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TTP #12- Kuf Knotz and his 'Undeniable Drive' to Stay Healthy and Create a Positive Message in Hiphop
10 Plays6 years ago
This episode's guest is Rapper Kuf Knotz. Kuf has been putting out killer records and touring all over for years and does so while maintaining a vegan lifestyle and sharing his positive message throughout the world.
In this conversation:
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Not having phone for a year and the freedom he gained from that experience
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Personal crisis and tragedy leading to growth
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Kuf’s spiritual path and exploration
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His path to veganism, stemming from his fathers death and learning from his family medical history
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Dr. Malachi York
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Importance of fasting
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3 to 4 month cycle of diet: Fasting/Cleanse>Raw foods>Strict Vegan>Vegan
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His record Positive Light and making a positive album in the current culture of hiphop and how that record was a direct result of a raw diet. The effect that had on writing, lyrics, message
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Touring plant based vegan as a band and what that brought to the band as a whole, the performances and the value of eating together/building together
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XPN- Community outreach through music
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The importance of belief in your self and how that connects with health and maximizing your performance
Please take a moment to rate and review the podcast in iTunes/Apple Podcasts app and visit www.tourganic.com for more info on this episode and living healthy on the road
Tourganic Podcast Theme song 'The Path' written by David Bailis and this episode's musical interludes by Kuf Knotz
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Self-Belief
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Torganic Pocket. Believing in yourself is definitely one of the biggest things. There's always going to be someone that turns you down or kind of knocks you off course, but the most important thing is really believing in yourself and investing in yourself.
Health and Well-being with David Bayless
00:00:23
Speaker
And also along with that, it's extremely important to be healthy, physically and mentally. Everything ties in together.
00:00:33
Speaker
This is David Bayless, your host. Hope everyone out there is doing well. Good to be back in NYC after a recent tour on the West Coast. I'm about to add some cool new posts to the Torganic blog, so be on the lookout for that. Before we get into this, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone out there that has taken the time to check out the podcast.
00:00:50
Speaker
Please let me know what you think by commenting or rating the show on iTunes. And also just a reminder, I'm now on Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Touring Musicians and Healthy Lifestyles
00:01:00
Speaker
If this is your first time listening, welcome. In the show, I speak with touring musicians about how they live a healthy lifestyle on the road. While many of the episodes are about how and why my guests live a plant-based vegan diet on the
MC Koof Knots: Spiritual Growth and Veganism
00:01:11
Speaker
road,
00:01:11
Speaker
The content of these conversations has a diverse and holistic approach to focus on health of mind, body, and spirit. My guest this week is rapper MC Koof Knots. Koof has been putting out killer records and touring all over for years, and does so while maintaining a vegan lifestyle and sharing his positive message throughout the world.
00:01:30
Speaker
In this episode we get into his personal path of spiritual growth and exploration, what brought him to a plant-based vegan diet, and we discuss when Coof convinced his band to go vegan for a tour and how that brought them closer together as a unit and improved the quality of the shows on many levels. I love that Coof puts a great emphasis on self-confidence and utilizing that belief in oneself to achieve your goals and how that ties in with the importance of treating your body well to maximize performance.
Living Without a Phone: Challenges and Insights
00:01:57
Speaker
We start this episode speaking about Koosh's experience of not having a phone for a year and what he gained from the absence of a device that so many of us are tethered to constantly.
00:02:10
Speaker
At first it wasn't intentional. My phone just got cut off because I moved to Den Haag. The Hague. It's right outside of Amsterdam. So I was living there for a while. Where the festival is. Yeah, exactly. The jazz festival there. Yeah, they have it over at the North Sea Jazz. North Sea, exactly. I loved it over there. I didn't even want to come back, but I had to.
00:02:30
Speaker
So when I first came back, I didn't have my phone because I was living outside of the country. The longer it went on, I just got more comfortable not having a phone. And I did all my communication through email. And I was able to do it for a year. That's amazing. Yeah, it was. And now that I have it back, though, I can't get it out of my hand. I'm glued to it everywhere. So I got to practice putting it away for a little bit or keeping it not on my person all the time.
00:02:57
Speaker
Yeah, you hear those stats about people are looking at their phone hundreds of times a day, and you're like, oh, that's not me. But then you find yourself, oh, this, that, communication, oh, this information. Exactly. Oh, I want to look at this app. Oh, I wonder what's happening. Yo, for real. And it makes everything so it's instant. It's like instant gratification.
Social Media: Benefits and Drawbacks
00:03:20
Speaker
And that's the thing, as soon as I got it back, all right, this is cool, because I can keep up on social media. Because that's the one thing I miss the most, being able to post on Instagram, on Facebook, just right away in the moment. So this will be cool, I could do that. But then that just leaves everything else. I'm surfing the net, looking at trying to hear new music, new videos, seeing who's doing what, and then back in the Matrix.
00:03:43
Speaker
And I'm curious, on one hand, you have your phone, it's all about connectivity, right? You're connecting with everyone. But I would imagine if I put my phone down, I would actually be having deeper connections with the world and the people around me. Yeah, indeed.
