574. - Future Islands

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. How long gone? Beans being so weird. Let's focus, Jason. It's time to podcast. It's a fucking Tuesday in December. Or no, November, sorry. Almost. I'm jumping ahead. Almost. I'm jumping ahead. I mean, it practically feels like December. We did our podcast this morning for full transparency. We're recording after we did our interview, and it was at 8 a.m., so that means I was walking the dogs at 6. It's still kind of dark out, freezing cold. It's freezing cold, man. It's not freezing cold. It's actually cold here. And I hope you took your Nupsy out of storage for this week. Nupsy? That's a North Face puffer jacket. Oh, I don't have one of those. But maybe I should get one. I wear Arcteryx. Yeah, but you have California Arcteryx. You have a rain slicker and a light puffer. Yeah, I'm actually eyeballing a vintage puffer right now that's real. poofy, but it's kind of like a dark orange, kind of like your sweater. It's a great vibe, but you're not always in the mood to wear an orange. Because I have an orange Arc'teryx raincoat that I love, but it's like you really got to be in the mood to wear construction orange. Blaze. Blaze orange. No, you're right. I mean... Blaze! Does it make your chest bigger? Because that's nice. Any help that I can get? My little bee cut.

Where did you find this puffer? I'm not telling you my fucking sources, bitch ass. This secret shit. For some reason, buying a used puffer feels insane to me, actually, but I'll buy anything else used. I don't know why. Because the body sweats in a cocoon sack in there. There's decades of moisture. And toxins. Decades of moisture. Lining the down feathers. Am I wrong? No, you're not wrong. But I just hope you're prepared. Because it's actually going to be fine when you get here. It's mint condition. It's like new. It's very cold right now. It's like cold. Like Hawaii. What the temp? Like 30. That's light work, bro. That's light work. Come on. That is not light work. It's going to be 75 in LA today, probably. The sun is shining. I was thinking yesterday. I really wish that. um heat tech technology Uniqlo makes heat tech where it's like very thin skims style under armor warming garments but I put them on and it's like like a 12 year old wearing five year old pajamas like I'm way way way too big for them and I want I would like some bespoke custom uh like stretchy well i hope that long john underwear the long john creators listening will maybe be interested in doing something they'll go into their atelier and kind of part of the creator economy yeah i don't know who who is out there is listening i don't know i mean I don't think Bodhi does that kind of stuff. Bodhi does crochet heat tech. It's a little too breathable, if you ask me. It's very thick under your garments. Actually, that reminds me, when I hit New York, I need to go pop in the atelier, and maybe we'll do a little tailoring for a post. I'll put it on my Instagram stories. What are you going to get? What do you think you want? I don't have any intention of getting anything, but they've been nice enough to extend an invitation.

to me to come through. So I kind of want to just, I don't know, I guess freestyle something, be inspired by the fabrics in the room, the tees. I know that you're a, you're a fabric first guy and that's kind of why we get along is like you start there and then you obviously have an eye for construction as well. Don't, don't get it. Don't get me wrong, but, but it has to start with fabric. It starts at the thread. It starts at the thread. It starts at the thread. Jesus Christ. Okay. So this morning I was on Twitter.com and I found a story that came out today in the New York Times Magazine about a punk museum that opened in Las Vegas. And I scroll, I click on the link and the lead image is Fat Mike from No Effects, who is like part of this whole thing. So it's like a... full giant museum off the strip in Vegas where they have a bar but they've also like recreated Pennywise's practice space and they have like a tattoo parlor and it's like I think it's going pretty well but it's just an insane it was insane to see Fat Mike in the New York Times also Fat Mike is apparently LGBTQ plus he's everything man and is upset that he's not being embraced by that community and I was like well Lose some weight. I think he's not embraced by that community because he's one of the most offensive, vile people on Earth and has said some of the nastiest things about many people in that community. What's interesting... By golly, if NoFX doesn't know how to write a pop-punk tune. One of the greats. The story is great. It's really good and really interesting. I think this feels like an offshoot of the... punk rock bowlification of las vegas over the last 10 years where they've they need they've built it up to the point where they can plant a flag off strip and recreate pennywise's it's a thing that nobody ever asked for or needed so sick and they do celebrity tours so it's like you can sign up and like a guy that played fucking auxiliary percussion in the misfits will give you a tour of like

One of the dead milkmen will show you where the men's room is. One of the not dead dead milkmen. I hadn't seen, I hadn't heard or seen this, and it's something that I feel like I should check out when I go to When We Were Young next year, 2024. Oh, it's a must-hit destination. You gotta go by Carboni, you gotta go Punk Rock Museum up the Strip, and there's this really good Thai food spot I gotta tell you about. So you guys know all about the the neon museum. Let me show you the punk rock museum. This is a little cool. I like a mafia tour myself. You know what I mean? But yeah, it's, but it's, it's just a very interesting thing that I definitely want to go do. And I think they actually have crazy shit. Like it's probably pretty good. Like what they actually have. They got the descendants glasses. You know, they got the Milo goes to college original mug. You got Henry Rollins poetry books and. And pull-up bar. But what was interesting is that it points out that I guess that NoFX and like over their career has done a lot of – like they raised all this money for like an anti-George Bush thing and like they got all these people to sign up to vote. So that was kind of Fat Mike's argument is he's like – nobody fucks with me but what about all this shit i did and they're like yeah bro sorry you got blue hair and you look like shit i don't i can't i can't do it you know despite all of your positive accolades your appearance and demeanor and everything about you still easily overshadows any positive attributes it's very very very bad and he has to know that the um so also though uh once again on twitter.com friend of the show rachel tastian um posted earlier about something that feels like it's the new Celine men's collection has LCD sound system losing my edge as the soundtrack and name checks Dime Square. And I quote, the emergence of a strong utopian and free artistic youth from the area of Dime Square to the borders of Brooklyn confirms the return of the New York scene.

