Royal & the Serpent: 4 Keys To Success, Overwhelmed, Demi Lovato, Resilience, and "You Are Enough"

Episode Transcript
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Austin Seltzer (00:01):
Welcome to the Grounds for Success podcast.
I'm your host, austin Siltzer.
Together we'll unveil the keysto success in the music industry
.
Join me as I explore my guest'slife stories and experiences to
uncover practical insights tohelp you align with your goals
more effectively.
Hey, coffee drinkers, welcometo the Grounds for Success

(00:31):
podcast.
This week I have Royle and theSerpent.
During this episode you willprobably hear me say Ryan or
Royle I kind of use theminterchangeably.
She's a friend of mine andwhatever rolls out of my mouth
rolls out of my mouth.
Royle is an incredible artist,incredible person.

(00:52):
I run into her all the time andshe is dating a good buddy of
mine, beapus, from Beauty SchoolDropout.
So our conversation is reallyorganic and we talk about much
deeper things than I probablycould with somebody who I don't
know well.
So this podcast is very special.
On today's episode we are goingto talk about how overwhelmed

(01:14):
came to be kind of the storybehind it and how it took over
two years to become what it was.
It was written and it took twoyears to come out.
We will also talk about thefull story behind how her and
Beapus met and how she becameintertwined with the Beauty
School Dropout guys and how theybecame her band on tour in the

(01:36):
early days.
We'll talk about how she grewup in musical theater,
surrounded by people who wereincredibly talented, and how she
felt like she could neveramount to the same thing as them
, or she continued to compareherself to them, no matter what,
and kind of how that shaped howshe still is and things that
she's fighting through, justlike I'm sure some of you

(01:58):
watching or listening to thisare, and we'll really dive into
how she's battling that.
I think you'll get a lot out ofthat.
She grew up with two parentswho loved each other incredibly
deeply and showed her exactlywhat love looks like, and so it
has created this impression onher of what her relationship

(02:18):
should be like and how she'sgone through a couple
relationships that she thoughtwere that, and now how she's
finally found one that she trulyfeels grounded in.
We'll also talk about how,whenever she was younger, she
had this idea that she wanted tobe a larger-than-life figure
adored by fans all over theworld, and I believe that kind

(02:42):
of manifested who she's becomingand who she really already is,
but also how that's no longerher goal.
It's just a byproduct of whatshe wants.
We'll talk about the power ofmanifestation, which kind of
goes with that last point, andwe'll also talk about how Demi
Lovato came into the picture,how Royal began writing for her

(03:04):
and then ultimately became anartist on a song with her and
now great friends.
I think that's a really, reallycool story on how she started
this career and then how shelanded that.
Alright, let's get caffeinated.
Yeah, cheers yeah.
So I gotta have a first sipbefore.

Royal & the Serpent (03:27):
Yeah, have a sip, it's the best coffee.

I also don't know why I was doing that.
On that side, let's make it asdifficult as humanly possible to
sip this.
So for everybody watching andlistening, royal asked me to
make a oak milk latte and it'swhipped and mixed with.

(03:54):
It's weird.
So I have this little thingthat will whip the milk and the
coffee, so I do it together andthat's why it makes it super
foamy.
But there's something reallynice about that.

It's good.
I literally took the first sipand said this is the best oak
milk latte I've ever had.
But I saw you making it and Iwas wondering what that little
whirlpool of fun was.

Yeah, it's a whirlpool of happiness and
happiness.

I'm so glad this is my first coffee of the
day.

Same, and, as always, I just do black pour
over.
I love that too, I'm just sogrossing.

No, I get it.
I love that too, but it was anoak milk latte day.

I love that.
Wait what determines that?

Usually just if oak milk latte isn't an
option, then black coffee istotally suffices, because I'm
also stoked about it.
Or if I'm waking up at a hoteland have to run to the van and
there's a coffee machine, I'drather have a black coffee
without milk in it than with, ifthat makes sense I'd rather

(05:05):
take a black coffee or a latte,not a coffee with milk in it.

Yeah, I totally get that.
Also probably pour a coffeethat's quick, running out the
door of a hotel.
I always just call itfunctional coffee because the
taste is not what you'redrinking.
That for.

No, I kind of love it, though I know it's
gross.
I love 7-Eleven gas stationFolgers meeting coffee.
I like nice coffee too, butsometimes I find that it's too
strong and has too much of aflavor.
I don't know if that just datesback to maybe my childhood and

(05:44):
growing up on Folgers, but I'drather drink a huge thing of
watered down shitty coffee thana really nice.
You hate this.

No, I actually have an analogy in my head that.

I get it.

It's the nostalgia, but also, just like
you, like drinking coffee, soyou want to be able to drink a
lot more of it, and it remindsme of back in Dallas, where
that's where I'm from, and still, of course, weed is illegal
there, but you would get likethe really shitty weed.

(06:19):
Yes.
Right, and you could smoke afuck ton of it and still be
functional.

I feel the same way about weed.
I feel the absolute same wayabout weed.
The weed is too strong out here, don't you agree?

Yeah, it's too strong.

I take like one hit and I get weird.

Yeah.

Yeah, I become a weirdo.

I mean, I get it .
I actually totally get it.

I shot a bunch of music videos this past
weekend in Reno and at the endof everything we were all
hanging out and I took like afew hits of a joint and my head
went just so strange on me.
I was like, oh my God, do Ilike anything?
Is everything okay?
Am I not successful?
Am I ugly?
Am I this?

(07:05):
It just was like churning.
I also had a lot of laughs andit was really fun.
But like behind it all therewas just this like running
dialogue of like total, anxiousinsecurity.
It's so interesting.

Absolutely, yeah , totally.
I become paranoid about themost random things, but those
don't actually seem random.
Those kind of sound like haveyou done psychedelics?
Yeah yeah, they sound like theego that you destroy and like a
decent trip, you know likesomething that's pretty deep.
Yeah.
The ones that come up and youswing at them with a baseball

(07:47):
bat and they hopefully go away.
But yeah, it's interestingbecause THC is also a.
It's got psychedelic properties, so you do have some of those
same worries and ego things popup.
Yeah, totally.
I think we talk about a lot ofthose.
Yeah yeah, it's really exciting.

I know I'm happy to be here.

Thank you for having me.
Of course, no weed needed.

No weed needed?
No, definitely not.
I've actually like been largelypretty sober, like I definitely
like have the occasional drinkor have the occasional smoke,
but I've as I've I don't know ifit's I've just gotten older and
I've gotten to know myselfbetter or I've just started
paying better attention to whathappens and how I react when I

(08:31):
drink or smoke or whatever, butI've noticed that bad things
happen, whether it's just in mybrain or even in reality, when I
drink or smoke, more than theyever do when I don't.
And I'm like at this placewhere I feel I don't have time
for those moments I am.

(08:53):
I got pretty intoxicated a fewnights ago and I had this like
panic attack that the world wasending and that I wasn't
spending enough time with thepeople that I loved.
And I started like totallyfreaking out, like thinking that
if I can't be with the peoplethat I love the most right now

(09:14):
and the world ends tomorrow,what will I do?
And it kind of sat with me overthe whole weekend and I even
like the first few days of thisweek I was struggling to sort of
like come out of that headspaceand that stuff just doesn't
happen.
When I'm not drinking, smoking.
I'm not calling my boyfriendcrying, saying the world's

(09:36):
ending, so I try to just stayaway from it as much as I can.
I mean every so often it'sdefinitely fun.
I was watching this thing theother day that was explaining
sort of like the dopamine peaks.
For like each drug of choice,let's say, and alcohol, one

(09:59):
drink, your dopamine levelsspike to 2X, but peak at 15
minutes.
So after 15 minutes they diplower than they were before,
which is why you're like alwayschasing that next drink and that
next dopamine hit.
And it makes a lot of sense.
I always.
I find that after I've drankthe next morning I usually wake

(10:22):
up not physically hungover, butmy mom likes to call it a soul
hangover, because I always feelembarrassed or guilty or like
I've done something wrong whenprobably I was just having a
good time.
But I think you're like,chemically in your body and your
brain you're lacking all thatdopamine that you ate up the

(10:44):
night before you know.

That's exactly what it is.
I'm really into stuff like that.
And.
I think that one of theanalogies is a pendulum, where
whenever you swing you know ifit's from zero to 10, you swing
like a six in one direction.
There's always going to be aswing in the back direction.

Yeah, totally, and it's like, is it
worth it, you know, and I findthere are definitely other
substances that I used more whenI was younger that I would
never go near again.
And then I think, swing thatpendulum 10x further because I
could never handle it beingswung in the other direction
anymore.
If that makes sense, it's justnot worth it.

(11:26):
You know, to feel that low forme at least personally, where
I'm at in my life, I feel like Idon't have the time to not be
on my best as often as Ipossibly can be, you know.

Yeah, I mean, you are one busy motherfucker.
You were just like right beforethis, telling me what the next
couple of weeks and months looklike, and I'm like okay.
I mean, I feel like I got a lotgoing on, but I get to sit in
one room and do all of it, youknow mixing.
You're gonna be in states,countries all over, not just

(12:01):
touring but seeing beepersoverseas in Madison Square
Garden to see them, and thentonight.
Is it the show tonight?

Yeah, they've showed them around
Toronto.
I fly out tonight to go visitthem and then fly back and I fly
straight into rehearsals.
Because I have some festivalsand stuff too in the mix of it
all and a riding trip toNashville and a bunch of stuff
in New York and I love it somuch.
I love being busy.
But I also think that I keepmyself busy because and I stack

(12:36):
my schedule just unbelievablybecause when I'm not busy or
when I don't feel busy, I feelpurposeless and I have a really
hard time just sitting.
Still, like this week I didn'thave a super stacked week and
Monday I got home from shootingfour music videos and right now
I was like 12 hour days allweekend.
I got home Monday and I didn'tdo much and I had like a total

(13:03):
mental meltdown.
I thought like I'm not doinganything.
None of this is gonna work, I'mnot successful.
You know all the things thatrace through your head just
because I had like a day offwhich I wasn't even off.
I was still like working fromhome.
But I have a tendency to keepbusy because it keeps me feeling
like I'm pushing forwardtowards something you know, I

(13:27):
think I mean I resonate withthat so deeply I'm sure so many
creatives do.

