104. - Rostam

All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Stateside with Kai and Carter, a new podcast from The Guardian. And they are using this podcast to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions that we all have about what's happening in the world. And they do it three times a week. Jason, does that sound familiar to you? We don't really talk about, you know, a lot of international global news items and climates and cultures and sports and things like that. We do talk about fashion and wellness, but for everything else, Kai and Carter are a great place. All right, so who couldn't use more news? Listen wherever you get your podcast. or watch on YouTube. Want to make a podcast? Spotify's got a platform that lets you make one super easily, then distribute it everywhere, and even earn money. We like that. All in one place for totally free. It's called Spotify for Podcasters. And here's how it works. Spotify for podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts right from your cellular telephone or your computer. So no matter what your setup is like, you can start creating today. Then you can distribute your podcast to Spotify and everywhere else, those other places that podcasts are heard. Video podcasts are also available on Spotify. And when you want to take conversations with your fans to the next level, Q&As and polls are the best way to get them talking. With Spotify for podcasters, you can earn money in a variety of ways, including ads and... and podcast subscriptions. And best of all, it's totally free. Zero catch. We've been using it ever since we started How Long Gone. And ever since I discovered Spotify for Podcasters, I feel like having the option of turning off the Q&As and the polls on the user dashboard has really helped boost my creativity and take it to another level. I highly recommend giving it a try. Download the Spotify for Podcasters app or go to www.spotify.com slash podcasters to get started.

All right, it is, what day is today? Tuesday, Monday? It's Monday. Tuesday afternoon. Jason, I just want to, you know, take a second to live, but I know you did return safely from your frigid Lake Arrowhead vacation. Barely alive. You have showered, right? Yeah, that was basically the first thing I did once I got home was... I bet. Turn that shower on, and I let the room kind of steam up for a good five minutes. You know the vibes. You've done that before, I'm assuming. You know I know the vibes. I shower a lot. Yeah, this guy is one clean boy. So I did that. I did a full shampoo condition. I moisturized it up, and then I put on some jammies, and then I just basically slept for 10 hours. it was it was really fucked up i mean the amount of energy it takes to not do anything alive it's kind of weird i'm glad that you guys didn't have to resort to you know i'm glad you know you didn't have to kill each other and eat each other or anything you know what i mean like because that that would have been bad for me yeah what is that movie alive Yeah, and what's the other movie with DiCaprio where he's fighting the bear? Yeah, I mean, it was called The Revenant, and that was basically a documentary about my weekend. I could not stop talking about The Revenant. I did the podcaster's version of sleeping inside the carcass of a yak. I mean, it really was that. I got to say the best feeling that I have felt in a long time was taking all of my layers off for the first time and taking a shower and putting clean clothes on. I had been wearing the same clothes.

For like two, three days. Yeah, no, that's a great feeling. And there was all the clothes. I couldn't change clothes because I had to wear all my clothes at all times. Oh, you know, I just wear all my chains in the house. Jason wears all of his actual clothes. The only change that I could do would be like switch up the order in which my layers are layering. That's about it. And now the drive. Down the treacherous mountaintop, no guardrails, TJ freeballing in the truck. I mean, what did it feel like? Was it touch and go? Did you think your life was going to vanish before your eyes? Well, we were doing some breathing exercises as we made our way up and down the hill. But, I mean, it took about a half an hour for us to get into the clear where the road was no longer icy. I mean, driving an icy... I think the chains that we had on the car were honestly making it worse somehow. They weren't. Were those chains, they were probably gold-plated. You know what I'm saying? They weren't 24 karat, and they definitely were platinum. You got me again, Chris. They were plated. It was fucked up. We tried to make the best of it, and it was odd. I got home. And we instantly made some broth and had a healing bowl of matzo ball soup for dinner. We ate dinner at like 4.30 or so. Now you're on CV schedule, baby. I mean, it was fucked. We ate dinner at like 4.30 and then did a little, you know, I hit the bong and watched a couple episodes of Netflix's Girlfriends, trying to really close that series out. And then... i woke up on the couch at like 9 p.m and it felt like i had been asleep for hours or days it was like you know when you like fall asleep on the couch and it's like four in the morning and you're like oh i best i better go to bed and you know finish up that that happened but it was at 9 30 9 p.m and then so you slept all the way through because this morning i noticed you were responding to my

Chris text at 5.15 a.m. when I sent you the chopped and screwed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Yeah, I was up at 5 a.m. with my brisk. I slept for 10 fucking hours and woke up at 5 a.m. You need it, bro. I need my TJ healthy and cognizant so that our podcasting can continue at a feverish clip. Well, that was more of me being upset that I got to experience what it felt like to sleep for 10 hours. Which is truly a big-ass nut, if you ask me. I mean, it feels amazing to get 10 hours of sleep. It's very restorative. But the problem is if I want to wake up at CB early boy hours when the New York elite media is just starting to rise and grind. I will literally have to go to bed at 7 p.m., which is just not really going to be in the cards. I thought every day you were grustling, but clearly that's not the case. Look, I am grustling, and as I get older, I'm sure my ability and desire to sleep earlier and earlier will change. But for now, 7.30 is still a bridge too far. But yeah, more importantly, you did send the 5 a.m. group chat. This is a glimpse into your... Jesus, don't cry. This man was like, all right, 5 a.m.? Cool. Here's where I send the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Chopped and Screwed album made by the guy who directed Moonlight and OG Ron C. Yeah, this shit is certified, bro. This is Chopped, not Slop. Yeah, well, this is certified doo-doo, if you ask me. But it is, honestly, because Turnt Tom sent that to us in the middle of the night, and then I woke up and redistributed it to another faction. For our listeners, the middle of the night is probably 10.15, but yeah, go ahead. You know Tom's a night owl. He's down in the dungeon making beats or whatever until 2 a.m. Turnt Tom is on a reverse Transylvanian schedule compared to us.

100%. But the Chop Not Slop Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was an insane surprise after all of our Wilco discourse last week on the Spotify music on How Long Gone Radio. So it did seem like something that was 5 a.m. urgent. Yeah, and it also felt like something that OG Ron C continues to rape and pillage from my breath of work. And this is no stranger. This is an example of that. A few things to note. Jeff Tweedy, the press image that I think Pitchfork or whoever posted it, the press photo of Jeff Tweedy looks like he's been sipping lean for I don't know how long because this man is looking... He could lose 120, and he's looking rough and ready. I've said this to you before about legendary Jeff Tweedy. He's lived a hard life, and I think that the fact that he's come out on the other side, he has a great relationship with his son, Spencer, who he also plays in a band with. I think you need to cut him a little slack. Yeah, we've all lived a hard life. I'm just saying this man needs to stop eating so many meatball fucking hoagies. Okay, look, now we can't agree that Chicago sucks, but don't come for Tweedy. Okay, do not come for Tweedy. You've come for Tweedy so much in the last week, I feel like there's something, I feel like you're a secret Wilco fan or something, and you're overcompensating. I just think it's funny to absolutely roast Wilco Jeff Tweedy. I just think it's funny that Jeff Tweedy, I don't know why, to be honest, as a Wilco fan, I did not need the chop, not slot. I saw the picture of Jeff Leaney and I'm like, this man wrote a song. This man wrote a song. I am trying to break your scale is what the real fucking song is called. Jeff Leaney? Jeff Leaney, he said, I am trying to break your belt loop. Snap, snap, snap. Jeff Leaney is so stupid. Failing Jeff Leaney. To be fair, I love Wilco, but I'm even more of an Uncle Tupelo head. Listeners, if you want to explore the Uncle Tupelo catalog... Make sure to alienate our audience even more so with more obscure references, please. Maybe jump into some Sunvolt as well. The other band that spawned from Uncle Tupelo's Untimely Demise. Something to think about.

