Interview with Royal & the Serpent

1 (3m 3s): hello. It is Adam. Welcome back to bringing it backwards. A podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with Royal and the serpent Royal of Royal and the serpent over zoom video Royal was born and raised in New Jersey. And she talks about where she grew up and how she got into music. She actually was a dancer thought she was going to be a dancer. Her entire life broke. Both of her heels, shattered them when she was 14 years old and then that Christmas and ended up getting a guitar and started writing songs to kind of just get her feelings out. But surely got into music from her grandfather who was an incredible drummer. So she picked up piano and would play with him in violin, but then dancing on it took over. 1 (3m 48s): And eventually she got back into guitar at 18. She moved from New Jersey to LA, just because she wanted a change of scenery. When she got to LA, she got a job at a restaurant as a bartender. The other person bartending with her actually heard her song. She played a song for this person at her apartment. This person was like, this is great. We should work on this together. They are still her manager to this day, Royal talked about the early show. She was playing open mic nights, getting signed to Atlantic records. Having the pandemic happened like literally right after she signed the record deal, the major success of her song, overwhelmed scoring a gold record with that song, having it shard on the alternative and rock charts. 1 (4m 31s): She tells us about hearing her song on the radio the first time and how emotional that was. And we learned all about her new record, which is called if I die, would anyone care? And just the vulnerability behind the album and the upcoming tour she has as well. You can watch the interview with Royal and serpent on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it backwards. It be rad. If you subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Tik TOK. And if you're listening to this podcast on apple podcasts or on Spotify, I'd be awesome. If you follow us there and hook us up with a five star review, that would mean so much. 2 (5m 8s): We'd appreciate your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts, wherever you listen to, 1 (5m 14s): We're bringing it backwards with Royal and the serpent. Well, awesome. So this podcast is all about you and your journey in the music industry and how you got where you are now. And of course, we'll talk about the new EAP, which is incredible. 4 (5m 29s): Thank you so much. You 1 (5m 30s): Are very, very welcome. So first off I saw you're born and raised, or at least born in New Jersey, right. Or born and raised, 4 (5m 39s): Born and raised in New Jersey. Yeah. For the first 18 years of my life. Oh, wow. Was 1 (5m 43s): That like, 4 (5m 45s): It was awesome. I had an amazing upbringing. I was surrounded by a lot of creatives and I had a lot of really great friends and got into making art at a young age there. So it was cool. 1 (5m 57s): There's lot of cool bands out of Jersey. And I'm sure the music scene when you're there as well as got to be pretty, pretty, pretty incredible. 4 (6m 7s): Yeah, totally. I mean, so many of my friends even just were in the arts, like growing up, even just like inquire and in theater, it was cool. 1 (6m 14s): That is cool. And when did you get into music? 4 (6m 17s): I didn't actually get into music and I started like, I got my first guitar when maybe I was 14 and it was always a hobby, but it was a hobby along with the list of other things, painting and ceramics and dancing and theater. And it was nothing that I really ever considered pursuing as a career until I moved out to California just for fun. Cause I thought it sounded cool. And I met, I was like bartending at this restaurant and this guy became my friend long story short. He heard me sing one day when we were hanging out at my house and he was like, we should do something with that. You have a cool voice. And I was like, sounds good. And then he started managing me and he's still my manager to this day. 1 (6m 55s): Oh, wow. Wow. So you, when you were at, you met this person when you were at work, you said bartending 4 (7m 1s): And we're yeah. We're both bartending at the same restaurant. He had like done concert promotion and stuff, but he was in college at the time and we just like built this whole project from the ground up together. 1 (7m 14s): Well, prior to moving to LA you didn't write songs at all or you weren't doing anything like that. Okay. 4 (7m 20s): I like I did in my bedroom, but it was like a shy hobby that I had that I didn't really share with people. It wasn't like something I was posting on social media or like advertising that I did. It was like this closeted thing I did by myself for fun and like to release my emotions and I never considered, I never thought I was good enough to do it for real, I guess. 