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Travie McCoy- Gym Class Heroes · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: Listener discretion is advised.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mike.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mic.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you a little bit about my next guest.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: If you had a MySpace page in the early 2000s, it is very likely that one of my next guest songs was your profile song, maybe even New Friend Request.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Ladies and gentlemen, I am so excited to welcome the one and only Travby McCoy of Gym Class Heroes to the show, and he's sporting the Ultimate Warrior right now.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Travi, how the hell are you, man?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm good.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: How are you?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: I am so introduction.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: He ran in, he shook the ropes, he made it go.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Rest in peace.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: To you, dubs.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: Dude, I tell you, where the hell is time gone, man?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: Does it really feel like paper cut chronicles is 20 years ago?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it made it made the sum, but it doesn't to me, and that's all that matters to me.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I just turned 44, bro.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Which sounds crazy to say.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that means this album came out at my midway point.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like right when I was having a midlife crisis.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do you feel like because of social media and maybe even being accelerated by the pandemic, that your concept of time has like Oh, absolutely.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Bro, there something happened.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Something happened.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm not really big on conspiracy theories.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm lying.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: I've I'd be not really big on conspiracy theories, but I think I'm I'm a firm believer that COVID was not uh it wasn't a coincidence.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel that the way we felt after COVID wasn't coincidence either.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: I f I don't know what went on.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know what went on for me during COVID and a lot of other people, but I feel like I feel like the CD skipped a couple tracks type shit.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of weird because you look on you look online speaking of conspiracy theories, you look at things like Mandela effects and the whole 22012 shit, and you're like, man, there there is, it does feel like there was a hiccup in time at some point or another.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: I agree 100%.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I will say uh it uh it worked in my favor because I look as good as I did when I was 22.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, shout out to the bandela in fact, shout out to COVID.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm just kidding.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, let's well, let's take it back.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Let's let's talk origin story a little bit.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: You and Matt famously met in gym class, which inspired the band's name.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Looking back, did you have any idea that those early jam sessions would evolve into something that became so culturally impactful?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot of people would lie to you and say no.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna keep it a buck fifty with you and say no.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: But just for a simple fact, like, but I will say this.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't, I didn't, I mean, when you say culturally culturally impactful, I wasn't thinking, you know, uh I wasn't thinking that far ahead.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I I played chess and I'm I'm pretty damn good, but I wasn't I wasn't thinking that far ahead.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I just wanted to make my friends and the people in my small town of Geneva, New York, uh I wanna the paper cut chronicles is one big inside joke if if if for the people that don't know.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it it's it's as as much as I thought it was just for Geneva, New York, where I grew up, it's it's a big inside joke for anybody who grew up in a small town and knew they were too big for it.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like in their it like they knew that that fishbowl was too small, you know?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um But as we started to to to like di delve into making the album and and making more um uh more original material, I I I knew at a very early age that there wasn't a lot of music out that sounded like what we were doing, you know?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that gave me the that gave me the uh the wavels or the cojones to to be like, you know, like I I know we have something to offer, you know?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and I and I wore that on my chest, like you know, I I I I I knew I knew we had something.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know if it'd be, you know, culturally affect if it would affect the culture, but I knew my hometown would get it, and I knew that eventually the world would if they stuck around a little bit and they stuck around, you know.