WEBVTT - Bartees Strange 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:24.596 Pushkin. Bartis strange is an amalgamation of musical styles. Listen 0:00:24.636 --> 0:00:26.956 to any given song on his newest release, From to 0:00:27.036 --> 0:00:30.276 Table and you can hear hints of Earliott's emo, auto 0:00:30.276 --> 0:00:33.996 tuned hip hop vocals, and country blues, all housed in 0:00:34.116 --> 0:00:38.436 an indie rock veneer. Bartiz wide reaching sound makes perfect 0:00:38.436 --> 0:00:42.396 sense given his Midwest upbringing and early influences. He was 0:00:42.476 --> 0:00:45.036 raised in Mustang, Oklahoma, as one of the few black 0:00:45.116 --> 0:00:47.596 kids in an area still rife with the threat of 0:00:47.676 --> 0:00:52.436 racial violence. As a young teenager, Bartiz discovered Christian hardcore music, 0:00:52.716 --> 0:00:54.836 and for the first time, he felt at home in 0:00:54.916 --> 0:00:59.676 a scene that embraced outsiders of all kinds. After graduating college, 0:00:59.676 --> 0:01:01.956 Bartisse moved to d c where he joined the labor 0:01:02.036 --> 0:01:05.196 movement and worked with President Obama as a press secretary 0:01:05.316 --> 0:01:08.716 at the FCC. Overcome with the urge to play music, 0:01:08.796 --> 0:01:11.156 barti He's moved to Brooklyn when he was twenty five 0:01:11.436 --> 0:01:14.916 and found a bunch of musical collaborators. In twenty twenty, 0:01:15.036 --> 0:01:19.476 he released his genre bending debut album, Live Forever. This year, 0:01:19.516 --> 0:01:22.476 Bartiz dropped his follow up album, Farm to Table to 0:01:22.596 --> 0:01:26.556 critical acclaim. On today's episode, I talked to Bartie Strange 0:01:26.556 --> 0:01:29.036 about his ascent into the upper echelon of indie rock 0:01:29.276 --> 0:01:32.356 now that he considers artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Justin Vernon, 0:01:32.476 --> 0:01:36.836 and Lucy Dacas friends. Bartisse also performs an acoustic version 0:01:36.836 --> 0:01:39.276 of a song heavy Heart for us, and he plays 0:01:39.276 --> 0:01:41.676 stems from two of my favorite songs from his new 0:01:41.716 --> 0:01:44.836 album and reveals how he's able to expertly blend what 0:01:44.916 --> 0:01:51.956 he calls sections on sections. This is broken record liner 0:01:52.036 --> 0:01:55.596 notes for the digital age. I'm justin Richmond. Here's my 0:01:55.636 --> 0:01:58.636 interview with Bartie Strange from the Bridge Studio in Brooklyn. 0:01:59.116 --> 0:02:01.676 We start things off by talking about his recent work 0:02:01.796 --> 0:02:05.276 producing other artists. How does make your records for others 0:02:05.316 --> 0:02:09.116 impact to your own music or does it not tremendous? 0:02:09.196 --> 0:02:12.476 Slay So, like I put out Lift Forever in twenty twenty. 0:02:12.476 --> 0:02:14.316 I produced that record and recorded it with my friends 0:02:14.316 --> 0:02:16.196 and we'll say it New York in a in a barn. 0:02:16.596 --> 0:02:18.556 After that record, I got all this production work, so 0:02:18.556 --> 0:02:20.436 I was able to quit my day job right and 0:02:20.476 --> 0:02:23.156 I had already started writing farm to Table, but I 0:02:23.236 --> 0:02:25.716 was like, I'm gonna wait on recording that until I 0:02:25.756 --> 0:02:28.956 record these four albums because I'm gonna try a bunch 0:02:28.956 --> 0:02:30.716 of stuff that I'm gonna do on Farm to Table 0:02:31.316 --> 0:02:36.036 and so for proper cinema, hearts Low Tides this band 0:02:36.036 --> 0:02:39.516 called Cherish out of DC. I just tried all types 0:02:39.556 --> 0:02:41.396 of stuff on those records to see if I could 0:02:41.436 --> 0:02:44.076 get the sounds I wanted. And you know, I wanted 0:02:44.076 --> 0:02:46.276 to make the records too. Their beautiful records, and they 0:02:46.276 --> 0:02:48.876 don't sound like me, so I put it. There's a 0:02:48.876 --> 0:02:50.556 lot of stuff on Farm to Table that I tried 0:02:50.596 --> 0:02:52.716 on those other records. If you listen to them, you'll 0:02:52.716 --> 0:02:55.076 hear it for sure. How did you get the sounds 0:02:55.116 --> 0:02:59.596 on Lift Forever? It's gorgeous sounding record, Thank you. I 0:02:59.596 --> 0:03:03.196 think the way I got those sounds was being pretty 0:03:03.236 --> 0:03:05.596 limited in the tools I had. Honestly, I had to 0:03:05.676 --> 0:03:08.316 really use my ears, and I had a really clear 0:03:08.396 --> 0:03:09.956 vision of what I want wanted it to sound like. 0:03:10.236 --> 0:03:15.196 I knew I wasn't capable of making a like pristine album. 