I have a I was gonna after the third or fourth episode, I ran out of stuff to talk about on my I can't hear you. So I just got guests lined up for the rest here on out. And, How'd you get involved here? At youth. I'm part of their fellowship.

Okay. So they have, like, all their regular programs, and then the fellowship is when they started, I think, three or four years ago. I think three years ago. And it's more oriented for, like because all the other ones kinda cap off at '21. Right.

So this one's, like, '18 to '24. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. And, it's just Do you get a lot from you, StarWalker? Do I get a lot?

It's Do you get a lot? I mean, you know, like, I don't mean that in a, like, what do you get? Yeah. You know, more or less, like, do you feel like it's helped you? Oh, definitely.

Just I've only been involved for a few months now. And, I already had, like I performed for the block party. That was my first performance in Oh, right on. Probably a year or so, and the best performance that I've given, I think. And so it was also my first paid performance, which was nice.

The fellowship has kinda take like, it's, like, been a slow start, but there's definitely like, it goes till September, so there's time for it to take off still. But, I'd say it's put me in the correct mental space that I need to be in as far as, like, the knowledge that the fellowship has given me. I'm kinda still waiting on that, like, to kick in and stuff. But it's definitely showed me, like, guided me to, like, this is what you should be considering and looking for if you're really trying to start a career in music. Music.

And, and that's been something that I needed because for the longest time, you I mean, it's just easy to take music as art rather than, like Yeah. I mean, that there's a fine line Yeah. Between capitalism and art. But from a young age, you get told, like, it's a one in a million shot to be successful in music. Right.

You know? And so you take that to heart, and you kinda just start doing it for fun. Well, yeah. And then Nobody ever teaches you how to make money from it. Exactly.

And so that's what the fellowship is about. Thank you very much. Mhmm. How's your morning going? Good.

Did you play last night? Yeah. I played it on on the farm. Oh, right on. Yeah.

That's cool. I would love to play this Check. Check. Check. City.

So You say it. You say Out of yeah. To exist in Yeah. Right? I would like to play some out of city gigs.

My goal one of my goals this year is to play a cruise ship. I was like, I wanna do one of those music cruises. Because I know friends who do them. Speak into my good ear, sir. This is step one is yours.

Number eight. Okay. Wonderful. What are you doing after this? Oh, no.

What are you doing after this? I might go check out Wes. He's doing brunch at the baby's. Oh, he is? Yeah.

I wonder if I have one. Later tonight. That's the super jam. My bad. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. He's got his tooth fairy thing. Oh. Chug chug. Yeah.

That's tonight. I didn't even know about that. I know. Right? Playing music for teeth.

That's Mhmm. That's the struggle, though. Right? Playing music for teeth? Yeah.

He's trying to raise money to get some new teeth? Yeah. He needs to get a tooth pulled or something, and his insurance won't cover it. So he's having a fundraiser for his tooth. It's cold.

I know. It's called, like, the tooth fairy show or something. Dude, it was too clever. I know. Yeah.

He was just being smart. Wes. Are we recording? Cool. Dude, I'm so excited to have you guys here.

Thank you guys for being here. You're welcome. Thanks for having us. Introductions. Oh, first, shout out to Youth On Record.

This is another episode of Let's Get Busy with your boy Juice Busy, and we are here at the Youth On Record Studios. They have opened up their doors for me once again. I don't know why they keep letting me in, but they do. So I'm grateful. And, as always, you know, Tenth And Osage, come check them out.

If you're young artists and you're looking to expand your knowledge or you're just looking for a creative space, please come down. There's many programs available. There's open labs available. I'll give those times at the end of the show, just to make you stay till the end. And thank you, Jesus Rodriguez, for recording and engineering once again.

Alright. I'm here with the lovely and powerful artists, Felix Fast Forward and Lady Gang, also known as I forgot. I was gonna ask you how to pronounce both of your last names before I would like to know how to pronounce your last name. Felix Ayodele. Ayodele.

Okay. That's how I was gonna pronounce it. Yes. Really? I you know, I feel I'm always, like, I just look up I have to look you up by the a, so I'm just like, Felix.

Yeah. The real social. I think I say, like, Adelaide. Adelaide in my brain. Is he, like Which is really bad.

I just got mad about somebody the other day texting me and being like, how do you wanna be on the show? And they spelled my last name totally wrong. Alright. And I'd been talking to them for months, and I was like, man, you don't even know my name. But now I feel like the circle is complete.

Wow. Comes back around. Ayodele. Ayodele. Oh, that's pretty.

Oh. Mine's Cordy. Cordy? Okay. I didn't know if it was Corte or Cordy.

Yeah. I take I'll take Corte or Cordy all day. Just don't call me Cort. Mhmm. Corte.

That's a good guess. Court. Wow. The laziness, Or Jen Gordy. So if they're like, is that, like, Gordy?

I'm like, no. I'm just I'm a mumble mumble speaker. I'm trying to eat this mic. Hey. Yo.

You were kinda born for hip hop because you got ayo in your last name. I accept. Yes. Awesome. Okay.

So, yes. Felix Ayodele. Right? Mhmm. Jen Corti.

Felix goes by Felix Fast Forward. Mhmm. Jen Corti goes by Lady Gang. She also has do you still make music with Jenn and the Lost? Yes.

She has her band, Jenn and the Lost. Beautiful beautiful music. So I'm kind of even a little nervous because you guys are, like, inspiration to me. You guys are, two of my favorite musicians, not only locally, but just that I know in the world. So I appreciate you guys coming in and taking the time to talk to me, and let me get to know you a little better.

I think I'll start off with, you know, just jumping right in. And you guys are both, like, looping musicians. You guys use loops, and you create all your own sound. And that's beautiful. That's interesting, and it's captivating, probably very difficult.

And so I just wanna know what got you guys attracted into doing that on your own. Oh, you wanna start with it? Let me think. I think there's a few reasons for me. I was somebody left a loop pedal at my house.

Mhmm. And I would just mess around with it every now and then. And then I started playing breweries outside of the city to to just to make extra money. I was like, I'll go play in the boonies and started taking it with me and just so because I was bored. I'm, like, here for three hours.

Nobody's listening. I'll just, you know, play lead guitar to myself in the corner for a bit. And, that just grew my curiosity for it grew into writing with it and using it as a writing tool. And then there's, I mean, there's a lot of technical decisions about it too. You know?

It's one person. You're not having to split as much money or rely on as many people to show up or whose availability. Mhmm. I also am a perfectionist. I'll practice for hours and hours and hours.

So I'm, like, kinda the only person that can hang with myself Mhmm. On that level. I think Felix can too. We've definitely Yeah. Played for hours and hours and hours.

But so part of it was that, and then I don't know. It's an ever changing thing. You know? Your setup is ever changing. I started learning a lot more about gear.

I had spent probably three or four years not really gigging as much and kinda just complacent about music. And so to stay connected with it, I started learning logic and how to record demos, and that helped me on my engineering side of things, which definitely translates to live music because I Felix has, a computer, and he does a lot of digital stuff, and I don't do any digital stuff. So my if I have drum files or learning how to bounce those or just learning how to engineer myself live because the sound guy has no control over what I'm doing. And, I think those two, like, learning how to engineer a demo or a track definitely takes place in the live sound engineering of myself. So Is that on purpose that the sound guy has no control?

Is that something you prefer? I've tried it a couple different ways. I've tried it where I could program my my loop pedal to where I have three banks. So we're one bank you know, one bank is guitar and main vocal. The second bank is drums and bass, and the third bank is, like, extra texture stuff.

And I can send them to different outs of the loop pedal so he has different tracks, but it's just not as full. So it's easier for me to send everything as one signal to them, which they hate. Some guys either love it or they hate it. They're they're either like, oh, I don't have to do anything tonight. Or they're like, well, you mean I don't have any control.

So, you know, they hate it. Yeah. Yeah. They see all my gadgets. They're like, oh, what what are we gonna even do?

You know? They just freak out. Do you get that? You probably don't get that. I I actually moved, like, it used to be to where the loop station was taking, like, full control, but then I once I moved to the having the computer to take more, it it wasn't it hasn't been like that.

Yeah. Mhmm. Yeah. So I don't know. It all it's also cool.

I mean, also for me, I know I'll be consistent. Mhmm. So no matter where I play, I always bring my own speakers even if I leave them in the car because you just don't know what you're showing up to sometimes, and I always wanna sound huge and big. Mhmm. So it's important for me to to, yeah, have that control because, you you know, if you don't have a relationship with the sound engineer and they don't know you Yeah.

It's also sometimes hard. I don't know if it's a female thing or if it's just a thing Right. When you show up with all these gadgets for them to do what you want them to do Right. Instead of do what they think you should do. So yeah.

Yeah. I can relate to that, just on the level of, like, when when I wanna work on a song, like, because I we were talking about it beforehand. Like, I don't know how to engineer or produce, and so, like, I kinda have to rely on other people's knowledge and, what they know how to do. And it's just, like, it'd be so much easier, like, if I could just handle it all myself or at least know the language and explain to them, like, this is what needs to be done. So I get that it makes it easier.

Is there any artistic reasons why, you were looking to sorta sorta make a transition into being able to do it by yourself? I don't know if it was if looping per se, like, that specific setup is related to it artistically. It's kind of a door that opened for me to step into different genres Mhmm. That I wasn't that I can't do with The Lost. The Lost is an Americana band and with some Latin roots to it and some blues roots to it.

So a lot of what I'm doing with Lady Gang just doesn't fit into that. So yeah. And I I yeah. I guess it was a very empowering tool for me to be like, this if I were making music by myself and I were my own band, here's what I would sound like. Yeah.

You know? Which is cool. Sometimes it's a double edged sword. You're like, well, it kinda it would kinda be cool to see what Felix would do with it or what a drummer would do with it or these things. So sometimes it can feel limiting, but for the most part, it it's very freeing because I can just take somebody through a sound journey that I've totally created, and feel confident in my, like, especially my guitar playing to get there, which has taken me a long time to be confident and be like, no.

