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Hey, humans. How's it going? Susan Ruth here.

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Thanks for listening to another episode

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of Hey Human podcast.

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This is episode 439,

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and my guest is Adam Chester.

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Adam is known to the Elton John band

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as the surrogate Elton,

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and since 2,005,

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he plays backup and rehearses the Elton and

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John band on piano and vocals.

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He arranged and conducted Elton's 60th birthday concert

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at Madison Square Garden.

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And when,

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there are choirs and things that sing with

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Elton, it's generally Adam who is the conductor

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and arranger for that.

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He refreshes Elton John on songs that Elton

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may not have played for decades.

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God knows Elton John has gajillions of songs,

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so it's probably really hard to remember some

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some that aren't in his regular rotation. So

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Adam helps with that. He is an accomplished

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performing songwriter in his own right. I have

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seen him perform a couple times. He's great,

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and he is also the author of the

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hilarious memoir Smother,

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which is on Amazon

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and is a really funny

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book

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about the

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wild

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letters and notes and messages that his mom

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had given him

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over

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many decades.

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When we did this interview,

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Adam talks about his book, and

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she has sadly since passed away.

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And I want to dedicate this episode to

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her. Her name is Joan Chester.

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She She did a heck of a job,

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raised an incredible human being,

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and so this one's for you. Wherever you

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are, Joan, up there, looking down,

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everywhere, all the places,

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you did a good job with your son.

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He's a good human.

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Adam is awesome, really lovely person,

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and, you know, I know Elton John is

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going through a difficult time right now, so

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I hope they figure out what's going on

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there. And

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and Elton John is all better really soon.

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Check out heyhumanpodcast.com

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for links and to learn more about my

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guests and the show. Hey Human Podcast is

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on YouTube under official Susan Ruth. I'm on

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patreon at susanruthism.

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My TikTok and Instagram is also susanruthism.

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Check out susanruth.com

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to learn more about me and my other

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artistic endeavors, and find my albums on Spotify,

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Apple Music, Amazon Music, wherever you get your

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music.

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Rate, review, and subscribe to Hey Human podcast

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on Apple, Iheart, Spotify,

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wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thank you for listening.

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Be well. Be kind.

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Be loved. Happy holidays.

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Here we go.

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Adam Chester, welcome to Hey Human.

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Thank you very much. Alright. Let's jump right

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in. Tell me where you were raised, what

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growing up was like, how

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you began

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getting influenced by music.

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I hate music. I just you know, it's

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not what I want. I can't I don't

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know what I'm doing here.

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Wait. No. None of that's true. I started

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in music

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though, so young. I I mean, there's apparently,

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in a box in my garage somewhere,

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reel to reel recordings of me singing Beatles

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songs at the age of 2 in perfect

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pitch.

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I don't think my dad was a big

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fan of the Beatles.

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I lost him at a young age, so

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I don't know. But I was singing them

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all. And he kept trying to redirect me

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to sing more

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serious music and kids' songs at the age

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of 2 and

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he's got a ticket

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to high

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and whatever words I could, you know, enunciate

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at the time. So I don't know. I

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guess music,

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was always in my life. I grew up

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in New Jersey, and I guess we were

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in Wayne, New Jersey. I don't I know

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nothing about New Jersey because I left when

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I was 8

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when he passed away, and we moved to

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Miami Beach. So I consider Miami Beach more

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of my growing up down. You know, I

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had a keyboard

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at a very young age, and I would

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sit there and bang on it. And

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when we visit my grandparents

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in Miami Beach before we moved there,

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they had a piano, and I would literally

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sit up and, you know, do that kind

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of thing. I was never afraid to make

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noise,

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which I find a lot of kids

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these days,

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who I see in The Piano Store, are

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afraid

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to touch a note, and they recoil.

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I never I never was. It's like it

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was always just part of my

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being. Yeah. Music

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and me, you know, and singing and playing

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was always

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just who I am.

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It's like another appendage.

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Losing your father

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so young

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Yeah.

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That I'm sure had a great impact on

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you.

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And Yeah. Especially for a kid that sounds

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like you were sensitive and quite possibly a

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prodigy. How

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do all those things intermingle

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at the time?

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I don't

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know

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if I would have attached myself to the

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piano as much as I did

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when he died of cancer. I was pancreatic

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cancer. He was 43.

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And I and I was 8 at the

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time, and I'm glad we're starting this with

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humor.

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But, no, I I lost him at such

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a young age, and I think that's what

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attached me to the piano. I just went

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and

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just stuck with it.

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I I mean, you know, like I said,

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I was singing at a very young age,

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and I was playing a little tiny organ

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my parents had for me in Jersey.

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So I I it was always a part

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of me, but

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his passing, I think, really

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made me

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stick to it.

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Mhmm. Because it became my my only outlet.

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You know, my mom, who I wrote a

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book about called Smothered,

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and it's all funny, and she's still alive.

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She's actually in the car. Should I crack

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a window?

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Right before

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he got ill, I started writing little simple

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melodies on the piano. So

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and I remember the first song I wrote,

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it was sort of

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a a Rich Little who was an impersonator

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at the time.

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I I call it my Rich Little of

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a piano song. I was trying to copy

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what I knew, and there was this one

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tune on the Black Keys that I loved

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called I Want Coffee, You Want Tea or

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whatever it was. It's

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Right? And so I

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I think I did something based on that.

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It was in the same key. So the

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first song I ever wrote was.

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Very similar.

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I never got sued, but I was totally

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I was totally into writing. So, but after

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he passed, it was

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what I did. And then I started writing

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whatever

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love songs

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a 9 year old can write.

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I think it was more about melodies than

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as I got, you know, 12, 13, then

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it became, you know, let's write a song

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to make that girl fall in love with

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me. Oh, wait. Wait.

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No. No. She's prettier. Let's write a song

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about her. And, of course, you're playing piano

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and not guitar. It's much harder to lug

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a piano from party to party. Or or

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the beach. I mean, you know, I was

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the loser sitting at the beach going,

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you know, I can play piano. And meanwhile,

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the guitarist was sitting there serenading everybody.

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And I'm like, boy, this sucks.

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So, yeah, it was just something I connected

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to and and then just stayed with as

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an outlet.

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Sure. And

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our mutual friend, John Penny, who introduced us,

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who I adore, he said you wrote a

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song, for Goldie Hawn that his mother then

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got to her?

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That that

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you know, it it it's one of those

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charm moments that I have,

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you know, so many amazing memories. I wrote

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a song for her when I was,

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I don't know, 15, a love song.

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And all I remember,

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honestly,

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is the chorus.

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It was it was literally

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Goldie.

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Oh, won't you hold me when

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I blew?

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My moments

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are golden when I'm thinking of you.

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Even better than the original. It was some

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sort of ragtime equal,

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love song.

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And so I was invited to play her

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house. I think it was

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2 years ago,

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probably 2021.

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May yeah. It was 2021.

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So 3 years ago. And there she was

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with Kurt Russell. And and I thought, if

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I don't say something now,

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I'll regret this.

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And she passed by the piano, and I

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said, Goldie,

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I I know you're busy. I just I

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wanna share something with you. I wrote a

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song for you when I was, you know,

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14,

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and my mom told me to mail it

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to Goldie Hawn, Hollywood, California.

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And I don't think you ever got it.

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I'm like, I did the cassette tape. And

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she said, I didn't. Oh, play it for

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me. And I said, honestly, all I remember

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is the chorus, and I sang that. She

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sat next to me on the piano bench

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at her house.

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She was holding my arm.

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I I have it on video luckily because

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Kate Hudson, her daughter,

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filmed the whole thing. It's just one of

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those memories.

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I mean, she gave me a kiss and

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she said it was absolutely beautiful, and, oh,

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she feels so bad for not having received

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it.

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Who I love Goldie Hawn. She's the best.

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Amazing. I mean, I I yeah. And I

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really did have a a massive crush on

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her when I saw her as a child.

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Everyone. Who didn't? So did I. I I

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mean, how do you not? It's Goldie Holland.

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It was adorable. Adorable. And and Kate is

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sort of that that similar vibe, but,

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you know, Goldie has this innocence about her.

276
00:10:53,889 --> 00:10:56,375
It's just charming, you know. And and there

277
00:10:56,375 --> 00:10:58,375
I was sitting next to her at the

278
00:10:58,375 --> 00:11:00,855
piano bench and Kurt's, you know, sitting on

279
00:11:00,855 --> 00:11:02,475
the couch behind me going

280
00:11:04,615 --> 00:11:06,454
you know, you know, it was just pretty

281
00:11:06,454 --> 00:11:08,554
cool. Oh, I love it. Magic moment.

282
00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,200
Yeah. The 15 year old news was from

283
00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,299
heaven. I was in heaven.

284
00:11:15,159 --> 00:11:17,159
I was in heaven. You know? You know,

285
00:11:17,159 --> 00:11:18,759
it just goes to show you that the

286
00:11:18,759 --> 00:11:20,620
magic of the US mail

287
00:11:21,159 --> 00:11:22,539
doesn't always work.

288
00:11:23,455 --> 00:11:25,375
You know. That's just because he should've sent

289
00:11:25,375 --> 00:11:26,595
it to Santa Claus.

290
00:11:27,695 --> 00:11:30,654
Right. Right. Santa Claus would've done it. I

291
00:11:30,654 --> 00:11:32,894
should've. The same kind of address in my

292
00:11:32,894 --> 00:11:34,674
North Pole. I, you know,

293
00:11:35,549 --> 00:11:38,350
I I shouldn't I I should've done that.

294
00:11:38,350 --> 00:11:40,110
You're right. Santa Claus is like, why do

295
00:11:40,110 --> 00:11:42,509
we keep getting Goldie Hawn's mail? Right. You're

296
00:11:42,509 --> 00:11:43,809
right. Right.

297
00:11:44,190 --> 00:11:47,649
Since somebody course correct this kid, I'm busy.

298
00:11:48,965 --> 00:11:51,524
Yeah. Yeah. I I you know, these these

299
00:11:51,524 --> 00:11:52,504
charm moments,

300
00:11:53,045 --> 00:11:55,205
I I didn't even I mean, I remember

301
00:11:55,205 --> 00:11:57,045
that moment, of course, but when you bring

302
00:11:57,045 --> 00:11:58,725
it up, it all comes back to life.

303
00:11:58,725 --> 00:11:59,225
Yeah.

304
00:11:59,845 --> 00:12:01,065
It's yeah.

305
00:12:01,389 --> 00:12:03,870
Lucky to have it on film. I saw

306
00:12:03,870 --> 00:12:04,850
that you had

307
00:12:05,789 --> 00:12:08,429
taken your piano, your upright piano to your

308
00:12:08,429 --> 00:12:10,990
dorm room in college that I live in

309
00:12:10,990 --> 00:12:13,629
a walk up apartment and I my poor

310
00:12:13,629 --> 00:12:16,514
little upright sits in storage waiting for me,

311
00:12:16,995 --> 00:12:19,235
penning me love letters and Yeah. That I

312
00:12:19,235 --> 00:12:20,535
don't respond to.

313
00:12:21,075 --> 00:12:24,134
Yes. Yes. Susan Ruth, LA, California.

314
00:12:24,674 --> 00:12:25,975
You know, that's it.

315
00:12:26,674 --> 00:12:29,415
Please take me back. You know, I again,

316
00:12:29,795 --> 00:12:30,774
my identity

317
00:12:31,669 --> 00:12:34,169
is enmeshed in piano. And

318
00:12:34,629 --> 00:12:37,269
so I was in Miami, and I had

319
00:12:37,269 --> 00:12:39,350
to get as far away from my mother

320
00:12:39,350 --> 00:12:41,610
as possible for sanity reasons.

321
00:12:42,149 --> 00:12:45,610
And I got into USC, Southern California,

322
00:12:45,990 --> 00:12:46,730
in music.

