February 26, 2025 • 49 mins
Amid the chaos of the music industry, how does one find the perfect equilibrium between self-care and discipline? Join me and my good friend, musician Michael Harvey, as we unravel this balancing act on the Black Man Talking Emotions podcast. We explore the crucial role of self-care practices like journaling, therapy, and meditation while emphasizing the importance of setting boundaries and taking time for yourself outside of work. Discover how paying attention to the details, whether in music or life, becomes a game-changer in maintaining happiness and harmony.
The pandemic reshaped lives globally, and the St. Louis music community was no exception. We share personal anecdotes about navigating through the pandemic's challenges, from the shared panic at grocery stores to the somber losses within our music family. Yet amid the turmoil, opportunities emerged—new collaborations on country music projects and mixing church broadcasts, to name a few. Our reflections highlight the pandemic's dual nature, as a time of both loss and unexpected growth, reminding us of the shifting landscapes we now inhabit.
As we venture into professionalism and discipline, parallels emerge between a band and a basketball team: each member has a unique role contributing to the greater success. We reminisce about wedding gigs, where dedication and preparation were key to delivering standout performances. Recording studio memories offer a glimpse into a journey fueled by musical chemistry and creative freedom, celebrating unexpected talents and cherished collaborations. As the episode wraps up, gratitude flows for our listeners and supporters, inviting them to continue this journey of boundless music-making and connection.
Opening quote: Plato
Opening and Closing Theme song: Produced by Dom L'Amour
Transition Music from Mad Chops Vol. 1 and Mad Chops Vol. 2 by Mad Keys
and
from Piano Soul Vol.1(Loop Pack) by The Modern Producers Team
Featured song: "You Are Mine to Lose" Lyrics by Dom L'Amour, Music by Mike Harvey
Cover art by Studio Mania: Custom Art @studiomania99
Please subscribe to the podcast, and give us a good rating. 5 stars please and thank you. Follow me on @dom_lamour on Instagram. Or at
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
As my grandfather would say, the devil is in the
details.
The difference between good andgreat is the details.
So you could be a good keyboardplayer, but if you can't make
the rest sound good, sure yousound good.
But as Dr Lee said in Drumline,one band, one sound.
If you are a producer or anarranger, don't get so caught up
(00:22):
in your instrument that youforget that it's a whole rest of
a band that you're playing for.
Don't get so busy into youplaying your riffs and chops
that you riff all over the leadvocalist, who we're supposed to
be paying attention to, we'resupposed to accompany the singer
, until they say, all right, nowyou solo.
Now that's when they give youthat clearance.
Go ahead, go for it, but untilthen, play your role.
(00:45):
Everybody in the band got arole.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Ladies and gentlemen, and anyone else who is here, my
name is Dom Lamour.
You are listening to the Blackman Talking Emotions podcast.
On today's episode, I speakwith musician and good friend
Michael Harvey about working onyourself and pursuing a career
at the same time.
Music gives a soul to theuniverse, wings to the mind,
(01:22):
flight to the imagination andlife to everything.
My theme of the year last yearwas to be more organized, to be
more productive.
That was what I wanted to doand it wasn't really like a what
is the New Year resolution.
I try not to do those, but I dolike to have a theme in my head
(01:45):
for what's this year's themeand I come up with that
throughout the year.
The year before, so like nextyear or the year we're in now,
is discipline.
Like that's not coming from NewYear's Eve.
That's coming because last yearI was like something else I
need to wear, I need to be moredisciplined, and I was trying to
be more this year.
(02:06):
That's just the theme now.
That's my big thing.
I'm already organized.
I got my planner, I'm puttingeverything together for the
album, trying to get more gigs,scheduling all of my other gigs,
working with the wedding band,making sure that I'm free those
nights, hosting events, makingsure I'm good those nights,
doing the podcast interviews,editing, making sure everything
(02:28):
is in line.
So when I look at my schedule,I know exactly what I'm doing
and there's no ifs, ands or butsabout it.
That's what I'm doing.
So the organized part is there.
The discipline is the doing itand not stopping, just
continuing to do it.
So that's what my head is.
That's how I am at the top ofthe year.
I want to turn that same thingon to you.
(02:48):
What are some ways that you'reapproaching not only just this
year, just life in general?
How are you working on yourself?
Is there anything in particularthat you're struggling with
right now?
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Struggling, I would say.
I'm kind of like you.
I'm trying to be more organized, more deliberate, that's the
word I'm looking for, moredeliberate.
So when I do something it'sactually on purpose and I meant
to do that the way I meant to doit and that's how I did it.
I'm a piano player.
Obviously when I press a key Idon't want it to be by accident,
(03:22):
yeah.
So then I try to relate thatmusical term into life.
When I do something I don'twant it to be oops.
You know, I want to be able tocontrol the input that I put out
.
So then you know, the outcomecan only be good if I am
deliberate about what I put in.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So what kind of ways are you like working on that?
Like I said, I'm journaling.
Now I'm working with mytherapist.
I'm making sure that myday-to-day, like today, on
Thursdays I try to do aself-care day.
So even though I'm workingtoday, I still have moments
today like my meditation, later,my yoga.
Later I'm going to take my bath, I'm going to relax my body,
(04:00):
make sure I'm good.
I'm going to go on a long walkafter I'm done with this podcast
.
Like I got a whole bunch ofstuff that I'm going to do
throughout the day to keepmyself right and then I'm
working on at nighttime.
I'm not having my phone in myhand when I'm in bed anymore.
I'm putting the phone away.
I'm putting the iPhone out ofit.
What things are you doing inyour day to day to get yourself
to that level that you talkabout?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You just named about half of them.
The other one is something afriend of mine said and that we
have to learn that no is acomplete statement and it
doesn't mean I don't like you,doesn't mean I don't love you,
doesn't mean you knowsomething's wrong with our
friendship.
It just means I cannot spend myenergy, time thought process on
(04:41):
whatever that was that I had tosay no to.
Yes, because a lot of times,well, you know, as performers we
try to say yes to everythingand that will drive you up a
wall.
So saying no to stuff I don'treally want to be a part of, or
finding time, like you said,getting out, going to do
something else other than what Ido for a living.
(05:02):
Going places that I like to gothat have nothing to do with
anything else but that I do fora living.
Going places that I like to gothat have nothing to do with
anything else but that I justlike to go.
So if it's to a movie, I'm coolwith going by myself in the
middle of the day whileeverybody's working school.
I'm a nerd.
Well, you know me.
So I'm a nerd If I want to hitthe history museum.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I'm going and it's free back at St Louis, so it's
like I'm in there, yes, ourhistory museum.
I'm going, and it's free backat St Louis so it's like I'm in
there.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yes, our history museum is 100% free and I'm
walking through the buildinglooking at everything.
I want it's to take more timefor me.
I love video games.
That's a good, relaxing thingto do, so I will get on my Xbox
and kick my shoes off and relax.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Getting away from the world that isn't the real world
, like social media, likeputting that down and going
outside changes a lot of things,like in the morning time now
I've been doing a walk in themorning and to get outside that
early, like literally I just gotout of bed, just clean myself
up or whatever, brush my teethor whatever, and then I'm
(06:03):
outside and I'm feeling the airin my face already Just prepping
to go outside, since it's cold.
I got to put the jacket on, Igot to put the long socks on, I
got a whole routine that pushesme to really make an effort to
get out and to just feel thesurrounding energy and absorb
(06:25):
that energy.
And you come back in afterbeing in the sun and having all
of this extra wind hitting youand all of the smells and
everything is really collectingwithin you.
So when you go back in, youbring in that energy in with you
and that changes your whole day.
It truly does help just to getout of the house.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
You have events of this house.
Where I live now.
I live directly across thestreet from a elementary school,
so there are times if I hearthe kids outside playing, I'll
just go take a lawn chair and gosit on the porch and literally
listen to the kids laugh andplay, and you know it's good to
hear kids be able to be kidswith nothing and I can literally
(07:04):
listen to them.
Kids be able to be kids withnothing and I can literally
listen to them.
I got the sun beaming on me soyou know that adds some extra.
I don't know, it's like anenergy drink.
I guess Letting the sun hit youand being outside, escaping
from being in the studio, for meis good and bad.
It's my living, but it's alsolike being a turtle, so I could
be stuck in my own shell forweeks working on stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And you'd never go outside.
You know I go outside forchurch or if I got a rehearsal.
So now, like you talked aboutearlier, I get outside just just
to be outside, for no otherreason other than to be outside,
even in the cold.
You got that 22 degree weatherhere.
Button up, put the jacket on,get the scarf.
You know I got a bald head, gotto put a hat on.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Get outside.
So just kind of going back,cause we've made it, we've
established.
You know the ways we're workingto to put ourself in better
positions, looking out forourselves.
We're musicians getting outperforming that's usually the
grind trying to meet people,trying to make more music.
I want to go back because I'mlike okay.
So last year really wasstressful for me, with all of
(08:16):
the election and all of thestuff going on in the world in
general.
That really put a damper on mystress, on my head.
My stress was high and I wasconstantly trying to find ways
to relax because of how weirdeverything I was consuming from
the outside was making me feel.
It was making me feel horribleand I feel like I was not able
(08:38):
to do anything.
I didn't feel like I could helpanyone.
Every time I would call homesomebody at home is sick,
someone's pregnant, someone'sgot and it's constantly
negativity coming my way and I'mlike is this me?
Why is all of this happening?
Like what's going on, you know?
So that really is what got meto the place where I'm very,
very focused.
(08:58):
This morning is a prime exampleof the hard work where you know,
for years I would just tellpeople I can't wake up in the
morning.
I'm not a morning person Foryears.
I would just be like I'mgetting up late, I can't do it,
I can't do it.
And today, you know, I woke upseven o'clock it was another day
(09:19):
Went outside, did my walk, gotmy routine together, had my
breakfast and stuff and startedwriting the music that I'm
working on.
Then I'm prepped for the show.
So just doing the consistentwork on myself, breathing
exercises, putting myself in thecorrect headspace when I know
purposes are supposed to happen,having my planner truly helps
(09:39):
because it's like okay, what amI supposed to do today?
These are the things that Iwrote to do today.
Great when I finish those.
If I do something else, that'sbonus.
But also I don't have to doanything else because this is
what I want to do today, andthat really helps me.
