No, Tom Knight’s episode is not about the show Seinfeld. Instead, this is an episode about nothing.
Well, that isn’t entirely true. I mean, it is about stuff, but it doesn’t have a trajectory. You see, most interview-style podcasts should at least stay away from sounding too much like a conversation, and be more like an event that features conversation. It shouldn’t sound like a couple of buddies hanging out with microphones. But what happens when you have a voiceover artist on the other end? Well, that changes everything.
I thought it would be fun to have Tom on again for a couple of reasons. For one, this is a real treat for folks who have been listening to the show for some time now and have heard Tom Knight’s voice on the intro over 70 times now. So part of it is a nostalgia factor for listeners, Tom, and myself. I feel very lucky to have Tom as my friend. His expertise and willingness to help me by contributing his unique skills has been a major high point in the production of the show. I know that he enjoys the things he has contributed to the show too. Thanks, Tom.
The other side of it is whether a episode can feel like a couple of buddies hanging out and still have some kind of delivery that can make it a bit more than just that.
So, what did we go over? Well, for starters…my BIG f*** up. (clears throat) I had interviewed Dave Langguth the night before I recorded this session with Tom, and I came home with no content. Yup! That’s right. I didn’t record the audio, by accident. I thought that I had hit record on my Zoom H6 and did not double check and to my dismay, at the end of the interview, my Zoom showed 0:00:00 on the time code. In the moment I had wondered what to do. Avoid immediate embarrassment and wait until I got home to send him a message that I didn’t record it? Or bite the bullet right there and man up to what had gone wrong. After not much deliberation, I chose the latter. Just like how your parents used to tell you just to “rip off the Band-Aid”. I was greeted with a brief moment of personal misery from within and an “oh well man, shit happens”, from Dave. He was totally cool about it and the truth is, we had a lot of fun hanging out in his studio.
But there is something to be learned from this failure. For one, I won’t ever forget to double check my equipment before I get on with the interview. And secondly, I have grown up some over the last couple of years. Your initial reaction tells a big part of the story about where you are at with yourself. It is as truthful as you can be with yourself, to recognize your feelings that seem to be out of your control, and your reaction when situations are sudden and severe. In the past, I would have been unbelievably upset with myself and terribly embarrassed. The embarrassment would become the fuel for my anger and bad thoughts. This type of situation was one of the “nightmare scenarios” when I first decided to begin a podcast and could have very well prevented me from starting one in the first place.
By the time I arrived home that night, I had a clear head about it all and I knew how to deal with it. Sure, I was pissed off about the amount of time that I had wasted, but I understood that those feelings would pass. I would have to say that this is a great sign of progress for me. I think that because of so many good things that I recognize in my life, it helps outweigh stressful, negative, problematic, and challenging events. It has been a nice place to begin arriving to.
I wanted to take a moment to recognize the importance of that because from this point forward, until the end, it is just for fun. Oh, also I should add that Tom shared a story about a similar (but far worse) scenario that is absolutely heartbreaking.
So Tom and I talk about Motley Crue and the biopic “The Dirt”, and how Tommy Lee was a big inspiration for Tom back when he was coming up. And then it becomes a winding maze of peculiar topics including Shaq’s shoe size, Tom’s lack of body hair and average nipples, our ancestral backgrounds, Tom’s embarrassing moments with Dave Weckl, and why Tom doesn’t play sports. It is all kinds of ridiculousness.
Tom ends our conversation with his new interest in gymnastics and what it’s like to start as a middle aged man. That is what has always interested me about Tom. He is one of the most humble and modest people that I have met through this podcast. I still remember the AIM “anonymous” video the first time I saw it (credit to Joey “Bones” Parasole for sharing that content so I could find it). Tom is an unbelievable player and in some sense reminds me most of Dave Weckl, besides of course Dave Weckl. Considering his prowess as a drummer, he doesn’t make much fuss about himself. I think it is because his identity as a drummer isn’t all encompassing. He is a voiceover artist (as many of you know), a father of three children, and a husband. He also loves tackling the impossible, which for him is gymnastics.
Tom discusses how this “impossibility” is what drives his determination to continue chipping away. I guess it must have been this personality trait that drove him as hard as it did to become such a skillful drummer. A quick check in with himself lets him see what is lacking the most and what is the next thing to learn. Tom then scurries off to the drums/pad and works on it until it is sorted out and then moves onto the next thing he would need to learn. I can only imagine that this is how that went down.
Suffice it to say, this episode is really just for fun. My intent with a lot of my stuff is to trigger contemplation and your own curiosities. The beauty of podcasting is that it’s both original and curated content at the same time. With the information coming from so many sources, you can begin to see certain concepts, thoughts, and opinions that are in agreement among many guests and perhaps even yourself. I feel that maybe it can be more trusted because of that. It is like if you go to a doctor and they discover something wrong with you that needs treatment, you may ask for a second opinion. It all becomes more convincing as you get into the 4th, 5th and 6th time that you hear a similar message. Maybe that is a morbid reference, but it’s what comes to mind at the moment.
Anyway, sometimes we all need a break from the heavy stuff. I hope that you enjoy the episode and that it makes you laugh, think, and smile.
Music featured in this episode:
Adam Nitti – Skitzo
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