DeAndre Hemby: What Actually Keeps You Working in Music | Ep. 12

Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Aligned anyway
Dre Hemby: Well, listen, man, I mean, we grateful for work, but it's definitely been just a process of just trying to lock in with you, my man, for sure.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, you've been on the move. Like, on the move.
Dre Hemby: You know, we love it, know? Stagecoach, Coachella, Super Bowl, Jazz ⁓ Fest. It's been a crazy part of the year, dog. It's been a crazy. Well, let's start at Coachella, what's up?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Which is crazy. Yeah. I mean, let's start a coachella dance as we hear. How is that? Yeah, how was that for you, man? The both shows by the way we watched incredible. How'd it feel for you?
Dre Hemby: Yeah, preach, bro, preach. ⁓ Man, Coachella, dude, it was a vibe. ⁓ First weekend, we had David Lee Roth, we had Vanessa Carlton, we had Joe Jonas, crazy features, ⁓ Just vibes, bro, just vibes. Coachella itself was a little weird, know, influencers, know, lot of the yada yadas. The first weekend was.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: insane. Yeah. backstage stuff.
Dre Hemby: The backstage stuff, we already know the politics behind it, but nevermind all of that. mean, just the energy that we had, the energy our guests brought, ⁓ the flow, the show preparation, everything, bro. We was too excited to do Coachella Weekend 1 and Weekend 2 ⁓ and just do what we do and have fun. That was our first time doing Coachella, so we definitely enjoyed it, bro, for sure.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Yeah. Yep. I'm still not done again.
Dre Hemby: Come on, man, all the festivals that we done shared, all the festivals you done done, like the Lollapalooza's, the European John's, and come on.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah Yep. Coachella's the last one I needed this. You go ahead and knock that out properly, you know what I'm saying? you and I have been on the move for festivals anyway.
Dre Hemby: festivals bro South America Europe we done crossed some paths that I was not expecting to see in CUS. That's how we focus now back there.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Go. mean, that's how we first got locked in. You know what I mean? was, we were in South America and that was like.
Dre Hemby: Um, what was it? Chile? And then we went to Argentina together. Same day.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Chile was the first joint. then, mm-hmm. We've been on the same flights and everything.
Dre Hemby: Dog, that's crazy, man. So I love seeing the guys not in the States, you know what mean? Or at the airports and stuff like that. That's such a fulfilling feeling, man. Always great to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Bro, I feel like that's when I always see the homies. I never see the homie stateside.
Dre Hemby: I've noticed that myself recently. Like never see the homie stateside. ⁓ I was just talking to one of the other homies ⁓ in Charlie Poo's camp and we got dicks crossing in Madrid, Spain later this year. Like, it's like, no, I haven't. I seen the clips. I seen the clips. I hit CJ and I was like, hey bro, like drums are smacking. He was like, Shaefe, Shaefe, our friend of house, Shaefer.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You're like... Mm-hmm. Right, right, right. Have you seen that show yet? ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Yeah, bro. It was.
Dre Hemby: got them well dialed. And how was it bro? Tell me, tell me how was it?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It was phenomenal. It's you. got Charlie, number one, who's exceptional, and he's a musician and he's a real musician on the sense of like he can do what he wants to do. He could play what he wants to play like he understands. And then you got Derek Cobb as his M.D. I mean, come on, you have the world's best right there. So you have those two minds orchestrating this entire thing and you have everyone in the band. Just insane.
Dre Hemby: All-star, all-star, little all-star band.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: in the BGVs. Yo, I wish I need to find the dude's name. Bro, these two young ladies.
Dre Hemby: That's new. Is that new? He didn't have these. This was the last show I saw.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: No, yeah, this is a whole new vibe. They got two two ladies and ⁓ one gentleman and whoever that got Jayden is his name.
Dre Hemby: Jaden Gray.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: What is it? We gonna look right now.
Dre Hemby: If it's Jaden Gray, that's Justin Timberlake, that's Adam Blackstone's first call. He's good friends with one of our RBGVs, Devin. I think it might be Jaden Gray. ⁓ yeah, Gray is phenomenal.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Shade and Gray. Yes, yes, Gray's his last name. ⁓ my word. I watched this man sing the draws off this entire audience. I'm like, yo, what's going on?
Dre Hemby: I'm sorry. Yeah, bro. Jaden is amazing. I have yet to meet him myself personally, but I mean, just hear all the top tier stuff about him.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. entire team is honest. I'm excited for y'all to catch the show. You'll have to text me right after, let me know what you think.
Dre Hemby: ⁓ I'm excited to see it myself. Like I'm so excited to see it myself. ⁓ I'm looking forward to that for sure, for sure.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Right, so where you at in the world right now? Are you home?
Dre Hemby: Man, I'm home. I'm taking these moments to ⁓ relax and decompress and ⁓ meditate, reflect on the first quarter of the year. Man, it's been amazing, bro. ⁓ Working and the preparation, the mental loads of preparation and rehearsals and deleting information, retaining information. ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Yeah, how's it been? Yep.
Dre Hemby: You know, it's a lot of brain power that goes into that. So just taking the time though, to reflect on, know, what, what was of the first quarter, you know, appreciating those moments, know, Coachella looking out into the crowd and, know, taking all that, taking all of that in same with stage coach, you know, just we've, we've done some amazing things to start this year coming off of a hot, you know, four years. So, ⁓ we're just, just trying to, it's so insane to say bro, but.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Right. Yeah. That's so insane to say.
Dre Hemby: For those who don't know, know me and Jarvis are doing this podcast, but me and Jarvis both have been running for quite some time. And my running been full of circles, It's always a blessing. It has always been blessing. It's just been a lot.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Man, and running like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, what's the prep like though? Cause I mean, that's a lot. You, had a lot of changes too, not just show wise, but you had a lot of shows to prepare for. And you also swapped drums, right? You've made a lot of changes to your sound and that kind of stuff. So what is that prep like for you because well, let's start with the shows. How are you retaining information? What is your process when they're saying we got Superbowl, we got Coachella, we got stage coach. We still got tour to get ready for.
Dre Hemby: A lot of times.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Like what is that all of that? What is that process for you?
Dre Hemby: mean, all of that process, is really literally just intentionality as much as possible, listening more than talking, because you're coming into a lot of these new arrangements, new arenas, new levels, new dynamics, new TVs, the whole nine. So it's just a lot of information that you're going to be...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: You have to be very fluid and fast and retaining and keeping track of. And for me, that just looks like listening, you know, ⁓ and not just assuming that I know my MDs, I know my band members. As we go into new arrangements and new show formats, ⁓ our job as drummers, of course, is to musically lead the band. in my leadership musically of drums, I'm...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: taking the forevision and the foresight of those above me and just trying to be as applicable and as flexible as they need me to be. ⁓ And for the preparation, that really goes into, I do my due diligence of reaching out even before we get to rehearsals. Like, hey, what is it that you're expecting for me to be ⁓ present in? are you expecting me to be diligent in? ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah Sure.
Dre Hemby: as far as my contributions to the band, my contributions to the arrangements, the whole nine. So I feel like being on the front end of all of that information has allowed me to retain the information even easier when we do get in the room. So.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Right, because you have the standard so you know what standards you're you're trying to match, even as you're listening and trying to prep for it with your hands and stuff like that. That's fair.
Dre Hemby: Absolutely. So before I even touch the scams, before I pick up the sticks, I want to make sure that me and my MD, JJ, and our co-MD, David Cook, I want to make sure that, yo, like, what do you guys need from me? What do you guys want from me? What is it that I'm able to be myself in and expressing myself? And what is it that you guys want me to be by the book and be rigid to?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Yeah
Dre Hemby: And I feel like with having that preparation already taken care of, it just makes it that more easier to dial in once I get into the room. And especially when everybody else is, you know, kind of trying to lock in and see, you know, what the flow is. Cause we all know how this goes. Well, we know how this goes to those that's listening. You know, you play these songs a million times over and there's 70 different arrangements to all these same type of songs. So.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: For sure. Right. Right. Legit.
Dre Hemby: There's a mini version, there's the radio version, there's the full length version, there's the TV version, there's the tour version. So with all these different types of arrangements, what are we keeping? What do you want me to set up? What do you want me to have here? What do you want for tonalities? Whether it's more hybrid kit, whether it's more the full kit. So I take all of that into consideration. Take my notes. ⁓ Musicians, take your notes. You're never too good to take...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep, tour version. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, that's great. Do you actually do handwritten notes? What's your process for making sure that kind of stuff is happening for you?
Dre Hemby: Hey, it's some of ⁓ a mixture. ⁓ If it's new material, ⁓ I will still write it out. Just because they teach you in school, if you write it out, you're easier to remember it. so typically, you're easier to remember if you write something out. So I still will write in journal some small ideas, some small notes, musically that I know.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Typically, yeah, for sure. Right.
Dre Hemby: what the chart means. ⁓ And then I'll apply that however I need to. typically, it's a mix of that or it's a mix of getting in a repetition of making voice notes and humming, certain setups, scatting certain setup, all of that type of stuff. ⁓ I want to hear it before I play it. I want to see it before I play it. I want to write it out before I play it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah Yep. Yeah
Dre Hemby: And that all just makes the process just so much smoother when we actually get into the realm of rehearsals.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: For sure. Are you doing, do you listen first? Like how soon are you putting your hands on the music? Are you going a few days just listening only or are you jumping straight behind the kid?
Dre Hemby: It just depends on how much time that we have personally. You know what I mean? ⁓ It just depends on really what's going on. Like right now, I'm sitting at home. I'm at home for quite a few days. If they sent us something right now, I wouldn't even touch it. I wouldn't even think about touching it. I'll throw it in the car, listen on a couple of drives, type of vibes. Just be real relaxed with it. And then as I want to, then I may start to mess around on a couple of concepts on the kit or whatever like that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure, right, right. That's fair too. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: If we're in the move, if we're on the move and we're moving, I mean, it's just pretty much lock and go. Listen, two times over. Intentionally listen two times over. Intentionally like lat play or something like that. The next two times to see if I can get the groove and the basic patterns. then after that, you know, it's... And depending on how much time I have, I'll also, you know, still write it as well.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah. Sure.
Dre Hemby: just to make sure that I'm trying to be solid on it. it just varies, you know what I mean? It just depends on how fast you keep moving.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. What's your intentionality, though? Like, are you in all reason? I'm asking this. I recently did a consultation with somebody and one of their assignments was to I gave them a song to play. And I'm like, yeah, listen first, do all the right stuff. I kind of guided them through this process. And then he came back to me and said, ⁓ yeah, listen like 10 times. OK, I'm expecting. Great.
Dre Hemby: Perfection.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You know, I'm saying are pretty damn close. I used to use with digest information. But then come to find out he was listening on a drive, he was listening as he was talking to his girlfriend. He was listening. I'm like, I see you had it on. You really weren't paying attention. So what is that intentionality for you? Like, what are you doing?
Dre Hemby: I mean, the intentionality for me, if I'm breaking down, I'm assuming you're going by like a song by song breakdown. If I'm getting music, what am I listening to? The very first time I'm listening to the song in totality. I'm not listening for my part. I'm not listening for ⁓ any musical standouts or anything else like that. I'm listening to the song as is. What is the record? What is the artist trying to convey with this message of the song? What is this project that I'm listening to?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: The second time it'll be like, all right, let me, you know, I kind of hear the vibe. hear the lyrical content. I hear the melody. hear what's going on. I hear the song as it is. Let me kind of put more ear placement on the musicality side of it. And then by like time three or four, then it's like, all right, what am I hearing for drums? What am I hearing sonically for drums? And then I'll even go back a little bit and be like, all right.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: show you.
Dre Hemby: forget the drums, by time like six or seven, I listen to the whole song again as is. Then seeing like, okay, this is why the drums sound like this throughout the song. Then by like time eight or nine, that's when it's like, all right, patterns are doing this, kick is no already. At our level, by the eight time, we should already know the feel, the groove. You should know the song. Even though you don't know the song, you should know the song.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm, yeah. You should know what you're doing. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Yep. Yeah, yeah, 100%.
Dre Hemby: So by eight, nine, especially 10, if I haven't already written it out, I'm pretty more so locked into what the drums is doing, how that's implemented with the groove. But normally by eight, nine, 10 times, I'm pretty solid to go into rehearsal and be like, all right, I know this to play it. And then we'll get in the room, we'll dissect the parts, we'll solo the stanzas, stuff like that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right.
Dre Hemby: We won't even worry about arrangements until of course the song is already done. But the process for learning the song is just being, my intentionality is to one, understand the song for what it is and not what I want it to be, number one. And I feel like that's not expressed or talked about enough because we all have a lane that we want to go to musically, especially on our instrument. We all have a certain phrase and a certain setup or certain verbiage that is us as musicians.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Yeah, yeah, yep. Yeah, 100%. Yep.
