Hey, do you guys know the song Glisserin or the song machine Head? Okay, I didn't tell Gavin this during the podcast, but I used to have this dog named Jane, and the dog would constantly go outside of the house and then back into the house and outside of the house and then back into the house all day lunch. You just wanted to go through that door. And he had this song called Machinehead, was a giant, giant hit and at one section it goes breathe in, breathe out,
breathe in, breathe out, breathe in. And my wife and I used to go Jane's in, Jane's out, Jane's in, Jane's out, Jans And he was like a huge part without knowing it, he was a huge part of our lives. So it's gonna be really fun for me to sit down and talk to Gavin Rossdale today. Although I didn't, I'm not gonna tell him that story. Gavin Rossdale, thank you so much for being here on six degrees with Kevin Big And I'm so excited to meet you. I don't think we've met, have we no crossed?
I was like, yeah, I felt very upset that I didn't know if I'd made this within the six degrees, but now I guess I have.
Oh no, no, you definitely have, because we we do the research on that before we start this embarrassing must be loads of course. Well you were. You were in a Little Black Book, right with Julia Nicholson. Julianne was in Black Mass with me, so right.
I was in it. I was in that movie so quick. It's a beautiful story. I remember. It's funny because I now live and my kids go to school that way. Why I drove out. I seemed like I was going forever. And when I got to Canoga Park Avenue, seen far outside of LA It's like, god, damn, this is the vallet. And I went there and I I always said that as an actor is trying to be an actor and
really loving that whole world. I thought that the thing I didn't want to do was any rom coms, you know, because I just thought that was a way you could kind of just kind of skid and fall out the way I wanted to do much more serious stuff. So that, yeah, I just that's what, right. So I go there and they said, oh, there's this film with Brittany Murphy there's a rom com. I said, no, no, no, no, no, we don't want to do that, right. We want to keep the dark. I want to play the devil's emissary. I
want to be covered in blood. People generally kill me or I killed someone suddenly happened mister dark. I don't want to miss the sweet guy in the rain. So I went there and fully like, I just was like, just hold your ground. It's great to me here. She's incredible. Hold your ground. You're not going to do any of that. And I walked in this trailer and there's the producer, there was the director, and there was Brittany Murphy and she just grabbed my hands and said, please we do
this part. I said, yeah, of course.
I rolled over like that's so funny. You know, I have to I want to ask you about that because this, this this brings up something that I'm really curious about. I don't get a chance that often to speak to you, know, but musicians who act, and I'm an actor who plays music, and so I have my own theories about all of all of it in the way that people react to
these things. But I'm curious from your standpoint. I mean, what was it about acting, because you obviously were had thought a lot about it in terms of the kind of things that you wanted to do. And it's and it's true that comedy is its own thing and can be just kind of a blip on the radar. So I'm just I'm fascinated about what what pushed you in that in that kind of direction.
Well, I think it's just to do with the words and with the magic that great actors. You know, obviously, my my whole life is creditates words. I think that I have this career because of the words that I've managed to write, you know what I mean. It's not like I didn't reinvent melody. I didn't reinvent music. I just did a certain style with a certain my my slant, which has been pretty consistent over all this thirty years
or whatever. And so to do when you read a great writer and then you hear a great actor, you know, taking those words off the page and making them come alive. There's something about that alchemy, a bit like you know, melody with chords. If one voice was a chord, something happens, and it's just so enticing, Like I just love it that rolling and action and everything is dependent on us
and the scene making it happen, making it real. And I just find an endless delight in that, the waiting around and rejection and act of work that I could do it out. When I sort of stopped, I was like, I was like, i'd say I quit acting. I hadn't quit acting. I just quit auditioning. In fact, I didn't quit auditioning because I still do self taped. But it's just like so nice. Sophia Copper gave me a role in in her movie The Bling Ring. The last thing
I did. I got given it, which is really fun to be given apart then you get I think it's just magical when you lifting off the page. That's what I really like. And I can't bear looking at her cell phone, just like that wasn't the best take. I know, you know, it's fraud and all the same things when we listen back to music, but that's what it was. And quickly about the Brittany Murphy thing. We had most
of the credible times she was really spectacular. That was such a warm, beautiful spirit, and when we were working together, she was so nice to me about it. You are really good, you know, really this is really good. Now everything I did apparently I got a soft landing because they said they did a test screening in New York and everyone wanted to end up with you and not with the person in the movie. So they cut all
my scenes. So my part was cut and I just left one scene in the in the coffee shop, and that's kind of it, just like the most inconsequently, Yeah, so it's complete. So I was like, I was took in the sense of being blooded, you know, like happen with you know, Terry Manning cutting out? You know, what's his face? You know, beautiful.
