"The Black Man Talking Emotions Podcast" Starring Dom L'Amour
"The Black Man Talking Emotions Podcast" Starring Dom L'Amour
Finding Balance: Self-Care, Music, and Pandemic Lessons with Michael Harvey
Amid the chaos of the music industry, how does one find the perfect equilibrium between self-care and discipline? Join me and my good friend, musician Michael Harvey, as we unravel this balancing act on the Black Man Talking Emotions podcast. We explore the crucial role of self-care practices like journaling, therapy, and meditation while emphasizing the importance of setting boundaries and taking time for yourself outside of work. Discover how paying attention to the details, whether in music or life, becomes a game-changer in maintaining happiness and harmony.
The pandemic reshaped lives globally, and the St. Louis music community was no exception. We share personal anecdotes about navigating through the pandemic's challenges, from the shared panic at grocery stores to the somber losses within our music family. Yet amid the turmoil, opportunities emerged—new collaborations on country music projects and mixing church broadcasts, to name a few. Our reflections highlight the pandemic's dual nature, as a time of both loss and unexpected growth, reminding us of the shifting landscapes we now inhabit.
As we venture into professionalism and discipline, parallels emerge between a band and a basketball team: each member has a unique role contributing to the greater success. We reminisce about wedding gigs, where dedication and preparation were key to delivering standout performances. Recording studio memories offer a glimpse into a journey fueled by musical chemistry and creative freedom, celebrating unexpected talents and cherished collaborations. As the episode wraps up, gratitude flows for our listeners and supporters, inviting them to continue this journey of boundless music-making and connection.
Opening quote: Plato
Opening and Closing Theme song: Produced by Dom L'Amour
Transition Music from Mad Chops Vol. 1 and Mad Chops Vol. 2 by Mad Keys
and
from Piano Soul Vol.1(Loop Pack) by The Modern Producers Team
Featured song: "You Are Mine to Lose" Lyrics by Dom L'Amour, Music by Mike Harvey
Cover art by Studio Mania: Custom Art @studiomania99
Please subscribe to the podcast, and give us a good rating. 5 stars please and thank you. Follow me on @dom_lamour on Instagram. Or at
As my grandfather would say, the devil is in the details. The difference between good and great is the details. So you could be a good keyboard player, but if you can't make the rest sound good, sure you sound good. But as Dr Lee said in Drumline, one band, one sound. If you are a producer or an arranger, don't get so caught up in your instrument that you forget that it's a whole rest of a band that you're playing for. Don't get so busy into you playing your riffs and chops that you riff all over the lead vocalist, who we're supposed to be paying attention to, we're supposed to accompany the singer, until they say, all right, now you solo. Now that's when they give you that clearance. Go ahead, go for it, but until then, play your role. Everybody in the band got a role.
Speaker 2:Ladies and gentlemen, and anyone else who is here, my name is Dom Lamour. You are listening to the Black man Talking Emotions podcast. On today's episode, I speak with musician and good friend Michael Harvey about working on yourself and pursuing a career at the same time. Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.
Speaker 2:My theme of the year last year was to be more organized, to be more productive. That was what I wanted to do and it wasn't really like a what is the New Year resolution. I try not to do those, but I do like to have a theme in my head for what's this year's theme and I come up with that throughout the year. The year before, so like next year or the year we're in now, is discipline. Like that's not coming from New Year's Eve. That's coming because last year I was like something else I need to wear, I need to be more disciplined, and I was trying to be more this year. That's just the theme now. That's my big thing.
Speaker 2:I'm already organized. I got my planner, I'm putting everything together for the album, trying to get more gigs, scheduling all of my other gigs, working with the wedding band, making sure that I'm free those nights, hosting events, making sure I'm good those nights, doing the podcast interviews, editing, making sure everything is in line. So when I look at my schedule, I know exactly what I'm doing and there's no ifs, ands or buts about it. That's what I'm doing. So the organized part is there. The discipline is the doing it and not stopping, just continuing to do it. So that's what my head is. That's how I am at the top of the year. I want to turn that same thing on to you. What are some ways that you're approaching not only just this year, just life in general? How are you working on yourself? Is there anything in particular that you're struggling with right now?
Speaker 1:Struggling, I would say. I'm kind of like you. I'm trying to be more organized, more deliberate, that's the word I'm looking for, more deliberate. So when I do something it's actually on purpose and I meant to do that the way I meant to do it and that's how I did it. I'm a piano player. Obviously when I press a key I don't want it to be by accident, yeah. So then I try to relate that musical term into life. When I do something I don't want it to be oops. You know, I want to be able to control the input that I put out. So then you know, the outcome can only be good if I am deliberate about what I put in.