We can move on, but I thought it was interesting. No, I don't want to move on. I think that this is an album that is bad. It doesn't need to happen. And the music that was made by Wilco 20 years ago on their classic album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, in my personal opinion, does not sound great, chopped or so. No, it did not. No, that's what I'm saying. I like that this entered our lexicon because it's... Funny, but yeah, I agree. Yankyoto Foxtrot is actually a classic. I think we can agree on that. And I don't think it needed to be chopped and or slopped. Yeah, and there might be like a personal connection for me to it because this also sounds like and feels like something a 2007 TJ might do if he gets absolutely off the shits and fires up the Ableton. He might make an unquestionable decision like this. Yes, yes. But also... I'm sure, like, I just want to be in the room with my man, OG Ron C., the king of Chop Knot Slop, waving the flag, the only official certified person to do it. Yeah, don't accept any invitations. Do not accept any invitations, RIP Screw. Yeah, waving the flag for Screw. Just imagine if I was like, hey, OG Ron, here's this album. I know you've never heard it. It's indie rock from 2001, but I think you should do a whole entire album and spend weeks of your time doing this. Jason? Jason? You're funny. Please leave. But if you're a guy who like... directed moonlight and you're like an important person with important opinions he can get something like this done he can get something like this green lit and just because you can do it doesn't mean we should jason first of all he probably paid him second of all i believe og ron c chopped it not slopped a version of classic man for the moonlight film oh Oh, that's right. So I believe Barry and OG Ron C have an ongoing creative partnership. Much like you and I, I would be the Barry Jenkins Oscar winner, and you would be OG Ron C, underappreciated underground legend. Much like Rostum and Clyro or Chris Black and Jason Stewart, it is a long-running musical companionship.

that the world does not deserve. No, we don't. But for some reason, these clowns get it. We were exchanging some music links in one of our group chats last week, and I have to say, you guys put me onto some cool stuff. No, I'm not trying to be funny. That Radiohead cover of the Smiths from that basement is fucking A-plus stuff. Yeah, I was actually feeling... That was one of the only things keeping me warm and alive was... considering that there was a small chance that Chris Black was slowly turning to be Team Radiohead. I know it's not ever going to happen. No, I mean, I told you, I think that sometimes Radiohead makes me so nostalgic for my teenage years that it's hard to listen to. Dead serious. I think at least the Benz is that way. But, you know, this is something we should get into with our guest. TLDR. All Chris had to do to like Radiohead was to hear them play Smith's music instead of their own. There you go. There you go. So our guest today is Rostam, the in-demand producer. He has a new single out called Unfold You, but his solo album Half Flight is a classic. He's the founder and producer of the first three Vampire Weekend albums. He produced the Claro album. He produced some songs from Maggie Rogers. He has an album with former How Long Gone guest Hamilton Leithauser. I think he produced shit for Heim. He produced some shit for, oh, on What's Her Name's album, Emotion. Oh, yeah, Carly Rae Jepsen. He did a couple of Carly Rae songs, one of the greatest pop albums ever. He did some Charlie XCX bops. And like Chris was saying, his album. We definitely, how long gone, rinsed the shit out of it. It was a really, really wonderful album. And we, both of us, re-listened to it for the umpteenth time today just to get our dick part for Ross Daddy. It did not disappoint.

It really didn't. All right, let's give Rostam a call. Hopefully he can tear himself away from the boards creating another Grammy album to talk to us for just a quick hour. We have a lot of gearhead talk to discuss. Yeah, let's talk vintage sense. If you don't like vintage sense, turn this off now. Oh, this is huge for me personally. This episode of How I'm Gone is brought to you by TaskRabbit. Oh, baby, let me tell you something. This is not a joke. I use TaskRabbit a lot. because I can't do anything. You need some art hung, TaskRabbit. You need a fucking something put together, a cabinet. Got to reach that cheese grater on the top shelf. TaskRabbit. Anything you need, TaskRabbit can take care of it for you. How it works, TaskRabbit connects you with skilled taskers in your area. They can help you move. They can assemble furniture, repairs, yard work, mounting, and more. You can search for a tasker based on cost, skill set, availability, and past client reviews so you know exactly who's showing up and can have confidence that they know what they're doing because taskers have assembled over 3.4 million pieces of furniture, completed 700,000 home repairs. handled 1.5 million moves, and the numbers are just going up, Jason. Yeah, throw a little money at the problem. It's not so expensive. And that job that you really don't want to do is something that another person out in the world is very good at doing and would gladly do it in exchange for a little bit of money. So when life happens, your to-do list grows. Get ahead of it now and get $15 off your first task at TaskRabbit.com or grab the TaskRabbit app using promo code how long taskers book up faster, especially for same-day tasks. So book trusted home help today. That is $15 off your first task using promo code howlong with the TaskRabbit app or at TaskRabbit.com. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Squarespace. Obviously, Jason, you and I spend a lot of time on the World Wide Web, sort of our peers, our listeners, our friends, our colleagues, maybe even your parents if they're freaky. And if you're doing anything in the world,

writing, taking pictures. I do topless boxing. You need a website. Exactly. A website that works, that does what it's supposed to do, that allows you to be creative, but also business-minded. Jason, there's one place to go for that, Squarespace. Yeah, Chris, I'm over here. I'm modifying calculators and putting Claude inside of them so you could cheat at school. And I just want a place where I could have everything all in one place. I can have the SEO tools. So those future graduates can find me and, you know, I'm able to accept quote unquote donations for my services that might be gray area. You know what I mean? And then email campaigns. Hey, I got a new, you know, 2.3 version upgrade. Boom, boom, boom. Get the analytics going. Raise some money. Show your investor all of your cool analytics of what's going on. They're going to want to get in early and we can use Blueprint AI to make your website look as professional as your competition, if not more. So head to squarespace.com slash howlong for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code howlong to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by a new podcast from The Guardian. stateside with kai and carter this is covering a lot of our bases jason it's a it's trying to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions we all have about what's happening in the world and i know you particularly have quite a lot of questions a lot of questions but how often because we do this podcast three times a week and that's a sweet spot how many times do they do three times a week and i i have a feeling just based on the platform and these talking points that they're maybe going to be covering different stuff than we do that's just a guess the guardian is not some billionaire owned They're not afraid to say what they want to say, brother. Yeah, Rupert ain't sniffing around in what journalists Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are up to over there at Stateside. But yeah, listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can watch it on YouTube. It's three times a week. And who couldn't use more news? Especially when it's not from here, let's say. Give it a listen. Give it a listen.

