Den Devine Sessions - Talking Music
Den Devine Sessions is a podcast that brings the magic of live music to life, recorded in the vibrant atmosphere of the Gold Coastâs iconic Den Devine. Each episode dives deep into the stories, inspirations, and journeys of talented artists, followed by unforgettable live performances that showcase their artistry. Whether youâre a music lover, a curious soul, or someone who craves authentic creative moments, this podcast offers a front-row seat to the sounds and stories that define the local and global music scene. đď¸đś
Den Devine Sessions - Talking Music
Ep 10. Talking Music with Tiki Taane | Den Devine Sessions
đď¸ In this episode of Den Devine Sessions, we sit down with New Zealandâs renowned musician and producer, Tiki Taane, to delve into his dynamic career and the evolution of his unique sound. đ¸đ¤
Born in Christchurch on December 17, 1976, Tiki Taaneâs musical journey began in the mid-90s when he joined the acclaimed band Salmonella Dub as their live sound engineer and eventually their frontman. After an 11-year tenure, he embarked on a solo career in 2007, releasing his debut album Past, Present, Future, which featured the chart-topping single âAlways on My Mind.â This track not only reached number one but also set a record for its longevity on the New Zealand charts.
Beyond his solo endeavors, Tiki has been instrumental in producing and engineering for various artists, including Shapeshifter and Six60, showcasing his versatility within the industry. His commitment to his craft and his cultural roots has solidified his status as a pivotal figure in New Zealandâs music scene.
In this episode:
⢠Early Influences: Tiki reflects on his upbringing in Christchurch and the musical inspirations that shaped his artistry.
⢠Salmonella Dub Era: Insights into his time with the band, memorable experiences, and the decision to pursue a solo path.
⢠Solo Success: The creation of his debut album, the success of âAlways on My Mind,â and its impact on his career.
⢠Production and Collaboration: His role in producing for other artists and the importance of collaboration in music.
⢠Cultural Connection: How his MÄori heritage influences his music and his efforts to promote indigenous sounds.
đ Stay tuned for more episodes featuring in-depth conversations and live performances with talented artists. Donât forget to like, comment, and subscribe to stay updated!
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And I started to get into loading PAs in and setting up sound systems for raves, like the early starts of rave culture, and then that exposed me to like jungle music.
Speaker 2:What's good, lovely people, welcome to another episode of Dendervine Sessions. This is recorded live from Dendervine, a music venue right here in Broadbeach, gold Coast, australia. I'm your host, joseph Brown, a musician, a creator and a passionate advocate for all things music, with years of experience on the stage and behind the scenes. I'm here to bring you stories from the heart of the music industry. Whether you're an upcoming musician, a seasoned pro or a dedicated music fan, this podcast is for you. Let's get into the episode. It's D into the episode.
Speaker 2:Brought to you by VEMU. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Den Divine Sessions. We are here on a beautiful Sunday in the Gold Coast, at Broad Beach. We're going to have a lot to talk about, because I'm here with an absolute, just pioneer, you know, sound system, you know, and just an absolute all-around legend, tiki Tani, is in the house. How are you, bro? Kia ora, my brother.
Speaker 1:I'm very well, thank you Very well. Good to see you. Good to be here, gold.
Speaker 2:Coast. What up, yeah, man. So, wow, absolute pleasure and honor to have you in to be a part of some of these sort of earlier episodes. And you know we've had a nice big weekend and heaps of changes happening and I know it was sort of like I don't know if we should continue with this because we've got all these changes and all these sort of things happening. But I'm glad that we got to sort of come to have this conversation because I think the industry sort of this is where it's at at the moment. Right it's. You know you win some, you lose some. Like of course I'm going to go all around those sort of topics here and you know I appreciate you sort of taking your time to come through and you know to be so supportive through all of these sort of things, bro. So, yeah, start off with that man, like, appreciate you bro.
Speaker 1:No, thank you very much. And yeah, it's good to be over this part of the world. Sunshine Coast was mad. We did that on Friday. It was madness, it was so cool. And then here we are, Surfers Paradise. We're going to rock it again. This awesome venue by the way, I love this venue Shouts out to all the venue crew, Dan, everybody. It's awesome to be here. Can't wait to rock the stage later today. Let's go.
Speaker 2:It's going to be awesome. It's going to be awesome, man, and so a big part of this initiative we're trying to do we're talking to people from all levels of the music industry, of course, from upcomers all the way to veterans like yourself. Veteran, love it. Koro, koro, koro, koro, kaumatua it's to obviously try and just gain some insight. I know everyone sort of sees the music industry as all love and rainbows and you know everything I get it. It's just there's two sides to the music industry, and it's not saying that I want to talk about all the negatives, but I guess to get people into the reality of the music industry. You know, and I want to take it back to the start, if that's okay with you. Yeah, that's okay with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's yeah yeah, what got you into music by?
Speaker 1:oh well, it's pretty simple really. It was just the way it made me feel. If you break it down, um, you know, I remember being a kid and listening to the radio and this is way before the internet and and watching TV, and there'd be very few music, television, stuff on TV, and then I'd have my VCR ready to record and then the videos would come up and I'd push record. Yes, and I got it. And so I'd make my own mixtape. Same with radios as well. Right, you'd have your cassette tape in the radio and you listen to the radio and you wait for your favorite song to come on and record it. Yeah, so it was like total dubbing down, music streaming for free vibes. You know what I mean. And so I'll just listen to this music. And then I started going well, how come the music comes out of these speakers? How does this work, and how come it's like you can't even see this thing, but it makes you feel amazing and it can make you feel happy, make you feel sad, make you feel empowered. It can just do all these incredible things. So I started to just go. I really want to be able to make this stuff. How do you make this stuff and my dad was playing the acoustic. I remember when I was a little kid playing acoustic, then my sisters I've got two older sisters and they started playing the acoustic as well. And I remember thinking, man, when I'm big enough, I want to be able to do that. And so when I got to about the age of nine, I could actually pick up a guitar and start strumming it and playing. And then I just started listening to the radio and I got to the point where I could improvise and by the time the song finished I'd already worked out the song. And so I knew I had this kind of thing where I could hear stuff and kind of mimic it and play along to it.