00:04:00
Speaker
I agree with that 100%. It's actual human to human communication and connection. Someone might beg to differ, but I don't think you can have a really deep, meaningful conversation with someone while you guys are both looking at your phones the whole time.
00:04:16
Speaker
No way, no way. Even if you try, I mean, that's even like relationships. When you're with your partner, you both have your phones, there's little communication going on there. You might laugh like, oh, check out this meme or something. But other than that, you're both in your own world doing your own thing. So it definitely, and it's hard to connect. It's hard to connect.
00:04:38
Speaker
And you can't really, I mean, communicating through texts too is also, you can't really feel or get a feel of the emotion or what's meant behind it. It's just, you're just seeing the words, the texts and stuff. So that's hard too. I'd much rather just do a phone call, which no one does anymore. But phone call, I mean, I love phone calls. It reminds me like high school.
00:05:00
Speaker
And did that change your focus on music at all? Just being away from the phone? Was there almost like an artistic thing there too? Yeah, definitely. Well, so over that year, so I'm finishing my album up now, along with a shit ton of crazy storms and whirlwinds that inspired me to create
00:05:19
Speaker
not having the phone definitely allowed me to just focus in all the time because normally I would be surfing the net or doing something which ends up being a lot of time you can put into something else so yeah and definitely helped with doing this album
00:05:35
Speaker
And so what's up with a new album? So it should be the aim is to have it mixed and mastered by March. And is this positive light? No, so this positive light I put out in March of 2015. And so I was hoping to have this done already and out but it never goes as easy and as quick as you think it
Koof's Album: 'Freedom of the Soul' and Personal Loss
00:05:55
Speaker
will.
00:05:55
Speaker
Yeah, and so what's the story behind this album? So this album, it's called Freedom of the Soul playlist, actually, because it's a long album. It's like 20 songs. Wow. I know. And everybody is like, nah, just do the EPs, people's extent, attention span, and I like old school records that are long. I had a lot to say. So this year, so I moved back.
00:06:18
Speaker
from Holland because my brother was taken away. He died out of the blue. He wasn't sick or anything. Yeah. So I had to move back here to be with my mom and family, his kids and stuff. That was for one life changing. And artistically, it just made me, it took me somewhere else.
00:06:33
Speaker
and allowed me to really get back. So my brother's the reason I started rhyming. With him passing, I just had it took me back to growing up. So this album is going back to where I started, what inspired me, doing what I was doing when I first started. It's like a throwback. And at the same time, call out to our ancestors. Because my father passed away, my brother passed away, my grandmother that raised me passed away.
00:06:57
Speaker
It's a calling back and giving thanks and asking for inspiration through them for this. It's a special album. Having a massive life event like that can really give you perspective in a way that you really can't achieve without having
00:07:16
Speaker
some kind of drastic happening. It's true. It's true. The one way it changed my thought process as far as artistically is that it's cliche, but it had such a heavier meaning that tomorrow's never promised.
00:07:33
Speaker
I talked to my brother a few days ago and then I get a phone call. If there's anything I want to do, I have to do it now. Without rushing it, but there's somewhat of an urgency to get this stuff out because you never know. Now I got dreams, whatever it is I'm thinking I want to do, put it in motion now. Yeah. My mom passed when I was 20.
00:07:56
Speaker
It took me a little bit to understand what was happening mentally with myself, but with perspective looking back. Before my mom passed, I was in kind of a cloud. And then after my direction, even though a lot of bumps in the road and left turns and right turns, I can see my direction of life was really began to be defined at that moment.
00:08:19
Speaker
In so many ways, I'm so sad that I didn't get to share that with her, but in a crazy way of how things happen for a reason, can kind of understand why this all happened in my life. Right, right. No, that's heavy. It is. And did you grow up living with your father?
00:08:37
Speaker
I was living with my father, yeah. I moved back in with my dad to take care of her near the end of her life. She was really sick with cancer. So then we lived together, the two of us, which was awesome. Despite all the tragedy and all the sadness, it was great to reconnect with him. And that's the thing, man. A lot of stuff comes out of, even though it's a negative situation, there's a way to look at all the positive that comes from it.
00:09:06
Speaker
Definitely. That's definitely what I had to learn because I was angry for a long time. How do you deal with that anger and channel it in a positive way? I think at first I didn't know how to. I just was angry. I think as time went on and the more I got to think with it and sit with it, it's a part of life. It's not anything I can change. Everyone goes through, everyone dies.
00:09:30
Speaker
I just had to really just accept. Yeah, exactly. Just like you said earlier, A.O. for real. Accept it.
00:09:40
Speaker
navigate from there. I think that is it. Once you accept it and realize that that's what it is, then you still have a choice. You can continue to be angry, but it's not going to change anything or make anything better. Yeah. I don't care what situation you are in life, and certainly some people in life have much bigger hurdles and much bigger mountains to climb, but we all have trials and tribulations in our life.
