Speaker 1: Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2: So when I'm creating, I think I kind of just
Speaker 2: try to make space for concepts, whether that'll be a
Speaker 2: lyrical concept or just you know, a melodic shape, something
Speaker 2: that feels like it's making a really clear statement. And
Speaker 2: when that pulls at me and I can kind of
Speaker 2: visualize what a full song would sound like from there,
Speaker 2: it then kind of gives way to dialing it in
Speaker 2: and making it a full song.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast, where Buzz Night
Speaker 1: explores the stories behind the music, and today we're joined
Speaker 1: by an artist who's on a songwriting and powerful voice
Speaker 1: have resonated with fans all over the world, Livingstone. From
Speaker 1: his early days crafting songs in his bedroom to sharing
Speaker 1: his music on stages across the country. Livingston's journey is
Speaker 1: a testament to the power of vulnerability and perseverance.
Speaker 3: In this episode, we'll.
Speaker 1: Talk about the moments that shape his artistry, the inspiration
Speaker 1: behind his most moving songs, and what he's learned along
Speaker 1: the way. Buzz talks with Livingston about his new deluxe edition,
Speaker 1: A Hometown Odyssey. A story continues on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 4: Livingston, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 4: It's an honor having you on.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 4: So since the show is called taking a Walk, I'd
Speaker 4: like to ask this question before we get the proceedings going.
Speaker 4: If you could take a walk with somebody who is
Speaker 4: involved with music, living or dead. Who would you take
Speaker 4: a walk with and where do you think you would
Speaker 4: like to take that walk?
Speaker 2: I would love to take a walk with Rick Group
Speaker 2: and at Changri La in Alibi.
Speaker 4: That would be pretty intense, or maybe the opposite, Maybe
Speaker 4: it would be like the most relaxing.
Speaker 2: Then I feel like he has this aura of calm
Speaker 2: around him or at least just like deeper thought, like
Speaker 2: takes you out of the real world and into kind
Speaker 2: of the I choose on shoose Off tooos Off for sure.
Speaker 4: And what is it like making this move from Denton,
Speaker 4: Texas now to the LA based That's a little bit
Speaker 4: of a different stop on the map.
Speaker 2: You know, it's really different, though I categorize my LA
Speaker 2: experience is pretty insulated because I really didn't change much
Speaker 2: about my lifestyle from when I moved from Texas, because
Speaker 2: it was just a move made to focus on becoming
Speaker 2: a better songwriter and producer, which I'm still figuring out.
Speaker 2: You know, it's years of sessions before I even moved
Speaker 2: out to LA, and then years of sessions in LA.
Speaker 2: It's more so just a change that pushed me to
Speaker 2: push myself further as a creator. But most of my
Speaker 2: time is largely spent alone in my bedroom studio. I
Speaker 2: don't really go out, don't go to parties. I don't
Speaker 2: hang out with people that much.
Speaker 5: I'd just kind of do my thing, just like in Denton,
Speaker 5: Texas exactly. It's an amazing story, a hometown. Odyssee, the
Speaker 5: story continues. We're going to talk about that for sure,
Speaker 5: but I do want to ask you, can you share
Speaker 5: a memory from your childhood that first sparked your your
Speaker 5: love for music.
Speaker 2: I remember playing rock Band, this video game, I think
Speaker 2: it was on the Wii, back when those were around,
Speaker 2: and I played with my brother and he would drum
Speaker 2: and I would sing, and it was like just all
Speaker 2: the classics. It was like more than a feel in
Speaker 2: in Summer sixty nine and Message in a Bottle and
Speaker 2: like all this stuff from Boston and Police and Queen
Speaker 2: and like I remember the feeling of like when the
Speaker 2: bridge would come and that part of the song would
Speaker 2: hit that just caught you on a deeper level. And
Speaker 2: you know, I knew I couldn't sing too well, but
Speaker 2: like you know, it was just fun to jam out
Speaker 2: with my brother and that was kind of the first
Speaker 2: seed planet of music.
Speaker 4: I think, well, let's have a little fun with something.
Speaker 4: We'll call it fast five here, so five fast questions.
Speaker 4: First concert you ever attended and how it impacted you.
