then they thought right right right but yeah it's like two brothers or it's just two like really good friends two really good friends yeah gotcha but at one point there's a scene where like their families and wives are all like arguing about like whether it's like negligent to like continue at this point right right right right and like there's one woman that's like uh one of the wives is like super like 80s like metalhead

style yeah and she's just like why need this to happen too just you know oh gotcha gabrie when we watched it she was like that's how i feel uh-huh you know what i mean yeah i don't know i just felt like realizing that and having that be the case. That's really sweet. Makes it so much tighter because it's such a like generous take. It's less pressure. Yeah. Yeah.

And like you don't want to have to worry. You're like, I mean, I want this to happen so bad for me. But also like I don't want this to infringe on you or have you worry about it. Exactly. Yeah. No, that's great, man. but also like i don't want this to infringe on you or have you worry about it exactly yeah no that's great man and also when you're saying that that part that you want to retreat like i feel like i have that too i'm sure a lot of people do i mean just with life in general or it's like it'd be a lot easier to not do whatever it is you know to not try but where is that gonna get you though you know what i mean like it's cool to do that for a little bit and be like, whatever.

I'm just going to, like, chill on the couch and veg. But after a while, you're going to hate yourself, too, for not doing the thing. I read this D.D. Ramone biography before. And he was like, do I not do heroin? You think I'm going to retreat from that? It seemed like his dream in life was to not be in the remote like like he just had different you know he did like his rap album yeah yeah living in different countries and right and also just going crazy with drugs yeah it seemed like every

part of the plan yeah was like yeah it'll be like now except i won't be in the room and it's like that would be tight right right but it's like that's the one thing that is tight yeah that's the one thing that allows you to do all that other shit yeah i have i have a thing like i just i love being lazy so much but i feel like i have to earn my lazy so i'm like all right X, Y, and Z, I can now earn getting high and watching TV in bed and eating all the snacks. Totally. You know, so it's like I love doing that so much. But if I were to just do that, I'd be like, God, I fucking suck. How do you, what do you think of as like earning?

Like shit, like shit, you know, like even, it it sounds lame but even like going and doing open mics and stuff or being like all right i made an effort to do that or shit around the house you know the shit that you always like i should fix that thing or like you know take the trash out do the dishes sweep whatever it is pay this bill buy this thing like oh clean the car out like you know little shit like that like i always have that on my mind i'm like all right there's always something i could be doing and then karen kind of doesn't have that she's like just chill out i'm like all right that's good yeah you're right i gotta chill out because i'm like all right yeah i need to keep doing stuff and i think that's just

uh a flaw as well where i'm like am i good enough now i did all the things like you're all right you're all right it would it would be awesome like and maybe this is true but you say if you got multiple lives yeah it would be awesome to do one life where you just chill like you're like a yeah like matthew mcconaughey type character yeah on some wild chill planet yeah yeah yeah it's like i'm do it or don't man that's kind of up to you isn't it if you want to do it that's cool but if you don't i also get it you're like oh man what are you so cool you're shaming me how cool you are i i suck because i want to do stuff right fuck you matthew mcconnell like you gotta leave chill planet dude you're not very chill at

all man yeah i uh yeah but i think it's just kind of striking that balance also too of being like oh yeah and like reframing what you expect out of whatever art it is that you're doing so it's actually kind of freeing in a way because like when you know i'm sure like analogous to to music but starting with stand-up you're like oh man here we go like i'm gonna try to hit every mic i'm gonna get into this club now i'm hosting and now i want to go to featuring and then like oh but now i'm i'm too old too comfortable and like i'm like i'm not moving to new york i'm not moving to la like i got to audition for and umar did too got to audition for um just for laughs which is like a huge comedy festival it's like the comedy festival um in montreal but we auditioned for it in dc and the guy that books it was there like

watching everybody's sets and um after the show he's like yeah i'll talk to you guys and like give you some pointers and stuff and it was cool and he was like very nice and they're they were doing a thing where they were looking for there's a show called new faces and then there's a show like that's with people that have like agents and managers and stuff already but it's like here are the new faces right right right but they're not really that new because they have representation you know what i mean it's like new to the industry kinda and then they have new faces unwrapped and that's what we were doing like shows so he was going around all over the country looking at people so the odds were already stacked because he was i think he was going around all over the country looking at people so the odds were already stacked because he was i think he was going to like 20 cities maybe that's too many but he was

