Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Come on.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: This is Outside the Round with Matt Burrill for Rage Rowdy podcast.
What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of Outside the Round with me, Matt Brill. Today, a very special guest, a guy who I've admired for a long time. He's popped in and hung out at some of our events here in town. He's from one of my favorite cities in the world, Birmingham, by God, Alabama. It's my man Sebastian Cole, also known as Pink Beard. What's going on, brother? Thanks for coming on and doing this, man.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Good morning to you, and I'm more than thrilled to be here, man. Thanks for having me, dude.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: So talking about Alabama, everybody talks in Nashville, like, Georgia is the state, and there's all this music out of Georgia. If you go on that. If you hop on i20 and you go across that border, man, you're from such a rich musical town, a rich musical state. Talk about the hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Growing up down there, I always say that the Bible belt is real and Birmingham is probably the buckle, you know? Like, it's literally right in the middle of the Bible Belt. And so it's a church on every corner. And with churches on every corner come instruments on every corner. So you got all these kids that, like, you know, want to participate in the church service. And so you pick up the drums or you pick up a guitar, you pick up the piano, blah, blah. And so it's a really rich musical town, really rich musical scene. I'm really proud to be from it, man. Really proud.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: So when does a guy like you get his start?
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Oh, my God. The day I quit making music was the day I started making music.
Try to tell the story super quick. But I had been trying, like, wrote an album that was doing really, like, locally, doing really well this, maybe almost 20 years ago now. Wrote this album, was doing really well with it locally. Like, anytime somebody came to town, I got to open for them. Like, I was, you know, becoming a local thing.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: And what. In what genres of music were you opening?
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Single songwriter stuff, man. But because Birmingham is an R and B town. Yeah. Or a country town. I was kind of in the middle of that. Yeah. Right.
And so, you know, I could open for. I don't know if you remember.
Oh, my God, my name. Dwell A. I could open for Dwell A. Or I could open for the Matthew Mayfield Project. You might not remember. But anyway, point being, I. I kind of could swing in a lot of ways. I played instruments, you know, but I had groove, whatever. So it just. I couldn't figure out how to get out of Birmingham, right? I was doing really well, like locally, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery. But I couldn't get out of that. And my band members all moved and left me there by myself. And I went on this little tour, headlining for like this Motown cover band in France.
And it was horrible.
And I landed back on my 30th birthday and I was like, man, it's time to get a big boy job. I can't keep doing this.
And my uncle picked me up from the airport in Atlanta. It was January 17, 2012. Never forget that. Wow. I just turned 30 and I put my head against the window and I started crying and I. And I was like, man, that's enough of that, right? Like, I gotta go get a big boy job. And the moment I did that, and you can check the weather if you'd like, it started raining and it was just like the worst rom com sad moment, you know, you get right.
Woe is me. And at that point, maybe five minutes later, my phone rang. It was my friend Mike Warren from home. I don't know if you know.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Oh, I know Michael. Michael's good people, man. I love Michael Warren, man. What a good guy.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: What a good guy, man.
And he called. He said, man, I got some bad news and some good news. I said, well, give me the bad news first. He said, man, you remember we had written a song back the summer before? And he was like, yeah, they tried to get it to Sierra and it didn't work. And I was like, you know what, Mike, man, that's okay. I gotta quit today, man. I gotta get my head out of the clouds. It's time to be a grown up. He said, well, you might want to hear the good news. And I said, what's the good news? He said, it didn't work for Sierra because they gave it to JLo and she's premiering it on American Idol. And I was like, yeah.
And so the day I quit making music was the day I got my first cut. And so then I moved out to la, you know, took the little. Cause it was on a movie. That track was on a movie. So, you know, you get paid kind of up front for that. I didn't have a publishing deal, anything, so they just wrote me a check. Wow. So I took that little money, man, and moved out to la. Didn't know how expensive LA was, so, you know. But within three weeks, man, I had signed a record deal and a publishing deal and I went on to write the Alessia Cara Stuff and, you know, really changed my life around that. But it got started, basically. I've been writing songs for God knows how long. Yeah. You know, right when I quit, that's when it worked.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: That's wild, man. And that's the way that the world works. And that's the way the man upstairs works, man.
One door, you think one door is closing, and then an even bigger one's opening up. And look at where that took you, man, all these years later.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: My good, crazy part is this. This part of my life. I'm sure we'll get to that later, but this part of my life is kind of a rehash of that same thing.
I got to a point where, like, songwriting had gotten.
I don't want to say boring, but, like, redundant. Right. Like, I just feel like I'm writing the same song. Yeah. Over and over again.
I wasn't, like, excited about it anymore, and I missed. I missed the expression in music. Shout out to all the artists out there doing their thing. However you express is wonderful. But, like, I'm loud and I'm dynamic, and I like, you know, vocal parodies and, you know, I like dynamics. And I felt like music had kind of become, you know, two, three notes in a row, and it just got boring.
And I really was about to quit writing songs. I was putting my house up for sale in la. I was gonna move back home and figure out something else to do.
And I had written a couple songs for another artist that felt good. And I kept trying to get them to that artist, but every time I sent it to him, someone would go, who's that singing? And I go, oh, that's me. And they go, oh, you should do that. And I thought they were saying, get these trash songs away from me.
Just keep them.
But eventually I was like, okay, I'll just do it myself. And that's how this happened. And I've been.
This has been the happiest year of my adult life.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Hands down. Hands down.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: That's awesome. What. What was it like moving from. From the 205 out to LA?
Like, going from.
Going from Birmingham to LA, man. Yeah. Two incredibly different places.
[00:06:34] Speaker A: I was paying 625 for rent in Birmingham.
[00:06:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Comparable apartment when I moved to LA.
1875.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: She's almost. Three times.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: About three times, right. At three times. Yeah. Yeah.
Called it, like, whoa. Like, you know what I'm saying? And keep in mind, I had $27,000 that I made from the writing thing.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: So I paid off all my student loans. I don't have student loan gas, so I paid off all my student loans, you know. So I'm like, okay, I'm good. I got like $7,000 left once I finish up. I'm like, okay, this will get me through a couple months.
By the time I pay first or last month you read getting all my deposits, I had like maybe $2,000 left, you know, so. So I was really in a hustle to get there. When I got there again, within three weeks, I signed a deal. I didn't know of a soul when I showed up, but every day I was like, hey, man, can I write with you? Can I write with you? And thing about LA is they're like, yeah, come right with me. I don't know why they're that way in la, but that's just how it is. Just that way. People are always looking for something new. So they would let me in the room. And every time they go, you can really write. You should go meet such and such. Tomorrow. I go do that. And within three weeks. So mom was like, hey, I'll sign that.
And right the day my second month rent was due, I got a. I got a little deal, man. I was like, all right, this works out. And I just had to hold on until. Till I could actually make some money, man. But the thing. I'm a homebody for the most part.
I just like to go to work, go home. Simple man, in that regard.
So the things that you might hear about la. I don't even know about it. Never saw it.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Because you weren't out.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: I wasn't out, man. I'm here to make some money. Yeah. You know, I make some. I make some friends at work, but other than that, man, just. I lay low, get out to the beach every now and then.
[00:08:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Talk. Talk about. Talk about growing up and, and your family and coming up and being the guy. I don't know if you come from, like a musical family or. You were talking about your sister before we came on here now, how you thought, like, she was. She was listening to Adele and Chin sing. But talk about just, just little Sebastian and growing up like you did, man.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: My.
My mom and dad, both preachers. My dad was a pastor.
You know, I grew up in a really, like, Jesus first type place. Yeah.
