Welcome to Overeducated and Underemployed. I'm
Fettin. We're here with part two of my interview
with J. Roddy Walston to wrap up our first week
here of the podcast. We talked a lot about what
he's trying to accomplish now, and one thing
I want to point out is he's touring, he's doing
shows with his band right now, but he's also...
throwing these pre -parties beforehand, typically
hosted at a bar or occasionally somebody's house.
So if you're planning to go see him, make sure
you check out whatever pre -party he's got planned
because he's still, even when he's playing clubs
with the band, he's still trying to do this thing
where he's really fostering connections with
his fans and trying to build community among
his fan base. I highly encourage you to check
it out. I might be heading to Chattanooga to
go see him next week. I'm going to be seeing
Wilco this weekend, so I'm excited about that.
I'll be telling you all about that next week.
Without further ado, here's the second part of
my interview with J. Roddy Walston. Your priorities
are a lot different than they were a decade ago,
too, right? You're a father. You've got other
people that rely on you to do things. Whereas,
for a long time, you were just... doing it for
you and that's all you had to take care of and
as somebody who was also a parent like it changes
things a lot yeah and i think on the other hand
like being a parent does change everything but
like in a lot of ways it's hard for me to remember
a time before my kids were born or like i placed
them in the memory it's like when my daughter
was there when i was eight or something but at
the same time i'm still a human and entirely
self -obsessed and selfish and whatever and so
yeah i'm here to do everything i can for my kids
and definitely It's changed my headspace of like,
how long do I want to be out? My wife's also
a musician. So we also very much in our, the
DNA of our relationship was being apart. You
know, it can only take so much of each other.
Yeah. And inevitably early on, I'd be like, Oh,
I'm gone for six months. I'm back these two weeks.
And he's like, I got to get those two weeks.
And you're like, Oh my gosh. I really processed
it a lot. Okay. I'm just like a sailor. I'm just
like old, like I'm on a wooden boat. bopping
from place to place and every once in a while
i'll come back and i go it was a bad year sorry
go back out and fun way to live till it's not
or till i think that was even something i was
seeing like that it exploded a lot of my friends
who also were either bandmates or whatever buddies
on tour i was like man like i'm keeping it together
for the most part but by way of inviting other
people in to do it like i'm like actively destroying
them or something the road destroys people yeah
it's crazy and some people it's six months and
some people it's 10 years you know when your
limit has been reached i've been one of the main
qualities for any human that i look for i meet
so few people that actually can and will change
i think the ability to actually actively change
is One of the hardest things to do. Yeah, superhero
level. Find out new information, think about
it, go, I was wrong, now I change. It is rare.
I'm not the best at it, but I have some sliver
of that ability. I do think it takes us, it's
not just information probably, it's like information
and pain. Like somewhere in there is the sweet
spot where you're like, oh, I can just like,
I get Steven Seagal just gently pushing my energy
in a different direction and sometimes it's,
oh man, I ran into that brick wall. and turn
to dust and I have to rebuild the whole thing.
So I'm not like an expert at it. It's like I
find out after the fact. But you try to learn
from it and integrate that information. People,
I would never wish COVID to happen. I can say
that a lot of things currently in my life that
are positive came out of it. I think for me personally,
like that was one of the times where I did change
a lot and was really reflective and was able
to admit what I was wrong about. Yeah. And I
think that was true for a lot of people, really.
Like, when everything gets shut off, and you're
just stuck with yourself. Yeah. Man, a lot of
people don't get better until they're tired of
their own shit. And when you can't put that shit
on other people, you get tired of it a lot quicker.
I travel around and have the same party 30 times.
It's a lot less sad than if you try to have that
same party in your house days in a row. Starts
to smell bad. Yeah, it sucks. But, yeah, the
COVID thing just really, I know a lot of relationships
didn't make it. Definitely wild to process my
relationship with my kid. I now have two, but
at the time it was just the one. And then the
relationship with my wife. Discovered meditation
in a real way then. And was able to tie it back
to why do I feel... For me, I've described it
for a long time without knowing what it was.
