Finding Balance Between Rock Stardom And Real Life

A Santa Cruz kid sketches a drum in kindergarten, stands before Steven Tyler at 22, fronts Quiet Riot, and then decides what matters most isn’t fame, but the life built around the songs. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with James Durbin—raw, funny, and unguarded—about chasing the spotlight without losing your voice.

We dig into the unglamorous truth of American Idol: 30-hour lines, adrenaline whiplash, and the discipline to say no when producers want to pick your songs. James shares how his wife’s belief and a house full of sticky-note affirmations shifted everything, turning talent into momentum. He tells the story behind singing Dream On with Steven’s blessing, the post-Idol offers that tempted him, and the surprising gigs he declined to protect his identity as an artist, not just “the singing show guy.”

Then we get honest about rock and roll reality. Quiet Riot gave him massive highs and some hard lessons—stop-start calendars, long travel for short pay, and creative control that vanished under a firm hand. James explains how those years clarified his values: family time counts, authenticity matters, and music should feel like a choice, not a contract. Back home, The Lost Boys and solo sets let him read the room, swap songs on the fly, and enjoy the simple magic of a crowd leaning in. We close with his new single, Paradise, a coastal reggae rock vibe that pairs naturally with his earlier Capitola on My Mind, plus a synth-driven album in the works.

If you love artist origin stories, rock history, and practical wisdom on balancing ambition with a real life, you’ll feel this one. Hit play, share it with a friend who needs a creative reset, and drop a review to tell us your favorite moment. Subscribe for more stories from the coast.

Transcript

Meet James Durbin

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Coming in hot. Welcome to the On the Coast Podcast. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, we're back. This is Brandy Jones from KW Thrive.

SPEAKER_06 0:11

And right next to me is Ryan Buchholt, Cross Country Mortgage. And Jerry Seeger of Secrets Insurance.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Wait, sweet, sweet. So today is gonna be like buying two tickets to paradise. Our special guest is the Standard Cruise local. You want to sing in your intro?

SPEAKER_05 0:28

No.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

No.

SPEAKER_05 0:29

I like it. I like it. Why don't we introduce him too, huh?

SPEAKER_03 0:32

How do we have how we have 17 guests? 16 of them saying we get James Durbin on, and it's a no. Hard no.

SPEAKER_05 0:39

Done.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

We're gonna need a deposit. I like that. He knows his value. Candy's not enough.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Our special guest today is James Durbin. Thank you so much for being here. And what's super cool is that uh we've got Brian Upton here, who's Santa Cruz vibes. You guys know each other. You're third generation Santa Cruz. Yep. Ryan's second generation with his daughter here, third generation Santa Cruz. Or Jerry is third generation.

SPEAKER_06 1:06

Third generation, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

I think I'm third generation. I might be second. I got I gotta look back. Do the math. Yeah, I'm not I'm not sure if my grandfather was born here, but he he certainly made his mark.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

So would that would you be North County? Because you know it's territory now. These guys will not even drive out of Santa Cruz to go for a burger. It has to be like within Highway One.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

I've heard what I've heard. I live in Watsonville, but I was born and raised in on the east side in Live Oak.

Santa Cruz Roots And Generations

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Ooh, nice. Is he allowed, Jerry?

SPEAKER_06 1:36

Yeah, man. I'm I'm from Live Oak, you know, that's where I was born and raised. So I like it.

unknown 1:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Yeah. I'll I'll represent the Live Oak area, but I'm I'm I'm happy to be out.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

So I I have a lot of deeper questions because I think one is you are such a local hero. And when you were younger, what started like what was your vision? Did you think rock and roll all the time?

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah. Actually, I I found I unearthed a drawing and kind of like probably kindergarten, maybe first grade, and this drawing and and writing, but it says, I I love to listen to rock and roll. It's amazing. And I was like six, maybe.

SPEAKER_06 2:20

Like, this sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah, and like drew a little picture of me with like a uh there's a drum with my first and last initial on it. I was like, wow, that's really, really surprising to find that. I always wanted to perform. I'm the youngest of three. My was born, was raised by my mom, single mom.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

Shut up.

Early Spark For Rock And Performing

SPEAKER_01 2:40

And so kind of like fighting for attention, but also seeing that this is what my sisters were interested in. They both performed in theater and choirs, and then also knowing like the idea of my dad, because I didn't know my dad, but he was, for all intents and purposes, if he walked into the room at 37 years old, we'd probably look similar and talk similar. And I basically like styled myself after him and like wanted to. I was like, Well, I'm gonna look like that anyway, so I might as well like really look like that, and and and but try to be the opposite of the the human that he was. Interesting. And try to like I he loved music, music was his passion. I hear from people every day in Santa Cruz of like, dude, I saw your dad, Willie Durbin, he was a legend. We'd travel all over town, all these different crappy bands, and just still hear his amazing bass playing, no matter who he played with. But he couldn't uh uh get out of that party mode once the show had ended. Yeah, and so like me, if if the show's over, I I'm I'm out. Like I'm backstage, change, get in the car, leave, go home.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

That's gotta be uh like the the rock and roll dream is usually one okay, there's so many things. First of all, you're local hero and you're cool as shit, but you have boundaries which probably not a lot of rock and rollers had had to have in 2011 till you know 2025. How do you maintain those boundaries for a healthy, happy, wholesome life, but still be a rock and roll star?

Boundaries, Moderation, And Longevity

SPEAKER_01 4:09

I like I like peace of mind. I have a very loud inner monologue. So like it's it's the wonder years in here, and it's just constantly talking. And and if I make a bad choice, if I allowed myself to make a bad choice, I'd never let myself live it down. I I just I I I've seen what happens when you choose the the other path, and you know, I'm a I'm a second generation of one, so I I don't want to make the same mistakes that my dad did, but I want to learn from what he did and use his life not in vain, but as a blueprint for me to know kind of like, all right, what do I not do in this situation? If I'm given the opportunity to succeed, how do I find the best route to succession rather than you know uh choose the next drink or the next substance or what have you? And I still have fun, I still party. I'm I'm I'm no I'm not I'm not a straight edge superstar, but I I just it's moderation. I I know when enough is enough.