I don't even know that story.
Yeah, it was a good story, don't know it anyway, Some people have been in a I shouldn't say, but some people have been in Terry Manic movies that ended up not being in.
Terry man Okay, I'm gonna look at.
That wonderful a friend of mine, no story. So yeah, you know, I just thought it was right a passage, but I just love it. I also like not the pressure of someone else starting their creative process like I someone writing it, and you know, like musicians, we start with a like an empty screens, like sitting there with a guitar. Okay, makes me interesting to do something.
Wow.
Do you see the parallel with that? Do you see the parallel?
Well, yeah, I do one hundred percent. I mean I think that I think that you you make a lot of really great points, one of which is is that we really are we really need the great writing. And the great writing is the thing that that you know, I've said bad lines and I've said good lines, and good lines are a lot more fun and it's a lot, it's a lot you know, easier to be good if
someone is doing great writing. I think that the the one of the things that really proved that and drove that home was this, uh, the kind of the golden the new golden age of television, when all the writers from movies kind of went, you know what, we're kind of man on the totem pole here, so we're going to go to television where we're going to be number one, we're going to be showrunners, we're going to be creators. And all of a sudden, television just blew up. And
it was because the writers made that move. And I think that, yeah, you know, I also would would agree with you that I would much rather get apart without auditioning, I've done both ADI and I've done that.
I thought i'd put in some good auditions recently and I good enough. I did it with Jack mcbree as a friend of mine, professional actor. So we got to the point where these self tape you can really can watch your back even though it's quite hard, and you can be like, okay, just get the one that I don't suck, you know, and so if we get it good enough, because often with auditioning, especially if you know experience, you know you don't have the don't always have the chops.
You might need a couple of moments like I had this wonderful action coach Howld Guskin, and you oh.
Wow, I knew how Yes, I actually worked with him.
Yeah, yeah, I work with him a lot. I tried out for The Good Shepherd. So I did four auditions for Denier four, and just at the Leo part where he was playing the main character. I went to London and I auditioned with Leo, so the two with de Niro, two of the casting people, and then they switched to Matt David. So DeNiro was really man. If he cast me, we'd be doing movies together, you know, but instead I'm
just on the total pole as a musicians still. But he he said to me, he really liked and he said, you've got to work with Harold because he's going to really help you. So I worked with Harold, and his whole thing was just remember a movie is just a series of rehearsals, series of rehearsals. Every TAKEE is a series of rehearsals. That's it. So when you take that away, you kind of go over things, doing things, but you might have do your best work in the first one.
Go into an audition and they kind of give you two shots of it. For a musician or someone who's a little out there regular environment, you could be forgiven for needing like a couple of takes. Just fucking this is nothing to get out of the way of yourself, because you know, something worse than being in your own way, you know. And so so doing these self tapes, which I did one for like in treatment, I did one for him. Is that that me the Righteous Gemstones?
Oh yeah, it's the best.
Yeah, And there's no way I was ever going to get it, but I certainly would. I totally went for it and had a laugh in it.
Oh, that's cool.
In a sudden accent.
You know, yeah, he's.
Really really good. So those self takes are pretty good. And I think to the point where I think, well, you know what, you get to a point where you just realize that it's so particular what they want in the casting. It doesn't even matter about it performance. It couldn't be like just the way you smile. It could be the way you walk. It's anything that makes the makes it come alive for them. You can't take it
too personally that they wanted, you know. I mean, Billy Crudup got my part in A Good Shepherd, for example, acts of ridiculous that evening. It's like being in the running with like, you know, Usain Bolts, you know, and quick dash with Usain Bolts. It it was a tricky one all the time.
But keep it up. I mean it sounds like you're doing some some you know, he's still doing doing it, still exploring it, you.
Know what I mean.
