WEBVTT - Janelle Monàe and Nate Wonder: World Happiness Day Bonus 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:24.396 Pushkin. Hey there, it's justin Richmond. We're revisiting an episode 0:00:24.396 --> 0:00:27.956 we recently put out with Jenell Money to celebrate World 0:00:28.276 --> 0:00:31.556 Happiness Day. We're part of the Pushkin network. In one 0:00:31.556 --> 0:00:35.396 of my colleagues, Laurie Santos, who hosts the Happiness Lab podcast, 0:00:35.796 --> 0:00:37.436 ask me to share an episode that makes me happy, 0:00:37.556 --> 0:00:39.556 and to be honest, nothing made me happier than this 0:00:39.596 --> 0:00:43.396 episode with Jenell mone and Nate Wonder. So to celebrate 0:00:43.436 --> 0:00:46.156 World Happiness Day and the World Happiness Report that the 0:00:46.276 --> 0:00:48.556 UE puts out every March, and in honor of my 0:00:48.716 --> 0:00:52.356 colleague Laurie Santos from the Happiness Lab, have fun. Were 0:00:52.356 --> 0:00:54.876 listening to this conversation I have with Janelle Monee and 0:00:54.996 --> 0:00:58.276 Nate Wonder. Also, we'll be putting an episode of the 0:00:58.276 --> 0:01:01.836 Happiness Lab in this broken record feed shortly, so stay 0:01:01.836 --> 0:01:07.716 tuned for that. This is broken record liner notes for 0:01:07.836 --> 0:01:12.116 the Digital Age just Mission. Here's my conversation with Nate 0:01:12.156 --> 0:01:17.796 Wonder and Janelle Monae. Happy birthday, Thank you Rammy nomination. Yes, 0:01:18.196 --> 0:01:20.596 Album of the Years. Yeah, it's like two in a row. 0:01:20.676 --> 0:01:22.356 Now, I know that's a big deal. 0:01:22.476 --> 0:01:24.276 I know it's a big deal. 0:01:24.476 --> 0:01:28.356 I'm still just so humble, very big, not just progressive 0:01:28.516 --> 0:01:31.076 R and B album, but like album of the year, 0:01:31.236 --> 0:01:32.636 Like that's some crazy, that's wild. 0:01:33.236 --> 0:01:35.556 Yeah. I watched a lot of my heroes get it 0:01:35.796 --> 0:01:39.276 and be on that stage, and like it's it's really 0:01:39.276 --> 0:01:41.756 a dream to be able to not just shine light 0:01:41.836 --> 0:01:44.556 on the work that I do, but you know, Nate's 0:01:44.556 --> 0:01:47.156 here as well. He worked heavily on the music and 0:01:47.196 --> 0:01:50.596 production and writing with me and everybody else who you 0:01:50.636 --> 0:01:53.516 know was a part of the album. They get recognized too. 0:01:53.556 --> 0:01:56.636 So that's the beautiful thing about being in that category. 0:01:56.756 --> 0:01:59.516 Yeah, no, absolutely, Yeah, I wanted to ask about the 0:01:59.556 --> 0:02:01.876 collaborative since I have the pleasure of both of you guys, 0:02:01.916 --> 0:02:05.076 which is it feels special to me, So I was 0:02:05.116 --> 0:02:07.436 I was curious about how you guys collaborate on it. 0:02:07.436 --> 0:02:09.436 I mean, you guys been working together alone time. 0:02:09.476 --> 0:02:14.916 First of all, every project, every album since my EPs 0:02:15.116 --> 0:02:17.196 where I was selling them out of the trunk of 0:02:17.236 --> 0:02:21.476 my car in Atlanta. We've been able to have, you know, 0:02:21.516 --> 0:02:25.796 a creative bond and just like evolution together and it's 0:02:25.916 --> 0:02:29.076 just been really a fun ride. Lots of fun things 0:02:29.116 --> 0:02:34.036 happen in the studio. It feels like family. It feels intentional. 0:02:34.396 --> 0:02:35.156 It's magical. 0:02:35.396 --> 0:02:39.276 Absolutely. Where were you both at when you guys first. 0:02:39.076 --> 0:02:45.116 Met in Atlanta? We met at Morehouse Janelle was she 0:02:45.276 --> 0:02:46.596 was living like in the. 0:02:46.756 --> 0:02:51.196 Area Parsons Street. Yeah, boarding house next to Club Woody 0:02:51.236 --> 0:02:52.916 in the AUC Club. 0:02:52.636 --> 0:02:54.116 Woody is the name of the library. 