going to a lot like a but like dc but then he was going to phoenix and chicago new york la but like other places as well um and so he's like yeah i'm going all these places and there's a lot of talent and there's talent here tonight but if you're serious about this and you want the industry to think that you're serious about it you have to move to new york or la and it's crazy yeah it's crazy too like then why is he yeah yeah so i guess his thing would be like okay like if i were to pick you and that was a crazy thing like he's seeing people all over the country for 10 spots you know but he's seeing like hundreds of people so but i guess he's just saying like okay so if i do pick some country bumpkin by the industry standards you know from phoenix like

oh what a what an idiot who lives in phoenix or dc like maybe that would inspire them to move to new york or la and it's like dude i'm not doing that like see let me ask you this though sure because i feel like again i've heard i've heard you mention that before yeah that that's that's the thing and it's yeah it it kind of seems appealing that there at least is a thing yeah i feel like with music yeah yeah i wish someone was like there's a place you can go where it'll be better yeah but it's also too it's not like you show up to new york or la and they're like right this way totally yeah you should live on showbiz lane that's where all the showbiz people are like you know so it's like you go there and then you have to start all over too like you know

there's there's people that have fucking that have been on conan but they walk dogs during the day you know what i mean like shit that i'd be like god i would love to do that like they're in new york they're in la they've been on tv and they're like yeah i i have to walk dogs like and you but you think like oh they're crushing it right so that's why it's like i for me and i think for umar too is that you kind of get to see that work life balance too you know where you're like oh i can have a job and then also do this stuff on the side where i feel like mostly like artistically fulfilled you know and like definitely do and you get to hang with cool people and stuff but then you got to kind of

like balance that out where it's like i know for sure that i'm not gonna move but i know that i'm having a good time even if i don't um and yeah to me like the prospects are just so scary too because like say you get hot and then it's like you're the fucking man you're getting a special you're on this like how long does that last like five years maybe if you're the fucking mayor. You're getting a special. You're on this. Like, how long does that last? Like, five years? Maybe, if you're lucky, you know? And then what? Then it's like, you got to work the road again. Or like, I don't know.

It's very, it's a fickle thing to go after. I mean, it's funny because I think with music, I've always felt like, you know, I don't know. New York is just like a total like shell of itself, basically. Gotcha, yeah. Like I feel like more than any place, like, you know, like, I don't know, there was the cake shop, which used to be a cool venue and stuff. But like you're sort of just like playing for tourists and stuff gosh yeah yeah yeah and it seems like you know i guess i had these ideas in my mind of new

york of like oh i'm going out like a music mecca yeah and i actually think like when i started touring it was long enough ago that it kind of still was a little bit like that right right right but like now it just doesn't seem that way but it's it's it's really interesting to me how how that's totally seems to have remained in in comedy like yeah yeah i mean the way like the way people talk about uh like comedy seller yes it seems like so much like the way like people would think of like cbgbs or right right right right like that's the club you go to yeah and i think it is because of those um stereotypes too or not even stereotypes but like basically the jeff singer saying like you got to

move to new york or la and so many people know that so if you're good you're gonna go there just because you know that that's what people say you know right so it does actually attract the killers you know like that are really good so i i think it's kind of like a self-fulfilling thing too, where it's like, no, you're supposed to go to New York or LA. All right, well, that's what I'm going to do because that's what you're supposed to do. Or, you know, that's what I've always heard. And then there were the clubs.

And I think like, I think comedy has gotten better too, even because of podcasting, Netflix and all that stuff. Like so many more people understand what it is and they want to like see people working on stuff. then the clubs know too of like what it takes like okay let's have people packed in tight not too bright you know low ceilings that whole thing so yeah new york is like where you go to get really good at stand-up and then la you're it's more industry type stuff because like you can't do as many sets in a night like it's just spread out where you could do like you'd have to drive from you know one town to another essentially to do like two spots but in new york i hear you can do like if you really

