"Arcade Fire"
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Hey, Sean. Sean. Yeah, go ahead. You know that what's been really, I think, catching people off guard is some of our intros. No, well, no, some of our intros because they've been... Welcome to SmartLess. SmartLess. SmartLess. SmartLess. SmartLess.

Hi, everybody. Hi, gents. I'm feeling particularly lucky this morning and fortunate. Just, you know, walking to this room with my laptop knowing that... Me too. Which just, we're so... Me too. It's embarrassingly lightlifting what we do here. We get to just open up our laptops and talk to...

People we want to talk to that you'd otherwise have to wait in a long line, a long autograph line to speak to. I also feel very fortunate today. I was having, I'm going to be real with you guys. Uh-oh. I was having a tough morning. Music cue. Uh-oh. Tell me about the tough morning. I was just having, just everything that's going on and I was just having a very tough morning and I know that we always start joking and people don't want to listen to it, but I was...

About the world, you mean? I'm going to be completely honest. I was having a very tough morning today. Did you stumble across a newspaper? I made that mistake a few times recently. He loves Cartoon Network. I know. And every once in a while, someone will leave the TV on CNN. Yeah, I can't. I don't know. It was that and just life and...

Everything. What's the main, what's the headline? I got a lot to choose from. Jason and I had a long conversation yesterday about it. And I was just like, I woke up today and I, again, I think I mentioned it the other day. I'm a naturally optimistic person and I've been, it's been tough. And Amy said to me, my ex-wife, Amy, said, um,

She said, you've been, how are you feeling? And I said, I was over there yesterday. I said, I feel really irritable. And she said, you know, for guys your age, depression often manifests itself as irritability. And I was like, it really struck with me, and I'm like...

Maybe I'm depressed. You're not depressed. Am I? Well, I don't know. I've been depressed and you would know it. It's an all-encompassing weight that you just, you're constantly taking inventory and you're like, boy, there's just, it's sort of like, it's usually unsubstantiated. It's usually just kind of brought on by some sort of, I don't know, I'm not a scientist, but I think that there's,

There's chemical shit and all that stuff. If you're not a scientist, this fucking show is over. I will say that Will, and then we can get light, but I will say, Will, you do an incredible job of navigating all the things that could trip you into self-loathing. You do a very good job without burying your head in the sand of...

You look at those things honestly. You don't hide from them. You take them at face value. You assess them. You try to fix them. And you stay very positive. Also, Will, you've gone through these before. I know. I've seen you go through these before, and it doesn't last very long. And everybody has these. So you can't be like up, happy, positive all the way all the time. I think it's normal to have these little moments of,

And then you come out of them, you know, but when you're in them, you have to remember that you come out of them, that you can. Yeah, that's the tough part. Well, thank you. Thank you both. I love both you guys very much. And also just because things aren't perfect doesn't mean things are wrong, doesn't mean things are bad. It just means that's just life and we're all normal in that there's, you know, plenty of things that are pear-shaped and then there's other things that are perfectly round. And the ratio is what you need to look at. You just described both my body parts. I know.

I keep I'll leave you with this because our guests are probably like Jesus Christ what have we stepped into but I was thinking like I've been really trying to do that thing of there are certain people as you guys both know in my life who have made it there's some difficulties and I'm like I've got to try to make them my guru I have to I have to make them my it's the only way out what does that mean

That I have to make them, that I learn a lot, that they are teaching me something. You know Dawa, who's in our life. Dawa said years ago, I said, I know it's really tough for you to work with this other person. She said, yeah, I was going to quit a long time ago, and I called my dad, and I said, Dad, I don't know if I can work with this person. They're too tough to work with. And her dad said to her, Dawa, how will you ever learn patience if you don't have someone to teach you? Yeah. And I thought, fuck. And she told me that, and I couldn't stop. I was like...

Thank you, Dom. And I went to the other room and just immediately started crying. Yeah, also you have to meet people where they are, right? So like if someone's a type A and you're not, but you just have to kind of meet them halfway, right? So about the last, as you guys know, and you guys have been on this thing with me, again, it's not like now for a very special SmartLess, this Thursday, SmartLess.

On a very... Takes it down. But I've been going through a lot of stuff, and I was in Atlanta, and I was thinking a lot of this stuff really kind of came to the surface, and I was thinking about all this stuff. And I listened to a record that...

really touched me, kind of talking about "Meet You Where You Are," -really hit me where I was-- -Is it the soundtrack to Willy Wonka? It was-- Yeah, have you heard it? -Yeah. -Mm-hmm. -It was-- -I love that you were spinning vinyl down in Atlanta. I wish it was vinyl, but I was sent this record, and I started listening to it from the first track all the way through, like you listen-- We used to listen to albums in that way, and that's what I did with this record, and I had a-- And I listened to this.

And every step of the way, every song was hitting me in this place. And I don't know if it's because where I was at, but it really spoke to me in this way that I've never experienced before in a first time listen to a record or a song. Oh, wow. Song by song, it was like, holy shit. At one point, I thought I was going to have to pull over

Because I was so emotional. It's making me emotional thinking about it. - Wow. - And I ended up reaching out to the people in this band because I was like, "I have to talk to them and let them know what an impact it's had." And this is a band that I've really admired and listened to since the day I-- From the moment I first heard one note of their music, I was completely engrossed with what they were doing.

This is a band that has a lot of members in it and has had various people from time to time. But at the core are two people who I think who met at a time in their life where they just, it seems to me, and we'll find out, that they just creatively...

They came together and they... It's like this combustion, like this thing happened and they just started creating incredible stuff. Simon and Arthur. They're Canadian, partially Canadian. Garfunkel. Mostly Canadian, but... Is this Ace of A's? They are...

incredible writers, incredible songwriters. They're poets. I guess they're philosophers. - Yes, I know exactly. - And they're rockers and they hit me in a way that also is in like strikes every indie rock bone in my body. And I hate even putting that classification, just music bone in my body. They're the incredible, they represent one of the greatest bands

Keep it together, Will. It's Winn Butler and Rajin Chasain of Arcade Fire. Of Simon and Garfunkel. There they are. Gosh. Yeah. Hello there, Simon. Oh my gosh. Hello, guys. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Hi there. Garfunkel. Art, you look amazing. This day has been... Art looks amazing. I didn't... Like, seriously, Art...

Wait a minute. That new wig art is just stunning. I have to tell you, Will, I have to tell you, of course I know who you are. Will's like, you've got to buy this album. I bought the album. Is that iTunes? Yeah, exactly. It's not a buy. You bought it? I did the same thing. That's so cute. Yeah, I bought it.

