Episode 644: Lauren Denitzio (Worriers)

[00:00:00] The band I do for a really important because the band is self-sufficient. I try very hard

[00:00:20] to not do anything that the band doesn't financially support on its own. So I think

[00:00:28] that even just that is a really good place to be where I can afford to compensate all my

[00:00:35] bandmates and the people that go on the road with us and do all the things we want to

[00:00:41] do as a self-sufficient entity for sure. But then I don't necessarily focus on paying

[00:00:50] all of my other bills that way.

[00:00:54] That becomes a problem at some point. I don't know if you're there yet, but at some point

[00:00:58] that will come back to hunt you, I think.

[00:01:02] When I was going to ask it previously whether having being in a band with musicians who are

[00:01:10] in these big band bands, whether that makes things difficult, but I suppose there's

[00:01:17] another upside to it is that they don't have to rely on this specifically for their

[00:01:24] income.

[00:01:25] Sure, well I think it's more than I'm fortunate to work with people who are in other projects.

[00:01:40] I've been the only person in Warriors who is really just doing Warriors. So regardless

[00:01:47] of the level of the other bands that they're in or the activity that people have in other

[00:01:55] bands, it's always been much more about the collaboration for this particular project

[00:02:03] or for one particular tour, or working on an album together and not as much.

[00:02:09] Well we're all in the band together and depend on that for not just income but creative

[00:02:19] fulfillment and just general creative commitment. I don't expect anybody in the band to just

[00:02:29] be doing Warriors 100%. Although our guitarist Frank comes pretty close, he's pretty great.

[00:02:38] Everybody else comes in and out and I don't expect people to be clearing their schedule

[00:02:46] forever for Warriors.

[00:02:50] Is there an extent to which you do have to work around their schedules?

[00:02:55] Yes and no, I mean for recording because obviously the people that I'm writing with and

[00:03:01] recording with, there is some of that but people are only available so much at the time.

[00:03:07] But for touring it's always been set up where if somebody can come on the tour great,

[00:03:15] like there's always kind of the first round folks that I ask first but then if they

[00:03:21] can't then we just find somebody else. It's definitely not disposable in any way but

[00:03:29] they're generally cool with that and that's how we're able to tour all the time.

[00:03:32] I think it would be a lot more difficult if I had been committed to a singular line

[00:03:39] up this whole time.

[00:03:41] Think about Fraud's especially, as I'm sure you are, I'm a big hold city fan and I like

[00:03:47] pretty much all their stuff but man those albums that he's on, you know what I mean?

[00:03:53] That stuff that he wasn't on, I liked it all but boys and girls in America there's

[00:03:59] something that he brings to a record that you just can't duplicate.

[00:04:05] No, I mean that's the thing.

[00:04:07] It's like I feel very thankful to have just known him for a long time and to finally be

[00:04:15] able to work with him and he contributed so much to the last record and has played

[00:04:22] some shows with us.

[00:04:23] I'm hoping he'll play more shows with us.

[00:04:26] You know we have some backing tracks at shows when he's not around so that we can still

[00:04:32] have the piano parts, yeah.

[00:04:33] So it's all there because that's the thing it's like it's not just something that you

[00:04:42] can emit from the song and have it still sound like the song you know, you know it's

[00:04:48] like we can't play some of those songs unless there's keys or like I don't want to.

[00:04:55] So we find a way to make it happen.

[00:04:57] Is it just that it's like difficult to find another keyboard player for live shows

[00:05:03] or is it just that nobody can do exactly what he does for the band?

[00:05:08] It's probably a little bit of both.

[00:05:10] He's definitely, but I mean that style of playing is not something that everybody can do.

[00:05:18] And in my mind it's better to find someone who can excel at that and do that really well

[00:05:27] than try to make it fit for someone who's like not really great at that or who that style

[00:05:36] doesn't really come naturally.

[00:05:37] So yeah, I don't know.

[00:05:41] We just make it work, I guess.

[00:05:44] Got the sense reading something about you that was really in the last you know few years

[00:05:50] or several years that you really kind of took it to the next level this band as far as

[00:05:55] this being like your thing that you do.

