Episode 4 - PT. 2 - Thelma and the Sleaze - On finances, being a woman in rock and roll and DRUMS!

This week I'm talking again with LG from Thelma and the Sleaze. This time we talk about finances, breaking even on tour, being a woman in the music industry, vibrating drum stools and who she thinks the new Prince is. We also have a pretty hefty drum talk so strap in folks!! 

Check out LG's band here - https://thelmaandthesleaze.com/
And LG's podcast here - https://www.queenofshitmountain.com/

You can also watch this episode on Youtube on my channel - 
https://www.youtube.com/@WhatItTakesToBeARockstar

Edited, recorded, mixed and produced by Melissa Lucciola.

This episode is sponsored by SORRY Cables - rad and colorful quality instrument and microphone cables handmade in LA.

Intro song is called "I'm Starting a Podcast" by Tea Eater

Other music is by Pretty World

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:12 Do you break even, make or lose money on tour?
• 8:22 Being a woman in rock and roll
• 18:54 "Women can be just as awful for sure"
• 22:34 SORRY Cables
• 23:15 Music vs. Painting
• 26:30 Going back to where she started
• 33:25 LG's words of wisdom
• 38:01 DRUM TALK
• 49:34 Outro

Transcript

Hello, everyone.

Welcome back to another episode of What It Takes To Be A Rockstar.

I'm your host, Mel, and today we're diving into part two with LG from Thelma and the Sleaze.

Today, we're diving into part two with LG from Thelma and the Sleaze.

If you haven't listened to part one, it'd probably make more sense if you listen to part one first.

But if not, this is still a cool conversation.

We dive into what it's like being a woman in the music industry, and also we talk about drums for a while.

So I hope you enjoy it.

Please leave a comment, subscribe, you know, do the things, rate it if you like it.

Let me know what you're thinking about this podcast because I'm enjoying it, but I hope you are too.

All right, thanks.

I wanted to ask, because I know you said basically since getting this van, you're like you're saving money on renting vans, right?

Like a couple of thousand dollars a tour.

Are you at a point where you're kind of breaking even right now?

Or barely, or not at all, or are you making a little money when you come home from tour?

My cost of living expenses are very, very small compared to most people.

I live in a really small place where my rent is still cheap.

I moved here five years ago because I could not afford to live in Nashville and refused to live in a house with four other adults because I am an adult and I don't want that.

So I need to live somewhere where I could actually be a musician.

So that's what I do.

If I did not do that, there's no way that I could do this.

If we got hotels, which we've gotten more recently, because I am old and I am tired, and I don't have time for your bullshit.

But still, most tours we don't.

I mean, at the most, we get like three or four tour maybe.

Out of like a 27 day tour like we just did, we're still gonna always try to find somewhere to stay.

So that helps a lot.

I make all of my merch.

So whereas most people are paying, you know, seven or eight dollars a shirt, I'm paying three dollars a shirt.

To make my shirts, that also helps.

I have several long standing relationships with people who make merch.

And so that's also very helpful because I'm still getting deals.

So there's like I said, there's a lot of plates being spun in the air.

I do pay my bandmates every show.

And that expense, like this next run, I am taking out a fourth person, which is not something I'm super excited about because I have been doing three pieces.

And that's really financially where I need to be at because the first person is just, you know, but believe me, I'm going to have that bitch at the fucking merch table showing her stuff.

I'm going to be like, you bring your fine ass back here and we sell these t-shirts.

But yeah, no, it's, it is, it's really, it's really hard.

But I've just got a good system in place and I don't, I don't, I don't.

When I was a little girl, my stepdad set me down on his knee and he showed me his checkbook.

And he wrote out a check and I said, I'm going to show you how to do something.

Okay.

We're going to write out this check for $100.

Now it's due on the 1st.

But we're going to mark down on the date the 5th.

Okay.

And that way when they go to cash it, they'll say, oh, you can cash this till the 5th.

It's called kiting checks.

And he showed me that at a very young age.

And that's when I realized that, sometimes it's not about how much money you have, it's about who needs it first.

And that's really important.

So I do pay people and I do pay them.

But that's a thing too.

You just have to, I never have money too.

It's like I've been poor my whole life.

So even if I did have a little cushion or whatever, I'm never going to think that.

Right?

It's like, the minute you think you have money is the minute you don't.

You know?

So it's just like, yeah, you just, I pretty much anticipate that there's going to be expenses.

Like I have to fly a drummer out for one show.

That's stupid.

And it's going to cost me $700.