It just feels like every moment that passes us
that we're not just constantlystruggling to move forward that
we're moving backwards, but youknow if there can be a little
person in our ear that justwhispered hey, you just shot
four music videos yesterday.

Yeah, totally.

Today you should chill for a second Literally no
, totally.

I find that it happens quite often actually
, when I go visit the boys, likewhen they're on tour, because I
like become a part of theirecosystem for the few days that
I'm there and, even though I'mworking remotely on as much
stuff as I can, like I'm now intheir ecosystem and in their
workflow and watching all thatthey're doing and I start to
think like, oh my God, like I'mnot doing anything and I'm not

(14:22):
home with my people doing allthe shit that I need to get done
when really like I'm there tovisit my boyfriend, you know, at
the end of the day, and likespend a little time with my
boyfriend because we're both sobusy and we're gone all the time
and it shouldn't be about meworking when I'm out there.
But that is like one instancethat I notice.
It happens all the time in myhead and my team will be like

(14:44):
Ryan, like you're fine, it'sSunday.
I think why are you trying towork right now?
I'm like texting people rapidly.
What are we doing?
It's so interesting.

And just to clarify for everybody watching
and listening the guys or beautyschool dropout and your
boyfriend is Brent or Beepus orB or whatever you know
interchangeably is said Beepus,he loves Beepus.

Yeah, he loves it.

I mean, I love it too, there's nobody.
I know other than him named.

Beepus.
When I met him, he wasn'tBeepus yet.

No, whenever I met him, he was Brent.

Yeah, yeah, he was like BB, I think, when I
first met him.
Well, when I first first methim, have you ever heard this
story?

I have, but I've heard two different stories on
how it progressed after that.

Okay.

So let's set the record straight.

Okay, let's set the record straight.
Let's flash back to like maybefour plus years ago now.
I was with my ex-boyfriend andwe went to this like rooftop
event that Winston House wasputting on and we went to the
bar to get a drink.
There's a boy there gives usour drinks.
We walk away and me and myboyfriend go both look at each

(15:59):
other and we go that dude wasreally attractive Like we both
clocked it.
It was Brent.
Maybe a month later I see himouted again at another Winston
House event.
He was bartending.
I got a drink, whatever.
Yada yada, went home thoughtwow, that guy was fucking hot.
Yeah.

(16:21):
Flash forward two plus years.
I'm now not with my ex.
I'm shooting music video.
I had met Cole recently, justin writing.
He ended up being in one of mysessions.

I figured you met him at Winston House.

I hadn't met Cole.
Wow, I know I met Cole doing asession.
I met him and Bardo.
At the same time we had asession that was just plugged
into my schedule with like pinkslip and Inverness.
We met.
Didn't think much of it.
Couple months go by.
I text Cole do you wanna be ina music video?
I need some extras.

(16:54):
Do you wanna give me a tattooon camera, sorry?
He says yes.
I said can you bring a friend?
I need more extras.
I knew they were friendsbecause I saw obviously on the
internet, so I knew what I wasasking for.
He brings Brent.
We totally hit it off.
We were talking.

(17:14):
I remember sitting on the couchand we're talking, we're
hanging, yada, yada, yada.
He goes yeah, my girlfriend.
And immediately I go hands off,not flirting, not doing
anything.
You have a girlfriend, cool,didn't know.
And then me and the guys, allthe guys, just started hanging
out all the time and we all justgot really close and I hired
them to be my band for some gigsand we all just became really

(17:37):
close friends.
And it wasn't until him and hisex-girlfriend broke up that we
both.
I remember being at a bar onenight and we got really drunk
and I looked at him and I waslike, would it be hilarious if
we kissed right now?
And he was like, let's totallydo that.
And we kissed and we still goback to that bar sometimes and

(17:57):
we'll like stand in the spotwhere we had our first kiss and.
I'm like I know we're so cheesyand we'll kiss and I mean the
rest is kind of history.
He has not left my house sincethat night.

Yeah, honestly, of all the people I have ever
met that are in a relationship,you guys seem like actually
perfect.

Thank you.

I mean truthfully, I don't somehow
you're like one person.
I don't even like see you guysas individuals anymore.

I will say it's not easy and it took a lot
of time for me to learn that ittakes work.
You know they say this.
You know it's common to hearrelationships take hard work.
I just didn't know the kind ofhard work that it would take to
continue to have a flourishingrelationship, and it has not

(18:48):
been easy.
But I'm so, so grateful that wehave, like stuck through all of
the hard moments and really gotinto a place where we
understand each other and we cancommunicate effectively.
I think it takes a lot to learnanother person that well, and I

(19:08):
don't know, it's the mostbeautiful thing, I think, when
you get sort of like on theother side of the hard stuff,
because I feel now that ourrelationship is stronger than
even it ever has been.
And I think there was a momentwhere I was so scared that like,
oh, the honeymoon phase isgonna end and we're not gonna be

(19:30):
into each other anymore, causeI think that's sort of the story
that happens with a lot ofpeople.
I don't know if you relate tothis at all in your relationship
, but Absolutely.
Then when you get through sortof the tough stuff together,
it's like a deeper level of loveand understanding that's almost
more beautiful than thehoneymoon stuff.
You're like seeing each otherfor more than just what's on the

(19:54):
outside and like I don't know.
It's really special.

That's beautiful .
I think that me and Cass are.
She is a great communicator andI am still working on it.

Yeah, that's usually how it goes.

Yeah, I mean she's very in tune with, like,
her emotional intelligence isreally great, not so much over
here.
I definitely know I have towork on it and I'm continuously
working on it.
The thing that I'm finding themost difficult is what we were

(20:28):
talking about earlier is notfiltering what I have to say,
because I don't wanna hurtsomebody's feelings or this or
that.
So I just like pocket what I'mactually feeling and I just roll
with whatever.
And then it like builds upanimosity or something in your
pocket and as soon as that comesout, you're like oh fuck.

(20:48):
And you just explode, and notlike I'd never exploded in anger
, I explode in stress and likeyou guys are so similar yeah.
I feel like.
I'm working like walking withconcrete and it's all the things
that if I just would have said,like how I was actually feeling

(21:08):
or what.
I was thinking or what I wanted.
I would have avoided all ofthat.
So, it's a learning curve forsure.

Totally.
But that's also like I thinklarge-to-ear relationships are
about right.
It's like you teach each otherhow to be better humans and then
like, eventually you continuelearning and you're better
humans to the rest of the worldtoo.
I think this partnership isbeautiful in that way.

My buddy Sai, who I think you may have met at
trying to think the Grammy partyone of my buddies, he put me
onto this book.
Not Nice.
And that's legitimately what itis.
It's like you don't need tomake everybody in the room feel
like you're.
It's so good I gotta put moredown.
Oh my gosh, you don't need tomake everybody in the room feel

(21:59):
like you are the nicest humanever.
Most people.
I think that you gravitatetowards people anyways just by
who they are Like.
Brent is actually justgenuinely one of the nicest
dudes.
He's so kind, and I think kindis the right word.

Nice is I was just gonna say, kind and
nice are two totally differentthings.
They are.

We don't need to be nice.
We don't have to just like sitthere and agree with everything
that somebody says.
It's okay to have an opinion,you can be kind, and I think he
is genuinely very kind.

Yeah, I think kindness and consideration
are so different than beingnice.
Nice is a facade, and nice issomething that you can play and
pretend to be, but I thinkkindness comes from your heart
and you can be kind while stilltelling somebody something that
maybe they don't wanna hear.
You can also not be kind, whichis not preferable, and plenty

(22:56):
of people do that, but I thinkthere's also a way to tell
people things, even if you'reafraid to.
So long as you are loving andkind about it, I think in the
end it's for the greater good ofall.
Sometimes people need to hearthe truth too, for sure, yeah,

(23:16):
yeah.

So I think that that leads us.
I wanna go back.
We're gonna like turn back theclocks.
We're gonna go to Little Ryanand I wanna hear some about like
your early family life and howyou were raised or the things
that were in your life that kindof shaped who you were in your

(23:43):
teens and who you are today, andprobably just some of like the
fabric of who you are thatyou'll always be, and for the
good and for the bad.
I'd love to hear about some ofthat.

Okay, so I would love.
I'm like thinking of this onething, and I think that this is
like a common thing that maybehappens with people, but I
remember being so young and Iwas so showered with love from
my parents and I was so showeredwith you're so talented, you're

(24:20):
so amazing, you're so this,you're so that and I've heard
people talk about this before,mostly with beauty, actually
where, like, they'll be someonethat talks about, oh, the only
thing I heard from my parentswas you're so pretty or you're
so beautiful.
And then I grew up and I feltlike I had nothing else going
for me and I wasn't smart.
And I wasn't this because all Iheard was you're so beautiful

(24:42):
and I think that I'm so gratefulthat I have such supportive
parents and they've always beenso amazing to me.
But for some reason I alwaysremember being a young kid.
I'm hearing my parents say thatI was talented and thinking they
have to say that, like they'remy parents, I'm not actually

(25:04):
talented.
They have to tell me that whatare they gonna say you suck.
When in hindsight, I'm so luckythat I had parents that were so
supportive, but I always I justnever believed them and I think
that that has carriedthroughout my entire life, that

(25:25):
it is so hard for me to believethat anybody likes anything that
I do, that I affect anybody ina positive way, that even my
fans like the music that I make.
I think, oh well, they're myfans, so they have to like it,
because they'll like anythingthat I do and they'll like
anything that I put out becausethey're my fans and they put me

(25:46):
on this pedestal and what I'mmaking isn't actually good and
it isn't actually worthy of X, yand Z.
And I know that's kind of notexactly the answer to the
question that you asked, but itwas just something that I
thought of when you asked aboutLittle Ryan, because I think
that's absolutely a fabric ofwho you are.
So thanks for sharing that.

