Latest / Recovering Out Loud / Suicide, Addiction and Recovery: The Struggles of being an Artist in Recovery
Transcript
- 0:01Welcome to Recovering a Loud podcast.
- 0:03The opinions expressed here are those of the individuals and not
- 0:06of any organization. The best question that I get to
- 0:18ask myself whenever I feel like that, those kind of envious
- 0:20thoughts, it's like, am I willing to do the work and the
- 0:24sacrifices that it took? Yeah.
- 0:26Do I do I really want this persons life or do I just want
- 0:28this thing? I probably don't want their
- 0:31life. They probably sacrificed
- 0:32everything to happen. Like do I actually want like do
- 0:35I value wealth over everything else?
- 0:37Yeah, bro, not really. In today's episode, we sit down
- 0:40with our good friend Will L, an artist, podcaster, and creative.
- 0:44We discussed what it's like being in recovery.
- 0:47We talked about suicide, other mental health issues, power of
- 0:51gratitude, emotions and how to let them out.
- 0:53We discussed losing brothers in recovery.
- 0:55We talked about anger and coping mechanisms, misconceptions about
- 0:59addiction, honey and sacrifice to follow your dreams.
- 1:03If you like the show, please rate, follow or like in whatever
- 1:08medium you listen to. Thank you and enjoy the show.
- 1:11We're fucking doing it, boys. We're in the studio.
- 1:14We're we're like, I feel like pros now, man.
- 1:16No, we got Will here. We got the setup boys.
- 1:18Thank you, Will. In the majors bro, Thank you.
- 1:21Will air fucking bitch. No, we love you buddy.
- 1:25Thanks for coming on. And you know, we were talking
- 1:27about this outside today, but I was thinking about this this
- 1:29morning too. You're, and I'm not just saying
- 1:32this, 'cause you're here, but you're the reason that I wanted
- 1:35to start podcasting and that I thought it was realistic.
- 1:37So I appreciate you, man. Like we came up with this idea
- 1:40when, you know, you started talking about it with us.
- 1:43So thank you. And you know you got a
- 1:45successful podcast right now The Loft cast.
- 1:47It's brand new. I wouldn't, I appreciate that
- 1:49and I wouldn't call it successful yet, but I love you
- 1:52guys. It's coming.
- 1:53The Loft cast, you know, we're all on all platforms.
- 1:56We're going crazy. I won't be able to get a job
- 1:58ever again. So if you guys like dark humor,
- 2:02TuneIn there, I won't be doing that.
- 2:04Those bits here. Yeah.
- 2:05But if you like that, go there. You're here, you're here for a
- 2:08in a different capacity, right? This is one of the only times
- 2:11you guys will see me serious in the near future on.
- 2:14Camera ever. And this man also just dropped
- 2:16the new album as well just a week ago.
- 2:18Go check that out. Run That Up visual came out like
- 2:22a week ago and yeah, we're gonna have more visuals.
- 2:24So absolutely lots of music and some, yeah, some serious songs.
- 2:27You'll see me be serious in music, but you won't really see
- 2:30me serious in interviews. So this is a nice little switch
- 2:32out. So tell what's the, what do you
- 2:34like about the two things? So you're very creative person
- 2:37you I would call you a creator and artist for sure.
- 2:41What like what do you like about rapping and what do you like
- 2:44about podcasting and differences and similarities?
- 2:47It's a great question. Yeah.
- 2:49So there's just many. Like I was so happy to get into
- 2:52podcasting at first. I was a guest, so shout out
- 2:55three balaclavas and shout out all the people that had me on
- 2:59podcast before I ever thought of doing that.
- 3:01Like before I was ever like a fan of comedy podcast, I had my
- 3:05buddy Ronnie had me on his. I was on a podcast with
- 3:11Vengeance and some different people had me on for interviews
- 3:14and I made a difference. But the thing with me is like,
- 3:17I've always been kind of like a troll before that was a thing,
- 3:21before we knew what to call it that I've always had like two
- 3:23sides of me, like a serious dark side and like I need to like a
- 3:26mess around side. So having an outlet for that is
- 3:29really important to me. And that's why I'd like, you
- 3:32know, I'm just happy that I can do that stuff and then double
- 3:35down on the on the music. Because like even some of my
- 3:37music, like I have a lot of like pretty jokes lines, but I also
- 3:40talk about a lot of very serious subject matter pertaining to
- 3:43like addiction recovery, all kinds of stuff.
- 3:45So I don't know, it just different sides of myself, you
- 3:49know what I mean? Interesting.
- 3:50But they're both like creative outlets, and you're releasing
- 3:53energy in that way. Yeah, that's cool, man.
- 3:55I love that it's just just a lot of fun.
- 3:57I, I feel like podcasts is, is great 'cause especially in
- 4:00sobriety, like I'm a really social guy and I love just
- 4:04joking around with my friends. So it's like, why would I not
- 4:06want to have it on camera and stuff like that?
- 4:08There's so many times I'm just like on the phone where I'm
- 4:10like, this would have been a banger podcast, Why isn't this
- 4:13recorded? So now I'm just trying to set it
- 4:14up more. It's also a good excuse because
- 4:16like the older we get, the busier our lives get.
- 4:19Sometimes it's harder to schedule stuff and then it's
- 4:21like almost an excuse to like get together with people.
- 4:24Yeah. That's a great point actually.
- 4:25I was, I was saying this like 15 minutes ago as we're setting
- 4:28everything up. I'm like, you know, this could
- 4:30be a horrible podcast, but it's still fun to just get together.
- 4:34If nothing else, we hung out tonight and had a great time.
- 4:36I have a great time, yeah. Exactly.
- 4:38It's a little bit. Stressful in the beginning,
- 4:40setting all this shit up. It's.
- 4:41Worth it after yeah man, not. Really.
- 4:43No, it's all good. We're here.
- 4:44No, we're doing. So how long have you been sober
- 4:47for? Will almost nine years now.
- 4:50Wow, man, God willing, I'm gonna knock on.
- 4:53I hope that's wood. Knock on.
- 4:54Wood or plaster? There's a stud.
- 4:56There's a stud behind me. I heard a stud.
- 4:58Yeah, yeah. So yeah.
- 5:00Man blessed to be. Here blessed to be alive.
- 5:02What? What was it like in addiction
- 5:04for you? Terrible.
- 5:06I was like a completely different person, like in every
- 5:09sense of the word, like addiction stole my entire
- 5:13personality. I lost, I was like I'd be I had
- 5:16basically lost all my social skills and then just growing up
- 5:19as a kid, like all kind of like all my issues just as a kid that
- 5:23I was able to deal with when I was self medicating and kind of
- 5:25went away. Then as the worst I got, they
- 5:28came back and they multiplied. They were much worse.
- 5:31So like my self esteem was never lower than like when I was
- 5:34tanking, you know, my self-confidence completely gone
- 5:37myself worth myself talk. I was also in like drug induced
- 5:41psychosis. I have a bunch of mental health
- 5:43issues as well that were obviously I mean I I've seen a
- 5:48bunch of different specialists and people that were trying to
- 5:50help me, but it's like even with medic like actual medications,
- 5:53not just drugs that I was taking but like doctors that were
- 5:56trying to help me, none of those meds would even work.
- 5:58I didn't really have a shot. I didn't know at the time it was
- 6:01hard to diagnose me because of everything that was going on.
- 6:04I didn't know until like 2-3 years in the sobriety that I
- 6:07even had OCD and that I had a bipolar too.
