TV Eye: Episode 1 - More Espresso, Less Depresso

~ Creativity Is The Cure: TV Eye, is an extension of the regular podcast, but also now features Malcolm Moore and his new co-host, Gianni Neiviller in VIDEO format, adding a whole other dimension to the experience.

In this brief introductory episode, Gianni and Malcolm wax poetic about all things regarding espresso; from Nespresso to Starbucks to The land of Napoli!

Recorded July 2026 in North Hollywood, CA.

*Special thanks to our good friends at NoHo Recovery.
Please visit- NoHoRecovery.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

This is Creativity is the Cure TVI because we're doing videos now, and I'm really looking forward to doing a lot of interviews with you, Gianni.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

So then I reached out and I said, Hey, I had this like idea. Maybe I could come on as a co-producer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

What did you say? I was totally flipped out. It was like synchronicity. I had woken up that morning and I hadn't talked to you in a little bit. And I just thought, remember, I wonder if Gianni and I should do some podcasts together. Hi everybody, we are back to Creativity is the Cure. I am Malcolm Moore, and here with me today I have Gianni Nevilleer. We are co-hosts now. So we were going to talk about coffee. You seem to be slightly opinionated. I'm going to tell you what a simpleton I am. I was trained by Tony Levin, wonderful bass player, uh, to have bitter espresso. So that's my number one rule. It's got to be strong, gotta be better. I don't like to put extra stuff in it. Um, but I use my espresso machine at home. I have a coffee grinder, I like it that way. Um, I don't mind going to Starbucks and getting an iced Americano. The best espresso I ever had was Turkish espresso. It's kind of like a black oil. I had it in Serbia. And uh yeah, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Uh, this is such a controversial subject.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yeah, I didn't even know where to begin, man. Uh you were telling me about Italy. Let's just go straight to what is the best espresso you've ever had.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Hands down in the city of Naples, Napoli, where my family's from. And I'm not just saying it's the best coffee because of my connection to the city, but it's a pretty known fact.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Wait, so to you, this would be complete blasphemy that my favorite Nespresso capsule is called Napoli.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Oh, is it?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Yeah. It's the strongest one you can get. It's a 13, where most people drink like a five or a six.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Well, I mean, there's no the it's no secret why they call it that, right? They know they know. But uh they're they're almost giving Napoli or Neapolitan espresso a bad name by calling it that, but it's okay. I'll I'll give them that. Well, why?

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Why from there? Why is their coffee, their espresso, their pizza the best?

SPEAKER_00 2:53

From what I understand, from what I've been told, uh Italy still uses the ancient Roman aqueducts. So the water, presumably coming from the Alps.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Um, the the melting of the Alps, of the snow caps, whatever, comes down this marble uh aqueduct that was made by the Romans way back when. And if I'm not mistaken, okay, I'm sure I'm gonna get a lot of shit from some people that tell me you're wrong. And I please prove me wrong. Um it ends somewhere in Naples or somewhere past Naples. So, so naturally the water is picking up all kinds of minerals for miles and kilometers and kilometers. One thing I'll tell you just growing up, going to Italy every summer, you turn on the faucet and you just put a glass under that and drink that water, it is delicious. Wow, it is so good. I love California, but that probably wouldn't happen here. No. You make coffee with water, and that that's the water that's being used. So that's partly why the coffee and the pizza, right? Because the dough, you use water and dough, is why the coffee is so much better there than than anywhere else in Italy. And, you know, I'll I'll say the world. Although Turkish coffee is really good, it's pretty chewy, right? Because it's very thick, right? Very thick.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

It almost makes me think of like the X-Files. I don't know if you're a fan, but the black oil that would come out of their eyes. Yeah. I remember that. A little bit like that. It's a big deal, like at least in Serbia, it's not only how it tastes and how good it is, but how they present it in really fine little porcelain cups and everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the experience.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

I I've seen it, I've not experienced it. But isn't it isn't it the same one where they turn the the the coffee cup upside down and read your your fortune? Indeed.

unknown 4:52

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Not in Naples, no. It's espresso. In Naples you show up, it comes with a little glass of water, sparkling or or or flat. Yeah. And um no no bar stools. You walk up, uncaffe, they give it to you, you down it, you leave. That's why it's called espresso. It's a it's a process, a quick process.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

