What's up. It's episode seventeen. Haha, I'm still say the number is Andrew Cool. I know you hate it. Diamond told me to stop doing it too, but I continue. Episode seventeen saw us on the side. What's up. I'm Gandhi and I'm here with my two favorite people, Diamond and Andrew.
Hi. Y'all.
Hi, I'm so happy that she said my name first.
Hi.
I'm here too.
You know a lot of people said that their favorite episode of the show was when it was just three of us talking.
Yes, I'm saucy episode.
Okay, can you not do that in my own microphone?
You don't on purpose. We'll get to a microphone soon, buddy, don't worry.
Wow, I'm just your jester in this show.
You're not funny. Jesters are funny. I just try to try again. Good Anyway, we're all laughing and having a good time. But I am kind of excited about this interview today because it's Drake Bell, who we know from Drake and Josh but has recently made headlines with all kinds of other stuff. If you didn't see the documentary of Quiet on Set, he was definitely featured prominently in that He's got some new music on the way. I have a ton of things to talk to him about.
I say, we just get right to it. I'm here with Drake Bell and so much to talk about. Where do we even begin? Would you like to start with new music, new ventures?
Yeah? Sure. I just released a new single called I kind of Relate.
I listened to it. I like it, but I really like it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the music video. We just hit three million on the music video. It's doing really well, I guess, one of the most introspective, kind of autobiographical tunes that ever in a long time. And then I just released a new song on the tenth called Hollywoodn't and we're having fun with that one. It's doing pretty good.
So these songs are very different because I'd listened to both of them. Yes, So with I kind of Relate, it's almost whimsical. The sound of it is whimsical, and then you listen to the words and it's so heavy. Yeah, and then Hollywoodn't well heavy as well. Obviously you're drawing from things going on in your own life at the moment or in the past.
Yeah, these these two songs, there's been a lot that has come out recently about my history and my past and what I've been through in life, and these songs definitely relate to those those events. It's cool that you mentioned that, because I love writing songs that sound, you know, happy, but then the lyrical content takes you somewhere else, into a dark place, fun juxtaposition. It kind of is a
throwback to the days that I was going through. What I was going through at this time working on Drake and Josh, and that era of music was sort of what was happening at the time, and a lot of different styles and sounds and I kind of took all of them and threw them all into the pot, and then the whole album takes you through this this sort
of narrative journey. I kind of compared to it. It's like my wide album because there's so many, so many songs, and I mean, I guess if it was, you know, if this was the seventies, would be a double album.
How do you feel listening back to it from where you drew because I'm sure that there are some people listening who don't know specifically what you're talking about. There was a documentary that came out. It talked about some things that you've been through in your past, which were dark and very upsetting, I'm sure for you to relive. And now you have this album where you're pulling from those things and you're performing and you're listening to it all the time. What is that like?
It's it's interesting, you know. I often say I was thinking about this the other day. You know, a lot of people journal and get their thoughts out through journaling or writing in a diary, and for me, that's songwriting. I get it through my songs, and that's how I get you know, if I'm feeling upset, or I'm feeling happy about something, or there's something that's I've been dealing
with emotionally, I get it out through song. But then I was sinking the other day how many people write in their journal and then go and perform it every night?
Yes, Like I couldn't rut. I don't understand how people like that.
Oh, I'm using this as like it's like a cathartic therapeutic avenue to get all of this this junk out that's inside of me. And okay, cool, it's out. It's out. It's I don't have to sit there and you know, work through the turmoil in my mind. And then I'm like on my way on to stage and I'm like, I'm about to co read my diary for like fifty thousand people, and it's some concert I'm playing. I'm like what, And you like, really that smart?
It is? Well, I'm sure that it's got to be a little bit therapeutic to you, but it's also got to be weird to look out in the crowd and see people just singing along. Journal that was about some dark, heavy sound, dark stuff, Like what a weird position to be in, But you're saying it's good.
Yeah, you know it is. It's that's how I do it. It's been really interesting because that's how I've always written songs. And my first album I put out Telegraph, I wrote I started writing when I was fourteen, released it when I was about fifteen, and I was in the thick of all of that that junk, you know, all of that abuse and trauma and stuff that was going on,
and it was all coming out through my lyrics. And so fans are now going back to that album and looking at the lyrics and going, oh my gosh, like, yeah, it's taking on a whole new life. We're seeing it through a completely different lens. And he's been screaming from the mountaintop since day one, you know, and we just didn't you know, we were unaware of what he was going through personally, and and so we didn't really you know, these these lyrics are a lot heavier and talking about
things that are whoa you know. So that's that's. Uh, I've seen a lot of that, which is which is pretty cool. That's that's how I write. And when I was starting to write this new album, but I didn't approach it with the thought of making an album. I was just you know, I was in the eye of the storm. This documentary was going to come out. I the world was going to know my story. And I just started sitting down at the piano and using it to get to get everything out, you know.
