The Chainsmokers

[0] Welcome, welcome, welcome.

[1] To armchair expert.

[2] Were you going to try to sing it?

[3] I'm going to sing.

[4] Oh, I'm going to look away.

[5] Oh, God.

[6] We ain't ever getting older.

[7] Wren, we're, the chain smokers.

[8] This was so fun.

[9] It was fun.

[10] And I had my opinions before we interviewed them.

[11] Alex and Drew, they're so fun.

[12] But they were.

[13] God, they're wonderful.

[14] Great.

[15] Yeah, I had a blast talking to them.

[16] I mean, if I've got to explain who the chain smokers are to you, you don't own a radio.

[17] You have not been on planet Earth for the last 10 years.

[18] My dad probably doesn't know.

[19] He does.

[20] Well, he does, but he doesn't know he does.

[21] And we get into that.

[22] Yes, he knows, he knows, but he doesn't know he knows.

[23] You can't know what you don't know.

[24] That's the message.

[25] I guess the message is you can know what you don't know.

[26] That is the message.

[27] This guy kind of disproves that.

[28] The albums, memories do not open.

[29] Sick boy.

[30] World War Joy.

[31] So far, so good.

[32] Also, and this will blow your mind, they run a venture capital firm called Mantis VC.

[33] They are involved in everything.

[34] Yeah.

[35] And they're so fun.

[36] They're nice.

[37] Please enjoy the chain smokers.

[38] I want something just like this.

[39] Hi, wait, wait, wait.

[40] He's an exchange wagon.

[41] I have an AMG station wagon, which I fucking love.

[42] It's like my favorite car.

[43] Drove that for a few weeks.

[44] I was like, I don't know.

[45] I might have to get that.

[46] this thing.

[47] You love them too, right?

[48] Yeah.

[49] But I did just recently see at the gas station the EQ series.

[50] So that's electric.

[51] And it's gorgeous.

[52] Yeah.

[53] Yeah, they're nice.

[54] How old are you?

[55] 33.

[56] 33.

[57] 33 is really young.

[58] That's rough, isn't it?

[59] It's really young.

[60] I'm so happy now people are starting to be younger than more.

[61] A lot of them.

[62] I don't like it.

[63] No one was younger than Monica.

[64] And now many of our guests are younger.

[65] And some of them are multi -billionaire.

[66] too.

[67] I, okay.

[68] I'll get there.

[69] I'll get there.

[70] Are you a multi -billionaire?

[71] Not yet.

[72] Okay, okay.

[73] He's trying.

[74] The thing with a lot of the young multi -billionaires is if you wait a couple of years, the market's correct, and they're not multi -billioners.

[75] That makes you feel better.

[76] That does make me feel better.

[77] Oh, yeah.

[78] They'll lose everything.

[79] Right, right.

[80] Don't worry.

[81] I'll lose everything.

[82] Nice to meet, too.

[83] We did a handshake, so I have to do this anymore.

[84] That's fine.

[85] Don't get up.

[86] What did you drive?

[87] He is in a G -wagon.

[88] I just have an Audi.

[89] You're in an Audi.

[90] That's great.

[91] Both are great.

[92] I used to have a Jeep Wrangler, which honestly I fucking loved.

[93] Why did you get rid of it?

[94] Well, the lease was up, and, you know, every car is, like, ridiculously expensive now.

[95] So I was like, I'm paying way more than what I'm getting the value out of a Jeep Wrangler for.

[96] So I might as well just get an actual nice car at this point.

[97] Yeah.

[98] We both got, like, really nice cars at one point.

[99] And they just, like, sucked.

[100] Get it in?

[101] And you're just like, this is such a waste of capital.

[102] And I feel like such a clown.

[103] in it.

[104] I'm the guy who like pulls up the crags though and they're like there's no parking.

[105] Because you're in a wrangler.

[106] Yeah.

[107] I'm like no, no, no. You don't get it.

[108] You don't get it.

[109] Don't judge this book by the cover of this wrangler.

[110] I'm trying to remember immediately what comes to mind is Sean White, which is really funny.

[111] He went and bought a Lamborghini when he was like in high school at some point.

[112] It's kind of a like to his parents, a declaration like, this is my money.

[113] I'm going to have fun with it.

[114] Total that car really quickly.

[115] Got another one.

[116] He totaled the car.

[117] He totaled it.

[118] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[119] I mean, it was like 15 or something.

[120] Yeah, maybe 18.

[121] As long as no one got her, good for him.

[122] Oh, yeah.

[123] If you're Sean White, go ahead and throw a Lambo away.

[124] It just happened.

[125] Somebody else just recently.

[126] I know, someone was just in here talking about the same thing where they got some money.

[127] They bought a ridiculous cop.

[128] Oh, it was Jason Derulo.

[129] Oh, yeah, I tracked too.

[130] I have a really funny story of a friend that runs a tech company.

[131] And I guess he was, like, staying at Jason Derulo's.

[132] And I guess Jason was, you know, doing his thing with somebody.

[133] But I guess the way his house.

[134] designed, like he had trapped my friend in a certain part of the house he couldn't get out of.

[135] But also, he apparently has a python that just, like, roams around his house.

[136] Wow, why didn't we get that out of him?

[137] Oh, man. I mean, unless my friend's full of shit, and then he was like, I'm trapped in this room with a python.

[138] Oh, my God.

[139] I don't want to blow DeRulo's opportunity, whatever that is that.

[140] He seems so unlike that.

[141] And our friend's really awkward, too.

[142] I would just be, like, banging on the door, like, cut it out.

[143] You know, he's like, oh, fuck.

[144] You know, I'm like, I'm going to have to look this cobra in the eyes at some point.

[145] I'll have to call him on the fact check.

[146] That's wild.

[147] Yeah, he bought a crazy car.

[148] He did.

[149] But then got rid of it in the same fashion of like, I look dumb.

[150] I know Drew bought a McLaren.

[151] What did you buy?

[152] I'm a big James Bond fan, so I got to Aston Martin.

[153] Which one?

[154] Vanquish.

[155] No, it was like a DB7.

[156] I honestly, it just sucked.

[157] Like, it was just a absolute shit car.

[158] It broke a lot?

[159] Broke a lot.

[160] And you want to connect your phone just doesn't connect.

[161] It would be great if in one of the James Bond's, though, They did show 007 having to connect to the Bluetooth.

[162] That's great.

[163] Every time I rent a car, I just did an Oregon last weekend.

[164] I'm in the parking lot.

[165] I'm in a BMW.

[166] I've never really connected my phone to one of those.

[167] Tricky.

[168] 12 minutes.

[169] I'm sitting there.

[170] And my wife's just like, you know, just go.

[171] You're not going to be able to listen to your music for the 12 minute ride to the airport or to the hotel.

[172] It's funny you say that.

[173] I'm watching this lioness show on Paramount.

[174] I love action movies.

[175] We're not allowed to, no one can watch it, but we will continue to talk about it.

[176] Okay, okay.

[177] Yeah, yeah.

[178] They did a great job.

[179] But it was funny because they're watching these special operators.

[180] You know, it's like a show about seals and all that stuff.

[181] And I was like, wouldn't it be funny to make a serious movie?

[182] But it has these honest moments where like the guy just has really bad gas.

[183] You know what I mean?

[184] Or like, you know, they don't ever show those moments where it's like, we're about to go, you know, kick in this door.

[185] Should I take this shit quickly, though?

[186] You know what I mean?

[187] Like, they're always just like so ready to go.

[188] It'd be funny to add some like humanizing.

[189] Well, you should watch chips.

[190] I was going to say it's full of those human moments.

[191] Yes.

[192] Yeah.

[193] So I'm a cop in it, but I'm also a pill addict.

[194] And I also am really sensitive to smells.

[195] So when going to certain people's houses, I'm starting to get kind of sick and it's not a right time for it.

[196] But don't watch it.

[197] Yeah, you know.

[198] Definitely don't watch it.

[199] We've met before really briefly.

[200] Where?

[201] You wouldn't remember.

[202] We were at some airport in, I don't know, could have been in Atlanta.

[203] And we were both sitting at the same food court table.

[204] And you were like into some Chick -fil -A or something.

[205] This was like years.

[206] This was probably like seven years ago.

[207] I was like, oh shit, it's the heck, Shepard.

[208] That's incredible.

[209] I can almost promise you it would have been like eight years and two months ago because I was in Atlanta a bunch because Kristen was working there and we had a two -month -old Delta.

[210] Monica was there as well at that time.

[211] Oh, another thing we probably can't support.

[212] But they have a great Chick -fil -A at the Atlanta airport.

[213] Yeah, the Atlanta airport is stacked.

[214] Right?

[215] It is.

[216] It's really stacked.

[217] Like, I don't love it as a connection just based on where it is in the country.

[218] Almost worth the pit stop.

[219] Actually, yeah.

[220] From there, and so I take a lot of pride and...

[221] Yeah, yeah.

[222] That's amazing.

[223] Every time you go to the airport, you just have options.

[224] So many.

[225] That's something I look forward to.

[226] I appreciate there's a big military base.

[227] We see a lot of military guys.

[228] I'm sure, like a lot of connections go out of there.

[229] And it always kind of makes me, you know, God bless those guys.

[230] Yeah, yeah.

[231] You might have even seen me because in that spell, I went home really quick, got a vasectomy and came back.

[232] So you could have seen me. That was a really pivotal moment.

[233] The end of my fertility.

[234] You might have seen me in my last fertile day, actually.

[235] It's like funny when you're sitting there and you're like, gosh, you know, like we're both just like eating and, you know, you respect the rules of a traveler.

[236] So that's a fun question right out of the gates, which is there's, I would say an asymmetrical anonymity to you guys versus how enormously ubiquitous you are.

[237] It's awesome.

[238] A thousand X people are aware of something just like this.

[239] Then they are me. Right?

[240] I just look this morning, 2 .3 billion times it's been streamed on just Spotify.

[241] So certainly every single person in that airport had heard that song.

[242] And maybe one in every 50 people knew who I was.

[243] But is that golden?

[244] That seems kind of groovy.

[245] They know the stuff we've made.

[246] Right.

[247] But like we are out there.

[248] Awesome.

[249] Look, when you're on the side where you're getting your picture taken a lot, you envy what you guys have.

[250] But I could also see where, if I'm you guys, I'm like, motherfuckers, I've got the biggest, 26 weeks in a row I've been top five and no one, you know, they tell me the restaurant's closed.

[251] Yeah, yeah.

[252] I definitely prefer it this way, I think.

[253] We have great lives, but I can go to Airwold.

[254] and no one gives a shit.

[255] Literally, I was in New York last week, and it was like the VMAs, did not go to the VMAs.

[256] But I went to, like, one of these lounges that out of after -party.

[257] And it was, like, late, I'm not gonna lie.

[258] And, like, definitely they'd been dealing with, like, Taylor and Selena and all these people.

[259] I'm, like, literally lowest packing order.

[260] And I roll up, there's no door people.

[261] It's just, like, the security guards were so mean.

[262] And they were like, no. And I was just, like, got it.

[263] Oh, my God.

[264] They didn't even try.

[265] In those moments, it has to kind of suck.

[266] Well, I don't mind, honestly, because I'm like maybe my shit wasn't together enough.

[267] That's like past trauma of being a New York City kid and just not getting into clubs and just be like, you know what, it was my fault.

[268] Yeah, yeah.

[269] And it's like a sign.

[270] You're like, wasn't meant to be, I'm out of here.

[271] As long as I'm not like pandering.

[272] Because I was like, do you know who I am?

[273] And they were like, no, you can't do that.

[274] Then you're like, really should feel terrible.

[275] I love that attitude.

[276] Getting stuffed at the door is important for everybody every now and then.

[277] Yeah, yeah.

[278] We always have that one friend that's like, we're good now.

[279] And I'm like, what'd you do?

[280] And it's like, I gave him a thousand bucks.

[281] You're like, no. That's even worse.

[282] But if I was with you guys, I would feel like that was an injustice.

[283] An injustice.

[284] I probably would be like, hey, no. They're bigger than those people.

[285] Yeah.

[286] Yeah, yeah.

[287] To Drew's point, you need that sobering moment.

[288] And again, I really like it.

[289] We do a lot of calls with tech founders and stuff like that.

[290] And, you know, some of these people are much older and they're just like, I don't know anything.

[291] And I'm like, you've heard it.

[292] And they're like, I don't think so.

[293] I'm like, you have for sure.

[294] Even against your will, whether it was a Walmart or Whole Foods or CVS.

[295] You've heard it.

[296] And then they're like, Oh, yes.

[297] I am familiar with the song.

[298] You could not have been alive in the last decade and not, at least closer or, I don't know, you name it.

[299] You just have to hear it.

[300] Music can be so omnipresent everywhere.

[301] You can be in your car.

[302] I've turned on the radio and I've heard the same song playing on all six stations once.

[303] And I was like, that's badass, but also I hate this song now.

[304] You know what I mean?

[305] Like, I hate this artist and this song, even though it wasn't there doing.

[306] I will say, though, if we compare it to some other breakout hits, this weird thing does happen.

[307] And was some of them you hear them four years later and you're like, oh, God, right?

[308] I'm not going to name them because I don't want to shit on anyone's stuff.

[309] But there are ones that are mega hits.

[310] You hear it and you're a little embarrassed for yourself that you liked it.

[311] There's songs that don't age well.

[312] I guess it's as simple as that.

[313] I mean, our first hit was selfie, which I hope you forgot about.

[314] But now that we're talking about, I guess I'll bring it up.

[315] I didn't even know selfie.

[316] My introduction to you guys is closer.

[317] And I have little girls.

[318] And that was probably the first song that Lincoln and I would sing passionately very loud in the and she was probably five years old.

[319] How old was that song?

[320] How long was that?

[321] 2016.

[322] Oh, my God.

[323] She'd been four.

[324] She knew the words of that song as a baby, basically.

[325] That's true.

[326] It sounds cool when you hear it those text stories.

[327] You're like, oh, nice.

[328] She might come to a concert someday.

[329] If we can get that next wave.

[330] Totally.

[331] Okay, so there's so many things I find interesting about your pairing.

[332] I think first and foremost is just simply you guys didn't know each other.

[333] I think most of the bands that we interview Jonas Brothers, like their family or all these people have known each other.

[334] Chili Peppers, they fucking knew each other as kids, you know, in high school.

[335] But you had this dude, Adam Alpert.

[336] Yeah, he's our manager.

[337] And you're at the time, how old are you?

[338] Yeah, I'm 21 or 22.

[339] I'm finishing school at Syracuse.

[340] What did you major in?

[341] Music business.

[342] But you two?

[343] No, I studied art history.

[344] And business, but not music.

[345] Well, I was in the Gallatin.

[346] You kind of can do whatever you wanted.

[347] Oh, Gallatin.

[348] Gallatin comes up all the time on here.

[349] It's like a non -major major.

[350] Yeah, yeah.

[351] It's like the greatest thing ever.

[352] It's a college.

[353] experience without the work.

[354] They're like, do whatever you want.

[355] You're like, I don't know anything.

[356] I can't mean for you to tell me what I'm supposed to do.

[357] Okay, so you were at Syracus, you were just graduated.

[358] You were an intern at Interscope.

[359] Yeah.

[360] So how do you come to know, Adam?

[361] How does this union start?

[362] I go to school thinking I wanted to be like an agent.

[363] I was so into dance music, but I didn't think being a DJ, like it wasn't big in America at that time, but I didn't think that would be a possibility.

[364] So I went the more practical route.

[365] Go work at a label, management, agent, something like that.

[366] And then got in my senior year, America came around to dance music.

[367] And so this thing that I have been spending all my time in my bedroom trying to make beats and be relevant in that scene was becoming the big thing here.

[368] And so that kind of gave me the courage where like I could actually do this.

[369] And I remember I had this pivotal moment.

[370] My program in Syracuse had a program in L .A. Where you'd go and work in the entertainment industry somewhere.

[371] And so I'm interning in Interscope Records.

[372] And the kid who had just gotten hired there was managing this DJ that I had heard of.

[373] I won't name his name.

[374] But he was kind of bottom of the totem pole.

[375] Okay.

[376] And I remember, I was like, how much does that guy make?

[377] And he's like, he makes like 700 racks a year.

[378] And I'm like, so you're telling me. Like, I don't know if I can be A Vici, but like that guy's making almost a million bucks a year.

[379] And I'm here trying to get a job for 50.

[380] My passion is to do that.

[381] I think I'm all in on this.

[382] I didn't realize it was a possibility to actually do for a career.

[383] And I was obsessed with it.

[384] I was spending all my time.

[385] You were putting music up.

[386] Like, you had a SoundCloud.

[387] I had a different name.

[388] What was the name?

[389] You have to tell us.

[390] I hesitated even like, sorry.

[391] All right.

