An Interview with Bubby Lewis

0:00 Bubby Lewis Music

0:11 Luke F. Walton What's good, everybody? It's Scoobert Doobert here for Love Music More, and I am joined with the great Bubby Lewis. So excited to chat with you. Incredible musician, bass player, collaborator, writer, producer, band member. We've got all sorts of stuff to talk about. So welcome, welcome, Bubby. I'm so excited to appreciate have you on.

0:33 Bubby Lewis you having me man appreciate you having me it's an honor and privilege to be here on your show man appreciate it

0:40 Luke F. Walton And it's so great to connect because I've been such a fan of your bass playing for so long and we just kind of got into each other's orbit when I took a bass lesson from you and then we discovered this shared love of Japan where you currently are. And so I'm just excited to talk about your whole journey, how you ended up where you're at, how you ended up loving the things that you love.

1:01 Luke F. Walton And to do that, let's go all the way back. How did you get started with music? music where where what what drew you to bass like i'm curious about how it all began for you

1:12 Bubby Lewis Oh man, for me, it all started with church. I grew up in church. My brother, my oldest brother played organ, piano, guitar, bass, really mostly bass and organ. My sister played drums. Yeah, I mean, everything for me started in church, you know, just waking up every day and somebody was blasting music, somebody, my sister or my older sister, somebody was always blasting some music.

1:46 Bubby Lewis My brother, that my brother Billy that passed away, he got me into Prince and like the OJs and, you know, different stuff like that. My brother Kubi got me into Chick Corea.

1:58 Luke F. Walton Yes.

1:59 Bubby Lewis You know, the Isley brothers, it's just random stuff, man. But it all started for me at church for sure, 100 percent.

2:08 Luke F. Walton I love it. So how does that work? Because I know you're Flint, Michigan. How was kind of like integrating into the church and learning? Was it a process of like there's instruments and you're picking them up and you're kind of teaching young players as they're coming up or how did that kind of work in terms of actually like.

2:28 Bubby Lewis So you like getting on instruments? I mean, honestly, man, when I was, let me see what, like seven or eight or something like that, I just like I would see my brother playing bass and then, you know, we had a lot of different musicians, great musicians coming through our church in Michigan, period. You know, obviously Detroit is like massive for music, Pontiac and all that kind of stuff.

2:55 Bubby Lewis and um so my oldest brother he had a pv what was that mother called like a tl6 or something like that a pv6 string from back in the day and he gave it to me on my eighth i can't even hardly remember my eighth or ninth birthday but long story short i looked at it and i put it under my bed and never played it he ended up taking it back and somebody else got it and fast forward

3:24 Bubby Lewis I had this spark to play drums that came out of nowhere, but I'm garbage at drums because I can't do like I can't do different things like different rhythms, you know, like with different limbs. I just can't master that. And my parents weren't like.

3:42 Bubby Lewis they were kind of like I don't know because they remember what I did with the bass my brother gave me and then that changed after listening to Dave Weckl record I

3:54 Bubby Lewis Mmm. heard Tom Kennedy do this bass solo man on the Synergy album it was the Synergy title song too and then I went to my parents like all right I want a bass and they was like look man like you you know I'm saying like you already kind of tried that and you literally put it under your bed

4:11 Bubby Lewis it but my brother was like maybe he'll do it this time so y'all should get him one and he got me one and and as far as like getting into church like where

4:21 Bubby Lewis Mm-hmm. I come from at the time at least there were no like music schools and stuff like that in Flint. Flint was literally just farmland and good restaurants pretty much you know what I'm saying so everybody just And this is, I guess, a church thing, period. Everybody just learns by ear, you

4:41 Luke F. Walton Cool.

4:41 Bubby Lewis know, like you kind of just, if you say you want to play for the choir, you just got to listen to the music that the choir director gives and you got to find the notes, you know, and that's kind of just how it happened. You know, I was I was fortunate that I was around some really incredible musicians that kind of. you know they they pushed me like I

5:05 Bubby Lewis Yeah. I would hear them every Sunday and I was like dang okay if I want to be able to do this I gotta I gotta bring it and

5:12 Bubby Lewis Yeah. you know just that was like my motivation I guess but it wasn't so much hard it was just you know church is really cool man like they they give you a chance you know to just because you never know you never know like if there's young musicians or young kids that are on the drums like they would always let the kids play because you just never know they may grow up to be chris coleman or

5:36 Luke F. Walton Right.

5:37 Bubby Lewis you know vinny or somebody like that you just never know so yeah i was fortunate man i was really fortunate that i had some supportive people my parents were very supportive and you know my homie eddie brown um a lot of different people in my life and i everybody was tossing me good music to listen to and stuff like that so yeah I just took it and ran with it basically

6:02 Bubby Lewis I love it. And I think that speaks to something really powerful about. like swimming in it you know being a part of it listening to great music being around great musicians asking questions getting pushed all that kind of stuff it's like Yeah. you can learn you can learn so much from a the music school but it's like the network that you're in that you actually end up learning more from

6:21 Bubby Lewis Absolutely. The real life experience, man. It's night and day for sure. i'm curious too about how what you kind of brought to practicing and how that's evolved over time because i've seen some clips

6:33 Bubby Lewis of talking of you talking about fretboard mastery and understanding like a b is a b is a b is a b and you're like kind of going through the neck and just being like dial that in so lights are off charts are gone you know what you're doing uh how did you how did you kind of like end up there in that in that kind of place or was that an impulse from from a really young age

6:55 Bubby Lewis I guess I just being a nerd and watching Yes. a lot of kung fu movies and anime and stuff like that, I figured if it's really hard, then this is what I need to work on. So, you know, yeah, practicing in the dark and memorizing what notes sounded like and like. I tell people this all the time too. A lot of people think that perfect pitch is like a superpower. It's not a superpower. It's just memory. It's just memory. You just remember what a note sounds like.

7:30 Bubby Lewis So I think me and you talked about this before. Like, you know, I feel like if someone.

7:39 Bubby Lewis practiced enough they'll at least get some sort of grip on on memorizing what different notes sound like so for me I just kind of took that I mean I've had it since I was a kid but you know I didn't know what a note was until

7:56 Bubby Lewis Yeah. I said, okay, so this actual note is a C or this actual note is an A flat or whatever, you know, obviously you figure that out once you start playing an instrument, but, you know, for me, I just kind of.

8:09 Bubby Lewis kept recycling those same things the basic fundamental things i feel like and it's something that i still do 22 years later you know still like practicing in the dark or blindfold every now and then or just close my eyes i still sit and watch a movie and solo to it you know like basic stuff you know nothing I'm not a, I guess like an extreme.

