Latest / You Already Know Podcast with Ash Cebulka / Ep 4: From the Classroom to Sold-Out Stadiums with Craig Meyer

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Ep 4: From the Classroom to Sold-Out Stadiums with Craig Meyer · You Already Know Podcast with Ash Cebulka

0:04
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the You Already Know Podcast, a show all about intuition and the wild, mysterious ways our inner knowing speaks to us.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: In each episode, you'll hear stories from guests about life-changing moments when they trusted their intuition, even though it completely defied logic and how it changed the trajectory of their lives.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: It will be fun, at times hilarious, and deeply inspiring.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: I'm so grateful you're here.
0:30
SPEAKER_01: Now let's dive into today's episode.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the You Already Know podcast.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't be more excited to have today's guest with us.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: You guys are in for such a treat.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: It's my dear friend Craig Meyer, who is the jack of many trades and master of none, in his words.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: I would argue that, but we'll keep going.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: He used to be a high school teacher and now has been a touring musician for the past 25 years in many different capacities as a drummer, tour manager, production manager, and creative director.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: He's been gifted the experience of traveling the world, playing shows for as few as five people, but up to 50,000 people.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: He's gotten to work with incredible musicians like Brendan James, Rachel Platton, as well as many others.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: Craig's also a producer.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: He's co-written and produced a lot of records.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: He's a husband, a friend, and one of my favorite people.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: And he's one of the most aligned human beings, I think, living on this planet.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: So you guys are gonna get so much from this conversation.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: And Craig, welcome to the podcast.
1:44
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
1:45
SPEAKER_02: That was very sweet and kind.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: I need to like carry that around with me.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, anytime.
1:50
SPEAKER_02: Oh, as I introduce myself.
1:51
SPEAKER_02: Hello, and take this card and read.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: This is who I am.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: Scan this QR code and you'll find all about it.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, Craig, I'm so excited to talk to you because we talk all the time in the studio about your relationship with intuition, which is so beautiful as a friend to witness.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: Because I tell you all the time, it's like you're just living in the flow.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: And I want, let's go, let's go back in history so you guys can hear more of Craig's wild and amazing journey of landing where he is now.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, what has your relationship been with your intuition since you were young?
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Because I feel like you have trusted it and just gone with it without questioning it much, which is very, very rare.
2:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel yes to that.
2:45
SPEAKER_02: I feel like I've been really fortunate to have that.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: I believe it's like I honestly, what I think when that comes to mind, I think it's clarity.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: I've I there wasn't a lot of noise in my decision-making processes.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: And trusting intuition and trusting signs and universe really has been for me the guiding guiding factor in my life, hands down.
3:13
SPEAKER_02: But even from like even and I think about like I had the clarity in my sophomore year in high school, thankfully, that I knew I wanted to teach.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: I wasn't playing music at the time.
3:25
SPEAKER_02: I just wanted to teach, and I knew what I wanted to teach.
3:28
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to teach engineering and design and architecture.
3:31
SPEAKER_02: As a sophomore, I could remember sitting in an architecture class and Mr.
3:35
SPEAKER_02: McConnell was my teacher, and I was like, this is it.
3:39
SPEAKER_02: I love this.
3:40
SPEAKER_02: This is exciting.
3:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
3:41
SPEAKER_02: I want to do this in some form.
3:44
SPEAKER_02: And my father was a teacher, so that probably influenced me in that path.
3:49
SPEAKER_02: Um and then I had a history teacher, Mr.
3:51
SPEAKER_02: Harris, who on day one, welcome to the class, he says, and if you learn nothing else from this in US history too, I want you to learn that find a job you love and it won't feel like work a day in your life.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, what a blessing.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't mean that you won't work hard, but it's not gonna feel like work.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: I saw that stuck with me so much.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: And I loved that class too, because there was a point where I was like, maybe I'll teach history.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: But I had that clarity early on.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: And this was in high school in New Jersey.
4:27
SPEAKER_02: High school in New Jersey, northern New Jersey, uh up in Sussex County.
4:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
4:31
SPEAKER_02: And super like simple life.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: My mom was a nurse, my dad was a teacher, very small town.
4:38
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I graduated eighth grade with 28.
4:41
SPEAKER_02: No, I'm sorry, 22 kids.
4:43
SPEAKER_02: That's insane.
4:44
SPEAKER_02: 22 kids.
4:45
SPEAKER_02: And it was essentially the same group from kindergarten through eighth grade.
4:50
SPEAKER_03: Wow.
4:50
SPEAKER_02: So it was really simple and easy.
4:54
SPEAKER_02: And all the things you think about as a childhood, like riding your bike around town, all the, you know, cliches of like when the lights go on, you go home.
5:03
SPEAKER_02: And that was really it.
5:04
SPEAKER_02: And parents who were incredibly trusting and never sat and lectured me about the things not to do ever.
5:11
SPEAKER_02: I never had a lecture from my parents of like, don't stay out late, don't party, don't do this.
5:16
SPEAKER_02: They were like, they just let us be, and we figured it out on our own.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's so interesting.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: Wait, you've never told me that before.
5:22
SPEAKER_01: So I feel like, do you okay, just in hearing that, do you think that that helped you cultivate such a deep level of trust for yourself and that inner knowing?
5:33
SPEAKER_01: Because you it wasn't questioned, you weren't questioned so much growing up.
5:36
SPEAKER_02: Probably.
5:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:37
SPEAKER_02: Like I never had a curfew.
5:39
SPEAKER_02: I never had like any of that.
5:41
SPEAKER_02: So it's true.
5:42
SPEAKER_02: Like I wasn't given these parameters, like you need to live within this box.
5:46
SPEAKER_02: And I wasn't sure if where the box started, where it ended.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: No, I didn't have that.
5:51
SPEAKER_02: It was just like figure it out and just trust yourself.
5:54
SPEAKER_02: I swear they probably, in some form of wording, were saying that.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: And even if it was like a subconscious thing, they were telling me, just trust yourself.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: Be a good judge of character, be responsible, be kind.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: And they put those, they integrated those, I think, in my childhood, which probably gave me that.
6:16
SPEAKER_02: And I was also like hilariously a nervous Nelly, like you know, always I had an older brother who was always like, You're gonna get in trouble, and da-da-da.
6:24
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, that was me for sure.
6:26
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I still am.
6:28
SPEAKER_02: You know, Kat, my wife laughs at a hilarious story where I am like rule follower and safety McGruff all the way through.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: I I had a uh I got a car.
6:39
SPEAKER_02: This was like probably four or five years ago in Charleston.
6:41
SPEAKER_02: I got a car and it wasn't registered yet.
6:45
SPEAKER_02: I had to register it.
6:46
SPEAKER_02: I got insurance for it, I bought it used, the person dropped it off at my house.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: And I will never forget, it was so funny.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: It was pouring rain.
6:54
SPEAKER_02: I mean, in Charleston, South Carolina, you get some heavy storms.
6:57
SPEAKER_02: And I wanted to go get the car registered at the DMV, which happened to be downtown and like a couple miles away over by the Citadel.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: And we lived downtown.
7:07
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay, I'm gonna go.
7:09
SPEAKER_02: And she looks at me and she's like, Aren't you taking the car over to get it registered?
7:13
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, No, I'm gonna bike over.
7:16
SPEAKER_03: She was afraid to drive at the registration.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, that's so.
