WEBVTT - Bilal 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:23.116 Pushkin Ballah has a brilliant new project out called as Brightness. 0:00:23.516 --> 0:00:27.316 It's bold, cinematic, and his most cohesive project since his debut. 0:00:28.036 --> 0:00:30.236 And if that one't enough, he's also just dropped Live 0:00:30.276 --> 0:00:33.596 at Glasshouse, an intimate live recording that captures the magic 0:00:33.636 --> 0:00:36.676 of his performances where the band is tight, the vocals 0:00:36.716 --> 0:00:40.876 are loose, the energy is electric, and anything can happen. Today, 0:00:40.876 --> 0:00:43.516 ball talks about the making of a Just Brightness, how 0:00:43.516 --> 0:00:47.756 he prepares for his explosive live performances, and why chasing freedom, 0:00:47.876 --> 0:00:51.436 both musically and spiritually, has always been his north star. 0:00:54.516 --> 0:01:03.636 This is broken record, real musicians, real conversations. Here's my 0:01:03.716 --> 0:01:08.276 conversation with blaw. Your high school is pretty. 0:01:09.716 --> 0:01:11.316 I went to a performing in ours high school too. 0:01:11.316 --> 0:01:15.916 We had everybody, well, boys, the men, the roots, a 0:01:16.036 --> 0:01:22.956 mill of the room, Chris McBride, yup, christmacbride, Joey d Francesco. 0:01:22.996 --> 0:01:26.596 Joey Diferen, RP Man. He was phenomenal. 0:01:27.236 --> 0:01:30.076 But yeah, we had some cats. None of them was 0:01:30.116 --> 0:01:31.236 there when I was there. 0:01:31.316 --> 0:01:35.716 But the roots and boys to men are kind of 0:01:35.756 --> 0:01:37.876 like I guess I'm not infamous, but for lack of 0:01:37.876 --> 0:01:40.396 a better word, the infamous class from your your high school. 0:01:40.436 --> 0:01:42.556 But you were, you were a good deal younger man. 0:01:42.676 --> 0:01:46.796 So yeah, I'm like, geez, I don't know what year 0:01:46.996 --> 0:01:50.796 they graduated, but I think we were like maybe almost 0:01:50.876 --> 0:01:53.476 ten years, if not ten years apart. 0:01:53.876 --> 0:01:57.236 Yeah, were you aware of them growing up? 0:01:58.036 --> 0:01:58.236 Yeah? 0:01:58.276 --> 0:02:01.276 I was aware of them just in the school. The 0:02:01.836 --> 0:02:09.396 teachers that would brag about them. Man, some of them 0:02:09.396 --> 0:02:12.236 would still come up to the school like jam with 0:02:12.516 --> 0:02:15.436 jam with us. I remember Chris mas Bride used to 0:02:15.476 --> 0:02:19.036 come up and jam with our our jazz band all 0:02:19.076 --> 0:02:22.676 the time. And at the I think that was right 0:02:22.916 --> 0:02:27.556 the year before our like big I guess mister King. 0:02:27.636 --> 0:02:33.076 He was like our big time choral teacher. So boys 0:02:33.076 --> 0:02:34.596 and men used to come all the time and just 0:02:34.636 --> 0:02:37.156 hang out with him. So we see boys and men 0:02:37.236 --> 0:02:37.796 all the time. 0:02:38.756 --> 0:02:41.396 That's insane because that means they were as big as 0:02:41.436 --> 0:02:42.556 he could get at that time. 0:02:43.436 --> 0:02:46.276 Yeah, and he used to always say they still used 0:02:46.276 --> 0:02:48.476 to still like he would always rag on them, but 0:02:48.516 --> 0:02:51.796 they loved it. They you know, like y'all still don't 0:02:51.836 --> 0:02:56.916 sing the harmony like I tort you. But we all 0:02:56.956 --> 0:03:05.556 hated mister King, but we loved him. No, he's passed, 0:03:05.756 --> 0:03:07.636 he passed, but you know, he was just one of 0:03:07.636 --> 0:03:13.716 those strong minded Germans, German men, German guy. Yeah, but 0:03:13.796 --> 0:03:17.716 he was so soulful and just like I learned a 0:03:17.756 --> 0:03:20.396 lot from him and just about emotions and the music 0:03:20.476 --> 0:03:20.956 and stuff. 