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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 out 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 Buzz Night.

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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 of

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

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

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: first responders and so many others. Here's buzz with Lauren

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Speaker 1: 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,

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Speaker 2: Great 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, yea.

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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.

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Speaker 5: And I and some of the things that we teach

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Speaker 5: in our foundation we have a drug foundation, is we

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Speaker 5: focus on nature. I understand it through energy medicine and

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Speaker 5: how energy is a transference and when you're in something

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Speaker 5: greater than yourself, something happens called bioen trainment. So the

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Speaker 5: dominant frequency affects you. And so when you're standing by

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Speaker 5: a tree or by the ocean, they're the dominant frequency.

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Speaker 5: And we start like a tuning fork, we start to

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Speaker 5: vibrate and we can get further into our own calmness

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Speaker 5: and and it really helps a nervous system, so it

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Speaker 5: 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.

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Speaker 4: 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 5: And there were two redtails circling around right above us,

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Speaker 5: and it was it was a blessing.

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Speaker 4: Like I felt like it was a blessing too.

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Speaker 3: What do redtail hawks signify, do you think?

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Speaker 5: Well, my understanding the hawk represents the presence of it.

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Speaker 5: I don't know that much detail about the redtail, although

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Speaker 5: we've been giving a lot of gifts of redtail feathers,

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Speaker 5: and Rick got a gift of a redtail claw from

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Speaker 5: a lot of our indigenous friends and colleagues.

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Speaker 4: And I'm sure this is deeper meaning. But we pay attention.

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Speaker 4: We live in a very.

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Speaker 5: Secluded area and we have a lot of wildlife, and

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Speaker 5: we pay attention to their behavior and what they do

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Speaker 5: and how close they come. And we're able to sit

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Speaker 5: very close to a lot of them if we're still enough,

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Speaker 5: and we've been here for a number of years, so

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Speaker 5: they trust us.

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Speaker 4: 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 5: Well, I found my musical voice when I was really young.

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Speaker 5: I started writing songs and I got a guitar when

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Speaker 5: I was five, and it just it's like I knew.

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Speaker 5: I knew how to express myself in that way very

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Speaker 5: easily at a young age. And I think the seventies

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Speaker 5: music scene really.

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Speaker 4: Influenced me a lot. I had a lot of that

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Speaker 4: around me and the doors.

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Speaker 5: I remember Jim Morrison the way he articulated through poetry

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Speaker 5: and he got into some of the very realms he

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Speaker 5: when he sang and he created his poetry.

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Speaker 4: He influenced me quite a bit, you know.

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Speaker 5: Of course Tom Petty was my greatest influence I think

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Speaker 5: in rock and roll. Once I discovered him in the

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Speaker 5: late seventies and early eighties. I connected with his songwriting

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Speaker 5: and his expression. But I drop from a lot of influences,

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Speaker 5: I think, mostly spiritual ones, and then I just make

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Speaker 5: songs that are me, that 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 2: You can?

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Speaker 3: You started pretty darn young as a musician. If I'm

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Speaker 3: not mistaken, you joined def Leppard at fifteen years old,

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Speaker 3: Is that right?

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Speaker 2: I did yet ran about nineteen seventy eight, and I'd

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Speaker 2: been playing with local bands and you know, they always

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Speaker 2: wanted to play cover songs. And yeah, we saw a

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Speaker 2: newspaper article, Leopard Loses Skins, and we got in touch

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Speaker 2: with the newspaper, found the journalist and he put he

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Speaker 2: put me in touch with Joe Elliott and Steve Clark

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Speaker 2: and I met with them a few days later and

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Speaker 2: we set up an audition. And when I went for

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Speaker 2: the audition, I was I was really pleasantly surprised I

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Speaker 2: got the job. Lots of big smiling faces around the

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Speaker 2: room and that was that was the beginning of something

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Speaker 2: 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.

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Speaker 1: What was that like? It was?

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Speaker 2: It was incredible. I mean it was all I ever

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

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

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

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

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

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Speaker 2: was there, and then another really special surprise was after soundcheck,

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Speaker 2: when the auditorium was really quiet. I went down just

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Speaker 2: to check on my drum kit and there was this

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Speaker 2: guy on his hands and knees checking out the drums

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Speaker 2: and I didn't want to I didn't want to startle him,

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Speaker 2: so I just walked up and I said, is everything okay?

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Speaker 2: And he turned round and it was Mitch Mitchell. I

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Speaker 2: was so I was just completely blown away. So what

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Speaker 2: 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.

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Speaker 2: Well, there was always lots and lots of music playing

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Speaker 2: at home. One of one of the one of the

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Speaker 2: artists I remember was Glenn Miller. That was That was

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Speaker 2: a big part of growing up. And then of course

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Speaker 2: listening to the radio getting ready for school. You know,

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Speaker 2: there was always the Greats. There was always you know,

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Speaker 2: the beat, always the rolling Stones, the who I mean,

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Speaker 2: you name it. There were all these all this, you know,

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Speaker 2: all this fantastic music, and I couldn't help but be

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Speaker 2: influenced by that. That was That was really, you know,

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Speaker 2: part of the soundtrack of my life.

