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Speaker 1: Taking a Walk.

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Speaker 2: The special thing about playing that particular show. It was

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Speaker 2: my sixteenth birthday, and I remember Bond Scott coming up

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Speaker 2: to me and wishing me a happy birthday, which doesn't

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Speaker 2: happen to too many people's, and then Brian May with

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Speaker 2: the Queen was there. And then another really special surprise

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Speaker 2: was after soundcheck, when the auditorium was really quiet. I

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Speaker 2: went down just to check on my drum kit and

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Speaker 2: there was this guy on his hands and knees checking

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Speaker 2: out the drums and I didn't want to. I didn't

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Speaker 2: want to start with him, so I just walked up

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Speaker 2: and I said, is everything okay? And he turned round

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Speaker 2: and it was Mitch Mitchell. I was so I was

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Speaker 2: just completely blown away. So what a special sixteenth birthday.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast hosted by Buzznight.

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Speaker 1: This is the podcast that talks to musicians about their

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Speaker 1: passionate love of music. Today the husband and wife team

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Speaker 1: of Lauren Monroe and Rick Allen. You know Rick from

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Speaker 1: his legendary def Leopard Work and Lauren is a singer

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Speaker 1: songwriter who shares her energy and love of the medium

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Speaker 1: as a healing force. For two decades, they've led their

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Speaker 1: foundation called the Raven Drum Foundation, which does amazing work

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Speaker 1: for veterans, first responders and so many others. Here's buzz

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Speaker 1: with Lauren and Rick on Taking a Walk.

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Speaker 3: Well, it's delightful to have Rick and Lauren with us

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Speaker 3: on the Taking a Walk podcast. Thank you so much.

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Speaker 3: I wish we were in person rather than virtual, but

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Speaker 3: I'm very happy to meet you.

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Speaker 2: That's great. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you, too, Great.

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Speaker 4: To meet you.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 3: Do you guys take walks out in beautiful California whenever

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Speaker 3: you can?

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Speaker 4: Of course? Yeah? Absolutely, Yeah.

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Speaker 2: The nature is so beautiful here, especially Central Coast. We

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Speaker 2: really love it, the two of us.

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Speaker 3: And do you find it to be therapeutic when you're

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Speaker 3: out taking a walk?

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Speaker 2: I think I think one of the most therapeutic things

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Speaker 2: there are, you know, it is being in amongst something

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Speaker 2: that is bigger than I am, you know, being out

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Speaker 2: in nature or looking at the ocean or looking up

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Speaker 2: at the sky. I think any of those things really

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Speaker 2: get me out of my own way. So so being

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Speaker 2: out in nature is really important to me, and I'm

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Speaker 2: sure it's really important to Lauren as well.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's very therapeutic. And I and some

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Speaker 4: of the things that we teach in our foundation, Raven

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Speaker 4: Drum Foundation, is we focus on nature. I understand it

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Speaker 4: through energy medicine and how energy is a transference and

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Speaker 4: when you're in something greater than yourself, something happens called

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Speaker 4: bioen trainment. So the dominant frequency affects you. And so

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Speaker 4: when you're standing by a tree or by the ocean,

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Speaker 4: they're the dominant frequency. And we start like a tuning fork.

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Speaker 4: You start to vibrate and we can get further into

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Speaker 4: our own calmness and and and it really helps a

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Speaker 4: nervous system, so it helps everyone being in nature.

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Speaker 3: Well, take us back to that magical moment when you

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Speaker 3: two lovebirds exchange your vows and you had the redtail

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Speaker 3: hawk circling above at that moment. Talk about that special time,

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Speaker 3: Well that Rick talk first.

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Speaker 2: Oh man, I mean, it couldn't have been more perfect.