1 (7m 43s): Okay. So you, when did you start, like even just doing that when you got the guitar at 14? 4 (7m 50s): Yeah. Yeah. I had a bunch of girlfriends that played guitar and I shattered my yield plates. I was a dancer, so I was like a pretty intense dancer for most of my upbringing. That's how I like got into pediatrics of even just like enjoying the stage and I got hurt. And so I had to stop dancing and I think that's when I started hanging out with some of the more like theater leaning music, leaning kids, cause I couldn't dance anymore. And I mean, I guess the rest is kind of history. 1 (8m 25s): Well that must've been devastating to break your, you said shatter your heel And that was kind of what you thought you were going to do. I mean, it sounds like that was really where your passion was in the beginning. 4 (8m 37s): I definitely thought that I was going to be a dancer for the rest of my life, but I will say I'm pretty grateful that it happened when it did, because I think the longevity of being a dancer is a lot shorter than the longevity of being musician, because your body can only withstand so much for so long. 1 (8m 55s): Yeah. I mean, dancing, gymnastics, a lot of that stuff where you're like really physical that I can see that being and yeah, exactly. Like not being able to be doing when you're in your forties or fifties. 4 (9m 9s): Totally. Yeah. 1 (9m 10s): How old were you when you shattered your heels? Like how long have you been dancing for her? Prior to that? 4 (9m 15s): I mean, I started dancing when I was like four or five and I shattered my heels when I was a freshman in high school. 1 (9m 22s): 14 years old. 4 (9m 25s): Yep. Yeah. I got the guitar like that Christmas that I, after I broke my heels is what I got the guitar and it was like my new outlet. Yeah. 1 (9m 33s): Yeah. I mean you probably, yeah, probably had a lot to get out, especially now everything you were working towards or you thought you were working towards is kind of got pulled out from under you. 4 (9m 44s): Totally. I mean, and just being a teenage girl, I think inherently is so emotional. And so like, there was always, there was always something to write about. I mean, I wrote poetry too. For most of my life. My mom was always really into poetry. So I think I got that from her. And then the two things just kind of like came together. 1 (10m 5s): Anyone else? Musical in your family 4 (10m 8s): Pop up? Yeah. I have a tattoo of him actually on my arm up here. You can see it, but this guy, yeah, he was an incredible drummer. He played every instrument, but his, his thing was really the drums and the vibes. And he, I get a lot of it from him. I mean, he taught me to play piano at a very young age and he played violin. So I used to play violin with him. 1 (10m 33s): Yeah. So you just go so you can play violin and piano early on too. 4 (13m 18s): I don't know. Maybe I'm like fourth grade or something like that. I guess I really was. I, I forget these things, but I guess I did feel a lot. 1 (13m 30s): So you played piano and violin early then. 4 (13m 33s): Okay, fine. Yeah. 1 (13m 37s): But your grandfather is the one that kind of got you in that. 4 (13m 40s): Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. He was an amazing musician. Yeah. 1 (13m 44s): Did you see him? Did he play like outed live or was it kind of just the thing that you saw around the house 4 (13m 50s): And then he played out live like until his last days. It was really cool. Yeah. He was, he was a bad-ass. Do you 1 (13m 58s): Have any memories of going to see him? 4 (13m 60s): I do. Yeah. He would play like, just these cool local like outdoor. I mean, they're not like festivals, there's like these little events in Jersey and he would be ripping it on the vibes and the drums. Yeah. 1 (14m 13s): That's so cool. I love that you have your grandfather's tattoo because I have my grandfather signature on my wrist. 4 (14m 19s): That's so special. 1 (14m 21s): Yeah. He was my favorite person. So I think that's so cool that you also have, we share that. That's awesome. I love that. So, okay. So you moved to LA at 18. Did you just, why, why LA and being so close to New York, that was an option? Or like why did you decide to come all the way out to the west coast? 