The best shows are ones... I know that I had
a good show. I walk off stage and I already basically
can't remember the show. Because it was just
happening. Truly present. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever
was happening and not that I didn't make mistakes
or do something bad. I feel like you had a moment
like that last night. Yeah. It was either the
wanting or you were like afterwards you were
like I was so lost in it that I don't even know
if I played the right chords. Yeah. I know after
the fact I stumbled through some chords but it
was like one of the first times I really felt
the weight of the song and the way I did kind
of initially writing it. And I think that came
through. The room was electrified by it. Yeah.
And I think that's why. I think you being present
in that way, and anytime an artist can get to
that place where they're just there, that's the
goal, right? And to get the audience there, too.
This is what I was getting at. All of a sudden,
I'm not hitting that maybe 100 times, 200 times
a year, like a sort of zen kind of state. Didn't
know that's what it was. Just night to night
was like good show, bad show, whatever. Good
parts of a show are bad, or whatever. The whole
time, you're just in your brain. And that's why
I can barely remember the show instantly. The
bad shows, I could tell you every second of it,
because I was going, like, I should walk over
here. Maybe I should say something. Maybe, like,
what's the next chord? Whatever. And just getting
out in front of myself two or three seconds and
planning what I was going to do, or something
like that. And it just sucks. really realizing
that it's a lot of the same thing with meditation.
You start to see the thoughts come in, and it's
not that the thoughts are bad. You just go like,
all right. And you come back to just observing
and being here. And so when that stops happening
as much, that's a sign for you. Well, yeah, I
realized that. It was just naturally taking me
to a place where my brain went from splintered
a hundred different ways at any given time to
pulled together and body -mind. everything it's
weird to describe one of those shows as calm
but instead of like i said the lack of chaos
did i pay that bill you know like bad moments
in shows i'm literally like having 17 conversations
in my head at the same time where i messed up
last night on this part why is that guy over
there it looked like he's sniffing a fart like
why isn't this person dancing oh i wonder if
I wonder how the wife and kids are doing. Like
all that going on. I think at a given moment,
if you could broadcast that to people, they'd
be like, how the hell is this guy? And on top
of that, I don't actually know anything about
music. So every time I hit the right chord, it's
like, yes. That's going to be good for the confidence.
Yeah. Well, you obviously also use humor, like
just talking to you, spending time with you and
read another interview. You're a funny motherfucker.
You obviously, humor is part of your coping.
Yeah. With the world. I think you write some
really funny lyrics, too. Is that intentional?
Or do you ever write something and you're like,
I want this to be funny? Or does it just come
out that way? I don't know if I've ever written
anything and gone, people are going to chuckle
and fall on the ground or something. Maybe clever
is a better word. People like Randy Newman or
John Prine. I was talking about my buddy Johnny
Fritz. Yeah, Johnny Corndog. These people that,
inside of humor. I think is a lot of the same
stuff that good songwriting comes from where
you're like observing stuff. You can say it plainly
and sometimes that's powerful and then sometimes
you can say it in a humorous way or growing up
in church it would be like my favorite people
were the people that like a lot of times got
discounted because they were clever and funny.
They could kind of do it a lot in a solo show
where it's like tell a stupid story and then
drop a heavy song so everybody's giggling and
then all of a sudden they're like what i guess
it's dynamics i don't know but yeah you have
but i always it wasn't just that they it was
if this guy takes himself really serious for
whatever reason everyone else assumes he's serious
and smart maybe they're ineffective at actually
doing anything whereas to me the people that
can like tell a joke and inside the joke right
after the joke there's like also this serious
nugget You're more open, more available. The
best jokes come from the most uncomfortable places.
If I'm being honest about something that I'm
maybe not even wanting to share with people,
finding a way to share that in a way that I'm
ultimately comfortable with, those are usually
the best jokes. And probably the best songs,
too, I would think. You're hesitant to put these
ideas out there. Do you know the concept of laughter
is... There's like an inch off the mark of a
fear response. What are we afraid of? Things
that either we don't know or we weren't expecting.
But then we're humans, and what are we talking
about? We're talking about ourselves. So the
idea of either you're talking about something
someone thought no one else had ever gone through,
so they're surprised by the fact that you know
about them in a way that they have never shared,
or you literally are holding up a mirror in a
way that it's like the first time someone sees
their ass or something. Also, like, people...
