Are We On Air?

All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Stateside with Kai and Carter, a new podcast from The Guardian. And they are using this podcast to slow down the news and wrestle with the questions that we all have about what's happening in the world. And they do it three times a week, Jason. Does that sound familiar to you? We don't really talk about, you know, a lot of international global news items and climates and cultures and sports and things like that. We do talk about fashion and wellness, but for everything else, Kai and Carter are a great place. All right, so who couldn't use more news? Listen wherever you get your podcast. or watch on youtube good morning guys jason here we're uploading an episode of another podcast called are we on air on how long gone's feed you might remember the host armand he was on how long gone a few months ago i don't know how long ago but We were on his show. He interviews us. We play a bunch of music that we like, and it's very similar to a How Long Gone podcast, so we decided to just upload. You can go listen to all the other episodes of Are We On Air. Everyone from Them Jeans to Dua Lipa have been featured on there, so go check it out, go follow it, and show some love to Armand. So here you go. Jason, if you're struggling with grief, relationships, which I don't think you have any of that, or you were having trouble sleeping or meeting your low, low goals, online therapy could be for you. BetterHelp is secure online therapy that offers video, phone, and even live chat sessions with a licensed professional therapist. BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you with your own accredited therapist, and you can be matched with a therapist in under. 48 hours. There's no waiting room. The service is available worldwide, and you can log into your account anytime to message your therapist. You'll get timely and thoughtful responses, plus you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions. BetterHelp is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches so they make it easy and free to change therapists. If needed, we've all been there, haven't we? It's more affordable than traditional offline therapy, and financial aid is available.

in your area. Visit betterhelp.com slash howlong and join over 2 million people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional. How Long Gone is sponsored by BetterHelp and our listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at betterhelp.com slash howlong. Want to make a podcast? Spotify's got a platform that lets you make one super easily, then distribute it everywhere and even earn money. We like that all in one place for totally free. It's called Spotify for podcasters. And here's how it works. Spotify for podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts right from your cellular telephone or your computer. So no matter what your setup is like, you can start creating today. Then you can distribute your podcast to Spotify and everywhere else, those other places that podcasts are heard. Video podcasts are also available on Spotify. And when you want to take conversations with your fans to the next level, Q&As and polls are the best way to get them talking. With Spotify for podcasters, you can earn money in a variety of ways, including ads and and podcast subscriptions. And best of all, it's totally free. Zero catch. We've been using it ever since we started How Long Gone. And ever since I discovered Spotify for Podcasters, I feel like having the option of turning off the Q&As and the polls on the user dashboard has really helped boost my creativity and take it to another level. I highly recommend giving it a try. Download the Spotify for Podcasters app or go to www.spotify.com slash podcasters to get started. If you could spend a moment with some remarkable people and discover what the life sounds like, what would you ask? Welcome to Our Way on Air, an audio encounter. I'm Armand Afey.

And each episode will feature one conversation with an inspiring friend of mine who will share with us the soundtrack to their life. Bonjour beautiful people and greetings from beautiful Paris. And welcome back to another episode of Are We On Air? Where to begin? Today is some sort of premiere here at Are We On Air? As this week's guest is, well, another podcast. I got to chat with my friends Chris Black and Jason Stewart of the fantastic and super hyped podcast that is How Long Gone. And I'm sure that some of you listeners had heard me on How Long Gone a good year and a half ago. when I was invited as a guest to come on their show. And now it was time to return the favor. It's funny how our lives are in a way so entwined as so-called cultural tastemakers, jetting between Los Angeles and New York, working in similar fields with zillions of friends in common and hanging at the same dirty places. Yet it took us until the pandemic to actually meet. You see... Our show started around the same time as the pandemic hit, where our worlds of nightlife, music, fashion and hospitality just stopped overnight and diverted us onto this audio platform that we call podcasts. We covered everything from what's happening and where to hang these days. To Chris's and Jason's live soundtrack. From Rihanna to Jason's former life as a Persian wedding DJ. And Chris's dedicated life to Morrissey. But also where How Long Gone came from and what it is and where it's going. We gossiped, we laughed, we cried. Oh, what a joy. Now, before we get to it, as always, if you haven't already, then do follow us on Instagram at rvonair. Listen to all episodes and playlists on our Spotify and Apple channels and on areweonair.com. Now, in full How Long Gone manner, let's give the guys a jingle. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Squarespace. Obviously, Jason, you and I spend a lot of time on the World Wide Web, sort of our peers, our listeners, our friends, our colleagues, maybe even your parents if they're freaky. And if you're doing anything in the world...

writing, taking pictures. I do topless boxing. You need a website. Exactly, a website that works, that does what it's supposed to do, that allows you to be creative but also business-minded. Jason, there's one place to go for that, Squarespace. Yeah, Chris, I'm over here. I'm modifying calculators and putting Claude inside of them so you could cheat at school. And I just want a place where I could have everything all in one place. I can have the SEO tools. So those future graduates can find me. And, you know, I'm able to accept, quote, unquote, donations for my services that might be gray area. You know what I mean? And then email campaigns. Hey, I got a new, you know, 2.3 version upgrade. Boom, boom, boom. Get the analytics going. Raise some money. You know, show your investor all of your cool analytics of what's going on. They're going to want to get in early. And we can use Blueprint AI to make your website look as professional. as your competition, if not more. So head to squarespace.com slash howlong for a free trial. When you're ready to launch, use offer code howlong to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. All right, this episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by Quince. Jason, the temps are warming up. It's getting hot out there. Summer always changes how I get dressed. I need pieces that feel lighter, more breathable. And they're just easy, but still put together. I don't look like a slob. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. They focus on high-quality essentials that feel and look amazing. Breathable linen and soft organic cottons. Well-made basics, but without the luxury markups. That rare balance where everything feels elevated. but still effortless. Yeah, Chris, linen season is here. I wore a linen blazer to dinner a few nights ago in the warm California sun. But, you know, you got that Italy trip coming up this summer and quality European linen pants and shirts. Upgrade that look starting at just $34. You know, if you get a nice linen suit, a little t-shirt underneath it, some chill shoes, you're looking good, but you're staying cool. The inside of your special areas are nice and dry as you turn up with your besties. So elevate that summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com slash how long for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns, even on a nice holiday now available in Canada.

That is Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash how long. That'll get you free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince punto com slash how long. This episode of How Long Gone is brought to you by a new podcast from The Guardian stateside with Kai and Carter. This is covering a lot of our bases, Jason. It's trying to slow down. The news and wrestle with the questions we all have about what's happening in the world. And I know you particularly have quite a lot of questions. A lot of questions. But how often? Because we do this podcast three times a week and that's a sweet spot. How many times do they do? Three times a week. And I have a feeling just based on the platform and these talking points that they're maybe going to be covering different stuff than we do. That's just a guess. The Guardian is not some billionaire owned. They're not afraid to say what they want to say, brother. Yeah, Rupert ain't sniffing around in what journalists Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are up to over there at Stateside. But yeah, listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can watch it on YouTube. It's three times a week. And who couldn't use more news? Especially when it's not from here, let's say. Give it a listen. Give it a listen. Oh, life from Glenn Darla, Chris Black and Jason Stewart here on the Are We On Air podcast. That's right. Oh. Wow. I couldn't tell that you were making fun of us. But then when I realized you started the sentence, and you're like, oh, okay, you're doing that. That's right. I love it. I love it. You should continue. You should stick with it, 100%. Don't worry. It's like, I'm so over this. We're doing this one more time. All right. Let's do it. Glenn Dahle. This guy knows eight languages, Jason. If he couldn't do one of our fake accents, I would be a little upset. Typical American, me thinking the world revolves around me. All right, guys. Well, welcome to our webinar. I think this is a premiere, right? I mean, we're...