Speaker 2: Tolbe Mack at the American Airline Center in Dallas, Texas,
Speaker 2: and impacted me because I dressed like him and I
Speaker 2: was standing by B stage and when he came out
Speaker 2: on be stage, he looked at me and he knew
Speaker 2: I was like dressed like him, and he like winked
Speaker 2: at me. And I think it like set my future emotion.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 4: First instrument you ever played out of violin, First time
Speaker 4: you wrote or composed a song, twelve or thirteen. First
Speaker 4: musician you truly admired.
Speaker 2: John Bellian, nice one.
Speaker 4: We're trying to get him on the podcast, by the way.
Speaker 4: First memorable experience performing live in front of an audience.
Speaker 2: You've group when I was thirteen, convinced the youth group
Speaker 2: leader to let me perform in front of everybody. Mike
Speaker 2: was off for the first two songs.
Speaker 3: Oh geez.
Speaker 4: When you're writing a new song, tell us about the
Speaker 4: creative process. How you start. Do you start with lyrics?
Speaker 4: Do you start with melody?
Speaker 3: Is? What is your way of doing it?
Speaker 2: For the longest time, and I think this is still
Speaker 2: my favorite. It's all concepts first. Like I think everything
Speaker 2: that I create and everything that I love has a
Speaker 2: strong why I'm not a big fan of abstract stuff.
Speaker 2: I kind of have a simple palette as a consumer
Speaker 2: and as a listener and as a viewer of art,
Speaker 2: I have like a mainstream kind of you know, maybe
Speaker 2: some would call boring an unnuanced, a pugle, but I'm
Speaker 2: just a sucker for like big, solid, clear, emotional fecius
Speaker 2: to anything that I consume. So when I'm creating, I
Speaker 2: think I kind of just try to make space for concepts,
Speaker 2: whether that'll be a lyrical concept or just you know,
Speaker 2: a melodic shape, something that feels like it's making a
Speaker 2: really clear statement. And when that pulls at me and
Speaker 2: I can kind of visualize what a full song would
Speaker 2: sound like from there, it then kind of gives way
Speaker 2: to dialing it in and making it a full song.
Speaker 4: Your music is incredible. The lyrics are incredible and you're
Speaker 4: twenty two years old, thank.
Speaker 6: You so much, and their lyrics that are certainly of
Speaker 6: someone who could be way older than twenty two years old.
Speaker 4: Where do you get this sense of focus and incredible wisdom?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 2: I don't know if I don't think I'm wise, because
Speaker 2: there's still stuff I find out every day in terms
Speaker 2: of just stumble over my land feet and like figuring
Speaker 2: out like, oh, this is this whole way I was
Speaker 2: going about this thing was flawed and there's a better
Speaker 2: way to do it, and like kind of the more
Speaker 2: you know that you realize, the less you know. So
Speaker 2: I think there's that. But I do kind of approach
Speaker 2: life with a like a really inordinate amount of intensity.
Speaker 2: With everything that I do. It's just very intense. I
Speaker 2: experience sensations really intensely and emotions really intensely, sometimes at
Speaker 2: the cost of it being a little too serious. But
Speaker 2: I think that that helps me out when it comes
Speaker 2: to music, because I look at every song as a
Speaker 2: bit of a life or death. Like, you know, if
Speaker 2: I could if I got hit by a bus tomorrow,
Speaker 2: what would I make today, Which which may be a
Speaker 2: little extreme, but I think that can kind of maybe
Speaker 2: explain some of the intensity or drive to some of
Speaker 2: the songs, because I think that they are our prisms
Speaker 2: for a lot of things that I'm trying to get
Speaker 2: out of my system. Just in case.
Speaker 4: We also produced this other podcast that's called Music Saved Me.
Speaker 4: It's about the sort of the therapeutic and healing power of music.