(26:07):
Yeah, of course, and I mean, Idon't know, it's such an
interesting feeling and I thinkit also just really comes from a
deep sense of insecurity that Istill I mean, I push through it

(26:28):
every day, but it's still there, you know, and it doesn't stop
me from doing what I do and Idefinitely have moments where
I'm on top of the world and Ifeel like such a badass and I
really love what I'm doing, butit definitely like fluctuates.
But yeah, I mean, I've beendoing kind of this stuff forever

(26:51):
.
I grew up as a dancer and I wasin musical theater and I got my
first guitar when I was 14 andI just remember being I was
always so surrounded I went to aperforming arts high school.

Oh, that's cool.

And I remember being in this also now
that I'm thinking about it likemirrors itself in today.
But I was always so surroundedby so many people that were so
talented that I thought were sotalented and had such amazing
voices and could playinstruments so amazing and were
such great actresses and actors,and I always just felt like I

(27:27):
wasn't good enough to be a partof the community of people
around me.
And I think that, while it'samazing to be surrounded by so
many talented people, I evennotice that today I do the same
thing.
I compare myself to everybodyaround me, all of our friends
that are all doing the samething, that are chasing the

(27:48):
common goal, and I comparemyself and I think I'm either
not as good as them or I'mbetter than them, or I mean it's
all this ego bullshit that Imean.
It's not running in my mind allthe time, but it's definitely
something that I constantly haveto work through because, at the

(28:09):
end of the day, we're makingart which is not supposed to be
comparable to anybody else's art.
It's like personal to us andit's so wacky that we even like
sell it.
That's a whole other tangentthat I've been thinking about

(28:30):
lately.
It is super fun.
I would love to get into actingmore.
I think that's why I love musicvideos so much.
They're my favorite part ofwhat I do, hands down.
I could shoot a music videoevery day for the rest of my
life and never get back on stageagain and be totally satisfied
and fulfilled.
Not that I'm asking for thatuniverse, but I love it.

(28:54):
I love getting to a moat oncamera.
It's just something like soadrenaline rushy, like you're
saying about it.
That's really rewarding.

So were your parents into music.

Yeah, my pop-up was a musician, so I grew
up first with just my mom andmy pop-up, before my mom met my
dad my current dad and my pop-upwas an incredible musician.
I mean he played everything andhe played drums and vibes in
all of these really big bandslike big bands, not like big

(29:32):
success bands like big bandmusic.
And so we grew up living withhim for the first like six or
seven years of my life and hetaught me how to play piano and
violin like at a very young age,and he was definitely like a
very musical household.

(29:53):
A lot of my mom's, siblings andcousins all were very into
music as well and all played alot of instruments, and I think
that had a huge influence on mefor sure.

Yeah, absolutely that early on you're getting
introduced to not just likesmacking a piano but, like
learning to play it.
Heck, yeah, I mean, that'sprobably why you went to a
performance art performing artschool.
You were drawn to that.
It's beautiful.
I'm curious, though so yourparents were divorced then?

No, my mom had me in college and I don't
know anything about my bio dad.
I never met him.
I never really asked about him.
Growing up either, I think Ialways, intuitively, as a young
child, had this sense like Ididn't want to ask because I was

(30:50):
afraid of hurting my mom nothurting her and I'm sure she'll
hear this and think you couldhave asked me anything.
But I don't know.
I asked a few times.
I remember when I started goingto preschool and kindergarten,
realizing that because I didn'tknow any different.

(31:12):
So it wasn't until I was inpreschool and kindergarten that
I noticed that other people haddads and that's when I probably
started asking questions and itwas always just sort of very
simple answers Very, oh, he wassick and we don't.
You know he wasn't a good guyor, you know, don't worry about

(31:32):
him.
And so I just kind of stoppedasking.
But I also got to watch my mommeet my dad who's the only dad
I've ever known and fall in love.
So I was seven years old whenmy mom met my dad and I got to

(31:56):
watch them fall in the mostbeautiful, remarkable love,
which I think not many peopleget to see, that as a young
child.
So I think from a very young ageI believed in love and I think
most people have it sort of theopposite.
Most people see their parentsfall apart and get divorced, or
a lot of people do, yeah, youknow, and it shaped my

(32:19):
understanding of relationshipsfrom such a young age in a way
that I can't really thank themenough.
I think it saved me from beingin a lot of terrible
relationships probably, and Ithink a lot of people and I
don't know if you relate to this, but I know that I know a lot
of people that do that sort ofhave this idea and this fear

(32:40):
that all love falls apartbecause of what they experienced
in their childhood.
And I got the exact opposite.
I mean, I started out with alittle bit of a tougher
situation.
It was just me and my mom andit was definitely not easy and
she was very young, but in thelong run it was quite beautiful.

I'm so glad that you were able to see the staple
relationship and how it formed.

Yeah.

That's beautiful .

Yeah, I mean it's so interesting how we
become who we become and how somuch of it comes from how we're
raised and what we see at such ayoung age.
And I think the one thing ifthere is one downside to what I
experienced as far as love goesis that I had such a high

(33:32):
standard my whole life that Ibelieved love was supposed to be
fairytale love and I thoughtthat there was only one person
for everybody, because that'ssort of the way that my parents
looked to me at a young age.
So I thought what you saw inthe movies existed in real life
and that there was only one.
And so I think I convincedmyself that a lot of people

(33:56):
before the person I'm with nowwas the one, and I would just
tell myself over and over againthat it was that because there
could only be one.
But I'm past that now.

Yeah.

I mean, I think Brent is my one, but it's
like different.
It's like I just he's my lifepartner and I'm just so grateful
that I get to experience thislife with him.
It isn't this like I must, thismust work out, or else what
will happen?
It's like I really hope that wespend the rest of our lives

(34:31):
together, because that would befucking sick, yeah.

I love that.
Yeah, bravo, thanks.
So I guess the main question ofthis podcast and what we'll
dive into after this is, to youwhat does success mean?
Hmm.

I love this question.
I think, lately more than ever,success is more of an internal
feeling than an external result.
I think it comes in the form offulfillment.

(35:21):
I think it comes in the form ofjoy and of happiness and
moments like memorable momentsthat will last with you forever.
Success is such a tricky,especially as an artist.
I'm actually no for all people.
I'm sure Everyone's chasingsomething.

(35:42):
It's such a tricky little bitch.

Yes.

I know we talked earlier about the chasing
the carrot that never getscloser.
But if you were to ask me whatsuccess looks like in my career
only not on an internal personallevel I think I would tell you
something totally different andI think I would say success
looks like being where.

(36:10):
I hope that someday I'll get.
But as I progress through thisjourney, I realize more that
there is never.
You're climbing a ladder thathas no end point.
There's never going to be amoment that you turn around and
think, ah, I've made it becauseso many people think I already

(36:37):
have, or so many people evenlike my little cousins and stuff
.
You're famous and I'm like no,I'm not.
But a way that I like to measuremy success for me personally is
especially when I'm feelingthat sort of that feeling of

(36:58):
like, oh, I just need to getthere, I just need to get to
that next thing.
I really like to take a secondand think back to just one year
ago.
What was I doing one year ago?
And I look back and sometimesI'll even scroll through my
photos and I'll find one yearago and I'll remember what place
I was in then and exactly whatI was doing and how I felt and
then I'll think about all thethings that happened in the air

(37:21):
and usually I have this feelingof like holy shit, because it's
so easy for the stuff to passyou by, because it all happened
so fast and I know we've talkedabout how busy we are, but
things really do happen so fastthat sometimes it's hard to take
a moment to soak it all in youknow, Absolutely.

(37:42):
And I remember I did like aradio thing after I played the
Troubadour show and he wasasking me oh, what was your
favorite moment of this year?
And yada, yada, and I hadlisted all these things off and
he said not selling at theTroubadour, and I said I forgot
I did that because things justhappen so fast and that was one

(38:04):
of the most special moments ofmy life and I totally forgot it
even happened, you know.
So I think success in thepresent moment to me, the
success that I want to keeptrying to chase, is just finding
happiness and joy and enjoyingthe things that I do and finding
meaning and purpose and whatI'm doing here, and also only

(38:31):
ever comparing myself to olderversions of myself, because the
second you start looking aroundis when you start feeling like
you're not enough.

I love that.
That right there is so huge,especially for an artist, to
stay in your creative bubble andnot start comparing yourself
creatively to others, becausethen you start finding yourself
in this weird like you'refollowing their blueprint and
that is like the antithesis ofart for somebody who

(39:02):
legitimately you're so in yourown lane, even though it is rock
and you, like I'm sure, getcompared to so and so or you're
on the playlist of so and so Igenuinely think that you are in
your own lane and I think thatthat comes from as much as you
can, not comparing yourself toothers, which I know you
struggle with.

(39:22):
You've talked about that andsomehow you have stayed in a
lane of your own and you keep ongetting booked for these crazy
freaking festivals and andmassive tours because those
bands or whoever's putting onthose shows, know that you are

(39:44):
Authentically you thank you.

It's so interesting because I always
think Like, why can't it justmake a song that sounds like
anything else?
And they always think like, whycan't I just make a real song?
There's thoughts that I havebecause it's not my first.
Some reason it always sounds sodifferent.
I don't know if that's justlike a personal thing or if
other people feel that way, butI always I'm like I'll hear

(40:08):
music and I'll be like why can'tI just make something like that
?
Why does everything I makesound like me?

Another moniker.
I know, yeah, it's so funnywell, I Want to touch on some of
the things that you said there.
First of all, from a Standarddefinition of success mm-hmm.
You have clearly made it to thesuccessful level.