merging our worlds i love when two podcasts come together um and i also love being the um least known guest to ever appear on are we on air so i'm happy to i'm happy for representation for us little guys no no no that's not true you know sometimes you gotta do your thing it's my charity it might be it might be text deductible who knows Yeah, you pitched that when some of the bigger guests, you know, the Dua Lipa. This will be a ride-off, something to consider at the end of the year. No, but it's such a – Have you had other podcasts on your pod before? No, this is a premiere. This is my first, and I think maybe I should venture out. But obviously, it's also – I've been on your podcast, which I had a lot of fun with, and I hope I'll be invited back again at some point. But I had a lot of people reach out to me afterwards, and I have to say. Even though you called the broadcast, you have a lot of girls listening because a lot of girls came over to our We Are Now. I'm like, right on. That's right. We've been hearing that feedback more often lately. That's good to know, not only for our egos, but also for our advertisers. If any of you guys are listening, you know what I mean? Our demographic is a little better than maybe you once thought. So thank you for pointing that out. Definitely. Yeah. And the same reason why we got into podcasting is the same reason. It's like there's nothing else. There's a window. of opportunity there. And we saw like, there's no cool podcast at all. And there still aren't any, but we're trying. The three of us collectively. In the terms of the entire world of podcasts, like people who even know how to dress halfway decently, you know, and also do a podcast. I have to tap. on our shoulders, all of us at the same time. I mean, we pretty much started this podcast thing at the same time, I guess around April 2020, right? When the pandemic hit, something like that. And in a way, we have to thank, in a way, the pandemic kicked us out of our comfort zone, right? I've been... Let's give it up. Let's give it up for the global pandemic. I've been giving up for the pandemic the whole time. But yes, you're right. It did kick us out of our comfort zone. Terrible, but... Yo, Bill Gates...

saved my career when he created those microchips uh i mean no i think that i i think you're right i think it was it was um uh i don't think it would have happened without it though to be honest i mean jason and i had been obviously like we we have a we there's a precedent of this um because he had his show tall tales and i would be a guest and we'd done that you know years and years ago and jason was super early to the game but The idea was strictly... Some say too early. Some say too early. It was strictly stemmed from a little bit of like, we have time, this would be funny, let's do it. And it worked out. I don't know if you had the same experience or if you'd been planning beforehand and it just kicked into gear. Well, it's... The idea started literally a year before that, like February 2019 or something. That's why I had the first few interviews right in my pocket by the end of 2019. I was like, okay, eventually I'm going to release it. But obviously when the pandemic hit, okay, life is over as it was. Let's release it now. So, you know, honestly, I don't know how it was for you guys. You know, because we travel, we work in the lifestyle sectors and nightlife and fashion and whatever. But suddenly not to have that. that creative output it really i was so happy that i had this weekly commitment to myself really yeah and i'm sure that was same for you guys to just continue to create it's just like when when when when guys are in jail and they get buff and read a bunch of books you just focus on yourself Yeah, no, I mean, I'm building the mind and the body. It really is true, though. It really is true. I think that it was a little bit of like something to look forward to as well on that, like a simple level. It's like, well, today is like, yeah, I can flirt with my kettlebell for an hour and a half, but there's 10 more hours in the day. So I probably should talk to Jason and a friend for one of those hours. Chris, it only takes me 15 minutes to bleach on my fruit.

That is not eating up enough at a counter. But you hear people talking about it now that enough time has passed, and they're like, yo, when the pandemic starts, it's like you either turn into a hustler or you start watching Netflix and ordering delivery. But a lot of people didn't have the privilege of choosing those two paths. They're like, my life sucks ass right now, and now it's like 10 times worse. And I had the privilege to be on unemployment, and all I did all day was get high and work out. And then, you know, so we had the opening to do this. And I'm grateful for that because not everyone did. For sure. Before, I mean, obviously, our way in air is about music. So we'll definitely get to the music and to the soundtrack of your lives. But before we get into that, what does what is how long gone? What does it stand for? Where did these three words appear from? Jason, do you remember? I mean. You came up with it, right? I don't actually remember. Yeah, I remember the first flame, but I don't remember how the two twigs rubbed together to make the spark. It's sort of named after a country music song from a group called Brooks and Dunn. It's from the 90s called How Long Gone. And the song is about a cowboy whose old lady ran off on him with some other... You know, town sheriff or something like that. And he's sad and he's wondering when his chick's going to come back home to the ranch or whatever. And I don't know why. And then so it was kind of like, how long are we going to be gone? So like our world, my DJ world, the club, the culinary arts. That was that was my bitch that ran off on me. And I'm sitting at home like when when's the club coming back? And then I found a karaoke instrumental version of the song so we could skirt around copyright laws. And now this like shitty country music karaoke song is our anthem. We play it before we come out on stage at our shows. It really gets the crowd pumped up. You know what I mean? It's amazing.

It's like Rihanna Diamonds. It's just, it's ethereal. Not a dry eye in the house. The ladies are slipping out of their chair. Wow, okay. Well, let's go back to where it all started, guys. Let's go to the early days, all right? Okay. I think it's also the first time I have two people at the same time. No, too many DJs. So you are the too many DJs of the States for me right now. All right. Okay, okay. Interesting. Those guys are pretty good, too. Yeah. They've made a couple of snapshots, not as good as mine. Soul Walks is great, though. We love Soul Walks. Earlier significant musical memory, guys. What was it for you that really shaped you? I would say, for me, it's a little bit of, like, 90s kind of top 40 radio in the car with my mom. You know, so, like, a lot of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson. I think that's where my penchant for, like, loving hits. comes from like even though the genres change and the genres shift i think that era of music for me in a mazda minivan in suburban atlanta was like i didn't know why i liked the song so much but then it's like oh it's because that i mean those are now you listen to those songs and they've kind of stood the test of time you know so i think that so do you is it safe do you like hits more than you like music do you like just the best of everything versus kind of yeah yeah yeah i'm a little more i'm a little more focused on the best you do like your popular music right you like your hits i mean yeah i quite like popular music i mean i can go both both ends but i i think that the i think that at least in my lifetime i've seen it be like deeply uncool to like popular music and now it's fully become really cool to like popular music you know what i mean that's because people have become deeply uncool the music the music stayed the same the audience got worse For someone being between New York and L.A. and being in the creative world, you know the cool places. Sure. It's kind of surprising that you're actually that commercial in a way. We all talk about how great Dua Lipa is. Dua Lipa is 100% top 40 pop music. That's the reality of what Dua Lipa is. That's the reality of what Lorde is and all this shit that everybody talks about all the time, whatever. I just don't think that was all. No, there's a difference between good and bad pop music. That doesn't make a difference to me, though.

And 20 years ago, a website like Pitchfork would not be debating Taylor Swift's validity. You know what I mean? It wouldn't even be on the radar. It wouldn't even matter. You know what I mean? That's a good point. That's a good point. For us to be thinking that way, not judging them in the same way, but having a musical diet that contains all of that stuff, I think makes me feel better. I like all of it. You're well balanced. I'm well balanced. The food pyramid. Which track should we play then for you, Chris? You have to pick a track. You should play... Oh, shit. Which Mariah Carey song is it? No, I think we're going to... Dream Lover? Actually, yeah. Dream Lover would be great. Yeah, Mariah Carey Dream Lover is great. Thank you, Jason. That's why I only hang out with DJs, because I'm more of a vibe guy. I'm not into the programming shit. He's a vibe guy. I'm the guy who twists the knob on the CDJs like this. Yeah, a lot, a lot, a lot. Into the red. For me, my earliest music memory, a lot of similarities with that. I was listening to popular female-based music like that from the 80s when I was a kid. But my own personalized music memory was probably when Guns N' Roses, Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 came out, and then my brother and I were given money from my mom to go buy the CD at the store. My brother got one of the – it was a double album, of course. All of your listeners know that. My brother got one, I got the other, and that was the first time I was holding a piece of music that I purchased.

So that's why it's always stuck in my head. And then, you know, Guns N' Roses at the time when I was a little piece of shit kid was the soundtrack to me, you know, blowing stuff up. So did your heart cry when you just saw him at Stagecoach, Axl Rose? That was Guy Fieri, I think. You got him mixed up. I saw Guns N' Roses play maybe like five years ago, and he looks fucking insane. He looks like Sonic the Hedgehog's grandpa or something. He's just so much surgery, and he's got dreads and shit. This is something Jason and I really diverge on because I hate Guns N' Roses and always have. I mean, they have hits. Don't get me wrong, but I've always just found it to be the most corny. thing and i also never had like for whatever reason i never had a moment with it when i was a kid but most people our age did you know what i mean because it was just a wonder it was just like morrissey when you're a uh you know an emo team it's like you either go down that road or you don't and when you when you do it's all in well i should be defining because that's your job for today but for me it's like guns and rose and morrissey i think that's the perfect image between the two of you So Chris is a gay nationalist and I'm an aging rocker? Yeah, exactly. We represent these things perfectly. You can't see this, Armand, but my shirt is buttoned down to my belly button. It is Gucci. So thank you for kind of giving me a platform. As the podcast evolves, the buttons will kind of start popping off a little bit by the end. That's what we do. I'll throw it out into the virtual crowd during the encore. I'll be down to my palace, Calvin's, by the end of this thing, sweetheart. Which track? Which Guns N' Roses track shall we play for you? I mean, there's too many to name, of course. Hit after hit. But, I mean, it has to be November Rain, of course. Yeah, yeah.

