After Thoughts
After Thoughts
Rolling Out the Red Carpet: Personal Growth, Music Comebacks, and Authenticity Unveiled in the Upcoming Season
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[A.I Generated] As we prepare to roll out the red carpet for our upcoming season of After Hours, we are ecstatic to share with you a plethora of mind-boggling topics and personal experiences that had us laughing, crying, and even partaking in some controlled substance use. Lock in January 9th on your calendars, folks! We've put in an immense amount of time and effort to ensure this season surpasses your wildest expectations, with a slew of episodes that revisit some fan favorites, and a collection of fresh, insightful discussions. Our dear friend and guest, Sam, is sharing this journey with us, bringing his unique perspective to the table.
We've ventured through a whirlwind of experiences lately, from our professional endeavors to our health journeys, bachelor trips, and future plans. Get a sneak peek into our personal growth and how reflection is instrumental in breaking unhealthy patterns. Among our many stories, you'll hear about my triumphant return to public music performances after a decade, my personal wrestle with faith, religion, and their ties to my music.
We're also thrilled to bring back some highly requested topics from our previous seasons - relationships, personal growth, authenticity, to name a few. As we've evolved, so have our perspectives on these subjects, and we're eager to give you our updated takes. We're grateful for your patience, and we're ready to reward it with an unforgettable season of insightful discussions, heartwarming stories, and a healthy dose of laughter. So, strap yourselves in, and prepare for an emotional roller coaster ride with After Hours. We can't wait to reconnect with you all on January 9th!
Upcoming Season and Future Plans
Speaker 1After Hours . After Hours , after Hours . Hello , welcome to After Hours , hello hello , we're back . We are back .
Speaker 2It's been a minute . It has been a minute .
Speaker 1Yeah , you're right .
Speaker 2I moved this twice . So many things going on , too many things , just so many things . It was honestly the most exhausting few months of my life , I think .
Speaker 1Well , we can get into that , but first , oh yes , feel free to say hello in the chat . Delancey is here , hey , delancey , and she says congratulations . Ah , thank you .
Speaker 2I'm assuming she's talking to you . Yeah , thank you . Appreciate that . It was a . Yeah , it was a lot . Honestly , that was the least Like . The actual events were the least stressful of all the things . I felt like Everything went pretty well considering , but it was all the things surrounding . Didn't get your new SO in here . She is sick with the strep throat right now and is very not okay . She couldn't talk if she wanted to . She has no voice at all . Really hoping I don't get it because I have a gig tomorrow and I'm recording all weekend to finish up the record . So that's all the things surrounding . Howdy , howdy Robin , how's it going ?
Speaker 1Everybody's here . I love this , melissa . I finally watched Wheel of Time , so I know now what your name is about . Okay , Am I loud ?
Speaker 2enough . Can I hear me okay ?
Speaker 1You can maybe turn it up a little bit .
Speaker 2I feel like it's quiet . Let me turn it up . How about that ? Yeah sure .
Speaker 1Why not ? Alright cool , okay . Well , I guess we should start with the reason . Everybody is here . You're out of focus now , cody . I know this is the problem .
Speaker 2Okay , there it goes . I'm having this issue where it's taking way too long to focus now , so I'm like I don't know what to do with this .
Speaker 1Alright . So we have picked a launch date and it is January 9th . So I know it's a little ways out , but we were getting closer and closer to the holidays and realizing that , while we probably could launch pretty soon , it doesn't really work very well doing it during the holidays , and that also gives us some time to make sure everything is nice and polished and scheduled , and all of that . So January 9th it is . We're going to kick off the fresh year with the new season . There you go , which I'm excited about . This is going to be a good one .
Speaker 2It will be a good one . Yeah , I'm more excited about the season than I've ever been before . I know that people always say that about the new stuff they have coming out , because I can say the same thing about new music coming out . I'm the most excited I've ever been . But it's true , this is going to be a fun season . We've gone into some insane topics . There's a lot of laughing , there's some crying , there were drugs involved . There's so many things . We went absolutely insane that season and covered so many really fun topics . We're trying to reward everybody's patience . That's the reason we possibly can . So it's going to be really good . I'm very excited . I've got like four or five episodes pretty much done , edited . Just need to drop some music in there . We've got four more to record . We're trying to get all those scheduled on the calendar in the next two weeks . Knock those out . This is up to me . We'll end up , you guys , because we'll need responses .
Speaker 1It's also up to me to gather all those up .
Speaker 2You asked the best questions . It's totally up to you .
Speaker 1You're the one who knows I wanted to touch on this one . Robin said I'm surprised you didn't get your new SOH . That also made me think of so next season . I don't know if we're so not season four , but season five , we're already into that . So , as of right now , the plan is for season five to be the last season .
Speaker 2We're not supposed to tell people that ahead of time ? Yeah , it's been the plan , the whole time .
Speaker 1Yeah , we're going to do five seasons , not saying it's going to be the end of us and what we're doing , but this podcast , potentially , it's not set in stone .
Speaker 1There's always room for plans to change , but one of the things that we were talking about was potentially going back and revisiting some of the more popular episodes from the first couple of seasons and doing some part twos , because a lot has changed and I know specifically there are a couple of episodes where stuff has shifted a lot . For me and I'm sure Cody could say the same thing , and one of the ones I was thinking of that might be fun would be to do relationships part , or being with a five part two , where we bring back our significant others back on , and then , now that you are married and Amy and I have been through some crazy stuff and have a lot to say there and in terms of like , this is by far absolutely the best we've ever been , and we've had some huge breakthroughs this year especially , that have , honestly , it's been a complete game changer , and so so , yeah , I think it would be . It could be really helpful or fun to talk through all of that .
Speaker 1Looks like there's some support for that in here .
Speaker 2Yeah , people might be excited about it , but yeah , season four at least has lots of room for fun guests . Sam is coming back to join us many times . Yes , that's fine , she's going to be a kind of de facto third host . Actually , I'd say at this point she's in enough episodes , so lots of fun topics there are going to tackle a few like heavy , like typical five conversations , typical enneagram conversations that we are not equipped to do on our own . We need guidance , and so we have that .
Speaker 1The one we recorded with her already . Yeah , so good .
Speaker 2That's one we've ever done with her . I think We've done some really good conversations , but like that one was mind blowingly good . I was learning so much in that conversation .
Speaker 1Yeah , we did the levels of health or levels of development with her , and what I love about Sam is , in true five fashion , like she comes prepared , so she's just dropping all kinds of knowledge bombs on us .
Speaker 2She's a part of the last three of the last four episodes we're going to record , so we kind of threw her for a loop because a couple of them she doesn't get to prepare for . So that'll be fun , like us which is all coming in unprepared . See what happens . That's where the magic happens . That's what happened on the high fives episode . Dear God , I'm still not fully convinced that when we'll see the light of day , but we're going to try really hard to make it happen .