00:10:06
Speaker
as individuals, one of the most important things we can learn is how to take those tough moments and experiences and channel them in a positive way. That's going to have not only a positive impact on yourself, but on the world. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's really easy to look at what's going on in a political climate or in maybe your personal situation if it's a tough time and just get really dark and negative. Yeah.
00:10:31
Speaker
Ultimately, hopefully, people can figure out how to channel that in a positive way. That's important, man. It is. And your album's a positive light. Yeah, exactly. That's funny. That album I made, I had a specific, I wanna make an album that's positive, every song positive from the beginning to the end. That's all I want, a hip hop album like that. That's what I wanna create. And I definitely did that. It's not everyone's cup of tea. I have a lot of friends who are like, yo,
00:11:01
Speaker
I like the album, but sometimes I want to be mad, and I want to be angry, and I want to hear that type of music. It's not for everyone, but I still wanted to make that album, and it was just a personal goal I wanted to do. And what was the motivating, the main motivating, impulse in doing that?
00:11:18
Speaker
I think at the time it was because whenever I was listening to radio hip hop or just out at clubs or anywhere, I just never felt like it was positive. I always felt like, I'm like, let me hear something different. Let me hear something upbeat. I'm a big fan of old school hip hop, 90s era. And when hip hop, the foundation of hip hop, it was a mouthpiece of
00:11:42
Speaker
whatever neighborhood you were in and what you were seeing. People were speaking out about what it was, but it's also, it was fun. Uplifting, it was upbeat, it was dancing, it was free. I just felt like it's changed so much and nothing's wrong with change. But for me personally, I just wanted to hear something, you know, something positive, something that kids could listen to too.
00:12:13
Speaker
Today I woke up smiling of brightness in my eyes A different pattern flat and mostly I'm just staring Deep into the mirror with fear but a four-letter word I'm engulfed by the thoughts that I'm as free as a bird Sky diving winding up as high as the clouds Where's the silver lining they talk about?
00:12:31
Speaker
I wander and I wander searching for the author Who wrote the outline and got us stuck so awkward If life is for living and living untimid Break free from the holder and stop it, no limits Times of the essence and we press for more space Yesterday's actions won't dictate My future's too far so I live for the day Scraping pavement, moving crazy, making my own
00:12:53
Speaker
Let's take it back a little bit about where you grew up and I see that you're on this trip of positivity and I relate that to sort of...
00:13:03
Speaker
a spirituality and outlook of health in terms of your mind and your being. And I'm interested to take it back. What was your upbringing? So coming up, I was definitely raised super, super Christian. Like my grandmother was a gospel singer and my mother, super, super in the church. So every Sunday, church, church, church. Was this in Philly?
00:13:27
Speaker
Outside of Philly. I grew up in Bryn Mawr. It's a suburb west of Philly. A place called The Main Line. So yeah, super in the church, Christian. I say I was like that up until about 12th grade. Someone came into my life who was like a mentor.
00:13:43
Speaker
He was a Reverend at one of the churches. He got me super involved in the church. I mean, he ended up getting me into college. Once I was in college, I kind of started exploring different religions just because I was curious. I studied the 5%. It's like a denomination of
00:14:00
Speaker
of Islam, five percenters. I studied that pretty heavy for a while. I wasn't going to change religion or anything. I just was searching because I was curious. And at that time also I was heavily involved in music. I was really veering all my energy towards music. So I ended up, I was in Westchester for two years, Westchester University for two years, and then I decided to leave school. And when I did that, my mentor, he really wasn't supportive of me doing music.
00:14:28
Speaker
and he kind of was putting me down and now that's not how you do it, and this and that. So him being a man of God, Christian and a Reverend and everything, I started to think that's not very godly of someone to put me down for wanting to pursue something I feel so strongly about. So then that kind of jaded my outlook on that religion.
00:14:49
Speaker
So at that point, I just started pretty much focusing inward on the things that I thought were important. Treating people well, treating others as you would want to be treated. A lot of aspects of religion, but applying them, I guess, in different ways or just applying them the way I felt was right. What felt right to me. And at that same time, around that time, my father passed away. My father passed away, my grandfather,
00:15:15
Speaker
my uncle, my aunt, all on my father's side within close time period. And it was all from heart disease. They had a heavy Southern diet, a lot of fried foods. So along with all that going on in this and me trying to figure out what's right and who I am, I was introduced to the vegetarian way of eating, my girlfriend at the time.
00:15:39
Speaker
and she just explained to me the importance of treating your bodywork, especially after seeing my father was 48. Then I started reading up on it and I'm like, oh, what? I have to unlearn everything I was taught. As far as food goes and then how it connects to living and just the energy put into food and what you... I was getting hit from every angle with all this stuff and I just studied, studied, studied and slowly I went into vegetarianism and then
00:16:08
Speaker
Real quick, what were some of the things you were studying? What were some of the resources? So there was this one book, I'm blanking on the name of it now because that was 2000 I think, maybe 2001. I think it was a book that Dr. Malachi York put out. So are you familiar with Malachi York? So he's a holistic, he's a healer. He's based out of Atlanta and he started his own commune in Atlanta. I stopped
00:16:35
Speaker
studying him and reading up on him not long after that. So I'm not sure what's going on with him now. I'm going to check him out. Yeah, you should. But that book was life changing. So yeah, there was just a lot of information in there, a lot of information and even with sound and the vibration and different notes and keys. And then it talked about- Can you expand on that a little bit?
