Billy Strings

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von

In this episode of 'This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von,' Grammy-winning musician Billy Strings shares intimate stories from his youth in Grand Ra

Key takeaways

• Billy Strings reflects on rejecting prom as a teenager due to its perceived 'establishment' vibe and lack of authentic music.
• He recalls chaotic, spontaneous parties in rural Michigan where fights often erupted after alcohol consumption.

Main topics

• High school memories and prom culture
• Rural party scenes in Michigan

Notable quotes

'It just kind of seemed like not my scene, you know?' – Billy Strings on rejecting prom.

'They're not going to be playing good music anyways.' – On the disconnect between party culture and actual musical quality.

Conclusion

Billy Strings' candid storytelling reveals how personal history, loss, and music intertwine to

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) Today's guest is a three-time Grammy award-winning musician and songwriter. His new album, So Much for Goodbyes, is out August 28th, and he's on tour the rest of the year. You gotta go see him. If you can, you gotta see him live. We filmed this up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at Mackinac Harvest Studios. We want to thank Michael and his team over there for the hospitality. It was second to none. And so was this conversation. This is one of my favorite. One of my favorite chats ever. So grateful for his time. Today's guest is Mr. Billy Strings. Speaker 4 (0:53) Dude, good to see you, man. Yeah, you too. It's awesome, bro. Speaker 3 (0:58) Yeah, thanks for coming through with the old stomping grounds, man. This is it, Grand Rapids. Yeah, glad to have you in Michigan. I grew up like, I don't know, half hour, 40 minutes away from here over in Ionia and Muir. But yeah, Grand Rapids, we used to come over here a bunch when I was a teenager and party. It's a good Speaker 4 (1:15) city. Would you guys come like on a Saturday night? Would like your proms be here? Like was it like that kind of place or was it like? Was this like going to the city? Oh yeah. Speaker 3 (1:25) Yeah. Yeah, I never went to prom. You didn't? No. Speaker 4 (1:33) I actually didn't want to. Yeah? Yeah, I don't know. Were you like one of those kind of like anti, like, because there is something about prom that's kind of like establishment, I think, especially when you're in high school, kind of? Yeah, yeah. It just wasn't my vibe. And I had a girlfriend at the Speaker 3 (1:47) time. I really pissed her off that I didn't want to go. I think she ended up going with like Dylan Youngstrom or something. Speaker 4 (1:52) Nuh-uh. Speaker 3 (1:53) Yeah. Dylan freaking Youngstrom? Speaker 4 (1:55) Yeah. What Speaker 2 (1:55) the heck, Speaker 4 (1:56) dude? Either way. Bro, I was in band with him, dude. He couldn't even make first chair. I know. Yeah. Fuck. That's crazy, dude. Yeah, she was pissed. Speaker 3 (2:08) But understandably so. Like, what kind of, like, what an asshole thing. Like, nah, I'm not going to go. Speaker 4 (2:15) Later on, I'm like, man, I was a real dick. But what was the reasoning behind it? You don't seem like a guy that doesn't have a reasoning kind of behind it. I Speaker 3 (2:23) just, Speaker 4 (2:23) prom, I just want to Speaker 3 (2:24) go dress up and I don't really dance. They're not going to be playing good music anyways. Yeah. I don't know. Speaker 2 (2:32) Yeah. It Speaker 4 (2:33) just kind Speaker 3 (2:33) of, like, seemed like Speaker 4 (2:35) not my scene, you know? Yeah, I think it's hard to go from kind of, like, picking, like, to the window, to the wall, you know? To the sweat comes off the balls. That Speaker 3 (2:43) definitely would have been Speaker 4 (2:43) what they were Speaker 3 (2:44) playing, you Speaker 4 (2:45) know? Yeah, it's kind of crazy that that's the music that we, like, feed to the kids. Like, from the window to the wall to the sweat comes off the balls or whatever. I Speaker 3 (2:54) remember that was always on, like, Need for Speed back in the day, the video game. Speaker 3 (2:59) Yeah, it's crazy how nostalgic that music is now. Like, all that, like, Rick Ross and Young Jeezy and stuff like that. It's like, you hear that, and it brings you right back to, like, those parties. Speaker 4 (3:10) Oh, yeah, dude. Yeah, there was just something about, like, all those young parties, dude, when you would show up at a party, bro, and, like. somebody had like a fence on the side of the house. You would open the fence and go back into the party or go into the house party. And somebody's just parents were unfortunately out of town. Like all they done is like driven to see your mom's sister, like two towns over. And they had no idea that their insurance was at risk. Speaker 3 (3:36) Yeah. Around here. I mean, I think everywhere kids are partying, but around here it's, there's nothing better to do, you know? So yeah, we always just. That's all that life was about. It was like, Speaker 4 (3:47) where's the party at? Dude, and then sometimes you would just drive around and look for a party. And for like four hours, and people would just make up parties. Dude, I would always make up parties. I'd be like, dude, there's a party. It's like seven miles out that way. And people would fucking drive out there. And we would