October 15, 2025 • 38 mins
On a special episode of In Service Of for World Hunger Day Grammy-nominated British singer/songwriter/actress Yola joins Steve Baltin to discuss her work with Why Hunger? and why this particular cause is so important to her.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey, it is Steve Bolton.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to a special bonus episode of In Service up
tomorrow October sixteenth, World Hunger Day, And for that cause,
I spoke with Grammy nominated artist Giola, the lively, vibrant
British singer, who had so much to say about her
role with Why Hunger, why this cause is important to her, how.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
She got involved with it, and much more.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
This is a really fun conversation all about giving back
for an important cause. So I hope you enjoy this
one as much as I did. And we'll see you
again November fifth for the new season.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Thanks all right.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So, and where are you based, by the way, because
I know you were just in Nashville for a festival.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah. I kind of exist between Nashville and New York.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
All right, So where are you now?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Oh? I am in New York at the moment.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, okay, And for you it's interesting. I mean, I
will come out of y hunger in one second. But
I'm always a big believer in environment affecting writing and recording.
So for you, if you exist between the two, do
you notice the difference in the stuff you do in
New York versus the stuff you do in Nashville.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Oh yeah, Like from an artist's point of view, it's
very different infrastructure and makeup, and so there's definitely more
of an instrumental base of things that I do when
I'm making music in Nashville, less programming based, maybe less
(01:58):
jazz based as well. There seems to be kind of
like a New York has its reputation for jazz and
jazz players and that kind of like you know, Gil
Scott Heron style, modern take and experimental takes on jazz
(02:22):
are very very very popular here in New York. I'm
less so in Nashville. It's probably a little bit more
guitar music based, rock based stuff. But because I'm between
the two, you can hear that kind of influence of
what is soul jazz influenced and what is rock influenced
(02:47):
come through my music. I feel like the two areas
that I straddle are the two areas that I straddle.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So interesting because you know, I also write it out
jazz for the early times. So it's literally just five
minutes ago on the phone with the guy who runs
the sam First Venue and we were talking about the
fact that you know, and I also did the story
on Blue not Oat here and all of this, and
you know, so many New York musicians have migrated, but
obviously New York still has such a you know, it's
still such a jazz stronghold for you.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Who are your favorite musicians to work with there?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
And like, how much do you feel like it's still
permeates because like Robert Glassword's friend and we've talked about
a lot, a lot of people just.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Made their way out here during the time of the pandemic.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yes, so obviously I was in Nashville during the pandemic.
Oh actually technically I wasn't even in Nashville's in Madison,
but like and then just up towards the end of Lockdown,
I moved into Nashville. And yeah, like I feel like
because there's just so much space in Nashville. Certainly during Lockdown,
(03:53):
it made sense to be somewhere where you would be
more than six feet away from people, because that's really
the trick that we're looking at here. We're trying to
not be closed. And so when people are like, are
you going to go back to the UK, I'm like,
that's even closer than New York. So no, the prest
(04:16):
portions of the UK are even smaller, they're so tiny.
So like so many of my friends found it really
challenging to kind of stay healthy during lockdown for those
reasons of just not being able to get far enough
away from people. And so yeah, like I did know
a lot of people that came to Nashville during that time,
(04:36):
but there's definitely like a little bit of traffic that
decided to kind of split their time and straddle a
bit because of the things that New York offers and
the things that Natural offers, not having necessarily a whole
load of overlap, and so if you want both things,
you kind of need to be in both spaces. And
so yeah, that's what I'm finding.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
You're in LA, you have something totally different.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Yes, yes, And some of my writers are in LA,
and two of my co writers are in LA. My
favorite person to collaborate with in New York is an
artist called to Louse, artist and writer called to Louse,
and he is like my favorite collaborator of all humans
on planet Earth bar none actually, and we have such
(05:25):
an absolutely just ripping time. And yeah, we've just decided
that we're just going to keep working together and to
we're dead bodies. That's how this works, so it's really joyful.
And then we also work with a couple of LA writers,
Autumn Row and Sean Douglas you'll know from their writing prowess,
(05:47):
and they're based in LA And my new single Amazing,
I wrote with Jeremy Ltito, who was based in Nashville.
So I really am in those three cities doing my work.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Well, okay, we're gonna we will come on to Hunger
to secon because obviously it's so important, but you know,
it's funny. I've heard why Amazing, which is a lot
of fun And do you know Autumn because my friend
Nancy Madalone works with her. Yeah, But you know, I
want to go back to what you were saying about
to lose for a second. You know, I'm so fascinated
with this because I talk about other people all the time. Right,
(06:22):
it's basketball. You can take five of the greatest players
on earth, put them on a team together and they
can suck. It doesn't matter that they're you know, all great,
but it's just chemistry. And again, you can have great
songwriters and but it all comes down to the chemistry.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
So why do you think it is? What is about you?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
And to louse that is just like that. You know again,
and how did you did you feel it right away?
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Because I'm also.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
It was obedio to answer your question very quickly. It
was like two two bodies, one one high brain. So
we have a little bit of like a psychic way
of communicating. So if I you know what it is
when you're trying to communicate with somebody, and sometimes you'll
(07:07):
talk to somebody and they never quite understand what you're saying,
so you have to keep on finding ways to translate
it to them in a way that they would understand.
And sometimes you'll communicate with people and it'll be like
you're saying it and they also understand the underlying nuances
to what you're saying, and so you barely have to
translate it up outside of what you've said minimally. And
(07:32):
so we've just got this really great way of being
able to both communicate and psychically communicate simultaneously. So whatever
is in here, because like I play like rhythm baitara, Okay,
I'm not really a shredder, even though I had to
play this or a setup up and be a shredder,
Like I like that's me and I sing and I
(07:54):
arrange vocals and I have production ideas. I'm very much
the mental producer, but I'm not an end in it,
and so a lot of the time and I'm not
a multi instrumentalist. I can have a go on a
few things, but I certainly can't spread all the ideas
that are up here, and so sometimes I need someone
who can put down the things that are up here
(08:15):
and that understands what's up here and doesn't kind of
misconstrued or what is coming out of my brain. And
so I've felt a lot of the time a little
bit like I've needed to find my dream collaborator who
can do the most accurate translation of what's inside my
brain and then bring things to add to it that
(08:39):
I would most optimally want and to lose. Does both
of those things excellently, and it's just really great company,
very talented person really great here for harmony, and so
in the way that I appreciate harmony, and so we're
just very aligned aesthetically and the things that I do,
(08:59):
which which is like all the scary decisions, all the
kind of bigger moonshots in this direction and that direction,
all the influence. Yeah, sometimes just like those big ip moments,
I'm really good at those things. He's just the absolute
(09:20):
master of like finessing that and so and and understanding
and translating and good feel and so like. Sometimes apparently
MJ used to write like this. He would sing people's
lines to them. So it's a bass player, this is
(09:40):
your line. It's a guitar solo. This is the or
the guitar hook, this is the line. These are their
vocal arrangements, these are the stacks. That's the stuff I'm
really good at. I'm a number of times I sing
a bass line to a bass player is a lot.