Twenty six songs later, yeah.
Twenty six songs later, I turned into an album. And and then I just started getting super creative and I was like, well, you know, this is some heavy material. There's got to be some more, you know, it can't just be like, Okay, here's my next album. And there's a there's such a linear story, there's there's a lot of flight references, you know, when you're feeling trapped or you're going through something and you're like, man, I just want to get away. I just want to escape. I
just want to go somewhere. You know, you always say I just want to go to like an island and get away from everybody and get away from everything. And I started to construct this sort of narrative and the songs are very linear of starting with like I want to get away, I want to get out, I want to do this, and then tragedy happening in my life. It's it's really autobiographical, and then heartbreak and then that getting fixed and triumphant redemption and this and that. So
it's like a whole. It's like I putting together a movie, you know, through sound. It's cool.
So have you gotten a chance to escape and get away? Because it seems like the last year, or at least the last few months, all eyes are on you, and everybody's probably reaching out to you and saying, hey, talk about this, Let's talk about this again and again and again. Did you get to get away? Do you have some peace at all or has it just been a whirlwind of crazy?
Well, it has been quite the whirlwind. But my escape is in the studio. And that's how it was when I was working, for example, Drake and Josh, And even though I was in the thick of such heavy and emotional things going on in my life, it's you know, when I'm on stage and when the lights go up and I get to start, you know, I get to work that that that's an escape for me. And it's
sort of a metaphorical escape. That's sort of the narrative of the record too, is you know, you want to just escape and get away, but there's a lot of work on the inside and that you have to do first before you know. You can relax when you get to your destination.
I mean, you can run, but it will catch you. You can go on vacation, when you come home, it's gonna be there. You can take a nap, when you wake up, it's still going to be there. You really have to dive in and write your journal entries and then apparently turn it into a double.
Discaltel exactly exactly.
And go perform all over the place. When you are performing now, right, you have some shows coming up, is it in California?
Yeah, I have a couple shows in California, I just played in Tabasco and in Mexico, which were amazing shows. This has been the most fun show I've put together, I think.
Ever, when did you start working on this album three years ago? Three years ago?
Yeah, it's been a long time.
Okay. That explains the amount of songs, yeah, that you have because a few months I.
Keep I just keep writing, and it just keeps growing and growing and growing and growing, and I'm like, we gotta figure out, we got it. We gotta stop sometime. You know. It's funny because the name of the album is called NonStop Flight, but then as the album continued, I was adding songs, adding songs, adding songs. I'm laughing with my friends, like maybe it should just be called NonStop album. His album's like never gonna be finished.
You know, do you find it easier to write when you're happy or when you're sad?
Honestly, I think it's easier to write when you're sad. I think it's uh, I don't know, Uh, there's stronger emotion. I think when and I don't know if necessarily just sad, uh, but when when there's just something more impactful going on in your life. It's I think it's easier to find the words to say. And also, when you're happy and you're stoked, you're like, I want to know how out
with my friends? Like I want to go, like I want to I'm feeling good, Like let's go out to lunch, you know, And when you're upset, you're like, oh, I'm in my house, I'm bummed. Okay, where's the piano, where's my guitar?
You know. So it's almost like a Yelp review. People always when they're pissed off, they're gonna go leave those Yelp reviews. But when they're happy, very rarely do they go and talk about how happy they are, which is kind of sad but also makes total sense when it comes to the songwriting process.
Comments on social media are the same way. You know, if you if you're reading through social media, you're like, oh, man, there's these bad comment who's gonna write, Who's gonna When they're happy, they're just scrolling right, you know, so they're not looking for something to attack or.
But shout out to the people who do leave nice comments when they are happy. We love you. There are less of you than the others. But how do you please please leave more. Did you hear him? How do you navigate that because you can't contry. I mean, you could be the person that shots off all your comments. But it is nice to get some feedback every now and then from your fans and from the people who follow you. How has that been recently with you?
It's been really great. I mean, the fan response to my story coming out has been incredible. It's been a good Uh, it's been uplifting good.
Yeah, that's good because I can only imagine how hard all of that has been before and knowing what was coming, because you obviously sat down and did this documentary ahead of time. How long did you know before it was coming out that it was like? How long was that in the works?
About a year?
A year? Yeah, we had Mark Summerson not too long ago.
Oh yeah, and that click did you?
Yeah, it went viral because he said he was ambushed and he did not know what was going on. What did you think of the final product of Quiet on set?
Well, I'll say this, okaylad, I'm content with the way that my story was able to be revealed to the world. As far as the rest of the documentary goes.