Speaker 1:And then I was about 13 years old and discovered things like NWA, public Enemy. So I started discovering hip-hop, real gangster hip-hop. And then I started going down the route of Metallica, slayer, sepultura and then going really dark into Carcass and Carable Corpse and just going into this really expansive kind of like musical taste. And then, of course, reggae I've always been a huge fan of, so Bob Marley was always a number one for me. And so I just was like I want to make music, how can I make this happen. And then I started a band when I was 14. And then I was on stage playing in pubs at 15.
Speaker 1:And then I realized when I was 15 years old in this punk, thrash, heavy metal band that we were just not going to make any money because it was just me on the guitar yelling like just going crazy and I had my bros playing drums, bass, guitar and stuff. And then I realized the person that was making the money was the sound engineer, the person mixing it. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I was like I need to learn how to do that. So I started hanging around sound guys and sound girls back in the day in Christchurch and I started learning that stuff.
Speaker 1:And then through that process I started to be able to mix other bands or my friends' bands, right, so we'd play gigs and then I'd mix all the bands but then play myself. So I started to get really involved in that. And then that was about the time when rave music started hitting New Zealand, and so I'm talking 92, 93, 94. And then I started to get into loading PAs in and setting up sound systems for raves early starts of rave culture. And then that exposed me to jungle music and um bass culture music, techno and happy hardcore and all that kind of stuff yeah, all that stuff that was happening and, um, you know, the new zealand was the underground scene, the, the illegal raves, the parties that were happening.
Speaker 1:So I got this massive experience and kind of like what's the word? I was just in it, all this music and by the time I was 18, I was mixing, you know, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, wow, and playing in my bands as well. So I was doing like rave music, setting up for DJs and sound systems and bass culture stuff. And then I was also doing punk heavy metal, setting up for DJs and sound systems and bass culture stuff. And then I was also doing punk heavy metal and also hip hop scene in Christchurch sub building and then doing things like country mixing, country and Western bands on a Sunday. So I was just getting all this experience. And then a band called Salmonella Dubb picked me up when I was 19.
Speaker 2:Oh, salmonella, dubb yeah, and then that was it.
Speaker 1:I was off touring the world and spent 11 years with that band. In the meantime I was linked up with Shapeshifter, who's a live drum and bass band who turned 25 this year. So I've been doing their sound for 25 years and in between all that I've been doing my stuff and the one-man band thing and then emceeing and DJing and all that kind of stuff. So it's been an amazing journey to get to where I am today and I'm 47 years old. No, way. Yeah, I'm 47 years old. I can't believe that man Are you serious.
Speaker 1:Music keeps you young guys out there and girls, so it's just like you. You know I'm coming up to my 31st New Year's Eve in a row performing and doing gigs in a row 31, so it's just like constant and I've been at it for that long and loving it and I'm just loving every experience of it and it's just always been a vehicle to travel and a vehicle to meet people and it's been the most a vehicle to travel and a vehicle to meet people and it's been the most amazing way to express myself. Music can heal, it can connect, it can empower and it's a really good way to get you know. If you're pissed off about something, you can just lay it into a song. You can just really do incredible things through music and it's a powerful spiritual medium when you break it down and that's something that I really love about it and that's what keeps me going now. It's why I'm here to play music and to meet other musicians and people in the scene.
Speaker 1:I met this young band tonight called the Gypsy Bandits and they've got some cool things going on, you know. So, yeah, cool, it's great.
Speaker 2:I always wondered what came first, the production or the music. So it was obviously the music came first and then the production came through. And did you have a love for production or was it like a sort of thing that you just fell into? Or were you like back to that first story of that playing the tape and doing all the mixing and that sort of stuff you know, like about the soundscape and about the frequencies, like do you like the science of production and mixing, yeah, or is it the listening experience?
Speaker 1:It's everything, you know. Like, I remember being a kid around six years old and listening to the radio, and I had a piece of paper out and I had a pen and I would just listen to the music and whatever song it was, I would just draw and draw and I don't know what it was right. And then now, you know, when I first saw a sine wave and started making digital music and seeing the sine wave, I was like, well, that's what I was drawing when I was six years old. That's crazy, Just drawing these things. And so I've always been fascinated with sound music, frequencies and, as I said, playing it, recording it, producing it, messing with it. You know it, it producing it, messing with it. It's just been one of those cool things, Because it's like you can't see it right.
Speaker 1:It's this magical thing you can't see, but it can affect so many people in the most profound ways and it can save people's lives. Some people can. I've been lucky enough to have incredible fans and sometimes they reach out and say, man, your song saved my life. Like it's, I was in a dark, dark place, you know, contemplating taking my life, all this stuff, but your song and the lyrics have pulled me out of that.
Speaker 2:And when people tell you that shit, you're just like holy heck, you know it's deep man, it's crazy man. It's like holy heck, you know it's deep man, it's crazy man, like you know, I talk about that quite a lot. The most interesting thing with music is exactly right it's invisible, it's not tangible. Definitely, the product is a feeling and it's a memory, you know, of people getting taken back to that time, like's it's. It's funny just me being here, been have this conversation with you, been able to have this conversation, because you're in a lot of my childhood memories, you know, and um you know, positive, positive, yeah, man, of course, but it's just there, like it's.
Speaker 2:You know, you're always on the tv, always on the rage seeing the salmonella dove and then tiki tani, and you know but that but that's the thing, man, it's the tangible aspect is not there, but the memory of when things were a bit easier, when you were young and you know, and there's Tiki Tani coming through, and then now, all these years later, we have this conversation. You know, yeah, that's awesome, man, yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, and it's really cool, like music can put you in a a time and place and you know you'll hear a song for the first time and it might, you know, and it always 20 years later or whatever. It takes you back to that feeling and that emotion and those memories, whether it be with family, friends or an adventure or something that's going on in your life. And so music it's like a um, it's a residue.
Speaker 2:You know that's going on in your life, and so music. It's like a it's a residue.
Speaker 1:Residue is a great word. Yeah, it has this thing. And for me, I still listen to stuff like Jimi Hendrix. The first time I heard Jimi Hendrix, who's like my number one musician that I love, and I just this is before internet. We could see all that stuff on the internet.
Speaker 1:You would actually have to go and hire a VCR, like go to the local video before DVDs and stuff like that, and you'll get this, you put it in and you've only got it for three days or a 24-hour high and you binge watch it and if you're lucky enough, you get another VCR player and you dub it off onto that one and you have like an illegal copy of it, and so that was what I kind of grew up on, that stuff. So whenever I hear Jimi Hendrix, it just makes me go yes, oh my gosh. The first time I smoked cannabis was with Jimi Hendrix. Listen to Jimi Hendrix and like that kind of shit. So it always takes me back to these incredible moments. And so music is powerful.
