Ep. 6 Guster | The Danger Den Podcast w/ Danger Foley

In this episode of The Danger Den Podcast, host Danger Foley sits down with Guster, the long-running alternative rock trio celebrating over 34 years of music, friendship, and creative reinvention.

Formed at Tufts University in 1991, Guster has released nine studio albums, scored a Top-40 hit and a gold record, and performed at iconic events like Woodstock ’99. Still, they continue to evolve—writing, touring, and redefining what it means to be an indie band with lasting impact.

This conversation dives into the creative dynamics that have kept them together across three decades, how their sound has transformed through personal and cultural shifts, and what it means to keep showing up as a band after all these years.

They also reflect on:

• How Guster began and how they’ve stayed connected as friends and collaborators
• The story behind their 2024 album Ooh La La
• Lessons learned from touring and recording over the years
• The making of their “We Also Have Eras” tour
• Embracing change without abandoning core values

Whether you’ve followed Guster since the 90s or are discovering them now, this episode offers rare insight into a band that continues to grow, stay grounded, and make music that matters.

Follow Guster:
Website: https://www.guster.com
Instagram: @guster
Spotify: Guster on Spotify

Connect with The Danger Den:
Website: https://www.thedangerden.com
Instagram: @dangerdenco
YouTube: @TheDangerDenCO