That a little bit makes me think of the first time I went to work in Hungary and Serbia a long time ago. Uh I hadn't I'd only been in Europe once. Long flight. Got there, went to a restaurant, waiting for a friend of mine, and they said, What would you like to drink, sir? And I said, Ice water. And the guy gives me a quizzical look, but he comes back with a glass of water, another glass of ice, and tongs. So that's that's how I started to learn that they do things slightly different there.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Yeah, ice is a commodity in Europe. Similarly, the tong part, I was at a bar in Italy, at a club rather, at a at a discoteca, and I remember whatever drink I had was not cold enough because we Americans like everything uber cold. And I asked for ice ghiaccio, and they gave me a dirty look, of course, but then they showed up and gave me like a little saucer, a plate, literally, with ice melting.

unknown 6:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

And like for like four little ice cubes. I'm like, what I thought I was the only one.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

It's gonna melt before it reaches my whatever drink I needed to put it in. There's so there's so much to unpack here. So you said something, you said the strongest, right? The the Napoli pod is the strongest. So there's a there's a common misconception about espresso. Many people think espresso is stronger because it's stronger tasting. Right. But in actuality, it has less caffeine because one the beans are roasted longer. So you're burning out a lot of that caffeine. Right. Two, it's only this much. And so the the illusion of it tasting stronger, being more robust, gives people the impression that it's stronger in caffeine. Yeah, that's a good point. But a light roast, and then of course a medium roast has way more caffeine in it and is going to pack a bigger punch. Right. And I like the pour over uh method, and I like single origin or single source beans, where an espresso is usually a blend of three. Right. Ethiopian is my favorite, although I'm I'm a I'm part of a club. I have uh beans sent to me every two weeks. It's um that's very dangerous for people like me. It's called drink trade. Yeah. And I just, you know, when I signed up, I gave them my parameter, you know, I told them what I like, light to medium, uh nothing with a chocolatey or caramelly. I I don't I I don't dislike it, but I'm more into the fruity coffees and single origin. Sometimes I'll have two or three different bags in my cabinet. I'll make my own blend one morning. So I'll use a little Ethiopian, a little Guatemalan, and maybe a little, you know, Sumatran. I I play with it. Yeah. But for the most part, I like a single origin. And you could really taste the difference when it's just one bean. Yeah. I go to this place called the Handy Market by my house, and they have a great selection of stuff. Shout out to Handy Market Burbank on Magnolia and Buena Vista. Great place.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

I think this is great information, and I bet that I would love all the stuff that you love. I'd love to go to Italy someday and try that out. But I think for me, it's convenience now. I can wake up in the morning, walk to my studio with my hair sticking up in my pajamas and make a Nespresso before I hop in the car. And I work at a high school in Van Nuys and Starbucks is right across the street. So until you come over to my school and install this crazy Frankenstein laboratory uh where we can grind the beans, that's what I'll be doing.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

It's easy, man. It's all you need is the pour over thing and a kettle, and you're good to go.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

We'll set it up. Like I said at the beginning, I'm a simpleton, but um I like the ones I drink. Uh it's rare that I don't like coffee or espresso. And I will say, for me, where I draw the line is Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's. I can't, it's just every type of coffee or whatever they make that has caffeine in it is awful. It just tastes like dirt.

unknown 9:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Swill. Yeah. Swill. Yeah. We can agree on that. For sure. Hey, before we go, let's do this. What is the best piece of advice you ever received growing up in your life, and then I'll tell you mine. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Uh well, I would say the one of the best pieces of advice I've ever I've ever received is uh if you try to help everybody, you end up helping nobody. Yeah. That's that's something that's stuck with me, and I I have a hard time with it sometimes because you know I could have ten people in front of me about to do a breathwork session, and when it's over, if I feel like I like somebody leaves without having some kind of experience, I feel like I fail them. And it it makes me want to like try harder to help them, but when I do that, I end up leaving the ones that really are open to the help or you know, the experience, I end up neglecting them because I focus too much on the ones that are resistant.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Yeah. So that makes a lot of sense. I'm gonna say three really quick ones. Pick your battles. I mean that's huge.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

That's huge. That's but it's exactly mine in a we in a in a way. Yeah. It's not a battle, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Pick your battles. Uh I always teach my students to read the room, see where you are, who you're with, and what's appropriate. And uh, I think I'd like to end with what I mentioned earlier. I just uh unearthed a 1982 article interview with the one and only Steve Gadd, the conic drummer, and they asked him what is the best advice he has for younger drummers coming up, and he said, never pet a burning dog. Try to picture a burning dog right now. It's terrible. Hey, maybe next time we could talk about our favorite coconut water. What do you think? Oh, I have one. I forgot to note it. It's I definitely go with Numa. I love this chocolate mint.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