Oh! Yes, yes, yes. This is usually an Ableton-forward podcast, but that's because Jason's a recovering EDM addict. Look, I'm sure he's used Ableton, right? I love Ableton. I start songs in Ableton a lot, but then I finish them in Pro Tools. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you are a professional. Okay, I get it. Yeah, yeah, we need to. Jason, maybe you could learn something. Maybe we should finish all the podcasts in Pro Tools. No, well, I can't. I mean, I don't think you need to do side chaining to the various. Hey, you don't know what we're doing here, okay? You do not know what we're capable of. Where is the studio? Is this in New York or is this in LA? It's in Los Angeles. Yeah. Oh, you're in LA. Okay. So you moved to LA, right? I moved about seven years ago. Damn. Really? Yeah. I haven't lived in New York since I left kind of like on my birthday. No, it was like the end of November, 2013. I just think of you as a New York guy. I don't know why. It's part of, it's part of my, my identity. And I'm actually kind of cool with that. Although it's funny cause I haven't, New York's changed so much since I lived there. Yeah, sure. Was that your way of letting us know you have a birthday coming up? This is my birthday month. Wow, I'm sure the celebration is now. Have you already chartered the jet to Dubai or are you waiting for later? I don't do extravagant things, but I'm a pretty low-key guy, but the one kind of treat that I've given myself for the last three years is, I've gone to Tokyo for a week. Tokyo for a week is pretty good. So why don't you go extravagant? I feel like you've done a lot. Yeah, so for the last three years, I spent the week after my birthday in Tokyo. And then last year, it was the first time that my birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day. And so I brought my parents to Tokyo and they'd never been. And they kind of like sort of were responsible partly for my...

Japanophilia. Really? Were they into Japan growing up? Like, yeah, I think, you know, we've always been into Japanese food and culture and they had never been and I had been a bunch. And so then I just really wanted them to experience Japan. Yeah, that's a really nice thing to do. That's really nice. And looking back on it, like, I'm glad I did it. I mean, who knows when's the next time we could go to Japan? That is unfortunately the truth. We were actually looking into it this year because I thought it was going to be so cheap, and then they changed the restrictions and blah, blah, blah. So it's not possible. Yeah, what's interesting is the hotel that I like to stay in is really cheap. It's only like $120 a night. It's called the Shibuya XL. That sounds like a condom brand, but go ahead. Yeah, it really does. Well, it's spelled E-X-C-E-L. Like the sheets, Jason. Like the sheets. Yeah, I get it. The only thing I hate worse than condoms is Excel spreadsheets. Am I right, fellas? What's really cool about this hotel is the location could not be better. So you're in the mix. You're in the heat of it. You're completely in the shit. Your ball's deep in Shibuya. You are. You're like fully at the crossing. What are you so what do you now everybody kind of has their interest area when they're in Tokyo I feel like beyond obviously eating I think crosses all borders but are you buying gear are you buying cameras are you buying clothes like what is your what is your chosen vice. I do like clothes. So this t-shirt is made by a company called Capital with a K. Of course. Yeah, of course. Is this like a fashion podcast? Chris is an integral part of the menswear community, so he is quite familiar with Capital with a K. Yes, but I see that that t-shirt seems to have like a squash blossom necklace printed on it, correct? No, these are actually Crescent Moons. Oh, they're Crescent Moons. I'm sorry. Crescent Moons and then there's like one kind of weird smiley face. This is cool for you though. I like this a lot. Thank you. It's my favorite t-shirt. So what other Japanese brands are you into? So you're copying Capital. What else are we looking at? I like Capital. I like VisVim. Wow. I did not know this about you. This is interesting.

So now that you're making that John Mayer money, you're able to cop these expensive Johns. I like it. Exactly. I don't buy the whole collection. I get like one thing a year and then I kind of don't buy clothes for the entire year because I realized like I don't really like walking down the street and seeing somebody wearing the same thing as me. That's like the worst feeling. It's a problem. You know, as a basic dresser, I'm more of a uniform guy. So that unfortunately happens to happens to me. But I like to think that nobody can quite put the pieces together like I can. You know, what is your uniform? A white T-shirt from the Gap? No, don't come for me, Rostum. No, my diesel jeans. Yes, diesel jeans. Rostum, you can always find Chris in a nice crispy pair of diesels. No, my L.A., because I live in New York, but I've been in L.A. since July, so I'm here. It looks like, yeah, your apartment looks kind of West Village-y. Thank you, sweetheart. It's actually, the reason for that is it's a hotel at Los Feliz. Yeah, that's why. Exactly, exactly. Wow, they have hotels at Los Feliz? Look, I don't, we're going to get into this in a second. I really only know of a couple, actually. Where do you, what neighborhood are you in? I don't want to say exactly because soccer's and stuff, but I'm not far from you. Well, you know, I see your little gear set up. You let me know if I need to come lay something down. I'm pretty, I mean, I'm not like the best, but I'm pretty sick with it. Jason can attest. Okay, so you guys transition from being an EDM duo. Exactly. Now we're more of like a singer-songwriter. You know, that's kind of the vibe. I write the lyrics. Jason can play the guitar. It's sparse. You know what I mean? It's a sparse arrangement. I'm the only member of the EDM community. Chris, he's more into slow dive and stuff like that. You know what I mean? Yeah, I'm only into music that is made with guitars usually, or at least guitars are the prominent instrument. But I think that could be an age issue because I'm a little bit older. It's a lot of issues.

You know what's interesting? I feel like guitar has recently transitioned from being the cool instrument that all music wants. And now rock is less interested in guitar. Oh, you mean it's part of it, but it's not the driving force behind the song? I just feel like a lot of music that comes out that's not... you know, rock or even alternative is using guitar, like maybe like more than actual rock or alternative music. Yes. Is there, is there an instrument that has taken center stage and replaced the guitar? I don't know. I mean, I think that, I think that unfortunately the music I'm talking about came out. probably at least... When's my cutoff, Jason, on music that I like? What? I mean, I'm going to go... 2004? 2004. Have you ever heard the song by Ruben Studdard called I'm Sorry for 2004? Yes, I have, actually. And I think that was directed at me. Awesome. I thought we were going to be able to go one podcast without you mentioning Ruben Studdard again, but I was wrong. He can't help himself. He's out of control. It's unbelievable. I don't know how many hits you guys have made over the years, but I can't count them. I'm thinking about Ruben a lot right now. You know what I mean? I'm thinking about him a lot. Well, guitar is, I guess, did you grow up playing guitar? Could you play guitar? You'd be surprised how much guitar I've played on records that you love. Oh, I think this guy plays it all. So you can shred. You're saying you can, are you shredding? Are you just, are you playing? Like, okay. The way that I look at it, it's like, I don't see, like, I see like making a great song as the goal. And if that means playing guitar, I can play guitar.

Recently, people tell me I've gotten better at guitar, but I've probably always played about the same amount of guitar on whatever projects I'm working on. To me, the one thing I never learned was how to shred Van Halen. Sure, sure. You're more of a rhythm guy. I can do more Hendrix-y stuff, but I never got into the Van Halen-style shredding. I was actually at a point... When I was a teen, I had this great guitar teacher, and he would teach me anything that I wanted to learn. And the first thing I wanted to learn was Counting Crows, Mr. Jones. Let's go. High and Dry. Okay. Something for all of us. You're in our zone right now. And Machine Head by Bush. Another classic. Underappreciated classic. So he was really cool. He tabbed out. all of those songs. And he was like, okay, I'm going to teach you these. You're going to learn these. But then for me, you got to learn Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix. Interesting. One for you, one for them. Exactly. And then it got to a point where the next thing on the docket was me shredding. And instead of doing that, I just said to him, I must have been 17. I was like, I just want to learn music theory now. So you were like, I don't want to be a hot dogger. I want to be a soul surfer. As it pertains to a Jackson or an Ibanez. Exactly. Yes. Yes. You want to play from the heart, not finger tap. Well, I mean, yeah, maybe. Yeah. Don't sleep on the tapping. We love to finger tap on this podcast. Don't worry. We do. We are. We're pro tapping. We love a naughty little harmonic blast. Okay. All right. All right. Some pinch bends. Some pinch bends. But yes. first instrument you learned to play was guitar or did you learn piano first? I actually learned the flute first. And I started the flute when I was like about six or seven. I was like very early. I wanted to learn flute. And by the time I was 14, I was like, I never want to see a flute again. Why were you so flute forward as a youth? What happened to you? I think it had to do with...

