WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.660 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're really 00:00:02.660 --> 00:00:05.440 digging into someone quite extraordinary. Jeremiah 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.919 Griffin. Yeah. Harrison. Jerry Harrison. Born 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:13.199 1949, Milwaukee. And if you just know him as, 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:15.720 you know, the keyboard guy from Talking Heads. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:17.719 Yeah, that's really just scratching the surface. 00:00:17.820 --> 00:00:19.800 You really only know a tiny piece of the story. 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:21.559 Absolutely. I mean, that's the challenge with 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:23.600 Harrison, isn't it? His fame. Yeah, it comes 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:25.140 from Talking Heads, the sound he brought to New 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:28.929 Wave. But if you follow his path. Back through 00:00:28.929 --> 00:00:32.270 academia, high art, and then forward through 00:00:32.270 --> 00:00:34.770 producing massive hits, even into venture capital. 00:00:35.049 --> 00:00:37.469 You see, he wasn't just a musician. He was maybe 00:00:37.469 --> 00:00:40.250 a master synthesizer. A synthesizer of ideas. 00:00:40.469 --> 00:00:42.750 Exactly. Taking completely different things, 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:45.429 sounds, visual ideas, even financial structures, 00:00:45.469 --> 00:00:48.049 and just making them mesh, making them work brilliantly. 00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:49.649 Yeah, you look at the genres he was involved 00:00:49.649 --> 00:00:54.170 in, new wave, afrobeat, funk, punk rock, art 00:00:54.170 --> 00:00:57.350 rock. It screams boundary pusher from day one. 00:00:57.409 --> 00:01:00.070 So our mission today is to explore how this guy 00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:03.090 goes from studying architecture and visual art 00:01:03.090 --> 00:01:07.209 to being a rock icon and then just pivots again 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:10.819 seamlessly. into tech and healthcare entrepreneurship. 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:13.799 It's this roadmap of constant high -level intellectual 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:16.219 shifts. And, you know, we should mention his 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:18.200 official recognition. Oh, definitely. The Rock 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:20.579 and Roll Hall of Fame. Yeah, 2002 as part of 00:01:20.579 --> 00:01:23.180 Talking Heads. But the real takeaway here, I 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:25.280 think, for you listening is finding that common 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:28.299 thread. What connects playing in a band obsessed 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:31.299 with the Velvet Underground to later founding 00:01:31.299 --> 00:01:33.500 an online music platform and then investing in 00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:36.560 biotech? That core skill, it was there early. 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:40.340 Really early, deep in his background, art academia. 00:01:40.540 --> 00:01:42.599 Okay, let's get into that. The foundations, Milwaukee 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:46.019 upbringings. You mentioned this potent mix, like 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:48.280 half art school, half business. That's a great 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:50.140 way to put it. It really set the stage for his 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:53.480 whole career, balancing that aesthetic side with 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:56.040 commercial sense. His mother was key for the 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:58.359 art exposure. Right, she taught art. She did. 00:01:58.930 --> 00:02:01.370 studied and taught at big places, Art Institute 00:02:01.370 --> 00:02:03.849 of Chicago, Leighton School of Art. So he was 00:02:03.849 --> 00:02:06.590 just surrounded by visual composition, abstract 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:09.210 thinking, really young. So he's already thinking 00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:12.750 in terms of structure, space, visuals. Precisely. 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:15.530 Now contrast that or maybe complement it with 00:02:15.530 --> 00:02:18.409 his father, a musician too, but also a successful 00:02:18.409 --> 00:02:21.469 advertising executive. Oh, okay. The practical 00:02:21.469 --> 00:02:23.849 business side. Exactly. Structure, strategy, 00:02:24.150 --> 00:02:25.909 how to communicate effectively commercially, 00:02:26.310 --> 00:02:28.770 art and commerce right there in his childhood 00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:31.509 home. And you see this blend, this rigor and 00:02:31.509 --> 00:02:34.349 application in his high school years too. Shorewood 00:02:34.349 --> 00:02:36.530 High. Yeah, the list of activities is kind of 00:02:36.530 --> 00:02:38.729 intense. He wasn't exactly kicking back. No kidding. 00:02:38.909 --> 00:02:41.669 Debate club, student council, math club, and 00:02:41.669 --> 00:02:44.289 basketball and track. Wow. It just shows this 00:02:44.289 --> 00:02:47.110 early ability to juggle a lot, master different 00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:50.229 fields, high functioning multitasking, and that. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.099 Intensity definitely carried over to Harvard. 00:02:52.219 --> 00:02:53.879 Okay, Harvard. This is where it gets really interesting, 00:02:53.979 --> 00:02:55.699 especially thinking about where he ended up musically. 