Ep. 1 - A Podcast and Second Chance: A Veteran's Journey Through Music and PTSD

Here it is! The very first episode of A Life in Six Songs! Join us as we get to know one of our hosts, David, and his motivations for starting the podcast, as well as his life in six songs. David shares his heartwarming and, at times, heartbreaking journey, from his early musical encounters to his stint in the Army, his battle with PTSD, and his growing recognition of the therapeutic power of music. Every song offers a peek into a unique chapter of his life, be it the hair bands of the 80s and the transformative role of NWA's 'Straight Outta Compton' in his understanding of social justice, or the unexpected solace found in Britney Spears' 'Toxic' during his Iraq deployment.

Follow your hosts David, Raza, and Carolina every week as they embark on an epic adventure to find the songs that are stuck to us like audible tattoos to tell the story of who we are and where we’ve been. It’s a life story told through 6 songs. Take a listen, and as always, if you have someone whose life you’d like to hear in 6 songs, let us know.

KEY TOPICS & CHAPTER MARKERS

• 0:56  Why Start This Podcast
• 9:12  Music in a Dynamic Individual's Life
• 15:21  Earliest Music Memory: Steve Miller Band and Nissans
• 21:21  RUSH: The World Was Never the Same
• 31:12  Memories of Fourth Grade, Bus Rides, and Whitesnake
• 40:15  N.W.A.'s F**k Tha Police and Social Awareness
• 54:12  Deployment to Iraq and Britney Spears' Toxic
• 1:08:47  Growing up in South Florida, 2 Live Crew, and Middle School Parties
• 1:22:12  Reflections on David's Six Songs, Memory and Sleep Issues, and PTSD
• 1:32:18  First Concert, Last Concert, and Best Concert
• 1:37:41  Social Media and Contact Info!

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Click Here to view show transcript (click Transcript tab on page)

RESOURCES & LINKS

• Liked songs from this life story? Check out A Life in Six Songs playlist on Apple Music and Spotify
• Follow A Life in Six Songs on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
• Are you a veteran who is struggling? I know it is tough and that you feel like you are the only who feels like this and no one will understand, but what you are experiencing is not unique and treatment can make a difference. Get help here:
  • Call the Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1.
  • Text the Veterans Crisis Line: Send your message to 838255 
  • Visit the Veterans Crisis Line website to chat virtually
  • PTSD Online Questionnaire

Transcript

David: 0:37

Hey everybody, welcome to our first ever episode of a life in six songs. I'm your host, david Reese, and with me, as always, are my co-host, my wife Carolina, and my childhood friend, raza.

Carolina: 0:51

Hey, hey. Hi there, hello this is super exciting, um, super pumped, to embark on this journey with you both, I think, just to kick off, for you know, our first ever episode and obviously folks that are new to us Kind of wanted to share the floor with you. David, a little bit to ask you, you know why. Why did you start this? What was the motivation behind this podcast and the topic?

David: 1:17

Yeah, thanks, I think that makes sense, for you know, first episode, you know, hey, how did you all get here and doing this? So, yeah, I mean, where to start? Well, I've, I'm a musician first. That was my first love. My grandfather was a drummer. He used to let me play drums over his house when they babysit, and so music was always a huge part of my life.

David: 1:45

After college, I ended up it was right after 9-11 ended up joining the the army and deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq. After getting out the past, you know, like 15 years or so dating myself there. I Didn't realize it at the time, but I had been struggling with PTSD for, you know, ever since my military, my military time, and and, and so have done something, you know, went to school, did grad school and stuff like that, had had jobs working in veteran services and then had a, you know, in 2021, just had a full-on breakdown where everything came to a to a head and, you know, had to start getting help for the PTSD and things like that. Step back from my, my job, and when I was thinking about okay, what do I want to do Next? Right, but what do I? What's the new thing? On the rise and keep them. You know, get me up in the morning.

David: 2:52

You know I said I I want to have conversations with people, but you know, the PTSD and the anxiety and depression can make it tough out and out in the world. I can struggle in social situations, I can. I can do a good job and put it on, but it takes a lot of work and a lot of effort, sure. And so I said you know I want to, I want to have conversations that I want to have. I want to talk to people about things that I care about in that way. And so that's where the idea of, like, I want to talk to, you know, about people's, people's Favorite songs and stuff like that.

David: 3:24

There was a time where we were at a corporate holiday party for you, carolina, and so everyone's kind of chit-chatting and, you know, kind of doing the networking type, type talk, and I was just like, man, I don't really care about that. I want to know, like you know, hey, what's your best concert or what's what's a concert you're hoping to see, or something like that. That's where kind of the very specific idea around, you know, asking people about their, their music, came from.

Carolina: 3:59

Yeah, I think I've been on this PTSD healing journey with you for for a number of years and when you told me you wanted to do this, I got super excited, because I think PTSD and anxiety robs us of so much of our community our ability to Make, keep and maintain friendships and things like that and so you end up isolated, which only makes things you know that much worse. And so I got super excited about I joke kind of like gently launching you back into the world and society in a way that feels Not only safe and welcoming, but around this thing that you love so much, which is music.

David: 4:43

Yeah, exactly, and and that's the the other Motivation behind it, you know, I've loved music my whole life. I've started my life as a musician, but I I never really enjoyed Conversations with people about music because I feel so often they they just evolve into sort of my band is better than your band or my genre is better than your genre. It's just kind of seems like what a lot of us kind of naturally go to. You know, and I was just never really interested in those Conversations because, you know, if I'm telling you, if you ask me, you know, oh, it's a band you like, or what are you listening to, and I tell you and your first response is to tell me why that band isn't as good as the band you like.

David: 5:33

I, you know, I don't want to have that conversation. I mean, we can nerd out and have those musical conversations about who's the best drummer and why, and those type of things. So it's not like, no, you can't talk about it at all, but that seemed it shouldn't be just the default, right in that way. And so the goal here with this is to, you know, hear about people's lives through six songs that were, you know, powerfully connected to things in their, their life, whether or not they're even their their favorite song. Right, that's not the point either. And so really just being Judgment-free about your musical tastes and really trying to understand how the music that's, you know, popped up in in each of our guest lives, how it sort of was, was part of their, their soundtrack.

Raza: 6:23

So at the end of the conversation, at the end of the podcast, will finally be able to tell who in fact is better you appeared or John Bonham?

David: 6:31

Exactly, exactly. We'll have that going underneath and stuff like that, exactly, and I'm here to sort of shepherd that Talk about that Underhanded ways in every episode.

Raza: 6:44

Yeah, yeah, totally, because we totally know who is the better drummer right?

David: 6:50

Of course, of course we will not say Even that. I mean, if you want, you could maybe set up some objective factors of what you're gonna judge that by. But I think even those conversations you know I'm gonna say Neil Peart, because that was the largest influence on me and who I was listening to, and someone else could have been hugely in influenced by Bonham, and so that that's what's gonna, you know, weigh in. So I'd much rather you know, let's say Raza, your youth, your, you think the best drummer is Bonham, right, I'd rather hear why you think that is the case and how his drumming speaks to you, rather than try and prove to you why Neil Peart is the better drum.

Raza: 7:31

And that's precisely the point of this podcast, right.

Raza: 7:35

Because we're yeah, we're, we're, I'm, I'm as excited to learn about Neil Peart as I am To you know, share my passion for way, it's not Bonham, for me it's Lars. All right, but, but but yeah, I think we're just to just talk about why. You know why. Why are certain bands music, certain lyrics, certain search? Why is music in general? Why is it significant to each person? And and we want to hear the differences, that's the whole point of this. We want to share in those differences because it might speak to something larger and Find some commonality.

Carolina: 8:16

Right, I think. I think this is why those more judgmental conversations can be so off-putting, like music is so deeply personal. So I really like the framing of it's not necessarily why something is better as opposed to why something speaks to you, which can be just deeply ingrained in our history, our experiences, all the way back to our childhood. Yeah, so the format of the show will be, you know, walking through somebody's significant life experiences, through six key points where music just really hit the note for somebody. Six songs, and our way of modeling that for you all because we don't ever want to ask anybody to do anything we wouldn't do ourselves is these first three episodes will be our six song story, and so we're gonna kick off today with you, david, if that's okay.

David: 9:11

Sounds great.

Carolina: 9:12

All right, so I'll introduce you not only as the host and Founder of this podcast, but you're also a Super interesting, dynamic and complex individual that I'm pretty partial to loving. You're an Iron man finisher, as you expressed your drummer, a lifelong drummer. Since you were tiny. Our thoughts are with your parents, who bought you that first drum set. Former army paratrooper went on to become a philosophy teacher and you're a veteran advocate, an advocate for mental health. So that that's a short, short summary of who you are, and you are so many other things, like loving, partner and dad as well. So we'll kick it off by asking you, because music is so deeply personal For you, like what, what role does music play in your life?