But at the same time, I want to play the show.

And not playing the show isn't really an option.

And I know she's going to do a great job, and it's not even going to be a thing to do it.

So there's things like that, stupid shit like that that comes up are $1,900 in van repairs before I leave, things like that.

So it's just, I'm not going to say I break even necessarily, because most tours I don't.

It's awesome.

That's why we tour for so long.

Because if I don't tour for three weeks, I'm in the red.

I don't really get into the black until we tour for more than three weeks.

So this next tour is going to be probably a bust for me money-wise.

But I did just do a month.

So I do have enough to get the merch, to get on the road, to do what I, the fuck, to do what I need to do, you know what I mean?

So yeah, it's, you know, you don't own nobody.

I don't own labels, nothing.

I don't own nobody, nothing.

So that helps.

Everything that is, everything that is mine is mine.

And I bring on my own gear.

I use all my own stuff and it's all, you know, so like I said, people like getting new vans and that's great.

But you got a new van, new vans are more expensive to fix.

You got a 40 comma line, you can get shit done on a 40 comma line, you know?

So it's like for a little bit cheaper than what you would be paying for a new van.

So just things you got to think about.

I mean, comfort is luxury and we're never comfortable.

So that helps.

But I don't give per diems.

Unfortunately, I'm not in a place where I can do that.

But if the venue doesn't give us food or give us our rider, I do give the girls $10 for dinner.

That's all I can do.

So I mean, yeah, it's really, it's all twirling plates.

But I do pay people and I make it work.

But like I said, I wouldn't, people say, I want to do what you do.

LG, good luck, Prince, good luck.

I'd love to see you try.

No one will.

No one has ever done it and no one ever will do it like I've done it.

Maybe that's for the best.

But at the same time, I think once people have some perspective to see what I've had to do to do what I've done, that they might be a little more impressed.

Because we shouldn't be able to do this.

Again, women aren't allowed to just show up, be professional, look great, play great songs, and be happy, and enjoy themselves, and just fucking exude excellence.

We're supposed to roll around on the ground in baby doll dresses and flash our vaginas, and have some mascara and just be all like, you know, that's not what I do.

And we're not really supposed to be able to do that.

Why do you think no one's ever heard of Bertha?

Why do you think nobody ever had listened to Fanny?

You know, it's like, because they were just really fucking good, you know?

They showed up and they were just really fucking good.

Just like Steely Dan was allowed to just be great.

ZZ Top was just allowed to just show up, look sharp, and play loud and look great.

It's like, that's just not something that women have ever been allowed to do.

And they can't because if you did that, the whole axis of what Rock and Roll has been based on for the last century would have to change.

Women would not be able, our place would not just be as objects or novelty.

We would have to be respected for what we've actually done, which you and I know and most people know now is invent Rock and Roll.

We did it.

Sister Rosetta Thar did invent Rock and Roll.

Yeah.

We both know that and a lot of other people know that now too, but people still would rather talk about Chuck Berry and he filmed people pooping in the bathroom.

What?

Exactly.

Sister Rosetta Thar showed up in a beautiful gown with a beautiful guitar and just exude excellence and played her music upright, having a nice time smiling, teaching people about the Lord because that's what she, and that's really the basis of all rock and roll is gospel.

So nobody wants to talk about that, but we'll talk about Chuck Berry who didn't even happen till way later than that.

And then also he had a restaurant in St.

Louis or a bar, and he had cameras in the ladies room so he could watch women poop.

Oh my gosh.

And he had thousands of hours of footage in his home of women pooping, watching women poop in the bathroom.

Why are people so weird?

They don't, I don't know if they just don't have all the facts or if they just don't care, but again women aren't just allowed to be excellent.

Yeah, have you noticed a difference?

Because when I was younger and I used to play shows, I've always looked a lot younger than I am too.

Honestly, I think you look like you're 56.

You'll be the first person who finally take me seriously in my life.

But when I was younger, I remember showing up with my best friend.

It's also a female musician.

We'd show up to play and people would just roll their eyes and be like, Oh God, there's girls here to play.

They'd be like, this is going to suck.

They would just say it and it would be all over their faces.

This is going to be the worst show ever.

Then it got till nowadays where it feels like every band needs a girl or else they're not really a band.

This is a smoking hot time to be a lady musician.

Yeah, but I know you keep bringing up respect for musicians.

Do you think that has anything to do with people respecting women musicians or just like they just want something pretty to look at on stage or whatever?

Because has it changed for you in your life over time?