00:02:56.199 --> 00:03:00.800 Magna Cum Laude, 1972. Degree in Visual and Environmental 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.240 Studies, VES. Why VES? I mean, that feels pretty 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:06.180 abstract for someone heading towards punk rock, 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:09.360 doesn't it? How does studying painting and sculpture 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:11.979 make you a better musician or, you know, way 00:03:11.979 --> 00:03:14.360 later, a venture capitalist? That's the question, 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:17.379 right? The core of his whole career. VES isn't 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:19.840 your standard degree. It's super interdisciplinary. 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:23.080 His thesis wasn't just writing a paper. It was 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:25.819 making stuff. Yeah, painting, sculpture, drawing. 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.900 It trained him not just to look at art, but to 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:32.659 understand compositional structure, spatial relationship. 00:03:33.020 --> 00:03:35.060 Structure and space. Okay. Now think about that 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:37.419 musically. When he joins Talking Heads, he's 00:03:37.419 --> 00:03:40.020 not just playing a keyboard part. He's synthesizing 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:43.020 the whole soundscape. He's taking Burns' angular 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:45.819 guitar, Weymouth and France's minimal rhythm, 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:48.759 and adding these layers. Keyboards, sure, but 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:51.740 also polyrhythms, textures, atmosphere. He's 00:03:51.740 --> 00:03:53.819 basically applying VES principles composition 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:57.099 structure to sound. It's knowing where to put 00:03:57.099 --> 00:03:59.199 the color, you know, the synth patch within the 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.580 space, the beat, to get the most impact. That 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:03.800 completely reframes his role in Talking Heads, 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:06.479 especially on albums like Remain in Light. He 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:07.939 wasn't just the keyboard player. He was like 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:11.120 the sonic architect. Exactly. Bringing high art 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:15.060 academic theory into the, well, the pretty grimy 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:18.139 world of punk and new wave. Which maybe surprisingly 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:21.420 brings us to where his professional music career 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:24.139 actually started. The Modern Lovers. The Modern 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:27.759 Lovers, yeah. 1971 to 74, essential punk rock 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.139 roots right there. He meets Jonathan Richman 00:04:30.139 --> 00:04:33.120 in 71, introduced by Danny Fields, the journalist. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.779 Okay. And it wasn't just a casual hey, it was 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:38.879 like an immediate ideological connection. And 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:41.860 that ideology was specifically the Velvet Underground. 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:44.339 The Velvet Underground. That says so much, doesn't 00:04:44.339 --> 00:04:47.639 it? Very specific art rock counterculture benchmark. 00:04:47.980 --> 00:04:50.259 Definitely. They bonded over the Velvets. Harrison 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:52.740 joins the band early 71, plays on that legendary 00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:55.639 debut album. And think who produced it. John 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.939 Cale. John Cale himself. Recorded in 72 in California. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.379 So Harrison's basically getting his initial training 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:05.500 from like the high priests of art punk. And crafting 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:09.180 this cornerstone of proto -punk, proto -new wave. 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:11.759 Yeah. Years before anyone even heard it since 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:13.220 the album didn't actually come out until 70. 00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:17.240 Right. But that phase ends pretty suddenly over. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.120 Volume levels. Yeah, a classic case of artistic 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:24.000 differences, right? The band breaks up February 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.519 74 because Richman, the front man, just decides 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.000 he wants to play his songs way, way quieter. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.500 And Harrison, who was all about that loud electric 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:37.100 sound they'd pioneered, was apparently just devastated. 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:40.060 And here's that amazing pivot moment we have 00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:42.300 to talk about. Most musicians, their seminal 00:05:42.300 --> 00:05:43.959 band breaks up, they're crushed, they immediately 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:45.399 look for another band, right? They'd think so. 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:47.560 Harrison does the exact opposite. He goes back 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:50.350 to Harvard. to get a master's degree in architecture. 