Speaker 4: And I know for you, you went through some terrible
Speaker 4: times at school and there was bullying and just an
Speaker 4: awful environment. So I do have to ask you it
Speaker 4: has music saved you? And do you think music has
Speaker 4: healing power?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I mean, I think music hit me at the
Speaker 2: perfect time. I think it saved me from whatever else
Speaker 2: I would have found to medicate my issues in middle
Speaker 2: school and high school, the drug to alcohol or partying
Speaker 2: or whatever that the typical and completely understandable advice has
Speaker 2: already kind of drown out the feeling of being alone
Speaker 2: and feeling like other It gave me space to channel
Speaker 2: a lot of negativity into something that, at least to me,
Speaker 2: felt productive at the time. Even though I had nothing
Speaker 2: to show for its demos, I had no idea what
Speaker 2: it would give way to, but I always had a
Speaker 2: feeling about it, and it definitely came at the time
Speaker 2: that I needed it too.
Speaker 4: Your lyrics are so deeply personal. Is there a particular
Speaker 4: song that was especially cathartic for you or particularly challenging
Speaker 4: to write?
Speaker 2: Half Life felt like a turning point moment because I
Speaker 2: remember I wrote that at a time when I was
Speaker 2: just so confused about what to do next, and I had,
Speaker 2: you know, five years of my career under my golt,
Speaker 2: but nothing to really show for quite yet. And I
Speaker 2: remember this feeling of almost rediscovering that initial passion for
Speaker 2: making a statement in a song that felt big and
Speaker 2: clear and universal, and thinking about all the people that
Speaker 2: never sacrificed for me, and all the times in my
Speaker 2: life that I've sacrificed for someone I love, and realizing
Speaker 2: that those moments feels so much more potent than getting
Speaker 2: in these material moments of where things pay off or
Speaker 2: you see the back end of whatever you're doing kind
Speaker 2: of comes to fruition. And I think that song really
Speaker 2: set my course again in a really unclear time.
Speaker 4: How do you know that one of your songs, when
Speaker 4: you're creating, is truly finished. What's the point that you
Speaker 4: know it's done and out the door and done.
Speaker 2: When it sounds like the original visualization of the song
Speaker 2: that I had when the spark hit. Like when the
Speaker 2: spark hits, it's almost like a fifteen second clockwork. Orange
Speaker 2: just blit to that information where I can kind of
Speaker 2: see the entire lifetime of the song play out and
Speaker 2: what it could be and everything that could sound like,
Speaker 2: and then what color it is and what world it
Speaker 2: lives in, and like it's a little glimpse and it
Speaker 2: could last as short as a minute, it can last
Speaker 2: an entire day at the beginning of creating a song.
Speaker 2: But whenever the version that I bounce sounds and feels
Speaker 2: and looks to me like that original spark, I know
Speaker 2: that there's no need to keep, you know, beating it
Speaker 2: over the head, like another idea will come.
Speaker 4: I want to talk about some specific songs off of
Speaker 4: the story continues, but I do want to ask you
Speaker 4: about I think it's probably my favorite of your work,
Speaker 4: and it's Last Man Standing. Can you talk about that kids,
Speaker 4: that song and the motivation behind it.
Speaker 3: It's it is.
Speaker 2: It's stellar, man, Thank you so much. That was That
Speaker 2: was a song I wrote when you know, I felt
Speaker 2: like I didn't have enough to show of what I
Speaker 2: had done. So far to this this person that I
Speaker 2: really really loved, that I'd been with for a really
Speaker 2: long time, and I felt like I didn't have enough.
Speaker 2: You know, I wasn't out here making billions of dollars,
Speaker 2: I wasn't selling out anything. I had nothing, and I had,
Speaker 2: you know, years of having pursued this with nothing really
Speaker 2: to show for it. And I was concerned about, like, hey,
Speaker 2: does this still like am I still worthy to you
Speaker 2: as a as a partner? Can I still give you
Speaker 2: what you need if I don't have, you know, the
Speaker 2: world behind me to kind of prove it. Every time
Speaker 2: I would have that conversation with her, I would just
Speaker 2: get reminded like, hey, you were there before anything, like
Speaker 2: before before you know, the kid to school even knew
Speaker 2: I made music. You know, I've been with this person
Speaker 2: since I was fourteen years old. So I think realizing that,
Speaker 2: you know, when you truly love somebody, it's not about
Speaker 2: what they what they bring into the world, or what
Speaker 2: their dreams are, or how realized their final potential is.