0:03:20.996 --> 0:03:23.796 And man, he. 0:03:23.716 --> 0:03:27.596 Was just really into the music. You know, he didn't 0:03:27.596 --> 0:03:29.756 care that we were kids. He would cuss and everything, 0:03:29.796 --> 0:03:33.076 but it was music first over everything. 0:03:33.516 --> 0:03:35.596 I learned that from him. And he's passion. 0:03:35.756 --> 0:03:39.156 Like I didn't even know music could give you goose 0:03:39.236 --> 0:03:42.116 bumps or you should be in search of the goose 0:03:42.196 --> 0:03:46.036 bump effect as a musician until mister King. You know, 0:03:46.116 --> 0:03:48.796 he taught us all about that, like how to truly 0:03:48.876 --> 0:03:53.876 get emotion out of out of music or to draw 0:03:54.476 --> 0:03:57.076 an emotional reaction out of the listener. 0:03:57.596 --> 0:03:59.756 Like how would he teach that? 0:04:00.516 --> 0:04:03.156 He was just look for a certain tamper of the 0:04:03.276 --> 0:04:07.916 voice or a certain dynamic of the music, like certain dynamics, 0:04:08.116 --> 0:04:13.836 like something going from extremely loud to soft automatic light 0:04:14.716 --> 0:04:18.956 abruptly it does something emotionally to the listener, and then 0:04:18.996 --> 0:04:22.596 if it goes big again and then you know, you play, 0:04:22.956 --> 0:04:23.836 you play with volume. 0:04:23.916 --> 0:04:27.956 It kind of like it has an emotional play. 0:04:28.276 --> 0:04:31.716 That explains a lot about about your your music. And 0:04:31.716 --> 0:04:35.036 your approach to music one because I was thinking about, like, 0:04:35.076 --> 0:04:39.156 I've seen you many many times and your I mean, 0:04:39.196 --> 0:04:42.876 it might it might sound kind of tripe to sort 0:04:42.876 --> 0:04:46.116 of say that it appears to me that you treat 0:04:46.396 --> 0:04:49.276 your voice almost more like an instrument. But anytime I'm 0:04:49.276 --> 0:04:52.116 going to see you live, as opposed to any other singer, 0:04:52.276 --> 0:04:56.196 it always feels much more like an improvisational thing, in 0:04:56.276 --> 0:04:59.996 search of like a really high high or in search 0:05:00.036 --> 0:05:02.836 of a moment. And sometimes I've been to the shows 0:05:02.836 --> 0:05:05.196 where like that moment is like it's it's there, and 0:05:05.356 --> 0:05:07.436 sometimes that you could tell us that you didn't quite 0:05:07.436 --> 0:05:09.636 find it, or was it or the audience to find it, 0:05:09.716 --> 0:05:13.116 or there was some disconnect. But it's one of the 0:05:13.116 --> 0:05:15.676 things that is addicting about going to see you is 0:05:15.716 --> 0:05:17.356 just like what's it going to be tonight? It's almost 0:05:17.356 --> 0:05:19.156 like going to see you know. I just kind of 0:05:19.156 --> 0:05:21.396 got around to finally seeing The Grateful Day a few times, 0:05:21.596 --> 0:05:23.956 and I'm like, I get why people follow them, because 0:05:24.116 --> 0:05:26.716 at night to night, it's like what's it going to be? 0:05:27.036 --> 0:05:27.236 You know? 0:05:28.596 --> 0:05:32.036 I love that. I mean, that's the whole jazz thing 0:05:32.716 --> 0:05:38.476 for me. I got that out of going to school 0:05:39.076 --> 0:05:42.716 for jazz, hanging out with all jazz cats my whole life. 0:05:42.876 --> 0:05:46.956 You know, Improvisation was just a big deal for me 0:05:47.436 --> 0:05:50.916 early on. So when I would go to write my music, 0:05:52.036 --> 0:05:55.716 I always try to leave little pockets and spaces that's 0:05:55.796 --> 0:05:58.756 like unknown and you have to like kind of make 0:05:58.796 --> 0:06:02.756 it up when you get there. So every night when 0:06:02.796 --> 0:06:05.676 we play, it's just it just so happens to be different, 0:06:06.476 --> 0:06:09.956 and I think that's a cool thing. It makes it 0:06:10.076 --> 0:06:13.836 fun for me, you know, playing these songs over and 0:06:13.876 --> 0:06:14.316 over again. 