[00:05:58] Sure.

[00:05:59] I mean, I think it was definitely in the past few years that I really, I just became

[00:06:08] more comfortable with it being the fact that like I am the songwriter of the band that

[00:06:14] is my project.

[00:06:16] That you know that I could make that more obvious than a parent in it because I don't for

[00:06:29] a long time like I really don't necessarily like my face on things.

[00:06:33] It's not, it's not the point like I'm not, I don't like you know necessarily being

[00:06:39] the center of attention even though I am the lead singer in the band.

[00:06:44] So yeah, I don't think it was until the past few years that I made it about my songwriting

[00:06:51] and less about what the other people I'm collaborating with necessarily wanted or you

[00:06:57] know what people expected of a quote unquote band or like what we had sounded like in the

[00:07:04] past.

[00:07:05] So yeah, I think that's correct.

[00:07:08] What does it mean beyond again obviously being the songwriter and the lead singer?

[00:07:12] What does it mean to center yourself?

[00:07:16] I mean I think you can talk about a band for everyone who's in it.

[00:07:23] I think you can talk about a band as this kind of nebulous creative energy, this entity

[00:07:33] that I just think there's a different language around bands than there is when you talk

[00:07:43] about a person and their story and their trajectory like across many different projects

[00:07:54] or something.

[00:07:57] You know I just think there's a different way of talking about it and I think coming

[00:08:02] up in the scene that I did, there wasn't a lot of, like it was kind not looked down

[00:08:08] upon but you know it wasn't always a dumb thing to have it be like a solo project.

[00:08:14] So I think it took me a while to be more comfortable with that even though that's what it was

[00:08:19] for many years but I think talking about it that way was more comfortable for me.

[00:08:28] You're talking about punk?

[00:08:30] Yeah, yes.

[00:08:33] Such a fascinating topic for me.

[00:08:35] I'm from the Bay Area originally.

[00:08:37] I used to go to Gilman Street and it's really interesting now having conversations especially

[00:08:43] with people who are quite a bit younger than me about all of these now in hindsight seemingly

[00:08:52] to a certain extent are betray rules that we lived our lives by and all of that's just

[00:08:57] kind of out the window now.

[00:08:59] Yeah it's very out the window and I mean there's certainly still values and ethics that

[00:09:07] I stand by but you know I, there's certainly a lot that was prescribed but I realized

[00:09:21] doesn't really make a difference.

[00:09:23] So I purely hypothetically you know if we talk about like licensing music or something like

[00:09:29] you're not going to, you're probably not going to be an exon commercial like you know but

[00:09:34] the mere idea of licensing music now is not it doesn't have the same kind of, I guess

[00:09:46] I would say that people are just happy that musicians can find a way to actually make

[00:09:51] a living doing music.

[00:09:53] I think that is the thing.

[00:09:55] It's like once you get over the hump of it being something that you are being compensated

[00:10:01] for I think that a lot of people now realize how hard it is to just exist, just to exist

[00:10:10] under capitalism just as anybody let alone a musician or an artist so it's like hey if

[00:10:15] you can find a way to do this and not necessarily be supporting horrible companies you know

[00:10:22] if you can stay true to yourself a little bit, you're better than a lot of people are

[00:10:29] you're doing better than a lot so yeah.

[00:10:32] I mean in addition to the kind of I guess a punk ethos being an issue center yourself

[00:10:41] early on it seemed to me you kind of alluded to a bit of maybe insecurity you had about

[00:10:47] yourself as a songwriter in the early days.

[00:10:51] I don't necessarily think that I was insecure about myself as a songwriter but I think

[00:11:00] I was very happy to collaborate with people and make it more of a group effort and not

[00:11:11] try to act like I knew everything already.

[00:11:14] I think it took me a long time to figure out songwriting for myself you know so yeah

[00:11:22] I think it was just a different approach.

[00:11:26] It wasn't about being deferential necessarily.