7:21
SPEAKER_02: So what she did, she called her friends who were two cops in town.
7:25
SPEAKER_02: They were a married couple, police officers, and she's like, Hey, my husband's got to register his car.
7:29
SPEAKER_02: Like, is it okay?
7:30
SPEAKER_02: Can he just drive?
7:31
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, 100%.
7:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: It's much safer.
7:34
SPEAKER_02: Do not let him go biking in this torrential downpour down where it's like flooded roads.
7:38
SPEAKER_02: And sure enough, I biked there.
7:41
SPEAKER_02: I was like, too.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: My God, you're trying to be safety, and just like, I got it.
7:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we're opposites in that way.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: I was the I I rules don't apply.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: Which is not great either.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: It's not great.
7:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:53
SPEAKER_02: I'm still that.
7:54
SPEAKER_02: It's funny.
7:55
SPEAKER_02: I'm still that way.
7:56
SPEAKER_02: My brother was the opposite.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: So I think I saw him and the little brother going through that.
8:00
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
8:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
8:01
SPEAKER_02: So I I feel like they they trusted me.
8:05
SPEAKER_02: I feel it's probably the thing I would keep coming back to when my grades came in.
8:09
SPEAKER_02: They they were, they obviously acknowledged I I thankfully and I I did well in school.
8:15
SPEAKER_02: But they were like, okay, yeah, of course.
8:17
SPEAKER_02: That's great.
8:18
SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
8:19
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't a big nothing was made a big deal.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: It was like just keep doing your thing.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: Well, and just the very nature of how you said like you didn't have a lot of rules and you were entrusted to to just do the right thing.
8:32
SPEAKER_01: I think that alone creates such a self-confidence in in also trusting that inner knowing of it's time to go home.
8:40
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm not gonna push past what feels right to do, and I'm gonna just do the right thing.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: Instead, because you weren't pushing against feeling boxed in.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: And then I can see how that then translates to this wild and beautiful life that you've created for yourself because you didn't have a lot of limitations put on you.
9:01
SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
9:02
unknown: Yeah.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: So you just trusted along the way, which we have to get into because it is so wild how you went from being a teacher, which I can see you being such a great teacher.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: Being a teacher, which would you guys need to understand that Craig has the most like positive, uplifting everybody in his presence.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: So you you just like immediately feel better when you're in Craig's presence.
9:27
SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: So his energy for kids, I just can't even imagine in high school.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: But then translate like how you went from being a teacher to then deciding to be a touring musician.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: Because that was a wild, unknown ride of just taking a massive leap.
9:44
SPEAKER_02: Completely.
9:46
SPEAKER_02: I think I guess I would even step back further in the timeline.
9:49
SPEAKER_02: And it probably came from when I was 16, I started playing drums.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:55
SPEAKER_02: And it wasn't by like this thing that I was pursuing at all.
9:59
SPEAKER_02: It literally was two things occurred.
10:02
SPEAKER_02: One, my brother had band practice.
10:04
SPEAKER_02: He was a drummer, and he had band practice at our house.
10:06
SPEAKER_02: So they would show up early sometimes, and the band would be like, Well, just Craig, just sit back there and play.
10:12
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I don't know.
10:14
SPEAKER_02: Because I was a little kid sitting on the top of the basement steps watching everything.
10:18
SPEAKER_02: And they were like, just, you know, the guy's name was Jay.
10:20
SPEAKER_02: Jay's like, Craig, just jump behind the kit.
10:22
SPEAKER_02: Like, your brother plays, your dad plays, just play.
10:25
SPEAKER_02: And I did, I don't know what I was doing, but I was just like playing.
10:29
SPEAKER_02: And shortly after that, a guy named Steve Seluka comes to my locker.
10:34
SPEAKER_02: He's like, hey man, let's have band practice at your house.
10:36
SPEAKER_02: And mind you, I was completely into sports at this time.
10:40
SPEAKER_02: That's all my only focus was.
10:42
SPEAKER_02: And I looked at him, I was like, I don't, you must have the wrong person.
10:46
SPEAKER_02: I don't play anything.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: And he's like, no, no, your brother does.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: And you have a drum set at the house, right?
10:51
SPEAKER_02: He's like, cool, you know, let's meet up after school.
10:53
SPEAKER_02: And we did.
10:54
SPEAKER_02: And that was a junior in high school, 16.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: And he came over and just set up his amp and started playing Red Hot Chili Peppers Under the Bridge.
11:02
SPEAKER_02: I can remember it, which has the probably the only groove maybe I could play at that time.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: And we just started playing.
11:09
SPEAKER_02: And we did that every day after school.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: And I loved it about two months later.
11:15
SPEAKER_02: The solidifying moment for me was I somehow, like a month later, joined this pop punk band that was based out of Port Chester, New York, which was like 45 minutes.
11:26
SPEAKER_02: And they were all older than me.
11:27
SPEAKER_02: They were like 18, 19 years old.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: And we formed a band called Paper Cut.
11:32
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, you're gonna play drums.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, great.
11:34
SPEAKER_02: And so suddenly we started having band practice at my house.
11:37
SPEAKER_02: A month later, we had a show at a club called Ashley's in New York.
11:42
SPEAKER_02: I can like when I talk about it, I'm in that moment immediately.
11:46
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
11:46
SPEAKER_02: I was backstage and I look out, and again, this was like pop punk and hardcore was all the thing.
11:53
SPEAKER_02: So we were essentially like a, you know, a much um nowhere near as good Green Day.
11:58
SPEAKER_02: That's what we were trying to be, like the early versions of Green Day.
12:02
SPEAKER_02: And we had the show, and of course, you have so many friends at that point.
12:06
SPEAKER_02: All your friends come to the show.
12:08
SPEAKER_02: My friend Chris Crumb's parents had to drive me because I didn't have a license.
12:12
SPEAKER_02: I had no way to get there.
12:14
SPEAKER_02: And they had a van.
12:15
SPEAKER_02: So they came super awesome.
12:17
SPEAKER_02: They put all my gear.
12:18
SPEAKER_02: We drove 45 minutes or an hour to West Ashley, New York.
12:21
SPEAKER_02: We set up, we do a quick sound check, and we were like one of three bands, I think, that were playing.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: And I just remember sitting in the van listening before we went on to all of our songs, which were probably seven songs.
12:32
SPEAKER_02: I think we had like a 22-minute set.
12:35
SPEAKER_02: And then walking out on stage, so nervous.
12:39
SPEAKER_02: My heart rate was flying.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: And we finished the first song.
12:44
SPEAKER_02: And the feeling I had actually coming to, because I think I blacked out for the first song.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: And like looking up and seeing these hundred, two hundred kids packed into a thing, all screaming and so happy and so excited.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: I was like, this is it.
13:01
SPEAKER_02: This is that feeling was it.
13:03
SPEAKER_02: And never looked back as far as playing went.
13:06
SPEAKER_02: And did more shows and then playing.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: I like, I left sports.
13:10
SPEAKER_02: You know, I quit baseball.
13:11
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I just want to play music.
13:14
SPEAKER_02: And it became my everything in the rest of high school.
13:18
SPEAKER_02: Continued to do it through college instead of, you know, I had odd jobs, but we put a band together and we play at fraternities.
13:24
SPEAKER_02: And we weren't in fraternities, and I was nowhere, I was a bowling person and I bowled in high school and loved it.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: So I was, you know, I I know it's a stereotype, but I was not going to get in a fraternity.