00:05:50.629 --> 00:05:52.870 It's the ultimate proof of his VES training in 00:05:52.870 --> 00:05:55.649 action, isn't it? The musical structure. The 00:05:55.649 --> 00:05:58.050 modern lover's collapses, so he defaults back 00:05:58.050 --> 00:06:00.509 to academic structure. Architecture is literally 00:06:00.509 --> 00:06:02.850 the physical application of those visual and 00:06:02.850 --> 00:06:05.509 environmental studies. Building structures. Solving 00:06:05.509 --> 00:06:07.790 structural problems, exactly. His creative structure 00:06:07.790 --> 00:06:10.310 breaks, so he goes to build literal ones. It's 00:06:10.310 --> 00:06:12.470 just a fascinating detour, even if it didn't 00:06:12.470 --> 00:06:14.910 last long. Didn't last long because, well, New 00:06:14.910 --> 00:06:16.970 York and New Wave were calling louder than blueprints. 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:21.379 Enter Talking Heads, Musician Part 2. And how 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:24.540 he joins this band is almost the perfect link 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:28.180 between that high concept world and the, you 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:31.259 know, gritty reality of the NYC scene. The unintentional 00:06:31.259 --> 00:06:33.720 audition story, yeah. Talking Heads already had 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.180 their first single out, Love Building on Fire, 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.220 when he joined in 77. But the offer actually 00:06:39.220 --> 00:06:42.060 came earlier, 76, while he was still deep in 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:43.959 his Harvard studies. And the anecdote is great. 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:47.490 Tina Weymouth calls him. invites him to a show 00:06:47.490 --> 00:06:50.009 in Boston, not knowing he'd already seen them 00:06:50.009 --> 00:06:52.189 and was totally blown away. He was already respected, 00:06:52.230 --> 00:06:54.329 you know, in that underground scene, but actually 00:06:54.329 --> 00:06:56.389 getting to the band, that was a very practical, 00:06:56.589 --> 00:06:59.610 very broke kind of problem. He decides to move 00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:02.250 to New York, September 76, to jam with them. 00:07:02.370 --> 00:07:04.129 But no cash for the bus ticket? Not even for 00:07:04.129 --> 00:07:06.810 the bus. So how does the magna cum laude Harvard 00:07:06.810 --> 00:07:09.589 guy, the aspiring architect, get to the heart 00:07:09.589 --> 00:07:13.139 of the New York punk scene? Manual labor. He 00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:15.699 hitches a ride by helping his old modern lover's 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:18.100 pal, Ernie Brooks, move someone's furniture to 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:20.480 New York City. You're kidding. Moving furniture. 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:23.220 Moving furniture. Just picture it. A key figure 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:26.160 in new wave history hauling a sofa just to get 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:27.740 the chance to play with one of the most important 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:31.399 bands ever. It just nails that low budget, high 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:33.819 intellect vibe they had going on. That tension 00:07:33.819 --> 00:07:36.360 is pure talking heads, isn't it? High concept, 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:39.339 low budget. Now, while he's helping shape that 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:42.310 nervous angular sound, he's also starting. to 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:44.449 produce on the side, right? Between tours. Yeah, 00:07:44.490 --> 00:07:46.470 he got into producing pretty early, worked with 00:07:46.470 --> 00:07:49.110 the Escalators, Nona Hendrix, this kind of dual 00:07:49.110 --> 00:07:51.910 role performer and sonic architect. It flowed 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:54.889 naturally from his VES background, but it definitely 00:07:54.889 --> 00:07:57.769 caused some friction inside Talking Heads, especially 00:07:57.769 --> 00:08:00.930 around Remain in Light. Ah, the 1980 masterpiece 00:08:00.930 --> 00:08:04.610 and the infamous credit dispute reflects how 00:08:04.610 --> 00:08:07.389 collaborative, maybe chaotic, that album's creation 00:08:07.389 --> 00:08:09.779 was, particularly with Brian Eno involved. Totally. 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:12.240 It really highlights how tricky it is to pin 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.240 down contributions in that kind of environment. 00:08:14.579 --> 00:08:16.439 The sources say there was a big disagreement 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:18.839 about who did what. Harrison had to fight for 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:20.720 it, but he eventually got additional writing 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.300 credit on two really key tracks. Which ones? 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:26.399 The Overload and Houses in Motion alongside Bird 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.800 and Eno. The Overload especially. That's such 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:32.919 a dense, almost unsettling track, all texture 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:35.460 and rhythm. Yeah. So what does that dispute tell 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:37.600 us about his role? It wasn't just playing keys, 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:40.929 clearly. No way. It suggests he was deeply involved 00:08:40.929 --> 00:08:43.629 structurally, defining the composition, the whole 00:08:43.629 --> 00:08:46.250 atmosphere of those tracks. Remain in Light is 00:08:46.250 --> 00:08:49.049 just the peak of synthesis in New Wave, right? 00:08:49.129 --> 00:08:51.289 All those West African rhythms, the funk influences. 