Episode 1649 - Josh Homme

Episode 1649 • Released June 5, 2025 • Speakers detected

00:00:00Guest:Lock the gates!

00:00:09Marc:Alright, let's do this.

00:00:11Marc:How are you, what the fuckers?

00:00:12Marc:What the fuck, buddies?

00:00:13Marc:What the fuck, Nicks?

00:00:14Marc:What's happening?

00:00:15Marc:I'm Mark Maron.

00:00:15Marc:This is my podcast, WTF.

00:00:19Marc:How's it going?

00:00:20Marc:Okay, how are you?

00:00:22Marc:I know.

00:00:23Marc:I understand.

00:00:26Marc:Believe me.

00:00:27Marc:I understand how you're feeling.

00:00:30Marc:But I'm around, and I'm still having the good talks.

00:00:34Marc:I mean, today I talked to Josh Homme, and it was crazy.

00:00:38Marc:It was crazy.

00:00:39Marc:I hadn't talked to him in a while.

00:00:40Marc:He's been on before.

00:00:41Marc:And it was kind of crazy the last time.

00:00:43Marc:But, you know, it's like people who do things, who create things.

00:00:50Marc:He took the Queens of the Stone Age down into the catacombs in Paris with acoustic instruments and did one of the most stunning...

00:01:00Marc:a bunch of songs that I've ever seen shot.

00:01:04Marc:And it's crazy.

00:01:06Marc:And it's like, where does that come from?

00:01:08Marc:I mean, then he'd always wanted to do it.

00:01:11Marc:And, you know, obviously he's an interesting guy that's been through a lot of stuff and seriously a fairly expansive and amazing artist.

00:01:20Marc:But I was, you know, they sent me this stuff.

00:01:23Marc:His person was like, you know, they just did this thing in the catacombs.

00:01:27Marc:I'm like, what?

00:01:28What?

00:01:28Marc:And no one's ever been allowed down there.

00:01:30Marc:And just the the inspiration and the the the need to make it happen took a lot of years.

00:01:39Marc:But isn't that amazing?

00:01:41Marc:Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?

00:01:43Marc:You know, there's been a lot of revelations over the last few days, and I am grateful and amazed at the feedback.

00:01:51Marc:And feelings that are coming at me because of our announcement that we're winding the show down over the next few months.

00:02:00Marc:And it's very moving.

00:02:03Marc:And there's certainly a sadness to it.

00:02:05Marc:And we're not going to make every one of these episodes a reflection on the decision.

00:02:08Marc:But, boy, I didn't know it would have ripples around the world.

00:02:13Marc:And I know, look, I appreciate the part I play in everyone's life.

00:02:16Marc:And I appreciate the part you play in my life.

00:02:19Marc:And I'm just going to keep going here.

00:02:21Marc:But it's all very exciting.

00:02:23Marc:But there is, look, I acknowledge the void.

00:02:26Marc:And it's weird because we talk about the void in a general sense that, you know, everyone's got a void that they're trying to fill, at least those of us who know what I'm talking about, which is most of you.

00:02:38Marc:You know, you can't stop moving or thinking or dancing around the edge of this inner void that, you know, there's plenty of solutions.

00:02:47Marc:You know, you've got the God-sized whole idea, which is not the one I go with.

00:02:54Marc:But...

00:02:56Marc:But it's there, you know, and when you make a big decision in your life or you change your life dramatically or you, you know, you realize that something is going to be missing, it becomes a little more difficult to not acknowledge and, you know, reckon with the void.

00:03:16Marc:The void, you know, usually you're dancing around the edge and then all of a sudden something happens in your life and you're just sitting on the edge and you're kind of, you know, inching a little bit toward you, kind of tempting yourself to fall into that void.

00:03:31Marc:But I had this realization, thanks to you folks and just thinking about it, was an interesting thing.

00:03:38Marc:All right.

00:03:38Marc:So the night before I told you guys what was up,

00:03:43Marc:I didn't know how to feel, you know, and I was alone in my house and I knew I was going to sort of kind of lay this on you on the precipice of doing it.

00:03:53Marc:I had interesting feelings.

00:03:55Marc:You know, it's like it's not quite like a breakup, but it's just a slow sort of a slow farewell.

00:04:05Marc:But I felt I felt things.

00:04:07Marc:you know, I was on that void or that feeling or that, like, what's going to happen?

00:04:11Marc:Where am I going to go?

00:04:12Marc:And I realized, like, you know, the void is, it can be anything.

00:04:18Marc:You know, it's a slight shift to see it as, like, a despairing, bleak, you know, terrifying, you know, black hole of ill-defined but not good, you know,

00:04:31Marc:Or you can see it as this world of possibility.

00:04:35Marc:Maybe even happiness.

00:04:38Marc:When you take an element out of your life or you're preparing to do that or whatever, it's horrifying.

00:04:45Marc:And it's painful.

00:04:48Marc:But on the other side of that, all of a sudden you open up

00:04:51Marc:The life to other possibilities, whatever they may be, you know, whether they're professional or personal or or just space.

00:04:59Marc:But there is a an elevating feeling to that.

00:05:03Marc:But it's grounded in, you know, all the things, you know, sadness, terror, you know, the things.

00:05:10Marc:But I had another realization the other day that I think, you know, I'll share with you because.

00:05:17Marc:You know, I yesterday I interviewed Sarah Sherman from SNL and I always wanted to talk to her because I think she's a true a true blue weirdo who does unique shit.

00:05:29Marc:And I just didn't I don't really know her.

00:05:32Marc:And but, you know, I'm a fan.

00:05:35Marc:And we had a great conversation.

00:05:37Marc:You'll hear that whenever we put it up.

00:05:39Marc:But it was truly one of the beauties.

00:05:42Marc:But she came over with a friend, her best friend.

00:05:44Marc:I think her name was Ruby.

00:05:46Marc:And Ruby hung out on the porch while Sarah and I talked.

00:05:49Marc:And then after the conversation, I went out there.

00:05:52Marc:And I noticed Ruby, and she's got to be in her early 30s or whatever.

00:05:56Marc:She's reading Faulkner.

00:05:57Marc:And not just Faulkner, but The Sound and the Fury, right?

00:06:00Marc:And this is a book that kind of changed my entire life somehow.

00:06:04Marc:Yeah.

00:06:04Marc:And I was just so thrilled.

00:06:06Marc:I was like, oh, my God, someone's reading The Sound of the Fury.

00:06:09Marc:A young person is like, you know, is in the Faulkner.

00:06:12Marc:And I kind of I lit up and I was like, which section are you on?

00:06:15Marc:Are you on the Benji section?

00:06:16Marc:Where are you at?

00:06:18Marc:And she said she's on the Quentin section.

00:06:19Marc:I'm like, oh, Quentin doesn't end well for Quentin.

00:06:21Marc:And then, you know, my brain just lit up.

00:06:24Marc:And I was like, you know, we started talking about Faulkner.

00:06:26Marc:They had both read Absalom, Absalom, and they were just discovering this guy, the greatest writer ever.

00:06:31Marc:And then, you know, somehow or another, we got to Bruce Wagner.

00:06:33Marc:And you guys know that I'm a Bruce Wagner freak.

00:06:36Marc:And then I'm like showing them my Bruce Wagner books.

00:06:38Marc:And then I told her about this book that I had in college by this guy named Clanth Brooks, who was like the Faulkner critic guy.

00:06:44Marc:And it was just this feeling.

00:06:47Marc:of being lit up, you know, by talking to people that, you know, excite you in terms of, you know, what you're interested in and what things, you know, light you up or just to engage on that level, which is something I've done here for years.

00:07:05Marc:But, you know, it's available to you.

00:07:07Marc:It's available to you.

00:07:10Marc:out in the world.

00:07:11Marc:And it's something that, you know, is of primary importance in the world we live in and in the lives that we live isolated on our phones, afraid, full of weird panic and not really knowing what's going to happen.

00:07:26Marc:But, you know, if you have those people, like my buddy Sam Lipsight and I, we talk probably every day on the phone.

00:07:32Marc:He's in New York.

00:07:33Marc:But, you know, you have to have that these conversations I've had in here, but in life,

00:07:39Marc:in life to pursue the conversations that excite you and just trigger your passions, trigger your creativity, trigger your understanding of the world, make you laugh.

00:07:53Marc:I mean, I know maybe it's a tall order, but those people in your life are essential and they've always been essential to me.

00:08:01Marc:And I think there's something about me that some of you have gleaned.

00:08:07Marc:I was kind of a lost, wandering soul for a lot of my life.

00:08:12Marc:I had a very ill-defined sense of self, and the way I defined that for a good chunk of it creatively was through anger.

00:08:21Marc:But I was always looking for people to show me the way, to give me the answers, to give me a new perspective, to make me laugh, to make me think, to blow my mind with creativity, to turn me on, whatever it is.

00:08:35Marc:That that pursuit in life and then to try to hold on to those relationships that continue to give you that are just essential.

00:08:44Marc:And I think that there's something about being isolated and being locked into patterns or locked into your phone or locked into beating the shit out of yourself or locked into fear or locked into a kind of despair or stifled creatively.

00:09:00Marc:It's like...

00:09:01Marc:I mean, there are people out there that know how to talk, and there are people out there that like what you like, and there are people out there that can spark that excitement about art, about life, about, you know, try to stay away from the politics because that never leads to a good place.

00:09:17Marc:But just the creativity and the soul-nourishing engagements of other human beings is fucking essential.

00:09:25Marc:And if there's anything that I've learned from doing this show...

00:09:29Marc:It's that.

00:09:29Marc:But I also, you know, have it in my life and now will, you know, kind of, you know, make sure I nurture those relationships so you don't fall into that void.

00:09:39Marc:You don't, you know, sit at home alone on the edge of it, wondering if it's going to suck you in.

00:09:47Marc:So look, folks, as I said, Josh Homme is here today.

00:09:50Marc:Front man of the Queens of the Stone Age and also the band's Caius.

00:09:53Marc:Caius, the best.

00:09:56Marc:The Eagles of Death Metal.

00:09:58Marc:He was on the show back in 2013 talking about the near-death experience he had after a MRSA infection.

00:10:04Marc:Also, the first three episodes of the series Stick are now on Apple TV+.

00:10:08Marc:I'm in that.

00:10:09Marc:And I think it's going to be touching.

00:10:12Marc:Oh, my God.

00:10:13Marc:And all the previous guests and people in my business have been reaching out and congratulating me and Brendan and saying what an amazing run it's been and what we've contributed.

00:10:23Marc:And, you know, I don't know, man.

00:10:25Marc:I feel okay.

00:10:27Marc:I feel like the void is...

00:10:29Marc:I'm filled with possibility, and I've been re-energized to nurture and pursue relationships with people that bring a lot to my life.

00:10:42Marc:And I don't know, I hope you do as well.

00:10:46Marc:And I've been doing a lot of comedy.

00:10:47Marc:It's very funny, you know, when I feel a loss or a pain or a period of sort of floating, like I just lean in and I just go hit the stage, go to the comedy store and get up there and kind of yammer.

00:11:03Marc:But I'm sort of in a different zone right now.

00:11:05Marc:I'm kind of grounded in zero fucky.

00:11:08Marc:It's kind of good to be zero fucky, you know, and just speak your mind properly.

00:11:14Marc:I've been kind of going at the...

00:11:17Marc:kind of actively kind of trying to wrap my brain around the idea of the manosphere and, you know, what that means to culture.

00:11:25Marc:Obviously, I've done that for years, I think probably ahead of anyone calling it the manosphere.

00:11:31Marc:But it's a very odd thing, you know, these just yammering men behind microphones, you know, spending a lot of time, you know, talking about how they think women should be or what a woman's role is, like to the point where it's obsessive.

00:11:46Marc:And sometimes I think like, why don't you take the women out of the equation and just fuck each other already?

00:11:50Marc:Just do it.

00:11:52Marc:Do us all a favor.

00:11:53Marc:Let it go.

00:11:54Marc:I mean, there are dudes that I read yesterday that are shaving their eyelashes off because it's too feminine.

00:12:02Marc:And they're like doing jaw exercises to make their jaws more pronounced.

00:12:07Marc:And they're flying to Turkey to get hair transplants.

00:12:10Marc:I mean, it just feels in there.

00:12:12Marc:They're just eating raw meat and getting ripped.

00:12:15Marc:It just it feels like they're just evolving into some sort of, you know, gay fuckbot.

00:12:20Marc:And I just don't know.

00:12:21Marc:I don't know where this all ends up.

00:12:24Marc:But I had this idea about, you know, the symbol.

00:12:27Marc:There's a symbol, an ancient symbol, the uroboros.

00:12:30Marc:I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right.

00:12:32Marc:But it's a snake eating its own tail.

00:12:35Marc:And it's sort of a symbol for totality, I think, for wholeness.

00:12:41Marc:It represents a totality.

00:12:45Marc:And I sort of had this image in my head that I think that the symbol for the manosphere's totality would be the cock eating its own balls.

00:12:54Marc:I was so happy about that one.

00:12:58Marc:I was like, oh, this is going to be great.

00:13:01Marc:And then people were just sort of like, what?

00:13:03Marc:What is he talking about?

00:13:04Marc:All right, look.

00:13:05Marc:So this is a great conversation.

00:13:08Marc:I always like seeing Josh Homme.

