Episode 10 - Atlus

[00:00:00] Speaker A: This was for the home team. [00:00:08] Speaker B: This was for the home team. [00:00:14] Speaker A: Hey. [00:00:15] Speaker C: Welcome to Tailgate Beers. [00:00:16] Speaker B: We are are here with iced tea. With iced tea on brand. [00:00:22] Speaker C: We've got our good friend Atlas. [00:00:31] Speaker B: Others are you sleeping with? All I know is I don't deserve this. [00:00:37] Speaker C: He's playing here at Cruising. Peoria, Illinois. Welcome to Peoria. Welcome to Tailgate Beers. [00:00:42] Speaker B: Thank you for having me here. Just so y'all know, they own everything around here. I'm pretty sure they own. You own the Casey's, but you won't let me know. I went there, they gave me a free slice. [00:00:50] Speaker A: You. You do all, really? [00:00:52] Speaker B: No, I always stream. They would, and I didn't get it, but I was trying. [00:00:56] Speaker A: I got. [00:00:56] Speaker C: Did you ask them? [00:00:58] Speaker B: I would have gave anything for that, you know, a pack of cigarettes, Something a little worse, you know, But I'm. But, you know, I got the pizza. I paid for it. I had the right thing. [00:01:06] Speaker A: Have you played Central Illinois? You've never played Central Illinois before? [00:01:11] Speaker B: This is the first time. This is the first time. [00:01:12] Speaker A: Have you played Chicago? [00:01:14] Speaker B: I played Chicago, yeah. [00:01:15] Speaker A: Where'd you play? [00:01:17] Speaker B: Trying Joe's. Joe's live and then was it twice. I know Joe's life because I like, I remember some of the. Like, the promoter was so great to us. [00:01:28] Speaker A: Yeah, he's amazing. [00:01:29] Speaker B: He's an incredible human. And like, the only people have ever treated me that well is y'all. So, you know. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Yeah, no one treats you better than us. But aside from that, Joe was pretty good. [00:01:37] Speaker B: Joe was pretty good. [00:01:38] Speaker A: Well, no, I'm. Wayne would know. What. Who did you play with up there? [00:01:43] Speaker B: So I was headlining. My buddy Gone was opening. Okay. Starletta, my guy, my guitarist, also dope artist, was opening for Gone. Gone. [00:01:54] Speaker C: To me, when you say Gone, I want. I want everybody to be out to Google and find him. Can you give him a spelling for us? [00:02:01] Speaker B: Yeah. G, A, W, N, E. All caps. [00:02:04] Speaker A: All caps. [00:02:05] Speaker B: I'm gonna say top five most technical rapper of all time. He's so fucking good. Yeah, he's so good. We have a song called this is War. We have a whole album called Waves. He's incredible. I mean, he's. If you guys have not listened to. [00:02:17] Speaker A: Gone, go look him up, go check him out. Shaq approves it. Snoop Dogg approved. He's Shaq approved. [00:02:23] Speaker B: Yeah. And Shaq. Shaq's a genius in terms of one basketball also just entrepreneur. Maybe better an entrepreneur than basketball player. 100 top 10. [00:02:34] Speaker A: Definitely better entrepreneur than free throws. [00:02:36] Speaker C: So I've heard him talk about, like, his stuff he does with and being a father, which is phenomenal. Yeah, yeah. You know, talking about, you know, hey, this is. This is my money. This isn't your money. [00:02:48] Speaker B: I love that you brought that up. [00:02:49] Speaker C: You got to earn yours. [00:02:51] Speaker A: He was the one too, that I think he was on like a late night show where he talked about like even cell phones and how he like these kids. Like, you're not just going to get this. You just don't. Like, this is earned. You buy this. This is. [00:03:04] Speaker B: I'm rich, not you. [00:03:06] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, Absolutely. [00:03:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Words of wisdom. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Shout out to Shaq, you know. Yeah. This, yeah. This is brought to you by Shaq. [00:03:13] Speaker C: And Surfside Iced Tea and Vodka. [00:03:15] Speaker B: Surfside, Shaq got some lemonade and vodka. [00:03:17] Speaker A: There could be something there. Surfside, Shaq, they got. [00:03:21] Speaker B: They got to connect. They got to connect. [00:03:22] Speaker A: Do you think you played a 10 points win by two? Do you beat Shaq in basketball? [00:03:30] Speaker B: Free throws in basketball? Are we talking about now or in his prime? No, I lose both times. What are you talking about? Fucking kilo. Free throws. Yeah, dude. Shaq hit a mean 50%. Like around there. Mean 50%. Dude, I might hit like a 2%, you know what I mean? [00:03:49] Speaker A: You weren't an athlete. [00:03:50] Speaker B: I'm a bed. I'm a better. When I close my eyes one time whenever I close my eyes, I go up 2% but like open died, you know, I can't handle the pressure. [00:03:59] Speaker C: Were you throws is about feeling. [00:04:01] Speaker A: Were you homeschooled? [00:04:02] Speaker B: I wish I was. [00:04:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:04:03] Speaker B: I can't. [00:04:03] Speaker A: You just weren't a good athlete. [00:04:05] Speaker B: For me, in terms of athlete, it was like I just didn't want to get hurt. My goal as an athlete was to like. So I grew up like crazy poor, so I just didn't want to go home cuz, you know, it sucked. So like I would just be jv. I didn't have to play, I didn't get hurt. But also I got to hang out, talk, and then never actually do anything but pretend I was good at stuff, you know. [00:04:24] Speaker C: So let's go back to childhood Atlas. Right? Colorado. [00:04:29] Speaker B: You don't go that deep. [00:04:30] Speaker C: You don't. I don't want to go that deep. [00:04:31] Speaker B: No, you want to go that deep. [00:04:33] Speaker A: Childhood Sean. [00:04:35] Speaker C: Okay, Childhood. [00:04:36] Speaker A: Stage name. [00:04:37] Speaker C: Stage name is Atlas, obviously. But we go back to Colorado. What do you miss about Colorado? You going back there often? Seeing family? What's, what's, what's your memories of Colorado for? [00:04:51] Speaker B: More than anything, I think like I love Colorado, but like it's friends, right? I spent my whole life there. So, you know, I thought I'd spend my whole life there. I was driving trucks. I was, you know, just, you know, I had my friends, I was driving trucks. And like, I didn't. I was putting out music, but I didn't know if I'd make it. We put the work in, but there's a little bit of luck that comes with it. You know, dropped a song. It kind of changed