That's adorable. But you can't buy them, right? I didn't know people did that still. That's amazing. Well, how would I get it? I don't know. Because if you just have like Apple Music subscription. I don't. I have to buy it. Okay, hang on. Okay, hang on. Go into settings. No, but isn't that the way it is now? Because I was surprised.

I was like, boom, there's the album. And does this add to your library? Yes. Boom. It was done. I didn't get charged anything. I know it's all the music of all recorded history for like $10 a month. It's awesome. It's ridiculous. Oh, really? Is that why? Is that real? It's awesome. And that's why touring is so huge now, right? Because it's the only way that bands can monetize their music anymore, correct? Aside from the piece you get from the subscription services? Yes.

Yeah, you don't really get paid for streaming unless you're Drake. Right. I think he gets, they pay him. Oh, really? They worked out a deal where all the money, all the money just, yeah, we tried. And, and,

The lawsuit was, yeah. So it's merchandise and touring, right? Mostly touring, yeah. So Wynn and Regine, I'm not allowed to tell these guys, we never tell each other who our guests are. Yeah. But I needed them, a few weeks ago, I needed them to listen to your music. Luckily, you guys got COVID. Yeah. Because you were supposed to be on this show. Sorry, I say luckily for us, not for you. Just me. Or just you, Wynn. Yeah.

And then you guys, and so these guys had a chance to listen. And I said, somewhere down the road, this is going to come in handy. Please listen to this record because I hope it touches you the way that it touched me. Yeah, only Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris were the other two that we were giving a heads up that were coming on the show. Her record's amazing, by the way. It's amazing.

Her voice is melodic. It'll sneak up on you. And then Stacey Abrams, this is a true story, actually writes romance novels. No, but did you know that? Stacey Abrams writes romance novels. That's cool. She does, on the side. And it's actually very prolific. Now, sorry, just so I can be clear, Rajin, I'm saying your name correct, Rajin Shasin?

Oh, yeah. Oh, look at you guys. Well, she's already corrected my French. It's terrible. It was pretty good. How do you pronounce your first name? Yeah. All right. Now, listen up.

You try. This isn't weird at all. This is super normal. Everyone together. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Régine. Rég

By the way, so guys, first of all, after 10 minutes of pronouncing Régine's name and figuring out Stacey Abrams and the money we don't make from streaming,

Welcome to SmartList. I'm so excited you guys are here. Talk to me a little bit about, was I right, you guys came together at a time in your lives where

Eugene, you were already in Montreal, and when you were going to McGill, is that right? I went to Sarah Lawrence College for a year. Oh, yeah. Oh, you did? And as one does, dropped out after a year, because that's sort of the move. Dude, of course. I dropped out of Concordia in Montreal. Yeah. I went to Concordia. Yeah, we both went to Concordia. Did you guys drop out too? I transferred. Oh. Hmm.

I dropped out of McGill. Regine dropped out of McGill. I did one better, dropped out of high school. That's cool. What grade? Ninth, right? Just two weeks short of finishing 12th. Yeah. Do you ever go back to GED? I went back. I talked to the headmaster, tried to get a diploma out of him, and he asked me for a donation for the school instead. It was a shakedown.

Did they do honorary degrees for high school? Oh, that's, yeah. That's what I was lobbying for. A doctorate for high school.

That would be great. Wouldn't that be great? I want it. Now, where are you guys in your musical life right now? Are you in the studio recording or are you touring? Nothing. Neither. Excellent. You're golfing. No, no golf. No, no, no. The record just came out and we're going on tour in the fall, but we're actually kind of...

not working, which is for the summer. It's really strange. Are you guys a couple or just parts of the band together? We're a couple, yeah. Okay, nice. A couple of goofy kids who are just making music. A couple of crazy kids who love music. That's cute. They are, yeah, and you guys have a son. How old is your son? He's nine. He's nine. He had a, his favorite part of Lego Batman is the nine pack joke.

No way. And he was like, tell him about the, I was like, do you have any messages? He's like, the nine pack. That's really funny. Walk us through that, Willie. I remember, because, you know, these kids watch so many, like, Marvel movies. Yeah. And he was like, Dad, why doesn't your stomach look like the people in the movies? And I was like, well, son. You have to be a cartoon. Sean's been getting in shape for a Marvel movie. Show him, Sean. Let's see. Let's see. Who likes cookies? Who?

Yeah. How do you do that? What's the secret? Well, you start with some ice cream. Yeah. Jason calls it my cookie pouch. Although, you know, we always say there's nothing less funny than a six-pack. Yeah.

You know what I mean? It used to be a mark of wealth back in the old days, right? The King Arthur days. Like that was, you didn't look like you were in charge or powerful or wealthy unless you were big and fat. Oh my God, you didn't go to high school.

I was working out a lot during Will and Grace, and Jimmy Burrows, the director, said, you got to stop because big isn't funny. It's true. I've always lived by that creed. Yeah. Unless it's big around the waist. Wait, so you guys, various...

colleges and transferring and quitting and whatever. But when you find your way to Montreal... Yeah, I think it's Montreal. Montreal. Montreal. And so you find your way to Montreal and then what? How does it come together that you start making music with all these Canadians? Well, I...

Don't you start going, a one and a two? Yeah. One, two, three. Yeah, usually someone counts it in. Yeah, and then you just start making it. There's a lot of writing. I dropped out of art school and started a band, as one does, and my...

bandmate had gone to Concordia in Montreal because it was so cheap. It was like half price for American. I think their exchange rate was like half then and it was also like $3,000 a year to go to college, which is pretty amazing. So he was going back to school there and I sort of followed him. I didn't know anything about Montreal or Quebec or anything. But I got there and it was sort of like

What I thought New York was going to be like, it was like kind of the same, it's kind of the same soup as Brooklyn or something. It's like tons of African, North African, French Caribbean. And like, but it was also cheap and there was crazy art, every, you know, like contemporary dance and everything.

cool electronic music and everything was at an illegal loft and it was like, shit was just happening in a really cool way. For Jason and Sean, I don't know if you guys have ever been in, Montreal is such an incredibly vibrant city. In a way, it's like this jewel of North America that doesn't, it's kind of good that it doesn't get talked about because it doesn't get overrun. I've got a half-brother there. Hello, Derek. Oh, you do? And sorry, where did you come from before you got to Montreal?