So yeah, soon as you hear lots of very singable,
funky base lines, and that's because I'm singing them all right.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Wait, so you know it's amazing kind of taps into
the punk who for you is like the greatest punk
bass player.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Oh my gosh, I gosh. So like I do have
a bass player that I track. He's more of a
soul based player. But obviously between me, it's like Brucy Collins,
James Jamison, they're like my favorite bass players.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Okay, so tell me about Wait, we'll rap on White Hunger.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
But first, what's coming next is amazing, the beginning of new.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Material amazing is so I don't know where amazing it's
going to live. At the moment, it's a single exists,
I am writing an album. I am close to finishing
the writing and heading into production of the next album.
So yeah, it's happening. It's another four into solo and
(11:06):
rock music, but in a difference, like every album has
had an element of solo and rock music but in
a different guys, right, and so this time it's solo
and rock again and a different guys. And so I'm
really insanely excited about it. I think this is my
magnus opus. I feel like I've done it.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Interesting because as an artist, I always say, right, you
can't have a magnum opus. And the reason I say
that because all artists are perfections, and as an artist,
you have to have something to shoot for. So as
I always use the analogy, Right, if everybody else in
the history of the world might think A Love Supreen
was the perfect record, but for Coltrane, if you believed
(11:52):
it was a perfect record, then where do you go
from there? If you've achieved perfections? So for you, what's like,
You know, what I always talk about with artists is right,
you have these moments that you're very proud of and
they become building blocks. So for you on your magnum Opus,
what are the things you're most excited about that you
can you know that you see yourself getting to where
(12:15):
you want to be.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Well, it's so much of it is about the skills
I'm able to use because I came from a production background,
being part production teams for about fifteen years, and like
I've been creating teams in more recent years to be
(12:38):
able to use those skills again in spaces that would
like me ostensibly to use those skills and those that
is one thing that feels like self actualization. And for me,
the idea of magnum Opus is a reaching of a
(13:02):
level that I would ostensibly like to maintain instead of
like a finishing point. And then what I just I'm like, no,
this is the era of the magnum Opus. This is
more than a moment of it even and I feel
like when you create a work that feels like you're
(13:22):
using all of your skills to the best of their ability,
more than you have in any other thing that you've
done in your career, even as a behind the scenes
person working on pop in the UK, and everything you've
done since being able to use all those skills and
being able to very visibly see that you've you're achieving
(13:47):
way more than you ever been able to the My
motivation and my where I go from there is to
maintain that level, and that main maintaining of level is
just to maintain to be that inspired and to be
able to use my skills to that same level continually.
And that has been the journey that I've been pursuing,
(14:08):
is the ability to actually just functionally do my job.
I got paid for loads of different things, for vocals, specifically,
for writing, specifically, for arranging specifically loads of different things
within and for co producing so many, so many roles
(14:30):
that I've played before I was an artist, and many
of them charted in the top ten both here in
the States. And that's how I was able to afford
to come over to America, because, mark my words, trust
fund kids are the ones that can afford to come
over to the States from the UK nowadays, and I
am not that. And a lot of people in business
(14:51):
in the UK were like, how did you do that? Like,
we know what it costs, so how did you do it?
I'm like, I became my own rich Daddy as what
I did. And so it's like the feeling of self
actualization is so much down to feeling like I'm actually
(15:12):
doing my job to my fullest, and that is manifesting
in something that feels like somewhere I've never been able
to get before because it's always been someone else's project,
so I'm limited by what they can vocally do or
by the brief and then when it's mine, I've been
(15:34):
in a situation that's very its own machine and I
just have to feed in my little bit and so yeah,
and then after that, I realized I haven't worked with
anyone in the US because I was exclusive. So then
I had to use the EP as a way of
just building team. So it was like, let's just make
(15:55):
a really enjoyable, fun party EP I can do at
the end of my life set that's very enjoyable and fun,
and I can use the process of making that to
build my team and then I can get back into
my main journey of Yola's for a into soul and
rock music and how they come together in the different
(16:17):
ways that they do. And so yeah, like it's it's
been a long journey to get to this point of
just being able to do what I actually do for myself.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, so February, I know, Yeah, nice record, magnum Opus.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, probably not no, because it's an era of It's
the era of magnum Opus, you know, magnum Opus part
one of fifteen. But like now I know, now I
am doing the things that I want to do, and
I've got the people that want to do it and
they just want to keep working with me forever because we.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Have the best time.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
I don't. I don't. There's no reason why I need
to take a step back into not magnom Opus hera.
And so that's the really exciting part is that I'm
self actualizing and I don't see why I would not
be self actualized, self actualizing after this. So yeah, that's
you can't get more happy in music than that. That is,
(17:32):
that is joy. I'm really lucky.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well that's yeah. I mean it's funny because I know
so many up incoming artists. N you know, people talk
about it all the time, and it's like, you know,
finding the right team.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
It's like a fucking marriage.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Yes it is. And it's really and for that reason,
like when you're dating, if we're to use the same analogy.
When you're dating. You can have lots of people you're like, oh, well,
you know, they might not be the one, but they'll
be useful, or like, you know somebody who you're like,
(18:04):
I never intended to date this person rightly longer, and
some people who are like you're like, oh, do you
know what, I'm just gonna have to be single for
a bit, And so there's all sorts of stages. It
really does like mirror relationships in the way like you
sometimes you just know that they're not it, but they'll
do for now, and then people that you know that
(18:26):
this is like long term. And so I feel lucky
to have found my people in that regard, because that's
really hard and people some people they get everything they
want out of the music industry, but apart from the
people like they get all the things that you're supposed
to want. And when you don't get the people, guess what,
(18:47):
you also don't get the happiness. You don't get as
the same sense of joy. It gets slapped out of
your hand by being Wow, everything that I've achieved is
at the hands of the worst people on it, and
that and when you see people who have made a
lot of money and very successful go through really big
challenges emotionally, and you think, what can make them so unhappy?