(40:37):
I mean, I was just telling youearlier we were at the death by
Romy mm-hmm show and, like Iconsider myself a friend of
yours, mm-hmm, we see each otheroften enough.
Yeah and I couldn't even go upto you and like say hey, until a
bazillion other people werejust like oh my god, oh my god,

(40:58):
it's royal, it's royal in theserpent.
Oh my god, I'm like damn, thisis like not a big show like it
was.
I feel like it was thrown forRomy and Mothken what not
friends?
And like they're close friendsmm-hmm that was kind of like how
it was set up.
Yeah, and you're getting swarmedmm-hmm and I was like damn,

(41:19):
she's definitely gone to thenext level.
And that was after the Demitour mm-hmm yeah.
I was just like wow, there's asubstantial difference.
So if we're doing the like yearThing, like I could go back a
year mm-hmm and we were at Idon't remember which track of
yours it was, but a releaseparty that you had yeah, the
white party, yes, yes and likeyeah yeah, from then mm-hmm till

(41:42):
, like I can't even say hey to afriend mm-hmm.

Like substantial difference yeah,
it's so interesting too becauseon like a peer level, like we're
saying, and even like a friendlevel, I think it's really easy
to feel wildly successful.
But then on like a team level,I think there's so much pressure
For the next hit or the nextthing, or you're not gonna make

(42:11):
it if you don't, x?
Yz.
It Is such an interestingbalance to try and find like the
middle between those twopolarities, because on one hand,
the team and the label and thewhatever Just want to hit
because they just want to maketheir money and they just want
to.
I mean, I want to hit too.

Obviously we all want to hit.

That's the goal.
That's the point and maybe noteven just because it's a hit,
but because, like you get totouch more lives, the bigger
attract gets totally, but then,but it's like you have that but
then you also have like you'resaying like going out to some

(42:54):
event and you can't even stop totalk to your friends because
you're getting stopped by somany people to say hi or take
pics or whatever it is.
I find that an emo night, a lotemo night, is usually like
really intense with them.
There's some places that arejust more like that than other
places, I think yeah but we likeme and the boys, all, like all
get stuck to emo night so much.

Well, I think that that thing is set up to be
that way totally.
I mean it's it's really likeput on for the fans and you're
put on a pedestal, which I meanthat as an artist you are, but
there it's like We've got so andso and so and so and so and so,
and if you come to emo night,you have a chance of meeting.
No, totally, totally but whichis cool I was talking about was

(43:34):
not set up that way and you'restill spoiled.

So I know, but yeah, it's.
It's so interesting becausethat Also, though, feels good.
You know, it definitely is likeas much as it Usually.
I just feel guilty that I don'tget to like we're saying like
spend more time with the peoplethat I know and love, that are
there, but it's still like itfeels nice to like feel

(44:02):
recognized.
I got recognized at like aCoffee shop, like breakfast
place the other day.
It was like one of the cutestthings ever.
This like barista like took myorder and then Asked me if I was
royal, and then I sat down andshe like came over and brought
me a gluten-free pastry.
Oh I was like I brought this foryou because he said you were

(44:24):
gluten-free.
Like that is, that's it.
Like that stuff never goesUnnoticed.
Like it, it's, it's it,rewarding it.
Like feels like I'm actuallydoing the thing that I set out
to do.
I don't know.

Yeah, you made an impact on her life Enough
that she felt like I want tobring over something special to
her.
I may be not with not saying it, but I mean that she was
thinking you.

So weird.
Then I like start thinking like, is it ego?
Is my ego going?
Like, oh my god, like they knowwho I am, like that's so cool,
right, there's such a funny linethat we dance with this stuff.
And then you think about thepeople that can't even go
outside Without getting swarmedright and it's like is that what
I'm chasing?
Do I want that?

(45:15):
Because that's, those are thegoals that I'm setting for
myself.
And what's that actually like?
What do you think that's like?
Seems like a lot.

I.
I personally don't think that Icould take that.
Mm-hmm I.
Think that you have to be it.
You definitely have to be avery special human to deal with
that, but, like I think, youhave to get conditioned from an
early age or an earlier age onhow to deal with that, because
that's like that is a wholedifferent universe of of eyes

(45:50):
and and People looking at everylittle nuance of your life all
the time.
You can't make one move withoutit being on, you know, people
magazine or e-news or somethinglike that.
I don't think that I'm equippednot currently at least.
I think I don't think that thispodcast could ever get to that
big.
I mean, if this were thebiggest podcast ever, ever like

(46:13):
Joe Rogan, then, yeah, I thinkyou have that but if you're not,
joe Rogan or Alex Cooper?
I Don't think.
Okay, I'll put it this way if,when Cass becomes the superstar
that I know she's going to be,she's just like very, very
gifted.
I'll be the boyfriend, orwhatever of.

(46:37):
But For you I'm I'm curiousbecause I know that you struggle
with anxiety and the the ebbsand flows of life like most of
us do, but I'm sure that youfeel it more than most, because
I think you're an empatheticperson like you.
You just feel deeper.
I'm very curious how that Superstardom will feel.

(47:01):
I.

Mean.
Hopefully we'll find out.
I'm certain we will because,again, that is, that is the
thing I'm chasing, not thatparticularly, but that comes
with all the things that I'mchasing.
I Also do think and this issomething that I've never really
talked about that when I kindof first started, or maybe just

(47:24):
when I was younger, that was theexact thing I was chasing was
being loved and adored bymillions, by the whole world,
being known, so that I couldfeel important, because I
probably didn't feel Importanton my own and I thought that
being known by many would makeme feel Worthy and important.

(47:49):
And I think that for a verylong time, in the beginning of
my career, I was chasing all thewrong things and I cared.
I cared way way more aboutabout how people thought, of
what people thought about me,and All I wanted was the fame
part, which Kind of has nothingto do with the art part, because

(48:13):
you could be famous withoutbeing an artist.
Mean, it's, we're living in aninfluence or culture, so lots of
people are, like everyone's,famous these days you know, I
Also think the age of thecelebrity is slowly dying
because of how much we're livingon the internet and how many
eyes can be on everything thateveryone's doing at all times,

(48:35):
that so many people are Microcelebrities, but the age of like
the, for example, demi Lovatolevel of Celebrity is just more
rare these days than I think itever has been yeah, I think it's
twofold what you said aboutmicro celebrities.

Mm-hmm and then also, I think, generally we've
thought of celebrities as actorsor actresses or just actors,
because there's something abouta movie screen that puts things
out of out of proportion.
Mm-hmm but so does a massivestage totally but with streaming
and they're being so muchContent, holy crap.

(49:19):
You can't get on Netflix anyday without there being two ten
new titles that are being pushed, you Mm-hmm.
But that also means there'slike ten thousand real new
titles.
Mm-hmm so we don't see likethese mega superstar actors.
Mm-hmm and Like the box officefilm on Netflix, it's like all
these people who are havingtheir breakout role, but it's

(49:40):
not like getting a breakout roleon a Typical, like theatrical
release Mm-hmm, it's justdifferent, mm-hmm.
So, yeah, I think things aretotally changing in that manner.

Yeah, which is kind of cool.
I think it opens the door formore opportunity for more people
.
You know, kind of like levelsto playing field anyone can kind
of break through.
It's not all predicted anylonger by the big wigs and the
gatekeepers.
I think the people kind ofdecide what pushes through these

(50:13):
days, especially with liketick-tock.
Yeah, you know, if something'sgood, people like it and that's
what shows through.

Yep and Netflix algorithms.
Yeah, so they'll see like ifyou loved a TV show and the
whole world really loved the TVshow, well, what actors were in
that?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, let's put them in anotherfilm.
Oh shit, this one popped offtoo.
Okay, so people really lovethis actor, mm-hmm, and I do
think that that's.
That is cool.
Yeah, so let's look at successon another angle.

(50:44):
Okay, so we talked about you.
Just, you want to feelfulfilled by what you're doing.
So I'm certain because youalready said so the day that you
filmed for music videos likeyou had to be in like pure bliss
, I'm sure very tired.

It was difficult.

I'm sure it was difficult.

It was freezing cold.
We were in Reno and I was inthese like a little booty shorts
and it was like 40 degrees withlike 30 mile an hour winds, and
I was outside like cheerleadingin these little booty shorts
and I was really cold.
But, yes, so rewarding and sofulfilling.
There's something that happenswhen the camera Starts recording

(51:21):
that I just like click in mybody is no longer shaking
because I'm cold and I just amso present, I Presence, that's
it, that's it, that's the.
That's what I'm chasing andthat's, I think, probably why I

(51:43):
love those moments the most,because I have no choice other
than to be absolutely present.
I.

Love that.
That's gonna be.
That's gonna be a clip Cool, Imean, that's that's beautiful.

Thank you.

So success from the other angle.
Mm-hmm.
So I'm.
I want people watching this wholook up to you.
I want to dive into what doesit take to be successful in
music today, and really throughthe lens of like how you've done

(52:16):
it, I have to say like of thisgeneration of like alt rockers
or whatever you wanna.
Whatever you wanna, slightlylabel yourself as I hate that
but I mean you're a fuckingstandout.
I mean it really has happened,and very quickly.
Thank you.
I'm sure it doesn't feel quick,but in the grand scheme of

(52:38):
things I mean, come on, you'replaying the biggest stages in
the world and just a couple ofyears ago I'm sure you couldn't
even fathom like how big thatwas.
So if people watching this, Iwant them to take away some
nuggets on what it takes.

Mm-hmm, few things that have definitely
changed my life are goal settingpaired with manifestation,
continual action and letting go.
So, I think, stating to theuniverse or to whatever it is

(53:16):
that you believe in, even if youbelieve in nothing, even just
stating it on a piece of fuckingpaper exactly what you want
whether that's a feeling,whether that's an exact thing,
whether that's whatever it isstating what you want and
affirming to yourself that it'spossible, affirming to yourself,
to the universe, that you canachieve those things on that
list, taking continual, inspiredaction in the direction of

(53:42):
those goals, even if it's thesmallest, smallest actions, even
if it's just, I will wake uptomorrow and I will pick up my
guitar, because that's how itstarted for me.
It started with I will pick upmy guitar and slowly those
actions become greater actions.
But even if they'remicro-actions, they make a
difference.
And then letting go of theoutcome.

