Unlearn16: Class is in Session - The One Where I Grab the Mic and Almost Sing

00:00:00.000 classes in session welcome to unlearn 16 classes in session guys we're on location

00:00:07.280 look at this place full location and more important than the location

00:00:13.120 i'm here with ria may pre-concert sound check you gotta go check out the tiktok i just made

00:00:19.720 because it's hysterical and we're gonna do the podcast right from the biltmore downtown oshawa

00:00:24.820 that's right how are you doing today ria i'm really good do i have to go really close i don't

00:00:28.460 know i feel like we don't know i don't often use this kind of microphone um but but i feel like i

00:00:33.580 should lean in i don't know why yeah it's very obvious it's a we should have been hanging from

00:00:38.900 above should have been hanging from above so you're on tour what okay there's so many things

00:00:44.220 we need to talk about do you want to start with anything yeah the first one is that you say tour

00:00:48.120 because you're from ontario and i say tour how from nova scotia scotia scotia so tour and tour

00:00:55.780 yes i'm on day this is the third day of our tour tour tour and um we played toronto last night

00:01:03.940 how was that it was really good you know we had a full house in the old mod club remember the

00:01:08.920 mod club i do remember the mod club i'm that old yeah and so now it's access club access theater

00:01:14.840 something but it's the old mod club it was really cool it's a little world war ii for me but whatever

00:01:18.980 it's a bit world war ii um but yeah so we're just making our way across we're ending in on the east

00:01:24.100 coast of Canada, so Halifax. Very nice, very nice. So how many shows are in this tour? I want to say

00:01:31.120 12. You're just guessing? I'm guessing. You're guessing. Yeah, I'm stopping after 12 no matter

00:01:35.100 what. At 12 you're like, I'm done. If there's a 13th in Newfoundland, I'm sorry, you're gonna

00:01:39.200 have to deal with the puffins out there. That's all you get. All right, so you're on tour. I know 1.00

00:01:45.140 you have a beautiful wife and babies and life. How hard is that to leave? Oh, it's awful. Is it

00:01:51.360 horrible. It's horrible. Please excuse the noise. They're obviously burying somebody in ice back

00:01:55.960 there. Yeah, just shove his head right in there. It's good. Yeah. The, uh, it's really hard to

00:02:03.800 leave home, but it's, you know, it's also a break. Parents will know it's a break too. So like I get

00:02:07.920 to sleep eight hours a night in hotels away from my kids for a couple of weeks. And your poor wife. 1.00

00:02:12.440 I know she's struggling right now, but you know, I'm trying to manage my guilt and just be in the

00:02:17.640 moments. Okay. Okay. I'll back off that. I'll back off. What is your, A, I have so many questions for

00:02:23.020 you. Okay. Um, A, what are you drinking right there? Can I make fun of that first? I'm drinking

00:02:28.300 some flow, Joe. So what the hell, what is this? This is alkaline. What, what do you need? Is that

00:02:34.800 a battery? What do we need alkaline or water for? It's my battery so I can wake up. So I see I have

00:02:39.300 no energy. And when I drink this, I'm ready to play. Are you joking? Stop it. I'm going to be

00:02:44.660 honest i didn't read i don't read i don't pay attention to details i don't know what i'm 0.98

00:02:48.020 drinking i just knew it was wet flow if you'd like to sponsor ria may there you go get her some

00:02:53.360 alkaline batteries tastes tastes metallic uh all right you're about to roll in what is your

00:03:00.760 favorite part of performing you've been a look how long you've been at this for musician 800 years

00:03:07.380 800 years doesn't she look good guys we have the best lighting here we're moving in here i'm going

00:03:12.780 to do all of my TikToks and podcasts from this lighting it's it's great lighting um I've been

00:03:18.760 doing it a while maybe close to a decade but you know what this is the first tour back after the

00:03:23.560 pandemic so how's that feel it feels weird I feel a little bit older like usually you feel six

00:03:28.420 months older I feel certainly three years older and two kids older and which is like what 15 in

00:03:35.660 real life two kids is 15 years that's right yeah absolutely that's how it goes yeah so it's good

00:03:40.360 It's good to get back to it, though, and see familiar faces of people that used to come up to the shows that might not be in my memory.

00:03:46.960 But as soon as I see them at the show, I'm like, oh, it's that guy that comes to all the, you know.

00:03:51.140 Oh, really?

00:03:51.760 Oh, yeah.

00:03:52.080 It's such a fun catch up to see people.

00:03:53.980 You have like regulars that will be in each tour spot.

00:03:57.260 Yeah.

00:03:57.760 Yeah.

00:03:58.260 That's actually one of my favorite parts is connecting with those guys after because usually it's a more casual conversation.

00:04:03.820 They'll be like, you know, do you remember me?

00:04:05.000 I had that sign.

00:04:05.700 I'm like, of course I do.

00:04:06.780 Of course I remember that.

00:04:08.060 But usually, when I have a new merch item, I'm like, I usually have all the old ones.

00:04:12.980 So when there's a new item to be, I'm like, guys, there's a new t-shirt.

00:04:15.440 It's going to be great.

00:04:16.100 What merch?

00:04:16.700 Where's the merch?

00:04:17.200 Oh, you'd love this.

00:04:17.960 I got a new shirt for you.

00:04:19.440 Well, we're going to get the shirts before we come off here.