4 (14m 41s): It was definitely an option. I think my biggest fear, well, I had two fears with being in New York. One was that I wasn't going to grow enough and that I was going to sort of stick to the same circle of friends and I wasn't going to like evolve. And I felt like I really needed a new chapter of my life after high school. And to being that I wanted a place that was close to the ocean and warm all the time. And New York is certainly not either, But I, like, I really had no idea what I wanted to do. After high school, all my friends were getting accepted into colleges and they were like all excited and I was getting accepted into colleges and nothing made me feel anything. And I remember being in my bedroom with one of my best friends and she was just like joking with me. 4 (15m 23s): And she was like, why don't you just moved to LA? And I was like, that's it? And I did. 1 (15m 31s): Wow. What was it like telling your family? Like, Hey, I'm, I'm, I'm dipping. I'm going all the way across the whole entire country. 4 (15m 37s): It was really cool because it was the first time that my mom had ever expressed to me that that was always her dream before she had had me. So when I told her she kinda got like, she got like teary-eyed and she got excited. Cause I think she felt like I was fulfilling the stream that she had longed for at her at a younger age. And like she was able to send me off and do it. Yeah. Yeah. So they helped me move out here. They came out for like the first week that I was out here and they brought all my stuff out with me. And 1 (16m 5s): Wow. W was your mom, like she wanted to be like a aspiring actor or a singer? She just wanted to live in LA. 4 (16m 12s): I think she just loved California. I mean, she's like a horse girl. She loves horses and I think there's a lot of beautiful land out here with a lot of great animals. I mean, I don't know. She just, she loves it out here. I've been trying to get them out here since I turned 18. I'm like, finally this is the year that they're like starting to look at stuff. Okay. Maybe we can, maybe we can move out there. Come on guys. 1 (16m 37s): Okay. Yeah. That's fine. So once this project starts, once you meet your manager through, through your job, did you have like a particular song that you played for him or, and then that became like, oh, we should start working on this. And then how did Royal in the serpent kind of develop at that point? 4 (16m 54s): Yeah. So, I mean, I wrote a song the day that I moved to California. I wrote a song in my hotel room while my parents were at the prices. Right. I'll never forget. And so random. And that was the song I had had like one song and I feel like, and that was the song that I played for my friend at the time, a few years later it was called stranger love. And it was about, I mean, I, it was about sex work really, which was crazy because at the time it was like, I mean, it's not something that I do, but it was, I used to have this like fascination with it and sort of like the controversy around it, especially then I think it was a lot less talked about at the time. 4 (17m 37s): And so a lot of my earlier stuff was about that. My next song that I wrote after that was about like strip clubs. And I ended up like going to a strip club and interviewing some of the strippers and like talking to them and like putting some of that in the, and I don't know, none of these things ended up getting released. He just really thought that crazy that I had written these songs. He didn't believe that I wrote them let alone like, keep that I had a cool voice, I guess. And it started with like opening up a journal every week, writing down our biggest goals and like every little thing we were going to do to reach those goals. So it was like, if your biggest goal is, let's say, I don't know, play the Superbowl halftime show. 4 (18m 21s): Then you break that down into like yearly goals. And then you break those yearly goals down into monthly goals. And then you break those monthly goals into like weekly tasks. So like one week it would be something as simple as get the string changed on my guitar because it's snapped or play this open mic this week. And it was like little things slowly over time that throughout the years have brought us to where we are. I mean, we still have these meetings where we like talk about our goals and what we're going to do for the week. It's a lot different obviously now, but yeah. 1 (18m 54s): Wow. That's inspiring for people. I mean, to be like, okay, this is like the ultimate goal, or I'm not sure what you're obviously playing the halftime show right. At the super bowl or whatever, and then breaking down each individual, like, how do you get there? Okay. Will you do this? And then maybe if I do this and then kind of building up, it's almost like you're creating like a written out like more directed version of like a, like a vision board. Like I always, I believe in vision boards, I think they're, they're so helpful. I've interviewed a handful of artists that were like, oh, and then like the one off the top of my head is this producer slushy. He was like, I had this vision board and I had marshmallows on it. And like, now that he's like his right-hand man. So it's just like these crazy things. So at that point I'm like, I'm making a vision part, but 4 (19m 38s): Yeah, it's very similar. I mean, I think there's a huge power in writing things down and seeing things visually and doing things with our hands and our brains together at the same time, I think it like cements it to the universe or whatever, whatever. 