(54:05):
I think letting go of whateveridea you have allows or at least
what I believe is it allows forthe universe to do its thing
and it allows for your goals andyour dreams to be met in ways
that you couldn't have designedyourself, because there's a
difference between inspiredaction and forcefully trying to

(54:29):
piece your life together in theway that you think it should go.
So I think letting go is one ofthe biggest parts of that and I
think that just allows for evenif it feels shitty.
Sometimes you gotta let go ofstuff.
It feels really shitty.
I had to let go of a really big,amazing tour this year because

(54:51):
the universe kept telling methat it wasn't right and I
wanted it so bad and I was soexcited for it.
But I had to turn it down and,as much as it was one of the
hardest decisions that I havemade this year, I'm so glad that
I did because it allowed me allof this other time to do all of
these other things that Iwouldn't have gotten to do
otherwise, and write some of thebest music that I've written in

(55:13):
so long and spend more timewith my boyfriend and the people
I love.
And letting go is sort of likethe icing on the cake at the end
of all of it.

I mean, all of that is so beautiful.
I am a huge proponent ofmanifestation and, I have to say
, like most of my life I livedabsolutely not believing in the
universe and all of this, and Iwas atheist, just like to the
core.
And then I realized I lookedback and so many ridiculously

(55:51):
big things had happened to methat I had constantly dreamed
and thought about.
I was like oh wait, wait, did Imake that happen somehow?
And then I started to practicemanifesting and I don't write
anything down.
I make a every single Sunday.
I have a little ritual and Idream and smell and taste

(56:16):
everything that's happening inthe scene in my head and
ridiculously cool things havehappened and we're sitting in
one of them.
I mean, this room was a dreamin my head.
Yeah.
I can tell it's magical in here, thank you, I really love how
it came down.

And my friend.

Ashley, who's in that picture, helped me.
Then so many people helped me.
But I did have this dream in myhead of sitting here and having
a great conversation and anawesome room like this, but I
love that.
The one thing that I am probablynot good at and I wanna hear
how you do this is what doesletting go mean If I were to sit

(57:01):
here and manifest?
Let's say I am manifestingmyself sitting in my chair in
the other room in my studio andI'm mixing a record for X, like
somebody that I am superpassionate about, I'll just
throw it out in the universe.
If I got to mix my ChemicalRomance album whenever they come
back, dude.

(57:22):
I don't know what life lookslike after that because, that
would be my Mount Everest.
I mean, I fucking love itthere's a lot of bands I love
but just throwing that out there, and I am hearing the music and
I am going through thedifferent parts and I hear the
frequency here that I need tobring down and oh, the jarred's
vocal needs to come up here andblah, blah, blah.

(57:43):
I manifest all of it and Ismell what my studio smells like
.
What is the letting go?
And how do you let go?

I think letting go is a feeling, and I
think it's mostly allowing.
I think allowing paired withtrust.
I think trust and faith thatthe universe and I almost like

(58:14):
don't like saying the universe,because I think some people
probably think about itdifferently, but for me at least
it's having the trust and faiththat whatever is meant for me
will always be brought forwardto me.
And I think I've gotten a lotof time to practice letting go.

(58:36):
There's even like at a youngerage.
I'll never forget, like one ofthe first moments that I was
trying to manifest something.
I really wanted this littlehouse.
It was like this little studiocottage in Santa Monica, and it
was the first time that I'd everbe living alone and it was the
perfect.
I could afford it.
It was perfect.
It just I wanted it so bad.
I remember when I saw it and Ijust wanted to live at this

(58:57):
place so bad.
And I had recently gottenreally into manifestation and so
I was journaling about it and Iwas dreaming about it and I was
thinking about it and I wantedit so bad.
And then I got a call that said, oh, we've rented it out to
somebody else.
And I remember thinking in thatmoment, wow, I could let this
ruin my day and I could let thisfrustrate me and I could be

(59:18):
really sad about it.
Or I could just trust that, forwhatever reason, that place
wasn't meant for me and thatthere's something better out
there that I can't even imaginemyself.
And I said you're not.
Two days later I got a call andsaid nevermind, do you want it?
Wow.
And it was like I just gotchills.
It was like the first time thatthe universe spoke back and

(59:39):
said you did the right thing bynot being so caught up in the
thing that you wanted, so thatwe could do our work and bring
you exactly what you were meantto have.
And sometimes it doesn't alwayswork out like that, but I do
like to believe that it'slargely based in trust and faith
that if you're meant to havesomething, you will.

Austin Seltzer (01:00:00):
Yeah, that's beautiful.
I'm certain that peoplelistening and watching will be
researching manifestation andall these things I have.
There's one book which I needto look up, but the art of
manifestation, basically theguidelines and this dude I don't
know, I can't remember.
The book was so meaningful tome but it meant so much I can't

(01:00:25):
remember.
But it just basically talksabout exactly how to manifest
and I think it's really justactually seeing yourself already
in whatever the thing is.
If you can smell the room or theplace or the food or whatever
is happening in that room andthen having it could even be

(01:00:47):
like a sensory trigger.
For a while mine was clankingof champagne glass because,
champagne if you close your eyesit's like very distinct smell.
But now it's coffee.
I mean coffee, just like it hasa smell.
So, wherever the manifestationis happening, like if I were

(01:01:09):
manifesting that my Kim album, Iwould have coffee it'd be right
next to me.
I could smell that and I couldhear just nostalgia and I'm
working in it and just likebeing able to like feel the room
that you're in, but after thefact.

(01:01:30):
So I'm already mixing therecord.
You know, it's not like I'mcalled.
Oh, you're going to.

Royal & the Serpent (01:01:36):
It's like I'm in it.

So you were probably already living in that
house.

It's.
Yeah, you're right, it's afeeling, it's tapping into the
feeling of what it feels like tohave what you want, to already
have what you're looking for.
Yeah, that's totally how itworks.
I was like watching recentlysome Joe Dispenza, I think was
talking about it.
You know that is.
Who is?
it Joe Dispenza.
I think I was watching somethingof his but he was saying cause

(01:02:02):
it's like there's affirmations,right, like we can have all of
these like I am affirmations,but at a certain point, if you
aren't actually feeling them tobe true and you're not pairing
that with gratitude for feeling,those things they like stop in
your body at a certain pointbecause your brain is telling
them that they're not true,because it's not believing it.

(01:02:23):
And I think that kind of allties into like tapping into the
feeling, and I think thatgratitude is actually sort of
like the underbelly ofeverything that we're talking
about.
I don't know if you relate tothis, but I think, whether
you're manifesting or even justlooking around at the successes
that you've already had, thatgratitude is sort of the thing

(01:02:44):
in the feeling that makes it allworth it, that keeps it all
flowing and going.
That is like I find thatgratitude helps me manifest,
because if I can tap into thefeeling of being grateful for
the thing that I want, then itcan come closer to me.

(01:03:05):
I think that's like a huge partof all of what we're talking
about.

Yeah, I resonate with that totally, because
whenever I do my manifestation,this little ritual, it's
sandwiched by gratitude, so Idon't even think about what I
want yet.
I'm just like so ridiculouslygrateful for what I have gotten,
and specifically throughmanifestation.
So I'm like, damn, I manifestedthis and, holy shit, that felt

(01:03:33):
good.
And I feel like the littlechills and like this wave that
goes down my body, and if myscalp is tingling, which it does
quite often, it's the weirdestsensation but, I know that I'm
tapping into whatever thatfeeling is and then.
I'll manifest and cast has mademe think about this constantly

(01:03:54):
that I can't just think aboutsuccess in a business sense or
work sense or whatever, but it'sgot to also be like I have to
feel good while doing it.
My relationship has to feelgood while doing it, not just
whatever Cause.
If I got that my Kim album butlife was terrible, my health was

(01:04:15):
terrible and my relationshipwere shit, like would it really
be that great?

Probably not.

Yeah, so I think , about all of that, and then I
sandwich it again at the end andthen I'm grateful for having
received the thing that Imanifest.
So I would gratitude is a hugething for me, yeah, huge, yeah.

That's like without it, like you're saying,
all the other stuff doesn'treally work.
It's like the key component.
It's like the fuel for theengine.
You can have the car and allthe pieces, but if you don't
have fuel to put in the car, youcan't go anywhere.
You know, I feel likegratitude's the gasoline.

Yeah, that's a great analogy.
I like that, thanks.
So one other thing, though, onwhat it took to get here so
overwhelmed is a song that putsyou on the map right and right.
Yeah, and I love Markey, he'sone of the-.

I love Markey.
He's the best.
He's a gem of a human.

Thank you.
I want people to understandwhat it took to get there, and
also that that song is just asong and then the road is once
it's behind you.
Yeah, I mean that will pushthings forward, but it's a
constant grind.

(01:05:32):
So I want people to understandwhat it takes to get an
overwhelmed, Like all of thework that has to happen before
something like that happens.

Oh man well , getting up to that point even
getting up to the point of Ilike trying to get through this
because there's a lot, butgetting up to even the point of
writing overwhelmed, let's say,was just hustling.
It was just me working inmultiple restaurants and trying

(01:06:02):
to still have time forsessioning in between all of
that, just to make rent, just tosurvive.
Flash forward to getting towrite overwhelmed.
I was lucky to get like maybeone or two sessions a month
because I couldn't afford totake off work and it just wasn't
that easy.
I was sort of just starting tofigure it out.

(01:06:23):
So I write overwhelmed in thatmaybe one or two sessions that I
ever got a month and I wrote ahandful of the older stuff with
the same crew and that was kindof it.
A year or so goes by.
I'm still grinding, hustling,playing shows every so often, as
often as I can.
I throw a show at Davy Wayne'sand Atlantic label A&R just

(01:06:50):
happened to be there.
They happened to really likethe show.
They asked if I wanted to comeinto the office the next day.
I was like holy shit, this ismy dream come true.
I'm still working every day.
Flash forward a few monthsafter that they kept the
conversation going.
I ended up getting signed, yada, yada, yada.