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Speaker 2: You know, we had all our family and you know,

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Speaker 2: all our friends, and you know, just a just at

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Speaker 2: this this magical moment, which was made even more magical

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Speaker 2: by the fact that I think there were a pair

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Speaker 2: of redtail hulks flying way way above us, and it

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Speaker 2: just felt like it just felt like the blessing got

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Speaker 2: even more powerful. So I don't know what you experienced, Lauren,

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Speaker 2: but I mean that was that was one of those

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Speaker 2: moments I'll never I'll never forget.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think it was beautiful. Everybody saw it

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Speaker 4: and there were two redtails circling around right above us,

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Speaker 4: and it was it was a blessing. Like I felt

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Speaker 4: like it was a blessing too.

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Speaker 3: What do redtail hawk signify do you think?

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Speaker 4: Well, my understanding the hawk represents the presence of ster it.

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Speaker 4: I don't know that much detail about the red tail,

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Speaker 4: although we've been giving a lot of gifts of redtail feathers,

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Speaker 4: and Rick got a gift of a redtail claw from

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Speaker 4: a lot of our indigenous friends and colleagues. And I'm

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Speaker 4: sure this deeper meaning. But we pay attention. We live

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Speaker 4: in a very secluded area and we have a lot

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Speaker 4: of wildlife, and we pay attention into their behavior and

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Speaker 4: what they do and how close they come. And we're

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Speaker 4: able to sit very close to a lot of them

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Speaker 4: if we're still enough, and we've been here for a

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Speaker 4: number of years, so they trust us. Now that's great.

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Speaker 3: So, Lauren, how did you ultimately find your musical voice?

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Speaker 3: And who are some of the musicians that influenced you

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Speaker 3: in that time.

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Speaker 4: Well, I found my musical voice when I was really young.

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Speaker 4: I started writing songs and I got a guitar when

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Speaker 4: I was five, and it just it's like I knew.

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Speaker 4: I knew how to express myself in that way very

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Speaker 4: easily at a young age. And I think the seventies

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Speaker 4: music scene really influenced me a lot. I had a

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Speaker 4: lot of that around me and the doors. I remember

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Speaker 4: Jim Morrison, the way he articulated through poetry, and he

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Speaker 4: got into some of the very mystical realms when he

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Speaker 4: sang and he created his poetry. He influenced me quite

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Speaker 4: a bit, you know. Of course, Tom Petty was my

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Speaker 4: greatest influence I think in rock and roll. Once I

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Speaker 4: discovered him in the late seventies and early eighties. I

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Speaker 4: connected with his songwriting and his expression. But I draw

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Speaker 4: from a lot of influences, I think, mostly spiritual ones,

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Speaker 4: and then I just make songs that are me, that

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Speaker 4: are just me really.

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Speaker 3: And Rick, mister thunder God, may I call you that?

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Speaker 5: You can You started pretty darn young as a musician,

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Speaker 5: if I'm not mistaken.

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Speaker 3: You joined def Leppard at fifteen years old. Is that right,

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Speaker 3: I did.

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Speaker 2: Yet ran about nineteen seventy eight, and I'd been playing

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Speaker 2: with local bands and you know, they always wanted to

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Speaker 2: play cover songs. And yeah, we saw a newspaper article

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Speaker 2: Leopard loses skins, and we got in touch with the newspaper,

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Speaker 2: found the journalist and he put he put me in

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Speaker 2: touch with Joe Elliott and Steve Clark and I met

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Speaker 2: with them a few days later and we set up

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Speaker 2: an audition. And when I went for the audition, I

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Speaker 2: was I was really pleasantly surprised I got the job.

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Speaker 2: Lots of big smiling faces around the room, and that

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Speaker 2: was that was the beginning of something really really great.

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Speaker 3: And take me back to being sixteen years old at

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Speaker 3: the Hammersmith Odeon and having def Leppard open for ac

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Speaker 3: DC there. What was that like?

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Speaker 1: It was?