8:42 Bubby Lewis trainer type of person i just like to do stuff that is challenging but it's kind of fun at the same time you know oh

8:50 Bubby Lewis Mm-hmm. I like that. And I think that a lot of maybe people that don't play don't realize how much musicians shed while they're watching something.

8:59 Bubby Lewis man oh man that's all the time for sure all the time There's like a part of that's part of the reason why there's so many music friends that that have like you're like yeah i watched all naruto like every single episode like no

9:13 Bubby Lewis Of problem because course. they're just doing their thing you know Literally yeah

9:17 Bubby Lewis re-watching One Piece right now. What is this episode? one piece the ultimate Episode, what is this, 59? Yeah. So I literally, if I had my base, I could just sit here and just watch this and just practice and not even realize it, you know?

9:33 Bubby Lewis yep no it's a it's a great way and i also i love your I love your way of practicing because I think you blend improvisation and exploration and practice all in really cool intuitive ways and I feel like so many people focus on like running scales and while that's like important I think the the way that you like go through arpeggios and definitely check out Bubby's page so you can see some of that on Instagram and stuff but I'd love to hear like I know that there have been some musicians that have really kind of helped and guided your inspiration you

10:05 Bubby Lewis in for improv but i'm also just curious about like your mentality when you when you're just like i'm just gonna speak

10:11 Bubby Lewis And to me, and this is something that I also learned from church, you know, it's real church is about the moment, you know, obviously it's a spiritual thing, but for me, I like to just take that and bring it in every situation really. So, you know.

10:30 Bubby Lewis For me, when I improvise, the only idea I have is what sounds good to me, what feels good to me. You know what I'm saying?

10:40 Bubby Lewis Mm It's not -hmm. can I impress this person or can I make all the musicians go crazy? I don't care about that. What can I play that that speaks to me first? You know what I'm saying? And the way I was kind of, I guess, groomed into thinking as a musician is.

10:59 Bubby Lewis create something right for the moment you know not pre-rehearsed there's nothing wrong with that it's not like it's nothing wrong with transcribing or anything like that but for me I fell in love with the method of just

11:14 Bubby Lewis If I hear it right now, let me try and execute it right now. You know what I'm saying?

11:19 Bubby Lewis Yeah. And is it always going to be 100% accurate? No, but who cares, you know? Yeah.

11:27 Bubby Lewis And like the way me and my buddy Eddie, the way we used to shed when we were, you know, after church in summertime, maybe like two in the morning, he would just play random chords and tell me solos. like i

11:42 Bubby Lewis Mm-hmm. didn't i didn't he didn't give me a chance to hear the chords and it was just like no just listen and think of it as a conversation you

11:51 Bubby Lewis Yeah. know me and you could Yeah. ask each other questions right now and we'll just start answering so he basically was like why can't we do that musically you know

12:00 Bubby Lewis Yeah. if you hear a chord don't worry about what key it's in don't worry about what type of chord it is like what do you hear you

12:08 Bubby Lewis Yeah, know and right. and that was probably some of the best practice that I've ever had and it's still something that I do to this day so like you know if people just say hey Bubby take a solo I just try and make up something for that moment you know note for note I don't care if it's like a million notes or

12:31 Bubby Lewis five notes whatever just do it and i'm not concerned with if you know i'm i mess up i don't really believe in that you know it's just it's just about the moment to me you know and with that i don't stress about people's criticism i don't honestly i just don't care you know i'm just having fun you feel

12:52 Bubby Lewis Yeah. me yeah Yeah, for sure. No, I like that. And I think that there's a there's a funny.

12:58 Bubby Lewis i don't exactly know where it is in musical journey but like there's a point at which you stop noticing people's mistakes because they don't they don't treat them like mistakes anymore they're like a happy little accident and you start calling it back and yeah maybe maybe for like a younger musician you know somebody that's like really in that mindset of like every note's got to be right like everything i need to

13:17 Bubby Lewis has got to be perfect yeah yeah maybe speak to them like say you know 12 year old or something they're they're like locked in that mindset help to help them get out of it what would you say What would you say,

13:26 Bubby Lewis Yeah, like, freak I mean, out? you know, you know what I think about? I think about my heroes. If me and you went to a John Patitucci concert and let's say he was taking a solo and let's say, you know, he's like slipping over a few notes or something like that. Neither one of us is going to care because we're watching John Patitucci play. You feel what I'm saying?

13:53 Bubby Lewis Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. when when you have heroes your heroes basically can do no wrong you

13:59 Bubby Lewis Mm-hmm. know what i'm saying so for me the way i look at it is well i mean i guess you kind of got to be your own hero but be humbled like just understand that it's just it's just music it's just notes and

14:14 Bubby Lewis That's like if you had to stand up in front of the class and read a report and you stuttered over a few words, it's cool, just slow down and finish the sentence, you know, like that's the way I look at it. And, you know, the only people that will really sit up there and criticize everything you do, something is wrong with that person.

14:37 Bubby Lewis But most people that just love music and really enjoy music, they can find something great about just about anything. You know what I'm saying? The more you understand about music and...

14:51 Bubby Lewis You know, the more music that you're even exposed to, the more appreciation you have for so much of it. You know, I started out only listening to gospel and funk and R&B, but I remember I used to hate country music and bluegrass and all this kind of stuff. And then one day I, what was it, Paint Me a Birmingham by, what was that guy, Tracy Lawrence.

15:16 Bubby Lewis pay me about and then i forgot tracy lawrence i think but i heard that song man i started crying and

15:23 Bubby Lewis Mm. my father loved country and bluegrass music so but when i started listening to it this appreciation came and and then you realize like man this is this is still music it's just it's not prince funk it's

15:33 Bubby Lewis man, this is still music. It's just, it's not Prince funk. It's

15:39 Luke F. Walton Uh

15:39 Bubby Lewis not, you

15:39 Luke F. Walton -huh.

15:39 Bubby Lewis know,

15:40 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

15:40 Bubby Lewis Boosie. This is just different music. You know what I'm saying? And that's, that's the beauty of it. You know, you can't concern yourself about mistakes. The mistakes is that's part of the growth. And the further you go, the more you kind of realize there really isn't a mistake. It's just get to a place where you see it as just expression. You

16:04 Luke F. Walton Yeah,

16:04 Bubby Lewis know, I'm

16:04 Luke F. Walton yeah.

16:05 Bubby Lewis a firm believer in that just expression, you know. Some nights it's going to feel good, some nights it won't feel good, but who cares? You just do, you know?

16:16 Luke F. Walton actually i really liked it because like i was i was thinking about what you were saying about musical conversations and not knowing exactly where it's going to go i mean the same thing happens when you're like learning a language and you feel fluent or for the people that get really good at languages really fast they're just fearless they just start talking and it's like whatever i'm gonna mess up this isn't my first language i'm just gonna go

16:35 Bubby Lewis yeah

16:35 Luke F. Walton And

16:35 Bubby Lewis you just

16:36 Luke F. Walton that,

16:36 Bubby Lewis try

16:36 Luke F. Walton that fearlessness, that's like same thing with music is, you know, I make mistakes speaking English, but people don't really notice because, you know, just start talking.