(01:07:13):
Then we start talking aboutputting music out.
Everybody really lovedOverwhelms.
I thought it was amazing and Ihad all these songs that were
just demos and so I went in withMarkey and I started.
For like weeks we just workedon.
There was like four songs, Ithink, overwhelms being one of
them, and we worked sotirelessly every day for like

(01:07:34):
honestly, maybe months to getthese songs to a place like that
we were so proud of and that weloved.
And I remember sendingOverwhelms to the label and my
A&R is going we're not puttingthis version out.
This is not as good as theoriginal demo.
That was like very much just ademo and we put all of this

(01:07:54):
crazy work into it and we madeit this like masterpiece that we
were so proud of and they werenot into it and it wasn't until
I performed it.
I opened for Yoshi Flower atthe troubadour the day before
the pandemic hit and I endedwith Overwhelmed and I did this
like big, like dance routine atthe end and that like breakdowny

(01:08:17):
, like dubstep-y section Him A&Rleft.
Him was like no, you're right,that's the version we should put
out.
It was really good and I waslike thank you.
And then the pandemic hit.
And now at this point I hadbeen sitting on this song for
almost two years and it stillwasn't out in the world.
But every time I played a showsomebody would always come up to

(01:08:38):
me after and say what was thatanxiety song I really liked.
That Wasn't even my favorite onthe project that I was putting
out.
I thought I can't get high, wasgonna be like the one Little
did I know.
And then we had a few releasedates planned.
We kept getting pushed back.
There was a lot going on in theworld at that time and I really
did not wanna take attentionaway from all the things that

(01:09:00):
felt way more important than meputting music out.
Especially in the beginning ofthe pandemic, there was a lot of
things that were happeningsocially that I just did not
wanna take attention away from.
So I waited until it felt likea good time to put the song out
and we put it out and it did notget a single playlist.
It did not get any support fromany platforms.

(01:09:21):
My label would not give usmoney to do a TikTok campaign
and me, my mom and my managersaid let's put our money
together, let's all throw $1,000in and see what we can do with
this thing, and I'm so luckythat I was able to do that.
I know that that's not somethingthat a lot of people have and
I'm so lucky that my manager andmy mom were both able to help.

(01:09:42):
And I know that that's notreally advice.
I think lots of people don'thave the ability to do that.
I was very lucky that I hadjust signed my deal and I had
the ability to do something likethat.
But we took a flyer onourselves, we put $3,000 into a
TikTok campaign and maybe a weekor two later it was just
absolutely taking off on TikTokand then the label came back and

(01:10:08):
said here's your money back andhere's 10K more, keep going.
And I mean the next thing weknew it was all over the radio
and it was like the craziesttime in my career that I had
ever had and I was stuck insidemy house and it was so strange
and amazing but so weird for allof that to be happening in that

(01:10:32):
time.
But I guess I don't know.
Moral of the story is likesometimes things take so long to
happen and having patience andalso like believing in what
you're doing is such a big partof it.

Yeah, thanks for sharing all that.
I think that's the tough thingwhenever you're on the other
side of you're listening to atrack.
You have no idea what went intoit, and I know, that now social
media has made things a littlebit more easy to learn the
backstory of because it's worthsharing cool stories like this.

(01:11:10):
But, yes, not everybody is inthe position to put that money
into marketing a track.
But if it's something that youbelieve in wholeheartedly and
you knew that you had somethingwith that song, especially after
playing it live, people wouldsay, like what was that one
track?
Working a second job, drivingfor Uber, lyft, whatever it

(01:11:35):
takes, whatever it takes, if youbelieve in something enough,
it's blood, sweat and tears inmusic.
It's a fucking war that you'refighting in.
I mean play listing and all ofthat.
It's a war.
Tiktok is a war.
There's just so much music outthere.
But if you really reallybelieve in something, you got to

(01:11:55):
do everything you can to showpeople, because that song
resonated in a time when theworld needed something to
resonate with.

Totally.
I also think that, like thefinancial aspect of it as far as
marketing goes, is slowly goingaway, the more and more people
are putting music out,especially on TikTok.
I think when that was happening, tiktok was new still.
It had just recently changedfrom musically to TikTok, so it
wasn't like there was a ton ofartists on there promoting their

(01:12:24):
music.
It was still like very, veryfresh.
And I think nowadays justconsistency also is something
that works just as effectivelyas any financial support that
you could throw into something.
I think like being consistentabout putting yourself out there
is equivocally rewarding, ifnot more, than throwing money at

(01:12:49):
something.

Yeah, so a question to that is like this is
always a debate with artists.
I feel like, is it moreintelligent to just put out
singles now because of that?
Just the constant drip of music.

I think that it is.
I think there's a part of methat wishes it wasn't this way,
because I love the idea ofcreating one large body of work
that tells a story.
I think there's a time and aplace for that, but I think that
there is something reallyrewarding for fans as well to be

(01:13:31):
constantly fed by your favoriteartists, which is why, I mean,
I was working on an album at thebeginning of this year and very
recently we decided that wewere scrapping the idea of an
album and we were just gonna putout two songs a month for like
the foreseeable future, and ithas opened up so much more

(01:13:52):
creativity than I think Ithought it could have, because
now I'm building a world aroundeach of these things instead of
just one body of work.
So I'm building an entirecreative narrative with so many
different components.
You know, there's the videosand I'm dropping merch for each
thing and I'm doing these eventsand I'm gonna do like a podcast

(01:14:15):
and there's like so many thingsthat I'm gonna do around each
of these releases.
That just gives so many moreopportunities to get in front of
fans and to put yourself outthere and I think we're all
consumers at the end of the day,and being able to consume
content by the people that youlove the most as often as you
can is sort of the way thatthings are going these days.

(01:14:42):
Like I said, there's definitelya part of me that wishes that
wasn't the case, because mydream is to make an album and
hold myself up on a mountainsomewhere with the people that I
wanna work with and just workfor six months on one thing and
make a movie out of it and doall this cool stuff that I hope
someday else I will get to do.
I believe that I will, but it'sjust not the culture these days

(01:15:05):
.

You know, yeah, and I think that that's totally
okay.
I do think that one day, Ithink, whenever you're like a
household name or more of ahousehold name, I think that
that's a total world, that makessense.
But it's easy to see right now,even people who have like an
established fan base, if theytake a couple of years off and
then drop an album, it justdoesn't stream.

(01:15:28):
It doesn't because content isrevolving so fast that their
mind has been 100 bazillionother places and they're like,
oh fuck, I really love thatartist but like somehow it
doesn't cut through the noise.
So, I think that that's just theway it is right now.
But things go in cycles Totallyand there will be a day that a

(01:15:53):
fool you sit down and you haveyour friends over and it's like
a listening party but, with youand your friends.
It's like just consuming a fullalbum.
The most recent one that I didthat with was the new M83 album
that dropped.
Because I mean M83, just like,is very special to me and I feel

(01:16:14):
like his music.
I say him Anthony Gonzalez but,there are other people in the
band, like Katelyn Sinclair, andI could not listen to the
singles whenever they came out.
I wanted to consume that fullalbum.
So, that's somebody who juststructurally stayed to like I'm
only dropping albums yeah.

(01:16:35):
But I think that we're in aworld of singles and it makes
sense.

Yeah, momentum it like allows for
momentum to build.
Yes, as opposed to like peakingand falling, and peaking and
falling, it's like there can bea slow rise.
I'm so excited to put moremusic out.

I can't wait to hear it.

I'm so excited to perform new music I
think I'm sure so many artistsfeel this way but I get so sick
of playing some songs Wow,especially the ones that are
depressing Cause then I like putmyself oh cute, my mom's

(01:17:19):
calling me, hi, mom.
I put myself back in thatheadspace every time I sing
something like that.
So I feel like, yeah, I'm justexcited to rip some new stuff on
stage.

Hell yeah.
For anybody who hasn't seen youlive it's slightly ridiculous,
Like the energy that you bring.

Thank you.

That's I mean.
It's totally makes sense to mewhy an ANR from Atlantic saw you
and they're like, oh fuck, Idon't even know if this artist
has any songs ready to go oranything but damn that presence.
Thank you.
I think that that's a rare.
That is a rare thing in the ageof social media and tech

(01:18:03):
talking and whatnot, that livelike.
I don't know if I should go sofar as to say like you're better
live, but it's different andit's.
There's so much energy that youcan't help but just be like, oh
fuck, she is the real deal.
So that just makes sense.
That somebody saw you live anddidn't hear a track and they

(01:18:26):
were like, oh, we should lookinto this.
But they saw you live and theywere like captivated.

It's kind of crazy.
It's like one of those storiesyou hear about that like doesn't
happen anymore.
That like an ANR just like wentout to a show and discovered an
artist.
It's like everyone's discoveredon the internet now.

Absolutely.
Oh yeah, like I saw that thisone has 25,000 pre-saves where
you know, this one video had 10million views.

We should look into that.

It's all metrics it doesn't work, Unfortunately
like yeah, you are soon to comeout with a clothing line I think
it's just a clothing line, butit could be other things but a
company called Dumb Rubber, andI'm pivoting to this because I
think it goes hand in hand withsuccess.

(01:19:11):
There's a reason that you'realso starting this thing.
It's like I'm guessing somepart of you that just feels like
you need to have this brand outthere.
It's like some part of you andI want to explore.
You know what this brand means,why you felt like this is the

(01:19:32):
time, why is this the thing thatyou want to go into?
And also, is it you and Beepus,or just you yeah, me and Brent
together.
Yes, yeah, tell us about that.

Okay, it's like there's so many layers to
this.
I love fashion and I loveclothes.
He loves fashion and he lovesclothes.
He also is an incrediblegraphic designer.

So I didn't know that he's wonderful.

He gets better.
Every day it's newer for him,but he's unbelievable.
He designs all of their merchand all of my merch.
Now what yeah?

he's so good, so cool.

