The Squeeze - Parmalee: A Brother’s Bond

Episode Date: April 10, 2024

Brothers Scott and Matt Thomas, Parmalee bandmates, join the Lautners today to discuss a robbery-turned-shoot-out that left Scott in a coma for 10 days. They take us back to their lives in 20...10 prior to the incident, and detail that terrible day—Scott still remembers the feeling of being shot like it was yesterday. They speak about the recovery process, sharing a hospital floor with their attackers, and the trial, where Matt chose to testify. They discuss the mental health journey that has accompanied this tragedy, and the tools they’ve implemented to help them along the way.   Be sure to follow @parmaleemusic and check out the music video for Gonna Love You, which includes a powerful retelling of the shooting.  Thanks to our awesome sponsors for supporting this episode:  Ritual — Get 25% off your first month at ritual.com/THESQUEEZE. Start Ritual or add Essential For Women 18+ to your subscription today.  Cerebral — Get started at cerebral.com/couples and use code thesqueeze to get 15% off your first month. Offer only valid on monthly plans. Other exclusions may apply. See site for details.  Clarins — Go to clarins.com/thesqueeze with promo code THESQUEEZE and get Multi-Active Day & Night Cream for 10% OFF, A FREE WELCOME GIFT, PLUS FREE SHIPPING on your first order  To email us your questions or share your story, you can reach out to lautner.thesqueezepodcast@gmail.com. Be sure to rate, review, and follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode! Plus, follow us on Instagram, @thesqueeze and personally @taylautner and @taylorlautner + on TikTok @thesqueezepodcast    To learn more from The Lemons Foundation, follow @lemonsbytay on Instagram and visit lemonsbytay.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Auto-hue with Sunny Cars Feel like the children Not me's Beasel stramble Zandvo Actisvercare Vectus Verdwinter Viscan Chautis
Starting point is 00:00:10 But who'sorgalos Ato-O-Streest No Stress No-Egy Rizco Noid on-verwachted Always full-Lead So footh U
Starting point is 00:00:21 Sonders-Sorg Go to your Reise-Adviseur Ones-Sonycars B.E Get a knock at the door And when I open the door There's a gun to my head
Starting point is 00:00:28 Pahue-Sour shoots the gun right by my head. And that's when he came from the back. I just kind of put my hand up and held the gun behind my back. When you shoot people, they don't just fall out and die. So once I shot at him, I was moved to the next guy where he's still shooting. And I'm shooting. And then I noticed I had been shot because I felt the burn in my abs.
Starting point is 00:00:48 And I was like, I've been hit. When life gives you lemons, what do you do with them? Over here at the squeeze, we talk about it. Welcome to the big show. That would be the squeeze, the show you are watching or listening to right now. Welcome and happy Wednesday. Happy Wednesday. I am your host, Taylor Lautner.
Starting point is 00:01:28 And I am just a random guy on the couch as well. Also named. Taylor. Thank you. If they didn't know that, it would be slightly concerning. Anyways, my wife was just, I would say complimenting, but she doesn't do it as, it's not a compliment. It's almost like, it's almost a dig. She said that I shouldn't be allowed to wear white because I look too tan.
Starting point is 00:01:56 That is what she said right before we started rolling. Yeah. So if I'm offending anyone right now, I'm really sorry and I'll never wear white or cream or yellow again. You just, you tan, oh, you were like out yesterday. Yes. I feel like that's why you look a little extra crispy. That's probably, yeah. I think the combo of I laid out for a bit yesterday, and I don't wear white a lot.
Starting point is 00:02:22 Yeah, you actually don't. So I think when I do, it's a little bit of a shocker to you. Yeah. No, that's true. Especially when I'm, like, in an off white and I'm, like, looking at our cameras. And the color difference is just insane. And I literally have a warm light on me to try to help the warmth. Okay.
Starting point is 00:02:41 I also didn't use my bronzing drops today, though. Oh, man. That's it. Yeah. Oh. No, that's, that's, yesterday I looked more tan than I do now, and it's because I use my bronzen drops. Got it. You know the little things I put with my moisturizer?
Starting point is 00:02:53 Uh-huh. And, yeah, I do sometimes use those on my arms, too. Huh. If I'm wearing a T-shirt. Well, you learn something new. Learn something new. I don't know if you're supposed to do that, but. I think you look beautiful no matter what.
Starting point is 00:03:05 Thank you. You got little rosy cheeks right now. Yeah. What's that? I'm in a sweatsuit. So you're warm? Yeah. Oh, okay.
Starting point is 00:03:12 That's not blush. No. Okay. You're just that hot. My cheeks get rosy quick. No, I do have blush on. Oh, okay. So that's a bit of both.
Starting point is 00:03:22 I can't see that far. Huh. Well, all this to say, let's get excited about summer. Is that allowed? Because... In spring. Okay. Warmer weather.
Starting point is 00:03:32 It's coming. Hopeful. Okay. Warmer weather. Yeah. We finally have like above 70 here. Love it. Which has not been a thing.
Starting point is 00:03:40 Yeah. Weather has been a little interesting for California. Yeah. We're ready for the sun to come. in the right to go. Yeah. But I am so dressed like this and I will continue to be dressed like this. Yeah, it could be 100 degrees outside and she will be dressed for Antarctica.
Starting point is 00:03:55 Yeah. It's just, it's comfort. It's comfort. But I guess back to the whole reason why we're here. Oh, yeah. That thing. The mental health podcast that we do. Welcome to the big show, aka the squeeze.
Starting point is 00:04:10 The episode that we have for you guys today is kind of, been saying we've been waiting for this one we we we have we've been waiting for this episode and it is here yeah like all jokes and like dramaticness aside it actually it's actually a wild episode yeah i was just doing that part for the teaser oh okay great we've been waiting for the episode and it is here they already i think they already have that teaser edited oh okay well let's regard that But yeah, no, we have been very excited for this episode. Not only are we big fans, genuine big fans of the band Parmally, but we also are friends with them.
Starting point is 00:04:59 And we've been friends with them for a bit now. So we've known their story for a while. But they only really started openly talking about it and really going back. to that day and the details of it recently. Yeah. So we are very excited and honored that they felt comfortable enough to come on the squeeze and go back and talk about that. And, you know, what impact it has had on their life since.
Starting point is 00:05:39 I don't want to give too much away. So I think we should just, I think we should jump into it. Yeah. a life-wintering event that definitely could have changed the course of their life, but they definitely changed the course of their life. It definitely did, but what they've been able to do as humans has been. These guys are awesome. They're brothers.
Starting point is 00:06:05 Scott and Matt, they form part of Parmali. And they're just really incredible dudes. You guys are going to love them. I feel like listening to their voice is just going to be so great. They're the best. Yeah. So I hope you guys enjoy this episode. We know you will and we'll see you on the other side.
Starting point is 00:06:32 Scott, Matt, welcome to the squeeze. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Yes. We are so excited. It's an honor to have you guys. I know. Our worlds are like colliding.
Starting point is 00:06:42 I feel like we're like performing for you guys now. I know. You are. You are so excited for this. I was like nervous for this one. I feel, I always feel more comfortable with musicians because I don't have to worry about the mics with them. Okay.
Starting point is 00:06:56 Hopefully. I got you. I got you. We're good. Yeah. One of you will be okay. Okay. So we start each episode with a little game called citrus got real.
