Live Performance and Collaboration with C4RP00L

C4RP00L is an alternative hip-hop band that combines hip-hop beats with electric guitar and bass. They've just released new music, Creature Mode: Vicious and Creature Mode: Velocity.

I spoke with Danger, Renzo Starr, and Villian about their new releases and recent touring. We had a great discussion about writing music as a group and performing live. Please welcome C4RP00L to the Music Production Podcast.

This episode is sponsored by Baby Audio, makers of incredible music software. Use the code MPP15 to save 15%! https://babyaud.io 

Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube

Links:

Thank you for listening. 

Please review the Music Production Podcast on your favorite podcast provider!

Episode Transcript:

Brian Funk (00:01.149)

All right, I am here with Carpool, the three guys from Carpool. What's up, how are you?

Kent Danger (00:06.723)

What's going on, man? Thanks for having us.

RENZO STARR (00:06.93)

Yes.

VILLAIN (00:08.557)

You're good, man.

Brian Funk (00:09.782)

Yeah, it's good to have you. Maybe I can get you guys to introduce yourselves so people can associate your names with your voices and tell us like the role in the group.

Kent Danger (00:17.73)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (00:20.157)

Hey, what's up? I'm Renzo Starr. I'm on bass and vocals.

Kent Danger (00:24.195)

What's going on? Ken Danger. I'm on guitar and vocals.

VILLAIN (00:27.387)

I'm Michael DeVille and I'm a vocalist.

Brian Funk (00:32.639)

Nice. So cool. We got to talking because you guys are coming through New York and right now you're kind of stationed in LA, right?

Kent Danger (00:40.555)

Yeah, that's great.

Brian Funk (00:42.26)

So you guys have been on the road a bit doing some touring.

Kent Danger (00:45.621)

Yeah, we did a little move to New York early in the summer. I think it was like June. And then we came back and we got invited back and we liked it so much we figured let's go in early October too. So yeah, both of them were a fun time.

RENZO STARR (01:00.069)

We've really been trying to make it a goal this year of traveling across the country and just getting as many show opportunities spaced out as possible. So we've been doing some in LA, some in New York, and then we even have one in Raleigh, North Carolina for later this year in December.

Brian Funk (01:15.831)

Nice, and that's a little bit of a homecoming then, I guess, right? North Carolina. Cool. Cool. I think something that's like cool about the sound you guys have, it's like a kind of mixture, I would say like a little bit of like alternative rock with hip hop. It's very melodic. There's a lot of musical elements and a lot of cool guitar playing, cool bass lines. And then on top of it, like a rap hip hop style with some singing too.

Kent Danger (01:19.293)

So looking forward to that one.

Brian Funk (01:43.989)

I think it's a cool blend of genres. Curious how you guys wound up there.

Kent Danger (01:50.843)

that's a good question. I think it's like always been ever evolving just because I feel like the three of us really love music. We're always trying to explore and like add new things to like what we describe our taste as. And I think at the beginning, like we can all say definitely that we love hip hop and that's kind of like vocally where a lot of the ideas come from. But I think all three of us could speak to different artists and different genres that really influence us outside of that as well, too.

RENZO STARR (02:19.953)

Yeah, and as far as how that kind of combination of flavors or influences came to be, I feel like it was just a natural conclusion of what we were trying to create. We really were looking at our contemporaries and music that influenced us, but we didn't really see ourselves reflected in the artists we were looking up to. And I think that's what gave us that passion and drive to try and combine a lot of different tastes into a holistic package, or this meal that we serve to people with each track.

VILLAIN (02:50.55)

Yeah, honestly, happens.

Brian Funk (02:53.526)

you

Kent Danger (02:54.209)

I feel like we could name artists, but that's like ever-changing.

Brian Funk (02:58.039)

Yeah. Any one in particular, any style that's kind of current for you guys right now?

Kent Danger (03:06.625)

Alright, I mean, I guess I'm speaking a little bit for Renzo, but he loves JPEG Mafia, and I do feel like kind of the energy of his music has definitely given a bit of influence into like the fact that he's so particular and very like in the details about his work. And I feel like that's kind of also like influenced us to sort of take that same approach. But again, I mean, I feel like, or sorry, go ahead.

RENZO STARR (03:31.155)

was gonna say even in that same vein of JPEG Mafia, like Childish Gambino, I know somebody that we all three of us love a lot. And I think that's because they're unapologetically eclectic with the work they do. They never try and cater to their audience. It's more like the audience always has to come to them and just accept them where they're at with the decision making choices they make with the production. But I think that's why we love them too is because they just kind of scratch that itch in your brain of giving you something that's a bit off kilter than what you were expecting.

Kent Danger (04:01.197)

Yeah, definitely. I could also say I'm like, mutane too.

VILLAIN (04:02.038)

appreciate it.

VILLAIN (04:05.953)

Yes, will.

Brian Funk (04:10.466)

Yeah, know, like someone like Childish Gambino, where they're doing like lots of different things in their music, lots of different styles. Like so often you're kind of encouraged, like as an artist, like you have to pick something and like go down that lane only because your audience needs to expect the same thing. They want to hear that when they hear you. And, you know, all this trying to fit in with like algorithms so that they know where to send you guys.

But I don't think most people are that way. It's just one dimensional like that.

Kent Danger (04:46.146)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (04:46.446)

Nobody is. People try to pretend like they are though. But I feel like everybody has a little side to them where they, you everybody got some music that they don't want to play in the car with everybody or something like that, you know, you know, everybody has that, but some people like to pretend and stuff. So I feel like everybody should be more open with their choices, you know, you, you for a reason.

Brian Funk (05:02.671)

Yeah, yeah.

Brian Funk (05:11.885)

Right. Do you have anyone in mind? I'm going to ask you to out yourself on some. Yeah, yeah, any music like that for you.

VILLAIN (05:16.696)

Who me?

not really. I'm, I'm, I'm generally open about everything I listen to. You know, I listen to, mean.

I can't lie, people will look at me and they won't see me as a dude listening to singers and stuff like that. But I listen to a lot of singing music, a lot of jazz, a lot of different types of jazz. But lately, I can't lie, I've been listening to lot of SZA. So SZA is my thing. But I feel like that's normal for me. But somebody else, they'll probably be like, you got a beard and all this. You ain't supposed to be listening to SZA, but it's music. You know what mean?

Brian Funk (05:44.531)

huh.

Brian Funk (05:57.283)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (05:57.39)

That's why I said I feel like everybody has their little thing. People will call it a guilty pleasure, but I don't feel like it's guilty at all.

Kent Danger (06:05.005)

True.

Brian Funk (06:05.053)

That's refreshing to hear, you know, because sometimes people have that where like, no, it's not really my thing, you Yeah. And it all seeps into what you create, and it makes it a more interesting type of thing. I can hear the jazz in what you guys are doing. I can hear that, especially a lot of the guitar chords and, you know, it's...

VILLAIN (06:06.689)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (06:12.435)

Yeah, I'm like, bro, it's good music. Good music is good music, no matter where it comes from.

VILLAIN (06:20.45)

Yeah, that's one thing.

You can't listen to what you make all the time. I got it for sure.

Brian Funk (06:31.748)

It's got some cool extended chords and interesting voicings on there.

Kent Danger (06:37.155)

Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you, bro.

RENZO STARR (06:37.629)

Definitely a lot of Jordan.

VILLAIN (06:40.302)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (06:40.593)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (06:42.995)

or a lot of cash on those songs.

Kent Danger (06:43.171)

Yeah, I guess, yeah, it's just kind of like when we get together, we just have different things that we might go after. So it might be like, we're feeling jazz today. OK, cool. Or we're feeling R &B or like rock and roll. And then we sort of layer, again, that hip hop element around whatever the genre we're feeling.

Brian Funk (06:43.186)

Nice.

Brian Funk (07:03.388)

Right. Yeah, a lot of times I'll hear a song and it might just be like a small part of it even I'm taking, you know? And it could be anything. Like that's the fun thing about when you get into like writing music, producing music, is like now it doesn't matter what you listen to because there's something to grab, you know, from like any genre. Might even just be the production style or just the attitude of the vocalist. Can all be part of what you put in. Yeah.

Kent Danger (07:21.517)

Yeah, definitely.

Kent Danger (07:29.795)

It's all moving now. Yeah.

VILLAIN (07:31.78)

Exactly. Yeah, I would tell them like a big part of music is delivery. How you deliver it. Like a lot of people have no like, I mean, I'm not going to say it doesn't have a lot of lyrical. I mean, it doesn't have a lot of literal lyrical content, but the way that they say it and the way they do things like, I mean, James Brown, know, it's like just stuff like that. You just have to. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like he didn't really say too much, but the way he said it and the way he did it, it was like, okay, that's why we get it.

Brian Funk (07:51.74)

Yeah. Hey! Just saying hey.

Brian Funk (08:01.405)

Yeah. Right. You can take a word like, Hey, it's all. He speaks a whole language. Yeah. I'm pretty sure he has. It's just a whole language comes out of that one word and all the ways you express it.