Just completely open up.
What are some things that havebothered you over the past year,
(09:59):
or the past couple of yearsthat you've been struggling with
, that you've had to workthrough to get to where you are
now?
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Oh man, you hit the nail on the head.
So a lot of the political stuffwas it was constant negativity,
constant arguing, bickeringover a lot of stuff that didn't
even matter, and I think thatwas, for me, probably the worst
of it, because I'm going.
Why does this matter?
Why are we arguing over this?
This doesn't matter.
(10:26):
You know, they get into, likethe racial arguments and I'm
going.
Well, I got friends that are notblack and they are amazing
human beings and when we seeeach other it's nothing but love
, hugs and laughs and we dapeach other up and we talk about
how's the wife, how's the kids,how's the this, how's that?
I'm like I don't have theseexperiences.
(10:47):
Now, as a, as a black man fromthe Midwest, sure, I've met
racism, but not as much as whatwe see on social media, on TV,
not even remotely close.
So a lot of that.
Then, just before all of that,there was COVID.
So here in St Louis we lost themusic family.
(11:09):
We lost a lot of musicians andsingers due to COVID, because,
of course, a lot of them hadpre-existing conditions and
COVID would attack, especiallyif you were diabetic or you had
some type of breathing issue,asthma, bronchitis, all of that
it would hit you worse.
Yeah, so we lost a lot of that.
So that was just as bad,because it was people that you
(11:33):
know how it is.
It's people that we considerfriends and family.
They've been to the house, I'vebeen to their house, we
performed together, ate together, kicked it laughed and then you
got to go view them in this box.
So kicked it laughed and thenyou got to go view them in this
box.
So all of that together in acouple of years yeah, that can
make life really stressful.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
And in many ways, covid, I always say on this
podcast, was very positive forme in my life.
You know, I was very fortunatethat I didn't have anybody pass
away.
I was very fortunate to have apartner and my wife who this was
the prime time we got to knoweach other.
You know, like before that Iwas working at one of the worst
(12:20):
bars ever and I was able to seeher once a week.
We would see each other onMondays and that was our date
night and that was when we weregetting to meet each other.
It was once a week we weregetting to meet each other and
then this pandemic happened.
She moved in with me literallythe week before the pandemic
started.
She, that March 1st was herfirst month in the house and we
went to a wedding on the 12th inSt Louis.
And then, boom, when we got back, they were not.
(12:41):
It wasn't even well.
It was shut down when we gotback but the city was in chaos,
like we landed at lax.
We went to the closest ralph'sgrocery store we can go to and
they were already out of toiletpaper.
People were like, like it was,you think of it.
You were like you forget aboutthat stuff that was going on.
That was like prime.
(13:02):
What was happening?
They have no paper towels, notoilet paper.
People were taking all thewaters.
There was no waters.
It was crazy.
And then I had a panic attack.
So I was just like there's toomany people here, so like I
think about all of that.
And and then when me and adrianwas at the house, we were going
walks and we would talk aboutour dream house, we would wave
(13:25):
to the neighbors.
It was so pleasant, but alsoit's that weird.
It's almost like when you thinkabout the fact that we just
finished the Iraq war andAfghanistan war.
For so long we were just livingnormal life, but we were at war
, you know, but it never feltlike we were at war.
But we were at war, you know,but it never felt like we were
(13:45):
at war, but we were at war.
And with covid it was the samekind of feeling where it's like
my life is good, I'm good, mypeople good, but the world is
not okay right now at all.
It wasn't even just america, itwas the world.
And on top that we have towatch, all of these people
consistently tell us that what'shappening isn't happening in
(14:09):
our face.
That was the hardest part forme, so to hear what your
approach to it is.
It's so true that that timetruly is something that when
we're old and gray we'llremember that clearly just how
everything made us feel and howwe were so nervous and worried
(14:29):
and how that affected us for notjust that time period.
It's still something we'reworking on.
That's incredible and, as amusician, how do you feel like
COVID affected you as an artist?
Did you feel like you went intothe tunnel and pulled out the
old trunk and found the pianothat you hadn't played in years
and put it back together?
(14:51):
Did you go back to the drawingboard?
Or do you feel like you kind ofslacked off?
How do you feel you approachedyour career during that time
period?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Here's what's funny.
So, where a lot of musiciansdid not do well during COVID
because their church gigs werestopping, of course, all live
performances were shut down forat least about a year, I did
well.
Yeah, I was playing piano oncountry records for guys in
(15:22):
Nashville I've I've never met.
I've played on probably 20 or30 country records playing piano
, organ mixed a couple of themOne of my, like one of my
friends who goes to a whitechurch in Kansas City, I was
mixing their live broadcast.
Yeah, well, it wasn't live sothey would record on Wednesday.
I had to get the mix done bySaturday to get it to the video
(15:44):
guy so he could sync video andaudio and I was paid for that.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So yeah, it wasn't, it was pre-recorded, but you
were, you were taking thefootage.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
that was, yeah, I guess I was taking audio, mixing
that and then sending it to thevideo guy for him to sync it up
, so you know you would see, youwould hear what you were seeing
at the same time.
Yeah, I mean, for me it wasgood, but then, like you said,
the moment you pick up socialmedia or turn on your TV, the
rest of the world is in full outchaos.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Oh dude, one of my least favorite things was how
people there was it was thebiggest first world problem in
the world People complainingabout masks and how I just can't
breathe in this mask.
I feel like I just I'm losingpeople's facial expressions with
these masks and I'm just likeIf we just wear the mask, we'll
(16:36):
be safe.
Why is that something thatpeople are finding an argument
for?
How are people so selfish toallow that to be something so
small?
I was trying to escape in manyways.
I was taking piano lessons, Iwas doing Spanish on Duolingo.
(17:03):
I was, you know, teaching myfriend Bates how to make drinks
on Fridays, so we were shakingup drinks on a cocktail, like I
was doing everything I could tostay active.
I recorded a whole album and Istill remember how negative
everything was and it stillmakes me think about that area
of I was good, but it was not agood time and on top of that,
something now people alwaysforget to talk about is before
(17:24):
covid, shit was crazy, yes,you'll say, like we had been
getting to a place where it wasa school shooting or something
every other weekend.
There was somebody doing somecrazy races every weekend, like
it was Nazis taking, you know,full marches and stuff.
Like that was the world we werein.
And to go through the pandemic,people were like, oh, the
(17:48):
pandemic did it.
And I was like, dude, we werealready headed this way.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And it just happened faster because of the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yes, and I think part of it is what I call the
arrogance of being an American.
If you ever travel outside ofAmerica, you'll realize how
blessed it is to be an American,because you will see what other
countries deal with and I'llnever forget being in Germany.
I saw so much and I'm going oh,we have better than that in
(18:15):
America.
We have better, you know.
You see, in restaurants.
You see how McDonald's looks inanother country versus how one
looks here.
Of course, mcdonald's is ahorrible restaurant, but it
looks better here than in othercountries.
We have an abundance ofeverything and most other
countries are scraping.
So to get upset about putting amask on the same mask, mind you,
(18:37):
that doctors and surgeons andnurses wear daily, well before
COVID, when they go into surgery.
You've seen doctors put thatsame mask on before walking into
surgery and now privilegedindividuals felt like I don't
want to wear this mask, I'm notgoing to be able to breathe and
I'm going.
But your surgeon does surgeriesfor eight, nine and 10 hours
(18:59):
and he's wearing it and all thenurses in there are wearing it
and they're fine.
They don't drop dead in themiddle of the surgery.
I don't see how you can'tbreathe in something that's been
proven to be breathed through.
Construction workers wear thosewhite N95 masks when they're
doing demolition.
Because of the dust from thehouse collapsing, they don't
(19:21):
just drop dead on a constructionsite, they are breathing just
fine.
They're there for 8, 10, 12hours a day and they go home to
their loved ones.
They might be dirty, butthey're alive.
I never understood why is it aproblem?
Put this mask on, just put themask on.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I feel like the culture of not trusting the
professionals is kind of gettingout of hand, something I've
noticed more and more.
I feel like the wrong peopleare giving, getting the
opportunities to influencethings that they shouldn't,
where all of these people whowant to, who have a voice online
, who can speak online, theyshouldn't be able to do what
(20:01):
they do, but it's a free country, so we, you know that's, that's
our dilemma.
But it goes to not only thecovid stuff, but also to
musicians, where something I'venoticed more and more now the
older I get, is how often you'llsee somebody who isn't a
musician, who doesn't do thework to be a musician, who has a
(20:23):
good singing voice or can youknow, use social media well, and
they put themselves out thereas a musician because anyone can
be a musician.
In their head, they're like, oh, I don't need to be a pro, I
don't need to do this, I don'tneed to do this, I don't need to
do that.
But then you get them on stageand they don't know what to do
because they've never reallydone it.
(20:44):
They've just sat in the showerand sang and they look at you
like, oh, you're just a singer.
I've heard, you're just asinger.
So much in my life and I'm likeI'm a performer and I'm like
I'm a performer.
There's a difference.
I do this and how do you feelthat has been towards you as a
(21:11):
piano player, someone who canproduce a full song yourself and
help other people's careers?
How often has it come to aplace where people kind of
looked at you like, yeah, yousay you're the professional, but
I know better Listen.
Yeah, you say you're theprofessional, but I know better
Listen.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Okay, you've opened up a whole can right here.
So this happens a whole lot.
And you heard the singer partbecause you sing Yep.
So imagine being a keys player,producer, arranger, and then
somebody says, oh, I could dothat.
Ok, let's, let's see.
(21:43):
I guess I can send you YouTubeclips of me working with the
same artists multiple songs, howmany you got?
How many people come to you forthe first time and then come
back?
It's easy to go to somewhere andthen you get there one time and
then you don't like it andyou'll never go back.
But it's different when youtreat your business like a Ruth
(22:06):
Chris and you don't advertiseand you've never seen a Ruth
Chris commercial because RuthChris doesn't advertise the
people who eat at Ruth Chrisadvertise Ruth Chris.
If you treat your business likeRuth Chris and I'm going to
give you the best service I canwhen you leave, I want you to be
happy.
When you call back, I want youto be like hey, remember that
last album we did?
All right, I got another one.
I want that experience withevery artist I work with and
(22:32):
people because they can play onechord, four chords, five chords
and I'm going.