[392] So I was obsessed with this book called Atlas Shrugged.

[393] And my favorite character was, Francisco Duncordia.

[394] Why not John Galt?

[395] That's too hardcore.

[396] That's too like I'm making a statement with my name.

[397] But Duncania sounded like a cool thing.

[398] No one knew how to say it.

[399] It was actually a horrible name.

[400] But I had some songs that were on SoundCloud that I guess you'd know if you were paying attention to like the blog scene.

[401] And I started ghost producing for some kids and doing my thing.

[402] I graduated college.

[403] I had like $150 ,000 in debt, which I just didn't realize.

[404] I was getting myself in that hole going to Syracuse.

[405] But I moved back home to Maine.

[406] So I'm kind of in this point.

[407] I'm like, shit.

[408] I got like till the end of the summer to make something work where I got to get a more practical job.

[409] And then this kid that was interning for Adam, who's our current manager, was like, hey, have you heard of the chain smokers?

[410] And I was like, yeah, of course.

[411] I had never heard of them.

[412] Right, right, right.

[413] And he's like, oh, this is DJ duo in New York City.

[414] It's a duo, but one of the kids is leaving.

[415] And the other kid wants to bring in some kid that makes music.

[416] And he lied to me. He's like, they make this much money a year.

[417] At this point, I'm like, $150 ,000 in debt.

[418] And I'm like, I need something.

[419] Well, I hope that what people are gleaning from this, the advice here is like, just lie across the board.

[420] So it's like the fourth lie already.

[421] We're getting closer to start.

[422] Let's check in with you, Alex, because you already had chain smokers with another person.

[423] I would save this normally to the end, but just we're here right now.

[424] That guy is bummed or he recognizes that Drew was part of.

[425] He was pissed.

[426] He left on his own.

[427] He wanted to leave.

[428] And honestly, like, I actually give myself credit because I was like very, you know, like most people would just be like, oh, he left.

[429] But I was like, I want to find someone else.

[430] I believe there's value in this brand that we've built, at least like locally.

[431] you know what I mean to sustain something and maybe make it bigger and I was like I got to get him to sign something so I had who's still our lawyer today went to college with Drew drop a one page piece of paper and I was like I'm going to pay you I think it was like 8500 bucks to be gone all your money at the time yeah like I was so broke yeah to this especially on just paying a guy to leave but what was weird it was like you already left I think he was like what's up why are you giving me money and I was like I want to make it just official you did help build this so I feel like I should give you something but I don't have any plans.

[432] So $8 ,500 seems like a very fair over the top thing for something that has no direction right now.

[433] I just want to know that it's mine and I can do what I want with it.

[434] And he was definitely fishy for a minute about it and was being like stubborn.

[435] And then I can't remember the conversation, but finally he must have just been like, yeah, $8 ,500.

[436] Sounds great.

[437] Nothing's happened with it.

[438] Yeah, yeah.

[439] And he signed it.

[440] And then literally the next day we changed everything.

[441] And he was like, what the, you know?

[442] But it wasn't like we got successful the next day either.

[443] I think he just kind of realized we had a plan in place.

[444] I don't feel bad for him because he left.

[445] What was crazy is he went into our Twitter the day we had our first gig.

[446] I don't know if you remember this and started blocking everybody.

[447] And you can't see who you blocked.

[448] For us, as a new artist, he was blocking club owners and this and that.

[449] Oh, does he still, like, control of the account?

[450] Yeah, I mean, he went on really nasty Twitter tirades.

[451] Even racist and homophobic things about our team.

[452] And he really did not handle it gracefully.

[453] Yeah.

[454] And his defense is your team super black or gay?

[455] Are you over index?

[456] Yeah, yeah.

[457] More Jewish.

[458] Well, would he love that off the table?

[459] Anti -Sabitism.

[460] I don't know what he's doing right now.

[461] Last I heard he was a dog walker in the city.

[462] That adds up.

[463] If you're spending your time just wallowing and being rageful.

[464] Dogs are probably the best person that spent time.

[465] But I mean, dog workers, they make crazy money.

[466] They make like a $200 grand in New York City.

[467] Yeah.

[468] There was a whole New Yorker article about it.

[469] That's a career.

[470] Oh.

[471] I was like, shit.

[472] Maybe one day when I'm fully done, you know what I mean?

[473] Just like, walk a couple of dogs for $200 grand a year.

[474] I bet, though, you're going to have to walk a year.

[475] more than two dogs to get to that 200 grand.

[476] Now, I bet you have 10.

[477] One dog for each chain smoker.

[478] We guarantee each dog will have his own chain smoker.

[479] The lesson with this whole thing for me in joining Drew was, I think people often surround themselves with negativity.

[480] I remember being with the other guy and blaming everyone around us for our lack of success or progress.

[481] You know, it was constantly like, that guy's an idiot.

[482] He doesn't understand shit.

[483] And the second, that negativity was out of my life, first of I personally just felt different.

[484] There was more opportunity and I was more motivated, but then obviously once we linked together, it was like, it's on us.

[485] No one's going to do this for us.

[486] Let's empower each other and work.

[487] We always mark it as like the luckiest thing that ever happened too because we literally met one day and the next day was crashing with friends walking two, three miles to get to his house in the middle of the winter and just grind it every day.

[488] And it was like fun.

[489] Obviously we weren't successful for a while.

[490] But I want to know about the first meeting.

[491] Did you meet a bunch of people?

[492] No, I didn't.

[493] I think Drew was really the only guy.

[494] And did you guys immediately feel something or was it a slow?

[495] That's what's so lucky because we were just like, yeah, you seem cool enough.

[496] You know, and like, you know, we are here 11 years later.

[497] We've had an amazing music career.

[498] We run a venture capital fund together.

[499] We own a tequila company and we're still best friends.

[500] So it's like, yeah, it's what are the chances.

[501] Well, I almost think it might be easier to do it the way you did it.

[502] Because I think what can happen is if two people are best friends all through childhood.

[503] And then when the spotlight's on you and let's say they are drawn to 10.

[504] Timberlake, more than whoever, that can be stressful and it introduces a new dynamic that didn't previously exist, where this one is like any dynamic that arises is the dynamic, because there's no prior.

[505] That's a really good point.

[506] I've never thought of it that way.

[507] You think of the Jonas brothers, the older brother.

[508] He's the boss.

[509] And then the younger two get more popular.

[510] That's an insane dynamic for brothers to handle.

[511] Well, it's funny in investing, one of the rules is don't invest in teams that don't have experience together.

[512] You want that rapport to understand the other one's strengths.

[513] weaknesses and fill in the gap.

[514] In some ways, this was the complete opposite of that idea.

[515] But I agree.

[516] I think we wanted the same thing more than anything.

[517] It was surprising how a line we were in terms of the work we were willing to do to get there.

[518] I didn't know how he was really raised by his mom or I was raised by my mom.

[519] Are you both kids of single mom?

[520] Just me. I don't know.

[521] I just say mom, naturally from my background.

[522] But you're just always putting the bigger picture first and not yourselves.

[523] To me, if they're like, hey, we're going to throw Drew on the cover of Vogue, but not you.

[524] And it's going to be about the chain smokers.

[525] I'm like, great.

[526] we get more shows.

[527] Really?

[528] Your ego is very in check.

[529] How do you explain that?

[530] You would recognize that's abnormal.

[531] I don't care.

[532] I mean, sort of them calling me like ugly or something.

[533] You know what I mean?

[534] In the email, but they're like, we don't want the ugly one.

[535] Then I'd be like, that was just nasty.

[536] It's not like I had a personal aspiration my whole life to be on the cover of Vogue.

[537] Anna, if you're listening, I'll totally do it.

[538] Were you on the cover of Vogue?

[539] If you listen to this.

[540] No, what?

[541] This is all, like, hypothetical.

[542] But what's great as I was going to walk.

[543] Go ahead.

[544] Do you not ask that follow -up question?

[545] That he had been.

[546] Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[547] example.

[548] No, we're like more likely on fishing and outdoorsman weekly.

[549] But just conceptually, to me, it's just cool, whatever.

[550] As long as we're pushing our music forward, I don't really mind.

[551] But would you recognize that's kind of abnormal?

[552] Because let me just say, I'm you.

[553] And I don't know how it would break down if AI analyzed your guys' creativity and productivity.

[554] But let's just assume you guys are 50 -50 contributors to the music.

[555] Yet one person is 85 % of the face of it.

[556] Inately there, it feels like this feels a little unjust.

[557] And I respect someone like Chris Martin for this.

[558] Clearly, Chris to the world is cold play.

[559] But he is so diplomatic about how he handles everything split down the middle.

[560] The band is the most important thing to him.

[561] And I think for us, that's always been the initiative.

[562] But let me just say something.

[563] That's lovely.

[564] And I've hung with Chris Martin.

[565] He has the luxury of doing that because he's fucking gorgeous.

[566] He's gotten so much attention.

[567] He's so talented that he can be so benevolent and gracious.

[568] You and I are not Chris Martin.

[569] Like, I want, I want some recognition.

[570] We got advice the other week from someone who's very wealthy that was like, at the end of day, money isn't what's important.

[571] It's about the experiences that you have.

[572] And you're like, you're a rich person saying that, though.

[573] You know what I mean?

[574] Like, you're not wrong.

[575] It's like when you're sick, all you want to do is be healthy.

[576] You're not worried about money.

[577] There's definitely validity in that.

[578] But also, it's much easier to say that.

[579] In their defense, there's quite a bit of social science.

[580] Lots and lots of studies that money does make you happier, to a point.

[581] It's been decided in America, on average, at like 160.

[582] It plateaus up to about $2 million.

[583] And then it goes, so there is data that says that's actually not just his whimsical observation.

[584] But I know what you're saying.

[585] It's much easier to have that look on life if you have the money to be able to be like, yeah, it actually doesn't matter that much all this money I have.

[586] All right.

[587] Well, then get it to your money.

[588] And it's like, oh, no, I'd rather not.

[589] Money obviously creates the freedom for you to hopefully.

[590] pursue the things that you love and care most about, but also it has created a lot of friction for people because we have a lot of friends that are successful and they can't find good relationships because I think they're too distracted and have too much shit going on.

[591] And I was joking with one of them and I was like, why don't you put your money in escrow with like a lawyer for three months and live off $2 ,500 a week, which should be enough.

[592] I guarantee you in three months you'll have like a girlfriend because you'll be focused in on things differently.

[593] That's a good point.

[594] You'll go to different places.

[595] That tells me you do believe in what they're saying.

[596] Because what I've seen is we've interviewed a ton of these tech billionaires, and it's insanely isolating.

[597] Everyone around you is so conscious of what you have, even myself.

[598] It's hard for me to not think about the fact that Brian Chesky has $12 billion while he's across for me. Yeah.

[599] I'm just like, I mean, if you have $12, if you give me $500 million, you wouldn't even notice that.

[600] Like, I'm thinking of these dumb things.

[601] I'm distracted by it.

[602] Ryan's interesting.

[603] We're friends with him, and he's very motivated by not money.

[604] You know what I mean?

[605] Like the dude still sleeps in Airbnb's.

[606] He's in pursuit of something larger than that.

[607] I agree.

[608] So he's like the least flashy of all the billionaires.

[609] That's true.

[610] But the actual acquisition of the money changes the dynamic with everyone around you.

[611] For sure.

[612] Which is no fault of the person who made the money.

[613] But it's now an enormous element.

[614] Yeah, yeah.

[615] I've also been around Brad Pitt.

[616] No one in a 20 foot radius can think of anything other than the fact that Brad Pitt's in the room.

[617] Because he's hot, though, not because he's rich.

[618] Yeah, that is true.

[619] He transcends hot.

[620] There's other, like, still so hot.

[621] There's the cool factor, there's so much.

[622] But the point is, is like, I can't blame that guy for anything because he's living in the most altered reality where everyone around him's thinking about him 100 % and like worrying about how they sound and self -conscious.

[623] And then it's infectious that self -consciousness.

[624] To deny that it comes with this enormous price or that he probably wouldn't maybe be happier being just wealthy, maybe.

[625] It's like everything, you know, the good and bad of these different things.

[626] You can talk to the most beautiful person on the planet, and they would say that's probably a huge burden and stressful and inside they feel super self -conscious.

[627] This is totally strange pivot, but my dog just shit all over one of our carpets.

[628] And normally this would have like ruined my day back in the early days.

[629] I love that carpet.

[630] I would just like throw it out.

[631] There's shit all over it.

[632] It's not worth it.

[633] And I just like move on with my day.

[634] I'm so glad that I'm in a position where I can just choke out this carpet versus going back and scrubbing it for 17 hours.

[635] I totally agree with you.

[636] So that is the beautiful thing of having money.

[637] is that there are certain problems you can solve with money.

[638] The problem is you can ultimately solve nearly every problem other than health issues with money and people obviously do, because what's the point of it if you're not going to do that?

[639] And I do think it does something to not be stressed, to not have to deal with these burdens.

[640] I don't think people are at their best when they have alleviated all stress from their life.

[641] You're not living in reality.

[642] You can't really connect with other people because they're living in reality.

[643] You know those people, too.

[644] I can think of like eight of them that just.

[645] came into my mind.

[646] We were like, this dude's out to lunch.

[647] Because everything's handled.

[648] And even like, okay, so the shit on the rug, I too, I would have been like, hunt, get it out of here.

[649] Now, we saved ourselves that cleaning experience.

[650] But what we robbed ourselves of is we've cleaned it.

[651] It's back.

[652] We pop for me and N .A. beer.

[653] Yeah.

[654] And sit on the couch.

[655] And that enormous sense of self -esteem that comes from having dealt with the thing you didn't want to deal with and having completed it and now kind of rejoicing.

[656] So you also rob yourself of all the satisfaction of solving your.

[657] problems.

[658] Yeah, I agree with that.

[659] I feel like we've always been really grounded.

[660] Part of that is that people don't reckon.

[661] You know what I mean?

[662] I feel successful, but I have imposter syndrome for sure.

[663] I take a lot of joy in those little small, like building something or not outsourcing everything that you have in your life.

[664] And for us, I think taking ownership and the work and that part is really the rewarding part.

[665] And when I think back of our chain smoker career, it's not the big pinnacle moments that I remember.

[666] It's really the nights grinding in our little apartment.

[667] Yeah, I would imagine receiving the trophy on stage isn't nearly as fun as you two actually finding the song 100 % the moment of invincibility we'll call it where you're like I can do anything holy shit I have no more worries pure serotonin release is in making a song that you believe in and then when we learned that closer went straight number one on billboard or we won a Grammy or really awesome achievements just kind of felt like oh cool I'm glad that happened yeah I'm not like we were really working on.

[668] And I can, they want to not lose that.

[669] But that hails a comparison.

[670] But like still to this day, I'm not as happy of a person if I'm not actively in the studio.

[671] Finding that thing that makes me be like, wow, this song just makes me feel like anything's possible.

[672] I can imagine playing it here and there and all these people reacting to it.

[673] It's a really magical thing that no other achievement or whatever can supplement.

[674] And that's interesting because everything's analytical today.

[675] And that's not like an analytical thing.

[676] That's really just.

[677] It's magic.

[678] Yeah.

[679] You get a magic.

[680] Whereas like everything else, you know, you wake up every day.

[681] X, Y, Z has number one here.

[682] And this person has this many followers.

[683] Well, everything in our life has been quantified.

[684] Totally.

[685] Which kind of robs people of some of the magic that makes things special.

[686] Well, creativity can't really be measured.

[687] And that's what it is.

[688] The end of the day is that sense of achieving the creative.

[689] Well, tapping into something that's maybe beyond what you thought you could reach is also an incredible feeling.

[690] I just had the simplest experience with it.

[691] I have an edited video.

[692] like eight years.

[693] We've been busy.

[694] I've been busy.

[695] And I shot something that I wanted to edit.

[696] I re -learned how to edit on a different program.

[697] I put together the fucking first two days, it sucked.

[698] And then Friday, it totally worked.

[699] And I just watched it like, I don't know, 12 times in a row, just make sure there wasn't one frame I wanted different.

[700] And then when it keeps landing perfectly, like, I don't want to remove a frame.

[701] No, I still not.

[702] That is so intoxicated.

[703] Totally.

[704] I have to imagine.

[705] However it works, like the final mix or whatever.

[706] and you can listen the closer.

[707] I would be able to listen that song 30 times or wrong.

[708] Just going, no, man, yep, it's everything we want.

[709] Yeah.

[710] It's also a really hard thing to chase, and I've been thinking about this a lot recently because we just put out the song last Friday called Summertime Friends.

[711] Watch the video this morning.

[712] Well, it's hilarious that that's the video, and there's a lot of hesitant making that the video because it's just me and my girlfriend blacked out on this boat this summer, and we were like, let's shoot the video right now.

[713] And our friend Spencer, who is also blacked out, Oh, wow.

