The Comment Section with Drew Afualo - I CRY IN SITUATIONS Ft. Jensen McRae ｜ Episode 158

00:00:00.000 well what i thought was i'm quitting music that was really my thought was three dollars three

00:00:04.040 sweaty dollar bills for my troubles no thanks you want to put them in my g-string while you're at it

00:00:08.020 get away from me

00:00:09.240 hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the comment section show sorry me your fave

00:00:19.880 everybody knows me who cares about me on to the guest today we have the iconic the legendary

00:00:24.500 the unbelievably talented jensen mccray thank you for having me oh my gosh it's an honor honor and a

00:00:32.560 privilege i'm so happy to have you i'm like i'm beyond excited to be here like this is a little

00:00:35.980 bit of a bucket list kind of a moment shut up i'm such a fan did you guys get that make sure you

00:00:41.260 got it on camera and the check will clear yes and it will clear and thank you for the plug i appreciate

00:00:45.400 it i'm so excited to have you i've been a fan of you for a while we've been moots for a minute yeah

00:00:50.900 you've been oomph for a little bit yeah yeah we've been each other's oomphs for a while um and i

00:00:56.360 discovered your music on tiktok which i'm sure other people have too but i know there's a lot

00:01:01.920 more to your lore so i would love i actually have some fun facts about you but we'll get into those

00:01:06.100 in a little bit oh my god is this nardewar did you get all the the deep cuts yeah i'm coming for

00:01:09.300 his gig i'm coming for his neck nardewar i love him he knows everything i know it's honestly kind

00:01:16.080 of frightening i know that's all i know i've made it is if i get the nardewar moment when he's telling

00:01:19.620 me what i wore to my improv show in 2013 right right i know that's why i said i got a little

00:01:24.080 chilled on my smile looking into me uh but i'd love to hear more about your lore how you got into

00:01:29.920 music and kind of how you transitioned into the career you have today um i've like always been

00:01:35.120 a musician i've wanted to be a musician since i was really little and my parents stuck me in

00:01:38.780 musical theater when i was a kid recovering theater kid i apologize um and it was really just like to get

00:01:44.240 me out of my shell because i was really shy which is like shocking now yeah that is shocking to hear

00:01:48.940 i it's like my bit now whenever i like start singing to myself in public and people like oh

00:01:52.620 my god you sing i'm like no i'm shy i'm a wallflower yeah i'm trying to be mysterious i when i was that's

00:01:57.760 like an important part of my lore is being nine years old and like walking in the grocery store

00:02:01.220 and like being like someone could be about to discover me and i just start singing you're so

00:02:04.700 me and it's always miley cyrus giano oh every time what a banger that's a good one

00:02:10.020 that was me so much like even walking around my elementary school campus there's no talent scouts

00:02:14.640 there there's no talent scouts they're not coming for you there girl and i thought maybe i should

00:02:18.840 just just to be safe i need to be singing all the time so that was a big thing i started piano lessons

00:02:25.060 also when i was really young and i think like every kid is stuck in them but for me it really stuck

00:02:29.260 and started writing songs through that and i started writing songs for school all the time like

00:02:34.840 whenever we had like a creative assignment and i had the option to write a song i just would

00:02:39.040 and i would basically hold my classmates hostage and like bring a full 88 key keyboard like into

00:02:43.620 the room yeah shy where i'm not getting shy it was and that was when it changed it was the musical

00:02:49.560 theater i did grease one time and i said spotlight you said my calling i was like i found myself i was

00:02:55.160 doing the camp rock the disney knees gotta what's her name margaret dupree when she's saying this is

00:03:00.580 real yeah whatever the the the star of like their talent show yes the winner the true winner the

00:03:06.920 winner light skin queen right my girl wigged down mind you absolutely and and we'll get to that 0.94

00:03:15.120 right but that was my that was my thing was just like bringing the keyboard and singing about like

00:03:21.420 animal farm or whatever and like oh kind of deep yeah i was in when i was in seventh grade i remember

00:03:27.200 so clearly that it was also like so we read animal farm we had to do like a creative assignment i chose

00:03:31.460 to write a song it coincided with when i had to do the swim unit in pe so my my wig not laid my hair

00:03:38.080 not a good situation right and i was still like i'm getting up in front of all of these people have

00:03:42.560 to and i'm gonna sing this song about a pig doing propaganda and how'd it go and it did not go over

00:03:47.640 well i mean the song's great turned my peers against me inevitably they didn't like it no i had

00:03:53.640 like a couple of shooters who are still my friends now haters well i don't well i had a couple people

00:04:00.260 who were like really down for the cause and then everyone else was like when is she gonna stop

00:04:03.240 when is she gonna stop bringing in that keyboard they said we got it they let me just say it that

00:04:08.380 that an 88 key keyboard casio keyboard hated to see me coming bringing that into a strap to your back 0.91

00:04:13.720 cartoon character damn okay kid next door i had the symbols i was the monkey you just carrying 0.63

00:04:20.740 that thing around like a gun you're like oh i'm so glad you asked i actually do have something why 0.96

00:04:25.760 is she strapped why is she 12 years old strap with the keyboard and so i was doing that forever and

00:04:30.320 then i did like talent shows where i would sing original songs not about books we were reading

00:04:33.840 for english class love and uh then i went to grammy camp when i was 16 which is like at the time it

00:04:40.780 was like a 10-day residential like overnight camp right that's a fun fact we have about you on here

00:04:45.100 okay grammy camp it says for young music artists and she was in an improv group called the scene

00:04:51.100 monkeys oh that's a brutal one that's actually so mean can we got that that's actually so mean

00:04:55.540 and nardwart yeah no the scene monkeys wow that takes me back yeah i was that part of grammy camp no 0.75

00:05:03.000 no that was my improv team in high school love and i only did it because i was i so i did musical

00:05:08.180 theater as a child i stopped doing it when i was like 13 mostly for racial reasons i just like

00:05:12.600 wasn't getting parts naturally and i started to notice a theme as to who was and i was like let

00:05:16.540 me take the hint and just stop right and so but i was friends with all the theater kids because they

00:05:21.200 were all like the kids who were singing in the middle of the quad and they were all like you have

00:05:25.600 to try out for improv so i did and then i was the only one who made the team which of course was also

00:05:29.940 a rift that was another it was world war scene monkeys right and so i did i did improv in high

00:05:35.820 school and then when i got to college i tried to do it more but i ended up getting cut from the 0.58

00:05:40.900 college improv team damn cold world it was fine why are you in so many cutthroat situations 0.99

00:05:45.720 damn you competing all your life i literally all my life i've had to fight i'm literally just 0.99

00:05:53.760 eminem and eight miles but going into improv trials yeah and college mind you yeah my college 0.99

00:06:00.040 improv trials but that was i made a lot of friends through that um but the the college improv thing i went

00:06:05.060 to usc for music school fight on smarty pants i try i try and the the way that the improv tryouts

00:06:12.360 worked for that the team was called comedus interruptus and they like they spawned like a

00:06:15.480 bunch of like snl cast members and amazing like comedy writers and stuff yeah and the tryouts were

00:06:20.080 like this big mass audition everyone goes up and just like does improv for the improv group yeah and

00:06:24.980 then it was very very desirable and then if you made it past the there was like a first round of

00:06:29.560 auditions and then there were uh callbacks where they picked like six people to be like on the team

00:06:34.160 like on probation kind of okay and twice a week you would go into like a gym at school and like do

00:06:39.680 improv for you would be dance tap dancing for your life why are they running it like an nfl team

00:06:44.180 they're like this is the practice squad right here that we were gonna workshop you we'll see if you

00:06:48.380 get out of preseason you know why are they running it though i think they were trying to see honestly

00:06:53.400 if your first audition was a fluke and in my case it was my first audition i killed it and then the

00:06:58.400 whole workshop i was kind of bad what'd you do for your audition do you remember i do i don't remember

00:07:01.980 exactly what it was but i remember that i was doing like a voice like a southern kind of voice

00:07:05.840 and i was talking about gators and i remember that that got big when i brought up the gators

00:07:10.060 that got big laughs uh and then i the whole rest of the time i was in the workshop i just couldn't

00:07:14.780 replicate that magic and i did get cut but it was fine because it was like it was twice a week from 0.98

00:07:19.940 like 10 p.m to midnight after i would have all my rehearsals for my music school well damn what are you 0.97

00:07:26.300 preparing for the coast guard like why are you practicing so goddamn late what's going on in 0.99

00:07:31.420 the improv scene i feel so uneducated i feel ignorant as fuck i did not know it was that serious 0.97

00:07:36.180 i don't think it's that serious in most cases like maybe that was a me i think it was a little i think 0.92

00:07:40.800 it was a little bit extra i honestly a little yeah i don't think that they were doing and also there

00:07:44.560 were other improv troops on campus that weren't doing it like that right they had work-life balance

00:07:48.660 but they weren't like the one the group well there was so there was that comedians was the short

00:07:53.340 form i can't believe how much i'm talking about improv i love it and when you see caleb tomorrow

00:07:58.020 bring it up because he's he's an improv nerd too he loves improv it's like they're they're like the

00:08:03.400 the treble tones oh my god true right yes like there's other acapella groups but there's only

