What It's REALLY Like to Be On American Idol ft. Andrew Weaver

I don't ever want to limit myself to a box. I'm a music lover at the end of the day. I'm an artist. I'm a writer. I'm a producer. If I can be involved in anything, like any way, I'm there, and I'm gonna do it. The One More Time Podcast. Genuine conversations with genuine people about music, hosted by Henry with a 3 and Playback Ben. We're from being local to piss off, some more distant is a part one more time. Find that one more time. One more time. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the One More Time Podcast. Currently, the Braves are in game six. Six. Game six. Game six. That's right. So we're dating this podcast. I'm not sure when it's gonna come out, but hopefully they'll be World Series champions by the time this episode airs. They will. Please. Prayers up. Go, bravos. Don't pull in Atlanta sports. I'm your host, Playback Ben, here with my co-host, Henry with a three, baby.

Let's go. He's pumped for the game. Right. Henry, who do we have in the hot seat today on the episode? Welcoming in on the 27th episode of the One More Time Podcast. Legendary singer-songwriter. It's John Mayer. John. Yeah, the second. John Jr. You know what they call me? John Jr. Trap John Mayer. The Trap John Mayer. Yeah. They call me the Trap Jack Black. There you go. This is incredible. Let's do a tape. I'm amongst trap gods. Trap gods. In all seriousness, folks, we have singer-songwriter Andrew Weaver. Andrew in the building on the One More Time podcast. Hey, what's up, yo? He's a familiar face. Last week we had an episode from someone who we honestly had never met. This is someone who we have met several times. He's a pal. He's a pal, he's a buddy, he's a friend of the house. He's a collaborator of uh Henry's and super talented artist. So we're looking forward to the conversation today, man. Thanks for coming out. Thank you for having me. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Yep. So your mom admitted that dad was really the music influence. Yeah. What kind of music was he putting you on like early on? Dude, like John Mayer. Actually, no. My dad is the biggest Beatles fan. Like, it's just been the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Chicago. Just all of that influence, man. It was just like Saturday by Chicago. Dude, dialogue part one and part two. Have you heard that? I haven't, but just my friend was obsessed with Chicago, and he just would always play Saturday. And we and we lived near Piedmont Park, and we would always go to the park. And so he would always play it Saturday. There you go. In the park. And like we thought that was so literal and little little head on. Yeah, exactly. You know what I learned about the Beatles recently? Uh, if you listen to their a lot of their music in stereo, they have some of the worst stereo mixes. They'll put like the bass will be like all the way to the left and the drums will be to the right.

And shit for like no reason. Yeah. No, I know exactly what you're talking about. You know what I mean? I'll be in the car, I'll be driving. And it'll just be like, you're like John Lennon over here. What's going on? Seems strange. Speaking of fun facts about the Beatles. I mean, he's not lying when he says his dad was like or is the biggest Beatles fan. Nah, that guy. I mean that guy knows his stuff. He he would submit like historical information about the Beatles to like publications or something. Like he's gotten credited for like Beatles' knowledge and stuff. Like he's not fucking around when he's like his dad loves the Beatles. Yeah, that's that leveled it up a little bit. Yeah. It's like, and like arguably the best band of all time. Sure. And it's just like that. I wouldn't want to be raised on anything else. Yeah. And he he spent his honeymoon on the steps of Abbey Road Studios. Yeah. Like this guy's a fucking Beatles fan. Like this is like some casual thing. But but no, that's that's funny, man. So, you know, we'll rewind in a minute, but like you end up singing a Beatles song at an American Idol event.

Which which song did you sing? I sang what did I sing? Give me a second. They have so many songs. Dude, well, I what aired was Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran. Okay. But I sang in my life. I was gonna say, I knew what you sang, but I was hoping you would remember. My bad, my bad, my bad. Trippin', trippin'. No, yeah, in in my life by the Beatles. But you know, let's rewind. Obviously, we'll get to kind of how you arrived at the American Idol stage in your you know journey, right? But I mean, you weren't always someone who was wanting to get up and sing in front of people and perform like that was not you. Dude, That wasn't me, man. Like wow, I didn't know that. And I actually referenced this on an episode. You didn't catch it, but I said someone that we know who's gonna be on the show was like this closet songwriter and like closet singer boards. Foreshadowing You were probably like, who? Yeah. Yeah. Henry had no idea what the fuck I was talking about. He was going to let it play out. But I knew that we would, you know, eventually tell this story. I mean, your mom found like notebooks full of songs, though. Yeah, dude, it's like it's kind of odd thinking about it.

I've never really talked about it, but um it was like that's why we're here in the One More Time Podcast. In seventh grade. Yeah, in seventh grade. I literally, I mean, I played I've been playing guitar, obviously. Like I've had a guitar in my hand since I was like born, but like yeah, because there was like guitars and keyboards lying around the house and stuff, right? Like 15. Really? I've had Guitars like everywhere. Like my dad had a whole guitar room. That's cool, On the third floor, yeah. Yeah, and um, he'd always buy me guitars for Christmas when I was little and stuff. I had like this Brian May red special. Are you familiar with Queen? Oh, yeah, like Brian May, his red guitar. I had one of like a baby. I don't know. I'm not familiar with his that particular guitar, but um it was literally just me and my room, just like and it you know, it was a way to just it was really my hobby. Like people play, I mean I played soccer, but people play sports, kind of an outlet. But I found that music was my outlet, and um it was just the thing I did every day when I got home from school. Like I'd go down for dinner, but then it'd just be back to just playing guitar and yeah, gotta finish that verse. In my room. Like, I literally would just sing to the wall, you know, no audience.

It's Like I it's it's kind of hard to believe that like it's turned into like being an artist, like that's like my job. Like, yeah, it's crazy. What do you think held held you back at that point? I'm always curious. Like, clearly, something was not wanting, or like you know, you didn't want to share that with a broader audience at the time. Like, what was kind of the switch was flipped? I think it was because I I wasn't known to be that kid, and you know, like so. I come from Bremen, Georgia, and you know, everybody knows Shout out Bremen. For those that don't know where the fuck that is, which is most people, I had to look it up on a map too. Where is that? Very small. Um, west of Atlanta, okay, an hour. Okay, but um, everybody knows everybody. Um, I think there was like a hundred and like forty kids in my graduating class. Like know everybody in the whole school system and all the parents, just you know, everybody knows everybody, and you know, I wasn't necessarily known to be that kid, like ever singing anywhere. So I mean, especially like so it was kind of like you weren't that kid, so you just kind of hid that.