0:06:14.796 --> 0:06:17.956 Yeah. Do you do you have a do you have 0:06:17.996 --> 0:06:21.676 a reliable way at this point of like a routine 0:06:21.956 --> 0:06:23.876 or anything that you can do to sort of get 0:06:23.916 --> 0:06:27.316 you closer to achieving something than. 0:06:27.636 --> 0:06:31.916 Not like to start to like get ready for the show. 0:06:32.076 --> 0:06:33.396 Yeah, I start to get ready for the show. Is 0:06:33.396 --> 0:06:35.036 there anything you can do that you feel like, even 0:06:35.036 --> 0:06:36.676 if it's just like you know, like an athlete might 0:06:36.716 --> 0:06:40.476 have like a like a little ritual that's like might 0:06:40.516 --> 0:06:42.116 not even be real, but like I gotta wear my 0:06:42.116 --> 0:06:44.356 green socks or whatever. It's just or it might not 0:06:44.396 --> 0:06:49.436 be that silly. But no, I don't. I don't I 0:06:49.436 --> 0:06:50.076 think I should. 0:06:50.156 --> 0:06:52.636 I think I started off having one, but then it 0:06:52.796 --> 0:06:58.396 just tanked. I used to try and have a little ritual, 0:06:58.436 --> 0:07:00.876 but I think I just keep forgetting the ritual. 0:07:01.556 --> 0:07:03.556 So my ritual is no ritual. 0:07:06.596 --> 0:07:08.396 What were you trying to implement as like. 0:07:08.516 --> 0:07:10.476 No, because I used to be like, yeah, before the show, 0:07:10.516 --> 0:07:12.316 I'm gonna do some push ups, you know what. 0:07:13.876 --> 0:07:16.436 I'm gonna just get my jump rope that I'll leave 0:07:16.476 --> 0:07:17.796 my jump rope at the hotel. 0:07:20.476 --> 0:07:22.436 We don't have enough time to do push ups or 0:07:22.436 --> 0:07:24.516 I'm like out of breath, so I'm like, I'm not 0:07:24.556 --> 0:07:27.156 doing that no more. So I'll just try to get 0:07:27.156 --> 0:07:30.476 into a little common space, like before the band goes out. 0:07:30.636 --> 0:07:34.756 Maybe I'll just sit there a little longer with my 0:07:34.916 --> 0:07:35.716 sunglasses on. 0:07:35.836 --> 0:07:38.116 Maybe I don't know. 0:07:39.036 --> 0:07:41.716 I just try to get into avoid place where I 0:07:41.716 --> 0:07:43.316 don't really care no more. 0:07:44.076 --> 0:07:48.036 You know, And what does what do you think that 0:07:48.196 --> 0:07:51.876 brings to the what you do? 0:07:51.956 --> 0:07:56.756 It just takes away from the expectations and. 0:07:58.916 --> 0:08:00.836 Trying to prove something or. 0:08:02.516 --> 0:08:05.756 Really caring to you know, and just get up there 0:08:05.756 --> 0:08:09.236 and do do what I do. I see myself as 0:08:09.116 --> 0:08:12.716 a channeler, you know. When I'm going up there, I'm 0:08:12.796 --> 0:08:18.116 kind of channeling from my higher self or like my 0:08:18.236 --> 0:08:22.436 perfect self. So I kind of like try to forget 0:08:23.156 --> 0:08:26.356 my hurtfully self, you know what I mean? Yeah, try 0:08:26.396 --> 0:08:27.476 to forget everything. 0:08:28.396 --> 0:08:30.436 Yeah, so it helps bring you into the get rid 0:08:30.476 --> 0:08:32.156 of the expectation and bring it to the moment. 0:08:32.596 --> 0:08:36.316 Yeah, when it works, sometimes I literally forget everything and 0:08:36.356 --> 0:08:43.156 then I forget the words, and but when it's right on, 0:08:43.796 --> 0:08:47.996 you know, I forget all of the negative stuff. 