0:02:54.396 --> 0:02:56.476 Okay, you go there though, because it's in the middle 0:02:56.516 --> 0:02:57.996 of all three campuses. 0:02:58.516 --> 0:02:59.476 It's kind of like a club. 0:02:59.516 --> 0:03:01.236 You never know in Atlanta what that could. 0:03:01.076 --> 0:03:07.836 Bet It's actually actually the university library. And she would 0:03:07.916 --> 0:03:10.876 throw shows on the steps. And I was just out 0:03:10.916 --> 0:03:14.076 of college. I had lost my scholarship in my junior 0:03:14.156 --> 0:03:17.396 year of college because I was writing music. And so 0:03:18.636 --> 0:03:21.796 after I graduated, like I could really take the time 0:03:21.836 --> 0:03:23.396 to focus on my music the way I wanted to. 0:03:23.956 --> 0:03:27.436 So in college you knew that like music was where 0:03:27.476 --> 0:03:29.116 you were focused, That's where your attention was. 0:03:29.156 --> 0:03:31.276 But why did you lose? What happened? You need to 0:03:31.276 --> 0:03:34.236 tell him exactly a moment that will let you know 0:03:34.236 --> 0:03:34.956 how serious you were. 0:03:34.996 --> 0:03:37.036 I mean I had I had two full scholarships to school, 0:03:37.476 --> 0:03:43.716 and I lost both of them because I how do 0:03:43.716 --> 0:03:47.996 you get too? NASA gave me a scholarship, and the 0:03:48.036 --> 0:03:51.076 school gave me a scholarship separately, and I just had 0:03:51.116 --> 0:03:51.516 both of them. 0:03:51.516 --> 0:03:54.156 I had one like as a backup, I guess idea. 0:03:55.036 --> 0:03:59.276 But I was in a math test and I was 0:03:59.316 --> 0:04:01.916 doing well on the test except for like in the 0:04:01.916 --> 0:04:03.796 middle of the test, I had this song come to 0:04:03.836 --> 0:04:09.596 me and I just felt compelled to get up and 0:04:09.636 --> 0:04:11.836 I went to my dorm room and I wrote the 0:04:11.916 --> 0:04:14.916 song and I did not finish the test, and it 0:04:14.996 --> 0:04:17.716 caused my GPA to crater. 0:04:18.756 --> 0:04:20.916 And that's why I lost my scholarship. 0:04:21.356 --> 0:04:23.716 Yay, was that and that's how we got to make music. 0:04:24.036 --> 0:04:27.996 I mean, thank god he lost his NASSA And I 0:04:28.036 --> 0:04:31.076 mean in any other scenario, that's a tragedy. Yeah, but 0:04:31.236 --> 0:04:33.036 it seems to have been the right path. 0:04:33.156 --> 0:04:35.676 It felt tragic at the time too, after I realized 0:04:35.756 --> 0:04:38.356 that happened. In the moment, it felt like, this is 0:04:38.396 --> 0:04:40.116 what you're supposed to be doing. You need to just 0:04:40.156 --> 0:04:40.836 listen to this. 0:04:41.076 --> 0:04:43.356 Was that common for you to just up and leave 0:04:43.436 --> 0:04:45.676 whatever you were doing, wherever you were at, whoever you 0:04:45.676 --> 0:04:48.116 were with, YO, get an idea. 0:04:47.956 --> 0:04:51.556 Yeah, but not a test. It had not happened like 0:04:51.796 --> 0:04:54.076 that was something that cost me so much. 0:04:54.596 --> 0:04:54.996 Yeah. 0:04:55.556 --> 0:04:57.596 In the movie of Your Life was a pretty high stake, 0:04:58.036 --> 0:04:59.636 you know what I mean, it was. 0:04:59.836 --> 0:05:01.956 And it felt like a big mistake afterwards. For a 0:05:01.996 --> 0:05:04.716 little while, it felt like, wow, that was crazy. 