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the things that I loved about you guys when you first broke out on the scene as somebody that was playing in punk bands and rock bands myself at the time was you brought all of us that were heads out into the out into the open because you guys were like hip hop for the warp tour scene, and I absolutely loved that.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: We weren't necessarily for the warp tour scene.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: We were accepted by the warp tour scene, you know what I'm saying?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and um without without without catering to the warp tour scene.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I mean yeah, I agree with that.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: I see I see a lot of I I see a lot of uh artist um I don't want to say switch up, but like catering.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh nostalgia's coming back.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let me let me do something that you know let me do some shit that that may appeal to this crowd, but we never did anything to try to appeal to that crowd.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you oh some people would argue and say, well, they made Taxi Driver and you know they named all these Indian emo.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: But like I give two shits if those if any of those bands heard that song, you know what I mean, or if any of any of them gave a fuck about that song.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: All I knew is that I was shitting on the toilet one day reading AP, and I'm like, there's some very strange band names, you know what I mean?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and it started making this whole whole narrative in my head.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, when I went, I wrote it and and recorded it, my friends that have no idea what AP is, who have no idea who what Warp Tour is, I spit to them, they're like, damn, like you're spitting.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: And they had no idea that entire song was all band names, you know?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So like the fact that it it uh it struck a chord with them without knowing, and then my friends who knew every single band, it blew their brains.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: But the fact that it worked on on both ends without me having to explain anything, that that to me, I was like, all right, cool.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So like I mean that that could be some people's argument to say, oh, well, they they catered and uh like because I I got I got I I have I got I have I have family, and I want to say fan, yeah, I'll call them family.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Family with uh with the who have serves who have served football numbers, I swear it could never who would never be able to tell you who every time I die is or my chemical romance is, but to them it's still uh a a narrative story that they can follow, you know what I'm saying?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's kind of goes to the exact point I was actually maybe maybe I misspoke or misdirected a little bit, but that goes to the exact point I was trying to make.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's like you you brought something to the masses that maybe wasn't familiar and carved your own place in the culture, which I absolutely loved.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate that so much.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Gym Class Heroes has always blended hip hop, rock, funk, reggae in a way that felt ahead of its time.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: So, how do you see that sound evolving as you re-enter the scene in 2025?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was just literally just having a conversation uh with one of my managers, Matt, and we were talking about how much uh these lines lines have been blurred over the years, you know, since we were playing Warp Tour, and since before we were playing Warp Tour, um how like and one of one of one of my uh one of my uh examples was you know, Brooks and Dunn come out, right?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And do a whole ass show, but their first three songs, if you take, if you take their vocals out, they sound like fucking trippy red songs, you know what I mean?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you take that dung a ling ding dang, you take that shit out, it sounds like it'd be a whole ass trippy red song.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So what does that say?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it says a lot.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um aside from that, like we never set out to break any boundaries or you know, if anything, I just wanted to I wanted to make it easier for uh for kids of color who were just as into that scene as I was growing up to not feel as exiled and and feel like they had to fight to be there as much as I did.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that's I feel like that's dissipating day by day, you know what I mean?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and it should it should never have been a thing to begin with, you know what I'm saying?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like it should never been like music is fucking music.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever feels it, feels it.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like there should be no fucking color barriers, there be should be no line, you know there should be no lines drawn, you know what I'm saying?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that I remember going to warp tour when I was younger and and you know in Buffalo and and uh watching body count play and then looking over and seeing a whole group of fucking racist, you know, white supremacist skinheads dancing the dancing, like like moshing to body count, but also like trying to fight black kids.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you know, ice tea's black, right?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what the fuck is going on here?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is going on?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I that's that's in my that's when it and and mind you, I'm 14, 15 years old at the time.