No, it's different when you goon stage and you got to control
the band.
You got to write for the bandand be able to communicate.
How do you communicate withyour drummer who doesn't
understand what you're playingon the piano and then tell him
what to play while you play whatyou play so that they sync and
(22:55):
match up?
How do you describe the feel,the bounce of the bass line to
the bass player?
When the solo, when not thesolo?
Are you capable of vocallysaying this to a musician?
How do you tell a singer hey, Iwant you to sustain these notes
right here, so it sounds morelike a flow, and then make this
part more choppy because theband playing like how do you?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
communicate, or do you even notice that stuff?
You know what I'm saying.
Like you haven't even done thisbefore, so would you even?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
know, as my grandfather would say, the devil
is in the details.
The difference between good andgreat is the details.
So you could be a good keyboardplayer, but if you can't make
the rest sound good, sure yousound good.
But as Dr Lee said in Drumline,one band, one sound.
If you are a producer or anarranger, don't get so caught up
(23:47):
in your instrument that youforget that it's a whole rest of
a band that you're playing for.
Don't get so busy into youplaying your riffs and chops
that you riff all over the leadvocalist, who we're supposed to
be paying attention to, we'resupposed to accompany the singer
until they say all right, nowyou solo, now this.
When they give you thatclearance, go ahead, go for it,
(24:09):
but until then, play your role.
Everybody in the band got a role.
Play your role.
Just like on a basketball teameverybody's not the point guard,
everybody's not the center.
But if the point guard tries tostand in the paint where the
center is supposed to be, whoout there guarding the other
point guard from another team?
So it's a job not being done.
If you're not doing your jobAlways.
(24:32):
I totally agree.
That's where people don't getit and I'm like it's easy for
you to look on the outside andbecause you can do a little bit.
You feel like you can do a lotand I'm like no, and I always
tell people it's like weightlift.
Go lift weights with ShannonSharp.
No, it's a game changer.
Go lift weights with Dwayne theRock Johnson.
Go lift weights with Kevin Hart.
Go do their morning workout.
(24:53):
I want you to get up at 5 amwith them because Shannon Sharp
still got to do the nightcap.
You still got to do the ESPNstuff.
He's still doing club Shay Shay, so he ain't getting up at noon
.
Shannon Sharp got to get upearly because all his other
stuff happens during the rest ofthe day, so if he going to stay
looking like he look, he got toget up at 5 am to hit the gym,
(25:14):
so I want you to get up withthem.
So I want you to get up withthem.
Get up with Kevin when he'sshooting a movie, and he got to
get up at four.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Check.
Get up at two because you knowthey got to be on set, if you're
saying they got to be in makeupand getting a costume.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, that's.
The difference in thediscipline is when you can get
in and do your job to where itlooks so easy that people don't
realize your job is harder thanwhat they think it is.
If it looks easy, it's probablynot easy.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
I always, whenever I talk to musicians, bring up
stuff like this because I feellike it's just so common you
know what I'm saying Like I'm awedding singer.
People hear that and they havetheir mentality of what a
wedding singer is.
You know, they watch the movieand they think it's just kind of
this simple thing.
But I'm doing events like allright, great example.
(26:01):
This last wedding we just didwas in Mississippi, this
historical city, and we wentdown there and it had 700 people
at this wedding.
You know what I'm saying.
So it's this huge event.
We had a 13-piece band withthree horns and there's three
backup singers, three singers,me as the emcee and a full band
(26:24):
behind us.
And we don't rehearse for thosegigs.
You know what I'm saying.
I don't have a rehearsal eachweek for that.
Our rehearsal is the last gig.
You're just supposed to go home.
You're supposed to get yourmusic down.
You come in, you do the lastgig.
You're just supposed to go home.
You're supposed to get yourmusic down.
You come in, you do the damnthing.
And that's a normal weekend forme.
(26:45):
And I'm not saying that I don'twant people to hear that thing
and I'm just trying to flex, butI don't feel like people
understand just how grand thisposition I have really can be
when it comes to performing.
I can perform with anybody.
That's the way I will alwaysthink, because I do the
(27:05):
preparation throughout the week.
I'm drinking tea right now, myvoice is well-rested, I'm doing
my breathing exercises at night,I'm singing through my songs,
I'm making sure I knoweverything else that needs to be
taken care of when I get thereon Saturday.
I didn't start getting readythe day before.
I've been getting ready allweek.
You know what I'm saying and yousee people be like hey, dom,
(27:29):
can I get your band'sinformation?
I would love to have you outfor our wedding.
And I'm like, yeah, here's theinformation.
And then a couple of weeks, I'mlike, hey, did you check out?
Oh well, you know I actuallywas going to talk to you about
that.
Is there any way?
Like you guys could maybe likegive us some kind of like you
know it was very expensive, likewe might not need all of this
and that and this and that.
(27:50):
And I'm like what exactly areyou asking me?
What exactly are you trying toget at?
When you see the number that weare asking for?
Why do you think we're askingfor that number, what do you
think that number means?
And most people look at thatlike screw it, that number isn't
important enough to me, I'mgoing to go find someone else to
do it.
(28:10):
And then it's not the samequality.
And they're like why?
I mean it was fine, I guess itwas fine, but it could have been
better because you didn'tprioritize the quality.
I sang at a wedding once anotherexample where they had four
people sing at the wedding.
They kind of just ask take you,bless us and do a tune.
(28:30):
And it's a very close friend ofmine.
So I was like, yeah, I'll comein and I'll sing, I'm cool with
that.
And I sang one of my originalsongs, like, yeah, I'll come in
and I'll sing, I'm cool withthat.
And I sang one of my originalsongs.
But the people before me weren'tsingers, they just was random
people who performed.
They used to be theater majors,one who kind of still does
theater.
And then there was me.
And so they had a singing whenpeople were eating and I already
(28:55):
know how it goes when you'reeating, people ain't paying
attention to that shit.
But on top of that they askedus all to sing ballads, all of
us.
And so by the time it got to me, they had heard three ballads
and I was watching people likestart to over talk the the third
(29:16):
person singing.
They didn't care.
So I was like, alright, wait aminute Before I do this song.
Let me mix it up right quick,I'm going to do a little
something.
I need a soul clap.
I need one of those, baby.
And I made the whole audiencestart clapping and then I went
into you make me happy, like didmy, you know.
I changed up the whole vibe ofthe thing and I was like, okay,
(29:39):
I just I feel like I had to mixit up.
Now I'm going to sing theballad and y'all going to pay
attention to me, and then I didthat, and then everybody clapped
and people were excited.
It was fun, it was a reallyenjoyable day for me and
performance.
And after that the person cameup to me and not like I said I'm
(30:00):
not saying this to be mean,it's just something that I don't
even think they comprehendedwhen they did it.
They they were like man, you,you so good man, we should have
just had you do the whole thing.
It was like, yeah, but thatwasn't what you were trying to
do.
You weren't thinking about that.
You were thinking of how can Iget this money, do this without
having to spend too much moneyand have a special moment, and
(30:21):
there's nothing wrong with that.
But it truly is discouragingfor someone who was pursuing
this as a career to constantlyhave to face other people
telling you that what you do issomething that anyone could do,
when clearly they can't.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
It's not as easy as it looks when you get your hands
dirty.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Mike and I met back in 2015.
I had asked his brother to puta band together the week before
I was meeting with a popular StLouis singer God rest his soul
Kim Massey.
Mike and I had never playedwith each other before, but it
didn't matter.
He is one of the best pianoplayers I know in this country.
I always admired his skill andthe songs that we wrote together
(31:06):
are still very special to myheart.
Seeing Michael along the wayhas always put a smile on my
face, and this was a long timecoming for the pod.
So cheers to Mike and thank youfor tuning in.
Today it is officially 10 yearssince we recorded my first album
(31:34):
, sweet dreams 10 years, and Ididn't think about that until
this past week.
I'm like we did that in 2015.
It's two, it's 2025.
I've, I've.
I literally have a 10 yearproject that we worked, and
having you on this year is ablessing.
(31:55):
I just think it's incrediblehow many people I've worked with
, or people I know that I stillhave somewhat of a relationship
with and I still communicatewith, to be able to have you on
the pod.
You're one of the first peopleI'm going to have on the show
this year, and it's 10 yearsfrom us originally meeting and
working together.
It's just so dope, and I justwant to hear some of your
(32:18):
thoughts on what you rememberfrom that first recording
session with Kim Massey God resther soul From us chilling out
in the studio, because we livedin that studio for multiple
months.
It was constantly us working onstuff, you and I putting stuff
together.
I wrote most, not most.
I wrote all the lyrics and youwrote all the music and the
(32:41):
majority of the album.
You're the one playing piano onit.
What are some things that youremember from that experience?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
man.
Okay, here is one of myfavorite memories.
Well, okay, here's two.
Let me give you.
One was the amount of times wewould leave the studio after we
set up to let my brother,brandon, soundcheck the drums,
and we would go to that.
Oh man, what was that littlerestaurant?
Like Catacomb from the studio,are you?
Speaker 2 (33:07):
talking about the one with the little bun?
Yes, yes, yes, are you talkingabout the one with little bun?
Yes, yes, yes, I don't know, Iremember it, but I got the video
of y'all eating the bun stillwe, we probably went.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
I think we went there like every time we came over
there.
I don't think we had a sessionand we didn't go there and we it
was like half a block away andwe did not care.
And imagine this.
So it's four or five black guyswalking through the Maplewood
area at like 10 in the morning.
(33:39):
Yeah, we look like a bunch ofthugs.
I'm just saying from theoutside, looking in, we look
like a bunch of thugs.
We had on jeans and Tims andtennis shoes and baseball caps.
We don't look like the peoplethat are typically in Maplewood
at 10 am.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Nobody bothered us.
We walked over to the littlerestaurant, ordered our stuff
Eventually, by like the secondor third time, the folks asked
like y'all work over here, likewhat's up?
We were there so often so Iremember eating that.
That was probably one of themost hilarious things.
The the other thing was the daythat chris had to take the
(34:19):
guitar solo on.
I think I told, I think I'vetold that story like a million
times, oh man so so I'm gonnatell it from my side and then
you tell me how it was from yourside.
So we're in the studio andwe're working on.
Oh, what was?