0:03:15.236 --> 0:03:17.996 I didn't have the skills to do it, but I 0:03:18.036 --> 0:03:20.276 did know I wanted it to have sauce like. I 0:03:20.316 --> 0:03:24.756 wanted it to be like interesting and flavorful more so 0:03:24.836 --> 0:03:27.396 than anything. I was like, I want vibe vibe first, 0:03:27.756 --> 0:03:29.436 and I do the same thing for all the records. 0:03:29.796 --> 0:03:32.276 I catch sounds on the way in. I don't do 0:03:32.396 --> 0:03:35.356 a lot of stuff in post like I don't do 0:03:35.396 --> 0:03:38.836 a lot of like dry tracks, Like every reverb, every delay, 0:03:38.996 --> 0:03:41.556 every compression, I catch it on the way in. I'm 0:03:41.596 --> 0:03:45.076 squeezing super hard as I track. What's the genesis of 0:03:45.116 --> 0:03:49.356 that record? Lif Forever? Lif Forever? What's the earliest known 0:03:49.916 --> 0:03:54.076 either song or part or even just lyric from that record? 0:03:54.396 --> 0:03:58.316 Two songs, Mustang and Boomer. I think I played those 0:03:58.356 --> 0:04:02.756 songs in different capacities in like three or four bands 0:04:03.396 --> 0:04:07.876 before I decided on the arrangement for Lift Forever, and 0:04:08.076 --> 0:04:11.116 pieces of those songs songs are in bands. I played 0:04:11.196 --> 0:04:14.156 a band called Stay Inside Almos, a hardcore band out 0:04:14.156 --> 0:04:18.156 of Brooklyn. They still make music together, but my first 0:04:18.436 --> 0:04:21.236 inklings of those songs were in those in those hardcore bands. 0:04:21.596 --> 0:04:25.396 The lyrics, I do lyrics like Dead Dead, Dead Last. 0:04:25.716 --> 0:04:28.796 I never really start songs with lyrics. I'll start with 0:04:28.836 --> 0:04:31.476 like a melody, but I don't know what the song's 0:04:31.516 --> 0:04:35.636 about until I finished the song. The arrangement that kind 0:04:35.636 --> 0:04:37.636 of tells me what the song is about. Honestly, you 0:04:37.636 --> 0:04:39.556 don't even have a thought about what it's about based 0:04:39.596 --> 0:04:43.076 on the feeling. I know what the emotion is, but 0:04:43.156 --> 0:04:45.476 I don't know the words. I just kind of freestyle 0:04:45.876 --> 0:04:49.956 in the demos and once i'm the arrangement is there 0:04:50.516 --> 0:04:53.996 in a way that I feel like truly emotionally captures 0:04:53.996 --> 0:04:58.076 the song. I feel like I'm able to meet the 0:04:58.116 --> 0:05:01.436 song with the lyrics. It's almost I have to build 0:05:01.436 --> 0:05:03.596 it and then I can like put the final like 0:05:03.916 --> 0:05:07.236 jinga piece in it. You know. It's Yeah, it's a 0:05:07.276 --> 0:05:09.556 really interesting way of working. Oh it's cool because I 0:05:09.556 --> 0:05:11.196 feel like it takes all the pressure off of me 0:05:11.556 --> 0:05:14.836 as a lyricist, because it's like the song is telling 0:05:14.836 --> 0:05:17.916 you where to go, Like if you nail it, the 0:05:17.916 --> 0:05:20.676 song is it's like giving you the answer. Sometimes and 0:05:20.836 --> 0:05:23.396 I try to write lyrics before the song's done, I 0:05:23.516 --> 0:05:26.476 end up writing for a song that doesn't exist. It's 0:05:26.516 --> 0:05:28.356 like these lyrics don't fit in that song. It fits 0:05:28.836 --> 0:05:31.276 in this other world that's in my mind. But like 0:05:31.436 --> 0:05:34.676 this song doesn't want those lyrics. Yeah, it wants something else. 0:05:35.316 --> 0:05:37.156 Do you think there's any song of yours