SPEAKER_06 5:15

That takes a lot of maturity and and a lot of inner dialogue, I think, to kind of get through those crazy times like after American Idol, like things probably got a you know a lot of a lot of stuff coming your way, right? Like that's that's heavy duty.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Yeah, Idol was Idol's a uh a talk and a half. There's a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:34

Let's talk about that. I want to talk about that.

Inside American Idol’s Reality

SPEAKER_04 5:35

Yeah, go for it.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah, absolutely. I'm here for you.

SPEAKER_05 5:38

So, how was that? How was the whole thing? How was the this that what we see on TV of sitting in the line for three days? Was that real? Was go in there, they treat you like royalty. Was that cool?

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Well, you know, they they cut down the uh the footage of how long you're there for to like you know, 10 seconds. Yeah, I wish it was just like that, but it really is a game of hurry up and wait. I mean, you get so ready, you get so amped up, you're ready, your adrenaline's there, and then they sit you in a room, then they leave, and they'll be like, I don't know, it might be an hour, it might be six. Yeah, you know, so there's a lot of that, a lot of being ready for something that you're not gonna be doing for a while. But I I would do it all over again if I had this exact same circumstances. I really think it's a thing like if you have nothing to lose, absolutely go for it. If you think you have anything to lose, you probably shouldn't do it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Yeah, I don't understand that.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

I had just gotten laid off. My fiance at the time, fiance and I, we had a one child, beautiful little one-year-old boy, and we were living in a place with the cheapest rent possible, which was in 2010, and it was 895 in Live Oak over by Shoreline Middle School, Mackenzie Street, and and we lived next to the the Tiffany Stalker. Nice, yeah, which is also crazy. Go go live oak.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Um I was gonna say just based on the streot name, but anyway.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

That's why I don't hang out in live oak.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Yeah, me either anymore.

SPEAKER_05 7:14

Jerry's not allowed.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

And and just I I I was a big I had a big dream. And I literally like, if I went in and I got cut, I had nothing to lose. If I went in and I made it to the top four, I had nothing to lose. Like it's it's when you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, it's you know, it's it's a it's a learning experience. It's you're taking it all in, you're taking it in stride, you're excited, you're happy, you're you know, enthralled with it. And yeah, that's just kind of how I feel about it. Because I've I've talked to people before doing idle auditions or voice auditions or America's got talent, and I'm just that's just kind of where I've come to be with it. Because I've had an opportunity to go and audition for the voice.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

I was wondering.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

But I I feel it's maybe it's different these days because I know it's different for idol these days than it was when I was on it. Much, much different, different format, different process. And I just I don't know. I I think that I have more to lose, and I don't want to be necessarily not that I think about what I'm known for or what anybody thinks of me, but I I don't necessarily want to be known as the the singing show guy. You know, like it's been 15 years since I was on Idol, right? And I still use like from American Idol, but I don't want to also be like from the American Idol and the voice. Like I want to be like Santa Cruz, you know, local, or like you know him from his song, you know, something like that. Fuck it.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Let's get you on Survivor, let's get you on it is time. Let's go, let's do it all. One question I have there is, and I think this is the high weeds a little bit, is so you walk in as an artist, you have a vision for yourself when you do that. I'm trying to do the math here, early 20s, whatever you said, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

I went down to Hollywood week on my 22nd birthday. Yeah, that's perfect.

Auditions, Judges, And Breakthrough Moments

SPEAKER_03 9:09

But I think in that process, did you feel once you made it all the way through to the show, how far out of your comfort zone were you as far as your vision as an artist and what they were asking you to do with the different genres of music and things like that?

SPEAKER_01 9:22

I I feel like I'm fortunate myself because I was very determined to sing whatever I wanted to sing. You know, obviously there's theme weeks and some of the contestants would allow the judges, not the judges, the producers, different people on the show. We didn't really have interactions with the judges aside from the TV tapings. But they'd let the producers and and people kind of pick their songs for them. And I was very like, nope. If I'm if I'm going home, I'm gonna go home because I made the choice to sing that song. That's rad.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

And that did come through in the show. I do remember that came through on the show as like I I do I ask that question because a lot of people I do think it pulled along in that show after they make it, where the I think the intriguing stories are either the horrible backstory or the people that will not let go of the integrity of like what music they want to sing. It's interesting. I had both. Yeah. Congratulations. Yeah, you did have both.

SPEAKER_05 10:18

How long were you down there for? How long was the whole taping of it?

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Well, I auditioned initially the big cattle call audition. I I like to say that that idle was like a solid year around life because I did the initial cattle call, initial cattle call audition in in San Francisco at ATT Park. That was something else now. ATT Park Chase Chase, yeah. And waited in line for 32 hours. Because you had to go wait in line one day just to get your wristband and come back two days later for your place in line, and then 17 and a half thousand people in ATT Park, and I was one of them. And and yeah, 30 hours, sing for 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_05 11:09

And you go down on the field and sing, or where'd you guys?

