135: A Conversation with Jon Langston

28:14Nick Bare:that's passion behind your work. That's truly caring for the person that is receiving it and paying for that experience. I felt bad. I felt bad. He was struggling through. I mean, a lot of people go from all over to go to those shows. They spend a lot of money to pay for a hotel and all the gas and the tickets and find the merch and stuff. and they were coming to see a show. And when you think about it, it's like, man, this is about them. I've had to do that a bunch of times. And there's been a few shows where I just couldn't do it. And I was like, there ain't no way I'll be able to sing one note tonight.

28:52And luckily, I've only had to cancel two shows ever in my career so far. But there's been a lot of times where I've had to dig down deep and just looking at a guy like that. and like, you know, he'd be out here giving all he's got. And I've had to tell the fans, be like, listen, I'm giving all the God. Thanks for sticking with me. Thanks for singing along with me, helping me out through these songs. Because the road will take a toll on you, man. I mean, people think it's all, you know, glamorous or whatnot. And like a lot of the, you know, six years I was in this band, just like road-dogging it with my best friends in the world, just like having the time of our lives, but it's rough.

29:36A lot of flat tires, a lot of regs. We got hit by a drunk driver one time and, you know, just all kinds of crazy stuff happened, man. It's just like, you know, get you down, you know, especially like you go travel like, you know, 10 hours to go play a show and 20 people show up and drive back home. It's like, what am I doing?

29:57Nick Bare:Yeah. There's been a lot of that too. A lot of, you know, a lot of like, am I even doing, like is this even worth it anymore i've had you know so many mental things that you know that come with the the chasing that kind of dream it's like man am i is this even right what i'm doing is this where i should be going should i be you know eight hours from home i got a little newborn baby girl at home and i'm out here playing for like 10 people sometimes just to like try to like make a living and do all this is this worth it like i'm spending time away like there's been so many conversations it's like keep digging keep driving and but then there's the shows that you know we sell out and it's like oh this is all worth it you know it's just it's that constant grind constant battle of uh you know of uh trying to figure out like is this the right thing to do and you know I think it comes with a lot of prayer, for sure, and the understanding of, okay, this is what the Hannum Dell, of course, not every single show is going to sell out, but it came to a point where I almost quit music.

31:14I almost just said, I'm done with it. Like I was very low point in my life. Like, you know, a lot of stuff personally were happening. And I got to the point where I was like, I just, I just wanted to quit everything. And, uh, you know, that's when I had a, that's when I had like a transforming self-transformation, I guess, when I turned to just surrender to everything to God. and I was like, man, like, I can't do this alone anymore. Like, I'm tired of just trying to force, I'm trying to force success. I'm tired of just all these, like, this is going wrong because I did this. I should be doing this, you know.

31:59When I finally, like, came to peace with my, okay, this is what I love to do and I'm not having fun anymore. Like, I'm just, like, killing myself out here. when I finally just surrendered and just, I found peace and started having fun again. And when I turned my life to God and just said, I can't do this anymore by myself, that's when it all turned around for me.

32:26Nick Bare:I mean, there's so much power and belief. Absolutely. Not just in yourself personally, but also just in God having a plan for you. you know and if like if you don't have that belief then the journey might not be worth it but like those are the moments where like you have to turn to to faith and just be like so driven behind your purpose to reinforce i'm on the right path there's going to be suffering there's going to be hardship there's going to be struggle like it's it's cliche but everyone knows on the opposite side of struggle is where growth occurs. There's no one that has achieved success that hasn't gone through the mud.

33:14Nick Bare:I mean, I had so many years within BPN where I was like, is this the path I'm supposed to be on? I'm looking at all my competitors and all these other people building businesses. I'm like, I'm so far behind where they are at. I can never get caught up. it's gonna take me decades and decades to get called up is this like is this really what i'm supposed to be doing this is going to turn into what i hope it will one day and even the moments where i question that it's just the belief of i'm on the right path i'm going to keep pursuing this path i'm going to keep working towards this vision and eventually you did you dig through the mud and you get the other side and there's never a moment where it's like snap the fingers oh like this is what I was waiting for.

