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Speaker 1: From the Mercedes Benz Interview Lounge.

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Speaker 2: You turn us all the time, listen to the show,

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Speaker 2: and let's do it whatever it is we do. I

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Speaker 2: haven't figured out what it is we do, but we

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Speaker 2: do play a lot of music. And of course, you know,

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Speaker 2: years from now, you remember, God, there was that morning

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Speaker 2: show I woke up with every day. I don't know

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Speaker 2: their names, but I know they played a lot of

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Speaker 2: great music and they made me laugh. Well, that's us.

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Speaker 2: That's a legacy. We leave behind the no name morning show,

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Speaker 2: but the music that's the soundtrack of your life. We

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Speaker 2: all we always get to interview the artists. We rarely

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Speaker 2: get to talk to the people who are firmly behind

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Speaker 2: the music that we play, the people who write it,

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Speaker 2: to people who produce it. That's why Freddy Wexler, we

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Speaker 2: had to get him in here. We have a great

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Speaker 2: story to tell with Freddy. How are you doing, Freddy?

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Speaker 1: I'm great, I'm better now. Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 3: He's sitting here and I couldn't. I couldn't make out

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Speaker 3: who he looks like. Do you know who he looks like? Yes,

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Speaker 3: it looks just like him.

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Speaker 2: Coat maybe no, maybe a little better looking, maybe less

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Speaker 2: weathered than Adrian. I'm kidding. He's a great guy. Okay, Well,

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Speaker 2: beyond the fact that we're talking about your looks, let's

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Speaker 2: talk about what's inside as well. Now, if you watch

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Speaker 2: the Grammys like we all did, there was a moment,

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Speaker 2: and the Grammys, the Grammys are always known for their moments.

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Speaker 2: One of the greatest moments this year was when Billy

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Speaker 2: Joel sat down with the piano in front of the

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Speaker 2: world and sang the song turned the lights back on

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Speaker 2: and Okay, great song without doubt, and it says so

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Speaker 2: many things. But the background behind the song and Freddie

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Speaker 2: Freddy Wexler's involvement in the song, there's the story that

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Speaker 2: changes the whole song. Talk about it. Talk about what

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Speaker 2: it was like that night watching your song, the song

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Speaker 2: that you worked with with other people being performed in

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Speaker 2: front of you.

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Speaker 1: Man, So it was the song, and it was also

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Speaker 1: the artist singing the song that was you know, made

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Speaker 1: it so special for me. Billy Joel is largely the

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Speaker 1: reason I became a songwriter. I used to close my

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Speaker 1: eyes when I was a kid and listen to his

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Speaker 1: music and pretend it was it was me. Imagine it

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Speaker 1: was me singing on stage. That was sort of like

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Speaker 1: the bar of songwriter that I wanted to be. So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, it was insane. I don't even I don't

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Speaker 1: know that I'll ever process the feeling of it, especially

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Speaker 1: because you know the story of Billy is thirty one

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Speaker 1: years ago he vowed he wouldn't write another pop song.

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Speaker 2: He was done.

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Speaker 1: So had I just been in the crowd watching one

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Speaker 1: of my idol sing a new song, that would have

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Speaker 1: been cool. The fact that I was part of it

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Speaker 1: was just in surreal.

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Speaker 2: Right right. And you're part of the writing team, of course,

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Speaker 2: and you produced the song. Yeah, so I'm gonna go

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Speaker 2: ahead and go out on a lemma. You may not agree,

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Speaker 2: but this is your song, okay, And to watch Billy

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Speaker 2: perform it, and you were a kid, you know, grew

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Speaker 2: up listening to Billy Joel on the radio, Like, God,

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Speaker 2: what's that like? So tell everyone the story. I know

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Speaker 2: you've told her to a million Wait the way you

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Speaker 2: finally met him, because it probably should never have happened. Yes, So.

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Speaker 1: First of all, I will say it's I am you know.

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Speaker 1: Do you guys ever have a gut feeling about something.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you knew you'd be in radio, you knew it

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Speaker 1: wasn't even thought. I knew I would meet Billy Joel.

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Speaker 1: I just knew it, and I knew something cool what

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Speaker 1: it would happen. I didn't know how, I didn't know what.