Law Of Attraction And Support At Home

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah, yeah, we went down on the field and sang. Okay, I got it. Once I made it through, because you just you sing for a couple producers, but once I made it through, you had to walk around the field. You couldn't, you know, put your civilian shoes on the grass. But I started like doing cartwheels and doing the moonwalk, kicking up dust on the outfield, and I got yelled at, which was fun. And then I saw Ryan Seacrest, which was like, whoa, this is all weird, all in the same breath. And then we they liked my story, sad story. They they they wanted to exploit it and send cameras over. So they did there was like a callback audition in San Francisco and like three more rounds in front of more producers, and then they sent cameras to our house. That's between August and October of 2010. And then uh, like I said, I went down on my 22nd birthday, January 6th, 2011, to go down to Hollywood week, which was in Pasadena, Hollywood and Pasadena. It's movie TV magic. Yeah, it's very Hollywood, it's not Hollywood at all. And then and then I'd say the TV show ended in May. There was a lot of back and forth between there, between quote unquote Hollywood and our cheapest little apartment in town,$8.95 for a one bedroom, one bed next to the Tiffany Stalker. Uh which there is a documentary about, and he probably still lives in for$8.95. Jokes on all the buttons for you all this time.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

No, it's back to real estate. It's 100% true. We now have to I really have to remind my clients, you really have to look at Megan's Law because it's unfortunately one of our last guests just went through that. Where, you know, now there's apps where you have to figure out who who you're living next to because it it's real.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

So I believe I'm not sure if he's even enlisted in Meghan's Law because Tiffany, Tiffany, the the 80s pop singer, she was of age at the time that he was stalking her. But he'd probably show up if you live. He's probably on his own list.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Yeah, well, so if you live in Live Oak, you know, there's an app called Ben Verified.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

So James, as far as that process, so cattle call at the park and then call back to San Francisco. Yeah. And then the third one was the that was the maker, what was the make or break the third audition to go to Hollywood?

Post‑Idol Offers And Industry Choices

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Or was it yeah, that would be the judge's audition. And that happened in probably That's the one we see on TV.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

I guess. Yeah, that was okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

So it's even that was like a whole day of waiting. I was about to audition, they called me up, and then and then I'm sitting there, I'm sitting on my hands, I'm just freaking out. And then, like, you know, I'm up next, and then it's taking a little time, taking a little time. Jennifer Lopez walks by, it's like, hi honey. I was like, Oh, and then, and then, and then the the producers came out and and they were like, Real sorry, we're we're taking a lunch break.

SPEAKER_06 14:00

It was like, oh my god, more than that.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

We gotta warm up my voice again. They're just like, just hold here. We have to, you know, bring Steven and Randy out. I was like, Steven and Randy? Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson? So I wait and they come out, and I'm just like, just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and Steven Tyler runs over to me, strides over, he glides. He's like more, he just flows, yeah, flowing more.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

He's like, Wow, man, look at that, look at that tattoo.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

And he grabs my arm like a little, a little roughly, and and he's like, Wow, look at that.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

What's that's day? I was like, That's my son's day, but since Hunter, wow, man, it's fucking beautiful, man.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

Fucking beautiful, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

I'm just like, whoa, this is far out. And then, and then they leave the room, and then I get to go back into the room with Heidi. And we're just sitting there, and I'm just like, man, I was so ready. And then, like, I was so nervous though, too. Like, I'm gonna see the judges for the first time. I'm gonna have this first time interaction, I gotta handle my emotions and and everything. And then I had that interaction already. So it's like, oh, I've already met the judges. We go way back like an hour ago.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

It is huge though.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

It it took off so much pressure today when I walked in the room.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

It was like, Hey, bro.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

But then, good seeing you guys again. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, long term news. Uh the funniest thing was when we were sitting in lunch, Heidi and I are sitting in this big waiting room, and it was later in the day, so a bunch of people have already auditioned, so it was kind of empty. And out of the corner of my eye, I see what looks like Steven Tyler peeking around a wall. Whoa, like like the shining, like and like just staring at us. Like just staring. She's sitting on my lap. I'm just we're just talking, and all of a sudden, I just see this like oh my goodness. So funny. I was like, Heidi, I think we're being watched. We're no longer alone. Was he? Was it him? It was him. Yeah, he was just creeping. What'd you say?

SPEAKER_03 15:54

What'd you say in that one?

SPEAKER_01 15:55

I sang You Shook Me by uh Led Zeppelin in the style of Led Zeppelin, originally by uh Muddy Waters, and then asked Steven if I could do Dream On.

Quiet Riot: Expectations Vs Reality

SPEAKER_03 16:04

Were you like in pocket, or did you get past it, or how did it feel like when the the first song felt really good.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

The second song doing Dream On was just kind of like I thought it was you know cool to be able to ask him if I could sing it. Yeah, you know. I I figured at that point he'd say, Yeah, fuck man, beautiful. And which he did. And so yeah, it was it was really like it was really, really emotional too. Because after nailing that first one, and I I really try to keep myself together more. I've learned to tighten up my emotions in the last 15 years, but I was a uh a frequent qu a frequent crier.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

And so, like, but stay there for a second, like you know, all of it, that single moment, the chance of what it was, what what what would have brought that tear that day?

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Just getting there, just just being in that present moment. The the I had auditioned once before in 2008, and I didn't make it past the very first cattle call round at the Cow Palace, and and I basically had just kind of written it off. And and then Simon Cowell left the show, and then they announced Steven Tyler, and I was like, well shit, I might have an opportunity to do this. And if it wasn't for my wife Heidi, like she introduced me to the law of attraction and the secret and the power of now, and she wrote all of these post-it notes, all these sticky notes all over our house that just were just committing it to my you know your subconsciousness.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

I that gave me chills. That to have somebody so intimately around you to be like, I can see where I can see where I can see through that and I know you. Let me put this here for you. So that it's uh it's not somebody telling you what to do, because I can imagine that doesn't feel good for a rock and roll guy that would tell me what to do, young lady. But to to have somebody say, like, I see this in you, I see you see this, let's let's remind your subconscious. And that's more than a manager could do, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's I I I don't know what I did in a past life to uh deserve her, but man. If if there's any reason why I'm half the man that I am today, uh and that's you know I'm I'm everything that I am today because of Heidi.

SPEAKER_06 18:31

I'm curious after Idle. I'm sure you had a ton of offers coming in for collaborations, maybe projects. I'd like to know like the ones you were super pumped on, and maybe some that you passed up that you wish you had done, like from a creative side that would have been cool.