1 (19m 58s): Yeah, 4 (19m 58s): Yeah. Yeah. I think the likelihood of things coming true when you write them down or when you can see the visually I think like scientifically even, or like statistically, it's like 90% higher, I'm making that number up, but there's a, there's a, 1 (20m 11s): I mean, it sounds right. It's crazy. Cause it's like, it happens, it happens enough to where obviously if it was never happening, people be doing it, but wow. Okay. Well I'm real quick on those first songs that you wrote, what a creative idea to really go in. You're almost like a journalist going into the strip club and being like, okay, I'm going to interview these these ladies and see what kind of get their story. And then you would go home and write a song about that and kind of piece some of that together. 4 (20m 41s): Yeah. Just, I always had a fascination with anything that fell, I guess, left of center or like left of normal or like a little controversial or like drugs and sex and rock and roll. Like there was just something always so fascinating about, about these topics to me. And I think, especially at that time too, there wasn't a whole lot going on in my life. So it was nice to sort of have something else to write about. 1 (21m 15s): Yeah. When you started playing the open mic nights, why don't you kind of got this plan? Like, okay, let's run and we're going to get this plan going like, well, what was it like getting on stage and playing music for the first time it was in front of people. I mean, going from a dancer to now, you're like, okay, I got this guitar. I never really sang until like I showed anyone my stuff until I got to LA and now I'm going to be on these stages. Like, how did you, 4 (21m 38s): It was so terrifying. I was playing like little coffee shops to like 12 people. And I was shaking, like shaking, playing the guitar. It was so scary, but would always feel amazing. And like their reception was always so great. And I feel like, I don't know, you just grow with every experience that you have. I always just tried to take Do better. 4 (23m 30s): Next time. 1 (23m 32s): I like that. And the amount of artists that you've worked with, like looking at just your discography of the people that you've worked with is it's the, all of you I see on there. I'm like, wow, that's so cool that you had a chance to work with that person. You had a chance to work with rivers. You work with, you know, whoever else, Gail, I'm just going through. And I'm like, well, like this is so cool. Even earlier than that. I mean, just seeing certain names that you had done projects with. I think that's so rad. Like just kind of being in that immersed in that I probably pretty quickly, I would think. 4 (23m 60s): Yeah, it definitely happened fast. I feel very lucky. It's yeah. Once we like, sort of got into the actual world of the music industry, I feel like there's like this interesting little entry point that you sort of like realize, okay, like now I'm in the, I'm in the game. I think. And, and stuff sort of just like starts happening. And I honestly don't even know. I feel like I don't even know what's happened over the last few years 1 (24m 29s): A lie. I mean, you've got a gold record. You're done these huge store. You're going to go on tour with like grandson. I mean, so sick playing this festival that people think isn't even real because the lineup is so insane. 4 (24m 43s): That's the craziest thing. I think that's ever happened to me. 1 (24m 47s): A lot of bands out of the Jersey on that line of too. I mean, that scene kind of came out of that area, Jersey everything else. So that's a, that's a special with the, when we were young, but I want to rewrite it rewind a little quick. You got signed with Atlantic records a few years ago in 2019. How did that conversation begin? And like, how are you kind of found by them 4 (25m 10s): At a show? I threw a show at good times at Davey wanes and a friend of a friend brought an ANR from Atlanta and we packed the house out and it was like an awesome show and she loved it and she saw the crowd's response and the line out the door and brought us into the office the next day. And honestly, I loved everybody that I met and it was like a no questions. I love this company. I love these people. It feels like home. Like it was just a fit immediately. 