Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (4:03)

When you come home, who will, you know, maybe I should stay? It could turn out okay? You won't be so scared once you get there? Wasn't a mistake Leaving the garden state? Leaving the garden state? Leaving the garden state? Leaving the garden state? When you come home, who will, you know, maybe I should stay? It could turn out okay? You won't be so scared once you get there? Wasn't a mistake leaving the garden state?

Alison Stewart (5:26)

That was Jeremy sucker performing garden state. When did you write that song?

Jeremy Zucker (5:33)

A little over a year ago. When I started writing the album, I guess I dealt with a lot of guilt for leaving the place that I grew up to sort of chase my dream. And writing that song was, I guess, the process of forgiving myself.

Alison Stewart (5:51)

Why did you need to forgive yourself?

Jeremy Zucker (5:53)

Yeah. I don't know. I guess I. I've always kind of felt guilty for a lot of things my whole life, I guess, for, like, prioritizing myself over other people and people that I felt I needed to please. So, like, you know, leaving my parents and leaving the friends that I grew up with, it was. I did all of that because I needed to do something for myself. And I've always just felt guilty. I wish I could have stayed, but I needed to go to grow.

Alison Stewart (6:26)

When you left New Jersey, you left Franklin Lakes, Is that right?

Jeremy Zucker (6:30)

Yeah.

Alison Stewart (6:31)

How old were you?

Jeremy Zucker (6:33)

I was 18.

Alison Stewart (6:36)

Leaving for college, and you left for college. And when did you decide, you know, I need to be elsewhere. I need to be someplace different?

Jeremy Zucker (6:46)

I think I decided that when I was, like, 14, 15.

Alison Stewart (6:49)

You were done with Franklin Lakes?

Jeremy Zucker (6:51)

I just always, you know, very, like, stereotypical big dreams, you know, big dreams in a. In a small town. And I knew I wanted to be a musician. I always kind of fantasized about being in a band. And by the time I was going to college, I had kind of given up on that. And I, for some reason, wanted to be a doctor. And I was like, college, that's my ticket out.

Alison Stewart (7:19)

I remember, I think in high school, we used to play Franken Lakes. I'm from Glen Ridge.

Jeremy Zucker (7:23)

Oh, yeah. Classic.

Alison Stewart (7:24)

Of course. So tell me something that lets me know that you grew up in Franklin Lakes.

Jeremy Zucker (7:30)

Well, I grew up playing lacrosse, and I also grew up around the corner from the Market Basket, which is a very famous sort of, like, deli supermarket. And, yeah, that was. Yeah, that was my world.

Alison Stewart (7:47)

When you grew up in Glen Ridge, you walked to School. Everybody walked to school.

Jeremy Zucker (7:51)

I walked to School of Lakes.

Alison Stewart (7:54)

When you sat down to write Garden.

Interviewer/Producer (7:56)

State, did it come just come out.

Alison Stewart (7:59)

Of you that you were going to.

Interviewer/Producer (8:00)

Write songs about your childhood or did you start with that as sort of the template for your album?

Jeremy Zucker (8:09)

You know, a lot of the things that I do with music and writing, they happen really subconsciously. And a lot of the times I don't know what I'm writing about until I'm writing about it. And with this song, Garden State, it was the first one that I really wrote for the album and it's the one that gave me the idea to that maybe I needed to. Maybe one song isn't enough for this topic. Maybe I need to do a whole project around it. And yeah, this one I just, I knew the second that I started writing, you know, the first line of line of the song is around the corner from our favorite place, which is the market basket. There's the house. I lived for 7,000 days and I, you know, basically was, that was my home until I was, you know, 18, 19, 20, still coming back home from college. And I just, I knew that there was so much more there. And talking about the house was like the beginning. And it obviously, all of this led me to where I am today, which is I'm married and I'm living in LA and I have a completely different life. And going back to where you came from after going so far away is a really surreal full circle experience and makes you appreciate things so much more.

Alison Stewart (9:20)

What was it like for you to write songs about your childhood? To write songs about this period in life? Things that maybe you couldn't just say or have a conversation about.

Jeremy Zucker (9:33)

You know, it kind of unlocked a lot of memories for me.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (9:37)

And.