Raza: 10:07

Hmm.

David: 10:09

I mean, yeah, like, like I sort of said in in the beginning, part of the motivation behind the podcast, it's it's, you know, it's it's. Music has has always been there. I've always been just incredibly drawn to it. Some of my most powerful and sort of vivid memories from when I was young Was, you know, being in the basement in our house when I was, you know, five, six years old With my parents and my sister, and you know big old stereo, big old speakers and you know turntable at the top and we would listen to, you know music and just jam and rock out. There's a, there's a picture of me out there at about probably five years old, in in Under Roo's. You know white briefs with a wiffle ball lady, that's right, wiffle ball bat as a guitar and no, it's as a microphone and headphones on in front of the stereo. Just, you know rock and roll and so Definitely there from the beginning.

David: 11:16

Like I said, my grandfather was a drummer, jazz drummer, and you know, growing up, when my parents, would you know, do their bowling league or whatever and drop us off at the grandparents house, he would set up the snare drum down in the basement for me and, just you know, let me bang away and I was hooked, like Instantly, I just was fascinated with drums and Rhythm. Rhythm and the movement of drumming is is what, what you know, drew me into to music and things. And so, you know, like so many kids, before they're able to get that real drum set, I was doing the thing where I'd sit in my bedroom and I'd slide a couple tennis rackets, the handles, under my butt, you know. So the tennis rackets are in front of me like drums. I think there was a garbage can involved and everything, and I would sit there and just, you know, play along to to music.

David: 12:17

And then, yeah, eventually got the drum set and Got into music, played drums everything in in middle school and high school, all the things marching band, symphonic band, jazz band, orchestra, you know all of that and so, yeah, it's just always been a part of my life, strong connections to it, strong emotions, and it really was one of the signs In these past, you know, decade or so, since the army and stuff that made me realize something Wasn't right because I was listening to music but it I was having trouble feeling Right and so there, I know we talked.

David: 13:00

There was a couple of times, with different things, where I was like I don't feel anything and it was like that's not right and that's not what you know I was before. And so there there's you know another reason, even though that's not the question. But you know, motivation for the podcast is I want to talk about music, I want to hear people's stories and I want to just, you know, immerse myself in in music and and get back to it. So yeah.

Carolina: 13:34

That's super cool and I think we talk about like Early experiences or serendipity, or just how things come into our lives, like your parents could have picked, like the neighborhood Teenager, to watch you when they went out, but they sent you to your grandparents and who, like I can't imagine your grandfather Would have known at the time that just letting you bang on some drums would have this Deep, long, life long impact on you?

David: 14:03

Yeah, absolutely Absolutely, and you know it's. It's, you know, in telling these stories and the stories we want to hear from our future guests and things is really those, those chance things where music was came into our life somehow and we either Gravitated to it or pushed away from it or whatever it might might be. And so, yeah, and it's funny because I know, I know the story Right, of going over my grandparents house and you know my grandfather setting up the drums stuff, but it's, it's one of those things you don't really think about all the time, right, you know, I'm just off living my life and was playing drums and stuff, and so kind of saying it now it makes me kind of think of myself in this sort of History, right, this lineage of whatever of you know my, my grandfather, playing in jazz clubs and stuff like that, and then me, you know, carrying on the, the, the drumming. You know how torch, torch, that's it, the torch stick, drumstick the drumstick yeah that's more like a.

Carolina: 15:10

Disney drumstick you get it.

David: 15:12

Continue on the rhythm.

Carolina: 15:14

All right, so we'll kick off. We'll kick off with our first song here and it's around. You know what is your earliest music memory?

David: 15:26

Yeah, so I Mean preschool and have a perfect memory of my mom driving us to preschool in her mid 80s Nissan maxima and this song was playing the Steve Miller band abracadabra.

Carolina: 15:51

Let's, let's, take a listen.

Raza: 16:20

Black panties with an angel's face.

Carolina: 16:29

I think we're all similar ages, so like, yeah, I'm immediately transported back Hearing it, you know it's tell yeah, go ahead.

Raza: 16:38

Yeah, you can always tell from the production that you know it's the 70s, 80s, but yeah, this was definitely I was the thought of Steve Miller brand as the 80s or, sorry, as the 70s, but this song and those sounds like the 80s.

Carolina: 16:54

Yeah, yeah. So hearing it now again, like what, what memories or feelings come up for you? I?

David: 17:03

Can I? You know, listening to it I was immediately back in the backseat of the car and you know, unrelated to the song, but on our way to preschool we would always pass this one sort of like factory or something like that, and there was always a Dodge charger, a, a From Duke's of hazard Out there and we see it, oh, the general, yeah, general league, problematic now, and stuff like that. Obviously Didn't realize that time, just thought it was a cool, you know, cool card stuff like that. I'm Duke's of hazard was on on TV and stuff like that. So but yeah, the music is just like.

David: 17:46

The thing that I remember from back in that time of why I like paid attention to it is. You know, this song has this Sultry, you know Feel to it, right, even the lyrics and that's the thing that stuck out to me. The lyrics, you know, leather and lace, black panties with an angel's face, I just I mean, I remember that lyric like like nothing and just being like that thing that music can do of like, oh, my goodness, should I be hearing this right? Because it's like, did I hear something I'm not supposed to hear or something like that, that kind of worry, but then also being just like wow, this is amazing, like just what music can, can do, and sort of put this feeling across and this, this you know imagery of it, and so yeah.

Raza: 18:37

You mentioned factories, or passing or driving by Factory group. What, like what state were you guys?

David: 18:44

Hmm, yeah, this was in New Jersey, so that's where I was. I was born in New Jersey, live there till I was Nine or so, and so this was, yeah, going to preschool in, you know, central Jersey. My dad worked in New York City and so would do that commute and stuff on the train in yeah. So yeah, good old Jersey, you know. There's railroad tracks and going under railroad tracks to get to, you know, preschool, because we all have the Florida connection.

Raza: 19:14

Obviously, I've met you in Florida in high school and then. But you know, when you mentioned factors, I think many factors in Florida.

David: 19:24

Central Jersey. Very different vibe to Broward County. Yeah, South Florida.

Raza: 19:29

Definitely not A lot of deals. That's not what's hard. No that's not the swap shop.

Carolina: 19:34

Yeah, oh my god, the swap shop. For those who don't know, a flea market, circus Florida and Driving movie theater and I think when we were a kid, every commercial break had a commercial for the swap shop at the swap shop.

David: 19:55

The swap shop.

Raza: 20:01

And so they should get ready for completely random references as well.

David: 20:07

As we get it did.

Raza: 20:08

We don't have some really deep stuff exactly.

David: 20:10

It's a music podcast, but also with a little bit of South Florida geography, oh yeah.

Carolina: 20:16

Well, yeah, it's like whatever pops out for people and that could be literally anything right when they, when they are transported back because of the song.

David: 20:24

Yeah, that's gonna come up in a lot of ways, of of not just with us but all of our guests, of how Not only the chance of the song you hear, but your geographical location Right has an effect on this. So where were you? And that's going to affect your musical, your musical journey.

Carolina: 20:46

Yeah, 100%. I Love that memory and the fact that it kind of takes place in the car. When you're a little kid as so often happens with a lot of us who are born or grew up pre you know Personal musical device time like an iPod or you know something like that. You sort of listen to what your parents listen to, right like that's how your earliest Memories of like musical exposure are. But then as you start making friends and you know expanding your world beyond your parents house, you start learning new things from all kinds of folks, and so I'll cue up our next song by asking you know what was like a memorable time for you when you first remember being exposed to either like a band or an artist or a music genre? You know what song was it? What artists was it? How did you come across it?

David: 21:36

Yeah. So I think I'm just gonna say the song and we'll listen to it, and then I'll kind of tell the story a little bit afterwards. But I mean, this is, any story of my life through music cannot Happen without this story, because this is what you know pretty much changed my life, because it was the first time I was listen, uh introduced to rush, and so we're gonna play rush. Spirit of radio.

Carolina: 22:26

I Literally cannot hear, rush and not Think of you.

Raza: 22:35

So yeah, who do we?

Carolina: 22:37

owe the credit of introducing you to them.