Actually, Chris, I have a song for you. There's a song called Get in the Ring from Guns N' Roses. And that's Axl's song that he's writing to the critics and the haters. Because it's something that the modern man has to deal with in 2022, dealing with the critics and the haters. But back then, you didn't have a platform. You couldn't tweet at them or Instagram or anything like that. He had to take a pen to the past. So he wrote a song and got studio time. And it's him calling out. critics and magazine editors that's great saying like you're a you're a bitchy little you know punk and i'm gonna wow that's great that's he challenges them to like boxing it's called get in the ring because it's like come i want to box you it's great jason we need to get some i'll switch my song no more november rain get in the ring for christ That's love, baby. That's a deep cut. Jason, that makes – we're going to rent out Conway this weekend to get some studio guys in and see what we can come up with. We're going after the vulture guy on wax. I have to on that note also tell my listeners who are not listening to How Long Gone that Chris has very strong opinions and he likes to defend them on social media platforms. And you know what? Kudos to you. In today's – I call it the neo-McArthurism to stand for your grounds, you know, and who cares about casual culture. Look, I stand, and a lot of those, you know, to bring it back to Are We On Air, a lot of those opinions are music-based. So that does bode well for the rest of this episode. And a lot of his opinions are counter to the common opinion that most people have. So that's what's extra fun about it. He goes down the road less traveled in terms of musical taste.

A freedom fighter. It's really cool to watch. You know, usually at this point, I would ask my guests how they would describe themselves in three songs. But you're two, but we're still going to stick with three songs. And here's what we're going to do. You can each choose one song to describe who you are or how you'd like to be perceived. And the third one, who is or what is, how long gone with one song. Basically, you're scoring your own life. Okay. So the song that would describe me, Neil Diamond's Solitary Man. Ooh. Melinda was mine till the time that I found her. Holding Jim. Loving him. Then Sue came along. Loved me strong. That's what I thought. Me and Sue. But I do. Don't know that I will. And the song that would describe us, our podcast, Rihanna, We Found Love featuring Calvin Harris. knew that was i knew that would make it in here somehow um chris has what it takes to make me come alive i don't i this is really this is really tough for me because i i but i'm gonna have to say i guess i'm gonna have to say cemetery gates and fuck yeah i'm gonna have to say cemetery gates by the smiths or pantera version

No, we're going to go only Smith's version. I won't subject your listeners to Pantera. That would ruin the show. The Cemetery Gates is my favorite Smith song, and I think it's also just the perfect amount of melodramatic, which I like to think that I'm not, but I might be. i love it did you did you go to uh the morrissey nights back in the days at sway oh yeah yeah i went to yeah i did i mean when i was in new york that was before i that was before i lived there when it was in its heyday yeah but i mean i've been to there's an la version i've been to with jason i mean i when i was a kid like when i was in high school My friend Ezra and I drove to Birmingham to see Morrissey. I went to the first comeback tour at Apollo. I flew to New York in 2001 when I was 18 or 19. I have a Smiths tattoo. I mean, it's not a game, Armand. It's not a game. And it's truly, though, it is something that I feel like it just really holds up. You can put on The Queen is Dead any time of day at any point in your life, and it still hits. I just, there's not a lot of stuff like that from my youth that I feel like is totally timeless. I don't know. I just, I can't, I can't shake it. You know, at 39, I still feel like I'm, you know, 14 and heard it for the first time. No, but I get it. It's timeless. And I think really good art that stands the test of time is priceless. I mean, I think that's the ultimate goal for any artist, right? To be relevant in a way, even after your heyday. No, agreed.

And I just, well, I wonder though, that's what I, cause when I think about like the cure, the Smiths, Simon and Garfunkel, like Van Morrison, like that stuff to me, I could listen to till I'm dead. I'm, I'm, I often think about like, what is, what, what I'm listening to currently will, will have that same effect. You know what I mean? And, and, but obviously things move faster now and, and it's just very different, but hopefully we still have those things that kind of make it all the way through, you know? And I have to say, it's probably not going to be Calvin Harris, but who knows? You don't fucking know that, bro. We were actually talking about the same thing with Paul from Interpol last week, where we were talking about... Because the Interpol's music, I was like, wait a minute, this shit came out over 20 years ago, some of it. And you put it on now, and it's still... And it hits. And it's very similar to a Smith song, where it's like, I'm really not in the mood to listen to it. If it randomly comes on, you're going to be like... leave it, you know, it's good. And I was asking Paul, like, is it possible to actively or proactively create music that you think will become timeless or does it just happen completely coincidentally, just like the big bang, like you did it and it happened? And I don't think we'll ever know, but if you could figure out how to synthesize whatever it takes to make something timeless. then you're on the right track. I mean, I have this thought process or this conversation with myself and a lot of other people a lot of times. And I think we are roughly the same age. We worked and lived in the same worlds of New York and L.A. and nightlife. And you were DJing for many years. And I was just thinking, looking at today's youth, and I don't want to be like the older crappy guy who's like shitting on everything, right? But I think technology really, in a way, killed. kill the fun. And maybe, and I don't want to look back 20, we talk about Interpol, 20 years, the indie sleaze period, as we call it. And I don't want to look back, like, nostalgically and being like the old guys, yesterday was much better. Because, of course, there are great things about today as well. But how do you guys see it? Like, if you look at our world today. Yeah, I think the technology, I mean, we were talking about the same thing as well, maybe with Paul, but like, you know, cell phones, internet.

And the ability to have everything at your fingertips did make things less fun because there's no anticipation. There's no I can't wait until this thing happens because everything happens instantaneously. And then also the Internet is just the metaverse. And they've found a way like here's a way to have as much fun as you want. But it's always like fucking with the condom on, you know, like the real world that was pre cell phone, pre social media. You know, bad things are going to happen, but it's going to feel so good and it's going to be really, truly fun. There is some danger. You might be hurt physically or emotionally, but it's going to be real. And then you're never going to be hurt on the Internet, actually, but it's never going to really be fun either. I mean, I think there's truth to both sides. I mean, I think that no matter what, everyone is always going to be nostalgic and think that their heyday was the best. You know what I mean? some of the music holds up for us which makes it feel a little better you know what i mean like the interval like being able to listen to interpol or the strokes and be like oh yeah this is still good i wasn't wrong totally you know what i mean like that that's that's good you know what i mean but like i said the the other day and then it's like well clap your hands and say yeah i'm all set you know what i mean it's like like I don't really need that. I haven't heard that name in such a long time. If only we could take this knowledge and put it into real estate or stock purchases instead of guessing which indie band from Brooklyn is going to be tied. But I think that there is something about that time in your life when if you're doing what we were doing, music was like the driving force for all of it in a lot of ways. whether it was going to a show, whether it was working with it, whether it was DJing, whether it was throwing a party, whatever it was. Everything socially revolved around music. Everything revolved around music, and I think with some of the technology developments and where we're at now, music just isn't that thing anymore. You know what I mean? It's been diluted in this way where music isn't the great gathering force that it once was. It's a viral TikTok now.

Yeah, so I think what we're actually nostalgic for is the fact that there was almost a guiding light in this way, and it was music, and it was a little bit simpler, and it was less competitive, and that was what it was about. I think that's more what we're nostalgic for than the drugs or the actual fun or whatever it was that we think about in tandem with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It makes sense. The music used to be the thing, and now the music is a means to a selfie. Identifying with the music, like in terms of more than just the music itself, like the way you dress, the way the people you hang out with, what venues you were going to. I think it really played more of a 360 role in your life. Whereas today, and I talk about this a lot on the pod with other guests as well, I think we live in this pick and choose. streaming generation where you put together your playlist and you pick the favorite bits and i think like looking at someone like billy eilish i think is a great example of if you looked at her like for instance looks how many influences are in her sound and her looks You see emo, you see punk, you see hip-hop, you see electronic music. It's all blended in because there's little bits and pops of everything. I think that is a great representational image of it. I might be wrong, but I think that's my... A broad inclusivity of everything. I think that makes it too homogenized because back in the day, it would be like, I love it when something has a drive and focus. Like on NTS, I listen to mixes and it's like, the mixes that are going to be timeless and going to be chosen and listened to forever is like, here's a music of... this type of music like here's uh you know australian new ambient music for one hour or like a heavy metal music or latin jazz whatever it is and the mix is that's like this is techno ambient trap drill funk new wave and then you're like okay this is just it's just so broad that there's no we need more exclusivity not inclusivity and i don't mean that the same