16:45 Bubby Lewis i'm ghetto i'm from flint i'm a country boy from flint michigan i know i don't talk correct all the time i'd be having to have my wife help me spell stuff all the time like dude but it is what it is you know like you

16:58 Luke F. Walton It's

16:58 Bubby Lewis just

16:58 Luke F. Walton communication.

16:58 Bubby Lewis you you just do the best you can and if you just keep the mindset that you want to grow and you know you want to you want progress in whatever it is you're doing that's to me that's all that matters you just want to be better you want to be healthier you want to be nicer you want to be more kind to people this you want to get better music like throw that one in there too you know you want to get better at your instrument you want to be a better writer you want to be a better producer composer whatever it might be like it's

17:32 Bubby Lewis but beating yourself up over how long it takes and you know the time you spent on doing it and it's not coming fast enough like man don't waste your time just

17:46 Luke F. Walton Yeah, yeah.

17:47 Bubby Lewis do just do it and see what happens because rest assured if you work at something eventually you'll see

17:56 Bubby Lewis what all that work turns into but you have to continue you know what i'm saying you start a diet and the first week you may not see any weight drop off but if you keep going and you really discipline yourself you're eating right you're exercising or whatever eventually you're going to see a lot of result and then at that point you're like in the zone you know what i'm saying same for music

18:19 Luke F. Walton Man, are you really doing all those push-ups?

18:21 Bubby Lewis Man, I literally, I've done right before I called you,

18:25 Luke F. Walton Oh

18:25 Bubby Lewis I did my 400th and I have one more set of 100 and I'll be done for the day.

18:32 Luke F. Walton Yes.

18:32 Bubby Lewis I have to, I

18:33 Luke F. Walton That's

18:34 Bubby Lewis have amazing. to do these before

18:35 Luke F. Walton Yes.

18:35 Bubby Lewis I go to sleep every day, every day.

18:38 Luke F. Walton Are you sore? like or did you just transcend that now are you like

18:43 Bubby Lewis Uh,

18:43 Luke F. Walton you have the most like anime character push-up training plan you guys got to see this on it's it's awesome it's like

18:52 Bubby Lewis I wouldn't say I'm sore. I'm just kind of tight.

18:57 Luke F. Walton Tight. Yeah.

18:57 Bubby Lewis but you know what bro honestly them dudes in the military and stuff they

19:03 Luke F. Walton Yeah,

19:03 Bubby Lewis be doing

19:03 Luke F. Walton right.

19:03 Bubby Lewis like two

19:04 Luke F. Walton That's true.

19:04 Bubby Lewis and three thousand a day so my little measly five hundred it's like it's like ain't nothing you know i'm saying

19:11 Luke F. Walton Yeah,

19:11 Bubby Lewis bro

19:11 Luke F. Walton that's a good perspective.

19:12 Bubby Lewis they wake up and do like 500 straight like

19:17 Luke F. Walton let's see

19:17 Bubby Lewis I have to do 500 throughout the day,

19:20 Luke F. Walton yes

19:20 Bubby Lewis you know,

19:21 Luke F. Walton yes

19:21 Bubby Lewis like this is puny in comparison to, so that's motivation for

19:26 Luke F. Walton i

19:26 Bubby Lewis me.

19:26 Luke F. Walton like that mentality i like that mentality yeah

19:29 Bubby Lewis Yeah, man.

19:30 Luke F. Walton um so i speaking of you know your progress uh over time yielding results i want to i want to hear about the tour that you just on um tour with snoop dogg and then some of the clips that i saw the band absolutely ridiculous we just love to

19:43 Luke F. Walton kind of like hear hear about how that all went that you know traveling from you know tokyo did you did you fly out to la i know you got some jet lag going on i just i just want to hear about this tour how it went about the players maybe some stories i just want to dig in

19:58 Bubby Lewis This was a great, it was a good time, man. I mean, Snoop was my, that was my first introduction to being a professional musician way back in 2007. I just turned 21 years old, fresh, fresh 21,

20:15 Luke F. Walton Fresh.

20:15 Bubby Lewis fresh out the oven, still hot. And I mean, it was like a it's funny because the tour was called the high school reunion tour. So it did feel like that, you know, like these were people that.

20:31 Bubby Lewis you know basically were looking after me because I was a kid and making sure I didn't get lost you know when when it was lobby call and stuff like that making sure I knew which way to walk so I wouldn't get lost or stranded in another country so it was it was cool man it was a it was a cool experience I did have to fly back to LA and we did

20:57 Bubby Lewis We were supposed to do three rehearsals. We end up doing basically two rehearsal days.

21:02 Luke F. Walton Oh

21:03 Bubby Lewis Where'd Well, you rehearse? Center staging or? no, we actually had to rehearse at the Honda Center in Ontario because

21:10 Bubby Lewis Really? Snoop wanted to see like the stage setup. Yeah. We weren't on stage. We were either on the side of the stage or behind the stage because he had this crazy elaborate stage set up and there was like a 6'4 Chevy that he drove out and like it was just a crazy stage setup, man.

21:29 Bubby Lewis Yes. uh he wanted to see that he wanted to actually see what his stage looked like and and we found out on that second day that he came he had never in his entire career seen what his shows looked like from the audience ever so we had to run the whole show and he just watched from out in the audience like all the videos that

21:53 Bubby Lewis Yes. play and stuff like that and they said he was out there crying because he never witnessed his own show before

21:58 Luke F. Walton Oh,

21:58 Bubby Lewis and that's

21:59 Luke F. Walton so beautiful.

21:59 Bubby Lewis the thing about it as long as he's been doing music but he's just used to performing you

22:05 Luke F. Walton Yep.

22:05 Bubby Lewis know and um As far as the tour went, it was cool. You know, the travel was typical. We had a tour bus. It was a massive crew between Snoop, Wiz, let me see, Snoop, Wiz, Too Short, Warren G, Burner, DJ Drama.

22:26 Bubby Lewis so it was and then you had all the stage hands and stuff like that the the riggers and stuff so it was probably like 11 or 12 tour buses and

22:38 Luke F. Walton that's massive

22:39 Bubby Lewis oh man

22:39 Luke F. Walton and how many how

22:40 Bubby Lewis it was

22:41 Luke F. Walton many semis too you had semis semis

22:43 Bubby Lewis oh yeah it was let me see how many semis i want to say uh i want to say maybe 12 to 14 semi it was something crazy man it

22:57 Bubby Lewis That's was like it a caravan. was a massive a massive joint man and and i was on the the tour bus i was on was the baby long bus because nobody on that bus smokes so that the nickname is like you know it's some hood junk so everybody's bus had a name you game and stuff like that so uh the the tour

23:21 Bubby Lewis Yeah, manager queen that's funny. bee she put me on the baby long bus and uh it was cool man you know we just did the shows and i got on my tour bus and you know i watched me a little anime or movie i was watching star wars a lot and you

23:41 Luke F. Walton Yes.

