WEBVTT 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.169 What is going on, friends? Welcome to My Weekly 00:00:14.169 --> 00:00:16.949 Mixtape, the show that takes the classic mixtape 00:00:16.949 --> 00:00:20.190 approach to building a modern playlist. I'm your 00:00:20.190 --> 00:00:22.809 host, Brian Colburn. Joining me today to talk 00:00:22.809 --> 00:00:25.969 about his new single, For Real, a collaboration 00:00:25.969 --> 00:00:28.989 with Grammy -nominated soul artist Aloe Blacc, 00:00:29.129 --> 00:00:31.949 is Eric Hirschberg. Eric, thank you so much for 00:00:31.949 --> 00:00:34.310 joining me tonight on My Weekly Mixtape. Brian, 00:00:34.409 --> 00:00:36.310 great to be here. Thanks for having me. Well, 00:00:36.310 --> 00:00:38.490 since you're a first -time guest, let's start 00:00:38.490 --> 00:00:42.100 with the basics. What does the word mixtape mean 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:44.840 to you? You want to see my mixtape collection? 00:00:45.020 --> 00:00:48.880 I'll go to the garage and get it for you. Some 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.299 of my best friendships that's still enduring 00:00:52.299 --> 00:00:56.619 started by exchanging mixtapes. When I went to 00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:59.500 Europe and backpacked through Europe after college, 00:00:59.740 --> 00:01:02.920 I made one of those little carrying cases full 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:05.780 of mixtapes. I still have them today in the garage. 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:08.239 It's such a great time capsule because it's like, 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.480 what was I listening to the year I graduated 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.920 college? And courting my wife, you know, mixtapes. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:18.040 So they've just been a great time capsule. That's 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:20.780 all, of course, shifted to playlists now, but 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:24.859 I keep that discipline alive because I do think 00:01:24.859 --> 00:01:27.219 just like photo albums, collecting the music 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:28.719 that you're listening to at any given moment 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:31.459 is just a great way to mark the chapters of your 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:35.170 life. Amen. I like that mindset there. Well, 00:01:35.189 --> 00:01:37.730 Eric, you've taken a pretty unique path into 00:01:37.730 --> 00:01:41.849 the music world, first as the CEO and chief creative 00:01:41.849 --> 00:01:45.810 officer at Deutsche LA, and then the CEO of Activision, 00:01:45.849 --> 00:01:48.549 home to video game behemoths like Call of Duty, 00:01:48.790 --> 00:01:52.849 Skylanders, Destiny. River Raid, if you grew 00:01:52.849 --> 00:01:56.849 up playing the Atari 2600 like I did. Yeah, Pitfall. 00:01:57.069 --> 00:01:59.469 Oh my God, the hours I spent between Pitfall 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:03.189 and Pitfall 2. And of course, for all of the 00:02:03.189 --> 00:02:07.109 music fanatics listening, Guitar Hero. Did your 00:02:07.109 --> 00:02:10.250 path ultimately lead you to start creating music 00:02:10.250 --> 00:02:12.949 or has music been running alongside your career 00:02:12.949 --> 00:02:15.370 the entire time? It's a great question. It's 00:02:15.370 --> 00:02:18.780 always been there. I started writing. So I played 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:22.680 violin as a kid from age five to age 15. And 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:26.840 then like a lot of kids who play violin, I decided 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:29.979 I wanted to play rock and roll. And I shifted 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:32.620 first to the bass, then to the guitar. I wrote 00:02:32.620 --> 00:02:34.419 my first song, I think when I was 15 years old, 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:36.879 I was in a band with my older brother and then 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.199 he graduated and then I had my own band and then 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.860 I had my own band at UCLA. And, you know, when 00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:44.439 I was that age, this was what I thought I was 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:47.169 going to do. And, you know, we had kind of we 00:02:47.169 --> 00:02:49.569 had a band with a following at UCLA and we played 00:02:49.569 --> 00:02:52.189 a bunch of the cool L .A. clubs at the time. 00:02:52.210 --> 00:02:54.289 And, you know, I remember getting feeling like 00:02:54.289 --> 00:02:56.550 we were maybe getting close, like an A &R guy 00:02:56.550 --> 00:02:58.430 from Warner Brothers showed up at a show and 00:02:58.430 --> 00:03:01.189 this and that. But, you know, it never took off. 00:03:01.229 --> 00:03:03.810 And in the meantime, a whole other career did 00:03:03.810 --> 00:03:07.669 take off and kind of took over. And I kept. performing 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:10.050 and kept playing in bands well into my twenties, 00:03:10.129 --> 00:03:12.530 probably longer than was advisable from a career 00:03:12.530 --> 00:03:15.069 management standpoint. But my advertising career 00:03:15.069 --> 00:03:17.270 took off and eventually I stopped performing, 00:03:17.349 --> 00:03:20.210 but I never stopped writing. And I kept waiting 00:03:20.210 --> 00:03:23.750 for it to kind of degrade itself to what I would 00:03:23.750 --> 00:03:25.949 call like a hobby status where, you know, it 00:03:25.949 --> 00:03:28.169 was something I did every once in a while and 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:32.030 it never did. It was just always kind of tugging 00:03:32.030 --> 00:03:35.400 at my shirt. And I always had songs running in 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:37.439 the background and I always had notes, you know, 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:39.599 to capture lyrics when they came and capture 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.439 melodies when they came. And so as I became more 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:45.020 and more public as a business person, I became 00:03:45.020 --> 00:03:47.539 more and more private as an artist. And when 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:49.939 I took over at Activision and I was an officer 00:03:49.939 --> 00:03:51.960 of a public company and I had to speak on an 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:54.259 earnings call every 12 weeks, I became completely 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:56.680 uncomfortable being public with my music. Maybe 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.199 that was all in my head. I don't know. It just 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:02.060 felt like no one wanted to hear. your love songs 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:03.699 when you've got it, you know, when you've got 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:07.060 thousands of employees and, you know, investors 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:09.659 and, you know, it just felt like serious business. 