00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:54.230 Harrison, with his understanding of arranging 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:57.409 sounds in space, layering textures, he was perfectly 00:08:57.409 --> 00:08:59.809 suited to help orchestrate that complexity. He 00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:01.649 was like the essential bridge between Burns' 00:09:01.730 --> 00:09:04.620 vision and Eno's experiments. Yeah. organizing 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:07.039 the chaos, basically, giving it structure. The 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:10.340 band officially calls it quits in 91, after David 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:13.019 Byrne announces he's leaving, which then frees 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:15.200 Harrison up to really dive into his other interests, 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:17.820 starting with his solo career. And right away, 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:20.059 you see that intellectual political side is still 00:09:20.059 --> 00:09:23.279 firing. Oh, yeah. His first solo album, The Red 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.279 and the Black, in 81. It's a prime example of 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:28.700 using pop music to explore some pretty dense 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:31.889 ideas. The title itself caused confusion. Everyone 00:09:31.889 --> 00:09:33.950 assumes Stendhal's novel, right? Right. The classic 00:09:33.950 --> 00:09:36.850 19th century novel. But the real story is way 00:09:36.850 --> 00:09:39.049 more specific, more underground. What was it? 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:42.009 Harrison explained years later, 2021 actually, 00:09:42.190 --> 00:09:44.850 that it was inspired by a situationist group. 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:48.279 Specifically, a pamphlet by Guy Debord. He'd 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:50.220 met some situationists back at Harvard during 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:52.620 anti -war protests. They ended up crashing in 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:55.360 his room, talking philosophy, anarchism. Wow. 00:09:55.460 --> 00:09:57.279 So his first big solo statement is basically 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:00.600 translating situationist theory, communism, anarchism 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:03.960 into songs. Not exactly aiming for top 40. Not 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:06.659 at all. He was aiming to make people think. It's 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:09.159 that same principle again, translating complex 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:11.700 ideas into a structure, in this case, rhythmic 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:15.059 structure. And that commitment to political commentary 00:10:15.059 --> 00:10:18.580 really blew up three years later, in 1984, with 00:10:18.580 --> 00:10:21.840 Five Minutes, Bonzo Goes to Washington. That 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:24.960 track is legendary for its sampling. Where did 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.399 that Reagan audio actually come from? It was 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:30.559 pure accident, really. An off -air hot mic moment 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:32.679 during a soundcheck, President Reagan joking 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:35.200 about outlawing Russia and starting bombing. 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:38.320 The infamous, we begin bombing in five minutes 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.440 line. Chilling, even as a joke back then. Totally 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:43.779 chilling. And Harrison heard that recording and 00:10:43.779 --> 00:10:46.159 immediately got its significance. He tracked 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:48.019 down the tape apparently through a college radio 00:10:48.019 --> 00:10:50.360 station and built this amazing funk track around 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:53.419 it, got Daniel Lazarus to co -produce, and brought 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:56.080 in the one and only Bootsy Collins on bass. Incredible 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:58.159 lineup. But the song itself was sharp, right? 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:00.159 The challenge was getting it out there. Exactly. 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:02.899 Its entire point was tied to the 1984 presidential 00:11:02.899 --> 00:11:05.120 election. It had to be released before the vote 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:07.200 to mean anything. And major labels wouldn't touch 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:10.679 it. Too political, too fast. No way. Too risky. 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:13.220 Timetable was too tight. So Harrison takes this 00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:16.779 huge gamble. He releases it on a tiny indie label, 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:20.220 Sleeping Bag Records, in October 84, just weeks 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:23.440 before the election. A really radical, independent 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.480 move. And classic Harrison humor later, joking 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.779 about sharing royalties with his lyricist, Ronald 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:32.279 Reagan. That perfect blend of serious politics 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:35.580 and detached wit. Yeah. Which brings us to his 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:40.200 biggest solo hit, Casual Gods, in 1988. And the 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:41.980 recording story behind this one is pretty unique, 00:11:42.059 --> 00:11:43.980 too, isn't it? The location. Oh, the location 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:46.899 for Casual Gods is amazing. Recorded back in 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:49.179 Milwaukee, his best friend's brother had set 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:51.759 up a studio inside a converted bomb shelter. 