just sit there like yarning things or whatever, like in the parking lot and just die laughing, just knowing that like everybody was headed out to some invisible fiesta. Speaker 1 (4:10) Yeah. Speaker 4 (4:11) Man, I miss Speaker 3 (4:12) those. Those days, though, like I look back on it now and everybody like pulls all their cars into a field and burning pallets and just like, you know, somebody's got a keg. And it like around here, it always ended up in a fight at the end of the night. It would be like once people got drunk enough and then somebody finally would, it would pop off and then it would like the whole place would just erupt and everybody would be fighting. Yeah. That happened all the time. Speaker 4 (4:40) Oh yeah, dude. Things have to end either like in a fight or dessert. I feel like that's kind of the American way. Dude, our shit was somebody would always some fucking, some little like summer school junkie would throw a, like a WD-40 bottle into the fire. Speaker 3 (4:59) Oh yeah, that's a good move. Speaker 4 (5:02) And then it would just be, it would be like 30 seconds of like Vietnam. It would be like. It would be like watching Hacksaw Ridge like really fast, you know? And that was always kind of how it went. Did you guys have some people in town? Did you guys have any like characters in town that were like sort of like local celebrities in the sense like that was like the guy in town that was like this thing or something? Speaker 3 (5:26) Yeah, a lot of those different cats and for different reasons, you know? One of my dear friends, Darren Page, he's no longer with us, but he was like, Super popular, you know, good-looking dude. I think he was, like, on the football team and everything. Everybody loved him, you know, and he got into, like, drugs and shit, and it sort of drug him down. It was weird to see because, like, you know, it was kind of like the kids that were from a more stable family maybe would. go down the wrong path and they wouldn't necessarily know how to handle it where I come from like a family that was like full of drugs and I've always been real careful you know because I saw it but I think kids that were more like sheltered or something sometimes those are the kids that would like end up overdosing or you know going to prison or just let taking it way too far yeah Speaker 4 (6:21) Yeah, they get loose. It's like suddenly like they have no cookies and suddenly they just wander in the dam, you know? Yeah. Speaker 2 (6:28) They Speaker 4 (6:28) just wander like in the Keebler's tree or whatever, you know? And then they're gooning, bro. Yeah, and then there was folks Speaker 3 (6:34) that were... You know, famous for other reasons. There was this guy, one of my best friends ever. He's also dead from an overdose. Kevin Clayton. One of the craziest motherfuckers I've ever known in my life, dude. Just absolutely nuts and hilarious. And would... Well, like, how was he funny? Just, he was just funny, man. He was always like, you know, just trying to get high. And he would go to the... like jail or something and get out and go back to the same old shit and he like you know he's just a fun person to party with he was nuts yeah he was always like come on bro get let me get 50 bucks i want to go budokut you know and he was like one of the first people i ever smoked with and stuff and uh budokut yeah that means like bang and oxy oh Speaker 4 (7:27) dang yeah i thought Speaker 3 (7:28) it Speaker 4 (7:28) meant go down on somebody Speaker 4 (7:31) Come Speaker 3 (7:32) on, bro. Let me get 50 bucks. I want to boot a cool. And he's a fucking nuts, dude. One time we were over at my mom's house, and it was when that game Skate had just came out on Xbox, the first Skate. And it was just like me and Kevin and my brother and another friend of mine. Speaker 3 (7:56) I wasn't drinking. I was just, I didn't feel like it that night. I was just hanging out. I just wanted to play my video game. And so I got this brand new Xbox and I'm sitting there playing. And, um... Speaker 3 (8:08) Fucking Kevin and my brother, they got this. For some reason, they had a Mountain Dew bottle full of Southern Comfort and like a bunch of other shit. But they were drinking this full two liter of fucking SoCo. Don't ask me why it was in the two liter bottle, but it was. And then so as the night went on, they got more and more hammered. And Kevin come up to me and I'm sitting on the couch and he put his arm around my neck and he kind of put me in a headlock. And I was like, dude, stop. Like, I'm not in the mood, you know? Yeah, Speaker 4 (8:34) I hate Speaker 3 (8:34) it Speaker 4 (8:34) when Speaker 3 (8:34) people Speaker 4 (8:35) do that. Yeah. Sometimes I don't, like if it's around the holidays or something, and we're going to get something afterwards, but if they're just doing it for no reason, I don't like it. Anyway, go on. Speaker 3 (8:42) But yeah, he was all drunk, and he put me in a headlock like this, and I'm like, dude, stop. I'm not in the mood. And he fucking squeezed harder. So I'm like, dude, stop. And then I'm like, fuck it. I just start hitting him. And I'm hitting him like this, and we kind of break up. And then I'm sitting there on the couch, and he kind of tries to go at me and my brother. is like right there. He's like, that's my little brother. You're not going to fuck with him. And Kevin