00:04:22.060 Don't worry.

00:04:22.460 We'll get the shirts.

00:04:24.700 So coming on tour, you like reconnecting with the fans.

00:04:28.540 You like all of that.

00:04:29.700 What's the hardest part?

00:04:31.060 I know you're family.

00:04:32.060 But what do you think the hardest part of this is?

00:04:34.820 Because performing is amazing.

00:04:36.920 It's your music.

00:04:37.580 it's your passion it's your soul all these songs are yours I get that but do you ever get up here

00:04:42.380 and go I'm just I'm tired I need to lie down mostly the shows are great it's the whole day

00:04:50.160 leading up to it yes and you don't really have control and like I really like having control of

00:04:53.880 my day I'm usually like hey we're going here at nine we're going here at ten you just have to be

00:04:58.360 really zen because you don't know how the day is going to unfold there could be a tech issue there

00:05:02.160 could be a weird hotel thing there could be traffic look it guys I'm gonna be real I mean

00:05:06.660 i've been around the music a little bit it's not that there could be a tech issue be honest

00:05:11.940 there will a seven have seven tech issues there will be a different one every night a hundred

00:05:16.020 percent and and then you are constantly having to rely on all these moving parts to be on time

00:05:22.340 which and i start to sweat when i think about it not never nobody's ever on time yeah so you

00:05:28.260 really have to let a lot go and just i don't think i could do it is that what's held me up for my

00:05:33.620 music career i was just gonna say that that's it's my music career i'm like that's the one element

00:05:39.140 you never had i think of my musical talent what i've been lacking is a zen maybe if i drank some

00:05:45.780 of that water i think okay i'll get some water all right i'll get some later uh you're on tour

00:05:49.940 right now what's your favorite song on tour don't say you don't have one because you're alive what's

00:05:53.140 your favorite song that me of this lineup um of my own stuff like there's a song called are you

00:06:00.100 stealing some of mine no the world is falling apart and you know what i started playing bass this tour

00:06:04.980 oh just mainly because chris is better at guitar than me right he i want him to play the guitar

00:06:09.860 parts so um yeah it's just fun to get into the bass and just change it up so okay so what lyrically

00:06:17.380 or is it just because you play the bass in that song and you're just like oh no i can rock this

00:06:21.220 song it's both i like singing that song um i like the harmonies i like the vibe it's not the lyrics

00:06:27.700 because at this point all the lyrics are mine and they're i've sang them a lot so what it is for me

00:06:33.300 is on stage what gives me the most energy is like this song is kind of like a medium tempo

00:06:37.380 right like jamming i get to sing harmonies with my drummer matt who's like the rankin family

00:06:41.940 and uh do you know the rankin family out here i i do out here we're not in holes out here listen

00:06:47.460 it's a very distinct culture at least out in toronto yeah where all culture exists except

00:06:52.980 for the rankins we know you don't have that cultic moment up here all my american folks might not

00:06:57.220 not know the rankings though i'm not too sure we have some celtic i usually have on a clodder ring

00:07:02.480 but i wasn't wearing it tonight would have been so much useful um all right so you're on tour

00:07:08.420 all of these hotels do you have anything that you take from place to place to place to make

00:07:13.680 you feel like okay i'm still at home okay i feel a good vibe like a blanket a teddy no there's no

00:07:19.440 room for anything just tiny stuffed animal maybe this somebody should send her one can you guys

00:07:25.040 please get her like a cute little you know i'll lose it i'm not even allowed to have airpods i'm

00:07:29.700 can't my wife doesn't let me have anything that i could lose i don't have anything because i lose

00:07:33.820 it and if i have it i'll lose it okay so she needs like one of those big squish mellow things 0.52

00:07:39.200 you guys should send it to her so she can maybe throw them on stage i'll give use your po your

00:07:44.520 fan po box and just send her squish mellows i think those are the best idea i don't know what

00:07:49.440 that is but i love the sound of it it's like a giant teddy is that because you're from the east

00:07:53.760 coast maybe cultural difference you have the ranket family we have squish mellows that's what it is

00:07:58.200 they're like these giant puffy pillows but they're shaped as characters my students are very into it

00:08:02.880 i wouldn't be able to fit that in the suitcase yeah you could shove it you squish it down let's

00:08:06.600 squish i'll believe it when i see it it's a squish squish mellow okay i need some dirt dirt i need

00:08:13.780 some dirt i need what is look let's be honest you started your career by saying take your clothes 0.62

00:08:20.060 off to a bunch of lesbians so it's just to the lesbians i said it were you saying everybody 0.80

00:08:25.560 i was saying it actually everybody i was saying it to one person and then everyone took it in

00:08:31.020 their ears so i don't i'm not in charge of who hears it plausible deniability folks what is the

00:08:38.500 dodgiest thing what's the dodgiest thing a fan's ever done oh there's dodge come on give it one

00:08:44.400 dodgy story um it can be from a long time ago pre-wife you can like pre we'll we'll pre-date it

00:08:51.500 um you know i get a lot of invites to places after but i'm i'm in bed my band laughs because

00:08:58.520 i go to bed like when the show's over about eight minutes later i'm sleeping oh my god you're not

00:09:03.540 supposed to tell you that you're a rock star yeah especially when clothes off came out i'll tell you

00:09:07.820 that when clothes off and gold came out there was a little more invites but i was really into someone