(19:13):
That's what. That's exactly what. And you know, I call
it the Ivory Tower of misery. You know, you think
you want it, and then you're in there and you're like,
oh no, I'm trapped and it's horrible. It's beautiful and
horrible at the same time. And so my mission in
life and music has been to never get trapped in
the Ivy Tower of misery and for my journey to
(19:33):
find itself, regardless of how long that takes, to a
place of joy through self actualization instead of self actualization
by any means necessary.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
The funny enough, that works into a great segue for
why Hunger because I remember talking with Ozzie Osbourne, who
was a friend and I knew for many years, Like
you know, for him, he talked about giving that and
how it was so important because he said the music
industry has been so good to him.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
He's like, it's fucking fun to be Ozzy Osbourne. I
have to give back.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
So when you find that happiness, do you feel like
it becomes more important to you know, give back?
Speaker 1 (20:14):
And why Hunger than literally why hunger?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Yeah exactly, I really do. As your Osborne's bang on,
when you find your spot and you're like, this has
given me so much joy and I'm able to do
it and live and be appreciated. And another thing that
I know is insanely rare when you have so much
(20:39):
utmost respect for your fandom in particular, Like my fandom
are the dopest people, and everybody tells me. I'm like,
I know, but sometimes people are like, that's surprised. They're like, wow,
what is it about Yola fans? They're nice, They're like
way nice with the other people's fans. I'm like, yeah,
(21:01):
I know, I know. I literally get the best people
on earth, and so like I know, how like just
lucky and joyful that is, and also how planned that was.
Like I saw a lot of people's mistakes, and I
love to learn from other people's mistakes. I don't want
to make them. I want to watch other people make
them go cool. I don't want that. I don't want
(21:23):
that either, And so being in this place where like
I've managed to do that feels like I want to
spread that joy. I want people to feel because I
didn't come from anything like I was homeless and I
was hungry at times, and so I feel like I
really want to spread that sense of joy and this
(21:45):
sense of the community that I'm building wider. I want
it to grow, and I'm growing in as many different
directions as possible, and so naturally, like my passions start
coming to the fore why hunger is one of those,
definitely because I have a coming from the UK, I
(22:06):
have a very different perspective over food law, for example,
because there's lots of things in this country that are
illegal where I come from, just that food that's readily available.
And so when I came here, there are some things
that I would eat that would bring me out in hives.
And I was like, is this what you do to
(22:30):
people who don't have money? You just this is what
you have access to, or is this what regular people eat?
Because I literally can't eat this stuff without coming out
in hives. So I started then having to try and
find really great food and I noticed, unlike where I
come from, really great food is insanely expensive. And don't
(22:53):
get me wrong, it's clear why, like if healthcare is
a business, but it doesn't make sense food to music Richie.
But in the UK we have natural health service. So
you better believe if the government's gonna have to pay
for your healthcare, they're going to make sure that basic
food that is clean is available because they don't want
to have to freaking play out on the other end.
(23:15):
And so I noticed that we were stuck between a
rock and a hard place here where if you really
want to stay healthy, or you want to just be
able to eat food that's nutritious and good in any way,
you've got to be privileged in some way. And I
find that really deeply heartbreaking because I didn't come from that.
I may have managed to ascend to a level of privilege,
(23:37):
but I certainly didn't ascend from a level of already
tangible privilege. I came from disadvantage of anything, and so
that was really really important, just the context of where
I came from to be like one of the first
steps I made in giving back. There's probably three main
(23:59):
areas I love giving back through music or through speaking,
and that is always going to be with food and
food quality. Because I'm brit and when I left the UK,
it was in Europe anyway, and so European food law
is something that is very, very very strict and you
(24:20):
feel the difference when you come over here. And then
obviously things like teaching, lecturing. I've got a lecturing background.
I used to lecture vocal pedagogy. And then anything to
do with homelessness as well, because I was homeless. And
so yeah, all of these things kind of like come
together with my hunger, this idea of being able to
(24:43):
impact people who might experience any one of those three
things and as a result, not be able to eat
food that is optimal, you know. And for me, like
it goes right down to the very core of things
like seed variety and the things that are a very
of all the things that people are being encouraged to
grow versus not grow. And two availability. So yeah, like
(25:08):
we found ourselves insanely aligned, me and my hunger on
some very deep conversations over drinks.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
I wait, so it's a favorite drink.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Yeah, oh, my favorite drink. Oh my goodness. Okay, it
really does depend on what. Like, if I'm on holiday,
peanut lada all day every day, I'm a Pena clada girl,
frozen peanuculada, regular peanu clada and peanuts alta girl. I'm
on holiday. If I am trying to get lit. Then
it's mescal, tequila, all of that kind of business. If
(25:43):
I'm just having one and I'm going to be really chill,
gin and tonic. Yeah, and I'm frankly a lot like
the whiskeys will have one of that in my low
drinking era. Sherry, I'm a big cherry girl. Yeah again,
but that's more than that. I'm just more gastronomic if
(26:04):
I'm pairing of a sherry girl if yeah, things like that,
and a wine girl if I'm pairing yeah, specifically red wine.
Becca Valley in Lebanon, that's my favorite kind of region
for red wine. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Nice. Well, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
The name of the podcast is in Service Up, and
I talk about this is so many artists And what's
interesting is realizing how many artists built the service calling
long before they were successful.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And it's funny for you growing up? Is it something?
Look going? Really?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
For a second, I talk with arts about the fact
that like songwriting is like channeling. You know, they'll have
their antent out it comes in and it's kind of
like you get these messages. But when I started talking
with artists deeper about it, you realize that they were
always open in the messages when they were younger. So
the message like, it's almost like, you know, to be
able to receive the messages, you feel the need to
(27:04):
give back in service.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Yes, it's like you're inside my brain. You've talked to
so many artists, obviously, we really do feel that you
literally described my entire life existence. I'm very very open.
From a very young age, always was very aware that
I was open as well. From a young age, I
(27:27):
was like, Ooh, I feel like I'm like receiving from
the universe more than people look like they ordinarily do.
So I must be one of those art people that
does that. And so I always felt like I was receiving.