00:04:09.699 --> 00:04:12.180 And I wanted to at least appear to be completely 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:15.280 on point. But I think with the time that a lot 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:17.220 of people spend, I don't know, playing golf, 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:19.899 doing stuff that I don't do, I was always doing 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:23.040 this. And so when I stepped down as the CEO of 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.459 Activision and I, you know, lucky to have the 00:04:25.459 --> 00:04:28.519 opportunity to kind of rebalance my life. The 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:29.860 first thing I wanted to do was put on my music 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.839 because it was just, it became, there was a moment 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:35.259 when a friend who I really do consider a friend 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:39.399 who I was close to, but met through working at 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.079 Activision was at my house at a cocktail party 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:43.920 and saw a guitar in the corner and said, oh, 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.399 who plays guitar in the family? And it was at 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:48.139 that moment that I realized, wow, this has really 00:04:48.139 --> 00:04:50.860 become like a secret life. You know, like it 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:53.980 really was hidden from view. So I wanted to come 00:04:53.980 --> 00:04:56.139 out with an album and put myself out there as 00:04:56.139 --> 00:04:59.790 a musician publicly. And it's funny when I first, 00:04:59.930 --> 00:05:02.529 there was a plan to come out with everything 00:05:02.529 --> 00:05:05.129 under a band name. The name of my first album 00:05:05.129 --> 00:05:06.670 was Spare Room. Spare Room was going to be the 00:05:06.670 --> 00:05:09.930 name of my band. Band, quote unquote, because 00:05:09.930 --> 00:05:11.470 they didn't have a band. It was me. And I had 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:13.410 a bunch of other session players and other musicians 00:05:13.410 --> 00:05:15.430 who contributed, but it wasn't really a band. 00:05:15.529 --> 00:05:18.529 But I thought like Conor Oberst goes on under 00:05:18.529 --> 00:05:21.110 Bright Eyes. Sam Bean goes out under Iron and 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:22.990 Wine. I was just going to do that just to keep 00:05:22.990 --> 00:05:25.790 the Google searches separate. And my wife called 00:05:25.790 --> 00:05:28.519 me out on it. And she said, If you can't be comfortable 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:30.300 being your whole self in public right now, you're 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:32.699 never going to be. And, you know, you should 00:05:32.699 --> 00:05:34.699 go out under your name and just be your whole 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:37.439 self. And she was right. I took the leap. I'm 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:39.500 glad I did. And you know what? Nobody cared. 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:42.379 It was like, it was all in my head. I was like, 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:44.279 oh, you play music too? All right, cool. I'll 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:45.720 give it a listen. You know, like there was no 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.060 backlash or, you know, there's that great Mark 00:05:49.060 --> 00:05:51.160 Twain quote that says, I think it was Mark Twain. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:53.879 You wouldn't care so much about what other people 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:56.240 think about you if you knew how infrequently 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:00.480 they do. Yeah. As I mentioned at the top of the 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.139 episode, For Real is your new single and latest 00:06:03.139 --> 00:06:05.939 collaboration with Grammy nominated soul artist, 00:06:06.100 --> 00:07:04.750 Aloe Blacc. Let's take a listen to it. Now, Eric, 00:07:04.850 --> 00:07:07.189 this is actually your second time working together 00:07:07.189 --> 00:07:10.329 as you first teamed up with Aloe in 2024 on the 00:07:10.329 --> 00:07:13.310 Dry January anthem, I Love Not Drinking. Yeah. 00:07:13.389 --> 00:07:15.569 Can you walk us through how this partnership 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:19.149 began and how it's grown between these two collaborations? 00:07:19.750 --> 00:07:22.610 Sure. It was completely serendipitous. We met 00:07:22.610 --> 00:07:25.069 through a common friend. Her name is Zem Joaquin. 00:07:25.129 --> 00:07:27.879 She puts on a... a TED -like conference that's 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:29.740 awesome called the Near Future Summit every year. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.040 And she integrates music into the, you know, 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:33.879 in between the speeches, she'll sometimes have 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:36.439 music acts and there'll be thematic, right? So 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:38.399 whatever is sort of being talked about on stage, 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.560 she'll try to find a musical actor or something 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:44.199 that kind of fits with the theme. I was there 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:46.939 to close the day that day because there were 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:49.500 some, I think some speeches about addiction or 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:52.600 about that kind of theme. And she wanted to end 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:54.990 on a little bit of a higher note. and my song 00:07:54.990 --> 00:07:58.529 i love not drinking is on theme with those topics 00:07:58.529 --> 00:08:00.910 but way more joyful and way more fun and kind 00:08:00.910 --> 00:08:05.490 of a fun anthem and aloe was the the musical 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:08.509 act in the morning and she put us together i 00:08:08.509 --> 00:08:10.810 think on a group text saying you guys need to 00:08:10.810 --> 00:08:12.649 meet and aloe you need to hear eric's song i 00:08:12.649 --> 00:08:14.949 think she knew he was also a non -drinker so 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:17.370 i think she thought it would you know speak to 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:20.620 him and so We met, we hung out. I played it for 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:22.639 him. He liked it. And it was just one of these 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.000 great rock and roll spontaneity moments where 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:26.800 I kind of had the thought bubble over my head. 