Speaker 2: It's just about I love this person for who they
Speaker 2: are and you know, the way that they see the world.
Speaker 2: And so I think it was me realizing that I
Speaker 2: didn't need to be more than I was or do
Speaker 2: more than I was doing to be worthy.
Speaker 3: It's an incredible song. It's so visual.
Speaker 2: Thanks, it's really fun life. People really seem to get
Speaker 2: into that one and the shows.
Speaker 4: So let's talk about grave Digger off of the story continues.
Speaker 4: Tell me about that song and motivation behind that.
Speaker 2: I think I'm really introspective to a point where I
Speaker 2: can check my thoughts at the door so much that
Speaker 2: it becomes a new censor. It becomes cyclical and repetitive,
Speaker 2: and I can end up getting in my own way
Speaker 2: and being my own worst enemy. And sometimes that really
Speaker 2: frustrates me, And so I wanted to write a song
Speaker 2: about how frustrating that feeling is, to kind of know
Speaker 2: that you are the cause of of whatever you're tripping over.
Speaker 2: It's self induced friction, it's not external. I know a
Speaker 2: lot of people feel like that too. They just want
Speaker 2: to get out of their heads into the world. And
Speaker 2: I definitely resonate with that, so I needed to get
Speaker 2: it out.
Speaker 4: We all do it, right, It's such a common, common flaw, right, Yeah,
Speaker 4: in the human condition, which is what you explore. You
Speaker 4: explore the human condition, not only in your in your
Speaker 4: own self, but in the world around you. How about Look, Mom,
Speaker 4: I Can Fly? Talk about that one.
Speaker 2: I would say, Look, Mom, I Can Fly is the
Speaker 2: exact opposite of Grave Digger. That's that's just a reminder
Speaker 2: not to take things so seriously. It's a reminder of
Speaker 2: every song that I've listened to that just makes me,
Speaker 2: let go have a good time and not you know,
Speaker 2: look for meaning in every single detail, but just kind
Speaker 2: of like you know those days where you wake up
Speaker 2: and you have the roast colored glasses on and everything
Speaker 2: is just like kind of magical and nostalgic, and you're
Speaker 2: not taking yourself to too seriously. There's a lot to
Speaker 2: be said for that feeling, and I don't experience it
Speaker 2: as much as I used to, and so I needed
Speaker 2: to make that song to remind myself of how important
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 4: And I want to talk about a couple of others.
Speaker 4: A glow off of the story continues.
Speaker 2: Glows is a song describing to somebody the power and
Speaker 2: the light that they have even when they don't see it,
Speaker 2: and when they feel like the world is against them
Speaker 2: and they're at the bottom of a very dark place,
Speaker 2: knowing you can't take them out of that you don't
Speaker 2: know exactly what they're going through, but you can still
Speaker 2: see that they're beautiful and they have something to bring
Speaker 2: to the world even in that place.
Speaker 4: And then the last one I want to ask you
Speaker 4: about is Brainstorm.
Speaker 2: Brainstorm is kind of a sister song to Grave Digger,
Speaker 2: and I think it's a little less dark and a
Speaker 2: little bit more visual, and so I think it was
Speaker 2: kind of a kind of improving on the format a
Speaker 2: little bit of I'm going to make a dark song
Speaker 2: about a very introspective thing. Is there a way to
Speaker 2: describe it that feels more grandiose and a little less dark?
Speaker 4: And you recalled the moment you realized that music was
Speaker 4: going to be a career, not just a little side passion.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I got a call when I was I think sixteen.
Speaker 2: I had sent an email with my first song, fairy Tale,
Speaker 2: that I had made the year before, and I sent
Speaker 2: that to someone that I wanted advice from, but I
Speaker 2: didn't know he was an A and R. And he
Speaker 2: told me, okay, I sent this to my boss and
Speaker 2: he signed at Cheeran and all these people and really wants.
Speaker 3: To meet you.
Speaker 2: And that was Greg Nadell, who's a great guy worked
Speaker 2: on Electra Records at the time, and that kind of
Speaker 2: was the moment I was like, Oh, it's been in
Speaker 2: the bedroom, but now it might leave the bedroom, you
Speaker 2: know for a bit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, what has been the biggest surprise or lesson that
Speaker 4: you've learned since entering the music industry?