- 6:10I just thought I was crazy and that I was a danger to myself
- 6:13and other people. Like at one point I literally
- 6:16thought I was going to like, I didn't know what intrusive
- 6:18thoughts were, but I, I literally thought that I was
- 6:21like a terrible person. And if I didn't keep in like
- 6:25just keep a raps on my shit that I was going to inflict harm on
- 6:28other people. So like I used to just, I would
- 6:31never talk to somebody the way that I talked to myself, you
- 6:34know, and my, my skin was terrible.
- 6:38My diet like obviously still right now isn't the best, but
- 6:41compared to then, like I, I ate next to nothing.
- 6:44I'm like 511. Like the first time I went to
- 6:46rehab, I was like 110 lbs, basically just a shell of a
- 6:50person man. And like this all, just like
- 6:53everything that I'm excited about, like my, all my passions
- 6:56completely gone. Like literally the only reason I
- 6:58was getting out of bed in the morning was to, to get high and
- 7:01to drink. And yeah, that was pretty much
- 7:04it. And like, and I saw no way out.
- 7:05I thought about killing myself every single day and like just
- 7:08totally hopeless. Like just self pity.
- 7:11I didn't even know I was like resentful at all.
- 7:14So much fear, just like, yeah, just a really, like, miserable
- 7:18existence. Yeah.
- 7:19And there were light moments too, but like, generally pretty
- 7:22dark. Yeah, yeah, No, I can relate a
- 7:24lot to that. You mentioned.
- 7:27I I something you said really jumped out at me.
- 7:30I would never talk to anybody else like that.
- 7:32And it's, I find that a lot with people in recovery is like, I
- 7:36mean, even people not in recovery, the most important
- 7:39conversation we have is with ourself.
- 7:40I've heard that so many times and it's so true.
- 7:42It's like some of the shit I say to myself, oh, you fucking
- 7:45idiot. Like why?
- 7:45How did you just even little things like that.
- 7:47I would never say that to anybody else, right?
- 7:50It's so self defeat. I've heard this is a saying,
- 7:53too. It's like no one beat the shit
- 7:54out of me worse than I beat the shit out of me.
- 7:56You know what I mean? Like the way that we beat
- 7:58ourselves up. It's like I don't need any of
- 7:59you guys to give me a kick in the teeth.
- 8:01I've kicked myself in the teeth enough in life.
- 8:03Yeah. Right.
- 8:04Absolutely. And then the worst part about
- 8:06that, too, is like the deeper that I get into that and that
- 8:08thinking, then I ended up taking it out on other people.
- 8:11Yeah. Because I feel so badly about
- 8:14myself. I just have to get it out there
- 8:15100%. And if I'm not working on myself
- 8:17and looking at myself and I like immediately, I almost need just
- 8:20a release. It's terrible.
- 8:22I remember someone said this to me.
- 8:24I can't remember the exact scenario, but I was talking with
- 8:27someone and I was getting upset with them, right?
- 8:29I was kind of calling them out on something that I didn't like
- 8:31about them. And they looked at me dead in
- 8:34the eyes. And they're like, I think the
- 8:36reason that you, you see this in me is because you see it in
- 8:39yourself. Yeah.
- 8:40You know, I think, and I think I was, I think I was calling them
- 8:42a liar, or maybe I was calling them arrogance or something.
- 8:44And like, you know, you're a pretty big lying, arrogant
- 8:47person, buddy. I think you're, I think you're
- 8:48looking at a mirror right now. And I was like, wow, you know, I
- 8:51I didn't admit to it then and there in the conversation, but
- 8:54looking back on it now, being sober, it was 100% true, right.
- 8:57You're projecting, you know, you're projecting it.
- 8:59And that happens so much with people.
- 9:01I think that's what a lot of life is, is that it is the
- 9:03mirror and that we don't always want to because sometimes it's
- 9:06hard to look at that it's hard to it's, it's a lot easier to
- 9:09just deny, deny, deny, backpedal, guilt trip, whatever
- 9:14other manipulation forms is like it, it sucks sometimes just
- 9:17being honest and like, oh wow, actually I was like really out
- 9:20of line there. And that's not cool at all, you
- 9:22know? Yeah, it sucks.
- 9:23To your point, it takes you don't notice in the moment.
- 9:26I mean as you say sober longer. I've I've come to this
- 9:28realization that the time gets like shorter and shorter to you
- 9:32realizing that you fucked up. The self-awareness and just the
- 9:35ability to even admit it. Yeah.
- 9:36Yeah. Because it's, it's a humbling
- 9:37thing. It's like, it sucks to have to
- 9:39like go back up to someone and be like, hey man, that wasn't
- 9:43cool. Thing I did yeah, I.
- 9:45Totally wasn't nice. Well.
- 9:47Well, for you, so like, you know, in the scene of, of making
- 9:50music and, and, and then filming entertainment, like what's it
- 9:53like doing that sober versus doing that?
- 9:56Like while you were, you know, an addiction, like, you know
- 9:58what I mean? Because in this industry that
- 10:00you're in, like, you know, a lot of guys promote, you know,
- 10:02whether that's violence, drugs, whatever they're, they're
- 10:04promoting like you're around a lot of that, right?
- 10:06Whether that's including when you're performing in shows, like
- 10:10what's it like doing that sober? A million times better.
- 10:13Like, I have no idea how I used to ever make music or just be in
- 10:16the scene. Not, you know, like I'm able to,
- 10:20you know, it's very easy to get tied up in all kinds of bad
- 10:24things in the industry very quickly without realizing it.
- 10:28And to be able to navigate that, to learn the business things, to
- 10:32talk, to have mentors in both recovery music business and to
- 10:38learn all these things. It's a huge blessing that I had
- 10:41no idea how I used to function like I wasn't functioning.
- 10:45And, and also like have other people that depended on me,
- 10:48like, you know, a good friend of mine, Trey Gold and I, we used
- 10:51to run Vampires Prom together. So we ran like 13 something
- 10:53underground shows that would have never happened if I was
- 10:56like if I was intoxicated, there is absolutely no way that we
- 11:00would have ever been able to stick it out and to invest in
- 11:03those, those shows and to make that happen, to build a
- 11:06community and have people depend on me, you know?
- 11:09As soon as times get hard, I find when you're in addiction,
- 11:11it's you. Just like I'm.
- 11:13I'm not doing this anymore, I'm done.
- 11:15You know this is way too hard. Oh for sure.
- 11:17And the even the productivity man, like you know, since last
- 11:20August, so August of 2024, I've made like 85 songs or something.
- 11:24And a. That would have never happened
- 11:26if I was using and drinking, but there's no way I wouldn't have
- 11:29been able to write. It a lot goes into this behind
- 11:32the scenes, like to be messed up, like I'm remembering myself
- 11:35when I was messed up, like, you know, to try and make plans,
- 11:38coordinate with guests. Then all the production behind
- 11:41the scenes, like hours and hours of of, you know, editing and,
- 11:44and all that. Like it's different when you're
- 11:46at the level of like, you know, say a rapper, like, you know,
- 11:50say, Kodak Black, That guy could just show up to a show.
- 11:52Have a team. Everything's done for him,
- 11:54right? But like this takes a lot of
- 11:55like discipline for one, because like, you know, we're all
- 11:58working jobs. So it's not like we have all day
- 12:01to do this, right? We got to coordinate guests.