Dre Hemby: ⁓ But we got to allow the music to be the music itself and not what we want it to be. So our intentionality is to listen to the music and the record for what it is and not what I want it to be.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. I feel like that's a skill.
Dre Hemby: It is, because I mean, it's a certain discipline. You know what I mean? It's a certain discipline that we, no matter the instrument, that we all have to have to be able to, as opposed to like a tritone chord over a major three chord. So it's like those type of things, subbing when you're on bass or subbing the guitars, as opposed to hitting the root notes. There's things that we want to do, but we still have to make sure the music is the music.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Really is a skill. Yeah. Mm hmm. Right. Right.
Dre Hemby: first. So listen to the music as is, not what I want it to be. Then listen to my part, get the feel for it, listen to the music again with knowing the basics of my part. then by the time I sit on the kit, I'll play the record, but then I'm comfortable enough hearing it to know what I can do, that's me, and what definitely is fundamental and foundation to the song.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Sure. That's an important distinction. Knowing where you can take a liberty and where you can't take a liberty. How did you develop that? you, are you just going for it and then kind of bringing it back? Are you a little more reserved at the gate? Are you saying to yourself, because I've heard it so much, I know where I can stretch or I also know where a guitarist might take that moment. So I'm gonna stay out the way. You know what I mean? Is that, what is that process like for you? Are you intentional in that sense as well?
Dre Hemby: Yes. It depends on the situation that's going on. With Ted and Freak Frilly and the guys, we know each other. So Musical Liberty is very open because we are so familiar. But I learned this tool the hard way. I got chewed out in my early days of doing too much musically and being told to dial it back.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre Hemby: But one thing I've always heard and respected from my peers and mentors is, if you have the goods and all of that good stuff, it's easier for us to tell you to bring it back than for us to tell you to go for it. So with that, just learned through trial and error over the many years I've played, the many genres I've played, of knowing just when and when not to. ⁓ Something small as a...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: sure. Mm-hmm.
Dre Hemby: extra snare hits, extra kick hit, it doesn't always have to be an actual extravagant situation. Certain songs, we'd be surprised how much as drummers just not even hitting the crash on the one. Like sometimes give so much space and so much liberty for a different transition or a different segue. I mean, just small stuff ⁓ that I've learned throughout my time of playing. And I've definitely had just...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Dre Hemby: huge mentor figures just beat ⁓ certain type of ways into me ⁓ because they saw the potential and they just wanted to be like, you got it, but hey, it back when they're in a setting like this. Go for it in a moment like this, but ultimately, you got it. Just pull it back some and then when they want you to, they'll tell you. so it just came with certain just...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Yeah. Sure.
Dre Hemby: certain disciplines, know, growing up in church, you know, we know what it's like in church. They want you to go for it all the time. You know what I mean? Like they want you to go for it all the time. With the right deal, they sure will. They'll definitely also like, you know, they'll give you that scoop. Hey, big dog.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. But the right field though, because they will get your ass up. Hey, big dog. But they make you sit down.
Dre Hemby: And right there on the pew with tears in your eyes, with tears in your eyes and everything, you still got to watch, you know, the OG. Mm-hmm. Drum along, like mime along, but sit your ass down and take care this. So, I mean, you know, just, yeah, just trying on the era, of doing too much and then sometimes not doing enough. You know, there's...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, you gotta, you gotta still watch. Yep. Yep. They'll hand you a pair of sticks. Sit your ass right there. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: There's sometimes JJ has to tell me now, like, bruh, I want you out more. Like, I want you out more. Like, no, take this. No, take that. Like, no, don't give me a clean feel. me a shared feel, know, type Don. So get in there. Yeah, get in there. Be yourself. Be expressive. Don't give me what you think the audience wants. Give me what you want to play. This is that moment. So it's just those moments and those type of...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yep. Get in there, yeah, make it count, 100%. Right. Sure.
Dre Hemby: those type of interactions with the band or with your MD that kind of gives you the knowledge and the experience of knowing when the music wants it and when the music doesn't want it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, having a vocabulary to go either direction is important, though, because the vocabulary of being able to stretch, if they're telling you to go, you need that. But you also need to have the discipline and almost kind of you also have to have like the joy in it to stay here, too. If you can stay right in that groove, if you can lock in for eight bars for real. And I mean, like a real eight. That also has incredible value. And.
Dre Hemby: Very. Mm-hmm. Dog, mean, something as simple as, and I'll talk about it while it's popular in pop culture too. Something as simple as Billie Jean, you know what I mean? Michael Jackson, Billie Jean. To go back and rewatch Ricky Lawson and Jonathan Moffitt just literally holding, is literally chick, snare and hats the entire song. The entire song just locked. And there's just so much beauty in that space and just.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. They didn't move. Yes, bro. The crowd ain't moving, the crowd is locked.
Dre Hemby: It's a lot. And so it's beautiful, man. And we just need to appreciate more of the space as well as the musical moments. It's beauty in the vocabulary of both. It's beauty in the vocabulary of both for sure. Amen.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. I think it's just music. Being able to play music.
Dre Hemby: I mean, because like, I mean, and I mean, just even from seeing y'all show, I mean, I know this is your podcast, we talking as bros right now. To see y'all show at the festival, know, at Lollapalooza, you know, I watched half side stage, I watched half front of house. The intentionality that you, Darion, and you know, the team that y'all put into what it was.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Yes, sir. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: It's like, ⁓ the spacing, the moments, the elements, tops here for sure. And then in typical last show fashion, I saw y'all last show in Manchester. The show before the flight home. And for us that know, we know, that's that. I don't give a fuck. I'm taking every slot. I'm on it. I'm having fun.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Thank you brother. Let's take off time. Yes, take off time. Yup, I'm on it. Yep.
Dre Hemby: And just to see the contrast of like y'all policy show versus like you having fun, like you're having fun. Wasn't you chopping all over tape? It wasn't you taking all of the dance slots and stuff like that. mean, y'all did have some crazy syncopation. I liked that you and homeboy had that moment. You and homeboy, that's their design. Yeah, that was crazy. I mean, just ⁓ literally what we're talking about, the
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: No. But that's their right. That's their design. I just play what they wanted me to play. Yep. That's their design.
Dre Hemby: the beauty of the vocabulary is like when you were having your fun, it still wasn't in the way. Tate even, it felt like even Tate enjoyed it. I mean, it was the last show. It seemed like, you know, the whole crew, you know, dancers, the whole nine, you and my man on guitar, Zack, was it Zack? Yeah, Zack. You and Zack, bro, like y'all were so locked in and just coming off of seeing the festival show and seeing the more pocket and the more, you know, let's play the arrangements as we design them.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Right. Yeah. Zach, yeah, Zach. Zach Fenske, yeah, incredible. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: It's a beauty in knowing both. And that makes you, Zach, us who knows how to separate the vocabulary more in demand, more valuable. Because it's easy to say Jarvis, I want you to do this, but I want you to take this lock. Hold this right here and you execute it perfectly. And then I'll be like, Jarvis, I don't care this day. And you just go for it it's still tasteful and it still feels good to the audience.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. Right. Right.
Dre Hemby: then I can trust you in multiple lanes, in multiple areas, in multiple visions. So I feel like just having that flexibility, that vocabulary, that intentionality, that's what really will put you at the next level of being in demand and being wanted. Because if people can tell you more pocket and you deliver more pocket, and then if people tell you, want more sauce and you deliver more sauce, having both...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: both vocabularies are extremely vital to in today's time, especially of live music and live arrangements. So it's just trying to keep that, you know what I mean? All right.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Facts. Yeah. First of all, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Incredible words, brother. But yeah, you're saying a lot of dope stuff I want to talk to you about, because even the word pocket is something that we're hearing. It's almost like a controversial topic right now. When someone says pocket, people immediately think only play the part. And I'm like, that's that's not what pocket is. in.
Dre Hemby: Mm-hmm. That's not what pocket is.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: What is pocket to you? How you're interpreting it? If JJ is saying or Dave Cook is like, yo, Dre, I need you more in the pocket. What does that mean to you?
Dre Hemby: It doesn't necessarily mean simplicity, ⁓ going from like an eighth note to a quarter note on the hi-hats and stuff like that, or taking out a kick pattern. No, it's literally just making the song feel more intentionally groovy. And sometimes that is a little bit more sway on the hats and a little more swag on the hats. Just keeping the kick and snare straight two and four as you need to or whatever like that. Or sometimes it's, know...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Right? Yeah.
Dre Hemby: If you're doing a little ride pattern, sometimes it's cool to hit like the Dave Weckl or the Vinny. And that's not necessarily crashing out or like pinging everything, but like just every once in a while, just a little sauce. Pocket is the very basic of the swag of the song. It is not the simplicity of the song. Pocket is the basic swag of the song. In my vocabulary, in my terminology and-
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
Dre Hemby: And what JJ asks for me, if what Ted asks for me, if what Dave Cook asks me, if anybody asks for me. Just more swag of the basic of the song, not the simplicity of it. Not taking away whatever like that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, agree. Yep, Nate Smith said something that was he kind of put it in a way that I never heard it, but he's like, it's the it's the space between each note. Right, because the meter is the meter. The thing that's going to change it is the space between your next note. And I've never heard pocket really explain that, but it's right. You and I could play the same exact groove.
Dre Hemby: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: it's gonna feel different because of how the spacing that we had attached to it along with velocities and blah, blah, blah. But that's really the difference. And I was like, I've never heard it put that way, but he's so right. He's 100 % right.
Dre Hemby: Yeah, of course. That is true. I've never heard that either, but that actually is what it is. ⁓ And we have to understand musically that spacing doesn't always mean what we think is simplicity. There is a good spacing of certain hi-hat patterns as drummers. I'm speaking drum terminology, but as drummers, there's a certain spacing.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Sorry.
Dre Hemby: extra chink or extra velocity in the hi-hats like you saying, like an extra ghost note or something like that on the kick. ⁓ A boom versus a ba-boom on the kick. All of that is what determines the swag of the pocket, the spacing of the pocket. I wholeheartedly agree with that. It's definitely the spacing between the meters. And everybody's pocket is different, bro. Me and you can play the exact same song.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah. Yep. It's crazy. Everyone's different.
Dre Hemby: If somebody says, Javis, you play your pocket, Dre, you play your pocket. Even though we're playing the exact same thing, just the smallest detail of a velocity of a extra ghost note, extra can change the song. So it would change the whole feel of it. So just being viable and being conscious of what that is, that pocket, that swag, that spacing. ⁓ I feel like that's what-
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. It changed the whole feel of it. Yep. Right. Yep.
Dre Hemby: pocket is. I hate getting, and I know we all see it, we in the digital age. I hate getting on social media and seeing so many people talking about he's not in the pocket. Yes, he is in the pocket. he's completely, such and such is completely in the pocket. If the artist is not complaining about a clip that is posted, you better believe that drummer is doing what he needs to do. That musician is doing what they need to do. They're in the pocket.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I agree. Yeah, in there, yep. 100 %
Dre Hemby: They're in the spacing, they're in the field and around that they need to be in sonically, musically that the artist is looking.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's it. It's really just that simple. You know, if people are posting it and they're not fired, then everything's going all right.
Dre Hemby: ⁓ yes. then everything is going all right. You know what I mean? But that pocket number, yeah, that intentionality, that pocket, that vocabulary, all of that plays in all of that. All of that plays in all that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, it's true. Now you brought up a point. 100 percent. You talked about the digital age, which is something you and I have talked about off cam, of course. And I know I have a list of things that you and I have talked about this all our conversations. So hopefully we get to all of them. But one of the things is we talked about is a lot of times we've seen people in the digital space of it's a lot of go, right? A lot of chopping, a lot of lot of flair in what how do you feel about that kind of stuff versus kind of what we do? And then do you think there's a space for this to six like What's your philosophy or interpretation on what we're seeing now on the social media space for musicians?
Dre Hemby: Man, the social media space for musicians, it's a very... Very delicate balance, I feel. ⁓ I actually do love seeing like certain different, so many different versions of music and expressions and things of that nature. The part that social media music gets conflicting is... Posting arrangements and posting these moments, posting a lot of goals is not what the industry standard is. And those who are seeking to be in certain levels of the industry are getting basically falsified information. If I know how to chop this head off, that can give me the call. If I know how to play every single sus...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mmm. Mmm. Oof.
Dre Hemby: and diminished in every augmented chord, that'll give me this gig. If I know how to play every single sub note and every single Isaiah Sharkey type lick or whatever like that, that'll give me the gig. And actually that's not the case. And while it's good to show off that you can do it, it's ultimately not what's going to lead you to a gig. ⁓ And sometimes it does. And I'm not going to say that it doesn't, but-
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah Sure. Right.