He's so good.
Um, the idea okay, the namecame to me before the idea of
what it would be did.
The name came to me.
We were round table, discussing, discussing trying to come up
with.
My manager was starting a labela long time ago and we were
like doing this like big roundtable of ideas for what the

(01:20:25):
label could be named, and I hadcome up with Dumb Rubber and
everyone said that's not a labelname, but you should save that
for something.
So I did flush forward a fewyears.
Um, me and Brent are dating andwe start.
He starts talking about howhe's always wanted to start a
fashion line and a brand and Isaid so have I and I've always
wanted to call it Dumb Rubber.
And he was like I love that,that's amazing.

(01:20:47):
But at this point it was justan idea.
Then things took a slight turnin our relationship and things
got difficult.
And then we touched on that alittle bit in the beginning of
the conversation today and Isort of had this idea that if we
could take ourselves out of allthe things that we were

(01:21:07):
struggling with and we could putall of our energy into
something that, no matter what,would bind us, because it wasn't
about his music, it wasn'tabout my music, it wasn't about
each of our individual careers.
It wasn't about anything otherthan this thing that maybe we
could create together, kind oflike how sometimes people think
having a baby is going to fixthe relationship.
To me, I thought Dumb Rubbercan fix what's happening here

(01:21:31):
right now.
I've never said that to him,but I remember thinking let's
start Dumb Rubber right now.
And it did it like did thismagical thing where we could
take ourselves out of all theother things that we were
feeling and experiencing and putall of our energy into
something that we could createtogether, totally equally, on an
even playing field, and it wasjust like so cool.

(01:21:57):
I think it's really excitingfor me to be doing something
with the person that I love morethan anything.
That has nothing to do with ourindividual careers, because
we've made music together beforeand I've worked with the boys
and we've played shows togetherand all that but it all still
feels sort of in the same worldand this just feels so separate

(01:22:19):
and so creatively fulfilling insuch a different way Also
terrifying.
I was downtown last night.
We're doing like cut and sew.
We're starting with just aT-shirt pattern, so we're doing
like this cut and sew, likemaking a pattern, and I had to
like go and like give all theseadjustments and tell you know,
and Brent's not even here.
So I'm like so scared, thinkinglike, oh my God, what if I fuck
this up?
But like what if I don't givethe right adjustments, or

(01:22:41):
whatever?
And it's such a new thing,there is so much to learn, but
it's also really excitingbecause it's totally new and
separate and um, yeah, I don'teven know where I started or
where I left off, but I feellike that it's um, I'm just

(01:23:03):
really stoked to be creatingsomething that isn't music, that
like is tangible, that isn'tmerch, that can be a little bit
higher quality and like elevatedand um things that we would
wear, you know, yeah, so I'mexcited.

I mean, it's such a cool idea.
I think that one thing forpeople to take away from this is
like creators create, you justkeep on creating whatever that
avenue is it doesn't have to bemusic could be, acting to be a
clothing line, but justcreatively fulfilling yourself
in other ways.
I don't know.
It always ties back to justbeing able to create more

(01:23:45):
efficiently, Like you can getinto the flow better because
you're just like pulling fromall these different creative
angles.
But I'm gonna I'll talk to Cassabout somehow us creating
something that has nothing to dowith what we do normally and we
can create it together and Ithink that that's that's really

(01:24:06):
cool.

It's such a beautiful bonding experience If
you can find something that youcan both come together, even if
it's like a garden, likewhatever it is.
You know it doesn't even haveto be something that you have
actually sell if you don't wantit to be, but it, yeah, I think
it.
It just like allows for a newdepth of connection in some

(01:24:29):
creative way.

Yeah, yeah, I love that.
I'm gonna pocket that.

Yeah.

Sick or not, in the same pocket as the things
that I should talk about, butthe other pocket.

Royal & the Serpe (01:24:40):
Multi-pockets yes.

There was one question actually, and maybe you
do get asked this often, but Ireally don't care, I want to
know the answer.
Yeah, how did you come aboutconnecting with Dimeo Lado and
how did that whole thing happen?
Because that that is a hugecareer shift.
Like that is definitely a levelup on that.
That ladder that continues toclimb, yeah, yeah, how did that

(01:25:04):
come about?

Um, I got asked um maybe a year or so ago
now, maybe a little longer um,by my publisher if I had any
interest in writing for otherartists.
And I said sure depends who theartist is.
And she said what about DimeoLado?
And I said, um, are you kidding?
Of course, um, and so I got putinto this room.

(01:25:28):
I think, from what myunderstanding is is, it was like
sort of a trial room.
I think there was like a littlemini camp that was set up to
sort of test people out to writefor the album that ended up
coming out last year.
And, um, I got a call from herA&R before my first session with

(01:25:51):
like ground rules andexplaining how it was going to
go and saying all these likevery interesting things that
didn't end up being very true atall, um, probably a good life
lesson actually.
Yeah, um, and so I went in supernervous, Um, and she came into
the room for a little bit andshe helped us write the song

(01:26:14):
that we were, that we werewriting for her.
She bounced around because therewas multiple rooms happening at
the same time, but she came inand she ended up cutting the
vocal and the entire song thatwe wrote and, um, we exchanged
numbers so that we could sendthe bounce out at the end of um,
at the end of the day, and atthe time, um, she was very

(01:26:41):
visibly, uh, depressed, evenvocalized it to us, and I just
remember leaving and thinkinglike this is a person that has
influenced me for my entire lifeand I wonder what it's like
being where she's at and Iwonder if she feels like she has
people that are there for her.

(01:27:01):
I just remember feeling like Iwonder, I just wonder what
that's like to feel that way andto feel that low, and I wonder
if she has friends and peoplethat she can really count on.
And so I just texted her and Isort of said just wanted to say
thank you for everything thatyou've done for me for my entire
life, because I've looked up toyou since I was a little girl

(01:27:23):
and I just want you to know thatif you ever need a friend, I'm
here and I'm, and I would loveto be that for you.
And she was so wonderful and sogracious and so sweet, um, and
responded back to me right awayand, and um, we just sort of
stayed connected from thatmoment on and I got asked back

(01:27:44):
to write for the album,obviously, and, and then, after
we wrote the song for the album,she asked me if I wanted to be
on the song, and then, after Iwas on the song, she asked me if
I wanted to go on tour with her.
And um, it was just like a veryorganic sort of relationship
that was really built on, Ithink, us seeing each other for

(01:28:09):
who we were, and, um, offeringto be there for one another.
We actually wrote a song aboutit that I hope I will put out
someday.
That is this like reallybeautiful.
I'll never give up on you likefriendship song about um being
there for the people that youlove.
But yeah, just the friendshipblossomed very organically.

(01:28:33):
Um, and I think we've justalways seen each other for who
we are, which is probably rarewhen you get to that level of
start.
I mean, I've heard people talkabout it in interviews and stuff
but it must be hard to likemake real friends when everybody
wants something from you.

I can only imagine.
Yeah, it definitely startedwith her being real when she
vocalized that, hey, I'm feelingthe certain way and you, being
an empathetic person, just likeI'm sure, immediately felt like
I know what that feels like andyou reached out to her and, just
like that realness, I love that.
Yeah, that's a great story andI really think that for anybody

(01:29:16):
who's listening or watching,that's.
I think that's the key to life.
And.
I'm like we've already said, I'mworking on that.
If I could just be.
I don't know if real is theright word, because I do feel
like I'm always real, but I alsofilter out feelings and stuff
which, if I could just vocalizemore, I think that I think that

(01:29:40):
it just deepens relationshipsand it moves past a lot of the
BS in the beginning of just likepecking around, but you, I
think that's beautiful.

Thanks yeah .

I think that moves us to this question that
we've talked about, but I really, really, really want to dive in
on because I think it'sbeautiful and I think it's
something that you've wanted toshare and you kind of have
slightly.
But you wrote you are enough.
And I saw you post semirecently, this beautiful post of

(01:30:21):
you I don't know how many yearsago, but a little while back
and you said you are enough, youwere enough.
You know what?
What did?
What do you mean by that?
And yeah, I would just like tohave a little heart to heart

(01:30:42):
moment about that, that girl.

Totally.
I think I had this moment whenthe I remember the day that I
was posting all of that and Iremember I was.
I was feeling sort of I mean andI've talked about this before,
but I've struggled withdepression now for many years

(01:31:09):
and I was at this point where Iwas trying to remember the last
time I was truly happy and Icouldn't really place it.
And so I started scrollingthrough my photos on my phone
trying to remember all thefeelings that I had and sort of

(01:31:31):
like just going back and backand back.
And it wasn't until I reachedsort of like pre overwhelmed
natural hair, no lip filler, nosuccess really of any kind, just
like this like raw version ofthe me that I grew up to be,

(01:31:53):
before all of the other thingshappened, that I saw a video of
me just like laughing anddancing and I looked so happy
and it made me cry because Iremember that as things started

(01:32:14):
happening for that girl that wasso happy, just existing,
working in her restaurant eventhough she hated going to work
and just hanging out with herfriends and being a regular
person that as soon as thingsstarted happening for me, I
started looking around ateveryone around me, feeling like

(01:32:37):
I didn't belong, feeling like Iwasn't cool enough, my music
wasn't good enough, I wouldnever be who they were or as
good as them, and I startedchanging all of these things
about myself.
I started hating the music thatI was making and trying to make
music that I thought my peerswould like more.
I started changing myappearance.