00:13:10Marc:He's a very energized dude who just never stops working.

00:13:16Marc:And the Queens of the Stone Age Alive in the Catacombs is available at QOTSA.com.

00:13:23Marc:And this is me talking to Josh.

00:13:34Marc:Yeah, that I don't even know where I got that Iggy pillow.

00:13:39Marc:But, you know, when I interviewed him years ago, I was kind of amazed because I mean, Rollins, Henry said, you know, well, you know, have you ever met Jim?

00:13:50Marc:Right.

00:13:52Marc:Jim.

00:13:53Marc:And I'm like, I don't know what you mean.

00:13:56Marc:Like, well, there's Iggy and then there's Jim.

00:13:58Marc:Yeah.

00:13:59Marc:And Jim is a very erudite, smart fucker.

00:14:03Marc:Well-read.

00:14:04Marc:Yeah.

00:14:04Marc:You know, just knows the thing.

00:14:08Marc:Yeah.

00:14:09Marc:And it was funny because he came over and I didn't really know what to expect.

00:14:12Marc:And we were out at the old house where you were at.

00:14:15Marc:And he's out on the porch and he's like, oh, yeah.

00:14:18Yeah.

00:14:18Guest:nice day and then like off comes the shirt i'm like well i guess it's gonna be half jim half iggy that's how this is gonna go yeah i mean i i think you want half jim half iggy in my experience making making a record with him and touring with him yeah and sort of trying to do a hail hail rock and roll thing where we're armored up in suits you know this sort of be the keith to the chuck barry you know i think you probably had an easier go of it

00:14:43Guest:I would think so.

00:14:44Guest:Yeah.

00:14:45Guest:But that was just the visual attempt.

00:14:47Marc:I love that concert footage and the video and stuff.

00:14:50Marc:I never know how those things happen.

00:14:51Marc:How did you get chosen?

00:14:52Marc:Did you say to Iggy, like, let's get this down?

00:14:56Guest:No, it was the best thing of my artistic life, actually.

00:14:59Guest:It was?

00:15:00Guest:Yeah.

00:15:00Guest:It was, I got a text.

00:15:03Guest:And it said, you know, that phone got destroyed.

00:15:10Guest:How does the phone get destroyed?

00:15:12Guest:You know, I have a very checkered past.

00:15:14Guest:The phone got destroyed?

00:15:15Guest:I mean, lost maybe, but destroyed.

00:15:18Guest:Well, they're the same in my book.

00:15:21Guest:Okay, sure, sure, sure.

00:15:21Guest:It got lost against a wall.

00:15:24Guest:Yeah, it was completely lost against a completely different, a wall that was unknown to me.

00:15:29Guest:Yeah.

00:15:30Guest:But it was a text that essentially said,

00:15:32Guest:I think we should collaborate on something, and that would be nice.

00:15:37Guest:The text had that tone.

00:15:39Guest:Iggy Pop.

00:15:40Guest:It was from Michigan.

00:15:42Guest:And I lost my fucking mind.

00:15:44Marc:He's got a Michigan number?

00:15:46Guest:No, it was a Miami number.

00:15:49Marc:Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:15:51Guest:I think he's lost many phones as well.

00:15:53Guest:Sure.

00:15:54Guest:So you lost your mind?

00:15:55Guest:Yeah, I just was like...

00:15:57Guest:You know, I immediately romanticized it to the point where I was like, this means even my mistakes have led me to this spot where I'm receiving this call.

00:16:08Guest:I took it as rubber stamping that I'm headed the right direction.

00:16:11Guest:Well, it's sort of like from one of the immortals.

00:16:14Guest:Yeah.

00:16:15Guest:Well, certainly because one of the originators.

00:16:19Guest:You know, there is no such thing as somebody else like him.

00:16:24Guest:And I do think that, you know, I'm from a small town.

00:16:29Guest:Like, when I was growing up in Palm Desert, the whole place was maybe 30,000 people.

00:16:34Guest:Yeah.

00:16:34Guest:The whole space, you know.

00:16:36Guest:Yeah.

00:16:37Guest:And he's from, what, Ann Arbor?

00:16:38Guest:Yeah.

00:16:38Guest:or where he's from ann arbor yeah but you know in my town if it's like man you're you're you're one in a million it's like no you're one in 30 000 and that's pretty good yeah pretty good but then when you move with you know then you play a gig in riverside which is oh yeah bigger you know maybe 150 000 at the time it's like you're one in a million it's like no 150 yeah yeah yeah but i i i believe that iggy is actually a one in a

00:17:03Guest:How many?

00:17:03Guest:He's the only one.

00:17:04Guest:You can just say he's the only one.

00:17:06Marc:Yeah, it's like one in seven, six billion maybe.

00:17:09Guest:Right.

00:17:09Marc:And it's so interesting to kind of like, well, he's a guy.

00:17:13Marc:Right.

00:17:15Marc:He's a front man.

00:17:16Marc:So, you know, how he's going to come off or what the kind of.

00:17:21Marc:or part of the collaboration with him is it's all, you know, as a band, it's like, that's a lot of it.

00:17:31Marc:Because he just picks bands.

00:17:32Guest:Well, I think he has gotten to the spot where he can sort of cherry pick these, you know, at the time he was saying, this is my last record.

00:17:41Guest:I'm going to do this.

00:17:42Guest:This is my statement.

00:17:43Guest:Sure.

00:17:44Guest:And over the years, I would say, if I was going to play with Iggy, I would do this.

00:17:49Guest:Yeah.

00:17:49Guest:It changed over the years.

00:17:51Guest:Yeah.

00:17:52Guest:And by the time we got together, it was the perfect time in that he was 69.

00:17:58Guest:And it was like, what does this 69-year-old...

00:18:04Guest:rock originator music originator um what is their voice you don't hear that perspective yeah sure and he had a lot to say yeah so that i can't remember the album was all new stuff right it was yeah it was all new stuff but when you did the concert you did some classics

00:18:22Guest:What we did is focused on the first two albums of his, which was The Idiot and Lust for Life.

00:18:27Guest:Yeah, those are the best.

00:18:29Guest:And there was a lot of things that never get played in that zone.

00:18:32Guest:Really?

00:18:33Guest:Yeah.

00:18:34Guest:Well, yeah, like, you know, it's like Sister Midnight or this song called Mass Production that I really love.

00:18:41Guest:It's just all these things.

00:18:42Guest:Dumb, dumb boys.

00:18:43Guest:Yeah.

00:18:44Guest:And so it was a chance to...

00:18:46Guest:And also, I treated it like, you know, for a minute I work at the Smithsonian and I'm trying to recreate this thing and restore this thing.

00:18:57Guest:And felt like that was my role in this, is to try to be as respectful as...

00:19:02Marc:Well, yeah, but also like, you know, lending, because tonally that stuff is, I mean, I think that, you know, the idiot's up your alley.

00:19:09Marc:Oh, yeah, it's deep inside my alley.

00:19:12Marc:Yeah.

00:19:13Marc:So whatever's going to come out of you is going to be, you know, you kind of channeling something as opposed to mimicking it.

00:19:19Guest:Yeah, well, it's fun to do a Rubik's Cube, which is not your cube.

00:19:24Guest:Yeah, I bet.

00:19:25Guest:And just say, I got a side, it's all purple.

00:19:27Marc:But I imagine he's like somebody who's just going to respond to the thrust of the thing.

00:19:31Marc:Was he picky about how you were handling the music?

00:19:33Guest:No, it was very interesting because, and I mean this just as an observation without any judgment, he's definitely...

00:19:42Guest:the most loner guy that I know.

00:19:45Guest:He's all alone.

00:19:47Guest:What he's thinking and what he's gone through at times, you know, I thought, like, the Stooges and Iggy have started and influenced your favorite bands in the world that got huge.

00:20:02Guest:Yeah.

00:20:02Guest:And it took 30 years for one of the Stooges' records to go gold.

00:20:07Guest:Is that true?

00:20:07Guest:Yeah.

00:20:08Guest:Oh, because of the Nike commercial.

00:20:10Guest:Yeah.

00:20:10Guest:Yeah, it was some things like that.

00:20:12Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:20:14Guest:And he has the longest time release of... I'm aware of where you put out records and people actively hate you more than they like you.

00:20:23Guest:Yeah.

00:20:23Guest:And people couldn't stand The Stooges when they came out.

00:20:26Guest:And so...

00:20:27Guest:And everyone, you know, it took 30 years for what he did to be recognized properly and understood.

00:20:37Guest:And that is a lonely amount of time in between.

00:20:40Guest:It just is.

00:20:41Guest:But he made tons of records.

00:20:44Guest:Tons of records, but oftentimes...

00:20:46Guest:Iggy gives his 100%, but he'll collaborate with someone at times where you're like, don't do that.

00:20:53Guest:Don't do that.

00:20:54Guest:And so he's putting 100% on top of something that's 40%.

00:20:59Marc:But you guys made a great record, and the concert was great.

00:21:02Marc:It was just fun.

00:21:03Marc:And he is 100% all in all the time.

00:21:06Marc:Oh, yeah.

00:21:06Marc:But, you know, it's weird because even Lust for Life, that didn't get the attention it deserved until Trainspotting, really.

00:21:13Marc:Really.

00:21:14Marc:Right?

00:21:14Marc:The movie.

00:21:15Marc:Because it was like a big part of that movie.

00:21:17Marc:And then I know the story of Search and Destroy showing up on that Nike ad.

00:21:23Marc:Right.

00:21:24Marc:That was in, you know, movie theaters.

00:21:26Marc:Because my buddy, do you know John Daniel at Crush Management?

00:21:30Marc:No.

00:21:30Marc:He's a good guy.

00:21:31Marc:Yep.

00:21:31Marc:You know, but he was in publishing and he knew the guy.

00:21:36Marc:He was just a dude looking at titles.

00:21:38Marc:Yeah, right.

00:21:39Marc:For a commercial.

00:21:40Marc:Right.

00:21:40Marc:You know, on a catalog.

00:21:41Marc:Right.

00:21:42Marc:And he thought Search and Destroy.

00:21:44Marc:I didn't know that.

00:21:44Marc:That's amazing.

00:21:45Marc:Yeah.

00:21:46Marc:Let's hear that.

00:21:47Marc:Yeah.

00:21:47Guest:It had nothing to do with Iggy.

00:21:49Guest:Right.

00:21:49Guest:And then it became huge.

00:21:51Guest:Yeah.

00:21:51Guest:Good for him.

00:21:52Guest:You know, he had this thing.

00:21:53Guest:He also did...

00:21:55Guest:Because his voice is, you know, like this.

00:21:58Guest:He did some kind of voiceover thing for like a Sainsbury in England and Less for Life was on Carnival Cruises and someone asked him, you know, you've sold your song to some commercials.

00:22:13Guest:Yeah.

00:22:13Guest:You know, is that selling out and what do you think about that?

00:22:16Guest:And he said, well, I think three things.

00:22:19Guest:One, I think the...

00:22:22Guest:the original meaning behind the song exists and cannot be changed.

00:22:28Guest:Yeah.

00:22:29Guest:Two, anything that funds the arts is a good thing.

00:22:33Guest:Sure.

00:22:34Guest:And three, go fuck yourself.

00:22:39Yeah.

00:22:39Guest:So after working with him, did you guys, do you still talk?

00:22:45Guest:Yes, on the reg.

00:22:46Guest:It's funny because I don't call as much as I want to.

00:22:52Guest:And I think there's still a part of me that's like...

00:22:57Guest:I don't know, maybe just a touch nervous, even though we're buddies and I love them and we've had all these, we've had, we've argued, you know what I mean?

00:23:03Guest:And, and yeah, what'd you argue about?

00:23:05Guest:Well, you know, I just, I think in, in, it's not like a legit, like, you know, boyfriend, girlfriend, it's, it's, um, it's just, um, you have disagreements and that's what friends need to have.

00:23:18Guest:This isn't an ass kiss.

00:23:19Guest:Like Chuck and Keith.

00:23:21Guest:It's not, yeah.

00:23:21Guest:Over the beginning of Carol.

00:23:23Guest:And it's not, yeah.

00:23:25Guest:But it's not my job to simply be his cheerleader and say yes to everything.

00:23:30Guest:Yeah.

00:23:30Guest:And nor his job to agree with what I have to say.

00:23:33Guest:Sure.

00:23:33Guest:And so I think those kind of spats are necessary to prove your friends.

00:23:38Guest:Yeah.

00:23:39Guest:Are you going to do something with him again?

00:23:41Guest:I mean, I'm always at the rest.

00:23:42Guest:Honestly, I could have done that for the rest of my career.

00:23:45Guest:Just been in his band.

00:23:47Guest:Yeah, yeah.

00:23:48Guest:And sort of, you know, he was very gracious about, go ahead, you can pick the set list, go ahead.

00:23:54Guest:Yeah.

00:23:55Guest:you know, but, but he did that knowing what he was doing.

00:23:59Guest:It was not, well, I think, I think so.

00:24:02Guest:I'd like to think so.

00:24:04Guest:Yeah.

00:24:04Guest:But also he was like, I'm going to do what I'm going to do.

00:24:08Guest:Yeah.

00:24:09Guest:And, and I just love that.

00:24:10Guest:Um, and you know, even though we got quite close and are still quite close, I, I, um, I still have a great respect and meetings, meeting him gave me and working with him gave me more respect for him.