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:29.139 I wonder if he would sing this with me. And then 00:08:29.139 --> 00:08:31.560 I just went for it. And I said, you want to perform 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:35.379 it together? And he's like, sure. And I had a 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:37.200 couple hours before I went on. We literally went 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:40.200 out behind the venue, like sitting between two 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.259 air conditioning units and rehearsed it. And 00:08:43.259 --> 00:08:45.700 he learned it. And then we took the stage together 00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:47.759 and got the whole place singing it together. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.840 And, um, that's a great way to start any friendship, 00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:53.279 you know? So, um, then I said, I had already 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:55.179 recorded the studio version. It wasn't out yet, 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:57.919 but I said, if I reopen the mix, you want to 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.600 come in and, you know, lay down what you did 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.460 today, you know, on the studio track. He said, 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:05.740 yes. And then we became friends and we actually 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:09.480 performed together again at another event and, 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:12.820 um, did both his songs and the song we did together. 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:15.480 I love not drinking. And then eventually we said 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:16.600 we should write a song together. We have good 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:18.509 chemistry and, you know, we. have interesting 00:09:18.509 --> 00:09:21.269 conversations about the world and see things 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:23.049 sometimes the same, sometimes differently, but 00:09:23.049 --> 00:09:25.409 always good conversations. And that's how this 00:09:25.409 --> 00:09:26.549 song came about. We're having a conversation 00:09:26.549 --> 00:09:29.429 about our phones and we both said, you know, 00:09:29.450 --> 00:09:31.889 this would make a good topic for a song. Well, 00:09:31.909 --> 00:09:33.370 I want to lean into that a little bit because 00:09:33.370 --> 00:09:37.169 your music leans heavy into the folk and Americana 00:09:37.169 --> 00:09:40.669 genres while Aloe's vibe sits more in the soul 00:09:40.669 --> 00:09:43.889 world. Yeah. When you two got together, how did 00:09:43.889 --> 00:09:46.950 you blend those styles in a way that pulled from 00:09:46.950 --> 00:09:50.029 both of those backgrounds, but still felt natural 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:53.529 to each of your respective genres. Again, it 00:09:53.529 --> 00:09:55.110 started with a good conversation. It was the 00:09:55.110 --> 00:09:58.009 first topic, actually. We said, we've got to 00:09:58.009 --> 00:10:01.909 find a genre that works with both of our styles 00:10:01.909 --> 00:10:04.970 or both of our natural settings. What is that? 00:10:05.330 --> 00:10:08.370 And we had a good chat about it and we pulled 00:10:08.370 --> 00:10:10.549 up some, you know, kind of spirit animal tracks. 00:10:10.850 --> 00:10:15.850 And I had never heard Aloe's voice used. kind 00:10:15.850 --> 00:10:19.649 of in this way. He has that gospel tone to him, 00:10:19.710 --> 00:10:24.110 but it's usually kind of pop based R &B and pop 00:10:24.110 --> 00:10:26.730 based production. And I kind of wanted to put 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:28.870 him more in that hosier lane, you know, a little 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:31.490 bit more of that God rays coming through the 00:10:31.490 --> 00:10:34.889 stained glass, you know, windows. And that has 00:10:34.889 --> 00:10:37.429 a lot of folk in it that has a lot of roots in 00:10:37.429 --> 00:10:39.950 it, but it also has this kind of big modern production 00:10:39.950 --> 00:10:41.870 to it. And we thought, okay, if we can get on 00:10:41.870 --> 00:10:44.480 the 50 yard line between those two things. this 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.519 is what it would sound like. And I don't know, 00:10:46.539 --> 00:10:48.000 you tell me how you think we did, but I feel 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:51.980 like we found a spot that really got the best 00:10:51.980 --> 00:10:54.240 out of both of us. I think it was an absolute 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.940 home run. Thank you. Well, the song carries what 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:00.500 I consider to be a really powerful message about 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:03.460 pushing past the things that divide us. Because 00:11:03.460 --> 00:11:06.000 if there's one thing about that's what's happening 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.940 in the world now is there's a ton of division, 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:12.100 especially when it comes to technology and social 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:16.409 media. Yes. Since you spent such a huge part 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:19.610 of your career in the tech world, does this song 00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:22.070 feel like a bit of a change of heart for you? 00:11:22.149 --> 00:11:25.669 Or is it more of a self -reflection on what you've 00:11:25.669 --> 00:11:29.330 seen from maybe the inside? No, I understand 00:11:29.330 --> 00:11:31.029 why you're asking the question, but no, I think 00:11:31.029 --> 00:11:32.990 that there's different lanes within the tech 00:11:32.990 --> 00:11:35.529 world. I actually think video games are one of 00:11:35.529 --> 00:11:37.490 the things that bring us together. I think games 00:11:37.490 --> 00:11:41.450 like Call of Duty cut across all. partisan politics, 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:46.629 age groups, racial groups, everybody plays. It's 00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:50.070 one of the few things everybody does. And it's 00:11:50.070 --> 00:11:53.870 a beautifully, naturally inclusive, diverse audience 00:11:53.870 --> 00:11:56.250 that's attracted to those big blockbuster games. 