Speaker 2:So what kind of ways are you like working on that? Like I said, I'm journaling. Now I'm working with my therapist. I'm making sure that my day-to-day, like today, on Thursdays I try to do a self-care day. So even though I'm working today, I still have moments today like my meditation, later, my yoga. Later I'm going to take my bath, I'm going to relax my body, make sure I'm good. I'm going to go on a long walk after I'm done with this podcast. Like I got a whole bunch of stuff that I'm going to do throughout the day to keep myself right and then I'm working on at nighttime. I'm not having my phone in my hand when I'm in bed anymore. I'm putting the phone away. I'm putting the iPhone out of it. What things are you doing in your day to day to get yourself to that level that you talk about?
Speaker 1:You just named about half of them. The other one is something a friend of mine said and that we have to learn that no is a complete statement and it doesn't mean I don't like you, doesn't mean I don't love you, doesn't mean you know something's wrong with our friendship. It just means I cannot spend my energy, time thought process on whatever that was that I had to say no to.
Speaker 1:Yes, because a lot of times, well, you know, as performers we try to say yes to everything and that will drive you up a wall. So saying no to stuff I don't really want to be a part of, or finding time, like you said, getting out, going to do something else other than what I do for a living. Going places that I like to go that have nothing to do with anything else but that I do for a living. Going places that I like to go that have nothing to do with anything else but that I just like to go. So if it's to a movie, I'm cool with going by myself in the middle of the day while everybody's working school. I'm a nerd. Well, you know me. So I'm a nerd If I want to hit the history museum.
Speaker 2:I'm going and it's free back at St Louis, so it's like I'm in there, yes, our history museum. I'm going, and it's free back at St Louis so it's like I'm in there.
Speaker 1:Yes, our history museum is 100% free and I'm walking through the building looking at everything. I want it's to take more time for me. I love video games. That's a good, relaxing thing to do, so I will get on my Xbox and kick my shoes off and relax.
Speaker 2:Getting away from the world that isn't the real world, like social media, like putting that down and going outside changes a lot of things, like in the morning time now I've been doing a walk in the morning and to get outside that early, like literally I just got out of bed, just clean myself up or whatever, brush my teeth or whatever, and then I'm outside and I'm feeling the air in my face already Just prepping to go outside, since it's cold. I got to put the jacket on, I got to put the long socks on, I got a whole routine that pushes me to really make an effort to get out and to just feel the surrounding energy and absorb that energy. And you come back in after being in the sun and having all of this extra wind hitting you and all of the smells and everything is really collecting within you. So when you go back in, you bring in that energy in with you and that changes your whole day. It truly does help just to get out of the house.
Speaker 1:You have events of this house. Where I live now. I live directly across the street from a elementary school, so there are times if I hear the kids outside playing, I'll just go take a lawn chair and go sit on the porch and literally listen to the kids laugh and play, and you know it's good to hear kids be able to be kids with nothing and I can literally listen to them. Kids be able to be kids with nothing and I can literally listen to them. I got the sun beaming on me so you know that adds some extra. I don't know, it's like an energy drink. I guess Letting the sun hit you and being outside, escaping from being in the studio, for me is good and bad. It's my living, but it's also like being a turtle, so I could be stuck in my own shell for weeks working on stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And you'd never go outside. You know I go outside for church or if I got a rehearsal. So now, like you talked about earlier, I get outside just just to be outside, for no other reason other than to be outside, even in the cold. You got that 22 degree weather here. Button up, put the jacket on, get the scarf. You know I got a bald head, got to put a hat on.
Speaker 2:Get outside. So just kind of going back, cause we've made it, we've established. You know the ways we're working to to put ourself in better positions, looking out for ourselves. We're musicians getting out performing that's usually the grind trying to meet people, trying to make more music. I want to go back because I'm like okay.
Speaker 2:So last year really was stressful for me, with all of the election and all of the stuff going on in the world in general. That really put a damper on my stress, on my head. My stress was high and I was constantly trying to find ways to relax because of how weird everything I was consuming from the outside was making me feel. It was making me feel horrible and I feel like I was not able to do anything. I didn't feel like I could help anyone. Every time I would call home somebody at home is sick, someone's pregnant, someone's got and it's constantly negativity coming my way and I'm like is this me? Why is all of this happening? Like what's going on, you know? So that really is what got me to the place where I'm very, very focused.
Speaker 2:This morning is a prime example of the hard work where you know, for years I would just tell people I can't wake up in the morning. I'm not a morning person For years. I would just be like I'm getting up late, I can't do it, I can't do it. And today, you know, I woke up seven o'clock it was another day Went outside, did my walk, got my routine together, had my breakfast and stuff and started writing the music that I'm working on. Then I'm prepped for the show.