[714] Like shot it three times and that's now the video.

[715] I was like in my room being like, they're shooting a video upstairs.

[716] Yeah, I can watch the song again and again.

[717] Anyway, but that's one of those songs that it's about something very real and personal to me. It has this moment of tension.

[718] I think if you've been a chain smokers fan since Don't Let Me Down or Closer Roses, it really captures that nostalgic feeling that you kind of come to us for.

[719] And it's funny identifying all of those factors.

[720] Like, it's about something real.

[721] It's got these types of chords.

[722] It's upbeat.

[723] It makes you feel something.

[724] I can give you a list of what makes a change smoker song, but doing it, even being the guys that just have done it and the only guys that can do it, it's still hard to do on command.

[725] You're not AI.

[726] Yeah, I mean, well, that's interesting to get in the eye.

[727] We'll throw that in the queue, but, you know, it's interesting.

[728] We put out eight songs, and only till this last song this year, we're like, oh, wow, this one's really getting reaction.

[729] And you're like, duh, this has all the things.

[730] But why weren't we aiming for before?

[731] And it's crazy how you kind of step in your own way as an artist.

[732] We also relearn the same thing over and over again as a human, don't you?

[733] I have the same epiphany every three months.

[734] It wouldn't feel good if you could do it on command.

[735] It wouldn't feel good if you could just turn it out.

[736] Yeah, it's because it's hard to do.

[737] To bring up Chris Martin again, he's given us a ton of great pieces of advice over the years.

[738] And he would always say, I don't write these songs.

[739] They're sent down.

[740] Right.

[741] Which I thought was like a really kooky piece of advice at the time.

[742] The older I get, the more it makes sense to me. Sometimes this song is just sent down.

[743] And the words, what you want to say exactly how you feel and say them in a way that people will resonate with and you want to hear over and over again.

[744] You can't wake up.

[745] and do that.

[746] I can't treat it like an office job and get that shit every day.

[747] Stay tuned for more armchair expert, if you dare.

[748] I will say the way Chris said it does to me sound kooky.

[749] I've also heard him on Stern explaining that whole experience.

[750] But then we had in Rick Rubin, have you read his book on creativity?

[751] The way he actually articulates it sounds much more grounded in reality to me, which is an artist is just observing what's around them.

[752] and allowing that to come in.

[753] And that makes sense to me. Not like some spiritual being in the heavens sent down the song, but just that if you look around you and you pay attention and you open yourself up to it, these things do come in.

[754] That's a really hard thing to do too when you get to our level where we've been doing 150 shows a year for eight years.

[755] When am I supposed to have those experiences again?

[756] Especially now with our VC fund is pretty much our main job too now.

[757] And it's like, fuck, you've got to remember to get some inputs in here so I can make shit that feels like something, you know?

[758] I wanted to talk about the VC fund at the end, but now the second time I've resisted.

[759] So from the outside, what I would say is why on earth have a VC fund?

[760] If you think of like David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, who you guys have performed with, wants to be you.

[761] He wants to be a DJ.

[762] If you're mega rich, what you'd praise that you were a Jane Smoker, I don't understand why you would be focusing on venture capital when you guys are two artists.

[763] who can do what you have demonstrated you can do so many times.

[764] For the David's part, having hung out with him a ton of times.

[765] I don't know him, by the way.

[766] I just know that he's a DJ.

[767] Greatest dude ever.

[768] Desol?

[769] Desol, yeah.

[770] He unfortunately doesn't really do it anymore because everyone's so open arms about the idea that he could have more than one of interest.

[771] But like it's his hobby.

[772] It's his passion.

[773] Same way that people would play golf or guitar or anything.

[774] And it just happens to be this.

[775] I love him for that.

[776] He really enjoys it and took it seriously whenever we played.

[777] We've been asked the same question.

[778] Like, no one is trying to go.

[779] that way for the most part.

[780] Exactly.

[781] You're like a salmon swimming upstream.

[782] Everyone's trying to go your direction and be a musician and travel the world.

[783] And I think for us, it kind of goes back to even the first day that we met.

[784] When we met, obviously our intention was hopefully become one of the more influential electronic acts.

[785] We wanted to be up there with the Swedish House Mafias and Gettas and Tiestos.

[786] But also from that first meeting, we were very clear that we wanted to use whatever platform we created to branch out and explore other opportunities that were exciting to us.

[787] And been known to us.

[788] We're just meeting, but we've both been pretty entrepreneurial in our own ways throughout our lives before we even met.

[789] Drew used to ship Timberlands to like China.

[790] Yeah, I had eBay businesses when I was like 14 and that kind of little hustle.

[791] And your dad is an art dealer?

[792] My dad was an art dealer.

[793] Yeah, so my dad was a car salesman.

[794] If you're into sales, you inherit that as well.

[795] I mean, we could talk all day long about the idea of what you're exposed to as a kid and how that shapes your actual identity because that really like threw me for a loop as I decided I wanted to go in on music.

[796] I never even considered it.

[797] Because you were working at an art gallery when you guys met, right?

[798] Exactly.

[799] And also, it was all I knew.

[800] I didn't know about becoming a doctor or a lawyer.

[801] It was just like art dealing.

[802] Sure.

[803] I love art. Hard to hate.

[804] Yeah.

[805] And then as you, you know, get more into it.

[806] And my dad passed when I was younger.

[807] I only had like the good truth, probably not the stuff where he was like, this is what sucks.

[808] There's so much nepotism.

[809] You're dealing with really, really rich assholes.

[810] A lot of crooks, too.

[811] Yeah, a lot of crooks, money laundering, tax evasion.

[812] Yeah, heist.

[813] Yeah, that's a fun.

[814] That's a fun part.

[815] I like that they have it as collateral.

[816] thieves steal shit, you know, like mafioso bosses will steal fame so that they can barter if they ever get arrested?

[817] Well, I'll return the Mona Lisa.

[818] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[819] I mean, that like $9 million gold toilet thing was just recovered or something.

[820] What's that?

[821] There's some heist in London where they stole like a $9 million gold toilet from a museum or something.

[822] Right, like some king's toilet.

[823] And I was like, what a great story.

[824] I would love to just know everything from A to Z. You know, you guys hear about these people in L .A. That are going around to liquor stores and cutting open the roof and dropping and they've stolen like $750 ,000 worth of wine.

[825] No. No. How cool is that?

[826] Like, I hate to endorse this.

[827] Yeah, yeah.

[828] No, I love Heist, too.

[829] That wine's got to taste real good.

[830] Oh, my God.

[831] You can't bite into some gold, but you can just like, take a nice sip of some Burgundy.

[832] Anyway, heists are awesome.

[833] Yeah, yeah.

[834] Going back to the original point, so once we had built our platform as the chain smokers and we had some success, we had this platform that people were beginning to reach out to us about different opportunities to invest.

[835] And most of those opportunities were consumer -related stuff.

[836] But what was really eye -opening was just we really enjoyed bringing the experience and network we had to these different companies and opportunities and helping them succeed in different little ways.

[837] So someone might be like, damn, if I could just get in the Whole Foods, that's the inflection point for me. And you're like, oh, well, I know the CEO of Whole Foods.

[838] Right.

[839] We played a show with him or he came to Vegas.

[840] Do you want me to connect you?

[841] And it changes the whole direction of this company.

[842] You're like leveraging your vast connectiveness.

[843] I think what was funny is musicians, there's some great ones out there.

[844] But it could be like pulling teeth.

[845] Getting someone to respond to a simple text about a mix can take.

[846] four months.

[847] You just raised your hand.

[848] Yeah.

[849] And it drives me crazy because I'm very much like, if we can do it now, let's do it now.

[850] Are we not all trying to go to the same place?

[851] Yeah, yeah.

[852] So let's do it and let's all work towards that.

[853] And I felt like in the tech community, those types of founders, that's all they were doing.

[854] They were like, I'm working 24 -7 on this ambitious idea.

[855] I think we found that really creatively inspiring and exciting to be working alongside those people helping do those things and hopefully bringing something to the equation that they were missing in terms of how they could get to where they wanted to go.

[856] We began to just keep pulling on that thread.

[857] And the more and more we pulled on it, the more we kind of enjoyed and were fascinated by what we were discovering.

[858] So if I could just ask you guys to compare, maybe it's not comparable.

[859] But let's just say for a second, you guys have found some company, you like it, you connect them with the right people, you've bought a stake in it, and then it wins.

[860] Can we really compare that to the joy of creating closer or that feeling?

[861] No, it's a short answer.

[862] But there is a similar high to it.

[863] you're like, wow, we found this company.

[864] We invested time and effort and connectivity with this team and help them achieve something.

[865] And it's working and anything's possible for them now.

[866] You're connecting to them.

[867] Like, you made a difference and, like, you made something that, like, people are now relating to.

[868] That's a big part of the high.

[869] With music, you're always just trying to communicate in a way that you can't do through conversation.

[870] I mean, it is conversation another way, but it's a higher art form that allows you to have a deeper connection with people.

[871] Yeah, you're transferring an emotion and a feeling in a song.

[872] And when people get that, that feels amazing.

[873] And when you're bringing that not in the same way, but to a company and finding out what their needs are, investing time with them making their believe in this idea, hiring the right team around them, all of these things that we love helping them to do.

[874] And then you see it work, that's very gratifying.

[875] I could turn the same question onto myself, which is we have a diaper company and I have an NA beer company.

[876] I could imagine being critical of me going like, why do you need to do this thing?

[877] The beer company is like me and my two best friends from childhood.

[878] I named it, I write all the copy, I write the commercials, the thing I was editing was for that.

[879] I'm like, oh, it's actually not different at all from what I've already done.

[880] In fact, all I'm doing is bringing this thing that I've already done into this new kind of space.

[881] And it's almost more fun just because it's now novel.

[882] I already did the other thing for 20 years.

[883] And like going into the store and seeing that for the first time or seeing a kid, you know, to park and the parents are changing the diapers in the see.

[884] You know, companies like Uber or Airbnb with Brian Cheskey, he's bringing a level of connectivity to the world that certainly didn't exist.

[885] I think also we're very competitive people.

[886] I think venture is like music in the same way we thought about our career, which is like it's lots of small victories that hopefully one day add up to this IPO moment or acquisition or something like that.

[887] That's really exciting.

[888] You know, it's not just about like raising the fund.

[889] It's about finding the great company or founder to invest in.

[890] Then it's like winning into that opportunity.

[891] Then it's adding value so that someone else has now seen what is happening here is special and they put more money.

[892] And it just kind of keeps going in this way.

[893] And each milestone feels like, this huge validation and success in terms of how you think about the world.

[894] You can probably imagine those for the people that love you both.

[895] They want you to focus on music.

[896] Like, I don't want Daniel Day Lewis per se to become the great computer programmer of Scotland.

[897] He might be the best AI mind in the world.

[898] But when you love an artist, you just want more of what they put out.

[899] Can you see where people will be like, I don't want you focus on anything but this thing I cherish?

[900] And has it taken an impact on how much time you get to spend, creating music together.

[901] I think it's been equal parts, difficult and beneficial.

[902] The thing is making music or any type of art, it's not an office job.

[903] Yes, you get more output, the more time you go into the studio, but great songs, like the ones that we're really trying to write, we've done a couple times in the past.

[904] Those don't come every day.

[905] Even when we were working on the fun, it was like 8 a .m. to 4 p .m. to 4 p .m. in the studio, and this is during COVID, so we didn't have shows.

[906] That was every day.

[907] If you look at all the time that you spent making music and how productive you actually were versus how much time you were in the studio.

[908] It's like pretty whack.

[909] Very low percentage.

[910] Yeah, we probably spent that time, like the inputs thing is the thing that you need to be conscious.

[911] Like, am I having experiences?

[912] Am I watching movies?

[913] Am I talking to interesting people?

[914] A lot of the fun does that for us, puts us in new rooms, gets access to new information.

[915] New points of view, new ways of thinking of things.

[916] We've always been cerebral in that way.

[917] It does satisfy a part of us, which is we like business.

[918] We like reading the news.

[919] We're very curious people.

[920] And I think having the opportunity to channel that into something that's hopefully meaningful for the world and for certainly other founders starting things.

[921] That's exciting to us.

[922] Definitely life is all about finding that balance between these different things.

[923] I think that's something we do extraordinarily well in terms of not having ego.

[924] If I got to go do this meeting, I'm not pissed if he's in the studio.

[925] I trust that he's going to be handling that.

[926] And then we come out, he's not going to be like, this is my song.

[927] I'm not like, this is my investment.

[928] We're a team.

[929] These are true partners.

[930] Yeah.

[931] And so I think that allows us obviously to cover more ground.

[932] And then Drew mentioned it, but we tour a lot.

[933] We're not married yet.

[934] We don't have kids yet.

[935] That's probably not too far in the distant future.

[936] And having a opportunity to continue to build something that allows us to be a little bit more home potentially is an exciting prospect.

[937] And both of us have been musical in different ways for our lives.

[938] But there's so much time in the day, that's something that I really put a lot of value on is just your output.

[939] How productive can you really be if you want to be productive?

[940] And the answer is really fucking productive if you care about the things you're doing.

[941] And we also really love this.

[942] stuff.

[943] You don't feel like you're working.

[944] Yeah, I don't wake up at seven and I'm like, God damn it.

[945] I like to complain.

[946] So you probably will hear that.

[947] Like, I'm just a complainee person.

[948] Well, you're from the East Coast.

[949] Is L .A. wearing you out?

[950] Because it slowly infected me. I'm from Detroit.

[951] Yeah.

[952] I'm a lines fan.

[953] Newly?

[954] Because they're, no, no, for a long time.

[955] Oh, wow.

[956] You got in at the ground floor.

[957] Yeah, yeah.

[958] We haven't really gone up much.

[959] I'm from New York originally and I finally have a place back there and I love going there.

[960] And everyone's like hustling and moving.

[961] There's shit going all the time.

[962] It's so fucking exhausting.

[963] We have a couple of buddies who are successful tech people that are like, I'm going to go to New York.

[964] And I was like, dude, how are you liking it?

[965] They're like, I'm so tired here.

[966] I'm having so much fun, but it's so tiring.

[967] Yeah.

[968] And here, I don't do shit.

[969] I think the thing in New York is when you're there, you're out.

[970] You don't want to be sitting in your apartment because you're hearing it all out of the window and you're like, I need to be out there.

[971] Well, so your apartment's this big.

[972] Yeah, even a nice apartment is moving.

[973] Yeah, this is like a fire apartment.

[974] Yeah, exactly.

[975] You got a bathroom here.

[976] Yeah.

[977] With no door.

[978] It's a hot plate.

[979] Yeah.

[980] Two different calls.

[981] devices.

[982] I was going to say, though, I think there's a new generation now.

[983] You can't just be Daniel DeLuis, or I kind of feel like Taylor Swift and Beyonce were like the last musicians who were just musicians.

[984] And that's it.

[985] That's all they put out.

[986] And that's all that.

[987] I mean, even I think Taylor had like a perfume or something.

[988] I don't know.

[989] But now you have to be involved in multiple things.

[990] I was just listening to something about Olivia Rodriguez.

[991] And it's like, yeah, she's involved in this.

[992] And she's an actor.

[993] And she's this.

[994] And that's sort of the new wave is you're not just focused on one thing.

[995] You kind of have to have all these walls juggling.

[996] Yeah, exactly.

[997] It's exciting.

[998] I mean, I think, you know, going back to your points about taking in the world, I keep bringing this point up.

[999] We just had like a meeting yesterday where I mentioned this.

[1000] But if you want to become a great actor, you shouldn't just like sit there and read the script thousands of times.

[1001] It's about going out, go to galleries, go to theater, go watch movies, go hang out with friends, go to concerts.

[1002] And then you become the sum of all of those pieces and you're able to kind of like synthesize that into whatever this role that you're supposed be in a really interesting, captivating way.

[1003] Yeah.

[1004] And I think that is a similar point of just how you're out here experiencing the world.

[1005] You're meeting all these people.

[1006] We played shows for every Fortune 500 company on the planet, every wealthy guys, daughters, Bart Mitzvah, Sweet 16.

[1007] And we've never been transactional.

[1008] We're always collecting these amazing friends and personalities.

[1009] And so much of our lives, they were like, what can I do for you guys?

[1010] And you're like, just be our friend.

[1011] We love hanging out with you.

[1012] We love hosting you.

[1013] And then finally, we'll find this thing in venture where we're like, wait, maybe we can weaponize this all and take all of this value.

[1014] in these relationships we had and channel it into something that's meaningful, not just for ourselves, but other people out there, hopefully.

[1015] And that might be exciting and interesting.

[1016] And it's hard.

[1017] Venture is not for the feign of art. Well, even Brian said that Coucher had called him like 25 times before he finally got on the phone with him.