00:08:07.900 one treble tone this is kind of the truth well there was so the comedians was the short form and then

00:08:11.500 there was a long form team they were called second nature so they did like the long scenes they did

00:08:15.500 like a herald i think it's called and so it'd be like a really really long scene that kind of

00:08:19.440 started off kind of straight they played a little kind of straight and then the comedy would come from

00:08:22.380 just kind of sticking around and waiting it out right and that was when my best friend was on

00:08:25.540 so i would go watch him after i got cut from my team i would just go watch him and lick my wounds

00:08:29.060 after i didn't make it to hollywood like in america i did not get a golden ticket they're like

00:08:33.280 you're going to hollywood make it to the lives and the voice that's crazy but that i do think that

00:08:39.580 is important to i do think that's important to my lore that i did improv derogatory

00:08:43.040 well obviously i mean you're a performer at heart that's really what you are an artist i live to i

00:08:48.780 love to perform don't make me sing don't make me dance that's one of me and my family's favorite

00:08:53.860 snl skits it's a good bit yeah that's one of my favorite we reference that skit all the time and

00:08:59.080 i feel like you're also a performer you're an entertainer and like i feel like anyone who's

00:09:02.460 like constantly on like that you go to a party and your energy is like you're always like a stone's

00:09:06.880 throw from don't make me sing right right it's like it's like don't look at me but also like

00:09:11.460 i love to pull focus and i know my angles and i know where my camera is exactly and then that

00:09:18.340 being said i do love being the center of attention that being said so is that when you when you kind

00:09:23.240 of pivoted away from improv is that when you kind of lean just solely into music or yeah i mean i

00:09:28.100 always knew it was music like there was never i knew i never had like a future in comedy although

00:09:31.840 it is i think it was i don't know who was caleb that said this but someone said like that all

00:09:35.020 musicians wish they were comedians and all comedians wish they were musicians that's actually so i feel

00:09:39.460 so red and it rings really true that's so true i wish i was a musician all the time and every time

00:09:44.160 i'm on stage doing like my banter in between songs it's me kind of like testing in waters a little bit

00:09:49.020 i'm like could i do a tie five no i did not know that about you i knew you were funny i i obviously

00:09:53.800 every smart woman i know is hilarious this is true and every smart man i know is you know there's a few

00:10:00.580 men the i feel like a funny man is kind of like a handsome man it's like when they get it right it's

00:10:05.260 really right yeah and a lot of the times it's just not that right right right like when it hits it

00:10:09.380 hits good yeah because it's so rare i was just i just had serena briar on the show and we were

00:10:14.020 talking about men who want to go into comedy like and i always say like if you just get if you give

00:10:18.880 them one little laugh whether it's like through the nose or like an outright guffaw they're

00:10:23.380 immediately going to be like i should pivot to comedy and also any man who's ever like sang a song

00:10:28.240 if you're like oh your voice like they're like okay that's my future now i'm quitting my day job

00:10:32.620 and i am bob dylan and i am and it's like i was gonna say do you get mansplained a lot about music

00:10:37.360 by men um or have you historically sure i mean there's definitely been i remember one time i was

00:10:42.740 on a dating app and i like had a picture of me playing guitar and a guy messaged me and he's like

00:10:47.500 do you actually know how to play guitar and i was like yeah like i i would like why would i like what

00:10:54.040 like unlike men women are not posting with guitars to pull on dating apps yeah it doesn't work

00:11:00.220 yeah that's not really how that works that that reminds me i got a comment that was like when

00:11:04.760 women make men laugh make anyone laugh they they think to themselves oh i love making people laugh

00:11:10.120 when men make people laugh they're like i should i deserve to be famous for this yeah that's how i

00:11:14.300 feel they think about music like yeah women do it for the love of the game and they're like i just

00:11:19.060 love it i just feel good it makes me feel good and then men do it get one viral video and they're

00:11:23.700 like well obviously i'm famous it's really wild i've saw i saw a guy and i won't name names but a guy

00:11:29.060 wasn't even a musician but a guy who just works in the music industry right posted a video about

00:11:33.460 like giving advice unsolicited and it went i don't even know if i want to say viral it got some

00:11:38.020 attention and then now then proceeded to make a string of videos talking about it's really easy

00:11:42.580 to go viral i do it why can't you do it and i'm like really i need you to really look in the mirror

00:11:48.260 no for real i need you to do a moment of that's how i feel when men tell me i'm not funny i'm like

00:11:52.000 well if we were to check tape one of us is clearly funny one of us is getting paid for it one of us

00:11:57.320 has quite a few like licks under my belt i don't know if we want to check tape we can

00:12:01.600 if you'd like to but and in your words one of us is working at autozone right right exactly right

00:12:07.300 right right right right i was like no for sure i take that that kind of commentary very seriously 0.95

00:12:11.340 not like i'm like i'm not listening to an unfunny bitch tell me how to be funny 1.00

00:12:14.940 i'll say i did find you i think the first video i ever saw of your music was your song about uh 0.83

00:12:22.080 boston oh my god yeah that was the first one i ever saw of you and then i was like okay

00:12:26.680 t period and i commented on it and then i went and saw you followed me and i was like and period

00:12:30.920 immediately i said right for hammer yeah i'd love to know when you felt like it was actually

00:12:39.700 turning into like oh my god i could like really make money off music and keep doing this for a

00:12:44.540 living kind of the first thing that happened that was like a big like break for me i guess

00:12:47.840 was at the beginning of my senior year of college um that my manager who's here my managers are here

00:12:51.980 um but one of my managers just like found me on instagram and just like booked me for a show and

00:12:56.480 was like do you want to play this random show in west hollywood and i was like yeah sure and she's

00:12:59.880 like you have to bring like 20 to 25 people and i was like babe i can't do that i don't have a draw

00:13:03.540 i have my draw is none she's like can you bring three people and i was like i bet i can scrounge

00:13:07.660 yeah i could definitely ruffle up some well because i was like i can bring my mom i can bring my little

00:13:12.240 brother and i can bring one friend from school that's easy right and so my mom came my little brother

00:13:16.640 had homework he was in high school couldn't go and then none of my friends from school came so i

00:13:20.640 brought just my mom and you said you asked for three brought you one i brought one and i played

00:13:25.520 the set played my heart out mind you played my heart out and then as it was over as i'm walking

00:13:29.640 out the door the guy at the door stops me and he's like wait i have to give you your money and i was

00:13:33.120 like i didn't know i was getting paid for the show and he's like you get paid based on how many

00:13:36.020 people you brought and i was like oh no and he gave me three dollars right and you said this woman is

00:13:40.960 worth so much more than that misogyny and i well i was just this is misogyny i'm witnessing it

00:13:45.440 live what i well what i thought was i'm quitting music that was really my thought was three dollars

00:13:49.900 three sweaty dollar bills for my troubles no thanks you want to put them in my g-string while

00:13:53.660 you're at it get away from me i left that venue my mom drove me home and i was like i think i'm

00:13:58.380 done trying to be an artist i can't do it anymore but of course my future manager was like can i send

00:14:03.540 some of your music to a friend of mine who's a producer and that ended up kind of being the beginning

00:14:07.880 of the end frankly they're stuck with me now um but i went i had a meeting with him and we had

00:14:12.560 some sessions and the first session that i ever had with him i wrote a song called adam's ribs

00:14:16.200 and then the second session i wrote a song called starting to get to you both those songs ended up

00:14:19.560 on my first album and the third session that i had uh my manager was there and then my producer's

00:14:25.040 manager was also there and they were like we would like to make an album with you and for you to be a

00:14:28.380 pop star now and i was like i don't have plans after graduation it sounds perfect you're oh my god

00:14:32.380 great because i'm unemployed because i was great it was the fall of my senior year of college and

00:14:36.620 i had just started talking to one of my professors about getting an internship because i was like i

00:14:40.500 don't have like a job lined up or anything like i feel like i need to figure out kind of what's next

00:14:44.280 but you majored in music yeah i majored in pop music with an emphasis in songwriting um and so that was

00:14:49.940 like the first cool thing that happened and then i ended up signing to a label like right after i

00:14:53.900 graduated but like the first like really big like my first viral moment was in january of 2021 i went

00:14:59.120 viral on twitter for writing a phoebe ridgers parody love that is also a fun fact on here too

00:15:05.420 it says her song immune was inspired by a joke she made on twitter about phoebe bridges writing

00:15:10.200 a song about the covid vaccine yes it was the height of lockdown and i was we were like six

00:15:16.540 months out i guess from phoebe's last album and i was i just came up with this joke i was like oh i

00:15:21.500 bet phoebe will write a song about getting vaccinated while waiting while waiting in line to get vaccinated 1.00

00:15:25.360 at dodger stadium and that is something she would do and i felt right and i sent it to my friend and

00:15:29.860 didn't tweet it and i was like haha and she was like you should post that that's actually funny so i did

00:15:33.300 and it started she said everything else you've said this one though people should see this so i

00:15:39.720 posted it and then it got like a couple hundred likes and i thought i was famous right and you

00:15:44.040 know how like back back when twitter was was banging every single tweet that went well someone

00:15:48.360 would link under check out my soundcloud right and i was like i need to do the jensen mccray

00:15:52.620 equivalent of that so i was like let me just write this song so i wrote it i posted it and then