0:08:48.036 --> 0:08:51.196 That's great. Is it a similar approach in the studio 0:08:51.556 --> 0:08:54.796 when you go into the studio. No. 0:08:55.196 --> 0:08:57.556 In the studio, I want to feel everything, you know, 0:08:57.716 --> 0:09:03.276 I want to be open to every everything in the room, 0:09:03.396 --> 0:09:06.276 everything that's coming to me, so I can try and 0:09:06.356 --> 0:09:09.876 make the studios where I try to make sense of everything. 0:09:10.196 --> 0:09:13.756 So I'm just overanalyzed. And sometimes I have to stop 0:09:13.796 --> 0:09:18.636 myself from overanalyzing because that's just what happens in is 0:09:18.796 --> 0:09:22.156 you can stop, think, take a break, come back to it. 0:09:22.196 --> 0:09:26.916 But on stage it's just all go, you know. 0:09:27.836 --> 0:09:30.116 Is it too many inputs live? Is that kind of 0:09:30.116 --> 0:09:32.876 why you maybe have to blunt some of that or 0:09:32.876 --> 0:09:35.116 try to block it out versus in the studio, where's 0:09:35.116 --> 0:09:36.076 a little more controlled and. 0:09:36.036 --> 0:09:37.956 A little more well. 0:09:37.956 --> 0:09:40.316 In the studio, I think that's where a lot of 0:09:40.356 --> 0:09:43.156 the input most especially if people like if I'm working 0:09:43.196 --> 0:09:47.356 with other people, because you know, it's just everybody's giving input, 0:09:47.436 --> 0:09:50.956 everybody's giving them opinions, like all in real time, just oh, 0:09:51.196 --> 0:09:54.356 maybe do that again or you you know, I might 0:09:54.556 --> 0:09:59.756 think I just nailed something like that's that's something. 0:10:00.516 --> 0:10:04.956 Like what I gotta like, I gotta battle my ego, 0:10:05.116 --> 0:10:08.636 Like all right, I'll do it again, you know what 0:10:08.676 --> 0:10:14.356 I mean? So uh, in the audience, if somebody says 0:10:14.356 --> 0:10:15.196 it sucked, I'd be. 0:10:15.156 --> 0:10:18.716 Like, great, let's let me let me stay on that 0:10:18.796 --> 0:10:22.196 note even more like it's like I'm the smartest suck 0:10:22.356 --> 0:10:25.156 shit in your face now, you know what I mean. 0:10:26.116 --> 0:10:29.196 I turned it to the villain maybe on stage, but 0:10:30.276 --> 0:10:33.876 in the studio, I'm just very analytical of everything. 0:10:33.916 --> 0:10:36.196 You know, I'm like, I sit with everything. 0:10:37.316 --> 0:10:39.596 Has that been true your entire recording career too, you think? 0:10:39.676 --> 0:10:42.596 Or is it has that changed a bit from when 0:10:42.596 --> 0:10:44.556 you first got in the studio? But the first album, Firstborn, 0:10:44.596 --> 0:10:48.196 second too, just brightness. 0:10:48.196 --> 0:10:52.436 Now I think it's changed as far as like who 0:10:52.516 --> 0:10:57.276 I bring in the studio to give me that their opinions. 0:10:57.756 --> 0:11:01.076 You know, when I first started off, like I didn't 0:11:01.076 --> 0:11:03.996 have to say who was in there, giving me their opinions. 0:11:04.036 --> 0:11:07.596 You know, everybody felt like they were there to mold me, 0:11:07.756 --> 0:11:09.756 and you know I was just too listen, you know. 0:11:10.076 --> 0:11:12.956 Yeah, so that's gotta be a weird position too. 0:11:13.956 --> 0:11:15.876 Yeah, it was. 0:11:15.956 --> 0:11:18.996 It took some getting used to, especially when I first 0:11:19.116 --> 0:11:26.476 started recording, because I came straight from university college, you know, 0:11:26.876 --> 0:11:33.836 just straight artsy kind of thing, and I was I 0:11:33.836 --> 0:11:36.236 think when I first started off, I was a lot 0:11:36.316 --> 0:11:40.676 more defensive because of that, because I was just very 0:11:40.756 --> 0:11:43.436 militant on what I wanted to do, how I wanted 0:11:43.476 --> 0:11:45.796 to do it. And I was like that in school, 0:11:46.036 --> 0:11:48.356 you know, like I went to a I went to 0:11:48.436 --> 0:11:51.436 a music conservatory and all I did was argue with 0:11:51.476 --> 0:11:56.716 the teachers all day. 0:11:59.356 --> 0:12:00.836 So they were happy to see me go. 0:12:01.676 --> 0:12:03.676 You know, do you ever did you keep up with 0:12:03.676 --> 0:12:06.156 any of them or not? Was it really? 