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:53.879 A bomb shelter studio. You couldn't write that. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:55.539 It almost feels like a metaphor for his music, 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.980 you know, structured art in a kind of paranoid 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:00.279 space. It definitely adds a certain vibe. And 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:02.740 the personal situation was intense, too. He was 00:12:02.740 --> 00:12:04.720 recording at night, but spending his days taking 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.580 care of his sick mother. So it wasn't some rock 00:12:06.580 --> 00:12:08.820 star indulgence. It was really focused, personal. 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:10.740 work. And he pulled in collaborators from his 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:13.639 past too. He did. Co -wrote a lot of the songs 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:16.019 with Ernie Brooks, his old bandmate from the 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:17.759 Modern Lovers. The guy who helped him move the 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:20.600 furniture. The very same guy. Yeah. That continuity 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:22.879 is pretty cool. And the album clicked commercially 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:25.500 big time. Rev It Up was everywhere for a while. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.460 Huge hit. Number seven on the U .S. mainstream 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:32.080 charts, April 88. And the stories around it are 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:36.200 just... memorable like apparently the music video 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:38.340 for rev it up involved filming in a room just 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:40.679 packed with babies babies okay that's unexpected 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:43.879 from situationist theory and nuclear satire to 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.440 a room full of infants and a funk rock chart 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:49.159 hit that's definitely range casual gods also 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:51.100 showed his knack for music that worked well in 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:54.159 films yeah man with a gun was in two moon junction 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:56.960 in 88 but an instrumental version was actually 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.799 used even earlier in 1986 in jonathan dem's movie 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:02.139 something wild Interesting. Shows the strength 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:04.240 of the composition, right? Works with or without 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:06.879 lyrics. And that single did well internationally, 00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:09.379 too. Australia and New Zealand. And the success 00:13:09.379 --> 00:13:11.980 meant a proper tour in 88. And the band he put 00:13:11.980 --> 00:13:14.240 together was kind of a dream team, reflecting 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:17.399 that whole punk -funk new wave mix. Oh, the band 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:20.340 was killer. Super adaptable. Ernie Brooks on 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:23.200 bass again, Alex Weir and Chris Bedding on guitars, 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:25.679 and the phenomenal Bernie Worrell on keyboards 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:27.820 from Parliament Funkadelic. And, of course, he'd 00:13:27.820 --> 00:13:29.899 toured with Talking Heads, too. Wow. And look 00:13:29.899 --> 00:13:40.139 at the cover. It was like his entire musical 00:13:40.139 --> 00:13:43.240 history is synthesized on stage. His last solo 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:47.259 album, Walk on Water, came out in 1990. But after 00:13:47.259 --> 00:13:50.340 Talking Heads officially split in 91, he makes 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:53.779 this final, maybe most lasting career shift. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:57.299 The producer powerhouse, and then the entrepreneur. 00:13:57.870 --> 00:13:59.870 And this is where that VES foundation really 00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:01.730 comes into its own commercially. Because what 00:14:01.730 --> 00:14:04.090 is production, really? It's organizing chaos 00:14:04.090 --> 00:14:06.070 into something cohesive, something that sells. 00:14:06.289 --> 00:14:07.950 He'd already done some producing, you know, Elliot 00:14:07.950 --> 00:14:09.750 Murphy, Violent Femmes, The Blind, Leading the 00:14:09.750 --> 00:14:12.690 Naked back in 86. But the 90s. Yeah. That's when 00:14:12.690 --> 00:14:15.470 he just explodes as a producer. He becomes almost 00:14:15.470 --> 00:14:17.590 the go -to guy for that whole alt -rock boom. 00:14:17.909 --> 00:14:20.450 The credits list is just staggering in its variety. 