00:16:58
Speaker
There's certain frequencies and different tones that resonate with you and the different vibrations can either affect in a good way or a bad way. Certain tones, B, D, whatever it is that carry these
00:17:14
Speaker
these frequencies and vibrations. And so he lays out on there everything. I mean, it could be overwhelming, but taking it all in, it was just this whole new thing. And I don't know, it resonated. And so that's what I got really into fasting and cleansing and clean eating. And I've been doing it now since I became vegetarian in 2001.
00:17:36
Speaker
vegan in 2006 I think it was and then after that I started doing a lot of cleanses and it's a pattern now every three to four months I do a 13 day fast no food at all really just water yeah no I do fresh fruit I juice it juice fast yeah juice
Health Routines and Positivity in Music
00:17:55
Speaker
fast
00:17:55
Speaker
Yeah, all vegetables, all fruit. It's funny though, I really had to figure out what combinations to do the best because I have a crazy sweet tooth. So at first I would just do all fruit, you know, oranges, apples, grapes. But that was just, it's already a lot of natural sugar. So it was just a lot of sugar. So I had to figure out what balances is with everything. So I introduced a lot of vegetables into the fast I do.
00:18:22
Speaker
And I mean, it's it's amazing. I mean, you're I see on your blog and you're you're a clean eater and in the health and tankers. So you know how that feels when you do cleanse and when you do start clean eating and night and day from because I was a heavy meat eater. Anything, any type of sweets, whatever it was, I was that was my diet. I was heavy on that.
00:18:43
Speaker
Yeah. And if you had this experience of your father's passing, that's like a raw open wound, right? That's looking for healing right there. You're trying to make sense of this. And you can directly see that his diet played a significant factor in the pattern and the direction of his life. No, definitely.
00:19:05
Speaker
definitely like direct you could see it and it's funny too because we're never really like schooled on that you're never really taught anything about that in school they teach they give you the pyramid and everything but it's none of it's bread it's dairy it's meat it's so I mean maybe now it's changed now that people are more conscious with it maybe that pyramid is changed I don't know
00:19:27
Speaker
Not really. Unfortunately, there is some schools that are making great strides, but I'd say the great majority by a long shot is really neglecting to give the youth the proper information about food. Beyond that, it's like you can talk and talk, but what do they serve in the lunchroom?
00:19:47
Speaker
is to me scary. I worked at a school in the Bronx for, this was years ago, I was developing their music program there. I had a chorus with, I taught the chorus program. I had 80 something kids in the chorus and I taught their band and second through fifth graders. These were some great kids up there. And I honestly was horrified at what they were serving those kids in the lunch room. Oh my God. That's not even for
00:20:12
Speaker
It's just so processed. So in science class, you can have an educated teacher or someone who's maybe enlightened, teach those kids, but it's like, you have to practice what you preach. You need to be, we need to find ways to give kids the proper nutrients they need to make it through the day and make it through long-term. And then those values are gonna be instilled. There's a lot of forces at work here that are preventing the youth and the public at home from really understanding
00:20:42
Speaker
the decisions we're making to put on our, of what we're going to put on our plate. Yeah, man. And that, again, a cliche saying, but it's so true, you are what you eat. That couldn't be any truer. And it's funny because, so my mom
00:20:58
Speaker
My mom had cancer, she had breast cancer, and she went through chemo and everything. I would go with her to chemo. And the thing that the doctors stressed the most was that she changed her diet to an all-green diet. They really, really stressed that.
00:21:14
Speaker
I mean, isn't that telling you something right there? Why would you stress that now? You know this can heal her. Why isn't that something that's automatically forced upon people or at least fed to people so they know how important it is to eat greens and eat health? If you're telling a cancer patient, in order to heal, you're going to have... That was mind-blowing to me. But at the same time, I also know it just all comes down to money.
00:21:38
Speaker
The whole game. Yeah, it just all comes down to money. And let me ask you this. So your mom gets that advice and at this time you were already vegetarian or vegan. How did she respond to that? Oh, because of course at first she's like, you eat so crazy. You better eat some meat boy. And then at one point she actually did a cleanse with me.
00:22:02
Speaker
She couldn't do the whole 13 days, but she did four or five days, which was amazing for her. She had to stop smoking for five days and she felt amazing afterwards. There might really be something, but because my mom's 72, so she's stuck in her ways of thinking and so she was really...