Did you ever have that people rolling their eyes and now they're excited about you coming in the door or what's your experience?

Well, again, for me, it's not just about being a woman in music.

For me, it's about being a woman in rock and roll.

Again, there are people who love rock and roll, who will cling to this idea of what rock and roll is like a baby blanket.

Like, oh, we can't let go of it.

It's misogyny.

It's, oh, women are objects.

Oh, it's just shredding.

It's just technicality.

Oh, it's just, oh, it's just a means of a toxic masculinity.

Oh, you know, like they're clinging to it.

We did this, you know?

And it's like, it doesn't have anything to do with just being a woman, just playing music.

The whole definition of rock and roll has to change.

It's like, for instance, Bernie Howard is the closest thing we have now to Prince.

Like, in a sense of the artistic ability, the vision, the execution, the masterfulness, the performance.

Like, this is in a lot of ways better than Prince, because Prince had a lot of bad things that Prince liked to do.

But just as fucking, to me, originally, just to me, that level of genius, you know?

But most people don't think of Bernie Howard as a rock and roll musician.

What was the band she was in again?

What's that called?

She was in a band called Alabama Shakes, but I don't want to say she's a soul singer.

She's all of these things other than just like the greatest rock and roll performer of the last decade, which is what she is.

She's a rock and roll performer and the greatest one, I think, of the last decade.

But it's like people who listen to Thin Lizzy and listen to Prince and even appreciate that kind of music, rock and roll music, don't necessarily think about Britney.

But it's like, that's what it is.

That's what it is now.

And it's incredible.

Soak it up.

Listen to what's going on.

But those snap judgments, it's all that, people like that, don't like that, like that.

That's that.

This is this.

That's that.

What are the hashtags?

It's like, you have to think about things.

I think that it's a great thing.

Like when I see Willow Smith's band, I get so excited.

Like this is a great band.

This isn't anything that could ever be related to that question.

Is it because they're women or is it because they're great?

Listen to the band.

They're fucking great and good for Willow Smith.

Because guess what?

Willow Smith is never going to have to deal with in this infancy of her career because she is great.

She's never going to have to deal with the shitty fucking band.

Because if we take it back to Janis Joplin, let's go back to Janis Joplin.

Janis was very talented, sure.

Great.

If you have to have your Big Mama Thornton fed to you by a white lady from Texas, sure.

I'd rather listen to Big Mama Thornton, but fine.

She was great.

But what Janis couldn't get around was her shitty fucking dudes in her band.

They made her feel like shit and they made her feel like, well, you wouldn't even be a big deal if you didn't have your band.

So that's exciting.

When I see someone like Will Smith, who's starting out, making some really good music, hiring an all-female band, because they're great and probably really fucking chill and really professional.

Not because they're women and their titties are plopping all over their instruments or they're bending over and showing their giants is why they play.

They're fucking great and they're professional and they're probably really fucking chill.

So that makes me happy for Willow.

And it makes me happy for other women who are hiring all-female bands for that reason.

I think Jenny Lewis is pretty much doing the same thing.

You know, because yeah, I think that has been the fallout.

Because if you think, let's think of another rock singer who's had all the bands.

You think of Pat Benatar.

She's a rock singer.

She's a rock fucking singer and a great rock singer.

One of the best rock singers of all time.

But she's had her husband in that band with her the whole time.

So those dudes that she hires could never fucking talk shit or act like ungrateful or try to crush her ego because her fucking husband's in the band, he's going to kick your fucking ass.

So she's had that.

I think that's been helpful for her.

But yeah, I think in most situations, for me, that's just exciting.

That's exciting to see that for an artist and for other artists who are out here trying to actually do shit and get shit done.

Because I think as a woman in the industry, and this has been my experience and I'm sure to this day and for many days to come, it will be the experience of a lot of women.

Most of the time, their intentions are not very good, and they do in this industry, they're so sensitive and the masculinity is so toxic.

It's really hard to feel free as an artist and empowered as a woman to be in those kinds of environments and want to and be able to thrive.

So the women that I've seen owning it and playing these shows and doing this shit for the most part, are there because they're insanely talented.

They're bringing so much to the table.

And I think a lot of times even I have struggled with that, but these aren't just themes that are exclusive to genders because I will say there have been some women that have been really pieces of work that I've worked with.

Very weird.

But I will say that most of the trauma that I've experienced in this industry on stage, or, you know, and again, not exclusive to men, but definitely there's been a lot.

You know, women can be just as awful for sure and sometimes worse.

