Episode 16

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Published on:

27th Mar 2024

A Chat with Eliot Bronson Part 2

Navigating the Complexities of Life and Music with Eliot Bronson

This episode of Curious Goldfish features an in-depth conversation with musician Eliot Bronson, exploring the thematic essence of his songwriting that addresses the multifaceted human emotions and life's complexities. Jason English hosts the podcast, engaging with Bronson on his approach to balancing the emotional extremes in his songs while ensuring they retain their musical allure.

The discussion encapsulates Bronson's latest album, 'Talking to Myself,' highlighting tracks like 'Are You Still Mean?' and 'From Rabun Gap,' which cleverly weave together feelings of sentimental longing and blunt realism. The episode also delves into the personal background influencing Bronson's songwriting, his relationship dynamics, and the therapeutic aspect of acknowledging contradictory emotions through music. A

dditionally, it touches upon Bronson's perspectives on the artist's journey, the quest for success versus artistic integrity, and the unique satisfaction derived from connecting with an audience through authentic self-expression.

00:00 Exploring the Emotional Spectrum Through Music

01:05 Introducing Curious Goldfish: A Musical Journey

02:02 A Heartfelt Dive into Songwriting with Eliot Bronson

02:16 The Complexities of Human Emotions in Ted Lasso

04:21 Navigating Life's Emotional Extremes Through Art

05:30 The Art of Balancing Opposites in Songwriting

06:37 Reflecting on Personal Growth and Artistic Expression

14:55 The Journey of an Artist: Success, Struggles, and Authenticity

21:55 Eliot Bronson's Musical Influences and Future Endeavors

25:25 Wrapping Up: A Musical Performance and Final Thoughts

Transcript
Eliot Bronson:

and there's anger and sadness, as we said, and

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there's sadness and anger, as

we said, and there can be love.

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And.

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Hatred at the same time.

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So I try to, and then the, and the music

does so much of the work too, because

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I mean, I also love beautiful melodies

and I love song structure and I love, I

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love the art of, of the craft of music.

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So I have all these other things

to stop this from just becoming

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just a wallow fest where you, you

know, you just can't handle it.

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I don't, that's not what I'm after.

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I mean, I want you to sing along.

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I want you to tap your foot, all

those things too, uh, but I also

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just, I don't, I'm, I'm not, I am, I

am writing about, uh, the, the, uh,

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the confusing complexity of life and

sometimes in a very, very simple way

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Jason English (Host): Welcome to

curious goldfish, a podcast community

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where music and curiosity come together

through interesting conversations

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with the music makers of our world.

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I'm your host, Jason English.

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You can find curious goldfish and all the

major podcast and social media platforms.

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And of course, we have all of

our content on our website.

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Curious goldfish.

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com.

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Happiness and sadness, respect and

contempt, admiration and disdain, love

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and hatred, resentment and appreciation.

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these are the extremes of human

emotions, and they represent the

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complexities in life that often are

too weird or cumbersome to understand

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in the moment when we feel both

extremes and everything in between.

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But that's where the art and

craft of songwriting comes in.

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And that's where Eliot Bronson wants to

dive headlong into, almost like a hiker in

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a slot canyon in a national park in Utah.

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It can be a tight fit in between

two giant walls of rock, but somehow

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he helps us get to the other side.

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Those polarities also played out

throughout the three seasons of Ted Lasso.

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Here's a spoiler alert for late

in season three, when star player

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Jamie Tartt is playing at his

former club, Manchester City.

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He's desperately looking for his

estranged father in the stands.

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Coach Lasso asked Jamie what he'd say to

him if he saw him and Jamie ponders for a

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second and then bluntly answers F you and

thank you a Few scenes later coach Lasso

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returns home where he finds his mom making

dinner His mom had recently surprised Ted

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with a surprise visit and out of the blue

Lasso demonstrates the polarities with

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the relationships This time with his mom

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Mom, what's wrong?

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Why are you here?

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What do you mean?

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I mean, if you got something you

need to say to me, I'd appreciate it

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if you just went ahead and said it.

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Stop I just want to spend my last

night in London with my son and

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make sure everything's alright.

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Mm hmm Okay Well, thank you

cooking dinner both of them.

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No, you're welcome And fuck you

for not wanting to talk Excuse me.