And, you know, I hate this, Jason. I really do. I really, really do. Who wrote this? I don't want to be you, but it does feel like AI. It actually feels like AI. I hate AI. I don't believe in it. I think in this situation, we hope that this was written by AI and not a real human being. We hope. Because if a real human being wrote this, and is Slamon still at Salon? Slim on. Yeah, Big Slim is still over there. So Big Slim read this sentence and gave it a checkmark, green thumbs up, approved. Yeah, I mean. Is that safe to say? That is. So at that point then, it doesn't matter if this was written by AI or a PR person. The person who wrote this probably, we may know them. Oh, yeah, definitely. They may be listening to this right now, and they're upset, but it still comes down to, like, somebody who runs the coolest guy in fashion of all time read that and was like, bet, run it. Approved. This sounds good. Bet, run it. I like that we're calling Dime Square Utopian. I mean, there's nothing about it. I thought we were done with this, but I guess that it's... That's Hedy's way. It's trickled all the way up. Everything in life where you're like, I thought we were done with this, and Hedy's like, nah. There's still two more drops left in this old orange from 2004. Put on the Rockstar skinnies, do a little coke, and listen to LCD South System, bitch. We're back. Yeah, I don't know. Unbelievable that Dime Square is still part of the conversation. It's a two-block radius that now has a beautiful hotel. There's not much happening there. I love acai, but I don't love it that much. It's a nice place to smoke a cigarette, I guess. I don't know. I mean, the people are hot, so that's probably a big part of it. Where are they at, though? Where are they at, though? All right, we have a guest today. You know the band, Jason, Future Islands, don't you? Yeah, of course.

Future Islands. Yeah, we chatted with Sam. We had a chat with Sam, their front person. We actually had a very fun, amazing chat. It's always good when we don't talk about music or the album that they're here to release and promote. He's living in New Orleans right now, so we get into that a lot. It's actually very TJ-coated. Knee injuries, New Orleans. It's true. And crab. Crab and Crawfish? I'm about to go record an episode of an Adam Faye's produced watch show for TikTok. Oh, really? Yeah. That's a big show. I don't know. Is it the one where you walk into like this, it's like a jewelry district building and it's like a father and son and they're like, get this fucking piece of shit out of here. It's called Clockwork. I haven't seen it. I trust Adam and I said, let me know, bro. I'm coming through. I think what happens is you go in. You want to buy a watch or you want to sell a watch, and then a father and son insult you, and then you haggle. Perfect. Okay. So I'm finally going to get the – well, look. It's very pun stars coded. Bezzles, you got some competition now. Best I can do. Who's going to give me the Royal Oak? Best I can do. Best I can do is 50 bucks. That's the best I can do. It's Royal Oak. That's a $100 bill all day. I'll do 70. Yep. I'll do 70. All right, How Long Gone. Thank you guys for listening. All right. 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, so do 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, you know, 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 2.3 version upgrade. Boom, boom, boom. Get the analytics going. Raise some money. 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, you know, still put together. I don't want to look like a slob. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. You know, 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. We're going through merch stuff right now, Sam. You like that? Remember when you had to do your own fucking merch? Oh, I remember.

I'm still doing it. We're still on those meetings, man. And sometimes I'm just like, I don't care, but it matters. It really matters. Yeah, it's a challenge. It's a challenge to do it all. We actually, we're doing a show at Webster Hall on Saturday here in New York. Oh, cool. Awesome. Love Webster. I think we just got our first, Jason, correct me if I'm wrong, our first email. from the venue being like we're going to take a percentage of your merch sales oh welcome you guys are really you made it yeah that's what i that's exactly what i was saying i was like this feels like a real rite of passage because it was a big issue you know it was or whatever there was a lot of people talking about it a couple months ago yeah it's an honor for you to take 20 of my income massive corporation yeah it's kind of crazy it's kind of crazy i don't know if i'm supposed to say you know like because live nation is doing a thing they're like I don't know if it's going to be forever, but I know for a time they're like, we're not going to – our venues are not going to take a cut. Yes. And people are like, well, that's really – I shouldn't talk bad about Live Nation. Hey, look, we all suck from the teat of Live Nation. That's family. Yeah, I mean – You're talking to two members of Nation Nation over here. They are – I think that what you're talking about where they're like the give back or they weren't going to charge it, but there's also – I think they were giving like a stipend. to bands that made under a certain amount of money. Really? Yeah, it was really insane kind of what they were doing. It was like when Donald Trump gave everybody $1,000. It kind of feels like that, you know? Well, that's the thing. I'm like, well, that's great. But also the venues that really need, you know, the smaller venues are going to need to match that and then they're going to suffer and then they can just get bought up again. It's just a... You know, it's like, well, we we're doing this because we can do it where we can afford we can afford to listen. But I mean, it should be that. I mean, honestly, artists really need that merch. I mean, I remember the old days when, you know, we would sell six or seven CDRs for five bucks a piece, three or four T-shirts. And that was gas money, you know, and that was all the money you made from a show. Like we lived like that for years where.

You live completely off merch. You're making $20 off a door, and the $40, $50 you make, you're like, we can eat Taco Bell. Yeah, you've arrived. You've arrived. Yeah, but the exposure is priceless, though. The exposure. I know that those crowds in Tacoma on a Tuesday were huge, but it's the opportunity. It's the big opportunity. It's also about building character for oneself. Yeah, of course. I think that Jason is a DJ. I was in a short-lived hardcore band in high school but went to many shows where there were no people. It's part of putting a little hair on your chest, as they say. Well, I think, isn't that part of the American dream? We're not going to get shit, but you're going to build character. Yes, yes. That is what they sold us. Every movie from the 50s and 60s, it's building characters. I've built enough character. I would like to make money now is kind of where I'm at in my life. Yeah, I mean, everyone who's famous now, you have to have your origin story where life wasn't so easy and it was really tough. Otherwise, we're not really able to. appreciate you as an artist right yeah you know it's it's like the inverse of a nepo baby you have to be i mean yes you know a gutter baby for us to really respect you now at this point you know or at least for me to respect you well i mean it's such a tricky thing too because i i've thought about this a lot the last few years because the way the way that social media functions there is no like there's no chance for an artist or uh someone we consider a celebrity to be like 50 and 60 and write an autobiography because they literally like if you're a kid now growing up you literally just have your whole life is is open so in a way it's it's actually it's just weird to me in the sense that uh social media companies are like already selling people's autobiographies before they have a chance like kids feel that they have to tell about like terrible things that happened in their young life that probably takes some more time to process yeah you know no no it's it's it's very we i mean