It was like it wasn't like my identity. Like I was, I was playing soccer, I was I was like running cross-country. I was I mean, I play guitar, but I wasn't an artist, I wasn't a singer. Yeah, so making that transition was interesting. Yeah, yeah. And when it did happen, I'm glad it did, and happy it all worked out. Shout out to not sticking to societal norms. Yeah, man. Yeah, no, for sure. How how long had you been writing? You know, you mentioned kind of seventh grade, was that when you actually like started writing songs? Yeah, like lyrics. Um because you know, messing around on the guitar, clearly that was since you could even hold it. It sounds like you know, your dad was helping you learn that and you were practicing on your own, assumedly, But like when did you start putting lyrics to it and maybe crafting songs? Like at what stage was that? So I was around 14. I actually have like a funny story. Um, for this we're here for it. Yeah, that's what we're here for.

Um let's get it. So I had sang at this competition. It was the first time anybody in my family had heard me sing. Wow. And I sang Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan. And then like two weeks after my mom was like, Whoa, like, you know, you're kind of good at this. I'm all right. But like uh, I was like, I'd showed her a little bit, I hadn't written a full song yet. And um I was like, Mom, I want to sign up for the singer-songwriter competition. And I hadn't written a song, yeah. And it was like next week. So she was like, Cool, cool. Do you have songs? I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, we're gonna be fine. And um, you had no song. It got the day before. Yeah, sure. And I had no song. So I remember the day before. So you better have a fucking song, kid. Like, our family name is on the line. Exactly. The weaver name is on the line. I I wrote two songs the night before, and then we drove. Sounds like someone cramming for a test. Yeah, I mean? Like Eddie's attic. Shout out to Eddie's Attic. My dad and mom used to party there. Legendary venue.

Yeah, they have an open mic. I think it was like every Monday. It was a school night. We drove over there, and uh I sang two songs I wrote the night before, and I forgot the lyrics to the second one. It was funny. I was just, you know, I was vibing. But how did it go? Like, did you feel did you improvise a little bit? Maybe play it off. No, I remember the first song. Uh it was called Domino's, and it was like the first song really I had written and I was like proud of, and like, I'm gonna do this. And I don't even remember the name of the second one. Because you forgot the lyrics, Why the fuck would you know the name Clearly. That one was we scrapped that one. Yeah. Were you singing to your like, you know, like songs you were writing in in your notebook, or was that all basically just like poetry at that point? Like were you putting it to music? It was always a song. I mean you were putting it to music. It was like structure, like you had a hook. I was to the point where um I recognized those things, and um, I could kind of structure it with my guitar. That's why I'm so thankful to play guitar and have like a solid instrument because it makes it that much easier. Yeah.

So is the Eddie's Attic thing that that's not the I guess American Idol-like competition that your mom hosted at the venue in in your hometown? That was where I sang the make you feel my love by Bob Dylan. So that was after the Eddie's Attic thing? It was like two weeks before. Oh, two weeks before. So you like all of a sudden were like dived. Dived into it. Yeah, yeah. I think we dive. So like what made you finally want to do that? Were you just kind of like fuck whatever I'm you know, seen as I think you know what I mean? Because it seems like you were clearly like hesitant. Yeah, I think it was getting past that first like that first performance. It's always there's there's a big difference between doing it and saying you're gonna do it and it was like actually doing it. Did your confidence just go way up after the first show I think so yeah I think so yeah and the hardest part is literally just the first step is the hardest part. That's what I'm saying.

Yeah yeah so you end up doing some like similar competitions like you kind of go into like competition mode. Yeah so it wasn't even like you were yeah like that's not the normal I don't know like I haven't heard anyone else that's come on here and been like you know I did a bunch of these like judging like people that were judges and stuff but you did you did like a handful of these yeah I did um I did that one in Bremen and then I went down the road to Carrollton and I did Mayfest yeah Teen Idol. You did like you're just finding whatever judge hopped on the circuit yeah and then I did I did Paul County's next idol and then I did um like WSB's yeah you did the Atlanta Idol dude yeah it really I never thought about that no you really did like a bunch of these, like a bunch of these like panel of judges yeah singing in front of them get a score and like see if you can win Wow. as a beginner wow yeah as someone who hadn't ever even like performed it's just constantly getting judged too Yeah. everything could be bad for the ego man seriously that that was a risky strategy my friend dude I didn't even I'm glad you did it though I was doing it it was just what I did yeah that's funny. it was just like oh I'm gonna go do this one yeah you you know I was just having fun like yeah yeah but so the Atlanta idol one you get like you were in the top three I guess or something so that's what got you the like pass to go you know front of the line or something at the American Idol audition. Yeah, it was in uh Piedmont Park. Yeah, paint us the picture of that.

Dude because that sounded crazy. Dude, it was crazy. Yeah, I get a front of the line ticket, and uh I show up at Piedmont Park, and it literally looks like a music festival's going on. The amount of like people in line to sing, and it's just a bunch of these tents, and then there's people obviously under the tents who judge you, but um, there was hundreds of people like just scattered throughout the park, no thousands. I think it was like 10 or 20,000 people tens of thousands, yeah. Dude, it was crazy. I don't know the exact number, but it was a lot, definitely more than 100. Yeah, it was a couple thousand. A hundred was probably at your Bremen, Georgia, like idol. No, this was a lot of people. this is fucking American Idol in Atlanta tryouts, yeah. And the line was super long, and uh luckily I got to skip all of it and go straight to the front. Yeah, I had that golden ticket. So I was actually in like the first group of the day. Like there had been people waiting since like 4 a.m. I get to the front of the line and I'm in the first group, and I go up to this tent. And if you don't know, like it's just like being judged again.