Dre Hemby: That's not what the bar of expectations are when you get to... Yeah, it's less likely. You get to these levels. So it's good to see. It is good to see. It's good to get some inspiration off of. It's good to see other people's expressions of music themselves and see what they will flip musically. And a lot of times it'd be dope. for us, that's...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right, it's less likely. So, yep. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: on a certain level, glory to God, we know the fine balance of like, that's dope, but that would never be applicable for what it is that we do. So I mean, just...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Sure. Can you talk about that though? Because I think people don't know, you know, and I agree with you, by the way, I think people are getting a false scope of what we're actually doing and they'll see our peers, which we love, go for it. And we know that was the only moment in the show that they took that. You know what mean? That was the only one, but there.
Dre Hemby: The early moment.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: They'll see that and they'll think, ⁓ I see someone on a stage and I'm just going to throw a name out there like Sabrina Carpenter. And this is not saying Chris Johnson does that because Chris is one of my favorite drummers all freaking time. Yeah, but they'll see somebody doing something and they'll be like, ⁓ I got to do it that way. And it's like, nah, you don't have to chop to get to this position. And just because you saw that one. One bar, literally of the go moment, you're thinking, ⁓
Dre Hemby: I'm glad you asked me for him. Go ahead.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: He got this gay because of that. No, you missed the other 90 minutes of the show where it was perfect precision, proper execution setups for big. They ever distracting to the audience. The band was moving and grooving. He caught all the dance moments. Like you missed all of that other information and it's not their fault. It's sometimes we're putting it out there that way. So I would love to hear what. What's the hybrid? How do people understand what's good and what's not? How do we apply this?
Dre Hemby: Man, ⁓ I'm glad that you even brought up Chris, man, because Chris in the social media age, Mike Reed social media age, Brian Fraser Moore, when they post clips, man, especially when it's like raw audio files, to hear their precision, hear their placement, to hear their consistency. Sabrina Carpenter, Chris Johnson, he posted...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre Hemby: quite a few clips from the Coachella weekends. The way he plays tears. like just, I mean them 16th notes are going. And he's doing it one hand, the consistent. ⁓ 16th high hats, bro. Amazing, amazing. Those moments.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It's moving. It's moving. Bro, all like 16 and tie hats too. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. They might be 15s, but he doesn't play small symbols.
Dre Hemby: Bro, his crashes are like 21, 22. He plays in Susan, but it really is ridiculous. But the placement that they have, singing Mike Reed with Justin Timberlake and like the Rihanna and stuff like that, those shared moments, and I've even been guilty of it. I I posted the drum solo portion of our shows a couple of times and then I had to go back.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It's ridiculous. Anyway, continue, continue. We about to nerd out about this dude
Dre Hemby: I had to be like, wait a minute, while this is dope, this is a very small percentage of the show and I don't want it to be misled that the whole show is like this. I don't want people to look at my clip and see this and then be like, oh, is this what I'm going to get at a Teddy Swim show or whatever like that? Come here because you are going to get it, but the false narrative for musicians is that we just have all that space and all those moments and that's not the case. That's not the case at all.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah Right. No.
Dre Hemby: And so with the social media age of those who are working and those who are striving to work, the disconnect is what is it that's, what is that fine line that will put me to the next level of my discipline, of my craftsmanship, of my intentionality? And I feel like the social media age of just choppy, choppy, choppy, choppy.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre Hemby: show off, show off, arrangement, arrangement is heavily influencing the next generation of musicians to thinking that this is what the industry standard is and it's not. And that's the only downside to the digital age of social media musicians. It's not that you guys can't play. It's not that you guys aren't inspirational. It's not that it's killing. It's so killing.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep, I agree. ⁓ they're killing. They're so good. Like so good. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: But literally, like, I see a lot of videos, you see a lot of videos, we talked about it offline. We see a lot of content and we see a lot of things that are absolutely amazing and mind blowing, but you would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever see in a real life show. Even in moments where the band can space out, even in moments where, you know, moments are there to curate. ⁓ It's not enough knowledge to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Again. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: It's not enough knowledge or let me not say knowledge. It's not enough of transparency going on to say like, Hey, when you get to these levels, even when in your moments, there is a lot going on around your moment. is light and cues. is changes going on. There's costume changes going on. There's automations going on. There are, you know, certain things that are programmed and you know, that are
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes.
Dre Hemby: locked into this major structure of a show. So even when you have a moment, you have still only a little gap to do what you want to do that still has to make sense within this entire show. I think the big disconnect is like playing and chopping is what's going to get me to that level. And that's really not, it's the discipline and the intentionality. And I've been seeing more so recently, personally, you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yep. Yeah. Sorry.
Dre Hemby: some people are starting to dial it back and show more of what an actual live arrangement version would be like for them. I love watching the homie Ryan Strickland or Tony Lambert. I don't even know Tony, but I'm a fan of you, dog. They made clips that show, like, I could go there if I was on this gig, but this is how we play it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: for sure. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah, 100%. Amazing.
Dre Hemby: They play it intentional. They play in the parts. They're playing the electric setups and everything else like that. was crazy enough, shouting out my boy, Gabe. I feel like Gabe got, yes, Gabe Bennett. He got a lot of opportunities from doing the same thing. Gabe, me and him have never talked about this. Gabe, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, brother. You know my heart. You know me, All coming from a great place. Gabe used to put up lot of ...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Been it? Mm-hmm. Right. All coming from a great place.
Dre Hemby: going for Eclipse. all know Gabe. Gabe in our generation is one of the greatest out of the DMV, for sure, hands down. started, bro, he got in the lab and started playing, you know, parts and started, you know, being himself in them parts. He got party next door. He's, you know, doing this, he's doing that. And that's just a testament of like, yo, like everybody's watching. Everybody's watching. Everybody sees, but there's just that disconnect.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. Facts. That is a fact. Yeah. Gabe's incredible.
Dre Hemby: He's one of the ones that I feel like, yo, he was already working, but he took off once he started to show like, yeah, I'm more than just church or I'm more than just like, can go for it. And I feel like that's the disconnect because there's so much work out here and we know this, but people are going to go to who they know has the vocabulary and the discipline to do what they need. And you showing every social media clip of you just chopping is not necessarily what an artist on MD.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: or management with needs. So I feel like, you know, just, it's just a lot to do something with your digital age, bro. Like it's pro-anicon. Like it really is. It's a pro-anicon. So.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: distracting. Yeah. Yep. I was thinking is you just got to decide what you want people to know you for, you know, and that's really what you're putting out there. You know, if you look at my page, you have a pretty good idea who I am as a person. You know, if you look at your page, I have a pretty good idea about what you want me to know about you. And I think that's smart. You know, you're you're allowed to control the narrative in that sense of what you show people. If I go to your page, I don't see a bunch of drugs. I don't see you drinking and doing all that stuff. It doesn't mean you may not partake in a beverage from time to time. It just means I don't need you to have the first glance of me with a beverage in my hand. You know, it's the same thing plan wise. If you're an M.D. or a musician that is potentially looking for somebody or just wants to improve your circle because we all want to do that. I need to know what you can and cannot do if I only see.
Dre Hemby: Far from it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: The takeoff moments. I'm unsure. And on the same side, if I only see you locking into this one bar group as you played for, know, whatever, I appreciate both, but I can't trust both. I need to see all the elements of it. So I think I'm glad you brought that up. It's just like people need to understand that there's pros and cons and you're allowed to show both. You know, it's okay with that. You just got to decide what do you want people to know you for? And are you okay with? the lights going down because you played something more simple. You know, and that's big.
Dre Hemby: That's real, bro. That's big because I mean, you know, it's so easy to go viral when you're taking off. We know this. you know, those who are not average musicians and even average listeners, they see somebody playing drums real fast. ⁓ my gosh, he's amazing. ⁓ my gosh. And it is true. And it is true. But it's easier to take off as opposed to somebody who's actually, you know, just playing the pocket, playing the music for what it is. And that concept is boring to the average listener.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yep, yep. Right. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: to the average musician. So it is a huge pro and con and it's a very heavy disparity between the two. I feel like if you just know how to use the... And you know what? I'm glad that you said this. I'm glad that you said this. If you know how to use your social media tool in general, it kind of will put you where you need to be. Because I see a lot of us on social media...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You
Dre Hemby: And I'm saying us as musicians and the whole nine. You are allowed to be your own man. You are allowed to be who you want to be. But what we don't talk about enough is also that you represent a brand and your playing and your personality is no longer yours. The moment that you're called for a gig, you're now associated with the artists that you work for. artists doesn't want a musician that is going to be combative or that's going to, you
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: musically be combative. I'm not even talking about... I'm talking like if you're going to be approaching a gig where I'm playing and I'm having my fun and whatever like that, that all will translate. so if you're not locked in with your social media to promote the good parts of your playing, the good parts of yourself, the good parts of your personality, all of that is a tool to help you get to the next level. And if it's just chops...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: So Bye.
Dre Hemby: If it's just pocket, if it's, you you fire it off and you know, it's all the, you know, the drinking and the party and the stuff like that. Now look, there's some artists that don't care. You just, you just do whatever you need to do. But you know, there is just a, it is risky, man. And there's just a certain, there's just a certain being and personality that you want to be. And I think the name of the, what I've learned,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Sure. Risky. It's risky.
Dre Hemby: Not I think, what I've learned, the name of the game is you want to reduce anxiety. You never want to make anybody anxious. You want to reduce all the anxiety of your MD, of your management, of your artists. If I'm calling you for a gig, it's because I know you're a one-stop shop. I ain't got to worry about your gear. I ain't got to worry about your tech. I ain't got to worry about your professionalism as a musician.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Hmm. Okay, what do you mean? Yep.
Dre Hemby: On the kit, I don't have to worry about your professionalism. Off the kit, I know Jarvis Jed Barnes is going to come in, do this gig. He's going to be a vibe. He's going to be a hang. He's going to give me what I'm asking for. And that's why I'm hiring him. I don't have to be anxious about you. I don't have to be worrying about, you going to be on time for bus call? Because I've seen you be at church for 10 years before you got your first tour call every Sunday on time for soundcheck.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Mm-hmm. on time, right, right?
Dre Hemby: I've seen you never miss a corporate gig that wasn't your fault or whatever like that. Like you always on top of your business, yada, yada. I've never seen you miss a wedding day or whatever type of gig. You've always eliminated anxiety. You never made me anxious. And meanwhile, there's musicians that, yo, you're super dope, but I know you're going to be five minutes late. I know you're going to be coming in smelling like last night, hygienically. I know you're going to come in.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mmm. Yeah. Yep. Right. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: and you're going to have an attitude about the arrangements or an attitude about the songs that we're playing. The name of the game, for real, for real, when you get to certain levels is like, you want to eliminate anxiety. You never want to be the anxious piece. The more that people have to talk to you, the more you really in trouble. If ain't nobody talking to you and you working, you good.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. You gotta chill out. Yeah, you good. You good.
Dre Hemby: The name of the game is you're not going to get compliments like that. Like, you know what I mean? Like the call is the compliment. The call is the You know what I mean? Like, you know, you'll get the accolades, you know, you may get a few thank yous, but like the call is the compliment. The less people have to talk to you, the less they feel anxious. And so that is, you know, an ideal situation to be in. You know what I mean? So.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right, yes. Yes. That's valuable. That's incredibly value. think people need to really understand that people will not work with you for either reason. You're not cool to be around. They won't want to work with you or you can't do the job that they need you to do and they don't want to work with you. Like you got to be able to cover both. like you're saying that anxiety, but you just got to go down.
Dre Hemby: It's gotta go down. I mean, we've all worked with musicians where you'd be like, damn, they dope.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: And we've been them. I was one on. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: And yes, and sometimes we've there. Yes, it's okay to even say that. Sometimes we've been there, but like we all have, we've all had a moment of...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre Hemby: All right, I'll play. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you don't want to be that guy. You don't want to be that guy. I want to be able to confidently say, Jarvis can do this gig. You ain't got to worry about him. He's straight. Like, he going be on his piece of cue. He going be on your line so much. He's going to over communicate. You're going have to tell him, Jarvis, chill out. Like, he's going to be so cool and so on top of his game. You're going to have to tell him, like, bro, you're overthinking it. We're good. You're chilling. The whole night.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yup, yup. Absolutely. You good.
Dre Hemby: That's the type of people that you want to be. That's the type of person that you want to be, especially when you're dealing with management.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Okay, talk about it.
