Black Pumas

00:00:08 Speaker 1: Pushkin. First time I heard Black Poomas I was blown away. The guitar player and producer, Adrian Asada has a production style that's uniquely his own, sounds both modern and retro, and Eric Burton's voice is so powerful and soulful it's hard to believe you've never heard him before. The band seems like they came out of nowhere and everywhere all at once. The runaway to success was short for blackpoolas five months after releasing their debut album in twenty nineteen, Dawson based band was nominated for Best New Artists at the Grammys, and now one year later, Black Booms are up for even more Grammys, including an Album of the Year for the deluxe version of their debut. Adrian and Eric mented a crossroads in both of their careers. Adrian left his first band after successful run, including a year's long mentorship with Prince. In this episode, I talked to Adrian about being taken under Prince's wing. Eric reminis is about writing the group's biggest hit in Church, and they explain their unique chemistry that's led to instant success. This is broken record liner notes for the digital age. I'm justin Richmondton. Here's my conversation with Adrian Quesada and Eric Burton of Black Plumas. Oftentimes, the experience as a fan of listening to a band is there is a justation period where you've heard the name, or you've heard a song, you've heard something and it's kind of like, oh, yeah, I need to check that out, or people keep telling you. But you guys really just almost like materialized out if thin Era felt like it was experienced the same for you guys. On the other end, man, it's weird on one hand, yes, on one hand, no, you know, it's like, on one hand, it's kind of the culmination of everything Eric and I've been doing already, you know, in the years leading up to this and you know, being introduced to each other in two seventeen. We worked on the music in two tho seventeen for a good while before we played our first show in twenty eighteen. So for us, some of these songs are you know, three years old. But then on the other hand, from the time we played our first show, which was a spring of twenty eighteen, to the time we were touring and all that, because we were moving at such a fast pace, it actually did feel like it happened kind of fast. So I do remember talking to Eric at our first south By Southwest and telling him like, man, this is this is going to happen fairly quickly. And the reason, like I'm bringing it up is because we're not going to have time to think about it or breathe for a while. And then that's really what happened. And until honestly, the first time I felt personally like I stopped and was able to take a breath and look around and process it was was during the pandemic. Yeah, you know, like Adrian, he's been in the industry for a while, like he's not new, Like a lot of the radio stations and some of the people that we've run into doing interviews, they know Adrian from group both Fantasma and Brown Out and you know Brown Sabbath, and he's got all these He's done different things and I, on the other hand, I'm virtually non existent before the Black Pumas online. While at the same time, you know, like writing these songs like Colors, and I wrote Colors like ten years ago, and you know, touched this guy. I was writing that when I was busting on the Santa Monica Pere, you know, a couple of years before meeting Adrian in the first place. And so I think that being a new kid in this beautiful music town, you know, finding a partner in someone who's done it for so long to the degree that people are interested in hearing what he's got going on next. And so while Adrian was looking for someone to write songs on the instrumentals that he had at first, our friend Brian Ray introduced the The No Body Guy to Adrian, and you know, Adrian, he liked the songs, and you know, I think that we're both thankful that that is the reaction to most of most of the people who listened to the music in the first place. But it would not have happened if Adrian didn't have the history that he had in the industry, you know, with the quality that he brings to the table, And it would not have happened if I wasn't bringing the songs that I was bringing to the table, as well as the live performance aspect of what we do together as well. So yeah, it's an interesting dynamic, oh absolutely. You know, like the way what Eric was saying, I kind of imagine it almost like you know, there's a plateau or like a mountain, and I've just been climbing it longer, and he just moved up and we got to the same point, and we're almost like starting from scratch, you know. It's like I just see it, like at some point we hit a new plateau where we're in in the exact same uh. I've never been there either, And that's what blows me away the most. It's because you know, I remember kind of nudging Adrian when we were in the airport and like London or Paris. It's like, dude, man, this is crazy, right, And like, I mean, I know you've I'm almost embarrassed, embarrassed to even show that I'm excited around like somebody like Adrian. And then Adrian goes, you know, I haven't seen a lot of these stages in the same in the way that we're seeing them either. I haven't seen that, And so to hear that, it's very humbling and amazing to me that a virtual nobody is, you know, somehow elevating the career of someone who's been doing it for such a long