1 (25m 46s): That's cool. What a, what an achievement where you kind of, and that must've been a wild, wild moment, right? I mean, you're this major label with all these, you know, the, the roster is insane, insane of people that have been on the label for over the course of the years. And then they're interested in me in my, in my music. 4 (26m 3s): I didn't believe them. I thought like, first of all, I was like, there's no way that these people actually worked for Atlantic. I was like, there's, you know, they must be working for some other company that's affiliated with the planning, but there's no way that it, Atlantic records wants anything to do with me. Cause at the time I was literally just some, no one playing some shows in LA, which I still feel like hilariously, but yeah, I didn't believe them. I thought, I even remember, like when I was signing the deal, looking at the paperwork and being like, wait, wait, wait, like actually Atlantic records, like for real, they were like, yeah, what? 1 (26m 41s): Yeah. That's cool. Do you remember calling your and telling her about it? 4 (26m 47s): Yeah. I mean, my mom was out here. She came out to the show. My mom came out to the last show we had before we signed to, like, we were doing a showcase at the Muraki mines to sort of show some of the other people, some of the other NRS the project. Then my mom was able to be out here for that and like meet my NRS, which was really cool. 1 (27m 6s): That's cool. That is really cool. And you put out your EAP a weird two years ago now in 2020, but it was what the COVID had already begun at this point. 4 (27m 20s): Yeah. 1 (27m 20s): Did you have the record complete? Like where were you at? Like when that happened towards, I mean, you signed with Atlantic, you got an eight, you're going to put an EAP out and then like everything stops and you're like, okay, now what? 4 (27m 33s): Yeah. I mean, we signed right before the parent back and then it hit and I was terrified to put out music for a really long time, just because I think I was under the impression that I didn't want to take any attention away from some of the more potent global and societal issues that I think are being brought to the surface at the time. And so it was a big struggle to finally get some of the music that I'd been working on out. But I was able to think God to still work with my producer, we were like going into this studio fully gloves, fully masked, like not even being near each other. I was like in the vocal booth while he was producing and we finished some, some songs and we put out overwhelmed and the response was insane. 1 (28m 26s): Yeah. Just the least. Or was it kind of immediate? I mean, it's th the response just, I mean, it's nuts. I mean, you have a gold record. And like we said, and just hundreds of millions of streams and, you know, charting on the old charts and the rock charts, like you put the song out, it didn't just initially just catch fire. 4 (28m 48s): It definitely was quick. I mean, it was, it was like, gosh, I don't know. It was kinda like when you're at the beginning of a rollercoaster and you're going like really, really slow, but you know that you're going up and then like all of a sudden you realize that you're all the way at the top and then you drop and it's like, well, that's my metaphor for what it felt like. Yeah. I mean, it happened pretty quickly. They ticked out, she started kind of rolling in and then next thing we knew it, the label was like, let's throw gas on the fire. And then it was on the radio. I didn't even know. It all happened really fast. 4 (29m 28s): It was crazy 1 (29m 32s): Hearing your song on the radio for the first time. Do you remember that? 4 (29m 35s): Yeah, I, I cried hysterically in the car. Yeah. It was. I screamed and cried. It was, it was really emotional and really beautiful and really special. I was having a rough day and I was on my way to a session and I turned on the radio and there was my song when I got in the car and I just started balling because it was like, what am I complaining about? Like, this is the life I've always wanted. Why, why have a bad day? I'm like, fuck that. 1 (30m 11s): Exactly. That's awesome. I come from radio. I did radio for a long time, but just hearing that it makes it, it gives me the chills. Cause I'm like, that's so cool because when you're at the radio station and you're playing records and you're playing songs from these, from artists like new artists and it's like, does anyone even care? Like I'm playing this record right now, but to hear that you're in the car and you hear that and you're just like, you just get so emotional. Like that means a lot to me. I just think that's so awesome to hear those stories. 