VILLAIN (08:05.502)

Exactly and just stretch it out so many ways, you you'll probably make a whole song out of just hey, yeah He probably had yeah, he probably has

RENZO STARR (08:14.001)

you

VILLAIN (08:19.854)

Mm-hmm.

RENZO STARR (08:21.959)

Those are the parts you remember the most though, even like for the least astute listener, like Michael Jackson, you ask them what they know, they're gonna go, hee hee, or they'll say like one of the ad-libs, just cause that's what's...

Brian Funk (08:31.087)

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Shamow. You know, like, not even a real word.

VILLAIN (08:31.209)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (08:34.487)

that.

RENZO STARR (08:35.879)

Yeah, sometimes.

VILLAIN (08:36.068)

Yeah, you bet. It really ain't a real one.

Brian Funk (08:40.927)

you

RENZO STARR (08:44.211)

.

Brian Funk (08:45.7)

Trademark though.

VILLAIN (08:47.05)

Yeah, he faked me. That's crazy.

RENZO STARR (08:49.021)

We've got to create our own. We're still trying to figure out what's the carpool ad live.

Kent Danger (08:50.737)

We're working to that level.

Brian Funk (08:53.33)

Right. Yeah. I don't know if you can like consciously create that. It probably has to just come out one day, you know, at a performance or at practice or something. Yeah.

VILLAIN (09:02.126)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (09:04.071)

Definitely something natural.

Kent Danger (09:05.963)

your personality communicated through the music.

Brian Funk (09:09.382)

Mm-hmm. Yeah. So how was yours? You guys invited me to come out to your show in the city. It just didn't work out for me. I'm not that close to New York City. So it's a bit of a journey. But how was that coming out and playing? You like you guys had a pretty cool time. And there's video of it too, which was awesome.

Kent Danger (09:27.597)

Yeah, it was awesome time. It's hard to understate how much fun we really had. I don't know. It just was like, again, the second trip, we were like, really got to nail this and do it right. Lots of people came and just showed support. And it was just a really fun time. I don't know. I give it A+. I feel like I just had a great time.

RENZO STARR (09:48.019)

mean, it was good vibes all around. think we were just like, not overwhelmed wouldn't be the word, but really just surprised by the turnout we were able to get going from out of state and just seeing that there was still a really good amount of people who were able to participate and that they had a really good reception of it afterwards. So many people were coming up and talking to us and we just were able to network off of that. We love when it just is easy to meet people who are similar spirited or creative spirited and they're just trying to go along the same journey that we are.

VILLAIN (10:18.628)

Yeah, for sure. was definitely fun.

Brian Funk (10:22.658)

Can you guys tell me a little bit about how the live performance works? You've got some instruments, guitar and bass, vocals. There's also beats going on as well. How do you set that up? What's happening behind the scenes there?

RENZO STARR (10:39.697)

It's a bit of mad science, I definitely can say. It's like a little bit of chemicals over here, some over here, and then Walter White puts it together. And in this analogy, think Kent would probably be Walter White, because it's usually running off of his computer. But we strip the songs down to their elements, and then we assign a part of the melody to each person. So I would say usually Kent is going to be doing the guitar stuff, and then for me, I'll take over the bass aspect of it. And then for our drums, we usually

Kent Danger (10:39.703)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (10:40.068)

Probably.

Brian Funk (10:48.097)

Nice.

RENZO STARR (11:10.673)

to the computer and then we'll run those out of the sound system of the venue. But I'm sure Kent could share some more about it.

Kent Danger (11:18.227)

yeah, we have like a couple different ways in which we perform. would say like currently our full loadout actually includes four of us and we got to shout out our brother, blue. he is also on guitar as well. And, basically, like he said, it would be like, you know, the laptop and that'll just have like the necessary drum patterns and whatever we can work off with that. And then, you know, Renzo laid down the baseline, good blue and I will play guitar over the parts and then we'll just all do our vocals and,

VILLAIN (11:29.987)

you

Kent Danger (11:47.927)

There may be some shows where we might invite a drummer depending on if the vibe is really set up for that, but that's kind of how it works.

Brian Funk (11:57.441)

Are you running some kind of software to play back the tracks?

Kent Danger (12:02.219)

Yeah, we use Ableton Live actually for our live shows, but that's actually not the doll that we work off of to make the songs, which is kind of funny. Yeah.

Brian Funk (12:10.811)

OK. Yeah, OK. So I'm a big Ableton Live user. That's my thing.

Kent Danger (12:15.201)

Yeah, certified.

VILLAIN (12:15.384)

Hehehe.

RENZO STARR (12:17.971)

You guys definitely have it best for lives. We'll never try and take that from you.

Kent Danger (12:22.723)

sure.

Brian Funk (12:23.797)

What's that? Like the performance?

RENZO STARR (12:25.307)

Or Ableton's setup, I just feel like it works best in a live setting for recording and performing with it. Even using plugins and stuff, it usually runs pretty smoothly. We've kind of moved away from incorporating a lot of plugins into the live setting as of now, just because we don't want anything to go wrong. But we've started testing analog autotune with our live performances just for certain songs that feel like they need that flavor.

Brian Funk (12:30.498)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (12:53.893)

cool. Yeah, I use Live for performance and I do the same thing. It's like only Ableton plugins, you only their devices. Because most of the time if I ever get a crash or ever get some kind of hang up, it's because of something that I tried to load into the project. But the stuff that they've got is, you know, it's designed to run inside there. So it's going to be more stable. And for a long time, the only other plugin I would use Live was

nectar by isotope and for auto tune stuff. But now they got, inside alive is auto shift. It's an auto tuner and the new update. it's like, I don't need that anymore. You know? Yeah. Keep it, keep it like all in the family kind of, you know, so like, we don't have any problems.

Kent Danger (13:25.061)

yeah.

Kent Danger (13:35.491)

It's all in the box.

Kent Danger (13:42.691)

Exactly. You can do a lot with them, yeah.

RENZO STARR (13:42.867)

The stock tools are powerful though, especially...

Brian Funk (13:45.178)

Yeah. Yeah. And any DAW, mean, they've, especially as the years have gone by, I mean, things have just been upgraded and upgraded and you can, a lot of people think they need to get like the next plugin, the next device, but most of the time it's about learning what you have already. And there's, there's gaps you can fill, of course. And there's a lot of plugins that do things really well and in a cool way. but

I think many people, especially people when they're starting out, would be surprised to realize how much you can get done with, I mean, even if you just have like garage band on your phone, you've, you're so far ahead of where we were, you know, 30, 40, 50 years ago. It's wild.

Kent Danger (14:23.906)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (14:29.563)

Exactly.

Kent Danger (14:30.715)

Exactly. No, I'd say that's a good point. I feel like just you end up going back to things a lot of times and then you realize you actually had the tools you needed the entire time. It's just you had to figure out how to make it work.

Brian Funk (14:43.312)

Yeah, right.

RENZO STARR (14:45.383)

Sometimes the limitations make you even more creative too because you have to figure out a different way to try and get to the same end result.

Brian Funk (14:53.83)

I guess that must happen a lot in the live performance, right? Because you... three people or sometimes four.

Kent Danger (15:02.467)

I guess so, yeah.

Brian Funk (15:03.802)

Yeah, it doesn't really come up though.

RENZO STARR (15:04.711)

We definitely have had to problem solve on the fly quite a few times. I think as of late, we tried to avoid as much problem solving on the fly as we can, but it's always good to have that toolkit in the back pocket to pull out if we ever have to MacGyver something.

Kent Danger (15:08.567)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (15:18.171)

Hmm.

Kent Danger (15:20.417)

Honestly, I think I'm blanking on the last time it happened really bad, but I would say that I think whatever that time was, it made us start over-preparing for our shows now.

RENZO STARR (15:28.071)

Yes.

Brian Funk (15:30.212)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (15:31.608)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (15:34.461)

There, I think there's like sometimes people have this conception, like if you have the computer, like it's kind of doing all the work for you, but you have to do a lot of prep work to get that ready to bring to a stage especially and have a cohesive performance so that you're not spending 10 minutes loading songs in between songs and, you know, searching for things on your computer while you're playing.

Kent Danger (16:02.497)

I will say that's the benefit to Ableton is that it loads like immediately. And I feel like other dogs sometimes it kind of takes a little second to get what you need.

Brian Funk (16:12.889)

What do you guys use for the recording part, the production?

Kent Danger (16:16.451)

It's kind of a mix. Renzel uses FL and makes a lot of beats on there. I use Logic and I guess that's where like the vocals are mainly recorded at and where the mixing is done for at least the last two projects, but kind of floats in between those two.

Brian Funk (16:33.898)

Nice. I was a Logic user for a while until I discovered Ableton Live. Yeah, it just felt like a songwriting tool for me. I was in Pro Tools for a while, was in Logic. And I think if I was an engineer in a studio, with like the desk and everything, like those particular DAWs would have been a little better. But that wasn't what I was trying to do.

Kent Danger (16:39.777)

Yeah, switched it up.

Kent Danger (17:01.793)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (17:03.09)

in the basement trying to make tracks by myself. So definitely gravitated towards life for that reason.

Kent Danger (17:08.155)

Definitely.