00:22:22
Speaker
surprised at how great she felt without having to eat any meat, any dairy. And then when she had to do the, but that was after she did the all greens thing. But when she did the all greens, when she was going through it, she felt amazing. And she looked great. She must've lost 10 pounds. Her skin was really vibrant. You see this, you see this. And when anyone you see who eats clean or starts with, you see it. They have a glow about them.
00:22:51
Speaker
Most of the time in a great mood because you feel good when you eat good. And was she able to continue that? She didn't. I wish she would have, but she didn't. It's hard. Habits are a hard thing to break. It is. And even when people momentarily might see the light or kind of see a transitional outlet, it's tough to continue that. Balance.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah, so far it's hope But yet we so close The struggle to let go Sometimes you just know The beauty in hard times The blueness in grey skies But the sun still shines The space in between That's divine It took a minute though
00:23:48
Speaker
So you're having these cleanses you're talking about, and I'm curious, how does that sort of reflect on your overall being? Is it a recharging almost? Yeah, it definitely is. So it's four month rotation. So I'll do a cleanse, 13 days, just juicing vegetable, then I'll go into raw. I'll eat raw for as long as I can. I usually last about a month or two. The longest I've gone is five and a half months raw.
00:24:13
Speaker
but for some reason I always end up trying to go raw in winter which is the hardest time because all you want is something warm but so what I do is I'll do that I'll go for about a month or two on average and then I'll go to strict vegan I'll do that for as long as I can and then I'll just go to vegan
00:24:32
Speaker
That's my period of indulgent. So maybe there's some processed foods, like when you say strict vegan versus. Yeah. So strict vegan, when I'm strict vegan, I won't do any of the fake meat or any, I'll just, it's almost raw, but with a little bit of exception.
00:24:48
Speaker
I can do that for a good amount of time. And then when I'm eating just regular vegan, it's the fake cheesesteaks, the fake burgers and a lot of sweets, a lot of vegan dessert. Then I'll start feeling it. My body will start being, I feel heavy physically and mentally. I'm not as driven or start to just get kind of in a gray area and dark. And then I'm, all right, time to cleanse and get that recharge.
00:25:13
Speaker
And as soon as I do, it's night and day. It's an interesting way that you've kind of crafted your path with that. Because some folks looking in at a vegan diet might feel, oh, it's so limiting. But you kind of have this way of having this longer cycle of going through different phases of it.
00:25:35
Speaker
It's sort of, there is this progression happening and then a restart, a recharge, and that's kind of an interesting angle of taking on the whole thing to sort of keep it moving in an interesting way. And I'm curious, as you made this transition in your life, going vegetarian and going vegan, and you're heavy into music,
00:25:54
Speaker
You're a lyricist. How did that affect your music? My writing. Your writing as a whole. Maybe your concept of the musical aspect and the concept of your lyrics. It totally, fully affected it. My writing became a lot different. So the first, that Positive Light album I did, the whole time I did that, I was raw.
00:26:15
Speaker
And I think that's also what made it so easy to just write positive songs. I was on a high. I was definitely on a high. And that was the longest I went raw as well. Definitely inspired my writing. My writing definitely changed for that album from the previous album.
00:26:34
Speaker
And it was a lot more focused on, I think a conscious focus just on just being conscious and generally my outlook on life and the food and how it affects you. And yeah, it pretty much just flipped the whole script on how I approached music and what I wrote about. And the fact that I was pretty happy or upbeat, I think it made me want to make when we perform live or whatever, bring that as well, that positivity and that upbeatness and
00:27:02
Speaker
I don't know, I just felt like that was important. Yeah, bringing that positive element not only into your writing, but also into your live performances, into your overall energy level on stage. No, definitely. Definitely. Speaking about it, putting that message out there. And it's funny because as an MC, as a hip-hop artist, there's certain things you're expected or people just think you're going to talk about or be. It was important to just...
00:27:28
Speaker
Yeah, I'm an MC. I'm hip-hop 100%, but I'm going to talk about and put out there what I think is important and what's important to me and a lifestyle that I'm happy about. I don't know. I think it definitely flipped the whole script musically.
00:27:45
Speaker
and perform it in writing. People might not remember. There's been vegan message in hip hop for a long time. Yes, exactly. Where's the beef or whatever. Yeah, no, definitely. And dead presidents, their whole, their whole
00:28:00
Speaker
I did a tour with Deb Prez with a band that I was in years ago. This was so long ago, live hip-hop type thing. And yeah, man, those guys were militant about their way of life. Everything, all the catering was vegan. The Sally Roll. Yeah, I dig that. I think that's important. If ever there's a time I found myself alone, I guess today would be the start of that poem.
00:28:40
Speaker
This whole world around me I share good energy And I let the lights around me sink No one knows what it all means But hey, I enjoy where I'm at And elevate each day Time is precious
00:28:57
Speaker
Positive Light is that album. I love that story about it coming from sort of inspired by your raw food at that time in your life. And is there other even songs or specific things you can think of that are related to awakening and that you're going through spiritually and physically with health?