00:24:24Guest:That's good.

00:24:25Guest:Could have went the other way.

00:24:26Guest:Well, he is who he says.

00:24:28Guest:Then this is, you know, I was going to say this about you as I was driving up here.

00:24:31Guest:I was like, you know, thing about you is that you're like, I'm this.

00:24:39Guest:Yeah, yeah.

00:24:40Guest:I'm this.

00:24:40Guest:Yeah, can't help it.

00:24:41Guest:Yeah, this is what it is.

00:24:44Guest:I push back on it, but I can't.

00:24:45Guest:Yeah, well, but...

00:24:46Guest:You're fighting up a river that is your river.

00:24:49Guest:I know.

00:24:49Guest:Tell me about it.

00:24:50Guest:It's my fucking life.

00:24:52Guest:But I think the coolest thing you could be is simply yourself.

00:24:56Guest:Or it's like, as Oscar Wilde said, be yourself.

00:24:58Guest:Everyone else is taken.

00:24:59Guest:Yeah.

00:25:00Guest:That's a good one.

00:25:00Guest:And so I think my reverence for Iggy...

00:25:06Guest:is rooted in that he is who he says he is.

00:25:09Guest:That's for sure.

00:25:09Guest:Yeah.

00:25:11Marc:Where are you at with that?

00:25:11Marc:How are you feeling about you?

00:25:13Marc:I feel great, actually.

00:25:15Marc:Are you who you say you are?

00:25:16Guest:Yeah.

00:25:17Guest:Have you arrived at yourself?

00:25:18Guest:I are this.

00:25:21Guest:You know, especially just had such an intense grouping of years these last... Yeah, I can't remember the last time we talked, but I think when we talked...

00:25:32Marc:That was a long time ago.

00:25:35Marc:It was, and you were just going sort of public about the dying on the table business.

00:25:40Guest:Yeah, and I've since been close to death again.

00:25:44Guest:What the fuck, dude?

00:25:45Guest:You know, that's my fourth time, but I gotta say, every time I always feel...

00:25:50Guest:Really supercharged.

00:25:52Guest:I would hope so.

00:25:53Guest:Yeah.

00:25:53Guest:I mean, I kept saying this this time.

00:25:56Guest:I kept saying, you know, I never felt so alive as I did the day.

00:25:59Guest:I almost died.

00:26:00Guest:I never felt so alive.

00:26:00Marc:Well, what the fuck happened this time?

00:26:02Guest:When was this?

00:26:03Guest:I had a little bit of cancer for a sec.

00:26:07Guest:Which kind?

00:26:09Guest:Well, I kind of keep that one to me.

00:26:11Guest:But it wasn't the fun kind.

00:26:14Guest:Yeah.

00:26:15Guest:But I was able to get it so early that surgery was the way.

00:26:18Guest:Would you feel it or did it pop up?

00:26:21Guest:I was on a Christmas trip skiing with my brother and I coughed blood on the snow.

00:26:28Guest:Oh, my God.

00:26:29Guest:It's the most dramatic way to cough blood.

00:26:32Guest:Blood on the snow sounds like your next record.

00:26:36Guest:Yeah.

00:26:38Guest:Blood on the snow this weekend.

00:26:40Guest:Yeah, where's that song?

00:26:43Guest:But it looked actually crazy, kind of cool, the goth side of me.

00:26:48Guest:It's like, there you go with that.

00:26:50Guest:We did it.

00:26:51Guest:Yeah, we did it.

00:26:53Guest:Finally.

00:26:54Guest:Finally, man.

00:26:56Guest:But I was very lucky to be able to catch it so early that I was able to cut...

00:27:03Guest:just cut things away oh yeah and they got it yeah and they got it and it was nice and early you know how long was the recovery on that well I had some complications with the cut oh there you go you know which I which which um yeah sepsis I had a little bit of that yeah and that's the other one MRSA I had that too once I you know it's a cavalcade of I'm trying to do the things you get at hospitals I'm trying to do the hometown buffet oh my god damn it

00:27:30Guest:But those things end up, you know, I'm intense sometimes.

00:27:37Guest:And so those things always, they make me pause.

00:27:40Guest:Yeah.

00:27:41Guest:And in those moments of reflection, I always end up feeling pretty thankful after that.

00:27:46Marc:Well, I mean, does that, when you come out of something like that, because your songs are pretty almost operatic sometimes.

00:27:53Marc:Yeah.

00:27:54Marc:Yeah.

00:27:54Marc:You know, when you come out of, what, a second or a third sort of run-in with death, because I know on the Catacombs video, there's that song about suturing the future.

00:28:05Marc:Right.

00:28:06Marc:Was that out of this?

00:28:07Guest:No.

00:28:08Guest:That's an old one?

00:28:09Guest:It's an old one.

00:28:09Guest:Is that a cover of you?

00:28:11Guest:Yeah.

00:28:11Guest:It's me covering me.

00:28:13Guest:So it's an old... It's an old Queens song.

00:28:14Guest:Oh, it is.

00:28:15Guest:All of them are Queens tunes.

00:28:16Marc:Oh, none of them are new?

00:28:17Marc:No.

00:28:17Marc:I'm not deep into the catalog, so they're all sort of versions.

00:28:21Guest:Yeah.

00:28:22Guest:Yeah.

00:28:22Guest:Well, it's kind of cool to say, what if we didn't write the tune the way it was and just acted like we're writing it over again?

00:28:32Guest:Oh, okay.

00:28:33Guest:Did you write coming out of the hospital?

00:28:35Guest:No.

00:28:35Guest:I, um, does that stuff move you too?

00:28:38Guest:Yeah, absolutely.

00:28:39Guest:Absolutely.

00:28:40Guest:I mean, we're, we're, we're in this, we're doing some recording now, you know, and, uh, you know, I was, uh, with the, with the big sound.

00:28:48Guest:Yeah.

00:28:48Guest:With the, yeah.

00:28:49Guest:With everything plugged in.

00:28:50Guest:Yeah.

00:28:51Guest:You know, um, and, uh, it, it does, I think, um, getting close to things like that, um, um,

00:28:59Guest:In the moment, it's obviously sucks and there's no other way around it.

00:29:04Guest:But the fear of it.

00:29:05Marc:I mean, like I mean, because like I know kind of moving towards this, whatever, we'll get to it.

00:29:12Marc:The the the intention was to record in the catacombs.

00:29:16Marc:But I mean, do you when you have these moments, given who you are and what you've been through, do you feel fear?

00:29:23Guest:I mean, absolutely.

00:29:24Guest:The first two weeks... It's not like, fuck it.

00:29:26Guest:Well, you know, a lifetime of trying to accept things as they are and not be the last guy to hold on too tight to something.

00:29:35Guest:Yeah, yeah.

00:29:36Guest:You know, and...

00:29:38Guest:Wanting to be that way.

00:29:40Guest:And it's hard to do.

00:29:41Guest:It's so hard to just accept something as it is.

00:29:44Guest:Yeah, because it's powerlessness.

00:29:46Guest:Yeah, to have to turn it over.

00:29:49Guest:I know that one, yeah.

00:29:51Guest:And that turning over is a...

00:29:55Guest:is a skill that seems like you have to develop and not a talent you're born with.

00:30:00Marc:Well, also, like, if you have a certain disposition, if you've been fighting something your whole life or you just have that personality, and, you know, I have an addict's personality, and...

00:30:11Marc:You know, the idea of being powerless or turning something over, it's like there's a vulnerability to it.

00:30:16Marc:But it's not like you're all of a sudden in danger.

00:30:20Marc:Sure.

00:30:21Marc:But you just feel fucking, you know, soul naked.

00:30:23Guest:Yeah.

00:30:24Guest:It's a fucking nightmare.

00:30:26Guest:That vulnerability where it's like, you know, you drain the ocean and there's what's left.

00:30:30Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:30:31Guest:Here I am.

00:30:32Guest:I'm going to be blown away by a wind of insanity.

00:30:36Guest:Well, I think I've always been a bit of a, you know,

00:30:41Guest:uh if it's fight or flight i'm not much of a runner yeah so i um i needed to learn to sort of you know the word the word surrender was a big one yeah because i was always like give up there's no fucking way i'm gonna give up you know yeah you know but someone tapped me on the shoulder finally was like no no no give in and i was like oh no one's gonna say anything i've been a while i've been around for 40 some years at the time when i heard this and i was like

00:31:08Guest:Nobody else is going to say, give in.

00:31:11Guest:There's nobody here.

00:31:12Guest:Yeah.

00:31:13Guest:You know?

00:31:13Guest:Yeah.

00:31:14Guest:Give in's what?

00:31:15Guest:Give in's like proactive.

00:31:17Guest:Yeah.

00:31:17Guest:And a little sexier, frankly.

00:31:19Guest:Yeah.

00:31:19Guest:For sure.

00:31:20Guest:Like I'd hang that on my wall.

00:31:21Guest:Yeah.

00:31:22Guest:You know, I'll take that.

00:31:23Guest:Don't give up.

00:31:24Guest:Give in.

00:31:24Guest:I'll take that.

00:31:25Guest:It's 530.

00:31:26Guest:I'm drinking mommy juice or live, laugh, love, and I'll put up.

00:31:29Guest:Yeah.

00:31:29Guest:Don't give up.

00:31:30Guest:Give in.

00:31:32Marc:So that helped you.

00:31:33Marc:It's funny how these little twists, these little turns of phrases, especially Adam, I don't know.

00:31:38Marc:Are you being sober?

00:31:39Marc:Is that where you're at?

00:31:41Guest:I'm not sober, but I'm not in any troubles.

00:31:44Guest:Not spiraling into the fucking chasm.

00:31:47Guest:But it's funny that actually it's something where I like...

00:31:52Guest:I probably, I'll go and have a drink socially.

00:31:55Guest:Yeah.

00:31:55Guest:And not, and just have one drink.

00:31:58Guest:Yeah.

00:31:58Guest:Which is, you know, that's the first time in, you know, that's been my protocol for the last couple of years.

00:32:06Guest:That's good.

00:32:07Guest:As long as it just doesn't, you know, like, you know, awaken the beast.

00:32:11Guest:Well, I'm sure there's a beautiful place in the world that I'll be thrown out of at some point.

00:32:17Yeah.

00:32:17Guest:But also, you know, I are who I are.

00:32:22Guest:I look at this as a... It's a bit like, you know, you're talking about, are you recording loud or is it catacomb style?

00:32:31Guest:Like, you know, you just keep doing something different because it's interesting and it's, you know... Sure, yeah, I mean, absolutely.

00:32:38Marc:You keep changing up what you do a little.

00:32:40Marc:Yeah, well, because it keeps you engaged with it.

00:32:41Marc:Yeah.

00:32:42Marc:It's funny because I, you know...

00:32:44Marc:Dean, Dean Del Rey, our mutual buddy, he recorded a special in a cave, and then you went into the catacombs to do whatever you did.

00:32:53Marc:And you did the riff at the beginning of his special.

00:32:57Marc:Yeah, yeah.

00:32:59Marc:For him, that was nice.

00:33:00Marc:Yeah.

00:33:00Marc:But it's funny, because I recorded an HBO special last weekend, and I put a band together, and I wrote a riff, and I was heavily, my head was full of Caius.

00:33:10Marc:Yeah.

00:33:11Marc:A head full of Caius is a sentence I haven't heard in a long time.

00:33:15Marc:Yeah, I had a head full of Caius, dude.

00:33:17Marc:Hold on, hold on.

00:33:19Guest:I mean, I don't know if you can identify it, but for me, yeah.

00:33:22Guest:Last time I came here, you had ZZ Top Tejas on, and I remember being like, oh, yeah, this is going to go well.

00:33:29Guest:Fuck yeah, man.

00:33:30Guest:That was like 15 years ago or something like that.

00:33:32Marc:I'll listen to Tejas.

00:33:33Marc:I'll listen to, what do I got on my pre-show list for when I'm performing?

00:33:40Marc:Oh, I've got Just Got Paid, which is, I think, from Real Grande Mud.

00:33:44Marc:Hold on, hold on.

00:33:45Marc:See if I can, I don't know.

00:33:46Marc:I can't believe I'm playing this for you, but I think it's important.

00:33:57Guest:Right?

00:33:58Guest:Yeah, that's great.

00:33:59Guest:That's definitely got some of that in there.

00:34:02Guest:Oh, I'm very happy.

00:34:04Marc:Yeah, dude.

00:34:04Marc:Yeah.

00:34:05Marc:Like, it's funny about, like, I don't know what that is.

00:34:08Marc:Like, I mean, I'll listen to Queen sometimes, but I'll fucking go back to, I listen to Caius a few times a month, dude.

00:34:15Marc:Yeah, really?

00:34:15Marc:Yeah.

00:34:16Marc:I like being the Vegemite on your toast.

00:34:20Marc:I mean, come on, dude.

00:34:22Marc:So, like, now, did you, like, I was wondering when I was watching the Catacombs,

00:34:28Marc:Like, I don't—are you close with your buddy from Eagles of Death Metal still?

00:34:35Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:34:36Guest:Jesse, yeah.

00:34:36Marc:So, like, because they went through that shit in France that was horrendous.

00:34:39Marc:Yeah.

00:34:40Marc:Was there any sort of connection to that that drove you to the catacombs?