I was born in Northern California, but my dad's from Maine and my mom's from L.A., so I have a New England, I've got a bunch of Maine people, so I ended up going to boarding school for the end of high school in New Hampshire. So did Will. Yeah, not in New Hampshire. Where did he do? North of Toronto. I don't want to give them any credit because, you know what I mean? Yeah, fuck them, honestly. They claim kick out. I say they asked me not to come back. Honorary degree.

- Anyway. - And we're too late. So you go, so you're from Maine in Northern California, but you find your way to Montreal, and then, Regine, you're from Montreal, you're of Haitian descent, your parents are Haitian immigrants. - Yes. - Moved to Montreal. - Wow. - And-- - From Haiti, you moved to Montreal? Were you born in Montreal or Haiti? - I was born in Montreal. - Oh, okay. And you started making music in your head when you were really young. Is that right? That's what I read once.

Regine is by far the most accomplished musical member. I mean, she's just like one of those savant types who taught herself classical music in the basement when she was five. And she, like on her first record, the first song, Tunnels, like she started playing drums like a week before.

before we cut that it's like no way because we didn't have a drummer at the time she's like i can play drums like you can it's like well i've never done it but let me just figure it out really quick which is like insane just insane and like yeah so she's like that i love that that is so in hajim were you making music i also read once that you that you were like making music in like shopping centers and that's how you guys met is that a true story or am i mixing it up

that's kind of a mix up but I did do a million gigs a million different jobs too many to remember I was with a person driving around in Montreal one time and for like a month and she says you know Regina every time we cross we go somewhere you say oh I used to work here oh I used to work there worked here oh yeah I worked there too it's like wait you worked everywhere now were you were you were you quitting were you quitting a lot or getting fired a lot

The stuff that I would quit was like telemarketing and things where I could be replaced very easily. Yeah. Were you ever fired for anything? No. Yeah. I don't quit on people. I just quit on things where I knew that it wouldn't matter. I love that. I don't quit on people. I just quit on them. I love that. Regine, I like when I, like it just rolled off my tongue. Regine, it was my dream my whole life to play the piano at malls.

I thought you made it if you played at Nordstrom or like some kind of department store. And so my whole life I'd be like, if I can just get a job, how great would that be? I'd just go to the mall, I'd play, I'd get a check, I'd go home. I thought you had it made. Anyways, I ended up working. Plus you get to work at the mall. I did that stuff. I did. I was dressed like an elf and I played in a Hallmark's

And I also was dressed with a wedding dress that I got at the thrift store. That's Sean's dream. You worked in the fish department. Yeah, I sang jazz bossa nova in the fish department at the grocery store opening. We got that sea bass. We got that fresh. You know the ice scraping sort of when they move the ice around. Yeah.

Yeah. It's hysterical. Fresh sea bass. Go ahead, Sean. Regine, I played an elf on the Kenny Rogers Christmas tour. Ooh.

How good is that? That's the end of the story. And it was not playing a piano. It was a keytar, right, Sean? It was a keytar. Oh, yeah. Yeah, playing a keytar. Sean, you always have that elf bod then. Yeah. Yeah. Elf bod. It's coming after you now, Sean. Go get them. They brought all the boys to the yard. Sean is classically trained pianist. Yeah.

And he went to, he was a music, he was a piano major in college. Yes. And he's very musical. We keep telling him he needs to have a keyboard while we do the show to just kind of, you know, take us, and he won't do it. I don't know why. I know, because I got to move all this equipment over to the thing. What do you mean all the equipment? You've got a bookshelf behind you. Give me the fucking Paul Schaefer of podcasting. You know what? I'm going to start doing that, Will. I'm going to start, I got to move, I'm going to move all this stuff in the living room.

By the way, you're not moving anything. Your husband, Scotty, does everything. So you don't even do it. Because we couldn't have had like some like back and forth because, you know, there's a piano right there. I know that would have been great. And we will be right back. And now back to the show.

Now, what about your son? Is your nine-year-old musically inclined at all? Yes. Yeah, it's kind of scary. Oh, really? Yeah, he's got a little bit. He came out gifted? I don't know. He's just around it so much. He lives in the studio with us, basically. And what would his specialty be at this point? If you had to make a guess where he's going to really excel, is it going to be on a particular instrument or singing or writing? Well, he lives in New Orleans, so he's around, like, the drudgery

People are playing drums in the street all the time. Like, he's just, you know... I'd love if you were like, we live in Montreal. But he lives in New Orleans. He moved out. He got his own apartment. He likes to drink. You know, Montreal was really, like, messing up his drinking schedule. Are we not in Montreal right now? No. No, we're in New Orleans. Oh, gotcha. Oh, okay. So you guys met, started in Montreal. The band started there. You have now journeyed down to New Orleans. That's where Bass is.

Yeah, but we're kind of back and forth. We sort of do the opposite Canadian thing where we go north in the summertime. Do you take the kid with you when you go north? Yeah. Of course. Well, listen, if the guy likes to drink, he's got probably his favorite bar he doesn't want to be away from. They're not on Ozark and, like, leaving their kids for five years. Like some assholes. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Listen, if the price is right, huh? I love hearing Americans say Montreal, too. It's always so amazing. Well, it's spelled with an O, not a U, so... It must be hard if you're directing an episode of something to have your kid there be like, Dad, hey, Dad.

Dad, dad. No, exactly. Dad, what are you doing, dad? Why are you killing that person? What did that person do to you? Although you, Jason, you did, you've had the girls there before when you were directing episodes, did you have? Yeah. You had Maple there when you were directing, right? Yeah, but they could not care less. It's all about what's at the craft service table. It's all about snacks. Snacks can hold their attention. They're happy.

You don't have to pay for the snacks even in Hollywood. No, snacks are free. Well, you're paying for it. Don't worry. But I always say, the joke I always say to my kids when they come to work is like, when they come in and they're getting ready, I'm like, you guys love watching your dad get his makeup put on? Yeah. In that voice.

You know, we talk about this a lot, though, when it's like, you know, I'm always fascinated. Because I knew as a kid, I loved the arts and theater and acting and movies and all those kinds of things. I knew from a very young age. And I was always like, I'm always blown away. Like Jason, you just said Maple, just like she couldn't care less. Like when she gets older, is she going to be, is Maple or your son, is he going to be like...

Shit, I wish I would have tuned in a little bit sooner because that's really cool. They'll appreciate it later. I doubt it. Really? Yeah, it'll be, no, they don't care. No, they do care. It's hard. How can they possibly put it in context at this age? Did you care what your parents were doing when you were growing up?