my brother started playing the clarinet and he was older. And so I was like, I want to play something like the clarinet, but different. And you wanted to be, you wanted to stay in the, is that a wind instrument? Is the flute a wind instrument? Yes. It is. You want to stay in the family. Who's to say? And then, yeah. And then I just like burned out on flute, but I, I mean, I did have love for it at the time. Yeah. I still got love for the flute. I still got love. It's very easy to get burnt out on the flute. So wait, what were you listening to? Were you listening to like Radio Alternative? Because it sounds like if you're requesting Bush and Radiohead and Counting Crows, then that's what you're into. So as a kid, I was really into the Beatles. I was really into Octung Baby. Wow. When fifth grade hit, I got super into Nirvana and everything. It was like 95. So I guess Kurt had died already. Well, Rossman, I'm a big Nirvana fan, but Chris and some other people who listen to the show like to believe that failing hole is better than Nirvana. What say you? I think that... No, don't you do it. I don't need to say what's better. You're not a fucking politician. You do need to say what is better. We're actually asking exactly that question. It's a very simple question. Are you saying I think Billy Corgan's songwriting is better than... Oh, do not fire shots at Corgan like that. Do not fire shots. That joke is in the head. Yeah, that's for the heads. But Billy Corgan can write a damn good song. I think we were actually... What was that we were listening to the other night, Jason? That Smashing Pumpkins video Mikey sent us of them playing. What song was that they were playing live? I think it was Disarm, but it was like a real crunchy, like a real grungy, crunchy, like stompy version of Disarm. So good. But Hole is preferred listening for me. I find Nirvana to be not that interesting, but also in 95 it was very interesting. What you got to think about with Nirvana is there was so much music that ripped off Nirvana after Nirvana that we've experienced every watered down filter. Yeah, that's true. Even Nickelback would be like, we love Nirvana.

They're the Beatles of our generation. It was impossible not to be influenced by them. Have you experienced any personal run-ins with Courtney Love, though? I was in an elevator at the Chateau Marmont with her. It's just one-on-one. Did you say what's up? I was scared to speak. I would be, too. She'll cut your throat real quick, won't she? I would be scared, I think. But I saw her play in L.A. like a year ago, and it was... bad unfortunately and she played the songs i wanted to hear and they did not sound good walk me through what that's wait was that at yola fest yes it was at the yola it was at the because i'm a big we're gonna get into this because you're you're the god of this shit right now but i'm a big female singer guy you know so that was really that was really the place for me it had cap power it had courtney love it had licky lee you know were you there i was in fact the song that licky lee opened her set with was a song that We wrote together and I produced, and it was the first song from her record. Damn. So it was pretty awesome to see her open up the show with that, and it was like people were screaming. It was awesome. Which Licky Lee record did you work on? The most recent one, So Sad, So Sexy. And the song is called Hard Rain. And it has actually a really sick video, but there's one part in the song where I got Licky to rap, and she lip syncs for exactly three seconds in the video. And like three seconds of the rap. But if she had lip sync the whole rap part, I think I would have really lost it. I wish she had. It would have been better for you, you mean? No, I just wanted to, because I feel like that rap part is like, it seems like it wouldn't work for her. But together, like we worked really hard to make it work and make it fresh, but still in her world. And then I just wish that she had lip sync the whole section because there's something like really impressive about watching her do that. And she does it live, and it's awesome when she does it live. I like that song, actually, off that record. Thanks, Danny. I'm well done. I don't know. I actually don't know that. I'll go revisit. I'll revisit. But, I mean, I think that record, is it a year ago you said it came out? So Sad, So Sexy. I actually don't know how many years ago that was now. Maybe it was a little bit more than that. It all kind of blurs together.

Well, I mean, that's what happens when you're in the lab just grinding 24-7, bro. Ross, I have some LA-specific questions for you. Where do you think has better Persian food, LA or New York? Okay, so here's an interesting thing. I don't know if you guys know this about me, but my mom writes cookbooks. Oh, I know. That's why I asked, baby. We do a little bit of research. We don't just listen to music, okay? We can read, too. So I think what's interesting about just... It's always revealing when people are eager for me to weigh in on what restaurant has the best Persian food. But the truth is, the good Persian food is not had at restaurants. It's had at home. It's had at home. And there's actually not really a culture in Iran of restaurants. And in fact, one thing that was interesting was like Italy, for example. Like the idea of going and sitting down and having a seven course Italian meal where you get like one pizza course and you get a pasta course and a salad course and a meat course and a sofaseta course and a dessert course, all this shit. Like that is very much a creation of like American guys like Paul Bastianich and Mario Batali applying a French mindset to Italian food. Oh, shit. Ross Mann knows more about food than I do. Are you supposed to know about food? Jason, not only as a recovering EDM addict, he's also a known entity in the food world, Ross. I just love food and I love talking about it a lot. And then I saw that your mom is a cookbook author. So it did get me excited, I will say. What do you think is better, Bestia or Bevel? Hopefully neither. Oh, you're one of those. Bessia is one of the most overrated restaurants in LA. Bessia is a good restaurant for people who live in Orange County to come enjoy the rough side of LA. I gotta say, I'm a hard disagree with you guys, but...

If you catch a weird menu or an off night, I could imagine not liking it. I do think it's one of the best restaurants in LA. I've heard a lot of good things about Bovel, and maybe I've had a little morsel or two from there, but I've been to too many disappointing bestia dinners to really say anything good about it, unfortunately. But I love to be a hater, you know? Well, Rostam, what's your take on Felix? I've never been there. I've heard about it. Is that in Venice? Unfortunately, yes. I'm more of a mountain man. Rest in peace, mountain. MTN? Yeah, I think it's closed forever is what I've heard. You know, that restaurant, I actually had been there a couple times and I really liked the food, but the vibe was weird. Rossum, I'm starting to get your L.A. restaurant vibe, and so far we're off to a bad start as it pertains to my knowledge. Do you love Felix? Do I need to go there? No, I just want to, I mean, so you're a little bit more on the east side, right? I mean, I like some stuff that's further west, but yeah. I'm just trying to get a feel for you. Are you a Taco Bell or a Del Taco guy? I don't really fuck with either, but sometimes Del Taco, I've had it. This is pretty good. Okay, In-N-Out or Shake Shack? Oh, this is a very easy one for me. Oh, don't you do it. It's got to be In-N-Out. Yes! Wow, Rossman does it again, two for two with TJ's questions. Rossman, I had In-N-Out just yesterday. Do you like Shake Shack? Hell no. Shake Shack's bad. I think Shake Shack is low-key kind of bad. Sorry, guys. No, no, no. We love to hate on Shake Shack. Yeah, I think it is kind of bad, and it's kind of gross. Their veggie burger has cheese between two portobello mushrooms. Yeah, I leave Shake Shack, and my body does not thank me, and I just ate a full double-double combo yesterday with fries and the whole thing, and I was like, I could eat again.