And before you see the actual judges on American Idol, you go through rounds and rounds of auditions to make sure like you're okay to go and see the actual judges. Yeah, it's like this is gonna be on TV, like you've been judged 20 times before you actually get judged by the No, actually, yeah. Um, you get judged like six or seven times. It's different callbacks, it's just like I mean, it's reality TV at the end of the day, Right. It's crazy. but this was the first round, and um I remember it was me and like four other girls, and they're all singing, and I get up and I have my guitar, and I'm really confident. I sing in my life by the Beatles, and um she's like, There was a girl behind the table judging, and she was like, Okay, cool. Um, she was like, everybody else except Andrew stepped forward, and she was like, I was like, Oh, cool, cool. And she was like, Um, y'all were great, go home. I was like, Dope, like I made it. Like, this is the first round, like everything's going good. And then she like pulls me up to the table and she's like, Andrew, your singing was great. I would put you through, but your guitar was out of tune.

Come back next year. Oh, and like shout out the tuner, man. Damn. How can you judge someone for that? That's not it. Yeah, I mean, it was bad. To be honest, it was bad. It was way out of tune? It was pretty bad. I did not have a tuner, I didn't have a guitar tuner on my hand. Damn. someone had to, like, it yeah, it was bad. Damn. But um, I remember going and telling my mom that and I was like, ah, I was so were you heartbroken for I was heartbroken, definitely. I mean, it was like my guitar, man. Like, it's like my instrument, and that's the thing that messed me up. man. His guitar has never been out of tune since. Dude, I I stay tuned. Strap with the tuner. Stay Strap with the tuner. Strap with the tuner, man. He's never forgotten he goes everywhere with his tuner. It was a painful lesson. Yeah, but um, it was a good lesson to learn. And um, my mom was like, hey, we're gonna do this again if you want to. If you're having fun, as long as you're having fun. That's more of the story. Like, I've always had fun, and you know, I went back and uh we drove the following weekend again to get judged again. See, this guy loves getting judged.

I know, man. Real masochist. All judgment welcome when it comes to and Andrew Weaver, man. Uh we drove to Asheville, North Carolina. I woke up, I didn't have a front of the line ticket anymore. Like, that was one and done. He's a normal average Joe. Yeah, peon. Uh I wake up at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. And uh we go stand in line on this mountain. It's super cold. As you do in Asheville, North Carolina. And um, same setup, thousands of people, tents, tents, people under the tents judging you. Yeah. Um, and um, I go up with like four more girls again. We're all in a line. We each sing for like 50 seconds of a song. I sang in my life by the Beatles again. And um, she's like, Okay, everybody step up except Andrew again. And I was like, You're kidding. my guitar. Even though I like I tuned it, I made sure to tune it this time. Been there, done that. This bullshit again? Yeah. But um, everybody every

she said, everybody step up except Andrew. And I was like, Oh, not this again. And she said, Everybody go home. And then she called me up and she was like, This was a different lady, by the way. This wasn't the same lady, right? Just to clarify, you know, give you some context. Good, good. He's like, I know this sounds exactly the same, but wait, wait wait, wait, wait. this is a different judge? Um, and then she's like, I really liked your performance. And like, do you want to go on to the next round? I was like, heck yeah. Shit, sure. They ask you if you want to go, you're like, nah, actually, I'm good. I just like being here. honestly. She said something like, Are you ready? I was like, Yes. Oh, okay. Yeah, in pure reality TV form, are you ready to join the next round? Yeah, yeah, yeah. On some dramatic. Yeah, exactly. Um, and then from there, I just went through different callbacks, and then finally I ended up in Savannah with the celebrity judges, and I got a golden ticket there. I don't know, I'm kind of curious. Like, you clearly were okay with being judged.

It made me think, how do you deal with judgment, right? Because artists, I mean shit, even producers, really any creative is gonna be subject to to judgment. Yeah. Especially with the fucking internet. You got your trolls, like Jesus. Mad trolls. Yeah. How how do you deal with that? Do you brush it off, does it get to you? You know what I mean? When you get I would say negative feedback. It it depends. Um, I think it's it's always been kind of not a big deal to me because I've always been like you. I've never really thought about it, but it's since I've always been judged. It's kind of like this normal thing to me. But I mean, it's always different when it's your own music and like that's you. Yeah, you're like, That cover of the Beatles, that's just a bad song. I mean, yeah, they wrote it. No, no, no, no, no, no. The Beatles are the goats, man. I know. I'm kidding. I'm saying like when you release your first song, it's just like this this is who I am. You're kind of introducing yourself to the world as an artist. And yeah, what was that first song that you actually put out? Yes or no. That was that was the first song.

Holy shit. I I wrote it when I was 15 and put it out when I was 16, I think. Damn. And so Yes or No was produced by Rourke Bailey and Blake. Rourke Bailey. Did Blake produce it too? Yeah, Blake helped too. Shout out Blake and Rourke. Shout out 808 Blake. Yeah. 808 Blake. We'd love to have you on the podcast, my friend. You already know it's long overdue. But yeah, so the same lady that sent you the link, I think, for the American Idol ends up linking you with Blake. Blake. Which is crazy. Wow. I feel like that's wild. Isn't that crazy? Interesting. Yes, yeah. So she sets this meeting, because I guess Blake is looking for, you know, new up and coming artists to, you know, work with to, you know, help help bring their music to life. Yeah, how'd that happen? Blake had been working with her. Um, he's like AR and produces for Nappy Roots as well. Shout out Nappy Roots. Legends, man. legends. Shout outs on the shout outs.