0:12:06.196 --> 0:12:06.636 Yeah? 0:12:07.036 --> 0:12:10.836 One of my one of my like most infamous teachers, 0:12:10.836 --> 0:12:14.316 we wounded up being really close, Janet Loss, and she 0:12:14.476 --> 0:12:19.596 passed not too long ago, but we started off really 0:12:19.716 --> 0:12:24.036 rocky because she was like a vocal teacher. And my 0:12:24.156 --> 0:12:26.316 whole thing was I don't want to study with no singer. 0:12:26.436 --> 0:12:29.636 Singer suck, you know, I don't want to study with 0:12:29.756 --> 0:12:31.556 nobody that sings jazz. 0:12:31.276 --> 0:12:39.076 Like and she kind of had that same mentality. But 0:12:40.756 --> 0:12:45.756 jazz musicians it's almost like athletes. I look at jazz musicians. 0:12:45.756 --> 0:12:48.836 They have the same sensibility of athletes, you know, and 0:12:48.876 --> 0:12:50.636 they will sit there and argue with each other and 0:12:50.716 --> 0:12:53.436 just I always want to one up, or let's battle. 0:12:55.276 --> 0:12:57.836 You're not playing changes quite right. But so that's what 0:12:57.916 --> 0:13:00.036 me and her would get into the arguments of I 0:13:00.036 --> 0:13:02.116 don't like the way you sing over that, and I'm like, 0:13:02.356 --> 0:13:04.316 this is jazz. I can sing it over all ever 0:13:04.396 --> 0:13:06.116 I want. And she's like, yeah, but you're not singing 0:13:06.156 --> 0:13:09.116 the chort changes. And it's like my whole thing was 0:13:10.516 --> 0:13:13.996 I would go to jazz theory class and be like, yeah, 0:13:14.036 --> 0:13:19.276 but you do know this is theory, so you're just 0:13:19.316 --> 0:13:20.876 telling me your theory of how to do it. I 0:13:20.956 --> 0:13:23.956 don't have to do it like that, though, And that 0:13:24.036 --> 0:13:26.076 would just whoa. 0:13:27.436 --> 0:13:27.996 Kick off. 0:13:28.556 --> 0:13:32.396 That would kick off, especially for like the older jazz musicians. 0:13:32.556 --> 0:13:35.636 Oh man, it will almost be like, all right, let's 0:13:35.636 --> 0:13:37.916 in the class and go out and take this outside then, 0:13:37.956 --> 0:13:40.116 young man. 0:13:45.516 --> 0:13:47.076 But they remember me because of that. 0:13:47.156 --> 0:13:51.916 You know, a lot of times in university, the students 0:13:51.956 --> 0:13:58.236 don't really challenge the teacher, you know, and when they are, 0:13:58.316 --> 0:13:59.276 they're like shut down. 0:13:59.436 --> 0:14:02.316 So I just refused it. 0:14:02.756 --> 0:14:02.956 You know. 0:14:02.996 --> 0:14:07.796 I didn't really want to do vocals anyway, you know, 0:14:07.836 --> 0:14:10.036 and I felt like I want to do I wanted 0:14:10.036 --> 0:14:12.116 to be a musician, but the musicians do want it 0:14:13.356 --> 0:14:16.596 wouldn't want to accept me. I was just like a 0:14:16.796 --> 0:14:21.516 mad villain, just walking around, this grumpy. 0:14:22.716 --> 0:14:27.076 That's painful man, Like. 0:14:26.836 --> 0:14:28.916 Hey guys, I can scat. 0:14:29.716 --> 0:14:29.756 No. 0:14:30.796 --> 0:14:33.556 It wasn't until I really started like, man, I'm gonna 0:14:33.556 --> 0:14:37.116 I'm gonna start learning change it, just like the cats, 0:14:37.276 --> 0:14:37.556 you know. 0:14:39.196 --> 0:14:40.756 Where it started to work out for me. 0:14:40.836 --> 0:14:45.836 And then I when I discovered Bobby McFerrin, it was. 0:14:45.796 --> 0:14:47.796 Over, Yo, tell me about that. 0:14:47.876 --> 0:14:52.196 Man, Like Bobby McFerrin was just he didn't even use 0:14:52.436 --> 0:14:55.556 words much and I was like, that's that's that's my 0:14:55.676 --> 0:14:59.556 stick right there, Like I don't he really turned his 0:14:59.676 --> 0:15:04.876 voice into an instrument and that really like it turned 0:15:04.876 --> 0:15:07.356 the light on in college for me. 0:15:08.156 --> 0:15:09.996 Man, I gotta I gotta digg into some Bobby. 