I always felt as though the messages that I was
getting were really dope, and that I was somehow favored
(27:48):
or just very being kindly bestowed by the ancestors, by
the universe. By my ability to receive, just read into
the universe around me. I was really really lucky to
be able to deduce some really dope things from that,
(28:08):
and I felt that that was a real privilege and
a real source of joy that not everyone gets, especially
as a writer. Anyone that gets to do writing and
then be in the production of that writing will tell
you they have some of the most fun when they're
creating the idea that was in their head. You can't
(28:29):
get more fun than something being bored in your brain,
you singing it into a recording device and then figuring
out what the heck that is and building it into
this big universe. Like it's pure unadulterated joy, so you
naturally feel like I feel like it comes from for
me anyway, it comes from a point of sharing. I'm like,
(28:49):
I don't want to always just be like joyful on
my own. That's why I like to collaborate as as well,
because I love to be in a joyful situation sharing
that and so so that's kind of like the source
of why I like to give back is because I
like to share and I want I want more than
me to come up at the hand of something. I
(29:12):
don't want to shut people out just when I get
to my good time. I want to open the door
as I get to my good time, and especially for
people that would be considered underdog or we are struggling,
like because I was struggling, and so I have sympathy
and empathy for that, and it's really super important to
(29:36):
make sure that more people that would have come from
a background like mine get a chance to do something.
And I'd love to say this it's all altruistic and
that I'm just such a good person. But also music
is dope when it comes from people that aren't trust
fund kids as like it's dope. Trust fun kids can
(29:59):
also great music. But we need the full pantheon, not
just rich kids. And like, I don't mean to be
the brit in the room, but I am. And you'll
know full well. The Faces, the Stones, the Beatles, small Faces,
(30:19):
Kinks like everyone came from working class, and so as
our Elton John, like our legends, Freddie Mercury, our legends
came from the working class. The reason why we're on
the map is because of just the narrative that came
(30:41):
from our gretes, and it came from grassroots. It was
supported by a really, really, really healthy welfare system, and
they were able to thrive and give the world iconic
things like if you saw Live Aid and you didn't
think that was iconic, you're blind, You don't you went
(31:02):
watching what I'm wanting. Freddie was a god and goldly
in that moment, And those things come from like a
real great sense of knowing what it's like to be
human and to live the way that a lot of
us live. And that's one thing that like, if you
come from extreme privilege, you might not know what that
(31:25):
feels like. And that's what rounds out the experience. Do
you do get the privilege of not having any bills
dressed and therefore being able to become excellent at something?
Because the amount of the cpu that not having to
worry about money takes up that gets free because you
don't have to worry about money is mind blowing. But
(31:48):
there we need the full pantheon. We need the people
that are freed up to kind of stretch in technical
ways because they have money, and we need the people
that really dig to the root of something and get
get in the something so we get to feel as well,
we need everybody. And so when I give with a
hope that I can make a world that is more
(32:10):
equitable so that we get up of many different kinds
from people who are less advantaged. And so that's my dream.
They don't have to be artists, but they definitely I
really do love the idea of making sure that the
world has input from people of the working class more
(32:32):
often in life, and that's something that I'm really passionate about.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Well, I was going to ask for, but that's such
a great wrap up.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Note.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
I think we will we kind of.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Is there anything you want to add that you didn't
I talk about, But I think there's a perfect wrap up.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Note.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
I suppose the only thing we didn't talk about was
like the idea of like just reclaiming traditional food ways
and varieties and things like that, just because that's one
thing that I feel like me and white hunger have
a real parallel on. Obviously, we're getting into a world where,
(33:16):
like sea varieties are starting to become less varied, and
so one of my main as much as I love
to make sure that in music we have the full pantheon,
in industry and in life, we have the full pantheon
of human contribution, and that people are nourished to be
(33:36):
able to do so, to make sure that that nourishment
in itself is varied and not highly colonized is also
a massive action.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
And so.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
We find our ways first is by talking about white hunger,
making sure people give to white hunger, and our missions
making sure that they are broadly spanning enough that it's
not just that we're going into supposing going hey, here's
some food, but we're making sure that food is quality,
making sure that we are working towards food resilience in future,
(34:16):
and so like that's like a lot of my mission
is to make sure that we have more varied and
more nutritious seed varieties and therefore food available, because that's
one thing that I think is easily in crisis at
the moment is seed variety. People really trying to make
(34:39):
sure that they have ownership over food and ownership over
seed variety and consequently ownership with what you're able to
grow and how nourish you're able to be. And if
someone has the ability to control that, then they've got
ultimate control. If you can grow your own food and
(35:00):
it's nutritious and you have you can get your own energy,
and there are ways that means to do that, you
are profound privilege. But a lot of people don't have
access to all of that. And so I'm like, if
I can do anything in my power to make sure
that we have access and we create access to better
(35:23):
see varieties, that's one of my passions that we're working towards.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Very cool.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah, Unfortunately, I mean, as you talk about it, I mean,
the problem is is that you know, everybody go on
chldowship of everything at this point.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
There isn't anything that we don't want, anything that they
don't want, any love at this point, and so you've
just got to do what you can to make sure
that there is. This is the great thing about airloom
seed varieties is that they're not things that are ownable,
and as a result of that, that's why people try
(36:11):
and make sure that airloom seed varieties are available. Because
you can't own the original version, but you can own
the patent to the altered version, and so that's why
it's really important to make sure that people have access
to if not, if not for any other reason than
cultural heritage and the ability to make the food you've
(36:33):
always made and food history to note that maybe this
version is a hybrid and you never used to eat,
and the maintaining of those things is really really important
for cultural reasons as well as the ability to kind
of autonomously feed yourself in a way that you know, oh,
(36:56):
this variety is going to give me the nutrients, or
at least it's many of the nutrients as are available
in that soil to get and hopefully don't strip it
too much, you know, And so I think a lot
of I'm really passionate about this. And if you've been
to Italy and eat and ever, you'll know that, like
really great seed varieties aren't tasty as heck, they're so yummy,
(37:22):
like when you go just just go to Italy. If
you are lucky enough to be able to get a
flight to Europe, go to Italy and eat one tomato. Okay,
just one, and tell me that you don't have a
massive come to Jesus moment. Just tell me that your
mind doesn't explode within the skull because you're like, I
(37:44):
didn't know that food could taste like this. That's the
feeling I want for lots of people to eat something
the same thing as you can go to c Sain
Countries and eat a mango and you have no idea
that a mango could taste that way, or ginger when
you have those different varieties of ginger, Like I'm don't
gonna run out for a second.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Do you want to log back on or do you
want to Oh no, we.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
We can, we can shut out from here. Thank you
so much for being so helpful. Like so joyful of
asking such lush.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Questions, raving in you as well. Thanks so much,
Hey, it is Steve Bolton.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to a special bonus episode of In Service up
tomorrow October sixteenth, World Hunger Day, And for that cause,
I spoke with Grammy nominated artist Giola, the lively, vibrant
British singer, who had so much to say about her
role with Why Hunger, why this cause is important to her, how.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
She got involved with it, and much more.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
This is a really fun conversation all about giving back
for an important cause. So I hope you enjoy this
one as much as I did. And we'll see you
again November fifth for the new season.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Thanks all right.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
So, and where are you based, by the way, because
I know you were just in Nashville for a festival.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Yeah. I kind of exist between Nashville and New York.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
All right, So where are you now?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Oh? I am in New York at the moment.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, okay, And for you it's interesting. I mean, I
will come out of y hunger in one second. But
I'm always a big believer in environment affecting writing and recording.