If you miss the mark, you are actually scaring
them. And then when they get scared, it's like
anger or let's fight or run away. You're right
on the edge of like doing something that changes
the whole situation. Also, I just think the idea
of saying I'm never on stage with banter being
like, this will be funny. I will make someone
laugh. I think the idea that someone gets up
and goes, I know it's funny. I'll say it. And
then people will laugh is like the wildest. scariest
thing that anyone could try to do. I know it's
sad. And then people can either be like, this
guy's playing to the crowd or I don't relate
or whatever. But to get up and be like, this
is funny. And then someone go, no, it's not.
Neil Brennan describes it as putting yourself
through a car accident every night. Yeah. Doing
stand -up comedy. Yeah. Have you ever wanted
to do stand -up comedy? Is that ever something
that even crossed your mind? When I was young,
there was, it was basically like, Music, outdoor
stuff, and comedy. So me and my buds did like
bits early on, like BHS or whatever, camcorder
stuff we had. We'd write ridiculous things and,
I don't know, make a right turn instead of a
left turn, butterfly effect stuff, like could
have chased that down or was like obsessed with
Saturday Night Live and all that kind of stuff.
So somewhere in the same fantasy, I want to play
music, possibly was like, I'd love to be on Saturday
Night Live. Never having actually ever done that
stuff. I don't know if I have the skill set to
do that thing where you actually sit down. I'm
good in conversation at being shocking or surprising
or silly or funny or witty or whatever. I feel
like that's a different skill than, say, I'm
good at observing things. But I don't know if
my processor is built to turn them totally into
jokes. I think the way it works for me, most
of my jokes do come up conversationally. The
trick and the struggle is like, A, remembering
that joke, writing it down, preserving that moment.
But then figuring out how to get there. That's
like organically on stage. And sometimes you
can't. Sometimes that joke will only exist in
that moment. And that's fine too. I do think
there is this similar drive between musicians
and comedians. And maybe that's what the core
of this podcast is going to end up being about
in general. I think most comedians want to be
rock stars. I think most... really good songwriters
are pretty fucking funny. Yeah. And I think you're
right. Like the observational and then not even
just being an observant, like observing yourself
too, not just the outside, but there's something
that's, it's the same fire. And as someone who
felt like they belonged in this world for years
and years and never, I can't play guitar. I can't
sing more than like a couple of karaoke songs.
But I always felt like this is where I belong.
And I think that's what happens with comedians
is like they, They feel like they don't belong
anywhere except this one place that they don't
even necessarily have talent. And then they go
crazy. And then they start making jokes about
it. I also think comedians and bands are hanging
out. They're cut from the same cloth. Yeah, I
think it's potentially very similar or it is
the same people. Maybe somebody just gets their
kicks punishing themselves a different way. Songwriters
can't sing. And that never stopped him. Some
comedians are not funny, and they are very successful.
That actually brings me, and I know you've got
to get on the road here, so we're going to wrap
this up here in a minute, but I think the thing
that's unique about comedy that is maybe not
true for any other kind of art is it's just a
hair off of fear. It's an involuntary response.
So I don't think Jeff Dunham is funny. Right.
Like, he makes rooms of people laugh. And there's
something about that is objective in a way that
I don't know any other art can be. I'm just interested
to see what you think about that. Like this thing
that I'm doing, the house show thing. On paper,
there's another thing that I do that, or if you
took a picture of it, looked at the gear I brought,
the situation, the whole thing, you'd be like,
those are the same thing. But for a chunk of
money, I will play a private show. And the private
show, I don't care if it's you, I don't care
if it's you and 100 of your friends. At a certain
point, the price will change because I can bring
this and it's loud enough for... 50 to 100 people.
Like, oh, I'm going to have a 5 ,000 person party
or something. It'd be like, okay, we got to talk
about bigger production stuff or whatever. But
generally, it would look the same to an outside
person. But in one of those scenarios, I'm playing
to one person and 49 of their friends are watching
that person watch me. So when I walk out on stage
or I sing this song or that or make a statement,
this guy is going, I can't believe this. I'm
looking at their friends and their friends are
like, And if he's like, I can't believe this.