Speaker 1They're asking for it , but you guys don't even know .
Speaker 2You don't even know what you're getting into , like you don't actually know .
Speaker 1First of all , one of the main problems was that Cody was in the studio till like 4 am the night before , so he shows up and he's just like basically falling asleep .
Speaker 2And it was like I was in the studio the last two nights before that , plus I had a gig , plus I had another event , like it was so many things . I mean this was since July of this year , basically June or July . It's the whole reason the season didn't happen . I had no time . Podcasts took the back seat , sadly , the back burner . But yeah so many things .
Speaker 1Yeah . And so he shows up and after like the first 20 minutes , basically I'm just having a conversation with myself , which is not a good place to be , because when I'm high I just like go off on huge diatribes about nonsense . And I remember I went on this one really long rant about like have you ever really thought about how music works ? And then I ended it with and that's how the universe works .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , it was . It was a . It was real , real interesting . It was about the time I woke up , mm-hmm .
Speaker 1That's how the universe works . Yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , I'm going to have to edit that sucker down . It's going to take a little bit of time . I'm actually dreading it . I haven't touched it yet because I don't want to listen to it .
Speaker 1I think we should just leave it and let it be what it is .
Speaker 2Let it be what it was . It was like it wasn't as long as I thought it'd be . I think it was like an hour and a half , so it's got to be edited a little bit .
Speaker 1Yeah , oh . But what was really funny was we brought some charcuterie and I bought these pickles and it didn't . It didn't give any indication on the jar , but apparently they were very spicy and so Cody was eating them .
Speaker 1And like and uh and then and then , basically they were so spicy that he was like , oh damn , he's just spicy . I'm like , okay , well , I'm not going to eat them . But then he ate all of the cheese , trying to like get rid of the spice . Well , oh yeah , we were saying so . He's just done with their munching on cheese . While I'm talking for like an hour .
Speaker 2Yeah , Well , and we had very different kinds of experiences . Because you did edibles I won't do edibles because of what , how it affects me , it's just too much and I can't it like I feel nothing for five hours and then I feel so many things Like I feel all of it at 150% all at once . It's really hard to like , time it right and control it . And then even if I do like I last time I did it , I took a 10 milligram water seltzer water in Colorado and I I legit could not put sentences together , I could not talk , it was like I was under anesthesia or something . It was really bad and so I was like I'm not doing this again .
Speaker 2I think it's meds that I'm on , anxiety meds and stuff . I've kind of looked it up and found out that I might be under the perfect cocktail to not do edibles , but I can smoke it . So I have a vape that I sell , because you can sell most CBD and THC products in Tennessee now , except for the one bad one or whatever . And so the devil's lettuce you know the devil's lettuce and I just use that and it was great and I could just kind of keep it going the whole time . But yeah , it was fun , it was fun .
Speaker 1And he says at least you'll learn how the universe works . Yeah , exactly .
Speaker 2You'll learn something Maybe you'll learn something about Josiah You'll definitely learn some things about me .
Speaker 1Uh , melissa says that one of my supervisors shocked me by saying someday I'll be the department chair . Oh snap , you should roll with four or five Hell yeah , that's amazing .
Speaker 2Congrats , yeah , congrats .
Speaker 1Yeah , I was shocked to get kind of hoisted into leadership at my company a couple of years ago , like we talked about , and it ended up being a really good fit . I like that better than actually doing the work . So we'll see see how it goes for you . Please keep us posted .
Speaker 2I'm definitely like that Anytime . I've ever been in any kind of management role where I'm managing like people and like people's roles more than I'm managing like actual work . It's so much more pleasant and tolerable for me .
Speaker 1The way he says . I always liked the phrase wacky to back .
Speaker 2Never heard that one . You haven't heard that one . Oh man , that's a good one , wacky to back .
Speaker 1Yeah , instead of the devil's lettuce .
Speaker 2Wacky to back .
Speaker 1You know , just kind of fun , all right , yeah , I want to do ready . I'll agree , sure yeah .
Speaker 2I'm not that normal . I am going to say I am green , okay , because .
Speaker 1I was like you've only been married like two weeks . Man , you got to say green .
Speaker 2Yeah , no , I mean , we've been together a long time , like to be honest , nothing really changed in terms of wedding , except for now I wear a ring , but I mean it's , it's definitely had its . Like , you know , it's kind of fun . It's fun having that , I guess , like solidified part of our relationship . We told the government , yeah , but but honestly , the most reason why I'm green is because I'm at the end of All the shit that I've been doing that has been stressing me out so hard and it's , it's . I hate even talking about it negatively because I Was everything I enjoy doing , but it was just so much work to make it happen and like , and now I've been kind of like nursing , okay , but it's funny thing to tell you to . Actually , I'll tell all of you together I , when we moved a few weeks ago I think we have talked about that already here we've had a , an after-hour since all that had to move and I Hurt my knee and my elbow , my left knee , my right elbow , and turns out those were different things happening at the same time that just the moving exacerbated the whole thing and and so
Gigs, Health, and Bachelor Trip
Speaker 2.
Speaker 2But I played so many gigs trying to raise funds and alongside everybody else giving funds For the new music and going in the studio that I played so many gigs . I counted it up and I played more gigs in like a five-month span than I've played in the last like seven years , to combine what I mean . I was playing like two to three gigs a week , sometimes like it was so many . A lot of them were outside in the summer in the south . It was a lot , and so what I did was I have I've always kind of struggled with tennis elbow and I Very much inflamed it and then moving and doing a lot of that stuff like really hurt it . And I mean there was there was moments in the studio a couple weeks ago where I was trying to strum and it was hurting so bad I was like giving me like sharp pains and I couldn't do it and it was .
Speaker 2It was really just really kind of scary actually , because I was like what is ?
Speaker 2going on and then they put me on . I went to the doctor about it finally because my knee was also swelling really bad and it wouldn't stop swelling really and just like I'm talking , like you could barely see my kneecap , as sometimes it was so swell swollen , and so went to doctor and Got kind of pre-diagnosed with Arthritis in my knee , probably Because there's no like real injury . She was like everything looks fine , you can move your knee in all directions , nothing hurts , it's just swelling , so probably arthritis . And I was like great is if there wasn't enough old man jokes that have already been made for me lately . Oh , by the way , I'm the best best man speech , by the way , the other day .