Speaker 2 (34:35):
the song you and my nose.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Yes, so we're working on that.
We do the first pass.
Now chris is playing bass, andthen we go back and overdub him
on lead guitar.
But we were like before westarted the putting him on lead
guitar, he'd already played,played bass.
So the band essentially wasdone and you said I would love
to have guitar.
Chris says to me hey bro, I gotmy guitar in the car and I said,
(35:00):
ok, go get it.
And you're like, wait a minute,he plays guitar too.
And I'm like, yes, he got this.
And so your facial expressionsays I'm skeptical.
But you're like, you ain't ledme astray yet.
I'm going to trust you, but I'malso skeptical.
So that's the look I'm seeingon your face.
(35:22):
So Chris comes in, I literallywalk him through the chords.
Once he records the rhythmguitar part, fine, no problem.
You're like OK.
So you loosened up a little bit, you sat back in a chair.
It's okay, he could play guitara little bit.
And then you said it would benice if we could take a solo.
So I had a short solo in thesong and I'm like yo, chris,
after I take this solo, I wantyou to rip it, I want you to go
(35:44):
full on Jimi Hendrix and he saysI got my pedal board in the car
.
He goes and gets the pedalboard out the car and you're
like, wait a minute, he can sololike that and I'm like he got
it.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Just relax.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
And the moment he takes the solo, really cool,
first on a nice, you know mellowsounding guitar setting.
And then eventually I give himthis nod like okay, hit the
distortion pedal Full on JimiHendrix, now he starts to rip.
Pedal full on Jimi Hendrix, nowhe starts to rip.
And then you went, oh, the lookon your face.
(36:22):
So at this point I'm not evenlooking at Chris, because I
already knew.
I'm looking at you and you like, oh well, okay, yes.
And so now I'm laughing andBo's laughing, because we
already knew and Chris is fullon watching the screen.
And then we get to the partwhere you come back in and Chris
is like you want me to stop?
No, keep going.
And so he rips completelyunderneath all of your singing
(36:45):
while you're singingsporadically through the end of
the song.
And just to see the look onyour face at the end was like oh
, and I'm like, yeah, this iswhy we call him Two-Way, because
he played both guitars.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Yeah, everything you said is exactly how I remember
it.
The only difference for sure Imade a scratch vocal of how I
wanted it.
I was like this, this, this andthat.
So it was just crazy howaccurate he was towards the
scratch vocal, where I was justtalking nonsense.
And then he did everything Iwas saying and I was like this
(37:21):
dude is next level and for manyyears there was only a couple of
drummers I could trust to workwith.
There's only a couple of bassplayers I could trust to work
with.
There's only a couple of pianoplayers I liked working with,
because you work with somepeople and it just doesn't blend
correctly.
And so I knew my guitar playersand I didn't even know that he
did guitar.
So that was something I wasvery concerned about because I
was like I want this to be asolo.
(37:42):
That's incredible.
I want an incredible guitarsolo and that song I always tell
people that was the first songthat I wrote and recorded that,
(38:06):
yeah, he killed it the way itwas in my head.
That was just mind blowing.
I still hold that album, thattime period, very dear to my
heart.
I didn't know what the hell Iwas doing.
I drove myself into credit carddebt out the wazoo.
I think that really made itharder for me to continue to
make albums.
It made it harder for me tocontinue to tour and I'm trying
(38:29):
my best to kind of get myselfback to that.
Still, I feel like I'm stillrecovering from the payment of
that album and then the paymentof the second album, but not
thinking of it that way anymore,not seeing those negatives
anymore, just admiring the factthat we put something together
16 songs, a complete vision thatall of us worked out.
(38:52):
Each song that we worked oncame very easily to us.
Like I wrote all those songsand then when I gave them to you
, you was like, oh okay, I seewhat you're trying to do.
And you were doing it to thepoint where you were like making
songs difficult for the otherguys on purpose, cause you were
like this is just so much funwhen jazz I didn't have the
(39:13):
handcuffs.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Let's say, if you were a neo soul artist, I have
to stay within certainparameters for it to be
classified neo soul.
Or if we were doing gospel, Igot to keep certain stuff a
certain way.
When you're doing jazz, well,there's no holds barred.
So if I want to do full onclassic R&B, we can do that on
(39:37):
one song.
And then if we want to gostraight full on, straight ahead
jazz, acoustic piano, acousticdrums, we can do that because
you classify yourself as jazz.
Now here's another funny storythat I remember.
We were sitting in the studio,so it was me, you, chris Bo, and
(39:58):
you started to play us thesongs that the other guys did.
Yes, yes, we just vibed andlistened.
I'm like, okay, that's cool,this is good, this is good
Because, as a producer, it'sgood to hear somebody else's
idea.
So then you realize, okay, weain't too far off from each
other.
I like that One of the songs.
(40:19):
My brother says we need livedrums on this song.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
And he just walked.
So now, mind you, y'all didn'trecord to a click, nope, so
there's no constant bass.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
It's the song, baby you.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Yes, and my brother says I got it.
And so you looked at me, Chrislooked at me and I'm like he
said he got it.
So at certain points I try totrust the band.
Yeah, I trust you to be aprofessional.
If you say you got it, youheard it in your head, go
(40:54):
execute, Go do it.
He's the only one of us to dothat on that song, because the
rest I was like there's a piano,what am I supposed to dumb him
out?
No, that's stupid, Let him play.
He says this song needs drums,Walks in there.
I think he did two, maybe threetakes and it was over walks in
and I think he did two maybethree takes and it was over.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
He did two takes, that was it, and the first take
was the one we used.
It was crazy, dude.
It was crazy.
That's a good time.
I'm very happy for that.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
That was one of my most favorite albums to record
because we did it in the way Igrew up making records with
everybody in the room.
The chemistry, the laughs, thejokes, the fun, the synergy that
you can feel while you'resinging and we're playing at the
same time.
That's what made the albumsound better to me, because it
wasn't just like the way we cutrecords now, where I started
scratch track a piano, I call inthe band, then we overdub the
vocals.
It ain't no fun.
When you cut it with everybodyin the building, it comes out
better.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
That's going to be my next album was?
Eh?
It ain't no fun.
When you cut it with everybodyin the building, it comes out
better.
That's going to be my nextalbum.
I want to do it with the fullband and you've already heard
some of the tracks on it.
I truly want to create thatsame feeling from that first
album where we were in thestudio.
I had Bread Co, we had BobBagels from Bread Co and I had
them sliced up and we were ableto eat them and had the drink in
there, and it was just.
(42:11):
It was an honor, thank you.
(42:47):
Guitar solo.
(43:27):
Oh yeah, you are mine to lose.
You are mine to lose.
You are mine to lose.
This is, of course, that tunewe were speaking about earlier.
You are mine to lose.
That was the solo that my boy,chris Jones, performed and blew
(43:50):
my mind.
I was very proud and still I'mvery proud of this project and I
always appreciate Bo, chris,mike Ryan, jake, sam Spencer.
There were so many people whoperformed on Matt Gaetz.
They came out and played for meand I just appreciate them so
much for that.
That was an incredibleexperience.
If you want to check out anymore of my music or listen to
(44:12):
this on any streaming platform,you can.
It's everywhere.
Go, check it out, and you canfollow me for more information
on downlamore at downlamorecom,where you can get anything and
everything downlamore.
This is a new segment that Ijust started and I wanted to do
(44:44):
something where it was morepositive.
I feel like, even with thisshow being so open and honest,
there's sometimes where it'sjust the downer the whole
episode, and I'm like I want tofind a way to just put something
positive in the middle of this,no matter what.
So the segment's called youKnow what I Love?
The idea is that I'm going totell you one thing that I'm
(45:05):
crazy about right now.
You know what I love this andthat's the thing that's popping
off, and I want other people tokind of experience that maybe,
and then I'll ask you the samequestion what is something that
you love right now?
So I'll start off.
You know what I love AbbottElementary.
Do you watch this show?
Yes, abbott Elementary isfantastic and this season they
(45:27):
are doing a crossover with it'sAlways Sunny and it's already
out now.
I'm waiting for my wife becauseI love her dearly and she would
murder me if I watched theepisode without her.
So I'm waiting to watch it.
But Abbott Elementary is, on mymind hard and I love it right
now.
What's something you're talkingabout right now?
Speaker 1 (45:47):
You know what I love?
Squid games.
Oh yeah, Season two just cameout right yes, man, if you have
not seen it, I understand Ihaven't, I didn't watch season
one, oh, bro, you gotta watch.
oh so season two hinges onseason one and season one was
(46:11):
crazy.
So, without spoiling it, it'sabout some people who hit down
times and they want to win thismoney and they go into this
weird set of games.
But the problem is is if youlose you die.
So without giving away the restof the movie, that is the
overall plot of the game.
(46:32):
Someone wins and then in seasontwo he goes on this crazy John
Wick-ish type of hunt.
Yeah, I'm trying to say itwithout saying it.
It is crazy.
All right, if you like actionand a story that makes the
action viable, not just like aCall of Duty type of we just
(46:53):
shooting to be shooting.
No, no, no, no, there is apurpose.
We are looking for somebodythat.
That's why I said John Wiggins,because he's looking for a
person that.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
All right.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
But I love Abbott Elementary.
It's hilarious.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
All right.
Well, we've made it to the endof the show and I appreciate
your time.
This has really been somethingI wanted to do for this show and
I'm so thankful that you tookthe time out to make it happen,
and hopefully we can make somemore music happen this year too.
10 years is crazy, and I sawsome posts the other day about
how you know it's a blessing tostill have friends from middle
school and stuff like that, andI'm very fortunate to still have
(47:36):
friends from middle school andhigh school and college.
But even after college, Icreated these relationships with
people like you.
That is very special to me.
I can't hear that album withoutthinking about us recording in
the studio, the people we workedwith, the people that I haven't
seen since then, or everything.
So I appreciate that, and withthe last part of this, I do the
(47:59):
same thing every episode.
We've talked about what we wantto talk about.
We've gotten through oursubjects.
All I want to know now is howdo you feel?
Speaker 1 (48:07):
man, I feel great, man, I feel great.
Yeah, I got up like, I like you, I got up, feel great, I got up
.
Like you, I got up this morning.
I got up on purpose thismorning.
I feel great.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
I feel awesome.