[00:11:29] Not entirely because I think for most of the time that Warriors has been abandoned it

[00:11:36] has been like you know I have the final say with things like it is at the end of the day

[00:11:42] my music but I think I um yeah it just it didn't uh I don't even know how to put it

[00:11:57] in a circle because it's not it's not that I can look back on things and and and think

[00:12:01] like oh like I didn't actually really like this part or like we shouldn't have been playing

[00:12:05] this this way but um I think I was just thinking more about it as a band and a much more collaborative

[00:12:12] effort um then maybe I do now or I think the people that I have been making music with are

[00:12:23] are people that are that are very confident in what they do but are also very supportive

[00:12:29] of what I'm trying to get at and um it's really nice to be in a room with people who

[00:12:34] um you know just just want to serve the music and serve the song and figure out what it is

[00:12:42] that I'm trying to go for and and you know we all try to move towards that um but yeah

[00:12:50] I don't know I think it's hard it's hard to verbalize not to put words in your mouth and maybe

[00:12:56] what you're getting at is walking that line and and and I'm sure it can be really difficult

[00:13:02] I don't when I do creative creative things it's it's a little less collaboration but walking the

[00:13:07] line between trusting yourself but also recognizing like there's a reason why this is the person

[00:13:12] that I chose for this because I very much trust them to make the music yes yeah 100%

[00:13:19] the things you learned over the years as a songwriter you know what what kinds of things do

[00:13:24] you know now that you didn't then oh I mean I think it's it comes from a lot of just taking apart

[00:13:38] my favorite songs you know like playing a lot of covers learning like spending a lot of time in

[00:13:44] the studio learning why certain songs sound the way they do um in a way that if you're not making

[00:13:51] music why would you think about that you know like why why would you think about like levels of

[00:13:55] compression on vocals or how things are layered or how certain things are ecu'd and how the

[00:14:02] bass cuts through more and it's like really nerdy stuff that I don't I think earlier on I was

[00:14:11] it felt like

[00:14:15] the only the only people who really cared about that were people who were just trying to gatekeep

[00:14:20] or trying to be like very um like overly invested in gear so I think um yeah it just I mean it

[00:14:32] just takes a while it takes experience it takes playing music for a long time and figuring out what

[00:14:37] you like and why you like it um that uh that I definitely learned a lot and and and I had a lot

[00:14:44] more time to sit and make music by myself at home over the past few years for obvious reasons

[00:14:53] that like when when it was kind of forced on me that I couldn't I didn't live anywhere near any

[00:14:59] of my bandmates we couldn't get in a room together that wasn't impossible so I had to at a certain

[00:15:06] point just try to build songs on my own like without having somebody on other instruments and I

[00:15:13] sent stuff back and forth like that's definitely how um the the newest record started was was sending

[00:15:20] demos back and forth so um but it was but it was definitely my having to sit there and figure out

[00:15:29] like oh I'm writing this bait so I start to finish you know like I'm I'm layering vocals here because

[00:15:36] what else am I doing like I can't wait to be in the studio it's not gonna happen so

[00:15:41] so yeah there was definitely a lot of a lot of that but I think a lot of people now if you're

[00:15:46] start if you're just starting out playing music and you have all these tools at your disposal

[00:15:50] of course that's how that's where you're probably starting but but that's just not where my mind

[00:15:54] has been for a long time so is it fair to say that part of this idea of centering yourself um came

[00:16:02] out of necessity of of having to be the main driver I think definitely yeah for sure um

[00:16:11] I don't I don't I wasn't uh they didn't have to drag me kicking and screaming but it was definitely

[00:16:18] like okay well I guess this is happening now because it just kind of has to

[00:16:22] the pandemic had that effect on people in a lot of different ways you know for me it was like

[00:16:28] well I guess I can't not go to therapy anymore you know it was it was something of just like being stuck

[00:16:33] at home and just having to like yeah live with yourself yeah it's kind of miserable to be honest

[00:16:42] yeah what was definitely like okay well if I'm if I can't you know hang out with my friends and

[00:16:49] make music all the time what is the what what's the music that I want to be making what does it sound

[00:16:57] like like what what am I actually having fun with um because at the end of the day then that's

[00:17:04] like that's all that matters I just got to be really stoked on what I'm making so is that something

[00:17:12] that you I mean it seems obvious but is that something that you had to learn that that was