Speaker 2Oh , my god , I don't know . We need to like figure out a way to show everybody that'd be hilarious . It was so good . Um , I'm glad you liked it . I thought you were gonna kind of lose the audience there for a minute . I was like , oh , come back in , really back in , and then you came back and it was good . Um , yeah , I know it's good , I loved it . And what's so funny about it is like the whole time before the speech , every all of the other guys For the bachelor trip or like you know , we're all sitting in the table together and they're like so you never spelled , just say , a speech . And I was like , honestly , I wasn't that nervous about it until he put into the group met text and make sure everybody records it .
Speaker 2And I was like with a little like devil emoji and then I was never like you think it's a roast , I bet it's a roast . And I was like , and they're like , how would you feel about it ? It's a roast . I was like , honestly , I'm fine with it . I don't . I'm pretty self-secured these days . There's like I don't secure myself , it'll be fine , I can , I can laugh at myself , and and then that's when they all started . Joking is like what , if we've all been planning is a roast the whole time , we're just gonna all get up there and say things , and I was like that's also fine . And then you get up and it's a roast . So , yeah , it was good , it was fun , um , but yeah , really happy that it's all over though , because it was , it was a lot . There's a lot of really great memories , a lot of core memories made through the Bachelor trip , which , with those guys , it was such a great great trip and , oh yeah , we haven't had an after-hour since the bachelor trip ?
Speaker 2We haven't . No , we all went to Savannah and you everybody got me blackout on the last night , which I haven't been . I was like 24 . So that was real great . I think I've talked about my story on the podcast or here , this podcast , one of the two oh , about my 25th birthday story , but yeah , it's , that was last time . I was like actually drank too much and this was Much worse . I wouldn't say it was much worse . It wasn't much worse . I was fun .
Recent Events, Future Plans
Speaker 2I was a fun drunk . I saw the videos . It was just weird . It's always weird watching yourself and you're like I wasn't there for this . Yeah , don't remember that . My body , you know , I hate that . I kind of hate it . It's like embarrassing , even though I didn't do anything bad .
Speaker 2But , I mean , who knows the ? It's just like the conversation of us standing outside and maybe and like so what happened last night ? Everybody just looking at me , like you were , you were , you were there . You don't remember standing in the middle of a karaoke bar and screaming Mr Brightside by the killers , with the entire packed bar and everybody's . And then they show me the video and I'm like , oh my god , like this is so wild .
Speaker 1The video was all . We should post that video to the group .
Speaker 2We should honestly , me doing it . I'm slightly drunk , but not quite as blackout at the reception was better . In my opinion it was . It was a good video . A lot of people got some good stuff , but yeah , it was fun . A lot of core memories made in the last few weeks , so in many ways the work was definitely worth it . It was . We got through it . I've been , I'm on . This weekend will be the last time I go into the studio to track anything . So we're about done with all the songs . That's very exciting . So lots of new music coming up that I'm really pumped about , honestly , truly .
Speaker 1It sounds fucking awesome to truly the best stuff I've ever done .
Speaker 2Like it's like better than I thought I could do . You know , it's like I hear it , I'm like holy shit . That's just why you get a good producer though , like somebody who , like , can bring out those things in you that you didn't know you had . And so , man , it was . It's been so much fun , so so much better than stay wild . I say wild was good when it came out the first single , and and that was in April , but the next single I'm like , I'm pumped about . So , yeah , everybody , take , keep a , keep an eye out for that one . Um , yeah , I mean . But now it's like chill . Now I got a gig tomorrow . That's like I'm opening up for a band in this venue on the east side of town Playing like a nice like 30 45 minute sets . It'd be all my favorite songs and I can just like have fun doing it . No setup for sound or anything , just walk on a stage , plug in , play . It's always the best . And yeah , like Saturday it's like Halloween festivities , a bunch of fun stuff for that .
Speaker 2And Sunday and Monday I go back to studio and so then after that it's just podcast stuff for two weeks and then it's like just holidays . So I'm like at this point I feel like I'm smooth sailing , you know , like it was so fun working at my job this week and just thinking about my job and not thinking about all the things I had to do after .
Speaker 1I got off work .
Speaker 2I Um , because I mean I have literally been working from the moment I wake up to like two or three in the morning , getting a few hours Sleep , getting up , do it all over again for months , and so I'm just , I mean I was exhausted and I was like I was starting to shut down . I had a few , I had one , one or cut , one or two days where I like had a full-on meltdown and just like I couldn't , I couldn't think about things , I couldn't handle anything . I was in . I was really upset . That would have been like beyond red right , like if we had this conversation of red , yellow , green conversation on that day . I don't know if I didn't like line round , I don't even , yeah , I don't even think that I'd be able to talk . Honestly , I was .
Speaker 2So I haven't been that upset , maybe ever . It was just like all of it came down on me at once and it was and like , and then really bad things happened , like a whole Box of wine bottles fell out of my back , see , to my car into a parking lot and exploded everywhere in the pouring rain , like I mean it's like they , you know when it , when it rains , it pours , right , no pun intended , and so it was just really bad , bad day . So I think back to that moment and then think now , and I'm like I got it made like everything's great now . Yeah , I'm green . Yeah , how about you ready ? A little green I'm green .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , because we got some good conversations coming up .
Speaker 1it's better when we're both green , honestly dude , I that whole trip that I took . So , like I've been traveling a ton as well , I've done six trips in three months , and which is just , it's too much , and I this last one , though , was was a big one because I went to Palm Springs , california , for a week for work and then took the red eye from Palm Springs overnight to fly down to Panama City , and I had I went from had two layers . I went from Palm Springs to Salt Lake City , to Atlanta , to Panama City , and then rented a car and drove almost two hours to Apollochicola , where Cody got married .
Speaker 2Not just any car , though a car that ended up problems and very scary moments later .
Speaker 1Well , so , so , yeah , so there's a whole , so I have a lot to talk about actually , because this , this , this whole trip was actually life-changing for me , and it's . It actually started with the bachelor trip , when we went to Savannah , and I don't know if you and I have talked much about this , I can't remember .
Speaker 2I'll think so .
Speaker 1I talked to the other .
Speaker 2Cody about it . Yeah , probably .
Speaker 1So I I got to the point where I was just like I I've kind of been like dreading traveling anyway . I just not enjoyed traveling since , you know , since the pandemic I think , there there's just it's like an elevated level of anxiety for one that just makes everything , but it takes the joy out of it for me , for some reason . Yeah and I , so I , the the closer we were getting to that trip , the bachelor trip , which wasn't even flying , we're driving , but you know , it was with a group of people that are your friends , not my friends , and so I don't really know them .
Speaker 2And yeah , I knew it's gonna be a fun time , though , because no one really knew each other either .
Speaker 1I know I didn't know , I didn't know that , though I thought everybody else was like a group and I , you know , and I was just , you know , the outsider .