It's very real, and I think that the real rise of the YouTube thing where it was just like I get on the camera and spill about my life every fucking day, and that's what you're here for, that's where it took a wrong turn. Yeah, it's kind of crazy. It's like, no, make a product. Exactly, exactly. Do it like I do it. Well, do you think that there's a not-so-distant future where Apple, will have this built into their software where you can just hit a button that says autobiography, and it just creates this multimedia story of your entire life, and that's just it. I mean, we're pretty much there, right? It's possible. I mean, our phones do that to us. They're like, hey! Are you having a good day? Do you remember where you were two years ago having a good day? Remember your ex-girlfriend? It does feel sinister because it never shows me a happy memory. Maybe I don't have any happy memories. Maybe it's me, but I don't ever get them. To me, there's an album that my phone creates where it's like, you bet you thought you deleted all of these pictures of your ex. Well, I got 17 of them, and here they are. You thought. I read a lot of biographies, and the new trend of doing them young is also interesting because I feel like maybe the trend of doing it young is because social media has gotten you used to the idea. Yeah, for sure. We've talked about it a lot on the show because we talked to Mark Ronson. He's doing one that focuses on 90s. nightlife in new york only you know but it's like from his point of view or like moby did one right until he got famous and then one post play uh which i and rob lowe did too i like doing two i think that's a cool way to do it the publisher probably likes that too yeah i mean that that is kind of what life is like if you write your or it just just in the sense like if you're young and you're kind of already collecting your life at 25 then you're really going to be thinking about how your life is going to play out as you're living the next 10 or 15 years like i got to make this good for the book you know what i mean it's not like a natural yeah

Is that completely unhealthy to have that thought, though? Well, I think there's ambition involved in that thought, which is possibly positive. But with ambition comes the the greater possibility that your potential will be what you will not meet that potential. My life was not a movie. Yeah. This is devastating. I am devastated. And on my 33rd birthday, I was hand-washing my socks in the sink in my studio. Not that there's anything wrong with that. No, of course not. But, yeah, that's not what we want. I read that book. So you told us that you're coming live from New Orleans, that you live there. Yeah. Yeah. I'm down in New Orleans these days. I've been spending most of my time down here for the last about a year now. OK, so New Orleans is one of the wild. It's like a great town to be sober, right? Well, that's kind of the funny things. My buddies hit me up like, what are you doing down there? And I'm like, I don't think I'm doing it right. Like, I'm basically not sober on. purpose really but i'm just like trying to be healthy trying to get ready for the next year's touring um and uh and yeah i wake up at like 6 37 take take a five six mile walk i was uh telling chris that i'm in physical therapy for my knee because i gotta bust it up knee so so i'm like i'm doing like healthy new orleans but it's a beautiful city you just kind of it is it kind of like reveals itself every day um you know when you live somewhere so i love to take walks and when you live somewhere I've been in Baltimore for 14 and a half, 15 years. I have to walk three miles just to go on a new walk. You know what I mean? Sure, sure. I'm going to walk out of here. I need something to change. It's kind of a life, too, just being used to living out of a suitcase. Sometimes I feel more comfortable in a hotel room than I do in my... own room because i still have a room in baltimore i'm just it's like where my stuff lives i just i just don't live there storage what is what was the appeal what was the draw to new orleans just something different that look nice i got a lady down here oh okay i assumed i assumed that is why uh but i didn't know but is she from there or does she just live there too no no she lives here too so she's been here i think she's been here like three and a half years so it's kind of fresh to her

Very fresh to me. I mean, I just played through. I probably only played through here six, seven times. We used to play a lot more in the old days. I almost got stolen once. You personally almost got stolen? Go on. That's a kidnapping, Sam. That's what we call that. We don't know that. We don't know that. Now there's kind of a classic dive in New Orleans called The Saint. And we played there a couple of times back in the day, which if you go in now, you'd be like, how the hell did you play in here? Because it's just like, you know, a concrete one one story concrete floor. They don't seem to have electricity. How did you perform? How did this work? Yeah, this is just like people giving me shots throughout the show. I don't really remember how the show ended. You know, and we're on the same concrete floor that the audience is on. So I'm just like face to face with people. At some point, I just didn't like what was happening. I ran outside. Jumped in the van that was parked outside. It was, you know, middle of summertime, 100 degrees out at midnight and turned the car on to get the AC running and then just leaned the chair back and passed out. The guy saw me like an hour and a half later. I rolled out all the windows because it was hot inside the car, but blasted the AC and they like wake me up. Dude, what are you doing? You could have gotten stolen out here. It's the potential of being stolen. Okay. Well, New Orleans, if you're going to get stolen, it feels like a place where that could happen. I would say that. It couldn't happen everywhere. Wake up at a party, man. Could have been fun. Jason just went for the first time, and he loved it, like literally last week. Yeah, one week ago. Yeah, it was my first time, and I really did find that you kind of have to drink. through the town or else it's kind of tough to really be a member of society there and which luckily i do drink but it was two days of it and with those red beans and rice i went to the po'boy festival oh nice so the insides of my body were hold on i don't think we discussed this you went to the po'boy festival yeah it's up it's uptown sam you know uptown uh yeah i know uptown take the street car over there it's nice but

There's an annual, maybe it could be multiple times here, I don't know, but they shut down like five city blocks of Uptown. It's beautiful, and everyone in town, it's like people that make po'boys, new restaurants doing their own flair on it. fusion po'boys and then you drink and there's bands playing you it's a new orleans street fair you know there's a giant inflatable mayonnaise that you can take photos in front of that's fine now we're talking that sounds like a high but i ate i ate five po'boys in 48 hours hell yeah okay can you explain to me actually since i have two experts here what what exactly constitutes a po'boy well in 2023 it's tough because most of the po'boys i ate were 17 to 22 dollars so i don't know how po these boys are yeah i think i think it's just about having uh the baguette uh cheap baguette and uh it probably came from like the shavings from nice meat cuts and and you know just kind of it's just a po boy because it was like a a food for people they didn't have a lot of money so you're just like back in the old days but now but now it's a staple so Because I fuck around with, like, fried oysters and, of course, fried shrimp and stuff like that. Of course. Of course, fried shrimp. Yeah, the fried oyster po' boy, that's my favorite one. But oysters, especially nowadays, ain't cheap. But, yeah, just a cheap, crunchy baguette like you have a banh mi on, Chris. You know about those tofu banh mi. I've had a banh mi. And, yeah, whatever you got, you know, some mayonnaise, some lettuce, and whatever slop meat you got around. Okay. And it is delicious. The banh mi is dope here, too, because it's probably part of that. The po-boy, but it's also the French. Oh, yes. French fusion. And so it's like the French, there's a really large Vietnamese population. I think one of the largest in the country. It's true. Houston, which isn't. Too far away is also like a great Vietnamese food city. I've had some delicious Vietnamese food in Houston. I'm a Houston apologist. I love it there. I love Houston, too. I don't know why. You don't have to apologize now. I love Houston, too. You do to me. I don't really get Houston yet. Well, Jason, you went there for 12 hours and played a pool party, so that's on you, kind of. Yeah, you did it right. That was the only time I enjoyed it. I've been there. I've DJed all kinds of bad parties. The pool party was the only time it was good.

