The Johnjay Van Es Podcast
From the mastermind behind one of the most popular morning shows in the country, Johnjay Van Es brings his signature blend of curiosity, humor, and fearless honesty to the podcast world. If you’ve ever had a question on your mind but were too afraid to ask, don’t worry—Johnjay’s got you covered.
With hilarious, jaw-dropping conversations, amazing guests, and the inside scoop on everything you actually care about, this show is a wild ride through the stories you’ve never heard and the truths nobody else dares to say. Whether it’s celebrities, trendsetters, or just the most interesting people on the planet, nothing is off-limits, and no question is too bold.
Come for the interviews. Stay for the insanity. This is the podcast you’ll be talking about. Don’t miss it!
The Johnjay Van Es Podcast
15-Year-Old Recker Eans Now Pop Star — Here’s How!
What happens when a 15-year-old turns raw talent into a real music career without losing himself? We sit down with Recker Eans and his firefighter dad to hear the story from birthday drum kits to a Republic Records deal and a boy band boot camp with choreographers behind Justin Bieber and Janet Jackson.
We cover early Disney gigs, intense dance and vocal sessions, and how Wrecker stays true to himself while navigating contracts, stylists, and stage life. Family keeps it grounded—dad’s lessons in discipline, mom in the trenches, and trust that turns hard work into results.
If you love teen talent, behind-the-scenes music stories, or just want to know how a boy band really works, this episode is for you.
Follow, share, and leave a review with your favorite moment.
Okay, so welcome to our podcast. This is a little bit different today because this podcast is a spin-off of our radio show. We just start and talking. We just go. So thanks. Thanks for jumping on my podcast. So I was gonna say so uh I don't really like um do a lot of research, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:I just kind of like start to like talk and find things out.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But because you are very young, right? What are you, 15?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I'm 15.
SPEAKER_02:So I went to your Instagram yesterday and uh I was I was there was just so much information on Instagram and I got mad at myself because I was like, man, why did I do that? I just want to find things out about you, but because I was nervous because you're 15. Yeah, and then I saw in your story something that I was like it it pumped me up. And I was gonna ask you about this on your stories, but I was gonna ask you about your dad because I saw the video where you were like driving and you're like all excited to come home and see your dad. Oh my gosh, yes. Right now, I'm a dad of three boys. So for me, it was cool to see you excited to see your dad. Oh yeah, and then when the driveway opens up and your dad's like cool with tattoos and stuff, I was like, this is real, I can't wait to get into this. So tell me about your relationship with your dad.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, yeah, so basically I'll give you the whole rundown. We've been in LA for six months, seven months now, just working, and my dad's been home. He's a firefighter, and he's been basically affording for us to live out there because me and my mom bought a place out there and we've been working out there, and she's there with me. And so my dad has to pay the bills and stuff. So my dad works from home and I haven't seen him in like forever. I stop by in Arizona like every once in a while. I'll come for like my brother had a baby, and then we came home for Thanksgiving, and now we're here for Christmas. So, like, and but it's like really quick, and I this is like the longest time I've been home for like a long time, and so it's just I love my dad so much. He's like my hero. Like, he's taught me how to go out into the world and be a gentleman and be respectful and like work hard and get what you want, and like yeah, I just yeah, he's the best. I love my dad. So it was it was cool, like, and he always he loves how do I put this? Like not overdo things, but you love to like get like there was for an example, like we went to a gas station one time, and like without me even asking, he got my favorite candy. Like he'll do things we you don't even have to ask. So, like he goes the next level. So, like, we got home and did he made that whole entire paper thing. He did the lights, he did everything, and like he did that for me and my mom. He didn't have to do that, he did it though.
SPEAKER_02:So that was you and your mom coming home together. Yeah, that was me and my mom coming home together. What is your favorite candy for the gas station?
SPEAKER_00:Ooh, my favorite candy. It changes a lot.
SPEAKER_02:So, what did he get you that day?
SPEAKER_00:I think it was a Snickers. I think it was a Snickers.
SPEAKER_02:So, in a way, though, he's contributing to your tooth decay. So maybe that's not so great.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02:Justin, can you pop down with us? Can you sit down? Sit up, set up, sit up, set up. Because I think I guess I I got a lot of questions for you, but also the dad point of view.
SPEAKER_00:Heck yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Right? So check, check, check. Yeah, you're in, brother. How did that make you feel when you saw him? When you I mean when you saw that video, like yeah, it's it's super sweet.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, you know, you don't do things for you know to get recognition. Like, that's just who I am. Like, I like doing things for my kids, my family. Like how many kids you have? Uh three. So um his brothers are my stepkids. Uh-huh, they're 28 twins. One just had a baby, one just got married this year. Oh, wow. And then Rex's doing his thing. So it's been a a crazy year. Um, but no, I mean, that's probably why like I'm a firefighter, that public service thing. Like, I like giving back. Everyone loves a firefighter. Yeah, you know where a firefighter for who? Uh Tempe.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, for Tempe? Yeah. My nephew-in-law is a firefighter for Phoenix.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And my son, my my son when he was 21, he really he was gonna go wanted to be a Marine, then he wanted to be a firefighter. So they took him on a on a ride, on a ride-along. And I think in one day he saw it all.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Like, I guess you know, it's he went on a fire, he went on a car accident, he went on whatever, and he was yeah, he was pretty traumatized.
SPEAKER_03:That's kind of how I was. I went the first day and I I raced BMX growing up, and so did like the X games a couple times, and like all I was doing was riding my bike and just thought life was good, and then I did a ride-along and saw it was a crazy day like that. Right. And in my head, I go, people are dying everywhere. Like, I need to learn at least CPR. Yeah, I get triggered, and like that weekend I found a CPR class just so I had it. I was like, Man, I'm kind of naive to the world here, you know. And then it just then I started going to school for that stuff. But how long have you been a firefighter? 20 years. Are you from here? Yep, born and raised. Where'd you high school? Ironwood, and then I graduated from Mountain Ridge.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, right on, man. Claremont or Chandler. Channel I'm not okay. Okay, so how did this happen? Like, how do you get how do you I've seen the videos you play in the drums, I've seen, I've seen so much I want to get to, but how how do you get to where you are? How do you what like when did you start?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so basically, music has been in our household forever. Like we've been a music family, like he said, he's X Games like BMX, like our family's been extreme sports, and with goes with sports, goes with music. So we've always been listening to that stuff, and for my fifth birthday, I asked for a drum set. I don't know why. I've we've been to concerts forever, but I just wanted a drum set for my fifth birthday. And that day kind of changed my life. I practiced every day. I he found this place called School of Rock. I started taking lessons. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I learned the guitar, bass, I learned how to play keys, I learned how to sing, kind of, and then now I know how to sing. But um, yeah, I that day, like I just don't know what clicked in me. I've been to live shows, like my mom, when she was pregnant with me, like she would take me to shows, and she said like I'd be like kicking and stuff. So I feel like I've always had rhythm and just music in me. And I feel like that was like my way of expressing myself.
SPEAKER_02:Are you a drummer? Like, do you say you're a drummer?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I I say I'm a drummer.
SPEAKER_02:So you did take drum lessons? Yes, I took drum lessons. Because I saw you going to town in one of your videos, and I was like, dang, dude.
SPEAKER_03:We got the kit, and then I was like, all right, if I'm gonna have this noisy instrument in the house, like let's make sure we know how to play it. Right. And he was pretty much a bat, like hold a rhythm, and I was like, all right, maybe he's got something here. And then the school at the time didn't take kids that young.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, this is actually a cool story. So, like, sorry. No, you're good.
SPEAKER_03:But um so polite.
SPEAKER_00:School of rock, we went there and yeah, they didn't take kids. I was five. They were like, we don't take kids that young. And my dad was like, Can you just try it? And the guy was like, All right, we'll just do like a trial lesson. 45 minutes later, I come back, and they're like, Yeah, he's good. And now every school of rock takes kids from that age and beyond. So I kind of started like the Is School of Rock the Alice Cooper thing or the other one?