tries to get up off the couch. Every time Kevin got up, my brother grabbed him by the face and sat him back down. So then Kevin swung at my brother and they started fighting and they were going from one end of the house to the other. And I was moving furniture and everything. I was like, you know, because they're going to tear my mom's house Speaker 4 (9:27) up. Oh yeah, yeah. When a bad fight happens, you got to get the shift robe out of there. Yeah. Speaker 3 (9:31) That's the Speaker 4 (9:32) first one. You better move that dinner table. Speaker 3 (9:34) All that. And then they'd go, I'd move that and then they'd go to another room. Anyways, they knocked my Xbox clean over. Those little AV cables stuck right in the TV and broke off. You know, I'm like, damn it. I can't play my game anymore. So they ended up, Kevin ended up on top of my brother like this and just hitting him. And I watched my brother's eyes close and his head just started. I'm like, dude, he's done. He's done. He's knocked out, and he kept hitting him. And so I just picked up this full 22-ounce steel reserve, and I hit Kevin in the head, and I knocked him. And the bottle didn't break. It just went thunk. And then he's going, mm. Speaker 3 (10:11) And then they're both sitting there laying there, knocked out on top of each other. And my brother woke up and he said, what did you do? You killed him. And then. Did you think you killed him? I don't know. I heard him. He was snoring and grunting. And then. Crazy. Yeah. And then so my brother woke up. He's like, you fucking killed him. And I'm like, dude, this is crazy. And then Kevin woke up and he's all disoriented. And he's like. He's like, what the fuck? He's like, what the fuck was I doing? And then he sees my brother and he's like, I was kicking your ass. And they just went right back at it. Dude, I got the hell out of there. I was like, fuck, you guys can fucking kill each other. I don't care. So one of my friends picked me up. We went down to, over to my friend Benji's house or whatever. But then Kevin, he fucking left my house that night from my mom's place in Muir all the way to his place out on like Stage Road or something. or Nickel Plate, I can't remember, but it was a long-ass walk, seven miles in the blizzard, and he fucking, he walked all the way there in one of his shoes and one of my brother's shoes, and then, and he called me. You know, I got to where I was, and I went to sleep, and then 5 o'clock in the morning, I got a call from Kevin, and then he just says, I'm like, fuck, answer it. It was his dad's home phone. Hello, and he just says, wait until I find you, you little bitch. I'm going to beat your head into an oblivion, and he hung up. I'm like, God damn it. Now Kevin's going to beat me up. And then the next. Speaker 4 (11:38) He Speaker 3 (11:38) holds a grudge, huh? Yeah. He was nuts, dude. And then the next morning he called me and said, bro, I'm sorry. Let's go skate. And then I met him down at the skate spot and he had a big old fucking goose egg like that sticking off his bald ass head. Cause he just had his head shaved cause he just went to bootcamp. Oh shit. And everything. Like, Speaker 4 (11:54) was it big? Like, like sometimes people get hit in the head and then it looks like they're like growing another head. It was like Speaker 3 (11:59) a cartoon shit. It was like a, you know, big ass fucking goose egg right there. You know, like one of them, I don't know, on Looney Tunes or something. Oh, yeah, Speaker 4 (12:07) dude, or like that power slap. You ever seen that power slap thing? Oh, my. Why do people do that, dude? Dude, I don't know. Have you been to one? Oh, yeah, I've been there, dude. I've been there. It's like, it's, I mean. Speaker 3 (12:18) To me, that just seems so. Speaker 3 (12:22) Like, dude, Speaker 4 (12:22) the craziest part of it to me. Well, first of all, one time this guy had this Speaker 2 (12:26) big, like he'd almost Speaker 4 (12:27) like sprouted another head kind of like, like he was looking like he was going to Speaker 2 (12:31) be Speaker 4 (12:31) on Abby and Brittany, you know, or like some like, you know, like a conjoined twins TLC type of thing, you know? Speaker 2 (12:37) And then somebody, and then he, yeah, it looked like he was like sprouting another head and somebody had drawn another Speaker 4 (12:42) face on this big thing that was growing. So that was pretty dope. Dude. One time I saw a guy after the fights, he was in the carpool line. I'm like, dude, you just, you were just like slapping, like, like, I don't know if you're safe to just get into it, into an Uber or whatever, you know, it was bananas, dude. But those people really love it. I think the thing about it is like, This is one thing I learned about some sports. We may look at it like it seems insane, but it's just if somebody likes it. Speaker 3 (13:14) Yeah. Speaker 4 (13:15) There's that new one where it's like people from Tonga or whatever, or people from Hawaii are just running at each other and hitting and like running right into each other. Have Speaker 3 (13:23) you Speaker 4 (13:23) seen that one? Speaker 3 (13:24) Dude, Speaker 4 (13:24) you know what I'm talking about, Trevin? Yeah, it's just like, it's kind of like speed dating, I guess. Speaker 3 (13:31) Well, Speaker 4 (13:31) it's like, Speaker 3 (13:32) well, Speaker 4 (13:33) it kind of reminds me