You kind of get there and you're like, okay, hot as fuck. Really, really hot as fuck. And everyone's 18 months behind. Okay, I get it. No shade. No, no. I just like it. I instantly liked it. I instantly liked it. But I'm from Atlanta, so I feel like the South, I gravitate towards it, no matter what. But New Orleans didn't do it for me. I don't mind Dallas even, but I don't want to live there necessarily. But, you know, it's fine. New Orleans. New Orleans isn't like the South. It's different. Like, New Orleans is really... New Orleans is its own thing. Yeah, I agree. I said this to... I don't want to say... I said this to Jason. I don't want to say strange. I said this to Jason. It's an island. I was like, it's kind of like Florida meets Europe is the way I kind of described it. A Florida man is on a plane. Which on paper shouldn't work. Because it has those tropical temps. you know i was down in the swamp yeah like when i was there they're like yeah it's freezing where it's gonna it might dip down into the 60s and that's funny and they're like no that's as cold as it gets like it's fucked up here um and people and people i've heard that people who live in nowlands full-time will go on like cold vacations like go up to minnesota for like three days just to like I guess maybe it's a cold plunge sauna effect on a more global scale. I don't know. But you're like, I just need to be in 15 below snow for a couple of days, get my head straight and go back down to see how the other half lives. I mean, Baltimore has Baltimore has fucked up winners, though, right? Yeah, but it's not. It's actually pretty similar to New York City as far as. temperatures but uh like we don't our baltimore doesn't take snow well so it's one of those cities where it just turns to sludge immediately and it's just like really gross is that where snow crabs come from i've also just noticed you you seem to live in crab friendly locales i have a confession to make i am one quarter crab

I've got some crab in me. I've got some crab in me, and it's not for much. I've got my college paid for. I've got a quarter crab in me. No, I haven't really thought about it. I don't even eat crab. My dad, I mean, I will eat crab, but I don't like working for my food that much. I'm so with you on this, and that is the... main gripe with crab legs specifically it's a lot of work for very little payoff would you prefer it if somebody fed the food to you as well like the airplane goes in the mouth kind of style or yes yes okay that's no problem if that's an option yeah i'm trying to think of what other foods require work like that well the other one down here is crawfish that's like oh yeah new orleans and and when i was living out in sweden before before this like they love crawfish and and i'm just like i don't really I don't I don't see the appeal for this little like if like if I could I guess I guess maybe bigger crabs are like that or like lobster. But it's like I want to like do this work and then find like a cheeseburger inside of this crustacean. Like what's in here? The payoff is not is not is kind of letting you down for how much. I mean, the crawfish is the ultimate. labor to flavor ratio. That's the largest defense, I would say. I think so, although I will peel shrimp all day. I'll peel the shrimp. One thing about me, brother, I'll peel shrimp all day long. Body by shrimp. Oh, this is huge for me, personally. This episode of How I'm Gone is brought to you by TaskRabbit. Oh, baby, let me tell you something. This is not a joke. I use TaskRabbit a lot because I can't do anything. You need some art hung? TaskRabbit. You need something put together? A cabinet? Got to reach that cheese grater on the top shelf? TaskRabbit. Anything you need, TaskRabbit can take care of it for you.

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So you were in Stockholm or you were in? I was I live between Malmo and Stockholm. So Malmo's in this in the south. Yeah. And in Stockholm. So great skate, great skate scene in Malmo from what I've heard. Oh, yeah, for sure. And they do the big they do a big Copenhagen open. It's like right. It's just like 40, 30, 40 minutes to Copenhagen on the train. So maybe even close. I mean, like 20 minutes. But yeah, so I was living out. I was had a partner out there. for almost five years and spent spent all my time this is like a it's a thing I do like like there's a lady I live somewhere new now I see a trend happening Sam I see a trend have you ever lived anywhere that you wanted to live Sam no no definitely not you're like is that even an option I think I guess Baltimore is the one place that I moved that was like for me and that And then the woman I was seeing at the time left immediately. She was like, nah, this ain't for me. And that's how Future Island started. Yeah, that's how the band started. Letting the women in your life choose where you live is better because Sweden, New Orleans versus Baltimore. No offense to Crabtown over there. Sweden, I love Stockholm. I went there the first time last year. I was like, I'll live here right now. I'm ready. I love it. It's a great city. Was it easy to acclimate as an American man? Was it okay? Well, I mean, yeah. Yeah. As far as like all the Scandinavian countries, as far as like an American, you know, I don't speak any other languages. So it's easy to get around there because everybody speaks English. So that was chill. I mean, there's definitely like. It's cultural. I feel like I was just watching something the other day that was taking place in Stockholm, and I was just like, oh, yeah, that's what it's like there. That's the way the people are. And it's just so interesting to understand that, the culture of a place, a lot deeper. But I'm not a traditional Swede by any sense because I'm...

probably a little bit more gregarious and outgoing um and that's not really and height comes into play as well probably yeah and i just don't i i don't look like i don't look like uh scandinavian well i'm you know i'm a court i am not a quarter crab i am a quarter filipino and uh and all of that that kind of it's kind of a thing that's followed me throughout my life of just being like you don't look what are you sure I have a thousand questions. I fit in great over there. I think that's why I like it. I just look like I could be one of them. You in a black trench coat, man. That's all you need. I'm wearing too much color right now to fit in. Doesn't Chris look like we're watching him on an inmate video? He's about to have his deposition over Zoom. Bro, they got me on Rico charges. I'm going to get off. I'm going to get off, I swear. This is a nice sweater. Fuck both of you guys. This is a nice sweater. I didn't say anything. Sam, you're collateral damage, Sam. Sorry. You're the enemy. You're the enemy now. Chris, when a joke is good, a joke is good. So does that mean, I didn't know that you were a quarter Filipino. I feel like that must be where you get so much of your stage and showmanship from, right? Yeah. And the way that you sing and command the stage. Yeah, me and Bruno Mars grew up together. Well, the Filipino people known for being amazing performers and singers and entertainers, you know, from the largest stages to any, you know, karaoke in the living room kind of vibe, right? Yeah, well, I mean, it's pretty cool because, like, you know, I'd always heard as a kid that I had this, like, you've got a famous uncle who's like a Hawaiian ukulele player. And it was years later, you know, we didn't have the internet back then, so I couldn't, like, look up this guy. Years later, it, like, came to me, because I was in Hawaii for the first time playing a show, I looked up, you know, this name that had been set around my house, Manny Lagad Lagad, which is, like, the dopest name ever. Holy moly. And I looked him up, and he, yeah, he wasn't a ukulele player, he was a bass player, and he played with Don Ho for many years in his band.