4 (30m 41s): Yeah. I care a lot. I mean, I still get like kind of emotional, whatever, if randomly it pops up on like, oh, elation or something. I'm like, holy shit. Yeah. It's cool. It's I hope that feeling never goes away. If I ever get another song that is on the radio or whenever I get If that ever happens again, I hope that that feeling never goes away. And I hope that I can always appreciate all, all the little wins along the way. 1 (31m 12s): I love it. I love it. I want to talk to you about your new record that you just put out. So tell me about it, the cover artists, crazy. Like I, I think it's so like artsy and rad. Not only that, but I really liked the last song on the record. I mean, all of them are rad, but I'm not sorry. It's such a cool song. 4 (31m 32s): Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah. I put out a record called if I died, would anyone care? And if you can't tell by the title, I've been having a little bit of a tough time mentally and emotionally, and I'm so grateful that I get to put that into my art and share it with people and that people get to feel understood. And like they're not alone because I think at least from the response I've been getting from some of the people that have been listening, it seems like other people feel similarly. And I just love that music is this thing. We all get to connect over and yeah, the songs are, I'm really proud of them. 4 (32m 15s): I was really excited to put this record out. It's like, One of the first times that I am really excited to play the songs lot. 4 (34m 28s): Cause I think they're easy to rock out to, and that's been a little tougher with some of my other music in the past. So yeah, I don't know. 1 (34m 39s): I mean the, the concept and everything behind the songs, that's super vulnerable where you, you know, especially with having the success of, of overwhelmed and obviously this massive amount of eyes on you and ears on you. Were you worried about putting out such a, you know, emotionally like a, such a deep record? 4 (35m 0s): It's crazy because I still, for whatever reason can't seem to understand or believe that anybody has eyes on, it's like the hardest thing I think for me to come to terms with, and really like grasp the idea that people are out there watching what I'm doing and listening to my music. And I, I mean, I think that's where the title is essentially born from, because I felt like, okay, I put out this record that like got all these radio play, like all this radio play, all these streams, it got certified gold, but like, why do I still feel like nobody even knows who I am? And I dunno, it's like the song did well, but does anybody care about me? 4 (35m 41s): And I, not even like in a selfish way, just like if I died, would anybody even give a fuck or what? I just disappear and not be here anymore. And, and so, yeah, I guess there wasn't necessarily a fear of whether or not putting something out that vulnerable. It wasn't that scary. Cause I didn't think people were paying attention, but they are. And I'm continuing to try to remind myself that they are and the people that are paying attention. I hope that my music is helping them because that is really at the end of the day, all that I want. 1 (36m 17s): Yeah. I mean, w when I listened to it, because that's one of my biggest character defects, like I'm like, does anyone even, like, I don't know why anyone cares about what I'm doing or me or whatever. And it's like listening to your story and like, listen, especially with the last song on the record, I was like, wow, like this is such a powerful song. And I'm sure there's gotta be, you know, I'm just speaking from my own experience, like millions upon millions of other people that are also sit in that same space where it's like, wow, like, I guess, you know, if she can get through it or she can write a song about it, you know, that can help me maybe get through my issues and, and, and kind of battle with that and figuring out what's going on. Like, I think that's, that's a, it's a really powerful record. 4 (37m 0s): Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah. I mean, I, I was not a huge advocate for authenticity and honesty and my music. Cause I think it's all I know how to do. So it's, if I'm not feeling amazing, then I think that really reflects in the music that I make. And clearly a lot of people feel the same way. So it's like just sad, but I mean, it's, it really is. I mean, it was, I was seeing some of the comments on like my last video that I put out and someone was saying like, we should have like a discord or something where we can all just get in and talk to each other. Cause so many people were in there. Like I feel this way, I feel the same way. 4 (37m 40s): I'm this, I'm that? And it's nice to like see people coming together over shared hurt, I guess. 