Starting point is 00:07:07 This jar. Okay. There's questions in it. Scott, if you would like to pull. Yeah. That's our ASMR drum roll. Would you rather go without shampoo for the rest of your life or without toothpaste? Who?
Starting point is 00:07:21 Shampoo. Yeah. Shampoo for sure. Yeah. Yeah, I guess you need that you need toothpaste. I mean, well. I follow this guy on Instagram. Have you guys heard of Dr. Paul?
Starting point is 00:07:35 Do you think they've heard of Dr. Paul? Probably not. Probably have. He like very holistic and just like, you know, cares, you know, about what is best for your body. But he's very healthy. But he, you know, he doesn't. put like anything that's not good for your body he doesn't touch like seed oils like his food
Starting point is 00:07:57 his diet's crazy but also you know down to like shampoo and toothpaste like he talks about all of it and he says that he has never used um shampoo or soap or anything when he showers and he swears that he smells delightful because he says what causes you to smell is you know the food that you're reading or what you're drinking. Like that's, right. So as long as you are putting a good thing in your gut, he literally just rinses in the shower and, um,
Starting point is 00:08:28 he doesn't use toothpaste. He just uses his like bison bristle, uh, toothbrush. He looks great. I know, I know. I believe it.
Starting point is 00:08:37 That's what he says. I mean, but I just, sounds like our cousin Barry in the band. Barry's kind of started doing that in the band. Yeah. Okay. He started brushing with that different.
Starting point is 00:08:49 Toothbrush. Yeah. And I think we're both on the shampoo thing, certain shampoos we don't want to use anymore. Right. And we used to in soap. Yeah. I love the organic soap. Mom sends the soap.
Starting point is 00:09:03 Yeah. Okay. The goat's, yeah. Yeah. Shout out. Great. Lady North Carolina makes some great soap. Now, ever since he's stopped using toothpaste and he's gone to the bristle thing, have you noticed a change in the breath?
Starting point is 00:09:17 I'm not sure if he does. Because I'm not sure if he uses toothpaste. He's got his bacon soda mixture. Oh, yeah, that's right. The bacon soda mixture. Really? Yeah. Interesting.
Starting point is 00:09:29 Isn't there like a coconut oil, too? There you go. They say you can rinse with coconut oil. Oh, wow. You're well versed in this. Yeah, we know it all. You know how musicians are. They just...
Starting point is 00:09:40 You make do with what you got. That's right. Should we have Matt choose one and do another? Yeah, sure. Okay. Pick a good one now. Matt told me beforehand he loves the... segment, so it's only right that he pulls his own.
Starting point is 00:09:53 Just got real. I thought that was very funny. You know, being a songwriter, a phrase. You know, everybody in Nashville always has these quirky, come in with song titles that are like plays on words and stuff like that. So, sure. You know, you get that a lot. If you had to get a tattoo right now, what would you get?
Starting point is 00:10:14 Ooh. Oh, man, that's a good one. we always talked about, I'm actually talking to Kicks Brooks back when Carolina was about to go number one. He's like, are you guys all going to get tattoos, you know,
Starting point is 00:10:26 for Carolina going to number one? And we were like, yeah, we're definitely doing it. We never went in and did it. So I guess if I had to get one, maybe it might be of Carolina, take my name just away.
Starting point is 00:10:36 Early mind, I have to do like four. That was it. That was the one we were supposed to get. Yeah. Everybody get the same tattoo for Carolina going number one. Yeah, Yeah, I'm surprised you don't.
Starting point is 00:10:49 It's coming. Yeah. I don't know. We hadn't got any in a while. Got some removed, but I haven't. Oh, wow. Yeah. That would have been a great segment if we were like, we have a tattoo artist here.
Starting point is 00:10:58 Right here. Oh, we would do it. What would you get? It's a good question. I only have one tattoo and I got it a year ago, which is just our wedding date. But that was my first tattoo. Probably something to do with our dogs. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:11:17 Yeah. That's probably like, you know, like a Remington gun or like a lily flower. Yeah. Yeah. You talked about that. A Remington gun shooting lily flowers out of it. It's coming. I can see it.
Starting point is 00:11:31 People get one soon. I like the ones of their ears too because Remington's ears are like this and our other dog's ears fall down. And they have like the cute little outlines of those. Yeah. That's another good one. When trying out new products, I can definitely be a little skeptical. of what is in them and what products I'm trying.
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Starting point is 00:13:51 I know. It's a lot. That's Claren's, C-L-A-R-I-N-S dot com slash the squeeze with promo code the squeeze. Clarence.com slash the squeeze with promo code the squeeze. Well, guys, thank you for joining us. It means a lot. For people that don't know, we are friends. We have been for a while now.
Starting point is 00:14:18 we've known your whole story for longer than, you know, I think you started, you know, talking about it recently. So we're just honored to be a part of this, you know, journey of yours and you guys, you know, sharing this with the world. Thank you for being here. Well, thanks for having us. And we're glad you're doing what you're doing, you know, making awareness for it. this type of stuff. No. So,
Starting point is 00:14:51 of course. It's hard for us to talk about, but it's good for us too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For people that don't know your guy's story,
Starting point is 00:15:02 I mean, there's a lot more to your story, but in 2010? 2010, yep. 2010, you guys were involved in a robbery, turned shootout that left you, Scott,
Starting point is 00:15:16 in a coma for, uh, A hot sec. 10 days. 10 days in a coma, 40 in the hospital. 40 in the hospital. Three life-saving surgeries. Three life-saving surgeries?
Starting point is 00:15:28 Yeah. Before we go into like that night, I kind of just wanted to go back to that time period, 2010. And where you guys were at in your career and lives at that moment. Like how long had you been a band then? And like what did everyday life look like in 2000? Well, we were... A lot of fun.
Starting point is 00:15:51 Yeah, we... You know, we're brothers, so we've been playing music our whole lives together. And our first cousin, Barry, is in the band with us and our best friend, Josh. Yep. At this point in 2010, Parma Lee had been a band for nine years. Nine years. Wow. Unsigned.
Starting point is 00:16:09 Just, you know, trying to make it happen. Things almost happened. They didn't happen. And we were just, we were working day jobs. Scott and I were logging, running a logging company. company cutting trees. Oh, wow. Lumberjacks.
Starting point is 00:16:21 Lumberjacks, yeah. Josh was on a construction job. Barry was helping his dad at the furniture rental business, repoing furniture. We were doing just basic $10 an hour jobs for the most part. Wow. And play on the weekends. But we, you know, we always, we were always hoping that something was going to happen with the music and, you know, going after every opportunity we could. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:46 So it was, you know, we'd work Monday through Thursday and then we'd take off and go play on the weekends. And we had, you know, we had had some success regionally. And, you know, the band kind of took care of the band. We made it just enough to pay the band's bills and the credit cards and all that stuff. But it was at this point in time, we had actually got a production deal, which we'd never had before, which means that, the producers, we had been to Nashville and we met these producers and they liked what we were doing. And we had already recorded Carolina, the version that went number one, and must have had a good time, which was our first single. We had had those songs in the bag and we had these guys that were going to bring us back out to Nashville to hopefully get a record deal.
