1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:01,320 Speaker 1: Taking a Walk. 2 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Buzsnight and welcome to the Taken a Walk Podcast. 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 2: I'm really excited today to be joined by somebody who's 4 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 2: been redefining the boundaries of modern music for over a decade. 5 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 2: He's a five time Grammy nominee, multi instrumentalist and platinum 6 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 2: selling artist who has shared stages with everybody from Taylor 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,600 Speaker 2: Swift to the Flaming Lips. But what makes him truly 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 2: special is his refusal to stay still artistically or emotionally. 9 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 2: He's releasing a brand new project, Evergreen, the final chapter 10 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 2: of a conceptual trilogy that's traced a remarkable journey from optimism, 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 2: through conflict to resolution, and he's taken that story on 12 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 2: the road for the twenty two city tour across the 13 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 2: United States. Coming up next, welcome the incredible Hunter Hayes 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 2: to Taken a Walk. Taken a Walk, Hunter Hayes, Welcome 15 00:00:58,800 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 2: to the Taken a Walk Podcast. 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 3: My friend, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Good 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 3: a chat with you. 18 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 2: So I want to take you back to a country 19 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 2: radio seminar event, which I believe was one of your 20 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 2: first events out in public. I got to watch you 21 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 2: perform in a little hotel room there where CRS takes place. 22 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 2: And I was mesmerized at that moment at what I saw, 23 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 2: And as I reflect on it now, as we're going 24 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 2: to talk about your new project, Evergreen, I'm even more 25 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 2: mesmerized by that moment in terms of what I have witnessed, 26 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 2: in terms of your evolution and what you are up to. 27 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 2: Do you ever reflect back to that moment and think 28 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 2: about where you are today. 29 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 4: Thank you for saying it, For saying that, all of that, 30 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 4: I really appreciate it. I do all the time in 31 00:01:53,760 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 4: different formats, with different lenses. I think recently having spent 32 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 4: some time and reflection, I mean spent the beginning of 33 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 4: this year kind of hitting a massive reset button for 34 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 4: myself mentally and emotionally, and it got kind of naturally 35 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 4: and surprisingly came with a lot of reflection on that 36 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 4: time and how so many of those moments have shaped 37 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 4: me as a human because I mean, that was what 38 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 4: would be the equivalent of college years for a lot 39 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 4: of people for me, So I do. I reflect on 40 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:29,679 Speaker 4: it a lot, and in different like I said, in 41 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 4: different lenses and learning different things still from experiences. Then 42 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 4: it's crazy how busy things got so fast after spending 43 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 4: so long just trying and working and just doing everything 44 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 4: that I could. Yeah, I think about it a lot. Actually, 45 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:49,959 Speaker 4: Now what. 46 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 2: Drives this trade of yours, which is this refusal to 47 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,679 Speaker 2: stay still artistically and emotionally? 48 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 4: Oh man, I don't even know how I answered that, 49 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 4: because that just feels like such a compliment that I 50 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 4: just feel like I need to sit and just appreciate 51 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 4: the I mean that, like, first of all, I'm so 52 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 4: spoiled in that I fell in love with the thing 53 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 4: that I do before I had to figure out the 54 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:23,399 Speaker 4: thing to do. I was so enamored by the studio process. 55 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 4: I was so in love with performing, And like, my 56 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 4: relationship with performing has definitely changed and and it's it's 57 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 4: it's it has a whole new meaning I think at 58 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 4: this point in my life. But I was always in 59 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 4: love with performing, even when I was, you know, four 60 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 4: or five years old. 61 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 3: I just loved it. 62 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 4: And then finding the studio world and the sort of 63 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 4: safety of creativity where my little brain could like hyperfixiate 64 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 4: on details and like I could work on the song 65 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 4: form start to finish, And so much of that was 66 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 4: by necessity, but also by just the way that I 67 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 4: work and my ability to obsess over things and and 68 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 4: so like so much of what I get to do 69 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 4: is just it's all. I found the perfect career before 70 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 4: I had to find the career because I get to 71 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 4: be involved in all of it when I need a 72 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 4: shift in my brain, like I get to wear a 73 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 4: different hat. Learning how to manage that in time management 74 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 4: category has been you know, I think the steepest learning 75 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 4: curve for me as I grow, But I just I 76 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 4: love it, like it's it's the one thing. Like I'm 77 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 4: just so grateful that even on the days where I'm like, 78 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 4: what is this industry? Why is it the way that 79 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 4: it is? What am I even doing in this industry? 