my life. And I realized if I want to take this stuff serious, I got to go to a music town, you know, And I thought Nashville, know, fit my vibe a little more. And we came to Nashville. But I miss my friends and I just. Even the crappy trailer I grew up in, you know, it's all nostalgic now. Even though maybe I hated it in the moment. I mean, I definitely miss it now. [00:05:31] Speaker A: But you grew from it. [00:05:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:33] Speaker A: You grew from that situation. [00:05:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm very. It's crazy to think like I'd be on this podcast right now, like coming where I came from. So. [00:05:43] Speaker C: So let's. Let's slow it down a little bit, right? So going back to Colorado, you are a truck driver. And when he says he's a truck driver, you were a semi driver, right? You were a semi truck driver. You were over the road. You were home every night from. I understand, but you were. You were on the road. Like I'm envisioning, and correct me if I'm wrong, obviously, but I'm envisioning like you finding your voice out by yourself in a semi truck driving up snow covered roads in Colorado, right? That, that I. That I know you hated to drive. And you find your voice. Is any truth to that or how. How. How did it happen? [00:06:22] Speaker B: The beauty of. So I started doing line haul for FedEx, right? I got home every night. But what you would do is you would like meet people in the middle. So someone from another state would meet you and you would swap trailers. It's like a 12 hour gig. You guys would meet, you'd come back and so I would listen, I would just play beats and I would write while I was doing those long drives. And like my first two albums, I wrote by myself from a semi. You're a fucking bitch. I wrote, I think like in one hour just driving and just playing something that was inspiring me. I was going through some shit and, you know, I mean, everything I wrote until I got to Nashville was just behind the wheel of a truck. Yeah, semi plays an important part sometimes when I'm like. Because if I'm home, sometimes I get Lazy. You know, sometimes when I really want to write, I just get in my car and I drive. Now, just is this thing that I almost can't write unless I'm driving, dude. [00:07:08] Speaker A: And there's something to that because, I mean, driving behind the wheel, down the road, you're listening to tunes, you're listening to a podcast. You're maybe listening to nothing but the sound of the wind. You know, I mean, I've gone through all those phases. [00:07:27] Speaker B: If you're driving through Wyoming, nothing but wind. Oh my God. [00:07:32] Speaker A: Well, when I hit Wyoming, I mean, I have a different. So I did, I did, I did full straight drive from Peoria to Denver. 16 hours of trying to find what you're going to listen to. I mean, I went through rock, I went through country, I went through old school, I went through podcasts. And then you start hitting a point like, I don't know fuck to listen to. And you. [00:07:55] Speaker B: Sometimes you need silence. You know what I mean? [00:07:58] Speaker A: And again, that's where you roll down those windows and you're like, man, I don't know. You got your own thoughts. [00:08:04] Speaker C: My own ignorance, right? Going back to being a truck driver for FedEx, did you ever have like two or three trailers? Is that like a FedEx an extra assignment? Was it FedEx? [00:08:17] Speaker B: I did about two trailers. Was it FedEx? FedEx Freight? Yeah. [00:08:21] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, shout out FedEx. I would do sponsor these shirts, by the way. [00:08:25] Speaker C: Hello Kitty. [00:08:26] Speaker B: Hello Kitty. I'm fan ever since I was young. You know, most people have Power Rangers. Hello Kitty was my shit. [00:08:33] Speaker A: Oh, dude. [00:08:33] Speaker B: I kind of big. Hell, maybe not, but both. [00:08:37] Speaker A: But thank you FedEx for giving us these $8 shirts. [00:08:41] Speaker C: So you do two trailers like you for that? [00:08:44] Speaker B: We do too. So I was kind of on the shit list because I was young. FedEx is a really good company. So when you work line haul like everybody there has been there 30 years. So like the easy good money shifts go to the seniority, you know. And so I would have to drive Grand Junction, which is like a really short drive. But it's Eisenhower. It's the mountains, it's snowing, it's absolute dog. So when it in the summer, I'd be having a good time. In the winter, it was chaining up every time I roll up there. [00:09:13] Speaker A: Damn. [00:09:13] Speaker B: But I mean, that's rough. To be fair, that company is incredible. I was ready to be a truck driver for my whole life. I was ready for it, right? My mom was always like, look, plan A, Plan A needs to be a real job. And I get it because like, you know, coming up where I come from, like, that kind of money. Truck driver money is good. CDL is great. And she was like, plan B needs to be music, and I hope you get there. But plan A, you need to be happy with your. With the driving thing, because if the music doesn't work out, at least you can be happy in life. And I think music was like a plan A in the back of my mind, but it was always, like, I always wanted it to be, but I had to be okay with being a truck driver for the rest of my life. And I was ready for that. Just kept releasing and then, you know, put out the right song that took off. And so timing wise, it became plan A. After that. [00:10:01] Speaker A: Do you still have your CDL just as a backup? [00:10:04] Speaker B: I do. I do. [00:10:05] Speaker A: Good job. [00:10:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:06] Speaker A: That's good. [00:10:06] Speaker B: Yeah. I hope one day when we get big enough to, like, sell out, like, arenas and stuff, I'm like, I want to drive the truck, and they're not gonna let me, but I'm gonna try. [00:10:14] Speaker A: My ass doesn't work out. You have CDL Z back. [00:10:19] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [00:10:20] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:10:20] Speaker C: So timing wise. So you had already started in music before you were driving a truck? [00:10:27] Speaker B: I've been. I was, like, in a band for a long time, like, when we were, like, in high school, and I think we were just like kids just having a good time, not knowing what it actually means. And we were kind of around for a long time. And I think at some point, you know, I think