I'm gonna I'm gonna take the solo. You know? I I wanna, you know, I wanna create layers and layers and layers of guitar because I I started playing music to play guitar. I I was I never wanted to be a singer. Right?

I didn't like singing in front of people. I was terrified of it. And, so I always wanted to play guitar the most. And in a band, sometimes I can't do that. I'm you're like the general.

You're holding you're holding it down rhythmically. You're queuing people in. You're resolving the song. You know? So looping kinda lets me be free in that sense.

And it's weird. It's kind of a it's like a it's like a invisible box because you're still in within the layers that you've created, but you can, I don't know, take it where you wanna go? Yeah. Yeah? I'm a I figured with that big time.

Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. She said a lot of things that resonated with me, the aspect about being able to hear your own ideas all the way through. Mhmm.

Because in a band, you know, if you're not the leader, then, you know, some of your ideas can be like, oh, well, I'm not feeling that right now or something. Yeah. But then when you're on your own, you're like, oh, I can explore this. So that's there's kind of a freedom in that. Also, especially for myself, when I started with the looping stuff, for some reason, I feel like I can play better over my own progressions or something.

And, like, there's, like, a a deeper, like, harmonic, familiarity with the things that I come up with. So it's like, I oh, I know how to, you know, solo over that because of I came up with it. You know? Something like that. Versus, like, somebody in your band is giving you, oh, check out this bass line, and you're like, I I'm not really used to that particular harmony or something like that.

So I think that's another part of the freedom is because your your whole mind thought up the whole thing. So That's cool. Yeah. How long have you been living, Felix? Oh, since That's a good question.

February and, like, maybe two? Damn. Really? Yeah. Wow.

Probably early. No. Yeah. Definitely 02/2002. Dang.

I would say so. No wonder you're like doctor Luke. That's true. Well, YouTube. I've I've only, like, four years into this.

No. Five years into this. Yeah. Okay. So it's just late to the game.

You just started performing live, or have you been performing live, looping the entire time? I mean, I've always you mean what do you mean? I've always been performing live music. No. Like your looping.

The looping. Yeah. Probably, like, two years. Mhmm. This is I have debuted Lady Gang in Denver last summer.

Right? Oh, you know what it is? It's weird. We can tell the hours that you're putting in. That's what you mean.

Yeah. Well, like well, you know, I it's like memories from a year ago, and all these things pop up. And I'm like, it's only been a year. Wow. Like, you know?

And then sometimes I'm like, oh, I wish I had done those things this summer. Because, like, I've gotten so much better at it. You know? At first, I was like, just anxious, you know, and nervous. And I did, like, some live performances and live tape sessions where you're like, you're feeling that anxiety.

But now it's all gone now. You know? I've I'm, like, super comfortable in it. Was that from the scene or actually just the execution of the ideas? The actual technical execution.

Gotcha. Yeah. How's that been, coming in, like, with this new identity as Lady Gang into the city that you had already built a reputation in, as a band? It works in some ways. In other ways, it doesn't.

I'm actually thinking about changing my name because I know. There's a But I love it. But there's a there I know. I love it too, and I can't come up with anything. There's, a national podcast Mhmm.

Called Lady Gang. Oh. Is it cop is it trademarked? I don't know. You gotta trademark it first.

I know, but I I know. It's so hard to I think it is. It's, like, really wealthy white women that do this, like I don't know. Well, I never heard of them. Yeah.

And people could start sending me messages. You know? There's this podcast, and then if you it just makes me really hard to find. So that's my number one. Really?

Because when I Google Lady Gang, you're the first thing that pops up. Really? Yes. Because I it's like if I don't put Lady Gang Denver or Lady Gang music, it's Lady Gang podcast and then Lady Gaga stuff all pops up, especially on streaming services. So I don't know.

I've been I've been, like, in the trenches thinking about changing my name, like, all week. Right. Just sitting there trying different logos, different things. Well, this is your journey, but it would make me sad. I know.

I I really kinda wanna keep it. Because I when I learned what the meaning behind the gang was Mhmm. I was like, that's awesome. Because so do you wanna say? Yeah.

Just like a lady and her gang of instruments. Right. Yeah. And at first, when I heard it, I was like because we met at the showcase and you performed. That was the first time I heard it.

And so I was just like, oh, it's because she's one person, but she's still a gang, like, still Yeah. An empowered female, like, getting up there and, like, that's pretty much exactly what it is because you're an empowered feminist. Thinking about that name too. Like, I googled the actual meaning of gang Mhmm. Because it can take such a negative connotation to it, and I really wanted to think about it.

And it really was more or less saying a group of a group of people coming together to make themselves feel empowered. Mhmm. And so that's why I felt good about it was, you know, putting the positive exactly it. I feel very empowered by my little gadgets around me. Mhmm.

Mhmm. Great. Felix, you started off as a b boy Mhmm. Back in the day. I did not know that you've been looping since 02/2002.

Because how long you how long when did you start b boying and then you transitioned to being a a DJ scratching. Right? Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.

I wanna say in Houston, there was, like, a resurgence of all this, like, cool '80 stuff, and hip hop became a thing where I lived. And I was going to a, art magnet school. Mhmm. And, I mean, that was my only, like, connection to music at that point. I don't think I had a a a Walkman or a CD player until I was, like, in my late teens or something.

So being able to have, like, this access to all this music going to these, man, where we go? We're going to and freaking just getting a b boy. Houston, man. Making it happen. It's like reggaeton and metal and shit.

That's it. Exactly. Yeah. Is that where you're from Houston? Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. You're from Texas too? Yeah. Yeah.

So you got the Texas connection over here. Well, there's so much in common here. It's just driving me nuts. And this is why because I was thinking about I was like, I want it to be I want the podcast to be personal. And so I was like, I don't know if bringing two people on at the same time, but the more I learned about each of you is, like, there's just so much in common here.

Like, it's just and you guys make music together already. Mhmm. So, like, just flows perfectly. What part of Texas are you from? Temple.

Temple? My whole family lives in Houston now. Okay. Yeah. Temple's, like, three hours from Houston north north some ish.

Somewhere in there. It's an hour above Austin. Mhmm. So it's a good part of Texas. Okay.

When I moved here I moved here in 02/2005. You tell people you're from Texas. They're like, you know, just like George Bush. You know? I'm like, I'm not related to him.

It's because I'm from Texas. They hate they hate Texans here. Texas is so good. There's so many aspects of Texas. Like, my daughter's mom is from El Paso, from Austin, which is probably completely different from Houston.

Like Yeah. I've never been, so I don't know. But from what I've heard, it's it sounds like it's just It's a bunch of little countries. Yeah. Alright.

Really? Are you gonna visit? Oh, I'm sure I will. I mean, my my plan is to tour The US One Day. So, you know, I'm sure I'll get up there.

Speak it in. We could spend a whole week just in Texas. Yeah. Mhmm. That'd be great.

Yeah. Because there's so many huge cities out there. Yeah. Austin is the live music capital of the world, and I was gonna go to college out there, but then decided not to. But yeah.

What brought you guys to Colorado? You guys could decide who goes first. But so around that DJing period, we my friends in Houston, we were some sweaty boys in the basement just trying to scratch. Mhmm. Like, mixing parties and playing songs for people were not.

That was not what we wanted to do. We wanted to do what we seen on the DMC tapes. We wanted to build routines. We wanted to just get crazy, crazy, crazy with it. And so, one of my friends who is, in the Lost Arts crew, that was, like, one of my, original, like, scratch DJ crews.

He moved out here for business, and he asked me, did I wanna go visit him in he in, Denver? I was like, yeah. Sure. I've never been, and there was a lot of things that were wrapping itself up. Like, I think our relationship had just ended or something.

So I just had all this, like, okay. Well, let's let's do it. Who knows? And so once I seen these mountains, I was like, I'm not going anywhere. Yeah.

It's just enchanted. Yeah. That's funny because you have the line, I'm not really a mountain girl, but ended up in a long landlocked world. Mhmm. And then it gets into my favorite part of the song, which that we'll get into later because I really wanna know what it means because I because I'd be belting it out with you.

But, like, I'm just like, I don't know what she means by this, but it's so beautiful. So what had made you wanna stick around, and what brought you out here in the first place? Oh, man. I keep trying to leave, and I keep coming back. I was dating this girl.

I was living in Waco, Texas. Yeah. Fresh. Working for Dell Computers. I was making a ton of money doing sales.

I didn't start playing music like, guitar till I was 18. So I was, like, just starting out, self taught, and playing kinda had a two piece band. We were trying to play in Austin. I had all my first gigs were in Austin where you get paid, like, $10. You know?

Like, good job. Mhmm. And I was just, yeah, just really weird time in my life. But, so I was dating this woman, and, we had a little place together. And she came up to Denver to help her sister out with some family stuff and then called me and was like, I'm not coming back.

So she been gone three weeks. Yeah. I know. Exactly. That was my face.

Yeah. Felix and I. I was like, what? I was like, what? What?

And she had a, you know, very serious drinking problem, a very serious drinking problem, which comes into play later in the story. But I so I was devastated. I had to move back in with my parents. It was very humbling. I was, like, waiting tables at Buffalo Wild Wings in Killeen, Texas, which is a pit hole.

And she convinced me to we would go to this folk festival every summer, Kerrville Folk Festival. Have you heard of that? Mhmm. Oh, Felix, we gotta go. But it's like I don't know.

It's this weird songwriters festival. It's pretty magical. And so she was like, why don't you pack everything in your car that you need? This I left on March 31. I remember because it was my mom's birthday.

