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- [00:00]
A
Hey, folks, this is an extra little episode this week where I chat with the rising indie pop star, Alden. If you enjoyed our conversation and you want to check out more of Alden's music, I've put his links in the episode description. And without further ado, let's get into it.
- [00:15]
B
Alden, how's it going?
- [00:17]
A
What's been the most persistent thought on your mind lately?
- [00:21]
B
Most persistent thought on my mind, honestly, what happens when I die?
- [00:28]
A
Are you serious?
- [00:29]
B
Yeah.
- [00:29]
A
Really?
- [00:30]
B
Yeah.
- [00:30]
A
That's why I. That's what I talk about on here all the time. I talk about on here so much that people are starting to get really annoyed.
- [00:36]
B
Really?
- [00:37]
A
With me?
- [00:37]
B
Yeah. Are you being serious as you think that? I do think about that a lot.
- [00:41]
A
Tell me how that thought process been going for you.
- [00:44]
B
I think about it, like, I really hope that I, like, restart. I get to restart and play the game again. In the same life?
- [00:54]
A
In the same life, yeah. So does that mean that you. You are yourself again?
- [01:00]
B
Yeah, exactly. I'm still Alden.
- [01:01]
A
And are you playing out deterministically all the same exact events of the same life again? So you're born as you're born to the same parents in the same location.
- [01:12]
B
Yeah. Yet my choices are like, you know, I make a small little choice right here that changes my whole trajectory.
- [01:25]
A
I like this because this is a very. I got. I get lost in, like, deterministic philosophy. A lot of, like, where you are and who you're born to and everything, like, influences your choices. I like this idea that you have so much free will.
- [01:39]
B
Yeah.
- [01:40]
A
That you would go back and you could even make different choices.
- [01:42]
B
I also kind of like. I like the idea of, like, you know, you go through that cycle of, I don't remember what religion kind of, you know, this, like, practices this or, like, talks about this, but you go through this cycle until you are, like, ready to ascend to a higher level.
- [02:03]
A
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. What do you think is necessary to ascend?
- [02:07]
B
I feel like it's just like, inner peace, like, just being content with life.
- [02:17]
A
Do you have in mind alternative choices you would make if you were reborn to be Alden again?
- [02:26]
B
Hmm. I would still always make music. I think in every lifetime, I would make music because it's just like, I was attracted to it from such a young age. My older brother got me into it, and I just, like, stuck with it from. Since I was, like, 11 or something, so.
- [02:48]
A
So what you would want to happen is that you become. You relive the same life as yourself. What do you think Happens.
- [02:57]
B
But I. I would think because nothing. No, I would want it, like, you know, I'd want to, like, mess around and, like, take some different steps in my life, you know, Like. Okay, all right, See what happens if I move to. Because, like, I moved to New York first. First, right?
- [03:15]
A
Yeah.
- [03:15]
B
And then I moved to la. But what if I moved to LA first and then New York?
- [03:20]
A
Really? That's. That's it. You wouldn't be like.
- [03:22]
B
I mean, those.
- [03:23]
A
You wouldn't be like, let me move to Ghana or something? You wouldn't, like, do something totally out of the.
- [03:28]
B
It could have like, even, like, you know, maybe, like. I, like. My other life is like a granola guy, like, and I got like a. Like a van.
- [03:39]
A
Yeah.
- [03:41]
B
You know, driving around the United States just in the van, I could see myself doing that too. You know, I feel like I could see a lot of different paths. I want to farm, you know?
- [03:52]
A
Do you want to farm?
- [03:53]
B
I do want to farm.
- [03:54]
A
I feel like. What would you have on your farm?
- [04:01]
B
Definitely horses and cows. I'm not a big fan of chickens just because they're shaped a lot. Like, a little strange to me. I don't like the feet of a chicken, unfortunately, but I like eggs, so maybe I'll have chickens.
- [04:20]
A
Would you. Would you not get bored on a farming. You're. You're touring, right? You're rocking and rolling.
- [04:28]
B
Yeah.
- [04:28]
A
You're hanging out with people. You're in Hollywood. You're the Hollywood life. Whatever. You wouldn't get bored on a farm?
- [04:35]
B
No. Cause the thing is, I do not go out. I don't do anything really. I just, like. I'm in the studio every day and I'm playing Fortnite, playing video games every day.
- [04:50]
A
Are you a homebody?
- [04:51]
B
Yeah, definitely.
- [04:51]
A
Have you always been a homebody or did you have a time?
- [04:53]
B
I had a time.
- [04:54]
A
Okay.
- [04:54]
B
I had a time. I went to the school in Southern Virginia, in Richmond, Virginia, vcu. And that was like, my time to, like, go out and be like, 21 year old.
- [05:12]
A
What was the place?
- [05:14]
B
What was the VCU? Virginia Commonwealth University.
- [05:17]
A
Is that, like, known to be a party school?
- [05:19]
B
Not necessarily, but it's more. More so. Known to be like an artsy school.
- [05:23]
A
Okay.
- [05:24]
B
So there's a lot of really cool types of people. So it's really fun to go out there to, like, the bars and stuff. There's. I was just telling you about the gwar bar. Yeah, it's all Gwar themed.
- [05:34]
A
That's insane. I don't know if that was that popular with college Kids.
- [05:39]
B
I mean, it was just a cool bar. I don't think a lot of college kids knew about gwar, but they. The bar itself just looked sick. They had, like, these, like, Halloween costumes everywhere. Pretty sure it's still there. If anybody's in Richmond, go to the Garbar.
- [05:58]
A
So do you remember, was there a specific night out where you were like, this is gonna be the finale of my career, or was it just a natural? I don't really want to do this anymore.
- [06:10]
B
Finale of my career of going out?
- [06:13]
A
Yeah.
- [06:16]
B
That'S a good question, because I was going out a little bit when I first moved to New York. Um, I was having fun, but it just became kind of, like, repetitive. And then I became a homebody in New York in a little box.
- [06:35]
A
Yeah.
- [06:35]
B
And it was, like, really depressing. And I couldn't handle the winter anymore. Like, the winter in New York.
- [06:42]
A
Yeah.
- [06:42]
B
Yeah.
- [06:43]
A
But the winter is good because it puts markings upon your life.
- [06:47]
B
That is very true. That's like something I've noticed about living in LA is like, you know, having the sun every day can kind of get exhausting.
- [06:57]
A
Yeah.
- [06:58]
B
Especially coming from the East Coast. I'm used to all four seasons, so I miss the season sometimes. But right now, I mean, I've been in LA for. Yeah. A year and a half, and I'm not, like, sick of it.
- [07:14]
A
Are you thinking you'll stay there, like, long term?
- [07:17]
B
I definitely not long term. I think. I think I'm gonna. I want to buy a house in Virginia.
- [07:22]
A
Okay, then. That's where you're from, right?
- [07:23]
B
Yeah, that's where I'm from.
- [07:24]
A
Would you buy one near your parents?
- [07:26]
B
Yeah, probably somewhere in the vicinity of my parents.
- [07:29]
A
Are you still, like, friends with the homies from high school? Middle school.
- [07:32]
B
Yeah, they all. They're all down in Richmond. Like, we all kind of. We all graduated from the same high school, all went to the same college. It was a blast. We were all on the same dorm floor.
- [07:46]
A
Are they excited by your. Your musical career, or do they just know you as, like, you're just Alden?
- [07:53]
B
They. I mean, when I'm with them, you know, it's. It's. It's like I have, you know, nothing. No time has passed because I don't see them very often. I miss them all the time, but when I see them, it's like no time has passed. And I just did a show in D.C. which is, you know, really close to just Virginia and Southern Virginia and everything. So all of my friends came up.
- [08:17]
A
Oh, nice family.
- [08:19]
B
It was a beautiful time.
- [08:21]
A
What were you like in high school?