34:02Nick Bare:It's like this dimmer switch that slowly turns on of, I'm seeing the forest of the trees. Now I'm seeing the fruits of the labor. Things are starting to work out in my favor because you went through the tough times, the struggle. That's crazy you say that too because me and my tour manager, JD, he would always say, man, put your horse blinders on and worry about the other artists and what they're doing. They got their own journeys. They're doing that, you know, their success, their journey is a whole lot different than ours. And because, you know, once when I kind of like realized that, I was like, man, I'm worried too much about what other people are doing.

34:44Oh, they're putting out music whenever they want. I should be, you know, all these things that like distracting me from like what I need to be doing right in front of me. and once when I you know like surrendered and put those horse blinders on as when I was like I was writing the best music that I have in a long time I was happier because I was just focused on what I needed to do and nothing else and having those horse blinders I wasn't you know I didn't have any distractions I still I had to constantly remind myself every single day all right horse blinders on I ain't worried about what everyone else is doing I what do I got to do today and And once when I started getting in that rhythm, it's really when I started having fun again.

35:25Because in this industry, being on the road and stuff, there's no structure. Me personally, I need structure in my life. So when I have my horse blinders on and I have like, okay, I'm doing this, this, and this. When I have a routine, it's when I win day by day. And once when I started incorporating that in my life and staying consistent with that, that's when I started to, you know, have better relationships in my life, have, you know, better confidence in myself and, um, just was more productive and like, and it just like, it snowballs. Right. And, and so that's when it's, you know, when I, so I always just, you know, so I always look back and, uh, think about what JD says when, put your horse blinders on and, and, uh, do what you got to do and that's what um i mean that's just what i've been incorporated past couple of years and it's really helped me for sure i'm a big fan of this podcast called founders

36:24Nick Bare:uh it's it's hosted by this gentleman named david senra and he talks about the the greatest athletes in the world entrepreneurs founders world leaders and there was this recent episode I was listening to, I can't remember exactly what episode, but he used the same analogy of horse blinders, of pursuing a vision of yours, or a goal, or building a business in this case. And it's so easy to remove those horse blinders and look to the people to the left and the right of you, and compare where you're at and where they're at. And it's so much easier said than done. Just don't let that bother you. Don't don't watch what they're doing, avoid it.

37:14Nick Bare:It's like, yeah, it's easy to say that, but then you're on social media and you're talking to people and it's like, look at where they're at. Look at what they're doing. Look at the song they just released. Look at this business they just sold. And instantaneously, you feel bad about where you're at. But when I actually implemented the horse blinders and this podcast with David Sandero was explaining how when this founder of this business actually put up the horse blinders and stopped worrying, completely stopped worrying about competition and just focused on what they were building, who they were serving and how they were going to get there, everything exploded for them.

37:55Nick Bare:And there's this lightness that comes along with it. Like you, me and French were in the sauna talking about like the lightness you get when you surrender everything to God. Like deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Like the lightness you get from that, that's where you get this clarity and this depth of thought. I have never been able to be proactive and productive of any pursuit, whether it's like a fitness goal, leading my family, building the business. When I've been focused on other people and I've been distracted by all these other things that take away from the clarity of thought and depth of this is where I'm going.

38:40Nick Bare:These are my core values. These are my beliefs. This is what I want to accomplish and do. Let everyone else do their thing. And everyone, like one of the things I've learned in life is, and I used to struggle with this so badly that I used to think that someone else's win took away from my win. It's like, you know, compared to music industry, like this artist is crushing it. that means that I'm not crushing it. But that's just nonsense. Everyone can crush it in their own space and way and someone else's win doesn't take away from your win. Absolutely. And when I actually started believing that and adopting that, my whole mindset around competition and comparison and where I'm at right now and where I'm trying to get to, it changed.

39:29Nick Bare:I just felt lighter. There was less stress. There was less anxiety. anxiety there was less pressure it's like i've surrendered it all now let's just go pursue in the right path um i mean it's really like you said i think the toughest thing for me is like you know because it's easier said than done we got social media we're always you know constantly having to be on social media you know seeing all that and then but once when you find that piece and stuff it's like cool happy for them you just like kind of switch it into like awesome good for them and that's what i've kind of definitely told myself and definitely have tried to practice more of just being happy for other people and just you know just like they're crushing it it's awesome not just like like you said like they're crushing it i'm not you know and it's so easy to fall into that and that's been one of my biggest struggles for sure and but um it's definitely a constant bell every day but um you're right man it's i'm having fun again and finding peace and what i'm doing and and uh i feel like so many people in all areas of life can relate to that for sure yeah i was uh listening to this alex from oz podcast a few weeks ago he was talking about how you can like really identify who your true friends are and like sometimes you'll have these friends who are, I don't want to say less successful, but like they're, they're not, they're along, say like you and your friend are on the same journey and your friend isn't as far ahead of the journey as you are.