Speaker 1:It's extremely powerful and it's such a joy to be able to do it and perform it and connect with other musicians. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Man, and that's the thing is. You know, at the beginning, when I said pioneer, to me, you are a pioneer. You pushed the new zealand music scene, I think, where no one ever pushed it, and that that's, you know, I, I, I know our people, you know, and it's like we're one track minded, you know, and then you're coming out with just music that's just not heard before, completely created by your own creativity, of course, you know, but it just felt that it had no influence. It was influenced purely by music. Awesome.
Speaker 1:Was that sort?
Speaker 2:of have I got it right there, Were you like? Just I want to make things sound just out there, Out there. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:I've got to give shouts out to Salman and Dub right, and so they were a big influence on me in making that kind of style of music. You know, like I first started hearing jungle music, a friend of mine started DJing it and this is I'm talking 94, stuff like that, and jungle, of course, has moved into drum and bass. So when I first heard it I couldn't understand it. I was just like, what is this music? But I saw it and heard it in an environment that was awesome, like a illegal rave parties and the warehouses and sound systems and lights and everyone's like whoa and it just made me go okay, it's the culture as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's a culture of misfits and and kids who don't fit in, yeah, and kids of all descriptions. You know this is before the is before the LGBTQA plus was even a word. There's all sorts of funky kids and, as I said, outcasts and everyone. Punks and hip-hop kids and rave kids were all getting together in these warehouses and getting down to this new music coming out of England that was inspired by Jamaica the jungle music and we're getting it on vinyl. That would take two months to get to new zealand.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm talking about tracking, yeah, just like whoa and if the dj would have this one vinyl and you'd go to these raves just to hear that one song with us. And you know you couldn't have spotify or anything like that. So it became this kind of exciting thing. The way that we could get fed this music was you had to be at the venue, at the dance, at the rave, at the festival, at the warehouse, whatever it was, and you'd have to be there to see this DJ who had put on that tune that no one else had. That's why you get the rewinds, because you play it and you rewind.
Speaker 2:Play it again, bang.
Speaker 1:Play it again you know, and that was the only time you could hear it.
Speaker 1:Until the next rave, which could be like Two weeks away, three weeks away. So that's the kind of Environment I grew up on. Yeah, with music, and nowadays it's really available. You can just like Spotify, youtube, everything's there. It's there instant. You can get anything you want right there and then which is amazing but what that does? It takes away the culture, and that's possibly why some of the live scenes are dropping out, because a lot of the youth these days aren't getting their music from here. You know what I mean. So they're getting it from. So there's no culture or there's a very underground, very kind of a culture that's not brewing like it used to be back in the day, and I've noticed that in the 31 years of doing this I've seen it kind of woo like that, and so you know it's just a. I guess you just got to roll with it. Technology changes things the way that we take in music now and the way that we produce it and listen to it and spit it out to the world and there's so much noise out there now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so much and a lot of people are getting caught up on like, okay, how can I sell this music? Oh, let's do some dumbass shit online. It's going to get heaps of hits. It's not even about the music, it's about the dumbass thing you did, or?
Speaker 2:whatever it is, it's the shock therapy, right yeah for sure, and that's cool.
Speaker 1:I'm like whatever man, this is how it is. But the whole thing has changed now. The landscape has changed, the environment has changed and it's just a different world, you know.
Speaker 2:It is man. It's been, like you said, 31 years. So you've you've been on the roller coaster. You've seen the ups and the downs and the lefts and the right, like you know what, what over that 31 years. What's something that you've found, like that you've taken the most value off the industry over the 31 years? I know it's not. There's never going to just be one thing. I get that, you know, but is there something that just sort of like was consistent throughout your 31 years career that just made you keep coming back?
Speaker 1:yeah, keep pushing on or yeah, and that is that connection. It's the undeniable connection and the undeniable spiritual feeling that we all get from music and it'd be like, whether me as a performer or me as a punter checking out my favorite artists or an artist I've never seen before, heard before, been going, blown away and just being like holy heck, what just happened there, you know. So that is the one thing that's undeniably always going to be there and that's why live music is so important and it's why it's so important that you get up on stage and you rock the fuck out and you give it all. Whether it's 10 people, 10,000 people, whatever it is, you just give it your all. Because it's that connection, it's that release, it's that healing, it's that coming together as spiritual beings from all diversities and connecting with this thing. That's happening in real time.
Speaker 1:that won't happen again until the next time you do it and it's and that's the thing that's just astounds me every time I perform. It's. It's just a incredible spiritual experience. It's the only way I can explain it. Yeah, and sometimes it hits and some people get it and some people it doesn't hit and they don't get it because who knows what they've gone through on that day. Yeah, you know they might not be in the right space, maybe they're not being open to receive that energy and receive those messages, but maybe they will be next time. Yeah, and that's just a cool thing. And so that's a shout out to any musicians or creative people out there who do that, who put their body on the line and their emotions and just rip it open and just be raw about it. No holding back. No, holding back, because that's a powerful thing to do. It's scary as fuck.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely For sure.
Speaker 1:But the more you do it, the easier it becomes and it's authentic and it's beautiful and it's powerful. And that's the stuff that always brings me back to doing this stuff, because I see it everywhere I go and when I tour the world. I see it all the time, whether I'm on stage seeing it and feeling it, or whether I'm in the audience and seeing it and feeling it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, and to that aspect of 10 to 10,000, obviously you've done that right. You've done the whole. I mean, you've played Big Day Out and you've played the big crowds and you've played the 10 people Like, do you just show up the same every single time, like in regards to like you're giving them, you sing to them as if there is 10,000, even if there's 10.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like you're giving them, you sing to them as if there is 10,000, even if there's 10. Yeah, it's generally the same every single gig, like you're only as good as your last gig at the end of the day and you've got to treat it like, okay, this is the moment to give it your all. And whether it's, as I said, 10 people, 10,000 people, sometimes when it's just 10 people, you give it even more because it's a different energy and it might take a little bit longer to break through whatever's going on, the energy that's in the room, whether it be anxiety, whether it be nervousness, whether it be just people who. But if it's a packed room, sometimes it's this way easier to just go. Okay, there it is.