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Speaker 1: I didn't know when, but I I had that feeling

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Speaker 1: and maybe I willed it to happen. But my wife

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Speaker 1: is really the one who who who made it happen,

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Speaker 1: so for my thirty fifth birthday, and she's very intuitive.

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Speaker 1: I think I was going through some kind of crossroads

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Speaker 1: in my own, you know, career, and she just knew,

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Speaker 1: like she decided to make it her mission to have

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Speaker 1: me meet Billy Joel. So anyway, she made it happen.

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Speaker 1: Billy was agreed to meet me. When we had lunch,

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Speaker 1: he ordered his food to go. It was clear he

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Speaker 1: had no intention of being there. It was like, oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: it was. It was clams on the half shell and

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Speaker 1: a blt to go, and I was like, wow, I

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Speaker 1: have six minutes. But we we realized we had we

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Speaker 1: had things in common. We uh And I asked him

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Speaker 1: at one point, I said, Hey, when you're writing songs,

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Speaker 1: do you ever imagine Did you ever imagine you were

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Speaker 1: someone else? Or were you always just Billy Joel, And

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Speaker 1: it was an odd question I guess to ask him.

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Speaker 1: I asked because I had started to do that that

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Speaker 1: became my process. And he looked at me and he said,

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Speaker 1: I always imagined I was someone else while writing. Maybe

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Speaker 1: I was McCartney in that moment. Maybe I was Ray

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Speaker 1: Charles that moment. And for a guy who'd probably been

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Speaker 1: asked a million questions to find a question he hadn't

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Speaker 1: been asked. Not because I was trying to be cool

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Speaker 1: or different, but I was just curious. That changed the

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Speaker 1: course of the lunch and it turned into a two

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Speaker 1: hour lunch. And that's so funny. It's the one detail

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Speaker 1: I don't remember. People are like, did he eat the sandwich?

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Speaker 1: I really am trying to think.

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Speaker 2: The only thing I'm thinking about is should you eat clams?

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Speaker 2: That they've been sitting out that much?

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Speaker 1: Oh my god?

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Speaker 2: So who ended up paying.

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Speaker 1: By the way, I think he ended up paying it?

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Speaker 2: Okay?

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Speaker 1: Well, but basically, yeah, yeah, they go there.

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Speaker 2: You are sitting there with Billy Joel and almost probably

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Speaker 2: as surreal as the moment watching him performing your song

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Speaker 2: at the Grammys. I mean, these are these moments in

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Speaker 2: life where you sometimes they they're on the border of

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Speaker 2: not being real and so completely. You walked out of

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Speaker 2: that that lunch meeting with Billy Joel after two hours,

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Speaker 2: which was an hour and forty five minutes longer than

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Speaker 2: he wanted it to be in the beginning, probably what

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Speaker 2: was your mission? You walked out of there, walking all

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Speaker 2: cocky and stuff, thinking this is where we're going. Now,

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Speaker 2: what was the next step after that?

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Speaker 1: Well, Elvis, it's even crazier because the lunch didn't end there.

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Speaker 1: So toward the end of the lunch, I said to him, look,

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Speaker 1: I don't believe that you can't write songs anymore, you

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Speaker 1: don't want to write songs anymore. And he just said,

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Speaker 1: all nonchalantly, you can believe whatever you want to believe.

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Speaker 1: And I said, okay, well, and I pick up my

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Speaker 1: cel phone. I said, you know, I walk around every

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Speaker 1: day and I hear these melloies in my head and

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Speaker 1: I sing them into this phone. I have these, you know,

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Speaker 1: this endless slew of voice notes that I've never finished.

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Speaker 1: Do you have anything like that? He said, unfinished songs

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Speaker 1: from from yes, you know, from the seventies, from the eighties.

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Speaker 1: He said, yeah, of course I do. And I don't

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Speaker 1: know what came over. Maybe you got to seize the moment.

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Speaker 1: I said, well, why don't you let me finish them?

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Speaker 1: And he looks at me and he says, I should

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Speaker 1: let you finish my songs. And I said, and he didn't.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't an arrogant way that he asked it. He

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Speaker 1: was just like, I should let you know. And I said, look,

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Speaker 1: I just think two things could happen. One, I could

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Speaker 1: do a terrible job, which is probably what will happen,

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Speaker 1: but then the unfinished songs will stay unfinished. But I said,

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Speaker 1: but there's also a chance that I do a decent job.