- [08:23]
B
I was like, in. So me and my friends were like. From the outside, everybody saw us as like the stoner kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I. I did not smoke weed or drink or nothing in high. Really in high school.
- [08:41]
A
And you're sober now, right?
- [08:42]
B
I'm so. Well, I would say I'm California sober.
- [08:45]
A
California sober.
- [08:46]
B
Okay. Yeah.
- [08:47]
A
So. And you're 24.
- [08:49]
B
Yeah.
- [08:49]
A
And. Okay, so you had like a little tiny window where you were doing that.
- [08:54]
B
Yeah. Like. What do you mean, like?
- [08:56]
A
Well, because if you weren't doing it in high school, you. It was like.
- [08:59]
B
Oh, yeah, yeah, it was. It was like a college into Covid kind of thing. Did it kind of rapidly progressed in a. In a way. So, I mean, I could go into that if you want.
- [09:14]
A
We can. Yeah, well, actually, I wanted. Well, I wanted this first.
- [09:17]
B
We could. We could hold on to that.
- [09:18]
A
Well, I want to know this because you said that your friends or like the people saw you guys, like the stoner kids, but you didn't even smoke weed at the time.
- [09:25]
B
Yeah.
- [09:26]
A
Which is funny because I think there's a lot. And I was a little bit like that too, except. Well, I said I was a little bit like that too, but. Except I actually did smoke weed, so they were right.
- [09:36]
B
I mean, my friends, some of them did smoke a lot of weed and sometimes they would smoke weed in the back of class, too.
- [09:42]
A
Okay. But you.
- [09:43]
B
That level of stoner do you have.
- [09:45]
A
Because you have. You have like a cool. You have like a cool demeanor. Do you have. You. Were you like that in high school? Like, you had this kind of like, laid back existence that people were like, oh, there's no possible way that you could be that cool without.
- [10:00]
B
Without being a hot stoner. I guess so. I mean, I've always been into like, fashion and stuff. Like, and I grew up skateboarding a lot, so I was very much a part of like, the skate culture and skate fashion and stuff, which is very synonymous with stoner culture.
- [10:22]
A
Important question.
- [10:23]
B
Yeah.
- [10:24]
A
Tony hawk or skate skate. 100% skate is so much better than Tony Hawk.
- [10:30]
B
Yeah.
- [10:30]
A
No offense to the Tony Hawk games. They have the report in place.
- [10:32]
B
They were classic.
- [10:33]
A
Yeah.
- [10:34]
B
Yeah. But you seen Skate 4. I'm a little upset about Skate 4, bro.
- [10:40]
A
It. I'm over it. I mean, it's been. Well, I think the Skate 3 came out in 2010.
- [10:45]
B
Yeah, that's all they need. I mean. Yeah, the Skate 4 is like all cartoony. It is.
- [10:50]
A
I haven't. Did they release any footage of it?
- [10:52]
B
Yeah, they've been, like, rolling out, like, play tests and stuff, and it just doesn't feel like a classic skate game.
- [11:00]
A
Do you still skateboard?
- [11:02]
B
I do, yeah, occasionally.
- [11:03]
A
How, like, are you. Are you nice? Can you, like.
- [11:05]
B
I could hit, like, a. I could probably hit a tray flip.
- [11:08]
A
You can hit a tray flip?
- [11:09]
B
Yeah.
- [11:09]
A
That's so cool.
- [11:10]
B
That's, like, my best trick, though.
- [11:13]
A
Did was. When you were skateboarding in high school, did you make a lot of friends that way?
- [11:23]
B
I had, like, one friend that skated in high school.
- [11:26]
A
No, you weren't, like, in, like, the whole.
- [11:28]
B
There wasn't much of, like, a skate crew at my school. My school was very, like, diverse. Lots of different types of people, and, like, there was barely any skateboarders for some reason, I don't know. But we were just like, the. Like, I heard. I remember being in high school and overhearing someone saying, like, oh, there goes the artsy kids, or something like that. Okay, so we were like, the artsy kids, I guess.
- [11:58]
A
Do you like looking back on that? Do you believe that was a earned moniker?
- [12:05]
B
I like it. I like being called the artsy kid.
- [12:08]
A
Okay.
- [12:09]
B
I would say I'm artsy.
- [12:11]
A
Did you have. Were you emotional in high school? Like, did you. Were you, like, a. Not like emo is in, like, the subculture, but, like, emo as in, like.
- [12:20]
B
Just, like, in general.
- [12:20]
A
Were you a brooding child?
- [12:23]
B
Definitely, yeah. That's like, you know, that's where I would channel them to the music, you know?
- [12:30]
A
Do you remember, like, what you were brooding over?
- [12:35]
B
Well, I had a very traumatic first girlfriend that was, like. It was like four years, but it ended up with her cheating on me with one of my friends.
- [12:47]
A
No. How old were you guys?
- [12:49]
B
We were juniors in high school. I don't remember what age that is, but, yeah, that was devastating at the time for my young mind to comprehend. But looking back at it now, it's like, if that didn't happen, I wouldn't have started writing music because it was like, I was just producing before that. Then that happened, and I was like, I need to vent.
- [13:22]
A
Okay. Yeah, you need to transmute this into song.
- [13:24]
B
Yeah, exactly.
- [13:26]
A
What was the song? Do you still have the song that you wrote at 16 about your cheating girlfriend?
- [13:31]
B
I think I do. Somewhere on one of my laptops, me and my best friend from my closest friend in high school, Oxy sleep, AKA Tyler. Him and I just were just at my house every day recording songs together about this breakup. And then I got back together.
- [13:58]
A
Wait, your homie was with you recording songs about this? Breakup.
- [14:02]
B
Yeah.
- [14:02]
A
That's so cool.
- [14:03]
B
Yeah.
- [14:04]
A
That you had a friend, like, truly, like, at that age to have a friend who will, like, like, sit in this with you.
- [14:10]
B
Yeah.
- [14:11]
A
Like, that's a real homie.
- [14:13]
B
Well, he's still a real homie to this day. Yeah. Still, like, we've gotten each other through thick and thin, for sure.
- [14:21]
A
That's. Some people have friends where it's like, don't talk to me about the. This girl again after you've already. So, like, stop talking about this right to me. I'm sick of hearing it.
- [14:32]
B
Right.
- [14:32]
A
And then you have a friend who's like, I will sit with you day after day and we will make this song together.
- [14:36]
B
Yes, exactly.
- [14:37]
A
You transmute the feeling. It's a beautiful thing.
- [14:39]
B
It was very. It's very beautiful. We still have that relationship, you know?
- [14:43]
A
Are you still. So you're still friends with all the.
- [14:45]
B
Still very close.
- [14:46]
A
That's really nice.
- [14:46]
B
Yeah.
- [14:47]
A
And you said that you probably wouldn't be writing music if it wasn't for this lady who cheated on you.
- [14:51]
B
Yeah.
- [14:52]
A
Is any part of you. Is any part of you glad that she.
- [14:56]
B
I am. I am. And, like, I forgave her a long time ago because we were. I feel like we were kids. Like, when you're, like, a junior in high school, you feel like you're grown up, and then you reach, you know, 20, and you look back at it and you're like, I was a child.
- [15:14]
A
Yeah.
- [15:15]
B
And then you grow up and you're 23, and you look back at 20 and you're like, I was a child.
- [15:20]
A
It keeps happening until you are dead.
- [15:22]
B
Yeah.
- [15:23]
A
You know, the. Yeah. The older I get, the more I realize I don't know anything about anything. I become more agnostic towards the world and myself and all things.
- [15:31]
B
Yeah. Yeah, I feel that.
- [15:34]
A
Do you. So you really think all the time about how. Not like, all the time, but it's been a persistent thought lately about what happens after you die.
- [15:40]
B
Yeah.
- [15:40]
A
Did anything happen to kind of spark that?