You flavored. Yeah. I just want to taste coconut one. I drink my coconut water. I forgot the name of mine, but everyone knows it. It's the one that comes in the Oh, the tall glass bottle? I wish it was glass. No.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

All right, everybody. This is Creativity is Secure TV, because we're doing videos now, and I'm really looking forward to doing a lot of interviews with you, Gianni, in the near future. We've got some great guests coming up, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Did we even tell them what we're doing here?

SPEAKER_01 12:37

I mean, like I don't think so. So I've had Creativity is Secure for a couple years. I've done over a hundred episodes that are audio only. And you tell them how we came upon this idea.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Okay, so I don't know, about two and a half, three months ago, I woke up. I was in that space in that theta brain state between wake and sleep one early morning, and uh this podcast was on my mind.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

And you you had been a guest. Right. It was a few months after my my coming to your studio. And um I just started thinking, it would be so great if Malcolm had video. And uh by the way, this studio is at a place called No Ho Recovery. Shout out to Noho for allowing us to use this beautiful studio. I thought I have a spot. I have a spot that I could probably lock in pretty easily. And before I reached out to Malcolm, I reached out to to the to Noho Recovery and I asked, Hey, can I use your studio? They were like, he didn't even think, he didn't even blink. He was like, It's yours. Whenever you want it, it's yours. So then I reached out and I said, Hey, I had this like idea. Maybe I could come on as a co-producer. Yeah, and help you procure some guests. I grew up in LA, the music business, I grew up in Hollywood, I was in rock bands, I know a bunch of people, not just in the music industry, but just in a restaurant. That's a whole nother thing. Yeah. So I thought I could probably get like a different set of guests that Malcolm already gets. And so I approached him, I called him, and what did you say?

SPEAKER_01 14:30

I was totally flipped out. It was like synchronicity. I had woken up that morning and I hadn't talked to you in a little bit, and I just thought, I remember, I wonder if Gianni and I should do some podcasts together. I wasn't thinking video, and to be honest, you know, for years I've done this because I was inspired by Mark Marin, who was always audio only. And I like that because if you're like me and you have to drive about an hour to work, I like to listen to podcasts, and I don't I can't look at them because I'm driving, but I wasn't opposed to it, and for years I did it because I often would interview people that weren't comfortable on camera, so I could get those, and I'll I'll keep doing those too, but there's something about this being live in a room. To me, being a drummer, it's almost like playing jazz, like people are starting to do again. Everybody get in a room. Eye contact. You can see it. We're just gonna let it fly.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Raw.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

And so I'm excited about it. And I think the fact that we're doing this uh in LA, we're gonna interview people that are here. They don't have to live here, but maybe people traveling in, and uh it's gonna be a whole nother thing. I call it TVI because it's one of my favorite Iggy pop songs, and uh maybe we can have Iggy Pop on. Oh man, I love that. I think he lives in Florida, but still, I've seen almost every tour with my good friend Jeff Leon.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

He comes to LA, I'm sure. Yeah. Um, yeah, so he it was synchronicity, like I said. We both had the same idea independently almost around about the same time. And when he told me that, I was like, oh my god. And then you dropped the co-host part on me, which I wasn't expecting because I was just like co-produce, I'll procure guests for you, blah, blah, blah. And I thought about that, and I was like, you know what? I'll get out of my comfort zone, I'll get on camera. That's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

You know, the older I get, the more I just don't care uh anymore. You know, I know I look like a mad scientist, I know I'm ADD, all this stuff. Students like me, despite all my, I don't know what I would say, uh, inaccuracies or um unpredictability, or I look my head is a giant watermelon. I just don't care anymore.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Authenticity is the word. Is that what we're looking for? Authenticity. Authenticity. You're real. And we have a TV. Talk about TVI. Can you see yourself, everyone?

SPEAKER_01 16:59

I don't know what we're gonna do with this, but uh slideshows. It could be like an opaque projector.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Do we have to put tape on the Roku here so we don't get sued? No, I think we're okay.

unknown 17:10

Shit.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

All right, man. Until next time, Creativity is the cure. TVI, Gianni and Malcolm. See you next time. All right, let's see what we got.