But, you know, I would say on a metric, it's exciting because I think there's going to be a lot more women being able to make music freely and be empowered and be able to showcase their excellence.

Because they won't be at the mercy of, let's, Phil Spector's and Ike Turner's and, you know, the like.

I think it's exciting.

I want to see more female booking agents.

I want to see more female sound people.

I want to see more female drummers, just because lady drummers are the best.

It's funny, when I play, I always have girls coming up to me afterwards and being like, it's so nice to see a girl drummer.

I barely see girl drummers.

I didn't realize how much it was going to be a thing for people.

Do you say go to more shows?

Go to more shows.

Yeah, I guess I should just go to more shows.

I didn't expect that at all.

Join in with Gustav to get that compliment all the time, or that people noticing that.

Because I don't think like that really.

I just always wanted to just be a good musician.

I just wanted to be in the same realm.

I didn't want to get any leg up because I was a female musician, or only get booked because it's a female-fronted band.

We need one for the show, you know what I mean?

I've always wanted to just be a musician, and that's it.

People who say that are cheap in here, they cheapen you.

It's just cheap.

Do you think that?

Do you actually think the reason that we're here performing in front of you and got this gig is because I wear a bikini on stage?

I wear a bikini because I'm hot.

I don't look like Pamela Anderson up here.

You know what I mean?

I get really hot.

I'm doing a lot of work.

That's the thing is, like my band, we're not up here trying to be sexy.

I make my ladies dress professional.

I make my ladies wear show clothes, get on stage, don't be wearing your scrubs.

But we're just the women playing rock and roll, and that's sexy.

That is not intentional.

We're not intentionally trying to pan into the male gaze.

We're not intentionally trying to infuse eroticism into our performances.

We just naturally do that because we are on stage, and we're playing rock and roll, and it's sexy music.

It just is happening.

But for people to think that that's how you get shows or how you do this or that, if you're that stupid, I guess, but it requires so much more effort.

And no one's going to hire you if you suck.

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Just kidding.

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I use their cables recording this podcast, and I use their cables when I play guitar and when I sing.

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Thank you, SORRY Cables, for sponsoring today's podcast episode.

Now we're going to continue the conversation where we chat a little bit about painting because LG has been painting recently.

And so we chat about the differences between painting and playing music.

So check it out.

That's the thing is like if you're making art, you don't get to choose what people take from that art.

That's why I like painting, you know?

Because you paint something and then it's done.

And you sell it and it's gone.

You know?

First, it's like a song.

You have to write the song, you have to play it for your band.

Your band has to like the song.

Then you have to play it for a producer.

Producer has to like the song.

Then you play it in the studio.

It's got to sound right.

Then you got to put it up on Spotify.

Everybody's got to like it on Spotify.

Then you got to put it up, play it live.

Everybody's got to like it live.

Then every reason why, and if you are a real songwriter, you're writing from personal experience.

So if you went through a breakup or a bitch screwed you over, you had a fucking bad day, then you wrote a song about it.

Now you got to relive that day every fucking time you get on stage and you sing that goddamn song because you're genuine.

But painting, you paint it, you sell the painting, painting is gone.

My painting.

It's great.

I like it.

Painting has been really therapeutic for me in the last six months.

I've really battened down the hatches and tried to get better, and I love being creative and I love creating, and I have a lot of strong visions every day.

So it's nice when I can see those visions and be able to execute them without having to hire people, without having to get in a van and drive for eight hours without having to be tired and hungry, and put up with some bullshit from some asshole, and I could just sit on my porch and have a vision, and just there with my Dollar Tree paint and be like, listen to Martha Argeridge and just zone out.

That sounds nice.

All I'm saying is I watch a lot of documentaries about these 100-year-old bitches smoking cigarettes out in the middle of the desert.

I wake up every morning and I paint, and I paint, and I have a loaf of bread, I nibble on it, and I go, and I paint, and I paint, and I rub a hundred and four, you know?

These musicians, they're like, I'm 61 and I can barely move, and my fingers don't work no more.

And it's like, well, fully painting is kind of a better deal, friends, you know?

Yeah.

Jojo Keith painted till she went blind, and then she had someone else hold the brush, you know?

Yeah, that's where it's at.

My boyfriend did a couple art shows recently, and we got a glimpse into that whole world, and I was like, this is amazing.

And then you go, you show up for the reception, you get your stuff on the wall, and then it stays on the wall for like two months.

So the show's happening while you're not even there.

People are still coming to your show for like two months, and you don't have to do anything.