0:05:05.156 --> 0:05:06.076 Yeah. Yeah. 0:05:06.276 --> 0:05:10.436 My dad was like, you're crazy. You absolutely lost your mind. 0:05:10.716 --> 0:05:12.956 Were your parents academically folks, like, I mean, I don't know. 0:05:12.836 --> 0:05:15.836 How scholarship My dad has a doctorate in music actually, 0:05:16.596 --> 0:05:20.316 and he wasn't active in music in that kind of way. 0:05:20.356 --> 0:05:23.716 He's a professor, so he's yes, he's yeah. 0:05:23.396 --> 0:05:25.636 You grew up with a lot of theory and things, 0:05:25.676 --> 0:05:26.156 and I grew. 0:05:26.116 --> 0:05:28.556 Up watching him write music composed and like he was 0:05:28.596 --> 0:05:30.996 writing operas and all that kind of stuff, and like, 0:05:31.036 --> 0:05:33.556 so I saw that growing up, and I learned a 0:05:33.596 --> 0:05:35.596 lot of instruments kind of. I got introduced to a 0:05:35.636 --> 0:05:38.836 lot of instruments early on, and I got introduced to 0:05:38.876 --> 0:05:40.996 the idea of composition very early. 0:05:41.556 --> 0:05:44.196 But he was not. He was like that it is dumb. 0:05:45.076 --> 0:05:50.716 Just so we can be clear, that's dumb. 0:05:50.836 --> 0:05:51.796 Did you know him at the time. 0:05:52.516 --> 0:05:54.396 I didn't know. You didn't know each other. That was 0:05:54.916 --> 0:05:59.436 you know, I met him after he probably did some 0:05:59.516 --> 0:06:03.916 healing from the traumatic experience of losing your scholarships. 0:06:03.996 --> 0:06:06.396 I learned how to focus. That's what I learned from that. 0:06:06.836 --> 0:06:10.676 I always hold that as like a lesson in focus, 0:06:11.196 --> 0:06:12.276 like what it takes. 0:06:12.156 --> 0:06:13.836 Focus on the thing at hand, or focus on the 0:06:13.876 --> 0:06:15.476 creativity that's taking away. 0:06:15.916 --> 0:06:18.356 Actually you know, you know it's interesting, like it's just 0:06:18.636 --> 0:06:21.996 pick something and do that thing. So the idea of 0:06:22.036 --> 0:06:25.196 the multitasking and all that kind of stuff, I understood 0:06:25.356 --> 0:06:29.276 how detrimental that could be to whatever the dream that 0:06:29.396 --> 0:06:32.076 I had was. So if it was music, like I 0:06:32.476 --> 0:06:34.436 know that. Like the feeling I had when I was 0:06:34.436 --> 0:06:38.236 in the class was, Hey, you're not pursuing the thing 0:06:38.276 --> 0:06:40.476 that you're supposed to be pursuing right now, and you 0:06:40.956 --> 0:06:43.076 are going to feel sick about that at some point 0:06:43.116 --> 0:06:44.756 in time. Right now, you feel sick, so you need 0:06:44.756 --> 0:06:47.596 to go write that song. Later on I felt like, okay, 0:06:47.716 --> 0:06:49.716 I but I made a commitment, and so you know, 0:06:49.756 --> 0:06:54.356 it's about just commitment focus not being distracted. And when 0:06:54.356 --> 0:06:56.636 I finished college, I was like, Okay, now I'm going 0:06:56.716 --> 0:06:58.636 to focus and I wanted to do that. 0:06:58.876 --> 0:07:01.396 You did finish, yes, and you paid? 0:07:01.556 --> 0:07:03.356 Yeah I had to pay. 0:07:03.956 --> 0:07:08.476 Oh yeah, that's what I'm saying. Hey, last year I 0:07:08.476 --> 0:07:10.716 got a scholarship for part of it. I got a 0:07:10.756 --> 0:07:12.796 scholtship to go live in Spain. So they paid me 0:07:12.836 --> 0:07:14.956 to go. I did get another scholarship. 0:07:14.516 --> 0:07:15.316 Too, smart man, but I. 0:07:20.956 --> 0:07:21.836 And tell them what you know? 0:07:21.876 --> 0:07:21.956 What? 0:07:21.996 --> 0:07:25.196 Tell them what you got that scholarship in Spanish, which 0:07:25.236 --> 0:07:28.756 I sucked in. I failed Spanish high school year, but 0:07:30.636 --> 0:07:32.596 Spanish major in Spanish. 0:07:32.596 --> 0:07:35.956 Look at you? Yeah, did you did you study any 0:07:35.996 --> 0:07:37.876 music Spanish music while you were in Spain? 0:07:38.196 --> 0:07:38.396 No? 0:07:38.636 --> 0:07:42.196 I studied Spanish art and architecture actually, And so when 0:07:42.236 --> 0:07:44.716 I went to Spain, I was like, let me not 0:07:45.116 --> 0:07:46.156 pursue music right now. 0:07:46.196 --> 0:07:46.916 Let me focus. 