SPEAKER_02:There's two different things. That's right. School of Rock did a so we do a we do um, my wife and I have a dog rescue. We do this huge festival once a year, and we have big bands play. And this is the first year that a month ago we had uh three bands from School of Rock play, open up the act the whole show. That's awesome. Yeah, it was it was a pretty big that's really good we had gym class heroes, um we had who else?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, that was the one uh did you work with Katya? Yeah, yeah. Um Riot Knight. Yeah, yeah. She's a great friend of ours. She's awesome. She is? Yeah, she's uh he's played Riot Knight, her venue, the show that she puts on at Rock Bar. Oh yeah, Rock Bar. Yeah, yeah. So she's the best.
SPEAKER_00:I've played that place a couple of times. So are you serious? Yeah, she's great.
SPEAKER_03:It's funny because he'll be in there and like everyone's obviously drinking over age, and he's this I mean you played what at like 11 or 12, and people are like they would walk in and they're like, why the hell is there a kid here? And then I just wait, and then he jumps up on the stage. But are you just drumming or are you?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I did like a DJ set. I would drum, and me and my producer Shay, we would come up with it's like uh we take like a bunch of like the emo songs and then pack them into one thing, and I would just drum over them. And then I would hop on the guitar, play guitar for one song, and then I hop back on the it's a really sick show.
SPEAKER_02:Are you still doing that? Or you've evolved now because you're in LA doing stuff? Yeah, kind of. Oh, I would have loved to have seen that at Rock Bar.
SPEAKER_00:I definitely haven't like grown out of it, but it's definitely like on to the next thing, wherever the wind takes me.
SPEAKER_02:Because rock bar, they also they do fundraisers for our dog rescue. Okay. They have like the the Eagles, the Philadelphia Eagles have got a club and they do whatever they're once a week and they raise all this money for our dog rescue. That's so cool. And uh man, I and man, that's wild that you're there all the time. I can't wait till my wife's gonna be so excited. So now you're in LA. Like that that had was there a conversation? Something happened to be like, like you're like, hey, we gotta get him out to LA for him to launch to be what he's gotta be. Everyone always starts with in LA, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and it wasn't even like we went out there, it was just projects came up. So he was on the Disney show working with Selena Gomez Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Was that the the one 10 years later or whatever? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so uh he was a guest star for four episodes on that. And then we had been in talks with this producer who was putting this band together since like March, and then that just kind of came to fruition right when that show ended. And so they started their boot camp for that band um for like five, six months.
SPEAKER_02:That's the thing I I think I saw you playing or talking about the single or playing a clip of it on your Instagram, right? So what's the band called? JYT, just your type. Okay, good. Is that is there anybody involved in that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so it's me and four other boys, it's a boy band. Um, it were assigned to Republic Records, and we're signed to uh this producer by the name of Freddie Wexler. He's done he's like a multi-platinum producer, and he basically put this band together, but also we kind of like chose each other. So like we all like mutuals, like everybody kind of recommended each other. And um, yeah, it's been like six month boot camp and just yeah, it's crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Is any of it being filmed? Yeah, it's not is it gonna be a show?
SPEAKER_00:It's gonna be a docu-series, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:On YouTube, yeah, because you know the um the Simon Cowell just dropped that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, it's funny, without knowing I was gonna talk to you. I was talking about this. Nothing against Simon Cowell, but I watched it and I was like, I don't think this band has it. Like One Direction, you could tell that band had it. Yeah, and the hook to your song, I liked it a lot. I was like, and plus you've got he's got a thing, you know it. He's got a thing. You got a you got it, you got the you got the X factor, bro. You got well thank you. But plus I'm a little biased. I mean, yeah, you know, he's got it though. Plus, you can't deny uh or look at you know the the Bieber comparisons, right? You get that must get that a lot.
SPEAKER_00:I get that a lot, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:We were his first interview, Bieber's first interview ever in the radio was on our radio show.
SPEAKER_00:You're joking.
SPEAKER_02:No, we're we're actually in his first movie.
SPEAKER_00:That's amazing.
SPEAKER_02:I know, I know. That's so cool. And then he we had him on the phone, and then he came in and he broke his leg. So he was in pajamas and he had a cast on his leg.
SPEAKER_00:I remember that. I've seen pictures of that.
SPEAKER_02:He was like 16. He came into our studio and hung out, and then same with Selena Gomez, too. We had her on bat many, many times. Wow, that's so cool.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, Bieber's choreographer is their choreographer, Nick DeMura. Yeah, really? Nick DeMora, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:He um so yeah, we've been working with Nick DeMora this entire boot camp, and he was Justin's choreographer and dancer and creative director. And so he's been like teaching us and getting a bunch of his buddies in, and Jay Blaze, who's Chris Brown's choreographer, and Tucker Barkley, who's done Janet Jackson, and like a bunch of people, Britney Spears. So he's getting like all his buddies together, and they all worked with Justin on like purpose tour and stuff.
SPEAKER_03:So you got all the parts, right? It's crazy, yeah. The people they're working with and songwriters and stuff. It's crazy. So where in LA are you guys?
SPEAKER_00:Um, we're in North Hollywood.
SPEAKER_03:Uh huh.
SPEAKER_00:Um, is it Burbank? Yeah, right on the North Hollywood Burbank area.
SPEAKER_03:Have you been there? Do you have to go out there a lot or every once in a while? I try to go as much as I can. Do you guys bought a place there? Well, I mean, signed a lease kind of partners.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Yeah. And so then is it every day you're doing stuff with the band?
SPEAKER_00:Every day. Wake up, dance for like six hours, do singing, record in the studio, do interviews, do like music videos, like everything.
SPEAKER_02:When's the song officially come out?
SPEAKER_00:Though, so what you want is out now.
SPEAKER_02:It is.
SPEAKER_00:It's out now, and then we have a new single coming out, end of January-ish.
SPEAKER_02:JYT.
SPEAKER_00:JYT, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Just your type.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That's are you loving this? It's awesome, man. They got the swagger. It's it's a funny transition. It's cool because you know, he grew up in like the punk rock metal world and he's played with all these different bands, toured. He's got songs that he wrote and produced with different artists that kind of are the spectrum like hip-hop. He did stuff with futuristics that's from Arizona, um, dropout kings that were from here. Yeah, like trap metal stuff, um, sorry X, um, Authority Zero, Jason Zmoore did a song with him. And so it's like such a transition going into like the pop world, you know, and singing and dancing and stuff. So I we kind of talked about it. I was like, be prepared. You're probably gonna get some haters that are like, dude, where's the drumming thing? And I go, I was 15, it was like, do everything.
SPEAKER_00:I was talking about it. I was like, I've never in my entire life would I chose to be in a boy band. I would have never chosen that. And like me, I've always been the person uh to like set goals, and this is actually not good, but like I've set goals and like I have to do it by this age, this, this, and I've kind of just like let that go and be like, I'm just gonna go wherever it takes me. And it's like, I in my eyes, everything happens for a reason. So like I get this call and come out to LA and be a part of this project. Well, let's see what this is about. And if it feels right and I go with my gut feeling, then it it it then it's right for me. So, like the people that like my true fans, and I was going through some of my comments um the other day on like a post I did, and like people were like, I'm your day one, like I've been here, and I'm I'm like, I appreciate those people that like have gone through the journey of like heavy metal drummer punk rock, and now he's in a boy band. Like, that's the other end of the spectrum, and they're still with me. So I think that was like the most important part I was trying to get across, like that I really appreciate those people that like have just like me, not what I do. Like, they just like me as a human being.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but you also got to be prepared for the haters and not pay attention to them because they're gonna no matter my dad used to tell me, no matter how big you get, people always want to bring you down. Yep, you know, but also you know, enjoy it too. Yeah, so you say you have your goals, did you write them down?
SPEAKER_00:Or yeah, I have I have a journal, I write my goals down, I write my goals down for the day, and I write my goals down for the week, and I write if I did my goal for the day and what I need to work on. Where'd you get that from? Uh my mom my mom was like, um, she had this notebook. She was like, because LA, the industry in general is like, it's a it's crazy, it's an insane place. Like I I've been in the industry for a while, but not like this. And you lose yourself. Like you get caught in things and you're like, what is happening? What is happening with me? What is happening with them? Like I've learned so much in the past six months than I have in my entire life. And so you lose like track of like what you really are here for. And so my mom was noticing it, and she was like, Here's this, you need to sit down and journal every day. And I was like, Okay. And so I started doing it, and I I feel like it's really helped, like setting goals. It's incredible.