23:42 Bubby Lewis know my typical nerd stuff pokemon scarlet you know Yeah, but it was a good run, man. It was good to see everybody.

23:53 Luke F. Walton Mm-hmm.

23:55 Bubby Lewis Mars, my guy Mars was playing keys. And Tame Ron Lockett was playing drums. It was just three piece. DJ Green Lantern was the DJ for Snoop. And that was it. That's all we needed. We did all the classic hits, you know, from Gin & Juice to The Drop It Like It's Hot stuff.

24:15 Bubby Lewis Yeah. It was cool. It was a cool run, man. I had a good time. It was nice to perform at a lot of those amphitheaters that...

24:25 Bubby Lewis I remember playing it, a lot of them, the very first times I was playing with Snoop back in the day and it was good to revisit them. Some of those venues, you know, you sign your name on the wall.

24:37 Luke F. Walton yeah

24:37 Bubby Lewis So I was looking for my name and some of them couldn't find that junk to save my life, but I know it's in there somewhere.

24:43 Luke F. Walton somewhere yeah

24:44 Bubby Lewis Yeah,

24:44 Luke F. Walton that's

24:44 Bubby Lewis man, that junk was, it was tight, man. It was a cool run.

24:48 Luke F. Walton really cool how do you how do you approach you know say something like

24:52 Bubby Lewis like a gin and juice um adapting that on bass like where you want to you know you want to keep the same original feel like in general feeling because it's such a classic song but also you're integrating with with live drums

25:03 Bubby Lewis That's a great question. That song, man, to be honest, from the very first moment I performed with Snoop to now, it's evolved so much.

25:13 Bubby Lewis cool cool I love to hear that And I mean, it's... It went from me kind of just literally just playing the bass line exactly like the record to now, I mean, we like alternate notes and,

25:26 Bubby Lewis Yeah. you know, different kind of like there's certain sections where we pretend we're kind of swinging a little bit.

25:34 Bubby Lewis Cool. Like Cool. really, Yeah. really, Yeah. really weird how the song has evolved throughout the years, man.

25:39 Bubby Lewis But. i guess the most important thing is just if you know what dog is is saying if you know the lyrics and stuff like that you get to have a lot of fun accenting some of those lyrics and and you know it's yeah it's just it's a fun groove i mean with one two three four four notes it's

26:02 Bubby Lewis Yeah, yeah, four right. notes and you know like It's simple, but it's funky at the same time, so it's one of them things you just kind of make it feel good,

26:18 Bubby Lewis yeah you know? yeah that's Yeah, it's interesting how that jump has evolved, though, man,

26:24 Bubby Lewis cool for that's sure. cool i like that answer a lot yeah i really like that um i think it's funny too is you know as a guitarist uh i recognize the power of the bass player because if

26:38 Bubby Lewis Yeah. you choose a different note now all of a sudden i'm playing like a you know slash core now it's just suddenly it's i'm like i'm i'm playing the same chords but now it's jazz like i'm the bass player can take you into incredible places

26:51 Bubby Lewis It if can you definitely want yeah transform the situation. I agree for sure. yeah it's

26:57 Bubby Lewis You like moving a house did a lot of that. it's Yeah, like you it's right. ocean

27:00 Bubby Lewis You view now did now it. we're up on the mountain It's Something a whole else, lot

27:01 Bubby Lewis yeah. of that. Yep. We did a whole lot of that, man. Every song, every song. And the cool thing is, is Superfly, the music director, Superfly, he's cool with it and Dog is cool with it. So that makes it fun. It's not it's not a situation, you know, where we have to just be 100 percent to the to the record. And a lot of people confuse that they, you know, hip hop and R&B, you know.

27:27 Bubby Lewis let's play the record play the record it's not always like that you Mm hmm. know every situation i've ever been in with every rapper every r&b singer every artist i've ever worked with they don't want it to sound exactly like the record that's the reason why they have musicians that can play

27:44 Bubby Lewis Yeah. licks and you Yeah. know all this like they want they want this live feel you know they want it to be different every night you know so

27:53 Bubby Lewis That makes it even more fun when you can embellish and make it more of a story performance than just, you know, getting up there, playing the same notes and getting a check. You know, that's

28:07 Bubby Lewis Yeah. kind of that's kind of whack to me. Yeah. You know, I like it that the artists are like, man, let's let's make this joint an experience for tonight and tomorrow is going to be another experience and so on and so forth like that to me. That's.

28:20 Bubby Lewis that's what George Clinton and them did and Prince and all the great Stevie Wonder that's what the greats did it was an experience you know you go to you go to the show in Detroit and it's one way you go to the show in Chicago it's only four hours but it's going to be a different show you know what I'm saying

28:37 Bubby Lewis Right. like so Right. you you're getting something different that's sweet to me you

28:41 Bubby Lewis I agree. know yep And I like that word story too. I think that's a good way to put it.

28:46 Bubby Lewis it's a story man yep So, why'd you move to Tokyo? What was a lifelong dream? brother you want to know the truth man

29:00 Bubby Lewis I want to know the truth. scoob you want to know I the truth man want all to know the truth,

29:04 Bubby Lewis right Bubby. man when i was four or five years old and i seen ninja turtles Yes.

29:10 Bubby Lewis And Yes. I heard Master Splinter talking about Japan and Mato Yoshi and Hukosaki and ninjas and the Foot Clan and that jump inspired me all the way back then. All the way back then. And I literally since then. Had been telling my parents, everybody that has ever came in contact with me since I was a kid, a wee lad, a young Padawan, that I wanted to go to Japan one day.

29:43 Bubby Lewis And the older I got, I just hoped and hoped and hoped. But I mean, hey, I'm a country boy from Flint. There is no way I would go to Japan or even get an opportunity. I'm here.

29:57 Bubby Lewis Yeah. I mean, it just I remember the first time I. got a call to do a tour with a J-pop artist that

30:05 Bubby Lewis Uh was in 2012. -huh. Uh All -huh. the tours that I was supposed to do here with Snoop or whoever got canceled for various reasons, I'm sure.

30:16 Bubby Lewis Everyone would know why Snoop couldn't come to Japan at those times or why he backed out of it because, you know, he's got to have what he needs to have. I'll just leave that there. But anyway. It

30:30 Bubby Lewis Yeah. was a blessing, man. 2012, I got my first opportunity and I knew I was going to love this place. Being an anime fan, I'd always been into the culture, I'd always been into karate and aikido and judo and all this kind of different stuff and came here and it was more than what I thought it would be.

