The music festival landscape is fast and wide. Luckily you have The What Podcast by your
side at all times, which bands this year that matter with Barry Courter, Brad Steiner, Lord
taco diving into the world and music industry music festivals and everything in between.
Another one starts right now.
Welcome into the what podcast, which bands this year that matter over the years, we have
talked to countless bands, artists and festival goers every now and then. We like to take
a look back at some of the best moments of the what podcasts five or so minutes in what
we call cleverly a high five. Another great moment from the what podcast right now.
What is that? Cause I don't do it. I've never done it. I won't ever do it. What is that
like though to be able to go out in front of a large, by the way, I'm stopping you there.
What a silly thing to say, Barry. Why would you say you're never going to do something
that you don't know if you might need? It might be something because I'm not going to
get up on stage and sing a song that I've written is what I was where I was going. I
won't. I'm too chicken. I won't do it. And that's part of where I was going with this.
When you do something like that. And I'm always fascinated by this by somebody who literally
puts their heart on a piece of paper and into a song that has to be tough first, but then
to go out and sing it in front of people once has to be really, really tough. But to do
it on a regular basis has to be even tougher. And then, but then you get that feedback,
you know, where somebody comes up and says, man, you really, you, you, it's like you're
reading my diary or something that that whole circle is just so fascinating to me. You know,
the fact that you would do it, that you would sing it, that you would share it, and that
somebody else would identify with it. I mean, that's what we're talking about. That's no,
I don't, I don't mean to, I don't mean to jump in here, but let me give you a little
thing about therapy, because I've been in for years now, Barry. The first time I ever
went through my life and all my problems, I said to my, I said to Gail, I said, I'm
never doing that again. But guess what? The second time I did it, I was like, oh, this
is getting a lot easier. And then the third time I did this, getting, I can talk, let
me talk to you about my problems now, Barry. Because I've got no problem whatsoever. And
I got to imagine doing the song part of therapy is the same way.
Well, you'll get it. That's what I'm asking about. Yeah, totally. I hear you both. Yeah,
I think it's a lot like jumping into it's like a bunch of people telling you that at
the bottom of a pit of fire, there's a big cushion and you have to trust yourself to
jump into it. But all you know is the fire and all you can see is the fire and all these
people are like, I promise you that there's a big pillow at the bottom of the land. You're
going to be okay. And you're going to be better. And it takes a long time for people to make
that fall. It takes an incredible amount of trust to tell someone how you're feeling and
to be honest about it. For years, I went to therapy and I was never honest. I would just
say things that sounded truthful or sounded like they were important or deep, but that
was truly never digging into that stuff that really hurt. And in going to therapy and allowing
myself to be honest, I was able to be more honest in my music and to be able to make
that trust fall on stage as well to say I'm going to say it. This is what I'm going through.
This is what the songs are about. And to see people in the crowd of all ages, of all ethnicities,
of all sexual identities together listening to that hearing that I think it's important
and it's a real platform and I feel like I'm obligated to share my honesty with them.
Okay. All right. That's it. Or do you do it because it makes the music better? Do you
do it because it makes you feel better or do you do it because it connects with your
audience?
I think it's a combination of all three. That's all I've ever known really was writing about
how I was feeling. I grew up in a house that was incredibly supportive of my mental health
issues. We all talked like literally at the dinner table would be like, what are we sad
about that? We talk about it. My mom and I would talk about my feelings all the time.
My dad and I would take walks and talk about how I was feeling. It just felt like what
communicating was to me was saying, oh, here's what I'm going through and here's how it feels.
And there was always a sense of humor about it. And when I try to write songs that aren't
true to those feelings I have, I feel a little disingenuine. So it seems like my only path
sometimes. And when I see people respond to them and react to them and people say your
music's so sad, but I see people smiling and dancing in the shows, there's something really
fun about hearing someone else confirm your own sadness and your own problems. I know
that I've been to a lot of great shows. I listen to Bonnie Bear all day and it doesn't
make me sad. It makes me happy to hear someone else say, you know what? Because it makes
me feel like I relate to them and that I'm not alone. And when I'm on stage, I see people
dancing and they're like, it's weird. They're like having fun being sad. And I think it's
really cool. So I think that's why I do it just because we can have a shared experience
found by someone that makes us feel uncomfortable sometimes.
I love how you say you were faking it through therapy because I'll be totally honest, my
first year, I was just doing material. I was just trying to make my therapist laugh. I'm
just telling jokes.
And they see that and they're like, yeah, this guy's fucked up. Yeah, totally, man.
It's so hard, bro, because it's really hard if you've never spent a lot of time being
honest or if honesty always comes with a joke or a self-deprecation or a qualifier. It can
be really hard to sit there and talk about yourself just from a conversational standpoint.
Do I just start talking about myself? The first five minutes of therapy are always a
little uncomfortable.
So here at The What Podcast, we really appreciate it if you spend a minute or two, no more than
two minutes writing a review, giving us a five star little rating. That would be lovely.
And it could mean Barry Courter a prize from our Consequence family.
Yeah, our good friends at Consequence and the folks over at Apple Podcast have come
up with a pretty clever idea. All you have to do is follow some links on this podcast
and review the show and then take a screenshot of your review and submit it to them and your
name will be put in a drawing. They're going to be giving out winners in December.
They'll be giving out winners too? They will be picking winners. Excuse me. Yeah, they
give out winners. Everyone's a winner. I'd like a winner.
I would like to... Will I get a taco? Will I get a Lord Taco as my prize?
No, no, they said a winner. Oh, my man. Come on.
Don't be that way. Don't be that way. Yeah, this is a chance to help us out and win some
merch. Yeah, win some Consequence merch as easy as
liking and subscribing to The What Podcast on your Apple Podcasts platform.
Thank you for listening to another high five clip on The What Podcast. We are part of the
Consequence Podcast network. You can listen to the full episode at thewhatpodcast.com
or Consequence.net or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Thank you again for listening
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