Damn, you're making me want to get some protein style up in this bitch. Okay, well, that's actually a good transition because my girlfriend and I were both saying like, you know what, we should probably do protein style moving forward because we're just eating a lot lately. I want to talk to you about fitness. I know you're playing a little bit of tennis. I want to talk about diet stuff. What are we doing to stay Cali healthy? Or are we just being Kali naughty? No, I would definitely say something that's been a game changer for me has been intermittent fasting. And there's an app called Zero that I really like. Have you guys heard of this? No, I can imagine what it does, but walk us through it. We're both fast daddies. Neither of us eat breakfast or lunch. I don't eat much at all if I can help it. But I eat a real fat, nasty dinner every day. Yeah, he does. Yeah, Jason's got a wild, wild stomach. Are you a 23-1 kind of person? No. Actually, kind of, yeah. I mean, for breakfast, I have black coffee. For lunch, I have coffee. And then for dinner, I've saved up all my calories. And then I can just really eat whatever I want. And I do. I'll have dessert. I'll have ice cream. I'll hit the bong and eat some cake. Whatever it is, no problema. Sounds like you found the secret to life. I can't put Wade on. He's 6'9". He's got all kinds of body problems. Damn. What does your fasting schedule look like right now? I let it go a little bit last week. I'm getting back into the zone. I would say try not to eat until 2. That's good. Yeah, that's good. Like I'll have to drink. So have you guys ever heard of this drink called Celsius? Yeah. Yeah. They sell it at berries. They sell it at berries. It's like a, it's like a pump up drink, right? Well, it's basically like Red Bull, but with natural flavor instead of artificial flavor. Yeah. This man said a pump up drink. I've had it, but I've had it pre, I've had it pre berries before. They said that's the only place I've ever seen it. Yeah. So it's like pretty much sugar free. And.

I don't know. Somewhere along the way, I got into having one of those before I work out. So I'll probably work out between 11 and noon every day, and I'll drink one of those Celsius. And then I recently got a dog, and I take my dog to puppy preschool. Damn, bro. This rock star life is hitting different. Yeah, the grind never stops. I like it. So my puppy, I have to wake up at like... between 8 and 8.30 and get him to puppy preschool by 9. And then... Does this happen every day? No, five days a week. Holy shit. So you might as well have iced coffee. So you hold on. You get in the Lambo truck. You take the puppy to puppy daycare. And what kind of iced coffee? Where are you getting an iced coffee? There isn't a Lambo truck yet. It's an SUV. It's called Urus. Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. He gets in the Lambo Bruce. Oh, sorry. Lamborghini. What what iced coffee are you guys? Do you guys want to talk cars? Because I'm really into cars. No, I think being into cars is really nerdy and I'm shocked. Rossman, we are going to talk about cars. I'll make a note of it. So before we're done, we're going to get into Ross Daddy's whip game. It's so nasty. But by the way, this seems like a good time to correct you. My name is pronounced Rossim. No, no, he knows. No, I'm calling you Rossman as a term of endearment. But I know that your name is Rostum. Can we dead that? Yes. Hold on. What kind of car? Do you have multiple cars? At different times in my life, I have. Now, I recently joined the Teslarati. Are we a model Trey? What do you think? No, you got the gull wings. I think you have the Y. I do have the Y. You have a nice, lumpy little Y, don't you?

Is that the new one, guys? I'm sorry. We didn't do all black on black, did we? No, I have never owned a car with a black interior, and I hope never to. I have a hatred of black interiors, especially in California. Because it's too hot, or you don't like the way it looks? It's both, yeah. Yeah, I haven't been inside a Y, but I love driving a 3. All right, so we got multiple Tesla people. What about you, Chris? Are you a Tesla guy also? Chris is, since I'm here only temporarily, I'm renting a small Mercedes baby mama style SUV. like a tesla in theory but i don't something about it doesn't sit right with me to be honest yeah the elon musk of it all well that that well i mean i guess i've been in jace i've been in yours a bunch i guess i haven't driven one that much so i think that changes the musk of it all is is a tough hill to get over but just the feeling of really hauling ass in those cars is is something special don't don't you think I think it's an extremely well-designed vehicle. And once you get used to not using gas, it's very hard to imagine. Pulling into a stinky Chevron? Yeah, that's like 20 minutes of your week that you never have to worry about anymore. What about what do you do with your weekend cars then? Because I'm sure those are, you know, your Mercedes convertible. I mean, what do you do with those? Well, I don't, I mean, I'm. I had a BMW that I'm actually in the process. I'm going to sell it. But I did have a Porsche for three years. Damn, bro. Midlife crisis early. So we really are a car boy. I like it. Well, so the Porsche thing was like, I always wanted to have a convertible. Yeah, I get that. And then this song that I did with Hamilton Lighthouser called In a Blackout. it was in an apple commercial so you blew the bag damn this is actually going to be one of my questions which so it was just kind of like all of a sudden like this crazy amount of money shows up and you're just kind of like you know what i got to do something with this money i got to get my porsche so it was a new porsche yeah so i got it in 2017 and i and i or it was a 2017 model i got it in 2016 and i i had it for three years and then i gave it back it was a lease

That's actually a pretty responsible way to blow that money. I'm proud of you for that. You got what you wanted, but you gave it back. You didn't lose your ass on it. It's a win-win. What color did we go for? It was a color called Graphite Blue Metallic. It was actually a new color for 2017. I don't think they make it anymore. It was kind of a unique car. The interior was light gray. You really are a full car guy. I like this. Did you put rims on it? No, come on. The wheels were beautiful. I had to ask. I don't know. Some people like everything custom. Okay, what is your dog's name? And what is his Instagram? I'm going to give it all. And what is his or hers or they's breed, I should say? My dog's name is Rahm. R-A-H-M. Like a manual? Yeah, I was about to say. It's funny. Yeah, I guess that everyone says that, but no, it has nothing to do with Rahm Emanuel. I'm sure it doesn't. That's just the most famous Rahm to an American here, I suppose. It would be really cool if you were like, yeah, after Rahm Emanuel. Exactly. That's what I named my dog after. So he is a mutt, and I got him from the LaBelle Foundation. Oh, yeah, yeah. She's my friend's wife. Tight. What kind of dog is it? It's a mutt. He's a mutt. Come on, what's the combo looking like? He kind of looks like a third-sized German Shepherd. Oh, okay, I get it. Sounds very manageable. .3x scale. Exactly. Have you had a dog before, or is this your first foray to the dog arts? I grew up with, we had two German Shepherds. Did you train them by whistle or by the German language? I didn't really train either of them. I was too young. But my dad got very into teaching our second dog, Izzy, how to heal. And at one point, Izzy would never walk in front of my dad. She would always be at his side, which was pretty awesome. Yeah, that's iconic. That's the way you want the dog to trot.

I wanted to talk to you about drugs. Do you do any drugs, Rostam? Well, I know we have a mutual friend, Jeremy O'Harris. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Hamilton did the show as well. Yeah, Hamilton did the show as well. So did Hari, who was the star of your video. Oh, my God. So many connections. I love it. That's right. We're connected, baby. So you and Jeremy do a lot of drugs together? Is that where you're going with this? I was going to tell you that we went to this amazing town in Mexico for Christmas and New Year's. And we got really into these mushroom chocolates. And I can't say too much more about that. I can't even reveal the name of the town because it's that iconic. But I will say this on New Year's Eve. The entire. like the entire beach turns into a party. Look, we've been to Tulum. Okay. It was not. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Just kidding. A lot of people talk about how Tulum was ruined. Cause everyone, everyone like sort of like got the seat, the secret, like, yeah. So you, so you were, so you were in like a remote, like weird little random village. Jamie XX is DJing. We're, we're taking lots, we're taking some special mushroom chocolates. But, The first time I ever took mushrooms, this is kind of a funny story. I don't think I've ever told this publicly, but I'm happy to. I had gotten into Columbia early decision. Flex. Congrats. Flex. I worked really hard. I had a 4.1 when I applied to college. I worked really hard. I knew that I wanted to just get it out of the way, apply early, and then fuck off. And that's what I did. And there was a sophomore, once I was a senior, there was a sophomore who was like, I've been growing mushrooms underneath my bed. And, you know, I did not believe that he was. Yeah, I wouldn't either. So I then proceeded to tell him on a Monday that if he brought the mushrooms tomorrow, I would take them that night. And he did.