41:09Nick Bare:So they're rooting for you. They're like, dude, I'm like, I want you to, or you're rooting for them. Like they're, they're behind you. You're like, dude, I'm like, I'm so happy for you. I keep going. I want you to win. And they start getting closer to where you're at. And you're still rooting for them. And then they surpass you. And then you stop rooting for them. That's not true friendship. Like your true friends, even when they surpass you, you should be so proud and excited. Hype them up even more. And hype them up even more, yeah. Absolutely. And that's also hard to do. Like when you have someone who's a world champion at something and then they get surpassed they don't want someone to be the world champion above them they don't want someone to succeed whether they're friends or not but i think that's like one of those moments where you guys sit back and be like i should be really happy for them and proud of them so i'm going to be absolutely those are the moments where you find out who's actually your friend is when you you in some cases surpass where they're at if they start rooting for you and cheering for you and supporting you still it's a good friend i think that's what so awesome about country music community and like because i feel like everybody is just cheering on everybody to like you know i'm sure there's might be a few out there you know whatever like might might just be just put on show who knows i don't know i haven't come across that but like you know my friend like the guys i i'm close with like we're all just hyping each other up yeah and we might like dang like you know i they got this new tour like man i wish i had a tour like you know you can get into that but like for the most part i feel like you know a lot of guys like you know the country music community is so you know that's what i love about country music because everyone's cheering on everybody that's awesome it's pretty cool so i want to talk about your transformation with like health and fitness.

43:08Nick Bare:And I'm assuming that like this lifestyle, as you previously mentioned, it gets crazy really fast. You sign a record label, you go on the road, you run road like six years, you're on the bus at all times, late nights. Like at what point in your career, touring, playing music, did you realize, dude, something's got to change? It was probably, man, a couple of years ago, I was playing a show down in Florida, and man, I was having a blast. I was drinking all day. We were on the water, and I saw this video of me, and I was like, man, I don't like that guy. That guy is just a little reckless right now.

43:59And I just came to that realization. I was like, man, I've been pretty reckless for a long time. with my health, with like my attitude, my just every, all areas of my life, I just been kind of winging it and just not, not the guy who I wanted to be. And it started with, you know, just, you know, I'll back up a little bit. So growing up playing sports and being active. And when I came out of football, I went straight into music and it's, you know, late nights at the bar, you know, traveling all the time and just getting out of that structure. And I lost all structure in my life. It was sleeping whenever you want, wake up whenever, all these things.

44:49And it wasn't until I had my daughter is when I was like, okay, I need to start straightening up. And even after that for a little bit, it was a process. A lot of wake up calls, probably too many and there's a song that'll be coming out either soon or on this new record that it kind of explains that was one of those wake up calls and but remember that day I was like something's got to change something's got to change and that was a wake up call and then a few months go by do okay and like start straightening up and you know not drinking as much or like you know try to eat right or try to wake up a decent hour and get some stuff done and, or whatever it may be.

45:35And then

45:39I felt like I was flirting with the idea for a long time. And it wasn't until I was like, all right, I'm just going to, I've always kind of liked running here and there. It would just make me feel good for like, I run a couple of miles and then, you know, you know, flush out the, the 17 beers I had from the weekend and then I'll be good for the week and then do it all over again you know but like that wasn't the lifestyle like I was knew that was setting me up for success in my life or anything it wasn't good some people can just roll like that and they're great for but for me personally I knew that that was not the way it's like fitness to that point was essentially a cleanse it was a cleanse it was like a Sunday I get home from the road I go on my two mile three mile run go sit in the sauna and i'm like i sweated out my my craziness and you know you know be good for the weekend and do it all over and it just was this constant cycle and i i think when i saw that video of me down at that show i was drank way more than i should just I was like, I just got, something's got to change.