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Speaker 2: It was incredible, really, I mean it was all I

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Speaker 2: ever really knew because I was so young. But the

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Speaker 2: special thing about playing that particular show, it was my

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Speaker 2: sixteenth birthday and I remember Bond Scott coming up to

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Speaker 2: me and wishing me a happy birthday, which doesn't happen

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Speaker 2: to too many people. And then Brian May with the

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Speaker 2: Queen was there, and then Another really special surprise was

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Speaker 2: after soundcheck, when the auditorium was really quiet. I went

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Speaker 2: down just to check on my drum kit and there

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Speaker 2: was this guy on his hands and knees checking out

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Speaker 2: the drums and I didn't want to I didn't want

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Speaker 2: to startle him, so I just walked up and I said,

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Speaker 2: is everything okay? And he turned round and it was

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Speaker 2: Mitch Mitchell. I was so I was just completely blown away.

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Speaker 2: So what a special sixteenth birthday.

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Speaker 3: That's fantastic. And talk about the influencer's music that you

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Speaker 3: experienced growing up, Rick, Well, there.

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Speaker 2: Was always lots and lots of music playing at home.

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Speaker 2: One of one of the one of the artists I

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Speaker 2: remember was Glenn Miller. That was That was a big

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Speaker 2: part of growing up. And then of course listening to

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Speaker 2: the radio getting ready for school. You know, there was

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Speaker 2: always the great There was always you know, the beat,

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Speaker 2: always the rolling stones, the who I mean, you name it.

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Speaker 2: There were all these all this, you know, all this

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Speaker 2: fantastic music, and I couldn't help but be influenced by that.

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Speaker 2: That was That was really, you know, part of the

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Speaker 2: soundtrack of my life.

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Speaker 3: What is it Rick? About the diverse influences that British

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Speaker 3: musicians seemed to all have they have influences, that's man,

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Speaker 3: you know, all genres. Why do you think that is?

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Speaker 2: I've kind of experienced that with all musicians. I mean

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Speaker 2: Lauren for instance, you know she she listens to so

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Speaker 2: many different types of music. You know, you know she

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Speaker 2: grew up listening to Frank Sinatra was always on, and

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Speaker 2: I mean that carries through to now. I mean, we

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Speaker 2: play Frank Sinatra all the time. Sometimes we'll throw Frank

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Speaker 2: Sinatra Christmas music on just because you know, so it's

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Speaker 2: kind of it's it's it's almost a tradition. But I

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Speaker 2: think most musicians don't necessarily see genres. They just hear music,

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Speaker 2: and you know, they're all the same chords. We just

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Speaker 2: we just played them in a slightly different way or

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Speaker 2: more or less distorted. So for me, it's all music

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Speaker 2: and all goes into you know, what influenced me. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's interesting. I sat in with a Latin

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Speaker 2: jazz band the other night, which was which was really interesting.

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Speaker 2: That was a first, but it was just an incredible

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Speaker 2: experience and to me, it was rhythm and music and

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Speaker 2: I was just sort of just sort of playing along

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Speaker 2: with it. And I could quite easily have been playing,

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Speaker 2: you know, with Lauren or with def Leppard or any

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Speaker 2: other band.

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Speaker 3: Lauren, had you seen def Leppard before you and Rick met?

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Speaker 4: No, I've never seen them, and I I know I

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Speaker 4: I really wasn't a fan. I didn't you know, I

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Speaker 4: didn't dislike the music. I just wasn't engaged in that

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Speaker 4: you know genre very much. So. But then I remember

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Speaker 4: I went to a show and I realized, oh, I

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Speaker 4: know that song, and I know that song, and I

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Speaker 4: know just from the you know, consciousness of the eighties,

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Speaker 4: I I remembered things from the radio or so it was.

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Speaker 4: It was wonderful to you know, to meet him the

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Speaker 4: first time I met him and see the culture.

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Speaker 3: And Lauren, what was your first concert experience?

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Speaker 4: Tom Petty and Heartbreakers? It was my first concert. I

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Speaker 4: remember when I saw him, I said, I think I

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Speaker 4: can do that. You know, I want to try that.