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Thank you for flying all the way here

to come see me and fuck you for not

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telling me you were coming Thank you

for all the Small, silly little things

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you did for me as a kid, you know, like

hiding notes in my lunchbox or, uh,

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putting googly eyes on the fruit at

the supermarket just to make me laugh.

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And fuck you for not working on yourself

or seeking help after we lost Dad.

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And for not talking to me about it either,

just glossing over the whole thing and

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acting like everything was all right.

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I'm sorry.

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Um, I didn't know what to do,

Ted, so I pretended I was okay.

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Okay.

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Well, thank you for the apology.

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And fuck you for making me

think I had to pretend, too.

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All right, I appreciate you

sharing all this with me.

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I just wish you hadn't

carried it around for so long.

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Jason English (Host): Sure, many people

have recorded hits for happy songs

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and the list of sad lonesome tunes

is long You But few people have the

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guts to walk the tightrope in between

the emotions of the human condition.

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Eliot Bronson does.

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He does this in a few songs off his

latest album, Talking to Myself.

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He does it in Are You Still Mean?

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where in one line he throws a past

love a compliment and in the next verse

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refers to her as a smug philistine.

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He also does it in a song

called From Rabun Gap.

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He penned it during a songwriting

retreat in the mountains of North Georgia

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and it's a letter to his ex fiancée.

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Although he's found himself in a

happy, fulfilling relationship, he

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can't help but feel sentimental to

a prior love, despite the fact that

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she didn't always show up for him.

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Eliot reminds us that it's okay

to feel emotional extremes.

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It's okay to feel sad or to miss

someone, even if you've moved on.

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And even if you found someone new, I'm

grateful to Eliot for talking about

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this in depth, and I'm grateful that

he performs From Rabun Gap at the end

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of this episode, this is part two of

our conversation with Eliot Bronson.

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Let's jump back in.

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Eliot Bronson: Right, right.

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Yeah, and one of the things that I

just love about this art form is I love

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trying to find expression and voice for

those emotions that are, you know, in

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between emotions, you know, like angry

sad at the same time, like what's that

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feeling, you know, or what's the feeling

of being wistful and proud and curious?

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What's that feeling?

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You know, you add these things together.

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And so I, it's not that I don't,

it's not that I don't have regrets.

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It's not that I feel like I have,

it's not like I'd say I squandered

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my blessings and then I take it back.

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No, it's both.

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Jason English (Host): It's both.

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Eliot Bronson: It's at the same time.

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What's that feeling?

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You know, I love trying to put my finger

on, on that place because I think when

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you hear a song like that or any song

that you love, um, You recognize it.

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You go, I, I've been to that place

and nobody told me what it was called.

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And now I have the name for it.

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And I have the GPS coordinates to it.

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I think what you just

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Jason English (Host): So I'm,

I'm going to say something here.

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I'm going to try to tie

a couple things together.

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Cause what you just said is amazing.

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It reminds me of something.

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So.

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I don't know the circumstances of the

10 year relationship and how that ended,

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but I was, I was married for 25 years.

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Right.

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And, um, you know, I got divorced a

couple of years ago, moved to Atlanta

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and, uh, in, in Ted Lasso, I think

it's in the third season, Jamie Tartt.

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He's like the star player who has

an amazing character arc, right?

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You know, he's hurt in this, in this big

game and, um, he's freaking out cause his

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dad, he can't find his dad in the stands.

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And Ted Lasso comes up to him and

he's like, well, if you saw him,

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what would you want to say to him?

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I don't remember this, but he's like,

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He's

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F you and thank you.

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Eliot Bronson: saw him, what

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Jason English (Host):

basically what you just said.

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It's, it's, it's both,

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Eliot Bronson: I don't That's well said

but that's how life actually is That's

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how life actually is you find that when

you embrace those seemingly opposites,

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you know, that's when you transcend them

in such a way like you, you, you feel

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them both at the same time and then you're

not owned by them, you know, they're not

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you, you can see that they both exist in

your being and there's a beauty to that.

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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think it's the Yeah.

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And then, you know, lasso then it, his

mom's in the, in the episode and I think

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it's the first time he actually cusses and

he basically go, you know, F you and thank

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you right F you and thank you to her.

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And she's like, looking at him,

I'm like, what's going on here?

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And to be honest, you know, for me,

you know, the person I was thinking

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of in my life was my ex-wife.

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Right.