Kent Danger (17:13.079)

definitely makes sense. mean, I feel like it's kind of like everybody just figures out eventually which one helps them make the best song. And then you end up just sticking with that. And it's like, from then on, you know?

Brian Funk (17:24.391)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (17:25.723)

We don't knock nobody's door.

Brian Funk (17:28.807)

Yeah.

VILLAIN (17:29.871)

Whatever die you choose, just give us some good music.

Kent Danger (17:33.379)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (17:33.662)

That's right. The listener is not wondering, Hey, what did you use? Pro tools logic before I turn this on. Yeah. Yeah. It's like how you use it.

RENZO STARR (17:34.258)

Thank you.

Kent Danger (17:37.418)

You

VILLAIN (17:37.435)

Yeah, just give us some good, you But yeah, I'm actually about to head out fellas.

Kent Danger (17:47.714)

okay, got you, Appreciate you taking the time.

VILLAIN (17:48.727)

Yeah. I appreciate y'all having me. I appreciate you having me, Brian. I'll see you guys later. Yes, sir. I appreciate you, I wish I had more time to talk to you, man, but I had to, you know, you know how it goes. yeah. Yes, sir. I appreciate you. All right, buddy.

Brian Funk (17:49.158)

Alright, the villain is on the loose.

Brian Funk (17:54.953)

Yeah, hey, thanks for coming and thanks for making cool music. Best of luck to you.

Kent Danger (17:58.467)

to say.

Brian Funk (18:03.432)

No problem. I know. Well, I'm glad you found that time you Take care.

Kent Danger (18:07.583)

Alright bro, I'll talk to you soon.

Brian Funk (18:11.244)

Cool. All right, we're down to three now. There's three of us. I think I said to you guys beforehand, I think that's the most people I've ever had on a call for the podcast before. Yeah, I think so. We've done two a couple of times. Yeah. You have that distinction.

RENZO STARR (18:17.436)

Yeah, but the doll

RENZO STARR (18:24.646)

No way.

RENZO STARR (18:28.253)

Glad we were able to set a new record. We always roll deep, so it's not anything new for us.

Kent Danger (18:29.921)

Yeah, it'll be this.

Brian Funk (18:38.219)

When you guys make your songs, how does it come about? Does it start out in the studio? Does start out with some jamming? Do you work together, separate?

RENZO STARR (18:41.074)

BOOM!

Kent Danger (18:52.727)

a lot of different ways. Honestly, all of the above.

RENZO STARR (18:55.271)

You kind of describe, yeah, you described like a couple of the techniques. I think that our whole process has gone through a transformation recently because we've been trying to do more.

Like I wouldn't even say analog because we're still recording it into a doll, but just jamming out a whole idea and just sitting on that and letting it sit for like 20 minutes and then moving on to a new idea versus before. We used to try and just make everything digital and then add in like our instrumentation on top or like start with some drums maybe and then add instrumentation to that.

Kent Danger (19:30.733)

Yeah, I could definitely agree. I I feel like it's just been as our careers progressed, we used to be like everything was digital, you know, and then we started gaining more confidence in the playing and started trying to create things based off of that. And like you said, I would say this year mostly we've been trying to like have a full jam session and then maybe build the record off of what came from that.

Brian Funk (19:53.294)

So you guys kind of playing and then listening for like the cool things that happen along the way? Yeah, nice. I like to do that a lot even like in the stuff I do by myself. It might set up a beat or something and then just play for a while. Recording everything but then later come back and be like, all right, like that was a cool four bars. That was a cool little riff or a cool vocal line or whatever it is.

Kent Danger (19:59.073)

Exactly.

RENZO STARR (19:59.357)

Exactly.

Kent Danger (20:09.442)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (20:21.28)

It helps me forget that that red recording light is on. know, because like, you know how that changes everything. You're like playing, it feels great. Then you hit the button and you're like, uh-oh.

Kent Danger (20:24.771)

Mm-hmm.

RENZO STARR (20:31.239)

Why is that? You always get the best ideas when the recording button is off. That's why we've had to train ourselves to just always press record as soon as we start doing anything musical. Otherwise we miss the golden idea.

Kent Danger (20:32.278)

It's like you forget.

Kent Danger (20:43.015)

every single time. You have to record and then it's like what idea was I even trying to lay down? I don't know why that happens.

Brian Funk (20:43.522)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (20:48.001)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's like, I don't know, you're being watched or something. Well, I think like, I don't know, maybe it's related, but they say like in quantum physics, right? Like there's all that like possibility like before anyone is observing, but then as soon as... Yes.

RENZO STARR (21:05.309)

to one and zero at the same time until you proceed and then it becomes a one or zero.

Brian Funk (21:10.764)

Right. It becomes something all of sudden once you monitor, maybe on some like weird small level of a bunch of little parts put together anyway. Right. So maybe something weird like that happens. We're suddenly like, now we're watching. Now we're paying attention.

RENZO STARR (21:27.239)

Maybe it's that you start perceiving the time more when you start recording and then you're like, wait a minute, the rhythm isn't exactly like how it's supposed to be. Or that once you start putting time to it, that's when it's like, this has to be perfectly locked in.

Kent Danger (21:27.341)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (21:40.879)

Mmm.

Kent Danger (21:41.751)

Might be something like the metronome distracts you. I feel like any other noise will like actually make me forget the idea.

Brian Funk (21:49.486)

Yeah, right. I don't like playing in metronomes. I'll just always program like a beat or even if it's a kick drum, four kicks, just something about like that metronome click. It sounds like work or I should be doing scales or something like that to it. It's not musical, you know what mean?

Kent Danger (21:59.426)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (22:13.091)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (22:14.237)

no groove to it. It's funny though because the Ableton metronome I feel like it's been on a couple of songs. I'm like blanking right now but I know I've heard it on like at least...

Brian Funk (22:15.758)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (22:21.011)

People sample it. It's on World Star by Childish Gambino. Yeah.

RENZO STARR (22:26.375)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (22:27.715)

Is it? That's funny. I gotta check that out. Right. You recognize that like, it has a similar effect on me as when my alarm on my phone goes off when I'm awake. Cause you know, I'm so used to hearing that, like to knock me out of a dream or something in the morning to wake me up. But then when I hear it during the day, it's almost like, am I about to wake up and realize I've been dreaming this whole day? You know, that metronome comes on. It's like, whoa.

RENZO STARR (22:34.15)

Yeah

RENZO STARR (22:54.504)

It's triggering, it's time to get up. Time to get in front of the people though.

Brian Funk (22:57.36)

That's like, I straighten up my act. Yeah. We do the same thing with my band. We're a three piece like, like garage rock thing, guitar, bass and drums. And when practice starts, I open up my template. It's got everything mic'd up. I hit record and then we record for like three hours or until we take a break or something, you know? And it just allows us to...

Kent Danger (23:12.268)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (23:27.074)

not worry about it because we used to do it where like, all right, we're to play the song now. Okay, let me hit record. And then it's like, everyone, all the like life comes out of it. It just becomes tense instead of that kind of fun energy you get when you're working with other people where you lose yourself in it.

Kent Danger (23:48.683)

Nah, it's like you almost have to accidentally record it. I feel like that's also why we will take our phones out and we'll do a voice memo just in case the dog didn't get it.

Brian Funk (23:55.674)

Yeah.

yeah. Sometimes those voice memos, like the phone mic, it's pretty darn good now. You can get some decent recordings off of it.

Kent Danger (24:05.251)

Pretty good. Yeah.

Kent Danger (24:10.179)

I think we used a sample. I think it was during our last New York trip when we were taking a walk and you know like the walkway sign and it'll be like wait and then it does like a little timer and I think we sampled that and threw it in one of the songs.

Brian Funk (24:21.903)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (24:25.095)

Yeah, on Nino on creature mode velocity, if you listen to Mike's verse, the first verse, there's like the crossing sign sound effect on there.

Brian Funk (24:25.625)

Nice.

Brian Funk (24:35.188)

Yeah, nice. Yeah, that's a great idea. this, what is music anyway, you know? It's organized sound, it's organized noise even. So if you like notice something that's kind of interesting and you can find a way to put it in there, especially when you start repeating it, the phrase or looping it, it starts to become musical all of a sudden. There's something kind of magical to that.

Kent Danger (25:00.163)

Yeah.

so

RENZO STARR (25:03.185)

Even like he said JPEG mafia, feel like that's one of the, not the secret to his sauce, but that's a part of his whole thesis in like ethos is that anything is music. So it's like sample something that was never supposed to be musical, turn it into a musical idea and then you usually get something really wild sounding.

Brian Funk (25:12.979)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (25:21.297)

Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a moment in time, right? Like when you guys recorded that, that crosswalk, wait, I know exactly what you're talking about. And then like it beeps and, there's other stuff happening in the background. There's cars coming by or there's birds chirping or people having a conversation and you could never record it that way exactly ever again. Even if you stood there two minutes later, it would just be different.

Kent Danger (25:50.518)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (25:50.835)

There's something really magical about you got that moment in time and now it's in the music.

Kent Danger (25:58.421)

It's true too, I never really thought of it like that. It'll be different sounds next time you go back or something else will be different about the moment itself.