Speaker 2:So just doing the consistent work on myself, breathing exercises, putting myself in the correct headspace when I know purposes are supposed to happen, having my planner truly helps because it's like okay, what am I supposed to do today? These are the things that I wrote to do today. Great when I finish those. If I do something else, that's bonus. But also I don't have to do anything else because this is what I want to do today, and that really helps me. Just completely open up. What are some things that have bothered you over the past year, or the past couple of years that you've been struggling with, that you've had to work through to get to where you are now?
Speaker 1:Oh man, you hit the nail on the head. So a lot of the political stuff was it was constant negativity, constant arguing, bickering over a lot of stuff that didn't even matter, and I think that was, for me, probably the worst of it, because I'm going. Why does this matter? Why are we arguing over this? This doesn't matter. You know, they get into, like the racial arguments and I'm going.
Speaker 1:Well, I got friends that are not black and they are amazing human beings and when we see each other it's nothing but love, hugs and laughs and we dap each other up and we talk about how's the wife, how's the kids, how's the this, how's that? I'm like I don't have these experiences. Now, as a, as a black man from the Midwest, sure, I've met racism, but not as much as what we see on social media, on TV, not even remotely close. So a lot of that. Then, just before all of that, there was COVID. So here in St Louis we lost the music family.
Speaker 1:We lost a lot of musicians and singers due to COVID, because, of course, a lot of them had pre-existing conditions and COVID would attack, especially if you were diabetic or you had some type of breathing issue, asthma, bronchitis, all of that it would hit you worse. Yeah, so we lost a lot of that. So that was just as bad, because it was people that you know how it is. It's people that we consider friends and family. They've been to the house, I've been to their house, we performed together, ate together, kicked it laughed and then you got to go view them in this box. So kicked it laughed and then you got to go view them in this box. So all of that together in a couple of years yeah, that can make life really stressful.
Speaker 2:And in many ways, covid, I always say on this podcast, was very positive for me in my life. You know, I was very fortunate that I didn't have anybody pass away. I was very fortunate to have a partner and my wife who this was the prime time we got to know each other. You know, like before that I was working at one of the worst bars ever and I was able to see her once a week. We would see each other on Mondays and that was our date night and that was when we were getting to meet each other. It was once a week we were getting to meet each other and then this pandemic happened. She moved in with me literally the week before the pandemic started. She, that March 1st was her first month in the house and we went to a wedding on the 12th in St Louis.
Speaker 2:And then, boom, when we got back, they were not. It wasn't even well. It was shut down when we got back but the city was in chaos, like we landed at lax. We went to the closest ralph's grocery store we can go to and they were already out of toilet paper. People were like, like it was, you think of it. You were like you forget about that stuff that was going on. That was like prime. What was happening? They have no paper towels, no toilet paper. People were taking all the waters. There was no waters. It was crazy. And then I had a panic attack. So I was just like there's too many people here, so like I think about all of that.
Speaker 2:And and then when me and adrian was at the house, we were going walks and we would talk about our dream house, we would wave to the neighbors. It was so pleasant, but also it's that weird. It's almost like when you think about the fact that we just finished the Iraq war and Afghanistan war. For so long we were just living normal life, but we were at war, you know, but it never felt like we were at war. But we were at war, you know, but it never felt like we were at war, but we were at war.
Speaker 2:And with covid it was the same kind of feeling where it's like my life is good, I'm good, my people good, but the world is not okay right now at all. It wasn't even just america, it was the world. And on top that we have to watch, all of these people consistently tell us that what's happening isn't happening in our face. That was the hardest part for me, so to hear what your approach to it is.
Speaker 2:It's so true that that time truly is something that when we're old and gray we'll remember that clearly just how everything made us feel and how we were so nervous and worried and how that affected us for not just that time period. It's still something we're working on. That's incredible and, as a musician, how do you feel like COVID affected you as an artist? Did you feel like you went into the tunnel and pulled out the old trunk and found the piano that you hadn't played in years and put it back together? Did you go back to the drawing board? Or do you feel like you kind of slacked off? How do you feel you approached your career during that time period?
Speaker 1:Here's what's funny. So, where a lot of musicians did not do well during COVID because their church gigs were stopping, of course, all live performances were shut down for at least about a year, I did well. Yeah, I was playing piano on country records for guys in Nashville I've I've never met. I've played on probably 20 or 30 country records playing piano, organ mixed a couple of them One of my, like one of my friends who goes to a white church in Kansas City, I was mixing their live broadcast. Yeah, well, it wasn't live so they would record on Wednesday. I had to get the mix done by Saturday to get it to the video guy so he could sync video and audio and I was paid for that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it wasn't, it was pre-recorded, but you were, you were taking the footage.
Speaker 1:that was, yeah, I guess I was taking audio, mixing that and then sending it to the video guy for him to sync it up, so you know you would see, you would hear what you were seeing at the same time. Yeah, I mean, for me it was good, but then, like you said, the moment you pick up social media or turn on your TV, the rest of the world is in full out chaos.