David: 22:41

Yeah, yeah. So this is after we had moved from New Jersey to South Florida, living in plantation. I had a drum set and so was playing, and, ironically enough, my next door neighbor, he also was a drummer and had a drum set. He was a couple years older than me and I was over his house and we were in the living room and, you know, playing music on the stereo and he puts he puts this song on, he puts you know, this is this was rush, the spirit of radio Live from exit stage left album. He puts it on and he's like, yes, pretty cool, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, cool. And tries to pass it off as his band.

Raza: 23:29

He's, he's on drums.

David: 23:32

I mean, it's that typical, like you know, middle school he was, I was in middle school and so I think he was maybe a freshman in high school or something like that. So one just playing those jokes and probably also a little bit of like you know, he's a little bit older, so he's like I could get this kid to believe this right, let me get a little bit.

David: 23:50

Yep, yep plays YYZ. You know the live version. And so it's got Neil Peart's drum solo in it and stuff and still is like yeah, that's me and stuff. Luckily he didn't let the joke like go After a little bit he told me who it was and things like that.

David: 24:09

But yeah, I was, you know to say I was hooked, to say I was like, oh my goodness, what is this? It's just, you know, we all have those bands probably out there that are like you know, you hear it. You're just like, oh my goodness, this is it. And I think you know, for any Rush fans it's really like oh my god, this, this was, this was my band. And so Went home, started finding Albums and getting you know things, starting to learn to play it and just practicing, and just I remember sitting in my room Every night after school, you know, for a few hours, and I would just put the headphones on and just play along. I'd play along the specific songs or a lot of what I did was just put my headphones on and throw on like the radio and just play along to whatever came, came on to, just kind of you know, say, what does the universe want me to to learn?

Raza: 25:04

Were you already playing drums at this point? Like you had a kit at home and everything and you're playing and then, and then you know, rush comes along and it's just like boom, all sorts of creative juices just start flowing.

David: 25:16

Yeah, yeah.

Raza: 25:17

I the air drumming skill goes from. Yeah, I have to like 15.

David: 25:22

Yeah, yeah.

David: 25:23

I don't know exactly the timeline of what and where it was, but I was definitely, I know, like I got the drum set and everything when we moved to Florida, you know, which was fifth grade for me, and so, yeah, this this started right after that and it was very much like raza, like you said, I Knew I love drumming, I knew I love rhythm, but this kind of gave it this like focus and it's just like I Need to learn to play this. I need to figure this out right, niels? Drumming and rush is just so just Musical and and different than than so many other you know groups that I had heard and I was just yeah, yeah, blown away and hooked.

Raza: 26:08

Yeah, well, I mean we might as well tell you, we might as well tell everyone. So I met you, and you know, during our marching band years. I wasn't there very long, but I mean from day one. It was just like that guy likes rush. What is this rush stuff? I was into slightly heavy, heavier stuff and rush was that. I'd heard about them in passing. I'd heard roll the bones. That was my introduction, I think my uncle.

Raza: 26:37

It's just some other cousins used to talk about it, but I walked in a drum, a drumming class, you remember. Oh, yeah, mr Our bone, and yeah, that guy likes rush, cool. But then I heard you actually playing. You know, when we started doing our sort of Routines and things like that and we're on the toms at the time, so, wow, this guy can really play I'm assuming he can play well, because of whatever this rush thing has to do with it. And then I realized, oh, okay, rush means the drummer is new appeared and and then I saw like a drum solo during Against someone exposed at some point, and then it all made sense. It's like, wow, okay, all right, this guy can play. You can play because of the influences, and the influence the influence mainly is it's new here. Is this okay?

Raza: 27:26

All right, and then I got it after I saw the drum solo. I think it was from the 80s. He's got the electronic kit in the back and then the main one up front and Get even. We have the funny hair at the time and yeah, just totally made sense.

David: 27:43

Yeah, and it's so funny too how, you know, we never really know how others see us right, unless they sort of tell us and let us know. But we a lot of times don't do that. And so I knew I was a rush fan and we were, you know, my Childhood. Other childhood friend at the time, kevin was, you know, drummer and a huge rush fan, and we were just that's what we did. We'd play together and take turns, playing and learning the parts and and whatever, go into the concerts and everything. So I knew it was part of me, but I never realized how much like people saw me as that person's a rush fan.

David: 28:20

And so when, when Neil unexpectedly passed away in January of 2020 and I, you know, it hit me really, really hard and you know, I posted stuff on social media about it and I was just getting all of these messages from people like people I hadn't talked to in a while, except you know they're on Facebook kind of share, but we've never sort of directly communicated Just saying you know, oh, I'm so sorry. Whenever I hear rush or see anything of rush, it makes me think of you and I mean I had people reach out to me before I even said anything, like they heard it, and we're like I need to reach out to Dave and see who he's doing. Yeah, yeah, it was.

Carolina: 29:03

It was tough, for sure I think, for for me sometimes there are, you know, bands that come and go. I think the longevity of their career has been like most of your life, and so you didn't only grow up listening to them. But I think there were a lot of commonalities, let's say, between you and Neil. It's, like you know, introverted, but these like musicians, creatives, deep thinkers, your love of motorcycles, your love of writing, your love of reading and all the travel books that he wrote, I think.

Carolina: 29:39

I think his life personally spoke to you in a lot of ways and you know you never meet these artists necessarily, but they sort of accompany you on your life journey. Without a doubt, decades, yeah.

David: 29:54

Yeah, yeah, I need a. I need a bumper sticker, a t-shirt that says Neil Peart is my co-pilot. He's sort of been there, like you said, not just in the music and the drumming, but you know he's the lyricist, so he writes all the lyrics he's. He's written books, like you said, with the riding and motorcycles, which I also, you know, do the, the philosophical thinking, the reading, the writing, and so it was just like, in so many ways, right, I just you know identified with with him and so, yeah, when he, when he passed away, you know, unexpectedly from brain cancer, that was tough, yeah, yeah it can be like letting letting go of a lifelong friend, even though you know.

Raza: 30:47

Like I said I don't meet these folks.

Carolina: 30:48

But We'll pivot a little bit and you know we kind of took a more like overarching life view of of your, you know, relationship with, with rush and the band and the music. But we'll zoom in a little bit into those moments where where music can kind of just Just hit us in a certain way, and so for our next song I'll ask you what's a song that kind of reminds you of just a perfect little moment in your life where everything felt perfect and right.

David: 31:23

Yes, yes, yeah, this song, this is one of the songs that Gave me the idea also for the podcast and saying, oh, there's got to be people out here with similar kinds of moments like this. And so this was one where I had the idea, I knew the song was part of me and said, oh, other people might have this too. And so this particular song I'll set the stage for you and before we listen, so everyone can get in the right mindset and be there with me. So we're back in New Jersey now. We're going a little back in time.

David: 31:59

So I was in fourth grade and the school I was at was fourth, fifth and sixth grade is was the structure. So I was fourth grade, so I was, you know, the youngest. We're getting on the bus after school one day and my Neighborhood friend, who was in sixth grade, like waves me back and says, hey, dave, you know, come back to come back with us and come sit in the back of the bus with us, which is, you know, in the middle school, hierarchy days and stuff like that. That's like, and you got handed the keys to the castle, kind of thing.

Carolina: 32:30

They open the velvet rope for you. That's right. That's right yeah and I'm walking.

David: 32:34

I'm like it's cool, I'm with him and yeah, yeah, and so I go and I I'm in the back, fully backseat, on the left side by the window. Windows are down. It's like it's just a beautiful day out, temperatures like it's not too cold, not too hot. Our bus driver we had was pretty cool and he was always playing music and stuff and, you know, cranking it up too, and Right as we start to roll off, I'm sort of you know how we used to do, we're not, I'm not sitting in the seat, I'm like turn sideways, you know, and my elbows up out the window and right as we start driving, white snakes. Here I go again comes on.

Carolina: 33:49

I Haven't this thought of you, just like back of the bus, you know, just like it doesn't get any better than this.

David: 34:03

Totally, totally. School is out for the day. I just got invited to the back of the bus. Music kicks on. It's this, it's this song about you know, just going for it and hitting the road and all that, and you know.

Raza: 34:19

And then Tony gets hand walks in right.

Carolina: 34:24

Yeah, I'd like that red dress on the car, like the music videos pretty epic.

David: 34:30

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure, yeah, and I just, you know, I was in fourth grade, so I was this little, you know peanut, but at the time you don't, you don't realize you're that you feel like, oh my goodness, and stuff. And you know, like you said before, with my similarities to Neil Peart and sort of the you know introversion and the deep thinker and stuff like that, you know this, I was just in my mind going this is what it's all about, right here, life is good and you know, grab on to it and, and you know, make it an adventure.