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Speaker 1: And even if you don't use what I do, maybe

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Speaker 1: it inspires you to finish one of these songs. And essentially,

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Speaker 1: in different words, he said, come to my house right

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Speaker 1: now and play me the best songs you've ever written,

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Speaker 1: said at the piano, whoa from that line.

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Speaker 2: So you've already taken up two hours of Lord Billy's

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Speaker 2: day and now you're going to his house. God, I'm

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Speaker 2: gonna steal stuff from Billy Joel's house. Here we go.

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Speaker 2: So so he went to his house. Obviously there was

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Speaker 2: a piano involved. So what room did you go into?

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Speaker 1: It was his living room, we were in sag Harbor.

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Speaker 1: I sit down at the piano and I play, and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, he he, he was receptive. I think he

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Speaker 1: was surprised at least didn't hate it. And he' said

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Speaker 1: huh what else? Yeah, I played something else. And long

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Speaker 1: story short, a producer of mine used to say, too late,

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Speaker 1: because obviously I've told this not in a short way.

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Speaker 1: But a day later, a FedEx arrived and uh it

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Speaker 1: was Billy Joel's unfinished music. Good luck whoa lucka fed

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Speaker 1: X for Billy Joel, And oh.

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Speaker 2: My god, I would have wet myself at that point,

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Speaker 2: my pants. I'm so I wet my pants five minutes

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Speaker 2: ago when I walked in. I would pee everyone's pants

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Speaker 2: at that point. Well and so, but by the way,

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Speaker 2: for you just turning us on, this is Freddy Wexler, who,

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Speaker 2: as we described earlier, has been in the business for

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Speaker 2: a while. I'm going to get into that too. You've

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Speaker 2: written some songs for some incredible artists. But this, this

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Speaker 2: union with Billy Joel, turned into this incredible moment at

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Speaker 2: the Grammys and now beyond. Now he's like finished my

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Speaker 2: song's kid, So he's getting a massage somewhere you.

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Speaker 1: Do the work, you know, but I think yet to remember,

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Speaker 1: Billy Joel has delivered so many incredible I mean, one

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Speaker 1: of the greatest songbooks in my opinion ever, I think

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Speaker 1: almost objectively ever, and he wrote one hundred percent of

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Speaker 1: every song. He has nothing to prove, he is nothing

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Speaker 1: that he needs to say, so I think it was

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Speaker 1: kind of like, all right, this kid's probably not gonna

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Speaker 1: shut up. He really wants to do this, what sure try?

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Speaker 1: And it was just cool because, you know, over a

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Speaker 1: year and a half, unbeknownst to anybody, Billy and I

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Speaker 1: were going back and forth writing, working on music which

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Speaker 1: he popped, music which you hadn't done in a really

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Speaker 1: really long time. So yeah, it was just uh and

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Speaker 1: and developing a friendship, a real friendship, you know, two

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Speaker 1: New Yorkers, both insecure New York songwriters. It was funny

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Speaker 1: when when we when I first played in those songs,

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Speaker 1: he said that one sounds like a hit record. That's

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Speaker 1: what he said. Really, he goes, yeah, I said, why

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Speaker 1: don't you put it out? And he said me, you

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Speaker 1: should put it out. I said, I don't want to

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Speaker 1: put it out. You put it out literally this is

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Speaker 1: he goes, I don't want to put it out. You

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Speaker 1: put it out, and we both laughed. I said, look

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Speaker 1: at us both saying, this sounds like a hit song,

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Speaker 1: but but no one wants to put it out.

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Speaker 2: But what we see here, Freddy, is you actually are

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Speaker 2: part of way King Billy Joel up a little bit

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Speaker 2: to a part of his life that he had sort

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Speaker 2: of just kind of locked up in the closet. Right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was just about fun. It was

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Speaker 1: just about at some point, I think he lost the

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Speaker 1: joy in making new music. And I think we we

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Speaker 1: had a little bit of fun and sometimes it's what

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Speaker 1: all you need.

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Speaker 2: Well, I know, but this was a mutual thing. I mean,

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Speaker 2: not only did he look at you and go, I

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Speaker 2: don't know who you are or why you're here, but

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Speaker 2: here's my music. Finish it. And then on the other hand,

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Speaker 2: look what you're doing for him at this point, I mean,

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Speaker 2: Billy Joel is in I'm not saying in neutral, but

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Speaker 2: he's not going to the office anymore. So to speak,

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Speaker 2: you brought him back. I think that's so cool. Hey, Gandhi,

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Speaker 2: what do you think?