That's what it's all about.
Hey, cheers to you, appreciateyour time.
You have a good one you too.
Bro, I want to thank you forlistening to the Black man
Talking Emotions podcast.
The opening quote.
Credit goes to Plato and shoutout to my guy, mike, for being
(48:43):
on the pod.
Follow Mike at Michael Harvey Ion Instagram.
Please subscribe to the podcast, share the podcast and give us
a good rating Five stars, please.
And thank you.
You can support the show byclicking the link at the bottom
of the episode description.
If you liked this episode, youshould go check out the previous
episode I did with Mike'sbrother, bo Lamar, titled Behind
(49:05):
the Music Standing Firm inArtistry and Tackling the Live
Stage with Dom Lamar and BeauLamar.
That speaks through very muchwhat the title suggests, so
check it out.
Follow me at D-O-M underscoreL-A-M-O-U-R on Instagram or at
(49:25):
DomLamarcom.
I'm Dom Lamar.
Much love.
As my grandfather would say, the devil is in the
details.
The difference between good andgreat is the details.
So you could be a good keyboardplayer, but if you can't make
the rest sound good, sure yousound good.
But as Dr Lee said in Drumline,one band, one sound.
If you are a producer or anarranger, don't get so caught up
(00:22):
in your instrument that youforget that it's a whole rest of
a band that you're playing for.
Don't get so busy into youplaying your riffs and chops
that you riff all over the leadvocalist, who we're supposed to
be paying attention to, we'resupposed to accompany the singer
, until they say, all right, nowyou solo.
Now that's when they give youthat clearance.
Go ahead, go for it, but untilthen, play your role.
(00:45):
Everybody in the band got arole.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Ladies and gentlemen, and anyone else who is here, my
name is Dom Lamour.
You are listening to the Blackman Talking Emotions podcast.
On today's episode, I speakwith musician and good friend
Michael Harvey about working onyourself and pursuing a career
at the same time.
Music gives a soul to theuniverse, wings to the mind,
(01:22):
flight to the imagination andlife to everything.
My theme of the year last yearwas to be more organized, to be
more productive.
That was what I wanted to doand it wasn't really like a what
is the New Year resolution.
I try not to do those, but I dolike to have a theme in my head
(01:45):
for what's this year's themeand I come up with that
throughout the year.
The year before, so like nextyear or the year we're in now,
is discipline.
Like that's not coming from NewYear's Eve.
That's coming because last yearI was like something else I
need to wear, I need to be moredisciplined, and I was trying to
be more this year.
(02:06):
That's just the theme now.
That's my big thing.
I'm already organized.
I got my planner, I'm puttingeverything together for the
album, trying to get more gigs,scheduling all of my other gigs,
working with the wedding band,making sure that I'm free those
nights, hosting events, makingsure I'm good those nights,
doing the podcast interviews,editing, making sure everything
(02:28):
is in line.
So when I look at my schedule,I know exactly what I'm doing
and there's no ifs, ands or butsabout it.
That's what I'm doing.
So the organized part is there.
The discipline is the doing itand not stopping, just
continuing to do it.
So that's what my head is.
That's how I am at the top ofthe year.
I want to turn that same thingon to you.
(02:48):
What are some ways that you'reapproaching not only just this
year, just life in general?
How are you working on yourself?
Is there anything in particularthat you're struggling with
right now?
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Struggling, I would say.
I'm kind of like you.
I'm trying to be more organized, more deliberate, that's the
word I'm looking for, moredeliberate.
So when I do something it'sactually on purpose and I meant
to do that the way I meant to doit and that's how I did it.
I'm a piano player.
Obviously when I press a key Idon't want it to be by accident,
(03:22):
yeah.
So then I try to relate thatmusical term into life.
When I do something I don'twant it to be oops.
You know, I want to be able tocontrol the input that I put out
.
So then you know, the outcomecan only be good if I am
deliberate about what I put in.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So what kind of ways are you like working on that?
Like I said, I'm journaling.
Now I'm working with mytherapist.
I'm making sure that myday-to-day, like today, on
Thursdays I try to do aself-care day.
So even though I'm workingtoday, I still have moments
today like my meditation, later,my yoga.
Later I'm going to take my bath, I'm going to relax my body,
(04:00):
make sure I'm good.
I'm going to go on a long walkafter I'm done with this podcast
.
Like I got a whole bunch ofstuff that I'm going to do
throughout the day to keepmyself right and then I'm
working on at nighttime.
I'm not having my phone in myhand when I'm in bed anymore.
I'm putting the phone away.
I'm putting the iPhone out ofit.
What things are you doing inyour day to day to get yourself
to that level that you talkabout?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You just named about half of them.
The other one is something afriend of mine said and that we
have to learn that no is acomplete statement and it
doesn't mean I don't like you,doesn't mean I don't love you,
doesn't mean you knowsomething's wrong with our
friendship.
It just means I cannot spend myenergy, time thought process on
(04:41):
whatever that was that I had tosay no to.
Yes, because a lot of times,well, you know, as performers we
try to say yes to everythingand that will drive you up a
wall.
So saying no to stuff I don'treally want to be a part of, or
finding time, like you said,getting out, going to do
something else other than what Ido for a living.
(05:02):
Going places that I like to gothat have nothing to do with
anything else but that I do fora living.
Going places that I like to gothat have nothing to do with
anything else but that I justlike to go.
So if it's to a movie, I'm coolwith going by myself in the
middle of the day whileeverybody's working school.
I'm a nerd.
Well, you know me.
So I'm a nerd If I want to hitthe history museum.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I'm going and it's free back at St Louis, so it's
like I'm in there, yes, ourhistory museum.
I'm going, and it's free backat St Louis so it's like I'm in
there.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yes, our history museum is 100% free and I'm
walking through the buildinglooking at everything.
I want it's to take more timefor me.
I love video games.
That's a good, relaxing thingto do, so I will get on my Xbox
and kick my shoes off and relax.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Getting away from the world that isn't the real world
, like social media, likeputting that down and going
outside changes a lot of things,like in the morning time now
I've been doing a walk in themorning and to get outside that
early, like literally I just gotout of bed, just clean myself
up or whatever, brush my teethor whatever, and then I'm
(06:03):
outside and I'm feeling the airin my face already Just prepping
to go outside, since it's cold.
I got to put the jacket on, Igot to put the long socks on, I
got a whole routine that pushesme to really make an effort to
get out and to just feel thesurrounding energy and absorb
(06:25):
that energy.
And you come back in afterbeing in the sun and having all
of this extra wind hitting youand all of the smells and
everything is really collectingwithin you.
So when you go back in, youbring in that energy in with you
and that changes your whole day.
It truly does help just to getout of the house.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
You have events of this house.
Where I live now.
I live directly across thestreet from a elementary school,
so there are times if I hearthe kids outside playing, I'll
just go take a lawn chair and gosit on the porch and literally
listen to the kids laugh andplay, and you know it's good to
hear kids be able to be kidswith nothing and I can literally
(07:04):
listen to them.
Kids be able to be kids withnothing and I can literally
listen to them.
I got the sun beaming on me soyou know that adds some extra.
I don't know, it's like anenergy drink.
I guess Letting the sun hit youand being outside, escaping
from being in the studio, for meis good and bad.
It's my living, but it's alsolike being a turtle, so I could
be stuck in my own shell forweeks working on stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
And you'd never go outside.
You know I go outside forchurch or if I got a rehearsal.
So now, like you talked aboutearlier, I get outside just just
to be outside, for no otherreason other than to be outside,
even in the cold.
You got that 22 degree weatherhere.
Button up, put the jacket on,get the scarf.
You know I got a bald head, gotto put a hat on.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Get outside.
So just kind of going back,cause we've made it, we've
established.
You know the ways we're workingto to put ourself in better
positions, looking out forourselves.
We're musicians getting outperforming that's usually the
grind trying to meet people,trying to make more music.
I want to go back because I'mlike okay.
So last year really wasstressful for me, with all of
(08:16):
the election and all of thestuff going on in the world in
general.
That really put a damper on mystress, on my head.
My stress was high and I wasconstantly trying to find ways
to relax because of how weirdeverything I was consuming from
the outside was making me feel.
It was making me feel horribleand I feel like I was not able
(08:38):
to do anything.
I didn't feel like I could helpanyone.
Every time I would call homesomebody at home is sick,
someone's pregnant, someone'sgot and it's constantly
negativity coming my way and I'mlike is this me?
Why is all of this happening?
Like what's going on, you know?
So that really is what got meto the place where I'm very,
very focused.
(08:58):
This morning is a prime exampleof the hard work where you know,
for years I would just tellpeople I can't wake up in the
morning.
I'm not a morning person Foryears.
I would just be like I'mgetting up late, I can't do it,
I can't do it.
And today, you know, I woke upseven o'clock it was another day
(09:19):
Went outside, did my walk, gotmy routine together, had my
breakfast and stuff and startedwriting the music that I'm
working on.
Then I'm prepped for the show.
So just doing the consistentwork on myself, breathing
exercises, putting myself in thecorrect headspace when I know
purposes are supposed to happen,having my planner truly helps
(09:39):
because it's like okay, what amI supposed to do today?
These are the things that Iwrote to do today.
Great when I finish those.
If I do something else, that'sbonus.
But also I don't have to doanything else because this is
what I want to do today, andthat really helps me.
Just completely open up.
What are some things that havebothered you over the past year,
(09:59):
or the past couple of yearsthat you've been struggling with
, that you've had to workthrough to get to where you are
now?
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Oh man, you hit the nail on the head.
So a lot of the political stuffwas it was constant negativity,
constant arguing, bickeringover a lot of stuff that didn't
even matter, and I think thatwas, for me, probably the worst
of it, because I'm going.
Why does this matter?
Why are we arguing over this?
This doesn't matter.
(10:26):
You know, they get into, likethe racial arguments and I'm
going.
Well, I got friends that are notblack and they are amazing
human beings and when we seeeach other it's nothing but love
, hugs and laughs and we dapeach other up and we talk about
how's the wife, how's the kids,how's the this, how's that?
I'm like I don't have theseexperiences.
(10:47):
Now, as a, as a black man fromthe Midwest, sure, I've met
racism, but not as much as whatwe see on social media, on TV,
not even remotely close.
So a lot of that.