- 12:03You know, you had to drive an hour, probably more than an hour
- 12:06to get here today. You know, then this took an hour
- 12:08to set up like this lot goes into this, right?
- 12:10So to do that, try to even think of doing that when you're messed
- 12:14up like. Just picture the amount of stuff
- 12:15I would have forgot, you know? Exactly.
- 12:17I could have got arrested on the way.
- 12:19He yeah. So many variables.
- 12:21Literally, I might have just not shown up I.
- 12:23Forgot the camera? I I might have just like had an
- 12:26anxiety attack and now I wanted to talk.
- 12:28Yeah. A what?
- 12:29I what would I even say of value?
- 12:31Nothing. Yeah.
- 12:32Nobody. Shares what I have to say.
- 12:34Oh, I get in my head, I just, I don't know, like obviously I
- 12:37wouldn't be have been able to talk about recovery.
- 12:39Yeah. Yeah, no, for real.
- 12:42But it's like, yeah, I think too, it's like especially when
- 12:44you don't have a machine behind you, like if you're if you're a
- 12:46major artist, you can get away with being unprofessional and
- 12:51kind of wild for a certain period before people don't want
- 12:54to deal with you. But being an indie artist, it's
- 12:56like, it's just me. If like if I'm not doing
- 12:59anything, it's like nothing's going to get done.
- 13:02I'm pushing 30. Like life goes by really quick.
- 13:04I'm going to snap my fingers, wake up and be 40.
- 13:07It's like if I'd haven't accomplished some stuff, it's
- 13:09like, guess who has no security because who has no future?
- 13:14It's real. And you know, you mentioned I,
- 13:17I, I can't help but think about this.
- 13:19I was thinking about this today, actually.
- 13:20I don't know if you guys follow like what's going on with Justin
- 13:22Bieber right now. Oh, yeah.
- 13:24He's, he's struggling a lot, it seems.
- 13:27And I was watching a video the other day of him at Coachella,
- 13:29like dancing with another guy and the look in his eyes.
- 13:33I see. That video I.
- 13:34Just I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it.
- 13:35Like I know that feeling he like his soul was just gone, right?
- 13:39He was just gone. And I feel bad for the guy
- 13:41because I hope he makes it back, man.
- 13:43He's good, you know. Yeah, he was sober for a while.
- 13:46I know he's got Lyme disease and stuff too.
- 13:47A lot of challenges. And then whatever else is
- 13:49happening in the industry because the deeper you get into
- 13:52this stuff, I know we're not going to get into all the other
- 13:54stuff, but there's there's a lot of crazy stuff with with that
- 13:57particular individual. But yeah, man, it's it's, it's a
- 14:00wild thing. Like, I can't even imagine, you
- 14:02know, to your point, it's on the drive over here today.
- 14:05I had AI have AI. Don't know if you guys have
- 14:08these like, kind of emotional gratitude moments where you're
- 14:11just like by yourself. Yeah, maybe with someone.
- 14:13I was driving through Parkdale on the way here.
- 14:15And there was a long period of time where I was kicked out of
- 14:18my house and I was in an Airbnb in Parkdale.
- 14:20Yeah. And it was like a studio on top
- 14:22of a, of a, a, some kind of business.
- 14:26And it was so depressing, dude, like so depressed.
- 14:28It smelt like old, you know, like, you know, when like an old
- 14:31guy walks in and he just had a cigarette, like that old coat,
- 14:35sweat, cigarette smell. The whole apartment smelled like
- 14:38that, right. And I'll never forget, like I
- 14:40just, I started like tearing up as I was driving over here
- 14:43because I was by myself. I was, you know, I had a bunch
- 14:47of plates of coke like all over the house and it was just never
- 14:50enough. Like it was never enough.
- 14:51I was, I thought I was doing like I thought I was happy.
- 14:54I thought I was living the dream and having a good time.
- 14:56I was going to work, so I was all good.
- 14:58But you know, those, remember ones are important.
- 15:00And I just had this moment. I was listening to I think
- 15:03Willie Nelson or something like a song came on and I just, I was
- 15:06like, man, I'm so happy I'm sober.
- 15:08Yeah. Because I miss this feeling of
- 15:101. Showing up to be able to do
- 15:11things like this, having purpose in life and not being stuck on
- 15:16top of this fucking apartment where every day was just like
- 15:20miserable. Yeah.
- 15:21Miserable for. Sure, you know, and you like
- 15:24wake the the worst feeling. It's like waking up just being
- 15:26like, oh, every day felt like such a chore to me.
- 15:29I'm like, oh man, like I like my attitude is completely
- 15:32different. Like when I wake up today, I
- 15:34want to seize the day and get as much as I possibly can and I
- 15:37think about other people and what I can do for them, whereas
- 15:39every day before I'd wake up and I'm just like, I just hope I can
- 15:43get through the day. Like I was literally just
- 15:45getting through the day. Like what a shitty way to.
- 15:46Live, you know, and medicated to with my with my medicine.
- 15:50Just, I just like, I think about that a lot now because like I, I
- 15:53have very, very busy days, like my days actually have purpose,
- 15:56right? But like, I remember man, when I
- 15:58was in addiction, like I would wake up in the morning, I'd go
- 16:01to bed at night, like like overthinking, waking up the next
- 16:06morning, like woke up. When I wake up, I got to somehow
- 16:08get a little bit of money, somehow get high.
- 16:09And then after that I got to do this, this and this and then I
- 16:11got to get high again at 5:00 PM, right?
- 16:13Like that's all I would think about now.
- 16:14Like I say this all the time. My favorite part about waking,
- 16:18my favorite part about sobriety, One of them.
- 16:19There's lots, but one of my favorite parts is just knowing
- 16:22how I'm going to feel when I wake up, you know, not having to
- 16:25like freak out about, oh, I'm going to like have shakes.
- 16:27I'm not going to want to talk to anybody.
- 16:29I'm going to be miserable. I'm going to be sick.
- 16:30Right. And yeah, like Anthony just said
- 16:33about the gratitude thing, like when people ask me like, oh,
- 16:36like, what are some things that help you?
- 16:38Right. There's a lot, the long list of
- 16:39things that help me, but one of the most consistent things that
- 16:42I use every single day is gratitude, right?
- 16:44Like just, you know, even when things get tough, because things
- 16:47get tough, right? And it's like, oh, things are
- 16:49pissing you off, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah.
- 16:51And it's like, OK, well, like I'm thankful that I have a job.
- 16:55I'm thankful that I have friends I can reach out to.
- 16:57I'm thankful that I have food, right?
- 16:58Because you look around the corner and there's, you know, 20
- 17:01guys that don't have that, right?
- 17:03And not to, to use yourself to bring people down, but it's
- 17:06like, you get what I'm saying? Like life really is great.
- 17:08Yeah, man, we're blessed. We're so blessed.
- 17:10And I love what you said too in the car about like, yeah, man,
- 17:14emotions coming back, you know, for so long, like just growing
- 17:17up, I had such an unhealthy like attitude that like, oh, I could
- 17:21never cry. So I would push it down as like
- 17:23a like growing up with these ideas about like what a man is
- 17:26and how I, you know, how I should feel.
- 17:28And like now, like, you know, I'm comfortable enough with
- 17:30myself. Shit, whenever it comes, I just
- 17:32let it out and I feel so much better, man.