time. So you know, to the degree that we're experiencing a lot of the same things for the first time together. What's that hard for your adrien or in a sense maybe even humbling to have to start over again, because I mean you're coming from a group where you had two Grammy nominations, you know, or a win right one. Yeah, yeah, you know. I I don't think Eric and I really at the beginning had an intention of starting a band. We were just recording, you know. Eric was getting hit up a lot by producers in Austin, and we were just having fun working on music. And I feel like that's why this is so special to me, is that we had really pure intentions. We were just trying to like record cool songs that we wanted to listen to, you know, and Eric would show me something, I'd be like, oh man, check you know, check out the production on then and it took us a while to finally say, well, we should actually be a band and do this, you know. So I think it's our enthusiasm kind of rubs off. I mean, part of why we started it. We were like, well, let's play Let's see what it would be like to play these songs live, as we had never played them live together. We were just recording them, and then we started playing our live shows, and that was just a blast. Man. It was just so much fun to be on stage, and Eric's enthusiasm and stay age presence and everything was all just contagious and just kind of took off from there. I mean, those songs are really good. I mean, that's one of the interesting things too about it feeling like you guys almost were not here one day and hear the next is that the song sounds so fleshed out and so incredible. It's hard to believe that these songs and the productions were conceived of and created independently. Did you have the sense when you were recording these that these are really special? Kind of yeah, if I was trying to contain my enthusiasm and just play it cool, you know, and we just, I don't know, we were just in a little bubble working on the on these songs. Like I don't we didn't really show him. I didn't really show him to anybody but my wife and maybe like a couple of people at some point. Every time I played for somebody, they'd be like, what is that Play that again, and I'm like, oh, is this guy Eric Burton? I just met him? Check this out? And they'd be like, what the hell Like, I mean, it just seemed like early on, like the songs he was writing and the production style that I was hearing in my head was just effortless, man like. We really didn't really even have to like talk about it that much. It was just happy we'd just do it. I know, you guys were going to cut a couple of songs for this conversation, So I was thinking we could start by hearing having people hear Colors. What was going on in your life that led you to write that song? I think I was just leading a praise and worship at a Presbyterian church and was just looking to connect with God in my own way, you know, from my perspective, and so Colors kind of emanates from a place. So just trying to be honest and in my alignment to source. So you were leading essentially like a church group. Yeah, I was hired to learn hymns on my guitar and kind of you know, before I came into the church, they were listening to recordings and I'm like, what, there's no music going. You know. I was going to a different church at the time, but they caught wind of me through you know, some family, and they paid me to come and lead some hymns, and so that's what I did. I would learn some of the hymns and then start writing my own pretty much. And Colors was one of those that were reflective of trying to break out of just singing that kind of music. Did you ever perform that in the church maybe once? Do you remember how it was received? Yeah? It was always received very like pretty well, you know, but there's obvious, this this obvious difference you know, between you know, me writing my own song as opposed to like singing these like old hymnal songs and stuff like that. So I am I imagine now that I probably came off a little bit more worldly than people were used to. But that's I mean, I guess I would have been unlike the time when a lot of the great gospel songs that we sing in church now were written, you know, right exactly. And you know, to be honest, I look up to people like Sam Cook and Ray Charles and Arita Franklin who were able to kind of take what they learned in church and to give it a univer verstal approach. And that's kind of how I kind of see a little bit of my development and as a songwriter and a performer as well. Adrian, were you very connected to gospel music at all, because it seems like that's the world that Eric's wire coming from. Not particularly, no, man. I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic school, and I'm from South Texas, and the connection to music with the churches in South Texas, I think is a bit of a different experience. Although although I love it, you know, but that wasn't my upbringing. Honestly, it really wasn't mine either. I mean I wasn't really in a gospel singing church, like learning like how a wreatha Franklin that I had no way near close is just I just feel coming from that from the church in general and its strictness to sing, like to have certain content, you know. Just taking what I've learned and making it my own is what I mean by coming from singing in church and then writing my own songs and stuff. When