00:09:11.740 at the time so you just i didn't i never had that moment of like i'm kind of glad which probably

00:09:16.620 accelerated the invites because you're now withholding maybe they just got bigger and

00:09:21.740 bigger and bigger nobody ever like showed up outside your hotel room yeah no we've had that

00:09:26.860 we've had that come you're you're just she's being so coy i want to know all the details i feel like

00:09:31.900 there's there's like have clothes have clothes remained on is that if somebody snuck into the

00:09:36.940 okay here's what i'll tell you guys you ready quiet now listen no one has ever showed up with

00:09:43.820 no clothes on but there has been you know well sometimes i'll find a note on my hotel door so

00:09:50.700 i'm like oh clearly someone's known clearly someone's known i was sleeping eight feet away

00:09:56.780 um i always blame chris chris that gives me shivers up my neck i'm not too happy with that

00:10:01.180 one that doesn't make me feel good for some reason yeah you know what and that's a fine line between

00:10:05.340 being flattered and scared sometimes yeah yeah yeah for me especially i used to be a server at

00:10:09.520 a restaurant and i would have these like old ladies request my section and that freaked me 0.90

00:10:13.240 out question what request my section you know can i let me sit through raise section and that gave

00:10:17.640 me trauma i was like what do they want are they trying to hurt me so like you know when people

00:10:21.100 show up at the hotel door i get yes sometimes it's scary it's a little scary i don't see who

00:10:26.080 they are so you know it could be anyone listen i the note on the door is a little creepy i'm not

00:10:31.500 gonna lie yeah okay what's what's your what's your dream

00:10:35.340 like right now you've accomplished amazing things your two are all over the place you know write

00:10:41.500 beautiful music everybody's vibing what's in your head beautiful family what what's the thing you

00:10:48.300 want to do next hmm i have a goal that's just like a weird goal it's just on my list i'm so excited

00:10:54.540 right now so is it me playing guitar in your band that and i have i've been fortunate enough to have

00:11:00.780 have a bunch of success in canada and i have some plaques i got some gold and platinum i would

00:11:06.380 really like one from another country and i'm gonna tell you god or whoever i don't mind i don't care

00:11:13.080 what country it is i just want to get like germany australia you just want to go somewhere else

00:11:17.500 doesn't have to be the america you have you have connections now totally but it doesn't have to be

00:11:21.980 the big american platinum although i'd love it but i want just one i just have this weird thing

00:11:26.360 like it's one of my makes no difference really but i want that and that's that's it is that

00:11:33.560 boring you know that's the goal going into this because when i got when i signed my record deal

00:11:37.780 they were trying to get it out to me what what do you want what's your five year what are your goals

00:11:41.140 and i was like oh um i want to be on the radio and they were like you want to be on the radio

00:11:46.740 and i was like radio i had never thought about that i was like and what i had never and they

00:11:52.680 were trying to be like dream bigger yeah they were like no but they were they were like do you want

00:11:56.460 a platinum record and i was like i guess and they're like do you want to tour with anyone i was

00:12:00.700 like i mean i guess tegan and sarah tegan and sarah is a nice but honestly i didn't have those

00:12:06.920 you two worked with tegan and sarah yep um that you know what okay i'm gonna tell you guys something

00:12:12.660 i've known ria how long have i known you six years time good chunk of time one of the most authentic

00:12:19.120 amazing human beings on the planet. Stop shaking your head. You don't even have any good girl

00:12:23.440 naked stories for crying out loud. That's how authentic and good she is. She has no dodgy 0.78

00:12:27.540 stories. She's not hiding anything. I'm boring is what it's called. She has a lovely heart.

00:12:31.660 But I wonder if what's kept you in that sort of frame of mind, A, let's be honest, the East Coast

00:12:38.040 just breed good people. I think it's the fresh ocean. The Rankins. It's the Rankins. Shout out

00:12:43.980 to the rank again um but maybe it's because that kind of humbleness like that kind of humility that

00:12:50.080 kind of like I just I want to be able to do what I love and have it play on the radio and that's it

00:12:55.700 that's as high as I need it to go I'm wondering if it comes from there like that's where real

00:13:01.100 success builds you think you know what I think there's a big work ethic and a big humbleness

00:13:06.280 from the east coast I think it sometimes works out for people and it sometimes is a hindrance

00:13:10.100 i wonder how much of a hindrance a lot of my i want to speak for myself yeah i got a bunch of

00:13:14.760 friends i'm like man if you just like stop staring at your feet and just say i have this goal but

00:13:19.580 you know what i could say that for myself too so i don't know but at the same time it's the

00:13:24.640 hardest working greatest people like and i'm not talking about myself but the musicians i'm thinking

00:13:29.760 of that haven't left that area um i don't know it's a special place this is it this is now a

00:13:35.100 tourism ad everyone should go to not the east coast of canada like toronto but the east like

00:13:39.620 That was a hard tee.

00:13:40.680 Ease up on the second tee.

00:13:42.980 But the other east, you know, the farther east, but not to be confused with the far east.

00:13:47.440 It is Nova Scotia.

00:13:49.000 It's right in the middle of the east.

00:13:49.720 Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick.

00:13:51.580 Come visit us.

00:13:52.640 Beautiful place.

00:13:53.600 Absolutely beautiful place.

00:13:55.120 But I like that.