So many shout-outs here. We love shouting. Yeah. We love shouting out We love shouting. They're all family. Everybody shout out. You're all family, man. That's right. Yeah. So, so you know, they're working together on some Nappy Root stuff. And this lady is from my hometown. We we linked together. Um we set up a meeting and we just clicked from day one. It was it was this thing. I remember I went home. Yeah, was that awkward? Was like a first date? No. No, I'm just like, uh, you know, when I heard the story, it's like that sounds like I don't know, like you're a young, you were a young, yeah, really young kid at the time. I was, I was I was 16. Uh I think I was 15, actually. Yeah. It was. And you had literally no music experience except for the fact that you just did a bunch of competitions. Yeah, I mean, like, I mean, I had written songs, but I didn't even have a demo, I didn't have a demo. Yeah, you weren't an artist by like, you know, the typical definition, I would say, with like songs. out. You hadn't recorded any meeting. No, it was just voice memos. I would send over. It was, yeah, I was like, here's

some voice memos. Had Blake heard anything? No, it was just blind. So it was just it was a blind. This lady thought you were talented. Yeah. She knows Blake is talented and wanted to work with other talented people. It was just that. It was just like a matchmaking exercise. I mean, literally the rest is history. Yeah. Cause you're still with Blake now. Yep. After all that time. Yeah. Yeah. So Blake has obviously helped kind of like shepherd you into the industry. I mean, that goes without saying. So Rourke was one of the first, I guess, people that he kind of like pieced, you know, pieced the puzzle together right? It was just, You know, finding the producers and finding the engineers. I didn't know I was doing that back then. I thought I was like, oh, I'm gonna go to a session. And you know, but it's really just all about finding your people and you know, finding your little camp. And um just who clicks and who doesn't click. And I mean, we definitely click.

We made some bangers, man. Hell yeah. What? What what you and Rourke? Yeah, me and Rourke and Blake. Um I mean, because Rourke's produced. Yeah, he's on Donna, man. Yeah, I was like, this guy is like a legend. I was like, I don't even want to go through his credits because it's Crazy. be here all day. Yeah, exactly. But um, we worked on my first four singles, I believe. And that was just all three of us. But that was your first time literally being in a studio, right? Yeah. What was that like? They must have been helping out a lot. Did you feel like out of place? It was um it was Par Helene Studios, if you know where that is in Atlanta. And I remember sounds fancy. Like the first time I went in, man, there was just this big old bowl of candy, and I was like, man, this is nice. I'm in the right place. He judged it based on the candy. Dude, I was like, man, this is nice. I gotta get to keep candy at my studio. He didn't look at the mixing board, he didn't look at the booth. That just shows how young I was. He was like, bruh. He was like, bruh. Y'all got Snickers? No, literally.

I mean, now it's totally different. I walk into a studio and I like I geek out over all the equipment. But back then it was just like and you're comfortable now doing it. You must have been were you super uncomfortable? Uh yeah. I mean, it it just took hours, hours on hours. Um it was before I could drive, and so my mom would dropped off at the studio. He had his learner's permit. Have a great session, honey. No, she would stay. My mom was so cool. She would work from the studio. Oh, nice. She would drive me into the city and she would stay throughout all the sessions. And I love my mom. Is this like on a school day? Shout out, mom. Sometimes. And I go to school the next day. And you're like, sorry, teachers, I was fucking recording with Rourke Bailey. What are you gonna do? I actually did um what are you gonna do about it? Um I don't have my homework, I was making bangers with Rourke Bailey. Donda, you heard of it? So, yes or no ends up, I mean it gets picked up by Spotify editorials, right? Crazy. First single single. How many artists can't figure out the myth that is getting on editorial playlists.

I don't understand. And this nobody understands it. Um it got on Discover Weekly, it got on release radar, and those really just drive. a single. It has like half a million streams at least. Yeah, it has almost right. Yeah, On Spotify alone. I think it's like 400 something thousand. Yeah, I mean, it's getting close. And that's like all organic, man. Crazy. Like I don't understand. That's wild. I still don't understand to this day. Like, what happened with that song? One of our missions on the one more time podcast has been trying to figure out how to get on editorial playlists. And I don't get it. Like, I and Amelia had some great advice. It was don't pitch. The first time she didn't pitch. She got on. the first time she uploaded like a week before release date, and clearly you have no time to actually pitch. Like it doesn't even, it doesn't even physically let you type your pitch anymore. If you're under a certain two weeks, I think time crunch. She gets on three editorials or something. Dude. She was just like, what the fuck is going on? So Spotify editors, we'd love to have you on the podcast. Just answer that question.

And then do you look at music or is the software picking random songs? Yeah, random generation. That's what yes or no was, man. I mean, we I think we did pitch it, but it was something like it wasn't crazy. I didn't have this crazy story. I was just like, I'm 16, No, for sure. here's a love song. Like, it's crazy. That's just that's a gamble on their end, as far as like you had no proven track record of successful listeners. I mean, because I assume a lot of their algorithm has to do with like current listeners. I mean, sometimes you know, I guess maybe not. Maybe you're not maybe they're playing Russian roulette for all the fucking we know. Yeah, it it was great, though. I mean, it was like let's keep doing it. Yeah. In a streaming era, like that's the that's the key right there. If you can make those you're doing good. A hundred percent, man. Yeah. you end up doing some shows with Nyomza. Yeah. Shout out Nyomza. On on her tour. Super dope artist. Yeah. Was since the 80s. Um vacation tour.

Yeah, it was fun. That was really fun. Yeah, how long after yes or no was that? Maybe a year. Okay. Went on tour when you were 17. Yeah. It was cool. once again. He just said, teachers, I'm going on tour Nyomza. I was actually uh I was actually homeschooled at that point. Of course you were. Yeah. Yeah. As every aspiring artist should be. Dude, I remember one day. I I went to school the first day, like going back. And I just looked at some people. I was like, I'm not gonna be here tomorrow. And I never came back. And just remember this face bitches. Nah, it wasn't like that, but I was just like, hey man, I'm not gonna be here tomorrow. We did a show in California, West Coast, some shows on the East Coast. Um was that just incredible? Yeah, I was playing. Had you ever performed for a crowd other than the competition shit that you had done? I really don't think so, man. Bro, how this is a joke, man. Okay, artists, don't listen to any of this. This isn't how it usually works. This is not helpful for anyone. I think I rehearsed, I worked my butt off though.