80 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 4: Even on the whole, and those are very few in 81 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 4: part between, but the hardest days, I guess that'll trying 82 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 4: to say, I still I have this sort of like 83 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 4: assurance that I can walk up to my little room 84 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 4: up here, I can work on music, and I can 85 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 4: leave happy and fulfilled if I'm if I'm depleted, if 86 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 4: I'm broken, like I feel like the last two days 87 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 4: have tried to break me in Nashville with the fraising 88 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 4: and you know, running away from frozen world of it all, 89 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 4: even with the chaos of all that I got home, 90 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 4: I was just like, I just want to sit and 91 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 4: work for a little bit because my heart needs that. 92 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 4: And I just I found something that's incredibly fulfilling, and 93 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 4: it's so fulfilling that it far outweighs the parts that 94 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 4: tried to drain me faster, and I'm just learning how 95 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 4: to manage out the outgoing energy. 96 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 3: I guess you know what I mean, But I. 97 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 4: Just the short answer, which I'm incapable of giving you, 98 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 4: is I'm just like, I just love it, and it 99 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 4: just gives so much to me. 100 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 3: It gives so much more than I give than I 101 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 3: give to it. 102 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 2: You know, it shows, and that's one of the reasons 103 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 2: why fans all over the place connect with you and 104 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 2: they can't wait for you to go out on tour 105 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 2: and release new music. So let's talk about the new 106 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 2: music part of it. First, Evergreen completes a trilogy that 107 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 2: began with Wild Blue and Red Sky. Can You walk 108 00:05:57,560 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 2: us through? Notice what I did on taking a walk? 109 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 2: I said, can you walk us through? Betty? That emotionless, 110 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 2: that emotional art of these three albums, and what has 111 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 2: been like living inside this journey for however many years 112 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 2: it's taken. 113 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 4: I so badly want to, like, every time I talk 114 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 4: about this, I so badly want to like take credit 115 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 4: for the intentionality, but it's it's so fifty to fifty 116 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 4: and that it was an idea. And then in desperation, 117 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 4: I think I was looking at timelines and figuring out 118 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 4: sustainability far before I had the tools to do it, 119 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 4: and kind of in the chaos of Lord, I mean, 120 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 4: just to be candidate, I was writing hundreds of songs 121 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 4: a year and writing some of my best work and 122 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 4: in some cases some of my least favorite work in 123 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 4: the effort to like try to figure out who I'm 124 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 4: trying to plead, and like why isn't movement happening, and 125 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 4: just kind of feeling, I think, stuck in a machine 126 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 4: with a lot of pieces, you know what I mean. 127 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 4: And that's I don't blame anybody at all. It was 128 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 4: just a one of those circumstantial struggles and I had 129 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 4: gotten to a really kind of potential breaking point and 130 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 4: I was like, well, I always have music, I can 131 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 4: always make something, and I can always I don't know. 132 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 4: I felt like that was my way out of being stuck, 133 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 4: was just to make things. And this idea came to 134 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 4: make a trilogy, and it started as just like I'm 135 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 4: going to work on an album. Wile Blue was the origin, 136 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 4: the origin of the whole thing. 137 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 3: And wile Blue was was was me being I. 138 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 4: Want to be pilot. I'm a big aviation nerd, and 139 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 4: I want to give a pilot's license. I love the sky. 140 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,119 Speaker 4: I think there are so many metaphors and comparisons to flight, 141 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 4: between flight and life and how I handle things and 142 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 4: how everything appears to me the same. It's just there's 143 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 4: so many common threads, and so the Wild Blue Yonder, 144 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 4: you know, off we going to the Wild Blue Yonder. 145 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 4: The Air Force theme song that's Spray kept getting stuck 146 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 4: in my head for years, or like I've found I 147 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 4: know I wrote it. The whole thing was optimism. I 148 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 4: was trying to make an album without any outside influence, 149 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 4: just for the sake of making it. I think it 150 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 4: was therapy for me. I think it was just something 151 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 4: I needed to do. I had a basement studio where 152 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 4: I had finally collected all the pieces that I needed 153 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 4: to be kind of in my eyes at the time, unstoppable. 