Brian Funk (26:07.667)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (26:08.659)

That's literally what the music is too though. You're just capturing that one moment where it was the loop or the perfect pattern.

Kent Danger (26:13.261)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (26:16.99)

Hmm.

Kent Danger (26:17.603)

It's like screenshotting your life at a certain point in time.

Brian Funk (26:20.786)

Yeah, that's true. Screenshotting your life.

RENZO STARR (26:25.245)

good music is just a good screenshot.

Brian Funk (26:28.188)

Yeah. Yeah, they like, can clean things up so much now. You know, we can edit away all the noise and we can use samples that are perfectly recorded at the finest studios with the best mics and engineers. And sometimes it just, it doesn't add up. Right. It lacks a life or something. But these days when I'm recording, I'm like,

I don't even care what's going on around me half the time, the dog barks or somebody's talking in the background. Sometimes that just becomes the cool, weird thing that catches your ear in the song and makes you want to hear it again. It'd be like, what's going on there? helps paint the picture or build the world of the song.

Kent Danger (27:11.213)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (27:17.123)

Definitely, it just captures that entire moment. I know exactly what you mean, because I think there's a couple songs that we've tried to do outdoors just to see if that would make us write different lyrics or choose different chords or whatever. And sometimes you will record a vocal and some birds will be chirping or something in the background. It just adds to the vibe.

Brian Funk (27:29.717)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (27:36.256)

Right? That's a cool exercise.

RENZO STARR (27:37.619)

Even as simple as the smoke alarm, needing a battery replacement, doing that little beep noise. I feel like I've heard some songs with that in it before. But it really does give it just that extra bit of uniqueness and life to it.

Kent Danger (27:43.393)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (27:43.883)

Heh.

Yeah.

Brian Funk (27:53.612)

You know, I saw some video, was some celebrity was going on a rant in their house or something. I forget exactly what it was. But in the background, that little battery beep noise from the smoke alarm was going off. And that was what everyone was commenting on. It's like, yo, you've made millions of dollars in the movies. You can't change your battery. It's like, even whoever it was has these real world problems.

RENZO STARR (28:20.445)

Honestly, it's a really adult moment, because it just happened to me a couple of days ago, and I was like, no, I understand why my parents always had that beeping noise. They were like, we're too busy to switch out this battery. We'll do it eventually.

Kent Danger (28:31.331)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (28:31.369)

Right. Yeah, I climb up there and undo it.

Kent Danger (28:35.956)

Much work.

RENZO STARR (28:37.075)

You're too much.

Brian Funk (28:38.379)

for that quarter of a second of irritation every minute or two. It's like, whatever.

RENZO STARR (28:44.083)

Because everyone who lives in the house eventually goes like blind to the noise. They never hear it anymore. It's only when guests come over and they're like, what is that noise that keeps going off?

Brian Funk (28:49.249)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (28:53.217)

Right? it's interesting. wonder, I guess that happens in our music too, like the things we hear and we kind of go blind to a little bit and then people hear it.

Kent Danger (29:03.574)

Maybe so.

Brian Funk (29:07.78)

Can you guys tell me a little, sounds like you have a good story of how you guys got together and started making music together. You want to share that a little bit?

Kent Danger (29:17.537)

Yeah, I guess we both have like different perspectives of it, but from mine, I met Mike first.

Brian Funk (29:23.873)

Okay.

Kent Danger (29:28.631)

Like was saying, we went to NC State, so all of us were in Raleigh and they had like a studio inside the library that students could use. So I was just pulling up there like all the time my freshman year. And I think it was like right before the holidays or maybe around this time I met Mike and we just started recording on some stuff. You know, just kind of got to know each other that way. And then a second semester I met Renzo because like one of my friends was like, bro, this guy's like a crazy singer. You have to come down here and come meet him right now. And I was like, okay, cool.

So like I think I majored in computer science my first year. So I was like, okay, I'm definitely leaving I don't like I don't care about this at all. Whatever and get on there I meet him and he's got like this like childish Gambino t-shirt on and it's got like all of the albums up until like I think awake and my love was on there and We like this whole like this combo about that because we both love childish Gambino and I think it just kind of Made us start recording stuff. And then he Mike and I we start making music

RENZO STARR (30:16.019)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (30:28.917)

We take a trip to California in 2018 and around that time I had been messaging somebody on Instagram just about guitars and random stuff like that and he happened to live in California. So when we got there we decided to meet and that was good blue and kind of joined up, started making some stuff and that's how the band came together.

Brian Funk (30:51.674)

How far back are we going? How long you guys been doing this for?

Kent Danger (30:55.841)

Well, as a group? You said what?

Brian Funk (30:58.289)

there.

RENZO STARR (30:59.296)

I think it's like six or seven years now.

Kent Danger (31:01.419)

Yeah, it's about six or seven years, yeah. Individually though, we've kind of all had our own timeline with making music as well too though. But yeah.

Brian Funk (31:04.56)

Nice.

Brian Funk (31:12.05)

Yeah, it takes a little time for that chemistry to build a bit too, where you start to understand each other and kind of intuit what they're going to do and how to react to what they're playing.

Kent Danger (31:23.797)

Yeah, exactly. I think that also, too, that was kind of like we just naturally had like a similar taste in music, especially when we were younger. think that we just had like certain artists like Tyler, the creator, like Mac Miller, like just whoever that we all just kind of knew that we liked. And something about the inspiration and the vibe off of that kind of helped us find the right place. You know what I'm saying? Like land and sort of everybody have their own ideas and we can all be like, OK, we like this. And it moves towards like a more finished project.

Brian Funk (31:53.989)

Right. Yeah, you're all bringing your own thing, but there's sort of a commonality that works with it.

RENZO STARR (32:01.075)

And even beyond the music too, feel like another thing we really did connect on that maybe is a part of the story is business too. Because we were really interested in networking, meeting other people to create more opportunities for whatever would be in our future. And so I think we both saw that in one another that we were trying to play more shows and expand our network outside of just our social group and just our local area. So there's always been like a.

aspiration in that way between all of the members and I think we just have been pushing at that.

Brian Funk (32:34.162)

Yeah. It's a big part of it, right? I think a lot of people that get into music find themselves in a lot of other things as a result. Like, you know, content creation, networking, like you said, or building websites, or I mean, there's so many things that I don't think I would ever have done if it wasn't because it would help me get music out there and learn more about it and reach new people.

Kent Danger (32:34.647)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (32:44.589)

definitely.

Kent Danger (33:01.811)

Exactly. I was going to say, I feel like that kind of creates like a positive loop in your life when you're able to like do that. Because I think like Renzo was saying, we know we came together because we all like had a passion for music and we're willing to say, I'll learn whatever it takes in order for the music to like do what I want it to do. And I think that maybe also in our personal lives from doing that, we picked up some skills that then maybe got us a job in our personal life or like.

whatever we might have learned from a job or from school, we apply the music and it would just kind of continue in sort of a way like that.

Brian Funk (33:27.421)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (33:34.739)

Yeah, you know, that's a good point. I never really thought about that. I teach high school English as my day job, you know, and a lot of people at my job think I'm like some tech whiz with the computers, you know, and I'm not. just, know, basic stuff that you learn because you want to make music on your computer, right? That's like why I know anything about computers. I probably wouldn't even have a computer if I didn't.

Kent Danger (33:51.692)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (34:03.036)

play music.

RENZO STARR (34:04.275)

Honestly, basic to you though, but to somebody else it probably seems like it's a whole nother coding language to try and understand how to connect the piano to the computer or whatever it may be or connecting to it in your face.

Brian Funk (34:16.678)

Yeah. Well, like some, thing I run into a lot is like their, their, like smart board won't display or the sound won't come through. like, I know how to get the audio out of the computer into the thing. You know, like it's like connecting my guitar to my amp. Yeah. It's, it's true. It does happen. And I always kind of laugh, but it's, there's a lot of transference and skills. And I think even like personally, socially, like

RENZO STARR (34:27.923)

Yes.

Kent Danger (34:30.923)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (34:31.463)

They're like, I know the perfect guy for that. They rent to your room.

Brian Funk (34:46.079)

When you guys are playing music together, for instance, you're both playing guitar, you sort of have to like have a conversation a little bit.

Kent Danger (34:52.791)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (34:54.847)

I mean, I've played with people that where they're just going, you know, they're doing their thing and you're just trying to like hop on their train and figure out how to fit in, but they're not, you know, paying attention to what you're doing at all. And then other people, you can tell they're like, all right, let's drive this train together and let's see what we can do. And it's a lot like that with interacting with other people, kind of, you know, how are they feeling?

Kent Danger (35:08.355)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (35:22.366)

to what I'm saying, how are they reacting, are they comfortable, are they stressed out? I'm sure we all know people that don't pay any attention to that and other people too, and they're difficult to be around.

Kent Danger (35:35.927)

Yeah, no, definitely. It is kind of a good point. feel like after a while you learn that music is also about listening as much as it is about playing. And like you said, in real life, that applies to lot of situations as well.