Oh, I know, I've seen all this stuff about it. It seems like there are some gray area with other people. When I watched it, my first thought when it came to you was I want to give him a hug. And it makes me actually want to tear up a little bit right now that you were going through all of that and putting on a happy face for everybody, and now you are using all of it to channel into this wonderful music. And I am impressed that you
can do that. And I don't know how a lot of people can get through those things and not say fuck Hollywood in general. I'm out. I don't want to do entertainment anymore.
You kept doing it because I love it.
So no thought has ever entered your mind. I'm leaving this behind.
I can't. It's everything inside of me. And ever since I was a little boy, all I wanted to do was entertained. When I was five years old, six years old, I you know, even though it's a very young age, I didn't know what it was. I just knew that I wanted to make people laugh, and that is my essence. That's my soul, like I I that's my oxygen. And also, I mean, fuck them, what am I gonna I'm gonna
I'm gonna quit. I'm gonna quit doing what I love and what i've you know, I believe was born to do, and so so that these monsters can win.
I love that attitude because it's so easy to get discouraged and to let somebody doing something bad or even saying things that are terrible get to you, get inside you and say, I don't want to do this anymore, like kind of kill your buzz, kill your spirit and your light. And you didn't, and you're back better than ever.
Man, when I was on that stage and I you know, you hear, you hear the hammers hitting building, the sets, you smell that, you smell the wood being cut. You you're walking over the cables, you're seeing the cameras, the lights, and that's home. That's that's where I felt safe. That's where I felt happy, That's where I felt creative, that's where I felt alive. I'll be damned if I'm gonna allow anybody to take that away from me.
That's exactly what I want to hear. I don't want to feel. I don't want to hear from you that you feel like this is something you have to do, or that you're trapped in doing It's good to know that you want to do it and you're having a good time doing it and at the same time as therapeutic and helping you get through all the bullshit.
Yeah, I mean I've I've lost houses, but I'm not gonna I'm not gonna lose my metaphorical home.
You know, you're gonna stick with it. Yeah, Would you let your kids get into it?
That's a tough question because there's nothing else I wanted to do. Had somebody, you know, my parents or somebody had said no, you can't do that because there's some horror stories. Well, there's horror stories and everything. I mean yeah, radio, yeah, radio, television, film, school, sports, corporate life. I mean there's there's You're find you find bad actors everywhere, mostly in Hollywood, but but but you know, there's there's there's people, there's there's bad eggs in every basket.
So to take that dream away from a child, I couldn't imagine doing that. But having my experience and knowing what I know, I wouldn't not let them.
You'd also be coming from a place of experience where you're like a hawk, probably watching and able to see things that your parents might not have been able to see because they were new to it, whereas you've that's what I hear.
About, you know, And that's a good that's a good segue into this is where a lot of people on social media, a lot of people in the media are well, where were the parents?
What?
Why? How could the parents? And it's the parent's fault and it's this fault. No, it's not. It's the person who who perpetrated what happened. It's their fault. You're talking about parents who have never been on a movie set. They don't know how to conduct themselves. They don't know what, how, how far they can go with what they and so they're learning too. It's just as easy to take advantage
of them because they're just as vulnerable. So to say, oh, it was the parents, Well, it's like you're actively learning the boundaries and what I can where I can speak up, and what I can say, or is my son gonna get fired? Are they gonna get picked up for the next season? You're like, why is that important? You're like, it doesn't have to and it also doesn't have to
be something as extreme as what I went through. It could be something like, you know what, my son's exhausted, Like, do we have to throw the pie in his face another six times? And that's something totally apparent has the right to go up and say. But as you're in the process of learning, you're like, can I go up and tell the director or the producer that my my
son's had enough? Can we move on? So that's why I think it's important to have changes in the industry where you have something like somebody like a social worker or somebody who has experience with mental health and childcare, and you know, they're they're appointed by not the production or not the studio, so they have no ties, they have no concern whether or not they're going to get a job by this studio the next time. Having somebody that is experienced enough to recognize, hey, you know, this
child's laughing and saying, oh no, it's okay. I'll slip and fall one more time. But they can recognize, hey, you know what, let me give us, give us ten minutes. I need to speak with this child and their parent and take them into another room. And I want to sit down with the child and make sure that he's okay. And this is what's going on. Because I see him feeling a little uncomfortable, but he's in a position where
he doesn't feel that he can express that. So we're going to take the We're going to take a moment and stop everything. And they have the power to do that. So I think that, you know, small changes like that can have a profound effect on that.
Actually seems like a really huge change and something that is much more possible now that this documentary did come out. Yeah, and that there are all these people saying, hey, had we had X, Y and Z on the set, this stuff wouldn't have happened. And now as dark as what you went through was, there is something that you can do for other people in the future to shine a light and say this is how we make it not happen.