And so I spent a lot of time in church. Yeah. My godmother was the organ player. The first church that we kind of came born into and, you know, you know, I'm sitting out in the pews and my godmother gets to Sit up there on the organ, and she gets juice.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Oh, that's a big deal in a hot. In a hot church. Right. Alabama, you know what I'm saying?
[00:09:11] Speaker A: She gets juice. So I. I would work my way to go sit by her because she would let me sit by my godmother, right?
[00:09:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: And she would give me juice.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: And I thought, this is the seat. This is where you want to sit, right? Like, you get juice, you get to play. You can be loud, you're up high.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: You'Re a little bit, like.
[00:09:27] Speaker A: It's crazy, right? It's the best seat in the house. It's not like the little. It's not like the pool pit seats. It's wide. You know what I'm saying? So it's bigger than the pastor seat. Right. It's great.
And so I wanted to sit in that seat. And so my godmother taught lessons at her house on the weekends. And my mom would drop me off over there, but my godmother's husband did not want me playing a piano because that was for girls. He just did not want me to play piano, really did not.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Even in the time of, like, guys like Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, and there's so many guys that he did not.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: That was for girls.
And my godmother, God rest her soul, man, I miss that lady. And my godmother said, oh, Bo, let him play. And he just did not like it. He didn't like that. But he would leave the house, and every time she run in there and beat around, it was the best.
God rest that lady soul.
That's how I kind of got my start as a. Like, picking around on pianos. And then I've always liked words. You could tell I talk a lot.
And so I started writing songs, man. I wrote my first song for the kids Cry when I was five, man. Song called God is my inspiration. And they sang it. They sang the song, right? Like, I got a cut in five, Right.
I'm a winner.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: Yeah, you're up.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: And from that point on, man, I just. I always. It was my way of expression. Again, I do come from a very folk. Were really religious. My father's really strict, so there's a lot of things I couldn't say. Yeah. But I could sing, right? And my mom always made sure that I had that as a space no matter how I felt. And I'm so appreciative for that, man. Like, no matter how I felt. And I found ways to, like, say more than what I said. Right. And I think that's probably if I have a superpower, that's it. Like, to put more into a word.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: And is that in the inflection vocally? Is that in the keys that you're pressing?
[00:11:11] Speaker A: Is. It's a way you put that word, how you hide that little turn of phrase.
It's. You want it because you only get so many words. Yeah. Right. So you got to say a lot.
Yeah. In a few words. And. And that was. That saved my life on many an occasion, man.
And, you know, my family is not necessarily. I mean, my little sister, my baby sister. Hey, praise.
She's a. Can really sing. Like, she out sings me every day. Yeah. But she doesn't sing. She doesn't like to perform. I like to perform.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: You know, like to entertain somebody.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: I love it, man.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: I love it. I get to sit in that seat, man. You know, like, you get juice up there, bro. Don't forget that.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:11:49] Speaker A: So I really like that. But, you know, and we sang a lot around the house. Me and my mom, like, make up little jingles with each other, and she's always been really encouraging of that. And even my dad. My dad really liked the fact that I wrote songs because, you know, as long. Of course, he wanted me to do gospel music. And for a while, I did. I did two. A couple albums with gospel.
But I still feel like what I make now is the good news, man. It's just, you know, a different version of good news, man.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: I mean, your biggest song, My Lord willing, that's. That could be interpreted as a. As a gospel track, man.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: The thing about that particular song, bro.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Yeah, walk me through it.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
I feel like life works better when you learn to love somebody that's not yourself.
Right? And a part of my being a man and I love is that, like, as a man, I can make some mistakes, right. I could pick myself up, dust myself off, go on about my business. Right. Sometimes I feel like we don't offer that same grace to our lady friends, Right. If they don't. If they're not ladylike or whatever. And I just feel like God loves all, man. Yeah, right. And so to the lady that might dance a little bit on Friday and go to church on Sunday, you all right with me? You know what I'm saying? You might have a little sip every now and then. You okay with me? And so that is the good news to me. It really is.
[00:13:10] Speaker B: It is. Yeah, it is, man. So you obviously, you have, like, the country background. You grew up in Alabama. You have those country roots, but you get Thrown into, like, the pop world. As a writer, you come from that. That gospel background. You have the R and B and the blues, and you've kind of done it all. What brings you to going into Pink Beard, the country artist in 2025?
[00:13:35] Speaker A: My first album as Sebastian Cole. I was signed to Motown back in 2012, and my first album was supposed to be country and.
But Motown didn't quite get that at the time. 20, dude.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: Way ahead of its time. 2012, it wasn't there quite yet, bro.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Mike Warren was doing some. I just talked to Mike about this. We were both doing this, like, dang. Right.
And they just didn't get it. So I kind of R B that went out, but it was still very single songwriter, still had, like, a lot of guitars in it, but they were like, oh, let's push it a little more R and B. So we did.
And I've always wanted to be in this space.
I've.
How am I saying this? I have this little saying that says, if you can write a song, you can write a song. Right. It's right. If you can write a song, you can write songs. Yeah. I don't really determine the genre. The producer does. I'm gonna write the same song. Right. The producer makes it what way he.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Or she wants to take it. That's up to them.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: Yeah. If they want to make it guitars and, you know, live drums, or if they want to go rock it, I'm gonna write the same lyric and melody.
[00:14:32] Speaker B: Right.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
So it's been great to be able to, like, you know, do some pop stuff and some R B stuff. I've done some reggae stuff. I've been nominated for a Grammy in reggae, R B, pop, and hip hop. Right. Like, which, you know, technically, musicals. I won a Grammy for a musical.
[00:14:51] Speaker B: So which musical was that?
[00:14:52] Speaker A: Hell's Kitchen with Alicia Keys. Last year, we won for best soundtrack. I mean, the best musical album. Wow. Yeah.
So. And I wrote. I was one of the only, like, two songs that she didn't write on that.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: And I wrote one outside cut.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: That's a big deal.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: I'm really proud of that.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: Congratulations.
[00:15:10] Speaker A: Thank you so much.
But, yeah, so it's been really great to get back to this because it's like, this gets. This is what the country feels like to me. Right. And the country is, like. It's very blues influenced where I come from, and gospel influence and, you know, traditional country influenced and honky tonk influenced and even, like, hip hop, because all that stuff really kind of originated out of the same cup of folk, right? Just. Just folk in the backwoods figuring out what their neighborhood sounds like. And Birmingham is literally in the middle of all that. Yeah, right. Like, people come down from Nashville all the time. And people come up from Mobile all the time.
[00:15:47] Speaker B: Come east. Come east from Atlanta.
[00:15:49] Speaker A: You're right. Coming. Coming up. Coming west. Well, from the west, from New Orleans. And we kind of like, when Katrina happened, so many folk from New Orleans moved up to Birmingham.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Really?
[00:15:59] Speaker A: So many.
[00:15:59] Speaker B: I didn't know that.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: So many.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: Makes sense.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: I made one of my best friends in life moving up. They moved up from New Orleans, and a lot of them kept going to Atlanta. And then some folk went out to Houston. But so many folks stopped in New Orleans. And I got a real taste of like, oh, what zydeco was like. Really? I knew there was a bar named Zydeco, but I didn't really know what zydeco music was. Right. And people come down from Nashville. Cause they come in a tour and you get to meet all these folk and it's like, oh, okay.
And once you hear it, you can't unhear it.
And it finds a way. It kind of bleeds into what you do. And I think Birmingham's a great city for that. And you can hear all those influences.
And I try to just bring them all together. And kind of here's how I interpreted that.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Yeah. So who were some of the country inspirations for? You, like, folks that you remember coming down from Nashville back in the day? Or folks that you're like, man, this country thing's pretty cool. I relate to this shit.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: This is gonna sound so cliche, but hear me out, man.
