BiB: Vienna Vienna – How Pete Wentz Changed My Life & the TikTok Song That Started It All

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What is going on? It is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing It Backwards, a podcast

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where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories

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of how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a

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chance to hang out with Jay of Vienna Vienna

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over Zoom Video. Jay was born and raised just outside

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Fresno, California in a small mountain town and talks

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about how he got into music. His mom was a performer and

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a dancer and his sister is also very musical and

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artistic, so he kind of followed her footsteps. He got a guitar at

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a very early age, started to perform at open mic nights while in

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middle school, started writing his own songs in middle school and

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through high school. And that's kind of where the Vienna Vienna project

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started. Jay talks about going to Belmont in

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Nashville to go to college. He went there for two years before

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being contacted by Pete Wentz, a fallout boy.

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He signed to Pete Wentz's label and has been living in LA

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for a little over a year now. But Jay talks about releasing his first

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songs as Vienna Vienna Blame it on us. And we talk about

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the release of his EP Wonderland, all about

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the most recent David Bowie cover he released, John I'm Only

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Dancing. And all about the new music coming up and the big tour

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that Jay will be on with K Flay coming up as well.

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You can watch our interview with Vienna Vienna on our Facebook page

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and YouTube channel at bringing it backwards, it'd be amazing if you

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subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook, follow

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TikTok at Bringing Back pod. And if you're listening to this on

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to our podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts, we're. Bringing

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it backwards with Vienna Vienna.

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Bringing it backwards.

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Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards.

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Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards.

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Bringing it backwards. Hey,

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what's up? How are you? Good, man, how are you? I am

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great. Thanks so much for doing this. Yeah, happy to be here.

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Amazing. Do you go by Vienna or Vienna

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Vienna. How do you. How do you want to do it? You just call me

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Jay. I just change it to Vienna Vienna. Just for

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the ease of the viewer. But love it like the

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letter. Right on. Right on, Jay. Well, I'm Adam. Very nice

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to meet you. Thanks for doing. Nice to meet you, Adam. Yeah. Cool. So

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this is about you, your journey in music. I know you just

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released an ep, but I also saw you have a new Song out as well.

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You just put out. So I'd love to chat with you about

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all that. Absolutely. Sounds good.

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Cool. I always kind of start with your, you know, origin story,

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if you will. Where were you born and raised? I was born

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in Fresno, California. Okay.

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I kind of grew up around Prather, California, though, which is like

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little mountain town near Fresno.

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Okay. My area. And then I went to school in Fresno.

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Oh, did you go to where, Fresno State or whatever or for. No, I went

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to. In high school, I went to Fresno Christian, and then in college,

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I went. I moved to Nashville, actually. Oh, you did? That's where I'm at

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now. Oh, cool. Yeah. No, how do you like it? I love

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it. It just snowed, actually, over the weekend, so.

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Yeah, there's. So it's still got snow outside. Yeah. It's

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crazy. Nashville was amazing. I loved living in Nashville. I'm in LA

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now. Okay. Man. I. Safe. I mean, damn,

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there's a lot going on there. No, yeah, I'm chilling. I'm,

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you know, I was. I was like close to an

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evacuation zone, but not quite in

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one. So I, you know, we packed everything up and then

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I, you know, just sort of waited it out. Okay. Sunset fire

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was crazy. Okay. But you

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spent time in Nashville for college? Yeah, I went there

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for two years. I went to Belmont and then

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I dropped out because P. Wins was calling,

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so. Makes sense there. Yeah, I guess. I

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live in LA now. All right. Right on. So you

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grew up Fresno area? Fresno's like central California. I'm from San

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Diego, but I moved to Nashville, you know. Yeah, no Central

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Valley, for sure. Yeah, for sure. So you said you lived out in the

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mountains, though? Yeah, Bakersfield area. Tell me about

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growing up there. You said a small town, though. Like, you lived in the mountains

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part because. Yeah, people. People think California is just like the

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coastline, but there's. It's massive. There's so much to it.

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Yeah. Fresno is sort of like. So

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there's like a few adjacent cities. There's Fresno and

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then there's Clovis. And then the closer you get to,

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like, Yosemite and the national park up there, the

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more little mountain towns you get. So I grew up in Prather, which I think.

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I think has population 1400. Oh,

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gosh. Crazy. But then, yeah,

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close to Fresno, which is like, pretty big, actually. I mean,

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I think, at least for me, it kind of was a small town mentality.