- [15:45]
B
Not necessarily. I feel like I've just always been like a, like, not like, nihilistic person, but, like, really. I don't know. Like, it's more. Maybe. Maybe it's a more. More of a curiosity type of thing.
- [16:03]
A
Do you feel like a nihilistic person at times?
- [16:06]
B
But I. I feel like I've been improving as I get older. Like, I feel like I am starting to see more of the joys in life.
- [16:14]
A
Do you. Are you. Do you. Are you happy? Do you like life?
- [16:19]
B
Yeah, to an extent.
- [16:21]
A
Okay.
- [16:21]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Like, there. There was a reason I got into it, into drugs, you know?
- [16:27]
A
Okay.
- [16:28]
B
There were, like. There were times where I was just so unbearably, like, depressed that the drugs were, like, the only outlet. And they did help.
- [16:40]
A
Yeah, of course they help.
- [16:42]
B
The problem is that they're a Band Aid.
- [16:44]
A
Yeah.
- [16:45]
B
So it's like they. They help for, you know, however long you're doing it, and then once you want to stop, you're fucked.
- [16:52]
A
When I was 13, I was, like, upset about a girl, and I drank. I went into, like, my parents, like, alcohol. I drank a Mike's Hard Lemonade.
- [17:03]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [17:03]
A
It's just one. But I was like, oh, I'm like a. I was. I was very romantic about. About drinking this Mike's Hard Lemonade.
- [17:11]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [17:12]
A
I was like Hemingway downing whiskey or something.
- [17:14]
B
Right. The first time you drink your parents alcohol. Yeah. Big day.
- [17:18]
A
But it is. No, it is true. Like. Oh.
- [17:20]
B
In.
- [17:21]
A
In recenter years than that, I had. There have been times where. Yeah. I've gotten drunk, and I'm like, oh, I totally get what. I don't think I've had, you know, strong problems with alcohol in my life, but there's been a. I've never had times where I got drunk to, like, escape a. Like, a feeling I didn't want to feel. And I'm. And I've just been like. Oh, there's a few times where I did that. Like, I totally get why people do this.
- [17:44]
B
Yeah. You know, for me, it was like I. I kind of jumped the gun and went straight to Fentanyl.
- [17:52]
A
Oh, really?
- [17:52]
B
Yeah.
- [17:53]
A
You don't. Fentanyl?
- [17:54]
B
Yeah. That was, like, my drug of choice. In Virginia, it's a big problem with, like, these fake Percocets that are just full of Fentanyl. And literally, we would. Me and, like, a couple of friends would just, like, scrape a tiny piece off the pill, snort it, and you're just.
- [18:18]
A
So what. What were the feelings you were trying to fend away?
- [18:23]
B
I don't know. I feel like at first it was like, you know, the whole girlfriend thing or whatever, but it eventually evolved into nothing. I was just doing it.
- [18:35]
A
Yeah.
- [18:36]
B
Yeah. And then it got to the point where I was doing it to feel normal. Yeah. It was like, because my tolerance was so high.
- [18:45]
A
Yeah.
- [18:46]
B
I wasn't getting high anymore. I was just doing it to film that, like, baseline. Functional. Yeah.
- [18:52]
A
Do you. Do you, like, talk about this stuff a lot, like, in your music and in your.
- [18:56]
B
Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely in the music. And, like, the fans that DM me About it and stuff. I. I like being able to, like, help people through that type of shit.
- [19:10]
A
Do you respond to those DMS ever?
- [19:11]
B
Yeah.
- [19:12]
A
Okay. Because it's a lot sometimes if someone, you know is, like, DMing you about that stuff or like, constantly, you know?
- [19:21]
B
Nah. Always. Anytime it's something in that realm, I respond. Because that's cool. Yeah. I feel like I've been. I've been through it and out the other side, so I have the perspective on it now, and I feel like I can. I want to be able to help people.
- [19:42]
A
Did you have, like, a. Like the. Like a clag. A rock bottom moment?
- [19:46]
B
Yeah. Yeah. So I was in Virginia, staying with my parents. I was like, in between places. So I just dropped out of college, I think, because of, like, Covid. And everything was online and music was taking off for me. So I was just at home like, all day with my girlfriend at the time, and we were just, like, doing lines of fentanyl all day. Just asleep all day. And it led to. I think. I think I was. I couldn't get more Percocets. And I was going through the worst withdrawals. The thing about, like, opiate withdrawals is, like, it's just the worst pain you'll ever feel in your life. You feel it through your whole body. You're hot, you're cold, you're burning, like, everything. Your skin feels, like, wet, but, like, rubbery, you know? It's the worst feeling, and it's like you would do anything to escape it. And I was just like, I need to. I need help. And I went to my mom. I was like, I've been addicted to Percocets for, like, five months.
- [21:14]
A
She had no idea.
- [21:15]
B
No clue. And I would be at dinner, like, I'll be at dinner a lot.
- [21:19]
A
Like, dozing off.
- [21:20]
B
Yeah.
- [21:21]
A
They just didn't know I should. No idea. She wasn't like, hey, what are you.
- [21:24]
B
No, because they. They. My parents are like, you know, they. They did stuff growing up, but they were never into something like that.
- [21:33]
A
Sure.
- [21:33]
B
Yeah. It's a. Like. Something like fentanyl is a cool, really crazy one to get into, but I don't know. The way I got into it was a really bad influence in my life who introduced it to me.
- [21:50]
A
Okay, where do you. You don't have contact with them anymore, did they?
- [21:53]
B
I do not.
- [21:53]
A
Okay.
- [21:54]
B
Do not forget them anymore.
- [21:56]
A
Yeah, you can tell whatever you want. So what was it? That was kind of like the thing that you went to rehab, right?
- [22:07]
B
I did.
- [22:08]
A
What was that like?
- [22:10]
B
Honestly? It was a Blast. I had so much fun.
- [22:13]
A
It sounds, it sounds a little fun.
- [22:15]
B
Yeah, it was like. It was like summer camp. Yeah, it sounds like I. I went August of 2023 maybe. And it was just like all different types of people. And it was this pretty small group too, which was nice. And we would have movie nights, we would have therapy groups. We were allowed to have our phones and laptops.
- [22:39]
A
Cool.
- [22:39]
B
I actually recorded like a EP in my little room and put it on SoundCloud. Yeah.
- [22:46]
A
Would you record like just with like your MacBook speakers?
- [22:48]
B
Literally with the MacBook microphone.
- [22:50]
A
Cool.
- [22:50]
B
And just like I had, I was allowed to have a guitar. Recorded the guitar straight into the MacBook microphone.
- [22:57]
A
Did you meet anyone in rehab that you're still like homies with to this day?
- [23:00]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. Like those people are like lifelong friends because it's like you're all kind of like going through the same thing together at the same time. And also rehab is like a. It like really opened my eyes to like how bad other people have it sometimes.
- [23:21]
A
Yeah.
- [23:22]
B
You know, like I. I felt very like privileged to have been able to be in, you know, my parents house.
- [23:31]
A
Oh yeah.
- [23:31]
B
Like under a roof. Safe.
- [23:33]
A
Oh yeah.
- [23:34]
B
Like, you know, like if I. I probably wouldn't have been able to overdose because I had like my girlfriend at the time. Era. My ex girlfriend at the time and. But you know, these other people that I met there were like older. Like they'll be like, you know, like 40 year old dude or something. And he's just on his own. Yeah, no, nobody in his life. Yeah, yeah. You know, and that, that's like, that like seeing that made me realize like what the am I doing?
- [24:04]
A
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That's. I feel like that's one of the other things about getting older is like you kind of, you realize all that like once because when you're young and you grow up, you almost have. You have blinders on.
- [24:16]
B
Right.
- [24:17]
A
You only have access to your life experience and the life experience of the people. People directly around you, which.
- [24:22]
B
Right.
- [24:22]
A
Happened typically is very similar to yours. And then you get older and then you're like, oh, not everyone, you know, has a like, you know, two functional parents, you know.