30:53 Bubby Lewis Yeah. I fast forward, my wife fell in love with it and one day we was like, we should try and move and that was it. So I'm here now, for now.

31:08 Luke F. Walton What surprised you? Was it the food? Was it the parks? What was something that like outside of your preconceptions of Japan when you actually got there, you were like blown away by?

31:20 Bubby Lewis Well, you know this, you know, it's clean, you know,

31:23 Luke F. Walton Yeah. Yeah.

31:24 Bubby Lewis you know, the food quality is amazing and all that. The

31:28 Luke F. Walton Incredible.

31:28 Bubby Lewis water is great, everything like that.

31:30 Luke F. Walton Yeah, the water is great too. Yeah.

31:31 Bubby Lewis I guess what I fell in love with a lot is people here, for the most part, just kind of mind their business, you

31:40 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

31:40 Bubby Lewis know, like. Japanese culture there could be a very shy people and they're just kind of to themselves in a lot of ways you know so you know it's it's just I guess it was just that that's like wow man like I can just you know just do my thing like ain't nobody all up

32:02 Luke F. Walton Mm hmm.

32:02 Bubby Lewis trying to see him on you know what is he doing here and you know like I don't belong and stuff like like nah they're just like hey or

32:11 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

32:11 Bubby Lewis not you know like

32:13 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

32:13 Bubby Lewis I don't even see you honestly you know what I'm saying like and I love that and On top of that, I mean, having a wife and a daughter knowing that if they wanted to walk around after midnight,

32:26 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

32:26 Bubby Lewis they'd be OK.

32:27 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

32:27 Bubby Lewis You know, granted, I still wouldn't let them do that. But still, it's nice to know that you don't really hear often about crazy stuff happening like you would back in the crib.

32:40 Luke F. Walton Right.

32:41 Bubby Lewis You know what I'm saying?

32:41 Luke F. Walton Right.

32:41 Bubby Lewis So, yeah, I guess. I guess that was the thing that was really dope. I think it's dope to see random sumo wrestlers walking

32:51 Luke F. Walton yes

32:51 Bubby Lewis up and down the street. That's cool.

32:53 Luke F. Walton that's cool you

32:54 Bubby Lewis You know, bro,

32:55 Luke F. Walton got to go to sumo for the first time last season right

32:58 Bubby Lewis yes.

32:58 Luke F. Walton yes

32:59 Bubby Lewis And it was for this month. It was for this month, bro. And that junk, I mean, I literally went in the morning and I sat in the chair and I cried because, you know, that's my favorite sport. Or

33:12 Luke F. Walton in in tokyo you went to uh what's it called uh yeah

33:15 Bubby Lewis Rio, Rio Goku.

33:16 Luke F. Walton yeah

33:17 Bubby Lewis Yeah,

33:17 Luke F. Walton yeah

33:18 Bubby Lewis Rio Goku.

33:18 Luke F. Walton i've

33:18 Bubby Lewis You've been there before,

33:19 Luke F. Walton been there

33:19 Bubby Lewis right?

33:20 Luke F. Walton i've been there once too yeah it was awesome

33:21 Bubby Lewis That's

33:21 Luke F. Walton it was awesome

33:22 Bubby Lewis amazing.

33:22 Luke F. Walton no not this one

33:23 Bubby Lewis Isn't it funny? Maybe, I don't know if this is too inappropriate, but I thought it was going to smell like booty. I thought that's what my whole thought process like, man, this sumo, they probably sit. it's wow it didn't even smell like nothing

33:41 Luke F. Walton Maybe that's why they throw this the you know, they do the rituals and stuff to get

33:44 Bubby Lewis getting rid of the booty smell dog i just like i knew i just knew i was like man it's probably gonna be like sweet and sour booty in this mug and it was not

33:56 Bubby Lewis And I was like, even my wife was like, does it stink in there because they came later? And I was like, nah, man, it don't smell like nothing. Like, y'all know that's probably like, what is he talking about with that?

34:07 Bubby Lewis that's so good that's That blew my mind, honestly. really special and That blew my

34:12 Bubby Lewis for mind. people that don't know how sumo works it's like it is like an all-day thing because you know they're pretty short matches but but they roll through them and you get to see kind of like the increasing level of of superstars and when

34:24 Bubby Lewis Yep. Yep. those big when they're like you know the the stars come at Big each other

34:28 Bubby Lewis dogs. Yeah. you can like feel it it's like the sound is different there's just a it's like wow we really teared up here like

34:35 Bubby Lewis My coochie when they come out like the top division, the top division and the second division when they come out, it's like, wow, these are the representation of Japan. It's

34:49 Bubby Lewis Yeah. crazy. Yeah. That joint is killing me. Yeah. It's so killing. I agree. I agree. It's so awesome. I want to talk about Silver Kid and your experience kind of playing in a Japanese oriented band like for the Japanese market and kind of like how did that happen? I know that you did a tour with the Billboard venues too. I'm just curious to learn more about that.

35:15 Bubby Lewis Man, I mean, as far as Silver Kid is Yeah. concerned, a buddy of mine, Fuyu, he's a well-renowned drummer out here in Japan.

35:25 Bubby Lewis Cool. He actually funny, Fuyu grew up in New York, so he's like super New York, like he'll rock some Timbs, but he's, you know what I'm saying,

35:34 Bubby Lewis Yeah, like it's hilarious. totally. That's It's funny. so hilarious, but he reached out to me back in, what was it, 2020 or?

35:43 Bubby Lewis 2021 it definitely was during the pandemic i was here and we went out to eat we went to the shabu shabu restaurant and he was like man you ever you ever been in a rock band and i was like well i mean you know i play with a few people like suicidal tendencies and so on and so forth but not like a band band that

36:03 Bubby Lewis Yeah, i'm right. a part of like that he's like man i've always wanted to start a band blah blah so fast forward uh

36:11 Bubby Lewis I got sent home because of the pandemic. They sent all the foreigners home and he was just emailing me like different songs and we started recording stuff and that's kind of how that happened. I hadn't even met Ash, the guitar player, or Nick, the lead singer. I hadn't even met

36:31 Bubby Lewis Wow. them in person. Yeah. We already had like records done, Yeah. like music. And

36:37 Bubby Lewis That's finally, awesome. when I was able to get back out here, man, it was, you know, it was cool. Like we just just a couple of dudes just trying to have fun, like willing to sacrifice, you know, it's any anybody that's starting like a band like it's not easy, you know, like you're starting from nothing, you know, even if you have a huge fan base individually and stuff, you have to get. your fan base used to like what is this you

37:06 Luke F. Walton Yes.