Starting point is 00:17:37 You had them in the bag, but not released. Not released, yeah. We had them to shop to all the labels. And I mean, the story heading up to that is even crazy. It just goes on and on. But at this point, particular time, this had happened in September of 2010, September 21st. And before that, we were out in Nashville in May, June, July, having all this happened, which for us was the biggest thing that had ever happened to this band.
Starting point is 00:18:06 Oh, yeah. We were in the studio, recorded Carolina, the actual version you hear today. That's crazy. And then one of them said it was just two demos at that time. and we were pumped. I mean, it was like, I think we have a chance. And they said, we'll shop here at this label, which they worked with. Or if that doesn't work, we'll shop here a couple more.
Starting point is 00:18:25 And we were just like, finally, after 10, 12 years, we were like, you know, grinding. Let's get it done. And we did. So we came home, started practicing, rehearsing a new set, you know, trying to and write more songs. Yeah. We were pumped. I mean, at this point, we kind of kicked around regional. and nobody could find where we fit in,
Starting point is 00:18:48 which still can, I guess. In a lot of ways, what was this? Formerly sound. But, you know, we had so many record deals that were almost about to happen and they never happened. You know, it just never happened for us because we were just a little bit different
Starting point is 00:19:02 than everything. We weren't really a country band. We weren't really a rock band. We weren't really a pop band. We were somewhere in between all that, which is what we are now. We're a country, rock, pop band. It's kind of hard.
Starting point is 00:19:15 Yeah, but we finally went to Nashville and met the guys, and we had this awesome version of Carolina, and this other song must have had a good time. And we were just really excited because we finally, you know, we had a shot and, you know, this was all happening. It was most exciting time. And, you know, I think we were supposed to go back to Nashville in a couple weeks. You know, we were playing shows.
Starting point is 00:19:41 Like, we picked this one week. We were like, we got to rehearse. We got to go play any. show we can just to play these new songs. We got to do a showcase. And it was like... Showcase is basically you play three to six songs in front of record exits.
Starting point is 00:19:56 Okay. It's not like a big concert. I mean, you're basically nerve-wracking. And so you come back and play them your songs, and they basically say, we want to work with you or not. It's very nerve-wracking. That's a lot of pressure. Anybody knows to do that.
Starting point is 00:20:09 And we tank those like three times before. Oh, yeah. We've been to L.A. LA, Atlanta, New York doing them. I mean, and just got told no. And just it all led to things, though. You know, it didn't cause us to say we quit. It caused us to understand constructive criticism and to not get mad about it, but go learn from it.
Starting point is 00:20:30 And then to move to the next. Work harder, write better songs. Find the positive out of it. Chase that instead of dwelling on the negative, which I think is a life lesson, which is, you know, kept us going. But, you know, all this excitement, all this is happening. and we're going to Nashville in a couple weeks and you're finally going to get this,
Starting point is 00:20:48 you know, this record deal, get all this, man, we had so much credit card debt racked up because of this ban. It's just, you know, this was going to be the shot and,
Starting point is 00:20:56 you know, and then on a Monday night, two guys try to rob us on our RV and he gets shot three times and his doctor says he's got a 5% chance to live in. You know, that's just the synopsis. I mean,
Starting point is 00:21:08 the details are just way crazier. You know, and you're just doing good. And then you just, The train just completely goes off the tracks. Yeah. And it's just like, what do you do? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:18 So that night, where were you guys playing? Just a little bar. In South Carolina, yeah. Just a little small bar. Practice show Monday night. Yeah. Made 15, 20 bucks. 15.
Starting point is 00:21:32 Oh, so he knows. $15. We made $15. It must have been like a dollar cover charge. Well, we had to pay the sound. Yeah, yeah. 50 bucks for sound, I think. Maybe 25 people showed up.
Starting point is 00:21:43 But like I said, we were just going that whole week and we called them up and said, can we come play? We want to play to get, you know, to practice. Yeah. So it was just one of those shows for you guys. Yeah. So then you guys play your set. You come back to your bus. RV.
Starting point is 00:22:01 RV. We did call it a bus. It was to us that RV was a bus. Yeah. You come back to your RV. Can you just like walk us through like what exactly happened? Are you both inside or what? We were.
Starting point is 00:22:15 We were so excited about this RV. It was really new. We built bunks in the back of it. We had our little party lights up. So, unfortunately, we, well, we, being nice, we invited the sound guy to come in and say, hey, check out our RV. We just got it. Thank you for, you know, working with us tonight. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:34 And come on in, you know, young guy. And we're just kind of hanging out. Get ready to pack up. Pack up. Josh and Barry was still in the club. We were, you know, just out there about to pull the RV up to where we were going to unload, you know, play some new songs, that kind of stuff. And just get a knock at the door.
Starting point is 00:22:53 I'm assuming some of our friends or some, you know, Josh or Barry, you know, assuming it's those guys wanting to come on up and we're going to, you know, get ready to leave and get out of there. Right. And when I open the door, there's a gun to my head. They come up pretty quick. Pretty quick. Just bum rush me.
Starting point is 00:23:09 Give me effing cash, two guys and bandanas. And RV has kind of like steps going up the little door, you know, and push me up into that. Give me effing cash at this time. Scott's in the back of the RV. Now he's kind of confused. I'm like, what's going on? But I hear him. You can hear that.
Starting point is 00:23:26 Oh, yeah. I mean, it's small. It's all these. It's about as wide as what we're sitting in right now. Yeah, it's very small. So I see it. And split second. I mean, you have five seconds.
Starting point is 00:23:35 And I'm like, he yells, Scott, I need some help. Oh. And the guy's like. give me your effing, pow, shoots the gun right by my head, you know, give me your cash, I'm serious business.
Starting point is 00:23:47 And I really did. I didn't realize that he fired. Oh, yeah. That was when it got real. Yeah. You know, and I mean,
Starting point is 00:23:55 you imagine shooting a gun in here right now, how loud it is. And it's all like just, then it just goes to, to adrenaline. What's going on? Were you afraid to call for his help in that moment? No,
Starting point is 00:24:07 I wasn't. But I knew he was a concealed carrier. Uh-huh. And he had his, his firearm. I put one under the bump, really. Yeah, and I just, I don't know, I just backed up, you know, and I said,
Starting point is 00:24:20 Scott, need some help. And that's when he came from the back. And they didn't know what I was doing. I'm pretty sure that I just kind of put my hand up and held the gun behind my back walking up. So they probably thought I was bringing cash. So when I walked up very slowly and I got close enough for probably like me and you,
Starting point is 00:24:38 I was like, I got you now. But it's not like the movies. when you shoot people, they don't just fall out and die. So once I shot at him, I was moved to the next guy where he's still shooting, and I'm shooting, and we're all this close. Luckily, he didn't get hit. There's no rhyme of reason. I didn't get shot.
Starting point is 00:24:57 How far harder you guys? No, like a foot. Yeah, like that's right. Way closer than us. I mean, we're all, I didn't realize it was. I mean, because I walked up. I didn't do it from the back. I just kind of got as close as I could because I wanted to make sure that I had to do what I had to do,
Starting point is 00:25:11 and it was going to, you know, work. And then this one guy's here, and I said he's probably going to die. And I moved to the next guy. And he was shot too, but he ran out. And I fell out. And then I noticed I had been shot because I felt the burn in my abs. And I was like, I've been hit. And pretty much, I don't remember much after that, probably a minute, less than a minute.