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, something has to change.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I think things have changed for the better, for the better, you know.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't I don't think I I think I think music should be boundless.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it should be genreless.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think it should be I I I don't I I don't like boxes.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I never have.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean gym class heroes is a huge social experiment in not falling into boxes or you know, being placed into them.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I'm just happy and glad that uh if anything, we were a part in breaking down those barriers to let those kids know it was okay, you know?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, you know what's hilarious about you talking about that.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: I swear I've brought it up in every single episode, the last 10 episodes that I've done.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Is you know, as much as we want to shit on streaming and the bad payouts that streaming has, one silver lining with streaming services is you talk to this younger generation, music truly is borderless now.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Kids don't look at music as genre, they just look at music as music, and a lot of times these playlists are curated not by genre, but more by mood.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so it plays exactly to what you were saying.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: And when you look at the and when you look at some of those artists on those on some of those playlists, you're like, why are they why are they in the same playlist?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: But does it matter?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: It should never matter because if the vibe's right, the music's right, why does it matter for black or white?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Bars.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Ah I'm glad we got that on recording.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: So this year, there was an introduction into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: How badass was that, man?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was crazy.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was, I mean, I mean, the I So let me preface it by saying this.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: I had the um, how do I put uh because this I have to I have to state this the right way.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I had the honor, I I don't want to say privilege, I want to say I had the honor to be a part of the Beastie Boys induction into the rock and roll hall of fame.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I got to be at rock for a night, and it was probably one of the dopest points of my career.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um and for me, that night in Rochester was if not comparable, like it was up there, you know, like like for sure, for sure.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um when we get to do Cleveland, that's another thing.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: But my mind's not my mind's not even on that right now.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: The fact that we were inducted into a Hall of Fame that was close to home, and you know, it was voted by the people close to home, that means the world to me.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: And oh man.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to shout out to big uncle Jimmy Richmond, who who was a part of uh, he actually performed me that night.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And uh Jimmy was a part of uh uh a legacy um of you know like groups that were coming up in in my area during my dad's high school days.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: My dad used to go to see Jimmy play at at uh you know dances and during his days, during his high school days and stuff.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: So to perform with Jimmy Um while I was being inducted into the Rock, I don't say I, as Jim Class was being inducted into the Rockstar's Music Music Hall of Fame, was it was beyond it was like a it was it felt like a fever dream, man.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: For real, for real.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: It did.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: So in a in a midst of full circle moments, did you ever imagine something like that happening whenever you were first starting out?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I honestly like I I say this too much, but to keep it a Milwaukee book, like, bro, I I just I just wanted to make again I just wanted to make music that my friends like and and maybe go home with a fine hine, you know what I mean?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like all I wanted.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't ask for mutts, you know?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: I don't ask for mutts.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: I love it, I love it.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: So 14-year hiatus, over a decade since the last gym class heroes record, what ultimately sparked the decision to reunite and create new music?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: As much as it as it seemed as uh a hiatus, uh there was a lot of politics going on, like internal, um, external um label situations, management situations.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of shit that that fans of music don't necessarily get to see or need to see, you know what I mean?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: That will that were going on.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: So um I guess making or creating gym class heroes music never stopped.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Never stopped.