And then I like found out he was still performing. He lives in Torrance, uh, South of LA and he's still, he's still performing and singing. He does like, you know, Frank Sinatra style, uh, big band show tune stuff. And I was, I looked him up, we got in touch and, uh, he's not, he's, he's like a cousin once removed. It's funny. Cause I'm like, I met him and I'm like, it's so good to meet you, Uncle Manny. And he's like, I'm actually your cousin because I'm your whatever. And I'm like, well, you're 75. Can I call you? It would make me feel better if I could call you uncle. Let's not get into the reality of the situation. That's not important to me. But it was really cool to meet him because he's like, yeah, he played in the Cotton Club back in the day. They had the longest run of consecutive shows there, and he's traveled all over the world. And for me to be able to have that, kind of have this weird cross-generational understanding of the same... thing was really cool because of course like my family is really understanding and supportive of what i do but i don't think they can just like your friends can't completely understand what it is that you do sure uncle manny understands hashtag tour life like no other member of your family uncle yeah uncle manny very much understands and he hashtags heavy like all of his posts you're like it's weird that you do that about him so has manny ever been like so sam Any opening slots on that new tour coming up, or what do you think? No, no, but he comes through. I do. Your bass player is okay, but maybe I could audition? Man, yeah, Manny's got the hook, man. No, your bass player is very good. Yeah, yeah, William's dope. I don't think we're kicking William out to get Manny in, but I have thought about the idea of getting this father-son duet song. Like, how do we work this then? Just to do, just to have, I don't know, just to experiment a bit and have some fun with that. Well, I need to look into this. Well, I live in L.A., so Torrance is not too far away. Maybe I'll go check out Uncle Manny. Yeah, he's a barber down there, man. He's a barber, too. Oh, hold on. I can get a fade, and I get to hear him sing. Manny does it all. Oh, I can get a lineup. Manny's going to sing? Yeah, you can get a lineup. This is lit.

Okay. Yeah, man. That's a one-stop shop. Manny's getting a big plug right now on Hello Gone. Dude, check out Manny Lagarde. But it was so cool when I found this picture of him, I was just like, oh, my God, he looks just like my grandma. He looks like my mom. I saw the shades, and then I saw him sing, and I'm like, ah, it's me. He's got the sauce. It's me. Because that whole side of my family, my mom. She came over when she was three and a half. And, you know, her mother, most of her mother's family lived between Hawaii and like San Francisco or the Philippines. But they moved all the way back to South Carolina and then quickly to North Carolina, which is where my mom grew up and then where I grew up. So she was really removed from her family. So when I'm when I don't really know anything about this. this huge family that i have she had like 13 brothers and sisters you know um and so when i met manny he's like i was like it's so cool because i have like such a small family to meet like another part of my family and he's like no you you have like 250 cousins you know your family is small bro a massive family and they all want a little bit of money from you Cousin Sam seems to be doing okay. Let's see what he's up to. That's a dope thing in the Filipino community, too. Even as a quarter Filipino, if I meet somebody and I'm like, I'm a quarter Filipino, they immediately just call you cousin. You're like, it's cousin. I love that sense of pride and just feeling a part of that. That was something that I didn't have that growing up. Just knowing that part of myself. Yeah, I hear that. Well, speaking of performing, how many times have you opened for Morrissey? Once. Only once. Okay, what was the circumstance? Because I was listening to an interview with you from last month or recently, and you were talking about it, and I was thinking like,

When was the last time Morrissey opened for somebody else, if ever? You know what I mean? When do you think that may have been? And then I want to talk about you opening for Morrissey. I imagine he hasn't opened for anybody else in a while. I mean, I don't even know if he does festivals or has done festivals. Yeah, Jason, that's a good question. I feel like it would be something weird. I'd like to think that from the inception of Morrissey, like post-Smiths, he had a thing where it's like, I never open. I feel like he might have done something weird like open for the Rolling Stones once in the 90s or something. He's really tight with the Gallaghers too. I know he was tight with Noel. I could also see him maybe playing some shows there. When he does a show, the spread has to be all vegan. He will not do a show if there's And that's difficult if you're having – if you're doing somebody – if you're touring with somebody else, you don't really have a say in what they do and what they want. So kind of lack control. I feel like he needs that control. Yeah, I think so. I think that's – yeah, that's something he's known for. Okay, so you got – what was it like opening for him? Are you a fan? Did you even care? Was it intimidating? Chris and I are both big fans. I'm a huge Smiths fan. Yeah, the Smiths, in my darkest days, deep in a cocaine drunken psychosis of 21 to 22 years old. In the darkest days. I was really high. And I could only listen to like three albums and it was the Smiths self-titled. mf do operation doomsday and uh magnet magnetic fields get lost and i would just listen to those you were on drugs drugs okay that is a twisted twisted trio you just described people coming over to buy drugs from me and i'm just like in can't in candlelight listening yeah come on in come on in come on in they're like wow you got a whole mood going i was like ah they shut the power off uh like take your shit get the fuck out of here um

So, yeah, so I had some moments with Morrissey and the Smiths. I never really caught on to his solo stuff didn't really get me. But, yeah, I mean, we were really excited to get the opportunity to play with him. The big thing about that show, of course, being that I'm going to try to – I'm, of course, going to try to upstage him no matter what I think of him. Out Morrissey, Morrissey on his own. Yeah, I'm going to try to – and, you know, his fans are – uh his fans you know what i mean like they are there for one thing they weren't there to see you guys although we did make some we definitely made some uh fans from that show who i still will see to this day at shows and they'll be like they've told me you know we did not like you or we did not understand you but then but then it you know it grew on us yeah let me be let me be clear that was that was not cool but but i get it now and i and i'm a fan so so that's cool but but that show i ended up uh because the red rocks i was at red rocks and the red rock stage is concrete um and i did it i in my in my attempt to upstage morrissey i did a james brown knee drop on that stage and i tore my acl And it remains torn to this day. So you tore your ACL trying to out Morrissey Morrissey. I feel like that was the dumbest thing. One of the dumbest things I've ever done. How far into your set did you destroy your knee for your entire life? Probably like three quarters. Okay. The adrenaline pushed you through to the end. Yeah. Well, the thing was, I tore my reconstruction. So I tore my ACL. at a show in 2010 got it or 2009 got it repaired 2010 into 2015 tore it again and now like i can't get it repaired so my knee is like too destroyed is this all and this is all from was this years of hooping as a kid as well or is this just is this just performance man my hoop dreams all this way you know well to go on a side tangent