- [24:32]
B
Right.
- [24:32]
A
Like you know, lives. Grew up in a house, you know.
- [24:36]
B
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's like that's. I don't know. That's a part of life. You just kind of like that's. That's what that kind of circles back to the like reliving your life. I feel like you learn more and more and More. Every time you cycle through your life, every time you, you die, you wake up as your baby again and you go through and you learn new lessons.
- [25:01]
A
You are Rick and Morty fan.
- [25:04]
B
I like, I like a little bit.
- [25:07]
A
Okay. Do you, do you know like Roy, you know I'm talking about.
- [25:11]
B
Which one's Roy?
- [25:12]
A
Like, okay, so the other Rick and Morty episode, they go to like this like Alien Arcade and they play this game called.
- [25:17]
B
Oh, where you. Yeah, where he's staying stuck in the game for like a lifetime.
- [25:21]
A
Yeah. Like it kind of reminds me of that like. Yeah, keep your life is Roy. We're all, you know.
- [25:27]
B
Exactly.
- [25:27]
A
Roy.
- [25:28]
B
Exactly. Yeah. It's like that, that's how I, I, I honestly feel like it, that's kind of what it is. Like you die, you go up and you get to see your recap, your life recap. Get to see where you up, you know, you get to see where you did something right. You go back down. You don't have much memory of it, but it's intuition that stays, you know, because like, where does that come from? The intuition? Like, like a gut feeling telling you not to do something.
- [25:59]
A
Yeah, I got. Oh, that's an interesting idea. Does. Is intuition a lesson you learn? That's very, that's very a lesson.
- [26:08]
B
It's very. Woo.
- [26:09]
A
Yeah. The idea that intuition is like a lesson you learned in a past.
- [26:12]
B
Yeah.
- [26:13]
A
Life.
- [26:13]
B
That's the way I like to think about it. Yeah.
- [26:16]
A
What do you do? So you're always going to be human? Would you, could you be like a different species thing?
- [26:26]
B
Honestly, I don't know if. I don't know if I could. I don't know if I would want to be another species.
- [26:34]
A
Yeah, it would suck.
- [26:35]
B
Yeah. Just because they, it just survival for other species. We like get to do this type of thing.
- [26:42]
A
It's true.
- [26:43]
B
Like we get to dress up as other species. Exactly.
- [26:48]
A
Yeah. So what's your relationship like with your parents now? Are you guys cool?
- [26:55]
B
Yeah, we're great. Yeah. My parents are very supportive of like what I do and they're always there for me, which is very sweet. Like always. I try to go back to Virginia as much as I can, but I need to go back more. Definitely.
- [27:12]
A
What's the most fun thing to do in Richmond, Virginia?
- [27:15]
B
In Richmond.
- [27:16]
A
Is that where you're from? Richmond?
- [27:18]
B
I'm from Northern Virginia.
- [27:20]
A
Northern Virginia.
- [27:20]
B
Went to school in Richmond.
- [27:22]
A
Okay, what's the most fun thing to do in Northern Virginia?
- [27:24]
B
Most fun thing to do in Northern Virginia. Okay, this is, this is a very specific thing. To me and my friends. But the. What we would do for fun is we would break into our high school football stadium and we'd burn these CDs. Hour long CDs of like just song like Crazy Frog. Like just stupid songs. Axle F. Dumbass songs. Yeah. Axle F. Yeah, just the most stupid songs. And then put it in the player, crank the volume up. This is like 2am, right? Crank the volume up, play it and just run and you hear it.
- [28:07]
A
Oh, wait. Oh, like, okay. You broke into the like the AV of the stadium.
- [28:12]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [28:15]
A
Well, like in the middle of the night.
- [28:17]
B
In the middle of the night, all the way up we would go. Yeah, we would go in, we burn the cd we'd like to. We'd put a design on the CD for whoever finds it. Like security guard who finds it.
- [28:29]
A
Did you ever get caught doing this?
- [28:30]
B
No. And we did it like five or six times. We'd also, you know, like, attached to the football stadium was also the snack room. And we just ravaged the snack room.
- [28:44]
A
Dude, that's so how easy. What was the security flaw in the football stadium?
- [28:49]
B
I don't know. We were kids. Like, I think the flaw actually was one of the doors was just left unlocked. And so it's on them. It's on them for doing. Leaving it unlocked.
- [29:05]
A
You seem like you were into. Are you familiar with the term Urbex?
- [29:08]
B
Like urban exploring? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that shit.
- [29:11]
A
Yeah. Do you ever. Do you have any good finds that you remember growing up?
- [29:15]
B
I mean, where I grew up, there was not much like abandoned stuff. So I feel like the Urbex we would do would be like. Like climbing on top of my school or something.
- [29:27]
A
Yeah, yeah.
- [29:28]
B
Like we had like this shopping center near my house that we would like find ways to like climb on top of it and like throw stuff, like glass off of it.
- [29:40]
A
Bro, you remember. You remember planking?
- [29:43]
B
Yeah, of course.
- [29:44]
A
There was this. There was this thing called owling where you.
- [29:47]
B
We go to a high place.
- [29:48]
A
Go to a high place and you do a little like owl.
- [29:50]
B
Pretty much is doing that. Yeah, Yeah.
- [29:52]
A
I got kicked out of JCC's summer camp for owling. Yeah, well, I didn't get kicked out. I got like suspended for a few days.
- [30:03]
B
So owling is illegal is what you're telling me.
- [30:06]
A
I mean, it's not cool, you know, like, if I. If I were. I mean, I was probably what, like 12? And if I were like a real adult and I saw a 12 year old on the top of a building. Yeah, like, just like true I'd be like, that is so not. I would freak the fuck out.
- [30:22]
B
That makes sense.
- [30:23]
A
Scream at them. Yeah.
- [30:24]
B
I would like to see, like, an adult man do it, though.
- [30:28]
A
Well, a lot of adult. A lot of adults do it, and then they jump off. They just jump off.
- [30:35]
B
They just jump off.
- [30:36]
A
Yeah. But, yeah, you know, I think.
- [30:39]
B
Do they who at least?
- [30:41]
A
Do they who? Yeah, I don't know. You got to get one last. If you're going to jump off a building, you got to get one last.
- [30:48]
B
If you're owling that hard.
- [30:50]
A
Yeah.
- [30:50]
B
You got to get one last hoo. Like, who in.
- [30:53]
A
Yeah, I think if you're going to.
- [30:54]
B
Owl yourself to death, final words on the gravestone. Hoot.
- [31:01]
A
Hoo.
- [31:02]
B
Is it hoot or who?
- [31:04]
A
I guess it's a hoot. You know what? I think it's phonetically. It's a hoot.
- [31:07]
B
Yeah.
- [31:08]
A
But the. Just the spout. The. If you're just doing the sound.
- [31:15]
B
Yeah.
- [31:17]
A
Hey, you want to answer some questions?
- [31:20]
B
Yeah.
- [31:21]
A
So. All right. So, okay, so for some context, you posted. Sometimes we do phone calls right. On this, but today I was like, I think it's better if we just do a little bit of a. We just read viewer questions. I got a little bit of viewer mail. I sometimes read my viewer mail. But you made an Instagram story.
- [31:41]
B
Yeah.
- [31:41]
A
Thing. And you collected some questions from your Instagram viewers. Yeah, I compiled over here.
- [31:51]
B
Freaks and Weirdos. I love them.
- [31:54]
A
All right, let's see. Do you have a name for your fans?
- [31:58]
B
I. I don't, but they. They have called themselves Aldians at one point.
- [32:02]
A
Aldians.
- [32:03]
B
Yeah. But I. I feel like that one fizzled out now. They're like. Now they call me, like, Father Strong, Father Strung.
- [32:10]
A
Oh, yeah. What is Strung?