No, I believe that. Yeah, no, we're definitely we don't want to take anything away from what you've done. It's just it is incredible that some of your firsts of things have been very rare. Yeah. Most people are grinding open mic shows back to back to back before. I think I did do a couple of open mics. Okay. Thank God. Yeah, I think I did a couple. do you have any tour experience? Nope. Come on out. I had no tour experience though. Okay. Show experience. Nope. Come on. I did some things in West Georgia, I'm pretty sure, but nothing, nothing too serious. Nothing where it's like I'm on a stage, and this is me playing guitar. This is my own stuff. You know, I was playing like different covers and stuff. You must have been pretty good at it. It was awesome to be 17 and playing my own music on all across the country and just seeing how the different people reacted. These people don't know who I am. Right. How many songs did you have at that point? I think I had a bunch of um singles. I had like six singles.

Now we're already out. Yeah, we just, you know, single after single after single. I mean, um, Blake DJ'd for me. Shout out Blake, that's dope. Yeah. It was um, it was awesome. It was just us. We'd get on stage and do our thing, and then Nyomza would come on and kill it every night. Was that like a moment of clarity for you as far as like oh this music shit? Because that that has to be like an incredible feeling, right? Of like the American Idol shit's cool, but like that, like you mentioned, that's kind of like reality TV, right? Yeah, that's not an art, you're not an artist in the most traditional sense, right? Like, I'm not saying that there hasn't been amazing American Idol contestants and artists that have like gone on to have successful careers as an artist, but like that wouldn't necessarily make me be like, I want to do this shit, because it's not the same with like the fans and whatever, right? Like if you're at a show, yeah, and you feel the energy and like it's different, just getting up there, like you said, performing your own shit and like yeah, to strangers, man. Yeah, because American Idol has like these contests where you have to sing certain things, maybe, or like you're not necessarily getting to do like your songs always, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's like a very curated experience. Whereas like the shows, I mean, shit, that had to be like it was it was surreal, man. And it was like it was just everything I've ever wanted. And to just be able to do that, like, you know, like four years, I I would just daydream of like doing shows and like going on tour. Like, that was like that was like the thing I always wanted to do. That was my bucket list item as an artist. And he achieved it at 17. Nah, but that was like that was like always what I wanted to do. Yeah. So I mentioned, you know, earlier on that like he's no stranger to being here in this studio to hanging out with us, you know, definitely have have a you know, have a relationship here with Drew. You guys linked up on a record, easy come easy go, which I think is your that's your most recent release still. Yeah, That's right. Which like it's been a minute. New music soon, please.

Yeah, so it's been a minute. Yeah, because I was like, because that's been a little bit, but tell us about that record, you know. Tell us about how that came to light. But I mean, you know, both you guys, Henry can chime in too. Like, you know, how'd that come to life? Um last last January, I had my tonsils removed, and um, I couldn't sing for like three weeks, and I was like, dang, like I this is what I love. Like, I miss doing it. So when I could finally get out of bed, like if you've ever had like your tonsils removed, man, and you're like older than like seven, it's terrible. Yeah, I was like I was still like don't do it. I was four when I was finally able to sing, that was the first song. I actually I just started doing the chords, and that was the first song that I wrote. Like after not singing for like four weeks, and then I I think I shot it over to you. Or I came in here and I was like. You played me, yeah. Yeah, and we had a couple of different songs to choose from, but we all gravitated towards that one. Naturally, bro. But the the unreleased shit y'all have, we got some other shit that needs to see the light of day. We got some shit.

Falling, Falling. Yeah. Pebbles is so good. Pebbles is probably my like one of my favorite unreleased songs of all the artists he's worked with, for sure. Like that one's a hit. But yeah, let's play a snippet from easy come, easy go. Let's do it. Too much time, playing these games back and forth, who's to blame? I wanna make the most of us tell me why are you? Act like you want with me, but hit me back each time I leave. Flaws and insecurities, I don't mind them. Where's the happy ending? Can't fight the way I'm feeling. I guess it's so dependent on the moment. Tell me where I'm fitting. Am I the piece that's missing? Cause lately I've been feeling so alone. Alone. Come on, man. That song's amazing. Get out of here. Dude. Get out of here. So that was a snippet from Easy Come, Easy Go. All three of us forgot how amazing the song is. You two forgot how amazing that song is.

Okay, well, Drew and I definitely both forgot how amazing the record is. But it is an amazing song. You know, what's it about? Easy come, easy go. Um I I really didn't have anything in mind. It was one of those songs where you just kind of mumble when the lyrics come, and maybe I found a lyric, and um, I just kind of ran with it. I tend to do that a lot. I'll mumble until I find something that's kind of like a concept, but it's definitely it it morphed into a concept about being in a relationship and uh, you know, somebody's not putting in a hundred percent, and you can leave. And being okay with that, yeah. Not stressing it, you know. Yeah, it just easy come, easy go. Yeah. And um, I I I'm not gonna lie, I love hearing songwriting processes. Like, that's a big thing we talk about just because I find it so fascinating. I don't know if I don't even know if other people do. Hopefully, you guys do, but like hearing different artists talk about like where they get inspiration, how they actually like get that out of them, you know what I mean? Like it just him saying he mumbles shit until like one.

Well, apparently that's what Kanye does too. That's how a lot of people there's there's two extremes of that. There's people who like they hear a beat and then they they hear a flow, and then they hear like the vibe that they wanted to have, and then the concept and the words literally come last. And there's other people who have some shit they want to talk about, and that is that comes first, and then it morphs into okay, how do I work this into this beat with this flow? What am I feeling about? I've done it all. I mean, there's not one specific way I nothing's wrong, yeah. Yeah, I was watching this um this um this interview with Phoebe Bridgers and her drummer You love Phoebe Bridgers, don't you? I was front row, dude. I know you were standing. bro. I saw that. No, but I I respect it, dude. Super talented, she's super talented, yeah, super beautiful. Yeah, shut up, Phoebe. She's the dope. Phoebe Bridgers. We'd love to have you on the podcast. Please for all our takes. Do it for Drew. Do it for Drew. I was I was watching this interview with Phoebe Bridgers and her drummer, and um, he was like, There's no right or wrong way to ever record anything. Yes, that really stuck out to me.