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But, yeah, it's like the

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fifth biggest in California, which is definitely sizable.

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There's definitely stuff going on. Yeah. You know 100%. What about music? How

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do you get into music? Do you come from a creative household?

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My mom is a dancer and a dance teacher. Rad.

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And then, yeah, definitely. My sister and I

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both grew up just, like, loving

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theater and art and music. And so I think we,

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like, fed off of each other a lot growing up. I think I just wanted

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to a little bit. Part of me was just like, I just want to do

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what she's doing. She was doing a ton of theater, and so I started

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there really young. I think my first show, I was like five.

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Musical theater or just like, acting theater?

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And I think I just. Yeah, I really fell in love with the stage.

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I think that was like. There's

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nothing really like it. So that was kind of

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pretty immediate. And I was like, oh, there's nowhere else I really want to be

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except for there. And then as I got older,

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I got really into guitar and writing, and

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so started playing, like, a bunch of open mics

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in Fresno, like, local shit. And

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I don't know, I just. I couldn't. I couldn't get away from the feeling.

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It's just so good to be on stage and just to

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play. Music is very. I don't know, it's like it's home

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in a way. I've just always been doing it and,

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yeah, it's. It's the best. It's the best thing, truly.

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Yeah. So you were. You still in high school and you started doing the open

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mics? I was earlier a middle school.

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Yeah, so. So I started doing. Writing your own songs in middle

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school and everything. You're trying to. Trying to. I

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was writing a lot, and then there would be a few where I'd be like,

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yeah, I could maybe play this at the. At the restaurant gig.

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But I would, like, go from restaurant to restaurant and be like,

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I kind of just want to play. You don't have to pay me. Maybe just

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like, some food after the show. And they would be like,

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cool. So I would just, like, play. And then the, like,

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little restaurant gig, I would play where they're mostly

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wanting, like, background music. Sure.

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A little food after. And I was like, this is great. I could do this,

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no problem. Yeah, that's amazing. Did you have a band or anything in

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high school? Or is it mainly just doing your own thing? No, I didn't. I've

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never actually. I never actually was in any bands because I

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couldn't. There weren't really a lot of other people doing music

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until I got into, like, high school, and then I was in, like, church bands.

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And stuff. But,

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yeah, there weren't a lot of bands, so it was always a solo show, which

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was cool. And then now, like, finding my band has.

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Yeah. For the live shows has been amazing. Just

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really amazing. But, yeah, no, always playing with other musicians, but

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never, like, properly in a band. Got it. Okay. And then you

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ended up attending Belmont and here in Nashville, and did

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you go on as, like, what did you go there to

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take? Was it musical theater? Were you still doing musical theater at that point, or.

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No, no, Yeah. I. I majored in songwriting.

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Okay. Which was awesome.

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Honestly. Like, I really love Belmont, and I really loved

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Nashville. Like, I, I. I'll sing its

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praises. I think that program's awesome for connecting with other writers and

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just, like, building community. I feel like I was. It was

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so, so much easier for me to find people that

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I. I wanted to connect with. So,

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yeah, Belmont was amazing. Natural. Were

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you. And you were writing songs, obviously. And did you. You said Pete Wentz was

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calling. That's what took you away from Belmont. But, like,

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did you have this project going on when you're in Nashville or. No.

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Yeah. So I think it really. I mean, I'd been doing it

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the whole time, you know, like, all of high school,

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junior high. And then when I got to.

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I don't know, I think after I graduated high school, I was like,

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okay, there's some songs here. I really want

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to make a proper project. And at the time, it was an album, and

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then I kept kind of condensing it

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and, like, you know, forming the pieces.

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And then I would say in the last

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two or three years, I was really piecing things together.

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So, like, the name of the project,

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the songs I wanted to, you know,

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put together, and then I was coming to LA in the summers

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and playing, like, shows and shows and shows and shows of the

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new music. And that, I think, was

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actually really kind of key to all of it, because

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I feel like a lot. You figure out a lot more about

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the songs and about what you want to say and how you want to present

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the project on stage, or at least I did more

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there than I did, like, in my notebooks.

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And so, yeah, eventually, I don't fully know how,

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but I think a friend of Pete's or something was like,

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yo, like, check this out. And I think, sure, he gets sent a lot of

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stuff, and he was just hyped on it. And I took a

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meeting, and then I was like, okay, I'm gonna move to Los Angeles.