00:11:56.470 --> 00:12:00.190 So that's very different than social media and 00:12:00.190 --> 00:12:03.029 different than what's happened to what we used 00:12:03.029 --> 00:12:04.730 to call the news. I don't know what to call it 00:12:04.730 --> 00:12:07.169 now, but anybody in the tech world that has a 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:10.480 kind of endless scroll to manage. develops an 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.679 algorithm and let's assume best intentions. Let's 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:15.879 assume that they are trying to detect what we 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:19.740 like and what we prefer. That may be what they 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:22.779 were aiming for, but they hit what you can't 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:25.659 ignore by mistake. And what you can't ignore 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:28.620 is not always what you like. And it's not always 00:12:28.620 --> 00:12:30.600 what's good for you. It's just the thing you 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:32.840 can't look away from because it enrages you or 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.940 it makes you afraid or it. you know, makes you 00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:39.779 feel some kind of tribal connection to your quote 00:12:39.779 --> 00:12:43.019 unquote team. And that there's so much of that 00:12:43.019 --> 00:12:44.840 in our world right now. And, you know, technological 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:48.879 change often brings about some kind of upheaval. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:50.899 There was a lot of fake news at the beginning 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:52.639 of the printing press I've read, you know, so 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.580 there are some, there are some analogs, but we 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:56.960 definitely don't have our arms around it yet 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:00.779 as a society. And there's nobody I know who isn't 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:05.859 trying to use it less, who isn't trying to disconnect 00:13:05.859 --> 00:13:10.059 from those powerful tools that are dividing us. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:12.519 So that was our starting point lyrically. And 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:15.799 I think the first line we wrote was the first 00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:17.379 line of the song, why am I so addicted to the 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:20.460 bad news? And it went from there. And I feel 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:23.700 like all songwriting, all the best songs, all 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:26.940 my favorite songs, just as a music fan, find 00:13:26.940 --> 00:13:30.740 some personal... that ladders up to a universal 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:34.259 experience. And that's why love songs and breakup 00:13:34.259 --> 00:13:37.259 songs are so timeless because most people can 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:39.559 relate to them. This is something a lot of people, 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:42.259 unfortunately, can relate to right now. So, you 00:13:42.259 --> 00:13:44.220 know, hopefully it's striking a chord out there. 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:46.820 It did with me because the opening line, why 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:49.120 am I so addicted to bad news? I literally have 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.259 written in my bullet points as something that 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:56.019 I wanted to talk about. Yeah. What am I so afraid 00:13:56.019 --> 00:14:08.259 of? Why am I so confused? Why am I so addicted 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:18.980 to the bad news? Now as creatives, there is the 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:22.360 tension here because the song encourages stepping 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:26.240 back from social media. But at the same time, 00:14:26.730 --> 00:14:29.889 If you're a musician or a podcaster such as myself, 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:33.669 there's no social media is kind of part of the 00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:37.509 beast. Yeah. What do you think a healthy balance 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:41.389 looks like? Or maybe the better question is what 00:14:41.389 --> 00:14:46.440 balance do you personally try to aim for? Okay. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:48.779 So I don't want to get in trouble with meta, 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:51.779 which I am trying to use as a marketing platform. 00:14:52.179 --> 00:14:55.840 You and me both. Yeah. I uninstall it from my 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:59.279 phone every time after using it. And I only use 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:01.899 it for this. Meaning if you scroll through my, 00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:03.679 I used to, just like everybody, I used to post 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.759 pictures of my kids and my opinions. And I stopped 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:10.320 a long time ago because I felt like this is. 00:15:10.590 --> 00:15:12.690 tearing us apart and um i don't want to be a 00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:15.929 part of it so i use it as a tool to promote my 00:15:15.929 --> 00:15:19.149 music and to share my music i actually challenge 00:15:19.149 --> 00:15:21.750 the assumption that we all need it i i know none 00:15:21.750 --> 00:15:25.230 of us have the guts to try to go without it but 00:15:25.230 --> 00:15:27.950 i have noticed that i'll give you one anecdote 00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:33.230 i had one instagram reel go truly viral 5 .3 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:37.000 million views oh wow you know many multiples 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.320 more than my average or than the next highest 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:43.220 one you know i don't know why it was like chorus 00:15:43.220 --> 00:15:46.379 two of track seven of my last album you know 