0:07:46.956 --> 0:07:48.676 I'm not going to bring any of my instruments, like 0:07:48.716 --> 0:07:50.516 I would never not have a guitar in my hand. 0:07:51.276 --> 0:07:52.636 And so I was like, I'm going to go to Spain. 0:07:52.716 --> 0:07:54.476 I'm not going to have any instruments. I'm going to 0:07:54.556 --> 0:07:57.876 focus and I'm going to just do what I'm here 0:07:57.916 --> 0:08:01.876 to do. And I went there, and what's crazy is 0:08:01.876 --> 0:08:04.956 that the place that I lived was directly next to 0:08:05.036 --> 0:08:08.356 a music conservatory. So I would wake up in this 0:08:08.836 --> 0:08:10.796 girl would play the flute every morning. 0:08:10.876 --> 0:08:12.076 It would wake me up. Every morning. 0:08:12.076 --> 0:08:15.356 I would hear musicians playing all day. And I was like, man, 0:08:15.596 --> 0:08:17.796 I got And so I was there I bought a 0:08:17.836 --> 0:08:19.636 flute and like taught myself to play the flute, but 0:08:19.676 --> 0:08:21.476 that was it. I was like, let me just that's 0:08:21.476 --> 0:08:22.156 small enough. 0:08:22.516 --> 0:08:24.956 Yeah, so that's more of a hobby than a real 0:08:25.516 --> 0:08:29.356 stick pursuit. Similarly, you early on were kind of like 0:08:29.396 --> 0:08:32.716 possessed by creativity, right, mm hmmm. 0:08:32.916 --> 0:08:37.156 I like that possessed. Yes, there was never a time 0:08:37.196 --> 0:08:42.396 where I wasn't singing. I don't remember like singing, acting, partying, 0:08:44.596 --> 0:08:46.556 doing exactly what it is that I'm doing. I was 0:08:46.596 --> 0:08:48.636 talking to a friend and she reminded me. She was like, 0:08:48.676 --> 0:08:50.476 remember in sixth grade when we used to throw these 0:08:50.476 --> 0:08:53.396 parties and you would charge a dollar for people to 0:08:53.396 --> 0:08:55.916 get in, and I got I skipped school to hand 0:08:55.956 --> 0:08:58.876 out flyers. It was a whole thing. But at that 0:08:58.956 --> 0:09:02.116 same time, I was on every talent show stage in 0:09:02.156 --> 0:09:06.756 Kansas City, in every musical theater production. And you know, 0:09:07.276 --> 0:09:11.236 it's morphed into conserts Now and the Age of Pleasure 0:09:11.356 --> 0:09:15.356 album and being driven by by just the things that 0:09:15.436 --> 0:09:17.636 I love. I'm so thankful that I still can can 0:09:17.716 --> 0:09:20.516 do that. And for me, when I went to school 0:09:20.636 --> 0:09:23.196 in New York after you know, after high school, went 0:09:23.196 --> 0:09:24.756 to school in New York, and I thought, oh, I 0:09:24.756 --> 0:09:26.796 want to do musical theater. As soon as I got 0:09:27.316 --> 0:09:29.716 out there and started going to see plays and stuff, 0:09:29.756 --> 0:09:35.076 I was like, man, ugh, I'm not excited about any 0:09:35.116 --> 0:09:37.916 of the roles that they're offering. You know, people that 0:09:37.996 --> 0:09:38.476 look like me. 0:09:38.596 --> 0:09:40.196 What were you? What kind of roles were you getting? 0:09:40.476 --> 0:09:43.076 Well, we couldn't really audition, but like there was no 0:09:43.756 --> 0:09:49.756 there was maybe one strong black woman leading something there 0:09:49.836 --> 0:09:53.276 was not right now, Broadway has changed, like it's it's 0:09:53.516 --> 0:09:55.516 it's a lot more diverse, a lot more stories, a 0:09:55.516 --> 0:09:59.276 lot more uniqueness. And the only thing, because I'm from Kansas, 0:09:59.276 --> 0:10:00.956 the only thing I think people saw me doing was 0:10:00.956 --> 0:10:03.356 The Wiz, and The Whiz wasn't on Broadway. And I'm 0:10:03.396 --> 0:10:05.636 just like, I love the Wiz, but where is the 0:10:05.756 --> 0:10:08.756 new energy, the new stories? And I had so much 0:10:08.756 --> 0:10:12.556 bubble because I'm a writer as well, and I decided that, 0:10:12.756 --> 0:10:14.996 you know, I was going to quit, So I quit 0:10:15.076 --> 0:10:17.396 