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:23.340 He was the ultimate sonic shapeshifter. Think 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:25.519 about the band live. He was absolutely central 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:28.460 to their huge success. Produced Mental Jewelry, 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:30.539 then the massive Throwing Copper, The Distance 00:14:30.539 --> 00:14:33.519 to Here. Huge albums. Huge. But then also Crash 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.539 Test Dummies, God Shuffled His Feet, The Verve 00:14:36.539 --> 00:14:39.679 Pipe, Villains, even No Doubt, helping them find 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:41.799 their sound for Return of Saturn around 2000. 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:44.539 That's such a diverse set of bands. Why him? 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.360 Why was Jerry Harrison, the guy known for New 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.159 Wave since, the right fit for all these 90s? 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:52.600 old rock bands that's a great question i think 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:55.919 it's because 90s alt rock unlike maybe 70s classic 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.559 rock wasn't always built on traditional song 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.220 structures it was often about texture atmosphere 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:04.480 weird instrumentation okay which is exactly harrison's 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:06.740 strength his new wave background meant he understood 00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:09.600 synthesizers space layering maybe better than 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.000 many rock producers bands hired him to bring 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.519 clarity structure and that atmospheric depth 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:16.960 to their sound he could hear the core potential 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.899 in a band like live or say rusted root and then 00:15:19.899 --> 00:15:21.940 build the perfect sonic environment around it, 00:15:21.980 --> 00:15:24.240 maximize the impact emotionally and commercially. 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:27.940 And he wasn't just doing outrock. The list includes 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:30.259 General Public, String Cheese Incident, Big Head 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:32.799 Todd, Kenny Wayne Shepard. He really could handle 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.200 almost any texture. He mastered it. But what's 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.100 truly mind -blowing is that while he's building 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:39.840 this huge production career, he makes another 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.820 massive pivot into the digital world and then 00:15:42.820 --> 00:15:46.519 finance, moving from curating sound to, well, 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:49.679 curating capital. 1999, co -found GarageBand 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.000 .com. This wasn't just some website, right? This 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.850 was early. pioneering music tech. Absolutely 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:58.250 pioneering. Garageband .com was radical, not 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:00.429 just a place to upload songs. It was set up as 00:16:00.429 --> 00:16:03.110 this competitive online community. It used peer 00:16:03.110 --> 00:16:05.940 reviews, a structured rating system. Basically 00:16:05.940 --> 00:16:08.899 a digital version of the old A &R process. Crowdsourcing 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:10.820 talent scouting. Kind of, yeah. He was chairman 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:12.679 of the board. He used his industry knowledge 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:15.080 to build a platform that filtered and judged 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:17.940 new music. It was his producer brain, finding 00:16:17.940 --> 00:16:20.200 quality, providing structure, curating applied 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:22.899 to the internet, a system for synthesizing musical 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:25.220 capital. Okay, so producer to tech chairman is 00:16:25.220 --> 00:16:28.000 already a big leap. But then the next move into 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:29.899 healthcare finance. That seems like the biggest 00:16:29.899 --> 00:16:33.120 jump yet. Right. As of 2015, his founder and 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.620 chairman of Red Crow. Totally different field, 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:38.399 but look closer. The core skills are identical. 00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:41.559 Red Crow is a web platform for direct investment. 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:44.600 It connects money, financial capital with people 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:47.419 and ideas, human capital, specifically in health 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:50.159 care startups. OK, break that down. How does 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:54.240 producing, say, throwing copper, relate to picking 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:57.539 winning biotech startups? It's all curation and 00:16:57.539 --> 00:17:00.360 synthesis. Think about producing. Harrison listens 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.019 to hours of raw music, identifies the best bits, 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.460 cuts the noise, structures it into a hit. Red 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:07.160 Crew does the same thing, but with health care 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:09.759 innovation. They sift through hundreds of startup 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:12.079 pitches, identify the best talent and the most 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.440 viable tech, the human capital. They cut through 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:16.599 the noise, the non -starters. Then they structure 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:18.440 the investment, needed the financial capital 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:20.819 to make it happen. He's facilitating the successful 00:17:20.819 --> 00:17:22.960 composition of a health care company. So applying 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:25.880 the same structural thinking from VES and music 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:30.430 production to medicine and finance. Exactly. 