Imagine hanging out with my dad at his office all the time. Dad, dad. Is your son impressed with what you guys do? Does he get what you guys are doing? He totally gets it. Yeah? And is he impressed? Does he give it up? It's kind of his, too. Oh, good. Yeah. He helps out?

Luckily, we're good. It'd be really awkward if we sucked. And he was like, Dad, oh my God. I want to be just like them. No. If he was like, I have to like my parents and it's terrible, it would be a really messed up. But he, what kind of music other than Arcade Fire, what kind of music do you think he would listen to if you were like, hey, put something on the record player? What would he...

Beastie Boys. Really? He really knows. No, no. He really understands music that's like really...

genuine and original versus stuff that's just like crap you know crapped out to go on the radio yeah yeah yeah and he'll listen to something and he'll know that this comes from here and this comes from this band and this this sound yeah he knows jamaican music he knows haitian music he knows jazz he knows yeah wow but i i think about that sometimes too because it's like i um

There's the stuff that you're exposed to when you're a kid that's like not at all of your generation. Like I was obsessed with like 50s music when I was – because I heard Stand By Me when I was a little kid. I remember the first time I heard Stand By Me and I was just like what –

Like it just, cause it conjures, it's so emotionally deep and the soundscape of it. Like the first second I heard it, like the lyrics are about the mountains crumbling to the sea. And I would imagine, you know, like your imagination is so fresh when you're there. And I would imagine the mountains crumbling and it just was this epic, you know, like, like, like almost like visual landscape. And then, so I just was really imprinted with this stuff that,

You know, I was in suburban Houston in like the 80s and like listening to this music from the 50s and it really like stirred my soul. That 50s music is like one, four, five chords every single song. Every song, yeah. Louie Louie, the opening of Louie Louie is the easiest way to... Every song is those three chords over and over. I could have written that. What you do is the way that you do.

Regine, what kind of music? So with your background, what kind of music were you listening to? You guys were teenagers growing up in separate places. You were in Montreal. What were you listening to? What was informing or feeding your musical appetite? What did I listen to? It's very... Rochevoisine? Rochevoisine. Rochevoisine was on the radio, of course. You couldn't really escape it. I listened to...

classical music, Billie Holiday. The first tape, the first cassette I bought, I had to like, I didn't have a lot of money to buy. I didn't have like a collection of records. I only had my grandma's records and...

And then when I had money, I was like, okay, I'm going to go buy something and I have to buy something quality because it has to last forever. So I bought a double tape, double cassette of Billie Holiday. I was like, can't go wrong with this. Can't go wrong. It's a double cassette of Billie Holiday. I will always love this. And then the second cassette I got was Bob Marley and then Legend and then...

But besides that, I listen to my grandmother's records. What was the classical music that you loved the most? Well, when I was really young, the first piece I ever heard was Mozart's Symphony No. 40, I think. The Jupiter. The Jupiter? It's called the Jupiter Symphony, yeah. How does it go, Sean? Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

That's the Overture to Marriage of Figaro. No, that is not. Oh, no, sorry. That's the Rondo alla Turca. That's an A minor. Yes. Oh, wait. Thank you so much for... Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. I'm sorry. The Stephanie No. 40 is like... This is the one. So that's the one. That's what the one I heard in...

when I was four years old and I got obsessed with it and I kind of... Sean, apologize. Sorry, I'm so sorry. I started playing at that. After that, I discovered Chopin and I was obsessed with Chopin. Oh, that's amazing. And after that, well, I listened to my grandmother's records so they had like... And after that, the Smiths. Beethoven. No,

Beethoven, Bach. It was the Pixies, actually. And the Pixies. I love that. Hey, will you guys, when you're on tour and you've got your set list and you're out there and you're playing the music and you've rehearsed it a certain way, talk to us about what the process is when you guys kind of

absorb the energy of the audience, the kind of mood and tone and pace of each other, and the combination of that to inform how differently you play

a particular song on one night versus the next night and the reason i ask is because there's a there's a uh uh similarity between uh like actors when they do theater you do the same material every night but it changes every night per the audience's energy per the other actor's energy and so be a completely different performance is that a signal that you guys send each other or is it something that you just kind of mutually feel can you explain that process a little bit i like this

yeah sign language yeah i mean it's no it's um obviously probably not something said it's just something felt yeah no 100 i mean i i always like to because a room always starts with a vibe and it a lot of it's like depends on you know what's happening in the news and what people ate that day and what country you're in and what kind of like so the audience comes in like with

And you can tell a lot. Sean's vibe is he ate everything. Yeah. Sorry, go ahead. Right. So he's uncomfortable. So I'm shifty. I'm a little shifty. But I'm open. Stuff's unbuttoned. Elf, just elfin' out, you know, on a Friday night. Elf.

What an elfie. By the way, you got that elf bod. We're never going to stop. Also, like, poetry is, like, a little bit, like, holographic. So, like, it does have all different colors. So, like, a word or a sentence can come out so many different ways. And so it's just... It's the same thing. It's just, like, today...

It shines like this and tomorrow will shine purple. And I'd imagine that's the exciting part of it, right? Is waiting to sort of mutually feel those cues and... I thought you were going to say waiting for the lightning, that that's the exciting part. Ha ha ha.

No, I mean, we're all there for the song, you know what I mean? So it's like the song, I sort of visualize it as the songs in between us and the audience and you sort of meet in the middle. Do you ever get an audience that just blows and you like get pissed and you're like, you know what, we're going to end early tonight because you guys are terrible. We played Montreux Jazz Fest and it's like,

you know, Switzerland is just a bunch of extremely rich white people for the most part. It's like, so they're, and they're very used to being entertained and you're at Montreux and the vibe is like, entertain me. And like, you're just like, you're, and we're a rock band, so we're playing and I'm just like trying to get a reaction out of the audience. I'm just like,

being kind of combative. And at one point I'm like, and this is the last fucking time we're ever going to play this song in Switzerland and start the next song. And now this is the last time we're ever going to play this song in Switzerland. You said that or you're thinking that? I said it. Oh my God. Every song, nothing. I didn't even get a boo. I wanted them to boo me. Right, you just wanted any reaction. Just give me something, literally anything. Spit at me, just give me something. I would have been like, it's so good to be here at the month.