I'm a selfish selfish child. I left on my mom's birthday with pretty much everything I own in my car and my instruments to stay for, like, three weeks, and then we were gonna drive to Texas and go to the festival. And then I was gonna stay in Texas. But I got here and started staying with her, and then she couldn't pay rent. So all the money I had saved to come here, I gave to her for rent.

And at that point, I was kinda stuck here. So, I stayed. I, like, lived in this little apartment off, Bayard. I don't think I've ever talked about any of this, really. And she exclusive.

Yeah. She continued to just, like, rage and drink and rage and drink and got getting arrested and things like that. So I kinda had to make the decision to stay and get my own place and save up money to leave again. Mhmm. But it was easier to gig here because, you know, I was close to Austin.

So as you said, it's the music capital of the world, so it's a very pay to play Mhmm. Place. And, as soon as I got here, I, you know, played a couple songs at house parties, and people are like, oh, you should play this or you should play that. And so I started gigging, and then, I don't know, just started living in Denver. I just found myself in Denver.

And then I, you know, I started meeting I started making friends and finding musicians and started the loss in, like, 02/2008, but I came here in 02/2005. So, yeah, I've tried to leave a couple times, but I kept coming back, I think, because my community is here. My music community is here. But, yeah, that fight between I've always wanted to live by the beach. Mhmm.

And then I I fell in love with a woman from here, and we're married. And we've been together almost ten years. And Beautiful. You know, like, she's from here. So she's like, no.

I'm a mountain girl, which I think is funny because we don't go to the mountains. Like, we don't ski, you know, and snowboard. We don't hike. She's like, yeah. But they're pretty.

I'm like, woah. Tell me you're a mountain or a mountain. Mountain. Yeah. We call it we call it urban hiking where we, like, go drive.

I'm like, let's go for a urban hike where we just drive. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah. I I was probably the same way.

I never I never, like, snowboarded until I lived in Taos for, like, four months. And then when I was in Taos is the first time I ever went up on top of a mountain and snowboarded. And I lived in Denver my entire life. Yeah. I've been snowboarding one time.

Yeah. Have you been snowboarding? Never. Never. Yeah.

So fun. What was the learning curve like? Oh my god. So I went I went up and I was like so they got the Bunny Hill, then they have green, which is like beginner snowboarder, but you know what you're doing. Like bunny hills for learning, then they got blue and black and then black diamonds and all that.

And it gets more difficult, more difficult. So I went up to a green right away because I was like, there's no better way to learn than to just throw yourself. Just go for it. Down a mountain. And I fell the entire Wow.

Way down. Like, it was almost like a spiritual experience Yes. Because you're at the top of the mountain. You have no way to get down. Like, I mean, you could call for help, but why call for help?

You know? Like, you're not hurt. So, like, I fell as soon as I got off the lift. And then I fell off the lift. Yeah.

They had to stop the lift. Oh, no. I was like, holy. When I was with my hippie friends, they're like, yeah, man. You're just gonna slide off the just slide off the seat.

Yeah. What do you mean you can't get expelled? Snow, and they're everybody they had to come drag me out from underneath the lip. Uh-huh. I'm totally wanting to do this now.

Oh, it was great. Yeah. I'm an artist, y'all. I'm an athlete. Yes.

So it was great. I, like, fell the whole way down, hurt my ribs, hurt my like, because I was falling on I've fallen on my head, falling on like, like, it's steep and you go fast and you don't know how to stop. Like, you're gonna you're gonna catch air. Like, so it was scary. And so I had like, I made it down.

It took me all day to make it down, but I made it down, and I was like, alright. Well, that was humbling. I'm a hit the bunny hill next time. And Wow. Next time I went, I just hit the bunny hill until and I felt, like, that whole day down the bunny hill, but at the end of the day, like, I knew the techniques on how to go, how to stop, like and so then the next time I went, I was on a green.

And then the next time I went, I was on a blue. So I never made it to the black. I couldn't like, I wasn't I didn't have enough time to, like, get, that good, but and it wasn't that quick of a transition, like, I made it seem like just now. It was, like, a week weeks of, like, doing a green, and then I would go to the blue, you know. And so, and it was it was fun.

But I haven't even since I moved out here now I'm closer to the mountains because I live in Springs. Oh. And I still I still don't ever go snowboarding now. It's expensive. It's so expensive.

Yeah. It was fun, though. So I see the attraction. But we didn't get to I wanted to know, like, Felix, you you started off b boyin'. Mhmm.

Then you found Scratching. Mhmm. And now you, like, make folk music through. Do you, do you loop that? You just released your album.

Oh, no. That's the Walking Distance. That's singer songwriter's side. That's ultimately Oh, copy it. Yes.

Oh, I've been jamming. I've been jamming it. So Felix Fast Forward is the producer aspect of it. Okay. Just the guy in the room that was just coming up with beats and such.

And, Felix Agadele is the singer songwriter song, and that's the with the band and just And so and so the album is Felix Agadele. Exactly. Alright. Exactly. Well, still, it's a lovely album.

So Oh, thank you so much. Checking out Walking Distance. How many, record stores do you have in in around town? I wanna say a good, like, maybe six. Okay.

Six. Yeah. You wax tracks, your locals, all your all your Very cool. Wax tracks. What is it?

Remix. Remix gifts. Yeah. Shout out. All Down Broadway, Angelo's, Recollect Records, Mutiny as well.

Gonna get into some more soon to it. And I have a backpack full of them, so if you see them. Yes. Alright. Very cool.

Is it only on wax, or do you have all CDs? Streaming. Okay. Offstream platforms. No CDs.

I might do, like, a short run of CDs, but I don't know. I feel like people aren't really into CDs anymore. I don't know. That's just the consensus that I took from people. Yeah.

Yeah. It's mostly streaming, and people wax a star to make a comeback. Cars too. Yeah. Yep.

Cool. That's awesome. So Do you have a hard time with sorry. I didn't mean No. No.

Go ahead. This is Do you have a hard time with the, like, Felix Iodale versus Felix Fast Forward in booking stuff? Because people are like, why don't you just go by Jen Corte all the time? And I'm like, because there's so many different Aspects of it. Yeah.

Not real not really. I feel like, like, right now, the Felix Ayodele stuff is it's starting to gain traction. Like, people people know which one they're gonna get usually. But for the production stuff, it's easy because I I just take minimal equipment. I don't have to worry about amp.

I don't worry have to worry about, grabbing the group together and making sure they're available. So it's I would say both of those sides are are fairly balanced at this point as far as booking for sure. Okay. Nice. That's good.

Yeah. This is a this is like a free flowing conversation, so feel free to interrupt me all you want. Like, I didn't, like we didn't really have time before we start, but, just to let you guys know, like, this is more your podcast and it is my podcast. I want people to know about you because I know about you. They know about me.

Like I said, I talked I've had three, four episodes where I've just talked about myself already. So I'm like, whoever's listening, they're like, we've had enough of this. Yeah. So But I feel like the mountain the mountain story was pretty imperative. Yeah.

I've never told that one before, so that was a good one. Yeah. Thank you for asking that too, because I don't really think about it that way too often. Usually, I just think about, like, man, I don't snowboard anymore, and that's kinda wack. But it was a good experience.

So I don't what we were talking about before that, though, we were talking about, oh, where you guys come from and what brought you out here and stuff. Right? Yeah. So Felix from hip hop to folk. Hip hop to folk.

Yes. Yeah. Oh, wow. So your band won best folk band, but I don't know much about folk. Is Americana is that, like, a type of folk?

We're definitely not a folk band. Okay. Alright. I was like, okay, West America. Thank you.

I'll take it. Uh-huh. Yeah. America we're way more Americana. I I used to be in the singer songwriter category, which is funny that Lady Gang keeps getting put in a singer songwriter category.

I don't know what I don't know what category it should be in, and and I'm I'm honored to be included. I just for my own self, like, I don't I don't know what genre I am or what category I am or any of that. But, yeah, The Lost was, has always been, like, a singer songwriter, Americana band Mhmm. Five piece band, now a six piece band. And I've been trying to play my shows with all women.

Mhmm. So, like, a full six piece female band where everybody shreds is pretty rad. Mhmm. But, yeah, The Lost is an Americana band. Okay.

Yeah. What so, I didn't really dive into too much Lost, but what is the Americana sound? Like, what kind what does it kinda relate to? Is it its own thing? Or Yeah.

It's it's, like, not quite. I feel like it's got a little more rhythm to it than folk. It's got a little more life to it than folk. Mhmm. But it's not totally country.

Okay. So it takes elements of country and elements of rock and roll Oh, okay. And salute like, kinda saluting the great American song, like, great American, like Yeah. Country and rock and roll? Yeah.

Country. Yeah. Country rock and rock and roll, but with, you know, yeah, a little more flare to it. Word. I think.

I don't know. There's a lot of bands fit into Americana these days that can be totally rock. Mhmm. Again, I I really just think it kinda depends on the drum sound. Okay.

If it's a shuffle or if it's, I don't know, Latin or rock or or if there are drums. You know? So I I feel like folk folk to me is, like, Peter, Paul, and Mary, acoustic guitar is very soothing, conversational songs of telling stories. Yeah. Yeah.

So I don't know. Yeah. I was actually researching folk because before I came down here, because you you said you won best folk band. I described your music as folk, but that's because, like, that's just what I saw on the Internet. But what would you describe your music as?

Oh, it's it's avant pop, I would say. That would be the closest thing. Okay. Cool. Yeah.

And so I so so from what I saw on the Internet, it was being described as folk, and then I was listening to this guy, B Dolan. Yeah. And he had this he has this song, where he says that, like, hip hop is is folk or something like that. And so I was like, that's pretty crazy because I had these two people before this conversation, this is what I thought, I had these two people coming in. One, Jen, who went from what I thought was folk to hip hop, more hip hop elements, and then you coming from hip hop elements and, like, virgin into folk.

And so I was like, that's crazy. Maybe there is some truth behind that. Wow. Yeah. I could see that.