My great granddad, God rest his soul, was the world's largest Dolly Parton fan. Really, bro. My granddaddy didn't listen to nothing, but he had a record player. Four records.
All Dolly Parton. No way.
Okay. Yeah. So when my grandma, like my mother's mother, love of my life. Hey, Drainaboo.
She was my great granddaddy's favorite, I guess. Favorite. But she thinks she is favorite, and that's what matters. And so we spent a lot of time over there. And on Saturday, you hear him playing Dolly Parton, and it's like, okay, I like that lady. My granddad liked that lady. I like that lady. And so.
But even from that, like, Johnny Cash. I'm into people who I feel like till a story just a little outside the box, right? Cause we all tell the same story, basically. I like her. I used to like her. I don't like her. I Don't like them. I like them. Right.
But if you certain people kind of put a lens on it, it's like, ah, I like the way they saw that.
And so Dolly was one of those people for me. Johnny's one of those people for me, oddly enough. Say what you will, Shaboos is one of those people for me. Yeah, I like the way. It's just. It's his lens on it. It's not that he's saying anything. It's like, oh, that's a new world. But it's like that's how he saw that. And I love that.
Hell, wait. That song was just in my head and then it left.
Oh, my God. My brain just. I'm sorry. My brain just literally.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: You're good. Is it. Is it a modern.
[00:18:33] Speaker A: No, it's. It's a. It's an older.
Oh, that's it, Johnny.
God, my brain just went. I'm sorry.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Where would they be from?
Describe. Describe them to me.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Oh, you know what? I know what? I know what I was about to say. I know I was about to say the Allman Brothers. Oh, a lot of people like that. When I was in college is when I really, really got into the Allman Brothers.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: I played in this little band called Rojanvo at University of Alabama, and they played me whipping post for the first time.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: Oh, dude. One of the greatest of all time.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: And I was like, what? Just. What was that like? That's right. But it's. It's that. That little frame, that little, like. I knew that. Okay. These are country folk. Like, these folks from where I'm from. It feels like where I'm from. Yeah, but just that little.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: So much of that Southern rock and so much of that classic rock, like the Eagles would be considered a country band in 2025.
[00:19:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: You know, but it all.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: It blurs like that. And some people go, that's not country. And I could see why you would say that. Yeah, but they're from the country. Yeah, that's just there. That's how the country feels to them.
[00:19:33] Speaker B: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, the Outlaws, all those great bands.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: If you think Linda Skinner is in the country band. I don't know if I understand what you think of it. Yeah, Right. Because.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: Yeah, like, give me three steps. That opening guitar lick. That's a modern Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan song.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. Yeah. So, like. And it all borrows from each other because we all grew up listening to all of that. Yes. So we borrow little pieces of it and then we put it together and they go, okay, that's country now. But it may have started out as a rock lick, or it may have started out as a honky tonk lick, or it may have started out even as a R and B lick. Like, I listen to people.
If you ever listen to Nirvana, Dave, Dave the drummer.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Dave.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: Dave Grohl, okay, he borrowed from.
Oh my God, he played it all the time. It's like A, O, R and B licks.
[00:20:20] Speaker B: A solo O R and B. Oh, solo.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: Oh my God, it's drummer for.
I can't think of it. Anyway, point being, we listen to these things, we borrow them, and then we institute it in what we're doing. Yeah. And it's like, okay, now that becomes an alternative thing. But we borrowed that from over here and that person borrowed it from somebody. Like music, I think is the first great open source media, Right? Hey, man, I did this thing right. You want to do something with it? And it's like, yeah, I'll borrow a little piece of that. And I feel like as long as we love, as long as we show love to the people that we bought it from, that's what it's for.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: Look at the world of hip hop. Hip hop was all.
It was samples. It was guys going to those big record meetups in New York or Atlanta or Chicago or LA and the DJs coming up with a beat and then the lyricists collaborating on the beat.
[00:21:07] Speaker A: Boom, boom. And I think that's what makes the best.
That's what makes for, like, the most authentic sound. Yeah, because there's one thing where you're trying to sound like that person, but your experience that shouldn't. It doesn't feel quite like that person. What do you offer? Right? Like, what are you. What's your thing? You know what I'm saying? And. And I feel like when people really can lean into that thing and not be afraid of, like, the standard, you know, I feel like we make better music.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: Yeah, man. And one of the things that is your thing. Talk about when does Sebastian Cole become Pink Beard?
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Oh, man.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: Yeah, tell me that story, because I'm sure that's a hell of a story.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: That.
[00:21:44] Speaker B: That happened in Alabama, that happened in.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: L A, Happened in L. A.
Pink beard is officially. He just turned one, like two weeks ago. Oh, wow.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: So this is a recent.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: Very recent.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: This is a recent thing.
[00:21:54] Speaker A: Very recent.
I was actually hosting a birthday party for a friend of mine, like last July, and she has these twin brother pastors they're from New York. They do fashion, but they pastor a congregation in la. Twin brothers. And their fashion sense is very bright. Yeah, that's kind of. But they style. She does very bright colors, too. She's in fashion. And. And they had this color in their hair.
And when they came in, I was like, yo, I really like that color in your hair. That's nice. If I still had hair, I'd do that to my hair. And one of the brothers was like, man, you got hair, it's just on your face. And I was like, what?
Don't think I won't. It's like, you won't. I did it, right?
And the reason that I did it was just like, I wanted to rebrand Sebastian Cole. Cause people know Sebastian Cole is like this songwriter and, you know, whatever, and shout out to Sebastian Cole me.
But people kind of have an idea what that was. And I wanted to be like, okay, this ain't that. Yeah, right. Don't let me do this.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: It's still me, but it's the other side.
It's me the artist versus me, the songwriter.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this. This guy is loud. This is.
This is the old me. This is the me I grew up in.
[00:23:09] Speaker B: This is the you that was cutting his teeth in Birmingham, going out with that groove band in France.
This is the Pre L. A. Yeah.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: Like, rules hadn't quite set in yet, you know, just kind of having a good time. And. Because Sebastian is, you know, living in la and you gotta buy by certain rules, man. You know, I have to keep myself. I never want to get involved in that. And I never want to. I don't want anyone to ever say, I did that. And I lived in a very. Like, if you ask about me in la, they'll tell you, hey, he comes to work, he goes home.
I never see him out, right? But when I'm at home, oh, I'm a rowdy boy. You know what I'm saying? I'm out. I'm outside, man. You know? And this guy gets to go back outside around his friends and get drunk and have a good time. Know, just so. Yeah, I'm back, man. I'm back.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: And it's. And it's the songwriting versus the being the entertainer on the stage. You're the guy on stage ripping the keys and singing, having a good time, making people happy or feel something.
[00:24:03] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: So Pink Beard's the entertainer, Sebastian is the songwriter.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: How do you find it hard to balance both? Or have we been in full Pink Beard mode for the last Year I've.
[00:24:13] Speaker A: Been doing a little writing, man.
I get the chance to, as a matter of fact, Walker Hayes last album, the first two songs on it, I.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: Wrote him Another Alabama Boy.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Mobile Shout Out. Walker, man. Good guy, man.
I get a chance to do a little writing every now and then, which I do enjoy, but for the most part I've been going just Pink Beard. I had a lot of shows. I've been kind of getting into and, you know, trying to build that brand and, you know, but I, I do enjoy writing.
The writing world is getting so different.
Yeah.
[00:24:44] Speaker B: What changes have you seen? Because you, you've been, you're coming up on like OG status, where you've been doing this thing a long time and you've been doing it commercially for a long time. Over a decade now.