So for you, if you exist between the two, do
you notice the difference in the stuff you do in
New York versus the stuff you do in Nashville.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Oh yeah, Like from an artist's point of view, it's
very different infrastructure and makeup, and so there's definitely more
of an instrumental base of things that I do when
I'm making music in Nashville, less programming based, maybe less
(01:58):
jazz based as well. There seems to be kind of
like a New York has its reputation for jazz and
jazz players and that kind of like you know, Gil
Scott Heron style, modern take and experimental takes on jazz
(02:22):
are very very very popular here in New York. I'm
less so in Nashville. It's probably a little bit more
guitar music based, rock based stuff. But because I'm between
the two, you can hear that kind of influence of
what is soul jazz influenced and what is rock influenced
(02:47):
come through my music. I feel like the two areas
that I straddle are the two areas that I straddle.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So interesting because you know, I also write it out
jazz for the early times. So it's literally just five
minutes ago on the phone with the guy who runs
the sam First Venue and we were talking about the
fact that you know, and I also did the story
on Blue not Oat here and all of this, and
you know, so many New York musicians have migrated, but
obviously New York still has such a you know, it's
still such a jazz stronghold for you.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Who are your favorite musicians to work with there?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
And like, how much do you feel like it's still
permeates because like Robert Glassword's friend and we've talked about
a lot, a lot of people just.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Made their way out here during the time of the pandemic.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Yes, so obviously I was in Nashville during the pandemic.
Oh actually technically I wasn't even in Nashville's in Madison,
but like and then just up towards the end of Lockdown,
I moved into Nashville. And yeah, like I feel like
because there's just so much space in Nashville. Certainly during Lockdown,
(03:53):
it made sense to be somewhere where you would be
more than six feet away from people, because that's really
the trick that we're looking at here. We're trying to
not be closed. And so when people are like, are
you going to go back to the UK, I'm like,
that's even closer than New York. So no, the prest
(04:16):
portions of the UK are even smaller, they're so tiny.
So like so many of my friends found it really
challenging to kind of stay healthy during lockdown for those
reasons of just not being able to get far enough
away from people. And so yeah, like I did know
a lot of people that came to Nashville during that time,
(04:36):
but there's definitely like a little bit of traffic that
decided to kind of split their time and straddle a
bit because of the things that New York offers and
the things that Natural offers, not having necessarily a whole
load of overlap, and so if you want both things,
you kind of need to be in both spaces. And
so yeah, that's what I'm finding.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
You're in LA, you have something totally different.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Yes, yes, And some of my writers are in LA,
and two of my co writers are in LA. My
favorite person to collaborate with in New York is an
artist called to Louse, artist and writer called to Louse,
and he is like my favorite collaborator of all humans
on planet Earth bar none actually, and we have such
(05:25):
an absolutely just ripping time. And yeah, we've just decided
that we're just going to keep working together and to
we're dead bodies. That's how this works, so it's really joyful.
And then we also work with a couple of LA writers,
Autumn Row and Sean Douglas you'll know from their writing prowess,
(05:47):
and they're based in LA And my new single Amazing,
I wrote with Jeremy Ltito, who was based in Nashville.
So I really am in those three cities doing my work.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Well, okay, we're gonna we will come on to Hunger
to secon because obviously it's so important, but you know,
it's funny. I've heard why Amazing, which is a lot
of fun And do you know Autumn because my friend
Nancy Madalone works with her. Yeah, But you know, I
want to go back to what you were saying about
to lose for a second. You know, I'm so fascinated
with this because I talk about other people all the time. Right,
(06:22):
it's basketball. You can take five of the greatest players
on earth, put them on a team together and they
can suck. It doesn't matter that they're you know, all great,
but it's just chemistry. And again, you can have great
songwriters and but it all comes down to the chemistry.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
So why do you think it is? What is about you?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
And to louse that is just like that. You know again,
and how did you did you feel it right away?
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Because I'm also.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
It was obedio to answer your question very quickly. It
was like two two bodies, one one high brain. So
we have a little bit of like a psychic way
of communicating. So if I you know what it is
when you're trying to communicate with somebody, and sometimes you'll
(07:07):
talk to somebody and they never quite understand what you're saying,
so you have to keep on finding ways to translate
it to them in a way that they would understand.
And sometimes you'll communicate with people and it'll be like
you're saying it and they also understand the underlying nuances
to what you're saying, and so you barely have to
translate it up outside of what you've said minimally. And
(07:32):
so we've just got this really great way of being
able to both communicate and psychically communicate simultaneously. So whatever
is in here, because like I play like rhythm baitara, Okay,
I'm not really a shredder, even though I had to
play this or a setup up and be a shredder,
Like I like that's me and I sing and I
(07:54):
arrange vocals and I have production ideas. I'm very much
the mental producer, but I'm not an end in it,
and so a lot of the time and I'm not
a multi instrumentalist. I can have a go on a
few things, but I certainly can't spread all the ideas
that are up here, and so sometimes I need someone
who can put down the things that are up here
(08:15):
and that understands what's up here and doesn't kind of
misconstrued or what is coming out of my brain. And
so I've felt a lot of the time a little
bit like I've needed to find my dream collaborator who
can do the most accurate translation of what's inside my
brain and then bring things to add to it that
(08:39):
I would most optimally want and to lose. Does both
of those things excellently, and it's just really great company,
very talented person really great here for harmony, and so
in the way that I appreciate harmony, and so we're
just very aligned aesthetically and the things that I do,
(08:59):
which which is like all the scary decisions, all the
kind of bigger moonshots in this direction and that direction,
all the influence. Yeah, sometimes just like those big ip moments,
I'm really good at those things. He's just the absolute
(09:20):
master of like finessing that and so and and understanding
and translating and good feel and so like. Sometimes apparently
MJ used to write like this. He would sing people's
lines to them. So it's a bass player, this is
(09:40):
your line. It's a guitar solo. This is the or
the guitar hook, this is the line. These are their
vocal arrangements, these are the stacks. That's the stuff I'm
really good at. I'm a number of times I sing
a bass line to a bass player is a lot.