Dre Hemby: especially when you're dealing with tour managers, production managers, agencies, TV, the whole nine. You want to be the person that they don't have to worry about if you can do their job ever, ever, ever. And we...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Ever. Like ever. Like. Ever. If you could do that, they remember that. I'm telling you yet.
Dre Hemby: They remember that. Let's call Jarvis back. He didn't give us no problems, man. Like, we need to call Jarvis back. We need to call Zach back. ⁓ man. Yeah, dude. Like, ⁓ they were phenomenal.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: They feel that way about everyone in the team though. It's like, yo, if they had a great pyro or they had a great LD, like they will fight for that person to come back because they literally didn't bother them.
Dre Hemby: Exactly. And I speak on that in our camp. Like personally, bro, like we have made it a point to, feel like we're at such, our camps are similar. I'm playing slam jog, Jarvis is, know, Tate, you know, and other people, but like I'm talking on his take camp. Camps are family based, real family based. It rarely happens in the industry. Bro, have literally prepping for this year. We've called back majority of the people that we had, you know, from last year.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, Yep. Sure.
Dre Hemby: Like you were phenomenal. You were excellent. Like your troubleshoot skills were phenomenal. Your communication was top tier. The whole nine, like just so many things about not creating anxiety in a professional level. Like something as small as if you're going to take management or you're direct superior. So if you're in the tech world and you're talking to your crew chief, or if you're talking to your assistant PM, your...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Yeah
Dre Hemby: production coordinator. If you're going to bring a problem to them, also bring a series of solutions as well. You know what I mean? Don't just say, ⁓ shoot, the tube is broke. Go to them and say, ⁓ shoot, the tube is broke, but I already reached out to the manufacturer. They haven't reached back out to me yet, but I also looked on Amazon to see if there was a amicable tube that can replace it. You want to be on top of it. want to, don't give them anxiety. You give them peace and you give them a calmness and knowing that you know how to do your job.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Come on. Yeah. Right, right, right, right. Mm-hmm. Yeah, team players.
Dre Hemby: Same with drum, team players bro, same with drums, same with keys, same with musicianship, same in the tech world. If you're watching this in any capacity of touring, you want to be the person that your team knows that they're going to fix the job even before I know it's a problem. And that's the person that you want to be in the industry.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Yep. You need to be dependable. It's it's really and he's saying to any field man like this is why I love Mucks my tech monks is my brother, but I can this time. Most of you like, man, sorry, we're going to scream on the screen. And I'm like, I don't care. Like you're going to get it done and I know you're going to get it done and I trust you. So you really don't. Thank you for telling me truly. Like, thank you for letting me know.
Dre Hemby: depend You're gonna get it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: But, I trust you if it's not up like the kid isn't up for whatever reason. I know it's not because you didn't care. I just because something else happened, you know, but I'm sure whenever you get to it, it's going to be perfect because you are dependable. I trust you to get the job done. I will call him all of the time, like all of the time. I would I refer them to you when you were looking for somebody. I'm like, take Mons. Mons is at the crib like you. That's how you work, though.
Dre Hemby: Mm-hmm. Exactly. Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: when you're dependable and people can trust your name. I didn't hesitate to be like, yo, Dre hit mox. It may or may not work. I you know what mean? It's just the right thing to do when you could depend on somebody. I know how valuable that is. And I was like, yo, my man. You need to ahead and take.
Dre Hemby: Yeah, how do you do? That's real. Exactly. if you need, and that's what you want to be in the industry. Like, you know, all the moments that Monks has looked out for you, made sure that you were straight, took away your anxiety, made you comfortable, moments that you knew, moments that you didn't even know. And then you come back and you're like, Monks, is this different? Like, this was different the last time. And it still works perfectly fine. It's still, you know, more, it's probably even more efficient than what you originally thought the whole nine. Like once there's a level of trust there.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah Yeah. Right.
Dre Hemby: you know, monks became super easy to, you know, be adaptable to what it was that you was looking for, the vision that you was looking for. And all of this goes into the same. You want to be that person that is, is you're giving to the vision and the vision is more than likely not yours. And so even musically, the vision is not yours. you are but a small, you are but a small cog.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Yes. ⁓ that's so true.
Dre Hemby: in this big old clock, like you, it is a massive machine. And so you don't want to be the one that's causing the anxiety to slow the clock down, man. Like they remember, they remember.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. Yeah, talk about that though, because I think people miss that. That you're not, it's not your vision. It's not your vision. What does that mean? Like, how does someone understand that?
Dre Hemby: It's not fun. I think the hardest part in musicianship is that we all take so massive, we take this massive pride in our musicianship, our creativity, our musicality. And naturally, that builds an ego in that pride. You're proud of who you are as a musician. And ego doesn't necessarily mean
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre Hemby: I'm the best and yada yada. What? No, no, no, even difficult. Yes. Your ego is literally just, you know, your, your basic comp, your basic confidence. We all have a basic confidence in our musicianship and our tech world, whatever like that. That still has to die to, that still has to die to, to empower the envision of who you're working for. I may have a certain workflow that is
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Or difficult. Ego doesn't have to be difficult. Yeah. Yes, yep. Yes! Yeah.
Dre Hemby: proficient for me. If that's not what JJ wants, if that's not what DC wants, that's not what Teddy wants. Who am I? It doesn't matter. It's not my vision. It's not, you know, my name is, you know, on the market. Freak Freelee's name is on the marquee. Yeah. Okay, cool. That's fine and dandy. But everybody is coming to see Teddy Swims. They know that his band, Freak Freelee is going to be there. We thank God that, you know, he looks out for us. But
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Doesn't matter. Right. facts. Right. Right.
Dre Hemby: We still are a band that is fully dependent on our artist. Who is Teddy Swims? So if Teddy says, I want this, I need this, I'm looking for this, I'm looking for that. I don't care how much of a way it makes me feel. It's his vision. And I think we all need to understand, we all need to understand that in totality, whether you're a front of house engineer, whether you're a sound engineer, whether you're a playback engineer, whether you're a tech, like.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah
Dre Hemby: Your job ultimately is to give the vision that is bestowed by the artist. I respect so heavily ⁓ the Taylor Swift's and the Beyonce's and the Justin Timberlake's and the Justin Bieber's ⁓ to know the workflow from a lot of the people who's worked with them. They are involved in every aspect of their show. From the sound design to the front of how sound.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: to lighting, to automation, to set design, to trust. I mean, the whole nine, like those are artists that I know off the top of my head that are involved in every aspect of the show. That is their vision. That is their baby. If I'm entrusted this little small part of what this is of their baby, I am not going to be the one to derail that train. I am not going to be the one to derail that train.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Yep. Yeah Yes. Right.
Dre Hemby: sometimes as musicians, our ego will allow us to be in a moment of funk emotionally, which they can feel, which you play in that. We got to understand our musicality is a very sensitive thing. Our emotions in our playing comes out. If you're frustrated, it comes out. If you're happy, it comes out. If you're calm, it comes out. If you got stuff going on at home.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. ⁓ yeah. Yep.
Dre Hemby: It comes out. It will come out. So you have to literally get on stage. You have to literally get in rehearsals. You literally have to get on these platforms and in these moments and say, this is not about me, but this is about the vision of the artist. And I need to submit to that. I need to submit to that. one thing I do want to dial into this is that there are a lot of musicians. ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It will come out. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Dre Hemby: A lot of musicians that start in the church world, there's a lot of musicians that start in corporate worlds and that nature. Guys, those levels are literally the same things that you're going to deal with in these levels. So if you're not taking yourself seriously in the church world, if you can't be on time for your Sunday morning soundcheck, if you can't listen to your local MD at church or the pastor, whatever like that, if you can't listen to the band leader at your corporate gig.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Hmm? Yes. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: or whatever like that, those are the same situations and conflicts that you will find yourself in here. The only difference is you only got one time here. they're going to, before the end of the day, they're going to send you a flight ticket and say, thank you so much. It's been well. We don't need your services no more. That's the only difference. But you're going to face literally the exact same things. So I don't.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: facts. Yeah. Nope. You got it. Yeah The stakes are higher, that's it.
Dre Hemby: The stakes is higher. That's it. Margin of error is so much smaller. Just come in, kill your ego, do what you need to do and get out of the way. That turning around isn't good.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. That training ground is important, though, like what you just described. It's very important. think people people have this idea of, once I get to a certain level, then this will happen. And once I get to a certain level, all of this frustration goes away and also the shit in it. And I feel them because I'm sure we both I know for me, I've had that thought process was I was younger. I can't wait to get on the eight gig. There's no way I'm dealing with this. No, I'm dealing with this. Yeah, you are. You know, yes, you are.
Dre Hemby: Definitely, I definitely have. Yeah, you are. 10 times worse sometimes. 10 times worse.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: It's right. It's worse because the stakes are higher. There's more money involved. There's someone's dream that's much bigger. And it's not just and this is no knock to anyone doing bar gigs or corporate gigs or anything like that. It's nothing. No, not there. But it is different. There's people when you're going to a wedding or going to a corporate gig, they're already drinking. They're expecting to have a good time. They're not expecting perfection out of the band. You know, they're not expecting flawless ⁓ execution of parts and all because person that wrote it is not on the stage. But then now when we go into a space that we're blessed to be in, where we're supporting iconic artists who are doing their in their dream, they wrote the song, they were with the producers, they were with the engineers, they sat in the A &R room, they went back to the mixing, they gave notes, they recut the harmonies, like you're sitting with the person that is doing the thing right now. So now we have to make sure that everything that they've
Dre Hemby: They don't care. Exactly. It was doing it.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: put into this before we even knew it was a song. Because the only reason we found out it was a song is because it came out. No one sent it to us first to be like, what did you think? No, they did all the parts before. And then we heard the song after we found out, hey, Dre, I got an opportunity. What's your availability? You tell them and they're like, okay, it's gonna be with Teddy Swims. Not first you find out the name, it's what's your availability. And then based off that answer,
Dre Hemby: Uh-uh. That's the availability.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: then we decide if we want to move forward. So all that to say is like, that's very important to understand that when we're sitting here killing my ego, it's not that you're not confident in what you do. It's the exact opposite. It's like, I'm super confident in my ability to be able to hone in on whatever it is that you want. Whatever you want, I got you. I just need to know what you want. And once I figure that out, I'm going to give that to you every single time. Like my job is to your point.
Dre Hemby: What?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I don't want to be a distraction. don't want to any artists I'm supporting, especially like, cause Tate's most recent is just happening. That's such a dance show. You saw it multiple times. It's like, there's a lot of people that are depending on me to hit this certain thing. You know, you're sitting in a seat where it's very soulful and it's a very much, it's it's a massive field spectrum and they're depending on you to lay that foundation. So Ted can go. So All your guitars can move around. So JJ can re-harm something comfortably because it's like, yo, Dre ain't moving. Dre ain't moving from this position. And also I know Dre every single time is going to give me this 16th note fill in this space. Dre is going to set this up grand every single time in this space. It doesn't mean you have to play the same exact thing, but you're not going to magically go from a 16th note fill that you've been doing all tour to all of a sudden triplets.
Dre Hemby: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Exactly.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You're not going to do that to your artists. I was like, yo, what you doing? And it may be cool. But there's five musicians in the audience. There's 20,000 people that know this song from the radio. No disrespect to my music homies, but I'm not playing for you, bro. I'm going to make sure that these 20,000 people know this song. The artist is happy to be in feel secure. management, the producers that might come out to the show, the engineers, I want them to be like, yo, I didn't see this going this way, man, but I'm so glad you're playing this.
Dre Hemby: Man.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's the moments where I'm like, we won.
Dre Hemby: We won. We won. Man, when, and we know this, mean, you know, when suits walk in the door, when TV walks in the door, man, like when unions walk in the door and they're like, this is a fine tune machine. That is the highest compliment that it goes to the artist. And if anything goes wrong,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Man.
Dre Hemby: It's not Dre messed up. It's Teddy Swim's drummer messed up. It's Tate McCray's you messed up. Like we are in extension. What's wrong with the music? ⁓ gosh, his band is off. That is the perception of what the average listener is gonna say. It's not about musicians. It's not about our musicianships. It sounds good. It looks good. You guys will appreciate it. Musicians will appreciate all.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. band sounded off. Something's wrong with the music. Yes, it's always that. Yep. Yes.
Dre Hemby: they know what that is. They know what that is. Like you said, for the other 20,000 people in the audience that came to just hear a show and a show that's complimenting the artist that they paid their good money to see, you don't want to that one that's causing the issues or that's causing the sonics or the feel to even be remotely off. Like, what's the drummer doing? What's the bass player doing? Like, what's happening?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah! Yes, come on. Yeah, I take that crap personal. Yeah, I really I really do.