00:15:56.460 it ended up trending which was like completely baffling like twitter was already kind of on the way

00:16:00.940 out a little bit at that point yeah so to go viral in 2021 for us for a song yeah that i wrote

00:16:07.080 was like completely shocking but that was like i kind of marked my career as like before and after

00:16:11.800 that because it was all these amazing people that i really admired were reaching out and telling me

00:16:16.540 that they liked it and um my following grew a lot and it was like the first time that i ever felt

00:16:21.240 like a lot of eyes on me right and it was every viral experience since has been like much less

00:16:26.120 overwhelming i don't know if like you got scared the first time you went viral but for me i was

00:16:29.640 definitely like why are you look there's like two million people are looking at me like that

00:16:34.300 spongebob thing with patrick and he sees the eyes coming out of the rock who are you people yeah you

00:16:38.740 come back what the hell i literally was completely baffled but that was there was a good like test

00:16:44.000 run for future times going viral including for massachusetts which like when that happened a couple

00:16:47.500 years later it was much less intimidating um well that's good then yeah especially dry running it on

00:16:53.220 twitter because twitter is real when you go viral there it could go either way and i was in i was kind of

00:16:58.980 waiting for the shoe to drop honestly like the whole time i was like when are the negative comments

00:17:02.240 gonna start rolling in when are people gonna try to dox me when's the racism and misogyny gonna come

00:17:06.140 in and it just didn't happen miraculously like i got so lucky um and now like it wasn't until

00:17:11.700 recently that i actually started getting any kind of negative comments on my videos and yeah i was

00:17:15.200 gonna ask you about hate how that goes for you on any platform really i for the most part i don't get a

00:17:21.940 lot of hate that's good which i don't really know i love to hear that every guest i have i ask they tell me

00:17:25.920 that i'm like that's so great it's so cute hold on to that hold on to that but i did get my first i

00:17:31.060 had my first kind of hate moment when i did um i did like a paid promotion for a company and um i

00:17:37.080 made the video for them they posted it it got you know whatever like 10 000 views on tiktok or something

00:17:41.420 normal small amount yeah and then they decided to push it and do promo right and when that happened

00:17:46.700 i like opened the app and i just saw like all these comments on like this one video i was like that's

00:17:51.300 weird that i'm getting comments on this video that i posted like a month ago right and i first i

00:17:54.920 couldn't even really like parse what they were saying because it's all this like it was just like

00:17:58.800 all these like disgusting sexual comments because i was wearing like a low-cut shirt in the video

00:18:02.240 which is like my favorite shirt that i don't wear anymore right and um it was all these comments and

00:18:07.180 i couldn't even tell what they were saying because i'd never but then i started to realize like oh i've

00:18:10.500 seen these comments on other girls videos before yeah oh i know what that means yeah and it was

00:18:14.460 like it was like probably like a couple hundred and i had never had that and it was in like

00:18:18.000 an hour yeah yeah all men no profile picture men ruin everything they literally ruin everything 0.99

00:18:23.740 they touch turns to fucking bullshit like fortunately the company was so great about it they're like you 0.99

00:18:28.240 can turn off the comments we're so sorry they sent me flowers to apologize they were great but it was 0.99

00:18:32.380 just like that was the first time i ever felt like really like a lot of hostility right like i was

00:18:37.800 like why are you are you guys okay like yeah like on this ad i'm talking about like i was just

00:18:43.580 talking about like music streaming like and they're like like the stuff i mean i won't even repeat it

00:18:47.620 it was so gross yeah it was great you know what's funny is recently i was talking to my fiance 0.99

00:18:52.560 about this but i was telling him my hate is like i fucking hate you fat ugly bitch which i'm like i'm 1.00

00:18:57.420 cool with like that's fine you can volley that at me all day every day i i prefer that whenever i 1.00

00:19:01.820 would get that kind of attention or hate which is rare rare that men ever objectify me rare because

00:19:07.140 they hate me but like when they do come up and they objectify me i've like seen a couple videos of

00:19:12.340 men making videos about me that are supposed to be compliments but they're not they're just

00:19:15.420 they're objectifying me i literally was telling my fiancee the other day i was like i'd rather get 0.99

00:19:19.820 hate i'd rather you dox me dog like i'd rather you tweet me my address i'd rather you fucking do 1.00

00:19:26.140 that shit than then talk about my tits i'll kill you oh in fact give me your address i'm gonna come 1.00

00:19:31.640 and i'm gonna come and take care of it uh that's like it that kind of attention incites something in 1.00

00:19:37.340 me that i have tried to bury for a very long time it's just there's something so weird about like

00:19:41.140 because you know that it's coming like you're like i'm a woman on the internet i know it's

00:19:44.140 possible at any moment and i see it happening to other women every day right but it's something

00:19:47.340 about when it's really turned on you like you just i i feel like i forget sometimes that that's

00:19:51.920 even possible because like i'm me both i'm moving through life i'm having a good time like i don't

00:19:56.620 know like i don't even really get catcalled that much anymore like i feel like i i've been able to

00:19:59.780 i haven't had to deal with sexual harassment for the most part in my day-to-day life recently for

00:20:04.560 whatever reason very fortunate and so then have it kind of come back around i was like oh man i'm gonna

00:20:08.460 have to think about this for a while i forgot i think i forgot i had a body i was like i'm a brain

00:20:14.480 in a jar i'm a head floating around singing my songs and then i look down i'm like oh right like

00:20:19.280 men are gonna see this and they're gonna have opinions about it yeah yeah a bunch of talk about

00:20:23.920 unsolicited commentary so so bad well that's good i'm glad i'm glad that being said that it's minimal

00:20:31.540 yeah it's pretty rare i'm glad to hear that i have really great fans and like great people

00:20:36.020 like following me and like most of my interactions with people especially in real life are so great

00:20:40.840 like i've knock on wood knock on whatever i have never had a bad like irl fan experience everyone

00:20:46.620 that's coming to me has been so respectful so kind like i'm so lucky to have the fans that have

00:20:50.960 they're like in my youtube comments doing like five paragraph essays mla format like they're all

00:20:54.680 nerds and i love them i love it i love it that's so sweet i think that's so wonderful and i would

00:21:00.180 love to know obviously on here which i already knew another fun fact that you've opened for muna

00:21:05.000 and noah khan on tour people but i would love to know how that came about and how that was for you

00:21:09.600 the experience i think the muna thing they also went to usc so they were there like right one of

00:21:15.640 them i think josette was a senior when i was a freshman and katie and naomi graduated the year

00:21:19.220 because all three of them are 100 years old they're all they're all 49 they're 49 bc i think

00:21:24.300 yes absolutely and and in their in their old age and their convalescence they pass a lot of wisdom

00:21:30.920 to me yes but i think that was kind of part of it because like i've been the first time i ever met

00:21:35.040 them was when i was a freshman i played in fem fest which is like the usc feminist music festival and

00:21:39.620 they were the headliners at that point their big claim to fame i think was that they'd been in a

00:21:43.040 buzzfeed listicle that was how i found them i was like wait they went to my school and they're on

00:21:47.660 buzzfeed it's 2016 they're famous that's fame buzzfeed was that girl yeah i love but i wanted

00:21:54.880 to be millennial so bad right i want to wait when did you graduate from college 2019 okay i graduated

00:21:59.580 2017 so i'm like i'm and i will claim my gen z status right because i'm 97 and i'm like right

00:22:04.660 there i'm with my with my old claws you are i'm like i'm on the cusp of millennial so i'm still

00:22:10.060 millennial but i wanted to be millennial so bad because of buzzfeed because they were making it look so

00:22:14.540 cool right and they claimed moona pretty early and so that was how i found out about them and

00:22:18.960 then i continued to follow them continue to be like truly the number one fan every time they played

00:22:22.400 la i was there they're so fantastic and then when they announced at the beginning of 2022 that they're

00:22:27.060 putting out their third album i just immediately messaged my agent i was like you're making this

00:22:30.300 happen i'm getting on this tour manifest manifest manifest it needs to happen i love that and um

00:22:34.580 yeah i was very fortunate to get to be a part of it and then like the third or fourth show i think

00:22:38.660 we were backstage and josette came up to me and was like hey do you want to sing phoebe's verse on silk fun 0.99

00:22:42.420 and i was like oh i've been preparing my whole life for this actually i'm so glad you asked and

00:22:46.680 they were like do you know the words and i was like do i know the words to silk chiffon i think

00:22:51.380 i could like scrape up something and figure it out i didn't play it cool at all i was like i've been

00:22:56.100 singing this song every minute of my life since it came out boy can i and but of course the first

00:23:00.980 time i sang it i was standing still like arms locked knees locked like terrified and then by the

00:23:06.500 last time i sang it with them because i think i sang it with the band like maybe six or seven times

00:23:09.700 on that tour by the end and by the last time i was loose i was having a good time on stage but

00:23:13.780 the first time i was like absolutely just a wooden doll i could not move my limbs

00:23:19.960 um but that was true dream come true it was so special and then i was just um like a month ago i

00:23:24.980 was at uh brandy carlisle's music festival in mexico and they were also playing and they had me come

00:23:29.840 up again and i was like it was like riding a bike getting back up there with my boys i literally