SPEAKER_02:The fact that you're doing it at 15 is fantastic. It's gonna be a game changer for you, especially when you write down your goals and you oh yeah, you start hitting them and you start seeing it works.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, it keeps myself in check. Like I noticed, I think I've been doing it for like I think I've been doing it for like five months now, and I noticed like two times I didn't hit my goal, and I was like, damn it. Like I was so upset with myself. But um, then the next day I'm just gonna get right back to it.
SPEAKER_02:You're so well spoken for 15, right? I mean, have you talked like that at 15? No. I mean, I was like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I've definitely learned it from him. He's I like I said, he's taught me everything. So is my mom.
SPEAKER_02:What about school? Are you going to school?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I I'm this is the first year I've been homeschooled. I've been to public school my entire life. I love school. I love learning. And so this was the first year that I was like, I can't go to public school anymore. I'll get in trouble. So I had to go to homeschool. I had to do online school. I'm still enrolled in the school here, just on the online version. So, which is cool. I s can still go to like dances, games, and stuff, which I would love to. Um, I haven't yet.
SPEAKER_02:Are you playing any sports?
SPEAKER_00:Um, for fun. Nothing.
SPEAKER_03:But I would assume the exercise is the dancing, right? Oh my gosh, yeah. But they still hit the gym. It's cool. All the kids live in the same complex. Oh, they do? And so like they'll go to the gym either before they go and whatever.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So well, you would assume that just judging by other people, I mean, your path is your path. You're you're gonna go your own path. But but the way you look at it, it's like the boy band and then the breakout.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_02:Right. And it's uh I don't know if you put that in your goals, but oh yeah, I mean, I could clearly see you doing a solo thing too, which it's it's I mean, it's a great story.
SPEAKER_00:I would love to. I mean, I've oh yeah, that's kind of my dream. I feel like the boy boon would just be like a stepping stone. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And totally from 15 to 19 or 15 and then you go solo and then you do stadium tours. Like, are you watching the Taylor Swift documentary? Have you seen it yet?
SPEAKER_00:No, I have not, but I've seen I've like seen it on Disney Plus the advertisement. I have to watch it though.
SPEAKER_02:She's dropped four episodes, I've seen all four already, and I think it's episode three. It starts off, and you probably have this footage. It starts off I mean, her being a little like opening up the present and it's a guitar. Yeah. And then you see her strum in it, and she's like five.
SPEAKER_00:He has the video and you open up the drum set, and I'm like, what?
SPEAKER_02:Right. And then you see like Bieber's last album. I think he sampled himself in the album playing drums when he was like four. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that right there, that whole beat thing. Yeah, because you know, when I I I've been talking to Tyler, our producer, for a while about you popping on, right? He was telling me about you, and I was like, that'd be cool. Let's get some drums in here, right? And then and then I thought, uh, hopefully I can talk to you again because I did I had a couple surprises for you that I was working on. Um, one being, you know who Frankie Muniz is? Yeah. Frankie was in a show called Malcolm in the Middle.
SPEAKER_03:He drives to NASCAR now.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he drives to NASCAR. Really? He he also but he made a bunch of movies, Cody Banks. He did, he was a huge child star. Huge child started. Yeah, really. He was and a lot of child stars crash and burn.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:He didn't. Part of that is because of his dad. He says a lot of his dad. And he moved to Arizona and he moved down the street from me. So we play basketball every once in a while. But one of the things he did, um, he got it, he became a drummer in a band. And he and the band toured around the United States, and he was it was a lot of fun watching the band play. And now he's got I think they're doing a Malcolm in the Middle of Revival and he drives from NASCAR. But I at one point I thought it'd be great to get him in here and talk to you because he he stayed clean. Yeah, he's never sipped technically alcohol, yeah, he never did drugs. In fact, he has a tattoo, it says zero on his arm because he's done zero bad things. Um, but he's a hell of a drummer. Yeah, that's awesome. I don't know. Surprise with this. Then here's the other surprise. That was one surprise. And now that I say it, it will probably never happen. This next one is a long shot. This is a long shot, but I set up two friends of mine, a guy and a girl, on a date. Right? They hit it off. They're all, I think they're engaged, they live together. Her brother-in-law, so I look at it like she owes me a favor. Her brother-in-law is Lars from freaking Metallic. Yeah, and I thought I had it all in my head already. Like he would be standing behind a curtain over here. We have drum set, and I talked to you about it, and then he'd come in and so I was, but uh that's a favor I gotta pull. But hey man, I set you guys up.
SPEAKER_03:That's right. Right. Got one in the bag, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Pull that card. So who have you met so far in the in the famous world? Obviously, Slime Gomez.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um, well, I have to go back. The kids to Night Show days.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's true too.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, when I did the Kids to Night Show years ago.
SPEAKER_02:Kids to Nitro Kids in Nitro?
SPEAKER_00:The Kids Tonight Show.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, the Kids Tonight Show.
SPEAKER_00:The Tonight, the kids version of the Tonight Show. Well, then what was that?
SPEAKER_02:That was like a Jimmy Fallon thing?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I worked with Jimmy Fallon for like two months, and we had a place in New York.
SPEAKER_03:It was on Peacock. They did like 20, 20 some episodes, and it was a rock.
SPEAKER_00:Rockefeller Center every day for work with my mom. Were you the host? Yeah, I was a co-host with a bunch a bunch of kids and we interviewed a bunch of select.
SPEAKER_03:Three other kids. They actually got nominated for an Emmy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's how I have the Emmy nomination because of that show.
SPEAKER_03:Is it does it exist anymore?
SPEAKER_02:It's still on there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's still just one season, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Like why wouldn't they do it again and again and again?
SPEAKER_00:Just didn't do what they needed it to do, I guess.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think they promoted it very well because I've never heard of it.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think what the issue was was they put it on a network that was just starting. They should have done it on NBC, but when P when we released that show, Peacock was just developing.
SPEAKER_03:You're right.
SPEAKER_00:So it wasn't really a big platform everyone was calling it.
SPEAKER_03:COVID was just kind of coming to an end, but there were still all the restrictions. So it was very good.
SPEAKER_00:We were on set with shields and masks and everything.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, they should redo that, man, because that's a great idea.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, it was set was candy, and we interviewed a bunch of celebrities, Kristen Bell, Matthew McConaughey. Oh, no way. Um my God.
SPEAKER_02:But was it like you were the Jimmy Fallon, or there's several kids that were there?
SPEAKER_00:Several Jimmy Fallons. I was like the Jimmy Fallon and Questlove. I played the drums on the show as well.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, yeah, this cool custom like jelly bean kit that SJC drums made for him. So he was in the corner, the other kids were on the couch, and then they would kind of take turns and split off.
SPEAKER_00:Interview questions.
SPEAKER_03:Interview, and then they would play games with the host for the guest. Did you keep in contact, like I mean, with the Jimmy Fallon type of person? Or did you?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I mean Yeah, mom still talks to his sister.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we still talk to Jimmy Fallon's sister, and um, I still talk with one of the co-hosts. We play like Oculus together, so yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And they were on the Tonight Show twice, once to promote it, and then they brought the kids back for like a Memorial Day or something. Um they did like a hot dog.
SPEAKER_00:Madonna walked right by me. He was like so tiny, and I was yeah, it was crazy. And then um Batman and Michael Keaton. Michael Keaton was there. Wow, it was crazy, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um bunch of people. You said you said Madonna and who else? Oh uh Bummer Pump. Uh that's a guy that you connect with, Ryan Tetter. Ryan Tetter, yeah. I actually genius.
SPEAKER_00:Fun fact, he he wanted to audition me for another boy band.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, really?
SPEAKER_00:She wanted to audition for with him and Scooter Braun. They wanted to, and I was like, I'm already in this one.
SPEAKER_02:So you had already signed up with this band? Yeah. That's nuts. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Bunch of kids got it. Some of the other kids in the band, too. They were trying to audition everyone.
SPEAKER_02:What made you got what made you lock in with JYT? Like and Republic? I mean Was it Republic putting it together? Freddie Wexler was putting it together. Well, Freddie Wexler sounds familiar to me. He's done Selena, Justin, Gaga, right.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, um, Blackpink, Jonas Brothers, like everyone. God, so you're surrounded by uh oh my god.