Money, Travel, And Family Tradeoffs

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Right. As soon as soon as Idle was done, we got a couple of questions from a couple different bands. One of them was one of my favorite bands called Altar Bridge, uh, with Miles Kennedy on lead vocals, and they needed a fill-in singer for like a one-off corporate show in like Dubai or something. And my management declined on my behalf, and then they told me about it. You're like, no. What do you mean? And uh another one was what's that band? Godsmack. They were looking for a singer and management turned them down. Hinder was looking for a singer. What was another one? And then, like, one that I didn't end up doing. There's been some crazy ones, too. The mom of the drummer of Stone Temple Pilots works or worked at the Aptos branch library.

SPEAKER_06 19:51

No way.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

And so I was taking my son there for something, and she's like, Oh, you're James Durbin. So nice to meet you. She was obviously from Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Um, I'm a transplant.

SPEAKER_06 20:03

Like, no kidding.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

And uh she was like, Oh, my son is the drummer for Stone Temple Pilots, you know, they're looking for a singer. And this was just this is like a week or two before the original singer, Scott Wyland, passed away. And so they was like, they were in good standing. There was, you know, they were just looking for a guy. And so I she's like, Oh, give me your give me your email. I'll I'll have my son reach out. And and so we started talking, and then I was about to send in an audition, and then he passed away. Yeah. So the guy that they have is absolutely perfect for him. And he was on, what's his name? Jeffrey Adam Gut. Good?

SPEAKER_06 20:43

Good.

Identity, Authenticity, And Social Media

SPEAKER_01 20:44

And uh he was on X Factor or America's Got Town, or the voice, one of them. Great singer, great front man. The other one was I had an opportunity to, and I'm this one I'm glad that I didn't do. I love pro wrestling, I love WWE, AEW, just old school wrestling in general. And I had an opportunity to record the intro music for one of the wrestlers. And if it was one of like a popular male wrestler coming in, cool. It was a a diva at the time, a women's wrestler, and she was brought in just from being a model and had no wrestling talent, and all the fans. In this yeah, and and then give me that. And then the the it was the lyrical content.

SPEAKER_06 21:29

I want to do stone colds.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yeah, exactly. It was like the lyrical content of it. And uh Heidi and I were like, ooh, maybe not this one. You know, this is an opportunity, but it's like back in the ring, though. Yeah, it doesn't look good. It wasn't China. No, no. Um I don't even remember her name. Oh man, Brandy. I could probably find the song somewhere, but it's it was just it was really lame.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

What made you pick Quiet Riot?

SPEAKER_01 21:55

They picked me.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

And you know what's interesting about that is that every Like old school band hard or just you know yacht rock, they're so true to the original singer's tone. And they had I forgot the guy's name before you, and they're like, This guy does not like it doesn't even sound like he should be in this band. And I remember reading reviews like you were it, like you were the man, you're it, and it was like when you have the rock culture approving of you, was that kind of the first time that you had global rock approval?

SPEAKER_01 22:28

I I I feel like I had it earlier with Idle, like bringing in Zach Wilde and singing with Judas Priest. The Quiet Riot stuff was such a that's that's kind of goes back to the thing of like, what do you have to lose? And for me, it turned out it was my hairline. Um lost a lot of jokes, too. Yeah, we lost a lot of good good follicles those uh two and a half years.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Was it stressful? Is that what you're getting at?

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Yeah, yeah, it was really stressful.

SPEAKER_03 23:02

Did you guys tour everywhere?

SPEAKER_01 23:04

No, I mean I I I wish we had. I've I thought that I was coming in because I was 26 or 27 at the time. And I thought I was coming into something that was a little bit more well-oiled. Uh-huh. And that was like, oh, we got a we got a young, fresh, you know, singer with a full head of hair. Let's give him like let's get him to lose it.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

Let's let's let's let's fuck this kid up.

The Lost Boys And Local Momentum

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Basically. Um, you know, I was like, oh, we'll we'll we'll be really busy, we'll be going on tours, we'll be in buses, we'll be do, you know, we'll be on for a month or two, and then we'll be home for a month or two, and kind of like, oh, when we're gone, we'll be gone. And and then I was like, oh, there's like two shows booked this month. Oh. I you sure I can't book anything with my own band? Because that's a lot more lucrative and can't, you know, make a living playing two shows in in uh Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and and and uh in November. Somewhere in Sheboygan. We played we played a uh Bratwurst festival called Brattfest in Sheboygan. Wow, for real. Yeah, it it just I was prepared for a lot more than it ended up being, and I just couldn't take the loss of it any longer.

SPEAKER_06 24:27

Like and your creative freedom as well.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Oh, and my creative freedom. And it's also difficult because going from being the guy that is, and it's it's not the ego of having your name on the marquee or whatever, and and it's not that, just being the one that's like in control of anything, and then suddenly being under the control of a control freak.

SPEAKER_06 24:50

It's kind of like me and Brian. Like, I I know what you mean.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Don't even take that any further under Brian piece. Like, I don't.

SPEAKER_06 25:01

I'm just joking. Yeah, no, it's gotta be hard. I think when you come out of something like that where you've seen like, you know, Idol and the organization that Idol has, and then you go, you get on with a band kind of like with high expectations, and then they're like, actually, yeah, we just need you for for two days a month.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

And yeah, it just ended up being a lot of you know, expectation versus reality. And so, I mean, there's been other opportunities to kind of do something along those lines, and it's there's where you know, on one hand, like I feel like I'd be a good fit, and I have the the history of doing it, I know the I know the ropes, I know how to avoid uh losing any more hair if I can help it, or how to hide the loss that I have that I've gained or lost.

Craft, Rehearsal, And Reading Crowds

SPEAKER_00 25:55

I hear there's hats that have red lights, red lights in the red light. I wear a mask at night.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

I look like that's why I wear the neon pink hat. Because it's the sun shines on it.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

Was that a little dark times? Was that a was that a low point of your like uh the weekend?