I mean, folk music. Well, I mean, I don't know. There's the the culture of, you know, black music is the, like, is the storytelling music of America Yeah. That just keeps getting stolen and reinvented and stolen and reinvented. And so it would make sense to me because you think about folk songs or, plantation songs, songs that were passed down generation to generation.

And with as with that, like, Appalachian people as well, a way to entertain themselves, but also a way to tell their own stories. And I feel like the black community keeps trying to find not keeps trying to find, but always finds a new voice, and that voice just keeps getting taken. Ripped. Yeah. So it would make sense to me that folk and hip hop are both storytellers of America.

Narrative? Yeah. Yeah. Highly narrative. Yeah.

What I researched on folks said that pretty much that's exactly what it was. Like, there's no copyrights to folk music because it's just traditional music and, like, stories through music passed down generation to generation. Mhmm. And, I thought that that was that was, like it seemed pretty accurate for, like, hip hop's beginning, but it's definitely been transitioned into something where, like, we're about our copyrights, we're about our masters, and, like, we want our music to make us money. And, I mean, it's still telling stories for sure.

Like, it's still telling the stories of the people. I agree with that, but it's not so much like, I think something that gets maybe it is. Would you say it gets passed down generation to generation still? Like or does it seem like each generation kinda has their own new version of hip hop and, what relates to them? Oh, that's a tough one.

What do you think, Tim? You take it. I'll take it. That could be like, answering that question for me is kind of a slippery slope because I feel like, like, the the authentic versions of hip hop, if we're talking about hip hop, are, like, always still gonna be found. So yeah.

Yeah. Those narratives are being, handed down, and, you know, people are carrying the torch no matter what. No matter how stale and saccharine and, cookie cutter music gets Mhmm. That's never gonna change, I don't think. Yeah.

I agree. Yeah. Because you there's people like us who appreciate, like, where it comes from and and, recognize that when we make our music. But then I mean, you do have even artists, like, mainstream artists who are, like, the old hip hop is dead. Like, nobody wants that anymore.

Nobody is listening to that anymore, but it's not necessarily true. Like No. I am still listening to it. Yeah. But I think I think folk too you say folk music.

I think what is the music of the people? So, like, to me, Buena Vista Social Club is the folk music of Cuba. Mhmm. And I just saw a video the other day of young women playing Buena Vista Social Club songs. And they're you know, Buena Vista Social Club is a super band, basically, of Cuban musicians.

And they came up with their they didn't write these songs. These are songs that have been passed down generation to generation to generation that they finally got together and performed as a group. So I I don't know. I think that that rootsy element of your culture is still there. It's hard for me to see my own sometimes.

I'm I'm half Hispanic, so, like, I see it on that side of my family. But the white culture of my life is I'm like, do we really have any that we can claim? Like, this whole argument about, oh, what's his name? The Country Road song right now. Old Town Road.

Oh. And how mad people are that there's, like, a rapper trying to infiltrate country music. And I think I'm like, what about the last ten years of country music where you turn it on and it's fully produced with hip hop beats and it's Jason Aldean or whoever, and they're just like, and they're rapping, and they're, like, singing country music to a trap beat, you know? Like, the irony is just astounding. Yeah.

Sometimes No. I I completely support Old Town Road just based on the fact that, like, people are trying to say it's not country. Like, because honestly, like, it's just it's I mean, it's okay song, but, like, when you try to take away from an artist who's, like, trying to merge Mhmm. And make his own sound, you know, whether it's because, like, whether it's because you're just not used to it or probably because there's racist aspects to it, you know, like, you're not gonna support that. We're gonna support him.

Mhmm. So I completely support Old Town Road just for that fact alone. But where was I gonna take this? I don't know. You got me thinking about other stuff.

I had stuff on my mind. I was like, no. I'm looking at your notebook. You came overly prepared for this. I didn't.

But, like, this conversation is going so well. It's like we've already tackled all these things pretty much. So I'm, like, trying to figure out because it's not organized at all. It's just these are things that I thought of that I wanted to ask you guys about. Mhmm.

And, it looks like there's only really what is a typical day in the life of you guys like this? Snail. Yeah. That's your turn, Jenn. I wanna hear about your feelings.

Yeah. I was telling him before you got here, I'm like, he's a mysterious person. I like Yeah. You know, Where are you from? What was your family like?

You know? Why did you where are these songs coming from when you're on this IODELI record? Like, the song with the island the island song? I call it the island song. Left for dead.

Oh, right. Left for dead. You know, like, that video. That's exactly right. I I keep watching it, and I'm every time I'm like, because it resonates with me on so many different levels.

Like, so many different levels. So, like, if you write that song, that's what I wanted. That's what I wanted. That's what I wanted. I was like, is that personal experience or you're just that empathetic that, like because when I listen to it, man, you feel the emotion.

You feel the pain behind it. And so I was just like I was like, he had to go through something. Like or he's just extremely empathetic and can, like because that I do not make music well when I'm, like, trying to talk about other people's experiences, like, only when I'm talking about my own True. Is when I'm, like, when I make the best music. I've had songs where I try to write, like, other people's stories and stuff just, like, trying to create stories.

Oh, that's a good exercise. Yeah. But it's difficult, especially to get it to where I like it. So Oh. With Left four Dead, is that personal to you, or is that something that you just kind of piece together through empathy?

A little bit of all of it. It's a little bit of everything, actually. With that, I definitely went through that situation, but I feel like, it's interesting that people are able to relate to it because I think, like, getting a piece of everybody's story of, like, how they felt that way is like like, we don't even like, friendships, like, we don't even necessarily have to talk about these things. It's just like an energy energetic feeling comes. Like, maybe some way you say a sentence or some way you talk about a situation in that realm, like, being able to, like, pick up on that.

So there is a bit of empathy in that realm of, like, oh, shit. So we all know how this feeling feels. And so, like, to be able to put that feeling into music, that I feel like that was kind of the goal of Left to Die. Left to Die. Right.

Sorry. I was saying that. That's okay. Same thing. Same.

But, yeah, I mean, we're also trying to get brought back to life too and brought back to the light too. So that's I think to get that out and, like, have my suffering be a point of, like, artistic, like, life or something, I think that was the goal of it. It's just like, okay. Alright. Let's all die and then come back to life through the, like, the lethargic aspects of being able to put that in some sort of song or something.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. So that's the first track on Walking Distance. Mhmm.

And it does kinda have that sense of, like, like, this is the the not the I wouldn't wanna say the end, but, like, this is, like, the middle where, like, shit hit the fan. You know? Like and so, like, you had a choice, like, to either prosper or, like, just kinda, like, let it be the end. Right. And so the rest of the album is is that you, like, speaking to coming out of that and True.

Prospering. Yeah. Beautiful. Absolutely. Is that why there's such a survivalist theme in the artwork?

Mhmm. That yeah. The extreme of that. Yeah. Absolutely.

Good catch. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. What's the one you have the short film to?

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. That's just because you're there. Yeah.

Yes. Same same thought card. Awesome. Yeah. Dang it.

What we were just talking about reminded me of what I wanted to talk about when I forgot it, and then now I forgot it again. It's so funny. Oh my goodness. Oh, it's a long drive, and I get sleepy. And I told him this last time, you know.

Like, I get sleepy when I try to jump right from a long drive to this podcast. Yeah. And, I mean Day in the life of Jim. Sorry. Yeah.

But you know No. That's okay. You cannot understand. About day in the life of you. Yeah.

We did it. We did it. He keeps he keeps like He's like, I'm gonna get a go around you. Yeah. Real feelings.

He's like, I'm supposed to be a mystery. Let me be a mystery. He is. He's a shaman. Yes.

Everybody knows it. That's that's I think that's why, like, with the last name thing with you is because you're you're Felix. All you have to say is Felix is gonna be there. And everybody's like, oh. Uh-huh.

Felix is gonna be there. Like, it's a thing. Oh, man, there was one time. One word artist for sure. There was this one time we were I was at this show, Left Lung.

He was the he he had yeah. He had a show, that I was at. He was the first guest on the podcast. And you I didn't know it was Felix because they were all wearing masks, but he was, like, on before Left Lung. And was it is that a band you're in or is that Secret Dog.

Yeah. That's shout out to Secret Dog. Yeah. Anne Hobbs Yeah. And eighth of not incredible human beings.

I get to play some music with him. So they were rapping. You had a guy on the fiddle, and he was what else was he doing? Yeah. Eighth or Not was on the violin.

Violin. And he had production stuff. Yeah. And then you were on Keys. Keys.

Yeah. And, and they're all wearing masks. And so, like, the show's going pretty well. But then at the end of the show, Felix in his mask is going just like, just doing what he does on yeah. Just doing what he does, you know, like, going to town on The Keys, and everybody's just in awe.

And I'm like, man, this is some of the greatest, piano, like, key piano playing, keyboard playing that I've ever seen, like, ever heard. And then he takes his mask off, and I'm like, oh, his feet look silly. Duh. Of course. And it makes total sense.

Yeah. And that's, that was when I asked him to be on the podcast. Yeah. Yeah. And I asked you the first time I saw you play too because, like I said, I could just not stop moving.

You ever have you seen you've you guys performed online together, but you ever just watched her? I'd never had a chance to watch you. It was just outside style. Yeah. Yeah.

We're just always together. Or playing a gig with the same day. Yeah. Or playing a gig with the same day. Yeah.

There's that. That's I don't ever see any of my friends because they're are always playing at the same time as me. Yeah. Yeah. She got up there with her, with her lady gang and with her sunglasses and just went up.

And, dude, I cannot stop dancing. Like, it was Oh. Beautiful. And I just fell in love with it, so I had to get her on too. And then I think I mentioned your name or something.

And then she was like, oh, I'm good. I'm good friends with Felix. Comfortable with him. Like, let's and I was like, alright. We'll get on together.