Speaker 2:Oh dude, one of my least favorite things was how people there was it was the biggest first world problem in the world People complaining about masks and how I just can't breathe in this mask. I feel like I just I'm losing people's facial expressions with these masks and I'm just like If we just wear the mask, we'll be safe. Why is that something that people are finding an argument for? How are people so selfish to allow that to be something so small? I was trying to escape in many ways. I was taking piano lessons, I was doing Spanish on Duolingo.
Speaker 2:I was, you know, teaching my friend Bates how to make drinks on Fridays, so we were shaking up drinks on a cocktail, like I was doing everything I could to stay active. I recorded a whole album and I still remember how negative everything was and it still makes me think about that area of I was good, but it was not a good time and on top of that, something now people always forget to talk about is before covid, shit was crazy, yes, you'll say, like we had been getting to a place where it was a school shooting or something every other weekend. There was somebody doing some crazy races every weekend, like it was Nazis taking, you know, full marches and stuff. Like that was the world we were in. And to go through the pandemic, people were like, oh, the pandemic did it. And I was like, dude, we were already headed this way.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And it just happened faster because of the pandemic.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I think part of it is what I call the arrogance of being an American. If you ever travel outside of America, you'll realize how blessed it is to be an American, because you will see what other countries deal with and I'll never forget being in Germany. I saw so much and I'm going oh, we have better than that in America. We have better, you know. You see, in restaurants. You see how McDonald's looks in another country versus how one looks here. Of course, mcdonald's is a horrible restaurant, but it looks better here than in other countries. We have an abundance of everything and most other countries are scraping.
Speaker 1:So to get upset about putting a mask on the same mask, mind you, that doctors and surgeons and nurses wear daily, well before COVID, when they go into surgery. You've seen doctors put that same mask on before walking into surgery and now privileged individuals felt like I don't want to wear this mask, I'm not going to be able to breathe and I'm going. But your surgeon does surgeries for eight, nine and 10 hours and he's wearing it and all the nurses in there are wearing it and they're fine. They don't drop dead in the middle of the surgery. I don't see how you can't breathe in something that's been proven to be breathed through. Construction workers wear those white N95 masks when they're doing demolition. Because of the dust from the house collapsing, they don't just drop dead on a construction site, they are breathing just fine. They're there for 8, 10, 12 hours a day and they go home to their loved ones. They might be dirty, but they're alive. I never understood why is it a problem? Put this mask on, just put the mask on.
Speaker 2:I feel like the culture of not trusting the professionals is kind of getting out of hand, something I've noticed more and more. I feel like the wrong people are giving, getting the opportunities to influence things that they shouldn't, where all of these people who want to, who have a voice online, who can speak online, they shouldn't be able to do what they do, but it's a free country, so we, you know that's, that's our dilemma. But it goes to not only the covid stuff, but also to musicians, where something I've noticed more and more now the older I get, is how often you'll see somebody who isn't a musician, who doesn't do the work to be a musician, who has a good singing voice or can you know, use social media well, and they put themselves out there as a musician because anyone can be a musician. In their head, they're like, oh, I don't need to be a pro, I don't need to do this, I don't need to do this, I don't need to do that.
Speaker 2:But then you get them on stage and they don't know what to do because they've never really done it. They've just sat in the shower and sang and they look at you like, oh, you're just a singer. I've heard, you're just a singer. So much in my life and I'm like I'm a performer and I'm like I'm a performer. There's a difference. I do this and how do you feel that has been towards you as a piano player, someone who can produce a full song yourself and help other people's careers? How often has it come to a place where people kind of looked at you like, yeah, you say you're the professional, but I know better Listen. Yeah, you say you're the professional, but I know better Listen.
Speaker 1:Okay, you've opened up a whole can right here. So this happens a whole lot. And you heard the singer part because you sing Yep. So imagine being a keys player, producer, arranger, and then somebody says, oh, I could do that. Ok, let's, let's see. I guess I can send you YouTube clips of me working with the same artists multiple songs, how many you got? How many people come to you for the first time and then come back?
Speaker 1:It's easy to go to somewhere and then you get there one time and then you don't like it and you'll never go back. But it's different when you treat your business like a Ruth Chris and you don't advertise and you've never seen a Ruth Chris commercial because Ruth Chris doesn't advertise the people who eat at Ruth Chris advertise Ruth Chris. If you treat your business like Ruth Chris and I'm going to give you the best service I can when you leave, I want you to be happy. When you call back, I want you to be like hey, remember that last album we did? All right, I got another one. I want that experience with every artist I work with and people because they can play one chord, four chords, five chords and I'm going.