SPEAKER_01 26:11

It's interesting to consider that. I'm not sure if that would be a low point. I think there was kind of a low point before that. I had joined a I had literally, where was I? I was just down the street. I had signed a deal to do to be a part of a Vegas residency show. It was kind of a what do they call that? A variety show. So they had people from The Voice, people from America's Got Talent, and like maybe Dancing with the Stars, can't remember. And there was magic and music.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Yeah. And it was at and it was at the uh where was it? Some old old like treasure island or something. It was like old old Vegas down on what they call that.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

Look, sir, I'm running out of shitty hotels.

SPEAKER_05 27:00

The Tropicana. No, it was down in the old school Vegas. Yeah, yeah, the old school Vegas.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

I can't remember what it was.

SPEAKER_03 27:06

Gold Nugget.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

No, the nugget's nice. The nugget is a nugget aquarium. I can't remember what it's called. It's on the opposite end. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

I have the tickets the blank queen or whatever it's called. I don't know. But anyways. Something.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

The the building with with people in 999 Prime Rib, that place. Yeah, yeah. And and so we did a thing there, and and it just ended up being short-lived, bad, bad, badly managed. But while I was actually the day I had just signed on, I was like, I got a call from the drummer of Quiet Riot. He was like, hey, we're kind of interested in bringing you on as our singer. And I was like, Oh, I literally just signed a deal for this short Vegas residency thing. You know, it's like during the week, it's not necessarily on weekends. I could do both if it would work. And he's like, No, that doesn't work for me. Uh you're either all Quiet Riot or you're no Quiet Riot. All right, that's cool. All right, man. So serious, all right. Cool. I was just got flip-flops on, was you know, sitting in the sun, Santa Cruz, just kind of like, well, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 28:11

All right, cool, man.

Humor, Bolton, And Vocal Power

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Sounds good. And then fast forward, I was in Vegas doing the thing, and one of the people that came to the show was the guitar player in Quiet Riot, Alex Grossi. And we hit it off. We had met before mutual uh acquaintances, and and his ex-wife was my attorney at one time, and they were still really good friends. And uh, we hit it off, we started a songwriting team, and then we're pitching songs to movies and things, and there came a time when we were in the studio recording an EP and Frankie, the original drummer of Quiet Riot, who since passed away, but he sent a he sent a demo. It was like, oh, this is an unused song from our Quiet Riot sessions for this album we're making. Maybe you guys would want it. And I was like, wouldn't it be funny if if I wrote lyrics to the song and melodies and we recorded it? We sent it back to Frankie before he gets before he lands from wherever he was. And so we did, and that song ended up basically being my audition song. It was also the a recipient of the very first quiet riot Quiet Riot music video in 29 years, and I was 28 at the time when it was released.

SPEAKER_03 29:22

What was the name of the song?

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Can't get enough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:26

It's pretty crazy. That is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

So there's there's cool stuff that I've been able to, you know, be a part of with it. Got to play a bunch of places for the first time. We did like minor headline on a huge festival in Quebec called uh Heavy Montreal, and where we played in front of like 50,000 people. So that was really cool. And then we went and played in some backwoods town in front of like 150 people in like Indiana.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

So was that Fresno?

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Yeah, Bakersfield. There was all of these like big, really big things, and then really like small, random things. And that's I I get it. That's kind of how it is in rock and roll. There's a lot of littles, and then occasionally there's a whoa, you know, you get you get a really big one. But you know, it it's you you just couldn't uh rely on that kind of schedule, you know, and and not be able to book around it in case you know something else got booked.

SPEAKER_05 30:26

How how hard is that balancing that and personal life, family life? Being a great dad.

New Music: Paradise And What’s Next

SPEAKER_01 30:31

It's hard, huh? It's really hard when you're when you're gone for four days for one show's pay, and then you come home and you know you've you've already spent a fraction of it on meals and airports and parking and gas and and you know, just whatever living daily expenses. And then you get home and you gotta unpack your suitcase and wash your clothes, and you know that you're leaving in three days, so you have to immediately do your laundry, put your stuff back in your suitcase, and then you're kind of not ever like present. Yeah. And it's really difficult, which is a part of you know, touring that I don't necessarily look forward to. If it's it's it's it's it's an interesting thing. It's like because of what the situation was and how different it was, and and thinking about like, okay, well, if if if the money was right, you know, it that you know, financial, financially, it's like, yeah, that that would make sense. Like I could I could cry in my bunk, that's fine. Um put my red light therapy hat on and cry myself to sleep, just you know, got the you got like a money ticker, like you know, like the ticker tape. Like you're just like some old guy in a palatial estate and counting your money, yeah, counting your own.

SPEAKER_03 31:47

So front-facing what you do. Is there is there a chance in the this is wrong? We'll just move right on. Is there like two James Durbins? Is in in a way like because one part of it is we all bring ourselves to our work, whatever we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Like Hannah Montana?

SPEAKER_03 31:58

But it's like Hannah Montana. Exactly. I guess I mean more like more like I can't think of the movie right now that was the the dual personality ones, but I mean that in the way it's what you do is so front-facing. So you you and it's so crowd kind of like you know, there's an entertainment aspect to it. It to me it sounds a little bit it's like euphoric, exhausting, all at the same time. But is there two of you in a way? Is that a weird question, or is do you feel that way at all?

SPEAKER_01 32:23

I try for there not to be. You'd have to be married to me and like live with me. I'll do it. And and I'm up for the challenge.

SPEAKER_03 32:34

No love, Jerry. I'm not scared.

SPEAKER_06 32:37

No more dirt samurai.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

No more dirt samurai.

Links, Dates, And Closing Credits

SPEAKER_03 32:39

I may in a weird way ask you to do that librarian's voice though, the whole time, which would be a weird thing, but you know.

SPEAKER_04 32:45

Heidi, where are you?