Speaker 2: Nobody knows what they're doing. Absolutely nobody knows what you're doing.
Speaker 2: There is no formula. Everybody is completely shooting in the dark.
Speaker 2: It is no man's land. It is complete trial and
Speaker 2: error and rubbing sticks together to try to make a spark.
Speaker 2: And the best anybody can do is create authentic things
Speaker 2: and try to make a clear message and you know,
Speaker 2: something that is unambiguous enough to stick out and put
Speaker 2: a foot in the ground on something that is the
Speaker 2: only thread I see behind things that are consistently successful
Speaker 2: in world changing And aside from that, if there is
Speaker 2: any rhyme or reason to this whole industry, I don't
Speaker 2: see it.
Speaker 3: Right on.
Speaker 4: Memorable stories from touring or performing that you might want
Speaker 4: to share that really stand out.
Speaker 2: I know the stories about people who who come to
Speaker 2: the VIP and are like, I haven't been able to
Speaker 2: leave my house for six months, Like I have a
Speaker 2: fear of being around people. I have a fear of noises,
Speaker 2: and you know, I think my my concerts feel really cathartic.
Speaker 2: And so there's base for a lot of people that
Speaker 2: deal with a lot internally. And I love that because
Speaker 2: I think, you know a lot of us, and I
Speaker 2: say us meaning you know, people who experience deep things
Speaker 2: internally and have a hard time sometimes bringing that out
Speaker 2: into the world. The temptation is to make that a
Speaker 2: very insulative experience and to not share it and to
Speaker 2: not have a community. And so all these people I've
Speaker 2: met that are like you know, have I've either dealt
Speaker 2: with immense mental or physical challenges and still find themselves,
Speaker 2: you know, at the shows showing up and kind of
Speaker 2: facing whatever they need to face and using it as
Speaker 2: an emotional outlet just makes it really rewarding for me.
Speaker 4: How do you keep your energy your creativity up in
Speaker 4: the most positive way when you're on the road, since
Speaker 4: the road is can be difficult.
Speaker 2: All I do on the road is train and walk
Speaker 2: and eat and play shows and sleep. That's it. And
Speaker 2: maybe you know, talk to my people every day obviously,
Speaker 2: you know, talk to my talk to my family, you know,
Speaker 2: but largely it's how narrow can I make this experience
Speaker 2: and what variables cross over and help the other ones
Speaker 2: the most. And for me, the more I train, the
Speaker 2: better condition I'm in for the show. The more I rest,
Speaker 2: the better I recover from the show, and the training
Speaker 2: the more I eat, the more fuel.
Speaker 3: I have for this show.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of just this methodical you know, maybe
Speaker 2: two methodical Jenga castle of I can't do everything right
Speaker 2: now while I'm on the road. But if I can
Speaker 2: put on the best show I possibly can every single
Speaker 2: night and then still challenge myself in other ways while
Speaker 2: I'm out, then it feels productive to me.
Speaker 4: It sounds like you make every show as if it's
Speaker 4: your last show.
Speaker 3: You pour so much into it.
Speaker 2: I we say a prayer before we go out every night,
Speaker 2: and the theme of this tour, you know, because we've
Speaker 2: played this set almost one hundred times now, the exact
Speaker 2: same set, and so there's a temptation to go autopilot.
Speaker 2: But then there's a reminder that I say during the
Speaker 2: Prairie night, which is just like it doesn't matter whether
Speaker 2: it's you know, the three hundred person show in New
Speaker 2: Orleans or it's the other night in Salt Lake, which
Speaker 2: is like twenty four hundred people. Everybody gets the same show.
Speaker 2: Everybody deserves the same show. I came from a small town.
Speaker 2: Not all the concerts of my favorite artists would even
Speaker 2: pass through Dallas. A lot of artists ignored Dallas. I
Speaker 2: was like, you know, people are showing up in these
Speaker 2: places where it's even less common and more inconvenience to
Speaker 2: get to a show, and it's not just baked into
Speaker 2: a part of daily life like in these bigger cities.
