The Impact Of Reality TV on Artists Branding with American Idol Finalist Jurnee live on #LocalMusicSomewhere

Q & A with Jurnee

Terry : Hello once again and welcome to the rBeatz Studio here at rBeatz.com for our show Local Music Somewhere, where we interview local artists and communities, the local music scenes, but we also interview people in the industry that have experience and can really, you know, let us in on some things that the artists need to know so that they can grow from the local level, if they desire to grow regional, grow national, maybe even grow international. So welcome to the show. My special guest today, I have two guests in the studio and one guest is an American Idol finalist and her name is Jurnee. We’ll delve more into that, who has been able to perform with Nick Jonas and Bebe Rexha and Leah Michelle. And she’s here with her producer/manager a Steve Gal, who is not only a guy that knows music, but he is this technical genius that is an audio and electrical engineer. He’s toured on sound crews for Green Day, My Chemical Romance. I believe even The Rolling Stones, am I correct? 

Steve : That’s correct. 

Terry : So let’s welcome Jurnee and Steve to the studio. Welcome, guys. 

Steve : Thank you for having us. 

Jurnee : Yes, this will be fun. 

We’ve been trying to do this forever. I first met you at a music event when you had first moved into this city and you’re from another music scene, so you’ve been able to get in a few music scenes. And with what you were doing, you have been one of the artists that I’ve seen be able to capitalize on the impact of what I call television talent shows. And so we’ll get into that here in a few minutes. And before I do that, Steve, talk about your degree. You come from a university that I love, which is Full Sail University. The gentleman who was my personal assistant, who is now the country music A &R, director of A &R for 1 RPM, and he’s in Nashville now. He’s had so many great jobs. 

I watched your interview with him. 

Yeah, he’s just become so knowledgeable in this industry, and he comes from there. And it’s one thing to get to the degree there, but once you come out of there, I’ve seen those guys go after some things. 

Yeah. 

But how do they prepare you that you’re able to do that? 

So, I don’t know if it’s the school that necessarily prepares you to be honest. For me, I can only speak to my personal experience, but it was definitely, you have to really be hungry. You have to follow through, network. You have to really want it because like everybody listening to this show probably knows this is not an easy industry. This is not a– 

It’s one that everybody’s trying to get in.

Everybody tries to get in and you just have to wanna do the work and if you’re not willing to work your little tail off, you are not gonna go very far. So I was very persistent. My first gig that I got out of school was a free internship at House of Blues in Orlando. 

Oh yeah, great place. 

And I work there. I saw tours come in. I had no idea what I was doing but like you know you you kind of learn and observe and after so many years you know it kind of happens almost naturally where it’s like, okay you know you get the experience— 

I’m seeing it in action. 

Yeah, I would say for those who are starting out like you just have to really want to be in this industry and really want to know what you want to do, for sure. 

Yeah, that’s it. Know exactly what your goals are and your plan because people will pull you into theirs. So, knowing who you want to be as you’re growing and you’re getting more knowledge, you’ll see how that fits. And in local music communities, what can happen is people think they’re advancing and they end up making themselves a cemented part of that particular music community and they’re gonna be there forever and not move outside of it. And that brings me to you, let’s start off with Jurnee. Let’s talk about how you guys started ’cause it was really, really young when you started singing.

Yeah, I started singing when I was two. 

Probably the youngest I’ve heard since we’ve been doing the show. 

Well, it’s weird. My mom always says I was singing before I was talking. And I remember that being true ’cause I could not communicate with her yet, but I knew how to mimic the sounds I was hearing in music. And so I was probably speaking full paragraphs and she was like, “What do you want for dinner?” And I was like, “Hmm, I don’t understand.” But– – 

French fries.

That’s still all I say is French fries, but I think I started when I was two. Did talent shows and things like that and then I think around third or fourth grade, my mom was really like, okay she wants to do this and she could do this. That’s when we started doing not just school talent shows, but the local library was having a talent show or the rec center.  

Getting you in front of people. 