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And then I. I did. And here we go.

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You know, what year did you guys connect. Like, was that recent?

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Oh, God. I think the first time we met would have been.

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I'm so bad at the timeline of it. Oh, sorry. 2020.

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Maybe the very tail end of 2023.

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Okay, so you've only lived. You've been in LA for, like, what, a

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little over a year now? Yeah, probably a little over a year because I moved

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before. Like, I was certain

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that I was gonna stay here, so I. I was like, I'm just gonna try

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it out for. I took a semester off, and I was like, I'm just gonna

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try it out for a semester. And then it just snowballed, and I never left.

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What song of yours did you. Did you know a song of yours

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Pete heard and was stoked on,

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or was it just. I think he might have been sent

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everything, But I remember in our meeting, he was like, yeah, I heard

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sex, drugs, whatever, and he was really hyped on that.

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And then there was a new one that had come about in the time

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after we'd met, and I sent it out, and he was like, oh, okay. Sick.

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And that was. Everything's fine. Okay. Right on.

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Wow. So, like, you had. So you had songs out. I mean, you were doing

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things obviously, at that point, because, I mean, Blame it on this was the first

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song that you had ever released, at least on Spotify, Right. So you said you

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had what, like, a catalog of. You wanted to do an album after high

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school. And then at what point do you just say, okay,

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I'm just gonna do this one? Like, put out that one song? Or was that

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already out at that point? Well, yeah. So Blame It On Us

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came about. I was writing it in.

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Yeah. Probably tail end of high school. I was writing it and then

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working and getting it produced. And then,

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gosh, yeah. Freshman year of college, I filmed the music

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video with, like, a friend in the parking garage at the school.

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And then, yeah,

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I, like, posted stuff on TikTok, and it just kind

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of grew. It was really special.

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Like, that hadn't happened to me with anything before.

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And so I was like, oh, like, this is really cool.

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I'm so thankful for Tick Tock for that. I feel like I. Yeah.

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Yeah. So Tick Tock was. Yeah. Was getting you. You had a video that

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does well, and then people start coming to your page and start

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listening to your music, and then

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you what? We're just kind of slowly growing a fan base, and then

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once this call from Pete Wentz happens, then that must have just changed everything.

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Yeah. So, I mean, Blame It On Us came out and Then I, I don't

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think this EP came out. I mean, it was like three years in

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between that. So after Blame, I was like, okay.

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That was when I was like starting to pull songs from, like, what

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I'd written and put ideas together. And that's when I was really

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00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,080
forming what was going to be an album. But then I,

228
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I was looking at it and I was like, you know what? I actually

229
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think it's just these songs. It's just these ones, these ones

230
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are the ones that I'm, I'm really excited about. So I put it together as

231
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an EP rather, which I just think

232
00:14:52,270 --> 00:14:55,230
felt better as a, I guess an opening statement.

233
00:14:57,150 --> 00:15:00,510
Sure. Are you talking about the EP Wonderland or. Because you had other songs out

234
00:15:00,510 --> 00:15:03,950
before that, right? I mean, you had, I did Beauty Queen,

235
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Fuck Me. Like that. You had prior.

236
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I put some, I did like some

237
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warm up singles because it been so long since I had

238
00:15:15,100 --> 00:15:17,940
put anything out. So I was like, okay, well, maybe I should like

239
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warm things up again and get people like used

240
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to getting into the music. And then. Yeah, and then the

241
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ep. Okay. And what's with the ep?

242
00:15:29,540 --> 00:15:32,750
Did that come out with Pete's label?

243
00:15:33,550 --> 00:15:36,910
It did, yeah. It came out on Pulse and DCD2.

244
00:15:37,390 --> 00:15:40,830
Okay, so, so you get this phone call or you, you,

245
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you find out that he has heard the songs. What was that day like?

246
00:15:45,870 --> 00:15:49,350
Oh, dude, it was like, it was

247
00:15:49,350 --> 00:15:51,470
trippy. It was really trippy. I, I,

248
00:15:53,310 --> 00:15:56,750
I just, I had, I had managers at the time

249
00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,000
from doing all my shows in la. And

250
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,160
my manager called me and was like, yo, Pete Wentz just

251
00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,920
hit me up. I was like, what the, What?