00:34:44Guest:Yeah, I mean, my—yeah, I mean—

00:34:50Marc:That was in 2015.

00:34:53Marc:There was a terrorist attack, and the venue they were playing at killed a lot of people.

00:34:58Guest:The Bataclan, yeah.

00:35:00Guest:Were you supposed to be there?

00:35:01Guest:I was, yeah.

00:35:03Guest:My ex-wife was pregnant with our third child.

00:35:08Guest:Yeah.

00:35:09Guest:And she was like, I was doing the American tour.

00:35:14Guest:Yeah.

00:35:15Guest:With the Eagles.

00:35:15Guest:And I'd done some of the promo tour in England and through Europe.

00:35:20Guest:Our record was just out.

00:35:22Guest:And she was like, please just don't go on the European tour.

00:35:25Guest:I'm pregnant and we're about to have a kid any week now.

00:35:29Guest:Yeah.

00:35:30Guest:And so two nights before I was to leave for Europe, yeah, I found our replacement drummer.

00:35:38Guest:And he just, no rehearsal, came and watched me play.

00:35:42Guest:The last day was in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall.

00:35:45Guest:And then I waved them goodbye and they went...

00:35:48Guest:And it was, I think, two or three shows into the tour.

00:35:53Guest:Yeah.

00:35:53Guest:Yeah, and it was... It's a very... You cannot be prepared for a geopolitical event when you're in a... You cannot be prepared for what...

00:36:08Guest:You cannot be prepared for being on the ISIS website, which is what Jesse and I were on.

00:36:15Guest:Was that after?

00:36:16Guest:It turned out it was before.

00:36:18Guest:I didn't know they had a website.

00:36:19Guest:Why were you targeted?

00:36:22Guest:They were going to...

00:36:24Guest:you know, they were going to do something specific to us.

00:36:27Guest:You know, that's part of the reason that there was all part of a calculated, but why you, why the Eagles of death metal?

00:36:33Guest:I think that, um, you know, if I'm just guessing here and there's a lot of things that we were told that, that everyone else was not told, um, which I'll probably keep that way.

00:36:46Guest:But, uh, um,

00:36:48Guest:You know, I think they had an issue with the Bataclan in the same way they had an issue with Charlie Hebdo.

00:36:54Guest:Oh, okay.

00:36:55Guest:And the French president was— So the venue.

00:36:57Guest:And we were the perfect symbol of what was not to happen, you know, for them.

00:37:03Marc:Oh, so you represented American Satan.

00:37:07Marc:Yeah, basically.

00:37:07Marc:And the Bataclan has a history.

00:37:09Marc:Was it a Muslim holy space or—

00:37:11Guest:No, it's a Jewish-owned venue and had held many events and protests and free speech things.

00:37:21Guest:And was that why you guys chose it?

00:37:24Guest:We chose it.

00:37:25Guest:It was chosen because it's one of the good venues.

00:37:27Guest:Right, okay.

00:37:28Marc:So they do rock shows.

00:37:29Guest:Oh, yeah, all the time.

00:37:31Guest:And the French president was having dinner next door, and they also attacked the soccer stadium, which was all within...

00:37:37Guest:A small area.

00:37:38Guest:And so this was a coordinated attack.

00:37:40Guest:Just gunmen.

00:37:42Guest:Yeah.

00:37:43Marc:Assholes, you know.

00:37:44Marc:Oh, my God.

00:37:45Marc:And so many people got killed.

00:37:47Marc:So many.

00:37:48Marc:So many.

00:37:50Marc:But your pals got out.

00:37:53Marc:Jesse got out.

00:37:54Guest:Not all.

00:37:55Guest:Everyone in the band made it out.

00:37:57Guest:Yeah.

00:37:57Guest:Not all of my pals made it out, and so many of the fans did not make it out.

00:38:05Guest:I was at the studio with a guy named B.O.C.

00:38:11Guest:Brian O'Connor, who also played and toured with Eagles of Death Metal a lot.

00:38:15Guest:We were just recording some of his thing.

00:38:18Guest:I wasn't on tour, and I got this call from my friend Scotty.

00:38:22Guest:And there was all this noise in the background and he was just, you know, saying, you know, they're shooting.

00:38:30Guest:I got, that's not my blood.

00:38:31Guest:Is that my blood all over?

00:38:32Guest:And I was like, what?

00:38:33Guest:What?

00:38:34Guest:Yeah, yeah.

00:38:34Guest:Oh my God.

00:38:35Guest:And I, so it was happening and no one knew yet, you know, I was getting the call in real time.

00:38:41Guest:And, you know, it's funny in those situations how you just turn off, you know, you.

00:38:52Guest:Detach.

00:38:52Guest:Yeah.

00:38:53Marc:Or you kind of go into a trauma, immediate trauma reaction.

00:38:58Guest:I'd quit smoking at the time.

00:39:00Guest:And so there was this other guy there that was smoking.

00:39:07Guest:So I just grabbed his pack of cigarettes, a box of something, I think it was like vitamin powder, and my motorcycle helmet, and got in my car.

00:39:19Guest:And I remember looking over like, why did I grab this?

00:39:23Guest:And I just drove to my manager's office and we began the process of sifting through whatever the fuck that was.

00:39:33Guest:Yeah.

00:39:35Guest:And yeah, yeah.

00:39:38Guest:Did they do any more dates or that was it, right?

00:39:40Guest:No, we actually went back.

00:39:42Guest:You went back?

00:39:43Guest:In fact, in fact, you know, and I appreciate you skipping over that, having to skip over the details.

00:39:48Guest:I would rather skip over lots of those details because it's fucking terrible.

00:39:51Guest:But one of the amazing things about my bandmates and the situation and Paris was that we went back to finish the show and I went back

00:40:04Guest:I flew out on Valentine's Day to finish the show, which was a very short succession.

00:40:14Marc:That's interesting.

00:40:15Marc:So they had gotten through part of the show, and then the shit went down.

00:40:20Marc:Yeah.

00:40:21Marc:How long, how much later?

00:40:23Guest:So it was November 13th that the attack occurred to me.

00:40:30Guest:And then we went, I flew back on Valentine's Day.

00:40:33Marc:Oh, February.

00:40:33Guest:And my son was born, you know, on November 13th at 11.50.

00:40:42Guest:I had a flight on Valentine's Day at 6 in the morning.

00:40:44Guest:Yeah.

00:40:45Guest:And my son was born 11.58 on the 13th the night before.

00:40:50Guest:You left.

00:40:51Guest:Yeah.

00:40:51Guest:And then I left at six in the morning the next day because I was like, I need to... I mean, with the full support of everyone.

00:40:58Guest:Sure, sure.

00:40:59Guest:I saw my son.

00:41:01Guest:I held him.

00:41:01Guest:And I got on the plane and went to Paris and we finished that fucking show.

00:41:08Guest:At the venue?

00:41:09Guest:It was not at that venue.

00:41:10Guest:It still was still at the time.

00:41:12Guest:It's open since.

00:41:14Marc:Yeah, but it was still like an active crime scene.

00:41:17Guest:It was definitely still...

00:41:19Guest:in the process of being combed over completely.

00:41:25Guest:Wow.

00:41:26Guest:And doing whatever was necessary there.

00:41:29Guest:And how was Jesse's head?

00:41:31Guest:I mean, it's impossible to unsee what my beautiful friends went through.

00:41:38Guest:And so I know that they all each in their own way have had to deal with

00:41:48Guest:what is sort of impossible for me to do anything but empathize with.

00:41:52Guest:Yeah, I can't even imagine.

00:41:53Guest:I mean, I know it's like I had all kinds of just things that are unimportant to this story.

00:41:59Guest:Yeah.

00:42:00Guest:And that ultimately... What, reaction-wise?

00:42:03Guest:It just was hard to... It was hard to have sent someone in my place.

00:42:09Guest:It was hard to... To know that.

00:42:11Guest:It was hard to get my head around...

00:42:15Guest:My main concern was bringing everyone home.

00:42:18Guest:Sure.

00:42:18Guest:And bring them home in a safe way.

00:42:20Guest:Right.

00:42:20Guest:But party was like, I should have been there.

00:42:22Guest:I had a lot of, it took me a while to feel good.

00:42:29Guest:Yeah, sure.

00:42:30Guest:And so many people which I knew.

00:42:33Guest:Yeah.

00:42:35Guest:People that were in the front row for years.

00:42:38Guest:Oh, so these were fans that you had a relationship with.

00:42:40Guest:Yeah, and it's like a relationship that's like, oh, I see you, I see you.

00:42:45Guest:Right, I remember.

00:42:45Guest:Yeah, yeah.

00:42:46Guest:And I'm like, you know, a crew of girls that always would dress similar and that met each other because it's like, you know, I wrote down all their names and there were so many siblings, you know.

00:42:56Guest:And they're gone?

00:42:58Guest:Yeah, they're gone.

00:42:59Guest:And so it just took me, it just, those are the sort of,

00:43:04Guest:uh, emotional, you know, blockades that you're just like, how do I, what do I, what do I, um, do?

00:43:15Guest:Yeah.

00:43:16Marc:And the, and the grief gets just, it's the other thing about powerlessness and about, you know, what your own place, you know, in the world is and then how to deal with whatever, you know, grief and regret and, you know, anger, all that stuff.

00:43:34Guest:In fact, this is the only time and the most I've ever talked about this.

00:43:38Guest:And you did this to me last time.

00:43:39Guest:Somehow you got me to talk about getting off drugs.

00:43:44Guest:But I think you have all these strange...

00:43:51Guest:they're completely unique to a situation like that.

00:43:55Guest:Feelings which you've never had to deal with.

00:43:57Guest:Where you're like, I should have been there.

00:44:00Guest:But outside of that, none of it is about you.

00:44:04Guest:But that's the hard part too, is you're like, I need to shut the fuck up and never talk about this ever.

00:44:09Guest:Well, I don't know.

00:44:09Guest:Because it's my story doesn't fucking matter.

00:44:12Guest:You know what I mean?

00:44:13Marc:I see what you're saying.

00:44:13Guest:Sure.

00:44:14Marc:Sure.

00:44:14Marc:But like and that's sort of contrary to your story always mattering because you're the one who.

00:44:19Guest:Well, you're the main character in your own thing.

00:44:21Marc:And you were the one that caused a lot of your own fucking misery.

00:44:24Marc:Sure.

00:44:25Marc:Before.

00:44:25Marc:Sure.

00:44:26Marc:So now all of a sudden, you know, you have to reckon with, you know, something out of your control that involved your friends, your fans.

00:44:32Guest:And you watch your friends and your fans and the people that were lost.

00:44:35Guest:It's fucking terrible.

00:44:36Guest:You know, it's like go to shake someone's hand, which does not have a hand.

00:44:40Guest:And then you go and you just think like, you know, and you say, I have no right to have any...

00:44:48Guest:I have only the right to shut up and listen.

00:44:52Guest:Yeah, and be empathetic and gracious.

00:44:54Guest:It does not matter.

00:44:56Guest:What I realized, actually, is that there are situations which occur.

00:45:02Guest:And it does not matter if you like them or not.

00:45:05Guest:They are here.

00:45:06Guest:And you must not get hung up on telling yourself if you do or do not like them.

00:45:14Guest:Right.

00:45:15Guest:Oh, that's interesting.

00:45:15Guest:Yeah.

00:45:15Guest:You must.

00:45:17Guest:This is where I'm so appreciative of my grandparents and my parents.

00:45:21Guest:They're just great people.

00:45:23Guest:Where it's like, there's no time for you to be thinking about you right now.

00:45:29Guest:It's like, you need to move forward.

00:45:30Guest:Yeah, hardship is hardship.

00:45:32Guest:Yeah, this is actually...

00:45:34Guest:A massive part of everyday life for many people.

00:45:37Guest:That's right.

00:45:38Guest:This is a great time for you.

00:45:42Guest:You can feel and cry later.

00:45:44Guest:This is the perfect time for you to just be quiet and move forward.

00:45:48Guest:Let's go.

00:45:48Guest:And show up.

00:45:49Guest:Yeah.

00:45:49Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:45:50Guest:Don't go anywhere.

00:45:51Guest:Don't you fucking move.

00:45:53Marc:So when you went back to finish the set...

00:45:56Marc:Was that just like that must have at least you felt like you could connect and honor, you know, your fans, yourself, you know, and, you know, try to help in the healing.

00:46:09Marc:Right.

00:46:10Guest:Well, there are there are so few people.

00:46:14Guest:It's almost like maybe there's near enough moments where you get to show who you really are.

00:46:19Guest:Yeah.

00:46:20Guest:And where the opportunity for you to be yourself and show who you are and rise to that moment.

00:46:30Guest:Yeah.

00:46:30Guest:And where it's like, are you going to do it or not?

00:46:34Guest:Don't say anything.

00:46:35Guest:Just do it or not.

00:46:36Guest:Yeah.

00:46:36Guest:What are you going to do right now?

00:46:38Guest:And so I feel really thankful.

00:46:40Guest:Yeah.

00:46:40Guest:For the opportunity.

00:46:42Guest:It sounded a bit like Tony Robbins or something, but I really was like, I'm honored to do what I'm about to do right now.

00:46:50Guest:Sure.

00:46:51Guest:And so it really felt like I cannot... It's the same thing I tell my kids and stuff.