Oh yeah. Always getting in front of people and I felt more comfortable in front of people because in my personal life, in small groups where I felt looked at, I ended up dealing with bullying and things like that. I loved big groups of people and I liked the distance and being able to create this thing on stage be my full self. Eventually at 13, I auditioned for X factor and made it all the way to the producers, but not the TV and then I auditioned for American Idol the first time. 

Yeah, that’s right. You were on it twice. 

Yeah, when I was 14 I made it to Hollywood week and I ended up getting eliminated group rounds and then I met my wife. I went back when I was 17 turning 18 and that was when I made it to top 7 and just kind of hit my stride. 

I thought you guys met here. 

No, we’ve been together about eight years now. I met her in Colorado, right before it was 2016 right before I was going into Idol. I told her I wanted to be a famous singer and she was like okay, hefty stuff. I was like well, I’ve done and TV shows before, but I’m about to go out and audition again, and you might see a different side of me. And she didn’t know what that meant, but when I go into audition season, it’s, I just turn off. I don’t feel the need for sleep anymore. I don’t feel the need to eat if I don’t have to. So that was kind of her job, feed, make happy, keep alive while I’m in this crazy rut and we’re standing and audition lines for hours and it changed my life.

You touched on something, talking about being bullied and I have found with you know singers musicians creative people of all types, they’re always bullied. The reason for that is there’s so much jealousy that comes that way because they’re getting attention, even if they’re emerging into attention, and it’s crazy how that manifests. I have seen so many people quit because of that. I even had one student that I was working with. Well, actually it was two. And they just didn’t want to pursue music because they didn’t like what they were hearing from their friends. 

Yeah, it’s almost an artist’s rite of passage. I think it’s the test that the universe gives you for what you will face if you end up in this industry. I think– 

Asking, “Do you want it this much?” 

Exactly. I think the people that go through bullying and choose to continue to go through bullying because you don’t want to and can’t change what you are.

Whereas like for me in middle school, I didn’t help my case. I wore a huge bow. I put strings in my hair. I wore tutus to class every day and I told everyone I’m gonna be famous. Not in like a obnoxious way. I wasn’t just walking up to people like, “Guess what about me?” Yeah, no, but I knew what I wanted to do and the bullying was painful and it was a super hard time. I didn’t want it to happen. I wanted to fit in, but I wasn’t willing to compromise what I liked to do. And I think that is what propelled me to be able to do Idol and things like that. And I mean, even at Idol, you go through it again, a different version of bullying. 

Yeah, there’s no bigger bullying situation. 

Yeah, you go through it again. 

There’s jealousy between the artists, not everybody’s your friend. And I’ve had friends with those shows and they’ve been good friends and they’ve had me bring people in for private auditions and I’ve seen the processes and some people have done very well and some people just don’t get it. What changed between the first time you were there and the second time that propelled you further? 

Well, one of the big things was the first time I was there, I was in the closet publicly, not with anybody that knew me, but publicly I was. And so there were a lot of things that I associated with being gay that I felt like I shouldn’t show because then people will know, or America voting. America’s a big region, it’s everybody, and not everybody loves that especially from someone who’s 13, 14 at the time. There’s a large crowd of people that are like, oh, okay not only is her parent letting her think she’s gay, but they’re letting her say it on TV and what is she trying to do? And you know, so I just I didn’t want to go through that whole cycle of things and that limited a lot more than it should have as far as my music and the way I was dressing and what I could talk about, what songs I wanted to choose. And then I think I was also just 14 and still being bullied. And coming to the realization that a lot of these people older than me are in a much better place to win this. And once this ends, I’m going to go back to school. I’ll be back in middle school, back in starting high school, and it felt like at the time, the only thing worse than telling everyone I’m going to go be on a TV show, everyone tune in is going back to middle school and saying I was on a TV show and now I’m in the lunchroom with you again. Back to reality. 

You know, I think the modern way with everything you see on the internet, social media, you’re able to see that those people, even though they come back, that’s their starting point, and they can grow into things. I’ve seen so many people from their beginning, you know, I knew ’em back here, but now they’re this, you know, multi -platinum artist or something like that, and I got to watch that journey. And that’s how it is. They go on these things, some things work great, and then you’re back.