Brian Funk (35:45.108)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (35:49.216)

Yeah. Yeah, I think it was Miles Davis, who's like, the most important notes are the notes I don't play. Something along those lines, you know? And what impact a note has is often largely dependent on the notes around it and sometimes the silence around it. And what you might be doing on say like

bass or the guitar that makes this note really come through on this other instrument.

Kent Danger (36:22.605)

Nah, definitely not. Like, I context, it's so huge. And I feel like we're still trying to work towards a more perfect version of that too, because there's already so much going on with what we produce that we're, I feel like all still trying to find that perfect balance of silence with choosing the right notes, you know?

RENZO STARR (36:40.339)

Yeah, because it's almost at odds, not even at odds with who we are. But I think that we would never describe ourselves as minimalist. We would definitely lean more towards maximalist. And I think that a part of creating the beautiful music is really learning where to leave those spaces of silence and knowing when to take away and carve away, really have a subtracted process. I think that that's kind of.

where our bread and butter is, is that we have a very subtractive process. We try and throw as many layers and ideas on as we can, and then we start taking it down and taking it to its bare best idea, and then just keeping whatever little adornishments we want to from that initial session.

Brian Funk (37:25.942)

Yeah, you build it up real big and then it's it's sculpting away at the stone to find the statue.

Kent Danger (37:34.563)

Exactly.

Brian Funk (37:36.416)

It's one of my favorite ways to actually get my ideas into songs. Cause like as an Ableton Live user, it's very easy to be in session view and just like build a loop up. You have four or eight bars and you got this like huge thing happening and it's like, yeah, this part's great. But then it's like, what? So a lot of times stretch it out across that timeline in the arrangement view and then start taking things out, taking things out.

Kent Danger (37:56.429)

Good exp...

Brian Funk (38:05.999)

What does it sound like when just the drums and the bass play? Like, that's kind of nice. It makes it sound cool when the other parts come in. And a lot of times, the first thing I recorded winds up in the trash. Might be like a guitar I was strumming away on. And since it was the first thing, you have to fill out the space. So you're just strumming and strumming and strumming. But then when it's in the whole context of the arrangement, it's like, it's too busy. Like, it sounds better without it.

Kent Danger (38:19.085)

Mm.

Kent Danger (38:35.649)

Yeah, no, I think that we've kind of gone through the same thing too. It's like you build up maybe even like a sample or something you build off of something and then you end up just subtracting that because everything sounds better without it.

Brian Funk (38:47.268)

Hmm.

RENZO STARR (38:47.634)

Especially when we listen to stuff on a loop for so long in the DAW. It's like, I actually hate this now. Let me turn this off and then just keep the new idea that I put on top of it.

Brian Funk (38:57.09)

Yeah. So you'll sample something and then build on it, and then the sample winds up in the garbage.

Kent Danger (39:03.799)

Sometimes that happens.

Brian Funk (39:05.282)

Yeah. That's cool.

RENZO STARR (39:07.067)

Or even doing that on purpose too, like trying to recreate the sample. Like I feel like Kent has done that a lot. Like find a sample, figure out what the loop is gonna be, but then just replay all the instruments from the original sample and then you don't even need the sample anymore because you have it right there.

Brian Funk (39:19.46)

Mm-hmm.

Kent Danger (39:23.458)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (39:23.928)

Right. Yeah, you can sort of jam with the sample, come up with your own parts and yeah, that's a fun way to do it. It gives you a lot of, a lot of for me, like sampling, like if I'm going to sample like a song, which I don't think I've ever like done a track that did that, but I have done things where I sample something, build on it and it gives me like the vibe.

Kent Danger (39:28.931)

Exactly.

RENZO STARR (39:52.36)

Thank

Brian Funk (39:52.657)

You know, or the groove maybe, like the certain drum beat has a feel and I'm playing off of it. And then I can take it out and I've got that feeling still, know, kind of that movement or whatever it is, the flow that the song has. That's kind of hard to recreate when you're programming things in.

doing it all by hand or whatever.

Kent Danger (40:15.519)

Yeah, not true. I think that's also why we like to do the jamming thing too, because it kind of just like spreads the workout for one, but also it just gives you like the energy to go back and forth on and eventually you'll find that final product.

Brian Funk (40:29.477)

Hmm.

RENZO STARR (40:29.917)

can kind of see with maturity too how computers have become so integral to our lives every day that we use the computer outside of musical work and it makes it to where when we get to doing musical work we're like, actually let's just stick to doing the instruments. That way we don't have to use technology too much and overuse it as a part of our day.

Kent Danger (40:46.115)

it.

Brian Funk (40:50.564)

Yeah. So I've got like a laptop that I use. don't even, I don't have a desktop. It's all just on the laptop. So it's got like the track pad on it, you know, where you just kind of move your finger. And sometimes I think about it. I'm like, all I'm doing is this motion with my finger, right? Just on that track pad. And if I do it in a certain pattern, a song comes out. If I do it in another pattern, like a Facebook page loads or like an email gets sent or.

Kent Danger (41:01.003)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (41:19.983)

Like it's just wild that these like little tiny motions we do with our hands can make a totally different result depending on what you're doing. But sometimes the music work starts to feel just like sending an email and it's nice to get away from those little just finger wiggling motions and you know play a guitar, play a keyboard or even like a midi controller, bang out like a beat on it or something.

Kent Danger (41:47.959)

Yeah, no, I definitely feel like that.

RENZO STARR (41:50.515)

That's what's so beautiful about being like a, or being creative and even just not music, but like visual art too. It's like the emotion, the human creativity will create an impact that could live on past, you know, our time on this planet and also make a huge impact on someone else's life. So many songs have, you know, changed the world just off of words and repetition.

Brian Funk (42:14.454)

Sometimes, you know, when the spirit is low, I can start thinking about like music and what I'm doing. And it's like, it feels really trivial, right? You're making little noises and singing about like your problems or whatever you're doing, right? You're making these silly songs. And I can almost like get this feeling of like, what's the point? What are we doing? You know, like.

There's so many things going on in the world. There's so much you could be doing to contribute and here you are, like tinkering with like a kick drum, running through like some plugins or something. But like you said, right? Like I can't tell you how many times in my life, like when I felt like that, where it was the very thing that helped me through it was a song or a piece of music, or even just playing it, playing the guitar, playing music myself. It's, there's something really valuable to it.

Kent Danger (43:08.621)

You know, now we need that expression.

Brian Funk (43:09.246)

That's... Yeah.

RENZO STARR (43:12.851)

inherently human like you said it's truly expression, self-expression. Sometimes you can't just like do it you can't let out what you need to just by saying something or just by exercising or doing it you have to like create whether it's fashion, it's art, it's music, whatever it could be. I just think that that's like a huge part of life and I feel like me personally I couldn't even imagine what my life would be like if I didn't create in some type of space.

Kent Danger (43:43.145)

I can say the same.

Brian Funk (43:43.39)

Yeah.

I think there'd be fewer smiles on my face.

RENZO STARR (43:48.411)

Yeah, I definitely could see myself in more grades in my outfit choices. A lot more suits. Yeah, definitely.

Brian Funk (43:53.586)

Yeah, more greys in my hair. Yeah, definitely. It helps a lot getting that out. Because it's one of those things, and I think especially when you play live, when you play with other people too, that you can just forget your problems for a little while. It's not like they go away, but you kind of forget them. And then...

When you're done, you come back and instead of looking at your problems from here, now you're over on the other side of it. And it doesn't look so bad, you know? It looks like this wide when you're staring at it, but then when you look at it from the side, it's like real thin and narrow, you know? And time away from that and often something where you're losing yourself rather than just ruminating on whatever it is that's bothering you for hours and hours. It's really a healthy and important thing.

Kent Danger (44:25.815)

Yeah.

Hmm.

Kent Danger (44:48.161)

Yeah, no, I feel the same way. like just being able to have that perspective shift is so important. And it's kind of similar to like if you go work out, you know, it's like a good benefit for your mental health. And I feel like music and sports are kind of the same to me in that way, where it's like, sometimes I just need to do this just for the sake of like, letting my mind rest and think about other things so I can come back to whatever it is in life and, you know, have that new perspective that I need.

Brian Funk (44:58.166)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (45:16.042)

Yeah, very true. Cause you kind of can't be thinking about problems in the game or, you know, when you're exercising, you're just trying to like survive and exert yourself and all that. Yeah. Yeah. And it's a healthy expression of that. think like we, we have, like we, we are the, descendants of people that like had to

Kent Danger (45:27.26)

trying to make it through this run instead of worrying about all these problems.

Brian Funk (45:45.688)

fight to survive and had to really go through some crazy stuff to survive. Now it's like, you know, I don't wake up in the morning wondering if I'm going to have to outrun like some kind of carnivore. But I still think we have that programming in us. So it's really important to physically get that out and not just think about it all the time.

Kent Danger (45:57.513)

For sure.

RENZO STARR (45:58.513)

less eruptive.

Kent Danger (46:09.719)

Good point.

Brian Funk (46:11.469)

It's kind of like that with music though. If you start ruminating on the track, like you were saying before, like give it 20 minutes and then leave it alone and come back later. You almost need to do it for that too. Cause if you don't, then it becomes the problem you're stressing about.

