The Joe Rogan Experience #2386 – The Red Clay Strays (September 30, 2025)

Episode Overview

Joe Rogan sits down with The Red Clay Strays, a rapidly rising Southern Rock/Americana band, for a freewheeling, candid conversation about their journey, the realities of band life, faith, mental health, the current state of society, ancient mysteries, technology, and much more. The band's authenticity, humor, and philosophy shine through as they discuss everything from their humble beginnings and musical process to broader topics like social division, government, and the weirdness of the world today.

Main Theme

Resilience, Authenticity, and Unity Through Adversity:
The episode orbits the importance of humility, hard work, personal growth, and brotherhood both in music and in society. The Red Clay Strays share their band’s story, grounded in faith, hardship, and a commitment to serving others, as a template for overcoming conflict and finding meaning.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dealing with Fame, Criticism, and Internet Culture

• The band jokes about the brutality of internet comments and the strange criticisms they receive.
  • [00:33] Andrew: “I got called a lesbian so many times.”
  • [01:02] Joe Rogan: "Oh, don't do that."
• Rogan advises not to track numbers or read comments (unless you want a headache), emphasizing the toxicity of online culture.

Notable Quote

"Don't pay attention to numbers. Don't read the comments."
– Joe Rogan [00:27]

2. Life on the Road and Band Formation

• The group discusses the difficulty and excitement of constant touring, being on the road since 2018 and finally slowing down.
  • [02:05] Brandon Lane: “We started touring in 2018… pretty much flat out since then, just little breaks.”
• They reminisce about their origins: random gym meetings, having no music business experience, learning everything on the fly, and even accidentally undercutting management fees out of ignorance.
  • [04:04] “He had us playing every single bar on the Gulf Coast… we cut him in evenly.” – Brandon Lane

Notable Quote

“We didn’t know how to play music that well either… We'd show up to these bars and most of the time run people out and clear the room out.”
– Brandon Lane [06:31]

3. Band Dynamics and Conflict Resolution

• The Strays stress that band life is like brotherhood—a constant balance of getting on each other’s nerves but learning to communicate and evolve together.
• Importance of openly talking about feelings as a rare skill among young men and musicians.
  • [12:30] Andrew: “We had to learn how to talk about our feelings with each other… not just bottle stuff up.”

Notable Quote

"If a band says they don't get pissed off, they're lying or they just don't like each other for real."
– Andrew [12:34]

4. Staying United: Faith, Mindset, and Selflessness

• The band credits their unity to a shared faith and selfless mindset.
  • [16:41] Brandon Lane: “It's a God thing. If you're just chasing worldly things and worried about yourself… you’re gonna walk away."
• They see their calling as serving both God and each other, rather than seeking fame or riches.

Notable Quote

"If I want to make this thing work, how can I serve these guys?"
– Brandon Lane [16:41]

"He who is greatest among you, let him be your servant… once it becomes a selfless thing instead of a selfish thing... I don’t see how you could break up."
– Brandon Lane [17:05]

5. Mental Health, Music’s Purpose, and Impact

• The Strays share moving stories of fans finding hope in their music, emphasizing the difference between chasing fame and helping people.
  • [30:41] Brandon Lane: "We get messages every day… One lady decided to off herself… our song ‘I'm Still Fine’ came on and it snapped her out of it. Saved her life."
• Their songwriting often emerges from hardship and personal struggle ("Drowning" written during the COVID Uber hustle).

Notable Quote

"If we were just doing it to be popular, to be famous... that's not enough… what keeps us going is those stories, seeing how our music affects people and helps them in a positive way."
– Brandon Lane [31:48]

6. Social Media & the Modern Attention Economy

• The perils of self-critique and imposter syndrome versus the dangers of believing your own hype.
  • [27:35] Rogan: "I think you're much better off being heavily critical of yourself."
  • [27:41] Drew: “I’ll never want to be content with anything I’m doing… in my head it just feels like Guitar Hero when they start booing you.”

7. Division, Politics, and Society’s Fraying Edges

• Rogan and the band lament rising tribalism, political division, and the way social media amplifies hatred and superficial differences (even down to Android vs. iPhone).
  • [54:40] Brandon Lane: “Get off your phone and just walk around in society. It’s really not that bad.”
  • [57:03] "When the iPhone babies grow up, they're gonna be killing each other over phones." – Brandon Lane

Notable Quote

"It's celebrated to hate people. That's the weird part."
– Joe Rogan [52:13]

"It's a fake place. You think I'm gonna waste my time arguing with you on social media?"
– Brandon Lane [125:13]

8. Ancient Mysteries, Religion, and the Human Story

• A lengthy, entertaining tangent on lost civilizations, giants, the Book of Enoch, aliens and more. The band ties interest in the ancient past to spiritual questions.
  • [72:11] Rogan: "The Book of Enoch is in the Dead Sea Scrolls… it talks about the watchers in the sky…"
  • [89:05] Brandon Lane: "Anytime the Smithsonian got involved [in a giant’s bones discovery], it just got shut down.”
• They question why evidence of human prehistory or biblical miracles seems to get buried.