then that 0:05:37.276 --> 0:05:39.636 might be operating and like on two levels, like an 0:05:39.636 --> 0:05:42.916 emotional truth that comes through the feel and the sound 0:05:42.956 --> 0:05:46.476 and the arrangement, and then maybe even lyrics that refer 0:05:46.596 --> 0:05:48.796 to something that might not even have anything to do 0:05:48.916 --> 0:05:51.516 with the initial drive of what you were trying to 0:05:51.556 --> 0:05:54.756 capture in terms of feeling. Yes, Heavy Heart the first 0:05:54.796 --> 0:05:58.236 song on Farm to Table. The lyrics of that song 0:05:58.276 --> 0:06:02.036 are very kind of sad. I think the hook is like, 0:06:02.516 --> 0:06:04.956 I never want to miss you this bad. I didn't 0:06:04.956 --> 0:06:07.036 mean to run out like that. Some nights I feel 0:06:07.076 --> 0:06:09.436 just like my dad rushing around. I never saw the 0:06:09.476 --> 0:06:11.516 god in that. I work so hard if you can't 0:06:11.556 --> 0:06:14.396 fall back, And then I remember I really upon a 0:06:14.516 --> 0:06:18.596 heavy heart kind of thinking about times I feel guilty 0:06:18.596 --> 0:06:21.676 for things I can't control. But I wanted to juxtapose 0:06:21.756 --> 0:06:25.116 that with a song that felt super victorious and driving 0:06:25.156 --> 0:06:27.916 and upward moving. It kind of feels like a song 0:06:27.956 --> 0:06:30.836 by the National, like off a Boxer or something. The 0:06:30.996 --> 0:06:36.316 drums are extremely like pounding and repetitive and driving and 0:06:36.396 --> 0:06:40.596 NonStop sixteenth notes the whole time. You know, the guitars, 0:06:40.596 --> 0:06:43.676 there's like five guitar tracks. They're going the entire time. 0:06:43.716 --> 0:06:46.036 They create like a round, like a loop, it's like 0:06:46.036 --> 0:06:49.916 a mantra, and then it just explodes through the bridge 0:06:50.156 --> 0:06:52.916 and you have all of this arrangement that's sending a 0:06:52.996 --> 0:06:57.036 signal of like extreme momentum upward, but the lyrics are 0:06:57.076 --> 0:07:01.796 like downward. You had that arrangement, that exact arrangement before you. 0:07:02.636 --> 0:07:05.276 I definitely thought some of the arrangement must have come 0:07:05.356 --> 0:07:07.476 after the lyrics, but I guess you the lyrics are 0:07:07.516 --> 0:07:09.556 reacting to the arrangement. That makes sense. I just some 0:07:09.596 --> 0:07:11.516 reason thought of it because when I heard the arrangement, 0:07:11.516 --> 0:07:15.156 I was like, this is a perfect picture of the record. 0:07:15.196 --> 0:07:18.516 I'm trying to paint where it's like holding two extreme 0:07:18.556 --> 0:07:22.116 emotions and at the same time, because most people are 0:07:22.116 --> 0:07:26.956 happy and sad all the time. Yeah, it's like good 0:07:27.036 --> 0:07:29.076 days and bad days have happened on the same day 0:07:29.276 --> 0:07:31.876 all the time. And that song was me trying to 0:07:32.596 --> 0:07:36.076 do that through the composition and the arrangement of the track. 0:07:36.276 --> 0:07:38.596 Do you want to play the first song on heavy Heart? Yeah? Yeah, 0:07:38.676 --> 0:07:54.476 yeah cool. There's three reasons for heavy Us. This past year, 0:07:54.676 --> 0:08:02.516 I thought I was booking you so nice, Cherry Scoff, 0:08:06.756 --> 0:08:12.636 we should go to n I never want to miss 0:08:12.756 --> 0:08:17.316 you this back. I never meant to run now like that. 0:08:18.036 --> 0:08:22.836 Some nights I feel just like my dad rushing around. 