I actually, I mean I'm always because I've you know, had a band since since the nineties, I'm always like, if somebody does two things, I'm like, why shouldn't they paint or why shouldn't they also you know, why shouldn't Michael Jordan play baseball? Let me shut up? You know, it's like people get sort of. But my theory is is that, and you may disagree with this, is that the people are more accepting of a musician doing some acting than they are actor playing music. And there's a
couple of reasons for this. Number one is that when somebody looks at you and what what you create, you are on a higher plane, I think than actors are. You are in a It's like I think I think rock stars are are deities in a way, you know, because there's such an emotional connection to the song that keeps becoming more and more and more the soundtrack of our lives. It's a corny thing to say, but it really is true. I mean, these, you know, your songs
become just a moment in people's lives. Whereas a movie, you know, you see it, then they see the see that. You know, you see somebody's doing movie, then you see him doing different movie. Then you see him do a different movie. They see him doing different movie. It's not it's it's not like this kind of constant presence. And the other thing is that most people think acting is probably pretty easy. If you know, most people think, well, if I look like Tom Cruise, I could act to yeah.
Or they've or they've or they've been in the school play and you know, their parents told them that they were good. But most people know that playing a guitar is hard because if they go and pick up a guitar, they don't there's no it's you know, you can't just play a guitar. It just doesn't. It just doesn't work
that way. Even if you've stood in front of the mirror and you know, held your bar soap and sung, you know that that's that's something that that you don't look at you or you know, Springsteen or whatever and go, oh yeah, I could definitely do that. So I think that there's a there's a it's there's a little bit of a forgiveness that happens when it comes to actor musicians acting. And by the way, I'm I'm all for it.
It's interesting, isn't it, Because it's it's it's it's like that just speaks to how you feel about It makes me, you know, because I feel bad because it's like I think you're great, and I don't think that because somebody is a great actor, they shouldn't be also great musicians as well, you know he obviously you have seen Johnny have a late run with Jeff Beck, which is pretty extraordinary. Yeah,
I don't make it ready with Jeff Beck. Obviously you got Jared with thirty seconds to Mars probably the one example of a well, he's just ketch him in the he's so in the zeitguys because of his fashion connections and he's an incredible actor. So it's weird because the reason I say that is because I have a cell.
I'm defensive the other way because I always think it's really hard to compete with actors because actors are much more famous in the sense of it reaches a much broader audience, like my audience is a is a small audience, will say a movie audience. So it's just weird because we all have slight not hangout because it's not that heavy, but things were. It's a little harder for us. So for you, you think it's the other round, and me,
I'm the other one. I'm like hey, we all feel slightly like, hey, please are can I have some more? It is true alive of just being creative people. There's always a sense of a degree of insecurity because because you put it. You know, for instance, you don't have to do a band, like when if you do just your acting, you can always just blame the Yeah, musn't regressed best writing. What can I tell you? It's what
I got this this year. But whereas on your band, you're on your own, no one playing with yourself.
No one blame myself, and there's no character between me and the audience. Like when like I always say that, you know, even if I do an interview, I'm kind of performing, you know. Or but if I play a song that I've written that is about something personal, that's just it. Like that's it. It's me, Like it's I don't know.
Who are you? You know that? Right? You realize that, Like when I think of you, it's you, your beautiful wife, Kirie, this incredible I think of that. You can tell me I'm completely wrong. I think it's a great actor, serious musician giving herself to art music. As an exemplary relationship. I've never seen you where you guys aren't skipping and looking really really great together. I can't mention that all
the time. But so what I'm telling you is that as an audience as one of your audience members, I do know that's what you mean to me. So when you sing, that's the songs we hear, you know, and that's who you are, and it's interesting. You may you know, you may have manifested it, will manufacture the elements of it, as we all do, because you know that's that's the way of life. But I think that as life reveals itself, as we mature and get smarter, we realize that nothing
matters except quality and doing things well. So when you do a great song, everyone's happening here. Like I say this, here's another thing that I think, Like, there's way too many songs in the world, way too much music. It's like I love to go on to any of the streaming services and see who's new. I just like it because it's however, but there's too many new songs. But
there's never enough great songs, never enough, never enough. You can if your song's great, everyone's like fantastic, are putting in the pantheon. We need this one, you know. So it's just down to people to be free and full of quality.
You have written so many great songs, I mean, so many great songs, and I am. I'm sure you've answered this a million times. And this is part of the hard part about doing a podcast, as you can find yourself in the position of having to ask people things that they probably have been asked a million times. But I'm just curious about just a thumbnail of the process. And I asked this, you know, as a as a fan, but also as a songwriter. I'm just always interested in
how what people do. The guitar is sitting over there in the corner. Is it an acoustic guitar? Do you pick it up? Do you write things down on your traps of paper? Are they on your phone? Do you start with a lick? Do you start with an idea with a title, with a how does it go? How does it work?
I mean, I'm always trying to be recepted a bit Machadelian, you know, anything less see of any interest. I'm just wondering if I can you know how it can affect me, and I put lots of notes. You know, it might take put an idea down, But I'm of the mindset that, like I have a studio in my house, and I just believe in the process of going to work.