[1018] Oh yeah, probably.

[1019] Shout of Brian.

[1020] He's done so much for us.

[1021] This isn't a negative.

[1022] But I mean, I was like, Brian, will you invest in our fund?

[1023] He's like, no, I don't think so.

[1024] And you were like, what?

[1025] You know what?

[1026] So his point, and he was right, He was like, my value isn't capital for you guys.

[1027] It's my resources, my experience.

[1028] This guy's done a lot of great, really helpful things for us.

[1029] But it's funny, you know, at the time, I was like, you're wrong.

[1030] This is what I need right now.

[1031] But it's like a parent giving you a lesson.

[1032] Also, we don't know what we need.

[1033] We think we know what we need.

[1034] 100%.

[1035] Until we get it, we're like, huh, guess that wasn't it.

[1036] Because I still feel restless, irritable and discontent.

[1037] But music is the son of our solar system.

[1038] I mean, there's no doubt about that.

[1039] Like, music is given life to everything that we've been able to get involved in.

[1040] If we have, you know, another successful record, that makes everything else infinitely easier.

[1041] Priority will always be chain smokers.

[1042] So can I ask some really dumb, basic questions?

[1043] I probably should ask them at the very beginning of this because I'd imagine some of our audience is equally ignorant.

[1044] So when I think of a DJ, I think of Grand Master Flash.

[1045] Like I think of someone spinning two vinyl records.

[1046] Obviously, if you guys both DJ, like, what's physically happening when you two are both DJing?

[1047] Because you do these insanely huge shows.

[1048] was you did a stadium tour, you had a residency.

[1049] When I come see you guys, who's doing what?

[1050] We have different formats of shows.

[1051] When we do big festivals, it's both of us DJing, but mainly Alex, because I'm singing a lot.

[1052] And our drummer, Matt, is playing with us too.

[1053] So Alex will DJ and play a couple of live elements to, like, add to the songs.

[1054] I'll be DJing and singing.

[1055] It sounds like kind of a crazy show.

[1056] That's fun.

[1057] I know, it's really fun.

[1058] And then Matt comes out, and he's the most talented change smokers and just makes us look amazing.

[1059] If he gets sick, I do drum.

[1060] That would fun.

[1061] Two and a half out of ten, I'd say.

[1062] Okay.

[1063] So we can keep it simple.

[1064] We'll just have you play over track or something.

[1065] It'll be cool, yeah.

[1066] Or I'll just mime and you play a track.

[1067] Then Vegas is really fun.

[1068] We've been at the wind for six years now.

[1069] Oh, that continued.

[1070] I know you guys had a three years.

[1071] Yeah, we have like two more years with them now.

[1072] And are you guys there every weekend?

[1073] Is that how it works?

[1074] Every weekend.

[1075] Basically, it was like 50 shows a year for the first four or five years.

[1076] And now we're down to like 35.

[1077] You're broke.

[1078] It actually feels like a lot less, which is amazing.

[1079] Well, it goes from every single weekend to.

[1080] Sometimes twice a weekend.

[1081] It was like crazy.

[1082] We're there tomorrow night and then we're there on Saturday.

[1083] Okay, so here's the thing.

[1084] I know you guys fly there.

[1085] You can just take me one day.

[1086] Yeah, you guys can both come.

[1087] We love bringing new people too.

[1088] We have our consistent friends.

[1089] They're like, dude, I'll come with you right now.

[1090] And you're like, all right, we have to.

[1091] But like bringing new people.

[1092] I like how that was a Sergio impression.

[1093] That was a surgy impression.

[1094] DJing isn't so much about, yes, Grand Mantraflash, A -track.

[1095] There's incredible turntablests.

[1096] Is that what we would call them turntabeless?

[1097] I would say that that's probably official.

[1098] I think we're even dated.

[1099] On the techniques.

[1100] 1 ,200s.

[1101] Unbelievable.

[1102] I mean, I started on 1 ,200s.

[1103] It's hard and it's an art form.

[1104] But what experience we're bringing is very different because you can go to one of those people's shows.

[1105] And some people can have a great time.

[1106] But there's all the times where you're like, I'm just kind of trying to hear the track and enjoy my time.

[1107] Yeah, that's like the biggest realization in Vegas because in Vegas, this club Hakasan brought, and this is like 2012, probably, 2013.

[1108] They brought like Calvin Harris and Deadmouse and David Getta and every big DJ at the time, Avichie.

[1109] and it became this like big EDM heavy thing.

[1110] And then we just played so many shows there that we just forget about this whole EDM format thing and just started playing throwbacks and shit that we grew up on.

[1111] And we were like one of the only American DJs.

[1112] So we kind of tapped into that whole thing.

[1113] And so now our show is just like a party.

[1114] Are you guys old enough to have ever seen A .M.?

[1115] Yeah, he was incredible.

[1116] I mean, he was probably the best first example of that guy that took Elton John records and matched them up with a dance track or a hip -hop song.

[1117] And I mean, I saw him a bunch of times actually.

[1118] He was really special.

[1119] Yeah, he was a friend of mine, and he was so on another level, musically.

[1120] The act of DJing, it's like you're hosting people.

[1121] You're coming into the world of music and energy that we're trying to create for you.

[1122] So it's almost less the musical act of DJing and more the experience.

[1123] Yeah, you're putting on a full thought -out show.

[1124] Or sometimes not as thought -out, but you know who we are, the energy that brings, the vibe that brings in, like, I want to go see that.

[1125] That was, like, chain smokers pre -drew.

[1126] If we're playing at One Oak, it's going to be probably like when everyone, now DJs there.

[1127] It's high -end club.

[1128] But then you start adding in your own music to the mix.

[1129] It really adds a dimension.

[1130] What's interesting is we probably DJed for four or five years, pretty much straightforward.

[1131] Drew didn't really start singing probably to like the third or fourth year.

[1132] Yeah, Closer was weirdly the first song I ever sang on.

[1133] I know.

[1134] You had only done background, right?

[1135] Yeah, I did background vocals on roses for the deep in my bones.

[1136] I can feel you.

[1137] That part.

[1138] Yeah.

[1139] And then Closer was the first.

[1140] So yeah, that was one of my questions is I had to imagine taking that swing, I want to know what kind of internal conversations there were about it.

[1141] There was never like, okay, one day I'm going to sing.

[1142] There was never that prophecy.

[1143] You weren't a pestering Alex.

[1144] Yeah, it's like, fine.

[1145] Singers are annoying.

[1146] You know what I'm like if we can bring this thing in house.

[1147] It's easier.

[1148] I'd say the evolution of our career in terms of going from producers to writers to perform with like all that.

[1149] I mean, we started doing remixes.

[1150] We'd go on hype machine, which is this blog aggregator and beg all the artists that were on the chart to like give us their vocal stem so we could make our version of the song.

[1151] And that's kind of how we cut our chops as producers and figuring out what would be a sound that was replicable, that would be the chain smokers that felt like us that no one else was doing.

[1152] And then we got to the song Roses where we wrote it with this amazing songwriter, Roses, and she sang it.

[1153] I did background vocals.

[1154] And there were a couple songs around that time where we graduated from just making the music to writing the lyrics too.

[1155] And there was, Don't Let Me Down, and then by the time closer happened, we were on tour.

[1156] me and this kid Freddy who's in this band called Lewis the Child that were super drunk one night and made the beat for closer on the back of the tour bus.

[1157] I had written out lyrics to a song that I thought were very kind of like dashboard confessionally like the very visual death care for cutie.

[1158] My favorite band at all time.

[1159] Love slash postal service.

[1160] I had this story that I was really excited to put over this beat and so I was kind of writing lyrics to this beat and then my friend was like, you should just sing the song.

[1161] I was like, I can't sing and he's like, trust me, I'm going to show you this little thing called Audolty.

[1162] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1163] He finessed my vocal.

[1164] vocals say that.

[1165] And I think the vocal on closer is still the demo vocal.

[1166] And the whole intention was someone else is going to sing this.

[1167] I'm not a singer.

[1168] Someone else is going to do this.

[1169] Is it a temp.

[1170] Exactly.

[1171] We're like, we need a feature.

[1172] What guy could sing this or whatever.

[1173] And then in the time that it took us to get off that tour, enough of our friends had heard it.

[1174] And we're like, this shit is fire.

[1175] You got to stay on this song.

[1176] Halsey was on it yet or no. Halsey wasn't on it.

[1177] But we were like, we should have a female singer do the second verse.

[1178] And we actually had Camilla Cabello sing the second verse before her.

[1179] She just left Fifth Harmony.

[1180] We had become friends.

[1181] and she wanted to do the track.

[1182] And it was crazy.

[1183] Like, we had the whole thing kind of done and thought she was going to be on it with us.

[1184] And then I think she just figured it wasn't the right move for her.

[1185] Oh, we know who convinced her.

[1186] Yeah.

[1187] Anyway, we've heard through The Great Fun who said to not do it.

[1188] But whatever, that shit happens all the time in the music industry.

[1189] Is she dog walking?

[1190] No, she's doing great.

[1191] Yeah, yeah.

[1192] She figured it out.

[1193] We're trying to have her on.

[1194] But that's a bummer of a song to have turned out.

[1195] Oh, my God.

[1196] That's your biggest song.

[1197] When we do have her on, we will be asked.

[1198] her about that moment.

[1199] That sucks.

[1200] I would be interested to hear her perspective on this story.

[1201] That's basically like you stepped up and you said I'll take a random pick super lot omega ball.

[1202] And then a guy behind you was like, I wasn't lying before you.

[1203] Oh, yeah, then take this ticket.

[1204] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1205] I'll get the next one.

[1206] But it's really weird because who knows what would have happened if Camilla's Sean, if like palsy was perfect.

[1207] It was the perfect timing.

[1208] Chain Smokers had two hit songs out.

[1209] We had Rosen, don't let me down.

[1210] She had a hit song out and everyone was very excited about it.

[1211] It was a really cool, you guys should do something together moment.

[1212] That was what it was supposed to be.

[1213] That song was life -changing and career -changing, obviously, because of the success of it.

[1214] And then for me, personally, it was like, oh, shit, now I'm a singer.

[1215] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1216] That's got to be another lovely layer of, like, God, not only is this thing, the biggest thing we've done.

[1217] In record setting, like, second longest song in top 10 ever, 33 weeks or some shit.

[1218] And it's you.

[1219] And you didn't even plan on it.

[1220] It was also really crazy because then I had to figure out how to be a singer.

[1221] and I have tried to get most of the videos taken down on the internet, but there are some pretty painful moments still out there.

[1222] Well, you're also very young to be going through all this.

[1223] Yeah.

[1224] This wasn't the plan.

[1225] Like, there's so many things in our history.

[1226] I remember when we got our number one for closer, VMAs were coming up and they were like, you guys have the biggest song in the world.

[1227] Are you not going to perform at the VMAs right now?

[1228] Like, you have to do that.

[1229] We should not have performed at the VMAs.

[1230] This is like two weeks after I become a singer.

[1231] I know you guys know this so well.

[1232] And I'm certain you guys think everyone knows this, but I did not know this whole thing you're about to say until I read it this.

[1233] Okay, yeah.

[1234] So, you know, you get the call and everyone's like, you guys will be idiots not to do this.

[1235] And we're like, we have never performed on anything like this.

[1236] We have no experience.

[1237] All we have is childhood reference of like, oh, the VMA, this is a big deal.

[1238] Right.

[1239] You were like, we're DJs.

[1240] Yes, Drew sings and Hossi sings, but wherever is the music coming from?

[1241] Are there dancers?

[1242] Are they not?

[1243] We didn't even know about the concept of in ears.

[1244] Inears, for those of listening, that don't know when you're playing a big room like an arena or a, festival or whatever, you can't hear yourself on real time without monitors.

[1245] And so you wear these in -ear things, which this is my preamble to if you ever go watch the VMA video, you'll see what I was suffering from.

[1246] Fucks up your timing, yeah.

[1247] Totally.

[1248] You can't sing on time without them.

[1249] You have like professional mows.

[1250] It costs like $2 ,500.

[1251] And they were like, here's my ear pods.

[1252] But they give you on airplanes.

[1253] You know what I'm like your headset.

[1254] I know.

[1255] I'm having a panic attack to singing about being a situation.

[1256] So I get up there and I'm trying to sing through them, which sounds so bizarre.

[1257] I've never done anything this.

[1258] Also, I'm not a good singer, so there's like two really...

[1259] Big hurdles.

[1260] And big hurdles.

[1261] I can't hear myself, and I can't sing.

[1262] Oh, God.

[1263] Brought in to sing a couple issues, I don't sing.

[1264] So you didn't have the thing in...

[1265] I put them in, I was like, this is weird, took them out.

[1266] But didn't really understand.

[1267] This is so idiotic.

[1268] They were like, it's tomorrow.

[1269] And we're like, what?

[1270] And they were like, do it.

[1271] And I'm like, what am I doing?

[1272] They're like, just standing in front of a keyboard.

[1273] It's not even going to be plugged in.

[1274] And I was like, is that unusual?

[1275] They're like, nobody plays it.

[1276] Everything's fake.

[1277] Which is partially true.

[1278] That was one of the most eye -opening things in music business for me was learning how to play piano really well and then being like, we don't actually want you to play a lot.

[1279] And you're like, wait, what?

[1280] It's a variable they don't want.

[1281] Well, I might hear it.

[1282] You know what I'm just show up at 8 p .m. They should put a standee's of you.

[1283] Yeah, it's just like most of it is bullshit.

[1284] Unfortunately, the policy was singing was not that.

[1285] I think everyone sings pretty much.

[1286] A lot of these shows, they don't.

[1287] I can't tell.

[1288] My wife can tell.

[1289] She's so good.

[1290] And even been at a concert where the singer was singing lots of the song, but they were fading beautifully in and out of different pre -recorded stuff, and they're a master at matching that.

[1291] Yeah.

[1292] I mean, at the end of the day, it's about the experience for the fans.

[1293] And a lot of these shows, like the Super Bowl, you don't even think about who's in the arena.

[1294] You're thinking about everyone watching on TV.

[1295] When I was at it, I was like, damn, this is not fun to watch live.

[1296] But at home, you're like, whoa, this is nuts.

[1297] So it's all these different considerations and trying to figure out who's the target?

[1298] Exactly.

[1299] And I think that's the main point.

[1300] What do you think about a lot?

[1301] Who are we trying to connect with at our shows or through our music.

[1302] What is the experience we want to bring?

[1303] Like, we became a live band for three years there.

[1304] Literally, we were playing live.

[1305] Like, I was on synthesizer and keyboards.

[1306] He was playing guitar and singing, our drummer.

[1307] Did you enjoy that more or less?

[1308] I hated it.

[1309] I liked playing the music.

[1310] You're locked in.

[1311] I'm not like Elton John as, you know, so I'm not like Freddie Mercury or whatever.

[1312] So it's like I don't have the chops that enjoyed as much as they look like they're playing.

[1313] But you can throw it away.

[1314] Like an actor who learns their lines and they can throw it away.

[1315] Exactly.

[1316] It's really cool that we can do this.

[1317] If we want to go on a late night show or BMAs, we can play live and it will be really good.

[1318] But do our fans come to this show and say, I prefer that experience to the experience I was getting before.

[1319] And that's kind of where we landed at this hybrid show where it's like, this is us.

[1320] We create a certain type of energy and environment through our music and through our performance.

[1321] And it's unique to us.

[1322] And that's what we should be delivering.

[1323] Okay.

[1324] I want to ask you a Grotie question.

[1325] I think it was 2017 or 19.

[1326] Forbes listed you guys as the third highest grossing DJs at third.

[1327] $38 million that year.

[1328] And I want to know, A, who was number one and two?

[1329] And fucking, what did they make?

[1330] Calvin probably made a lot that year.

[1331] We eventually got to number one.

[1332] I know this.

[1333] I know this.

[1334] It was my reverse way.

[1335] But also, they're like way off.

[1336] We have a great business manager and everything's very much in check.

[1337] I can imagine certain people that are getting audited.

[1338] They're like, I didn't make that much.

[1339] Friends are like, yo, what's up?

[1340] Let me get some money.

[1341] And you're like, no, this isn't right.

[1342] I've had it on both ends.

[1343] I've had it where they were way high.

[1344] Didn't like that because then I thought, my family must think I'm so fucking cheap.

[1345] Why haven't I bought everyone in this family homes?

[1346] And then it's been too low at times.

[1347] And then I'm like, my ego's bruised.

[1348] Yeah, yeah.

[1349] And then if it's right, you're like, fuck, everyone knows.

[1350] Yes!

[1351] You can't win!

[1352] Yeah.

[1353] It's just such a, like, American thing.

[1354] It is, yes.

[1355] But tell me what you think the number one person back then was making.

[1356] Calvin was just unstoppable.

[1357] He was doing the biggest shows.