Yeah, And maybe there's maybe an aspect of that is, you know, an hour set aside, maybe two hours set aside two days a week, one day a week, whatever, just for mental health and have that set aside for the kids so that when they do get in a situation, they feel comfortable enough to go to that person and say, hey, this doesn't feel do I really have to do this?
I just don't feel comfortable. I don't feel comfortable wearing this, or I don't feel comfortable this joke makes me feel uncomfortable, or I just don't know if this is right, and then they can handle the situation.
There's more checks and balances in general would be great, which if we're being real, not just for kids on sets, but it goes on. It's rampant, one hundred with adults on set. With entertainment in general. Entertainment is a beautiful, shiny, amazing thing. And it's also really really dark and has sharp edges. And if you don't want yourself, whichever branch of entertainment you're in, you can get got.
Definitely, definitely. And you know, after reading Jeanette's book and I Janet mccurty, Janet mccurty's book, Yeah, there were so many parallels in our story. It was incredible. I mean not just in growing up in Hollywood, but I mean we grew up in the same city, Garden Grove. When she was going to Disneyland all the time, I was going to do that all the time. She's naming street names in her book, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I live like four streets away from there. That's where
I grew up. It's just it was really interesting reading. But I think something that was illuminating in her book and really stuck out to me is, you know they put you through media training. For example, when you book a TV show, they're like, Okay, you've never done and now you're gonna be doing interviews. You mean to this, We're gonna do media training. But I think there should also be a session of listen, everyone's gonna be watching every movie you make. This is what it's gonna feel like.
Here's examples of what other actors have gone through. Here's their bad press. Here's what people have said about this person. Here's what this person said about this person's kids, how they are as a mother, how they are in their relationships, talking about their boyfriends and girlfriends, talking about their marriages, talking about their divorces, all the dirt. Is this something that you feel like you can hand? And definitely that should be done with somebody that like a a therapist
or somebody in the room with the kid. You know, prepare them. They're gonna talk about your weight, They're gonna talk about the outfit that you wore as you went to go get coffee that day. They're gonna talk about the relationship that you're in, be prepared for. You're gonna have to have a thick skin, and is that something that you're prepared for or that you want to do.
And it's changed even since the time that you were a child star acting and all this stuff because social media has exploded and is monstrous also wonderful at the same time, everywhere you go, people are taking a picture of you, whether you're looking or not. Eating a piece of pizza.
It's unbelievable.
It's creepy. And you're still doing dealing with that, I assume right now.
Yeah, yeah, it's it's unbelievable. I mean, especially in Latin America where my last single just went number one. I'm playing huge concerts. I go and get tacos and it's all on the front page of Reform a newspaper the next morning.
And do you ever wear to skies and just go out and get your tacos?
You know, it's unbelievable. I mean even during COVID, I would have my COVID mask, I'd have a hoodie on, I'd have my sweatshurant and people would be like, Drake, can I get a.
Picture with you, you ever act like it's not you, like I don't know what you're talking about. I would do that.
No, you know, you know, I'm a huge fan. When I'm into something, I become an absolute expert obsess over this fan. Obsessed maybe that's the wrong word to use in this kind.
Might be the right word.
Well, in the in the age of Baby Reindeer, maybe obsessed. Maybe we'll keep the obsessed a little. And with things that I've gone through, I'm fanatical. And I've met so many people in my life who shaped me musically. And I've had so many different situations that are wonderful and incredible and inspiring. And I've had other situations that have
broken my my heart as a fan. You know, I've had you know, I go up and I ask someone for a picture, and you know, I get the rude no, like why you bother you know, get away from me, kid, you bother me, you know kind of thing. And then I get other people who are just so genuine and kind and my time is your time, like thank you,
so thank you so much for being a fan. Thank you so much, No, thank you, you know, And this is something I've learned and I've taken away and why I'll never say no it's not me, or no you can't have a picture, or no I won't talk to you for and especially since the documentary has come out of there's been a lot of interactions that turn into
thirty minute conversations on the street. But the biggest stars that I've ever worked with are always the most humble, most kind, most giving with their time, the sweetest, you know. And then it's these other actors that you're like, really, yep, really you're gonna That's how.
We say that all the time. There's this like happy medium because when people are just starting out there super friendly and they're really nice and they're eager and they want to talk to everybody and meet everybody. Then there's this weird middle period yep, where a lot of people become assholes. And then they've passed that and now they're back up way on top and they're really nice and friendly again, and we can't figure out what happens and
that little in between where everyone gets crazy. But it's like, I think, almost guaranteed, you know what, I.
Think now that you mentioned that, I think they're in that middle ground you still in your mind, and even though the perception might not be that way to the public, but in your mind, you're still in the fight. You're still in that battle to get to that third section.
You're competing with everybody.