It's like you don't need all this crazy equipment. I mean, that was one of my big problems to like recording at home. It was like I thought I needed the best equipment, and right. It's like, I mean, yes, of course, you need some to like get a decent mix, get a decent vocal take. But I mean, she was doing it like voice memos, like a USB mic. Like, you don't need all this crazy equipment. I mean, like the equipment will make the product, you know, have the extra like layer of gloss on it and make it sound better and more presentable. But nothing changes the core of it. The core is definitely it's the idea. It's how does how's the rhythm? How's the how the melodies, how the drums moving? That is the most important thing. No piece of gear. Yo, it's like the same thing that I told you about, like the core of any good idea is free. Remember when I told you that shit, as far as just like any any idea we have for like a rollout for a project or you know, a campaign that we want to do for like content, right? You know, for TikTok or you know, whatever, right?

Every core of a good idea can be free. So to your point, like, yeah, of course, we'd all love to be in multi-million dollar studios recording on the best microphones with the best engineers and the best best equipment, right? But shout out to the C800. Yeah, but at the same time, there's things that are within our reach, meaning like if you already have a phone, your fucking phone voice memos, or if you know a USB mic is probably very affordable, right? Yeah, so it's it's stuff like that where like the core of any really creative thing can be free. You can throw gas on it with money, of course. Exactly. Yeah, but you can amplify, but you can't replace that like core. Yeah, my favorite analogy is if you put sprinkles on a turd, that's a good one. It's still a turd. You know, what I mean? essentially, you can dress it up all you want, but it's a piece of poo. That's true, it's just the song.

Yeah, but so so yes or no, very acoustic, yeah. You know, kind of like pop acoustic, I would say. Uh, you know, there's some banjo in there. Yeah. Yep, yep. And then, you know, easy come, easy go, for example. Still very like, I would say, you know, light and um, you know, acoustic elements, but then you also have some like little more modern, you know, a little more modern drums that come in, but then you've also worked with like hip hop artists and produced like hip hop songs. You've gotten in your producer bag. You also were just featured on like an EDM track. Yeah. That was amazing. I saw I don't even think you've maybe even seen that. I don't, I don't ever want to limit myself to a box. I I'm a music lover at the end of the day. Um, I'm an artist, I'm a writer, I'm a producer. I I love everything about whatever is going on in the music industry. So I want to, if I can be involved in anything, like any way I'm there and I'm gonna do it. No, I I I just thought that was so cool as far as like you you are very versatile, and I sometimes struggle with should people lean into that versatility, or does it distract them from the brand from from what their core focus needs to be.

So I didn't know that's a tough one. Do you think it's a long-term thing for you to want to be kind of spreading different, you know, because like doing some EDM songs and then doing some hip hop production and then doing the pop acoustic artist thing, like that's a lot to be kind of juggling. But but I'm not saying I just didn't know if that was your if if that was your version of trying to figure out what you do want to really do, or if you think long term you will be kind of just I'm always gonna do that. That's just me. And that's fine either way. I was just kind of curious. I think I'm to the point I just turned 20, and it's like yes or no was me when I was 16, and then you know, I'm 20 now. It's like I gotta find what is me now. And I have so many new like different influences I've been listening to, and it's just like that changes my whole perspective on music. And it's just like a lot of these artists I love are so involved with the production and um like all the things. Yeah, like who are some of those? Like Moses Sumney, uh Frank Ocean, of course, Pharrell.

I mean, everybody, man. Um, I just love anybody who's directly in Tyler, Tyler the Creator, man. Big time, yeah. Just you can tell it's like theirs and it's their art. Like, and it's not always the same, and and you're not gonna like the same artist necessarily in five years from now. Yeah, and it's just um I look at it as almost almost like practice for like my stuff, like doing all this production for other people and learning all these different tips and tricks and adding tools to the toolbox. Even writing for other yeah, I feel like you know, I'm in college, I'm kind of in college for music, like I'm in college for business, but like I'm in college for like I'm in like my own kind of like training camp. Yeah for me, I'm learning like all the different DAWs and you know, like different plugins, and it's just like figuring out how what I want and what I want stuff to sound like, and to be able to tell somebody what I want it to sound like. I think that's the most important thing.

You gotta love what you make, and I'm to that point of experimenting and discovering like who I am and what I want to make. Because you might hear something that you didn't even know was a thing, exactly. And then you're like I love that. I want that that to be a part of what I'm doing. And it's not like I'm I don't want to feel like I'm switching up on people, but I just learned about this. I think it sounds crazy, you know. Vocoder, like we did on easy come. And if you're in love with the record, other people are gonna love the record. Like, if you're confident and you're like, this is me, like just putting it all out there, and you're like 100% in. I mean, people are bound to love it. Like at least respect it, man. At the end of the day, because it's it's you. You might I think you might lose some people that might, if they hear your EDM song and oh my god, this guy's crazy, and then they have the other stuff. You might lose some people. If they some someone might like your hip hop stuff, and then they hear the pop acoustic stuff and they don't like that, and you might lose them, but I don't think they were ever worth having in the first place. I think that that was me just trying every end of the spectrum musically.

Like I'm kind of to the point where I want to hone in on a sound. Like I I literally just wanted to travel everywhere musically You have to at first. push my limit to know that's really what it is. And a lot of people get stuck with the sound they don't like because they haven't tasted everything. I want to taste everything. Oh, It's basically taste it all. So, what does that mean to you? Does that mean working with just as many different people, or to your point, like going to different places? Yeah, like all of the above. Like I'm always down for collaboration, and recently it's just been me with a laptop figuring out which sounds I like and where I want to go with it. Let's make a country metal song. I mean You got to taste it. We don't know. We got, yeah. maybe it'll be our favorite shit, and we didn't even know. I'm really into like alternative indie dream pop, Cool. kind of where I want to go. I think that's the direction. That's what I love to listen to.

Like a Pink Floyd kind of like have you heard Prentice? Mm-mm. He's like 14 from Mississippi. He signed a cinematic, uh, which is like Johnny Shipes' label. They've been responsible for Joey Badass, freaking That's awesome. Flip De Niro's there, Smoke Dizza, Abby Jasmine, um fucking the list goes on and on. Uh big crit was his. Um, so like he's he's been known for just finding insane talent early on, building that talent to the point where like they either stay with him long term, like Dizza has, or they go get a fat fucking major, you know, major label deal. Yeah. Their their slogan, for example, is majorly independent, is what Cinematic's label like slogan is, I like that. I thought it was super hard. But Prentice, he's literally no offense, Prentice, but he's this kind of chubby 14-year-old, like curly haired guy from Mississippi, but he makes this like insane dream pop, like indie shit. Real, you know, real lighting, like airy vocals with like drenched in reverb, yeah, but still like some like you know, kind of you know, he also has some like hip hop drums and shit on his stuff.