I mean, I’ve known artists that got that big record deal, never got the album recorded. Came back, got another record deal, and then ended up being a hit songwriter. Instead of an artist, another solo group that I met through an indie radio station where they were having some chart success, they got at least two record deals. Then they finally got their album out and then the pandemic hit. And so they wrote a song about the actual pandemic that ended up coming out. Will Smith actually put it, you know on his Instagram and rolling stone I think made it possibly song of the year or something like that was something crazy during that time So it’s a constant fight. It’s like that Rocky speech where he says it’s about how hard you can get hit, still keep coming.

And that goes back to what we were saying like at the beginning of the show. It’s like this industry is not easy like you can like like work your butt off, and you still gotta keep doing it, even after you’ve had success, and even more so, like a lot of artists say, you know, you might have that first hit record, and it’s not the first one that’s difficult, it’s like the second and the third one, because now you’re, what do they call it, like a sophomore hit or something like that? 

You need to want it to a stupid degree. You need to have people around you saying, but didn’t you get like punched in the face in front of hundreds of people last time? And be like, yeah, that was hundreds of people. This time it’s gonna be thousands. Next time maybe millions. It’s worth it. 

And it’s the thing of, it is really about how comfortable you are with being uncomfortable. Because that’s what it’s gonna take to, because even after, if you could have 12 hits, but you still have to maintain a career long term, you don’t you know, a two to five year shelf life artist, you can maintain your fans. So you have those opportunities now, but you have to be that person. And what American Idol has done, well, any of those shows, first of all, let’s be real about the shows, incredible shows. But those shows are not meant to be about the contestant, really. The contracts that are paid, the good contracts are paid to the judges and they work hard to brand those judges. And those judges are artists who generally have a good career and they see that as, oh, I can build my branding even bigger, or I can maintain, or I can come back. Maybe I’ve been cold for a while, or lukewarm, and now I can come back and be hot again. And we’ve seen that, you know, play over and over in a lot of people’s career, and once they get hot, then they move back on the road and leave the show. So that’s the primary thing of the show. Another thing that happens, it could be a great thing if you’re somebody that can maintain and grow is this: When you’re on the shows a lot of times the judges promise you things are the mentors, you know the mentors they have on the side, they promise you, “oh you know when you get out of here we’re just gonna do this thing, we’re gonna make this album, we’re gonna whatever it is, I want to be your producer” and then you end up not making the top two or whatever it is are not winning the show and it was just like you came through and you passed through and you’re forgotten. You know a lot of situations, but if you became that artist that passed through heard those things and then we’re doing things on the side and then built things and you became somebody that was still visible, that interest could still be there and you don’t know how those paths will cross back. That’s what I like with what you did. You were very good at getting your social media started very adept at it. You’ve been doing great reels, you know still now is keeping you visible and you were able to parlay what you were doing with American Idol to transition it into playing some really good shows. When I first met you, you were singing on things that everybody was trying to get on but you knew how to use that to get into into that and it kept your branding good. There’s one event you do we talk about you and I have talked about which is you know I love John Tosco. We love John Tosco. 

Love John. 

Yeah and he has you bigger than life on this poster on the side of a building you know that has all the schedule for that year and you know it lists every event, but you’re the key thing on the poster and because of your different look it could be because of your  talent, don’t know but it looks great, and it’s on the side of a building and that really helps your branding. You know tourists are coming through, they’re taking pictures of that building, you’re there, you know, right on the side of it, so I’d be putting that on my social media too.

Yeah we got to get to work.

I’m very lucky I think that especially after idle I mean my wife and I were stationed in Korea for two years, right after Idol, which is why, musically, not a lot going on, but that’s because the social media was all I had connecting me to Idol. We had to leave the country, and then that’s right when the pandemic happened. And after Idol, like many people, I was given a demo deal and I was going to LA to record and doing all this stuff that was gonna be great and had these fully finished songs, and then the pandemic completely dismembered the company that wanted to do with me. Then I get shipped off to Korea so it was very strange ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’ time but I think for some reason, I don’t know what it is that I did during Idol but that’s 70,000 people that core number has been with number has been with me, whether I’ve posted, whether I haven’t, because they see some sort of value in what I’m doing. And being in this position now, meeting and working with Steve, I just want to feed them, finally give back and show them I’m still here and I care. And I know you’ve waited here this whole time. And my life has been crazy and all over the place. And we thought there would be music and then there wasn’t. And now we’re starting again. And I’m just, I’m just so grateful they stuck around because I don’t take credit for being as good at social media as it might seem. Those people really love me and I appreciate that.

