The frontman gives new meaning to the phrase "the eyes are windows to the soul"
Durand Jones and The Indications namesake Durand Jones gives new meaning to the expression "the eyes are the window to the soul" during his fun and insightful conversation with Brad and Barry on The What Podcast. The band's singer/drummer Aaron Frazer was on the show last episode, and now it's the frontman's turn to step to the mic.
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Soul Singer Durand Jones Joins The What Podcast
Should we call it a soul revival from the greats like Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones?
We can add another to the list, Duran Jones, the indications.
This week on the what podcast part two of our chat with Duran Jones, the indications
last week, Aaron Frazier, this week, Duran Jones of Duran Jones, the indications.
New soul.
Is it a trend or is it here to stay?
We find out this week, the what podcast Barry Courter, Lord taco, Brad Steiner.
It starts right now.
The what podcast, which bands this year that matter.
I'm Brad.
That's Barry.
I guess we just got Barry coming in from work.
Look how pretty Barry Courter is.
Where's the raggedy tie-dye T-shirt and, you know, the headband?
Well first of all, you know, I need to say first time caller.
I just want to say go Braves and I'll hang up and listen.
Had to gross me out the door.
Yeah.
Now I thought I'd get dressed.
I thought I'd get nice for Durand.
I felt that right.
Yeah.
You never get nice for me.
Well you don't sing like he does.
You don't make music like he does.
That is true.
I, you know how much I love this.
I'm not going to try and dork out as much as I did last week with Aaron Frazier, but
you know, Durand Jones, the reason why I even went to ACL this past year, you know, I went
to ACL.
So I'm in the, in a, in an after show.
I then saw their show and then I saw your Frazier.
I'm just such a big fan of the entire band and I feel like I'm watching like this incredible
progression of an artist right in front of me, you know?
When I said this to Aaron last week, I truly do feel the first time I saw Alabama Shakes,
that's the way that I felt after seeing Durand Jones.
I felt that something is moving and I feel like I get to be a part of it.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And I want to get into it with him, but I'll ask you now before we, we do.
And I know you're a big soul guy.
I'm a big soul guy and RB guy, but is this a trend?
I mean, is, is there enough?
To be clear, I love our hate beat.
I, uh, okay.
All right.
Yeah.
It may be, you know what I mean?
Is there a shift?
Yeah.
I want to ask him, um, uh, because we didn't have a lot, uh, of this type of, you know,
really deep soul music, uh, or if it did, you couldn't find it, you know, it wasn't
as accessible.
Sharon, you know, it does feel as though Sharon sort of changed everything.
Yeah.
And, uh, well, I want to get into it with him, but I just want to make sure that I wasn't
alone in that, you know, cause just because we've talked to two guys that put out this
kind of music that we like, didn't necessarily make it a trend.
I know it does feel Ted circumstantial, but I mean, with all that being said, have, have
there ever been this many acts at one time in our generation, in our lives?
No, not really.
I mean, we'd have to go back to the seventies, you know, you have to go to Teddy Pendergrass.
Yeah.
Curtis Mayfield and, uh, yeah, for sure.
And you're right.
You might be right.
It was just so hard to find and you know, um, the, the, they just did an incredible
job curating.
I mean, that is an incredible rate of record label, right?
Rather, that's an incredible record label.
They do an amazingly brilliant job.
And in fact, I'd love to just get somebody from it on the show and talk about the, the
history and success of that, of, of talking about the genre.
If you want to talk about the genre, go to the people that, that built it.
Cause I mean, and you, you know, as well as any, it's all about demand.
I mean, if people want to hear it, you guys and radio and the record labels, they'll,
they'll sell it.
If it'll sell a little, they'll make it.
So there probably were people doing it.
There just wasn't as much demand, but it sure is good.
I like it.
Yeah.
Have you ever just taken a day where you've like gone through Dapton's roster?
No, not that specific.
Oh my God.
Yeah.
Oh my God.
I mean, every, you go from, you know, Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, Sharon Jones, the Shaladas,
the Archaics, you know, it is a, it's a home run after home run.
It's sort of like hitters on the Braves, you know, they're just hitting ones into the sky
and they're never coming down.
Yeah, they're never, I will say this Saturday while I was doing some home remodeling, I
played the Aaron Frazier album.
And then when it ended, I guess Apple genius or whatever kept playing other artists, like
a lot of the ones you just mentioned.
So I had about three or four hours.
It wasn't intentional.