00:29:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think the very first track, Positive Light, talking about my road, it's been a long road, a lot of ups and downs. And it's just, I feel almost documenting the journey a little bit. And then towards the end of the album, there's a track called Balance, which was directly influenced from a yoga class I was in. Okay.
00:29:37
Speaker
Yeah, the chorus is what the lady said. She's, you gotta find the space between effort and ease. And so that's what I made the chorus. And I just thought that was, damn, you can apply that to everything. Find the space between effort and ease. It's just balance. And I just, for some reason that just stuck with me. So that song is just basically about... And what does that mean to you? So I just...
00:30:02
Speaker
Because sometimes you might, if something's too hard and you're struggling, you're struggling, you just, oh, I got to give up, I got to move. And then if something's too easy, you just freeze right through it. So I feel like I'm in that space where you're going to push yourself, not too hard, but you're going to push yourself to get something not that you don't want to take a path too easy or something. You got to find that space. Because a lot of times with me, it's everything or nothing. And that's a hard
00:30:30
Speaker
Hard place to be so for me that that really stuck and resonated that find a space between effort and ease Balance and so that's what that whole song is about. No, I think there's a yeah. There's a lot of wisdom in that I see it because my instinct is oh well most of Society and it's all things are pushed towards ease. How do I make everything easier? Yeah
00:30:53
Speaker
You don't have to work for it. You're going to get it anyway. But yet there's still the same push in my life is I have a feeling I got to put myself in uncomfortable positions. I got to push as hard as I can in order to get rewards, certainly with my
00:31:10
Speaker
I'm pushing really hard every day in my overall program to try to get, just be the best that I can be. But I also see that if you go too hard or you have unrealistic goals, you set up something that's not, I'm not even gonna say it's something that you can't do, but something that you're not truly committed to being willing to do.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah, I feel you. Then you're setting yourself up for failure. Because I believe we can do anything, but if you're just going to say, I'm going to do this, but you haven't actually committed because for whatever reason, you kind of determined that it sounds cool, but it's actually too difficult for you to really commit, then yeah, you're setting yourself for failure. So it is important to find that balance, pushing yourself because it's really, you can easily go down that path of ease. Yeah.
00:31:58
Speaker
But also, you have to be really wise about where you're going to push for the effort too. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. That's cool. Yeah.
00:32:10
Speaker
Indeed. For sure. Since you started that vegan, described that cycle, what are some good places that you found a pull from to continue to try to be better? Maybe it's a vegan thing, or maybe it's a plant-based diet, or maybe even more on a spiritual level. Some other things that have inspired you to continue on. More than books are like people.
Community Inspiration and Band Dynamics
00:32:33
Speaker
that I meet that are pretty much on the same path or into the same thing. And just hearing their story, their life story or whatever they're going, that definitely helps me and inspires me. It's funny because when you put yourself in certain situations and
00:32:50
Speaker
what you put out there definitely attracts like-minded people. So this last tour we did was with a band, Rising Appalachia. And so, I mean, they have a crazy following. Everyone in those communities was pretty much very conscious, very healthy, oriented, vegan, raw. So I was meeting a lot of people in that community and also a lot of natural, holistic,
00:33:19
Speaker
I mean, people 20, 30 years old who were making these would seem like potions. So I got a lot of medicine while on the road. I was just inspired by that, seeing these community of people all over, no matter where we went. And that's really dope. So that definitely inspired me.
00:33:37
Speaker
and help push me forward with living like this. Yeah, I think you can never underestimate the power of just community. Yeah. People feel, gotta read this book to know everything that there is about this. Right, right. So we gotta see this, like, unless you've seen this documentary, you don't know. Exactly. You know what I mean? Just the power of community and seeing, like you said, the journeys of other people and learning from them. Everyone's having struggles. Yeah. Everyone has bumps in the road and plus,
00:34:06
Speaker
nobody's there. We're all still on our way, man. That journey never ends. So seeing where different people are at. And so with that band, how did you guys... I'm just curious, how did everybody roll? What were some ways that you guys...
00:34:21
Speaker
So when we did that, we made a conscious decision, everybody that was in our band. We did the road before and we know how you can eat on the road and save money and eat really cheap. This one, let's just do all strictly vegan, a lot of juices, clean eating, and just see how we feel. And we'd end up by this
00:34:42
Speaker
The six show in on a high. Everyone was just, so we made a conscious decision to have a healthy tour. And it, yeah, it was beautiful. And it was beautiful was that there were so many places a lot of people are waking up to being more health conscious and providing these places that an alternative eating lifestyle could, can eat at. Yeah. So, you know, if you make that commitment,
00:35:09
Speaker
to doing that on the road and you say nothing's going to stop me, you can make it happen. Yeah. Truly you can make it happen anywhere you go. You can figure it out. Yeah, exactly. It is totally possible. That's so cool, man. So you convinced your bandmates essentially. Yeah. Yeah. They were all about it. They were cool with it. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. That was, it was cool.