Your content has been good. And things have changed. Tools have changed so much just recently that there are things that, you know, I’ll talk to you guys about off-air that, that will help even more with content and, and what you’re doing. Obviously, you have the look and the talent and the drive and the unreasonable attitude. I mean, unreasonable people change the world. Those are the people that get through that have that kind of stamina. And with that, do you find that the show has helped with people that attend your live gigs? I know it’s a little bit tougher with you due to the fact that you had to take such a break and then come back. And I’ve known you after the break, I didn’t know you during the break, but after that, has it still impacted the people that will come see you live? 

It has, it’s not as many people. The majority of my crowd is there just because they saw the picture, they know my Instagram and maybe they heard I did Idol. The majority of people that come see me don’t know they’re coming to see me. I’m a part of a group of an ensemble and I think I have a big impact because I am so different, but it is very cool to see the people and recognize people that I recognized from when I did Idol. To have people come up and still say I voted for you. I loved the show. I don’t know why you didn’t win, whatever it is. It’s just that support is still there. The funny thing is I see more of those people in sweatpants at the grocery store, then I do at a show. I think moving here, I’ve found a whole new audience of people. I think now as I’m doing more, my Idol audience and my Carolina audience are starting to meld and well.

And you’re in a city that’s becoming a music centered city, so it’s a great base to operate from. So, I do believe you chose well there. And with the other thing, one thing about the shows that I noticed with people in the past, and I’ve seen with your videos, you’re on stage performing with some great people and it’s a great demo still to this day, like with you and Nick, you know, doing Jealous together. That just the stage set up, the stage aesthetics, how everything looks and being in that and just hitting it. I mean, professional arts. 

That was my favorite performance. 

Another thing Idol did for you too was your first time you ever sang a fast song on stage and which is a big part of the show and a lot of artists, that’s a big adjustment.

So those kind of things have played into what you’re doing and with your brand and there are ways that can be impacted more. I do recommend these shows if artists can get on them. Just know your brand and know your social media and become great at that as you go because those kind of views coming on you, you have to be able to maintain them. You’ve done well since you’ve come back from your break but speaking of break, we’re we’re about to go to a break to hear from sponsors and and find out more about what rBeatz is doing when we come back. 

*break*

Welcome back to Local Music Somewhere, and I’m here in the studio with my guest,

Jurnee. And of course, Mr. Steve, and we’re going to talk about the project that they’re putting together, and we’ll start there, and then we’ll talk about recording. So tell me a little bit more of how this is gonna work when you guys play out live,

for instance. 

Take it away, Steve. 

Okay, well, we actually have a show Saturday. We’re playing at Slow Play Brewing down in Rock Hill, South Carolina. So that’s gonna be a big one. We’ve got a couple. We’ve got Pineville, we’re playing that with One Stop Live, those guys, Scooter Abrams and his crew. And then we’re gonna– 

Tell them about the big one.

We’re gonna be playing Charlotte Pride, the main stage, so we’re like really excited about that. 

Yeah. It’s gonna be amazing. 

Sorry, that’s August 18th. 

August 18th. That’s Sunday. Who are we opening up for, huh? 

Paula Cole. 

I didn’t know she was coming.

She’s headlining Sunday, and so we’ll be opening. We don’t know the schedule exactly yet, but been corresponding with their team. 

She’s such a great example of an artist that we were talking about. You have those hits and you want that shelf life. She’s had her radio hits or television theme songs but then of course she’s maintained that live thing. 

There’s a magazine that I subscribe to called TapeOp, it’s for like producers and engineers, and they do a really good job, but she actually had an interview on there and I was listening to her on a walk and she’s, you know, basically going through that whole thing about, coming up, being on tour and then having a hit song and then having to take a step back. I guess she had a family and kids. She talks about how right now they’re out on tour again, but like it’s not comfortable, right? Like they’re not in a tour bus. They’re in a van. Like even somebody who’s had that much success is still talking about the tough aspect of what we’ve been talking about. 