13:35
SPEAKER_02: I was not anywhere near that cool or that, you know, into what was going on, but they hired us to play.
13:42
SPEAKER_02: So suddenly I got to be at all these fraternity parties playing music and making money and being like, holy cow, I could be in this thing.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: I can have this incredible feeling of playing music, this really like tight-knit community of musicians that I loved and found like, oh, you guys are like brothers to me.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: Um and then I made money.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: Then we got paid at the end.
14:07
SPEAKER_02: And it was probably like in beers, but we really actually got paid at the end.
14:12
SPEAKER_02: And that started, I think, to ignite some things in me at 18, 19, 20 years old.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: And so you first of all, you guys need to know that when Craig plays, everybody comes, we were just talking about it before we started recording.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: I've been to so many shows with, I don't even know how many shows with Craig and Brendan.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: We've even done events together where I did speaking and then and then they played.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: And everybody walks up to Craig at the end of these shows and they say to him, like, I want to find whatever that thing is that you experience while you're playing drums.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: I want to find that for myself because it is so obvious that he is in his element.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: He like goes somewhere else when he's playing.
14:59
SPEAKER_01: And it is just a pure joy.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: It's like electric to watch him because it's more, it's more than electric.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: It's like electric and also so calming because it's like he is in the flow and you're in the flow watching him be in the flow.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: And it's it feels like a gift to get to witness somebody doing that.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: And it's amazing that you found that at such a young age.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that is such a rare thing to come across.
15:26
SPEAKER_02: It it is.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: I don't I try to constantly, almost daily acknowledge it, how lucky I am and how much of a gift it is.
15:34
SPEAKER_02: I don't take a second of it for granted, ever, ever.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: And because I know people struggle all their lives and never find that thing.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:43
SPEAKER_02: And I was gifted this at 16 years old to find that thing.
15:48
SPEAKER_02: And it's come in different forms too.
15:50
SPEAKER_02: I I went to school to be a teacher.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: I went to the College of New Jersey and graduated with like a technological studies degree to teach.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: And I found that flow in teaching too, which was to me, again, lucky.
16:06
SPEAKER_02: I was a gift.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: Like I got in a classroom and had 24 kids, and I loved it.
16:12
SPEAKER_02: And the class, it was a it was a flow and there was a thing.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: So I felt lucky for that too.
16:17
SPEAKER_02: I would get these glimpses of that teaching.
16:19
SPEAKER_02: And um I would still play, you know, I started teaching at 21, and I was living in Jersey City and playing and teaching uh and playing in New York at night.
16:31
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh my gosh, I get this thing at night at these gigs, and then I get it teaching.
16:38
SPEAKER_02: Um I j I just feel insanely lucky.
16:41
SPEAKER_02: Like so I don't take it for granted.
16:44
SPEAKER_02: I it's hard to put it in words sometimes because these moments of bliss sometimes people look for a handful of times in their life.
16:52
SPEAKER_02: And I get them sometimes daily, or you know, four or five times a week, or if I'm on tour, or I'm even just in, I get them in my studio.
17:03
SPEAKER_02: I will walk in the studio and sit down behind my kit for two hours, and my wife will walk in and she'll be like, I get scared because I'm sooned in.
17:11
SPEAKER_02: She'll try to flick lights, she'll try to do anything to to get my attention because I'm so in it.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: So I realized that the source of it is internal.
17:24
SPEAKER_02: And that also has been a struggle.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: Like there were times where I found myself relying on it outwardly and thought that these were the biggest moments.
17:36
SPEAKER_02: And they were visually, if you looked at it, these were the biggest moments in somebody's career as a musician.
17:41
SPEAKER_02: And I was relying on this outward thing and I lost it inside.
17:44
SPEAKER_02: So that's been, I think, also a very constant thing in this journey for me is to always remind myself where that comes from.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: Well, so yeah, let's talk about that more.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: Because what do you mean because the listeners don't know, you know, the level I mean, I've said numbers, but can you give us an example of what was one of those moments where externally it looked so wonderful and maybe you were pulling the validation from that, but inwardly there was like a disconnect.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Because this is where I think it's helpful to, from a standpoint of the intuition, right?
18:18
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, I thought this was the thing.
18:21
SPEAKER_01: This was the thing, whatever it may be, that was gonna make me feel that feeling I've been searching for.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: And then you get the thing, and you hear about this all the time.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: It especially, I think Hollywood is does a great job of talking about this, actually.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: Um and then, and then you feel empty.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: And then there's the reverse of playing for five people and feeling the thing.
18:42
SPEAKER_01: So can you share more about what that was for you as much as you're comfortable, obviously?
18:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I early on in my career, uh again, I try to always think of pretty concrete examples that have happened.
18:56
SPEAKER_02: And one was I started playing with this musician, Martin Revis, and we started doing an original project together in New York, and then that shifted into we both loved old RB and soul and sing-along songs in Motown.
19:13
SPEAKER_02: So we started in New York doing this thing called the campfire, and it was basically he was playing acoustic guitar and singing, and I was playing like a modified percussion drum kit with brushes, and also had a microphone.
19:26
SPEAKER_02: And our whole entire idea of it was like you were attending a campfire.
19:32
SPEAKER_02: So we would have banter, just literally talking about anything that was going on in between songs, and the focus of the songs we played were eventually the crowd would be singing louder than us.
19:43
SPEAKER_02: And this campfire thing grew.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: We've we've played more than 2,000 shows together, and it probably started in like 2004 or five, and probably 2004, and we did it all throughout New York.
19:59
SPEAKER_02: At some points, we were doing nine shows a week.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: And that's astounding.
20:03
SPEAKER_02: It's like we were going nonstop.
20:06
SPEAKER_02: And so there were points where I was teaching and we would do it, and then I left teaching for the first time because I left I had two teaching cycles in my life.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: I left teaching, went into that, and did that full time with Martin and we were playing.
20:19
SPEAKER_02: Martin's lesson to me was constantly would look at me and be like, it's about me and you.
20:26
SPEAKER_02: And if you and I have fun and we're enjoying this m in this moment, that's where it all starts.
20:33
SPEAKER_02: And everything else is a bonus.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: The people smiling and laughing, that's awesome.
20:37
SPEAKER_02: And that's a gift that's coming back.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: But the thing is, it has to start with you and I on this stage playing and loving what we're doing.
20:45
SPEAKER_02: And I think that was one of the first things.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: And during that roughly that same time period, we were playing this venue called Red Lion every Friday and every Sunday.
20:54
SPEAKER_02: And there was a gentleman that would come in probably right around six o'clock, sit at the bar, super dapper dressed.
21:02
SPEAKER_02: His car would drop him off, you know, like car service, the whole thing, and would drink two or three drinks and get up and go.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: And that went on for months.
21:12
SPEAKER_02: And George, the bartender, was awesome, you know, knew everybody at the bar.
21:16
SPEAKER_02: And then one time during a set break, that gentleman came up to me, who was probably in his 60s or so, and he put his hand on my shoulder and he said, I have a lot.
21:26
SPEAKER_02: I've done a lot, but I have a lot right now, and I would give it all to feel like you look on stage for 10 minutes.
21:34
SPEAKER_02: And he said, So whatever you do, and at this point, I was in my early 20s.
21:38
SPEAKER_02: He's like, So whatever you do, don't chase money.