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Cause it's like, there's a lot going on

in a basically a 30 year relationship,

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you know, you know, there's a lot

where she could probably say the same

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thing to me, but like, there's a lot

of resentment, a lot of anger, a lot of

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frustration, a lot of annoying, but at

the same time, when you're with someone

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that long and you have a family, there's

a lot of things to be thankful for.

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And you know, and so it's like

that whole dichotomy of like

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the F you and the thank you.

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It's crazy.

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And the fact that like in your art.

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It's threading that needle and trying

to like, threading the needle, trying

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to represent both in a way that is

meaningful is like really something.

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Eliot Bronson: well thanks that is

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Jason English (Host): make sense?

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I

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Eliot Bronson: I think it makes

total sense it's what I'm after

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when i write a song that I'm proud

of or that moves me, you know, that

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I can learn from it's because it's

reflecting honestly, the complicated,

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beautiful, weird, messy reality of life.

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It's not because I'm trying to, you know,

um, wall off something or hide from it

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or, you know, or, or, or gloss over.

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I mean, so many ways, you know, and

of course, you know, I will write a

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goofy song here and there and there's,

there's nothing wrong with, you know,

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a feel good tune, but, um, that's.

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Not what that's not the assignment I was

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Jason English (Host): the fact

that you embrace that I love

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though, because it's who you are

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You know, I mean, people

listen, I think people listen

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to music for different reasons.

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For the beat and for the, sure.

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It's to dance, hopefully for lyrics,

you know, when, when they warrant that.

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But for you, it's like,

listen, this is me , you know?

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And a lot of it, life is

sorrow, life is heartbreak.

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And the fact that you

embrace, that's great.

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Eliot Bronson: Thanks.

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I mean, and I try to do it in a way

that, isn't heavy, like that isn't

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like just a bunch of pain, because

there's humor, even in the worst stuff.

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And so that's hopefully in there too.

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I have those moments in my songs too.

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And, um, and there's, you know, and

there's anger and sadness, as we

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said, and there's sadness and anger,

as we said, and there can be love.

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And.

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Hatred at the same time.

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So I try to, and then the, and the music

does so much of the work too, because

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I mean, I also love beautiful melodies

and I love song structure and I love, I

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love the art of, of the craft of music.

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So I have all these other things

to stop this from just becoming

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just a wallow fest where you, you

know, you just can't handle it.

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I don't, that's not what I'm after.

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I mean, I want you to sing along.

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I want you to tap your foot, all those

things too, uh, but I also just, I

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don't, I'm, I'm not, I am, I am writing

about, uh, the, the, uh, the confusing

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complexity of life and sometimes in a

very, very simple way, like we talked

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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Well, the other night you mentioned

it, uh, and this, it, this is, it's

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a great point I want to ask you.

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So you mentioned, 10-year relationship,

empty spaces was kind of born out of that.

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And you took your girlfriend, current

girlfriend to swim with the manatees.

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Does her name is Jenna, right?

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Does Jenna like, what does she think

about you still like, uh, from Rabun Gap

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I would imagine that's a,

that's a reference to your

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ex girlfriend or ex fiance.

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Is it not?

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Does it, does it, does she get bothered?

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Like you're, you're writing songs

that are kind of like, cause it, it

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probably representative of who you are

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Eliot Bronson: Jenna's great

and she, she's also an artist

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on a lot of levels herself.

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She's a musician, she's a photographer.

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Um, and she's, she's more talented

than me in lots and lots of ways.

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Um, and she's a great human being, and

she understands that, uh, first of all,

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we have a great relationship, and she

trusts me, and so she trusts me and she

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knows that I am not putting things in

my songs that I wouldn't say to her.

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There's not, she doesn't need to look

through my songs to figure out how I feel.

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And, you know, a song like,

like From Rabun Gap, which is,

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again, it's complicated, right?

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Like it's a song where I'm writing a

letter to my ex, um, and essentially

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just in a moment of kind of sadness and

solitude thinking about her, you know,

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like you might think about somebody

you were with for a chunk of time.

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It doesn't mean you want to

be with them necessarily.

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Right.

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It doesn't.

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There are songs about, I want you back.

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And this is not that song.

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Right.

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It's and in fact, it says it

in the song that I'm not even

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going to send this to you.

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Um, and I just needed to say it.

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I've, I played it for.

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My buddy Runa over in Norway,

where I've toured a few times,

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he's, he's a great guy and a fan.