SPEAKER_02:Well, what made you pick them? Like what what what made you say yes to that group of people?
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, um, this is actually a cool story. I was on a I was on a Disney project, and I can't, I mean, I could talk about it now. It was the Mickey Mouse Club, it was the reboot. Um it never got picked up, but we did a pilot, and we were waiting for it to get picked up, and we got the call from Freddie, and we were literally driving six hours from our flight got canceled, and we were like, we have to go to this meeting. We drove six hours from Arizona to LA to go meet this guy. Three it was supposed to be a three-hour meeting.
SPEAKER_03:I think it was like an hour, and it turned into four days.
SPEAKER_00:It turned into four days. Isn't that this is crazy? So then our flight gets canceled, we're driving, I'm going, I have to sing for him, so I'm like going over my song, blah, blah, blah. We get there, as we're driving there, I get the call that it didn't get picked up. And I'm like, that's crazy that the day it didn't get picked up is the day a new opportunity, a new door opens. So I'm like, I was I was sad, but I was like, this is happening for a reason. Hang up the phone, get there, I meet the guy and his wife, and we sit down in his lobby, and he like sits in the chair like this, and then he like gives us the whole story about like his entire catalog.
SPEAKER_02:This is Freddie Wexler?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, this is Freddie, and I feel like we just kind of like fell in love with him. Like he he just had like this like natural chemistry about him, and I would just I kind of was like, this guy's cool.
SPEAKER_03:It's one of those things from an honest perspective, right? Like you're putting your kid out in this element of things. So like as parents, we were just like, eyes wide open, take everything with a grain of salt. It's like I don't want to like this guy, right? Right? Because I don't know what this whole thing is about. And like any parent would do, you try and vet somebody, you know, it's like, hey, contact everyone we know, make some phone calls, like find someone to go. Freddy's great, but and no one could give us a butt. Everyone's like, solid dude, great guy, you know, well respected in the industry. Yeah. So it was like having that that vibe and the connection. And like he said, it was just kind of a it was yeah, I mean you just go with your vibe thing.
SPEAKER_02:So you didn't did you have to audition for JYT? I actually honestly I never really auditioned for the So you're in the band, and then do do they does Freddie go, here's my 35-page contract, take a look at it. It was more like 500 pages.
SPEAKER_00:It was yeah, well here's the thing. So we we we meet this guy, and I'm like, okay, this guy's cool. He's like, all right, so let's go in the studio, let's have you sing and hop on the mic. So I sing him, I sing just raw for him, and then I hop on the mic and he gives me the song, and then I sing it, and he's like, his whole entire team's in the studio, and they're like, dude, what the heck? Harvey pops by the head of the Grammys, the CEO of the Grammys.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, um Harvey Mason. Harvey Mason, you know where he's from? No. You played basketball U of A. I was gonna say, and then I think he didn't he didn't he say he had a place in Scottsdale? Yeah, he's I mean he's an Arizona guy. He so I got nominated for a Grammy. I got it. And this was like a month after we were at the Grammys. So we ended up, he walked into the studio and he had his Grammy stuff on, and I was like, hey, that was a great show. And he was like, huh, you know, kind of look at me and I go, yeah, Rec was nominated. And then he went in the booth and they were chit-chatting and stuff. So it was just kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_00:I literally was singing and then he walks in, and I'm like, I was like, he's like, oh, nice to meet you. I was like, dude, I was like nominated for a Grammy. Blah, blah, blah. We were talking, it was like crazy. It all happened so fast, and then that day ends. I get into another writing session with the guy. I'm riding with him. I'm like, I really like riding with this guy. Like, he listens to my ideas, blah, blah, blah. And then he's like, All right, can you stay another day? Boom. Stay another day. I take a dance class. Can you stay another day? Okay, I stay another day.
SPEAKER_03:I gotta fly home. You guys can stay anything.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so he flies, he flies home. Me and my mom were there, and then he's like, All right, it was awesome meeting you guys, we go back, and then he should I say like the solo stuff?
SPEAKER_03:No, I mean, yeah, it was just a mix of like, I'm not sure. He, you know, he always has tons of projects going on.
SPEAKER_00:He wasn't sure if I was right for the boy band or if I was better solo. He was trying to figure it out. And then eventually we got to the point where it was banned. So we were like, great, yeah, let's do the band.
SPEAKER_03:He had all these the the kids in mind that he felt like let's see how they click together. So a couple of weeks they would went out before we kind of got into the boot camp side of things, like, let's just bring them out and go have fun. Like let's go play pickleball and you know, just bond with the kids, yeah, go have dinner. They took them to a Lakers game and like just did stuff to see how they interacted with each other and made sure they clicked as friends rather than just go, this is the person that you're you know working with.
SPEAKER_02:It's wild because the the story you're telling is like it's like it feels like it's one of those like later you'll be looking at life in this incredible path that was like meant to be.
SPEAKER_00:It's insane.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, Harvey Mason Jr. popping in and talking to you, the head of the Grammys, after you were not nominated for a grand. I mean, it's crazy. It's like your your resume right now is like destined for massive greatness.
SPEAKER_00:It was insane. I honestly like I never really realized it until I got back to Arizona, and I'm like, Jesus.
SPEAKER_02:Like, but you're only 15. You don't even the fact that you do realize that at 15 blows, and people are gonna eat it up that your dad's a fireman. Oh yeah, they're gonna eat it up. That's huge. That is so huge. Everybody loves a fireman. Laura, Laura, some people don't have anything to worry about. I love you. Some people don't like cops, you know, some people don't like the military, but everyone loves a fireman. It's very true. So when you go back there and the guy, I I so you know, I've been in radio a long time. Yeah, and a lot of times artists come through that are that they work in a single, you know, like Katy Perry. Katie Perry comes in and they were like in a conference room. She's like, oh hey, Katie's gonna, we're gonna, I'm gonna sing for you something. And it's like I always felt so awkward for them. You're in a room with 10 people and they're singing, or like different people that come in and they sing, right? Yeah, was that weird for you? Did you so you had to obviously show that you can sing, so you had to sing in front of like four people.
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah, I got in the studio and he's like, All right, this is a song I've been working on.
SPEAKER_02:Just in the studio though, wasn't ever like forget it, was never like in the lobby or something.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it was initially.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, initially I sang.
SPEAKER_03:We had our meeting, went into the studio, but not like recording or anything, and he was like, Well, do you have something prepared? You want to sing?
SPEAKER_00:So I stand up and I sing a Bruno Mars song, and I just sing it raw. And then he's like, That was amazing. He was like, Go into the studio and let's put you on the mic and see how you sound on the mic. Because you can sound very different live and very different on a mic. It's it's weird. So put me on the mic and I start singing, and then people are just coming into the studio. There's probably 10 people at near the end, and I was like, What is happening? The meanwhile, this is the first time I've ever been singing in a studio. I've been in many, I've been in many studios in my entire life drumming, writing. Maybe you've done like guitar vocals on the guitar. I've maybe done gang vocals on the album, and but first time I've ever sang, and I was like, this is crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Um did it get you a singing coach or anything afterwards?
SPEAKER_00:Like once we started boot camp and everything was set in stone and we got the and we got every kid, then we got the best vocal coach there is ever.
SPEAKER_02:Which Bruno song do you sing?
SPEAKER_00:Uh Talking to the Moon.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I didn't even know that one. No, that's another Bruno came in and sang it for us in the studio.
SPEAKER_00:He's amazing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but I mean, Talking to the Moon. Yeah. That's that's cool too. You pull a song out no one's ever heard of before.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So you must be a hardcore Bruno fan.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I am. It's funny. You're like a song no one's ever heard before. It's got two billion streams.
SPEAKER_02:I've never I mean maybe I heard it. If I heard it, I would know. I would think, I mean, you probably would yeah, you'd probably talk to the moon. Talking to the moon. I don't know. It's kind of close. Yeah. Well uh that's so I mean, I know I I know every the guy has massive songs. Oh, yeah. It's got two billion streams. Yeah, no offense, Bruno. If you watch it, I feel totally out of touch there. Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00:No, he's amazing. I mean, it is one of his lower songs, two billions.