37:06 Bubby Lewis know what I'm saying so

37:07 Luke F. Walton Yes.

37:07 Bubby Lewis um but it's been it's been fun man you know and I like working with a lot of the different artists here the the you know this already the industry here is night and day from anywhere you know the the

37:21 Bubby Lewis Please dig into it, though. I'm sure listeners are super curious. well one thing I learned is First off, the fans here in Japan, they really appreciate music, like all music,

37:37 Bubby Lewis Mm and -hmm. they appreciate their own. Mm. Unfortunately, where we come from, in many situations, you have to work really hard to get people in your backyard to support because

37:52 Bubby Lewis Yep. it's, you know, America is just different. We're spoiled. You know, we have everything and what we think we have everything at least. For me, if I'm being honest, what I've noticed throughout my career, you know, as a professional, it creates an entitlement for people that grow up in America versus here, if you say that you're going to start singing.

38:20 Bubby Lewis here in japan they immediately support like because they look at it like wow you were courageous enough to want to do this

38:28 Bubby Lewis Oh, so they yes. support you right off top but Yes. back home you start something and people kind of laugh and be like oh hang on you know but then if you get a grammy or something Uh after

38:38 Bubby Lewis -huh. then everybody's at your front door like yeah i knew you Yeah, was gonna know you didn't

38:43 Bubby Lewis from the you jump. didn't mess out here yeah i knew you were gonna be something no you didn't Get out of

38:47 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

38:47 Bubby Lewis here. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So first and foremost, that's one of the things that sticks out like a sore thumb here. And because of that, a lot of their artists.

39:00 Bubby Lewis some maybe aspire to to venture outside of japan but for many of them they don't even care because they don't have to you

39:08 Bubby Lewis hmm yeah know they love it that they can just tour around japan you totally know it

39:12 Bubby Lewis i mean it's a big enough audience you got 127 million is exactly people a lot of them still buy cds like you can you could make your money in japan

39:19 Bubby Lewis you yeah can you can make money and they support man like they come to shows they buy merchandise they they they believe you know

39:27 Bubby Lewis Oh, so yeah, it's special. it's it it and it inspires a lot of those musicians and their artists here to stay here because they're like man shoot well if y'all support me like this why do I need to go to you know London why do I need to go to blah blah blah and all that kind of stuff where versus at home even the massive artists the big a-list artists they love to tour outside of America because they make more money you

39:57 Bubby Lewis Yeah. know Yeah, totally. what I'm saying it's No, I get it. it's really weird man it's it's really strange how that happens but um you know the artists the artists here are really cool you you have some that are very very very innovative and and you know constantly trying to come up with new ways to do stuff which I respect wholeheartedly

40:20 Bubby Lewis um and then you have the ones that just you know like any other place you got the the mimickers the plagiarizers i call them but that's anywhere you

40:32 Bubby Lewis Yeah, know you that's true. have people that are willing to take the risk to be original and then you got the ones that like no i'm just copycat so shout out to all the originators i got it Shout

40:43 Bubby Lewis It's even yeah, out to risk takers. it's a risky move originating Yeah, it is. it is. Oh,

40:47 Bubby Lewis Yeah, it's risky. It's risky, but you'll have no regrets. I You'll love that. have no regrets because, you know, nobody will ever be able to say you jack something, you know. So yeah, shout out to all the original risk takers everywhere in the world. Be a risk taker. Yeah.

41:08 Bubby Lewis Yes, I want to talk about the dojo Oh, Can yeah. you talk about, I think I saw when you launched that, can you talk about kind of what the goal is and how you're building community?

41:19 Bubby Lewis Bubby's Dojo, man, honestly, it's just a way for me to show people that assume that I have this crazy. regimen of

41:32 Bubby Lewis Mm hmm. how I practice you know to play whatever they feel I play it's not nothing crazy it's literally just basic stuff I just my mindset is more so I don't care than anything that I just if if I can just become one with my instruments so to speak and just express myself freely then I'm satisfied. And

41:58 Bubby Lewis Yeah. so that's basically what the dojo is. I'm just trying to get people to see, no, I don't sit and practice. 19 hours a day I've

42:09 Bubby Lewis Uh-huh. Yeah. done that before you know Yeah. you know I've done that when I was summer break you know and I smell like baloney sitting in my room all day I've done that too not no more though I got a wife I got daughter I got another kid on the way a daughter on the way thank you man I ain't got time to be sitting up no I mean play my bass for 25 30 hours maybe two hours if I get You know, someday I may do four, it just depends.

42:38 Luke F. Walton Mm

42:39 Bubby Lewis Other days it may be 10 minutes, you know, but that's what the dojo is, is just, I'm just trying to, I

42:50 Bubby Lewis guess, help people find what challenges them the most and then that's what you work on, you know, for some people it might be. you know efficiency when it comes to their groove or their

43:03 Bubby Lewis Cool. stamina or Yeah, you yeah. know whatever and others it might be writing others it might be improvising or whatever so let's figure it out what what stumps you and let's work on that you know so yeah it's not nothing complicated it's literally No such thing as advanced levels and stuff.

43:26 Bubby Lewis Mm It's just hmm. anybody, everything, you know, like what do you have a question about? All right, let's figure it out, you know, simple.

43:35 Bubby Lewis Love it. and then you also um you play on a bunch of records including independent artists including my own music you know we have a song tired of the sunshine that you you played on i absolutely love your bass line it's awesome

43:47 Bubby Lewis I love I love them man that's I told such a pocket you that when you sent me that song man I told my wife I said man listen to this Joker

43:53 Bubby Lewis music yo no way that joke was so killing man everything about it dog thank you listening in the studio da da da da da da what's the government like all that junk is blazing i was like what is this killing me absolutely

44:12 Bubby Lewis i love what you put on it i love your phrasing is it i love it's so fun giving a song to another musician that you trust and then having them do stuff that surprises you that's out of what you would have done and you're like that's it that's exactly it's what the song wanted and i couldn't have brought it to it and um what what like is that just part of your your feeling

44:32 Bubby Lewis feeling of like being a part of music is just you want to be on a bunch of stuff and like like you help people out that have lower budget bigger budget that is that just part of your your personal ethos your philosophy kind of thing yeah

44:41 Bubby Lewis Yeah, I mean, because I know what it feels like, you know, I know what it feels like to and you know what, dude, my first record I reached out to Frank and Molly.

44:51 Bubby Lewis and he had heard of me he was like i've heard of you you know blah blah that that shocked me because

44:57 Bubby Lewis Yeah. it's like man this is doggone frank and bali but frank and bali gave me a deal it's frank and bali so it's like dude if frank and bali can give people a deal me he gave me it who am i you know what i'm saying like I'm just some random dude from Michigan, like, but he gave me a hookup. So yeah, I like to do that as often as I can. I actually was going to do it.