David: 35:10

So yeah, what one of those perfect memories that I have, like I can visualize it perfectly.

Raza: 35:19

And that was just a year before you guys moved to Florida.

David: 35:21

Oh, yeah yep, yep, that was fourth grade and so, yeah, I moved the summer between fourth and fifth grade. You know, my dad company got, you know, offered down in South Florida and so had to, you know, had to move and was not happy about it, was not looking forward to it. I remember my sister and I when we were getting ready to sell the house you know we repop three wallpapered my room because it was my childhood room so it had, like you know, the alphabet and stuff and animals on it. So you know we all papered it and Our parents let my sister and I draw on the wall before they put the wallpaper up, like, as you know, it's gonna be covered up. And I remember we we wrote real big I hate Florida.

Carolina: 36:15

Yeah.

David: 36:17

Yeah, like we're gonna get into right so much of what happened in South Florida. You know, make sure who you are and stuff, but at the time you just feel like you know, it's the unknown at the time.

Raza: 36:28

The unknown.

David: 36:29

Yeah, you're taking away every.

Carolina: 36:30

You know Everything you know, yeah, something I love about about this song and like Hair bands of the 70s and 80s we did describe this to my daughter one day. We were like talking about hair bands. She's like, what is that? And so it's like there's all these pictures of like between Bon Jovi and like all the other bands. Just like this massive, you know hair or whatever Is how these songs really kind of make you feel like free, like you just like let go and rock out. That's the memory I have of this kind of music like and these white snake videos, yeah, yeah you know it's funny.

Raza: 37:07

So, yeah, hair band, right? You realize now that obviously, obviously, obviously, the hair naturally doesn't do that. So it's, it's obviously, you know, permed, and this, that the other. I found out the other day that One of the trends with our kids, generations of kids, so you know, folks who are kids, who are in High school or sort of late 8th grade or so and then going into high school, is that they got a perm the hair. So the particular style that's going around these days is is is kid boys, male child, you know, to get the look that they're going for they got a perm the hair. So it's, it's almost like back to the 80s, where that was. You know, if you're cool, you're perming your hair and you're growing it out, bleaching all this other stuff to look like you know, David Coverdale or Motley Koo or whatever.

Raza: 38:05

So even that is back full circle in a funny, in a funny way.

Carolina: 38:10

Yes, I will say we hear a lot In in our teenage daughters like community or world about, like flow right, the hair, the hair. There are like because she plays hockey, so that's sort of dominates our life. There's like contests in Minnesota for like best flow, best hockey hair, but and it is all this like very like poofy longer, you know, wave scenario. Yeah, you're like, wait, what decade are we in again? Because I feel like we like Zonk, you know, back in time.

Raza: 38:43

Well, so okay. So we're all from basically the same generation. In our day, flow meant something completely different. Pop quiz what's the go first?

David: 38:55

he's got sick flow. Rapping skills. Lyricists oh no. Flow is money yeah cash money flow got any flow for me.

Carolina: 39:15

Yeah.

David: 39:16

True, wow that's funny like cash flow.

Raza: 39:21

Yeah well, I killed the whole thing. Something different for everybody at all times, all right.

Carolina: 39:31

Oh, my god, speaking of so, speaking of the move to Florida, right, you, you're at the top of your game in your life. We're rocking out to white snake, which, by the way, like kudos to this fourth grade.

Carolina: 39:46

Kudos to this bus driver for clearly knowing how to keep about a hundred kids like engaged and sitting down and like quiet. It's like let me just rock out like I don't think that ever happened to me as a kid. So kudos to whoever that bus driver was. So you move and life sucks and you hate Florida, but I I'm pretty sure that opened up just a whole new world of experiences. You know, new Jersey and South Florida are very, very different places, and so, to queue up our next song, let's let's talk a little bit about new, new perspectives and songs that kind of, you know, rocked your world and, like you know, blew your mind to something you you've had an experience before.

David: 40:29

Yeah yeah so yeah, so we definitely, before we moved, were hating Florida. But once we moved, and you know, you start making friends and you know, live in life, and you're sort of like, well, this is pretty cool, it's kind of warm all the time and there's no winter, so hey, we can skateboard all year and you know all of these things we were like that's great. And so you know, I, I have this key memory of in my neighborhood and you know, back then in the late 80s, early 90s, you know we didn't have streaming, we didn't have the internet and stuff like that. So, finding music and getting exposed to it, you, you, you had to listen to the radio.

David: 41:13

Maybe you're reading some of the music magazines and things like that, but really it's, it's who you're around, right, someone gets exposed to something from somewhere and then you pick it up from from then and it's almost got this like you know barter system of trading cassette tapes and things with with friends, and then you know making a copy of it or whatever and giving it back. And so there was this one time I was at my neighborhood friends house and did one of these you know, borrow trade things and it was NWA's album, straight out of Compton with their, you know, key song of fuck the police.

Raza: 41:59

Fuck the fucking E Order, order, order. Ice Cube, take the motherfucking stand these.

Carolina: 42:03

What a tell the truth, the whole truth, the nothing but the truth. Still help your black ass. You goddamn right. Won't you tell everybody what the fuck you gotta say? Fuck the police coming straight from the underground.

David: 42:15

A young n***a got it back cause I'm brown Enough to other color. So police think they have the authority to kill a minority.

Raza: 42:22

Fuck that shit, cause I ain't the one For a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun to be beatin' on.

David: 42:28

If they don't need jail, we can go toe to toe In the middle of a sale, fuckin' with me.

Carolina: 42:35

How old do you think you were when you heard the song?

David: 42:39

The album came out in 88, I wanna say I'm pretty sure which is the summer we moved and I'm pretty sure it was like 5th or 6th grade probably, like it was early on after the move and things, and so yeah, it was. I remember just listening to it and just Hanging on kind of every word and even the whole Like presentation of it of hears who we are and we're Telling these stories and just, you know this song, you know coming out with a title of Fuck the Police it.

David: 43:21

You know it is tension grabbing and I'm like I'm like what's going on, yeah, and I remember, just, you know, two things One, being very well aware that the people that were, you Know, wrapping on this album were having a very different Experience than I was. Right, they are talking about something that I am not familiar with, and so that, and then to like, I just felt their like sincerity, I think, is a word I might use like it didn't feel like this Was just a song that people were making, just to write a song, right, right.

David: 44:10

There was anger, frustration and and and you know all these Tons of things behind it, and so I just remember being so moved by it, and it was a moment where sort of, I think, kind of Commitments around social justice and racial justice and these kinds of things started. I obviously didn't call them any of that then or what not, but but an awareness that not everybody experiences of the World in the same way and not the same way I do, and so there's A lot I can learn from other people's perspectives.

Carolina: 44:52

Yeah, yeah, I think at that age you don't know to call it privilege, but just exactly what you said the awareness and exposure that like hey, this life I live in suburban plantation is Not the life that that others live in other communities and Particularly you know, the song delves into like why right, marginalization, race, and so, yeah, that can really like blow Up what might feel like a perfect little world in early, you Know, adolescent childhood.

Raza: 45:25

It was truly mind blowing, is that? So, okay, so, like you said, that song came out in EDA right, and that Means that the obviously there were events that led to the Guys in NWA writing about that experience. So whatever they're Talking about has probably been going on before. So that's so, leading up to that, there's stuff going on. They released this in 88. The Rodney King incident wasn't till 92, so that's another Four years later.

Raza: 45:55

And then fast forward, obviously, to more Recent events in the last couple of years, couple of you know, five, ten years, and in between, I'm sure, and it's still relevant, right, it's still relevant there is still Marginalized people, people that are experiencing stuff completely. It's like parallel universes and and it's still relevant and it's still going on. I was, I knew about NWA growing up and I see, and I've heard About the controversy said I was approaching from, I wasn't into the music per se, but I was into, I knew that it was. It was relevant Because of the like, the news perspective, and then obviously there was all sorts of censorship type issues and I see songs Were banned and some of the other things you know. So I, that Was my exposure to this stuff.

Raza: 46:52

But then, more recently, during the during like black lives matter and and some of the more Recent police brutality type cases that came out, these Retality cases that came out on type I went back and, but you Know what, let me listen to NWA now, as I was in my probably Late 30s at the time, right as a grown adult with all sorts of Education I'm a lawyer and listen to this, listen to these records and and just you know, hear about it, listen, listen to it. Let me listen to the content. What is it that? That was going on? And it was just mind blown, right like hashtag mind blown and just my jaw dropped because it's like someone is making commentary on on events going On right now and and yet this stuff came out in 1988. So, yeah, it's just it, it's it's amazing, it's it's it's awesome To hear. It's also incredibly frustrating because it's still Going on.