Then, just before all of that,there was COVID.
So here in St Louis we lost themusic family.
(11:09):
We lost a lot of musicians andsingers due to COVID, because,
of course, a lot of them hadpre-existing conditions and
COVID would attack, especiallyif you were diabetic or you had
some type of breathing issue,asthma, bronchitis, all of that
it would hit you worse.
Yeah, so we lost a lot of that.
So that was just as bad,because it was people that you
(11:33):
know how it is.
It's people that we considerfriends and family.
They've been to the house, I'vebeen to their house, we
performed together, ate together, kicked it laughed and then you
got to go view them in this box.
So kicked it laughed and thenyou got to go view them in this
box.
So all of that together in acouple of years yeah, that can
make life really stressful.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
And in many ways, covid, I always say on this
podcast, was very positive forme in my life.
You know, I was very fortunatethat I didn't have anybody pass
away.
I was very fortunate to have apartner and my wife who this was
the prime time we got to knoweach other.
You know, like before that Iwas working at one of the worst
(12:20):
bars ever and I was able to seeher once a week.
We would see each other onMondays and that was our date
night and that was when we weregetting to meet each other.
It was once a week we weregetting to meet each other and
then this pandemic happened.
She moved in with me literallythe week before the pandemic
started.
She, that March 1st was herfirst month in the house and we
went to a wedding on the 12th inSt Louis.
And then, boom, when we got back, they were not.
(12:41):
It wasn't even well.
It was shut down when we gotback but the city was in chaos,
like we landed at lax.
We went to the closest ralph'sgrocery store we can go to and
they were already out of toiletpaper.
People were like, like it was,you think of it.
You were like you forget aboutthat stuff that was going on.
That was like prime.
(13:02):
What was happening?
They have no paper towels, notoilet paper.
People were taking all thewaters.
There was no waters.
It was crazy.
And then I had a panic attack.
So I was just like there's toomany people here, so like I
think about all of that.
And and then when me and adrianwas at the house, we were going
walks and we would talk aboutour dream house, we would wave
(13:25):
to the neighbors.
It was so pleasant, but alsoit's that weird.
It's almost like when you thinkabout the fact that we just
finished the Iraq war andAfghanistan war.
For so long we were just livingnormal life, but we were at war
, you know, but it never feltlike we were at war.
But we were at war, you know,but it never felt like we were
(13:45):
at war, but we were at war.
And with covid it was the samekind of feeling where it's like
my life is good, I'm good, mypeople good, but the world is
not okay right now at all.
It wasn't even just america, itwas the world.
And on top that we have towatch, all of these people
consistently tell us that what'shappening isn't happening in
(14:09):
our face.
That was the hardest part forme, so to hear what your
approach to it is.
It's so true that that timetruly is something that when
we're old and gray we'llremember that clearly just how
everything made us feel and howwe were so nervous and worried
(14:29):
and how that affected us for notjust that time period.
It's still something we'reworking on.
That's incredible and, as amusician, how do you feel like
COVID affected you as an artist?
Did you feel like you went intothe tunnel and pulled out the
old trunk and found the pianothat you hadn't played in years
and put it back together?
(14:51):
Did you go back to the drawingboard?
Or do you feel like you kind ofslacked off?
How do you feel you approachedyour career during that time
period?
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Here's what's funny.
So, where a lot of musiciansdid not do well during COVID
because their church gigs werestopping, of course, all live
performances were shut down forat least about a year, I did
well.
Yeah, I was playing piano oncountry records for guys in
(15:22):
Nashville I've I've never met.
I've played on probably 20 or30 country records playing piano
, organ mixed a couple of themOne of my, like one of my
friends who goes to a whitechurch in Kansas City, I was
mixing their live broadcast.
Yeah, well, it wasn't live sothey would record on Wednesday.
I had to get the mix done bySaturday to get it to the video
(15:44):
guy so he could sync video andaudio and I was paid for that.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So yeah, it wasn't, it was pre-recorded, but you
were, you were taking thefootage.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
that was, yeah, I guess I was taking audio, mixing
that and then sending it to thevideo guy for him to sync it up
, so you know you would see, youwould hear what you were seeing
at the same time.
Yeah, I mean, for me it wasgood, but then, like you said,
the moment you pick up socialmedia or turn on your TV, the
rest of the world is in full outchaos.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Oh dude, one of my least favorite things was how
people there was it was thebiggest first world problem in
the world People complainingabout masks and how I just can't
breathe in this mask.
I feel like I just I'm losingpeople's facial expressions with
these masks and I'm just likeIf we just wear the mask, we'll
(16:36):
be safe.
Why is that something thatpeople are finding an argument
for?
How are people so selfish toallow that to be something so
small?
I was trying to escape in manyways.
I was taking piano lessons, Iwas doing Spanish on Duolingo.
(17:03):
I was, you know, teaching myfriend Bates how to make drinks
on Fridays, so we were shakingup drinks on a cocktail, like I
was doing everything I could tostay active.
I recorded a whole album and Istill remember how negative
everything was and it stillmakes me think about that area
of I was good, but it was not agood time and on top of that,
something now people alwaysforget to talk about is before
(17:24):
covid, shit was crazy, yes,you'll say, like we had been
getting to a place where it wasa school shooting or something
every other weekend.
There was somebody doing somecrazy races every weekend, like
it was Nazis taking, you know,full marches and stuff.
Like that was the world we werein.
And to go through the pandemic,people were like, oh, the
(17:48):
pandemic did it.
And I was like, dude, we werealready headed this way.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
And it just happened faster because of the pandemic.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yes, and I think part of it is what I call the
arrogance of being an American.
If you ever travel outside ofAmerica, you'll realize how
blessed it is to be an American,because you will see what other
countries deal with and I'llnever forget being in Germany.
I saw so much and I'm going oh,we have better than that in
(18:15):
America.
We have better, you know.
You see, in restaurants.
You see how McDonald's looks inanother country versus how one
looks here.
Of course, mcdonald's is ahorrible restaurant, but it
looks better here than in othercountries.
We have an abundance ofeverything and most other
countries are scraping.
So to get upset about putting amask on the same mask, mind you,
(18:37):
that doctors and surgeons andnurses wear daily, well before
COVID, when they go into surgery.
You've seen doctors put thatsame mask on before walking into
surgery and now privilegedindividuals felt like I don't
want to wear this mask, I'm notgoing to be able to breathe and
I'm going.
But your surgeon does surgeriesfor eight, nine and 10 hours
(18:59):
and he's wearing it and all thenurses in there are wearing it
and they're fine.
They don't drop dead in themiddle of the surgery.
I don't see how you can'tbreathe in something that's been
proven to be breathed through.
Construction workers wear thosewhite N95 masks when they're
doing demolition.
Because of the dust from thehouse collapsing, they don't
(19:21):
just drop dead on a constructionsite, they are breathing just
fine.
They're there for 8, 10, 12hours a day and they go home to
their loved ones.
They might be dirty, butthey're alive.
I never understood why is it aproblem?
Put this mask on, just put themask on.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I feel like the culture of not trusting the
professionals is kind of gettingout of hand, something I've
noticed more and more.
I feel like the wrong peopleare giving, getting the
opportunities to influencethings that they shouldn't,
where all of these people whowant to, who have a voice online
, who can speak online, theyshouldn't be able to do what
(20:01):
they do, but it's a free country, so we, you know that's, that's
our dilemma.
But it goes to not only thecovid stuff, but also to
musicians, where something I'venoticed more and more now the
older I get, is how often you'llsee somebody who isn't a
musician, who doesn't do thework to be a musician, who has a
(20:23):
good singing voice or can youknow, use social media well, and
they put themselves out thereas a musician because anyone can
be a musician.
In their head, they're like, oh, I don't need to be a pro, I
don't need to do this, I don'tneed to do this, I don't need to
do that.
But then you get them on stageand they don't know what to do
because they've never reallydone it.
(20:44):
They've just sat in the showerand sang and they look at you
like, oh, you're just a singer.
I've heard, you're just asinger.
So much in my life and I'm likeI'm a performer and I'm like
I'm a performer.
There's a difference.
I do this and how do you feelthat has been towards you as a
(21:11):
piano player, someone who canproduce a full song yourself and
help other people's careers?
How often has it come to aplace where people kind of
looked at you like, yeah, yousay you're the professional, but
I know better Listen.
Yeah, you say you're theprofessional, but I know better
Listen.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Okay, you've opened up a whole can right here.
So this happens a whole lot.
And you heard the singer partbecause you sing Yep.
So imagine being a keys player,producer, arranger, and then
somebody says, oh, I could dothat.
Ok, let's, let's see.
(21:43):
I guess I can send you YouTubeclips of me working with the
same artists multiple songs, howmany you got?
How many people come to you forthe first time and then come
back?
It's easy to go to somewhere andthen you get there one time and
then you don't like it andyou'll never go back.
But it's different when youtreat your business like a Ruth
(22:06):
Chris and you don't advertiseand you've never seen a Ruth
Chris commercial because RuthChris doesn't advertise the
people who eat at Ruth Chrisadvertise Ruth Chris.
If you treat your business likeRuth Chris and I'm going to
give you the best service I canwhen you leave, I want you to be
happy.
When you call back, I want youto be like hey, remember that
last album we did?
All right, I got another one.
I want that experience withevery artist I work with and
(22:32):
people because they can play onechord, four chords, five chords
and I'm going.
No, it's different when you goon stage and you got to control
the band.
You got to write for the bandand be able to communicate.
How do you communicate withyour drummer who doesn't
understand what you're playingon the piano and then tell him
what to play while you play whatyou play so that they sync and
(22:55):
match up?
How do you describe the feel,the bounce of the bass line to
the bass player?
When the solo, when not thesolo?
Are you capable of vocallysaying this to a musician?
How do you tell a singer hey, Iwant you to sustain these notes
right here, so it sounds morelike a flow, and then make this
part more choppy because theband playing like how do you?
Speaker 2 (23:18):
communicate, or do you even notice that stuff?
You know what I'm saying.
Like you haven't even done thisbefore, so would you even?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
know, as my grandfather would say, the devil
is in the details.
The difference between good andgreat is the details.
So you could be a good keyboardplayer, but if you can't make
the rest sound good, sure yousound good.
But as Dr Lee said in Drumline,one band, one sound.