154 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 4: I knew that nothing was between me and a finished song, 155 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 4: and so I was just like, bug it, I'm gonna 156 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 4: do it. I'm gonna make everything I feel drawn to 157 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 4: and magnetized towards it. I'm just gonna go and do it. 158 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 4: And I worked with Sam Ellis, who I had known 159 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 4: in so many different capacities. He came to Nashville ten 160 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,559 Speaker 4: years before we wrote together. He ended up on the 161 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 4: road with me. He was part of so many like 162 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 4: production conversations in music, both with working and writing and 163 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 4: demoing and making songs, so many live conversations. He was 164 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 4: part of arranging and the and the whole band that 165 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:02,439 Speaker 4: I had at the time was very much a band 166 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 4: like we worked together, and I loved the checks and 167 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 4: balances of that and it kept me stable, and so 168 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 4: I brought him in to produce the Project book band. 169 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 4: It was kind of one song at a time, letting 170 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 4: people hear what I was excited about and just holding 171 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 4: onto that excitement, using people like Don Bellian as an 172 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 4: example of how to keep your fire lit. I was 173 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:21,959 Speaker 4: just watching people like that on YouTube and going, that's 174 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:23,439 Speaker 4: the energy that I want to have about the thing 175 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 4: that I'm doing, and maybe that at the time, I 176 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:28,679 Speaker 4: thought like, maybe that's what was missing. So I started 177 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 4: with Wablu, and it felt like this optimistic sort of 178 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 4: I created it in Missafe sort of bubble if you will, 179 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 4: and songs from that project ended up finding their way outside, 180 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 4: and like, much to my surprise, my label went nuts 181 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 4: over Dear God and I never thought they were going 182 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 4: to let me put that out, and that was the 183 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 4: song that we're most excited about. And then One Heartbreak 184 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 4: to me felt like, man, this is me honoring all 185 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,439 Speaker 4: the things that I love about country music while absolutely 186 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 4: bringing in things that I feel like are pushing things 187 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 4: forward and things that I'm inspired by and things I'm 188 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 4: hearing more people do. And one Shot was kind of 189 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 4: my like laughing, this is me writing by myself, and 190 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 4: this is what happens when I tell the whole truth. 191 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 4: And then While Blue was this experiment. The song While 192 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 4: Blue was just such an experiment. And then my song 193 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 4: Too was this sort of like homage to just like 194 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 4: great acoustic storytelling, and so I was just I was 195 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 4: just putting it all and Still was my way of 196 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 4: saying I'm Madness was my YouTube rock song, honoring mercy 197 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 4: Me in some ways, right like, and then Still was 198 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 4: another mercy Me tie in, and that it was like 199 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 4: a message of hope, a message of groundedness, and like, 200 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 4: I'm going to close this chapter with something intentional. And 201 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 4: so I got to do a lot of things, I think, 202 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 4: without anyone else's approval or input, and and followed my instincts, 203 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 4: my gut, all the things that were pulling at me 204 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 4: and made something I was proud of. Red Sky became 205 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 4: a very natural sort of place for the other feelings 206 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 4: that I had to go and the other things I 207 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 4: wanted to try. Red Sky was about, okay, you know, 208 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 4: while Blue was the optimist, the dreamer, red Sky was 209 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 4: kind of this project that evolved and became a plant 210 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:08,719 Speaker 4: in the corner that I was kind of starting to 211 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 4: pay attention to of, oh maybe this is where all 212 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 4: the angst goes. And then I worked on red Sky, 213 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 4: and I did a bunch of crazy stuff and had 214 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 4: so much fun, like making something so so full of 215 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 4: honesty in that, like I was trying new musical things 216 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 4: that I'd never done before, and like really hammering home 217 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 4: the like, you know, this isn't about approval, this isn't 218 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 4: about this is just about me letting stuff out, you know, 219 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 4: and trying things. And then you know, all the while Evergreen. 