SPEAKER_02:But when you when you said you were writing with someone and you liked it, how does that work out? Are you sitting there with a pad of paper?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so he we I he's like the this happened the next day, and he was like, All right, I want to do a writing session, go back in the studio, it's me and him, and then he invites his one of his other friends, and he's written a bunch of songs for Bieber and Ariana and a bunch of people. So me and him sit in the studio and we're on the piano and he's playing chords or whatever. And then I'm like, he's like, let's just start with these chords, blah, blah, blah, whatever. And I'm like, change that one, and then I start writing lyrics, and then he comes up with a lyric. I'm like, I like that, change that word, and then it was like a collaborative process between everybody, and we were like, I don't like that, play the C major, play this, like play. It was like we were just figuring out everything, and we wrote a song, and I think it's crazy being behind the scenes watching that creative process happen.
SPEAKER_03:I don't think people see it enough. Luckily, like a lot of documentaries are coming out, and you get some behind-the-scenes footage, but a lot of times it's overlay, you know, with like music playing in the background that just showing it. When you sit in the corner and watch these creative minds work and come up with something and things start clicking, and it's almost like drummers like beat in the pocket, and it's like stuff just comes together, and then you hear something, and you're like, it blows you away.
SPEAKER_00:It's my favorite thing about music. It's like literally you can just dive into another world and but you're so confident too.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like I would think being 15 years old with these guys, I that's like intimidating, in insecure. Like if they were to say, Hey, what do they think of this line? I'd be like, Yeah, I love it. But you're like, change that word. Yeah. And do they ever say, No, I don't want to change that word.
SPEAKER_00:There was never any there was never any like shutting my ideas down. There would be like, I'd be like, Maybe we can change that word, and he's like, Let's change the word, but keep this, and then correlate this with this, and it's like it's like hard to explain because it's almost like everything. Have you ever seen the movie Soul? Probably not. Part two, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. There's a part in the movie where he starts playing piano and everything blacks out, and then he sees like purple stuff, and like he's in like a flow state. And that's like what it feels like, where you're literally just completely in the creative process and you're just open to any ideas. Like the on the Kids Tonight show, I got great advice from Questlove. He was like, put yourself in a bored situation. He was like, when you're bored, your brain works. He was like when you are in silence, or if you're just in boredom, he was like, Creative thoughts will start to come because your brain, your brain needs to do something. So it's like you almost go into the state of just like letting ideas flow. And then especially I love collaborating with other people because it's always like you get like reassurance, and then you also get like other ideas that you love. So I think it was like really cool, and that's why I fell in love with like Freddie. It was like we really meshed very well with our ideas.
SPEAKER_02:So you're you're what you're you're telling me kind of reminds me of a couple things. One is like when an athlete gets in the zone. Yeah, um, and I used to do I used to live, I I lived in San Diego, but I'd go to LA and I was uh I would there's an improv troop there called the Groundlings, and I would do improv.
SPEAKER_03:Your coach on uh Wizards, she works there at the Ground Lings. Was she a Ground Link? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Who was it, Mindy? Um on Wednesdays you do improv.
SPEAKER_03:Sam?
SPEAKER_02:Sam. She's a groundlings coach? Uh improved. Yeah, she is.
SPEAKER_03:Uh red, taller, redhead, super tall, redhead.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I mean, I was there in 96 in 97. So but I mean, but Mindy is still, she's over. But so I was one of the things about improv is that you do your scene and then it's you're done, it's over. But the funny stuff happens when you're running that stuff. It's everything that happens afterwards. Like you you you you got this idea and you do it. And now, oh my god, we're done. And then the coach is like, keep going, keep going, keep going. You're like, uh I got nothing. And then all of a sudden it's like you hit that black space, and then you just start things start coming out, and it's hilarious, and whatever. But of course, that was 1996. That's awesome. I follow them on Instagram. I love improving. Yeah, yeah, that's it's an incredible troupe. Yeah, it's in it's great. Oh man, it's really helped me out with doing radio where you have to improvise all the time. Yeah, you gotta be on your feet. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, so now how about this whole fashion look you got going on? Do they do that for you too?
SPEAKER_00:Actually, yeah. Yeah, they do. I'm not even joking. Yeah, so we have Chris Brown's stylist.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Um did they do this?
SPEAKER_00:No, uh, this is just me. Um, this these pants were from like I picked these out, and then there's just Conan and Amber Crombie. This is nothing crazy. It is? Okay, but let me ask you this like and these are from Devon. Devon Phillip, he's he's our stylist. He's literally like the sweetest guy, but he we go into this guy's studio racks of just clothes, like it's insane. And then he has this picture of Michael Jackson handing the crown to Chris Brown, which is I forgot to tell you that. It's too crazy. It's like a painting, and Michael Jackson gave it to Chris Brown. It's like crazy.
SPEAKER_02:What about your hair though? My hair your stylus to your hair, or that's how you know that's that's me. Like if you cut your hair, they wouldn't get what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00:My mom would be like that.
SPEAKER_02:No, but nobody the record label wouldn't.
SPEAKER_00:Honestly, the record label wants to cut my hair, and I'm like, absolutely not. And I'm like, you're gonna have to go through my mom with that one.
SPEAKER_02:You why don't you want to cut your hair?
SPEAKER_00:I think my hair makes me stand out. Like, if I cut my hair the way they want me to, I would blend in with every other boy.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. You know what? I don't know, man, because that hairstyle, everybody your age has that hairstyle. My son's 19, and he just cut his hair the other day, finally. I don't know. He's got something else about it. Well, yeah, he's got something else.
SPEAKER_00:And I just gotta cut. Normally when I like let it grow out, it's like very shaggy and like very grown out.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I mean, if you think your hair is your thing, then that's yeah. I mean, remember Harry Styles. Harry Styles had that one long, all that hair, people loved his hair.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:That's good. So, what about like you do you do the hair and makeup and all that stuff on the set?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, like we shot a music video and we had hair and makeup. We had um Paris Hilton's hair, hair stylist, and then uh, yeah, so yeah, all that stuff.
SPEAKER_03:What about you, Dad? How proud are you of this? This project you created. It's insane. I mean, we always have these discussions and check in with each other, make sure, you know, he's happy and like still feels you know, because so many people they make comments like, oh, you know, he doesn't have a childhood and all these things, like he's why is he working and blah, blah, blah, and all this stuff. And I'm going, how many parents do you know that have their kids in traveling competitive sports that yeah, you know what I'm saying? It's like you get them coaches, you travel with them, you give them the opportunities because that's where they show their passion and their drive and dedication. And some kids crave like that competitive thing and the camaraderie and all that, and other kids have an entertainment thing that they're into. And but I've told him I'm like everything he's done in the world, like I'm if it all went away, I'm most proud of who you are as a person and a human. Because he's just a sweet kid. You know, he just treats people right, he's well spoken. Education's always been very important because even when he was doing stuff, you know, he toured last year like 130 some days on the road just as a hired gun as a drummer with other bands. Like other adult bands? Yeah, so we went out with unconventional kings, dropout kings, tech nine, did a bunch of different stuff. And I was like, I can't go to bat for you at school if you're you know, C's and D's and failing classes. So I was like, you gotta stay on top of school so that I can go in and go, hey, look, like this is his college, you know. I mean, he's dealing with real real world scenarios, you know. He's yeah, he gets to make money, but he's interacting with people, he knows how to communicate, he can look people in the eye, he's learning networking, relationships, you know, time management skills, all these things that you don't really get taught in school.
SPEAKER_02:Is there someone that's kind of like outside of your mom? Is there like a point person in the group with Republic Records? Or is somebody they're like, okay, this guy or this woman is in charge of you now? No? No, it's still mom and dad.
SPEAKER_00:It's still mom and dad. That was very much actually that's what we've kind of made clear.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, good. Like to everybody. That's been a thing in the the conversations that like one of us is always around no matter what. I mean, even we go on tours, anything on set.
SPEAKER_02:So you being his dad and he's 15, has he ever got in trouble for anything? You as a dad got pissed off, grounded him, spanked him.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, your teenage kids always piss you off sometimes, you know, and you're like, hey, whatever. I mean, and it's it's silly stuff. Something at school happens, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Pants kids.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, you know, they're all dependent. They're all dependent. Well, they were all doing it together.
SPEAKER_00:He's the only one that got suspended.