If you are a producer or anarranger, don't get so caught up
(23:47):
in your instrument that youforget that it's a whole rest of
a band that you're playing for.
Don't get so busy into youplaying your riffs and chops
that you riff all over the leadvocalist, who we're supposed to
be paying attention to, we'resupposed to accompany the singer
until they say all right, nowyou solo, now this.
When they give you thatclearance, go ahead, go for it,
(24:09):
but until then, play your role.
Everybody in the band got a role.
Play your role.
Just like on a basketball teameverybody's not the point guard,
everybody's not the center.
But if the point guard tries tostand in the paint where the
center is supposed to be, whoout there guarding the other
point guard from another team?
So it's a job not being done.
If you're not doing your jobAlways.
(24:32):
I totally agree.
That's where people don't getit and I'm like it's easy for
you to look on the outside andbecause you can do a little bit.
You feel like you can do a lotand I'm like no, and I always
tell people it's like weightlift.
Go lift weights with ShannonSharp.
No, it's a game changer.
Go lift weights with Dwayne theRock Johnson.
Go lift weights with Kevin Hart.
Go do their morning workout.
(24:53):
I want you to get up at 5 amwith them because Shannon Sharp
still got to do the nightcap.
You still got to do the ESPNstuff.
He's still doing club Shay Shay, so he ain't getting up at noon
.
Shannon Sharp got to get upearly because all his other
stuff happens during the rest ofthe day, so if he going to stay
looking like he look, he got toget up at 5 am to hit the gym,
(25:14):
so I want you to get up withthem.
So I want you to get up withthem.
Get up with Kevin when he'sshooting a movie, and he got to
get up at four.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Check.
Get up at two because you knowthey got to be on set, if you're
saying they got to be in makeupand getting a costume.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, that's.
The difference in thediscipline is when you can get
in and do your job to where itlooks so easy that people don't
realize your job is harder thanwhat they think it is.
If it looks easy, it's probablynot easy.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
I always, whenever I talk to musicians, bring up
stuff like this because I feellike it's just so common you
know what I'm saying Like I'm awedding singer.
People hear that and they havetheir mentality of what a
wedding singer is.
You know, they watch the movieand they think it's just kind of
this simple thing.
But I'm doing events like allright, great example.
(26:01):
This last wedding we just didwas in Mississippi, this
historical city, and we wentdown there and it had 700 people
at this wedding.
You know what I'm saying.
So it's this huge event.
We had a 13-piece band withthree horns and there's three
backup singers, three singers,me as the emcee and a full band
(26:24):
behind us.
And we don't rehearse for thosegigs.
You know what I'm saying.
I don't have a rehearsal eachweek for that.
Our rehearsal is the last gig.
You're just supposed to go home.
You're supposed to get yourmusic down.
You come in, you do the lastgig.
You're just supposed to go home.
You're supposed to get yourmusic down.
You come in, you do the damnthing.
And that's a normal weekend forme.
(26:45):
And I'm not saying that I don'twant people to hear that thing
and I'm just trying to flex, butI don't feel like people
understand just how grand thisposition I have really can be
when it comes to performing.
I can perform with anybody.
That's the way I will alwaysthink, because I do the
(27:05):
preparation throughout the week.
I'm drinking tea right now, myvoice is well-rested, I'm doing
my breathing exercises at night,I'm singing through my songs,
I'm making sure I knoweverything else that needs to be
taken care of when I get thereon Saturday.
I didn't start getting readythe day before.
I've been getting ready allweek.
You know what I'm saying and yousee people be like hey, dom,
(27:29):
can I get your band'sinformation?
I would love to have you outfor our wedding.
And I'm like, yeah, here's theinformation.
And then a couple of weeks, I'mlike, hey, did you check out?
Oh well, you know I actuallywas going to talk to you about
that.
Is there any way?
Like you guys could maybe likegive us some kind of like you
know it was very expensive, likewe might not need all of this
and that and this and that.
(27:50):
And I'm like what exactly areyou asking me?
What exactly are you trying toget at?
When you see the number that weare asking for?
Why do you think we're askingfor that number, what do you
think that number means?
And most people look at thatlike screw it, that number isn't
important enough to me, I'mgoing to go find someone else to
do it.
(28:10):
And then it's not the samequality.
And they're like why?
I mean it was fine, I guess itwas fine, but it could have been
better because you didn'tprioritize the quality.
I sang at a wedding once anotherexample where they had four
people sing at the wedding.
They kind of just ask take you,bless us and do a tune.
(28:30):
And it's a very close friend ofmine.
So I was like, yeah, I'll comein and I'll sing, I'm cool with
that.
And I sang one of my originalsongs, like, yeah, I'll come in
and I'll sing, I'm cool withthat.
And I sang one of my originalsongs.
But the people before me weren'tsingers, they just was random
people who performed.
They used to be theater majors,one who kind of still does
theater.
And then there was me.
And so they had a singing whenpeople were eating and I already
(28:55):
know how it goes when you'reeating, people ain't paying
attention to that shit.
But on top of that they askedus all to sing ballads, all of
us.
And so by the time it got to me, they had heard three ballads
and I was watching people likestart to over talk the the third
(29:16):
person singing.
They didn't care.
So I was like, alright, wait aminute Before I do this song.
Let me mix it up right quick,I'm going to do a little
something.
I need a soul clap.
I need one of those, baby.
And I made the whole audiencestart clapping and then I went
into you make me happy, like didmy, you know.
I changed up the whole vibe ofthe thing and I was like, okay,
(29:39):
I just I feel like I had to mixit up.
Now I'm going to sing theballad and y'all going to pay
attention to me, and then I didthat, and then everybody clapped
and people were excited.
It was fun, it was a reallyenjoyable day for me and
performance.
And after that the person cameup to me and not like I said I'm
(30:00):
not saying this to be mean,it's just something that I don't
even think they comprehendedwhen they did it.
They they were like man, you,you so good man, we should have
just had you do the whole thing.
It was like, yeah, but thatwasn't what you were trying to
do.
You weren't thinking about that.
You were thinking of how can Iget this money, do this without
having to spend too much moneyand have a special moment, and
(30:21):
there's nothing wrong with that.
But it truly is discouragingfor someone who was pursuing
this as a career to constantlyhave to face other people
telling you that what you do issomething that anyone could do,
when clearly they can't.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
It's not as easy as it looks when you get your hands
dirty.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Mike and I met back in 2015.
I had asked his brother to puta band together the week before
I was meeting with a popular StLouis singer God rest his soul
Kim Massey.
Mike and I had never playedwith each other before, but it
didn't matter.
He is one of the best pianoplayers I know in this country.
I always admired his skill andthe songs that we wrote together
(31:06):
are still very special to myheart.
Seeing Michael along the wayhas always put a smile on my
face, and this was a long timecoming for the pod.
So cheers to Mike and thank youfor tuning in.
Today it is officially 10 yearssince we recorded my first album
(31:34):
, sweet dreams 10 years, and Ididn't think about that until
this past week.
I'm like we did that in 2015.
It's two, it's 2025.
I've, I've.
I literally have a 10 yearproject that we worked, and
having you on this year is ablessing.
(31:55):
I just think it's incrediblehow many people I've worked with
, or people I know that I stillhave somewhat of a relationship
with and I still communicatewith, to be able to have you on
the pod.
You're one of the first peopleI'm going to have on the show
this year, and it's 10 yearsfrom us originally meeting and
working together.
It's just so dope, and I justwant to hear some of your
(32:18):
thoughts on what you rememberfrom that first recording
session with Kim Massey God resther soul From us chilling out
in the studio, because we livedin that studio for multiple
months.
It was constantly us working onstuff, you and I putting stuff
together.
I wrote most, not most.
I wrote all the lyrics and youwrote all the music and the
(32:41):
majority of the album.
You're the one playing piano onit.
What are some things that youremember from that experience?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
man.
Okay, here is one of myfavorite memories.
Well, okay, here's two.
Let me give you.
One was the amount of times wewould leave the studio after we
set up to let my brother,brandon, soundcheck the drums,
and we would go to that.
Oh man, what was that littlerestaurant?
Like Catacomb from the studio,are you?
Speaker 2 (33:07):
talking about the one with the little bun?
Yes, yes, yes, are you talkingabout the one with little bun?
Yes, yes, yes, I don't know, Iremember it, but I got the video
of y'all eating the bun stillwe, we probably went.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
I think we went there like every time we came over
there.
I don't think we had a sessionand we didn't go there and we it
was like half a block away andwe did not care.
And imagine this.
So it's four or five black guyswalking through the Maplewood
area at like 10 in the morning.
(33:39):
Yeah, we look like a bunch ofthugs.
I'm just saying from theoutside, looking in, we look
like a bunch of thugs.
We had on jeans and Tims andtennis shoes and baseball caps.
We don't look like the peoplethat are typically in Maplewood
at 10 am.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Nobody bothered us.
We walked over to the littlerestaurant, ordered our stuff
Eventually, by like the secondor third time, the folks asked
like y'all work over here, likewhat's up?
We were there so often so Iremember eating that.
That was probably one of themost hilarious things.
The the other thing was the daythat chris had to take the
(34:19):
guitar solo on.
I think I told, I think I'vetold that story like a million
times, oh man so so I'm gonnatell it from my side and then
you tell me how it was from yourside.
So we're in the studio andwe're working on.
Oh, what was?
Speaker 2 (34:35):
the song you and my nose.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Yes, so we're working on that.
We do the first pass.
Now chris is playing bass, andthen we go back and overdub him
on lead guitar.
But we were like before westarted the putting him on lead
guitar, he'd already played,played bass.
So the band essentially wasdone and you said I would love
to have guitar.
Chris says to me hey bro, I gotmy guitar in the car and I said,
(35:00):
ok, go get it.
And you're like, wait a minute,he plays guitar too.
And I'm like, yes, he got this.
And so your facial expressionsays I'm skeptical.
But you're like, you ain't ledme astray yet.
I'm going to trust you, but I'malso skeptical.
So that's the look I'm seeingon your face.
(35:22):
So Chris comes in, I literallywalk him through the chords.
Once he records the rhythmguitar part, fine, no problem.
You're like OK.
So you loosened up a little bit, you sat back in a chair.
It's okay, he could play guitara little bit.
And then you said it would benice if we could take a solo.