323
00:12:47,575 --> 00:12:50,134
And I thought, well, I'm not going there

324
00:12:50,134 --> 00:12:51,355
without my piano.

325
00:12:51,894 --> 00:12:54,955
What kid takes their upright piano

326
00:12:55,894 --> 00:12:56,955
to a dorm,

327
00:12:57,815 --> 00:13:00,695
you know, 3000 miles away? But it was

328
00:13:00,695 --> 00:13:03,120
a no brainer. My mom didn't question me.

329
00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:04,420
No one questioned me.

330
00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,220
And we had it shipped there. And

331
00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:10,160
my apartment there with 3 other roommates my

332
00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:11,059
freshman year

333
00:13:11,759 --> 00:13:14,320
became sort of a focal point of that

334
00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,585
floor in this, you know,

335
00:13:16,965 --> 00:13:19,845
tall dormitory that's still there, Webb Tower, if

336
00:13:19,845 --> 00:13:22,404
anyone from SC listens here. We were on

337
00:13:22,404 --> 00:13:24,245
the 7th floor, and there was my piano.

338
00:13:24,245 --> 00:13:26,965
And, you know, at least once a week,

339
00:13:26,965 --> 00:13:28,825
we'd have a gathering of

340
00:13:29,179 --> 00:13:29,679
freshmen

341
00:13:30,620 --> 00:13:32,959
and mostly freshmen, but some sophomores,

342
00:13:33,419 --> 00:13:35,019
you know, hanging out and singing in our

343
00:13:35,019 --> 00:13:38,639
apartment. It became my way of meeting people.

344
00:13:38,940 --> 00:13:41,120
It's how I got in a fraternity, which

345
00:13:41,945 --> 00:13:43,085
me in a fraternity,

346
00:13:43,545 --> 00:13:44,045
seriously.

347
00:13:44,504 --> 00:13:46,504
But I walked in and there was a

348
00:13:46,504 --> 00:13:48,904
upright piano and I started playing, and I

349
00:13:48,904 --> 00:13:49,884
got in the fraternity.

350
00:13:50,745 --> 00:13:52,504
As soon as I realized what I stepped

351
00:13:52,504 --> 00:13:53,965
into, I deactivated,

352
00:13:54,345 --> 00:13:55,945
they call it, as soon as you become

353
00:13:55,945 --> 00:13:56,524
a member.

354
00:13:56,990 --> 00:13:57,649
I deactivated

355
00:13:57,950 --> 00:13:59,409
the following year because it

356
00:13:59,950 --> 00:14:01,329
wasn't for me. But,

357
00:14:01,709 --> 00:14:03,409
again, it was that

358
00:14:04,509 --> 00:14:08,209
beckoning thing in this foreign frat house

359
00:14:08,589 --> 00:14:11,409
with a bunch of dudes drinking beer, and

360
00:14:11,470 --> 00:14:14,824
I I I hate beer. I'm sorry. And

361
00:14:14,824 --> 00:14:16,904
so, you know, there's the piano, and and

362
00:14:16,904 --> 00:14:18,904
it was just my thing. So, yeah, it's

363
00:14:18,904 --> 00:14:19,404
always

364
00:14:19,865 --> 00:14:21,564
it's always been with me.

365
00:14:21,865 --> 00:14:24,605
Did you know that you had an extraordinary

366
00:14:25,730 --> 00:14:26,230
talent?

367
00:14:26,850 --> 00:14:29,990
Because there I've seen piano players, myself included,

368
00:14:30,370 --> 00:14:32,610
who know how to sort of, you know,

369
00:14:32,610 --> 00:14:35,169
play a piano or at least fake it

370
00:14:35,169 --> 00:14:36,929
till you make it. But then there are

371
00:14:36,929 --> 00:14:39,855
people that play the piano and it's it's

372
00:14:40,235 --> 00:14:42,154
transports you to another world, which I would

373
00:14:42,154 --> 00:14:44,475
put you in that category having seen you

374
00:14:44,475 --> 00:14:46,875
perform now Thank you. Where there's such a

375
00:14:46,875 --> 00:14:47,375
nuance

376
00:14:48,235 --> 00:14:50,315
to it. Yeah. I didn't always have that.

377
00:14:50,315 --> 00:14:52,169
I think I think I

378
00:14:52,490 --> 00:14:55,549
in in my younger years, I I overplayed

379
00:14:55,769 --> 00:14:57,629
a lot and that became

380
00:14:58,409 --> 00:14:59,950
just my thing and

381
00:15:00,329 --> 00:15:03,230
it was always joyous and people always connected

382
00:15:03,289 --> 00:15:04,029
but now

383
00:15:04,730 --> 00:15:05,389
I enjoy

384
00:15:06,424 --> 00:15:08,664
when I I enjoy when I play more.

385
00:15:08,664 --> 00:15:11,784
I find that less really is more, and

386
00:15:11,784 --> 00:15:14,284
it's the way you play. An an incredible

387
00:15:15,144 --> 00:15:17,705
composer, human being, I think he's in his

388
00:15:17,705 --> 00:15:19,644
early eighties now, Artie Butler,

389
00:15:20,279 --> 00:15:22,220
who did most of the Barry Manilow,

390
00:15:22,759 --> 00:15:23,980
arrangements and

391
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,600
just an incredibly talented pianist and arranger, said

392
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,100
something to me that I'll I'll never forget.

393
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,220
I heard him play and he was literally,

394
00:15:34,279 --> 00:15:34,779
like,

395
00:15:35,565 --> 00:15:37,424
barely touching the keys.

396
00:15:38,845 --> 00:15:40,144
And I said, Artie,

397
00:15:41,565 --> 00:15:43,985
when you play that chord that way,

398
00:15:44,924 --> 00:15:47,085
it makes me listen more. I I wanna

399
00:15:47,085 --> 00:15:49,345
know what you're doing. And he said,

400
00:15:50,450 --> 00:15:52,929
sometimes the more quiet you play, the louder

401
00:15:52,929 --> 00:15:53,990
it is for someone.

402
00:15:55,649 --> 00:15:57,649
You know, I just was like, oh, shit.

403
00:15:57,649 --> 00:16:00,769
Artie, that's fucking brilliant. I try to take

404
00:16:00,769 --> 00:16:02,950
that in to what I do now.

405
00:16:04,294 --> 00:16:06,454
And you saw me at the Georgian Hotel

406
00:16:06,454 --> 00:16:08,714
in Santa Monica, which I

407
00:16:09,254 --> 00:16:12,634
love that place. And I've decided

408
00:16:13,174 --> 00:16:15,514
it's not the place I wanna sing.

409
00:16:16,134 --> 00:16:18,235
I just wanna play because I

410
00:16:18,769 --> 00:16:20,790
kind of like that vibe.

411
00:16:21,330 --> 00:16:24,149
It makes people feel less obligated

412
00:16:24,850 --> 00:16:27,269
to listen to you when they're having dinner.

413
00:16:27,570 --> 00:16:29,090
They're out on a date. They're out on

414
00:16:29,090 --> 00:16:31,809
a business meeting. If you're singing, it's sort

415
00:16:31,809 --> 00:16:33,014
of more intrusive.

416
00:16:33,394 --> 00:16:34,695
So this is just my take.

417
00:16:35,074 --> 00:16:36,934
And so I sit there and I play.

418
00:16:37,074 --> 00:16:37,574
And,

419
00:16:38,195 --> 00:16:39,735
you know, last Wednesday,

420
00:16:40,274 --> 00:16:42,195
I was playing. I don't have a tip

421
00:16:42,195 --> 00:16:43,894
jar because it's kind of

422
00:16:44,355 --> 00:16:45,875
I don't wanna say gauche, but it's not

423
00:16:45,875 --> 00:16:46,934
the place for it.

424
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,799
And people were dropping off twenties on my

425
00:16:49,799 --> 00:16:53,159
music desk saying, thank you. You made our

426
00:16:53,159 --> 00:16:54,940
dinner. And, I mean, it was

427
00:16:55,319 --> 00:16:57,559
it was overwhelming because I was just sitting

428
00:16:57,559 --> 00:17:00,284
there playing whatever came to my head. You

429
00:17:00,284 --> 00:17:02,764
know, there was a celebrity chef there. He's

430
00:17:02,764 --> 00:17:04,924
got a sort of storied path, so I

431
00:17:04,924 --> 00:17:07,644
won't mention his name. But he invited me

432
00:17:07,644 --> 00:17:09,964
over to the booth and said, hey, can

433
00:17:09,964 --> 00:17:12,384
you play any Doctor. John? And I said,

434
00:17:13,349 --> 00:17:16,230
so I grabbed my cell phone and I

435
00:17:16,230 --> 00:17:18,869
called up his song Wrong Place Right Time

436
00:17:18,869 --> 00:17:20,970
or whatever it is, Right Place Wrong Time.

437
00:17:21,190 --> 00:17:23,269
And I was listening to it and playing

438
00:17:23,269 --> 00:17:24,009
it, you know.

439
00:17:26,434 --> 00:17:28,054
Must have been the wrong time.

440
00:17:28,994 --> 00:17:30,214
Could've been an old

441
00:17:30,595 --> 00:17:31,095
night.

442
00:17:31,394 --> 00:17:33,015
Something like that.

443
00:17:35,714 --> 00:17:37,474
And I was just playing it while I

444
00:17:37,474 --> 00:17:39,154
was listening to it, and and he was

445
00:17:39,154 --> 00:17:39,654
like,

446
00:17:40,250 --> 00:17:42,750
how do you do that? And I said,

447
00:17:42,809 --> 00:17:45,289
I don't know. If I hear the song

448
00:17:45,289 --> 00:17:47,390
and I somewhat know the song

449
00:17:47,769 --> 00:17:48,910
and it's not like

450
00:17:49,289 --> 00:17:51,070
the rack 3 by Rachmaninoff,

451
00:17:51,769 --> 00:17:54,075
I can I can play it? And that's

452
00:17:54,315 --> 00:17:56,875
always freaked people out, and I love love

453
00:17:56,875 --> 00:17:59,274
doing that. I get that. Also, you spent

454
00:17:59,274 --> 00:17:59,855
a lifetime

455
00:18:01,355 --> 00:18:03,514
with this instrument, so you know what it

456
00:18:03,514 --> 00:18:04,974
sounds like. It's your baby.

457
00:18:05,434 --> 00:18:06,255
My friend.

458
00:18:06,794 --> 00:18:07,514
Yeah. It's,

459
00:18:08,869 --> 00:18:11,110
I'm I'm lucky to have it, you know,

460
00:18:11,110 --> 00:18:13,289
and I still have that upright because

461
00:18:13,670 --> 00:18:15,750
my my mom and dad bought it for

462
00:18:15,750 --> 00:18:17,529
me when I was 5.

463
00:18:17,910 --> 00:18:20,410
And so it went from Jersey to Miami

464
00:18:20,630 --> 00:18:21,450
to LA.

465
00:18:21,984 --> 00:18:24,224
And now I've had it I had it

466
00:18:24,224 --> 00:18:27,184
rebuilt. It's it's now a cobalt blue in

467
00:18:27,184 --> 00:18:27,684
color.

468
00:18:28,065 --> 00:18:29,764
And I took off the name

469
00:18:30,224 --> 00:18:31,684
Kohler and Campbell because

470
00:18:31,984 --> 00:18:34,804
who cares about that brand? And I put

471
00:18:34,944 --> 00:18:36,164
Chester and Sons

472
00:18:36,464 --> 00:18:37,444
on the fallboard.