- 17:33Like even like past couple days, just like random like memories
- 17:37and like I lost a friend recently, a brother in like
- 17:39recovery. And whenever that would come
- 17:41out, I'd just let it out, feeling any particular emotions,
- 17:44whatever. And like, I'm so grateful that I
- 17:46can do that. Instead of running from it,
- 17:48yeah, pushing it down. Just like just keeping sick, you
- 17:51know? I was actually talking to my
- 17:52mother about this last night. I was.
- 17:54Hoping you'd bring this up. There was a few things that were
- 17:57now this is the one I was talking about today.
- 17:59You have to I. Will.
- 18:00I will say this next, but the first thing I was going to say
- 18:03was I was talking to my mom last night and there was a couple
- 18:04things that were, you know, pissing me off and making me
- 18:07angry. And then I like, you know,
- 18:09realizing like these things aren't actually making me angry
- 18:11or pissing me off. It's actually like hurting me a
- 18:13bit and upsetting me. And I'm, I'm taking it out as
- 18:18anger because that's just what I do.
- 18:19No, fuck that guy. That's bullshit.
- 18:22That's just how I that's how I know how to do.
- 18:23Coping mechanism. Right.
- 18:25But like it's like a secondary feeling to the to the first
- 18:28feeling where no actually something's happening that's
- 18:30upsetting me a little bit. Maybe if I just talk about it,
- 18:32you know, figure it out, I won't be getting mad and like I'm able
- 18:35to do those those things now because I'm sober.
- 18:37And that's the only reason, right.
- 18:38One of my favorite things about this podcast so far is that
- 18:41people reaching out to me that I know that are like, Hey, I
- 18:43actually struggle with with this, this and this too.
- 18:45And it's great to hear you talk about it.
- 18:46But it's like, now we're gonna get on a platform that can reach
- 18:49more people. Sure, right.
- 18:50That might be struggling with the same thing because, you
- 18:52know, you don't hear enough young people talk about
- 18:55absolutely. You do not hear enough young
- 18:57huge. Misconception and like, you
- 19:00know, the world's at such a difficult place right now that
- 19:03people have a billion excuses to, you know, go hard on drugs
- 19:08and alcohol. Life is life is tough.
- 19:11Let's be honest. You know, some people I talked
- 19:13to are almost like living in this fantasy land of like, oh,
- 19:16everything's OK, blah, blah, blah.
- 19:17It's like no, like the, the economy is not doing well.
- 19:20Our country is like kind of crazy.
- 19:22The states is pretty crazy all over the world.
- 19:24There's a lot of unrest and and things like it.
- 19:28People have enough excuses. So like, now is a good time as
- 19:32ever. You and I were talking about
- 19:33this on Saturday. Yeah, I was telling you I'm
- 19:35like, you know, how happy I was and how things are going good.
- 19:37But we were also talking about like how sometimes people you
- 19:41could be like, you can read it right away when someone's like,
- 19:43Oh man, life is great. I love this.
- 19:45Like things are awesome right now.
- 19:46Like you only mean like, and you're like, you can tell right
- 19:48away that the person's putting a front on right?
- 19:51And it's so nice to not have to do that anymore, right?
- 19:54It's like, Hey, now this is upsetting me and that doesn't
- 19:56mean your life is, is shit again.
- 19:58But it's like, no, you got to deal with those problems and
- 20:00putting on the front. It's exhausting.
- 20:03It's exhausting to do that because I did that for a long,
- 20:05long time. And I would tell my I would lie
- 20:07to myself and be like and I like I mentioned my.
- 20:10Podcast before I come from a small town where everyone knew
- 20:12me I would walk around the town like everyone thinks I'm just
- 20:15chill Bill, you know nothing's wrong.
- 20:17But deep down inside I knew everyone knew something was
- 20:20going on and it was so exhausting have having to face
- 20:22people and just act like, yeah, life was great lie to people
- 20:26about what I'm doing lie to people but where I'm working.
- 20:29But really deep down inside that would just kill me kill me
- 20:32because it's like I'm lying to myself yeah, you know so that's
- 20:35that's a good point man. Like just being honest and open
- 20:38with about how you feel and people say it's just a man
- 20:41thing. I think it's it's women to just
- 20:44anyone in general. It's like it's so hard to just
- 20:46be open and honest with how you feel because it's not an easy
- 20:49thing to do to just be like, man, like this person kind of
- 20:52hurt me today. They said this and it, yeah, it
- 20:54kind of hurt a little bit, right?
- 20:55Or, you know, this is going on with work and it's kind of
- 20:57upsetting me right now, right? It's so much easier for me to
- 21:00just be like, that's bullshit, man.
- 21:02Fuck, I don't care. No, that's.
- 21:04That person's an asshole. Yeah, it's that's the easy
- 21:06route. I got to be honest, I was.
- 21:07I was more alluding to the fact that you told me about your mom
- 21:10calling you last night on her birthday.
- 21:12Oh, and that was a beautiful gift to recover.
- 21:15Yeah, my mom's birthday was yesterday and you know, it's
- 21:19it's she called me earlier in the day.
- 21:21So third thing my mom told me, my mom's all have lost his fire.
- 21:24Shout out, mom. Let's.
- 21:26Go. So yeah, she called me last
- 21:27night and or I call, I talked to her earlier in the day.
- 21:30She was it was her birthday. I wish her happy birthday and
- 21:32she was going to have a family dinner with my grandparents and
- 21:34cousins, whatever. And I was like, you know, I wish
- 21:36I could be there. You know, I don't see my parents
- 21:39as much now that I live in Toronto, but I was like, you
- 21:40know, it's it, it, it sucked a little bit to not be able to be
- 21:43there. And I talked to her later on in
- 21:45the night and she shared with me that there's this place my
- 21:48parents have behind the garage, have this big deck rate that
- 21:50overlooks the lake. And she's like, you know, for
- 21:52like a year, she's like, I, I spend so much time.
- 21:54That's she, that's her little spot.
- 21:56She told me she said she spent so much time out there crying
- 21:59and just wondering if like what was going to happen and if you
- 22:02were ever going to get better, if she would get that phone call
- 22:04one night, right. She said she spent so much time
- 22:06crying, but she's like this like, you know, this is the best
- 22:10bird they gift ever that you're sober now.
- 22:12And like, I just, I love you. I was like, whoa, like, you
- 22:15know, I was just like, well, I literally texted Anthony right
- 22:18away and I'm like, my mom just had this.
- 22:19He made me so happy. And I tell my mom I said this
- 22:22for this morning. One of my favorite parts about
- 22:23sobriety is just like, like having my parents be like happy,
- 22:28you know, because they deserve that.
- 22:29They, they did a great job raising me.
- 22:30It wasn't their fault while I become a drug addict.
- 22:32So the fact that they can enjoy it makes me so happy.
- 22:35Yeah, it's a gift, man, huge gift.
- 22:38So what what happened to you will that brought you into
- 22:41recovery? What was the initial?
- 22:43What was the moment or moments? Couple couple different things,
- 22:49like the first time I came into recovery, I was 19, my first
- 22:54initial attempt and basically what brought me in was I just
- 22:57didn't want to live anymore. You know, I was attending audio
- 23:01school and really struggling to keep it together.
- 23:05So I decided to defer school for a little bit.
- 23:08So take in. So like I, I, I was going to an
- 23:10university program that I dropped out of.
- 23:13Now I'm finally studying like literally exactly what I want to
- 23:17do with my life. And I enjoyed the program.
- 23:19I wanted to be there more than anything.
- 23:21I wanted to take this and take this as seriously as possible.