Transcript

0:04

Hi, I'm Danger Foley and welcome to the Danger Den podcast. This episode was a full circle moment for me. I got to hang out with Guster, which is a huge deal. I have been listening to them for years, and we spent the day in the sun and the cold plunge. We set the guys up with a tea ceremony and some breathwork. We had an incredible dinner and then we got to sit down for this episode and it got goofier and goofier. These guys are a blast and they are so funny that I was crying most of this episode. And so despite Ryan being a poached egg, I would say that this is a great chat. With Brian Ryan and Adam from Guster. So take a deep breath and relax and enjoy. Let's get dangerous. Hey me again. I am heartbroken to say that the first part of my conversation with Brian Rosenworcel, the drummer of Guster, was cut off through some cruel twist of fate. It was a really impactful conversation, and I guess it was just for the two of us. But the conversation now picks up with Adam and Brian, and it's a really good one. So enjoy. We're back. And we have Adam from Guster here, also robed up. Also super cozy. How are you feeling? Great. Yeah. Yeah, very relaxed. You have a good day. Great. Thank you so much, dude. So happy that it worked out for you guys to be here. Yeah. I think that we're going to make it a new thing where you just have to wear a robe, like, for the time that you're here. I don't know if we're going to be able to get you guys to leave them when you when you go. So we're gonna have to factor that in. It’s defnitely gonna be a negotiation. It should be part of your budget, for sure. It should. You need a robe sponsor. I think we do need a robe sponsor. But we were talking about just the origin story. We were talking about you guys performing tomorrow and how different it's going to be with this being the Genesis story and the origin story of your 34 years together. what are you excited for? Just this new iteration of what Guster is. Oh, I mean, yeah, this is definitely the furthest afield we've done. We've done different versions of ourselves, like, oh, we'll do an acoustic tour, or we'll do a half improv tour, or we'll do a symphony thing. So this is definitely the furthest away we've gotten from like our normal what a normal show would be. Whose idea was at first who first brought it up? It was you. Yeah, but to everyone's credit, I pitched something very far afield, and everyone was like, great. And everyone's like, great and they added their input. And there was never a moment where people were like, this is really dorky. And people might think, this is too weird, right? They just went with it. Full hell yeah. Yeah. Well, because we all we all got to like the second set. It wasn't even fully fleshed out. Like, that's that's going to be fun and a risk, but it'll be fun. And you get to do it with your friends for real. And it's, has it always been that way. Like, since the first college moments together was it just a hell yes from the beginning. Yeah, I think so. I don't know. I mean, there's different stages of everything, but in the beginning I think so. I mean, we were just messing around. Like, I feel like same thing that I just said about, like, why it was so easy for us to say yes to the concept is the same thing that happened from the very beginning? It's like, yeah, easy, fun and maybe some I think we cared more about pleasing ourselves always. So it's like if people like it, cool. But that's not why we're doing it. And so I think that that's I think that's been consistent from the get. Yeah. Like we care what people think. We don't care that much as long as we like it. It doesn't. That's right. Totally. That takes priority over it. Just yeah. Make it good enough so that you really enjoy listening to it. And the right people will find you. Hopefully. Right. Yeah. That's what you hope for. And we’re fortunate. For sure. Yeah. And we were talking about the license plate situation, how your fans have. Guster license plates? Guster license plates. Yeah. When did that first become a thing. I mean, when vanity plates, well, meaning I've seen, you know. Did you know Maine, where I live in Maine, they have more vanity plates per car than anywhere else. Guster vanity plates. Isn't that become, like, a whole thing for a bit? I knew people with Guster plates. So I actually was driving on the highway, unrelated. Not toward a gig. I was just driving, like, to a friend's house or whatever on the highway. And there's somebody with New Hampshire plates with the Guster vanity plates. And I'm driving up on them. I'm like, what do I do? Do I waive? And what did you do? Do I acknowledge it? And I was like, in a scene. I was like, I could see who was in there. And I was like I think they’d think it'd be really funny if I like flipped them off. I was like this is going to be awesome. I'm going to tell them to fuck off and then and then I get there, I look in, I was like, oh no, no, no. They just to say something looks so wholesome was a whole family, so I was like nope. Oh. No you, I made the right call. But I was like, I'm gonna give me a story. These are funny. Oh my God, the guy in guster flipped me off. So did you see? You did nothing? No, I balked and then I went back up, and I just waived and they're like ayeee. Oh, they knew you were. Oh, they recognized. Good, good, good. That’s better than what happened to me at a record store? There was a person in a Guster shirt flipping through the albums, and I was like, oh, this will be cool. And I like walked up to them and I was like, hey. You’re like heyyy. And they're like, hey? I know you. And then they like walked away. Well, I'm the drummer. If you know what the drummer looks like in a band, then you're you're deep fan. Yeah, but that's, what you say. I think. Most of our fans either really know our band or they don't at all know our band, and they're not fans. That person wearing that t shirt in that record store did not know who I was and thought I was a creep. Should have made him take that shirt off. Say what you don't. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. And then you just. And then you. This is no longer yours. This is no exactly. No, that would go over great. Flip the family off. Yeah, exactly, both good decisions that we didn't do either of those things. But see, that's why that's why you're still so loved. You just don't act on the crazy impulses. Exactly. For sure. Oh yeah, there’s so many times, where I’m like, oh, man, if we just. Well, especially on this tour, our mics are always on our faces. Oh yeah. Like boy bands? Oh, yeah. When we're acting with a full on Ted talk mics. Wow! And so. That's a lot of pressure. And so. It’s anything off. Exactly you're like, do you think you're having a conversation before you even you're backstage? We're like, dude, hot mics. Doing your eight mile minute. Oh, right. Adam. Yeah. This is wherever, like. You’ve got this big cat. Wait, is that? You can wear this tomorrow before your show. By the way. I would love to. Okay. Get me in the zone. Yeah, I mean, that one. That's Pendleton. Pendleton gives us more, rose. I'll give you that one. This is a this is actually a there's a there's a part of the show where I this would actually make sense. Which part? The ayahuasca Adam. Ayahuasca Adam. You're gonna like that part. Hi. I'm ayahuasca. Al. Nice. Nice to meet you. Did you? Yeah, I can't wait. Is that, was that a good time? It's a good time? Yeah, it's just a little moment in the. Well, I guess the real, the story behind it. Was that a good time? There's not a story behind that one. It’s a fictitious character. it's it's a it's a fictitious. So I, have you never done in ayahuasca. I've never done ayahuasca. I've never done ayahuasca. Well. But there's another member of Guster you could ask. Yeah. Ryan will talk to you all about it. Oh, I bet Ryan’s done ayahuasca. I that. Well, would you ever do it? Yeah, sure. Yeah. How about you? I would not. No, I don't need grandma to tell me anymore about. I’m good. I know all I want to know, grandma. Lesson learned. Chillen, happy. Copy that. Okay. I'll stay, can we talk about. Well you should probably slow down on those. I know he's to eased. Wait, these are. Just kidding. Do these have things in them? No. These aren't the mushroom juices. Lemon bomb and juniper berry. These are sector Tropic mushroom. How are you feeling. No, these are just. These are just nice. They're nice I do, I have to say I like this trend in, like, nice adult drinks. It tastes good, right? Besides seltzer. Thank God I can't. Oh yeah. Probably I don't I'm just I don't want soda but I don't really want alcohol. anymore either. So it's nice to be like, but I still want something tasty. Totally. But I don’t want a cocktail. It’s nice to have. Sometimes liqueur you need to elevate your liqueur for something new. This is nice, this is really flavorful. Yeah. No, I really like them too. And I couldn't agree more. I love this trend. I love the, trend also of morning dance parties. How they're doing coffee shop sets now. Is that right? Have you done that? Not yet. Goals I've done day breaker. So, we performed at day breaker. So did I! Yeah, I did Red Rocks. Which one did you guys do? It was in some weird room in, Manhattan. I bet it was a cool room. I mean, they do. Was it cool? Yeah. I mean, day breaker is a great idea. It is a great idea. I love the concept of just not being up at four in the morning. Yeah, totally. I think that that that rules. You were talking about ayahuasca. I have done plant medicine a few times, and, the most recent experience I had basically, after being rag dolled on the, the ground of hell, for about 15 minutes. Wow! Basically. It sounds fun. It was a riot. It is not for the faint of heart, I will tell you that. I don't like. You’re not selling me on this yet. Well, it's not I'm not trying. You want some? No. This is like you have to be so ready for this shit. But the lesson that I learned was essentially, like you say, you want to live this amazing life. You want to do all of these awesome things, yet you're hungover on a Sunday and you're eating shit food and you're wasting your money with DoorDash, and then you're talking like an asshole to yourself for two days after that, like show up or shut up. And it was like, okay, this is my inner voice. This is like. You talk to, you talk like you're an asshole to yourself, for two days? God. No, this was, this was a different this wasn't ayahuasca. This was, toad DMT. No. Have you ever done heard of it? No. It's a, it's a it's a big, big deal