Dre Hemby: I take it personally. If I'm to be egomaniac about anything, I'm going be egomaniac about the fact that you came to this show that we played and we put so much into. And if I did something that I thought was maybe even sweet and I go back and listen to it or I get a review that it wasn't, I do take that personally. I take personally so much ...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre Hemby: So much so critically, bro, I'm one of the musicians that go back and listen to every show that we do. I go back and study and I take notes of my own playing and been like, this felt good in the moment. Let me see how this translated though in the mix. Let me see how this translated to what I think the audience would hear and see. me see how this is, if this is enhancing the flow of the music or if this is hindering the flow of the music.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: X. Yeah Right.
Dre Hemby: There is so many avenues and there are so many ways that we can think that we're killing. And it doesn't have to be big. It does not have to be big. It can be something so small that we think is killing and it's actually doing a disservice to the music. I'm just, you know, I'm real, that's why I said going back to the beginning of this conversation, JJ, what is it that you're looking for from me? What is it that, you know, that I need to
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. That's a fact. Mm-hmm.
Dre Hemby: start planning for and what the music vision that Ted gave you that we need to implement all together. DC, what is it that you're looking for? then, I'm one of the, thank God, I'm one of the few camps that I actually, we have full real relationships with our artists. there's really any problem at any given time, I can call Ted myself with JJ on Three Way and be like, hey, I just want to make sure I'm clear.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, real. sure.
Dre Hemby: on what it is that you want. Like Jay, tell me what is it that you're looking for? Tell me what is it that you want? And then JJ and Ted will flat out say like, all right, well, this is what we want to do. This is yada yada. That way it ain't, know, whatever. It ain't no guesswork. Now I know a lot of situations, it's not you can't go to the artist. You got to just take that up with your MD. the front work, y'all, the front work, like...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah, no guesswork. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Dre Hemby: knowing what it is that your part is to play in this. These levels, and it's not even arena levels, it's the moment that you just get out. Club levels, theater clubs, they still have playback. They still have lights. They still have, it doesn't need to be an arena. That's a huge misconception. That is a huge facade. It doesn't have to be arenas and amphitheaters and stadiums.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, yes. Yes. Nope. Right.
Dre Hemby: your local clubhouse will have some lights, maybe. Your local theater, the Ritz, the Fillmores, the House of Blues, all of that stuff is still timed out. And it's still ⁓ a very adequate show that takes time preparation. It takes a lot of departments. It takes a lot of movement. You just want to make sure that you are on top of what you need to do. And everything, just value that, man. Value the moment.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah all that Yeah. and value that people don't get. I think people don't capitalize on those moments enough. You know, they think, ⁓ I'm not at the Staples Center. So whatever, you know, whatever it is, it's like, but no, this is the this is the artists that you want to go see at the Staples Center. They did this circuit, too. You know what mean? Like they they still did this circuit of the House of Blues is that. Guys, you need to put some attention on this. And this is a great opportunity for you to learn dynamics, learn finesse and learn how it is when you have a short amount of time. OK, what type of things do I need to guarantee? asked the monitor engineer court so I can instruct and get through it. You know what mean? Even if your mix isn't going to be perfect, because at a House of Blues level, you may be traveling with your own people, but sometimes you're not. Sometimes you're at the mercy. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes you're at the mercy of whoever's local. So even that rapport, you know, I will always go in.
Dre Hemby: It was a locomotive.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: early, even though have a tech, I'm going in early. If I have house people, I need to know your name. We need to develop some type of rapport here in trust. So I'm, I'm cracking jokes. Yo, have y'all eaten? Y'all got water? Because it matters. You know what I mean? And not for, of course I have a, a, a benefit from doing certain things, but also this is a team. Now we now have for tonight, new team members.
Dre Hemby: Yeah. It matters.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: So my team now needs to be a solid and fun and as light as possible. So if I got someone that feels like they've been working for 12 hours, no one asked them how their day was. No one got them water. No one gives a damn that they had to retrain to set multiple times. They're disgruntled and fair. That is fair. But if we can come in and help them out, it's like, if you're at these beginning levels, these are the moments that you take the time to learn people's names, have a conversation about what they're.
Dre Hemby: Yeah, yeah. ⁓ that is fair.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: because you're gonna see them again. I promise you, you will see them again.
Dre Hemby: We have to understand, bro, this industry is so big, but it is so small. It's so big, but it's so small, y'all. And then honestly, you... Listen, I was born in a church. Sometimes I'll just be throwing it out there. if you're faithful over the few, I promise if you're faithful over the few, if you know how to navigate the small rooms and don't despise your small beginnings, bro, God will elevate you. The universe will elevate you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Mm-hmm. Yeah
Dre Hemby: If you can walk to your point, you're walking into the house of blues. You don't know the local hand, the local stage, the local monitor guy, but you build a rapport with him. There's going to come a day when you're in the arena and you got to build a, you want to have a rapport, not just with the monitor guy that is on salary. You want to have a, you want to have a rapport with the automation. You want to have a rapport with the video team. You want to have a rapport with your front of house.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Yes.
Dre Hemby: because you want to be able to say, hey, your mix is killing. I have a vision of this sonically for the drums. How can we blend these? You ain't finna just walk up to your front of house engineer and say, yo, your drums are trash. Fix this. That's crazy work. If your ego don't get you fired out the door immediately, the next best thing that's gonna happen is he's not gonna care about your drums at all.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: There you go. No. That's crazy. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: You better hope that you can even be heard the rest of the tour. Because he's going to be like, let me turn these stems up. Let me turn them backtracks up. Let me do what I want to do. Your ego, your rapport with your entire camp. And then never mind the music. You have to be with these people. Why do you want to be the one?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: The rest of your tour. I'm gonna do what I wanna do. Yep. Yes!
Dre Hemby: to cause conflict or disgruntledness in between the camp. we, artists and band, AB party, we regularly go hang with the crew, buy the crew drinks, buy the crew meals. If I know I'm finna eat good and I'm finna go somewhere and we still on a show day or whatever like that, I'll call Sean, I'll call my tech so quick and be like, hey bro, I'm stopping by Starbucks. I'm stopping by, you know, this place to get some food. You want a coffee?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah! You need anything.
Dre Hemby: You want something? And not just my tech, you know, the regular guys that I deal with on the basis, which is our stagehand. like, know, our techs, our stage manager, it's not just, it's not just, you know, inclusive to or exclusive to my dumb tech. These are my guys. These are my bros. These are my family, my tour family, but it's making sure that we have what we need to do every single night. Why would you not want to take care of them the way that they're taking care of you?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: So this is a big machine. This is a big industry, how you treat people and it's happening locally. If you treat your local folks like this, that word gets around. That attitude gets around. People are not going to want to hire you and not want to deal with you if you don't even take the time to respect the people that's making sure that you can do what you do on a night by night basis.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. Yes.
Dre Hemby: because as dope as it is and as main as the music is, the main thing is the main thing, which is the music. It is still a small part in this very large production.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's so true. It's so true. So true. People got to I'm glad you're saying this stuff because people need to realize the importance of taking care of your people. And it's not just musicians take care of your attacks and it's everyone take care of everyone. You know, that's the real thing. Like they of course, and for people who may not have towards it, there's a party, which is the artist in their team kind of sits in that space as well.
Dre Hemby: Thank you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: B party was typically band dancers and then C party, which is pretty much everyone else in this roster here. But A and B party, we get treated a certain way because we are where the cast. Right. And that's understandable. Right. We can't get hurt because if any of us gets hurt, literally no one has a job. Right. Like it's just one of those things. However, those people in C party matter. They are slaving day in and day out, running 12 hour days, getting four in the morning.
Dre Hemby: Mad.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: to go build this stage, they don't get done until two in the morning. They have to go through the same bus and same travel details we do with a longer day. Yo, you can ask them if they need something.
Dre Hemby: that we do. Yes. Hold on, hold on. Then don't forget this detail. Most people forget the A and B party with security and everything. That's normally only maybe 20 people max. Your crew party is normally starting at 50, people. I mean, and that's a small setup. Like if you're in an arena, if you're in an arena tour,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Facts. That's the other 80 people. Yeah, 100%. Yes.
Dre Hemby: The most, most times are not the crew is starting at 50 people, 50 to 55 minimum. So you mean to tell me 55 people got to work harder than what I'm doing. And I'm supposed to treat them like crap. No, this is a team. Like just because I'm on stage for maybe two and a half, three hours out of the day, including sound check, yada yada does not include the work. They are in that arena at six o'clock in the morning.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: minimum. Yep. No. I'm gonna this out.
Dre Hemby: to chalk to earlier, because we've seen earlier. We've seen earlier. They are in that arena first thing and they still don't leave out until one o'clock, two o'clock that same night to turn around and possibly do it again tomorrow.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Or earlier. Yep. Yes. Yep. Yeah. Yep.
Dre Hemby: Who are you to have an attitude and to have an ego and to have an air about yourself that you're better than the ... Nah. Nah. I want to talk to Mark, my pyro guy, and make sure I'm not getting blown off with these dog on fires and fireworks and dry ice that's going on. No, I want to talk to Jordan, our video guy, because I want to be like, hey man, like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Never. Yes. Yeah
Dre Hemby: Let's talk about angles. Let's talk about this. Like what looks good sonically for this, I mean, not sonically, what looks good visually for the new set? What looks good camera angles? What do you need from me? Like all of that good stuff. Let's talk, you know, automation. If you're talking, you know, mobile rigs, know, guitar boys normally, or the artists themselves. When we're blocking, what does that look like for me? I want to know I'm safe going up and down this elevator. I want to know I'm safe being in this popcorn. If we're talking about dancers and you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, what do you need from me? Right? Right? Yep. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: Y'all got that big old, you know, V set that moves like how safe are we up here? Like, what does this look like? All of that stuff matters. This is all a big teamwork. So just be...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. and they're ensuring your safety exhausted.
Dre Hemby: Exhausted exhausted. So the least you can do is make sure your team is cool. You need a coffee. You need a nap. Do you need me to advocate for you in any capacity? like you need me to say, like, hey, bro, we're working, we're working the text a little too hard. We may need to like, you know, reconsider how we're moving. All this stuff is a teamwork. And sometimes
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, that's. That yes, yes, yes, yes. I will go to bat for you 100%. Yes
Dre Hemby: It's not that management not thinking about it. It's not the artist that's not thinking about it. It's literally just, there's sometimes there's too many pieces and you know, we need each other. So if my tech, if just my tech is fried and burnt out and not because of anything that's going on, but just literally because of the workload. Bro, cool. What, what can I help with? Like even as the artist, you know, what can I help with? What, what can I go on your behalf to?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes, it's conditions. Yep.
Dre Hemby: you know, to make sure that you're okay, because I can't do my job if you're not doing your job. It's literally that simple. It's literally that simple. So I just want... And it does happen. And again, all of this is also at local levels. You deal with your local front of house guy at church. You deal with your local front of house guy, monitor guy in corporate. it's three people.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Right, facts. It's just that simple. Yeah, people should realize that. You gotta protect them. Yep.
Dre Hemby: That's it. We took 20 minutes to say, just treat people with love and respect. They take care of you, take care of them.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's it. That's it. It's really that simple, man, and value it, value the people, value the levels that you're going through. I think. We had those moments, man, coming up and we're just like, I can't wait, I can't wait. We came in for the endorsements. I can't wait for this. Sheesh, it's I get it. You know, I really get it because we were there. You know, we're like, I can't once I get this.
Dre Hemby: is really very simple.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Drum endorsement in this and I'll be on the right. It doesn't work that way. You know, OK, so what are some of the things maybe if you if you can pinpoint some things that maybe when you were younger and you had a perception of the industry that might be different than when you when you arrived?
Dre Hemby: You hit the main point already. I thought it was going to be easier once we got to this level. No, not necessarily the whole thing. Just in certain ways, like the...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah What aspects the whole thing?
Dre Hemby: The being taken care of part. ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre Hemby: What a huge misconception is, is that for as beautiful as touring is, people think it's just all fun and games. And they don't sit with the experience or the knowledge of what it is to experience the after show lows, the after tour lows, the...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: The moments where you go home and home doesn't feel like home because you've been gone 10 months out the year and you can't even sleep in your own bed without feeling discomfort. ⁓ The moments where people think that you're having this rock star life and while there are some privileges and some beautiful moments and experiences that you have, it can be very lonely sometimes because nobody can relate to this.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Oof. Yep. Right.
Dre Hemby: You can call your mom, you can call your dad, you can call your brother, your sister, you can call your boys, you can call your friends. If they haven't lived what we're living right now on tour, they would never understand what it is. And there is a a huge high and low in the touring world that everybody encounters is not, not inclusive to just, you know, those of artists or cast, you know, the AB party, everybody.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah Yeah, everyone. Yeah, yep.