So yeah, soon as you hear lots of very singable,
funky base lines, and that's because I'm singing them all right.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Wait, so you know it's amazing kind of taps into
the punk who for you is like the greatest punk
bass player.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Oh my gosh, I gosh. So like I do have
a bass player that I track. He's more of a
soul based player. But obviously between me, it's like Brucy Collins,
James Jamison, they're like my favorite bass players.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Okay, so tell me about Wait, we'll rap on White Hunger.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
But first, what's coming next is amazing, the beginning of new.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Material amazing is so I don't know where amazing it's
going to live. At the moment, it's a single exists,
I am writing an album. I am close to finishing
the writing and heading into production of the next album.
So yeah, it's happening. It's another four into solo and
(11:06):
rock music, but in a difference, like every album has
had an element of solo and rock music but in
a different guys, right, and so this time it's solo
and rock again and a different guys. And so I'm
really insanely excited about it. I think this is my
magnus opus. I feel like I've done it.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Interesting because as an artist, I always say, right, you
can't have a magnum opus. And the reason I say
that because all artists are perfections, and as an artist,
you have to have something to shoot for. So as
I always use the analogy, Right, if everybody else in
the history of the world might think A Love Supreen
was the perfect record, but for Coltrane, if you believed
(11:52):
it was a perfect record, then where do you go
from there? If you've achieved perfections? So for you, what's like,
You know, what I always talk about with artists is right,
you have these moments that you're very proud of and
they become building blocks. So for you on your magnum Opus,
what are the things you're most excited about that you
can you know that you see yourself getting to where
(12:15):
you want to be.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Well, it's so much of it is about the skills
I'm able to use because I came from a production background,
being part production teams for about fifteen years, and like
I've been creating teams in more recent years to be
(12:38):
able to use those skills again in spaces that would
like me ostensibly to use those skills and those that
is one thing that feels like self actualization. And for me,
the idea of magnum Opus is a reaching of a
(13:02):
level that I would ostensibly like to maintain instead of
like a finishing point. And then what I just I'm like, no,
this is the era of the magnum Opus. This is
more than a moment of it even and I feel
like when you create a work that feels like you're
(13:22):
using all of your skills to the best of their ability,
more than you have in any other thing that you've
done in your career, even as a behind the scenes
person working on pop in the UK, and everything you've
done since being able to use all those skills and
being able to very visibly see that you've you're achieving
(13:47):
way more than you ever been able to the My
motivation and my where I go from there is to
maintain that level, and that main maintaining of level is
just to maintain to be that inspired and to be
able to use my skills to that same level continually.
And that has been the journey that I've been pursuing,
(14:08):
is the ability to actually just functionally do my job.
I got paid for loads of different things, for vocals, specifically,
for writing, specifically, for arranging specifically loads of different things
within and for co producing so many, so many roles
(14:30):
that I've played before I was an artist, and many
of them charted in the top ten both here in
the States. And that's how I was able to afford
to come over to America, because, mark my words, trust
fund kids are the ones that can afford to come
over to the States from the UK nowadays, and I
am not that. And a lot of people in business
(14:51):
in the UK were like, how did you do that? Like,
we know what it costs, so how did you do it?
I'm like, I became my own rich Daddy as what
I did. And so it's like the feeling of self
actualization is so much down to feeling like I'm actually
(15:12):
doing my job to my fullest, and that is manifesting
in something that feels like somewhere I've never been able
to get before because it's always been someone else's project,
so I'm limited by what they can vocally do or
by the brief and then when it's mine, I've been
(15:34):
in a situation that's very its own machine and I
just have to feed in my little bit and so yeah,
and then after that, I realized I haven't worked with
anyone in the US because I was exclusive. So then
I had to use the EP as a way of
just building team. So it was like, let's just make
(15:55):
a really enjoyable, fun party EP I can do at
the end of my life set that's very enjoyable and fun,
and I can use the process of making that to
build my team and then I can get back into
my main journey of Yola's for a into soul and
rock music and how they come together in the different
(16:17):
ways that they do. And so yeah, like it's it's
been a long journey to get to this point of
just being able to do what I actually do for myself.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, so February, I know, Yeah, nice record, magnum Opus.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, probably not no, because it's an era of It's
the era of magnum Opus, you know, magnum Opus part
one of fifteen. But like now I know, now I
am doing the things that I want to do, and
I've got the people that want to do it and
they just want to keep working with me forever because we.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Have the best time.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
I don't. I don't. There's no reason why I need
to take a step back into not magnom Opus hera.
And so that's the really exciting part is that I'm
self actualizing and I don't see why I would not
be self actualized, self actualizing after this. So yeah, that's
you can't get more happy in music than that. That is,
(17:32):
that is joy. I'm really lucky.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well that's yeah. I mean it's funny because I know
so many up incoming artists. N you know, people talk
about it all the time, and it's like, you know,
finding the right team.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
It's like a fucking marriage.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Yes it is. And it's really and for that reason,
like when you're dating, if we're to use the same analogy.
When you're dating. You can have lots of people you're like, oh, well,
you know, they might not be the one, but they'll
be useful, or like, you know somebody who you're like,
(18:04):
I never intended to date this person rightly longer, and
some people who are like you're like, oh, do you
know what, I'm just gonna have to be single for
a bit, And so there's all sorts of stages. It
really does like mirror relationships in the way like you
sometimes you just know that they're not it, but they'll
do for now, and then people that you know that
(18:26):
this is like long term. And so I feel lucky
to have found my people in that regard, because that's
really hard and people some people they get everything they
want out of the music industry, but apart from the
people like they get all the things that you're supposed
to want. And when you don't get the people, guess what,
(18:47):
you also don't get the happiness. You don't get as
the same sense of joy. It gets slapped out of
your hand by being Wow, everything that I've achieved is
at the hands of the worst people on it, and
that and when you see people who have made a
lot of money and very successful go through really big
challenges emotionally, and you think, what can make them so unhappy?