Every day, So you go every day. Okay, that's what I was going to ask.
Well, when i'm when I saw, I mean, when I'm in, I mean I I apologize as well, so really quick, because I didn't get this great thing. In fact, No, I don't want to be telling you this because you like this. David Putnam do you remember the Killing Fields English producer? His son is like my greatest friend, like my whole life. We grew up together because when we were kids, like eighteen nineteen years old, we're bumbling around in London, staying up, you know, three nights in the
row and going out to everywhere fun. He said, don't forget you. You know you got losers want to be songwriters. Okay, don't forget Tim Panelly five days a week, nine to five. And that ruined me. I didn't. My dad was an amazing dad, but never not don't My dad was a kind of hands off kind of dad. Really sweet, great man, but busy, single mind and workaholic, and so I don't
have any He wasn't the pearls of wisdom. He wasn't the you know, Matthew McConaughey, you know, the great sort of like life lesson thing, you know, inspiring but this man, David Putnam said to me those words, and it almost it at once made my life, ruined my life because it just means that I don't sit around waiting for inspiration, wait till four in the morning, sit with an acoustic that I don't get in the way of that. So if that wants to happen, I'm going to do that.
But and I know that Johnny Cash, he waits for inspiration, So it's it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how you get it's all different, freaky person. But I go in a sit in my studio and I start to make songs. I may make music like I'll get to take a song title that I have, maybe some lyrics already have I need a page of the lyrics like burntalp into alum, and then I that will give you a mood and it gives me a tempo and I'll start imagining what
that what that what feeling? That that title was? That? What was that feeling? And that feeling is usually turned by tempo because tempo is going to be your first source of inspiration and then the key. When you've got that tempo, then you put it make a drum be beat and start putting it. I just I just add to it until I like it enough. Let's play it.
And then once I get a bit of a maybe two sections of music that go to the drums, I'll just start to just sit back and just then I'll let it play and I'll just look out of the window and I'll start to jam to it. And that's really that basic, because it's.
Just so this is so exciting for me. I can't tell you how excited I am to hear this. I love the I love the idea of the tempo thing, and then the tempo leading to a drum groove, and then the I mean, this is.
A drum groove, then what hands with the drums? You tend to just you know, I find a drum program, and those drums will have an inherent tuning to them that I won't really be aware of, because it's like, you know, the tune to a numb So when you play to a groove, there's just some bits of the guitar that work, and they go, oh that fits in real nice, that fits. Like you love someone be like oh we're not friends. Oh that's not friends, no friends, no friends. Friends. It was just a friend and so
I go. And then once I put it, I can either do it with the bass or the guitar. But the bass will make it more a lot, the guitar will make it more in your face, and the bass will make it more languid and more like my kind of want to be dub guy. And then from there I just keep add things and only allowed to add things if they help me get to the vocals. So what I now I can do good enough engineering, put the songs together on pross, organize them, can play everything,
and programming will you know, soft sense? That's so crazy? And then and then I have an engineer that comes in that it calls my vocals. Then I invite my band to come on there and see what they may want to change on how they want to be affected by it.
So even on the solo records, you bring other players in or do you sometimes do everything on the song.
Now, on the solo record, I was actually more collaborative. I went to people's studios and wrote songs for them. Okay, it should be called my not solo record.
This is fairly a fairly new thing for me to go and write with other people. To me writing aside from writing with my brother was always a I always looked at it as a singular sort of expression because it had to just be me, and it had to just be my limited, you know ability, and.
You know, you're got to go nowhere and hip hop.
Right, I know exactly, or or or or country or pop or or anything really in these days, I mean, you're either James Taylor or you're you know everything else. But for the first time, my brother and I and all and me separately have also gone and sat in a room with people that we didn't know and and met like a like a strange kind of speed dating thing.
And it's a very I find it to be very vulnerable obviously, but also like super exciting and just the idea that I mean, I've struggled over a song for like, you know, months, But the idea that you just have this you know whatever for four hour window and you actually walk away with something, how do you do? How do you find that experience?
I find exhilarating. My biggest fear is that I I'm really good at saying I actually forget it, and then I get that rid of that and change that lyric, you know, and I suddenly have a whole new thing. You know, I'm really it's funny. When I first started writing songs and the first songs are over bush, there was there was no horizon. I didn't think about it. So there's no horizon, just right, Try me good, try
me interesting. Yeah, it's dark, it's great. And then when you've made a number of records at this point in my life, I'm like, whoa, there's the horizon. I got twenty three songs perfore and burdened, you know damn what I'm going to do. So it really has forced me to become a much better editor because I realized that I wasn't so much as lazy before more sort of, oh, the guitar player is going to take care of that section.