The same reason that Billie Eilish is homogenous to us is the reason that she's insanely popular on a global scale. That's the thing about that. It's the gift and the curse, but I think if you're 13 or 14, you don't know why you love it so much, but you just do. When it's so homogenous, to me, it's just like everyone loves pizza. It's universally loved by everyone, the music of Billie Eilish. But there's so little to clamp on to that it identifies you with no identity. It's like, you like pizza, too? That's so crazy. We have so much in common. Let's be friends. Like, it's a thing that everyone likes, you know? So there's nothing to chew on. Every conversation starts at Coachella. Yeah, no, I mean, it's like, well, it's like we talk about, I mean, it's like what we were just talking about. When you're 12 years old and you're at the beach with your parents and you see another kid in a black flag shirt or a Misfits shirt, you're like, oh, fuck yeah, this is my man. We're going to be friends for the week we're at the beach. If you see someone with a Billie Eilish shirt, you're like, you got one? You got a Billie Eilish shirt? You might as well just see the gap on it. Yeah, that is different for sure. But I think that that is more to do also with the availability of music to us at this point and how easy it is. to have access to this stuff, and it just doesn't. It's just as easy to listen to Black Flag nowadays, or it's so much easier. Yeah. Like the fact that a lot of music I listened to in middle school, I had to put cash hidden in a piece of paper in an envelope and send it to someone and then wait two weeks to receive a tape, a CDR, or a record in the mail. That's a high barrier of interest. Hopefully some free stickers. At least some free stickers. But yeah, it's such the high barrier of entry to get to the music itself in general to even hear it. I mean, that's some age shit for sure. And I love the access, of course. I love being able to listen to anything I want all the time, and that's a beautiful thing. But it just changes the perception, and it changes the fandom, and it changes the tribes that genres create. Yeah. When you're a kid, you see somebody with a...

a rare band t-shirt that you like, you're probably going to have enough in common to form a lifelong friendship. But nowadays, if you see that, you know, a guy wearing a black flag shirt, you're like, there's a small chance that I would even want to have a coffee with you, let alone be friends. Oh, that's, oh, you like, what's your favorite album? Oh, it just, it just really fits with the miries. I just, the logo looks good with the pre-rips. I just thought it looked good. You know what I mean? It's punk. I think it was like somebody on my Instagram recommendations, reels, whatever. I think it was, what's his name? The Baby or Little Baby or one of those babies, yeah? And then one kid went up to him and was like, dude, I'm your biggest fan. Like, I love your music. And he just turned around like, super does not give a fuck. He's like, okay, what's your favorite song? He's in Thailand. I like that. I like that. When somebody comes up to me and says they love How Long Gone Big, all right, what's your favorite episode? I'm going to try it. I'm going to try it. Which one is your most popular episode to this day? And who was the worst guest? You have to tell me. You were the worst guest. The most popular episode was Lena Dunham, probably. It got the most, I mean, most streams and downloads, probably the Lena Dunham episode. Diplo nipping at her heels, maybe. Lena was very fun to podcast with. And I think that's the beauty. I mean, you know how this goes. It's like sometimes we I knew she would be good, obviously, because she's a fucking professional. Like I know Diplo is going to be good. He's a professional. But it's also like our hope is that they're giving us something that they're not giving other people. And that doesn't mean like information or like tea. It just it just means a side of themselves that maybe we don't see or we uncover or we're able to. uncover some interest we're able to co-works yeah pull that pull that snake out of the hole come on but but jason i talk about this all the time i i don't think honestly as the host it's your responsibility to never have a bad guess totally that that's kind of how i feel like

It's like, look, our job is to make this interesting for not only us, but of course the listeners. And if somebody is not playing ball, then it's up to Jason and I to pick it up and fucking push this thing across the finish line. That's really what it is. I kind of envy you guys because you have each other. You're like the sidekicks to each other. So when there's a lull moment, you can just... Bring the ball back up. There's an extra person on the team. So I think that's very helpful. And I think, I mean, we're doing this over Zoom right now, even though Chris and I were together just now in LA and in New York. But I try to avoid the Zoom thing right now because I'm better. in a room with somebody or with an audience. I mean, that's where really my strength is because I've been doing this for like, what, 20 years, being a person in the room with music or without, right? So I can use my charm and my personality as well. And maybe we have a little vino and we sit by the bar. It's suddenly a different, it becomes more of a, and again, none of us are journalists. And that's why I tell people I'm not here. I'm not a, I don't care about your promo stuff. I try to get people who are not on the promo schedule, you know, like I just want to chat with you as a person, as a human being. And of course the main, Common nominator is music here, but in the end of the day, it's just like getting to the interesting stuff. I mean, that's the thing about music, too. It's such like a general umbrella. You're able to work from that pretty easily. It's a language for all emotions. Yeah. I mean, it's a heart opener. I say it's a heart opener. Oh, it's a heart opener. It is. It is. Damn, you sound like, look, we're not going to sleep with you, so chill out. It's not that kind of podcast. Yeah, he doesn't, he's like, my sensuality doesn't transfer over Zoom quite as well. You can't really smell me via the screens. Jason's already naked sitting in a sauna now. That's right. You guys still hear me? Oh, God.

Well, you know, I was just in LA for the past few months and I only see Jason hang out outside of horses and I meet Chris for coffee. But tell me what's happening in LA. I mean, I, you know, obviously I was gone during the pandemic. I left during the pandemic and I came back and it really feels a bit, the air is a bit out. The energy is a bit low. And when I speak to people in New York, they're like, oh my God, LA is so done, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, yeah, whatever that, you know, everybody says something about any city. Give me what's happening. I mean, your ears and eyes are on the street. What's happening? Where's the air? Where's the juice? What's happening? Come on, baby. I mean, we've been out every night for the last six months. I mean, I don't think it's ever going to have the same energy that New York has. That's just not what it is. But I think it's its own special thing, and that's why we're all here. I mean, Jason's here because he's never left, but I'm here because it's... Because it's its own. That's not that funny, Armand. I've traveled the world, okay? He's traveling my bed somewhere. No, but I mean, look, there's shit happening, but I do think to an extent it's, I mean, we've seen a lot of music. There's a lot of, it's restaurant stuff. Like you said, it's like going to horses, it's going to Gigi's, it's going to Sunset Tower. It's like, that's what it is. I think the nightlife element, like, is a little bit. I mean, you know, I don't know, Jason. Well, the nightlife element in New York is a little tricky right now as well. I mean, I think the difference, like in New York, it's like you're going to go out and there's like, what are we going to do? Like wherever the night takes us, we're going to go to 11 bars and, you know, smoke some cigs, whatever. And in L.A., you have to do package deals, especially after COVID where everyone like is so weird with their time and social anxiety. They're like, OK, I'm going to see Haim at the Hollywood Bowl. We have a dinner reservation at Kismet at 645. We'll have enough time to drink our wine. And then here and then the parking lot, I'll be home in time to watch, you know, Succession. And that's like LA life. But then there's still everything. There's still like downtown warehouse raves. There's still, you know, underground house parties. When was the last time you went to a downtown warehouse rave? It's been a while. Oh, it's been a while.

I went to a show downtown. I mean, we have been seeing, honestly, we've been going to, like, we saw Snail Mail. I did go to Haim at the Hollywood Bowl with Waxahachie. What else did we do? We've seen a lot of shows lately. What else did we do, Jason? I don't fucking remember. Oh, the Lemonheads and Jawbreaker. So it's like that is happening because I think that stuff is, like, back. Yeah, yeah. That is where the night ends. And I don't think it just ends for us because we're old. I think the night kind of ends. You know what I mean? Without having to search for a house party in the hills where you see blood orange on Molly. There have been some really... There's not a lot of parties just to party. It's like, come to my activation, my opening, my whatever. It has to be all tied in with... I mean, the city is purpose-driven, right? Immersive pop-up. But I'm okay. Yeah, I'm okay with going to dinner at 7 and hitting the, you know, Portia Ramoa event. You know what I mean? To hear Pedro play fucking Rihanna before I go home for 45 minutes. It's like, that's fine with me. And that's literally what I do. And that's totally fine with me. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I don't see a problem with that. But I also think that the option... I mean, when Jason and I were in New York together, you know, we will go to like, we went to our friend Greg K's birthday party on the Jane roof. And that was like a fucking proper party. You know what I mean? Like full of fucking freaks, people smoking cigs outside. Everybody's on ketamine. They're playing the most insane music. Like Franz Ferdinand is playing. And I'm like, it's not ironic. You know what I mean? It's like, but it was, I had to look at the touch on it. Yeah, but it was fun. I think, you know, TikTok fucked up the club, too, because everyone will like, here's a song that you guys like. I made it super fast or I made it super slow. And then suddenly they invented a whole new world of music. But that's what people want to hear. They want to hear the slightly altered thing. When you were still DJing, Jason, when you were like a touring famous DJ, what was your highlight? What was the biggest show? What was like one gig that stuck with you? And what were you playing?