SPEAKER_06 32:47

Yeah, but I guess I I guess I see what Brian's saying, though, is is like as a musician and specifically a singer, you're putting yourself out as that product every single day, right? And you've kind of got to guard yourself from taking the hits, you know, like that's exactly it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

It is it is difficult to balance the two because you know, one thing is like we're in the social media age, we're in the uh what are we actually? We're not in the social media age, we're we're in the interest media age, but the social media age rules apply is you know, authenticity and showing your authentic self without giving away that's great, you know, too much of yourself, yeah, but still being genuine and having that, you know, come through the screen. Where to me, it's like, and that's a thing that Heidi's usually reminding me to do like be genuine on the screen. Don't be don't be salesman-y. But I like I like putting on the like, hey everybody, James Durbin here. Come on down, it's for sale, you know, it's for sale.$25 a cap, you know, red light. Red light red light. Red light sale. Come on down. You know, I I I love I love doing that. I love the camp and the, you know, that's that's funny to me. If I can make myself laugh by like just being a buffoon, like then I'd I'd rather do that. But you know, it's it's kind of like the hey guys, James here. Good to see you. Like, hey, check it. I'd be I'd be thrilled if you'd you know, maybe listen to my new single, March 6th, Paradise. I know I'm so done. But you know, instead, I'm like, yeah, paradise comes out over.

SPEAKER_03 34:25

You know, and now honey, let's go do a costume change, come back on the camera. I've seen, I've seen it.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

There's there's those she's got those ideas. She does. It's a charm.

SPEAKER_03 34:33

It's a fun Instagram follow. Thank you. It really is because I think you guys are are real and you're having fun doing it, clearly. It is it is a fun follow on Instagram. Thank you. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

Was there was there ever a dotted line you had to sign that would be like like we take your soul? Because this is what people think about Hollywood and being famous. And I don't mean it like maybe literally, but maybe potentially where you you had to be like, Heidi, we have the we have this road to go, but it is gonna cost us, we're not gonna see our kids. Like, was that did that happen? And then do you have to like double down on like us?

SPEAKER_01 35:08

I think that that happened a little unknowingly with Idol. That was kind of like the nothing to lose sort of thing. And then you realize, like, oh, there's always something to lose. I missed out on you know, like I said, I was it it feels like it was like a good year. And our oldest, our son Hunter, who's almost 17 now, he was 18 months old when I left to do Idol. And I watched his second birthday on what was that? Not Zoom. What did we have before Zoom? No, the other one.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

I don't, I know I don't I can't even. You don't remember what it's called. Since COVID, it's only been Zoom in my head.

SPEAKER_03 35:53

What was the name of that? Holy crap. Skype. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Dang it, that was just right there, Skype. All right, don't get over.

SPEAKER_03 36:00

So second birthday on Skype.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

Second birthday on Skype, and just like sitting there like being ignored because no one wants to talk to the guy on the computer. But just like sitting there, like, oh, this sucks.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

And then thinking about when I was with Quiet Riot was our oldest daughter, Kinsey, she's 11 now, but she was you know three, and I was gone a lot on tour, you know, whether it whether it feels like it was worth it in any way, but in a lot of ways, and and I had a lot of fun doing it. Don't get me wrong. But when you have time between the time that the thing happened and and you know, you can take a look at it. And hindsight? Is that what they call it? Hindsight, yeah. Is 2020. Yeah, yeah. It's it's it's it's pretty bonkers to just think how much time was spent away.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

I think hindsight is 2020, but I also think that comes with a caveat that you have to be super kind with yourself because of that vision. I think it is it is crystal clear when you make a mistake. It's crystal clear. Regret is so easy to get to, but I think you have to, it's like almost like the Spider-Man thing. It's like hindsight 2020 is a tremendous responsibility. That's exactly right now. But it's a huge responsibility. And I'm talking about your own mental health. It's like you can really lose yourself in that regret. And so I think you look at it, but it happened, it's what it was, it's kind of a fabric of who you are. But I I think you know, we all need to be kinder with that skill of kind of Monday morning quarterbacking our life a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Yeah, I definitely I try not to do it as much as possible. But I I instead try to look at any of those instances as something to learn from and gain the wisdom from it. That's it. And wisdom is pretty much uh as far as I've been able to tell, it's it's it's gained through mistakes and failure. It's and coming out, you know, on the other end. And like, yeah, you might be all scarred up and you know, looking pretty grungy, but you know you're you're better for it. Yeah. You don't want to, you don't you don't want to trust like a clean wizard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

Wow. Wow. So now that you don't have a clean wizard anymore, bend off the white.

SPEAKER_03 38:19

Actually sounds kind of dirty when you say it that way.

SPEAKER_06 38:23

I don't have a clean wizard anymore.

SPEAKER_03 38:29

This is a this is a skill set. It's voices. I'm really digging that.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

I freaking love it.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

So we're gonna see you in Shrek the Five. No, I'm just gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

Oh, you gotta if you gotta hook up, huh? Uh-huh. I'll go for some tricks.

SPEAKER_00 38:41

So now you're the Lost Boys, and and you're you get a chance to do amazing covers, but also create your own, your soul comes out of your own songs, and you've got a new song coming. Tell us about now we looked back, hindsight 2020. Now you're in it. You're in the Lost Boys. What's that look like right for you for now?

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Right now it's fun. A lot of fun. Lost Boys is it's all covers, 70s and 80s mainly. We've been doing this band for 10 years. Yeah. My bass player and I, Ian Babcock, we're the the last, the last of the uh lost, original Lost Boys. Originally it was Paul DeRego, Scott McPherson, Steve Moore, Ian Babcock, James Durbin. And it stemmed from a private beach party for the Redoni family. And they they had hired me, and then Susie had hired me, and she's like, I was like, Do I, you know, do you want me to like bring a band or something? She's like, No, my brother's friends have a band, you'll be fine. I was like, wait, I don't know. I was like talking to Heidi, I'm like, what you want to hear? Like, my brothers, they have a band, they're gonna be able to do it. Don't worry about it. Yeah, and then I went to a rehearsal and I was like, it's rough, but it's it's you know, they're they're fun. A bunch of locals mainly, and and that just kind of turned into a thing, and we rehearsed a few songs, and I played a a set acoustic, and then we played a handful of songs, covers together, and there was just this like, oh, that was really fun. You guys want to do that again? So then we did upstairs at the Crow's Nest, and then we were like, Oh, it was really fun. You want to do that again? And we did Crows Nest Beach Party, and we got invited to the Capitol Art and Wine Festival, and then just little by little it started to that's awesome, you know, get a little bigger, and yeah, that was I think 10 years was last year. I think we're on to 11 years this year.