Speaker 1:For example, in Sunshine Coast on Friday we sold that out. It was 400 and something people and they were cooking straight away. As soon as I walked on the stage, I knew straight away okay, we're there and sometimes it's. You know you walk on stage and go. Okay, I know I'm going to have to just put a little bit more oomph into this and really connect and try to get people to that point, that starting point of like bubbling.
Speaker 1:So every gig is different, every venue is different, every crowd is different and also you as a person is different, and so you've got to learn to just whatever the shit that's going on in your day, whatever argument you've had or whatever you know, whatever's going on, the tax man is on my case, or I couldn't get a park. I got a parking ticket, all this stuff. Let that go and you get up and do the job that you're here to do. And it's like make that music open the space up, make it safe for everybody to feel that and you're encouraging everybody in the audience to be in that moment, to receive the energy. But also expand on that so that you can move people in the audience and they can feel for a moment in time, forget about the shit in their life and let the music take over and do whatever it needs to do, whether it be healing, whether it be energizing and inspiring, whatever it needs to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure, man, one thing I loved about your performance is just to set that tone and that precedent straight from the start. This is a safe place. This is a place. Whatever you've got going on outside of this, just leave it at the door and let's just let it all loose and dance. Absolutely yeah. Has that been something you like? Is it integrated into your performance?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just to sort of be like let's do this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I've learned how to articulate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Just over years of doing it. I always got up there feeling like that yeah, I always got up there feeling like that and then sort of seeing that happen, but then it's taken me years to learn to articulate it and then also learn to get upstage and actually open with that and, first of all, always acknowledge the First Nations and the custodians of the land and the area that you're in and you always that's what I like to do and just let the indigenous culture or the people of this area let them know that I'm thankful and grateful to be in the space and from my ancestors to their ancestors, we're connecting. So there's that as well, and we call that. It's almost like a karakia, like a prayer in some ways, where you cleanse the space and clear it so that we can get down to the business, the business of having a good time and healing and music and connecting.
Speaker 2:So for me, it's just as important for me to be able to do that for my safety as a spiritual human being, whatever I am you know what I mean and also the people in the audience and it's just kind of clearing the space, yeah yeah, like it was, I was just absolutely amazed and and you know one thing um that I think about from that friday night was you know, obviously I came up and I'm like bro, do you want me to do this big intro? Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, dicky tardy, but it was like, hey, let's just let it simmer yeah, I was like no, no, it's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you just sit down, it's all good, I got this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you're so kind because you're like, but did you want to do it you? Even asked me I'm like no, no, no, I'll let you do your thing. You know, yeah, which is, you know, so kind of you? Because it sort of like shows that's the reason why, here in the industry all these years, it's clearly the kindness and the goodness of who you are as a person.
Speaker 1:Well, you know what I learned from early on in the industry. I've met a lot of assholes and I've met a lot of awesome people and I've been the grommet you know entered into this industry at 15 years old and playing in pubs, you know. So I've seen a lot of stuff and met a lot of like just yuck people and met a lot of amazing people. A lot of amazing people have passed down a lot of knowledge and have supported me and, you know, on your way up, be nice to everybody, because on your way down you know you won't. Yeah, so it's just one of those things. It's like it's really easy just to be nice and courteous and helpful and just be cool, don't be a dick.
Speaker 2:You know what I?
Speaker 1:mean Don't be a dick, there's enough. You know, it's just. That's always been my kind of motto with stuff and that's why I'm surrounded by really cool people. My sound man Guy he's been with me. Sound man guy he's been with me well. We've known each other for like 30 something years, so he's been doing my sound all around the planet for a long, long, long time. And all my crew and all the people I work with and associate with and all the people who come into my studio. I just generally we're on the same path of just being not dicks, trying not to be dicks, you know though, guys, cool man, guys, cool.
Speaker 2:One thing I said to him. I said being sound for Tiki is that like being a bodyguard for Mike Tyson, is that like being a lifeguard at the Olympics? Because it's sort of like you're as good in music as you are in production and engineering, you know, and because I know that's sort of a big passion of you. So, yeah, but Guy was like yeah, it sort of feels like that, but not really, and I was. But he's so cool man, you know, yeah it's a cool thing.
Speaker 1:you've got to have your day ones as well hanging around you. They keep it real, like he'll tell me if I'm acting up, and so we're always tweaking, always learning, you know, doing that and that's really cool because I want to be able to get better at everything I do. I just want to get better. I want to get better at it. I want to be able to just, you know, push myself and challenge myself, and that's why doing the one-man band thing is so much fun, because every night it's different and it's like there's no backing tracks, no click tracks.
Speaker 1:I don't push play on anything, backing tracks, no click tracks. I don't push play on anything. It's all made up in real time, on the spot, and every time I do it it's different. And so for me, that's the exciting part of just being in that sort of flow state of like okay, let's go, whatever the mighty power of the universe, let's go, let's do this and see what happens. And you just got to trust in your ability to do that. And if you screw it up, hey, you just go. Hey, sorry guys, I screwed it up, but it's live music. What do you really? Everyone's like no one's going, you know, yeah, it's all good and uh, I think that's a really beautiful thing to be vulnerable on stage, to be raw and honest, and you know and just just do your thing, yeah yeah, man, look so big.
Speaker 2:a big part of what we're trying to focus this session around is obviously shining some light on some of the human aspects of the music, because you know, there's all these immortals right and people that have, like yourself, been here for a really long time and I think people just get used to seeing all the lights and all of the sunshine and everything like that. But in regards to some of the sort of clouds and sort of darker times in the industry and and and you know all that sort of aspect like, is there anything that sort of you know you've picked up along the way to? Maybe it's intuition, maybe it's lessons from the past or anything like that? Is there anything that you could sort of give out to people who are coming up, who are trying to sort of you know grinding away and that sort of stuff? Is there anything that you've learned along the way? I mean, of course you've learned probably a few things, but, yeah, anything toâŚ.
Speaker 1:Well, just nothing is guaranteed, Nothing. It's always in motion and anything can happen at any time. And you've got to be so fluid and so flexible to roll with anything at any time. And you know, you might have this master plan in your head and it's going to go like this, it's going to go like this and it just something will happen. And it's like, oh my God. So it's good to have visions, it's good to have goals and it's good to have something to aim for, but it's also really important to be fluid with that and to go.