- 23:24And my addiction was so bad that like I literally couldn't
- 23:27throughout the day. I would have to stop at the bar
- 23:30the second I woke up. I would start my morning with
- 23:32pills, immediately smoke and just get fucked up all day.
- 23:35So like it was just such a train wreck.
- 23:37And every single day I'd be taking the subway from Union
- 23:40Station and think about jumping in front of it every single day.
- 23:43That's heavy. So like, it just it just felt
- 23:47like I like that that pit in my stomach, which is getting louder
- 23:50and louder. And I was just like, oh man, I
- 23:51don't know how much longer I can keep this going even when.
- 23:54So I went with my mom to check out a center and she wasn't
- 23:58trying to like, Oh, we're just going to like pretend and then
- 24:01throw you in kind of thing. It's like literally I was just
- 24:03checking out of rehab. I had no intention of staying
- 24:07and I basically just like broke down there when I like I
- 24:10actually why it was crazy. So we we show up, we drive in or
- 24:13whatever. I'm not going to say what the
- 24:15place is called doesn't matter. But anyway, so we get there and
- 24:18they're like, oh, hey man, how's it going where they're trying to
- 24:20be nice to meet something like that.
- 24:21The the current inpatients or whatever you want to call them.
- 24:24And I was like fucking terrible. And they're like, nice, you're
- 24:27in the right place. I was like, what the fuck?
- 24:29What's wrong? With these.
- 24:31People, I'm like, what? That's hilarious.
- 24:33And I go inside, whatever we're bringing around, like, yeah, I
- 24:35literally just broke down in the basement and like, first for
- 24:38like a guy like me, like that does not happen.
- 24:40Like, you know, like I said, like it's a miracle that I'm
- 24:42able to, but it's so crazy. So like that there was that
- 24:45moment and then Fast forward, boom, that was 2015.
- 24:48Then 2016, I had screwed up several times, relapse,
- 24:52whatever, lots of bad things. And then I had a week where
- 24:54there was 2O DS in a week my previous mentor was driving me,
- 24:59we were coming back from a form of community therapy and we hit
- 25:03black ice. The car almost flipped and then
- 25:05someone drove into US and and my mentor was sober.
- 25:08But just the fact that there was like 4 weird experiences in one
- 25:11week. I'm like, yo, I think I'm
- 25:12finally open to like the universe and a God like thing.
- 25:15I'm like something's clearly trying to tell me that I'm not
- 25:18going to be around at this point I'm like 20 years old.
- 25:21I'm like, I don't think I'm going to make it to 21.
- 25:24This is like really, really scary.
- 25:26Like I think they are right that this probably is the last house
- 25:29on the left. I'm finally going to listen.
- 25:31And I came to another center and like, yeah, at that, that night
- 25:34at a therapy session, like I, I broke down in front of the whole
- 25:37group. And that's something that never
- 25:39happens to me in a setting like that.
- 25:41Like I just, I could not hold it in.
- 25:42I was like terrified. I, I, I did not think that I
- 25:47was, I had a chance at sticking around.
- 25:50So I was like totally desperate, you know?
- 25:53Finally like able to wave the white flag and and open up for a
- 25:57new way. Yeah, new idea.
- 25:59And then I still, so then the last time I had left that center
- 26:05several months after I took my will back one day and I got high
- 26:10one last time. I didn't get honest about it for
- 26:12like another three months. And I'd say that was like my
- 26:15final and like my real estate bottom was that I was sitting
- 26:18with a lie. So I was telling people I
- 26:19remember this story after six months, but I really had three.
- 26:23And every single night I would pray that my higher power to
- 26:27take that memory away. I'm like, oh, it didn't happen,
- 26:30but I knew what happened. And what was so scary is the
- 26:31second that that has. So that's why my dry day is July
- 26:3413, 2016 and not April 10th. And this was terrifying because
- 26:39the second that happened, even though it was just like, you
- 26:41know, 1 pop or whatever, it doesn't matter.
- 26:43The next thought in my head, oh, I could get away with this.
- 26:47Yeah. No one has to know.
- 26:49Yeah, like, immediately that thinking came back, like, right
- 26:51away. And I'm like, oh, man, this is
- 26:53really, really bad. And for that month, those months
- 26:56when I was holding that in, I was getting sicker and sicker
- 26:59and sicker. And I knew if I didn't get
- 27:00honest, I was going to go on, like, a really, really bad tear.
- 27:04And I don't think that I might have come back.
- 27:06And, like, now that that's, like, the biggest, like, many
- 27:09motivators to stay sober, but like, any time.
- 27:11And I rarely ever get thoughts, but any time that even like
- 27:15crosses my mind, I'm like buddy, like you're not like you're even
- 27:19though I'm I'm. I've been sober longer now.
- 27:23My disease has gotten worse. Yeah, progressive illness.
- 27:25Yeah, I'm not going to go back to like I would.
- 27:28And I can't even like the way this society is now.
- 27:30Like I don't like my eyes. It's really Russian real life.
- 27:32Yeah, Yeah. No for.
- 27:33Real. I have no desire to entertain.
- 27:35I'm like, yeah, I'm going to like, I knew I was going to die
- 27:37then. I'm like, now I'd bet 100 grand
- 27:40that I'd die within a year, probably much less than that.
- 27:44And I have noticed, you know. Shit man, I want to see how long
- 27:47I can take this. Like if I can live to 85 that
- 27:49sounds pretty cool to me. Wasn't even an option before,
- 27:52right? Absolutely enough, Absolutely
- 27:54enough. I was.
- 27:54I'd like, I'm 29 now, that's crazy, But I didn't expect to
- 27:57live to 30. Wasn't in my, wasn't in my deck
- 27:59of cards. For real bro.
- 28:02So yeah, man, blessed to be here.
- 28:04Wow. What?
- 28:07So you, you mentioned the, the, you know, the podcasting as
- 28:11being kind of front and center and we've talked about this
- 28:15before, but like sacrifice to kind of, you know, not to be
- 28:18cheesy or anything, but to like live your dreams.
- 28:20Like that's essentially what we're doing here.
- 28:23This was a dream that I had. It was a dream that you had
- 28:25dream that, and you know why not me?
- 28:27I just talked to you about this. Not me SO.
- 28:29Why not me? Yeah.
- 28:30I mean, like, tell us about like sacrifices that you've had to
- 28:34make and, and what that looks like and, and why you do that
- 28:38because. Yeah.
- 28:39So my honesty, like the biggest motivator for me to finally get
- 28:44on us and get sober was so that because I wasn't satisfied with
- 28:47the music that I had out in active addiction.
- 28:50And it's crazy, like more than my family, more than my ex at
- 28:53the time, more than like literally anything in my life.
- 28:56Like I just want to leave like some kind of better art behind
- 28:59that that if I, if I die, that like, I know, hey, I really did
- 29:03this shit. Like I did.
- 29:04Like, at least there was something here, something
- 29:06tangible. So yeah, like, I still feel the
- 29:09same way. I don't really.
- 29:10And I look at life so differently now.
- 29:12Like, I don't really believe in the whole legacy thing because
- 29:15at the end of the day, like, you know, we all eventually get
- 29:17forgotten. And that's actually a very
- 29:19beautiful thing. But while I'm here, I want to do
- 29:22like you. Like, like I said, I try to just
- 29:24seize the day as much as possible.