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and as you guys will see, when you get this in when you get this influx of GCH in your ass, like and I hope it cleans your colon for the better.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: But but what I'm saying is like um it never stopped, you know.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: I and and never slept better kind of was a way for me to um I don't want to say disassociate, but like kind of like take a step away from everything that was happening, you know, like um that I wasn't ready for and focus on making shit that I thought was dope and then putting it out to people who I thought would think it was dope, you know.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: So let me first let me say shout out to Hopeless for believing in that album and and and doing what they doing what they do and and getting it out to the people and shout out to my my brother Jared uh Christine who I I produced that album with and um a lot of the joints had the original gym class lineup on, which is fucking priceless to me.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um but there was there was uh you know there came a point where it was just like what are we doing this for?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like like you know, and and like I said, everything I mentioned before kind of came into play.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was like we're all kind of like like coming into adulthood, um, trying to understand how to manage our business ourselves, as well as uh you know, um feeling okay with telling our management, our label we're not cool with that.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know a lot of people don't learn to build those uh those gonads to say, nah, I'm not cool with that, you know.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like I don't, you know, and and or or or furthermore, like I mean there were situations where there were songs where you know I I you know I mean I'm again I just turned 44, you know, so there's times where I would you know be a little overtly sexual and they'd be like, uh you can't say that.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, who the fuck are you to tell me?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm right 30, I'm 35 years old.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: I can't say I like having sex.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, the fuck, you know what I'm saying?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, there's there's like little things like that where I started noticing, like, oh, they want to keep us cubist gym, they want to keep us cubist chokehold gym class, but they forget that I was 19 or 20 when I wrote that song, you know what I mean?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um and I wasn't a Disney I wasn't a Disney kid, no disrespect to Disney kids, but uh but my life was different, you know, and my life is different, and my music has always always reflected that.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And when you have somebody telling you that you can't you you can't do something or you can't speak your truth, shit gets ugly, you know?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so I had to deal with the ugliest ugliness for a little while.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so again, in in with in in that time, we put out Never Slept Better.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's my second solo record.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I I before that and after that, remained making gym class heroes tunes, you know what I'm saying?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Love it, love it.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: But you know what I I love even more is the fact you're kind of in a season of life, like a lot of us guys, our age, where creative control is really important, boundaries are really important, and like resilience.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of your new work, um, it's said to explore themes of resilience and transformation.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Can you kind of share a personal moment or turning point that shaped kind of your creative direction, your new direction with gym class and um Never Slept Better or any of your creative works?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I could I could tell you, I mean, I even had to think about it the minute you said that.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, uh, there's a song on Never Slept Better called A Spoonful of Cinnamon.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I had never met my biological grandfather.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm my mother f I'm I'm my mother's firstborn, and my mother's from a very, very small town in in uh Georgia, Jessup, Georgia.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's on the Otamaha River, very, very small town.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you know uh being pregnant with uh uh being pregnant with a biracial kid.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: was not the lick down there, you know what I mean?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: In in 1981 or 80 or 81, whatever.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um so needless to say, uh my mom kind of got she kind of got disowned, you know, and um my grandfather didn't want anything to do with me.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh which was it was a hard pill to swallow when I want, when I when I'd asked my mom where I know, I know, I know this grandpa, I know this grandma, I know this grandma, but where's grand, where's this grandpa, you know, and and she tried to lay it on me as as as cool as she could but uh as I as I matured I realized what it was you know and a lot of animosity came with that you know a lot of a lot of internal like but also a lot of it it's fucked up because a lot of self-hate came with it too like I mean it's it it gets so it gets so dynamic you know like um but right before COVID and and for years my grandfather had been reaching out to my mother like hey you know I really I really want to make things right with Trav.