So it worked out great. And, I gotta say thank you to Mona because Mona's the one who introduced me to both of you from the spring yeah. Spring showcase. And, and then you were I met you. She had, like, a show going on at City Park or something.

That's right. Yeah. And, I don't know if you hadn't been performing there too or if you were helping her out. But yeah. And, you had showed me some you had showed me some, like, hip hop artists that you were like, you should check this guy out.

He's great. And I played it, and I was just like, this is crazy. Because I forgot what his name was, but, like, I cannot even keep up with it because he was just going so he was going nuts. I was like, man, this guy knows good music. So, is when I finally got to hear you playing stuff, I was like, oh, yeah.

For sure. That makes sense. Yeah. But we did not get into a typical day of life. Oh, Jake Cook.

That's because Jake was supposed to start it. She also does. Let's see what happened. Oh, well, so yesterday was the, the frontline gig with, not gig. Mhmm.

I'm getting I'm done with saying that word. Frontline performance, with sister Fatima, and just the family. And, so after that, a good friend, Casey Herlicka, he's in Atomka, the Afrobeat band. We got together. I was dropping off some oh, my mic just turned up.

Oh, this is nice. Thank you, Hisos. So me and, Casey, good friend of mine again, we're teaching guitar lessons, and I just dropped off a syllabus to him. He was playing on Brood on Broadway or something like that. First time out there.

And so we drank a couple, went home. I've been getting to sleep pretty early, so that's been the sweet thing. So got went to sleep this morning, woke up. What did I do? Thought about the day, gratitude, joy.

And my mom, she's been saying that, because what I'll what I'll do in the morning is I'll try to, like, starve myself for some weird reason. On purpose? On purpose. It's really weird. Mhmm.

Because hunger pains feel like, oh, I'm doing something right. But my mom let me know that that's not a good call, so I stopped doing that. So I had a what did I have? Turkey jerky. As soon as I woke up, didn't even brush my teeth.

Oh, nice. Yeah. I forget to eat breakfast sometimes. That's funny because when I was watching your short film Uh-huh. Like, you in the film, it opens up with you hitting the alarm clock Yeah.

And then just going straight into trudging through the snow. Yeah. And I was like, this guy didn't even eat breakfast. No breakfast before a high tune. He's like, no.

I got a RX bar in my pocket for like three hours. Yeah. I don't eat breakfast either. Right? Yeah.

So there's some truth behind that one too. That's good. That's hilarious. And so have has your days have your days looked like that for a while? Like, is that, like, where you just you perform usually and you hang out with musicians and and kinda then just take your day, like, wherever you want it to to go from there?

Or is that something that, like, you're reaping those benefits now from from, like, working hard, you know? Oh, that, let me let me clarify the question. What do you mean by reaping the benefits of Of, like because for me so maybe it's just, like, a personal outlook on it. Like, for me, like, the most relaxed relaxing day that I could think of would be to just, like, go out on the town, hang out with friends, perform, and then, like, from there, like, take my day wherever I want. You know?

And so, like, that seems like you're reaping some benefits from from years of hard work and to get to that point where, like, that's what you're able to do. So is that is there a truth behind it? Yeah. That's mega on point. It's literally, like, I feel like the reason I'm not saying gig anymore is because these are definitely performances.

Mhmm. This is this is like life, and I try to make it feel that way, like, less like a job. But it is like I'm clocking out at the end of the day to just kinda, like, do whatever I want with the day because, you know, once somebody books you to play, then, you know, you're you're putting your everything into making sure you get there on time, making sure you, you know, give them what they want, which is a performance and wanting to experience that magic of what magic music does. Mhmm. So, yeah, it is like you do get the clock out, and it's like, alright.

I get to chill. Like, I did my duty for the day. Because nerves are high. Mhmm. Because you wanna do good.

And you've been doing this a long time. Mhmm. And it's you still get nervous when you go off then? I get nervous because I care. You care.

I care. Yeah. You wanna be you wanna sound good. Yeah. You wanna do well for him.

Yeah. I get that. Beautiful. What about you, Jen? I still get nervous.

Yeah? Oh, yeah. Every show. Yeah. But that same thing, it's fine.

I'm also it's the yeah. I care. I wanna be the best at what I do. It's the only time in my life where I'm competitive but in a healthy way. And I, like, I just wanna be the baddest, you know, in terms of I don't know.

I don't even know what I mean by that. No. I get Just feeling super confident and, like, this past year, I've noticed a lot, because I'm in a nineties band as well. Okay. I, like, have a couple cover projects.

Mhmm. And, I'm in a nineties band, so they're playing, like, anything from Foo Fighters to Beck to the Fujis to whatever. And it has been really wild to have groups of women start coming to our shows just because I'm in the band. And come up to me and be like, man, it is so moving to see a female up there with three dudes playing real hard rock songs. Like, it's not easy to pull some of that stuff off and to be, like, just so confidently be there.

So when I say I wanna be the baddest, it's because I wanna be, like, a really strong female presence Yes. That knows my shit and, holds that space Perfect. For other women to see it. You know? Yeah.

That's the perfect that because I wanted to talk about that, but I wanted it to be natural. So this perfect segue into, when I was doing my research on you, like, you're very, women empowerment oriented, like and that's obvious. And that's something that was made my attention was brought to that probably a few months ago. I came in for the Youth on Record podcast, and, and we were talking about, like, how women in the music industry are still being discriminated against. And and, like, on top of that, like, they just don't get a lot of recognition.

So as men who are musicians, like, what is a role that we can play? What's something that we can do and action we can take that, like, helps support women in the music industry? Oh, I got a thing. Yeah. Go ahead.

No. Go ahead. There have been times, and this is happening with, you know, good friends Yeah. Michelle, all these incredible women artists. Mhmm.

And it's like, I'll go into a realm of trying to mansplain something to to Jim, which is my friend. Mhmm. And I have to catch myself because she knows her shit. Yeah. You know?

And it's just it's pretty beautiful to see, you know? And then there's a lot For the record, I've never ever ever not one time ever felt that way with you. I've never felt you try to mansplain anything. So mansplaining is when, like, we assume they don't know Right. And so we explain.

Okay. Alright. Well and then, you know, it's like trying to make it super elementary. But it's really just my ego just working out, like, oh, I know something, but I've learned a gang of stuff from her. Yeah.

I also feel like there's women talk about women musicians talk about this a lot, the shared knowledge, because I feel a lot of men just assume you either don't know it or you don't care to know it or you didn't learn it. Right? And I also feel like men just openly share that information with each other on how to do things. You know, when we talk about it being a bro club, that's how that's how it feels. Like, oh, would you you know, if you were gonna mansplain me, would you do that to Jesus?

Right. You probably assume he has the same knowledge you have because somewhere along the way, somebody gave it to him. And I think that's why femme power is super important here because nobody openly shares that information with has never shared that information with me You've had to learn it on your own. Yeah. I had to learn it on my own or until I was, like, confident enough to ask the questions to the to the things I wanna know.

Mhmm. But that can be a scary place because if you're in a studio and you start asking basic questions, they're either gonna be like, oh, you don't know shit. I'm not gonna Yeah. Oh, here we go. With the basics.

Or, you know, or they're like, you don't know anything. I'm just gonna do it for you. I'm just gonna take over your project and take over how you should sound, and and then your art becomes theirs because you don't have the right words. So I think the sharing of knowledge is super important. And I am just asking sometimes I I find myself doing that to other women, like, mansplaining to other women just because I'm like, do you know this?

You know? And and trying to be aware of that. And, especially younger women, I'll just try to ask some questions to kinda ascertain if they're interested in that or not. Like, hey. How do you get your guitar tone?

And they might say, I don't know anything about that. And then that opens up the of of the conversation of, you know, do you wanna know about more about guitar tone? And here's how you could figure that out. You know? Mhmm.

That kind of stuff or yeah. So I don't know. I think booking more women and and hiring more women to be in your band is one start. I mean, if you go to Craigslist and you put in female in the musician section, almost every single post is gonna be a vocalist, and that's it. Key.

Or keys. Yeah. Because they're like, no. We're not looking for they don't play guitar. They don't play bass.

They don't play drums. So, yeah. And then yeah. So just hiring more women to do things or trusting them with the knowledge or sharing knowledge if you get the the feeling that they might not know what you know. Just finding a a nice, respectful way to ask them what they do know.

Yeah. You know? I think that's a good way of saying it. Yeah. No.

That's good. Yeah. It's something that I've been conscious conscious of for a while just because, like, I want I want to bring in as the least amount of, like, straight white men as possible into into the music scene just because I already am one. Or not into the music scene, but into my music and, like, just because I already am one. And so, like, I wanna work with as, as many, women and as many, black people or brown people or whatever as I possibly can.

But, like, it seems like just from the people that I know, it's hard to get to a point where, like, where, like, I meet somebody who who I could be working with. And so, like, I just jump to the people I know, which most of the time is, like, straight white men. Right. You know? And so, that's something that I've just been putting, like, conscience energy towards and, like, wanna do my part in because, you know, it's just the world that we live in is time for vibe with the people you vibe with too.

And I think that's okay. Yeah. It's okay to have you know? I think my my probably go to friends or or collaborators are probably all white women because that's who I know the most of. Mhmm.

That's who I'm playing the most shows with. That's who I'm most exposed to. It takes me, like, really having to put for a conscious effort to step outside of that. Even when booking bills or whatever, you automatically wanna go, oh, I wanna book, like, all my friends on this bill because I never get to see my friends because we're always playing shows. And then I'm like, oh, I'm I keep resorting to the same, like, five white female musicians that I know Yeah.

Because we hang out. So trying to be aware of that and just, you know, seeking out music that I don't know in the city too is really hard. We all are in our own little worlds of people, and trying to branch out of that and find other artists is hard for me, I think, because I'm so immersed in my own shit Mhmm. My own world. I don't know, Felix.