in the sense of like that. I know that psychedelic world, but it is, pungent and hits you with the lessons for real. But I do think that it definitely changed my brain chemistry. Like, I don't crave. Yeah, I do, I do think so. Yeah. It's great. Yeah. Shifted a lot for me, but, Yeah. Like, the creative process is such a fickle thing too. And cannabis is also a helpful tool for me in that regard. But do you guys, when you're like collaborating on new music, do you have anything that you do to get into the flow of creativity? I feel like mostly just creating a space because we live in different places and we have kind of our own home lives just just to like, all right. This weekend we're going to get to this place. We're going to bring whatever instruments or maybe something is already there and just giving ourselves a time. I feel like it hasn't. It's never we've never come away from even just a couple of days together to to write without something that we're all pumped about. Is it all just jams? Starts with jams, and sometimes it'll start with, Ryan will bring in a melody, but usually, jams where it's like, oh, that has a vibe. And if someone puts a melody on it that works, that's a verse. And now we need a chorus or whatever. An A section, a B section, so yeah, often starts with jams. We used to do these things in Brooklyn on Thursday nights called pot jams, and they weren't intended to create songs. There were rules like no covers, no blues. No smoking. Yes. No smoking. That was it. No smoking cigarets or weed. Yeah, no cigarette smoking. Just for pot jams. No weed. We emerged. We emerged one night at 1 a.m. with our friend Ben Queller, and we finished the song and ended up on Keep It Together. It was called, I hope Tomorrow is Like Today. And that came from just having the space available for musicians to come around and, just do whatever. So if you build it. They will come for real. Do you want to bring Ryan Miller into the fold? Sure do. What did you talk about in there? Where? In there. Where was. What'd you do in there? We were pretty horizontal, it was nice. We're talking about being poached eggs. Big topic tonight. Big topic tonight. Hi Ryan. Hello. How are you? I’m good. Good. I’m a little poached egg. He’s a little poached egg. I mean with a sauna and a cold plunge, the food, the tea ceremony. You have a little poached egg. That's good. Pretty good. I feel like if we had these little pitstops around the country, tours might be different. Yeah, and you could. You could call the fan club the poached eggs. Want to be a poached egg? You know what I mean? I see where this is going. Investors possibly you, you could be the first poached egg. You could be in your, in your city. All right, maybe not. So part of this is giving bands and artists the opportunity to talk about what they actually want to talk about. Like, what if we just had the ability to say the things that actually like fucking mattered what would what would you guys say? Say something that matters right now, Ryan! Say something that matters most. Most podcasts, they talk about things you don't like. This one? We’re different. We're different here. not trying, but you're succeeding. I know what is, What? These are nice. Is this yours? You can have some. Yeah. We didn't see. Kerryanne is such a legend because she has the coolers and she's the one that does all the cool stuff. She's the beverage lady? She’s just the everything person. She just rocks. She. Yes. Has anyone ever heard of pop on stage? What? No. Heard a pop on stage? You're asking, has it ever. Has any of us heard ourselves on stage. In 34 years, have we ever had a stage injury? Oh fantastic question. I’m surprised you haven't though, because you jump on off stage a lot. Yeah, those are dumb things. And you've never been injured. Injured like Dave Grohl. Injury on the stage. I’ve never Grohled it. have you guys ever gotten in trouble? On tour? Brian got pulled over three times on the same road once. In Colorado. The same same cop? Are you sure it was only three? I feel like it was four. It felt like a million. I feel like it was four. It was so great. Twice it was the same cop. How did we not tell that story the other day? I don’t know, I just remembered it. I managed to only get one ticket out of the three. pullovers. He like got pulled over in this tiny ass little town. And then we sat there forever. And then he got really mad and pulled away And then the guy pulled us over immediately! And then there was another one after that that was unrelated. And then as soon as he pulls he was like, I just got pulled over twice. It's like, why are you telling me this? Yeah, seriously, do you feel bad for me? That was the last time we got in trouble. That was the darkest moment in Guster’s 34 years, that's that's the end of act two. the right. Two. Only one intermission, by the way, for this, you just get one. Well, as we are wrapping up a day of wellness, do you guys do anything on your own when you're not touring, to. Just Adam. What do you mean, wellness? Wellness? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You all really dominated that cold plunge and sauna situation. It seemed like that was not your first rodeo. Yeah, it was our first rodeo, though. Was it? only his first rodeo, not mine. Yeah. Speak for yourself. Hey, bud. Keep your rodeo account to yourself. Adam meditates in the background of the bus. Sometimes. So does Luke. And Dave does too. Do you guys do guided meditations or is it just on your own transcendental meditation? And then that's it. And then I do some other stuff, like not really. Like pickleball. You know like pickleball. You're pretty good. No, I like to play. No. No, I then there's like some other meditational type stuff and more like, less, less. I guess it's ones, but more just, like, working on own shit, basically. For sure. Stuff. So looking at that, I'm like, okay, this is part of me that I don't want. Yeah. How do I toss that out. Just in like cognitive, you know, behavorial. Definitely work through things. Yeah. Try to. Move through them. So that's part of it. And then I'll try to exercise more because 51. Yeah. And what's what's it like having the families and the kids at home and all of these pieces that are shifting as you guys get older, it's like a different version of success, a different whole thing with watching your kids grow up and then touring. Like, what's different about it now? It's a very open ended question. You’re also catching us at a very particular moment, because we all have daughters the same age and. 17 as of yesterday. Yeah. So she's the oldest 16. We had three girls within four months. Wow, happy birthday, by the way. Happy birthday, Jojo. So, yeah, at least I'll speak for myself. Like, very much aware of how little time left of her being home. Yeah. Well, it's like, oh, a year and a half. That's crazy. Like okay, this summer, so to me, it makes me think about what we're doing a little bit more like the time homes, especially precious. Definitely. So, like, looking at our summer, it's like, oh, shit. It was good for Guster to do a tea ceremony together. Was it? Yes. How so? Did it feel actually bonding? Like you guys had never done one of those together before? We haven’t. I feel like we're pretty bonded already. Yeah, well, which is why. It's another. Yeah, to me. But it’s just. We don't need you. It's just another like an, it was another fun experience that will refer to in our long. Totally. Time of many fun things to talk about that we forget about and are like the something, you know, opens up, Colonel, like, oh, yeah, why don't we talk about the three times you got pulled over or whatever it is That we’ve. Definitely 34 years of them. The tea ceremony with James was even better than the time. I got pulled over. Three times in ten minutes. I agree. It also opened up a space for us to, share with each other in a way that we haven't on this tour. You know, I was able to tell Dave and Steve how valuable they were on the road, and I normally would just, like, wake up and say that to them. Right. Or something. You know you open that curtain on the bus and you go, I appreciate you, I value you, you appreciate, and a kiss, this is nice. I guess. They love that. They love it. They love it. Steve loves it like a gentleman right on the temple. So when you hit a bump and. That's okay. But there was something in that tea. Oh, you like you wish. There’s gold in them there hills. Oh my God, who was that? Don't you dare! Disney’s circa 1932. You start. You better knock that off. Can we bring James over here? Please. He's gone. James left? He did his tea ceremony and he bolted. He got two more than I. Oh, yeah, he's got two more. He's got to go circle them up. He’s got two more tonight. Yeah. He's like, is it okay if I give you hugs? And I jumped out of my couch. I've never gotten out of the house faster. I was like, please, let's hug. Oh good. Yeah. Isn't that so. Well, he was stoked to be here, too. I mean, I think that that's also something that's very cool is like, these people have these gifts that they very much want to share and like to be able to bring an artist to a place where they feel like their energy is better and can go on a stage and perform a better show. Bro. Shadowhawk. No, but it's so real. Like if you were pissed off before a show and granted, I don't know if you guys even know the negative emotions of the human spectrum. You always seem so like positive. Do you know sadness? Rainbows and candy corns. Are you aware that people struggle. Guster. Tell me, what's reverb like? Do you know sadness? Like, that's a good one, too. That's a good one too. That’s a good one too. These answers on the Danger Den podcast this week, tune in to find out. That's really good. We had to dig deep to find a way to end act one in, with a dark moment. Maybe a murder, perhaps? Should make. I knew this was turning to the glass, I knew it. I'm doing the podcast at the beginning of the show from now on. This is wonderful. Want to talk about the tour? Sure. Let's talk about the tour. So you want to, you came from Omaha. You're going to Salt Lake after this. Then you have a couple more dates and then you're. What's the plan after that? And then we have some time home. Yeah. And then March. We have a couple shows at the Kennedy Center, which will be amazing. We've never done that. With the National Symphony Orchestra, which will be probably awesome, I can't imagine. I mean, think of the name. They're called the National Symphony Orchestra. What if they see this podcast though