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:50.100 and i had already posted chorus one so you know 00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:52.960 that chorus had already had a shot on goal and 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:55.759 it didn't connect and i scrolled past it it was 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.639 like weeks later i'm like wait i think my mind 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.519 filled in 5 .3k because everything else is in 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.720 thousands and it was 5 .3m and i'm like what 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:08.419 And I clicked on it. But when I look on a calendar 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:12.259 at when that thing took off and had millions 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:14.940 of people evidently clicking on it, sharing on 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:18.440 it, commenting on it, liking it, I saw no correlative 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:23.480 spike on Spotify or Apple Music. I saw no correlative 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:27.799 spike in visits to my website. I call it a lamp 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:30.879 that lights only itself. I think that Instagram 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.139 is a lamp that doesn't shed light on other platforms. 00:16:34.809 --> 00:16:36.850 It doesn't radiate. It wants to keep you there. 00:16:36.909 --> 00:16:39.169 That's in their business interests. So they make 00:16:39.169 --> 00:16:41.070 it hard for you to leave. That's why they give 00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:43.230 you only one link in your bio, which is really 00:16:43.230 --> 00:16:45.750 frictiony and hard to find. They could make it 00:16:45.750 --> 00:16:47.549 really easy where like every post can have a 00:16:47.549 --> 00:16:49.590 link to the thing I want you to go do, the YouTube 00:16:49.590 --> 00:16:52.590 video or the Spotify track or wherever I want 00:16:52.590 --> 00:16:54.090 to take you. But they make that really hard because 00:16:54.090 --> 00:16:56.629 they want you to stay. So I feel like, okay, 00:16:56.769 --> 00:16:58.730 so it's another place where people heard a little 00:16:58.730 --> 00:17:00.370 piece of my song, at least. It's getting out 00:17:00.370 --> 00:17:03.309 there. Hopefully there's some reverberation from 00:17:03.309 --> 00:17:06.099 that. I can't prove it. So I don't know. We all 00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:07.599 do it because we feel like we all have to do 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.660 it. But as far as my consumption, I really try 00:17:11.660 --> 00:17:14.839 to stay as off as I can. I can't handle it. Every 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:18.079 time I install it to put up the next reel or 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.480 do whatever I have to do for my music, they know 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.920 I'm back. They serve up something. They know 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:24.380 that like, well, this is going to piss him off. 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:28.200 I have to click on it. And then I'm in it. And 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:30.799 sometimes an hour passes before I shake out of 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.980 it and uninstall it again. Well, I find it fascinating 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:35.799 that you say all that because it's something 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:38.079 that I've struggled with with this podcast, where 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:40.740 if you post a clip, yes, people might enjoy the 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:44.079 clip on Instagram or on any of the sites, but 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.720 then they don't go and actually listen to the 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.619 full conversation. Correct. And being a 25 -year 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:52.380 radio veteran, to me, it's all about the full 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:55.640 conversation or the full album listen or the 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.279 full song. And I don't know how old you are, 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.839 Brian, but I'm a 20th century animal. I care 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:03.900 about the albums. I care about the whole song. 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:07.200 I don't know that Mr. Listener or Mrs. Listener 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:08.900 out there really care about it as much as we 00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:11.279 do. And the way people are consuming music is 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:13.680 changing. Is it for the worse? I don't know. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.779 We all have our biases about what we grew up 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:18.220 with being the thing that we prefer. So of course, 00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:20.859 I think that's worse. And I still listen to stereo 00:18:20.859 --> 00:18:23.200 speakers with high resolution files or vinyl 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:27.019 too. But I guess I've come to peace with the 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:29.480 idea that wherever people connect with it and 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:31.039 however they connect with it is what I want. 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:34.299 You know, I've had people, you know, friends 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:37.500 say, I heard your new song and I'll always poke 00:18:37.500 --> 00:18:38.960 a little and go, oh, great. Awesome. Where'd 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.440 you listen to it? Oh, on Instagram. And I'm like, 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:43.799 well, then you haven't in my mind, you haven't 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:46.019 heard the song. You heard the second verse maybe, 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:48.339 you know, or you heard the guitar lead or the 00:18:48.339 --> 00:18:50.980 chorus or whatever that post was. But, um, but 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:53.019 that's okay. You know, people are good. We got 00:18:53.019 --> 00:18:54.759 to meet people where they are and music still 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:57.539 matters. And if it touches people, just hearing 00:18:57.539 --> 00:19:00.599 the clip, if your podcast, you know, connects 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:03.269 with someone. Just seeing the clip that you, 00:19:03.309 --> 00:19:05.890 you know, the brief portion of it that you post, 00:19:06.009 --> 00:19:08.430 that's still good content for them. You still 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:10.750 made them think. Well, I am going to embed the 00:19:10.750 --> 00:19:13.430 entire music video as well as the making of on 00:19:13.430 --> 00:19:16.450 the episode page over at myweeklymixtape .com. 