David: 47:59

Yeah, yeah, and I think of a memory from my sort of middle High school time with the police. There was this instance of my high school girlfriend and I. We are in my Jeep, cherokee, and you know, as you do in high School, you need to find a place that's private to. You know, make out and not while, while, while, while, and so I had parked on the swale, which, for those of you that don't Know, that's the grass in between the sidewalk and the road. South Florida's got them all over for flooding reasons and what not, so I parked on the swale by this park, right Playground and area and stuff like that we're at night.

David: 48:45

Hope at night, at night, yep.

Raza: 48:47

At night.

Carolina: 48:48

That's key part of the story. To give my date. Yes, got it at night.

David: 48:51

We're in the back of the Jeep Cherokee and a cop car pulls Up and we see the lights flash, pulls over. We quickly get up and hop out of the car and officer comes Over and you know I'm, we're in high school and he's, he's Starts saying you know, hey, what are you guys doing here? You know the park closes at sundown. You can't, you know, be in the park. And me I remember, and you know here's a perfect example of like the privilege. I got all like philosophical lawyer Lee on him and was Like is the swale considered part of the park? Oh my gosh. And he's like well, no, but you were probably in the park before and kind of like heading to the bets and I Was like trying to like one up this cop and like prove him Wrong and and so to just like yeah, have that experience where where I felt like I could Say something back to this cop and then hearing songs about. You know that not everybody has that experience and they have to be.

David: 50:02

They're taught from young how to interact with the police to make it home right and so by the encounter, yeah, and so that that that is, just like you know, my like, a lived experience of the differences, right and and they're Both of them are, you know, seared into my mind.

Raza: 50:26

Yeah, I. So I came from a country that everyone looks the same and you know we're sort of homogenous, and so I had no idea About the stuff called race relations, racism, things like that and and and we traveled, you know, we immigrated straight Straight to south Florida, which is as much of a melting On as you can imagine, and we're like this is great, there's people from everywhere. And then we turned on the News and it's no, there is a serious. You know, there's some Serious problems and and and there's seems to be sort of A common denominator of a particular race of people and Things seem to be fundamentally unfair.

Raza: 51:13

So then and then you and then you start asking questions Well, what is going on? What, why? Why is that? And obviously, when I was like 10 years old at the time and my understanding is A lot deeper now, but yeah, it was really interesting times, troubling times, and then and then, and then you're getting, you know, social commentary from, from music, a lot of this stuff that that they were exposed to is because Of music and because it's relevant and this is authentic.

Carolina: 51:45

Yeah, and it can be. You know musicians create to get out. You Know their voice and their message and whatever, or tell Stories, whatever it can be, but it can be across genres, right? Everything from NWA, as we're discussing, to, you know, rage Against the machine, to even other bands that are more, more Punk or more pot, but trying to like, put out messages any way they can to further promote and enact change.

Raza: 52:16

Yeah, it's and it's been it's if we look at music like, if we Look at especially like rock and roll. Throughout history I had no idea that stuff like, like you know, credence, clearwater, ccr, I had no idea that they were writing About stuff.

Raza: 52:34

You know, protesting the Vietnam war yeah, that was, that was the, that was the main thing in the 60s and those were the protest songs of the 60s. Had no idea that that's what the song for about. And then fast forward To like the 90s. You know, I heard it in force gunman, and oh, that's what that song meant. And yeah, rage against the Machine. Perfect example body count, I mean ice tees, heavy metal Band body count, there goes the neighborhood.

Raza: 53:00

I mean, I mean Killer stuff and, by the way, that was banned as well. But I think he had a song called top killer. It was banned and and yeah, and you know so, and and, just when you think that things are better and stuff is has, has has shifted and Times have changed, nope, something else happens, that that that necessitates Artists taking a stand and and writing songs and expressing that frustration. You're reminding us.

Carolina: 53:36

Yeah, I mean changes painfully slow, right, and I feel like we take two steps forward, one step back, and so, yeah, everybody just has to keep creating and sharing and, you know, being really loud about the things that that Need to change, right, let's, we're going to kind of stay here in the world of challenging Times and difficult situations and kind of pivot a little bit to more personal experiences For you, david, of like difficult times, and so our next song We'll ask the prompt here is is what song has helped you Through a difficult time or or a difficult situation?

David: 54:22

Yeah, so, yeah, so, like you had said and I had said in our introductions, you know, I I was a infantry paratrooper at the 82nd Airborne Division right after 9 11 and was in Afghanistan For just shy of a year and then, like two months later, we got called up to deploy to Iraq and so while I was on that deployment, I definitely I struggled on that deployment. That's where a shift happened, for for me, the Afghanistan Deployment felt. I was like you know, with the mission and Writing home and everything like that. When you know we deployed To Iraq, I went numb and very much, you know, shut down. It was A challenging time for me and but I had a little bit of music To help get me through.

David: 55:13

And this is, you know, one of the funny Ones and it's the one actually, you know, when I told Raza about it, with the idea of the podcast, he was like I was like, oh my God, I love this idea because these are these stories you know we want to hear, and so you know it wasn't as easy to get CDs and things like that. You know, we were there earlier on and so there was a little PX a little, a little Convenient store shop on on on the base and they had a few Different CDs and things like that and I brought like a little Disman I guess it would have been. You know, this is right. Right, as you know, ipods and stuff are kind of starting to Happen. So I was still with CD player and had a few CDs with me, but the one CD I was able to pick up as it was one of the few they had was Britney Spears is toxic and I listened to it Pretty much every day and it helped me get through the deployment.

Carolina: 56:12

Let's take a listen.

David: 56:48

Yep, yep. Well, if nothing else, we we've definitely broken ground in having a music podcast where we talked about white snake, then NWA and now Britney Spears. Back to back, yeah. So yeah, yeah, yeah it's you know, britney Spears is not one of my favorite artists, right and and so this is one of those examples yeah, yeah, music speaking Right, right, right, yeah, very big, very straight forward pop this.

David: 57:25

Even this has, you know, got some of the electronic coming in. You know the beats and things and so, but it just I, there was something about it where I kept going back to it Every day. We were doing a thing where we were running a checkpoint for a while and we had like the early morning shift, so we were getting on like before the sun was up and then we'd be, we'd get relieved, like like right after lunch, right after midday, and we'd usually go and get something to eat and then come back to our area where our bunks were and we sort of had some downtime and I would, you know, probably take a shower or something like that, lay on my bunk and just put my headphones on and just listen to this. And you know it was.

David: 58:16

I don't, I don't really know why that kind of happened day after day, but I think it was just. You know it wasn't political in any way, right, so it wasn't kind of like a rage against the machine or system, of a down or something like this. That's kind of critiquing things and stuff, because, you know, I think I had to shut that side of me down a little bit, you know, of not kind of thinking of the bigger picture at times, because that would make it just more tough. I'm just like I've got to do my mission each day and we got to survive each day and whatnot. And so I think this just kind of you know, straightforward pop party music just kind of felt like that. It felt like as different from you know, a military deployment to Iraq as, as you could, you could get.

Raza: 59:11

As you guys were playing the song. So, as Dave, as you mean, as you said, that this, this description, is what, what inspired? Inspired, but I inspired me to join, you know, on this journey, because I remember you bringing up the idea, like a text message or something, and like wait a second, okay. So, first of all, I know that you were deployed and we talked about that and but this particular memory was like okay, this it's, it's so, like to complete polar opposites, right, you just suppose Britney Spears against Iraq, of Afghanistan being deployed. You know, I mean I'm picturing.

Raza: 59:59

You know combat, you know explosions going off, also mortar, I mean whatever, like I haven't been in combat, I'm a city boy, but but just watching movies to know that it can be hell, I've read about it and you experienced it, and so I'll always associate this song with that visual of veterans, active duty folk in combat. You know all sorts of stuff going off, and this is stuff that we, if you're interested to share this experience, this has to be shared, this has to be put out there. I think that so many people can relate to it who actually are veterans, were in combat and we probably have similar memories, but just, for whatever reason, don't have this platform to talk about it. So I have to be a part of this and yeah, so this is all motivated to join, and obviously the other stories related, like NWA and White Snake comparisons. That's just like icing on the cake.

David: 1:01:12

Yeah, and I think that is a motivation for the podcast.

David: 1:01:21

Their idea with this podcast is, in general we don't do a great job of talking about mental health and things like that, and specifically amongst the veteran community, right, I mean that's the struggle we're all very aware of 22 lives a day by suicide and all these struggles and when I think about a number of the people I serve, with everybody's struggling in different ways and into varying degrees and whatnot, and so part of the idea with this podcast is to kind of have these more open conversations around music in our life as a way to show how you can talk about mental health and address these things and it doesn't have to be like either nothing or you're in a psychiatrist's office or something like that.