It's just, it's all just sitting there.

People are looking at it.

It's a life.

Yeah.

It's like, painting is the bee's knees.

This music shit's for the birds, man.

You'll be seeing a lot of old rocker chicks playing acoustic shows and painting, man.

Yeah.

I'm excited for you and, you know.

It seems like you're on a good kick, like realizing where your lines are, that you're not going to cross anymore, like your baseline, what you need for you to get out of the house to go do something.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's good.

It's not fun.

You know what I mean?

If I'm not having a good time, something's got to change because this is what I love to do.

It's not fun for me if I can be on stage and want to break down and cry, which has happened to me a lot in the last four months.

You know what I mean?

When it's that hard, and the person in the front row smile, I have the best time of their lives, and I'm literally about to burst into tears.

There's something really wrong there, really off.

So I need to go back to where I started, which was as a little 16-year-old girl with an acoustic guitar who had written a hundred songs in high school and just wanted people to hear her songs.

That's one thing people don't understand a lot is like, when you're touring a lot, you're not always nurturing that artistic side of yourself.

It's like you're dealing for hours and hours a day, like all this stuff.

But with a bass player who, I mean, it would seem like it would be a pretty straightforward thing to do.

But like, she would be like, we'd be talking in our hot sauce and I'd be talking, we'd be like, oh yeah, we wish we could play that song.

She'd be like, let's play it.

But oh, we didn't rehearse that song.

We'll run it during sound check.

I can hear, I'll listen to it.

You will?

Yeah, I can learn it.

You want to?

Yeah.

I could do BGV's on that.

Oh, but I mean, you got a lot going on.

You sure you want to do that?

Yeah, I can do that.

Well, let's jam on that.

Yeah, let's try that.

A lot of the ladies I tour with, they just aren't that invested in that moment.

They can't be that present, that they can actually contribute to the experience in a way that is really fun for me, enjoyable for me.

And so that was like a new thing.

It was really cool.

I was like, fuck yeah, like, okay, cool.

Cause I do get fucking tired of playing the same thing.

Yeah, especially when you're playing with different people and then you have to like send the set in advance so that they could learn it.

So that's awesome.

When someone-

Swismist was really on top of her shit.

One of the, maybe the best bass player I've ever toured with.

I'll be honest.

I mean, just bass playing abilities, showmanship and overall professionalism.

If I could find another bitch like that, I'd be very happy.

She was really-

Did you post a video just the other day of her and the drummer doing a little drum and bassing?

That's the outro jam.

That's my cigarette.

Yeah.

It was awesome.

They were still go at the time I finished my cigarette.

So I went back in and I was like, oh, we're going to film you bitches.

Well, American spirits, they sometimes take a while, so maybe they miss shot the length of time.

They just love it.

Because it is.

It's like we do play the same set every night.

And I'm not over here.

I'm not Chick Corea.

This is the return forever.

I'm not Frank Zappa.

If you're a very studious musician with a lot of technical skill, you want to show your stuff, baby, I'll give you a spot.

Go for it.

That's good for me.

That's good for me too.

So I don't have any problem with that.

And I enjoy listening to it just as much as the audience, because they really are just vibing and taking it where they need to go.

And that's what it is all about.

People are in the business of pantomime.

I'm not hiring bitches to be puppets or a Chuck E.

Cheese animatronic band.

And to me, that is just a sign of a great human who's got their shit together.

When they can recognize that what is happening here is special, and your ability to be in that moment and be adaptable and contribute is only going to make that moment more special.

You get in what you put out or you get out what you put in.

So yeah, that tour was really great.

And I really needed that because both of those women were just in the moment.

They knew what I needed.

They respected that.

They were professional and they had great attitudes.

And I needed that.

It was the polar opposite of what I had had for a while.

So it was really wonderful.

And I'm very grateful to them.

And it was restorative, honestly.

And I wanted to be able to do that tour for my fans.

Because the 14 of them that I do have now, I really do give a fuck about.

And have really been wonderful.

I don't have a lot of fans that I don't like.

I like all my fans for the most part.

So they're usually there for the right reasons.

So yeah, that was really great.

And I can't say enough about Hot Sauce and Swiss Miss.

They're both fantastic musicians and really professional, very respectful and very together as human beings that are, I think, doing it for the right reasons.

Thank you for taking the time today.

I know you said you weren't doing much, but I appreciate you talking with me.

I really wanted to talk with you because I know the way you make things work is like, like you said, a lot of plates spinning and a lot of balancing and like, you're doing it all on your own, mostly, right?