21:42
SPEAKER_02: Keep chasing that, what you have, and you'll be good in life.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: My God, to get that in your early 20s.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: Early 20s.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: And I came to find out he was like a billionaire that was a hedge fund person that he was had all the things, you know, and that stuck with me.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: And I think those two things early on in life were imprinted enough to be like that's that's the alignment.
22:07
SPEAKER_02: I want to stay aligned with that, with those feelings, how I am behind the kit, how I feel, who I'm surrounding myself with.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: Um so like anything else, you have other things your career, my career, you know, took some changes.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: I left playing I didn't leave playing music, but I went back to teaching for another five years later on because I just couldn't I wanted different things in life.
22:31
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to figure out like, how do I how do I buy a a house, how do I buy a condo, and I couldn't do it playing in the musical situation I was.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: I was loving it.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: And so I shifted and I went back to teaching.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: And I continued to play with Martin in New York, and come summers I would do little tours and anything like that.
22:52
SPEAKER_02: Um I did that for five years, and I saved up and I bought a condo and I did all the adulting things that I thought were going to bring me this piece of the puzzle that I felt like I was missing.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: And I will never forget, like I bought this condo in Jersey City, and I was really proud.
23:09
SPEAKER_02: And I got the keys given to me, and I, you know, just moved in.
23:14
SPEAKER_02: I threw my keys on the island and I sat there and I was like, huh.
23:19
SPEAKER_02: I don't feel any different than I did like a week ago.
23:22
SPEAKER_02: You know?
23:23
SPEAKER_02: Now, granted, I'm in this awesome condo and I loved it.
23:26
SPEAKER_02: I was like, but it didn't fill this void that I thought it would fill.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: And I it was more like checking a box to me.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: Um and I was really glad I did it because financially it was a smart move.
23:40
SPEAKER_02: So I, you know, I'm glad I did it, but it was more about me realizing that, okay, that's not gonna fill your soul in this way that I was looking.
23:51
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna fill a shelter, which you need, and it's gonna be a responsible financial move, which you need to do in life.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: That's all important.
23:58
SPEAKER_02: Um so that was a big moment for me.
24:00
SPEAKER_02: Like I was like, okay, huh.
24:03
SPEAKER_02: And I was again at this bit of a crossroad.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: I'd been teaching for five years, saving, doing these things.
24:09
SPEAKER_02: And I will, this is clear as day to me.
24:13
SPEAKER_02: Also, it's funny, like these moments I can put myself in.
24:16
SPEAKER_02: I was teaching at this high school, loving it, feeling grateful, coaching, the whole thing, on this track to become an administrator.
24:24
SPEAKER_02: For my second time, the school's off awesome enough to hire me back four years later and give me the same role, but also some administrative duties.
24:31
SPEAKER_02: And I was surprised.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
24:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: Right.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: And loving it.
24:35
SPEAKER_02: And all of a sudden, I'm driving in and I'm listening to a radio station in New Jersey called WPLJ.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
24:42
SPEAKER_02: And they're they did this Memorial Day kickoff.
24:45
SPEAKER_02: And I had listened to it since I was a kid, literally 16 years old in PLJ.
24:49
SPEAKER_02: And they would have all the current bands who were on the radio and who had the hit singles.
24:54
SPEAKER_02: And being in New York, a lot of these bands were coming out of New York City.
24:59
SPEAKER_02: They were the Sarah Brellis' and the Gavin de Gras and who would be playing around town.
25:04
SPEAKER_02: And in the past like five or 10 years, you could see them at little spots all around Manhattan.
25:09
SPEAKER_02: And I was driving and listening, and it was like Gavin de Gras and Sarah Brellis, and I was like, oh my God, like I literally am running in these same like circles and know who these people are.
25:22
SPEAKER_02: And I was driving in and I was like, I can't not try this.
25:27
SPEAKER_02: I can't not go for it.
25:29
SPEAKER_02: And I got in, I had a prep period, I wrote up my letter of resignation.
25:32
SPEAKER_02: This was obviously Memorial Day.
25:34
SPEAKER_02: You know, it was the Thursday before because we had off on that Friday.
25:37
SPEAKER_02: And I wrote up my letter of resignation and handed it to my principal, and she just looked at me.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: It's so supportive and so awesome.
25:43
SPEAKER_02: She's like, okay, going for it again, huh, Craig?
25:46
SPEAKER_02: Oh my God, I love it so much.
25:49
SPEAKER_02: I am.
25:49
SPEAKER_02: And she's like, Do you have a plan?
25:50
SPEAKER_02: I was like, no, I wasn't, I didn't have this big tour that I was going to go do.
25:55
SPEAKER_02: I was playing with artists.
25:56
SPEAKER_02: I was playing with at the time, you know, Martin and all these different New York City artists and Rachel, who's one of the artists I was playing with.
26:03
SPEAKER_02: And but I didn't have a plan.
26:06
SPEAKER_02: What I did have was financial security.
26:10
SPEAKER_02: I was like, that was my really um responsible conservative side.
26:14
SPEAKER_02: I knew I had set aside enough money where I could pay a mortgage and my living expenses if I made no money for a certain period of time.
26:21
SPEAKER_02: That was really important to me.
26:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
26:22
SPEAKER_02: I needed that cushion.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: So I had that, but I didn't have like a career plan.
26:28
SPEAKER_02: You know, there wasn't like, oh, I'm playing with this artist who's famous.
26:30
SPEAKER_02: And so I didn't.
26:32
SPEAKER_02: I took a leap and I just started hustling and playing music, and that was 2011.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: And is that where okay, wait, before you go any further, was because I always ask everybody on the pod, like, is there a a pivotal moment where you trusted your intuition, especially when it defied logic?
26:54
SPEAKER_01: That was one of the most life-changing moments.
26:57
SPEAKER_01: Would you say this was it?
26:59
SPEAKER_02: This was it.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: And what's really what's neat about this is the full circle moment, is that that was it.
27:06
SPEAKER_02: That defied all logic.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: Like I'm teaching at this incredible school.
27:10
SPEAKER_02: They, you know, they called it the Queen Mary, you know, all the teachers, because you got there.
27:14
SPEAKER_02: And once you got in this district, in this school, you put in your 25 or 35 years and you retired with your package.
27:21
SPEAKER_02: That was it.
27:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:22
SPEAKER_02: So it defied all logic for me to get hired there a second time, yeah, be on this administrative track, in like love what I'm doing.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: And still be like, I still gotta go.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: So that was without a plan.
27:37
SPEAKER_02: Without a plan.
27:38
SPEAKER_02: You know, that defied any logic whatsoever.
27:41
SPEAKER_02: And my parents were awesome.
27:43
SPEAKER_02: They were like, okay, you gotta do, you know, I'm an adult.
27:46
SPEAKER_02: I'm at this point, yeah, 35 years old.
27:48
SPEAKER_02: It's like, do what you gotta do.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: So, but the full circle moment to that is fast forward, I continue to play, I continue to tour, I continue to hustle.
27:58
SPEAKER_02: And the artist Rachel, who I was playing with in 2015, she she gets success with a song called Fight Song.
28:08
SPEAKER_02: And we go on this whirlwind of radio promo and TV promotions and touring and all the things.
28:16
SPEAKER_02: It's like a rocket ship.
28:17
SPEAKER_02: I will never forget early May getting a call, because I was doing her tour managing and helping with creative and playing drums and playback, getting a call from Columbia Records, who she was signed with, and their promotions team, they're like, hey, Craig, we're gonna need to kind of reroute some some things and get you guys back to New Jersey for Memorial Day weekend.