David: 1:02:20

And so I want people to open up on this podcast and share some of these things and we want to create a space where people feel like they can do that, to sort of open up some of these things. I think the phrase we've mentioned a couple of times is be kind to everyone you meet, because everyone's fighting a battle you know nothing about, right. And so that's kind of the idea here with let's have these conversations around music in a kind, open way and let's carry that over into conversations around mental health and PTSD and depression. Yeah, yeah.

Carolina: 1:03:05

I think absolutely along those lines. What I love so much about this story and how it connects to that is so much of what can affect our mental health, anxiety, our ability to connect with others, is that like fear of judgment, fear of living up to a stereotype or being stereotyped or, like you know, all of those things. And so the juxtaposition of, like Britney Spears in a combat environment I think is so awesome. I think, whatever you think of in terms of deployments and combat, from what you might see in media movies, the songs tend to be much more rock heavy or much more you know. And so I think like breaking down those like preconceived notions of what somebody should listen to when they're in the military or what somebody should listen to when they're in certain environments, and understanding that, like light music or music that makes you want to dance or you know, is how you survive these types of environments. And so I love the disparity of this song and your experience, because it kind of just like does away with all of that in a really cool way.

David: 1:04:19

Yeah, and I think here's an example of sort of the veteran community and the non-veteran community and how, like you know, they're not necessarily communicating as much as they could be. It's just all about thank you for your service and things. You know everyone who's been in the military. I'm very confident we'll hear this story and know exactly what I'm talking about. Their specifics might be different but they've got these examples. But I don't know how open veterans are to telling these stories to people that weren't in right, because it breaks down the what we think we should be. You know, I'll give you another example.

David: 1:05:01

Right before I got out, my unit went down to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. This is the end of 2000, 2005. We were doing relief efforts in there and so we were. We were just bunking in a warehouse type thing. So just think of you know green army cuts all spread around and stuff like that. And I remember that people were passing around a one of those thick bridal magazines you know that has all the it's just pages of gowns and cakes and you know companies and stuff, and there was like a line of people waiting to get it of like I got it next to you and then you because it was, it was what was there, and so it was like cool, and I think it is that thing of it's so different than what we're doing that it causes this break.

David: 1:05:54

I remember that that deployment to our platoon Sergeant and platoon leader were watching the OC, that TV that drama TV show of in Orange County, you know, kind of like a remake not a remake, but like another Beverly Hills, mano Tumano or something like that, and they were watching that each evening after we were done with, you know, our patrols and stuff like that and it's. It's just that way I think to to find some type of normalcy or familiarity, because what you're doing is so just unfamiliar and it can be tough to place yourself Right?

Carolina: 1:06:31

I mean, katrina was incredible, grim, so many you know people did not survive that storm and drown and like so, yeah, how do you pull yourself out from being surrounded by all that death? I love that. It was a bridal magazine, I think. I love that.

Raza: 1:06:54

So did you see the Rage and Cajun, forgetting his name, though, but the general on the right, I think his name was on the right. I'm forgetting his rank, but it came as seen. Long story short, we'll have to look at the news. Yeah, no, yeah no.

David: 1:07:18

I mean it was, it was. It was weird, like the Katrina relief. We were down there for about 30 days. That was strange in its own way, because anything we saw in Afghanistan or Iraq, you're like, ok, this is a war zone. Right, we've gone into both of these countries, we've disrupted everything. There's insurgencies and people defending their homeland and warring warlords going against each other. And so you're like, yeah, yeah, shit's probably not going to look great or be great, right, you know there's going to be bad stuff happening, but here this was just New Orleans, right, and it looked like a war zone, just like any other in Afghanistan or Iraq. I mean, when we got there, there was still, you know, six, eight feet of water. We were down in the ninth war going with rubber boats, you know, house to house Looking for bodies. There were dead bodies floating by. You know people were getting shot at right Because people were defending their homes from looters and everything.

David: 1:08:28

I mean it was, it was, it was a very wild experience. Yeah, yeah for sure.

Carolina: 1:08:37

Yeah, thank you for sharing that. All these songs are so different and like, just hold such special places for you but are, like different genres, different. You know all these things, so we'll pivot one more time with our last song here, just in thinking about being in a challenging, challenging situation or place and what you did to try and like transport yourself somewhere else or try, and you know we'll cue that as our, as our next question what is a song that when you hear it, you're instantly transported to a specific time or place in your life?

David: 1:09:17

Yeah. So for the listeners and viewers out there, if you haven't picked up on it yet, the three of us grew up in South Florida, and so for me, when I hear Two Live Crew, it immediately puts me back South Florida middle school parties, kids DJs, everything like that. And so this particular one I picked is Two Live Crew's Shake a Little Something.

Carolina: 1:09:53

What's here?

David: 1:09:55

Are you ready to go?

Raza: 1:09:56

I'm ready to go, I'm gonna crank this motherfucker up.

Carolina: 1:10:00

Yeah, it's your boys back in the house. We watch out to get chas on the motherfucking dance floor, are you right? Go get chas on the house.

Raza: 1:10:16

Get it. Get it shake, shake, shake, shake a little something. That's the one. Yeah, that's the one. As soon as you hear that siren, it's all over.

David: 1:10:28

Every middle school dance I went to, oh my goodness, how's it feel hearing it again.

David: 1:10:38

I mean just as good it is, like it just makes me want to dance and makes me want to party and it's just this, like you know, just great music and it's. You know, I joked earlier and said you know it's a music podcast, but it also is a little bit of a geography podcast, I guess. And you know, here's an example of if you were in South Florida in the 80s and 90s, like Two Live Crew and the other, you know groups and things that were similar. You know like Booty Music or you know South Florida Bass Jams and you know all the different names.

Carolina: 1:11:18

Freestyle too.

David: 1:11:20

Freestyle. You couldn't escape it right, and I don't mean that in a bad way, like it was. Oh, I can't get away from it. It was just it was the soundtrack for all of us. You know, at the roller skating rink, skating ice skating rink, like I said, I remember going to a lot of like little parties at people's houses for, you know, 13th, 14th birthday, and there's like some other teenager there with homemade speakers and stuff DJing and spinning these songs and things like that, and so, yeah, it just puts me back there and I mean with Two Live Crew. I also have an even more like intimate connection to it. I mean, not like you know seven, seven degrees of Kevin Bacon here, I guess you could say maybe, but you know Two Live Crew and you know the music they were making. We played a more clean excerpt.

David: 1:12:21

But you know they were you know Broward County Sheriff's Office and things were coming down on them for you know violating obscenity laws and stuff for their album itself you know got banned. But also they were arrested when they were doing their performance and so the trial that went on my middle school I was at Plantation Middle School. One of my guidance counselors there was on the jury for the trial and so we were like very closely watching that because we like knew someone who was there and it's so funny reading the article on it, doing a little bit of research for it. It says, you know she was 42. Like the newspaper says so in, you know, this is Von Hebert, was that it? What was it? I have it somewhere. Hold on Von Hebert. Yeah, this is Von Hebert or Van Hemer.

David: 1:13:20

Anyway, you know newspaper says you know 42 guidance counselor at Plantation Middle School. And I'm like, oh my God, that's younger than I am right now and like you know, being at that time in middle school, you it looked like this, like adult was on this jury trial. And it was cool too because at that age because you know this is at the time where NWA and you know all of these things about the parental advisory coming on CDs and really all these things about free speech are really at the forefront. And I remember just thinking of like, oh, I hope my guidance counselor isn't the one to, like you know, find them guilty of obscenity and stuff.

David: 1:14:01

But no, she's got the party down Well she's got comments of like no, this is if it's in a 21 and 21 and up club, like yeah, of course, like I see it, as you know, comedy and other stuff, and so you can't limit the free speech, and so, yeah, so they were found. They were, you know, acquitted of the charges.

Raza: 1:14:20

And so Faith and justice restored, yeah, right.

Carolina: 1:14:25

This it was not a nothing incident. Like it challenged the first amendment yeah.

David: 1:14:32

Straight up.

Carolina: 1:14:34

I want to say, as I'm like quickly Googling here, like it went all the way to the Supreme Court Right, the case was Campbell v Akafro's music Like yeah, and the reason we have explicit lyric stickers on albums or on any music sold is is very specific because of this.