- [32:12]
B
So Strung Out Symphony is, like, the name of my album. It comes out October 3rd, but it's also more than just an album. It's like, I want it to be a brand. I want it to be everything.
- [32:25]
A
Cool.
- [32:26]
B
Yeah, Cool.
- [32:27]
A
What about, like, your audience?
- [32:29]
B
What about them?
- [32:31]
A
Like. No, like. I mean, like, as, like, a name.
- [32:33]
B
Like, keeping the name audience or.
- [32:35]
A
No, no, no. Oh, wait. All the ends are like. Like, you know, like, you have an audience. You have an audience.
- [32:41]
B
Audience.
- [32:42]
A
All the.
- [32:43]
B
Oh, that's what you're saying?
- [32:44]
A
Yeah.
- [32:44]
B
That's pretty. That's pretty good.
- [32:45]
A
Yeah, you can. Yeah, you can.
- [32:47]
B
I'll take that one.
- [32:47]
A
You can have that. All right, so this is from Julia. She said, are you Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah?
- [32:57]
B
What the fuck is that?
- [32:58]
A
Okay. I was wondering if you would Know what? That I just found out about this.
- [33:01]
B
Okay. What is it?
- [33:02]
A
There's this, there's this show called the Summer I Turned Pretty.
- [33:09]
B
Okay.
- [33:10]
A
And it's very popular, and I think it's about a girl who has to choose between this guy Conrad.
- [33:16]
B
Is it reality tv?
- [33:17]
A
No, it's like a, like a scripted thing.
- [33:19]
B
Oh, okay. Okay.
- [33:20]
A
And it's like, it's like the, it's like the n. The, this generation's Team Edward. Team Jacob.
- [33:26]
B
No way.
- [33:27]
A
Yeah, somebody. I literally just, I met someone.
- [33:30]
B
She.
- [33:30]
A
Who introduced me to the, this show.
- [33:35]
B
Yeah.
- [33:35]
A
And she was like, are you team Conrad or team Jeremiah?
- [33:37]
B
And I.
- [33:38]
A
And I was like, I don't know what that is. And she was like, just, just answer.
- [33:41]
B
I feel like un now. I feel like unk. You know what?
- [33:45]
A
Unknow what is. What is. I don't know any. I don't know. Okay, well, okay. This is a good exchange of ideas.
- [33:50]
B
Unk is like a term that younger people are using. See, now I'm, I'm making myself sound even more like an unk. But it's a term.
- [33:58]
A
Oh, un is like a cool boomer.
- [34:00]
B
It's like. No, it's like, yeah, just like an older, Someone older than you. Like, it's like what 15 year olds call 21 plus year olds. Like mid 20s. You're un if you're in your 20s.
- [34:14]
A
Now, are you team Conrad or team Jeremiah?
- [34:17]
B
I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with Jeremiah just because of the name. Honestly.
- [34:21]
A
Yeah, I only, I watched a little bit of the show. I like Jeremiah better than Conrad.
- [34:25]
B
Okay.
- [34:25]
A
So I, I, I think you picked right.
- [34:27]
B
All right.
- [34:28]
A
All right. Thanks for asking this, Julia. Okay. Max Pilled said, do you miss New York City?
- [34:40]
B
Oh, that's my neighbor. That was my neighbor.
- [34:42]
A
Oh, shit.
- [34:43]
B
Yeah, I think I read that one.
- [34:45]
A
Well, this was your neighbor?
- [34:46]
B
I, yeah, yeah, he was, he was my neighbor when I lived in the Lower east side. I think there was more to his question. He said something like, like, and was I your favorite neighbor? Or why was I your favorite neighbor? Maybe. But he was just this chill ass dude, and I would just see him like, you know, once a month. Chill ass guy. But I don't really miss New York. Can't lie.
- [35:13]
A
Do you miss him?
- [35:15]
B
Yeah. Yeah, maybe I miss him. Yeah. I would say I miss him a little bit.
- [35:20]
A
Why don't you miss New York?
- [35:22]
B
Just too, like, stressful and like, fast. I feel like.
- [35:26]
A
Yeah, yeah. You can definitely, you can spread your legs out a little bit more in Los Angeles.
- [35:29]
B
Oh, yeah. Oh, Yeah, I just bought a BMW M240i.
- [35:34]
A
You bought a BMW?
- [35:36]
B
Yeah.
- [35:36]
A
Okay.
- [35:37]
B
Pretty good. I love the highways there when there's no traffic.
- [35:45]
A
Bao Zhang said, can you describe a day in the life of a few of a future version of you that has everything you want?
- [35:57]
B
Mmm, man. I want. I want a gold plaque and. Well, I guess. Okay, I guess it'll be a day in life, right?
- [36:08]
A
Yeah.
- [36:09]
B
So I want my house in Virginia. I want it to be tucked away in the woods. You know, I wake up, I walk to like a coffee shop. Come back to my house, and maybe I have like a trad wife there.
- [36:26]
A
Cool.
- [36:26]
B
Yeah. And she cooks me. Maybe she cooks me some food or something. And then I, you know, like, maybe I have a studio in the, in the house and I just like hang out in the studio and play video games and make music and what else? Maybe I'm just such a homebody that I like, I. I don't want to go out. I don't want to eat out. Like, I. I want to order. I'm gonna Uber eats everything.
- [36:58]
A
Do you cook or do you Ubereats?
- [37:00]
B
I overeats. I can't cook.
- [37:02]
A
I can't cook either.
- [37:03]
B
Yeah, I can't cook.
- [37:03]
A
I don't have. I mean, we're in my apartment right now. I don't have a. I have a stove. Yeah, it's got boxes on it. Like on the stovetop.
- [37:12]
B
Yeah, it's a little bit of a hazard, I would say, say.
- [37:15]
A
Oh, really?
- [37:16]
B
Nah. Well, maybe. I don't know.
- [37:17]
A
No, it's actually good. You brought that up.
- [37:19]
B
Do you have a cat in here?
- [37:20]
A
I don't have any. No.
- [37:21]
B
Okay.
- [37:21]
A
I'm the only living thing that good exists in this here because we have.
- [37:25]
B
A cat, me and my friend. And one time the cat jumped onto the oven.
- [37:32]
A
Oh, no.
- [37:33]
B
And turned on.
- [37:34]
A
Jesus Christ.
- [37:35]
B
Flame.
- [37:36]
A
Okay.
- [37:36]
B
And the whole house smelled like propane. It was ready. God, it was left on for probably like 30 minutes, dude.
- [37:44]
A
I see. This is why I don't want to have. Sometimes people will say to me, like, oh, you should get a lizard. Like, that'd be cute. And I'm like, I don't want anything in my house that's alive.
- [37:54]
B
And like, you gotta travel too. Yeah, that's a big part. Like with us having the cat, you.
- [38:00]
A
Know, like you're, you're running around.
- [38:01]
B
We have to. Yeah, we have to. And we have to figure out someone to watch the cat. Yeah, yeah, we have.
- [38:06]
A
Cats are self sufficient. The cats can just run. A cat's don't really need a person. Like, a dog is a little kind of. Kind of too dumb on its own.
- [38:13]
B
Dog needs, like, all the attention.
- [38:15]
A
Yeah.
- [38:16]
B
But cats, yeah, they're very low maintenance, which is nice. We just got an auto feeder for the cat, which is good.
- [38:23]
A
Oh, that's nice. Yeah, that's nice. Was he just, like, wave his cat paw?
- [38:28]
B
I don't even know. I haven't seen it yet. I think it's, like, on a timer. It's like little dinner time. He probably waits by at. He probably has learned by now, actually, to get into the box without it dispensing, because this cat we found on the street, and he was the tiniest little baby, but somehow he was surviving. And now in the house, if we leave a single snack out. Bag of chips, hot Cheetos, anything. He likes spicy. He'll demolish it. He'll eat a full bag of Takis yellow.
- [39:09]
A
Garfield running around.