00:23:35.340 literally was i was like we needed this we needed this so bad but yeah that was great and then with

00:23:41.580 noah he and i similar like similar we just like met through tiktok i think i actually i heard him

00:23:46.200 for the first time when i was in college because he had a song with julia michaels in like 2019

00:23:49.900 love her and that song slays and um then i found more of his music kind of sporadically after that and

00:23:57.160 then i think when stick season like very first went viral on tiktok that was when we started following

00:24:00.540 each other a love and he so he announced his tour i think in like fall of 2023 and i dm'd him we dm'd

00:24:05.900 a little bit at that point and i dm'd him and i was like hey like just so you know like i'm so excited

00:24:08.900 about this tour if you need any openers like even for just the la show like i would love to be a part

00:24:12.720 of it and even if i can't be a part of it i'm so sad like just let me know no response and i was

00:24:17.640 like right right word word word word word and then hurt her and then like a few months later he swiped up

00:24:22.260 on my story like of like i had posted my little brother in the studio or something and he swiped up i was

00:24:26.040 like oh he's killing and i was like so you did see my message yeah i'll love you hey no and hey

00:24:30.600 while i still have well i have you for a second mr mr khan any but again i did but i i'm like i'm

00:24:37.260 very laid back when it comes to like asking for yours that kind of stuff and you know what's funny

00:24:41.200 is i know you're a virgo based off this and that's the truth yeah that's the truth yeah i like i don't

00:24:45.620 want to push it ever like if it's meant to be it'll be yes and like i was like i was talking to

00:24:49.660 someone like another person who had like who's grown a following because of tiktok and stuff and they

00:24:53.200 they had some collabs coming out i was like how'd you get that collab like oh i just

00:24:55.800 messaged them like immediately like as soon as they followed me i messaged them asking to collab

00:24:59.240 and i was like i could never in a million years like i'd be so embarrassed right so even just

00:25:04.320 sending that message i was so stressed and then when he didn't respond i was like oh i completely

00:25:07.500 like i ruined this he hates me and then like a week after that my managers were like by the way you're

00:25:12.020 opening for noah khan and i was like okay so i didn't i didn't ruin everything yeah so he does love

00:25:17.100 me he does in fact still love me that's still bestiana and um i mean that was like life-changing

00:25:23.140 so exhilarating when we were in the first leg of the tour that i did with him was in canada and

00:25:26.940 we were playing arenas and i never played in an arena before so that was like the walking out

00:25:31.860 during soundcheck and seeing a room that's gonna hold 20 000 people i was like this isn't real

00:25:36.100 right this is not real this is a hallucination i know this is don't worry darling i'm hallucinating

00:25:39.960 like i can't believe that it's happening i'm gonna be pissed if someone rips me out of the

00:25:43.700 simulation no one take no one wake me up no one don't wake me up and it was just like it was so

00:25:48.560 incredible his entire team is so nice like every single member of his crew like every member of his

00:25:52.720 band and his crew like unbelievably kind people and like so welcoming and like he's so down to

00:25:58.000 earth like he just seems like i mean he is just like a normal normal ass man like he is not he has 0.74

00:26:03.040 no ego like no agenda like literally just wants to make great music and is so good at it i love

00:26:08.260 that yeah i was gonna ask about touring how do you like touring it's a mixed bag yeah because the

00:26:13.020 travel is i mean you do a lot of traveling it's punishing yeah when you're on planes all the time 0.97

00:26:16.700 oh yeah i frequently talk shit on tour and and i'm just going up there and being a dickhead like 0.93

00:26:21.500 i'm not i'm not performing like you i'm not exerting nearly as many muscles and i'm like oh 0.98

00:26:26.360 yeah like the hour hour and a half you're on stage is incredible and then you're like and now i'm back

00:26:31.280 to the hampton garden inn yeah the hilton yeah oh i knew a hilton hated to see me coming in the tour

00:26:37.140 and you know what sometimes there's something sometimes they're an oasis sometimes it's manna in the

00:26:41.820 desert when you see that especially when it's like the home to the apartment style right exactly

00:26:46.460 when you have the little kitchenette me and a home to go together bad i love a home too

00:26:52.160 that's so funny i i literally told people i was like i feel like i'm living on the run

00:26:56.920 i'm constantly yeah i'm constantly packing and unpacking and packing and unpacking

00:27:02.020 and i'm and i wake up in different cities every morning i've heard too many horror stories of people

00:27:06.300 being on stage being hello dallas like you're in portland so i'm just like i will just i write

00:27:10.520 the tour i write the place that i'm in on the top of my set list a lot of times oh that's good

00:27:13.800 so you can reference it yeah yeah i have one song it's not like out like formally but i did

00:27:18.400 like a visual ep that i put on youtube a couple years ago and the first line of the first song

00:27:22.560 is waiting for you in new orleans and so when i'm in a city where like the syllables match up i'll

00:27:26.720 change it to like be so like when i was in toronto i was like waiting for you in toronto and everyone's

00:27:31.060 like oh my god she's in toronto that's where we're at now that's where we are the leonardo

00:27:35.260 dicaprio thing that's the title of the movie exactly i know when we were going out because

00:27:40.700 my sister and i were doing a tour together like when we would go on stage i'd be like where are we

00:27:45.260 again yeah you have to be like okay gut check moment right right right just like recentering

00:27:49.380 yeah it's hard especially because like was on the noah tour in particular we were in canada the

00:27:54.280 whole time and like in the i know all most of the u.s cities not not to flex i know a lot of them but

00:27:59.060 canadian cities i'm not as locked in on so i was definitely like am i in saskatoon or am i in

00:28:04.820 calgary like i didn't i did not also they have a bunch of crazy names it was also so cold everywhere

00:28:09.500 like it was just everything was covered in snow because we were there in like the end of winter

00:28:12.300 beginning of spring and so it's like i didn't there were no landmarks like i was just like i

00:28:15.160 really had to just check the notes so that i would not say the wrong place people someone asked

00:28:19.900 me like in a live the other day like what was your favorite city i'm like all of they're all all

00:28:22.960 the shows are so good right all the it's very rare that there's like a crowd that i'm like oh that was a

00:28:28.580 bad crowd like usually that's true there's definitely cities where i'm like the weather

00:28:32.240 was bad that day or i just wasn't feeling myself that day but yeah the shows themselves like for

00:28:36.880 the most part the crowds are so especially i hate to say it in cities outside of la because i'm an

00:28:40.620 la girl yeah it's my hometown i love it so much i will ride for it forever but i will accept the

00:28:45.060 criticism that playing to la crowds is tough yeah tea that's tea yeah also too when you go like my

00:28:50.420 my manager was a tour manager for a really long time so like he's taught me a lot about tour and even

00:28:55.840 he's told me when he was like setting up tours he was like outside of la or like new york they're

00:29:01.340 really grateful like if you go to smaller cities because no one ever goes there yes so like when i 0.65

00:29:06.420 was in ohio they're turning up they're turning up all the bitches in ohio exactly because they were 1.00

00:29:13.600 like no fucking way you're coming to ohio like so they're like it i think that's what you're talking 0.98

00:29:18.540 about it's like people in la like my manager said they're spoiled so they're used to having 0.97

00:29:22.220 everybody come and do shows so when you go to like those smaller ones sometimes they're like

00:29:25.760 the best crowds it's really really special to go to a place where like people aren't going a lot or

00:29:30.300 like it's my first time being there yeah i have fans who like may have been listening to me for a

00:29:33.560 while and like this is their first opportunity to see me play like that's always really really

00:29:37.180 awesome and like i still do love playing in la though because i'm a glutton for punishment i'm like

00:29:40.660 i'm gonna i'm gonna win them over it's like a man that will take me back i'm like it's okay that's

00:29:45.080 fine no i'll just i'll just come to you it's a toxic relationship it is and i'm never leaving

00:29:48.940 i'm never like that's my wife la is my wife i love her so much what would you say was your most

00:29:54.100 memorable moments on the noah con tour honestly the first show in vancouver was it was like a

00:30:00.560 couple months before i put massachusetts out um and it was my first time playing it on tour with a band

00:30:05.560 because i played it solo i think maybe once or twice before that somewhere all that people had was

00:30:09.360 the snippet of the song but as soon as i started playing it people put their phone lights up and it

00:30:13.820 was like it was also the last song in my set so like when i started playing the venue's pretty full

00:30:17.900 by the end of my set everyone knows noah's about to come out so the venue's now basically at capacity

00:30:21.920 yeah and so the entire arena like 19 000 people has their phone lights up for a song that i haven't

00:30:26.960 even put out yeah and that i definitely started crying beginning butterflies no i'll be listening

00:30:32.100 to you imagine it's an imagine right for real me putting myself in your shoes

00:30:36.960 so i but that was like it was definitely like a it was a pinch me moment and like i'd had

00:30:41.960 love that fans sing lyrics back to me before like at my shows like at smaller shows but seeing

00:30:45.920 that many flashlights up like because i can't see anyone's face like it's all darkness and just

00:30:49.960 like the the flares and it's it was really really incredible and that was like i might have teared

00:30:55.480 up on stage other times as well but that was that was the very first night and the one i was most

00:30:59.780 scared for and so like having being able to end that set which by the way kind of a rocky set i had