Speaker 1:No, it's different when you go on stage and you got to control the band. You got to write for the band and be able to communicate. How do you communicate with your drummer who doesn't understand what you're playing on the piano and then tell him what to play while you play what you play so that they sync and match up? How do you describe the feel, the bounce of the bass line to the bass player? When the solo, when not the solo? Are you capable of vocally saying this to a musician? How do you tell a singer hey, I want you to sustain these notes right here, so it sounds more like a flow, and then make this part more choppy because the band playing like how do you?
Speaker 2:communicate, or do you even notice that stuff? You know what I'm saying. Like you haven't even done this before, so would you even?
Speaker 1:know, as my grandfather would say, the devil is in the details. The difference between good and great is the details. So you could be a good keyboard player, but if you can't make the rest sound good, sure you sound good. But as Dr Lee said in Drumline, one band, one sound. If you are a producer or an arranger, don't get so caught up in your instrument that you forget that it's a whole rest of a band that you're playing for. Don't get so busy into you playing your riffs and chops that you riff all over the lead vocalist, who we're supposed to be paying attention to, we're supposed to accompany the singer until they say all right, now you solo, now this. When they give you that clearance, go ahead, go for it, but until then, play your role.
Speaker 1:Everybody in the band got a role. Play your role. Just like on a basketball team everybody's not the point guard, everybody's not the center. But if the point guard tries to stand in the paint where the center is supposed to be, who out there guarding the other point guard from another team? So it's a job not being done. If you're not doing your job Always.
Speaker 1:I totally agree. That's where people don't get it and I'm like it's easy for you to look on the outside and because you can do a little bit. You feel like you can do a lot and I'm like no, and I always tell people it's like weight lift. Go lift weights with Shannon Sharp. No, it's a game changer. Go lift weights with Dwayne the Rock Johnson. Go lift weights with Kevin Hart. Go do their morning workout. I want you to get up at 5 am with them because Shannon Sharp still got to do the nightcap. You still got to do the ESPN stuff. He's still doing club Shay Shay, so he ain't getting up at noon. Shannon Sharp got to get up early because all his other stuff happens during the rest of the day, so if he going to stay looking like he look, he got to get up at 5 am to hit the gym, so I want you to get up with them. So I want you to get up with them. Get up with Kevin when he's shooting a movie, and he got to get up at four.
Speaker 2:Check. Get up at two because you know they got to be on set, if you're saying they got to be in makeup and getting a costume.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's. The difference in the discipline is when you can get in and do your job to where it looks so easy that people don't realize your job is harder than what they think it is. If it looks easy, it's probably not easy.
Speaker 2:I always, whenever I talk to musicians, bring up stuff like this because I feel like it's just so common you know what I'm saying Like I'm a wedding singer. People hear that and they have their mentality of what a wedding singer is. You know, they watch the movie and they think it's just kind of this simple thing. But I'm doing events like all right, great example. This last wedding we just did was in Mississippi, this historical city, and we went down there and it had 700 people at this wedding. You know what I'm saying. So it's this huge event.
Speaker 2:We had a 13-piece band with three horns and there's three backup singers, three singers, me as the emcee and a full band behind us. And we don't rehearse for those gigs. You know what I'm saying. I don't have a rehearsal each week for that. Our rehearsal is the last gig. You're just supposed to go home. You're supposed to get your music down. You come in, you do the last gig. You're just supposed to go home. You're supposed to get your music down. You come in, you do the damn thing. And that's a normal weekend for me. And I'm not saying that I don't want people to hear that thing and I'm just trying to flex, but I don't feel like people understand just how grand this position I have really can be when it comes to performing. I can perform with anybody. That's the way I will always think, because I do the preparation throughout the week. I'm drinking tea right now, my voice is well-rested, I'm doing my breathing exercises at night, I'm singing through my songs, I'm making sure I know everything else that needs to be taken care of when I get there on Saturday. I didn't start getting ready the day before. I've been getting ready all week.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying and you see people be like hey, dom, can I get your band's information? I would love to have you out for our wedding. And I'm like, yeah, here's the information. And then a couple of weeks, I'm like, hey, did you check out? Oh well, you know I actually was going to talk to you about that. Is there any way? Like you guys could maybe like give us some kind of like you know it was very expensive, like we might not need all of this and that and this and that. And I'm like what exactly are you asking me? What exactly are you trying to get at? When you see the number that we are asking for? Why do you think we're asking for that number, what do you think that number means? And most people look at that like screw it, that number isn't important enough to me, I'm going to go find someone else to do it. And then it's not the same quality. And they're like why? I mean it was fine, I guess it was fine, but it could have been better because you didn't prioritize the quality.
Speaker 2:I sang at a wedding once another example where they had four people sing at the wedding. They kind of just ask take you, bless us and do a tune. And it's a very close friend of mine. So I was like, yeah, I'll come in and I'll sing, I'm cool with that. And I sang one of my original songs, like, yeah, I'll come in and I'll sing, I'm cool with that. And I sang one of my original songs.