David: 1:14:56

Yeah, yeah, so much. So it was so big that one of their two live crews subsequent albums was named banned in the USA and the title song is banned in the USA, taking Bruce Springsteen's, born in the USA, clip sample and talking about how they, you know, being banned in the USA, where they were talking about the free speech and everything around it. And so yeah, yeah.

Raza: 1:15:22

I remember reading about that afterward and then you know, studying it, and yeah, it was, it was, it was such a blatant violation. You know a sheriff walking in and literally you know, destroying material, that it's the state, the state coming in and and then basically trampling all over the first amendment. But yeah, it did go to the Supreme Court and and, and the justice did prevail. So yeah, I don't know if it was before or after, but I, I, I, in my sort of you know music nerding out, I've watched some of those hearings. Yeah, there was a, a board, pmrc, and there's this sort of line of rock stars that eventually walks in and they testify in Congress about what do their lyrics mean and why this should or should not be banned.

Raza: 1:16:21

And Dee Snyder, his full sort of twisted sister, get up and he testifies and he presents the most eloquent argument. And I'm not sure who from Congress was on the panel, but they're obviously stunned and they're like Mr Snyder, you make a whole lot of sense. And so I think it was around that time also, again, this was probably before the little explicit lyrics or explicit content labels and stickers started coming up. It was right around that time, I think, late 80s and early 90s and I remember there was a cover from one of the GNR albums originally was banned. That was around the time as well 87 or so appetite for destruction, but yeah, a lot of interesting, relevant debates going on at that time. And then obviously there's a Florida connection to everything and this was our end.

Carolina: 1:17:21

Oh, is this like the Florida shenanigan connection, like what's going on down there?

Raza: 1:17:25

That's right. Florida mail.

David: 1:17:28

And yeah, and just like going back to the music side of it, what got me from young into music and as a drummer and stuff is rhythm and so this booty music and the hip hop and then later getting into techno and electronic music and stuff. I mean that's what drew me into a lot of it, outside of the lyrics and the political side and what they're talking about, just this rhythm and this beat. Here's another memory In middle school in lunch we had those lunch tables. I'm pretty sure they're still around. I remember our daughter's school has them, but they're the kind that's a table and it's got a bench on each side and they kind of fold up you know, and you reel them around.

David: 1:18:15

And so when they fold down, there's the crossbars, that's going down, and we realize that this is a bunch of us you know band kids and stuff sitting around in middle school at lunch. If you put your elbows on the table and put your hands over your ears when someone would hit that bar, it sounded just like an 808 kind of face kick and so we would take turns. I've been throwing a whole group of you Everybody's sitting here, One person's underneath hitting it and another person's, I think, on top doing the knuckles and stuff like that.

David: 1:18:53

But that was huge and stuff, and so, yeah, it was just like rhythm all the time and I think it's, you know, I feel it's like one of those kind of most foundational basic connections to music is through the rhythm of it. We have a heartbeat that has a rhythm and that's like the way we connect. And so these are just, you know, and Britney Spears, right, that particular song, it's got that, you know, a good beat to it, you know, yeah.

Carolina: 1:19:24

Yeah, I think that South Florida I don't even know if this is the official genre for it, but that South Florida booty music I don't think I've ever heard a rhythm or a beat like that since the memory I have of it is traveling down to Colombia to visit my cousins. I would spend summers and Christmases there and stuff like that. And they would ask me about life in the US. Some questions like does everybody look like the cast on Baywatch down there over there? And I'd be like no. And then like you know, what kind of music do you listen to? And I threw some of this on and so we haven't even talked about like the lyrics and stuff like deeply problematic now as adults. But like damn, you know, that's all.

Carolina: 1:20:01

I throw some of this on and they're like they're, you know more, listening to either American pop or rock, or like side of side of maybe. And they're like what is that? Like how do you? What are they saying? And I was like I can't tell you that, like I'm not translating into Spanish, I don't want to say it myself. And then they were like how do you dance to this? And I'm like I can't show you that either.

Carolina: 1:20:23

I'm giving you this excerpt of this music that is now like top secret. I can't tell you what they're saying. I can't show you how we dance to this, because you're all going to be mortified.

David: 1:20:33

Which is just draws people in more. Right? If you say I can't tell you better or you know, it's like ooh, what is it? What's going on?

Carolina: 1:20:40

Right, how does one? Well, so you bend over and then you're like what are you?

David: 1:20:43

how do you do it?

Carolina: 1:20:44

So people, and that's when I felt like, wow, this is weird and different and also kind of cool.

Raza: 1:20:53

Yeah.

Carolina: 1:20:54

Yeah.

Raza: 1:20:55

I'll tell you my story, which is yeah, we, you know we immigrated from Pakistan. There is definitely no booty music going on over there at the time and we land and then the sort of the tropical paradise of South Florida and this is the stuff that's. It wasn't really on MTV, but it was we heard like it was all over the place.

David: 1:21:16

Yeah, my advice.

Raza: 1:21:18

Yeah, yeah, really yeah.

Carolina: 1:21:22

Well, you'd get clean versions on like power 96 on the radio and stuff you'd get somewhat clean versions, yeah, but who wants the clean versions?

Raza: 1:21:32

So I remember when my parents heard the stuff in passing and they're like this do live bro. No, no, no, no, no, you stick to guns and roses. My boy and again I didn't like resonate with it. It wasn't, but it was like, oh yeah, good beat, but not really my thing. But yeah, yeah it was. It defines South Florida. It definitely did.

Carolina: 1:21:56

I think I got away with, like still family either not speaking English well enough or it was too fast for them to decipher that I like flew under the radar, like listening to it for a while. All right, those are your six songs, my friends, we got through it. And so, like, as we round that out, I want to ask how does it feel to sort of hear your life reflected in?

David: 1:22:24

six songs.

David: 1:22:27

Yeah, it's pretty interesting to see it laid out and taking the time to pull these particular songs out. I'm fascinated by the six songs. Like hearing them in succession and just going, wow, yeah, those are the songs that are part of me Again, not except for Rush on the list of six songs. None of them are like my favorite group or what I'm listening to all the time now, but they are definitely songs that I have an intimate connection with and to sound cliche, maybe, who I am today, right, so that's really cool to see, and so anyone out there who is interested in doing this or whatever, definitely come on and do it. Or like any potential guests out there that we're going to reach out to or whatnot. Like it was a cool experience to do, not just even if I didn't share it with anybody. Right, just going through this process was interesting.

David: 1:23:36

A thing jumped out at me, though, and, kind of seeing the songs, I've got the media board of our platform up here, so I'm looking at the names of the six songs.

David: 1:23:48

I am taken aback that all but one of the songs are from high school and before. Like all the songs are from my younger time, and we got the one Britney Spears during my army time and in sort of thinking about it and going, hey well, why didn't I have more from the last 15 years and things like that. And I feel like it's related to my memory and the issues I've been struggling through of I obviously was doing things and listening to music, but somehow they weren't being sort of sedimented in me and kind of having that effect to where I'm like I can't think of music. If I think of key points in the last 15 years of times, like us going on trips together or proposing or whatever it is, I have a harder time remembering the music in that way, and so I feel like that is a telling example of the sort of challenges and struggles that can come about.

Raza: 1:25:07

I think you mentioned early on that that was also how you kind of self-diagnosed that something was in place that music wasn't resonating for a while and, I don't know, maybe in a way it saved your life Just recognizing something, that because if you don't know that there's something wrong, if there isn't the acknowledgement that something is wrong, then you can't do anything about it.

David: 1:25:37

Yeah, exactly, I mean there's a number of things I can point to that I can say saved my life. Carolina is one of them. I mean you are too Roz, in a sense right, you helped me on the legal side of some things and helping me through, and just where a person should help in with the process. But yeah, I think it's, and I feel like I'm such a telling example because I was working in veteran services and things. I was doing grad school and working on veterans issues and veterans reintegration and identity and whatnot. And then the previous four years I was running a student veterans office at a university and so helping other student veterans through the process and giving talks and things. And so I was giving talks to people. When I'd welcome a new class of student veterans, I'd talk about pay attention to what's going on. If you're hurting, if you're struggling, if you're whatever, reach out, we're here, we'll get all of these things.

David: 1:26:42

Meanwhile, I was struggling with all these things and didn't put it all together, and so it was like I remember when I was in grad school doing working on my PhD, and I would struggle to read and focus and write a paper and things like that, and I remember just saying, oh, this is really hard, I just need to bear down and work harder.

