St. Paul and the Broken Bones Part 2

Last week, Barry Courter, our friend, our best friend, Paul Janeway, told us that his favorite song that they ever wrote as St. Paul and the Broken Bones was I'll Be Your Woman.

Yep.

And that's what kicks off part two of our conversation with Paul from St. Paul and the Broken Bones.

This is the What Podcast.

I'm Brad Steiner from WDOD Hits 96 Radio in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

That's Barry Courter from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Part two today gets into a little bit of breaking news with Paul about the new album and not just a new album, but a concept for a trio of albums.

And I try and guess the worst show of the St. Paul and the Broken Bones career.

And the one you guessed was a good guess.

I think so, too.

It would win for most people, but he had one worse.

It's amazing because I didn't talk to him about this, but they, you know, when you're a young artist, you take pretty much all the gigs.

And I got this gig that I went to, this show of theirs that I went to was well into the album.

And it was long, long, long past.

They had gotten famous and gotten big.

It's like they had still had to do this gig that they basically I booked for a year and a half ago.

Yeah, there's a lot of way they got big.

There's a lot of different ways to approach something like that.

I heard a guy years and years ago at a bar play in front of basically me say it's a paid rehearsal and they presented it.

They were very professional about it.

You know, you do if you do it the other way, you get that reputation, you know, being attitude or whatever.

Some bands can recover from it.

But they had every reason this show that I saw that you'll hear me tell Paul about.

They had every reason to cancel it.

There was no reason for them to do the show that I went to to see because they probably got paid five thousand dollars.

Well, there's no reason they should have done, but they did it.

They kept their word.

I have a feeling there again.

And you heard him last week talking about it.

You know, he takes it personal.

Yeah, he wants to grab every single person in the audience by the throat and make them like him.

Yeah, like the band.

And that's why they're who they are.

And it's sort of how you grab our listeners and make them like us.

Shake them like a rag doll.

Reach through the microphone.

Not only we're going to talk a second part of our conversation with Paul Janeway coming up in a second, but later on the podcast, we're going to talk to some actual podcast listeners.

We called some listeners and wanted just to talk boundary with them.

Yeah, we wanted to hear their thoughts, you know, on what they like about us.

Of course, that was important.

That's your most important question.

No, we really what we wanted to hear was their stories.

We don't for a minute think we're the only ones who like Bonnarooo.

Right.

And so we wanted to reach out.

These are folks that had emailed us after hearing the podcast.

So it was fun.

I enjoyed talking to them.

It really is nice.

It really is nice to connect with Bonnarooo people, total strangers on a Bonnarooo podcast to talk about Bonnarooo.

Yeah, I think what the common thread among the ones we talked to were that they had met people that they are now very friendly with lifelong friends.

That's cool.

Hell, that's how we met.

Well, it's true.

When I think about it, we really didn't.

I mean, we interacted as professional people.

We never sat down and hung out until Bonnarooo.

Absolutely not.

You're exactly right.

A lot of people in our camp I'd never met.

Yeah.

And we never hang out with until Bonnarooo.

I see them for four days.

They literally live in the same city.

And what's good is we don't when we leave, we don't all hug and say, let's keep up.

We don't want to.

No, we don't do it.

By the way, if you want to drop us a comment, you can at the whatpodcast.com.

The whatpodcast.com is also your entry in for Bonnarooo tickets.

We're going to give those away here in a couple of weeks.

Just in case you don't have Bonnarooo tickets, this is your way in the whatpodcast.com.

Part two of our conversation with Paul Janeway now on the whatpodcast.

I remember you and I spoke around that time.

And prior, you and I laughed.

You said you had only like about enough material to do a 35 minute set.

So if you had to do an hour show, you were doing, you know, some of the covers and you were at that risk of becoming known as an Otis Redding sort of sound alike.

So you were I remember talking, you were really struggling to I remember you saying that we don't want to put out a record that we're not very, very proud of.

And we don't want to we're trying to find our identity.

So it's really fascinating to hear, you know, eight years later or whatever.

Right.

Going through it.

But yeah, it was a huge turning point for a lot of reasons.

It was. And so what's been really fun is doing this record.