00:31:04.300 been sick the week before and so we didn't get to do like our final tour rehearsals yeah so i went in

00:31:08.420 ice cold like having not played the set in like a week and also like again in front of 20 000 people for

00:31:14.040 the biggest crowd i've ever played for in my life yeah and also my voice still not at 100 and i'm

00:31:17.780 just like this is you being a virgo because you're over criticizing yourself oh yeah you're like by the

00:31:22.580 way not my strongest said here's why um i'll go down the list my manager's like i will literally come

00:31:27.120 off stage and they'll be like great show like how do you feel like well i was pitchy and like the third

00:31:30.180 measure of this and they're like that's not what we meant that's not at all what we meant no i said

00:31:33.820 great show i don't think you heard me i said great show but that's why you're gonna keep rising

00:31:38.660 because you're a perfectionist like that's excellence only the mark of a virgo is perfectionism

00:31:43.440 yeah i'm like yeah that's not right but i'm like not my best but you know you keep you keep striving

00:31:49.520 you keep rising what would you say it would surprise people about performing live like

00:31:53.800 either a part that's more difficult than it may seem or maybe more interesting um i mean i don't know if

00:31:59.420 this would be surprising but like when you start playing in front of larger crowds like i feel like

00:32:02.740 it's become more of a thing of having like medical stuff in the crowds and like that's definitely one of

00:32:07.480 the hardest things to know how to handle i would say is like especially at the noah shows because

00:32:11.300 those were huge audiences and like you don't ever want to be a like an artist who's like oblivious

00:32:15.880 and doesn't notice the people there's that are suffering in the crowd but you also don't want to

00:32:19.180 be a person who's like stopping the show like every five seconds because like someone looks like they

00:32:22.360 might be having a problem like you have to be able to like kind of discern like do i need to stop

00:32:26.440 does someone need attention are they handling it because sometimes there's like commotion and they're

00:32:29.960 handling it themselves so like definitely one of the hardest things is like knowing like what you're and

00:32:34.080 like one time uh the only time i've ever had to like stop a song fully because usually when i would

00:32:38.400 see something like that happen i would like finish a song and then as soon as i was done i'd be like

00:32:41.080 hey do you guys need help over here yeah but there was one show i think it was maybe the second show

00:32:46.300 in denver or in berkeley or something over the summer and someone had an issue during massachusetts

00:32:51.360 like in the middle of the song and it was again it's my last song on set so i stopped playing

00:32:55.280 got attention got like medical attention over there whatever and then i was like i i was on the fence about

00:33:00.240 like what i was supposed to do and i like turned to my band is just my brother and my best friend

00:33:03.320 that's the whole crew and i turned to them like what am i supposed to do and then the crowd was

00:33:07.000 like start over everyone's like do it just start over do it again and i really was like i didn't

00:33:10.640 want to because i was like is that like so cringe and like self-indulgent like i didn't get to finish

00:33:14.620 my song sorry someone passed out sorry anyways as i was saying and so i really didn't want to do it

00:33:19.880 because i thought that that was like i thought that was offensive but then everyone in the crowd was like

00:33:23.040 start over again again again so i did it one more time and um and then i and then i was done i hate to keep

00:33:27.940 bringing it back to you being a virgo but once again you're you're literally mothering from the

00:33:31.880 stage that's crazy and i'm a cancer rising too so it's i'm a cancer moon oh my god what do what's

00:33:37.460 your moon uh sagittarius i'm a sagittarius rising jensen i'm gonna i'm gonna throw up chills i just

00:33:42.400 pooped in my pants a little bit sorry virgo sagittarius cancer undefeated i'm telling you that's

00:33:48.080 two pretty best friends right here that's it's two virgo sagittarius cancers telling each other 0.99

00:33:52.000 yeah yeah yeah exactly exactly shit that's crazy oh my god combo yeah hell yeah i was just jerking 0.97

00:33:59.480 each other off it's just like two beautiful girls with beautiful long hair that's why we're beautiful 0.99

00:34:03.220 that's why we're successful clearly that's why we're tall that's why we're tall jensen's tall as 0.98

00:34:07.800 fuck girl how tall are you i'm 5'10 okay i'm six feet period my brothers like to tell me i'm six feet 0.98

00:34:12.660 because they're both i think one of them's like six two and one six three but they they like to goose 0.99

00:34:16.140 it they like to add a couple inches they're like no you're like six feet we're like six four six five

00:34:19.260 and i'm like that's not true they're like well because clearly you're six feet so obviously i'm

00:34:22.760 like don't put that on me don't put your issues on me also stop lying six two is a great height

00:34:27.980 why are you adding grateful like for those inches i remember like they're both in relationships now but

00:34:32.820 when they were on dating apps they would be like putting six four in their day i'm like who are you 0.99

00:34:36.020 lying to it's not necessary you already you're a big boy so you're coming out the gate a liar you're a 0.99

00:34:41.180 tall black king like just love yourself that's crazy bro that's funny my my dad my dad is six six my 0.99

00:34:48.980 mom is five three oh my god so my older sister's five four i'm six feet my brother's like six one

00:34:54.600 six two maybe uh when i was in high school though i was like when i was 14 i was five nine yep five 0.87

00:35:02.000 nine five ten yep so big as fuck really a body yeah and i felt like my mom anytime they'd be like how 0.91

00:35:08.240 tall are you which i got all the time my mom would be like oh she's like six two hey hey hey mom not too 0.98

00:35:14.420 much hey mom not too much on me okay yeah and i'd be like no i'm five six right because i just hated

00:35:20.240 being tall when i was younger a doctor told me that i was gonna be five six and i was sad i like cried

00:35:25.060 in the doctor's office my mom was like no she's wrong you're gonna be taller than that that's so 1.00

00:35:28.220 funny a doctor told me i was gonna stop growing when i was a freshman in high school and i was like

00:35:32.620 do you promise do you promise i'm bigger than everybody doctor please it's did you play sports yeah

00:35:39.420 i see i didn't do any sports i was a disappointment to all those coaches they looked at me with stars

00:35:43.960 in their eyes and i said not today i'll tell you what i didn't play any tall people's sports okay

00:35:47.940 the ones you'd assume like basketball volleyball nope i played soccer you were just the tallest 0.89

00:35:54.040 girl on the side girl i was the biggest bitch alive they were like hey assistant coach is not 1.00

00:35:57.820 allowed on the field i said i'm 14 too um so sorry about that oh were they birth certificating you 0.97

00:36:02.300 yes all the time oh my god because i played travel ball so my mom would have to carry my birth

00:36:06.440 certificate everywhere because they never believed i love that my little brother so he was so he's

00:36:10.040 like i said he's like 6 3 but he played both my brothers were athletes and he always played with

00:36:13.340 guys that were bigger like one of his friends on his high school team was 6 10 damn big what'd they

00:36:17.880 play uh basketball oh nice yeah yeah they're like you don't remember i was like no well i was like

00:36:22.240 did i i have my brain just shut down i was like they uh yeah i think it was those guys i know pretty

00:36:27.840 sure my brothers and i'm pretty sure i think i was there like it was the those those big kids they

00:36:32.880 really got they had a tough run of it because it was always people especially when they were like

00:36:36.420 in middle school that like the parents were coming out from the opposing teams like there's no way

00:36:40.840 there's no way he's too big exactly when i was in middle school i went one year i was 5 4 which is

00:36:47.760 already ominous for a 10 year old extremely sinister and then when i like in a year i grew

00:36:52.040 four inches so i was 5 8 did you have the knee thing the osgood schlotter what sorry there's like

00:36:58.500 it's called osgood schlotter look it up there's this thing where when you grow really fast you have

00:37:03.640 like just like a lot of knee pain it's like a disorder that you can have both my brothers had

00:37:07.340 it because they both grew like six inches in the summer and it was like your just knees are just 0.97

00:37:10.640 messed up damn no i did i grew four inches in a year which is still scary as fuck like that's a 0.93

00:37:18.260 little frightening like i came back 5 8 like they like came back to school and they were like oh 0.98

00:37:22.760 built different who the hell is that and like for real it's i was thinking about that the other day

00:37:26.720 because like so both my brothers i think were a size 13 shoe which is like the biggest size you can get

00:37:30.640 in a normal store and like i was just remembering when they were kids like every year their basketball

00:37:35.240 shoes becoming worthless because their feet grew yeah there's no point that's crazy when you're a

00:37:39.720 kid like you just wake up one day you can't wear any of your old clothes like can you imagine if as

00:37:43.700 an adult one day you just woke up your feet were bigger you think you go to the hospital yeah but

00:37:48.160 that's just normal i'd join the circus just start cashing in i'd start i'm already i'm already i'm

00:37:54.080 already i've already got the clownery i know my my man is 6 4 so he he's a size 13 shoe uh and then

00:38:01.720 my dad is a size 14 so like anytime i buy shoes if i shop for shoes in the store i say do you have

00:38:08.260 any 13s or 14s that are not basketball shoes and do they ever know if they do they're like oh i have

00:38:14.540 like two and then they'll show them to me and i'm like those are ugly never mind thank you though

00:38:18.540 thank you though i appreciate it maybe that's the next business venture right you and i yeah we open

00:38:23.320 big big body clothing store big body big money yeah big body big money there's a market for it