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Speaker 4: All right, So now you've got a taste of the

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Speaker 4: success and you're feeling it you're out there talking to people.

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Speaker 4: Do you still not want to be in front of

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Speaker 4: the things. You want to be behind the scenes, you don't

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Speaker 4: want to perform yourself.

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Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I'm open to anything. I started as

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Speaker 1: an artist funnily enough, where a bunch of label heads

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Speaker 1: said you're going to be the next Billy Joel, which

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Speaker 1: obviously didn't happen. Let this happened.

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Speaker 2: I think.

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Speaker 1: Any successes I've had in life, and there are a

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Speaker 1: lot of the failures, but the successes are when I

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Speaker 1: follow life wherever it goes. So I'm open to anything.

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Speaker 1: It's not my active plan to be an artist. In fact,

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Speaker 1: I would love to develop a new artist. So if

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Speaker 1: there are any amazing artists listening, DM me some awesome

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Speaker 1: music that excites me. But I'm open to wherever life

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Speaker 1: takes me.

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Speaker 3: I'm so fascinated right now. So I know we're going

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Speaker 3: to go and talk about all the artists that he

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Speaker 3: actually wrote for. Who was the first big artist that

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Speaker 3: you wrote for.

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Speaker 1: I believe it was Lil Wayne.

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Speaker 3: Wow, Well you or did you bring it to him such.

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Speaker 1: A This is a crazy story. I gotta do this,

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Speaker 1: like to charge this in ten seconds. I was Okay,

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Speaker 1: I was, do you remember Kevin Rudolph.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, let it rock, great song. Okay.

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Speaker 1: So, so I was renting Kevin Rudolph's house in l A.

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Speaker 1: He said, no one ever. Okay, Okay, this is crazy.

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Speaker 1: So I was obsessed with creativity and the creative process.

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Speaker 1: I had signed a record deal which I told you're

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Speaker 1: the next Billy Joe Bubba. But it was a pretty

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Speaker 1: big record deal for a young guy. I got dropped.

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Speaker 1: I didn't spend any of the money. When I graduated

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Speaker 1: from college, I wanted to do this experiment. So I

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Speaker 1: invited eight people who had never met strangers to live

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Speaker 1: with me in a house in LA to like kind

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Speaker 1: of build like a little songwriting commune. Because I thought

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Speaker 1: my favorite songwriters, except for Billy Joel, generally wrote in

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Speaker 1: pairs Bernie and Elton, Ashford and Simpson, the Beatles, Oasis, whatever, right,

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Speaker 1: And so I was like, maybe if we all live together,

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Speaker 1: you know, there'll be a creative energy. So I find

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Speaker 1: Kevin somehow. I meet Kevin Ruff. He has this crazy house.

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Speaker 1: He's like, I don't want to be in l anymore.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna go to New York. But I don't what

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Speaker 1: to do with my house. Ray j wants to rent it,

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Speaker 1: but I got a crazy security deposit here. I don't

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Speaker 1: want to lose the deposit, so I said, well, look,

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Speaker 1: I can't pay you at ray Je can pay, but

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Speaker 1: I promise you won't lose the security deposit. I won't

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Speaker 1: destroy the house. So he's like, okay, I rent the

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Speaker 1: house for like a tenth of the rent. These eight

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Speaker 1: strangers come in. It's a tenth of the rent. Is

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Speaker 1: still way more money than I should be spending at

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Speaker 1: the time. My dad, who's here today, call you and

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Speaker 1: he goes, what are you doing? Like, why are you

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Speaker 1: spending this kind of money? I said, Dad, All I

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Speaker 1: need is one song, one song to hit. This is

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Speaker 1: the classic artist mentality. I just need one song when

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Speaker 1: you're like broke spending all your money. At the lease

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Speaker 1: is up, there's like two weeks left to the lease.

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Speaker 1: Kevin Rudolf comes back to the house to check it out.