We're working with a guy named Jack Splash who does a lot of like he's more into modern hip hop, modern R&B.

And it's going to be even more different.

And I enjoy that.

I think that second record, you tell your audience what kind of artist you are.

Yeah.

And you go either either you're going to have to follow us on a journey or we're going to keep it the same.

And there's nothing wrong with that. But that's just not we're not we're not at that point in our career.

That's right.

Where we're just like, you know, that was good.

Let's just keep it that way.

That's right.

That I don't think we're there.

Like you said, I mean, it's fascinating to hear you say that if you hadn't at least artistically opened up your mind, created a whole new palette and started over almost, it sounds like you're saying that you may not even still be a band.

That's that's unbelievable to hear.

It's actually quite vulnerable to be honest with you.

Well, I think that's the thing is that it's this to me is fun and I enjoy it.

But every time you write a record, this this this like it's like the flash record.

There were moments that I was struggling getting through songs.

I was so emotional about it.

And you're I understand it's weird.

I've started to understand why artists, especially like legacy artists, just not quit trying.

But you have to like open up your rib cage every time and expose yourself and go, you know what I mean?

And take risk and really like go through pain and like really expose yourself in a way that maybe you're not entirely comfortable with like record after record.

And I just get how people go, you know what?

Kind of tired of that.

You know, that's really difficult, that creative process.

I'm kind of a control freak.

So everything from the show to, you know, the record liners or the record art or what we're going to do release wise.

That is all I want.

I want to have a huge hand in all of that.

And that that gets exhausting at times.

And and it's just for me, it's just like it's just really it's not easy to play a show every night.

And like when we do broken bones, a pocket change and I've got to get to a certain place or I feel like I'm cheating or I'm cheating the audience.

And it doesn't matter if we're in Wilmington, North Carolina or Madison Square Garden.

I have I'm that moment.

I have to expose myself in a way that is very difficult.

Hey, she goes that I know is true.

Broken bones, a pocket change.

Oh, she let me.

Has made me call.

Hey, nobody, hey, nobody gonna love me.

I just stand here.

Broken bones, a pocket change.

I got a baby.

Like I said, there's a song on a new record that like I I can't even listen to it right now because it makes me it makes me cry so much.

My what's it about?

Like it's about it's so kind of the concept for the next kind of I guess I haven't told anybody this.

So the concept for the next thing is that we have a new album coming out and it's going to be in part.

It's part one, part two and part three.

So part one is an album, part two is an album, part three is an album.

But I've just been really fascinated with the legacy of me, my father, my grandfather and kind of exploring that.

So the first part is like me.

The second part will be like my father and third part with my grandfather and kind of understanding legacy and you know what I mean?

And these complicated relationships that we all have.

And it's kind of about that.

Wow.

And it's it was it was really difficult.

Is Paul not only is he breaking news, which we absolutely appreciate, but is this is this hitting home and making you think about kids for yourself?

I think that was part of it.

I also think it's part of like my own mortality, like just thinking.

I don't know if this is getting really dark, but I don't know if you'll ever have this.

We're like I was having this real bizarre like time.

It's why I don't need time off because I think too much, where I was thinking about death and like how it happens.

And my grandfather, who actually his voice is going to be on this, I think part one, my papal, is actually he was at the time – he was in the ICU and he was dying.

He ended up to make a pretty miraculous recovery, but it was just I started just like going through this thing of like staying up late at night and going like what happens and what's the point?

And you know what I mean?

Like I had like these nightless, sleepless nights going through this.

And I was just like it was just kind of this weird – I don't know why.

But so it was kind of me working through that.

But like you said, this every night is therapy for you.

Yeah, it is.

It's my therapy.

I pay a professional, you get paid by me.

We can accomplish the same things, Paul.

The show that we will see, I've seen you probably three, four times, Brad, you know a dozen.

How has the show, the live show changed in recent years?

I think when we first started –

Let me ask this, do you have new shoes? Because last time I think your wife had finally bought you a new pair of bucks or something.

I've been – so the thing is I don't know – I mean we'll obviously play a new song for Bonnarooo.

I don't know if it's going to be the full on new show just yet.

Gotcha.