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:18.690 If anybody listening wants to view the entire 00:19:18.690 --> 00:19:21.490 video for this song, I want to dive into the 00:19:21.490 --> 00:19:24.769 actual music part of this now, because in the 00:19:24.769 --> 00:19:28.289 making of it and the video itself, you see the 00:19:28.289 --> 00:19:31.500 band playing, you kind of get this feel. Can 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:33.460 you talk about the recording process? Was this 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:36.839 done live? Because it has a very live, vulnerable 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:40.220 feel to the track. And you had mentioned gospel 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:45.940 in that. I catch that from the performance. And 00:19:45.940 --> 00:19:47.920 I'd love to hear more about how the song came 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:53.240 together in the studio. Okay. So I know no other 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:55.960 gear than to be authentic. We were not recording 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:59.000 it the day that we filmed it. So we were playing 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:02.079 it. And, you know, it's funny, all those musicians 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.980 who are playing with me are all super experienced 00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:06.700 and they all commented on, hey, at least we were 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:08.220 playing it today. A lot of times I just come 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:10.420 in and lip sync, you know, and I guess that's 00:20:10.420 --> 00:20:13.220 fairly normal. But I to me, that felt like a 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:16.920 step too far in authenticity. So we we just played 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:19.140 it over and over again. And we had a great director 00:20:19.140 --> 00:20:22.859 and second cameraman there to capture it. And 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:25.279 so those moments are our moments where we are, 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:28.000 where the chemistry is real. You know, the moment 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.539 where. you know the drummer hits just at the 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:33.180 right moment in the chorus you know the lights 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:36.079 start to shine all of that's real and all that's 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:37.319 being captured and then of course there's an 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:38.960 editing process where you try to match the best 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.559 takes to you know but um it was important to 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:43.420 me that we all actually be plugged in and playing 00:20:43.420 --> 00:20:46.920 it but it wasn't that wasn't the day we recorded 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:48.359 and that actually wasn't the room we recorded 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:51.059 it in the recording process was actually more 00:20:51.059 --> 00:20:54.079 in pieces and the the reason for that was because 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:57.220 we started aloe and i in this room with a writing 00:20:57.220 --> 00:21:01.990 session And for me, as the technology has progressed 00:21:01.990 --> 00:21:04.869 and the writing process and the production process 00:21:04.869 --> 00:21:08.390 have become very intertwined because you have 00:21:08.390 --> 00:21:11.890 the ability now to stick a mic in front of an 00:21:11.890 --> 00:21:14.130 amp and capture something at a really high level 00:21:14.130 --> 00:21:16.849 of quality as you're writing it. And sometimes 00:21:16.849 --> 00:21:18.450 you go back and replay it. And sometimes you're 00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:19.730 like, yeah, that first take was pretty good. 00:21:19.950 --> 00:21:23.789 So Aloe and I had a full session where we wrote 00:21:23.789 --> 00:21:26.109 it and we came up with at least big pieces of 00:21:26.109 --> 00:21:28.710 it together. And then there was, you know, a 00:21:28.710 --> 00:21:31.309 month of me kind of sweating through piecing 00:21:31.309 --> 00:21:33.690 together, trying different instrumentations. 00:21:33.690 --> 00:21:35.349 And then there was, you know, his involvement, 00:21:35.529 --> 00:21:38.549 commenting and adding things as we went. But 00:21:38.549 --> 00:21:40.170 it really kind of went piece by piece. And then 00:21:40.170 --> 00:21:43.369 for me, there's also a process where I know enough 00:21:43.369 --> 00:21:47.069 on my instrument is guitar and singing. I know 00:21:47.069 --> 00:21:49.710 enough behind a drum set and enough behind a 00:21:49.710 --> 00:21:52.690 keyboard to be dangerous, but not to be it's 00:21:52.690 --> 00:21:54.890 not professional grade. So I'll usually get kind 00:21:54.890 --> 00:21:57.769 of a thumbnail sketch down of what I'm hearing 00:21:57.769 --> 00:22:00.650 on the drums or what I'm hearing on the keyboards, 00:22:00.910 --> 00:22:05.390 but that almost always bring in much better players 00:22:05.390 --> 00:22:08.390 than me. And so Michael Chavez on the lead guitar, 00:22:08.809 --> 00:22:12.009 Blair Cinta on the drums, Nir Russell on the 00:22:12.009 --> 00:22:15.190 piano, Will Hensley, who you met earlier, my 00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:17.630 engineer, he actually is an excellent guitar 00:22:17.630 --> 00:22:20.609 player as well, and he contributed. Those other 00:22:20.609 --> 00:22:23.329 musicians always make my work better. And it's 00:22:23.329 --> 00:22:25.250 almost like you have to remind yourself you're 00:22:25.250 --> 00:22:30.069 not good enough. Don't think that this demo is 00:22:30.069 --> 00:22:32.710 good enough. And sometimes you do. Sometimes 00:22:32.710 --> 00:22:34.869 you're like, oh, it's pretty good as is. And 00:22:34.869 --> 00:22:36.490 then you bring in Blair Sinton and you're always 00:22:36.490 --> 00:22:38.670 surprised. Oh my God, he brought so much to the 00:22:38.670 --> 00:22:40.849 party. You bring in Michael Chavez and he does 00:22:40.849 --> 00:22:42.190 things that you would have never thought to do 00:22:42.190 --> 00:22:43.750 