SPEAKER_03:All the other kids You got suspended for pants and pants is part of life, man. And they were all doing it, and Rec took the rap. All the other kids lied, and he went in and told the truth. So he got in trouble, and then all the kids were texting him from class, like, bro, where are you? And he's like, We were all doing it, and I'm the one that to it.
SPEAKER_00:I like in the in that moment, I was like so upset with myself. And I got home and my mom was like, There's bricks out in the backyard. She was like, You need to stack them all nicely in the thing.
SPEAKER_02:I was like, That's what I'm talking about. It's hard because okay.
SPEAKER_00:I was like, I'll do anything. And I was I just I did it. I literally took me like out there for like five hours, just gloves on. Moving bricks. Actually, my hands were bleeding. I didn't have gloves on. Boof, brick, brick, brick. I was just stacking all of them up.
SPEAKER_02:You know what? I mean, pantsing is a part of being a guy. Not anymore.
SPEAKER_03:Not in this world. You can't huh?
SPEAKER_02:You can't do anything anymore.
SPEAKER_03:But he's on he's such a great kid. It's hard to like other than just your normal little stuff here and there, like, he hasn't gotten in trouble. What about vaping? Have you done any of that? Oh good, that's so bad for you. That's what's cool. Honestly, like him coming up in this industry, meeting so many people. They have looked at him because they've been in that rock star life for so long. And so he's meeting a lot of these guys that have been through it, and they've taken him under his wing, and they're just like, Don't do it, don't start, don't start your career this way. You're gonna have so many opportunities.
SPEAKER_00:And like, I've learned so much about like myself and where I'm like, I have no desire to do any of that. That's it. I have no desire. I like I will see like not to throw my guys in the band into the bus.
SPEAKER_03:You don't have to call them out.
SPEAKER_00:But like I've been out with I people I've been out with, I will see things and I just see people and I'm like, none of me wants to do that.
SPEAKER_02:Good. That's really good.
SPEAKER_00:I'd rather drink root beer.
SPEAKER_03:That's that's that's fantastic, man. I'm so happy for you. No venues have root beer, by the way. So if you're a venue, it's a root before. And then I'm like, man, I gotta get him like a Red Bull before a show or something. He just like needs a little something to pick him up. You know what?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'll give you there's a good energy drink that's healthy for you. Yeah, it's called Gorilla Mind. Gorilla Mind. Gorilla Mind, yeah, it's legit, man. It's got it's like a lot of these, like uh Red Bull and these, and I mean this is no affiliation, it's just I they um whatever the minimum requirement is, a lot of these energy drinks put it in the vitamins. This guy puts it all where so you benefit from it. It's and you can get it at Vitamin Shop and they sell them a one-stop nutrition or online.
SPEAKER_00:It's legit one-stop nutrition. They have none in LA and I've been dying.
SPEAKER_02:One stop's legit. My son works, my oldest son works at one stop.
SPEAKER_00:They're amazing. We go to the gym and then we come back and I'm at the smoothies. They're so good.
SPEAKER_02:Do they so they don't have you working you're working out? What about dancing? Was that weird to learn how to dance?
SPEAKER_00:Oh my gosh. Right?
SPEAKER_02:Dude, I mean you would think him being a drummer, you would have like some rhythm, and it was like, dude.
SPEAKER_00:I would think like, yeah, coming. I definitely I think part of me that like the fact that I yeah, I think can you do it?
SPEAKER_02:Are you doing it?
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, I can do it. Yeah, so I I can do it.
SPEAKER_02:Have they taught you the classics like the in-sync button?
SPEAKER_00:No, they they've taught me like uh they taught us like Janet Jackson choreo that like Tucker did like in the 90s. Like it was crazy, like super cool stuff. But um they've taught us like old Justin Bieber choreo, but I mean it was really like we came in and was like basic, basic. And it was like learn how to do this, learn how to do that, then we started doing choreo, then we started doing choreo to our songs, and then we had um, but yeah, you would think like me being a drummer with the rhythm, I'd be somewhat good at it, but I think that definitely helped. Not as much as it should have, but I think it definitely helped. Um, and then also having like the best choreographers and dancers in the world helped too. That's true. I mean, like this one of um this guy named Michael, Michael Wilson came in and he did the new Michael Jackson movie that's gonna come out. He did that entire thing. Um so he came in, and this was like the first time, it was the first time we were meeting him, and he was um not coming in for dance, he was coming in for like artist development. So he came in and he's like, Everybody, get to the side of the room. So we all go to the side of the room and we're like he's like walk. And so we put he plays music and he's like walk. And we start walking, and like the dan there's two kids, there's like three at the time Toby wasn't there. So there was two kids that were like really dancer dancers. And so they start walking like dancer-ish, and like like some of us like aren't walking like on beat and like other things, and whatever. And so everyone starts walking, and he's like, Stop, stop! I said to walk, he goes, go back, and then we walk again, and everyone does it right. And he's like, if you guys can't do simple instruction, he's like, I don't know what I'm gonna do with you guys. That was our first impression of him. He was like, All I did was tell you to walk, and so we did more exercises like walk on B, all this thing. But he was like, he was unbelievable. I've never met a soul like him before. I'm not like religious in any way. I'm not, I I'm like a very spiritual person, but I don't believe in I don't really believe in anything. Um but he is like he's a gift. He kind of like changed my life in that little bit of time I've known him. And there's not many people in this world that will do that. And he was just so brilliant. Like he, one of the boys, um, he's a very walled person. Like he doesn't let a lot of emotion out. And we love him. And he, Michael, like really was like digging deep and like getting stuff out of him. And it was like we're in here for dance boot camp, but it's like we're really just developing ourselves as artists. So I mean, the dancing and artists and singing, and like it the boot camp was insane. Like it's it was crazy. It's like a mix of everything.
SPEAKER_02:Was it eight hours a day, ten hours a day?
SPEAKER_00:Like six hours a day.
SPEAKER_02:And then you got to go home.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's just the dance.
SPEAKER_00:That's just dancing, though.
SPEAKER_02:And then it's 10 plus hours a day every day.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And then is that over?
SPEAKER_02:No. Oh, it's not over. But it's so at some point it's just it's just constant until you the album comes out, then you gotta go. You probably gotta do a lot of press, right? That hasn't happened yet, right?
SPEAKER_00:We've done a little press for the what you what for the first single, and then um we shot a music video, and then when we come back for the new year, the new single comes out, and then but they probably gotta do some marketing behind that, right?
SPEAKER_02:They are, yeah. They've got we got a whole timeline for next year starting to pop off.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, we got put on Sirius XM number one hits. Oh, yeah, that's yeah, and then we got put on Billboard Charts, we got on Music New Music Friday. Um, we were above like Olivia Rodrigo and a bunch of people, so it's kind of cool.
SPEAKER_02:It was crazy. Um have you already got the fan base starting to get a little freaky?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it it's a it's a little crazy. I mean, we've just started and the fans are kind of going crazy.
SPEAKER_03:There's already fan pages out now, and that's great. JYT diary.
SPEAKER_02:That's great. There's a so again, I keep bringing up Peter Swift because I'm watching this documentary and the way she treats people is fantastic. Like I can see you you have that quality. Um, but it's interesting when she's announced her tour, she started training six months before the tour. And she would run eight months.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I fun fact, I I knew I had a busy day the next day, so I was like, all right, I'm gonna get some rest. And I was like, I'm gonna set my alarm for like 645. I didn't need to be anywhere till 11. So I set my alarm at 645. I went down to the gym, I worked out, and then I ran like two miles and I just sang the whole entire time. And I just sang and ran sweating and then I went to press and then did this, this, this, that, that, that. And I think like the training, I've always we've always talked about this as a family, because like we go from project to project to project. And in between that time, that's where the real work should be. You never show up to rehearsal learning the stuff, you show up to rehearsal rehearsing. So it's like you always should know your craft and know what you're doing. And so that's always been like important to me, and like Taylor Swift, like working the six months. That's why we're doing this boot camp now. So we have all the tools in our toolbox. So when things start to pop off, and we're playing summer camps and we're playing mall tours and we're playing proms, it's like we're ready, right? And you gotta do that stuff.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, oh yeah. You gotta I mean you'll see in in the documentary, Taylor Swift comes out and there's like nobody, she's at a fair and there's nobody on the audience or anything. What's your favorite thing to do when it comes to singing, dancing, drumming music? Well, what is your favorite?