(19:13):
That's what. That's exactly what. And you know, I call
it the Ivory Tower of misery. You know, you think
you want it, and then you're in there and you're like,
oh no, I'm trapped and it's horrible. It's beautiful and
horrible at the same time. And so my mission in
life and music has been to never get trapped in
the Ivy Tower of misery and for my journey to
(19:33):
find itself, regardless of how long that takes, to a
place of joy through self actualization instead of self actualization
by any means necessary.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
The funny enough, that works into a great segue for
why Hunger because I remember talking with Ozzie Osbourne, who
was a friend and I knew for many years, Like
you know, for him, he talked about giving that and
how it was so important because he said the music
industry has been so good to him.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
He's like, it's fucking fun to be Ozzy Osbourne. I
have to give back.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
So when you find that happiness, do you feel like
it becomes more important to you know, give back?
Speaker 1 (20:14):
And why Hunger than literally why hunger?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Yeah exactly, I really do. As your Osborne's bang on,
when you find your spot and you're like, this has
given me so much joy and I'm able to do
it and live and be appreciated. And another thing that
I know is insanely rare when you have so much
(20:39):
utmost respect for your fandom in particular, Like my fandom
are the dopest people, and everybody tells me. I'm like,
I know, but sometimes people are like, that's surprised. They're like, wow,
what is it about Yola fans? They're nice, They're like
way nice with the other people's fans. I'm like, yeah,
(21:01):
I know, I know. I literally get the best people
on earth, and so like I know, how like just
lucky and joyful that is, and also how planned that was.
Like I saw a lot of people's mistakes, and I
love to learn from other people's mistakes. I don't want
to make them. I want to watch other people make
them go cool. I don't want that. I don't want
(21:23):
that either, And so being in this place where like
I've managed to do that feels like I want to
spread that joy. I want people to feel because I
didn't come from anything like I was homeless and I
was hungry at times, and so I feel like I
really want to spread that sense of joy and this
(21:45):
sense of the community that I'm building wider. I want
it to grow, and I'm growing in as many different
directions as possible, and so naturally, like my passions start
coming to the fore why hunger is one of those,
definitely because I have a coming from the UK, I
(22:06):
have a very different perspective over food law, for example,
because there's lots of things in this country that are
illegal where I come from, just that food that's readily available.
And so when I came here, there are some things
that I would eat that would bring me out in hives.
And I was like, is this what you do to
(22:30):
people who don't have money? You just this is what
you have access to, or is this what regular people eat?
Because I literally can't eat this stuff without coming out
in hives. So I started then having to try and
find really great food and I noticed, unlike where I
come from, really great food is insanely expensive. And don't
(22:53):
get me wrong, it's clear why, like if healthcare is
a business, but it doesn't make sense food to music Richie.
But in the UK we have natural health service. So
you better believe if the government's gonna have to pay
for your healthcare, they're going to make sure that basic
food that is clean is available because they don't want
to have to freaking play out on the other end.
(23:15):
And so I noticed that we were stuck between a
rock and a hard place here where if you really
want to stay healthy, or you want to just be
able to eat food that's nutritious and good in any way,
you've got to be privileged in some way. And I
find that really deeply heartbreaking because I didn't come from that.
I may have managed to ascend to a level of privilege,
(23:37):
but I certainly didn't ascend from a level of already
tangible privilege. I came from disadvantage of anything, and so
that was really really important, just the context of where
I came from to be like one of the first
steps I made in giving back. There's probably three main
(23:59):
areas I love giving back through music or through speaking,
and that is always going to be with food and
food quality. Because I'm brit and when I left the UK,
it was in Europe anyway, and so European food law
is something that is very, very very strict and you
(24:20):
feel the difference when you come over here. And then
obviously things like teaching, lecturing. I've got a lecturing background.
I used to lecture vocal pedagogy. And then anything to
do with homelessness as well, because I was homeless. And
so yeah, all of these things kind of like come
together with my hunger, this idea of being able to
(24:43):
impact people who might experience any one of those three
things and as a result, not be able to eat
food that is optimal, you know. And for me, like
it goes right down to the very core of things
like seed variety and the things that are a very
of all the things that people are being encouraged to
grow versus not grow. And two availability. So yeah, like
(25:08):
we found ourselves insanely aligned, me and my hunger on
some very deep conversations over drinks.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
I wait, so it's a favorite drink.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
Yeah, oh, my favorite drink. Oh my goodness. Okay, it
really does depend on what. Like, if I'm on holiday,
peanut lada all day every day, I'm a Pena clada girl,
frozen peanuculada, regular peanu clada and peanuts alta girl. I'm
on holiday. If I am trying to get lit. Then
it's mescal, tequila, all of that kind of business. If
(25:43):
I'm just having one and I'm going to be really chill,
gin and tonic. Yeah, and I'm frankly a lot like
the whiskeys will have one of that in my low
drinking era. Sherry, I'm a big cherry girl. Yeah again,
but that's more than that. I'm just more gastronomic if
(26:04):
I'm pairing of a sherry girl if yeah, things like that,
and a wine girl if I'm pairing yeah, specifically red wine.
Becca Valley in Lebanon, that's my favorite kind of region
for red wine. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Nice. Well, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
The name of the podcast is in Service Up, and
I talk about this is so many artists And what's
interesting is realizing how many artists built the service calling
long before they were successful.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And it's funny for you growing up? Is it something?
Look going? Really?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
For a second, I talk with arts about the fact
that like songwriting is like channeling. You know, they'll have
their antent out it comes in and it's kind of
like you get these messages. But when I started talking
with artists deeper about it, you realize that they were
always open in the messages when they were younger. So
the message like, it's almost like, you know, to be
able to receive the messages, you feel the need to
(27:04):
give back in service.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Yes, it's like you're inside my brain. You've talked to
so many artists, obviously, we really do feel that you
literally described my entire life existence. I'm very very open.
From a very young age, always was very aware that
I was open as well. From a young age, I
(27:27):
was like, Ooh, I feel like I'm like receiving from
the universe more than people look like they ordinarily do.
So I must be one of those art people that
does that. And so I always felt like I was receiving.