Kent Danger (46:25.665)

Yeah, it's kind of... I'm sorry.

RENZO STARR (46:25.799)

No, because you'll shoot yourself in the foot trying to perfect an idea when really you just needed to give it time to cook and then come back to it with a fresh eye. And I definitely have had to teach myself that in every creative fashion. like sometimes it's better to just step away from a project and come back with a fresh mind, fresh ear, fresh eye.

Brian Funk (46:37.645)

Mm.

Brian Funk (46:50.797)

Part of the puzzle I'm trying to solve with myself is seeing ideas through. I think a lot of people have hard drives full of unfinished ideas and And something that really does help me is working at this almost faster than I can go speed. Just top speed, that part's good, next part, move on, go. That's the chord progression, and just keep going.

and it, it's helpful, but there's also that other side of it. Like you said, like sometimes he can't do that. It needs to sit, it needs to wait and figuring out when it's time to, you know, be the kind of like just full speed ahead guy or the patient, like let it happen, let it grow like a garden or something. It's, hard to know when that is. Do you guys like run into that? Like you.

figure out ways to deal with creative blocks and challenges along the way.

Kent Danger (47:53.815)

Honestly, that happens to us all the time. And sometimes there will be projects that are like four years old. And one of us would just be like, yo, do you remember this song? And then all of us would get excited about it. It's like, let's finish that and put it out. Just kind of letting things sit definitely.

I guess it's sort of like wine or something where it's like, it's got to age so that way it can be perceived properly or whatever. But, I mean, there's tons of times where I feel like we'll have an idea and we'll let that thing rest forever and then we'll come back to it and that's what it needed was for us to like mature as people or just to go through other experiences to give it like the context that it needs to be successful.

Brian Funk (48:34.575)

Hmm.

RENZO STARR (48:34.919)

Yeah, think like creating things sometimes we can come from a place of insecurity too and think that if you don't put out your idea fast enough, it's like, somebody else is going to steal this idea or somebody else is going to do something and then everyone won't care about this idea when I'm ready to share it. But I also.

I don't know who said this quote, but it's like, it's not about who did it first, it's about who did it right. And so you can sit on an idea. Somebody could have already had the idea first, but just because somebody did it first doesn't mean that their idea is superior or subverts yours.

Brian Funk (49:08.217)

Right. Yeah. Because only you are going to do it your way. You know, that's kind of our, superpower we all have is, you know, you were you. Yeah. And even if like there's, I mean, of course there's like flaws built into that. There's things I can't do exactly right, but I find a weird way around that. And sometimes that's the...

RENZO STARR (49:21.425)

You are you.

Brian Funk (49:38.305)

style and sometimes that makes it more relatable because it's real and embracing that can be tough. like you said, insecurity, think is maybe is what the word you said. And it requires so much vulnerability too, especially when you're working with other people to, you have to be able to go there and like kind of let yourself be exposed in front of other people. What's that?

RENZO STARR (49:50.387)

Thanks.

Kent Danger (50:03.521)

That is hard sometimes.

Brian Funk (50:09.007)

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I get the feeling though you guys have been through this enough times, long enough together, that you have some comfort with each other in that.

Kent Danger (50:23.595)

Yeah, I can definitely say that.

RENZO STARR (50:25.703)

Yeah, I definitely think we do. On a professional level and on a friendship level, for sure, there's that connection that's able to help us to keep creating. But honestly, as far as process goes, I feel like we're always rediscovering it, too. We figure out one way, and it works, to create a collection of ideas. But then we want to make new ideas. And we're like, actually, we need to remove the campus. And this time, we're painting on the floor, just because we need to switch up the way that we go about creating our ideas.

Brian Funk (50:55.475)

Has anything like that happened recently that you can think of? Anything you've tried together or?

Kent Danger (51:02.699)

Hmm good question. I mean honestly maybe

Brian Funk (51:06.228)

for any of the folks at home that need a fresh start.

Kent Danger (51:08.419)

Maybe it has been with like the new perspective of like jamming to create the songs as opposed to like like normally it would be like he might have a beat or I might have a beat and like a verse or just part of a song and then we bring it to the table and everybody likes it and records on it or we don't and it just gets shelved and I kind of feel like as of late we've had a lot of sessions of just like any record will jam we'll see what comes out of it and then I think that gives a song a bit more freedom of like where it can go.

instead of being like locked into the box and to whoever originally produced it and what they made. But yeah.

RENZO STARR (51:46.355)

the spot like nothing is really jumping to me but I do feel like sometimes we'll employ like a found footage type or found audio type of strategy to our music like how we said about the song where we sampled the walking sign where it's like wait like we were just walking and we heard it and we were like that'd be cool I don't remember which one of us said it it might have been Kent it might have been Mike but said that would be cool in the song let's record it and then we just went to the studio that day and literally put it into the song and we're like that's exactly what

So sometimes it's just like we hear something, we'll be out eating and we maybe hear a sample or something playing on the radio in a restaurant. That's like a culture none of us are familiar with. And then that will create a whole nother idea. Just because we paused in that moment and we're like, we need to say this now. We can't miss out on this. Because this is giving my brain like that itch when you know you're about to have a good idea.

Kent Danger (52:32.069)

I'm

Brian Funk (52:33.146)

Uh-huh.

Brian Funk (52:38.049)

Hmm. Yeah. Being like aware of that is important. Having that ear open all the time, right? Like somebody decided, Hey, that'd be cool. The sample. Hey, do that. Yeah. It's mixing it up like that is good with the band I play with, with the guys I'm with, we'll often like I play guitar and my buddy Alex plays bass and my friend Chris plays drums. And sometimes Chris and I will switch.

Kent Danger (52:38.829)

you

Brian Funk (53:07.254)

He'll get on the guitar and I'll play the drums and there's vocal mics on them all. And I do most of singing in the band on guitar though. But when I get on the drums, like the only way I can really sing when I'm playing the drums, just because of my limited abilities in both areas is like together. So it becomes very percussive. It's like, the words come out as I'm playing. So

RENZO STARR (53:34.831)

getting your James Brown bag at that point.

Brian Funk (53:37.634)

Yeah, it becomes like a rhythm thing. totally different types of songs come out of that. That I just wouldn't do strumming a guitar, playing guitar chords or something like that. Because my whole body is trying to hold this rhythm. So the voice has to kind of follow. But it's a fresh, yeah, and it's really fun. It's exciting. And it also kind of removes some of the like pressure, know, like

Kent Danger (53:55.349)

Yeah. Musical chairs.

Brian Funk (54:06.582)

because I don't really play drums in the band, know, so what? And, you know, if someone else starts singing, it's like, yeah, I'm not the singer, but, you know, we're just having fun. And it's not serious anymore, you know? You guys were saying one thing that we're all kind of drawn to each other with was that you had like sort of like this business mind, this like kind of taking it seriously. But there's also...

Kent Danger (54:14.723)

Hmm

Kent Danger (54:21.25)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (54:38.28)

a point like with your music and I feel this in the stuff I've been listening to is that you're kind of not so serious at the same time with it. Like you're kind of light about it at some time.

Kent Danger (54:52.099)

Yeah, we definitely have had to learn like when to be serious, when to just let it be fun, because there definitely can come a point where you know you're hammering down too much, you know you're trying to make everything too rigid, and then it just takes the fun out of it you know, and I can say that I feel like maybe we've almost gotten into that corner and then we pulled ourselves out of it at the last second and kind of figured out like when is the time to be in which bag, but yeah, no I think that's good assessment.

Brian Funk (55:03.385)

Hmm.

RENZO STARR (55:21.191)

think that we're able to still remember to have fun because whenever we all get together, it just already seems like a moment to celebrate that we're all together to like commune and just whether it's create or whether it just to share each other's like space, it brings an excitement to us. I think that where the seriousness comes in is just really having wisdom from how musicians have been treated historically and just always keeping that in mind so that we protect ourselves that way we're never like taking advantage of

Kent Danger (55:28.418)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (55:51.195)

or put ourselves in a situation where we're like, I don't like how this is. It seems one sided for one person. We just try and make sure we always get what we're worth.

Kent Danger (56:01.645)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (56:03.033)

We're lucky, right, in that we had people that were, totally exploited by managers or record labels. These cautionary tales that some of the biggest artists ever, too. I was watching the Elvis movie that came out not too long ago. Elvis was in really bad financial shape at one point. You're like, what? Elvis? How does...

Kent Danger (56:21.859)

Mm.

RENZO STARR (56:30.195)

You never know, because it's all about the image. So they just project an image of success or wealth and luxury. But behind closed doors, the car's getting repossessed and the lights are turning on.

Kent Danger (56:31.199)

right here.

Brian Funk (56:37.72)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (56:43.004)

Yeah, like the manager's taking way more than they're supposed to. I mean, there's so many stories like that that have happened. Now at least we kind of have some sense of some of the potholes that are in the road that we can drive around. You we have like headlights at least on our car now. They were just trying off clips half the time.

Kent Danger (56:43.651)

You'd be surprised.

Kent Danger (57:06.101)

Exactly, yeah. I feel like that's kind of why we feel like we have a responsibility to like hold ourselves accountable and try our best not to put ourselves in situations that reflect that or just eliminate options for us, you know?