school in New York. Everybody thought I was crazy too. 0:10:17.436 --> 0:10:20.636 That was my like you're crazy moment because coming from Kansas, 0:10:20.796 --> 0:10:22.876 such a small town to get there, They're like, wow, 0:10:22.916 --> 0:10:26.316 you're in New York. You're living the dream. And little 0:10:26.356 --> 0:10:29.316 do they know, I was sleeping in the same bed 0:10:29.316 --> 0:10:32.796 as my cousin because I could not afford housing there, 0:10:33.276 --> 0:10:35.196 and so I was commuting from like one hundred and 0:10:35.196 --> 0:10:37.596 forty ath An, Amsterdam to like seventy second and Broadway 0:10:37.756 --> 0:10:40.356 every single day Monday through Friday. Wow, I mean I 0:10:40.436 --> 0:10:43.476 learned a lot about surviving. And I was just like, 0:10:43.956 --> 0:10:48.036 you know, poor, but excited about the arts and excited 0:10:48.076 --> 0:10:52.836 about finally figuring out what did Janelle Robinson have to say? 0:10:52.876 --> 0:10:55.596 Because I wasn't even going by Jane one. I had 0:10:55.596 --> 0:10:58.996 not tapped into the center the core of what I 0:10:59.076 --> 0:11:00.796 had to say because I was spending so much time 0:11:00.836 --> 0:11:02.636 singing everybody else's songs. 0:11:03.076 --> 0:11:05.796 Why the transition of jenem on a them from Janel Robinson? 0:11:05.796 --> 0:11:09.516 What about that felt more like the authentic place to 0:11:09.556 --> 0:11:10.156 create farm. 0:11:10.916 --> 0:11:13.876 Well, I knew about the painter Monet, and I always 0:11:13.916 --> 0:11:16.956 thought like, that's that's a great artist name, and it 0:11:17.036 --> 0:11:19.076 just so happens to be my real name. My middle 0:11:19.116 --> 0:11:23.276 name is done. My aunt actually she was like Janelle Monett, 0:11:23.676 --> 0:11:26.116 Janelle Monet. She calls me that all the time, like 0:11:26.196 --> 0:11:29.316 when she sees me, and it just it sucked. 0:11:30.196 --> 0:11:33.556 Before it wasn't like a kid like your family and 0:11:33.596 --> 0:11:34.876 where you come from, none of it. 0:11:36.036 --> 0:11:39.556 I just thought Monet felt like an artist name and 0:11:39.796 --> 0:11:42.076 it was my name, and it was like, yeah, okay, 0:11:42.436 --> 0:11:45.676 I get to reinvent, you know, who, what I can be, 0:11:45.836 --> 0:11:47.596 how I can say it, how I see myself. And 0:11:48.196 --> 0:11:49.996 it was so great. So that's when I moved to Atlanta, 0:11:50.036 --> 0:11:52.996 and that's when I met Nate Rocket Wonder, I met 0:11:53.036 --> 0:11:55.436 Chuck Lightning, I met Michael Moore, who were all still 0:11:55.436 --> 0:11:59.196 working together. They were at Morehouse. They ran this arts 0:11:59.236 --> 0:12:02.236 collective called the Dark Tower Project, and they would bring 0:12:02.316 --> 0:12:05.196 musicians poets to Morehouse and I was one of the 0:12:05.676 --> 0:12:08.996 people who performed that night. And I just saw like 0:12:09.196 --> 0:12:13.156 this kind of black cosmopolitan in Atlanta, Like it was 0:12:13.236 --> 0:12:17.516 just this melting pot of just excellence and creativity and 0:12:17.676 --> 0:12:20.236 freedom of expression. I had never seen anything like it, 0:12:20.796 --> 0:12:22.636 and I wanted to be around that, and I wanted 0:12:22.676 --> 0:12:25.156 to make music for them. I wanted That's who I 0:12:25.236 --> 0:12:27.156 wanted to make music for. And so when I started 0:12:27.156 --> 0:12:28.916 to write, I would sit out, like Nate was saying, 0:12:28.916 --> 0:12:31.516 I would sit on the library steps of Club Woody 0:12:31.516 --> 0:12:33.956 and I would just play guitar, sing my songs. People 0:12:33.956 --> 0:12:36.476 would walk by, some would stop and listen. Some would 0:12:36.556 --> 0:12:38.796 keep moving. I would go to dorm lounge just sit 0:12:38.836 --> 0:12:41.396 on the couch and get perform. Like to anybody that 0:12:41.436 --> 0:12:44.156 would listen, I was. I was like, I don't give 0:12:44.196 --> 0:12:47.636 a damn. I have to know is this for me? Like, 0:12:47.676 --> 0:12:49.556 do you guys like what I have to say? Like 0:12:49.636 --> 0:12:55.596 can I make my purpose and passion and also career aligne. 