0:08:24.876 --> 0:08:29.156 I never saw the god and that while work so hard, 0:08:29.196 --> 0:08:35.436 if you can't fall back, then I member rely too 0:08:35.516 --> 0:08:41.196 much upon my heavy are. And that's a shame putting 0:08:41.276 --> 0:08:43.836 up black. It's with scheme. It's a NAT's on the train, 0:08:44.116 --> 0:08:46.516 that's on DC. Fuck you man, put the red down 0:08:46.556 --> 0:08:48.996 on your team. Yet I don't need no one but me. Yeah, 0:08:49.076 --> 0:08:51.116 she said in my turn, and I geeked. She said 0:08:51.116 --> 0:08:53.156 in my turn, and I geet. She a whole lot 0:08:53.196 --> 0:08:55.676 of bad news. Put the law on it. Yeah, fool, 0:08:55.796 --> 0:08:58.116 I'm a rich nigga rad dude. I can buy that, 0:08:58.396 --> 0:09:00.676 damn fool. When I think about Jay last week's Yeah, 0:09:00.796 --> 0:09:02.676 how you blad out in them sheets here, how the 0:09:02.756 --> 0:09:05.356 doc said you were clean? Holloway y'all put on me. 0:09:05.436 --> 0:09:09.236 I never missed you this bat. I really had had 0:09:09.276 --> 0:09:13.196 to run out my bad my hand on the small, 0:09:13.356 --> 0:09:20.676 love your back touching around. I really thought the God 0:09:20.876 --> 0:09:26.156 in that watching how he braced for impact. Then I 0:09:26.316 --> 0:09:57.996 remember that too much of fun, my heavy heart. There's 0:09:57.996 --> 0:10:07.596 reasons for heavy heart this pastie. I thought I was brokeken. 0:10:10.196 --> 0:10:18.436 You look so nicey a cherry scar hard we should 0:10:18.516 --> 0:10:23.556 go to to run No more often. I never want 0:10:23.596 --> 0:10:27.516 to miss you this bad. I never meant to run 0:10:27.596 --> 0:10:31.956 now like that. Some nights I feel just like my 0:10:32.076 --> 0:10:38.836 dad rushing around. I never thought a god in that. 0:10:39.556 --> 0:10:43.396 Why work so hard if you can't fall back? Then? 0:10:43.516 --> 0:10:56.876 I remember I RelA too much, A punt. I hear 0:10:56.956 --> 0:11:12.796 you keep on rocking, MB free world, baby beautiful. Thanks. 0:11:13.276 --> 0:11:16.636 Where did those lyrics come from? Yeo? So COVID was 0:11:16.676 --> 0:11:19.476 a weird time. Is continues to be a weird time. 0:11:20.276 --> 0:11:22.996 After I put out livet Forever. I mean I was 0:11:23.036 --> 0:11:25.636 working a full time job and working from home and 0:11:25.836 --> 0:11:28.396 doing the whole thing. Record came out and I got 0:11:28.396 --> 0:11:30.436 all this production work and I was able to quit 0:11:30.556 --> 0:11:34.196 my job and everything was going so well for me 0:11:34.636 --> 0:11:36.596 at a time when so many people in my life 0:11:36.636 --> 0:11:40.556 were experiencing like the most trying times of their lives. 0:11:41.236 --> 0:11:44.716 My grandfather died, they had a funeral, everyone went to 0:11:44.796 --> 0:11:47.796 the funeral, got COVID, A few of them died. It 0:11:47.956 --> 0:11:50.556 was just over and over and over, just horrible things. 0:11:51.276 --> 0:11:53.956 And I was like, Yo, this is horrible, but also 0:11:54.076 --> 0:11:56.756 like I'm having like the best time of my life, 0:11:57.156 --> 0:12:00.316 you know. And I was like, at a certain point, 0:12:00.516 --> 0:12:02.836 You're like I want to celebrate this, but I feel 0:12:02.876 --> 0:12:06.756 guilty for wanting to, but I felt like it was 0:12:06.796 --> 0:12:10.396 still important to celebrate. I think like joy as a 0:12:10.436 --> 0:12:13.596 form of resistance is like super real. So eventually, after 0:12:13.636 --> 0:12:16.596 feeling guilty and having a heavy heart and feeling bad 0:12:16.676 --> 0:12:19.316 about everything, I was like, I'm going to take a 0:12:19.396 --> 0:12:21.876 second and just like take some take stock here because 0:12:22.276 --> 0:12:26.156 things worked. This is working, and that was really big 0:12:26.236 --> 0:12:27.756 for me to do, Like I had to do it 0:12:27.836 --> 0:12:30.396 for myself, And that's what the song is about. It's 0:12:30.476 --> 0:12:33.556 kind of counting all of these things that I felt 0:12:33.636 --> 0:12:37.436 so guilty for, you know, my dad working so hard 0:12:37.476 --> 0:12:41.596 all the time, or us not going to my partner's city, Toronto, 0:12:41.676 --> 0:12:43.716 you know she's from Toronto, not going up there and 0:12:43.836 --> 0:12:45.196 we had a chance, and now we're locked in the 0:12:45.236 --> 0:12:46.676 house for two and a half years and I feel 0:12:46.716 --> 0:12:49.476 bad that I didn't schedule the time. Or my granddad 