But the show in general, when we first started, it was like I'm going to punch you in the face for 90 minutes.

I mean that's what it was.

I'm just going to – there was no nuance.

It was just a jackhammer.

As the show has progressed, first off, I can't do that for 90 minutes.

Right.

I don't know how you've done it for three, four years.

Yeah.

But now the show has gotten to really – so for us, most bands – and this is where we're very fortunate.

When the ballads crank up, people get excited.

In other bands, like I see it all the time.

When ballads crank up, people are like oh God.

Yeah.

So we're lucky that we can play a ballad and people are like oh great, this is – all right.

For us though, it's gotten a little bit more nuanced.

We've really tried – I've got some exceptional musicians that I play with and really tried to flex that muscle a little bit.

I mean at one point during the show, we do Radiohead's National Anthem and things like that.

So it's a little different.

It's kind of – it has its peaks and valleys.

And I like it better that way because when it hits the climax, people go – it can take you away.

I've seen –

I mean that's just a better show.

I've seen you enough to know that you almost live and die on the audience giving you something back.

Yeah.

If they're not giving you something back, it's almost like you're going to squeeze the hell out of them until they do.

Because you're giving them your all.

Why can't they give you something?

And that's kind of always been the thing is that it's a – my philosophy has been – and not everybody's going to love that.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

But if you come to one of our shows, you will – I am – because I'm putting everything I got.

Right.

I promise you, every time I play a show, I feel like I got hit by a drill.

That reminds me, Paul, of the story you told about touring with the Rolling Stones, right?

You realized there wasn't anybody there on that bill that bought a ticket to see you, so you felt like you had to reach out and grab them.

Yeah.

I mean, we were so excited when those shows got booked.

When we got to open up for the Stones, we were so excited.

And our booking agent told me, he said, listen, look, you should be proud of this, enjoy it.

But just so you know, there is a reputation that the opener, you're not going to get them.

You know what I mean?

Like you know, you're not going to – they're going to – you know, they're going to sit on my hands.

And when someone tells me that, I go, to hell with that.

I'm going to get them if I've got to set myself on fire.

And so in Atlanta, it took about half the set and we got them.

And then in Buffalo, it was about – but we got a standing ovation each night.

And I just kind of refused to take – you tell me we can't get them, then I'm going to get them.

And that's – I mean, honestly, that's why for us, like, you know, it's hard for us to do private gigs because of that reason right there.

Because most people, when they hire you for a private event, they just kind of want you to be background noise.

And that's not really the way I operate.

They're not paying attention and they've got like wine glasses on the table.

I'm going to get on top of the table and grab their attention.

And drink the wine while I'm at it.

Exactly.

Pay attention to me.

Well, I don't drink it. If it's Coca-Cola, I'll take it.

By the way, I know – and we're wrapping up now, so I appreciate all the time.

You've been more than gracious with your time.

I know the worst show of your entire career. I know it.

I know exactly the one that you probably say to yourself, why in the hell are we doing this?

Why did we do this? This was the worst show we've ever had.

You played – after you had already gotten critical success, already half the city, already you'd been on Letterman,

you had to play a middle school in Athens, Tennessee.

And I sat there, I was there with 250 of the oldest, whitest middle Tennessee people

who had no idea what in the hell this guy on the stage was doing.

And you walked around to almost every single person in that gymnasium – hey, Gymnasium Barry!

I know. I remember.

He was a middle school gym.

Oh, yeah, I remember that one.

And he was literally almost shaking people like, get up, you're killing me. It was hysterical.

I loved everything about it, because I might have seen you guys maybe a week and a half before that in Atlanta.

It was so bizarre. It's one of the strangest shows I've ever seen in my life.

That is – I will say, though, I love shows like that. I actually will – you know what?

I will tell you the worst show we've ever played.

The worst show, there's a Mercedes car plant here in Tuscaloosa, and they have a family fun day.

And they were like, look, you know, we're going to pay – it was kind of a private event, but it was for the employees.

So I was like, you know what? That's great. You know, that's my people.

So they fly – we have to get up at 5 a.m., get on a flight, I think out of Virginia somewhere.

We get there. We're playing the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, which is 8,000 cap, OK?