And they're like, we can. Or whatever. I walk
in the room with 50 fans that also have seen
me multiple times in a 2 ,000 seater or whatever.
And they're like, I can't believe. All 50 people
going, I can't believe this. It turns everything
I say into something funny or clever or reactive.
Versus, I guess my point is, I don't know necessarily
why certain people get over some hump and then
they have this thing where like their people
show up. And then. Potentially that can feed
into more and more of their people showing up.
But once someone has said, I like this, it's
like they want to like it. So it makes... You
sit there just hoping that your favorite musician
says something that you can go, whoa, or laugh
at, or go, oh my God. Versus even in a scenario
of music lovers, if you're the opener, you don't
have the same power as the headliner. And I'm
sure it's the same with comedians or whatever,
where it's no one's trying to like what you do,
or no one's trying to laugh at what you say.
And all of a sudden, I think that is probably
where some of these guys are like, they hit some
level of success. And they don't really have
to say funny stuff anymore. They just have to
be themselves. People want to like it. They want
to enjoy it. That's interesting. I live in this
world where I'm constantly either the most important
person in the room to someone. People think I'm,
literally, we were just talking about replacements.
I'm like, I played, J. Ryan Business played the
last three replacement shows. Finally, after
the last show, I was like, I'm going to go talk
to these guys, tell them how important they were,
and thank them for being on stage. And when I
walked up, I was like, hey guys. And they were
like, we're good. Like, they thought I was a
backstage hand, even though we played three shows.
All my buddies were like, I can't believe it.
You're so lucky. I'm freaking out. This wasn't
like, they didn't pluck us out of obscurity.
We were doing really well at that time. Right,
yeah, yeah. But had been walking around, crowd
being like, holy crap. They'd just be like, no,
we're good, man. It's humbling. That's the kind
of shit that brings you back down to earth at
the same time. I've been rejected by a lot of
my heroes. Are you still booking these shows?
If people want you to come play in their living
room, can they reach out? This has been like,
I was talking about last night. It's been an
experiment. And I think I have, there's like
a lot of people, like when I said I would do
house shows, I got a lot of replies, but it was
through social media. And I was like a guy that
was here last night was like, yeah, I was talking
to you about a bunch. And then it fell off. And
I was like, dude, that's one of the main things
I got to figure out is like the communication,
not being through social media, because I'm chatting
with you. And then all of a sudden I post something
and it gets like 1700 likes. And all of a sudden
our chat is buried. The moment with you where
it was like, okay, boom, let's build the ticket
thing, whatever. And all of a sudden I was like,
okay, brass tacks, let's get all the info. And
for real, let's say a number. How many people
are you comfortable having in your house? And
I'm sure we had talked about it early on. And
it was like, yeah, so I'm shooting for 50. And
they're like, oh, my wife would kill me if there
was more than 10 people here. I was like, dude,
we've talked for so long about this. I will say
there was this moment. When we got to that final
stage. Yeah. Where there was like a little, I
don't want to say hesitation, but it was like,
okay, this is becoming real. Yeah. And I think
a lot of people fantasize about the idea of having
somebody play in their living room. And when
it becomes real, they're like, oh shit, can I
actually do this? And it's so different night
to night. You know, I mean, you saw, I got here
late last night, so I had to blast through that
setup. I don't really have anything to plug,
but the thing that I'm experimenting with or
trying to mess with is. Beyond the sort of, I
want to do something different, I'm trying to
keep myself engaged. I don't know if entertained
is the right way to put it, but if you play the
same show, let's say there's 20 variations of
any given kind of setup at a club, but you've
also played every club in America like 50 times.
It's sad, but you can get to the point where
you're just going through emotions. Or like on
a Tuesday night. It's a job. It is at a house.
But like every house has been something that
was different. You're split into a V and then
I'm in the corner versus some shotgun house.
Only enough space for one person like right here.
And so half the show I'm going to be looking
at one guy. And half the crowd is actually looking
at my ass the whole time or whatever. So it's
a whole different. And then where do I even position
the speakers? It's all let alone like time to
do this show. There's the thing that's just for
me. Okay, this is making it exciting every time.