Speaker 2You should have known I would have curated it better than that .
Speaker 1I , yeah , I , I . I didn't think about it that far . I was just like , uh , I Don't want to do this . I , you know , this is a waste of time , this is a waste of money . This is like all of these stories in my head .
Speaker 2I definitely energy from you , like the first little bit until you started talking to people , though .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's exactly . It's like I showed up and I was like , oh , this sucks , I just want to go be home with my kids . And then we met everybody for breakfast and as soon as we all started talking , I Texted Amy and I was like this is a great group of guys , this is gonna be fun . Yeah , and I was really excited from that point and it was . It was an amazing trip , like it was the perfect bachelor weekend and we had so much fun and it really truly was a really great group of guys and we were all looking out for each other and we were all you know , trying to make sure everybody was having a good time and also being safe and like you know all of that and so much so that it's like we thought we talked about doing it annually .
Speaker 2Yeah , like you never seen that value and going to on a trip with a bunch of guys and yeah . But I was like , oh , I get it now , like this yeah , same same .
Speaker 1Giving yeah yeah , and there's , I think , we was a Never got that in church groups .
Speaker 2I'll tell you that much .
Speaker 1Definitely not .
Speaker 1There's one point I think we all pointed to is like one of our favorite moments of the whole thing where we were going out to the beach at Tybee Island and we were just sitting there chilling and you put on like the low-fi beats on the speaker and we sat there for a couple hours and it was just like the most peaceful thing being out in nature but also being around this group of guys we'd spent like the whole weekend hanging out with and it was .
Speaker 1It was amazing , but there's there . So there were so many lessons in that trip and the trip after the first , one of the ones that really stood out to me , aside from the fact that , like I just just my whole framing around the trip Was just so drastically different than what the trip ended up being and it was a good reminder of that of and . But the other one was so I and this was a weird sort of role for me too , because I was the dad of the trip yeah , my dad there , and Cody's dad was there . He was not the dad . He's not the dad , he's like . He's like the the fun grandpa .
Speaker 2Only has no cares and does not worry about single soul . Right , he was retired , doesn't ?
Speaker 1give a shit . Yeah , also a five , and he was so much fun and . But but aside from him , I was the oldest person there , which was also kind of weird , and I was the only one with kids and , and , and so they're like I plus , I was , you know , best man , so it was my job to kind of make sure that we were , you know , we had activities to do and we were kind of moving from one thing to the next and all of that . So I was , you know , doing a little bit of that , which is not my normal sort of role Well , at least not outside of work .
Speaker 1And so there is the , the day that we were going to the beach , we had planned it for the day before , and then we got up too late that day and we had a ghost tour plan that evening . So we were like , in order to get back in time , we just need to do it tomorrow . And the same thing happened the next day , where we got up really late and got a late start and like I'm coming out , like we're trying , I'm trying to like wrangle people , getting everybody ready to go , and I come out and Cody and his dad are taking the doors off of his dad's Jeep and I'm like what the fuck is happening right now ?
Speaker 1Yeah like we need to go . You know we're not gonna get to spend any time at the beach and and I I remember like working myself up into this like state very briefly , and then I reminded myself like Dude , you're doing it again , let it go and lean into it . So I let it go and I started helping and started like helping take the doors off . And then we took the the top off and I was like you know , I'm just gonna let it be what it is and it was . You know it probably took us an extra hour , like a delay , to get out the door and get to the beach , but the the moment we started driving through Savannah , with everything down blasting , white people get in turn playlist and Right at the top of our lungs with the trees , the old Mike .
Speaker 1Moss cover trees overhead and I was like holy shit , this was totally worth it and it was my idea and I was like you want to do this .
Speaker 2I know , I mean I guess , I just don't know if I can do it .
Speaker 2I'm like well you've always want to learn how . Let me show you because I've done it before and so we started doing it . But I that was what I was thinking was I was thinking like this is gonna be so good , with all the trees , the moss trees , that like cover and Hangover and it's like a net all the way down . I was like this is gonna be so
Reflecting on Experiences and Personal Growth
Speaker 2great . Yeah , it was a core memory for sure . Totally it was . It was amazing , it was just that . The whole it just it was just amazing .
Speaker 1It was . It was amazing . It was just that the whole it , just it , it Enhance the whole experience of having that , that sensory experience and the wind coming in . It was just like and it's something so out of the ordinary Because I don't have a Jeep , I don't have anything I can drive for the top down right , and and and it just made that moment so much more special and it reminded me again how much I can just like overthink things and put like an energy cost on things or a time cost on things and completely discount the experience benefit that those things can bring . And and so it was yeah , and it made the whole it , you know , it like set the whole tone for the day and it was amazing .
Speaker 1And I keep thinking back to a former version of me Would have held on to that , our initial reaction and just like been grumpy the whole time . Yeah , I've been like really anxious the whole time and like never actually let myself lean in and enjoy the experience . I'm so grateful that I'm learning how to to do that more . And then the same thing happened going into this big trip of California to Florida and I I was getting , I was working myself into the same sort of meant like mental state . And the night before , like , while I was packing , amy and I started a conversation and it was one of those conversations that , like , you can't end until , yeah , you reach the end of the conversation . Right , yeah , and , and it was it needed to be had . And it was like , really , the last Big one of those conversations that was is on my radar , right , yeah , and , and it , it . It was a difficult one , but it was one where , like we both Were it went so much better than any conversation we had in the past . That's , that's emotionally charged Because of all the work we've been doing recently in the major breakthrough we had a summer and all that and and I like we felt connected in a way that we never felt connected before on like a whole deeper level and and so and which helped us throughout the whole trip to stay connected to .
Speaker 1And then I go out . I had this big presentation for work and you know , for the trip because it was a work trip is like our company retreat and on the first day , like the , my boss is , the head of the company , gives his keynote , and then I'm like right after that and I'm basically setting the some the VP of product . So I set the vision for , like , where we're going over the next three to five years potentially , and so it's like it's been . It been months in the making and all this stuff . So what do you do ?
Speaker 2Cody just ran this fan down , it's just so . It was loud , it was kind of it was too much . Sorry , go on . I'm just let me talk , go ahead , I'm listening .
Speaker 1It was very distracting , okay so . So I had this you know big presentation . I was stressing out about it and then , like the fact that I couldn't come home after that trip and then go to Florida , I had to like go straight there . So I had to like try to pack for two things in one trip , which was stressing me on all that . But I get , I get there and , you know , presentation went awesome . And then the whole trip was just amazing and I got to connect with my co-workers and Just had really , really great experiences . And there's a there's a thing about music that I want to come back to in a minute .
Speaker 2So remember , I don't know , he's not high .