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: And in the beginning I was like fuck that like you like you didn't want to meet me you want to meet me now because I'm I'm gym class Trav you know I mean you see me on TV and now you want to meet me and that's that's the way my ignorant brain was thinking you know what I'm saying and and we be ignorant and remiss to think that people don't change you know yes and I felt that way for a long time a very long time and I believe it was my my grandfather's 81st birthday right before COVID or 80th or 81st birthday and I was like in my head I'm like he doesn't have that much time left I need to meet this man before I'm out of here or before he's out of here you know so I I I decided to make a trip down to Jessup Georgia on the Otamaha River in the middle of Georgia.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean this is Sundowntown we talking about like they got three paved roads like one they got one liquor store with a drive-thru you know what I'm saying like some shit I ain't never seen in my life but I I'll never forget I I decided to go down there in the morning my car came to bring me down there I'm in my I had been up for three hours just chain smoking cigarettes like should I do this should I do this should I do this I'm like I have to I have to and I did it and I was telling my my my driver on the way because I had to I had to fly in the and I I'll make I'll try to compact compact this um I had to drive from Savannah I flew into Savannah and then it was like a a two hour drive from Savannah to get to Jessup.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's how deep it is in Georgia.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow so I was telling my my driver about why I was here and what I was doing and we cried together and we got we finally got to my my grandfather's place and she was like do you want me to walk with you and I was like I think I'll be good and then I'm getting out of the car I'm like uh you think you can walk with me but the craziest part is like so I I walk up to this you know I walk up to this uh this porch and I and I can see the silhouette of this man who's just as tall as me it looked like I was looking at my own shadow like for real for real like and he's pacing and I walk up and I get into light and I shit you not I felt like I was looking at myself at 80 years old like oh wow it was it was yeah I I got I I got I got chicken bumps just thinking about the shit like like and uh there for two seconds we just we we stared at each other for a couple minutes we hugged each other and the first thing he said to me was I'm sorry and I fell apart like I completely fell apart um I spent the next week and a half with him he told me stories he showed me like my my my mother's side of the family's like all the the the graveyards some some of the some of the the gravestones went back to the like mid 1800s I'm like what the fuck there's a there's a uh a a general store in my my mother's maiden's name maiden name my mother's maiden name that's been there for ages that's still there um and this is all shit that I wouldn't have never known had I been stubborn and said you know fuck that dude you know people don't change you know and I'm so so glad I went down there because it literally not only was that a closed chapter for me because he passed away not too long after that trip oh wow um but it rem it remind it it it it it was a it was one it was like a God wing to me like hey like this shit is bigger than you you know it's bigger than you and I feel like a lot of what transpired during that trip not only came out in that record but um it changed my tri trajectory on what I think or I thought was important about talking about in my music you know what I mean that's exactly what I was gonna go with it whenever you know you compare and contrast your earlier work with what the stuff that you're doing now do you find that these personal experiences influence your work more now than what it did when you were just starting out absolutely absolutely again like like just reiterate um in the beginning I was just trying to crack jokes and get pussy like and and um but in doing that it somehow it clicked because there was a lot of motherfuckers out there trying to do the same thing.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: But um it it definitely it made things more introspective like very I mean I've been an open book my whole life I mean whether it's you know me being you know open about my my my past struggles with addiction or my past relationships or you know the death of my dog like I I've I mean I haven't been candid about anything.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um so to be open about some shit that I've never talked about which is like you know like me kind of being uh shunned by my mother's side of the family for a long time um it's healing man like this and it's and music has always been healing for me is this is this is yeah this is before I could afford a therapist this is what I had you know this is all I had it's all I had bro I feel that in so many ways that's like I I tell the people tell people the same exact thing about doing this podcast it's like this is like daily therapy sessions for me getting to listen to somebody else's story and then kind of share that quid quo back and forth with somebody about it is is being of service you know it's the shit they they teach you in A I mean I I don't agree with everything they teach you in A and I've never been a uh I've never been a Bible thumper um but I've learned from each and every aspect you know like um I've spent time in those rooms and I've learned a lot I've I've spent time in church and I've learned a lot I've spent time with with some of my you know fentanyl junkie friends and I've learned a lot you know um at the end of the day like we get one chance to experience this human experience you know I mean what they say they say we get one chance um and I just want to make this shit I just want to make mine worthwhile and if I can help anybody else get through it I'll do that you know at any at any expense you know like I I've I feel like I've seen and and done more than most I want to say most than a lot most is pushing it like I've seen more and done more than a lot and um that's why I used to get you I used to get so bummed out about going home and so what was it like was like I'm like is it was the same same shit I told you last time then I got to a point where I was like fuck it just come out here on the road with me so you can see this shit.