I moved to Austin. Actually my freshman year in college, I did go to the University Catholic Center, which was across from my dorms, and I thought I would play guitar and there for a second there, I was like, maybe I'll go play guitar at the at the University Catholic Center. But man, the music was not inspiring to me. If Eric could, if I had like heard colors or something there, you know, I might have joined. I might have taken a different career turn. We'll be back with Adrian and Eric after this break. Here's more of my conversation with Adrian Quesada and Eric Burton. One of the cool experiences with your music is it sounds familiar because it sounds it sounds soulful and the way that music used to sound soulful. But when I'm listening to your voice, Eric, like I can't pinpoint a particular singer that you sound like, but you can hear the gospel. You can hear the soul sometimes in your writing and colors, even in the lyrics. There's almost like a country element to just sound like specific and clear the lyrics are, the verses are and aiding with the production. There's not one person it sounds like in terms of arrangement production, Like you can't say it's Isaac Hayes or Curtis Mayfield, but there's such as such soul Imbaut and the way you're producing these tracks. Yeah, I mean there's certain nods, very specific nods. I think every once in a while we throw in a little wink here and there to a particular influence. But I don't think when Eric and I were working when we first met, Well, what's funny. I actually probably have to punt this back for to Eric to clarify on this, But like I remember him telling me he had never really sang on a song that he didn't start himself, like these instrumentals, you know, So he was telling me he was kind of struggling to kind of fit in or I'm like, everything you're singing sounds gold in to me. Man. I mean there's there're nods, you know, there's nods in my production there. I think there's little winks and nods between us to our influences. But ultimately, I don't even think we had a discussion on like well let's make that sound like this. You know, I never told Eric there. I don't think he ever told me that as well. But what that was initially when when I reached out to people and was like, hey, do you know anybody I could collaborate with this on this? A bunch of people sent me ideas like, oh, check out this such and such person, all real talented people, but nobody really uh made me kind of jump out of my seat and reach out until I saw until I heard about Eric and and one of the main reasons why I was they were like, oh, I just you know, you hear a soul singer and you just imagine like that kind of especially nowadays, like that retro soul kind of like thing. But I just looked him up and I'm like, now he's playing like an acoustic guitar or you know, almost more like Neil Young than that, you know what I mean. But he but it's soulful, but it's his soul. I don't know. It was just so much to me that I was just like perked up and was like, damn, this dude is like is an individual, you know, And that's the main the most important thing I think both of us have wanted to convey with through through the music is like just that it sounds like us, you know, and the band name. It's like the imagery is super strong. How did you guys land on Black Pumas? Adrian went cat crazy on me. Man, Yeah, he came back from he came back from Mexico. I'm gonna tell the story down. Go ahead, go ahead, Yeah, okay, he came back from Mexico, was really inspired by the cat iconography, and I'll let you conclude, Adrian. I'm uh, you know, we sent a slew of text back and forth of different names and stuff, and Adrian kept sending me cat names. I'm like, what's your problem, Like I remember, like like we're gonna be yeah, yeah, that's I forgot about that one man. I remember reading about pumas. I went like literally stayed up like three nights just reading about Puma's, Jaguar's lions, all of them. And then I read about the black puma, that there is no such thing as a black puma, and then there's like all these kind of weird crypto zoology sites of people like whatever just went down rabbit holes. I mean, it was literally just weird. Texting back fourth it was like black pumas and he's like that's nope, okay, yeah, black Puma was like black Pumas is great, it's it's strong, it's easy. You don't even want to know what I was, what I was sharing with Adrian. I wish I could find those textual. Oh my, he like he was just like I remember, just like us laughing at each other. I don't know if Adrian was like smoking or something like that or whatever, but I just remember getting to know him through like coming up with these names and stuff and like mines had to do with like spaceships and this and that, and like Adrian's like Mighty Royals Cats. Yeah, yeah, that was fun. I'm glad we uh we stuck with black Pumas. Yeah. No, absolutely, there is an element of you guys that feels like you're engaging on social things. So even if that wasn't intention with the name, it feels right. I think there's like an undercurrent, there's an undertone of some real fire and the both of us as it pertains to what we see that is going on socially. But when we make the music, it's never we're never thinking about like, hey, like let's speak to the George Floyd's situation in a way that is going to really spark something and like some empathy