Speaker 2:But the people before me weren't singers, they just was random people who performed. They used to be theater majors, one who kind of still does theater. And then there was me. And so they had a singing when people were eating and I already know how it goes when you're eating, people ain't paying attention to that shit. But on top of that they asked us all to sing ballads, all of us. And so by the time it got to me, they had heard three ballads and I was watching people like start to over talk the the third person singing. They didn't care. So I was like, alright, wait a minute Before I do this song. Let me mix it up right quick, I'm going to do a little something. I need a soul clap. I need one of those, baby. And I made the whole audience start clapping and then I went into you make me happy, like did my, you know.
Speaker 2:I changed up the whole vibe of the thing and I was like, okay, I just I feel like I had to mix it up. Now I'm going to sing the ballad and y'all going to pay attention to me, and then I did that, and then everybody clapped and people were excited.
Speaker 2:It was fun, it was a really enjoyable day for me and performance. And after that the person came up to me and not like I said I'm not saying this to be mean, it's just something that I don't even think they comprehended when they did it. They they were like man, you, you so good man, we should have just had you do the whole thing. It was like, yeah, but that wasn't what you were trying to do. You weren't thinking about that. You were thinking of how can I get this money, do this without having to spend too much money and have a special moment, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it truly is discouraging for someone who was pursuing this as a career to constantly have to face other people telling you that what you do is something that anyone could do, when clearly they can't.
Speaker 1:It's not as easy as it looks when you get your hands dirty.
Speaker 2:Mike and I met back in 2015. I had asked his brother to put a band together the week before I was meeting with a popular St Louis singer God rest his soul Kim Massey. Mike and I had never played with each other before, but it didn't matter. He is one of the best piano players I know in this country. I always admired his skill and the songs that we wrote together are still very special to my heart. Seeing Michael along the way has always put a smile on my face, and this was a long time coming for the pod. So cheers to Mike and thank you for tuning in.
Speaker 2:Today it is officially 10 years since we recorded my first album, sweet dreams 10 years, and I didn't think about that until this past week. I'm like we did that in 2015. It's two, it's 2025. I've, I've.
Speaker 2:I literally have a 10 year project that we worked, and having you on this year is a blessing. I just think it's incredible how many people I've worked with, or people I know that I still have somewhat of a relationship with and I still communicate with, to be able to have you on the pod. You're one of the first people I'm going to have on the show this year, and it's 10 years from us originally meeting and working together. It's just so dope, and I just want to hear some of your thoughts on what you remember from that first recording session with Kim Massey God rest her soul From us chilling out in the studio, because we lived in that studio for multiple months. It was constantly us working on stuff, you and I putting stuff together. I wrote most, not most. I wrote all the lyrics and you wrote all the music and the majority of the album. You're the one playing piano on it. What are some things that you remember from that experience?
Speaker 1:man. Okay, here is one of my favorite memories. Well, okay, here's two. Let me give you. One was the amount of times we would leave the studio after we set up to let my brother, brandon, soundcheck the drums, and we would go to that. Oh man, what was that little restaurant? Like Catacomb from the studio, are you?
Speaker 2:talking about the one with the little bun? Yes, yes, yes, are you talking about the one with little bun? Yes, yes, yes, I don't know, I remember it, but I got the video of y'all eating the bun still we, we probably went.
Speaker 1:I think we went there like every time we came over there. I don't think we had a session and we didn't go there and we it was like half a block away and we did not care. And imagine this. So it's four or five black guys walking through the Maplewood area at like 10 in the morning. Yeah, we look like a bunch of thugs. I'm just saying from the outside, looking in, we look like a bunch of thugs. We had on jeans and Tims and tennis shoes and baseball caps. We don't look like the people that are typically in Maplewood at 10 am.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Nobody bothered us. We walked over to the little restaurant, ordered our stuff Eventually, by like the second or third time, the folks asked like y'all work over here, like what's up? We were there so often so I remember eating that. That was probably one of the most hilarious things. The the other thing was the day that chris had to take the guitar solo on.
Speaker 1:I think I told, I think I've told that story like a million times, oh man so so I'm gonna tell it from my side and then you tell me how it was from your side. So we're in the studio and we're working on. Oh, what was?
Speaker 2:the song you and my nose.
Speaker 1:Yes, so we're working on that. We do the first pass. Now chris is playing bass, and then we go back and overdub him on lead guitar. But we were like before we started the putting him on lead guitar, he'd already played, played bass. So the band essentially was done and you said I would love to have guitar.
Speaker 1:Chris says to me hey bro, I got my guitar in the car and I said, ok, go get it. And you're like, wait a minute, he plays guitar too. And I'm like, yes, he got this. And so your facial expression says I'm skeptical. But you're like, you ain't led me astray yet. I'm going to trust you, but I'm also skeptical. So that's the look I'm seeing on your face.