There was a time when I got my first ACL repair or my one ACL reconstruction in beginning of 2010. Like, you know, this was right before our second album came out. I was working construction at the time, so I couldn't work. I was dead broke. And then our album leaked like two months before it was supposed to come out. At a time when albums leaked. I don't even know if they do that anymore. And it was like devastating. a really good thing because a lot of people got turned on to us through the leak that wouldn't have been. And then the tours were really successful after that. But, uh, I think, I think the label did it on purpose. Oh, okay. These are future islands. I have future islands, conspiracy theories. R slash future islands, conspiracy theories about my own band. Diddy was involved. Yeah. I mean, what? Okay. Look. That would be interesting if you had – maybe if you had a 360 deal, I would believe that. But if it leads you to make money on touring, then maybe – what is the label? What's the upside? The label is like, look, these guys aren't going to sell jack shit, all right? Let's just try to – let's leak it. Get them out of the road. See what happens. But it did work. It did work. Yeah, it did actually work. But so anyways, I got my recon. I can't move. I'm just like in my room. upstairs for like a week and then i'm starting to be able to move around a bit and in this time there was like uh this was 2010 there was like a that that uh winter there was uh beginning of 2010 there was a double blizzard um in baltimore i don't there's probably that in up in new york too but there's like three foot of snow underground um but i'm like been trapped in the house like my roommates are are checking in on me and helping me get stuff. But I really want to leave the house. So about a week and a half, two weeks in, I'm feeling froggy. I'm like, I'm going to get out there in the snow. And, you know, with the full leg brace after just having a recon, I like trek two miles into the city through the snow to get us get some soup. Like there was a place called Soup's On in Baltimore that made like the most soups on the land soup.

uh with the largest hunk of unsalted bread for like five dollars like all i could afford i'm like i'm gonna take myself out so i'm there i sit at my table hearty very hearty in this you know appropriate for the weather kind of warming up cold in this place and uh do you remember what kind of soup it was sorry for the interruption uh i think it was like a uh beef food's my love language beef and vegetable something hearty something yeah stick to your ribs So this guy, I'm in there by myself, and this guy comes in, he sits down, and he starts eating his soup. He's sitting like a table over, but facing towards me. And he's just like, without looking at me, he's like, ACL repair? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I just got it done. And he's like, yeah, your leg's never going to be the same. He's like, yep, it's never going to be the same. And I was like, oh, you've had it done. And he's like, I've had three. Ruined my life. Ruined my life. All my dreams. You know, I was going to be a star. You're never going to be the same. I don't want to talk to you anymore, man. You're, like, bumming me out. Thanks, old-timer. I just saw this. No, he was, like, 32. And I was, like, oh, my God. Like, he wasn't much older than me. I was 25, 26 at the time. He wasn't much older than me, and I'm just, like, I was so, you know, I had this, like, open optimism. I got my leg fixed. But anyways, you know, I've had knee problems since I was a kid. Like, I popped the front of my patella playing baseball when I was a kid. Like, the ligament pulled off the bone it was attached to. But, you know, when you're that age, they just, like, bandaged it up and it, like, reformed. You know, I have this thing called Osgood Schlatter's, which is, like, you get these big bumps on the front of your knees. Like, they call it growing pains. It's, like, the euphemism for that.

When your bones grow faster than the ligament, it causes a lot of pain. So I've always – I had dealt with that. But, yeah, you know, because I did grow up – I wasn't much of a basketball player. I was too short. That was a joke. Yeah, that was a joke. What position did you play in baseball? I was a good baseball player and soccer. I was a shortstop when I was younger, and then when the field got bigger, I was first base. You a lefty? No, I'm just really good in the field. I'm not left-handed. I'm just that good, bitch. I was a left-handed first baseman. I'm a short, right-handed first baseman. Yeah, I'm not good. Yeah, I'm not good. Known for my stretch, though. I could really stretch. Yeah, it's all about the stretch, man. It's all about the stretch. Are you doing experimental knee exercises, knees over toes, things like that? Are you on knee TikTok? Knee TikTok. I don't think I'm there yet. One of the big reasons I'm down here now is because I got set up with a really good hospital network that's been helping me with my needs. They're called Ochsner down here. I did Manny. Let's see what else I can plug. Let me plug a gigantic multi-billion dollar hospital system. That's what they need. The people have been really great. I'm in physical therapy down here. I just haven't And I was never able to get my knee fixed. Like what I was going to say was when I when I tore my ACL at Red Rocks, like it hurt like a motherfucker. But I also thought that it was a meniscus tear because it didn't hurt. Like the first time I tore my ACL, like I went trauma, you know, I went trauma blind. And, you know, it was really bad. But but when I did it the second time. I thought it was a meniscus tear. You know, my leg did swell up and I was in a lot of pain for a few weeks. But but it went away. And then I was like, it'll be fine. And I just never went to the doctor because we were on tour. And then, you know, a year passed. We were back on the road again after putting out the next record. And and I immediately was like, oh, my knee is there's something really wrong with it. So I went through another year and a half of touring before I finally went to a doctor. It's awesome.

people on the road everybody told me my acl was fine because it was they would do the tests uh yeah they'll give it a little wiggle test and like oh you'll be all right yeah they were like no your your acl is fine it must be meniscus blah blah blah and then finally after five years of living in pain i was like would someone please give me an mri and they're like oh yeah you're right you don't have an acl i was like come on man So so but but I continue to just not do physical therapy. They you know, that was all they could do. They can't fix it. They're like, you have to be 50. You need a knee replacement and you're too young. So that's kind of I'm in that. Bullshit part of the health care system where they're just like, we are going to give you what you really need. We want you to be happy when you're when you can't do your when you're too old to do your job anyways. I was like, nah, I really need this right now. I really need this right now. I'm in the prime of my walking years. I would love to have a knee that works. So how do you deal with it on stage? Do you just power through and you're able to do it? Or have you had to change kind of what you do? Well, you know, with anything, I mean, you kind of naturally change. I mean, the way you're going to perform at 25 versus 40 is going to be different. through the emotional characteristics of what you what you you're writing about now as opposed to then or the way you you choose to engage the audience. But it's so and just what your body can do. Like I can't do the stuff, the really quick step stuff that I used to do. You can't you can't shake and bake anymore. You can only. Shake or bake. I can do one of the two. I definitely can do some stuff, but it's also just naturally, you know, your body just doesn't recover the way it used to. But I am constantly finding new ways of doing things to put myself in less pain. I mean, the way I used to deal with it, you know, even two and a half years ago, I was just drinking. So I would just put myself...