Brian Funk (57:21.187)

Right. Yeah, it's true. It's, it's, you know, sometimes it can be very tempting. It sounds like a great offer or, or it'll be great exposure. You know, that's, that's a dangerous word to hear from anybody. It'll be great exposure. Yeah. That is like a shyster word.

Kent Danger (57:31.809)

Yeah, it's always the word.

RENZO STARR (57:34.244)

It's triggering word.

RENZO STARR (57:43.577)

Exactly, yeah. Whenever you hear that, it's like it's time to start listening a little bit closer. But I feel like we've kind of learned to navigate those type of situations and also still try and be like, I'm sure you can tell from us, like we're really friendly and we always are down to work with other people who are like creative and constantly trying to like expand our network too. But I think we try and just be smart about the way we do it. One thing my mom has said before, it's like it doesn't...

cost anything for a candle to light another candle. So we're always down to uplift other people and try and give a light to them, just like how we expect, or not expect, but we hope other people feel the same for us.

Brian Funk (58:25.369)

You said it doesn't cost anything for a candle to light another. That's great. Yeah. And in fact, it I know moms, right? Like we never listened to them when we were kids, but now we're like, yeah, damn.

RENZO STARR (58:31.409)

My mom got all the good quotes, I swear.

Kent Danger (58:36.023)

with them.

RENZO STARR (58:40.979)

Starts making sense.

Kent Danger (58:43.363)

calling back for the advice.

Brian Funk (58:45.647)

Yeah. But in fact, like in that metaphor, it actually only benefits that candle because now like the goal of illuminating the room, you know?

RENZO STARR (58:51.697)

Yeah, exactly. how she that's kind of the whole idea is that it's just making it brighter for everyone. So it really is only going to help us all out.

Brian Funk (59:01.82)

Yeah, yeah, it's so true in music, you if there's like a group you guys have a show with or something. The shows only get better when you work together, when you lift each other up, you know, because now your fans are exposed to them and their fans are exposed to you and even becomes like a little bit of a movement that starts to happen. And, you know, there's so many of those different cities in the world, Detroit, like

Seattle, New York punk rock. It wasn't one group that was just like, and everyone followed. was like they all came up together. And then maybe somebody kind of gets the lift off, but everyone else comes along for the ride half the time.

Kent Danger (59:43.651)

Mm.

RENZO STARR (59:48.253)

Yeah, it doesn't take away from the contribution from all the members too. It's always gonna be like a Nirvana or something, but it doesn't mean there's no Oasis Soundgarden and a ton of other artists that are within that same realm.

Brian Funk (59:59.411)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:00:04.604)

Yeah, a younger version of myself would feel like jealous or, you know, little like, what about me? Why can't I do that? But as, as I've seen, you know, it, anyone that has a success or victory in this is just proof that it's possible. And being aligned with that, being around that is only only benefits you learn from it. Sometimes it.

directly benefits you where you get invited to be with them, play with them, whatever it is. But just the fact that anybody can do it is uplifting. And that I think fuels the creativity and makes me want to come back and try again and keep working at it.

Kent Danger (01:00:53.76)

It's like inspiration. I feel like it's just best to be around people who are actually trying to pursue the same thing as you, because then you can help each other, you guys have ideas you can share, and like you said, everybody goes up, somebody eventually will go up as well. It's gonna spread the wealth.

Brian Funk (01:00:55.73)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:01:08.458)

Hmm.

RENZO STARR (01:01:10.749)

really is a blessing like you said just to even be able to create or like that we have creativity and are able to make this music is a blessing in it in and of it of itself and something Kent has definitely reminded me of before too is when we first moved to Los Angeles we're like networking meeting a lot of people making tons of new music and just really enjoying our lives and he's like maybe this is the moment that we've been like

looking forward to and always imagining for ourselves and we're living it right now. We need to just appreciate this moment for what it is because you know we're building ourselves up and thinking we're aspiring for something else but what if this was really what our calling was.

Brian Funk (01:01:51.296)

So was your move from North Carolina to California as a group with Music in Mind? Yeah?

Kent Danger (01:01:58.291)

yeah, it was 2022 and we were all like, it like, you know, still post COVID and we were just like, we can't be in the same place. We needed a change of scenery. So I think it was, what was it? July, August, September, each one of us moved like one by one. And then we all ended up here.

Brian Funk (01:02:18.1)

Wow.

RENZO STARR (01:02:19.143)

think had there not been COVID, it really might have even been like a 2020 move, but that just shifted all time lines.

Brian Funk (01:02:25.952)

Yeah. Yeah. What a gap in time, right? Everything just went crazy. But that's, think, you know, that kind of leap of faith thing. but, but the presence of mind to realize like, Hey, this is, we're doing this. We're the worst thing that can happen is that you guys will be like 55, 60 years old looking back on life. Wasn't it cool? We gave that thing a shot.

Kent Danger (01:02:55.267)

At least being able to say that instead of being like, what if we tried? I don't want to be saying that.

Brian Funk (01:02:55.518)

You know, remember when we went and did that, you know.

Brian Funk (01:03:02.696)

Yeah, we really should have just moved, you know, took a chance when we could.

RENZO STARR (01:03:08.519)

really feel like we're that's, we even have a lyric literally where it's like we risk it all on passion. But I honestly feel like we really do. We're just the type where we can't live our life and think, what if we had done this? We just have to do it because we would hurt so much from having that curiosity in the back of our mind questioning the life we abandoned or like the goal we abandoned, really.

Brian Funk (01:03:28.994)

Hmm. Well, you know, we have this idea of like, there's like secure paths in life, but there's no security in life. mean, you know, you just never know what the hell's going to happen. And, even the paths that we're told when we're kids that are secure, you know, go to college, get a job. Like you do that and then you realize there's no jobs, you know, or like there's, there's no guarantees to any of it.

Kent Danger (01:03:55.341)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:03:59.145)

So to not do what you love, to not take a swing, you definitely won't enjoy it that way, not taking your chances.

RENZO STARR (01:04:06.515)

to keep short enough.

Kent Danger (01:04:11.915)

Exactly.

Brian Funk (01:04:14.381)

But to do it, that's gotta be just such a thrill to do that with your buddies and be like, here we are, new place. Because you know each other, you've already got a little group now, a group of friends, which I'm sure bonds you even more in that situation.

Kent Danger (01:04:29.985)

Yeah, it definitely helps with creating the stuff with that premise of friendship, but then like you were saying on trips or playing shows, just so many memories and experiences go into that that are like, that's just contributing to the friendship at that point, you know? That has nothing to do with the music after then.

Brian Funk (01:04:45.602)

Yeah.

RENZO STARR (01:04:48.719)

And I think on a layer beyond too, it helps knowing that you're not crazy for wanting to pursue your passion or your creativity and that there's other people who also are trying to do the same thing or feel like that similar drive in themselves.

Brian Funk (01:04:49.153)

Right.

Kent Danger (01:05:02.103)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:05:02.595)

Yeah. Well, people that remind you that you'd be crazy not to follow the things you love in life. It's amazing. Like you said, it's such a privilege in of itself, right? Like this is, these are the problems we're solving in this point in human history. We have that luxury to be trying to make songs, you know, trying to get our music out there. It is such a, if...

Kent Danger (01:05:24.535)

Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk (01:05:30.325)

If we didn't have it, we'd be dying for it. You know, so it's, it's a great to have and that we live in such a good time for that kind of stuff. And, know, you guys can go out, play, put out music. can go, I can set up my own tour if I want to. can, I don't need a record label to get it on streaming service. Anything, YouTube, like I can just make a video. People could see it.

Kent Danger (01:05:34.349)

Very true.

Kent Danger (01:05:57.421)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:05:59.739)

wasn't too long ago we didn't even have that. It's inspiring.

RENZO STARR (01:06:03.443)

YouTube was created during our lifetime. Yeah, that's pretty interesting. That's crazy. There would be no way for us to even share a music video if YouTube didn't exist. I feel like that's been the hallmark of our whole story though is DIY, literally everything we've done. And I heard you mention it earlier during our conversation about how you've had to pick up a lot of different skills and like wear different hats, video editor or like content creator or whatever it may be just because.

That's what it required to want to this, this release music in this day and age. And I think we just have had to fall in line in the same way as pick up different skills. None of us know how to master music. Well, somebody is going to have to learn how to mix and master now because we need somebody to do it.

Kent Danger (01:06:45.772)

every single time.

Brian Funk (01:06:46.138)

Yeah. Yeah, I can remember in high school, we had a band, a couple other kids had bands in school, and one of them came out with a website. We were like, what? A website? Like, how did you even do that? And they're like, I just figured it out. And they're like, OK. So then we figured it out. To see someone else could do that, we figured it out. We made one.

RENZO STARR (01:07:02.259)

You

Brian Funk (01:07:11.468)

And then we realized like, could press our own CDs. Like if we just pull together our band fund, you know, buy some shows like we can make our CD. And we did that. And it was like, how'd you do that? It's like we just did it. You know, we just decided to do it and sent it away. And, you know, it was so crazy to like have that power that you know, and.