I always felt as though the messages that I was
getting were really dope, and that I was somehow favored
(27:48):
or just very being kindly bestowed by the ancestors, by
the universe. By my ability to receive, just read into
the universe around me. I was really really lucky to
be able to deduce some really dope things from that,
(28:08):
and I felt that that was a real privilege and
a real source of joy that not everyone gets, especially
as a writer. Anyone that gets to do writing and
then be in the production of that writing will tell
you they have some of the most fun when they're
creating the idea that was in their head. You can't
(28:29):
get more fun than something being bored in your brain,
you singing it into a recording device and then figuring
out what the heck that is and building it into
this big universe. Like it's pure unadulterated joy, so you
naturally feel like I feel like it comes from for
me anyway, it comes from a point of sharing. I'm like,
(28:49):
I don't want to always just be like joyful on
my own. That's why I like to collaborate as as well,
because I love to be in a joyful situation sharing
that and so so that's kind of like the source
of why I like to give back is because I
like to share and I want I want more than
me to come up at the hand of something. I
(29:12):
don't want to shut people out just when I get
to my good time. I want to open the door
as I get to my good time, and especially for
people that would be considered underdog or we are struggling,
like because I was struggling, and so I have sympathy
and empathy for that, and it's really super important to
(29:36):
make sure that more people that would have come from
a background like mine get a chance to do something.
And I'd love to say this it's all altruistic and
that I'm just such a good person. But also music
is dope when it comes from people that aren't trust
fund kids as like it's dope. Trust fun kids can
(29:59):
also great music. But we need the full pantheon, not
just rich kids. And like, I don't mean to be
the brit in the room, but I am. And you'll
know full well. The Faces, the Stones, the Beatles, small Faces,
(30:19):
Kinks like everyone came from working class, and so as
our Elton John, like our legends, Freddie Mercury, our legends
came from the working class. The reason why we're on
the map is because of just the narrative that came
(30:41):
from our gretes, and it came from grassroots. It was
supported by a really, really, really healthy welfare system, and
they were able to thrive and give the world iconic
things like if you saw Live Aid and you didn't
think that was iconic, you're blind, You don't you went
(31:02):
watching what I'm wanting. Freddie was a god and goldly
in that moment, And those things come from like a
real great sense of knowing what it's like to be
human and to live the way that a lot of
us live. And that's one thing that like, if you
come from extreme privilege, you might not know what that
(31:25):
feels like. And that's what rounds out the experience. Do
you do get the privilege of not having any bills
dressed and therefore being able to become excellent at something?
Because the amount of the cpu that not having to
worry about money takes up that gets free because you
don't have to worry about money is mind blowing. But
(31:48):
there we need the full pantheon. We need the people
that are freed up to kind of stretch in technical
ways because they have money, and we need the people
that really dig to the root of something and get
get in the something so we get to feel as well,
we need everybody. And so when I give with a
hope that I can make a world that is more
(32:10):
equitable so that we get up of many different kinds
from people who are less advantaged. And so that's my dream.
They don't have to be artists, but they definitely I
really do love the idea of making sure that the
world has input from people of the working class more
(32:32):
often in life, and that's something that I'm really passionate about.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Well, I was going to ask for, but that's such
a great wrap up.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Note.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
I think we will we kind of.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Is there anything you want to add that you didn't
I talk about, But I think there's a perfect wrap up.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Note.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
I suppose the only thing we didn't talk about was
like the idea of like just reclaiming traditional food ways
and varieties and things like that, just because that's one
thing that I feel like me and white hunger have
a real parallel on. Obviously, we're getting into a world where,
(33:16):
like sea varieties are starting to become less varied, and
so one of my main as much as I love
to make sure that in music we have the full pantheon,
in industry and in life, we have the full pantheon
of human contribution, and that people are nourished to be
(33:36):
able to do so, to make sure that that nourishment
in itself is varied and not highly colonized is also
a massive action.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
And so.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
We find our ways first is by talking about white hunger,
making sure people give to white hunger, and our missions
making sure that they are broadly spanning enough that it's
not just that we're going into supposing going hey, here's
some food, but we're making sure that food is quality,
making sure that we are working towards food resilience in future,
(34:16):
and so like that's like a lot of my mission
is to make sure that we have more varied and
more nutritious seed varieties and therefore food available, because that's
one thing that I think is easily in crisis at
the moment is seed variety. People really trying to make
(34:39):
sure that they have ownership over food and ownership over
seed variety and consequently ownership with what you're able to
grow and how nourish you're able to be. And if
someone has the ability to control that, then they've got
ultimate control. If you can grow your own food and
(35:00):
it's nutritious and you have you can get your own energy,
and there are ways that means to do that, you
are profound privilege. But a lot of people don't have
access to all of that. And so I'm like, if
I can do anything in my power to make sure
that we have access and we create access to better
(35:23):
see varieties, that's one of my passions that we're working towards.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
Very cool.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah, Unfortunately, I mean, as you talk about it, I mean,
the problem is is that you know, everybody go on
chldowship of everything at this point.
Speaker 4 (35:50):
There isn't anything that we don't want, anything that they
don't want, any love at this point, and so you've
just got to do what you can to make sure
that there is. This is the great thing about airloom
seed varieties is that they're not things that are ownable,
and as a result of that, that's why people try
(36:11):
and make sure that airloom seed varieties are available. Because
you can't own the original version, but you can own
the patent to the altered version, and so that's why
it's really important to make sure that people have access
to if not, if not for any other reason than
cultural heritage and the ability to make the food you've
(36:33):
always made and food history to note that maybe this
version is a hybrid and you never used to eat,
and the maintaining of those things is really really important
for cultural reasons as well as the ability to kind
of autonomously feed yourself in a way that you know, oh,
(36:56):
this variety is going to give me the nutrients, or
at least it's many of the nutrients as are available
in that soil to get and hopefully don't strip it
too much, you know, And so I think a lot
of I'm really passionate about this. And if you've been
to Italy and eat and ever, you'll know that, like
really great seed varieties aren't tasty as heck, they're so yummy,
(37:22):
like when you go just just go to Italy. If
you are lucky enough to be able to get a
flight to Europe, go to Italy and eat one tomato. Okay,
just one, and tell me that you don't have a
massive come to Jesus moment. Just tell me that your
mind doesn't explode within the skull because you're like, I
(37:44):
didn't know that food could taste like this. That's the
feeling I want for lots of people to eat something
the same thing as you can go to c Sain
Countries and eat a mango and you have no idea
that a mango could taste that way, or ginger when
you have those different varieties of ginger, Like I'm don't
gonna run out for a second.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Do you want to log back on or do you
want to Oh no, we.
Speaker 4 (38:04):
We can, we can shut out from here. Thank you
so much for being so helpful. Like so joyful of
asking such lush.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Questions, raving in you as well. Thanks so much,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.