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Speaker 1: He says, so, what have you been working on? I said,

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Speaker 1: but this is this is and I play him this

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Speaker 1: one song. He goes, play that again, play that again,

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Speaker 1: play that again. That becomes my first cut. He sends

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Speaker 1: that to Lil Wayne two weeks before the lease is

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Speaker 1: up and I've made no money. And that was on

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Speaker 1: the carter for Wow Deluxe Deluxe dea.

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Speaker 2: How did you feel, Wayne Kane, Lil Wayne? How'd you

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Speaker 2: feel when Freddy Wexler sent a song over to Was

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Speaker 2: it good?

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Speaker 1: And by the way, full full circle story. Emil Haney

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Speaker 1: did the track is a legendary producer, did Lil Wayne,

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Speaker 1: and also Blana del Ray whatever, and he helped me

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Speaker 1: work on the Billy Joel track Wow.

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Speaker 2: Well, other artists including Justin Bieber, Arianna of course, Selena,

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Speaker 2: Kanye Jonas Brothers, Demi Levado, Pink Post Malone who we

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Speaker 2: love them all, Celine Dion so, you know, but not

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Speaker 2: a stranger to music at that point. I mean, you

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Speaker 2: grew up working in the mailroom at Sony Music over

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Speaker 2: at five point fifty, right, yep. And did any of

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Speaker 2: that payoff working with all the the industry titans like

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Speaker 2: the Matola's and the inners of the world stuff like that.

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Speaker 1: Oh definitely. I mean I think you know, when I

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Speaker 1: was really young, I had no intention of being in

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Speaker 1: the music business. That internship, yeah, it changed the game.

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Speaker 1: Five point fifty Madison Avenue was this iconic building.

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Speaker 2: It was insane.

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Speaker 1: It was insane, right, And it was during that internship

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Speaker 1: where something changed my life. I was I was approached

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Speaker 1: by a girl to record her demos after she'd heard

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Speaker 1: a song that I had recorded myself, and I said, okay,

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Speaker 1: you got to pay me an hourly rate, which no

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Speaker 1: one charges an hourly rate for music. But I didn't

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Speaker 1: know better and very quickly into recording her in the

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Speaker 1: laundry room of my parents apartment building, the laundry whatever.

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Speaker 1: I told my mom, this girl is going to be

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Speaker 1: really famous. My Mom's like, ah, you should go to

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Speaker 1: law school or something. I said, no, no, no, I'm telling you.

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Speaker 1: And then at my internship, I crashed this big meeting

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Speaker 1: and I said I found the next Madonna and they

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Speaker 1: were like, who are you? I said, I'm an intern. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: four months later that actual changed her name to Lady Gaga.

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Speaker 4: You got a book.

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Speaker 2: This is awesome stuff. Do you?

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Speaker 4: Does your wife like hold this over your head now forever,

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Speaker 4: like look what I got for you?

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Speaker 1: Now? She does and she is a forceiveness, she's the best.

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Speaker 2: She's well And happy birthday, Lady Gaga. Today's day.

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Speaker 1: I know that credit for your success, but happy birthday kid?

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Speaker 2: Who are you kid? A little pimply faced guy, get

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Speaker 2: out of here, and thank god they were open minded

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Speaker 2: enough to let you stay an extra moment. Then they

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Speaker 2: all look at that. Yeah, well I know, but still

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Speaker 2: I know, but that gave her the courage that you

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Speaker 2: paid attention to her, gave her the courage to keep moving.

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Speaker 2: So you you're a part of that story. Freddy.

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Speaker 3: If we look through your phone, do you have like

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Speaker 3: everyone's names listed, like Lil Wayne, Lady Gaga, Billy Joe,

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Speaker 3: or do you have like fake names for them so

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Speaker 3: nobody finds them in your phone?

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Speaker 1: Maybe I should have faker names.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, here's my problem. I have fake names in my

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Speaker 2: phone and I can't remember who they are. I don't know. Well, look,

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Speaker 2: you know, so this brings us up to today, and

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Speaker 2: I know there's there's a whole whole, huge long road

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Speaker 2: ahead with you and all the adventures you have and

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Speaker 2: the people you're gonna work with and who are gonna

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Speaker 2: work with you. I love it. I want to play

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Speaker 2: turn the lights back on it, talk about this song specifically,

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Speaker 2: why this song at this moment is so important, like.

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Speaker 1: What inspired the song?