1 (37m 50s): Yeah. I mean, it's therapeutic, right? That's why people go to, you know, different support groups or meetings or, you know, AA or whatever it's because your inbound, a bunch of like-minded people and you could share your feelings kind of in a safe space. I think the discourse thing is a great idea. 4 (38m 7s): Yeah. So like I have, I don't understand that world at all. I hear discord and I just think like web three 1 (38m 14s): What's happening, 4 (38m 22s): But you know, I, I do, I love the idea of just like everybody having a place to sort of connect and lift each other up and whatever was just a sense of community, I think is so important. Even if it's online, 1 (38m 35s): It's huge online too. I mean, that's where everybody is constantly, right? 4 (38m 39s): Yeah. No, absolutely. 1 (38m 41s): Very cool. And it's well on that same kind of thread, I mean, that's why a festival, like when we were young is such a big deal because all of that, like emo emotional music and people are like gravitating towards and latching on in the early two thousands for all of those type of songs, more in a poppy sense. But in that same regard. 4 (39m 7s): Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that's essentially why everyone's been talking about it the way that they have people are feeling like, I mean, it's the first time in a long time that all of these bands are going to be in one place. And I think there's just a huge demographic and a whole generation really, of people that I hope and think are very excited to come together. 1 (39m 34s): Oh yeah. People are when I saw that, I thought it was fake. I was like, wait, what? Like every band I liked growing up as a kid are all at the same space at one time. I'm like, what is going on? 4 (39m 46s): Yeah. To be honest, I started thinking it was fake because of all the people on the internet saying it was, I was like, is this a meme? Like what is going on here guys? 1 (39m 54s): Yeah. I thought it was too. I'm like, this has got to not be real. And then actually recently interviewed Casey from the wonder years and they're playing the show and I was like passive about it. I'm like, so I'm hearing a lot of stuff about this being fake. I'm like off the record, like what's going on? He goes, dude, it's happening. 4 (40m 13s): Totally. Totally. And it's so funny. I know, I know the data that came out, I was just getting like DM after DM, after DM Royal. Tell us, tell us, is it real quick, real it's real. 1 (40m 28s): Right, right. They might have to organize it more of like a, like a warp tourist type situation. But Hey, that's how they're gonna have to do it. I mean, there's too many bands play one by one, but I mean, that's how a festival works. If you looked at, at Coachella lineup, you wouldn't be like, oh right. I get to see every band that's playing. 4 (40m 46s): Exactly. Exactly. I wish it worked like that. We need so much more time in our lives to be able to make that happen. 1 (40m 51s): Yeah. That'd be like a four day show plus. Yeah. But that's so rather you're doing that. And of course the grand center and then you're coming. I just recently moved to Nashville from Southern California. I'm born and raised San Diego kid. And I saw your playing at the basement east, which is rad. And I'm sure you're pretty excited about the grand center. 4 (41m 12s): I am more excited. I am so excited. Like I, he is just been one of my biggest inspirations and sort of like big brothers through like the process of, I don't even know becoming the project that I am right now. And I've looked up to him for so long and that's just really special to me that, yeah, 1 (41m 35s): He's such a cool guy. I had a chance to interview him and he is like, yeah, one of them he's so intelligent and he's very like open and like, he chatted for such a long time and I'm like, gosh, this guy is like, he didn't have to do this. I mean, he's so up here and just like how nice he was and everything else. So the fact that you get to tour with them, I'm sure that's just going to be such a great time. 4 (41m 55s): He really is. He's the best. Yeah. 1 (41m 58s): Very, very cool. And I really appreciate your time right now. Thank you so much for doing this. 4 (42m 2s): Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me. I'm honored to be here. 1 (42m 6s): Quick question for you. I want to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists. 4 (42m 12s): Yeah. I think create whatever the hell you want unapologetically all the time and don't ever give a fuck what anybody else thinks about it because it doesn't matter. And we're on this planet to enjoy and to create and to love ourselves and what we do and other people's opinions are trash