No snooze festival. Yeah. I'm going to save that for next time. And so wait, how did it end? So we finished and I'm like, and this was the last song that we ever played in Switzerland and leave the stage. And I see this guy sitting on the road case and I'm like, oh, he looks really familiar. And it was like Quincy Jones. Like we had been watching, had been watching the entire set just sitting there on side stage. And I went up to him and was like,

Like, hey, nice to meet you. Like, that's so cool. I'm really sorry that that's the set that you saw. That was like maybe my worst time on stage in my entire life.

And he's like, man, I work with Miles Davis. That was fine. He was like, that was like whatever. He was like, Miles would play with his back to the audience. He hated those fuckers. That's so amazing. Boy, I fucking relate to that. These guys know I can be so grouchy. But if you buy a ticket to Arcade Fire, why wouldn't you be like, this is fucking awesome? I don't understand. It's just cultural shit. I mean, they were probably like, it's like you meet people and they're like,

The second song was too slow, but that was the best show of my life. You know, it's like people just, it's like I... They can't help it. They can't help it. It's just how they are. I'm going to be the dork and ask you a question you probably answered a million times, but I've never heard it, so please indulge me. Tell me where the name of the band came from. Yeah.

Don't tell him. Don't tell him. Yeah, I can't. I can't. Bob Dylan. I signed a blood pact with Bob Dylan that you're never supposed to answer a question like that. None of your business, dude. It has to do with Bob Dylan. I'm not a Bob Dylan. No, I'm just kidding. Oh, God. I... For a second there, I thought it was like a famous Bob Dylan song and I just embarrassed myself. Yeah, you know, Arcade Fire. She's in the basement stirring up the Arcade Fire. Yeah.

Woody Guthrie, yeah. No, I don't know. When I was like a kid in, I just remember going to an arcade when I was like four years old with like an older friend of my parents. And just, it was like, I'm leaving my parent, you know, I don't know, just like being alone as a kid in a weird place like that. And it was like super futuristic at the time. It was like, what is this weird place with all these weird sounds? And it was like almost like an emotional experience.

You know, it just sort of was like a weird touch tone and almost like aesthetic reference or something like that. You guys, you know, I was thinking about your-- First of all, kind of to what Jason was saying before about you guys-- I've never seen you guys live. It's one of my big regrets, but it's gonna happen this fall. I'm gonna come and see you guys.

You call yourself Canadian. I know, I know, but I haven't lived there in a long time. I know I am a pathetic Canadian. But I was thinking about, especially with this new record with We, how I can almost visualize the crowd's

singing along with you guys to virtually every song. It felt so-- You guys are just by nature a collaborative band. There are different people and people coming in and out, and sometimes the band expands and you have lots of people and that collaboration kind of almost extends-- Kind of what these guys were saying, it extends to when you're in concert feeding off the audience in so many years. And that's kind of been a hallmark since day one. I mean, right--

All those songs. I remember I watched that video of you guys playing with Bowie when you guys did Wake Up. I don't know what theater that was in where you did that. I think it was Radio City. Radio City, right? Yeah, it was. There's something about it that's so engaging. And I wonder, was it always that intention to be this kind of like...

Just like this big, messy, collaborative kind of engagement. And by messy, I don't mean sloppy. I mean that there's a lot of parts to it. I mean, we came up playing like DIY venues. So we were always, we were never on a stage. Like the first 40 times we played, we were always on the floor with the audience. And I remember just sort of like,

I didn't really even need a mic for a lot of these rooms. It was like, you're playing to 50 people. And so like, I remember at one show, I just started walking, singing the song through the crowd and like walking to the back because it always at the back of a party, people are drinking beer and talking. And if you're playing a quiet song, you can't fucking hear anything. So I went over to where they were and was just playing the song in the back of the room. You just brought it to them. I just brought it to them because I, you know, it's a quiet song. It's,

It's fine. You know, people like to talk at shows. Do you guys, you guys, last thing I want to say, ask you, it reminds me of, I was thinking about your first record. I think you guys did Conan. That record came out, what, in 2000? Funeral came out in 2004? Yeah, we did Conan and Letterman. And you did Conan and Letterman and Jeffrey Tambor. Jason and I were on Arrested Development at the time and Jeffrey Tambor was on that,

the show. That's right. That's right. And so you guys won't remember this part, which is Jeffrey said, I'm going to New York to do Conan to promote this show. And I said, there's this band, they've just released a record called Arcade Fire. And I gave him a CD and I said, will you have them sign it? And he said, okay. And so he came back and you guys, and I've got it somewhere in a box and you guys had signed it. It was like,

we were told that we needed to sign this for you. You guys wrote it out, and I have it. Oh, that's cool. Signed to me that Jeffrey gave back to me after that. That's really cool. Yeah, so that was my... I remember, yeah, our guitar player, Richie, was obsessed with... What's the show that... What's the amazing show that he was on before on... Larry Sanders. Oh, yeah, Larry... Brilliant. It's brilliant. He was obsessed with Larry Sanders, and Jeffrey was getting his makeup done, and Richie was sitting next to him, and he's like...

It's kind of like Larry Sanders, huh? And he was just like, just so nonplussed. He just gave him the like, just like, just like dead eye. He gave him nothing. He just gave him the dead, just the dead eyes. And Richie was just like, his heart was like, oh my God, like I think Jeffrey Dunbar just like,

Like, I don't know what I was thinking. Why did I say that to him? He was just so mad at himself. Jeffrey was probably, that's Jeffrey's humor. It's so good. The first thing I ever said to him was the first day I met him on set at Arrested Development and just met him. And then as we were separated, I said, all right, well, have a great day. He says, don't you fucking tell me what to do. I love that. I was entering a door at the same time as Jeffrey, exactly at the same time. And he goes, oh no, please, by billing. Yeah.

In order of billing. And he let me go first. The first time he met Amy, we were doing Arrested, and she came to a table read, my ex-wife, and she came in there and I said, I said, Jeffrey, this is Amy. And he goes, I didn't ask. And he was so, and we both of us died. We fell to our knees laughing. I mean, how much on Arrested Development, how much is that like a, I always related to that like a band when it's like a collective of,

Because it's like you have, I don't know, like when I would watch like Monty Python, I always thought of Monty Python as a punk band. You know what I mean? Yeah, for sure. Because it's like you have this, people are bouncing off each other. You're making each other better. It's like you're trying to impress the other. I don't know. I always wondered if that was. Somebody asked me the other, we were, maybe when we were doing the show, we were talking and saying, who do you,

try to... Who do you do the performance for? It was with Jeff Bridges, and I was saying, and I never answered it, and I was going to say my answer, which I'll tell you is, in those moments, yeah, when Jason and David Cross and Tony Hale and I are doing a scene, I would always be trying to...