45:22 Bubby Lewis I said I wasn't going to do it no more this year, but I was actually thinking about doing it this upcoming week. Just, you know, if people want me to play on something because I know what it feels like to. You want to get something of great quality, but you may not have the budget, but your music might be of that quality. You know what I'm saying?

45:48 Bubby Lewis So, you know, hey, man, everybody can use a helping hand sometimes and people have helped me. So it doesn't bother me, you know, the labels, they got the label budget so they can send me. you know five grand or whatever

46:08 Bubby Lewis right for yeah a song you uh know they can do that but you -huh yeah know somebody got a couple hundred bucks or man whatever let's yeah let's let's do it you know I just I like that and then too I come across a lot of dope musicians and producers and writers and stuff that way too you know you remember those people you know so it's it's a it's a win-win honestly

46:31 Bubby Lewis yeah and that's really special and like I don't know. There's something to the people that don't cut the ladder out from under them once they've climbed up that

46:39 Bubby Lewis Yep. I think we need more of that. And I like you spreading

46:49 Luke F. Walton american kind of the the culture and stuff i think that's part of it where i have a lot of friends that got pretty big and then they stopped hiring their friends to play music on their stuff even though their friends are really good you know but it's like you hit to a certain tier and you just kind of like change the rolodex um and that's kind of that's kind of sad because then you don't grow with the people that you grew with yeah

47:08 Bubby Lewis It is sad, man, especially if the people you know. can't get the job done Right. but you're not you're not calling them because of their name they don't have the platform like that's that's ridiculous to me you know it shouldn't be about it should be about the the work that they can give you you know what they can the ability and stuff like that what they can do so You know, again, man, and I don't want to just pin it all on America,

47:38 Luke F. Walton No,

47:38 Bubby Lewis but that's no, such,

47:39 Luke F. Walton no, no.

47:39 Bubby Lewis it's such an American thing to me. It's such a like an entitled thing to me. You know, these dudes, like some of these producers I know out here in Japan, nobody knows who they are, but they're like all of my heroes are composed in these video games.

47:57 Luke F. Walton Yes. Yes. Yes.

47:58 Bubby Lewis every last one of and but if these dudes walked around nam show like nobody would look their way

48:04 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

48:05 Bubby Lewis like

48:06 Luke F. Walton Right.

48:06 Bubby Lewis he didn't know he was aki if this dude freaking final fantasy nine and final fantasy tactics and some of the greatest square enix games if this dude walked around a nam show nobody's gonna look his way but I guarantee most people have played the

48:26 Luke F. Walton Right.

48:26 Bubby Lewis game that this guy's, I mean,

48:28 Luke F. Walton It have those melodies. Yeah.

48:29 Bubby Lewis you know what I'm saying? So

48:30 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

48:31 Bubby Lewis to me, that's that. that stuff is dope it's

48:36 Luke F. Walton Mm

48:36 Bubby Lewis not just always about oh this person has 15 grammys like okay that's cool but you know don't don't forget that it's about like what people bring to the table it's not it's not about their their accolades and their achievements it's can they play the part can they can

48:57 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

48:57 Bubby Lewis they add this life to this music that you're looking for you know what i'm saying who cares if they only got 50 followers so you

49:04 Luke F. Walton Yes.

49:05 Bubby Lewis know like i know people that got millions of followers and they're terrible people you know what i'm saying whoop whoop-de-doo i know people they got you know 50 million dollar mansions and they're horrible people they're horrible human beings so

49:23 Luke F. Walton Mm

49:23 Bubby Lewis That

49:23 Luke F. Walton -hmm.

49:23 Bubby Lewis shouldn't, that shouldn't determine the worth, what you have and what you've achieved. You know, you got 50 Grammys. Okay. All right.

49:35 Luke F. Walton Yeah.

49:35 Bubby Lewis What's next?

49:37 Luke F. Walton Yes.

49:37 Bubby Lewis You know what I'm saying? Like it's, I don't know, man, maybe I'm just old fogey. I don't know. I just, some, some things just don't matter to me. And I just don't believe in.

49:50 Bubby Lewis turning people away because they're not famous or they don't know this person or they haven't done this and then man you never know who you come across in this world that's incredible or something and they're just you know

50:09 Bubby Lewis nobo and matsu you know he's another one the basically the the pioneer of square enix composers he's like the guy i he's another one if he walked around damn show nobody's gonna look his way they probably gonna think he's an ibanez bass employee or something like that you know what i'm saying like and

50:31 Luke F. Walton Oh,

50:32 Bubby Lewis meanwhile there would be no final fantasy without this guy you know crazy

50:36 Luke F. Walton yeah.

50:36 Bubby Lewis crazy

50:37 Luke F. Walton It is. I watched, I feel bad for not remembering their name, but it was about the composer for the jingles outside of Japanese train stations. That was one of the things that surprised me. I didn't know about that until I got there and every single station's got its own jingle that like represents the place. It's amazing.

50:57 Bubby Lewis Makisano is my favorite. Tameki Sano is my favorite and I love I love a Soxa station there's

51:03 Luke F. Walton yes

51:04 Bubby Lewis a few there's a few all

51:05 Luke F. Walton there's

51:05 Bubby Lewis over Japan

51:05 Luke F. Walton a few bangers

51:05 Bubby Lewis that's like man

51:06 Luke F. Walton right

51:06 Bubby Lewis what is that but to make Sano oh my goodness that mug whoo wee but even that like that dude is a G he's

51:15 Luke F. Walton oh

51:15 Bubby Lewis a G

51:15 Luke F. Walton for sure no i mean harajuku is like yep that's harajuku like like that's what it sounds

51:21 Bubby Lewis that's

51:21 Luke F. Walton like yeah

51:22 Bubby Lewis so far and it's so anime It's so anime. It's so dope. Oh,

51:28 Luke F. Walton I

51:28 Bubby Lewis that joint is tight.

51:30 Luke F. Walton love it. So I've got one final question for you. This is kind of how we wrap up each show. So the show is called Love Music More. And so we call this segment Love Music Why.

51:42 Luke F. Walton And so I just want to put you on the spot and I want you to talk to, you know, like a 10 year old who's thinking about picking up their instrument for the first time and tell them, you know, why do you love music? Why do you sacrifice for it? Why is it this?

51:53 Luke F. Walton this special thing that's worth you know giving so much your soul and your your energy to um and and just like i'd love to just hear in in a in a short statement about just your passion for this thing

52:08 Bubby Lewis You know what, man? Music. My father used to say something. My father used to say, I come from a big family, a fat family at that.

52:23 Bubby Lewis My dad used to say food is one of the joys of life and it is, but music, music is the one thing in a lot of ways like food that can change an entire mood of somebody. You could be having the worst day, but you hear the right song. You could be having the best day and you hear the wrong song. Music is something that to me is very supernatural and it is a spiritual thing.