220 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 4: I wrote the song Evergreen first, and Evergreen just kind 221 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,520 Speaker 4: of sat as this like I think I know what 222 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 4: that is, but I don't think I've lived enough life 223 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 4: to understand what it's what it wants to tell me yet, 224 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 4: and all of these things kind of felt like obvious, 225 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 4: like messages from the future. Red Sky was this sort 226 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 4: of a place to put things, but also I was like, 227 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 4: I don't know that I know what this is yet. 228 00:11:57,720 --> 00:11:59,319 Speaker 4: I just think this has a this this is a 229 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 4: room I haven't into, and once I get there, I'll 230 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 4: get there. And I did, and I had so much fun, 231 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 4: and then Evergreen kind of started to takeet closer, and 232 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 4: then eventually we went on tour with Red Sky, and 233 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 4: I finally got to experience what it was like to 234 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 4: make an independent record, to put on a tour as 235 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 4: an independent artist, and to see people showing up like 236 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 4: much to my surprise, if I'm being totally honest, singing 237 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 4: the new stuff, like I sang all of Red Sky, 238 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 4: and people knew about a boy, And that's when I 239 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 4: was like, like, I think we're gonna be okay, meaning 240 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 4: like I'm not crazy for chasing this down and continuing 241 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:31,959 Speaker 4: this path. 242 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 3: I think there. 243 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 4: I think there are people who are connecting with what 244 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 4: I'm doing, and now my challenge is to find them 245 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 4: more efficiently, you know, to optimize all of my channels here, 246 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 4: to figure out how to reach more people who are 247 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,559 Speaker 4: who are connecting with this. And so that just inspired 248 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 4: and then Evergreen became a very clear like sort of 249 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 4: a series of letters and lessons, lessons from the past 250 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 4: and letters from the future. Okay, I'm not exactly where 251 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:01,080 Speaker 4: I want to be yet, but that's not what this 252 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,840 Speaker 4: album is about. This is about becoming the person I 253 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 4: wanted to be, and about the future I want to build, 254 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 4: and the mean that I want to be in that 255 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 4: the partner that I want to meet, and the partner 256 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 4: that I want to be for my partner, and the 257 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 4: friend that I want to be, and the steadfast sort 258 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 4: of convictions that I want to have and the growth 259 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,199 Speaker 4: of that I want to challenge myself with. So it 260 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 4: was a kind of it was an intentional thing and 261 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 4: that I created these I feel like my brain created 262 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 4: these worlds, but I had. 263 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 3: No idea what was supposed to be there until I 264 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 3: showed up for him. 265 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 2: I think you would agree that independence breeds defying genres 266 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 2: and that breeds really a sense I'm sure as a 267 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 2: creator of tremendous exhilaration in that process. Can you talk 268 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 2: about you mentioned a few earlier, but can you talk 269 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 2: about some of the artists maybe that help lead you 270 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 2: down that path of independence and of defying genre. 271 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 4: I don't even know if it began. I think, like, so, okay, 272 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 4: so I'll start with this because I just spent a 273 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 4: day last week with one of my heroes. I grew 274 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 4: up listening to Mercy Me. You know, there's there's so 275 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 4: many levels to their music in that there's sort of 276 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 4: the things that we hear on the radio, the hits 277 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 4: and the big moments, but like the amount of intentionality, 278 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 4: and it's so awesome meeting your meeting. At least my 279 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 4: experience with meeting my heroes has been great because they've 280 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 4: all been exactly who I hope they would be, and 281 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 4: I think I get to see. 282 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 3: I get to connect with them. Anyway. Bart is somebody 283 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 3: that I met. 284 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 4: He became a mentor, and we just recently kind of 285 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 4: reconnected after like just kind of you know, I think 286 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 4: COVID just we were all just and I was in 287 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 4: a different place and so I we reconnected, and he's 288 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 4: a great example and had like one of the things 289 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 4: that I loved about their band and his his work 290 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 4: was that every album was a different genre. 291 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 3: And I think that's what drew me to like Christian 292 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 3: muse Zick. 293 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: For a while. 294 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 4: I was like, Oh, you get to kind of do 295 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 4: whatever you want. It's all about the message, and I like, 296 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 4: I get chills thinking about it because I still think 297 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 4: that is stuck in my brain. If you if the 298 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 4: message is clear, and if I'm clear, then I feel 299 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 4: like I have the freedom to explore. I feel like 300 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 4: I can. I can if that structure is there. There's 301 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 4: if those roots are planted. And that feels like my 302 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 4: roots is the hopefully what other people see as the lyricism, 303 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 4: but the messaging and where I'm coming from and who 304 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 4: I am being and how vulnerable I'm trying to be, 305 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 4: and but like the human connection of it is my 306 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 4: root roots system, and so I feel like I can 307 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 4: kind of stretch a little bit. My branch just can 308 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 4: stretch into different genres or pull everything in. 309 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 3: I'm not. 310 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 4: I'm never trying to be another genre. 