Jeremy Zucker (9:39)

I think we all have rose colored glasses when it comes to the past. I think like naturally our brains like to remember the good times more vividly than the bad. And you know, I had a great childhood, like especially on paper, you know, but I just always had sort of like a sad, like sort of depressed, like, disposition where I never really felt like I belonged. And you know, I had, I was, I was never bullied. Like I had friends. Like, it seemed super normal on the surface, but like I just always really felt different. And it was this kind of unexplainable feeling of, of why can't I relate to anyone? I can pretend to relate, like really well. But yeah, I was, I was masking this normalcy. And it wasn't until I realized that like the way people are there, it's just a very small slice of the human condition. And I was just, you know, things.

Interviewer/Producer (10:44)

You want to explore.

Jeremy Zucker (10:45)

Yeah, I was hungry for. For more than just that one slice.

Alison Stewart (10:49)

I'd like another slice, please.

Jeremy Zucker (10:50)

Yeah.

Alison Stewart (10:52)

My guest is Jeremy Zucker.

Interviewer/Producer (10:54)

We're talking about his latest album, Garden State. He'll be playing at Brooklyn Steel on October 3rd. The album artwork features you on the roof of a house. Whose house is that?

Jeremy Zucker (11:05)

It is not the house I grew up in. That is an Airbnb somewhere else in New Jersey. The house that I grew up in, my parents sold it and they redid it and it looks like a completely different place. That's just a random house. But it's symbolic. Symbolic of what I grew up in, you know, sitting on the roof and kind of looking out over the world.

Interviewer/Producer (11:32)

Did you ever go up on the roof when you were a kid?

Jeremy Zucker (11:35)

I, like, maybe one time, you know, climbed out of the window and was like on. On the deck to like get some fresh air. But no, our roof was like a little too steep to get on top of.

Interviewer/Producer (11:48)

When you see images of yourself sitting on the roof, what comes to your mind? What did you also want the person who has the album to look at and think, what is Jeremy saying to me?

Jeremy Zucker (12:03)

You know, it really is symbolic of like, you know, he is on top. Like a lot of the album really is about, like, it's about moving and leaving, but it's also about rising above. Even if that was only my perspective of it and yeah, kind of having a vantage point over. Over my life, over the way that I grew up and the place that I grew up in. Being on the roof is like, yeah, hindsight is 2020 and the more of life you experience, the more clear things become. And the symbolism of kind of getting onto the roof of the place you grew up, you know you grew up. Oh my God, am I about to quote Drake started from the bottom and then I got up there and things were much more clear. And I'm in the image. I'm in the process of getting up. I'm like. I'm kind of like floating off of my seat. And it just. Yeah, it really encapsulated like the feelings of the album for me.

Interviewer/Producer (13:06)

We're going to ask you to play another song for us. What do you think you're going to play?

Jeremy Zucker (13:11)

I'm going to take it back to one of my last summers at this house that I grew up in, my parents house. And it was right after I graduated college and I was supposed to be living in the city But I couldn't find a place that I could afford. And I was just spending that summer at home when I expected to be, you know, living in the big city, chasing my dreams. So I was alone a lot of the time. A lot of my friends were out of town or in New York and I was just bored and lonely. So I wrote this song about it.

Interviewer/Producer (13:47)

And what's the name of the song?

Jeremy Zucker (13:48)

It's called Come Through.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (13:58)

I might lose my mind Waking when the sun's down Riding all these highs Waiting for the come down Walk these streets with me I'm doing decently Just glad that I can breathe yeah I'm.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (14:18)

Trying to realize it's alright to not be fine on your own Now I'm shaking drinking all this coffee these last few weeks have been exhausting. I'm lost in my imagination.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (14:48)

And there's.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (14:49)

One thing that I need for from you can you come through? Yeah through who? Yeah and there's one thing that I need from you can you come through?

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (15:17)

Ain't got much to do Too old from my hometown Went to bed at noon Couldn't put my phone down Scrolling patiently It's all the same to me Just faces on a screen yeah I'm.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (15:36)

Trying to realize it's alright to not be Now I'm shaking drinking all this coffee these last few weeks have been exhausting. I'm lost in my imagination.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (16:08)

And there's.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (16:09)

One thing think that I need from you can you come through? Ooh through who? Ooh yeah through hoo ooh yeah and there's one thing that I need from you.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (16:34)

Can you come through?

Interviewer/Producer (16:40)

That's Jeremy Zucker. So that song has almost a billion streams on Spotify.

Jeremy Zucker (16:48)

Yes, I saw that today it's at like 909 million.

Alison Stewart (16:53)

That's unbelievable.

Interviewer/Producer (16:55)

What kind of attention did that song get when you first released it?