SPEAKER_00:Performing.
SPEAKER_02:Performing? I love performing. So, but specifically, like if you could do it, like I've always thought, man, to be a drummer is so freaking cool. Yeah. Like being a drummer is freaking cool. That's awesome. Yeah, right? It is, right? But it's also like to me, like I I started doing this thing where I'm on the I mean, I'm trying to hit my 10,000 steps a day, so I'm on the treadmill, and I and I'm trying to play music that has great drums because I feel like I and I have a mirror right in front of me, so I'm like drumming, and I can see my arms, and I'm like, they're not there yet. And I'm just like drumming is just the freaking coolest thing. I need that little car symbol.
SPEAKER_03:You've seen that one that plugs into your uh attaches to your vent, you know, it's a little crash when you're air drumming in your car.
SPEAKER_02:What's the best drumming song?
unknown:There's a lot of good ones.
SPEAKER_02:There is I'm got I'm kind of going through a Beastie Boys phase right now, and I'm a Beastie Boys is great. Freaking sabotage. Solid. Solid.
SPEAKER_00:I would say Song for the Dead by Queens of the Stone Age is unbelievable. Dave Grohl. Um is he your favorite drummer? One of them. Um any John Bonham drums are insane.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, of course. Rush.
SPEAKER_00:Rush is great. I would say, yeah, Limelight's insane. What's that?
SPEAKER_02:That's on my treadmill workout. Yeah, Limelight's great.
SPEAKER_00:That's that's a good drum one. Uh Naraforte by Slipknot is an insane drum one. Kinda kinda good, kinda, kinda. Like that. Yeah, I mean, there's a line. I've drummed on some of the songs, and the live show, like, will incorporate drums. Like, there'll be like a dance break and I'll be on like a with JYT, you mean? Yeah, I'll I'll drum tour.
SPEAKER_02:So they have like your drum.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah. I'll drum on that tour whenever we do that.
SPEAKER_02:But can ever everybody play an instrument on that band?
SPEAKER_00:Not everyone, but some people. Like, um, I played the drums, Toby can play the piano, Brian can play a little bit of guitar.
SPEAKER_02:So that's good.
SPEAKER_00:I think they're gonna incorporate that. But I have like my songs before the band, I played all the instruments.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, this kid is just different. Do you know what I'm saying? We hear that a lot. I mean, that's so crazy. It's like it's so you're so well spoken, and you have so much know so much wisdom at 15. I know, it's crazy.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I've been through every part, I honestly, like almost every part of the industry. Like, I've been through a lot. It's I've been at the back of sprinter vans trying to find something to eat, and then I've also been on private jets to Grammy parties. Like it's crazy. I've seen everything at just 15.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man. Stay away from them freak-offs, though. Oh, yeah. I was gonna ask you about this. So here you are, firefighter. You've probably seen some pretty horrifying things, right? Yeah, we see it all. So have you ever seen anything where it was like you're just mortified and it was it messed up your day? Like, there's it's just something, and then get a call from him, and you're like, oh hey man, how's it going? How was practice today? How was training? How was whatever?
SPEAKER_03:And you got you've got this horrible vision in your head. Yeah, it's such a weird, you know, just span of emotions at times, you know. Because yeah, I mean, you can have a hard day, a hard call. Um, you know, and up until they've been gone in LA, it was like you come home and you have them there at the house, you know, like they even took my pets, my dog, my brother. He literally comes home. Like, I come to nothing.
SPEAKER_00:You know, I got to come home to nothing except torture.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I know. Oh, actually, I we just talked about that. Laura was like, You should like do the volunteer and like foster a dog for a day when you're home. I'm like, that actually sounds like you deliver it by yourself? Yeah. So literally by himself.
SPEAKER_00:I mean he's not so much. What's the most long time?
SPEAKER_03:But you've been like is it a month by yourself? Well, they've been gone since May, and then it's only been like a couple back and forth trips, you know, when they get time off, or I go out for like we get four days off at a time, so I'll try and pop out there when I can. But I have to trade shifts with guys, you know, if they need time off instead of taking vacation. So it's just it's gotta make sense.
SPEAKER_00:Sacrifices, like this is why like I I posted an Instagram video. If you were on my Instagram yesterday, you probably saw it, but like I was like, I'm talking about like how so grateful I am. Like, there's not a lot of parents that will literally like sacrifice everything. My parents have sacrificed everything for me, and like we it's always been like a team effort, and like he literally comes home to nothing. My mom quit her job. We're like trying to afford to live out in LA. My mom, my mom, like we we're going through things where like my mom doesn't get to see what I do because I'm at work and like I'm there by myself. Close up, probably too. I get a 1-1. I'm in rehearsal for six hours, and then I go in the studio, and like she gets to see like the end product, but she she's always been around for everything, and that's what's made it worth it for her. So she's like, I get to see my son do what he loves to do, and I get to see the process. And like lately, that's like not been able for her to do that.
SPEAKER_02:So it's like, um But when it's over and you win your Grammy, you gotta remember them in the thank you speech. Heck, oh yeah, you gotta have a no, it's always I'll probably rush the stage.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Where do you get the name Wrecker? Like, where's that come from?
SPEAKER_03:Dude, it just popped up. It was weird. We were going around names, his brother's names are Stone and Slater, and so we were kind of like, you can't just have like Bob or John, you know, it's gotta be something cool that has a good ring to it. And then we had not too long ago had moved to Gilbert um when he was like two, and we didn't even know there was a street called Wrecker. Oh, we've got to be a good thing. So I don't know if like subconsciously, because then, but anyways, he was like, Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And both of my schools, my middle school and my high school are have been on Wrecker Road.
SPEAKER_03:No way. Yeah, so uh yeah, she just woke up at like five in the morning and she was like, What do you think about Wrecker? Maybe that's where he was he conceived on that road? Yeah, uh no, we haven't even been out this way, out in the East Valley. But uh yeah, it just she just woke up from sleeping at the hospital when he was getting ready, and she's like, What do you think about Wrecker? And I go, that's actually kind of cool. And how to pronounce your last name? Ians. Ians, okay.
SPEAKER_02:Um, what's your take on the tattoos? Because you got you're covered in them, right? Yeah, I'm covered. Um I'm gonna be covered. You are? You are gonna get Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00:Um, uh my first tattoo is gonna be M W P and U. Yeah, it's like that. That's our family saying.
SPEAKER_02:N W P U?
SPEAKER_00:M W M W P Tells That's Madly, Wildly, Passionately, and Uncontrollably.
SPEAKER_03:That's how we say we love each other. So we love you madly, wildly, passionately, uncontrollably.
SPEAKER_00:My grandma always said it to me, and my grandma was like my biggest fan. She passed away like three or four years ago from Alzheimer's. And she was like the best.
SPEAKER_03:Your mom? Your mom? My wife's mom.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. My mom's mom.
SPEAKER_03:Are your parents still around? Yeah, my mom. She lives in Peoria. My sister's out there too. I mean, she's like, what the heck? My grandson is It's nuts, yeah. The whole family's just kind of like, uh, can you fill us in? What the heck's happening? You know, I haven't seen you in months. You know, wait, when are you getting a tattoo?
SPEAKER_00:Uh, my 18th birthday.
SPEAKER_02:You are? Yeah. You can get them before if your parents sign off.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's true. But uh I do like movies and TV shows and this thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I saw, because I, you know, I saw Ariana Grande. She hosted Saturday Live, and she's covered in tattoos. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That was a good one. That wasn't it?
SPEAKER_02:That was one of the best Saturday Lives in years. That home alone sketch. Just brilliant.
SPEAKER_00:Saturday Night Live has not been good in a bit.
SPEAKER_03:In a long time.
SPEAKER_00:We have watched that show since he was I've grown up on it.
SPEAKER_03:Same with me. Same thing.
SPEAKER_00:I came. I came in one day, I was probably five, four years old, and I came in. I was like, what are you guys watching? And I we just watched it every Saturday since.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So like it's been like a family thing.