Dre Hemby: bus drivers all the way down to, or bus drivers all the way up to the artists themselves and management. There is a heavy high and low contrast of touring. I feel like that is number one, the biggest misconception that I thought touring was. And especially, for me personally, especially the coming home part, like when you come home and...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Dre Hemby: I know my schedule is a little different, but just seeing the industry standard, you come home, you be home maybe two, three months. Them two, three months can be long. When you just came off of a six to nine month tour, maybe even a year run and you home for three months and it's just silence and it's just, what's the next call? What's the next situation? What's the next studio session? What's the next whatever? What's the next programming session? Whatever.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. crickets. Right.
Dre Hemby: Well, that is some time to be alone with your thoughts, to reflect. You just got done riding this extremely dope high. So that's one of the biggest misconceptions of touring that I've ever experienced. So that's not even the music part. No matter what industry you're in, the higher the level, the more you're going to be required to perform. If you're in sports, we see it in high school basketball to college to...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
Dre Hemby: semi pro and then if you fortunate enough, you make it to the pros. There's levels to it. There's definitely levels to it. ⁓ Less prep, more. Yeah, less prep.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. There's less prep. That's the thing that shook me up. I thought once we got here, I thought, oh, I'm going to have a month worth of time to sort the music. Everybody's going be the most organized. It's the exact opposite.
Dre Hemby: He's not going to tell y'all, but I'm to tell y'all. was in UK with them ⁓ on some personal time. was in UK. Jarvis came up to me and said, bro, I'm tired. He said, this is the last show. Tate wanted to do a last minute situation, bro. I've been up since like, I've been up last night till about three o'clock in the morning, making sure they move here.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Hahaha Yeah, I think it was a new song. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: She was me and Darion, who's on the other side of the world. is in America, Jarvis is in UK, and they doing cross-Atlantic sessions. You want to figure out what to do.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Trying to figure out what to do and what he wanted me to play and all of a sudden, yeah.
Dre Hemby: ain't no prep time. I want to do it. You can't say no. All right, we'll make it work. It'll be done by sound check. Just got to get it done. Now we may underneath our breath and behind closed doors bitch, complaining, moaning, all that good stuff. I mean, who's not going to, but the job got to be done, bro. The job got to be done. Less prep time.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, you just got to get it done. It's just that simple. Yep. Yeah, it's a little frustrating sometimes, sure. That's it. I've just found if you get frustrated or flustered and it gets worse.
Dre Hemby: I seen that man drivers pull out some magic y'all. Just sayin'.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Well, thank you. Yeah, I just I don't know, bro. I think I have so many dope friends. You know what mean? Like yourself, DJ Zack, like everybody that I'm blessed to be around and talk to often. Y'all push the standard. So I'm like, I never want to not be in the conversation with my friends like that. This sounds crazy to me. So if you want to stay in the conversation and I know Dre Shedding.
Dre Hemby: That's weird.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Not only is Drake gone all year and he's getting the reps playing and the experience playing he's still going to practice and get all this stuff done. Dre's not leaving. You know what I'm saying? And that's one of the things that I told him. I don't remember the general I was talking to, but he was he wanted to get into our industry and wanted to be, you know, kind of doing what we're doing. And I said, well, you better start practicing. I said, because we ain't going anywhere. You know what mean? And we've already we have the recognition. have the resources. We have the reputation. We have the endorsements. We have blah, blah. We're already ahead of you and we're not leaving. There's room for you. But you know what I mean? Like I can't.
Dre Hemby: Yeah. There's room. I'm just not letting go of my seat so quickly, so easily. Man, that's the truth though, yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You see what I'm saying? So it's like, yo, you got to lock in and really be able to do what you got to do. And that to that point, it's like, yo, that means you've got to stay on it. You know what mean? You got to be able to to to deliver when Ted is like, yo, we're releasing the song. It comes out Friday, but we're going to we're going to do it on Wednesday at the live show. You're like. ⁓
Dre Hemby: And it's Monday night that we get this information. So we only got one good day. And that's, yeah. And that's maybe that, that may be in traveling travels because we got to get there. You know what I mean? And we don't have the gear. We don't, you know, the mobile studio too. Like all of that stuff is in transit. You ain't got nothing. You literally just got to listen to it. Just listen to it. Have a pair of sticks in your bag. Have a little mini key, a mini keyboard. you, you know, piano or guitar boys care they own.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Maybe, right? Maybe. Right. Right. Yep. Yes.
Dre Hemby: You gotta be on it yourself. Like that is the job. Preparation is none. There is none. Like you just gotta... They have you out to do this job. There is no prep. that is... Thank you for saying that, Jarvis. If you're struggling, if you're struggling with learning music that you got a month ago, you are never gonna be successful.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: on it. Yeah, because they have you out to do this job. ⁓ Yes! Sheesh.
Dre Hemby: when your artist is like, ⁓ yeah, we're working on a new album. We're up to seven songs right now of potential singles. Learn them all. And only one is going to get released, but you got to learn all seven in a matter of a couple of days to have fluidly. And then by the time we get to whatever TV show or whatever, whatever performance or whatever like that, ⁓ okay, this is the song that we're going to release. This is the one that we need to prep. In real time in soundcheck, you run it maybe once or twice.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: All right, cool. This is what we're to do for that. Like if you're watching this and you ever listen to somebody who's doing an arrangement or whatever like that, and you'd like, man, I feel like they could have added a lot more to this arrangement. I feel like they could have had a couple more specials or whatever like that. It's because more than likely, they just dropped that song in the box that same day. ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: at the venue. That's, yeah, you're at the venue. This is show day. Yeah, yep.
Dre Hemby: They're like, nah, we just going to play what it is. Do this maybe one quick little special at the end of the song, just to get out of the song. Get out of the song and call it one. There is no prep time in this. You are giving what you're giving most times at night. It's a Dropbox or a Google folder and be like, check that joint once a week. And it's always a rotation of songs, always a rotation of set lists, always a rotation of ... Hold on. And then not just that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: At the end, yeah, just get out of there, Yep. Come on. Dirty up!
Dre Hemby: It's also a rotation of the arrangements. We're going to lose control TV as opposed to lose control radio, as opposed to lose control tool version as a lose control tool version.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. And then they want to piece it together after like, like this version of verse on this, the TV special, but I want the chorus of the. ⁓
Dre Hemby: And I want the chorus of this, but I want the special, I want the end solo of this. Bro. Cold.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: All right, cool. But you got to know it all. You got to know it all like you got to be able to recall it. You got to be able to know that, bro, I have a master session of all the stuff that gets an able to. So if any time they call something up, I can reference it as well as a Google like a Dropbox link to what you're saying. Bro, it saved me. So it saves me and Zach so many times. I just pull it up. We sit in the green room. Yo, can you solve that part?
Dre Hemby: Mm-hmm. ⁓ Hmm?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: So it's like loop this section for us. Bro, we had no choice.
Dre Hemby: In the festival, y'all was doing it. Actually, the festival at Lollapalooza, Green Room. I remember then too. Y'all was going through the whole set. was like, what y'all do? Y'all just added, there was another song that Tate just had added in. Cause the Chalets show, the Chalets show was like the second festival and she wanted to add a song. And I pulled up to the Green Room and y'all was listening to it you was like, bro, I'm cooked. But you know, we here. I don't like
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: We had no a whole There was a- It was crazy. Yup. You gotta learn it. That's it. Yeah. We had no choice. We had to go to the hotel, learn it, listen to Green Room, learn it. It's like, but the thing that reassured me because everyone's doing it. That's the thing. think people, musicians, especially forget, Oh, you're giving it to me last minute. Okay. Yes. But that's also the artists. That's also the dancers. That's also the LD. That's also the videographer. That's also the pyro. Everyone's getting new time code now.
Dre Hemby: Yeah, man.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's not just you. So the LD is now having to program in the same amount of time that you got it. The choreographer is now having to choreograph something in the same amount of time and the dancers still got to learn it. Like there's Ed.
Dre Hemby: because they have to play with your arrangements, your musical arrangements is also going hand in hand of what they're dancing. So you gotta make all these departments are all coinciding and talking to each other. That's why I said like, we're small y'all, we're small. Like it's a very big, it's a very big element. It's a very big machine. That's very true, Jarvis. The prep time. The prep time. ⁓ the prep time.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. The small part of it, man. Yeah. Just chill out. It's just relax. Because you freak out. It doesn't go well for anybody because then you're only thinking about, how annoying this might be to have to learn a song. But I'm like, I'm working, bro. What are you doing? Those vessels would play to one hundred and fifty thousand people.
Dre Hemby: No. every night.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's insane. What am I complaining about again? Having to learn a song.
Dre Hemby: Every night. Learn your music. A job that I want to do, a job that I get paid, pretty nice to do to travel the world to 150,000 people every night.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right? That was insane. So it's like, I've learned early on when we kind of bring it back was that was one of the things I learned, because now I thought because, oh, we're at this level. Of course you guys are a well-oiled machine. Everything's flushed out. It's not that it's not flushed out. They're also just dealing with the radio show. They have the late night shows. They had this other TV special. Then they have a festival thing they have to do. And on top of tour, they still got to prep and route for. And then this thing is happening in the middle of it. And then we have a that is happening and then they have a taping it. No, it's not that they're not prep. There's just so many more elements that are happening right now. Sorry man, your thing is just not that pressing in the grand scheme of what we have to do for this artist, because let's not forget we are all here for the artist. There's not one aspect of anybody who's here that is not here to support whoever's name is on this marquee.
Dre Hemby: You got a smoke, got a hustling, you got all of that, like. their vision.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You gotta chill out, yo. Like you gotta ⁓ learn to be adaptable and moldable and you gotta be able to make a switch. You you and I can joke all day. Yeah, I mean, blow one down for the culture, do whatever we gotta do all day. But as soon as JJ's like, yo Dre, we here. That changes everything. You gotta lock in. Nothing else matters. If D is like, yo, we gotta move, we're moving. don't know, there's nothing else to discuss right now. We're on the move.
Dre Hemby: Lockdown. Exactly. Tell me what that looks like. That looks like and we there.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That level is... That's it. We were on a move. And I think that that pivots me to my last thing I want to talk to you about is what do you think separates the people that are up and coming versus the people that are sitting in spaces like us, the Dev stick tailors? What are those things that you think is separating them from reaching this level that we're talking?
Dre Hemby: I'm not saying this in any way, y'all. I know a lot of people don't necessarily know me personally, but those who know me will know what I mean when I say this. ⁓ We have to get out this entitlement that just because we can play or just because we're connected to certain people that we deserve the next slot. That's number one. ⁓ Cause nobody is deserving your old anything. ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre Hemby: You know, we worked hard to where we be, to where we are, you know? ⁓ I often tell people, well, I am often asked like, how do you handle all of this? Do you have imposter syndrome and things of that nature? Because, you know, being at this level can do that. Respectfully, no, I don't have imposter syndrome. I put in my 10,000 hours of my craft. I put in my dues of my craft. I put in my losses and my wins.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: to get to where I am. Like I deserve to be here. I deserve to be in this place and in this space that God has blessed me to be in. And I don't feel entitled to it. It could all stop tomorrow and I will be super grateful and appreciative of what has been. And I think one of the main things that I've seen in my lifetime that has put me to this position is Usher and ⁓ Usher and Aaron Spears. ⁓ For those who are not familiar, ⁓ Funk Rock Orchestra was Usher's
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Funk Rock Orchestra.
Dre Hemby: long standing band from about 2002, correct me if I'm wrong, about 2002 to about 2014, 15ish.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. That sounds about right. Don't hold us to this,
Dre Hemby: hold us to that. But still, about a good 13, 14 years and out of nowhere, out of nowhere, I mean literally out of nowhere, and the guys, well at least from what we saw from public eye views, Aaron and the guys, Aaron Valdez, all the guys, they just got released.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: or longer. that we saw anyway. Yeah, right. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: It happens. It happens. Fro was an extension of Usher. Freak Freely is an extension of Teddy. If he says tomorrow he wants to stop this, cool. Thank you, bro. It's been amazing. It's been a blessing, really. It's changed my life. It truly has been a blessing. I'm not entitled to this gig. I worked hard to be here. I don't have imposter syndrome. I'm very confident that this is my place in space for this time and this moment.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Truly. Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm.
Dre Hemby: But if it changes, it doesn't make me entitled to be like, Teddy, I spent all these years with you and I built this with you and you owe me. No, there's no entitlement to anybody else's platform. And I think that's, they don't owe you anything just cause you can play, just cause you can be that person. And even talking with Dev, you you brought up his name, even talking with, you know, the CJs, even talking with the, all the family. The main thing that the common denominator that I see with people who are working versus people
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. They don't owe you anything. Mm-hmm. All family, by the way.