On top of that, a lot of what I'm interested
in is what we were talking about earlier, not
on the podcast, about the thing that I observed
and initially didn't appreciate. In fact, I was
annoyed by the Drive -By Trucker shows where
this crowd just talks so much. Maybe in a two
-hour set. any given person will shut up for
three songs because those are their songs they'll
be talking and you can certainly like oh i love
that line but i just didn't really appreciate
i never thought it was necessarily my a part
of my job is the right way to put it but like
the community building thing was not on my radar
in any real way yeah here's what i do i write
these songs that really matter to me hopefully
they matter to you and then i want to put on
or be a part of a show where everyone's entranced
and you have to shut up and if anyone's not shutting
up and if anyone's not dancing or fully in what
are we not doing yeah and then people they buy
the merch and then they walk out of the building
and then they hopefully talk to their friends
about how to go back to the truckers thing like
truckers like bat signal for are you 40 and drink
ipa show up here and your people will be here
yeah yeah i almost described it it's like what
some religions wish they had. Like this imagined
community of people that they know they're going
to get along with. But that, like churches are
falling apart. So I don't really want to get
into arguing about whether or not there should
be churches, but like we are more and more separated.
And then we are going through this thing of the
internet making people think like they are connected,
but they're not. Not that the internet can't
bring you or connect you to people like in a
way it can, but the general way that most people
are using the internet is not. making them closer
to anyone. And so that was a big part of this.
There was people that kind of kept hitting me
up and being like, I can just get you in this
club. I want you to come to my town. Why don't
you play here? We can get 400 people in us. What
I'm trying to do right now is personally interact
with people, find out some stuff, observe people
in my own mind, try to figure out what's... Because
I don't know that I have that thing where I know...
It's way reductive to be like, are you 40 and
IPA? No, but we understand what you mean. I don't
know that I had that. I've never had that thing
where everyone who walked into one of my shows
is like, oh, this is all the same people. I will
say, though, one of the things that first attracted
me to your band was the people that love your
band. You have fans that fucking love your music.
And to me, that's a really good marker of somebody
who's doing shit. I think there's something.
What I'm getting at is that I don't know if there's
a single thing. But I want people in that room
who maybe have been in the same room to see me
20 times to finally look to their left and their
right and go, hey, my name's Greg, blah, blah,
blah. I made a bunch of friends last night. I
met people that had never been to my house before,
and now they'll be back. I'll be fucking with
those people. I went out with my buddies, Murder
by Death, and I walked around. I literally took
no merch out. It was the first real run of shows
I'd done post my breakdown of I don't know what
I want to do anymore. But part of that thing
I was still going to. You know what? Merch sucks.
I'm not doing merch anymore. I'd play. I'd grab
my stuff. And then I was just walking around.
And I'd gab with a lot of people. And there were
people there that were like, I care what this
band does. But I actually don't care. I will
always be at all their shows. I'll buy all their
stuff. I'll do whatever it takes for them. Because
I met this person. I met this person. We don't
live in the same state. But these are my people.
And I met them. That's why I go to Athens every
year, man. These are all people that, like, it's
their pilgrimage, right? This was in a cave.
Oh, yeah. I'm going to see them in August in
the caverns, man. I'm excited. It's incredible.
They let me sleep there that night. There was,
like, a movie afterwards. Then they locked up
and I slept. Their shows are special, but a big
part of why we all go there is to see each other.
We bought the room. Like, we are the promoter.
went all in. And it's like big. It's expensive
to buy the place. And I said, do you know where
everybody's coming from? Because it's kind of
in the middle. It's near Nashville, but not totally.
And he's like, yeah. And I was like, how many
people live near this cave? And he's like, oh,
it's 90 % people flying in from out of state.
And so that crowd was very much, this is, and
so it was that sort of. I've dreamed of seeing
a show there. Yeah. It's a really special place.
It's really cool. And all that really, what I
was getting at is like that particular conversation
just really. hit me where i was just like man
i just i don't even know if people i don't know
if there's someone who's i'll always love what
rod does because i met my wife at a show or whatever
when i go back now i can think of times where
people are like our first date was at your show
or something or we said let's go on a date and
then i suggested the show and she was a big fan
and He was a big fan. That's when we knew. But
I never really processed as, so I'm important
to you because of this. Not in a way, I'm not
sitting there, I'm hoping people show up and
tell me the story of how important I am to them.