because that's where they have their 10 ,000 00:22:43.750 --> 00:22:45.769 hours, not where I have mine. I have mine as 00:22:45.769 --> 00:22:48.509 a writer and as a singer and maybe as a rhythm 00:22:48.509 --> 00:22:51.099 guitarist. But people who think about nothing 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:52.539 but playing the guitar, they're going to bring 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:54.920 better ideas to your stuff. And I always want 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:58.779 my stuff to be elevated by other people. Well, 00:22:58.819 --> 00:23:01.119 For Real is the first glimpse of your upcoming 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:03.859 album, More Is Not The Answer, which is arriving 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:08.319 in 2026. Musically, how does this track set the 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:10.279 tone for the rest of the album? Because we talked 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:13.359 about the difference in genres from your last 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:16.269 efforts. Does it line up with the overall sound 00:23:16.269 --> 00:23:19.349 where you're headed? Or is this more of a standalone 00:23:19.349 --> 00:23:24.049 moment in the bigger picture? I got very, I felt 00:23:24.049 --> 00:23:26.450 like that conversation I referenced earlier where 00:23:26.450 --> 00:23:28.750 Aloe and I were talking about what genre is this 00:23:28.750 --> 00:23:32.829 going to be in? That was a great conversation 00:23:32.829 --> 00:23:35.569 for the song For Real that we wrote together. 00:23:35.869 --> 00:23:39.109 And it turned out to be a really great conversation 00:23:39.109 --> 00:23:42.980 for me as an artist. because it pushed me out 00:23:42.980 --> 00:23:46.579 of a comfort zone that i've always stayed in 00:23:46.579 --> 00:23:50.440 which is that kind of very honest roots rock 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:55.140 folk vibe and for me there's almost like a religion 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:57.339 towards that and it's always like you want to 00:23:57.339 --> 00:23:58.799 be you want the players in the room together 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.440 you want the mics on the instrument you don't 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:03.640 want anything synthetic or inauthentic and with 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:06.279 for real suddenly i'm playing with soundscapes 00:24:06.279 --> 00:24:09.019 and i'm playing with more produced elements than 00:24:09.019 --> 00:24:10.920 I ever have before. And I actually really liked 00:24:10.920 --> 00:24:12.539 it. And I actually thought it took my kind of 00:24:12.539 --> 00:24:15.660 folky introspective songwriting and put it on 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:17.880 a little bit of a more elevated scale. So the 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:19.940 rest of the album is attempting to stay in that 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:22.480 lane. You know, it wouldn't go on the album otherwise, 00:24:22.700 --> 00:24:25.140 you know, it wouldn't, it would be such an outlier 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:28.240 if you went from that song back to finger pick 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.279 guitar, you know, in a room with three other 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:33.039 guys, you know, it just felt like, okay, this 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:34.880 is a new lane that I'm going to stay in. And 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.509 so all the other songs. have that production 00:24:37.509 --> 00:24:40.750 vibe and hopefully you can intuit a little bit 00:24:40.750 --> 00:24:43.490 from the name more is not the answer the themes 00:24:43.490 --> 00:24:46.390 of for real are themes that you know appear throughout 00:24:46.390 --> 00:24:48.490 the album as well you know not not everything's 00:24:48.490 --> 00:24:49.950 about the phone not everything's about division 00:24:49.950 --> 00:24:55.809 but i just observed in my life the things i've 00:24:55.809 --> 00:24:58.529 gotten happier and happier in recent years by 00:24:58.529 --> 00:25:01.529 the things i'm doing less of not the things i'm 00:25:01.529 --> 00:25:04.890 adding to my life it's addition by subtraction 00:25:05.309 --> 00:25:08.529 And that's sort of the theme of the album. And, 00:25:08.609 --> 00:25:12.750 you know, we have a lot more than we used to 00:25:12.750 --> 00:25:15.869 as a society. We have more news, but we're less 00:25:15.869 --> 00:25:19.730 informed. We have more entertainment, but we're 00:25:19.730 --> 00:25:22.630 more bored. We have more ways to connect, quote 00:25:22.630 --> 00:25:25.549 unquote, but we're lonelier and, you know, more 00:25:25.549 --> 00:25:28.190 disconnected. So a lot of the things that are 00:25:28.190 --> 00:25:30.549 supposed to be providing more are actually delivering 00:25:30.549 --> 00:25:34.380 less. And so the album is really about recalibrating 00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:39.000 for that new reality. Awesome. Awesome. Well, 00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:41.480 since this show is called My Weekly Mixtape, 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:43.619 I'd like to bring this full circle, if you don't 00:25:43.619 --> 00:25:48.000 mind. If you had to put together a five song 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.880 playlist, we'll call it a playlist. Okay. That 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:53.839 tells somebody everything they need to know about 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:58.039 Eric Hirschberg, the music fan. What five songs 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:02.490 would you pick and why? Okay, well, let's see. 00:26:02.769 --> 00:26:05.849 If I was just going to try to squint and pick 00:26:05.849 --> 00:26:08.369 my five biggest influences, you know, that kind 00:26:08.369 --> 00:26:11.410 of are in there, I would have to pick a Tom Waits 00:26:11.410 --> 00:26:15.509 song. I would probably pick Gun Street Girl by 00:26:15.509 --> 00:26:19.549 Tom Waits. I would have to pick a Rolling Stones 00:26:19.549 --> 00:26:23.630 song. It would probably be Gimme Shelter, which 00:26:23.630 --> 00:26:25.390 was also the first song I ever put in a Call 00:26:25.390 --> 00:26:28.230 of Duty commercial, by the way. The very first 00:26:28.230 --> 00:26:31.200 There's a Soldier in All of Us ad. a classic 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:35.720 um i think there would i think um there's do 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:39.039 you know josh ritter yep uh he has a song called 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:43.259 the curse which just i can't listen to it without 00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:47.720 