473
00:18:38,039 --> 00:18:40,519
So it's it's totally my piano, and I'll

474
00:18:40,519 --> 00:18:41,799
never get rid of it. A lot of

475
00:18:41,799 --> 00:18:44,039
cool songs were written on that piano by

476
00:18:44,039 --> 00:18:46,279
me. I I think they're cool, but what

477
00:18:46,279 --> 00:18:48,759
do I I don't know. Yeah. And it

478
00:18:48,759 --> 00:18:51,320
is they it becomes a member of your

479
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,085
family. It's Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And that you'll

480
00:18:54,085 --> 00:18:55,924
pass on to your kids if you have

481
00:18:55,924 --> 00:18:58,484
kids, you know? Yeah. I got 2 boys

482
00:18:58,484 --> 00:18:58,884
and,

483
00:18:59,605 --> 00:19:03,125
one's 21, one's 18. My 21 year old

484
00:19:03,125 --> 00:19:05,204
is in New York City doing his music,

485
00:19:05,204 --> 00:19:05,704
and

486
00:19:06,070 --> 00:19:08,710
his voice is remarkable. And his name is

487
00:19:08,710 --> 00:19:11,590
Truman, and he writes music like it's second

488
00:19:11,590 --> 00:19:13,450
nature to him. And then Marcello,

489
00:19:13,910 --> 00:19:16,309
he was doing music. He was doing the

490
00:19:16,309 --> 00:19:17,369
screamo band,

491
00:19:17,830 --> 00:19:20,410
which he was the lead singer in. And,

492
00:19:20,695 --> 00:19:22,394
you know, I gotta tell you,

493
00:19:23,095 --> 00:19:25,195
I don't think I dislike any

494
00:19:25,815 --> 00:19:28,154
music. I see something and everything.

495
00:19:28,615 --> 00:19:30,695
And even the stuff he was screaming was

496
00:19:30,695 --> 00:19:33,894
like, that's it's kinda cool. I I get

497
00:19:33,894 --> 00:19:35,595
the emotion. I get the passion.

498
00:19:36,039 --> 00:19:38,440
Would I play it? No. But I get

499
00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,880
it. So, I'm not sure that's something he's

500
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,599
gonna pursue. He's still he's 18. He's figuring

501
00:19:44,599 --> 00:19:45,880
it out. But,

502
00:19:46,279 --> 00:19:48,680
but Truman is, you know, full time New

503
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,519
York doing it, and, you know, I just

504
00:19:50,519 --> 00:19:52,015
hope it all works out. It's It's a

505
00:19:52,015 --> 00:19:52,515
tough

506
00:19:52,974 --> 00:19:55,375
business. Oh my gosh. It's so hard. Yeah.

507
00:19:55,375 --> 00:19:57,294
And you have a you've got a game

508
00:19:57,294 --> 00:19:58,595
on the child naming.

509
00:19:59,214 --> 00:20:02,095
Thank you. Yeah. True is the it's, you

510
00:20:02,095 --> 00:20:03,474
know, it's it's an emotional

511
00:20:04,349 --> 00:20:06,670
story about it because, you know, he was

512
00:20:06,670 --> 00:20:08,509
he was named after my dad whose name

513
00:20:08,509 --> 00:20:09,329
was Elliot.

514
00:20:09,710 --> 00:20:11,869
And so everyone said, why don't you name

515
00:20:11,869 --> 00:20:12,609
him Elliot?

516
00:20:12,990 --> 00:20:13,890
And I said,

517
00:20:14,589 --> 00:20:17,150
I I don't think I can call my

518
00:20:17,150 --> 00:20:20,234
son my dad's name. It just doesn't feel

519
00:20:20,234 --> 00:20:21,055
right to me.

520
00:20:21,434 --> 00:20:21,934
So,

521
00:20:22,875 --> 00:20:24,734
you know, I I mean, to me,

522
00:20:25,195 --> 00:20:25,695
Truman

523
00:20:26,715 --> 00:20:29,934
and Elliott as his middle name made sense.

524
00:20:30,475 --> 00:20:30,975
So,

525
00:20:31,434 --> 00:20:33,695
in my mind, he's the true Elliott.

526
00:20:34,210 --> 00:20:36,870
I lost the argument for the second name.

527
00:20:37,410 --> 00:20:38,630
Although I love Marcello,

528
00:20:39,090 --> 00:20:41,170
you you know, my idea was to call,

529
00:20:41,490 --> 00:20:43,509
my name for him would have been Emmett,

530
00:20:43,809 --> 00:20:45,590
but my wife hated that name.

531
00:20:46,065 --> 00:20:48,784
And in Hebrew, Emmett means true. And I

532
00:20:48,784 --> 00:20:50,625
thought, oh, we'd have a whole true theme

533
00:20:50,625 --> 00:20:53,264
going. That didn't work. So but I he's

534
00:20:53,264 --> 00:20:56,304
Marcello. He's not Emmett, and I, you know,

535
00:20:56,304 --> 00:20:57,444
I adore them both.

536
00:20:57,744 --> 00:20:58,244
Yeah.

537
00:20:58,619 --> 00:21:00,859
I always think about when babies are born

538
00:21:00,859 --> 00:21:03,180
that they must whisper their names to you

539
00:21:03,180 --> 00:21:03,839
or something.

540
00:21:04,460 --> 00:21:05,519
Something like that

541
00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:06,720
maybe. 8,000

542
00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:09,119
books that I had taken

543
00:21:09,420 --> 00:21:12,559
an interest in were guiding me to

544
00:21:13,085 --> 00:21:15,664
what name speaks to me. And,

545
00:21:16,204 --> 00:21:17,505
you know, when that whole

546
00:21:17,884 --> 00:21:20,204
true Elliot thing came, I thought, oh my

547
00:21:20,204 --> 00:21:22,065
god. That's it. I mean,

548
00:21:22,684 --> 00:21:23,505
it was clear.

549
00:21:24,204 --> 00:21:26,924
And there was a moment we were thinking

550
00:21:26,924 --> 00:21:29,549
of naming him Elliot Truman. And then I

551
00:21:29,549 --> 00:21:31,650
said, I I can't do it. I can't

552
00:21:31,950 --> 00:21:33,730
can't call him Elliot. And then

553
00:21:34,029 --> 00:21:35,329
he looked like a Truman.

554
00:21:35,630 --> 00:21:36,450
And Marcello

555
00:21:36,829 --> 00:21:38,289
looked like a Marcello.

556
00:21:39,630 --> 00:21:42,289
So you're you're right. I I think they

557
00:21:42,669 --> 00:21:43,169
adapt

558
00:21:43,525 --> 00:21:45,444
to what you named them.

559
00:21:45,765 --> 00:21:47,845
They become that. Yeah. I say it a

560
00:21:47,845 --> 00:21:49,365
lot on this show. I don't think my

561
00:21:49,365 --> 00:21:51,045
parents got my name right. I don't know

562
00:21:51,045 --> 00:21:52,484
what my name is. I don't think Oh,

563
00:21:52,484 --> 00:21:55,204
wow. Yeah. It's weird. It's never fit me

564
00:21:55,204 --> 00:21:56,265
for whatever reason.

565
00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:59,779
Alright. Well, I'll try to think of something.

566
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,680
I I I'll do it in a song

567
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:03,779
though. Oh, I got it.

568
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:04,980
Susie.

569
00:22:06,559 --> 00:22:08,880
Oh, won't you hold me when I'm blue?

570
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:10,605
Oh, wait. No. That's Goldie. Never mind.

571
00:22:13,404 --> 00:22:15,164
I'll figure it out. When you went off

572
00:22:15,164 --> 00:22:17,825
to college, I understand it's when you started

573
00:22:17,964 --> 00:22:19,904
receiving letters from your mom.

574
00:22:20,684 --> 00:22:23,664
Oh. Oh, Jesus. You know too much. Yeah.

575
00:22:23,779 --> 00:22:24,279
He

576
00:22:24,579 --> 00:22:27,380
began writing me snail mail. We didn't have

577
00:22:27,380 --> 00:22:28,839
cell phones then, so

578
00:22:29,220 --> 00:22:31,159
there were no calls, really.

579
00:22:32,179 --> 00:22:33,480
And they were ridiculously

580
00:22:34,259 --> 00:22:34,759
hysterical,

581
00:22:35,460 --> 00:22:37,720
mostly very short letters.

582
00:22:38,174 --> 00:22:40,335
Sometimes there would be a couple of valid

583
00:22:40,335 --> 00:22:41,235
weird points,

584
00:22:41,934 --> 00:22:44,174
but it would always end with some tidbit

585
00:22:44,174 --> 00:22:44,914
of insanity.

586
00:22:45,455 --> 00:22:48,355
It was blah blah blah, don't drink rainwater,

587
00:22:48,815 --> 00:22:51,860
you know, a whole paragraph of crap ending

588
00:22:51,860 --> 00:22:54,640
with, yes, there's a resistant form of gonorrhea

589
00:22:54,860 --> 00:22:57,420
going around. Wear a condom. And I saved

590
00:22:57,420 --> 00:22:58,880
them all because I knew

591
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:00,480
they were insane.

592
00:23:00,860 --> 00:23:03,180
And and one day, I was just the

593
00:23:03,180 --> 00:23:06,805
book came out smother, s apostrophe mother. Abrams

594
00:23:06,805 --> 00:23:07,305
Publishing

595
00:23:08,244 --> 00:23:08,904
did it.

596
00:23:09,285 --> 00:23:12,184
I got signed for a TV deal

597
00:23:12,644 --> 00:23:13,144
before

598
00:23:13,605 --> 00:23:14,744
I wrote the book,

599
00:23:15,445 --> 00:23:18,345
which was crazy. And the TV show,

600
00:23:18,690 --> 00:23:20,389
it never got off the ground.

601
00:23:20,690 --> 00:23:22,789
I'll finish that story in a second.

602
00:23:23,649 --> 00:23:25,970
And then I saw all these letters. I

603
00:23:26,130 --> 00:23:28,369
my wife was like, why don't you start

604
00:23:28,369 --> 00:23:29,029
a blog?

605
00:23:29,889 --> 00:23:32,869
And so I started a blog based on

606
00:23:32,929 --> 00:23:33,829
one of the

607
00:23:34,365 --> 00:23:34,865
letters

608
00:23:35,565 --> 00:23:37,484
key points. 1 of 1 of 1 of

609
00:23:37,484 --> 00:23:40,204
the letters key points, which was please don't

610
00:23:40,204 --> 00:23:40,945
eat sushi.

611
00:23:41,325 --> 00:23:42,144
Love mom.

612
00:23:42,845 --> 00:23:43,984
And that became

613
00:23:44,445 --> 00:23:47,085
the the blog that started this thing. And

614
00:23:47,085 --> 00:23:47,585
then

615
00:23:48,109 --> 00:23:50,269
I decided I might as well write a

616
00:23:50,269 --> 00:23:52,049
book and do a through line

617
00:23:52,750 --> 00:23:55,970
of my life around these letters

618
00:23:56,509 --> 00:23:58,049
and how I was growing

619
00:23:58,509 --> 00:24:00,130
and the letters weren't.

620
00:24:00,509 --> 00:24:02,210
I mean, it was just

621
00:24:02,595 --> 00:24:03,335
still insanity.

622
00:24:04,194 --> 00:24:06,934
And the funny thing is I kept

623
00:24:07,234 --> 00:24:07,734
getting

624
00:24:08,035 --> 00:24:08,934
re signed

625
00:24:09,474 --> 00:24:10,615
by William Morris

626
00:24:11,075 --> 00:24:12,694
to do a television show.

627
00:24:13,154 --> 00:24:15,954
They were gonna find a, a showrunner to

628
00:24:15,954 --> 00:24:18,140
do the script, and it just never took

629
00:24:18,140 --> 00:24:20,299
off. But at one point, Jack Black was

630
00:24:20,299 --> 00:24:20,799
involved.

631
00:24:21,179 --> 00:24:23,200
I was sitting in an office at one

632
00:24:23,740 --> 00:24:27,419
time with Gary Marshall across the desk writing.

633
00:24:27,419 --> 00:24:28,240
We wrote,

634
00:24:29,259 --> 00:24:30,400
he and I wrote

635
00:24:31,019 --> 00:24:31,599
a TV

636
00:24:32,444 --> 00:24:32,944
idea.