252
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,440
Why? How? Like how? Why

253
00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,080
Is everything okay? And he was like, yeah, no, it's great. I was like, okay,

254
00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,760
cool. And then all day I was just like, well, I hope more

255
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,520
comes of this. And then I took a meeting. And then

256
00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,560
like, I think like, like five more months

257
00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,320
passed. Really? So you met, you took a meeting

258
00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,680
with P. Wentz and then what? He just kind of just

259
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,320
discussing what you had going on or whatever. Or what? Yeah, I guess just like

260
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,960
an introduction. See what the vibe was. And we

261
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:46,000
talked about like,

262
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,640
yeah, we talked about like, you know that hardcore show clip where they're in a

263
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:56,150
Denny's? Huh? He's like, what the fuck is up?

264
00:16:56,150 --> 00:16:59,030
Dennis chatted about like

265
00:16:59,750 --> 00:17:02,470
that and I played music for him.

266
00:17:03,510 --> 00:17:06,430
Yeah, it was a weird. And then I left and I was like, well, shit,

267
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I really do hope, I hope we hang out again. Sure.

268
00:17:12,230 --> 00:17:16,030
Yeah. It's something. Yeah. And then it

269
00:17:16,030 --> 00:17:19,710
took five months. Were you Kind of like, at what? You know, during that time

270
00:17:19,710 --> 00:17:21,990
span, you're like, I guess, well, nothing's really going to come of that.

271
00:17:23,630 --> 00:17:27,270
You know, you never know because it feels like things

272
00:17:27,270 --> 00:17:31,030
move really fast. But then also I was hopeful because sometimes it takes

273
00:17:31,030 --> 00:17:34,870
a minute. Yeah. You know, And I was like, you know what? Pete's a

274
00:17:34,870 --> 00:17:38,350
busy guy. It's fine. I'm patient.

275
00:17:38,830 --> 00:17:42,030
And then, yeah, it came to be, but I was rolling either way. Like, I

276
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was gonna put the music out, label or no label.

277
00:17:47,550 --> 00:17:51,300
Yeah, I was, for sure. I mean, I was ready. I was getting ready

278
00:17:51,300 --> 00:17:55,020
too, and, like, teasing a lot of

279
00:17:55,020 --> 00:17:57,140
songs on TikTok. And then.

280
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Yeah, and then label stepped in and

281
00:18:02,580 --> 00:18:06,340
it all came to be. That's amazing. When. At what point

282
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do you decide to move to L. A? Was it after that first meeting with

283
00:18:09,180 --> 00:18:11,540
him? No, I moved to L. A

284
00:18:14,740 --> 00:18:18,460
because of the TikTok buzz, I think.

285
00:18:18,780 --> 00:18:22,500
You know, like, I'd been teasing songs and then I was like. I was

286
00:18:22,500 --> 00:18:26,180
also like. Because I grew up in Fresno, I was coming back and forth to

287
00:18:26,180 --> 00:18:29,780
LA a lot as a kid too, just trying to, like, I

288
00:18:29,780 --> 00:18:33,580
guess, network as like a 14 year old, I was like, get out

289
00:18:33,580 --> 00:18:35,020
there. And then I.

290
00:18:37,340 --> 00:18:39,660
So I was playing a ton of stuff out here too,

291
00:18:42,870 --> 00:18:46,150
trying to pull it all together. And then,

292
00:18:47,110 --> 00:18:50,870
yeah, I think it was that after I'd finished everything, I

293
00:18:50,870 --> 00:18:54,470
was looking at the body of work and, like, the show that I

294
00:18:54,550 --> 00:18:56,950
wanted to put on and

295
00:18:58,150 --> 00:19:01,150
I just wanted to do it in la. So I just took the semester off

296
00:19:01,150 --> 00:19:03,670
and I came and I lived out here and

297
00:19:05,510 --> 00:19:09,360
it happened. Yeah. You've been here since, right? Yeah. In your sense. All

298
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:13,040
worked out. Wow. So after getting, like, signing with. With Pete

299
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,240
Wentz's label, like, how did that change things for you? Was it just like, okay,

300
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,000
now you kind of have some. You have a legitimate person backing

301
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,680
the project or, like, you know, I mean. It definitely changed

302
00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,240
stuff. Like, the music didn't change, the show

303
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,960
didn't change. I think what. What changed

304
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,680
was my organizational structure and

305
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,290
how, like, how it was to, like, have

306
00:19:39,090 --> 00:19:41,330
a team of people that were on board.