You're competing and when you're on that third tier, you've figured out, this is my family, this is my group, These are the people I keep close to me. These you can recognize the people you need to show away. You can recognize the people clinging on to you, taking from you, pulling from you. And I think when you're in that second tier, it's not only by your team who wants you to get to that next phase where you're you know, the artist might be saying, Wow, I'm
really excited about this. This song went. Now it went really great. They're like, yeah, but it didn't even reach top ten. You got to do this, you gotta do this,
you gotta do this. And so now they're like being pulled at in every direction, and they want to go a direction as an artist, and they feel that they've reached a point where they should have a say in that, but they have this whole team that's telling them not to and so they're that and then they have all of the people who are just hanging on for the ride, the clingers that don't have any of their best interests at heart, and then that just drains you. And so
I was going to say, pulling from you. So it's soul sucking and you haven't had the experience to get to the point where you have the strength and the courage to be like, Okay, you're gone.
Do you feel like you're at the point where you're comfortable enough to delete the contact and kick people out of your circle.
If you need to, Yeah, I mean my circle. You start realizing the smaller the group around you gets, the more happy, the more successful, the more that content that you're going to be, the more opportunity you're going to have to thrive. Definitely, So my group continues to be smaller and small.
Keep wing it out. So you were talking about going down some rabbit holes when you're into something, you're like, all in, what is this stuff recently that you've been into? Because when you talked about Baby Reindeer, I went down a rabbit hole on that one. I did all the stuff.
So Baby Reindeer was Wow. I had a lot of friends and a lot of people on social media reach out to me and say do not watch Baby Reindeer. Wow, do not watch Baby.
Rain, which probably only made you want to watch it.
Because well, they were too late. Oh, I had already watched it, and they're like, it deals with some things that I don't it's going to be triggering for you that I don't. I don't want you to have to relive, you know, with what's you're going through right now and now knowing your story, they they say, dude, don't watch the show. Don't watch the show. And I'm like, too late, guys, And my jaw was on the floor.
And yeah, and I uh yeah.
There were some episodes that were you know, you go into this thinking it's about one thing, and then all of a sudden, it takes such a dramatic turn.
It's such a dramatic turn. The one episode that I know both of us are talking about, I when I was done watching that episode, thought, well, that case I was not prepared for that.
Well that was that was my life with Brian Peck, except I wasn't a thirty two year old aspiring writer. I was a fourteen year old child.
Jesus, I feel like you have a wild tell all book buried inside you somewhere and I hope that that is coming at some point.
Oh yeah, I mean if you enjoyed or were moved by a baby reindeer, just wait for my book.
Really yeah, are you writing it? Are you actively writing it?
I'm working on it right now. Yeah, you know, it's a it's a it's it's definitely a process because as my life continues, there's more, you know, to be added, there's more to be put in, and there's a lot of really it's it's difficult because when you're when you're doing interviews. You know, the way that I described my abuse that I endured and experienced and what happened to me, I it's hard to do with a camera on you.
Yeahs and and and and also there's a lot of things you can't say, I mean YouTube you you have to say essayed or s O or ab or or those.
And those are sexually assaulted abuse.
You can't say sex. You know, you can't say I can't say Brian is a registered sex offender of s oh.
And you can't say facts, that's just a fact.
No, you can't wow. Yeah, yeah, you definitely can't say facts, but you can tell lies. Totally seems to be I mean, I have reporters. Reporter is reaching out to me and saying, we put you put this new song out, and You've told this story on the documentary, and I've been doing my research and it seems to me that this song is about this and this is the person you were talking about in your documentary. And you're like, dude, I
watch TikTok, I read Twitter. All of this information that is your research is from TikTok, Twitter and Reddit, Like that's your research and you're a journalist.
That's all the time.
Now you are literally regurgitating TikTok videos from somebody who could say anything that has like two hundred and fifty followers twenty three hundred and thirty two followers, and then you go down their TikTok and it's just conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, and I'm going what it was. So it's just unbelievable the things that you
can say. But no, it's it's difficult to tell my story the way that it needs to be told without it being in an autobiographical medium.
You know, it's it's sure, I mean a lot has to get lost in the time it takes for someone to come and fix your hair and makeup, and then lights come on and you have a director talking to you and now a lot of.
People staring at you, and yeah, you're trying to and you're you're trying to put your words together and find words in real time, and you're you're going, wait, what am I saying? And then all of a sudden, you're reliving it in real time and you're on a public stage and you're telling every That's why I think that that scene in Baby Reindeer when he has his breakdown resonated with me so much, because I'm going, I mean,
that's what I feel. I feel like when I'm being interviewed about these these events and these things, I almost just feel like doing that and breaking down and being like, Okay, you want to you you really want to get into this, You really want to pry, you really want to start? Oh you really want to open this door? Well, sit back, buckle up, I'll tell you what really happened. I'll shoot, I'll i will rip your heart out. I'll say it
like it is. So you have those feelings and then you're feeling that while you're trying to be like yeah, yeah, thanks, ask me again, why don't you just google the answer, because I've talked about it thirty seven times in the past thirty eight hours.