[1358] Every three months, there would be a new Calvin Harris song that was like the biggest song in the world.

[1359] He had the biggest residencies.

[1360] He's killing it.

[1361] Kevin was like our idol.

[1362] But it's not crazy for a DJ to go make a million dollars for a night, right?

[1363] I mean, it's crazy, but it happens, no?

[1364] Yeah.

[1365] Because I just know what AM made 12 years ago, and it was shocking to go to Vegas and play for the night or anywhere, really.

[1366] So it can be that much, though, right?

[1367] It can be a million bucks.

[1368] Yeah, it can definitely.

[1369] But it really just depends on the event.

[1370] You know, we just played this crazy show in Brazil called The Town, massive festival, like 100 ,000 people to put that on costs.

[1371] I don't even know how much fucking money.

[1372] And they had the craziest.

[1373] line of it like Bruno Mars, Post Malone, foo fighters.

[1374] Everyone's got backline and gear and travel and managers, managers.

[1375] There's hundreds and hundreds of people getting paid all around.

[1376] 100%.

[1377] The periphery of the artist.

[1378] But DJing does have the best margins.

[1379] Yeah, yeah.

[1380] You don't have a ton of equipment.

[1381] But we do also put on a very elaborate show in terms of pyro.

[1382] I would imagine the residency as easier for you guys to develop a really complicated show.

[1383] Having a residency is the most fun thing because you get to build almost like a branded party that kind of builds on itself over time and it's super fun you also get to know people that come back who experiment with the show and just do weird as shit like we make up the set every single time and it's so crazy and every now and that I'll be like that was our best effort and people will still come up and be like that was the sickest show ever and you're like damn I don't know if I'm jaded or what it is but it's always fun the other great curiosity I have other than my greedy pig money curiosity is as an addict I always think if ever there was a job that would lend itself beautifully to being fucked up all the time it would be that one, maybe above all.

[1384] Well, it's taken down a lot of them.

[1385] Yeah, what is the pressure?

[1386] What's the experience?

[1387] What's your own personal journeys on that front?

[1388] Drinking especially, that's the place you go.

[1389] You're at a night club most of time, right?

[1390] It's like even people that don't drink all the time, they're drinking that night.

[1391] So you're in that environment, which is really tough.

[1392] I've really struggled, especially with the balance of who I have to be on stage and who I want to be on Monday morning, like rested, present with my family and our companies.

[1393] Not in a serotonin depletion.

[1394] Exactly.

[1395] And honestly, when you're younger, that's really not an issue.

[1396] But, like, this past year especially has been really hard.

[1397] The right old age of 33.

[1398] But, you know, like, I can't recover as quickly as I did before.

[1399] And you have to kind of weigh it.

[1400] But those habits are so ingrained.

[1401] It's less of like, damn, I want to drink.

[1402] And more of, I just flew across the world.

[1403] And I have three hours before this show.

[1404] And then I'm getting back on a plane after.

[1405] Then I'm doing this five nights in a row.

[1406] five different countries this week.

[1407] And every time I got on stage, I got to be the man. Yeah.

[1408] And I got to be happy and have fun.

[1409] And like, that's one thing that kind of gets you through it.

[1410] There are other ways.

[1411] And there are a lot of DJs, especially now.

[1412] One of the beautiful things about this career is there's a lot of guys that are a lot older that are killing it again that are awesome.

[1413] You have to be really conscious of how you're treating yourself and you probably can't do what you were doing when you were in your 20s.

[1414] Calvin is one of those guys.

[1415] You know, she's like, I just wanted to stop drinking and you can tell he's super healthy and he values different things.

[1416] And he's putting on six.

[1417] shows and making bangers, you know?

[1418] And it's like, okay, so it is possible.

[1419] So I think that transition is kind of where I'm personally around, it's like, I don't want to be drinking this much anymore.

[1420] And I want to be focused and I want to do this and I want to be happy.

[1421] Well, it starts taking more than it's giving.

[1422] Totally.

[1423] I mean, it's a bad vice.

[1424] Not as bad as drugs and other things.

[1425] But cigarettes, literally called the chain smokers, obviously.

[1426] We know your position.

[1427] Yeah.

[1428] And I too was an ex -chain smoker, so I'm with you.

[1429] But I would smoke while I DJed.

[1430] The two were very connected.

[1431] And I remember one day I was just like, I'm done smoking cigarettes.

[1432] It's disgusting habit.

[1433] I'm getting sick all the time.

[1434] It's too expensive.

[1435] Like in New York, it was like $25 a pack.

[1436] You smell your apartment smells.

[1437] Everything.

[1438] I remember DJing, and it was so weird in my head.

[1439] I was like, what am I doing up here?

[1440] There's no cigarette.

[1441] You felt naked, probably.

[1442] Now, I don't even think about it.

[1443] And it's weird how you have to break those habits of those things because it could be fucking sex.

[1444] It could be booze.

[1445] It could be drugs.

[1446] It could be cigarettes.

[1447] These certain things that you're like, oh, I can't do that unless I'm like this or unless I have this.

[1448] And it takes like a, a reprogramming in some ways of your own mind to know that you can kind of get past those things.

[1449] I feel really fortunate because I don't have a super addictive personality in general.

[1450] Right.

[1451] I love the drink, but I also like will not drink during the week at all.

[1452] I don't come home at the end of the day and think, oh, I just want like a bourbon right now or something.

[1453] I'm the opposite.

[1454] I want to watch like an action movie and pass the book out or something.

[1455] I do like smoking weed sometimes.

[1456] But it's hard.

[1457] I mean, and you see a lot of that in our culture.

[1458] You know, luckily for us, we're not deep house guys.

[1459] Those guys are playing four, five, six -hour sets at the craziest hours of the night and the craziest places.

[1460] And everyone's rolling.

[1461] And everyone's like really fucked up.

[1462] And you see some of our friends that are really top of their game in that space.

[1463] They've got to take you to another planet for six hours.

[1464] 100%.

[1465] It really will get you.

[1466] It gets everybody.

[1467] Yeah.

[1468] If you're not careful, we're lucky we have these other businesses and things that we're excited about because it kind of keeps you honest.

[1469] If your whole life only we were involved around that, you didn't have any sort of interactions with people outside of that where you get to meet a Brian Chesky and be like, damn, this dude is like operating right now.

[1470] How do you maintain your creativity and that Junis Siqua that makes you special, a great performer, but also grow up and handle your business the right way.

[1471] And it's tough.

[1472] I mean, I don't think there's a right answer.

[1473] I have a cousin who grew up in New York, and he's an amazing guy.

[1474] He was sober about the time who's 16.

[1475] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1476] And I was like, dude, that sucks.

[1477] I do believe that some of my best memories are nights that I was drunk.

[1478] Sure.

[1479] But I also think that's not the truth.

[1480] Especially if you're super successful, you can justify it away.

[1481] Like, well, I'm doing great.

[1482] I have this much money.

[1483] I have a girlfriend.

[1484] I have all these things.

[1485] Like, why would I stop?

[1486] Like, there's absolutely no consequences for stopping.

[1487] And you have to look internally.

[1488] I'm currently not drinking.

[1489] And it's really hard.

[1490] Yeah.

[1491] When did you stop?

[1492] Like six days ago or seven days ago.

[1493] And it is hard.

[1494] Keep it out.

[1495] Thanks for the honesty.

[1496] I is.

[1497] It's a very honest way.

[1498] It's hard.

[1499] And you do realize how often you're pairing it with something.

[1500] Do you like wine?

[1501] I love wine.

[1502] I love wine.

[1503] I love wine.

[1504] That's my biggest.

[1505] Did you guys maybe go grab a glass of?

[1506] No, I'm not bringing right now.

[1507] I think you guys should go grab a glass.

[1508] No, and I just got this plaque made at my favorite wine bar.

[1509] It has my name on it.

[1510] Oh, you really like wine.

[1511] I love it.

[1512] You have like a chair?

[1513] Yeah, it's this little plaid by my bench.

[1514] And it sucks.

[1515] The adjustment in realizing what you're doing, and I recognize that I need it to play with time.

[1516] It both slows down and speeds up time.

[1517] Well, it punctuates as well.

[1518] There's a moment in the day where you switch.

[1519] You're like, I'm going to have this thing.

[1520] My thinking's going to shift.

[1521] But I mean, I'll edit and have a glass of wine.

[1522] And for me, that makes that thing I don't really want to do go faster.

[1523] Totally.

[1524] Or if I'm with friends, it makes it go slower.

[1525] Vegas for that, it's like if you don't drink, I feel like I'm letting people down.

[1526] Right.

[1527] In like some weird way where they're like, you're not going to have fun with me. Yeah.

[1528] I'm here to have the most fun night in my life.

[1529] And you're like, fuck, all right.

[1530] I wish you could like step out of your body in these different instances.

[1531] So I think that's the context you get when you see someone that's like your friend that's drinking too much.

[1532] And you're like, this dude is annoying.

[1533] And then you're like, am I like that?

[1534] I've never noticed he was annoying until I wasn't in the same situation.

[1535] Well, guys, so a couple things, 19 years without a drink, totally disappears.

[1536] Like you were saying, when you first quit smoking, it's like every movie you watch, you're like, oh, he looks incredible smoking.

[1537] When I first quit, I'm like, you're never more than 50 feet away from alcohol.

[1538] Anywhere in the country, anywhere you stand, it's like, that store's got it, that restaurant's got it, that house has it, that cupboard has, it's fucking everywhere.

[1539] And you can feel it.

[1540] I haven't felt that for 16 years.

[1541] I don't even see it.

[1542] Obviously, I'm not insane.

[1543] I know it's everywhere, but I have no awareness of it.

[1544] And it's only the things that I have more recently done where I'm like, hmm, that guy just broke his arm.

[1545] I bet he's got Percocet.

[1546] I'll be thinking about that because I haven't had the six years away from it again.

[1547] But it took like three years.

[1548] I know.

[1549] That seems long.

[1550] It's a long home.

[1551] It's like six months.

[1552] It sounds like a long time.

[1553] Seven days.

[1554] Listen, listen.

[1555] I just did 19 minus 16 and that's three years, my guy.

[1556] Hold on, brother.

[1557] That was just random guess.

[1558] I can tell you the first year was.

[1559] And I can tell you that I feel like from about year two and on, it hasn't been rough.

[1560] It really hasn't at all.

[1561] So for one time I had diarrhea and airplane, food poisoning in Kuwait, 18 hours of flying, throwing up and puking and shitting.

[1562] And the final leg from New York telly, I was like, we might have to drink.

[1563] I mean, I really don't know how I'm going to get through this without something.

[1564] But that's the only time.

[1565] And that really would have been medicinal.

[1566] Stay tuned for more armchair expert.

[1567] If you dare.

[1568] The context of this is like the surroundings we're in, but how much of your lifestyle changed out of that from like a friend group perspective?

[1569] A, you stop thinking about it and you start recognizing that I'm having as much fun.

[1570] And in fact, I have more fun.

[1571] I'm more like a 12 -year -old sober because I have to make myself have fun, which means I have to have hobbies and I have activities.

[1572] But there are places that it's kind of a rap on.

[1573] Like, Vegas for me, I'm monogamous and sober.

[1574] What a fucking drag that place is.

[1575] I know everyone's got cocaine.

[1576] in their pocket.

[1577] So yeah, that's no longer a place that I'm dying to spend a lot of time at.

[1578] But that's okay.

[1579] And then, yes, people who I found engaging, I realized I can only be around them until 10 p .m. At 10 p .m., I got to bounce because everyone's going to start repeating themselves.

[1580] I'm not down for that.

[1581] Oh, that's the worst.

[1582] The drunk repeaters.

[1583] Or the ear talkers, like real close.

[1584] Yeah.

[1585] Oh, the worst.

[1586] Okay, I had a couple of quick questions.

[1587] You referenced Blink 182 and closer.

[1588] So I was super in hardcore when I was a kid.

[1589] I never really was wild about any of the 90s, 2000s, ones that got popular.

[1590] But Blink 182 for me is incredible.

[1591] That was like the only pop hardcore band I loved.

[1592] Why not do something with those guys?

[1593] We have.

[1594] You have.

[1595] Yeah.

[1596] We have a song called.

[1597] I'm embarrassed.

[1598] We have a song called P .S. I hope you're happy.

[1599] It's actually a great song.

[1600] I always joke that one of us is going to have to die for some of these songs to like.

[1601] You see the line of day?

[1602] These are good, well -written, cool song.

[1603] Like, if you wanted a chain smoker.

[1604] I'm excited.

[1605] Blank song.

[1606] This feels like a really good.

[1607] solid version of it i mean that's the crazy thing about music or any show you just don't know wow so for the rest of the day i'm gonna get to enjoy that how many songs did you guys do together just one just one they're awesome oh Travis came and did like closer with us at an award show at one point came to our tech party and played yeah it was so crazy he played a party for a VC fun like three months ago oh my god cool he seems very very special and generous we had machine gun Kelly on and just watching that relationship totally he seems like such a cool mentor to people and he's so calm and like knows his craft and is kind, open -minded to everyone.

[1608] Mark is just also the biggest sweetheart.

[1609] When the time we did the song with them, they weren't back together with Tom, but I did meet Tom at our show.

[1610] He brought his daughter to our show in San Diego one time.

[1611] They're all just awesome.

[1612] And have you been to the show?

[1613] No, I've never seen them.

[1614] They're new to us awesome.

[1615] And Tom and Mark are just ripping on each other the whole time, like talking about fucking each other's moms.

[1616] And just doing like, what do you want them to be talking about?

[1617] Exactly, exactly.

[1618] It's awesome.

[1619] I'm really happy to see that.

[1620] A couple of things that I thought have helped you.

[1621] I already brought up one was the fact that you guys actually didn't come into this with all this history and baggage and it seems to have really liberated you from some of that, like the blink thing.

[1622] I'm sure that's rooted in so many things that are interpersonal before the band.

[1623] Do you think that you have benefited enormously from collaborating so much?

[1624] Because I would imagine as well that such a great new source of energy point of view makes you want to impress the person you've invited in.

[1625] Do you think that collaborating for you guys has been really useful?

[1626] Absolutely.

[1627] We're so lucky to have existed at a time where people are down for this much collaboration and have been in a genre where that was almost the norm, you're this producer and you make the song or write the song and then you get to have these fantastic other artists that bring in a flavor that you never get to have in your band without them.

[1628] At the end of the day, Alex and I are just massive music fans, and this is all just an adventure for us.

[1629] That's what the chain smoker's career as an artist is, is just Alex and Drew's great adventure.

[1630] And we've gotten to work with some really incredible people, and we will continue to do so.

[1631] I think more recently, the best thing for us is maybe less collaboration, really tapping into that emotion that people really want for us, or as long as we make sure that's the core, because sometimes you do a collaboration, you're like, this person's a country artist, and we're going to write a country -leaning song.

[1632] Now, where we're at is to do collaborations, but they need to be chains them over songs.

[1633] Do you have any outstanding dream collaborations?

[1634] So many.

[1635] A million.

[1636] Everything he said is true, but also collaboration, it's like high school.

[1637] Because you're like putting yourself out.

[1638] Yeah, it's like a first day.

[1639] Here's something that I really love and can be great on and they're just like, nah.

[1640] You know what I'm like passing the note across the table.

[1641] I mean, the music business truly sucks.

[1642] I'm not talking about so much the artist now.

[1643] I'm talking about the business itself.

[1644] It's a rough business.

[1645] People like everyone is taking credit for everyone else's shit or thinks they're the best or doesn't even bring opportunities to different people.

[1646] We all want the same goal.

[1647] You know what I mean?

[1648] We all want to tell our story to as much.

[1649] many people as possible in the most authentic way.

[1650] And it's tough because you have these songs that you're like, this person's so perfect for.

[1651] How do I engage them to share that experience with them?

[1652] And then you have 25 people on their side whose job it is to not let anything through.

[1653] That part can be really stressful.

[1654] And we've had things go to the one yard line and then fall apart for different reasons.

[1655] And these are songs that are so important to you or to us in different ways.

[1656] And that part makes it hard, which is probably why it's like, yo, let's not taint it all the time with that stuff all the heartbreak sometimes these things just happen and also i think this is why it's such a cool opportunity to come on a show like this you have such a wide base of listeners that really enjoy the conversations that you have and learn about the people that come on it and i think we're constantly fighting like a disinformation war about who we are and i think whether it's the fun and people are like what the fuck are they doing over there you can't really blame anyone you go on to instagram and you're like oh look there's them recreating the mark walberg kate moss photo but it's them too you know we did that last week it was uh Big, big hit, big controversial hit.

[1657] And then you're like, are they serious?

[1658] Are they not?

[1659] Are they cool?

[1660] Are they, are they, you know, like, and so it's tough.

[1661] I really obviously love who we are as people.