Speaker 1:Sometimes things will change and you'll be disheartened by it, but there's lessons in that and you've got to look at those lessons and go, okay, there's no don't need to know why. Why did that happen to me? It's like, okay, this has happened. Okay, change my perspective, change my attitude, what can I learn from this? So that if anything happens again in the future, you're alerted to that and go, okay, that's what happened at some point. So I've got to be prepared for that. So it's like a really cool thing about this music thing. It's like nothing's guaranteed, it's risky, and that's why I like doing it, because I'm a risk taker. Before I really got into music. I was mucking around in gangs, stealing cars, selling drugs, doing all the bad shit, because it was fun. At the end of the day, it was fun, man, breaking the law was fun, and music for me is like breaking the law was fun. Yeah, and music for me is like breaking the law breaking the law yeah, man, just breaking, like being a rebel.
Speaker 1:This is a platform where I can spout off some political shit if I want to. Yeah, I can go in on some dark shit that's happening around the world. I can do that, you know, and it feels good. It's rebellious, it's it's like that's what I love about it. It's risky and so it's not for everybody. This music thing it really isn't.
Speaker 1:If you like security and if you like safety and you like mediocre and you like beige, then this ain't for you. This ain't for you. This is an interesting, warpy, freaky, risky, unguaranteed lifestyle and if you're ready to roll with that, then you're going to have the most amazing experiences ever in your life and you're going to be so fulfilled and you're going to be so like wow, because it is a crazy up and down thing. The pendulum swings like this and you've just got to learn to ride it all and come out the other side even better human being than when you went into it. So it's an incredible journey and it's an incredible experience and, at the end of the day, another thing is I see a lot of young artists who are waiting for something to happen and who are expecting and have expectations, and you just got to forget about that and you just got to do your thing and you've got to find your space and park your car in that space and you just go for it and you don't wait for.
Speaker 1:You don't wait for, say, an agent, or you don't wait for a manager, or you don't wait for the festival to book you. You don't do any of that stuff, you just do your thing. And if you're not getting booked, then you work. Well, I'm just going to go out and make my own thing, make my own parties. I'm going to do my own house parties and then warehouse parties. I'm going to do my own shit. You don't have it's like who cares? Make it happen.
Speaker 2:Get off your ass and go out and make it happen. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And so that's another thing I'm really proactive about is making shit happen. Don't be restricted by anything, and if you're not getting booked for festivals, don't worry about that. Just make your own thing happen. Like, try to do things that are outside of that scope and push it, push it. Everybody's got friends in the band. You could do a house party. Charge your friends $10, byo, get in here. You know what I mean. Start building it. And all of a sudden you've got like holy shit, we've got 300 people in here.
Speaker 1:Okay, we need to move this to a fucking warehouse or something you know what I mean and you just build it, build it, build it, and you just take control of the situation and your destiny and you make shit happen. And then what happens? In that you're creating a subculture, you're creating a scene, and then festival people start going what the heck's happening over here? And then you've got lots of power to play with right and then suddenly you can also go. You turned me down two years ago, fuck yeah, you know, or you could go, all right, you want us now.
Speaker 1:Well, you know you can. So that's the game you've got to play.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, there's a reason why, like I mean, you're definitely a. There's a reason why you've been here for so long man in the industry, and it's I just you're reaffirming what I'm saying, because all of these words you're saying, all of these, be a rebel. This is what it takes to be Tiki Tani, because I'm sure you've built that model where you've pushed it.
Speaker 1:I've got great. As I said before, I've got great friends around me. Yeah, of course, my sisters are amazing. My sister, nina Kay, runs my company. My other sister, maureen, runs my merchandise. My mum is on the internet taking care of fake pages and trolls and scammers, so I've got a great team around me. So that allows me to be this kind of rebellious kind of. It gives me more courage to go out and do these things that are unknown and it's yeah, it's great you know it's great.
Speaker 1:It's not for the faint-hearted, that's the thing. And you get a lot of things like you know. It's like people think they go. How do you measure success? You know, some people go oh, it's been on TV or it's going viral. That's great. That's what you measure. That's cool.
Speaker 1:For me, the success is being able to write, perform, release, produce, own all my own music and being able to share the prosperity of that with all the good people in my life, with other young bands coming through with you know, and still maintaining that integrity of who I am as a person and not bending for anything. That, to me, is success. Right, and I'm not. If you stay on that path and you stay on that vision and that energy, then it will pay off in the end and things will start coming towards you at the end. It's tough, though. Like you know, I was living it tough for many, many, many, many, many, many, many years, you know. But you learn to live like that and you learn to rock out like that and it's so much fun, so much experience. And then it wasn't until my son was born. That's when I kind of went oh shit, I should probably put a bit of a business hat on.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's when I started thinking about my production company and my studio and started thinking about that stuff, and then that's turned off into where it is now. But yeah, just follow your heart, follow your vibes, be unique, be original and don't be a dick.
Speaker 2:And I want to get to that, your studio, because I know it's an amazing studio. I'll get to that in a second, but before we get into that, you know, back to the human aspect. Like, are there any? Do you have any? Like I mean you probably do. But before we get into that, back to the human aspect do you have any? I mean you probably do, but any crazy?
Speaker 1:horror gig stories or things like this. Oh yeah, when I got arrested, I performed a gig and it was me and my DJ and it was a packed out venue in Tauranga maybe 400, 500, rocking out. It was going off and I was emceeing and the police walked in and I was like, should we do it? They said, yeah, do it. So we dropped Fuck the Police by NWA and I got the crowd to sing Fuck the Police, fuck, fuck, fuck the Police and the crowd went, ah, lasted about 38 seconds because we had it on cameras. The police didn't like that. They went away, got a paddy wagon and then they came in and arrested me, handcuffed me, walked me out through the audience and then that sparked off the riot.
Speaker 2:No way, People were like fuck that.
Speaker 1:And then another 16 people got arrested and I got thrown in the cells and I was like, okay, that's freedom of speech, totally. You know I'm going to fight this. So I called my lawyer, we built this case, got a private investigator, got all the statements and everything like that, got all the footage from all the cameras and at the end of the day, the police dropped the charge. Amazing, we had a negotiation actually, we had three negotiations and they wanted to meet up and they were like, okay, we need to talk about this because it's not looking good for them. We had a smoking gun which is a recording of the police talking to me and saying stuff that was like mm-mm-mm-mm.