I mean, I've had – I played like EDC and things like that. So like playing in a huge festival crowd on a huge stage with thousands of people. We call that – we call that – Big Room EDM. Armand, you're probably familiar with that. Even though it's an outdoor field, it's still considered Big Room. I just want to be clear. There is Big Room House. I want to give you your flowers. I want to give you your flowers while you're still with us. I made it to the Big Room, the big show, we call it. So those ones are always memorable because you're like, wow, crazy. But always the most fun, memorable to you shows are just something, you know. Some random ass night and everything. The stars aligned. I can say my most memorable Them Jeans DJ set for sure. I have a feeling I know what it is. Yeah, we were in New York and this was at a gay party called Holy Mountain. And Jason, what time did you go on? Maybe like two. Yeah, around two or something. It was late as fuck. For me, I was like, I can't believe I'm still out. I'm not even getting hit on by guys because I'm dressed like a cop in a not-hot way. And it's like everybody's wearing fucking – people look insane. People get dressed up. This is like some Studio 54. People will walk through the door, and they can't fit through the door because their bat wings are sucking them. They're wearing six-inch platforms with bat wings, no shirt. And it's a really good party. It's actually fun. And Jason – gets on and absolutely shuts this shit down because the problem with DJing and you know this and I I'm not an expert but what happened was it was like hot people started putting playing songs and that was considered DJing but someone like Jason who really knows what he's doing if you follow four of those people and you know what you're doing people lose their fucking minds because they don't understand you know what I mean but the peak of the night which we've talked about many times in our podcast is Jason playing

the smiths into the sex in the city theme song and watching while while like smoking a cig and the room just levitated in this way where they're like i can't believe this guy how did he do this like how did he do this you know it's Of course he's straight. I can't even suck this guy's dick. You know what I mean? I've seen Jason blackout on stage a handful of times. There was once in LA at a party where it was like a thousand people and he was doing like the full hip hop. Like you're going to hear 30 seconds of each song for an hour. That's all you're going to get. I remember. And just like going crazy. It's because I know him, obviously. But like there's such a difference between people who like. really dj and people who play music you know and i think that's something that we've that line has been blurred i mean now wait i mean i mean i always remember back in the days at beatrice when they just had ipod dogs at some point oh of course yeah yeah yeah and i kind of in a way i love it because it was about the crowd and the community and everybody can jump on and play yeah it's like a house party right for that reason i think it was great from a musical standpoint It's like whoever is cool right now, bring two iPods. And there was a mix in between. I think that then afterwards from Beatrice was what? 2007, eight, something like that. And then like the boom, boom, boom era started. Suddenly you had all like the cool kids, like the mischapes and stuff that suddenly were now brand. The brands were interested. So they're looking for the imagery. A lot of the kids, right? The cute girls. That was pre-social media, so there was no social media following. You couldn't be an ugly DJ anymore. I want extra chunks of the world. Yeah, I want to hear Harley Vieira Newton play 60s soul music and look hot. I'm good with that. That's not bad. It's just a different thing. I'll be at that coach party. Yeah, exactly. If coach wants to pay you $25,000 to wear a dress and put on a playlist, I'm with it. I wish I was getting that offer. Speaking of the iPod docs, one of the most memorable DJ sets that stuck out to me,

was I was playing a friend's wedding. It was a Persian wedding. Very, you know, like super traditional down, you know, as Persian wedding as it could get. And I remember showing up and they're like, here's the playlist. You know, make sure you play all these Persian dance hits because like the crowd will like literally kill you if you don't play any of these, you know, you'll get, you'll get Apollo yanked. decks if you don't play Persian Kids Vol. 1. Like 10 grandmas will just start pulling me down into a well or something. I love that they booked you for a Persian wedding though. I think let's start there. It was a friend of mine who happened to be Persian as well. Also, Armand, I want to be clear, Jason is a known entity in the Persian community of Los Angeles. I keep hearing. I mean, the Persian restaurant industry wouldn't survive without him. I keep hearing on the podcast. That's right. I love that. We have to talk about Persian cuisine with you. Wait a minute, but continue. Yes, Baba. Yes, yes. Jason June. Jason June. So a friend of mine, her name is Sunny Shokre. She got married. It was maybe like eight years ago or something like that. It was at the Ace Hotel downtown in the theater, like the full-size theater. You know, I don't know, 3,000 cap or something like that. And that was a ceremony, and the reception was in like the hallway area. And I remember I rented. sound the sound system and dj gear from my my normal rental guy and we couldn't get the serato to work on my laptop for some reason just an hour just sweating i'm wearing a suit this is this is pre this is pre usb sticks obviously i know that drama like yeah so it was one of those things just couldn't work and people started to arrive and this was like pre this is before dinner like this was at like five o'clock and Basically, they're like, play the fucking music now. And I was like, I can't get the Serato. They're like, I don't care what Serato is. Play the music, you motherfucker. So I literally just pull up iTunes, and there's 10 songs, and they're just the most insane song titles of all time, you know? Just like five words in Farsi that you've never seen, and then it's like hyper-extended trance Eurodance 1990 edit.

And then like V17, Rogers, you know, just like so crazy. And I just hit play on the first song and the whole place is, you know, kissing me like, we love you, Jason, we love you. And the song finishes and then the next song plays on iTunes. And then, you know, by half, like halfway through this, these 10 songs, you know, it's like 11 minutes because they're just like, boom, boom. And then people start. stage diving, crowd surfing, someone jumped off a balcony into the crowd. It was, I mean, it was like the most lit DJ set of my life. And then I was like, there's two more songs left. Like, what do I do? And they're like, play it again. So we, I just played the same 10 songs and then we had to stop. I had to get on the mic and yell because now it was time to have dinner. Like the sun was still out. Like the party hadn't even begun. And then I just played those same songs all night, and people are just ripping their shirts off, pouring champagne on each other. I was about to say, this sounds like me so much. The Persian community has it figured out. Food is good. They like to party. They're not even particular. I care about three things, food, tequila, and dance. Perfect. What were we playing? Give me one of those Persian tracks you remember. Fuck no. Okay. I'll pick something of that. It's probably, it was like Andy or something like early nineties. Like the keys are very heavy still. It's like a Casio, you know? Yeah, exactly. Which by the way, he got a Hollywood, he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hopefully there's a little Gougouche. You know, I'm trying to get Gougouche on the pod. Damn, Gougouche still alive? Wow. Yeah. Hey, man, I saw her at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years ago. Is she fine? She's fine. She was fine. That's cool. That would be very cool for you. What does gugushe mean in English, or is it just a cute word? Oh, you're asking me too much. I should ask my mom. It kind of sounds like a vagina kind of thing. It might be a nickname. I'm not sure, to be honest.

But she's like the Beyonce of the Orient. It does sound like whatever the wasp nicknames of the East Coast, it sounds like a Persian version of that. Like Bunny? Yeah, Bunny or Pookie. You know what I mean? It kind of sounds like a Persian version of that. Honestly, I've never seen so many Persians in one place at the Hollywood Bowl. There was a comedian before and he was saying the Hollywood Bowl probably has never seen so many Mercedes Benz in the parking lot. And perfume everywhere. It was perfect. I was like, I'm home. Chris, one of your most memorable nights. Give it to me. And what was playing? My most memorable night. Probably in your party heydays, huh? Yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, I think my party heyday was mostly Atlanta and then early New York at like lit when you could like smoke cigarettes. And it was like the yeah, yeah, yeah. Or there was like a there was a party in New York on Sunday nights at a place called Bar 13 in Union Square. And it would be like. Jimmy Fallon and Julian Casablanca is just so coked out. And like the White Stripes are DJing. It was just that that era for sure. I mean, my most my like real party at the early days was at a place called MJQ in Atlanta, which is like a legendary club in Atlanta. And you like it's basically like a shack and a parking lot. And then you walk. down and it's like in it's underground it's like under a parking lot and wednesday nights were were like brit pop night basically so it was like you can imagine me like 20 pounds heavier um off six vodka sodas and a couple redheaded sluts a nice bag of cocaine in my pocket they got we're playing pulp we're playing stone roses we're playing oasis we're playing blur so it's like