You know, take four or five shots of tequila and then go perform and then you don't feel the pain. But then but then because of that, you know, pain is there for a reason. You're supposed to hit the pain and then don't do that. But I was I was doing I was numbing the pain so I wouldn't feel it. And then needing more, you know, needing more alcohol the next day to get through that pain. And it just became a really vicious cycle, not just for my for my body, but for my voice. And so the last, since we got back on the road in 2021, I've been not drinking or barely drinking to just be more in control. And it's helped me out a great deal in my recovering show to show and all that stuff. Because, I mean, we're doing, we play like an hour and 40 minutes a night. And that kind of constant movement is, yeah, it just takes a lot out of you. It's a lot on your muscles and your bones. Damn, bro. Yeah, but, you know, you got to find new ways to do it. I mean, Jagger's still getting up there chicken dancing, you know what I mean? True. Well, we've talked about this before with some other people, more aging rockers. I think we talked about it with Thurston Moore and who else was it? Was it Devendra? But about the footwear on stage when we're saying like. Like, Jagger was wearing the hokas now when he's bopping around doing the chicken dance. Oh, yeah. But you're at that age where are you still holding on to a fine leather boot, or have you made the switch? I switched shoes in 22. Okay. I had to. Go on. At 22, I had to make the change. I wore the leather Converse All-Star for 12 years performing, and I don't really realize it until now when I go – My style, that's still my dress boot. When I'm going out for a night, I lace up tight the leather Converse All-Star high top. I love that shoe. I love that shoe, but when I put it on now, I feel my knees disintegrating. As soon as you strap it on, it's like... Really? Yeah, just walking. It's so flat that it's just killing me. I'm like, how did I do this for so long? I really think it added to...

It it added to a lot of the issues that I have. So just putting on like, you know, new balance. I've tried new bounces. I've tried Under Armour. I've tried Nikes, you know, and any any kind of trainer is better than that. It doesn't look as cool, you know, because when when they capture me doing a high kick and there's like and like the tongue of the. shoe is up whatever what do you call the front it doesn't it doesn't look as cool i will agree with you it's a grandpa foot i would agree with you but i mean like you said we have to evolve we photoshop out the under armor logo from my the tongue that's poking out please yeah so i i don't know i i i have like i don't know a hundred pairs of different black sneakers in a storage unit in baltimore because i just buy them to see which is the one that can still look cool And be helpful to my knees. And the worse they look, the better they feel. And now I just don't care anymore. We've got a lot of people at Nike and New Balance and Adidas listening to this pod right now. Maybe we need a Sam. 1.0. I need a signature. I think I deserve a signature. I think it's time to move from flow team and to have his own signature shoe. I think you're ready. I've been in this game almost 20 years. Well, I've been in it for 20 years, actually. The band, not quite 20, but we had one before. I feel like I deserve it. I think this is something that's kind of under-discussed, you know, is that after years, you have to switch. from your St. Laurent Cuban heels into something more sensible. And there does need to be the face of that movement. There needs to be... someone architecting that right now unfortunately it's it's martha stewart for sketchers where it's like they look good and they feel good you know so there there's there's a lot of room between the 20 year old and the 84 year old demographic you know i feel like i feel like sketchers would come calling yeah yeah sketch oh that's the problem that's why sketchers is killing it so much they're like the number two shoe company in the world yeah because they're like yeah we'll do that and everyone's like we're above it and now

No, Skechers is low-key killing it. Not even low-key. No, Skechers is definitely top, top three for sure. They got Snoop, man. They got Snoop. That's true. They got Uncle Snoop, Smokeless Snoop. Also, speaking of money, I heard that you mentioned that you lost a lot of money in the stock market, and I want to know which stocks you lost the money on. Man, I'm way too embarrassed. I'm way too embarrassed. I lost a bunch of money on this stock that was rat birth control. Really? I was like, this is going to kill. I mean, that's a great idea. It does. On paper, it makes sense that that would do well, yeah. It's one of those stocks you can look at. You know, and it's just, like, for five years, it's just a descending chart. And I, like, told my friends, like, yo, you should really put a few books in there. It's going to do something. So, hold on. Was this a tip? This is why I don't have friends anymore, as well. And had to move to Boston. Yeah, ran out of town. Got to change towns again. Was this a tip from an insider, or was this just you reading the tea leaves? It's just me being dumb. There is a need for this. I mean, I lived in Baltimore. I remember my first day I moved to Baltimore. My first morning there, William had moved up a few months before me, and we went on a tour of the Northeast. This was the beginning of 2008. At the beginning of the tour, before the first day, I went for a job interview, got a job. When the tour ended, I went to sleep at William's house, slept on his couch. And then in the morning I woke up and I went to my first day at work. And it was like 6.37 in the morning going to this cold warehouse to do. I used to do concrete fabrication, countertop sink work and stuff like that. And I'm like walking out the front door, shivering, tired. And as my foot hits the concrete, a giant rat just runs directly into my foot.

And I jump up and start screaming, and it just sits there and looks up at me and then just turns and walks away, just like, welcome to Baltimore. Damn, that rat called you a pussy. Yeah, welcome to the street, motherfucker. He did everything but take the parliament light out of your mouth before he walks away. Man, but I was like, okay. So anyways, yeah, years later, I'm like, we got to get a control on these rats, man. If it's one thing I know, it's rats. It's personal. It's personal this time. It's personal this time. A money pit. But are you a stock market player? Is that something you're known for? No, no, I don't. I don't do that shit. I tried it for a second and I was like, this is terrible because I didn't I didn't grow up with money. Like, you know, I don't think my. I don't want to put down my parents, but I don't think they they they also did not grow up with money. So I think they were always just trying to make it work, not really understanding it. You know how to use a system that makes you money. You know, it was just like you you work and then you make the money. Yeah, of course. So a big thing that happened for me was that I lost a lot of money trying to play stocks, not knowing what I was doing. And when I kind of got back to a zero point. I was, at first, very devastated. And secondly, I felt comfortable knowing that now I'm at a place that I understand. I learned the hard way, but at least I learned. Yeah, I will not make these mistakes again. There's a movie that I love called Barfly. It's like Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway from the 80s. And there's this part where he goes, he... He gets kicked out of the bar. He loves that he spends all his time because he is always street fighting the bartender that he hates. And he gets kicked out. So he goes across the street. He sits at the bar and he sees Faye Dunaway. And he's like, what's her story? He's like, oh, don't talk to her. She's crazy. And he's like, ah, yeah. He walks around the bar. He just won this fight from the bartender. And one of the guys who they're just betting on him in the alley gives him some money for winning the fight. So he goes over and he.