46:53And so I started 75 hard that next week. And I just quit drinking for like 80, it was like, I went more than 75. I went 80 days without, I felt the best I ever did. But like I was, you know, just going on walks every day or just working out twice a day, doing that whole deal. And I felt amazing. I was like, this is crazy. I haven't been this long without alcohol and shoot, since I was probably 19. And, you know, and it just like, I loved how I felt. I love how, what direction that was feeling like. And then, man, I just, I found your YouTube and I was like, man, this guy, I look up to this dude.

47:36I've been watching. I was like, man, like, I want to be like, this guy's running. He's got his life. Like, he's building a business. Like that is so inspiring. And it all starts with like getting right and taking care of yourself. And I knew, I was like, I am not taking care of myself. I'm doing these crash diets, these crash cleanses, like a lifestyle change needs to happen. So I just like started running just a little here, a little there. And then I kind of got the bug and, you know, I just, it just took off from there. and I just felt, I started, the longer I ran, the more I had clarity and the more I got that runner's high or whatever you want to call it, I started becoming like creative.

48:22And the more I started falling in love with running and stuff like that, it was like that lifestyle began to slowly switch from, oh, I don't want to go eat all this because I'll feel like crap tomorrow. I want to get a good run in tomorrow. And then that's when I was like, oh man, what's happening here? Something, something's clicking a little bit. And it just kind of snowballed into this, into this love for just taking care of myself. And, and then I got, you know, I got baptized last year and it was a, it was a whole transformation of like getting my life in order. It started with just take, getting healthy.

49:02Nick Bare:Well, you remember the first time we ran together? Yeah. First time I ran, first time I ran 11 miles. I was scared as I was like man what am I doing here I have no business that's when we were living in Nashville it's the first time we ever linked up Shelby Bottoms Park East Nashville and I was in marathon prep and I was like I got hey let's go for a run I got 11 miles on the schedule today you down yeah I'm down and I mean you like obviously it was the longest run you ran at that point before that what was the longest you ever ran 10 miles 10 That was like a month before that. I mean, you pushed through.

49:40Nick Bare:Yeah. I remember that last mile, you were like, there you go. I was like, you have no idea how hard I'm pushing around. No, you got it done. I fully respected it, man. That was cool. You came out and just like threw down. Yeah. And we talked pretty much the entire run. Right. And the journey's tough. Like getting started, no matter what you do, but I think this is like the beauty of fitness and health is like the hardest part is getting started. And you get started and you find your rhythm and you find your routine. And then all of these things, like you said, they just start to fit together. It's like, you're not just running because you know running is good for you, but you actually start craving running.

50:23Nick Bare:And for people who aren't runners, like they hear that and say, you crave running. And it's not necessarily like the way you feel during the run, but when you finish the run, like when you finish those 10 miles on the track this morning, it's so rewarding. Absolutely. And we put in all this work as the sun's coming up to set us up for success the rest of the day. And now we have to make these smart decisions around our diet to support that run so we can wake up the next morning and run again or train this afternoon. And like all of these things in terms of like food choices and diet and training and sleep and, you know, like avoiding alcohol or at least consuming in moderation, like all these things start to fit together and they benefit every aspect of your life, but it just takes time.

51:16That's what another, that's what I've learned probably the most. It takes a lot of time. Cause like it's crazy how much work it takes to just be okay at running. And it's, but it's fun. I enjoy the journey. I enjoy the efforts it takes to get better. And it's fun. I mean, I just have fun with it. And I don't think of it as like, God, it's like I'm looking forward to my runs every week. I'm looking, you know, yeah, there's some days I'm like, I do not want to do this today. But the feeling you have after you complete it, after you didn't want to, weighs a whole lot more than anything. Yeah. and um like you said it's like you know it just sets you up for the rest of the day and like you know some one of my buddies like what are you what are you training for i'm like oh man i'm just i don't know like i just i just enjoy it like it's a whole lot better i sing so much easier on stage now i'm jumping around running around like singing on stage is easy now it's never been easy if you ever come to one of my shows i'm all over the place jumping around and i would be gassed after shows like i would be toasted but now like it's like i can sing easily like running around like it's just like it's not just you know because like oh i'm training for the marathon this fall or whatever it's like it's my life it's my work it's just longevity you know being living longer for my kids you know stuff like that it's just a whole lot more than just like just you know know i'm just running to run or running for this marathon it's like part of my life now you know it's just it's really cool how it's transformed yeah there's people who ask me sometimes well