Starting point is 00:25:38 Yeah. I kind of remember the police officer over top of. of me with lights and stuff because it was kind of crazy. And I remember just saying, just please don't let me die. And I'm sitting there holding, uh-oh, sorry. And I passed out. That's the last thing I remember until we got in the hospital until I woke up after the coma.
Starting point is 00:25:57 So, yeah, you don't remember an ambulance ride or anything like that. Luckily, they got me on a helicopter and transported me to Charlotte. Oh, wow. And that saved my life, too. I mean, all the circumstances. Everything was just quick. The police officer was next door at McDonald's. He was right there.
Starting point is 00:26:17 So he got me fast. Everything was fast. Wow. I wouldn't be here. Yeah. I mean, it was crazy. Everything happened fast.
Starting point is 00:26:23 Luckily, thank God that cop was next door. He came over and was able to call it in. First responders got there fast. I mean, the last thing I remember, Scott was bleeding out on the couch. And he's like,
Starting point is 00:26:33 he got me. And I was like, you know, you're in shock and you're deaf. You know, you're just nine gunshots or Twitter. well, I don't remember how many he was, just went off in this area as big as we're sitting in.
Starting point is 00:26:45 Smoke, all that just goes on. But luckily, somebody opened the door soon as, I mean, it was fast. Somebody was there, and then they were able to take him off. And I think he bled out twice in the helicopter. Because it hit him in his one, right over here, over your heart, one through your stomach, and one in your butt that got your femoral artery. And that was the... I call it the forest gunk shot, but it was really the bad one because it clipped my artery.
Starting point is 00:27:06 Oh, wow. Yeah, that was the tough one. Oh, yeah, because I would think that one would be like fine. I know, I know. You know, the one by the heart. This one's still here. And here right here. I got a scar right here, but the bullet's still in here.
Starting point is 00:27:19 The bullet's still in there. Yeah. Oh, wow. So couples therapy is not just for crisis management. It's not for when ish hits the fan. It can be just as proactive as individual therapy. And cerebral is here to help you and your partner reach your goals through professional therapy 100% online, giving you the tools to handle life's hurdles together and experience
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Starting point is 00:28:45 Offer only valid on monthly plans. Other exclusions may apply. See site for details. I'm just really fascinated by this. You remember, like, the feeling of being shot? Oh, yeah. It's like they said, burning, hot lead burning you. Or somebody putting a hot piece of metal on you.
Starting point is 00:29:08 Yep, for sure. My gosh. I do remember that. Wow. And then in the hospital, most of the recuperate, whatever I was doing. I had to get a skin graft. I remember some of those pains
Starting point is 00:29:18 when you have to do stuff like that. Oh, wow. So, yeah, so this all happens and, you know, they get him on an ambulance and finally on the helicopter, which we didn't know anything about. And all everything,
Starting point is 00:29:32 all the commotion, we had to call parents at three and two in the morning and where it was. I mean, that phone call was the worst. You know, and then. Because at this point, we have no idea what's going to. Not here.
Starting point is 00:29:44 where he's at or anything. I don't know how we figured out where he was going. I mean, and we had already, the whole scene, the commotion, everything went down and it was nothing. There was nobody there,
Starting point is 00:29:52 but me and Josh, I'm just Barry. And Josh has got this little Ford Ranger, which, you know, a small compact pickup. And we had to get in that. That's just us three.
Starting point is 00:30:02 And we drove. Yeah, because they probably had to leave the bus there. Yeah. I mean, all that, but we were like, where are we go and what do we do?
Starting point is 00:30:10 And so we had to drive like 45 minutes to an hour, just us three. He's like, what's going on? And we go to the hospital. You were told where they were transporting him to. Yeah, they were like, he's at Charlotte's Medical Center. Okay. And we get to that place and we're into the ER and one of the guy that lived,
Starting point is 00:30:29 his parents were over the crossway. No. So we had to go into that and it's like, what's going on here? And then like the waiting room. Oh, yeah. And the ER, yeah. Yeah. And so we.
Starting point is 00:30:40 Did you conversate with them or was it you just? There wasn't, I mean, there was distraught on thereian and Aryan, too. It was no reason to, what are you going to say? Yeah. So they pull us back and this doctor meets us in the hallway and he just, his, his look was just bad. He was just like, I mean, literally like that. He's like, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you guys that most people with these injuries have about a 5% chance of living. And so we were like, oh, you know, I didn't think it one minute though.
Starting point is 00:31:10 I wasn't going to make it. I ain't going to lie. None of us did. We got it. You were planning to lose it. Well, no, I was. I didn't. I didn't think he was going to.
Starting point is 00:31:19 I don't think anybody was. Nobody really thought he was going to. We thought he was going to make it. We didn't think he was going to. Even after he told you this. Yeah, even after he told me that, I was like, he's got it, he's got it. He's going to be good. Something just told us.
Starting point is 00:31:30 I don't know what it was. And so that's how it all started, you know. And then he's in a coma for 10 days. Trake and just, like they had to bust him open. Yeah. What were the surgeries? that you had, if you remember. Scott's like, I was just like...
Starting point is 00:31:47 You know, I don't... I can't remember heat surgery. I have a scar here, so they opened me up and then went inside, clip the artery. And then that caused my leg to swell, so I had a fasciotomy, which is where they cut you on the side to relieve this. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:32:03 An emphatic fluid. Yeah. Yeah, and that's his kick-grim leg. It's my kick-grown leg. So they're like, oh, he's going to lose his leg. He may lose his foot. He may lose it from here. But each day it got better and better and better.
Starting point is 00:32:15 Wow. And then all this was just, I don't even know what surgery that is, you know, what they had to do here. But this was the main thing, it seemed like for a while. Well, for us, because I felt like everything else was, was repairable, you know, and we were like he's going to have what they call drop foot where your leg doesn't, your foot can't. Oh, yeah, it's slacks. Yeah. Because he was fillet, like imagine a filet right here. and it had these wound vaks here, just fluid, and he swallowed up like a balloon,
Starting point is 00:32:46 and, you know, they're saying he could lose his leg, he could, you know, all this stuff, because they have to tell you the worse. And we're having to deal with that the whole time, and he's on, you know, well, first it was a trache, which had finally on the last day at the last minute, they were able to pull it out. It was on dialysis, and it was like up to the last minute,
Starting point is 00:33:06 the last day they were able to get him off of that, like just these little victories. Yeah. Over. They would help me. We had to walk on a walker, a certain amount, before they would let you out of the hospital. Oh, I was doubling or tripling it.
Starting point is 00:33:20 And they're like, you can't leave yet. All my friends are like, like a workout. You're going to get up twice a day. We're going. And I was like, yes, that's what kept us going. We all stayed in Charlotte for 40 days. Me, Barry and Josh did. We switched times up.
Starting point is 00:33:39 Somebody would leave. somebody would come in and they actually put the other guy on the same floor too so his buddies were coming up to see him and that was kind of scary too we didn't know what how that was going to be was there like police in front of his door anything no none of that yeah none of that back then no yeah think that there would need to be some like high level security and it wasn't really at all zero and uh one Dave, Josh and I were on the couch just in the waiting room, whatever, and they were old dude right beside us, just right in front of us.