Speaker 2: They deserve the exact same show as the people in
Speaker 2: the big cities, and often they're even more appreciative of it.
Speaker 2: So it's a constant challenge myself to you twenty six
Speaker 2: shows in a row. There are days where I when
Speaker 2: I feel amazing, and then there are days when I don't.
Speaker 2: But regardless, that shouldn't have an impact on the show
Speaker 2: that people get or the experience they have.
Speaker 4: You've had some great collaborations. I want you to maybe
Speaker 4: talk about some of those people you've collaborated with, and
Speaker 4: I want to ask you what do you look for
Speaker 4: in a collaboration in a creative partner, for.
Speaker 2: Somebody who challenges me and somebody who has complementary skill
Speaker 2: sets that maybe I struggle with her have blind spots with.
Speaker 2: My favorite collaborator who I'm working with extensively right now
Speaker 2: is Rami Yakub, who is a brilliant, brilliant Swedish songwriter
Speaker 2: and my one of my favorite humans in the world.
Speaker 2: And he just has this common sense understanding of how
Speaker 2: a song should be arranged and how the melody should
Speaker 2: flow into each other, and how to build tension and
Speaker 2: release and suspense and have shapes that are just iconic
Speaker 2: within the song. And a lot of times I think
Speaker 2: that can bring a sort of method to the madness
Speaker 2: that is really solid from and really impressive from a
Speaker 2: creative standpoint, and we just work really well together. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I think I think it's challenged, and I think somebody
Speaker 2: who maybe even sees the world in a different way,
Speaker 2: because because if not, why why would I collaborate? You know,
Speaker 2: like I could. I could write with myself all day,
Speaker 2: but I'm only one me and I only have I
Speaker 2: have my little narrow pinhole through which I view the world.
Speaker 2: Why not bring in someone who's lived a different life.
Speaker 2: Maybe we could challenge each other, Maybe we could have
Speaker 2: a different perspective on the same thing and then those
Speaker 2: things collide and make something fresh.
Speaker 4: And how about a dream collaboration that would just, you know,
Speaker 4: knock you out, man.
Speaker 2: It might be like it might be like a really
Speaker 2: fun camp at Shanger Law for the third album, like
Speaker 2: a like Rick Rubin, but also bringing in all the
Speaker 2: people I've looked up to, Like if it could be
Speaker 2: a camp with like I don't know, like Rommy Bellian,
Speaker 2: Rick freaking Jeff Basker, Barell like that. To me, it's
Speaker 2: how many pots and pants can we bang together? And
Speaker 2: like sent Decide was like all this stuff I grew
Speaker 2: up on and then also just be around great which
Speaker 2: that the thought of that even being possible is just
Speaker 2: kind of crazy to me.
Speaker 4: What do you hope listeners take away from your music?
Speaker 2: I just want people to feel heard, and I don't
Speaker 2: want I don't want people to feel as if their
Speaker 2: unique internal experience separates them from the rest of the
Speaker 2: world or from their potential. And I think you can
Speaker 2: still create amazing and beautiful and profound things even if
Speaker 2: you have something that you feel like slows you down.
Speaker 2: And it's really really easy to compare and look at
Speaker 2: other people and you can come up with one hundred
Speaker 2: reasons you're not good enough. But if you look at
Speaker 2: all the people that have made something exceptional, a lot
Speaker 2: of them had a lot slowing them down, and sometimes
Speaker 2: a lot more than us slowing them down. So I think,
Speaker 2: you know, get out of your head, get into the world,
Speaker 2: find what you love to do, and if my songs
Speaker 2: could be a small part of empowering that, then that's
Speaker 2: that's all I want to do.
Speaker 4: Congratulations on the tour on a hometown to see the
Speaker 4: story continues.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I just I just have one last question.
Speaker 4: When you're at the point when you're playing stadiums, would
Speaker 4: you consider coming back on.
Speaker 2: AR would absolutely just give me a call.
Speaker 3: Thank you man, I really appreciate it. Living Stone's and
Speaker 3: an honor.
Speaker 2: Thank you boss, Thank you for your time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Speaker 1: Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
Speaker 1: and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
Speaker 1: a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: and wherever you get your podcasts.