We're riffing off each other, feeding off each other's energy, and I'm trying to make those guys laugh in the moment at how silly it is what we're doing. That's who I'm doing it for. Maybe the crew, definitely not the camera. I could give a shit. It's really these guys. I want Jason and Cross and Tony Hale to laugh. That's the same in a band, too. I mean, it's like, because you're playing...

you're trying to get a rise out of the other people on the stage. And then that energy gets transmitted. Right, and it fuels, right? That's why I asked the thing about the audience, like when an audience like in Switzerland, you just then start turning to each other and start playing for each other, you know, because it's like, we always have. Yeah, for sure. No, for sure. I wanted to ask you. Sorry, so just to follow up, the last thing, Sean, about that I was getting to was, I've always wanted to know, on that first record on Funeral, that song, In Anne Sans Lumière,

Right at the end where it goes into the guitar, it's always reminded me of the guitar at the end of Love Vigilantes on New Order on Low Life. Have you ever heard—do you know that song? Oh, of course, yeah. I do. Yeah, it's a brilliant— We love New Order. And it's always reminded me, and I've always been like— and I love New Order, and then I love you guys. I'm like, no wonder I love these guys, because you guys remind me of a lot of bands and no bands, because you're unique, but you also have pieces that— Yeah. We all have influences of stuff, right? Yeah.

So saying that, what of those kinds of bands did you guys like apart, you know? Well, I actually found a flyer that we made when we first met, like in 2002, we were looking for musicians. And so it's like, you just, and it was like, I wrote the text,

Like an apple? I made it in the shape of an apple. Whatever. We made a poster that was like this very, it's like so pretentious and almost, it's like art school kind of. But you're just, we didn't want to just make a poster because we wanted to make something that was like, we thought was cool so that the person who read it, and it was like our influences, it was like looking for musicians and it was like New Order was one of them, Pixies, Dylan, and then it was like Motown.

Debussy and Arvo Park. Those were our influence list, you know what I mean? Wow. And then nobody took the number. Nobody responded. Not one person. No, not one person. They're like, these guys are too, this is too broad. This is crazy. This doesn't make sense. These things don't go together. They're into everything. Yeah. It's not everything, though. It makes sense. There's a thread. Yeah. We'll be right back. And back to the show.

There's such a great fullness to your music too. There is, there is, it is truly like, it has that ensemble sound. You're, you're not surprised if a horn section comes through or, you know, or strings or, uh, I always loved that about Pink Floyd always, uh, was, there was always just, as you said earlier, like a soundscape as opposed to,

well, it's just four instruments and it's four-four time and there's somewhat of a predictable rhythm to it. We're filmmakers. Ultimately, it's like we think of it that way. But you have to like, I always think like, I listened to a lot of Dylan too when I was a teenager. I listened to

The Cure a lot. I mentioned the Smiths were like one of my all-time favorite bands. And at the same time, I went to... Cure is huge for me. Cure, huge. That EP that... What was it? Japanese Whispers. And then they had... But I also went to 15 dead shows. But I'm not a deadhead. But I appreciated Jerry Garcia. But at the same time, you know, I was like... I'm really into, you know, just all kinds of like indie... And I think that that's important, right? Like to have like...

you don't have to be like just into this genre or just into this

Makes you a better musician, I'm sure. Yeah, like Sean, you don't have to just listen to Erasure. And Depeche Mode. Sorry, and Depeche Mode. You can also listen to Bronski. I love Depeche too. That was one of my first big shows, Depeche. I love Depeche. I love them. I know every word, every song. The keyboard player just died, right? Andy Fletcher, yeah. Yeah, Andy Fletcher died. But I have a question about your voice because...

you know, when I was younger and I didn't understand the technique of singing or anything, or musicianship or really anything,

I would go, you know, I'd watch bands on TV or on music videos or on tour or whatever. And I didn't quite, I was like, wow, that's amazing that they can scream or sing or do whatever with their voice. And then you get older and you learn how the instrument works and the training that needs and the warmups and all the stuff that you don't ever see musicians do or singers do off to the side.

And then today I'll watch like, you know, something on TV. I'm like, how can they do that? How can they sing like that night after night after night? Aren't they ruining their vocal cords or whatever? So do you have any kind of things that you do? Was there ever a moment where you're like, wow, I really got to take care of my instrument here in my throat? Because both you guys belted out too a lot. Yeah. I mean, Regine had nodules when I met her from jazz school, right? Oh, yeah. That's...

I met Regine and she had... She doesn't want to talk about it. And the next day, she got braces. Like, one week later, she got braces and then had vocal cord surgery and couldn't talk for like two months. No way. Yeah, no way. Wow. You're like, I'm in. I am in. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. But was there a moment where you're like, oh shit, I got to really kind of maybe go see a teacher now, now that I'm doing more work as a singer and stuff because you never learned? Or do you not even think about that? You never did it?

There was a point, I mean, particularly on the first record, like, I sang like the world was every single fucking time we played, I was saying, like, every second of it, the world was going to end the next second, you know? The first two tours, you were like a ghost. You were like... I was a ghost. You were like...

So pale and just... I had really horrible sinus infections. I think I was sick for four years. Like pretty much non-stop sick the entire time. Wow. And just singing... Like we would always start with Wake Up. And I mean, like back in the day, there'd be seven of us and we'd be playing to six people. And we would still fucking sing it. Like it was the fucking end of the world. And it was always the first song. So we would come out, set up our instruments...

And, like, I remember seeing a video of us in Austin back in the day. We were playing some little club. And we were loading in the equipment ourselves. We just, like, look white and just, like, sweat pouring down our face. We'd just arrived from, like, a 400-mile drive. Oh, I remember.

We like load in our crap in front of the audience. The audience is already there. And then we're, I'm just like, we just turned on the instruments. I'm like, more fucking voice, more fucking voice, more fucking voice. That's too much. It's feeding back. Okay, good. And then we're like, one, two, three, four. It was like,

Just like, just starting there, like, that's where we started. That song is so, like, especially when you hit that, I guess I'll just have to adjust. And it's, like, insane. Like, both of you guys are just like...

going for it so I burned out I mean I was sick and singing every night and at one point on Neon Bible the second record we were playing in Norway and we came out and I was just like there's nothing not a not a fucking sound and I basically went and had sinus surgery in Norway? no I wish no in Montreal okay

Because it was like one one-thousandth of the cost of doing it in New York. Yeah, gross. It was like $200, please. And so then I had the surgery. And then after that, I kind of realized I'd never lost my voice. Like I was just, I was losing my voice because I was sick. And now I don't, because I did all the singing coach crap and I was always losing my voice. And every singing coach is like,

I'm the only one who knows the secrets of singing and my method, which is passed down to me by the Teutonic Knights. Right. Buy my book and my tape. Get my oils. Did you use my oils? It's always like this, like tell no one of the oils I gave you. Yeah.