Starting point is 00:34:14 He was on his table. I was like... Was the other guy pronounced dead at the scene? Yeah, I think so. I cannot believe that he was on the same floor, and y'all were just like... It wasn't good. No, we actually went to, like, Target and got, like, khaki pants and hats
Starting point is 00:34:34 and kind of changed our look just so... Because we didn't know how far it went as far as, like, gang-related or some of that stuff. Yeah. But they recognized them. They were like, here's the guys. I mean,
Starting point is 00:34:43 it never escalated into anything. But at this point, all this craziness just happened. You don't know what's going on. You don't know what the repercussions are or what's happening, you know. But it all panned out and shout out to those doctors at the Charlotte Medical Center. They just, man,
Starting point is 00:35:00 they were the best. But we did everything we could to get him out of there because we didn't want any infections and that kind of stuff. But he actually came home. He still had wound vax on his. leg and it was stomach and it was a bad and we had to get a minivan and put him in the back personal nurse here yeah I learned we learn but if it wasn't for our fans and our families and our friends who raised money the whole time and that was a big deal for us like
Starting point is 00:35:29 knowing that we had still had something on the burner in Nashville to finally get this band going local bands, people in Nashville, actually, they heard about it. All our friends and families and everybody that we kind of, I guess, you know, came in touch with in life. And through our music, they started raising this, you know, Help Harmony Fund. And they raised money so we could pay credit card bills and we could pay rent and all the stuff. Because, you know, we couldn't work. We couldn't do anything. And they really bailed us out of that one and helped us out.
Starting point is 00:36:00 So that was a lot for, I mean, a lot of cover bands back home. All the bands were just doing. doing shows help harmily out. So cool. Wow. It gave us a, just some hope to be like, all right, we got to keep just going. Yeah. So, yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:15 That was the motivation to get him out of there, just playing songs. And we got to get back to Nashville. We got to get back to Nashville. We got to get this record deal and all that good stuff. Wow. There was a lot of hope. And that's what I focused on getting well, trying to play the drums again, you know. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:32 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think four months later. Four months later. We went back to Nashville. So it was in February, actually. Yep.
Starting point is 00:36:39 Went back to Nashville and did our showcase, and that's when we... I hobbled on stage. I still had this little leg brace and played six songs. And that's when you got the record deal? Yeah. The guy, the owner of the label at the time, just came up, gave some big hook, said, you passed the test, let's get a record deal. And here we are, like, what did we just go through?
Starting point is 00:37:02 But that, you know, that's light for what we hear to talk about, Because you could be down and out, but just keep going. Yeah. Never know what's around the corner. Yeah, for real. At what point during this was, because I know there was a trial, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, we had to do that too. That was pretty hard.
Starting point is 00:37:20 That was probably a year later, right? Yeah. That was pretty hard, too. That's too, I ain't going to lie. Because you had, you testified. Yeah, you did not. Yeah. And your friends were talking, you.
Starting point is 00:37:35 It was hard. To clarify for those who were listening, Matt testified Scott did not. That's right. That's right. He did give the other guy that's in prison now. He went up to his mom and hugged her in the court. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:37:49 I just told him. I was like, I'm sorry it happened. I'm sorry. This whole thing happened. And I forgive him. I just said I forgive him. And I'm sorry, all this happened, gave her a hug and all that stuff. when she was like,
Starting point is 00:38:06 I got one of the officers in the court said he's never seen anybody do that. And I was like, I just have to, in my heart, forgive and forget or I'm going to live like most people do with hatred or animosity. Or I don't know. But at that time, I was like, if I don't let this go here, then that was at the court date. Was that hard for you? Not really.
Starting point is 00:38:27 I just had to let it go. I mean, those guys made a bad decision. and somebody lost their life. And he had to go to prison, so it's tough. Yeah. What was it like testifying? I can't even really remember. It was pretty emotional.
Starting point is 00:38:45 It was tough. Yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, you got to relive it and you kind of finally get out of it and then you got to go right back into it, you know. Was that like the first time you kind of like relived it? Yeah, probably, yeah, because we had, you know, we had a lot of positive fun things happen.
Starting point is 00:39:04 Yeah. Which would thank God. You know what I mean? Like, you know, imagine going in there if he didn't make it. Yeah. That would have been horrible. And then you're back at your day job and you're like, your music career's done and everything you work for for all those years is gone, you know.
Starting point is 00:39:18 That would have been, that would suck. Yeah. You know. I knew, I knew this. I knew the story. But like learning all these details, I'm like, it's just like, it's just like shocking that like when you hear these stories, they're like, you know, on the news. and it like doesn't seem like it seems so like out of touch almost.
Starting point is 00:39:36 But like if you guys be sitting here like, you know, we've hung out. We like, you know, we've seen your shows. We've hung out. Like we're good friends with your wife. So it's just like it's crazy that like something like that like happened to you guys. And I think every time we tell a story, they're like, wait a minute. You know, it's kind of soaks in more. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:57 Yeah. Well, we always just kind of lay on the fact that it could have been worse and there's Other people that have definitely gone through things. Yeah. Way worse. Yeah. The outcome wasn't as good. So, you know, he's got to look at it like that.
Starting point is 00:40:10 Like, I'll be thankful for you at and, you know, they had every day thankful for everything that happens. Every day when you wake up. Yeah. You just got to be. Yeah. So you've now physically recovered. How soon post-event did or did you kind of start to feel?
Starting point is 00:40:32 feel any type of mental health struggle from that? I can say we were so busy, which was good. My focus was just the band, the songs, the record deal. Just keeping busy. And actually things did take off once the first single came out. So here we go. We're on this ride. And I would probably say it took about, I know some bleep.
Starting point is 00:41:02 maybe five years. Yeah. It was when we slowed down a little. Yeah. Success had settled in. Yeah. Things were great. Paid off all the credit cards.
Starting point is 00:41:15 Had some money in the bank account. We had a number one hit working on probably, probably our third. Yeah. To me, this is my story. I don't know about him, but I think it was about five years that something kind of hit me that I was like, whoa. I almost died. Yeah. Basically that.
Starting point is 00:41:37 And probably some grandparents passed away that time. A few things I always trigger it. But that definitely, it was five years. It was literally five years. So it would have been the three-year run. Probably around time Grandma Thomas died. She died in 2016. Which, you know, very Thomas died, my dad's mother and very close.
Starting point is 00:41:59 but just really brought perspective like what just happened you know and that was about a couple weeks of wow thought and like what's going on but I worked through it and then I realized what it was maybe you know you're kind of like oh
Starting point is 00:42:21 that did happen you know you didn't really have time to I don't know the word just you know Yeah, to like process it. Yeah, when you're, when you're that busy, that's why people go to work all the time. They just want to stay busy. Yeah. Because it's a lot easier to stay busy and not think about what you're trying to process.
Starting point is 00:42:42 Yeah. Yeah. And I'm still learning about all this. I wouldn't have known that. But I can say it was delayed reaction. Yeah, I know. I mean, I mean, I know for myself, obviously this is nothing similar, but working, like I worked through COVID as a nurse. and that, you know, left me with some, like, severe, like, PTSD and, like, just going through that.