8,000 cap. And you're like, oh, cool. All right. I get there.

First off, there's two Mercedes cars on the stage. And I was like, OK, this is different.

And they're like, don't touch the car. OK, whatever.

And then – so we have – so it was at the time we were doing this musical intro.

And I don't try to look at the crowd, because I still get nervous, even if the show is sold out,

that nobody's going to show up. And so we do a musical intro.

And I hear just one single clap. And I was like, oh, God.

So I go out there and I go through the routine.

And there is a family of three in an 8,000 cap amphitheater all by themselves.

Oh, no. Wow.

Not going to play our show. Oh, no.

And I'm doing broken – I'm like, well, they paid for a show.

And then they get up and leave.

And so then I start doing broken bones and pocket chains.

I'm on my knees trying to like bear my soul.

And I just look out of the corner of my eye.

And midway through the amphitheater is a crown on stilts just walking through the amphitheater.

And I thought, well, this is as low as it gets.

This is when I thought about quitting. This is when it happens.

And that tears my soul out. I was like, I might be done. This might be it.

I know.

Time, time, time. Oh, sweet time.

Please don't leave me. Please don't leave me.

I can't help you leaving me.

Do you know where you're playing this year?

You know what stage? What day? What time?

It's not late night. I know that.

It's definitely not going to be in the mid-afternoon on this tent.

That's for damn sure. I have a feeling on Thursday afternoon.

Well, who knows? I never know anymore. I just kind of kind of show up and go.

All right, Paul, thank you so much. I can't. I can't thank you enough.

I absolutely love you to death.

And hopefully we get to circle back in and say hello again at Bonnarooo this year.

Absolutely, man. Please say hello.

Oh, thank you for your time. This was so much fun.

Oh, yeah. I'll talk to you next time. I'm in Chattanooga. Don't worry.

We'll bring it. I can't wait. Come over and help me paint the house.

You don't want that. I got a bad eye.

Paul Janeway from St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Part 2.

The feature of this week's The What Podcast. That's Barry Courter.

I'm Brad Steiner and we are going to talk to you, the podcast listener.

What do we got first? We have Randy.

You want to talk to Randy first?

Randy is first. I liked Randy.

Let's call him.

Hello, Randy.

Randy Hoke, Brad Steiner, Barry Courter from The What Podcast. How are you, sir?

Hey, great. How are you guys doing?

Doing so great. Thanks for talking to us. Thanks for listening. We appreciate it as always, man.

Sure. It's a great show.

That's the first question I wanted to ask. What is it you like about it?

Again, he's really obsessed with you telling him something nice.

I'm fishing. What do you like about me?

Your hair. It's the hair. By the way, we do have the best hair in podcasts.

There is no question. Two best heads of hair in podcasts.

You have to. I like that you guys have been drinking the same Kool-Aid that I've been drinking going to Bonnaroo all these years.

You're super enthusiastic and you've got a lot of great stories to tell about it.

It's great to listen to the stories. I love the interviews. They have been really great.

Yeah, we've been really, really lucky. We got really, really lucky with a couple of artists.

I think that the St. Paul thing was legit one of my favorite moments of my 18-year broadcasting career.

Yeah, it's been fun last week and this week. It's a lot of fun listening to him. He's got great stories.

He's so much fun. He's so nice. How many Bonnaroo does this make for you? You going this year?

Yeah, I'm going this year. This will be number 13 for me.

Wow. Right there with us.

You're posting big numbers, dude.

Where do you travel from?

From the Raleigh, North Carolina area.

That's not bad.

Yeah, we've been going out, as I say, this will be my 13th year.

I usually camp with my brother and one or two of his kids and my daughter and her boyfriend, but now husband, have been to Bonnaroo seven times.

Wow.

It's really special. It's kind of like a family vacation.

With somebody who posts big numbers like you, much like me and Barry, it feels as though every time we sit down at camp,

never fails that we start talking about the changes that we've seen along the way.

What do you think is the biggest change from year one that you went to now?

Well, obviously there have been a lot of site improvements, and I understand campgrounds have new barns and things going on.

We started, so our group camped in the general admission for the first seven years and then switched over to camping at the KOA.