[00:17:19] what you need to focus on um I mean I think I thought for a long time that there were certain

[00:17:27] types of music or certain types of songs that were like in the Warriors Wheelhouse

[00:17:33] that I could write music that was for other people and I still do want to write music that maybe

[00:17:38] other people play but um

[00:17:44] I I think I did need to learn that oh like no I can I can pull this off like I can I if I'm going

[00:17:54] to write music that doesn't necessarily sound like an indie punk band that's fine like

[00:18:02] no one no one's gonna freak out it's fine just make the stuff that I think is really fun and

[00:18:10] well that that's yeah that's kind of what I'm getting at is you know it's not just like

[00:18:14] playing the music and being open to play other things and not worrying about um what people

[00:18:20] think about it but centering having fun playing music not everybody has fun playing music and a lot

[00:18:27] of great music is not particularly fun right yeah fair fair um yeah and I mean our it's like I wouldn't

[00:18:37] necessarily call all of our songs quote unquote fun but I do really enjoy playing them and um

[00:18:48] um want to have that sort of joy in making music even if it doesn't always sound like you know

[00:18:55] a bouncy pop song all the time this is crass but anytime you talk about like money and making

[00:19:00] living doing something it is but like at the end of the day if this isn't something that

[00:19:07] you know is making you a fortune then I mean that's enjoyment is as good a motivation as any

[00:19:16] sure I mean I think it's it's less that I mean but it I do still rely on it to exist though like

[00:19:29] for so like you're not doing this because it's making you a ton of money you could do so yeah it's

[00:19:35] no it's not like oh I hit I hit the uh jackpot on some viral song and so then like

[00:19:43] people know me for that's why I have to keep doing that no it's and that is that's that's true

[00:19:48] and I'm kind of glad that that has not happened the cover song is interesting because obviously

[00:19:54] you know obviously a lot of bands like that's that's how they start right and whether it's

[00:20:00] like playing direct covers or it's just being like so influenced by other artists that it's

[00:20:06] that it's hard to shake it but that does that continue to be a part of your process like a dozen or

[00:20:12] so years in sure I mean I just I look you know just messing around and playing cover songs even if

[00:20:19] it's just at home I mean in 20 I think it was yeah in 2020 2021 we put out a covers EP that was

[00:20:28] all the covers we had had to record for basically for live streams

[00:20:35] and yeah that stuff's still really fun like I think like especially when we go on tour throwing

[00:20:41] in a cover is always something I like to do um I think people really respond to it because it's

[00:20:48] also like I don't necessarily always cover the most obvious songs that you would think we would cover

[00:20:54] so then you kind of learn something about the band you like or something's like oh they actually

[00:21:01] all really love this band that I wouldn't have thought you know um so that's been that's been really

[00:21:07] what are some of the more left-field examples um I mean the one I always think of is that like

[00:21:13] I we've covered Fleetwood Mac and uh everybody let's sleep with everybody let's sleep with my foot

[00:21:20] like like water we did a uh and maybe this was like before a lot of younger people were

[00:21:29] were really talking about well I talk about viral sensations there was that dude on the skateboard

[00:21:34] with the cranberry juice that I love that song yeah but see this the thing I think it was before

[00:21:40] that we did a Fleetwood Mac cover set at Fest and I would I just thought it would be funny

[00:21:50] you know and I thought I was like oh but our friends would like this you know this this this

[00:21:54] this would be a music the contrast of of it all yeah or just like you know I'm sure we all

[00:22:00] grew up with our parents listening to Fleetwood Mac in some way it's like you know some of the

[00:22:04] songs so I just thought it would be fun and people just lost their minds like it was it was

[00:22:14] just such a strong reaction um that uh I think yeah it was just surprising to me at that point

[00:22:23] I was like oh okay I guess we all like Fleetwood Mac I didn't realize and um but it wasn't something

[00:22:30] I expect like that I think you would have known about um me or my bandmates necessarily beforehand

[00:22:39] yeah I think it's one of those things it's like yacht rock you know we're like for a long time

[00:22:43] people are very secretive it's like yeah of course everybody likes this this is music for everybody