307
00:19:42,850 --> 00:19:46,210
I think it was also really affirming,

308
00:19:46,850 --> 00:19:50,170
you know, because I'd been doing it kind of on my own and there were

309
00:19:50,170 --> 00:19:53,970
like, there were people. People on the team, no doubt. And tons of

310
00:19:53,970 --> 00:19:57,650
people who were like, hype. But then once, like, Pulse

311
00:19:57,650 --> 00:20:01,010
Records and Pete stepped in, I was like, oh, man.

312
00:20:01,010 --> 00:20:04,370
Okay. So, like, I'm. I'm right to be doing this,

313
00:20:05,090 --> 00:20:08,050
I think. Yeah, there was like a label, like a validation.

314
00:20:08,610 --> 00:20:12,370
Yeah, it was totally Validating. That's the word I'm looking for, is just like,

315
00:20:12,690 --> 00:20:16,450
oh, shit. Okay. Cool, cool, cool, cool. I. This is the right move.

316
00:20:16,930 --> 00:20:20,770
This is the right play. Yeah, Just hype. It was

317
00:20:20,770 --> 00:20:24,490
good. It was exciting. And, you know, I

318
00:20:24,490 --> 00:20:28,340
got my own place and I fucking started doing my

319
00:20:28,340 --> 00:20:32,140
shows. And. I'm so grateful. God,

320
00:20:32,140 --> 00:20:35,940
there's so much to be grateful for. It's truly.

321
00:20:35,940 --> 00:20:39,660
It's amazing. I. Man, saying it

322
00:20:39,660 --> 00:20:43,260
all, like, in order, like this. Really, really touching. My

323
00:20:43,260 --> 00:20:46,180
heart feels good. Like, wow. So much

324
00:20:47,060 --> 00:20:49,460
luck and joy and gratefulness. And

325
00:20:51,540 --> 00:20:55,260
I'm not very religious, but it is. It's a blessing, I suppose. I don't know.

326
00:20:55,260 --> 00:20:58,910
It just feels good, man. It feels good. I love to hear that, man.

327
00:20:58,910 --> 00:21:02,710
That's awesome. I love. I love having moments like that where, you know,

328
00:21:02,710 --> 00:21:05,350
to see somebody go, wow, there's a lot of shit. I did. A lot of

329
00:21:05,350 --> 00:21:08,590
cool shit. Yeah. I'm very proud

330
00:21:09,230 --> 00:21:12,350
of what I've been able to accomplish so far.

331
00:21:12,750 --> 00:21:16,310
It's pretty magical. It's pretty magical. And to, like, meet

332
00:21:16,310 --> 00:21:19,950
fans for the first time since putting out music. Like, I'm playing

333
00:21:19,950 --> 00:21:23,750
shows and people know the words. Yeah, what's that like?

334
00:21:23,750 --> 00:21:27,430
I mean, that must have been such a big change. I mean, you've been playing

335
00:21:27,430 --> 00:21:31,110
for so long, right? I mean, since middle school. And then

336
00:21:31,110 --> 00:21:34,710
you're working at this thing, and then you start to get a fan base, and

337
00:21:34,950 --> 00:21:38,670
people are showing up for you to hear your songs, and they're singing them back

338
00:21:38,670 --> 00:21:42,070
to you. Like, what? Like what? Tell me, do you remember, like,

339
00:21:42,230 --> 00:21:45,950
our first show that you remember that happening? Like, wow. It's not just some

340
00:21:45,950 --> 00:21:48,470
friends that I know now. I was in Montreal

341
00:21:50,790 --> 00:21:54,600
opening for Valley, and I was singing.

342
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,040
It was the middle of the set, and I was singing the song Wonderland.

343
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,640
And I looked up and there was, like. There were, like.

344
00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,480
I think I hadn't really had a chance to look up yet in the show,

345
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,920
but I was, like, off the guitar and just me and the mic, and I

346
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,720
looked up and I was like, oh, shit. What the. What the hell? Like,

347
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,280
there are these little pockets of people at the Valley

348
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,700
show that, like, know.

349
00:22:21,140 --> 00:22:24,500
Know my songs. They're singing them back. They're singing them with me.