Jeremy Zucker (17:01)

When I first put it out, I mean at that time things were really chill, like I didn't have a ton of listeners. But over the next couple months that song especially just blew up in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Indonesia specifically, which at the time I was just like, what? Why? You know, I'm singing about like being bored and lonely like at my parents house and something about it just really resonated out there. And you know, that allowed me to go tour in Asia and you know, funny enough like a lot of the popularity of the song like trickled back home from there and. Yeah, so that changed everything for me, that song.

Interviewer/Producer (17:51)

We're gonna let you tune your guitar. Yes, we're gonna Take a quick break and we'll have more with Jeremy Zucker.

Alison Stewart (17:56)

Stay with us. You are listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. With me in studio is Jeremy Zucker. We're talking about his latest album, Garden State. By the way, he will be playing Brooklyn Steele on October 3rd. You live in LA now?

Jeremy Zucker (18:22)

I do.

Alison Stewart (18:24)

On the song Letting Go, you sing about living on the west coast to. Do you identify more as a West coast person or an east coast person?

Jeremy Zucker (18:33)

Absolutely not a West coast person. Yeah. I'm definitely East Coast Northeast born and bred, and it's definitely in my blood.

Alison Stewart (18:44)

What do you like about living on the West Coast?

Jeremy Zucker (18:47)

I mean, the weather is always. At least in Los Angeles, the weather is great. It's just. I mean, I love New York City so much, but it's really hard and expensive to have, like, a solid quality of life. And in la, there's just a lot more space and you can reasonably have a car, and it's just a little bit nicer. I feel like I've betrayed, you know, New York a little bit, but it's okay. It's nice.

Alison Stewart (19:18)

We still like you.

Jeremy Zucker (19:19)

Yeah.

Alison Stewart (19:20)

On your previous release, you worked with Chelsea Cutler.

Jeremy Zucker (19:23)

Mm.

Alison Stewart (19:24)

What was different about this time? Working on your own?

Jeremy Zucker (19:29)

Um, you know, Chelsea and I always get together to make music in between our own sort of individual journeys. And every time we get back together, it's like a nice breath of fresh air. So, yeah, I guess whenever I, like, come back from writing and working with Chelsea, I really have a new perspective on what I'm doing, and it really makes me appreciate collaboration more and more because I'm very much the kind of person that, you know, works in solitude, and I really need to, like, be alone in my thoughts to be truly creative. And because of that, I kind of forget what it's like to collaborate, and I forget how much fun it can be and how much and how freeing it can be. So coming back from working with Chelsea, this album, I. Even though it's so personal, I've really had to collaborate a lot to help pull some of these stories out of me and get more musical inspiration and just, honestly, just make the process more fun.

Alison Stewart (20:26)

On Garden State, you do a cover of a song that was actually on the soundtrack to the movie Garden State.

Jeremy Zucker (20:34)

Yes.

Alison Stewart (20:34)

Right. First of all, why did you include the song? Well, such Great Heights, I should say.

Jeremy Zucker (20:42)

Yeah. Such Great Heights by the Postal Service. The album is pretty like, the creative. The visual world for the album is pretty inspired by the movie Garden State 2004, directed by Zach Braff. And yeah, I was just watching that movie so much and the title just warmed its way into my brain. And, yeah, at such great heights. There's a cover of that song by the artist Iron and Wine. And it's such a slow, tapey, like, beautiful rendition of what's originally like a really fast paced electronic song. And I love both versions, but I kind of wanted to do a version that's in the middle that's, you know, soft and acoustic and relaxed but, like, not quite so dragging. And it actually, it's the last song on my album and it comes after the title track, Garden State. It's in the same key, kind of uses the same chord voicings, but it's about this feeling of, you know, going up, up, up and away. And, you know, the lyrics are, they will see us waving from such great heights. Come down now. But everything looks perfect from far away. And, you know, that's really how I saw a lot of my life growing up. And I felt like I was the kid on the hot air balloon and I was leaving everybody that, that I grew up with, and they're down there looking up at me being like, wow, like, he's going so far. It's so awesome. You know, we're so happy for you. And I would be like, guys, I'm. I'm kind of going through something up here. So, yeah, it was. It's really nice to end the album like that.

Alison Stewart (22:24)

Have you been contacted by Zach Braff? I think he won a Grammy for that.

Jeremy Zucker (22:28)

Yeah, he did.

Alison Stewart (22:28)

Yeah.

Jeremy Zucker (22:29)

No, I haven't. I've been. I've been trying to get in touch here and there. So, Mr. Braff, if you're hearing this, I'm a huge fan. Let's hang out. Love it. Yeah.