- [39:10]
B
Yeah, it's. It's crazy. I've never seen a cat eat, like, spicy food.
- [39:14]
A
You say you play video games? Yeah, we were talking earlier. You saw. I got the switch, too. You got switch, too?
- [39:19]
B
Yeah, I got the switch, too.
- [39:20]
A
You said. You said you play. You were talking earlier. You said you're playing cyberpunk on it.
- [39:24]
B
Yeah, yeah, I'm playing Cyberpunk 2077.
- [39:26]
A
Are you playing anything else on there?
- [39:29]
B
I've been cycling through cyberpunk. What else? Dying Light.
- [39:38]
A
Oh, that's on the switch.
- [39:39]
B
Yeah, it is on the switch.
- [39:40]
A
Oh, it's like a. What is that again?
- [39:41]
B
It's like a parkour zombie game.
- [39:43]
A
Okay.
- [39:44]
B
Yeah, it's sick.
- [39:45]
A
All right.
- [39:45]
B
Dying Light, Mario Kart World, which, you know, that just came out for the switch to. I want to play. I want to play the new Donkey Kong.
- [39:54]
A
Yeah, New Donkey Kong rocks.
- [39:56]
B
Yeah, that. I've been like. I like cycling between, like, five different games. Oh, yeah. Fortnight.
- [40:03]
A
I've never. Never played Fortnite. But I also. I cycle through games I love. I have huge fucking. Like. It's a. It's a big ADHD thing. I, like, love playing five different.
- [40:12]
B
Yeah.
- [40:12]
A
@ once.
- [40:13]
B
Yeah, exactly. And I have to, like, you know, I have to, like, space through them apart evenly so that I don't forget how to play one of the games.
- [40:22]
A
Can we talk about this real quick? I don't know what your feelings are, but the new Mario Kart is severely disappointing to me.
- [40:28]
B
I agree.
- [40:29]
A
You do? Okay, cool. I'm not. I'm not crazy. It's a very. It's extremely disappointing game.
- [40:33]
B
Yeah. I Was. I mean, like, I guess the open world is whatever. Like, it's like a.
- [40:39]
A
It's like a. It's. I mean, you know you're playing cyberpunk, right? Like, like, it's. That's an open world. It's got people and characters. The Mario Kart world is barren, it's empty.
- [40:50]
B
Nobody uses the open world feature because, like, what are you doing it?
- [40:54]
A
And then they like Mario Kart Deluxe. It has all the cool characters. It's got the animal crossing guy, it's got link, you know.
- [41:02]
B
You know what I hate the most about Mario Kart World is that you can't customize the cars anymore. Like wheels, body glider.
- [41:13]
A
Right. You know, you just pick a full car.
- [41:15]
B
Yeah.
- [41:15]
A
I hate why it's a step back in the series.
- [41:17]
B
Why would they do that? The worst decision, honestly. Nintendo is known for doing that. That type of.
- [41:25]
A
Let's see here. Somebody asked what got you through life's difficulties. That's from Emma Walgrave.
- [41:32]
B
Always music. Always music. Yeah. I feel like I'm not good at like, talking about my feelings, like, to a person or. It's not. Not very cathartic for me. I've like, done like therapy or whatever in the past, and it's like, I feel like I just. For me to like, get through something, I have to do it alone.
- [41:59]
A
Do you are so. Do you go to therapy?
- [42:02]
B
Nah.
- [42:03]
A
Actually, what is it you didn't like about therapy when you were going?
- [42:06]
B
I felt like I just couldn't get past the idea that, oh, I'm paying this person to listen to me.
- [42:12]
A
Right.
- [42:12]
B
You know what I mean?
- [42:13]
A
Yeah.
- [42:14]
B
I like psychiatrists. Because they prescribe you medication.
- [42:18]
A
Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah.
- [42:19]
B
They're. They're cool and they're just like, straight to the point.
- [42:23]
A
Yeah. But therapists like to bat you around a little bit.
- [42:28]
B
Yeah. But I, I will say I haven't like, really, really given therapy, like a full, like, full, like year long run. I feel like. Yeah, I feel like it could be helpful if I've really committed to it.
- [42:41]
A
That's what, that's kind of where I'm at right now is I feel like I always go. I get frustrated with it after like a few sessions and I'm like, fuck, this is stupid.
- [42:49]
B
I mean, you're a therapist yourself.
- [42:50]
A
I'm. Yeah, but I'm like. I don't even know why I said, yeah, I'm not a therapist at all. I'm an insane person. But I. You know, it's funny because I mean, yeah, I do do like a therapy E E Podcast. But.
- [43:07]
B
And I will say this conversation is a little cathartic. I like.
- [43:11]
A
Okay, good.
- [43:11]
B
Talking about just random stuff.
- [43:13]
A
Yeah. This is your first. I. You said this is your first podcast.
- [43:17]
B
Yeah, like long form kind of thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [43:20]
A
It's fun to just talk. It is in gecko suits.
- [43:24]
B
It is fun.
- [43:26]
A
Okay. Someone said, what is your songwriting process look like?
- [43:34]
B
Okay, so since I, I like to. Since I like to produce everything myself, I always start with the production and I usually will start with like either guitar or drums and then I'll build a melody out of like a synth or something and I'll. I'll immediately start vocals over just like the bass melody and like some. Maybe some drums. Super simple. Just do like little four bars and then I kind of like keep building it out in little increments like that, you know, I don't record like the whole song in one go. Like I don't make the beat first and then go and record the vocals all in one go. I like to make the beat as I'm recording the vocals. That way I structure the beat around my vocals.
- [44:35]
A
Ah, that makes. Okay, so you do. You. You do the vocals first and then.
- [44:39]
B
Do the beat kinda. It's a. It's like a two that's at the same time.
- [44:44]
A
And so it's almost like if a rapper like rapped and then was like, okay, now put a beat over this rap kinda.
- [44:51]
B
It's. It's like. It's like I'll lay down the synth line and I'll do a little vocal melody over it and then I'll do the bass and then I'll move to the next section. I'll do the drums there and then more vocals there.
- [45:07]
A
So what's the name of this is Strung Out Symphony. That's the name of the new album.
- [45:11]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [45:11]
A
What are the songs about?
- [45:14]
B
Just my life there. Like I said earlier, it's like music is my main like way of like getting out feelings and stuff. So it's very personal and I like my songs to be like really just like. I don't know, they're for myself. And if people can relate, that's beautiful. And usually people do relate, which is which I love.
- [45:48]
A
Someone said Andrew Dreyu. Drew Andrew Andreo says, what would you both do if you encountered clones of yourselves? I'll let you go first. What would you do if you encountered a clone of yourself? Oh, here you go. Yeah, you go ahead. I was gonna bring up a thing.
- [46:06]
B
You wait, you go first. I want to know what you Want to.
- [46:09]
A
I was gonna give my answer. I was gonna bring up a thing. A lot of people or not a lot of people. I read this article a long time ago, maybe 10 years ago, that if you encounter a clone of yourself, the main two.
- [46:21]
B
I feel like I already know.
- [46:23]
A
The main two things you could do with that clone is you could either fight yourself.
- [46:29]
B
Okay.
- [46:29]
A
Or have sex with yourself.
- [46:31]
B
Yeah. The first thing that came to mind is have sex with myself.
- [46:34]
A
Yeah.
- [46:34]
B
Yeah, yeah. It's not gay.
- [46:37]
A
It's not.
- [46:38]
B
Not. Not that that's bad.
- [46:40]
A
It's. Well, okay.
- [46:42]
B
So is it incest?
- [46:45]
A
No, I don't think it's incest. I don't think it's that much different from masturbation.
- [46:49]
B
Right.
- [46:49]
A
Although, here's the thing about having sex with yourself is that. Well, I remember. I remember reading this article a long time ago of, like, making the. Of a guy was making a case of as to why he'd want to fuck his own clone. And the idea being that, you know, your clone would. Would know everything that you're into sexually. It'd be the most. It would be. It would be deeply, deeply compatible with your body because it's you. But I don't know. I think I'd be. If. I think I'd be grotesque.