It's more, oh, what can I do to like... Create
those connections. Yeah, like really, because...
Or foster them. I'm a strange cat. I have lots
of acquaintances and I have a few friends, you
know? But when I find people I connect with,
I'm just like, whatever it takes. I'll murder
for you or whatever. So the idea of potentially
creating a moment where someone, P, next. Literally,
this idea. Like, the first night of the first
house show, I walked by, and the person was,
like, talking to someone else. Oh, I always see
you at the Christmas show. I was like, oh, yeah,
yeah. Like, we get a party bus. Let me get your
number, and you can be on the party bus. And
this is exactly what I wanted to happen. I told
you earlier today, this made me love my house
more. Yeah, that's cool. This house sucks, dude.
It does. It's, yeah. It's, like, go back to the
truckers and something they did recently to keep
things fresh, and I think, because it's almost
like the other side of what you're talking about.
They're a band that never plays with a set list.
They never, I've never, I've seen them over a
hundred times. They've never played the same
show until they did the Southern Rock Opera tour.
And I saw that tour four times. That was the
first time I've ever seen them play the same
show more than once. And that was new. Yeah,
I know. But then, now that they're not doing
it anymore, the rest of their catalog, it's like
they're in love with it again. Yeah. And this
ties back to the thing I was talking about on
an episode that you haven't heard yet, about
these reunion tours and these nostalgia, Flaming
Lips doing Yashimi, Truckers doing... Southern
Rock Opera, Bright Eyes is on tour right now.
These people are actually revisiting a lot of
what you're talking about. Like, somebody met
at one of your shows, they go back to your show
and it's like a memory. People go see Bright
Eyes because they fell in love to that band in
college or whatever. I think you're hitting the
nail on the head, first of all. I think if your
goal is to do that, then you're accomplishing
that. Fuck yeah. But also, I just think it's
interesting how different artists do different,
completely different things. Set list, no set
list or whatever. And then also, okay, we're
going to go play this album that we've never
played all the way through in 20 years. Or I'm
going to go play at house. I haven't done solo
shows in 20 years. I'm going to go do house shows
and I'm going to really foster these connections.
And I think both of them are doing the same thing.
Yeah. In different ways. But you're building
something that isn't necessarily tangible. Like
for me, there's also this thing. Someone would
be like, you did this and you did this and now
you're doing this and now you're doing this.
And I'm not zooming out and looking at my life
in some sort of like, how do I tell the story?
I'm in the middle of it. So the high points,
the low points, the whatever, that's just that
Thursday, that one week, that one year. I don't
have this like observational measurement, whatever,
like this is no different than playing some festival
than... getting some even in the course of like
why did that one record work it's like there's
no reason that record worked like to me i was
never shooting lower there was definitely like
last night people were asking for songs i wrote
when i was 19 i'm 44 but also i played the song
i wrote last week and it's like i can't tell
you why anything works and that's not my job
my job is to look at it and then talk about it
and sometimes the talking about it is obscuring
it in a way that someone has to dig so hard that
they figure out something about themselves and
sometimes it's just saying it plainly. I think
we've lost a lot in the sense of the difference
between what an artist is here for and our obsession
with easy sugar. Just like, let's get entertained.
Yeah, give me my dopamine fix, my flavor of the
week. And I like to be entertained. Last night
we numbed out and watched a big dumb movie. There's
times where I want that. That's not the same
as an artist actually doing something or changing
my life. So, That's almost like a recharge in
a way. And in the same way that I don't think
you should be entertained all the time, I don't
think you can get your life changed by art every
five seconds. If that happens, you're just consuming
shit all the time. Yeah. Or like looking for
answers when your life is happening to you. Yeah.
And some of that, it's literally like, I thought
I was going to be in New Orleans writing and
recording for the last three days, but instead
I was living in a way that it's like... what
the hell just happened to me new orleans is like
that though and so anyways yeah again i like
i guess you were like do you have anything plug
and it was just more whether not necessarily
my shows or the idea of doing more house shows
or i'm also playing club shows yeah yeah and
whatever what i was getting at is i guess i'm
just like wanting people to connect i don't really
know how to plug that other than put your phone
down and find a situation where maybe it's not
weird to actually Like, that thing of going out
to a bar to be alone is uninteresting to me now.