SPEAKER_05 40:29

Is it hard living in Santa Cruz and being in the music scene?

SPEAKER_01 40:33

Yes and no. It's so much of I don't know, I don't really know how to answer that. Could you rephrase it?

SPEAKER_05 40:43

You know, like when actors want to get into the Hollywood scene, they have to move down to Hollywood. There's so many industries like that where being in the right place at the right time or having to move there because of the job. I was wondering, is Santa Cruz supportive? Is there a lot of opportunity here? Is there not as much as you would think?

SPEAKER_01 41:00

If you're James Durbin, there's there's more opportunity. Who is that guy? I would I would just I can only speak from my own experience. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's always been that way.

SPEAKER_05 41:11

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 41:12

I feel like when we started The Lost Boys, there was like, you know, my my candle had gone out in a in a couple ways. And it's it's a really interesting thing to like be the the guy, and I came from a cover show and I was a nobody, and then suddenly everybody knows who I am. And I was this dreamer and dreamed of things like this. And I remember one night I was at Coaster's karaoke, and I snuck onto and climbed up onto the stage when it was permanent year-round at the boardwalk. And I climbed onto the stage and I stood there at the at the front of the stage, closed my eyes, and envisioned that there was just a sea of people cheering and screaming. And then if if only that was like the movie version, and I closed my eyes. It's like an episode of Breaking Bad where they show you the ending, yeah, and then you work your way to it. It's like, and I close my eyes, and then I the cheering gets louder and louder, and I open my eyes, and suddenly I literally am on stage on that same stage, and there's 30,000 people on the beach littering the boardwalk. And the what I've been told is the largest gathering of beating hearts in one place in the history of Santa Cruz.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

That's a great thing. And yeah, and it's it's it's a total I'm we're not worthy, you know, we're scum, we suck. Um and it's it's kind of it's it's mind-boggling too, because it's you go from that and then you know, you hope 30 people will come when you you know post up at a local winery to sing some covers for an hour. You know, it's it's it's different, and it's it's there's so many like mental things with it. But I you just gotta keep on going. And you know, as long as I can sing, as long as I can play guitar, I'm gonna keep playing. I have a question about it. I enjoy it too. So it's whether there's 15 people or 1,500 people or 150,000 people, you know, I'm gonna give my same performance.

SPEAKER_00 43:32

So all of us have a craft, let's just say. And then when we get to a certain stage, do you have a vocal coach? Do you have a guitar? I do how do you stay on top in the sense of your skills?

SPEAKER_01 43:45

Um, I practice singing. I don't have a vocal coach. I've met with coaches before and they're like, Whatever you're doing, just keep doing it. You're fine. Like, I don't hear any weak points, nothing that I need to help you with. And like, alright, that was cool. Complimentary, right? I was like, all right, cool. Uh see ya. Take care. And yeah, I I I practice here and there. I don't I don't like practicing. Really? Yeah. I do not like practice. I don't I I I don't mind practicing. I do not like rehearsal. Let me rephrase that. Practice is, you know, you can practice on your own. Rehearsal is when you gotta get everybody together and and wait, wait for everybody else to figure it out. But I I like to just be prepared and you know, we'll run it once or twice at soundcheck. And if it's good, there you go. You'll keep doing it. You'll get better by doing it.

SPEAKER_00 44:38

You seem to have that very fortunate to be a human that can feed off the moment. As there's a crowd, you can feed off of it. And you you have faith in what or confidence in what you have, and that's that's a very rare skill, in my opinion. Like most people have to keep practicing, keep practicing, and then they have their sight on something, and then there's uh all this external pressure of what you should be doing, and you're not doing enough, and it's never enough, and you're not good enough. And you're like, shit, I got this.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

Well, it's it's especially most of what I do these days is is playing in cover bands and tribute bands. And so they're it's it's maybe different with some than it is with others, but like for the Lost Boys compared to maybe one of the other groups that I play with, you know, we do have a set list, but I if I feel the crowd, because the crowd moves and changes, you know. You might play something that they hate and then you lose them. You might play something that they really love, and then the next song is you know a slow song, and you change it up in the moment. And so you your audience tells you where they want to go. And some of the other bands I play with, it's a set list, and so there's there's just different ways of doing it. But you know, I I play, I've been doing more often, I've been playing solo, solo acoustic shows, which is me and my guitar. That's awesome. And I I really enjoy it, especially when people are into it, and and but that's a challenge too, because there's things that I want to play, and then there's things that people want to hear. And sometimes people want to dance. And I'm like, well, I'm just a guy with a guitar. What do you what do you want? And so I end up doing this really like hard pick percussive playing, and which hurts. Yeah. I've been I've been feeling my age more this year. Maybe I got like tennis elbow, I got like arthritis, uh, just everything's crazy. Maybe just tell them that.

SPEAKER_03 46:23

Maybe tell them we want to dance and say, you know what, it hurts. Freaking hurts.

SPEAKER_01 46:27

I got I got you know, people in their 60s and 70s wanting to dance, like a 37-year-old just like, it hurts.

SPEAKER_02 46:37

What do you mean you want to dance?

SPEAKER_01 46:39

And then, you know, but sometimes they'll be like, We want to dance, and then you give them Lionel Richie, and then they walk away and sit down.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

It's like, well, you said you wanted to dance. Don't say you want to go.

SPEAKER_03 46:49

Literally, just play dancing on the ceiling.

SPEAKER_02 46:50

Jambolita. Jumbo jumbo.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

If you do that, no one's singing along.

SPEAKER_02 46:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:59

Oh, jambalaya.