Dre Hemby: strive to work, the ones who are working genuinely just love the game. You have to be in love with this game to really do it because it's not all the beauty that people think it is. There is long, long days and even longer nights. There is sleep deprivation. There are moments of crashing out internally. There are moments of second guessing and doubt and stuff like that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: There is a lot that you mentally and physically and spiritually have to be strong for to deal with this. And your entitlement thinks that just because you can play means you deserve, but God and the universe knows that you can't handle what this is for real, for real. And so like, I would encourage everybody like for real, for real, like if you want the next level, you really need to say.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Oof. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: yourself. You need to be real with yourself and you need to be real with whatever it is that is your moral compass, whether that's a guy, whether that's a Allah, whether that's a universe source, whatever. You need to meditate and be in your own place and say, can I handle what it is to tour on a high level? Because I hear these stories, I hear these podcasts, I hear these testimonies of people who are where I want to be. It sounds beautiful, but it also sounds like it's a lot.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure.
Dre Hemby: Can I really deal with that? And then something of our, after you get to that point and you figure out where it is in your life that if you can't handle it or can you not, do you also have the work ethic to get there? Cause it's not just about if you can handle it, but you also have to have the work ethic. You have to be able to say, I can be fast and proficient on my instrument. I can be fast and proficient in programming and arranging and MD and I can be fast and proficient in my tech world.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Man. Yep. Yes. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: whether that's backline tech, whether that's audio engineer, whether that's playback engineer, whether that's automation, pyro, the whole nine. Are you efficient in your knowledge of your craft and the work ethic to do this on a high level every day? Because I kid you not, if y'all know, if anybody's watching this, if you know anybody on an arena level tour, on an amphitheater level tour.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yep.
Dre Hemby: Ask them to just follow them around a whole day. Just ask if you can just shadow them just one day. And you will quickly be able to see if this is something that you can deal with or if this is something that you can't. Because it's not what everybody think it is. Everybody sees the glitz of it, but it's so much to the camaraderie, the accountability, the preparation, the proactiveness. You know what I mean?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: shows that we're doing in fall, we're already advancing. We've already advanced. I've already had to send off back line lists to one off. I've already had to send off stuff. mean, months that I don't even know the date that we're doing. They're just like, hey, we got this coming up. This is what the situation is. This is what we need you to do. What you need to do this. It's stuff like that. If you're mine...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Exactly, yeah. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: is more on a reactive ⁓ instead of a proactive. You may want to reconsider. It's all personality traits. feel like everybody who's working in the industry, number one, loves this game and is making the necessary sacrifices to be here because it is heavy. It is not what people necessarily think it is. And let me tell you that it's the details. It is so many details.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Yeah. think it's the details too. The details for me, yeah.
Dre Hemby: It is so many details. If we're talking the musician side, it's no exaggeration to say, me and Jarvis and the Styx and everybody, we know probably 15 versions of one song, of just one song. And you're talking about a set list that necessarily has maybe 15 to 20 songs at minimum. we're listening in real life, I think... ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Yep. Assuming no mashups.
Dre Hemby: Assuming no mashups, assuming no transitions, no interludes, no intros, outros. Like y'all, it's a lot of details going on. And then if you're not just mentally here and if you're not meant no sound and aware of yourself, like your emotions can throw you off. Your day can throw you off. Your home life can throw you off. You know, it all happens. We've all missed birthdays. We've all missed funerals. We've all missed weddings. We've all missed.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Woof.
Dre Hemby: major milestones of life. If you're not ready to deal with that, this is not going to be the industry for you. Like it's just not. So I feel like, and that is okay. That is okay.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Life. Yes. Yeah, and that's okay. Like it's there's you can still make a living as a musician. That's not a deterrent saying, ⁓ being a musician is over for you. No, no, no, no, no, no. Just touring is not the way.
Dre Hemby: Man, I know you talked about this with some of the other guys, with the guys, you talked about like, if you want to go to another city, do something different. There is a city for everything. You want to do TV or you want to do Broadway, you take your butt up to New York. If you want to just do a more local life, go to Broadway Street. It's a tough circuit to get in. In Nashville though, if you're Nashville,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, Yep. Yep. Right, but that's where you gotta be though.
Dre Hemby: Nashville, them Broadway boys, they're nice money to play bars Monday through Saturday. I think Sunday is like really their only day that may be a little weird. But I know people personally who are okay and make a healthy living playing Broadway and that's it. Like that's it and they good.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. Sorry. Mm-hmm. And they're good.
Dre Hemby: There's a lane for everything. There's TV and award shows and artists and management and labels and stuff like that in LA, in Atlanta, in Miami. Texas is coming up a little bit more too. Yeah, Texas. mean, so there are lanes everywhere. Chicago, I don't want to forget the home spot. Chicago, there's so much. Y'all, it's so many places that you can be. So many areas and genres and avenues and industry.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: This is coming up, Right.
Dre Hemby: sub sub areas of the industry that you can be in. Depends on what you what you want to do. Touring is not for everybody. It is not. It is not for everybody. Just like, you know, respectfully, I, you know, I can't be Broadway. Like I can I can I can read. But shout out to my bro Q. You know, Q Robinson, you just had him on the tour. Q Robinson is one of my mentors from Atlanta. You know, he's now living in New York because Broadway.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: 100%. Right, right, yes. Q. Yeah. Right.
Dre Hemby: What I've seen him do, what I've talked to him about, what he does on a Broadway set is another mental beast that I don't know if I could do right now. And I know you know, Broadway is actually a different type of beast, a different type of beast. So there's lanes and there's areas for everybody. And for those who are striving to work.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Insane I don't know. I really don't know. I'm with you. I'm with you. Yes. Yep.
Dre Hemby: It matters not anything if you don't number one, know who you are and what you can and can't tolerate. And also in that, kill your ego and your entitlement and know that whatever that you choose to do, unless your name is on the marquee, unless you are the artist yourself, you are helping somebody else's vision.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Right. It's that's yeah, I have to agree with it details to me I think there's something that the the younger generation is missing I think to your point there they're missing the the personal thing they don't they don't know who they are and I think I have my own suspicions of why I think technology is kind of screwing people up a little bit right now But there there's a big part of this where you're seeing younger cast I want to do what you do. All right, and then we have started a conversation And then I'm like, OK, well, have you exhausted all the options where you live? Well, not really. And then they have a bunch of excuses. I'm like, OK, well, let's let's stop here. This is this is the foundation. If your work ethic is not solid now, if your awareness is not solid now, if you're not understanding how to leverage what you're able to do, where you are right now, only thing you're about to do is move to a more expensive area with a terrible work ethic. That's the only thing you're about to do. Because you're not going to magically move out to L.A. and think, ⁓ now I'm going to grind. No, you're not. It's not how it's going to work to be more discouraging because one, no one knows you. You don't know the area. You don't know what's about to happen. You're right. This got exponentially higher. You have to have a car like there's so many other things. And it doesn't mean you can't do it. It's just need to understand who you are and start developing this trait early. Because once you get to the Drey space, when he's now playing for Teddy Swims, this isn't just rainbows and butterflies.
Dre Hemby: No.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: This man had to learn a bunch of stuff before he got there. And then because of what he went through in the business and how he's navigated from music on and off the court, then he was able to handle the Teddy Swims account. That's the difference is those details of understanding what we're talking about. Those, that small church that only had 25 people you played to and the pastor hated drum. So you had to play some, 16 inch symbols and blah, blah, because they didn't want it to be loud. OK, learning how to navigate that space and figuring out how to play musically, but still given the dynamic. OK, cool. And then you moved up to the local club and now you're at 100 people, but they're all drunk and not paying attention to what you guys are playing. OK, are you OK with that? Did you like that feeling? That's my where I went. It was like, yo, I was doing things and I didn't like being something that just happened to be there. People were just going to go to the local bar no matter what.
Dre Hemby: Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: And then we just happened to be playing that night. That didn't feel good to me, but it doesn't mean I couldn't have made a good living doing it. You know what mean? So it's like all those step and don't.
Dre Hemby: Yeah, you was aware to know that that's not the space that you wanted to be in. You're excelling in this space, but that's not... And even to your point in details, I mean, you're talking details and exhausting options. I see stories and I hear stories all the time of like, ⁓ I want to be where you are. And to your point, all right, well, did you go hit every single open jam session in your city?
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I can't do it.
Dre Hemby: Did you go reach out to the OGs in your city who are working? You know what I mean? And not even hitting them up for gigs, hitting them up for guidance, hitting them up for like, you know, just, I ⁓ feel like I'm stuck in the rut. You're where I want to be. Can you help me get some tools and some leverage to get to the next journey in my life or the next avenue in my life? If you're not already punching every single open jam session,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah Yes.
Dre Hemby: at Mint Club in LA, at Apache Atlanta, at whatever the spot is in Chicago and whatever the spot is in New York. If you're not already punching every single open night jam session, if you're not trying to actively already get into every studio session as a producer, if you're not already trying to hit your local union department for tech work and stuff like that, if you don't already have the proactiveness to do that on a basic level.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
Dre Hemby: you're not going to get to where you want to go. Because if you ask me, what do I need to do? And I say, well, you need to one, get outside. You need to start posting actual clips of you playing and not just in your studio. Because as good as you sound in your studio, it's still only in your studio. You could have did this on 100 takes. You got one time to the right. You got one time to play the show right.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Could have quantized it, could have done sound replacement, man. You could have done the works.
Dre Hemby: put it in sound placement, you could AI, you know, whatever. We got AI now, yada yada. You could adopt that joint up to sound perfect. I need to see some clips of you playing, even if it is locally or whatever, I want to see some clips of you playing with the actual band in real time. Let me see how you deal with atmospheric pressures. You know what I mean? Like, what do you, and you know this, what do you, what do you...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yes. Yes. Mmm.
Dre Hemby: How do you play when the audience is not giving you the response that you're looking for? Like, how do you manage these rooms where it doesn't feel like the vibe is even really messing with the music? Because let me tell you something, that's something that you're going to deal with in every level. We sometimes play private gigs that, know, respectfully, you playing to a bunch of suits. It's going to give the, are you not entertained vibes? You're playing to people who's eating. You're playing to people who's already drinking, having conversations.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. ⁓ yeah. Right. Mm-hmm.
Dre Hemby: Even being Teddy Swims, even being Tate McCray, you're there just to give entertainment. That stuff happens. And if you're not okay with who you are and what it is that you're looking for, how do you deal with those atmospheric pressures? it's just a lot of like, need the details to be there. I need your work ethic to be there. I need your self-awareness to be there because...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: That's it. Yep. Right.
Dre Hemby: You know, those are ultimately all the things that will help you have a long standing, you know, career. And whatever decision and route that you choose to make, you have to be cognitive of the route that you want to go and then have the work to put yourself on the road that you want to be on. And then if it's God led.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: And if it's God ordained, if it's universe, if the universe and God says it's the right time for you, the right time for you, then it will happen. But you have to start walking and showing God and the universe that you want it first. It's not going to just pop up for you. Because if it just pops up for you, you're not going to appreciate it or you're not going to really have the knowledge and experience that's needed to, you know, deal with this avenue in this space in the first place. Everybody can play drums. You know, everybody can play keys. That's the easiest part. That is the job.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: You can candle it. Yeah. Big. ⁓ Music is the easiest part. Yeah. Yep, I agree.
Dre Hemby: That is the job. That's the easiest part. But you have to be able to navigate management, personalities, your personality, your endorsement. let's, and right quick, no, not just endorsements.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Yo, go for it.
Dre Hemby: Stop chasing endorsements. You know, and I had to learn this myself. stop, stop chasing endorsements. And the reason why I say stop chasing endorsements is because it's getting to a point now where it's seeming like folks are going for the endorsements for more of the recognition as opposed to just playing the brand that they want to play or, you know, it validates who you are as a musician.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mmm, why?
Dre Hemby: You know, we feel like endorsements equals validation, and that's not the case. Endorsements are not going to make and break you. There are plenty of musicians right now that are world-class musicians that don't have endorsements, don't even want them, respectfully. Like, don't even want them. And that goes into a whole other conversation that, me my wife talking about. But...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Yep. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: There's a whole world out here where you don't need endorsements to work, to survive, to be relevant, ⁓ validate you. You don't need it. And honestly, endorsements brings more headaches. Y'all thinking that it can bring more headaches, because now you're responsible for, again, another brand. So again,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I can. Yes.