(01:32:57):
I started covering my body withtattoos.
I started doing all of thesethings that I was trying to like
cover up this deep wound andinsecurity inside of me by
changing things on the outsideand I think, slowly, over time,
it killed all of the light thatwas inside of me and I remember

(01:33:17):
I used to have such a brightlight that I feel like just drew
all of this magic and beautyand wonderful experiences and
people to me and I just noticedthat it was so dim and that it
had almost burnt out completelyand that I no longer looked in

(01:33:38):
the mirror and saw somebody thatI loved or liked or that I was
proud of or that I even feltconnected to.
And I think going back andlooking through these photos and
looking through these videos ofthat girl and reminding her
that she was already enough, wasthis like very therapeutic

(01:33:58):
process for me and it healed.
I mean, I know I've heard a lotabout healing the inner child
wounds, but I didn't realizethat there was also healing the
younger adult wounds, you know,because I think I've done a lot
of inner child work and I thinkI've healed a lot of things for
my childhood.
But you know that wasn'tchildhood, I was an adult

(01:34:18):
already, you know.
And going back and telling thatgirl that she didn't need to
change anything about who shewas, that she was perfect the
way that she was already andthat she didn't need to make
herself somebody else so thatother people would like her or
accept her, it sort of likerewired my brain in a way that I

(01:34:39):
could start loving myself againand start acting from a place
of connectedness to who I am.
And I've been happier from thatmoment onward.
I mean, not always it obviouslyeverything fluctuates, but it
was like a breakthrough day andmoment for me.
And also so many people reachedout when I posted that and said

(01:35:05):
like the most remarkablyamazing, sweet, wonderful things
.
So many people that have beenmy friends for so long too and
have seen the whole process,reminding me that she was
already perfect the way that shewas.
Yeah, yeah.

That's beautiful , thanks, I'm curious.
So you today, of course, youstill have to struggle with that
.
Every now and then it's like, Ithink, like nothing in life is
just a light switch and youcan't just turn it on or off.
But what are the things thatyou're doing now, like whenever

(01:35:48):
you start to feel that again,what are things that can bring
you back to that conclusion inyour mind?

It's different depending on the
feeling, because I've even Iknow I was talking earlier about
this week being like the startof this week being pretty
difficult for me and feelingreally insecure.
I'm trying to think because,like Monday, all I wanted to do
was lay there and do nothing.
I didn't want to reach out forhelp.
I didn't want to seek help.

(01:36:26):
I didn't want help from anybody.
But I don't think that thathelped me.
I think it was probably thenext day, when I got up and out
of the house early, got mycoffee, called some people that
I know I love and that love meand that I could talk to about
things, things actually startedchanging for the better, like

(01:36:47):
mentally.
I think I have a tendency to notwant to burden other people
with my problems, so I try notto talk to people about it, but
I think seeking help is actuallyso important and really does
make things better.
Not to like dump on otherpeople, but to just reach out to

(01:37:10):
friends, family, whoever it isthat you have to just check in.
It creates this sense ofconnectedness and makes things
feel not so scary and not so bad.
Reaching out to people I love,I think, probably helps me the

(01:37:32):
most out of anything, and alsogetting up and out of the house,
because I also have a tendencyto just want to sit in my house
all day and not leave and not doanything and not eat.
A good meal, a good call to mom, a nice walk, simple, like
things that anyone can do, orwhat helped me the most.

Yeah, yeah, that's great.
I mean, that's what I've heardis like little things that feel
like a win.
I don't struggle withdepression.
I don't know how I have haddepressive waves which are
interestingly to go back to.
Whenever you talked aboutsubstance.
I've had two panic attacks andthey both happened while I was

(01:38:19):
stoned.
Like I'm talking about, likereal high.
One of them, me and Cass weregoing through a tough time in
our relationship.
I mean, that was like an entireweek of dread, like pure dread.
So I can resonate with somebodywho has dealt with that, but I

(01:38:43):
just don't on a regular basis.
But I have heard that justthose little wins getting out of
the house eating a good meal,cleaning up the house, which is
daunting.
I've heard it very tough, butlittle things like that making
your bed or just something makeyou feel like you're moving in
the right direction.
I mean, that's depression,Right?

(01:39:03):
I'm curious whenever you feellike you look at another artist
and you're like, oh fuck,they're doing this, that and the
other, and you're like, ooh, Ihave to be more of this new
person and not her.
Like how do you get out of thatcycle now that you know that

(01:39:28):
that's the case?

I still don't know.
It still happens all the time.
I'm still constantly comparingmyself to some of the people
that I love the most, and you,just you gotta just practice

(01:39:57):
being happy for the people thatare succeeding around you and
being happy for yourself andremembering all the things that
you're accomplishing.
I don't have the answers tothat yet, because it's still
something that I deal with on adaily basis, but I think even
tracing back to something thatwe had sort of touched on

(01:40:18):
earlier when we were talkingabout success reminding myself
where I was a year ago or evensix months ago is something that
helps.
Letting go.
All these things that I knoware the answer are still
sometimes hard to put intoactuality, because everyone's

(01:40:42):
everywhere and it's all righthere and you can see it all the
time, and if I'm sitting at homeand I'm watching this person
and this person and this persondoing all these cool things and
I'm sitting here on my couch,sometimes it makes me feel like
shit One.
Really, I should just be happyfor all the people that I love
doing amazing things.

Yeah, I also don't know if there's a real
answer.
It is just like a constantthing that's always going to be
there and yeah, yeah, I thinkthat that's beautiful thing to
leave off on.

Cool.

Thanks for coming here and opening up and
talking about some beautifulthings that.
I like talking about, but I amcertain that there's so many
people on the other sidelistening or watching this that
some of the things that you saidare their inner thoughts, and
it's great to hear somebody elsesay that, and it's great to
hear the work that you put in toget to where you are and that

(01:41:51):
there's still so much to learnand experience and that if
people can just go back one yearago in their life and see where
they were, you're always goingto feel better about where you
are, and if things look way moretough, you've gone through a

(01:42:11):
year's worth of learning andexperience in life and there's
always something great to lookout about.
Today and tomorrow will come andjust let it go as you said.
Thank you so much.
I love this a lot and I loveyou.
Thank you, I love you tooAwesome human.

I'm excited to see how it comesout.

Me too.

Sick.

All right.
So now that you've listened tothis episode, I'm sure you have
fallen in love with Royle.
I think her story is so genuineand she's so open about sharing
whatever.
I found our conversation justeffortless and I think that
there was so much usefulinformation that people watching

(01:43:00):
and listening can reallyimplement into their life,
because Royle has taken what wasa dream and she's living the
reality, and she talks aboutexactly how this happened.
This episode is really greatfor that.
The first point that I want tohighlight that's a key stand out
for me in this episode and Ihave to have this in front of me

(01:43:22):
so that I can read this,because it was very specific.
But she had a four step plan onhow you can reach your goals.
So goal setting paired withmanifestation.
So set the goal andcontinuously manifest that goal.
But number two is continualaction.

(01:43:44):
So every single day, you know,spend some time on this goal, on
your dreams, spend some time onit every single day and then
letting go.
So what that means is set thegoal, work towards it every
single day.
But in doing this every singleday, do not get fixated on

(01:44:12):
exactly that goal.
Just let the universe orwhatever you believe in kind of
guide you to a place that maybeyou don't even understand is the
destination.
Continue to work very hardtowards the goal, but just don't
get hung up on needing thatexact goal and the exact

(01:44:32):
timeframe to happen.
It's going to happen the waythat things move around, but
continuously work towards it.
That was so such a great partof this episode.
One thing that Royal does and Ifind myself doing kind of often
whenever I think like, ooh, I'mnot successful enough yet, is
just look back one year ago fromtoday.

(01:44:55):
There's other guests who havesaid this as well.
We've talked about it before.
But if you just look back oneyear, you will see how far
you've come.
That one year ago version ofyou probably dreams of being
where you're at right now andanytime that you need a reality
check on am I doing enough, oram I moving quickly enough, or

(01:45:17):
am I achieving what I want?
Just look back one year and Ithink that ultimately, you will
feel like you have done the work.
Just keep doing it.
So another point that Royalbrought up is that she chases
being present in the moment.
I love that so much.
This came up whenever she wastalking about being on one of

(01:45:38):
her music video sets, where theyshot four music videos in a row
, and she just said that beingin front of the camera makes her
need to be present in thismoment.
It like snaps her out ofwhatever else is going on in
life and then she's just here,right now, in the moment, and
through our conversation, Ireally understood that that's

(01:45:59):
what she's chasing, andeverything that she's doing is
just this moment that captivatesyou so hard that nothing else
is going on in your world.
I think that's so awesome, amagical driving force.
And the last point and I thinkone of the most beautiful like

(01:46:19):
if not the most beautiful thingthat she talked about is that
she was enough, and what thismeant was she saw a version of
herself on her phone one daythat she was in bed and feeling
some heavy depression, and shelooked back to a time before,
overwhelmed, before things werereally going on in her life

(01:46:43):
musically in a big way, and shesaw this girl that was just very
happy with who she was andwhere she was, and that version
of herself was already enough.
And so what I learned from thisis that, even though Royal has
these tattoos and a specificlook and she's.
You know she's just edgy all ofthese like interesting things

(01:47:07):
going on with her on the outside.
She has found that she lovesthat version of herself, but
ultimately, royal would be whereshe is today if not for all of
that because of her work ethic,her drive, her creativity, her
love for the art and all of thatand she made peace with this

(01:47:29):
idea that she needed to becomethis person, and she loves who
she is.
But I think for those of youwatching and listening she was
really speaking to you about youalready are enough.
You can reach your goals theway you are.
You just have to work hard anduse that little four step plan
that she talked about, like thethings that go into reaching a

(01:47:51):
level of success.
But you don't have to changewho you are.
Just keep being the bestversion of yourself, the one
that is passionate and strivesto be where you are and puts in
the work and sets those goals.
But you don't have to becomesomeone you're not.
And that was just so beautifulfor her to talk about on camera

(01:48:15):
and on mic and to me, and I hopethat you thought it was
beautiful as well.
Thanks for listening to theGrounds for Success podcast.
I want to thank all of thepeople who work on this podcast
and help me out.
My team is everything to me,and without them I couldn't
bring these to you every singleweek.
I couldn't post on social media, you know, with all of the

(01:48:38):
clips that we have, and so Ithank you guys so much.
I want to also thank all of myclients on the Mixing and
Mastering side, because withoutyou, I could not have Grounds
for Success.
So thank you so much.
If you're enjoying the Groundsfor Success podcast, please
follow, like and subscribe onwhichever platform you're
listening or watching on.
It helps us out a ton and Iwant to keep getting this

(01:49:00):
content to you in whichever wayyou listen or watch.

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