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Speaker 2: Or well, yeah, but see what I saw Billy Joel

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Speaker 2: singing this basically crooning to you that you're at that

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Speaker 2: table to Grammy's there was there's a connection between to

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Speaker 2: end the song in these lyrics and also the timing

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Speaker 2: of Billy being back on stage. You know, do I

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Speaker 2: even still have lights to turn on? Basically was the

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Speaker 2: question yeah in the song, but go ahead.

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Speaker 1: I think the beauty of a song is that it

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Speaker 1: sort of finds you when you need it as a listener, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: different songs mean different things for different people. Why do

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Speaker 1: you know? And I think this song resonates because it

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Speaker 1: has a lot of different interpretations. So on the one hand,

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Speaker 1: it's did I wait too long to turn the lights

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Speaker 1: back on? You're speaking to your lover? Who you know?

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Speaker 1: I'm late?

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Speaker 2: But what is it? I late?

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Speaker 1: But I mean right now?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 1: But I see you now?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 1: This idea of uh, you know, yeah, you could be

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Speaker 1: talking to a lover that you haven't kind of seen

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Speaker 1: for a while. You could be talking to your fans.

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Speaker 1: For Billy, did I wait too long to turn the

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Speaker 1: lights back on on you guys on my music? He

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Speaker 1: could be talking to the songwriting gods, you know, and

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Speaker 1: music itself. So I think it just it hit a

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Speaker 1: lot of different you know, chords for him. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: the fact that he's seventy four years old singing. Did

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Speaker 1: I wait too long to turn the lights back on

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Speaker 1: after thirty one years of not recording a pop song?

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Speaker 1: Just you couldn't have made that up.

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Speaker 2: It wasn't.

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Speaker 1: I didn't plan that exactly. Again, it just stars aligned

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Speaker 1: in a way.

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Speaker 2: But so it's so true. You know, wherever you are

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Speaker 2: in life it's a joyful time or a very very

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Speaker 2: trying time and challenging time, the music just tends to

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Speaker 2: find you. It's like water. It kind of goes where

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Speaker 2: it wants to go right totally. And this is the

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Speaker 2: situation with this song, and anyone and everyone listening right now,

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Speaker 2: they're like, this guy's right. I needed that song and

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Speaker 2: it found me.

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Speaker 3: I love that isn't so fascinating to me. You need

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Speaker 3: like a book, a podcast, you need everything.

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Speaker 1: Can you be my agent? Can you carve?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely? Yeah, person of everything, Freddy.

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Speaker 1: We're in. Let's go, We're in. Well, by the way,

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Speaker 1: I love you guys listened. I've listened to this show

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Speaker 1: since you don't even know. A friend texta v and said,

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Speaker 1: I know you got all these cool press things going on.

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Speaker 1: But I saw your in Z one hundred. That's good.

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Speaker 1: We rode the school bus together. I said, yeah, not best.

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Speaker 1: Are you kidding me?

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Speaker 2: Crazy? And we're still here. We're like the Billy Joels

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Speaker 2: of radio is. Yes, as you should be. I wouldn't

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Speaker 2: take it that far, but thanks for the compliment. So

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Speaker 2: what's next, Freddy? What's next?

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Speaker 3: What?

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Speaker 2: I mean, what can you tell us that's on the horizon?

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Speaker 2: What are you working on or what's actually about to happen?

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Speaker 1: Hmm. So I've I like to answer this question now

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Speaker 1: by saying what I hope to work on that feels safer. Okay,

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Speaker 1: So I don't say anything, but I hope to continue

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Speaker 1: working with the people that I've worked with, So people

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Speaker 1: like Billy Black, Pink and uh Leave, who's awesome jazz

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Speaker 1: artists if you guys haven't checked her out. Darren Starr,

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Speaker 1: who's an amazing show creator. He just called me to write.

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Speaker 1: I wrote the only original song for Emily in Paris

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Speaker 1: for Ashley Park, which which yeah, it's called monso Let.

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Speaker 1: It really kind of had a life of its own,

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Speaker 1: and so they've asked me to write the only original

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Speaker 1: song for the second season. So or third season whatever

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Speaker 1: see Thursdays, I'm sorry and the third season so, And

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Speaker 1: it's cool because they really made the song a big

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Speaker 1: part of the show. So working on that, And like

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Speaker 1: I said before, I'm looking actively looking to sign a

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Speaker 1: couple of artists and develop them. So if any of

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Speaker 1: you guys sing, you get in the studio or but

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Speaker 1: but yeah, but or anyone listening like I really, I

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Speaker 1: really want to put my heart and soul into helping

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Speaker 1: helping a couple of new artists.