00:13:56.540 I like that humility because, again, this is a business that can really, well, two things.

00:14:03.540 Number one, if you don't know who you are walking into it, oh, right?

00:14:08.400 Yeah.

00:14:08.640 It can be crushing.

00:14:12.040 But number two, I think if your aspirations are fame and money,

00:14:17.140 which to me, when you say I want a platinum album,

00:14:19.840 like your accolades at that point are fame.

00:14:23.680 You know, your accolades, not your accolades, that's the wrong word.

00:14:26.480 Jesus, what's wrong with me?

00:14:27.640 Your goal?

00:14:28.840 Yeah, your drive is fame.

00:14:31.880 Like your motivation is wrong.

00:14:33.840 But when your motivation is, shoot, I just want to write my own stuff,

00:14:38.460 get a band, get in a bus and have it play on the radio. So when I walk into a supermarket and I can

00:14:45.080 hear, you know, my latest track, no, that's it. That's it. Yeah. You have to be, I think if your

00:14:51.160 goal is money and fame, it's going to, it's going to weed those people out. Is that the term? Because

00:14:56.100 like, it's so much work. You have to really be passionate about the path. Cause if you're just

00:15:01.260 passionate about the goal, this is not the business for you. Right. Maybe the stock market

00:15:05.240 or maybe like stock market, you know, or maybe like taking your clothes off on Instagram or

00:15:09.680 something. That's a different site. You can't talk about it on that. It gets pulled right off

00:15:13.580 YouTube. Um, so, so that kind of, um, I guess that kind of goal and that kind of keeps you

00:15:21.040 in a good, in a good space. Have you ever felt like you're just like, shoot, I've been doing

00:15:25.740 this for 10 years. I'm getting a little tired. I'm getting a little, you know, whatever. Like,

00:15:30.620 am I going to, does that feel like that? Cause everybody has that in their career in this

00:15:34.820 moment right now yeah no I feel I do talking to me she yeah I was great before you showed up

00:15:39.960 um I do feel that yeah of course I feel that like um I feel of I knew I feel more of it as a I'm

00:15:47.640 like I did not think I'd be here at this stage in my life like up on stages I kind of thought

00:15:53.880 I don't know I think I thought when I was a kid I was like oh maybe I'll like have a break when 0.72

00:15:58.340 I'm 20 and then by the time I'm 30 well that's old and then I would have kids oh shit so now

00:16:02.740 it's like i'm mixing the two yeah it took me longer to get started so it's um yeah i have 0.82

00:16:07.800 those feelings all the time which is interesting yeah of like oh i've been doing this and it's like

00:16:14.600 i don't have the same energy i have to drink alkaline water i eat battery waters i went and

00:16:18.940 got vegetables for chris today because he's been living off of uh fast food like yourself yeah um

00:16:24.360 so you know just you know what you should do is you still eat mcdonald's every day of course about

00:16:29.520 it yes i do i need to i want to challenge you to something i've done i've already gone off

00:16:33.120 mcdonald's for three months straight but what did you replace with burger king no no no i went off

00:16:37.020 fast food okay so i didn't because i don't think mcdonald's is any better or worse than any other

00:16:40.780 fast food so what i did for uh three months actually i didn't eat i didn't eat any refined

00:16:46.300 sugar i mean i did in bread but like no candy no chocolate no pop nothing like that and no fast

00:16:51.600 food and no deep fried food that's great because i found a place in town today that's so healthy

00:16:57.740 and I was like so healthy we should go healthy organic delicious I was gonna do a 30 day I was

00:17:04.080 gonna challenge you to a 30 day eating this food but what is it you probably have to sell your car

00:17:07.840 it's expensive um it's not that expensive it's good value that's like a big part of the way I

00:17:12.700 know it really is I forget the place but I forget the place but it's great it's called something

00:17:17.460 organic and it's in Oshawa and we're not pumping that out it's not in Oshawa it's in the surrounding

00:17:23.180 areas dude you'll find it you'll find it just go drive around oshawa not tonight it's really foggy

00:17:29.500 you can't really it's a lot right now but you'll find it eventually so when you get that it's kind

00:17:35.300 of interesting because i think a lot of people look at musicians and performing and all the

00:17:39.260 accolades and all the cheering and and you think oh you'd want to go forever but it's just like

00:17:44.500 any other job yeah it can be like i think the part that's on stage is mostly always really fun

00:17:50.260 the seconds leading up to it and the minutes and the hours and the months can be really

00:17:55.700 interesting because that's the show is always different based on who's here yeah but like the

00:18:00.880 loading in of the scheduling and the where's the vegetarian place in the city and the schedule she

00:18:06.200 doesn't know where that she doesn't even know what's called folks no and that's that can be a

00:18:09.660 lot but you know what the show is what saves you and the show is what keeps me coming back to it

00:18:13.860 and not getting a um not getting too worn out so would you consider yourself an extrovert or an

00:18:19.140 introvert or a combination there I don't know when I'm sitting next to people like you I feel

00:18:23.600 like you're an extrovert a lot I feel like I'm an introvert but when I sit next to like my wife 0.99

00:18:27.740 she would be like you're the most extroverted person or maybe I just don't shut the fuck up 0.97

00:18:31.140 but I so I think I'm somewhere in the middle I'm like a bi-trovert like kind of like you liked 0.98