Yeah.
Like so it's it's difficult, but I'm excited to be able to sit down and this is one part of my story. I mean, I've been doing I've been in this industry for thirty plus years, and that's just one part of my story. There's beautiful things and amazing things that happened before and getting through that and continuing and keeping it inside for so long and still being able to move on and like you were saying before, you know, go to work and be happy and excited to work
and not giving up. And and so there's there's a lot to my story that I think comes through the new album, but also that I'm looking forward to sitting down and finishing. I've written a lot of chapters so far, but there's a lot that I still need to sit down and write and get ready for.
Obviously, you started acting when you were very young, five years old. I think you were in like I read Seinfeld, Home Improvement, like all of these giant, giant shows. You still get residuals when that stuff comes around.
I do from those. Yeah, but I don't get from breaking Josh.
Wait what you don't get residuals from dre Josh? How's that even possible? Right, you're Drake, Drake and Josh. Yeah, okay, so who gives that check?
Then?
If it's not you, it Viacom.
Making billions of dollars off of all of us. They get nothing, nothing, zero, Thank god. I wrote the theme song to the TV Shoo to Drake and Josh because that's the only checks that I see, and those are you know, those are what, you know, not making any crazy amount of money off of that, but you know, I can at least maybe, you know, buy my friend some lunch.
My mind is blown.
That's about it.
And that's like, that's non negotiable. There's no way that you can ever go back. And it's done.
No.
Wow.
The advantage that they take is unbelievable with kids television, and I think that that's something that should have been illuminated way more. And I talked to the producers about it and impressed it upon them a lot throughout the process of making the documentary, and I don't know why it was left out, because that's something that you know, people think that we are living off of our residual checks.
There.
Well, you're on TV all over the world. You're on TV every day. I watch you every day. You're stream I mean, they just sold Drake and Josh and Netflix and it was the number one, It was one of the number one stream it was top ten.
This is insane. And I hope that Netflix hash.
In the checks. I mean, I don't know, I mean I wanted. I would love to know how much they sold Drake and Josh.
Nep Maybe you wouldn't love to know that.
It's another it's another bullet for the chamber, and it's more ammunition to just go, Wow, what in the world. I mean they're I mean, they're selling advertisements, they're selling sponsorship, you know, they're selling commercials.
And everything, all of this, and you're.
Sitting there going it's for everyone who is involved in those networks, you know. I talked to friends of mine who are on hit TV shows, on Nickelodeon, huge TV shows. They have kids now, they can't pay their they're struggling to pay their rent. Whereas if you're on a network show or on a show you know, or working with a company that doesn't take advantage you can live off that. You know you can. You can decide at eighteen, you
know what, I'm good. I'm gonna go to college. I'm gonna be able to do that because of all of this work that I put in in my younger years. I'm going to be able to use that and put it towards something that I want to pursue. But when you're done at Nickelodeon, you are, You're just bye, thank you for thank you for everything, and.
They use you forever, clearly. Yeah, And when that book comes out, I hope you come back. You should tell your story with your own words, without all the people around you editing it, cutting things out, telling you what you shouldn't say. I look forward to you being able to do that. I think that's gonna be great. Oh shit, you're that far.
Well.
So I'm toying with the title. The theme song that I wrote for Drake and Josh is called I Found a Way. I wrote that song when we shot the pilot for the For the show, they were using a different song. They were using I think Lenny Kravitz. Once you dig In, Once you digive, We men have a
self a good time. And I was watching the pilot, and I'm like, man, if I'm in the if I'm in another room, I'm doing my homework, Like, and I hear that, I don't know if it's the music video or a commercial for you know, potato chips, Like, I don't know all these songs, all these shows that I love that I grew up on, had an instant you know, theme song that instantly you hear it and you go, oh, say by the bells on I gotta go watch it,
or you know, salute you shit, whatever it is. So I put together a theme song, went and recorded a little demo version of it, and went in with the producers during a meeting and I was like, guys, I have a theme song. Can I write? Can I play it for you? The executive producers like, a just leave it with me. I'll I'll call you and let you know.
I don't call me.
Yeah, And I'm like, you know, there's this like fourteen year old kid or fifteen I think I was fifteen at the time, and I'm like, I got a theme song for your show that's like a real show and being produced by a big company and all this and and check it out. It's gonna be great. And this guy's like, you've never written a thieves. We have people for that. This is this is this is not high school. This is not some high school play.
You know.