0:15:10.956 --> 0:15:13.396 Yeah, he did a whole album that the one that 0:15:13.476 --> 0:15:17.316 really like got me. He did a whole album with 0:15:17.396 --> 0:15:20.876 Chick Area, just him and Chick Area what and it 0:15:21.036 --> 0:15:27.076 was just magic. And my friend of mine, well, Robert Glasper, 0:15:27.916 --> 0:15:30.636 we went to we went to college together and we 0:15:30.756 --> 0:15:33.716 got to see chick Corea and Bobby do duet at 0:15:33.716 --> 0:15:36.636 the Blue Note and it was boom, just like. 0:15:37.116 --> 0:15:42.836 Wow, wow, wow, when did when did you get put 0:15:42.836 --> 0:15:43.316 onto him? 0:15:43.836 --> 0:15:45.196 In college? Right? 0:15:45.436 --> 0:15:48.276 I knew I knew Bobby being fair and from the 0:15:49.076 --> 0:15:54.476 you know, don't worry, be happy. But in college I 0:15:54.476 --> 0:15:58.876 would hang out at the the Vinyl library a lot 0:15:59.076 --> 0:16:01.276 and just listen to vinyl all day. 0:16:01.476 --> 0:16:03.756 Is that that was at your square, to vinyl library 0:16:03.796 --> 0:16:06.636 at your school. That's really cool. 0:16:06.876 --> 0:16:11.316 That's another place to like really like did something to 0:16:11.316 --> 0:16:11.996 me musically? 0:16:12.156 --> 0:16:14.716 You know. It wasn't really the classes. It was like 0:16:16.156 --> 0:16:19.036 developing arguments and then going to the vital. 0:16:18.796 --> 0:16:21.436 Library to prove my theories. Yeah. 0:16:21.556 --> 0:16:25.956 Yeah, so yeah, I felt that. I was like, yeah, 0:16:26.116 --> 0:16:29.476 this is it, Like he was really even the way 0:16:29.516 --> 0:16:32.476 he was getting he was like challenging chit, you know 0:16:33.356 --> 0:16:38.956 even and that's like chick Rea like wow, Biden fairness, 0:16:39.276 --> 0:16:40.716 nasty nasty. 0:16:40.316 --> 0:16:42.636 Word, that's really wild, because yeah, all I knew him 0:16:42.836 --> 0:16:45.596 for was I don't want to be happy as well, 0:16:45.676 --> 0:16:47.316 and I love that as a kid by the way, right, 0:16:47.356 --> 0:16:49.036 I mean I still love it now, but it's great. 0:16:49.076 --> 0:16:52.476 I mean even though you know, man another the number 0:16:52.476 --> 0:16:54.276 one jam you know, I mean public enemy kind of 0:16:54.276 --> 0:16:57.396 turned me off for a minute, but still still. 0:16:57.436 --> 0:17:01.236 Not only not only in the jazz world, but also 0:17:01.316 --> 0:17:05.876 even in a classical world. He's like an accomplished uh. 0:17:07.476 --> 0:17:12.716 For the you yeah really high up? 0:17:13.116 --> 0:17:17.356 Wow? Have you gotten to hang with him? No? 0:17:17.756 --> 0:17:20.756 But I know his his children, his his his daughter 0:17:22.796 --> 0:17:29.716 Maddie mc ferrence, Madison, uh Madison. I known her for 0:17:29.876 --> 0:17:34.636 a minute. I know him his tailor, Taylor for a 0:17:34.676 --> 0:17:39.356 long minute. So yeah, I'm gonna Taylor from like when 0:17:39.396 --> 0:17:42.516 I first moved to New York. Really m h no, 0:17:42.636 --> 0:17:45.956 I didn't even know that that was his dad was 0:17:45.996 --> 0:17:47.036 Bidy mcpherrins, So. 0:17:47.036 --> 0:17:49.476 That like blew my mind when I found out about that. 0:17:49.716 --> 0:17:50.876 Yeah, that's pretty. 0:17:50.836 --> 0:17:56.676 Because he when I met Taylor, he was doing interesting 0:17:56.716 --> 0:18:00.716 stuff like that through the beat boxing and he would 0:18:00.756 --> 0:18:04.316 be boxing then be playing keys at the same time school. 