350
00:22:25,620 --> 00:22:29,260
And then in Halifax, it was even more. And

351
00:22:29,260 --> 00:22:33,100
so I. I don't know what this run's gonna be like when I have

352
00:22:33,100 --> 00:22:35,780
my big North American tour with Kay Flay,

353
00:22:36,740 --> 00:22:40,460
but it's probably gonna be crazy. Cause I've been doing all

354
00:22:40,460 --> 00:22:44,260
these shows, but none of the music had been out. And so it's just like,

355
00:22:46,020 --> 00:22:48,980
what? Yeah, it was really surreal and awesome to meet

356
00:22:49,220 --> 00:22:52,940
everybody. Surprising

357
00:22:52,940 --> 00:22:56,740
amount of people. They're just like, yeah, man. I just. I loved the

358
00:22:56,740 --> 00:23:00,500
show and I loved the ep. And it's good to

359
00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:04,220
be. It's just crazy. It's so wild. I love that aspect

360
00:23:04,220 --> 00:23:07,980
of music, is getting a chance

361
00:23:07,980 --> 00:23:11,830
to connect with people, because I've expressed myself, you know, in the

362
00:23:11,830 --> 00:23:15,230
music and in the show. And then people come to me and they're like, you've

363
00:23:15,230 --> 00:23:18,990
been a vessel for my expression, which is amazing.

364
00:23:18,990 --> 00:23:22,150
It's like a really magical thing that.

365
00:23:23,350 --> 00:23:26,550
Not to get too into the weeds with it, but, like,

366
00:23:28,470 --> 00:23:32,150
it's like an ancient human ritual of connecting with people.

367
00:23:32,310 --> 00:23:35,350
And to be a part of that long history of music is

368
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,040
something else, man. It's something else. Yeah. You're influencing new

369
00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,640
artists, right? Like, as you were influenced by. I mean, the. The most recent song

370
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,920
you put out is a David Bowie cover. So I'm sure David Bowie's probably

371
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,960
made an impact on your life. And then to do the same thing

372
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,560
that he's done for you, for somebody else, it must have been such a

373
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,400
surreal experience. 100. 100. I

374
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,170
think that was, like, sort of what I. You

375
00:24:03,170 --> 00:24:06,890
know, I think, like, in. In terms of, like, the dream, you know, I

376
00:24:06,890 --> 00:24:10,570
love making music. That's why I. I do it, is because I love making

377
00:24:10,570 --> 00:24:14,250
music and I love connecting with people. But

378
00:24:14,970 --> 00:24:18,650
there's that vision of, like, somebody else

379
00:24:18,729 --> 00:24:22,170
making music because you made music. You know,

380
00:24:22,490 --> 00:24:26,330
that's really exciting. That's really exciting to think about

381
00:24:26,810 --> 00:24:29,890
because there's so. I mean, the same thing that happened to me,

382
00:24:30,690 --> 00:24:34,290
you know, somebody was making music and I was listening to it, and I was

383
00:24:34,290 --> 00:24:38,010
like, I think I should do that. Yeah. And then I did. That's

384
00:24:38,010 --> 00:24:41,810
awesome. Yeah. And that. And then maybe, you know, that's really,

385
00:24:41,810 --> 00:24:45,490
really cool, dude. You're doing a tour with Kayfly. I love K Flay. Oh,

386
00:24:45,490 --> 00:24:49,210
she's awesome. She's the best. We've actually been writing a lot as of. Have you

387
00:24:49,210 --> 00:24:52,690
really? That's awesome. Yeah, I've had her on my show twice

388
00:24:52,930 --> 00:24:56,720
before. I've also had Valian, who you've toured with, as well.

389
00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,840
They're great. Great band. But. Yeah.

390
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,920
100. Yeah. But K fly. That's awesome. So you've been riding with K

391
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,800
Fly? Yeah, yeah. We're doing our thing.

392
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,960
She's the. She's cool. And I. She's, like,

393
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:19,360
just great to hang out with. I feel like we

394
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:23,280
have a lot in common. Yeah, she's awesome. Well, so

395
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,880
you have the Bowie covers Covers the most recent one. Why did you decide on

396
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,600
that song? I.

397
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,120
You know, it's sort of a. It's a little bit of a deeper cut for

398
00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:36,880
him. And

399
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,440
I think I've just always loved the writing on that song. I think

400
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,160
my favorite. I think it's. It's a pretty

401
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,370
interesting story that I don't think you get

402
00:25:50,370 --> 00:25:54,170
in. There's like, not any other

403
00:25:54,170 --> 00:25:57,170
songs that I can think of that capture that feeling,

404
00:25:57,970 --> 00:25:59,890
you know, or that. Very specific.