in people like colors. When I wrote that, I was I was just thinking about just being aligned within myself. If I wasn't thinking about race, and that's what's amazing about the power that comes from, you know, being a band in the first place, writing the music that we write in the first place, because at the times progress and different things happen, people are going to want to take the music and make it universal as it pertains to the times and what's actually going on. So when we have conversations together, you can feel the compassion for people who aren't aren't treated as fairly. But when we're making music, man, that's like sanctuary time. Like it's just about coming together to have fun, you know, being honest and not just pity partying, you know, so to speak, if I may, Yeah, does it feel weird to have built up all this momentum of the last few years just to sort of have it, you know, just come to a stand still totally. Yeah, we realize and are thankful that we're kind of a studio band first. You know, we didn't start off as a live band anyway, so you know, it's it's obviously a bumer to not like play some of these some of the biggest festivals we would have played, some of the biggest rooms we would have played this year. But I think that we both can still take a step back and be thankful for the opportunity this is to kind of in the industry's retrograde, just kind of go back into our you know, our comfort zone that is writing and just coming up with different ideas that kind of get us going. And what more of a better time is is you know, the civil unrest and the COVID nineteen things that are going on to work through creatively. Are you guys able to write and record right now? Um? Yeah, it's it's yeah, on and off kind of we're chipping away at a new record with ideas. You know, have everything from from kind of like songs that we've already begun in the studio to two ideas that on phone messages to songs that Eric's written on guitar on his phone and has recorded it. It's all over the place. We have a lot of sketches. We just need to kind of I think Eric's gonna be writing here for a little bit and uh and then we'll we're gonna reconvene, you know, before the end of the year, hopefully lay a lot of it down. And on one hand, I actually feel like the touring going completely away, uh is gonna be good for us because if we had, like try to do this in between tours, there'd be a lot of noise, you know, Like I just feel like there'd be we probably would feel like that pressure and that all the noise of what happens on tour and regular life. And on one hand, it's like everything just paused and went silent, and I feel like it's back to the whole reason we made these songs. And I remember Eric one time telling me something like on a plane, like, man, I want to record more stuff just so I have something to listen to. And it's just like, you know, at this point, just back to square one, without feeling any pressure, and it's just like, just make something we would want to listen to. Is it different writing and recording together now, given that you guys are actually like a band now and essentially the first time around, you guys weren't quite a band yet, you know, certainly hadn't had the success he had add yet, does it feel does a context feel different in terms of writing recording? Does a collaboration feel different, like when we recorded the second half of the album, which we're you know, the way I kind of just the easiest way to describe it as songs that Eric started on his guitar, you know, versus writing a song to an instrumental. We kind of are We recorded those pretty live with the band. From a production standpoint and like a technical standpoint, which is you know what I bring is I feel like it's because of the pandemic and quarantine and us not being able to really get the band in here all the time, and us crowd into a studio, it's actually forcing me to step outside the box and and like make these creative decisions that I think would keep us from falling into our comfort zone or at least me production wise, falling into the same bag of tricks. It's forcing me to kind of like and just think outside the box a little bit and make more creative decisions that I think is going to be good overall for the next album. However, however that comes together musically, same with the other aspects of it too, is as far as um. I don't know if you could look at this as a production aspect, but I remember being in well we Paris sitting outside. That's so funny, say, but Adrian showed me this, this riff, this blues riff. I was like, man, yeah, yeah, that's kind of cool. And then I always think because we had had a conversation with the label before and I was like, man, I can't wait to like maybe collaborate this person or that person or this person, and it was more from them. They were kind of encouraging the same sound. And so what I realized, it's like, okay, so we can't forget where we come from, but hey, there's still different levels within a room. Like just because we're in a theater doesn't mean you have to create music on the stage. Maybe we can go up in the balcony and do something crazy. So Adrian came up with this blues riff, and I thought, man, how cool would it be to like throw some cap awaya like instrumentation behind that blues riff? Yo, I don't know. So we like to vibe out on it and and whatnot, and you know, it's