Speaker 1:So anyway, I had all this stuff. So that's went to. We're about to go to court and the head of police in New Zealand got hold of me and we're like, okay, what do you want to make this go away? We need to have remediation. And we had a mediation and we had three sessions. It was really interesting, you know, sitting down with the police, a mediator, me and my lawyer, and we talked about it openly and put everything on the table openly and put everything on the table and basically, at the end of it, all you know is the police did a sort of a public apology and they paid for my private investigator lawyer fees and they dropped the charge instead of some misunderstanding and all that kind of shit, which is pretty interesting because it could have gone either way, and so that was a fucking hell of an experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll tell you what Would have been, especially if I'm a fucking hell of an experience. Yeah, it would have been, especially if I'm a geek. Have you done it again?
Speaker 1:Yeah, After that every gig I did, they'd roll up with a paddy wagon and be out in front doing this whole. Ah, fuck.
Speaker 1:So drop it again, drop it again, drop it again Because I was just like fuck yo, this is freedom of speech. There was no drama, no one got violent. There was no one got arrested. Yeah, I busted into a song that the cop didn't like. It hurt his ego. He went away, got a paddy wagon to try and teach me a lesson. Yeah, at the end of the day, it's not illegal to sing Fuck the Police. No, it's a song by NWA, a great song, one of the most Controversial political songs there is, and it's real.
Speaker 1:Came out in 1989, I think, when I was. You know, I was pretty young when it came out I was around 12 or something like that and and a powerful song. Was it right that I did that? It's up to you, but at the end of the day, I can do that legally, within my rights, to be able to perform that song. Now I knew that I could do it in a way that wouldn't rock inside of violence, wouldn't incite riots. I just knew we're having some fun, let's go about the police. And then I was out of that within 30 seconds, sang it, I went into, I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy Did that, and then I rolled out of that with whoop, whoop. That's us, another police whoop. So I made it kind of like a compilation of these police songs and you know it was fun. Yeah, but obviously this police officer who no longer works in the police, by the way, that's good. He got caught stealing money.
Speaker 2:Oh, really, yeah Far out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's that kind of cop. What a twist. Yeah, what a twist.
Speaker 2:So that was going back to your question that was probably the most extreme out of it experience ever. Yeah, yeah, man, that would have been. I'm sure you've got a few others that, yeah, that one takes the cake of the most weirdest situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially being handcuffed and walked out in front of the crowd.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it would have felt a bit scripted. Eh, it was like holy shit.
Speaker 1:And then that's what kicked off the what the fuck. That's what kicked it off. That's crazy man. That's crazy.
Speaker 2:That's an awesome story, though. I like that story. And how about, like, I won't say best experience, because I'm sure that there's just not one best experience, but in regards to an experience that just sort of maybe left you speechless or where you were sort of like, wow, this is crazy. You know, was it like that first Big Day Out gig or was it like the first, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:So many, man, so many. That's the thing. It's so blessed with all these incredible experiences. The Big Day Out tour was incredible thing. I'm so blessed with all these incredible experiences. The Big Day Out tour was incredible If you got that, because you'd start in Auckland, I'd go Auckland, gold Coast, sydney, melbourne, adelaide and then end in Perth and if you got all of those, it was next level.
Speaker 1:And in Melbourne, ken West who owned the Big Day Out, rest in peace. I think he passed away. He'd, in Melbourne, throw you know, 25 grand, whatever, at the bar and if you were an artist, you could all go to this bar and just drink and get on the piss. And so there were moments where you're in this bar and you walk in and he's like Metallica, there's the Stripes, there's Chemical Brothers, there's you know, it's wild, like a bar like this, and you're just like. This is the most fucked up situation.
Speaker 1:And I remember having an incredible in-depth conversation with James Hetfield from Metallica and he had his bodyguard there and his bodyguard is this big Maori dude who at that time had been with him for 11 years. And the reason why? Because I asked him about it and he's like, well, and the reason why because I asked him about it. I said like whoa, and he's like well, because James had just stopped drinking alcohol at that point. And I was like wow, man, you know your bodyguard. And he was saying yeah, well, the bodyguard is basically to stop James from beating people up Because of it, that's what James said.
Speaker 2:He said, you know.
Speaker 1:I just drink and beat people up, so it's just stuff like that. So the big day out for me was next level. It was one of the most incredible tours you could get on. You know Foo Fighters, all that kind of stuff. They were all there on this tour and you'd rub shoulders with these guys backstage and girls and it was just like what this year this is crazy. So you know I miss those days.
Speaker 2:They were great festivals yeah, did you get to have like a little bit of personal connection with with any of those big bands, or were they pretty like?
Speaker 1:well, what was cool is like this is a cool story. Um, so, james, I met james hetfield and we were talking at that party for a bit and then he was asking what I did, as I was in this moment this band somewhere and we kind of play, you know, dub, reggae, jungle, drum, bass, rock, punk, all mixed together and he was really interested in it. And then, anyway, we did adelaide and then we did perth. And when we did perth, um, I've been rocking out in the boiler room and then my sound man was there and we're rocking out and then standing next to him was lars erlich and james heapfield watching us play.
Speaker 1:And I'm going, what the fuck is this? This is the reality I'm in right now and they're like nodding away doing their thing. It's crazy. But the cool thing is they turned up right when we did the peak of our set, when we were doing the most gruntiest, heaviest in-your-face piece. So I'm glad they turned up for that part and not the love songs that we were doing, and it was just a mind-blowing experience seeing that happen. And so there's stuff like that and that's the cool thing about this music thing it takes you off on these adventures that you just don't even think are possible. For sure, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:So a big part of course that we like to try and sort of shed a bit of light on is the music industry's made up. Obviously obvious love of musicians, venues and music lovers these are what I believe are the three most important aspects of music. Of course you got business and all that sort of stuff, but without those three there's really not much to work with, right? If you, if you have no venues or you know, when I say venues I'm just any venue, any me. A venue is a place to play music. It doesn't matter if it's in a field or whatever it is. And the thing that we want to sort of shine the light on, especially in today's forecast of the music industry, is, I guess, how people can just improve a little bit on those aspects, on how they can show up and how they can support the music industry, because there's obviously a lot of struggle.