637
00:24:34,044 --> 00:24:36,625
I read it and I hear Gary's voice,

638
00:24:36,765 --> 00:24:37,744
you know, but,

639
00:24:38,765 --> 00:24:40,684
I was sitting in a room across from

640
00:24:40,684 --> 00:24:41,345
a desk

641
00:24:41,644 --> 00:24:44,365
for about 4 months with Gary Marshall and

642
00:24:44,365 --> 00:24:44,525
that

643
00:24:45,599 --> 00:24:47,599
I I tell people that my mother killed

644
00:24:47,599 --> 00:24:50,079
Garry Marshall because it was right as we

645
00:24:50,079 --> 00:24:53,200
were finishing it that that he died. And

646
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:53,779
I thought,

647
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:55,779
well, you know, that that figure,

648
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,420
but it there were some very funny moments.

649
00:24:58,640 --> 00:24:59,859
So cut to now,

650
00:25:00,545 --> 00:25:02,565
a dear friend of mine, Bob Kushel,

651
00:25:02,865 --> 00:25:04,944
who wrote 3rd Rock god, I hope it

652
00:25:04,944 --> 00:25:06,625
was 3rd Rock. He'll kill me if I'm

653
00:25:06,625 --> 00:25:08,944
wrong. 3rd Rock is a great show. Wow.

654
00:25:08,944 --> 00:25:11,664
What a show. He he's he's brilliant. But

655
00:25:11,664 --> 00:25:13,744
he never wrote a movie, and he and

656
00:25:13,744 --> 00:25:15,285
I started talking about

657
00:25:15,630 --> 00:25:16,369
this idea

658
00:25:17,150 --> 00:25:19,970
of this overprotective mom and a musician

659
00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:23,009
who happens to work with a famous

660
00:25:23,309 --> 00:25:23,809
celebrity

661
00:25:24,190 --> 00:25:25,890
as I, you know, work with Elton.

662
00:25:26,269 --> 00:25:28,210
He wrote a screen he wrote a screenplay,

663
00:25:28,349 --> 00:25:30,849
and now there's a director attached,

664
00:25:31,924 --> 00:25:33,625
Andy Fickman, who is,

665
00:25:33,924 --> 00:25:36,404
you know, just wonderfully funny. So we'll see

666
00:25:36,404 --> 00:25:38,565
where it goes. But see, all these years

667
00:25:38,565 --> 00:25:39,065
after,

668
00:25:40,005 --> 00:25:42,825
it that idea still seems to resonate.

669
00:25:43,285 --> 00:25:45,059
I I tell my kids, look,

670
00:25:45,620 --> 00:25:46,120
you'll

671
00:25:46,500 --> 00:25:47,320
be rich.

672
00:25:47,700 --> 00:25:51,220
I'll be long gone, but maybe it'll become

673
00:25:51,220 --> 00:25:54,100
a success, I hope. But these there's all

674
00:25:54,100 --> 00:25:56,100
these fun little projects going on in the

675
00:25:56,100 --> 00:25:57,400
back round that

676
00:25:57,700 --> 00:26:00,600
keep me smiling aside from just playing.

677
00:26:01,115 --> 00:26:01,615
Yeah.

678
00:26:02,234 --> 00:26:03,994
So you get out of college and you

679
00:26:03,994 --> 00:26:04,815
start playing,

680
00:26:05,515 --> 00:26:08,234
with people and you're doing your you're writing

681
00:26:08,234 --> 00:26:08,974
your music.

682
00:26:09,275 --> 00:26:11,295
Where did Elton come along?

683
00:26:11,755 --> 00:26:14,494
Well, Elton came in second after

684
00:26:14,795 --> 00:26:17,559
Barry White. I got introduced to the r

685
00:26:17,559 --> 00:26:18,460
and b singer,

686
00:26:18,759 --> 00:26:19,500
Barry White,

687
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:21,980
by a friend of mine, Paul Kaufman,

688
00:26:22,519 --> 00:26:24,839
and his business partner. And I forget how

689
00:26:24,839 --> 00:26:26,059
they knew him, but

690
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:27,019
we met.

691
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:27,980
And

692
00:26:28,279 --> 00:26:29,980
Barry was a towering,

693
00:26:31,545 --> 00:26:34,605
big human being. And his catchphrase

694
00:26:35,545 --> 00:26:36,365
in conversation

695
00:26:37,225 --> 00:26:38,525
was show you right.

696
00:26:38,985 --> 00:26:40,904
And you would see him, and the first

697
00:26:40,904 --> 00:26:43,305
thing he'd say is show you right. You

698
00:26:43,305 --> 00:26:44,985
know? And he'd give you a big hug,

699
00:26:44,985 --> 00:26:47,480
and you'd be like, I this pretty

700
00:26:47,779 --> 00:26:48,279
scary.

701
00:26:48,660 --> 00:26:49,720
But he was

702
00:26:50,099 --> 00:26:50,759
so cool.

703
00:26:51,380 --> 00:26:53,779
And I was working with him and one

704
00:26:53,779 --> 00:26:55,640
of his kids, Barry White Junior,

705
00:26:56,099 --> 00:26:57,480
to do an album.

706
00:26:58,259 --> 00:26:58,759
And

707
00:26:59,140 --> 00:27:01,380
we recorded a couple of songs that I

708
00:27:01,380 --> 00:27:01,880
wrote

709
00:27:02,215 --> 00:27:05,255
and I played on and I sang. And

710
00:27:05,255 --> 00:27:06,075
I was like

711
00:27:06,934 --> 00:27:09,095
one day I looked at Barry senior. We

712
00:27:09,095 --> 00:27:11,335
were alone in his studio in the valley

713
00:27:11,335 --> 00:27:12,235
at his house.

714
00:27:12,934 --> 00:27:13,914
I said, Barry,

715
00:27:14,609 --> 00:27:16,930
what's Barry Junior doing on the,

716
00:27:17,490 --> 00:27:19,109
in the group? And he said,

717
00:27:19,650 --> 00:27:20,789
he's gonna dance.

718
00:27:21,490 --> 00:27:24,210
And I was like, he's gonna dance. And

719
00:27:24,210 --> 00:27:24,710
great.

720
00:27:25,009 --> 00:27:27,089
I I didn't get it. I didn't get

721
00:27:27,089 --> 00:27:28,230
it. And I

722
00:27:28,894 --> 00:27:31,134
I I feel terrible, but I said I

723
00:27:31,134 --> 00:27:31,634
can't.

724
00:27:32,174 --> 00:27:34,355
I I don't he's gonna dance?

725
00:27:34,734 --> 00:27:37,694
That didn't happen. I was the one who

726
00:27:37,694 --> 00:27:38,194
said,

727
00:27:39,134 --> 00:27:41,134
you know, I I don't really get it.

728
00:27:41,134 --> 00:27:43,859
And I think that really pissed Barry senior

729
00:27:43,859 --> 00:27:45,700
off. And I get it because I was

730
00:27:45,700 --> 00:27:47,079
basically saying no.

731
00:27:47,460 --> 00:27:49,319
You know, here I was this cocky

732
00:27:50,980 --> 00:27:52,440
22 year old kid

733
00:27:53,139 --> 00:27:54,679
telling Barry White senior,

734
00:27:55,345 --> 00:27:56,944
you don't really wanna work with your son.

735
00:27:56,944 --> 00:27:58,865
I don't I mean and I feel terrible

736
00:27:58,865 --> 00:28:01,284
because who knows that could have been something.

737
00:28:02,224 --> 00:28:02,724
But

738
00:28:03,424 --> 00:28:05,664
it led me to get a job at

739
00:28:05,664 --> 00:28:06,804
a record store

740
00:28:07,184 --> 00:28:07,684
in

741
00:28:07,984 --> 00:28:08,724
in Hollywood,

742
00:28:09,420 --> 00:28:13,200
and in walked Elton John's guitarist, Davy Johnstone.

743
00:28:13,900 --> 00:28:16,220
I knew who he was immediately because I

744
00:28:16,220 --> 00:28:17,680
was a huge Elton fan.

745
00:28:18,059 --> 00:28:20,299
And that's why my working with Elton is

746
00:28:20,299 --> 00:28:23,200
so ironic to all the kids I know

747
00:28:23,420 --> 00:28:24,974
from high school. They're like,

748
00:28:25,775 --> 00:28:27,694
you had posters all over your room of

749
00:28:27,694 --> 00:28:28,835
Elton. I mean,

750
00:28:29,615 --> 00:28:32,095
I I tried to get his glasses when

751
00:28:32,095 --> 00:28:34,255
when I first started wearing frames when I

752
00:28:34,255 --> 00:28:36,515
was 11 or 10.

753
00:28:37,130 --> 00:28:38,890
I mean, I was obsessed with Elton. And

754
00:28:38,890 --> 00:28:39,789
here, Davy

755
00:28:40,330 --> 00:28:41,869
gets handed in my lap.

756
00:28:42,570 --> 00:28:43,309
We became

757
00:28:43,690 --> 00:28:44,670
instant friends.

758
00:28:45,369 --> 00:28:47,450
There's nobody else I I love more in

759
00:28:47,450 --> 00:28:49,690
this business. Not only one of the greatest

760
00:28:49,690 --> 00:28:51,470
guitar players, but truly

761
00:28:52,024 --> 00:28:53,325
he and his wife Kaye,

762
00:28:53,865 --> 00:28:55,404
incredible human beings.

763
00:28:56,024 --> 00:28:58,585
And one day we he was playing live

764
00:28:58,585 --> 00:29:00,044
gigs with me around town.

765
00:29:00,585 --> 00:29:02,904
This reminds me of something. I was a

766
00:29:03,544 --> 00:29:06,009
I was 13 years old in Miami, and

767
00:29:06,009 --> 00:29:07,869
my band Thunder and Lightning,

768
00:29:08,170 --> 00:29:11,529
stupid name, was with Louis Mizrahi and Wayne

769
00:29:11,529 --> 00:29:12,990
Huttman and Jeff Schiff.

770
00:29:13,369 --> 00:29:14,910
These names mean nothing

771
00:29:15,289 --> 00:29:17,150
to anyone but to me. Okay?

772
00:29:17,690 --> 00:29:18,910
But we were introduced

773
00:29:19,815 --> 00:29:20,954
and the camera

774
00:29:21,575 --> 00:29:22,075
was

775
00:29:22,375 --> 00:29:22,875
there.

776
00:29:23,654 --> 00:29:26,154
And when the camera came to introduce

777
00:29:26,774 --> 00:29:28,554
an Adam Chester on the keys,

778
00:29:29,174 --> 00:29:31,194
I had an itch on my nose.

779
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,160
And you tell me what this looks like

780
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:34,660
here.

781
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,460
It looks like you're picking your nose. Yes.

782
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:40,640
Horrifying. That was my first big break on

783
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,799
television. And I did this when I was

784
00:29:42,799 --> 00:29:44,320
with you, and I'm I'm like I was

785
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,160
cracking my nose. I'm like, I gotta tell

786
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:47,025
her this story.

787
00:29:47,585 --> 00:29:48,085
Anyway,

788
00:29:48,545 --> 00:29:51,205
so Davy was playing gigs with me everywhere

789
00:29:51,585 --> 00:29:54,545
around LA, and he was recording my original

790
00:29:54,545 --> 00:29:55,845
music with me. And

791
00:29:56,224 --> 00:29:58,144
this is the kind of human he is

792
00:29:58,144 --> 00:30:00,785
because he thought it was it was great,

793
00:30:00,785 --> 00:30:02,644
and he wanted to do it.

794
00:30:03,899 --> 00:30:05,440
And then in about

795
00:30:08,299 --> 00:30:08,799
2,004,

796
00:30:09,579 --> 00:30:11,200
he came to me and he said,

797
00:30:11,899 --> 00:30:13,099
hey, Adam. You know,

798
00:30:13,740 --> 00:30:15,919
Elton doesn't like to rehearse. And,

799
00:30:16,994 --> 00:30:18,214
the guy we've been using,

800
00:30:18,755 --> 00:30:21,015
he's the keyboardist, but he doesn't sing.