00:46:57Guest:It's like, when you have sad feelings or you're... I cannot...

00:47:01Guest:make this go away, but I will sit with you.

00:47:04Guest:Right.

00:47:04Guest:I'll sit with you.

00:47:05Guest:Sure.

00:47:05Guest:I don't have to say nothing.

00:47:07Guest:I will sit here until it subsides and then we can stand up together.

00:47:11Marc:Well, that's like, you know, I said that about grief after, you know, my girlfriend passed away.

00:47:18Marc:Is that... Is that...

00:47:22Marc:you know, all anyone has to do is, is sit there.

00:47:26Marc:Yeah.

00:47:27Marc:You know, like people are like, I don't know what to do.

00:47:28Marc:How, how do I handle this person's sadness?

00:47:31Marc:It's like, just show up and, and just be present.

00:47:34Marc:Yeah.

00:47:35Marc:And that's, that's, that's it.

00:47:36Marc:And whatever comes from that comes from that.

00:47:39Marc:Yeah.

00:47:39Marc:But there's nothing you have to do other than be present.

00:47:43Guest:Well, I think, I think you, you've nailed it.

00:47:45Guest:And oftentimes people do not know what to do.

00:47:48Guest:And, and,

00:47:49Guest:And and so they naturally stay away or they make that mistake.

00:47:54Guest:Yeah.

00:47:55Guest:Which I think is it's ultimately selfish.

00:47:58Guest:It's just it's a mistake and it's a mistake of anxiety and uncomfortability.

00:48:02Guest:And and I understand the mistake.

00:48:04Guest:Sure.

00:48:05Guest:But maybe it's not selfish.

00:48:06Guest:It's fear.

00:48:07Guest:Yeah.

00:48:07Guest:It is.

00:48:08Guest:And it's like, oh, my God, I don't know what to do.

00:48:09Guest:And I'm like, oh, I can't.

00:48:11Guest:And not wanting to face things yourself like that, you know.

00:48:13Marc:But it's the most human of things.

00:48:15Marc:It's just that the fact that, you know.

00:48:17Marc:It's the most guaranteed thing, right?

00:48:18Marc:Well, death, yeah.

00:48:20Marc:But also the fact that, you know, there's no language around it.

00:48:23Marc:And culturally, it's something we all try to avoid.

00:48:25Marc:And individually, our entire mode of existence is to deny that that's going to happen.

00:48:31Marc:Yeah.

00:48:31Marc:Or at least not think about it.

00:48:33Marc:But it's going to happen to everybody.

00:48:35Marc:It's going to happen to people around you, right?

00:48:36Marc:So because there's not any sort of logic or not logic, but language around it, people just freak out.

00:48:43Marc:Everyone's freaked out about death.

00:48:45Marc:The entire capitalist system is driven by that.

00:48:48Marc:Avoid it.

00:48:49Marc:Eat some stuff.

00:48:50Marc:Buy some shit.

00:48:51Guest:Get on board.

00:48:52Guest:Well, you know, as somebody that...

00:48:54Guest:I don't, I don't care about left and right and all that shit.

00:48:58Guest:I don't care.

00:48:59Guest:I'm a, as someone that's driven by escapism and the value of art, making your world better and creating like an escapist moment for you away from all that.

00:49:11Guest:And then ideally that allows you to make a better informed decision because you've gotten this little reprieve.

00:49:17Marc:Yeah.

00:49:17Marc:Yeah, but also like art, you know, the weird thing is, is that I don't know necessarily that, you know, the way you approach music and your evolution, you know, within it and sort of like how much you've grown over the years in terms of being an artist.

00:49:33Marc:And also lyrically, it's not really, it may be escapism, but music is informed by feelings.

00:49:41Marc:Sure.

00:49:42Marc:And, you know...

00:49:43Marc:poetically, you know, creates a space of emotion for those who listen to it that is really theirs to do what they're going to do with.

00:49:51Marc:There's nothing like music in the sense that, you know, once it's out there, it could get people through any number of things.

00:49:58Guest:Yeah.

00:49:58Guest:And you have no idea who got it, where it went to, and what they did.

00:50:02Guest:Sure.

00:50:03Guest:Or how they used this.

00:50:04Marc:How it helped them, you know, or what it what it helped them process emotionally.

00:50:20Marc:Yeah.

00:50:25Marc:of art or whatever it is that comes from a place that is informed by one's own struggle.

00:50:34Guest:Well, for me, the entryway to this escapist, the entryway to this journey of emotion starts with all the marketing out front is like,

00:50:49Guest:Escape, quick, take a minute away.

00:50:51Guest:That's my way to get you in the door.

00:50:53Guest:I will turn the lights out and you and your best friends, I'll make the music loud and you guys can conspire together.

00:50:59Guest:Sure, sure.

00:51:01Guest:To me, that's the old PT Barnum side of this.

00:51:05Guest:It's like, I will lure you in with escaping the norms and trappings.

00:51:11Guest:And then ideally...

00:51:14Guest:that's just the worm on the hook to get you in, but now walk where it gets dark over there.

00:51:21Guest:Yeah, exactly.

00:51:21Guest:And that's where I am.

00:51:23Guest:I make music for the 50th listen, not the first listen.

00:51:27Guest:And I know that some people listen to music on the way to the bank, and that's not my fault, and that's okay.

00:51:34Guest:But that's not where I'm at.

00:51:36Guest:I want someone, when they're at their worst, to be like...

00:51:41Guest:I know what to play.

00:51:42Guest:Right.

00:51:43Marc:Right.

00:51:44Marc:And I guess that's escapism, but I guess I'm drawing a hard line.

00:51:48Marc:You know, like obviously, you know, let's enter this world that isn't the world.

00:51:52Marc:Sure.

00:51:53Marc:Is escapism.

00:51:54Marc:But, you know, once you're in the world, like we're going to do some shit.

00:51:57Marc:Oh, yeah.

00:51:57Marc:It's going to get it's going to get dark.

00:51:59Guest:Yeah.

00:51:59Marc:But it's not mindless.

00:52:01Marc:I guess that's the distinction I'm not making.

00:52:04Marc:It's like, you know, there's some part of my brain that thinks escapism is mindless, but it's not.

00:52:08Guest:Yeah.

00:52:08Guest:I think that's why I love, you know, I always thought like marketing, that's what the devil would do.

00:52:14Guest:Sure.

00:52:15Guest:That is the devil.

00:52:16Guest:You know, and, and, but I thought, well, okay, what if I re-engineer that to my purpose?

00:52:20Guest:And it's funny.

00:52:21Guest:That's the deal you made with the devil.

00:52:23Guest:Yeah.

00:52:23Guest:And it's like, it's like, come on in now.

00:52:25Guest:You know what?

00:52:26Guest:I'll give you a night.

00:52:26Guest:You'll never remember.

00:52:27Guest:Yeah.

00:52:28Guest:All that shit.

00:52:28Guest:You with the face, get in here.

00:52:30Guest:Yeah.

00:52:30Guest:Right.

00:52:31Guest:And I love that carnival barking attraction.

00:52:35Guest:Sure.

00:52:36Guest:Because it has taboo and danger.

00:52:38Guest:But so much of rock and roll is about that, too.

00:52:41Guest:Yeah, but that's really only the facade of this.

00:52:44Guest:And it's a facade, but it's not fake.

00:52:46Guest:It's just the front entry way of this.

00:52:48Marc:Yeah, it's a fine line between carnival barking.

00:52:51Marc:A snake oil salesman and preaching.

00:52:54Marc:Right, right.

00:52:56Guest:It's really the same guy.

00:52:59Guest:Totally.

00:52:59Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:53:00Guest:Right.

00:53:00Guest:And so because that is the way.

00:53:03Guest:Yeah.

00:53:03Guest:But the other, once you've wormed that hook, and I also like...

00:53:09Guest:The teasing and the tricking and the, you know, the releasing of little things.

00:53:13Guest:It's fun to tantalize.

00:53:16Guest:Put on a show, man.

00:53:17Guest:Right.

00:53:17Guest:Showbiz.

00:53:18Guest:Yeah.

00:53:19Guest:You know, but it must end up sitting down around a fire playing the best version of Kumbaya that you actually cry when you hear the book.

00:53:27Guest:Sure.

00:53:27Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:53:28Guest:Well, that's like music's magic, you know?

00:53:30Guest:Yeah, it's the only medium that I know that's never wrong.

00:53:34Guest:Yeah.

00:53:34Guest:You know, you can not like someone's music

00:53:37Guest:And that's totally fine.

00:53:39Guest:But, you know, you show me the worst music in the world and I'll show you 300 people that are ready to die for that.

00:53:44Guest:Sure.

00:53:44Guest:They love it.

00:53:45Guest:Yeah.

00:53:46Marc:Well, that's... It's just never wrong.

00:53:48Marc:No, because it has... Music is different than anything else because...

00:53:54Marc:It exists in the ether and it never goes away.

00:53:58Marc:Yeah.

00:53:58Marc:And you can just pull it out of the ether and it, and it works its magic every time for you.

00:54:03Guest:Yeah.

00:54:03Guest:And much like ether, it's got this intoxicating effect.

00:54:06Guest:Yeah.

00:54:07Guest:And that where you're, you're kind of like altered by it when you really focus in on it.

00:54:11Guest:Yeah.

00:54:12Guest:You know, I mean that there is a feeling that you get that is akin to like leaving a first date where you're like excited and you're like, Oh my God, what is, what is that?

00:54:22Guest:Yeah.

00:54:22Guest:Do it again.

00:54:23Guest:Right.

00:54:24Guest:Yeah.

00:54:24Guest:And you can.

00:54:25Guest:Right.

00:54:25Guest:Yeah.

00:54:25Guest:And you can.

00:54:27Guest:Unlike a first day.

00:54:28Guest:I'm going to play this song all night long.

00:54:30Marc:And it feels like the first time.

00:54:32Marc:Yeah.

00:54:33Marc:Until it doesn't.

00:54:33Marc:And then you wait a couple months and you kick it on again.

00:54:36Marc:I'm fucking, you know, I'm like, wait, this is Foreigner.

00:54:40Marc:It feels like the first time.

00:54:40Marc:Yeah.

00:54:41Marc:Yeah.

00:54:41Marc:Which, you know, some people love.

00:54:43Marc:Some people are replaying that song.

00:54:44Marc:I just wish Foreigner wouldn't.

00:54:47Guest:Foreigner live at the wall.

00:54:52Marc:No, no, please don't do it to yourselves.

00:54:54Marc:I had a very bad moment with that, with seeing some of the reels of Angus now.

00:55:01Marc:Oh, yeah.

00:55:01Marc:And it's sort of like, oh, come on.

00:55:03Guest:Well, I do think this is the toughest thing for music is the how to age gracefully in a way that when I look at Willie Nelson, I'm like, fucking look at Willie Nelson.

00:55:17Guest:He's one of the only ones.

00:55:19Guest:It's the hardest thing to possibly do for music.

00:55:21Marc:Well, because, well, his type of music is like eventually you can sit down and play that shit.

00:55:28Marc:It's pre-olded.

00:55:29Marc:Yeah.

00:55:30Marc:Yeah, it's ready to age.

00:55:32Guest:It's been pre-aged for you.

00:55:33Marc:You know, and like I saw, who did I say?

00:55:35Marc:I saw X, you know, Billy Zooms.

00:55:36Marc:He's still sitting.

00:55:38Guest:Right.

00:55:38Marc:He's sitting now.

00:55:39Guest:Right.

00:55:39Marc:You know, and Eggzine somehow or another, you know, is still kind of menacing and sexy.

00:55:44Guest:Yeah.

00:55:44Marc:And those guys, like, knock it out.

00:55:47Marc:Yeah.

00:55:47Marc:And even, like, within the Stones, I mean, like, Keith is doing okay.

00:55:50Guest:Yeah, Keith is fucking great.

00:55:51Marc:Yeah, but Mick is sort of like, okay, yeah, you keep doing it, buddy.

00:55:56Marc:If you're a fan, you want to keep rooting them on, but there's a line cross where I'm like, it's getting a little sad, fellas.

00:56:04Guest:Yeah, well, you know, I think...

00:56:06Guest:I think there's guys like Leonard Cohen, which where you saw at the end where you say, wow, this is still just.

00:56:12Guest:Sure, but he's a guy who stands still.

00:56:13Guest:And the music lends itself to it.

00:56:15Guest:But I think that's what's, you know, I look at a musician's career as something that's like planetary.

00:56:22Guest:It's spinning on its axis and it needs to keep changing and preparing itself for that next thing.

00:56:30Guest:Well, yeah, and I think I'm probably being a little ageist.

00:56:33Guest:Well, not really because the truth is sometimes you watch some old fuckers on stage and you're like, for God's sake.

00:56:40Guest:Yeah.

00:56:40Guest:Please don't.

00:56:40Guest:Yeah.

00:56:42Guest:Can you hand out these don'ts I just made?

00:56:44Guest:And I get it because it's actually the most dangerous game for any musician is how will you age and what will that mean?

00:56:52Guest:And will you baton pass into the next phase of your thing correctly?

00:56:57Guest:Yeah.

00:56:57Guest:In a way that's still, that's like, that's becoming more.

00:57:00Guest:Of a young man.

00:57:02Marc:Sure.