0:12:49.556 --> 0:12:51.676 dying and me not seeing him enough before he died, 0:12:51.756 --> 0:12:54.076 you know, and then being like, but then I realized, 0:12:54.156 --> 0:12:57.916 you know, you can't continue to like move forward in 0:12:57.996 --> 0:13:00.076 life feeling bad about everything that happened in the past. 0:13:00.156 --> 0:13:02.596 At a certain point, you gotta turn over a new 0:13:02.636 --> 0:13:07.236 leaf and move forward. Reminds me of tours. I imagine though, 0:13:07.356 --> 0:13:10.556 that that's written about your experience of touring, right of 0:13:10.676 --> 0:13:13.636 being a working musician, quitting your job being a working musician. Yeah, 0:13:13.996 --> 0:13:16.556 kind of to me. The song's about turning into your parents. 0:13:17.076 --> 0:13:20.036 My dad was in the military, he was an engineer, 0:13:20.116 --> 0:13:22.436 and he would go on tour quote quote military tour 0:13:22.436 --> 0:13:24.796 all the time. My mom, she's an opera singer, so 0:13:24.916 --> 0:13:27.276 she would tour a lot too, And I remember being 0:13:27.316 --> 0:13:29.876 a kid and being like, oh, I'm never gonna do that, 0:13:30.076 --> 0:13:31.996 Like I'm going to be home and like raise a 0:13:32.076 --> 0:13:34.556 family and do the thing. And then I got I 0:13:34.636 --> 0:13:37.556 got older, and music worked out. I was able to 0:13:37.676 --> 0:13:42.116 like tour and I love it. And in that realization, 0:13:42.476 --> 0:13:45.796 I learned more about my parents and like why they toured, 0:13:46.116 --> 0:13:48.436 and it was because they loved it and they wanted 0:13:48.476 --> 0:13:51.476 me to see them doing something they loved. And so 0:13:51.676 --> 0:13:53.276 the end of the song I ended by saying like, 0:13:53.316 --> 0:13:57.396 I'm I'm your son, like I'm you, you know, and 0:13:58.596 --> 0:14:01.556 another realization of getting older, just being like dang, like 0:14:02.076 --> 0:14:04.676 and turn it into my parents, you know in this 0:14:04.876 --> 0:14:07.756 in this funny way. Have you had conversations with them 0:14:07.916 --> 0:14:10.156 to this effect and it's cool because my parents have 0:14:10.236 --> 0:14:13.236 always been so supportive of my music and they're so 0:14:13.396 --> 0:14:15.756 pumped that everything is going the way it is, and 0:14:15.916 --> 0:14:18.356 it's not uncommon that I'll reach out and I'll be like, 0:14:18.796 --> 0:14:21.916 this shit is so hard, and they're like, no one 0:14:21.956 --> 0:14:24.956 can encourage me like they can, you know, because I've 0:14:24.996 --> 0:14:27.716 seen them do hard things and they know what it's 0:14:27.756 --> 0:14:32.636 like to sacrifice and go after things and face challenges 0:14:32.836 --> 0:14:36.396 and overcome them in a way that we can relate 0:14:36.436 --> 0:14:39.476 to each other on a deeper level now, So it's 0:14:39.476 --> 0:14:43.796 a special relationship. Music has deepened our relationship in that way. 0:14:44.196 --> 0:14:47.476 So when people hear military dad, I think the first 0:14:47.516 --> 0:14:51.236 thing they would think is like disciplinarian, And if they're 0:14:51.516 --> 0:14:54.756 opera singer mother, then they would probably think that she 0:14:54.996 --> 0:14:57.756 might have been the lenient one or maybe pushing you 0:14:57.836 --> 0:15:02.276 towards the arts. Military man and an opera singer, yeah 0:15:02.796 --> 0:15:05.316 is a great pairing. Yeah. My mom and dad they 0:15:05.356 --> 0:15:07.876 met in high school. My mom was the girl that 0:15:07.956 --> 0:15:11.316 could sing and dad was an athlete. In North Carolina, 0:15:11.556 --> 0:15:14.116 my mom went to Eastman School of Music. Her choir 0:15:14.236 --> 0:15:16.636 director at church sent a tape to the director of 0:15:16.756 --> 0:15:19.316 music at Eastman and let my mom in school and 0:15:19.396 --> 0:15:21.996 then my dad he didn't really have a lot of guidance, 0:15:22.076 --> 0:15:25.636 so he joined the military. And you know, over the years, 0:15:26.396 --> 