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm tired of telling y'all this shit but but then I realized like you might get another experience than I do you know what I'm saying like and yeah yeah so like I at this point I'd rather show people than tell them but now I'm learning how to show them by telling them if that makes any sense.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that makes perfect sense it makes perfect sense hold on hold on time can we take two seconds why did I think there was a whole ass person behind you watching us what is just a fake Michael Myers right now bruh I was like I don't know I don't know who your homie is but this motherfucker ain't moved this whole entire podcast love it love it hey it may it's probably the tism tisming but like I was like homie ain't moved in a long time bro like maybe just maybe maybe I'm just not that that uh enthusiastic dude but it's the dead body I keep in the podcast studio I thought it was your homeboy I thought it was like a like an engineer or something oh shit but no man with with with all this new uh gym class stuff we're gonna get inundated with are there is there songs that feel like a bridge between the old material and the new material and are there gonna be any surprises with the storytelling um you know what I've I've always been in it it it was it was a hard pill to swallow the first time I was told uh Jonathan Daniel from Crush Management always told me he said Trav like the one thing that's gonna set you apart from any other rapper on this planet is your storytelling and it's because it's not because it he said one is because you're a great storyteller but it's two because no one else can tell your story but you know and that's stuck with me a lot like forever but it was also like I felt the day he told me that I was given like this great responsibility to be you know very very uh eloquent and make sure everybody knows everything then I'm like there's some things I gotta keep to my fucking self you know what I mean like there are some things I need to keep myself but uh with that said like like so the last time people heard of a full-length gym class heroes album was 12 13 14 years ago yeah yeah so we're talking stereo hearts ass back home you know songs like that so 14 years ago I was 34 years old which means I was 10 years younger than I was before before 10 years is a huge gap to live and learn you know especially with all the shit that we've had to deal with in those those 10 years you know I mean so are is it is it still gym class shows absolutely um has my life changed ridiculously um have the stories changed I mean they're still from my perspective but absolutely like you know I mean I a lot can happen in 10 years you know I I was I was married I was divorced uh I I I mean I I was at an all-time low and I I climbed out of it like I have a million times.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean there's a lot of shit that's transpired in 10 years.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: COVID happened you know like back to what I was saying earlier I met my grandfather for for the first time I spent a couple weeks with him and he and he passed away but I learned so much from him in those the that time I did spend with him it closed a chapter in my life that was really really bringing me down I think not not not necessarily bringing me down but like keeping me from you know like being the best me I can be and beyond that like reconnecting with uh those cool uncles you know I mean that that I remember as a kid uh who shout out to my uncle Joey and rest in peace to my uncle Chris like they they were my mom's brothers who they weren't uh they didn't think like my papa thought back then you know they were like this is my sister's son so we gotta show him you know like like as as the cool uncles how the fuck to get down I learned all my dirty joke jokes from my my uncle Chris and I learned how to you know I mean like change a fucking catalytic converter from Uncle Joey you know what I'm saying like so and and I learned I learned uh uh uh about Metallica through those uncles so um yeah there's a lot of shit there's a lot of shit that can change and and and it'll change as an artist it'll change your uh trajectory because I I've always been again about storytelling but also about being very very very transparent you know what I'm saying and um with everything that's happened to me with within you know the took 12 13 14 years since you guys have heard of Jim class heard of gym class or from gym class um I've also learned ways to express that you know without feeling like I'm trying to rehash what made people fall in love with Jim class you know oh I love that I love that you mentioned stereo hearts your career's been filled with a ton of powerful collaborations everybody from Bruno Mars Adam Levine Busta Rhimes to our mutual friend DJ abilities um are there any new dream collaborations or um that you haven't done yet that you'd like to oh for sure for sure um I mean I can I can I can give you a list I mean there's a there's a a there's a bunch that have have been done that have just never seen the day of light or light of the day of light the light of day um which I won't speak on because maybe they will but um one of my one of my huge dream collaborate collaborations was to do a song with Sisla who's one of my favorite reggae dancer artists who I mean Sisla has been I I guess since since art school I mean I'm I'm talking 2002 2000 2003 like he has been a guiding light for me you know him and his music have been a big been a guiding light and uh he was in he was on tour in Sweden a few years back and he was his manager put out a uh tweet saying hey you know I'm in Sweden oh god I'm looking at this fucking this goddamn this goddamn shit freaking me out now anyways so so Sisler was in Sweden and he's like hey you know I'm doing features blah blah PayPal this that the and my boy who shout to Andy Price he's a producer of Sweden he's like yo Sisler's in Sweden he's doing features uh blah blah blah send your PayPal this that and third so I sent him the money and he sent me the tracks the stems this that and third and not only did he he didn't he didn't just send a hook he he sent a a beautiful hook over old school you know reggae dub plate love it and but he did two verses he sent and and not only were not only were the hooks amazing he didn't just fly the hooks he did a hook he did the second hook with more emphasis on salabu and then he did two verses and like here you go that's what you paid for and I'm like so now I have these stems and I'm but I'm gonna make this beautiful song but I'd rather send it to him and be like hey let's meet up in the studio and do this together because I I'm not with the shoot me your shit I'll do my shirt shoot it I hate that shit.