SPEAKER_01 47:00

Yeah, exactly. So but sometimes they don't. Sometimes they don't jambalaya.

SPEAKER_00 47:05

Okay, what about a comedian? Has it ever called to you?

SPEAKER_01 47:08

I am funny. No, it's funny. It's it's I'm I'm able to take the piss out of myself. And but comedy is its own thing entirely, and entirely. I have sometimes I'll go on a rant, and you know, I'm when I'm given a free mic, or if it's my mic, I can tend to ramble and rant if I don't feel like playing another song, or I'm still thinking about what song to play. Recently it happened where I have this new uh fascination with Michael Bolton. Nice and his hair? Everything. All of it. His hair, yeah. Laughter of. No, his his hair was. I I would not sure what I would do with that hair. He had a hairline. That was that was positive. I'd say he had a big forehead, not a hairline. He had a big nose. He had big everything, big voice, little mouth, little mouth, little mouth, big jeans, um, high-waisted, high-waisted, wide, wide leg jeans, um, acid washed.

SPEAKER_00 48:09

Um fascination.

SPEAKER_03 48:11

You've done you've done a deep dive here.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

He's like, Do you like his shoes that he used to wear? I didn't notice the shoes. Did you know he plays guitar? Yeah. Did you know he would rip a lead? Um, yeah, I did a deep dive on Michael Bolton. I'm just fascinated with his voice and how much power he has and how much control he has. Because usually when someone's yell singing and giving every bit of effort they have, they like lose control. But he has like this man sings just ridiculous runs and phrasing and the note selection and everything just sounds effortless, but it also sounds like he's giving everything he has. Anyway, I I just figured out I I really love the guy. And but his hair, yeah, he's got the it's like a mullet, but it's it's business on top and party everywhere else.

SPEAKER_00 48:59

It just you know to Jerry's point, hasn't he lost his hair?

SPEAKER_06 49:03

I think he's looking a little thin up top. But he's got like brain cancer.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

Oh, way to go, Jerry.

SPEAKER_06 49:08

Brandy, you should feel really bad about what you just said.

SPEAKER_00 49:12

Well, we're gonna sort of wrap this up. And so tell us a little bit about what's coming out and what your where where your shows are this next six months.

SPEAKER_01 49:20

Uh oh.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

Look at the calendar up.

SPEAKER_01 49:23

So March 6th, I am putting out my next single, which is called Paradise. I wrote the song, I just found it on the way over here in traffic, wasn't texting and driving, but I found it on the way over here that I wrote the beginning of the song on May 10th, 2021. In my backyard, and was thinking about like, if I ever did a song with the expendables, what would it sound like? And and yeah, I I have demoed it a few times. I played it around unreleased a few times, found my old demo of it, was just kind of like reinspired and decided to re-record it. And just for fun and haven't been able to stop listening to it and really enjoy it. It's kind of reggae rock, kind of reggae pop, and kind of follows a similar vibe to the last single that I released, which is called Capitola on My Mind. Yeah. Which I plan on having that song be placed in the self-cleaning bathroom on the Capitola Warp. I want to be, I wanna be, I wanna, you know. It's marketing. Pay to pee. Um every pee pays, and uh, you know, every flush.

SPEAKER_00 50:35

I'll put my TVs in there too.

SPEAKER_01 50:37

It's a partnership, there's no doubt about it. Absolutely. But it's like they I went in there once and it the song plays, and you're doing your business, and and I'm just like, it'd be so fucking funny if it was just like 100% you're gonna sing it.

SPEAKER_03 50:55

Hey, it's James Durbin. You know, it's James Durbin. It's like the mayor's trams when you come into a city, like when you're at the airport. Welcome to Denver.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 51:06

Are you having a good time down there?

SPEAKER_01 51:09

I noticed you didn't wipe.

SPEAKER_03 51:12

This actually might be this might be an entire business model.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

Yeah, yeah. Check out my new single after you wipe. Be sure to wash your hands. Be sure to shazam my new single. Capitola on my mind. Oh, that's so good. While you capitola on the throne. While you cappa toilet, I will capitola.

SPEAKER_00 51:32

Cap a toilet.

SPEAKER_01 51:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

So where can we find your new capitoil? I mean, your capitola.

SPEAKER_01 51:39

Toile. Capitola on my all my music is searchable as uh James Durbin. D-U-R-B-I-N, not A-N, like in South Africa or the uh the uh variety of of marijuana. There is a Durban poison. But it's not Durbin. Anyway, a new single, Paradise comes out March 6th. I am working on a full-length album. I'm I'm this is the problem being the creative that I try to be, is always juggling ideas and so many different things I want to do. But I am working on a synth rock, synth pop album that hopefully will be out in June or July. And then I'm playing in town. You can catch me in Santa Cruz, in Aptos, in Scotts Valley, anywhere and everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 52:28

I'll give you a prop. The the for the social James Durban official, he's got a really good link tree. And so the link tree kind of always is throwing up like what's this week, what's last week, what's coming up, and then it has an additional one to go right to a site and things like that.

SPEAKER_00 52:41

But is it sick? Because it's always throwing up.

SPEAKER_06 52:45

Oh that's a mom joke. That was a lot of jokes. That's a mom joke. That was cold.

SPEAKER_00 52:50

Perfect, perfect, perfect. Well, thank you so much, James. I want to say what an inspiration. And you said you had a one-year-old.

SPEAKER_01 52:58

No, we have a 16 and a half year old, 11-year-old, and a four-year-old. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

Well, I'm so happy for your beautiful family, and thank you for staying in Santa Cruz. So this is the OTC Podcast. I'm Brandy Jones with Keller Williams Thrive. I'm at 831 588 5145.

SPEAKER_05 53:14

Ryan Buckholt, Cross Country Mortgage, 831 818 2339.

SPEAKER_06 53:19

Cherry Seagraves with Seagraves Insurance, 831 239 9425.

unknown 53:25

Nice job, guys. Awesome.