Oh, really?

There was a glitch in 2013 where the Bonnaroo folks said you can't camp in the tent-only area unless you don't have a car.

That sort of screwed up all of our plans because we've been actually camping with a couple of guys from California who are now some of my best friends.

So it's very difficult. We had been dragging all of our equipment to the tent-only area and then meet these guys as they take the shuttle off from the National Airport.

In 2013, Bonnaroo changed the rules and said that you can't camp in the tent-only area unless you're coming in without a car.

I think a lot of folks from Inferu were very upset about that.

We were upset, and we all emailed the Bonnaroo folks.

It turned out that they later backtracked and changed their minds and said it was okay to camp in tent-only.

But by that time, we had booked the space at the KOA.

Go ahead.

You're actually the first person I've ever talked to outside of media people that have either camped at the KOA or chosen a hotel.

I can't think of anybody that I know that's actually done that.

I have. I have a couple of people that stay up on Montego Mountain and travel in.

Oh, they still drive in.

I think that's cheating.

The driving in?

Yeah. I just think you miss so much knowing you're going home or when you're going to come in.

That's right.

I think it's the 24 hours. And Brad leaves for a little bit every day.

Well, I have a routine.

It's the way you don't need to know.

Okay. All right. So look, you're at the KOA, so you can drive in and out if you really wanted to, right?

We could. Yeah. The KOA property is adjacent to Bonnaroo, so they just run a little shuttle bus 24 hours a day.

So we just get up in the morning, have breakfast, and then pop in to the center and stay there all day and come back at 3 in the morning and crash.

Right. Well, where we drive in is right past the KOA.

Yeah. We used to go through the KOA.

Yeah. We actually had to drive through the KOA. That's right.

Well, we drive past the KOA to get in, and there's a Holiday Inn there.

And I don't want to give away my secrets on a very, very highly listened to podcast.

But there's a Holiday Inn there at the end of the road.

And every morning when it's time for Brad's morning rituals, I get in my car and I drive to the Holiday Inn.

Yeah.

Because I just can't bring myself to go all in on Bonnaroo.

I still, after 13 years, got to have that sweet, sweet feel of porcelain.

Yeah.

See, the porta potty is part of the experience.

Still haven't done it. 13 years, never used one.

The guys you said that come in from California that are now great fans, did you meet them at Bonnaroo?

We did. We camped next to them in 2010, I think it was, and met, you know, just met them randomly in the tent only area.

And became fast friends. They're huge music fans as we are and decided to get together every year.

So they've camped with us every year since.

That's awesome.

It's been great.

That's awesome.

And I think that's one of the things about Bonnaroo is that everyone there is a huge music fan.

It's not particularly the festival that people decide to, you know, on moments known as to go to a festival to get drunk at.

It's a festival that people plan for months to this whole camping experience and plan out who they're going to see and where they're going to be at what time to catch the best shows.

Are you already planning? What's your plan this year?

Yeah, no, I do homework every year and try to figure out who's new.

And I mean, most of the bands I'm unfamiliar with every year.

So there's a lot there's a lot to learn on the, you know, they've got like 100 new bands every year that I haven't heard of.

So and I've stumbled across a couple so far.

I've just gotten started, but really excited to see a band called Go Go Penguin.

Yeah, that'd be great.

Thirteen years of tent camping.

You've experienced a lot.

What's what's the one thing you tell the first timer who's going to be tent camping?

Whatever you do, do not forget to bring what?

Probably an electric powered fan, a battery powered fan for the tent.

That's that can be a lifesaver.

Trying to sleep an extra hour in the morning.

I know a lot of people are now moving towards hammocks with just a pop up canopy over top of them. I think that's probably a good idea, too.

The morning heat is the thing that to try to try to mitigate that is the best tip I can give.

It sure does wake you up like boiling water, doesn't it?

Like boiling water poured on me.

My tip is and I say this to every man that listens to this is the baby powder.

Oh, yeah.

I've never used it before until Bonnarooo and I realized, oh, my God.

And then my other thing is you need to have somebody at camp that makes a damn good Bloody Mary.

You need a good Bloody Mary. I was going to say Bissell.