0:15:28.076 you know, my mom she was you know, heavy and 0:15:28.156 --> 0:15:30.356 teaching us how to sing, and you know, we sang 0:15:30.436 --> 0:15:32.116 in church and I went to opera camp and my 0:15:32.156 --> 0:15:35.276 mom was very involved. But she never like forced me 0:15:35.356 --> 0:15:37.716 into music. She was a musician herself, and which I 0:15:37.756 --> 0:15:40.196 think she knew how hard it was, and she was like, 0:15:40.236 --> 0:15:41.676 if you really want to do this, you got to 0:15:41.716 --> 0:15:43.756 really want it, and I'm not gonna like force you. 0:15:44.276 --> 0:15:46.836 You know, what was her experience as a musician, like 0:15:47.116 --> 0:15:50.316 after going to school. I think my mom faced a 0:15:50.396 --> 0:15:52.836 lot because there were a lot of black opera singers, 0:15:53.436 --> 0:15:57.116 especially not once from the South and black woman at 0:15:57.156 --> 0:15:59.996 Eastman and Rochester, New York in the seventies. You know, 0:16:00.116 --> 0:16:01.676 I think she there was a lot of firsts for her, 0:16:02.196 --> 0:16:04.756 and I know that it was hard for her. Did 0:16:04.796 --> 0:16:06.316 she want to go to New York? Did she ever 0:16:06.396 --> 0:16:07.916 do that? And I think she did. She did, and 0:16:07.996 --> 0:16:10.596 then she got some gigs in Europe and that was 0:16:10.596 --> 0:16:12.356 another reason. You know, my dad was station in Europe. 0:16:12.356 --> 0:16:14.876 My mom was singing in Europe, you know, Hawk Shuler 0:16:15.116 --> 0:16:18.116 and London. You know, she was doing her thing. But 0:16:18.356 --> 0:16:21.156 after she had us, she moved into like the educational 0:16:21.276 --> 0:16:24.036 role and she taught music at the University of Oklahoma, 0:16:24.076 --> 0:16:25.596 where I ended up going to school. She was a 0:16:25.676 --> 0:16:28.996 vocal professor there, got her PhD at Columbia. You know, 0:16:29.356 --> 0:16:33.276 she's a she's real, she's deep. But my dad was 0:16:33.316 --> 0:16:35.956 the one that actually really got me deep into music 0:16:35.996 --> 0:16:38.676 because he was a record collector and when he would 0:16:38.676 --> 0:16:42.116 come back from Japan or Korea or wherever, he would 0:16:42.116 --> 0:16:45.796 always bring like turntables or like tape decks, reel to reels. 0:16:46.276 --> 0:16:49.156 He was like really into like monitor like listening to music. 0:16:49.276 --> 0:16:53.676 He's not a musical person creatively, but he collects, and 0:16:53.836 --> 0:16:55.676 so he was putting me onto like sly Stone and 0:16:55.756 --> 0:16:59.516 Teddy Pendergrass and Parliament and Rides the Funking Stein and like, 0:17:00.076 --> 0:17:01.916 honestly that was like rock and roll to me. I 0:17:02.036 --> 0:17:04.116 was like, oh, these are like rock records that I 0:17:04.276 --> 0:17:07.636 fell in love with. First, Bootsy Collins, you know, Rick James. 0:17:08.476 --> 0:17:12.356 That was my baseline. Was like opera gospel from mom, 0:17:12.556 --> 0:17:16.116 but like the expansiveness of what music can be through 0:17:16.196 --> 0:17:19.676 what my dad was showing me and looking back, it's funny, 0:17:19.796 --> 0:17:22.436 Like you would expect my dad'd be the disciplinarian, but 0:17:22.636 --> 0:17:25.396 he was more of the creator. Like my dad like 0:17:25.796 --> 0:17:28.436 it's super handy, works on cars all the time, like 0:17:28.516 --> 0:17:31.556 always building stuff. He's an engineer, but like that creative 0:17:31.596 --> 0:17:34.956 tick and like wanting to engineer and build things. I 0:17:35.076 --> 0:17:37.356 got that from my dad, that need to create something 0:17:37.396 --> 0:17:40.676 out of nothing. I repurpose something, yeah, something better or 0:17:40.756 --> 0:17:43.316 more useful to you or whatever, or being like how'd 0:17:43.356 --> 0:17:46.756 you make that? Like that's like my dad in a nutshell. 