[00:22:49] sure yep um so did you how much of the the not new how much of the latest record did you

[00:22:59] actually record at home the latest record none of it um yeah none of it warm warm blanket I recorded

[00:23:06] all myself at home except for for drums that Adam recorded separately in a studio but um trust

[00:23:13] your god it was 100% in the studio I had nothing I had nothing to do with tracking any of that um

[00:23:22] yeah is there a sense in which that was kind of a reaction to the last album of having to do it all

[00:23:27] yourself um not uh not in the way you might think I think I think I from learning a lot through

[00:23:39] doing a lot of recording myself I think I had a better understanding of the value of going to a studio

[00:23:48] you know of you know working with specific people and specific studios or just you know

[00:23:58] relying on people who had who had better tools than I do to make it happen so um

[00:24:05] so yeah I think I just I knew that if it was going to sound how I wanted it to sound

[00:24:13] that other people needs to be involved and that's fine would you ever repeat that earlier experience

[00:24:19] if it wasn't out of necessity um I mean I think I would I mean I certainly continue to record

[00:24:30] at home but I think I would I would probably even even though the feedback about warm blanket has

[00:24:37] not been like oh this sounds like shitty home demos um I think I would probably frame it

[00:24:44] more as demos or at home recording um because I like being able to have fun with stuff that way

[00:24:51] and not have it be 100% polished so um I like giving myself that that freedom to kind of mess around

[00:24:59] and it's like okay this is going to sound kind of low five but also fine um

[00:25:05] but just not to be precious with it for like a decade we've been talking about this idea of

[00:25:12] the internet opening up you know distribution and not having to go through like record labels

[00:25:16] and all this stuff and certainly there are plenty of bands that do take advantage of it but I

[00:25:20] I'm surprised that over the last I guess four years now um that you know after doing all

[00:25:30] after doing home recording and that after doing these live home performances that more bands are

[00:25:38] continuing to do that you know just in terms of like obviously you know you're

[00:25:44] we grew up at a time when when proper records were were important so that's still important to you

[00:25:49] but there is this there is this immediacy and there is this outreach that you can tap into by

[00:25:55] doing things that way sure um no I mean I think um it it still has changed the way that I

[00:26:05] make music and think about you know recording and releasing songs um I think probably moving forward

[00:26:14] I'll probably end up doing more short form work um just in terms of not not necessarily always

[00:26:23] having a BF full album but um yeah there is that immediacy and and and having some more tools

[00:26:31] at my disposal now it's been really fun to figure out what I want that to look like and or even

[00:26:37] just like we recorded a song for um for this comp that um it was a it's final only and technically

[00:26:49] like if the song isn't released anywhere else and but I had the tools to do that like we did

[00:26:56] we tracked all of that on our own and then and then I had um I think it was jack surely mixed it

[00:27:02] and um you know that was just something that we could do in a week you know or like over a few days

[00:27:10] everybody goes to a studio records their stuff and then and then we have a song that we can put out

[00:27:15] and and I think the projects like that are really really fun I'm glad to do more of that

[00:27:22] one thing I think about all the time because you know I was doing a show for a couple years before

[00:27:30] the pandemic started but you know since the pandemic started and I guess is you know still very

[00:27:35] much going on um I got COVID two weeks ago for the fourth time um it that I I don't know that I

[00:27:45] have had maybe one or two conversations on this podcast that where COVID hasn't like come up in

[00:27:53] some way or another you know obviously part of the creative process and just our emotional states

[00:27:58] and the way we live our lives but I am wondering if like I don't know do we ever get to a point

[00:28:06] where to a certain extent the trauma of the last three years doesn't inform everything we do

[00:28:15] I mean I think that I would like to be able to frame it as having learned what can be taken away

[00:28:27] really quickly and then not taking things for granted yeah just being able to make decisions based

[00:28:34] on like you know what I could not have this opportunity tomorrow like we're doing a couple tours

[00:28:39] this spring that um you know or not are not the easiest to just get up and do and but but it's very

[00:28:47] much like I have I have no idea what's going to happen like you just have like if this sounds fun