tearing up and uh it's just i often think at 00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:50.420 their best songs can be little movies you know 00:26:50.420 --> 00:26:54.220 little epic journeys and i don't know that i've 00:26:54.220 --> 00:26:55.720 ever accomplished that with one of my songs but 00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:57.220 i always try to channel that and i feel like 00:26:57.220 --> 00:27:00.710 that song is a is like the odyssey in a three 00:27:00.710 --> 00:27:03.069 and a half minute pop song. It just takes me 00:27:03.069 --> 00:27:07.750 on such a journey. Um, I would say, uh, God, 00:27:07.849 --> 00:27:11.470 I really admired Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes. Maybe 00:27:11.470 --> 00:27:15.329 that Western skyline. Ooh, nice. Or maybe may 00:27:15.329 --> 00:27:17.230 all your favorite bands stay together. You know, 00:27:17.250 --> 00:27:20.930 he has a wink and a humor. He's a really deep 00:27:20.930 --> 00:27:24.089 writer. Oh yeah. But there's humor in his stuff. 00:27:24.109 --> 00:27:26.589 And I, I, I've chanted, I've like, and I love 00:27:26.589 --> 00:27:29.130 not drinking and a couple of other songs. I've. 00:27:29.369 --> 00:27:32.789 added a little bit of a wink that i sort of i 00:27:32.789 --> 00:27:35.910 feel like i learn a lot from him and then i'd 00:27:35.910 --> 00:27:39.430 have to probably pick there's maybe aretha franklin's 00:27:39.430 --> 00:27:42.869 well that whole album of um you know i never 00:27:42.869 --> 00:27:45.509 loved a man the way that i love you i can't remember 00:27:45.509 --> 00:27:48.190 the name of the album but aretha is a huge influence 00:27:48.190 --> 00:27:51.250 of mine there's also there's a bunch of soul 00:27:51.250 --> 00:27:52.890 that's why al and i got on well there's a bunch 00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:55.450 of al green in there there's a bunch of marvin 00:27:55.450 --> 00:27:57.670 gaye in there i don't know does that give you 00:27:58.460 --> 00:28:01.220 But then I completely left out Pink Floyd, which 00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:03.359 is hugely influential on me. And I completely 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:07.019 left out all the other folk artists. Paul Simon 00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:10.220 is a huge influence on me. I don't know. That's 00:28:10.220 --> 00:28:12.299 why I saved the tough questions for last. That's 00:28:12.299 --> 00:28:15.920 a tough one, man. That is a tough one. The other 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:18.079 thing is that I didn't mention any female artists. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:22.000 And a lot of my intake is female artists. Like 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:23.839 I'm obsessed with Lorde right now. I'm obsessed 00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:25.839 with the new. Have you heard the new Florence 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:28.519 and the Machine record? Oh yeah. Oh my God. It's 00:28:28.519 --> 00:28:30.799 like a, it's like reading the Bible. Like, I 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.920 don't know how she, she has such a scale to her 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:37.700 drama and you just get pulled in the awake, you 00:28:37.700 --> 00:28:41.500 know, with no skis. So like a lot, a lot of female 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:44.019 artists have been hugely influential on me as 00:28:44.019 --> 00:28:46.980 well. Liz Fair, who's also a friend, her stuff 00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:50.859 is so confessional and so kind of like outrageously 00:28:50.859 --> 00:28:55.890 unguarded and personal. She pushed me very early 00:28:55.890 --> 00:28:59.109 on, you know, many years ago, like, yeah, you 00:28:59.109 --> 00:29:00.930 got some talent, but you're not going deep enough. 00:29:01.089 --> 00:29:02.589 You know, like you're, you're, you're pulling 00:29:02.589 --> 00:29:04.890 the punches. I don't even know what this lyric 00:29:04.890 --> 00:29:07.289 means. You know, she was the first one to say, 00:29:07.329 --> 00:29:08.950 no, if you want to look, you know, you don't 00:29:08.950 --> 00:29:10.410 have to do this, but if you want to be a songwriter, 00:29:10.430 --> 00:29:12.529 you can really put yourself out there. And I 00:29:12.529 --> 00:29:14.109 feel like I have done that. You know, I feel 00:29:14.109 --> 00:29:16.769 like, I don't know whether it's been worth it. 00:29:16.789 --> 00:29:18.230 I don't know whether it connects with people, 00:29:18.289 --> 00:29:20.910 but I've gotten very personal and very comfortable, 00:29:20.970 --> 00:29:23.980 you know. being unguarded. And again, just kind 00:29:23.980 --> 00:29:25.579 of like the story I told about putting it out 00:29:25.579 --> 00:29:27.640 there in the first place, everyone's like, Oh, 00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:30.740 cool. It's very personal song, you know? So, 00:29:30.819 --> 00:29:34.180 um, you know, you're always, the voices in your 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:36.680 head are always way more scared than the, than 00:29:36.680 --> 00:29:40.519 the reality I find. Well, for real is available 00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:43.759 now on all streaming platforms and Eric's third 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:46.599 album. More is not. The answer is set to arrive 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:49.599 in 2026. Eric, thank you so much for joining 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:51.980 me today on my weekly mixtape. I really enjoyed 00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:54.240 it, Brian. Thank you. Great questions. And remember, 00:29:54.359 --> 00:29:57.000 you can hear the song over on the episode page 00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:59.819 at myweeklymixtape .com. And while you're there, 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:02.400 you can visit the contact page to send in any 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:04.819 ideas you'd like to hear on future episodes of 00:30:04.819 --> 00:30:07.319 the show. You can also reach out to me on social 00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:11.240 media at myweeklymixtape. And you can connect 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:14.500 with the Mixtaper community at patreon .com forward 00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:17.509 slash. My Weekly Mixtape. It's free to join, 00:30:17.589 --> 00:30:19.549 and there's several tiers if you'd like to support 00:30:19.549 --> 00:30:22.609 the show a little bit extra. My name is Brian 00:30:22.609 --> 00:30:25.630 Colburn. This has been My Weekly Mixtape. Enjoy 00:30:25.630 --> 00:30:27.890 listening to For Real, and I'll see you next 00:30:27.890 --> 00:30:28.650 time. Take care.