Like, you know, play me Dap, you know,
I thought that you were going to say that you were mopping the floor to Aaron Frazier
and the wife came over and had sexy time.
It didn't work out that way, but I'm not going to say it was Aaron's fault.
He did his part.
That is terrific.
So if you haven't figured out by now, part two of Duran Jones and the indications today,
last weekend for a strategic Duran Jones, before we get into that, I'd love to.
I think I need to issue an apology.
Last week, I said that festival season has officially ended.
That was incorrect.
I missed some major festivals, one in which is Halloween, a festival I've actually never
been to.
And it sort of surprised me that Halloween was even happening.
I guess I just totally forgot it and it totally slipped my mind.
But yeah, it happened.
And I even though I've never been right, I feel like it's the festival that most of my
Bonnarooo friends talk about loving the most.
It's got some sort of the culture of Halloween is the closest that I can probably say is
Bonnarooo's from afar from somebody who has never been, you know, this string cheese incident,
Skrillex, Leon Bridges, my morning jacket, Krungbin.
You know, they've got a sound, they've got an absolute lane and they stick in it every
year.
Well, and just the name.
I mean, I don't know that we I think we talked about this several weeks ago.
It just sounds like it's probably a whole lot of fun if you, you know, a place to just
have a good time and let go be crazy.
It's a rager.
And I don't know if dad's knees are going to make it.
I don't know.
I think you probably mentioned that before.
Yeah, it's probably true.
You'd be surprised.
So if anybody that is, you know, listener of this podcast went to Halloween, please
share some of your stories at the what underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter.
So the other festival that I miss and I don't know how we missed this one either, Barry,
I feel very out of the loop and I feel like a terrible host and a terrible steward of
the music festival genre.
But apparently it was Q Fest in Dallas and the headliner was JFK Jr.
Now, I hate that I didn't get a chance to party with my brothers and sisters at Q Fest.
But were you not checking in with your daily updates on?
I must have missed the newsletter.
Yeah, I saw some headlines.
I think the headliner missed the newsletter, too.
I don't know what happened, but he didn't show up.
Yeah.
Yeah, just like him.
Is it after all that hype?
Did we get any report as to why he missed the big Q Fest?
Well, depending on who you listen to, because some people said he didn't make it because
he did.
What?
JFK.
Spoiler alert.
Hang on a second.
Yeah.
I want to believe that he didn't make it because he actually went down in that plane.
I've really, really thought about this so much over the last 24 hours, Barry.
I love QAnon.
I love these people so much.
They are that shit fun.
They don't make any sense.
I just don't understand how a group of people who who hate the government so much and they
especially hate left wing government so much.
Why have they put all of their faith in a John F. Kennedy's son who could have been
more liberal running a magazine showing off pretty men?
And what sense does it even make?
I don't know, but I love it.
Oh, I know.
You get the sense.
There's probably a bunch of people sitting around just like what you got.
What do you know?
What's the crazy throw and shit at the wall?
What do you got?
They're going to love that's good.
That's good.
Put that out there.
What if you threw out an idea out there and nobody really liked it?
Like, is there like like like rejects?
Yeah, like they put it out there and somebody said, I had nobody can believe that.
What would that mean?
The bite on this JFK Jr. thing, man, what are you talking about?
What would it be?
I a good question.
I the other thing too about the QAnon thing.
They so they they make the they had the big the amount of people there, Barry, right?
The amount of people there was astronomical.
And the other.
What if they were right?
And imagine this world all of a sudden, if right through the neighborhood where good
old dad died, here comes JFK Jr.
Here you go.
He shows up.
Right.
That would be funny.
He'd say, well, I wasn't going to come out, but you guys found me.
I mean, here I am.
You call it funny.
I mean, there would be a new world order.
There would be.
That's true.
We would be boarding up the windows.
We'd be taking over if all of a sudden they they were right.
You know, I've told you during our show at some point that I've interviewed Lewis Black
on several occasions.
And one of my first questions is always, you know, what's it like?
You wake up every day, open the paper and material is pretty much not handed to you
because he has to work.
And the last time I talked to him, he was like, yeah, it's getting harder and harder
because what I try to do is be crazier than what the reality is.
And I can't do it anymore.
You know, just stuff like that.
Yeah.
You know, what if a comedian came out and said, do you hear the latest JFK Jr. is going
to be at this festival?
And people would look at him like, well, that's not even funny.
What are you talking about?
This guy's bombing.
Yeah.
I paid for this.
It is pretty tough times.
Tough times for Lewis Black.