of like Speaker 3 (13:34) jousting, I guess, right? Speaker 4 (13:36) Yeah. I mean. New sport unlocked. Yeah, this is what it is. Speaker 3 (13:43) Oh my God. He's like Ram Man from Master of the Universe. Yeah. Speaker 3 (13:51) Oh, dude. This is the sport. I mean, that's like them Rams, them big goats when they headbutt each other. Yeah. That's what these boys are doing. Speaker 4 (14:00) And it's like, bro, and they have women doing it too. But this is just, what I started to realize was like, to the competitors, it's a sport. So it's like, that's where I kind of started to meet sports. It's like some things I'm like, ah. Because at first for UFC, I was like, some of this, I don't know if I like, but now it's my favorite because I realize those people, they just, it's their thing. Well, Speaker 3 (14:20) yeah. I mean, and I feel like there's at least, you can defend yourself. You're not just sitting there being like, okay, hit me as hard as you can. Getting like brain injuries, you know? Or what's that like CTE or whatever? Yeah, Speaker 4 (14:33) CTE. Everybody's got it, I guess. Or some people have it. Yeah. I don't know. Speaker 3 (14:37) Yeah. No, I mean, I like UFC. I think it's just, it's a. It's like an ancient... I mean, combat is... Nature's violent, I think. And it's like hand-to-hand combat is one of the oldest things there is. It's the most natural thing you can do sometimes. Even though I'm not all about violence or whatever, but I'm just saying... No, it's human. It's a great sport. It's Speaker 2 (15:05) part Speaker 3 (15:05) of history. It's kind Speaker 2 (15:05) of like... Speaker 3 (15:07) Yeah, what's more sport than two men or women or just two people going after each other and trying to kick each other's ass? Speaker 4 (15:16) Yeah, it says here, wrestling is generally considered the oldest hand-to-hand combat sport. Grappling is a near-universal human practice and predates written history. The earliest surviving depictions of organized wrestling date to ancient Egypt around 2000. I reckon Speaker 3 (15:30) it's sort of like them gladiators or something. Oh, yeah, bro. Like a modern-day version of that. Yeah, dude. And then, you know, it's not always, I mean, these people get hurt and sometimes, you know, there's crazy bloody brawls like, you know, Forrest Griffin, Stefan Bonner kind of fights. But then there's like, I saw you at the, at the Paddy fight on TV. They showed you a little bit. I was watching that. Oh, you were? Yeah, you Speaker 2 (15:54) like Speaker 3 (15:55) choked that guy out in like minutes. Everybody's okay. Yeah. Speaker 4 (15:57) You know. Yeah, that was quick. That was just like Kevin Clayton trying to do it to you on that couch, man. We've all got our own, like, you know what I'm saying? We all have like our own moment of attachment to little things, dude. But no, dude, the craziest thing about the Patty thing was, so usually the fighters come into the ring, they have about a one minute inch or like probably a 30 second walk. And then there's like 30 seconds by the cage where they're checking them to make sure that they don't have any knives or whatever. And then they let them go in. Speaker 3 (16:25) Yeah. Speaker 4 (16:26) But for Patty, they had to go, I believe, anyway, they had to go to a commercial break for Paramount. So Speaker 2 (16:31) he just had like three minutes Speaker 4 (16:33) in the ring with his music. And I'd never seen that before. So he just starts like just doing the, he's got the whole place doing the baddie daddy. And the place just, it turned into like kind of a rave. That was the energy it needed. So by the time his fight started. In a way, I think even if you were a fan of Benoit Saint-Denis, you were suddenly a Patty fan just because you've been doing his move. Yeah, and he's Speaker 3 (16:58) vibing. Also, man, that is such a, what a hoss, like to just be in that sort of mindset before like you know you're going to fight. Just to be like dancing and happy and hyped. Like, you know, back when I was in high school or whatever and I was getting into fights. It was always a lot better if it just popped off all of a sudden and I wasn't expecting it. The couple times where I was like, okay, meet me down here and we're driving down there and I know I'm going to get in a fight soon. That was like the worst, like the adrenaline. And just, it was like, you know, it's like terrifying. Speaker 4 (17:32) Yeah. Because you know, you're going to get into it soon. Yeah, you're building up. It's all this extra energy. And then you're like, yeah, people are giving you strategy or whatever. Speaker 3 (17:41) It all goes away once you get hit in the face. Yeah, yeah, Speaker 4 (17:43) yeah. Dude, some guy in a wheelchair kept giving me strategy at a fight. And I'm like, that's fine, dude. But it's like, you know what I'm saying? I'm happy to listen to you. But now it's just like, it was just too much at that moment. I was just like, God, this seems like not the best omen. You know, my brother, dude, I was watching a fight with him. Speaker 3 (18:00) Who's that guy? Oh, I don't, I shouldn't say this. He'll kick my ass. Yeah, I don't know. We can not say it. My brother said it like that Cosmot guy or whatever. Oh, Hamza Khumaev? Yeah. Yeah. I was watching a fight with him and my brother's like, that motherfucker looks like the Nutcracker. I was