00:57:03Marc:But oddly, if they can still deliver the goods, it'll lift it.

00:57:08Marc:Yeah.

00:57:09Marc:You know, but there are moments like, you know, guns is out there, but they're not as old as like the Stones.

00:57:14Marc:Sure.

00:57:15Marc:They still seem to be delivering.

00:57:17Marc:Yeah.

00:57:17Marc:You know, and sometimes I just don't know...

00:57:20Marc:Part of me, because I don't live in the world of that type of competition, but part of me is like, you don't need the money.

00:57:30Marc:You can't need the money.

00:57:31Marc:So what is it?

00:57:33Guest:And then it's just sort of like, well, this is what we do.

00:57:35Guest:Yeah, I suppose.

00:57:36Guest:But it's like comedy in that there's not a real reason to retire.

00:57:40Guest:The reason to retire would be like, shit, no one's here.

00:57:42Guest:Totally.

00:57:44Guest:You know what I mean?

00:57:44Marc:Yeah, or else they're starting to go away.

00:57:47Marc:Right, right.

00:57:48Marc:But there's an exception there.

00:57:49Marc:It's like, you know, your relevance diminishes.

00:57:51Marc:Right.

00:57:51Marc:You know, and you're going to play smaller halls.

00:57:53Marc:Yeah.

00:57:53Marc:But like Bob Dylan, like Bob Dylan, I think he just wants to die on a bus.

00:58:00Guest:I was, you know, there's worse ways to go.

00:58:04Marc:Sure, man.

00:58:05Marc:Yeah.

00:58:05Marc:But like, I think he sees himself as like, I've kind of reassessed that whole guy recently.

00:58:10Marc:Yeah.

00:58:11Marc:Yeah.

00:58:12Marc:Because I don't know why I didn't realize it.

00:58:14Marc:You know, he's almost like this, you know, almost like he's like a savant, but he's, you know, he's a cypher.

00:58:23Marc:He's like this, you know, brilliant vessel that things move through.

00:58:28Marc:It's almost like a spectrum character.

00:58:29Guest:I think you also have to be willing to be a bit of a cunt, which I think he also is probably too.

00:58:34Guest:Yeah, but that's just to, you know, protect his vulnerable genius.

00:58:39Guest:Yeah.

00:58:39Guest:Sure.

00:58:39Guest:But I but I think you have to have a willingness to be like, no, no, go fuck yourself.

00:58:43Guest:Yeah.

00:58:43Guest:Like one of the funniest, one of the funniest.

00:58:46Guest:Yeah.

00:58:47Guest:The willingness to say no.

00:58:48Guest:So interesting thing.

00:58:50Guest:I never went and saw a doctor and I and I and right before the Iggy.

00:58:55Guest:record that i made was the nine nine or ten years ago now it's like uh i went to this doctor for the very first time and uh uh as an adult yeah and he was kind of a merging holistic you know east and eastern western philosophy sure and it was all based in blood work yeah right now i know one of these guys i can yeah was he down off by the highway yeah

00:59:17Marc:He put his sign down and took my blood.

00:59:22Marc:And then you go back and he's got a stack of papers.

00:59:25Marc:Yeah.

00:59:26Marc:Yeah, that's the guy.

00:59:27Marc:You've been there.

00:59:28Marc:I have.

00:59:29Marc:And he's like, well, this is not good.

00:59:30Marc:This might mean we should do this.

00:59:31Marc:Did you have to do a shit sample?

00:59:33Guest:No, but I'm still willing to.

00:59:35Guest:He told me, he was like, you know, I didn't know what type of blood type I had.

00:59:42Guest:And he was like, you have O positive, right?

00:59:46Guest:And I said, fine.

00:59:48Guest:And he said, does that mean anything to you?

00:59:51Guest:And I said, absolutely not.

00:59:52Guest:And he said, do you find yourself doing things for other people?

00:59:56Guest:He's like, you can give blood to anyone, but you cannot receive it from anyone except you.

01:00:00Guest:Yeah, right.

01:00:02Guest:Oh, interesting.

01:00:02Guest:So he's like, you're a universal donor, but you cannot receive anything but this.

01:00:06Guest:Yeah, that's your nature.

01:00:07Guest:I'm a rock.

01:00:09Guest:But he was like, I think that somehow you are someone that has said yes to things that you probably didn't want to do.

01:00:17Guest:And what I want you to do is my diagnosis is I want you to go home, pick five things you've said yes to and cancel them.

01:00:24Guest:Yeah.

01:00:25Guest:And cut to your living in apartment.

01:00:27Yeah.

01:00:27Guest:Oh, you're funny.

01:00:35Guest:That's funny.

01:00:36Guest:I love that.

01:00:38Guest:And I said, why am I doing this?

01:00:39Guest:And he said, you have to make space in your life for the right thing to come in.

01:00:44Guest:Oh, interesting.

01:00:44Guest:Yeah.

01:00:45Guest:And I was like, okay.

01:00:46Guest:And so I actually listened to this advice and I, there were five things which I'd said yes to, which I just wasn't that, just was doing it as a favor.

01:00:55Guest:Yeah.

01:00:56Guest:And I canceled these things.

01:00:57Guest:And a week later, Iggy called me.

01:00:59Guest:Wow.

01:01:00Guest:And so I, because I don't have any other empirical evidence, I was like, God damn it.

01:01:05Guest:Yeah.

01:01:05Guest:I have no choice now, but to believe this motherfucker.

01:01:08Guest:Yeah.

01:01:09Guest:Yeah.

01:01:09Guest:I mean, what am I going to do?

01:01:10Guest:Yeah.

01:01:11Guest:Why not?

01:01:11Guest:There's no other evidence based in what he just said.

01:01:14Marc:Right.

01:01:15Marc:But, you know, if you break it down, it doesn't have to be relative to your blood work.

01:01:23Marc:Right.

01:01:23Guest:Sure.

01:01:24Marc:These are just these nicotine pouches.

01:01:26Marc:I'm on everything, man.

01:01:27Marc:I got the pouches.

01:01:27Marc:I got the ons.

01:01:28Marc:I'm back on the lozenges.

01:01:29Guest:I noticed you had a sticker over each nipple.

01:01:31Marc:Yeah.

01:01:32Marc:The nicotine patch.

01:01:33Marc:Yeah, yeah.

01:01:34Marc:No, I got some patches because I'm tired of these.

01:01:37Marc:And you can't get the flavors anymore.

01:01:39Marc:You have to go to a smoke shop.

01:01:41Marc:No, I know, but I know one that'll sell you the flavors.

01:01:45Marc:Yeah, I love that.

01:01:45Guest:I love that that's a thing.

01:01:46Marc:But it's illegal.

01:01:48Guest:Yeah, isn't that why the good part of it?

01:01:50Guest:Do you know where it is?

01:01:51Guest:Well, there's a bunch.

01:01:53Marc:What, they have the flavors?

01:01:54Marc:Oh, yeah.

01:01:54Marc:They have like peppermint, spearmint, and everything else?

01:01:57Marc:Oh, yeah.

01:01:57Marc:Oh, good, yeah.

01:01:58Marc:I got one in Hollywood.

01:01:59Marc:Yeah.

01:02:00Marc:I got a guy.

01:02:01Marc:I got a guy.

01:02:01Marc:Yeah.

01:02:03Guest:I got a guy.

01:02:04Marc:You got to have a guy.

01:02:05Marc:You got to have a guy.

01:02:06Marc:The fucking problem is, man, you go out of state, they're like five bucks a tin.

01:02:10Guest:Yeah.

01:02:10Marc:And if you go to your guy to get the flavored one, it's like 12 bucks.

01:02:15Marc:Yeah, well, you know.

01:02:16Marc:I don't give a shit.

01:02:17Marc:But I'm just saying, it's funny, when I go on the road, I'm like, give me two rolls of the peppermint.

01:02:22Marc:But it's interesting, you're on the threes and you're pretty hardcore because if I do a six, it knocks me out, dude.

01:02:28Guest:I want to keep the low milligrams so that I'm not... Yeah, woozy.

01:02:32Guest:Yeah, well, it's just so that I'm not like, oh, yeah.

01:02:35Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:02:36Marc:I'm trying to not turn into Beavis.

01:02:38Marc:Oh, yeah, but I'm already there.

01:02:40Marc:I'm doing them mid-set, dude.

01:02:43Marc:And I'm a comic.

01:02:44Marc:I can't go turn my back to the fucking amp and have a drink.

01:02:47Marc:No, I've got to be like, I'm doing this.

01:02:49Guest:I think it's great to just put it in.

01:02:51Marc:I say, look, I'm an addict, and if I can just have one little thing to keep the big empty away, I'm good.

01:02:59Marc:Because, like, you know, it's like once the nothingness comes, and then some people are like, well, you should be more Buddhist and embrace the nothingness.

01:03:08Marc:I'm like, I'm not there yet.

01:03:10Marc:I'm at the edge of the void with my nicotine as my shield and my ego as my sword, swatting at nothing.

01:03:16Marc:Man, I'm more Buddhist.

01:03:17Guest:I want to get everyone to shake their ass.

01:03:19Guest:Yeah, oh, Buddhist.

01:03:20Marc:There you go.

01:03:21Marc:But OK, so what I was going to say is that that advice is not it doesn't have to be relative to blood work.

01:03:27Marc:That's a guy.

01:03:28Marc:That's that guy's P.T.

01:03:29Marc:Barnum.

01:03:29Marc:And it just worked on you.

01:03:31Guest:It worked, though.

01:03:32Guest:What choice do I see?

01:03:33Guest:You know, I've I've made I've lived my life by sort of trying to notice the positive signs along the road and that sort of thing, you know?

01:03:41Guest:Yeah.

01:03:42Marc:Yeah.

01:03:42Marc:All right, so going back to get to the catacombs.

01:03:45Marc:Now, when you went and finished the concert in Paris, it must have been moving.

01:03:51Marc:But was there closure there on some level?

01:03:55Marc:Did you feel for the fans, for yourself?

01:03:58Guest:I mean—

01:03:59Guest:You know, as I said before, that realization that there are just things that you have to deal with that doesn't matter if you like them or not, they're here.

01:04:12Guest:And like I said, this is the most I've ever talked about.

01:04:14Guest:But I realized that the reason I don't talk about it is because it doesn't make me feel better or worse.

01:04:20Guest:It doesn't do anything.

01:04:21Guest:That's just a sucking sound that's like...

01:04:25Guest:that is like tinnitus it's just a ring that I hear that if I look at it I'm like fuck and I so I try to just live with it and honestly in general I try not to talk about it because as I said it doesn't

01:04:42Guest:I never feel no better.

01:04:46Guest:It's not my story.

01:04:48Guest:And it is my story at the same time.

01:04:52Guest:And I don't know how to explain that.

01:04:56Guest:And when I do explain it, I don't feel better.

01:04:58Marc:But the concert was good, going back.

01:05:01Marc:Absolutely.

01:05:03Guest:Because it was something else.

01:05:05Guest:Yeah, totally.

01:05:06Guest:It did not close or fix what happened.

01:05:10Guest:But what it did was it showed the willingness of everyone who attended.

01:05:14Guest:I'm willing to do this.

01:05:17Guest:I want you to see my will.

01:05:19Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:05:21Guest:And I'm here.

01:05:22Guest:And that's the most that someone can do.

01:05:25Guest:And we're together.

01:05:25Guest:Yeah.

01:05:26Guest:I mean, what's the most important things other than your time and your energy?

01:05:29Marc:Right.

01:05:29Marc:And creating and honoring the community.

01:05:32Marc:Yeah.

01:05:33Marc:That was affected and also, you know, showing up for the community that you are part of and created.

01:05:39Guest:Yeah.

01:05:40Guest:And yeah, that, you know, because you say things like everyone's here, you know.

01:05:45Guest:Yeah.

01:05:47Marc:Well, so from that.

01:05:50Yeah.

01:05:50Marc:Is this desire or this winding up in the catacombs of the same city part of that trajectory?

01:06:00Guest:Well, it is because you start to develop, you know this from touring for so many years, you start to develop a relationship with cities and towns.

01:06:10Guest:Yeah, sure.

01:06:10Guest:And you start to have this kind of romantic connection to these things.

01:06:14Guest:And sometimes it's a bad breakup of a city.

01:06:16Guest:And sometimes it's just a love affair.

01:06:18Guest:Like my brother married his husband in Paris.

01:06:21Guest:And that was a big moment for me.

01:06:25Guest:I just loved that moment so much.

01:06:27Guest:And the Bataclan.

01:06:30Guest:And then it was, you know, I've had so many moments in that city.

01:06:36Marc:Well, it's a notorious city for moments.

01:06:38Guest:It's set up to do this thing.

01:06:40Guest:And it works.

01:06:41Guest:And to be fair, I romanticize.

01:06:44Guest:um, I'm looking for something romantic to cling to because, because I don't want to, you know, touring and things like that.

01:06:51Guest:And it can, it can burn you out and make you feel on a bitter and unappreciated what's going on.

01:06:57Guest:And make you a shell of yourself.

01:06:59Guest:Yeah.

01:06:59Guest:And I sometimes turn into an animal out there.

01:07:02Guest:I regress, you know?

01:07:03Guest:Yeah.

01:07:03Guest:Because I don't know what to do and I feel lonely.