[00:24:54] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:24:54] Speaker B: What, what have you seen? And now being out here in Nashville or being back in home base in Birmingham, which geographically just makes sense for you to come up and write here in Nashville. What have you seen as like, the changes for when.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: Man, the way you make a dollar is so different.
When I, I had my first, like, large success, it was movies, right.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: And then radio, sync and radio, thinking.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Radio, and that's where the money is. And as it kind of the focus left sync and radio and kind of moved into streaming, which is great for an artist and could be great for.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: A record label and it's great for a consumer.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: Great for a consumer, Horrible for a songwriter.
[00:25:33] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:34] Speaker A: Right. And so I'm watching chicks like I. I've had some million dollar publishing checks in real life in three months. Wow. And I watched that go from a million to $500. Wow. Right?
Both of these are true statements.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:49] Speaker A: Right. From a million dollars in three months to $500.
Because, you know, you move away from radio and so it's like, okay, I need to figure out another way to make some money. One of the reasons that I'm doing this, not gonna lie to you, hey, man, I can get on stage and make a couple dollars tonight. Yeah. Right. I can still do what I love. I can make people happy, but I can get paid tonight.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: And you can express yourself.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: I can express myself, but I can get paid.
So, you know, watching the, watching the way the music industry kind of kind of walked away from the writer in that regard.
But at the same time, I don't know if writers have ever been more necessary.
Right. Because there are albums that come out now and people go, is that AI right? People. People are like, that doesn't, that doesn't feel Natural. That doesn't feel human. Right. So, you know, writers are very necessary, but figuring out a way to make some money is very necessary. So you know it. And I don't blame labels. That thinking, man, if I could just go, you know, get out here on your TikTok, you know, promote that, and if it catches, great, we can make some money. If it doesn't, we didn't spend a lot of money. I get it.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: Right. But without that radio seating, right. To kind of help, you know, build your brand with, well, the songwriters at home watching you get 5.5000 plays on Spotify, thinking, I haven't made a penny yet, literally a songwriter, because you need.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: You need a lot to even get to that penny.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: Penny. Right. So, yeah, yeah, guys, please stream. Yeah, no, but, yeah, just the. Watching the way the industry is changing and trying to figure out how to reposition yourself so that you can, you know, make a living. Yeah.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: And talk about.
Talk about Too Rich for My Blood and the project. And. And we got Red Dirt Diaries, that collection coming out, and what's it been like releasing music as your own artist? And. And specifically those two projects, man, You've gotten a lot out in a year, man.
[00:27:50] Speaker A: I've done a lot this year.
[00:27:51] Speaker B: This year, 2025, you've been hustling, my man.
[00:27:54] Speaker A: Best year of my adult life, man. I tell people I'm having the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on, man.
But two Rich for My Blood is my latest single, and it's a ballad and it's. It's about this whole project. Let me start the whole project.
Red Dirt Diaries is a piece of a larger project called Sugar and Salt. So this is ep, one of the large project Sugar and Salt. And Sugar and Salt is about the. What I was telling you about the day I quit is the day I started. Right. And it's just the ups and downs in between. And I had gone out to Element and it's making really good money. Like, you know, really good money.
[00:28:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: And sometimes you think, man, money is the answer to the problem. Right. Because the problems that I had at home was just I didn't have enough money. Yeah. I thought, okay, if I could just be this person with some money, that'd be great. Yeah. Then you go out, you make a bunch of money, and you realize, man, I'm lonely. The loneliest day of my life. The loneliest day of my life was the first time I ever had $100,000 in cash in my hand. Wow. I went to.
Flew out to Vegas again. I got $100,000 in cash in my hand, right?
[00:28:59] Speaker B: It's a quick flight.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Hey, quick flight. It's like $75 too. Yeah, hop over there. That was before terrorists. Anyway, point man, I get over, I get this nice room at the Wind. And you get in there and, you know, get the nice room to God. Concierge goes, Mr. Tooman, would you like to go to the club? And I'm like, yeah, yeah. Would you like some company? I didn't know what that meant. Shit, when was coming. So I get down there and they bring these two ladies down. We get a section. I got bottles and, you know, sparklers. And the DJ shouting me out and da, da, da, da. And then I realized no one in here really gives a about me. Like, no one knows.
[00:29:32] Speaker B: No one knows who I even am.
[00:29:33] Speaker A: They don't care. They just get it on spending money. And I. I was so sad. So sad. I probably spent 15 grand at night. And I. But I left. I paid my little tab. I left. I called my mom and I said, mom, coming home.
I called the next flight out to come home and take my mama's trash out.
And I felt so much better.
Taking my mama's trash out, right? Too Rich for My Blood is about the nights where I was looking for validation in the dollar, right? Just throwing money. Thought that make me feel better. And. And I helped a lot of people go to college. I did do that, right. I probably paid a bunch of tuition, but it didn't make me feel much better, Right? So it's a. You know those midnight ballerinas that have counseled me more than I helped them, you know, shout out to them.
[00:30:22] Speaker B: Yeah, man, that's powerful stuff. That's powerful stuff.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: Real life. Real life. But yeah. And then overall, the Red Door Diaries is kind of a little snapshot of just like where I'm from, you know, the kind of. Kind of person I am, the kind of fun I like to have. And, you know, I wanted this project, to be honest.
That's what I. I think that may be the thing I miss the most in all music, is when I didn't have to be cool, when.
When I didn't have to be cool where I could just be. And. And that's what I'm getting back to. I've written a lot of songs for cool kids. Shout out to my cool kids. Some of us just aren't that cool, man. Some of us are just working folk who.
We get it right sometimes.
Sometimes we don't. Sometimes it's our fault. Sometimes it's not, you know, And I'm. I'm trying to put that together, you know, and say, hey, man, if you feel like this, this is for you. And I don't care where you're from, man. You. You can be from Opelica.
[00:31:22] Speaker B: Oh, I've been. I've had some good times down there at the Auburn Rodeo. Yeah, yeah. Cis drunk farms.
I've hung out in Opel. Like I hung out at the Sky Bar.
[00:31:30] Speaker A: That's my daddy from. My daddy from Opal.
[00:31:31] Speaker B: Really?
[00:31:32] Speaker A: Yeah, man. Spent a lot of time down in Op.
You can be from Opalika. You can be from New York City.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: That's where. That's where the Jim Bob's chicken tenders are.
[00:31:39] Speaker A: My. My cousin is.
But it's not that Jim Bob. But my cousin's name is Jim Bob. That's why we call him that, cuz. The Jim. I'll take it to.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: Oh, really?
[00:31:47] Speaker A: No way.
[00:31:48] Speaker B: Dusty Slay, the comedian used to work there. Oh yeah, he worked at Jim Bob in Opelica.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: Yeah. Crazy. Shut up, man. What's up? Opal is a beautiful place, man.
But yeah, I don't care if you're Mopalik or New York City, man. It don't. It don't matter. Like, can you relate to that? And that's what I'm trying to do. That's it.
[00:32:05] Speaker B: That's it, man. I'd say you're doing a. Say you're doing a good job at. What was the process like of choosing these songs? You're a guy who's written, I would imagine, hundreds of thousands of songs in your day. What makes you pick these songs for those two projects or this specific Sugar and Salt?
[00:32:23] Speaker A: This specific project. I. I'm. Normally, you know, you. The way to write a song is you go to the studio, they play you some music, you pick out a melody and you write a song.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Really? That's how it works.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: That's normally how it works, right? You go and write. This particular project.
I did not write on a single instrument in a single studio, strictly lyrics.
All I did was I would just lay around and something would hit me. I get one line of it and I'd sing that line until I remembered it, that none of these lyrics are on paper anywhere in the world. I never wrote them down.