432
00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:31,520
Speaker 2: So you know, what's so great about you is And

433
00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:33,919
Speaker 2: we could go on for hours, but we'll let you

434
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,400
Speaker 2: go because I know you and your dad today let's

435
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,840
Speaker 2: let me take well, No, it's just your take on

436
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 2: music and in what we see it means to you

437
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,360
Speaker 2: is to me fascinating. It truly is. I know that's

438
00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,439
Speaker 2: a very broad stroke thing to say to someone, but

439
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,040
Speaker 2: I just I love how and you guys saw it

440
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 2: when he's lighting when he's talking about music and the project,

441
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,400
Speaker 2: he lights up. I mean, you really do light it up.

442
00:20:57,920 --> 00:20:59,800
Speaker 2: So it's so great to have your passion in the

443
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,120
Speaker 2: room and sharing it with everyone driving work right now

444
00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:03,680
Speaker 2: and people in the school of bus on the way

445
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:04,679
Speaker 2: with their friends Elvis.

446
00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:06,880
Speaker 1: I can I say one one last thing really quick

447
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 1: about Billy Absolutely, just reflecting on this whole process. I

448
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:15,760
Speaker 1: think people are like, why do you think Billy stopped

449
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,719
Speaker 1: writing or whatever? And I said, look, I don't know,

450
00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:22,720
Speaker 1: but I think Billy's such a genius. He's such a perfectionist.

451
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,080
Speaker 1: He holds himself to the standard of like being Beethoven.

452
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,080
Speaker 1: He's that good. And I think when you when you

453
00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,959
Speaker 1: do that for that long, it's it's hard, and at

454
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,639
Speaker 1: a certain point maybe it stops being fun. And I

455
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,919
Speaker 1: think for me, I try to remind people that songwriters

456
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,400
Speaker 1: and artists who write, who write their music, their entire

457
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,560
Speaker 1: livelihood depends upon them being inspired. Imagine that. Imagine waking

458
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,240
Speaker 1: up and saying, I'm not inspired today, this week, this month,

459
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 1: this year. How do you make a living?

460
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:55,040
Speaker 2: Right?

461
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,600
Speaker 1: It's like if you're a lawyer and you're uninspired one day,

462
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,080
Speaker 1: you don't say, I can't negotiate the deal, call me tomorrow.

463
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,919
Speaker 1: So I just think sometimes it's important to I'm not

464
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 1: asking people, it's like cry for the songwriters. I'm just saying, like,

465
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,560
Speaker 1: it is a weird job, right, And so working with

466
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:18,640
Speaker 1: Billy made me really appreciate inspiration when it comes. It's

467
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,400
Speaker 1: such an ephemeral, inexplicable force. I don't know where that

468
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:26,399
Speaker 1: comes from. You can't force it, and I don't know

469
00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:28,959
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say, but that's my takeaway from it.

470
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:30,960
Speaker 1: It has to be fun. And you can't be so

471
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:32,840
Speaker 1: hard on yourself if you're not inspired. If you're an artist,

472
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:34,840
Speaker 1: if you're a songwriter, if you're an author, you know

473
00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:36,919
Speaker 1: it'll come when it comes, and you got to be

474
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,280
Speaker 1: grateful when it happens. And it's very humbling, you know.

475
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 2: I find it extremely extremely relatable what you're talking about,

476
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:44,359
Speaker 2: not only to everyone in this room, but people listening.

477
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 2: You know, even though someone's driving to work where they're

478
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,400
Speaker 2: basically making sausage today the same thing they did yesterday,

479
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:51,919
Speaker 2: you still have to feel inspired to stay with it,

480
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,680
Speaker 2: to pay the bills and keep going. So what you're

481
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,920
Speaker 2: saying is very, very, very very crystal clear. Freddie Wexler,

482
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 2: thank you for coming in today. Thanks Gary, thanks for

483
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,800
Speaker 2: giving us the world of Freddy. We were very quiet

484
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,199
Speaker 2: over there. Let's play it. Turn the lights back on,

485
00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 2: Billy Joel be soapping the dog