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And the very first, and he, he

teared up, he cried, and the first

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thing he said is like, that is like

a song of finally saying goodbye.

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And that's how I hear it, you know,

but it doesn't mean it's not weird.

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I mean, I'm sure that Jenna has weird

feelings about it from time to time, but

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luckily, I'm, I can see how some people

that might be too much for, but um,

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luckily she gets me, and she trusts me.

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So it's not a problem, I can write about,

I think I can write about anything.

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Jason English (Host): Well, I mean,

it's also a credit to the relationship

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because even though it ended.

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There's something to remember, right?

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And, uh, the fact that you're

blue, thinking about her, there's

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sentiment there that, you know,

and I think that's, again, that's,

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it's, it's, it's really beautiful.

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Eliot Bronson: It's uh, it's Again,

it's the reality of life, right?

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We um, we can miss somebody and

not want to see them at the same

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time as weird as that sounds.

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Jason English (Host): No, it's

what we were talking about earlier.

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It's the, it's the opposites

can, can, can be in play.

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Eliot Bronson: Right.

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And it actually makes things richer

to know that those are both happening.

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Yeah.

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When we

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we feel like a real simple one way about

anything, it's usually kind of boring.

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Jason English (Host): the song,

are you still a mean, is that a

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reference to the same relationship?

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Eliot Bronson: You want

all the secrets, don't you?

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Uh, it could be, yeah.

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Jason English (Host): All right.

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It's a great song.

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Eliot Bronson: much.

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I'm really proud of that one as

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Jason English (Host): well, in.

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Um, again, when I saw you this last

week and you called it out, uh, but

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I have to read this out loud, um,

because I think this is a, this is

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a line that you should be proud of.

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Um,

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at the night?

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Yeah.

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Do you tear at the night?

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Do you argue and scream or has time smooth

your edges like stones in the stream?

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So that's beautiful.

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It gets better.

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Is your heart cold as winter?

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Is your mind black as sin?

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And here it is speaking in

splinters to get under my skin.

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That's really good.

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Thanks.

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Eliot Bronson: Thanks.

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Yeah, that was one of those where you,

it's when you, when you receive it or

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whatever, download it from the universe.

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You go, oh man, that's gotta

go in a song . So, yeah.

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And it was, you know, it

was, it's, that was true.

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Jason English (Host): Right.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And then, and then the Philistine,

uh, reference comes later,

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Eliot Bronson: Right, yeah, you

just shrug like a smug Philistine.

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Are you still, are you still mean?

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Yeah, yeah, like Philistine,

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Jason English (Host): would have expected.

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Yeah, you don't, yeah, you don't

see that one coming, do you?

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No.

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That's, that's, that's really good.

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where you're at with your career.

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It's great.

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Cause you've put out a bunch

of albums, you tour, your fan

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base is obviously very loyal.

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you've mentioned in other interviews about

your time in Nashville where it's like,

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Hey, I had this hotshot producer, right.

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Who's very successful.

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but you, you kind of realized that

there's like an inner circle to the

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inner circle to the inner circle.

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Which I think is fascinating way to, way

to do it because a lot of us that are

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just fans, they're like, well, how, how

do artists, you know, quote unquote, make

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it and like, what does that actually mean?

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Eliot Bronson: Right.

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Jason English (Host): I

feel like you've made it.

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Eliot Bronson: Well,

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Jason English (Host): No, seriously.

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Like in, but, and it's great because

you played to an audience of 30

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people on Saturday night, right?

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And a lot of people would be like,

well, you know, what does that mean?

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It's like, well, and I, in some of

the other artists I've talked to,

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it's, it's, I think it's more, they've

realized that it's more important.

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To have a loyal fan base to do the art

that you do to write the lyrics that

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you do, that means so much, uh, then,

you know, and you have 18, 000 monthly

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listeners on Spotify, which is a really

good number, but you know, instead

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of the, the numbers and the metrics.

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So I guess my, my question is, how

should I say this without sounding like,

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you know, you know, I'm going, Yeah,

I mean, do you think you've made it?

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Eliot Bronson: I don't know.

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I don't even know what it means,

I can't spend a whole lot of my

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I energy and mental space, about.

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Where, what rung of the ladder

I'm on, if that makes sense.

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I mean, I'm not against success,

and I certainly wouldn't

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mind more success, you know.

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I know what it's like to not be

able to support yourself making art.

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You know, I've waited tables,

I've taught guitar, um.