They're not recorded on my phone anywhere in the world.
If I didn't remember it, I didn't like it. Wow. So I would walk into the studio, like I would write the song at night, wake up whenever I. It May be two weeks before I get to the studio. I needed to remember it that long. If I didn't like it for two weeks, it wasn't that good. You're not gonna like it if I don't like it. Yeah. So I would just remember it. And my friend Oak, shout out, Oak, super producer, and I would go in. I go, oak. I got this idea not singing the idea. He goes, okay, let's do it like this. I go, okay, yeah. And so these were songs that meant more to me as lyric and melody than they even did in production. I mean, shout out to my producers. You get what I'm saying? Like, shout out. But this was just kind of built out of what's the story that you want to tell?
You know, how do you get that out?
How honest can you be about it? Yeah, yeah. So that's how I picked these.
There's only two songs that I wrote for this project that aren't on this project. So I'm really like, I don't know, 16 for 18, right? Like, I try not to waste the song. I wasn't just writing. I wasn't trying to make a project.
I was just like, I really like this song. And I think that if people hear it, they'll really like it. Yeah.
[00:34:11] Speaker B: Yeah. For those who haven't been to a pink beard show, how would you describe it? How would you describe your live show that you've gotten to go around, Go around the region and do?
[00:34:20] Speaker A: Man, that's a good question.
My live shows are, like, I say, if you come with a friend, you're gonna leave closer to that friend, but you're also gonna leave closer to somebody you never met before.
My very first show in Birmingham kind of was like a little pop up show. I was supposed to do it for like 50. 50 people in my. I was gonna throw it at my house just. Just to get some content to start figuring it out. And once I asked people if they wanted to come, I went from 50 people I was gonna throw at my house. I got a house on the lake out there.
Moved to almost 700 people. Wow. @ Regents Field.
[00:34:54] Speaker B: Oh, no way.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: In the ballroom at Regensfield. Like, tickets. And now I got merch in two weeks. The fact. In two weeks.
Okay, but the. But I have kids there, four year old there, and their great grandparents were there. I, you know, black people, white people, straight people, gay people, didn't matter.
[00:35:14] Speaker B: All walks of life.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: All walks of life, man.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: Just like a church should be. It goes back. It goes back to sitting next to your Godmother in the pew, man. Yes, it goes back to it.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: Dance. Then we sang and we laughed.
And that is what a pink beard show is all about, man. It's. It's about uncovering the human part.
Like the part that really matters. You know what I'm saying? Like the part that really matters. And there's a part in each of us. Quick story. And I know you are sick of me talking.
[00:35:44] Speaker B: No, never sick of you talking, Sebastian. You say whatever the hell you want.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: Thank you, my man. Man, I was writing some songs out in San Diego. Keep in mind, I'm telling you about this part in each of us. Yes, I'm writing some songs out in San Diego one night for a friend of mine. And it's like 1:30 in the morning and we had eaten some fungus. I'll leave it at that. Yeah, you know, so we little tripped out.
[00:36:03] Speaker B: Vibing.
[00:36:03] Speaker A: Yeah, vibing, man. You know, writing some songs. Wall. Moving around a little bit.
1:30 in the morning, I get this phone call from a friend of mine that lives in Charlotte. So it's like 4:30 in the morning there. She hits me. She says, bash, what do you think happens when you die?
Baby, right now might not be the best time to ask me that. You know what I'm saying? Like, are you okay?
She says, yeah, I'm okay. I just had a bad dream. I said, well, again, it's not the best time to ask me that, but I just assumed we go back to wherever we were before we got here, man. You remember where that was? She said, no, I remember that. I said, assume we go back there. You know, I don't want to get into this deep theological discussion right now. No.
So she says, okay. I said, you sure you're okay? She said, yeah, well, call me if you need me. She says, okay. She hangs up the phone. About 30 minutes later, I get a text that says, you know, I was always afraid to die. And I'm glad you told me that. I don't think I want to be here anymore. I just dropped my daughter off at my mom's house. I love you. I'll see you next lifetime.
And I broke. Like, what? Like why?
What? Like that's why you call. Wait, what? So I'm trying to call Straight Dancing Machine. I'm trying to find a mom. Nothing. I'm losing it. Yeah. Crying. My friends are trying to. Like what? I can't even get the words out. I'm. Cause now I feel like this is my fault. Like, yeah, this. I wasn't trying to Encourage you to do that at all. That was not the point. No, right. My brain. Keep in mind my brain's still on fungus. My brain says, hey, there's this little song you sing when you're scared. You don't know the words, you can't write it down. But if you sing it right now, I bet they sing with you.
Brain, shut up. I need to find my friend.
Hey, there's this little song you sing when you're scared. You don't know the words, you can't write it down. But if you sing it right now, I bet they'll sing it with you. Please shut up. I'm trying to find my friend.
Third time haters. Okay, okay, okay. There's a little song that you sing when you're scared. You don't know the words, you can't write it down. But if you sing it right now, I bet they'll sing with you. I recorded it on my phone.
Couldn't find my friend the rest of the night. Fell asleep crying. Woke up the next morning, she had texted me that she had taken a medication that gave her ideations of self ending.
But she's okay. She threw up on the side of the road. They took her to the hospital, pumped her stomach. She's alive and well. Talked to her the other day. She's good people.
So I go back to my phone. There's this little song you sang when you're scared. Don't know words, can't write it down. Sing it right now, they'll sing with you. I thought, what was I talking about?
My brain said, oh, it's just called crying.
It's this little song we all sing when we get scared, right? I do not know the words. I cannot write this song down for you. But if I sung it for you right now, you'd probably sing it with me, right? It's another little song we sing when we're happy.
I don't know the words. I cannot write it down for you. But if I sing it to you right now, you'll probably sing it with me. And it's called Laughing. Right?
And there's. So there's this little thing, these two songs that we come here singing. We know them. Yeah, right? We know these songs and whenever we hear somebody else sing them, there's something to that, man.
Yeah, there's something to that.
Something to that. Yeah.
And I just want us to sing those songs again. Yeah, that's it.
There's something to this, man. There's something really special about that.
[00:39:05] Speaker B: Yeah, man.
[00:39:06] Speaker A: You can't buy that.
I can't take a picture of it.
There's something about being human you just can't fake. Yeah. And that's what my show is about. Amen. Yes, sir. Amen, brother.
[00:39:18] Speaker B: Hey, freaking, man.
[00:39:19] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:39:20] Speaker B: That's what it is.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: That's what it is, man. That's what it is, bro. You can't fake that, man. You just can't fake it. And I. I can't put that. I can't explain it no other way than that. You just got to see it. You got to feel it, and when you feel it, you know. Oh, that's real. He's not. That's not a performance. Yeah, yeah, it's. And you watch the kids and the Grandmamas, and they're not playing.
They're. They're having the time of their life.
And I am too, man. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:39:47] Speaker B: Hey, man, well, you got. You got some shows going.
[00:39:49] Speaker A: Oh, boy.
[00:39:50] Speaker B: I might have to try and make the drive down if I'm free. I have to look at the calendar. You're playing at Workplace.
[00:39:55] Speaker A: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: Talk about the history of that room, because I know that's gone through a few different cycles where it was. It was there and then it wasn't there for a second. Now it's back, man.
[00:40:04] Speaker A: Shout out Workplace, man. Mike Pennypanto. And I forget the other guy who's on it. Oh, man. And Tom Williams under for a while, but it's one of those, like, staple rooms in the city. It was one of the, like, first, like, official. Like, this is a.
[00:40:17] Speaker B: All genres of music genres.
[00:40:18] Speaker A: You can come in and shout out to them, man. And I actually did my very first album released there.