801
00:30:21,315 --> 00:30:23,174
And now he's not playing keys anymore.

802
00:30:23,795 --> 00:30:25,875
Would you be interested in doing it? So,

803
00:30:26,275 --> 00:30:28,674
I started rehearsing the band, I guess it

804
00:30:28,674 --> 00:30:29,494
was 2,000

805
00:30:30,309 --> 00:30:32,490
5 when we first started having rehearsals.

806
00:30:32,869 --> 00:30:34,570
So almost 20 years. Elton

807
00:30:34,950 --> 00:30:37,430
heard a CD they made of me playing

808
00:30:37,430 --> 00:30:40,470
and singing his parts. And he's like, let's

809
00:30:40,470 --> 00:30:42,250
bring him to Boston

810
00:30:42,869 --> 00:30:45,355
and have him rehearse the choir there. So

811
00:30:45,355 --> 00:30:47,234
it was in Boston, I got to meet

812
00:30:47,234 --> 00:30:47,734
Elton,

813
00:30:48,595 --> 00:30:51,075
and we were by a this is just

814
00:30:51,075 --> 00:30:52,054
a funny story.

815
00:30:52,355 --> 00:30:53,794
We were by a we were in a

816
00:30:53,794 --> 00:30:55,654
church rehearsing in Boston,

817
00:30:56,595 --> 00:30:57,095
and

818
00:30:57,450 --> 00:31:00,089
I'll never forget it. It was 12 noon.

819
00:31:00,089 --> 00:31:02,669
And, of course, the church bells were ringing

820
00:31:03,049 --> 00:31:03,549
12.

821
00:31:04,169 --> 00:31:04,669
And

822
00:31:05,130 --> 00:31:07,549
I was standing outside the church with Davey,

823
00:31:08,089 --> 00:31:10,169
and Elton was on his way in for

824
00:31:10,169 --> 00:31:11,710
the first time to rehearse

825
00:31:12,015 --> 00:31:13,474
what I had been rehearsing

826
00:31:13,775 --> 00:31:14,674
with the band.

827
00:31:15,455 --> 00:31:18,414
And Athnot, for whom the bell tolls, it

828
00:31:18,414 --> 00:31:19,474
tolls for thee.

829
00:31:20,015 --> 00:31:21,875
And I was just thinking

830
00:31:22,335 --> 00:31:24,195
this is one of these insanely

831
00:31:25,559 --> 00:31:28,119
surreal moments where I'm waiting to meet my

832
00:31:28,119 --> 00:31:28,619
hero

833
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,519
and these bells are ringing and I'm all

834
00:31:32,519 --> 00:31:33,019
nerve.

835
00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:35,339
He had heard me on CD.

836
00:31:35,799 --> 00:31:38,059
Of course, I had heard him on albums

837
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:39,819
for my entire life.

838
00:31:40,365 --> 00:31:40,865
And

839
00:31:41,325 --> 00:31:43,025
car pulls up, big limo.

840
00:31:44,924 --> 00:31:47,025
That wasn't the place to meet.

841
00:31:47,484 --> 00:31:49,964
And so I went back inside to the

842
00:31:49,964 --> 00:31:51,884
church. I waited for him to come up

843
00:31:51,884 --> 00:31:54,125
to stage, and we had a hug on

844
00:31:54,125 --> 00:31:55,799
stage. We met each other.

845
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,619
And I'm sitting at a little keyboard

846
00:31:59,160 --> 00:31:59,980
over here,

847
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,000
and he's at the piano over there in

848
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:03,900
front of me.

849
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:05,259
The band

850
00:32:05,559 --> 00:32:08,680
behind me, the small choir, the voices of

851
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,059
Atlanta, they were called,

852
00:32:10,684 --> 00:32:13,244
I think, and the crew, the the sound

853
00:32:13,244 --> 00:32:17,025
crew. No audience, just, you know, sporadic manager,

854
00:32:17,164 --> 00:32:17,664
whatever.

855
00:32:18,765 --> 00:32:21,085
And we start playing these songs from the

856
00:32:21,085 --> 00:32:23,904
album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Girl Cowboy

857
00:32:24,125 --> 00:32:25,424
because it was the

858
00:32:25,950 --> 00:32:26,450
reunion

859
00:32:27,150 --> 00:32:30,369
the anniversary tour of that album's release,

860
00:32:30,909 --> 00:32:34,029
release, like, whatever it was, 30 years, whatever

861
00:32:34,029 --> 00:32:37,250
it was. So Elton hadn't played these songs

862
00:32:37,390 --> 00:32:38,210
in decades,

863
00:32:38,669 --> 00:32:40,945
except for Someone Save My Life Tonight. That

864
00:32:40,945 --> 00:32:43,184
was from that album. Everything else he hadn't

865
00:32:43,184 --> 00:32:43,684
played.

866
00:32:44,465 --> 00:32:46,384
So he was supposed to have done his

867
00:32:46,384 --> 00:32:46,884
homework

868
00:32:47,424 --> 00:32:48,404
and come prepared

869
00:32:49,424 --> 00:32:50,644
to his first rehearsal.

870
00:32:51,424 --> 00:32:52,965
And so we're in this

871
00:32:53,389 --> 00:32:55,869
building either near the church or in the

872
00:32:55,869 --> 00:32:57,809
church. Now I don't remember, but

873
00:32:58,190 --> 00:33:00,049
but we were there, and

874
00:33:00,669 --> 00:33:03,710
he forgot how to play Better Off Dead,

875
00:33:03,710 --> 00:33:04,210
ironically,

876
00:33:04,669 --> 00:33:05,730
from that album.

877
00:33:06,575 --> 00:33:07,954
And we start playing,

878
00:33:08,335 --> 00:33:10,015
and he stops all of a sudden, and

879
00:33:10,015 --> 00:33:12,515
he can't remember the chord. And he says,

880
00:33:12,734 --> 00:33:13,234
Adam,

881
00:33:14,015 --> 00:33:16,095
what what is that next chord? And I

882
00:33:16,095 --> 00:33:16,914
said, it's

883
00:33:25,639 --> 00:33:28,059
I'm telling Elton what his song is

884
00:33:28,839 --> 00:33:30,839
in front of everybody. And it was one

885
00:33:30,839 --> 00:33:31,500
of those,

886
00:33:32,279 --> 00:33:32,779
again,

887
00:33:33,505 --> 00:33:35,444
a surreal moment that

888
00:33:35,825 --> 00:33:38,785
somebody caught on film because they were filming

889
00:33:38,785 --> 00:33:41,345
it, but I've never seen it. This was

890
00:33:41,345 --> 00:33:41,845
2,005.

891
00:33:42,865 --> 00:33:45,119
And I don't even think we had cell

892
00:33:45,119 --> 00:33:47,940
phones in 2,005 unless you had General MacArthur's

893
00:33:48,079 --> 00:33:50,720
big Yeah. That giant Yeah. Right. I didn't

894
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:52,740
have access to that that moment, unfortunately.

895
00:33:53,119 --> 00:33:56,000
There we were, you know, rehearsing that song,

896
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:56,500
and

897
00:33:57,119 --> 00:33:58,484
he kinda got it.

898
00:33:58,964 --> 00:34:00,644
And we went on to the next song,

899
00:34:00,644 --> 00:34:02,904
and then he got kind of pissed off

900
00:34:03,285 --> 00:34:04,984
that he didn't remember

901
00:34:05,444 --> 00:34:06,825
how to play these songs.

902
00:34:07,365 --> 00:34:09,144
And he walked off the stage.

903
00:34:09,525 --> 00:34:11,445
He was like, fuck this. Nobody wants to

904
00:34:11,445 --> 00:34:13,760
hear this old shit anyway. And he walked

905
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:15,699
off the stage. Out of the auditorium,

906
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,960
he's gone. So you have to still picture

907
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:20,339
now the dead silent

908
00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:24,880
of all the crew, the small choir, the

909
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:25,380
band,

910
00:34:25,715 --> 00:34:27,494
the sporadic members in the audience.

911
00:34:27,875 --> 00:34:30,534
I'm at the little keyboard and a microphone,

912
00:34:32,114 --> 00:34:33,894
and he's gone. And I said,

913
00:34:34,755 --> 00:34:35,974
well, that went well.

914
00:34:36,355 --> 00:34:36,855
And

915
00:34:37,155 --> 00:34:39,715
everybody started laughing in the band and it

916
00:34:39,715 --> 00:34:41,335
was like, oh my god.

917
00:34:41,849 --> 00:34:44,410
What do I do now? You know, I

918
00:34:44,410 --> 00:34:46,170
called my wife when I got back to

919
00:34:46,170 --> 00:34:47,550
the hotel. And I said,

920
00:34:48,090 --> 00:34:50,730
I think I'm coming home. I think the

921
00:34:50,730 --> 00:34:51,630
show's canceled.

922
00:34:52,250 --> 00:34:54,030
And then the very next day,

923
00:34:55,085 --> 00:34:55,984
he was back.

924
00:34:56,444 --> 00:34:59,244
He knew his shit. I don't know what

925
00:34:59,244 --> 00:34:59,744
happened.

926
00:35:00,284 --> 00:35:00,784
But

927
00:35:01,164 --> 00:35:03,105
and he said, no. No. No. We're gonna

928
00:35:03,164 --> 00:35:05,505
drop that song that I don't wanna do

929
00:35:05,644 --> 00:35:08,385
because I really don't wanna play it. Great.

930
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:10,960
And he did most the entire album, and

931
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:11,619
it was

932
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:13,059
it was immaculate.

933
00:35:13,599 --> 00:35:14,339
He was

934
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:15,219
incredible

935
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:17,699
that next day of rehearsal.

936
00:35:18,079 --> 00:35:20,159
He just had to feel his feelings and

937
00:35:20,159 --> 00:35:22,319
get it out and then That's all it

938
00:35:22,319 --> 00:35:24,684
was. You know, and everybody said, you know,

939
00:35:24,684 --> 00:35:26,444
he had such a temper and all this

940
00:35:26,444 --> 00:35:26,944
nonsense.

941
00:35:27,964 --> 00:35:30,304
That was the only time that I

942
00:35:30,684 --> 00:35:31,184
personally

943
00:35:31,885 --> 00:35:33,505
really experienced anything.

944
00:35:33,804 --> 00:35:36,204
He's he's always been nothing but kind to

945
00:35:36,204 --> 00:35:38,869
me. Yeah. So He he strikes me having

946
00:35:38,869 --> 00:35:41,429
never met him and only have, you know,

947
00:35:41,429 --> 00:35:44,329
interviews and and performances to go on.

948
00:35:44,630 --> 00:35:47,210
He strikes me as somebody who is exceptional

949
00:35:47,589 --> 00:35:50,089
at their craft on a level that is

950
00:35:50,775 --> 00:35:52,694
godlike. And I don't mean that in a

951
00:35:52,694 --> 00:35:53,194
in

952
00:35:53,494 --> 00:35:56,135
a disrespectful way, but in as in god

953
00:35:56,135 --> 00:35:58,954
is speaking through this person. Yeah.

954
00:35:59,815 --> 00:36:02,934
And that that's gotta be anyone that can

955
00:36:02,934 --> 00:36:05,150
play like that in my humble opinion, and

956
00:36:05,150 --> 00:36:06,910
this goes for any artist who can paint

957
00:36:06,910 --> 00:36:08,930
like that or sing like that or whatever,

958
00:36:09,630 --> 00:36:10,289
they are

959
00:36:10,750 --> 00:36:11,250
experiencing

960
00:36:11,710 --> 00:36:12,369
the world

961
00:36:13,309 --> 00:36:14,690
with such a rawness

962
00:36:15,309 --> 00:36:16,130
and understanding

963
00:36:16,670 --> 00:36:17,890
that is beyond

964
00:36:18,724 --> 00:36:20,105
normal human consumption

965
00:36:20,485 --> 00:36:21,784
Yeah. That it's probably

966
00:36:22,164 --> 00:36:24,724
gotta be almost like being an open nerve

967
00:36:24,724 --> 00:36:27,125
walking through the world, you know. And all

968
00:36:27,125 --> 00:36:29,844
these people watching you expecting you to be

969
00:36:29,844 --> 00:36:32,319
perfect Wanting. All the time. Yes. And it's

970
00:36:32,319 --> 00:36:33,059
not possible.