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Speaker 4: I want to try writing some songs and you know,

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Speaker 4: and uh and really you know, working on it. So

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Speaker 4: it was fun to see him. I still he's still

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Speaker 4: my all time favorite artist.

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Speaker 3: Is there somebody you haven't seen that you'd you'd like

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Speaker 3: to see that is in your your musical wheel House

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Speaker 3: as it were.

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Speaker 4: We were just talking about that because I have never

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Speaker 4: seen Bruce Springsteen or the Rolling Stones, so those are

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Speaker 4: the two I would love to see. Bucket list no

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Speaker 4: to sell.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Lauren questioned for you first, and then same question for

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Speaker 3: you Rick. How do you two find a work life balance.

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Speaker 4: It's interesting. We never really had to think about it.

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Speaker 4: We just kind of automatically do it. We love work,

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Speaker 4: we love working, and we often work away and then

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Speaker 4: when we're home, we're working. But we definitely have you know,

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Speaker 4: we we things shut off at a certain time. You know,

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Speaker 4: we have to pick our daughter up from school and

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Speaker 4: then we have her life and being parents, and I

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Speaker 4: think there's an automatic shift down, and we try to

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Speaker 4: keep our weekends free so we can have family time

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Speaker 4: and you know, no cell phones at the dinner table,

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Speaker 4: and you know, we have a lot of things that

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Speaker 4: we automatically just don't do because they take away from

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Speaker 4: the moments that we have together. Rick is on the

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Speaker 4: road a lot, and now, you know, since the past

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Speaker 4: few years, I've been traveling shows and things can get hectic,

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Speaker 4: and let me have art that we do. I'm in

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Speaker 4: the art room right now and we do a lot

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Speaker 4: of art and music, and we're lucky we don't have

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Speaker 4: to work on it that much because we automatically fall

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Speaker 4: into the pattern of being together and we want the

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Speaker 4: same things one more home.

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Speaker 3: Have you cracked the code rip on balance?

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Speaker 2: It just seems to go really organically. One of the

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Speaker 2: things that we've started doing We've always played drums together,

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Speaker 2: but one of the things we do on a more

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Speaker 2: regular basis is play drums together. We have two drum

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Speaker 2: kits set up in the rehearsal space, and then Lauren

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Speaker 2: has her own percussion set up. Now, Lauren's played percussion

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Speaker 2: for many, many years, and now she's pushing into playing

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Speaker 2: a regular drum kit. And the sounds that we made

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Speaker 2: together really really good. I naturally gravitate to a more

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Speaker 2: masculine way of playing for obvious reasons, and Lauren, she

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Speaker 2: naturally sort of dances around whatever it is that I play. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, the two of us, we sound like we

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Speaker 2: sound like three or four drummers when we play together.

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Speaker 2: And I'm really excited to present, you know, the two

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Speaker 2: of us playing drums together. You know, more often. I'd

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Speaker 2: love to bring that into a live setting because I

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Speaker 2: think I think Lauren is super talented.

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Speaker 4: I never thought i'd play drum kit. It was never

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Speaker 4: it was never real though, but he had the two

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Speaker 4: kids and he's like, you should sit down on this.

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Speaker 4: I'm like, okay, we'll try that. But it was very organic.

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Speaker 4: It's so fun, and I think as a couple, it's

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Speaker 4: fun to have something that we both love to do together.

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Speaker 3: So you know, we have this other podcast which you're

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Speaker 3: going to be on. I'm so grateful for that, that

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Speaker 3: we produce, hosted by Lynn Hoffman called Music Save Me,

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Speaker 3: And we want to talk about the special work on

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Speaker 3: this podcast as well that you both are involved with

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Speaker 3: with the Raven Drum Foundation, which you've been at that

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Speaker 3: for twenty years plus. Please talk about the beginnings of

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Speaker 3: it and how it was created, why it was created,

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Speaker 3: and the amazing work that you and the organization does well.