[00:40:25] Speaker B: Really?
[00:40:25] Speaker A: Years ago. Yep. Wow. I actually recorded my first album there.
[00:40:29] Speaker B: So how long has it been since you've played music in that room?
[00:40:32] Speaker A: I did it this year, but, like, prior to this year, it's been 15 years. Wow. So it's great to be back, man. I'm. I'm so honored to have, like. They were like, hey, man, come do it here. And I was like, man, thank you. You know, so shout out to Workplace and all that they've done to help support what I'm doing. I'm so happy to be just back at home to do this. It's a costume party, too. Oh, yeah. So it's gonna be a good time.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: What are our costume options? What are we thinking as a surprise? No, I'm saying for you.
[00:41:00] Speaker A: Oh, my.
[00:41:01] Speaker B: It's a costume party, so you gotta be dressed up. You already got the pink Beard part figured out.
[00:41:05] Speaker A: Okay.
I wish I could show it to you. There is a guy, a sheriff in Georgia. I forget. I think in Forsyth county or something like that, we actually look a lot alike. He dyed his beard pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
He does not know who I am. He has no idea who I am really. But he happened to dye his beard paint for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So I'm gonna dress up as him. Follow it.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: So, sheriff.
[00:41:27] Speaker A: I'm gonna be a sheriff. But specifically this sheriff.
[00:41:30] Speaker B: This sheriff. And what we think is Forsyth County.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: I think it's Forsyth. Yeah, look him up.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: Yeah, look him up real quick. You also got a show in New Orleans coming up out of nola. We were talking about that down in Siberia.
[00:41:40] Speaker A: Yep, I'll be down there.
[00:41:41] Speaker B: I feel like. I feel like nola, they're gonna.
[00:41:43] Speaker A: They.
[00:41:44] Speaker B: That's a. That's a place where they. They get down with some pink beard music.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: Oh, man. I went down there a couple months ago, man, and we had the time of our lives. Macon County.
[00:41:53] Speaker B: Oh, dude. Yeah.
[00:41:54] Speaker A: How could I not?
[00:41:55] Speaker B: Yeah, with the pink shirts, with the B.
[00:42:00] Speaker A: I kind of have to do it.
[00:42:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:01] Speaker A: You would have thought that was me.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: I almost don't think it's dressing up.
[00:42:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I just. I'm just putting on the shirt. Like.
[00:42:07] Speaker B: He's dressing up as you for a month.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
[00:42:10] Speaker B: That's a great thing. Macon County Sheriff.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Big County Sheriff.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Shout out Sheriff Andre Brunson.
[00:42:16] Speaker A: That's. That's my Halloween. We literally look alike.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: Yeah, we got.
[00:42:19] Speaker A: I do not know this, man.
[00:42:20] Speaker B: Yeah, we got. We got to get you a show in Macon.
[00:42:22] Speaker A: I gotta do it.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: And you could have Sheriff Brunson.
[00:42:25] Speaker A: I gotta have up there, man. Yes, that's. That's one idea, but I got a couple ideas, but I may do an outfit change or something, but okay. For sure. I wanted to shout him out.
[00:42:32] Speaker B: What is the band look. What is. What does a show look like as far as, like, how many guys you got in the back band? Is it just you or what do we.
[00:42:39] Speaker A: It's me and a five piece, man. I got two rhythm.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: Five piece. You guys making a lot of noise?
[00:42:44] Speaker A: We make a lot of noise. It's a loud show, man.
[00:42:46] Speaker B: Loud show. And are you predominantly on piano or do you pick up the guitar a little bit?
[00:42:49] Speaker A: A little bit. Most time I just sing, but because I got the guys that are playing behind me are so good at what they.
[00:42:55] Speaker B: And are they longtime friends of yours?
[00:42:56] Speaker A: Longtime friends of mine, man. Been around for forever, and I'm glad to Be back home or hanging out with them. Yeah. Yeah. So they're so good at what they do. I. I play just for.
Just so people won't think I can't play. But. But most of them. These guys are incredible.
[00:43:10] Speaker B: So you get to just be a vocalist and entertainer. That has to be so refreshing for you after years of doing the musician thing and doing the songwriter thing.
[00:43:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I get to run around. And I really do run around. Like my. I'm running. I'm dancing. I'm like. I teach people to dance in the middle of the show. Like, I'm doing a line dance instruction.
[00:43:26] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:43:27] Speaker A: There's a whole thing, like, I really get to perform.
[00:43:29] Speaker B: Do we throw covers in there?
[00:43:31] Speaker A: Strictly original covers in there, man. You know, just. And I'm from Alabama. You gotta. You gotta sing. There's some songs you just have.
[00:43:37] Speaker B: Like what?
[00:43:37] Speaker A: Like Sweet Home Alabama. You gotta sing that.
[00:43:40] Speaker B: But Dixie Land Delight, Dixie Land Light.
[00:43:42] Speaker A: I throw it in there every now and then. You know what I'm saying? Just for the fun.
[00:43:44] Speaker B: You're in Te toown.
[00:43:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I. I could. I. I'll throw in your school song if I. If I feel so led. Really?
[00:43:51] Speaker B: Like what? Like what, What, What? Like what schools have you done that.
[00:43:54] Speaker A: I've done Auburn. I've done Alabama. I'd throw in a rocket top if I was. If, you know, if I needed. Really?
Wow.
Because. Because I'm not. I'm here to let you know that I understand. You know what I'm saying?
[00:44:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:05] Speaker A: Hey, man, I don't have to be a Tennessee fan. Shout out, Tennessee. I don't have to be a Tennessee fan to sing a song, man. Come on, man.
[00:44:11] Speaker B: Goes back to that human element of that connecting with people like you were talking about.
[00:44:15] Speaker A: That's right, man. You know what I'm saying? I. And I could put. I could put aside a little sec vitriol for a moment. You know what I'm saying? We here to have a good time.
[00:44:22] Speaker B: What have been some of your favorite places that you've gotten to go and perform? Music, but either as Pink Beard or just. Just in your life because you've gotten to travel around. You said you went out to France pretty early in your career.
[00:44:32] Speaker A: Yeah, man. One of my favorite places, period, just to go and perform is actually Bali, man.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: Bali.
[00:44:37] Speaker A: Bali. Little town. Well, I guess it's a big city to them, but it's a place called Ubud. Well, that's where the king of Bali lives. And. And there's a place in Ubud called a Laughing Buddha. And it's the cutest.
Incredible. So imagine you walk into a room. Yeah. Full of Indonesian people, right? And on stage is the Indonesian band, but they play and sing whatever you'd like.
And it doesn't sound Indonesian at all. Like, so if you went and heard.
I don't know.
Perfect example. When Old Town Road came out, okay. I was in Bali with Noah Cyrus.
Or the week after it initially dropped. I'm in Bali with Noah Cyrus. And I had been listening to the song. Love the song. And Noah says, oh, my dad has a remix of that coming out next week or this Friday. I think it was, like, the following Friday. I was like, let me hear it. I was like, this is gonna be the biggest song in the world. Losing my mind. We go to the Laughing Buddha, and they play it.
Like, how do you guys know this song? Like, this just came out. But anyway, the wonderful little, like, live karaoke vibe, man. And, I mean, I've been on some big stages in the world, but that's probably my favorite place to play. Shout Out Laughing Boy. Yeah.
[00:45:49] Speaker B: How often do you travel around the world these days? Because it sounds like you traveled a lot when you were doing the pop writing stuff.
[00:45:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I traveled this year. I've been traveling around America. Right. But most. Most years, I'm. I have a house in Italy. I get to go out there.
[00:46:03] Speaker B: Really?
[00:46:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:03] Speaker B: That's cool.