- 29:25I want to leave behind as much as I can, inspire as many people
- 29:29as I can be involved in like, and hopefully just, you know, do
- 29:32do my, it sounds corny, but like, yeah, just try to do like
- 29:35my little imprint on the people that I interact with to make the
- 29:38world a better, like just a little bit better than when I
- 29:40got here. I'm not too worried about like
- 29:42all the macro stuff. I'm not trying to save the world
- 29:45or anything, but at least the lives that I touch, I want to
- 29:48have a positive impact on, on the people around me.
- 29:51And, and through like, yeah, podcasting, like even though,
- 29:53yeah, my comedy is super dark, it's not for everybody.
- 29:56A lot of people have that kind of 6th sense of humor and, and I
- 29:58bring some joy that way. And then same thing with like
- 30:01with the music in a different sense, you know, So I like just
- 30:04really just try to like, yeah, leave, leave.
- 30:07This is my way. You know, I'm blessed that God
- 30:10gave me these different things that I can do and I just I
- 30:14wanted to Rick Rubin writes really well about this.
- 30:18He says that, you know, like when we put out a piece of like
- 30:21whatever any form of art you doing, and he believes that
- 30:23everything is art. It's like that is for that's an
- 30:27offering to God. So I want to give as many
- 30:29offerings as possible while I'm here.
- 30:31I don't know what's going to happen in the next stage or
- 30:33where I end up. It's not really my business, but
- 30:36just trying to make them. I feel like it's the least I can
- 30:38do to just make the most of it. Like I don't know how I'm still
- 30:41around so. Sacrifices.
- 30:43This is a big one though man, because like for example.
- 30:47It's I didn't really answer the question.
- 30:49No, no, you did you. Did, but it's.
- 30:51For example, like it's 10:00 at night, right?
- 30:53You're an hour away from home. We're still filming a podcast.
- 30:56I got to work. I got to be up at 6:00 in the
- 30:58morning. You have to work in the morning
- 30:59and. Wouldn't want to be anywhere.
- 31:01Else and yeah, but like, that's the beautiful thing.
- 31:03Where we're supposed to the. Beautiful thing about doing
- 31:05something you love. Like this is like, I don't mind
- 31:07at all but like to correlate 3 different schedules.
- 31:10You know? Like we got to make some
- 31:11sacrifices. Like, I'm going to have a little
- 31:12bit less sleep tonight, right? But like, I think we live in a
- 31:15society now where it's so tough to make a buys for sure.
- 31:18So you need to stay on your grind.
- 31:19And like literally, I know you guys are probably all watching
- 31:22TikTok videos right now. This, you know, David Goggins,
- 31:24like grind, grind, right. But that's literally what you
- 31:26got to do if you want to work, like make things work.
- 31:29Like we all work a lot of hours. You know, we're trying to do
- 31:32this, which is our dreams, but this takes a lot of work.
- 31:34Yeah, plus a job, right? Plus you're going to school.
- 31:37Yeah, plus we have, you know, a life, right And.
- 31:40Emily and friends. Right.
- 31:41And it's it's so easy to just be like, Nah, like nice playoff
- 31:45time right now. Yeah, I want to watch playoff
- 31:47basketball right now. But like, no, this is we got you
- 31:49got to stay on your P's and Q's. And that's just with everything
- 31:52in life, sobriety, obviously, like it'd be very easy for us to
- 31:55just go to the nearest bar and I'll have a drink and whatever,
- 31:58right. But no, like you got to just
- 32:00like one of the biggest things that helps me in life is that D
- 32:02word discipline. Yeah.
- 32:04Doing things that, you know, doing the harder.
- 32:06Thing you don't necessarily want to do you.
- 32:08Don't want to do, but, you know, and I was also speaking about
- 32:10this to my mom last night because I'm like sending her
- 32:13money, money every paycheck, right?
- 32:14Yeah, to just to help save money and make sure I got money for
- 32:18rent and food and all this. And I'm like, you know, like
- 32:20last time I sent you money on Friday, I was like, you know, I
- 32:22was thinking it was 500 bucks. I'm like, I was like, fuck, like
- 32:25I could get away with just not sending money this week and then
- 32:27do it next week. And I'm like, fucking go buy a
- 32:29nice pair of sneakers. Like, you know, maybe go for
- 32:32like a nice supper. And I'm like, I really thought
- 32:34about it for a few hours. I sent it to where the next day
- 32:36that I was supposed to send and then I sent it the next day and
- 32:39I was disciplined. I'm like, even though I didn't
- 32:41want to do it up until the 2nd I did it after I did it, I felt
- 32:44better because you did the right thing, right?
- 32:46Doing the right thing is not easy thing.
- 32:48Doing the wrong thing is the easy thing, right?
- 32:50Getting that instant gratification, which would be
- 32:52buying some sneakers, right? But discipline man, in life
- 32:56takes you a long, long way. I think it's one of the key
- 32:58things in my life is, is discipline.
- 33:00And I, I feel like I'm doing a good job at it right now, but
- 33:02still I could do so much better. So many other areas of my life.
- 33:06I had AI, had a therapist in my first treatment center in
- 33:08Minnesota. Name was Doctor Joseph Lee.
- 33:11I think he's pretty famous psychiatrist in the addiction
- 33:14field. Shout out, shout out, Lee.
- 33:16Shout out. Shout out Hazelden.
- 33:17Yeah, Minnesota. And I was able to get a session
- 33:20with him, which I realized today was actually is is a huge thing
- 33:23because he's a pretty big guy, right?
- 33:26And he always told me, and this blew my mind because I was 23, I
- 33:29didn't understand addiction, but he made it.
- 33:32He explained it in such a easy way for me to to digest.
- 33:35And he used like visuals with his hands.
- 33:37He's like, you know, addiction is like, you know, looking at
- 33:41this kind of. So he put it in terms that I
- 33:43could understand. You have an iPhone here, the
- 33:45newest iPhone, you have your house over here.
- 33:48Addiction is about bringing both of those things together, right?
- 33:53Instead of buying the new iPhone today, it's like you're saving
- 33:56the money, like you said, for that house down the road and
- 33:59you're kind of like levelling out that instant gratification
- 34:02for that long term gain. And that's what addiction is.
- 34:05It's like I'm going to give up this line of coke because I know
- 34:09that I'm going to feel better in the long run.
- 34:11And it's just slowly you're bringing it together.
- 34:14And when he said that to me, I was like, that just totally
- 34:16makes sense. I get it now.
- 34:18You know, you're giving up. It's I don't even remember.
- 34:22Yeah, man, like any, anything worthwhile takes a lot of time.
- 34:25Yeah. To to answer that question a bit
- 34:27better. It's like what?
- 34:29What does sacrifice look like? I've been doing music 13 years.
- 34:33Most people would have quit. For.
- 34:35Sure, I thought about it a million times, I'll be honest.
- 34:37But I just, I just keep going and I'm never going to stop
- 34:40doing that. I'm never going to stop
- 34:41podcasting. I just, I want to just, you
- 34:44know, everything that I do, you know, like, yeah, you mentioned
- 34:46with scheduling too. Yeah.
- 34:48I usually work like 30 hours a week doing shit that I have no
- 34:51interest in doing. But that's what I got to do
- 34:53because I got to pay my responsibilities.
- 34:55I didn't want to move back home like a year and a half ago.
- 34:58I had absolutely no desire to do that.
- 35:00But you know, I decided to do that to save money.
- 35:03And now I'm trying to like, yeah, more sacrifices.