like, Speaker 4 (18:19) holy shit, dude. Bring it up. That's pretty badass. Oh, wait, you know, I think it's Islam maybe looks a little, let me see. Oh, I think he has a Nutcracker type of beard. Speaker 3 (18:30) Yeah. Speaker 4 (18:33) Sean Strickland will protect us, dude, if things get bad. But he does. That is kind of a Nutcracker type of beard. Dude, you were talking about, you were talking about. Speaker 4 (18:44) Oh, what happened to Kevin Clayton? Speaker 3 (18:47) He OD'd. He was a, you know, he struggled a lot with substance abuse. He was into heroin and all sorts of shit. Man, around that time, it was like, you know, meth was really kind of tearing everything up. There was a big epidemic, really. And then that Oxycontin, too. Everybody was robbing each other's grandmas and shit. their own family members and stuff just to get them pills. And, yeah, Kevin, he got into that stuff real bad. And I remember he was texting me too and sending me messages online, rather, and saying, man, he knew it was coming. He was like, I'm losing control. And I was like, bro, you're the only one that can put your hands on the wheel and steer yourself out of this, you know. And he's like, I can't, you know. And not much longer after that, I heard that he OD'd. His stepmom found him in the bathroom foaming at the mouth and shit. It was terrible, man. But he was also, man, he was a great skateboarder. He was just fearless. He would fling himself down these huge stair sets and not give a fuck if he got hurt. He was just one of the nuttiest people I ever met. I remember he got out of prison for a couple years, and he grabbed my skateboard and did a switch hard flip first try. It was like... You haven't skated in years and you just did a switch hard flip first try? He's crazy, man. Everybody around Ionia that grew up in those years, he's sort of a legend. Speaker 2 (20:15) You Speaker 3 (20:15) knew him? Speaker 4 (20:16) Oh, yeah. Dude, there's something amazing about being a local legend, dude. We had a white guy that could dance in our area. and people and you knew his name for like 40 miles dude and it was legendary dude this guy West I'm not gonna say his last name just to protect his anonymity because uh but yeah dude he was just like he was a legend when you were growing up that's all you want to be and like you maybe go to one high school football game and he would come out with the band and he was like the white guy and they gave him like this magic stick you know, like this, like, baton. Yeah. Yeah. Baton dude. But it was like the King baton. It wasn't like the one that like, there was always that one girl in band who threw it up in the air and she had on like this really thick glasses. And you were like, that bitch is going to fuck it. You know what I'm saying? That thing's going to take somebody's fucking wig off, you know? But, uh, but he, but he had like the biggest baton. He would come out and he would just take it to another level, bro. And it was like, I don't know. You need heroes like that. You need, like, local legends. You need, like, yeah, you need legends like that just to build hype, to be like, I want to be like that or just create stories in town. That was always the best, dude. Yeah. We had all. Oh, there's all those smoothies? Let's bring them in. We can do a cheers, actually, to Kevin, man. Hell, Speaker 3 (21:32) yeah. Thank you. Speaker 4 (21:38) That's Grand Rapids green, man. Speaker 3 (21:41) Hell, yeah. Speaker 2 (21:42) Thanks, dude. Speaker 4 (21:45) To a toast, man, yeah. To Kevin, bro. Kevin Clayton, bro. Speaker 2 (21:49) Yeah, Speaker 4 (21:53) dude, we had, I'm trying to think. Oh, I remember they had a guy in our town who was probably, when we were kids, he was probably like 30. And he would ride on, he had a bicycle, but it had a baby seat on the back. Speaker 3 (22:04) Right? Speaker 4 (22:05) And it was empty. Speaker 3 (22:06) And he was Speaker 4 (22:07) always riding around. And later on, I found out he was, he had like some mental irregularities or whatever. But he, When we were kids, somebody said that he had married a man and that his husband, he had married a very small man and his husband had passed away. And so he'd ride around like just on this bike with this baby seat on the back and that's where his husband used to sit. And so when we were kids, it was just this lore. And it was like, oh man, that's like a gay gentleman that lost his husband or whatever. And it was like this kind of like. kind of romantic, sad sort of thing. And he would kind of pull up and he'd always be in the distance of like all the ball games and everything. Whoa. Speaker 2 (22:44) He'd Speaker 4 (22:44) just be in the distance. He'd be like 40 yards away from everything. In fact, if he had a memoir, I'd call it 40 yards away from everything. Wow. And he would kind of sit over there and people would be like, dude, his husband passed away. Years later, we found it was like a kind of like a mentally, like a guy who had like some mental issues or whatever. And his mom had gotten him a bike and she just got him a bike that still had a baby seat on it. Speaker 4 (23:05) But when you're a kid, you know what I'm saying? There's just like everything can have a little bit of magic in it, you know? Oh, yeah. And like it's like so exciting. You ever hear Speaker 3 (23:12) about this guy called Mole Man? Speaker 