28:38
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay, why?
28:40
SPEAKER_02: What are we doing?
28:41
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, Memorial Day WPLJ kickoff.
28:44
SPEAKER_02: You guys are going to headline.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: Totally.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh my God.
28:49
SPEAKER_02: I was like, I mean, they I almost dropped the phone and they were laughing because in that industry, a lot of radio promo stuff you have to do is, you know, it feels like an obligation or like you gotta go show up and do it.
29:00
SPEAKER_02: I was static.
29:01
SPEAKER_02: You're like, I just wanted the shirt thing, and I was like, yes, we're coming, we're doing it.
29:06
SPEAKER_02: So fast forward, you know, five years later, four and a half years later, I get to do that thing that was really the catalyst for me to quit.
29:19
SPEAKER_01: That is so beautiful.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm talking about, you guys.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: This is like Craig's life is one serendipitous moment after another.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: And we talk about it all the time when we're in the studio because we record meditations together.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, how beautiful was that story?
29:33
SPEAKER_01: And I hope it gives even just one of you the inspiration to follow that knowing inside of you, even and especially when it defies logic.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: And I want to point out one thing from the very beginning of this story, which is that sometimes people will see something in you that you don't see yet.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: And that all began with that kid walking up to you when you were standing at your locker who said, Come be the drummer.
29:59
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, I'm not a drummer.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: And yet you were.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: And somehow he saw that in you.
30:07
SPEAKER_01: And it like, look where it landed you.
30:09
SPEAKER_01: Totally.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
30:10
SPEAKER_01: Like, who knows what would have happened if he had never said that to you.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Completely.
30:14
SPEAKER_01: It's like all the little breadcrumbs and for it to come so full circle for you to be on the radio.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's amazing.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: And it certainly doesn't stop there.
30:23
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's like the beginning of the whirlwind that you went on with Rachel.
30:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:29
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we uh I guess you you have all these uh these bars in a career that you feel like are going to be the things of success.
30:39
SPEAKER_02: And it's from not only yourself, but also from the outside.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: And especially the music industry, as well.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: And it's like as a, you know, as a musician running around and hustling in New York, literally, you know, there were summers that I busked in Washington Square Park with this artist Jesse Gage.
30:56
SPEAKER_02: And hilariously, you know, we did that like 2003 or something.
31:01
SPEAKER_02: And when I went back to teaching, I had a student whose older brother went to NYU and was like, hey, Mr.
31:10
SPEAKER_02: Meyer, I know this might sound weird.
31:13
SPEAKER_02: Were you ever in like a documentary about the West Village?
31:16
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, um, what do you what do you mean?
31:19
SPEAKER_02: Not that I know of, you know?
31:21
SPEAKER_02: And he's like, my older brother or sister, I forget it was, was is at NYU, and she's taking this like music course, and she's pretty sure she saw you playing under the arch with with a piano player.
31:33
SPEAKER_02: Was that could that be true?
31:34
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, wait, what?
31:36
SPEAKER_02: And he got a video clip of it and showed it to me.
31:39
SPEAKER_02: And sure enough, Jesse and I were part of this like, you know, documentary that was made about the culture of music in the West Village in that time period.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: So it was hilarious.
31:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was hilarious, and it was like shown, I guess, at NYU and and they had passed it over.
31:56
SPEAKER_02: But it was just funny, again, because these moments that you have in your life, like they connect again, the dots connect later on in life.
32:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, which was also you're you're living this there was a sense of like duality at a point when I was at school because I would go and be playing in New York at night at these different clubs and venues and stuff, and then be teaching by day.
32:21
SPEAKER_02: And there were times when I heard these kids, because they were very they were close to the city, they would take the train in, and like they knew that I played.
32:29
SPEAKER_02: They never I never had anything up socially or anything like that that they could follow.
32:32
SPEAKER_02: And they would be like, Mr.
32:34
SPEAKER_02: Meyer, you know, I heard about this awesome venue.
32:36
SPEAKER_02: Like one day, maybe if you're ever like a real musician, like they would joke with me, you could play at like uh, you know, the bitter end or Irving Plaza and da-da-da.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: And meanwhile, I'd gotten to-I'd like was there last night playing or whatever it was, but I could never say anything.
32:51
SPEAKER_02: So there was this really interesting kind of duality.
32:55
SPEAKER_02: And I will say, one of the things with playing, I've never been um I've been able to stand in front of the students and be really honest with them as a musician, because they did know that I play, and share with them like when you find the thing that you love in your life, you actually won't want to distort it with drugs.
33:16
SPEAKER_02: And you won't want to distort it with like alcoholic.
33:19
SPEAKER_02: I never did.
33:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad you're bringing it as well.
33:22
SPEAKER_02: Never and honestly, the reason I spent so much of time from the time I was 18 years old in bars and playing music, and have never been a big drinker.
33:33
SPEAKER_02: Have never, I've never been into drugs.
33:35
SPEAKER_02: And it it wasn't because I I I think that there's anything wrong with them personally, it's your choice.
33:41
SPEAKER_02: For me, it was two things.
33:43
SPEAKER_02: One, I always had to drive, and I was safety McGruff, nervous, you know.
33:47
SPEAKER_02: So I would never want to drink, even if sip, I'm like, I'm not gonna take a sip.
33:51
SPEAKER_02: Secondly, I never wanted anything to get in the way of that feeling that I had when I was playing.
33:56
SPEAKER_01: Which isn't that so beautiful that you had that.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: Because that's what I was gonna, I'm so glad you brought this up, because we talk about it a lot, like being choosing to to live a sober life, not because of having a problem.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: Although in my past, you probably could have said, like, I definitely drank a lot.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: So you it could have been viewed as a problem, but I just stopped because I didn't like the way it made me feel anymore.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: But you never really had that relationship with it.
34:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: And I'm glad you brought it up because don't you think that that allows for the clarity to be able to hear those intuitive nudges so much more because you're not numbed to life.
34:36
SPEAKER_01: And and when you're numbing to life, when you're numbing to life to relax or reduce stress, you're also numbing the joy.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: Like you're numbing in both directions.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I mean?
34:49
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: And it's so beautiful for you to share that it the driving force was always wanting to feel that feeling of the what it really appears to me is euphoria.
35:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's what it looks like.
35:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean it it it is, and I could probably count on one hand less than one hand, the number of times that I've actually like been buzzed while trying to play drums.
35:18
SPEAKER_02: And it was it was not enjoyable.
35:22
SPEAKER_02: You know, it was for me, like it was fun.
35:24
SPEAKER_02: You know, you're your young 20s, you're doing this thing, but I mean literally less than five that I've ever done it.
35:30
SPEAKER_02: And I and I don't want to be judgmental because people do it and all the more power to you.
35:37
SPEAKER_02: But for me, I was like, I'm no, I'm not having anywhere near as much connectedness to my like to that source in my body that I've had.
35:47
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it really, really never was so it was never a thing.
35:51
SPEAKER_02: Even spending 80% of my life around it in bars and stuff.
35:55
SPEAKER_02: Um and I was felt really lucky to stand in front of teenagers in high school and be really honest with them.
36:03
SPEAKER_02: And be like, yeah, I am a musician, and no, I'm not, you know, partying and drugs and all that stuff are not a big part of my life.