- [47:23]
B
I agree.
- [47:24]
A
I would be disgusted by my own body if I was having sex with myself.
- [47:27]
B
I agree.
- [47:28]
A
I don't know if I'd want to fight myself either.
- [47:31]
B
I don't know. Yeah. I don't see the point in fighting myself. I feel like we'd work together to do something like I did. I'd just be in two places at one time.
- [47:42]
A
Yeah, I like that.
- [47:43]
B
Yeah. Like, I would turn it into a utility. You know, we'd. Because, like, I like being at home so much that I could send my clone out to go do this thing for me, and then he could swap out. We just go back and forth. Mm, yeah. It'd be nice and, like, just, like, take the workload off a little bit.
- [48:05]
A
I. You know, I'm really picturing being with a clone of myself. I think it would creep me out. I probably tell him to fuck off.
- [48:10]
B
Yeah.
- [48:11]
A
Go somewhere else.
- [48:12]
B
Okay, but what do you do when he fucks off and he, like, just wreaks havoc and it's you.
- [48:17]
A
He probably wouldn't wreak havoc, though, because it would still be me. And so he would still be conscientious enough to not want to, like, go kill people.
- [48:25]
B
And what stops the clone from feeling like he's the main one if he.
- [48:31]
A
If the clone does feel like he's.
- [48:32]
B
The main one, then he might kill you.
- [48:35]
A
Oh, he might kill me. Yeah.
- [48:37]
B
Yeah.
- [48:37]
A
Oh, I'd have to kill him.
- [48:38]
B
Yeah.
- [48:39]
A
That's what I would do with my clone. I would kill him.
- [48:40]
B
Yeah, you might have to kill him first, cuz something bad, he could happen.
- [48:44]
A
Very my answer. I'd have sex with him and then I'd kill him.
- [48:47]
B
Okay.
- [48:47]
A
Yeah, okay.
- [48:48]
B
In that order?
- [48:49]
A
In that order.
- [48:50]
B
It's dark.
- [48:54]
A
What are your favorite moments with other artists while touring?
- [49:02]
B
Honestly, best moments were touring with my good friend Glaive. I've been on two tours with him.
- [49:12]
A
Cool.
- [49:12]
B
And first tour we did was my very first tour. And we got the whole like, you know, we got a whole tour bus and everything. And it was just so much fun, like hanging out on the tour bus and fucking around the whole time and sleeping in these little like stasis chambers. You like these little bunks in the bus and you just go to sleep and you wake, you just teleport to the next city and you just get all this time in the day to walk around the city and explore.
- [49:46]
A
So you're a homebody?
- [49:48]
B
Yeah.
- [49:48]
A
Do you like touring?
- [49:49]
B
I love touring. Yeah.
- [49:50]
A
How many tours have you been on?
- [49:55]
B
I think four.
- [49:57]
A
Cool. Yeah, cool. What? Do you have a favorite city that you like to tour?
- [50:03]
B
Louisiana And New York are always the best.
- [50:05]
A
Cool.
- [50:06]
B
Yeah.
- [50:06]
A
What have you. So you did your show last night here?
- [50:09]
B
Yeah.
- [50:10]
A
And how'd it go?
- [50:11]
B
Oh, it went so well.
- [50:13]
A
That's awesome.
- [50:14]
B
Yeah, I just like, I just like just do my own thing on stage. I don't care about what anybody is like paying attention to. I just do. I just have fun on stage. Yeah.
- [50:28]
A
You ever had a show where you were like, I don't know if I felt good about this one.
- [50:34]
B
Oh, dude. Literally two days ago we played Boston and we get there and we have soundcheck and they're like, oh, by the way, you have two minutes to sound check.
- [50:47]
A
Oh, fuck.
- [50:48]
B
And we didn't have our main md who is the music director, who sets everything up for us, all the cables and stuff. And we're over here trying to figure out how the fuck to like plug in these cables and route everything to the, to the venue. And it's like, you know, it's coming up on 1 minute, 30 seconds. They're like, yeah, your shit's not working. We're gonna have to do no, you know, you're not gonna be able to hear your vocals in your ears. Normally I have in ears where I can hear my Vocals. But that show, I wasn't able to hear my own vocals. So I was just free balling it. Just like singing, singing my little heart out. And it's still. Even though it like the got up and like, like halfway through the set, like all the. Everything stopped. Like everything shut off for some reason. Like all the music cut out for a second. Even though there were like fuck ups, it was still a good time.
- [51:54]
A
Yeah. Two minutes. Sound check is, is, is tough.
- [51:58]
B
Oh yeah. I mean that's the treatment you get when you're opening for other artists.
- [52:03]
A
Have you, have you done a headline tour yet?
- [52:05]
B
I have.
- [52:05]
A
Nice. How. How was, how was your headline treatment?
- [52:07]
B
Was beautiful. Then you know, they, they bring you cookies and stuff. They, they treat you like a God at the venues. But when you're opening, they're like, they're like just set your shit up and go just. You're good to go. Get off stage. And they, they don't care because they. The priority is.
- [52:27]
A
Of course. Of course. Of course. So what's the future looking like for Mr. Alden? What do you. I know you have an album coming out on the third.
- [52:38]
B
Yeah.
- [52:38]
A
October. What's it called again? This. The Strung Out Symphony.
- [52:42]
B
Yeah, Strung Out Symphony.
- [52:43]
A
It's about your life.
- [52:44]
B
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
- [52:45]
A
Are you gonna tour the album?
- [52:47]
B
Yes. Yeah. And I want to. I want to do like a Europe tour. I want to. I've not never done anything. Like. I've only been to Paris to model for Celine.
- [53:02]
A
You modeled for Celine? Wait, who's Celine?
- [53:04]
B
Celine is a brand. Oh. Yeah.
- [53:07]
A
But what's it like being. What was it like modeling in Paris?
- [53:11]
B
It was really sick at first. And then there were riots in Paris at the time.
- [53:16]
A
Oh.
- [53:16]
B
So the show got canceled. I wasn't able to walk. Oh.
- [53:20]
A
Oh, you couldn't walk the Runway? Are you, do you like. Do you do a lot of model stuff?
- [53:25]
B
No, not, not that often. It's like a secondary thing that like if like a cool opportunity presents itself, I'll. I'll take it. Like the Celine thing is really cool because I, I really like, like the, I like Celine clothes, like Teddy's cement stuff. But it's, it's not like my favorite thing to do.
- [53:51]
A
So you got the album coming out. What's anything else up in the future for your life?
- [53:59]
B
After the album comes out? I want to. I wanna, I wanna start a band with my friend Gabe. That's one thing. And like, you know, have a whole nother side project. And I wanna like stay independent for a little while.
- [54:14]
A
Cool.
- [54:14]
B
So I'M with the label right now, which is super cool, but I. I miss being independent sometimes. Just purely for the, like, freedom of being able to drop a song on a random Wednesday when I. Yeah, sure.
- [54:31]
A
Yeah, sure, sure, sure, sure. I'm trying to think I was of. Of what else I was going to. Oh, here, let me look at. Let me look at these questions real quick. Let's see if we have any more questions. Oh, I gotta plug in my computer. This is a very important part of the podcast. You gotta. You gotta plug in the computer sometimes. Okay. Sick. Wait. Yeah, because, you know, the computer is how if there was no computer, we would just be. Yeah, we were talking to the Earth.
- [55:05]
B
Streaming.
- [55:07]
A
All right. Oh, okay. We have. We have one more question. This is from Ari Morohl. Do you feel as though you've accomplished most of your goals?
- [55:20]
B
Hell, no.
- [55:22]
A
What's left to accomplish, Alden?