[1662] I'm not an insecure person in that way.

[1663] But I find myself doing it all the time.

[1664] I'm like, that person's fucking loser.

[1665] And then you meet them and you're like, damn, that person was really cool actually.

[1666] That's this job, by the way.

[1667] Yeah, yeah, which is so great.

[1668] I'm such a fan of this format because we've done Britain Press and just, it's never worked.

[1669] Because they just fill in the cracks or fill in the Grand Canyon with stuff.

[1670] At some point in our career, probably around 2017, it felt like we were completely not in control of who we were from a public.

[1671] And there was like two realities we were fighting, which was like, I know who I am.

[1672] And my friends seem to know who I am.

[1673] But everyone else thinks I'm this.

[1674] And how the fuck do we consolidate these two things?

[1675] Well, you're going to inevitably be a victim of the narrative that everyone loves, which is we're trapped in a we love a come -up story.

[1676] We love to watch people rise.

[1677] And then next chapter has got to be destruction.

[1678] We're just so hardwired for story.

[1679] We interviewed Ed Sharon, and he's like, oh, yeah, I'm hated here.

[1680] And we're like, how could that be?

[1681] You're the biggest tour of all the time.

[1682] We were in England.

[1683] People are brutal.

[1684] It's like the tall poppy syndrome.

[1685] It's anyone that's number one.

[1686] Eventually, the other thing comes.

[1687] It's kind of unavoidable.

[1688] It's a total bummer.

[1689] Anyone who knows Ed can't hate Ed.

[1690] I know.

[1691] He's the sweetest.

[1692] He's like, you're saying Travis.

[1693] He likes to be.

[1694] around other musicians.

[1695] He likes to help people.

[1696] He likes to reach out.

[1697] People like Travis.

[1698] People like Drake.

[1699] They just keep parlaying the cool somehow.

[1700] They just pivot.

[1701] And you're saying, damn, how's that fucking so easy?

[1702] He looks so easy for y 'all.

[1703] Jay Z. Yeah.

[1704] How's Jay Z just still apex cool after 30 years?

[1705] And I guess it's just like kind of settling into yourself.

[1706] I don't know if Travis cares that much about that stuff.

[1707] He's just like I am who I am.

[1708] And I think that is part of just our own growth.

[1709] I think we had the fortune of going through college and becoming successful later and life so we had experienced a lot of things that i think have made us good people but also with that we can't like lean on into the like i was 17 you know and and now i'm 20 you know but i feel like we have like matured so much we were fully adults when it all went down fully responsible can go to jail adults yeah you guys took a hiatus for i don't know how long but you took a hiatus from social media a how long it last b what was that period like and what did you glean from it we wanted to do it because we just had been doing so much touring all day, every day, just having to put stuff out and then I guess it was January of 2020, we're like, all right, let's take everything off social media and then two months later everything shut down.

[1710] And some people say it's our fault but it was actually pretty wild timing.

[1711] We needed to take a break and then everyone took a break.

[1712] But we did get off social media which is actually when we started our first fun when we worked on our album so far so good and it was a very weird time for everybody.

[1713] It was good because, like, if you posted on social media doing anything fun, people were like, hell no. Everyone was so angry.

[1714] Everyone's police.

[1715] But it was really freeing.

[1716] I mean, I enjoyed the non -responsibility of having to participate in that.

[1717] I mean, it is a real feeling.

[1718] When you post something and it does well, you're like, I'm having a good day.

[1719] When you put something, it doesn't do well, you're like, I feel like shit.

[1720] I'm no longer relevant, even though two days before, something worked.

[1721] You're like, how do I middle ground this where you're like, I'm just going to throw it up?

[1722] Obviously, you can get rid of the likes and stuff.

[1723] But inside, you're still thinking, I guarantee those people who, like, remove the likes and comments or whatever are still like, did it do well?

[1724] Uh -huh.

[1725] I know.

[1726] I know that shit didn't pop.

[1727] Yeah, yeah.

[1728] Social media sucks.

[1729] TikTok was a phenomenon in the middle of all of this that has changed music and culture, relationships, and the creator economy and the ability for anyone to have success overnight, potentially.

[1730] Forget about us.

[1731] I don't feel bad at all for us ever.

[1732] But imagine being, like, 16, and having a video that has 25 million views.

[1733] I know.

[1734] I think about it all the time.

[1735] I would have driven a car off a cliff.

[1736] Yeah, or you've been like, this is my destiny.

[1737] I am going to stop focusing on any other skill because I've just done something that validates my 16 -year -old mind.

[1738] Yeah, because I got struck by lightning.

[1739] Right, exactly.

[1740] We went up on jackass.

[1741] They were like the panicle.

[1742] I don't know if I want to be like, but really hard life style, but I love them.

[1743] You're just doing dumb shit as like a 14 -year -old with your friends on a VHS camera.

[1744] And I'm like, those tapes better be.

[1745] destroy.

[1746] You know what I'm so glad.

[1747] I'm so glad there's no footage of this stuff out there.

[1748] And I can't imagine like everything's recorded.

[1749] And then getting validation for a dump thing you do and then like, oh, I guess I got to lean into this.

[1750] Be misled.

[1751] I've read the kids are less sexually active now than in the past, which is interesting.

[1752] You would think it would be like nudes flying around all the time and inappropriate stuff.

[1753] And now it seems like it's kind of had the opposite effect in some way where you're more discreet.

[1754] You're isolated.

[1755] You feel more connected because of these likes, but you're actually more isolated.

[1756] I mean, we were always like, who is the public high school next door?

[1757] Who are the babes there?

[1758] I have no fucking idea unless I went to borders in our town and walked around for fucking three hours.

[1759] Yeah.

[1760] And maybe spotted, you know, one.

[1761] But now you're just like on and up.

[1762] There she is.

[1763] You can get some satisfaction through sexting, through sharing pictures.

[1764] And that can prevent you from pursuing the actual thing.

[1765] Because it's satiating.

[1766] Whereas I was a kid, I was like, I need to get to your house and see you take your bra off.

[1767] Like, you're not going to be able to send me something.

[1768] I got to ride my bike over there ASAP.

[1769] Yeah, I mean, we're like lost in the woods after Kegger's looking for K -phones to call my mom to pick us up.

[1770] There was a real survival instinct that kicked in there.

[1771] Okay, well, I just want to say for the record, when I pushed back about your VC fund, it was under none of the story of you guys shouldn't do it or your hacks.

[1772] It's more like I love artists and I want you guys to make sure you remember.

[1773] By the way, I didn't interpret that.

[1774] I mean, we just finished raising a new fund and the conversations that you have, I always say I started out with, you're thinking two things right now.

[1775] why the hell are we doing this and how committed are we to doing this?

[1776] And it's a super fair question to ask maybe the two most fair questions to consider as you think about becoming involved in the work we're doing.

[1777] Is it Mantis is the name of it?

[1778] Yeah, Mansus is the name.

[1779] For us, it's always been all or nothing.

[1780] I think this is something that we're going to look back on really fondly in terms of hopefully have success through it.

[1781] But even just the journey of people we've been able to meet, the world of people that's opened up to us.

[1782] I was on a jet with a bunch of private equity guys flying back from New York.

[1783] They were kind enough to let me. We get treated like hot girl sometimes.

[1784] You know what I know?

[1785] Join us on this plane.

[1786] You don't have to pay anything.

[1787] And we were talking about artificial intelligence and obviously their perspective is what they read about Open AI and the news and Bloomberg.

[1788] And we're like ground level seeding these companies and meeting these founders.

[1789] And I was like, wow, this is so crazy.

[1790] I know way more about this stuff than they do at this point in time.

[1791] I'm not saying I'm smarter than them.

[1792] That's certainly not the case.

[1793] But maybe more informed.

[1794] But more informed.

[1795] That was like an interesting feeling to be at the ground level of a technology that could change everything as we know it.

[1796] Yeah.

[1797] And so it's cool to be a part of those.

[1798] You know, it's like a fountain of youth for us.

[1799] We're not motivated by the money.

[1800] It's really the opportunity to be a part of the disruption.

[1801] Yeah, yeah.

[1802] I want to give a compliment before we wrap this up, final compliment.

[1803] We had somebody on, I forget who, I think it was the guy.

[1804] We had someone on who worked for the CIA and like get into mind reading.

[1805] He would like be able to understand what was going on in people's minds.

[1806] And he said something so specific about relationships that you can kind of tell how good a relationship is or how healthy or how committed one person is to another in the way they speak.

[1807] And if they say, we, that's what you want.

[1808] You're a we.

[1809] And if you hear a lot of people saying, I or me, that's indicative as well.

[1810] And I feel like in this whole conversation, you guys have said I like four times.

[1811] And everything you have said is a we.

[1812] You guys are such a partnership.

[1813] And it's awesome.

[1814] Yeah, you guys are really beautiful soulmates.

[1815] Honestly.

[1816] It's a respect.

[1817] It's obviously a respect for one another and feeling very equal and I think it's awesome.

[1818] Just don't start fucking, it'll ruin everything.

[1819] I think everyone's confused about that.

[1820] They're like, are they brothers?

[1821] Are they lovers?

[1822] Are they friends?

[1823] Are they brother lovers?

[1824] Yeah, right.

[1825] But it's really admirable.

[1826] Ego is a poisonous thing and I think if you can just push it aside and take ownership when you fuck up too.

[1827] I think that's important.

[1828] And we fuck up a lot, especially me. We all do.

[1829] We all do.

[1830] We fuck up a lot.

[1831] Alex and Drew.

[1832] So fun.

[1833] I had zero opinion of you.

[1834] I didn't know about the VMAs.

[1835] I've never read anything negative about you.

[1836] I just love your music.

[1837] My daughters and I. He is awful at research.

[1838] No, today I learned of some stuff.

[1839] But I just want to say sitting here, it's been such a delight, and I like you guys so much.

[1840] You're so wonderful.

[1841] Thank you.

[1842] It's an honor for us.

[1843] You guys have so many amazing people on this show.

[1844] I can't believe you.

[1845] We've been throwing our hat in the ring for a while.

[1846] We're like, whenever you're ready.

[1847] You're ready.

[1848] It was a blast.

[1849] We're going to rudely insist that we join you on a flight to Vegas and go.

[1850] I would love that.

[1851] I mean, we've had lots of, you know, sober of Christalia, doesn't drink at all.

[1852] He really lets people know, though.

[1853] You know, he's a comedian.

[1854] He's like, come on, have a shot.

[1855] He's like, no, I don't drink.

[1856] I think he has a whole bit about that.

[1857] They're like, never.

[1858] He's like, no, I don't drink.

[1859] He's like, not even one.

[1860] I'm sure you have to battle that all the time.

[1861] You're like, I am sober.

[1862] Like, I don't drink.

[1863] There's not a caveat.

[1864] I love it because I have so many go -toes over refining them.

[1865] We were flying back from England in this.

[1866] stewardess was just so bummed I wasn't having any of the many refreshments that she was offering, right?

[1867] Do you want the champagne right out of the gates?

[1868] No. Would you like this wine for dinner?

[1869] No. And she's like, you're really not going to drink.

[1870] And I go, I will drink if you know someone that's got cocaine on this flight.

[1871] And then she just looked at me like, she got it.

[1872] Or I'll say like, I'd love to drink, but we'll probably have to ground this plane early as well.

[1873] For me, it's just a setup to say something funny.

[1874] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1875] And I come from a culture in Detroit where it's like, more embarrassed about not drinking.

[1876] So I would way rather you know I'm a fucking alcoholic than just someone who just isn't interested in drinking.

[1877] My own ego needs you to know like, no, I'm a junkie.

[1878] I used to drink so much.

[1879] Yeah.

[1880] I still more of my shirt than you've drink.

[1881] Hold on, hold on.

[1882] I have a little thing I want to show you.

[1883] Watch this video of me right before I got sober.

[1884] You think that guy should drink?

[1885] No. All right, guys, so much fun.

[1886] And we are 100 % coming to see you play.

[1887] Excellent.

[1888] All right.

[1889] Take care.

[1890] Cheers.

[1891] Thank you guys.

[1892] Stick around for the fact check Because they're human They make lots of mistakes Chain smokers go Chain smokers What are your plans in New York City Missy?

[1893] Yeah, piece of fucking shit New York City The land of skyscrapers Do you know how you get to Carnegie Hall Once you're there?

[1894] How?

[1895] Lots of practice Oh my God, I've never Yes, you have I think I've told it to you before I've never heard that I learned it from Sean Hayes.

[1896] I want to give all props to Sean Hayes.

[1897] Wow, that's really funny.

[1898] I have some dinner plans.

[1899] What restaurants are you going to go to Emily?

[1900] You're not going to go all the way to Brooklyn, aren't you?

[1901] I do want to go to Emily.

[1902] I haven't been in a few trips, so I need that.

[1903] I'll probably try to do that when I'm closer, when I'm on the Bowery side.

[1904] Yeah.

[1905] So I'm going to shop.

[1906] I'm going to eat.

[1907] Are there any items in particular you think you're going to buy?

[1908] No. Like, are you going there like, I'm on a mission for a purse.

[1909] Do we even say purse anymore?

[1910] bag?

[1911] Oh, you can say purse, I think.

[1912] I don't think it's canceled.

[1913] I want a camel colored coat.

[1914] Camel hair?

[1915] No, camel colored.

[1916] I don't know, I don't know yet the, um, fabric.

[1917] Yeah, the, the materials.

[1918] My dad had quite a few camel hair coats.

[1919] Those were very popular.

[1920] Okay, and was it long?

[1921] Long coat, yeah.

[1922] Oh, was it long hair?

[1923] God no. Like a muscox?

[1924] Just like long strands Kind of imagine it with like long strands I can understand where you would think that But just imagine your normal coat But it's made of camel hair Was it scratchy?

[1925] It wasn't like well in the way that wool is It's not a alpaca No or cashmere Or cashmere And then I want to go to this place Tie Diner It's also cool Why did they name it Tyner?

[1926] Well I'll ask Okay Ty Diner you're almost there Ty Diner It's a hot spot Okay, CNBC?

[1927] I don't know.

[1928] I bet.

[1929] If you heard about it over the transom and you heard it's a hot spot, it's got to be a CNBC.

[1930] CNBC.

[1931] CNBC.

[1932] MSN CMBC.

[1933] And then Molly's coming, which I'm so excited about for a couple days, which will be really nice.

[1934] She doesn't eat burgers, though.

[1935] Yeah.

[1936] That's my only criticism of Molly as a human being.

[1937] Yeah.

[1938] She doesn't eat cheeseburger.

[1939] But we went to Emily Burger together.

[1940] I took her there.

[1941] There's pizza.

[1942] It's a pizza place.

[1943] Delicious pizza and a really incredible broccoli salad too.

[1944] So she has stuff to eat.

[1945] Plus there's a cake in New York that we love.

[1946] It's heartbreaking that someone won't be experiencing the burger.

[1947] Because great, I've eaten all the other food.

[1948] It's fantastic.

[1949] Everything on the menu is great.

[1950] The burger's in a whole world onto itself.

[1951] She can't appreciate it.

[1952] We have to accept that.

[1953] It's like Cherries Garcia.

[1954] When we were on that flight, we were discovering the pleasures of Cherry Garcia.

[1955] Can you imagine if someone couldn't, they were allergic to cherries?

[1956] And And Garcia More likely They're allergic to dairy Which is a lot of people Yeah In fact, for a long time Me Oh my God This is a ding ding ding What?

[1957] Also if anyone from Thai diner Also Tiner Nope Via Corota I don't know if I'm saying Any of these right If they want to Like I'm saying it now I'd like to come in Oh okay great So if you see her Invite her in Let me in Because I think it's hard with reservations.

[1958] Oh, and Molly and I have this special cake we love.

[1959] You're not going to like the sound of it.

[1960] Okay.

[1961] The sound of it is vanilla meringue.

[1962] Yeah, the meringue's a little off -footing.

[1963] Yeah.

[1964] The meringue's a little off -footing.

[1965] Yeah.

[1966] Okay.

[1967] That's what I said when she first told me about it.

[1968] She's like, we have to go to this place.

[1969] They have this cake.

[1970] It's so good.

[1971] It's this meringue.

[1972] I was like, oh, God, all right, fine.

[1973] I guess I'll sacrifice one.

[1974] This one dessert.

[1975] Yeah.

[1976] Yeah.

[1977] There'll be others.

[1978] And then it was so good.

[1979] She was right.

[1980] It's not the type of meringue you're thinking and that I was thinking.

[1981] Big yellow eggy meringue.

[1982] Yeah, it's delicious.

[1983] So I'll be having that with her.

[1984] I don't know.

[1985] But this is a ding, ding, ding because the chain smokers, we talk about Craggs, the restaurant in Los Angeles, Craigs.

[1986] Which I don't know about.