it's really cool to be collaborating with, you know, someone as generous to that degree to create a little bit of space to you know, have some collaboration. I guess. So I think I try to be open to you know, Adrian just doesn't care about you know, the words and lyrics and stuff like that as much. That's your job. Oh that's just yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know he'll help out, like how you help Adrian, tell him, tell him how you got my back when when uh, you know, when we first started working together and he would kind of get stuck on the line. I'll offer my feedback, but honestly, it's like there's not a lot I could tell him to make what he does, you know what I'm saying like better. I mean I'm not I'm not the most vocal person in general, and uh, but I remember there was definitely times where you kind of cold be stuck or I just I might stop and say, man, that line is dope, and like that concept, whatever you're going with. I really like that. But for the most part, you know, what, am I gonna tell this dude? How am I gonna make this dude's stuff lyrics and vocals better? But just just that alone, though, like really keeps me ground and I'm like, oh, okay, all right. You know I see Adrian nodding to certain things, and you know, if I don't sometimes if I don't have that, and I can get really eccentric and the way that I like to be abstract visually with the with the lyrics and stuff. So he sort of keeps you on on on the right. Oh yeah, he keeps me on the ground because I want to fly. Eric has more production ideas than I have vocal ideas. Put it that way. But but I but I really equally important, man, Like I don't want to know what I ad in the studio. I mean, I love you guys willingness to experiment, and it totally comes across. And like when I was listening to the deluxe edition, you guys did a cover of Politicians in my eyes, and when I first saw the title, I was like, man, that's a that's a death song. That's interesting. I put it on. I's I wonder if it's a cover, and I put it on. I was listening, I was like, oh this is this isn't a cover. It wasn't until like the third or fourth time I listens like, oh shit, this is a cover of that song because you guys did it so different, Like how did that come about? So that we were in Europe and our label and distributor out there, I had a project that they wanted us to be a part of why we were out there, which was on our last tour, I think, and they were getting bands. I can't remember if all the bands were covering. Yeah, I guess all the bands were covering like punk rock stuff. And they sent us a list, you know, they brought it up to us and we remember we were in the green room and it was just like so the sex Pistols, the Ramans and the you know whatever, all these bands and Eric was like, what about Death, and well, they weren't on the list. And I was like, man, you know Death. I remember seeing that documentary and like he was like, yeah, I've been jamming that and he was he pulled out Politicians on my eye. Well he was going through some songs on the phone, and remember he showed me that one. I was like, damn, we heard that. And we were like we could kind of freak that. I mean, what part of one of the things we like to do with covers is sometimes we stay pretty faithful, but sometimes we like to just kind of make it our own. And there was a little bit of a saga to record that one, because we sent it back and we were like yeah, yeah, we were so pumped. We were like hell yeah, man, Death like Politicians in my eyes, Like it's super timely and like timeless, you know. We were like hell yeah, sent back to them and it was just crickets and they were like, well that's not a we're not familiar with this band. We were like, dude, that they like invented punk rock, like that's and then they came back and said it was too obscure. They were like, how about again, like the sex Pistles, the Ramones. We were like, man, it's like the least punk rock thing you could do is tell us to go play the Ramones or so we actually like remember Eric text, we were on this text. Eric was like, man, that's this is the only song I wanted to do it. I was like, man, I'm down with you, bro. That's that's we're being punk rock here. So that was it. We worked it up at a couple of sound checks, I think the band, Eric with the band jammed on it for a little bit. Then I showed that to Eric and he was like, well, he kind of came up with the like the way the core progression moves I think kind of remember it was quicker or slower than the original. He was like, well check this out. And I mean we learned it like the day before two days before in the studio at a sound check. We just sat there and went over it with guitar, and then we went into the studio and learned it that day. I mean, and testament to our band just being killer musicians, like they just they learned it and all showed up and interpreted it. We might have rehearsed it a couple of times. Yeah, we'll be back with Adrian and Eric after the break. We're back with more of my conversation with Black Plumas October thirty three. I guess how did that one come about? Was that one that Eric you had or was this a collaboration song? So the completion of this song was spurred by Adrian's thought to add one more song to the album. We probably recorded like a bit over fifteen songs or so, and he was just telling me like, man, I don't