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: So um yeah so I'm gonna do my best to make this song um everything I dreamt of my collaboration to be with Sisla and then I'm gonna send to him and hopefully we can meet up and and make things things happen but um if there was anyone else I'd I'd want to collab with or or do anything with I mean there's not a huge list but LP from run the jewels has been one of my favorite scenes forever.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: LP and I have done a couple joints together that I've never never seen the light of day but I know him and I it'll just take a day for him and I to get in the studio and make some shit happen.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: But um there's also a lot of artists out there who I'm obsessed with right like right for right now I'm obsessed with uh my homie Demigo who is I I think is one of the so Domingo uh he's from Houston he's a mexicana uh kid and he he he literally it's just him acoustic guitar and like 808 drums and he just sings his heart out like sings his heart out and uh I already know him and I are gonna do some beautiful shit together.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: As far as cats you guys may know of who I want to collaborate with uh I mean I I love Mick Jenkins I'm obsessed with Mick Jenkins um there's also artists like uh Cal Yuchis who who I think is amazing and I think her and I could do some wild shit together.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: But then like even I mean it's it's not even like back in the early gym class days for me to say some shit like this would be like no but like I would love to do some shit with Chaperon like I I fuck with Chaperon heavy I think I think me and Chaperon would do some wild shit together like for real for real like and and and to even say that and and to know that it's not that like out of you know like that can never happen is bugged out to me you know yeah it's really bugged out to me to to think that like you know like I I I can you know I know that we do some shit but like it may happen you know it could happen.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a lot of there's a lot of artists out there who I feel uh who else can I think of I would love to hear like because because you both of you guys have such great dynamic wordplay you and brother Ali on a track together yo you want to hear some wild shit yes I'll tell you so I bro like so I've been I bro I've toured with I I've toured with Atmosphere on on warp tour I took POS out on our first uh on our first headline tour um so I've been very tapped in with Rhyme Sayers for years obviously I took uh you know abilities out on my my solo tours yeah um as well as gym class tours but randomly maybe a month ago I get a DM from brother Ali and he's like yo like what's good I'm like why did this take so long like you know what I'm saying like and and I I mean to to I guess to just like he was just like trust the process and I said you know what I've been trusting it and that's that's probably why this happened you know what I mean like and I I've been a brother Ali fan forever and we we had you know like we had I haven't spoken to him in in a couple weeks but like the the conversation conversation we had through DM was and he was sending me voice notes so it wasn't just like texting I could hear his voice and you know brother brother Ali got that real deep you know I'm saying like hey bro like you gotta respect that type of that type of tone you know I mean like and I respected him like big bro you know what I'm saying like and uh we had a we had a really great conversation man and actually after after we're done with this I'm gonna tap in with him again but that's that's one I would love to see as well absolutely I would love to see as well um but there's another one like I don't think people would even expect but um you said brother Ali I was thinking right before you said brother Ali I was uh hold on this guy I fuck with Jesse I think Jesse Reyes is Jesse Reyes is amazing but there is uh shocky ducky quack quack um there's a RB singer uh Amber Mark who I have been listening to nonstop if you get a chance check her out like she She is outta here.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: She's outta here.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um I can see that happening.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've always been a huge fan of Georgia Smith.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um but this would be the ultimate.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully I'm putting this in the ether for a reason.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you heard of of a band called Krungbin or not.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: I am obsessed with Krumbin.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so there are times where I'll just put on Krungbin in my studio for hours and just write, like free write.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like just because a lot of this stuff is is instrumental, you know what I mean?
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then I get done and I'm like, fuck.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know what I mean?
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why isn't that my band?
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: Not my band, but like, like, why did we come up with that fucking you mean now now I gotta figure out a way to finangle these words around another fucking beat?
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I've spent so much time writing to them to the point where I feel like if we didn't do something together, it'd be blasphemy, you know?
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, there's a lot of there's a lot of artists, um, not just like, you know, like features, but just like group efforts that I would love to do, you know.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_02: So what do you hope the next generation takes away from gym class heroes and your work, both from the past and from the new era?