[00:28:53] and exciting um then then we should be doing it and you know when when projects or opportunities

[00:29:01] are thrown my way at this point it's it's very much like well do I actually want to do that you know

[00:29:06] like is is that really what how I want to be spending my time and if it's not then I don't and it's

[00:29:13] not but and I don't think of that as having experienced trauma that's like like in a bad way it's

[00:29:20] like oh okay I've learned that um like how to prioritize things I guess I mean that's a very

[00:29:26] pragmatic answer to to the question but you know you I'm sure experienced trauma to a certain extent

[00:29:33] like all of us did it was really hard yeah a few years not that things were particularly good

[00:29:38] prior to that but and not that not to say obviously for reasons we've discussed this isn't like

[00:29:44] your pandemic album but like subject matter it seems to still continue to inform the songs you

[00:29:52] write yeah well I mean I think that the I think that the things I was thinking about politically before

[00:30:04] the pandemic are things that I'm that are maybe more obvious to people now and that I just

[00:30:14] have continued to be be outspoken about um so yeah because that's the thing I don't I don't think

[00:30:24] that what I what I have addressed in the record is actually like all that different than things

[00:30:30] I've talked about before but but yeah certainly the past few years haven't haven't formed a lot of

[00:30:41] my outlook on things I was talking to our mutual friend Caroline before this um and you know

[00:30:50] with like double checking that you're not not buying area obviously like want this information

[00:30:55] before you know so yeah you know just to to respect people's identities but one of the things I

[00:31:02] said to her was my weekend project is gonna be going we've got like 630 some odd episodes is

[00:31:10] going through and uh like updating all the names and the pronouns because something that I realized

[00:31:20] recently like doing some back-and-stuff for the podcast is how many people since the show started

[00:31:29] like 10 plus years ago have transitioned it's it's it's incredible like just the the the

[00:31:34] sheer number and I think I mean I it's interesting but also like not entirely unexpected when you do

[00:31:40] a show where you need to be creative people that like yeah well especially if you have like 600

[00:31:46] episodes you know it's like there's gonna be a solid percent that like maybe you may have

[00:31:51] I'm sure there are 600 episodes of a lot of podcasts where where that is in the case but if

[00:31:56] you're talking to like musicians and writers and people who are generally like left of center

[00:32:00] than that makes that makes a lot of sense um is that something like I know I know that is a

[00:32:07] subject that you do tackle in music obviously because it's you know it's a big part of your life

[00:32:13] and your identity but is that something that's come more to the front for you in recent years?

[00:32:20] uh I feel like this is a boring answer but no okay no it's a fine answer right no I mean I

[00:32:28] I think um yeah not I think that's the thing it's like it's it's so almost um

[00:32:38] like not a non-entity but just like

[00:32:43] I I feel like it's so much a part of me in my perspective that I just

[00:32:50] I write from my perspective but I don't necessarily point that out necessarily um and I think that if

[00:33:04] that I think anyone's experience with with gender can kind of identify with a lot of what

[00:33:10] I end up thinking about in that regard you know like it's um

[00:33:15] um sometimes sometimes more obvious than others that I'm that I'm talking about um you know

[00:33:22] my specific relationship with gender or androgyny in general um and

[00:33:30] but yeah I think it's oh it's like I forget sometimes it's like I don't I don't think

[00:33:36] about it as much as as you would think but yeah this this is gonna sound real rich coming for

[00:33:42] from me you know but that there is uh there is a privilege in that and not having to think about

[00:33:48] that all the time yeah oh absolutely I mean um you know I say that also like living in Los Angeles

[00:33:58] and like when I travel I'm often with people who um you know are obviously on the same page as

[00:34:07] me and and you know whatever but um no certainly there's a ton there's a ton of privilege there

[00:34:15] and that's not to say that I'm not like conscious of um my gender when I'm out in public um but

[00:34:24] but I think what I'm making art it doesn't um it's less about me and and maybe more about

[00:34:32] the politics surrounding it or like what else is happening in the world so yeah

[00:34:36] and that's what I was getting at and that's why there was that very awkward transition between the