Yes.
I really enjoyed that.
I really can't stop listening.
And frankly, if I didn't think that I was being watched by Russia and the government
and all these other people, I probably would be on these QAnon message boards.
I think that there's so much fun that they don't make any sense.
And I don't know why I revel in this nonsense, but it's just great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, anything by the way, because by the way, if if in fact this vaccine gave me
some 5G technology, why is my Internet not better?
Give me that 5G, man.
I need that's true.
You should just be able to put the mic up next to your head.
Yeah, I should be not even I shouldn't even have to speak right now.
I shouldn't think the thoughts should be coming out anyway.
All right.
So Duran Jones today, I wanted to also at the end of the show, but tacos not here.
So I feel like I've got to punt yet again on talking about Dune.
I so badly want to talk to someone about Dune and I've got no one to talk to about this.
Yeah, we got to wait for taco.
Although I did.
I keep waiting to talk to it with people who have seen it acting as if I'm someone who
saw it.
I got 45 minutes in before I fell asleep twice.
So I did.
You saw it.
I saw enough.
Yeah, I saw it.
Yeah, I feel bad about it.
All right.
So there you go.
It's not quite, you know, Frodo looking for taking hours and hours and hours to get rid
of that dang ring, but it's a little slow.
Sort of like you and the lady.
Find that ring.
If the music hours after hours.
Yeah, right.
Duran Jones and the indications.
Our guest today on the what podcast?
What up, Duran?
Here he is.
What's up, man?
Man, how's it going?
It's great to see you.
Good to see you guys, too.
What's happening Duran Jones is life.
I can't I can't be more excited to talk to you again, especially on a week like this
where you know, you wrap up the final show of the year and you know, you're you're killing
and Halloween and and I don't even know what to say about the last year.
I can't even imagine what you have to say about it.
Oh, man.
Well, you know, the work never ends.
You know, one door closes and the door opens.
I'm actually just recouping from tour for a little bit.
I'm going to head to New York City tomorrow to play with Pres Hall.
I heard a jazz band.
Yes.
New Orleans own Pres Hall and Big Freedia.
What in the world is going on?
Why is New Orleans come to big Brooklyn?
I don't.
I well, you know, Pres Hall is about to celebrate their anniversary and they just invited me
to come along with them.
So I'm excited.
That's awesome.
What are you doing?
I'm just sing a couple of songs with them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I text messaged Ben Jaffe earlier today.
I know Ben.
I know Ben.
Yeah.
He's a homie, man.
That's my brother.
And yeah, we were just shooting the stuff, you know.
Yeah.
I was like, what you want to do?
I was like, I don't know what you want to do.
I was like, we'll figure it out at dinner.
I want to shoot is what I do when people ask me what I want to do.
So Duran, what's interesting about Ben and I don't know if Barry knows Ben very well,
but so Pres Hall, the Pres Hall guys just opened up here in New Orleans a what used
to be one I Jax now to lose theater.
I heard about that.
And Big Freedia was their sort of opening show.
And the way that, you know, Ben Jaffe, you know him when you see him.
Let's just put it that way.
Right.
Like he's just got this hair.
He's got this presence.
He's just he's the most recognizable person maybe in New Orleans other than Big Freedia.
And so he's just sitting there, man in the door, you know, just working the door as you
walk in.
I'm like, what kind of world am I in right now?
Where there's when Butler from Arcade Fire on one side of the bar Ben Jaffe is working
the door.
This is the strangest night in the world.
But yeah, that would be that would be really big for you.
That would be a lot of fun considering if you don't know, listener of the what podcast
Durand Ascension Parish is on.
Was it ascension?
Are you from Ascension or it was in Orleans?
Was born Charity House Hospital.
My dad was living out of New Orleans, but shortly thereafter, after I was born, he moved
back to his hometown, Hillaryville, Louisiana, which is in which is in Ascension Parish.
Yeah.
Which is if you don't know, bear about an hour away from New Orleans.
Yeah, I thought you guys were closer.
Knew where each other had lives, put it that way.
Well, yes, indeed.
Where in New Orleans was it that that he brought you to?
Did you spend any time here, by the way, or did you just go straight to Ascension?
Yeah.
Well, I was really young whenever we moved back to Hillaryville.
I was still a baby, but, you know, just just knowing that like that's where my soul body
was like awakened in this earth.
I was always intrigued with New Orleans.
So I did get to live in New Orleans for a little bit.
I lived in the Gentilly area after I finished college.