around 25, I was like, I'm gonna try the solo thing, but I've definitely been doing music longer than driving a truck. The funny thing is, my brother wanted to be a truck driver before me, and then I, like, beat him to the punch. He's like, I have this cool idea, and I went in and just stole it. And now we're. But now my brother is a truck driver, and we're. You know, it's kind of like runs in the family. [00:11:01] Speaker C: So just release an album today. Today. Last night. [00:11:05] Speaker B: Let's cheers. [00:11:07] Speaker C: Cheers to that. [00:11:08] Speaker B: Cheers to. Oh, dude. I'll tell you what my favorite thing about music is, like, the recording of an album and being able to release it, like, today is such a crazy moment. There's a lot going on because we're. We have a show with the album, this podcast, but it's, like, so far. [00:11:21] Speaker C: Listeners. Yes, absolutely. I just want to acknowledge. So just started this tour within the last. Last day or two. [00:11:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Our first show was last night. [00:11:30] Speaker C: First show is last night. Peoria Illinois. You're playing tonight. Second show on, on, on the tour. Dropped an album last night. Come on. [00:11:38] Speaker A: Beyond Expectations. [00:11:39] Speaker C: Oh, goodness. [00:11:40] Speaker B: Go stream it. Go stream it. [00:11:42] Speaker C: And it's, it's not a small album. We talked about this later. [00:11:45] Speaker B: 24 songs. [00:11:46] Speaker C: So all, all things out on the table here. So we've been with Atlas for most of the afternoon. They got into town and we did some putt putt. We had a, had a great time. [00:11:56] Speaker B: I did it. I was terrible at it. [00:11:58] Speaker C: He's a very good putt putt guy. He's golfing. Austin could tell you more stories about his golfing from past, but only got it. [00:12:06] Speaker A: I know to show up to a golf outing with no clubs. That's how good you are. Golf. [00:12:11] Speaker B: I show up to drink. You know what I mean? [00:12:13] Speaker A: And I, that's where we. [00:12:14] Speaker B: But to be fair, when I was bottles, I hit two of three. Remember I got two bottles. [00:12:21] Speaker A: I, I don't disagree. [00:12:23] Speaker B: The funny thing is I completely missed one. I went, I was trying to go that way, it went that way and it hit a whiskey bottle. [00:12:28] Speaker A: You knew what you were doing though. [00:12:30] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I definitely made it look good. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah. You're doing again. I'll never forget. So I invited Atlas to a golf outing where this is not like, this is not just a, hey, man, me and my buddies are going golfing. I mean this is like Kane Brown's golfing. You know, this is, you know, Lily Rose is with us, all this stuff. Shout out, Lily, hello. And I message you and you're like, I'm like, atlas, you want to go golfing? You're like, yep, I'm in. What's the benefit for all this information, I send you a link, you're in. And you and I had not known each other that much and you show up and it's 8:30 in the morning and I, I am full fledged degenerate. And you show up and you're like, hey, man, I'm, you know, you're in your jeans, you're in your short, you know, your Carhartt shirt. How's it going, man? Hey, what's going on? This is Wayne. This is so and so. Hey, this is Lily. Great. Like, you want to do a shot with me? Yep. What do you want to do a shot of Costumigos? I'm like, every time we just become best friends. Yes, we did, we did. We did a shot. We did a shot and then we did another shot. And then I looked at you and. [00:13:55] Speaker B: I said, we did a shot after that too. Don't don't. [00:13:58] Speaker A: We did multiple. I didn't want to keep it going too long, but yes, we did a lot of shots before 9am and then I looked at you and I said, hey, man, again, I'm trying to be a good host. Hey man, can we go get your clubs out of your car. And you're like, I don't have clubs. I've actually never golfed before. I'm like, what the fuck? Like, you've never golfed before? [00:14:18] Speaker B: Dude, the closest thing I've ever had to clubs is like a deck of cards, you know? [00:14:22] Speaker A: But you're like, dude, I've never even golfed before. I'm like, whatever, dude. Fuck it. We rode in the cart. Me and you were cart buddies. You hit like four balls and you had a great time. We played the whole thing. Lily three holes from ending, and she looks at me and Wayne goes, that's Atlas. I said, yes, it's Atlas. What do you mean? We've been playing this music. I know you've been playing this music. I love Atlas. She goes, I thought he was like a homeless veteran or something. Like, I thought it was like a make a wish foundation with Atlas. She's like, I didn't realize. She's like, I didn't realize. Like, that's him. She goes, I thought. He's like, I didn't know what. I didn't know who that was. Like, yep, there he is. No. And she, to be fair about it, but dude, it. It was such a great experience and to be. To be somebody in your position where you have had success in an independent level, you could come in cocky as fuck. You come in and say, dude, I'm. You know, I've wrote these songs, I've done this shit. You just came in open eyed, open experience, ready to go. And we had amazing day. This is one of my favorite days ever. And that's where we became pretty much best friends. And yeah, I'll never forget that day. But dude, cheers to fucking golf. Have you golf since then? [00:15:43] Speaker B: No shot. Dude, I'm waiting. I'm waiting for you to invite me back to not show up. You know what? [00:15:48] Speaker A: Golf is. Maybe not for me. Maybe this isn't my cup of tea. [00:15:53] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, I just wanted to drive the. Go the golf cart, you know, I mean. And you didn't let me. [00:15:57] Speaker A: I did not leave. [00:15:58] Speaker B: So next time you better. Yeah, I'll drink a little less. [00:16:02] Speaker C: One hole to the next. [00:16:04] Speaker B: Not even one. I didn't ask. It was probably on me. I didn't. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Our Relationship, to be fair, with the pants. [00:16:10] Speaker B: So, like, there was. [00:16:11] Speaker C: Were you. [00:16:12] Speaker B: They were. I'm pretty sure they were giving away those John Deere hats. Two vets and I walked up and they gave me a hat. So I can't. I imagine Lily was like, they gave him the hat. Yeah, he is like. Like, I get like. I was just rocking the John Deere, the Carhartt. I didn't even golf, you know, I was. I just, like, kind of showed up. [00:16:31] Speaker A: What. [00:16:31] Speaker B: I think it's just so fun when she said that should I lost. [00:16:33] Speaker A: So you move. You move from Colorado to. Are you. Are you done with that Surfside? [00:16:39] Speaker B: I want to be. I'm taking it a little slow, you know, but we can finish. [00:16:43] Speaker A: I didn't know. I'll throw you. But you moved from Colorado to Nashville. You've been there for how long? [00:16:53] Speaker B: Nashville? [00:16:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:55] Speaker B: I would say about two years now. Two years now. [00:16:58] Speaker A: So you have a shit ton of just music that, honestly, I think most people don't even really realize how much you have out there. How much writing have you been doing? Good job. How much writing have you been doing with people? What's that experience been, like, now that you're in Nashville, have you been doing writing where, like, man, I've never would have had this opportunity. I, like, I'm learning the writing side. What's that, like, what's that balance like for you right now? [00:17:30] Speaker B: I think when I first got to Nashville, because I, like, solely wrote from the truck and that for, like, I was like, kind of in, like, an underground hip hop type thing, I would, like, give hooks to people that rap, and I love hip hop so much. And I think everyone that I knew up to getting to Nashville was like, you gotta write your own stuff, you know? And so I was very weird about having writers come in initially. And I, like, I'm not gonna say I pushed back on it, but it was definitely a different experience because I'm used to being able to, like, spend, like, nine hours in a. In a truck, just kind of, like, critiquing what I need. And. And so, like, at first, I wasn't kind of into it, but over time, I realized, you know, I just. I got to ride with a couple riders, and it's just kind of cool to have, like, be in a room with people that think, like, you. Because I think most of your. Most of my life, people thought I was crazy. You're like, oh, you write songs. You know, I had to, like, I couldn't tell people that I was doing music because I Feel like in this industry, you're a loser till you're not. And I think, like, I would always, like, I was. I'm a truck driver, which I was. And, you know, like, everyone, like, oh, my grandpa was a truck driver. And I think there was just a point where I got to be around people that actually enjoy making music, and I got to, like, meet people like me. And I think that was just a cool experience, and that's kind of how the writing started happening. And now I don't. I just enjoy having other people in the room and know their opinions, and it's fucking. It's incredible. Who would have thought I'd be in Nashville, starting in Colorado, where I was, where I came from? So. [00:19:01] Speaker A: So you are writing in groups now where you're starting to understand, like, how. Because we've learned, and he's learned from the fan experience and even me as a promoter, this has been an eye opening for me, like, absolutely. How the writing side works of you being in a room with people and throwing out the ideas and how that works of writing a song and people doing it on a regular basis. Have you been doing that in Nashville, where you've been going in groups and writing songs, or is that not your thing yet? [00:19:31] Speaker B: No, we have. We have two rides a week, two rights a week. I mean, we have the next album already written. [00:19:37] Speaker A: So you just writing for you, not necessarily for other people? [00:19:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm always. I'm always kind of. I'm always writing for me. I haven't wrote for other people yet. Okay. I've just been so locked into what we're doing right now that I'm just excited to just keep writing songs. And for me, it's like, the more rights, the merrier. I mean, like, if I miss a right, I get really, like, I get a ton of anxiety because I think that that right could have been the next big thing. And so I like to, like, be consistent with it, and I like to, like, write twice a week, you know, And I think that I just love writing. It's my favorite part of the whole thing is creating something that can impact people, and that's absolutely my favorite part about this business. [00:20:19] Speaker C: So you just dropped, I think it was 26 songs on your album today. 24. 24. And you already have the next one kind of working on. [00:20:30] Speaker B: And we. We've written a lot the last two years. [00:20:33] Speaker C: That's awesome. [00:20:34] Speaker B: So. But I mean, we. We definitely got to, like. We've written a lot of them. That doesn't mean they're all good. You know, every once in a while you have some really bad ones, so. But I think we can really narrow it down and get some really good songs out there. But yeah, I'm always writing. It's my favorite part. [00:20:48] Speaker C: So I've gone. I've gone through the depths of Atlas on YouTube from your official videos going all the way back. We talked about today a little bit about your covers and all of that. So have you really gone through that many breakups and that many relationships? [00:21:08] Speaker B: Not too many. Most of this is like one or two relationships and you. [00:21:13] Speaker C: Yeah, but you, you create. You write different songs based upon those relationships. [00:21:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I like to try to. Like, for me, a lot of the music was not exactly like just trying to write anything. It was just writing. It was kind of therapy for myself. I definitely couldn't afford therapy at that point in my life. And I think, like, I just wanted to, like, talk about. I wanted to sing about it. And I, I have a problem, I think, in my, like, personal life with communicating. In some ways, we all do. We're like, I let stuff build and I'm. [00:21:43] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll. Cheers. [00:21:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Here's the daddy issues. [00:21:57] Speaker C: So, hey, we're here sitting with. With Atlas and just having some chit chat about his music career so far and. And again, just releasing an album last night, this morning, 24 songs he's got on this album. He's got some already set up ready for the next one and just talking about some of the history of those songs. [00:22:20] Speaker