Dre Hemby: another brand that you have to represent. You can't just be all willy nilly the way you want to. You can't just move any way that you want to. There are contracts guys. There are contracts. There are legalities. There are scopes. There are still things. ⁓ If you play on TV, I don't care what the back line says. It better be some Zildjian symbols up there for you Jarvis. It better be some Canadian symbols up there for you Dre. It better be some Vic first six.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yes. You dog on right. Dog on right.
Dre Hemby: The more you're giving, the more you're required to manage. you know, that's, endorsements are not a validation of who you are as a musician, but more a tool to help you when you get to certain levels to sustain, to sustain your success. It's not anything else. That's your, just your consistency. That's it. You sustain.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. Yeah, think endorsements are my consistency. That's really it, you know, and I love all my reps. My reps are rock star people. You know, they're they're phenomenal. But it's not I think often times are the youth thinks it's sign. And I'm just going to say a random name sign with my know you get free and then that's it. Then it's over. No, that's not how this works. ⁓ You might get free, maybe depending on what your deal is. Oftentimes it's a percentage off. You get an artist pricing because you're new to the roster.
Dre Hemby: Thanks Mm-hmm.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Unless you're a name already, right? If I took someone in like a Devin Six Taylor or something or Stanley Randolph, they can probably negotiate their deal a little bit differently because they're well established. mean, they're phenomenal people and musicians. So, you know, their bargaining chips are a lot different. But for the masses here, you know, you're not going to walk in, it's just going to be free. And then the conversation's over. No, Me giving you something means I need to receive something in return.
Dre Hemby: Mm. course. The last
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: And vice versa. This is a partnership now. So people, I think, are really forgetting that in the the youth space. And I get it. Shit is expensive right now.
Dre Hemby: Berset. It is expensive!
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I get it, man. I really do. And musicians, I trust me, especially drummers. get it. just because we were just talking about full manifest of all my gear. I know how expensive this stuff is. I just had to put it all down. I feel you all. But please don't. Try to chase something because of just it, just the money, the money will come and your opportunities will come in and also.
Dre Hemby: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: We're talking to you as people who are fully endorsed. So I understand if you're on the outside, is like, yeah, these guys blah, blah, blah. But let me also reassure you, there was a time where I'm playing in a stadium with zero endorsements. Somehow. I got all the things I needed, right? And it's because we submit writers, whatever you put on your writer, as long as you're not being outrageous, they're probably going to get it for you. So you have to do the job.
Dre Hemby: There was a tunnel. and being a real...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: So don't worry so much about not having the endorsement. Play what you want. Make sure the sound is solid. Make sure you're comfortable. Make sure you're able to get the artist vision across from what you're choosing and not just playing Zildjian because it's Zildjian or not playing Saddam because it's Saddam. Play them because you enjoy them. Play because it's getting the sound you like. You just made a drum switch and that's probably the last thing I want to talk to you about. Dang, don't know. We talk over two hours, bro. But
Dre Hemby: Play with me. Exactly. Hey bro, we just talked to him right now. What do you Exactly.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, exactly. This is what we do all the time. what made you make a switch in assuming that everything was on the up and up? It's just a personal decision. What made you make the switch to the newest company that you're with?
Dre Hemby: ⁓ by the time that this drops, ⁓ it will be fully announced, but ⁓ I am with a loyal by Noble and Cooley. ⁓ And what made the switch for me personally.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Amazing.
Dre Hemby: Nothing bad on SJC at all. Phenomenal family, phenomenal drums, phenomenal support. I mean, literally top tier. ⁓ I wouldn't encourage anybody. And I even said this offline, Jarvis is my right hand. I have nothing bad to say about the family at SJC. Zach and the whole team, like amazing guys. ⁓ I just felt like a time that... ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: At all. Yeah Yeah, 100%. We had a whole conversation about it. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: what I was looking for for my own personal branding and things of that nature, ⁓ I made the switch ⁓ more so not even from the drum perspective themselves because ⁓ humbly saying this and Jarvis, you know what I mean? Once you do get into it, the drum parts are so easy. You can build a custom kit. You can get any type of drums that you want.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah.
Dre Hemby: ⁓ from any other company that you choose to rep. You can build custom drums or you can have a series that's already manufactured. Maypacks, you the Saturns. Pearl, you can get the reference Pures. Yamaha, can get the Phoenix series. But you can also customize drums. So it had nothing to do actually with the drums themselves because every drum company makes phenomenal drums. I actually stand on that.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yep. Yeah. Facts.
Dre Hemby: I feel different about cymbals. I feel different about sticks and stuff like that. And I'm not going to give my personal takes on those. But I feel like every drum company really makes amazing drums, especially when they started getting to the custom levels. made the switch mainly because ⁓ of the mission behind Loyal by Noble and Cooley. Loyal to the Craft started by SJC founder, Mike Capari.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Mm.
Dre Hemby: It's definitely more ⁓ giving back to the youth and giving back to the musician community, school of rocks and stuff like that. So it's a lot of, you know, just mission field ⁓ endeavors and things that we're diving into to use the platforms that we do have to, you know, give back and inspire. ⁓ One thing that I wish OGs did more is actually talk.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mmm. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: and give insight and give stories and really be hands on with the next generation of musicians. Because I've seen so many times musicians of all, older musicians of all ages and races and spaces and genres. It's almost feeling like kind of gatekeep, kind of gate kept of how to really make it to the next level. Or not even just making it to the next level, but just in musicianship in totality. Like I don't like the...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Sure. Mm-hmm. Sorry.
Dre Hemby: preconceived notion that just because I am who I am and I play for who I play for, I'm not good enough to answer DMs or I'm not good enough to talk to kids. I'm not good enough to know. I am a human just like they are. I have feelings just like they have. And I remember what it was like to reach out to bigger guys when I was coming up and them leaving me on red. And I know social media is different, whatever. And I remember them leaving me on red or not even taking the time to just
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah show.
Dre Hemby: be accessible in totality to the next level. So, ⁓ Loyal to the Crowd is really about giving back to the next community of musicians and the next age range. And it's not just myself. ⁓ There are quite a few people that's already signing on to this endeavor as well. I'm not the only one. It's not my place to name drop. That'll happen when it needs to happen. But it was more so just...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yep.
Dre Hemby: I want to make sure that one of my legacies that comes from my music is that, hey, Dre was present and Dre wanted to give back and Dre wanted to use his platform to inspire, hands on inspire. Not just, you see me on Instagram, you see me at a show, I always want to feel touchable to the next musicians that's reaching out. so it really was more...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Bye.
Dre Hemby: ⁓ across that line of endeavors. ⁓ Yeah. You know, so, you know, it has nothing to do with SJC Drums, the product, people, the company, then, you know, the whole, the whole not. But it had everything to do with what I feel like I want in my next level of musicianship and in my next journey of my career, the next space. So, you know,
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, line with the brand. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Dre Hemby: I left amicably. I left, you know, gratefully the whole night, like still love to Zach and everybody is it will always be that. ⁓ But I am now with loyal by noble and cool. So man, I appreciate that. I'm still with all my other ones. know, know, save me every phrase, know, F's all that. I love my boys, so now it's a major things coming up. Some major, some major, you know, ⁓ projects and
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Of course. Nice man, congrats. Yeah, we'll work on it. You know. We'll work on every.
Dre Hemby: and outreaches and everything. And even on a personal note, drivers offline, I want to talk to you about getting in some projects as well. ⁓ yeah, mean, shout out to SJC, shout out to loyal by Noble and Cooley and everything and ⁓ much love to everybody. So that is the official verbal announcement on podcast. But ⁓ by the time this drops, the official...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah, whatever you need. Yeah. I love it, man. You're out. I'll wait until you're announced. It's out for sure. But that's a perfect segue, man. Tell the people what you're doing. And I also want to co-sign something. Dre is he's not blowing smoke. Dre is very reachable. And if you're looking for information, he does do mentorships. He does do consultations. And I want to also add this for anyone who is wants to do stuff like that with with any musician. Paying them is not.
Dre Hemby: My boy.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: a thing of like they need your money. It's just to solidify their time to devote to you specifically. You know what mean? So if Dre decides to hit you at a rate, which is totally fair, pay it. That way can devote his undivided time to you to help you with whatever that is. If it's analyzing your videos, if that's helping you with your career aspect, it's whatever that is for you, it's beneficial to do certain things like that with anyone that you look up to in their playing resonates.
Dre Hemby: Yes.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: So what's coming up for you and then where can also people reach you so they can to be a part of your journey and get some advice if they're looking for that or just to support Drake.
Dre Hemby: Yeah, absolutely. First thing first, easily reachable on all social media platforms at DreH2341. D-R-E-2-3-4-1. That's IG, that's threads, that's Facebook. Man, crazy enough. It's when I was younger. I just always liked the sequence of 234 for whatever reason. And then...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: What's the numbers for? Is that just random numbers that were available? Okay, fair, yeah.
Dre Hemby: I just always like the sequence of 234. And then because my main number is 23, that was the day I was born. And then I was born on the 23rd and then four one makes five, which makes my birth month. actually it's kind of random, but it's still kind of sequenced in my head. Like I do love 234, but yeah. So the numbers is just 2341. But Drake H2341, that's all the socials.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: I see. I Yeah, for sure.
Dre Hemby: Gmail, ⁓ that is my work Gmail as well, DreH2341. That's most of my business inquiries, consultant inquiries, the whole nine. What I have coming up, we have a festival tour coming up June and July for Europe and ⁓ UK ⁓ to tease the league that we're going to be doing for next year. ⁓ But we toured the USA fall.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Mm-hmm. Crazy. Let's go.
Dre Hemby: this year, September, October, November. Dates have already been announced. Tickets are already on sale. If you're looking to buy tickets, I am facing the stage on the right-hand side of the stage this year. If you want to see me play, I'm facing the stage, I'm on the right-hand side of the stage. nah, but super easy to find, super easy. I do...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yes. The same was plug if you want to yeah me Right Respect.
Dre Hemby: do everything Teddy Swims. ⁓ So if you see a Teddy Swims date, I will be there. If I'm ever not there, it's legit an emergency type situation, but I am full time with Teddy Swims. So anything Teddy Swims, you'll see me there. The fall tour, have unofficially announced we have the next two years with the touring. So next year will be the world tour. ⁓ I can't announce that the next year will be the world tour. We're doing a USA this fall.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: be there.
Dre Hemby: Next year will be war too. So by the time this drops, ⁓ just keep an eye out, keep an ear out for anything Teddy swims. I'm super approachable. ⁓ I'm always game to hang out locally, if time permits and things of that nature. ⁓ So if there's anything that's going on around your city, or open mic jam or anything else like that, me and the guys, I do speak for them right now. We'll pull up. Yeah, we'll pull up. We'll come hang out. We just love having good vibes.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Wow. They really are like that. They will dip out and hang. Yeah, they really are.
Dre Hemby: and having good times. So I'm always around. I'm always outside. ⁓ You got my socials. Coming up though, inside of all the touring schedule and stuff like that, I did just mention this, ⁓ Loyal to the Craft has quite a few events coming up. I'll let them announce it, but you can follow them on social medias, Loyal to the Craft. ⁓ Mike Caperi, shout out to him. And... ⁓
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Right. Okay.
Dre Hemby: all of the endeavors that we'll be having coming up soon will be getting rolled out in the next few months. So just a lot of beautiful things coming up, a lot of community outreach coming up, a lot of touring coming up. And that's why I'm enjoying my rest now. But you can find me anything, Teddy Swims or Loyal to the Craft. that's the...
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Let's go. Right. Love and we'll plug everything too. So y'all got to write it down. Just click. Y'all be, y'all be smooth man. Well, Dre man, I appreciate you carving out your time for me, bro. I know you're one of the busiest cats right now. So thank you for just making time to be on the platform. We appreciate you, bro.
Dre Hemby: Absolutely. Just click this. Click and go. ⁓ man, I appreciate you having me, brother. I mean, we chop it up all the time, but you you talking about the... And I'll say this in laughs and jokes, y'all. We tried to get this together like two months ago. And you know, I had a lot going on, know, ⁓ Jarvis. Yeah, Jarvis had some stuff coming up because some dates came up for him. ⁓ You know, Jarvis really is one of my boys. Solid. I'm so happy for your platform. I'm so happy for everything that you're doing, you know, off the kit and everything as well.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: Yeah. Yes. You know, I had to reschedule some stuff. He had to is this. Thank you, bro.
Dre Hemby: I know I got what I got going on, but I'm just publicly giving you your flowers as well. I'm proud of the things that we talk about online and offline. So ⁓ can't wait to see everything that you got rolling out as well. And appreciate you so much for having me, ⁓ my brother, for sure. Appreciate you.
Jarvis 'Jeb' Barnes: And thank you. Yes, sir. Yeah Love. Well, thanks, everybody. Appreciate y'all.
Dre Hemby: We appreciate that.