And it's really where I kind of cut my teeth as a musician, like really figuring out a
lot of things.
So not Bloomington, Indiana?
I went to Bloomington, Indiana for for grad school.
You know, and that's where I met my band.
But, you know, once we all finished college, we didn't think anything was going to happen
with the unification.
So some of the cats went to New York City, some went to Chicago.
I went back down to Louisiana.
And that was like the true start of my professional career.
Like I was just I was out of school.
And I was just trying to get into bands.
I would go to jam sessions on French French Street on Monday nights.
And that's straight cat or spotted cat.
I went to some at seven was called 70 by 90, 60 by 90.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
The start of Frenchman Street.
That's right.
Yeah.
And La Maison.
I would go to BNC.
DBA, Royal Frenchman Hotel.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
And yeah, from there, I met hip hop artists and funk bands and gypsy jazz bands.
I was playing a lot of saxophone around that time and yeah, that's where I really started
to cut my teeth and gig and really try to make it as a full time musician.
That all makes more sense.
And I'm making light of it.
Obviously, we talked to Aaron last week and this idea of you guys getting together in
Bloomington, Indiana.
I'm from Lafayette, Indiana.
So there's when I when we think of soul, Indiana is not, you know, maybe the epicenter.
Gary, Indiana, maybe.
But yeah, we decided Gary.
Anyway, that's why I was that's why I made the comment.
I mean, it really is.
I'll put it this way.
I'm not going to make any assumptions.
How much of New Orleans is in you as a musician, songwriter?
Oh, man, it's really deep inside.
I know for a fact that when my soul leaves my body, I don't want my body to be laid to
rest anywhere else but New Orleans.
Like it's my favorite city in the whole wide world.
And every time I'm there, I feel I feel embraced and I feel loved.
So come on back.
I have a year where you travel up and down Frenchmen cutting your teeth, as you say.
2015, 2016.
I bet we I bet we know so many of the same people.
I bet if I start rattling off names, you're like, oh, yeah, I will go play the Kermits
with him.
If if you don't mind, complete this sort of circle, because Aaron, like I said last week,
sort of told us a bit of the origins.
But I don't remember him saying that you guys all sort of dispersed after grad school.
So how did how did it all come back together with with that those same guys?
Well, so I was living in New Orleans and right around the end of the summer.
Combine Records in the summer of 2015, Combine Records announced that they would release
a single of Duran Jones and the Indications.
And that song was titled Smile.
And to me, it felt like somewhat of a big deal.
You know, just like a lot of my friends and bandmates were excited for me.
And a really good friend encouraged me to come back to Bloomington to actually move
back to Bloomington.
So I packed up all of my crap and I moved back up to Bloomington just to be closer to
the guys, try to make something happen.
Fast forward a couple of months later, June 2016, the record came out.
And by this time, I was.
Not actively working in music full time anymore.
It became a little bit more of a side project.
And I was working of all places in a science lab.
And I was dreaming about, you know, I was just like, every day I would like anticipate
five p.m. so I could bring my ass home and get to the piano.
Like I just knew that like playing music was what I wanted to do, what my soul calling
was.
And so then June happened and the record was released through Coal Mine Records.
And I've played in so many bands before.
From classical to hip hop to jazz to rock and roll all the way down the line.
And this was like the very first time in any bands where I was saying that the reception
that we were getting, like the interviews and the recognition and all these different
things were really popping off.
And so I talked to my boss about it.
And what were you doing?
Where were you working?
What kind of boss did you have to ask this to?
A scientist.
I was working in a science lab.
Yeah, but what are you doing in a science lab?
What is it?
What is that job?
Oh, man, I was a research associate.
So my main job was to use this device like a microscope that would shine a very, very,
very tiny light within your eye so that I could see your retina.
And from there, I would snap pictures of it.
And then the pictures were really, the pictures were cold.
So like then we would decode the information, the data from the microscope, and we would
render pictures of people's retinas so that we could tell to see like what's going on
in there.
Like do they have age related macular degeneration?
Or we would scan people with diabetes mostly because loss of eyesight is correlated to
diabetes.
So we would see if there was diabetic retinopathy in there as well and some other diseases.
But AMD and DR were the main ones that we focused on.
And I mean, it was kind of fun.
You talk about it as if you're doing it right now.
How is it that you still have this wealth of knowledge about microscopic eye picks?
I'm just sitting here thinking, can you work those words into a song?
And then you said it was fun.
This sounds anything but fun.
It could be fun sometimes when we have patience, but a lot of the days was very, very slow.