Alison Stewart (22:38)

Your official invitation to Zach Braff onto radio. You're going on tour soon. Where are you going?

Jeremy Zucker (22:45)

All over the US couple cities in Canada and. Yeah, Brooklyn Steel, October 3rd. So I've seen so many shows there, so it's really awesome to be playing my own.

Alison Stewart (22:57)

And as we said at the beginning of the segment, it was kind of a battle of the bands at Brooklyn Steel to find out who's gonna be your opening act.

Jeremy Zucker (23:05)

Yeah, we did the Battle of the Bends down in Asbury Park. Stone Pony. And the winner of that, it's this trio called Safe House. And, yeah, they're opening for me.

Alison Stewart (23:16)

That's great. Well, congratulations to Safe House. You know, we've been talking about Jersey a lot because I'm from Jersey and in the past two weeks, Born to Run turned 50 years old.

Jeremy Zucker (23:26)

Wow.

Alison Stewart (23:26)

Isn't that amazing?

Jeremy Zucker (23:27)

Oh, my God.

Alison Stewart (23:28)

Right? When you think of New Jersey, when you think of the music that comes out of New Jers Jersey, what comes to mind?

Jeremy Zucker (23:36)

Bruce? Obviously, I don't know. There really is a lot of great music that came out of New Jersey. And I kind of have a theory that it's like, you know, like growing up in the shadow of like two of the biggest cities, you know, Philadelphia and New York City, like, really gives people this desire to like, make it to one of those, you know, if you're growing up in a small area or a rough area, like, you really want to get to the city and if you make it to the city, you're doing something right. That's kind of the feeling. So, yeah, I feel like, you know, there's. There's something. Maybe there's something in the water. Maybe, maybe people just really like, you know, New Jersey gets kind of overlooked. And especially like New Yorkers like to poke fun and it's all fun and games. New Jersey does have better bagels. But yeah, I think maybe we have a chip on our shoulders. We have something to prove.

Interviewer/Producer (24:34)

You see all the skylights in New.

Jeremy Zucker (24:37)

York, you know, it's funny, like, the views on the, you know, on the Jersey side of the Hudson are better because you get to see the skyline.

Alison Stewart (24:45)

Yeah, we got a great text.

Interviewer/Producer (24:48)

It says, as a New Jersey resident.

Alison Stewart (24:50)

And mom of a 13 year old.

Interviewer/Producer (24:51)

Boy, the Garden song.

Alison Stewart (24:54)

The Garden State song made me cry. I will of course allow my son.

Interviewer/Producer (24:58)

To grow on his own, but wow, that was a powerful song.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (25:01)

Wow.

Jeremy Zucker (25:01)

Thank you so much, listener.

Alison Stewart (25:03)

That's a lovely message. Our guest has been Jeremy Zucker. We've been talking about his latest album, Garden State.

Interviewer/Producer (25:09)

You've got one more song to play for us.

Alison Stewart (25:12)

What are we gonna hear?

Jeremy Zucker (25:13)

This is you were good to me. It's a song that I wrote with the amazingly talented artist Chelsea Cut.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (25:41)

Lying.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (25:44)

Isn'T better than silence.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (25:51)

Floating.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (25:55)

But I feel like I'm dying And so no matter where I go at the end of every road.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (26:11)

You were good to me. You were good to me.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (26:18)

Yeah, I know it's easier to run after everything I've done.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (26:30)

You were good to me. You were good to me. You were good to me.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (26:50)

Me like that again.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (26:54)

You were good to me.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (26:59)

Leaving isn't better than trying growing But I'm just growing tired and now I'm worried for my soul And I'm still scared of growing old.

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (27:27)

You were good to me. You were good to me?

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (27:35)

Yeah?

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (27:37)

And I'm so used to letting go? But I don't wanna be alone? You were good to me? You were good to me? At home? God only knows? Where our fears grow? Hearts are broken? Now my tears flow? You see that I'm sorry? Cause you were good to me? You were good to me?

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (28:33)

And now I'm close? Closing every door? Cause I'm sick of wanting more?

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (28:43)

You were good to me? You were good to me?

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (28:50)

Yeah? Swear I'm different than before? I won't hurt you anymore?

Song Lyrics (Jeremy Zucker) (29:02)

Cause you were good to me?

Interviewer/Producer (29:14)

My guest has been Jeremy Zucker.

Alison Stewart (29:16)

His latest album is called Garden State. He'll be at Brooklyn Steel on October 3rd. Thank you for starting your week with us. We really appreciate your time.

Jeremy Zucker (29:26)

Thanks for having me.