[1987] I know, which I find shocking.

[1988] Because?

[1989] Because I'm just...

[1990] Is it like Chateau or something?

[1991] Yeah.

[1992] Okay.

[1993] It's a CNBC.

[1994] Okay.

[1995] Big time.

[1996] Big MSNBC.

[1997] And I thought you.

[1998] would have known it in your days when you like to see me see oh it's been around forever it's not new it's not new then maybe i've been there i wonder if i should look up a photograph let's see craig's restaurant in west hollywood craig's restaurant hollywood what if that's how i always talk to my um photos you know what you've been there with a fancy pants person i'm sure it's gonna be worse than that for you i think i went there with ashley oh wow is that Is that like Melrose in Lausiana -ish area?

[1999] Yeah.

[2000] I think I went there with her.

[2001] Did you have the honey chicken?

[2002] This is 20 years ago.

[2003] I can't remember.

[2004] I just know.

[2005] Like, I don't know.

[2006] I'm uncouth.

[2007] I don't know.

[2008] And she knew.

[2009] Oh, she knew.

[2010] Of course she knew.

[2011] Of course she knew.

[2012] She's stylish.

[2013] Yeah.

[2014] I was just along for the ride.

[2015] I didn't have any style.

[2016] What was she wearing to Craigs?

[2017] I don't know.

[2018] I can just tell you what her face looked like.

[2019] Broward features.

[2020] It's undeniably beautiful.

[2021] Look like Mary Kate.

[2022] Wow.

[2023] What does she look like?

[2024] Have you ever seen that actress Mary Kate Olson?

[2025] Yeah.

[2026] Craggs, I went.

[2027] Well, I've been now twice, sort of.

[2028] Oh my God, you're there all the time.

[2029] Sort of, sort of.

[2030] I went to this bad event, and it was across the street.

[2031] I was with, ding, ding, ding, Molly.

[2032] Yeah, we're back.

[2033] And we wanted to leave.

[2034] It was not a good event.

[2035] Right.

[2036] And we weren't eating enough food there.

[2037] We weren't being served enough food.

[2038] That's a sign of a bad event.

[2039] when there's not no food for the guests.

[2040] Craigs is across the street.

[2041] Molly said, we could try to go to Craggs.

[2042] Uh -huh.

[2043] It's like, oh my God, I want to go.

[2044] I've been wanting to go there.

[2045] I mean, I had never been there.

[2046] We leave and we decide to try.

[2047] And we figure, maybe we could just sit at the bar.

[2048] I'll probably be way too hard to sit at a table.

[2049] This is like 8, 15 on a Thursday -ish.

[2050] Prime time.

[2051] I walk in, I walked past an insane amount of paparazzi.

[2052] I talked a little bit about this on sync.

[2053] So I walked past.

[2054] an insane amount of paparazzi, and I was really confused because they were talking to a person, and I didn't recognize the person at all.

[2055] Right.

[2056] Didn't ring a bell at all.

[2057] No, but the paparazzi was excited about him.

[2058] So I walk by, walk in, ask her, is there any chance you have a table for two?

[2059] No way.

[2060] For non -pop -a -opsy people?

[2061] Yeah, exactly.

[2062] And she said, any tables for some non -pops?

[2063] She said no. She said, fuck no. She kind of.

[2064] She didn't, but she did with her eyes.

[2065] What if she said, come on.

[2066] Are you serious?

[2067] Come on.

[2068] But I looked cute because I was at this event.

[2069] Yeah.

[2070] So I was.

[2071] Dressed to the Niners.

[2072] But on top of it, I had a ding, ding, ding row coat on.

[2073] Oh, my God.

[2074] This symmetry right now is outrageous.

[2075] It's too much, really.

[2076] So.

[2077] It's getting suspicious.

[2078] She's like, you can try the bar.

[2079] There's probably a wait list there.

[2080] You can put your name on the wait list.

[2081] Make sure you talk to a bartender.

[2082] to put your name on the wait list make sure you like make contact with that and it's like okay so I turned towards the bar it's packed I mean it is so insane I can't even get to the bar do you think it's a fire hazard like would the fire apartment say there's too many people in there I don't want to send yeah you're trying to get in good graces of Craig now okay sounds like it's dangerous but continue no it's all on the up and up I'm like kind of trying to get in excuse me you know I am a mouse.

[2083] Do you have mouse food?

[2084] Can I come in?

[2085] I have human money.

[2086] Don't worry.

[2087] A lot of people were, what was funny, they're all faced out.

[2088] Oh.

[2089] They're all the people at the bar are facing out.

[2090] They're not facing towards a bar.

[2091] Do you know why?

[2092] CNBC.

[2093] Oh, they're not, exactly.

[2094] CNBC, MS, CNBC.

[2095] Yes.

[2096] They're trying to see who's coming in and out.

[2097] Yes.

[2098] They're not eating those people.

[2099] So there's people sitting at the bar.

[2100] Then there's like...

[2101] Rows of people, C &C.

[2102] CNBC.

[2103] And so they also are seeing me trying to get through because they're facing me. You're being seen.

[2104] But they don't give a fuck.

[2105] And they are not trying to let me in.

[2106] No one listens to our show, obviously, at Craig's.

[2107] And so I was like, fuck, this is not going to work.

[2108] So I texted Molly, hey, it's...

[2109] This is a pass.

[2110] Oh, because she was putting money in her car.

[2111] So I said, forget it.

[2112] Get out of here.

[2113] Run.

[2114] This is embarrassing.

[2115] Let's go.

[2116] Let's go.

[2117] Let's go before someone sees us.

[2118] So, you know, I hang my head down low.

[2119] Hold on a second, though.

[2120] That's worth exploring.

[2121] Yeah.

[2122] This is the tricky thing about being, I don't care if anyone knows who I am.

[2123] Yeah.

[2124] I don't.

[2125] Yes.

[2126] And if I go somewhere and I don't get any preferential treatment, I don't care.

[2127] It only gets embarrassing if someone does know me there.

[2128] Oh.

[2129] A bystander is like, that's tax.

[2130] And then they see me get turned away.

[2131] Then I get self -conscious, like, oh, boy.

[2132] Oh, that's funny.

[2133] They're going to tell people like, oh, Jack Shepard, they went to serve them or whatever.

[2134] That's when, again, if no one knows me, great.

[2135] If everyone knows me, fun.

[2136] It's when the right people don't know me, but a couple people saw me get shut down.

[2137] I can get embarrassed by that.

[2138] That's interesting.

[2139] I like your honesty.

[2140] Okay.

[2141] Because I don't have that.

[2142] If someone is noticing me, I'm like, oh, this is great.

[2143] Maybe then.

[2144] Tell the bar to you.

[2145] Yeah.

[2146] Yeah, maybe they'll get me on that list because I want to eat the honey chicken that Molly has been now talking up for two hours at the...

[2147] Oh, getting your...

[2148] You know how my taste buds react.

[2149] That's right.

[2150] Salvating.

[2151] I probably drooling all over the place.

[2152] I have to have it.

[2153] Yeah, insatiable.

[2154] Yeah, there was drool on my roe coat.

[2155] So I was like, I really want that chicken bad.

[2156] And so that was really driving the ship for me. You can't rest until you've eaten that.

[2157] Yeah, but I knew it was not going to happen.

[2158] Yeah, it wasn't your night.

[2159] So I...

[2160] You don't win them all.

[2161] I don't like that phrase because I like to win the mall.

[2162] That's true.

[2163] You have won the mall.

[2164] That's what's misleading.

[2165] That's how that your life kind of got fucked a little bit.

[2166] It's not your fault.

[2167] So as I'm walking out, the guy who's being photographed is walking in.

[2168] We're literally crossing paths.

[2169] He's opening the door that I'm then about to exit.

[2170] And there's just - In disgrace.

[2171] You're leaving in disgrace.

[2172] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[2173] Yeah.

[2174] And so the paparazzi is all right at the door, and it's flashing, flashing as he's coming in.

[2175] And then I, you know, I step out for them.

[2176] Uh -huh.

[2177] Uh -huh.

[2178] And then all the cameras, you know, just, cameras just -wind dark.

[2179] Just, yeah, they drop and they run, run away.

[2180] Guys are gagging and throwing up.

[2181] Yeah.

[2182] I hate this girl.

[2183] She's not who we want.

[2184] didn't even eat.

[2185] I saw her just walked in.

[2186] She's starving.

[2187] So I, and I still didn't recognize the man, which I think it was shame on me. I'm sure I would have recognized him, but I also didn't want to stare and then on my eyes are so bad.

[2188] Yeah.

[2189] Yeah.

[2190] And I thought it was really funny.

[2191] Right.

[2192] You had a little laugh at the whole thing.

[2193] I did.

[2194] And I really felt grateful that I could laugh at it because I do recognize at another stage in life I would not have been able to.

[2195] It would have ruined your night.

[2196] It would have hurt my feelings a lot.

[2197] Yeah, yeah.

[2198] Probably or just like, oh, I'm just not.

[2199] This is never going to happen for me. Can I tell you, though, this has been a curiosity of mine for years, which is when I couldn't get into places, I never put myself through that.

[2200] Like, there were nightclubs and stuff I wanted to go to as a drunk before I was on TV.

[2201] And I was like, I'm not going to go stand in this line and get rejected.

[2202] Like, I just would never do.

[2203] I'll only go if it's going to work out for me. It's curious to me that people have such an appetite to go and get rejected, you know?

[2204] I barely did that.

[2205] Only if I was with friends who were doing that.

[2206] Drug you there, yes.

[2207] Because I hate that feeling.

[2208] Yes, like no place is worth that feeling of getting rejection or not good enough to get in.

[2209] Yeah.

[2210] And, you know, what's worse is women have a different thing going on.

[2211] Oh, yeah.

[2212] Believe me, as a dude when I was young and I did try to do that, the girls are just blowing past.

[2213] You're hot, they're getting in.

[2214] But I'm not.

[2215] You're hot, but let's - No, no, no, I'm not getting in, therefore, I'm not hot.

[2216] No. I'm telling you what's happening in my brain and what the reality of what the series of events was, right?

[2217] So you're dealing with two things.

[2218] One, you're not - I feel you.

[2219] I feel you.

[2220] You're not famous enough to, or like, you know, worth this fucking restaurant because you don't have a job that people like here.

[2221] Right, you're a piece of shit.

[2222] And two, you're also not hot enough.

[2223] Like, there were two options and you don't have either.

[2224] I see.

[2225] This is, I'm going to, I see, this is very painful.

[2226] Yeah.

[2227] You're right, because they weren't letting hot do that.

[2228] I mean, they do let.

[2229] Exactly.

[2230] The guys that were getting in that weren't on TV were exceptionally hot, but I think they were also rich and they were greasing the guys at the door.

[2231] Yeah, that's a different thing.

[2232] Exactly.

[2233] You need hot girls.

[2234] They want the hot girls for the famous people there, famous boys.

[2235] You got to get the money with the honey.

[2236] You're going to get the honey with the money.

[2237] Oh.

[2238] Yeah.

[2239] So, anyway, I felt.

[2240] I don't know where we're at.

[2241] We're in a nightclub somehow.

[2242] Well, I was just saying at some point in time, I would have found that experience very demoralizing.

[2243] Yes.

[2244] And I didn't because I feel good about my place in the world, which is really lucky.

[2245] And I recognize that as being lucky.

[2246] That kind of thing can't knock you down.

[2247] Yeah.

[2248] Yes.

[2249] I'm so happy for you.

[2250] But I still was upset about the chicken.

[2251] That's right.

[2252] It was just based on wanting the chicken.

[2253] Not the CNBC part.

[2254] No. So then I made a reservation for some weeks later so that I could have the chicken with Molly and two of our other friends and Kristen, but now she was too tired.

[2255] Right.

[2256] She's too sleepy.

[2257] So it was early.

[2258] It was like 545 maybe our reservation.

[2259] And we got in and we ordered the chicken.

[2260] And it was so good.

[2261] It is as good as she had advertised.

[2262] It was really good.

[2263] Craig, send me one over.

[2264] Send a car.

[2265] Send some chicken to the attic.

[2266] Get tons of the chickens.

[2267] It has pancake underneath.

[2268] Oh, you can't.

[2269] But I'll eat your pancake.

[2270] No, still send the pancake.

[2271] I'll eat that.

[2272] Okay, it's so.

[2273] That sounds so perverted.

[2274] I'll eat your pancake.

[2275] Craig.

[2276] Sometimes when you're in a reverse back, you end up eating some pancake.

[2277] That's what they say.

[2278] But Craig comes by.

[2279] I don't know if it comes by.

[2280] There's a real Craig.

[2281] Yes.

[2282] Come on.

[2283] Yes.

[2284] Oh, my gosh.

[2285] And I don't know if he goes by to every table.

[2286] I think he does.

[2287] Well, probably the popular ones for sure.

[2288] Well, we weren't.

[2289] Craig came by.

[2290] Craig is a hoot.

[2291] Oh, great.

[2292] He talked about our dessert choices.

[2293] Hey, how you doing, Craig?

[2294] Well, kind of.

[2295] Did you try the dessert?

[2296] Yes, you just had the chicken.

[2297] Did you like it?

[2298] It's a popular dish here.

[2299] He's not, he doesn't.

[2300] Yeah, maybe he is.

[2301] Maybe he isn't.

[2302] I'll see and be seen.

[2303] You guys like a lemon meringue, the vanilla?

[2304] Stop.

[2305] Okay.

[2306] my God.

[2307] So he was talking to us, and I felt that he was paying a lot of attention to Molly.

[2308] Okay.

[2309] Molly's, for people who don't know, incredibly gorgeous.

[2310] She's beautiful.

[2311] And so my feelings were her a little bit.

[2312] Okay.

[2313] Okay.

[2314] Like old feelings were popping up at Craig's.

[2315] This is a minefield this place.

[2316] I don't know why you are there.

[2317] The chicken.

[2318] The chicken.

[2319] We'd be damn good chicken.

[2320] So I didn't know that was going to happen.

[2321] It was like everything was great.

[2322] Everything's good.

[2323] We're at Craig's.

[2324] We're eating the chicken.

[2325] Here's Craig.

[2326] The dessert was great.

[2327] Craig comes by.

[2328] Oh, come on.

[2329] Hey, how you doing?

[2330] I bet he's really focusing his attention on her.

[2331] Yeah, what's your name?

[2332] He didn't ask and he's not Italian that I know of.

[2333] I don't want to offend him.

[2334] Okay.

[2335] He talks to her and or he talks to us, but mainly her, slash her.

[2336] And keeps it moving, whatever.

[2337] We realize there is a celebrity siding next to us.

[2338] I think this is relevant to bring up.

[2339] The celebrity siding?

[2340] No, just to pause you for one second on Molly.

[2341] Okay.

[2342] To soften what your experience was.

[2343] Okay.

[2344] As you recall, Molly and Kristen were in France together and they were taking this bicycle cab around everywhere.

[2345] Uh -huh.

[2346] And the bicycle driver completely ignored Chris.

[2347] and was like, Molly, Molly, Molly, Molly, holding up condoms to Molly.

[2348] Like, you know, just to put it in all in reference.

[2349] Molly, I would say this is true.

[2350] Two out of every five times I'm out with her, some stranger comes up to us and tells her how beautiful she is.

[2351] Right.

[2352] Can you imagine?

[2353] No. I can't imagine.

[2354] No, I cannot imagine.

[2355] It must be so fun.

[2356] Although I bet what if it's happening to you, you're annoyed by it.

[2357] But for me, I would love this.

[2358] I don't think she's annoyed by it, but she's also always blushes and it's really sweet and cute.

[2359] And like it's the first time she's ever been told.

[2360] Which is so eye -rolly for me, but it's very sweet and endearing.

[2361] But it does lower my self -esteem.

[2362] So.

[2363] Celebrity sighting.

[2364] Yeah.

[2365] Then there was a celebrity siding next to us.

[2366] An old friend of yours.

[2367] Who was it?

[2368] Justin Thoreau.

[2369] Jay Thoreau Best style in the biz That's fun I know I know you love his style That's incredible And he was He was next to us With a big group of friends He's got like Motorcycle Streetwear look But it's like elevated Yeah he's great style Yeah really good style And he was there And then we left You know He didn't say anything to Molly I don't know I'm sure he was thinking We get up and get ready to go And we stop by the bathroom then Craig stops us by the bathroom.

[2370] Oh, wow, in the round two.

[2371] Molly, Molly, Molly.

[2372] He's mad for us that we're waiting.

[2373] For the bathroom.

[2374] Yeah.

[2375] Well, that Molly's waiting.

[2376] And he's upset for her.

[2377] But.

[2378] And then that was that.

[2379] That was that.

[2380] We left.

[2381] Again, we walked by a whole bunch of paparazzi.

[2382] I was told that they give cookies at the valet, but we didn't get any cookies.