Speaker 1Yeah , no , no , no , no , not that no like a personal thing , a personal thing yeah .
Speaker 1And and and then I was also kind of dealing with like I really wish that I could stay in Palm Springs for a couple of extra days and not have to fly to Florida , and that was so I got . So , like at the end , I kind of started working myself back into that and they like was completely exhausted or like doing the red eye thing and which I will say , though , for whatever reason it only cost $100 to upgrade that whole trip to first class from California to Florida . So I was like hell , yeah , that's what I'm doing . So I actually got a little bit of sleep on the plane , like a couple of hours , yeah , because you're like back and stuff you could share a little box right ?
Speaker 1It wasn't that level because it's not like a really long haul flight , but it was like , yeah , like you know , being six to flying in the economy is very uncomfortable , so flying in first class is like I can actually like stretch my legs out of it and not have my knees in the other person's seat , the back of their seat , and but we get down to you know , get down to Florida , and I rent the . So originally they were going to come pick me up from the airport and I was like I'm just going to rent a car because it's going to be so much easier and I'll probably need to run some errands and stuff on there .
Speaker 1Anyway , so , yeah , yeah , I would . It was the best decision because they were running a special and it was only . It only cost me three more dollars a day to rent a Tesla , and I never driven one before , and so we get out , I get out , and you know driving the morning .
Speaker 1We've never driven a Tesla before . Yes and yeah , and so I . I I'm driving down the Florida coastline and the weather is gorgeous and I'm like , I'm like blasting like 90s R&B songs and I had , I had worked myself into that state again where I was like just starting to resent the burden of having to expend energy on anyone else . And then I was like , have I not learned this lesson yet ? Right ? And before I even got there , I was just like , dude , just be in the moment and let it go . And I was just .
Speaker 1I started getting really happy and just letting myself feel the moment and all my drive there . And so by the time that I got there , I was like so pumped to be there and the whole weekend was amazing , it was perfect , like everything was so great and and and a lot of it was like also me bringing that energy into it , versus like an energy I would have brought in the past . And and I love that experience I I felt like truly honored to be a part of it and because I also officiated the wedding and which was something that Cody wanted me to do from the beginning , and I was like no , and so he got some other people to agree and then they fell through and so then I had to do it , and then I'm so glad that I did , because it was an amazing experience and I loved being a part of it and being able to do that for you guys and I had a moment with us .
Speaker 2Oh my God , yeah , totally Exactly what I wanted . It was exactly how I first asked you , you know .
Speaker 1But yeah , yes , glad you did , and and I , I was also really stressing out about the ceremony and like the script for the ceremony Because I won , I I don't . I like I thought we'd had like sort of a conversation about it , but then , like I don't remember how , I got into the position where I felt like I couldn't bring it up because it was too close to the wedding or something like that .
Speaker 1And then it was yeah , we're like I should have taken care of it by now , and I was like well talked about this , yeah , and so so what I did to which was someone at work , it suggested this I use chat , chat , GPT to write the ceremony . And I know I was just I was going to use it as a draft . And then I sat down with Madison when I got there and are actually like I think it was the day of the wedding or it might have been like the day before . It was the day of , Okay , yeah , and yeah , that's right , it was the day of . Then I sat down with there and was like hey , look , this is the script for the ceremony , or at least you know a starting point . And she's like oh , actually this is great , Just take out this one line and we're good . And I'm like easy , awesome . And then , like you guys wrote your vows that day and the week , yeah , after that , yeah , and actually that process helped Madison write her vows . I think it got her in that headspaces right off that .
Speaker 1She's like I'm gonna get , I'm gonna get something to write with . And she went and wrote her vows and then Cody did the same thing and then and then we used we used chat GPT to like edit part of Cody's vows to kind of make it more concise . It was just like a fun experience .
Speaker 2I know we told her that for FANITY and that was a fun experience that was a fun experience too .
Speaker 1That was so great . And then and there's just like the whole , the whole thing , the whole it was the most chill wedding I've ever been , a part of our experienced and everything just went so great . And the the party afterwards at Cody's parents house we did a low boil which is like shrimp and corn , the cob and sausage and baked potato and like all boiled up and dumped down the table and down my locals down there and yeah , but it was it was amazing . We did Epic karaoke . It was so much fun .
Speaker 2Karaoke was such a part of the bachelor trip . I was like I got to bring it to this and then it was such a huge part of that and everybody loved it . And then I brought it to the reception .
Speaker 1Yeah , and the other thing about this is , by the time all this has happened with the reception , I never even got into that state beforehand . I was just like I don't know what's going to happen , but I'm just going to be . You know , just let myself be and engage in the moment . And and Cody even threw me a curveball before my speech , which normally would have like thrown me off , but I was like , okay , you know , just roll with it . It is what it is Like , you know , and so it was . I'm just learning so much about myself . And you know , since that breakthrough that I had in the summer , which I keep alluding to and I think we've talked about a little bit , but it's , it's a , it's a big part of the season , that's coming up Season four , yeah , so it .
Speaker 1ever since then , I've just I've . I feel like more and more of myself is opening up and I'm I'm healing , like past traumas , and I'm tearing down past walls and I'm just opening myself up and orienting towards connection over convenience or comfort , and I am , I'm , it's , it's changing my life . I'm the happiest I've ever been and it's it's an amazing feeling and part of that too . It's so when we did karaoke in uh uh oh . Robin says I hope you all actually use spices in your boil , though I've had one where they didn't use anything but salt .
Speaker 2Oh , that was definitely had spices . Oh , there was like 17 spices in this thing . Oh my God .
Speaker 1And it was , and it was really spicy . And then I , uh , I so I went back for like a round two . As they were cleaning up , I was like , oh wait , let me grab a potato . And I forgot that it was spicy and I had a glass of whiskey , so I ate the potato . And then I took a sip of whiskey and I was like my whole head was on fire .
Speaker 2I did . I went back for seconds and got a piece of corn and it's like the corn had been soaking up like a sponge all of those spices and I went to bite into it and it got on my lips and my mouth and my face started burning . I was like I was sweating . It was really bad . So yeah , it was spicy .
Speaker 1Um , when , when we did , uh , when we did karaoke in Savannah , I was the first time I like sang in public in like a decade or something .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1And it was one of those things where I probably wouldn't have done that , or I wouldn't have done it to the degree that I did , cause I put on like a show . And I did it cause I was like I want Cody to have good memories and if I have to make a fool out of myself that you know to help make that happen , then that's what I'm going to do and I did it and it was so much fun and that started to like unlock something . We did karaoke all three nights we were there every night .
Speaker 2Yeah , cause we ended up at bar called awesome bar .