311 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: I am. 312 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 4: And I'm also like it's too daunting to think that 313 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 4: I'm going to create one could create their own. I 314 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 4: think it kind of happens by accident, but that's just 315 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 4: my opinion on it. But I think following Barton Mercy 316 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 4: me with a big inspiration because there was so much 317 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 4: freedom and every album was a new scene and a 318 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 4: new movie to watch, and it was so cinematic in that, 319 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 4: like there were just these beautiful storylines like all that 320 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 4: is Within Me, That whole record so cinematic, and then 321 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 4: like coming up to Breathe before that it had like 322 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 4: changed my life because it was like angsty, but it 323 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 4: was hopeful and it was healing, and then all to 324 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 4: like welcome to the New That record found me when 325 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 4: I was on tour in Japan and then I ended 326 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 4: up connecting with them. So I think people like that, 327 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 4: people like Coldplay, who like every album you know is different. 328 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 4: You know, there are so many challenges with that. You 329 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 4: create expectations with the people who doesn't do new music, 330 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 4: and obviously you have to sort of navigate and negotiate 331 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 4: through expectations and reality. But I love the fact that 332 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 4: they're just always pushing, They're always trying, and like I 333 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 4: think every Coldplay fan that I know has a different 334 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 4: Coldplay record that is their favorite and in their opinion, 335 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 4: the best, and that to me is a success. That 336 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 4: is when you know you've done it right as an artist. 337 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 4: Everyone that loves you loves you for a different thing. 338 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,880 Speaker 4: But it's all real, it's all actual. It's all songs 339 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:11,440 Speaker 4: that you'd be more than happy to put in the 340 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 4: setlist right now. You know, it's not chasing trends. It's 341 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 4: not reinventing yourself. I've never loved that description of working 342 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 4: because it's like you're constantly growing. I don't think you 343 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 4: have to reinvent yourself. I think the world does that 344 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 4: for you. But yeah, Cole plays a great example. You 345 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 4: know John Mayer. I think of John Mayer too, like 346 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 4: how many different evolutions his music has made. I think 347 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 4: he's done a great jobs like really weaving the lines. 348 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,680 Speaker 4: You can really see the thread through through his work 349 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:45,120 Speaker 4: and how it evolves and changes. You can follow it 350 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,200 Speaker 4: really easily. Yeah, those are like the three that come 351 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,880 Speaker 4: to mind right now, because that's kind of my north 352 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 4: star of like, oh, okay, you can you can stretch, 353 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 4: you can change, you can evolve, and you can take 354 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 4: people along on the journey. It doesn't have to be 355 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 4: this scary, like what if they don't like If I 356 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 4: do this thing, you can feel planned, you can feel 357 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,439 Speaker 4: convicted in what you're doing and feel good about bringing 358 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 4: people along for it. 359 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more of the Taking a 360 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast. 361 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 2: As a multi instrumentalist, who is I would say deeply 362 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 2: involved in the production aspects of the work. How do 363 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:32,880 Speaker 2: you know when a song is finished? 364 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 3: You don't. I don't. 365 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,400 Speaker 4: I mean I know when I I know what I'm 366 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,440 Speaker 4: finished with my version of it. But also I don't 367 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 4: because I still have mixed revisions on Around the Sun, 368 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,919 Speaker 4: and that came out nearly a year ago. So I 369 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 4: do think that there It's such an excellent question because 370 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 4: I think that's something I'm still trying to figure out 371 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 4: for myself. 372 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 2: Is there ever a point that you say, cheez, I 373 00:18:58,359 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 2: have to stop tinkering? 374 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 4: Though luckily I don't think there's a tank or moment. 