David: 1:27:08

That was my response, which was the exact opposite of what I needed. I needed to stop and slow down and take stock of everything, do some therapy, do some work and all these things. And so, yeah, realizing that I wasn't feeling like I wasn't having feelings for things. I remember another example was there was that condo in South Florida that collapsed Surfside yeah, surfside a couple years ago and a lot of people died and things. And I remember coming home and Carolina, you had it on the TV and I was standing there watching it and I remember up here I was able to recognize this is a horrible tragedy. Lots of people died, lost their family, but I didn't feel anything. And I remember telling Carolina I'm like I don't feel anything for these people and it was just that, going numb at times in the military and then afterwards just continuing to just put my head down and trying to move forward and things and not dealing with the stuff.

Carolina: 1:28:15

It just got progressively more and more Like mentally muscling through, which is sort of what you're taught to do, right, just work harder, just put your head down, just push through whatever it is.

David: 1:28:30

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then another one during the pandemic. We got a second dog, which is lots of people did things in the pandemic of well, I guess we're going to do this now, and in a lot of ways, she saved my life too, because she's my shadow, she is by my side, she follows me everywhere. I am her person. She's very sensitive, very intuitive, very empathetic in that way, and at my worst I was having really bad nightmares of combat and just military culture, and I was like I'd be dreaming. I was back in the military, back there, whatever it might be, and so sometimes I was waking up from the dream and I was aware of what was happening. I'd wake up in a panic attack and I was heart racing, threw up, and it was full-on panic attack. However, there were times where I didn't wake up from the dream, but our dog, who would sleep right next to me, would wake me up. She would sense that I was dreaming and not well, not OK.

David: 1:29:40

And wake me up and not OK, and that was telling because it was happening three or four times a night, and so that was another sign of hey, this is affecting me in a lot more ways. And so then, putting all the things together, I was like man, this really feels like this stuff I'm telling everybody else about to watch out for, and the things I knew where they were easily the VA and the PTSD questionnaire and all this stuff. I said, let me do it and see. And it was just like tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. I was ticking off every box. And so then it was yeah, let's start the process to getting help. And I got a prescription for medical cannabis because I knew people were using that to help and that helped with the sleep, because that was crucial.

David: 1:30:34

It had gotten to the point where.

David: 1:30:36

I didn't want to go to sleep. I was dreading nighttime and getting to go to sleep because I knew it was going to be not enjoyable, it was going to be not fun. So then you're not sleeping as much, which makes all of the symptoms and things worse. So, yeah, so it's taken some time. But to anyone out there, that's, if you're struggling with something, don't deny the symptoms. If you're easily agitated that was me, I was getting anger, easy noise sensitivity, the sleep issues, the memory issue I mean, don't ignore those signs. Reach out, get help, start the process.

David: 1:31:25

If you're a veteran, I know the VA. We are frustrated by it. It can be difficult. I know it's difficult for me to go to the VA's because it puts me back in that military environment and so it can be triggering for a lot of folks. But start the process. Start the process, say yes to everything. If a provider is like, hey, are you interested in trying this therapy or this type of thing, give it a go, because that's how you're going to figure out what works for you, what you need. Yeah.

Carolina: 1:31:59

Well, my hope for you is that, although not a lot of songs came up from the last 15 years, as you continue through your healing journey, like new songs will add their way onto your life playlist, and I'm excited to see what those will be. Yeah, all right, we're going to speed things up a little bit. This is our lightning round. So we've gone through your six questions and we do a quick little lightning round of questions.

David: 1:32:30

First concert, last concert, best concert First concert, going in line with the white snake in fourth grade and the hair metal-ish kind of vibe. My first concert was Van Halen, their four-unlawful carnal knowledge tour, Miami Arena. The first concert was the first concert in the United States, Miami Arena. I was middle school probably. They're probably sixth or seventh grade or something like that. So yeah, that was the first concert Alice and Chains opened for them. Before Alice and Chains was Alice and Chains. Yeah, you know they had a genius.

Carolina: 1:33:12

Who was the lead singer of Van?

David: 1:33:15

Halen? Who was the?

Carolina: 1:33:15

lead singer for Van Halen. You know that's time.

David: 1:33:18

This was in the Sammy Hagar years, so Sammy Hagar, not David Lee Roth, which I liked them both, you know, and for different reasons and stuff. I appreciated both of them and stuff. But yeah, that was the first concert, miami Arena. Middle school parents dropped us off and just went into a concert.

Raza: 1:33:37

Oh shit, dropped you off. Yeah, nice, yeah, yeah, yeah, different times. There was no cell phones at the time for the pickup call. No, I'm ready.

David: 1:33:47

I'll meet you here. Yeah, we kind of Whatever we struggle with as parents now and doing that, we got to pick our kids up from places and stuff. Yeah, man, the cell phones make it so much easier. If there was a parent, you just had to kind of be there and be like I guess I'll be back around, you know, 11, and just wait here.

Carolina: 1:34:06

Randomly loiter around the arena for my kids to get out. Yeah, all right. Last concert, exactly.

David: 1:34:14

Last concert was we saw lithium. It was a Nirvana cover band. We saw it for Father's Day at a place here in Nashville and we were right up close by the stage and it was really good. They were a really good cover band and it scratched all the right itches and, yeah, it was a lot of fun. It's going to change tonight, though, because tonight we're actually going to see Ed Sheeran Ed Sheeran here in Nashville at the arena. So if we did this tomorrow, that would have been my last one. Ed Sheeran.

David: 1:34:50

As far as my best concert, this is, you know, is a tough one, you know, as a lifelong Rush fan, obviously, like you know, it's hard to beat a Rush show. But I'm going to go against the grain here with that and say that my actual best concert was the first time I saw Tool in concert, and I think it was because I had been a Rush fan for so long that, like, it was great because I'm such a huge fan when Tool was a band I'm very into, you know now and stuff, but kind of wasn't forever and was just like, yeah, let's, you know, kind of digging this stuff, let's check it out, and I was just blown away by their show right. Just, it's a very different vibe than Rush show, right? Rush is kind of like we're just out here, we're having fun, we're doing it, we got screens and it's kind of this like fun party kind of thing.

Carolina: 1:35:53

It's like a theater, sometimes performance too. They really like it's a full production.

David: 1:35:57

They've got funny skits, they film beforehand and show where Tool is like this psychedelic experience and it's just, you know, on just a different level. And so that was the time I was, like most kind of blown away by a concert.

Raza: 1:36:15

So which tour like for which album?

David: 1:36:19

The Tool. The first time I saw it was for their 10,000 days 200. 200.

Raza: 1:36:26

So I didn't get into them.

David: 1:36:28

For the hiatus. Yeah, yeah, and that's where, like I got into them is during the hiatus. Between, you know, enema and Latter Alice and those and you know, at this longer break. I got into them and so when the 10,000 days album came out, I was like I'm going to go see these people Nice, nice and Maynard, facing backwards in front of the screen, you know, not facing the crowd, and all that, yeah, all good stuff.

Raza: 1:36:56

And I mean Danny Carey is from the sort of Neil Peer school he's. He's not like a powerhouse drummer, but he is. There's only one, danny Carey.

David: 1:37:05

Correct, correct Yep, equally unique in their approach. Yeah, totally Very cool, totally Making up new time signatures and stuff.

Raza: 1:37:19

This one is in Danny Carey.

David: 1:37:20

Yeah yeah, danny Carey time.

Carolina: 1:37:24

Yes, I get lost and I can't necessarily follow it, but I do love it, like their music is really good All right.

Carolina: 1:37:32

Well, our fearless host, thank you so much for sharing your, your life in six songs with us. You got to go first and hopefully this is the first of a ton of amazing life stories that we get to hear as we sign off. In the last you know minute or so we have left, let us know what you have going on and for anybody that's really connected with you your story, the content, this podcast how can they reach out to you?

David: 1:38:00

Yeah. So you know, the main thing I got going on right now is this podcast. This is my next endeavor. My therapy, my you know all of it my way to you know, work with people I care about and meet others.

David: 1:38:18

So if you are at all interested in the podcast whether it's you think there's a cool person you want to hear from or you would like to be part of it or on it, or something like that reach out to us. We've got all the socials you know Facebook, instagram, tiktok, youtube, it's. All of them are at a life in six songs, so you can find us there. You can email us at a life in six songs podcast at gmailcom. That's a life in six songs podcast at gmailcom. So, yeah, reach out to us. If anything I said resonated with you as a veteran or someone you know going through their own recovery and dealing with mental health issues. Like I said, you know, reach out to someone, tell someone, start that process. You know, if you're not sure where to start, reach out to us and we can, you know, point you in the right direction in ways, and I hope you continually continue to listen to the podcast because hopefully this is is therapeutic for for all of us.

Carolina: 1:39:32

All right, and with that, thank you all for listening, until next time.