Speaker 1:So Chris comes in, I literally walk him through the chords. Once he records the rhythm guitar part, fine, no problem. You're like OK. So you loosened up a little bit, you sat back in a chair. It's okay, he could play guitar a little bit. And then you said it would be nice if we could take a solo. So I had a short solo in the song and I'm like yo, chris, after I take this solo, I want you to rip it, I want you to go full on Jimi Hendrix and he says I got my pedal board in the car. He goes and gets the pedal board out the car and you're like, wait a minute, he can solo like that and I'm like he got it.
Speaker 2:Just relax.
Speaker 1:And the moment he takes the solo, really cool, first on a nice, you know mellow sounding guitar setting. And then eventually I give him this nod like okay, hit the distortion pedal Full on Jimi Hendrix, now he starts to rip. Pedal full on Jimi Hendrix, now he starts to rip. And then you went, oh, the look on your face. So at this point I'm not even looking at Chris, because I already knew. I'm looking at you and you like, oh well, okay, yes. And so now I'm laughing and Bo's laughing, because we already knew and Chris is full on watching the screen. And then we get to the part where you come back in and Chris is like you want me to stop? No, keep going. And so he rips completely underneath all of your singing while you're singing sporadically through the end of the song. And just to see the look on your face at the end was like oh, and I'm like, yeah, this is why we call him Two-Way, because he played both guitars.
Speaker 2:Yeah, everything you said is exactly how I remember it. The only difference for sure I made a scratch vocal of how I wanted it. I was like this, this, this and that. So it was just crazy how accurate he was towards the scratch vocal, where I was just talking nonsense. And then he did everything I was saying and I was like this dude is next level and for many years there was only a couple of drummers I could trust to work with. There's only a couple of bass players I could trust to work with. There's only a couple of piano players I liked working with, because you work with some people and it just doesn't blend correctly. And so I knew my guitar players and I didn't even know that he did guitar. So that was something I was very concerned about because I was like I want this to be a solo. That's incredible. I want an incredible guitar solo and that song I always tell people that was the first song that I wrote and recorded that, yeah, he killed it the way it was in my head. That was just mind blowing.
Speaker 2:I still hold that album, that time period, very dear to my heart. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I drove myself into credit card debt out the wazoo. I think that really made it harder for me to continue to make albums. It made it harder for me to continue to tour and I'm trying my best to kind of get myself back to that. Still, I feel like I'm still recovering from the payment of that album and then the payment of the second album, but not thinking of it that way anymore, not seeing those negatives anymore, just admiring the fact that we put something together 16 songs, a complete vision that all of us worked out. Each song that we worked on came very easily to us. Like I wrote all those songs and then when I gave them to you, you was like, oh okay, I see what you're trying to do. And you were doing it to the point where you were like making songs difficult for the other guys on purpose, cause you were like this is just so much fun when jazz I didn't have the handcuffs.
Speaker 1:Let's say, if you were a neo soul artist, I have to stay within certain parameters for it to be classified neo soul. Or if we were doing gospel, I got to keep certain stuff a certain way. When you're doing jazz, well, there's no holds barred. So if I want to do full on classic R&B, we can do that on one song. And then if we want to go straight full on, straight ahead jazz, acoustic piano, acoustic drums, we can do that because you classify yourself as jazz. Now here's another funny story that I remember. We were sitting in the studio, so it was me, you, chris Bo, and you started to play us the songs that the other guys did. Yes, yes, we just vibed and listened. I'm like, okay, that's cool, this is good, this is good Because, as a producer, it's good to hear somebody else's idea. So then you realize, okay, we ain't too far off from each other. I like that One of the songs. My brother says we need live drums on this song.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And he just walked. So now, mind you, y'all didn't record to a click, nope, so there's no constant bass.
Speaker 2:It's the song, baby you.
Speaker 1:Yes, and my brother says I got it. And so you looked at me, Chris looked at me and I'm like he said he got it. So at certain points I try to trust the band. Yeah, I trust you to be a professional. If you say you got it, you heard it in your head, go execute, Go do it. He's the only one of us to do that on that song, because the rest I was like there's a piano, what am I supposed to dumb him out? No, that's stupid, Let him play. He says this song needs drums, Walks in there. I think he did two, maybe three takes and it was over walks in and I think he did two maybe three takes and it was over.
Speaker 2:He did two takes, that was it, and the first take was the one we used. It was crazy, dude. It was crazy. That's a good time. I'm very happy for that.