That's the one thing we don't forget is our vacuum cleaner.

We bring a vacuum cleaner.

Bloody Marys.

But yeah, that monkey.

I get a tad anal because I don't like dirt.

Yeah, that jar or that shaker of monkey butt is funny when you're at the Walmart, but it's not so funny on Saturday afternoon.

It's a lifesaver. My wife walks into the tent when afterwards and she literally think there's been a snowstorm.

I can't keep it together.

I don't know how to apply it.

I just throw it on me everywhere I go.

Man, thanks a lot.

I hope we get to run into you.

Oh, it'd be great.

Yeah.

Everybody's got a great Bonnarooo story.

How about Michael Bennett?

You want to call Michael Bennett?

He's been a Michael has been a listener since day one.

He writes us practically every week and we really, really appreciate him.

So let's give him a call and talk Bonnarooo with Michael.

Hey, Michael.

How are you, buddy?

I'm good.

How are you all doing?

Doing so good.

Happy, happy Bonnarooo season.

We're just days away, it feels like.

Every day I look up and it's like, oh my God, I mean, I feel like I feel like I should already be setting up camp now.

Yeah, I'm using porta potties already, even though I don't have to.

You are a man that lives on the edge, Barry.

You really do.

I'm in training.

Michael, thanks for doing this.

Thanks for listening.

I wanted to ask the most important question first.

What is it?

What's your favorite part about the podcast?

What is it you like about this?

Good first question, Barry.

Tell me something you like about me.

I think my favorite part is just how into Bonnarooo you all are.

It doesn't feel like this is something that like someone's just like thrown together.

It's like it's easy to tell that you all really care about Bonnarooo.

Now, how many Bonnarooo's have you attended?

I've been to four.

This year will be my fifth.

Wow.

Now, which years have so far been your favorite?

Either 2014 or 2016.

2016 was really special.

Why is that?

Was it lineup based or was it experience based?

One of the best sound systems is my favorite band in the world.

Me too.

You and me both.

I never got a chance to see them live.

So actually getting to see them come back together was amazing.

Yeah.

I remember that show like literally yesterday because I felt the same way.

I missed them for a decade.

I don't know how I missed them.

Then they broke up and I thought it was never going to happen again.

I thought I was never going to see LCD sound system again.

But I literally when they came to Bonnarooo, I refused to be anywhere but 10 feet away from the stage.

And it was to me.

I've said this before and I know it sounds stupid, but it was legit.

One of my favorite musical experiences of my entire life.

It is up there with McCartney because of how special that band is to me and how much I was dying for that moment.

And it was everything I ever wanted.

Oh, absolutely.

That show was just like transcendental.

I cried during all my friends.

I have no shame saying that.

As you should, man.

And here's the bad part is right after that was Tame Impala on The Witch.

And I love Tame Impala.

Don't get me wrong.

But there was no comparison.

I cannot go from that exhilarating experience of LCD, walk over to Tame Impala and not feel like I am totally bored.

Oh, absolutely.

I was the exact same way that Tame Impala show was great, but it didn't come close to touching LCD.

So where are you from?

Where do you have to travel from to get there?

I live in Lexington, Kentucky.

We are a group.

We leave out of London, Kentucky.

How many?

How many of you are there?

Typically, there's at least 10 or 12 of us.

We've had as many as like 20 people with us.

Sometimes it's just been just us 12.

That's pretty cool.

What's the camp name?

Got to have a camp name for that many people.

We all look at the judges, but we actually don't really have a camp name.

This is blasphemy.

Blasphemy, Michael.

You got to get into it.

I know.

You got to have a logo.

You got to have a sign.

You have a picket fence.

Yeah.

We've never actually described what our camp is like.

But I will go ahead and tell you, we get a little lucky.

I don't like telling a lot of people this because it makes us seem maybe not as generous.

But we camp in the backstage area where there's a lot of trees.

So we get a lot of space that normally we wouldn't get.

So we lived a little bit of a charmed life, but we make sure to take the entire house.

We bring a 10 by 20 wedding tent.

We've got a tent just for a Bloody Mary bar.

We've got a tent just for a kitchen.

We've got 600 square feet of carpeting.