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Speaker 1: What is it Rick?

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Speaker 3: About the diverse influences that British musicians seem to all

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Speaker 3: have they have influences, that's ban you know, all genres.

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Speaker 3: 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 was interesting. I sat in with a

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Speaker 2: Latin jazz band the other night, which was which was

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Speaker 2: really interesting. That was a first, but it was just

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Speaker 2: an incredible experience and to me, it was rhythm and

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Speaker 2: music and I was just sort of just sort of

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

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Speaker 2: been playing, you know, with Lauren or with def Leppard

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Speaker 2: or any other.

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Speaker 3: Bad Lauren, had you seen def Leppard before you and

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Speaker 3: Rick met?

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Speaker 5: No, I've never seen them, and I I know I

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Speaker 5: I really.

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Speaker 4: Wasn't a fan.

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Speaker 5: I didn't you know, I didn't dislike the music. I

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Speaker 5: just wasn't engaged in that you know genre very much.

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Speaker 3: So.

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Speaker 4: But then I remember I went to a show and

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

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Speaker 4: that song, and I know.

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Speaker 5: Just from the you know, consciousness of the eighties, I

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Speaker 5: I remembered things from the radio or so it was.

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Speaker 5: It was wonderful to you know, to meet him the

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Speaker 5: first time I met him and.

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Speaker 3: See the culture 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.

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Speaker 5: Some songs and you know, and uh and really you know,

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Speaker 5: working on it. So it was fun to see him.

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Speaker 5: I still he's still 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 5: We were just talking about that because I have never

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Speaker 5: seen Bruce Springsteen or the Rolling Stones, So those are

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Speaker 5: the two I would love to see bucket list not

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Speaker 5: to sell.

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

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

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Speaker 3: life balance.

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Speaker 5: It's interesting. We never really had to think about it.

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Speaker 5: We just kind of automatically do it.

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Speaker 4: We love.

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Speaker 5: Work, we love working, and we often work away and

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Speaker 5: then when we're home, we're working. But we definitely have

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Speaker 5: you know, we we things shut off at a certain time.

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Speaker 5: You know, we have to pick our daughter up from

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Speaker 5: school and then we have her life and being parents,

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Speaker 5: and I think there's an automatic shift down, and we

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Speaker 5: try to keep our weekends free so we can have

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Speaker 5: family time and you know, no cell phones at the

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Speaker 5: dinner table, and you know, we have a lot of

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Speaker 5: things that we automatically just don't do because they take

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Speaker 5: away from the moments that we have together. Rick is

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Speaker 5: on the road a lot, and now, you know, since

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Speaker 5: the past few years, I've been traveling to shows and

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Speaker 5: things can get hectic, and we have art that we do.

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Speaker 5: I'm in the art room right now and we do

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Speaker 5: a lot of art and music, and we're lucky we

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Speaker 5: don't have to work on it that much because we

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Speaker 5: automatically fall into the pattern of being together and we

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Speaker 5: want the 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 make

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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.

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Speaker 1: That I play.

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

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Speaker 2: three or four drummers when we play together, and I'm

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Speaker 2: really excited to present, you know, the two of us

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Speaker 2: playing drums together, you know, more often. I'd love to

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Speaker 2: bring that into a live setting because I think I

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Speaker 2: think Lauren is super talented I.

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Speaker 5: Never thought i'd play drum kit. It was never it

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Speaker 5: was never real though, but he had the two kids

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Speaker 5: and he's like, you should sit down on this. I'm like, okay,

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Speaker 5: let's try that. But it was very organic. It's so fun,

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Speaker 5: and I think as a couple, it's fun to have

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Speaker 5: 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 5: We started the foundation in two thousand and one and

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Speaker 5: it was just a natural synergy of who Rick was

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Speaker 5: and who I was and myself bringing the energy medicine

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Speaker 5: piece to it and the mental health and somatic work.

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Speaker 5: And I was a percussionist as well and a d answer,

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Speaker 5: so I had a natural inclination to blend the these

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Speaker 5: two elements.

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Speaker 4: But then when I met Rick.

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Speaker 5: And we isolated, you know, his trauma, and the things

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Speaker 5: that made him feel better was the drumming. I mean,

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Speaker 5: he had a lot to share with sharing his own

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Speaker 5: experience of moving through recovery of post traumatic stress. So

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Speaker 5: we created a curriculum around that, and we created a

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Speaker 5: specific kind of circle to help people. And we saw

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Speaker 5: that it didn't matter where you were in your healing

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Speaker 5: stage or who you were, whether you're eighty years old

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Speaker 5: or five years old, whether you were you know, a

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Speaker 5: specific religious affiliation or had a specific trauma addiction, whether

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Speaker 5: it was abuse, whether it was you know, cancer.