0:18:04.556 --> 0:18:06.836 So it was almost like on that same kind of 0:18:06.916 --> 0:18:10.276 thing but taking it to another level. 0:18:11.716 --> 0:18:14.996 This message is brought to you by Starbucks. Years before 0:18:15.036 --> 0:18:17.876 Broken Record, I actually used to work at Starbucks and 0:18:17.956 --> 0:18:20.676 to this day, I'm still a loyal customer. I love 0:18:20.716 --> 0:18:23.396 seeing the new seasonal menu items rolling out across the year, 0:18:23.676 --> 0:18:25.836 and just today I went to my local Starbucks to 0:18:25.876 --> 0:18:29.636 try the new Strato Frappuccino blended beverages. They're the perfect 0:18:29.636 --> 0:18:33.956 addition to the summer lineup. The Strato is the Starbucks frappuccino. 0:18:34.036 --> 0:18:36.836 You know, in love with the new spin, A crave 0:18:36.876 --> 0:18:39.596 worthy ice blended beverage take into the next level with 0:18:39.676 --> 0:18:42.516 the dreamy layer of rich, creamy cold foam on top. 0:18:43.076 --> 0:18:46.316 Today I tried the salted caramel Mocha Strato Frappuccino and 0:18:46.396 --> 0:18:49.676 that blend of salty and sweet and a creamy, cold 0:18:49.676 --> 0:18:52.716 blended drink was out of this world. It's the perfect 0:18:52.756 --> 0:18:55.436 way to kickstart a warm summer day. And you know, 0:18:55.516 --> 0:18:57.956 I want to remind you that Starbucks isn't only known 0:18:57.996 --> 0:19:01.596 for their expertly crafted, high quality beverages, but also for 0:19:01.636 --> 0:19:05.236 their inviting, vibrant cafe atmosphere. And something that I've always 0:19:05.316 --> 0:19:08.436 loved about the cafe ambiance is the coffee house music 0:19:08.436 --> 0:19:10.916 that plays in the back while you're enjoying a coffee 0:19:11.076 --> 0:19:14.636 or a freshman. Strato frappuccino. The coffee house genre. You 0:19:14.636 --> 0:19:18.556 can probably imagine the sound driven by acoustic instruments, relaxed 0:19:18.636 --> 0:19:23.036 vocals drawing from folk and jazz influences, lyrics so personal 0:19:23.076 --> 0:19:24.916 they sound like they'd been written in a journal an 0:19:24.956 --> 0:19:28.436 hour before recording. What we know is coffee house music 0:19:28.516 --> 0:19:31.196 has a deep history, and to understand the sound, we 0:19:31.236 --> 0:19:33.636 have to start with the space. If you were a 0:19:33.676 --> 0:19:36.236 young singer, songwriter, or something to say, you started in 0:19:36.276 --> 0:19:39.956 coffee houses. You had folk singers, poets, and visionaries passing 0:19:39.956 --> 0:19:43.916 around guitars and exchanging ideas in equal measure. Bob Dylan 0:19:43.956 --> 0:19:46.396 played his earliest gigs and cafes in Greenwich Village in 0:19:46.396 --> 0:19:50.156 New York City. So did James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez. 0:19:50.276 --> 0:19:52.796 The list goes on. They were all fixtures in coffee 0:19:52.836 --> 0:19:56.236 houses around the country and around Canada. Coffee houses were 0:19:56.276 --> 0:19:59.516 proving grounds, no backing band, no effects, just a guitar 0:19:59.556 --> 0:20:03.316 and a voice and of course a delicious beverage on hand. 0:20:03.956 --> 0:20:06.996 Over time, its sound has evolved from folk to indie 0:20:07.076 --> 0:20:10.156 rock to aubeaut acoustic playlist, but at its heartbeat, there's 0:20:10.156 --> 0:20:14.396 simplicity and connection that mirrors the cafe experience, and still today, 0:20:14.636 --> 0:20:18.876 coffee houses remain creative hubs. There where screenwriters start new scripts, 0:20:18.996 --> 0:20:21.956 where podcasters work on an outline for their next episode, 0:20:22.196 --> 0:20:24.636 