0:17:46.876 --> 0:17:48.796 He's always like, how do they build that? I'm going 0:17:48.836 --> 0:17:51.716 to figure it out today. We'll be right back with 0:17:51.836 --> 0:17:59.396 more from my conversation with Barties Strange. We're back with 0:17:59.556 --> 0:18:03.436 more of my conversation with Barties Strange. So you mostly 0:18:03.436 --> 0:18:05.916 grew up in Oklahoma, right, Yeah, that's where most of 0:18:05.956 --> 0:18:09.956 all my raising was. Aside from what you're parents were 0:18:09.996 --> 0:18:12.236 playing around the house. What was the music that you 0:18:12.316 --> 0:18:15.436 and your friends were listening to. The first like record 0:18:15.516 --> 0:18:19.356 I ever bought was Millennium by the Backstreet Boys. Yeah 0:18:19.476 --> 0:18:21.676 I had that, Yeah, it was great. And then the 0:18:21.716 --> 0:18:24.836 second one I got was Get Richard Died Trying fifty 0:18:24.876 --> 0:18:28.716 cent record. My mom was like super Christian. She was 0:18:28.836 --> 0:18:31.436 kind of like weird about letting like too much secular 0:18:31.516 --> 0:18:33.436 music in the house. But like I said, at the 0:18:33.476 --> 0:18:35.596 same time, my dad was like playing me Rick James records. 0:18:36.116 --> 0:18:38.756 Black parents are hilarious. They'll be like, you can listen 0:18:38.756 --> 0:18:42.116 to Teddy Pendergrass, but you can't listen to like one twelve. Yeah, yeah, 0:18:42.316 --> 0:18:47.396 super freak school. Yeah. I'm like, okay, cool, right, turn 0:18:47.476 --> 0:18:50.436 off to the night side of Candle. That song so good. 0:18:50.636 --> 0:18:53.116 But um yeah so. But the thing that really grabbed 0:18:53.156 --> 0:18:55.716 me though, early was hardcore music. My friend invited me 0:18:55.796 --> 0:18:58.196 to a show. I think it was like Victory Christian Center, 0:18:58.356 --> 0:19:00.916 some church in Oklahoma City, and Norma Jean was playing 0:19:00.916 --> 0:19:03.476 in the basement. Wow, that's I haven't heard that name 0:19:03.516 --> 0:19:06.596 in a long time. That was heavy, heavy, heavy, and 0:19:06.716 --> 0:19:09.436 I'll never forget seeing Norma Jeane. I saw It's too 0:19:09.476 --> 0:19:12.076 Actually that you mentioned that they're Christian band in California. Yeah, yeah, 0:19:12.076 --> 0:19:14.476 they're a Christian band. My mom let me go because 0:19:14.516 --> 0:19:16.276 they were a Christian band. I just told her. I 0:19:16.356 --> 0:19:19.996 was like, yo, like, there's a concert at church. It's Wednesday, 0:19:20.076 --> 0:19:23.436 you know, Wednesday night church. You know. She was like, great, go. 0:19:23.996 --> 0:19:26.156 You know, she was just like probably excited I wanted 0:19:26.156 --> 0:19:28.676 to go to church, and she drove me, dropped me 0:19:28.716 --> 0:19:31.156 and my friend off. We watched Norma Jeane play and 0:19:31.236 --> 0:19:33.236 I found out about all those Tooth and Nail bands, 0:19:33.676 --> 0:19:36.716 you know, under Oath the almost like I fell in 0:19:36.756 --> 0:19:39.396 love with hardcore music through that, and like at the 0:19:39.476 --> 0:19:43.276 drive in came close after, and yeah, they're from El 0:19:43.356 --> 0:19:46.876 Paso and so they would tour through Oklahoma and I 0:19:46.996 --> 0:19:49.156 just remember been like, dang, these guys always just speak Spanish, 0:19:49.676 --> 0:19:52.156 they don't give a shit about That was beautiful, you 0:19:52.236 --> 0:19:53.996 know for me to see because I was one of 0:19:54.036 --> 0:19:56.476 the only black kids people of color in my world 0:19:56.556 --> 0:19:59.116 at the time. But yeah, hardcore music kind of was 0:19:59.156 --> 0:20:02.116 the thing that grabbed me. And like skateboarding culture, we're 0:20:02.156 --> 0:20:04.796 like born in the exact same year, yea, and so 0:20:05.396 --> 0:20:08.596 similar experiences, and that if it wasn't rap or R 0:20:08.676 --> 0:20:11.196 and B well around the time like we were teenagers, 0:20:11.316 --> 0:20:15.436 was like very white spaces. Extremely Yeah. Yeah, I think 0:20:15.476 --> 0:20:18.236 that's why I loved hardcore music so much, because like, 0:20:18.876 --> 0:20:21.036 