0:12:55.676 --> 0:12:58.116 Yeah, that's a scary time because you don't you don't 0:12:58.156 --> 0:12:59.876 really know that, and me have the confidence to not 0:12:59.916 --> 0:13:02.116 necessarily care, but you don't. At the same time, I 0:13:02.196 --> 0:13:04.116 don't really know. You don't know. 0:13:05.236 --> 0:13:07.876 Like one of the reasons why we really connected was because, 0:13:07.956 --> 0:13:11.836 like I know it sounds it's very basic, but we 0:13:11.996 --> 0:13:18.196 love art, and I think that we were inspired by 0:13:18.716 --> 0:13:21.716 meeting other people who loved art. Like really we're just 0:13:21.796 --> 0:13:23.916 like fall in love with art, you know, just be 0:13:24.076 --> 0:13:27.436 obsessed over it. Just sit up all day and think 0:13:27.476 --> 0:13:30.916 about something that they read, or a. 0:13:30.916 --> 0:13:34.716 Painting that they saw, or just a song. Just sit 0:13:34.796 --> 0:13:36.036 there and cry to a song. 0:13:36.116 --> 0:13:36.756 And just like. 0:13:38.236 --> 0:13:41.636 I know that Janelle and I have a very spiritual 0:13:41.676 --> 0:13:47.796 connection that music. It really it's like the catalyst for 0:13:47.836 --> 0:13:52.116 that and it catalyzes it all the time. It's something 0:13:52.156 --> 0:13:57.116 that I know that we can always tap into, like 0:13:57.196 --> 0:14:00.596 besides being like good thought partners and like, you know, 0:14:00.916 --> 0:14:03.756 there are wonderful myriad things about Janelle that make her 0:14:03.756 --> 0:14:07.196 a great like human being. But on a musical level, 0:14:07.916 --> 0:14:12.836 she is very past about music, Like if I play 0:14:12.956 --> 0:14:17.836 certain chords, it can make her cry, and that is 0:14:17.836 --> 0:14:19.996 something that also happens to me, Like I can hear 0:14:20.076 --> 0:14:22.356 certain songs certain chords, and it doesn't have to do 0:14:22.396 --> 0:14:25.476 it necessarily the lyrics. Always Sometimes the lyrics, yes, and 0:14:25.556 --> 0:14:28.156 poetry is beautiful and that's another you know, but just 0:14:28.196 --> 0:14:33.956 like music and just being really just emotionally brought to 0:14:34.356 --> 0:14:40.476 your knees over how good music can be. And we've 0:14:40.516 --> 0:14:43.556 shared so many of those moments, and that was like 0:14:43.636 --> 0:14:46.716 the beginning of that time where we got to really 0:14:46.796 --> 0:14:52.876 just pass music back and forth and be shocked and 0:14:53.956 --> 0:14:57.156 just sit in awe with each other as we would 0:14:57.156 --> 0:14:58.636 just listen to what could be done. 0:14:59.316 --> 0:15:01.956 I think one of the things that I loved early on, 0:15:02.196 --> 0:15:04.636 and the reason why I think we've worked so well 0:15:04.676 --> 0:15:08.996 together musically is because Nate is a student of music, 0:15:09.196 --> 0:15:11.476 and so when it comes to like anything that I 0:15:11.516 --> 0:15:14.956 want to do, there's nothing we can't do from string 0:15:15.076 --> 0:15:21.156 arrangements to you know, core progressions, horn arrangements, melodies, like 0:15:21.396 --> 0:15:25.836 there's no genre. We've been genres with each album. You know, 0:15:25.876 --> 0:15:29.516 it's all about how do we create our own musical language. 