Right. But the reward, you know, you’re in front of those fans and to have them embrace that music and there’s no place like stage. You know, I don’t get to do it as much as a long, long, long time ago, but I still show up and do things just because I love being in front of that live audience. And you know, with that, when you’re an artist and you’re cultivating a fan base, there’s nothing like being out front, nothing replaces that. You know, that’s why you guys live through the pandemic just so you could see it all happen again. So let’s talk about the new project. What do you guys have planned? Like when are you going in the studio or have you started? 

I feel like today’s studio is like a loose term. We don’t have like a studio, but we definitely work at my house and we are planning on writing some originals and doing some signals. 

Well, your house is not like everybody else’s house.

No, it is not. 

I know. I’ve seen his equipment. 

It’s got a lot of gear there. 

My house, like a little house on a prairie where I just have an eight track.

Yeah. As if any house is compatible with recording a hit record.

Yeah, I mean, we have started on one song that we think is, we like, and we’re gonna continue to do that.

Yeah, it’s a very down to earth relaxing setting, which I think we prefer. We love the idea. 

It can make great artistry. 

Yeah, definitely. 

We don’t want the pressure of like having to deliver, right? 

Oh, that’ll come later. 

Yeah. (laughs) it’s Bon Jovi thing on Netflix or whatever, he said as soon as you start adding zeros, you know, then it becomes becomes a problem. But we just want to make sure that we can work to our pace. We want to kind of do everything ourselves. 

Well, that’s that’s the new economy that you can’t I mean it’s a singles economy. So they record one single a month just about and put it out and market it and by the end of the year they got their full album and then they repeat the process and go to the next thing. It used to be when I was involved in artist management and record labels and that kind of thing that it was like this 18 month marketing cycle. You spend the time to record the project you get all your stuff together the the TV bookings and all that before it even comes out and you have your event strategy behind it to, you know, have it so blown out, you know, blown up when it comes out that single last for a while and then the next single, next single and you have that kind of life. Now, people have such short attention spans, a movie like that Elvis movie, I love me and Patra Sinner talked about this, which you know, it’s a great movie but it lasted a week, you know, everybody was all up in arms about how great it was and then, you know, a couple weeks later It’s like they’re on to something else. So you have to do it different. You have to have something in front of them At least all that you know once a month. 

Yeah, I’m sure the time will come where that annoys me and I’m sure the time will come where it doesn’t as much, but I think right now I’m really grateful for that because I’m still trying to find my sound. I know that what I do is going to be different than what other people are doing and I have no idea how people will respond to that so being able to release a song at a time and in real time, see the feedback and see how I feel listening to it. 

I’m a fan of both. I’m a fan of the independent home recording all the way to the big studio recording. I feel it’s based on fan base and budget because you know back when even the early days of consulting, I would run into these artists that they had spent you know 30 to $50,000 maybe on their project and they didn’t even have a fan base yet. But you know, the studio we talked them into coming in doing that there’s a place for that. You know you will need that kind of money to be on certain radio outlets and things like that but you don’t need it for everything now. You don’t need it for streaming. You don’t need it for social. People love raw, you know, and so starting off, you’re able to do that, then build your fans and when that becomes feasible later on, you can take what you’re doing right there, take it in a bigger studio, even work with multiple producers on multiple songs. That would be really cool for you because you have such knowledge with it that you walk in knowing what to tell these people, what you’re looking for when you’re going in and you would be able to get guest performers in with you, but you’re starting off here and starting off there allows you to grow how you need to grow. And not to be starting underwater where you’re locked into a record company. 

The old bottle. 

Yeah, and they’re taking everything you have before you even get started.

And a lot of it is like, can we do this? Like I spent a lot of time watching YouTube Watching YouTube documentaries and videos everybody. Yeah, like some of the the best ones, Artifact by 30 seconds to Mars, that is a great movie because it highlights like those guys had massive success. They were in a legal battle with their record label and then they said you know what we’re just gonna take this album. We’re gonna do it in our house and that’s what they did. 