00:18:38.220 well you know like I'm an introvert extrovert if you like I'm bi introvert extrovert that's what

00:18:42.620 that means right she's bi yeah I get that but I think that but I think that's true because I think

00:18:48.060 you're you know you're an extrovert on stage in the sense that you feed off the crowd you love

00:18:52.780 that energy because i know a lot of like a lot of very famous artists even who still throw up right

00:18:57.580 before they get on stage because this isn't their thing they don't they don't really want to be on

00:19:01.860 stage they love music they love creating they love but they still get that horrible feeling and i'm

00:19:07.060 like why would you do this i'm not going to name any names but i've spoken to a few people where

00:19:12.800 it's like no every time throw up right before i get on stage yeah but you get a vibe but i think

00:19:18.160 when you're not here you're not like you're not a you're an embedded 10 kind of kind of person

00:19:25.660 both i don't know i get nervous really nervous before i play and i also once i'm on the stage

00:19:31.040 love it and i can't explain why and what that is but i think that's the healthy energy right

00:19:37.560 that nervousness like nervous energy before uh you know you play a sporting event or something

00:19:42.180 right yeah it's like a lot of things happening inside and it's really like i don't know it's more

00:19:49.700 for some it's really weird it can be more comfortable than like

00:19:54.340 like i could feel more awkward just talking to someone than i do singing in front of a lot of

00:19:58.580 people right right so i don't know i'm just yeah no i'm just wondering like when you're on stage

00:20:05.380 the vibe is good but when i just think you you are an extrovert but you like minimal settings

00:20:12.180 i think you like social settings but not tons of people yeah give me four people four people

00:20:18.040 four people and some wine four people and in a vegetarian well that's probably because that's

00:20:22.160 what i do every night with the band four people and some wine yeah that's a great name for a

00:20:26.520 podcast by the way we never finish one bottle of wine between the four of us like we have a

00:20:30.240 we have a little sip you're like dismissing every rock and roll stereotype you know what i'm extreme

00:20:35.780 everything okay so i will i will have my extreme months not on tour i'll lose my voice but i'll

00:20:41.340 have months where i drink a ton of wine i get drunk i go out don't worry about me okay i'm

00:20:46.480 very cool i have that whole side to me but then i have another side that's like

00:20:52.020 i eat healthy vegetables and i try not to put toxins in my body and i take my vitamins and

00:20:58.860 my green juice i take a flintstone vitamin every day okay we're gonna get you on to athletic

00:21:03.980 greens ag1 they can sponsor your podcast ag1 that sounds awful oh you don't even know that

00:21:10.440 sounds horrible. It's really good. Is it like a shot of grass? It's like a green scoop you put

00:21:15.720 in your water. I'm not into it. It's not like any other green scoop you've tried and it's all your

00:21:19.760 vitamins for the day. I'm not into it. And a bonus, forced hydration in the morning. Forced. I don't

00:21:24.860 like being forced into things. Well. Forced hydration. Forced hydration. Can we do some fun

00:21:30.380 questions? Are you ready for some fun random questions? Favorite TV show on right now?

00:21:35.280 manifest uh i don't know why i did that did you just spit at the microphone yeah because i'm so

00:21:41.520 into manifest it makes no sense i thought it was gonna shut what didn't it almost get canceled

00:21:45.520 then it came back absolutely yeah okay all right all right favorite tv show of all time

00:21:49.980 you can't say manifest um 30 rock what where does that come from snl i don't know anything like

00:21:59.760 I like it.

00:22:01.160 That's out of the box.

00:22:02.800 Thanks.

00:22:03.680 Favorite song of all time?

00:22:05.900 Not yours.

00:22:07.540 Obviously, it would be yours.

00:22:09.140 Or any of my originals. 0.73

00:22:12.580 Frig.

00:22:13.080 I don't know.

00:22:14.220 I don't have a favorite song of all time.

00:22:15.520 Favorite artist?

00:22:16.960 Like, I would...

00:22:18.300 Top...

00:22:18.660 Okay, okay.

00:22:19.240 Artist heart.

00:22:19.680 Green Day was my...

00:22:20.880 Artist as a kid.

00:22:21.640 Green Day, I like it.

00:22:22.120 Green Day, that's my band as a kid.

00:22:23.280 I like it.

00:22:23.860 Green Day.

00:22:24.460 I like...

00:22:25.060 Yeah, and then I went on to, like, a Tracy Chapman and then to, like, Cranberries.

00:22:29.760 little zombie i like it 90s that's a solid 90s vibe yeah all right cartoon character

00:22:35.420 no what no childhood like no child what do you mean not a single cartoon to me it starts with

00:22:44.300 the simpsons cartoons like i don't know bugs but like bugs bunny is not like that's bugs bunny

00:22:50.640 that's a cartoon it didn't feel like it didn't feel like a cartoon what didn't feel did it feel

00:22:56.820 like real life it felt like real life it didn't feel like i was watching that maybe felt like

00:23:01.380 those anvils look real heavy road runner yeah i'm not i don't know i can't explain

00:23:06.900 favorite place you've ever traveled

00:23:12.980 joshua tree that's like a basic answer oh no no i've never been oh it's one of the coolest

00:23:17.940 experiences my brain has had i felt like i was on drugs but you weren't wasn't on drugs

00:23:22.900 so okay explain it uh so you're out in the middle of the desert the shadows are different so the