375 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 4: I think there's sort of the you sort of circle 376 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,919 Speaker 4: like for me, like I'll circle. I'll use Around the 377 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 4: Sun as an example, just because it's I wrote it 378 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 4: by myself, and I worked on it by myself for 379 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 4: a long time before I brought anybody else in. And 380 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:22,159 Speaker 4: when I brought Alex in, it felt like I was 381 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 4: presenting him a picture that was a sketch. But I 382 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,719 Speaker 4: was like, these kind of feel like the characters. This 383 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 4: kind of feels like the lighting, this feels like the presentation. 384 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 4: And then we just like dug down into the presentation. 385 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 4: I think that, like, so the riff, you know, it 386 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 4: was pretty obvious what the riff was, and then it 387 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 4: was I played it on like seven different guitars, and 388 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 4: then we realized, oh, it should progress through the song. 389 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 4: You know, it should feel light and airy for this version. 390 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 4: It should feel more personal and intimate for this section 391 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 4: of the song. And then at this point in the song, 392 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 4: it's the electric guitar player on stage performing. It's the 393 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 4: vin skill kind of you know, confidence and smooth swagger, 394 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 4: you know. And then at the very end of the song, 395 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,199 Speaker 4: it's just a party and everybody's invited. 396 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: You know. 397 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 3: That's how I like to work. 398 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,880 Speaker 4: I love to find like the thing I want to do, 399 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,880 Speaker 4: and then I start finding the sounds and the versions 400 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 4: of the thing that feel best for that section. I 401 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 4: think there's a lot of people working right now in 402 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 4: a new kind of I call it like an ADHD 403 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 4: kind of way, which speaks to my brain. But like 404 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,400 Speaker 4: every section of the song kind of presents a different 405 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:36,880 Speaker 4: lens of the band and I love that. So for me, yeah, 406 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 4: I don't have an answer to that question. I just 407 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 4: I think there are moments when you sort of hear 408 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 4: the part and the sound and the vocal and it 409 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 4: feels and honestly, like every time I feel like I'm 410 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:50,239 Speaker 4: doing too much in production, I'm just like I need 411 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 4: to sing it, I need to get in and like 412 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 4: I need to get the vocal. And once I get 413 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 4: the vocal, it's just like okay, out of step away 414 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 4: because that all feels like it's serving the vocal. And 415 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 4: that's the advantage of working so much on my own. 416 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 4: Is my whatever you want to call it, and a 417 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 4: lot of people call it things, but like my energy, 418 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 4: I feel like what naturally happens is I lead to 419 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 4: the story right off until the moment I tell the story. 420 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 4: I want to tell the story, every player kind of 421 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 4: falls into place and it all starts to make sense, 422 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,880 Speaker 4: and then it's then it's off to you know. I mean, 423 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 4: we're you know, mixing and fixing the whole time. But 424 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 4: that's that's my current process, and I like it works 425 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 4: right now. 426 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 2: What was the most challenging song to complete on Evergreen 427 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 2: and why? 428 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 3: Oh? 429 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 4: Well, from a writing perspective, because like I see them 430 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 4: differ so separately writing, Like when I schedule a writing session, 431 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 4: it's just me the writers, guitars and like laptops, but 432 00:21:55,480 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 4: for typing purposes, I don't like. I actually love when 433 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,160 Speaker 4: we don't make a track in the room. I also 434 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 4: love when there's a great you know, producer in the 435 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:07,880 Speaker 4: room that is like kind of working on the track 436 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 4: as we go, Like that is really fun and I 437 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 4: just so appreciate that craft and I love to do it. 438 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 4: But the only thing I don't like about doing is 439 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 4: I'm not capable of making the track and working on 440 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,679 Speaker 4: a lyric. And to me, I love like to me 441 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 4: the tests and when the only way that I feel 442 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 4: constant in a song is if I'm sitting with a 443 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 4: guitar and a lyric and it feels great, and then 444 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 4: I start getting excited about parts. And then I love 445 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 4: going into the studio with a clean slate and a 446 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 4: voice memo because I feel like the song just is 447 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 4: so obvious by that point, all the parts I'm hearing 448 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,959 Speaker 4: pieces and drum patterns and you know whatever, like it 449 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 4: all presents itself. So like, from the writing perspective, Around 450 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 4: the Sun was the hardest. It took me two days 451 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,159 Speaker 4: to write that, and that's not normal because I think 452 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 4: when I get in flow, I like to hyperfixate and 453 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 