And on those days, my boss just gave me lots and lots and lots of peer reviewed articles
to read.
Some that took days to read because I could only decipher a paragraph like every hour.
There's just so many complex words and terms and things that I never heard before.
But I was happy to learn and to do that.
And she gave me that job, she told me at the end, because she thought that I was capable
and smart.
And it worked.
It totally worked.
She made me believe in myself a little bit more and she really instilled some confidence
within me.
If there's any more of a testament of getting out of your comfort zone, you did it and you
succeeded at it.
That's no.
But it doesn't sound like it was one of those jobs where you could pick your mind somewhere
else and write songs while you're doing it.
You had to focus.
Yeah, yeah.
Like, you know, John Prine was a mailman, so he got to drive around eight hours a day
and write songs in his head.
Brittany Howard, mail.
Yeah, this was a little different.
That's funny.
Yeah, it really was tough to give up.
Yeah, no kidding crowds.
Yeah, walk away from this career.
I don't know how I'm going to do it.
So I so you you are in Bloomington.
I'm guessing that you're not there for very long before you guys say, all right, let's
let's really let's really do this, right?
Yeah, yeah.
So I quit my job and I moved back down to Louisiana.
But this time, instead of New Orleans, I went to my hometown, Hillaryville, and I lived
with my grandmother to help take care of her part time.
But whenever I was doing that, I was writing songs and hitting the road with the indications
and that was really the start of us really taking this thing or trying to bring this
thing to the next level, you know, trying to make it trying to make careers out of it.
Yeah.
You said something a minute ago that that leads me to a question that I wanted to ask.
You said you were in a lot of different musical groups, but this type of music was the one
that seemed to be getting the most reaction.
Is that correct?
Yes.
Does it feel like Brad and I were talking about it a little bit before you came on?
I mean, we had Aaron on last week and Brad and I both love this type of music.
Does it feel to you like there's a trend towards soul music or is it just coincidental that
we love it?
And you know, we had you and Aaron on and in recent weeks.
Definitely a trend.
And, you know, like before I moved to Bloomington the first time, like for grad school, I didn't
know what exactly was happening in the soul scene.
It was when I met Blake Ryan, a guitar player, and he handed me a Charles Bradley CD.
Flying Eagle of Soul.
Yes.
May he forever rest in peace and power.
He gave me the No Time for Dreaming CD, their very first one.
And this was back in 2012.
And this was the first time I've ever heard of that tone artist.
And then immediately after that, I was introduced to Sharon Jones.
And May she forever rest in peace too.
Yes.
And immediately I felt inspired.
You know, like I felt like I could have a voice in making music like that, being capable
to make music like that.
And then like doing like a little research digging deeper, you know, like seeing that
Mark Ronson worked heavily with the Dab Kings and Dab Tone Records, as well as Amy Winehouse
and Salam Remy and all these really great folks.
And so I was just like, wow.
I yeah, like, I would love to write music and be like this.
So I stand on Charles and Sharon and the like of them shoulders, because they kind of cleared
the path for the indications to be a band, to be successful.
Like they really like went in the jungle or the thick of it all and just cleared a path
and outlined a way for us.
And I feel like we're clearing that path even more now for other young artists who are trying
to do what we do.
So it feels really cool.
Man, it warms my heart in ways and gives me chills to hear you talk about stuff like that,
because I was feeling the exact same way when I listened to Charles Bradley the first time,
when I listened to Sharon Jones the first time, the two one of the two greatest musical
memories I have in my life.
And I will probably cry talking about it is when Charles Bradley played Bonnarooo the very
first time, only time.
And it was right after that album, right after he had really found a found a lane.
And you know, there might have been 300, 400, 500 people there.
It wasn't a big attended show on the main stage on a Saturday morning, Sunday, midday,
something like that.
And the tears that he flowed, he got off the stage after the show.
This is the what stage of honor room.
He gets off the stage and goes to every single person in that in that pit and hugs every
one of them.
It's because he spent 40 years trying to get there, 40 years, and he finally got it.
I mean, that to me is like the is what I shut up, you know, I mean, this is this is what
it's about.
And then Sharon Jones, one of the greatest shows I've ever seen in my life is Valentine's
Night, you know, and on a romantic night with, you know, the wife and some friends, you see
her in Atlanta.
And she had just it was her first show after her first chemo treatment.
And you could see her struggling.
But my God, if that's struggling, I want every bit of that energy because she's got it.