You have a booker you work with, but most of everything is on you, on your shoulders, on your dime.

You're just making it all happen.

And it's a lot, but it's very cool to see what you've done with your time, with your energy, with your lifeblood, literally, like with your actual life that you've given, you know, the Thelma and the Sleaze.

And, you know, doing music is such a huge sacrifice of basic comforts.

It's a big sacrifice, and yeah.

You get to live 100 lives, you know, in one line.

It can be really, really amazing.

And yeah, just don't take any bullshit.

Some I got to get better about is getting the people who don't have your best interest in mind out.

Don't feel like you got to waste time or energy on those people.

Follow your instinct.

I got a real bad time.

I got a lot of poor investments in people.

And yeah, just be your fucking, be yourself.

Don't do anything that doesn't feel genuine, because you will regret it later.

Absolutely.

You will regret it later.

And don't do shit just because you think people are going to like it.

Do shit.

Just trust me.

Most people don't have taste.

So if a lot of people like your shit, it's probably not a compliment.

Well, and you have to live with it too.

Everyone's like, oh, that's so cool.

You should do that.

And then you make this decision.

You have to live with it.

You have to live with that song that everybody says that they love.

You know, and you're playing in.

But you don't have to do that.

Like you're saying.

Yeah, you don't.

You really don't.

You can be yourself.

It's just going to be a little bit harder.

And, you know, but you can do it.

No regrets.

No regrets.

And just get good at haggling for cheaper van fixes.

Here's the thing.

Everybody wants and tip your mechanics.

You know what I mean?

Tip them.

If you tip somebody to put coffee in a cup for you, they don't even put the creamer in or the lid on anymore.

Tip the person who does your oil changes.

Tip those people.

That's how you get good van karma.

Tip people you don't think about tipping.

You know what I mean?

Because honestly, those are probably the people who deserve it the most.

Tip musicians.

Don't just buy merch.

If you don't need shit, don't buy shit.

Just give me $100 bill.

Those are the best people.

That was a long way.

Yeah, it really does.

If you enjoy that show and you've got it to spare, and you see that band loading their shit in and out by themselves, fucking trying to find a place to stay, trying to just tip them.

There are people who tip me and they know who they are, and they're saints because again, I'm not getting paid anything to do my job.

So I don't have to sell these shirts, somebody else is going to buy them.

So now you've done me a favor.

I still got shirts to sell and a $100 bill, dang.

And more women in the music industry, more club owners, more lady sound people, more lady promoters, more lady everything.

That's what we need if we can see it happening more and more, and it makes me so happy.

Yeah, I see it too.

I see a lot more women sound engineers these days, and they're super talented.

It's been great every time.

My monitor mix is usually pretty good.

What do you put in your monitor?

Bass, guitar.

You got to have Bubbles.

Bubbles is rock solid, right?

Yeah.

Sad note here.

Bubbles is the bass player of Gustav, which is a band that I play drums in.

You know why she's so good at that, right?

You know why she's so good at just playing.

You know why she's so good at that, right?

Why?

She's a cross country runner.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

She's used to repetition at long distances, dude.

She could not think of a better bass player for that.

She knows how to create that fucking centrifugal, fucking movement, man.

She's got it.

Every time I see her, I'm like, she's running 20 miles today.

Look at her.

She's in this zone.

She does that on tour.

We'll get like four hours of sleep and she'll wake up at like seven in the morning and run 10 miles.

Runners are going to run.

Yeah.

It's crazy.

I pick sleep over exercising in the morning.

Well, you're a drummer, man.

You're exercising the whole time.

I played one show last year where I played the drums and I was just like, you know what?

Every front person should have to do one show where they play the drums, and they bring the drums and they set up the drums, and then they got to play the drums for an hour, then they got to unload the drums, pack up the drums, unload the drums.

Every front person should do that because it really did.

The one time I did it, I probably had a pensioner for like three months.

And I was just like in the whole show, I'm just like, fuck, everybody's counting on me.

Everybody's counting on me.

You can't mess up.

You can't.

Yeah.

It's like drummers, man.

They really gave me a new respect for drummers.

Yeah.

Same.

Because before Gustav, I was doing mostly guitar.

And then I started to really think about all the things I've ever said to drummers that I worked with.

And I was like, oh, why did I do that?

You just, or even just setting up the drums, it's always this race.

I walk into the venue and I start setting up immediately, and everyone's like, why are you doing that immediately?

Because they have to.

Sucks for you after the show because then that makes you the prey.