01:07:05Marc:I know.

01:07:06Marc:It's like for some reason, the loneliness, like even if you're only away for three days, you know, that second day in a hotel, you're like, who am I?

01:07:13Marc:Yeah.

01:07:13Marc:What am I doing?

01:07:14Marc:Yeah.

01:07:15Guest:What am I doing with my, I feel like I ate too many edibles.

01:07:17Guest:Yeah.

01:07:18Guest:Yeah.

01:07:18Guest:It's the worst.

01:07:19Guest:And you're just at a hotel near a mall.

01:07:21Guest:Yeah.

01:07:22Guest:Well, but that's part of the problem and part of the solution too.

01:07:25Guest:And because it's all about outlook and,

01:07:28Guest:And because the sacrifice of saying, why do I leave everyone I love and care for to go do something all by myself?

01:07:36Guest:And like, what am I to stave that off?

01:07:40Guest:I need the romantic side of it.

01:07:42Guest:Oh, I get it.

01:07:43Marc:But you also get to that point where you're like, I like hotels.

01:07:47Guest:Yeah, of course.

01:07:49Guest:Quiet.

01:07:51Guest:I don't have to clean up.

01:07:53Guest:Exactly.

01:07:54Guest:I just leave myself behind here.

01:07:57Guest:It's quiet.

01:07:58Guest:But the romantic element.

01:07:59Marc:So what was your relationship with the catacombs?

01:08:02Guest:Well, you know, this is all connected is the thing.

01:08:09Guest:I remember seeing photographs of the Paris catacombs as a boy.

01:08:12Guest:Yeah.

01:08:13Guest:And instantly...

01:08:15Guest:Having thoughts that were new to me and that were like, you end up like so and you can end up here.

01:08:23Guest:And this is and also instead of the taboo of death that I'd understood as a boy, it was like.

01:08:31Guest:The catacombs, nobody does that because they're like, I fucking hate these people.

01:08:35Guest:It's a mine which was dug for coal and things like that.

01:08:41Guest:And then with so many bodies and so much happening in Paris, they decide to move six million bodies.

01:08:51Guest:people there.

01:08:52Marc:What is the history?

01:08:54Marc:Was it different?

01:08:55Marc:Was it the plague and then the wars?

01:08:56Marc:When did they stop using it functionally?

01:08:59Guest:I believe they stopped using it dug out in the 1500s, but there's accounts of it dug out as early as 1300.

01:09:05Guest:Right.

01:09:07Guest:And then in, I believe, the 1700s, they start moving

01:09:11Guest:this overflow that's been piling up for years.

01:09:14Guest:That's, that's, that's, I mean, uh, and, uh, this just kind of finally come to a head, you know, you talk about floods.

01:09:21Guest:Yeah.

01:09:22Guest:Sure.

01:09:22Guest:Like all that, everything that's happened.

01:09:24Guest:And so they start to stack and skulls,

01:09:26Guest:Right, but stacking them lovingly.

01:09:28Guest:Yes.

01:09:29Guest:They're not like, fuck these people.

01:09:31Guest:It's people that are doing this with such a reverence and a respect.

01:09:35Guest:Yeah.

01:09:36Guest:And, you know, because your initial thought of stacking bones, that doesn't seem respectful, but it is.

01:09:41Marc:It's just like, you know, like massive monument to the inevitable.

01:09:46Marc:Right.

01:09:47Marc:The inevitability of death.

01:09:49Marc:Yeah.

01:09:50Marc:Which is life.

01:09:51Guest:Right.

01:09:51Marc:So death is inevitable.

01:09:53Marc:Yeah.

01:09:53Marc:And this is like on some level a celebration of the inevitable.

01:09:58Marc:But those of us who are alive, you know, you look at it with awe.

01:10:03Marc:You don't look at it with horror.

01:10:05Marc:Yeah.

01:10:05Marc:I think it would be horror.

01:10:05Marc:And don't look away, you know?

01:10:07Guest:Yeah, yeah, you can't.

01:10:08Guest:You're surrounded by skeletons.

01:10:09Guest:And I think, well, figuratively, literally, and not just in there.

01:10:15Guest:And, you know, in what we're talking about, too, it's like this need.

01:10:19Guest:I've just had this...

01:10:21Guest:And I think I've romanticized it to help me look.

01:10:25Guest:It's like, what am I trying to say?

01:10:27Guest:That when things are tough, don't look away.

01:10:30Guest:Stare into this thing, you know, you know, if you're afraid of 10 things, nine times out of 10.

01:10:37Guest:if you look into this thing, you realize I don't need to be afraid of it.

01:10:40Guest:That's right.

01:10:41Guest:And that 10th time when you should be afraid, now you fucking know you should be.

01:10:45Guest:Yeah, that's right.

01:10:45Guest:And you understand that you should be.

01:10:47Guest:Yes.

01:10:48Guest:And I want the understanding.

01:10:50Guest:You want to know when to be afraid.

01:10:51Guest:Yeah, for real.

01:10:53Guest:And when to, like, if I don't need to fuck with being afraid, I don't want to.

01:10:59Marc:And also somebody like you who has, like, you know, cheated death several times and, you know, had a certain amount of...

01:11:06Marc:You know, kind of self-destructive propulsion.

01:11:08Marc:Yeah.

01:11:09Marc:And, you know, there's no, like, there's no, I mean, look, there's something about death that is essential to, you know, certain strands of rock and roll.

01:11:19Marc:Yeah.

01:11:20Marc:And you are part of that.

01:11:22Marc:Yeah.

01:11:22Marc:Yeah, for sure.

01:11:24Marc:Yeah.

01:11:24Guest:You know, and well, I think, too, that in the last bunch of years, facing a lot of, you know, I've lost a lot of people.

01:11:34Guest:You know, we're at that age where it's like you just start dropping.

01:11:37Guest:Yeah.

01:11:37Guest:And in music, they drop earlier.

01:11:39Guest:So they're dropping when I'm in my 50s here, in my early 50s, instead of growing old, you know.

01:11:44Guest:Yeah.

01:11:45Guest:And going through lots of other things, which at the end of the day, it's like in the last five or six years, I've never grown so much so fast because growing is painful.

01:11:57Marc:Yeah, and sometimes it's like it also moves quicker when you get older.

01:12:02Marc:You're growing, but a lot of what's happening is a certain amount of zero fucks is taking hold.

01:12:09Marc:And a lot of stuff is falling to the wayside that used to sort of drive your life.

01:12:14Marc:Yeah, for sure.

01:12:15Marc:And it's a natural occurrence.

01:12:16Marc:So that growing happens naturally.

01:12:18Marc:But also, time is running out.

01:12:22Guest:Right.

01:12:23Guest:Well, but this is one of the great things.

01:12:25Guest:This is when you say...

01:12:27Guest:I've just no time to waste.

01:12:30Guest:I must move forward.

01:12:31Guest:I definitely can't sit here and I definitely got to deal with this.

01:12:36Guest:Sure.

01:12:37Marc:Or you can be like, well, you know what?

01:12:38Marc:I'm just going to sit here.

01:12:40Guest:But then there lies the escapist trip that I love, too.

01:12:45Marc:But if you've got your shit settled and you want to sit down, go ahead.

01:12:49Marc:Yeah, in the zero fucks given aspect of getting older.

01:12:54Marc:Because I'll tell you, man, watching that piece in the catacombs of you doing those tunes and not being...

01:13:02Marc:familiar with the other versions of it there's something about the ones you chose and also your sense of melody has gotten very sophisticated so so you know when you do that acoustically it really kind of showcases not just the singing but like you know the the kind of like uh

01:13:21Marc:elaborate melodies.

01:13:23Marc:Yeah.

01:13:24Marc:And, and then like, because of the fucking, you know, dude, like when, when, uh, Laura first sent it to me, I watched a few minutes of it.

01:13:31Marc:I'm like, all right, well, all right.

01:13:32Marc:So he's in the catacomb.

01:13:33Marc:And then I'm like, dude, just watch the whole thing.

01:13:35Marc:And I watched the whole thing.

01:13:35Marc:I'm like, Oh my God, this is so fucking, you, it's hard to even explain the natural weight of,

01:13:43Guest:That starts to happen in there.

01:13:45Marc:Right.

01:13:46Marc:But it's not heavy.

01:13:47Marc:It just is.

01:13:48Marc:But also, the space itself, because of low ceilings, anything where you can't help but see the ceiling, you know, there's something kind of... It's not mystical, but, you know, you're beneath it.

01:14:03Marc:Yeah.

01:14:04Marc:You know you're down.

01:14:05Marc:Yeah.

01:14:06Marc:You're down in it.

01:14:07Marc:But the sound was so good.

01:14:09Marc:All the instruments sounded good.

01:14:11Marc:But also just...

01:14:12Marc:There was an element that happened, even when you're cutting away the skulls and all of that, that was not dark.

01:14:19Guest:No, it's not.

01:14:20Guest:The funny thing is, well, there's a few things.

01:14:24Guest:One, it's a bit like, it became a bit like improv, because, you know, what's the rule of improv?

01:14:33Guest:Yes, you say yes, and, right?

01:14:35Guest:And so, I think I had...

01:14:39Guest:A little bit of a vision that would be cathedral-like in there and very echoey.

01:14:43Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:14:44Guest:I don't know why I have that all science point to know.

01:14:47Guest:It's like dead, literally.

01:14:49Guest:It is very dead inside the room.

01:14:52Marc:It was like my old garage because of the low ceilings and because there's so much stuff in the walls.

01:14:57Guest:Moisture.

01:14:57Guest:Moisture, stone, the floor is wet, but there's gravel on it.

01:15:02Guest:And also the bones are absorbing all that fucking noise, dude.

01:15:05Guest:Absolutely.

01:15:06Guest:And so what happened is you descend down the stairwell.

01:15:10Guest:Yeah.

01:15:10Guest:That's like 132 spiral stairs.

01:15:11Guest:It's one spiral staircase.

01:15:13Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:15:14Guest:You just keep going left.

01:15:15Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:15:16Guest:Or keep going right.

01:15:17Guest:Excuse me.

01:15:18Guest:Yeah.

01:15:18Guest:And you get down in there and it became improv because it was when we did the walkthrough the day before.

01:15:24Guest:I'd never been in there.

01:15:25Guest:I just only have heard of it and dreamed of it and dreamed of it.

01:15:28Guest:Oh, really?

01:15:29Guest:Yeah, because I'll back up a sec.

01:15:32Guest:This 18 or 19 years ago when I went to Paris, I had a day off.

01:15:37Guest:I was like, let's go to the catacombs.

01:15:40Guest:The line was like three and a half hours.

01:15:42Guest:And so the impetus of this is like from an entitled, spoiled place, if I'm being honest.

01:15:49Guest:I was like, how do I skip the fucking line?

01:15:51Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:15:52Guest:It's funny.

01:15:52Guest:How did you get permission?

01:15:54Guest:It took 18 years, really.

01:15:56Guest:Really?

01:15:57Guest:I mean, it's too bad the French don't have a word for bureaucracy.

01:16:00Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:16:02Guest:You think it was bureaucracy?

01:16:03Guest:I mean, it took forever.

01:16:05Guest:It was like, don't ask me, ask this person, you know?

01:16:07Guest:Oh, right, right.

01:16:08Guest:And there was a guy, the French...

01:16:10Guest:To their credit, they have all this great stuff on telly.

01:16:13Guest:It was like they had a show called Album of the Week, and you simply play your album start to finish live.

01:16:18Guest:And it's not on anymore, unfortunately, but it was on for 40 years.

01:16:22Guest:And one of the main producers and directors of the show is this guy, Stéphane Saunière, and he knew how to play Cupid to actually close the deal.

01:16:32Guest:And it's better that it took this kind of time.

01:16:35Guest:It's better that there were failed attempts, close calls that didn't happen.

01:16:42Guest:Because when we got there this time, we were sort of like emotionally ready to do this.

01:16:48Guest:So like an improv class, we went down into the catacombs.

01:16:52Guest:And with the director, we're like, okay, we could do this.

01:16:55Guest:Yes, and we'll do this.

01:16:58Guest:We can't do that over here.

01:16:59Guest:But yes, and we can go over here.

01:17:02Marc:They only gave you access to a certain part, right?

01:17:07Guest:Yeah, I mean, we had pretty far-reaching access, sort of unprecedented access, you know, because we're the first people to legally play in there.

01:17:15Guest:Right, right.

01:17:17Guest:There's lots of tales of... So you could really produce it.

01:17:19Guest:Well, so... But you can't plug anything in.

01:17:22Guest:Right.

01:17:23Guest:So we had an electric piano, but we had to hook it up to a car battery.

01:17:27Guest:Okay.

01:17:27Guest:Right?

01:17:28Guest:Yeah.

01:17:28Guest:So you have a car battery with fucking, you know, clips.

01:17:32Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:17:32Guest:And it's like, okay, piano's working, right?

01:17:34Guest:And so... But what...

01:17:38Guest:became really apparent is that, you know, it felt wonderful to... You can't have plans and then implement them, go down there and implement them.

01:17:47Guest:You are told what to do by the space.

01:17:49Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:17:51Guest:We were not the stars of that show.

01:17:53Guest:Yeah.

01:17:54Guest:I'm glad you were able to watch it all the way through because it starts to do its work as you watch the whole thing.