We bring our own couch.

We bring a ceiling fan.

We bring everybody's giant cartoon head on a stick.

I've got a giant Litmar key that says Camp Nut Butter that's literally dripping butter.

And we have a white picket fence that covers the entire 12 of us that camp with us.

Oh, and we even have Camp Nut Butter Twister game with everybody's cartoon head on the Twister game.

It's pretty bad.

Yeah.

We are into it.

Can you tell?

Yeah, now I'm just upset at how good you all have it.

Yeah, it's really stupid.

We'll take some pictures of it and maybe do some live video during the festival.

Who's the one artist that you're really excited about for 2018, Michael?

Right now it's between that late night bone and bone and virtual self.

Virtual self. Tell me about virtual self.

Virtual self is this guy, Porter Robinson.

He's an EDM guy.

This is a different alter ego.

I guess he does a completely different style of EDM than what he normally does.

It's all like 90s, early 2000s, trance.

It kind of sounds like he's doing Final Fantasy slash DDR music.

Really?

There's a really nice part at the end of that song where it's just driving 180 beats per minute, just snares.

And it's something insane.

So LCD, I'm guessing, is your favorite show.

Do you have a favorite moment or memory or funny thing you saw or crazy thing you saw?

Have seen it by?

Yeah. So last year, it was during the XX, me and my friends, we got into the pit for the XX.

But just before this one started, my bladder started punching me, basically.

Too much poo time.

So I got about halfway through the set before I had to leave the pit to go use the bathroom.

I was begging the guy at the exit of the pit, I was like, I would give you like 20 bucks if you let me back in.

And he was like, can't do it, man.

I was like, oh, well.

So we go, one of my buddies goes with me and we end up coming back towards like the back of the crowd.

So they start playing on hold toward the end of their set.

And I've been singing along the entire time.

And I actually had one dude turn to me and look and say, man, you're actually a really good singer, which is making me feel giddy.

So I'm singing along.

There's another girl in the area that is singing along as well.

She hears me singing and then comes over and just grabs my hands and we just like start dancing and singing the song right there.

Oh, my God.

This is going to end with him saying that he had a Bonnarooo baby.

They had a Bonnarooo baby.

Like we're doing that.

And like people in front of us have like even like turned around to like watch.

I don't know. It's it was just like like lightning in a bottle.

One of those moments that you can't like recreate or anything.

Yeah, it's amazing because you were so worried about leaving the pit.

And then once you left the pit, you found just as much of a magical experience when you left.

I thought you were going to say based on last week's show that you peed on some guys back.

No, no, I'm not.

If we found the guy.

If we found the guy.

Hey, this one time I peed on Paul Janoway's back.

Hey, thank you so much, Michael, for listening.

We appreciate it so much and we can't wait to meet you at Roo.

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks.

Thanks, man.

I think we have time for one more call.

You make one more call to our podcast listener.

Let's call Veronica.

And just because I like the name Veronica because of the Elvis Costello song.

Let's call Veronica.

You are just trying to make the moves on a Bonnarooo babe.

Yeah, well, I like Veronica, you know, better than Brad.

Oh, thank or Barry for that matter.

Let's call Veronica, Veronica, podcast listener, Veronica Bonnarooo vet herself.

Hello, Veronica. Welcome to the What Podcast.

How are you today?

Good. How are you doing?

I'm doing amazing.

What is your Bonnarooo preparation like right now at this moment?

It's pretty exciting.

I'm up in the north, so it's cold here still.

So I'm excited to be in the hot Tennessee sun.

Yeah, let me ask you that because we live in this all the time because we're in Chattanooga.

What does it feel like to somebody who's not from Tennessee to feel that sweltering Tennessee heat?

It's definitely different.

You really want to be in the shade all the time because being the cold is I mean, I live in the Philadelphia area.

So, I mean, sometimes it gets pretty hot here, but it's not until like August.

So going into somewhere that hot in June, it's a definite difference.

You really have to try to stay hydrated.

Yeah, that's your that's your key. Stay hydrated.

Huh?

Yep. Yep.

Do you ever that camel back?

Do you ever do what do you ever do what Barry does and go shirtless and paint your boobs?