It was really cool. Immediately they were working on another show at the time, and immediately they took the boombox. They unplugged it, and they walked out onto the set and they said, hey, guys. Guy they were all rehearsing for the show. They said, guys, guys, stop for a second. Stop for a second. He plugged it in and he pressed play. He goes, listen to the theme song for my new show. And then he turned around. He's like,
he's like, hey, Drake wrote that, isn't that great? And then and then he took me aside and we walked back to his office and he looked at me and he goes, oh, now I just have to convince the network, but that is the theme song to my new show. And so it became this this song about friends and about friendship, and I think that resonated with the producer saying, wow, this is like the story of my show. It's catchy, it's and then you go back and listen to it
and you go, oh, huh, maybe that's what I was saying. Oh, that's what I. Oh, I thought I was trying to say, but I was actually saying this. And I think that a lot of because I wrote that song during the time I was going through a lot of this darkness. There's lyrics like you know, no one can break what's so unbreakable? But I found a way. I found a way. I sing the song every night. How am I?
Anyway?
If you open up your mind and see what's inside? And so I started finding all of it. What's what's what's so unbreakable?
What's the next one?
I found a way? I found a way. What's that say? So, now if you take this like from away from being about buddies and being about yourself, like I never thought it'd be so simple, but I found a way. I found a way. I always thought that it'd be too crazy, but I found a way. I found a way. It starts and you start taking that as uh, you know, more introspective. You know, I'm going, wow, I was intending to write this about these two buddies, but maybe I'm
singing to myself. Continue and here's your happy sound with But if you open up your mind and see what's inside. It's gonna take some time to realign. It's gonna take some time to get all this junk out to to get back to who you are. But if you look inside, I'm sure you'll find and this could be you that over your shoulder, you know that, I'll this could be this could be me talking to young Drake, you know, the little boy. So just turn around. I'll always be that,
you know over your shoulder. You're told you I'll always be there to pick you up when you're down. So just turn around. So as you're growing in life and you're looking back at you know, that little boy who was in that moment, in that situation, going through this, going through this gruesome horror, you can go back and say.
Fourteen year old, you wrote a theme song with the title of your soon to be tell all book. Absolutely, this is going to be the bestseller. I know it.
So now the well, we got to talk to legal about that. But so I was thinking about titles of the book and this and that, and I don't know how it came to me. One day. I was, you know, walking around, maybe in the shower or something where you where you know, your thoughts are just kind of freely coming, and I was like, wow, I found a way through all of what I've experienced, everything I've been through in my life, I found a way to get through this.
I found a way to get through this. I found a way to.
Get through this.
And people can relate to that with whatever you're going through. Find a way, because there's a way, there's traffic, there's a roadblock, there's a red light. Find a way. You know, there's always there's always going to be a way. And then when you get through it, there's power in I didn't let it destroy me. I didn't let it. I didn't allow it to take who I really am away from me or define or define me through the sickness, through the sadness, through this family issue, this this loss,
this death, this trauma, this darkness. And then there's power in that. I didn't let it destroy me or define me. I found a way. And so that's the title of the new book.
That's a great title. We'll play. We'll play the rest of your theme song as your exit.
Let me get right, because now I'm interested.
Okay, here we go.
We don't even know even if we don't have to use it, I know that anything's possible because I found a way no one can break what's so unbreakable. You know, I had meant that to be the friendship, but maybe that subconsciously was like, I'm getting through this darkness right now. I have all of this tragedy and stuff happening to me that maybe I haven't even told my mom about, and the order for it to be taken to court or whatever. But it didn't break me. And maybe that's because I'm unbreakable.
Can I make a suggestion, from a place of not knowing about music or albums or the music industry in general, besides working here in radio station, if you did the soft acoustic version of that song and put it on your album, I think that would be amazing.
Oh yeah, good idea.
It's just like full circle of everything where you started, where you are now, and how the two of those mesh and they reflect one another to the words. I mean, obviously you know it's your song, but so pretty.
Isn't it?
Isn't it interesting when you look at it from another another perspective?
Because I would never I mean, just listening to the opening theme of Drake and Josh, I wouldn't be like, oh my God, how beautiful. Right, but if you slow it down with like, it is beautiful.
Thank you so much for indulging me, and thank you.
No, this is amazing. I feel like we got some of the best stuff right here. That's great. Thanks for breaking that down. And I'm excited to hear the acoustic version and read your book. I can't wait. Thank you getting to work on it. Whoa, So would you guys think of that insane incredible? Yeah? I feel like he really wanted to keep going down certain paths, but I almost felt like I didn't want to push him or
pressure him to do that. But once he starts going, he was going, and he's coming back and he's coming back baby. Well so he said, and we have it, we have it recorded. So all right, Drake Bell, we're feeling wow crazy, let's get into the burn book because Andrew yesterday was having a day. When's the last time you saw Andrew like that? Uh, probably six months ago. It's like a semi annual yes type thing with him.