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So I know, and I've, and I've

scraped the bottom for a long time.

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So I know the difference between that

and where I'm just getting to make art

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all the time and, um, support myself

doing that and travel the world and

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have people who tell me they love me.

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love Um,

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so, you know, it's

just, it's all relative.

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I'm sure there are people who

would look at my career and go, eh.

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It doesn't seem so great.

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I'm sure there are people who

would trade for it in a second.

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But, um, again, like that's, uh, a

friend of mine likes to say that's the

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booby prize trying to figure that out.

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You know, I can't spend my energy on that.

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I got to spend my energy on how do I

make something beautiful that I love?

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How do I share it with the

people who give a shit?

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you shit?

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Yeah, podcast?

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Jason English (Host): yes, yes, 100%.

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Eliot Bronson: Um, and

if, and I, my faith is

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Jason English (Host): uh,

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Eliot Bronson: back to faith if I have

one, it's that, um, That if I stay true

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to that, then the rest will take care of

itself, on whatever level that is, you

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know, it may not mean that I get, you

know, all the gold coins, but, uh, I will

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have what I need, I'll be able to do this,

the people who love me and love my music

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will, will support me through it, whatever

it takes to make that happen, um, and will

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I have the most cushy life of all time?

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Maybe not, but, um, I'm doing better

than I've ever done doing this,

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again, again, like, Would I like more?

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Sure.

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But I could do it at the level I'm at now.

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Jason English (Host): do

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and

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it's a great level seriously

people spend to come see you play

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I'm at nowthey buy your merch.

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You know, the, the albums,

the, the whole bit,

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Eliot Bronson: It's still amazing to me.

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After I have a great show

that they hand me money.

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It's a wild thing.

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And I hope I never lose that.

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Because I think when

you start to lose that,

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you know,

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That's when maybe you should

think about another career.

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Because, you know, You can make

a lot of money in real estate.

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You, you could make more than me . Um,

so if that's your goal, you know,

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if you're, if you're, if you're only

defining your success by the numbers,

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then there are easier ways to do it.

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But if you think like spending your

life making art and doing something you

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love and connecting with other humans

is worthwhile, which I certainly do,

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then I've got the best job in the world.

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Jason English (Host): that's awesome,

well what's funny is, what's the song

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that's on the Yellowstone Playlist

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Eliot Bronson: it's called

Breakdown in G Major

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Jason English (Host): So, if I

could be honest, that's like the

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:

least Eliot Bronson song of all

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:

Eliot Bronson: I need to do more songs

like that to get on more TV shows.

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:

That's the ones they want.

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Jason English (Host): was hilarious.

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:

I was like, cause I, you, you talked

about that when you, when you were

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performing the other night and I had

found the playlist and it was, you

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:

know, it's had almost 600,000 streams

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Eliot Bronson: Yeah.

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:

Jason English (Host): How, how,

one, how did that come about?

389

:

Did they find it in, in, or

is that something that you're

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:

the, the people that, you know,

surround you kind of pitch,

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Eliot Bronson: You know, people ask me

all the time, like, how'd you get your

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:

song in that movie or that TV show?

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And I'll be honest, I have no idea.

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Like, I mean, usually there's like at

least one or two other people between me

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and the, and the movie, you know, like

there's the music director for the show.

396

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And then.

397

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At the time, like when that record,

James came out, I was working with a

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label in Nashville and had management.

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And so like, I don't know if it was

the label folks or the management

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:

folks or the music director who

just found me or, you know, and

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:

nobody honest about it, you know,

everybody sort of takes credit for it.

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:

So I don't know, you know, um, but when

those things come along, you don't really,

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Jason English (Host): well, it's cool.

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:

I mean, it's such great exposure.

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Eliot Bronson: Absolutely.

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:

Yeah.

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And it's, you know, like, yeah,

that is a different song for

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me, but that also came out of a.

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it

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It's a fun blues really, it's just like

a romping blues, but the lyrics to it

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are actually about, um, my misadventures

in the music industry and it is,

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:

you,

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:

it's, it's again, it's, it's one of those

things where I'm just telling the truth.

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Jason English (Host): I'm in love with

the of the fact that you love lyrics

415

:

Eliot Bronson: Yeah.

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I mean, I, I love this art form.

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I mean, it's what I devoted my life to

somehow, you know, for whatever reason.

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And I, I do see that we

live in a time where.