00:23:28.420 shadows shadows are different like the shadows are as long like you'd have like a guitar and

00:23:33.140 the shadow would be like 70 feet why it's just the sun hits it different there and it's hot and then

00:23:39.780 the sun goes down at like say 5 30 and at 5 31 you can see your breath freezing cold and the way the

00:23:46.580 light was hitting was like it felt like you were on like you were i was going over and i was touching

00:23:51.140 dirt and touching and my whole band was people were like what you can't get over what it's like

00:23:56.300 to experience that place it's such a trip did you have to camp no we drove in and then we stayed in

00:24:02.640 a hotel in palm springs okay and then you just went out there for the day and then went out for

00:24:07.040 the day and then watched the sun come down and drank some wine um wine a little bit of wine um

00:24:15.080 okay so favorite place you've ever played best you you have a memory in your head of the best

00:24:20.520 crowd best vibe do you have that memory oh god my the thing is my memory does this thing where

00:24:28.100 it holds all this that energy in my body like i i remember a bunch of good ones but all i can

00:24:34.240 really remember is like the last really good one i played which was in new brunswick okay at a

00:24:38.800 festival in saint john oh yeah and it was on the waterfront and the audience was so loud was that

00:24:45.280 right at the end of covid that when you did no this was like this like a few months ago oh okay

00:24:49.220 um but yeah i don't know i was i've been really lucky i got to play beautiful theaters with like

00:24:53.560 dido in the states and i got to play amazing big rock venues with tegan and sarah and i got to open

00:24:58.960 for katie lang and like the stadium small small venues so like a lot of good gatherings but you

00:25:04.900 know you live for the drug of that most the most recent good show and that for me i think last night

00:25:10.640 in toronto was pretty epic but uh st john new brunswick loudest people ever st john usually i

00:25:16.020 I can't hear people when my monitors are in.

00:25:18.180 And they were that loud?

00:25:19.180 And I was like, couldn't believe it.

00:25:20.620 The band was laughing.

00:25:21.620 We couldn't stop laughing because they were louder than the band.

00:25:24.940 All right.

00:25:25.660 Craziest thing you've ever done? 1.00

00:25:31.620 Fuck. 1.00

00:25:32.180 She hasn't done anything crazy. 1.00

00:25:33.920 Have you ever surfed?

00:25:35.540 No.

00:25:36.100 What?

00:25:36.460 Too scared.

00:25:37.220 Too scared?

00:25:38.040 The ocean scares me.

00:25:39.200 Oh, mon dieu.

00:25:40.700 Jumped out of a plane? 1.00

00:25:42.120 Fuck no. 1.00

00:25:42.840 Bungee jump? 1.00

00:25:43.500 Nope.

00:25:44.120 Ridden a roller coaster?

00:25:45.080 yeah but i won't again coaster coaster i don't like anything like that anymore i'm too scared

00:25:51.220 i'm too scared have you jumped high on a trampoline nothing i've jumped high on trampoline

00:25:56.520 do you have any tattoos no not a one no guys don't you think she should get unlearned 16

00:26:02.480 tattoos i don't like commitment of tattoos she likes it she does not want me to get any tattoos

00:26:11.500 no tattoo she says one of her favorite qualities about me is that I have no tattoos but I think

00:26:15.320 she's dated a bunch of people with lots of tattoos so I think she's like joking that's fair that's

00:26:19.480 fair but um so no you're not in the business of any tattoo no I think about it though once a year

00:26:25.200 I think about a tattoo and the next year I'm really glad I didn't get that tattoo so what

00:26:28.860 have you thought about your head uh I don't know like a tape like a cassette tape a cassette tape

00:26:36.600 you know never words I know better than to put words on me because I would not like those me too

00:26:41.400 yeah but you're decisive and you know what you like i'm like a very like i float around and

00:26:46.360 hit things i'm like i think i like that i don't know what i like so i think you do i just think

00:26:51.140 that that creative energy that you have that i would love to possess and is so impressive to me

00:26:56.640 it has to allow you that freedom i don't think you can be stagnant yeah i wouldn't want to be

00:27:02.280 stuck in one thing or the other one like so i don't yeah but tattoos look cool when you have

00:27:07.160 a t-shirt on oh sure so i really am jealous of that well you can just paint those on

00:27:11.160 yeah maybe some fake tattoos we'll do up a big unlearn on your back perfect all right

00:27:16.720 but i think that's important that's a different kind of energy because as we're getting ready

00:27:21.040 you're like wow you have like who's who's energy do i have um my dad's business your dad's business

00:27:26.000 part you have a lot because i'm like you know setting things up making sure it's good lighting

00:27:30.040 making sure you have a nice view of the back of the bar and everything like that and i'm like but

00:27:34.880 that's the anal retentive side that's the right that's the opposite a lot of the times of people

00:27:40.340 with that kind of lovely creative zen-like energy that i admire because i think what it says

00:27:49.260 and what i've tried to become in touch with as i get old is you you you're able to a be in the

00:27:57.760 moment which i have sometimes a very hard time being like right now i'm very much in the moment

00:28:02.520 right it takes another person to kind of ground me there yeah yeah yeah and and this dialogue

00:28:06.680 in this conversation, but, and then A, be in the moment and B, feel what you're feeling. I know

00:28:13.140 it sounds, we're going to get real deep here for a few minutes, but like feel what you're feeling

00:28:16.760 in that moment, but actually understand it. Do you think you do as an artist, as a person? Yeah.