Starting point is 00:43:04 And I didn't realize that I was really struggling until I removed myself from the hospital. I ended up getting COVID, which is annoying because I didn't get it working at the hospital. I got it in the outside world, which I was like, what are the odds of that? But I ended up being out of work for, like, two months because I was so sick. and that was when I finally like started to process like what I had gone through and kind of what was going on. But it's so crazy that, you know, it takes something, you know, removing yourself from the situation, like actually having that quiet time. Yes, still. Being still.
Starting point is 00:43:41 It is. It is. But it is good for you because there's something that needs to be worked out. Yeah. Yeah. I've wondered for you, Scott, although totally in self-defense you killed someone. Yeah. Is there a weight that?
Starting point is 00:44:00 I think probably that day I left that weight because I haven't felt anything that heavy on me because I had to leave that stuff there that day and I had to do what I had to do. And I still would do it, you know. Yeah. I didn't like getting a shot, of course, but I, I've made my decision and no, I haven't had an issue with that part. Yeah. As much as, you know, the life thing and getting through it and realizing that really did happen, you know.
Starting point is 00:44:39 But I left it there at that courtroom. Yeah. Forgiving the situation and, you know, it sucked that we were in it, but I had to let it go. I have to let it go. If that's anything, I think if you're angry or whatever's going on, you're going to have to eventually let it go. It'll eat you up. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:59 Yeah. And you have, like, such a light about you and, like, you know, you are, like, a happy person. Like, you have just, like, this natural, like, just, like, life-giving personality about you. And, you know, I think that you being able to do that that day. I don't think it would, you know, be the same happy-go-lucky person. No, it wouldn't.
Starting point is 00:45:19 If you were still holding that. Matt, did you, during that downtime, did you experience anything? Or was it just, it also doesn't need to be anything if it wasn't anything. No, no, I think we got it all out when we had to go through all the shit in the hospital and then, you know, the rehabbing him when he was in that fog of like, not knowing what was going on. Like, that was, you know, it was a lot of emotions just pouring that whole time.
Starting point is 00:45:45 You know, it was nonstop. So once we got him on the, on the, on the, road to recovery and we got that record deal. It's like game on, let's go. We got to, we got to. It's very fortunate that our career did take off. It could have, it could have been over, you know. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:00 I couldn't be here and he could be, you know, whatever. But having that positive light and that stuff that happened really gave us drive and more drive and focus and where someone else may not, you know, have that. So it's hard to say everybody's situation is different, you know. But we also have an amazing group of friends that have been with us for a long time. Some childhood friends, some friends from college, some friends that we've made. I mean, like, solid, you know, Josh signed up to give Scott a kidney if you had to. We all did.
Starting point is 00:46:38 I mean, it was like we were all in. So, you know, it's not somebody that is just there for the minute. We've had some, I mean, and we still continue to have a great set of friends that we can call or rely on anything. And so we all dealt with that stuff together as a group. That's our first therapy session. Yeah, I really did call my friends and I'm feeling weird about this situation. Oh, yeah, I understand that. I did this.
Starting point is 00:47:01 And I think while we're here is we've got to talk about it to somebody, somebody, anybody. And it is sad if you are alone and you don't want to, but people are going through things. We all do. They're different, but they're the same. Yeah. Somebody understands how you're feeling 100% anxiety, depression, somebody else knows. And they know exactly how you feel.
Starting point is 00:47:26 And you think, no, they don't. You can't understand how I feel right now, but they do. And then you have to talk to people. And then you're like, oh, you feel like me, you know, oh, okay, I get it. So, yeah, our friends are big part of it. And I still are because I still call it. They're laying, I'll still lay it on them.
Starting point is 00:47:50 They didn't know what they were signing up for. But they do it to me too. I can tell when my friends call me, I'm like, hey, what's wrong? Oh, work or usually work. Well, something's aggravating them. Oh, I get it. You're getting a little, you know, we call it a funk. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:06 You know, a little funk year a little bit. Yeah, man, I just need to talk. And then the next day they'll take, oh, man, I'm so happy you call me or I called you and we both all do it. Right at the right time. That's so great that. But you didn't need to get it out. You guys have that because I feel like for men, we talk about men's mental health a lot.
Starting point is 00:48:24 It's awesome that like you guys as grown men have that in friendships. It is. It is crazy. And I think we're going through a lot. We've lost best friends at a young age, this group. Yeah. With my best friend, yeah. Before all this happened.
Starting point is 00:48:45 And that just brought everybody. closer and we understand that. Yeah. Yeah. That was a big part of. Losing our best friend back in the day was brought this group really close. Yeah. Did you, while like he was in the coma in the hospital or even after, did you, did you ever
Starting point is 00:49:05 feel some form of survivor's guilt? You know, people talk about that all the time. Like, you know, that could have been me. That should have been me. any form of that. I'm sure. I probably did. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:49:22 I mean, it was so much going on and it was just, it was just, I don't know. It's hard to remember some of that stuff, but everybody was around, though. Like I said, our group, they were there the whole 40 days, and we were all there for each other, crying together and just being, you know, the unit.
Starting point is 00:49:39 Yeah, we're talking about most of them were there and just left their jobs and, came up you know that's incredible so it was we had everybody around all the time but I mean I don't know
Starting point is 00:49:51 I just felt like I just kept my mind and like we got we got to get him out of here we got to get him out of here and then focus on music so they're always focusing focusing on music
Starting point is 00:50:02 they actually set a studio where I was recuperating no way yeah I have this great place back home where we all go love and I recuperated there and they had a studio out
Starting point is 00:50:15 because they want to stay busy too because I think that's what we stayed busy as we possibly could you know between the shifts at the hospital and you know what's next and I'm coordinating with the you know the people back in Nashville and everybody's helping out and
Starting point is 00:50:32 just keeping it going you know it was enough to keep me busy I didn't really have idle time I couldn't imagine if I was by myself with idle time right you know that would have been tough I feel like when I was in the coma, I was in the hospital, they had different worries than I did. I was just worried about getting well. I didn't have any thoughts about the shooting or anything.
Starting point is 00:50:53 Just get well. And then they had to see all that stuff and go through me being there in the hospital. So they had a little bit of different perspective on what I was going through. Just get well. Yeah. Let's recuperate. I treated like working out. I get to work out every day.
Starting point is 00:51:11 I get to get better. but they had to hear all the work-or-st-case scenarios of everything, you know, well, don't tell Scott, but, you know, he might lose his leg, and we're going to have, we've got one more day before we're going to have to find out. And, you know, it was always that. But like I said, two different types of trauma or, you know, he definitely felt different to me, and Josh and Barry do too. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:33 But, yeah. Your song, can we jump into the song, or do you have any more questions? I was going to, I was going to bring up the therapy we were talking about earlier. Okay, go ahead. Oh, yeah, yeah. We were talking about therapy earlier, but I'm curious, like, if that's, I know that's kind of like a newer thing,
Starting point is 00:51:50 if there's, you know, you guys have kind of touched on the tools that you guys have used being your friends, but I'd love to hear, like, if it's been therapy, like what of those tools been for you guys? I think we've got a lot of tools now. I do, but, and you're right, being men, therapy is just like, what?
Starting point is 00:52:11 I got my, I got my boys and we go have a couple beers and we're going to work it out, you know. Yeah. That's the guy. That's the guy thing. It'll work itself out. It'll work itself out. But, first of all, I have my calm app. I love it.