And on a Tuesday night, I trip pretty hard alone in my bedroom. Might be the best way to do it. One thing I didn't know about shrooming is that you, and everyone's a little different, but for me, I really can't eat anything when I'm on shrooms. Yeah, I have no appetite at all. I mean, that's one of the things I love about mushrooms because I feel like I'm always hungry otherwise. Yeah, the only thing I want to put in my mouth on mushrooms is a nice, juicy American spirit cig. One after another, baby. I thought you were going to say something else. You thought I was going to say a nice meatball sub, didn't you? But no, no, no. I'm talking about smoking cigs and chain smoking. Were you in a dorm room, Rostov, or was this like an apartment? No, this was at my parents' house. Oh, way worse, way worse, way worse. And then so my mom calls me down to get dinner, and I guess I hadn't thought it through. Have you guys ever heard of Arrowhead? Arrowhead? Arrowhead.org. So it was like this website where people shared their drug experiences. And this is like... I call that... I call that Narcotics Anonymous, but I know what you mean. This is like... I gotta tell you, this is like the year 2001. Oh, okay. So it's like a .org. It feels like a message board. Yeah, it was like a message board where people talked about their drug experiences. And I also didn't believe that the shrooms that this kid was growing underneath his bed were gonna work. Sure. So you're like, yeah, I'll eat these right before dinner. It's not gonna do shit anyway. So... i'm like tripping my face off i am like reading about different people's drug experiences and then i see like some people are like throwing up as part of the process some people are like i can't eat for it i think i remember to this day i remember it said like it's a seven hour thing it takes seven hours for the shrooms to clear your system and you can't sleep until the trip is over that's all true

Yeah. Did you go to dinner? So then I went down and I just started laughing. And I was completely uninterested in eating. And I eventually just got out of it. went back upstairs. And I think a few years later, I told my parents, like, remember that time where I came down to dinner and I was laughing? I was on mushrooms. They were like, we know, sweetie. We know. We know you were actually crazy. You didn't even touch the Fessinger and of course you were on mushrooms. Exactly. That is exactly right. I didn't touch the Fessinger. Did you finish college? Yes. Wow, I'm impressed. You assumed that after that mushroom trip, I was just a total waste away. Exactly. You were fucked. You started buying invention synthesizers and you just smoked weed and you never left the house. I was worried about you. Well, one thing that did happen in college which surprised me is I stopped getting incredible grades. Is it because you developed a social life? It's because he traded the Adderall for mushies. Exactly. What changed? The social life aspect? Okay, so since we're talking about drugs, I never did Adderall in high school. I never got prescribed it. But somehow in college, I did freshman year, I started taking it to write papers. Classic tale. Classic tale. And I pretty much never wrote a paper without taking Adderall. My entire college experience. And I actually don't think I've done Adderall since. Well, there's no reason to. As much coke as I did, Adderall never really appeared for me, Jason. I don't know why. That just was never really around. Yeah, I only did it on accident. I guess we didn't go to college. That's part of it. I feel like it really is like a study drug, though. You know what I mean? It really is. That's where it came to prominence, for sure. Yeah, the only papers you did were freaking backwoods. That's true. I was rolling papers only. That's exactly right. Exactly right. So are you guys both stoners? No. He is a recovering stoner and drug user. He's sober now. And not just Cali sober, full sober. And we both used to be straight edge. Hot. That's hot? Yeah, I think it's cool to be straight edge.

I agree. There's a difference between cool and hot, though. But yeah, thank you. I think that we should take the remainder of this podcast to talk about the difference between being cool and hot. There's a lot to soak into, isn't there? I'm going to need an Adderall for that. That's what I need an Adderall. You're going to need to snort an Adderall. But now I do drugs, not very often, but I do them, and Chris is full sober. But I do smoke weed, and I was planning on taking mushrooms last weekend, but... My weekend getaway didn't work out so well. What kind of drugs are you doing in the stew? Are you smoking the loud pack to get creative? You know what's funny? I read an interview with Daft Punk many years ago, and they talked about how one time they took ecstasy before they got in the studio, and they felt certain that they were making the best music ever made. And they said that after they came down, they listened to the music, and they were like, this is garbage. That's happened to me with a lot of drugs. That did kind of stick with me. I think drugs are cool, and I like drugs, but I don't think it really makes you make better music. I probably think you're right. Like you said, I think it makes you think you're making better music, which some people, that's all they need. But the reality is different. I think you can use drugs to kind of birth the little baby idea. and then just leave it sitting there and then come back tomorrow with a clear head and then you're able to kind of mold it and shape it into something worthwhile. But otherwise, yeah, I wouldn't do it to completion. I just ate a bunch of mushrooms. Here's my cool idea. Write it down. Get the MIDI file typed in and then go to bed. I mean... I, historically, all my favorite musicians have used drugs heavily, but I don't know what that means. I don't know if that is just part of the lore or if they were actually doing it, you know, in the studio to help themselves be creative. You know what I'm saying? Well, yeah, I think psychedelics can open your mind in a, in a broader, more long lasting way. And it doesn't necessarily mean you got to be like high on acid while you're.

playing a g chord you know yeah yeah i agree yeah yeah thank you for putting that into perspective for us yeah i mean i think you can you can take the experiences that you have and you know apply them to your life and more broadly and i think it it has a long lasting impact what do you so if you're working on if you're working on music and you have an idea where do you where does that go first like where do you do you hum a melody into like the voice note do you play something does it all for you baby what's the vibe what is your go-to capture um you know i have a piano in my living room and i have another piano in my studio i always i mean i have like about 10 guitars in the studio so i'm always able to make or just to have something to kind of like play with and collect ideas i usually make little voice memos either the guitar riff or like a little piano idea or sometimes i'll just hear drums in my head and i want to build a song out of a drum beat that i hear in my head um and and i would say in the last six years a lot of the new songs that i start it's it's oftentimes like i'll be in a room with some with an artist and we'll just kind of sort of feed off of each other and i'll you know i'll think about like what kind of song would i want to hear from that artist as a fan and and if i start an idea that they're into it usually like you know it becomes a song if it goes well yeah i mean I think Jason and I are both, we were very big fans of your solo record in 2017. We listened to that record a lot. Half Light was a classic in our households. Yeah, it's a good breakup record. It really is. I was going through a divorce and that shit really was like my soundtrack to that for an extent, for a period of time. Well, that's exciting because we can talk about the sequel to Half Light. That's why I know it's coming. I know it's coming. Are you talking about Full Light?