She I mean, she was was exploding across the stage.
Two of the greatest, you know, at least for me, two of the greatest artists I've ever
seen in my own with my own eyes.
I love them with all of my heart.
Yes, I agree, man.
I never got to see Charles.
We were going to play a show with him October of the year that he passed, which was heartbreaking.
But I did get to see Sharon one time.
And it was one of the most amazing nights of my life.
I will never forget it for the rest of my entire life.
I mean, encore after encore after encore after encore to say like, you know, like she had
just, you know, like she was really going through it with the cancer.
But like she did not let that even though her body was fighting against her, she did
not let her spirit be turned away from her purpose.
That's right.
I feel like that's what soul music about that soul power right there, baby.
You know, like she really had it.
She had it.
I really wish we could have met because I really do feel like we would be friends.
We have so much in common, mainly one being that Gladys Knight is our favorite soul singer.
So the encouraging thing to me here is a couple of things.
One, that you feel like there's a trend.
I mean, there's an audience which allows you to make new music, which is incredible.
But also I'm older than you guys and one of the things I've learned is there are like
entry, you know, there are entry performers and entry songs.
You know, somebody might hear you and not have heard of a Sharon Jones or I can't imagine
not have heard of a Gladys Knight, but you know, it makes people want to discover more
and eventually get back to the Gladys's, the impressions, you know, Otis on and on and
on.
Charles, I mean, you know, that to me is the fun part and that to me is so important.
You know, people to learn where you got your inspiration from and then to be inspired from
it and discover it as if it's new.
You know, that's one of my favorite expressions.
Somebody says, man, I wish I could hear that person for the first time again.
You know, what a cool thought.
Yes.
Yeah.
I mean, the you say Gladys Knight.
I'm interesting that you say that and not Otis Redding first.
But but I would also I would throw a name in there for female Miss Carla Thomas.
Oh, man.
I think that when you when you put Otis and Carla together, it was magic and you can feel
the chemistry just explodes.
But you know, Carla didn't have the career that a Gladys Knight had.
So I understand.
I understand why you went Gladys, but there's room for everybody.
You know, that King and Queen album that Carla and Otis did is like one of my it's like in
my top three of all time.
Well, I mean, yeah, it's in the top three because the other problem is the other two
are Otis Redding albums.
You know, that's my the essential Otis Redding is the greatest piece of art I've ever listened
to.
It's I think I think dreams to remember is the greatest piece of art ever created.
I think I'm going to put Al Green in there somewhere, too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, so so with all that being said, you know, you get the band and we've gone through
the progression of the band, you know, in previous weeks.
But what I love about it now and being maybe the only guy in the country exploding with
which you I love with you so much.
I think this song is a smash and in it and I think it does all the things that I love
about you guys.
Right.
It's it's playful.
You can dance to it.
You can get a little sexy time with it.
It plays with you and Aaron so perfectly.
You know, when you guys get in that pocket and with you, it's magic.
Right.
So, you know, you can start to see a progression.
I said that I've said this a hundred times about you guys.
I feel the same way that I felt the first time I saw Alabama Shakes at Bonnarooo.
I said, I feel like I've just discovered something that's going to sit and grow right in front
of me.
And if anything, you tell me if I'm right from the first album to this album, I'm starting
to see a pattern of you guys really, really figuring this thing out and where you want
this to go.
Yes.
Yeah, man.
We like since that first record, which we we wrote all of that stuff in the years of
2012, 13, 12, 13 and 14.
Yeah, we do.
We did stuff in 14 as well for the first record.
We just took our time with it.
You know, it was a side project.
And then, you know, that that thing didn't get released until 2016.
And by then, when the American Love Call came around, you know, like we had all collectively
like moved to our own spaces, places.
We were just figuring out what adulthood means outside of college and stuff like that.
And we got on the road and we really learned about each other because we never.
I personally haven't lived with any of the guys before.
I know some of them are roommates before in the past.
But we really got to learn about each other.
And we, you know, life matures you, you go through relationships, you have your ups and
downs, your triumphs and your tribulations, all that stuff.
And I really do feel like those experiences kind of.
If you really, if you really try, you can apply them to your art.
And I really do feel like just going through.
Maturity and learning how to be a grown ass adult really helped our music out so much.
And I really hope, you know, that folks who listen to these albums really do hear and
feel the progression and hopefully see that the future is bright and that we can go in
a lot of directions and places.
It's really exciting as well because pretty much everybody in the band now is collectively
working towards making the indications as the best as it could be, but also has like
all these little side projects as well.