00:38:29.920 just all about the laugh i love i i think that's beautiful though that you play music with your

00:38:34.540 brothers both of them or just just the little one my older brother unfortunately cannot sing or play

00:38:38.340 instruments um he's not a loser not i can't do it either it's funny because he's literally the

00:38:43.040 smartest person in the entire world like he went to harvard undergrad stanford law like just literally

00:38:47.260 like beautiful mind genius right and not to say that me and my little brother are also not smart

00:38:52.220 my little brother actually had the highest gpa of all of us and he'd want me to mention it so

00:38:55.020 you're welcome um but we uh me and yeah me and my little brother became we were both musical from

00:39:00.600 an early age my little brother actually he also so he played basketball because our older brother

00:39:04.160 did he did music because i did like very typical youngest child like yeah just copying what the

00:39:08.440 older siblings were doing and better than both of us at it um but yeah it's really fun having my

00:39:13.540 little brother on the road with me like when i first started touring i played solo and it was

00:39:17.900 you know it got isolating like being on stage by yourself like night after night and like now that i

00:39:21.580 have my brother and my best friend up there with me like i look to my left and my right and like

00:39:25.760 they're just they're usually laughing like we're all we're holding in laughter as some inside joke

00:39:29.380 that's like oh that's so great like one of the funniest performances we ever had was on the

00:39:33.920 noah tour we were in wheatland california which is i guess sacramento basically it was 114 degrees

00:39:41.780 nice love it and so we were all wearing our sunglasses on stage which i've never done before

00:39:45.080 i was like that's so corny you can't wear sunglasses but i was like i can't see so that's gonna be

00:39:48.560 necessary and midway through the set i start noticing bugs like little tiny bugs kind of flying

00:39:54.760 around and i'm like i hope none of these fly in my mouth while i'm singing yeah and my little

00:39:58.100 brother by the way definitely afraid of bugs his biggest thing he hates bugs he only now is like

00:40:01.940 starting to be able to kill them when he sees them like in the house but i'm terrified of bugs

00:40:05.200 a ladybug landed on him once he screamed i'm me with butterflies to be honest no way you're scared

00:40:10.360 of butterflies yeah i'm scared of most insects anything that flies i'm like i'm good i kind of

00:40:14.560 i mean i get where you're coming from i do i do love a butterfly moment but i mean there's some

00:40:18.640 there's something a little scary about especially in like a large group right a bunch of bugs i'm like

00:40:22.040 i want to admire from afar and so like we're playing these songs we get to the end of the set

00:40:25.880 my little brother holden is motioning to me repeatedly like he's trying to get my attention

00:40:29.640 every time i look over and i'm like did your keyboard stop working like what's the problem

00:40:32.000 he's gesturing at the keyboard it's on and i'm like then we're just gonna keep going

00:40:35.500 and then by the we get to the last song and i like run over to like what are you keep motioning about

00:40:40.160 he looked he gestures on at the keyboard covered in bug courses like maybe thousands he's like he

00:40:45.280 has tears in his eyes literally tears in his eyes and i was like we got a power we're powering

00:40:50.260 through yeah we're powering through so we play oh my god you're fucking fine you're fine jesus christ 0.92

00:40:56.400 you're like you're waving me over i thought you had a medical emergency and it but we uh we get

00:41:01.040 to the last the last last said the last song is massachusetts which we've been playing i don't play

00:41:04.180 to a click when i'm playing with um with just them because we didn't have drones yeah and so we

00:41:08.460 were playing kind of at whatever tempo i just decided in the moment and that night i decided to

00:41:12.340 play it very fast so that we could get off stage and away from the bugs so we're going

00:41:15.260 it sounds like it's on 2x yeah literally sped up it was a sped up edit and we get off stage

00:41:21.340 and he's just like in champ he's like he looks like he's got back from nom like he has a thunder

00:41:25.920 blanket on there were so many bugs so many bugs out there we used to do that to our dog we used to

00:41:31.600 have a german shepherd and she barked at our dad every single time he came in the room and so we

00:41:35.400 would put we had a bark collar that we would put on her and it would just like spray like something 1.00

00:41:38.360 that smelled bad on her every time she barked and she would just like freeze and that was what he

00:41:42.000 looked like like he just got he had his bark collar on now like whenever we're on stage together

00:41:46.520 like at any given moment we're going to be thinking about one of those incidents and just like unable

00:41:50.540 to hold back laughter in a serious moment which is crucial and now you guys are like you're literally

00:41:54.820 like billy eilish and phineas so so much i love that i mean i i kind of know phineas we he started

00:42:00.280 following me in like 2020 he found my music really early and so we've met a few times and i'm still

00:42:05.140 waiting for uh the moment when we can have our sibling collab right i think the the phineas spider-man meme

00:42:10.520 yeah the phineas x billy x holden x jensen it'll come one day i don't know when that'll be but

00:42:14.900 i'm rooting for it i also just realized you're also a middle child so am i and there's only three

00:42:18.900 of us exactly right that's what i said twins twin twin have you been also i'm obsessed with twins

00:42:27.080 are you me my weird way or me and my so my guitar player kevin my bestie for some reason we've just

00:42:34.400 become that's like one of our early inside jokes was like we just are fascinated by a specifically

00:42:38.700 adult identical twins right there's something about it that's like what do you mean you're

00:42:42.240 still identical yeah like grow up exactly you don't need to be a twin anymore we get it i just

00:42:47.220 says like how did that happen like how did you guys not kind of branch off and kind of find your

00:42:50.760 own thing like you're still kind of playing the hits yeah kind of still yeah we get it i noticed

00:42:55.960 you're a twin but we love we love a twin very much and my um my on one of my other friends put us

00:43:00.660 onto the there's a twin convention that happens every year i guess i saw where they dress the same

00:43:04.240 oh i didn't even know about that oh girl like the twins they have to dress they dress identical to 0.99

00:43:08.440 each other that's giving me chills that's beautiful girl my nipples are hard twins matching i love i

00:43:15.880 love making adults and the reason it came about so my friend telling you about the twin convention 0.60

00:43:19.040 she was playing a show in a town in the town where the twin convention was happening okay she had a

00:43:23.580 relative who was a twin attending the convention he goes oh like i want to come to your show can i bring

00:43:27.880 a plus one actually a plus two right and she's like bringing like his twin and then another set

00:43:33.500 of twins yeah and she goes sure and then he's like can i actually get another plus two just starts

00:43:38.320 trying to add on she's like how many sets what are you building an army like why are you bringing so

00:43:42.500 many twins to my show you cannot be bringing that many sets of the audience cannot just be rows of

00:43:46.680 twins that's unacceptable everyone out especially if you're all dressed in the same outfit not you and

00:43:52.140 your little twin uniform right one of my uh really good friends from college she's a twin like an

00:43:57.380 identical twin and like uh she comes like her i think her mom is a twin and her like aunt is a 1.00

00:44:05.000 twin so they have twins that run like crazy wow and one time she posted a family reunion picture

00:44:09.860 oh that picture almost made me go insane i feel like i felt like i was like i'm gonna be committed

00:44:14.500 to the hospital it's like a test it's like whatever you see it's really like find the difference between

00:44:18.240 these two pictures they're the same picture like i i messaged her and i was like this is an insane

00:44:22.620 like there's like 50 sets of twins in there it's crazy that's awesome right i was like so you're

00:44:27.080 fascination with twins maybe you should look into her and i will and i'll be locked in on my random

00:44:32.780 friend from college okay i'm gonna read some fun facts about you um let's see uh it says you have

00:44:40.620 back to the future listed as one of your top four on letterbox oh yeah what are the other three um

00:44:46.960 i don't i don't know if i finished filling out the whole thing i know before sunrise is on there

00:44:50.440 okay i love so the back of the future trilogy and the before trilogy which don't go together

00:44:54.040 thematically at all other than they're both trilogies that's all four um i just yeah i have

00:44:58.500 six movies in my top four it's two trilogies i think i have obvious child the jenny slate movie

00:45:02.840 which i don't see enough people talking about it's this movie jenny slate is like she's playing a 0.97

00:45:06.380 struggling stand-up comedian who gets pregnant decides to have an abortion okay and it's like 0.98

00:45:09.820 a great dark comedy like quiet little film i watched it like when i was visiting my brother

00:45:14.940 in college at like two in the morning i was sleeping on his couch and i was like this is a perfect movie

00:45:18.020 um but yeah i'm like not good at this is the first time anyone's ever asked me about letterbox

00:45:22.800 because i'm like not good about cinema like i keep seeing people on red carpets getting asked

00:45:27.020 their letterbox top four and i'm like i won't be prepared i haven't seen enough movies i definitely

00:45:30.660 haven't seen enough good movies again jensen you are me because i don't watch anything so when people

00:45:35.180 ask me like oh have you watched this like and they're all new movies i'm like oh you know for a

00:45:38.420 fact i haven't watched that i just don't watch new things i don't watch prestige i love watching

00:45:42.900 stuff over and over again that's gonna bring me comfort which is why i've seen the back to the future

00:45:45.800 trilogy so many times i've seen new girl so many times me too i just so i i criminal minds is one

00:45:51.360 of my comfort shows okay too and there's i just only like last week finished watching the two new