A: What's the favorite song on this album? I mean, we all know your favorite song and we'll. We'll probably play this on this podcast, but I mean, you're a fucking bitch is definitely your viral one. But I mean. [00:22:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:30] Speaker A: What is your favorite song on this album that just dropped today? [00:22:34] Speaker B: What's some of my favorite song? It's not the best song on the album, but my favorite song is for the underground. It's the first song. So every album I have, like, my first song is always like talking about where my life is at right now. Like, it started with my world, went to fill up my cup into greener pastures. So just kind of talking about where I'm at in life and it's like giving like a perspective of how I'm feeling. For the underground is like realization of like. Yeah, I grew up in a trailer park, poor as hell. I remember there was a time where we used to, like, we didn't have water, so we would like, we would go to the back of An Albertsons, like, late at night, and we would, like, hook up a hose, and we would get water, and then my mom would heat up on the stoves, and we'd, like, take baths in those trash cans, you know? And so, like, shit. Like, that was like. I just remember, like, the way I grew up. It was. It was a tough life. And, like, being where I'm at now, it just. It blows my fucking mind. And I think for the Underground is kind of, like. It references a lot of real things happening in life. It's like, how did I go from a trailer park to being able to make songs for a living? How did I go from. I remember my mom was like, hey, I think you're fucking incredible. And it was fifth grade talent show. I sang Don't Want to Miss a Thing for the first time ever. My fifth grade talent show. And she was there, front row. And then, like, in that song, I say, like, and now I'm on this. I'm sharing the stage with Jelly Roll. And Jelly Roll, like, invited me out to Red Rocks as a special guest. And just thinking about how I went from that, like, talent show to, like, my mom got to hug Jelly Roll and be backstage and, like. And I grew up in Colorado. I mean, Red Rocks is, like, absolutely. It's a dream, dude. You know what I mean? [00:24:17] Speaker A: You've made it. You've made it. [00:24:19] Speaker B: As a kid, I used to, like, make my mom go there, and we would walk up and down the stairs, and I would, like, sit there and think, one day I can play this. You know? The coolest thing about Red Rocks is, too, if you play it, you get to, like, sign the wall. But I didn't sign it because, like, for me, it was. Jelly Roll sold that show out, not you. Joe was fucking amazing, and it was his moment, and I was like, I want to wait till I can sell this shit out for me to sign it. But I'm just so glad that, like, Jelly Roll gave me that opportunity. And, like, sometimes I just think about what's going on in life, and it blows me away. I'm just so fucking blessed to be here. Every fan has shared the music, that loves the music. I. I sometimes feel like I don't deserve it, and it's fucking. I'm just fucking so glad to be here. So. [00:25:05] Speaker C: So you have lyrics, titles, you're a fucking bitch. You know, those types of things. But I know that, and I can even tell just from sitting down and talking to you in the last few minutes and not necessarily spending the afternoon with you that, you know, there's. There's not necessarily could be emotional side, but there's. There's a side of you that, you know, feels that type of connection to the music, that type of connection to your upbringing and what brought you to today. And I think that's what is. Is authentic to you. [00:25:41] Speaker B: Music was the only way that I could really voice my, like, how I'm feeling. Like, it, like I need to like, sit down and I need to write it out and I need to like, how do I actually feel? And so music, like, early in my life was an escape from like any hardships I had. And then it turned into this thing that just like, it's the way I communicated. Like, music has always been a crutch for me. And I'm. And it's kind of weird that like in. I definitely have the worst communicator ever, but I'm so vulnerable on a track, which is like crazy to me. You would think like, if you. If you knew me in person, I don't talk about nothing. You wouldn't hear nothing. So I think it's like there's just something special about music. Music is impactful. It's something that it can change your life. It's what kept me. It's the only reason I'm here today, you know? [00:26:27] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:26:28] Speaker A: So on that, on that path of. You grew up listening to this stuff. It drove you to where you're at. I'll go down my path of, you know, you don't have a private jet right now. You will someday. You're gonna fly me out to your show to Red Rocks. You know, I'll wear my hello Kitty shirt. [00:26:51] Speaker B: But if you're not, I'm gonna be so pissed. [00:26:54] Speaker A: No. [00:26:55] Speaker B: We're so mad. Hey, so mad. [00:26:57] Speaker A: I told you today, don't ever change, man. Don't ever change. And I swear to God, I'm gonna punch you in your face. [00:27:05] Speaker B: And what did I tell you? [00:27:06] Speaker A: Get to that point where you get that big that you are too big for your know, our relationship. It would. It would hurt me. And I mean that. Don't change who you are, man. You. You are a great person. But aside from you being great, you're on your soon to be jet. You have a parachute. [00:27:30] Speaker B: You have a parachute, no license. [00:27:33] Speaker A: You have access to every album ever made. But planes going down because you definitely didn't make the payments. It's crashing. It's. You're at 10,000ft. You got like 30 seconds. What five albums are you taking with you for the rest of your life on the island that you're gonna be on five albums. [00:27:54] Speaker B: That's it. [00:27:54] Speaker A: Five albums. For the rest, okay, I'll give you five. [00:27:57] Speaker B: But we can't rank them because they're all fucking special. [00:27:59] Speaker A: Doesn't matter. Five albums you're gonna listen to for the rest of your life. [00:28:05] Speaker B: All right, number one, the Fray. I think the phrase of Colorado band, How to Save a Life, that album is incredible. Cable car. There's just so many bangers on that. I'm trying to go genre to genre because five is just so tough. [00:28:23] Speaker A: You don't have to justify us if we're thinking you're 5,000ft