53:02Nick Bare:even when i'm not training for something what are you training for or if we're out to eat i make a healthier food choice compared to like what some other people are ordering what are you dieting for it's like i'm not dieting and i'm not training for anything necessarily at certain points but it's like there's no finish line and i think that's like such a uh a problematic approach mentally to anything in life so let me just like get to this finish line and then i can cheat or then i can relax and i can slow down i think part of it's building a plan and a protocol that is sustainable. But like, as I'm, you know, as we were sitting in the sauna, like I already brought up, we're talking about our faith.

53:53Nick Bare:And I'm reading this book right now by Mark Comer called Practicing. I think practicing is the way or practicing the way. And it's talking about like prayer. And when you start like actually spending time in a quiet place, in your secret place, and you pray, it's uncomfortable. It's challenging. You don't know what to say. You don't know what to ask God for or thank him for. What do I do in this time and space? And Mark Comer says, you just got to keep showing up. There is no finish line within faith. It is a forever journey. That's awesome. And it is so applicable to your fitness, your health, like leading a family.

54:43Nick Bare:And when I think about leading my family, like it doesn't end when the kids turn 18 and they go off to college. It's forever. So it's like, I have to build any sustainable practices that I know don't end at a certain point or age or time. But it's like, I have to constantly be learning and growing and implementing and testing and refining and being humbled by everything we're doing right now in life everything if you attach a finish line to it you've already set up yourself up for for failure i mean i'll just iterate what you said like there's no finish line of becoming you know you know becoming a dad was you know will always be a dad you know but like i feel like constantly learning every single day how to be a better husband.

55:34I mean, that's, I mean, we just, I just got, I've been married almost a year now, but October, um, November will be a year. Um, but, uh, yeah. It's tough. Yeah. No, I mean, they say it's tough. It's hard work, but like it is. I mean, I mean, I'm luckiest man in the world being married to, uh, to Abby and it's, it's just, but it is tough. It's like, we're constantly learning, constantly figuring out, you know, issues and problems and we're constantly growing together. And I think that's what is awesome about marriage and like what I've learned most this year. And my marriage is like, we're growing, we're still, you know, there's no finish line, like you said.

56:21And it's going to be a constant, constant growth together, constant, you know learning experience constant like just how to love each other how to communicate that's been just a challenge but it's an awesome challenge and it's an it's such a beautiful like you know it's such a beautiful way to grow together it's just this october this october will be five years for steph and i awesome of being married and um i think what's so interesting

56:55Nick Bare:about like marriage and relationships. Like when you meet someone when you're younger, you both are individuals and to expect each one of you not to grow and change over the course of like 10, 20, 30, 40 years, I think it's pretty unrealistic. So I was once told, you know, when you're approaching marriage and building a partnership and like really learning from it. It's like there's someone you, the person you marry, that is like one person and you love them and you're committed to them, but you also have to be committed and prepared to love the person they become over the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years.

57:49Nick Bare:because even the last five years like steph and i have both grown and changed dramatically like significantly we are much different people different but the same yeah because we've had life experiences we've had two kids now we've made multiple moves you know like more than moves more than i'd like to admit and just like life itself uh provides like experience and hardship and struggle and all these things and you grow and change in that process and one of the things that we talk about often is like if you get to a point in your life and there's a miscommunication or there's an argument uh or disagreement it's like well when we first started dating we first got married you said this to get i did say that or do that or want that but we've both changed over time i think that's the that was like a light bulb that went off my head when i was told that you the person you marry it's a person you love you have to love them for who they are but who they will become in the future as well oh that makes sense yes like with that being said you guys now have like this new part of marriage that you're about to experience with a baby coming here soon yeah so that will again then like change everything i mean we're just trying to figure it out with one kid now that we're gonna have two like it's uh so if i'm hitting you up asking for notes and advice just be ready it's exciting we're excited man uh we're do in December.