- 35:06I, I've walked away from multiple relationships, like
- 35:08serious, serious long term relationships, people that I
- 35:10thought I was going to marry and spend the rest of my life with,
- 35:13you know, because for, for like, you know, largely for this
- 35:16dream, like I'm trying to move to America, restart, get
- 35:20property. If I can't do that, I might move
- 35:22across the world. I've got a ability to get like
- 35:25citizenship in New Zealand, like I might wherever I know I want
- 35:28to leave Canada so that boom, more sacrifices, like complete,
- 35:31like walking away from from family, all kinds of different
- 35:34things, you know, So like, I'm willing to go to like the same
- 35:38way what I have to be like, sobriety always comes first for
- 35:40me. But like trying to apply that
- 35:42principle to like everything that I value, you know, I have,
- 35:45am I willing to go to any lengths for like, for what I
- 35:47want to do and like I have to. Be and this guy will man like
- 35:51like you had mentioned about him getting you know the dream
- 35:53started podcasting. You do embody that because since
- 35:56I've been your, your homie man and hasn't been that long, like
- 35:59say four months, I've known you now, there's been multiple
- 36:02occasions where I've seen you like put certain things aside in
- 36:05your life feeling no, like this is getting in the way of my
- 36:07dream right now of making music and entertainment.
- 36:09You're like, no, like this is, you know what I'm doing, right?
- 36:12And I've seen you do that and it's so motivating, right?
- 36:13Like that's why it's good to have people like you and my
- 36:16circle and, and my circle, you know what I mean?
- 36:17Because you're like, like the greatest part, like you said,
- 36:19sobriety. We talk about that all the time,
- 36:21But like, as far as just, you know what you're doing right
- 36:24now, Like, like I said, I've seen you do it on multiple
- 36:26occasions and it's like, wow, like he's really putting it out
- 36:29there right now and trying to make this work.
- 36:30And that's so motivating to me, man.
- 36:32What, like the way I see you move when it comes to your music
- 36:35and the way you promote things and you know, you're always
- 36:37connecting with new people, like.
- 36:39Likewise, boys, yo real shit. You guys like the second as soon
- 36:43as you guys came out, boom, bear clips, bear clips.
- 36:45I was like, oh man, I got to fix up.
- 36:46I got to get more clips. I swear to God, that's how it.
- 36:48Works. Yeah, it's.
- 36:49Fired bro. I love when I get motivated when
- 36:51I see my friends doing their thing.
- 36:52Like it's so it's so motivated. I saw some of my other buddies
- 36:55that were accomplishing things. Every time I see my friends
- 36:58getting on playlists or getting nominated or like the another
- 37:02one of my buddies I saw this week, he had a video that went
- 37:05up like 12 million views. This guy like up like 5K
- 37:08followers. Like it's so motivating.
- 37:10It's like just people, you know, And I'm like, damn, like this
- 37:13is. Will shared on his social media
- 37:16tape. Man, it like touched me.
- 37:17Like, I just want to see my brothers win, you know?
- 37:19Yeah, man. And I'm gonna tell you something
- 37:21that didn't come with sobriety I hated seeing.
- 37:24People, I was just going to say. That I hated seeing people do
- 37:26better than me right, like people I grew up with people
- 37:29like I'm like no man, this guy's doing better than me right now,
- 37:31but now that I'm sober, I love seeing people do good like it
- 37:34makes me so happy so it's. Possible.
- 37:36It's possible so like. Possible.
- 37:38Wow, that's crazy. That's so cool.
- 37:40I can. Do it.
- 37:40Why can't I when I seen? You share that today.
- 37:42I'm like, man, like it just fits.
- 37:43It fits today so perfectly. Like you just want to see,
- 37:46obviously you want to see me and Anthony do good.
- 37:48So you're traveling, you're meeting us.
- 37:49We're connecting, right? Like I just love seeing that.
- 37:52It's like we're pushing each other, Yeah, at the end of the
- 37:54day, right? And that's not something I used
- 37:55to do before. I used to just want to.
- 37:57Grab your shirt and bring you to the.
- 37:58Ground with me like I'm down here, buddy, Come with me.
- 38:00Why am I not where he is, you know?
- 38:02100% the envy, self pity. Oh man, I've been through those
- 38:07cycles so many times. I used to drive through like
- 38:09nicer areas and be like oh fuck you, you rich piece of shit,
- 38:14whatever. And then I'm like yo, like hey.
- 38:16And then then like the best question that I get to ask
- 38:19myself whenever I feel like that, those kind of envious
- 38:21thoughts, it's like, am I willing to do the work and the
- 38:24sacrifices that it took? Yeah.
- 38:26Do I, do I really want this person's life or do I just want
- 38:29this thing? I probably don't want their
- 38:31life. They probably sacrificed
- 38:33everything to happen. Like, do I actually want, like,
- 38:36do I value wealth over everything else?
- 38:38Yeah, bro, not really. Like, for me even like, you
- 38:40know, I want to be comfortably wealthy.
- 38:43But like some of the guys I used to look up to, like I bought
- 38:44this book years and years ago when I went on a trip to Bahamas
- 38:48called the like how the Art of Being Rich or How to Be Rich
- 38:50with Felix Dennis. He passed away from the UK.
- 38:53This guy's was like a multi billionaire, whatever.
- 38:55But yo, this guy was like was crazy, bro.
- 38:57Like I wouldn't. And he's saying like to actually
- 38:59be like rich, rich, rich, rich. It's not for the faint of heart,
- 39:03man. This guy lost like basically
- 39:04everything. Just for that.
- 39:06It's like, am I willing to trade everything for that?
- 39:08No, I don't really have that option.
- 39:10Like sobriety comes first before.
- 39:11Yeah. I mean, I mean.
- 39:13That's what it takes. I've I've heard a good analogy.
- 39:15It's like, you know, everybody. So there's like a a bag at the
- 39:18top of a ladder and everybody's trying to get to the top of the
- 39:23ladder, right? Climb the ladder, whatever that
- 39:24looks like the job, the car, the the girl.
- 39:27And you can have your buddy that's already been to the top
- 39:31tell you, dude, it's not worth it.
- 39:32It's there's nothing in the bag, right?
- 39:34But you need to go to the top. Yourself.
- 39:37And I've heard, I've heard, I think it was the the CEO of
- 39:40Lululemon on a podcast, he was saying it.
- 39:42He's like, I've been to the top. He's like, he was right.
- 39:44It's not worth it at the end of the day.
- 39:45Like you get to the top and you're like, what's next, right?
- 39:48It's the bag is empty, you know, but you need to go and scrape
- 39:51your knee and hit your head against the wall.
- 39:53And that's my case in being an addiction, too.
- 39:55It's like I I wouldn't have come into recovery if I didn't bang
- 39:59my head against the wall 50 million times before I finally
- 40:02realized that guy was right. Yeah.
- 40:04And today, my mentors, they're always right.
- 40:06Yeah. My mom always right, you know,
- 40:08because they've been there, you know, it's like in the moment,
- 40:11you're like, oh, I'm right. You know, I always say this, but
- 40:14like, my biggest problem today is I'm right.
- 40:16You know, that's my biggest problem.
- 40:18No, that's so true. I.
- 40:19Literally had that happen again today when I decided to bring up
- 40:22some of my ideas about politics and different stuff at all and
- 40:25I'm just like Yep, just shouldn't.
- 40:26Like why did I? Did it again.
- 40:29Just kind of kept all these things to myself.