0:15:29.596 --> 0:15:31.716 And I love that. I always have to feel pushed 0:15:31.756 --> 0:15:36.636 and stretched, and I think that's what is the exciting thing, 0:15:36.636 --> 0:15:41.876 because it's like we literally have the the mind and 0:15:41.956 --> 0:15:45.956 the student heart, like we never stop being. 0:15:45.796 --> 0:15:47.836 Student, always at the beginning. 0:15:47.956 --> 0:15:52.116 Always it's always a new whiteboard, you know, the ideas 0:15:52.196 --> 0:15:53.236 ready to be put down. 0:15:53.476 --> 0:15:55.156 It sounds to me like you guys are just always 0:15:55.196 --> 0:15:59.956 creating things, regardless of like there's an album doing or 0:16:00.236 --> 0:16:01.916 you know, or it's been a minute or you know. 0:16:01.956 --> 0:16:04.796 It's like it's just that's how you guys are inhabiting life. 0:16:04.836 --> 0:16:07.876 It's just creating every day or you know, the days 0:16:07.876 --> 0:16:08.876 that it feels right to do. 0:16:09.636 --> 0:16:12.716 Yeah. I mean I didn't get into music because of 0:16:12.756 --> 0:16:17.076 awards or because of you know, recognition or anything like that. 0:16:17.156 --> 0:16:20.836 Music is truly healing. I need music like I need 0:16:20.876 --> 0:16:23.396 a song in my darkest hours. I need a song 0:16:23.436 --> 0:16:26.876 in my most celebratory stage. I need a song when 0:16:27.236 --> 0:16:29.716 you know, I want to communicate something that my own 0:16:29.756 --> 0:16:32.476 words can't say, and I need to be able to 0:16:32.516 --> 0:16:35.036 write when I'm feeling frustrated or when I'm like it's 0:16:35.076 --> 0:16:38.796 a way. It has helped my mental health so much, Yeah, 0:16:39.236 --> 0:16:39.756 so much. 0:16:40.116 --> 0:16:42.876 You know, when I was listening again for like the 0:16:42.956 --> 0:16:46.196 umpteenth time this morning on my watt to the Age 0:16:46.196 --> 0:16:49.476 of Pleasure, I was wondering listening to it, it might 0:16:49.516 --> 0:16:52.756 be the possible question to answer, but whether these songs 0:16:52.756 --> 0:16:56.556 were for you or for other people? Because I in 0:16:56.556 --> 0:16:57.916 a way I've realized that as I've been listening to it, 0:16:57.916 --> 0:17:00.716 I've been taking it as like you giving mantras to 0:17:00.836 --> 0:17:04.276 me that, but it occurred to me to that I'm like, 0:17:04.316 --> 0:17:06.396 maybe you needed to write this for you too, And 0:17:06.956 --> 0:17:08.996 I don't know how you were approaching that, but. 0:17:09.436 --> 0:17:11.796 It's for all of us. It's for us, and that 0:17:11.916 --> 0:17:14.396 means a lot to hear you say that, because I 0:17:14.436 --> 0:17:16.836 think one of the most important things as an artist 0:17:16.876 --> 0:17:21.316 is your ability to communicate. And as much as I 0:17:21.356 --> 0:17:23.476 can say like, oh, I just want to do an 0:17:23.516 --> 0:17:26.876 album and I want this just for myself and I 0:17:26.956 --> 0:17:29.636 me to listen to it, that's not my truth. I 0:17:29.676 --> 0:17:33.716 actually want everybody to feel like this is their soundtrack 0:17:33.796 --> 0:17:37.156 to their life. This is curating their thoughts and their feelings. 0:17:37.156 --> 0:17:38.956 They are part of my community. We're a part of 0:17:38.956 --> 0:17:41.676 each other's community, and all of us are growing and 0:17:41.756 --> 0:17:46.116 healing and moving together and sharing something that they can 0:17:46.156 --> 0:17:50.676 tap into anytime they want to. And it's funny because 0:17:50.716 --> 0:17:54.556 you're here. This is exactly what inspired the album this space, 0:17:55.236 --> 0:17:59.836 having this space filled with black and brown and you 0:18:00.036 --> 0:18:04.516 just beautiful people across the diaspora here, seeing them smiling, 0:18:04.676 --> 0:18:07.196 seeing the joy and their spirits and their hearts. During 0:18:07.236 --> 0:18:09.796 the time where everybody