If I haven't done the best section, then it's going to make it bit so somehow, would let be as thorough And what I've really been into is being super thorough, not just throwing songs away, but coming in the morning, be like, Okay, the song's as good as this weakest part. Like if your middle eight is not very good, that song is not very good. The song is as good as the weakest part. And so if you've got a weak part, of the song. God, let me.
Write that down. This song is only as good as its weakest part.
Yeah, I believe. I mean, it's probably not true, but it's I feel that. So if I leave that studio after four hours, I'll be next day not going to again. I got a better part for the week bit.
But the week wow, well you guys Bush as a new record, right loaded, Yeah, yeah, tell me about that.
It's well, it's the greatest hits. I never wanted to do greatest hits. I only got to write one new song for it, so it's the weirdest thing to do one song and then there'd be a whole record that was a nice, feeling, amazing, And I never want to do it because I'm really obsessed about staying at the present and not wanting to stop this job because I really love them being around all day with nothing to do in Rhode Island to play tonight because you give
the life to it. But I just yeah, yeah, well, it's more to be honest to do with just keeping it going, and it's like a celebration. It's funny because now with the sets, want to play live these shows. Right now, I'm playing a bit more of the kind of older stuff as well. You still always do that, but not a new.
So you've been touring, You were touring touring, We were at this summer.
Yeah, I was out the summer and then I just had a few weeks off, an hour out for a few weeks for this thing. And I'm probably touring a bit too much. But these shows are really good fun. There, you know, a place we haven't been for a while, secondary tertiary market, so people are really grateful. It's really cold, so it feels it feels very different from the touring up recently. But I'm halfway through seven songs through a
new record. Yeah, yeah, because then I would feel really creative in bankrupt if I was just didn't have those songs I heard the Springsteen.
It's a Bush record or or yeah, oh great.
I don't think that anyone should no rock band, No, No one wants rock band singers through solo records, just like please sing in the band. You know, they're like please. Everyone wants that more. I had a successful run with the solo thing, but I just didn't like it. I didn't like my name on the radio. It just felt awkward. People knew because of Bush people be like that was great. When's the band get back together? You know, people just
want the full power. It's if you're not given the full benefit, and it somehow comes across like again, this is my parent, my prison. It comes across like you want to You know, you're saying I don't really need my band and they really like me. I don't need my band and I need my bad amazing and I love them and doesn't feel right now. I just saw Corey Taylor from slip Knot doing a solo show and he's amazing and so he's allowed to do it. But generally,
I think people want the bands, don't They don't. Wouldn't you prefer to go and see you want to go to see you too? You don't see Bono on his new record that he hasn't.
Yeah, I think I want. I think that's true. I think I want to see the band. I'm trying to think if there's you know what exceptions would be. But but yeah, I mean I think.
You know tones or you want to see crosses.
Yeah, yeah, I mean. On the other hand, I also think that that you know, if if you are an artist, then you did you did it. You know, you you explore things with the band that sometimes you go, well, I don't know, I'm I need to explore something just by myself. I just need to do that. I don't think. I certainly don't begrudge anybody from one to check that out.
Yeah I don't. But you know, the thing is is that what it makes me feel is that if you if you look at the chronology of a band, if if someone steps out as a solo record, it's weird because I mean, Don Henley is a perfect example someone. I mean, I don't care, right, it's not a bad to care about or no, but I guess he had simultaneous parallel careers. But I suppose, yes, I don't really,
I don't really have a point about that. Man. But I certainly personally like everything that I do to be through the prism of Bush because it's just me at my best. It's me where I think people want me the most.
That sounds like an album titled the Prism of Bush.
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You are here to highlight a very pressing cause that is going on in American society these days. And it's a topic that you know, I have been you know, certainly thinking about for a long time and sadly continue to think about, and that is gun violence, this increase in gun violence in this in this country. And I'm thrilled that you're here to talk about this today. But I'm also thrilled that Mark Barden is here with us, and we'll be joining us now. Who is the co
founder of Artists for Action. How do you guys know each other?
Gavin was kind enough to invite me to sit in with them at the Irving Plaza gig in New York about a month and a half ago. Yeah, yes, it was a launch for Artist for Action.