4: focus on lyrics, and that's why my process is the 454 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,920 Speaker 4: way that it is. And like, if it's not there 455 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 4: in like two hours, I've lost it. I feel like 456 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 4: I've I've lost the plot and I've I've drifted from 457 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,880 Speaker 4: where the intention was and the feeling was with Around 458 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 4: the Sun. It was kind of an exercise and it's okay. 459 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 4: It's okay that it's not done. I got the coorse. First, 460 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 4: I walked away. I went to my neural feedback appointment, 461 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 4: you know, worked on my brain a little bit, came 462 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,400 Speaker 4: back home, it became more clear, the verses started showing up. 463 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 4: And then the next day the key changed and I 464 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 4: was like, oh my god, there is and then I 465 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 4: started working on the trap for the next four days. 466 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 4: But I'd say that was the hardest just because it 467 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 4: felt like the one I had to be patient and 468 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 4: wait for. It was like it was in the room 469 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 4: waiting for me to listen, and I just had to 470 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 4: practice listening. It's one thing when you have different writers 471 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 4: and they're all listening, you know what I mean. We're 472 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 4: all kind of listening for the song in the sky, 473 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 4: which is kind of how I see it the rest 474 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 4: of these, I mean, Evergreen was so fun and so 475 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 4: artistic in the room, and working with Gordy's always been 476 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 4: easy for me because he's one of my heroes as well. 477 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,400 Speaker 4: Until She Comes Along was really fun and just like 478 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 4: to me, felt like swamp pop, which is when I 479 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 4: grew up around music. Swamp pop music is my Louisiana 480 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,679 Speaker 4: version of saying like retro pop, like very sort of 481 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 4: fifties sixties inspired. 482 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 3: Waite was a. 483 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 4: Total tribute to the rock. Even though we wrote it 484 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 4: as like an acoustic song, it felt like a rock song. 485 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 4: Dream About was a beautiful I mean, yeah, I think 486 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 4: everything was pretty easy. Everything everything here happened in flow, 487 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 4: except for around the Sun. I had to be very 488 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 4: patient with that and then it showed up one piece 489 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 4: at a time, and I've really learned the value of 490 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:51,439 Speaker 4: appreciating the seeds, you know, and letting them grow when 491 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 4: they're when they want to. 492 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 2: Thankfully for all your fans. You're hiading on the road 493 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,879 Speaker 2: and you're gonna be with Franklin, Jonas and Blue Eyes. 494 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 2: You've toured with everybody from Taylor Swift to Carrie Underwood 495 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 2: to Dan and Shay. How have those experiences shaped you 496 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:09,439 Speaker 2: in your career. 497 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,120 Speaker 4: My first tour was Taylor and to see an operation 498 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 4: so well run and so tight and also so human 499 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,119 Speaker 4: like just in my opinion at that time, this was 500 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 4: the Speak Now tours. This is a while back, but 501 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,400 Speaker 4: they were in arenas. We did a couple of stadiums, 502 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 4: and it was just so clear that there was an 503 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 4: artist with the vision, a team that worked well together, 504 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 4: and it was just so I don't know, everything just 505 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 4: felt so well handled and like we all knew the mission. 506 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 4: Everybody knew the missions, and there was space to be 507 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 4: human and I think that set the bar really, really high. 508 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 4: My experience with Carrie was that was my first time 509 00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 4: doing like you know, I guess what they call it 510 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 4: or LA routing, where like you're out for six months, 511 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 4: seven months at a time, the longest I've ever been 512 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,239 Speaker 4: on the road before, and kind of a privilege that 513 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 4: like we had a forty five minute show that we 514 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 4: got to have fun with and then I was doing 515 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 4: a lot of I mean I was doing five meeting 516 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 4: and greets a day, and you know, we were busy 517 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 4: at the time. 518 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:17,680 Speaker 3: I was doing radio a ton of radio. 