Notable Quote

"If they ever did find a giant, they probably wouldn't tell us."
– Joe Rogan [90:23]

9. Technology, Surveillance, and Government Power

• Spirited debate on privacy, digital IDs, the right to control your own data, and the growth of government and corporate surveillance.
  • [60:04] Joe Rogan: “No individual should be able to look at your phone. You can't look at theirs. It's a power thing, control.”
• Discussion of social credit systems in China and the risk of similar technologies creeping into the West.

Notable Quote

"If you jaywalk and they get a photo of your face... your thing gets dinged. Now you can't buy a plane ticket."
– Joe Rogan [62:15]

10. Music, Faith, and Being a Great Uniter

• The band expresses their desire to remain non-political in their music, focusing on what brings people together.
  • [46:45] Brandon Lane: “We've always made a point in the band to not get political … we don't care what your politics are. Just come listen to the music and have fun.”
  • [125:27] “It's one of the few things that really unites us. All persuasions, just love a good song.”
• Their upcoming single "People Hating" is a direct response to the culture of division, releasing October 3rd.

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “I just saw something I knew was incredible. What do I need to do to get this guy in front of people?”
  – Drew, on managing the band [04:49]

• “You have five individuals that are gonna check each other. We always say the pack will correct.”
  – Andrew [26:54]

• “It’s all chasing after the wind. What’s the point in all this?”
  – Brandon Lane, regarding faith and purpose [18:15]

• “Making it… is like the film where people hold hands and walk off into the sunset. That’s a crock of shit. You gotta wake up the next morning…”
  – Joe Rogan [28:29]

• “Most people are not going to get off their phone. And that’s what’s fucked most people.”
  – Joe Rogan [54:56]

• “If this is the reason [God’s plan], then here I go. I don’t know how it’s going to work out, but I’m just going to trust you.”
  – Brandon Lane [18:15]

• About the Shroud of Turin:
  "You only see Jesus when it’s a negative… They don’t know how that image was put on there. It wasn’t stained. It wasn’t burned on there. They don’t know what caused it."
  – Joe Rogan [93:33]

Selected Segment Timeline

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 00:12-07:39 | Touring and the band's grassroots formation | | 13:27-20:44 | Managing conflicts, faith as guiding compass | | 30:34-32:52 | Revealing the impact of their music on struggling fans, Uber stories | | 46:45-52:04 | Rising social/political division, writing “People Hating” | | 54:40-57:27 | Society’s tribalism; Android vs iPhone microcosm | | 72:11-79:47 | Book of Enoch, ancient aliens, giants, lost civilizations | | 90:23-92:38 | Why would proof of ancient giants be hidden? | | 125:13-126:26 | The unifying power of music & not engaging with trolls |

Tone and Language

Laid-back, humorous, peppered with philosophical depth. The guests speak earnestly and candidly, with folksy charm and self-deprecation, balanced by Rogan’s trademark curiosity and skepticism.

Memorable Moments

• Elvis & Steven Seagal Martial Arts: [21:06–23:57]
  Playful riffing on fake martial arts and cultural icons.

• Uber Driving While Semi-Famous: [32:37–34:47]
  The hilarious, humbling realities of local celebrity.

• Alien Sightings, Bible Verses & Book of Enoch: [65:49–74:44]
  Entertaining back-and-forth about UFOs, spiritual meaning, and ancient texts.

• The Comments Section & “Post and Ghost”: [123:50–125:13]
  The band and Rogan agree: engage with trolls at your own peril.

Closing

The episode wraps with a lighthearted discussion of live music, surreal meetings with celebrities, fitness, and optimism for the future. Joe urges them to keep making music that connects, reiterates the value of unity, and thanks them for their authenticity and creativity.

"Music is one of the few things that unites us. All backgrounds, just love a good song… It's universal."
– Joe Rogan [125:27]

Red Clay Strays New Single

• "People Hating" out October 3rd, 2025

For listeners looking for real stories, Dad-joke humor, deeply personal reflections, and wide-ranging explorations of what it means to be in a band (or just a halfway decent human being) today, this is a not-to-miss episode.