Yeah. I mean, Mark how a handsome man. That was a great night, right and New York. We had a good time. That was a great night. Thank you so much.
It was such a blast.
It really was tell us about artist for action, It tell us about your starting it and you know, give us, give us the give us the backstory for those of us that don't know. Yeah.
So, as Gavin mentioned, I lost the youngest of my three children. I didn't lose something.
He was murdered.
Our seven year old son, Daniel was shot to death and say elementary school. And I will just never get used to that. I will never get It's not something you just get over. We just try to move from one day to the next. And you know, I took very seriously this this mission on to prevent this catastrophe from happening to other families. And very soon after that tragedy, we started this work with Sandy her prowess and really did a lot of thoughtful research to learn how how
this happens and what are the drivers. And one of the key takeaways is that there are always warning signs. Of course, he hurts themselves or hurts others. And we developed programs that we bring to schools at no cost to teach young people and their teachers and their parents how to look for those warning signs and then give them the tools to take the next steps. To connect that person or themselves to whatever help or services they might need before it becomes something more serious. And it's
been wonderfully successful. And just from the programmatic approach alone, I think I don't know if we can announce, but there may be more already than fifteen school shootings that were imminate and planned and ready to happen that students trained in our program saw something that they thought was indicative of a tragedy about to happen, and they made that intervention by telling a trusted adult or using our anonymous supporting system, and that horrible thing was intervened upon
and didn't happen, along with hundreds of suicides. So we're very very proud of that work. And IO, Yeah, I feel very privileged to be able to honor my Daniel
through this work. And then we've also been able to write policy, and we just kind of come at this from a different, less polarizing, less divisive positioning, and we just say, let's start this conversation with what we agree on, and we could all agree that we want to protect our kids, and we can all agree we want our neighborhoods to be safer and our communities to be safer. So we were able to pass policy with bipartisan support in both the state and the federal level, which I'm
also very proud of. And the people that come to work for Santy her Promise are just amazing and outstanding and passionate and smart, and it's honored to do this work alongside them. And from this Through this work, I met Matt wraich reich Reich and his organization Artist for Action Artists for Artists. From Artists for Artists came this initiative, Artist for Action, which is basically focused on gun violence in America, and it's a place for musicians and influencers
and artists to come together. It's a coalition of musicians really, and we have some wonderful, impressive talent and individuals in this movement now who have a safe place to tell their fan bases. This is something that's important to me and it should be important to you as well, especially if you think about you know, death by gunfire is the number one cause of young people under nineteen in this country.
Now just blows my mind.
Diaggering, I know, and I first.
Came across my radar, I was just it's just so hard to imagine that anyway. I'm sorry, Mark, go ahead.
I mean, well, yeah, I mean that's it. That's the key, that's the key takeaway. And I just feel like if since that is the number one killer of people nineteen and under in this country, it should be everybody's number one issue, or at least one of your main issues. And so the Artist for Action is a place for musicians who have influence and who have a fan base who want to educate them that this isn't an issue that and as Gavin said, there are so many issues,
but this should be one of them. And many of those other issues are drivers to gun violence. Poverty, food insecurity, racial injustice, all of these things are contributing to gun violence.
But how could we possibly move this out of you know, you mentioned it being a non partisan cause. I mean, I think one of the hardest pieces of dealing with this gun violence thing is the political politicalization of it. You know, it just it's it just should not be a political issue. It feels so it feels so I mean when I mean, I'm sure there were political issues around, you know, trying to keep kids not smoking, but it
just didn't feel the same way. It didn't it didn't become a thing that you were on one side or the other. I mean, if there's anything you.
Problem see it's been seen as a sort of a h a taking away people's rights, and it really there's no disconnect there. It shouldn't be political because it's not taking people's rights. Where you know, what's what what Mark and what the charity is doing. It's just is educating. I mean that's all that. It's just educating. And if you're notice, it's not about you'll never remove guns in America because it's it's it's just it's in the DNA and and you know there's there's so many gun holes.
The majority of gun holders don't kill people, like the vast majority. It's just these people with these psychological issues. So that's why I was so honored to be involved and will continue to be in it. And you're play you're doing a show, you're coming up, You're doing a show for Artisfaction, right, Yes, yes, I mean I want to keep any you know, it's just a wonderful thing that Mark's doing and it's all about sustainable you know,
we have we have we all have an audience. And I've never pushed anything down the throat to the people that like Bush you know, or you know, push too much on them. But this is the first time where it's been really a case of talking to people, just making them aware that there is these there's this recourse because everybody wants recourse. Nobody wants this violence. Everybody wants to find a way through. And it's silly to think, you know, it gets lost though it's it's political. Oh,
you want to take our freedoms? No, no, no, no, we want to like to help these disaffected youth. What Mark says, that's the number one killer of kids under nineteen. Do you know what I mean? It's not bad enough that the food industry is trying to do that sort of one with all the sugars and all the terrible food, all the chemicals. It's like mental help. So I think it's incredible. Mark.