and then they cancel. Yeah. Cut the sound like how we got kicked out. Only because it looks like we're on track. Yeah. Speak for yourself bro. Really soon in April. I just drank six cups of tea. Yeah, exactly. The tea. The tea didn't have anything in it. Yeah, that tea had something in it. Yeah, I don't know. Are you for real? Kind of. There's something in that tea. There was nothing in that tea. Maybe it's the THC drink. Maybe it's engine dot com. Maybe. Maybe it's Brez. Brez. Brez. I love Brez. Well. It’s gonna be one of my favorite jokes. I'll ask you guys a couple more hard hitting questions. Really? We nailed it. We nailed that. We nailed it. I mean, I have a whole board of deep questions over here. Somebody worked very hard on this board. Good handwriting too. That was all me, gang. I wrote all that stuff. Brez Engine. All the things that I. What’s Verde Natural? Verde Natural is the the joints that we've been smoking. Oh, shit. I haven't been smoking those. Man. Is this one right here? They're very big. They're bulky. That is Palo santo. That's an herb that, we basically learned that if you soak it in water instead of burning it, it actually makes it smell more pungent and keeps it alive. So that's a fun fact for ya. That’s good to know. Richard Swift introduced us to. Yeah, our entire record, we made this guy Richard Swift. Who was just that was burning at all times. It was nice, but. Yeah. It's a nice association to him. Yeah it is. It calms you down. I still have a little sliver from that session. Really? Yeah. Souvenir. Is there anyone in particular that you've worked with that has been extremely influential on either this record or record or all of them? I think they all have been influential. I think we've taken. Yeah, some more than others. But yeah, but like. You learn we learn so much from some almost all of our producers. Yeah. Yeah. But Swift was a big personality. He died. He'd like, drink himself to death. Which is a sadness. It's very, unique. We know, sadness. Yeah. That's sadness. Do you know sadness? we, Adam and I stayed in a halfway house in, rural Oregon where we made that album. Yeah. What was the name of that town? Cottage Grove. Cottage Grove. That's, Really, I feel like the process of writing with someone like a producer is such an intimate thing too that if. When they passed, I can imagine that that's probably a pretty deep loss. Yeah. You share a very, very intense experience, for at least the ways that we've done it traditionally, where you really like to dig in. Yeah. Yeah, you really get to know him. I think the biggest gift he gave, at least me. But I think us collectively to just to trust ourselves as a band to play and perform, and a recording in a recorded setting. So, you know, because he didn't really, he didn't operate Pro Tools like Pro Tools. So there's no depending on like the editing at all. It's just like, you know, like the way that went. That played again. Right? Play it again. Live cuts all the time. Or like any, you know, like on the drums you’d have one mic pointed at Brian's head and one like in the kick drum and that was it. And like, Brian was like, well, what if I want the high hat louder? He was like, well then play it louder, you know? It's like, that's what you do. So I think that experience was the most musical experience we've had. At least I've had recording a Guster record for sure. We weren't staring at the back of someone's head twisting knobs all time. We were playing in there, holding instruments and playing. And learning what it takes to get a good cut each time. Yeah, but we also kept a lot of early. We weren't doing a lot of takes at all. Let’s say things about the Danger Den into the camera? Yeah, let's do that. Good, bad and ugly. I had a great day at the Danger Den. Two thumbs up for Danger Den. Five stars for the Danger Den. Check it out. Danger Den dot org. Danger! Or com, or net. Splice them in. All of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it. Great work guys. No, it was awesome. I don't know, I mean, I don't Brian was very, very close to the chest about what this was. And he was like, just just let's just go. So I, but I like I appreciate that. It's like, all right, that's what we're going to do or just surrender to whatever it is. It's like omakase. You know what I mean? I do. like, this is the omakase of band 12 of, oh, I like that. We're on to something. Put that on your electronic press kit. Danger Den is like the. EPK if you will. Put that on your EPK. Nobody says EPK. I just did. They do in our world. Yeah bro. Still? Yeah. Look at that. See, look, we got thumbs ups. You got the blinking from the. The Danger Den starring Dj Danger Foley is the omakase of wellness experiences for traveling musicians. Dot com! I really like the smirk at the end. The four second delayed smirk. That was great. seriously, thank you for creating this space. So it's amazing. It's really cool. Really appreciate what you do. We had a great and what you're aiming to do like build and you've already built. It has been such a damn blast laughing with you dorks all day long. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for making such special, important music. We're going to go relax a bit more. My feet are hot. Thank you for watching the Danger Den..