You listen to Labyrinth? Have you heard of Labyrinth? No. Man, he did like the Euphoria soundtrack. I've been obsessed with Labyrinth. That had some great music, so dude. Yeah, you gotta check out Labyrinth, man. Labyrinth is incredible. Even his solo project was great. See us making connections here on the One More Time podcast? No, seriously. I like it. People put me on, I put people on. Boom. Yeah. People that like can't name influences, like piss me the fuck off. I'm not gonna lie. This is a hot take. Oh, that one dude who's like, I have no influences my own, like bro. This is a hot take of mine. I don't sound like anyone. Yeah, bro. Like we all get it. You're so unique and original, and no one else sounds like you. But what the fuck? Do you live in a vacuum and not listen to any music? And you just vomited music out. Like, no, this is a good thing. Someone's gotta open for you on tour. Someone's gotta pop up on your sa fans, also like on Spotify. Like, get over your shit. Get off that. Yeah. I find inspiration in everything too. Um, I remember when I was like 14 and 15, like first writing songs. I'd uh I'd watch a movie, and then I would write from the perspective of that movie.

So that's cool. That's cool. It's different. And I I mean, I I was like 13, 14. I hadn't like experienced like crazy. heartbreak or anything, you know. And uh I'd watch I forget which movie I watched, like some probably like Leo movie movie like Leonardo DiCaprio. And like I just write about that probably one of those Romeo Juliet, probably some but um I actually wrote my second single, Safe Travels that way. I was like 15. That'd be ironic if that one was based on Titanic. Yeah, yeah. Oh no, bro. Oh man. Oh man. Do you still do that? Still watch movies and write songs? I need to. That sounds like a cheat code. It kind of does. Yeah. Um I haven't done it in a while. Listeners, y'all can have that one for free. Yeah, go ahead, Jam. Yeah. Take it. Big Jam. Take it. If uh you have no inspiration, just watch a movie. Boom. Exactly. But Henry, I think we've come. Is it time? To the final segment.

Oh my god. Of the One More Time Podcast. Here we go. Drew? Hey man. Buckle up, my friend. I'm here. Are you ready? Yeah. For the rapid fire rampage. Rampage! Rapid. It's gonna be rapid. It's gonna be on fire, and we're gonna rampage. All right, all right. It's a three-part rampage. I'm basically going to ask you some short answer questions. Then I'm going to ask you some this or that, maybe two choices. You pick one. Yeah. And then we're gonna do word association. Give you one word. Oh man, I gotta be careful. All right. That's right. Yes, you do. That's why we said buckle up. All right. Buckle. Don't say anything stupid, Drew. I know, I know, I know. We're not editing anything out. We will not edit. We will not save you with an edit. Have your publicists call us so we can ignore it. You know how many publicist DMs I have saying take this episode down? Just kidding. We haven't had that. Here we go. Episode 27, Andrew Weaver, Rapid Fire Rampage Part One. Yeah. Initiate. RAMP. Andrew, if you could steal any guitarist's skills, who would it be?

George Harrison. You've been given a family of pandas as a gift. You can't give it away or sell them. What do you do with them? Have a panda farm. Andrew, when you go to a buffet, how many plates do you get? I'm a solid two and a half. You don't finish the third one? I can't say I do. It's wasteful. Hey man, I try. At least you're honest. Andrew, what makes you angry? Um when I'm disappointed. I mean, isn't there right? Andrew, what do cats dream about? Cats dream about. Cats dream about being awake. He was so sure of that answer. I'm fake deep, bro.

Fake deep. Fake deep. I was so unsure of his sureness with that answer. The confidence threw me off. Because then I thought about it and I was like, are they dreaming about wanting to be awake? I was like, I don't think so. We can't tell him he's wrong. That's the thing. We don't know what cats do, man. I have no idea. Anyway, Andrew. If you were an emoji, which one would you be? The handshaking. I use that one a lot. The true collaborator. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a peace sign. Yeah. But like a little more like. It's kind of like my thing recently. We get each other. It's on your favorites. Yeah. It's like you don't have to scroll. It's like right there. Yeah. Yeah. Andrew, in 20 seconds or less, teach me something I don't know. Ooh. Um, do you know how to make the noise with your mouth that goes like Yep? Um served. Good try, Drew. And I know this one. I can't do that one. That was a that was a great one. I bet you were that annoying kid in class that was always doing it. You got it.

God. I hated you. I don't know, man. There's plenty of things out there. Do you know Solfege? No. All right. Do re mi fa, so, la ti do. Yeah. You know that? Yeah. Oh man. Oh, that's like the acronym for it? Of course. Solfege. Do you know it's called Solfege? No, I know Roy G. Biv. Hey, he didn't know it was called Solfege. Boom. Boom. Good job, Drew. That counts. We'll have to rewind the episode and see if that was 20 seconds or less. Dang, bro. I think you're good. I'm happy with that answer though. That was pretty good. That was pretty good. That was good. A for effort. Andrew, what is the longest you've gone without showering? Maybe like like three days. Two days. It's not that long. Three days? Disrespectful. I like a good shower. Yeah. Are you are you a morning shower or a night shower person? Morning. I need to wake up with it. I used to be morning all day. Now I'm night all day. Really? So you stink like that? Yeah. No, I do need a shower by this point. Yeah. Andrew, how many balloons would fit in this room?

A couple. Two. I'd say two. Funny because there's actually four right there. I didn't realize. I'd say there's like the weirdest things in this city right now. I'd say now. I'd say 5,325. That's a Good answer. On a scale of one to ten, how weird do you think you are? Me. Um 6.85. It's very accurate. How do you like your eggs? I love all types of eggs. I like them over medium. I like them scrambled. Pick one. I like them. I I'd take an omelet. Does that count? Sure. Yeah. Cool. Omelet, man. I'm a big omelet guy. I like them in an omelet. That's why I like my eggs. That was great. That was actually really impressive for part one. Let's see if you can keep it going with part two. It's the this or that. Rapid fire rampage, episode 27, Andrew Weaver. Rampage! Lyrics or melody?