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Speaker 4: We started the foundation in two thousand and one and

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Speaker 4: it was just a natural synergy of who Rick was

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Speaker 4: and who I was and myself bringing the energy medicine

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Speaker 4: piece to it and the mental health and somatic work.

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Speaker 4: And I was a percussionist as well and a day answer,

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Speaker 4: so I had a natural inclination to blend these two elements.

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Speaker 4: But then when I met Rick and we isolated, you know,

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Speaker 4: his trauma, and the things that made him feel better

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Speaker 4: was the drumming, and he had a lot to share

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Speaker 4: with sharing his own experience of moving through recovery of

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Speaker 4: post traumatic stress. So we created a curriculum around that,

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Speaker 4: and we created a specific kind of circle to help people.

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Speaker 4: And we saw that it didn't matter where you were

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Speaker 4: in your healing stage or who you were, whether you're

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Speaker 4: eighty years old or five years old, whether you were

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Speaker 4: you know, a specific religious affiliation or had a specific

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Speaker 4: trauma addiction, whether it was abuse, whether it was you know, cancer,

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Speaker 4: you're going through every crisis responded to this way of

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Speaker 4: healing and it brought community together. So we started working

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Speaker 4: with various different populations, sharing what we knew worked, and

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Speaker 4: then sharing more modalities so we serve, we educate, and

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Speaker 4: we empower through but also introducing people to other modalities

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Speaker 4: besides allopathic medicine, like yoga and meditation and mindfulness so

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Speaker 4: they can have more tools in their healing to compliment

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Speaker 4: their whatever they're working on with their doctor or whichever

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Speaker 4: they've been struggling to figure out on their own. And

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Speaker 4: we've been doing this for many years. I think the

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Speaker 4: thing that made us pivot is Rick's first visit to

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Speaker 4: All to Read Medical Center to help some of the

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Speaker 4: military right after they all there was a wave of

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Speaker 4: them coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. And I'll segue

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Speaker 4: into Rick sharing that because it's very powerful how we

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Speaker 4: brought our ideas into helping them.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Before I visited Well to Read, we hadn't

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Speaker 2: really focused so much on bedrooms, and Well to Read

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Speaker 2: was life changing for me. I really saw so much,

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Speaker 2: so much suffering, but I also saw a lot of potential.

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Speaker 2: And I remember I did great while I was there

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Speaker 2: at the hospital, and then when I got back to

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Speaker 2: my hotel, I called Lauren and I broke down. I

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Speaker 2: was really I guess it really really affected me, you know,

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Speaker 2: being being around all these incredible people, and it was

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Speaker 2: right then I suggested to Lauren that we we focused

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Speaker 2: more on veterans, and I think that's how we really

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Speaker 2: segued into that. Is that is that kind of how

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Speaker 2: you remember it, Lauren?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And I also remembered my family. My cousin was

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Speaker 4: killed in in Vietnam. I was very young, and I

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Speaker 4: know how I changed my whole family. So I I

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Speaker 4: really understood the effects of you know, having someone in

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Speaker 4: the military who has had an injury, a life changing injury,

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Speaker 4: or if you've lost someone, how there's a ripple effect

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Speaker 4: and it's a family experience, not just an individual one.

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Speaker 4: So I was really on board with experienced it. So

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Speaker 4: we both went to Walter Reed within the following months,

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Speaker 4: and then we brought a drum circle there and then

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Speaker 4: we started working with Wounded Warrior Project and it started

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Speaker 4: expanding from there and Rick found an immediate connection to

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Speaker 4: a lot of the warriors who lost limbs and there's

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Speaker 4: a wonderful camaraderie that they've opened up to him very easily.

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Speaker 4: It's beautiful to see that. And you know, when when

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Speaker 4: you're in a family that has trauma, you can talk

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Speaker 4: to one another in a way that's different from you know,

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Speaker 4: someone who hasn't experienced it. So it's great we continue

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Speaker 4: reaching out to first responders now because they also have

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Speaker 4: the same kind of you know, injuries that are invisible

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Speaker 4: wounds that people can't see. A firefighters specifically have the

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Speaker 4: least amount of treatment for this. They don't talk about.