[00:46:04] Speaker A: Yeah, man. Me and my manager and a couple other friends, we kind of built a little, like, a music house. Like, you know, come out here and bring your gang out here and just make some music. We got three studios in it, and. Wow. Yeah. Seven bedrooms, three studios.
[00:46:18] Speaker B: That's freaking awesome.
[00:46:19] Speaker A: Yeah, man.
[00:46:20] Speaker B: That's cool.
[00:46:20] Speaker A: It's really great. If you guys look for a place to go record, we're in the mountains of Casianella, which is in the Tuscany region.
[00:46:26] Speaker B: What's your favorite country to go to?
I know. I know. You're a proud Alabama boy, but traveling around the world, Like, I've never been out of the country, and I'm from New York, which is crazy. You'd think a guy.
[00:46:37] Speaker A: At least. Canada. I've been to Canada. No, I haven't.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: You can be from New York. I could fly anywhere.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: Literally anywhere.
[00:46:43] Speaker B: JFK, LaGuardia, Newark.
[00:46:44] Speaker A: I can go anywhere.
[00:46:46] Speaker B: I could. I could be a long walk, but I could. Yeah.
[00:46:49] Speaker A: You know what's one of my favorite places on the planet to go?
And I would. Before I went, I thought, why are we going here? I'm not Romania, really.
Romanian people are like Italians, but From the country.
I can't explain.
[00:47:05] Speaker B: Backwoods Italians.
[00:47:07] Speaker A: Yes, they are loud, fun, the good.
[00:47:10] Speaker B: Old boys of Italian culture.
[00:47:12] Speaker A: Yes. Like they like your country.
[00:47:15] Speaker B: Italian cousins. Like they curse a lot, they drink.
[00:47:17] Speaker A: A lot and they have the time of their lives. Like they. Yeah.
[00:47:21] Speaker B: So Romanian parties, the way to go.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: You're not ready. You're not my friend. Smiley is like a pop star.
One of the biggest pop stars in Romantic. Good friend of mine. Great songwriter. That's how I met him, through songwriting.
He got married, bro. I missed the wedding because I got there a little too late. The reception for the wedding started at 4pm Okay, I want to give you all the details. What time you think it ended? The reception for the wedding started at 4. What time did it end? I'm gonna.
[00:47:47] Speaker B: I'm gonna guess the way you're describing it by the time the sun came up, right?
[00:47:50] Speaker A: Yeah, about 7am Every hour.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: That's a 15 hour party.
[00:47:55] Speaker A: Every hour. They gave you a course of food. And I mean, not like a nibble.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: Like a full meal, like you were eating.
[00:48:02] Speaker A: Then they had a full, like pop production of an entertainer come do an hour set dancing. Dancing.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: Every hour.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: Every hour. Eat, go back, eat, go back. Around one in the morning, I was literally sitting in the corner crying. Like, not. Because, like, I was sad. I was just tired.
[00:48:22] Speaker B: Like, what am I. How do I. Am I gonna continue?
[00:48:24] Speaker A: And his best man, still going. And he had been up since 6 the following morning.
[00:48:29] Speaker B: Wow. They just go. They're just built different.
[00:48:32] Speaker A: They are built different. And this man is 65270. Like, this is not a little guy. This guy's like LeBron James just getting it. Okay, Romania. If you ever want to have a good time in Romania, I love those people. Good people. Good people. One of my favorite places on the planet to visit.
[00:48:48] Speaker B: That's wild, man. Yeah, Romania.
[00:48:51] Speaker A: Random.
[00:48:52] Speaker B: That is random.
Because I hear people going to like, Ibiza and like, places like that is great.
[00:48:58] Speaker A: Like, don't get me twisted. Romania, man.
Romania, bro. Like, they are having. They are just like living in a different.
They just. They live in different. Over.
[00:49:09] Speaker B: How many. How many countries have you been to, Sebastian?
[00:49:12] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:49:13] Speaker B: I was gonna say your damn world traveled. You've probably filled out multiple passport books.
[00:49:16] Speaker A: Absolutely. Which is crazy. Maybe. Maybe 45 countries in Ireland. No, I've been on a bunch.
[00:49:23] Speaker B: And a lot of. And they're all pretty much. Are they all pretty much work trips or.
[00:49:26] Speaker A: Yeah, a lot of work. A lot of work trips. I do not travel for pleasure. I'm a homebody I go to work, I go home. Right.
[00:49:35] Speaker B: Is that crazy when you say it out loud?
[00:49:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:37] Speaker B: You're a homebody from, from, From. From Birmingham, Alabama. Yes. And you've traveled 45 countries? Yes.
[00:49:43] Speaker A: Yeah, but I don't, I don't. My first, My first vacation, like to another place like leisure. I just took it this year. My girlfriend forced me to take her. I say force. Well, technically it was still America, but we went to the Virgin Islands, the U.S. virgin Islands. That's my first time taking like a leisure vacation. Yeah.
[00:50:03] Speaker B: I'm taking my first trip out of the country in January. I'm just going to St. Lucia. So America, have you been, have you. Have you been down there before?
[00:50:10] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:50:10] Speaker B: What's it like down there in it. What's the Caribbean like? Because I've done Key west, but I've never again.
[00:50:16] Speaker A: It's all about people. The, the, the geography is beautiful. You're going to see a lot of beautiful things. But a country is made by the people. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And the people down there, just dolls. They're just dolls, man. And.
Yeah, and that's really. That's what I like about Romania is just, you know, it's all about the people body the same way it's all about the people. And the people in those places are just incredible.
[00:50:37] Speaker B: And every place has good people. It just might take you a little bit longer.
[00:50:42] Speaker A: London is a cool city, but the people in such a hurry that you. It's like you don't.
[00:50:46] Speaker B: It's like Europe's New York City.
[00:50:48] Speaker A: Yes. It literally is. It's bro. If you get, if you get off in like midtown London, you will swear you know where you are. Like, it looks so much like Manhattan. You'll be like, there's a Burger King right here. And there is.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:51:03] Speaker A: There's a bank. Should be right here. There is. It's like, you know, you play Grand Theft Auto or something?
[00:51:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:08] Speaker A: Been to the city. You're like, oh, yeah, that's. That's where that's supposed to be. It feels like a Grand Theft Auto version.
[00:51:13] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:51:14] Speaker A: Weird. But. But it's a good city. But you don't get to meet the people as much as you're doing. People are just. They're moving a little slower, you know, they just. In their normal natural.
[00:51:21] Speaker B: And they enjoy your company. When you're coming from the outside, they want to show you the money, you know what I'm saying?
So, you know, that's a part of it. Do you still keep. Do you still keep in touch with a lot of the homies and a lot of the artists you got to collaborate with back in la.
[00:51:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, man.
[00:51:36] Speaker B: What have their thoughts been on the. On the pink beard exploration that you've been going?
[00:51:41] Speaker A: Really good friend of mine, and I say this not the name drop, but just a.
Would swear by this man.
[00:51:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:47] Speaker A: Teddy Swims is a good man. Dude can sing his name.
[00:51:51] Speaker B: How long you known him?
[00:51:52] Speaker A: I've known about three, four years now.
[00:51:54] Speaker B: Could you tell right when you first. Was he one of those guys, when he walked in the room, you're like, this is something special.
[00:51:59] Speaker A: You hear it? You're just like, all right, buddy, all right. Stop it, stop it. Save some mic for the rest of us guy, you know, not just a really good guy, good man.
And when I first thought I was like, man, Teddy, tell me what you think about this man. He was like, bro, I think you think you're really, really on to something. And, you know, all my friends been really supportive of that, man. And I've made really good friends in the industry. They've all been like, super supportive, man. Super supportive. And I'm so thankful to each of them. Yeah.