What do you think about all that? I'm thinking about DefKnox right now. What's DefKnox? Please tell us. What is it?

Def Knocks is a a nine piece hip hop band that I'm in Oh. I'm part of. It's eight dudes and me, and we're all you know, I'm it's it's yeah. I don't know. It's four MCs and almost a full band.

Yeah. What do you play? I play guitar and sing the like, I sing a lot of the hooks and harmonies. They're trying to get me to start rapping, which I'm like, I think you could. I'm working on it, but it's it's terrifying to be on stage with all these men and then bust a verse.

You know? No. What's the In my denim outfit. What's the first the first song on your EP? How do you sound?

How do you sound? You do, like, you do some, like, a, like, melodic rapping Mhmm. In there, and it sounds great. Even the lyrics are, like, they're, they're great lyrics. They're not, like, cheesy.

But see, they keep telling me I have this, like, nineties style of rapping. And? And I and that's what I say. I know. And they're like, well, the new heads are gonna like that because you got a old head style, and you need to, you know, giving me that lecture.

You know, like, let's try to you know? Because you're rhyming with one syllable? Is that what I'm saying? No. It's just, like, how I deliver it.

And I'm like, yeah. But sometimes when I'm writing rap versus people's voices and are in my head that I grew up with, like, I was really into hip hop my whole life. Yes. Yes. She was.

Yeah. So yeah. So, you know, sometimes it's, like, Q tip in my head or sometimes it's Missy Elliott. Missy Elliott or Lil Kim. You know?

And, like, I don't know. Things like that that are other people's voices in my head sometimes when I'm writing. It's like it's but it's still personal. Mhmm. So it's weird.

It's just how I hear myself if I am I you know, not really playing a character, but more or less playing a character with my voice Yeah. And saying what I wanna say. But, yeah, Def Knock is a multicultural band. Cool. It's four MCs and five piece band.

Four MCs. That's a lot of MCs. That's It's a lot. There's so many there's so much ego that goes behind being an MCs. I have no idea.

I could not imagine. I I had to take a step back. I was like, y'all go y'all figure your steps out. You call me when you've got it figured out. Oh, man.

Because that that would mean I'd have to vibe with three other MCs every night. Mhmm. Mhmm. It's hard. That's hard.

It is very hard. There's a lot of there's a lot of hair pulling going on with those guys. Yeah. I love them to but they also they, you know, like, they brought me in. They trust me.

Mhmm. They asked me my opinion. They're like Beautiful. Do you you should write a rap verse. You should do this.

You know? Like or they will put fresh ears on the record that I'm working on, my Lady Gang record. Be like, that's that's a banger. That's not. Like, this has no.

Just Mhmm. I trust them. I love them so much. They're like family to me. So I trust those guys, and I'm very honored to be included with with what they're doing.

But I've known them since I'm since 02/2006. Mhmm. I lived above Bianca Macon and her then boyfriend Ace, who is in Def Knock. He's the main dude in Def Knock. And, I could hear him making beats through my air vents every day.

Sick. Yeah. And it was Jip was hanging out all the time. Like, he and Jip are they're all in Lady Speech, all of all of them, all four of them, and Cam, and House. I met all of them then.

And I just went knocked on the door one day, and I was like, hey. I'm Jen. I'm your neighbor. I play music. We should hang out.

I brought a bottle of whiskey down. You know? Sweet. Let's hang out. And that's how I met Jip and and everybody, and we tried we were ahead of our time back then.

We tried to do something called Cirque de Paradox because at the time, they were Paradox. And we were trying to fuse kinda what Def Knock is now, which is a live band and MCs, but we did not even remotely have the musicianship then that we do now. So we were trying to execute really big ideas. Like, we threw a show at a in a boxing ring. It was super dope.

Like, we set up a PA, and we're all in this boxing ring, like, trying to trying to cross pollinate each other's music communities and, like, ex doing this weird folk rap remix thing, but we were just we were ahead of our time mentally. Mhmm. And so now it's kinda cool to come full circle ten years later or however many years later, and we all have skill sets that we can bring to the table and be like, yo. Okay. Here's all this.

Mhmm. So that's been really cool for me to just see how all of us have developed and Mhmm. Can come together again and celebrate each other. Yeah. Beautiful.

Yeah. What song are you listening to? Oh. He's he's listening to Utah. Yeah.

One of the greatest tunes I've heard today. Yes. Wonderful. Uh-huh. What got what got you into hip hop?

Like Oh, wow. Because I read I read that your mom was, more into, like, music that comes from Nigeria. Right? And so that's what you're introduced to. So what what got you into hip hop?

Oh my gosh. When I heard Planet Brock, B Street, seeing the just the whole culture, the idea of building, like, nothing out of something. Mhmm. The poverty aspect of it too. It was like, oh, we don't have anything.

We're gonna we're gonna make up something with our imaginations. Mhmm. Hearing, scratching, alien language to me. You know? It was something that, like, took me out of, like, what I'm seeing, like, in our current paradigm.

It was like, oh, shit. Okay. Here's the cosmos. You know? Here's how it sounds.

You know? People are coming up with scratches. That's not what the turntable's for. When I heard it, I was like, okay. That language is speaking to me.

Yeah. So I just wanted to dig in deeper. My parents' records, both from Nigeria, hearing all the stuff they heard, Fela, all the different genres, Ornette Coleman, all this strange music that, you know, is probably not gonna be played on the radio, but somebody made it. You started scratching that? Oh, no.

No. You didn't wanna ruin the record? No. Yeah. Those were, like, just to listen to, but, like, I would scratch, like, like strings, you know, Stravinsky stuff or, like, Keith Jarrett records, maybe, Hampton Hawes, like, these great pianists, and, like, maybe just trying to rearrange and make up my own phrases on the turntable.

Just and that's why looping became, you know, also interesting to me because it was all of a sudden all the traditional aspects of coming up with the song and just doing something different. I'm also left handed too, so the whole world is strange to me already. And so just being able to kinda, like, rethink of something, like, how is it how is it regularly done, but then saying, okay. This is how we're doing it. So hip hop, showed me that in a different way and also being able to try out ideas as well.

I was that's that's all the, you know, the bomb and Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I missed out because we're at this point in hip hop where it's it feels like almost everything that can be done or be said is, like, has been done or been said. And so it's like, am I even creating anything original at this point? And, like, I would've just loved to be around and, like, a part of hip hop when it was, like, like, new, brand new, and, like, everybody was just discovering.

And I'm sure that there's still something to be done in hip hop still. You know? Like, we're always finding new things, but it's, like, this the side of it that calls to me, like, the nineties boom bap feel, like, it's like, what can how can I make that original? So that's, that's something that I If you think about it, it it all all chord progressions have been played. Right.

And all words have been put together in some point. Yeah. I was And hip hop was created for music that was already made as well. So Yeah. In terms of beats and samples.

And I think that it doesn't have to be original necessarily to be good. It just has to be authentic. Right. And just true to yourself. Mhmm.

Mhmm. That's the term I'm telling you. Obvious. You know? It seems like an obvious But it's hard.

True to yourself. But It's hard. It is hard. It is hard because you you'll constantly get you know, I get I get constantly told. I'm sure you don't, but people are like, you know what you should do?

Yeah. Do it. Dude. All the time. So many people come up to me.

None of us escape that, by the way. Really? You know what you should do? My the worst is, like, when they're like, I like this song, but I didn't like this song too much. And, like, this song was good, but I'm like, why don't you just say thanks for performing?

Yeah. And, like, you know or, like, when they'll compare you to another artist Mhmm. When they're, like, you sound like this. It's, like, if you change that into you're, as good as or you're, like, almost as good as this person, like, I would take that as a compliment. But, like, to tell me, like, I sound like that person, it almost is worse than telling me I suck.

You know? Like, I'd rather be told that, like because I and maybe that's just the ego that goes behind, like, being an MC like we were talking about. Like, I wanna be original, and I wanna be viewed as, like, the best just for, like, the the thing that I create. And I want people to hear something and be like, oh, this sounds like Juice Box. You know?

Like Mhmm. I don't want him them to hear Juice Box and be like, oh, this sounds like so and so. But I think it takes it takes knowing yourself. Right. And that's that has been the journey over the last couple years, because, just went through, like, a period of, like, losing myself and then coming back into music.

And it was like, well, how do I wanna sound? And then you see, like, the stuff that's popular and the stuff that, like, is making moves, especially locally, and you're like, well, I guess I gotta sound like that. And so I was trying to stay authentic to myself, but also sound like that, and it just was not meshing well. And so, like, that's why when I was talking about my performance at the block party, where I was like, that's the best performance that I've had that I can remember was because it was the first time, in a long time that I performed and, like, every song that I performed was true to me. And, like, and and, like, I was able to go up there and be comfortable with, like, this is my music and and, like, and I love it.

You know? And, like, I hope you love it too. But, it's hard to perform for people as it when you're only just an MC up there because, I mean, people go to shows already just to, like, stand there like this. Mhmm. With their arms crossed and be like, is this best in Colorado?

Is this good? You know? They don't dance here, man. They do not. And, and, like, when you got live instruments going, it it's, like, a little easier to keep them captivated.

Right? But when it's just a voice and a and a track behind you, it's like, man, you gotta you gotta really know how to perform to, like, keep people in it. And so I'm kinda grateful for that because it's, like, molded me into, like, this, just having just knowing how to have character when I'm up on stage rather than, like, letting my fears get in the way Mhmm. And, like, just being able to be myself. Because that's the biggest thing I've learned is too not only with making music, but when you perform music.

Like, people just wanna see you be yourself. Like, if you're a goofball, if you mess up, if you, like if the mic's not working and and, like, you know, just, like, stay true to yourself, like, how you would actually react to that. You know? Like, don't don't be too hard on yourself, and and people people will love you, like, if as long as you love them while you're up there. And, it's just been amazing to, like, go in over this last, like, year, year and a half to go from, like, purely just wanting people to accept me to understanding, like, you're not gonna make any sort of good music unless you accept it yourself Mhmm.