00:28:22.760 Yeah. Yeah, you do. Damn it. That's all I want. Yeah. I think that I do have that. I have a

00:28:28.540 little, my little son is almost four and he's very sensitive. Yeah. And he gets, sometimes if a person

00:28:34.260 comes up and talks to me and their energy is kind of weird he'll start crying oh so you just sense

00:28:38.980 it yeah and so now in that moment i just ignore unless it was like someone that's my friend but

00:28:43.320 now i just turn and face him and i like talk and i'm like yeah i'm able to articulate what that

00:28:47.620 feeling is for him yeah yeah yeah and i've really yeah but it's a lot of a lot of reflection on

00:28:53.160 feelings it's not always good but well but it is always good it might not always good feelings but

00:28:57.760 it's always good to be able to reflect on it i because i think a lot of people like me wander

00:29:02.340 around being influenced by my emotion without understanding it oh yeah and i think that's

00:29:08.260 the power of an artist which you know watching you perform and watching how much you feel your

00:29:14.180 mood music is the most authentic thing that everybody you know everybody loves it loves a

00:29:21.220 rock star but i think what they don't understand is they're drawn to that authenticity they're drawn

00:29:26.340 to naming the emotions they're right in it they're deep in it like they get what they're feeling

00:29:32.740 they're expressing it you know what i mean like and there's a there's a freedom in that i don't

00:29:37.780 think that many of us ever you can't feel that somewhere else really do you ever think about

00:29:44.100 acting tegan and sarah just did that whole thing produced their whole like life story

00:29:47.780 we could do that from the east coast with puffins and everything so puffins someone last me uh

00:29:52.740 asked me yesterday if i acted someone in toronto so that's the second time it's come up so if it

00:29:58.920 comes up one more time i'm gonna get an agent uh ria may have you ever acted i have acted before

00:30:04.080 guys write in the comments i'm very good so there we go there we go i like it yeah i've acted a

00:30:11.480 little bit does because does it give you the same no yeah music is different right music is

00:30:17.380 especially because you write your own a lot of people don't yeah that's all you yeah whereas

00:30:21.460 acting you gotta let go of you yeah it's very different it's really some of the the parts a

00:30:28.400 part that i played once was very i do emote like scream and yell and cry and i could get there

00:30:33.380 really easy what oh easy easy you have all that emotional awareness and intelligence but at the

00:30:40.420 same time i can't i'm not practiced in losing myself because my whole career has been hyper

00:30:45.900 focused on myself so like i think some people might think they're similar skills and maybe it

00:30:51.080 is but for me it was like two different things no it makes sense that it's well getting in touch

00:30:56.580 with those emotions it makes sense it's like a muscle right if if you're an athlete and you know

00:31:01.500 how to use certain muscles to perform and you know whatever shoot a basketball or whatever

00:31:05.940 yeah then and in your empathy and your connectivity to your emotion makes sense that you can connect

00:31:11.260 to it when you need it yeah in any capacity absolutely you would just draw on what real

00:31:16.160 yeah that's my superpower i could just that is think about it in my head and i could either

00:31:20.140 write a song about it or like scream it at you like you know if i'm in a session and i just meet

00:31:25.900 people and they're like someone's like i really i just got broken up with i want to write a song

00:31:29.560 about this you can put your point three seconds i'm there i'm crying with them i'm like but that

00:31:35.320 is amazing but at the same time i can't listen to sad music i can't i'm so affected by emotions like

00:31:40.400 i can't if someone's upset i'm upset and you and but you can name it at least you know yeah

00:31:46.460 that is look that is a superpower you know if the world had that superpower how much of a better

00:31:51.660 place this would be it'd be better i don't know i do that yeah that would be it maybe tomorrow

00:31:57.900 everything gets fixed tomorrow everything gets fixed you you are able to put yourself in somebody

00:32:04.960 else's shoes and and truly empathize with what they're going through the world gets better

00:32:10.520 tomorrow i mean look at what just happened right do you have any do you want to talk about that

00:32:14.140 or maybe not right before the people getting shot. Oh, geez. Yeah. It's too much, isn't it?

00:32:20.440 Well, it's yes. That part is too much. And then the response. I know you stay off Twitter. I,

00:32:27.160 it's like my personal hellscape that I can't stay away from. It might be the only thing I'm addicted

00:32:31.660 to. Um, but it's the response. And I read what these people are saying. And I always think

00:32:38.460 if you had somebody in that space if you know somebody and and this doesn't just apply to

00:32:45.840 gay and trans people applies to across the board to everybody struggling right as soon as you have

00:32:50.960 a connectivity to that it changes everything because you get the emotion because most of us

00:32:57.160 so people are not able to empathize but but most of us i'm getting better we don't empathize well

00:33:03.940 we don't we don't empathize well it's a it's a we don't learn emotion we we learn how to

00:33:11.680 read shakespeare we learn how to add and subtract we don't well we don't take classes on that you

00:33:16.780 know that's really true right we just expect people what to get it meanwhile most of people

00:33:21.540 have experienced a hellscape of emotional trauma or this or that or the other and then we're like

00:33:26.680 what what why don't why don't you understand yeah i think that is like how humans are going to evolve

00:33:31.840 is like understanding our emotions and empathy i think but it's like yeah being able to just

00:33:39.000 put yourself in someone else's shoes oh yeah that's it that's the whole world right there

00:33:45.060 it's so i just did this thing where i was talking about 54 of the u.s population and

00:33:49.800 they have a literacy rate of grade six or lower right and i went off a rant but as we're talking

00:33:56.080 because I'm like, education, education, and I still believe that. But as we're talking,

00:34:01.320 that's not what's going to fix the world quickest. And it isn't even, I don't even know if it's the

00:34:08.020 most significant underlying problem. I think what you just described is, I think, us being able to

00:34:14.920 understand each other. And I think that's what music does for people. I think it's a connectivity.