[00:34:40] pandemic to this subject um I asked because obviously like listen there's never been a point in

[00:34:48] American certainly American history where where it's been like easy to be you know consider yourself

[00:34:55] on the LGBT spectrum but like I don't and I don't know how much of a role the kind of the pandemic played

[00:35:04] in this to a certain extent just because of you know that it brought out the extremes and everybody but like

[00:35:11] man it's like this that's the battlefield sure yeah I mean it's like it's like masks and and that

[00:35:20] you know I mean which is insane and makes sense yeah thank god like DeSantis isn't running for

[00:35:26] president you know obviously the alternatives aren't great but but like he made his career with that

[00:35:33] yeah well and it's just and I think I think that's the thing and what is so frustrating is that

[00:35:41] you know I've I've been queer and I identified as such for the majority of my life

[00:35:48] and have had various you know political experiences with that of like acceptance or not and

[00:35:56] and seeing the um you know political climate regarding that change over time in general it was

[00:36:06] getting better for a long time um and now there's this backlash that's just like what is even what

[00:36:15] I just don't I mean I know where it comes from but I but it's it's so disappointing and

[00:36:21] frustrating because of all the work that's gone into creating safer spaces and creating acceptance

[00:36:29] and awareness and like especially for kids you know um that the fact that now people are obsessing

[00:36:40] over things that um like I thought maybe we were past that and um it's just it's it's it's weird

[00:36:51] people need to get a life like leave people alone like you know what I mean like it's just so it's

[00:36:57] so strange to me um and and upsetting so um yeah I don't know phrasing it that way that that we

[00:37:07] that these were things that we had we're um we had gotten past um you know I thought that

[00:37:16] obviously not entirely but um that we had done a right guess it took a long time but a relatively

[00:37:23] good job of you know um having more representation you know and like and and and making things like

[00:37:32] slightly better for for for people of color and and the the the Trump presidency during it and

[00:37:42] since then I continue to kind of ask myself how much of my of that sentiment is because things

[00:37:51] were moving that direction and now there's a backlash and things are regressing and how much

[00:37:55] of it is just me again being in my very very privileged position and just not seeing a lot of that

[00:38:01] stuff happen sure I mean I think that's the thing it's like everybody's in their own little bubble so

[00:38:08] you're gonna think it's like fine and that's why I mean like I you know I live in a major metropolitan

[00:38:13] area my perspective on um you know anything really is is is very colored by like what I'm seeing

[00:38:23] on a day-to-day basis and you just have to be conscious of the fact that like not everybody has it

[00:38:30] that easy not everybody can walk down the street you know safely all the time and um

[00:38:37] and I think that yeah I mean that's the thing it's like you just have to be aware of that

[00:38:43] of that privilege at a certain point and um

[00:38:45] and yeah it's just it's very it's very frustrating and sad when when you see people um

[00:38:55] like actively try to turn back the clock you know and it's just it's not it's not helping anybody so

[00:39:04] it's it's hard the sense that these battles have to be fought all over again and that you can't

[00:39:11] focus on the next thing is extremely frustrating sure yeah oh totally are you back in L.A.

[00:39:17] is that what you said mm-hmm okay when did that happen um I moved out to L.A. about five years ago

[00:39:26] okay so you were in L.A. well you were in Brooklyn at one point your NLA you moved to Philly

[00:39:33] and then moved back to L.A. no I lived in I lived in Brooklyn for a long time I briefly moved

[00:39:38] to Philadelphia and then I moved to Los Angeles okay got it got it yeah uh that makes more

[00:39:44] sense yeah um no I like listen I live in New York and and and I love Philly but that that makes

[00:39:50] more sense to me um I'm saying to somebody who's from San Francisco oh cool well this right yeah so

[00:39:57] uh what what brought you out to the west coast I just really liked it

[00:40:03] uh yeah um no I mean I uh I have not been tied to a city for a job in a long time and we got to

[00:40:15] the band got to a point where we were really just touring like we could never really play local

[00:40:18] shows so there was no point in my necessarily staying right where my bama is work as we couldn't

[00:40:24] we weren't really playing local shows anyway so um so I just I decided to go where it was nice