Speaker 2:You've probably heard the amount of festivals shutting down, left riding centre and venues. I think last year there was in Australia. There's 4,500 venues and I think 1,200 closed last year, and these are appropriate venues, so they're actual paying venues towards artists and everything. One of the things, yeah, again, is to just shine a bit of light on that. So if you could talk to not just one venue but all sort of venues and give some advice on how they can embrace the music industry, embrace artists, both small and upcoming, what would you say to just all the venues out there?
Speaker 1:To the venues. Gee man, it's tough. You know, I used to own a pub as well, so I know how tough that is. For sure what pub? It's called the Grand in Palmerston North. It was great. It was one of those impulsive buys. I don't want to talk about it. No, it was great. Just after you met James Hetfield you're like I'm going to buy a pub. Yeah, I'm going to buy a pub. Yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 1:As I said, everything's a pendulum like this, these ups and downs. I think it always starts off with the community and the culture and it falls also on musicians as well, like, yeah, for sure, venues, but musicians if they can support each other and if they can go to each other's gigs and if they can collaborate and if they can try to build some sort of scene and culture whether to start off with your close friends and then it goes out to their friends and their friends that is how it all starts and that is how, how I think you can really create a healthy community within that space. And now venues are and artists need to connect to and they need to work together on how to do that. At the end of the day, people want to come and experience something whether it be music, um, and and meet new people, hang out with old friends. So venues create a space for that to happen. And so the fee. If we can kind of get all of those things lining up together and also be prepared to, you know, sometimes it might be okay. Do we drop ticket prices down so people can afford it, so that when they come here they can have a bit of extra money to buy some booze, because booze is expensive? Now, right, and that's the alcohol industry just squeezing a little more out, a little more out and adding things up, and so the venues have to then bump their prices up so that they can at least break even and try to pay the staff and the hire and the power and all the things that go on. So it's a tough situation to be in and it's like everything's getting squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.
Speaker 1:And so if you can create a community and if you can create a healthy community where people can support each other and support each other's bands and support the venues, and if the venues can also maybe look at, okay, well, how can we?
Speaker 1:Because you want bums on seats. At the end of the day, for me, when I do gigs I try to keep my tickets as low as possible because I'd rather play to a packed house where people have a little bit extra money to have a good time, get some food, get some drinks, and then put my prices up and then possibly go oh shit, you know, we haven't paid. So you kind of got to look at things like that as well. At the end of the day, you want to play to people and you've got to get the people there. Some people can be such, you know, just moaning, moaning, moaning, moaning people about ticket prices, about this, about that, and it's like, oh no, you know. So it's a tricky balance to find, but I believe if you can find that and working with venues and everything and artists and build that community, then you can really you've got something positive to start with, for sure.
Speaker 2:So that's just amazing advice, bro. Sure, 100 and that's. And you know we're talking about people now, right, so your venues, music, now for the punters, um, you know what's. You know, obviously, one thing I know is um, music efficacy or crowd efficacy, you know, showing up on time, um, showing up and supporting the support acts instead of just coming for the main acts and that sort of stuff. You know, I think it's really important that people understand the amount that goes into a show and that it's it's an entire machine that needs to all be there to work for the, for the greater good, right off the music industry. Uh, if you could say anything to just you know, again, it's not about individual people, but it's just about audiences, to get them more engaged and more supportive.
Speaker 2:Again, back to that support word. Again back into supporting the industry and supporting not only their local scene, because of course it's full of all different industries. But how can people show up to complete it? Because it's a holy trinity, right, and if one of those pieces is sort of you know out, then it makes that like that magic. On Friday that was that the holy trinity was on everything, it was all there. If you could just say to, yeah, your average, your average person is going to a gig like hey, like give him a hand clap, or you know what I mean. Show up on time, we can show some love for the support, or you know, whatever it might be. What could you say to the average punter?
Speaker 1:Well, I'd say, you know I'll take it from an artist's point of view and you know when people turn up early. So if you're a support act, you know first, second, whatever it is, third, boom, boom. If you turn up as a punter to see some of these acts, at the start it just fucking means the world. You know what I mean. It's the simplest thing you could do is just turn up early and just to be there. Even if you're not dancing, even if you're not like, you're just there. It gives us a like oh, wow, we can. You know we can play, you know it feels good. It's like, wow, okay, all this work that we've done as a band or an artist, all these things we've done to build this show up, to be able to do it, we can now do it with some real energy because people are here. So that is pretty much the simplest thing, yeah, that you can do as a punter and it's just get there, get there early and support the support acts and the local acts and get excited by that. But get excited by going to see something you've never seen before and be open to that, because you know people have worked hard and put a lot on the line to create their music and their uniqueness and their sound. And wouldn't it be cool to go see a band that you haven't heard of and you see them and get blown away to the point you're going to go, I'm going to go see them next time, I'm going to follow them on Instagram, I'm going to make note of these guys and then next time I'm going to bring three friends and you go, I'm going to do that, and then you help create that fan base and you're essentially helping these artists feel good enough and confident enough to keep doing it and keep making music and keep putting their soul and their heart on the line, and it's a beautiful thing to be able to do.
Speaker 1:Imagine if that band blew up and you're like I was there for their first, second, third gig. You know what I mean, and it's just speed. You're to help you and you are a part of that. You're actually a part of that process of helping this band manifest their dreams, and I think that's really important and it's something really easy that punters can do. If you're going to be spending all this money on tickets, you should be like you go out for a meal, right? Yeah, you know, here's the entree. It's like you don't just sort of go out for me. I'm going, no thanks, straight to the dessert you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like it's like the whole thing sometimes the entree is the best part of the meal or the flavor in there. Yes, and it's like you know, get out there, guys. It's really easy to do, like, just plan your night two hours earlier instead of going. Oh, I'm leaving it late and getting there at 9 pm, so you miss all the support acts, and you see. So just get out early, just do it. And not only that, you're supporting the bar, you're supporting the bar and all the people that work behind the bar and the bar staff and everything like that. And so, yeah, just get onto it.
Speaker 2:For sure, man, and I think one of the things missing from the music industry is that exploration, that explorative fan base where they just want to explore new music. You know, like people are in their comfort zone, right, they're like I want to see something that I know is going to be good. And I think that that part where people aren't exploring new artists, new upcoming artists, and just going for, like with the blindness of just what's going to happen, you know, I feel like that's a bit missing from the culture of music, like would you say, sort of For sure, and that's just because of the way that we consume music.