971
00:36:33,599 --> 00:36:36,639
So, a funny tag to that story as

972
00:36:36,639 --> 00:36:39,299
a thank you for my work getting everybody

973
00:36:39,359 --> 00:36:39,859
ready,

974
00:36:40,159 --> 00:36:40,659
Elton,

975
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:43,219
said, you know, I want you to sing

976
00:36:43,519 --> 00:36:45,539
with the choir for the show.

977
00:36:45,965 --> 00:36:47,485
There were, like I think it was a

978
00:36:47,485 --> 00:36:49,804
10 member choir. It was very small. It

979
00:36:49,804 --> 00:36:51,344
was an all gospel

980
00:36:51,885 --> 00:36:52,385
choir.

981
00:36:52,844 --> 00:36:54,065
I was the only,

982
00:36:54,605 --> 00:36:55,824
white straight

983
00:36:56,525 --> 00:36:59,105
Jewish guy in the entire choir.

984
00:36:59,489 --> 00:37:02,130
And I would have loved every second of

985
00:37:02,130 --> 00:37:02,630
it,

986
00:37:03,329 --> 00:37:05,110
but they had these dance moves

987
00:37:06,449 --> 00:37:09,110
that they needed to do. They were doing

988
00:37:09,489 --> 00:37:10,630
these very,

989
00:37:11,614 --> 00:37:12,275
you know,

990
00:37:12,655 --> 00:37:14,434
like, what looked like a salute.

991
00:37:14,815 --> 00:37:17,074
They would point. They would turn.

992
00:37:17,454 --> 00:37:18,114
They would

993
00:37:18,414 --> 00:37:18,914
shake.

994
00:37:19,534 --> 00:37:20,194
It was

995
00:37:20,494 --> 00:37:20,994
bizarre.

996
00:37:21,855 --> 00:37:22,674
And so

997
00:37:23,135 --> 00:37:25,079
the night before the first show in Boston,

998
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,200
before we went to Madison Square Garden for

999
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,280
3 shows, by the way, I was in

1000
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,200
my hotel room with one of the members

1001
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:32,860
of the choir

1002
00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:34,860
teaching me these dance moves.

1003
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:37,320
I didn't know what the hell I was

1004
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:38,140
doing because

1005
00:37:38,534 --> 00:37:40,934
I don't really dance. I I sit in

1006
00:37:40,934 --> 00:37:43,514
front of a piano because I don't dance.

1007
00:37:44,054 --> 00:37:45,194
I don't like

1008
00:37:45,655 --> 00:37:46,155
to

1009
00:37:46,694 --> 00:37:47,355
to do

1010
00:37:47,894 --> 00:37:49,835
crazy moves. So

1011
00:37:50,135 --> 00:37:51,914
when we got to the garden,

1012
00:37:52,900 --> 00:37:55,460
I thought I had to step down by

1013
00:37:55,460 --> 00:37:56,840
then because it had been

1014
00:37:57,219 --> 00:37:58,199
several days.

1015
00:37:58,900 --> 00:37:59,400
And

1016
00:38:00,099 --> 00:38:01,800
we finished the first show.

1017
00:38:02,260 --> 00:38:04,659
I walk outside the garden. I'm with some

1018
00:38:04,659 --> 00:38:05,159
friends

1019
00:38:05,715 --> 00:38:07,414
and these people stop me.

1020
00:38:08,114 --> 00:38:09,175
And they said,

1021
00:38:09,474 --> 00:38:09,974
hey,

1022
00:38:10,355 --> 00:38:12,755
weren't you that guy on stage singing with

1023
00:38:12,755 --> 00:38:14,595
Elton? And I said, yeah, I was I

1024
00:38:14,595 --> 00:38:15,735
was part of the choir.

1025
00:38:16,195 --> 00:38:18,055
And I thought, oh my god.

1026
00:38:18,510 --> 00:38:21,230
Somebody recognized me. This is so awesome. And

1027
00:38:21,230 --> 00:38:21,969
they said,

1028
00:38:22,510 --> 00:38:23,250
they continued.

1029
00:38:23,949 --> 00:38:25,869
Did you win your spot to be up

1030
00:38:25,869 --> 00:38:26,369
there?

1031
00:38:27,949 --> 00:38:29,969
Oh, my god. That's hysterical.

1032
00:38:30,829 --> 00:38:31,650
That's hysterical.

1033
00:38:33,155 --> 00:38:35,554
Because I I look like an idiot. I'm

1034
00:38:35,554 --> 00:38:39,875
sure pointing and diluting and turning and all

1035
00:38:39,875 --> 00:38:43,234
these very not demure moves and Like, did

1036
00:38:43,234 --> 00:38:46,195
John Oyu money? Or Oh, my god. It

1037
00:38:46,195 --> 00:38:49,250
was, I mean, I loved singing it. There

1038
00:38:49,250 --> 00:38:51,010
was one song we did. It's on I

1039
00:38:51,010 --> 00:38:53,090
put it on YouTube because I found a

1040
00:38:53,090 --> 00:38:56,230
clip of it someone sent me where the

1041
00:38:56,289 --> 00:38:57,989
the jumbotron at the garden

1042
00:38:58,530 --> 00:38:59,429
caught me

1043
00:39:00,065 --> 00:39:02,405
in split screen with Elton.

1044
00:39:02,785 --> 00:39:05,105
So check this out. It was this song

1045
00:39:05,105 --> 00:39:07,684
from the Cap Fantastic album called Curtains,

1046
00:39:08,065 --> 00:39:09,425
where it ends with a big,

1047
00:39:11,425 --> 00:39:12,405
You know, very

1048
00:39:12,940 --> 00:39:14,000
sing along thing.

1049
00:39:14,619 --> 00:39:15,840
And the choir

1050
00:39:16,619 --> 00:39:19,660
was singing it very straight, which for a

1051
00:39:19,660 --> 00:39:22,079
gospel choir who wasn't straight,

1052
00:39:22,780 --> 00:39:25,655
it was very, very odd to hear,

1053
00:39:28,275 --> 00:39:29,175
and I was

1054
00:39:30,275 --> 00:39:31,175
one night

1055
00:39:32,035 --> 00:39:33,175
at the Boston

1056
00:39:33,474 --> 00:39:35,715
Garden, I think it was called then, Davy

1057
00:39:35,715 --> 00:39:37,635
told me he spoke with Elton and Elton

1058
00:39:37,635 --> 00:39:39,015
wanted me to continue

1059
00:39:39,474 --> 00:39:40,614
belting it out

1060
00:39:41,369 --> 00:39:43,309
and with some gusto.

1061
00:39:43,769 --> 00:39:45,150
So I was up there going,

1062
00:39:47,449 --> 00:39:49,549
and so they put me in split screen

1063
00:39:49,609 --> 00:39:51,630
at the garden and captured this.

1064
00:39:52,089 --> 00:39:54,329
And it was like, oh my god. The

1065
00:39:54,329 --> 00:39:54,829
choir

1066
00:39:55,565 --> 00:39:56,385
hated me.

1067
00:39:56,845 --> 00:40:00,305
They they were so pissed because they're like,

1068
00:40:00,365 --> 00:40:02,945
what? How? What is he doing?

1069
00:40:03,244 --> 00:40:05,565
This isn't a solo act. You know? And

1070
00:40:05,565 --> 00:40:08,125
I get it, but I was told to

1071
00:40:08,125 --> 00:40:08,865
do that.

1072
00:40:09,949 --> 00:40:11,809
And it was it was

1073
00:40:12,349 --> 00:40:14,989
mesmerizing for me to be in a split

1074
00:40:14,989 --> 00:40:15,489
screen

1075
00:40:16,269 --> 00:40:16,929
with Elton

1076
00:40:17,469 --> 00:40:20,750
and doing this call and response with him.

1077
00:40:20,750 --> 00:40:21,969
And you could see

1078
00:40:22,429 --> 00:40:24,369
in his face that he was like,

1079
00:40:25,764 --> 00:40:27,925
And every night, we did I guess we

1080
00:40:27,925 --> 00:40:29,385
did 2 shows in Boston,

1081
00:40:30,085 --> 00:40:31,605
maybe 3. And then we did 3 at

1082
00:40:31,605 --> 00:40:34,164
the Garden. Every night, Baby came to me

1083
00:40:34,164 --> 00:40:37,045
and said, Elton loves what you're doing. Keep

1084
00:40:37,045 --> 00:40:39,219
doing it. Do more. And I was like,

1085
00:40:39,219 --> 00:40:41,539
I'm so by the last night, I grabbed

1086
00:40:41,539 --> 00:40:42,200
the mic

1087
00:40:42,820 --> 00:40:45,539
off of the mic stand. I'm like, I'm

1088
00:40:45,539 --> 00:40:46,840
doing it. You know, I was

1089
00:40:47,340 --> 00:40:50,260
I I felt so empowered by that because

1090
00:40:50,260 --> 00:40:52,019
it was like there were no dance steps

1091
00:40:52,019 --> 00:40:54,855
during that freaking song. And it was about

1092
00:40:55,075 --> 00:40:57,394
the passion, and it all came out. It

1093
00:40:57,394 --> 00:40:58,695
was it was so cool.

1094
00:40:58,994 --> 00:41:01,715
So cool. That's great. I've I read that

1095
00:41:01,715 --> 00:41:03,414
you were now called

1096
00:41:04,114 --> 00:41:06,994
surrogate. That's Davey. Davey called me the surrogate

1097
00:41:06,994 --> 00:41:09,849
Elton. He he he called me my my

1098
00:41:09,849 --> 00:41:11,789
secret our secret secret weapon.

1099
00:41:12,170 --> 00:41:14,269
And then he said, you're my surrogate Elton.

1100
00:41:14,730 --> 00:41:16,269
And so I thought,

1101
00:41:16,730 --> 00:41:20,114
surrogate Elton? Well, if you shorten sir, that's

1102
00:41:20,355 --> 00:41:22,755
sir. So I'm sir Elton with a u

1103
00:41:22,755 --> 00:41:24,855
r. That makes sense, baby.

1104
00:41:25,235 --> 00:41:27,255
And he said, I came up with that.

1105
00:41:27,315 --> 00:41:27,954
You know?

1106
00:41:29,235 --> 00:41:31,155
So, yeah, they call me the surrogate Elton

1107
00:41:31,155 --> 00:41:33,315
then and I'll never do an Elton tribute

1108
00:41:33,315 --> 00:41:35,074
band. It's it's just not what I do.

1109
00:41:35,074 --> 00:41:37,489
And I I play and sing his songs

1110
00:41:37,489 --> 00:41:39,809
as if I wrote them. And that's, I

1111
00:41:39,809 --> 00:41:41,110
think, what makes them

1112
00:41:41,489 --> 00:41:44,050
special because I feel so connected to his

1113
00:41:44,050 --> 00:41:44,550
music

1114
00:41:44,929 --> 00:41:47,250
having loved him and his music since I

1115
00:41:47,250 --> 00:41:47,750
was,

1116
00:41:48,255 --> 00:41:50,174
well, right right after my dad died, I

1117
00:41:50,174 --> 00:41:51,554
think, is when I really

1118
00:41:51,855 --> 00:41:54,815
started getting into pop and and, you know,

1119
00:41:54,815 --> 00:41:57,454
Kapton and Taneil, because Kapton was such an

1120
00:41:57,454 --> 00:42:01,349
amazing keyboard player, and Neil Sedaka. And and

1121
00:42:01,349 --> 00:42:03,190
then I started getting into r and b

1122
00:42:03,190 --> 00:42:04,090
and Prince

1123
00:42:04,789 --> 00:42:06,789
and, you know, all the dance groups of

1124
00:42:06,789 --> 00:42:09,849
the seventies, Tavares, then Earth, Wind, and Fire.