00:45:57.020 seasons of it i was re-watching the first 15 seasons over and over and over i knew every criminal

00:46:02.560 i knew every unsub's name me as fuck i was on the case yeah i could i could recite them from memory 0.97

00:46:07.780 like that was me with like the office with new girl whatever the modern family anyone who slanders new 0.98

00:46:13.280 girl i'm immediately like untrustworthy i swear to god me too i'm like you don't get it it's you 0.73

00:46:17.780 don't get the art form and i still i was talking to someone yesterday in a session like we were

00:46:22.200 talking about like i said i said one of my dork facts about how like laughing is mostly socially

00:46:26.040 performative and it's not actually about something funny and he was like do you so do you laugh when

00:46:29.980 you're alone and i was like actually yes i laugh out loud alone by myself all the time especially

00:46:34.260 when i'm watching new girl i will laugh even though i've seen every episode seven times i will laugh

00:46:37.760 i've seen some where i was laughing so hard at deposit because i can't hear yeah because i'm

00:46:41.880 fucking laughing the episode towards it was like towards the end of the series when uh winston's 0.92

00:46:45.820 accusing nick of being a procrastinator and he's like you drove across the country to see me at 0.96

00:46:51.420 college to ask me if i had seen a bug's life and every time i hear that line i have to pause it

00:46:57.340 because i'm like a bug's life that's how i feel about the prince episode that's like one of my

00:47:02.520 favorite ones god it's but the cold open when he's like what are you just hanging around the dryer 0.99

00:47:06.080 like some sort of pantyhawk that's comedic genius you're out of your fucking mind that's me with 0.95

00:47:11.460 like are you ever like pitching movies and you're like i promise it's one of the funniest movies i've 0.97

00:47:15.140 ever seen in my life and then sometimes it hits and sometimes it doesn't i can always i when i feel

00:47:19.500 it when i feel myself losing it i feel really i'm like i panic and i don't know what i'm supposed to

00:47:22.980 do because i'm like if you're not laughing already you need to be laughing already yeah laughing already

00:47:26.520 it's over you don't get it it's curtains for me yeah it's curtains yeah i take my recommendations

00:47:31.980 very seriously but i don't honestly i'm not a person who's because i don't listen when people

00:47:36.300 recommend stuff to me i honestly don't try to recommend stuff that often no me too um i never

00:47:40.800 listen when people recommend to me but if they do say like what's a funny movie you know and i tell

00:47:45.640 them and i'm like let's watch it and they're not laughing i get mad it's it's well it's rude

00:47:49.380 it's offensive it's mean and it's it's an indictment of my character yeah i'm acting like i'm in that

00:47:53.140 movie yeah i made that movie it's my life's work like one of the movies i pitch all the time that i think

00:47:57.620 is one of the funniest movies ever made is the heat with sandra bullock and melissa mccarthy 0.75

00:48:01.100 highly recommend highly recommend that fucking movie to the room anyone should watch that movie 0.96

00:48:06.160 i laugh my every time i watch it i laugh my fucking ass off and so many people have never seen that 0.99

00:48:12.080 it's just a stupid like buddy cop yeah slapstick comedy i'm lmaoing but that's the best that's the 0.99

00:48:19.500 stuff that's actually funny like honestly the one of the movies i laughed out loud in the theater 0.99

00:48:23.880 into the spider verse t i also cried i laughed and i cried that that movie took me on a journey

00:48:29.860 and i'm not ashamed to say it i'm not ashamed to admit it you're actually beautiful i will watch

00:48:35.260 the heat because i trust the recommendation from someone who doesn't listen to other people's

00:48:37.920 i really do and watches the same things thousands of times yeah yeah that means you're locked in 0.99

00:48:43.080 you've you've studied that you have phd in that film and i trust it a silly ass movie like 0.97

00:48:48.060 sometimes i'll i won't watch anything new that's popular but then sometimes i'll watch 0.95

00:48:51.800 the silliest one-off terrible movies because i'm like well obviously yeah uh like my sister was

00:48:57.120 like we should watch ricky stenicky you ever heard of that movie yeah exactly it's on prime 0.99

00:49:02.260 starring john cena okay and a bunch of other comedians but like i was laughing my fucking ass 0.97

00:49:08.600 off i was like telling people you gotta watch it you fucking gotta see it and then everybody i 0.98

00:49:13.260 told outside of me and my family were like yeah i mean i think i need to watch it with you 0.86

00:49:18.220 because i just like didn't really forget it you know what that's actually a part of it it's like

00:49:22.860 who you're watching it with like there's some movies that are gonna hit alone and like they're

00:49:25.480 just that good but there's some movies that like i and like tv shows whatever like things that i've

00:49:29.100 experienced i know it was funny because of who i was watching it with or like consuming it with

00:49:32.900 because like it's their commentary it's us going back and forth like during the i'll give you an

00:49:36.520 example the olympics summer olympics not a comedy routine but watching the olympics with my family

00:49:41.360 very funny right they've got notes they've got jokes they've got it running i got a lot of

00:49:45.560 criticisms they got a lot to say and that's and that's what makes like i was talking one of my

00:49:49.200 friends like i don't really get the olympics i don't like watching i'm like i like watching it

00:49:52.040 because my family is saying on the side that's how i feel about the super bowl oh my god i don't give

00:49:57.220 a damn but if like when i'm watching with funny people like my family i'm having a blast it's gonna

00:50:01.460 be good i'm enjoying it yeah are you a big crier at movies i cry about everything right i cry about 0.98

00:50:06.560 everything all the time um i was on a date one time i've told the story before but i was on a date one

00:50:10.920 time with this guy and i said i was a big crier and he was like oh yeah i cry a lot too and i was like oh what makes you cry

00:50:15.080 and he was like movies and situations right and that was kind of where i was at the kind of the

00:50:20.520 silence and i was like i said i said buddy everything's a situation so like just general

00:50:24.320 things but honestly and i think about it every day and it rings so true because i also be crying in

00:50:27.940 situations yeah movies and situations movies and situations that tends to do it for me i literally

00:50:31.720 cry about everything i cry yeah i cry i think i cried watching back to the future probably like you

00:50:36.080 think i'll at this point i mean the second one when he when he goes to the grave no spoilers 40 year old

00:50:41.640 song um when he goes to the graveyard i definitely cried about that the before trilogy will make me

00:50:46.380 cry that's like those are like beautiful it's like a beautiful romantic drama but like

00:50:49.760 this is just an ad for the back to the future well but i um but yeah i cry i cry at music too one

00:50:57.660 time i cried so hard to a song while i was driving that i couldn't see i had to pull over

00:51:00.960 right it was the cause by tommy lafroy by the way great song tea it's not even that sad of a song

00:51:06.880 there are just certain songs though that move you to tears yeah like even and i feel like you're a

00:51:13.860 big would you say you're more of a lyrics person or like a melody person definitely more lyrics i

00:51:18.980 think like i remember about it yeah when when folklore the taylor swift album came out like i

00:51:23.360 listened to it obviously the second it dropped and the whole time i was texting one of my friends

00:51:26.180 like we were doing live reactions and i was like can you believe this line can you believe this line

00:51:29.020 and she's only a melody person so she's like i don't even know what song you're talking about like

00:51:32.380 she had heard none of it she was only hearing like the melody and the music and stuff and i like

00:51:37.540 barely noticed that and i loved folklore for the same reason i love just sitting her lyricism is

00:51:42.140 really good she i mean listen i love miss taylor swift and i when when her lyrics are hitting they're

00:51:49.580 really hitting i i agree and i especially on first listen to like to new taylor swift i'm blocking

00:51:54.780 everything else out and i am just focused on the writing because i want to get the like you only get

00:51:59.440 to hear it first you only get to hear it for the first time once and i like really want to soak it

00:52:02.720 in yeah and well and like i said you're a poet at heart so like you really enjoy uh really well put

00:52:08.220 together lyrics like i think that's beautiful and symbolism and you know what i say this all the time

00:52:12.640 i talk about ed sheeran people are mean to him he's a good writer he is a good writer i i love his 0.71

00:52:17.840 like the way he writes his songs like the shit he writes i think it's beautiful he is a good writer and 0.71

00:52:22.120 he i think the reason that people love to hate on him is because he got he was so good and became so 0.97

00:52:27.320 successful he's a meme it's like he's not even a person anymore he's like a stand-in and a symbol

00:52:32.000 for a certain kind of music right but it's like you don't get that successful without putting in 0.70

00:52:35.660 the work and i was saying he was behind the scenes for fucking years writing hits for everybody else 0.97

00:52:40.460 he's really i mean i saw him at the staple center when i was like 16 or something i guess and he was 0.85

00:52:45.660 up there by himself in an arena with a loop pedal that's what i'm saying you know what i should have

00:52:49.840 known that my twin's gonna be a sheer head like me i should have known that you were gonna be a sheer head

00:52:53.720 like me i am constantly fighting his battles i'm like you'll be nice you are god's strongest

00:52:58.600 yeah i was like yeah you'll be nice to him he's nice he no he's and he also seems like a great guy

00:53:03.820 like my i'm friends with this um english singer songwriter named maizie peter she's amazing if 1.00

00:53:07.280 you guys don't know yeah maizie's amazing and she's like his protege like she's open for him on a bunch