Speaker 1:Now Everything is on the phone Swipe, swipe, swipe, there it is, there it is. You're never going to, you know, get the full experience until you're actually there in the moment watching the band perform, and that is the most coolest thing ever. So I think you know this is the way technology is. It's kind of put us into this very a lot of people, into this very safe bubble of like eh, you know? Eh, instead of quite lazy. To be honest, maybe that's not the right word, but that could be the word.
Speaker 2:Could be the word. It could be the word Overwhelmed, maybe Overwhelmed.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of noise out there. There's a lot of stuff. There's a lot of stuff coming at you, but yeah it's just an interesting time to be alive. There's so many positives with the internet and also there's some weird stuff with the internet and it can create interesting behaviors for people.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And possibly one of the behaviors that's not so good is that complacency and that laziness and that entitlement. Maybe yeah, I'm not too sure, I'm just riffing here and so, as I said back in the day, people would turn up early to see these bands and they would want to see the first, second, third band, because that was the only place you could hear their music. It was the only place. And now we're sport for choice because everything's here on the phone. We could just YouTube it, we could Spotify, apple Music it's all there. Tiktok, whatever it is, it's all there. So maybe that technology has taken some of that I don't know that drive to go out and seek things possibly but it's also helped people too.
Speaker 1:On the flip side of that, it's helped artists get discovered. They might put up a cover or something and that blows up and all of a sudden people are going oh my god, this is the best cover I've ever heard. And then they start playing the original songs and then that blows up. So you know you've got to try and you know there's no right or wrong way, but the the way to help support the scene is to get body bums on seat. Get here, get here early, and and and um, you know you'll, you'll be making that support act. You'll be making the day If you turn up early and go. Yay, never seen you guys before, but I'm here to check it out, and afterwards you can go. Amazing, that was so cool. I love what you're doing. Oh man, I'm going to come to your next gig, you know, and that means the world to people, musicians yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we're going to do, we're coming, we're coming up close to just wrapping this up, but what we want to do is give just five quick tips out to an upcoming musician. What's what's your five? What's your five besties?
Speaker 1:Far out for my besties Don't be a dick.
Speaker 2:I think I talked about it. We covered that one.
Speaker 1:That's the number one. I often do talks with mentoring at schools and stuff like that. One of the sayings I like to say is you can't fly like an eagle. If you're knocking around with turkeys, that's a good one. That could be across the whole five. At the end of the day, it's all about the circle of friends and the people you surround yourself with.
Speaker 1:You can't achieve greatness if you're hanging out with people who are pulling you down or just grumpy and negative and just always blaming everybody else and everything else except for not you know, not taking ownership of this shit and all the cool things I've done.
Speaker 1:I've been a Turkey many times, right Cause I've been in that Turkey space, um. And I've also been an Eagle and flown to the most highest peaks of my entire life because I've been supported by amazing Eagles and people have done amazing things. So if you can stick with that and if you can surround yourself by positive people who celebrate your wins, who elevate you and you can also elevate them and celebrate their wins and give positive energy, then you can create greatness from that that. But if you're on this low level frequency where you're blaming everything and blaming the industry and blaming everyone, then you're not going to get anywhere. You're going to stay down there in the manifesto, yeah, yeah. So if you can always try to rise up above that, then that's it, and that's probably the only tips I'll give you don't be a dick and try and fly like an eagle, not like a turkey yeah.
Speaker 1:There you go.
Speaker 2:And obviously One of the other things that we want to go around, obviously, you know, like a A dream, because you know You've done a lot, you've mixed, you've worked with 660, which has, which has been An awesome thing. Is there a band that you like Dream that you could do an album with? Do the album. I'm sure there is.
Speaker 1:Yeah but they've all died.
Speaker 2:Jeff Buckley. Oh my God, that was my next question, jimi.
Speaker 1:Hendrix, bob Marley. Oh man, they've all died, dude. No, but um, that was my next question after this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've done some cool stuff. Um, you know, over here, because we're in Australia, produced and helped write Dylan Frost from Sticky Fingers. I did his solo EP. That was really cool because I'm a fan of Sticky Fingers, so that was really cool. Also, you know, it would be really cool to work with. I'm just interested to work with anybody, anybody who's on the same vibe, whether they're established or unestablished, it doesn't matter, just as long as I'm all about feeling the energy and it's all about the intent as well, and I just love being in a studio of people and creating stuff. And that whole beautiful thing of like creating something out of nothing into a format that people can listen to and people can rock out to is just an incredible thing. So, um, yeah, I don't have anybody off the top of my head yeah yeah, just it, just, you know, it's just.
Speaker 1:It's a great thing to do music and it's given me so much amazing experiences and met so many awesome people like yourself and you know the Gypsy Bandits over there, young Bloods, yes, and everybody else, and also this venue here shouts out to this venue looking forward to playing in here as well. So, yeah, that's, that's all I got, guys, that's all I got.
Speaker 2:And my last thing man is Dead. Celebrities like you just talked about. You could. That's all I got. Guys, that's all I got. And my last thing man is dead. Celebrities like you just talked about yeah, you could have a dinner with any dead celebrity. Jimi Jimi Hendrix, jimi Hendrix, absolutely. And you have questions, or are you just jamming?
Speaker 1:I would just be like we'll jam, for sure, jam. Yeah, I'll just have lots of questions, but he was just so cool the way that he played that guitar, the way that he progressed it into an area that no one else had done. He was light years ahead and his dress, his fashion, the way he was, was just super cool and this is such a shame that he passed away as early as he did. But, holy heck, he just lit a fire. He lit a fire under so many people, especially me as a young kid. When I first heard of Jimi Hendrix, I was pretty young maybe 9, 10, and we were going, whoa, you know what I mean. What is this guy On another level? Whoa, so you know. So yeah, I'll just be happy just to sit with him in his space and just not even ask anything, just watch him play.
Speaker 1:Oh man, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been an absolute amazing opportunity and conversation that we've had. I really appreciate you taking the time to come here and you know, like we didn't obviously get into why we're here from this afternoon, but that's okay, man, like it's cool. I'm looking forward to tonight and back to just taking your advice off, just going with the changes and and being fluid and all that sort of stuff you know, and, um, we'll do that for sure tonight and have an awesome gig and and all that sort of stuff. Man, I appreciate you. I appreciate you, bro, no worries, thank you, yeah, man thank you bless up, bless up, peace fly, eagles fly.