1125
00:42:10,230 --> 00:42:11,690
You know, that became

1126
00:42:12,390 --> 00:42:14,470
how do I connect with that music on

1127
00:42:14,470 --> 00:42:15,130
the piano?

1128
00:42:15,670 --> 00:42:16,809
How can I play,

1129
00:42:17,405 --> 00:42:19,885
you know, an earth, wind, and fire song

1130
00:42:19,885 --> 00:42:21,585
on the piano and make it sound

1131
00:42:22,125 --> 00:42:23,105
like they do?

1132
00:42:43,289 --> 00:42:45,025
You know, it became fun. And, you know,

1133
00:42:45,025 --> 00:42:47,445
I don't think of myself at all.

1134
00:42:47,744 --> 00:42:48,965
There are piano players

1135
00:42:49,344 --> 00:42:51,605
who can play rings around me.

1136
00:42:51,905 --> 00:42:54,385
But what I do, I think, is special.

1137
00:42:54,385 --> 00:42:55,364
I I I think

1138
00:42:55,824 --> 00:42:57,204
I connect to the piano

1139
00:42:57,905 --> 00:43:00,244
in a way that that is very personal.

1140
00:43:01,450 --> 00:43:03,530
And and I like to tell people that

1141
00:43:03,530 --> 00:43:05,610
I I play these songs as if I

1142
00:43:05,610 --> 00:43:08,809
wrote them because that's when I get close

1143
00:43:08,809 --> 00:43:09,469
to them.

1144
00:43:28,839 --> 00:43:31,579
I'm not trying to I'm not trying to

1145
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:34,780
do a tribute act. I'm not trying to

1146
00:43:35,639 --> 00:43:36,859
play them exactly

1147
00:43:37,159 --> 00:43:39,480
the way they did it unless that's what's

1148
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:41,880
being asked. And and when I was rehearsing

1149
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:44,295
Elton, that's what was being asked. We want

1150
00:43:44,295 --> 00:43:46,054
you to play it the way Elton plays

1151
00:43:46,054 --> 00:43:48,315
it so when he stepped in,

1152
00:43:48,694 --> 00:43:51,434
we'll be familiar with what what to do.

1153
00:43:51,655 --> 00:43:52,155
So

1154
00:43:52,534 --> 00:43:54,135
in that sense of the word, I was

1155
00:43:54,135 --> 00:43:56,369
playing very much like he was doing it.

1156
00:43:56,610 --> 00:43:58,690
But when I'm on my own, I I

1157
00:43:58,690 --> 00:44:00,150
make them my own.

1158
00:44:00,530 --> 00:44:02,710
Yeah. For sure. Yeah. And

1159
00:44:03,570 --> 00:44:06,550
when you sit down at the different pianos,

1160
00:44:06,769 --> 00:44:08,150
this is something that I

1161
00:44:08,644 --> 00:44:10,184
guess I didn't realize until

1162
00:44:10,565 --> 00:44:12,105
I got my first piano

1163
00:44:12,804 --> 00:44:15,125
that, like, that was mine as an adult,

1164
00:44:15,125 --> 00:44:16,184
you know, that

1165
00:44:16,644 --> 00:44:18,984
as I was wandering through the piano store

1166
00:44:19,204 --> 00:44:20,824
and sitting down and playing,

1167
00:44:21,125 --> 00:44:23,204
I mean, there were some very expensive pianos,

1168
00:44:23,204 --> 00:44:25,630
but it wasn't really I wasn't responding to

1169
00:44:25,630 --> 00:44:28,030
them like I did when I when I

1170
00:44:28,030 --> 00:44:30,130
finally came upon the one that I chose.

1171
00:44:30,829 --> 00:44:33,650
It was like a a relationship was immediately

1172
00:44:33,710 --> 00:44:36,929
formed. It was such an interesting feeling. Yep.

1173
00:44:37,105 --> 00:44:39,505
That that so I manage a piano store

1174
00:44:39,505 --> 00:44:42,885
in Sherman Oaks, called Faust Harrison Pianos. And

1175
00:44:43,105 --> 00:44:45,184
it's really a great store with a ton

1176
00:44:45,184 --> 00:44:47,585
of pianos that, you know, vary in prices

1177
00:44:47,585 --> 00:44:48,960
and size and whatever.

1178
00:44:49,599 --> 00:44:51,920
But, you know, people ask me on a

1179
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:54,079
daily, what's your favorite piano in here? And

1180
00:44:54,079 --> 00:44:54,659
I say,

1181
00:44:55,039 --> 00:44:56,500
it depends on the day

1182
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:57,300
because

1183
00:44:57,839 --> 00:44:59,619
it's a different piano sometimes.

1184
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,500
Sometimes I'm I'm not connected with that

1185
00:45:02,925 --> 00:45:05,344
piano the way I was this one today.

1186
00:45:05,565 --> 00:45:07,644
In a a different store I was working

1187
00:45:07,644 --> 00:45:08,144
in

1188
00:45:08,445 --> 00:45:10,945
in LA called David Abel's for a while,

1189
00:45:11,085 --> 00:45:13,664
John Bryan came in, who's a very famous

1190
00:45:14,045 --> 00:45:14,545
composer

1191
00:45:15,170 --> 00:45:16,070
for movies,

1192
00:45:16,690 --> 00:45:18,630
scores. He did I Heart Huckaby.

1193
00:45:19,329 --> 00:45:21,750
He's a genius, and and he produced,

1194
00:45:22,450 --> 00:45:23,910
Fiona Apple's album.

1195
00:45:24,450 --> 00:45:26,130
He said something to me in the piano

1196
00:45:26,130 --> 00:45:28,230
store that I never forgot. He said,

1197
00:45:28,994 --> 00:45:29,734
some pianos

1198
00:45:30,355 --> 00:45:31,815
have songs to sing,

1199
00:45:33,154 --> 00:45:35,894
and and and they're not done singing them,

1200
00:45:36,275 --> 00:45:38,214
you know. And I thought, well, okay.

1201
00:45:39,474 --> 00:45:41,954
And I I get it, you know. I

1202
00:45:41,954 --> 00:45:44,295
just was given I was gifted

1203
00:45:44,889 --> 00:45:46,969
a baby grand piano by some friends of

1204
00:45:46,969 --> 00:45:47,469
ours,

1205
00:45:48,010 --> 00:45:49,789
and I wrote a song on it.

1206
00:45:50,650 --> 00:45:52,489
You know, like, the first night I had

1207
00:45:52,489 --> 00:45:53,789
it there, it it

1208
00:45:54,170 --> 00:45:55,929
I was lucky. It it sang to me,

1209
00:45:55,929 --> 00:45:57,630
and it's an instrumental song.

1210
00:45:57,945 --> 00:46:00,105
I sent it to my son, Truman, and

1211
00:46:00,105 --> 00:46:02,184
I said, you think it needs lyrics? And

1212
00:46:02,184 --> 00:46:04,025
he came up with some lyrics, and I

1213
00:46:04,025 --> 00:46:04,525
thought,

1214
00:46:04,905 --> 00:46:06,765
some of these are actually pretty good.

1215
00:46:07,065 --> 00:46:09,244
Maybe this could be a father son duo

1216
00:46:09,545 --> 00:46:10,765
thing. Who knows?

1217
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:12,940
Whenever I play the chord,

1218
00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:16,440
I'm like, this is different, and this is

1219
00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:17,339
this is special.

1220
00:46:17,799 --> 00:46:19,819
It's called I forgot who I was,

1221
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,219
and it's it's really

1222
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:24,380
deep and very

1223
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:25,819
kinda cool.

1224
00:46:26,525 --> 00:46:27,025
Nice.

1225
00:46:27,405 --> 00:46:27,905
Beautiful.

1226
00:46:28,765 --> 00:46:32,364
Yeah. Thanks. And you can be seen playing

1227
00:46:32,364 --> 00:46:34,385
out and about in in LA.

1228
00:46:34,765 --> 00:46:37,344
Yep. The Georgian Room at the Georgian Hotel

1229
00:46:37,565 --> 00:46:38,385
on Wednesdays,

1230
00:46:39,420 --> 00:46:40,719
that's in Santa Monica.

1231
00:46:41,179 --> 00:46:42,400
The Sunset Marquis,

1232
00:46:42,859 --> 00:46:43,679
most Tuesdays,

1233
00:46:43,980 --> 00:46:45,599
that's a sing along party.

1234
00:46:46,380 --> 00:46:48,380
You know, I can't get away with just

1235
00:46:48,380 --> 00:46:50,219
playing there. I gotta sing, and it's it's

1236
00:46:50,219 --> 00:46:50,880
a party.

1237
00:46:51,179 --> 00:46:53,659
And then on occasion, the Chateau Marmont, which

1238
00:46:53,659 --> 00:46:54,639
is, again,

1239
00:46:55,235 --> 00:46:58,195
just one of those Hollywood iconic places. And

1240
00:46:58,195 --> 00:47:00,914
I'm like, oh my god. Belushi died here.

1241
00:47:00,914 --> 00:47:03,574
I you know. And his ghost is there.

1242
00:47:04,275 --> 00:47:06,375
Everybody's ghost is there. Yeah.

1243
00:47:06,755 --> 00:47:09,315
Crazy. I like that place. It's got so

1244
00:47:09,315 --> 00:47:11,359
much stuff going on.

1245
00:47:11,819 --> 00:47:13,659
Lot of stuff, you know, you just look

1246
00:47:13,659 --> 00:47:16,539
around, you're like, focus, focus, focus. Yeah. You

1247
00:47:16,539 --> 00:47:19,019
know? Well, not on just but the energy

1248
00:47:19,019 --> 00:47:21,900
of that place is real wild. Yeah. Yeah.

1249
00:47:21,900 --> 00:47:24,699
They all have their own different energies. The

1250
00:47:24,699 --> 00:47:26,835
Georgian is where Dick Van Dyke got his

1251
00:47:26,835 --> 00:47:27,894
start in vaudeville

1252
00:47:28,434 --> 00:47:28,934
over

1253
00:47:29,235 --> 00:47:30,295
60 years ago,

1254
00:47:30,914 --> 00:47:32,755
and they redid the room as a speak

1255
00:47:32,755 --> 00:47:33,894
easy. It's so beautiful.

1256
00:47:34,355 --> 00:47:35,954
Yeah. I I I adore it. The food

1257
00:47:35,954 --> 00:47:37,414
is impeccable also.

1258
00:47:37,795 --> 00:47:40,775
Pretty damn good. I know. I know. I'm

1259
00:47:40,835 --> 00:47:41,655
trying to

1260
00:47:42,099 --> 00:47:43,380
eat light, but,

1261
00:47:44,420 --> 00:47:46,599
it's so good there. So good.

1262
00:47:47,139 --> 00:47:49,460
I'm not a great piano player. I can

1263
00:47:49,460 --> 00:47:51,380
get by on a couple things. I I

1264
00:47:51,380 --> 00:47:54,099
wish I my piano was here because practice,

1265
00:47:54,099 --> 00:47:56,199
practice, practice is the only way.

1266
00:47:57,045 --> 00:47:57,944
Mhmm. But

1267
00:47:58,484 --> 00:48:00,565
I do for whatever reason, when I pick

1268
00:48:00,565 --> 00:48:02,644
up a guitar and I play it, like,

1269
00:48:02,644 --> 00:48:04,324
I could play the guitar. I could play

1270
00:48:04,324 --> 00:48:06,405
the rhythm of it and all that, but

1271
00:48:06,405 --> 00:48:07,224
there's something

1272
00:48:07,764 --> 00:48:09,385
there's something about a piano.