Because everybody else can get their shit off the stage, get off the stage, but you're up there.

And I see it and I feel so bad for drummers because you're trapped.

So that creepy dude, he's like, hey, what kind of drummers are you?

Those heads are like those heads are sticks.

You use those sticks.

I like to find these sticks, you know, like you guys, where do you live?

Like, you can't run away.

You have to sit there.

Yeah, I've gotten pretty good at like being like, I walk over and then I'm like, I can't talk.

I have to, I have to pack and then they're like, Oh, okay.

Like, I get all, I get all weird and they're like, Oh, that's like, that's a good route because that's my go-to.

I don't want to talk.

I hope people don't hear this and they know my secret.

But like one of my things is if someone I know is going to talk, my ears creepy, I'll walk up to them.

I'll shake their hand with them.

Hey, man, nice to see you.

Give them a firm pat on the back and just walk past them.

And they're like, that's energy though.

It's the same energy of like, Oh, yeah, I got it back.

I got it.

They're telling us we got to get out of the venue.

You know, there's a curfew, hard curfew.

I got to go.

Yeah.

Go say hi.

Go say hi, everybody.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

That's good.

I'm going to tell all my drummers that trick.

I hope you don't mind.

I don't mind at all.

Hot sauce, though, she takes forever to pack up her drums.

And I was like, hot sauce, why you take so much?

And she was like, this is like my meditation time.

It is like that.

I'm to myself, and it's very methodical.

And I'm like, all right, I guess.

Well, I love that part.

For me, I feel the same.

It's like my me time.

It's like the only time no one's bothered me.

And when people want to help me pack, I'm always like, no, no, no, no, no, please don't.

Because like I just love doing it.

And there's so much that you need as a drummer.

Like if you lose one little wingnut thing, you're like, you can't play the drum set the next day.

You know, it's like your Tom will fall over.

It's been a constant struggle for me because drummers, for whatever reason, think I want them to play on broken drums.

Like they'll be like, oh, LG, you need this thing.

It's been broken for a while.

And I'm like, why would I want you to play on broken drums?

The minute you tell me anything's wrong with these drums, I go right to the music store.

I buy you whatever the fuck you need to fix these drums.

Like stop thinking, I want you to play with broken snare or a broken throne or a broken kick pedal or whatever.

Like where I want things rattling around in the fucking toms.

Like, just tell me and I'll fix it.

You know what I mean?

But they just they think I don't know what they think.

They think, well, LG, the leg's been kind of wonky for a while.

They want to say, why?

Why didn't you want to tell me?

Yeah, I don't know.

They're just selfless.

You're selfless.

You're hard working.

You're like, I don't want to make my problems.

Everyone else is, you know, but yeah.

Well, stopping in a music store is so annoying on the way to like a load in.

You know, it is a big to do, but you got to do it.

You got to do it.

I want the drums.

I want the drummer to drum and I have the right stuff.

Yeah.

But part of drumming is fixing your drums mid set, you know, and I think drummers just get used to that.

That's just what you do.

You're just like, oh yeah, this fell.

OK, you're like twisting knobs while playing and tuning your drum.

But we don't deserve that.

What do you think about these local bands that want to use their own drums?

Honestly, I get it.

I think it's, yeah, I mean, if the stage is really small and it's really annoying, I'm like, that's annoying for them.

If they're opening the show and they want to set up in front, I'm like, do what you want to do if that's annoying.

But yes, as a guitar player who now plays a lot of drums, I would not understand that before, but now I'm like, I totally get it.

Because it's like if someone wants you to play a different guitar every day, and it's hard.

You get used to what your drums feel like, it's your instrument, and then all of a sudden, you have to play someone's weird beat-up drum set with missing everything.

Then you have to play like it's a normal day, and everything's just broken and sounds weird.

Even every bass drum, your kick pedal will bounce off weird, and then it's like your rhythm feels weird, and with your own drum set, it's like you got your heights, everything's easy, you know what it feels like, you know what it sounds like.

I get it, and I feel for drummers because it's always like, come on dudes, just share your set, like you idiot.

You're like, what?

You want to do a drum set, you know?

And it's like, I don't know.

You know what, you need to talk more like this.

This is the podcast I want to hear, drummers talking about drumming, you know what I mean?

It's going to be a spin-off for sure.

You've already told me two things I needed to hear, and that was the, oh, I gotta get out of here, we gotta load out, it's a creepier.

Really like that.