Unless you do it well yourself. And, I can't imagine, though, like, looping your own tracks while you're up there. Mhmm. Like, just how nerve wracking it would be, like, when you were doing the drums on the Mhmm. On the drum kit.

Mhmm. You're like, what if I hit the wrong drum or, like, what if I hit it twice? Happen. I mean, like, I've you know, some yes. When you're real quick to know how to undo it.

Undo it. Right. Yeah. And you gotta make it flow still. Oh, that was okay.

Like, especially on Simple Truths because I'm not playing anything to a click. So if that first lick has even a remote delay in it, the drums are gonna fall off. Mhmm. And like I was saying about all those performances I did last year, I had to go into CPR and do a live performance for them. And I had to wear headphones, which is also really hard when you're switching out instruments because you're like, you're tangled in all these I was like, ugh.

I just feel really trapped. Yeah. Yeah. And, so I was really in my head. I had a camera on my face, and they were recording me live.

And I'd, like, totally just ate shit on the first on Simple Truths because I couldn't get the I was I just was in my head about it, and so I had to completely stop and completely start over and just be humble in that moment. Like, you know what? I want this to be right. Mhmm. Because if I force this performance right now, I'm just gonna be so in my head the whole time it's not gonna feel right.

And then the listener will feel that energy and be like, this could be cool, but something's not quite right Yeah. With that. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah.

I watched the PBS one, and that one went really well. Yeah. That was a fun day. Yeah. There's a comedian on there too.

He's pretty funny. He's actually surprisingly funny. Those mocashetas we're recording there is at the At the same time. The same day. So they were all in there watching me.

And we had different episodes, but we were all there together. It was fun. Oh, that is cool. I'll have to check that one out too then. Yeah.

Yeah. I love them. I think I wanna play some music. Okay. Are you guys okay with that?

Yeah. I'll do Left to Die and Only Simple Truth. Mhmm. Cool. Alright.

We're gonna start with Simple Truths. This is Lady Gang. She says my mind is all over the place. I never could find a place for it anyway. These days are filling me up with.

These days are filling me up with. These days are filling me up with her loneliness. This city don't even know your name. Years past, people come and they go and they fight away. God, no time to be shoving myself out the door for you.

God, no time for any of it anymore, anymore. I'm not really a mountain girl. That's my favorite song at the moment. I love that song so much. Thank you.

Yes. Thank you. So the first thing I mentioned earlier that you have that line. Uh-huh. I'm not a mountain girl.

Ended up in a landlocked world. And then you say, I'd rather you sink me to the bottom. Mhmm. And you just belt it out for for a while. And, like, I do I do I belt it out with you every time, but I don't know what it means.

It's just it's I'd I'd rather be sunk to the bottom of the ocean. You'd rather be around walking. Okay. Beautiful. Yeah.

Yeah. But that whole song, you know, that whole song is just because I lived in The Caribbean for a little bit, and then we we came home. And by the end of living in The Caribbean, I was getting cabin fever really bad. Like, oh, I'm we're 5,000 miles away from land. You know?

It was a stressful time for my wife, like, working there. The hospital was really corrupt, which is why we went down there. They're like, hey. If you can work at our hospital, we'll pay for your housing and a car for three months. And so we ended up extending that to six months and ended up staying eight months.

Mhmm. And then it had to leave because it was too dangerous for her to work there. And the hospital was super corrupt. They didn't have any supplies. Her license was at risk.

Jeez. It's a very, very violent place in terms of, yeah, there's just a lot of crime a lot of crime there. So, and then three days before we left, I stepped off the stage into a hole and ripped my Achilles tendon in my heel. So my foot was, like, jacked. Like, I and I couldn't to get back to The States, you have to be flighted out.

Like, if anything really bad medically happens. I mean, this wasn't a medical emergency. It was, but it wasn't. You know? Like, it wasn't a heart attack or something huge.

But to get off the island, you had to have insurance, and you also had $20 in cash to be flighted to Florida if anything happened to you. So I started with that injury. I was like, are we ever gonna leave here? And this is really dangerous, and I'm really far from my family. And but and at the same time, we're living in this beautiful paradise.

Right? Like, the water is super beautiful, and I'm making a ton of money playing music every night, but I don't have the security of community or your family. I was very lonely. So and then I come back here, and all I wanna do is live by the water again. Mhmm.

And it's a rat race here, and The energy's really hard, and you're just constantly struggling. I'm not making as much money as I was down there. So it's like this constant when I say the grass ain't always greener Mhmm. But the constant in both worlds for me is my wife. So, like, if we're together, then everything can find peace.

But but, yeah, I'd rather you sink me to the bottom. You know? I'd rather be a boat captain than It's my next life. Yeah. Yeah.

I'd rather be a boat captain than an urban hiker. Right. That's so funny. Maybe I'll change my name to Urban Hiker. Dude, that's good.

That's good. Nobody take it. Yes. That's trademarked already. Okay.

Beautiful. I'm I'm glad I got more even insight on that song because it was always great already. Alright. So then I'm a do Left to Die. Yeah.

That's on SoundCloud. Right? It's so dreamy. Mhmm. Yeah.

He's like, I have to You said it loud. Yes. Oh, that's why I said folk because that's how you described it on SoundCloud. Mhmm. It says That sounds about right.

Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. Okay. So I wasn't just talking to my ass.

No. I like avant avant pop. You dig it? Avant pop. You should be or avant folk.

And then really be like There we go. What does that mean? What does that mean? It means whatever I want it to mean. Well If you put avant, you can do whatever you want.

Yeah. Alright. Here we go. Left to die. But, this is it's on Felix Fast Forward SoundCloud, but it's it was released under the album, Walking Distance, which is Felix E.

O. Daley. Yes. Okay. Alright.

So now is the time that you give us the story. Oh. Oh. No. It's not does that sound mean anything particular to you, or is, is it, just a beautiful piece of artwork?

It definitely marks a particular time of, like, opening up deeper to the idea of, like, relationship and allowing that in. And, yeah. And and, some relationships, like, trigger different things inside of you. And, in connection to what I was talking about about the empathy pieces, I feel like I was trying to tell, like, everybody's story Mhmm. In some way, shape, or form as far as relationship goes, for sure.

Awesome. Yeah. The video is animated, and it's actually kinda funny that you're just gorgeous. Yeah. It's it's but it's funny that you're just talking about being scared of being stranded on an island, and that's what the video is.

Right? Like, you guys you and a a lady are stranded on an island from a plane crash, and, and she ends up, like, walking into the ocean, to be carried away by it. Is that how it goes? And and then Separation. Yeah.

Separation. And so you, like, you you wake up to find that. And it's just even though it's animated, it just feels like because of the music, you're just like, oh, it's so real. You know exactly. Yeah.

You know exactly what's going on. You feel the heartbreak. And so You feel lonely. Yeah. You feel that loneliness.

Mhmm. Especially this that part, the visual of the water going out of the palm. Mhmm. Alright. Like, the I don't know why, but every time that moment, I'm like, ugh.

Yeah. Yeah. Because that that was the question. Encouragement. Yeah.

Yeah. That actually, raised a question because it goes from he sees her like, he jumps into the water and he sees her. Did you have do you have much to do with the video? Oh my god. Mitchell Man Mantis.

He's now working for freaking Adult Swim. Wow. Dream Corps LLC. Yeah. He's he's got a whole life.

Yeah. He's got a career going in animation. Mhmm. He used to be a really dope producer, and I've always wanted to work with him video wise. And, I sent him this song, and I told him a little bit about the relationship and what I what I had in mind.

Uh-huh. And then he came with this whole script. I was just like I was just like, okay. I'll shut up. Okay.

Yeah. Alright. Be an artist. Right? Okay.

So so I can't even really ask you you nothing. I gotta get him and him. But, like, you gotta tell me the story behind this. Yeah. Yeah.

Because I just love the part where he, like, he sees her. After he jumps into the water, he likes Caesar down there and or you see her down. It's just you, technically. Like, you see her down there and And then, like, from there, he's just carried out into on land by the ocean himself. So it's like, is he dead at that point too?

He's definitely dead. Well, I mean, he's, he's actually coming back to life, to be honest. Okay. But there is a death of sorts. Like, losing that, like, nourishment and, like, that that water, that but that that's my interpretation of it.

And then we get into the rest of the journey, which is portrayed through the album. Mhmm. Right. Okay. Beautiful.

That was, you had you said you had other people on this album, like, is it a band that you had, or is it just, people random people you worked with? Pretty pretty random people. Okay. But for the twenty first at Goose Town, which is the record release, ultimately, they're gonna be we're we're gonna all be playing together. Okay.

So this is actually the first time we've actually been in the same room. It's, like, some of these rehearsals have been actuals. This, this record releases with, like, this is gonna be the first time that they're all in the same room together. So Are your are your rehearsals, like Oh, they're tough. Melting your heart?

Or are they going is it going well? They're gorgeous. Yeah. They're the most gorgeous. I have, They're tough.

They're tough. They're, yeah. They're definitely tough. But, as far as scheduling goes, because there's, like Yes. I have, with The Garden, and I don't wanna reveal who they are just yet.

And then I have a sax section, and then I have, two different basses. Okay. And then the drummer, which is Mark Emmons, and he's been the drummer for the whole record mostly. And so, like, being able to schedule those different units, and then there's there's violin, and there's cello too. So that's been the tough part, but getting back into these songs and, like, figuring out these parts and, like, remembering, like, oh, yeah.

That's a, you know, b, beast augmented chord right there. Oh, shoot. I totally forgot about the how did I pull that off on the record? I'm going back and figuring out this has been wonderful. It's been a problem.