36:10
SPEAKER_02: And anybody who knows me, you know, I mean, even meeting my wife, she was just like, wow, that she it took her a minute to understand that that joy just came from playing and that I wasn't the typical and I hate that that's a stereotype because I will tell you, there are a lot of musicians who I travel with and played with over the years who aren't parties, who are just like, let's wake up at 6 a.m.
36:34
SPEAKER_02: and do yoga and go hike and all these things.
36:38
SPEAKER_02: And I'll I love that.
36:39
SPEAKER_02: And and maybe that's because I gravitated towards those people.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: Um because I know there's a bunch that do party and do the thing.
36:47
SPEAKER_02: So I think being able to be an example for that, not only as for you know, the kids that I was teaching, but also for any other musicians.
36:55
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's fantastic.
36:56
SPEAKER_02: Is is I feel lucky to do that and be like, you can have a great career.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
37:00
SPEAKER_02: You know, and do the things and have fun.
37:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, and you don't have to be the wild party animal that is associated with being a musician.
37:07
SPEAKER_01: Which I mean, thank God for you sharing that, because it also allows you to just stay so true to the joy and the purpose of what you're doing and keep going and not, you know, feel burnt out by it because of the substances that are in your body that are also clouding your abilities in some ways.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: I know that I can understand.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: I really can understand, especially because I used to love to drink.
37:31
SPEAKER_01: Like I can understand why people feel like it could enhance you or take you to another place.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure it does for some.
37:38
SPEAKER_01: Again, no judgment.
37:40
SPEAKER_01: My personal experience was that it it always numbed, it always numbed me and actually dulled the fullness of my personality, of my purpose, of my joy.
37:51
SPEAKER_01: It feels like in the moment that you're there, but I don't know that you really are.
37:56
SPEAKER_01: And now being on the other side of it, I can tell when musicians are on it.
38:02
SPEAKER_01: Like I can tell when musicians, and again, there's no judgment.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's more of like it's an energy thing.
38:08
SPEAKER_01: Like I can now pick up when I'm watching somebody perform and they're really buzzed or they're altered.
38:15
SPEAKER_01: I can feel it as an audience member.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: Which I think is kind of wild, you know?
38:22
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it's funny when you're sitting there and you're saying that and I'm thinking about it too.
38:27
SPEAKER_02: The other gift of this career of a touring musician in any capacity is human connection.
38:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
38:37
SPEAKER_02: So human connection when you're playing in the moment, when you're connecting with the people that you're on stage with, and if you're lucky enough, I mean it's just an unbelievable circle of energy when you connect with the people who you're playing for.
38:51
SPEAKER_02: But also post-show and pre-show, talking to people that were attended, that were there, that felt this thing, and they get to share that with you.
39:03
SPEAKER_02: Like, I also want to be present and in the moment with them during those conversations, whether it be the people that were there and or the people you just had the show with.
39:13
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, being drunk and like, I don't even know.
39:16
SPEAKER_02: And it just I that would be lost.
39:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:19
SPEAKER_02: And I love that part.
39:21
SPEAKER_02: I love that human connection part, you know, as much as I love getting behind my drums and physically playing.
39:26
SPEAKER_02: It's like you get the stories and you, you know, you get people's purposes and what they're doing.
39:32
SPEAKER_02: Like that's been, I think the more that I've toured over these last 25 years, that's one of my favorite parts of getting on the road.
39:39
SPEAKER_02: Like I, you know, was sharing before we, you know, this weekend I was in Boulder, Colorado with Brendan.
39:46
SPEAKER_02: And my takeaway was the the absolute joy I had in playing and the shows and the specialness of those shows.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: And I also equally, one of the hosts I got to sit with, and it was this retired gentleman that was there, and I sat with him for like 30 minutes and got to hear about his life and his career.
40:07
SPEAKER_02: And he took this path of a different choice in life of a career.
40:11
SPEAKER_02: And I love that.
40:12
SPEAKER_02: And I loved his story.
40:14
SPEAKER_02: And then there were these like powerhouse magazine publishers, these three women who have three magazines in the Denver area and their story and about what they love about the written word and print media.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: Um and that's inspiring to me.
40:29
SPEAKER_02: And people who we meet at the coffee shops who are living their life.
40:34
SPEAKER_02: And those parts of touring now to me are as important as like, what's the show?
40:39
SPEAKER_02: What are we doing?
40:39
SPEAKER_02: Where are we at?
40:40
SPEAKER_02: I that's almost the last thing I think of.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: I never even- The one thing I hear you talk about the most is like when whenever we get together in the studio, we're always talking about the amazing exchanges you had while you were on the road, the people you met, the stories you heard, the connection you got to have with them.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: And you light up so much when you're talking about it.
40:58
SPEAKER_01: And and the beautiful thing is that it all comes from the heartfelt with whichever musician you're playing with, the heartfelt music that brings people to a place that I think I would imagine opens them up to be so vulnerable with you because of the music that you guys are playing on top of it.
41:17
SPEAKER_01: Not to mention that you're such an easy person to talk to, obviously.
41:20
SPEAKER_01: But it's like that magic combo leads you to have one amazing experience after another the whole time you're away.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: Like I I acknowledge again, any time that that comes up, just like how lucky I am and grateful I am.
41:38
SPEAKER_02: Because it it's it's also, I say that in the same breath, if it's also work, you know?
41:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:43
SPEAKER_02: Where that's the part, those riches that I get back from that are what make the rest of it, the work doable.
41:54
SPEAKER_02: Right.
41:55
SPEAKER_02: You know, getting up and catching a flight, waking up at 4 a.m.
41:58
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
41:58
SPEAKER_02: You know, and catching a flight and flying out and landing and, you know, jumping on a bus and getting on a plane and then doing the show, and you're up for 20 hours by the time it the show is over, and then you go to sleep and you have your alarms going off at 3 a.m.
42:14
SPEAKER_02: because you have the next thing that you have to get to.
42:17
SPEAKER_02: There are a lot of those moments as well where you're in a hotel room and you're by yourself and you're trying to figure out where you're gonna get food from all the things, right?
42:25
SPEAKER_02: And that's to me the part that is the work part.
42:29
SPEAKER_02: And the the payback comes from those moments that you have when you're playing and you're meeting people and you're connecting.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:38
SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's a balance.
42:39
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, anybody who's a musician who's touring, or anybody who's traveling for their job will tell you it's travel's not easy, and that's the part that beats you up and sometimes um takes the toll.
42:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: And for perspective, tell everybody how much you traveled last year.
42:55
SPEAKER_02: I was You were on the road for how many?
42:58
SPEAKER_02: 300 days last year.
42:59
SPEAKER_01: 300 days, you guys.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: Did you hear that?
43:02
SPEAKER_02: Days.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine?
43:04
SPEAKER_02: I am on the road a lot.
43:06
SPEAKER_02: And I also Kat is such a champ.
43:10
SPEAKER_01: Like, shout out to Kat, his amazing wife.
43:13
SPEAKER_01: We love her so much.
43:15
SPEAKER_02: The best.
43:16
SPEAKER_02: Like I can't begin.
43:18
SPEAKER_02: Gosh, that could be a whole nother podcast.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: I know.
43:25
SPEAKER_02: Doing when you're married to somebody who's doing something that I do, playing, traveling, also loves what they do.
43:32
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's not easy.