hustle you could do like seven in a night in one night yeah fucking crazy so crazy yeah so it's like i don't know man like i i think it'd be cool like i've gotten to go out to la and do do shows out there and do spots in new york so that's what i'm gonna do be like work on my thing down here and then it's like oh if i go up to new york i know enough people where like yo can i get on this spot or do this thing and then it is kind of it's less pressure too because i'm not like oh if this goes well then i'm gonna make it you know what i mean it's like no i'm kind of just doing this for me and the hang you know so it's like just managing my expectations of stuff i mean i i always think about like like my wife grew up in the Bronx uh-huh and all or most of her family is still there yeah like the North Bronx and it's

like that takes it like how long it takes to get to Manhattan isn't that much it's not that much easier than going there from here right you know what i mean yeah it's like you might as well live in a different state yeah yeah and i feel like that's so many people that yeah live in new york live in some weird like far off part now right the people that come there yeah move there to do art and yeah yeah it's like i feel like yeah i feel like you could become a part of more so what's going on in new york without living there yeah exactly yeah and that's kind of what the smart people kind of do too is like you go up there before you move there kind of show your face so this way when you move there you're not like completely starting over like uh you know you

hear stories like all of our friends that would move up there everybody not like completely starting over like uh you know you hear stories like all of our friends that would move up there everybody's like the first year fucking sucks just living in new york fucking sucks i believe because yeah same thing where it's like okay cool i live in queens and now i need to get a job oh i got a job in manhattan so it's like all right if i go to work and if i then i take the train back, if I go home, that's a wrap. Like I'm not going back out for the rest of the night. So I have to plan it where it's like, okay, I'm going to go to work.

I'm going to bring my laptop with me, maybe a change of clothes. That way I can like hang somewhere else in like Brooklyn or whatever. But like it's just so big. And you have to get used to just the lifestyle there as well. And being like, like oh i'm also paying x amount of dollars for like the tiniest space too yeah you're like and i'm lucky to have um but yeah man i don't know it's it's cool like i i i'm enjoying the the balance right now of being like you know having the cubicle job which is like good money and pays

for everything else and like allows me to do the artsy stuff that i want to do totally yeah so yeah i think i'm i think i'm too old i'm too rich i'm too rich to be poor again you understand height i hear you yeah yeah i'm like i'm not doing that again like my friend was uh he said that he was gonna buy him and his wife were looking to get a house in delaware and he's like and i was like really he's like yeah i mean not to live there but rent it out and then also delaware is really uh delaware doesn't fuck you on retirement uh like maryland does i'm like you're 32 and you're already like well we got a plan for retirement you know i hate thinking about that yeah I hate thinking that like that's like closer than other things I mean right now that I have any retirement

but you know the time when you would I like like that. You're like, I know people are listening. I got to keep my street cred. I have no money for retirement. Like, all right, cool. I will. I will see him in Canada. But yeah, no, I didn't even know that was a thing. Like, I just assumed every state was the same.

But there's states where they don't tax you on your Social Security checks. And then there are some states that are like, oh, damn, I didn't even think even think about stuff like that totally but then it is something you have to think about you're like fuck yeah i'm gonna be old one day like yeah but i think i think you can also ruin your life by future tripping yeah totally 100 i have to do that just on a daily basis too it'd be like all right you're all right like okay what if well yeah and then it's like no just do your shit for today does that does that mess you up do you deal with that because you have the label too so you have to not only think about your project but like other people's projects too um as far as like just

generally like stressing out yeah yeah yeah absolutely yeah i've thought about it a lot like um i and like i've been thinking a lot about just how much stress can you take on and somehow be like i'm not stressed or you know it'd be like yeah i made it into just something cool right and like like say with like booking like i'm back to being my own booking agent for this year because the agency i'd been with for the past two years which was awesome to me uh folded and like yeah i mean just booking is just stressful in itself like it's nice to just have somebody that's like okay are you available to do this stretch and you're like great line it up yeah and i i've been thinking about it like this recently like i feel like when i started i was like well no one's gonna do this

for me so i just need to do it yeah and like you know and and i even felt kind of like maybe someone could do it for me but yeah they are not gonna do as like good yeah it's not gonna be as attentive yeah but now i feel like yeah even if they did twice as bad it would still be nice yeah yeah that's like like speaking of cbgb is like it like an aging punker it's like yeah diy but like you could do it too if you want i'm diy till i die unless like you have a better plan or not you know it's cool yeah i would like to take a nap and not worry about it but yeah diy do it all day right yeah and like i don't know i want to have shows and and you know i want to have a place to go to yeah do these songs and and tell people about this new album but like right you know i i do think

you can kind of get lost in like the workload. Right. And like almost feel like part of your expression is booking somehow. Just from like you're doing it so much. That's your art. Yeah. And like, I don't know. That only other like DIY dudes would respect.