going out. So. [00:28:28] Speaker B: Yeah. All right. All right. So the Fray, how to Save a Life. [00:28:36] Speaker C: You cover. [00:28:37] Speaker B: I'm gonna go with Take Care. [00:28:38] Speaker C: Drake, you cover that free. [00:28:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I did. I did. I love. Yeah, I love them so much. I would say Take Care by Drake. That definitely had hold on me for, like, months and months. Adele, 21. So fucking good. This is so hard. Lewis Capaldi. I love ballady songs. I just. Just rip my heart out, you know? So what are we, five number. [00:29:14] Speaker C: That would be three. [00:29:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I think four, right? [00:29:17] Speaker C: Four. Four. He said four. I'm good with that. [00:29:19] Speaker B: Frey, Adele, Lewis Capaldi. [00:29:22] Speaker A: That's three. Take Care. Oh, you did say. [00:29:26] Speaker B: I'm sorry. This is just so hard. You really put me on spot five. I feel like I'm just disrespecting. [00:29:32] Speaker A: I mean, so many people at this point. The plane is in the water, so you. I mean, you gotta start fucking getting it. What's the fifth one gonna be? [00:29:41] Speaker B: Fifth one. God. Didn't know. It's like the last one. I'm disrespecting everyone I love. I'm gonna go NF the Search. Oh, that. That album was huge for me. So I love music that just impacts you. And I think, like, the Search was the first time. It's like. I don't know. He just talks about some crazy shit, some crazy, like, stuff he went through. And that's. That's probably. Oh, man. Yeah. A whole year of my life dedicated to it. [00:30:10] Speaker C: We often talk about just Austin and I, and actually I talked about with some of your crew and your camp that are sitting around here today that, you know, it often. Music for us, you know, kind of defines, like, a point in your life, right? And you can kind of remember, you know, that point in your life and what you were listening to or what was on the radio at that point in time. And that, to me, I think, is the important Part is remembering that, you know, these are all just points within the lives that we have left. [00:30:44] Speaker A: And to think that you. I mean, you were somebody's top five. [00:30:48] Speaker C: Yep. [00:30:48] Speaker A: You were like, somebody out there. Somebody out there goes, I was a. I was a. I was in seventh grade. And this was, like, an album that, like, got me through whatever. That's what's crazy to me. And we are not musically inclined, but. [00:31:05] Speaker C: To think that, I mean, he can speak for himself. I'm a little bit more me. [00:31:09] Speaker A: I'm going to speak for us. We are not musically inclined, but to think that, like, you're somebody's album that, like, they know, got them through this period of their life, you know, and that's. And we talked about that with Lily. Like, that's a weight on your shoulder, and that's a weight of your chapter of somebody's life in a big way. That's crazy. I mean, I remember, and I don't know why. I don't know why this is but Three Days Grace. [00:31:40] Speaker B: Freshman year, high school, so good. [00:31:42] Speaker A: I burned CD up for six months, and I loved that cd. And that got me through a whole chapter of my freshman year of high school. But it's crazy because I look at albums as a chapter of my life. I look at music as something that, whether agree or disagree, you know, we talked about today with Ray's Rowdy that, you know, certain albums, they're like, dude, are you kidding me? Luke Combs, you know this. Okay, I see where you're coming from. However, I was on the Morgan Wallen double album. I missed that album. You know, I wasn't on the Luke Combs side because the Luke Combs album or the Morgan Wallen album dropped. And it was at a certain chapter in my life that I needed, you know, or, you know, a rock album or an Atlas album. But again, you're that level. And so, dude, cheers to you, man. That, like, that's where you got to. Because we talked earlier today where you have a long catalog. I'm like, holy shit. It just is never ending. Of the songs that you've come out with over the years that most people that don't know who Atlas is, they know your two, three top songs. But then you start going through your long catalog. Like, dude, you have banger after banger after fucking banger. [00:33:07] Speaker B: Holy shit. I appreciate you. I mean, we. I definitely feel like just releasing consistently. To me, just like, I know it's like the Fray, which is one of my favorite bands. I'd have to. Have to wait four Years for an album and I was always so mad. So now that I'm doing it, it's like lately we've been releasing like once a month for maybe three years, and then we throw out like seven unreleased songs like we just did tonight. I think it's just like, I want to feed. I want to feed the fan base. I want to give them everything I got. I want to keep giving them records and I want to keep riding and I want to work. Maybe that comes from being a truck driver. I'm used to just like clocking in. So, like, if it. I don't want to treat the writing thing any different. I just want to come here. I want to write, I want to put stuff out, I want to tour, I want to do all the stuff. [00:33:52] Speaker A: And I think going off of a truck driver. We're going to change topics here real quick. What was your favorite truck stop period? [00:34:00] Speaker B: Loves. It doesn't matter where, cuz, I mean. [00:34:03] Speaker A: You weren't a come and go guy. You weren't like a Bucky's. You weren't. [00:34:07] Speaker B: No, no, I'm a come and go guy. But I love Loves. You know I'm saying Loves just has like. There's just something special about it. You always. It's like you can always get gas. There's always room to maneuver and like, turn the truck. They have Buffalo. Like, there's a brand of clothing called like Buffalo Brand that's only at Loves. It's like my favorite brand of clothing. [00:34:29] Speaker A: Hold on, hold on. So you buy your clothing at Loves? [00:34:34] Speaker B: Oh, I. I remember. I like, I like, got this jacket that I probably rock. I did, I played. I like used this jacket for my first show and I was like, this thing looks so good. I love Loves. And I was like, dude, I'm gonna like. I went on their website and like, I don't know how big of a brand they are, but like, I went their website. I bought everything I could. I was like, this shit's great. I mean, Loves is sold them out. Loves is the greatest, dude. They've got everything, dude. You