SPEAKER_03:That's what was cool when we went to New York for the Kids Tonight Show. I was getting us set up in the apartment they had put us in, and they went to set, and Laura texts me and she was like, You're not gonna believe where their rehearsal space is because they were still building their set out, and they were the original 6A, so Johnny Carson's set was where his studio was, and Jimmy's in 6B, so just right across the hall. Um, but she sends me a picture and it's the SNL stage, so that's where I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00:My drums are on the SNL stage, and I'm drumming because I'm practicing for the thing.
SPEAKER_03:And then that's where we did table reads, so we had the whole cast of Jimmy.
SPEAKER_00:And then I walk out the door. Yeah, well, I was literally on the SNL stage.
SPEAKER_03:I can't remember the old guy's name, he's been there forever. But he gave me like a SNL like crew shirt, and then he was letting Rec walk through the door, come down the stairs.
SPEAKER_00:Insane, dude. And uh that's been my dream to like host and be the musical guest.
SPEAKER_02:That's gonna be great then. Maybe they can run this clip uh five years from now when you get the hosted after winning your Oscar and your Grammy and your Emmy. But I was gonna say Sorry and the Grindan covered in tattoos, but when you see in Wicked, they didn't they make it up, they take it all off. Somebody else too Oh, The Rock. The Rock's the smashing machine. He didn't have any tattoos.
SPEAKER_03:It just depends if you want to sit longer in the makeup chair, you know? Are you watching what do you watch for TV? Are you watching Stranger Things?
SPEAKER_00:Oh my god, it's my favorite show of all time.
SPEAKER_03:You didn't want to know the watch party we had because Thanksgiving. So him and his buddy.
SPEAKER_00:So me and me and my me and my best friends, we this is a cool story. So my friend came to me in like second or third grade, and he was like, Wrecker, you gotta watch this new show. It's called Stranger Things. I was like, okay, I'll try it. So I go on my mom, I start watching it, fell in love with it. We've watched it every day every day since. And that same friend was like, dude, we should try Dungeons and Dragons. Like, we should just try it. Let's see how we play it. We've played Dungeons and Dragons ever since. Me and my three best friends, we've played and we play on Halloween every so all the time, and we just ride our bikes everywhere. Like we literally like replicate. They try and live. Literally.
SPEAKER_03:So they've got demagorgon onesies.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah. We had the big we had popcorn buckets, demogorgon popcorn buttons. We had it was crazy.
SPEAKER_02:So, what do you think is gonna happen? Who do you think is gonna die?
SPEAKER_00:Well, Will has to die because he's in the Hive Mind. He's still controlled by Vecna, so if they kill Vecna, Will's gonna die. You can even see it because when they hurt the Demogorgons, they hurt Will. So, and uh since day one, since season one, episode one, Will has been connected to the Hive Mind. And it even showed in season four how Vecna controls Will and started everything. So Will has to die for them to win.
SPEAKER_02:I think Are you watching it? I'm intermittent. So what's your take? Okay, so there was a move, so the the whole thing takes place in the 80s. Yep. Right? And they they do a lot of this is I had not seen this anywhere. This is my own take. They do pay a lot of homage to the 80s, right? All these different movies, all these different things. And in the remember the the the flashback episode, I think it's Max goes back. Is it Max that goes back and sees the school in the 50s? Yep. That reminded me of Back to the Future.
SPEAKER_00:They okay, I've seen this. It's gonna be time travel.
SPEAKER_02:There's but but here's the thing Empire Strikes Back. Darth Vader is Luke and Laura's, Luke and Leia's dad, right? Remember, he goes, Luke, I'm your father, and he finds out that she has a sister. I think Eleven and Will are twins, and I think Vecna's their dad. And I think they're gonna pay homage to I'm getting Gruzbok's Tony. This is my own theory. Did you watch Empire Strikes Back? You Star Wars guy?
SPEAKER_00:I've only seen Rogue One. Oh, Rogue One? Which isn't bad.
SPEAKER_02:Well, the end of Rogue One, it goes into uh no, yeah, it is Rogue One.
SPEAKER_00:And it's funny, I dress as like Anakin for Halloween, so I You can pull that off. I yeah, I haven't seen uh I think Vecna is Eleven's dad and Will's dad. I could see that point we've all we've also seen Will's dad, but it wasn't it was Jonathan's dad.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right. That's what I'm saying. Oh, I'm having conversations with my kids all we talk about non-stop too, just like they were they got into it as well.
SPEAKER_03:Uh and then I love how he's a rock star, but like such a nerd at the same time. Such a nerd diving into it.
SPEAKER_00:Do you play video games? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:What do you play?
SPEAKER_00:Um I play a bunch of stuff. I play Fortnite, um, Call of Duty, Black Ops, Rainbow Six Siege.
SPEAKER_02:You're a pretty centered kid. He's pretty well balanced. That's great. Well, Tony Hoff Ros. Tony Hawk Pro Skater, yeah. You skater, you skater back in the back.
SPEAKER_03:But you know, that same kind of realm of everything.
SPEAKER_00:I also watch Outer Banks. Yeah, of course. Outer Banks is good. Um another one I watch. Oh, Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's good.
SPEAKER_00:So good. It's an animation, but it's really good. That was that was my show when I was growing up. Yeah, I know that was that's got the shaggy look.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you can yeah, dude, if they redo it, you're the perfect shaggy voice. Well, man, I'm really happy for you, man. You must be really proud of yourself. I mean, right? I mean, you dad, I mean, I'm so glad you came because you know as a dad to be so proud of your kids, right?
SPEAKER_03:I always tell him that too, because I go, you know, as a a dad, you can go like, I'm so proud of you. But I always ask him the question I go, are you proud of you? Yeah. You know, because a lot it he's dealing with it and working through all the time.
SPEAKER_00:But I'm always myself's biggest critic. I'm always, I always like, I'm like, dang, I should have done that better, should have done this. But in the long run, I'm very proud of myself. I think. There's this John Cena quote that I love where he's like, I am just lucky. He's like, I have been given lottery ticket after lottery ticket. And he says, like, I my goal in life is to like find my purpose. And he's like, So at the end of every day, he goes, he asks himself, Did I earn the sunset? Like, did I do something in my day that I was able to earn the sunset? And so I think like after every day, like I write my goals down, I write how I did. I feel like that's my way of purpose where I'm like, did I earn the sunset? Did I earn being here another day? You know, like I'm not saying that like not doing my work is my lifeline, but I'm saying like that that just gives me like a sense of purpose and like knowing that I'm doing good.
SPEAKER_02:He also give gives back a lot, you know. Like like uh you ever seen him with a make a wish kit? Oh, yeah. He's one of my idols. I think he's got the record for doing make more make-a-wishes for anybody else in the world. Yeah, yeah. He's incredible that way.
SPEAKER_00:Amazing.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, that's good that you you're so well put together, dude. I I wish you massive success.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:And and I'm so excited to tell people about you, you know. And so when you when do you go back to LA? You're only here for a couple days, then you're here for three weeks.
SPEAKER_00:Three weeks, then you go back to LA.
SPEAKER_03:So 2026 is gonna be the launch of JYT. It's gonna be going.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm excited.
SPEAKER_03:The last week he's here, he's got to take his finals for the online school.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, I have to take finals.
SPEAKER_03:Um what are you, 10th grade?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, I'm a sophomore. Um, but yeah, I feel like every year we've said, this is the this is the this is the year, this is the next biggest thing. And I'm like, man, it just keeps getting bigger every single year.
SPEAKER_03:Hey, what's the goals, you know? Like, and we're like, all right, next year let's you know, crush it and let's do this better and go for this, and then everyone's gonna be a good thing.
SPEAKER_00:And I think that's another thing where I'm so proud of myself. I'm like, every year's gotten better. It's not like I'm every year I'm staying like this, or every year I'm staying like this. Like I'm progressing.
SPEAKER_02:Do you do vision boards? We haven't done that.
SPEAKER_00:I haven't done that.
SPEAKER_02:We did that last year as a family, and it was pretty awesome. We got all the magazines, newspapers, cut stuff out, and everyone made their vision board. And I think that works, man. I think that's great. Maybe that's all I do that.
SPEAKER_00:Really?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:For like the year. It's cool.
SPEAKER_02:Vision board. All right, man. Thanks for jumping on my podcast, Father. Dude, thanks.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so welcome to our podcast. This is a little bit different today because this podcast is a spin-off of our radio show.