00:35:32
Speaker
And at first were there, was there pushback? Were there, what? Nah, the hardest one, but who ended up, do you know Gavi? Oh, Gavi on guitar? Yeah. Yeah. So Gavi, he liked, what was it? Oh, maybe ice cream or something. Yeah, there was something he, but eventually he was like, he was all about it. He's like, oh, yeah, except for I can't give him ice cream.
00:35:55
Speaker
That's my one thing. Yeah, him and Adam. Adam was easy with it. Because he's pretty much vegetarian anyway. And then we had Carly's keyboard. She was all about it. Cool. Yeah, it was cool. It was cool. And also, what was cool about it, since we were all always getting the same thing, we ate together all the time. And that's building friendships and community right there.
00:36:18
Speaker
And that made the shows better too because it's the thing with sports teams, when you hang out together, when you party together, you play better and you have a winning season. I felt like that happened with us. We became more than dudes that play music together. We were building something. That's super inspiring, man. Yeah, yeah. I felt like that definitely helped the shows and made them tighter and fun. So yeah, that was cool. That was a fun, that was definitely a fun tour.
00:36:48
Speaker
Yeah, because no matter what, bringing that sense of open-mindedness and willing to try things into a band situation, if you come with that mentality together in various facets of your life, and then you can truly accepting that and bring that to the stage, your shows are going to flourish. Not, definitely. Definitely.
00:37:09
Speaker
because again with acceptance it's like you're accepting everyone else and you're realizing that it's easy on the road as a musician to kind of, we spend a lot of time with these band members to kind of, you almost sometimes have to withdraw to maintain.
00:37:25
Speaker
I wouldn't say your sanity, but just to maintain just a sense of self. And I totally respect that and get that with that. That's a really important thing. But then that can also bleed onto the stage where then you get to the stage and all of a sudden you're thrust into a situation where you must connect on the deepest level possible. Yet you haven't been connecting, but you've been physically together for the last 12 hours.
00:37:50
Speaker
Yeah. It's an interesting situation. So if you set yourself up in a paradigm or a situation where that bent, you've already kind of given yourself this foundation of, we're going to be connecting on this wavelength prior to the state we're all on this thing together. I think that's a really inspiring and super cool way to approach being on the road. Yeah, no, definitely.
00:38:13
Speaker
Of course, not every musician is going to accept that and more power to everybody to go on their own path. Nevertheless, that's kudos to you for being out with us.
00:38:45
Speaker
all natural I see your light shine in your eyes it's the right time thank God for the blessing
00:38:54
Speaker
Are you able to transmit this message on the mic during the show talking to fans? Have you tried to sort of bring that message of activism into the shows? Between the lyrics of the songs and just hitting on it in the in-between times when you talk a little bit. Exactly. Yeah, I definitely do. It's funny though, always been very shy. Growing up, I was very shy. I never liked to talk or anything.
00:39:22
Speaker
like that. But once I started performing it on there, I feel more comfortable on stage than I do off this stage now. But still that public speaking, talking, I still am not comfortable with that. I can hold it down in between songs, a quick 30 seconds or a minute, really speaking on something and getting across. But I haven't delved in trying to give like a presentation or hold the
00:39:48
Speaker
for like five minutes talking about it. But that's something that I do eventually want to do. It's a skill into itself, right? Yeah, no, definitely. Because I do have, definitely have a lot I want to say, and I aim to do that best in writing and laying it through MC. But I also want to, at some point, have a thing where, of course, still music is involved, but I'm actually talking to people and spreading this message or things that I think are important.
00:40:18
Speaker
It's a skill that you have to develop but you've already set yourself up in a good way because there's a couple elements that are essential in that that you already have.
00:40:48
Speaker
They're all essential elements to you're well on your way. And yeah, I'm really interested in also trying to incorporate activism into touring more. And I had this guy Wenzel McGowan on the podcast. He's from a band called Moonhooch. Those guys are just killing it. Really creative and super cool trio, two saxophones and drums. That's the band. Yeah, it's amazing. Really?
00:41:17
Speaker
And those guys are all vegan and they're all just really righteous guys. And they are super serious about cooking on the road. Their drummer is a serious cook. They have basically a traveling kitchen that they bring into the green room. So everyone out there listening, check that podcast out. That is amazing.
00:41:37
Speaker
You know, one of the things that they were doing is that they did a tour where they basically aligned with co-ops in all these communities and they would have the co-ops come and set up at their merch table and just trying to get the community involved.
00:41:53
Speaker
Yeah, the band that we went on tour with, Rise and App, they're heavy on that too. Everywhere they went that we went, they had people from the community who, yeah, yeah, definitely. And that was super inspiring. It's a great way to get people involved and get the people that might be coming to see your music involved with what's happening with another element of the community. And hopefully after we're gone, that connection can continue. Exactly.
00:42:23
Speaker
Exactly. And so looking forward, what are some of the goals that you have, whether with your spiritual and your health journey or your music and your band, what are some of the things you're looking forward to? So I'd like to just be out on the road for a long time and just spreading the word and learning. Anyone I meet or come across or have the opportunity to share anything I know that can help them.