4 (23:15) Mole Man? He's in like Pennsylvania or something. Speaker 3 (23:17) No, I've never seen him. You know him? No, I don't know him, but dude, it's like this cat. He's lived with his parents, and he just has been collecting, I don't know, stuff forever. And he's been building these structures out in his mom's backyard. There's a documentary about him. And he's built these tunnels and all these little house structures and stuff, and he just lives out there. I don't know how long ago the documentary was made, but in the film they were kind of worried about what was going to happen to this cat when his mom passes away. Is somebody going to take his property? How is he going to keep doing this? Because he's Speaker 2 (24:00) the Speaker 3 (24:00) inheritance. Yeah, like, Speaker 2 (24:01) man, he's Speaker 3 (24:01) a wild cat. You ought to watch this film. Mole Man. Mole Man, dude. That's a local legend right there around his area for sure. Everybody's got to know about the Speaker 4 (24:12) Mole Man. Dude, Mole Man. Let me see another gander at him. Oh, hell yeah. Oh, yeah. He looks like he took a hit off a cigarette forever. Speaker 2 (24:24) You know what I'm saying? Speaker 4 (24:28) Fuck yeah, Mole Man. That would probably be an interesting person maybe to go talk to, too. Yeah, dude. You should try to link up with Mole Man Speaker 3 (24:34) and see what he's all about. But he's built, like, several houses. What? Just in the backyard, like, and he'll just go. Say somebody's, like, tearing down their house. He'll go and grab, like, some of the windowsills and some of the old drywall and shit, and he'll take it over to his place, and he just stacks everything up. I don't even think it's, like, nailed together. See, it's just. It's just fucking all stacked up. Speaker 4 (24:58) Yeah. Damn. That's just figuring it out. Yeah. He's a, Speaker 3 (25:01) I Speaker 4 (25:02) guess ever since he was a little kid, he just like building stuff like that. It looks like one sneeze at fucking remodel that thing though. You know what I'm saying? Dude, one afternoon of allergies and he's going to, he's going to be living in a studio. That's wild looking though. But just like, it almost is like, dude. I was just going to say, it's almost like a beaver, like just collecting things. Like a bird that makes a nest. Dude, when you see some of these bird nests, they go in there and there's like all these little things that the bird has found from around the community that they just put in there. Speaker 3 (25:32) Like at my house, out the back window, there's a lot of like wildlife. We have this little pond and so there's ducks and geese and they're always getting into it. Speaker 3 (25:44) and groundhogs, and we got this little muskrat that swims across the, he's always got a big piece of grass in his mouth, and he swims across the pond. He's cool as hell. But yesterday I was hanging out with my dad playing guitars, and we saw two of them fucking affiliated woodpeckers flying across the, you know, right there, and they went up on this tree, and they were both doing that shit. I was like, who are they affiliated with? Oh, they were, and what does that mean, affiliated? I don't know. I think they're probably in like the. Like a duet? They're like in the cartel or something, I reckon. Oh, Speaker 4 (26:17) that could be the damn new Brooks and Dunn, dude. Yeah. That could be Dan and Shay. Who even knows what's going on anymore? Speaker 2 (26:24) Yeah, and they're just— Wait, do they do that? They come in pairs? I think it was a male and female. Speaker 4 (26:30) Oh, a couple. Yeah. Oh, she probably wanted to go on vacation or something, and he probably didn't want to take her. Speaker 3 (26:36) Yeah, they were up there getting all them larvae out of them. Out of that bark. Speaker 4 (26:41) Oh, it says right here. Yes, Pilead, Woodpeckers mate for life. They form permanent monogamous pair bonds and stay together year-round in fixed home territories that they defend from other woodpeckers. If one partner dies, the surviving bird will find a new mate. You can learn more about their habits via the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Holy shit. So, Speaker 3 (27:04) man, that's crazy when animals do that shit. I saw something the other day. Where a fox, it's like something about like if a female fox dies, her old man will just like not ever like get another lady. He's like, he's just going to mourn his babe forever. That's honorable, huh? Yeah. But if like the male dies, the chick's just like, ah, fuck him. Speaker 4 (27:32) Welcome to Atlanta. Yeah. You know, it's just exchanged so fast, dude. Speaker 4 (27:39) It's that time. PrizePix is America's number one sports picks app. The app is really easy to use. For player picks, just pick more or less on a few player stats and lock in your lineup. That's it. Rather just pick teams? PrizePix has that now too. Just pick the winner, spread, or total on any game or fight. Prize picks is available in most states, including California, Texas, and Florida. Plus, you can even follow me on the app, at Theo Vaughn. Tail my picks with one click and follow your friends, too. Best of all, play your first $5 and get $150 in lineups if you win. 