where someone strums a guitar may be thinking about an 0:20:24.676 --> 0:20:27.316 open mic night. Places like Starbucks are part of the 0:20:27.356 --> 0:20:31.476 coffee house tradition. It's a place where music lives alongside creativity, 0:20:31.996 --> 0:20:35.556 and the strato frappuccino fits perfectly in that tradition. Their 0:20:35.556 --> 0:20:39.236 team dreamed up the cold foam flavors, the dreamy blended layers, 0:20:39.516 --> 0:20:42.276 and the feeling you get with each creamy sip. So 0:20:42.356 --> 0:20:44.516 here's to the sound of the Starbucks coffee house in 0:20:44.596 --> 0:20:47.636 the summer, not just the music, but the atmosphere, the 0:20:47.676 --> 0:20:51.236 conversations and the creativity, the rhythm of espresso being pulled, 0:20:51.636 --> 0:20:54.356 a friends catching up of a lyric being written down 0:20:54.476 --> 0:20:56.956 for the first time, from the first chords played in 0:20:56.956 --> 0:21:00.356 a Greenwich village cafe to the playlists we queue up now, 0:21:01.076 --> 0:21:03.836 and here's to the drinks that pair with it. Your 0:21:03.876 --> 0:21:09.596 strato frappuccino blended beverage is ready at Starbucks. Who else 0:21:09.636 --> 0:21:12.076 free at that time, like when you were developing, like 0:21:12.196 --> 0:21:15.276 vocally was or not even vocally, just whether it's vocal 0:21:15.356 --> 0:21:18.436 a vocalist and instrumentalist. Who was who was like pouring 0:21:18.436 --> 0:21:20.316 into at that time, like in that vinyl library? What 0:21:20.356 --> 0:21:22.636 were you? Do You think that still sticks with you 0:21:22.676 --> 0:21:23.596 even maybe too? 0:21:24.116 --> 0:21:30.436 Oh well, I got into Indian music like Robbie Shankar was. 0:21:30.516 --> 0:21:32.996 I was deep into Robbie Shankar because I started to 0:21:33.036 --> 0:21:37.716 try and try to figure out my own like special 0:21:39.236 --> 0:21:43.436 phrasings or special vowels for scatting. 0:21:43.916 --> 0:21:44.236 Wow. 0:21:45.116 --> 0:21:50.076 So I went down this school like uh rabbit hole 0:21:50.276 --> 0:21:59.436 of Japanese throat singing and uh and in Indian music. 0:21:59.596 --> 0:22:01.836 And that would help you change, like think about how 0:22:01.876 --> 0:22:03.036 to approach vowels. 0:22:03.236 --> 0:22:06.436 Yeah, because a lot of their the throat singing they 0:22:06.436 --> 0:22:10.396 could they had this method. The only other person I've 0:22:10.396 --> 0:22:16.516 seen that has mastered it is uh Layla Hathaway's. 0:22:17.076 --> 0:22:19.396 She can sing like three notes at once like a 0:22:19.516 --> 0:22:26.516 chord like be like a minor chord like what Yeah. 0:22:26.396 --> 0:22:31.036 She can like separate her vocal corus to play three 0:22:31.116 --> 0:22:32.036 notes at once. 0:22:32.596 --> 0:22:33.516 And she can do it. 0:22:33.636 --> 0:22:34.836 Like how you learned that? 0:22:36.636 --> 0:22:38.556 I don't I keep it. I don't know. 0:22:38.676 --> 0:22:40.796 I asked her how. She said she was born knowing 0:22:40.836 --> 0:22:45.116 how to do it. Wow mm hmmm, Wow. 0:22:46.236 --> 0:22:47.116 Yeah, I don't know how. 0:22:47.236 --> 0:22:48.996 I don't know how she did it, but I know 0:22:50.276 --> 0:22:51.916 there's it's a genre. 0:22:57.156 --> 0:22:58.556 It's definitely a genre. 0:22:58.876 --> 0:23:04.716 So that and Robbie Shanekarr and his daughters and dope 0:23:05.036 --> 0:23:09.956 Indian music. They they get into NBA two between notes, 0:23:10.556 --> 0:23:15.356 so our scals like eight notes or like seven notes, 0:23:15.396 --> 0:23:18.796 and then it goes into that octive note. They have 0:23:20.036 --> 0:23:24.836 this thing called ghost notes where there's like semi tones, 0:23:25.756 --> 0:23:32.236