00:42:49
Speaker
I want to do that and I want to learn. Still, I'm learning every day. Yeah, I'm still like, I moved back here. I don't know where I'm going to be planted, like living. It's all up in the air.
00:43:15
Speaker
I saw you do something, it's like this outreach thing that you do. Oh, the XPN. Yeah, so XPN, they do musicians on call. Yeah, what is that? So that's when they have musicians in the Philadelphia music community that go to the hospitals and perform for the patients they can't get out.
Music as a Tool for Healing
00:43:36
Speaker
And it's a one on one concert forum. And it's amazing. Music is a healer itself.
00:43:44
Speaker
It's just amazing to go and interact and be able to bring a little bit of light into these sick and shut in people. Yeah, I've only been able to do a couple, but...
00:43:56
Speaker
It's amazing. What have you taken away? What are some of the experience or if you could isolate one time that you did it? I mean, it's just, I guess just that feeling of knowing you're able to use a gift that you've been given to help someone else out. It's just an honest exchange, an honest, just a good feeling, a good deed you've done.
00:44:17
Speaker
by using a gift that you've been blessed with, so it just feels good. As good as it makes them feel, it makes you feel just as good. I was able to brighten that person's day up or make them happy if they were sad, but whatever, for that isolated...
00:44:34
Speaker
10 minutes, 15 minutes you're in there, you are able to positively impact someone's life. Yeah, because that energy goes back and forth. And it's sometimes almost can get a little lost as you're touring and you're playing and crowd, you're the band and there's the crowd. It starts to become a little, just like one venue to the next. And certainly you make connections with fans.
00:44:56
Speaker
and I love making the connections with people that are loving the music. It's a great thing, but nevertheless, being in a room with one person and performing for them, you can get super in touch with that exchange that's going on. And feel how really...
00:45:17
Speaker
The choices that you're making, even on a little level or a big level, they're going to impact what's happening. It's true. Yeah, man. That's awesome that you're doing that. It's an awesome program. WXBN, are you familiar with them? They're an awesome station. It's AAA radio. They're based out of Philly, but they do a lot with the community, a lot of community outreach, and as far as helping the artists in the city. They do a lot and are super supportive.
00:45:46
Speaker
So yeah, it's a good thing. They're a great station. As you now, you've kind of evolved to this place and in your journey and looking back at when you were younger, when you were just starting to go vegetarian and you're just kind of getting on that journey and getting your music career just going and all that you've achieved now,
00:46:09
Speaker
but there's probably been a lot of bumps in the road. Looking back, is there any advice you could kind of give to yourself? Believing in yourself is definitely one of the biggest things because there's always going to be, I guess it depends what it is you're doing, but there's always going to be someone that turns you down or kind of knocks you off course. But I think the most important thing is really believing in yourself and investing in yourself.
00:46:35
Speaker
And also along with that, it's extremely important to be healthy, physically and mentally. It's like, it's all, everything ties in together. So yeah, I would just say, concentrate on getting that self-confidence and belief in yourself. Also pushing yourself, driving, you gotta have an undeniable drive.
00:47:00
Speaker
If it's something you want, if it's in your heart, you gotta give everything, your whole to it. And then just maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy, being healthy, and learning. Learning, yes. Thank you. That's what I would tell my younger self. Killer, man.
Conclusion and Social Media Connect
00:47:18
Speaker
Yeah. And I so appreciate you coming down here. This has been a beautiful thing. I'm glad to be here. And just tell the people, where can they find you?
00:47:28
Speaker
Out there. So I'm on on social media. Everything is a kufnots K U F K N O T Z. So that's like Instagram Backslash kufnots Twitter at kufnots Facebook kufnots So I'm wondering that and and on my website kufnots.com I keep all the updated shows coming up in music and whatever it is that I'm working on or going on is on my website and
00:47:56
Speaker
All right, beautiful, man. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me, man. I appreciate it. Yeah, it's been a good thing. Our brother. Peace. Peace. Thanks so much for listening to this episode. And please comment and rate the show in Apple Podcasts. It truly does help. The musical interleaves in this episode of Coop Knots. Come visit the blog at torganic.com and at my Instagram page for regular updates on my triathlon training, fitness, vegan diet tips, and musical happenings. Big thanks to Coop Knots. Until next time.
00:48:26
Speaker
Peace.
00:48:41
Speaker
Where's the silver lining they talk about? I wanderin', I wander searchin' for the author Who wrote the outline and got us stuck so awkward? If life is for livin' and livin' untimid Break free from the holder and stop it, no limits Times of the essence and we press for more space Yesterday's actions won't dictate My future's too far, so I live for the day Scrapin' pavement, movin' crazy, makin' my own way Different glimpse into the headspace
00:49:11
Speaker
Breaking all the solids Speaking for the humans whose voice one unheard Reach for every dream and speeding at every turn No breaking or slowing, no momentum's just right If I push and lend a soul though we can build and take flight