And then secondly, I guess just cause you're smacking stuff doesn't mean it's not an instrument, but yeah, I definitely get mad when people are like, golly, smoke it.

Yeah, I mean, it's annoying when you're headlining and you have to move your drum so that the other people can, but honestly, I don't even care about that that much because that means my drum set's just gonna be set up how I set it up and it's just gonna be off stage and I just have to throw it on.

So yeah.

I think that's a good way to look at it.

Next time someone's like, I'll use my Vodotoms, yes.

Yeah, well, some drummers are really weird and specific.

Like we played with a band recently that the guy was so specific with drumming that he brought a tape measure to like measure every, you know, height and stuff, which is I honestly, I know it sounds crazy, but I totally get it because inches mean, like a world of difference with drums.

It's really annoying.

It's like your frets are in a different spot every day.

Like it really makes a difference.

And I know it sounds crazy, but it, it really does.

And I've gotten better over the years at like knowing where it is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'll definitely talk with drummers because I love doing that.

Like backstage, I'm always just like the other day I was backstage, I played drums for TeaEater and I was talking to the other drummer who played with this band, Scourge, and we were just showing each other our stick bags and like all the weird stuff that we have, like our extra little, you know, nuts and bolts and felts and, oh, who sticks do you have?

And it was just, everyone just kept walking in, like rolling their eyes like, oh, these freaking drummers.

Like, I don't know, for me, it's fun.

It's like this whole world of misunderstood people a lot, like drummers are, oh, stupid drummer, you know, forgets everything, like, you know, and it's, no, drummers have to be so on point.

You can't forget anything every day.

You have a little pocket for everything.

You're counting like all your stuff to make sure it's there.

You're in charge of like, you know, a 20 piece thing, you know, you have all this stuff everywhere that you have to, yeah.

So I have a lot of compassion for drummers after doing it for a lot, the last like five years.

You're really, you're opening my eyes.

Like this, we gotta have more podcasts like this.

Cause seriously, like, it's hard.

It's hard not to think y'all are goofballs, but yeah.

You know, we're very, very, very serious about our drums.

Like you have to be-

That's the thing.

When I did play that show on the drums, I used my home drums.

Like I have a set for Thelma and the Sleaze.

That's Thelma and the Sleaze's drums.

But I also have like my studio kit, which is like just a hodgepodge of things that are duct taped together.

And like, so yeah, the specificness of height and measurement and stuff.

Like I, yeah, I didn't, I don't really, I didn't know anything about that.

I was just like, we're the drums, we're the drums, we're all got my drums.

Like it was very stressful though.

It is, it is extremely stressful.

And it's like, what if I break a stick?

I don't have any more sticks, you know?

Like, yeah.

And I feel like I used, I don't know, the more I do it.

Now I'm crazy.

I'm like, I need my specific drum shoes and I have my stick bag right here.

And I, you put your kick in your monitor.

Sometimes now I have to.

It's weird.

I think I've just like lost hearing and I used to not ever need to do it.

And I would just rely on the house, you know, bass drum, whatever was in the house, it felt good and loud.

And these days, it's like, I can't hear my kick.

I can't feel my kick.

So I put it in my monitor sometimes.

If I make a vibrating drum stool.

I heard someone told me about that a couple of months ago.

And yeah, you already look like you're having a good time on stage.

But to me, it's like a good idea, though, because I'm like, it's infuriating when you ask for it in your monitor because it's so subby of a thing.

Even when they have it jacked all the way up, you can't even hear it.

Yeah, like you can't.

And they're like, it's so loud.

It's so loud.

Are you sure you can't hear it?

And I'm like, it's the loudest.

My pants are moving, but I can't hear it.

You know, it's just like this low note.

So, I don't know.

I'm not going to go that wild, though.

I'm not going to buy this.

I heard they're very expensive.

I think it's worth it.

I think it's worth it.

Yeah.

I might not have much trouble keeping drummers around.

If I play with the LG.

No problem.

I'll be there.

When do you need me?

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday?

That's great.

I'll be there.

Oh my gosh.

You're going to have a stool, right?

Yeah, I got the stool, man.

Okay.

All right, everyone.

Thank you so much for checking out this conversation.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Go check out LG's music, Thelma and the Sleaze, and check out LG's podcast as well.

It's called Queen of Shit Mountain.

It's really good.

I've listened to a ton of episodes of it.

And also, next week, tune in, because I'll be talking with Zack from the band Dead Tooth, which is another up and coming band from Brooklyn that I talk to.

So please tune in and let me know what you thought of today's episode.