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I think we're living through

a period where, or I should

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:

maybe put it another way.

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:

There was a period before my time

in this, you know, 60s and 70s,

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:

maybe some of it into the 80s.

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:

And this has nothing to do

with the quality of music.

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:

There's good music all the time.

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But there was a period, whatever, the

culture was ripe for it, or maybe it

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:

was like, the fact that there wasn't

digital yet, and so there were fewer

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outlets, and maybe it had something

to do with the fact that A& R Folks

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:

are out there trying to find talent.

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I don't know what the reason is, but

there was a period where the kind

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:

of music like I make that's smart.

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:

If I can say it's smart, not to toot my

own horn, but then, you know, smart lyrics

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:

and thoughtful songs about real stuff

could be, could make someone a superstar.

433

:

I can't imagine a Jackson Brown

coming along in:

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:

a number one, you know, artist, uh,

cause it was just a different period.

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:

And so sometimes I think, you know,

I'm, I'm making a thing for a world that

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:

isn't, doesn't really want it, but you

know, there are lots of us out there.

437

:

And even if it's a smaller

group who go crazy over these

438

:

little songs that we create,

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Jason English (Host): um,

well, I think that, I think

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there's a huge market for it,

441

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Eliot Bronson: well,

good send them my way.

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Jason English (Host): no, seriously.

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:

I mean, so who, who today is sort of

your kindred spirit that people would

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recognize that you're that, or maybe

not recognize that we can learn about,

445

:

you know, like, who are you listening to

446

:

Eliot Bronson: am I listening to?

447

:

Um, well, I.

448

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I listen to a lot of stuff that's

not anything like what I do.

449

:

First of all, um, like I listen to

a lot of classical music these days.

450

:

Um, I listen to a lot of like,

that's funny like you know when

451

:

Spotify gives you your top artists.

452

:

My number one was like Bob Dylan,

number two was like Claude Debussy.

453

:

So I listen to a lot

of that kind of stuff.

454

:

Um, but there are people

out there that I really dig.

455

:

I really dig Adrienne Linker of Big Thief.

456

:

I think she's a genius and one of the

best songwriters we've got right now.

457

:

Um, so I would.

458

:

I would recommend checking her out.

459

:

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

460

:

All right.

461

:

Good.

462

:

So, uh, you're about to go

on tour a little bit, right?

463

:

Yeah.

464

:

Yeah.

465

:

What does that look like?

466

:

Um,

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:

Eliot Bronson: so it's, it's always

a little bit different, you know,

468

:

um, like right now I have a few

kind of like a weekend out and come

469

:

back, weekend out and come back.

470

:

But then in March, next month, I'll

hit a bunch of shows up the East

471

:

Jason English (Host): Okay.

472

:

Eliot Bronson: and work my way back down.

473

:

And then we've got Opelika Festival

coming up in Alabama, a couple

474

:

other things in the Southeast.

475

:

And then I'll head out west and do

a west coast tour and there's rumors

476

:

of going back to Norway in August, so

477

:

Jason English (Host): Awesome.

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:

Eliot Bronson: yeah, but it's never,

there's no, there's no normal, you know,

479

:

it could, you know, it could be like,

oh, he's got a month of shows or it could

480

:

be, he's got two shows and he's flying

out to Texas and coming right back.

481

:

Jason English (Host): it's

probably a big relief just to

482

:

get the album behind you, right?

483

:

Eliot Bronson: It's great to get the

record out because it takes so long,

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you know, to write, record, mix.

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mix,

486

:

You know, a master, and then you got

to think about the art and, you know,

487

:

uh, promote it all the, all the things.

488

:

Uh, so, and then I, I also feel like

making art is any kind of art is.

489

:

There's like, there's, there's the making

it and then there's the sharing it.

490

:

And, and there's like, they're like

the in breath and the out breath.

491

:

And you, you gotta have, you can't

just breathe in and never breathe,

492

:

you know, like, so you write a song

until, until I've sang the song for

493

:

other people that I write, I don't

completely know how I feel about it.

494

:

I really need, I don't even need anybody

to say anything, but I just kind of need

495

:

to feel it vicariously through them.

496

:

And it feels like the circuit is complete.

497

:

So when you make a record and you have

to wait a year before it ever gets in

498

:

anybody's ears, it's, it adds, I mean,

it's like, there's like an ambient

499

:

anxiety in my life until it's out.