43:33
SPEAKER_02: And I acknowledge that and recognize that she's a rock star.
43:38
SPEAKER_02: She's way more of a rock star than me, infinitely in all ways.
43:43
SPEAKER_02: But I think that I say that, and I've gotten better over time that I really have to remind myself that it's all doable because I get to do that.
43:56
SPEAKER_02: I could not fathom the challenge of all that traveling and then.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: Doing something you're not aligned with and you don't love.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:04
SPEAKER_02: I could not imagine.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: So that would be so hard, so hard.
44:08
SPEAKER_02: So I try to recognize that a lot and be humbled by it and keep that in perspective because it's really important.
44:15
SPEAKER_01: Um I want I want to make sure we dive into that a little bit before we before we wrap, because so many people are in this inflection point with career.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: And you and I talk about like human design and the, you know, the new paradigm that's on its way and everybody waking up consciously to how loudly their body's communicating with them.
44:37
SPEAKER_01: And when when I say that for everybody listening, that, you know, that's how your intuition is speaking to you.
44:45
SPEAKER_01: It's a felt sense.
44:46
SPEAKER_01: And for everybody, I think that presents differently for everybody.
44:49
SPEAKER_01: I want to know how it presents for you.
44:51
SPEAKER_01: Um but it's like when you think about those inflection points that you've had in career, like what has given you the courage to make the difficult decisions?
45:04
SPEAKER_01: Because I know even with music, there's been ups and downs and times where you've stepped away from working with certain artists and then coming back and always remaining friends.
45:14
SPEAKER_01: But like what gave you the courage to trust that inner knowing, especially when it ha when it was revolving around making a tough decision where potentially people could get hurt, like you didn't know the outcome financially, or like what gave you that courage?
45:37
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
45:38
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I love that question.
45:40
SPEAKER_02: And I immediately think about those points in my life.
45:46
SPEAKER_02: You know, there was a point where when I was playing with one musician, you know, I had to step away from another musician's touring cycle and career in order to fully pursue that other artist and what their journey was.
46:04
SPEAKER_02: It was like one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in the music career because not only did I love the gig and I loved the person, I knew that me stepping away would also take momentum away from that particular situation and a friendship and a brotherhood.
46:24
SPEAKER_02: And but I also knew that I had that same friendship and relationship and sisterhood with the other artist and had played with them, you know, I'd played with the other artist for years and years before that.
46:38
SPEAKER_02: And this was a new challenge in my career that I was really excited for.
46:48
SPEAKER_02: Um it was an opportunity that very few people and very few musicians would get to go on this ride.
46:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, and that was a hard decision to make.
47:00
SPEAKER_04: And it what made me actually make it in the end was that I just had to be clear with myself and honest with myself uh as what I wanted my future to look like.
47:21
SPEAKER_02: And actually, you know, probably when I think about it, it's more of like when I'm I use this all the time.
47:27
SPEAKER_02: When I'm 75 or 80 and I'm sitting on a porch relaxing, would I regret this if I didn't make this decision?
47:35
SPEAKER_02: I I use that as like a check-in a lot when I'm making these decisions.
47:40
SPEAKER_02: And my answer was yeah.
47:41
SPEAKER_02: Like if I didn't take this leap and go fully into this other artist's career and make sure that I had to I had to leave other things behind, I would have regretted that.
47:50
SPEAKER_02: And I'm so glad that I did.
47:51
SPEAKER_02: And I love both these artists equally and was friends with them.
47:54
SPEAKER_02: So it wasn't a matter of like, I like this one better anyway.
47:57
SPEAKER_02: Right.
47:57
SPEAKER_02: I loved them both.
47:58
SPEAKER_03: Right.
47:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, so that was a point, and I think the thing that made me go is like, would I regret this in the future if I don't?
48:06
SPEAKER_02: And I did, and I took the journey, and it was way beyond my wildest imagination.
48:11
SPEAKER_02: The ride for the next two and a half years was unbelievable.
48:15
SPEAKER_02: And it was a rocket ship, and it was all the things as a musician that you are like, I want to one day be on a morning show, I want to be on a late-night show, I want to be on the New Year's Eve ball drop with Ryan Seacrest, and I want to be in a stadium and playing, and we got to do all those things.
48:31
SPEAKER_02: And I want to travel the world and be in Japan playing shows, and we got to do the things.
48:37
SPEAKER_02: Um it was amazing, and it gave me the greatest gift of the lesson of they're all incredible.
48:43
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
48:45
SPEAKER_02: And you still have to find the joy inside.
48:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
48:48
SPEAKER_02: No matter how incredible it is, um, and how high soaring that career jet is going, you still have to make sure that you're getting it from the inside.
48:58
SPEAKER_02: Um So I think when it comes to it, it's like what makes me make the decision is like just being really clear and listening to myself the best that I can.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: Um Do you feel it in your body?
49:14
SPEAKER_01: Like, where does it show up in your body when you know 100%?
49:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
49:17
SPEAKER_01: Like when you know it's your intuition and you know it's the decision, where do where do you feel that in your body?
49:25
SPEAKER_06: Like, does it feel like your gut?
49:27
SPEAKER_02: Does it feel like an all-knowing I feel like it's my whole body and it has to be for me because I have a very logical brain.
49:39
SPEAKER_02: And my logical brain can I'm definitely, I don't know, I forget.
49:43
SPEAKER_02: Right sided?
49:44
SPEAKER_02: Is right side logical?
49:45
SPEAKER_02: Left side creative?
49:46
SPEAKER_02: Or is it the opposite?
49:47
SPEAKER_01: No, I think I think it's right.
49:49
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
49:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
49:50
SPEAKER_02: So whichever side it is, I can I'm really I can probably logic myself out of the way of a lot of things.
49:56
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
49:58
SPEAKER_02: So but when I feel it, I can't.
50:01
SPEAKER_02: It's like it doesn't matter.
50:02
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, cool, that's great.
50:03
SPEAKER_02: Logic can tell me not to do that, and that's okay.
50:08
SPEAKER_02: And my my in something internally in me is like, that's in alignment with your soul and your purpose, and you follow it, and it might be ugly and messy and sticky and all the things, but it's okay.
50:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:24
SPEAKER_02: Because you're in alignment and somewhere down the road, you you will feel it.
50:28
SPEAKER_02: And I feel it.
50:29
SPEAKER_02: I feel it when I'm doing things that I'm in alignment with in my career and in life, you know, it just flows.
50:36
SPEAKER_01: It just it's your whole life is one big example of being in flow and serendipity.
50:42
SPEAKER_01: It it's like so beautiful to watch as your friend.
50:45
SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
50:46
SPEAKER_02: I I am like my I didn't get married till I was 42.
50:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
50:50
SPEAKER_02: And that was just in flow.
50:52
SPEAKER_02: Like I came to Charleston, I needed to take a break from music, so I came here to chill out in 2017 and just was continuing to live my life with acknowledging like I needed, like, okay, I need to make space in my life if I really want to get married, which I did, and I want to have a partner with me to experience all these things.
51:10
SPEAKER_02: And um when I did that, just let it be.
51:15
SPEAKER_02: And I met Kat and we flowed together.
51:19
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, being a touring musician and establishing a concrete relationship is really hard because you need time.
51:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:27
SPEAKER_02: And as a touring artist, you don't have time.
51:30
SPEAKER_02: Then the pandemic hit.
51:32
SPEAKER_02: And we had nothing but time together.