Melody. Everyone is like kind of like if it's a rapper, I'll say lyrics or flow. Everyone's about that. Swae Lee. Sway Lee, bro. Melody King. There you go. Call or text. Text. Dogs or babies? Really? Bruh. I'm gonna go with babies, man. Guitar or singing. Singing. Why you do this to me? I'm asking the tough questions. Singing right now. Right now. Today is singing. Tomorrow might be different. Yeah. Breakfast or dessert? Breakfast. Omelets. Omelets, bro. I was like, bro. Give this kid give this kid an omelet. Netflix or YouTube? YouTube. Zoo or aquarium? I haven't been to either in a while. I I I go with aquarium because it's AC. Indeed. Right on AC. Some penguins.

Writing songs during the day or at night? At night. Oh, but during the morning is. Yeah, I was like, bro, I feel like you're always like you know, posting stuff like during the day that you're working on music. Dude, I actually do go to sleep pretty early. Yeah, I was like, bro, you had like grandpa vibe. 8 p.m. is still night, though. But nah, but he's like posting at like noon and 2 p.m. I'm Changing your answer. Yeah, I'm changing my answer now. I'm calling him out on like yeah, he's writing music during the day for sure. So I had it. I'm not a night owl. I had it as morning, day, or night. And then I changed it to day or night, but I think I'm gonna change it back to morning, day or night. I'm honestly a morning. So it's this or that or that at this point. Dude, yes. I'd wake up in the summer, like before I had college, obviously, and I would try and make a song a day, like every day. And I did it for like three weeks, man. Like four weeks, like every day I'd get up, produce it, and sing on it. Do it for three months. See what happens. Yeah, I know. You know, I know, man. It'd Be crazy. Moving on. Boxers or briefs? Define briefs.

Tidy tighty whities. Oh, I mean, I'd take boxers, but, like, I don't. Briefs are not tighty whities. Is briefs like like like the Calvin Klein? Briefs are the super tight version of boxer briefs, basically? Dude, I'm briefs if it's like that. First of all, boxer briefs are not the same as boxers, so I don't think you can't. I know that I wear boxer briefs. Briefs are like just underwear, it's regular underwear. But I thought they still have like the shit on the thighs. Yeah, what is that? If it has it on the thighs, yet it's like yo. Aren't briefs tidy whities? Am I tripping? Podcast viewers? We're gonna look that up after anyway. We'll have to edit that question. Moving on. Yellow or orange? orange? Orange. This dude loves orange. Man, I'm saying. Smart or beautiful? Smart and beautiful. If I had to choose smart, like you gotta be like Are you dating someone right now? I'm not, I'm currently single.

Ladies, get at him. I love smart women and beautiful women. Are you smart and beautiful women out there? I love pretty much women. Women, man. Mini golf or bowling alley? Bowling. He was so sure. Yeah. He couldn't finish his water. He wanted it to be so rapid that he spit water. I'm on this rapid. bro. This is a great rampage so far. Last one for the best or that. Pirates or ninjas. Ninjas. What a rampage so far. Rampage! If you keep this up, you might go down in the rapid fire rampage hall of fame. Please, please. He says this every episode. No, I don't Let me fool you. Last episode, I did not say that. Dang. Shout out to Beauregard though. Yeah, Bo. Your shit was not rapid, bro. It wasn't that rapid. All right, I'm gonna kick it up a little bit more rapid. Here we go, Bo, we love you, Bo. But this is the most dangerous one. Word association. This is where you get in trouble with your PR. That's right.

Here we go. Episode 27. Say Anything stupid, Drew. Word association. Episode 27. Safe answers. I love podcasts, man. Thank you for having me. This is so fun. Having fun? This is great. Yeah. I'm having fun too. Here we go. Mars. Planet. Hamster. Wheel. Anxiety. Bad. Bass. Ball. Yo. Thought it would have went the music way, but that's fine. Wednesday. Thursday. I see your Wednesday and raise you a Thursday. Love. Compassion. Time. Concept. Good one. Ribeye. Medium rare. Love this guy. Ew. Cook my shit. Don't give me that. You have no bloody pink shit. No taste.

Ben. So no one. This is why you're not asking me the question. Don't take me to the steakhouse. How do you like your steak? If you say well done, you need to. No, it's it's it's between medium and medium well. You're gross. Okay. Is that like that's like no flavor? Cook all the flavor out of it. Yeah, like way more on the leaning towards the brown. A little bit of a little bit of something something pink, you know what I mean? But like I do get my burgers well done though. For real. Moving on. Medicine. Important. College. Fun. So safe. Fun. Meditation. Intriguing. Government. Curveball. Easy come. Easy go. Cool. Let's get it.

I'm impressed. I'm pretty impressed. One of the best rampages we've had. I'm not kidding. You like that? Very good. It was quick. It was rapid fire. And there were some really good answers in there too. I think there were some great answers, and it was fast. We don't get that a lot. What would you rate it? Uh eight and a half. Okay. Out of ten. Okay, I'll take it. It was pretty good. Yeah, we've never had a ten. So, like, you're a top notch. Cool. Yep. Cheers. Cheers for Andrew. No, really appreciate you coming on, man. This has been a blast. Like I said, it's it's always good. You know, we've had definitely a handful of people on that we know already, but it's been awesome to really like help you tell your story and learn more about you at you know at a deeper level. Um, but it's it's always been you know fun hanging out with you, man. So really appreciate you coming on. Uh, we need more music from you too. Absolutely. It's in the works, man. So hopefully that is on the way. It is. Regardless of if Henry's involved or not, we need more Andrew Can you share something? Oh, let's jam out after this.

Well, if that's what we're doing, we're about to get the fuck out of here, right, Henry? Let's get out of here. All right, y'all. Be good next week. Peace. See you on Thursday. Appreciate you so much. Yes, sir. Yeah.