Speaker 1Yes , and it was like eighties and nineties themed . Uh , it was so great and I um , that that started to open up something for me
Rediscovering the Joy of Music
Speaker 1. So the other thing that happened was um in , I went to Nashville for work for a week at the beginning of August and , uh , my boss flew in for that one . It was for my team , so it was a smaller thing . Um , my boss flew in for that one , and then he and I stayed an extra day because we had never got to hang out one on one in person before , um , and , and so we , like I took him around Nashville cause I used to live there and um , and just showed him some , some sites and things . And then we stayed in this hotel called Bode um , which was actually a sister hotel , the one we were staying at for our retreat in Palm Springs , and so we wanted to try it out and , um , the way like they're all suites , so it was like a two bedroom suite , so it was like a little apartment . It was really cool . Um and I was I was fairly buzzed at this point and he went into his room to get ready and there was a guitar on the wall , and so I pulled the guitar off the wall and was just like playing around with it , um , and started playing and singing a little bit . And then he came out and uh was listening and then started filming me and then he shared the video with a bunch of people , um , and then they're like , oh , why are you so good ? And then uh , and then he's like , he's like , yeah , so you have to play at the retreat , and uh . And so then I thought , well , maybe he'll just forget about this .
Speaker 1And then in September we were in Montreal , um , for another work thing . And then his boss was there and his boss lives in LA and his boss is a musician . He's , uh , he plays in a grateful dead cover band , um , which is , yeah , it's so awesome , and uh , and so he was like , hey , uh , he was like , hey , you should bring your guitar so you and Josiah can play at the retreat . Um , cause he was driving from LA to uh , to Palm Springs , so he just put it in his car , uh , so he did , and he brought it to the retreat and um , and I was like I knew that this was going to happen and I had anxiety about it for like a month and a half , um , and I'm like , because I've not .
Speaker 1I've not like played and sang for anyone like any group of people , um , in like 12 or 13 years , um , and , and there was a like music was always I think we've talked about this before Like music is has always was always tied up so much in church stuff , right , um , for me , that was pretty much where I learned music , like from when I was a kid even , um , and I was going to be a rock star for Jesus at one point and it was like you know . And then when I I left religion , I uh the other stuff that was happening in my life too . I like I left , uh , I walked away from pretty much all things creative , but especially music , um , and I didn't actually have my own guitar again until , uh , I bought one um at the beginning of 2021 as like a gift to myself for starting , you know , my new job and , um , and so I started playing back .
Speaker 1What's that ?
Speaker 2There it sits , yeah , right in the back .
Speaker 1Um , and so I , you know , knowing that I was , I was probably going to have to play some . I was like I'm I only know like three songs . So I'm just going to have to try to remind , remember some of these songs and learn some new songs . I started playing more just at home and I started to remember how much I love it , and and then , um , and then I this is all going somewhere , by the way Um , but uh , so we , we had , at the end of one of the days we were going , we were planning a , um , like a group photo , and so we were all supposed to meet in this one area , and um , and then we were going to have a I , so I sat down in the area .
Speaker 1I went there early and I had the guitar and I was just playing around like in front of a fire pit and then a couple people showed up and I was playing and singing and then , like slowly , the whole company started showing up and like everybody was coming out of their rooms on their balconies and to listen and stuff , and like next thing I knew there were like 20 chairs pulled around me and everybody was sitting and like listening to me play guitar and singing and stuff , and it felt so good and I realized how much I missed playing for people . And and then , like I , I played at your parents house , which was also kind of a big deal for me , because I I did not want to . I like before I would have never played in front of you or Cody the other Cody who was there , because you're both actual musicians and and so I'm like you know , I I just had this like all these stories wrapped around all this stuff and and so I I have been sort of unpacking that and I went to therapy this week and talked about it and I realized how much like there's still this stuff from religion , sort of unconsciously under the surface , because I was like , why was I so at war with myself over like playing music in front of people ? And it was because it feels good and I enjoy playing and I enjoy people enjoying me playing and I like the praise that I get from it . But I also really like the connection that I that I I get from it and and the the story through my whole life has always been it's not okay for it to be about me , it has to be about God , right ? Oh , interesting .
Speaker 1And so I was at war , even though I even I wasn't consciously thinking this , I was like at war with like I shouldn't , this shouldn't feel good , I shouldn't like this , I shouldn't want this , and and I was like and I'm working all this out in therapy in like real time like holy shit , like this is , this is really fucked up , and I and it's been affecting me for over a decade , and I just didn't even realize what was going on . And so I've not been playing music for a long time and that was a big part of it . And and so , like I am , I'm really excited to get back and start playing music again , even if it's just like busking or going to open mics like I . I don't want to play music professionally , but I want to open mics together .
Speaker 2Let's do it , do it , do together outside of working working things That'd be fun .
Speaker 1Yes , let's go do open mics , and maybe I can even get to the point where I play a song on a live stream and but I , you know , I , I just I'm realizing a big part , like so if I could kind of like sum up all of what's been going on with me , it's , it's , it's finally realizing how much in my life I was doing that I thought was protecting me but was really severing connection and all the ways that was showing up , because the connection is what brings me joy . And when I think back into my life and the things that you know , the few things , I can remember that actually I actually did enjoy and did energizing me . Like performing was one of them . I love getting on stage and just like singing my heart out and and like , just like opening myself up in front of , like a group of people , that and making that emotional connection with them and and everything that went into that .
Speaker 1I love that . Like it , just like it just like electrifies me and and I've not done that for so long and so like I , you know , there's that and there's also , like it wasn't just , there's also like anxiety around , like if this is another religious story of like having a gift and and you know , if I have a gift , then I have a responsibility to use it for some purpose you know what I mean , and so I'm at that's right .
Speaker 2It can't . It has to be for some sort of purpose in there .
Speaker 1Yeah , some greater purpose and and I can't you know otherwise I just shouldn't use it , you know , and that's sort of how I treated it and like I think you and I had had conversations in the past when I was , you know , talking about how , like I miss playing guitar , and you're like , well , why don't you start playing ? I was like , well , because I don't have time to actually practice , to get good enough for it , to like do anything with it . You know , that was what I said . It was never about like I , you know , playing just because I enjoyed it , right , yeah , and so like I , oh , I am , I feel like I'm going through a metamorphosis , man , and I feel like almost like the universe is preparing me for something in the future , some next phase of whatever I'm gonna be doing , and I don't know what that is , but I , I can , I can , I sense it . I sense like there's some like I'm , I'm getting ready for it , you know . So that is why I'm green . That's 30 minutes later right , yeah , that's that's .
Speaker 2That's a lot to go for . Go explain green . That was like a whole podcast episode . It was we never really like . I don't know .