51:35
SPEAKER_02: So I, you know, we got married towards the end of 2018, and 2019 I had a busy career touring, and it was exciting, it's this, and we're building a foundation of our relationship, and then the pandemic hits, and it's like, now we're gonna get that time forced.
51:49
SPEAKER_02: And it was challenging and hard for all the reasons that we all know, but underneath we had the lining of solidifying a relationship that only time could do.
51:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
52:00
SPEAKER_02: So I was gifted that and would have never had that five years prior or even now, in that year and a half together with no touring, no travel, um, was a gift.
52:13
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
52:14
SPEAKER_02: For a relationship.
52:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can only imagine.
52:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
52:17
SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, I just feel like I try to keep life as uh as in well, for lack of a better word, intuitive as possible.
52:28
SPEAKER_02: Um I know life is complicated and it's hard, and there's so many challenges, and it's not easy.
52:34
SPEAKER_02: I would never say it's easy, but when you're in flow, it feels amazing.
52:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
52:40
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's obvious by anybody who knows you that it feels amazing.
52:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
52:44
SPEAKER_01: Just watching it.
52:45
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you a few more like rapid fire questions.
52:48
SPEAKER_01: How do you stay connected to and lead with your heart through your life?
52:54
SPEAKER_01: Because you do that so clearly in all your relationships.
52:57
SPEAKER_06: Like, what helps you continue to be so open-hearted?
53:06
SPEAKER_04: I know they're rapid fire.
53:07
SPEAKER_02: I'm not a very rapid fire.
53:08
SPEAKER_02: That's okay.
53:09
SPEAKER_02: Take your dive.
53:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, okay, what I a sense of joy is probably the simplest way I could answer it.
53:16
SPEAKER_02: Like, I find if it if it has a sense of joy, then it feels like I'm leading with my heart.
53:24
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
53:24
SPEAKER_05: What about what helps you listen to your intuition on a daily basis?
53:34
SPEAKER_05: I would say being present.
53:43
SPEAKER_02: Because if I'm present, I can feel what my body is telling me.
53:48
SPEAKER_02: Um and trying to zoom out a lot and keep perspective.
53:55
unknown: Yeah.
53:56
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I love that.
53:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you could go to any concert to any musician, dead or alive, tomorrow, anywhere in the world, where would you go and who would it be?
54:08
SPEAKER_02: Whoa.
54:09
SPEAKER_01: I know.
54:10
SPEAKER_01: That one's a G Z for a musician.
54:12
SPEAKER_02: Oh, um tomorrow, if I can go to a show and a concert.
54:23
SPEAKER_02: It would be I would go see the band live again in their original form.
54:29
SPEAKER_02: Um and I I say that because when I was a freshman or sophomore in college, I want to say it was a freshman, I a buddy of mine on the floor, it must have been a freshman, because on the dorm floor was like, hey, I got tickets to go see a show at the Stone Pony in New Jersey.
54:48
SPEAKER_02: And I knew nothing about the band.
54:49
SPEAKER_02: He's like, it's a band called Live, and I went, and it was under the big top, which holds hundreds of people.
54:55
SPEAKER_02: And there were probably 35 of us there.
54:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
54:59
SPEAKER_02: And it was empty.
55:02
SPEAKER_02: And live took the the band live took the stage and performed like they were at Madison Square Garden.
55:07
SPEAKER_03: Oh my God.
55:08
SPEAKER_02: And again, that was just another lesson as a musician, as an artist.
55:12
SPEAKER_02: Like, give it your all every single time.
55:15
SPEAKER_02: And we were talking earlier in this podcast, and it's like, I think of two things.
55:19
SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm gifted to be behind this, doing this thing, behind this drum set, and I never know if it will be my last time doing it.
55:28
SPEAKER_02: And these guys played like it was their last time ever getting behind their instruments and like the most important and incredible show of their life.
55:36
SPEAKER_02: And that stuck with me.
55:38
SPEAKER_02: Fast forward, they're playing, you know, at Madison Square Garden.
55:41
SPEAKER_02: I got to see them years later, and they did Woodstock.
55:44
SPEAKER_02: So I think I would like to see that again.
55:47
SPEAKER_02: I would like to experience that again.
55:49
SPEAKER_02: And gosh, I love that band.
55:51
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that so much.
55:54
SPEAKER_01: Okay, last question.
55:55
SPEAKER_01: What if you gave any, you know, the listeners, if you had any advice for them for how to trust themselves and their intuition more, what would you say?
56:13
SPEAKER_05: Get quiet and really honest with yourself.
56:19
SPEAKER_02: I think if you can do that, you'll start to hear your soul, your intuition, whatever you want to call it, your purpose, your God-given universal purpose, whatever you call it.
56:34
SPEAKER_02: If you get quiet and really honest, I think you'll start to hear it.
56:39
SPEAKER_02: And the more you hear it, it's like anything else.
56:42
SPEAKER_02: I feel like it's the easier to tap into.
56:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
56:45
SPEAKER_01: It's like a muscle.
56:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
56:47
SPEAKER_01: Where can everybody find you?
56:50
SPEAKER_01: You play so many shows.
56:51
SPEAKER_01: I want them to come see you.
56:53
SPEAKER_02: So I would say the easiest way to find me is my Instagram, which is Craig Meyer Steakhouse.
57:01
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
57:01
SPEAKER_02: Uh as a pescatarian, I do not meet meet or own a steakhouse.
57:07
SPEAKER_02: But uh someone many years ago thought it would be when it we thought Instagram was a passing phase, yeah.
57:14
SPEAKER_02: Like MySpace and all the other things.
57:16
SPEAKER_02: It would be ironic if my name was Craig Meyer Steakhouse.
57:21
SPEAKER_02: And I never thought it would stick around in a million years and I just kept it and probably too lazy to change it.
57:27
SPEAKER_02: And people legit I live in Charleston and they're like, hey, I've gotten this DM before.
57:33
SPEAKER_02: Hey, we're in Charleston.
57:34
SPEAKER_02: Can we come to your steakhouse?
57:36
SPEAKER_02: Like, where is it?
57:37
SPEAKER_02: Where can we come find it?
57:40
SPEAKER_02: I just think it's it's now become weird enough when I tell somebody that it sticks in their head.
57:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, totally.
57:45
SPEAKER_02: So that's where you can find me.
57:47
SPEAKER_02: That's where I post what I'm up to.
57:50
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
57:50
SPEAKER_02: Whether I'm in the studio making records or getting to record meditations with you, which is awesome.
57:55
SPEAKER_02: And hopefully you guys will hear some of those.
57:57
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
57:57
SPEAKER_02: To traveling uh with all the wonderful artists that I get to play with.
58:02
SPEAKER_01: Okay, amazing.
58:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you guys gotta follow Craig because he he plays all over the world, as you can hear.
58:08
SPEAKER_01: So you'll have to go to his shows.
58:10
SPEAKER_01: And Craig, thank you for being here.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: This was just the best.
58:13
SPEAKER_02: I feel grateful and uh like honored.
58:15
SPEAKER_02: Your questions were awesome.
58:17
SPEAKER_02: Um it's it's nice to kind of sit down and talk about this stuff.
58:23
SPEAKER_01: It's so important.
58:24
SPEAKER_01: You're the best.
58:25
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
58:25
SPEAKER_01: All right, guys.
58:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, we'll see you in the next episode.
58:28
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.