Do these kids go out all over the country or they are they available? How would people find those kids? Is it something that the schools reach out for or do you actually go and distribute them? Explain how that works in a practical way.
So we don't charge anything. We do all of this work based on the generosity of our donors. Because we don't want to let costs be a barrier, and we want to be able to bring these and they're basically
just trainings come in there. We have a training called say Something where we train students how to understand, interpret, and identify at risk behavior either in themselves and others, and then empower them with the knowledge that they have to tell their trusted adult and that could be their teacher, it could be a faith leader, could be a coach,
it could be a parent. But tell somebody, and they can tell them in person, and they can use our anonymous reporting system, which is staff would trained professionals around the clock and report that at risk behavior, and then that trusted adult knows who to connect with they can get they're all everybody's all trained, and then get help.
It might be.
Somebody like Timmy's pulling hair on the bus, okay, so that could be addressed in a one appropriate way. Or Timmy is packing his backpack with guns and he's gonna shoot up the school tomorrow. That's that's a different kind of intervention. And so our trainings teach folks how to do those triage those tips, and our crisis center triages those tips and responds accordingly, and we build clubs into the school so it's not just an assembling in September
they forget about it. We want to build this curriculum into the culture and the climate of the schools, so students from the caids, from kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade, it just becomes part of their culture and part of who they am. They are, and it's more than just stopping the bad things, but it's also fostering
a culture of compassion, inclusion, kindness towards what another. We're watching it work and it's and the long range goal is at scale and over time we will have that positive influence on the culture and get back to some of those those ideas that you were talking about earlier about kindness and compassion and less divisive and you know,
gave it to your point about education and awareness. You know, if you identify as a responsible going owner, which most do, you are already doing all the things that we're just that we're asking, like safe storage, go through the background check before you acquire a weapon, make sure you store it responsibly so that a five year old in your home doesn't pick it up and cause a tragedy and
so sore. There is there is a very well flooded mechanism that is trying to force that figure down people's throats that and and mislead them to think that any kind of rational safety regulations is equivalent to the slippery flope of confiscation, which it's not.
It just which is not. That's the disconnect, is the slip righty slope of that they're going to come and I just the messaging that that that they have been able to put across that any kind of discussion around anything background checks, you know, assault rifles, magazine size is
always going to be a precursor to goodbye guns. It's just the it's it's so interesting because it feels like what you you know, one of the things that's great about talking to you, Mark is that you are so clear on the messaging and uh and you have such a terrible, terrible personal connection to this, to this issue that you know that it's it's uh, I mean, we just we need we need you out there all the time. I mean, I know you have other things you want
to do, like play your guitar and music. Yeah you want to play music, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, And it's been a journey back to that at the beginning, you know, Daniel and and James and Adlie were all very closely connected to my music and it was not the comfort mechanism that one would think. And it's been a journey back and some wonderful folks along the way. My six degree story is my good friend and one of my bass player of friends, Jimmy Kanneely filled in for your guy Paul Paul Gazone in
Phoenix years ago. Folks like Jimmy Kanneely, Folks like Kevin Rossdale, Rick Krn, Matt Wright, all these foot folks that have just you know, been wonderful souls that have come into my life that have helped me along into this journey. My kids you'll meet Natalie in two weeks, have been just wonderful support mechanisms. So that now music is back to where it should be and I am back to my true self as a musician.
And you've got callous You got callouses on the on the tips of your fingers.
Hell yeah, yeah, So yeah, we're ready for our show at ny You on December seventh with Artists for Action.
Right, yes, yes, I think this will actually unfortunately air after.
The show that was a great show that was.
Do you guys I still remember that show?
Yeah?
What is what is the what? What is the most pressing need that the organization has right now?
Well, like I said, we it's it's a lot of resources to develop and to train, implement and sustain these programs on one hundred percent efficacy. We're doing you know, multiple research programs to to to inform our work to continue to do it better. A lot of moving parts and you know, we don't charge anything for it, so we need people, bodies, volunteers, dollars, networking, you know, all of that folks to just just learn about what what Sandy her Promise is doing and what we're not doing.