really feel like we really have that last song. And so when he told me that, I sent him a snippet of this this song October thirty three, a couple of days after, I said, hey, check this out, and you know, he thought it was a perfect way to end it. I might have sent him like a little bit of a verse, maybe a little bit of a chorus, and he said, yeah, yeah, it kind of reminds me of this, this and that, and so I don't know, maybe a week later, right, Adrian, we got together and I pretty much finished writing the song on the way to the studio and in the studio, so actually, funny, I have the lyrics right here, man, yeah something. Yeah, yeah, he wrote him on a paper on a grocery bag in my studio. But yeah, I remember because we talked about it recently, but I forgot. I still have him right here. But yeah, he just he was cranking him out on this. This just kind of gets to the crux of my my feeling about you guys, which is like, it's amazing how fully formed you guys were from from the start. Twenty nineteen, the record comes out and the Grammys is past January, you guys were for Best New Artists, and looking at the list of artists, you guys we're in with, it's Billie Eilish, Black Pumas, Lil nos X, Lizzo, Maggie Rodgers, Rosaliah, Tank of the Bangers, and Yola. That's pretty yeah. You know, we actually played a party at the Grammys, a Spotify party where like all all those bands were played the same party, all the Best New Artist nominees. It was like this like rotating stage and everybody did like twenty minutes or something. But it's pretty kind of wild. Yeah, how was that crazy? It was just nice to be around peers man. It's like, wow, like these are our peers, man, this is great. So that part of it was awesome. And then the part that kind of tripped me out about like being in California again, I'm like, oh my god, man, like this kind of feels like a pageant, you know, I felt like I was in a pageant. I was like, wow, this is this is kind of tripping me out. And then probably my favorite part of it is just you know, seeing some of our heroes Grace the stage and as well as Grace, some of the hosting some of the parties that happened before and after the Grammys, like Quest Love and the Roots invited us to play their you know, their jam before the night of the Grammys. That was probably like my favoritavorite part of it, Like I had such a good time at that party, Dave Chappelle and Quest Love. I'm running into people in the in the green room smoking you know, free joints and CBD infused coffee. You know, you know it was It was just really cool. Man. It was like the most rock star thing I've ever done. Because as I was leaving, we were leaving, I think Adrian might have left Arry. I'm like, man, I can't leave. This is awesome. And uh so, like my hair was looking crazy because I'm I never I'm never prepared to go to an event anyway, you know, I just I just kind of go as this. But I realized, I said, Okay, well, I'm kind of looking like I'm still busting on the Santa Monica Pere right now, and I probably should show some some respect to the event. So you know, I end up going on Facebook. I'm like, yo, does anybody know anyone in LA who can like retwist my hair and Blase blase and so you know, I end up Adrian and I both end up like getting fitted for for it. And then the night that we left the party, this you know, someone like came to my hotel like at four or five six in the morning to do to do my hair. My little brothers were. I flew my little brothers out, and you know, she cut their hair. It was like the coolest. I felt so cool. I was like, yeah, your big brother's doing it. You guys one hundred percentsion of vocal and I bet you guys were the best on that stage too. I guarantee that. Oh man, it was fun. And this is why I love Adrian Man because you know, if there was a guy who had gone up and you know, like black music and black vocalists is always very sharp and you know with the rips and all this warm stuff and uh, you know, I'm on. I'm I'm in the corner of the stage right before we go on, and I'm almost like kind of shedding some tears because of the music is so beautiful. And the guy who was seeing I was like, yeah, that guy's pretty good. I look at Adrian. He's like, don't worry, bro, you're better. You're better than him, you know. So it's it's nice to kind of like, you know, have that the validation reciprocated in the appreciation. I think that we do that for each other. So that's kind of cool. No, I mean, I must have been an incredible experience. I feel bad because this is going back to pre Black Puma days, but I would be one hundred percent unhappy with myself if I didn't mention the fact that Adrian you got to have a few years worth the Prince experiences. Yeah, so your old group group of Fantasma was kind of more or less mentored or by Prince right for a time. Yeah, a few years on and off. It started with a residency in Las Vegas. He had a club and we started playing there, and then he eventually just started coming on stage and jamming with us, and then that led to us backing him on certain occasions for a few years on and off. So yeah, I got to we's got to spend some time with him. What was it like jamming with him? Absolutely? Insane? Absolutely, and back then, like the way I used to put it was like it was like being a really good high school basketball team and being put on a plane the next day and then putting put in