And not only that, but the lead singers an A -list big actor in a totally different side of things.

Well, yeah, but what I’m saying is like, it’s still like that grassroots, like I’m gonna do this. And I feel like, ’cause sometimes you can get overwhelmed, like songs come on the radio like, oh my gosh, could I get that sound, right? Can I, can we rise to that level of production in a living room or in a garage or whatever and like people like Billy Eilish. That’s the pinnacle of like production right in a bedroom and all of a sudden so like it is possible. 

Well, I have a friend in Nashville. He’s a great producer. He has this crew of guys that he works with and they’re all known in the music industry. But what he does with drums is he takes these drums out to an old abandoned mansion and records the drums there. And of course, you know, brings the tracks back to put into other things. But it’s done different than a lot of people think. And he’s been innovative at that level. Why couldn’t you be at any level that you’re getting to and come out with something totally different? Like you and I have talked about, what is that that we watched maybe it was Rick Beato, where it’s Collective Soul, singing through the toilet paper tube. 

Yeah, and the nice thing is, is, you know, the barriers of entry have come way down. And so, you know, people can sit in a bedroom and record a quality recording, you know? Now that doesn’t mean that everything’s gonna be a hit record, But I mean the barrier of entry is very low these days and it gives people the opportunity to be creative. So we’re hoping to capitalize on that. 

Yeah, it’s forward motion. And I’ll say this about a big artist that had that kind of budget or others who had it, it’s taken away, they had it, it’s taken away. Not everything you release is going to be great. It will be with some people, but not everybody. And at the end of your life, at the end of your career, they’re just gonna remember which are greatest hits are. Basically, what things impacted the most. They’re not gonna go, even Michael Jackson, they don’t go through everything.

You know, they, of course, a lot of people concentrated on the Quincy Jones produced albums, but he had hits off the others that he’s known for. They don’t talk about those albums a lot. You know, you don’t hear anybody talk about the Dangerous album all the time, but they’ll talk about Remember the Time, you know, or something that came off of that. So the point is just to keep putting stuff out. Your first thing, as I tell people, it’s not going to be a masterpiece, but without that first thing, you never have a masterpiece. And you’ll have hit and miss masterpieces. Even the great masters have had that. That’s why I’m a fan of the home recording situation, just because you have some freedom to learn and know what you want before you get, you know, to those aspect of things. 

And I tend to find the things that are workshopped or that you weren’t sure about or put out just for the sake of having something out tend to be the ones that blow up more than you would expect. I’ve seen people spend a lot of money trying to make a industry qualified perfect song and people not care about it. And then put something out just because they did a short little TikTok clip and people were like, “make it longer”. And they had to sleep over with a friend to finish it, put it out and that was what put things together for them. 

And that’s always like so interesting to me, like the whole, what do they call it?

When the creative, it strikes right like you could have the idea in like three seconds like oh let’s try this you know it’s because i’ve done it myself. i’ve sat in my little office and you know had my guitar and like sat there for three hours and it’s just nothing comes out that’s like decent you know and all of a sudden it’s like you go and yeah a couple minutes—

The one we were working on yeah we were we had a day planned for trying to make this song and we sat there and sat there and I said, “Steve, if I keep writing this, we’re gonna write something terrible. Let’s just work on it tomorrow.” And then I went to bed and I woke up and I was like, “I have the chorus, that’s come to me.” And it did, we meshed the two and it’s so cool. 

But what would you say is the style of your original music? 

See, style’s a better word ’cause I hate genre. I think it’s too much of a box and even so it’s a broader box than what it should be anyway. But style -wise, I like to say a witchy forest mystical night dark energy vibe. And that can be a softer rock. It can be melodic, it can have some folk sound, but I think the core of it is music by a songwriter and just that thematic, magical, somewhat dark sounding music. 

We’re big fans of Halloween. 

Oh, it is Halloween, that’s what it is. It’s Halloween. It’s haunted, but that doesn’t always mean it’s rock. It doesn’t mean it’s pop. It just means it all lends itself to the same universe, the same witchy Halloween town.  