405
00:26:02,210 --> 00:26:05,930
Yeah, it's just. It's such a. It's such a Bowie song. It's

406
00:26:05,930 --> 00:26:09,730
very Bowie. Right, right, right. Bowiness to it

407
00:26:11,010 --> 00:26:14,770
where I'm like, yeah, man, like John, I'm Only Dancing. She

408
00:26:14,770 --> 00:26:18,410
turns me on, but I'm Only Dancing is. I would

409
00:26:18,410 --> 00:26:21,890
kill to write that. And I think that was part of it because I was

410
00:26:21,890 --> 00:26:25,530
like, man, to have thought of that, true or not, to

411
00:26:25,530 --> 00:26:29,170
like, dreamed that story and captured

412
00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:32,410
it. And I think the production, like, his production on that, I think is

413
00:26:33,370 --> 00:26:37,090
so fucking awesome for the time too. Oh,

414
00:26:37,090 --> 00:26:40,570
dude. Yeah. Just so special, man. Bowie.

415
00:26:41,610 --> 00:26:45,020
That's awesome. What about your. Do you have a new. Are you working? I mean,

416
00:26:45,020 --> 00:26:47,820
you said you're working writing with Gay Fly and stuff, but do you have your

417
00:26:47,820 --> 00:26:51,380
own, like, new. New stuff that's done and ready to come out anytime soon? I

418
00:26:51,380 --> 00:26:55,180
know the episode. That old by any means. I

419
00:26:55,180 --> 00:26:58,700
don't know if it's properly announced. I've started posting about it on

420
00:26:58,700 --> 00:27:02,380
TikTok just because TikTok's gonna be gone soon. Because it's

421
00:27:02,380 --> 00:27:05,940
gonna be gone on Sunday. Yeah, I'm trying to take

422
00:27:05,940 --> 00:27:09,010
advantage of it, but

423
00:27:10,610 --> 00:27:14,170
yeah, there is a new song coming that I'm really excited about very soon,

424
00:27:14,170 --> 00:27:17,730
actually, and that I think

425
00:27:17,730 --> 00:27:21,210
I wrote around the same time. It's the

426
00:27:21,210 --> 00:27:24,890
punctuation. It's the exclamation point at the end of Wonderland,

427
00:27:24,890 --> 00:27:28,490
I think. Awesome. So, like, kind of is

428
00:27:28,490 --> 00:27:31,570
gonna wrap up that cycle for me where,

429
00:27:33,170 --> 00:27:36,290
you know, I'll feel like I've wrapped up that era. And then I've been working

430
00:27:36,610 --> 00:27:39,500
and writing a ton of this year and

431
00:27:40,220 --> 00:27:43,860
I'm really, really excited about the new stuff. I'm really

432
00:27:43,860 --> 00:27:47,540
excited about it. And like, my. My friends are hyped too. They're like,

433
00:27:47,540 --> 00:27:51,300
oh, shit, this is cool. So it's gonna be good. I. I don't want

434
00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:53,660
to. I don't wanna spoil it, but yeah,

435
00:27:55,100 --> 00:27:58,820
hell yeah. Well, I'm excited. Jay, thanks for doing this, man. I really appreciate your

436
00:27:58,820 --> 00:28:02,500
time. Oh, yeah, absolutely. No, thanks for having me, man. It's good to meet

437
00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:05,460
you. Yeah, nice to meet you as well. I have one more question for you

438
00:28:05,460 --> 00:28:08,930
before I let you go. I want to know if you have any advice for

439
00:28:08,930 --> 00:28:12,170
aspiring artists. Oh,

440
00:28:16,010 --> 00:28:19,210
I'll use a Bowie quote, but then I'll also add my own thing,

441
00:28:20,490 --> 00:28:23,930
the Bowie quote that I love. That is pretty popular,

442
00:28:24,010 --> 00:28:27,370
so you may have heard it before, but it's like,

443
00:28:27,530 --> 00:28:31,290
go a little bit out of your depth. And just when you feel

444
00:28:32,500 --> 00:28:35,540
you're working in an area that's not. I'm not quoting it exactly,

445
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:38,780
but go a little bit out of your depth and work in an area where

446
00:28:38,780 --> 00:28:42,500
you don't feel comfortable yet. And

447
00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:44,820
that's when something really exciting can happen,

448
00:28:46,260 --> 00:28:50,020
which I totally agree with is like, right when you think you're like,

449
00:28:51,140 --> 00:28:54,940
no, I'm not. Not me. I can't do that. That's right when you're in

450
00:28:54,940 --> 00:28:57,140
the spot to do something really cool.