This scenario, something like this house show,
it seems like it's so different that all those
rules are kind of suspended. Yeah, no, it's so
weird because it's just someone who goes to a
bunch of shows. Yeah. Talking to it straight,
like... Even, we're there for the same reason.
We obviously both love this band. You have something
in common. But still starting a conversation
with those people is weird. Hey man, don't go
over there. There's a weirdo that's talking to
everybody or something. Yeah. Whereas like last
night, it would have been fucking weird if we
didn't talk to each other. It would have been
like, it's like the opposite. You were like,
can I get in your fridge or what? Yeah. Can I
pee here? And I'm like, I don't like the alternative.
Using your hand towels. You know, like, yeah.
Yeah, I think. I'm not anti -bar, I'm not anti
-restaurant, I'm not anti -whatever, but I guess
that is the experiment. I'm pushing myself into
places that it's different enough that it breaks
all my typical patterns and cycles. It's easy
to just have. That's the design of modern life
in America is I can go to the same coffee shop
in every town because literally there's a Starbucks
in every town. So I can walk in, I can say my
order, it will taste the same. I'm out the door.
And so to search for that weird stuff and that,
like, non -processed, non -just homogenized version
of the world, it's more difficult. It's weird
that it's more difficult to get fresh organic
food than not. Yeah. Like, one of them takes
maybe more work in the sense of you've got to
care for it, but you don't have to have technology
to have an apple. But, like, here we are, and
now I have to have, like, apps to figure out.
if this thing saying it's organic is lying to
me or whatever. I don't know. Anyway, the point
is, it shouldn't be that hard to experience life
where every store is different and everybody's
hamburger tastes different and everybody's whatever
it is. Have it be organic and natural and real.
Some weird industrial person decided that they
knew that everyone's afraid all the time and
they can give you a safe experience and everybody
just said, yeah, let's go. You could have murdered
me last night. I don't think I have the means,
if I think about it. No, there's a nice knife
set over there, but I definitely don't have it
in me. I don't want to get murdered, but it definitely
is like, it's different even than crashing with
a band. Right. There's four or five of us, this
guy. There's been a few times where he showed
up at our house, and like the second the person
who invited us over laid down, we were all like,
we gotta get the hell out of here. To be fair,
I half expected you to be gone when I woke up
this morning. I need your help carrying the heavy
stuff. Let's do this. I got one last question
for you, Red Bull and NyQuil. Still fuck with
that? No. The combinations of chemicals have
changed for sure. Yeah. Always experimenting.
Thank you so much for being here, Roddy. I really
appreciate it, man. Guys, if you have a house
that can host a show, get in touch with this
guy. He'll throw the best fucking party you've
ever had. All right, man. Thanks for having me.
Let's get you loaded out. Yeah. That was part
two of my interview with J. Roddy Walston. I
hope you enjoyed it. I really enjoyed talking
to him. Make sure you check out what he has going
on wherever. I know he's going to be in the Midwest
for the next couple of weeks. Like I said, he's
going to be throwing those pre -parties, so make
sure you go check that out as well. And I highly
encourage you to check out his band, Pom Pom,
which is a band we didn't talk about much, but
that record's really great. I really love that
band, too. J. Roddy Walston, check out his music.
It's fantastic. I really appreciated him being
here. I am going to switch things up a little
bit next week. We're going to have Cole Taylor
from Classic City Wrestling will be on the show.
And before that, I'm going to do an episode about
the scientific method and the history of that,
where it came from, and whether or not it's actually
how science is conducted. Stay tuned for that.
Click that subscribe button. Check out Fedden
.net. Check out JRottyWalston .com. Thanks to
Lee Baines for the inspiration for the title
of this podcast. And if you want me to answer
one of your questions on the podcast, send me
an email at FeddenXR at gmail .com. That's F
-E -D -D -U -N -X -R at gmail .com. Thanks for
tuning in. Have a great weekend.