He's like two scotch and waters and a beer and he slides all of his money. He just got across the counter and he's like, well, that's it. You know, back to zero. And she's like, that's all your money. You know, that's everything you have. And he's like, yeah, it fits. It's good. It's good to feel normal. And I've always kind of I've always thought that was such a. I don't know. It just hit me in a certain way. Cause for me, yeah, I don't, I, I tried to do these things to like help myself, but the truth is, is like, I, but the money kind of, it gets in your head. You're like, you're like, what am I supposed to do with this? Like, it's like burning a hole. Like I almost want to just give it away. Like I really learned. Don't do that. Through the process of success that it's, that I have a gambling problem. I'm like, I'm like, shit. I, you know, and something I realized in the last couple of years, like. finally going to therapy two years ago was, you know, was trying to get a handle on the fact that, like, just my addictive personality. Like, I'm addicted to sports. I'm addicted to, like, I have a gambling problem, which I don't entertain, but I realize that I like taking big gambles. You know, it's not like I like to go to the casino or, like, I like to play slots, although I do like to play slots because I love to lose. But it is like this. I'm almost addicted to that feeling of the feeling, you know what I mean? So you're like, I want to play like $100 high card because I need to feel like I'm about to die every five seconds. It's kind of being addicted to anxiety. Yeah, that's what it sounds like. That is what it sounds like. It's actually really weird. Like I had to make, I've talked about this a little bit recently doing interviews again, but. When I when I went to therapy, it was like right after this breakup with my ex in Sweden. And I was, you know, it was a broken engagement. Like we had bought up an apartment, you know, and I thought my whole life was going this way. And all of a sudden, like, I'm back in my room in Baltimore. What the fuck am I doing here? It was I was trying to get a handle on.

you know why am i repeating these same cycles why am i back here what you know how do i get how do i break this cycle uh and i was trying to like understand my anxiety because i have a lot of anxiety um and that's something that's grown over the years like especially with the profile of band or just being the more success that i've had the more anxiety i've had because because you're like There's a lot less anxiety when you ain't got shit to lose. That's true. Very true. And then when you have zero again. Yeah. Yeah. When you have things to lose and you start to worry about losing them and controlling them. But I made like a list of the things that cause me anxiety and the things that give me anxiety. And I realized that they are the same list. You know, it's like the constant want to quit smoking. How do I deal with that? I go have a cigarette. Like the, the, the, uh, the fear of slipping back into, uh, drug use makes me, makes me just like having, having that in my mind. Like, but then when I feel the lowest, when the things are the worst, I go and I go try to score drugs, you know, or, or like wanting, like wanting to hold on or like build, build, uh, some money for retirement and just like my future. Uh, how do I do that? I gamble it on the stock market. i'm like rat stocks that's the way to do it so we've we've we've identified a pattern yeah and that's the first that's the first step that's a good that's a good place to be yeah yeah so but but it was it was interesting you know and it's like how to yeah that it was just an interesting thing it's like well you know you need to go to therapy and speak to a professional about this uh but that that's and that's something that I recommend if you're out there embarrassed or worried or not wanting to do something or thinking you need something. I do. I do. I've been in for two years now. That's really helped me be more reflective and less reactive at times, because that's the other thing is I am a very emotional, quick, quick reaction. And I've had to measure be more measured as has been really helpful, not only in my life, but in writing and understanding the things that I like.

to sing about and talk about. Okay. You're thinking before you speak now. Sometimes. I mean, you know, we're still, we're still the people that we are. Pump the brakes. Pump the brakes. Not all the time. It's an important thing to learn. You know, there's a lot of times where you, you know, you're a hothead and you say something that you probably shouldn't have said. I'm the opposite of you. I think too long before I say things where all the emotion has been sucked out of it. And partners in my life don't like that very much. I love that. I love that about you personally. I'm a little more of a hothead. I'm definitely a freak. But, you know, do you guys hit each other up for like advice when it comes to your romantic lives? Like, hey, I think I'm thinking about this too much. Can you tell me how to how would you do it? And or. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we have. I think it's like Garrett or, you know, the keyboards of Future Islands. We've been best friends since we were 14. And I think it's one of the reasons we're friends is because he is he is the the measured and stoic. Like he really takes his time and he's pragmatic and practical. And I really respect that about him, like how he takes his time and the words that he chooses. He chooses carefully. I respect that about Jason as well. I know exactly what you mean. I really do. Yeah. All of my friends like that. All the women that I've had sex with find it very frustrating. Yeah. You can't win them all. At least you have friends. That's true. At least you got friends. But yeah, it is important. I mean, I think we we find our our yin and our yangs automatically in that life where something inside of you says this person will probably fill in some of the blanks that I have and vice versa, you know. Yeah, exactly. And hopefully at the end of the day, they're hot. That's all you can hope for. Thank you, Sam, for joining us today on How Long Gone. Thanks so much for having me, guys. It was a pleasure. Sorry that we didn't talk about your new album, but you do that on every other podcast where they're like, what was the process like?

And what's your favorite album of all time? Yeah, this really zipped by, guys. That's the whole point. That's the whole point. Where are we starting? That's exactly the idea. But the new record is out in January, correct? Yeah, January 26th. It's dropping and we're figuring out dates now. doing what we do best, which is being out of the road. And there's four singles from the new album that are currently available to listen to, I think. One, two, three, yeah, four. I listened to all four of them a few times this morning on my frigid California dog walk. Yeah. That was great. Awesome. That was great. Well done. Thank you. Yeah, I'm really excited about it. I feel like it's the best. thing that we've made as far as like the the the sonics of it all um and i think it's also capturing a really intense emotional time which is uh gonna make it last and hit hit hard it hits it hits me in the chest so yeah that's what i want to give to people I want to injure them. I appreciate it. I want to treat my fans like my fucking knees. You know what I mean? Make these guys pay. You want everyone going home from the Future Island show in body bags, stretchers, ambulances. Oh, my Lord. Let's open this shit up. Thank you. Thank you, Sam. We'll see you soon, bro. Appreciate it. Appreciate you. Thank you guys so much. Yeah, have a great day. Later. Thanks, man.