500

:

I definitely had like a huge exhale.

501

:

I mean, it's still coming actually,

actually, cause it's only been out.

502

:

It's not even been two weeks.

503

:

So, um, but

504

:

Jason English (Host): are you

onto the next one in terms of

505

:

mentally or do you still have

to live in this one for a while?

506

:

Eliot Bronson: well, right now

I'm in this period of like.

507

:

decompressing, uh, before I go out

and play tons of shows, but I'm, I'm,

508

:

I'm feeling, I'm, I'm enjoying sharing

it, hearing what other people think

509

:

of it, getting to play some of the

songs live that I never played live

510

:

because I didn't want to play every

single song on the record for a year

511

:

before people would get the record.

512

:

I wanted to do some surprises.

513

:

So like, are you still mean?

514

:

And a few others, like they'd never

got, they never got heard at all.

515

:

And so now I'm like, Hey, I got this.

516

:

song.

517

:

You've been a big fan, but

you don't know this one.

518

:

So that's really cool.

519

:

But I'd be lying if I

didn't say that, of course.

520

:

Of course, as soon as one's done, you

start thinking about Right now, it's

521

:

just sort of a, you know, a daydream.

522

:

It's not even close to coming up with

a concept, but Yeah, I mean, there will

523

:

be another record and, um, this will be

the period from which the writing begins

524

:

because it is a seasonal sort of thing.

525

:

There's the planting and the

harvesting and we're planting.

526

:

Jason English (Host): Well, we're

enjoying this one and we're excited

527

:

for the next one, whenever that

528

:

Eliot Bronson: Awesome.

529

:

Thank you,

530

:

Jason English (Host): you

so much for your time.

531

:

I guess, could you play, play some music?

532

:

Eliot Bronson: I guess I could do that.

533

:

Jason English (Host): right.

534

:

Thanks Eliot

535

:

Eliot Bronson: thanks, Jason.

536

:

Jason English (Host): Thanks so

much for joining us for another

537

:

episode of Curious Goldfish.

538

:

Please follow and subscribe to

the podcast and on social media.

539

:

Also tell your music loving

friends about us too.

540

:

Until next time, stay curious.

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About the Podcast

Curious Goldfish
A Community Where Inquisitiveness and Music Come Together. Inspired by the Mindset of Ted Lasso.
Launching in 2024, the Curious Goldfish Brand is inspired by two episodes from the First Season of the Apple TV+ Series Ted Lasso.

The “Goldfish” reference is about the importance of not dwelling on mistakes in life. In an early episode, Ted Lasso, the series’ namesake asks one of his players – after they were badly beaten in a play during training – what the happiest animal on earth is. The answer: A Goldfish, because it has a 10-second memory. Lasso encourages the player to forget the mistake and to not let it hinder his mindset. In other words, to “Be a Goldfish.” The “Curious” reference is born from another Season 1 episode where Ted finds himself in a dart match at a local Pub with a ruthless Football Club Owner. Lasso references a quote from Walt Whitman to “Be Curious, Not Judgmental.”

So “Being a Goldfish” is a great start, but curiosity is an undervalued trait in today’s world. We don’t ask enough questions; we don’t inquire enough about each other and about life. So I want people to be “Curious Goldfish.”

The initial premise of the podcast will center around my curiosity about music. I can’t sing. I don’t play a musical instrument, but I am inspired by artists who are vulnerable enough to put their thoughts down and then share them with the entire world. I’m curious about the songwriting process; I’m curious about a musician’s journey; I’m curious about the business of music; I’m curious about who or what inspires a sad song, a love song - and everything in between.

Though the initial premise is music, we will likely spend time discussing and highlighting all-things Ted Lasso. In its three seasons, it inspired the host in so many ways (work, personal, relationships etc).

The musical focus of the Curious Goldfish Podcast will center around up-and-coming artists primarily in rock, roots, folk, Country and Americana genres. Not every aspiring musician will earn $100 million from Spotify streaming like Taylor Swift. Our goal is to shine a light on those artists who have as few as 100 monthly listeners to those with more than 100,000. Their stories deserve to be heard because your music can inspire, and it’s time you had a chance to share them.
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About your host

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Jason English

Tech Exec by Day, Music Lover Day and Night. Former Journalist who is trying to be a middle-aged William Miller from the Movie Almost Famous. Also, Ted Lasso changed his life...so there's that.