Speaker 2I feel like I loved the religion episode we did , but I always felt like there's there's so much more that we could have said . And honestly , I mean going back to kind of looping back around to the , the question of like , not the question that . Well , the question of like , what all could we have said more of that from past conversations , like what , what could we have elaborated on ? And I think a lot of that , that desire , that desire to want to do more and to revisit those conversations , comes from that kind of stems , from that growth that we've experienced over the time of doing this podcast . In many ways , thanks to the podcast , thanks to the community and thanks to all of that , to show us as fives that you know how much , how much growth would we have had if every audience member was like nah , you know , I don't want to hear this stuff , and so
The Impact of Authenticity in Podcasting
Speaker 2it's like it was that .
Speaker 2I think a lot of that was that . That unun , we didn't seek out that unsought after affirmation that we got for being ourselves , which is kind of in all the best content that we ingest right like that's what I think that's what we always long for . We ingest all these different levels of content online and looking for those genuine moments and those genuine people , and that's usually the things that moves us the most , but it's it's kind of few and far between a lot of the time , and so I think we've tried really hard to just be ourselves on this podcast and it's helped us learn a little bit how to be ourselves in real life . Yeah , and I think it's what makes it so fun to get like messages from all the listeners being like wow , this podcast , like it's so great , not feeling like we're alone and we're just like same the amount of the amount of people who have messaged me saying I finally feel seen , like yeah oh .
Speaker 2I mean it's the same with us .
Speaker 2You know , when we started this podcast we didn't .
Speaker 2When we started the , the main podcast we had no , I don't , I had no idea how much just talking to you about things was going to make me feel less alone , yeah , and and being similar personalities , like it's , it's , it's so eye-opening .
Speaker 2So then to hear all the responses like everybody that gives responses I'll just say this now for everybody listening like we listen to those responses , I edit them down a little bit , usually not too much , just taking out gaps , but you know , I listened to every single response and it's so moving and so enjoyable and fun to hear everybody's stories and and also get the same thing out of your guys stories as you get out of ours , so that the responses we always wanted to bring everybody into the experience and make it about the community and not just about us .
Speaker 2But then it kind of had a secondary effect of making it feel like we're also listeners sometimes , like we're also participants and not just like the hosts , and so , yeah , it's been great and I just really I would love to go back and revisit some of those conversations based on where we are now , because I know that I'm definitely the healthiest I've ever been and happier than I've been in a long time , and so if , or if ever , definitely happier than I've ever been , but yeah , it's , I don't know . There's a lot , there's a lot to be explored in some of those things . We need to like a poll who everybody's favorite conversations they'd like us to revisit . Or , yeah , do more of get everybody involved in it .
Speaker 1But yeah , I can just look at the data of the number of listens on each episode that's true data love that .
Speaker 2Yeah , we could , yeah , but I'm excited . I'm excited about all those things that'd be fun . Yeah , it's been . It's been a fun few weeks . It's been the last .
Speaker 2It was like all that work all summer and I had no idea that I was gonna get hit with so many like really special core moments that were like being put into . I say core memories , like I just , you know , there's certain times , if you're , if you're , if you're aware enough and in the moment enough , you know when a core memory is being written , you can feel it in your soul . It's like the resonating deep within you . And there was so many of those moments so quickly , like so back to back for me , that I was just like wow , this is almost too much . It's almost like euphoric , you know , and so um , it's , it's like almost cinematic in my in some ways , and I really loved that . Had no idea that lo-fi beats that was such a off . I had no idea lo-fi beats fit with laying on a beach high , like I know that that was a thing , but God , was it good like it was so fun , so good um , and so , yeah , it's , it's , it's , uh , it's , it's really great .
Speaker 2Um , you think of inside out when you think core memories I haven't seen inside out , I don't think oh , I thought that that's why you were saying it .
Speaker 1Oh my god , cody , we gotta watch inside out together wait .
Speaker 2No , that's the one the memories are like little balls and like yeah , yeah , yeah , didn't really resonate with me like it did everybody oh no , not really . I've seen better movies than in my opinion , just it resonated with me .
Speaker 1I won't say , I just I just thought that like there was so much ingenious stuff in there and how they visualize like certain concepts sure , yeah , uh , love that and then like the just like the whole , the whole uh narrative behind where they um , anthropomorphize the feelings and then like show that that like hero's journey of the feelings coming to , like the , the sort of like next stage of growth for feelings , which is like have recognizing that you can have more than one feeling at the same time and how like like the difference , the way that the different feelings contribute to your overall experience and personality and being um and it like I don't know . I , I really love that movie .
Speaker 2I think that it's different when you have kids too , because you know how that communicating to kids and so , from a kid's perspective , like you have that childlike mentality watching it , and so I didn't have that and I was like , yeah , I know all this . It's like I was also . I was , I was under the influence
Effects of Animated Movies and Music
Speaker 2when I watched it . Whenever I watch animated movies that are really big and colorful , it's usually my time to do certain substances I um , which , by the way , I will say . All this happiness and all this like being in the moment and just being like ready to go with the flow and like just see where a lot , where the moment takes you , I think you're finally ready . I think you're ready to do shrooms because that's how I was that's what led me to that moment .
Speaker 2I had so many moments of just like realizing that I can just let it go and not be so , and I had exact same experience a couple of years ago in that particular way . And then my as everyone has probably heard , at this point in the first season like my first shroom experience was directly related to how much I was willing to just like see what happened , without having any real judgment or negative or positive feelings , just neutral about whatever is going to happen , and that was honestly the best experience I ever had on shrooms . Um , but yeah , so I think that , uh , it's , it's definitely the closest thing to spiritual experience I've ever had , but it was always while watching , like it was funny . I mean , every time I've really tripped and had a good trip , it was while watching trolls trolls one , trolls two I just saw the channel the trolls three and I looked at Madison was like I guess it's time to get some shrooms oh , dude , so the the the the same narratives are much many of the same narratives around .
Speaker 1Like me , playing music also applied to going to see live music , right ? Yeah , we had this conversation , yeah and so yeah , I want to . I want to start doing more of that . Um , because the narrative in my head was always just like why would I go see live music and stand there and be uncomfortable when I could just listen to it at better quality at home ?
Speaker 2yeah , the music right and realize that you forget .
Speaker 1Yeah , dude , it's like there's there's something about that experience of being there , live and sharing that with everyone else . It's and also like I kind of want to get high and go to go to a concert , because I've never done that it's great .
Speaker 1Yeah , I bet been high on shrooms and on animals before and it's there was this there was this one point where I don't know if I told you this or not , but when we were at your parents after the wedding and we're doing karaoke and I just started dancing , oh , like , like almost unconsciously , I just started dancing and letting the music flow through me and and it was just moving my body and I was connecting with the music and that is so bizarre for me , because dancing has always been one of those things where I'm just like why would I exert effort on that ? Because it's so like high energy cost you know , and and like no benefit .