Game seven of the NBA Finals, you know, like we were we were a good band, and then all of a sudden, Game seven of the NBA Finals like go you know to all of a sudden. Being a rehearsal with him was like that. And because he could play every instrument better than than everybody, you know, so he So it was just like one day to the next, our confidence level was just through the roof. It was just trial by fire man. We just got thrown in the deep end and just like no choice but to show up and you know, and bust your ass and try hard. So, I mean my confidence level in the band's confidence level was just from one day to the next. After like being in rehearsals with Prince was just like you know, chess stumping everywhere. We were just like, hell yeah we played with Prince Man. I'm like, we can hang anywhere. How was he as a band leader? He was amazing man, And it was really he was really cool. I saw. I saw multiple sides of him because we were like the cool, new young band that he worked with, so we weren't like his regular band on salary. He always set the mood. You know, there was times I think he was funnier and more engaging and like more personable than people make him out to be. You know, like all used to hear these rumors like, man, you can't look him in the eye and you can't like whatever. He was cool. He was really funny as hell, but he always set the mood and there was days where he wasn't in the mood to joke and it was all business, you know. I mean, you knew right away it was just like man princes here, it's all business today, or if not, he just was hanging like, you know, hanging out and joking with us and stuff. So, but he was always a little bit cooler with us. He was cool with his band, but he was a little harder on them. And he was maybe because like I said, we were like a younger band and I mean still a hardass. There was definitely times where he cut us down individually, certain guys he would call you out and say and say something embarrassing the hell out of you at a rehearsal. But most of the time and he was really encouraging and inspiring for us, and he knew, you know, we we had it a little bit easier than his band, where you know, those guys are like you know, his band, and then they had it it was a little more intense. I witnessed a lot of those rehearsals, and that was a lot more intense, you know, he was he was softer with us. Did he ever direct any of those critiques at you, not verbally? But one time I got I got like my bubble popped real quick, real bad at a rehearsal man, So we had to learn a few songs of his, and he came in with his keyboard player too. Then they were like going to watch us play their songs. And I there was a song that didn't have another guitar part, it just had one guitar part. We had two guitar players. I came up with my own parts and was like he came in with the keyboard player and was like okay, and he was like an audition like go ahead, like played the song guys, and I was just like, man, you know this is it I'm going for Man, I'm playing my guitar part. I know it's not in that song, but I've just made up a part that I had made up and was playing that, adding this part to the song. And I kind of like looked up and saw his reaction, and he looked at the keyboard player and was like pointing at me, like you know, and like oh hell yeah, like he was feeling it. So man, I mean that my my like confidence level and ego was just like through the roof. So then I was like in my head. I'm like, man, I play whatever I want on Prince songs, like I make up my own shit, you know. Next song, I just like also started playing some other part that wasn't there and was like, dad and I hate. And at that point he was on stage list and he had his back to us, and he just threw up his hand and he goes stop and the whole band stops, and he like points to me without looking at me, he goes, what are you doing? I was like, Oh, I just came up with this part that that uh and he goes, don't play that play was in the song. I was like, Okay, that was it. It was just like, you know, so he had that power like to either build you up and then also just bring you back down and be like, no, you got a ways to go, you know, like you're still in school. And do you feel like a better musician having gone through that? Yeah? I feel like that man that did so much for our development and my development personally in terms of confidence, you know, just knowing that like if you can hang in that room and hang anywhere, you know. I had this crazy experience and it was like kind of the night we technically got signed to our label was. We played in uh uh Minneapolis one Saint Paul technically, and this is early on in the band, and we just killed that show. I don't know if you remember that one. I remember that show. It was really good. Man. We had a sub on on keys. But I had this like I got chills. Not to get like too hokey about this, but man, I remember for some reason, we were just really killing it that night, and I got chills. We had a packe was a small club but it was packed. Remember getting chills and looking around and thinking like, man if it was almost like I could feel Prince And I was like thinking, if if he was alive, he would have been here. He would have known about this, you know what I mean, Like I I really, I mean, I'm getting chills talking about it. But I remember looking around and for some reason we were