00:34:20.240 what do you i do agree that yeah i think that it is yeah definitely i feel like it just shows you

00:34:28.840 that other people feel the same things that you do like it's easy to shut that off and be like

00:34:32.260 i have all these feelings and i'm hurt i'm angry but like those people don't yeah you know maybe

00:34:37.940 when you're in that space when you're in that space i've been at your your shows before you

00:34:42.780 attract a wide i was joking earlier about the girls with you know the naked girls but you really

00:34:47.580 you attract, no good stories, guys, a wide range of people, all different ages, all different,

00:34:53.700 you know, identifying gender, like the whole gambit, really. 0.79

00:34:58.780 Is it gambit? 0.64

00:34:59.580 Gambit?

00:35:00.120 Gambit.

00:35:00.900 Gambit.

00:35:02.020 Gambit.

00:35:02.580 You're a teacher.

00:35:03.180 Gambit?

00:35:03.580 Gambit.

00:35:04.200 How's gambit? 1.00

00:35:05.180 Damn it. 1.00

00:35:05.900 Gambit? 1.00

00:35:06.520 Damn it. 1.00

00:35:07.380 Shoot. 1.00

00:35:08.300 I can't even, I'll look that up later.

00:35:11.240 You attract a wide range of people, but there is something cool in that, in that when you're

00:35:17.500 standing next to somebody who might look like somebody you would never speak to you would never

00:35:22.960 interact with you would never sit down have dinner with and all of a sudden you're singing to swoon

00:35:28.060 there might be a moment there there might be a moment there when you're like oh shoot this person

00:35:34.380 told different world we can connect on that level maybe that's the yeah line through that was like

00:35:41.880 i went to dubai and played at the expo the world expo this year and there was it was way more i

00:35:48.000 thought like you know toronto and berlin are multicultural but like when you go to like a

00:35:52.860 world expo it's like it's not people that have made the move to your country it's people that

00:35:57.260 are in their country right it's so you see the culture like you see the way people dress is so

00:36:01.960 different you feel like you're in the future and yeah connecting with a bunch of people from like

00:36:06.240 countries that i never thought would be at my show and just being like chatting with them after

00:36:10.120 it's like really cool well there you go maybe maybe dubai is your place maybe that's that's

00:36:15.620 me maybe i'm gonna move there next that's the second there next yes i'm so sorry i have should

00:36:21.000 have better mic control move there next than i do on that beautiful point everybody's getting ready

00:36:27.020 i can feel they're getting antsy behind us they buried the guy in ice she's got to get ready

00:36:32.100 you know she's would you backstage any prep and stretching some yoga you're gonna take the hat

00:36:38.020 Yeah, and then that's it.

00:36:38.920 That's it. 0.58

00:36:40.040 That is all the prep she's going to do.

00:36:42.200 Do you want to tell everybody?

00:36:43.280 Oh, and drink some more alkaline water.

00:36:45.140 Where are you going next?

00:36:48.300 Next in tomorrow?

00:36:49.460 Next in tomorrow.

00:36:51.880 London, Ontario.

00:36:53.240 London, Ontario.

00:36:54.460 Next.

00:36:54.920 And then St. Catharines.

00:36:57.200 You're just going to follow back about?

00:36:58.380 And then Quebec region.

00:37:01.040 We got Ottawa.

00:37:02.480 We got the Maritimes.

00:37:04.260 You name it, we got it.

00:37:05.780 They're going to be there.

00:37:06.760 Maybe Dubai a little later.

00:37:07.900 um check her out at website ria may dot com ria may dot com you can check her on tiktok on

00:37:15.880 ria's awake ria's awake instagram ria's awake uh you don't come on twitter because it's a bad

00:37:21.260 place no way okay well thank you so much for hanging out with us today thank you any last

00:37:27.540 words of wisdom to you the people listening any any inspirational message do you have a

00:37:32.340 Do you have a favorite word?

00:37:33.640 A favorite word?

00:37:35.400 Uh, no.

00:37:36.640 Oh, okay.

00:37:37.480 Sorry.

00:37:37.900 Can you end this with something good, please?

00:37:39.120 My favorite word is unlearned.

00:37:41.020 That's right.

00:37:42.400 Thank you so much for the plug.

00:37:44.140 We will see you guys next time.

00:37:46.440 Same bat time, same bat station. 0.94

00:37:48.360 I won't have this one, but maybe I'll just follow her to Dubai. 0.99

00:37:51.520 Have a good night, guys.

00:37:52.300 Dismissed.

Unlearn16: Class is in Session - November 29, 2022

The One Where I Grab the Mic and Almost Sing

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