Yeah, nothing crazy, but when it happens, it happened.
It happened. And somebody who wasn't who walked into the studio yesterday and was like, oh, I've never seen him like this.
I don't know, but I do go through annual rages.
And he had a rage day yesterday. So let's let's make a submission into the burn book. Who would you like to burn? Who was pissing you off so bad yesterday? Every time you can take that mic, every time you went to text this is what I heard, you slammed your phone down.
I just I'm my burn book includes the world, Okay, I mean I am using the world because everything was awful today.
The salad that I had was awful.
It's just like you know when you have a day and it's like everyone just annoys you and gets under your skin.
It's not just one thing in particular.
It was just everything from the salad I ate, to the conversations I had to have for work, to the just idiots that ugh.
Okay, how about it behind the scenes, because I feel like I was kind of contributing to it, and I was trying to be nice as nice as I could because I knew you were having a bad day. But I get real pissed off when people are not on time, especially if it's an interview like a show up. Come on, you have one job yeah, love Drake Bell. He was great today. He was an hour late. Yeah, an hour.
Yeah.
I waited around for an hour, which, by the way, Andrew, I would never do for anybody. But you seem so stressed when I said I'm gonna walk out. Yeah that I stayed.
Well, I appreciate you for staying. Thank you so much. Again, Like I said, it was just one of those days. Play that Limp Biscuit song because that's truly how shit. Yeah, so just happened that one of those days one way up keep it was miserable. Yeah, it just like add that to on top of everything. I had three different recordings.
One of them happened earlier than was scheduled, and I knew it wasn't gonna go well if I wasn't there for it, and they still went ahead and did it anyway, and so then I had to edit all that audio. I had a super late interview. I everybody was graduating yesterday, So I left at six o'clock from the garage. And let me tell you something, why do people decide, as they're leaving a parking garage, this is the perfect time
to reorganize their trunk. The fuck are you doing that's all I have to say, because I'm sitting there waiting in my car for an extra five minutes while they're opening their trunk and talking to each other like moving things around. I have places to go, I have people to see. I had a dinner at seven. I could not get there on time because these idiots were rearranging. There's stupid drugs, and it was late and it just added to everything else. But then I did have a really nice time at my dinner.
So that's good. It made up for it. It ended nicely.
The Drake Bell interview was awesome and I stuck around.
For Yes, the interview is great. I'm so happy it happened.
Everything prior from six thirty am to six pm misery.
Okay, this is for you, Andrew.
Okay, thank you so much.
I'm gonna play the song because I feel like Diamond hasn't heard it. Have you heard this song? I don't. Okay, here we go.
It's just one of those days. Wait, you don't want to wake up everything and everybody sucks. They don't play, but you want to us the fuck off.
Don't play. Contract and if you went to last you like, it's no contracts.
Study your way, mother, it's.
Just one of those days.
That's the edited version.
Yeah, that's just how I felt. It wasn't great. You know, that's my culture. Don't laugh at my culture because Diamond, have.
You heard that song before? I don't know, I don't.
Know, you don't know Olympus.
I'm just so uninterested in Andrew as a human being.
That is such a lie. You know, by the way, they're like best friends, besties, we love that. Oh my god, can I tell you what happened this morning?
Tell me and how Andrew made me look like an idiot?
Oh yeah. So I'm walking.
Into the building and he's walking in from the other entrance, and I yelled my best day, and everyone in the lobby is looking at me, but Andrew is on his phone with the noise canceling headphones on, So everybody is looking like, who is this woman talking to because.
He ignored you.
He ignored me.
You have a burnbug, Andrew burn. Well, yeah, go ahead.
You know, I had my headphones in, I was jamming out to my musics, and I just I wasn't listening to you say. And then I looked at you and I just saw your arms like outstretched, and I was like, oh, I definitely left up. I don't know how, but she definitely was saying something in this lobby.
Sorry that happened to you, guys. I think we should just end this because I don't have a lot of time left. Drake Bell went long, which was great. Yeah, but we'll just cut out the ask me anything. We'll do it next week.
Okay, sounds good. And in the meantime, congratulations Gracie Winner.
Yeah, thank you. I'm so excited. Here we go, baby number two. Number two just didn't start collecting awards collecting diamond. By the way, no one can see it, but she threw up peace signs at the microphone. How was going On't okay? Like follow subscribe? If people don't find you online, how do they do it? At diamond?
Sincere at Andrew Pug on Instagram at Baby Hot Sauce, I need.
Ten thousand followers.
Oh yeah, oh he does. We'll talk about that in the next episode. Yeah, yeah, all right, peace out, everybody, Peace out, everybody. Hi, I sole the end of our other show.
Come on.