[00:52:25] Speaker B: That's awesome. That's awesome. What's something that you would tell that you would tell yourself, like, either five years ago, when the world's shutting down and you're in the middle of it, or like going back to. To 2012 when you're. When you're taking that trip out to LA and Michael calls you and you get that song cut by JLO that has the success? Like, what's something that, you know, being where you are now at in 2025, what's something that you would tell your. Your past self?
Just about life, career, anything.
[00:52:56] Speaker A: Find the feeling, right? Like, don't do it for the money. Don't do it for the recognition. Do it for the feeling, right? And do it for your happiness.
And when you do it for your happiness, do it until you're happy too, right? Like, the happiness is multifaceted, right?
You'll be happy that you did something, but then find the happiness in doing it well. And then find the happiness and working through it. And then find the happiness and getting somebody else to hear. Yeah. And then find, like, so. Cause a lot of artists, we have short attention spans. We just want to do the thing that we like.
And it's like, okay, I've done it, right? But now, how do you market it? Find a way to make yourself happy. Marketing it.
Find a way to make yourself happy. You know, networking. Find a way to make yourself happy in the. In the pieces that you don't like.
I would. I would have pushed. I would push myself to find a happiness early.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: Find that happiness.
[00:53:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Excuse me.
[00:53:53] Speaker B: That's what it's all about, man. That's what it's all about. Do we know when Sugar and salts looking at coming out?
[00:53:58] Speaker A: Well, probably the whole thing will probably be out maybe spring next year. I'm gonna do another ep.
It won't be called Red Dead Diaries, but, you know, something similar. Yeah. And then probably by spring and next year, whole thing will be out.
[00:54:13] Speaker B: And then plug the steakhouse in the bar one time, because next time I'm in Birmingham, I gotta go.
[00:54:18] Speaker A: 1525 First Avenue south, man. We're Michael's Steakhouse upstairs. I got Bar Sebastian. We are right next to Regents Field, right there by the Negro League Baseball Museum.
[00:54:30] Speaker B: I gotta check that out, too. I'm a huge baseball guy. I would love to come down and experience that history.
[00:54:34] Speaker A: Good times. Good times. Right across from Railroad park, man. And y' all come out. We.
I mean, not to brag, but we do win all the awards on restaurant. Really?
[00:54:43] Speaker B: How long. How long have you had. Have you had that place open?
[00:54:46] Speaker A: I've been down there for five years, but I've been in business for eight. Okay. Been in business for eight years. Been in that particular location for five or six.
[00:54:53] Speaker B: What made you want to go into that restaurant?
[00:54:56] Speaker A: Did not want to. My mom used to own a health clinic, like a natural health spa kind of thing. And she thought she was looking for a new location. She found this location that was in a hotel. She was like, oh, we could be the spa in this hotel.
And realized that they weren't selling a location, they were selling a restaurant. And she's like, eh, let's just. Let's get into a restaurant. And I was like, okay, mom, let's buy a restaurant. So I bought a restaurant and. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's been.
Restaurants are really a label of love in a lot of ways.
You don't really make that much money in a restaurant, but you get.
You find a lot of happiness, man.
[00:55:29] Speaker B: Yeah, you put happiness on people's faces.
[00:55:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Good food. Yeah, yeah. I get to meet a lot of good people. I help a lot of kids get through school, you know? Yeah, you do a lot of good in the community.
[00:55:42] Speaker B: That's what it's about, man. You seem like such a proud community guy.
I love it, man. Your story just fricking blows my mind. You ever been down to The Floribama.
[00:55:50] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:55:52] Speaker B: With the Florida Bama story real quick, because I'm going down to Frank Brown Songwriters Festival next.
[00:55:56] Speaker A: Oh, you go have, like. Okay.
[00:55:58] Speaker B: I love. I love the Bama.
[00:56:00] Speaker A: The thing about it is, think Florida. Think Alabama.
It's Florida. Yes. Like, it's a perfect name for a city.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: Perdido Key, baby.
[00:56:08] Speaker A: Yes. Like, it's the perfect name for a city because it is. And you, like, like, not. Lots of people. People think about Florida. Think about, like, Miami and, you know, Orlando.
But Florida and Alabama are a lot more alike than they are different.
[00:56:21] Speaker B: Especially that redneck Riviera and that panhandle, baby.
[00:56:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Get prepared to put your liver through some troubles, man.
[00:56:28] Speaker B: Bushwhackers on. Bushwhackers on. Bushwhackers.
[00:56:31] Speaker A: Please, man.
[00:56:31] Speaker B: Eating them grouper and fries.
[00:56:34] Speaker A: Fish is gonna be great. Fish is gonna be great, man. You'll have a great time. You're gonna. You probably gonna hear a whole lot of.
Whole lot of Lynyrd Skynyrd, too.
[00:56:41] Speaker B: Yes. A lot of music.
[00:56:42] Speaker A: You enjoy yourself, man. It's gonna be a good time.
[00:56:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I love the Bama. Sick, man. That'll be a good time. Well, Sebastian, I appreciate you hanging out here with me, man, and I wish you all the success. I can't wait to come down Birmingham, kick it with you. When. When do we have the next, like, Nashville play? Like, when are you back up here to.
[00:56:59] Speaker A: I'm back playing stuff in November doing.
I think.
I think it's a Red Bull jukebox. They're doing a, Like a. A party to kind of open jukebox, and they're gonna let me perform there, so.
[00:57:11] Speaker B: Oh, sick.
[00:57:11] Speaker A: I'll be around then. I'll be. I'll be in Nashville as often as I can. Often as you'll have.
[00:57:15] Speaker B: Well, I got. Well, I got. I got your phone number now, so now we can. I want to get you on one of my. One of our events that we do, one of our raised rowdy nights. I want. I want to experience the human element and experience the passion that is a pink beard.
[00:57:28] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:57:28] Speaker B: And I want our crowd to experience that, man.
[00:57:30] Speaker A: Thank you, man.
[00:57:31] Speaker B: Seriously, man. Absolute pleasure. Appreciate the hell out of you.
Y' all be sure to check out our man. Check out Sebastian Cole, Pink beard.
Check out the music. If you're in Alabama, I know we got a lot of Alabama folks that watch this thing get down the work play. It's happening on. I believe it's October 24th. Bring a costume and hang out with the Sheriff.
[00:57:52] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:57:53] Speaker B: And if you're down in Nola, actually this will be out after. But if you were down in Nolan at the Nola show, hope you had a great time in Siberia. At the Siberia. Not in Siberia, although we were talking about Romania.
[00:58:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:04] Speaker B: Shout out to all the Romanians if there's any watching here. Comment. If you're from out of the country in a place that, that you think you party harder than Romania, I doubt it. If you watch, I doubt it. But I'll be sure to look up Pink Beard. That's P Y N K Beard. P Y N K Beard. Look up our man Pink Beard. Be on the lookout for new music coming real freaking soon. And go stream what's out. And if you're passing through Alabama, go check out the restaurant. For more on us visit. Raise your eye dot com. Shout out to our friends from Surfside. No bubbles, no troubles. Going to send old Sebastian here home with an eight pack. You can enjoy that. That stuff, the no carbonation. They're. They're crushable. That's what we like to say in the razor Audi world. But my man Sebastian. I'm Matt. Bur this has been outside the ramp.
I ain't never been the kind for stay one place for too long I never been the best at s I love you to a girl I love Only got a couple tricks on my sleeve they usually just make them leave.
So if you know me, if you really know me? You know I'm just a two trick pony but maybe the drinking and the lack of money for show I'm just a two trick pony.
[00:59:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