but i think that that was your first i mean that was your first real solo music correct it wasn't in a band or was it for someone else yeah that yeah that was that yeah that record and i mean i kind of started releasing songs from it back in 2011 yeah yeah but the but actually so the second one is now on there's the single obviously we talked about earlier that has hari in the video but when is it when is the when is it dropping the full lp the long player it'll be next year Next year? Come on, y'all. This year's our... No, no, I know. We don't have that kind of time, buddy. Are we talking about Q1? Are we talking about Q2, though? Man, I don't know. We already started talking about Trump and conspiracy theories. I don't know. I'm just kidding. We can talk about that. I think it's... Is it done? oh man i don't want to think about that too much right now it's close i will say it's very close close is good close is good enough close is good enough i just want to update as a fan i'm looking for an update you know what i mean i think here's one thing that i think about my first record i feel like there was a lot that i needed to learn about even though i had been producing albums since i was 22 i'd never really made one with myself as the artist and I think that experience actually taught me a lot. So I'm kind of psyched to have kind of like a little bit of perspective and be able to be like, hey, like that was really cool, but that wasn't really a song. That was more of like a vibe, but we need to make that turn into a song. I get it. I get it. I mean, you've made some little interlude songs that are like a minute or two minutes long, right? Um, yeah. So like on this record, actually, now that I'm thinking about it, there might be some things like that too. But are there, are there going to be more guests this time around since you've, since you've brought in your network so much, or is it going to be along the same lines? Actually, no guests, except for one. There's one, there's like one person.

who's kind of a part of the record in a very cool way, which I just feel like it's too early to talk about. Don't talk about it. Look, if you got Paul Simon back to come back on album two, that's awesome. We don't have to mention it. I'm a pretty huge Paul Simon fan. Was it hard to get a sample from the P-Man? You know, he was very cool about it all. I think he's a very cool person. I'm really glad to hear that because that sample blew my fucking mind. I was like, this shit is lit. That is just a real A1 sample that I'm sure... I wonder if people have tried to get it cleared before. I don't know. I'd never heard it used that way before. Well, it's interesting. I'll tell you one Paul Simon story because I love that record, The Rhythm of the Saints, which is where that song, Don't Let It Get To You samples. It's a sample from Obvious Child, which is track one on that album. And I really love that album. And I grew up listening to it as a kid. My mom and dad were always playing it in the kitchen. But when I met Paul Simon in 2008, when we did SNL, I asked him about that record. And I was like, I really love that record. It means so much to me. And he had an interesting take where he was just kind of... I think he really felt like Graceland had gotten all of the love. And that people weren't really ready for that record in the same way, musically. Maybe he felt like he'd taken a risk and people just weren't ready. But I actually kind of think that record is, in some ways, like... I like the vibe of it much more than Graceland. I think I agree with you, actually. I mean, I think I agree with you in some ways. That's funny, though. I mean, anyone of that level, like, looking back on their career is such an interesting thing to talk about. You know what I mean? It's, like, kind of mind-blowing to hear him say that to you, I'm sure. It was very mind-blowing just because, like, yeah, those records are, they're very special. And I think his career is so special. Like, who do you know that at 38 made, like...

the most iconic album of their career. Like you never expect that from anybody. You don't. Was that, was he hosting the show and you guys were playing Vampire Weekend was playing? No. So he and Lauren are buddies from way back. Paul's just always there. He's just there. So we were sound checking and I turned to our drummer, Chris, and I was like, I like turned, I swiveled my head. I was like, who's that guy in the baseball cap sitting in the bleachers? And I was like, yo, Chris, I think that's Paul Simon. I was just like kind of whispering to him like, yo, Chris. This is when you were there with Vampire Weekend, I'm assuming? Yes. So this would have been March 08. So Paul Simon, big influence on Vampire Weekend. So him watching you guys soundcheck on SNL is kind of an insane moment. Huge. It was cool. I mean, we did kind of have this weird feeling like people. people were obsessed with saying that our record sounded like Graceland, the first record. Yeah. And we were like, not exactly, but like, of course we love that album. Like, but it doesn't actually sound like that, but people just didn't really have that much reference point. Sometimes it takes years for, for an album to breathe like a fine wine, you know? It's true. Did you do, did you do SNL again? Did you do SNL with, you did it with Maggie Rogers too, right? Yes. I've been on SNL four times. Jesus. We talked about SNL a lot here, and I've never been, and it's a real thorn in my fucking side. But what would you say, of the four, when did you have the most fun? Who was the best host? Wow. And we're going to need a Lauren impression next. No, Lauren impression is a must. You know, it was interesting. I will say this. One thing that was unique about playing with Maggie Rogers was that in the past three times that I had done it, Lorne had never changed the order of the songs. But with Maggie, he kept changing it. I think one of the reasons SNL is what it is is because he really does care. Yeah, he's involved. He kept feeling like it was better to switch the order, like one song might work better.

first or the other song might work better second and and it kept happening like so between the rehearsal and like because one thing about SNL is like there's a lot of dress rehearsals as you can imagine there's like camera blocking on Thursday and then you'll run through the show on Saturday like you'll do a full run through of the show and there's always like two or three skits that get cut before the you know the main the taping but yeah i will say like he kept changing the order and it was a little nerve-wracking yeah i was gonna say that seems nerve-wracking i mean because that was her first time i mean that was maggie's first time on snl i'm sure yeah and she did it before her album came out which was pretty cool but there was one of those performances went on to be like a big deal right like the one where she's wearing the dress i can't remember which song it was i think that was falling water that was yes falling water yeah falling water was the one that people were really losing their minds about and that and that was second or did it end up being first or it ended up being second and i think that like i think that that was like it was good ultimately that it was second yeah i mean i think they're every every every artist playing there's one they have their two songs and you kind of know there's a feeling of like this is a song one and this is a song two like this is Song one is the big hit that everyone to grab them by the balls and then song two is for the real heads, show their range, etc. What did Nirvana do as their second song? Damn, I don't know. Jason, look that up. It smells like Teen Spirit and then maybe in bloom? You know this as a musician, but SNL is historically hard to be good on. You know, quote unquote, is what people say. So what's interesting is that people say that, but I've developed a relationship with the sound mixer. You hacked the system is what you're saying. No, but he's actually really cool. And I think people are afraid to be communicative with him. And I remember when we did SNL the third time, I actually was renting outboard gear and bringing it to the studio. And we were like... Vibing.

We were using these distressors on the drums, and I'm pretty sure we added an AMS RMX-16, which is this old classic reverb. And we made it sound really good. I mean, I actually have never watched the third time. Wow. Yeah, I just, I don't know. Some of these things, you're just like, you know what, I can watch that 10 years from now. It's not going to go away. It's not going to change. Yeah, that's probably for the best from time to time. I think you're right. It looks like song two was Heart Shaped Box. But that wouldn't have... Was that? No. Because they must have played it twice. They maybe played it three times. Because when they did Smells Like Teen Spirit, was the second one in bloom? No, I think it was Territorial Pissings, actually. Oh, hell yeah. You're right. I think you're right, Jason. And SNL knew that they were going to smash all the gear on stage for song two, so they swapped out the amps with cheaper models. And then Cobain punctured all the heads of all the speakers with his guitar head. Damn. That's the next level. See, people used to do cool shit like that. Yeah, remember that? SZA's never going to do that. Her is not going to break any amps, that's for sure. Do you miss touring at all, or would you rather be at home in the studio? I love touring my record Half Light. I got really into that, and it was really fun and rewarding, and I'm kind of psyched to do it again whenever that rolls around. What was the setup like for that? Was it just a full band? It was really weird, I'll tell you. It was a string quartet. Sick. And then I had a drum setup, but the drummer didn't have a snare drum or any cymbals, but he was kind of like playing samples, and he also had a tom, and he had a djembe. We called it the insect. That does sound pretty crazy, actually. Djembe is a great world music style drum.