52:54 Bubby Lewis And if anybody is courageous enough to say they want to play an instrument or just, you know, just sing, basically put their self in the forefront where they'll be exposed, you know.

53:12 Bubby Lewis You know, they're forced to have to excel in this thing just a little bit just or just get better. Like I encourage anybody to take that leap because when you man, when you get to where you can write a song or you can play something that does something special for somebody who cares if it's if it's.

53:38 Bubby Lewis just a few people or if it's an entire arena that doesn't matter that doesn't matter that's great you know the more people that you can inspire great but if if you can do something write a song sing a note or play an instrument and it makes somebody that's listening feel something

54:04 Bubby Lewis To me, what I found since I've been doing this, there's no greater feeling than that. And this is the reason why my ambition for being a musician has nothing to do with money. It has nothing to do with.

54:22 Bubby Lewis fame or or how many people i can get to follow me or to be my fan like and granted all of that stuff is cool you know it feels good to have support yeah and of course doggone it feels good to make some money if you you know you dedicate your life to this thing but if you can truly understand what it means

54:52 Bubby Lewis to play a note or play a song sing a song or whatever it might be write a song produce a beat whatever and it does something special for somebody if you can really understand what that means you you basically i

55:09 Bubby Lewis put it to you like this let's say you make a song right you make a song and this song

55:18 Bubby Lewis become something really special for people whether it be a you know a nice big audience that hears it or a whole bunch of people right you made something out of nothing you made something out of nothing it was an idea and you put in enough work to turn it into this real thing that you can hear

55:44 Bubby Lewis outside it's no longer just in your mind it's out now and you can hear it you can press play you can hear it over and over and now you give it to people and and the greatest thing is when you have a feeling within yourself when you're writing a song and it makes you feel a certain way you put the song out and then you hear from random people that you never met

56:12 Bubby Lewis what the song makes them feel and you come across people that are expressing this same feeling you had when the song hit you there's no greater feeling than that there's no for me there's no greater feeling and what I would tell anybody is just be brave enough to try and I guess be be brave enough

56:39 Bubby Lewis to see what you can come up with you know see what you can create don't concern yourself with you know is it going to be good enough or will people like it will they do they not whatever it might be don't worry about any of that you want to feel something and it has to start with you and if you can put that into the song if you can put that into your groove or your chords or whatever it's very possible

57:08 Bubby Lewis You can play a bass line correctly, but it not have any feeling. You could play chords the right way, but it not have any feeling. But if you can figure out how to feel what you do, anybody that's listening to you, they're going to feel whatever it is you feel. This is the reason why the greats like Prince and Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles and...

57:33 Bubby Lewis Bob Dylan, I mean, I can go down the list, Jackson Brown, I can go down the list of all these legends, Willie Nelson, they all made great music, we know that, but we were able to feel their music, you know what I'm saying? Musician or not, we were able to feel their music, you could be tone deaf as all get out, but it was something about the music you could feel.

57:58 Bubby Lewis But the reason why is I guarantee is they felt it first. And so for me, that's the thing I encourage anybody that loves music or any form of art. If you can just make people feel something, that should be the goal. But you got to feel it first. So always go after what you feel first. Always go after what makes you feel good first, you know. I'm sure George Lucas was feeling good, you know, doing Star Wars.

58:31 Bubby Lewis We know the story, you know, there were some rough moments and there was a lot of doubt that maybe people had in him, but he had an idea and he stuck to it. And look at Star Wars today, you know what I mean? So One Piece, this is an anime about pirates. You know, J.K.

58:52 Bubby Lewis Rowling with Harry Potter, I mean, all this stuff that's so big now, it all started with just a feeling and an idea, but they believed enough in it to do it and to, you know, the courage to finish it and make it this real thing right in front of their eyes. So, yeah, I mean, I know that was a massive answer, but

59:15 Luke F. Walton Loved

59:15 Bubby Lewis that's for me, that's just the stuff that I think about all the time. If whenever I write a song, whenever I just get up to play a song, play a groove with my own music or Silver Kid or Snoop or whoever, I want this jump to be an experience and I want to feel this mug myself. And if I feel it, I know the people listening feel it. That's what I believe.

59:38 Bubby Lewis it's beautiful it's beautiful i love the bravery aspect because it is it's a it is a brave choice like you're saying to to do something that you really believe in because you're really putting yourself out there you're like this is me this is this is what this is what i like right

59:51 Bubby Lewis This is who I am. This is who I am. yeah Yeah. yeah Yep. that's really special well thank you so much for joining me Bubby i always feel super inspired after talking to you so it's gonna be a great day making music i i you gave me a good pep talk i'm like ready now man i'm

60:09 Bubby Lewis I wish, man, I'm over here. I woke myself up a little bit talking to you. sorry about that i'm

60:16 Bubby Lewis Oh, no, sorry about that this was good, man. This is good. I woke myself up a little bit. I know. As soon as I drank a little bit more of this Tito and laid out on my side.

60:28 Bubby Lewis Yeah, good. But no, this was great, man. I think this is wonderful that you got this show, man. And dude, you're a great producer. You're a great musician. I know I told you this when you sent me that song, you know, I wrote you a bunch of times and was talking about how dope that junk was. But man, you really dope at what you do. You really are.

60:52 Bubby Lewis I really And appreciate you're a it. good cat and there will always be a bright future and I pray the Lord's mercy and blessings on you and safety, you and your family and everything, man. I do. I mean that.

61:05 Bubby Lewis I really appreciate it, Bubby, and I feel it. I really do. I really Yeah, do. man.

61:09 Bubby Lewis So thank you so much for being such a great friend and educator Yeah, and musician. I'm really excited to see all the stuff you have to come. I'll always be a fan. And if

61:21 Bubby Lewis appreciate it, man. anybody Likewise. wants to check you out, Instagram or something like that would be the best. What would be the best place for people to point to?

61:28 Bubby Lewis Yeah, Instagram, Bubby Lewis, you know. I try and respond to everybody, too. I'm not one of them type of guys that's, you know, leave me alone, like, nah, what's up? I'm a country boy, man, you know?

61:43 Bubby Lewis Love it. Stay true. Yeah, you know? That's great. Well, have a great night, Bubby. Really appreciate you hopping on the podcast.

61:52 Bubby Lewis It ain't no thing, man. You be blessed and yeah, You too. we'll talk Japan soon,

61:58 Bubby Lewis Yeah. hopefully. Yeah, man. I'll come out. I'll come out. We'll have a little feast.

62:03 Bubby Lewis We'll walk the streets at two in the morning on 7-Eleven. That sounds like a plan, dude.

62:10 Bubby Lewis Yeah, man. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.