You know, I think I think we are. We appeal to folks across the political spectrum because, like I said, we're just out there protecting kids. We're just out there making our community safer. We're building a culture of upstanders who are more more kind and more inclusive of one another. And there's really no barriers to entry there.
Come on, is it like Artists for Action or said hook Promise that they combined? How does that work? Like you were to choose one organization because it's pretty easy for what should they go to.
Oh my gosh, don't make me do that. They're both they're both different, you know, they're both doing the same they're both looking for the same outcome is to reduce gun violence in America. And it's a huge, complex problem and there are all those cultural issues that we spoke to. There are also many ways to approach it from you know, from a solution perspective. Uh, and so one of those
you know we talked we've been talking about. The common thread through here is education and awareness and getting the word out of what folks can do to be part of this narrative, to be part of the I know, we have the numbers, we always have. We just need folks engaged. And that could mean making sure you're voting for folks who are protecting you know, us from gun violence. It means it means helping an organization of your choice that resonates with your own personal values. It doesn't have
to be standing in promise. Artist for Action is building a coalition of musicians to get the word out to their base, to tell those folks to get engaged in this conversation and to be doing something, to doing something anything. So so there are different approaches and as many different approaches, we need folks to be engaged data as man them as they can. And like I said, if it's not your number one issue, it should be, but it should be definitely one of your issues.
Well, I'm going to give a little call to action here that might is going to be a surprise for remark.
But five minutes before we got on this podcast, I learned that there is a twenty five thousand dollars matching grant in my name and that if people go to I believe it's the Artist for Action website, they that that six degrees of KB or I can't know exactly, I'm not sure exactly what it's called, will be there and there will be a matching grand of twenty five thousand dollars, which is uh, so you can, we can, we can all do a little something in that way, whatever you have to to give or it.
That's amazing, thank you, that's so so amazing. And both organizations do great work. Artists for Action has held events where they have donated the proceeds to Sandy her promise and so it's all good and it'll all good go to helping us train more students and preventing more tragedies and building their culture, so.
Like preventing thing hopelessness, Like, it's so weird to be outside of this, knowing what you've been through, Daniel as a father, and I'm just standing like in the horror and it just takes me back to these these kids who do That's like the degree of not analyst hopelessness is what's really change, you know, And that's not these kids who think they have nothing in their lives and this is any kind of solution. It's just it's so
hard to wrap your brain around that. Anybody sees that, and then you pair.
That what you pair that with with you know, this very uniquely American easy access to firearms. I mean, we have all kinds of mental health issues in around the world. Mental illness is not the driver of gun violence. It's usually folks suffering mental illness or usually the victims of gun violence. And and so I think mental illness itself is mischaracterized. Many folks who commit these atrocities are not
string diagnosable mental illness. They are lacking anger management skills, they're lacking in conflict resolution, They're lacking in any number of support systems, but you pair all of that with easy access to firearms, and that's where it becomes this national disaster. Why we have almost fifty thousand gun related deaths in this country every single year.
You know, this is exactly why we have what I'm hearing here today is exactly why we have this podcast. Because you have Gavin who is taking his incredible success and using it in a way to highlight something that he cares passionately about. And we're putting the microphone in front of Mark who has taken this unspeakable tragedy and turned it into a force for good. So I want to thank you both for what you're doing here, what taking the time to hang out with me and speak
about this incredibly important issue. So Sandy Hook promised artists for action New Bush record loaded. Look for new Bush music coming down the down the Park, down the Pike. Uh and uh and and if you get a chance to hear Mark Bardon play, go here and play and any anything anything besides November seventh that's coming up that or you're playing out at all?
Mark, Oh, I have to think you know, I do you know I'm trying to do as many pickup gigs and and other things as I can. But Artists for Action is going to be doing a series of very important concerts across the country. So I think Nashville, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or are some of the ones that are on the on the slate. I don't have dates for all of those yet, but I'll keep you in the loop. Yeah, I'll never forget that that gig we did at n y U on December seventh.
Kevin, Yeah, me either either. Thank you guys so much for being here. I really do appreciate it.
Thanks love, Thank Kevin.
Thanks, Hey, guys, thanks for listening to another episode of Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon. If you want to learn more about Artists for Action, head to Artistfaction dot org. Artist for Action dot org. You can find all the links in our show notes, and if you like what you're here, please make sure that you subscribe to the show and tune into the rest of our episodes. You can find Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.