Yeah, it was really fun. I can't wait to do it again. I'm ready to get back out there. And I think I might have a full band the next time I get out there. So you haven't been thinking about doing any drive-in movie car tours or anything like that? Let's get into it next year. I'm down. But I have this vision of my string quartet being these kind of like... having the ability to get up and put their strings down and walk over to band instruments and then just be the tightest prog nasty band. That's very cool. That's a great idea. I think you can make that dream come true. Yeah, I'm ready for it. I love those guys that I played with that play strings. I don't know if they know how to play band instruments, but I think it'd be kind of fun to teach them. Look, if you could slap a harp, you could slap a fucking... p-bass you know what i mean you would like you would like to think yeah yeah you would like to think so uh i also want to talk about claro because i really love that record so much too um and i feel like i do love that record and i loved making it too and it's really interesting to me because the single now is like charting you know it's like a year later or more it's like a billboard song now um and Did you, is that a surprise to you or is that how it works sometimes? Or what are your, what are your thoughts about that kind of stuff? Well, I think with her, like the first time I ever heard her music, it was probably the song Flaming Hot Cheetos. And I just kind of, I like heard something in it. I was just like, it just hit me really deep. And I was just like, I, this, there's something about this voice that. It reminds me of like my, I don't know, it reminded me of my childhood in a way. But it also felt like there was something familiar and comforting about her voice. And I was just kind of like, I don't know, let's see what she does. And I just couldn't stop listening to those early songs she had. And then it all, yeah, it happened kind of organically that we ended up making a whole album together.

Yeah, I did think it would be very successful just because I liked it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, yeah, bro, I fucking liked it. I mean, I just think that, like, there's a few things that have, like, floored me and that record, like, floored. I was like, this is it. Like, this girl, it's going to be huge. And I'll be honest with you. I do think that some of these, like, you know, straight white male rock critics. And even like female rock critics, I was kind of disappointed that they didn't want to let her in. Like they didn't want to open the gates for her and be like, this is a classic album. And I think I think they will with time. But I definitely felt I did feel like that it's harder to be like nobody was calling her a genius. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I felt like I do think she's a genius. And I think people should. I don't know. People don't throw that word around about women. I would agree with you. I would agree with you. I think I remember when that album came out, it kind of did have an energy about it. Like it was just like, it just sort of appeared one day and it was like a band camp kind of discovery. And it almost had a little energy of like, this is just me limping in a little bit. And, you know, I'm not a fully developed artist yet. And then that could be a reason why. But I mean, obviously. Women don't get as much recognition as men do, especially in criticism. But I think she's just starting, and that's already a glimpse of how amazing that album is. It's a classic. It really is. Are you going to make more music with her? Yeah, we've talked about it. I think it'd be fun. Where does she live? Does she live in Atlanta? She travels. She spent some time in London this year. For some reason, I'm from Atlanta, and I feel like she had some Atlanta connection. She does, yeah. She does live in Atlanta part of the year, too. I don't like saying where people live, because I don't know. Sure, no, I understand. When you're a musician, you're kind of living where... Wherever you are? Yeah, sometimes you have to be, kind of. And I also think there's something important about it being okay not to...

say too much about your life no i no i agree with you i mean i think that that is actually um something that has ruined modern celebrity is that we have too much access and there's too much information out there there's no mystery left yeah these goddamn podcasts are fucking it up but i mean and we respect that but there is i don't know what it is about just wanting like you saying like oh i live in la all i want to do is just talk to you about la stuff so but i want you What East Side restaurants do you like? I'm curious. Let's go all the way back. I like going to Rafi's place for Persian food. I would say that is the best Persian food in LA. I took my parents there and they were like... Yeah, it's solid. I mean, that's as good of a review as you're going to get from people who, you know, from somebody who's written cookbooks about Persian cooking because, you know, I'm sure there is much better Persian food out there in the world than Rafi's, but I haven't been able to find it in Los Angeles. That's for sure. Yes, it goes back to that thing that I was saying about the restaurants. And I do think America has trained our brains and maybe actually the French are most responsible for this. But our brains are trained to see like the apex of food being at restaurants. And when you think about it, that is kind of like that. That's like the. The analogy would be, like, the best sex you'll ever have is with a prostitute. Where's the line? But, I mean, the best superficial, but, you know, you're never going to have that real connection of the roots of, you know, having penetration sex with your life partner or eating a roasted chicken that the love of your life has spent all day cooking for you. You know, it's something that evolves and transcends just pure flavor. And hopefully one day I will cook a bird for you, Rostam. I'll go easy on the sumac. Jason is a great cook. I have to be honest. Are you cooking at home? What's the chef game like? I have made, well, so I make a pretty flawless taddee. Damn, okay. That was actually literally, I had like three questions written down and three topics. And one of them was,

I need tadig tips because it's one of the, I'm usually okay at cooking things and I cannot for the life of me even make a decent one. What do I need to know? Okay. You need a rice cooker. Okay. Got it. A Persian one. Okay. Don't got it. Or actually, I don't know. I think you can find out my mom's website or in one of my mom's books. They'll tell you which kind to get. What's the promo code? I pretty much do have the recipe memorized. Four cups basmati rice, five cups water, one tablespoon salt, and between a quarter and a third a cup olive oil. So you put it in the rice cooker and you stir the ingredients for about a minute. Okay. and then you just leave it. It takes about an hour, and you're good. Jason, I'm not a chef. I'm not a chef, Jason, but that sounds pretty straightforward to me. Would this be considered cheating if you're using a rice cooker? No. Okay. He said no, you idiot. So you would need a special rice cooker to do this then. I mean, is it cheating when you hire prostitutes? That's a good point. But it's something about – I feel like you should learn the fundamentals before going to – Before having... I'm not talking about you personally. Before going to the red light district? Yeah, yeah, Jason. Jason, you have to masturbate before you get a prostitute. I need you to teach me how to kiss before I start sucking, is what I'm saying. I didn't know that was... Yeah, Jason, you made it sound like he was about to give us this insane, challenging recipe, and then he kind of lined it up as pretty straightforward ingredients. I do like that you have that memorized by...

Without even having to look at it. And what do you love to eat the tadig with? Are you a gourmet sabzi guy? Recently, I've been enjoying making salmon. And I like using turmeric and sumac on the salmon. Like salt, pepper, turmeric, and sumac. That's kind of been one of my favorite. How do you cook that salmon? You can cook it on a grill or you can cook it in your oven. So we're not, we're not doing a pan saute butter basting in the sumac. You can do that if you want. That will come out good. That'll come out good. I mean, salmon, salmon is one of those interesting foods where it's like the fat content to, to make it cook is kind of like built in or to make it tasty is like built into the protein. Yeah. If you get the right cut of salmon, there's a lot of lean salmons that are no, no, no, no good. But also I'd recommend if you're anywhere near the east side, visit the Fish King in Glendale for a fine piece of salmon. Okay. That's a good tip. I'm down for that. Okay, good. Rostam, thank you for joining us. It's been a pleasure. We covered a lot of bases. We did. We really did. Drugs, Teslas, and salmon, baby. You also make music or something? That's cool. It was a true pleasure. Honestly, as much as we joke around, we're really big fans of you and your music, and we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Yeah, we do. I... Damn, come on. Don't hit us with the eye. This guy's a fucking hater. No, no, no, no. That's like a very celebratory eye. Oh, I understand. I'm sorry. We mistook that. I apologize. Our bad, as usual.