even though everyone was white, I didn't feel like I 0:20:21.116 --> 0:20:24.836 stood out because everyone was kind of wild, like people 0:20:24.876 --> 0:20:27.916 had like snake bites and like tattoos on their faces 0:20:28.076 --> 0:20:31.316 and crazy hair. I was just there in like khakis 0:20:31.356 --> 0:20:33.916 and a button nut, Like I was just a normal 0:20:33.996 --> 0:20:36.796 kid at the thing, you know, I wasn't the weird one. 0:20:37.556 --> 0:20:39.796 And I kind of loved that because I always felt 0:20:39.796 --> 0:20:42.236 like everyone was staring at me every time I went 0:20:42.316 --> 0:20:47.116 anywhere growing up. Yeah, but those shows, it didn't feel 0:20:47.156 --> 0:20:50.956 like that. So I found like a safe space and 0:20:51.156 --> 0:20:55.036 hardcore venues and those little like shitty bars and like 0:20:55.276 --> 0:20:58.436 random DIY spaces in Oklahoma City. When did you start 0:20:58.476 --> 0:21:01.796 to recognize that people were looking at you? My parents 0:21:01.916 --> 0:21:04.636 were really because they grew up in the South, were 0:21:04.796 --> 0:21:08.876 very upfront about the world that we lived in and 0:21:09.316 --> 0:21:11.276 wanted me and my brother and sister to be very 0:21:11.356 --> 0:21:15.996 like clear about where we lived and the repercussions of 0:21:16.636 --> 0:21:19.036 staying out too late or looking a certain way or 0:21:19.116 --> 0:21:23.036 being too loud or whatever. So I always kind of 0:21:23.356 --> 0:21:27.116 was hyper aware, I would say, like as a teenager 0:21:27.556 --> 0:21:31.036 and as a college student living in Oklahoma, I lived 0:21:31.036 --> 0:21:34.276 near like clansmanaged and shit people like end up missing 0:21:34.316 --> 0:21:37.636 and stuff when I was growing up, So you couldn't 0:21:37.676 --> 0:21:41.276 help but realize that is a part of your reality 0:21:41.916 --> 0:21:44.116 and this wasn't the time when black people were getting 0:21:44.156 --> 0:21:47.476 tied up and drug behind trucks and Texas. Yeah, man, 0:21:47.876 --> 0:21:50.796 I had friends from high school guys I knew, you know, 0:21:50.996 --> 0:21:53.956 have a bad football game, people run them out of 0:21:54.036 --> 0:21:57.716 town and shit like crazy stuff. And this was before 0:21:57.836 --> 0:22:03.396 like body cams and people tweeting and sharing videos and iPhones. 0:22:03.596 --> 0:22:06.236 It was like people would just go missing in two 0:22:06.276 --> 0:22:09.556 thousand and four, you know, like this is a nineteen 0:22:09.636 --> 0:22:14.076 sixty five, you know, and so we were aware, you know, 0:22:14.316 --> 0:22:16.596 of who we were. And that was kind of like 0:22:17.156 --> 0:22:19.236 I didn't realize how scared I was, honestly until I 0:22:19.316 --> 0:22:20.756 moved to like Brooklyn. It was the first time I 0:22:20.796 --> 0:22:22.556 lived in an all black neighborhood. I was twenty five 0:22:22.636 --> 0:22:24.516 years old, and you felt normal, Like you just felt 0:22:24.676 --> 0:22:26.236 like how you should have felt your whole life. Yeah, 0:22:26.276 --> 0:22:31.876 and I wrote Live Forever. Really that's literally how it happened. Wow, 0:22:32.236 --> 0:22:35.676 Like I was in a spot where I was around 0:22:35.756 --> 0:22:38.756 black people, creative people that looked like me. I didn't 0:22:38.756 --> 0:22:41.396 feel so weird. I was able to like really grow 0:22:41.516 --> 0:22:46.476 and express myself fully. And those friends are still my 0:22:46.556 --> 0:22:48.876 friends to this day. It's interesting you've heard to the 0:22:48.916 --> 0:22:51.476 fact that you went to Oklahoma University, and you kind 0:22:51.516 --> 0:22:56.516 of had a nice successful career going before music, Like 0:22:56.676 --> 0:22:58.476 you're on your second career here, you know, like your 0:22:58.516 --> 0:23:01.436 second endeavor. Yeah. I played football at Emporious State and 0:23:02.156 --> 0:23:05.276 I transferred to Oklahoma. And after University of Oklahoma, I 0:23:05.476 --> 0:23:07.796