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Speaker 4: It's still very you know, close to them. They don't

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Speaker 4: express there, but's what goes on Police Department e MTS

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Speaker 4: journalists who have to cover horrific you know, events like

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Speaker 4: Valde or like the war in Ukraine. They have to

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Speaker 4: come back and be normal and what's that, you know,

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Speaker 4: So we're really wrapping our arms around a lot of

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Speaker 4: different people. And you know, trauma is very common these days,

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Speaker 4: so we all can look at that.

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Speaker 3: And you have some events coming up that i'd like

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Speaker 3: you to promote to the listeners of the podcast. Do

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Speaker 3: you want to talk about what's happening in in a

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Speaker 3: short amount of time?

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Speaker 4: Sure, Well, March thirteenth, we're in Boston and we have

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Speaker 4: an event a concert there that we're supporting our first responders.

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Speaker 4: There in March fourteenth, we have a very special benefit

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Speaker 4: show at the Cutting Room to promote healing in programs

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Speaker 4: with friends of firefighters based out of New York, and

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Speaker 4: that's going to be an amazing show. We have a

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Speaker 4: lot of celebrity drummers coming in Boston. We'll were at

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Speaker 4: the Boston City Winery. So just go to Raven Drumfoundation

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Speaker 4: dot org and you'll see everything. You can find out

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Speaker 4: more information from our websites. We just at our Instagram.

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Speaker 4: We're on there a lot rig Allen live on Instagram

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Speaker 4: and Laura Monroe live and we can keep in touch

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Speaker 4: with everybody that way.

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Speaker 3: How does it make you feel when audience members, you know,

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Speaker 3: connect not only with your music, but with your good

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Speaker 3: work that you're doing.

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Speaker 4: I'll speak and then Rick, I think it's just like

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Speaker 4: growing a family. It just feels like, you know, we're

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Speaker 4: growing a family of people who believe in the same

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Speaker 4: things and want the world to be better. And you know,

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Speaker 4: it starts by healing ourselves. So we're all doing the

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Speaker 4: work and then you know, you circle up give people

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Speaker 4: an experience of what that feels like. It feels great,

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Speaker 4: It feels really special to share that with people, and

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Speaker 4: we're very blessed to be able to do that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what I've found over the years is when I

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Speaker 2: to feel my own my own trauma or my own depression,

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Speaker 2: the easy fix is always to be of service. And

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Speaker 2: then when we put ourselves out there into the community

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Speaker 2: and we do the right thing, it comes back to

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Speaker 2: us in ways that you can't even imagine. It's just

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Speaker 2: so so gratifying, a fantastic experience, uh to be able

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Speaker 2: to see transformation in in other people because of because

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Speaker 2: of what what we what we facilitate, and it helps us.

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Speaker 2: It's a two way street. It really helps us and

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Speaker 2: it helps helps them, helps everybody involved. So we're just

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Speaker 2: we're just really blessed to to be able to have

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Speaker 2: found this and continue to do this, you know, to

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Speaker 2: this day.

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Speaker 3: I have to tell you watching YouTube perform and one

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Speaker 3: of the videos that I saw, I observed this this tremendous,

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Speaker 3: uh calmness and serenity that you you both have while

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Speaker 3: you're on stage and you're performing, and you're you're with

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Speaker 3: each other and you're with your audience, and it it

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Speaker 3: truly is very contagious. And uh, I just wanted to

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Speaker 3: to thank you for that, and to thank you for

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Speaker 3: your good work and your great music, but also your

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Speaker 3: great hearts. Thank you, thank you, thanks for being on.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a

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Speaker 1: Walk Podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends

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Speaker 1: and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking

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Speaker 1: a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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