01:17:58Guest:It really does.

01:17:59Guest:It really does.

01:18:00Guest:It's not MTV Unplugged.

01:18:01Marc:No, it's not like anything.

01:18:03Marc:Because, you know, because of the nature of...

01:18:07Marc:cordlessness and no electricity outside of a car battery which doesn't matter is that there's no way that space is is not going to play a role and and it's the whole thing it's the dominant thing yeah and and it's not haunted it's not scary and it's like you know living breathing you know people making art and

01:18:29Marc:In a space that is like probably the greatest monument to reverence for the dead.

01:18:35Marc:You know, it's the largest.

01:18:38Marc:Yeah.

01:18:38Guest:Whatever it is.

01:18:39Marc:In the world, you know.

01:18:40Marc:And and yet, you know, you guys are all finding you're negotiating your space with that space.

01:18:47Guest:Yeah, and there are just so many weird discoveries.

01:18:52Guest:Like, as you said, first of all, it is the dominant character in this.

01:18:57Marc:Yeah, but not in, like, we're trying to—it's not a spectacle.

01:19:02Marc:No.

01:19:02Marc:It's all very intimate.

01:19:03Guest:It's not possible to—it doesn't allow for that to occur.

01:19:08Guest:Right.

01:19:09Guest:And—

01:19:11Guest:As you said, it's not sad or depressing.

01:19:13Guest:No.

01:19:13Guest:And it's not fun.

01:19:15Guest:No.

01:19:15Guest:Like we're tossing the beach ball around.

01:19:17Guest:No.

01:19:18Guest:It's intense.

01:19:19Marc:It's intense, but it's very, you know, it's deep and it's, you know, there's a poetry to it.

01:19:27Marc:Yeah.

01:19:28Marc:And it makes your songs different in meaning and the way you're playing them is that's the only time you're ever going to play them like that.

01:19:35Marc:Yeah.

01:19:36Marc:Well, no way to recapture any of that.

01:19:38Guest:And there's no need to as well.

01:19:40Guest:It's okay for things to simply be this right now and nothing more and nothing again.

01:19:46Guest:Yeah.

01:19:48Guest:And it also, even for picking the songs, we didn't pick sort of our hits.

01:19:54Guest:It wasn't, that wasn't.

01:19:56Guest:No.

01:19:56Guest:And also even down to things like...

01:20:00Guest:Like, I like the acoustic guitar just fine, but we've heard it a million times.

01:20:03Guest:So the strings and alternate instruments like glockenspiel.

01:20:06Marc:Strings down there.

01:20:07Marc:Oh, yeah.

01:20:07Marc:In that space?

01:20:08Guest:Jeez, man.

01:20:09Guest:So good.

01:20:11Guest:Ancient instruments.

01:20:12Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:20:13Guest:No way.

01:20:13Guest:Yeah, they are.

01:20:14Guest:Not primitive, but old.

01:20:16Guest:Yeah, but of that period as well.

01:20:18Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:20:19Guest:And even down to, like, John, our drummer, was like, what should I play?

01:20:22Guest:And I had been to the hardware store.

01:20:25Guest:Yeah.

01:20:25Guest:And I just handed him a chain.

01:20:27Guest:I noticed that.

01:20:28Guest:That was great.

01:20:29Marc:And I was like, try this, you know?

01:20:30Marc:Because, like, it didn't... Like, when I noticed that instrument, because there's one shot of it.

01:20:35Marc:It's not an instrument.

01:20:35Marc:It's a wad of chains.

01:20:37Marc:Yeah.

01:20:37Marc:And he's using it percussively.

01:20:39Marc:But, like, it's not... You know, chains are associated with ghosts.

01:20:43Marc:But it didn't do that.

01:20:44Marc:It gave it a sort of, like...

01:20:48Marc:like ancient industrial.

01:20:51Marc:Yeah.

01:20:52Marc:Sort of thing.

01:20:53Guest:Like, you know, medieval.

01:20:54Guest:Had him two pieces of wood and I'd, I'd nailed a, or I'd, uh, stapled a, uh, sandpaper.

01:21:00Guest:Yeah.

01:21:00Guest:And it was like, try this.

01:21:02Guest:Yeah.

01:21:02Guest:And then I, I went and got Chinese food, so I had him some chopsticks.

01:21:05Guest:Yeah.

01:21:06Guest:Try this.

01:21:06Guest:Yeah.

01:21:07Guest:You know, uh,

01:21:08Guest:Things you find around the... The area.

01:21:11Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:21:12Guest:And because this is one of those moments where it was like, not just less is more, but much less is much more.

01:21:21Guest:Yeah.

01:21:23Guest:And I think...

01:21:24Guest:It helped to reveal words more.

01:21:27Guest:It helped to reveal melodies more.

01:21:29Guest:How'd you choose a song?

01:21:31Guest:We picked about eight things and it just became kind of like the first thing was a medley of two, an old song together.

01:21:38Guest:And it started to become more about family and things that were emotionally driven.

01:21:45Guest:And things that were about, like the Sutra Up Your Future is about acceptance.

01:21:50Guest:Like I'm going to sew this up and let it go.

01:21:52Guest:And so it felt, and those choices ended up being right.

01:22:00Guest:And also we didn't,

01:22:02Guest:Like you're hearing take two of three.

01:22:05Guest:You're hearing take one of two.

01:22:06Guest:Right.

01:22:08Guest:We didn't.

01:22:08Guest:It wasn't a whole week.

01:22:10Guest:No, it was one day and it was, you know, because I, again, had a serious health thing.

01:22:18Marc:What was that one?

01:22:19Guest:It was a complication sort of.

01:22:21Guest:based in the same troubles I'd had.

01:22:24Guest:And I had a tear internally.

01:22:28Guest:Oh, God.

01:22:29Guest:And so by the time, four days earlier, I was in the hospital.

01:22:33Guest:You know, two days before the catacombs, we canceled our show in Venice.

01:22:40Guest:And I just said, you need to pull the bus over at the next hospital.

01:22:42Guest:I can't fucking do it.

01:22:44Guest:Oh, my God.

01:22:44Guest:And so I'm in the emergency room.

01:22:46Guest:So you could have died in the catacombs.

01:22:48Guest:well but i will say this again it changed the show because i've been working on this for so long and i was only two shows away yeah and i started to get a fever you know and i so once once and it held at 102 for a couple days fuck and i and i had this italian travel agent who's amazing right sarah and i said we

01:23:11Guest:pick me up outside the emergency room yeah and so i i took the gown off got dressed and bailed yeah and she took me to milan i played i don't remember the milan show but i played in milan yeah and then we flew to paris and i was like again this was like this is my chance to show who i really am yeah you know you don't get that opportunity you know to do this and um

01:23:36Guest:I had a cot, so I was laying down in between takes.

01:23:38Guest:And even, you know, the opening is laying on top of this altar, but I just crawled up there.

01:23:42Guest:I was like, can I just lay down while you guys are setting up?

01:23:45Guest:And the French director, he's like, don't move.

01:23:47Guest:What if we start, you know?

01:23:49Guest:And it was like, laying, I could do that.

01:23:51Guest:Yeah, I can lay down.

01:23:53Guest:Yeah, method acting.

01:23:54Guest:I could lay down.

01:23:55Guest:So these things just fell into place.

01:23:58Guest:And what it did is it added this...

01:24:02Guest:It added this intensity to the music, to the moment.

01:24:08Guest:It was like, are you going to do it or not?

01:24:11Guest:You know, it's very much what I would call a shut up and fuck me moment.

01:24:14Guest:Yeah, sure.

01:24:15Guest:And...

01:24:18Guest:The other thing, another interesting thing that we did is that we decided to 20, 30 seconds before each take and after, no, he would say, action.

01:24:29Guest:And then it was just silence and everyone staring at each other.

01:24:32Guest:And then it was like...

01:24:36Guest:and those looks exchanged that it was like I'm doing this I'm doing this yeah and this is the you know I always love this about Iggy too it's like I always feel like he's seeing these moments and sort of stealing them out of the sky making them your moment yeah this is what I'm here to do yeah I've lived my whole life up to this moment and here I am and I'm gonna fucking do it you know yeah and um

01:25:06Guest:Being just feeling really alive.

01:25:08Guest:And in that moment, I'm supposed to be here.

01:25:11Guest:Yeah.

01:25:11Marc:You know, and you definitely you feel it and you feel that, you know, that is a singular thing.

01:25:18Marc:Not unlike we were talking about before that, that that that is the only thing of its life.

01:25:23Guest:thing and this moment won't last that's right it's gonna be gone so soon you're surrounded by skeletons yeah well you know the funny thing is the French love lunch you know they love lunch and so everyone wanted to break for lunch and they go up you know to go across the street and go up the fucking stairs and I just couldn't do it again I couldn't and so I said I'm just gonna lay down here in my cot which was in front of this long dark hallway with one light at the end yeah yeah yeah yeah

01:25:53Guest:And I thought, I'm so deep in the catacombs.

01:25:56Guest:I'm like 350 meters, you know, horizontal and I'm however many meters down.

01:26:02Guest:I was like, if the lights fucking go out, this is going to be the longest army man crawl I've ever done in my life.

01:26:06Guest:No kidding.

01:26:07Guest:But I also thought the 6 million people here, Jean-Paul Sartre is there amongst others.

01:26:12Guest:And I was like...

01:26:14Guest:If there was ever a moment to be haunted by something, this, go ahead and do me.

01:26:19Guest:I'm ready.

01:26:20Guest:I'm ready.

01:26:21Guest:Yeah.

01:26:21Guest:But I didn't, I felt so comfortable.

01:26:25Guest:Yeah.

01:26:25Guest:And so sort of like embraced by the moment.

01:26:29Marc:Yeah.

01:26:29Marc:And also like the fact that you weren't available to be haunting means you've arrived at yourself.

01:26:34Marc:That I'm supposed to be there.

01:26:36Guest:You know what I mean?

01:26:37Guest:Yeah, yeah.

01:26:38Guest:And so I said, well, I'm just going to try to drift off to sleep.

01:26:42Guest:And I slept like a baby.

01:26:43Guest:Wow.

01:26:44Guest:40 minutes, and then I'm laying in the dark, and I hear these two French kids, these intern kids crunching on the gravel, and they walk by me, and they're speaking French, and I just sat up and said, what time is it?

01:26:57Guest:And they went, and was able to scare the shit out of the heart attack.

01:27:04Guest:That's nice.

01:27:04Marc:At least there's a little comedy.

01:27:06Marc:But yeah, even the way it ends with the suggestion is that it's your point of view, moving down the hallway, just singing to yourself.

01:27:13Marc:Yeah.

01:27:14Marc:Yeah, the whole thing's beautiful.

01:27:15Marc:And it was really kind of moving.

01:27:17Marc:And it's good to see you again, pal.

01:27:19Marc:Good to see you too.

01:27:20Marc:All right, man.

01:27:21Marc:Thanks.

01:27:27Marc:There you go.

01:27:27Marc:Deep dude.

01:27:29Marc:Intense.

01:27:30Marc:Queens of the Stone Age Alive in the Catacombs is available at QOTSA.com.

01:27:35Marc:Hang out for a minute, folks.

01:27:39Marc:Okay.

01:27:39Marc:Hey, listen.

01:27:40Marc:If you want more details about the reasons we decided to wrap up WTF later this year, Brendan and I did a bonus episode for Full Marin subscribers where we explain everything.

01:27:53Guest:Well, I keep saying...

01:27:54Guest:I've been saying to you for many months, like, you know, going back to you talking about doing the Apple show and this and that, that, you know, I've been like, this is the time where you need to start thinking about what makes you happy.

01:28:06Guest:Right.

01:28:06Guest:Like, what are you okay with?

01:28:08Guest:Yeah.

01:28:09Guest:And, you know, I like, what would you be okay with doing on a day where you weren't working?

01:28:14Guest:Yeah.

01:28:14Guest:What would make you happy about that?

01:28:16Guest:And I think you've actually, you know, put some effort into thinking.

01:28:19Guest:Sure.

01:28:19Marc:You know, there are things, there are places I've wanted to go there, you know, to, to sort of,

01:28:24Marc:Like, if I can get my dread down just to the basic existential dread of mortality, as opposed to every other fucking thing I have to do in my life, that might be relaxing.

01:28:35Marc:And, like, I've never been able to take a real vacation in any way without it being work or worrying about getting the podcast in during the week.

01:28:45Marc:I mean, that might be interesting.

01:28:47Marc:I mean, there's a whole world out there, you know, that I'm just going to have to get out from under...

01:28:52Marc:whatever the core anxieties are and try to live my life a little bit.

01:28:56Marc:That episode is available with a full Marin subscription to get bonus episodes twice a week.

01:29:00Marc:Sign up for the full Marin by going to the link in the episode description or go to WTF pod.com and click on WTF plus might be worth it just to do it, you know, even for a little while toward, you know, for the, for the duration of the show, just to hear that episode.

01:29:15Marc:And a reminder before we go, this podcast is hosted by a cast and this guitar is brought to you by John Lennon.

01:29:25guitar solo

01:30:02guitar solo

01:31:04Thank you.

01:31:26.

01:31:47.

01:31:53¶¶

01:32:32Marc:Boomer lives.

01:32:47Marc:Monkey and La Fonda.

01:32:48Marc:Cat angels everywhere.