all my formative shit exactly exactly but i'd heard all these songs you know i'd listen to all these songs so many times but like i'd never heard them in that environment you know what i mean and the dj wasn't even good he played the same shit every week yeah every week this is fire and everyone's like girls and the boys But boys versus girls. And so we would – every Wednesday, without fail, religiously, I would go to that party. And there was like a – there were two rooms, of course. You know what I mean? And the Britpop was usually in the smaller room, which was cooler. But then you would – That's the finger bang room as well. Exactly. But then the secret was the bathrooms were always full, as you can imagine. But you could walk through the big room. And then if you were good at MJQ, there was this staircase to nowhere. There was like a staircase by the stairs. that just went up to like a brick wall. And that's where you could really, that's where you could really take your time. You know what I'm saying? You didn't have to rush because people had to pee or whatever. So if you were really doing it, you'd be like, to flex with a chick, you'd be like, oh, just come with me. You know what I mean? Do you want to come hang out with all the drug addicts at the stairwell? Ooh, you do a couple, you do, you do. You do a couple bumps in the stairwell while you hear Bowie in the background, and then you just make it back down. That's what nightlife should be. Yeah, exactly. That's what nightlife should be. But a combination of MJQ on a Wednesday and Saturday night in Atlanta, and then that era of New York. There was also a bar called Black and White that was kind of the same thing. It would be like... You know, a hot guy that looks like he plays keyboards in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. You know what I mean? DJing. And then it's like the Olsen twins and Kirsten Dunst having vodka sodas. And everybody's like young and goes to NYU and rich and on coke. And to me, it's like that's. That's what Nightlife is all about. You know what I mean? So we're going to play Blur, I guess, right? Yeah, you can play Blur. Yeah, you can play Blur. Yeah, that's fine with me. Yeah, song number two. I mean, you know, nothing goes off in the club in 2002 like that guitar riff. It's just true. It holds up. It holds up. Woo-hoo!

Things are slightly tamer. We're not that raging anymore. And one thing we have in common and I love about you guys, and I hear it on the pod as well, and obviously Chris and I, we had some business meetings in the past. You guys are hustlers. I love it. You're like hustling. Not only work-wise. No one's ever called me that before, but thank you. I hustle enough for both of us. Not only work-wise, but also in the gym. So maybe at the gym, we hustle. Yes. Yeah, yeah. What's your go-to track that gets you pumped up, either in the gym or in the boardroom? Oh, Jason, go ahead. What gets me pumped in the gym or in the boardroom? I like that. Well, I try not to get pumped. Jason's unfortunately never been in a boardroom, so he doesn't really know. For me, when I work out, I'm ambient music. I'm listening to ambient music. Interesting, okay. of being in the gym or being in the boardroom. I'm more trying to slow my brain down. Like I know there's a lot of good stuff going on up here, but it's too much. So I need to kind of calm it so it can be a little bit more focused and honed in. So I'm kind of like how you give a spastic person Ritalin and it chills them out. I kind of get pumped on some ambient music if it starts kind of being. So you're listening, you're popping Eno in the beats. Are you listening to Apex Twin or what? Yeah, Apex Twin, you know, all those guys and gals. But yeah, I mean, do you want me to pick a song song? Well, you can. For the purpose of this program, I think it would make the most sense. I just didn't know because I know other segments, you know, we had an assignment and this one's a little more free-flowing. But there's a record or an album from Bibio. He did an ambient album. maybe like four or five years ago on warp called phantom brickworks and that's that's one of my favorite just front to back ambient records where everything is kind of hypnotic everything is it's just kind of you can lock in and then loopy

Yeah, gyms and music is a big topic for me because obviously through my work and like music curation stuff, I do a lot of gyms and I hate to say like Equinox and stuff like that where they just blast super loud trashy like pop electro mixes, you know. Everybody's listening to their own stuff anyway. No, no, that's always my thing where I notice, I look around, I'm like, I'm the only person who's not wearing headphones right now and I could do whatever I want. I could just yell terrible words and no one will hear it. But that's why I think it should be more like a mutual soundscape, you know, because everyone's doing their own shit anywhere instead of like trying to force something upon people, you know? No, I agree. I go the opposite way of Jason. I want the most pumped up shit possible because I'm suited off pre-workout. Yeah, I know. So it's weird. I either go back to like... I do. I listen to a lot of Rancid, actually. I think Rancid has like five or six songs that are kind of perfect for running or gym stuff. From Let's Go, hopefully? Salvation is a great Rancid song on that. And also, Graduate by Third Eye Blind. That record is a classic for me in the gym.

There's some other – there's, of course, some hip-hop. Actually, Big Drip by 5e04 and who we just had on the podcast. Big Drip. Big Drip. I'm going to love it. by a guy named rich boy and unfortunately forgotten rapper from Alabama But yeah, I mean, a little Primal Scream, a Country Girl remix. You know that one. Never get too big. Never get too heavy. Never get too cool and just stop paying. There's a certain BPM you're looking for, but also I find I used to be hip-hop only, and then I realized that music with guitars that's upbeat is actually better for me. Put on a little guns and roses. Yeah, so we got to go Rancid Salvation, I think. That's like I want to be the first and only person to ever recommend Rancid on this podcast. You are. Let's breathe and burn. And underrated bands, to be honest. I mean, Operation Ivy is one of my favorite bands of all time, but they only put out one record. When I was 14, I was straight edge, and I'd be like, Rancid's low-key, kind of nice with it, you know? But low-key, I mean, Rancid's one of those weird bands, kind of like Social Distortion Jason, who, like, made it through somehow, like, broke through and had, like, major radio hits. They became timeless artists. Everyone got corny.

Yeah, they never got corny like Green Day. Like, Rancid's still pretty cool. Like, I would go to a Rancid show, and it would be full of fucking freaks, don't get me wrong. There'd still be some real punks there. Yeah, it's like they'd still get respect from the community where they started, but they also, like, did K-Rock weenie roasts. They'll still cut you with a bottle, whereas Green Day won't. Yeah, Green Day's in their mansion in, you know, in Petaluma. They don't have time for this. It's funny that they go. When you think of brands like, let's say, Green Day as well, how now if you go to a gig, it probably is like an older crowd. It's not like the 18-year-olds or maybe some 18-year-olds, but it kind of reminds me of... Some of the kids. Some of the kids, yeah. But it kind of reminded me of 20, more than 20 years ago, I went to the Stranglers. I was like 17, 16. I went to the Stranglers. I'm like, we're the... Max! Chris. You and Max at a Stranglers show? And we're like the only young kids. And we're like, why is everyone so old? And now looking, thinking back, I was like, there must have been maybe, I don't know, 30 or 30 to 50. But for us back then, it was just Strokes and the Libertines, you know, and suddenly we had the Stranglers and it's like, all right. Yeah, they're an old band. Damn, Libertines, that's somebody we got to talk about. Now, find a way for me to talk about the Libertines, please. I'll tell you how, because I actually was thinking I should get Pete on the pod because he's active again. Should I get it? Yeah, they're back. Yeah, and then let us have your sloppy seconds when you're done with them. Yeah, we'll hit after you. I mean, I think that the Libertines are just, I mean, that to me, though, is such a British, like that just could never happen in America. Like it just would never happen. Like the music actually being that good and the guy actually being that famous at the same time, that just is impossible. We don't do that here. But I mean. can't stand can't stand me now can't stand me now is a fucking absolute chris classic i'll bang that till i'm dead that is like as good as it gets and like the i don't know what it is with british people and their love for like it's similar to oasis like where they really love the story of pete and carl the way they love liam and noel and like pitting them against each other and this and that and like who's the good who's the bad like are they kissing

Like, it just went every way possible. You know what I mean? But if you date Kate Moss, that helps. You know, that helps. That helps. Well, what's happening? You guys are about to tour here. And tell me everything about how long gone. What's happening today? Where are you going for the next few months? Are you guys going back on a live tour? What's happening with the merch? I mean, you guys are killing it. I'm super proud of you. I'm in the middle of posting about our merch right now. We have a new shirt that just came out today. Thanks for staying focused. No, we have. Hey, no problem. I'm a multitasker, baby. You'll see. Yeah, he's a multitasker. We're actually doing a show in Toronto. Wow, shit, next week with our friend Matty Matheson, the chef from Toronto. And then we're going to do a show in New York. We're actually going to close out the Tribeca Film Festival with a show at Baby's All Right on June 13th. And then we do have some stuff planned for the end of the year in New York and LA. Um, I, the live stuff was just like, it really worked for us and it was super fun. And we have the team that can put it together pretty easily. So it's like, let's keep doing it, you know? And then, yeah, there's obvious, there's always more merch. There's always more bullshit going on, but also just like, I think Jason and I, after the year we had last year, we were a little bit like, let's just like get as good as we can at podcasting. Let's just really do this. 10,000 hours. 10,000 hours because it's like you get all this great press. You do the tour. The merch is selling. Everything is rolling. And I think the thing you get scared of then is that you need to be conscious of the podcast, not taking a backseat to all this other stuff that matters, of course, but that's not why anybody – Family, friends, relationships, stuff like that. It all takes a backseat to our podcast. None of that stuff matters. It's only –