59:34So it's going to be here real quick. And we're excited, baby girl. We got a couple of names picked out. We don't know. I feel like it's going to be a game time decision. Yeah. I feel like we'll know when we look at her. It's going to be one of the, you know, we got two names where I think we're sold on one, but I think it's going to be, it could switch last second. Who knows?

59:54Nick Bare:I really gave Steph like a full freedom of naming our son, Nico, Charlie, you know, our first, like we went back and forth for a while. like with Nico, I was like, Steph, you go ahead, like pick some options and I'll like, I'll see where we're at and like, we'll pursue one of those. How, how do you anticipate like your career changing and the way you approach music moving forward? Well, a lot of, a lot of things have changed with my, in my career this past year. Got a new booking agent, got a new manager, JD, my best friend, who's my tour manager for 10 years. He, he's my manager now. um gosh so many changes a whole new pretty much a whole new band crew it's just pretty much a clean house of and then got my team together it's like all right in this next chapter of my career we're gonna work and we're gonna get after it and uh but and i left my label too which was huge it's a big move big move to go back independent to not have the big machine you know, behind me.

1:01:00I was with Universal for six years and great. It wasn't one of those nasty splits. It was, hey, this is, I went to the Universal and said, hey, this is what I believe is best for my career right now. Take a step back from being with a big label. I need to go back independent and just kind of do it the way how I started this whole thing, go back to the basics. They were so cool. It was a clean split and everything was fine. And I love everybody over there they've been super huge supporters of me in my career um for so long and still are and um mike harris is such a great guy he's running running the ship over there and he's doing an amazing job and but uh we had dinner and we just talked and and uh he's like okay you know like we're gonna we're gonna part ways but you know we wish the best for you and it was scary too because I was like, I'm on my own.

1:02:00But it was exciting too because I was like, I can put out music whenever I want. I don't have to go on anybody's timeline but mine.

1:02:08Nick Bare:Was that the main reason for more freedom and flexibility? Absolutely. I wrote that real one song I just put out. I sent you. I was in between a couple songs and I sent them to my buddies and I couldn't pick which one and everyone said real one. Absolutely. That means it's a great song. I appreciate it's a great song thanks dude and I was like I was fired up because everyone said the same song and I was like all right well I had the freedom just all right let's put this one out I didn't have any other you know I definitely reached out to see people's opinions but I was you know decision maker it wasn't like I had to go through all the red tape or someone else's time like okay well you know well we have these releases and you know we can do this and we have this date this day and I was like man I could put it out whenever I want and I love having that freedom and I love having the you know being fired up about a song and being able to put it out right then and have the creative direction because you know if I was like you know oh we'll put out real one I can't put it out for next six months I was like I'm gonna write 20 30 more songs until then I might be fired up about another one let's get it out and I have this plan for this song right now like you know you might the energy i put out the energy i put towards like one song might not be the same in six months you know might not be as fired up about it it might be on to the next subject or next song that i'm fired up about so it's cool and it's very i feel like in where i'm at my career it's very effective to be able to have that freedom to just put it give the give the fans that have been with me for the past 10 plus years the amount of music they deserve and like you know i have all these songs that have just been compiled for so long and i feel like i'm finally being able to just dish them out whenever and it's really cool it sounds similar to the the book publishing space actually how was that by the way uh it was a it was a good experience it was just a long experience yeah where like the publisher i worked with ben bella books great publisher a great team to work with super helpful through the editing process uh like the editors that i the copywriters and the editors i worked with were very thorough like when i i submitted my manuscript and i got it back i didn't know what to expect like maybe there's like 30 50 edits 6 000 edits now some of those were like grammatical errors that's still overwhelming oh my gosh that's crazy dude i remember looking at these thinking i'm never gonna get through 6 000 uh edits but what's uh well i say there's like similarities in the book publishing what sounds like the music publishing space the manuscript was done edits were completed and i was ready to like let's send it let's print it and let's sell it but then they have to look at what books are coming out in the next 12 months how it fits into their like schedule so we didn't release it for another 12 months after it was done so the whole process ended up being about two years from like starting the book to publishing the book because it's not it's it wasn't part of my timeline like i had to work with their timeline it's frustrating but that's just like publishing as a whole yeah so you do lose some freedom and flexibility and then like for me to be able to if i wanted to write and release another book there's a certain timeline in which i have to wait to let the first book breathe so like you can see how like it does limit you in some sort of capacity yeah that i mean i feel like striking when the iron's hot is like crucial and like sounds like in that space too because I mean say like on social media you have a song that's blowing up on TikTok like earlier this year that find you song I just had the acoustic version out I already had the full band version done but we I was gonna plan on you know just teasing the acoustic version first and that went crazy on TikTok well I had the freedom I was like hey got on the phone it's like we got like a million views in like a couple of days on this find you acoustic like we need to get this up on on spotify and every all the other platforms asap and like you know who knows how long that would have took you know yeah if i made a call to label like hey you know like well there's i'm sure we would have figured something out uh but i mean just the fact that i could just be like all right let it rip like that was like so much fun to me and like it's making the whole like creative process and like being independent fun and it's just enjoyable that like you know i can do whatever i want and not not just be at the mercy of somebody else i feel like there's there's power to that and it's and also it gives like power to fans like they created the demand they they said we need this song now and i was able to give it to them and there's and those fans i mean they've been with me for so long and you know there've been so many times long i call the drought where i just wasn't able to put out any music and i feel like that was like really hindering um the momentum we had and now like i said like staying consistent with the music rollouts and just staying on top of that.