So I had a short solo in thesong and I'm like yo, chris,
after I take this solo, I wantyou to rip it, I want you to go
(35:44):
full on Jimi Hendrix and he saysI got my pedal board in the car
.
He goes and gets the pedalboard out the car and you're
like, wait a minute, he can sololike that and I'm like he got
it.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Just relax.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
And the moment he takes the solo, really cool,
first on a nice, you know mellowsounding guitar setting.
And then eventually I give himthis nod like okay, hit the
distortion pedal Full on JimiHendrix, now he starts to rip.
Pedal full on Jimi Hendrix, nowhe starts to rip.
And then you went, oh, the lookon your face.
(36:22):
So at this point I'm not evenlooking at Chris, because I
already knew.
I'm looking at you and you like, oh well, okay, yes.
And so now I'm laughing andBo's laughing, because we
already knew and Chris is fullon watching the screen.
And then we get to the partwhere you come back in and Chris
is like you want me to stop?
No, keep going.
And so he rips completelyunderneath all of your singing
(36:45):
while you're singingsporadically through the end of
the song.
And just to see the look onyour face at the end was like oh
, and I'm like, yeah, this iswhy we call him Two-Way, because
he played both guitars.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Yeah, everything you said is exactly how I remember
it.
The only difference for sure Imade a scratch vocal of how I
wanted it.
I was like this, this, this andthat.
So it was just crazy howaccurate he was towards the
scratch vocal, where I was justtalking nonsense.
And then he did everything Iwas saying and I was like this
(37:21):
dude is next level and for manyyears there was only a couple of
drummers I could trust to workwith.
There's only a couple of bassplayers I could trust to work
with.
There's only a couple of pianoplayers I liked working with,
because you work with somepeople and it just doesn't blend
correctly.
And so I knew my guitar playersand I didn't even know that he
did guitar.
So that was something I wasvery concerned about because I
was like I want this to be asolo.
(37:42):
That's incredible.
I want an incredible guitarsolo and that song I always tell
people that was the first songthat I wrote and recorded that,
(38:06):
yeah, he killed it the way itwas in my head.
That was just mind blowing.
I still hold that album, thattime period, very dear to my
heart.
I didn't know what the hell Iwas doing.
I drove myself into credit carddebt out the wazoo.
I think that really made itharder for me to continue to
make albums.
It made it harder for me tocontinue to tour and I'm trying
(38:29):
my best to kind of get myselfback to that.
Still, I feel like I'm stillrecovering from the payment of
that album and then the paymentof the second album, but not
thinking of it that way anymore,not seeing those negatives
anymore, just admiring the factthat we put something together
16 songs, a complete vision thatall of us worked out.
(38:52):
Each song that we worked oncame very easily to us.
Like I wrote all those songsand then when I gave them to you
, you was like, oh okay, I seewhat you're trying to do.
And you were doing it to thepoint where you were like making
songs difficult for the otherguys on purpose, cause you were
like this is just so much funwhen jazz I didn't have the
(39:13):
handcuffs.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Let's say, if you were a neo soul artist, I have
to stay within certainparameters for it to be
classified neo soul.
Or if we were doing gospel, Igot to keep certain stuff a
certain way.
When you're doing jazz, well,there's no holds barred.
So if I want to do full onclassic R&B, we can do that on
(39:37):
one song.
And then if we want to gostraight full on, straight ahead
jazz, acoustic piano, acousticdrums, we can do that because
you classify yourself as jazz.
Now here's another funny storythat I remember.
We were sitting in the studio,so it was me, you, chris Bo, and
(39:58):
you started to play us thesongs that the other guys did.
Yes, yes, we just vibed andlistened.
I'm like, okay, that's cool,this is good, this is good
Because, as a producer, it'sgood to hear somebody else's
idea.
So then you realize, okay, weain't too far off from each
other.
I like that One of the songs.
(40:19):
My brother says we need livedrums on this song.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
And he just walked.
So now, mind you, y'all didn'trecord to a click, nope, so
there's no constant bass.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
It's the song, baby you.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Yes, and my brother says I got it.
And so you looked at me, Chrislooked at me and I'm like he
said he got it.
So at certain points I try totrust the band.
Yeah, I trust you to be aprofessional.
If you say you got it, youheard it in your head, go
(40:54):
execute, Go do it.
He's the only one of us to dothat on that song, because the
rest I was like there's a piano,what am I supposed to dumb him
out?
No, that's stupid, Let him play.
He says this song needs drums,Walks in there.
I think he did two, maybe threetakes and it was over walks in
and I think he did two maybethree takes and it was over.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
He did two takes, that was it, and the first take
was the one we used.
It was crazy, dude.
It was crazy.
That's a good time.
I'm very happy for that.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
That was one of my most favorite albums to record
because we did it in the way Igrew up making records with
everybody in the room.
The chemistry, the laughs, thejokes, the fun, the synergy that
you can feel while you'resinging and we're playing at the
same time.
That's what made the albumsound better to me, because it
wasn't just like the way we cutrecords now, where I started
scratch track a piano, I call inthe band, then we overdub the
vocals.
It ain't no fun.
When you cut it with everybodyin the building, it comes out
better.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
That's going to be my next album was?
Eh?
It ain't no fun.
When you cut it with everybodyin the building, it comes out
better.
That's going to be my nextalbum.
I want to do it with the fullband and you've already heard
some of the tracks on it.
I truly want to create thatsame feeling from that first
album where we were in thestudio.
I had Bread Co, we had BobBagels from Bread Co and I had
them sliced up and we were ableto eat them and had the drink in
there, and it was just.
(42:11):
It was an honor, thank you.
(42:47):
Guitar solo.
(43:27):
Oh yeah, you are mine to lose.
You are mine to lose.
You are mine to lose.
This is, of course, that tunewe were speaking about earlier.
You are mine to lose.
That was the solo that my boy,chris Jones, performed and blew
(43:50):
my mind.
I was very proud and still I'mvery proud of this project and I
always appreciate Bo, chris,mike Ryan, jake, sam Spencer.
There were so many people whoperformed on Matt Gaetz.
They came out and played for meand I just appreciate them so
much for that.
That was an incredibleexperience.
If you want to check out anymore of my music or listen to
(44:12):
this on any streaming platform,you can.
It's everywhere.
Go, check it out, and you canfollow me for more information
on downlamore at downlamorecom,where you can get anything and
everything downlamore.
This is a new segment that Ijust started and I wanted to do
(44:44):
something where it was morepositive.
I feel like, even with thisshow being so open and honest,
there's sometimes where it'sjust the downer the whole
episode, and I'm like I want tofind a way to just put something
positive in the middle of this,no matter what.
So the segment's called youKnow what I Love?
The idea is that I'm going totell you one thing that I'm
(45:05):
crazy about right now.
You know what I love this andthat's the thing that's popping
off, and I want other people tokind of experience that maybe,
and then I'll ask you the samequestion what is something that
you love right now?
So I'll start off.
You know what I love AbbottElementary.
Do you watch this show?
Yes, abbott Elementary isfantastic and this season they
(45:27):
are doing a crossover with it'sAlways Sunny and it's already
out now.
I'm waiting for my wife becauseI love her dearly and she would
murder me if I watched theepisode without her.
So I'm waiting to watch it.
But Abbott Elementary is, on mymind hard and I love it right
now.
What's something you're talkingabout right now?
Speaker 1 (45:47):
You know what I love?
Squid games.
Oh yeah, Season two just cameout right yes, man, if you have
not seen it, I understand Ihaven't, I didn't watch season
one, oh, bro, you gotta watch.
oh so season two hinges onseason one and season one was
(46:11):
crazy.
So, without spoiling it, it'sabout some people who hit down
times and they want to win thismoney and they go into this
weird set of games.
But the problem is is if youlose you die.
So without giving away the restof the movie, that is the
overall plot of the game.
(46:32):
Someone wins and then in seasontwo he goes on this crazy John
Wick-ish type of hunt.
Yeah, I'm trying to say itwithout saying it.
It is crazy.
All right, if you like actionand a story that makes the
action viable, not just like aCall of Duty type of we just
(46:53):
shooting to be shooting.
No, no, no, no, there is apurpose.
We are looking for somebodythat.
That's why I said John Wiggins,because he's looking for a
person that.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
All right.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
But I love Abbott Elementary.
It's hilarious.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
All right.
Well, we've made it to the endof the show and I appreciate
your time.
This has really been somethingI wanted to do for this show and
I'm so thankful that you tookthe time out to make it happen,
and hopefully we can make somemore music happen this year too.
10 years is crazy, and I sawsome posts the other day about
how you know it's a blessing tostill have friends from middle
school and stuff like that, andI'm very fortunate to still have
(47:36):
friends from middle school andhigh school and college.
But even after college, Icreated these relationships with
people like you.
That is very special to me.
I can't hear that album withoutthinking about us recording in
the studio, the people we workedwith, the people that I haven't
seen since then, or everything.
So I appreciate that, and withthe last part of this, I do the
(47:59):
same thing every episode.
We've talked about what we wantto talk about.
We've gotten through oursubjects.
All I want to know now is howdo you feel?
Speaker 1 (48:07):
man, I feel great, man, I feel great.
Yeah, I got up like, I like you, I got up, feel great, I got up
.
Like you, I got up this morning.
I got up on purpose thismorning.
I feel great.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
I feel awesome.
That's what it's all about.
Hey, cheers to you, appreciateyour time.
You have a good one you too.
Bro, I want to thank you forlistening to the Black man
Talking Emotions podcast.
The opening quote.
Credit goes to Plato and shoutout to my guy, mike, for being
(48:43):
on the pod.
Follow Mike at Michael Harvey Ion Instagram.
Please subscribe to the podcast, share the podcast and give us
a good rating Five stars, please.
And thank you.
You can support the show byclicking the link at the bottom
of the episode description.
If you liked this episode, youshould go check out the previous
episode I did with Mike'sbrother, bo Lamar, titled Behind
(49:05):
the Music Standing Firm inArtistry and Tackling the Live
Stage with Dom Lamar and BeauLamar.
That speaks through very muchwhat the title suggests, so
check it out.
Follow me at D-O-M underscoreL-A-M-O-U-R on Instagram or at
(49:25):
DomLamarcom.
I'm Dom Lamar.
Much love.
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