00:17:30.690 --> 00:17:32.609 Red Crow is described as a community sharing 00:17:32.609 --> 00:17:34.630 knowledge and passion for health care innovation. 00:17:35.269 --> 00:17:38.230 It's synthesis in maybe the highest stakes field 00:17:38.230 --> 00:17:41.210 there is, human health. It really is an incredible 00:17:41.210 --> 00:17:44.410 intellectual journey. Same skill set, refined 00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:47.390 at Harvard, perfected in the studio, now applied 00:17:47.390 --> 00:17:49.750 to totally different markets. We should probably 00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:52.259 mention, though. He hasn't completely left the 00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:54.480 old world behind. No, definitely not. There was 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.279 a partial reunion project in 96, No Talking, 00:17:57.400 --> 00:17:59.640 Just Head. That was Harrison, Weymouth, and France 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.700 with guest singers, but no Byrne. And he popped 00:18:02.700 --> 00:18:05.319 up in a few films, too, keeping those visual 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:07.539 arts connections alive. Yeah, obviously he's 00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:09.819 all over Stop Making Sense, the 84 concert film, 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.539 which is iconic. But later, he did cameos in 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:14.900 David Byrne's film True Stories in 86. Right, 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:17.559 as the lip -cinching lookalikes. Yeah. Billy 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:21.079 Idol, Kid Creel, Prince, just quick, funny moments. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:22.960 She has a good sense of humor about image. And 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:25.880 way later, 2006, he had a tiny part in the Darwin 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:29.380 Awards as just guy in bar number one. Ultimate 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:32.519 anonymity. Pretty much. And the final piece, 00:18:32.779 --> 00:18:34.839 really bringing it full circle, is his return 00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:37.420 to performing live recently. Yeah, after decades 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:39.859 focused mostly on production and business, he 00:18:39.859 --> 00:18:42.440 got back on stage. In 2021, first time publicly 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:45.180 performing since that 96 tour, he joined the 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:47.519 band Turquoise and Adrian Ballou, another key 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:50.039 Talking Heads collaborator, for shows celebrating 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:52.779 the 40th anniversary of Remain in Light. It just 00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:55.259 shows, you know, his focus might be elsewhere 00:18:55.259 --> 00:18:57.579 professionally now, but that core joy of making 00:18:57.579 --> 00:19:00.720 music, of synthesis, it's still there. So summing 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:03.480 it all up, we've tracked this truly unique path. 00:19:03.869 --> 00:19:06.369 High art student obsessed with structure, punk 00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:09.130 musician, new wave sonic architect, then hit 00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:12.660 producer, digital music pioneer, and now... healthcare 00:19:12.660 --> 00:19:15.140 tech investor. The common thread, it's not the 00:19:15.140 --> 00:19:17.460 instrument or the company. It's that incredible 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:20.759 ability honed way back in VES to synthesize, 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:23.059 to take diverse, sometimes messy information 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:25.599 and talent and shape it into something structured, 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:28.059 something valuable. He applies compositional 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:30.559 thinking structure, rhythm, organization everywhere. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.000 Music, politics, tech, finance. He didn't just 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:36.240 change with the times. He curated his own evolution. 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:38.140 He's like the ultimate example of transferable 00:19:38.140 --> 00:19:40.750 skills. Which leads to a final thought maybe 00:19:40.750 --> 00:19:43.130 for you listening. If that core skill is synthesis 00:19:43.130 --> 00:19:45.630 and curation, taking disparate parts, organizing 00:19:45.630 --> 00:19:48.309 them for value, how does that apply to the noise, 00:19:48.410 --> 00:19:50.309 the information overload you deal with every 00:19:50.309 --> 00:19:53.630 day? Where in your world could you apply that 00:19:53.630 --> 00:19:56.049 VES idea of bringing structure and composition 00:19:56.049 --> 00:19:58.170 to something that really needs organizing? That 00:19:58.170 --> 00:20:00.349 I think is the real lesson from Jerry Harrison's 00:20:00.349 --> 00:20:01.069 deep dive.