Kent Danger (01:07:35.704)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:07:39.002)

But it kind of took other people seeing, like, other people like me did that. They're nothing different. They don't have superpowers, you know? And that's kind of like what I'm saying about, like, when people finish songs, put out albums, and take a tour, have a good show, whatever, it's just proof that it's not impossible. And...

Kent Danger (01:08:02.177)

Yeah, I definitely agree. feel like it's just you see somebody do it and then it just inspires you to go and pick it up yourself and the next person sees you do it and it builds up and then everybody's kind of doing their thing.

Brian Funk (01:08:16.362)

There's something psychological and I think it's the story of like the four minute mile. I think it's four, I don't know, maybe it's five. Do people run miles faster than four minutes?

RENZO STARR (01:08:29.501)

Jordan's a little kid, so I don't know anything about that.

Kent Danger (01:08:29.73)

I think.

I'm really not sure. want to say five or six might be average. I think six is average.

Brian Funk (01:08:39.017)

Well, I don't think that's average. That's pretty extreme, but...

RENZO STARR (01:08:42.417)

I turn it six to seven sounds right to me.

Brian Funk (01:08:46.228)

But whatever the time was, I think it was four minutes, like, people were convinced, like, human beings can't do that. It's just physically impossible. Until somebody did it. And then other people started doing it after that person did it. It was like, we all had this kind of limit on ourselves that was not real, but we just decided and agreed. And then boom, next thing you know, we're doing it. And there's so many things like that, like,

like airplanes, this is impossible, I can't do it. And then, you know, like the Wright brothers do it and whatever it was like 1919 or whatever. And then like 40 years later, we're on the moon. It's the yeah, exactly. It's it's great to it's a much more healthy way to look at it that way than like, those Wright brothers did it. How come it wasn't me? I hate them. You know, all that kind of stuff.

Kent Danger (01:09:29.463)

somebody to break the glass ceiling.

Brian Funk (01:09:46.782)

But yeah, things I guess you learn from music, right? Things that life lessons you can take away from it.

Kent Danger (01:09:55.787)

Never know what it can apply to later in life.

Brian Funk (01:09:58.696)

Yeah. So what are you guys up to now? You're back home. So you were in New York just a few weeks ago. And now you're back home. Any plans for now or take time?

Kent Danger (01:10:12.027)

we have a couple of shows in November that we're preparing for. so, you know, carpool.

is like the group that you've been introduced to, but we also do like some stuff outside of there. And we have a show with one of our collaborators, Arlina, and that's a little group we have called The Nod Theory. So we'll be doing a show for that. I'm pretty sure another carpool show in November. So getting on stage, practicing, seeing what's going on with that, and maybe some new videos and other things. We'll see.

Brian Funk (01:10:31.293)

Okay.

Brian Funk (01:10:43.782)

Nice.

RENZO STARR (01:10:45.179)

use some new accompaniment to the music that we've already released and like some new like visuals to go along with that. Just trying to keep pushing that. I think just finish the year strong too. I feel like we've had a really good year so far and I've like been or I I'll say just for myself I'm proud of us for what we've been able to accomplish just in three quarters of the year so I want to see what we do with this last little quarter.

Brian Funk (01:11:08.641)

Hmm. Right. Now that's fun. So adding the new element to the live show, some stuff, some stuff for people to see. think it's.

Kent Danger (01:11:08.78)

Yeah, definitely.

RENZO STARR (01:11:18.375)

definitely be coming back around your way. So hopefully they'll be one that's close enough.

Brian Funk (01:11:23.627)

Yeah, yeah, keep me posted, please. I think what you guys do is cool. It's nice to see live musicians playing, and especially in a hip hop genre, you to see you guys doing so much melodic stuff and musical. It's funny, guitar music has really taken a huge dip in the last 15 years or whatever it is. But where I'm hearing more guitar than ever is a lot of hip hop.

Like it's in there, it's in the mix. Maybe sometimes it's the samples, but there's a lot of like interesting guitar playing. And I'm starting to see like the kids at school, like coming back around to guitar a little bit, you know, where it was like no one cared about guitar. And so it's fun and I'm happy that you guys are doing your part in that just to, it just spices up the genre, you know, keeps things interesting.

Kent Danger (01:12:05.091)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (01:12:22.229)

and gives, especially the next generation too, something to look forward to. It's a cool sound you guys have. I'm enjoying it.

Kent Danger (01:12:32.003)

Yeah, I appreciate that. And I feel like that is kind of really cool to see a lot of people circling back. Because I know what you mean where it seemed like it was not super popular for like a couple of years. And now it seems like there's been a bit of an explosion around it again. So we're excited about that too.

Brian Funk (01:12:34.477)

Thanks

Brian Funk (01:12:51.285)

I'm kind of hoping that, you know, as things are getting a little weird with AI, you know, AI artists, I've even gotten emails for this podcast, do you want to interview our AI artist? I'm like, not really. Like, I don't know. Like, how's that going to work? But I'm hoping that people

RENZO STARR (01:13:07.57)

you

Kent Danger (01:13:11.617)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:13:16.117)

start to really appreciate the human element, you know, and in a lot of the things that you guys are doing from whether it's the instrumentation or like finding cool samples that are so unique to that particular moment in time and incorporating that into music, all the stuff that humans bring to the table that is interesting. I'm hoping that we start swinging in that direction a little because maybe for a while there things were getting real clean and polished and now it's

looks like it could get even more so. But there's kind of nothing.

RENZO STARR (01:13:49.619)

It's just ironic. It's the thing we always try and remove from our music. Like you said, the human element, the imperfection of our music is really what makes it special. hopefully we're able to keep that alive and I think there's no way AI can ever recreate that. Just the imperfection.

Brian Funk (01:14:08.968)

Well, when I first got a computer to make music, I was so excited. I'm going to put my drums on the grid and I'm going to have everything to be right. I can get the takes perfect. And once I finished the song, I was like, what's wrong with this? Everything's perfect. Why don't I like it? What's missing? But it's that kind of stuff, that feel and life. I took life out of it.

Kent Danger (01:14:29.155)

Mm-hmm.

Kent Danger (01:14:33.507)

Too many takes, you get it too clean, eventually it won't even sound like what you were going for. It's crazy.

Brian Funk (01:14:38.702)

Yeah, you miss the kind of point which is to have something with expression and life and soul.

I think you guys are doing cool stuff. So for people listening, carpool, but the A is the number four. Are those zeros actually? I'm just noticing. see, now you're really mixing it up. So imagine the word carpool, but the A is a four and the O's are zeros. So that's what they need to think. It came up as I was searching, the four was enough for Google to know what I meant.

Kent Danger (01:14:56.227)

That's correct. They're also theorists. Yeah.

RENZO STARR (01:15:16.093)

We told you we like the business, so I'm glad our SEO is working.

Kent Danger (01:15:19.223)

haha

Brian Funk (01:15:19.812)

Yeah. Well, you know, it's always a consideration, right? Like if the name of your band was, I don't know, like...

like a really common word, like it's un-Google-able. You know what I mean? Yeah, like how does that come across on Google? So even though like the word carpool is common when you start putting those numbers instead of the letters, then it's like, okay, you must mean this. So smart way to, it keeps it like a word people can understand without making it un-Google-able, if that's a word.

RENZO STARR (01:15:34.845)

ham-berser.

Kent Danger (01:15:36.471)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (01:15:49.229)

helps distinguish.

Brian Funk (01:16:02.19)

So you got your website, is carpool.com, again with the four and the zeros. You guys are on social media. I'm gonna put all that stuff in the links for the show. Anywhere you want people to go other than that to check you guys out.

Kent Danger (01:16:17.824)

Definitely check out the YouTube page. We post all of our videos, sometimes some blogs. It's just an assortment of content there.

Brian Funk (01:16:26.246)

Right. I'll put the link to the New York show that you guys just did too.

RENZO STARR (01:16:27.283)

Yeah, would say just.

Kent Danger (01:16:31.395)

Cool, thanks.

RENZO STARR (01:16:32.327)

Thank Yeah, we're trying to post more of those live shows and then just post more vlogs too. So if you're not catching us on YouTube, probably Instagram is where we'll be at with updates.

Brian Funk (01:16:42.516)

Cool. It's important, again, you bringing the human side out, making people interested in you guys. I've so many of favorite bands, like after a while, I just like the band. I just like the people, and I'm interested in them. So again, great time to be able to do that, nowadays?

Kent Danger (01:16:55.202)

Yeah.

Kent Danger (01:17:03.939)

Exactly. Introduce them to everybody. Just kind of let people all like this verse from this person and whatever their favorite parts are, you know? And that's just how they develop.

Brian Funk (01:17:12.188)

Yeah. Yeah. here comes Renzo's verse. Awesome. He's got a cool flow. Nice. Well, thank you guys for coming on and everyone listening, check out Carpool.

Kent Danger (01:17:16.885)

You

Kent Danger (01:17:27.843)

Thank you, Brian. Appreciate you for having us.

RENZO STARR (01:17:29.917)

for having us Brian, seriously, it's a great time chatting.

podcastBrian Funklive performance, c4rp00l, music production podcast