It goes working out, podcasting. Those are the two things that are most important. But I think, yeah, I mean, I think more of that and obviously trying to get into things that are a little more film-based, video-based, like taping stuff, like flirting with that a little more is in the pipeline as well. But I mean, yeah, for us, it's just like we want to talk to people who are interesting and keep it moving. That's really what it's about. Amazing. Yeah, man. Want to add something? Them jeans? No, I mean, like when you said just get better and better at podcasting, it's kind of like as the show grows, you know, ideally we'll be getting better and better access to guests that we really want that we couldn't get before in our infancy. And every show that we do kind of working our way up there, we get a little bit better at podcasting. And, you know, once it gets to that level that we're at now, you really have to kind of like. remember that you're not just a podcaster because we do three episodes a week. So it's like such a big part of the brain. So I've found myself, the better I get at podcasting, the worse I get at being just a normal talker. I'm like, why am I having a conversation with you right now when I'm not making ad revenue on this? I'm just going to sit in silence in my house until somebody turns the microphone on. Then I'll start saying the good shit. Otherwise... Oh, you want me to be funny? We're going to have to hit the Venmo for that. Oh, you thought this was a friendly meal? No, I'm sorry. This is a content opportunity. It's funny, though, because we went to Coachella for one day a couple weeks ago. it was kind of like, why are we doing this? And it was like, oh, because we should talk about it. It'll be fun to talk about. So it's like a little bit of that where it's like we have access to these things that are fun and cool for us to do, and we get to see our friends, and it's like a business opportunity to an extent. But it's also like people want to hear us talk about going to Coachella. They'll just talk for an hour about what we did at Coachella. You know what I mean? So it's like.

It all starts to transform. It becomes material. And when you need more material, if the material is living life and going out in the world and doing things and having experiences that other people don't get to and then telling them about it, how great is that? How much do you prep on a weekly basis for the episodes? You just kind of go in at this point and just like, let's see what happens. Or you actually make some mental notes or actually write down a couple of points where, okay, what happened this week? cultural world i go in raw dog most of the time i mean well especially well no i mean if it's just me and jason the episode we do on sundays it comes out on monday that's like the kind of the point of that one um you know it's it's supposed to be us just kind of catching up and i think we both kind of know what we're going to talk about and jason's always a little more prepared than i am credit to him um with guests i think it's like a little bit like usually we're pretty aware like we so we had five year foreign on this rapper today like i read the new york times profile of him the day before you know i mean just to be like i know the music i kind of know the story but let me like understand it a little bit more and also like no i you know i i just think that that gives you the baseline even though most of the time we don't want to talk about that stuff yeah yeah i'm depending on the guests It's either all or nothing. I'll either not have time or not care and be like, you know what, I don't feel like taking notes. I'm just going to go raw dog and see what happens, feel around in the dark until I grab something that I like and then go from there. But for some guests, I will take the time. If it's a musician, I'll listen to their music that morning when I'm working out or I'll listen to a couple of articles written about them being narrated to me with an app. And then I'll just grab little bits and then just write them down in my notes app and I'll have a bullet point list of five or six things to talk about or just random. Like when we had 5e04 on who's a rapper, I was just like, I don't know why. Like he keeps talking about pills, like Percocets in his music. So we're going to I'm going to ask him what his top three favorite pills are. And he was like, oh, pills. All right.

Great. Let's talk about it. I love – Yeah. Let's go, baby. Let's go. So half the podcast interview was just us talking about how cool pills are and how much we like pills and different pills to take for like, oh, you're going to be flying. You should take half a Xanax on this. But if you're flying private, it's more turbulence than the bigger commercial flights. So you might want to have a little Percocet with that. That's what we want to talk about. We don't want to talk about the new album that has a feature on it with Alicia Keys and what was it like working with Alicia Keys. It was good. She's good. We want to talk about your chick spending too much of your money at Target buying candles and how you offset that with a Percocet addiction. It's real shit that you want to hear. Yeah, that's exactly what we want to hear. But every once in a while, we'll pull a new headline, something like Dave Chappelle gets tackled. So we'll talk about it for five or ten minutes. Can we talk about that? I mean, other podcasts, they'll do a whole hour on it, and you're like, all right, a guy kind of hit a guy, and then that's it. There's not that much to talk about, but we'll cover it. And the goal is to become Joe Rogan level of a podcast? Yeah, that's right, bro. Exactly. Yeah, I think that there's the ins and outs and the ups and downs of that, but hell yeah. We're happy to be the much cooler but much less wealthy version of it. If we're only making $20 million a year, that's fine. Once we get to that level, I will luckily be able to supplement it to get to $100 for me. But if Jason's comfortable with $20, that's fine. Chris is already making $80 million at his various enterprises. Dubious enterprises. Joe Rogan has to travel around with armed guards. He can't go to a gas station without somebody wanting to cut him. At a certain point, if you're going to be that divisive and that famous and that influential and that powerful, it's hard to relax, man. You're just always looking over your shoulder because someone's going to want to slide tackle you.

That's why we're keeping our podcast at a certain level, right? That's why we don't want to. Exactly. Look, I don't want to get too big. I need to be able to hang out with my family. Like Jason, I got to be able to go to dinner. I want to go to the mall. I want to be hanging out outside of forces every night and feel safe. Exactly. I want to be swarmed by fans. I don't want to be fucking murdered by them, you know? I don't want my family to be docked. But I do think that. I think that this format, the format that we work in is a little bit up for grabs to an extent. Like, I think it's like, you know, like it was Terry Gross first and NPR and then like kind of Mark Maron and Mark Maron's kind of washed. And it's like, obviously we're different than that. And like, it's a little bit, I don't, you know, we're not talking to Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio yet, but like, I think this classic format of like the interview and what that can be and how it, how does it change and how does it kind of like, how do we update it for our generation? I think that's like more of a comp than Rogan. Cause I think Rogan's a little bit like, I want to talk for five hours and get you to say something fucked up. Whereas I think we want to talk for an hour and have a great time with you. And, and I think that the, the previous in car, the previous, like big dogs, it's always kind of serious. You know what I mean? It's like, I want to hear your origin story. I want to hear about how this bad thing happened to you. And like, not that we're opposed to talking about that stuff, but that's not where we go in. We go in from a little bit of a different place and a little bit more fun place and a little more conversational. And I think that that is what we are focused on. You know what I mean? I don't, like the other stuff is great. Yeah. I think we have a lot of common listeners between the three of us. And I think the general feedback I get is, it feels like they're hanging out with us. They're part of the cool kids' table and they're sitting with us in the restaurant in a bar somewhere. Again, we're not journalists. We're sharing the access. That's what we're doing. If I meet a very cool person at a bar, I'm not going to interview them. I'm going to be like, how can I win them over and have everyone listening to this be like, I like listening to these people talk.

And that's it. Exactly. That's all you have to do. Exactly. And that's enough. That is enough. But one thing that differentiates us, we talk about music here. And let's go back to the music. And what's your go-to falling in love or heartbreak song? For Jason, it's going to be more like, what do you tell chicks to listen to when you break their heart? Hey, listen, you can take it as you want. Okay, a good breakup recording. Bon Iver, Live at Air Studios, 4AD, Jaguar session. It's over 10 years old now. Is that the candle one? They're in Paris and they're sitting on the floor? No, this is they're in a big professional studio with two pianos and all these like... crazy expensive microphones in this like really nice sound room and it's Bon Iver and then Sean Carey his like partner and it's just them on two pianos and two microphones singing so it's kind of like dueling pianos but it's all very like emotional kind of heartbreaking kind of songs and you know when you need something something hard when you need a stiff one this this helps you out

Love it. Falling in love, it's got to be, if not for you, George Harrison on All Things Must Pass. That's like as good as it gets for me. Break up. I'm going to take you all the way back. Give it to me. I'm going to take you all the way back to a song from a band called Whiskey Town that I grew up loving. It was Ryan Adams' band when he was in his early 20s. So it's kind of like this punk country. They got signed to a major. It's, of course, a tragic story. They broke up before it all happened. But they have an album that is pretty... important to me, like I listened to this shit, I waxed this thing in high school all the way up. It's called Faithless Street. It came out in 1996, so that dates me a little bit. But there's a song called If He Can't Have You, and the chorus is just like, if he can't have you, I guess then nobody will. He can't have you, just not knowing them will. Watch him think wild.