probably get eggs there, dude. You can get anything there. [00:34:59] Speaker A: You'll get it. [00:35:00] Speaker B: Probably a Garmin, you know, I mean, just like, fuck my phone, dude. Let me just put that on there. [00:35:05] Speaker C: And just, you know, I stopped recently and just with my family, just in my regular car, right? And I'm going to the bathroom and I said, hey, number 21, it's your turn to shower, right? Announced over the big overcome. And I felt like I was number 21. So I got in the shower. [00:35:25] Speaker B: What do you mean you felt like you. [00:35:28] Speaker A: I mean, the truck driver felt weird. [00:35:29] Speaker B: Okay, but what number were you really? [00:35:33] Speaker C: I. I mean, I was probably more in the 30s. I jumped in line just a little bit, but optimistic. [00:35:38] Speaker B: I like it. [00:35:39] Speaker C: But I mean, it felt like it was my turn, and so I just. [00:35:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I just got you guys. [00:35:44] Speaker A: How do you. [00:35:44] Speaker B: Did someone walk in there with you? [00:35:46] Speaker C: Well, I mean, whoever Number was. Number 21. [00:35:49] Speaker A: Yeah. How did you rank the showers? [00:35:52] Speaker B: I thought, I need to know more about this. [00:35:54] Speaker A: I mean, if we're on this bathroom topic. If you're on this bathroom topic, I have a serious question that got brought up last week in Nashville. [00:36:02] Speaker C: I was gonna ask this question, and he's. [00:36:04] Speaker A: No, there's two. There's two that we. We talked about. [00:36:08] Speaker B: Bring it up. [00:36:09] Speaker A: But while we're on this topic, I. [00:36:11] Speaker C: Hope this is the one. I hope it is. [00:36:13] Speaker B: I hope it's the one that you hope it is. [00:36:15] Speaker C: Tailgate beers first. Here it is. [00:36:19] Speaker A: So I've been ridiculed. I mean, I feel chastised. I mean, I feel just absolutely bullied over this. [00:36:27] Speaker B: Because of me? [00:36:28] Speaker A: No, no, not because. I hope you back me up on this, maybe. So you're at home in the perfect scenario. You're at home at Atlas's compound, wherever you live, in your mansion, but not. [00:36:41] Speaker B: A mansion, but got a little bit la. [00:36:45] Speaker A: Do you use a washcloth when you shower at home? [00:36:50] Speaker B: No, dude. No hands. That's just way more laundry to do, dude. I'll just borrow soap it. One of these. You know what I mean? Put it in there. A little bit of. [00:37:00] Speaker C: So. [00:37:01] Speaker B: So little bit of oil. [00:37:02] Speaker C: Let me. Let me give you a little backstory to this one, right? So. So I'm. I'm with you, right? I. I got a. I got a pump. Hand soap. Pump, pump. It's probably shampoo, but I use it on my whole body. You know, I'm a typical man conditioner, right? It doesn't matter what it is. [00:37:15] Speaker B: It's soap conditioner. Smells great. [00:37:17] Speaker A: It smells great. [00:37:18] Speaker C: This guy. This guy uses a washcloth every time he takes a shower. And he puts his. Puts the soap in the washcloth. Not only that, he uses a new washcloth every time he takes a shower. [00:37:30] Speaker B: Oh, my. That's bougie. That's bougie. That's the most bougie thing I've ever heard. Yes, I would say. Okay, now we got to talk about our most bougie, like, vice. Mine is like, I hate wearing a pair of socks twice. That Is like my main thing. It's my main thing. Like me, the feeling of a new pair of socks is top three feeling of all mine. [00:37:53] Speaker A: Mine was. Mine was water. Okay. Aside from washcloths. Okay. But again, comment. Let us know what you think about washcloths in the shower. [00:38:03] Speaker B: I think it's weird. Mine was, I think, get a loofah, which is kind of weird. [00:38:07] Speaker A: Even grosser. [00:38:08] Speaker B: Yeah, no, but it absorbs better, you know, I'll say. And like, after three, like, showers, it's dead. It stops working. [00:38:15] Speaker A: So. [00:38:15] Speaker B: But it's like, for the one time. [00:38:17] Speaker A: Mine was water, so hotel water is, to me, the grossest thing in the world. [00:38:23] Speaker B: Why? [00:38:24] Speaker A: Because it seems as if the chlorine pool that's right here is just running through the faucet. So I wash my. I brush my teeth. Sorry, I brush my teeth with literally, bottled water. [00:38:38] Speaker B: Only at hotels. [00:38:40] Speaker A: Yeah, hotels. [00:38:40] Speaker B: I get you, dude. I only, like. I only lose the water at Motel 6, you know, it's high quality. You know, I feel like. No, what did. Hotels water. Hotel waters fine. Who told you that? [00:38:53] Speaker A: No one told me. It's gross. You just tell me if I'm wrong. Water, not the nastiest thing you've ever. It literally is so chlorinated, it's fucked up. It's as if they have a pool up here. And all I ever envision is that chlorine is just running through the pipes and then they just circulate it back into the pool. So I just. I use a bottle of water, man. But I'm a water snob, so even here at cruisins. Shout out cruisins. I love cruisins to death. I just want my bottle of water, man. I don't want it out of the tap. [00:39:25] Speaker B: I get it. I get it. [00:39:27] Speaker A: That's just me. I'm a snob. What are your thoughts on that? You like the water Here, you need. [00:39:36] Speaker B: To try it so we can have a. We need an unbiased opinion. Jham, drink the water. I drink the water. Yeah, yeah. I mean, bottle. Bottles. A safe one. I thought the hotels would be safe. [00:39:49] Speaker A: Dude. [00:39:49] Speaker B: I go to a hotel and I'm just so gullible, dude, that I'm getting new sheets even if they haven't cleaned them. I pretend they're clean. [00:39:56] Speaker A: I have a fucked up hotel story. I'm going to just go ahead and throw this out there and shout out Walsh's on this story. Do you remember. Do you remember their story when we were traveling in St. Louis for baseball. For baseball. And Derek telling the Story in his hotel room at the Elvis convention. We were at an Elvis convention, by the way, which I did not know was a fucking thing, okay? I mean, these fuckers are like, no, he's the next up and coming Elvis. I'm like, elvis is dead. I hope you guys know this, by the way. Remember all the people we met. [00:40:31] Speaker C: For all the Elvis fans out there, what my friend Austin means is that we love all Elvis's. [00:40:36] Speaker A: All Elvis's are created, created equal. Really. [00:40:40] Speaker C: But