1273
00:48:10,085 --> 00:48:10,324
And

1274
00:48:11,190 --> 00:48:13,210
Yeah. My question is,

1275
00:48:13,670 --> 00:48:15,670
I think a a lot of people are

1276
00:48:15,670 --> 00:48:16,170
intimidated

1277
00:48:17,109 --> 00:48:17,929
by the piano.

1278
00:48:18,309 --> 00:48:20,730
Mhmm. Not just because of its size,

1279
00:48:21,269 --> 00:48:22,489
but just it

1280
00:48:22,869 --> 00:48:24,889
seems like so much math.

1281
00:48:25,784 --> 00:48:28,425
You know, it seems complicated. And anytime I

1282
00:48:28,425 --> 00:48:28,925
see

1283
00:48:29,464 --> 00:48:31,385
a a piano in an alleyway that's been

1284
00:48:31,385 --> 00:48:33,625
abandoned, you know, or or, you know, come

1285
00:48:33,625 --> 00:48:36,184
take my piano free, I I just add

1286
00:48:37,065 --> 00:48:37,464
Yeah.

1287
00:48:37,864 --> 00:48:38,925
What is some

1288
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:41,980
maybe advice for people that are are intimidated

1289
00:48:42,199 --> 00:48:43,099
by the instrument?

1290
00:48:43,639 --> 00:48:44,780
It's all the same

1291
00:48:45,239 --> 00:48:46,940
notes. There's only

1292
00:48:47,239 --> 00:48:48,059
12 tones

1293
00:48:48,679 --> 00:48:50,380
and they just repeat.

1294
00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:52,840
So once you get the pattern of where

1295
00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:55,954
everything is, the black keys are 3, 2,

1296
00:48:55,954 --> 00:48:58,515
3, 2, 3, 2, 3. It it's all

1297
00:48:58,515 --> 00:48:59,175
the same.

1298
00:48:59,795 --> 00:49:01,735
So while it may be mathematical,

1299
00:49:02,035 --> 00:49:03,414
I'm terrible in math.

1300
00:49:03,795 --> 00:49:06,055
But to me, the the image

1301
00:49:06,750 --> 00:49:07,809
is very clear.

1302
00:49:08,429 --> 00:49:10,989
And it's the space in between these black

1303
00:49:10,989 --> 00:49:13,170
notes where these white notes fall,

1304
00:49:13,550 --> 00:49:15,969
and they just repeat. They're all the same.

1305
00:49:16,429 --> 00:49:18,670
And it's just okay. So where do I

1306
00:49:18,670 --> 00:49:20,704
wanna start? The black notes

1307
00:49:24,125 --> 00:49:26,384
are sort of, like, dreamy that way.

1308
00:49:26,764 --> 00:49:28,545
And then there's all the white notes

1309
00:49:34,349 --> 00:49:35,890
which sound less dreamy.

1310
00:49:36,829 --> 00:49:37,329
And

1311
00:49:37,789 --> 00:49:38,769
there are only

1312
00:49:39,070 --> 00:49:39,570
really

1313
00:49:39,869 --> 00:49:42,670
12 different tones, which are if you combine

1314
00:49:42,670 --> 00:49:44,050
the white and the black notes.

1315
00:49:48,434 --> 00:49:50,434
And that's it. And then it just keeps

1316
00:49:50,434 --> 00:49:51,574
repeating and repeating.

1317
00:49:51,954 --> 00:49:53,735
I tell people who are intimidated

1318
00:49:54,675 --> 00:49:55,175
to

1319
00:49:55,474 --> 00:49:57,655
not be afraid to make mistakes

1320
00:49:58,195 --> 00:50:01,074
because it it's the mistake it's when you

1321
00:50:01,074 --> 00:50:02,135
make the mistake

1322
00:50:03,039 --> 00:50:05,139
that your ear should say,

1323
00:50:06,159 --> 00:50:07,139
what was that?

1324
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:10,400
And how do I make that resolve in

1325
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:10,980
a way

1326
00:50:11,599 --> 00:50:12,819
that is different?

1327
00:50:13,199 --> 00:50:14,579
You know, this chord.

1328
00:50:21,494 --> 00:50:22,235
And keep

1329
00:50:22,614 --> 00:50:26,135
building it kinda creepy crawly even if you

1330
00:50:26,135 --> 00:50:28,795
have to. But to resolve somewhere,

1331
00:50:31,335 --> 00:50:33,355
then it makes sense. You know?

1332
00:50:35,469 --> 00:50:37,250
You know, going up or down.

1333
00:50:37,710 --> 00:50:39,489
It can go so many places.

1334
00:50:40,190 --> 00:50:41,090
It's insane.

1335
00:50:41,390 --> 00:50:43,890
It's this is all the same thing,

1336
00:50:44,190 --> 00:50:45,250
but it represents

1337
00:50:45,710 --> 00:50:46,210
infinity.

1338
00:50:46,934 --> 00:50:49,335
So if you can sort of grapple with

1339
00:50:49,335 --> 00:50:51,355
the idea that it's okay to do

1340
00:50:52,454 --> 00:50:54,315
what sounds like an error

1341
00:50:54,855 --> 00:50:57,175
and then resolve it to something if you

1342
00:50:57,175 --> 00:50:59,515
must, and you've got a film score.

1343
00:51:03,199 --> 00:51:05,619
And then you play that wrong note, and

1344
00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:12,739
then

1345
00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:17,114
then you've got a film score.

1346
00:51:19,994 --> 00:51:22,414
It's like this episode of Star Trek

1347
00:51:23,355 --> 00:51:23,855
when

1348
00:51:24,315 --> 00:51:25,675
this is how much of a geek I

1349
00:51:25,675 --> 00:51:28,014
am. The original Star Trek when

1350
00:51:29,034 --> 00:51:29,534
McCoy,

1351
00:51:30,074 --> 00:51:31,135
doc the doctor,

1352
00:51:31,590 --> 00:51:33,530
gets infinite brain power,

1353
00:51:34,230 --> 00:51:36,170
and he knows how to

1354
00:51:37,349 --> 00:51:38,090
repair Fox

1355
00:51:38,390 --> 00:51:40,329
brain. And he says to

1356
00:51:40,630 --> 00:51:42,250
to captain Kirk, he says,

1357
00:51:42,630 --> 00:51:45,865
Jim, this is child's play. It's so easy.

1358
00:51:45,865 --> 00:51:49,465
It's child's play. And he eventually forget because

1359
00:51:49,465 --> 00:51:51,625
the power runs out after a certain period

1360
00:51:51,625 --> 00:51:52,204
of time.

1361
00:51:52,825 --> 00:51:55,945
And and Spock helps him repair his own

1362
00:51:55,945 --> 00:51:58,845
brain. But I get back to my point.

1363
00:51:59,869 --> 00:52:02,449
It it's almost child's play

1364
00:52:02,829 --> 00:52:04,690
that it's so complicated,

1365
00:52:05,309 --> 00:52:07,550
yet it's so easy to just sit here

1366
00:52:07,550 --> 00:52:08,130
and go

1367
00:52:09,949 --> 00:52:12,335
and land where you may and then make

1368
00:52:12,335 --> 00:52:13,085
it work.

1369
00:52:15,784 --> 00:52:16,284
Yeah.

1370
00:52:27,389 --> 00:52:29,069
Yeah. You just have to be willing to

1371
00:52:29,069 --> 00:52:30,049
do anything.

1372
00:52:30,429 --> 00:52:32,210
So that's my childlike

1373
00:52:32,589 --> 00:52:35,170
advice to keeping it as simple and innocent

1374
00:52:35,549 --> 00:52:38,369
as possible. It's it's a plethora of

1375
00:52:39,069 --> 00:52:39,569
crap

1376
00:52:39,869 --> 00:52:42,014
that you can make sense out of. Well,

1377
00:52:42,014 --> 00:52:44,335
that's the freedom that children have that we

1378
00:52:44,335 --> 00:52:47,054
somehow lose. Yeah. You mustn't lose it. You

1379
00:52:47,054 --> 00:52:48,654
mustn't lose it. That,

1380
00:52:49,214 --> 00:52:49,714
yeah,

1381
00:52:50,014 --> 00:52:52,275
that that ability to just

1382
00:52:53,135 --> 00:52:55,855
create out of nothing and not worry about

1383
00:52:55,855 --> 00:52:58,340
what it means. Correct. Not worry about what

1384
00:52:58,340 --> 00:52:59,719
it sounds like because

1385
00:53:00,019 --> 00:53:01,559
sometimes the most offensive

1386
00:53:01,940 --> 00:53:02,440
chord

1387
00:53:03,059 --> 00:53:03,559
can

1388
00:53:04,739 --> 00:53:06,980
be different. I'm I'm one of those who

1389
00:53:06,980 --> 00:53:09,074
goes, you know, I make a mistake. Oh,

1390
00:53:09,074 --> 00:53:11,315
I meant to do that. You know? You

1391
00:53:11,315 --> 00:53:13,655
know? Because somehow it makes sense.

1392
00:53:15,234 --> 00:53:17,554
See, that could be a mistake because I've

1393
00:53:17,554 --> 00:53:19,894
got an f and an f sharp,

1394
00:53:20,675 --> 00:53:22,695
which really isn't very pretty.

1395
00:53:23,130 --> 00:53:23,949
But by

1396
00:53:24,489 --> 00:53:26,750
filling it with some other notes

1397
00:53:27,769 --> 00:53:28,670
and then maybe

1398
00:53:29,609 --> 00:53:30,109
moving

1399
00:53:30,489 --> 00:53:32,349
the whole thing down or up

1400
00:53:39,094 --> 00:53:40,954
then it starts making more sense.

1401
00:53:51,670 --> 00:53:54,390
Film score number 4. Also, nobody really knows

1402
00:53:54,390 --> 00:53:55,050
our mistakes

1403
00:53:55,590 --> 00:53:58,230
Right. On the outside world. That's us. Correct.

1404
00:53:58,230 --> 00:54:00,789
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Do you have a website

1405
00:54:00,789 --> 00:54:02,789
that people can track your schedule and come

1406
00:54:02,789 --> 00:54:04,489
see you? It's, adamchester.com.

1407
00:54:05,945 --> 00:54:06,605
I'm on

1408
00:54:08,025 --> 00:54:08,525
instagram@_adamchester.

1409
00:54:09,945 --> 00:54:12,284
But, yeah, I always promote on Facebook,

1410
00:54:13,144 --> 00:54:14,284
for all of my,

1411
00:54:14,664 --> 00:54:16,525
older friends because none of my

1412
00:54:16,905 --> 00:54:19,065
kids friends look at Facebook. It's like, what

1413
00:54:19,065 --> 00:54:21,449
the heck is that? I promote on Facebook,

1414
00:54:21,449 --> 00:54:23,769
Adam Chester. Yeah. And I'll put links on

1415
00:54:23,769 --> 00:54:24,269
heyhumanpodcast.com

1416
00:54:25,289 --> 00:54:27,230
so people can find stuff really easily.

1417
00:54:27,610 --> 00:54:30,010
Brilliant. Thank you so much. This this was

1418
00:54:30,010 --> 00:54:32,489
a blast. You're the best. Thank you for

1419
00:54:32,489 --> 00:54:33,550
listening, everyone.

1420
00:54:34,170 --> 00:54:34,670
Bye.

1421
00:54:35,210 --> 00:54:35,710
Bye.

1422
00:54:38,224 --> 00:54:40,945
Rate, review, and subscribe to Hey Human podcast

1423
00:54:40,945 --> 00:54:44,065
on Apple, Iheart, and Spotify podcasts, or wherever

1424
00:54:44,065 --> 00:54:45,125
you get your podcasts.

1425
00:54:45,425 --> 00:54:45,925
Thanks.

1426
00:54:46,305 --> 00:54:46,805
Bye.