you know what i mean it's just like it's upbeat and it's like it feels like punkish but it's like incredibly depressing at the same time you know what i mean so it's it's a little bit of that but yeah i i love i love that song and i haven't thought about it in a really long time until you just ask well can't wait to hear it and play it jason you just missed a beautiful beautiful answer so sorry okay well i'm gonna tune in and listen to it and it'll be it'll be a discovery jason's and now Armand, Jason's heard all my bullshit already. There's nothing. There ain't no surprises. I mean, this relationship must be so deep at this point. I mean, you must love each other. Or do you hate each other sometimes? I don't. I think it's honestly strength. We don't really argue. It's not really. I don't know, man. It's just like there's like a common goal. And I think we're both. Jason's very mellow. And I think I'm mellow when it comes to how long gone. I also think Jason makes me more mellow. I think he's a very measured person, and I'm not, but I think that that works in our favor. That's why these freak shows are so attracted to me. I calm them down, you know? Yeah, he calms them down. I bring you into my bosom. Exactly. Namastizzle. Come to my sauna. Come to my sauna. You know what will fix you up, Chris? Come to my sauna. I'm going to give you purple today. Let's put on the lights. Let's see what's happening. Well, talking about dimming the lights after the heartbreak, you're feeling super sexy and you walk around town, either in LA or New York, and you have a spring in your step and you're feeling super sexy. What's the sexiest song? Oh, super sexy. Damn. There's actually a new song or new to me song by this guy from New York named Paul Daly. And it's called Kimmy Rolla. No, not Tom Daly. He can't sing. He does look like he could be in a band. Shout out to Big Tom. There's a song by this guy, this guy, Paul Daly, and it's called Kimmy Rolla. And it's just his voice is like just it's got this weird baritone to it. It just feels like nighttime to me in a way that that's all it takes is like a couple notes. But the song is like.

It's a little twangish as well, but it feels like if a guy grew up in Memphis, but then moved to New York in high school. It's kind of the vibe, which I think is a cool description of it. I'll take it. for your What do you got, Jason? I'm trying to think. I mean, Dua Lipa, of course. Very sexy. Of course. Did you go see her in L.A.? I heard you're a big Dua fan. I know. I've never seen her, unfortunately. Only on Instagram. I think the sexy, I mean, like when you're in your 20s, like air, you know, air is very sexy feeling music. Oh, yeah, dude. Yeah, air. But then when you get a little more hair in your chest, then you just go straight to, you know, the Serge Gainsbourg. That kind of shit feels sexy to me. And then some Fiona Apple and PJ Harvey and Mazzy Star is very sexy. Also a big part of mine. I'd also like to throw the cure into the mix here. Anything from Fascination Street, that's very sexy. It's a little sad, but I equate sexy and sad. So that's fine for me. Didn't you guys have Fiona Apple on the show at some point? I wish. God, I wish. Are you kidding me? I'll sing every word of Shadowboxer to her out of tune. That will get her.

This fucking guy's probably had Fiona on like 11 times. He's like, oh, I'll text you. Yeah, I mean, what about you? You got a sexy one? I mean, I feel like you only listen to sexy music, bro. I own it. When I wake up, all the way to bed. Do you listen to any non-sexy music, actually, Armand? I try not to. Yes, but. Yes, but. You know what? It doesn't matter what genre. I always go for a warmer and sexier sound. Whatever. It could be even in heavy metal or techno. I always go for something warmer. Always. Jason, don't forget that he's living the Balearic lifestyle. Baby, come on. The Balearic lifestyle. He invented this shit, bro. It's sexy all the time. That's why he's so in demand. He can pick the sexy out of any genre, which I absolutely cannot do. I do not have that skill set. It's the citizen of the world vibe is part of, you know, it makes sense for you. Yeah, I think it's just the difference of, like, we're into the kind of dark and cold sexiness. Like, we're bottoms, we're subs, sure. And then you're into the warm, bright sexiness, which is a positive top kind of energy. That's right. There's no wrong answer. We're all going to get our nut at the end of the day. We're just grinding in different lanes. That's right. We're grinding in different lanes. We're still building, and that's all you can kind of hope for, I think, in this crazy mixed-up world. But Armand, don't sleep on the dark, cold nut, okay? No, I have the dark, cold nut. I mean, I'm aware of it. It sometimes comes out with a nutcracker, but, you know, it's like once a year, like when the lights are dim outside. Yeah, once a year is good. You don't want to do it all the time. No. That's when you want to keep edged. You know, I always walk a fine line between chic and cheese, and I like to be most of the time horizontal. And that kind of, it's like, you know, like that's even part of my, like when I talk to clients, because it sounds so naff, but I mean, hello, director d'ambiance, what the fuck is ambiance, right? But it's such an intense thing. It's so airy and so like in the air, but it's so important. And that's how it makes you feel. And most of us want to feel good about ourselves. And most of us want to feel sexy. You know, we want to feel warm.

So that's why kind of when it goes back to music, that's why it's so ingrained in me. And I mean, I live my life. I live the Balearic lifestyle. As Chris said, I do. That's fucking right, you dude. I think that's cool. That's right. And I live the middle class podcaster lifestyle. So I'm glad that we can still remain friends, even though we're in different tax brackets. Yeah, yeah. To wrap up our little chat, the last one. Usually I ask my guests. If your life would be a movie, what song would play in the end credits? But let's rephrase this a little bit here today. What's the song that's going to be played in the end credits of the How Long Gone documentary? Oh, man. In a couple of years, there's a Netflix and chill doc on, and it's about How Long Gone, and how these two weirdos managed to take over this new genre, this new medium, and just rewrite it. Okay, I'm going to go Kanye West featuring John Legend blame game. Because I know Chris is going to blame me for some shit. Who's fault? Who's fault? Let's call it now. I know Chris is going to blame me for some shit. I'm going to say Simon and Garfunkel. And it also features an Apex twin sample. I'm going to go... That's when the money got into the game, the love fell apart. The splinter happened. I'm going to go Simon and Garfunkel bridge over troubled water. Because that's what...

That's what we've had to create because all these other shitty podcasts are the trouble water. And TJ and I had to build a bridge to kind of go over those. You know what I mean? Leapfrog them to the top of the iTunes charts. We're looking over the rails of the bridge like, hi, haters, you know? Yeah, exactly. Your water looks very troubled. And I'm on my little floaty underneath the bridge. little dinghy in my red little speedo. You have such a chic little rowboat on, man. Yeah, baby. It's a nice dark wood, a nice cherry. Yeah, I love that about Napoli. Even today, because when you see Chris and I were talking about Idea Limited, the books, the online books, they have all these great vintage pieces and additions and you usually it's like you know this kind of nudgelly cone kind of aesthetic it's like the 70s and 80s and 90s if you go to napoli today in the summer it still looks like that like the guys are like tan leather like that's a skin and it's like tight little speedos and it looks so good on them still today you know because you would look back yeah and It's a timeless look over there. It's a timeless look over there, and I love it. It's a timeless look. If you can do it, by God, please. I know. I'm not sure it would go down well in the Hamptons. No, no, no, no. It wouldn't go that well. They don't even like tans over there. No, they don't. We keep it white, baby. We keep it white. We keep it white. That's right. Your word's not ours, Armand. Great closing words. Thank you so much.

We keep it waspy white on that color. Guys, it's been a real pleasure. Thank you. No, thank you for having us. This is the, like we said, this is the only other good podcast out, so we're very pleased to hit the hallowed halls of the guests. And, you know, if this gets Jason one step closer to Dua Lipa, then it was all worth it for me. Jason, I had a plus one to her concert in L.A. Why didn't you hit me up? Motherfucker. Next time. You know for the future. Future nostalgia will be back. Don't worry. We can hit another city if we have to, Jason. We can gas up the Are We On Air jet. Is this the first podcast you've been on? We haven't done that many together, though. We really haven't. We've done a few, but we haven't done that many together. This is maybe number three or four. But this is the best, obviously. This is the coolest one. This is number three or four, number one in our hearts. Yeah, definitely the coolest one. Thanks, Armand. Good to see you, man. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Good to see you. Later. Ciao. Yeah. Bye. Thank you for tuning in this week. If you want to listen to the full playlist, visit aureonair.com or our Spotify channel. You can also find us on Instagram and on YouTube at aureonair. And a big thank you to my wonderful team at Studio Noi. I'm Armand Naffei, and I'll speak to you soon.