we don't get canceled. [00:40:41] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't want. [00:40:45] Speaker A: That's a tough hello Kitty shirt. I mean, at all. Like that's true. [00:40:50] Speaker C: True. [00:40:51] Speaker B: So you were canceled the second you walked in. [00:40:54] Speaker A: So what's crazy? This is a nut story. [00:40:57] Speaker C: I don't know if I even know this. [00:40:59] Speaker A: So Derek looks at me and says, how's your hotel? I'm like, well, I'm staying like 30 minutes away because our tournament was supposed to be clear over yonder. So Derek goes, really well. And we were at a decent hotel. I'm not going to shout out who it is or what hotel. This is a nice hotel. He goes, well, my hotel. And he's an outdoors guy. Like they go hunting. [00:41:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:22] Speaker A: Like he is a guy who like can deal with this shit. [00:41:26] Speaker C: Shout out Derek. Brandy Walsh. [00:41:28] Speaker A: Derek Walsh. [00:41:28] Speaker B: I mean, they're Derek, my cousin Nader, I don't know. [00:41:34] Speaker A: He goes into his room and Brandy was not. There was guys weekend. Essentially there is a goddamn spider that is like this fucking big right on the side of. Okay? And they try to get it and this fucking thing bounces on the carpet and it literally. They lost it. It's gone. [00:41:58] Speaker C: Remember the story now. [00:41:59] Speaker A: Gone. Okay, think about this, okay? You're in a hotel, you have your kids with you. This fucker, I mean, and I don't believe that he is exaggerating. This is a big spider and it's on his bed and it pops down to the floor. They're trying to find it and it's gone. They lose it. They search for 50 minutes for the spider and you can't find it. These crazy motherfuckers went to bed. He said he didn't sleep well. I'm like, you slept? I'm like, are you kidding me? My mattress would be in the fucking hallway. I would have everything out there. [00:42:38] Speaker B: They do it to bed. I would make my girl kill that spider. You know what I'm saying? [00:42:42] Speaker A: No, no, they couldn't find it. They couldn't find it. They went to bed. What would you do? Are you going to bed? With a spider. [00:42:51] Speaker B: What a way to go. You know what I'm saying? If I'm gonna die, and it might as well be by spider, or I become Spider man, you know, I'll take the risk. [00:43:00] Speaker A: 50, 50 Spider man, or die. [00:43:02] Speaker B: I'm ready, dude. I'm ready to either win or lose, which could also be a win. [00:43:09] Speaker A: Do you think you could be in the next Spider Man? Like, you think you could put the outfit on and be like, yep, this. [00:43:13] Speaker B: Is me after Tom Holland. No shot. Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me, dude? [00:43:18] Speaker C: So I could do a spider. I could probably sleep a little bit with a spider. If it was a snake. Like, I walked in, there's a snake. No chance. [00:43:26] Speaker A: You're telling me you go to bed, spider maybe working around just staring at you with all 100 fucking eyes or however many fucking eyes they have. Just sp. [00:43:34] Speaker C: Spiders don't get me. It's the snakes that get me. I could. Not a snake that. If. If a spider, I probably would sleep decent. A snake. No. [00:43:45] Speaker B: I feel like there's so many spiders I would like always in the house that you have to be okay with it. Because if you really think about it, you're never sleeping. [00:43:53] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:43:53] Speaker B: At least with like a snake, you're like, yo, I don't see this enough. It kind of freaks me out. I'm with you snakes. I don't know. Spires are pretty. I mean, that big. That's like. No, but I mean, I. I'd sleep. You know what I mean? Dude, I. I can sleep through anything. Dude, you. I hit a bed. I'm asleep in 20 seconds. [00:44:11] Speaker A: Oh, neat. [00:44:11] Speaker B: I got no, I got no thoughts in this. This brain does not work. I have no thoughts. Nothing goes on here. I hit the bed, I'm gone. All the furniture around, I'm out. [00:44:19] Speaker A: Well, dude, I'm the same way. I. I fall asleep in seconds. So I'm. I'm zero. Or a thousand. And we've, you know, you and I have talked about that where in this industry, in this life, like, people are pulling you tons of different directions and. Dude, it's exhausting. [00:44:39] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:44:39] Speaker A: It's exhausting. So. [00:44:41] Speaker B: And you can't think about it. [00:44:42] Speaker A: And for taking the time to do this, man, I cannot tell you personally on a. On a friend level, you being here, you plane cruising, like, emotionally tonight, I'm. I'm stoked for you. And I'm very biased towards cruisins. I'm very biased towards you. I know you're a good person. I know that you're going to fucking do big things. I hope you don't forget this podcast. Hope you don't forget us. But man, on a personal level, just remember those days of what you came from. Remember the grind, remember your friends, Remember all the people that surrounded you, that supported you. And dude, I want nothing but the best for you. From the moment we've ever became friends. When you said, hey, man, you want to do costume egos reposito, I'm like, fuck, yes, I do. You and I, like, we're the same person. And, man, I give you nothing but round of applause because you could sit here and look at us like, dude, do you know who I am? Like, I'm fucking Atlas. I'm all these things. [00:45:44] Speaker B: And I'll never say that. That's kind of weird to say. And also, no one would ever. Would ever care who I am. I'm Joe. I'm Joe. But yeah, kinda. [00:45:57] Speaker C: And me just meeting you today, I can tell that, you know, you. You carry yourself and your heart's on your sleeve and, you know, knowing. Knowing where the name Atlas comes from. You know, hearing that on, on. On previous podcasts, you know, you. You are certainly something and someone that you know that matters. And, And I appreciate your time and thank you and I'm looking forward to seeing on stage tonight. [00:46:25] Speaker A: It's gonna be a blast, man. [00:46:26] Speaker B: Yeah, we're gonna crush it tonight out of this one. So now we got to finish off the drink. You know what I'm saying? [00:46:31] Speaker A: What we're doing. [00:46:32] Speaker B: I'm starting a new one. [00:46:34] Speaker C: I'm at the perfect time again. [00:46:35] Speaker A: I got pissed. Cheers, man. Hey, appreciate, man. Love you. Love.