Like, damn, you booked that stretch? Right, right. That is sick. Exactly. And like, I don't know. That only other like DIY dudes would respect. They're like, damn, you booked that stretch? Right, right. That is sick. Exactly. And like, I don't know. I just think that can ultimately, you can get to a point where that just feels like too much, you know? Right, right. To the point where too, it's like, no, I'd like to focus on putting on a dope show.

Right, right. Not being like, okay, what venue? And like following up on a billion emails and all that stuff i mean i uh i like definitely won't name any names here at all like beyonce you just wrote down beyonce everybody there was like um someone i worked with that was starting a label yeah they like called me up about the label and they're like yeah we're doing it I got like these budgets and like every this is several years ago uh-huh like yeah yeah and like right the way he's breaking it down I'm like it's about to be on yeah like but like the end of the the pitch was i'm like it's about to be on yeah it's like but like the end of

the the pitch was like and we would like you to be the in-house booking agent for the oh dude it's just like is that what you see me yeah yeah yeah like i'm just doing that so much yeah it's like this guy just must love emails. It's like the equivalent of like you got friend zoned as a rapper. Totally. Like, no, no, you're great as a rapper, but I really love you as a booking agent. Exactly. Yeah.

It's like I would love to talk to you about other rappers I'm interested in. Right. I rap too. They're like, that's nice. Could you send an email? And honestly, I love you, Hyatt. You're great. You're so, oh, dude. right right i rap too they're like that's nice could you send an email like and honestly i love you height you're great you're so oh dude i guess sometimes i wonder like um because you know like it probably goes without saying i don't believe in like being any kind of like diva figure or something but like yeah like sometimes i wonder if like a little bit

of that could go a long way towards yeah just oh he's not like the book just a little smidge of like yeah fuck off right yeah yeah because it's yeah it's like no i want to be a nice guy but i don't want you to fucking step on me either yeah yeah like don't try to take advantage of my generosity here right right yeah yeah i think if you did do that though that would really garner some attention because if if you heard it's like yeah height um height flipped out on me like wow you gotta be a real piece of shit like i don't like what did you do i think yeah i think mickey and i were talking about that like how like who could ever be like height man fuck that guy like have i ever told you about uh the maddest that i ever got no um it's so arbitrary really that um yeah yeah basically on tour um me uh jones and another friend who i'll remain

him nameless even though he you know yeah really didn't do anything wrong okay but he we were on tour in his car and he was like not trying to have us eat in the car oh and um it was winter time and we were we're like in like arkansas and it also just doesn't even seem realistic it's like we need to get from point a to point b yeah it doesn't make sense for us to sit down and eat yeah not while moving but there's like no food finally there's a checkers and like um we get the checkers and we're like eating outside and then even he's like all right this is fucked up okay cold as fuck. So we go in the car. We're eating in the car.

And like dude just starts tweaking about the food. And he's just like, all right, let's wrap it up with the food. And like. All right, come on, fellas. I know we're on tour, but let's not get nuts. Yeah, it's like me and him are basically done. My man Jones is like barely like touched his food yet. but let's not get nuts yeah it's like it's like me and him are basically done yeah my man jones is like barely like touched his food yet uh but i just feel like yeah the amount of time that the

food is out in the car isn't especially when you're hungry you're on on the road like yeah dude i'm not gonna just like gingerly eat my checkers like i'm gonna take it i'm gonna eat it real quick and we'll keep it moving but yeah it's not like oh man i'm really savoring those checkers right and like and he's just like yeah come on man like wrap it up and like like it like it's a drug problem like i don't condone this i understand you have to do it but let's go all right and i was i remember just being like what what what really i just started i was just like screaming what checkers and like and like jones by this point is just like it's whatever man i'll just like stop eating checkers no you won't eat your fucking chuggers yeah and i was like you don't tell my man how fast to eat his fries

he can eat them however fast or slow take your time yeah it's like jesus but i feel like see even that when you got mad it was on behalf of your friend your empathy is so much that it angered you you know hopefully it's something like that yeah i feel like my man among our friends has been like unfairly marked as like okay the one guy that they yeah got height furiously man but yeah still like even even that it's like yeah you were defending somebody what a piece of shit height have you ever got that mad that you it's like, yeah, you were defending somebody. What a piece of shit, Hype. Have you ever got that mad that you're screaming uncontrollably? Maybe not screaming uncontrollably, but yeah. I've definitely showed my ass a little bit where I'm like, yeah, I got to chill out.