451
00:28:58,710 --> 00:29:02,390
And then also I would say to

452
00:29:02,870 --> 00:29:06,190
live it. You know, like, if you want to be a

453
00:29:06,190 --> 00:29:09,990
songwriter, you're a songwriter now.

454
00:29:11,030 --> 00:29:14,310
So go do all the things that you think a songwriter does.

455
00:29:15,030 --> 00:29:18,750
Go sit in the cafe and have your little coffee and write

456
00:29:18,750 --> 00:29:22,590
out on the napkin and aestheticize it and just

457
00:29:22,590 --> 00:29:26,440
go fully live that. And a lot

458
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,920
of magical things will happen to you, because you're not aspiring to be a

459
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,240
songwriter. You're already a songwriter. So go write the songs

460
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,960
and write every day and play shows. Play

461
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,800
shows as often as you can. And don't stop. Because

462
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,240
you never know. You never know. There's no point in,

463
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,840
you know, oh, you know, I've been doing it for a minute.

464
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,160
Like, I started when I was 13.

465
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,480
You know, you got. You gotta just keep going. Just don't stop. If

466
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,280
you really love it, don't stop. I love it. Love it. Thank you so

467
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,760
much, J. I love that advice. You want to be a songwriter? You're. You are

468
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:06,960
a song. You're a songwriter now. Go. Go be.

469
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,240
Songwriter does. Go do the things a songwriter does. Yeah.

470
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:16,400
That's so good, man. And also, one more thing is, like,

471
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:20,190
directly for songwriters is 10 minutes in

472
00:30:20,190 --> 00:30:23,950
the morning. Do some object writing. Can you

473
00:30:23,950 --> 00:30:27,630
give an example, like, about object writing in the sense of, like,

474
00:30:27,710 --> 00:30:31,550
I'm gonna write about this cell phone? Yeah. No, it's. It's a good

475
00:30:31,710 --> 00:30:35,270
practice, I think, where,

476
00:30:35,270 --> 00:30:38,510
like, you literally find an actual object and

477
00:30:39,550 --> 00:30:43,150
write about that object in its

478
00:30:43,150 --> 00:30:46,710
totality, the sensory experience of using it, what it's used

479
00:30:46,710 --> 00:30:50,410
for. It could be an object in your house, but those 10 minutes,

480
00:30:50,490 --> 00:30:54,250
it's really. I don't remember what book I read this in.

481
00:30:55,770 --> 00:30:59,530
But the first few times, you're like, man, 10

482
00:30:59,530 --> 00:31:02,890
minutes. Oh, God. And then the next few times, you're like,

483
00:31:03,610 --> 00:31:07,250
oh, shit, 10 minutes is not enough time for me to write everything I want

484
00:31:07,250 --> 00:31:11,010
to. And then because you're hitting that exercise every day, all

485
00:31:11,010 --> 00:31:14,650
day long, your brain is primed to be a writer. Everything

486
00:31:14,650 --> 00:31:18,290
you see, like, the interactions you have, your brain is primed

487
00:31:18,290 --> 00:31:22,120
to do the same thing. So object writing is awesome. I

488
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,560
love that. Great tool. That's cool. It reminds me of, like,

489
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,360
the artist's way, where the. The morning pages where you have to just write your

490
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:34,240
brain dump out every. But yours is more.

491
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,880
There's more a point to. I feel like. Like, I don't know,

492
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,560
you're actually working instead of just dumping out every thought you have.

493
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,380
It's trying to be creative in a way of describing something. Like, I'm holding a

494
00:31:45,380 --> 00:31:49,020
paperclip. Like, you could spend $10. Yeah. No, I love it.

495
00:31:49,020 --> 00:31:51,900
That's really cool. I've never heard. I don't know what book I. I used to

496
00:31:51,900 --> 00:31:55,540
read all these, like, books on songwriting in school,

497
00:31:55,540 --> 00:31:59,380
and I don't remember what book told me to object. Right.

498
00:31:59,380 --> 00:32:02,980
But since I started doing it, like, oh, man, it's

499
00:32:02,980 --> 00:32:03,460
awesome.

500
00:32:10,420 --> 00:32:11,540
Bringing it back

501
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,160
backwards, bringing it backwards, bring it

502
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,840
backwards, bring it backwards, bring it

503
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:24,720
backwards.