thought the word world was ending, 0:18:10.836 --> 0:18:16.156 I mean every day the pandemic. We created Wonderland West 0:18:16.236 --> 0:18:18.036 during the pandemic. It was one of the most scary 0:18:18.076 --> 0:18:21.356 things ever because I grew up my parents didn't own 0:18:21.356 --> 0:18:23.996 a home. We were either in like a duplex or 0:18:24.036 --> 0:18:27.076 you know, we live with my grandmother and they were 0:18:27.116 --> 0:18:30.916 working class, like making ends meet, but live in check 0:18:30.956 --> 0:18:32.916 to check. So when it was time for all of 0:18:32.996 --> 0:18:35.356 us to contribute and figure out where we were going 0:18:35.436 --> 0:18:39.196 to migrate with Wonderland, it was like, Okay, are we 0:18:39.316 --> 0:18:42.516 ready to all? Am I ready to invest in our 0:18:42.556 --> 0:18:45.836 next creative endeavor? Yes, I am, but we're in the 0:18:45.836 --> 0:18:50.276 middle of a pandemic. What does that mean? And luckily 0:18:50.316 --> 0:18:55.396 we knew the person who was trying to sell the space, 0:18:55.556 --> 0:18:58.916 and they were just like, there's nobody else I want 0:18:58.956 --> 0:19:04.716 to have this space. And it worked out and you, yeah, 0:19:04.916 --> 0:19:07.036 but did. But it was also scary because a lot 0:19:07.036 --> 0:19:09.716 of things were being canceled For me. My job is 0:19:09.756 --> 0:19:13.156 to go out into the world and travel and you know, 0:19:13.236 --> 0:19:15.836 try to heal people through music. But I couldn't do that. 0:19:16.276 --> 0:19:20.276 So you come from growing up a certain amount of insecurity. Yeah, 0:19:20.316 --> 0:19:22.436 and it's you know, the successful career you've had. It's 0:19:22.476 --> 0:19:24.436 hard to imagine that. But you know, as soon as 0:19:24.436 --> 0:19:26.276 you start to feel that a little bit insecurity again, 0:19:26.396 --> 0:19:30.876 I know from my own life, like all of a sudden, Yeah, 0:19:31.276 --> 0:19:33.836 I mean, where was your mind that With all of that. 0:19:34.556 --> 0:19:37.316 I think the pandemic reminded me just how much music 0:19:37.556 --> 0:19:41.036 means to me as a person, not as a career path, 0:19:41.156 --> 0:19:43.956 not as you know, the artists that people know and 0:19:44.316 --> 0:19:46.316 come to the concerts and see, but as a human 0:19:47.116 --> 0:19:50.876 android having this Earth experience. I need music. I need 0:19:50.916 --> 0:19:53.636 to create. During that time, not only were we working 0:19:53.636 --> 0:19:55.956 on music, but I also wrote a book called The 0:19:55.956 --> 0:20:00.076 Memory Librarian. I was just doing anything creative that would 0:20:00.396 --> 0:20:03.996 would help me feel better, because to go from moving 0:20:04.036 --> 0:20:07.476 around so much to just being still it was tough. 0:20:07.836 --> 0:20:09.036 It was for be How was it for you? 0:20:10.276 --> 0:20:10.796 Yeah? 0:20:11.356 --> 0:20:15.476 You know, art has this weird responsibility of trying to 0:20:15.516 --> 0:20:19.636 document and explain the human experience a little bit more 0:20:19.716 --> 0:20:23.076 and kind of just like unearth a little bit more 0:20:23.116 --> 0:20:25.236 about what it means to be human. And I think 0:20:25.236 --> 0:20:27.756 that so many of us were finding out a lot 0:20:27.836 --> 0:20:30.236 more about what it meant to be human, like a 0:20:30.276 --> 0:20:33.636 lot about the mortality of it. Even though we weren't 0:20:33.676 --> 0:20:38.836 necessarily in or didn't consider ourselves vulnerable in that kind 0:20:38.876 --> 0:20:40.556 of way. I think a lot of us looked at 0:20:40.756 --> 0:20:46.956 ourselves as more vulnerable to death. And I think that 0:20:46.956 --> 0:20:49.676 that was a very real consideration that we all kind 0:20:49.676 --> 0:20:53.116