I've thought about it.

It's a good look.

Barry looks great, by the way.

People tend to give me a lot of room.

That's why I do it.

I have my own seating area.

Hey, space is key.

How many Bonnarooo's you been to?

My first was in 2013.

Then I went in 2015, so this year will be my third Bonnarooo.

Why Bonnarooo when you're in Philadelphia?

Why make the trek all the way down just for Bonnarooo?

I mean, you've got a choice, a multitude of choices there in the Northeast for music festivals.

You could go to Firefly, you could go to Governor's Ball.

Why Bonnarooo?

So I actually did.

It is a far trek.

So I tried Firefly in 2016.

Definitely not the same vibe the whole time I was there.

I was like Bonnarooo is better.

I wish I was at Bonnarooo.

It just has, you just feel that magical feeling.

And I didn't feel that at Firefly.

They had a lot of the extra stuff to do, but it was not even as close to what Bonnarooo has.

And I'm really excited for all the new things they're having in the campgrounds this year.

How many people do you travel with and do you guys, I'm glad you mentioned that.

Do you guys get out and do all the other things, not just see a show?

Bonnarooo, yes, definitely.

Comedy 10 is definitely one of my favorite things.

I know they're not having it this year, but it'll be something fun to see with how they're doing it this year.

Always going to like the Ferris wheel.

It's a whole experience, the food, everything.

It's not just about the music.

And how many of you are there that make the trip?

Normally just travel with my boyfriend and I, but we love meeting other people.

So meeting your neighbors is one of the best parts.

Have you ever kept in touch with anybody you met at Bonnarooo?

Oh yeah, definitely.

We actually met some people from Louisville.

In 2015 we actually met up with them before and then drove into Bonnarooo together.

So they were our neighbors before.

So yeah, you make lifelong connections, so it's really fun.

That's awesome.

Hey, fill me in on some of the stuff they're doing outside in the campgrounds this year that is different.

I know they're doing like late night karaoke with T-Pain, but what are some of the other changes they made over this year?

One thing I saw that I'm really excited about is that House of Yes and Little Cinema.

I know they're based out of Brooklyn, so that should be something really exciting.

Interesting.

And they also have the dub lab, Tonalism dub lab, so I think that's more of like a nighttime thing.

So there's a lot of cool things they're adding.

What is the one show you're looking forward to this year?

This year, definitely looking forward to Sheik and Nile Rodgers.

That's definitely my top pick.

Interesting.

They're very much like Barry Cord or he loves the Nile Rodgers.

I love the old school stuff.

I think sometimes people that are younger generation, they need to branch out and kind of listen to the older stuff.

So that's one thing I'm really excited for.

Well, we're so happy to talk to you and thank you so much for listening.

We appreciate you so much and hopefully we get to a run into you at Bonnarooo, okay?

Thanks. Looking forward to it.

Okay, there you go. Part two of the Paul Janeway special.

I can't believe not only do we break news with Paul, told us one of the best Bonnarooo stories we've ever heard.

He straight up said that me and him are now best friends.

Yeah, he's coming over tomorrow, right?

We're going to call him. We've been calling and texting.

Face timing. You guys are face timing.

I send him memes.

What a great story though.

I mean, I really did think you had probably their worst concert and then he tops it.

He tops it, yeah.

They performed to a guy on stilts.

A guy on stilts.

In a giant stadium.

And then a clown walked in. That just does not happen.

That is the classic. How are you Cleveland and you get nothing but crickets.

Crickets because there's no one there.

Hey, thank you to Paul. Thank you to Michael, a listener.

Michael, Randy and Veronica. Maybe we'll call you too.

Drop us a line at thewhatpodcast.com or anytime on Twitter at thewhat underscore podcast until next week.

Do we have plans for next week? We're still formulating next week.

I think we're still formulating.

But I know we want to call some more people and do that. That was fun.

That was a really good idea. I like that a lot.

I appreciate those guys being willing to call.

What we'll do is I'll reach out, send you an email.

We'll set up sort of a time so it's not random and you don't think we're calling to sell you a newspaper subscription.

We'll set up a time and then be 35 minutes late.

Yeah, and then we'll be late.