Starting point is 00:52:28 I started a couple years ago. Oh. I really like it. Do you do the meditation? I got my daily calm. I got my 10-minute daily calm. I got my nighttime sleeping routines a lot. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:52:40 Oh, yeah. Trust me, maybe I need to do some voices on that. Wait, you should. That would be great. But that really was one of the first things. I couldn't believe it. I tried it a few times. And then I had to, you know, I dove in.
Starting point is 00:52:55 But we exercise a lot. That has been one of our things our whole life. Yes, since I was, I mean, we did sports growing up. Yeah, we played sports. So after high school, we decided that music was, Once we played our first high school party, we were in. Oh, my gosh. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:17 You're like, oh, wow, everybody loves this. But after high school, not playing sports anymore, we went to more weight training and stuff like that. Just the whole health of fitness thing. It's been a lifesaver. And it is. It's a big part of us. And I don't know what I do without that. Just walking, running.
Starting point is 00:53:40 Yeah. Love lifting weights. I just love it all. And then therapy, yeah, I'm new to it. We got this great, I was talking about early, this great thing in Nashville. It's called Porter's Call. It's four musicians, free of charge. They have, you know, you can donate to it.
Starting point is 00:53:59 But that was my first experience of that, and I'm going to keep going to that. And I'll probably talk these guys into going one day. But I think it's a part of it. I think people need to do it, even us guys. I don't want to do it. But you're just talking to somebody. It's important to find a person that we're comfortable with you guys right now. That's what's the most important.
Starting point is 00:54:21 It's finding that person that you can talk to. Yeah. Don't get discouraged if, you know, the first person you talk to, you know, you don't have that with. That's right. Yeah, I've had a couple. Yeah. It's like a relationship. It's like you date around.
Starting point is 00:54:35 You got to like find your therapist. It really is. It really is. It really is. But you're basically just talking and you never know what's going to pop up. I think you should do it. People should try it. Even us dudes.
Starting point is 00:54:49 There you go. I'm an advocate for a country boy therapy too. Oh, yeah. Outdoors fishing, hunting, especially with your buddies. Oh, yeah. And anything outdoors, I mean, we... That was the first time we met Scott. On FaceTime.
Starting point is 00:55:06 We were wine-tasted with his wife and a couple of... other friends and she facetimes him. He goes, babe. Yeah, you're whispering. I'm in the stand. Oh, was that? Was that? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:18 It was so funny. She was like, I'll introduce. We had like wine at this point. We were probably on our third winery. And she's like, I want to introduce you guys. And she calls you. And you're like, babe, I'm in the stand. She's like, what?
Starting point is 00:55:31 Oh, you're in stand right now. Yeah. That country boy therapy is what we call it. Yeah. And I love it too. You got to get outdoors. You know, people are in the house. A lot if you can, get out.
Starting point is 00:55:45 Tree bathing, isn't it what do you call it? You ever heard of that? I haven't, but that's so good. I think it's called tree bathing. Just touch them, walk around, stare up. Just enjoy it. I love that. We're going to learn some new terms.
Starting point is 00:56:00 It definitely is. That's what I learned it. So I'm like, you're right. I will. They say, put your hand right on the tree, leave your worries right on it. Wow. Let it go.
Starting point is 00:56:10 That's cool. That's cool. That's cool. That's super cool. Okay. Your song, gonna love you. Yeah. It's out.
Starting point is 00:56:18 It's great. It's crushing it. The video is, you know, autobiographical. It is as true to the story as we can make it. They did a great job shooting this video. We did it in the day. One day, a whole day. Wow.
Starting point is 00:56:35 It was very surreal, stressful. and was it tough? It was. It was very tough for those guys because like you said, basically in the video, I'm passed out. You know, I'm in the coma or I'm, yeah, so I'm just really laying there, but they had to just go over and over
Starting point is 00:56:56 exactly what happened again, scene after scene, running in. Talk about reliving the situation. That was it. That's his, I think, I'll be honest with you, the worst part was the hospital room scene. And then the robbery scene when the guys came in to RV, I think those two moments were they kept shooting. And I think I was at my, I think the last take, I said, look, I hope you got it because we got to get out of here.
Starting point is 00:57:25 I saw him doing it. I said, we're done. That's it. I said, you got it. And that was for the hospital scene. Yeah. And the actual shooting scene. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:34 That was like, man. It's like, I can do it. I signed up for it. I can get through it. I was like, but after a while, still, it gets at you. And it's like, all right. Watching the video, like, we, like, we knew, we knew obviously what the song was about and that before I'm watching the video, we knew what it was going to be.
Starting point is 00:57:52 But watching it, and I've, I mean, I've watched it multiple times. I watched it again this morning before y'all came. And it's like, I get teary eyed every time because it's just so crazy that, like, you're literally, like, laying there with blood on you and you're, like, crying to him. Like, it's just like. Yeah. Yeah. gut-wrenching.
Starting point is 00:58:10 That's pretty much what happened. He wrote a synopsis, you know. Yeah, he wrote this song. This is a beautiful love song. I mean, it's a love song. But it also has a meaning here too. It did work out. We started talking about the story and we should do something about it.
Starting point is 00:58:28 And this song was just perfect for it. Had you been wanting to, like, share the story? Yeah. Yeah. And we had. And when we first got signed and we did our radio tour, we were doing our first interviews, you know, it was brought up as fresh, you know, news and that was a big thing. But it was still also people ask you, do you want to talk about it?
Starting point is 00:58:49 And like, yeah, we can talk about it, you know, but you get some people to want to pry too much. And it starts bringing up these emotions. And it's like, I don't want to talk about it anymore. So you find a condensed version of it and a lighter version and you snap it and you get it through. and we've been talking about it, and especially, it was just, it just kept coming up,
Starting point is 00:59:09 people were wanting to know the story, and they were wanting to know what happened and details and all the stuff. And we were like, it's time to do something, whether it's a documentary or whether it's a book or whether it's a, you know,
Starting point is 00:59:22 behind the music kind of thing. It's just been in air. People have been asking us, and we were like, we just never wanted to write a song about it. You never, you know, I just didn't want to. I wanted to keep positive.
Starting point is 00:59:33 Yeah. And so we never really had the song. But with this song, we felt like, you know what? Now it's time. Let's go ahead and get this thing off our chest. And we knew what we knew what we wanted to do with the video. We knew we were going to have to go through it. We wanted to act ourselves.
Starting point is 00:59:50 And so I think the stressful, the month leading up to it was probably, it got at me. I mean, I know like going about a week before it, I was like, we got to do this. And, man, I tell you, it was a big weight lifted off of me when we finally got that thing done because it was working on me. Yeah. And I don't think you said you didn't realize until after. Yeah, afterwards.
Starting point is 01:00:16 When I did it that day, it was kind of, like you said, I was just like dazed out. It was weird, very weird laying in that thing. But the next morning when I woke up was when I had anxiety, I was like, did we just, we just did that? I don't think that was good. I didn't feel like that was good for them. And then I felt bad. I was like, here I go. I put them through that again.
Starting point is 01:00:41 That wasn't good. And then after a day or two, it was like, okay. And we saw the video. Oh, wow. This is great. But the next day. So it was kind of delayed. And then probably why I visited Porter's call was.
Starting point is 01:00:58 Yeah. It kind of grinded on me for a while up to this point. I could tell. It just takes time. That's just what the body's so weird in the mind. Yeah. Everyone's got a different timeline. Everyone's.