So it's cool that we have like a nucleus where we're all together.
But outside of that, you know, like we all have our own things too.
Barry, what was the analogy that Aaron used last week?
I was going to.
Yeah.
Aaron said it was like being a superhero.
Marvel Universe.
Marvel Universe.
Yeah, it's so true.
Like, you know, Hulk or whatever saves the universe.
The rest of you aren't jealous because, you know, he got more press than you did or type
of thing.
I thought it was a great analogy.
It really is.
It really is.
Just as an aside, what was that traveling together like?
I mean, you allude to it, you know, you dance around it, but you're now stuck with a whole
bunch of people that you really haven't spent all that much time with.
How much of how much of a job was just that?
Yeah.
Are you talking about traveling when we first started?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I assume it was in a van.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We were in a van, you know, by the end of tour, the van definitely had our collective
funk in it, you know, and we didn't have a trailer.
So we fit all the equipment and all of the luggage for a band of seven in a tiny, I mean,
in that tiny back compartment.
It was ridiculously crazy.
We stuffed in there.
We slept in hotels when we could.
We slept at friends' places a lot of the time, slept on floors.
It was really tough.
But I think we all knew that, you know, to get this thing started, we needed to put in
the sweat equity, you know, and a lot of young cats, they come to me and they ask me, you
know, like, how do you know, I get to where you are, blah, blah, blah.
Sweat equity is one of the main things, you know, like it sucks being an independent artist,
musician, trying to, you know, get yourself in places in those first couple of years can
be rough.
I mean, they were pretty rough for us, but we stuck it out and we stayed tough.
And I think, you know, even just like seeing how excited and or how touched people were
from the music just kept us going.
Yeah, those first couple of years, it was a grind.
It was a total grind.
I just can't.
I'm so glad you said it that way.
I really am.
You know, it is the biggest, it's the biggest missed opportunity for kids in this industry
who show up and then get on TikTok or get a streaming song and then all of a sudden
they see the benefits of a hit, you know, and they miss they miss the part of the part
of it where it makes you grow as a human being.
Right.
That that time that you spend on the road makes you a better artist, makes you a better
singer, makes you a better songwriter.
All of these things, you know, affect you and just being dropped in off of a TikTok
song, you're missing that you're missing the shot.
You're thinking the same.
There's a lot of good music that's been made in some kids' bedroom, you know, with a computer.
But what you're talking about is a whole nother level.
Yeah.
Growing up, developing.
Yeah.
Well, I hope you keep doing it, Duran.
I mean, I said this to you at ACL Fest, you know, first off, very jealous of Duran Jones
and his style.
The man can wear a hat and I get so jealous of people who can hold a hat.
I can't do it.
And he looked at me and said, you can hold it.
You could wear a hat.
And then he looked at me a little more and he's no, you can't.
No, I've seen it.
I've seen it.
It doesn't work.
So I got to ask for you.
You sound like you're I can't believe you haven't asked.
What was that like?
Because Brad is bragged for two shows about that ACL where you were in the back watching
Aaron perform.
I mean, yeah, he's standing next to Adrian from Black Pumas.
I mean, what's that like watching that happen?
Oh, it was absolutely fabulous.
You know, I had to be there and I had to support my boy.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, and I wasn't going to be like the dude that's too cool for school.
I wanted to dance, you know, and really show him that, you know, the vibrations that they
were giving out were giving my soul everything that it needed.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I told you, like I went to ACL because of Duran Jones.
I went I went to see you guys.
I thought that that first show that you did on Thursday night was incredible.
My God, that that energy work.
I thought the the ACL show was great and then I stayed the next day for Aaron.
And it just, you know, like I said, and I'm not going to belabor this point, it felt like
I had just seen the Alabama Shakes for the first time, you know, right after their first
Bonnarooo show.
It feels like it's it's a real, real thing.
And I'm just so happy.
I feel like I've got my own little I got my new little thing.
Although you got all the records and listen to you guys for years.
It does feel like, you know, do you think how about this?
I'll put it this way.
Do you almost feel like a new band?
No, I don't.
OK, is it weird?
Is it weird, though, for a guy like you who's been doing this for so long and you just went
through the whole litany of work that you put in?
Is it weird to find people finding you for the first time?
Is it weird that people are still finding me for the first time?
Is it I'll put it this way.
If somebody walks up to you and say, hey, I just found your band.
Is there a part of you in the back of your mind says, where you been?
Oh, no, not really.