[00:40:34] and sunny all the time and where I had some cool friends and yeah it was just a better it's

[00:40:40] better fit for me out here I think so I've seen you allude to this in in conversations before again

[00:40:52] I'm from the Bay Area so it's very similar but um so ever since go is different in that it's

[00:41:02] Silicon Valley and that you know there's this thing of um you know walking down

[00:41:11] market street and walking past like the twitter headquarters um and then like it's right by

[00:41:18] the tetherloin and you know people are shooting on the street out there and it's um it's always been

[00:41:26] home you know unhoused people that that's always been something that the city has had to grapple with

[00:41:34] but it's it's gotten so hard lately and that certainly applies to LA you know I haven't been there

[00:41:41] in a few years but last time I was there I had to do something in the arts district and

[00:41:48] drove through skit row and it's like an entire an entire city out there and it's just it's really

[00:41:55] mentally it's really hard to reconcile those things of just like the good lives that people

[00:42:02] are living in Los Angeles and then the number of people who are like struggling to get by

[00:42:08] sure I mean but I think I think it's the same situation in most places in the country

[00:42:17] to be honest well the west coast in particular though because I was in um I was in Vancouver a couple

[00:42:23] months ago and Vancouver that that crisis is possibly like worse than yeah no I think that's

[00:42:34] the thing it just shows itself in different ways um yeah I'm just getting at that the weather is

[00:42:40] really nice there so people know what to spend the winter in Toronto if they can't live inside

[00:42:45] no for sure yeah so they definitely it definitely happens a lot more in in um yeah

[00:42:51] in southern California for sure because it's just a lot easier to exist if you don't have a lot of

[00:42:55] resources so which is sad so yeah yeah put kind of put a damper on how nice it is living in Los Angeles

[00:43:06] is there any you know you said you said that your job it doesn't tie you to a place but in

[00:43:13] 2024 are there any benefits obviously L.A.'s uh an industry town for um for movies and film but I mean

[00:43:22] also also traditionally music too are there are there benefits on the music front oh sure yeah

[00:43:27] yeah yeah yeah I mean that's the thing it's like um there I have lots of friends out here who are

[00:43:35] involved in music in a ton of different ways that aren't just being an abandoned um that aren't

[00:43:40] just being a songwriter um which I think is is something that I hadn't experienced before so it's

[00:43:46] it is really cool it's a I mean it's just such a creative city um that you know no matter

[00:43:51] what you're interested in or you know what your art form is there's a place for it here so

[00:43:56] that that was definitely that definitely made me feel better in moving out here that I was like well

[00:44:00] whatever happens there's always going to be something there that I want that I want to be a part of

[00:44:05] so yeah it strikes me that your this sort of newfound focus this newfound centering um

[00:44:15] is is really paying off in a big way I mean I'm looking at your tours and I'm looking at the people

[00:44:21] that you're playing with and it really it seems like things are really coming together over the last

[00:44:25] couple of years yeah I can't complain it's I think that's the thing it's like I just um leaning into

[00:44:35] certain things and just following where where I really wanted to go I think has has let us do some really

[00:44:44] some really fun things and had some really great opportunities come up so I mean the tours this

[00:44:50] spring are just are the best and um and it's it's it's just a really nice place to be for sure

[00:44:57] yeah I mean it seems like a big secret to to your recent success is just like getting

[00:45:03] popular bands really into your band I mean it doesn't it doesn't hurt to just be nice to people

[00:45:11] you know just so just to like be friends with people and it's not it's not like a pulling strings or

[00:45:18] um you know trying to like rub elbows with people it's literally just like the the people that

[00:45:25] we're touring with are people that I've known for a long time at this point um and it just it

[00:45:32] just happens that our paths can cross in a fun way right now so um yeah I'm really uh I'm

[00:45:38] I'm psyched that that kind of stuff can can pay off down the line

[00:45:44] okay any headlining tours in the future not not for a while probably not for a while

[00:45:50] but um because we just did like two months of that so I'm a little headlined out but um we'll see

[00:45:57] we'll see maybe later this year

[00:46:13] and i'll see you next year