- [55:24]
B
I have so many goals. I mean, I want gold records. I want. I want to play an arena. I want to do big, big shows and, like, just like, I want to travel the world and do shows where.
- [55:40]
A
If you could do. If you could do a big show.
- [55:44]
B
Anywhere on the planet, dude, probably Japan.
- [55:48]
A
Oh, cool. Have you ever been to Japan?
- [55:50]
B
No. That's, like, one of the first places I want to go to travel.
- [55:54]
A
Jam's cool, man. I've done a few shows in Japan.
- [55:56]
B
That's sick.
- [55:57]
A
They're cool. They're a fun time.
- [55:58]
B
Yeah, I. So I had to take a language in high school, and I got to pick between Spanish, Latin or Japanese. I chose Japanese.
- [56:08]
A
You remember any Japanese?
- [56:10]
B
Not really. I will not do it. It's embarrassing.
- [56:12]
A
You remember Konichiwa?
- [56:14]
B
Of course I remember. Konnichiwa.
- [56:15]
A
Hold on, I'm trying to remember. How the fuck do I say fuck? Why don't I remember? What is your name? Sugoi.
- [56:30]
B
Yeah, I think that was right.
- [56:31]
A
Yeah, I think that sounded right.
- [56:32]
B
Yeah.
- [56:34]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you remember, you know, Ogen Kidesuka?
- [56:38]
B
What is it was. I want to use.
- [56:39]
A
That's. How are you.
- [56:40]
B
Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember that. You're bringing it back. You're bringing it back.
- [56:46]
A
I lived there for, like, two months at the beginning of this really year. Yeah.
- [56:50]
B
So do you. Because when I eventually go out there, I want to spend a lot of time out there.
- [56:56]
A
Oh, you should. It is so cool.
- [56:57]
B
Yeah. Do you feel like those two months like, you kind of, like, were, like, catching on to the language better?
- [57:04]
A
A little. A little bit. As much as you could in two months, right? I mean, definitely not as Much as you could in two months, but, you know, as much as you could passively in two months.
- [57:14]
B
I feel like I'd have like a slight advantage because of learning it in high school.
- [57:18]
A
Yeah.
- [57:19]
B
It was a comeback to me.
- [57:20]
A
It's sick though. I love. I mean, yeah, Tokyo. I love like a big city, you.
- [57:25]
B
Know, I love like futuristic looking cities.
- [57:29]
A
Oh, yeah, dude. Oh, Shibuya rocks.
- [57:31]
B
Yeah, that's sick, you know? Yeah. That's why I like the game cyberpunk so much.
- [57:36]
A
Is cyberpunk. Where does cyberpunk take place?
- [57:38]
B
Like the far future.
- [57:40]
A
Okay.
- [57:40]
B
Dystopian.
- [57:41]
A
In America.
- [57:42]
B
I think it's at. Somewhere between California. Like some. Yeah, somewhere in California.
- [57:48]
A
Okay. I gotta sell my copy of Mario Kart World. I'm so glad that you also hate Mario Kart World. I thought I was crazy because everyone is kind of dick riding it. I think IGN gave it. Did IGN gave it some big crazy score.
- [57:59]
B
Really?
- [57:59]
A
I think so, but it's just. It's not good. It's not that great.
- [58:04]
B
It's like, you know, I'll still play it. I just. I like it. I like the knockout mode. That's the only.
- [58:10]
A
I like the knockout mode too. Where you do one big race. Yeah.
- [58:15]
B
And you really get. It really gets your adrenaline going when you're like going like catching up and you're like. You have to get to like whatever. Like eighth place. Place. Yeah. Yeah. Like in ninth. And you.
- [58:26]
A
Stakes are high.
- [58:27]
B
Overtake the guy right in front of you.
- [58:29]
A
Who do you play as?
- [58:30]
B
I. I play as shy guy.
- [58:33]
A
You play as a shy guy?
- [58:34]
B
Yeah.
- [58:34]
A
Is it because you're a shy guy?
- [58:36]
B
Maybe, maybe. Maybe it's because I'm a shy guy.
- [58:39]
A
Do you feel like you're a shy guy?
- [58:40]
B
Definitely. Yeah. That's why I like stand inside.
- [58:45]
A
Well, how did you. How did you feel about this past hour of.
- [58:50]
B
Has it been an hour already? It's been about an hour, yeah. Well, it went by very fast. I felt that. I felt unshy good. I felt open good. Yeah.
- [59:01]
A
Let's see. Okay, so you promote. We want to make sure that people know about the album. What do you. Well, when this comes out, if people want to. Let's do this. If people want to get in to the Alden verse, where do they start? Where should the people start?
- [59:18]
B
With you with that album.
- [59:20]
A
Oh, with you in general. If people. People. If people listening to this haven't heard you before, where should they start?
- [59:25]
B
Okay. I would say my biggest song is called I can't believe I let you get away that's kind of the tone of the album, and I feel like moving forward, that's. I'm gonna keep that tone but still evolve it. I, I can never stick with, like, the same sound for too long. I don't like making the same song, like, multiple times. So, you know, I'm gonna put this album out that has, like, songs that are similar to that but also a bunch of variation, and then move on to another sound after that. Yeah.
- [60:02]
A
What would the other sound be? Or you don't really know?
- [60:06]
B
I think I feel like I would take it more in, like, a extreme experimental, still keep, like, elements of a band, like, you know, live drums, live guitar, but more just, like, more inaccessible, if that's the right word. Like a little more niche. Yeah. More obscure. Exactly.
- [60:34]
A
Is there any other things that you want to plug to the people before we go?
- [60:41]
B
Man, I, I, I hate self promotion.
- [60:43]
A
That's why we're here.
- [60:46]
B
Well, Well, I mean, I like being here just to hang out. Yeah.
- [60:49]
A
I feel you. I feel.
- [60:50]
B
Obviously, I feel. I feel you, but I don't know. I mean. Well, I'm, I'm on tour right now.
- [60:59]
A
Where we, where are we off to? So if this, if this comes out, I believe the podcast version that's gonna drop September 5th. Where are you at?
- [61:08]
B
I don't know where I'm gonna be at. I think I might. Might still be on tour.
- [61:12]
A
Okay.
- [61:13]
B
So come to those shows. Come see Wisp. Wisp is gonna be touring longer than I am.
- [61:19]
A
Okay.
- [61:19]
B
So go see Wisp, please. She's the coolest artist ever. I worked on her album that she's touring right now. And I love, like, I loved working with her. I love the songs that we made together and stuff. So, yeah, go. Go see Wisp.
- [61:39]
A
Life beautiful, Alden. Anything else you want to say to the people of the computer before we go?
- [61:47]
B
Yeah. Shout out to all the people who like my music. I love you forever. And he, like, make everything possible. It's a. It makes me emotional thinking about it just like, that I was doing this since I've been 11, and now I'm like. And now it's my life. It's crazy.
- [62:13]
A
We truly live in. In a matrix of some kind, right?
- [62:18]
B
Right. I feel like, you know, maybe this is like my. Maybe this is like my 10th life, you know? Got it right. Maybe I got it right to an extent.
- [62:28]
A
This time, I'll say this, Elden, I hope that in every, you know, what is it in? What's that scene in Endgame? Endgame where Dr. Strange is like, I ran through.
- [62:42]
B
I was really into, like, Marvel.
- [62:46]
A
There's some fucking scene in one of the avengers movies where Dr. Strange is like, I ran through 9 million different simulations. And there's only one where we win or some shit like that. But I hope in all 10 million.
- [63:00]
B
Yeah.
- [63:00]
A
Alden lives. There is a moment where we are sitting here in gecko suits.
- [63:08]
B
Hell, yeah.
- [63:08]
A
Hanging out.
- [63:09]
B
Yeah. Maybe it happens every time. Maybe.
- [63:13]
A
Alden, thank you very much for calling the show, man. I appreciate it.
- [63:15]
B
Thank you so much.