519 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 4: Visits, and like it was busy, but I think it 520 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 4: was the perfect way to experience a little bit of 521 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 4: everything that I'm going to do for the next ten 522 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:28,119 Speaker 4: years in like small concentrated chunks every day. So that 523 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 4: was really fun. That was also where we grew from 524 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 4: like one bus to two buses, so the crew doubled 525 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,359 Speaker 4: in size literally overnight, and we got in a truck 526 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 4: and so I got to start making productions and you know, 527 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 4: the forty five minutes show then informed every other show 528 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 4: that we would do outside of that tour that year 529 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 4: that was ninety minutes two hours. And then those shows 530 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,679 Speaker 4: were even more fun because we got to spread our 531 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 4: wings a little bit. And then, yeah, it's nuts to 532 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 4: think that, Yeah, the first time I got to play arenas, right, 533 00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 4: the first time I got to a headline what I 534 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:00,400 Speaker 4: mean by that as. 535 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,520 Speaker 3: I had so much fun with that set. 536 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 4: And we were in so many challenges because we were 537 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 4: it was my first arena tour and like we didn't 538 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 4: really have like the arena budget, but we were doing 539 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 4: arenas and so we got creative. It's like, okay, well 540 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 4: we need to let it be the house stage. Okay, great, 541 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 4: can we just turn it forty five degrees and make 542 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 4: it a diamond? Yes we can't, Okay, great. We got 543 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 4: a new shape. We had a new thing. It's a 544 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 4: new thing that you know, we've not seen. And then 545 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 4: we got to do like the half of the h 546 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 4: Shape stage on this on the Tattoo tour and and 547 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 4: that was like, that was when we brought out at 548 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 4: the time. Yeah, I mean, getting to pick your openers 549 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 4: for for an arena tours is kind of a you know, 550 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 4: it's funny big boy jacket, you know what I mean. 551 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 3: Like it it just that I think cool. I felt 552 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 3: like I felt like an adult. 553 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 4: And that was the tour that you know we had, uh, 554 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 4: Dan and Shay was first, and then it was Daniel 555 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 4: Bradbury and she had just come off the Voice so 556 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 4: the energy around like her set was super fun. And 557 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,680 Speaker 4: Dan and Shay we're just kind of getting into Nashville, 558 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 4: so you could feel their excitement for music and the 559 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 4: music nerd environment that. 560 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 3: I like to create. 561 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:58,399 Speaker 4: That was the first time I think I got to 562 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,199 Speaker 4: see it sort of at the highest level, you know, 563 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,239 Speaker 4: we had I was surrounded by people who loved what 564 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 4: they did, and I had seen my crew and my 565 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 4: team grow and the band and I kind of were 566 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,199 Speaker 4: just finally just enjoying the fruits of our labor for 567 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 4: five years, just like in the rooms we wanted to 568 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 4: be in, and I was making the productions I wanted 569 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,120 Speaker 4: to make, and yeah, it was I learned a lot 570 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 4: in those in those in that year because that was 571 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,880 Speaker 4: the Arena run was kind of a whole year of 572 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 4: like two different tours. 573 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 2: So yeah, under inclosing, since we call this little podcast 574 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 2: Taken a Walk, who would you like to take a 575 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:37,480 Speaker 2: walk with? Living or dead? 576 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 4: Oh Man, A few people, I mean everybody like on 577 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 4: on my like artists influenced list, right, So, like, I'm 578 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 4: grateful that I've you know, Bart's just been such a 579 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 4: huge sort of mentor for years. Chris Martin. I'd love 580 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 4: to spend some time with Chris Martin. Every time I 581 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 4: need a like recenter, I just watch his interviews because 582 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 4: I feel like I get back to the version of 583 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:09,239 Speaker 4: me that I want to be as well. I think 584 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 4: it's fascinating to hear people like John talk about his 585 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 4: music and his career. But I love talking to people 586 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 4: in bands because there's such a you know, the checks 587 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 4: and balances, right, but like balance of I don't know 588 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 4: collaboration too. 589 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 3: Like maybe at the top of that list right now 590 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 3: is Chris Martin. 591 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 2: Hunter Hayes. I'm so happy are on Taking a Walk. 592 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 2: It was a real thrill to have you. Congratulations on Evergreen, 593 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 2: and congratulations on the tour and on everything. It's so 594 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 2: well deserved. And come back anytime. 595 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Thanks for having me chures. 596 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 2: I'm Buzznight, and thanks for listening to the Taking a 597 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 2: Walk podcast. 598 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: Now. 599 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 2: Please check out our companion podcasts produced by Buzznight Media 600 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 2: Productions with your host Lynn Hoffman. Music Save Me showcasing 601 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 2: the healing power music and comedy Save Me shining a 602 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 2: light on how laughter is the best medicine. All shows 603 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 2: are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and are part of 604 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 2: the iHeart podcast network.