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That's A-C-O-R-N-S dot com slash T-H-E-O to get your $20 bonus investment today. Terms Speaker 2 (30:59) and Speaker 4 (30:59) conditions apply. See acorns.com slash terms for details. Speaker 4 (31:17) It seems like you've had a lot of people kind of pass away from your kind of life just probably because a lot of the drugs that came to y'all's area. Speaker 3 (31:24) Yeah, drugs, depression. I mean, it was always like overdose. You know, a couple friends that I was close to committed suicide, and then a lot of people were kind of hauled off to prison. So that's where, you know, a lot of the folks that I were friends with and loved and stuff, that's like the three ways that they would mostly leave. Speaker 4 (31:47) Yeah. Was there a funeral that you remember going to? Like, do you remember the first funeral you ever went to? Speaker 3 (31:56) Yeah, my grandpa's funeral, I think, was the first one, at least that I remember. Speaker 4 (32:02) Were you like surprised that people died? Like I remember I went to a funeral for the first time and even though I had known like, like we knew that my friend's brother had passed away, but when I went to the funeral, I didn't, I don't think I really registered it. Like, Speaker 3 (32:14) and Speaker 4 (32:15) then we went to the funeral and like, it was like, oh, and it was just like, so it was, I don't know. Speaker 3 (32:22) Yeah. I remember thinking it was so Speaker 4 (32:23) much. It was so much. It always. bawling dude and i just wanted like my tear like i was like it wasn't even my family but it was just like so crazy to think that like this part of that that that's part of it yeah Speaker 3 (32:38) and Speaker 4 (32:38) i i remember wanting to be my tears my tears were like going into the cracks in the fucking floor and i was like god that's i just want to crawl down in there it well it just feels like it's so like I don't know. I was just like, it hurts already the fact that you're going to not have to be here one day. Something about it already hurts. I think that's how I felt when I was young, for sure. Speaker 3 (32:59) Yeah, it's tough to think about. I mean, nobody wants that. But it's kind of the only thing you can count on, really. Yeah, I remember thinking it was really like, it was the first time I saw a dead body, I think, was my grandpa's. And I remember like, I think my aunt, maybe my grandma and stuff was like, you know, kissing him and stuff. And I remember just kind of being like weirded out by that. Like, whoa, Speaker 4 (33:30) you Speaker 3 (33:30) know, they're like Speaker 4 (33:30) kissing Speaker 3 (33:31) that dead, my dead grandpa's body. That was a Speaker 4 (33:34) freak. Yeah. I mean, I would, I'd be like, damn, I didn't know that was possible. Damn. He must've really had it. Speaker 3 (33:43) Yeah. No, he was, he was bad-ass man. Speaker 4 (33:46) Oh, if somebody's, yeah. I think, yeah, if I'm laying there, I want some of my friends to come up and tickle me or do some little things like that, you know? Maybe sneak a pill under my tongue or something, or give me one hit of LSD at that point. Speaker 3 (33:58) Yeah. Speaker 4 (34:00) Because if I die sober, man, then that's what I want. And I don't know if that's crazy to announce or whatever, but yeah, if you come to my funeral, you're welcome to slide a little hit of Le Sud under me, you know? Speaker 3 (34:11) Yeah, help you with, you know, good journey. Speaker 4 (34:13) Yeah. Good luck out there, brother. Yeah. Let's make it, hey, make it rip, bro. Dude, you had your, how's your leg? How's the leg going on? I know everybody asks you. Speaker 3 (34:23) It's great. Yeah, I mean, it's healing up pretty good. I've been doing lots of physical therapy and shit. Last time I saw you, I was on crutches. Now I'm just kind of rocking this guy. Speaker 2 (34:35) Hell Speaker 3 (34:36) yeah, that cane, baby. Yeah. Billy Wonka, dude. Speaker 4 (34:40) That bitch is hype. Speaker 3 (34:41) Your wife got Speaker 4 (34:42) you that? Speaker 3 (34:43) Yeah, because this is the cane that Lawrence Talbot had on the original 1941 Universal Motion Pictures, The Wolfman. And Lawrence, Larry Talbot, in the beginning of the film, he's working on his dad's telescope. He just comes back to England or wherever they're at. And he's working on the telescope, and then he, you know. comes over and he sees this girl in her window and she's putting on her earrings and stuff. He's peeping Tom in that shit. Yeah. Yeah. And then, so he sees her and then he realizes she works at the antiques shop. So he goes over there and he's like trying to talk to her. And then he really doesn't know what he's looking for. She's like, well, what are you looking for? And he said, well, what I'm really looking for is a walking stick. And he picks this one up. He's like, this one's pretty cool. It's got a dog on it. And she's like, that's a wolf. Speaker 3 (35:41) So he goes out on a double date with this chick, with her friend Jenny, and she sees this fortune teller in the woods that's actually played by Bela Lugosi, who was like the original Dracula. Oh, yeah, bro. Lugosi Speaker 4 (35:55) was like that. Yeah. The Wolfman, this is called? Yeah, man. And he was a peeping Tom? Lon Chaney. Yeah. Speaker 3 (36:02) Hell yeah. Speaker 4 (36:03) Hell yeah, dude. That's how Speaker 3 (36:04) he found his girl. But anyways, that... That fortune teller sees Jenny in the woods and he's looking at her palm. He's reading