Speaker 1:That was one of my most favorite albums to record because we did it in the way I grew up making records with everybody in the room. The chemistry, the laughs, the jokes, the fun, the synergy that you can feel while you're singing and we're playing at the same time. That's what made the album sound better to me, because it wasn't just like the way we cut records now, where I started scratch track a piano, I call in the band, then we overdub the vocals. It ain't no fun. When you cut it with everybody in the building, it comes out better.
Speaker 2:That's going to be my next album was? Eh? It ain't no fun. When you cut it with everybody in the building, it comes out better. That's going to be my next album.
Speaker 2:I want to do it with the full band and you've already heard some of the tracks on it. I truly want to create that same feeling from that first album where we were in the studio. I had Bread Co, we had Bob Bagels from Bread Co and I had them sliced up and we were able to eat them and had the drink in there, and it was just. It was an honor, thank you. Guitar solo. Oh yeah, you are mine to lose. You are mine to lose. You are mine to lose. This is, of course, that tune we were speaking about earlier. You are mine to lose. That was the solo that my boy, chris Jones, performed and blew my mind. I was very proud and still I'm very proud of this project and I always appreciate Bo, chris, mike Ryan, jake, sam Spencer. There were so many people who performed on Matt Gaetz. They came out and played for me and I just appreciate them so much for that. That was an incredible experience. If you want to check out any more of my music or listen to this on any streaming platform, you can. It's everywhere. Go, check it out, and you can follow me for more information on downlamore at downlamorecom, where you can get anything and everything downlamore.
Speaker 2:This is a new segment that I just started and I wanted to do something where it was more positive. I feel like, even with this show being so open and honest, there's sometimes where it's just the downer the whole episode, and I'm like I want to find a way to just put something positive in the middle of this, no matter what. So the segment's called you Know what I Love? The idea is that I'm going to tell you one thing that I'm crazy about right now. You know what I love this and that's the thing that's popping off, and I want other people to kind of experience that maybe, and then I'll ask you the same question what is something that you love right now? So I'll start off.
Speaker 2:You know what I love Abbott Elementary. Do you watch this show? Yes, abbott Elementary is fantastic and this season they are doing a crossover with it's Always Sunny and it's already out now. I'm waiting for my wife because I love her dearly and she would murder me if I watched the episode without her. So I'm waiting to watch it. But Abbott Elementary is, on my mind hard and I love it right now. What's something you're talking about right now?
Speaker 1:You know what I love? Squid games. Oh yeah, Season two just came out right yes, man, if you have not seen it, I understand I haven't, I didn't watch season one, oh, bro, you gotta watch.
Speaker 1:oh so season two hinges on season one and season one was crazy. So, without spoiling it, it's about some people who hit down times and they want to win this money and they go into this weird set of games. But the problem is is if you lose you die. So without giving away the rest of the movie, that is the overall plot of the game. Someone wins and then in season two he goes on this crazy John Wick-ish type of hunt. Yeah, I'm trying to say it without saying it. It is crazy. All right, if you like action and a story that makes the action viable, not just like a Call of Duty type of we just shooting to be shooting. No, no, no, no, there is a purpose. We are looking for somebody that. That's why I said John Wiggins, because he's looking for a person that.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:But I love Abbott Elementary. It's hilarious.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, we've made it to the end of the show and I appreciate your time. This has really been something I wanted to do for this show and I'm so thankful that you took the time out to make it happen, and hopefully we can make some more music happen this year too. 10 years is crazy, and I saw some posts the other day about how you know it's a blessing to still have friends from middle school and stuff like that, and I'm very fortunate to still have friends from middle school and high school and college. But even after college, I created these relationships with people like you. That is very special to me. I can't hear that album without thinking about us recording in the studio, the people we worked with, the people that I haven't seen since then, or everything. So I appreciate that, and with the last part of this, I do the same thing every episode. We've talked about what we want to talk about. We've gotten through our subjects. All I want to know now is how do you feel?
Speaker 1:man, I feel great, man, I feel great. Yeah, I got up like, I like you, I got up, feel great, I got up. Like you, I got up this morning. I got up on purpose this morning. I feel great.
Speaker 2:I feel awesome. That's what it's all about. Hey, cheers to you, appreciate your time. You have a good one you too. Bro, I want to thank you for listening to the Black man Talking Emotions podcast. The opening quote. Credit goes to Plato and shout out to my guy, mike, for being on the pod. Follow Mike at Michael Harvey I on Instagram. Please subscribe to the podcast, share the podcast and give us a good rating Five stars, please. And thank you. You can support the show by clicking the link at the bottom of the episode description. If you liked this episode, you should go check out the previous episode I did with Mike's brother, bo Lamar, titled Behind the Music Standing Firm in Artistry and Tackling the Live Stage with Dom Lamar and Beau Lamar. That speaks through very much what the title suggests, so check it out. Follow me at D-O-M underscore L-A-M-O-U-R on Instagram or at DomLamarcom. I'm Dom Lamar. Much love.