I understand.
Like, I understand that.
And I wish more people would understand just like how much music is being made right now.
It's crazy how much music is being made.
I saw one statistic about like how many songs are put on Spotify in an hour.
Yeah.
And it's it's wow.
It's so crazy.
And I wish other musicians, if you're hearing this, seeing this, like if if you like.
Tell some folk like, hey, have you heard this?
No, no, don't be shocked because like it's just so much stuff going on out here.
And yeah, like that's one thing with me.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, I mean, you've got you've got you look, you're a much better person than
I am.
I love the shame.
I love making people feel shame for not being where I am.
I really like it.
So by the way, to wrap this up, where are you right now?
What city are you in these days?
I'm in San Antonio.
I'm in San Antonio.
You don't live in San Antonio, do you?
I do.
Yeah.
Wow.
Were you were you were you not were you in for the Astros?
Were you were a Houston guy last week, last week and a half in the World Series?
I watched a little bit of it, but honestly, my brother was my brother was going for the
Astros, but I was kind of going for the Braves run for the Braves, you know, like, OK, good
for you.
Me too.
Whatever.
Brad's not a fan.
Well, I have have a blast of Frida, have a blast with Ben.
And that'll be a really good show.
I'm actually jealous.
I want to go.
But yeah, have a and come back to New Orleans soon, buddy.
I can't wait to have you guys in.
I can't wait either, man.
I got a project that I'm going to be dropping pretty soon in collaboration with Southwest
Airlines.
Really?
What is it?
They brought they brought me all around New Orleans.
I took camera crew to all of my favorite spots and I performed a little bit stop in Preservation
Hall in there.
So be on the lookout for that.
It's going to be on all the social media stuff.
So I'm kind of offended I wasn't invited.
How did you miss Bratt's house?
I had to take you to the Pals.
I take you to my favorite bar.
Oh, man.
Next time, bro.
Next time.
I'm going to I'm going to tell management to link me with your number or something so
that you can so we can is it a closer connection?
Let's do it.
Is it a song?
Oh, no, it's like a whole series.
So it's like a 30 minute video.
Stop it.
I'm kind of like the Bourdain style of things where I'm just going to restaurants.
I'm going I went to Euclid.
I went to be be Mike Studio.
I went to Preservation Hall.
I'm just talking about New Orleans with artists and creators and stop farmers and all this
kind of stuff about the culture, the life and why we love the city.
That's incredible.
Very cool.
Yes, please, please get with me about that, because the radio station will be all about
that.
Word up.
I'll put the radio station all over that man.
Cool, cool.
All right, Durant.
I'm so happy for you.
I'm so happy for the band.
And I can't wait to see you guys again.
All right.
Thank you so much for this.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
I really appreciate it.
See you.
I'll send you some pictures and you can dissect them for me.
I feel like I'll just put it this way, Barry.
I'll take the thank yous now.
I appreciate you.
I really do.
Thank you.
Yeah.
You sent me on to thank you for both of them.
They're great.
I was trying to do the shame thing that thing that was telling Duran about.
I was throwing some shame at you.
He played that right off.
I know.
I know.
Look, I just can't.
I can't keep saying it over and over and over.
I really do love this band and I really do feel as though I...
There was this, I think one of the great stories in all of music over the last 10 years was
from boys to girls, boys and girls to sound and color.
I think that progression of a band going from album one to album two, maybe one of the biggest
leaps I've ever heard in the music industry.
To me, you go from...
Anyway, I don't want to...
But that's what it feels like to me.
It feels like they are right there.
They're right there on the precipice of making this really great.
And if you haven't heard with you, it's one of those songs, and I say this on the air
all the time considering I'm the only guy in the country willing to go on a limb and
play this song, but it's one of those songs, if you put it on around people, they're going
to do this.
Who dat?
Who is this?
That's what I'm excited about.
It's got that tone.
I'm excited at the idea that this type of music is a thing.
I've done this long enough to know that it comes in cycles and I don't want to sound
like the old guy.
Music was way better back when, because I don't say that.
I don't mean that.
There's a lot of great music being put out.
But the idea of real musicians playing real music about songs that touch people is great.
I mean, I think it's...
I'm excited to see where it goes.
He was great and Aaron was great.
I'm thrilled to talk to both of them.
Really two of my favorite conversations this past year.
Another good one next week.
I don't want to spill the beans, but I'm really, really excited about next week.
It will be a What Podcast First?
We'll see you then.
It's Barry and Brad.
Love you.
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