That brings another question. Actually, we have people asking this question right now from some of the viewers.

Oh, we got questions? 

This is amazing. 

So who are your influences, your inspiration? 

Taylor Swift, I loved when I was young. 

That’s not very Halloween. 

No, no. It is not. When I was very young, I loved her for her songwriting. And I really like what folklore has. I like the world it takes you to. Artists that I love, as far as what I go for, Cindy Lauper, Bjork. I love Evanescence, I love Paramore, I love Bishop Briggs is great. Yeah, I love any artist that’s weird on purpose and has a darker somber side because I think pop music is great. I think hip hop is great, but I think the mainstream stuff lacks that darkness sometimes. The opposite side of the scale, there’s a lot of light, which is great, but only that balance can make the light worth it.

And Paramore has proven that that could draw. 

Exactly. I’m very interested in the shadows of music. I like doing what’s on the opposite side of the coin. And I think those are the stupid– 

A lot of minor chords.

Love minor chords. 

I was thinking that when you said Halloween and we were talking about stuff before, I was like a lot of minor chords. 

Nine Inch Nails, their production, especially on Halsey’s most, or second most recent project. They’re just type O negative. All those bands that made it mainstream to do weird crap. That’s what I love, so. 

Well, once this project gets done, I think we need to have a future conversation in which we break down how that’s worked and how you came up with the songs and it would be really cool.

That’d be cool. 

It’s gonna be a lot of weird adjectives. Like we really wanted this one to sound sparkly and purple and we ended up finding a lollipop drum set and that’s my language for music. And it worked. 

There’s an artist, should be an off the air thing and not on the air, but I need to hook you up with somebody named Mercury Carter because I think he was so different and he’s an he’s another one that does Tosco shows. He’s so different that you guys might be able to match on something that would be totally unique. I’ve seen him do a complete performance of Bjork like at the Mint Museum, so it was pretty incredible. Well I definitely look forward to what you’re doing. You’ve come a long way really shortly since you’ve been in the city and doing great things and I don’t even know how you two met because I know you both individually but I’m glad. 

It’s a dating app for musicians called Bandmix. Yeah, Bandmix. Tinder for musicians. 

It really happened this way? 

Yeah, I literally made a profile the day after I heard about it.

Say that app again. 

Bandmix.com. There’s another one called vampir, I signed up for that, but I kind of after I met Jurnee. I was like— 

I made the profile and you messaged me the next morning. I didn’t even have a picture up yet 

Yeah, those those two are pretty good and it’s hit or miss, you know. 

Well being you’re starting your life a thing again, you have dates coming up. What is your absolute dream venue to play? 

Oh my gosh, my absolute dream venue. Madison Square Garden, man. 

I knew you were gonna say the garden. 

Well, duh, I love the garden. It’s the garden. 

There’s three unions there. It’s so hard to do a show there. 

Coachella, that doesn’t matter to me. I’ll find a way. And then I wanna, for history’s sake, perform in the Viper Room. 

Oh yeah, that’s a good one. I like that. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. 

I know someone has done that. You know, they joke say that they thought they were like Jim Morrison in that day, but they weren’t the artist that they thought they were. They were still, still pretty incredible, but they got to perform at the Viper. 

That would be a dream, especially if I could get Christina Applegate and her original Pussycat Dolls there. And that’d be so cool the history of that place is remarkable it’s it’s incredible and it definitely is the epitome of the dark side I look at all the time. 

Well, this has definitely been an enlightening interview. I knew you two would be fun because you know I know your personalities before I even sat down and did this. With the unique things that you have and this man’s, I mean he looks like the UFC heavyweight champion, but he is just a brilliant guy. He definitely comes across that. I don’t know if you picked us up at Carolina Rebellion when you were involved in that or not. Anyway, thank you very much for being here. 

Thanks for having us. 

Just really cool knowledge for the listeners on the processes here and it was great that they had questions. So we will see you next time and thank you for tuning in and Keep on doing great things in the music industry you’re a fan of your music scene, go out and support those people and remind those artists that you don’t support them just because they’re local, you support them because they’re incredible. So until next time much love. Thanks.