I almost had that at work the other day. I was visibly just like like this is fucking dumb and i was like okay i'm getting a little too cocky here like a little too comfy like all right chill out but yeah i've definitely had times where i'm like all right this is uh there's a bit much you know because you're never like oh man i'm happy i screamed you know or like i'm really happy i yelled how would it manifest for you as young uh yeah i mean never like but like raised voices like you know like arguments i mean stuff where it's like a dating whatever and it's stuff where you're like ah i'm not proud of this yeah you know like it's like all right i gotta gotta chill here but yeah i've never i've stuff with friends like never to that point um yeah and i think it's like a teenager i was probably like a shitty like whatever you know

like type of thing but yeah i tried to curb that as much as possible and then also realized too it's like like i'm saying like you're never like yeah i'm really glad i yelled you know or like so i it's it's but in the moment you want to make your point clear you know and i'm like i have to realize like i play the long game here chill out i i feel like i um writing this email to the record pressing plant yeah i definitely sent a rage email to oh but it probably still started like to whom it may concern totally thank you for your previous email however as previous as i stated previously yeah i would appreciate them due on the date we had agreed upon but i i feel like that is some of the most kind of like heinous and obnoxious. Yeah.

I don't know. I feel like it's like in the same realm as like Facebook comments. A hundred percent. Yeah. No, I saw something the other day that was like office etiquette and like what you say, but what it means in real life. Yeah. So it's like per my previous email,

but it really is like, listen, fuckhead, this is the last time I'm going to tell you, but it's, you know, just like, thank you.

And it's just like, fuck you. Yeah. Yeah. But I guess I was kind of like, I was like, have I been too polite in the previous 200 emails to let it get to this point? No, no.

Just being herbed by it? No, it sounds like, yeah, that you were just like, yes, I've agreed upon this amount for payment and that should be due this day. They're like, no, we're going to give it to you, I don't know, in like a year. Is that chill? that's chill right like no no it is not no yeah so i yeah i i can't see you ever yelling at anybody well in a checkers situation it might go when the tensions are that high when you're in a checkers in the the middle of the country all right well yeah let's wrap this up because i gotta i gotta head out it's been been an hour anyway um yeah well thank you so

much dude yeah anytime i mean we're in the same neighborhood so yeah it's uh it was nice to catch up man um yeah so what uh so you said you have a video dropping soon yeah that that would be out uh i don't know when this is dropping. I'm going to try to put this. So this would be out Monday, I hope. So that would be the 12th. Yeah, so Monday the 12th. Well, this will be out on Monday the 12th. Oh, so this is good timing.

Yeah. Fortuitous. Yeah. And then the record Raw Routes. Raw Routes. Not Roots, you fucking assholes. Yeah. Yeah.

People would say raw roots probably don't eat food in their car and they suck you know what i mean uh and when does that drop september 2nd hey now all right well awesome well yeah we'll look for that and then um yeah check out the video and that'll be what that'll be all over your social media and stuff. Yeah. On the Cold Rhymes YouTube page. Cold Rhymes YouTube. Check it out. And yeah, Umar is in San Francisco. So yeah, we got to get you on the pod when he's around one time.

Yeah. I've walked by him many times. We've never actually met. Oh, nice. Yeah. So yeah, that would be funny. Be like, no, I've been watching you. I've seen you a lot, Umar. So yeah,, that would be funny. Be like, no, I've been watching you. I've seen you a lot, Omar.

So, yeah, thank you guys for listening. Let's see. What do I got going on? Speaking of my band, playing the 24th in Annapolis at the Metropolitan. That's a tremendous athlete. So come out to that. So that's all I kind of want to promote right now. But, yeah, thank you guys for listening.

Hype, thanks for having me over, man. Always a pleasure. David Koechner, take us out. Dick Russian Sessions coming to an end. Thank you.