I was at that show in Berlin with you two guys when Bono lost his voice after three songs. It was so scary. Yeah, it's terrifying. It's scary when you lose it. How do you stay healthy now when you guys are on the road? And I imagine it would be hard to have any sort of rhythm of proper stuff to eat or sleep. How diligent are you? Here we go. You want to know about the food. Here we go. Yeah, the travel spree.

- Yeah. - I mean... Jason wants to know if you have access to salads, 'cause he's trying to think about himself on tour, and would there be enough salad? We have snacks. There's always hummus and carrots, you know, every backstage. - Oh, oh. - Uh-huh. - Jason's in. - Well, all right, I'm in. Do you have access to a handful of nuts? Would that be possible? You can get some nuts. Even out the blood sugar. And then, so your son, what happens during the school year when you guys are on tour? Do you just schedule your tours so it's only during the summer?

I mean, it's kind of a brave new world now. It's like we... This will be our first time touring since COVID. And it's all... You know, it's kind of happening, but it's also, like, a little bit terrifying. It's like...

The health perspective. I mean, not getting COVID because I just had it and it was like no big deal. It was totally fine. Right. Yeah. I was boosted and everything. You were psyched. Be honest. We were texting and you were kind of psyched. I was psyched. Yeah. I was like, I'm about to watch Blade Runner and then Alien and then Alien 2. With no guilt. I love it. Yeah. I love that. But Jean, were you psyched? Were you psyched also? You know, not particularly, but...

She's one of the last ones. She still never had it. No, I didn't get it. Oh, really? Yeah, I didn't get it. I don't know. Sean and I didn't get it either. I don't know. I haven't gotten it. I don't know what to say. I'll give it to you next time. Okay, great. Thanks, man. Yeah, but it is a brave... But you are... Yeah, I guess because of COVID and stuff, you're probably... Your son was too young, and now you're going to have to figure out what that is like going on tour. We talk about it a lot because we do...

Jason, I have three boys and Jason has two girls. And that's always the thing with kids and managing that and their school and work and that balance and what do you do. And it's the number one question ever.

I think what's cool now is that because of the pandemic and the schools, at least the school where he goes, got really organized in terms of the remote and the curriculum so that it's not like a brand new thing if we tell him he has to come out for a few days. That's great. I feel like our job as parents is mostly...

to prepare him for a world which will be insane and constantly changing, and you better be able to take a hit because shit is going to be gnarly. Wait, you mean this planet that we lit on fire and left for them? The whole fucking thing is just, I mean, like the whole war raging in Europe and climate change and like the technology, like all of the companies are all just trying to,

remove humans so it's like no one no one's gonna it's just gonna be i think in the future it's like you're just gonna have to be really nimble nimble and like and like able to like mix it up and adapt and for sure so being on tour is a good training tour is awesome it's a great training ground you guys wrote that great tune lookout kid uh on your new record on we

It's sort of about that. Yeah. By the way, not Henri. Henri. W-E. Not E-N-N-U-I. Oh, you really do speak French. I know. I tell you. Oh, he speaks French fluently. But I am also suffering from a great deal of Henri these days. You probably heard earlier before you guys got on. It's been weird times. Yeah.

But, yeah, you wrote about it in Lookout Kid. It's kind of exactly about that you were saying? Yeah, I mean, just, like, talking to my son and being like, shit's going to be pretty gnarly, but I love you a lot. And it's, like, kind of about unconditional love, basically, but, like, in the face of, like, just the inevitability of –

Like, I don't know how high school was for you guys, but that shit was gnarly for me. The best. I mean, the worst. It was so rough. I'm trying to imagine being in high school now. I'm just like, fuck. No way. No way. I hated it. I loved it. What got you guys down to New Orleans? What was the, aside from, was it? United, I think it was, or Delta, probably. Yeah, Delta, American. Was it the music influence down there? Or was it something less obvious than that?

Well, Regine's family is from Haiti and the whole French-Canadian thing. And when we first, I grew up in Houston. I was just, wait, I was just thinking about you guys, everybody saying like, oh yeah, high school is so bad. And who did you like it? I didn't like it. I hated it. It's like, whoever.

Does anyone... Sean. You liked high school? I lived for it. Loved it. Absolutely. Every second of it. High school? Yeah. He peaked. He peaked. That was his... Oh, I guess. That was the highlight. But he was... You have to understand, his father left... That's a whole other story. The bar was... Once you talk to him long enough, you'll get it. No, there was awesome shit in high school. I really... Like, I... You know, there are aspects of high school that were amazing. Like, I loved...

Just, I mean, I first read, you know, when I first read like... Oh, yeah. Just the beatniks and the first, you know, just literature and art. But that shit is the same here. Like I read On the Road when I was 17 and I was like, I got to leave where I'm at. But that wasn't stuff I did in high school. That was stuff I did on my own. Yeah. Wait, wait, wait. First of all, just on the last thing on Wee.

End of the Empire. Man, I don't know when you wrote that song. It feels like you wrote it today. And I don't know, like it feels, every time I listen to it, it feels, it just puts me right in the present in this really remarkable way. Talk to me a little bit about that song because it's just, I just connect with it so much.

um i mean it's it's kind of um it's a four parts so so it's like kind of it's kind of the most ambitious thing we've done in a lot of ways i mean it's nine and a half minutes but it's not it's not prog you know i never really liked prog music but it's like i mean i loved radiohead in high school like uh you know paranoid android probably has like a little bit of a of a influence in there as well but

It was just sort of looking, we started it before the pandemic. So the first couple parts lyrically were kind of the world. America was just feeling pretty heavy there for a while, like before the election, before the pandemic, just really felt like, just energetically, like in America, it was like, man, this is a really dark world.

heavy cloud um just like you're constantly being like barraged by all this stuff and so it was just sort of like that like just sort of like a reckoning with ourselves about you know it's been a been a good ride but this shit is you know not not going in the best direction so a bit of that and then the world kind of ended and the fourth part is like kind of um

There's a black hole in the middle of our galaxy called Sagittarius A. Yeah. And I read an article about it. Yeah, and I was just sort of like, there was something about the image of this black hole in the middle of everything that just, I was just trying to write that, lyrically write that part for a long time.