1:07:55I feel like that's crucial, especially today's and then day and age and how people consume music.

1:08:01Nick Bare:Yeah, being able to operate with speed. The team here knows they have an internal rule. Don't send me something if it's not ready to be posted. Because if someone sends me a photo that I think looks really good or a video that's super cool or a podcast clip, I will post it instantaneously. Right. It's almost a joke where like, like we literally sent this to you five seconds ago and it's already posted. Yeah. Well, I think that's cool though. Cause like a lot of people, a lot of companies like, you know, like you're in control, like you post that, like it's coming from you. And I feel like that's part of VPN, you and your brand.

1:08:40Like this is you. And like, you're saying, Hey, like I'm in control. Like I'm posting whatever. It's not like you have, yeah, you have a team, like a digital team, but like it's you, like you're posting, you're actually the one pressing post.

1:08:53Nick Bare:Yeah. And I think that's super cool and that translates for sure. Sometimes people reach out and they're like, can you connect me with your assistant so we can get something scheduled? Really? Like, that's me. Well, that's just me. Yeah. We can talk and like, I got my calendar pulled up right now. So what do you want to put on the schedule? Yeah. Well, we got to coordinate with like your team. Like, no, I'm good. I got Instagram on my phone. Yeah. Let's do it. It's so funny. It's awesome. Well, dude, I appreciate just like your commitment and buy into me, my mission, BPN over the years. I mean, like the hat you're wearing right now, you've worn in music videos.

1:09:28Nick Bare:You know, it's like so cool to see that. And it's been so cool just like feeling the love and support from you. Absolutely. And to have you as an official partner of BPN now is like super meaningful for us. And we're excited to support your journey. I appreciate that, man. Like, I mean, when I started watching your videos a couple years ago, man, it was really cool. I was like, man, I feel like me and him would be buds. Like, I felt like, you know, we hit it off on that one run. I was like, dude, I feel like I've known this guy forever. And like, we just have such a connection with like goals and dreams and like your CEO and building this brand and this company and like what you stand for.

1:10:07I was like, man, that's super inspiring. That's how I want to be in my career, my business model. Like everything that you stand for, it's like, man, like I want to surround myself with people like that. and the fact that you believe in me and like, as I believe in you and like, it's just really cool how our worlds collide and how everything goes full circle. I just want to say, I appreciate you and being a great friend and just being awesome and just, you know, having me on board be a part of this VPN team. You know, it's, I never thought like I would be a part of something like this, but it's so cool that like, that there's a space for a guy like me in this industry or this space is like hey like yeah i

1:10:53Nick Bare:do music but like i'm also like committed to like change my life and that's i feel like that's what y 'all are all about so this brand's all about it's it's for the committed absolutely like we don't have to be professional athletes but it's a commitment towards like the journey the goal the purpose, the beliefs, the values, our family, the mission, like all of those things. Like we're a brand for the committed and everyone's journey looks a little bit different, but like we're all fighting that mission. That's awesome, man. I appreciate you, man. Appreciate you, brother.