- 40:31It just didn't matter and now I hate.
- 40:33Him and him. And it's like before you say it
- 40:35too, you're. Leaving with my mom for no
- 40:36reason, end of the day. Before you say those things too,
- 40:39you're like, I know where this is probably gonna go, but yeah,
- 40:41no, fuck it, we ball. I'm gonna say it anyways.
- 40:43Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna say. Oh yeah, that sucked.
- 40:46Had to apologize. I love it.
- 40:48Well, if you could, I'm sure there's someone out there right
- 40:52now, you know, struggling to make it, you know, on their
- 40:55grind, working hard, not seeing any results.
- 40:58Yeah, If you could say something to that person, what would you
- 41:01say? Double down, expect nothing.
- 41:05The biggest thing that I can do for myself is to just lower my
- 41:08expectations and to double like to just focus in on the
- 41:12enjoyment of the activity and to get better and better at that
- 41:16and the marketing and don't worry about the results.
- 41:19Like the most miserable to this day, the most miserable I make
- 41:22myself is when I I trip about results.
- 41:25Results are not up to me. They're up to the universe.
- 41:27I just have to keep putting the work in regardless of what
- 41:30happens. And like there's even look at
- 41:32guys like Van Gogh ago got shit on his entire life.
- 41:36Everyone thought this guy was a fuck up and a loser.
- 41:38He was basically a burden on everyone that cared about him
- 41:42and he's like arguably one of the greatest artists of all.
- 41:44Household name. You know, so sometimes your time
- 41:47is not in your time and like, does it matter?
- 41:50Yes, no, like what's more important to you?
- 41:51So if you love what you're doing, keep doubling down on
- 41:54that. And if you're not as passionate,
- 41:56then it's also sometimes it's a good opportunity to be like,
- 41:59hey, you know, what? Am I really willing to go as far
- 42:02as this or do I want to double down?
- 42:04Maybe you want to go harder on the 9:00 to 5:00.
- 42:06Maybe like doing the art stuff isn't for you.
- 42:08Maybe you want to do finance. Maybe you want to do music
- 42:11management. Maybe you want to start a
- 42:12streaming company. Like there's a million ways that
- 42:16you can be a creative that don't have to be just the one thing.
- 42:20And I would never tell someone not to do the thing.
- 42:23But I think it's really important to, to reflect on
- 42:26like, you know what, what, why I'm, why am I doing this?
- 42:29Am I doing this because of for like the theme, for the money,
- 42:33for the, the image, for whatever bullshit to meet women or
- 42:37something? Or am I doing this because I
- 42:38love it? If you're doing it because you
- 42:39love it, you got to ride out the bad times.
- 42:41There's a lot of fucking bad times, you know?
- 42:43Yeah, So I love that. Man, I love that.
- 42:45And one thing I want to touch on about you Will that I love so
- 42:48much, man, is like you're a creative guy.
- 42:50You're a super interesting guy. Like I really like son.
- 42:53And the thing I like about you so much man is like you're just
- 42:56a like 100% authentically Will all the time.
- 42:59Like you don't ever switch it up when a certain person's around.
- 43:02Like you're just always yourself.
- 43:03You know, you put yourself out there on all social media
- 43:05platforms and like it's motivating to me.
- 43:08It's like, you know, like you just you're I I, I love the fact
- 43:12that you're yourself all the time, because I know that's
- 43:14something I struggle with. I think that's something a lot
- 43:16of people struggle with, right, sober or not, I still struggle
- 43:19with it till till this day is putting on that front.
- 43:21Like what are people going to think about me?
- 43:23Right? But like you, man, like I, I
- 43:25love that about you and. That's a lot of time bro.
- 43:27And I respect that about you so much.
- 43:29I. Had no self-confidence.
- 43:31No, none of us did right like. But it comes with repetition.
- 43:34Yeah, man. Like you said, you know, ride
- 43:36out the hard times. And then you're like, hi, I got
- 43:38through that. Wow.
- 43:38Yeah, yeah. That's amazing.
- 43:40My sponsor used to say like about like feeling comfortable
- 43:42in your skin and for years I was like you talking about I'm like
- 43:46my first, my first year of sobriety, I was like literally
- 43:49just holding on for dear life. Just like fucking terrified.
- 43:52I'm like, I'm just going to listen to like if this guy told
- 43:55me to like move to the like a random island by myself and
- 43:59stand on my head under a palm thing for a year.
- 44:01I would have been like, okay, cool, sounds good.
- 44:03I'm gonna do that. Stays over.
- 44:05Like if you say so just eventually like, yeah, I felt
- 44:07finally felt comfortable. And one more thing I wanna touch
- 44:10on too, before we end this that you just mentioned is the
- 44:12expectations thing, man, that thing, that expectation thing
- 44:16helps me a lot because I expect things all every day, 25 times a
- 44:20day, right? Like simple things, like, you
- 44:22know, I expect to wake up in the morning and feel happy.
- 44:25I, you know, I expect to wake up and have to take a pee right
- 44:28away. Just think, don't expect nothing
- 44:30because that's what gets you really like off your set and
- 44:33upset and mad, right? Like, and it happens all the
- 44:36time, man. So, and it's so it's, I think
- 44:39it's essentially impossible to not expect anything, but like to
- 44:42really try and minimize that to not expect things and especially
- 44:45out of people in situations, right, like because people let
- 44:48you down all the time and everyone's going to let you
- 44:50down. You know, your job is going to
- 44:52let you down, the weather is going to let you down.
- 44:53Just don't expect nothing. Just wake up and just do what
- 44:57you can control, which is your actions.
- 44:59And that's what helps me so much.
- 45:01I I, I really like trying to live by that one expecting
- 45:04nothing, right? Like I don't expect the Leafs to
- 45:06win tomorrow night. I got hope they do.
- 45:07That's enough. But you know what I mean.
- 45:10But. Yeah.
- 45:10So we're drawing the line. What do they say?
- 45:13Expectations are nothing but premeditated resentment, yes.
- 45:17Bro, it's so true, you know? I'm so I'm just gonna end up
- 45:20being pissed off. Yeah, man.
- 45:22So I love that man. Thanks so much for coming on.
- 45:24Yeah. Thanks for having me, she's
- 45:25great. And again, guys, go check out
- 45:27Will's new album, his new visual for his music video Boundaries,
- 45:30right? Yeah, we'll.
- 45:31Have put it up we'll. Throw it up on the screen about
- 45:34and shout out Lynx Music Studios for having us here.
- 45:36Thanks. I love this place.
- 45:38Yeah, I love this place. You'll probably see us filming
- 45:40here more. And again, just thank you guys
- 45:43for all the interaction on all the on all the latest posts out
- 45:46there. You know, it's motivating for
- 45:47us. It's motivating for guys like
- 45:48Will who do the same thing as us.
- 45:50This just keeps us going, right? So, yeah, love you guys.
- 45:53All. I love you boys.
- 45:55Yeah, man. You're no longer alone.
- 45:56That's it boys, keep rocking it. Thanks for listening.
- 45:59Please help us grow the channel and like, share and subscribe
- 46:03for more content. The discussions and stories
- 46:05shared on this podcast are for informational and motivational
- 46:08purposes only. This content is not a substitute
- 46:11for professional medical advice, addiction treatment, or therapy.
- 46:15If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction,
- 46:18please consult A licensed physician, addiction specialist,
- 46:21or mental health professional. You are no longer alone.