Speaker 1I just feel stupid when I dance , like , but I was , I was Feeling it and I it was like there was , there was no energy drain . It was almost like it was actually energizing me to dance and move , and that is such a foreign concept to me . So I want to do more things like that and start breaking down those narratives and experiencing more things that are physical exertion but are energizing , because like that I there's . Up until this year , there's never been anything in my life that was I viewed that way , that was physically exerting but energizing we need to go to main by 24 this year together .
Speaker 2Okay , there's a lot of things that happen during that day , like there's a lot of . You know . They shut down all of Main Street . Everything is like open container , which is always fun . So everybody's doing all these special things . There's a lot of live music everywhere . I'm usually playing , but right as of right now , no one's booked me , so I'm just gonna be a participant , which is fun . Lots of food , little bit , lot that a lot . Everything's going on , but as the later it gets , the more there are there . Last year it was like a big dance party that happened at there's the venue , barrel house ballroom , where market south used to be . That was super fun . But then they also do an underground rave and At this point pretty much everybody is on the enablery with something , because there's a lot of like THC products being passed around by all the companies there too . They're all , like you know , present there and representing their products and they're giving away stuff for free or for really cheap , and so it's it's . It's a lot of fun , that's a good experience Just to be in a group like you're talking about , like live music .
Speaker 2I never understood the concept of a rave until I went to one in a , in a , in a mindset like that , where you're just like I mean I'll embrace and just see what happens , because there's no real judgment , nobody gives a shit what you're doing . So as long as you're doing something , as long as you're moving in some way , like I know you , you blend in . So it's , I think , any kind of experience where you can . I mean it's high , it's why church works right , it's like why religion works and why , you know , I understood , I read a lot about the psychology of live music while I was in church and while I was leading music in church and that's how I picked Keys , based on how I wanted people to give money and like things like that .
Speaker 2There's , I mean , it sounds stupid , but like there's a lot of psychology behind that , and like when you need people to feel a certain thing and Provoke a lot , a certain kind of emotion in a certain part of the sermon , at the end and stuff , you play in certain keys and at certain tempos and and use certain instruments at different times and Like because all it takes is a small group of people to feel something and then it spreads rapidly through a whole audience . Everybody's really synced together . They even say that , like it raves and stuff , or a loud music , if the music is a certain beat you know DB then everybody's heartbeats will start , you know beating at the same rhythm , at the same time . Hmm , so there's a lot of psychology , a lot of science behind the experience of something like that together . And so , but yeah , I mean live music in general , whether it's live , live music or just a DJ playing music , and it's live . I think there's a different experience to that , where you are experiencing it with other people and it's . It's a nice experience to remind you that it's not just about enjoying listening to it . That it's it . There's a lot more to be consumed and to be enjoyed by music . That kind of feeds the soul from a live perspective .
Speaker 2That is the , the reason I love playing music . It's like that is if either there's anything that brings me back to music . It's like I would never if all I did was play like live streams Hmm , I wouldn't want to do it like I don't know if I'd want to do it all the time . Like it's the , it's the live experience .
Speaker 2And like all these gigs I played all summer is like playing all the shittiest gigs because they paid the most . You know it's like playing in restaurants and bars and stuff and we're nobody really gives a shit . But then every once in a while to sprinkle in these shows where I got to play in like a listening room environment where people were there to like be there , to receive music , like they wanted to hear something they ever heard before and Appreciate it in some way . When you play music in that environment , it's a full , it's a completely different experience and is the most spiritual thing you can do To play it and probably to be in their audience , because I've been in audiences in the same venues and it's just . It's such a magical experience , no matter how little the room is I think .
Speaker 2And so , yeah , there's definitely something to be said about that experience and to have it in your life on a regular basis . I mean , it's the only reason that I put up with going to music festivals , because otherwise I hate them . But going to things like moon river this past year , I mean it's like I left it saying I'd never do it again , but I'm probably going to Don't bring people back . I want to see and then I want to go experience it , and so , and you know , not not a terrible thing to have an edible or two Definitely better than alcohol , tell you that much .
Speaker 2Yeah that's someone who's working in the alcohol industry . I'm so over alcohol to some degree , like I'm just kind of over the way that it makes you feel like I'll have like a drink , you know , but like , especially after the last few trips yeah same .
Speaker 1It's not a lot of THC products today and non-alcoholic stuff , and that was funny yeah my one of my bartenders in Montreal was just talking about how , like the amount of mocktails he makes and like the last year or so , is like Quadruple . What he's made in the past is there's just like the surge of people not wanting actual alcohol . Yeah , it's like .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's affecting the entire industry . It's a whole thing that's being like , kind of like studied and analyzed right now because of the fact that , like , millennials are starting to drop off of drinking alcohol , but millennials have been always the generation that drank the most alcohol , so like . So , as we get into our age where we should be consuming more , we're not , we're consuming less . After the pandemic , for maybe is what maybe disrupted that pattern of like constant growth up and more and more and more drinking , and now it's plateaued off . So that's kind of a study that's being going on . But then Gen Z is not drinking hardly at all , like they're not even interested in drinking , and so all they're doing is THC products or mocktails , and so we have .
Speaker 2We have all these products that are based on like , putting it on the back bar for bars , but they're made for cocktails and they're either non-alcoholic or they're THC infused and so and I took it around today just to see what would people would think about it , and it's so crazy how many placements I got today from bars that I never thought would would do it , you know . So , yeah , it's fun , it's everybody's into it now and it's just , it's such a conversation Now that it wasn't a year ago and so , because everybody's having just decided to embrace that , we have an entire bar in town that's only mocktails now and they're open . What ? Yeah , sleepyhead coffee . You know that place . They open up your own mocktail bar on Southside .
Speaker 1I had no , what's it called sleepyhead , sleepyhead mocktails it's .
Speaker 2They change their branding a little bit but it's a sleepyhead . All right , yeah , so it's a fun thing Well .
Speaker 1I think we've gone over the hour here , so this is really . This is really fun . Thanks for coming and hanging out with us everyone .
Speaker 2And yeah , it's always fun to have more people live we don't yeah and my promise we were watching your comments .
Speaker 1We didn't react or respond all of them but yeah , I kind of went on that my my big long thing and lost track of everything , but that's when I started commenting using the .
Speaker 2If you scroll back through there .
Speaker 1Okay , so you weren't listening to me .
Speaker 2I was .
Speaker 1All right . Well , that's a wrap , until next time until next time .
Speaker 2Until next time .
Speaker 1See you guys After hours .