her palm and he sees this symbol, that star with a circle in it. And then he's like, you guys got a dip. Like, you know, because that's what happens is the wolf man sees that symbol in the palm of his next victim. Speaker 3 (36:27) So then, you know, they skedaddle. And then all of a sudden you start hearing these big howls and shit. And this wolf is attacking Jenny. And Larry beats the shit out of that wolf with this cane because it's got a silver head on it. Silver bullets, you know, silver can kill a wolf, a werewolf. And then he goes home. He gets bit in the process and he goes home. The old lady drops him off and then. And the cops show up, and he's like, man, the fortune teller was found dead in the woods. And he's like, I'm telling you, I killed a plain old ordinary wolf. And so yeah, anyways, this is the Larry Talbot Kane. I'm a big fan of all those old monster movies. My dad used to watch them with me when I was a kid. And I was really fascinated with The Wolfman when I was little. I wouldn't go outside if there was a full moon. Really? Yeah, because I knew he was out there, dude, just lurking on his tippy toes with them Speaker 4 (37:24) fangs. Yeah. Dude, being scared as a kid, bro, remember how scary it was? When you think of how scary it was when you were scared of something as a kid, dude. Speaker 3 (37:37) The Speaker 4 (37:37) dark, bro? Yeah, yeah. Bro, Speaker 3 (37:40) under a bed? Get out of here, bro. Yeah, monsters in the closet or something, or you think something, some shadows, you see the... Like, when it was nighttime and we were driving in the car with my parents and stuff, and I was looking out the window, we'd be driving past a forest. And I used to call them wolf-assist trees because, like, I knew the wolf was out there. And, like, in the movie, he's, like, lurking behind these trees and shit, and they're all, like, oily black. And, like, I just always, whenever I saw, like, the woods at night, I was just like, I knew the wolf man was out there. I believed in him. Oh, dude. I remember thinking Speaker 4 (38:15) that, like. Oh, that's him? Yeah, that's Lon Chaney. Lon Chaney Jr. Damn, he's like that. He looks like he used to play for the Minnesota Vikings a little bit. Like my buddy Steve Setzler. He's got that look. Bro, I remember we would watch those Jason, we would watch Friday the 13th movies with our older brothers and then our older brothers would just go dip and do some shit and just leave the younger brothers. The craziest thing you can do is watch a scary movie with your younger brother and then just dip. because that kid is fucking scared out of his ankles, bro. I remember me and my friend William just sitting there. We sat back to back, dude. We were so scared and we stayed up for as long as we could. Yeah. We put every light in the house on except the one in my mom's bedroom and then we put a towel in front of her door so the light wouldn't go in there and we were like, we are not losing this plate. Like, just everything was fucking traumatic, dude. Speaker 2 (39:13) And you'd hear a car go by Speaker 4 (39:15) and Speaker 2 (39:15) you'd be like, that's for, Freddy Krueger. Speaker 4 (39:16) It would always be something that was so intense, bro. Speaker 2 (39:19) My Speaker 3 (39:19) dad, when I was little, there was one night, because he's the one that showed me the Wolfman and shit when I was, I don't even know, five, six. That's crazy. Yeah. And so I remember there was one night where I was up in my room and I was playing with toy cars and I was probably supposed to be asleep and I probably had school the next morning or something. But I was in there playing with my toy cars and shit. And my dad had this wolf mask. And he went outside. And I had a window that went off to the back porch. And I'm sitting there playing with my toy cars. And I heard a noise. And I looked around. And I was like, what the fuck was that? And I went back to playing. And then I heard clearly a scratch on the screen of the window. And I looked up, dude. And I saw he was wearing that wolf mask. Fucking dude, I freaked. Your dad did that? Yeah, he scared the living shit out of me. And I ran out of my room, like down the hallway. We lived in this little trailer. Did you know it was him? Hell no. I mean, I thought it was a wolf, you know. And I ran and I ran, like I jumped from like the hallway all the way over. to my mom who was laying on the couch and I just landed right on top of her. I was screaming, crying. My dad came in the back door, just laughing. He's like, it's a mask. It's a mask, you know? Oh. And I'm just like, dude, I. Man, it must have been funny, but why the hell would you do that? So scary, dude. Speaker 2 (40:50) He Speaker 4 (40:50) still talks about it. Bro, yeah, I guess, but I guess, yeah, maybe, look, dude, maybe you're like, I'm going to scare the shit out of this fucking kid. You know what I'm saying? Who knows what parents think? Because all you have to do is have two beers and be like, hey, I think I'm going to scare my kid. And the next thing you know, you're doing it. Speaker 3 (41:04) Yeah. Or maybe it's like. He's supposed to be in bed, but he's Speaker 1 (41:08) in Speaker 3 (41:08) there playing with his toy cars. I'm going to go, you know. Oh, dude. Yeah, but dude, he just scratched on that metal screen. And I'm like, I heard it the first time. And I was