Starting point is 01:01:10 There's no handbook to anything going on up in here. Nope. I just think it's so cool and powerful not to take anything away from you, Matt. But just when you say stuff like that, like you were concerned about them, you know, it just shows how big of a heart you have that like, you know, of course everybody went through a lot in this scenario. But, you know, being the guy that was in a coma for 10 days. The one that got freaking shot. In the hospital for 40 days that, you know, saved your brother's life for you to be able to say
Starting point is 01:01:54 you were worried about them, you know, having to relive that. It's just you got a heart of I didn't think about it that way, but now you brought it up that. The next morning I did, that was like, gosh, shouldn't have done that. That was... It just shows the love. I mean, obviously, you guys love each other. Your brothers, but... There's a bond now that started back then, and that's just why we keep doing what we're doing.
Starting point is 01:02:20 We're never going to stop until... Yeah. Till it's over. What is your... That's fine with me because I love watching you guys perform. We're going to do... We're always saying we're going to... going to rolling stone this thing.
Starting point is 01:02:35 Leonard Skinner. We're going to drag it out. Rolling stones, I saw him. I saw him to wheel me up on a wheelchair. I'll swing my arms or whatever. I'm going to play. Yeah, whatever.
Starting point is 01:02:44 I saw somebody at, was it, it was stage coach or Coachella? Was it Axel? He, like, was in, I wheeled him on in his wheelchair. And he just sang from his wheelchair the whole time, like at, like, headlining Coachella. Like, this was a few years ago.
Starting point is 01:03:02 Yeah, because he gave it to Dave Grohl, the chair. Okay. Yeah. Oh, you're talking about Old Dominion? No, well, there's that chair that Axel had, and then Dave Grohl broke his leg, and Dave got it and would rock it down. I think he gave it. Really?
Starting point is 01:03:15 He gave it the Old Dominion. Oh, and they had it because he had it. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Really? Wow. I didn't know Axel had it first. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:03:25 It was his. Oh, that's so funny. Dang. I believe so. Hopefully we don't need to use that. Yeah. Hopefully we're done. What is your guys' hope, dream that people take away from your story and from this song?
Starting point is 01:03:43 I think it's the hope and the perseverance that you can have every odd against you in life and still prevail. You know, and you have to just keep going and keep believing and following that positive light in life. instead of surrounding yourself with all this negativity or that one negative comment or the one person that says something bad. Because that's eaten me up before too. Oh, you know, and just the fact that you can really work hard and surround yourself with the right people that can help you out and, you know, stick together.
Starting point is 01:04:17 And, you know, it's all about family and love and, you know, friendship and just, you know, just the passion to want to do something. And, yeah, I mean, it's a crazy story. And that's just, believe it or not, this is one of the, just the things that, yeah, scratch the service of all those things we've got a lot of fun stories. Things we've been through to get to where we are, you know, and a lot of fun stories, too. So I'll take this as the sob story or whatever. But, you know, it's a, we'll talk about those later.
Starting point is 01:04:49 Yeah, definitely. Well, that's a different podcast. We just hope somebody can find some, some hope in it. Yeah. No matter what you've been through. Yeah, no matter what you've been through, what you're going through. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:05:02 Yeah, you can still find a way to keep going. Yeah. And then you guys are going on tour with Kane Brown. Yes, we are. We're going on the air tonight tour. That starts in two weeks. Yeah, starts in two weeks. We're rehearsing.
Starting point is 01:05:16 Or I don't know when this is Aaron, but. Probably just started. Okay, probably just started. It just started. It just started. You were on the road at this point. That's right. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:05:24 It's funny. We actually had Kane open up for us at our arena know, back in North Carolina for our back home show. And he was just coming out. Yeah. So we do a little small town show in our little East Carolina University. Probably 2,000, 3,000 people. But that was big for us.
Starting point is 01:05:41 I mean, that's huge for us. Yeah. Well, here, what, this was 20, probably 15. Because Kane had just gotten started. He just came to town. We met him through our attorney. And, you know, we knew he was, he was something special, you know. And we're like, let's get him to open up.
Starting point is 01:05:57 and I don't think he'd hardly done any shows. He was just a personality on Facebook and was blowing up. Yeah, I mean, and look at him now. I mean, and now we're on tour with him doing arena. That is so cool. How full circle. It is. He's talked about it last time we spoke to him to.
Starting point is 01:06:15 He said, would you put me in my first arena show? And I was like, I don't know if it was an arena, but it was big for us. It wasn't that big. Now you guys are going to be in. proper arenas. We're going to have a blast. We're really looking forward to it. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:06:32 Dude, that's going to be awesome. We're going to come out and see you guys a couple of times for sure. Yes. So we'll leave links for you guys to go stream to watch this video. You guys need to go watch this music video. It's insane. But thank you guys so much. I honestly think this has been one of my favorite podcast recordings.
Starting point is 01:06:52 You guys just like, you guys should not have the personalities. these you guys should not like it's truly just a story of resilience and love and brotherhood which I think is just like it's it's so cool yeah and you you both have such a light about you that whenever you're in the same room as either one of you it just rubs off on whoever you're with yeah so it's pretty cool we're gonna use that yeah love brotherhood and what you say yeah that's it that's it the story that's it that's it Thank you all so much. I'm glad you're doing this and y'all are doing a great thing.
Starting point is 01:07:30 People need to talk. Thank you. I can't do it without you guys. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much, Matt and Scott, for coming on the podcast, being so open and vulnerable and sharing such precious details of a time. It's not an easy thing to talk about. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:00 And we are just so honored that. they felt safe enough. Yeah. To share about it. And we're just excited for everything that they have coming up. Yeah. And still, it's crazy to say, you know, because they've been doing this for so long. But I still feel like it's only the beginning for them.
Starting point is 01:08:18 Yeah. No, it's so true. They, they're awesome. And they just, they love what they do. Yeah. And it's infectious. We'll leave a link for you guys to check out the music video. I'm going to love you down below.
Starting point is 01:08:30 In the description section, go ahead. head and check it out. Also, they're touring with Kane Brown, our buddy Kane. So excited. We will be there. We will be at one of those shows. We'll Taylor. You should be too. Will Taylor backflip? That is to be determined. Never know. Chances are high. As always, be sure to subscribe and or follow to make sure you don't miss any important episodes, updates that we have for you guys. We love you guys so much. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you have an amazing rest of your day, amazing rest of your week. And we will see you right back your next Wednesday. See you next week.
Starting point is 01:09:06 Thank you so much for squeezing us into your day. Please be sure to rate, review, and follow our pod and check out full episodes on YouTube. You can follow me at Taylor Lautner, my lovely wife, at Tay Lautner. Check out the squeeze on Instagram at the squeeze. And also give a little glance and a follow to Lemons by Tay. That's at Lemonsbytee on Instagram and lemonsbytea.com. And also be sure to email us, Lapner.
Starting point is 01:09:43 Dot the Squeeze Podcast at gmail.com. If you guys have any questions, any guests you'd like to see you. But most importantly, please continue to talk about your journey with those around you and send our show to a friend that you think could use
Starting point is 01:09:54 a little extra squeeze in their life. Absolutely. Tootles McGoodles, everyone. My goodies. This podcast has been brought to you by Podcast Nation.

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