And Regine, like we recorded that just the two of us. It was Mardi Gras day during the pandemic when Mardi Gras didn't happen, which is a really eerie, really like it's such a spiritual day. And it's just like the streets are empty in New Orleans. It's like this really like.

deep spiritual kind of energy and like nothing, the sound of nothing, no horns playing, no one in the streets. And yeah, we just recorded that in our living room, the fourth part. And the part two is from 20 years ago. The second part, and we know that it's time to go.

It's from like when I live on an apartment. We didn't even live together. Like he lived a few blocks away. Did you have braces at the time? Yes, I did have braces at the time. And I played it on this little organ that I bought for like a hundred bucks or something. A few hundred bucks maybe.

I love that. Rasheem, what is it? And I know it's time to go. Yes. Send the news on the radio. One last round before we go. Through the pale atmospheric glow. And the oxygen's getting low.

Sing a song that we used to know. Are we wrong key? One last round before we go. One last round before we go. All the alcoholics, let's go. And we know that it's time to go. Heard the news on the radio.

One last round before... Bye, everyone. Regine and Wynn. You guys, you gotta go. I love that song. That's a first for us. That's awesome. That's really cool. You guys, thank you. We've taken up so much of your time. Thank you for indulging me. And we know that it's time to go.

Heard the news on the radio. Yo, sing, baby. All the Elfs. Thank you. Thank you for giving us Elfbods. Thank you for giving us all your music. Thank you for giving us your time and energy. Hashtag Elfbod. Hashtag COVID. Hashtag relatable.

Hashtag tell your son hi from Batman. Nine pack. And Bateman. Yeah. And Bateman. Yeah.

That's good. Honestly, just thank you guys so much. You guys should do this where you like talk to a whole bunch of different people all the time. You guys have a great chemistry. It's really funny. Like you should just like hang out, do this thing where you like shoot the shit and then surprise people. I don't think anyone would ever listen. No, you should do it. It's great. I don't think.

Oh, my God. Thanks, you guys. Huge fans. You guys are amazing. Amazing. When I need to go to sleep, I use a sleep pill. Do you guys have to do that crap where you do the, like, you know, in podcasting where you have to just do this shit? Oh, yeah. Can you do one now? Can I hear you guys do one? Oh, yeah. Why don't you do an ad for their album right now, Will? Yeah, do an ad for our album. Yeah, you have such a great voice. Has anyone ever told you that? No. This summer, Arcade Fire.

And who do you want to play with? Sean Hayes and the Arcade Fire this summer at the Molson or Bell Center. I don't know what they call it now. Just do like a promo. Give us a wee one. Give us like a good like... Arcade Fire would be a great name for like a sitcom if you do like, then on an all new Arcade Fire, Wynn and Regine come home and their house is not exactly as they remember it. Yeah.

They've been super depressed about the state of the world. Previously on Arcade Fire. That's me. Previously. Oh, you guys, we could do this forever. I can't wait to join you on stage and sing that song, End of the Empire, with you on stage. It's going to be epic in Toronto. It is going to be amazing, yeah. No, honestly, you guys, thank you so much. It's been amazing. And thanks for giving us your time. Yeah, thank you guys very, very much. Merci beaucoup.

Merci beaucoup. Tchou. Au revoir. Salut, salut. Salut, salut, salut, salut. Guys. Now, Willie, that seemed to be a beautiful elixir for your day. Yes. Are you feeling back on top? Right there. That changed my whole chemistry. Absolutely. Of course. It just takes a little something like that. That's what music can do. That's the power of music. It was so impactful. I can't believe we just sang that, all of us. I know. That's cool. Can you fucking believe?

We just sang in the Empire with those guys with one in Régine? Yeah, Régine. You know, I did want to mention, not in front of them, but I will to you guys. Whenever somebody... They're not listening. Huh? I wasn't listening. They're not listening. Yeah, go ahead. No, I wanted to tell you, whenever somebody brings up New Orleans, I think about the four-way I had there. I associate that city with the four-way.

God damn, I wish they were still on. How many dudes, how many girls? Wait a second. No, I'll do it. Just four dudes? Yeah. Four dudes. Yeah, it was years and years and years ago. I'm not sure that's a four-way. I think it's just a train. Ha ha ha.

You know what the great thing about a four-way? It's a train, but you know what the great thing is? You have two lucky peers. Yeah. Right? So that's the good news. Train. Everybody hop on. You just don't want to be the caboose. Or you do want to be the caboose. Or you don't. No. Well, it all depends. Or you don't want to be the caboose in the human centipede. That you don't want to be the caboose in. No, that you do not want that. Because you're getting the waste of all the other people. Oh, boy. Have you ever thought about where you want to be on a human centipede? No.

Can I be one of the shoes? You want to be in the front, by the way, just so you know. You want to be the first guy. You got to sign up early. Well, somebody is sewed to your ass, but it doesn't, I mean, believe me, it's the best case scenario.

Now, Willie, when they say careful about meeting your heroes, I would imagine that that didn't hold true. They over-delivered. Yeah, they seem so lovely and funny and great to hang out with. They over-delivered. And like I said, because I knew we were going to have them on and they graciously and generously sent me their record a few months ago before it came out and I

Like I said, it was so impactful and I ended up listening to it so much and I had to reach out. And so Michael and Bennett and Robert, somebody got me their number and I ended up texting with both on a chain with both Wynn and Regine for a while. And we had a really great exchange. And then...

And then they had to cancel. And then so Wynn and I started texting when he got sick. And he wasn't really sick, but he was just at home. And then he started talking about it. When I said that he was happy, meaning that like he was like, I'm not really doing anything for the first time in a while. It's kind of great. I've just watched Alien and Blade Runner. And we started talking about reading books and stuff. And it was just, I don't know, I just really connected.

Yeah, it's incredible. Yeah, they've got some really great energy. Very, very sweet. Oh, incredible musicians. I mean, just... Yeah, they're really great. I love that song so much, End of the Empire. Yeah. It sounds like an instant classic. And it's off their new album, which is amazing. Yeah, it's off their new album, We. And it also... Yeah, there are moments of it that sound like Sgt. Pepper's. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, there's just... That's a great song, you know, when you want to end something, you know, when you want to, like,

Well, you know what's really good for, like, if you're going to bed, it's a really good lullaby. Nice, Will. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant Terry, Rob Armjarv, and Bennett Barbico. Smart. Less.

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