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: B you.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds it sounds so simple and maybe cliche, but be you, like, we're given we're given like very, very articulate and and you know what I mean, like one of one fingerprints and thumbprints for a reason, because there can only be one us.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, like we we we all live our lives.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um we all have different stories to tell.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: Some tell them more eloquently than others, some tell, you know what I mean?
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: Some some people settle and and and and realize that there's they realize what they love earlier than most, but just be you, like be you, and you can't lose.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: You really can't.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because as much and and and and this is why you can't lose.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's because if you're authentically yourself, especially in the age we live in right now, it's so easy for people to realize who's trying to be who, you know?
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, does that make sense?
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like absolutely wholeheartedly.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, he's trying to be so-and-so, you know, and I always go back and shout to Slay Bembery.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe to connect, maybe not, but we're giving these for a fucking reason, man.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: For a reason.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, dude.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I use uh I use a phrase whenever I'm leading people, and it's like you are an individual, but so is everybody else, and the world's a better place if you recognize that.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, can can you can you can you uh take what you just said and send it to me in a text?
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_02: Oh I'll send it.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'll send it to you.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_02: I we're friends on Instagram.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'll sh I'll shoot you an Instagram.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_02: Say it to me one more time, though.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_02: It felt so good.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_02: Say it one more time.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um you are an individual, but so is everybody else, and the world's a better place when you realize that.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I think you just solved it, bro.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if only we can get the rest of the world to think like you, we'd be alright.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: We'd be alright.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_02: Which brings me to what normally is my closing question, but I think you kind of asked it.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_02: What's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today based on your experiences?
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: Would I be a doink if I just said you just answered that for me?
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: You got it.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: I love it, dude.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_02: Travi, man.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we've been we've been connected through Instagram for a few years now, and uh, I I'm really fortunate to say I I'm glad that we're actually friends in real life now.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: And uh dude, I'm a I'm a forever friend like Chucky.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can't get rid of me, mother.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like the herpes.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like the herpes.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_02: Shit, bro.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_02: Anytime you ever want to come back and do this podcast again, like the door is open for you, my friend.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_02: The world's a much better place with you in it.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: You have no choice in that matter because, like I said, once you once you call yourself a friend of mine to the end, I'm like the herpes.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_00: I will come back to visit you when you lease expect and remind you that you remind that you told me that I was your friend.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_01: Anything else you want to plug or any last comments before we uh wrap up?
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like plugging anything but booty holes, but I mean like I would like to say shout out to raw material, shout out to you for having me on the platform, you know what I'm saying?
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_00: Shout out to uh Savannah Bananas, you know what I'm saying?
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: We about to get in there real soon.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um shout out to uh shout out to my dog Lolo, shout out to my dog Thalo, oh sorry, Panda.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know I'm forgetting mad people, but it don't matter.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: They know I love them.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I just want to say shout out to the real ones.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, as again, as cliche and and redundant as it may sound, like, there aren't many out there, and I feel like you're one of them, you know what I'm saying?
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like you know what I what I'm saying when I say that, you know?
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, brother.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_02: The world's a much better place with you and it, my guy.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_02: Likewise.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_02: I laughed so much while recording that episode.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_02: Travi is one of my favorites, he has been for a long time.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure you follow him at Travy McCoy on Instagram, at Gym Class Heroes on Instagram.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_02: There's a whole bunch of new GCH music coming soon.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_02: I cannot wait to have Travi on again or run into him in the real world.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_02: It was a real fucking conversation.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_02: I can't say that enough.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_02: Big shout out to my friend Nate at Impulse Artist for helping facilitate this episode.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure you're following me at Caught on the Mike on all social media platforms.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_02: Subscribe to my YouTube channel.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_02: I cannot say that enough.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_02: If you are listening to this audio only version of this podcast, go watch a couple of video versions.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_02: It is a whole new world whenever you check it out.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_02: You can also visit me www.codonthemic.com.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_02: I love that you're here.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for being here.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_02: This has been Caught on the Mike with Michael Clark.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Michael Clark.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_02: Till next time, thank you.