just on fire and thinking like he would have known about this, man and he would have cornered Eric, you know, and been infatuated with hearing about the songs, and you know, like I just had that feeling. I was just like I knew it. I know he would have known about this. That's almost the worst thing about Lose and Prince beyond the fact that we can never go to a Prince show again. Is that. You know, I'm not sure how many other people were as supportive of really new acts. I mean, what a lovely guy and so giving to it, like people who you know, none of us really deserve to be in his presence probably you know it's Prince, but it's just it's crazy, you know that he's not here to mentor oh my god. Yeah, and especially for someone like Eric, because I can only imagine, oh my god, dude. Yeah, I know that one time we were going on stage somewhere with him at an award show and he was like in a different green room or something, and he called us over there to talk before and somebody was somebody made a joke. We were kind of we're pretty comfortable him after a while, and you could kind of joke if he was in a good mood, like to joke around. And somebody made a comment like, oh, this is where the stars are, and he pulled us on and he was like no, no, no, He was like, you guys are the stars today. You know. He was just really encouraging like that, and he loved he loved younger songwriters and you know people that out all that world of soul and rock and everything, you know, which is like I'm tell why I'm telling you. I'm like, man, I was getting chills that damn Like, I know he would have been here. I know he would have been lined up for Eric to like, you know, to talk to him and a rest in peace, absolutely rest in peace. One last thing I wanted to ask Eric about, did you have an American Idol audition? Yeah, before anything else. I think it was twenty twelve. It was in California, like thirty bucks to my name, after getting a round trip ticket to Houston, Texas. Actually I was supposed to go to Houston, Texas and then come back to LA and I did. But I didn't realize that the process of the road audition was like a three day long process before you'd even know if you'd make it, if you made it to Hollywood Week. I just thought that you know, you go and then you see the you see Jennifer Lopez and Rainy Paxon, and you know, you see the people and and then you you you know if you made it or not. But like I was out there with no money trying to like, you know, befriend people in the crowd, and I ended up meeting this uh, this guy who let me sleep in the back of that like his vehicle. Like we we like camped out between like a Burger king and a gas station in Houston, Texas. Uh, you know, his mom sent some money. We went shopping and you know, I made like a cardboard sign. It was bonkers. That's that was the craziest initiation to the music industry that I've ever I've ever had, And you know I made it. Jennifer Lopez liked me. I liked her too, and you know she she kind of you know, she worked, she worked it out for me to you know, get through. She really liked me. So then I got eliminated in Hollywood week So I mean the glory wasn't you know, lived too much further beyond actually just being able to make real friends. Like I'm still connected with a buddy of mine who also made it to Hollywood Weeks and he's Dylan Loza. His family took me in. I mean we were eating taco dinners, palm trees in the backyard. I'm swimming in the pool, playing video games with the brother and so you know, I always kind of you know, I tell people all the time, I'm just I'm very thankful because it just seems like anytime I've ever decided to take a risk, you know, like that, it just seems like things just kind of all things work together for good. You know, It's like it just feels, it feels good. And I believe. I'm a believer, you know, I'm I believe that when I decide to do something that has got to happen. You know, it must feel great. Man, with all those little all those people who kind of invested you in these ways along the way, and now you're you're where you're at. Man, that's just got to be so fulfilling, even for them. I mean, that's amazing. Being coming from a place where you know, we moved around a lot. It's it's kind of hard to like have some of the same friends and you know, keep certain things, that certain mementos. So it does me a lot that especially that the you know, that where where we are right now, because it's it's easy to find me for people who you know, I've had a really nice connection with. So that's that part of it's really dope. Cool. Well, thanks guys, really appreciate you guys taking the time. Thanks Brother, appreciate it man, Thanks Justin. Thanks to Eric and Adrian for taking the time to talk. We wish him to the best of luck at the grants. You can hear all of our favorite black Bomba songs on our playlist at broken record podcast dot com. It'd be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash broken record Podcast. There you can find extended cuts of new and old eversides. Broken Record is produced with help from Leah Rose, Jason Gambrel, Martin Gonzalez, Eric Sandler, and it's executive produced by me a little bit. Broken Record is a production of Pushkin Industries and if you like Broken Record, please remember to share, rate, and review our show on your podcast s app The music expect any beats. I'm justin Richmond, Pace m