[2383] You know, you know what's interesting, though?

[2384] I've been in your situation more than I've not.

[2385] So, like, all my times in L .A., like, 80 % of them were with Scotty.

[2386] Yeah.

[2387] And Scotty was just hands down.

[2388] Everywhere we went, every girl's in love with them.

[2389] Mm -hmm.

[2390] This is a fact.

[2391] That I was with Couther for a long time.

[2392] I get real.

[2393] No one's, you know.

[2394] I was fine with it.

[2395] I kind of like...

[2396] But you have also had lots of girlfriends and lots of female approval.

[2397] That's very true.

[2398] That's very true.

[2399] Very true.

[2400] Yeah, that's very true.

[2401] The fear and insecurity is about not getting hit.

[2402] Yeah, yeah.

[2403] It's, I do feel fairly confident that once I'm in with a person that, like, I have things to offer them.

[2404] Right.

[2405] But it's that initial thing.

[2406] Initial turn your head.

[2407] That I don't have.

[2408] Well, hold.

[2409] I don't accept that.

[2410] Well, you're going to.

[2411] Do you have it on the same level as Molly?

[2412] Nope.

[2413] Yeah.

[2414] I totally agree with you.

[2415] Are many dudes turning and looking at you?

[2416] Yes, that's also true.

[2417] Okay, great.

[2418] I'll accept it.

[2419] Okay, great.

[2420] We both accepted stuff.

[2421] That's great.

[2422] All right.

[2423] So, um, Craggs.

[2424] It was just so great.

[2425] Craigs, Gregs, Greg, because chain smogers.

[2426] Chain smogers can't get into Craigs.

[2427] Yes.

[2428] Which is funny.

[2429] I have a weird update.

[2430] Tell me. So my friend Vincent staying here.

[2431] Yes, Vincent Dinoffrio.

[2432] Friend of the pod.

[2433] Friend of the pod, friend of the family.

[2434] Yeah.

[2435] I love them.

[2436] so much.

[2437] We've had such a fun time on his visit.

[2438] We hiked.

[2439] Do you know, we hiked.

[2440] This is insane.

[2441] We go hiking, me, him, and Jake Johnson.

[2442] Do you know, me and Jake Johnson now are like hiking buddies.

[2443] Once a week, we go now.

[2444] That's fun.

[2445] It's so fun.

[2446] And so Donoffrey is in time.

[2447] Why don't you come hiking with us?

[2448] He's like, okay, where are we hiking?

[2449] I go up to the observatory.

[2450] Donofria, you've seen him since you've been here.

[2451] He's in an insane shape.

[2452] He's 64.

[2453] Wow.

[2454] Fucking jacked in his incredible shape.

[2455] And he said, last time I tried, I didn't make it.

[2456] Really?

[2457] And I go, okay.

[2458] He goes like, but I'm in better shape, so let's go.

[2459] Okay.

[2460] He went right up to the observatory, no -ish, and then Jake was like, let's just walk across the parking lot to the other trail.

[2461] Take a look, let's see.

[2462] We don't have to walk far.

[2463] We ended up walking to the very, do you even know where the very peak is up there?

[2464] It's above the Hollywood sign.

[2465] What?

[2466] It's two X of the hike up to the observatory.

[2467] Oh, my God.

[2468] The observatory is one -third of the way there.

[2469] Oh.

[2470] It was a three -hour hike.

[2471] That sounds impossible.

[2472] It was awesome.

[2473] Great.

[2474] And we got to the very top.

[2475] And I got to tell you, I know it's not your thing, hiking.

[2476] You should put it on your bucket list.

[2477] The view from the very top is the craziest view.

[2478] It is, you see everything.

[2479] You see, you know, normally you can either see, you can see Hollywood in downtown L .A. Maybe you get a bit of the beach and the west side.

[2480] Or you're on the other side and you see the San Fernando Valley.

[2481] This is every single thing.

[2482] You see the San Gabriel Mountains.

[2483] You see Glendale.

[2484] You see the entire San Fernando.

[2485] Valley, all of Hollywood, all of L .A., Long Beach, the Catalina Island.

[2486] I'm like, if you could have a house at the peak of this, what a privilege that would be.

[2487] That's the point of my story.

[2488] It was a great hike.

[2489] So his daughter, Lela, came over, who's a great actress as well.

[2490] And she brought her friend Ben, who she was on a show with.

[2491] This dude is radical, rode up on a motorcycle.

[2492] I'm like, goddamn, this fucking guy, he's here to take over my life.

[2493] Oh, wow.

[2494] He's going to beat me senseless in front of my children.

[2495] I run off with everything.

[2496] Wonderful, dude.

[2497] We were talking about Vegas, and then I said, I interviewed the chain smokers recently, and I shamelessly asked if I could join them.

[2498] And he said, oh, I'm very good friends with both of them, and I've done that trip a bunch of times.

[2499] No, fun.

[2500] He described it.

[2501] They were downplaying it.

[2502] Mm -hmm.

[2503] He said it's the most magical evening you can have.

[2504] Like, it's the most special.

[2505] I'd love to go.

[2506] Oh, I so want to go.

[2507] Yeah, very cool.

[2508] I really like you.

[2509] these guys.

[2510] Me too.

[2511] They're lovely.

[2512] Okay, a couple of facts, though.

[2513] They told a story that Jason Derulo had a python.

[2514] Were you able to?

[2515] I was really not able to corroborate that.

[2516] I'm shocked you left it in, actually.

[2517] I, well, because I thought it was true, but I don't, okay, here's a thing.

[2518] Jason Derulo, I guess, had a quote scandal.

[2519] Oh.

[2520] He showed an Instagram picture, posted a picture.

[2521] picture showing off his dick print and joke that his penis is the size of an Anaconda snake, okay?

[2522] Okay.

[2523] And what's a dick print?

[2524] That's what I'm a little...

[2525] The impression of his penis in his shorts.

[2526] Oh, in his shorts.

[2527] Yeah, like in his box or you are?

[2528] Oh, okay, so a bulge.

[2529] Oh, see?

[2530] Can you hand it to me?

[2531] Because I can't...

[2532] As big as his dick is, I can't see it from it.

[2533] It is actually looks big.

[2534] I mean, they're black.

[2535] panties so yeah okay yeah it looks great I'm gonna zoom in you know I love a penis so then I guess his there's a little thing is Jason Drew Lois Pino his girlfriend or something suggested that he then do a post with a snake okay after he after this whole thing and so he did so I wonder if that snake was there for this photo shoot yeah okay that would be the only way it would be because I don't think that's true.

[2536] Okay, how much does a dog walker make in New York City?

[2537] They said...

[2538] There was an article, right?

[2539] They said it was in the New York Times.

[2540] They said $200 ,000 a year.

[2541] As of October 4th, 2023, that's a mere few days ago.

[2542] Yeah.

[2543] The average hourly pay for a dog walker in New York City is 1928 an hour.

[2544] Right.

[2545] But if they have 10 dogs, that's $200 an hour.

[2546] You think, though, they're less.

[2547] you do that?

[2548] Oh, yeah.

[2549] When I see the dog walkers in New York, they have so many fucking dogs.

[2550] Ten's nothing.

[2551] So you think they're doing ten an hour for like eight hours?

[2552] Well, let me do the math.

[2553] Let's see where that takes us.

[2554] Caller, what's your question?

[2555] If a dog walker made, what did I say, 1995 times ten dogs times eight hours times.

[2556] 365 days.

[2557] Yeah, they could walk dogs all day.

[2558] $582 ,540.

[2559] Okay.

[2560] If you did 10 dogs a day, every day for $8.

[2561] We'll make it like five dogs for 300 days.

[2562] Okay.

[2563] And not eight hours.

[2564] They're not doing eight hours.

[2565] Divided by all the neighbors and just lined up with their dogs.

[2566] Eight hours would mean 80 dogs.

[2567] How many days a year?

[2568] 300?

[2569] 300, yeah.

[2570] Okay.

[2571] Okay, that would be $239 ,400.

[2572] Five dogs.

[2573] Three hundred days a year.

[2574] For eight hours?

[2575] You got to walk them long and hard.

[2576] This is not.

[2577] I don't, I don't think so.

[2578] Can I tell you what I would do?

[2579] Yeah.

[2580] I would get a humongous van.

[2581] Oh, God.

[2582] I would drive around the city and just keep collecting dogs.

[2583] And I tell these people they're out walks.

[2584] Okay.

[2585] I just fill the van up with more and more and more dogs.

[2586] There'd never be any walks.

[2587] Just I would have the dogs in a van for an hour.

[2588] And then I would like make my run and then I'd turn around and then I'd start returning the dogs.

[2589] And I bet you could get like 60, 70 dogs in this huge trailer and never do any dog walking.

[2590] Just pick dogs up and drop them off an hour later.

[2591] That's your master plan.

[2592] Yeah, because then you're, that's 100 dogs an hour for eight hours.

[2593] How many dogs do you think in New York?

[2594] It's not, you have to be able to get these clients.

[2595] You have to get enough clients.

[2596] You have to have 80 dogs.

[2597] a day as your client.

[2598] Uh -huh, no problem.

[2599] There's this city of, uh, 12 million people.

[2600] No. Every one of them has a dog.

[2601] Oh my God.

[2602] Okay.

[2603] The UK heist of the gold toilet.

[2604] It was a $6 million toilet.

[2605] Ooh.

[2606] It was once displayed at the Guggenheim.

[2607] The Gug?

[2608] Yeah.

[2609] A tough shot in the Gug.

[2610] You have?

[2611] Drove a little yellow car up the Gug.

[2612] Oh.

[2613] Um, one in Rome.

[2614] And it was swiped nearly four years ago from Winston Churchill's childhood home.

[2615] Blenheim Palace.

[2616] That's where it was.

[2617] And that's where it was stolen.

[2618] And that's where it left.

[2619] Okay.

[2620] Also the...

[2621] I wouldn't love a gold toilet.

[2622] You want to know why?

[2623] What?

[2624] If you peed in it, you'd have no sense of how dark your urine was.

[2625] That's a good point.

[2626] I love to know.

[2627] I want it clear.

[2628] Yeah, you need to know how hydrated.

[2629] And you'd have no clue.

[2630] Yeah.

[2631] You wouldn't know.

[2632] Two, I like to also be able to see how much duty I have.

[2633] And that wouldn't stick out as much against the white.

[2634] though.

[2635] No, but the white background helps.

[2636] Oh, you like that.

[2637] Like if there's a brown toilet, it's harder to distinguish I actually, that makes me want one.

[2638] So that no one can see the call of duty?

[2639] Yeah.

[2640] Okay.

[2641] That's what you're going to name your dog walking company.

[2642] Call a duty.

[2643] Oh yeah, that would be good for that.

[2644] That'd be really good.

[2645] Yeah.

[2646] We can't.

[2647] It's already taken as a dog waste management company.

[2648] Oh, is that what it was?

[2649] Oh, yeah.

[2650] Okay.

[2651] Professor Duty.

[2652] Okay, the thief that broke into California wine shop through the roof and steals rare expensive bottles store says they knew about all the heist they did um they stole around 600 bottles of wine and liquor worth over 500 000 okay that's a lot well not as much as a dog walker would make if he did eight dogs an hour for 365 days here it was lincoln fine wines in venice you're not gonna like this opinion what you're not you're gonna hate it okay and people will point the finger right back at me and they'd be right to do so.

[2653] Say, why is that car worth that?

[2654] I think this whole thing with wine being worth a bunch of money is absolute horseship.

[2655] I think it's a bunch of people sniffing each other's asses.

[2656] Yeah, I don't, I don't think it's fair.

[2657] I mean, I think up to $100, sure, you could justify why the expense of getting this certain grape is such.

[2658] From another country.

[2659] Right, but not $48 ,000 and all this.

[2660] Sure.

[2661] It's a bunch.

[2662] It's just, it's like, hey, just.

[2663] say it.

[2664] But it's the equivalent of people driving Bentley's.

[2665] Bentley's, they're not, it's not as good of a car as an S -500 Mercedes.

[2666] It's just not as good of a car.

[2667] I'm talking literally it's not as good of a car.

[2668] Longevity, performance, all this stuff.

[2669] It's 5x the price.

[2670] That's, it's solely to say I got money.

[2671] I don't love that.

[2672] But the wine is better.

[2673] The good wine is better.

[2674] I mean, they're more expensive.

[2675] Forty -eight thousand times better.

[2676] I've never tried it, so I don't know.

[2677] I will, though.

[2678] You should steal some and see if you I will.

[2679] It is similar to cars.

[2680] There are some cars that I have the same opinion about.

[2681] And then there's other cars that's like, no, you can see exactly.

[2682] Like, it costs them X amount to make it.

[2683] But you know about cars.

[2684] I sure do.

[2685] And you don't know about wine.

[2686] I know enough to say that no bottle of wine should be 50 ,000.

[2687] No, you don't.

[2688] Because I think people would say no car should be worth, blah, blah, blah.

[2689] If the grape was grown on Mars or the moon, I would maybe believe it.

[2690] I think you should accept that you don't know.

[2691] No about wine.

[2692] About wine.

[2693] Okay.

[2694] And you don't have to because you're sober.

[2695] Right.

[2696] So you don't have to learn about it, okay?

[2697] Okay.

[2698] I think I said something, like, I said something that Taylor Swift had a perfume at some point.

[2699] It was a throwaway, but she did.

[2700] It was wonderstruck Taylor Swift.

[2701] It's on Amazon.

[2702] And she's had other endorsements, too.

[2703] Oh, used by her.

[2704] Which is 48 ,000.

[2705] Yeah, as much as that wine.

[2706] Okay, Calvin Harris, you were asking greedy questions about money.

[2707] Yeah, they never did tell me as money.

[2708] They made, I applaud them for it.

[2709] Me too, I liked that.

[2710] Yeah, but I did want to know.

[2711] Still want to know.

[2712] Between 2006, again, this is on fucking celebrity net worth, which is a lie.

[2713] It's a lie.

[2714] Between June 2016 and June 2017, Calvin earned $49 million.

[2715] Between 2017 and 2018, Calvin earned $50 million.

[2716] But we don't, that's made up.

[2717] So he could buy just really quick.

[2718] He could buy a hundred of those wine thefts.

[2719] How long would a dog walker have to walk in New York to make $50 million?

[2720] He'd have to walk 100 years.

[2721] No, yes.

[2722] Yes, 100 years.

[2723] Because each year he's making $500.

[2724] So every 10 year he'd make $5 .8 million.

[2725] Yes, at 365 at eight dogs.

[2726] Ten dogs an hour.

[2727] Yes, that was $5 .000.

[2728] The first number was $540 ,000.

[2729] I know, but that's so inflated because that's unrealistic.

[2730] 10 dogs?

[2731] 8 hours a day.

[2732] Eight hours a day, 10 dogs for every day.

[2733] That's right.

[2734] So what would that person, that person would have to walk dogs for 100 years to get to $50 million?

[2735] Okay, that person.

[2736] Great.

[2737] That particular dog walker.

[2738] Not net, though.

[2739] They've got expenses.

[2740] Not if you're using the van technique.

[2741] I'm proposing.

[2742] So bad.

[2743] It'll be nice for you, though, to have me take some heat about the dogs for a second.

[2744] Just enjoy.

[2745] Yeah, just so people know.

[2746] I would never do.

[2747] that if I was a dog walker.

[2748] I'd walk those dogs.

[2749] I'd hate it.

[2750] Yeah.

[2751] But I'd walk them.

[2752] They'd bite you and stuff.

[2753] They would.

[2754] They do.

[2755] They bite.

[2756] Some of them bite.

[2757] One bit me. Okay.

[2758] You said money makes you happy until 160 ,000.

[2759] That was before you learned the new number.

[2760] That's right.

[2761] 500 ,000.

[2762] Man, 500 ,000 keeps coming up.

[2763] These dog walkers nailed it.

[2764] Although that does not sound like a good life.

[2765] Eight hours, 10 dogs a day every day.

[2766] They don't have a day off.

[2767] They're not going to be happy.

[2768] Unless they get an immense joy out of walking dogs, which I think a lot of people do.

[2769] I think they would need some human companionship.

[2770] Well, they have 16 hours a day left.

[2771] 16 hours is a lot.

[2772] I mean, it is, but you have to sleep.

[2773] Yeah, you sleep for eight.

[2774] You have eight full hours to drink wine.

[2775] Expensive wine.

[2776] Yeah.

[2777] Well, have a blast.

[2778] I'm very excited for you.

[2779] Kiss Nirmie for me. Oh, I will.

[2780] Okay.

[2781] Hug Daddy for me. Kiss Neil for me. Um, I'm not gonna Kiss your brother on the lips.

[2782] No. It's for me and has nothing new with you.

[2783] All right, love you.

[2784] Love you.