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Speaker 4: You're going through.

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Speaker 5: Every crisis responded to this way of healing and it

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Speaker 5: brought community together. So we started working with various different populations,

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Speaker 5: sharing what we knew worked, and then sharing more modalities

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Speaker 5: so we serve, we educate, and we empower through them,

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Speaker 5: but also introducing people to other modalities besides allopathic medicine,

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Speaker 5: like yoga and meditation and mindfulness so they can have

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Speaker 5: more tools in their healing to compliment their whatever they're

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Speaker 5: working on with their doctor or whichever they've been struggling

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Speaker 5: to figure out on their own. And we've been doing

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Speaker 5: this for many years. I think the thing that made

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Speaker 5: us pivot is Rick's first visit to wal to Read

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Speaker 5: Medical Center to help some of the military right after

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Speaker 5: they all there was a wave of them coming home

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Speaker 5: from Iraq and Afghanistan. And I'll segue into Rick sharing

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Speaker 5: that because it's very powerful how we brought our ideas

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Speaker 5: 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: life changing for me. I really saw so much, so

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Speaker 2: 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.

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Speaker 5: My cousin was killed in in Vietnam and I was

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Speaker 5: very young, and I know how I changed my whole family.

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Speaker 4: So I really.

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Speaker 5: Understood the effects of you know, having someone in the

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Speaker 5: military who has had an injury, a life changing injury,

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Speaker 5: or if you've lost someone, how there's a ripple effect

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Speaker 5: and it's a family experience, not just an individual one.

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Speaker 5: So I was really on board with experience it. So

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Speaker 5: we both went to Walter Reed within the following months,

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Speaker 5: and then we brought a drum circle there and then

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Speaker 5: we started working with Wounded Warrior Project and it started

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Speaker 5: expanding from there and Rick found an immediate connection to

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Speaker 5: a lot of the warriors who lost limbs and there's

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Speaker 5: a wonderful camaraderie that they've opened up to him very easily.

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Speaker 4: It's beautiful to see that.

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Speaker 5: And you know, when when you're in a family that

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Speaker 5: has trauma, you can talk to one another in a

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Speaker 5: way that's different from you know, someone who hasn't experienced it.

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Speaker 5: So it's great we continue reaching out to first responders

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Speaker 5: now because they also have the same kind of you know,

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Speaker 5: injuries that are invisible wounds that people can't see. A

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Speaker 5: firefighters specifically have the least amount of treatment for this.

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Speaker 5: They don't talk about it. It's still very you know,

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Speaker 5: close to them. They don't express there, but what goes

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Speaker 5: on Police Department e MTS journalists who have to cover

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Speaker 5: horrific you know, events like Valde or like the war

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Speaker 5: in Ukraine. They have to come back and be normal

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Speaker 5: and what's that, you know, So we're really wrapping our

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Speaker 5: arms around a lot of different people. And you know,

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Speaker 5: trauma is very common these days, so we all can

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Speaker 5: 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 5: Sure, Well, March thirteenth, we're in Boston and we have

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Speaker 5: an event a concert there that we're supporting our first responders.

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Speaker 5: There in March fourteenth, we have a very special benefit

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Speaker 5: show at the Cutting Room to promote healing in programs

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Speaker 5: with friends of firefighters based out of New York, and

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Speaker 5: that's going to be an amazing show. We have a

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Speaker 5: lot of celebrity drummers coming in Boston. We'll were at

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Speaker 5: the Boston City Winery. So just go to Raven Drumfoundation

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Speaker 5: dot org and you'll see everything. You can find out

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Speaker 5: more information from our websites. We just at our Instagram.

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Speaker 5: We're on there a lot rag Allen live on Instagram

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Speaker 5: and Laura Monroe live and we can keep in touch

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Speaker 5: with everybody that way.

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

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

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Speaker 3: that you're doing.

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Speaker 5: I'll speak and then Rick, But I think it's just

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Speaker 5: like growing a family. It just feels like, you know,

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Speaker 5: we're growing a family of people who believe in the

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Speaker 5: same things and want the world to be better. And

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Speaker 5: you know, it starts by healing ourselves. So we're all

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Speaker 5: doing the work and then you you know, you circle

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Speaker 5: up give people an experience of what that feels like.

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Speaker 5: It feels great, It feels really special to share that

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Speaker 5: with people, and we're very blessed to be able to

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Speaker 5: do that.

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

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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, fantastic experience. Uh, to be able to

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

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Speaker 2: 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. It helps everybody involved. So we're

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

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

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Speaker 2: to 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 both have while you're

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

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

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

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

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

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Speaker 3: 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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Speaker 1: and wherever you get your podcasts