Yes. A challenge has been wonderful. Very cool. He was talking he was asking me earlier about our session that Yeah. The day one Yes.

Playlist. Gosh. And I was like, we could I couldn't tell you why I was playing on any of those. Yeah. Like, if I had to go back and figure that out, it would take some science for sure.

What? Yeah. I think so. On some, you would just Yeah. Really?

Right? Yeah. No. But I think we could. Yeah.

I mean, I having it recorded, obviously, is helpful. Yeah. But yes. That's mean, like, patch wise and Yeah. Just, you know, what was I playing?

What was he playing? Sometimes I'm not sure who's playing what. Oh. I'm listening to it. Fair.

And then something crazy magical happens. I'm like, oh, yeah. That that part was Felix. Mhmm. It's Felix.

Who's Felix being magical? Not without your voice. It's fun. I love playing music with you. It's so fun.

Yeah. Very rewarding. I need to see that live for sure. Mhmm. I do.

Yeah. We have we have a show coming up at Rocksteady Bridge. Oh, yeah. For Back Corner Stage, September fourth. It's a Wednesday.

Okay. We'll be at the Squire from nine to midnight, I think. Alright. Yeah. Going on the journey in the cosmos.

Yeah. It's fun. Awesome. Yeah. So that actually, is, called Day One Mhmm.

That jam that you guys did. Mhmm. And that's on Lady Gang SoundCloud. Mhmm. 15 tracks.

Some of these tracks are, like, eight minutes, nine minutes long. And they're, like, it is perfectly, okay to listen to the whole thing because it's, like, just beautiful the whole way through. There's not one part that I did not enjoy. I was listening to it at work, and it made work easier. Oh, wow.

Yeah. And if you really if you want a day in the life of both of us, that's That's it. Right? That's it. Day one.

Awesome. Awesome. Day one, January. We recorded that 01/01/2019. That's why it's called Day one.

Mhmm. But yeah. So you guys work together. You have the people that you made the album with. You have that band that I saw you with at Rhinosoparopolis?

Rhinosoparopolis. Rhinosoparopolis. Oh, yeah. That's right. It's a hard name.

Yeah. Rhinosoparopolis. Yeah. Rhinosoparopolis. Now Now I forgot to say it.

Look at me. Rhinocerapolos. Oh, wow. That's it. Rhinocerapolos.

Yeah. That's it. That's my new band name. Do you kinda just go wherever you're taken, like, music wise, or is there specific people that, like, you you work with and that you want to work with? Or is it, like, if you're asked to be a part of something that you'll you'll usually do it?

The so the question that I'm hearing the real question, which is a good one, is how thin do I spread myself? Yeah. Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The answer is when I was younger, I I would spread myself way thin. Yeah.

But, now I'm definitely more intentional about projects that I wanna get involved with, and I know, like, how much time I can devote. Like, in for instance, I'm in a, jazz quartet, Mark Fox, and I've been playing with him for, like, maybe two years now. And the one of the main reasons is not only because we're able to improvise as well, and he's a tenor sax player, but in the jazz idiom, I just wanna get closer to that and be able to focus just on guitar, without having, like, the keyboard to, like, give all the interesting colors that I know I can make already. Mhmm. It's like have the guitar, and that's your pencil.

You don't get magic marker. You don't get fuchsia pink. Mhmm. Just your pencil. And so that was more of a discipline for my own musicality as a Mhmm.

As an artist. So I guess different situations, like and then with, Secret Dog, the trio that you see me with, like, we're just I just love being around those guys. Mhmm. We're, just good friends ultimately. And with Jen, same thing.

We're really good friend, and I get to learn a game from her. And we do, I don't know. I don't play with anybody else in a looping capacity. So that's been a really cool experience. And Mhmm.

And we're both Texans too. Mhmm. You got it. Yeah. I look up.

Yeah. Yeah. So it's very intentional, like, the people These days, absolutely. Yeah. Okay.

Mega intention. And, and that's been more beneficial than when you were spreading yourself as thin as possible? I you know, definitely so. Because you have more time, and you can say yes to what you wanna do, and you won't be in places that you don't wanna be. I I've I've slipped up a couple times this year, like, where it's like, oh, shit.

Well, I have to do this, but very minimal. And, you know, like, if somebody really needs me for a gig and and this is that's a gig. To me, that's a gig if you're, like, filling in and, you know, somebody couldn't show up and you're learning these songs really quick. That's a gig because you're Mhmm. Filling the specific space that somebody couldn't do or something.

But it's It's a work ethic thing too. Mhmm. Oh, yeah. For sure. Knowing who has the same work ethic as you.

Mhmm. And you're not showing up at practice at three, and it doesn't start till five. You know, like, those lessons you learn when you're like, I'll do everything. Mhmm. Then you realize you're the only one showing up in there or on time.

Because that's the one thing that all those other people had going on that day, and so they're taking their time with it. Yeah. Yeah. I get that. Is that so listening to your own music, well, like we just did, is that weird for you guys?

Because that's always, like, when people wanna listen to my music and I'm in the room, I always am like, oh, this is kinda uncomfortable. Like like, how do you guys feel about it? I wanna know how you feel. In that moment, I I'm really proud of that song. Yeah.

I'm really proud of it, just because, it was it is a marker of, like, self growth and self expansion, so I'm definitely proud of it. So it doesn't so no. That one. Yeah. Come on.

Come on, guys. Let's play it again. I like that, Greg. I feel the same way. Uh-huh.

I I, I'm really proud of the Lady Gang stuff, especially because it's, you know, it's it's self produced and, playing everything on it and, like, mixing it and doing all that to me. Mhmm. So I am proud of that. I didn't I wasn't comfortable as comfortable with listening to the loss and stuff before. Mhmm.

It would just really make me uncomfortable Yeah. And cringey. Yeah. But, yeah, Lady Gang stuff, I I really like the music I'm making, which is Right. Sometimes a rare thing to say.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know? For sure. So that goes back to what you're talking about earlier about being original and being a performer.

It's really hard getting up being an MC. But if you love your songs and you're proud of your recordings and you're proud of, you know, make sure that you fulfill flush your vision out a % before you go out into the world. You know? Because, otherwise, if you get something that you you're on a time crunch, so you just release it because you're on a time crunch. Mhmm.

And then you're never happy with it. You'll never wanna listen to it. You don't wanna share it with people. Mhmm. So that's a lesson I've learned.

Yeah. Yeah. I was just doing that with the song, because I wanted to write a song to perform for the block party. Mhmm. And so, like, I was writing it, and I was rushing to get it done, like, the week of.

And I had to, like, tell myself, like, if you because it was coming out well at the beginning when I wasn't rushing. And then at the last couple days, it was just, like, I couldn't get it to click. So I was, like, it's because I'm I'm pushing it. Pushing it. Like, I'm just not meant to perform this song for this performance.

Like, you can take your time with it, write it, get it the way you want it to sound, and, like, release it when it's ready. You know? Well, and a lot of people I see a lot that, like, constant demand of, like, releasing more music, releasing. And then as a performer, sometimes you know, like, to me, I've heard simple truths 900,000,000 times. So I'm like, should I be playing this during my sets anymore?

Because to me, it feels played out because I've listened to it so much. But then you have to remember, like, nobody in this room has heard the song. Yeah. So you may have heard it 900,000,000 times, but nobody else has. Yeah.

It's okay to allow them a few performances of coming to see you Yeah. Play the same songs because then they also become familiar with your songs. Like, oh, I love this song. Because they may not have gone home and downloaded it, but they've seen you three times now. Like, oh, that's that one song I really like, and that I think that's where they they're repetitive also Mhmm.

Is a good thing. You know? Yep. I agree. Yeah.

I asked that because you have this quote. I asked about, like, listening to your own music because you have this quote where they asked you, like, what is it like to be a creator? And you said it's the most powerful thing ever, but also the most petty shit ever because you're seeking validation, but, like, we also have to validate ourselves. Mhmm. And, like, I mean, I don't think there's anything more true about being a creator from my perspective.

You know? And it's like listening to my own music can be uncomfortable sometimes because it's like, even if I validated it validated it, I've been like, yeah. This is a good song. Maybe I haven't validated it to the way it's like, this is what I want to be putting out. And so, like, when other people are listening to it around me, I'm very attentive of, like, well, what's their validation of this?

You know? Like, is it is it And then they come up and say things to you, like, I really like that song, but this song, I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah. Leave me alone.

Yeah. I don't wanna know anything. Uh-huh. Alright. So we are out of time, but thank you guys so much for coming in and talking.

Thanks for having us. Yes. Is there anything you guys wanna plug, any messages that you wanna say to the people listening? Go to Felix's release party, June 21 at Goose Town Tavern. Oh, this isn't I'm sorry.

This isn't coming out for, like, four weeks. Oh. I should've said that. Will. I got nothing.

I'm sorry. You got nothing? You can come see us vibe out together on September 4. Yes. Yeah.

Okay. At the Squire Lounge. Lovely. Come out. That Corner Stage series.

Okay. I'll edit that, though. They keep trying they keep trying to make me come up with some kinda they're like, you should be versus, like Lady Gang versus Felix. I'm like, no. It's with.

Yeah. It's with. And they're like, yeah. But people, they like that in the marketing side. Uh-huh.

Like, well, I don't I'm not competing with them. I already know whose voice this is. Like, I'm just competing. We're a team. We're taking you on a sound journey.

Hey. Yeah. Yeah. Loop jazz. Oof.

I What was the Do we do loop jazz? That's a conversation I wanna have. We'll talk about that today. Thank you very much. Thank you just fine.

Yes. Thank you, Youth On Record. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Jesus killing it.

Give me those, give me those open lap times one time, please. Wednesdays and Fridays, three to six PM. Saturdays, eleven to three. Get your butts down here. Alright?

We're all done. Appreciate it. Sweet. I know. Right?

I'm like, what are we gonna go do now?