00:53:11.660 of tours and like i think they wrote together for a couple of her albums and like she just says he's

00:53:15.240 the nicest guy and like i've only heard good things about this man talented as fuck so talented okay 0.67

00:53:19.720 i was like that one lyric where he talks about laying together in bed just like a drawer of 1.00

00:53:24.540 cutlery and he's talking about spooning yeah fuck all you no that's genius none of you bitches could 1.00

00:53:28.640 write that shit none of you could except maybe jensen i wish no he's playing four-dimensional 1.00

00:53:32.560 chess i'm playing checkers i'm playing go fish i'm so glad you're a sheer head like me okay on to 0.99

00:53:39.680 more facts let's see oh it says you have a poetry account on instagram i do jensen mccray writes oh yeah

00:53:45.300 i love poetry i just love words like i just love uh i i i'm always really impressed by people who

00:53:51.480 are able to say things in a new way because like yeah so much stuff is cliche so much stuff is like

00:53:55.660 overdone and oversaturated and when i see something that i've never seen before i'm really blown away

00:53:59.940 although i looked back at um like a bunch of screenshots i'd saved right after i went through

00:54:04.220 like a really brutal breakup and i was like the things i thought were profound when i was in the

00:54:08.140 trenches not that profound not that profound so actually it's pretty superficial take it was like

00:54:12.960 pretty dumb and i was just hurting thousands of them and you see and you're like this was meant

00:54:18.440 for me like every time i was like they're speaking directly to me and i look back you know two years 0.96

00:54:23.280 later and i'm like girl it wasn't that serious like my hands were covered in blood was it yours or

00:54:30.300 mine who's to say and i was like what it's like she she liked you know that one like he lied 0.89

00:54:36.900 she believed he lied and i was like like a stoner i was like oh my god damn that's so true retweet 0.67

00:54:44.760 retweet repost and i was just i like shuddered to think about what my reposts from that era look like

00:54:49.320 like it was just not it was not good but some stuff stands up some stuff stands up to the test of time

00:54:53.900 right where would you say you pull most of your inspiration when you are writing i mean i write a

00:54:59.220 lot about my life and i like to write about things kind of like out of time like i when i'm writing a song

00:55:05.800 like even if i'm writing about a specific situation it's not going to be like it's not the news i think

00:55:09.900 that's important for people to know like for i think for a lot of songwriters like we're not the

00:55:12.620 news it's not facts it's like i'm taking the seed of a personal experience that definitely happened

00:55:16.960 and then i'm adding in moments from other experiences i'm adding in moments from things

00:55:21.600 that other people have told me about their lives yeah and i'm trying to tell us like the big thing that

00:55:25.120 i always say is i'm trying to tell something it's not factual but it is true yeah like i want the

00:55:28.620 feeling to be true and i want the the principle and the premise to be true even if like the facts of the

00:55:33.840 story are not like exactly as they happened yeah because ultimately like i think because of how

00:55:39.120 like popular like diaristic songwriting has become i think people have come to expect like that they

00:55:44.800 can go on like a scavenger hunt and like find out exactly what happened in someone's life by listening

00:55:48.340 to their songs and i think for most people even the people who claim to be doing that like

00:55:52.640 they're writing fiction like it is a form it is a form of like kind of create creative non-fiction

00:55:57.480 or like auto fiction right where it's like yeah i'm i am the character in this story yeah but this

00:56:02.600 isn't exactly what happened so i like i like combining things and like combining events from

00:56:07.240 different periods of my life especially because like i feel like we all have experiences where like

00:56:11.660 we're experiencing the same thing over and over again like you get taught the same lesson in

00:56:15.540 different ways in different fonts yeah and so when i come to a point where i am writing a song about

00:56:19.400 something it's me reflecting on all the different times the universe has tried to teach me a lesson

00:56:23.760 and it's not just ever about the one thing it's about all the repeated times that i've been exposed to it

00:56:28.460 well and also because you're such a talented songwriter it's like it's making it more applicable

00:56:32.280 to everyone yeah like your your unique experience cannot always apply but the feeling can yeah most

00:56:38.840 times apply to most people just to kind of wrap us here like any advice like what your best piece of

00:56:44.300 advice would be for any upcoming like singer songwriters slash improv experts all of the above um any advice

00:56:52.780 you may have for them if they really want to get into the music industry maybe want to start writing

00:56:56.300 maybe want to start playing maybe want to start posting their songs any advice you may have for

00:57:00.840 them i mean one of the biggest things is to keep a journal like it's really good to be an observer

00:57:04.700 of the world and like write down the things that are happening to you and like just start paying

00:57:08.100 attention like that's one like i think one of the things that disrupts people in their writing process

00:57:12.760 is that if they feel like they don't have ideas it's because they're not paying attention there's

00:57:15.360 stuff happening everywhere in your own life and other people's lives you can latch on to

00:57:18.360 and then with regards to like posting and stuff like we have to one of the things that helped me a lot

00:57:23.360 was no longer viewing my social media as like an extension of myself like i no longer felt like

00:57:27.580 it was like an appendage like right it's a business card and it's a it's a factory frankly

00:57:32.920 that i clock into and i clock out of every day it's my nine to five yeah and like people will not

00:57:37.120 post stuff because like well i don't want to be annoying and post all the time or what if it flops

00:57:40.020 and people don't like it and it's like who cares you'll post another one tomorrow exactly and

00:57:43.760 like that was how i got to the point of growing a following was i was flopping for days and weeks

00:57:48.020 and months and then one day something got a hundred thousand views and then one day something got a million

00:57:51.180 views and suddenly people were asking me for advice about how to do well on social media i'm

00:57:54.320 like right we could have started at the same time and you just like we were both flopping and you

00:57:59.020 gave up and i didn't because i wasn't embarrassed i have no shame exactly you're so mean i've literally

00:58:04.180 told like whenever people would say things like well why does she have all these things i i get hate

00:58:09.760 and i delete my stuff well it sounds like you have no follow-through it's not for everyone yeah that's

00:58:14.260 right trust me and i've told people before i'm like if you care at all about what people think

00:58:18.180 about you if you're worried about hate don't do it absolutely that's not the place to do it like

00:58:21.860 at all if you're worried people are gonna think you're annoying if you're worried people are gonna

00:58:25.060 think you're embarrassing if you think it's embarrassing to post on social media guess

00:58:27.760 what you shouldn't be have a social media you shouldn't do it and also like i know that there's

00:58:31.840 a lot of artists out there who want to be above social media and i get it i get that you're like

00:58:35.780 it cheapens the work it cheapens the art but i think that the two things can coexist i don't think

00:58:40.940 that my art is cheapened because i'm able to be funny on tiktok i don't think that my art is cheapened 0.95

00:58:45.340 because i'm able to get more people to listen to it by doing like a stupid gimmick like yeah you're 0.62

00:58:49.360 not a social person turned artist you're an artist that is utilizing social media exactly and like you 0.95

00:58:54.600 said it's like it really is how you look at it like how you perceive it and how you utilize it and

00:58:59.140 like use it to your advantage and the same way that you said like i was a flop too it's like that's

00:59:03.140 not the point of it i i think the same way about it negates the point of making art if the only 0.90

00:59:08.040 reason you're putting out is to go viral yeah well i think you're fucking amazing i am 0.89

00:59:12.040 and we're literally a paper doll look at us we're fucking twins literally difference literally you're 0.98

00:59:16.900 literally freaking me out and i also wear glasses too i should have worn my i should have worn my 0.98

00:59:23.220 fucking glasses damn well thank you so much for your jensen mccray halloween costume you can that's 0.97

00:59:27.220 right i'll wear this exact and and if you think i'm playing it's on camera so you watch me run this 0.99

00:59:33.780 back this october this coming october well thank you so much for coming on the show i fucking love 0.75

00:59:38.260 you oh my god i can't wait i do want to say really quick i do want to give you your flowers i 0.63

00:59:42.140 think you're so fucking talented and i can't wait to see how far you keep going i've been a fan since 0.99

00:59:47.700 day one where the fuck were y'all at exactly not with me i've been in the trenches for a while with 0.98

00:59:52.180 jensen yeah you and i moots moots oomfs for real well thank you so much for tuning into this episode 0.96

00:59:59.060 of the comment section show thank you to my amazing guest jensen mccray where can everybody find

01:00:03.780 um i'm at jensen mccray most places i think um and i think when this episode's coming out you can

01:00:09.420 listen to my new song praying for your downfall everywhere and watch the music video and i once

01:00:14.400 again i'm gonna say i was on the ground floor uh of jensen mccray's fandom okay anyways thank you so

01:00:20.100 much to my amazing guests thank you so much to all of you for tuning in and don't forget new episodes

01:00:24.020 of the comment section drop every wednesday you can stream the audio on all streaming platforms

01:00:27.720 but the video lists for free and exclusively on our favorite platform spotify which is perfect because

01:00:32.460 then you can go stream jensen's entire catalog and her new single and you can go and follow her on

01:00:37.120 everything obviously do it because i said so anyways thank you so much for tuning in thank you to my

01:00:41.780 amazing guests and i'll see you next week bye

The Comment Section with Drew Afualo - February 26, 2025

I CRY IN SITUATIONS Ft. Jensen McRae ｜ Episode 158

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